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thesunwillshineonusagain757 · 4 years ago

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𝕽𝖍𝖆𝖊𝖑𝖞𝖆+ 𝖋𝖎𝖈 𝖗𝖊𝖈

𝔇𝔯𝔦𝔳𝔢𝔫 𝔱𝔬 𝔡𝔦𝔢 - by Blue_Crow757

The sexy and glamorous world of Formula 1 is mainly driven by the rivalry between drivers Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen. They had very different characteristics: while Stark is methodical and brilliant, Targaryen adopted a more stripped-down style, typical of a bad boy. The dispute between the two reached its peak in 1976 when both took several risks in the cockpit so that they could become the Formula 1 world champion.

𝚆𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜: 16221 𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜: 4/4 𝚁𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍: Explicit

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𝔉𝔬𝔯 𝔜𝔬𝔲 - by toaquiprashippar

Rhaegar and Lyanna meet again after years of a painful heartbreak. None could ever forget the other, and honestly none have even tried.

𝚆𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜: 15283 𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜: 5/7 𝚁𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍: Explicit

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𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔰𝔢 𝔳𝔦𝔬𝔩𝔢𝔫𝔱 𝔡𝔢𝔩𝔦𝔤𝔥𝔱𝔰 𝔥𝔞𝔳𝔢 𝔳𝔦𝔬𝔩𝔢𝔱 𝔢𝔫𝔡𝔰 - by ryswell

genderswap au

𝚆𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜: 3546 𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜: 7/7 𝚁𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍: General Audiences

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𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔔𝔲𝔢𝔢𝔫 𝔬𝔣 𝔏𝔬𝔳𝔢 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔅𝔢𝔞𝔲𝔱𝔶 - by acrownofwinterroses

At the tournament at Harrenhal, Lyanna Stark locks eyes with Prince Rhaegar, and is crowned the Queen of Love and Beauty, something that she thinks may have more meaning than he lets on.

𝚆𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜: 1462 𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜: 1/1 𝚁𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍: Not Rated

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𝔒𝔣 𝔇𝔯𝔞𝔤𝔬𝔫𝔰, ℜ𝔬𝔰𝔢𝔰 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔞 𝔖𝔢𝔠𝔬𝔫𝔡-ℌ𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔐𝔞𝔱𝔠𝔥 - by joely_jo

'He remembered how, a few short weeks before, he had told Lyanna how love could grow from the tiniest seeds. But what he hadn’t told her was that sometimes it was bigger than that, and bolder, and sometimes it made a person do dangerous things…'

A story of Robert's Rebellion, where love lives and dies and lives again. Told from the perspectives of Lyanna and Ned Stark.

𝚆𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜: 110504 𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜: 38/38 𝚁𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍: Mature

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ℌ𝔢𝔩𝔩 ℑ𝔰 𝔈𝔪𝔭𝔱𝔶 - by ashotofjac

Still unmarried and unbetrothed, Prince Rhaegar Targaryen is urged to find a bride at the tourney at Harrenhal. With King Aerys growing more unhinged as each day passes, the Dragon Prince must secure his line in order to overthrow the Mad King.

Lyanna Stark is chosen to wed the prince, much to her displeasure, and must leave the North to play princess with the dragons. But she quickly learns that the fire burns deadly in the royal family, and winter has no place in King's Landing.

Hell, she finds, is empty and all the devils are at Court.

𝚆𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜: 198920 𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜: 75/75 𝚁𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍: Mature

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𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔗𝔞𝔩𝔢 𝔬𝔣 ℜ𝔥𝔞𝔢𝔤𝔞𝔯 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔏𝔶𝔞𝔫𝔫𝔞 - by KohakuWol

This story is told heavily from the point of view of Rhaegar Targaryen and will span from the Tourney at Harrenhal to the conclusion of Robert's Rebellion. This is my take on the fateful tale of Rhaegar and Lyanna. The first chapter serves mostly as an introduction, the subsequent chapters will be longer. All characters are property of George R. R. Martin. As always, reviews are much loved and appreciated!

𝚆𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜: 8k+ 𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜: 5/5 𝚁𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍: Teen

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𝔄𝔪𝔦𝔡𝔰𝔱 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔄𝔰𝔥𝔢𝔰 - by crossfirehurricane

Lyanna Stark decides against taking flight from her marriage, and begrudgingly marries Robert Baratheon. Within the year, she becomes a widow at the young age of seventeen, with half the realm believing she had a hand in it. Now free from the bonds of marriage, and her place at Storm's End, Lyanna returns to Winterfell with no intention of remarrying.

Rhaegar Targaryen is widowed when Elia Martell dies in childbed, attempting to give her husband his third child. The child, a girl, is lost alongside her mother. The prophecy and the realm demands that he remarry, calling for a flurry of young maidens to vie for his attentions, and one who is unsure if she desired his attention at all.

Yet this pair had almost known intimacy before. Whether they shall know it again, only the Gods can say.

𝚆𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜: 32979 𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜: 14/14 𝚁𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍: Mature

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𝔫𝔢𝔢𝔡 𝔞𝔫 𝔢𝔫𝔤𝔦𝔫𝔢 𝔰𝔭𝔞𝔯𝔨 𝔱𝔬 𝔦𝔤𝔫𝔦𝔱𝔢 𝔪𝔶 𝔥𝔢𝔞𝔯𝔱 - by vivacissimo

“I’d have introduced myself, but I get the sense you know who I am,” Lyanna flirts, and the man’s indigo eyes dance, “this is my party, after all.”

“Oh I’m certainly aware,” he cocks his head like something is outrageously funny, “I’m the one throwing it for you.”

Or, Formula 1 prodigy Lyanna Stark won't settle for anything less than a world championship. A serendipitous encounter with a stranger who turns out to be anything but reminds her that fortune favors the bold.

𝚆𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜: 10430 𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜: 1/1 𝚁𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍: Mature

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𝔖𝔦𝔫𝔰 𝔬𝔣 𝔒𝔲𝔯 𝔉𝔞𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔯𝔰 - by lorelei_4

Tourney at Harrenhal never happened. To the great delight of her father, Lyanna marries Robert Baratheon. Life goes on as usual until, driven by his growing madness, King Aerys summons Lord Rickard Stark to King's Landing. The Warden of the North is accused of high treason and executed, after that the Mad King demands to send him the heads of all the Starks. The Northerners rise in rebellion with the support of the Vale, stormlands and riverlands, after months of war and Aerys' untimely death it eventually brings both opposing sides to the banks of the river Trident.

𝚆𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜: 9151 𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜: 1/1 𝚁𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍: Explicit

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𝔴𝔢 𝔰𝔥𝔞𝔯𝔢𝔡 𝔞 𝔤𝔩𝔞𝔫𝔠𝔢 - by Pepel_in_Kri

If you asked most people to rank top 10 most boring things, law school would be up there in the top 5. Lyanna Stark respectfully thinks that's utter bullshit - she’s been to law school and it doesn’t even slightly compare to the mind-numbing activity of wedding dress shopping with one Catelyn Tully.

or: Lyanna Stark is a successful law graduate attending her brother's wedding when a series of unpredictable events strike her love life.

𝚆𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜: 7165 𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜: 1/1 𝚁𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍: Teen

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"ℑ 𝔚𝔞𝔰 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔒𝔩𝔡𝔢𝔰𝔱" - by Valaena Rhaegarovna (ZeeTaoHime)

Rhaenys remembers her siblings, and how it was to grow with them.

| Part of The Last Dragons Net's Golden Age AU |

𝚆𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜: 5369 𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜: 2/? 𝚁𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍: Teen

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ℑ𝔣 𝔗𝔥𝔢𝔶 𝔒𝔫𝔩𝔶 𝔎𝔫𝔢𝔴 - by Cheeseydare

Rhaegar and Lyanna share a quiet morning at Summerhall.

𝚆𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜: 3285 𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜: 1/1 𝚁𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍: Explicit

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𝔒𝔫 𝔅𝔩𝔲𝔢 𝔚𝔞𝔳𝔢𝔰 - by nvt_brightfyre

Lyanna Stark has always wanted to sail the seas, instead she gets a marriage proposal and is kidnapped by the worst pirate she has ever seen. Rhaegar Targaryen is trying to evade his father's wrath, but he sails into a storm and a raid. Arthur Dayne just wants to protect his friend and perhaps do a little matchmaking.

OR Lyanna escapes Robert's proposal with Captain Jack Sparrow and accidentally steals something important from the Crown Prince.

𝚆𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜: 6005 𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜: 3/12 𝚁𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍: Mature

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Part .1

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trixree · 4 years ago

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Feminist, Queer, Playboy, Philanthropist: Why Ironman Belongs to the Shes, Gays, and Theys

Introduction:

This material originally comes from a media critique project I did for an undergrad philosophy course and I've attempted to adapt it into a tumblr post that doesn't make your eyes bleed. I may or may not have been successful. Upfront, I'm giving you a trigger warning for discussion of sexual assault/rape. If you'd like to skip that part of the analysis, mind the red content warning [start/end].

Trix, what are you up to today? Well, I’d like to present an alternative narrative interpretation of the capstone of the MCU. At face value, Tony Stark shows us a wise-cracking, suave, and hyper-masculine superhero. His soundtrack is AC/DC and he arrives on the battlefield in a shower of gold sparks and hydraulics, wearing sunglasses that cost more than my uterus would fetch on the black market. However, this character presents us with so much more than just a hyper-masculine caricature of straight, cis heroism. Not only does he embody typically “feminine” film tropes—such as the hypersexualized “fighting-fucktoy” role, the policing of his body and promiscuity, and the climactic “rape scene” in which his predatory father-figure drugs him and steals his “heart”—additionally, he embodies classically queer film tropes. Unlike most male action-movie protagonists, his story line is an identity crisis at heart, culminating in a climactic “coming out” scene. His character is promiscuous and spurned for it, and camp is a constant underlying theme in his character design as a whole. I explore these themes in two main parts: the femme and the queer. We'll start with the femme.

Hyper-Masculinity & Tony Stark

In order to understand the subversive nature of Tony Stark, we must first establish the typical nature of hyper-masculine and the hyper-feminine character tropes. Before we can ask the question, “how is this character coded as femme?'' We must first ask, “how is this character coded as masc?”. Further, what do these tropes tell the audience about those characters? Ultimately, the hypermasculine caricature lends power to the subject while the hyperfeminine caricature strips the subject of all agency.

Hypermasculinity is defined, generally, as the exaggerated portrayal or the reinforcement of “typically male stereotypes” (typical male meaning, in this context, that of a Westernized man) such as aggression, strength and power (both physcial and otherwise), as well as sex appeal, and integrity. Hypermasculinity takes a keen focus on the physical male form as a dominating force (1). A hypermasculine character, then, would be one that portrays a domineering, powerful man that is above his peers in some way, and is sexually desirable, in that he exemplifies a pornified picture of a male physique. This desirable and desiring caricature of manhood “socializes boys to believe that being a man means being powerful and in control” (2).

In contrast to this idea of hypermasculinity is the media’s typical portrayal of women. The typical hyperfeminine characterization of women in media is that of a passive, pretty, and overtly sexualized side-character with little agency or autonomy within the story. This is true of both blockbuster hits starring men and movies starring women, too. “We had many more interesting characters on screen in the '20s, '30s, '40s than we do now… They could be the femme fatale and then turn around and be the mother and then turn around and be the seductress, and then turn around and be the saint, and we accepted that. They were complex human beings” (2). This is no longer the case for a typical role for women on screen.

The documentary Miss Representation (2) presents a common caricature that a woman in Hollywood might find herself portraying. Action movies with a female lead surely must exhibit agency in their own story lines. However, the female-action-movie-lead is dubbed the “fighting fucktoy” by Miss Representation. Although she makes her own decisions and it is her narrative that drives the story, she primarily exists as eye-candy. Thus, even the “fighting fucktoy” is just that to audiences--a “fucktoy”. She may be “strong” but primarily, she must be pretty. The MCU character Black Widow perfectly exemplifies the “fighting fucktoy”. Her physical strength may be unquestioned, but primarily it is her beauty that is the focus on-screen. Never do we see her fighting in a t-shirt and sweatpants. Even outside of the skin-tight deep-vee catsuit, Black Widow’s plain clothes outfits consist of tight jeans and even tighter shirts.

This is true for both hyperfeminine and hypermasculine stories. Both the men and women starring in mainstream productions are expected to exemplify a western ideal of peak beauty standards at all times. However, where the hypersexualization of male’s bodies is associated with power, dominance, and strength, the sexualization of women’s bodies is linked to submission, frailty, and possession. Hence the name, “fighting fucktoy”. Her beauty does not make her powerful, it makes her a “toy”, an object, a possession. The sexualization of men in media gives them power within their narratives. For women, it does the complete opposite. It makes them objects, even when they are strong. Beauty and sex make them the victims of their own stories. Ultimately, the hypermasculine male character is envied and emulated, not coveted.

Ironman: Femme Fatale

The storyline of the first Iron Man movie is one concerned with bodily autonomy in a way typically reserved for women--Tony Stark is presented as a fighting fucktoy with an unattainable heart. Not only that, he must struggle against the literal policing of his body by friends, family, and government agencies alike. This subversive, unexpected feminine story culminates in the pinnacle “rape scene” wherein a trusted older-male drugs and assaults Tony in order to take advantage of his “body”, the arc-reactor.

Let’s examine Tony’s coded “fighting fucktoy” persona in two parts: the “fighting” and the “fucktoy”. Miss Representation identifies what female leadership often looks like in movies. “When it comes to female leaders in entertainment media, we see the bitchy boss who has sacrificed family and love to make it to where she is” (2). Odd as it may seem, this perfectly encapsulates the metaphorical role of the arc reactor powering the Iron Man suits. First and foremost, the reactor represents Tony Stark’s heart. Not only is it literally located within his heart for the purpose of keeping it intact, it represents his rebirth as a caring, philanthropic man--it encapsulates Stark’s “fight”. Before his kidnapping and the subsequent implanting of the reactor, Stark was every inch the “bitchy boss who has sacrificed family and love” as well as morals themselves in order to be a war profiteer. His “fight” consists of standing up against the same system that had allowed him to amass his fortune. This “fight” is inextricably tied to his “bitchy boss” caricature as someone who has had to surrender love.

It is clear to the viewer that Stark has had to sacrifice love to get where he is in life. Many allusions are given towards the “will they won't they” nature of his relationship with Pepper Potts and Stark’s work is identified as the reason why they won’t. At the end of the movie, Stark attempts to seduce Potts, asking if she ever “thinks about that night” to which she replies, “Are you talking about the night that we danced and went up on the roof, and then you went downstairs to get me a drink, and you left me there, by myself?” The viewers are aware that the reason Stark ran off was because he had received news that Stark weapons had gotten into the wrong hands. Later, Potts will gift him the original arc reactor with the engraving: PROOF THAT TONY STARK HAS A HEART surrounding it. In an unconventional way, Stark portrays the frigid boss who sacrificed everything to get where she is in his titular fight against a war profiteering machine.

Next, let’s examine his role as the fucktoy. This is a more subtle theme throughout the film, present in body language and subtext. I will focus mainly on scenes which present a femme-coded sexualization--scenes where emphasis on Stark’s body does not lend Stark power, but instead strips him of his autonomy. Take for example the scene pictured below. In this scene, Stark bares his chest to Stane. He is quick to cover up and fruitlessly attempts to redirect Stane’s curiosity. Much like a scene where an attractive woman shows skin, the emphasis is placed on Stark redirecting Stane’s predatory interest. Notice the tension in Stark’s stance, the challenge in his eyes and the contrasting pose of Stane, mid-motion, pushing so close into Stark’s space. Stane is clearly coded as the aggressor once the reactor comes out. The same effect is observed as when a woman bares skin--an apparent loss of autonomy as other characters (and even the cinematography itself) takes a pornographic view of her body. Instead of a powerful male character baring his chest in the heat of a battle, giving the audience a glimpse of corded muscle and strength, this scene leaves the viewer feeling uncomfortable on Stark’s behalf.

[TW Start] This femme-coded sexualization that leads ultimately to a loss of autonomy again rears its head in the titular “rape scene”. This is the clearest instance of the reactor--a literal part of Stark’s body, symbolically present as his heart--lends itself to his victimization. Just as a hypersexualized female character with no bodily autonomy, Stark’s bodily autonomy is forcefully violated so that a powerful male figure in his life can exploit a part of him. This theme becomes horrifyingly clear when the scene is examined up close.

Notice the position of their bodies. Once again, Stane towers over Stark, pressing into his space on all sides. In the first image, to the right, he has an arm draped over the back of the couch--a parody of a romantic or perhaps affectionate gesture from one intimate partner to another. Stane visibly radiates power in this position, even if the viewer were unaware of Stark’s paralyzed state. Stane’s shoulders are squared, even sitting down. The position of the reactor in his hand is relaxed and undeniably taunting. Looking at Stark himself, the horror and powerlessness of his situation is clear. His eyes are open, but almost appear to be unseeing. He is not looking directly at the reactor nor at Stane. In fact, it seems as though his eyes are looking below the reactor and to the room at large. I can only describe his expression as hollow--the blank eyes fixed out to something the viewers cannot see, his mouth partially open, his skin sickly pale.

In the second image, pictured above, Stane leers over Stark’s body, cradling his head in, once again, a parody of a lover’s tenderness. He coaxes Stark’s now limp form down onto the couch, having just paralyzed him with a fictional, technological nerve agent. The horror is shockingly clear on Stark’s face and the perverse joy is just as clear on Stane’s. This scene itself is an undeniable parody of rape, or, at the very least, physical assault. [TW End]

Tony Stark presents us with a clear, femme-coded character as his story line draws upon classicly feminine tropes wherein the sexualization of the character’s body is exploitative at heart and leaves them vulnerable to physical predation. In this way, though he is strong, his “body” makes him the victim of his own story. Not only that, his character arc itself travels from the heart-less profiteer to the philanthropic man with a heart of gold, drawing upon another classically femme-caricature of the “bitchy boss”.

Queer Tropes & The Closet

Queer tropes are much harder to draw upon than that of feminine tropes. Queer tropes in film developed in a time of great censorship and as a result are often subtle. There are three main tropes I would like to reference for the purposes of this critique. Within the Iron Man franchise, there exists a distinct sense of camp, a problematized sexual promiscuity, and, ultimately, an identity-reveal/coming out storyline.

One of the most obvious of these tropes is camp. Camp is “defined as the purposeful and ironic adoption of stylistic elements that would otherwise be considered bad taste. Camp aesthetics are generally extreme, exaggerated and showy and always involve an element of mockery” (3). Camp is present in queer culture most commonly in the ball and drag scenes. Camp is the gaudy, the glitzy, the over-the-top, the classic-but-not, the in-your-face… Camp is all of the above and more. This is why it is so easily recognizable to audiences.

The Advocate identifies a series of seventeen queer caricatures in media for consideration, one of them being that of the “promiscuous queer”. Everyone knows the myth of the promiscuous bisexual, even when the reality is that bisexual individuals are no more or no less likely to view monogamy as “sacrificial” than gay or straight individuals (4). The stereotype of the promiscuous bisexual is inaccurate and harmful, and they are by no meals alone in being labeled overly promiscuous by a general audience. The “promiscuous queer” is defined as a character that may struggle with emotional intimacy and, as a result, sleeps around to mask the love they are missing in their life. “Films going back as far as the ’80s British period piece Another Country have featured gay male characters who use sex to cover for their inability to feel true intimacy with another human being” (5). Among their list of guilty perpetrators are Queer as Folk, The L Word, The Good Wife, and How to Get Away With Murder.

The last trope I’d like to present is that of the “coming out” story. Far from being problematic, the “coming out” is often necessary when telling a queer story. Coming out storylines can be problematized when they are presented as “Big Dark Secrets” that weigh heavily on a person until they are spoken. Ultimately, coming out is a choice. Many queer people choose to come out while many do not. There are many people who fall in between--some people may be comfortable being out to select individuals while not to others or to the world at large. In any case, people can be satisfied and fully fulfilled in any of those choices. Coming out stories are undeniably part of queer culture in media. Consider the recent hit, Love Simon alongside Transparent, Empire, Supergirl, and Glee.

Camp, Secrets & Sex

Through the camp of the Iron Man persona, the problematized sexuality of Stark, and the underlying theme of a “coming out” journey, Tony Stark presents audiences with a classically queer experience in film. Take the Iron Man suit itself. The iconic red and gold, the whine of the repulsors, the sleek metal edges and the furious glow of the arc reactor all scream camp. The red and the gold, the opening bars of Back In Black, the facial hair cut into odd spikes, and the sunglasses do, too. Each and every part of the Iron Man persona is camp. “Stylistic elements that otherwise would be bad taste”... talk about gold-plated biceps and a bright red, glowing chest piece! It's camp, baby!

The problematized sexuality of Stark is harder to see as reminiscent of a queer trope. Take, for example, one of the first scenes in the movie. “I do anything and everything that Mr. Stark requires, including, occasionally, taking out the trash”, Potts remarks in reference to a one-night stand she’s ushering out of Stark’s home. Here, Potts implies that Stark sleeps with “trash”. The following scene gives us the feeling that this is not a one-off occurrence. As Potts enters the room, Stark asks, “how’d she take it?” References to his repeated promiscuity are obvious. “Playboy” is an integral part of his persona. Equally obvious is Potts’ disapproval. Taking these inferences of his playboy lifestyle with what viewers know of Stark’s lack of attachments--his “bitchy boss” exterior, if you may--it appears as though his promiscuity is a symptom of the promiscuous queer stereotype.

“Don’t ever ask me to do anything like that ever again,” Potts says after removing the initial arc reactor model from Stark’s chest cavity. “I don’t have anyone but you,” Stark replies. The viewer has a clear picture of Stark as a playboy type who is truly lonely on the inside--who struggles with emotional intimacy. This struggle is evident, given that Potts, Stark’s secretary and co-worker, is the only person in his life he trusts to assist him in what is essentially open heart surgery. His playboy lifestyle mirrors the circumstances of the promiscuous queer trope in media.

Finally, we come to the last scene of the movie-- the climactic reveal. “I am Iron Man”, Stark says. This scene most clearly illustrates a queer story-line. Stark reveals his “identity”, shedding his last secret, and declares to reporters (and effectively the world) that he is Iron Man. To understand how this scene evokes such a strong sense of queer experience in viewers, I’d like to reference another recent in-universe identity reveal in the Marvel Cinematic canon. In Spiderman: Far From Home, the end-credit scene shows Peter Parker reacting in horror to his identity being leaked via doctored footage from the villain Mysterio. This scene can read as nothing but a deep violation. Even the main characters themselves react in abject horror at the news. The Spiderman identity reveal and the Iron Man identity reveal are two sides of the same coming-out process. In one, the character had full agency. In the other, the reveal was non-consensual, a complete violation. It is clear that both of these scenes draw explicitly upon themes that resonate particularly with queer audiences.

To Infinity(War) and Beyond

Growing up, I latched onto Iron Man and Tony Stark as an outlet for my “otherness”. I was well and truly obsessed with the character for reasons that I could not really put into words. He was weird, he was loud, and he was, frankly, unapologetic about any of it. I remember very clearly on my first day of tenth grade listening to Thunderstruck by AC/DC in the car and putting on the brightest shade of red lipstick I could find. Tony Stark gave me confidence. He gave me a voice. Throughout high-school I must have watched the first Iron Man movie upwards of twenty, maybe even thirty times. It was a comfort to me because it showed experiences I resonated with and it showed a strong character recovering from them. Tony Stark rose from the ashes every time and gave me the strength to rise from my own ashes every time he did.

Our heroes can be anything. And Tony Stark was mine.

#thechestnuthead #here you go #yall asked for it #long post #really fucking long post #meta #trixree speaks #ironman #tony stark #marvel meta #analysis #this took a long time rip #if yall want the full paper you can hit me up for a PDF #my posts #trixree gets meta

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onebadwinter · 4 years ago

Text

The Joker Tropes Part 2

Taken From Here and here

Nether Realm Studios especially seems to love making Joker out to be evil incarnate. In Injustice: Gods Among Us and its sequel, he loses all his cred (and life) once he nukes Metropolis; Harley ditches him entirely, Batman just completely gives up on indulging him any more, even Guest Fighters like Hellboy consider him worthless, and non-Batvillains such as Grodd and Brainiac and even Darkseid loathe him for either Metropolis, or just in general principle. Mortal Kombat 11 shows that even the MK cast see him as a scourge upon the realms, and also express distaste toward him for either his nuking, a previous outing, or because he's seen as a buffoon who cannot be taken seriously (this is usually the case for other villain characters).

About the only person who can tolerate him for long is Lex Luthor, only because they both have the same level of hatred for their respective enemies. Even then, Luthor prefers to keep his distance from the Joker, if only because a bored Joker screws with everything For the Evulz.

In the animated series, he claims to have been beaten as a child when interviewed by Harley Quinn. It is unknown if this is true. According to Batman, he's simply making it up.

In one issue of New 52, he claims to have been driven insane by an abusive grandmother, who also bleached his skin to its present pallor.

In the same continuity, he is one to a baby gorilla he adopts, trains up as a gun-wielding henchman, and ultimately gets killed off for laughs.

In the comic book adaptation of Injustice, it's implied Harley fears Joker would be one, and gives their daughter to her sister, lest he kill the child. It's left ambiguous whether the Joker's even aware of the ruse.

Averted in one story, wherein one of Arkham's doctors realizes Joker's faking insanity just to piss off Batman as revenge for his disfigurement. Another doctor finds the report and excitedly reveals it to the current head doctor, only to learn that the Joker left it for everyone to read, since the paper's written by Harley Quinn, and therefore worthless as evidence.

In Batman: The Man Who Laughs, it's established that the name "The Joker" was given to him by the media, and he liked it so much that he decided to call himself that.

The same happens in Joker (2019), where Murray tells the audience to "look at this joker" when talking about Arthur. Arthur took it to heart.

Batman: Arkham Knight takes this even further by revealing that being forgotten is the only thing the Joker truly fears.

Just to demonstrate how much disregard he has for his henchmen, a reoccurring motivation for offing his own lackeys is failing to laugh at one of his jokes. Or laughing too late. Or laughing for too long. Or laughing at the wrong joke. He's... unpredictable.

The Joker loves it when people laugh with him, whether genuine or not, but if someone laughs at him, they're most likely already dead.

Joker loves attention and being above the normals, so never imply that he's not interesting or unique. Terry exploits this flaw in Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker just to drive him to a Villainous Breakdown.

The Batman Who Laughs. Since the character's first appearance in Dark Nights: Metal, the mere mention of him is enough to put The Joker in an uncharacteristically un-jolly mood and is a good way to get on his bad side. In fact, the dislike of this twisted version of his archnemesis is so great, that when Lex Luthor and The Legion of Doom started cooperating with him against Joker's protests, he quit the legion (after non-lethally jokerizing every other member of it) in disgust.

If you're going to hurt Batman, do it right. One of the supplementary stories for Joker War had him beyond furious with Bane - to the point of promising him he'd kill him in a way he would never see coming - for showing so little imagination in killing Alfred in City of Bane without even letting Batman listen to it to torture him. By his reckoning, if you have a great gag to break the Bat, use it to break the Bat - don't blow it by having Robin be the only one to witness it.

Originally Conrad Veidt from The Man Who Laughs.

Later portrayals base themselves on his actors, with Cesar Romero a popular candidate, and after Jack Nicholson came in, artists such as Alex Ross base him on him, such as the actor's distinct widow's peak and slicked back hair.

During Knightfall he and Scarecrow killed several members of a SWAT team, and one of his last actions in Batman: No Man's Land was to kill Commissioner Gordon's second wife, Lt. Sarah Essen.

One of the alternate realities seen in Zero Hour! was one where he killed Commissioner Gordon instead of crippling Barbara.

Part of the reason Gordon takes over the post of Commissioner in both The Dark Knight Trilogy and Batman: Arkham Series is due to the Joker killing Gillian Loeb. Additionally, the first game in the latter series, Asylum, he sees several of Arkham's guards killed by him and his men.

He's holding a dead cop's corpse in his intro in Injustice: Gods Among Us and using it as a puppet. He also talks to the body of one of the Regime enforcers who captured him once he breaks out and heads to Gotham.

Whether he was driven insane or was already insane and became completely bonkers.

Where he is on the spectrum between "wacky prankster" and "utterly depraved and sadistic sociopath and murderer".

Whether he is a senseless, performative terrorist wreaking havoc for kicks or a deceptively cunning and competent criminal mastermind. Or both. Usually both.

He's no Batman, but sometimes he is a proficient hand-to-hand combatant, Knife Nut or marksman, and other times a flimsy wimp who goes down in one punch. In some of the grittier settings, his raw strength, numbness to pain and viciousness are enough to level the playing field with Batman.

Whether he actually loves Harley Quinn varies. In the animated series, (where Harley first appeared) the writers haveoutright said he's a sociopath incapable of loving anyone, and just sees her as a useful mook. Some other works imply he really does love her on some level (although he's usually still an abusive asshole.)

He can either be Faux Affably Evil, Laughably Evil, just a Monster Clown, or some combination of the three.

At least one such incident implied he would be interested in Batman... but only after he was dead. Again this may only have been a tactic to get under Batman's skin or truthful admission. The readers will never know for certain.

His plot in The Killing Joke is to put Jim Gordon through the wringer hard in the hopes of driving him mad. He'll also try to drive Batman over the edge (particularly, drive him to break his "no killing" rule), sometimes by cutting off all of Batsy's human connections.

The Dark Knight reworks it into Driving Gotham To Senseless Violence with wanton acts of destruction or terrorism, just to prove everyone's as bad as him deep down.

Ironically, a 1952 story has the Joker get himself falsely committed to an insane asylum, to question a patient who knew the location of a cache of money. The end of the story has him Laughing Mad due to a prank Batman used to disguise his identity.

He didn't have his signature laugh. This seems to have been a way to "goofy up" the character to make him less terrifying in the days of the Comics Code Authority. Later on, he'd learn to giggle while remaining terrifying.

He actually committed crimes for moneynote , and wasn't really interested in causing chaos or terror for a joke's sake.

Building off of that, his plans weren't really "insane" until the Silver Age (at which point it's not even fair to say this was exclusive to him), nor was there any question of the character's mental stability.

His obsession with Batman wasn't there, much less the idea that he would pass up chances to kill the Bat or learn his identity. This aspect was probably introduced to explain the Bond Villain Stupidity he (and every Batman villain) had become infamous for in the Silver Age.

His clown-like complexion was actually makeup in his early appearances. He even removed his makeup to disguise himself as a cop, which was referenced in The Dark Knight. It's later revealed that the look is permanent after falling in a vat of chemicals.

The Brave and the Bold #111 and #191 have him team up with Batman to clear his name after being framed for several murders. The first instance turned out to simply be a framing the guilty part occasion but the second instance was actually genuine on Joker's part (except the person Joker seemingly murdered turned out to be faking their death).

He also does this with Batman whenever The Batman Who Laughs is involved (specifically in the Dark Knights: Metal series).

He abruptly ends a partnership with Red Skull when his Nazi affiliation comes out. Red Skull simply wonders why he is so surprised when he thinks that the Joker would make a great Nazi. The Joker is NOT happy about this, proclaiming "I may be a criminal lunatic, but I'm an American criminal lunatic!" It even provides the trope's image. And yes, folks, even an equal-opportunity murderer like the Joker despises the Nazis!note

The exception is mentioned again in the Last Laugh arc where the Joker immediately refused to join the American Neo-Nazi Aryan Alliance group in the Slab after he was offered membership. Joker: I'm evil and all that, but you guys are just plain mean.

Will not harm dumb animals and doesn't condone it. There's no humor to be had in that. Higher primates apparently do not qualify but a lot more effort went into that one.

While in Arkham with villain Warren White, AKA the Great White Shark, Joker calls him the worst person he ever met. He states that while he may kill people, even he doesn't steal their kids' college funds.

Sees nothing funny about someone parking in a handicap spot when they're not handicapped. However, he does think it's hilarious to hurt them in ways that will make certain they'll always be able to park there.

A girl named Janey Bennett, whose class was studying criminal behavior, became pen pals with the Joker while he was in Arkham. When Janey revealed that her father, the mayor of Motor City, was abusing her (exactly how isn't specified, though it was implied to have been really bad) the Joker broke out and, convinced that the authorities would be of no help, tried to force the mayor into admitting to his crimes and giving him Janey (so that he could find a better home for her) by threatening to contaminate the city's blood supply, going through with it (because the ends justify the means) when the mayor refused to give in to his demands. He originally intended to give her to Batman as well so he could protect her but at the end decided to give her to her mom. Joker: I mean, stealing a city blind is something I can admire... but being mean to one's own daughter... that just makes my blood boil.

For a rather literal form of "standard", the Joker's team-up with Carnage in Spider-Man and Batman: Disordered Minds fell apart in part because the Joker, known for his love of theatrics, found Kasady's desire to get straight to killing boring. Conversely, Kasady didn't like the Joker's flair for theatrics.

The Joker absolutely loathes The Batman Who Laughs, to the point where he drops his usual joking demeanor and is deathly serious whenever directly referring to him, even willing to work together with Batman to face him when it comes down to it. When Lex Luthor goes behind his back to make a deal with The Batman Who Laughs (going against the only condition Joker has for joining his plan), Joker responds by Joker-gassing the Legion of Doom, putting Lex into a series of deathtraps, trashing Lex's Power Armor, and quitting the Legion. In the process, he tells Luthor how he had planned on ruining the Legion utterly on the verge of victory, and as nightmarish as his plan sounded, he claims it is nothing compared to what the Batman Who Laughs is going to do.

While he still gloated about it and found Commissioner Gordon kneecapping him funny after remember that he'd crippled Barbara, the actual act of killing Sarah Essen in the penultimate issue of Batman: No Man's Land is one of the few times the Joker wasn't happy with something he himself did, considering he's seen walking away while scowling afterward, leaves the babies he originally planned to murder unharmed and immediately turns himself in to the police.

Emperor Joker sees the Joker disgusted with a corrupted Jimmy O Lsen tormenting the Superfamily and Batman when they're turned int animals.

Later one he is disgusted when his minions vandalize the Moai on Eastern Island.

Again, when he rescues Lex from The Batman Who Laugh's infected minions in Hell Arisen, the mere mention of his alternate universe rival prompts him to have a very uncharacteristic Freak Out. The Joker: I told you. I told you not to deal with him. You should have shot that thing in the head the second you had it in a cage! It is wrong. It is a wrong thing.

Played more straight in his relationship with Punchline. Only time will tell if it lasts.

There’s also a comic storyline when Hush informed that a dirty cop Office Halmet killed his wife Jeannie. The Joker wanted nothing more than to kill said cop in revenge. Then there’s Batman: Three Jokers where, despite it being being heavily implied he was abusive, the “Comedian” Joker is seen setting up fake tea parties with dolls, clearly trying to substitute them for his wife and child showing that he does miss them and desire to be a family with them.

While The Dark Knight is one of the few times the Joker's clown-like appearance is the result of make-up, he does sport a Glasgow Grin.

While Joker still has the permanent clown look, it's combined with the Glasgow Grin.

While Batman: Endgame would see the skin of his face restored with a chemical called Dionesiumnote , at the start of The New 52, the Joker had the Dollmaker skin his face and then, after he recovered it, spent Death of the Family wearing it like a Leatherface-esque mask. And even in Endgame, his restored face ends up badly burned as the result of the finale battle between him and Batman, though it still ends up restored again.

Gotham sees neither Valeska escape this. After his death in season 2, Jerome (the proto-Joker) ends up resurrected in season 3, but because Dwight thinks his attempt to revive him failed, Dwight ends up cutting off Jerome's face ala Death of the Family and Jerome ends up stapling it on when he catches up with Dwight and while he later has it properly reattached, there's still scars from what happened. Jeremiah, Jerome's twin and the show's true Joker, ends up with the "perma-clown" appearance due to Jerome having the Scarecrow brew something up to spray in Jeremiah's face, but season 5 sees his fateful fall at Ace Chemicals badly scar his face and sear off most of his hair with only stringy patches left.

Averted entirely in Joker (2019), where his clown appearance is entirely makeup, and the worst it gets is painting his iconic smile on his face with his own blood from a car crash. Not even a Glasgow Grin or anything, the blood is from his hand and his face only has a few normal cuts on it.

While Batman is a rather serious character who refuses to kill anyone, The Joker is a rather comical character who revels in death.

Joker's gadgets tend to be rather goofier but much more lethal, such as the Joker Venom that he often uses to kill his victims.

While Batman gets along well with his sidekicks Robin and Batgirl, Joker frequently abuses his sidekick Harley Quinn and has tried to kill her before, not to mention all the times he has been a Bad Boss by killing his henchmen for any reason you can think of, sometimes for no reason at all.

While Batman's backstory is well known, even by the citizens of Gotham who know of the tragedy of the rich Waynes' in Crime Alley, no one knows anything about the Joker's backstory, but most versions he tells are consistent in two things: he was a nobody, and possibly someone poor.

In most adaptations, his voice is high-pitched in contrast to Batman's Badass Baritone.

Why he went by the name the Red Hood has changed over the years: The Killing Joke claims he was a failed comedian driven to crime to support his pregnant wife. The trauma of his disfigurement from jumping in the acid and his wife's earlier accidental death drove him insane. However, even this backstory is questionable, as the Joker himself calls it "multiple choice".

In Injustice 2, an intro with Atrocitus has the Red Lantern wondering what drove the Joker to nihilism.

In the animated series, he claims to have been abused as a child when interviewed by Harley, but according to Batman, it's just another ruse to escape Arkham.

The purple suit and matching pants with either an orange and/or green shirt with a bowtie or tie, remains the definitive Joker look one that many artists and costume designers have given spin on. He is sometimes known for wearing a cool hat but other times goes hatless. Heath Ledger's custom-designed purple long-coat, trousers, blue shirt and green Waistcoat of Style with a tie has likewise become iconic and famous for its contemporary and downright stylish update on the classic look.

The original Red Hood outfit which is a black suit, white shirt, bowtie with an opera cap and a bizarre red dome is also quite famous.

The Hawaiian tourist outfit he wore in the notorious scene in The Killing Joke.

The white suit he wears in Miller's The Dark Knight Returns as well as the white nurse maid outfit with red wig in The Dark Knight is also quite notable.

The Future Joker look from Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker which went with a mime look (black body suit, slicked-back hair) is also quite distinct and unique.

The first issue of Batman with Joker's debut has him described as having "burning, hate-filled eyes" and the moniker, "the harliquin of hate".

The Man Who Laughs had Bruce dosed with a light version of the Joker Venom and he felt his perspective shift into a paranoid vengeance were he felt everyone deserved to be punished for his parent's death just for existing.

Death of the Family had Batman describe how Joker's irises are always narrow when looking at anyone but Batman and that it is usually an indication of negative feelings toward something with Bruce mentioning that his eye are the eyes of someone who hates everything he sees.

In the Justice League storyline "Rock of Ages", Martian Manhunter has to put in incredible effort to reorganize Joker's mind long enough for him to give up the cataclysmic Philosopher's Stone. The briefly sane Joker immediately says My God, What Have I Done? verbatim as he hands it back, before quickly losing his mind and going back to the laughing madman.

The famous example from the end of The Killing Joke, where Batman tries to convince him to allow Batman to rehabilitate him before their vendetta kills them. Joker considers it for a long, somber moment before quietly reflecting that they're both too far gone.

Batman: Cacophony ends with Joker being pumped full of an inhuman amount of antipsychotic drugs to keep him under control while in recovery from a near-fatal stabbing. Batman takes the opportunity to have a relatively-sane conversation with him, though it's somewhat subverted by Joker still being a homicidal sociopath even while heavily sedated.

He even gives multiple reasons on how he came Back from the Dead in Injustice 2 and will go along with whatever his opponent thinks is true, despite being Dead All Along in story mode and only appearing as a hallucination to his ex-moll.

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns sees him kill David Endochrine and Ruth Weisenheimer, who were clearly based on David Letterman and Dr. Ruth Westheimer.

During Knightfall, once he realizes that Azrael isn't Batman, his plan's gone to hell, and one too many criticisms from Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert stand-ins, he kills the stand-ins.

In one of the issues for the The Batman tie-in comic, The Batman Strikes, he terrorizes a stand-in for Conan O'Brien. This becomes darkly Hilarious in Hindsight as the real O'Brien voiced Endochrine in the animated version of Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. In the series proper, Harley's debut had the two of them terrorize a stand-in for Dr. Phil for the climax.

If you want to know how truly terrifying The Batman Who Laughs is, look no further than the way Joker acts whenever discussing him. He doesn't laugh, he doesn't smile. He becomes calm and serious and simply tells whomever he's talking to that the TBWL is "a wrong thing that shouldn't exist". Someone HAS to be scary if the very thought of him makes Joker act like a calm rational sane person.

In Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker, the clown has a massive Villainous Breakdown when Terry mocks him for his failed attempts to break Batman.

On the rare occasion Joker gets bored and leaves Gotham, expect everyone to think of him as just a silly clown, until the bodies start piling up.

One issue of the Robin Series had him talking about having Abusive Parents, only for a psychiatrist to tell him it's the seventh story he's told now.

Batman lampshades on this to Harley in the animated series, thinking it's another lie to gain sympathy.

The Killing Joke claims he was a failed comedian driven to crime to support his pregnant wife. The trauma of his disfigurement and his wife's earlier accidental death drove him mad. However, even this could be a lie, as he himself calls it "multiple choice".

It's even discussed in Injustice 2, as Atrocitus wonders what drove the Joker to nihilism. Despite only appearing as a hallucination to Harley in story mode, he spews out multiple theories for his Unexplained Recovery and will say Sure, Let's Go with That in non-canon fights. Was he resurrected by someone, or is he from another universe? Did he escape from either the Source Wall or the Phantom Zone, or is he just an apparition?

Shadow of the Bat #38, Tears of a Clown: He celebrates his anniversary of the day he was a still sane, but hapless comedian, and was thrown out of an exclusive Stand-Up Comedy club for an unfunny act the patrons mercilessly heckled. It was the last straw as he agreed to provide to his family by pulling a job for the Red Hood gang. So he kidnaps all the patrons and reenacts his act with control collars that will kill them when they laugh. Oddly enough, the patrons are hardcore Stand-Up Comedy fans, so they can't remember the number of times they've booed someone. However, even this origin story could be a lie.

It's come to be his primary disfigurement over the original skin bleaching.

In Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker, Terry McGinnis exploits this by delivering an epic Boring Insult so the clown will have a Villainous Breakdown.

King Barlowe proved to be a big one in his Thanatos Gambit in the episode "Joker's Millions" of The New Batman Adventures. In a spiteful Video Will, he gives the clown his millions, revealing in his tape that most of it was fake. Expecting the clown to splurge on it, he won't have enough to pay off the IRS, allowing Barlowe to get the "last laugh" after his death, without the Joker coming after him.

Alan Moore's "I go Loony" from The Killing Joke, an in-panel song-and-dance tune that was eventually made into an actual song belted out in Batman: The Killing Joke.

Batman: The Brave and the Bold has "Where's the Fun in That?" from the episode "Emperor Joker".

Batman: Arkham City ended with him covering The Platters' "Only You (and You Alone)", Batman: Arkham Origins had him cover Hank Williams' "Cold, Cold, Heart" and Batman: Arkham Knight had him provide an original composition, "Can't Stop Laughing".

Action Fashionista: This incarnation of the Joker has a wide variety of garish outfits for every occassion — most of them straight from the comics.

Adaptational Attractiveness: Metal teeth, lack of eyebrows, and tattoos aside, he's still being played by the youthful-looking real life Pretty Boy Jared Leto; especially since the last two cinematic Jokers were a creepy middle-aged gangster with a botched face-lift and a filthy, scarred vagrant (even the mentally unwell clown-for-hire doesn't scream Mr. Fanservice one bit). This version looks more like Marilyn Manson.

Adaptational Nice Guy: A very downplayed example. While he's otherwise the same Clown Prince of Crime we all know and love to hate, he appears to genuinely care for Harley, and even throws her out of a falling helicopter to save her life. Almost any other iteration of the Joker would do that to save his own skin or rid himself of her.

Adaptational Skimpiness: This version of the Joker tends to be shirtless a lot more than he has in any other medium. It mostly seems like an opportunity to show off his tattoos.

Adaptation Distillation: Leto's Joker seems to be less of the "evil philosopher" that Heath Ledger portrayed him as in The Dark Knight, and instead seems to be a cross between the garish, larger-than-life Mark Hamill version from the animated series and the Arkham games, and the creepy, deeply twisted Brian Azzarello version. David Ayer had also stated that he looked specifically to the Golden Age Joker for reference, providing reason for many to believe that Leto's Joker is a modern re-imagining of that incarnation.

Advertised Extra: Heavily featured in Suicide Squad promotional materials, barely appears in the film for more than seven minutes. According to Jared Leto, several of the scenes he shot were not included in the theatrical cut.

Ambiguous Disorder: In Suicide Squad, most of the time the Joker seems... not all there compared to Harley. In addition of psychopathic tendencies, the Joker has random bouts of maniacal laughter, confusion, and slurred speech-like patterns. All attributes that stem from punch-drunk syndrome. Considering he has faced Batman one too many times, it makes sense that the Joker's mental stability is finally catching up to him.

However, come Birds of Prey, they broke up, mirroring the comics where they do have an Relationship Revolving Door. It appears to stick, as Harley publicly calls it quits between the two of them.

His tattoos are very reminiscent of the Joker in All Star Batman and Robin.

Ax-Crazy: Like all the incarnations before him, calling him a violent psychopath is one of the biggest understatements you can make.

Bedlam House: Spent some time at Arkham Asylum, where he met Harley. Then he broke free from it with the help of both Harley and his gang.

Chewing the Scenery: An important part of the character is his theatricality.

Cool Car: A bright purple sports car with underglow lights and a "HAHAHA" license plate.

Dented Iron: It's subtle, but the numerous scars on his body and metal replacement teeth in his mouth are clear signs that his frequent run-ins with Batman are taking their toll.

Disney Death: He seemingly dies in the crash of his helicopter... only to come back to free Harley from her high security prison at the end of Suicide Squad.

The Dreaded: In true Joker fashion, everyone is terrified of him.

Establishing Character Moment: One that takes place before he even makes his official debut in the setting - he killed Robin (a minor) and vandalized his outfit to mock Batman over his inability to save him.

Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Insofar as much as the Joker can love anyone, anyway, but he does seem to genuinely care about Harley. Eventually, subverted.

Evil Has a Bad Sense of Humor: He considers the brutal murder of a minor as a joke he played on Batman. When he's torturing Harleen Quinzel, he promises not to shatter her well-kept teeth while flashing his own hideous metal dentures. When Harleen later has him at gunpoint, Joker just says "please don't kill me, I'll be ya friend" in a snarky tone.

Evil Is Hammy: It's not The Joker if he's not Chewing the Scenery. And, sure enough, he does.

Evil Is Petty: The graffiti on Robin's costume seems to imply that Joker murdered him just to prod at Batman. It is confirmed in Suicide Squad that Joker and Harley killed him.

Evil Laugh: It's kind of his thing. One notable example is when he chuckles while surrounded by an arsenal of weapons.

Fake Shemp: Indie rocker Johnny Goth stood in for Jared Leto in Birds of Prey, in the flashback where he and Harley torture and tattoo the big mafia thug Harley later bumps back into.

Foil: To Batman as usual, but with some new additions. After 20 years, Batman became more jaded and cruel, while the Joker somewhat mellowed out and his criminal activity became more professional. Batman didn't settle down until the death of Superman while the Joker grew attached to Harley Quinn.

In Suicide Squad Griggs' smug indifference about his gambling debt immediately becomes pure terror when he realizes the Joker has gotten involved.

He is so feared that even the likes of Black Mask would rather steer clear of him. Harley's enemies only start gunning for her in Birds of Prey when it's become clear that she's no longer with him.

G-Y

The Ghost:

There is an allusion to him in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice ("HA HA HA Joke's On You, Batman" painted across the chest of the dead Robin's empty suit in the Batcave), but he doesn't actually appear.

He gets mentioned a lot in Birds of Prey, but he's only seen very briefly in some flashbacks, always from the back (including footage from Suicide Squad). There is a whole Deleted Scene where he and Harley have a domestic dispute. Harley leaves the house through the window and the Joker throws her stuffed beaver out through the window. In the film proper, she's just kicked out of the house, with no shot of Mr. J.

Greater-Scope Villain: His role in Batman v Superman. Despite not actually appearing his murder of Robin by this point has driven Batman down a darker, more vengeful path that goes against Batman's traditional moral code; the one that the Joker is always trying to prove is wrong. Batman's rage towards Superman blinds him to the possibility of Lex Luthor being the real threat long enough for Superman to die fighting Doomsday. In a way the Joker's actions contributed to Batman's failure.

Guttural Growler: This Joker is noticeably more snarly than previous incarnations.

Handshake Refusal: He doesn't like to shake hands, as Monster T finds out.

Hell-Bent for Leather: Wears a purple crocodile skin duster at some point in the film.

Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: Despite being a homicidal sociopath, he seems to truly love his girlfriend Harley Quinn. Then in Birds Of Prey, he coldly and violently breaks up with her.

Joker Immunity: He appears to die when his helicopter is shot down about halfway through Suicide Squad. To absolutely no one's surprise, he shows up alive and well in the final scene. It helps that he's the Trope Namer.

Knife Nut: And by God, does he have enough blades.◊

Lean and Mean: This Joker, while muscular, is quite lean, especially compared to the heavily muscled Batman.

Love Epiphany: Well, "love" is pushing it, but Joker realizes his affections for Harley when she dives in the chemical bath that ultimately turned Joker into what he is. Symbolic in the sense she was agreeing to join him in madness. Further adding to the complexity of the scene; Joker was tying up a loose end, having used Harley to escape from Arkham. He lead her to her demise and intended to leave her for death but at the same moment realized she had entered his world and his madness. Joker never anticipated the amount of utter devotion Harley would have for him, something inside him just couldn't walk away from her, so he jumped in to save her.

Manipulative Bastard: He manipulated Harley into helping him escape Arkham because she fell in love with him. When she served her purpose, he would have had her kill herself jumping into a bath of chemicals to prove her feelings. He instead saves her from this demise because he has a Love Epiphany in the moment.

Monster Clown: Like the previous film versions, Joker is an Ax-Crazy criminal with clownish makeup. Green hair notwithsanding, his white makeup, red lipstick and absence of facial scars make him look closer to a mime than his predecessors.

Noble Demon: In Suicide Squad, his whole motivation is to rescue Harley Quinn. His commitment is so strong he doesn't even waste time with pranks or petty acts of cruelty. Everything he does is for someone else.

Only Known By His Nickname: He's only known as The Joker, or "J" / "Mr. J".

Outlaw Couple: He and Harley Quinn are lovers and partners in crime.

Sadist: Even though there was only a few select scenes of him, one of them is him torturing Harley. It's disturbingly obvious that he is positively gleeful over it. And he doesn't seem to have lost any sleep over murdering Robin, either.

Pet the Dog: David Ayer confirms that while he did push Harley out of the falling helicopter, his intent was in fact to save her life.

Satellite Love Interest: To Harley Quinn in Suicide Squad. His characterization revolves entirely around Harley, not even getting involved with the main plot.

Scary Teeth: Several of his teeth are made of metal. According to David Ayer, Batman punched his teeth out after he killed Robin, leading him to replace them with metal teeth.

Screw This, I'm Outta Here!: Although he has a presence at the start of the film, The Joker appears to have left Gotham City to be controlled by Black Mask in Birds of Prey, with Roman saying that Joker has already skipped town.

The Sociopath: He's chaotic and remorseless, much like his previous versions. Special mention goes to his murder of Robin, which he topped off by spray-painting a cruel taunt for Batman onto the boy's costume.

Tattooed Crook: His torso is covered in jester-themed tattoos. He also has a few on his arms and face.

Villain of Another Story: He mainly appeared in Suicide Squad, but his biggest act of villainy to date — killing Robin — happened some years before Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, in which he doesn't appear. The spray-painted message on Robin's empty suit ("Ah ah ah joke's on you Batman!") in the latter film can't be anything else than his doing.

Where Does He Get All Those Wonderful Toys?: Is seen with a rather impressive arsenal of guns and knives. And even says to warden Griggs, at some point, "I can't wait to show you my toys." note Notably, he manages to hijack the gunship which was sent to extract Waller and the squad so he can rescue Harley.

Would Hit a Girl: In the past, the Joker electroshocks and manipulates Dr. Harleen Quinzel into allowing her to fall into a vat of chemicals, in order to become Harley Quinn.

Would Hurt a Child: He killed Batman's sidekick, Robin, while the boy was an underage minor.

You Gotta Have Blue Hair: His hair is bright green.

"Knightmare" Joker

"You won't kill me. I'm your best friend..." Appearances:

Zack Snyder's Justice League

"You need me. You... need me... to help you undo this world you created, by letting her die."

The Joker meets up once more with Batman in the nightmarish alternate future where Darkseid has conquered the Earth and Superman turned evil. But things aren't the same anymore between the two legendary foes.

See also the Knightmare page for more on that setting's characters.

Break Them by Talking: He deliberately tries to agitate Batman by reminding him of how many people have died on his watch.

Cop Killer: He wears a bulletproof vest with at least two dozens police badges on it. Whether these were good cops killed prior to the apocalypse or servants of the oppressive regime of Superman after the apocalypse is not detailed.

Costume Evolution: He has ditched his garish gangster suits for what looks like either a medical gown or a butcher gown, complete with orange gloves and a bulletproof vest with a dozen police badges pinned on it. He got rid of his "Damaged" forehead tattoo, let his hair grow and put red makeup around his mouth, looking closer to more common depictions of the character.

Enemy Mine: He and Batman had the worst kind of enmity imaginable, but the Earth being conquered by Darkseid is enough of a Conflict Killer for them to call a truce and work together to try undoing this mess.

Evil Has a Bad Sense of Humor: He utters the line "We live in a society" while gazing upon the devastated landscape in the trailer. This is clearly a Meme Acknowledgement, and it's quite awkwardly used given the context (is there really any society left in this post-apocalyptic world?). It doesn't appear in the actual film, however. The line was improvised by Leto.

Evil Laugh: Even with the world being in such a sorry state and him still being sane enough to acknowledge how bad the situation is, he'll still let some laughs out, even though they sound more subdued than ever.

Evil Versus Oblivion: Even he sees the necessity of teaming up with Batman to try undoing what Darkseid did to Earth.

Future Badass: He survived the apocalypse brought upon Earth by Darkseid and looks like he's geared for guerilla actions.

My Card: He gives a Joker card to Batman as a symbol of their truce. Shall the Dark Knight want to break that truce, he'd just have to tear that card up. The card could be seen strapped on Batman's assault rifle in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

Nice Job Breaking It, Hero!: Joker gets a high reminding Batman how costly his mistakes in the past have been.

The Nicknamer: He nicknames Mera "my little fish stick" and Robin "Boy Wonder".

Progressively Prettier: Despite being worse for wear, this Joker is arguably even better looking than his previous appearance, with his over-the-top tattooed gangster image toned down and his androgyny played up. Ironically, this version also more closely resembles the Heath Ledger incarnation.

Thousand-Yard Stare: He has such a stare when looking at the devastated horizon as he starts talking to Batman.

Villain Has a Point: While he’s the one who killed Robin, he gives Batman a minor What the Hell, Hero? for sending “a Boy Wonder to do a man’s job.”

Vocal Evolution: His voice is much softer and higher pitched than it was in Suicide Squad.

#TheJokerInformation

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the-ghost-and-the-writer · 5 years ago

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Marked by the Black Widow-Natasha Romanoff X Female Reader

While Natasha was on a mission, you decided to get a tattoo. Now she’s back but you forgot to tell her about it. She evidently ends up seeing it and she likes it more than you expected

Requested

18+

Fandom: Marvel

Ship: Natasha Romanoff/Female Reader

Characters: Natasha Romanoff, Female Reader

Word Count: 3157

Warnings: NSFW, Swearing

NSFW Content: F/F Sex (Oral, 69)

Natasha has been back a week, from a near four month stint undercover with (of course) no contact, so you’re obviously going to be a little selfish with your time with her; the second that you can, you’re dragging her away from the Avengers tower and to a café just a few minutes from your place.

It’s almost a miracle that you can get away from them at all. As much as you like hanging out with the team, the two of you have barely had a minute alone. She seems just as eager to spend time with you, with how seemingly unwilling she is to let go of your hand until you sit down. Even then, every so often she reaches over and squeezes your hand ever so softly or plays with your fingers as she talks. You barely talk about anything significant. She can’t divulge anything about the mission but you know that enough already so you try to avoid asking anything that could include much redacted information. The things she can’t tell you, that she tells you she can’t tell you, just leave you more confused and worried over what happened. But at least she came back unharmed this time.

It starts raining just as you and Natasha are getting ready to leave the café, so you both decide on just one more drink and hope it might calm down by the time you finish up. As it turns out, something is just purely insistent on fucking you over because the rain doesn’t stop; it gets harsher if anything and almost starts to sound like bullets “At this rate, we’ll be here for another half an hour.” Natasha laughs a little. Your pout only causes that laugh to brighten and strengthen, a sound that never fails to make you smile at least faintly. “It’s not funny, I want to go home.” Natasha sighs and, with a look to you that tells you everything and that you obviously oppose, you both decide to brave it and set off running to your place since it’s closer than both the Avengers tower and the little apartment Natasha has hidden for when she wants some space. By the time you get home, you’re both totally soaked through.

You shudder violently as you close the door behind you, toeing your shoes off and shedding your highly inefficient jacket and dropping it haphazardly to be dealt with later, before you hurry to get two towels. Natasha, for an assassin, isn’t really fast enough to avoid a towel to the face that you throw to her but she doesn’t do more than squawk in indignation at the first impact before she actually starts drying herself off “You can borrow one of my shirts.” You call as you walk only just into your room, already shedding your shirt on the way. As you drop it in the hamper by the door with one hand, you use the other to shuffle your trousers down your hips and thighs. Natasha actually almost bumps into you as you struggle the clinging fabric off. She laughs softly, holding your hips so you don’t tumble over as she shuffles into the room around you. “Why stop in the middle of the doorway?” She sighs fondly as she starts to undress. Her shirt is balled up and thrown so casually into the hamper that you smile a little to yourself. You eventually get untangled and stripped down to your underwear. You’re passing Natasha to get two large shirts from your closet when she reaches out and grabs your waist to stop you. You turn to her quickly, just to see that her brows are furrowed and her eyes are trained on a spot just below her hand, at your hip. You look down too. “Ah. Right.”

The edge of the new tattoo stands out quite obviously, however simple it is, from the waistband of your panties. Natasha moves the fabric down further so that it’s fully exposed to her gaze. A black widow spider, barely even four centimetres either way, just resting there on a small web. You’d gotten it impulsively, while very badly missing her, about a week and a half after she left but you’d been thinking about it for a while before so you generally knew it wasn’t something you’d regret. Still, you can’t help feeling a little nervous as Natasha ghosts the pad of her thumb across the drawing. You shift a little on your feet, clearing your throat after a few seconds “So. Do you like it?” “It’s nice. Cute. Very familiar, as well.” She looks up from it, into your eyes, with a small smile that makes you laugh, though part of it is nervousness “When did this happen?” You shrug slightly. “Few months ago. It just…felt right. It’s not weird, is it?” Her smile only brightens and she shakes her head fondly. “Not weird at all. You’re so sweet.” Her free hand comes up to cup your cheek “I love you.” She’s said it before, you both have, but it still makes you a little giddy to hear it. You barely have the time to even fully smile in response, let alone take a breath to speak, before she kisses you gently. Far from the first kiss you’ve had since she got back, not even the first of the day, but it’s the first that won’t be interrupted or have to be kept chaste. That fact seems to quickly add to the embrace.

In almost the blink of an eye, the two of you are on the bed, side by side. Her hands trail up and down your sides slowly, making goosebumps rise across your skin along the path that Natasha’s fingers take, while your own hands grip at her hips quite tightly. It takes a second for you to break the kiss. Not just because part of you wants to keep on kissing her for as long as everything will allow, but Natasha also seems to want your lips against hers just as much, to the point that you barely are apart for a second before she pulls you in again. When you finally manage to part from her, it’s with a soft laugh as you dodge another kiss. Your fingers fly to the button of her jeans and, in a second, you're working the waistband down her hips. You slide off the bed and tug them off, throwing them to the side without a second thought so you can get between her legs.

You indulge yourself with a deep kiss yet again before moving your attention to her neck. Natasha sighs almost contentedly at the soft kisses you start to trail down her neck and her chest; her hands come to rest against the back of your head when your lips come to her covered breasts. You cover what's exposed to you in gentle kisses as your fingers trace across the fabric, only pausing for a second when you realise that it's a front clasp. It only takes seconds to undo the clasp and expose her to your gaze and touch. Usually you'd lean back and indulge your eyes before your hands to see what you'd seen from her a few dozen times before but, with how long it's been and how impatient you suddenly find yourself, you instead let your hands take the lead and grip her breasts softly. You eagerly spatter slow kisses across one breast, avoiding the slowly stiffening peak of her nipple purposefully before moving to give the same attention to her other breast. Natasha hums softly as she arches her back a little as though begging for more of your touch. "Baby." She breathes as her eyes close gently, her nails ever so slightly scratching your scalp. Her other hand is at her side, curling the bedsheet around her fingers. Your kisses gradually spiral closer and closer and you move just a little to see her face as you press your tongue flat against her nipple. The whine that you drag from her makes you smile slightly as you slowly flick your tongue upwards and into your mouth, ducking down to replace that touch by taking the hard bud between your lips. The barely audible curse from Natasha, almost growled out from deep in her chest, makes you shudder.

You spend a little more time sucking and teasing at her breast, giving equal devotion to both, then start to shift yourself downwards and stroke your hands down her sides as you go. Just before your hands are at her hips, your wrist is caught tightly and your head shoots up to meet Natasha's gaze "Come here." She says before pulling you back up, back on top of her. She kisses you the instant she can, like she needs you in order to breathe, before she undoes your own bra and casts it away. Her hands at your shoulder and hip guide the two of you until your positions are flipped so you're on your back below her. Her hands move to your chest, so she can give you the same attention as you gave her; pinching your nipples softly and slowly stroking her fingertips across them as they start to harden under her ministrations.

With how her body is pressed against yours, you're tempted to coil your leg around hers and rut yourself against her thigh to release some of the almost unbearable need that was pooling between your legs. It had been too long without her touch and, though you had been teasing her and building her pleasure up, to have the roles reserved on you was bringing the entire four months of missing her in this way come flooding back. You explore her body with your hands as much as you can, sliding past the thin barrier of her panties to gently grip her ass and very lightly squeeze. Natasha can't seem to help the little laugh that escapes her at your actions "What?" You ask with your own slight laugh. "Nothing. Nothing. I just, wasn't expecting you to do that." "Why not? You've got a beautiful butt." Emphasising it with a more purposeful squeeze that just makes her giggle. "Stop." She says with a shake of her head, pushing at your hands quite halfheartedly but you just pull her hips closer instead and arch up against her. She groans gently at the sudden friction, as her head drops against your shoulder. "Everything about you is gorgeous, baby. I just like to touch." The mood instantly switches back, as quickly as it had before, as she continues her touches to your breasts, rolling her hips ever so slightly against your thigh.

She shifts back and starts to work your underwear down your body gradually, kissing the little ink drawing on your hip. You lie back and let her, for now, but the second that she drops the fabric to the side and has crawled back up the bed to you, you've quickly pulled her up higher and tugged her panties down as far as you can without her help. Nat practically giggles at your enthusiasm as she finishes what you started and leaves the two of you fully bare to the room. She sits back and does what you skipped over, looking across your body laid out for her, before you let out a needy whine "Baby. come back up here." In a second, she complies. Her lips land on your neck, where she instantly set at putting a mark in a spot that would be tricky to conceal without a good five minutes of effort and makeup, if you even wanted to hide it. Your hand finds its way between her thighs and she moans against your neck at the first touch of your fingers. She's almost dripping onto your fingers already, rocking her hips as you rub slack figure-eights against her clit. The movement of her thigh between your legs is almost perfect, bringing you almost embarrassingly closer and closer to the edge with each passing motion "Fuck." You moan as she decides to bring a hand up to your breast and tease your nipple "I want to taste you, 'Tasha. Please. Sit on my face." Natasha crawls up your body without a second of hesitation and straddles your head . Before you can reach up and pull her down onto your face, she strokes her hand across your hair, almost petting you. Her head falls back when you curl your arms around her thighs and suddenly pull her down against your lips.

Your eyes slide closed at the first taste of her as you greedily set your tongue to lap at her entrance, chasing her wetness with every motion. When you start to probe your tongue at her entrance, she breathes out deep moans and almost mewls, but you pull back just before you can slip the tip into her cunt, instead turning your attention to kissing her thighs or pressing your tongue flat against her and feeling her clench desperately around nothing. Almost smugly, you keep up the pattern until she takes a hold of your hair and starts to slowly rock her hips against you. Even then you take another moment before pushing your tongue into her. At the same time, you unwrap one arm from her thigh and start rubbing the pad of your thumb across her clit. The duel sensation makes Natasha whine and drop her head down so she can look at you. "Oh, you're amazing." She sighs, almost a whisper that you'd miss if you weren't paying extra attention to her noises. You press your thighs together and shift your hips, desperate for any friction you can get, and Natasha obviously notices.

She's close, and you can tell that she is so you try to double your efforts to bring her right to the edge. However, she moves your hands from her body and lifts herself away from you. You whine and pout when she looks at you, which makes her laugh "Why are we stopping?" You sigh as you prop yourself up on your elbows. "We're not stopping, don't worry." She smiles as she bends down to kiss you again, not minding the taste of herself on your tongue "I just wanted to turn around." She places her hand on your chest and gently pushes you down onto the bed again. Facing away from you, she straddles your face again and you don't even take a second to continue eating her out like she's all you need. She strokes one hand down your stomach, again getting somewhat distracted by your tattoo and swirling circles across it with her index finger. After a second, and your tongue pressing harshly to her clit knocking her from whatever train of thought she was lost on, she carries on her path down your body. until she reaches your legs. She parts them slowly and exposes your pussy to her gaze.

Two of her fingers stroke across your clit, going even further down almost to your entrance before she spreads them and parts your lips. Biting her bottom lip, she lowers herself until her chest is pressed totally against you and her lips are practically against your clit. A hot focused breath from her makes your toes curl and your pussy clench in anticipation. You try to keep your attention to pleasing Natasha, your tongue spiralling around her clit as you push two fingers into her and curl just across her sweet-spot , but you can't help the slight stutter in your actions when Natasha closes her lips around your clit. Your moan is muffled against her body, your eyes rolling back in your head behind your closed eyelids, and you can't keep yourself from arching into her touch. You feel more than hear her returned chuckle as her hands come to your hips to keep you in place. It's been so long since you had more than just her voice, from the videos and messages she'd left you, that you quite easily lose yourself in her. Everything, her taste, her touch, the feel of her so firmly against your body, the soft breaths and muffled noises of pleasure that you coax from her, your world narrowing even further so that you barely hear the rain hitting the window in favour of only wanting to hear her gasp as you suck on her clit and thrust your fingers into her cunt.

She only moves away from pleasing you when she's right on the edge. Her forehead falls to your thigh and she again starts to rock her hips against your face "That's it." She whispers against your thigh "I'm so close, baby, I'm going to cum." She presses her fingers to your clit, clumsily trying to bring you to height the pleasure before she cums. You can feel her holding back, trying to pull away a little. Almost embarrassingly soon, you're also at the edge, and that's when she finally lets go. She whines your name, so only the two of you can hear it, and bucks against your tongue and your fingers. It's the taste of her release that triggers your own and you pull her hips even closer to you, to the point you can barely breathe.

Natasha, when the two of you have come down a little, slowly lifts herself away from you and manages to collapse beside you breathlessly. She curls up into your side and sighs as she wraps her arms around you. You return the embrace without thinking, nuzzling against her hair "I missed you." You say softly. One of her hands falls to your hips and she strokes her thumb across the little spider resting there. "I can tell." She smiles "Maybe I should get one too." "Wouldn't that be a little on the nose? Black Widow with a tattoo of her own animal?" "I didn't mean like that. I mean one that represents you. Something so I can have you with me all the time." "When did you get so soft?" You laugh as you kiss her, though the teasing doesn't have as much impact with how flustered you evidently are at the idea. "I think that you, of all people, would know that." She kisses you again, sighing happily even when you pull away.

"Shower?" You ask after a second of silence. She seems to tune in to the world around the two of you again; the wet clothes left on the floor, the slight trace of rain still in her hair, the sweat that is starting to become uncomfortable on her skin. She sighs and then nods. "Only if you're coming with me." "Of course I am." You kiss her forehead, but neither of you make a move to get up or even untangle from each other. Not for another minute, at least.

#Marvel #natasha romanoff #natasha romanoff x reader #fanfiction #Female reader #reader fic #lemon #fluff #lemon with plot #lgbtq #swearing #tattoos #request fill #f/f #Admin-Hannah #>3000 words #<3500 words

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margridarnauds · 4 years ago

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So, I’m trying to articulate my thoughts on Valhalla and gender, which is sparked by the fact that, while Lagertha is prominently mentioned as the mother of the Ragnarssons (and you can find her axe), we never hear so much as a word about Aslaug/Thora, who is pretty much the real protagonist of Ragnar’s saga.

On one hand: Lagertha is pretty much at a high of popularity right now, courtesy of Vikings (derogatory). On the other hand: Aslaug is in Vikings (derogatory) too. We see her AS THE MOTHER of most of Ragnar’s sons. There’s no reason for her NOT to be recognizable enough to be included. (Lagertha’s inclusion is also problematic - Instead of being able to divorce Ragnar and have her own life, they went the cheap route by having her being shot by a Finnish arrow.) But, at the end of the day.....it feels like, while Valhalla DOES include a diverse range of women (including our protagonist), ultimately there is....some sort of hierarchy involved, where women who fight, or at least wield weapons are automatically seen as better?

Of our two longterm romantic interests, neither one wears a dress, both of them in traditionally masculine clothing, likewise for Ciara in WOTD. With Randvi, we’re first really invited to pity her/consider her as a really viable romantic option when we hear that she COULD have been a Jomsviking....had she not been married off to Sigurd. We see her taking down bandits, drinking ale, and we’re supposed to think, at that point, that she’s a worthy love interest.

There’s this rather confusing line from the artbook, which says:

“As a strategist, Randvi does not dress in a warrior’s outfit, but neither does she wear the typical women’s clothing of her time.”

Which...seems to imply that being a strategist (a role that primarily involves her being behind a table), is automatically at odds with wearing a dress. Even if 9th century Scandinavian clothing was restrictive (it isn’t - We’re well, well before the days of tightlacing here, and women had to be able to go about their daily chores, and even IN the days of tightlacing as the peak of fashion, plenty of women didn’t, or went about their daily chores), she’s not doing anything that involves intense manual labor. Putting her in pants is simply a way of saying “Look! Look at Randvi! Look at how independent she is!” which....actually doesn’t work, when almost EVERY OTHER major female NPC is ALSO in pants. Including Valka who, as a völva, ergo a non-combatant role that mostly involves eating shrooms in her huts, has no practical need for pants, even if, once again, the clothing was impractical. If I didn’t know What A 9th Century Norsewoman Should Look Like, I would just assume that this was something that all noblewomen did.

It’s very rare to see women actively weaving, as I’ve discussed before, with Eivor only weaving as one of the disguises that she can take to blend in. As a shieldmaiden who’s up and about constantly, I honestly wouldn’t expect Eivor to devote that much time to weaving, but it is a little jarring when the women who are constantly at the settlement don’t so much as mention it, since this was a great opportunity for women to get together, share gossip, tell tales, talk shit about the men, etc. in their own spaces. And there was a bit of an anxiety around it, because, while this was a necessary function for the creation of clothing (which, in the game, seems to just materialize in chests over the game world), it also was tightly associated with magic and sorcery. (Hence why there was a stigma against men practicing magic....unless you’re Odin, in which case Loki will talk shit about you but is anyone else? No. Because you’re Odin.) I want to emphasize that my issue here isn’t “STAY IN THE KITCHEN AND BE A PROPER WOMAN, EIVOR”, it’s more....erasing what the vast majority of women in the Viking Age DID.

The closest we get to more traditional, more conventional women would be in the form of the religious women, but, from the Anchoress to the one murderous nun in the mysteries event to Frideswid in the Lunden Arc to Acha in the Lincolnscire arc, they tend to be portrayed as either zealous and evil or confused and easily manipulated, which ignores the reality for many medieval women, which is that, for many women who didn’t want marriage for one reason or another (whether it was that they were facing the possibility of a forced marriage, or they had no dowry, or they were lesbians, or they were ace, or they were any combination of those things), it was their one chance at a life of their own. I’m not saying that it was IDEAL, or that the medieval church was ideal, but it did give them options (that, incidentally, in the pre-Christian times....you didn’t have. Which is why I don’t attach any real sense of horror to Christianity coming to Ireland, at LEAST from the standpoint of women’s rights. There are other aspects to that, but we’re here, in 9th century England, so I won’t go into it.) No, it has to come from some moral defect, otherwise, they would be independent, like Eivor, like Randvi, like Petra, like Eadwyn, like Valdis, or even like Fulke, who is a religious figure referenced, extensively, as mad and heretical, but who makes a large impact on the plot and at least earns some level of respect, as opposed to the others who make relatively brief appearances.

Now, when discussing women warriors, there tends to be some moral value attached to it: “Women warriors DIDN’T EXIST, and if you argue that they DID, you just want women to be men, ignoring that non-femme women might find comfort in the knowledge that they aren’t alone”, often with a sense of moral guilt-tripping over “Erasing women’s suffering” (which also falls into the trap of assuming that being a woman = suffering, or that that’s the defining experience of being a woman) VS “Women warriors EXISTED and they were #NotLikeOtherGirls and that’s ALL we’re going to talk about as far as women at the time, as well as ignoring any potential evidence for trans or otherwise nonbinary identities”. Both options have the potential to erase or diminish what either option can mean to people. I hate both options equally, and I find that the way they’re brought in is incredibly manipulative. I’m not interested in saying that putting an axe in a woman’s hand = setting back feminism for twenty years. I’m not interested in saying that having essentially no more conventional women in the main cast = feminism. Both are bad, but what I’m concerned about is the lack of nuance in Valhalla and how it seems to assume that there’s ONLY ONE WAY to have power. (I’d hoped that Lady Eadwyn would be cool, and she is....even though we only see her in armor, she’s kind of what I would expect from a medieval woman, in the sense that her husband was Ealdorman and now she’s following in his footsteps, defending her rights as his widow, but then we replace her with a dude.)

As someone whose relationship to gender is Weird, I actually really, really enjoy playing a female character who has the kind of independence that Eivor has - I enjoy getting to jump around, killing things in a gloriously rendered historical environment. I enjoy that, with the exception of Dag, no one really questions it (though I would have been down for a more in-depth examination of gender in the Viking Age). I enjoy that Eivor is compassionate, clever, and aggressive, and that she’s able to have romances with both sexes. I’m not trying to nuke her via historical accuracy here (especially since the historical reality of shieldmaidens is SUCH a hot topic, I feel like wading into either end of the historical accuracy pool is a recipe for disaster) because I actually really, really like her as a character. There are relatively few times where I really, really identify with and love a main female video game character, especially since, so often, even into the present, when things are supposed to be better, I can still TELL that they were made by and for straight men, and this is one. What I AM saying is that I hate that it comes at the expense of basically every woman who ISN’T a warrior or otherwise “independent” by the game’s standards. You do have merchant women, the tattoo artist in camp, Valka, as mentioned before, but it all goes back to that point - We never really see a prominent woman running the household, managing the money, giving orders, which was an immensely important, powerful job, and as a result, it always feels kind of halfway done, that we’re over-representing one relationship to gender at the expense of another.

#playing valhalla #long post

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dvp95 · 5 years ago

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quiet on widow’s peak (14)

pairing: dan howell/phil lester, pj liguori/sophie newton/chris kendall rating: teen & up tags: paranormal investigator, mystery, online friendship, slow burn, strangers to lovers, nonbinary character, trans character, background poly, phil does some buzzfeed unsolved shit and dan is a fan word count: 3.4k (this chapter), 46.4k (total) summary: Phil’s got a list of paranormal experiences a mile long that he likes to share with the world. Abandoned buildings, cemeteries, and ghost stories have always called his name, and a particular fan of his has a really, really good ghost story.

read this chapter on ao3 or here!

"You're Martyn's brother, right?"

"Martyn is my brother," Phil corrects her, doing his best to keep a straight face. He's never met the teenager, but she'd been happy enough to get on Skype with him for his last-ditch attempt at getting some information that isn't useless. He's really running out of ideas, and he isn't sure how much longer he can stretch this case out. "And you're Frankie's sister."

"Frankie is my sister," she repeats. Her grin is wide, her teeth straight and lips painted a dark pink. Phil wonders how that colour would look on Dan.

Great. He'd managed a whole thirteen minutes of coordinating this Skype call without thinking about Dan. It's a new record at this point, and all it took to break it was the memory of how pretty Dan looked with lip stuff on.

"I'm going to start recording now," he says, getting his various windows all sorted before pressing the big red button on his software. "Can you state your name and connection to the case for us?"

"Sure. I'm Val and I'm one of the people responsible for the sigils in the Wilkins place attic."

Phil freezes. He hadn't known that. Val had simply confirmed that she and her friends had gotten in trouble for trespassing in September, and now Phil feels like an unprepared idiot for not seeing how connected she was to the mystery before he hit call. He wonders what Dan would say about that.

He checks the time again. Definitely less than thirteen minutes that time.

"Will you tell us a bit about sigils in your own words?" Phil asks. Maybe if he keeps her talking, he’ll have time to lasso his wandering mind back into place. "I've done my own research, of course, but I think it can be useful to hear it from someone who knows what they're talking about, y'know? Plus," he adds, giving her a conspiratory sort of smile, "then I can use your voiceover instead of recording one myself."

Val laughs and launches into a Sigils For Dummies explanation that Phil does his best not to interrupt. He asks some leading questions and mentions his own hit or miss experience with taking sigils into the house. For a teenager, she's surprisingly eloquent. Moreso than Phil is, anyway.

They talk a bit about the Wilkins place the way he had with the other people he's interviewed, because he's fairly certain that Val's testimony will be the only one that he actually ends up using for his video. He doesn't let himself feel any creeping sense of hope, though. She could still have nothing aside from some fun backstory, and this whole investigation could still be a failure.

Not just the investigation, either. Phil doesn't like to conflate his own worth with the content he produces, because there are always going to be people who are unhappy with what he does - including himself, more and more lately - and he can't be worrying about his future every time a video doesn't pan out the way he wants it to. Something about this case is making him feel that in a way he tries very hard not to on others. Maybe it's how close it is to home, quite literally, or just how helpless he'd felt while waiting for his friends to wake up.

This investigation could still be a failure, and so could Phil. He can't deny how entwined those are right now.

Phil knows he shouldn't be basing his decisions on something as volatile as a single YouTube video, not when he's usually comfortable posting anything that's entertaining, but he feels like the tide is coming in and he's going to get swept away unless he moves somewhere.

"So, back to your sigils specifically," says Phil. He's supposed to be taking notes or something, probably, but instead he's just doodling some half-assed sigils of his own.

"Yes. We heard about all the incidences and, while we were pretty sure that not everything going around was true, my friends and I wanted to check in and make sure. We did a couple of different rituals first, cleansing the space and trying to see if we could find the presence, but..." Val went quiet for a long moment. "Well. I don't know what exactly was in there, but there was something."

"What makes you so sure?" Phil asks quietly.

"Well, you can feel it," she says. She runs her hands over her own forearms, like she's a mime pretending to be cold. "Goosepimples. Hair on the back of your neck standing up. You keep wanting to turn around, but nothing is looking back at you from the darkness."

Phil keeps his own input rather impartial in interviews. There's no real reason to alert anyone to his own opinions on what might be going on - that's what the wrap-up is for.

So instead of telling Val that he felt everything she's talking about, he simply asks, "Is that all?"

"No," says Val. "No, the rituals we tried to do... it didn't work, Phil. And I know you might be thinking that rituals aren't supposed to work or that magic isn't real or something, but it's not just that nothing happened. It's that... it was like something was messing with them on purpose. My candles kept blowing out even though there wasn't a draught and Sammy's sage bundle just... disappeared. It really scared us, to be honest."

"Why didn't you just leave the place alone from then on?"

"We knew people weren't going to stop partying there," she says. "And that's... a choice, I guess. But we wanted to help if we could, so..."

"So you put the sigils on the floor," he says when she can only finish with a vague gesture. "I know that you can't tell me their exact meanings or anything, since you don't know them anymore, but can you give me a general gist of what you guys were trying to do?"

"Sure, yeah," she says, shifting around like she's getting comfortable in her chair. Phil can see an incense burner on her desk next to a perilous-looking stack of books, and he wishes he could light a candle or something. His room, and his parents' whole house really, has been smelling like nothing but cleaning supplies since he got here. "We took different roles, kind of? I focus on minor protection most of the time, so it was my job to make sigils that would sort of protect innocent people from coming into contact with whatever the entity was, while Sammy is more about healing and cleansing - she was trying to heal the house, I think. We tried not to talk about them in detail so we didn't fuck each other's things up, because the whole thing felt a bit too high-stakes for that."

Phil doesn't know nearly enough about sigils to know whether or not the ones in the attic were helpful or harmful, but he's glad he didn't have to talk to a bunch of teenagers trying to summon a demon or anything. For the second time this year.

"That's really good of you to try," Phil says with a little smile. He's trying to figure out exactly how he should play this one. "And you covered a good amount of the floor."

"Of course, that's when the cops got called," Val grins back.

"That's when the cops always get called," he says.

He's got a handful of other questions for her, but Val doesn't actually know much more about the Wilkins place that she hasn't already told him, and he doesn't want a lesson on protection magic today. She says that he can email her when the video is up, and to send her any other interesting magic cases he comes across in the future.

The future. Phil is trying not to think about that too much right now. He promises, anyway, and ends the call on a fairly light note.

He's got more of an idea how he wants this video to look, now that he's gotten one of the small mysteries solved. He exports the video and audio from the call separately, knowing he's going to use a good chunk of Val's answers as narration over the surviving footage. Not that he has much of that - just the tour of the house that he and his friends had gotten the first night and some more dark corners in VHS and Polaroid form. He knows that he can make a video out of what he's got.

The problem is that he also knows it won't be good enough.

Sure, it might be good enough for his audience - most of them, anyway, since he's got a pretty stubborn set of fans - but it isn't good enough for Phil.

His suspicion is confirmed after a couple more hours of cobbling together what survived into a rough edit, which he sends off to PJ. After a moment of thought, he adds a final line to the email.

P.S. I know you already told me that you aren't a gender guru and that was really funny and everything and I don't expect you to like educate me or whatever, but why do things get so effing complicated with it????? Like I had myself figured out and now I don't, and that sucks.

PJ calls him a little after dinner, lulling Phil into a false sense of security with questions and comments and suggestions about the video. Phil has almost forgotten about the postscript entirely, but then PJ cheerfully says, "So you're an idiot, huh?"

"Yeah," says Phil. "Wait, why?"

"What's so complicated about gender for you?" PJ asks, and Phil wishes he'd never answered the phone. "Are you questioning?"

"You know that I'm not," says Phil, rolling his eyes.

They've known each other for years, and PJ is his best friend, and there is no way in hell that he doesn't know exactly why Phil is Googling words he'd only ever thought about in passing before. He can practically hear PJ's smirk. He seriously considers hanging up before this gets even more humiliating.

"Yeah, I know, but thought I'd ask in case," says PJ. "It would be irresponsible of me as your token trans friend to act like I know how you feel about your own gender."

It's the first time that Phil has actually heard him use the word. He'd always imagined that PJ talked in riddles on purpose, like maybe he didn't actually want to use words for things when he could use extended metaphors and jokes instead, but it's possible that Phil just hadn't been paying enough attention, because PJ sounds ridiculously comfortable with saying it out loud.

"You're not my token anything," Phil says. He waits a beat, picturing PJ's skeptical expression, before he adds, "Dan's my friend, too."

"Dan," PJ repeats. "You've got it bad, my friend."

"What?"

"I can hear it in your voice. You already miss them, don't you? You've been spending all your spare time with them already, you absolute knob. And let me guess," PJ continues before Phil can even attempt to defend himself, "you've got it in your head that liking Dan makes you less gay?"

Phil touches the tip of his nose and then remembers that PJ can't actually see him.

"Maybe," Phil hedges. He knows that PJ is right and he's sure that PJ knows it too, but admitting that is a whole other beast. "And it's also, like... it isn't fair, is it?"

"Fair to who?"

Despite everything in Phil wanting to brush the subject off and start talking about ghosts instead, he takes a moment to consider the question. He supposes that it isn't fair to either of them, really. His feelings for Dan are throwing everything he knows about his sexuality into question and he doesn't know how to deal with that.

Because Phil is gay. He's very gay. He's known it for a long time, even if most of his family members are still in the dark about it, and he's never had reason to think about it like this before. Sure, he's had the usual fantasies of how much easier things would be if he were straight, but he's never actually wanted to be. Maybe he doesn't talk about it the way some people do, but that's because it's far from the most interesting thing about him. Phil has never really considered it other peoples' business.

That doesn't change the fact that it's a fundamental part of him.

Someone who's gorgeous and tall and has big hands that fit ridiculously well into Phil's own shouldn't be enough to throw a wrench in that certainty. But they have, and Phil can't keep acting like they haven't.

PJ is being patient, waiting for Phil to find the words. There's some kind of video game music on his end that Phil can't immediately place, and Phil has a weird moment of homesickness for PJ and the Brighton house, even though it hasn't been that long since they were there together.

"It's not fair to anyone," Phil eventually says. "I think it's pretty obvious why it isn't fair to me, but it isn't fair to Dan either."

"Humour me," says PJ. "Why isn't it fair?"

"Dan isn't... a man," Phil says, slow. He pulls a face at his ceiling, knowing how clumsy he sounds right now. "And I don't think I'd like them if they weren't..."

"You wouldn't be attracted to them if they had a typically feminine body, right?" PJ asks, and then immediately continues as if Phil had answered. "That's not unfair, Phil. I seriously doubt Dan would be bothered by it."

"We don't know them that well," says Phil. It feels a bit like a lie, because he feels like he does know Dan fairly well at this point, but he needs PJ to understand where he's coming from with this. "And I don't know if they'd even be comfortable enough to tell me if they were bothered."

There's a long moment where the only sound is Phil's own breathing and the music of PJ's video game - Spyro, Phil realises - but PJ breaks it in a mild sort of tone. "I get that. Like, I really do get it. You might not think I get it, but I get it. Thing is... I've been somewhere like this. Because I met Soph after I was already living as a guy, right, but I thought she was totally straight at the time. She thought so too, actually, but I know she's felt a lot more connected to the community for a while now. And I didn't know... how to tell her. Because what if she totally freaked? That's not exactly a low risk, y'know."

Phil is far from an expert, but he does know that much. He's well aware of some of the numbers out there, knows that it can end in more than just hurt feelings when trans people come out to their partners, but he'd never once considered that PJ dealt with that. He feels a bit stupid for it. Sophie - and Chris, he supposes, even if he doesn't particularly know the intricacies there - isn't PJ's first foray into dating. Yeah, they've been together as long as Phil has known him, but that's not an excuse.

"Sorry," says Phil, hoping it sounds as sincere as he feels. "That, um. That sounds like it sucks."

"Oh, it totally sucks," PJ laughs. "And that's why I can say that you're freaking out for no reason. I mean, your own shit, whatever, you can run yourself in circles for months if you really want to, but the Dan thing? It's unfair not to tell them how you feel, Phil. They've been out for a little while now, they know how this works as well as I do. Sometimes there are compromises."

"I don't want anyone to compromise an identity," says Phil. He can't explain why that makes him so on edge. It would take too long, and he knows that his friends are various degrees of fluid when it comes to their attractions, so there's no guarantee of them understanding at all. It's not that he's being stubborn or close-minded or anything; it's that he's gay. "Peej, I'm a Kinsey fucking six. Telling Dan I have feelings for them is opening a bucket of worms that I don't know if I could close again."

"A can."

"What?" Phil asks, thrown.

"A can of worms, you fucking buffoon."

"Why would worms be in a can?"

"The - you know what, Phil? I can't have a conversation like this with you right now." PJ is doing his best attempt at a serious voice, but Phil can hear him trying not to laugh. "Tell Dan you like them. They like you."

Phil sighs. "I know. That's part of the issue here."

"I don't see an issue," says PJ. "You like them, they like you. Go... like each other."

"It's not that simple."

"It's never really that simple," PJ says, giving in to the laughter. Phil smiles at the unrestrained sound. "You think what I've got going on right now was simple in the beginning?"

"I don't like to put much thought into what you've 'got going on right now'," Phil admits. "But... no. You just make it look easy."

PJ cracks up properly. Phil can't help grinning, too, because PJ's Muppet laugh is always a bonus to saying something ridiculous. PJ waits until he's got his breath back before he says, "Phil. You're kind of a moron."

"I accept that," says Phil. "And before you get your lecturing pants on again, I know that it would be best to talk to Dan about this. I'm just..."

"Scared?"

Phil wants to deny it. He almost does, knee-jerk, but the problem is that PJ knows him too damn well for that. He knows that Phil worries about everything to the point that he's got medication to help with the anxiety spirals, and he also knows that Phil isn't exactly jumping to think or talk about his feelings at any given moment. It's normally a bit like pulling teeth, both for Phil and for the person trying to connect with him.

But PJ knows him. So he says, "Yeah. More scared of that than of the house."

The lighting isn't as good as Phil has in his room, back in Brighton, but he brings all the lamps he can find into his childhood bedroom to make sure he's decently visible on the viewfinder. He doesn't do a lot of talking to the camera without any external stimulus - the only times he's sitting still and addressing the audience directly is when he's doing the wrap-ups at the end of each video. Sometimes he does an intro as well, but it's usually able to be replaced with some good B footage and voiceover. Phil fixes his hair for the millionth time and takes a deep breath before he presses the record button.

He tells his audience what happened, the night that's been lost. He explains everything, every vibe that felt wrong and every terrifying moment in the attic, every file that he can no longer access. Even as he's saying it, he can imagine what the comment section is going to look like.

"I won't blame the lot of you if you don't believe me. I'll put what it looked like when we tried to access the files on the screen now. The corruption was on our devices, though, and we couldn't retrieve anything."

Another deep breath. They're still not going to believe him.

"And that's okay," he adds. "I'm not here for you guys to take my words as, like, facts or whatever, and it's not my job to convince anybody. I'm just here to tell a good story. I wish it had a more conclusive ending, but I'm sure you're already bickering in the comments about what we all experienced, or if you think we experienced anything at all. So tell me what you guys think, and let me know - do you think I should keep imposing on my parents to investigate this some more or is the Wilkins place a story to leave alone?"

He'd normally start to do his like-and-subscribe routine after that, but he pauses.

"And I wanted to say a really big thank you to everyone who helped me with this project, but especially to Winnie. They really went above and beyond in sending me this one, and I'm not going to forget that."

Phil gives the camera an awkward sort of smile. He might not leave that bit in, but he needed to say it.

#quiet on widow's peak #words words words

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eyeslikefoxglove · 5 years ago

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Episode 19 - Yiling Laozu mode activated & BAMF!Lan WangJi avenging his husband

Hiiii! It’s Saturday and I’m pumped! Sorry it’s been radio silence for the whole week, I tried to do this on Monday, but I’ve been going driving with my parents the whole week bc I finally got my own car (or rather, they got me a car) and ya girl hasn’t driven for the last six years, so I needed some practice. Also, I pouted at my mum to get me a bunch of music albums in physical format for said car... and turns out it doesn’t have a CD reader lol. In other news, gardening has the upside of giving me a healthy sun glow, instead of my usual Vulcan pallor (I’m quite light and olive, I’m pretty much green-ish) and before anyone freaks tf out about sun tanning and skin cancer: I have a sun allergy, I don’t go anywhere without SPF 50 and I don’t sunbathe.

Ok, two things: one, WWX is looking rough, I mean, expected after such major surgery. Two, thank god someone finally decided to disguise his clothes.

Aaaaaand it did fuck all for him. Cool cool cool.

JC’s dream/hallucination is fucking me up ok? Ok.

MY BB! 10/10 this is what he’d see if he looked in the Mirror of Erised, it’s breaking my heart.

FUCK OFF SUBCONSCIOUS, LET HIM HAVE ONE HAPPY DREAM.

He’s so happy! I know it’s a complicated issue but I’m also glad he had this moment of relief and happiness in all this mess.

Again WC missed the memo about how antagonistic WWX can be. His brother has a golden core again and his sister is safe, I’m pretty sure at this time he couldn’t give less of a fuck if he lives or dies and he’s reached peak pain tolerance with the core transfer so not even torture will work; exactly what leverage does WC think he has on WWX for the interrogation?

WC: I’ll ask WZL to crush his core first.

Me: *uncontrollable cackling*

Slow clap for our boy for activating YLLZ (I’m going to start shortening Yiling Patriarch to this) mode while really fucked up. I really love this creepy af side of WWX and considering this is pre-Burial Mounds I think it is safe to say he’s always had it in him, just you know, amped up to 11 after the Trauma and the demonic cultivation.

Anyway, go forth and mindfuck them all my child.

...that branding iron is not hot, why it is smoking?

JC: *wearing a hat and plain robes to hide*

Also JC: *Zidian and his very distinctive guan on full display*

Ok I don’t have any way to elaborate on it, but I’m pretty sure of two things:

1. The Burial Mounds is An Entity.

2. WWX is not fully alive anymore.

3. (This is a bonus, I don’t want to think what he ate for three months in a mountain full of corpses. Ok? Ok)

WN BB WHAT DID THEY DO TO YOU. HE’S SO GOOD AND SO BRAVE I CAN’T.

This is creepy creepy.

So when WWX starts hearing LWJ’s voice among all the screaming is this LWJ already playing Inquiry (if I remember he did play inquiry when he found out Lotus Pier had burned) or him just being WWX’s anchor to sanity?

Oh hey, that’s a rib cage.

And thus YLLZ was born.

This is one of my favourite scenes and I’m pumped. I’ve also seen it set to a Targaryen music theme and it is even more fucking epic. I kept expecting LWJ to go dracarys on their asses. Also, he’s literally a husband on a revenge mission right here, fucking fight me if you disagree (don’t fight me, I’m baby). Btw as always the cinematography *chef’s kiss* Just assume I’m screaming like a fan girl all throughout this.

Now he’s a widower on a revenge mission (or so he thinks)

PSA: don’t be like JiaoJiao, take your makeup off before going to sleep.

(Ok, tiiiiiny bit of pity for JiaoJiao here, she’s fucking terrified and WC is being an asshole about it. I mean, it’s what everyone expected but holy shit what a douchebag)

Ohhhh sad WuJi on a cello still breaking my heart.

Ok but let me delve into my own hc here. JC is being so very soft when talking to LWJ, it kind of makes me wonder how many sleepless nights these two ended up talking about WWX in their search and just trying to reassure each other that he was alive. There is absolutely no bitterness when he says he thought WWX had taken off to be with LWJ in LanLing too, so that, plus the fact that the Lan disciples give Suibian to LWJ really makes me think JC knows and is on board with LWJ’s feelings for WWX. There’s absolutely no way he’d let him touch his, afahk deceased, brother’s sword if he still thought LWJ hated WWX.

I just need these two sad beans to be friends ok?

Just imagine:

LWJ: Wei Ying is so... *longing look, Bichen grip*

JC: *lightbulb goes off* oooohhh. Ok, now I see, you want to marry the dumbass!

LWJ: *freaked out look*

JC: No, no. It’s fine, once we find the idiot he’s all yours.

That’s a lot of bodies. Also, of course Dumb Jin Cousin (I know he’s Jin ZiXun but shortening it sounds too much like Jin Zixuan, so no. Also the reason why I call Jin Zixuan Peacock all the time) doesn’t mind animals desecrating corpses.

I don’t know if I’ve said it but I so much prefer CQL!Peacock to MDZS!Peacock. Just look at the character development of him making his own people collect the corpses of their enemies and be respectful to them.

Also, oooff, Shijie saying that anywhere they travel the only thing to see is corpses covering the ground hit me hard.

Some of my Yunmeng sibs are together again and I’m smiling like an idiot (also, JC looks like he gives amazing hugs).

Nvm JC realising LWJ is into his baby brother, I’m pretty sure the Peacock thinks LWJ just became a widower.

Again, NMJ is a cool dude, but he needs to take a fucking chill pill before he bursts a blood vessel and ends up with a haemorrhagic stroke of out sheer anger- induced HBP.

But also, if he didn’t agree to give these two the Yiling assignment out of sheer big brother instinct I’ll eat one of my textbooks.

Look at him asking after his crush and getting all worried when he realises no one knows where he is.

These two, crying over their baby brother just break my heart. I just want to blanket and kittens them.

We are getting murdery in here!

Thanks for reading!

#the untamed #cql #mdzs live action #mdzs #foxglove watches cql #foxglove watches the untamed #wei wuxian #lan wangji #wangxian #jiang cheng #jiang yanli #yunmeng shuangjie #yunmeng trio #yunmeng siblings #yunmeng bros #jin zixuan #nie mingjue #commentary

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emptymanuscript · 5 years ago

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One way to REname a character with internal story logic

I want to talk a moment about Zephyr.

Not the wind.

My character.

(He wishes he was this tough) Not even really the person but his NAME itself, Zephyr, and how it changed.

One of the things I don’t mention too much just to avoid trouble is how extremely different Knights of Day is now compared to how it was originally. At its early height, Knights of Day peaked at 4 authors. The goal was in no way to publish or publicize any of it. It wasn’t even really meant to be any sort of cohesive story. Or even to consist of cohesive stories rather than “adventures” for fun. I’m not even sure I can tell you WHAT it was. It wasn’t quite a piece of fiction, it wasn’t quite a table top rpg, it wasn’t quite rp’ing. It was just its own behemoth of a thing that included all of those. Compared to 1 book and 1 book in progress now.

Case in point: Fun Adventure #3 was ~

Kinda John Edward but real & real evil

Set up: Most Mediums are terrible people who fake their powers to rip victims off when they’re at their most emotionally vulnerable. Because when you’ve just irrevocably lost one of the most important people in your life you’ll pay anything or do anything for the even the illusion of getting them back.

What if: Imagine someone who can really do everything they say they can do… but they’re still a terrible predator trying to take advantage of people when they’re at their most emotionally vulnerable - they just have more power to make it even worse.

Mission: Save young suddenly widowed mega-rich heiress Helena Lawson from real Medium but still conniving con-man Kenton Dean. Because the greedy, racist, no goo Ted Lawson doesn’t want Kenton Dean to get the money instead of himself. And Ted is willing to pay exorbitantly to make sure it doesn’t. So James and Zeferrello are tasked with finding any reason to separate Helena and Kenton.

Twist: Yeah, Kenton Dean CAN summon and control the dead but it’s so much worse than that. He can summon and control the GOD of the dead. Assuming, of course, that all of this isn’t the god of the dead actually controlling Kenton Dean for its own purposes.

Which Became The Hidden and the Maiden. But instead of a climactic conflict between James, Zephyr, Kenton Dean, and Kherty-Aken decided by force, force of will, and clever use of all magic available inside the seat of Kenton Dean’s power, his theater, “Kinda John Edward but real & real evil” ended with a mildly tense chat between James and Zefferello versus Kherty Aken just kinda hanging out, tensely, next to an ambulance. James points out that Kenton Dean has reprogrammed Kherty Aken like a computer to just believe all this BS. Kherty Aken realizes, Oh Shi-! he’s right, and flys away. Next day, paper says Kenton Dean is dead. So the general idea is there but just not at all the same when you look close.

As an aside, this is by the way why most writing teachers dismiss ‘ideas’ as the least important element of story telling. One version of this ‘idea’ I stuff under a rug and pretend doesn’t exist. The other I sell in paperback for $10 a pop. If the fundamental idea hasn’t changed really, why the vast difference in price? Because of the execution. And if execution is more than infinitely greater in effect 0 -> 10 why bother putting that much effort into the idea when, even if you only go to 5 through execution, that will have more effect than any idea will. I am not 100% convinced by this line of reasoning but it’s not meritless either. A bad idea well written will just get more in the marketplace of ideas than a good idea poorly written. A bad idea badly written is doomed. A good idea well written may or may not do as well as the mediocrity. So, I disagree that it is of zero importance but I do think it is certainly not the most important element for 3/4’s of all story types. Ok, that’s another post, enough asides.

The real thing I’m actually thinking about is the Zefferello to Zephyr change. Zefferello was Zephyr’s original name. The author who created the original character said specifically her thoughts were that she had never had any character under any situation whose name started with Z. So she wanted a Z character and she plucked the rest out of thin air because. And because it didn’t matter, that was cool enough. So he was Zefferello for the first few years of life. No particular reason why. Never mind that nothing in any back round of anything anywhere would give Zefferello as a name.

It was only as I was moving from the first to the second draft of The Hidden and the Maiden that it was really bothering me about this Korean-American dude with the abusive Super Whitey Mega Rich father, the utterly absent and possibly dead Korean Trophy Wife mother, and the abusive DID having ghost but still white mother. Why would any of them give him that name?

Well, the father might do it just to torture his son throughout life. He’s that kind of asshole. As little as he is in it, I actually think of Zephyr’s father as the Antagonist for Knights of Day because he is just pure dagnasty evil because he likes it. He may not appear most on the page or wield the most power - partially because he’s just not my favorite kind of villain, at all, his side-kicks is way more my speed - but there’s no denying he does the most damage. BUT, the father is also very image conscious. Part of what he likes is doing terrible things while other people praise him for it. For making people suffer but having no one believe them because he is such a paragon of virtue. One of his side kicks actually got James to just start punching him toward the end because he kept talking about what a saint Zephyr’s father was and all the haters just didn’t understand what a wonderful person he was and how hard he worked when he never had to to improve the life of others. If I recall correctly James literally held a knife on the guy and pointing to Zephyr: ‘you had to fucking know what that motherfucker was doing to him! You evil lying sack of fucking shit!’ So… torture wasn’t going to work for a reason.

So I’m looking for any great people in history with the name Zefferello. Nope. Nada. Is it by some miracle a Korean name that Eun Ae Gwon might have given him? Nope. No dice. And slowly all eyes turn to JJ. JJ is nuts. There’s no getting around it. But I’m rarely happy with that as an explanation. Especially with JJ because most of what she does that SEEMS nuts, isn’t. The fundamental rule I made for JJ fairly early on is that she is ALWAYS up to something. She is playing every angle. She is working every leverage. She is a survivor in a way that most people will never be. She’s dead and she is still playing to win. So she will do things that appear unreasonable at point A in time in order to increase her odds of getting what she wants in point B in time.

And I’m looking at that name. That ello. That’s sounds latinate to me. And masculine. I already knew Zefferello’s real name at this point, and it had a Jr. at the end and I started wondering if maybe, just maybe, JJ gave Zefferello a different Jr. name. A name for the father that she wished Zefferello had. Instead of the one he did. He’s hers, and what better to claim a baby she would never hold than to rename him into a family that she wanted to exist but never did. That’s very JJ.

At which point I’m reviewing JJ’s history. It’s sparse-ish at that time. But I know when she got pregnant and I know more or less what happened to her from that point until she died. And there’s nothing in there to hint at a Zefferello Sr. But… there were already some hints about there maybe being a Zefferella. And of course that’s not a name either. But fiddle with the spelling and drop the “el” sound and you do get a Greek female name: Zephyra \

And that was the lightning bolt of inspiration and change. That JJ’s second and last love of her life was a fellow prostitute named Zephyra, and IF JJ could rewrite reality to be anything she wanted then her son would also be Zephyra’s - that they would be the family unit and the other would be the ghostly illusion. And with Zephyra as a real name, I also had a male equivalent: Zephyr. Sounds similar but much more plausible that he might somehow obtain it. Plus, with the idea of Zephyra, his name also becomes a key to unlocking tons of emotion and backstory.

And you’ll know it’s important the second that this repressed little guy walking around giving out the name of Zephyr Wayne, shamefully cringe-admits that his legal name is Peter Bailey Jr. That that exists at all says that there is a story to find down in there and that it isn’t a simple one.

So that’s one to rewrite a name based on the internal logic of a story. Zephyr’s name was researched and found but never picked out of a name directory. It was back-engineered to tell the story I wanted to tell and avoid the random story I didn’t. By following the logic that might lead to a name like his, I was able to find the one I thought was right for him.

And, since the original Cup Bearer was one of the winds, that also worked to my advantage… though it is generally considered the wrong wind. Oy. Which I’ll probably just end up deleting because Zephyr’s name is better for a story hook than anything I made with Thulebelore being the General of the Western Winds.

If you actually got here. Wow. Thank you. If you ever want to solicit writing advice, dropping a question in my ask prompts me better than whatever happens to occur randomly to my head. So, you know, that’s there.

#Knights of Day #Zephyr #The Hidden and the Maiden #Writing advice #writeblr #writeblogging #unsolicited advice

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pleasekeepthisasecret · 6 years ago

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Why....

Heavily hint at the boat sex baby?

Heavily show northerners not liking Dany, but not showing the reaction to her burning King's Landing?

Didn't they have the northern people kill Dany (if she needed to be killed???) as poetic justice?

Have Arya learn the ways of the Faceless Men, to not use her skills?

Have Arya as Jon's face kill Dany and Drogon kill her, sensing he wasn't a Targaryen?? Which honestly at least would've been interesting because the ending was beyond boring and really fucking stupid?

Place so much emphasis on Sansa and Dany being at odds?

Place so much emphasis on Sansa being this important figure, who flourished amongst and leaned from evil surrounding her, only to have her be complacent when she had every right not to be?

Wasn't Sansa the one to go mad? I know she wasn't a Targaryen, but considering her history and her suddenly have to be okay with the chick with the dragons running her home and her siblings being okay with it? To show ANYONE can go mad?

Didn't Arya kill someone with blue eyes?? Why throw back to that prophecy if it didn't happen?

Let Jaime and Brienne build up a flirtation over years, culminating in the consummation, with Jaime leaning towards being a changed man?

Have Cersei painted as the main villain, implying someone was going to kill her, only to have her crushed by rubble?

Have Dany die the way Cersei should've died?? Stabbed by her lover in a false sense of security???

And likewise, why didn't Dany die the way Cersei did: under the weight of her own wrath? Instead of by the blade of a boy with a widow's peak.

PLACE SO MUCH IMPORTANCE ON BRONN (I MEAN, I LOVE BRONN, BUT DAMN, HIS PRESENCE WAS USELESS) WHY GIVE SO MUCH SCREEN TIME TO HIM MAKING DEALS WITH BOTH CERSEI AND TYRION FOR HIM TO DO NOTHING BUT MAKE A FEW JOKES??

Kill Varys... at all? Especially if he didn't actually tell anyone who Jon was, but just wanted to?

Show that Varys sent a raven and committed treason?? Or at least hinted at it?? Why????

Have Jon be a Targaryen?? It caused so much conflict and ultimately lead to nothing???

Have Jon live at all if he's a Targaryen and they just saw what another Targaryen went crazy? Wouldn't they kill him to stop that bloodline?? Considering how the northern public reacted to having a Targaryen in their presence?

WHY DID WINTER COME FOR ONE NIGHT AND END ABRUPTLY LIKE THEY DIDN'T SHAPE THE SHOW AROUND THE NIGHT KING. I'M ALL FOR ARYA SAVING THE WORLD BUT JESUS.

Give Bran such a *drastic* character change overhaul with an entire season of him being gone to develop these majestic powers... only to gave him do nothing.

...And then give him the throne?

Is Podrick still an assistant? Magic Penis could be a knight by now. Which Brienne could've did. To honor someone good.. To not do anything with him but to take time to honor Jaime. Really?

Have Arya and Gendry have any sort of romance, only to have them not be together? At all? I can understand her not wanting to be his lady... but they for sure showed she liked him???

Have Jon so emotionally conflicted about Dany, yet him never questioning her the way he questioned every other character?

Didn't Drogon just take Jon for killing his mom?? Why not take Jon and leave Dany's body after melting the throne? For symbolic purposes, if he's that smart to melt the throne?

Did everyone know Jon killed Dany???? He couldn't tell her to her face that she was wrong, but he can tell a whole horde of Unsullied and Dothraki and the kingdom that he stabbed the queen?

Did they make Dany suddenly the cliche of what every man ever thinks women are: emotionally unstable and romantic to a fault?

Was Dany so willing to forgive Jon but not Tyrion? When they both betrayed her?

Did they write so much silence and scenic in scenes that took at least 10 minutes MULTIPLE TIMES but added nothing to the plot? Did they realize they didn't have the talent to finish the story, so they just added dramatic pauses and relied on the cinematography and music score to make you believe that this was a full season?

Didn't GRRM have a better agent that got him a better contract that would allow him to have say so in this series because man they fucked it up and over.

Please feel free add more. Because I know there's so much more that all of us could've fucking wrote the last season ourselves and it would've made more fucking sense.

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starspatter · 6 years ago

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Heroes and Thieves, Ch. 12

Title: Heroes and Thieves Fandom/Universe: BTAS, pre/post-RotJ flashback

Summary: A story about second chances, healing, and having hope.

Rating: PG-13, for references to character death, child psychological torture and trauma.

Genre: Romance/Family/Friendship/Hurt/Comfort

Word Count: 3,191 Previous Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11

Also on ff.net and AO3. Note: I haven't actually read either of the books referenced in this chapter, but they came up when I was doing research and seemed to fit so I threw them in there.

Scars are souvenirs you never lose The past is never far Did you lose yourself somewhere out there Did you get to be a star

We grew up way too fast And now there's nothing to believe And reruns all become our history

-Goo Goo Dolls, "Name"

————————–

Then. On Monday, Tim went to the library as usual once classes were over, but with a different purpose in mind than simply secluding himself in studies. …That is to say, he wouldn’t be by himself this time. He wondered why he even agreed to this. That knock on the head must have scrambled his judgment – that was the only explanation he could think of for permitting himself to be possessed by such an insane notion. When he reached the agreed-upon meeting place though, there was someone else sitting at the table instead of the person he expected. She had short, pitch black hair – sleek and strict – a style resembling Annie’s but with a widow’s peak; far darker bangs parted in the center, pulled back taut by a barrette. In addition, her skin was much more pale in comparison, emphasizing midnight mascara and lips. Both her chin and slanted eyes were sharper, piercing pupils snapping up from her book to stare straight at him with such intensity he flinched on instinct. He’d never seen anyone react so immediately to his presence. “Uh… Hello?” She eyed him with suspicion, silent and unmoving. Statuesque. “Sorry to bother you, but… I’m supposed to be meeting someone here soon…” Again, no response. Tim didn’t know what to do. He thought about just giving up and turning tail (hey, can’t say he didn’t try at least), though somehow the prospect of presenting his back to her seemed like a dangerous idea. He was about to retreat in reverse by slinking slowly into the shadows – safety – of shelves when a pair of hands suddenly emerged from behind him, blocking his vision. “Guess who~?” “Gah!” He whirled around in a panic, almost about to punch the invader to his personal space when he saw it was – of course – Stephanie. The librarian sternly looked up from the counter at the loud disruption and pursed a finger to her lips, shushing. “Fuck- don’t do that,” he hissed with a sibilant shiver, clutching his rapidly beating breast. “…Sorry,” she whispered back, contrite. “It’s okay,” he muttered with a heavy sigh. “Just give me some warning next time.” Meanwhile, the seated spectator was still watching the two intently, stony view shifting back and forth between them. Tim felt even more uncomfortable under her penetrating gaze, and was about to suggest they move to someplace else when Steph waved to the glum girl in gleeful greeting. “I see you’ve met my roommate,” she chirped as she bounded over, cheerfully clasping hands on the sculpture’s stiffened shoulders. “This is Cassandra, but you can call her Cass. She doesn’t say much, but she’s a nice girl. I hope you don’t mind if she joins us for today.” As she briskly babbled introduction in lieu of the stranger herself, who still had yet to speak, Tim felt he was starting to understand how Steph was able to put up with his own severe lack of social skills. “Um… Okay. Sure.” “Awesome. I’ll be with you guys in a sec, just let me finish shelving these books.” She bustled off again, leaving Tim alone with Cassandra before he could even say anything. Defeated, he laid his bookbag on the table and took the chair diagonally across from her, not wanting to remain directly in her field of vision. She continued to follow his movements closely though, keeping sight trained on him as if a hawk tracking its prey – rigid and unwavering. …It was starting to seriously creep him out. “So, er… What’s that you’re reading?” He blurted out in a feeble endeavor to fill conversation. Mechanically, she raised the cover so he could see. Judging by the winged figure in frilly jeweled fashion painted next to a medieval knight, both holding what appeared to be fanciful masks, it looked like some kind of fantasy young adult fiction novel. “I… see. Is it interesting?” She simply nodded, before (blessedly) returning attention to her reading material. … Can I go now? As the suffocating silence stretched on, Tim wasn’t sure if the situation was any better than before. Though her scathing appraisers were now fully fixed on the page in front of her rather than him, they didn’t seem to be making any progress. …Which he supposed only made sense, given the orientation of the subject. …Should I let her know she’s holding that book upside-down? To his surprise, a rosy tint developed on the other’s complexion as she subtly flipped the tome to the correct position. Odd, he was sure he hadn’t said that statement aloud. …But then, reality was such a fickle thing these days. Yet, even though the volume was righted, her focus still didn’t seem to advance at all. He mused idly if she was actually absorbing any of it. Don’t tell me she can’t actually read. “I can read.” Tim startled at the unanticipated answer. …Okay, this was really getting weird. He definitely hadn’t said anything that time. Given that the supposed responder still hadn’t budged an inch, he began to doubt whether he was really hearing things… Before he could decide whether to inquire further out of sheer curiosity, Stephanie conveniently showed up at that precise moment, arms inflated with textbooks. “Back! Sorry about that.” She plopped the heavy publications and herself down, insinuating cozily between the two, apparently without noticing the aura of awkwardness permeating the air. “Shall we get started then?” “Y- yeah.” Tim cast one more confused look at Cassandra before attempting to apply concentration to his other company instead. It was difficult when said study partner’s own awareness kept wandering though, growing bored and fidgety within minutes. In the corner of his periphery, he could sense the third party’s irises still peeking at him from over the pages as well, albeit remaining mute throughout the entire period. By the end of the (exhausting) hour, Tim had managed to at least hammer in a few concepts. As they finally stood up and started gathering their things, Stephanie sheepishly apologized for her short retention span, and promised she’d be more attentive next time. Meanwhile, Cassandra quietly shut her text and rose, maneuvering fluently – like lighter fluid, hazardous and almost undetectable – around the desk to approach Tim. To both his and Steph’s astonishment, she leaned in alarmingly close, lifting delicate digits to lightly touch his forehead. He swallowed apprehensively as she scrutinized his mystified expression, as if searching for something. After a bewildered beat, she lowered her hand, and placed the paperback she had in his. “Here.” He blinked at her in bemusement. “Read it.” She merely instructed, before departing without another word. “…What the heck was that about?” Steph pondered, scratching her hair. Tim shrugged. “Beats me. You know her better than I do.” “Yeah, but I have no idea why she does stuff sometimes.” Stephanie paused, contemplating with a half-anxious, half-amused countenance. “Hey, maybe she likes you.” Tim blushed, busying with packing away his possessions again. “Yeah, right.” … As he lay on his dorm bed later though, looking at the lent item against the light, he reflected on the strange glance and gesture she gave him. It wasn’t like anything he’d ever experienced before. It was as if the cold contact infiltrated deep into his soul, chilling to his very core… Conner came in then, bearing a broad grin. “Yooo Timbo, so how’d it go with that girl?” Tim shrugged, sitting up. “…She brought her roommate along.” The other boy elevated an eyebrow. “Dude. That’s a bad sign. Inviting someone else on the first date means you’re totally in the friendzone.” “I told you, it’s not a date.” “What is it then?” Tim exhaled, shaking his head. “…I don’t know.” Conner crossed over to clap a thick paw on Tim’s shoulder. “Lighten up, man. You’ll win her over, don’t worry.” He elbowed with a wink and cheesy thumbs-up, and Tim rolled his retinas, but didn’t say anything. Conner’s eyes caught the object in the other’s lap, and he plucked it up without warning, wrinkling his nose as he examined the lacey title. “The Black Swan? Since when do you read chick lit?” “It’s not mine,” Tim defended hastily. “Steph’s roommate told me to read it. Now give it back.” Tim made a swipe for the article, but Conner easily kept his extended muscle out of the shorter one’s reach as he flipped teasingly through the embarrassing narrative, reciting passages aloud with gusto. “‘Odile watched her father's back, swallowing involuntary bitter tears of disappointment and rejection, feeling her head droop a little as her heart sank with dejection.’” “Will you shut up?” “‘If she could have wept, her tears would have burned furrows down her face, so bitter were the dregs of degradation that she drank at that moment.’ …God, who writes this stuff?” Tim grimaced as he made another desperate effort to grab at the entity. In the midst of their scuffle though, two tags secretly tucked into the spine slipped out from between the sheets, landing at their feet. They both blinked and bent down to pick one up each, puzzled by the bizarre bookmarks. They were playing cards. Conner glimpsed up from the Ace of Clubs he was holding towards Tim, whose eyes were expanded wide with shock and – horror? – as his hand began shaking. “Hey, you okay, man? What’s wrong?” Gulping, Tim gradually rotated the thin cardboard around to reveal its front: not a number or face… but a Joker. Anger and concern promptly carved onto Conner’s visage. “What the hell is this? Some kind of sick joke?” Tim said nothing, as he peered down at the scarlet diptych design of mirrored angels and demons on the backside to find a brief note written in bold, black marker: Park. 4PM. Biting his lip in baffled frustration, Conner revolved his own cue around to discover a much longer message. His brow furrowed as he tried (rather unsuccessfully) to pronounce the alien language it was inscribed in. “‘Rara avis in terris nigroque simillima cygno’ – what is this, French?” “It’s Latin,” Tim clarified. “’A rare bird in the lands and very much like a black swan.’ It likely refers to a recent theory published by Taleb. It’s a metaphor to describe an event that comes as a surprise, that’s hard to predict since it’s beyond the realm of regular expectations, and has an extreme major impact as a result. Afterwards, it is rationalized by hindsight, as if it could’ve been anticipated if the relevant data were available – but this only becomes apparent in retrospect. The phrase itself was coined by the ancient poet Juvenal, back when people thought black swans didn’t exist and that such an abnormality was impossible. It was only later proven wrong when the first one was discovered in 1697.” Conner blinked vacantly at Tim, looking as lost as he always did whenever the other went off on an encyclopedic (if perhaps slightly pretentious) tangent. “So… What does it all mean?” “I don’t know,” Tim admitted as he took the pair and headed determinedly over to his computer, booting up the system. “But I’m going to find out.” He navigated to the browser window – keeping a weather eye on the worrisome memo as it unwillingly brought back bad memories – and did some digging. … By the time he was done with his research, the hour of summons was fast approaching. He snatched his jacket and was out the door before Conner could even get a word in edgewise, racing towards Gotham Central Park. As soon as he arrived there, he stilled for a second at the entrance gate, surveying the tranquil scene of people walking casually to and fro: lovers holding hands, families enjoying late afternoon picnics and games of Frisbee or Fetch with their pets, children running joyfully to their parents across the grass – the latter giving affectionate hugs and pats before sending off with smiles to the playground, all while keeping a careful watch on their precious bundles from a distance. Tim spotted Cassandra sitting by herself on a swingset towards the outskirts, exuding a gloomy atmosphere that likely aided in deterring any nosey youngsters. He neared cautiously, observing her glide like a gentle pendulum for a while, before she slowed to a stop and looked at him finally. “You came.” Dispensing with preliminaries, Tim cut straight to the chase. “How did you know who I was?” Cassandra smiled softly. “The way you move – it resembles him. No openings, always on guard, not a single wasted motion…” She then added in a hush: “Plus, I read your mind.” Her head declined in apology. “Forgive me. It’s not something I normally like to do to others, especially to someone I’ve just met. …There was such a dark cloud surrounding yours though, I- I couldn’t help it.” She dragged a heel through the dirt. “Besides, you know who I am now, don’t you?” Tim sat down on the swing next to her, repeating everything he had learned based on his hunch. “Several years ago, the Joker broke into a Cadmus facility in Arizona. He released five metahuman kids, who had been abducted from their families shortly after birth and raised as secret weapons for the government. He took them on as his own protégés, calling them the ‘Royal Flush Gang’. The strongest of them was named ‘Ace’, who possessed telepathic powers the likes of which the world had never seen before. …’Ace’ reportedly died not long after of a brain aneurysm in the presence of Batman, who was the only witness, in a park not unlike this one.” Cassandra merely nodded affirmatively. “…He helped you fake your death, didn’t he?” “It was the only way to free me completely from Cadmus’ clutches. Otherwise they would keep hounding me forever.” She gripped the chains bitterly. “He sent for an expensive foreign doctor who performed the surgery in secret. Afterwards, he gave me a choice: I could stay and be a part of his team, or I could live peacefully on my own. …I chose this.” Tim afforded her an odd look, thinking how close he evidently could’ve been to having an actual “sister” his age. “…I’m guessing ‘Cassandra’s’ not your real name either.” “It is the name he gave me. After the Greek prophet from mythology.” “Can you actually see the future?” Tim questioned, genuinely intrigued. Cass regarded the horizon, as if squinting into some sort of far-off void. “What I see are… ‘possibilities’. Infinite paths our lives could’ve taken, had we made different choices. If just the slightest factor changed course. ‘Alternate realities’, if you will.” She told him, about a world where there weren’t just two Robins, but a third Robin and then a fourth, a world where Barbara was the one shot and paralyzed instead of Dick, where Joker lived and he died and came back to life and his name wasn’t Tim it was- “Stop. I’d rather not hear any more.” Tim prolonged a palm to halt her crazy-sounding speech, grasping his aching skull in the other. “I’m not saying I totally understand or believe you, but basically what you’re saying is… ‘Something’ was bound to happen sooner or later.” “…If that is how you wish to interpret it.” She removed her limbs from the links, resting on her legs instead. “I am sorry, for what he did to you. The… things I saw inside his mind, they were so terrible, I should’ve known better than to leave him be. I… should’ve ended him when I had the chance.” Her knuckles clenched, impressing into her thighs. “Even though they trained me to use my powers to kill, I- I couldn’t. I didn’t want to.” Tentatively, Tim reached out to wrap his own hand soothingly around her wrist. “Hey, that’s not on you. It’s not your fault. None of it was your fault, including-” He hesitated. “-What happened with your parents.” He heard an abrupt wailing coming from the court where a kid had tripped and fallen from the bottom of the slide, scraping her knees on the wood chips. Her mom and dad hurried to her side, cooing and consoling as they stuck numerous kisses and band-aids with colorful cartoon kitties and pretty princesses on them to the boo-boos. Turning, he saw there were tears rolling down Cassandra’s cheeks as she unfurled her fist, knotting fingers into the comfort of his. While her nails were startlingly long, she took care not to wound his flesh, closing just tight enough to exchange warmth. “You and I… are similar. I don’t mean just because of Joker either.” She meditated off into that empty space again. “The two of us are anomalies. Outliers. Outsiders. We don’t fit into the grand scheme. We’ve always been… ‘different’. We don’t ‘belong’.” Tim wasn’t sure exactly what she was talking about. But he took a stab at alleviating the mood anyway. “I guess you could say we’re… ‘Wild Cards’?” She stared at him. “…Sorry, bad joke.” And people say I’m humorless now. Cass looked a little put-off as she pouted, and he winced, remembering she could hear what he was thinking as well. He swiftly opted to switch the topic instead. “You cannot tell Stephanie about any of this.” “I don’t intend to.” Gray eyes narrowed with gritty resolve as her voice dropped to a grave mumble, digging her toe into the earth and gravel. “Someone like her should not know of the horrors we’ve been through, the darkness that we come from. The number of evil sins we’ve committed. …It will only lead to causing the same kind of pain in the end.” Her face contorted obliquely as she said this, ominous and foreboding. Breathing out, she monitored the fading violet brightness of the sun as it started to set. “Stephanie… is light. A ray of hope. She’s the first person I’ve met who wasn’t instantly afraid of me, but accepted me right away for who I was. She’s the first real ‘friend’ I’ve ever had. …I would never do anything to hurt her.” She looked down at their connection, as if realizing the implication just now, and nervously began to relinquish. Tim didn’t let go though. Something she had said triggered a thought in the back of his conscience, and he stood up, coaxing mildly. “Come on. There’s someone else I think you should meet.” Timidly, she trailed after his tow. Whilst they stood there waiting for the bus, he overheard a passing elderly duo remark wistfully on that “cute young couple”, which in turn urged him to be the one to impulsively liberate this time. As they both coughed and avoided each other’s eyes, Cassandra spoke up in a somewhat troubled tone. “There’s… something else I should mention.” “What?” “When I… looked into your subconscious, I saw an even greater darkness buried deep down. I can’t explain it, but… I fear it may consume you someday.” She frowned in vexation at her inability to identify, to express. “��It bears strong resemblance to him.” Though he was afraid to ask, Tim did so anyway. “Who?” She gave him an ambiguous look, constricted and conflicted dots overwhelmingly obscure. “Both.”

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And now we're grown up orphans That never knew their names We don't belong to no one That's a shame But you could hide beside me Maybe for a while And I won't tell no one your name

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trashboatprince · 6 years ago

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Here’s a little drabble of SINdy meeting his best friend Benny for the first time!

Benny the Stitched Demon belongs to @fullmetaldevil-blog

On with the fic!

SINdy could hear Sammy inside of his sanctuary, his loud voice was obvious, even behind the metal grate. He’d be in there for a while. SINdy chuckled silently as he pressed his hands against the glass of the recording booth, he had been wanting to explore in there, maybe play with some of the stuff inside, and with his father-figure distracted, he could have fun!

He grinned to himself as his hands started to slip past the glass, he was getting so much better at these strange, teleportation powers he had! His hands went through first, then the rest of SINdy followed and he silently cheered as he stepped in past the glass.

Until he stepped into an ink puddle and suddenly vanished through the inky blackness. SINdy should have known better! Uhg, there was always some sort of portal in ever room, and he hated this!

Great, he hoped the universe or location in the studio he ended up in was nice.

Benny quietly sat in the little hut behind his home, it was such a lovely day and he couldn’t resist enjoying it in his little hideaway. As he finished working on the last few stitches of a torn leg of one of his toes, he noticed the familiar scent of demonic ink and he tensed up.

On the wall across from him he saw something black begin to pool, forming a large, dark stain on the surface.

No, no, what was going on? It couldn’t be Bendy, he was with his parents, then... who could it be? An ink portal was a very, very bad sign!

He felt the mouth on his stomach start to split as Benny stood up, ready to fight or frighten the intruder if he had to! His pie cut eyes watched as a gloved hand shot out, well... okay, actually, it was just a glove.

Four fingers, two buttons?

Was it Bendy? No, the gloves were yellow, similar to his own, but the color sort of reminded him of the color of yellowed paper.

Wait, a second glove flew out, clutching a sign made of cardboard. Written on it in messy ink was ‘OH NO!’. Uhh... what was going- Benny yelped, backing up as something flew out a second or two later, dropping down on the ground in an almost comical fashion.

There was a loud splat as the stranger landed right on their face and Benny couldn’t help but wince. The sign suddenly changed to read ‘Ouch. Gotta work on my landings...’.

Benny stared, blinking twice, before stepping closer, his second mouth still opened slightly, just in case. The figure was black in color, wearing a familiar set of boots, with a familiar set of horns on their head. Benny could see the edges of a bowtie on their chest, the same yellow at the gloves.

Actually, he noticed something strange, this possible-Bendy-lookalike had no arms! And the gloves... were moving? They walked on two fingers towards the body and he watched with wide eyes as the gloves seemed to push the body up, as if they had invisible arms!

The doll demon took a step back as the other got to his feet, stumbling. With a shake of their head, the stranger looked over at him with ink leaking from his widow’s peak, and small frown on his face. His eyes were completely off-model! They were not pie-cut at all, they had pupils, irises that were gold, and whites!

The stranger Bendy looked at him, blinking a few times, confused, before his frown turned into a smile and he waved, holding up the cardboard sign. The ink on it changed into new words.

‘Hello! Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you! Where am I? Oh! You’re a different looking Bendy! I’ve never seen one who is yellow and stitched before, makes me think of the Heavenly Toys!’

Benny stared at him, startled, trying to find his voice. It took a few seconds before he replied. “Uhh... alright, you’re in my backyard. And I’m made from a Heavenly Toys Bendy doll, and I’m not a Bendy. I’m Benny!”

The stranger nodded, still smiling as he held out a hand. ‘Nice to meet you, Benny! I’m SINdy!’

The hand was floating in front of Benny and he carefully took it, giving it a small shake. “Hello, SINdy? Are you a Bendy? Wait, are you from the studio? I don’t recall ever seeing you there!”

‘I’m... not really a Bendy? I mean, I was made from a Bendy cutout, and blood, and a demon, stuff like that, but no, not a Bendy per say. And I’m not from the studio!’ SINdy shrugged, though it seemed off with the lack of arms and shoulders. ‘Well, not the studio of this universe, I’m from a totally different one!’

Benny tiled his head a little, like a confused dog. “Wait, what? What do you mean?”

‘Oh, right, uhh...’ SINdy looked lost in thought, before nodding to himself. ‘Okay, well, I’m a... special kind of demon? I guess? I mean, the ritual used to make me gave me this strange power! I can teleport to other universes, other realities where the studio exists! Or at least where Bendy exists as a character or real figure.

And this power of mine lets me end up in other universes through ink portals and cutouts! It’s weird, happens randomly, but I can always return home if I go back the way I came!’

He stopped and looked around, blinking. ‘Wait, did you say you were in a backyard?’

“Yes, you’re at my home.” Benny replied.

SINdy looked shocked and rushed to the door, much to Benny’s protest, and stepped outside. The stranger froze up as he stepped onto the grass, looking at it in surprise, before looking up at the beautiful trees that surrounded the small hut he had appeared in. The sign in his hand had a new message. ‘I’m... outside? Outside of the studio?’

Benny stepped up to him, his stomach having closed up, this toon didn’t seem like much of a threat. Actually, he seemed like a weird, little kid. The look on his face was of genuine surprise and awe, had he never been outside before?

“Yep, I escaped with my parents, and with Bendy and Henry.” Benny started stepping past him to be outside as well.

SINdy looked at him, eyes practically sparkling, almost as if there were stars in them like a cartoon. ‘I’ve never... been outside. All the other universes I’ve been to, they were in studios. Or toon realities. Never... the real world.’

He flopped down on the grass, looking at Benny, his smile returning. ‘Do you mind if I stay here for a bit? I want to enjoy the outside, just for a little...’

The stitched demon looked at him before smiling a bit, sitting down across from him. “Sure, you can stay for a while! Not often I get guests, hehe. So, uh, tell me about yourself?”

SINdy grinned brightly as words appeared on the sign, happily telling Benny about himself, about being a cutout that came to life! How he has been in the studio for a long time, and that he recently started seeing Sammy as his father. He mentioned some of the universes he had visit, his powers were still new to him so he hadn’t seen that many.

This was honestly the first time he’s really able to speak to someone that wasn’t scared of him or trying to kill him. It was also nice to be around someone who gave off small whispers instead of loud screams or buzzing sounds from their sins and negative feelings.

Benny told him stuff in return, about his own past and who his parents were, about his own powers and his second form as Ragdoll. As they spoke, Benny showed him around the yard, pointing out plants and even insects, like when a butterfly landed right on SINdy’s face and the wandering demon freaked out from the unexpected face guest.

After that, Benny happily took him inside of the hut, showing him toys and even a plate of cookies he had. SINdy had never had anything outside of bacon soup before, so trying a peanut butter cookie was as if he had been gifted something from the gods.

‘You know,’ SINdy started as he moved his checker piece of the board in front of the two toon, ‘I never thought I’d meet another Bendy like me.’

“What do you mean?” Benny asked as he moved his own piece, capturing one of SINdy’s.

‘Well, I mean, you’re made from a doll, I’m from a cutout! How silly is that?’

Benny chuckled. “It is, but it’s pretty neat! I mean, it’s kinda nice to have a friend in a similar situation as me.” He looked up, seeing that sparkly look in SINdy’s eyes like when he first stepped outside. And when he rolled around in grass earlier.

‘Friend?’ The sign read as he seemed to mouth the word.

“Well, yeah! I mean, if you want to be-!” Benny was suddenly cut off SINdy was suddenly in front of him, doing something akin to a hug? He guessed? It was weird, seeing as he had no arms. “I’m guessing you’re okay with that?”

He saw the sign pop up above their heads, held in a floating hand. ‘Of course! I’ve never had a friend before!’

“Well, you’ve got one now.” The stitched toon grinned, returning the hug.

Sorry, it’s short, and kinda silly, but I had a cute idea based on something Fullmetal and I talked about.

Enjoy! :D

#bendy and the ink machine #batim #batim bendy #sindy the wandering demon #benny the stitched demon #wandering is a terrible sin #john's drabbles

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vreugd-madelon · 6 years ago

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The Lowland Review

The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri is a 340 page Adult Historical Fiction novel set in round 1970's India and USA. I picked up this book in a fairly recent book haul, nad with my interest peaked I wanted to read it as soon as I could.

Information gotten from the marketing of the book.

In this book we follow two brothers, Subhash and Udayan in the time of an upcoming revolution in India. Ever since their youth they had been as close as brother could get, and now the world seems to drive them apart. Udayan sees the events for what they are, and eventually joins the rebels. Subhash on the other hand, wishes not to partake and heads to America for his studies. Will fate bring the brother together? Will they be on the same side, the side of family?

Actual information.

When the youngest of two Indian brothers is convicted and executed, the life of the family changes forever. The monther withdraws into herself, and the father isn't much better. The elder brother, Subhash, has moved to America for his studies, but takes great care of his family as much as he can. The wife now a widow, Gauri, is pregnant with his son unbeknownst to him. The elder brother and the widow make an arangement to take care for the child, a daughter, Bela. Will they find their happy end?

I rate this book 2.5/5 stars, because the marketing was off point and there were various other things that frustrated me while reading.

There were moments that I really enjoyed and moments I was wondering why I was continuing with the story. It's a slow burn from beginning to end, not something I suspected. The story itself was really interesting. We see glimpses of the life in India and USA in mostly the '60 and '70, however with how the book looked, the way the synopsis was written I expected it was fully set in India. To see how one life could impact that of a whole family for generations, was quite the wake up call. At moments I wonder what would've been different in my life were some small detail was changed. I feel that some moments were completely written to shock the reading, giving information out of nowhere to drive the plot forward. The characters themselves feel very round, and because we have various POV's we see into their minds as well. They are established very clearly, and change throughout their lives, for better and worse. Some change from quite likable to completely annoying and unbelievable in their actions. Mostly Gauri in my opinion. I'm not a mother, but to me it's inconciable that a mother would leave their child after 12 years of raising it. She is selfish and inconsiderate many a times. The writing style is also something I'm not quite used to. Many things are thoughts and desciption; often tell instead of show. And I must wonder if the writer has every hear of Quotation Marks for dialogue. How else am I supposed to know when someone is talking? Well, by taking myself out of the story and rereading a paragraph 3 times over for it to make sense in my brain. After some time I got used to it, and it was easier to make the distinction between normal text and dialogue, but it was never as fluid and normal.

My last point is stated at the beginning of this Review as an example. The fact that this book is completely wrong in it's marketing. I think that if it was marketed with the right content that I still woul've picked it up, because the premise does really intrigue me. I also think that I would've had much less frustration with this book than I felt this time around. Would I recommend it? Yes, if one cares for a story that follows characters throughout their lives and to see the impact a family can have on one another.

If you have any questions send me an ask here on tumblr or tweet me. If there are any books that you want to recommend, be sure to let me know!

#The Lowland #jhumpa lahiri #India #America #Man Booker Prize #2013 #book #review #reviews #books #book review

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rankakiu · 6 years ago

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Thoughts of the Droid: Avengers: Endgame (2019)

Hello, Tumblr people! How life treats you? As always, I hope very well. Finally, I was presented with the perfect opportunity to see one of the most anticipated superhero films of this year: Avengers: Endgame, is a production that closes with 10 years of stories about heroism and of course, a decade of success for Marvel Studios.

WARNING: NOT SPOILER-FREE. Read at your own risk

Entering already full to the review, what did I think the movie? Short answer: While it is not up to Infinity War, it is a great movie by itself. Now we go with more details.

Characters: Basically our favorite characters are still faithful to themselves. In Infinity War, we saw our heroes dead of fear and full of uncertainty; in this film is when we can see them completely broken, with their confidence on the floor and generally affected to know that they have not been able to save the world (and the universe). We see them struggling to adapt to a new world with half of their lives destroyed, a hostile environment that constantly reminds them of their failure as heroes and as humans. And even though they find Thanos and have a brief fight where they easily defeat the Crazy Titan, their feeling of emptiness gets worse, knowing that they can do nothing to reverse the situation ... or do they?

At this point, it could be said that the character of Scott Lang, when speaking to them about the quantum realm and his theory of time travel, causes the hopes of the Avengers to be reborn. Hence, our characters face various conflicts, mostly emotional, to know that many of them were not in the best friendly relationships, but even so, leave all that aside to focus on a common goal: to collect the gems of the infinite and thus have a possibility, not only to beat Thanos, but to fix everything.

History: It is at this point where I will be honest with you. The truth expected a different and more epic story. I do not know, a story where the surviving Avengers faced Thanos but seeing the inordinate power of the Crazy Titan, they would flee and from there formulate a time travel plan to collect the gems and that Thanos knowing that, would also travel to time to stop them. I expected a conflict that was even superior to the one shown in Infinity War. Instead, I saw a somewhat simpler story without so much epic tinge, so I was a little disappointed.

But why is history bad? Of course not. In fact, it is interesting to note that the story in Infinity War is about the villain, his background and motivations, why he does what he does. And they formulate it so well, that the spectator can sympathize in Thanos's crusade, leaving a bittersweet feeling: you can understand that his goal is to a certain noble point, but you do not agree with the method with which he wants to carry out his goal. On the other hand, in Endgame, it is a film that deals more with our heroes, to see them at first deal with their failure, and then see how hope is reborn in them and how they finally come together to carry out their plan, where they return to work as a real team, not as superheroes, but as brothers. It is a story where we see how the most powerful heroes of the planet seek on this journey to heal their wounds and in fact, this is what the story of the film is about: a healing process and with which they will seek redemption.

Speaking more about history, time travel seemed very successful, since it is here where we see our heroes more emotional than ever and that we can appreciate their human side much more. They face a mental challenge that supposes a hypothetical trip in the time, but in addition, they face an emotional challenge, that supposes being with a loved one, or facing a difficult decision of life and death.

In the first case, we have Steve Rogers and Tony Stark, where Rogers looks with yearning and longing for Peggy Carter, the woman he loved the most in the world. We see him contemplate it with nostalgia and with the tension that supposes that Rogers can make the mistake of wanting to go see her. You can see that his conflict is more about deciding between meeting her or faithfully following her mission of collecting the gem of infinity. In the end, he chooses wisely to continue your mission for the greater good.

In Stark's case, we can clearly see all the overwhelming range of emotions he feels when meeting his father. And I found it quite interesting that they had a talk about the family and that in fact, it was the son who advised the father on this subject. Their meeting can be described as extremely moving.

In the second case, it is up to Clint Barton and Natasha Romanoff. It is here where you can witness the great friendship that both had. Long before their time travel, the viewer can witness how Black Widow is devastated to learn how his friend lost his entire family at the hands of Thanos and how later Hawkeye became a vigilant too vengeful, as a way to discharge his anger and resentment against the world and destiny. The scene where they finally meet face to face is one of the best in the film, as Natasha offers Clint the opportunity to recover his family and after a few moments of doubt, he agrees to help the Avengers.

Of course, I could not stop mentioning the peak scene of these two companions that occurs in the Planet Vormir, where you can still appreciate the great friendship that both have. And this can be appreciated even more when they discover that a sacrifice is necessary to possess the Gem of the Soul. The brief fight between the two is intense and full of tension, where one as a spectator eats the nails and wishes that neither of them dies. And in the end, Natasha, in an act of true friendship and camaraderie, sacrifices herself so that Clint can not only get the gem but also continue with the mission of defeating Thanos so he can return to see his family. A most moving scene without a doubt.

The third case, we see Thor and Rocket Raccoon travel to the past, specifically to the lands of Asgard when they were in full glory. Thor cannot help but feel a certain nostalgia and above all the need to see, even for the last time, his mother, Frigga. Rocket Raccoon would be the comic relief for the situation, it is also the voice of reason for Thor, for the god of thunder to focus on his mission. Certainly, the conversation that mother and son hold is very endearing, it is in its pure sense, a conversation in which the mother gives valuable lessons and advice to her son, above all, the lesson that the past must let go to face the present , a mother who gives encouragement and emotional support to her son, when he most needed it. A scene very well carried out.

The fourth case, we have Bruce Banner, the Hulk, being face to face with the Ancient One, where we see that she also fought against the first invasion of Thanos, in New York, making sure that the Sanctum Sanctorum she was guarding did not fall into enemy hands. I do not have much to emphasize about this particular scene, except for the fact of its importance in history, since we see how Banner, using his intellect and tenacity, tries, by all means, to convince Ancient One to deliver the Gem of the Time, which she does when he mentions that Stephen Strange gave Thanos that gem in the present timeline. With this, the Ancient One seems to realize the whole plan of her pupil.

The fifth case that concerns us, You can see a great evolution in the character of Nebula, where she has a somewhat unpleasant encounter with her past self and her sister Gamora. Nebula tries to convince her self of the past that Thanos's goal is totally wrong and that she can free herself from her bonds and be someone else by herself. The conflict that arises between the two Nebulas is quite interesting in my opinion. The Nebula of the present is quite clear that she wants to be, while the Nebula of the past seeks to define herself by having her father Thanos as the most fundamental of her life.

She is presented with the perfect opportunity and the Nebula of the past does not hesitate for a second to take it since her obsession was too much to receive recognition from his father. That is why both the Nebula of the present and Gamora knew that it was impossible to save the Nebula from the past, for which they had no choice but to kill her.

We arrive at the scene of the final battle, where Thanos maintains his initial objective but now he wants to carry it out on a much larger scale, to eliminate half of the universe to eliminate ALL the universe and from there create another more prosperous one. The Avengers face the Crazy Titan in an epic fight, where despite the power of Thanos, there is an improvement in the Avengers, where they now perfectly know the kind of enemy they face.

Thanos keeps showing they why he is powerful, but the Avengers fight with more security and determination, which ends up delivering a very memorable battle. The climax of the fight reaches its point when those killed by the power of the gauntlet arrive on the scene of the fight and launch themselves into the charge against Thanos and his army. In the end, the Avengers win the match thanks to Tony Stark, who seizes the Gems of Infinity and with snapping his fingers disintegrates Thanos himself and his army. It is noteworthy here that when Thanos witnesses how his army fades, he goes through the same phases as the Avengers in Infinity War: First he looks in disbelief, then he feels fear and in the end (unlike the Avengers) he understands that he has lost war, he sits down and with it he resigns himself to death. If you ask me this is a worthy ending for a villain of his size.

Finally, the film closes with an emotional funeral in memory of Tony Stark, where we appreciate all the heroes and acquaintances of the deceased saying goodbye to him with melancholy, where they know that the world has lost one of its great and irreplaceable heroes. We also have Steve Rogers returns the gems of the infinite and stayed a lifetime in his timeline, fulfilling his dream of sharing his life with Peggy Carter. We see him return to the present, already aged and gives a last act both a superhero and human: bequeath his shield and with it his name to Sam Wilson, to Falcon, so that this is the new Captain America.

Certainly, it seemed appropriate that they also give this closure with the character of Captain America, we're probably in a future movie they mention that he has died of natural causes.

In general, Avengers: Endgame handles a very good story, solid and that keeps you attentive, making your three hours of duration go completely unnoticed.

Visual and special effects: Being a super production and even more a superhero tape, the visuals must be impeccable and fortunately Avengers: Endgame fulfills very well and thoroughly with this point. We know that many of the scenarios, creatures and the odd character are made by computer, but they make it feel that it feels completely real. In addition, they are also used to make the powers of different characters shine in all their glory. You can be calm, the visuals are perfect.

Action: While there are several action scenes, I feel that they were a little short, since most of this is only seen until the final confrontation with Thanos, that although I will not deny that it is one of the best achieved, I would have liked to see at least half of that action in other scenes. But I'm not complaining anyway. The action is exciting and overwhelming, especially in the epic final duel.

In conclusion, Avengers: Endgame is a great movie of superheroes and that closes with a flourish all the movies of the Avengers. The film gives moments of glory to many of their characters and gives a worthy conclusion to others. A film that, along with its prequel Infinity War, is to be seen again and again and that it will also earn the right to be immovable within a collection of an authentic movie buff, especially if it is a fan of superhero movies. So while I give this movie 4 out of 5 Gems of Infinity. A film that will undoubtedly mark a before and after in superhero movies.

Greetings

Rankakiu

P.S. Motherfu... They killed Black Widow, my favorite character! How dare they!? It is something that I will not overcome in years XD.

#avengers endgame #avengers infinity war #avengers #marvel cinematic universe #marvel mcu #mcu #captain america #iron man #black widow #robert downey jr #chris evans #scarlett johansson #movie #superhero movies #movie review #opinions #thoughts #thoughts of the droid #rankakiu

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sserpente · 7 years ago

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A/N: Request from anon. It snowed where I live today! The chances for White Christmas are increasing, yey! Now, this was a request but I’m thinking about permanently adding Thomas Sharpe to the characters I write for. Let me know what you think!

Words: 1727 Warnings: none

“Honestly, Thomas, we really should head back. The snowstorm is getting heavier.” You had been waiting for hours. This shortly before Christmas, the post office was extraordinary busy. Huge piles of parcels and packages surrounded you both as you sat there, waiting to pick up some material for Thomas’ machine, important pieces he couldn’t wait for to receive after the holidays, he had said.

You had left for London two days ago, travelling by horse carriage. It had been marvellous—magical and romantic, watching the snow sugar-coating the vast landscape, the many flakes painting the grey sky all the while wrapped in a warm and soft blanket, sitting so close to Thomas you could feel his body heat radiating off him and warming you like the brightest sun.

He had looked incredibly handsome that day—hell, he always looked unbelievably breath-taking. His black hair and the glasses he wore to protect his eyes from the rather weak sunbeams at this time of the year, along with his dark tailcoat and the black gloves… you could spend hours staring at him intently, mustering his thin lips you wanted to taste and hugging the surely somewhat muscly form he hid beneath those neatly tailored garments.

Technically, you were not allowed to have thoughts like that. They were hazardous—endangering your relationship to him. Thomas was, quite frankly, your boss. You supported him with capital and in return, for a little over a year now, he allowed you to live with him in Allerdale Hall. Ever since his sister had died, he felt lonely, he had told you one night after a few glasses of wine.

You could tell he shared a long and depressing history with her—a history you shouldn’t pry into and yet, the compassion you had felt for him went beyond mere friendliness. You had fallen in love with this man that night, learning he had a good heart and a soft nature.

“I’m so sorry, (Y/N).” His soft voice caressed your ears like earmuffs. It was okay, really. You had nowhere else to be. Your own family lived in Scotland and they had abandoned you after you had refused to marry this disgusting old farmer for money. You were better off here. With Thomas. “I know you want to go home.”

Home. Because Crimson Peak was your home now too. The words he spoke sounded like molten candy, like sweet honey running down your throat as you took them in.

“It’s alright, Thomas, really. I’m just worried about the blizzard, it’s getting worse.”

“Mr Sharpe! I am so sorry to have kept you waiting for so long but I’m afraid I have bad news.”

Sighing, you both stood, staring down the owner of the office. “Our courier got stuck in the snowstorm, there has been an incident. He is currently waiting for transportation in Edinburgh. I doubt he will arrive in time before Christmas in two days, and there will be no service on the day of Christmas Eve.”

Just like that, the whole journey, the money you had spent on the driver and the time you had wasted out in the cold, was all in vain.

Thomas nodded ruefully. “That is quite unfortunate. Is he alright?”

It was one of the many reasons why you loved him so much. Even though he would be relinquishing those machinery parts, he still cared—for a stranger he had never met.

“He will be. But you are not planning to leave now, are you?” The owner continued, his eyes widening as he watched Thomas reach for his hat to put it back on. It made him so much taller than he already was, towering up high next to your own form.

“We should. A Christmas tree awaits us.” You tossed in, smiling sweetly at him. It was a quite useful ability when it came to meetings, banks and money. You were of great help to him, right now, however, it earned you pity.

“Half of the city is snowed in. I doubt you will be able to leave, Mrs Sharpe.”

Your heart skipped a beat, your lips parting to correct him but your opposite was faster yet again and Thomas… Thomas seemed to hide an almost… dreamy smile.

“Perhaps you should consider spending the holidays here in London. There is a hotel right around the corner in Hugh Street. I know the owner, a lovely widow. I am sure she has a room for you two.”

Pressing your lips together, you looked up at the man of your desire, your eyes pronouncing the question you did not speak. Should we stay?

“If that is okay for you,” Thomas stated, smiling ever so slightly the butterflies in your belly went crazy with love.

You nodded. “We have not much of a choice. Staying in a warm hotel room is better than travelling in the cold, after all.”

In the end, it really did not matter, as long as you could spend Christmas with him.

“Alright… I will pay for your hotel room. I asked you to join me, after all. Well, still, thank you for your efforts.” He said to the owner then, nodding courtly.

“Good night, Mr Sharpe. Have a merry Christmas.”

“You too, sir,”

The hotel was in fact not far from the post office. Thomas and you were quick to find it, striding through the snow with your faces down to shut out the cold. Every cell of your being longed for you to take his gloved hand in yours but you resisted the urge, instead sucking in a deep breath when the warmth of the heated hotel wrapped around your bodies. ‘Lucinda’s’ the wooden sign read.

“Can I help you?” It was an elderly woman who spoke, waving from behind an old wooden counter. Piles of paper decorated it and a plate full of homemade cookies invited to steal a treat.

“Yes, Lucinda? I was wondering if you had two rooms for us? I’m afraid we’ll be stranded in London until it stops snowing.”

“Oh dear… I am completely overbooked for the holidays, sir. I have only one room left.”

“Will that do?” Thomas asked, giving you gentle glance.

Sleeping in one bed right next to him… it would be your own personal Christmas miracle.

“Yeah,” you choked out, clearing your throat. “I don’t mind.”

The widow was quick to hand you the keys and lead you upstairs to a small room. It was comfortable—cosy. A huge bed took up most of the space, the thick curtains and carpets drowning the room in warmth. It even had a desk and a small drawer for luggage, next to an old armchair that invited you to peacefully read on it.

“I can sleep on the chair, if you like.” Thomas suggested, walking towards the window to admire the view. Snowflakes blinded him, yet the busy streets of London were still clearly visible.

“Thomas, we live in the same house. I have known you for a little over a year now and I trust you. We can both sleep in the bed, I-I mean, unless of course you don’t wish to sleep next to me, if you are not comfortable—“

The shocked expression on his face startled you. “(Y/N), of course not. I would love to sleep next to you.” Only the fraction of a second after did he realise what he had said. He would love to sleep next to you? Smiling softly, you imagined how he would cuddle up against you, wrapping his strong arms around your body to keep you warm and safe. Perhaps… just maybe… did he feel the same for you?

“Did you hear it?” He went on then, quickly changing the topic. “The owner of the post office thought we were married.”

“I heard,” you giggled. If only it were real though, you added silently.

“I am so sorry we’ll have to spend Christmas Eve here. Perhaps I can ask Lucinda for a small Christmas tree?”

“Thomas… as long as I am with you, there is no need for a tree, no need for a delicious feast or presents…” You trailed off.

“I had a Christmas present for you.” He interrupted you gently, his blue eyes locking with yours. His soft smile—almost cheeky—melted you from the inside out.

Again, your heart skipped a beat, feeling like pink cotton candy wrapped around it.

“Thomas… that is so sweet of you but you knew you didn’t have to get me anything.”

“But I did. I was not sure if…” If what? If what?!

“(Y/N)…” Thomas started, approaching you with two intimidating steps that sent pleasant shivers up and down your spine. He was standing so close now you could feel his hot breath brushing against your skin, his body almost touching yours.

“It was a ring.”

A… a… a ring?! “W-what?”

“I wanted to ask for your hand in marriage, (Y/N). One year ago, when you offered capital to join me, I… it didn’t take me long to fall for you and with every day that passed, my love for you grew. The owner of the post office… my heart jumped when he called you ‘Mrs Sharpe’. This might not be the time, I wanted this to be perfect… but… we don’t seem to be going anywhere soon and… I love you. Will you… will you marry me?”

He loved you? He loved you! Your lips parted, hot tears of joy burning in your eyes. “Thomas… oh Thomas, I love you too! I have for so long, I… I just didn’t know… I never thought… yes!” You breathed out, barely audible. “Yes, I want to marry you!”

“Yes?” He smiled cordially when he lifted you off the ground, pressing his thin lips against yours and igniting a fire deep inside you. His soft mouth burned like a thousand stars, sending jolts of electricity through your whole body and capturing you in a charming curse you never wanted to break free from again as you both stumbled onto the bed, spending the rest of the night appreciating each other’s bodies, talking, kissing, touching. Not sleeping with each other, of course—Thomas was a very traditional man; that he honourably promised he would save for your wedding night. Perhaps in the end, this journey had not been in vain after all.

#thomas sharpe #thomas sharpe imagine #thomas sharpe x you #thomas sharpe x reader #crimson peak #crimson peak imagine #tom hiddleston #allerdale hall

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