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magicstormfrostfire · 9 months

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A fanfic draft that Ive had on the backburner since like 2020 because the scope I have for it is SO LARGE and disorganized that I literally haven't even touched refining its conception. However, I do like what I started so far, so I thought I'd share. The fic is intended to be 18+ if I ever started writing it, but this first chapter is not.

Characters: Sonic, Silver, Amy Rose, Blaze (hinted Blazamy)

Romance/Drama/Mystery

If You Seek Amy

"C'mon, just hear me out about this!"

"Absolutely not. I already told you, Sonic, I'm not taking any more recommendations from you."

"But he really needs a job! Besides, you haven't even met him!"

Amy whipped around quickly, teal eyes narrowing on the blue hedgehog.

"The last time I met a guy you suggested to me, it nearly ran my business into the ground." She dusted off her skirt and moved toward her desk, sitting heavily into the swivel office chair behind it.

"What makes this guy any different, huh?"

Sonic flashed the woman a knowing smile.

"Trust me, he has exactly what you're lookin' for, Ames."

"Oh?"

"Yup. He's a little inexperienced but I think he can do the job no problem. Plus he's a real cutie, ya know?"

Polished pink nails drummed on the desk as Amy stared out the window deep in thought. They were slowly getting back old clientele after the mess she had to clean up, but they were still in need of new workers…

"Fine. I'll see him. But this isn't a guarantee so--"

"Sweet! Wait right here, I'll go get him." In a flash Sonic was out the door, causing a few very important papers to swirl from Amy's desk. Irritated, she rose from her chair and crouched to pick them up.

"Chaos, he seriously needs to stop doing that…"

"Don't trouble yourself." A voice called from the doorway. Amy glanced up, relieved to see a familiar purple cat kneeling down in front of her.

"I can get those for you. You sound rather troubled…"

"Thanks. I'm so glad you're back, Blaze. You're just in time to meet Sonic's friend that he wants me to hire."

The other woman blinked, concerned.

"And...what is this new person like?"

"He went to go get them, I haven't seen him yet. Be prepared to kick the guy out if he steps out of line though."

Blaze nodded, her yellow eyes glinting expectantly as she handed the papers over.

"Consider it done, Miss Amy."

The pink hedgehog gathered the fallen files into a stack and placed them neatly on her desk. In truth, she really hoped that this guy Sonic suggested was someone she could use in her business. So far, Amy had little luck finding new workers now that her establishment's reputation was put into question. She smoothed out her white skirt again anxiously, hoping that this meeting was actually worth her time.

Blaze came up behind her, a delicate hand placed on her back.

"You're doing that thing where you stress yourself out again, aren't you?"

"Sorry. I just don't want this guy to be a disappointment. We really need people."

"This is true, but try not to worry so much about it. You've worked hard to make this place a respectable establishment in the past. We've come so far, and we can do it again, yes?"

Amy turned to face her, teal eyes softening on Blaze with a thankful smile.

"You're absolutely right. I promise I'll try to calm down and really give it my all."

"You always do."

A sudden knock on the door drew their attention and right away Amy knew that something was unusual about it. Sonic hardly ever knocked before he came in, so it had to be the person he brought to meet her.

"The door is open, come in."

"Ah...okay. Uh…"

"Oh." Amy blinked.

This was someone she could definitely work with.

The visitor was another hedgehog with cloudy white fur and a plume of front quills on his head. His muzzle was a pale peach color and Amy noticed his cheeks were slightly flushed; he seemed nervous. The young man was around Sonic's build but sporting a black shirt that was a little too big for him. She guessed it was to accommodate his abundance of white chest fluff. Bright gold eyes looked around the room nervously and he seemed as if he didn't know exactly what he was supposed to be doing there.

"Er...Hello."

Amy managed to get herself together and held out a hand to him with her classic inviting smile.

"Hello! Amy Rose. And you are?"

"I'm Silver." He replied, taking her hand and giving it a gentle shake.

"Nice to meet you, Silver. This is my assistant, Blaze."

"Hello."

"Charmed." The purple cat said flatly, resting her hands behind her back. It was pretty clear that she was not going to shake his hand, so Silver settled for putting them in his pockets instead.

"Please have a seat, and let's get started with the interview!" Amy gestured to the guest couch against the wall before shuffling excitedly to her chair.

"Alrighty then."

She couldn't believe it but Sonic was right; this guy really was exactly what she was looking for. Unique, attractive, approachable, it was exactly what they needed here! Amy tried her best to keep herself calm and professional. Looks were only half of the job, and she didn't want to get her hopes up just yet.

"So, Silver…" She drawled, pulling a pen from her desk drawer.

"You want to work here at The Garden, correct? What do you know about our line of work?"

"What do I know? Um...well, not much. That's sort of why I came to the interview. Sonic didn't tell me everything."

"Ah, I see. Well, there's not much to explain. It's a pretty easy job especially if you're a people person."

Silver tilted his head, seeming as if he was concerned about her answer.

"This is a Host Club. Are you following me so far?"

"Hosts?" His eyes widened a fraction.

"L-like an escort service?"

"No. Not at all." Blaze replied dryly. Her tail swished from side to side in irritation and Silver winced; he had a feeling that he may have said something inappropriate.

"Sweetie, a Host Club is a place where people come to chat and hang out with our employees." Amy said slowly. She tapped the pen on the table to get his attention.

"Essentially, people pay to have tea and conversation with you. Your clients are mostly women, but we have a healthy mix of all kinds of customers here. I don't know how other places might do things but the job is only to entertain them and keep them company if they request you."

"Oh thank goodness…"

"Do you think that hosting is something you would be interested in doing?"

Silver's eyes veered off to the side.

"Well...er….geez I wish Sonic would've told me earlier what it was all about…"

The pink hedgehog's smile faltered just a little, but she remained silent.

"I'm not turning down the job, I'm just not great at conversation and I don't know how entertaining I could be. I've never done this before."

"That's not a problem. You'll be a simple waiter before we let you become a host, so we won't put you on the list of choices right away. Though there's lots of training in the basics you'll have to do before you're a waiter, or even available to customers."

The young man smiled softly and gave a quick nod.

"Ah, I can do that then, no problem."

"Great! Then you start next week." Amy replied. She scribbled down something on the paper in front of her before turning it over to Silver.

"I want you here next Monday at 3pm. Can you do that?"

"Um...yeah, but...don't you have any other questions for me?" The white hedgehog took the paper from her and scanned it briefly.

"Not at all! Just fill out the paper with your information and work history and I'll take it when you come in Monday. Or if you want, give it to Sonic and he can turn it in."

"Oh, okay cool! I'll get this back to you as soon as possible. Thank you so much!" Silver replied before rising from the couch. Amy watched eagerly as the young hedgehog gave a short wave and shuffled out the door.

She waited until she was sure he was gone before slumping in her chair with a sigh.

"A penny for your thoughts, Darling?"

"He is a babe in the woods, Blaze. Sonic didn't even tell him what the job was! I'm basically building a man from scratch, here."

The purple cat chuckled and patted Amy's shoulder lovingly.

"Silver should be a cakewalk. After all, you managed to handle that catastrophe from before."

"Yeah, and it almost cost me my business."

Blaze put a hand to her lips, gasping dramatically.

"My, my, I never took you for the quitter type…"

"Oh knock it off," Amy giggled as she shoved her gently.

"But you're totally right. I've done it before under worse circumstances and I can do this again. And this time, I'm going to train the newbie personally."

"Will you have the time?"

"I'll simply make the time. If I want to pick up where I left off, I'll have to put the work in, right?"

"That makes sense to me."

The pink hedgehog rose from her seat with a flourish and pulled out her phone, tapping away at the screen excitedly. Blaze grinned, knowing Amy long enough to tell when the woman was having a brainstorm.

"I haven't trained anyone personally in a long time, so I'm moving some of my appointments around. Remind me to put in an order for a new suit-- oh I don't have anyone to pick it up--"

"Have Sonic do it."

"Yes! He owes me one now, it's the least he can do, right?"

"Of course."

"Oh I have so many things to move around but this is going to be fun! I haven't trained a new employee in ages…!" Amy babbled to herself as she walked out, Blaze opening the door for her in her excitement. It had been a long time since she had seen the young woman so passionate about her club, especially since the last incident nearly brought their business to its knees.

Amy and Sonic were a fantastic pair when it came to ideas but they were as short sighted as they were ambitious and that was their downfall. Blaze partially blamed herself for what had happened. She was too quick to trust their judgment and wanted so badly to support Amy’s choices no matter what.

She shook her head and walked in line behind the pink hedgehog, that familiar and endearing passion of hers causing Blaze to sigh fondly.

It wouldn't happen again. She would be more observant this time. This 'Silver' was going to be everything they needed to turn their luck around.

Blaze was going to make sure of that.

And that's all I have for this! It's been sitting in the drafts since forever, and is something I hope to actually follow through on at some point. I have a lot of loose threads put into this alone, but some nice facts about what ive set up so far

the workers at The Garden all have flowers as their name aliases, even the waiters. I haven't fully decided what everyone's will be or all the employees yet.

This is going to be a very Amy and Sonic focused fanfic, as well as the relationships they have with others. They're close friends and business partners, which is where a lot of past and future conflict comes into play. It also weighs a lot on the unspoken 'incident' theyre alluding to....

Silver is lying in this chapter. About what? Everything. :)

Someday I'll properly put this out on AO3 whenever I have the idea fully formed but for now, have this!

#sonic the hedgehog #amy rose #blazamy #blaze the cat #silver the hedgehog #sonic fanfics #sonic fanfiction #sonic #sth

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faranae · 2 years

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[Back to Masterpost]

The Sammy Post

[Long post! Drawn ask responses, written responses, short story; Trigger warnings on this one for written gore, injury, and distress. It will be clearly marked and at the very end.] Sammy is getting his own post because let's be real, he overtook Dev and Darl' as the favorite almost immediately. Yes, it includes THAT short story. It'll be at the end and clearly marked. Trigger warnings mentioned above.

The reveal:

First off I'm putting this right here, even though I've already posted it, because it absolutely EXPLODED. I thought it was Cat!Darling bringing people to the post but nope. A massive chunk were there for the Sammy reveal. Love y'all.

Sammy takes some questions from the ask box:

“You can try asking him anythin’ ya please, but I can’t guarantee you’ll get an answer. He’s a bit unpredictable.” -Dev

#I think my favorite part #is his mask just slides down #it falls a bit more every panel #sticky goop can't fight gravity

He looks so proud #He hoards the things #They're like really heavy lego #It's not as sound as it looks #He's not allowed to build roofs any more after the third bacon soup searcher casualty

That one story answer I did for Sammy that everyone went nuts over for some reason:

The man startles and whips around at the sudden question, sending the mask atop his head askew. His eyes are wide and confused, bandaged fingers closing tightly around the pen in his hand as he studies his surroundings. He relaxes somewhat when he finds his sanctuary remains empty. And yet, he can feel the buzz of anticipation in the air as the Question lingers.

“Wonderful,” he mutters, voice dripping with sarcasm as his white sockets narrow. “No rest, no peace. I was warned you might come for me. Or have you already? I can’t… Remember.” He turns away from the presence and returns to his work, carefully arranging the papers away from where his palms might accidentally marr the surface.

“The ink,” he begins slowly, “to say that it is an inconvenience would be a magnificent understatement.” There is a bitter tone to his voice as pen scratches once again on paper. “It oozes, yet does not drip. This, at the very least, is a blessing.”

His free hand lifts, the inky digits fluttering in the air before returning to his side. Barely distinguishable from the thick viscous substance covering his body, small strips of black-stained cloth can be seen wrapped around his fingertips.

“This… Helps. Not sticking to anything and everything. Though it still stains.”

The sounds of his notation fade just as the weight of the Question disperses, content in his response. He stares at his pen a moment, lost in thought before adjusting his mask to sit atop his head properly and out of his way.

“How inconvenient.”

Sammy hums to himself as he returns to his work. In the back of his mind, some part of him wonders if there had even been a question at all.

Excerpt from the "Drippy Ink" ask regarding Sammy's composition:

Sammy: The master of the music department is similar to Darling that his body is composed of a seemingly physical core blanketed in a slough of ink. Sammy’s ink is contaminated and thick, sticking to him like tar. It will ooze, but will not separate from him easily. If lost (or forcibly removed, as he’s attempted to do on his more lucid days) it will cause him excruciating pain and inevitably will regenerate if he takes in sustenance of any sort (food or drink, or on his less clear days ink). Despite his wish to be freed of his��“inky prison”, Sammy’s core (be it a body, anchor, or something else entirely nobody knows) would likely not survive the process if the pain caused by loss of his ink is any indication.

Also:

3. Unrelated, but Sammy has named some of the more unique Searchers and will even converse with them at times. They never reply. He thinks that is rather rude.

On Sammy's "lucid" days:

You can tell when it’s one of Sammy’s “good” days by what music he hums as he goes about the studio. If it’s tunes from the old Bendy cartoons, it is NOT a good day to approach Sammy. If it’s anything else (Willow Weep for Me being a particularly obnoxious earworm but he doesn’t mind since he likes the song) he is having a lucid day. Odds are in your favor, but you should still approach with caution.

That one time I did a 40 hour art stream and the chat finally convinced me to go to bed:

[Back to Masterpost]

STOP!! FROM THIS POINT THERE ARE TRIGGER WARNINGS FOR WRITTEN DESCRIPTIONS OF BODY HORROR, GORE, INJURY, SUFFOCATION, PARALYSIS, DEATH, AND A (VERY BRIEF) MENTION OF SUICIDE.

Please take care of yourselves. I've added a few extra "back to the masterpost" links for your convenience. This is not me being patronizing or condescending; I genuinely would prefer you leave the post now if the above-mentioned topics bother you. ♥

[Back to Masterpost]

The Fall - Or: That time I got really impatient about releasing lore stuff and put Sammy's origin into a ficlet for fun and made everyone angry at me for hurting The Baby.

Reminder that this thing was written on the bus, going to college, so it's not the most cohesive attempt at storytelling.

How many years has he known Joey Drew?

It’s a silly thing to wonder, in the moment. Still, perhaps as an escape from the horrors occurring in front of him, he surrenders to his wandering thoughts. Ten years? Fifteen? More? Less?

The first time his pay had been delayed, his threats to resign had been met with a smile and reassurance from his employer. The second and third times he did the same, and was met again with laughter. After the studio’s coffers ran empty for the final time he had vowed to turn his back on the man for good. Alas, Drew possessed a tongue wrought in silver that Sammy Lawrence could never quite resist; Promises and ambition in spades, even after sickness had turned the man’s bones to warped glass.

And so he sang the old songs. Pushed the chair. Ran errands. Fetched books. His eccentric employer descended deeper into secrecy and madness as the pain grew, just as Sammy slipped further into compliance. He wasn’t the only one of course; Others followed the man through the decline of the studio, though he had never understood if their loyalty was out of pity or friendship.

But Sammy; Sammy is the last of them. The others had gone long ago. He hadn’t known where at the time, but now? Now he knows.

“The final visit,” Joey had written in the margins of today’s agenda. That after this day there would be no more pain, no more chair, and no more need of his services. Sammy had been fully prepared to talk the man down from suicide, doubly so since the animator was in no condition to commit the act himself.

But as he sits in a horrified and sweaty silence with his back against the wall watching his former employer have a one-sided conversation with a writhing black mass, he knows exactly why they are here.

“THE BARGAIN IS STRUCK, THEN.”

The words are perfectly clear, but as with each time the inky apparition has spoken since manifesting he can’t help but cringe. The pitch is wrong to his classically trained ears; a collection of off-key voices speaking in unison over the drone of the nearby ink machine. The creature seems to almost nod, responding to yet another silent question from the man in the wheelchair before it.

“HE MUST. YOU CANNOT FILL AN ALREADY OCCUPIED VESSEL, NOR A DEAD ONE. THAT WOULD BE QUITE COUNTER-PRODUCTIVE.” It takes Sammy only a brief moment to pick up on the shift in mass as the summoned being, the demon, gestures vaguely in his direction. His own gaze flickers towards the doorway, mentally plotting the fastest method of escape and willing his legs to move.

“S… Sam… my.”

The voice is cracked and atrophied from years of silence, the act of speaking quite painful in the man’s condition. It is a voice Sammy hasn’t heard in quite some time, and the composer’s attention is pulled from his plans of escape just in time to witness the mass of ink lurch forward and devour his employer, chair and all.

He finally screams, then: In hauntingly perfect pitch.

Never before have his legs carried him so swiftly through these halls. Some distant part of his mind recalls the old custodian’s catch phrase as he flees, desperately clawing at the knob serving as the only barrier between him and freedom. It won’t turn. His heart breaks.

A pipe bursts nearby. And then another. He cannot see them, but he’s heard the sound enough times over the years to know. Ink begins to seep from beneath the baseboards and he recoils, pushing away from the now-useless door and making his way to the only place of sanity in this damned studio: his department. His sanctuary in the basement.

The halls are flooding as he reaches the familiar stairwell, ink cascading down the steps and turning the wood to slick. The thought barely crosses his mind to be cautious at the exact moment his shoes fail to find traction.

Sammy Lawrence falls.

He regains consciousness after what feels like a brief moment and eternity both.

“… GONE AND COMPLICATED THINGS, HAVEN’T YOU SAMMY,” the creature is saying, the words becoming clearer as the composer fights to focus. “LOYAL SAMMY. DEAREST SAMMY.” The layered voices fight among themselves in conflicting tones of amusement and rage. “YOUR GRIEF IS DELICIOUSLY IRONIC CONSIDERING YOUR INTENTIONS, DREW. NO MATTER, HE CAN STILL BE OF USE TO US.”

The voice is above him, but he cannot turn his head to look. He feels nothing but his splitting headache and the dampness of ink and tears pooling beneath his cheek. He says a quiet prayer to a God he doesn’t believe in, but the words come out misshapen and wrong, closer to a wheeze than anything.

The sudden realization that he can’t feel a thing below his chin terrifies him more than the approaching demon ever could. The shadow looming over him grows, and he can do nothing to stop it.

“A BROKEN TOY CAN STILL FUNCTION WITH SOME MENDING,” the voices say, darker now and in almost perfect unison as they drip directly into his ear. He would flinch, if he could. “SWEET SAMMY, DARLING SAMMY. I WILL BE YOUR SAVIOR.”

He tries to scream as he feels the burning liquid creep up his cheek, flowing into his eyes and towards his nose and mouth. He is panicking now, heart racing as the fluid embraces him and forcefully enters his lungs.

There is a deafening silence, a pure darkness, a building pressure, and a heat so intense he feels as though he’ll ignite at any moment.

And then, there is euphoria.

Sammy Lawrence falls.

[Back to Masterpost]

#Devil and Darling #Reaper Bendy AU #BATIM AU #Sammy Lawrence #Trigger warning #TW: suffocation #TW: violence #TW: injury #I swear it's mostly wholesome other than the end bit #Old art #Old writing #Long post

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cryptidofthekeys · 2 years

Text

Winslow Winchester (zombie baker oc)

Woo, proud of this lad-

TWs: Mentions of death, murder, gore

| Name: Winslow Winchester

| Nicknames: Win, Win-Win, Winnie, Wins, or Chester

| Gender: He/It

| Age: 45

| Height: 9ft

| Species/Race: Zombie

| ‘Occupation’: …It’s not- Mans don’t got no job, he’s a zombie- but uh it’s a Butcher/Baker

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| Hair Color: Dark Brown (it's completely unkempt, frizzy, all over the place, there’s also rats in it …Not joking, literal rats- in its hair)

| Eye Color: Cloudy Blue

| Skin Color/Body Type: His skin is just deathly white lmao (i mean, boy don’t got no blood, no life) and he’s a WIDE lad, fat- Tall and wide, has to lean down just to get into most doorways lmao

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| Appearance: It’s main outfit consists of a white tank top (it’s pretty dirty, literally too- it’s got dirt on it) and so does his blue overalls (it’s entire outfit is dirty n such, he smelly fr fr) and then finally he has black combat boots on.

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It wears no jewelry or anything like that, he has a bit of stubble and VERY dark circles under his eyes like it looks like he’s wearing eyeshadow but he’s not (usually its expression just consists of one eye being half lidded, also it looks high/like it’s not there tbh but that’s just his face)

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It has stitches on its wrists, ankles, neck, and even fingers- A BUNCH of stitches line its chest, back, and then the one going across its face (kinda like a half circle going around the right eye which is the one that is usually half lidded btw)

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His left ear has been bitten off it seems, overall though because of the stitches he’s not too gory looking- It has sharp fangs, two sets of em but no claws, his nails are… Fairly gnarly though n split n broken (the most ‘gory’ parts of it are the bitten off ear and the fingernails tbh)

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| Personality: Winslow is a bit of a weird mixture… On one hand, he seems quite docile and kinda just like a big ol’ puppy-ESPECIALLY if you give him sweets, candy, etc- on the other however… He knows what he’s doing, you might think well it must not know what it does is wrong! No, it does- It knows VERY well what it’s doing and what might that be?

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…Well, it IS a zombie, remember how I said he’s a Butcher/Baker? …Yeah, it kills people and bakes them into treats- And it won’t stop or apologize for that, literally, even if you tell him this is wrong he’ll look you in the eyes and be like “...I know… What I’m doin’...”

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Actually VERY intelligent for zombie, also it can run- Most people would think oh bc it’s a zombie it can’t be that fast- and then suddenly boom, he just full on fucking SPRINTS- It despite usually seeming docile on one hand, especially if given sweets or candy (it just means you MIGHT not die, you just might survive)

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Takes a sadistic sense of pleasure in the chase, the hunt, and then inevitably butchering and baking its victims- He can be pretty sadistic, cruel, and downright horrible when he needs to be for sure-

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If by some miraculous chance you survive with this dangerous zombie lad,, giving candy and sweet treats is one of the best ways- (…Not always guaranteed) and he grows affectionate toward you- It’s affection can be very gross, it’ll bake you delicious treats (DON'T EAT THEM)

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It doesn’t necessarily know how to be gentle (you could probs teach him, after all, if it grows affectionate toward you, then he wouldn’t necessarily want to eat or hurt you) so you best be prepared to be gripped too tightly, nails dug into your skin.

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One thing you can’t avoid however is… His bite, now I know the whole zombie thing! Oh if ya get bitten by a zombie you’ll turn into one! I know this heavily contradicts and goes into vampiric territory but too bad- He can somehow control the turning process. (and it’s a lot more than just a bite btw to turn someone)

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Likewise, so- A bite from it won’t turn you automatically, there’s a lot more to the turning process than just a bite- It'd basically have to eat you alive in a weird sorta sense, it's hard to explain but for the most part if he’s affectionate with you, he won’t do that.

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…It will bite though, that’s one of its ways of affection …Also no, even after the bite- like I said, it won’t turn ya …You may wanna uh get the bites disinfected though because e w.

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Another gross way it shows affection is licking you, just tasting you essentially, because of how big and wide he is lmao his tongue will probably cover your entire fucking face, hell- if it wanted to, it might could fit your whole face into its mouth (I would say whole head but then… the r e f e r e n c e s will start)

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| Side Facts: It has fucking s t a s h e s of candy lying around it’s house (the house in question is an OLD DISGUSTING ASS LOOKIN CABIN… It’s dirty, dusty, been abandoned for years aka he probably killed the previous owners lmao and just doesn’t care about cleaning)

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Cabin also smells like death, decay, blood, etc- …I mean what else would you expect?

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Try to steal its stash and it’ll steal your limbs, does NOT like it when people touch his candy (...Winslow? …Wh-Why you lookin’ at me like that bro? . . . Cause you’re in my bowl like its yours)

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The cabin is deep in the woods so no one can hear you scream, because of course where else would it’s cabin be ya know? Also it’s not picky with weapons, hell it could probably pop your skull like a grape if he just squeezed with his hands alone.

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I forgot to say- He’s like SUPER fucking strong but I guess it should’ve been a given in the first place- lmao either way, yeah- Strong l a d,, way stronger than he should be smh but as I was saying- He is usually seen carrying a pitchfork around.

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Seems to know a lot about farming, likewise also butchering and baking- Lmao it’s got extensive knowledge on things like that- Also another minor detail, he’s VERY slobbery like eugh that’s another gross thing no matter if it licks or bites, expect to be covered in saliva by the time he’s done.

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Drools a l o t too bc sometimes it’s mouth just hangs open, especially if it's getting hungry or if it sees candy- …Lmao it’s just a hungry lad that’s all-

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Now it’s rare, but there are instances where Winslow’s expression will shift from just the normal high/not there look (if it’s affectionate with ya, I mean- Expression won’t change too much but you’ll see a lopsided smile, looks ESPECIALLY like he’s baked on meds when he smiles)

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Sometimes its eyes will widen, this can happen for two instances- 1: When it’s shocked/surprised by something and 2: When chasing/hunting and killing essentially- It’s eyes can go wide with a mania, you can see it even in the cloudy pupils, just dilating in sheer excitement)

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Heavy breather, constantly- He breathes s o goddamn heavily, it’s not like he’s good at stealth anyways because hell he’s so fuckin big his footsteps and movements in general are loud as hell- Doesn’t care about sneaking anyway, likes it when its prey knows he’s coming for them.

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Often calls his prey ‘little bunnies’ …It’s how he sees humans tbh- They are so fragile much like a bunny, like he doesn’t even need a weapon to hurt them, their necks could be snapped with its hands alone and not only the fragility of humans but also…

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They run like bunnies do when predators are coming after them, they get so terrified again, like bunnies can be, especially… When they’re cornered, most will run and beg but it’s always cute to him when it sees the ones that t r y to fight back.

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…It always has loved working hard for what it deserves, plus that just helps it build up its appetite.

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Final tidbits are that, despite not even having to sleep (lmao be warned, if you get involved with him, it WILL watch you sleep most of the time) it sometimes curls up into the absolutely disgusting mattress on the floor (curls up like a dog) and goes snork mimimi FDJKSJDFSK- Doesn’t h a v e to sleep but can if desired.

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Snores HORRENDOUSLY loudly when he does sleep (aAAAUUUGGGHHH…. . . . AUUUUGGHHH) so best get used to that, if you’re involved with him btw! I’d be careful if you go to sleep with him, has a tendency to roll over in its sleep and it WILL crush you

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Would love it though if it were going to stay awake and you just fell asleep on top of it, would probably play with your hair and or just observe you with a certain kind of fondness.

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…Also one thing I nearly forgot to mention is that Winslow is EXTREMELY overprotective- It doesn’t necessarily even like you talking to people but won’t interfere in that aspect if you tell him not to, if someone hurts you? …Well they best be prepared to suffer because it won’t kill ‘em quick that’s for d a m n sure.

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Will kill if someone flirts with you, not that he doesn’t trust you oh no no! …He doesn’t trust t h e m, but if you get onto him for it, it’ll pout but respect your wishes …WILL however never stop suddenly appearing behind you and glaring down at the person, even wrapping protective arms around you.

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Lmao while baking and or whatever it’s probably chopped a finger or even limb off, oh well- He’ll just stitch it back up, can’t feel pain tbh so probably wouldn’t even notice at first

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Always keeps extra sewing needles and thread lying around his cabin for this reason solely

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Final bit is that Wins also has a deep voice, deep and slow- but also speaks with a pretty strong southern accent, and then finally- Winnie is Pansexual.

#original character #oc #zombie oc #tw death mention #tw gore mention #tw murder mention #The Cryptid's OCs #ayo new tag for my ocs

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popculty · 2 years

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Queer as Folk Horror: A Two-Part Crossover Podcast Episode

We really put the ‘cult’ in Popculty with this one... 👑🐻🔥😶

In a very special crossover episode, Carver Casey of the Spooky & Gay podcast joins me to slice and dice our favorite (and not-so-favorite) horror movies. We talk queer horror classics, the genre as allegory, and turn a queer lens on some A24 faves to answer the burning (heh) questions:

Ari Aster: Auteur or just another white guy? (Maybe both?)

Is Midsommar actually good, or is Florence Pugh just INCREDIBLE? (Maybe both!)

Hereditary: Transmasculine allegory or transphobic trash? (Maybe...just the latter.)

🎧 Listen to Part 1 now, and follow The Popculty Podcast to get Part 2 as soon as it drops!

Part 1 transcript below 👇

SJ: [sings] Spooky and gay, spooky and gay, spooky and gay, with Carver and SJ! [normal voice] Hey, Carver!

Carver Casey: [laughs] Hi! How are you, SJ?

SJ: I'm super excited to do this crossover episode! I don't think either of us have done one on our respective shows, right?

Carver: Absolutely, this is our first crossover.

SJ: And also, I was just realizing, this will be the first episode that's, like, all trans... And that makes me really happy. [both laugh] Listeners, you are in for a treat, because you will hear no cis-splaining in this episode.

Carver: It's a guarantee.

SJ: It's just going to be us awesome non-binary folks talking about horror movies! Which is not something that I typically talk about on my podcast, although you certainly do on yours. Do you want to introduce yourself to the Popculty audience?

Carver: I'm Carver Casey. I am one-half of the Spooky & Gay with Carver & Jay podcast, where ALL we talk about is horror. [laughs]

SJ: It's great. I love the title.

Carver: Thank you, thank you.

SJ: And I really enjoy the podcast. I would say it's gotten me interested in horror again, honestly. Horror is not really a genre that I pay a lot of attention to. It's in the periphery, and I'll go see, you know, your Get Out, your Jennifer's Body, love that kind of stuff. But it has to really permeate the mainstream, or what people are talking about, for me to really want to see a horror movie. But yeah, I would say your podcast kind of got me interested in it again and looking at it from a different perspective. So that's been fun.

Carver: I'm so glad to hear that. I think that's definitely one of the things that Jay and I wanted to do coming into this. Queer folks are often excluded from these communities. And there is a thriving and interesting and vibrant queer horror community that I love sharing with other people. I was gonna say, we have also been loving your podcast. I caught up on the Black Widow episode, which threw me on a whole Florence Pugh kick--

SJ: [excitedly] Oh!

Carver: I had my roommate watching Fighting With My Family--

SJ: Yas!

Carver: We're on a whole professional wrestling kick at my house now. [laughs]

SJ: All right! And I am responsible... [sighs dramatically] I feel honored. [Carver laughs] That is awesome to hear, because I am very much on my own Florence Pugh kick, which is actually why I really wanted to talk about Midsommar. Like 80% of it is because of Florence Pugh. [both laugh] So I'm really glad we're on the same page there--

Carver: Yes.

SJ: --because I am going to geek out about her so much when we get to Midsommar.

Carver: Glad to hear it.

SJ: So for Spooky & Gay listeners, I am SJ. I host the Popculty Podcast, which is pop culture with a 'y', both in spelling and in mission, where we highlight the stories being told by and about women, LGBTQ+ folks, people of color and those with disabilities. I thought we could just start off by talking a little bit more about our own personal relationships with horror. Do you want to tell us about your horror journey? How did you get into it, what's appealing to you, what's your history with it?

Carver: I come from a horror family. From as long as I can remember-- Like, the first movie that I have any memory of seeing any part of is Rocky Horror Picture Show. When Frank-N-Furter pulls the tablecloth off, and you know that they're eating Eddie for dinner, that's literally the first image of film that I have a memory of. I would be the kid sitting on the couch with a blanket pulled over my head, crying, so afraid of what I could see through my fingers on the TV, which was literally next to nothing. And as I got older, and I had the opportunity to sort of catch these films and see myself in them, as a queer person, as a closeted, egg-uncracked trans person, seeing people facing odds and being really beat down upon by these forces that were out of their control, I could see myself overcoming them, because I saw these characters overcoming these unimaginable things. You know, all I have to do is go to high school; this person is fighting a dream demon! Like, I don't have to do that. [laughs]

SJ: I love that. I love that horror films were like an escape for you, and also, I think the way you put it last time we talked was, "an exercise in being brave."

Carver: It absolutely is. You know, you see these things, and you're volunteering to have something larger than life, something oppressive, and interact with it. You can turn it off at any time. You don't have to interact, you can stop, you can not put it on. And so, by putting it on, sitting through, confronting this thing that you're afraid of, it gives you the wherewithal to be able to do that when you're encountering things you're afraid of in your real life.

SJ: That's such an interesting way to look at it. You literally have control over it-- you have *remote control*--

Carver: Mm-hmm!

SJ: --over a horror movie. And that can help you kind of prime yourself for those experiences in real life, which yeah, as queer people, as trans people, we are much more likely to encounter in the real world. I love that framing.

Carver: I know you said that this is usually a genre that you don't break into very often. Were there ever any standouts for you, throughout your life? And maybe some of those that you've revisited that you're like, 'Oh, this has a whole new meaning to me now'?

SJ: Yeah, actually, it's funny you ask, because just this past week, in thinking about our conversation and preparing for it, I was just thinking about my history with horror... Like I say, I didn't grow up with it. The extent of my exposure to the genre was one time, one of my uncle's put on a Chucky movie and scared the shit out of me, and I had nightmares forever, because I was too young. [laughs] I know you really love Chucky, and that's actually apparently a very queer TV series now. Love that evolution for Chucky. But, I mean, that just terrified me as a child, and I really avoided it for many years. I would go long periods throughout my life without watching any horror movies. I just never really felt compelled to scare myself like that. And I already have an anxiety disorder. Honestly, my brain is scary enough, and I just didn't feel the need to, like, add onto that shit-pile. [laughs drily] And so yeah, I just kind of avoided it for a while. But over the years, I have dipped my toe in more and more, and I've found that I don't scare easily at all anymore-- it takes a lot to scare me-- but I tend to go for the socially-conscious stuff, or horror comedy, that kind of thing. If I'm going to dip my toe in it at all, it kind of has to have a purpose. I hate slash-y, gory, just for gore's sake, kind of stuff.

Carver: Yeah.

SJ: The first time I had a real appreciation for horror was in college, I audited a couple of Film night-courses. One of them was looking at horror as it was used in various social justice movements, which was really, really interesting. And that was the first time that I had an actual appreciation for horror. Before that, I just thought it was base, not for me, just blood and guts, and didn't have much meaning, right? But in this class, we looked at Night of the Living Dead, you know, and how that is such a great race allegory. And we looked at Freaks-- that movie from, I want to say, the 1930s-- which critiques how people with disabilities were looked at by society. And then we did a unit on gender and sexuality, and the movie we watched for that was High Tension. Do you know this movie?

Carver: Yeah, I know High Tension. I haven't watched it yet--

SJ: [excitedly] Ohhh!

Carver: --I'm saving it for a very special day for myself. But I do know the plot, I know what happens. Spoilers don't ruin a movie for me, ever.

SJ: For listeners who don't know, this is a 2003 French slasher movie. It kind of made waves at the time it came out. It's pretty well known...

Carver: It defines a genre, French Extremity.

SJ: There you go. So, you know how it ends? Okay, I'm not going to fully spoil it for our listeners, just in case they want to go in blind. But when I watched this movie for the first time in that college class, I wasn't sure what I was watching, and I was not beginning to interrogate my gender at that point. So it kind of went over my head as just a slasher movie. I rewatched it last week, and it really hit me in a way that it didn't hit me on my first watch. And I feel like I appreciate it much better knowing the ending, because everything clicks into place. And also watching it from a trans perspective, it's just-- For me, High Tension is probably... I mean, you asked what horror movies have ever resonated with me? I would say, this, for me, is like, the pinnacle of queer transmasculine allegory and exploration. And the whole time I was rewatching it this past week, I was just like, 'Oh my god.' Baby-me had no idea, but now, I'm just so glad this movie exists. And I do think that knowing how it ends will actually give you a better experience of it. So I'm really excited for you to watch this eventually, one day. I think it's a really interesting movie. It is gory-- It's a slasher movie, there's some fucked-up stuff in it, for sure. But wow, I...

Carver: We nearly covered it last Valentine's Day on Spooky & Gay...

SJ: Ugh!

Carver: This close.

SJ: You gotta let me know when you watch it, and when you do that episode, 'cause...

Carver: Would love to hear what you have to say on it.

SJ: Maybe that could be our next crossover episode. [laughs]

Carver: Absolutely. [laughs]

SJ: That'd be so good! That'd be so good. Yeah, so that's my horror journey. And that's the big movie that comes to mind for me.

Carver: I find it really interesting that that particular movie is one that got to you, just knowing that it is such a violent, gory movie, that many people did write off as being just a blood-and-guts movie. That's a lot of what people said about it, and so I love that it was able to speak to your own personal experience in a way that was really...touching, right?

SJ: Yeah, it surprised me, to be honest. Because it's the exact opposite of the kind of movie that I look for. I hate violent deaths and cruelty just to be, you know, a shock factor. I hate that kind of stuff, and this definitely falls within that category. But-- the main character, the whole time, is wrestling with her gender identity and sexuality in a way that makes that violence necessary. You know, so I say, I don't appreciate horror for horror's sake, necessarily. But I like when there's some greater value or meaning, and for me, I found that this time around. I can totally see how a lot of people-- like, I would say, straight, cis people-- probably would just watch this movie and be like, “I have no idea, it's just a fun slasher movie.” But I think for queer viewers it means a whole lot more. And I'm just, like, grateful it's out there.

Carver: Absolutely. When I was in college, I had an art history class where the teacher said something along the lines of, “you can see what each generation is afraid of by watching their horror movies.” Horror has always been an allegory, just like you mentioned, Night of the Living Dead-- The day that movie was wrapped, George Romero had the film in the trunk of his car, and over the radio, he heard that Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. And he just knew what he had, and what they were ready for. And many people weren't ready for it - He got a lot of criticism for casting the actors he did. And he always said that [that actor] was the best person who showed up. This role wasn't written for a man of color, and almost all of the lines were rewritten by that actor. He was like, "I'm not going to play someone who's uneducated. I'm not going to play someone who's vulgar. Because I'm neither of those things. And I'm not going to represent myself this way." And the reason that that character has so much power is because these people were able to come together and use the little bit of platform they had to get their message across. And I love that that's always been happening.

SJ: Exactly. Horror has always been an allegory, you know, not just from the beginning of cinema, but really, from the beginning of the genre itself. If we go back to one of the original examples of horror literature, Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein as an allegory about her own grief over losing her child. And I think that's what we miss, if we just write the whole genre off as, "it's slashers, it's blood and gore, it's haunted houses. That's not for me." I really would encourage people to give it a second look, and to realize that throughout history, the horror genre, just like any film or television, has its purpose in the current cultural moment.

Carver: Yeah. I don't think that the horror genre is for every person, but I think there is a horror movie that every person would resonate with.

SJ: Sure.

Carver: And that may be something like Get Out or Midsommar, or these things that are able, like you said, to really punch through the cultural zeitgeist. But it may also be... Well, a movie that I personally really love is All Cheerleaders Die.

SJ: I've heard of it...

Carver: It's very silly, but it's just like, a girl gets revenge for a friend's assault, and then her and all the people she associates with are murdered and brought back by her ex-lover, to really get revenge on the people who deserve it. It's campy, it's silly, it's like the horror version of But I'm A Cheerleader. I just feel that from it so much.

SJ: Interesting.

Carver: It's just a little low-budget, most people haven't seen outside of this community, movie. And there's one for everybody. [laughs]

SJ: I agree, I agree. And I think Get Out kind of proved that to a lot of people. Like, everyone saw Get Out, even people who would normally never go to see a horror movie in the theaters. Because it had something to say, and it said it very effectively. Yeah, I think there is a horror movie for everyone, whether they know it or not. I think that's a good take. Would you say [All Cheerleaders Die] is sort of your queer horror touchstone, or is there something else that really resonates with you?

Carver: Seed of Chucky is a movie that I saw the week it came out, waited, anticipated as a teenager. I was so ready for it, and I didn't understand for years why people hated it. I thought it was funny, it has John Waters in it, it's disgusting potty humor, like all the other things that were coming out at that time. But there's also this character who is struggling with their gender. They're a doll, they don't have anything, anatomically, to give them a direction on gender to go, so all they have is the ability to speculate. And when they're asked to put themselves in one category or the other, they say, "Can I be both?" And a doll says, "Well, some people..." And that tiny line in this terrible, low-budget, filmed-in-Ukraine-for-tax-purposes movie just lived in my head forever. Just that "Well, some people" line stuck with me. Every time I was like, 'Well, I don't feel right in this body...' 'Well, some people don't feel at home in their bodies.' And so, anytime I had this question, or I wanted to invalidate myself, I just had this little thing that could pop in my head and be like, 'Well, you know, some people do feel this way.'

SJ: Yeah.

Carver: And it lived with me forever. And I'm so glad that people are finally giving it that credit, because I know, at least I hadn't been exposed to a genderqueer representation before that. And yeah-- it just so happens to be a doll whose name is Shithead. [laughs]

SJ: Hey, sometimes it comes from the most unexpected places.

Carver: Yeah! [laughs]

SJ: We never know where representation will find us. [both laugh] That's great. I can totally see that. I can see how that would really stay with you, and just give you that nugget of validation for what you were feeling. Because so few movies at the time would have even had that tiny line. I can't think of any movies or TV that even acknowledged a nonbinary existence, prior to, I would say, a couple of years ago, honestly.

Carver: Absolutely. And you know, this was, I think, 2008/2009... Maybe 2007?

SJ: Wow.

Carver: Pre-2010 for sure.

SJ: I mean, that's early. That's early in the game.

Carver: Absolutely. And I think that can be wholly attributed to the fact that the creator of that story is a gay man, is someone who is in the community. And he saw an opportunity to bring just a tiny bit of information, even if it's mostly played as a joke. And I believe he had one of the first out gay characters in a horror movie, in his movie that came out right before that, Bride of Chucky.

SJ: Yeah, the person who's creating the film or show that we're seeing is so important. And that's why I talk about a lot on my show, who is behind the thing that we're watching, right? Because contrary to what fucking Matt Damon told Effie Brown on that season of Project Greenlight... [Carver chuckles]... diversity is not something that just happens in front of the camera; It also happens behind the camera. The person who is telling the story brings their own biases, their own prejudices, their own perspectives and lived experiences, to create the thing they're showing you. So everything is filtered through them, and when we're only getting to see things filtered through heteronormativity and cisgender people and men, that's so narrow! So it does mean something-- it means a lot-- when you have anyone from outside that perspective who gets to tell a story. And yeah, I think for sure the fact that he's a gay man had a huge amount to do with that - He was embedded within the community, he had probably met people who were nonbinary, and then he put that into the story, and look how much it helped you. Right? Like, that's an incredible cycle. That's incredible. And it never would have happened if he was not a gay man with this slightly different life experience to offer.

Carver: Absolutely. And I know in hindsight now, it wasn't just me. There were so many people who hung onto that representation for years, that now it is a cult classic. It gets played every Pride month at some dingy theater.

SJ: Wow.

Carver: It seems like a low-budget genre film, but every low-budget genre film has been the thing that kept somebody from taking a step off the bridge, you know?

SJ: Yeah. Yeah.

In the new ‘Chucky’ Syfy TV series, non-binary actor Lachlan Watson portrays the character Glen(da) from the original film.

SJ: Speaking of...

Carver: Taking a step? [chuckles]

SJ: Well...There is that. [chuckles] There is that, and we will get there. But no, I was gonna say, speaking of filmmakers and the importance of who is telling the story-- I have to confess that I feel a little guilty for choosing the movies that we are about to talk about today. [Carver laughs] It feels so off-brand for me. I never talk about straight white guys on my show - I'm not interested, they do nothing for me, their stories don't connect with me. And to be honest, Ari Aster is not an exception. I don't particularly care for him as a person, from all the research and interviews I've read. He just seems like just another pretentious fucking white guy. His success story is still very much a privileged one - He basically came out of nowhere and just *zooped* right to the top. And he just gets to make whatever the fuck he wants, handed a blank check to write and direct his vanity projects... I can't even think of a female director who has ever gotten that chance. I mean, he's on his third movie in a row, within the span of four years, that he is writing and directing, with studios saying, "Make whatever you want! You're Ari Aster, you're the auteur!" I can't think of a single female filmmaker, especially within the horror genre, who has gotten a chance to do that, can you?

Carver: Not really, no. Besides the woman who directed the Fear Street movies...

SJ: Okay.

Carver: She got to do all three, and she did those films back-to-back-to-back. But that was last year, you know? And they did not want her to direct all three - They actually only wanted her to direct two of those. And the male director they had for the third one wasn't available, so they let her do all three.

SJ: [scoffs] So when it does happen, women are only the second choice, never the first.

Carver: Yeah. [laughs drily]

SJ: Yeah, so, you know, I definitely come to this discussion a little frustrated with myself for brainstorming an entire list of incredible women-directed horror movies, and then at the last minute, going with a basic dude. But-- You know, it's an opportunity to do the flip-side of what I normally do. Normally, I highlight women directors and writers, and celebrate all the good that they do. The flip-side of that coin is to critique the things that we don't like so much. I have reasons for choosing these movies. Midsommar was the one that I first came to you and was like, "Do you want to talk about this?" And I have reasons for that, which we will get into. And we're definitely going to be offering some criticisms. But yeah, I just wanted to preface this discussion with that acknowledgement, that this is very much not in my typical wheelhouse.

Carver: Well, that's great, because if there's one thing I'm known for, it is making A24 fans mad, so... [chuckles]

SJ: Oh! Perfect. This is going to be that. [laughs]

Carver: Excellent. Something that we do on our show is we talk about horror movies in general. What makes them queer horror, and what makes us queer horror, is that we're queer people, and we're filtering our opinions through our lens. So we talk about lots of movies that most straight audiences are going to go to and not see most of the things we're seeing. But we can filter that through the experience of someone who has lived a different life than the movie was marketed for, than it was made for, and really flesh out what everyone else is seeing about it.

SJ: Absolutely. That is totally what I would like to do. Because everyone has seen these movies-- Mainstream audiences have seen these movies, and they have already come away with whatever opinions and experiences they've formed. But this really is, like you say, an opportunity for us to share our-- I think, going to be very different-- experiences of both of these movies, coming at it through a trans and queer lens. I think it is a valuable thing to do, to offer people a completely different take than the one they probably have. With that said, let's go ahead and dive in. So Ari Aster's first feature film, Hereditary, was released in 2018. Probably everyone listening to this has seen it, if they're going to see it. I don't really feel the need to do too much of a summary, other than maybe just a brief synopsis... I think you're probably better at those than I am, so I'll let you take this.

Carver: A family dealing with the grief of losing their eldest matriarch soon compound that grief with the loss of the granddaughter, Annie--

SJ: Oh, wait-- Charlie, right?

Carver: Oh! Charlie, yes. Annie is the mother. And so the film is really learning the truth behind the lies-- the lives-- of both the matriarch and Charlie. And maybe that involves some cult-y stuff. [laughs]

SJ: Yes. [laughs] Definitely involves some cult-y stuff. That was good! That was a really good synopsis.

Carver: Thank you!

SJ: We could print that.

Carver: [laughs heartily]

SJ: So that is Hereditary. Trigger warnings for this movie, I would say, are substantial - Suicide, decapitation, and self-harm... Those are the big ones I can think of, can you think of any others?

Carver: If you are especially sensitive to family dysfunction, this would be a very hard watch.

SJ: True. So, how do you feel about Hereditary?

Carver: I think calling Ari Aster an auteur is completely valid. These are incredibly well-made movies. The shots are intentional, the lighting is intentional. There are these wonderful elements that I think introduced a lot of people who are used to going to the movies and just having a good time, to sitting down and thinking more critically about what they're watching. And that is the credit that I will give him. [laughs]

SJ: Sure. I'll cosign, yeah.

Carver: But the thing with these films is that I sometimes feel like Ari Aster has his message, and then the movies have their own.

SJ: Yes.

Carver: And looking at them independently, it's kind of like if you're looking at a piece of artwork-- like a painting or a physical, unchanging artwork-- and then there's a three-page artist statement towards the side of it. You may read all of that and get the full intention behind it, or you may sit there and look at it, and feel what you feel about it. So that's what I'm doing with Hereditary. I had shared an article with you about people seeing themselves in Charlie.

SJ: Yeah.

Carver: And... it's very easy to see Charlie's character as a trans allegory. But I think that it contributes to one of the ways that trans people are depicted in horror. There are two main ways, in my opinion-- As either the villain and the monster and the thing you're supposed to be afraid of. And then there is the fear of the transition, the body changing, and what it takes to want to change a body. And I think that, in many ways, it is easier for trans people to see themselves in those narratives, but I think they're equally as harmful, because it's showing the actualization of a trans person living in the body they want to as a horror. And I don't love that parallel, as far as representation goes.

SJ: I... actually, am with you 100% on this. And I'm really relieved, because when you sent me that article... I don't know, I just kind of assumed that you really liked Hereditary, and I didn't want to have to fight you on this! [both laugh] But we are 100% on the same page. The article we're referencing, I will put in the show notes. It's an article from Them...

Carver: Yeah, Them.us.

SJ: They're a queer online outlet that I really like (usually). So they had an article written by Sasha Geffen, on how Hereditary is this trans masculine allegory. So I read that article, and I was like, "Huh. Do I need to rewatch Hereditary? Because I don't remember any of this." I mean, I watched Hereditary when it first came out, and honestly, it did nothing for me. I think it's very well-made - Like you say, the shots are very intentional. But I rewatched it after I read the article, and then I read the article again, and I was just like, "I see what you're saying, but I just have to blatantly disagree." I think, like you say, it's easy to see the trans allegory, but I hate the implications, right? Because I do think it plays into what you're talking about, and even what Geffen references themselves - This history, particularly within the horror genre, of having villains and monsters be trans people. We see this in Psycho, we see this in Silence of the Lambs with Buffalo Bill, right? There's this long history, and I just feel like this movie is playing into that. I don't think it's offering anything different or new.

So many of the things Geffen has to say about the trans masc experience are relatable - Their criticism of the Atlantic piece, that they're comparing Hereditary to, is spot-on. They're basically taking apart ROGD, the "rapid onset gender dysphoria" nonsense. So I think a lot of things Geffen is saying are totally valid. This one paragraph-- I'll just read it, because wow, I have a lot of feelings about it. [both laugh] They write, "Hereditary's transition allegory involves not only the violent death of a girl, but also the torture and eventual evacuation of a cis male body. Charlie does not merely change, but steals something that belongs to a man. That Charlie's transition requires so much physical violence speaks to a lingering anxiety among many cis people that transition is, at best, a form of mutilation, and at worst, a kind of death - a sloughing of one body in exchange for a new, different one. A girl dies so a boy can live as a boy. The impulse to transition is often interpreted as a form of self-destructive madness. And, in the case of trans masculine people, it can be read as a flocking to power - a magnetic pull away from the subjugated gender toward the one in control." Whoo! [both chuckle] There's a lot to unpack there. I think that reading of how cis people view the trans masculine transition is, unfortunately, more or less accurate-- as wrongheaded and reductive and harmful as that view is. You know, that's not the truth. That's not in any way our lived reality. But at the same time, I think the movie is just reinforcing those super transphobic, cisgender views. I don't think it's challenging them at all.

Carver: I absolutely agree. A movie that keeps coming to mind for me, as far as trans representation with this, is another movie where the character themselves never say they're trans. I don't know if you're familiar with Sleepaway Camp--

SJ: No...

Carver: --but it's a very controversial movie. It's a slasher, definitely not your thing. But to me, it's a queer classic. It is about a little girl who goes to summer camp, and all the people who bully her, or try to do bad things to her, start dying. It's sort of a whodunnit, and then at the end of the movie... And I want to say, this came out in the 1980s, 1970s... It's very old. And the crux of the movie is that... Gosh, this is hard to explain in a way trying not to be spoiler-y...

SJ: It's okay. I would say, spoil away if it takes the spoil to make the point.

Carver: So, in Sleepaway Camp, the ending of the movie is when you find out who has done it, it's Angela. And Angela is on the beach with the head of the boy who has been flirting with her on her lap. She stands up, covered in blood, his decapitated head falls from her lap, and she has a penis.

SJ: Hm!

Carver: And many, many people-- And it's a completely valid argument, to read this as transphobic.

SJ: Sure.

Carver: And I think the intentions around it were transphobic. But I saw this movie first when I was coming into my gender identity, and personally-- Angela never says that she's trans, and isn't given the choice to live as a woman. She and her twin sister were in an accident, where her sister died, and Angela was put in a house where the matriarch said, "I already have a boy. Angela is such a beautiful name." And so, I read that movie, at least, as the horrors of being forced to live as a gender you don't identify as, and the fear of keeping up with that...lie, you know?

SJ: Mm-hmm.

Carver: And so, when I think about the way I have to twist my mind around Charlie being trans... Charlie never says that she is trans.

SJ: Right.

Carver: Charlie didn't put Paimon in their body. It was all choices made by other people. And so I have a really hard time warping that idea into Charlie being trans. And when I do, I don't feel good about it.

SJ: Agreed. Absolutely agreed. Yeah, that's really the same way I feel. I think it's a bit of a stretch to say that Charlie is trans, to be honest. Because the thing that Geffen quotes as proof of that is when Charlie says, "Grandma wanted me to be a boy." Well, okay, that's not saying that *she* wants to be a boy. But this reviewer kind of takes that and runs with it as 'Charlie feels trans,' and I just don't necessarily see that for her. And then also, throughout this piece, they keep conflating and interchanging the names 'Charlie' and 'Paimon'. Paimon is the demon that is trying to possess a male body and doesn't want Charlie's female body, and so eventually-- Yeah, we're gonna spoil this movie. [both laugh] Y'all have seen it. So, Paimon is the demon, but Geffen keeps conflating Charlie with Paimon. And not only is that confusing the message, where I'm like, "Well, okay, so are you saying the demon is trans, or Charlie is?" But if you do conflate Charlie with Paimon, then you are *literally* saying that this trans person is a demon, which-- harken back to our previous argument! [both laugh] Trans people don't need to be vilified or demonized on screen any more than they already have been, historically, throughout film and throughout the entire genre of horror. And I just feel like, kind of any way you slice it, if you want to read a trans allegory into this movie, I hate what it has to say. I think it's just playing into that really tired, damaging, transphobic trope.

Carver: Absolutely, I agree with you.

SJ: And I think what would have made it feel different, what would have made me able to see Geffen's argument, is if we had at any point been invited or encouraged to empathize with Charlie. But we are never allowed to do that. I mean, she is weird, and creepy, and evil, and snipping the heads off birds for the whole 30 minutes that she’s on screen, and then she is gruesomely decapitated. We are never offered the chance to empathize or connect with her.

Carver: I think, as well, not only are we the audience not ever empathizing with Charlie, but none of the other characters seem to be either. Every relationship-- besides possibly the relationship with the grandmother, which we're never shown-- is very much at arm's length. It's the mother using her as a pawn to keep the son from drinking, but not considering, 'Does a 13-year-old want to be at a party with drinking and teenagers and unfamiliarity?' None of the characters have empathy for her until she's gone, and then they want to talk about how hurt they are. But they weren't giving her the time and attention when she was there.

SJ: Right. So how is that doing anything other than further othering trans people, if we are to infer that Charlie is trans, you know what I mean?

Carver: Especially the way the movie was marketed, where it was *only* this character and only the odd sounds that she makes. They hinged so much of the interest of this movie on this character that it seemed, frankly, uninterested in.

SJ: Very much so. And there's also possibly an element of ableism going on here... I wasn't able to fully confirm this one way or another, so I wondered if you might have some behind-the-scenes info that I don't. But Milly Shapiro, who plays Charlie, has a rare disability called cleidocranial dysplasia, which gives her kind of a unique look. And I'm wondering if there's a sort of ableism that came into the casting of this character. Because another thing that Ari Aster tends to do, for no reason and kind of randomly, he will insert these characters with some sort of facial deformity. And it doesn't seem to be for any purpose other than to unsettle us. It's just like an image of what he thinks is the grotesque, to lend more of a sinister, unsettling atmosphere. I don't know if you have any more background information, but the film seems to use lighting, makeup (or lack thereof), camera angles, and directing of her posture to emphasize her facial differences. Because if you see pictures of Milly Shapiro in real life, they're much more emphasized in this film than they are in real life. There's even possibly some prosthetics going on... If that is the case, I find that pretty troubling.

Milly Shapiro / Charlie

Carver: So, the information I have is that I follow Milly Shapiro on TikTok...

SJ: Oh, nice!

Carver: ...and she has said that they did use some facial prosthetics to accentuate it.

SJ: Oh, boy... Well, that's not great. To be clear, it's not a problem to cast a person with a disability, or who has facial disfigurements or burns, or anything like that. It's a problem to cast them and then enhance those differences, in order to make them appear more "monstrous." Charlie, as you said, was very much marketed as the creepy, evil entity in this movie. So that's why it's problematic.

Carver: Yes.

SJ: I'm so glad you have the insider scoop!

Carver: She also actually spoke *today* about how because of Hereditary, she was bullied mercilessly throughout the rest of her high school career, because she was "the ugly girl" from Hereditary.

SJ: Oh my god!

Carver: As far as I know, she does some acting now, but she's focusing more on her music. I actually believe they use they/them pronouns...

SJ: Oh, okay.

Carver: I can't remember, but I believe maybe both... Certainly 'they' somewhere in there.

SJ: Awesome. Okay, thanks for the heads-up. I just Googled it, and it says, "Milly Shapiro identifies as a lesbian and uses she/they pronouns." Okay, cool. Good to know. Wow, I had no idea about that background, but that's horrible to hear. And that sort of confirms my worst suspicions, that they did use prosthetics, and that had the exact real-world consequences for Milly Shapiro as one would expect. Again, to me, that's ableism, and that is Ari Aster, who now has this pattern-- because it shows up in Midsommar too-- of using these images of people with deformities or disabilities, or, in Midsommar... Well, actually, in both Hereditary and Midsommar, the aging female body he also thinks is disgusting, apparently.

Carver: [with distaste] Yeah.

SJ: You know, it just keeps showing up. And I really have a problem with what he thinks is "the grotesque," and the way that he uses it, and the way he enhances it for maximum shock value. Especially with this new information, I really hate the way that character was portrayed, and how that disability was played up, because that's just another way of othering them. And it really does not lend any credence to this Them article-- you know, to their thesis.

Carver: Yeah. [chuckles]

SJ: Wow. That just sort of cements it for me. That character, to me, is a combination of transphobia and ableism.

Carver: Yeah.

SJ: [sighs] I don't like it at all.

Carver: I think when you think about what we were saying earlier, about horror being a mirror of what people are afraid of at the time-- 2018 is the year after [with disgust] *the man* was elected... [SJ gives a humorless chuckle] ...and there was a constant bombardment against trans people and universal health care. And I think there is a way to see this movie as, yes, it is about grief and family, but it's also, in a larger cultural context, about being afraid of what the youth are going to accomplish, and what the youth's needs are. Because it is very much the older generation against the younger generation, and then the younger generation growing up and using those same tools to attack their children.

SJ: That's a really interesting lens to look at it through. I hadn't really thought about that. I just have to say one last thing about this article. The last line of it is, [dramatically] "Aster's fable understands just how deep gender goes." [regular voice] And I just have to say, absolutely not! As someone who has listened to and read more interviews with this man than I wish I had, [both laugh] Ari Aster is not a man who has put any time or thought into his own gender. This is not someone who set out to make a trans allegory, I'm sorry. I think it's basically an accident, and I don't think he put any sincere thought or empathy into this movie as a trans allegory. I don't think he is someone who understands gender at all. I mean, this is the guy who once said, "My method of writing women is just to put myself in them.” [Carver chortles] Are you kidding me? Like, this is not a man who knows how to write any gender other than his own. And I just think Geffen is giving him way too much credit. To me, this film is the embodiment of really the basest transphobic fears of the male cishet mind. And I think to give him more credit than that is just-- overly generous, to say the least.

Carver: This is my second watch of both these movies, and this time around I'm like, "These movies just *barely* pass the Bechdel Test."

SJ: Yeah. [scoff/laugh]

Carver: And I think they do because Ari Aster knew they had to.

SJ: Right.

Carver: Like, I'm sure there is an early draft of this where they didn't, and he was like, "I gotta give this person speaking lines, so they can talk to each other!"

SJ: A hundred percent! I guarantee you the first draft of both of these movies was genuine trash. And I guarantee you that he got some notes and had to rewrite the hell out of it. But even so, my other huge problem with this movie is that it is *so* white. There is not a single character of color in this movie. And I can't remember the last time I saw that in film. Like, this is 2018-- this is just a couple years ago-- and there was no consideration that we are only showing white people on screen here? And if you look behind the camera, it's the same shit. I went on IMDb, I'm combing through the profile pics, and it's just white guy after white guy. So that, to me, is a real problem. That's a huge red flag. Because what movie, post-2000, is this white?? Truly!

Carver: And I think when you think about race in Midsommar, it becomes even more problematic.

SJ: Whoo! Oh yes, indeed. [both laugh] I can't wait to talk about that.

Carver: Especially the world that Hereditary is in... Were there even people of color in the support group meeting that Annie went to?

SJ: Maybe, but they didn't have any lines.

Carver: Exactly.

SJ: If they exist, they're just so background that it didn't even register.

Carver: Obviously I don't know Ari Aster-- I can't say this with any certainty-- but I think it really reads as someone who is like, "I'm just not going to put people of color in this, because if I do it wrong, I'm gonna get in trouble."

SJ: [exasperated sigh] Yeah.

Carver: And it's like, do the work to put a good representation out there, instead of just being like, [whiny voice] "I'm scared I'm gonna get in trouble, so I'm just not gonna." [laughs]

SJ: It really does read that way. And you can tell he probably got called out a little bit for the whiteness of this movie, because, oh, there's one Black person in Midsommar! So we got that box checked. [exasperated sigh]

Carver: Yeah.

SJ: No, it's really glaring. This movie was co-edited by a woman, Jennifer Lame, but other than that, it's all-male below the line. So this makes a lot of sense, all the issues I have with this movie... There is a direct line between what shows up on the screen and what is happening behind the scenes. And I really believe that when you have a more diverse lineup below the line, behind the camera, that comes through in front of the camera. But here, it's just homogeny going both ways, and I think that's a big part of what makes this movie so blah for me, and even problematic. Because you don't have *anyone* with a slightly different perspective who's contributing. And then I also have to critique-- because we just came off on Popculty doing this mental health series, and we're talking about depictions of mental illness in TV and film... Guess which genre has the worst track record with this, by the way? [laughs]

Carver: Mm-hmm.

SJ: Yeah, so we talked about that. And this movie just perpetuates a lot of the harmful tropes you see over and over in media - The support group is not shown to be effective in doing anything other than facilitating Anne Dowd's character to weasel her way into Annie's life; Annie tells the support group that she has a history of mental illness in her family, like DID and schizophrenia, but then we learn in the end that that was actually attempted or successful demonic possession. That's not helpful for people with mental illness to see, and it also further others and vilifies people with mental illness by conflating demonic possession with things like schizophrenia. That's the exact type of thing that I talked to Megan in that mental health episode about, that we don't want to see anymore.

Carver: That's such a major thing in horror, specifically in the Exorcist/possession sub-genre, which is a genre that I really enjoy, usually. But it's something that I can't enjoy without really noticing the way that it vilifies these people. There's the one side of the coin that sees them as evil, or that they have evil inside of them. And there's the side of the coin that I tend to be on, where oftentimes what is being done to them is awful and beyond their control, and maybe inside of them, but isn't necessarily part of them. And as someone who has struggled with mental health, I relate often to those characters. But I can do that and still see how completely damning that could be for people who aren't seeing it from my perspective.

SJ: Horror has a lot to make up for-- I'll just say that-- when it comes to its mental health portrayal.

Carver: Mm-hmm.

SJ: To wrap things up with this movie on a slightly more positive note, I will say that Toni Collette's dinner table rant-- That is pretty iconic, for a reason. [both laugh]

Carver: Yes.

SJ: I think it also addresses the guilt and blame that happens within families, when one member is responsible in some way for another's death, or feels responsible. Ooh, that scene really encapsulates that blame/guilt dynamic she has with her son. You do feel that tension throughout the film, and I think that is really effective.

Peter: [mumbling] Just seems like there might be something you want to say.

Father: [warningly] Peter...

Annie: [calmly] Like what? I mean, why would I want to say something, so I can watch you sneer at me?

Peter: [more clearly] *Sneer* at you? I don't ever sneer at y--

Annie: [chuckles mirthlessly] O-ho, sweetie, you don't have to, you get your point across.

Peter: Okay, so, fine. Say what you want to say, then. [Annie gives an exasperated sigh]

Father: [more firmly] Peter.

Annie: I don't want to say anything. I've tried saying--

Peter: [slightly louder] Okay, so, try again. Release yourself.

Annie: Oh, release you, you mean?

Peter: [shouting] Yeah, fine! Release me, just say it! Just FUCKING say it!

Annie: [fists slam on table] DON'T YOU SWEAR AT ME, YOU LITTLE SHIT! [chair clatters] Don't you EVER raise your voice at me, I AM YOUR MOTHER. Do you understand? All I do is worry and slave and defend you. And all I get back is that FUCKING FACE ON YOUR FACE! So full of disdain and resentment, and always so annoyed. Well, now your sister is dead! [calmer, more sympathetic] And I know you miss her. And I know it was an accident. And I know you're in pain. And I wish I could take that away for you. [cruelly] I wish I could shield you from the knowledge that you did what you did. [shrieking] But your sister is DEAD! She's gone forever! [sobbing] And what a waste... If it could have maybe brought us together, or something! [accusingly] If you could have just said, "I'm sorry," or faced up to what happened, maybe then we could do something with this. [practically spitting the words] But you can't take responsibility for anything!! So now I can't accept. And I CAN’T forgive. Because... [catches breath] Because nooOBODY admits ANYTHING THEY'VE DONE!!!

Carver: Peter wants to blame himself-- He does already. And Annie wants to blame Peter, but she won't say it. She's not willing to take responsibility for anything that she's a part of in this movie. And that is not how mothers are normally depicted. Women are usually expected to have everything together and be planning for every emotional need of the men in their lives. And that is a role that Annie has refused to take on. Which is refreshing in some ways. [laughs]

SJ: Totally. I'm all here for female characters getting to be more complicated and nuanced and messy, and maybe unlikable, than we typically are used to seeing them. I'm here for mothers blatantly expressing to their children that they never wanted to have them. Because that's the complete opposite of the really idealized version of motherhood we so often get. And to me, this is a more honest one-- Like, a lot of mothers resent their children at some point, a lot of mothers experience postpartum depression. And that's just not something we acknowledge or talk about. So anytime that is hinted at or addressed head-on, I'm all for it. I love a complicated mother. [laughs] You know? I love a complicated female character.

Carver: Absolutely.

SJ: [over spooky synth music] That's it for this week. But don't worry, Carver and I still have plenty more horror to discuss. Stay tuned for Part 2 next week, when we talk about Midsommar - The Ari Aster film we maybe, actually, kind of liked? Be sure to follow The Popculty Podcast and Spooky & Gay with Carver & Jay to find out. In the meantime, Happy Halloween and Dia de los Muertos! I hope you're watching some good scary movies. We've left our favorite women-directed horror flicks in the shownotes, so have fun with those if you need some recs. Is there a horror movie that has really resonated with you? We'd love to hear about it. Tweet me @popculty and Carver @spooky_carver. You can follow me on Tumblr at popculty.blog, and Carver on TikTok @acamp.slasher. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave either or both shows a review on Apple Podcasts. You can also support The Popculty Podcast at patreon.com/popculty. Until next time-- Support women directors, stay critical, and demand representation. [music concludes]

Matt Damon: When we're talking about diversity, you do it in the casting of the film, not in the casting of the show.

Effie Brown: Hoo! Wow. Okay.

#the popculty podcast #podcasts #horror #horror movies #hereditary #midsommar #ari aster #transphobia #ableism #racism

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pervysenpaix · 2 years

Text

BakuSquad Driving Headcannons

18+MDNI

Katsuki Bakugo 🧡

Katsuki is the proud owner of a 2022 Mercedes G-Wagon. Painted matte black with black rims and orange leather interior.

His car is super clean and always smells good.

Permanent new car smell — fresh leather and wealth 💰

Keeps a an emergency preparedness bag in the trunk.

He never lets you drive his vehicle — don’t even ask.

The one time you hinted at wanting to get behind the wheel he looked at you like you grew an extra head.

“Hah? You think I’d let your dumbass drive my baby ?”

Doesn’t matter how much you pout he won’t budge but he smirk at you cause your lips look cute all poked out and shiny with glass.

Excellent driver — does that thing where he looks at you instead of the road.

“Ya nervous ?” He’d ask , grinning ferally as he grips the back of your neck with his free hand. Confident as ever as he stares you down, daring you to doubt his abilities. His heart jumps a little when you smile back and say “No , I trust you Katsuki”.

He loves getting head while driving. It makes him feel powerful.

He’ll be cruising down the highway, seat back and legs spread while he pushes you further down his shaft.

Will come without warning and expect you to swallow everything.

If you spill even a drop he’ll be punishing you severely at home.

Eijiro Kirishima ❤️

I know for a fact that this man drives a Jeep Wrangler with the doors removed— FIGHT ME.

His car is clean enough.

Lots of empty water bottles and protein bar wrappers.

Keeps extra shirts (sleeveless of course) in case he rips his from his quirk.

His car smells like his cologne.

Never let’s you drive but not in a condescending way , it’s because he’s a gentleman!

“Baby— it wouldn’t be manly to let you drive. You’re my Princess !”

Holds the door open for you to get in and comes around to open it when you get out.

His truck is lifted pretty high so he has to pick you and place you on the seat 🥹

Very concerned with your safety so he keeps both hands on the wheels at all times.

He’d never touch you while he was driving but that doesn’t mean you can’t touch yourself.

“Spread your legs wider baby. Just like that — fuckkkk~” His knuckles turn white from his harsh grip on the wheel. Erection pressing uncomfortably against the denim of his jeans. He can’t help but bite his lip while listening to your sultry moans. “Come on baby. Two more fingers. No no , don’t whine. You can do it. Wanna be ready for me , yeah ? Wanna be able to take all daddy’s dick ?”

Drives home as quickly as possible and encourages you to cum as many times as you want. Pretending to be nice but he really wants you to overstimulate yourself so you can be nice and stupid while he pounds your cunt.

Denki Kaminari 💛

Don’t quote me on this but I can see Denki driving a black mustang with a yellow lightning bolt on the hood.

The car has to be extremely loud and out there. A direct reflection of his personality.

Upon first glance this vehicle is impeccable.

All shiny and bright. Not a scratch or scuff on the paint.

But open the door and I guarantee you’ll find that one sneaker he’s been missing for like a month.

Clothes , shoes , candy , condom wrappers — ALLADAT just on the floor and the backseat.

“Don’t worry about it babe. It adds character!”

No sir , it adds to your chances of getting a ringworm but I digress.

He’ll definitely let you drive if you ask.

Likes to take the time to admire your profile when you’re focused on the rode.

Will push your hair behind your ear and tell you how beautiful you look.

Definitely loves to feed you while you drive.

Most of the candy wrappers are from lollipops that he’d shoved into your cunt two blocks ago then pulled it out at the stoplight and started to fuck your throat.

It’s a fun time.

Sero Hanta 🖤

You can’t tell me that Pro Hero Cellophane doesn’t drive a black on black Hummer. ☹️

Fuck the environment— he’s rich and wants to enjoy the fruits of his labor.

Much like Bakubro , he keeps his car spotless.

Gets it maintenanced regularly.

Very serious about his vehicle it’s his baby.

Definitely keeps several packs of gum and cologne in his console to mask the smell of 🍃

Always hotboxing.

Never lets you drive but loves to rest his hand on your upper thigh while he drives.

Glancing at you out of the corner of his low red eyes and pinching your flesh whenever he turns a corner.

“Somethin’ wrong, mi amor? You keep squirming.” Grinning he squeezes the soft flesh of your upper thigh, skirting dangerously close to the crotch. “Hanta~” you whine, trying to position his hand closer to your heat. The two of you’d been driving for 25 minutes and you could feel yourself getting wetter and wetter from just watching him. The pure neediness in your voice had his dick stirring in his pants. “Okay baby I know what you need.”

Deft fingers would slide underneath the thin fabric to move though your damp folds.

Several Spanish words intermix with r&b music and your soft moans.

You were so wet that he just couldn’t control himself anymore.

So he pulled into a nearby parking tower and drove to the top floor.

Sero kisses you sensually, sucking on your tongue and lips until your mouth feels bruise.

He groans when he sees the line of Saliva connecting you.

Quickly he rids himself of the seatbelt and exits then vehicle and like a gentlemen he comes to open your door ass well.

The hood of the car is still pretty warm from driving so it’s not a problem when he lays you on your back and dives face first into your pretty little pussy.

Doesn’t give a fuck who sees him.

Will suck on your clit until your legs are trembling.

When he feels like you’ve had enough he’ll flip you on your stomach to pound you under the sunset.

Bonus ! Hitoshi Shinsou 💜

In my mind Shinny Pooh is an honorary member of the Bakusquad.

Yeah he’s friends with Deku nem but oddly he finds comfort in the rowdiness of this friend group.

So to keep things simple we’re gonna have Toshi driving a motorcycle.

Idk what kind but maybe something like a Harley with low seats the would all him to sit behind you and rest his chin on your shoulder.

Likes to let you hold one of the bars so he run his big hand underneath your shirt and squeeze your tummy.

He’ll whisper in your ear that he can’t wait to fill you up and put a baby in here.

Says he loves seeing your tummy bulge when you’re full of dick and cum.

Smirks against your skin when he hears how heavy you’re breathing — knowing that you’re just as desperate for him as he is for you.

Waits until you’re at a stoplight surrounded by cars to pull your earlobe between his teeth and whisper “cum”.

Now all these innocent bystanders have witness the girlfriend of ProHero Mindbreak cum untouched.

You Whore.

For you ; @xogabbiexo , @yo-nn , @plussizeficchick , @38riku , @m00nchildthings , @rinhoes, @simpliheavenli , @not-your-damsel , @bunnxie , @blkchxrryblyss , @tsukihime25 , @prettylittlepixi , @7inaa , @nasty-quillz , @namjoonswifeyy , @bookwormsenpai , @erenyeagerswhore , @hhawkz , @luna-indigoduh , @po3ticb3auty , @tenyaiidasslut

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sazandorable · 4 years

Text

About moderating and banning content on AO3!

Okay so! I haven’t had the spoons to do this for a while but I cracked and ranted about it on twitter which is... not... conducive to long rants, so!

This is a h u g e discussion part of the l o n g history that led to the creation of AO3, which older, more informed, and more articulate people have talked about at length and can be found around if you look (I reblog some of it in my AO3 and fandom history tags for the curious). So I won’t go into that here, nor into the practical reasons why it’s not even possible to put that system in place anyway.

Arbitrarily, or the purpose of this post, because it’s the biggest topic I’ve seen brought up lately, I’ll be talking about fic depicting underage characters in se*ual situations, but honestly I could hold the exact same conversation on literally any controversial content.

This is about why you, specifically, if you are a content creator and especially if you are marginalised and especially if you are queer and especially especially if you are sensitive to fiction depicting certain things... do not, actually, want a banning system on AO3.

What? Of course we do. There’s a lot of p*do shit on AO3 and p*do shit is gross. No one should condone that, wtf? It would be easy to do — just periodically delete the entire Underage tag!

What will happen if that is done is that people will re-upload and continue to write it, they’ll just stop tagging and you will run into it with zero warning nor ability to filter it out. Again, this is not a theoretical — we know this is what happens. When I was a teen, adult content (all adult content) was not allowed on FF.NET; it was everywhere regardless, and without tags. The exact same thing happened on tumblr when adult content was banned as well. It’s not a matter of “staff not handling it well” — it just doesn’t work.

To keep safe the people who need to be able to exclude that tag, that tag needs to exist and be used.

Well, shucks. A reporting system then?

A reporting system would operate in one of two ways:

-an algorithm, which would delete a lot of stuff we wouldn’t want it to delete.

-humans, which is... the bigger problem.

An algorithm sounds great. We do want it to delete everything.

Okay. What about the daddy k*nk fics between consenting adult characters? What about the fics featuring characters that are children in the canon but are adults in the fic? What about the fics about teenagers exploring their se*uality together, written by adults about the experiences they remember having or wish they could have had? What about the thousands of SasuNaru and Drarry and other shounen and YA fics that will get written, by teens or by people who remember being teens? What about the se*ually explicit fic written by teens who are se*ually active in real life? What about the fics about CSA as trauma, about healing from it? What about the fics written by survivors of CSA to cope about their trauma? What about the fics that clearly show that it’s evil and traumatic? What about the super dark, harrowing, but beautiful and artistic that I’m glad I read even though it fucked me up for days? What about the ones that were really shitty but also horribly hot?

Well, some of these are still not okay, but maybe some might be. It depends on how it’s written. We’ll have humans moderating content and deciding, then.

Okay.

The thing is, I don’t know which of the things I just listed were okay for you to be depicted in fiction and which were too much. Odds are I don’t agree with you. Odds are if I asked 10 people randomly picked off the street, not everyone would agree.

Odds are, even if AO3 arbitrarily decided on which of those are allowed and which are not, you would not agree with their choice, and you would still be unhappy with the decision. (Or you would be happy, but your friends wouldn’t.)

Odds are, different AO3 content moderators might not agree on whether a given fic qualifies or not — is it artistic enough? Does it show enough that these actions are evil and wrong? Can the author prove they’re a teenager? Can the author prove they are a CSA victim? Can the author prove that this is to help them cope with their trauma? The author seem to be functioning alright, they mustn’t really be traumatised!

You know what I mean! There’s absolute, objectively gross shit out there that is not artistic and should not be published.

I agree that there’s vile stuff out there that makes me sick and that I think is very clearly just ped*philic trash. But there is no way to, 1) stop those from getting published anyway, 2) take those down and preserve the safety of everything else.

If we start forbidding some things, there’s two ways to go about it.

One single, clear, arbitrary rule — for instance, absolutely no adult content featuring characters under 18 (leaving aside the fact that this would not even work for the reason cited above). So we lose all the stuff from teenagers, all the coming of age stories about adolescence, all the stuff from CSA survivors; people who need to write it can’t publish it anymore, and people who need to read it can’t anymore either (and as a cool bonus, they’re told it’s wrong and made to feel bad about it). Depending on whether the rules applies to characters that are under 18 in the canon, we lose entire fandoms.

Or, subjective moderation by humans, according to what they estimate to be gross.

Let’s assume all moderators can agree on what’s gross or not.

If there is a system in place to ban some underage works because “gross shit”, then that means other gross stuff can be taken down on account of being gross and harmful.

Yeah! Gross stuff should be taken down! Come on, surely everyone agrees on what’s gross and harmful.

Ah.

But the problem is.

Here is a list of things I have seen — with my eyes seen — called harmful to be depicted in fiction:

Murder

Non-con

Inc*st

Cannibalism

Torture

Self-harm

Mental illness

Drugs

Racism

K*nk

Non-negotiated k*nk, but healthy k*nk is ok

Spanking k*nk

BDSM where the woman is a bottom, but woman top is ok

Healthy depictions of BDSM

Unhealthy depictions of BDSM

Queer people doing bad things

Abusive relationships

Rival/Enemies to lovers

Redemption stories

A happy relationship between a 17 yo and an 18 yo

A happy relationship between a 20 yo and a 60 yo

A happy relationship between a boss and their employee, or a college teacher and a student

A happy relationship between a 14 yo boy and an older teenage boy, because that’s reminiscent of older men preying on younger gay boys IRL

Se*ual content featuring a character whose age is unclear in canon and some people headcanon them as being underage, some as being a young adult

Loving, consensual fluff between characters that are evil villains, because it romanticises them and their actions

Dark content shipping female characters

Fluffy content shipping female characters, because it’s misogynistic to act like lesbians are only soft all the time

Consensual s*x featuring a canonically asexual character, because it implies that all aces can and should still have se*

Fics about the same canonically asexual character hating s*x, because that erases the experience of s*x-positive aces

Shipping a character who is perceived by some fans as queer-coded with a character of a different s*x

The tendency to ship a black character with white characters

Fluffy drunk s*x, because that’s not actually consensual

Sleep s*x, because that’s not actually consensual

Trans characters not experiencing dysphoria, because that idealises the trans experience

Consensual s*x between adults that are not married

LGBT+ content, because kids shouldn’t see that.

I guarantee you: you, I, and 10 random people plucked from the street will not agree on what, in that list, is and isn’t okay to publish and consume fiction of.

So why should your taste be the one followed? Why should it be the taste of mods you don’t know? Why should anyone get to dictate? What if the mods think your OTP is gross and your NOTP is fine?

This is the slippery slope argument.

Yes, it is the slippery slope argument. Because we know it happens. Because we’ve been there, because I’ve seen it happen myself twice already and I’m not even thirty. Because we know people do complain loudly about all of these things.

And because the second there is a banning system in place, assholes will use the system to abuse it and get stuff they just don’t like taken down using the “it is gross” argument, and one day you’ll wake up and the beautiful fic that helped you come to terms with your abuse/trauma/identity/orientation/k*nk for feet will be taken down and wonderful vulnerable creative people will have been harassed out of fandom because they argued with 1 person who didn’t like their foot k*nk fic that happened to also feature, for instance, a CSA trauma backstory.

Again: not exaggerating. Not theoretical. It happens, we know it happens, AO3 was created literally because it happens.

I still fucking hate that stuff.

That is completely fine and normal. No one likes everything. Me too! Most of the dark stuff is niche and the creators know only few people will like it the same way they do.

(For the record, I get grossed out and triggered by fics about an asexual character who does not like s*x having s*x with their partner to make them happy. Deep in my gut everything screams that that’s fucked up, terrifying and harmful, how can people write that. But I recognise that there are people who love and need that, and I leave those people and their content alone.

OTOH, I read a lot of otherwise dark shit and I enjoy it in the same way I enjoyed, say, Hannibal, in the same way some people enjoy true crime documentaries, horror movies or r*pe fantasy k*nk. It helps me explore stuff that I like to see in fiction, in a safe, controlled way. I’m also asexual, 90% s*x-repulsed IRL, and, obviously, I would never abuse a child. For that matter, I wouldn’t kill and eat people, either, nor would I do 90% of the tamer k*nky stuff I read.

Of course, Hannibal was fucked up and lots of people probably think Hannibal was gross and should not have been aired — but as exemplified by the fact that it was created, aired and watched, lots of people thought it was fine, interesting and even fun to watch.)

You can and should curate your experience and protect yourself. The AO3 website now allows you to exclude certain tags, and people have developed tools to help with that such as plugins that save your filters or hide fics that contain certain words.

But no, it isn’t going to, and it shouldn’t, get banned.

#ao3 #fandom history #aaaaand that's all im going to tag

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yuki-the-master-of-demons · 3 years

Text

Sensitive Spots Part 1 (NSFWish) Mammon x Male MC

I like to think that, when in demon form, the bases of demon wings and tails (where it connects to their back) are sensitive and can be arousing for demons when touched. I wanted to explore this idea a bit and decided to write this with my MC, Yuki (he/him). This can easily be read as a reader insert too if y’all want

"Am I doing this right?" Yuki asks as he leans over the pool table.

"Nah, you got ya whole hold wrong." Mammon set his pool cue up as if he's about to hit a shot. "See my left hand?"

"Okay so..." Yuki tries to replicate it.

"Yeah, that's it!" Mammon grabs one of the balls and sets it in front of Yuki. "Now try an hit it."

Yuki hits the ball. It curves left.

"Well, at least ya hit it hard enough." Mammon sets another ball up. "Try and aim for the center."

Yuki tries again and, this time, the ball mostly goes straight. "I think I can get this."

"Nice! Then how about a game?" Mammon asks with a smirk. "Don't worry, I'll go easy on you."

"Oh okay, how do I play? All I know is you don't want the white ball to go in."

"Why don't we play classic eight-ball?" Mammon begins setting the balls up in the rack. "I'll pocket the solids and you pocket the stripes. Ya hit the eight-ball in after ya pocketed 'em."

"Oh yeah, we can do a game," Yuki smirks. "But you want more than that, don't you?"

Mammon laughs. "Of course! What's the point of playing if there isn't a reward for the winner?"

"Alright, Mammon." Yuki crosses his arms. "What do you want to bet? And we aren't playing for money. You're guaranteed to win once money is on the table."

"Then what are we gonna play for?" Mammon asks.

Yuki shrugs. "I don't know. You're the one who wants to make it a bet."

Mammon takes a moment to think. "Well, how about ya owe me a favor if you lose?"

"As long as it's not an impossible favor, then sure. Now what can I get from you?" Yuki stares at Mammon as he thinks.

A soft pink appears in Mammon's cheeks. "Ya want me to do something for ya? I-I can think of uh- some things."

"Hm..." Yuki hums. "I don't really get to see your demon form too often."

"Ya wanna see my demon form?"

"Can I touch your horns if I win? Or not, I won't force you." Yuki tries to make that clear. "If you don't want to be touched, that's fine."

"Ya can touch me if ya want. Wait- I mean, I don't-" Mammon fumbles over his words. "Yeah, if you win, ya can touch my horns."

Yuki smiles. "Alright, we got a bet then."

The game starts, and Yuki is shit at it. The ball misses the pocket half the time Yuki hits it, and he accidentally pockets the cue ball every other turn. Mammon easily pockets every ball he goes for and even lets Yuki get some extra turns to try and catch up. But, by the end of the game, Mammon is the one who pockets the eight-ball.

"And the Great Mammon wins!" Mammon throws his arms up and cheers. Yuki chuckles at the sight. "You won against a rookie who didn't know how to hold a cue until today. So are you gonna keep that favor in that back pocket, or are you gonna cash in that favor now?"

A small flush returns to Mammon's face. "Well, since I'm all gracious, I can cash in that favor and give ya what ya want too."

"Oh? How?"

"How about ya clean my horns for me?"

And that's how Yuki ends up sitting on Mammon's couch as the demon sits, facing him, on the floor. Yuki studies Mammon's horns, his fingers running across the dark hard keratin-like material. The demons horns swirl upward and are a deep shade of black. They remind Yuki of ribbons.

"So you want me to clean it with a brush and then a towel?" Yuki asks. "Yeah, and don't worry about having to be gentle with them either."

"Well, okay then." Yuki looks over the small brush. "I'm guessing I should start at the top?"

"Yeah, ya can do that."

"Can you get closer?"

Mammon, cheeks flushed, hesitates but does what Yuki asks.

"Alright, and can you- Hm... Can I move your head as needed?"

"I uh- Yeah." Mammon mutters. "Go ahead."

Even when Mammon said he didn't need to be, Yuki is gentle. He guides Mammon's head to rest against his thigh and then begins brushing the demon's horns. The small brush in Yuki's hand seems to be made for this, and it probably is when he thinks about it. It easily fits through the curls of Mammon's horns, reaching in every crevasse. Yuki makes sure to clean every inch, not because Mammon would complain if he didn't, but because he's finding this to be quite relaxing. As Yuki nears the base of Mammon's horn, he can see the demon's wings twitch. Yuki chuckles at the sight.

"What's so funny?" Mammon asks.

"You know you're adorable, right?"

Mammon grumbles and face gets even hotter. "I ain't cute! I'm a demon; we ain't supposed to be cute."

Yuki smiles and takes a towel to finish off cleaning the horn. "You may be a big scary demon to everyone else, but you'll always be cute ol' Mammon to me."

"Ya got a weird definition of cute." Mammon pouts.

"Always have, always will. Can you lean on my other leg?" Yuki asks. "I'm finished with this one."

Again, Mammon does what he's asked, and Yuki begins the process over. It's calming. The human begins to wonder something.

"Do your wings need cleaning too?"

Mammon's wings twitch again. "W-what?"

"Maybe I could give you a massage?" Yuki suggests.

"W-well, if ya offering, a massage sounds nice."

"Alright then, I'm almost-" Yuki finishes off cleaning the last spot with a towel.

"And done. Now let's get you on the bed."

"Y-yeah." Mammon's wings flutter as he stands and makes his way to his bed.

"Do you need help taking off all that?" Yuki follows Mammon at tugs on his leather straps. "Your whole BDSM thing looks like a puzzle."

"I uh- Yeah!" Mammon's face keeps getting redder and redder. "Ya can help me take this off."

Yuki begins undoing the buckles of the demon's top, and Mammon does nothing to help. Mammon just gazes at Yuki's concentrated face, tongue partially sticking out as he figures out what strap he has to undo next. The humans hands keeps brushing against Mammon's skin, and it's driving the demon wild.

"Ah, I think I got it." Yuki undoes the last strap and the top begins to slip off the demon's shoulders.

Mammon chuckles nervously as he pulls his wings in so the top can fall to the floor. "Y-you're pretty good at that. Maybe you could uh- We could-" Mammon yelps as he feels a cold hand on his back.

"Oh sorry, I should've warned you."

"No, you're- It's fine." Mammon tries to act calm.

"Are you uncomfortable?" Yuki removes his hand and steps in front of Mammon. "If you're uncomfortable, please tell me."

"I'm not!" Mammom tries to reassure the human. "I want you too. I mean, I wouldn't be nervous; you're just a human."

"You're nervous?" There's worry in Yuki's voice. "I don't have to give you a massage, Mammon."

"No, no, no! I want a massage. Trust me."

"Well..." The worry if Yuki's face remains. "If you want to stop at any moment, tell me, okay?"

"Yeah, I will." Mammon flops onto his bed.

"Could you scoot in more?"

"How would you- Eh, whatever." Mammon does as Yuki asks. He feels added weight onto the mattress and, suddenly, Yuki is sitting on his tailbone. Mammon tenses up at first, but, when Yuki's hands touch him and travel up his spine, he relaxes. It's obvious Yuki isn't sure what he's doing and is trying to do what he's seen other people do before. That's until Yuki gets close to Mammon's wings. His touch is gentle as he studies them, tracing along the muscle connecting the wing to his back and then feeling up the leathery wing. Mammon tenses up, and he bites his lip.

Yuki feels Mammon's wings twitch in his hands. "Do you want me to stop?"

"No! I mean-" Mammon clears his throat. "Keep going. You don't have to be gentle with my wings."

Even with Mammon's words, Yuki's touch is still soft. The human's hands feel along the thin skin of his wings and then back to the base of the demon's wings. Mammon's body is growing hot and he has to keep himself from moaning. As Yuki massages the flesh connecting his wings to his back, Mammon can feel himself slowly getting hard, his cock stirring in his pants.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Yuki asks. "You don't seem relaxed at all."

"I'm relaxed!" Mammon hides his face in his arms. "I just- The base of wings are a bit sensitive, okay."

"Oh, I'll focus somewhere else then."

"Wait, no. It's-" Mammon tries to find the words to say. "It's a good kind of sensitive."

Yuki is silent for a moment and then asks another question. "So like a cat's tail? Are there a lot of nerves or something?"

"I don't fucking know. It just- It feels good!"

"Okay okay, I'll give your wings special attention." Yuki laughs and continues kneading the base of Mammon's wings. Mammon pulls a pillow close to him and buries his face in it. The human's thumbs rub circles into his muscles and palms press against his skin. Mammon struggles to keep himself silent, quiet moans being muffled by the fabric of the pillow. Mammon can feel his cock pushed up against the mattress. It's taking all of his self control to keep himself from rutting against it. Yuki's touching him, making him feel like this. He's so fucking hard. He wants Yuki to touch him more, to flip him over and grind on his cock, to make him cum.

"Mammon, are you in here and do you know where Yuki is? It's time for dinner." The door to Mammon's room opens suddenly and Asmo peers in. "Oh~ And what are you two up to, hm?"

"Oh hey, Asmo." Yuki turns to the younger demon with a smile. "I'm just giving Mammon a massage."

"And focusing on his wings I see~" Asmo giggles. "Is Mammon finally being more forward with you?"

Mammon wants to scream into the pillow.

Yuki's eyebrows furrow. "'Being more forward?' What are you talking about?"

"So he isn't? But you're groping his wings." Asmo thinks for a moment. "Oh~ Mammon how naughty of you."

Mammon throws his pillow at his brother. "Fuck off!”

Asmo ducks our of the way and laughs. "Come on, Yuki. We should leave Mammon to take care of himself."

"Um, okay? Sorry we had to cut this short, Mammon. I had fun though." Yuki pulls himself off the bed and is dragged out of the room by Asmo.

Mammon plops his face onto his mattress and screams into it.

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

"You're later than usual, Mammon." Lucifer glares at his brother as Mammon sits at the dinner table.

"I had some stuff to take care of, alright?" Mammon pouts and sits at the table.

"You don't have to get on my ass about it."

"Yeah, it's not like he's gonna be late for classes, Lucifer. Don't be a dick." Yuki slides a plate of food over to Mammon. "I was able to save you a plate before Beel ate everything."

Mammon's cheeks turn slightly pink. "It's not like I needed you to, but... Thanks."

Yuki smiles at him and then continues eating.

"Maybe you should at least tell everyone why you're so late, hm?" Asmo gives a knowing smile to Mammon. "Tell everyone what I walked in on you two doing."

That statement catches the attention of every demon at the table.

"What were you doing with Yuki, Mammon?" Satan asks with an angry tone.

"Why is Asmo making that face?!" Levi's face flushes.

Belphie frowns. "You better not have made him do something creepy."

Beel gives Yuki a worried look.

"Mammon." Lucifer glares at him.

"H-hey!" Mammon yelps. "Don't look at me like that! I didn't do anything wrong!"

Yuki sighs. "Y'all calm down. I lost a bet and cleaned his horns. Saw an opportunity to touch his wings, so I offered to give him a massage."

Asmo raises an eyebrow. "You 'saw an opportunity?' Oh, Yuki~"

"What? I like y'all's demon forms, but I rarely get a chance to touch anything!" Yuki pouts. "I wanna touch! Is that a bad thing?”

All the demons give Yuki a look.

After a moment of silence, the human asks. “What? Did I say something weird?”

#obey me smut #obey me x mc #obey me x male mc #obey me mammon x mc #obey me mammon x m!mc #obey me mammon x male mc #obey me mammon #obey me mammon smut #OC: Yuki #obey me trans mc #obey me ftm oc #obey me male oc #obey me male mc

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luci-in-trenchcoats · 4 years

Text

By My Side (Part 1)

Summary: While at home one night, the reader, an actress, is almost kidnapped and at her friend’s suggestion she hires Jensen as her bodyguard. While the pair doesn’t get along, an incident at the reader’s new home leads her and Jensen to taking a drastic measure...

Masterlist

Pairing: Bodyguard!Jensen x reader

Word Count: 3,900ish

Warnings: language, minor injury, attempted kidnapping, drugging

A/N: There will be no taglist for this series. Please check out the masterlist for posting dates/times. Enjoy!

_________

“Get the fuck off!” you said, kneeing the man that was halfway through dragging you down your stairs. You threw a punch and a kick, swinging more than a few times before the grip on you fell away and you booked it for the front door. You sprinted outside and down the driveway, dashing across the street and banging on your neighbor’s door.

A light came on and you glanced over your shoulder, spotting the guy dressed in black and wearing a mask jog to the end of your driveway.

“Shit, shit,” you said, a strong arm grabbing you and yanking you inside before you could even turn back around. The door slammed shut after you and you took a deep breath, your neighbor standing there in his boxers, saying something to his wife in the background.

“Y/N, are you okay?” said Jared. You straightened up and nodded, his eyes going wide.

“Gen! Tell them she needs an ambulance too,” he said.

“I’m fine,” you said as he walked you to his kitchen and sat you down at the counter. Gen was in there, on the phone with the police it sounded like, as Jared went to a cupboard. He pulled out a red bag and then was walking back over with a wad of bandages, holding it up to your forehead. “I’m fine.”

“You’re bleeding,” he said. “What happened?”

“I don’t know,” you said, pressing your hand to your head, seeing the half secured zip tie stuck on your other wrist. There were sirens in the distance and you shut your eyes.

“Hey, no sleeping. You might have a concussion,” he said.

“I’m not sleeping,” you said, squeezing your eyes shut. “Fuck.”

“It’s okay,” he said, the sirens getting louder before there were flashing lights in the window. Gen walked over to the front door, letting the police in. About four officers came inside, one of them immediately coming over to you.

“What’d he look like? How many?” he asked.

“Uh, all in black, with a mask. He was white I think from what I could tell. Maybe six foot, average build, strong. It was just the one as far as I know. Last I saw him he was at the end of the driveway before my neighbor let me in his house,” you said.

“You two, call it in for backup and start looking. Jones, get a full statement from these three. Start with the vic. Medics will want to look at that head,” he said. “Which house is yours?”

“Right across the street. Red front door,” you said. He left and the other cop in there pulled out a plastic bag from his back pocket.

“I need to cut that off for evidence,” he said, glancing at your wrist.

“Should we do anything?” asked Jared as the cop made a cut and bagged the plastic tie.

“I would keep pressure on that wound for the moment,” he said, writing on the bag and taking out a notepad and pen. “Alright. Let’s start from the beginning.”

“I was asleep less than ten minutes ago in my bed and I woke up to someone touching my arm and I found that tie thing on me and the guy tried grabbing my other arm but I rolled away. I got caught up in the covers while I was running away so he caught up to me in the hall outside my bedroom and I just started hitting what I could and then he tried to pull me downstairs and I hit him some more and then he let go and I ran over here.”

“How’d you sustain the head injury?” he asked.

“Well he was hitting me too when I started fighting back,” you said. “I was half-awake.”

“Okay. Sir, I’m going to need to ask you a few questions now.”

Three Hours Later

“Hey,” said Jared, setting a cup of tea down at his breakfast table. He rubbed your back and you sighed. “Rough night huh?”

“At least I don’t have a concussion,” you said, touching your butterfly bandages on your head.

“Police said your alarm wasn’t on.”

“So this is my fault?” you asked.

“No, I didn’t say that. I am saying that you and Gen have a very popular show together and if she didn’t have me around, I’d want her to have a bodyguard, maybe even full time,” he said.

“I have had this conversation with my manager multiple times. I’m not getting a bodyguard. For events and conventions, fine, I’ll have one. At work? In my life? No way,” you said.

“Y/N, you know I used to be in the army. Then I was a cop. Then I was on a SWAT team before I retired to become a stay at home dad,” he said.

“Yes. You’re an adorable scary badass. What’s your point?” you asked.

“When I worked SWAT, I worked a a few kidnapping cases. The honest truth is sometimes we don’t find you until it’s too late or we never do. It’s not like a movie. It’s not like your guys show and someone swoops in. No one shows up out of the blue to save you. You save yourself or you don’t get saved. Rarely do we get you out of that situation.”

“Again, what’s your point?”

“My point is whoever that person was, when they come back because they will come back, Y/N, and when they do, they’re not going to be that sloppy. They may drug you. They may knock you out. They could do a number of things but your chances of getting way again would be extraordinary. I love ya and I’ll always protect you. But next time, I might not be able to stop something bad from happening. You alone over there...I wouldn’t know until it’s too late.”

You were quiet, playing with the tea bag in your drink as he drank from his own mug.

“I don’t want a stranger coming into my home,” you said.

“Y/N, Gen and I want you to stay here for as long as you-”

“I meant a bodyguard, Jare. I don’t want somebody I don’t know to start coming into my life and controlling it.”

“I have a friend from my army days who does that kind of work. He’s between jobs at the moment. I’ll vouch for him,” he said.

“You’re not gonna give me a choice on this, are you,” you said.

“Gen and I are moving. A bigger place,” he said. “We think it’s a good idea if you had a change of scenery too.”

“You think she’s in danger too?”

“We don’t know but she’s five months pregnant. We don’t want to risk anything,” he said. “It’s just a thought.”

“Can...can I stay over here a few days? While I figure out what I want to do?” you asked.

“Yeah, of course, Y/N.”

Two Weeks Later

“I like the new place,” said Jared as he helped you carry in the last box.

“It’s uh, a bit big,” you said. “But the owner wanted to sell fast and I wanted out of the other one fast so it worked out.”

“Seems like a lot of space for one person,” said the man walking in through the open front door. He was in a pair of dark jeans and a blazer, a tee shirt underneath. You stepped behind Jared but he chuckled. “Really Jare? Didn’t mention I’d be stopping by?”

“Y/N, this is my friend Jensen. I told you about him. You said you were interested in meeting him,” said Jared.

“Ms. Y/L/N,” said Jensen, holding out a hand.

“Y/N please,” you said as you shook it.

“I prefer to keep things professional,” said Jensen. “It’s easier that way. So, this is the new place, hm? Which room will be mine?”

“There’s a guest suite over on the first floor you can use,” you said.

“Where’s the master?”

“Upstairs.”

“Preferably I’d like to be in a room closer to yours,” he said.

“Fine. Take the guest room upstairs,” you said. “This is just a test run remember.”

“My contract says this is a six month test run,” he said as he looked around. “I see you’re still moving in so perhaps we can go over some of our new procedures in the morning.”

“Sure,” you said.

“I’ll move in my belongings then,” he said. “I don’t have much.”

“Mhm,” you said. He nodded and headed back outside, Jared catching the look you gave him.

“What?” he asked.

“He’s gonna be a joy to live with,” you muttered.

“He’s quiet until you get to know him. I wouldn’t have recommended him if I didn’t trust him. He’s saved my life before. I know he’ll have your back,” said Jared.

“Yeah,” you said, his phone going off. “Jared, go. I know you’re already late for the baby checkup.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah. I only have boxes left to unpack anyways. Go on. I’ll talk to you guys later,” you said. He gave you a wave on the way out, leaving you to stare at the pile of boxes sitting on your kitchen floor. You cracked your back and started to work, catching Jensen move in a few duffel bags of his own. He left and wandered around outside eventually, allowing you to try and get the essentials all stored away.

By the time it was seven, you were exhausted but your bedroom, bathroom and kitchen were all set up. You plopped down on the couch, closing your eyes. They blinked open when you felt a presence standing over you.

“I’ve done a review of the property. I’d like to have an upgraded security system installed tomorrow,” he said.

“Whatever. Just put it on the card my manager gave you,” you said.

“I’d also like to consider hiring an additional person to monitor the system at some point. They can be remotely based,” he said.

“Like I said, whatever,” you said, closing your eyes again.

“I assume I have access to use the kitchen as I desire,” he said.

“No smoking. No drugs. No random hookups you bring here and as long as you don’t bug me and stay away from my ice cream, we’ll be fine,” you said.

“I can agree to that. As long as you follow my rules, we’ll also be fine,” he said. You laughed and sat up, walking to the kitchen to find your phone. “Do you think that’s funny?”

“I think the fact you think you’re going to be making rules in my home that I paid for is very funny,” you said. You took the phone to check on the pizza and wings you ordered for yourself, Jensen walking over and stopping in front of you. “Can I help you?”

“You are paying me a very large sum of money to keep you safe. If you don’t listen to what I say then I can’t guarantee your safety,” he said.

“Let me get something clear. I’m doing this to appease my friends and manager. Do whatever you want around here but don’t start telling me how to live my life,” you said.

“I took this job as a favor,” he said, snatching your phone out of your hand and tossing it on the countertop behind him. You scowled and he walked forward, forcing you to back up until your back hit a wall.

“Dude, backoff.”

“Pretend I’m that man that tried to take you before. What do you do? Right here and now. What’s your plan?”

“I’m serious,” you said, trying to brush past him and getting a light shove into the wall for it. You glared at him but he held his ground, pushing you again when you moved.

“I’m serious. Tell me what your plan is. Better yet, show me,” he said.

“I don’t care if you are Jared’s friend. I am this close to punching you. Move now.”

“I said show me.”

You narrowed your eyes and brought up your knee to hit him in the groin. He pushed it away before it connected though and you were off balance, Jensen grabbing you and yanking you away from the wall, putting you in a headlock and tugging your arms behind your back.

“Don’t go for the most obvious move in the world,” he said. “Now that didn’t go how you wanted it to. What’s the plan now?”

“Get off,” you growled, trying to stomp your foot down on his but he moved it back and kicked out your ankle, making you fall back against him. He picked you up and you started moving your legs, Jensen suddenly dropping you down onto the hardwood floor. You hit your knee and winced, a hand suddenly grabbing the back of your shirt. “Alright! I get the fucking point.”

“Do you?” he said, squatting down beside you. You tried pushing his hand away but it tightened and you tried throwing a punch, his grip almost too hard now and his free hand easily blocking the hit. “You have no plan. You’re too small and too weak to overpower someone. You can’t afford to have no plan. The thing is, when it’s real, you’ll be panicking and you’ll have no time at all to think of one.”

“Stop touching me unless you want me to call the cops on you,” you spat out. He moved his hand away and stood, staring back at you.

“You need to do what I tell you if you want to stay safe. I will teach you what to do if you’re in that situation for whatever reason. But the rules keep that situation from happening in the first place. Understand?” he said.

“Understand that you are fired as of now. Pack up your shit and get out of my house,” you said. You got to your feet and he raised an eyebrow. “I’m your boss and I can fire you whenever I want. Get out.”

“How on earth Jared is friends with a someone like you I will never understand,” he said. He headed upstairs and the doorbell rang. You forced a smile for the delivery guy and took your food back to the kitchen, digging in before Jensen was even tossing his first bag down the stairs. You rolled your eyes and were on your third slice by the time he was walking downstairs.

“Don’t let the door hit you on the way out,” you said. He shot you a dirty look, his head cocking as he set his bag down. “Oh now what?”

“You look really pale,” he said, walking over to you. “Your pupils are huge.”

“You know what else? You are so not as hot as you think you are,” you said, reaching for another piece of chicken before he smacked your hand. “You are this close to me calling...someone.”

Your head got dizzy for a second, Jensen grabbing your arms and setting you down on the ground.

“I feel funny,” you said, tipping over and resting against him. “Really, really funny.”

“You just got drugged,” he said, using his phone to dial a number. “No more takeout. Got it? Obviously this person knows you moved. I want to put someone at the house full time.”

“I’m gonna fall asleep now,” you said, shutting your eyes.

“No, nope, try to stay awake,” he said. You hummed and he grabbed your face. “Y/N. Try.”

“You’re really pretty for a grumpy grump,” you said.

“I thought I wasn’t hot. Just stay awake for me, Y/N,” he said.

Twenty minutes later you were in the ER with an IV in your arm and feeling a whole lot of crappy. Jensen said something to a doctor before he walked over to the stall you were in and stood by the bed.

“Hey. Police are at your house. Neighbor said they saw a silver pickup parked down the street. Seemed shady. It was gone by the time they got there,” he said.

“Course it was,” you mumbled.

“You more with it again?” he asked.

“Yeah. Feel really tired is all,” you said.

“Well I called your manager. He said he’d be here soon so I’m gonna head out,” he said.

“Huh?” you said, sitting up as he started to leave. “Wait.”

“Last I remember, you fired me. Nothing has changed,” he said. “Goodnight.”

“Wait,” you said, grabbing his wrist, the effort taking more energy than you were anticipating. He didn’t shrug you off, instead gently setting your hand back in your lap and pushing you to lay back down.

“You should rest. There’s a cop outside the room,” he said.

“Stop. Just...sit down,” you said. He sighed but sat on the edge of the bed, raising an eyebrow. “How could somebody already know where I moved? Hardly anyone knows.”

“You rent a moving truck?” he asked.

“Yeah. Movers did the furniture,” you said. He shrugged and you shut your eyes. “The movers?”

“No, probably not them. But that truck probably has GPS for mileage tracking and if this person has your credit card info, they could figure it out,” he said. “The food thing probably happened back at the restaurant you ordered from. Somebody slips in the backdoor, puts some stuff on your food and slips back out.”

“What’s your suggestion?”

“I don’t work for you anymore.”

“Let’s pretend earlier didn’t happen. Please,” you said. “I can’t...I can’t be alone right now and something feels really off about this whole thing.”

“This whole thing has felt off the second Jared told me about it. Tonight just further proved that point,” he said.

“You were in the army longer than he was, right?”

“He decided to retire, go be a cop. I stayed in. Worked on a few more specialized skills a bit longer before I left and got in this line of work,” he said.

“I’m going to assume you know what you’re doing then.”

“Yeah. I know what I’m doing. I can’t guarantee anything but I can give you some pretty damn good odds,” he said. He stared at you for a moment and looked you over. “You’re smarter than the stereotypical actress I pegged you for.”

“It had to have been someone on my team or that’s close to me in order to know that I was moving,” you said. “Or else the person never would have known to look today.”

“Someone that knows your go to takeout place too. You need to be extremely careful about who you trust right now,” he said.

“I trust Jared and Gen,” you said.

“I trust the guy with my life. I’d trust him with yours. Gen is fiesty when you piss her off but you’re her best friend. They didn’t do this.”

“Your expert opinion, what’s my next move?” you asked. He rubbed the back of his neck and made a face. “Jensen.”

“Ideally? You go off grid. I mean off grid, off grid. Middle of nowhere, no one knows where exactly. Cut yourself off and it’d give us more time to figure out who this person is and what exactly it is they want with you. If they’re as close as we think they are, they’ll find a way to sneak in again and next time, it might be my food that’s drugged. It’s a big risk to go back to the house.”

“I can’t go be alone though. What if they did find me somehow?” you asked.

“I said off grid. I didn’t say alone,” he said. “It’s an extreme approach, I’ll give you that. But it gives me more time to work on this and it’ll keep you safe.”

“Why not hire a bunch of guys to stay around me all the time?”

“Because you’re still in danger if you stay in LA and I don’t have the ability to check that many guys out. I got guys I know I can trust but they’re all over the country and the only other one here is Jared and Gen needs him. No offense but she’s got a kid with another on the way. More bodies means more priority,” he said.

“No, no. Please keep them safe too. If it’s a fan of the show, they could be in the same situation,” you said.

“I’m not going to try and tell you what to do because obviously, you weren’t a fan of me doing that before. But if you want to be able to sleep safely at night, we need to go, just you and me. Jared and Gen can know but that’s it and I mean that’s it. I can secure a safe place and everything we’ll need. But it’s going to be a drastic lifestyle change.”

“How drastic?”

“Like no internet and our electricity will run off a generator drastic.”

“If I stay here?”

“I give it a week tops before they try something again,” he said.

“We wrapped two weeks back and since Gen’s pregnant, we aren’t slated to start filming for another seven months. I’ll have to cancel some events but if I was ever going to go off grid, now’s the time to do it.”

“I will get it arranged. Do not speak a word of this to anyone,” he said.

“Jensen,” you said as he stood. “What was that back at the house? You acting all aggressive like that?”

“The last client I had, I was lenient, never taught them anything, let them push me around and dictate how I worked. They got put in a bad situation because of that. If you don’t take this seriously, then what’s the point of me being here.”

“Well wherever we go, I’m gonna need a few things. Women stuff,” you said.

“Make a list and tomorrow, pack a bag,” he said. “I want us on the road tomorrow night. I don’t care what you tell your team about why you’ll be MIA. Just tell them something so we don’t get a missing persons report on you.”

“Alright,” you said, Jensen nodding and starting to leave. “Wait. Where are you going?”

“I need to start preparing. Like I said, there’s a police officer by the door.”

You stared at him and he took a deep breath.

“How about he stays in the room with you until we’re ready to go home and get what we need, okay?” he said.

“Okay,” you said.

“Hang tight. When you’re up for it, we’ll get out of here.”

_____

A/N: Read Part 2 here!

#spn #supernatural #jensen ackles #jensen ackles au #jensen ackles x reader #jensen ackles x you #au #bodyguard!AU #bodyguard!jensen #bodyguard!jensen x reader #spn fanfic #supernatural fanfiction

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plant-flwrs · 4 years

Note

hi! could you do a draco x reader imagine where it’s enemies to lovers and one night at a party draco gets drunk and confesses his feelings?

drunk // draco malfoy

masterlist!

a/n: i literally had an idea exactly like this n my drafts omg but it was smut :0 wut r the odds. n e way, hope u like it, thanks for the request anon!!

summary: You and Draco are enemies until one drunken night leads to a confession of secret feelings.

(4.4k)

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It was no secret that the Slytherin house was plagued by Draco Malfoy. The house was split; people who went along with Malfoy’s bullying and those who hated the boy. You were proud to say you definitely did not get along with Draco.

Over the many years of mutual torment between the two of you, you had both improved on your ways you made the other’s life a living hell.

This week, you had decided to casually mention to Ron that in his sleep, Draco sucked his thumb. You had no idea if this was true, of course, but you knew Ron would tell everyone he knew.

In retort, Draco had been stealing any of your school work you left out in the common room. He would return it a few days later with all your work erased.

This was typical. It would have been unusual if you didn’t have the added stress Draco gave you.

The worst part was the classes you shared. You shared a fair amount of them, being in the same house and finding a lot of your courses to be the same. The both of you were fairly smart, proving to be good competition.

Charms was your least favorite. You had an awful memory, and when you had to remember the physical movements with the vocal spell, you struggled miserably. Draco did fine in Charms, which made it even worse.

Today was particularly difficult, having to memorize at least ten spells, each with different movements and verbal aspects. You sulked out of the room, loosening your green tie in frustration.

“Finding Charms a little hard today?” Draco mocked, raising his voice so it mimicked that of a baby’s.

“Not as hard as that Transfiguration test was for you last week. How much like a tea pot did your poor little mouse look like? I seem to recall it still had its tail,” you retorted, feeling better already about Charms as you looked at Draco’s sour expression.

“So what? What good will a mouse teapot do me? At least I can cast a gouging charm without nearly killing half the class,” Draco shot back, taking an intimidating step closer to you.

The two of you stood off in the middle of the hallway. This often happened after Charms, for it was the last class of the day and neither of you had anything better to do than shout at each other.

You rolled your eyes at the boy and crossed your arms over your chest.

“I didn’t even come close to killing anyone, Draco. Your such a drama queen,” you teased him, enjoying the flush on his cheeks.

“Oh shut up,” he managed to still sound fierce, even with the pink hint on his face.

“Gonna cry about it?” you teased further, hoping to rile him up more.

He squinted his eyes at you and gave you one last critical look. He lifted his lip in a sneer and stalked off, Goyle and Crabbe following after him.

That was how you and Draco interacted. You would tease him, press his buttons, and he would get incredibly angry. It either ended with his storming off, or him saying something hurtful enough that actually made you sink to his level. He didn’t do it very frequently, because usually it resulted in him having a bruised eye for a few weeks.

You were happy to stand up to Draco, because not many other people did it. He was often too favored by Snape to ever get too badly hurt by Harry, and everyone else was too scared of him. Snape didn’t often interfere with the interactions between you and Draco, and you assumed he simply did not care.

You left Charms for the day feeling significantly more confident than when you had entered. You failed miserably at the assignments, and that upset you, but your little victory over Draco made up for it. You walked with Pansy to the Black Lake, books clutched tight to your chest as shields against the cold air nipping your skin. Your scarf clung to your neck and did its best to defend your vulnerable lips.

“You really can’t go?” you asked again, adding a slight whine to your voice.

“I can’t,” Pansy replied regretfully, “I’ve got loads of work to do, and my mum’s been on me about it recently.”

Pansy had fallen behind in more than a few of her courses. You supposed you could blame yourself a little, but didn’t like to think that hard about it. You and Pansy had been fast and loose recently, attending almost any and every party you could find, and spending a little more money than usual on certain substances. You justified it, though, thinking you’d be spending just as much at Hogsmeade every weekend.

“It won’t be any fun without you, though,” you said, still hoping she would change her mind.

“You’ll have Daphne,” Pansy said teasingly, “give her enough firewhisky and she’s a hoot.”

You giggled with Pansy, thinking back to the last time Daphne got drunk at a party. She had climbed on almost every elevated surface to dance, and when she ran out of tables to stand on, she had tried walking on the heads of the nearest first years.

“Can I help you on some of your work? Get it out of the way?” you offered, practically desperate at this point.

“Would you? That might actually work,” Pansy exclaimed, rushing to the nearest tree to sit against with her school things.

You trailed after her, sitting next to her and pulling out some of your quills. You looked dutifully at Pansy’s Ancient Runes work, starting to write in your best attempt at your best friend’s handwriting.

You knew there was an ulterior motive in wanting Pansy at the party, as much as you didn’t want to admit it. She was usually the only person who could effectively stop you from drunkenly interacting with Draco. She was the only one who could keep you two separate. As much as you hated Draco, something in your drunk subconscious always made you drawn to him. You needed her at that party.

Pansy stole a glance from her Potions work, looking at you. She smiled thankfully, tucking her short hair behind her ear and returning to her work.

The two of your worked silently for as long as you could, but the sun was against you. It crept away, hiding behind trees and clouds. The two of you began to collect Pansy’s scattered books in the dusk, some faint and lingering sunlight peaking through trees branches lighting the ground. You pulled your robes closer to you, feeling the air get colder as the sun was no longer there to warm you. You and Pansy struggled back to the castle, avoiding stray tree roots carefully.

The both of you heard leaves crunching from a few feet away. You ignored it, figuring it was just some other students making their way up to the castle for dinner, too. The light was fading more and more, and you and Pansy were just about to clamber out of the heavily forested area when something hard knocked into your shoulder from behind. Draco had come from the left of you, walking past you and throwing his shoulder into yours. You stumbled forwards, but Pansy’s vigilant hand was quick to steady you before you could fall forwards.

“Merlin!” you said out of surprise, before you realized who it was.

His hair looked white in the moonlight that now illuminated the field. The bottom half of his face was shadowed by a tree, but you could tell by the glint in his eyes that he was smirking. You rolled your eyes, feeling your feet firmly planted on the ground again, and began walking past Draco with Pansy’s arm looped in yours.

“Scare ya?” Draco snarled, taking a few long strides to walk in pace with you and Pansy.

“The only thing about you that scares me, Draco, is your nasty breath,” you said, pretending to sound sweet.

Draco scoffed, and you made a disgusted face, pretending to smell his breath from the few feet you were away from him.

“Honestly Draco,” Pansy said from beside you, struggling to hide her smile but going along with your joke and lifting her hand to cover her nose, “you’d think some of your daddy’s money would go towards toothpaste.”

You laughed earnestly, looking to Draco so you wouldn’t miss the offended face you knew he always made. He wasn’t doing it though, his brows weren’t furrowed and his lips weren’t curled. He looked off. His eyes narrowed but his lips were spread into some sort of crooked grin.

You narrowed your eyes back at him in suspicion, which he noticed. He quickly snapped out of whatever he was in, and his usual sneer was directed towards you and Pansy as he sulked off to the castle.

You and Pansy sat at the Slytherin table in your usual spots. Draco was a few people away from the both of you, as he usually was, but you both ignored him. It was easy to do, especially recently. Blaise had taken a peculiar interest in Pansy, and wherever Blaise went followed his friend Klein.

Blaise was busy fawning over Pansy, watching her with a dazed look as she brushed her hair from her face. Klein kept his eyes locked on you, something you did not mind.

The boy was a year ahead of you, and he was the interest of just about every Slytherin girl. His green eyes were piercing, especially against the black hair that fell onto his forehead. He always kept his tie remarkably straight, and you often found yourself twirling it in your fingers to tease him.

Tonight, he and Blaise walked with you and Pansy around the grounds before curfew.

“Are you going to the party on Saturday?” Blaise asked Pansy, bringing his arm up to wrap around her shoulders.

“I don’t know yet,” she said, and upon seeing your pitiful face she continued, “I’ll try, but no guarantees.”

“Are you going?” Klein asked you, pulling a hand from his pocket to adjust his green tie.

“Of course,” you smirked, “I would never miss a party.”

Klein stared at you for a moment longer, and aware of his gaze, you bit your lip. You liked to mess with him, he was always so uptight and serious, it was fun to see him unwind just at your little actions.

You and Pansy said goodnight to the boys as you went to the girls dorms.

The next day was odd, for as you came down the stairs to the common room, you saw Draco. It was not odd to see Draco in the common room, but it was odd for him to not immediately find you in a room and insult you. Instead, he merely locked his eyes with yours and stared at you. When you crinkled your face in confusion, he looked away, turning his attention back down to the book perched in his lap.

“Ready for breakfast?” Pansy asked, coming from behind you on the stairs.

“Yeah,” you mumbled, still looking at Draco as you followed her out of the common room.

In Potions, Draco didn’t torment you. In Transfiguration, he only stared at you, no sneer or grimace present. Most strangely, in Charms, he didn’t even bat an eye when your wand movement was off and your spell rebounded and hit Hannah Abbot.

You apologized to Hannah profusely, even offering to walk her to the infirmary as her hand began to swell two times its normal size. She blushed, obviously embarrassed by the affliction, but insisted she could go by herself. She made sure you knew she forgave you, smiling politely as you followed her to the door and watched her go down the hallway. You shouted one last apology at her as she turned the corner, and she lifted her swelled hand in a friendly wave.

Draco watched the entire interaction from his seat, his eyes following you as you held Hannah’s large hand in yours to look at the damage you caused. He looked at the guilty expression on your face, the red tint in your cheeks. He felt two things bubbling in his stomach: adoration and rage. He felt adoration, as he had been feeling for you for a while, and felt rage because he felt this way.

He swallowed hard as your eyes met his. In your flustered and guilty state, you shot him an annoyed look. He widened his eyes, embarrassed to be caught staring, and plunged his face downward to look back into his Charms textbook.

Draco had been weird lately, you noticed. For it was the third day, Friday by now, of no loud arguments in the hall, no insults in the common room, and not even a stray dinner roll being launched at your head during dinner (yes, he did that often). You and Pansy, however, were too busy doing her late work to do anything about Draco. She really was behind, and it was hard for you to do her late work as you had new assignments to do yourself. Pansy found a similar difficulty, leading you both to spend your Friday night poured over textbooks in the common room.

“Hard at work, girls?” you and Pansy looked up to see Blaise and Klein.

They fell into the couch across form you where you sat at a wooden desk against the wall. You had pulled two large armchairs to the table, the leather giving you some sort of relief as you bent over the work. Klein’s long arms stretch the length of the two person couch, and his stalky fingers tapped against it. Blaise leaned forwards, resting his elbows on his knees as he stared at Pansy. Klein eyed you hungrily, obviously enjoying the sight of your tie undone and your skirt riding up as you sat with your legs tucked beneath you.

Normally, you and Pansy would have engaged the boys, entertained yourselves with their mindless presence, but you had real things to do. Blaise and Klein may have been handsome, but they definitely weren’t the company you wanted right now.

“Hello Blaise,” Pansy mumbled tiredly, not looking up from the Transfiguration essay she was about to finish, “how’re you?”

“I’m alright,” he said airily, leaning back into the couch and taking Pansy’s simple question as an invitation to stay and talk.

You fought the urge to groan, not looking up form the Arithmancy problems you scrawled over and over.

“How about we sneak to the kitchens tonight?” Klein suggested, and you heard the smirk in his voice without having to look at him.

“We’re busy,” you said curtly, clenching your jaw as you came across a difficult set of numbers.

Pansy looked up at you from her paper, flashing you a warning look. You rolled your eyes, giving her an exasperated look. She raised her eyebrows, her face becoming stern. You sighed, releasing the tight grip on your quill.

“I’m sorry boys,” you forced your sweetest voice, “we’ve got loads of homework to do before the party tomorrow. Another time?”

Blaise looked disappointed, but accepting. Klein stood to his full height, and your eyes followed him as he grew. He looked down at you with a playful smirk, licking his lips.

“Of course. We’ll see you tomorrow?”

You nodded and Pansy waved kindly to Blaise. You decided then that you were no longer interested in Klein. He had been fun when he got flustered just from a glance, but now he was becoming like every other teenage boy. His smirks made you want to gag, and his lingering looks were creepy. You figured you’d tell him tomorrow night, if you still cared that much by then.

You and Pansy continued to work until Pansy slouched back in her chair and groaned loudly.

“I can’t get it done tonight. I’ll have to work on it tomorrow,” she pouted, but looked resolute.

You didn’t bother to attempt another guilt trip, or convince her otherwise. Pansy’s mind was made up. You had to go to this party alone. Pansy wouldn’t let you stay in the dorm all night with her, either, so it’s not like you even had a choice. At least Klein wouldn’t bother you. He seemed to only have the guts to come up to you if Blaise did too, and he wouldn’t come up to you if you weren’t with Pansy. Now all you had to do was make sure not to get roped into an argument with Draco. You had to be the bigger person for one night and make sure you wouldn’t do anything you’d regret in the morning.

Pansy was right, she couldn’t get all her work done that night. She sat on her bed with books sprawled around her. You looked at yourself in the mirror, smoothing your hands over the clothe hugging your body. You looked good, you felt good.

“You’re going to be fine,” Pansy reassured you for the tenth time as you sat at the end of her bed, “you can go to parties without me.”

“Okay, but if I come back here tonight having lost a shoe or something, it’s your fault,” you joked, smiling as Pansy laughed.

You, Daphne, and Millicent stayed in your dorm for a little while longer. You moved some clothes around in your trunk, lifting a hidden compartment at the bottom. You retrieved two bottles of firewhisky, handing them to Daphne and Millicent. You closed your trunk, meeting the impressed expressions of the girls. Usually Fred and George Weasley provided alcohol for the school, known for their impressive parties. You and Pansy, however, had your own supply you liked to keep for rainy days. While this wasn’t a rainy day, you couldn’t help the need for a little liquid courage as you had to go to your first party without your best friend. You took the bottle from Millicent and Pansy giggled as she looked up from her Ancient Rune dictionary to watch you take a large swig of the drink.

You felt it burn as it traveled down your throat, and it spread through your body like a warm blanket. You handed the bottle back to Millicent, and the three of you finished off an entire bottle. You didn’t want to go downstairs until you heard the music become loud enough, and by the time you were putting the empty bottle back in your trunk, the party roared downstairs.

The three of you said goodbye to Pansy and went to the common room. The music became louder and louder as you got closer to the party. Soon, Daphne was dragging you and Millicent to a large table with assorted drinks. You watched a boy on the other side of the table pouring himself a heavy amount of a clear liquid. He met your eyes and handed you the bottle. You looked at the label but all that was there was a cartoon drawing of a witch with bubbles spouting from her mouth. You raised your eyebrow at the boy, and he smiled, taking a sip of his drink. You filled your own cup with the liquid, drinking it quickly. It burned more than the firewhisky did, but it was still enjoyable.

You felt your head feel lighter as Daphne clasped onto your hand to pull you out to the dance floor. You danced with her, and as you moved your cup slid from your hand. You and Daphne looked at it for a moment, the cup spilled over as a wet spot formed on the carpet. You looked back up at each other and fell into a fit of giggles.

You continued to dance, looking around the crowd with ease. You felt like someone was staring at you, but you couldn’t find anyone in particular. The music and alcohol coursed through your veins. You felt lighter than you had in months, no worrying thoughts of homework or boys, or even Draco Malfoy.

The second you thought about how you weren’t thinking about Malfoy, you were immediately thinking about him. Part of you missed the hateful sparks between you, the natural narrow of your eyes at the sight of him.

Your body tensed involuntarily, and your drunk subconscious was already hoping to see his blond hair in the crowd. You tugged your bottom lip between your teeth, thinking of what to say so Draco’s stern face would devolve into a furious expression.

You slowed next to Daphne, a wicked look overtaking your dazed face.

“What is it?” Daphne shouted into your ear, pulling you closer by your arm.

“I’ve got to go find someone,” you shouted back, “I’ll be back in a second.”

You were moving through the crowd before Daphne could reach out and stop you. A small voice in the back of your head sounded a bit like Pansy, her familiars warnings from the last party you were at with Draco. She had found you as you were just about to pour your drink down his front, and her soothing words floated into your drunken mind like good-natured clouds.

“He’s not worth it, honestly. All the stress he causes you is going to give you wrinkles, you don’t want wrinkles. Leave him be,” Pansy was right then and she would have been right again. Alas, Pansy was not here and her words did not echo loud enough in your head as you finally found the blond.

He was draped across a leather couch. His legs dangled off the arm as his head was perched on a pile of blankets. At the floor, Crabbe and Goyle hunched over, goblets clutched loosely in their seemingly unconscious hands. Draco’s eyes were closed, his long eyelashes delicately hovering over his pink flushed cheeks. His hair was pushed off his forehead, falling in handsome tufts onto the blankets under him. You stood there for a moment, interchanging which leg to rest your weight on.

“Are you going to say something,” Draco suddenly drawled, barely loud enough to be heard over the music, “or are you content to sit in silence for once?”

You scoffed, taking a breath that made your chest rise. You walked towards him, curling your warm fingers around his legs and flinging them off the arm of the couch. His body twisted and his eyes opened at the touch. You sat next to him, at least a foot between the both of you.

“What do you want?” he asked, leaning over to take Crabbe and Goyle’s full goblets from them. He handed you Goyle’s as he drank from Crabbe’s.

“Just wanted to see if you had done anything embarrassing that I could tell the whole school about tomorrow,” you lied, taking a considerable sip from the goblet.

Draco scoffs next to you, “Not yet, darling.”

You gave Draco a glance. He seemed distressed about something. The way he cradled the goblet in his hands and drank with an urgency was the way someone drinks when their upset.

“What’s got your panties all tied up, Draco?” you asked teasingly, leaning in his direction slightly.

Draco looked at your lidded eyes, the natural smirk on your pretty lips, the outfit you wore that you looked absolutely amazing in; he couldn’t feel any rage as he looked at you that night.

“You,” he said softly, staying stiffly straight but turning his head to face you.

You felt your cheeks warm, looking at him with a curious smirk.

“Really?” you indulged, wondering what else Draco may drunkenly confess. His words weren’t slurring like yours, but the faint pink flush on his cheeks and his unseemly kindness told you he was not sober.

He nodded silently, looking down at the goblet in his lap.

“Draco,” you said, turning to rest your back against the arm of the couch as your legs spread on the cushions. Your feet were inches from touching Draco’s thighs, and he tensed as he looked at the lack of space, “You’ve been acting odd with me recently.”

Draco, if possible, tensed even more at your statement. He was not nearly as drunk as you thought he was, or as you were.

“I don’t know what you mean,” he stuttered, biting his bottom lip. This was the first time you had ever seen Draco Malfoy seem flustered.

“Draco?” you slurred, not speaking again until he turned his face to yours.

You moved forward, bending your legs so you still didn’t touch him, but so your face was close to his.

“Do you fancy me?” you drawled, intrigued.

Draco’s previously tense and stiff stature seemed to relax, as if a secret was released that he had been bottling up. He brought his goblet to his lips slowly, and you did the same, the both of you finishing off what Crabbe and Goyle had been drinking.

“If I’m going to be honest-” Draco had turned his head to you and began speaking, but you weren’t listening. His lips looked so soft and his eyes looked so kind, you couldn’t help but lean in and kiss him.

He was surprised at first, unmoving against your lips. You smiled, still against him, and it seemed to make him realize what was happening. Within seconds, one of his hands was on your waist as the other was on your cheek. You sighed into the kiss, tasting a cinnamon flavored alcohol on his tongue as he slid it into your mouth. Your brought your hands to his neck, unable to stop yourself from playing with his hair. You ran your fingernails across his scalp and down to the nape of his neck, smiling again as he moaned into your lips.

You pulled away when it felt like your lungs needed air, which they did, and kept your eyes closed. Your shoulder fell into the side of the couch, your forehead resting on Draco’s shoulder.

You felt yourself drifting off into a drunken sleep, your body feeling heavy as it slumped into Draco’s.

“I really like you, Y/n. I really do,” Draco confessed from beside you, stroking your hair, “I think you’re the most clever person I’ve ever met.”

You felt your heart swoon at his confession, wondering if he said it because he thought you were already asleep, or if the alcohol was affecting him as much as you. You shifted, bringing your legs to fall into his lap, to which Draco wrapped his slender fingers around your thigh and pulled your closer to his body.

“I hope you’re not too drunk to remember this,” he mumbled, his own eyes fluttering shut as the both of you fell asleep.

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themaribatpit · 3 years

Text

Jasonette July Day 17: Crime Boss

Written by: The Maribat Pit @jasonette-july-event

Prompt: Crime Boss

Rated: M (Canon-typical violence, sexual innuendo, but also the Ventriloquist dies horribly in this one)

Ladybug’s knees collided painfully with the hardwood floor, there was maybe a very thin threadbare carpet to soften the blow. The more she struggled, the more the handcuffs started to bite and chafe at her wrists. She could really use someone with Cataclysm right about now, but she left that someone behind and took his ring with her. She came to Gotham to get away from her life in Paris, away from the trials and tribulations of her teenage years. By day she was a design student at Gotham University, and she wasn’t doing much else by night. One night, tonight of all nights, she walked past a teenage boy being beaten up on a street corner. The teenage boy in question was her neighbour, Leon. She sometimes took care of him when his dad was busy. She just could not resist calling upon Tikki’s help to stop them. Now here she was, with a bag over her head, about to meet her maker at the hands of a formidable crime lord. She had heard whispers about “The Red Hood” and how he had done away with Black Mask and crowned himself as his successor. She started to wonder if leaving Paris was a good idea after all.

Just as she was pondering this, the bag covering her head was ripped away and she was torn away from her thoughts at that moment. She found herself looking up at a figure dressed neck to toe in leather and Kevlar. He sat in the armchair with his legs leisurely sprawled out, his gloved hands gripping the armrests as he leaned forward to get a better look at her. Ladybug saw her frightened expression reflected in a shiny, scarlet helmet, with two white spots that looked like eyes. Ladybug could have sworn that he was squinting at her behind the helmet, closely watching and waiting for her next move.

“So, why did you bring me another costumed vigilante?” He asked, the mask was muffling his voice, but she could clearly hear what he was saying.

“We were taking care of some business and she got in the way,” the henchman to her left informed him. He leaned in closer to whisper to me, “not so tough now, are you Sweetheart?” he laughed as Marinette tried to lean away from him. Was every man determined to invade her personal space every chance they got?

“I’m asking the questions here, I will decide what to do with her.” Red Hood snapped at the henchman, he leaned back in his chair as the henchman backed away.

“Don’t know if she’s from around here, Boss.” The henchman to her other side remarked. “The little lady spoke with an accent when she tried to stop us”, Ladybug glanced over at the other Henchman before turning her attention back to the faceless man in front of her.

Red Hood looked at the two Henchmen before looking down at the girl kneeling in front of him. The costume was a bright red bodysuit with black polka dots, and she had a matching domino mask to hide her identity. Her dark blue eyes were frantically trying to read the men surrounding her, there was no mistaking the fear in her expression. Something was amiss, why would they bring him someone whom they could easily have overpowered? Maybe they thought it would be funny to see him shoot her brains out of her pretty little head. He noticed one of the henchmen had faint red welts around his arm, almost as if someone tried wrapping wire around it. The lines were too thin, compared to the more sturdy grappling wires he used. His other Henchman had a bruise on his cheek that was probably going to go from a plum colour to a sickly yellow in the days to come. If the girl was another one of Bruce’s pet projects, then she might send the old man right to his doorstep. If she wasn’t, she would have fit the bill anyhow. With her dark hair and blue eyes, how she apparently just leapt into action to save a complete stranger from being beaten up. She wasn’t armed to the teeth with gadgets, and he’d have heard something if Bruce had taken in another protégé.

“So, can you understand what I’m saying?” he asked, she simply nodded, not saying anything in response. “What happened?” he tried to keep it simple, no sense dancing around the topic, “Who are you?”

“Your two men were hurting someone, I couldn’t ignore them” she explained, her fear morphing into a show of defiance. Red Hood shook his head, so a vigilante no one’s heard of just leapt in to stop his men from hurting someone. She was either very foolish or had been doing this for a very long time.

“That someone was a little punk who owed us money” one of the Henchmen explained, “we gave ya a chance to walk away girlie, even after you whipped out your little toy.” He chuckled.

“Who owed me money?” Red Hood asked, the men suddenly went very quiet. Something still wasn’t right, and his men weren’t talking. He turned his attention back to the girl, time for a different tactic. “Did you know who they were hurting?” he asked, Ladybug thought for a moment before shaking her head. So she jumped in to save a complete stranger? He couldn’t say he was surprised, what she said next would make this much more interesting.

“He was just a boy,” she explained, trying not to stutter as she looked up at him. “He-” she began, she looked up to see the henchmen were ready to lunge for her.

He raised a hand to stop them, “go on” he told her.

“He said he owed your men money because he bought drugs from them” she said, now trying to get the words out before someone could stop her. “He was just a boy, he’s around 14 years old, he needed help”. His hands reached for his pistols. “Woah boss, you can’t seriously believe what this girl is saying, right?” one of the henchmen called out.

Red Hood ordered his men to shut up. “So what’s the boy’s name?”

Ladybug gulped, “Leon” she answered.

Red Hood glared at his men.

One man spoke up, "Punk owed us money, still hasn’t paid us for the goods, that’s why we gave ‘em a beating.” The man immediately covered his mouth. “What did I tell you, scumbags?” he asked in a low, harsh voice. “Look, we-” “My one rule.” he reiterated, Ladybug swallowed hard. This wasn’t going to end well for any of them. “No dealing to children,” the henchman told him, “we weren’t, we were dealing to some old guy who happened to have a kid...as a courier.” he explained. Ladybug thought it was their word over hers, she looked back up at him. If that was his one golden rule, then it was one they had undoubtedly crossed. She had to play her cards right, if she wanted to appeal to his humanity. “Ask anyone in the area, and they’ll tell you he’s just a kid,” she said, “His dad barely leaves his living room, never mind the apartment.” Ladybug noticed Red Hood reach for the guns, she shut her eyes tight and ducked as if that would save her from the two gunshots she heard.

Ladybug waited for the pain of the gunshot wound, maybe even numbness from where she had been shot. There was no guarantee that Tikki was able to protect her from gunshots, but she didn’t feel anything. She slowly opened one eye to look up at the tall, imposing figure in front of her, who went back to reading his book. She opened her other eye and slowly got up to find the Red Hood leisurely leaning back in his armchair, while the two henchmen lay dead on the floor. He put his guns back in their holsters before picking up the open book next to him. Ladybug looked around at the two men, dead on the floor with blood dripping from their foreheads. “Y-you killed them,” she stammered, before she cursed herself, as if stating the obvious was going to stop him from putting a bullet in her.

“I have one golden rule, and they broke it.” He explained, he lowered his book as he stared her down. “Still, what am I going to do with you?” he wondered aloud.

“You can start by letting me go,” she spat, she stood up as she looked right into the glowing white lights on his helmet. Her hands were still bound by the cuffs, but she still had her legs. Her mind raced with all the things she could do if he tried anything. She could kick him away or use the handcuff chain to choke this man if he tried anything. What she should be doing is running for the exit or finding a way to break the handcuffs. Instead, the man put the book down and grabbed the handcuffs by the chain. The Red Hood could just about see the gears turning in her head as she tried to find a way out of this situation.

“Well, if the accent is anything to go by, I’d say you’re probably French? Maybe Belgian. Eitherway, you’re a loose end I really can’t afford right now,” he explained as he pulled her closer to him. “So, tell me mon amie, what are we going to do with you?” he asked. Marinette tried to pull away, but his grip held her in place without too much trouble.

Red Hood obviously didn’t plan on killing the girl right then and there, it wasn’t her fault that a couple of henchmen wanted to cover their asses for doing the one thing he told them not to. The problem was, she didn’t know that. As far as she was concerned, she was unlucky enough to wind up on her knees in front of an up-and-coming crime lord. He pulled the chains towards him. “Consider this a favor, I’ll come and find you when I’m looking to cash it in.” He stood up and put the bag over her head, still holding her by the handcuffs.

Ladybug though he was surprisingly a little more gentle with her as he led her away from his hideout. All she could hear were gentle reminders to watch her step, as he led her down steps and into what felt like a cool breeze outside. “Where are you taking me?” she asked, but there was no answer. After a few steps of literally blindly following a stranger, they stopped. He pulled the bag off her head and Ladybug had to blink a couple of times to adjust to the sudden rush of light to her eyes. She looked around and saw that she was at the pier, watching the sun rise over Gotham Bay.

“Hold still” was all she heard, as he jerked the cuffs forward and unlocked them one by one. Ladybug looked up and only just realised that the Red Hood absolutely towered over her.

Ladybug rubbed her chafed wrists with her hands, “Thank you” she muttered, avoiding eye contact with the person in front of her. She didn’t know what to make of him, so she wasn’t sure how she felt about owing him favours. On the one hand, he was a formidable crime boss who had just killed two of his own men without a second thought. On the other hand, he killed them because he drew the line at harming kids and selling drugs to them. Seeing as she was an 18-year-old crimefighter, did he have any qualms about hurting her? She could not be certain, though she was also cursing herself for thinking that there was something intriguing about the crime boss with an altruistic side. “This favour…” Ladybug began, trying to look him in the eyes and ask about it.

“I’ll come and find you when I need you, I have eyes and ears all over the city now” he explained, “no offense Pixie, but you kinda stick out like a sore thumb”. He leaned in to whisper in her ear, “if you want to make it easier on us both, meet me in Crime Alley in a week’s time”.

“And I won’t tell anyone that their city’s big bad crime boss has a sense of humour” she joked. She took out what looked like a yo-yo and launched it towards a lamp post and swung away.

Jason was used to people not trusting him, least of all his adopted family, and now there was the plucky young crimefighter dumb enough to take on two men twice her size. She had guts, he had to admit, and if she kept this up it wouldn’t be long before Batman took notice. Jason tensed up at the thought, he had just met this girl, but he wouldn’t wish what he or the others went through on her. He wondered how long she had been doing this. The idea that someone put her up to this from a young age made him even more tense. If that was the case, he might feel a little sorry for her. Alternatively, if she had been doing this for a long time, and was put through the same crucible as him only to emerge from the other side unscathed…what did that make him? He had to see what she was made of, and for that, he needed to test her limits. He asked her to meet him in Crime Alley, the place where it always began.

In the days leading up to their little reunion, he had been asking around about the costumed vigilante. Seeing what his contacts knew, under the guise of asking if she was going to cause him any trouble. Going through his dead henchmen’s burner phones, he managed to contact the kid that she had saved. He sent him a message:

“We need to talk, the guys who gave you a hard time have been taken care of. Need to ask about the girl who saved you. Meet me outside the diner tomorrow, the one near Gotham stadium. – R.H.”

He wouldn’t be surprised if the kid didn’t take the bait, after all he was probably shaken up by what happened. He would be remiss as a former protégé of The World’s Greatest Detective if he left stones unturned. He also thought maybe a burger and milkshake would sweeten the deal, the kid had been through enough. He got a reply from the kid, it read:

“How do I know you’re not about to ‘take care’ of her? Or me? I don’t want any trouble. ”

He smiled, bless his little heart for trying to protect her. He would just have to let this kid know that he was someone who could be trusted, that he had much bigger plans for his savior.

“My men crossed a line, the girl told me about what happened and I let her go. I just want to know what you know, I’ll throw in a burger and milkshake. – R.H.”

The next day he waited, he had hoped wherever the kid was, he was one of the many teenagers finishing school around this time. There was no guarantee that the kid would show up. At around 4:30pm, sure enough a scrawny little teenager was looking around for the mysterious Red Hood. Jason noticed the kid was wearing sunglasses, probably in a feeble attempt to hide the bruising on the side of his face. “H-hello?” he spluttered to no one in particular, Red Hood emerged from the shadows with a brown paper bag.

The kid rushed towards him, and he held it open so that he could see what was inside. “You’re the kid who got beaten up a few days ago?” he nodded sheepishly, Red Hood put a gentle hand on his shoulder. “Listen, I took care of them because they crossed a line selling the stuff to you, I’m sorry.” He handed him the paper bag.

“It wasn’t for me…the drugs I mean. My dad, he-” that just made Red Hood’s blood boil even more, but he had to focus. “My neighbor, Marinette, she’s a fashion student at Gotham U. She looks after me sometimes, she’s really nice. She grew up in a bakery in Paris, so she’s always making bread and cakes whenever I come over.” As he explained this, Red Hood calmed down a little at the thought of someone looking out for this kid. He took a few bites of his burger, and a mouthful of the chocolate milkshake. “I owed those guys money, usually my dad gave me money to pay them but lately he hasn’t. So, my piggy bank was starting to run a little dry, and I guess one day they got sick of waiting.” He explained, Red Hood tried to steer the conversation towards the girl saving him.

“Hey, it’s gonna be okay, just tell me what happened when the girl showed up” he told him in a soft voice.

“I thought I saw a pink light in the distance, and when I looked up, a girl in a red polka-dotted suit was trying to save me. One guy was about to punch me when she used a yo-yo and wrapped it around his arm to pull it away from me. I don’t know what that thing was made of, but she managed to pull the guy towards her and away from me.” He continued to gush about how happy he was that this costumed heroine stepped in to save him. As he described the fight, that first part lined up with the marks he saw on the henchman’s forearm. “She just told me to ‘run’ and I didn’t really question it”, he explained.

“So, a girl in a magic costume saved you by using her magic yo-yo?” He asked, “did you see anything else?”

“Nope, I did what I was told and ran like hell. I tried to see if my neighbour, Marinette, was home, but she was probably at the library or something” he told her. This neighbour was a student, probably pulling an all-nighter somewhere working on a project.

“You did good kid.” He stuffed a couple of hundred into the kid’s pocket. “That’s all I needed to hear.”

“Please, don’t hurt her, she didn’t do anything wrong. She was just trying to help me,” he pleaded.

“Relax kid, like I said, the two guys won’t be bothering you anymore”, and with that he turned and walked away. “Go see your neighbour, Marionette or whatever, she’s probably worried sick about you”, with that he disappeared into the shadows once again.

Marinette made it home safely that night, and had spent the last few days trying not to think about what this crime boss had planned for her. If he wanted to kill her, he could have done it right then and there. Maybe he planned to drag this out and torture her, she had no way of knowing what he had in mind. “There was something strange about that man”, Tikki mused when she finally powered down.

“How so?” she asked as Tikki nibbled on the cookie she kept in her bag on the way home.

“You should probably take Plagg with you next time, I could feel something strange in his aura” Tikki told her. “I could sense my own magic, but his magic might be mixed in there too”, she explained.

“Did you and Plagg know who he was? Did you grant a wish for him?” she had been the Guardian since she was 13, any wish they granted before then would have been a long time ago.

“I can’t recall, but somehow he came into contact with our magic”, she explained. Marinette decided to take her advice and bring Plagg next time, she could use Cataclysm if he tried anything.

For the next few days, Marinette had been going about her normal, civilian life. She was going to classes by day and working in her apartment by night. Wednesday night, Leon finally paid her a visit and Marinette was shocked to see the bruise on his face. Marinette decided to drop everything and give the boy some hot chocolate and cake. He was surprisingly happy for someone who was being beaten up a few days ago. Leon gushed about the girl who saved him, and how cool she was, and how he got to meet the Red Hood.

Marinette froze, “Um, what’s he like?” she asked, she was surprised to hear more gushing.

“Awh he’s the best, this guy bought me a burger and a milkshake, he just wanted to know about the girl who saved me.” He was cheerfully rambling on before he noticed a slightly concerned look on Marinette’s face.

“Maybe don’t take food from strangers next time” she told him, “But what’s he like? Sorry, I haven’t lived in Gotham for very long”.

“He fights crime, just like Batman. He also looks really scary but is actually a nice guy- and I probably shouldn’t be telling you all this” he suddenly looked very sheepish.

“Don’t worry, it’ll be our little secret” she said with a wink, as she placed the warm mug of hot chocolate in front of him. So? She was dealing with a crime boss with a VERY altruistic side, so much so that he’s considered a hero. She should have known that, given that he shot those men for what they did to Leon. It saddened Marinette that she couldn’t do more for Leon, but she was just a university student, she wasn’t really in a position to be his full-time guardian.

“You make the best hot chocolate, Marinette, how do you do it?” he asked.

“Well, where I’m from we have it for breakfast.” she told him, he looked as though she told him that she communed with unicorns every morning. “It’s true, even Marie Antoinette started her day with a cup of hot chocolate.”

“The lady who said ‘let them eat cake’?” he asked jokingly.

“Yes, but it was originally believed that she said ‘Let them eat brioche’” she told him. The two of them laughed and watched movies together, but eventually he had to return home later that night. Considering all that she went through, Marinette felt lucky that her own family always loved and supported her. Her father was always a gentle giant, and where her mother lacked in height she more than made up for in personality and wit. They might not fully understand why she wanted to leave Paris of all places, to pursue a career in Fashion Design, but they supported her.

What would they say if they could see her now?

The week came and went, and Marinette decided to show up to Crime Alley as Lady Noire. It was a dark and damp place, enough to give Plagg the sense that so much death and misfortune happened here. She looked around and listened for any footsteps or figures, but the mystery man she was looking for still managed to take her by surprise.

“Surprised to see you here, Catwoman” she looked up to see the Red Hood looking down at her from a fire escape balcony. “I’m sure Batman will have something to say about the new hair,” he remarked. There had to be some mistake here, and he seemed to realise it too when he climbed down and gave her a swift once over. “Wait a minute…nice try poser, you’re a little short to be the real Catwoman.” he remarked, “Who are you?”.

“I’ll give you three guesses...” the girl was trying to be coy, but the accent and short stature gave it away.

“What brought on the costume change?” Red Hood asked.

“You don’t like it?” she pouted mockingly “It makes my job a whole lot harder if you’re resembling someone who takes cat burglary a little too literally”, he told her. Now he had to rethink his plan, “why the costume change anyhow?”

“Well, you didn’t specify what your favour was. For all I know you enjoyed the sight of me kneeling in front of you in handcuffs a little too much”, Red Hood was thankful that the helmet hid the absolutely mortified look on his face. He’d also be lying if he said he didn’t think she was cute, but he had some self-control.

“Okay, should’ve probably said something about that. So that’s what brought about the costume change?” he asked, “Was it laundry day for the other one?”

“Let’s just say, this one has a different set of skills. This one comes with a staff, and night vision too.” she explained, “If you didn’t plan on ‘that’ kind of favour, what did you have in mind?” Red Hood had a feeling she could do a lot more than she was letting on, but he decided to leave it for now.

“There’s a shipment of firearms weaving its way into Gotham as we speak, I plan to intercept it before Batman can find it.” He explained.

“Why? So that you can use them instead?” she snapped.

“Since you’re probably new here, trust me when I say you could do a lot worse in a place like Gotham,” he growled. “This is also tame compared to how I would usually do things. If anyone else got ahold of these guns, people can and will get hurt.” he told her, “Two-face, Penguin, the damned Clown Prince of Crime, none of them would think twice about mowing down innocent people to get what they want.” he took a few steps closer to her and she was trying to put on a brave face as she looked up at him. Somehow, he got the sense that this might be out of her wheelhouse.

“So what do you want me to do?” She asked, hoping he couldn’t hear her heart pounding in her chest. There was something about the Red Hood that Marinette couldn’t quite put her finger on. He made it clear that he wasn’t someone to be trifled with, and that she would be foolish to underestimate him. Yet in other ways, she could just about see the faint outline of something resembling a moral compass. It was certainly one that was cracked, but she could just about glean where it was pointing.

This was also the moment she realised she was way out of her depth. She had been doing this for a few years, but she was used to people who were being controlled by Hawk Moth or Mayura. Akumas and Amoks prepared her for a lot of things, this wasn’t one of them.

“All right, follow me.” commanded the Red Hood as he grappled up to a roof, Lady Noire jumping from ledge to ledge to follow. The two jumped across the rooftops of Gotham until they arrived at the docks. The two stood at a rooftop across a warehouse, Red Hood perched on the ledge waiting. Red Hood points to a few small speed boats racing towards a warehouse. The speedboats quickly dock and a large group of mobsters come from the warehouse to begin unloading. As the crew quickly unload the smuggled weapons to trucks in the warehouse, the boss of the group shouts at them. “All right, hurry up and load the goods into the trucks.” spoke Scarface.

Lady Noire could hear a light growl from Red Hood, “Damn, it’s the Ventriloquist. Ready for a fight?”

Lady Noire nodded and the two jumped down to the docks. They crash landed on a couple of mobsters, knocking them out instantly. Lady Noire used her staff to fight them off, while Red Hood ran off towards the warehouse, presumably to get the smuggled weapons.

The Ventriloquist turned around and Scarface roared, “Shoot her!” and fired his tommy gun Lady Noire. She spun her staff quickly, creating a force field deflecting the hail of bullets coming her way.

As the torrent subsided she heard the mob boss yell. “Help me reload ya dummy” commanded Scarface. “Yes sir,” Wesker meekly replied.

Lady Noire took this opportunity to finish off the remaining goons in the area. Just as she knocked out the last mobster, a baseball bat cracked along the back of her skull and sent her to her knees. She then felt hot metal placed on the back of her head and a howl of laughter. “Gotcha now ya dumb broad!” Scarface laughed.

At that moment Lady Noire panicked, she cast Cataclysm and took a swipe at Scarface. This sliced Scarface in half, however the disintegration continued. Lady Noire watched in horror and disgust as she saw Cataclysm burning away the Ventriloquist's arm. His cries of pain and begging for mercy forever etched into her mind. She felt faint and began hyperventilating as she watched the man slowly dissolve. She fell to her knees and held her other hand to her mouth, feeling the bile rise up. She wanted to reach out, to apologise, but it was too late. She could not bear to watch anymore. Her vision turned to black as she fell to the ground.

Marinette woke with a start to find herself somewhere strange. Someone had laid her down to rest on a mattress. She could hear the sound of keys tapping away on a computer, and moments later the sound of someone saying “Welcome back to the land of the living, Pixie Pop.” Marinette looked around at her surroundings, she had no idea where she was. On the other side of the room, a boy who was only a year or two older than her turned in his chair to look at her. Marinette sat up, her heart pounded in her chest as she tried to make sense of what had happened. The boy stood up and came over to see if she was all right.

“Where am I?” she asked, “What happened? Who are you?”

“To answer your questions, you’re in a decommissioned bomb shelter that I use as a hideout. What happened is you took out one of Gotham’s crime bosses. Not bad for baby’s first arms deal, “ he explained. Marinette was still trying to remember how she ended up here. “had to get out before Batman and the others got there but couldn’t find you, that was until I saw a flash of black and green light.”

It was all coming back to her, she remembered what transpired the previous night. She remembers how the cries of agony and the horror of watching a man slowly melt with the power of Cataclysm. Marinette hadn’t used Lady Noire very often, and she was starting to wonder how Chat Noir managed all those years with this power.

“Hey, Pixie? Still there?” the boy asked, slowly reaching out to touch her shoulder.

“Don’t touch me!” she yelled, her hands shook as she remembered what she’d done, “I didn’t mean to hurt him.”

“First of all, it was awfully nice of you to leave out the fact that you could use magic” he told her. Jason wasn’t angry in the same way Bruce would have been, Bruce didn’t trust magic users like Constantine further than he could throw him. Still, when you’re trained by the World’s Greatest Detective, magic becomes the ultimate wild card. He tried a different approach, the last thing she needed was to be lectured about how an arms dealer deserves to live more than her. “Second of all, the way I see it, it was you or him. He could have killed you, then what?” He asked.

“I don’t expect you to understand,” she spat, “maybe you’re used to this but I’m not! The people I was up against were always being controlled by someone else! They were ordinary people who let their negative emotions rule them!” Her voice was shaking with rage and she looked away, there was no way she was going to let him see her cry. “I didn’t even plan on continuing to be a hero, I have been doing it since I was 13. When...I saw that poor boy in the alleyway I just...I’ve done what you asked now leave me alone.” she turned away and hugged her knees as she curled up on the edge of the mattress.

Jason realised what made her so upset in that moment, telling her it was a matter of survival was pretty cold comfort for someone who’d just killed someone for the first time. The fact of the matter was they had both been at this from a young age. The difference was he had been trained to fight superpowered murderers and madmen, people who were evil of their own volition. He didn’t enjoy seeing her like this, but she made it clear that he didn’t have a clue what her world looked like. It was probably a hell of a lot sunnier than his outlook, it probably literally smelled like sugar, spice and everything nice. “If he had killed you, and he could have, I would have made him suffer a lot worse than you did. Only difference is I know how.” he said there was no use sugarcoating the truth.

“Why?” she asked, “am I just some pawn in your little game against Batman?”

He walked over to the bookshelf shelf, filled with his own little souvenir collection. A copy of the Art of War, The Prince, and many other books were nestled around them. Among them was a photograph he took back with him on one of his trips back to Wayne Manor. He tried to keep his frustration in check, tried to remind himself that she was just shaken, even if she had acted in self-defense. He took the framed photograph off the shelf and handed it to her. As far as they knew, the boy in that picture was dead and in many ways he still was. “Look familiar?” he asked as he sat back down on the mattress, propping himself up on his arms as he leaned back.

Marinette looked at the photo, there was no mistaking that as Batman, standing there with a stern and serious expression. The boy next to him was dressed a lot more colourfully, Marinette almost wanted to make her own adjustments to its design. By contrast the boy had a cheeky smile, as if he was ready to take on the world with Batman at his side. She also noticed the person next to her had a white lock of hair framing his face. “Is that…'' she asked, she had stopped crying but now she was working out what he was trying to say. She looked at the boy in the photo and back to him, his features were a little sharper now but she could just about see that boy beneath the surface. “What happened?” she asked, there was no sense asking questions she knew the answer to.

“What could have happened to you.” he told her. It clicked in Marinette’s mind at that moment, in his own way he wanted to protect her. Her heart was pounding at the thought, she was so used to shouldering the responsibility of protecting everyone. Yet, here she was getting excited at the thought of someone doing the same for her. Maybe Ladybug reminded him of the boy in the photograph, brimming with hope that they could make the world just a little brighter. What happened to him and how it happened was a story for another day. She felt a comforting hand hovering just over her shoulder, she gently took his hand and held it to her. They sat there for a long moment, just two people enjoying each other’s company. “What’s the boy’s name?” she asked as she turned and handed the photograph back to him. She wiped her tears on her sleeve before smiling at him.

“Jason, Jason Todd, yours?” he asked, giving her that same smile as the boy in the photo. “No one calls me “Jason Peter Todd” unless I am in seriously deep shit”, he joked.

“Marinette, Marinette Dupain-Cheng” she told him, “I’m the guardian of magical items called the Miraculous. It’s my job to keep them out of the wrong hands, for…well now you know why.”

It suddenly made sense to Jason why she leapt into action to save that boy without a second thought. Not just because she was his neighbour and cared about him, but because that’s just what she did, and has been doing for a long time. The whole magic thing was still going to take some getting used to, and he had to guess she had many more tricks up her sleeve. Still, he had to admit they made a pretty good team last night. She hadn’t been put through quite the same trials and tribulations as him, so who could say if she would end up just like him? As long as he was around, no one would get that chance. He stood up, taking his hand off her shoulder and holding it out to help her up. “Need a ride?” he asked, Marinette smiled brightly up at him before she took his hand.

#jasonettejuly2021 #jasonette #maribat #ml x dc

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alexaplaysgames · 4 years

Text

Have Mercy on Me

Pairing: Felix Escellun x GN!MC

Fandom: Fictif (Last Legacy)

Rating: M (swearing, mild sexual content)

Words: ~ 1500

Description: Felix and his barista are a bit less than careful when it comes to concealing their midnight make out sess.

Notes: So Sage suspects that Felix and MC are a thing, but he doesn’t know that they are. Or he didn’t prior to this fic. The last of my Felix writing spree! I’m moving on to some Asra next.

Tags: @margitartist @demon-paradise @themohawkhelmet @cactus-hoodie @aomiyeon @piningmaybeanartist @another-confused-gay

When I imagined travelling with the legendary Starsworn, sitting in the parlour of a run-down inn and getting wasted wasn’t exactly what I had in mind.

Sage grabs a bottle from the table at his feet and takes a hearty swig.

“Even this is failing to entertain me now,” he says, cracking his back as he stands, “I’m going to go pass out.”

“Will you kill me if I call it a cat nap?” I singsong.

Safe glares at me in reply, ears pinned flat against his head. “Do you want to find out?”

I opt to stay quiet as he turns towards the stairs that lead to our rented rooms.

“I think I’m going to turn in for the night as well,” Anisa hums, her green eyes glittering in the firelight. “Goodnight, you two!”

Felix and I sit silently as the sound of creaking wood accompanying footsteps retreats up the stairs.

As soon as the parlour is silent, he turns to me, smirking.

“Ah, to be free of Sage’s incessant pestering.”

I too am rather glad to be alone with him. With all that’s gone on lately, I’ve barely had Felix to myself at all these last few days.

The cracking of the fire is soothing, the silence between us strangely comfortable. It’s rather odd, considering Felix isn’t one for quiet contemplation, and it’s very rare that any situation he’s involved in remains free of awkwardness.

I’m distracted from my thoughts as Felix glances down at our hands, still close together being that we have yet to seperate from our previously crowded position on the sofa.

Once again, I feel myself wishing that he would just ask for things when he wanted them, like he so obviously wants to hold my hand now. Am I doing something wrong? Is this some consequence of his relationship with Rime? I know almost nothing about that, I don’t really want to, but if that deer-man did anything to hurt Felix, I guarantee I’ll snap his antlers like Pixy Stix.

Then again, perhaps some of the hurting was consensual. He did have some choice comments about their sexual relationship that I’ve really been trying to forget. Yikes. I can’t imagine the Felix I know in a relationship anything like that.

He’s too precious... too soft. I feel like getting rough with him would break him, shattering his beauty to shards, like stained glass.

But I wouldn’t mind if he were a bit more forward with me.

“Do you want to hold my hand, Felix?”

He starts, then blushes as he meets my gaze. Felix nods, his expression turning resolute as he slowly reaches for my hand, then intertwines my fingers with his.

I reach to delicately tilt his chin up with the index finger of my free hand.

“I do like you, you know,” I tease, but the words still carry meaning. “You don’t have to be so hesitant.”

“O-okay. I know that, I do. It’s just... difficult,” he scoffs, a frustrated sound deep in his throat. His voice goes soft as he continues, “I haven’t- I haven’t done this since...”

“I know.” He doesn’t need to say Rime’s name for me to know who this is about.

I smile, sultry turning soft, then focus my attention back on the fireplace as Felix lays his head on my shoulder with a soft sigh. Progress. His hair tickles my chin, but I don’t really mind. He smells... nice. Like... well, he actually kind of smells like sage. Sage the plant, not the person. Felix would certainly take offence to the latter. I snicker under my breath just thinking of his reaction if I told him so.

I suddenly shiver as Felix turns his face into my neck, trying to stay still. He’s not a huge fan of casual physical contact, and I don’t want to scare him away. He’s kinda like a pet, a cat, in that any time he gets close I stay shock still in hopes that he won’t run off. He’s like a cat in many ways, actually. Grumpy, recluse, adorable. Another description he would despise, knowing his hatred for Stella. I purse my lips to keep from giggling. Man, if only everyone knew how hilarious I really am.

“You realize,” Felix hums, the vibrations creating goosebumps across my skin. “We are completely alone.”

My amusement fades in an instant, my features stretching into a seductive grin.

“Oh? And what, Felix, oh dignified and talented mage, are you suggesting?”

I can almost feel his face heat from where it’s pressed against the soft skin of my neck.

He sighs, then mumbles, “I beg you not to tease me so. We can’t all be as lascivious as Sage, my dear.”

“Felix,” I tease, despite his request, “are you asking for a kiss?”

He pulls away, face flushed red, biting his lip as he refuses to meet my gaze.

“No.” The answer is obviously yes, and although his pout is adorable, he sounds like a stubborn, petulant child.

I place my hands on both of his cheeks, forcing him to meet my gaze.

“Good. Because you don’t need to ask. If you want to kiss me Felix, go ahead.”

It’s a bold challenge. Never does Felix initiate such things, but I want him to. I want him to want to.

He blinks. Then, slowly, tentatively, he shifts closer to me, the sofa creaks beneath him, and I feel the cushions sink as he leans towards me. His breath fans across my face as he gets impossible closer, his eyelashes fluttering against my cheeks.

It’s in moments like these that it truly hits me: how incredibly intoxicating Felix is. I don’t think I could refuse him if I wanted to; my heart yearns to be swept up in the vortex of his stormy eyes, to drown in a sea as black as his fingernails or as red as his bitten lips.

I can just barely feel the brush of his lips against mine, leaving my breath stuttering in my throat. It’s nice- the closeness, the stillness. Intimate even, with our foreheads pressed together and our mouths just barely touching. I could stay like this with him forever.

Then our lips slide together in a familiar, passionate dance, slow and sensual and utterly delicious. I instinctively move my hands to tangle in his hair, pulling just the way I know he likes, while Felix surprises me by moving one hand to cup my face, the other to skim my thigh, and kissing me back hard, hard enough to make me feel like the breath that fills his lungs, and I struggle to refrain from smiling against the softness of his lips.

I pull away, trying not to notice his bereft, breathy little exhale, just long enough to quirk a brow before I place my hands on his chest and push him back into the sofa, chuckling at the noise of shock that he makes.

And while I love to have him near me, holding me, this is where I like Felix best. Pinned under me as I straddle his waist, wide, silvery eyes reflecting the dying firelight.

I lean over him, tantalizing, teasing, trace a path with my tongue from his collarbone to the shell of his ear, then finish by biting down on his earlobe, rolling the stud he wears in his ear with the tip of my tongue.

Felix gasps, hips involuntarily pressing upwards and against mine, a breathy whine building in his throat. I catch his wrists and pin them above his head, leaning back to admire the mess I’ve made of him.

“So pretty,” I murmur, twirling a strand of his hair with my free hand.

“You are quite,” his voice shakes with his ragged exhale, “resplendent yourself.”

I snort, hum, then lean forward to capture his mouth in a sinful, open-mouth kiss, grinding against him once more in a way that has us both panting into each other’s mouths. I’m not sure how long we stay tangled up like that, rocking together, never parting for longer than it takes to catch a breath.

His skin is surprisingly warm to the touch when my fingers flit under the fabric of his shirt, dipping over the soft give of his stomach, a gentle, exploratory touch I can feel mirrored by Felix’s hands on the bare skin of my arms.

I’m just about to suggest we take this somewhere more private when I’m interrupted by a choking noise. A sound not unlike that of a cat, yakking on a hairball.

Felix and I hastily spring apart, and my gaze is immediately drawn to a tall, white-haired figure standing at the base of the stairs.

“Holy fuck.” Sage whispers, his expression a mix of amusement, awe, and confusion. His eyes dart between the look of sheer mortification that paints my features and Felix’s disheveled appearance and half-open shirt.

Shit.

Felix flops back down, burying his burning red face in a pillow.

“Not now, Sage.”

Sage only smirks. “Interrupted something, did I? By all means, don’t stop on my accord. I’m all for watching, or joining. If you’re into that sorta thing.”

I can only manage to stare, slack-jawed. Is he really suggesting...?

“So,” Sage clears his throat, causing Felix to groan at the realization that he has not yet left. “You two really are-“

I nod.

“No,” he grimaces.

“Yes,” I deadpan.

“No,” he repeats, louder, frantic. “I cannot live in a world in which Felix has game. First Rime, now you? Are you sure you’re the one who got teleported to another dimension?”

“That’s not exactly what-“ Felix finally huffs as he raises his head, glaring.

“Whatever, man. This is some fucked up shit. Majorly fucked up, that’s what I say.” Sage crosses the room, retrieving a dagger from the nearby armchair and twirling it dangerously in his leather-clad grip (I assume this is the reason he came back into the parlour at all).

He makes to move up the stairs, but pauses, throwing me a grin over his shoulder, accompanied by a waggle of his eyebrows.

“But if you ever wanna get a taste of the wild side...”

“Sage!” Felix exclaims, eyes flashing a dangerous green, but the former only snickers.

“Goodnight, horny children. Try to keep the noise level to a minimum, if ya know what I mean.”

I have to slap my hand over Felix’s mouth to stifle his angry retort.

This is going to be a long few days.

#Felix Escellun #Felix Iskandar Escellun #Felix x mc #interactive game #interactive fiction #visual novel #Last Legacy Fanfiction #Fictif #Fictif Last Legacy #Last Legacy #last legacy Felix

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maddogofshimano · 3 years

Text

The Woman Who Dyed a Black Stain to White

Major Y0 Spoiler Warning

Lee got a sugoroku event! Look at his chibi sprite!!!

There’s several foreign names and groups mentioned in here that I don’t know the ideal romanization for, but I will try to at least be consistent on them.

This one is seriously heavy. I’m actually going to put a trigger warning on this: it’s about sex trafficked women, and Makoto’s backstory. There’s the start of an attempted sexual assault and a lot of dehumanizing language about the women who are being trafficked. Nothing is shown explicitly, but it’s rough. Additionally multiple people in the mafia commit suicide.

Summary: Lee is ordered to assassinate the boss of the Songyoung, a mysterious crime syndicate behind the disappearances of multiple women in Sotenbori. They operate in complete secrecy, and Lee finds himself facing a terrible choice between his orders and his morals.

<1986--two years before a man's corpse would be found in Kamurocho's empty lot--Iwao Bridge, Sotenbori> Makoto: Excuse me, I'm looking for my brother. Have you seen the man in this picture?

Man: No, don't know him at all. Sorry... Makoto: Excuse me, have you seen the person in this picture?

Woman: I don't know him, sorry... Oda: That woman... she's not bad... I think I'll have a little talk with her...

Oda: Pardon me miss. You're looking for your brother? I've got an idea of where he might be...

Makoto: Really!? Please, take me there right away! Oda: Of course. If you wouldn't mind coming with me then...

Voice on the TV: The case of the repeated disappearances of women in Sotenbori clearly seems to be--

Lee: Young women bein' targeted for abduction... Must be the Omi Alliance, or maybe some foreign group... Lee: The police are stayin' awful quiet on it though. Hard to feel good about all the movement that's happenin' around it... <phone rings> Lee: Ah, the phone... Lee: Hogushi Kaikan speaking. What treatment may I help you with? Voice on the phone: I have a job for you, Lee Wen Hai Lee: Well, sounds like ya aren't after a massage, are ya... Wong, who'd'ya need taken care of this time? Wong: That's cruel, Lee. Do you know the Korean mafia faction, the Songyoung? Lee: Aah, I've been hearin' some things about them. I was gettin' a real bad vibe off of that group... Wong: We haven't been able to pin them down effectively because they don't do anything themselves, they use hired thugs for all the dirty work... Wong: It sounds like they outsource their income streams. That's how they keep everything a secret. Lee: So you're tellin' me this for a reason... right? The Songyoung are my next target? Wong: Mhm, that's right. Wong: These days their thugs are rampaging all over our organization's territory... Wong: If they keep making waves like this, they're bound to bring the Omi down on our heads. Wong: The current pressure the Omi is putting on us is more than enough, and they'll only use this as an excuse to squeeze harder. Lee: Is the big bad mainland mafia's Kotou and the Omi that scared? (Tl note: this gets clarified way later, but Kotou (虎頭) is the Chinese mafia group Lee works for) Wong: Don't tease... Sotenbori is the Omi Alliance's most treasured territory... Wong: There's no advantage to putting the Omi in a bad mood or inflicting damage. But, how much do you even understand that? Wong: Anyways, the more the Songyoung keep rampaging, the more foreign organizations like our Kotou will suffer. Wong: Your assignment is to assassinate the boss of the Songyoung. I'm sure you know the usual payment from Kotou... Wong: For this one, it'll be double. Lee: Well ain't that generous... So what's the catch? Wong: Like I said, the Songyoung is a thoroughly secretive organization. Wong: Naturally, their bosses current whereabouts are unknown, as are the group's hideouts... Lee: So I gotta figure out where the guy even is... Wong: So? Will you take on the assignment? Lee: Well of course. I'll take it. You can transfer the payment to the usual account. Wong: Understood. When I get it, I'll fax you a picture of the boss of the Songyoung. Use it for verification. Wong: Well then, I'll leave you to it. Don't forget to keep in contact, okay? Lee: I'll remember... See ya later then? <Hangs up the phone> Lee: Well then, first things first is collectin' information on the Songyoung... <Prologue End> <A few days later--Shofuku Street, Sotenbori> Lee: After all this time pokin' around I still haven't gotten any info on the Songwong...

Lee: I thought Wong was just cuttin' corners, but even that pro I listened to didn't know shit... Lee: Information fees have gotten jacked up with the current economic boom, and it's hard to rely on anything they say... Lee: This place then. Today I'll pay it a visit... <Lee enters the mahjong parlor> Lee: Let's see, where is that guy... Oh, there he is....

Lee: Hey, been a while... how's things treatin' ya?

Information Broker: Well, if it isn't God Hand-sama himself... Broker: It'd been so long since I heard from ya that lately I'd been thinkin' about closin' up shop and pickin' up massage instead. Lee: Shut it, smartass! All you've been doin' lately is sittin' on your ass playin' mahjong... Lee: ...But, I'll let it slide. I'm here to get some info from ya. Lee: Tell me everythin' ya know about the Songyoung... Broker: ....And if that information isn't cheap? Lee: How much? Broker: Give me... 100k upfront, and we'll see how much it'll cost. Lee: Tch... Ya better watch yourself after this... Here, take your cash! <a wad of bills thumps onto the table> Broker: Of course. So, what do you want to know about the Songyoung? Lee: Their main hideout, and where their boss is at right now. For that information I'll pay as much as ya need. Broker: That's some real problematic info, ya know. These guys are hardcore on their secrecy... Lee: Seriously, I paid out the ass upfront already... So what, ya don't have that info? Broker: I do have a list of their lower rungs... Broker: If ya wanna find the main group, you'll have to squeeze it out of the branches... Lee: Sure, hand over that info then. Broker: You sure? It's gonna be another 100k. Lee: Jeez... Here. We good now? <another wad of bills hits the table> Broker: Thank you for your patronage... Alright, here's the list. Lee: ....This, you're sure there's not some sort of mistake? Broker: I absolutely guarantee it. Welllllll some of them might have cut ties with the main group already I suppose... Broker: The lower rungs are nothin' but nasty, muscle-headed imbeciles, though with your strength it won't be a problem... Lee: Heh.... I can't understand why this information is goin' for only 100k.

Broker: Ha... Findin’ a buyer for that kind of thing ain't easy. Broker: If you're makin' a move on these guys... Well, there's not gonna be a point to holdin' on to that information afterwards, right? Lee: ...That's pretty smart of ya. I'm off then, I'll be back later. Lee: Well, time to get goin' through this list with a fine toothed comb. <Lee goes to the park> Lee: Every one of these organizations is tied to the Songyoung somehow, but I just don't know what's connectin' them...

Lee: Do I really gotta go trompin' through this whole list and hope I stumble onto where the boss is at? Goon A: Hehe... Hey, let's go do some damage today!!

Goon B: It's great havin' the backin' of a big, influential group like that... Looks like our luck is finally turnin' around!! Lee: Well there's some assholes... I wonder what kinda info they might have... <Lee kicks the shit out of them. Like I don't even do the fight it just fades to black and Lee takes care of it himself> Goon A: Hhhh... Please forgive us.... The Songyoung already cut us off! So please don't kill us!!

Lee: Ya better not tell me you've cut ties again, okay? Just tell me all the info ya got on the Songyoung. Goon A: I-I really don't know anythin'! The contact we had, we never even saw their face. Lee: Seriously you guys... This is the tenth time. These Songyoung are damn serious about this secrecy crap, huh... Lee: These bastards don't have any information neither... Goon B: Th-That's true, but it is possible... Lee: What? Ya got an idea or somethin'? Goon B: There’s some guys that have turf near Iwao Bridge, they do way worse dealings than we do, I think... Lee: Worse dealings? Goon B: Yeah, they abduct young women that've just come to Sotenbori, and the Songyoung takes em for a shit ton of cash. Lee: Wait, wait, you mean... That's what's causin' the "vanishing women case" right now!?

Goon B: Yeah... That's right... It's all just rumors, but they go after runaway girls to kidnap... Lee: Then that means, this "disappearance case", it's all the Songyoung's doing... Lee: Now that's the kind of details I want to hear!! Goon B: Y-Yes sir!! Though, there is one other thing you should know... Goon B: In the past there was a real famous gang that was doin' this kind of job, but that gang left Sotenbori just when they were about to take over... Goon B: The organization that's currently makin' bank off of abducting women is called... Well, it's gotta be "Ganryujima". (Tl note: Ganryujima is the island famous for the duel between Miyamoto Musashi and Sasaki Kojiro. Also of note the first kanji in ganryujima is the same as the first kanji in Iwao Bridge) Goon B: That's the full extent of what I know... Lee: So near Iwao Bridge there's turf belonging to "Ganryujima"? That group's also on the list.... Seems like I got plenty to go on. Lee: In light of this info ya gave me, I'll let ya go. Hopefully this'll've been a learnin' experience for ya, and ya won't got gettin' involved with any more groups like that. Goons: Y-Yes sir!! Thank you very much!! Lee: Iwao Bridge is right up there.... I was gonna ask the Garyujima about the Songwong but... this feelin'...

Lee: This ain't just another punk, is it... someone else in the same profession? Lee: Hey, I know you're there. Come on out. If you're gonna tail someone, put a lil more effort in on stayin' hidden... Menacing Man: Are you the one who's been crushing all of our lower rungs? No hard feelings, but I'm going to kill you here...

Lee: As if I'd fall so far as to get killed by some third rate hitman who can't even hide himself properly... Lee: Though, ya did save me the trouble by showin' up. It was gonna be a pain in the ass to get the info I was after on your kinda organization. Lee: I'm just gonna beat every last drop of info about your group out of ya!! Menacing Man: Heh.... Come at me then!! You're going to regret messing with the Songyoung!! <the fight happens for real this time, fittingly Misery Comes On Beat plays and Lee clobbers them> Menacing Man: G-Guh........ Lee: Alright, you know what I want, ready to spill it on the Songyoung? Menacing Man: Heh.... You think I'm going to talk? Lee: Oh, so you've decided I gotta make you talk then... Menacing Man: The organization's secrets are absolute... Letting that kind of things slip, it's just not something I can do... <stabbing sounds> Lee: You! What the hell did you do!! Menacing Man: Guhh..... fool!? Lee: What idiots... All of them went and slit their own throats... Lee: All that to protect their organization's secrets... Finding their boss's location is gonna be a real pain in the ass.

<end part 1> Lee: You bastards are Ganryujima boys, ain't ya?

Goon: Who the hell are you? You got a problem if we're Ganryujima? Lee: Nope, my problem is with all the women you've been ordered to kidnap for the Songyoung. Goon: You... where the hell did ya hear that? Lee: Ya think I'm gonna say? Goon: Heh..... 's all good. If ya knew any better, ya would have gone home to keep on livin'... Goon: Oi, everyone!! Let's end this geezer!! Lee: Sure are a lotta hotblooded assholes... Ah well. I'll just have to convince ya to talk. <once again, Lee crushes them without me even doing the fight> Goon: Haa... Haa... Wh-What the hell's with this old man...

Lee: From now on, be selective when you pick fights. If you pick the wrong opponent on this street, are you ready to lose your life? <metallic noise of something being drawn, presumably a knife or the acupuncture needle, it's unclear> Goon: A-Aahh!? P-Please don't kill me!! Lee: Are ya ready to tell me about the Songyoung then? What's the guy look like that you're handin' these girls over to? Goon: Sorry... we just leave the women we kidnapped in a pre-designated abandoned house on a regular basis, I never seen anyone... Goon: The money just gets wired into our account... I really don't know the guy's face at all... Lee: ....Tch, you fuckers are another dead end. Goon: I-I'm sorry I'm so worthless!! But please, my life... Lee: Fine, whatever.... Actually, one thing! Goon: Wh-What!? Lee: In exchange for me lookin' the other way on this, I'm givin' ya a job to do. Goon: A-A job... What'd'ya want us to do? Lee: It's easy. I'm gonna bring ya a girl, and you're gonna sell her to those guys... can ya do that? (Tl note: misread this at first as "I'm gonna be the next girl ya sell to those guys" and was pogging) Goon: Y-Yeah. I think we should be able to do that... Lee: Good, then I'll be back when I've finished some preparations. <Lee goes to a bar to speak with an anime girl because there is exactly one base sprite for all women> Lee: Yo, it's been a while. You haven't changed a day...

Lee: Makes sense, given nobody knows the number of guys you've swindled out of their cash then bumped off... Woman: .....You know, Lee. Isn't it a bit cruel to call someone out to meet you and then speak about them like that? Lee: Sorry, sorry, I thought I was payin' a compliment to your heinous modus operandi, it's very skillful.

Woman: Sigh~... so what is it? Why'd you call me over so suddenly? I came because I owe you one, but I'm not here on a leisure trip. Lee: I was hopin' to get us squared away. Think ya can handle one bothersome task for me? Woman: Bothersome? Lee: Yeah, I'm trying to get a hold of information on this organization... Stuff like where there hideout is, but since no one's talkin' I'd like to borrow your power. Woman: ....And what do you want me to do? Lee: I want ya to pose as a runaway and sneak into this place as one of the girls gettin' traffic'd. Lee: I've gotten a hold of the sales route they're usin'... Lee: You'll get bought wearin' a tracking device and a hidden mic, and that'll let us infiltrate the hideout. Woman: This is going to be dangerous, isn't it? I know I owe you, but is that enough to risk my life over? Lee: When you're a professional killer, isn't there always a risk of death, that someone will turn the tables on ya? Well, as soon as I know where the place is I'll go and help ya. I'll protect this body you've altered... What d'ya think, will ya help? Woman: ....Ha, I guess so. After this, we're even, right? Lee: Yeah, of course. Honestly I'll feel indebted to ya! <Lee goes back outside> Lee: Right now, you're in the abandoned building in West Shokufukucho. Great, the transmitter just moved into the kitchen...

<radio static> Lee: I can hear her voice through the bug. Sensitivity is good... Lee: Now then... After that woman gets taken to the main hideout, everything will go flawlessly. <footsteps> Voice over the mic: "This is the collection team. The cargo of women has been confirmed. We'll be returning to HQ shortly, via our transport." Lee: They're speakin' korean... "Recover the woman and take her to headquarters".... huh.... Lee: Seems like it's going well. I hope it keeps up.... Voice: "Be careful not to be seen on the way back! Hurry up and return to HQ!!" Lee: They're not aware of the bug or the tracking device... <Lee gets into a car> Lee: And now I just follow em right to their hideout. <He gets out after a drive> Lee: Looks like the transmitter stopped in this building...

<radio static> Voice: "The shipment of women has arrived. Where's the boss at?" Voice: "Right now the boss is inspecting the warehouse..." Voice: "Aah, that place is crammed full of women isn't it... So, will you deliver this woman there too?" Voice: "Nah, no need to do extra work. We'll just put her in the usual room until the boss gets back..." Voice: "Roger on that!" <radio static> Lee: So this is the main hideout then. However, the boss ain't here... Lee: Ah well, I'm bound to hear where he is sooner or later. ...Ah, afterwards though, I did promise to help that woman out. <Lee kicks in the door> Songyoung goon: "Wh-What are you doing!?"

Lee: "My bad, but I was hoping to retrieve a woman I left here?"

Goon: "W-Woman!? Who do you think you are!? Do you have a death wish!?" Lee: "How about you tell me the location of the warehouse you've got the other women in?" Goon: "Wh-What!? Did you plant a bug on that woman!? Shit!! Everyone! Don't let this man leave here alive!!" Goon: "For the sake of protecting our organization, this man must die!! Kill him and sink his body in the harbor!! Let's go!!" <Lee crushes them and two of the three hit the floor> Goon: "That man... so strong..." Lee: "Well, the place where you've got all those women locked up, ya better tell me where it is.." Goon: "Heh... you really think it's going to be that simple?" <gunshots> Lee: Shit... Shot himself right in the head... Lee: The other two drank poison to kill themselves too. What a commitment to secrecy... It's sickening.... Lee: And even still, I just gotta investigate this place and I'll figure out where that warehouse is. Whoops, gotta help that woman first... <back outside> Woman: Seriously... I'm sorry for this again, alright? (Tl note: extremely in the weeds here, I don't really know what she's talking about)

Lee: Heh.... Searching the house would have been rotten without your help. Woman: I'll send a bill for that information later! Lee: And I'll send ya a whole mountain of gold as payment! Woman: Haa~... That's what I like to hear.... Well then, don't you go and die until you pay me, okay? <She leaves> Lee: Hmm, I need to keep in contact with Wong.... Was there a payphone around here? <He goes to a payphone and dials Wong>

Wong: ...Lee? Lee: Yep, just keepin' in touch. I found the group's hideout. Wong: Oh, good work... Several of their members are dead there. They won't be able to use it. Wong: So? Have you brought down their boss? Lee: No. He wasn't at the hideout... Lee: But, I do know where he is. The warehouse with all the imprisoned women. Wong: Heh... Going to sample the wares? Always was a nympho... Wong: Regardless you've done well. You should head over to the warehouse right away.... Lee: ....? Got it. Once I deal with the boss, is it okay if I release the women? Wong: No, all the captive women should be erased. It would be problematic if this income stream got leaked to the police. Lee: What....!? <end of part 2>

Lee: I'm not gonna kill kidnapped women who have done nothin' wrong! Don't be ridiculous!! Lee: Is that the kind of orders the top mafia Kotou is handin' out!? Wong: Calm down, Lee. This was a decision by the organization. Lee: These women were kidnapped by punks with more lust for gold than humanity and are getting preyed upon by the main branch with their wicked intentions. Lee: And after all that shit, I ain't gonna just go in and kill them!! Wong: If the police find out about this source of income from the Songyoung, the crackdown in Sotenbori is going to be very strict... Wong: If that happens, it will be harder for us to operate in a lot of ways... So these women continuing to exist is problematic. Wong: You do understand what will happen if you go against direct orders from the group, don't you? Lee: (Have they really made up their mind on killing these women? Even though these women, they haven't done anything wrong, they're the victims?) Lee: (But if I go against orders, I'll be the one killed... Either the lives of those women, or my own, I have to choose.) Wong: There's high expectations on you for completing this job. Are you going to betray everyone? Lee: (If I try to run, I won't be able to catch the boss. If I want to bring him down... There's no time to hesitate...) Lee: (That's how I have to think. I'm a pro. An assassin. And... up till now, I've devoted myself fully to this path, just as expected.) Lee: ...I understand. I'll take the lives of those women. That is part of my job... Wong: Is that so... Well then, I'll be waiting to hear good news. <hangs up phone and goes back to the Songyoung hideout> Lee: Shit.... That asshole, handin' out such a sickening order. Lee: Fine!! I'll sink the corpse of that boss, all those women, and anyone else into the damn harbor!! Lee: I'm already black hearted, and this time I'll be stained as black as can be... Lee: With this blood on my hands, I'll just get em even dirtier with more and more. <Lee goes to the warehouse> Lee: This is where the main branch's hideout said the warehouse should be, so the boss and the kidnapped women should be inside...

Lee: (Looks like they got two guys keepin' watch... The entrance to this place is well defended... It's gonna be tough takin' out the boss and those women by myself...)

Goon A: Gah!? Goon B: Guhh!? <they hit the floor> Lee: ...There's probably more guys keepin' watch. I'll have to be careful killin' the boss and women... <Lee moves into the warehouse> Lee: Since there's a guard over there, there's no mistake that this is the main group's warehouse...

Lee: The real question is, where is the boss... Hm? That's... <A man walks by with a woman> Lee: Just now, that guy that brought a woman into that room... There's no doubt about it, that's the guy from the photo Wong sent... Lee: When I go into that room... Lee: I'll lose my chance to run. I'll commit myself to seein' this job through and stainin' myself pitch black. <Lee heads in> Young Woman: Stop it... d-don't come any closer... someone!!

Songyoung Boss: Heh, no matter how much you scream, no one is coming to help you... Lee: Mind if I step in and have some fun?

Boss: Who the fuck are you!? ...Are you an assassin sent by Wong?

Boss: He never gets his own hands dirty with jobs like this... Lee: You figured it out quick. No hard feelings, but I'm going to kill you now. (Tl note: same line that the Songyoung assassin used against Lee) Boss: You're a moron. I'm not going to be killed by some wannabe assassin. I'll kill you first!! Boss: Let's go, assassin!! I'm going to send your stinking corpse to Wong!! <fight, Lee wrecks shop> Lee: Say your prayers... <Stabbing noise> Boss: Guah!? <he hits the floor> Lee: That handles my primary goal... Now I have to... Lee: (Now I have to deal with the women... First I should have her guide me to where they're all being imprisoned...) Lee: Were you bein’ held captive in here?

Woman: Yes!! Please, please help!! There's a lot of others that are being held captive here besides me!! Lee: ...Got it. Could ya bring me to the room they're all in? Woman: Yes! This way!! <they go> Woman: Just ahead is the room we were all held in! We had given up all hope on being rescued, everyone will be so happy!!

Lee: Sorry for the trouble, Miss Guide... Lee: (She looks delighted... Never in my wildest dreams did I think I'd be killin' someone lookin' like that...) Lee: (... If my daughter were still alive, she'd be just about the same age as this woman.....) Lee: (This blameless woman that I'm going to sink into the sea... This really is the most depraved job...) Lee: (It would be troublesome if she started screamin' here... Guess I'll take care of her after I handle all the other women...) Lee: ...Ah, that's right! I got a request for ya, miss... Woman: Yes! What do you need? Lee: There's still a lot of thugs around outside... Could ya make sure no one leaves till I confirm it's safe? Lee: Would ya go and close off the entrance and the exit to the warehouse? Woman: Y-Yeah! On it!! <she leaves> Lee: Miss, forgive me... I ain't really here to save ya... <Lee goes into the inner room> Woman A: A-Again... Who's coming in here now?

Woman B: That's not it! The door is still open!! Woman B: R-Run for it! We're finally free from this nightmare!! <the women flee> Lee: (With the door open like that... It's natural that they'd all run off in a panic...) Lee: (All these run away girls, now about to get killed, they really are the unluckiest women in the world.......) Lee: (But if I don't kill them, the organization's gonna kill me... This really is the most abysmal job...) Lee: (I can't save even a single one of them... It's a weight I'll have to bear for the rest of my life, no matter what excuses I try to make.) <knife drawing sound> Lee: Hm? That woman, what is she... Lee: ...Why didn't she run? That's weird... Is she hurt?

Lee: Hey, are you alright....?

Lee: (She's feelin' her way around... This girl, is she blind?) Makoto: A-Are you the one who's helping everyone? Lee: N-No... I'm... <music cuts out> Makoto: Thank you so much... Thank you..... Thank you so very much... thank you....

Lee's daughter: "Hey, dad... are you there...?"

Lee: "Yes, I'm right here!! I'm here!! You're gonna be okay, the doctor's on his way!! Just stay with me!!" Lee's daughter: "....Dad, even with this frail life of mine... thank you so much for raising me..." Lee: "Nonsense! Sayin' stuff like that, raisin' you was only natural!!" Lee's daughter: "Thank you for everything, dad... I love you..." Lee: (Ah... She also, said the same thing......)

Lee: (......) Lee: (No way.... There's no way... I could kill her......)

Lee: (For the time bein' that girl's gone to sleep in that room. Everythin' is still chaotic though...) (Tl note: the word Lee is using for girl here is 娘 which is the same one used for daughter) Lee: (Helpin' that girl means disobeyin' Wong's--no, Kotou's orders...) Lee: (If I'm already goin' against my orders... I might as well save every woman in this damn place!!) Lee: (But what am I gonna do? If I don't kill the women, then Wong's just gonna send another hitman after 'em.) Lee: (If I want these women to live, my only options are gettin' Wong to let them go, or if Kotou was totally annihilated.) Lee: Damn it... There's no way Wong would look the other way on this, so my only option is to wipe out Kotou myself... Lee: Of course, I gotta figure out how to even do that... Lee: I'm gamblin' on a long shot. At least I'm gonna save as many women as I possibly can!! Lee: Alright, then I need to get the women out of here before Wong catches onto what I'm up to... Woman: Kyaaaaaa!! Lee: What!? That voice, did someone get into the warehouse!? <two women are facing a menacing man> Man: ...So you women didn't get killed? I see, I see...

Woman: W-Who are you!? Oh no, are you one of the people that locked us all up in here!? Man: No, I'm not a part of the group that did that. (Tl note: He's speaking very politely, it's kind of unsettling) Man: That being said, I do have a job to do here, so... No hard feelings, but I'm going to kill you now. (Tl note: the third instance of this line, I guess hitmen are very fond of it) Woman 2: You're going to... Why would you kill us!! Man: It's nothing you've done personally... however there are people who would be very inconvenienced if your confinement was ever known about... Man: Well then, let's start off with you... If you're going to hold a grudge, please hold it against your own bad luck... Woman 2: W-Wait... don't kill me.... Lee: Hold it, jack ass!! Lee: Ladies... stay back...

Women: S-Sure... Man: Hmmm... you're the one Wong sent to kill the Songwong boss, aren't you? Lee: What about it? I already took care of that boss a while ago now... Man: Is that so... Thank you for a job well done. ....Though, I have to ask, why are these women still alive? Man: Surely you were ordered to eliminate the women as well? Woman 2: Eh!? Lee: All these women did nothin' wrong... killin' them is completely unnecessary. Man: So you intend to turn against Wong? Lee: .....Yeah, I do. Man: Ah ha ha! I see, I see... You know, Wong-san seemed worried this was the path you'd take. Lee: ...Who are you? Man: I'm the contingency plan Wong-san prepared to handle this if you couldn't bring yourself to kill these women. Man: My orders from Wong-san were to come here and kill any woman left alive. Lee: Hah... Awful conniving of Wong to pull somethin' like this... Too bad that I decided that all these women are gonna live!!

Man: So that's how it is... what a shame. Well, you've made your decision to die here with these women. Man: But that's good! A killer like you will die alongside all these young ladies!! <they fight, Lee tears him up> Man: I'm finished... You're a skilled hitman... Lee: Your arm can probably be saved... Man: But... Wong-san will never forgive you for going against the organization like this... You'll be killed, won't you? Lee: Seems that way... But I'm gonna fight it all the way to the end... Man: I see... In that case, I wish you good luck... <man collapses to the floor> Lee: Hoooo~.... I need to make sure all the ladies are still alright... Lee: I'm gonna wipe all traces of you being enslaved from the records here and in the Songwong hideout... Lee: That should throw em off all your trails... Woman 2: Eh? D-Does that mean... you're helping all of us? Lee: Yeah, that's right... Lee: It'll be best if all of you forget about everythin' that happened here and go back to your old lives... Lee: After that leave everythin' else to this geezer!! Woman 2: Th-Thank you so much!! Woman 1: But, are you going to be alright? That person said that you would be killed too... Lee: The fate of a killer who goes against his organization is set in stone. But, I don't intend to be easy to kill... Lee: If it means savin' all of you, payin' with the life of a killer like me is a hell of a bargain, right? Woman 1: But that's... isn't there something you can do? You could run away with us... Lee: I've got to go smash up my employer... I got a lotta obligations in front of me... Lee: If I run away, other people are gonna end up payin' for it. Woman 1: But... Lee: It's fine... Don't you go worryin' about me none. Lee: Though, sorry to keep askin' things of ya miss, but could I ask one more favor of ya? Woman 1: What is it? I'll do whatever I can!! Lee: In the room ya were locked up in, there's a lady that can't see waitin' there... Lee: As much as ya can, could ya take care of that kid and keep her out of trouble? Woman 1: I-I should be okay... I'll do as much as I'm able-- Lee: Yeah!! Seriously, I'm grateful! Lee: I know it's a lot to ask of ya miss, sorry. Woman 1: No, this doesn't even begin to pay back how much you've helped us... Lee: Alright, you stay healthy miss... <Lee leaves> Woman 1: Ah!? That's right, there's a mafia called "Kotou", please stay safe from them!! Lee: W-Wait a minute!! Miss, what did you say just now!? Woman 1: Umm... To please watch out for a mafia called "Kotou"... Lee: You said "Kotou"... miss, where did you hear that name!? (Tl note: I had been reading it wildly wrong as “Toragashira” until now and had to go back and correct every instance of it. When she says it it’s in katakana, but Lee had been saying it in kanji, so I was just guessing on pronunciation) Woman 1: Earlier, while we were still imprisoned, I heard it from one of the people here... Woman 1: "My group "Kotou" is a Chinese mafia. You can rely on us for backup if you encounter any trouble" is what they said... Lee: H-Hold on... But wouldn't that mean... Kotou and the Songyoung are workin' together...!? Lee: What the hell, what the hell is goin' on....!?

Lee: You're sure they said "Kotou"?

Woman 1: Y-Yeah... That's definitely what they said. Lee: Seriously.... hm? Wait... Thinkin' back on it... Wong did say somethin' strange... Lee: (Back when I first found out the boss was in the warehouse....) Lee: ("Heh... Planning on sampling the wares? ...Always was a nympo...") (Tl note: I had to go back and edit the earlier instance of this to be more vague like this, I confused on who it was directed at but I was looking at it as between Lee or Wong and couldn't see how it would make sense to be self directed since Wong wasn't going to the warehouse. Lee seemed confused by it too, so the vagueness seems intentional, but I’m very glad it wasn’t actually directed at Lee like I initially thought) Lee: (It's like he knew the Songyoung Boss before this...) Lee: If that's true, then that means the same goes for the Songyoung boss! Lee: (In that room where I took him out, he said to me "He never gets his own hands dirty with jobs like this") Lee: (So that means he also knew Wong before all of this...) Lee: It's possible... but what does it all mean? Woman 1: ...Um, is there something I can help with? Lee: Aah! Thank to you miss, I might have figured out a way to avoid dyin'. Woman 1: Really!? Lee: I do have one job to take care of first though. Lee: When ya get out of here and forget all this to get back to your life... I want ya to forget me too... okay? Lee: Oh, and avoid dealin with strange men, okay? Woman 1: Yes sir! Thank you again!! <she leaves> Lee: If I believe her story, then the Songyoung and Wong are connected... Lee: If that's the case, there might be evidence of that here and in the Songyoung hideout... Lee: If I can find it, I might be able to use that to keep Wong silent on this whole thing. Lee: First things first, better start searchin' the warehouse... Lee: Haa~...... I can't find anythin'.... Well, findin' somethin' like that was never going to be easy. Lee: Next is the room where all the women were confined...

<rustling noise> Lee: Hm? Hold on... this is it!! <screen fades to black> Wong: Lee... You just keep betraying my faith in you...

Lee: Ha, you're soundin' awful full of yourself... Wong. Lee: You'd probably tell me I was wipin' my own ass wrong... Lee: Aren't you betrayin' our organization too? I don't think you're in any position to talk about my betrayal. Wong: Lee, you piece of shit...... Lee: Heh... Of course, since you and the Songyoung are in bed together... Lee: Didn’t you let them make money trafficking these women so you could have a little slush fund? Lee: It's all written in this set of orders ya fax'd em anyways... Wong: Are you an idiot!? Get rid of that like you were ordered to!!

Lee: You stopped trustin' the Songyoung boss, right? Lee: Nothin' will poison a relationship faster than cash, it's a common story in this line of work. Lee: Seems like for the most part the Songyoung hated the tight leash you had them on and decided to betray you and be more bold about things, yeah? Lee: Then, when the disappearance of women started to become public knowledge, it lit a fire under your ass to hurry up and stamp out this whole operation... Wong: ........... Lee: That's why ya sent me to find the Songyoung hideout that had moved and you had lost contact with... Lee: With myself on the job, it'd be easy for ya to nonchalantly show up and snag the evidence of your betrayal... Lee: And if I failed you had prepared a contingency to get the job done... then ya'd be able to muzzle the aforementioned organization. Have I got that right? Wong: ........... Lee: Hah... Seems like that's a bulls-eye... Lee: If ya don't want this fax bein' sent off to Kotou, I got a condition for ya to accept... Well, Wong? Wong: ....Heh, pffhahaha... you really are a dumb fuck... Lee: What!? The hell's so funny!! Wong: If you had turned over that evidence right away, you might have been fine... Wong: But you're hopelessly stupid if you think you can negotiate with me face to face and I won't just kill you here and now. Wong: If I erase you and the evidence right here, I won't get caught for my betrayal!! Lee: Hmm... So you... are turnin' down my condition? Wong: Of course I am!! I'm going to kill you!! That's why I brought my best men with me!! Wong: Lee, my blood ran cold when you told me you had found evidence of my betrayal... Wong: So I must thank you for being such a dumbass!! Wong: Rest assured, Lee! After I'm done killing you, all those women you saved will be killed too!! Wong: Go to hell alongside the women you risked your life to protect!! Let's do it!! Your certain death!! <they fight, Lee crushes them> Wong: Stupid... even my best men...?

Lee: Heh, bad luck for you Wong. I've been survived more lethal battles than you can count... Lee: Well, that's all been with your help...

Lee: So, are ya ready? This is the endin' you asked for..... Lee: .........You know, it didn't have to end like this if you had just put up with my one demand. Wong: W-Wait!! I'll do it!! Your life, those women's lives, I'll look past it all!! So please... Lee: ....What you're sayin', you really mean it? Wong: Yes! Of course!! I'll talk to the organization myself about the women...

Lee: ......I've owed ya a lot. So if ya say that--

Wong: You truly are the stupidest mother fucker on earth!! <gun cocks>

Lee: Guh! Wong, you bastard!? <Stabbing sound> Wong: Guah--... Leeee.... you.... fucker!!

Lee: Idiot... Why'd ya make me do that, Wong.... <Some days later, Kotou confirmed that Wong has gone rogue.> <Lee's killing of Wong was considered a "purge" and his actions were left unquestioned.>

<A few weeks later> <Sotenbori's Hogushi Kaikan> Customer: Ah, just what I'd expect from the chief! Everything feels great!!

Lee: Hey, Makoto! Could ya grab my needles for me? Makoto: Eh? N-Needles...? Those are, ummm.... S-Sorry, I don't know... Lee: Ah, that's my bad, don't worry. Here, I'll show ya... Makoto: S-Sorry, chief.....

Lee: ....Wanna grab my hand? Makoto: Y-Yeah.... Lee: The needles we use for acupuncture are... right here. For you that'll be about 5 steps past the entrance to the treatment room. Makoto: Got it... S-Sorry... Lee: Hey, I already said it was my bad, don't worry... Lee: Some day you're gonna be able to see again. Until then, it's perfectly fine to get used to things slowly. Lee: We'll start at a slow pace for you... Then when you can do that, we can step it up. Makoto: Yes sir. Customer: The chief sure has changed since Makoto-chan showed up, huh? It seems like he's really happy now... Lee: Sh-Shut it, smart ass!! You say more dumb shit like that and I'll run your tongue through with my needle!! Customer: A-Ahhh!? Please forgive me!!

Customer: Nonetheless... Makoto-chan's been here for a few weeks now. Customer: I was really surprised at first! How'd a cute girl like Makoto end up as your apprentice... Customer: I thought the chief had gone and kidnapped you. Lee: Hey! Don't go startin' nasty rumors like that!! Lee: Geez... You know, I think I won't do the acupuncture! You're not stiff enough to need any hot oil neither... Lee: But it's fiiine, you can scram!! Ain't like you'd appreciate the pain of this needle anyhow... Customer: Ahaha... well then, I better get out of here before the chief starts stabbing. Customer: See ya, Makoto-chan. Be safe... and I hope your vision comes back quickly. Makoto: ...Y-Yeah....... Customer: See ya chief, till next time! <he leaves> Makoto: Lee-san, I'm sorry.... I don't know how to do anything... even though you've allowed me to be your live-in apprentice...... Lee: It's all good, Makoto. Don't fret. As long as ya don't panic and take things slowly you'll have no trouble doin' all sorts of stuff... Makoto: .........Yeah. Lee: Makoto, I'm gonna smoke for a minute out back..... Makoto: Ah, sure... Have a good day, Lee-san. <he leaves> Lee: "Have a good day" huh....

Lee: That look she gave me... I'm going to protect that to the bitter end.... Lee: To protect that girl... I'd do anything... Anything at all....

<epilogue end> Bonus time: first of all OOFA DOOFA this was huge! and intense! and very difficult to translate god damn all this politicking and kansai-ben. In good(?) news, I learned a bunch of fun new vocab like abduction, kidnapping, human trafficking, betrayal, etc. You know, the essential stuff. Also it’s extremely unclear if the femme fatale that Lee leveraged here is the same one he plans to kill to fake Makoto’s death in Y0, or if he just knows multiple women that swindle money out of men and kill them. Here’s an actual bonus: Lee’s thoughts on things from the board game! Let’s see if tumblr explodes from all these images or not.

Sotenbori Our city. It's got good and bad and everythin' else all mixed together. Of course, that's why they call it the city that can't be satisfied.

Acupuncture Needle The acupuncture needle I use. Custom made, but ordinary needles. By using this, it'll start feeling good instantly.

Smokes An item vital to any acupuncturist. If you gently take a drag, the customer's meridians will appear on their back. Don't believe me?

Iwao Bridge A lot of young guys here trying to be pick up artists. A little while ago, one of my customers was an idiot who had jumped into the river after the local baseball team won the championship

Cabaret Grand This place has become the topic of conversation lately. I don't really go to those kinds of places, but, well, I kind of want to head over and take a peek

The Man with the Bat Tattoo I don't have any connection to him, I don't even know his face or his name, but if I ever meet him... I'm really going to enjoy it

Hogushi Kaikan My massage shop in Sotenbori. All ages of men and women, mafia and civilians, come here to get their muscles relaxed. (Tl note: Hogushi means to relax/loosen)

Rumor of Shakedown A shakedown? That ain't gonna happen. Still, some idiot wanting to try to shake me down is just the kind of thing that happens in Sotenbori

Mahjong Parlor I go to the mahjong parlor often. There's a lot of chinese people there. Though, japanese people go there too sometimes. Either way, by the time I go home I'm flat broke.

One Eyed Fella I've started seein' this guy around Sotenbori recently. I got no clue as to why he's here, but he's got the eye of a beaten stray dog.

I didn’t intentionally leave the Majima one for last, his was just the last one I found! I didn’t think there’d even be one, since this takes place a year before they even met, but I’m really glad there is. Now he’s just a fun bonus for anyone who made it all the way to the end. I kind of hoped the assassin that Lee sensed right in front of the Grand was just going to be Majima walking by or something.

Lee’s also got a character story that I’ll translate once I get his bond up, so look forward to even more Lee content!

#rggo #Lee Wen Hai #yakuza #yakuza 0 #Ryu ga Gotoku #ryu ga gotoku online #makoto makimura

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