#like !! some of this is just so unnecessary. like respectfully you haven’t even acted like you like me the last few months | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

ssa-sapphic-inactive · 4 years

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would love any jealous emily fics :)

A/N: To the person who requested this, I hope it’s to your liking :)

gif: @itwouldbecarolinathousandcities

-ˋˏ Birthday Girl ˎˊ-

pairing: emily prentiss x reader

summary: emily gets jealous when the reader spends time with JJ, and doesn’t show her any attention on her birthday

word count: 1.4 k

warnings: none

Today, was Emily’s birthday.

To you, and the rest of the team, it was obviously a day to celebrate. But to Emily, it was just another normal day. She never really made a big deal about annually celebrating the day that she was born, and you were certainly confused as to why. Yes, Emily always loved a good party once in awhile—especially when alcohol was present after a long day at work—however, when it came to birthdays, she just never felt the need to ever celebrate them. There wasn’t any deep reasoning as to why she didn’t. She just, well...didn’t. But Emily wasn’t going to lie, it was nice being acknowledged, she just thought that having parties for them was a bit unnecessary.

But the thing is, ever since you had found out about this party-pooper attitude of hers that happened every 12th of October, you made it a personal goal to get the woman to realize just how special her birthday really was. I mean, it was a full 24 hours of celebrating her life. How could it not be special? And how could she not expect you to throw her a party when she had done the exact same thing for you last year when you first started dating?!

You may have respectfully fulfilled her wishes the last time, when she kindly asked you to not do anything big or major for her birthday. However, this year, you were not going to take ‘no’ for an answer. You had a weird feeling that Emily really did enjoy her birthdays, but she just wanted to act nonchalant about it. So, the first thing you did when you woke up, was grab your phone and send a message to the team’s group chat.

Well, the one that you had secretly created that day, purposely leaving your girlfriend out of it.

_________________________

Emily woke up in a foul mood, which really wasn’t a surprise considering why.

You see, last year on her birthday you had woke her up by leaving kisses on her face for every year that she had been alive. It was quite a few, yet you didn’t mind. Especially, considering the fact that she woke up midway through your counting and kissed you back until you had finished. It was definitely cheesy, but she did the same to you on your birthday, because it was sort of you guy’s’ thing.

So, when Emily didn’t wake up to her rightful amount of over 30 sweet kisses from you, she was definitely upset. But what made matters worse, was the fact that you had already left for work.

Without her...

Normally, you both would ride together, but she had walked into the kitchen and found a note that you had left. JJ had picked you up early so that you both could grab breakfast at a cafe before work, and that’s exactly what you had explained in the note that you left on the counter. What really surprised Emily though, was the fact that you didn’t once tell her that you loved her in the note, nor did you say good morning or even wish her a happy birthday. (Which you did on purpose.) But being the tough woman that she was, Emily just shook away her worries and got ready for work.

When she arrived at the BAU, everyone wished her a happy birthday except for you and JJ, who were too busy laughing and giggling amongst yourselves. You didn’t even give her the time of day. The team didn’t have a case that day, so you all just made yourselves busy with paperwork. However, you asked JJ if you could sit at her desk and do the work together, instead of sitting across from Emily like you normally would.

Emily instantly got hurt by this, and for the next few hours, she watched you and JJ whisper and giggle every now and then which made her grow jealous. The last straw was when it was finally time to head home and you had asked JJ if she wanted to grab dinner with you.

Emily immediately frowned.

“Y/N, don’t you want to eat somewhere with me?” She asked you, hopefully. “I mean, it’s my birthday after all. And we haven’t even talked to each other once today.”

“Babe, I am so sorry!” You apologized. “I completely forgot it was your birthday today.” You could see the hurt in Emily’s eyes, which made you feel bad that you were lying, but she quickly waved you off.

“It’s fine. Whatever.”

The jealousy suddenly boiled inside of her once she saw you grab JJ’s hand. “How about JJ and I grab some dinner, and you can go eat wherever you like. Then we can talk when I get home?”

Emily looked at you with a frown. “Seriously?” She questioned you both.

“C’mon, Em. Y/N and I barely get to hang out now that Will’s working different hours.”

Emily rolled her eyes and shoved her way between you both as she headed towards the elevator. “Forget it. You two lovebirds have fun. I’ll just celebrate my birthday by myself.” She mumbled, as the elevator doors closed.

When Emily left the parking lot, you and JJ quickly made your way over to Rossi’s mansion and got everything set up for her surprise party. It was definitely hard to avoid your girlfriend for the whole entire day. Especially, when she was wearing that special black turtleneck of hers that hugged her torso in all the right ways. It was your favorite and you knew that she had worn it just for you, so it made the task of paying no attention to her that much harder. You were so close to just giving up the act and pushing her into the empty office down the hall from the conference room, where you would then—

“—Y/N, everything’s ready.” JJ told you, pulling you away from your thoughts. “Text Emily and say that you ended up at Rossi’s and had too much to drink so she needs to come and pick you up.”

You nodded and did just that, and even though Emily was mad at you, she replied within an instant, because she cared about your safety more than anything else.

“She’s here!” Penelope gasped with excitement, stepping away from the window that she was in charge of looking out of.

You and the rest of the team turned out the lights and hid, just as Emily walked through the door with an irritated expression on her face.

“SURPRISE!” Everyone shouted in unison, while jumping out from their hiding places.

Emily screamed in fear and reached for her gun on instinct, but before she could touch it, you grabbed her hands.

“Happy birthday, my love!” You smiled. “I’m sorry I was mean and neglected you all day. But it was a part of the plan!”

Emily stood in shock as she gawked at all of the balloons and streamers that decorated Rossi’s living room. “You did all of this for me?” She asked you, as tears welled up in her beautiful brown eyes.

“Of course. I had a lot of help from JJ which is why we were so clingy today. We went out to breakfast to discuss the plans, and then every time you heard us giggling at work it was because we were so excited and we knew that you had absolutely no idea what we were planning. Do you like it?” You asked, nervously. “I know you don’t like having birthday parties but I just wanted to do something special for you because—“

She quickly cut you off from your ranting, by pulling you in for a kiss. “I love it, baby.” She grinned. “And I love you. Thank you so much for getting this together.”

“I love you too.” You hugged her. And as you did so, you leaned in closer to her ear. “And by the way,” You whispered, seductively. “I will be giving you your present later on when we’re at home.”

“Oh, really?” She chuckled, biting her lip at the mere thought.

“Mhm.” You nodded. “And since I didn’t give you your birthday kisses this morning, I plan to give them all to you tonight.” You assured her. “Every. Single. One.”

“I can’t wait.” She kissed you one more time while grinning widely. “I’ve been waiting all day...”

#emily prentiss x fem!reader #emily prentiss x reader #emily prentiss #emilyprentissoutfits #criminal minds x reader #criminal minds lgbt #criminal minds #bau #emily prentiss imagine #emily prentiss x y/n

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sun-undone · 3 years

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You asked for Druck opinion questions - so here goes one: What are your 3 favourite Druck seasons and the best things about each one? Plus, one thing in each you'd like to change/improve?

ooooooh thank you for this!

my top 3 druck seasons are hands-down 3, 5, and 6, in that order

i’m gonna talk a lot from memory and not really looking back at any notes that i have for these seasons so i apologize in advance if i forget about some things

let’s start with the best things from each of those seasons first

season 3: it’s really really hard to choose just one thing as being the best from this season, cause there’s just so much good in it. but i think i’d have to say that the thing that really makes druck season 3 stand out so so so much to me is how the writers really said “okay we see isak and even, we see them, we appreciate them, and we’re going to respectfully do our own thing thank you very much”. they completely switched up their isak and even characters, not just by making david trans instead of bipolar, but by changing their entire personalities and dynamic together. it’s so DIFFERENT and fresh and hits me in a personal way that i have to say has been even more poignant than how isak and even hit me when i first got into skam all those years ago. matteo and david really just feel like they are characters that have been specially made with my personal tastes in mind, and i KNOW that i’m not even close to being the only one who sees so much of myself reflected in parts of both of their personalities. i love when remakes switch things up, especially with the beloved isak season, and druck really went there with no fear. they made that shit their own, and the ways in which they did so just happen to pluck at my heartstrings so perfectly.

season 5: this season is just so well-crafted, i think a lot of people would agree in saying that it’s druck’s most well-written season. you can really tell that a ton of work went into the overall story arc, properly addressing very touchy subjects like alcoholism and mental illness, introducing all of these new characters, just EVERYTHING. and what a huge fucking task that is, putting out a new season almost completely from scratch right after pissing off all of your fans. but they fucking delivered. there’s so much good in this season, too, so it’s tough to pick just one element to be the very best. but honestly, i think i’ve gotta say mina’s acting??? i was WORRIED about what the acting would be like in the new gen because i was so impressed by the old gen actors and their ability to really make each of their characters so distinct and personable. so going into the new gen, my expectations were already low for a lot of reasons, and i was kind of expecting to just not be as convinced by the actors and therefore not be able to fall in love with most, if any, of the characters. AND BOY WAS I WRONG. i do think a few of the actors were a bit rocky at first, which was also the case with the old gen so i’m not bothered by that at all, but damn they really stepped it up and blew me away once they all found their footing and chemistry with one another, especially mina. i think she’s the second best actor in all of druck (behind michi and maybe tied with or just above anselm), which is insane considering how young she is. she absolutely killed everything she was given and completely drew me into this season that i was fully expecting to not be able to connect to. i really do think that if someone else had played nora, season 5 and the new gen in general would’ve had a much rockier start. she led us into this new generation of characters with such warmth and natural, charismatic talent, and she deserves so so so much credit for that. she had great material, yes, but she really put in the fucking work.

season 6: okay so i still haven’t rewatched season 6 cause i’ve been a tad preoccupied with a different obsession at the moment, BUT i still just know that this season is fantastic and groundbreaking by giving us a biracial couple with no white person in it, a black lesbian main with a learning disability, and tackling performative activism and racism in a really grounded, realistic way. other remakes could never. just like in other druck seasons, it is incredibly obvious that the team worked their asses off to make this season, especially in light of all the covid restrictions. i'm hesitant to name the best thing about this season because i haven’t rewatched it, so i don’t wanna miss something. i WILL say that the soundtrack for this season is fucking phenomenal and has introduced me to so many new artists, particularly artists of color, which i appreciate so much. druck’s soundtracks are always amazing imo, but fatou’s just has something extra to it that i can’t quite put my finger on. maybe it’s just simply most aligned with my own personal tastes, i really don’t know, but it’s fucking brilliant. i also do have to say that i really appreciate how fleshed out kieu my is as a full character, not just as a love interest. she definitely has an advantage from being introduced in the previous season, but the writers could’ve easily made her stagnant once she and fatou started getting together. but NO, they made her even MORE interesting. she really got a full arc along with fatou, and i just love her so fucking much. once i rewatch, maybe i’ll make another post with a more complete answer, but that’s what i’ve got just from my memories of watching the season live.

now onto the thing i would change/improve for each season (i’ll try to keep this more brief because jesus christ why do i talk so much)

season 3: it’s obvious, isn’t it? david’s outing was done poorly, the execution of episode 8 in general was weird and out of place, it’s the only time that i really felt like the show was relying on shock value and drama (maybe even trauma porn) instead of good writing and conflict. there was a way to teach the audience about trans issues and experiences without subjecting david to that pain and also without having him just be absent for so much of the season. in conclusion, the season needed more david but never at his expense.

season 5: i really think that this season is druck’s absolute best in terms of writing and pacing, so it’s hard to find something that i was disappointed by (i would put this season above season 3 if i wasn't so damn emotionally attached to 3). i’m really racking my brains trying to think of something, anything, that bothered me, no matter how small it was. the only thing i can think of is that i remember a few music moments that felt forced or badly edited to me, but that’s literally all that’s coming to mind right now.

season 6: this season definitely wasn’t as well-paced as season 5, but there’s still not many glaring narrative issues that i can remember. there were a few smaller things throughout the season, but nothing too major. the one that i would most like to change is the stupid tinder/”cheating but not really” thing at the end of episode 8 (i think that’s the right episode number). it was just unnecessary and then completely forgotten about by the writers and characters, which shows how unnecessary it really was.

ask me some opinions about druck, wir kinder vom bahnhof zoo, or really anything!

#druck

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earthingoddity · 4 years

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so you know how y’all are constantly like: “what’s there to like about season five???”. i decided to make a list *-*

1. the discussion of disability in a teenage show. how many teenage shows can you name featuring disabled characters? and how many of those feature a character becoming disabled in the course of the show and having to adapt to that? i was very surprised when i realized this was the route they were going to take this season and i think it was very well done.

so let’s break that down:

1.1 they actually made sure to talk about other disabilities. i know some people will say they were just doing the bare minimum, but i disagree. that is such a complex theme, they could’ve easily said representing other disabilities respectfully would be a lot of work for only ten episodes, but they did their best with the limited amount of time they had.

1.2 the representation of the deaf community wasn’t limited to their disability. it actually pisses me off hearing people say “wow, for a while there, i even forgot arthur was deaf!” as if he *has* to let you know everytime he’s on screen. disabled people are more than their disabilities, thank you very much.

1.3 overall, it was a positive representation. they could’ve spent so much time going through all the things that would be too hard for arthur, but they actually had an entire episode where arthur was completely deaf - he took his hearing aids off - and it was a very happy and positive episode. he was having fun, clubbing, dancing, laughing with others, and i think we took a lot of that for granted in the midst of everything that was going on, but that was a really positive representation that didn’t limit itself to stereotypes around deaf/disabled people. i actually expected that they’d drag a lot longer the feeling of loneliness and discomfort of the first couple of episodes, but they quickly changed that rhythm, so that instead of focusing on what arthur was “losing”, they focused on everything that arthur was gaining - new friends, a new love interest and a new way to see the world. also, in relation to the whole implants thing, they delivered very in depth opposite perspectives on the matter and never felt like they were shaming one group or the other.

2. SyMbOLisM! skam france is very good at it and they nailed this aspect in season three. but there was a lot of it in season five as well. like the 7am clips in episode 2, that were used to show the lack of progression in arthur’s hearing and his growing frustration and how those clips were incredibly dark, to match his mood. episode 7 also had such an interesting meaning. with arthur taking the chance to explore the world without his hearing aids, he got to explore a whole *new* world, and not a lacking one, which ties very well with what i just said about being a positive rep, but also shows that the entire episode wasn’t about arthur finding a new layer of himself, but rather him just uncovering one that was already there.

3. use of music/sound effects. it can be hard to represent deafness in a media like a tv show, but skam france did it so well. the use of music is always very conscious in this remake; while others really go hard in the soundtrack, skam france hardly ever has background music, unless it means something. another small thing but that i loved was whenever arthur was taking off/putting on his hearing aids, if he was to put the left one first for example, the sound on the left side of your headphone would start first. it was such a small thing but made the experience a lot more immersive imo, as well as the use of muffled sounds, pitching, etc.

4. Arthur. i am always surprised whenever i hear people say that they liked arthur better when they were not in his pov. i completely disagree, but then again, i feel like this fandom has very unhealthy expectations on their mains, as if they haven’t watched already 4 seasons of the main making mistakes over and over again, lol. i loved getting to know more of arthur - he’s loyal AF and protective of the people he loves. he struggles in letting people in, though, and never wants to be a burden or worry others. he’s perceptive and quick to notice when his friends need help. he is also short-tempered and when he gets mad, it is explosive, but he doesn’t hold grudges for long. he was a much more complexed character than i imagined and he totally made this season for me.

5. le gang. this boysquad is the best, sorry. they’ve always been the funniest and warmest, but it was really nice how s5 explored all the sides of that relationship, including the not so pretty ones. they were the relationship i wanted the most angst from, and i am so happy i got it. i loved seeing how chaotic, but supportive they were of arthur though and they brought so many laughs this season.

5.1 the lack of toxic masculinity. i think this ties well with arthur, because it is amazing to me that even though we were following a straight white boy as a main this season, we had no moments of unhealthy masculine competition; le gang could actually talk about other things rather than just porn stars and jerking off (other boysquads Wish!); and arthur would literally flirt with anyone without a care in the world, because he’s certain of his sexuality like that. it was *refreshing* for once not to be confronted with these tropes that have become so common in teenage shows.

7. alexia. i have to talk about alexia separately here, because that’s the most we’ve ever seen from a chris character (not counting eskam cris, ofc), and i loved her so much. she wants to be a videogame designer and she’s creative and adorable. she always knew how to make arthur laugh, but also knew when he needed words of affirmation and she was never shy in telling him how much she loved him. it was also amazing seeing her open up about some of her insecurities, and that her confidence is something she had to work on as well. she was such a great friend & girlfriend and just ugh the best.

7.1 the female characters are badass and unapologetic. i am aware that the love triangle was unnecessary and a mess. but i am not mad about the way both characters were represented, because they were both great characters. i liked alexia more simply because i was already attached to her from previous seasons, but noée was badass as well and teaches arthur so much, and not only about her experience as a deaf person, but about life/love in general.

8. arthur’s relationship with his mom. we LOVE and STAN parents in the skamverse. arthur and his mom had the best relationship ever; i loved how they truly became a team by the end of the season. but since the moment she showed up, it meant so much that arthur could have at least one supportive and loving parent, no matter how much he screwed up or felt lost. his mom was really trying her best and i adored her.

9. *actual* adult advice. i understand why all the adults in the skamverse are a bit cringey and weird, but i feel like this results in these characters relying on each other’s poor advice throughout an entire season before they realize what they actually should do. and the talk with the school’s nurse and his doctor by the end of the season was meaningful AF and i wish something the remakes would explore more often, because it could resolve so many of their issues just talking to someone who knows better, lol.

10. the relationships with the girlsquad. i know this is actually very intentional of skam france - to build a specific kind of dynamic between the main and all the side characters. we saw that in season 3, and i think it’s a lot more evident here, but it still made a lot of sense and warmed my heart so much. arthur and imane were the purest - she was the first one to notice that something was wrong with him and also reached out to give him advice on how medical school could still be a possibility even with his disability when she absolutely didn’t have to, but she’s just a sweetheart like that. arthur and daphné had a lot more tension, which is understandable, because both are protective of their own best friends (bas and alexia) and would defend them to the ends of the earth. i think they honestly have a lot more in common than they think. but my favorite dynamic was arthur and emma. i totally did not expect for emma to have such a part in this season, but every single one of their interactions was Gold. emma could see a lot of herself in arthur and i think that’s why she was so quick to notice that he wasn’t interested in becoming a surgeon at all. that scene when she says it would’ve been nice to have arthur as a brother was the sweetest thing Ever.

11. i’ll finish with the acting. y’all, the guy who plays arthur literally CARRIED this season and i hope his back is doing fine. he was So powerful - he made me cry, and laugh, and feel frustrated. he delivered every single emotion perfectly. i also think that the fact these actors are friends irl (i assume? lol but i think i’ve seen them in each other’s personal IG stories) really helps their chemistry on camera. le gang feels like a group of brothers/best friends and they were always so natural and effortless in their interactions. the new actors also Rocked and delivered so much emotion even if they were using a completely different language and it was awesome.

(also, this just literally applies to *me*, a lucas lallemant HOE, but it was so nice seeing lucas up close from a different perspective. the fact we could still see so many layers of him: his emotional self, his bratty self, his supportive self, even a touch on his abandonment issues and everything made me so happy. i think sometimes i forget the lucas character was real and not something i made up because he feels too good to be true, and it was really interesting seeing him from arthur’s POV).

i’m not here defending the mistakes they made in s5, i don’t think it’s a perfect season either, but tbh i have yet to find what i consider to be a perfect season in the skamverse, so here’s just some things i liked about this season that i feel like y’all should take into consideration as well. thx

#skam france #i am aware that no one cares bc judging is easier than listening #but i had this on my drafts for weeks now so i was like hm might as well post it #:)

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tsipasce · 4 years

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Same Difference, ch.06

A/N: stuffed fluff into this one like I had a shopping spree at Build-A-Bear. Well, maybe not that bad, but Overhaul was definitely a bit softer than usual if not a bit ooc. Just glad these two idiots are finally progressing... Let me know what y'all think~

Chapters: 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05

AO3 | Fanfic

They agreed on a schedule of meeting on Mondays, Wednesday, and Fridays for the next 6-12 months, assuming there were not technical hick-ups to prolong the process. As annoyed and nervous as she was about having to work with him, she also couldn’t deny the sheer excitement. She’d missed the feeling of diving headlong into research, sequestering herself in a lab full of possibilities, pouring over data. She considered having to put up with her lab partner a just payment for this gift from the universe. While daydreaming about her scientific adventure, she toyed with the keychain on her phone, “One favor”… she contemplated.

A knock came at her door, bringing her back to reality. “Um yes, come in.”

“You alright in here? I was knocking for a couple minutes there.” Dr. Tanaka said from the now open doorway, concern in his features.

“Yeah, I’m great, just zoned out for a little bit. What can I do for you?”

“I think it’s more of what I can do for you…” he said sighing, closing the door behind him. “How was your coffee run last Friday?”

She cautioned a glance at him, sliding her burner phone to the side, folding her hands on her desk. “It was fine, thanks for the recommendation.”

“Anything interesting happen?”

“Nope.”

“I see.” They stared at each other a beat, before he realized he’d have to confront this head on. “You know, something strange happened at a construction site nearby after you left. No one knows what happened, but suddenly there were a bunch of nuts where there used to be a giant metal beam. Know anything about that?”

“…”

“Nanami.”

“………”

“What happened.”

“Ok, ok so I did something really dumb—surprise, surprise! Everyone gets to mess up once in a blue moon, don’t they?”

“Knew it. “He said, rubbing the bridge of his nose, “And sure, they do, but they don’t usually happen to mess up on yakuza turf.” Tanaka rebutted. He was one of the only people who knew the extent of her quirk. For a while, they worked together with him thinking all her quirk could do was clear clots. That is until she’d reassembled a patient whose legs had been shattered beyond repair after being run over by a car. There was no way she could lie about it after he’d witnessed it firsthand, but after a long talk, he understood why it was important to keep her secret.

“How was I supposed to know? I was just minding my business and I saw a guy about to get crushed. I couldn’t just ignore it. “

He sighed knowing he would have wanted her to do the same for him if he was in a bind. “Just... be more mindful, ok? No one knows that there was anyone there according to my friends at the police department, and for some reason they also haven’t heard any stirring from the yakuza in that area. I don’t know what or if you’ve gotten yourself into anything, but just be careful.”

Nanami chewed the inside of her mouth, and nodded her head, knowing he’d probably faint if he knew the extent of what transpired afterwards. “Of course,” she showed a small smile, “I appreciate you looking out for me. I’ll try my best not to let it be in vain. We good?”

He looked at her a beat longer before responding, knowing there was more to the story, but also wanting to respect his friend, “We’re good.” He replied, smiling reluctantly as he turned to leave, softly closing the door behind him.

She let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding, her daydream now over.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

It felt like she blinked, and it was Wednesday evening. She parked in the same spot as the first time and as she got out, her burner phone vibrated.

“Hello?”

“That spot is too obvious. Park here.” He said curtly, texting her an alternate location.

She looked around but didn’t see any cameras, How does he know where I am?

“Well, thanks for the heads up. I wasn’t aware, being new to doing shady stuff and all.”

“Just hurry.” He breathed, already sounding annoyed, and the line clicking immediately after.

Rude. She rolled her eyes and parked at the location he’d sent. After walking a few minutes, she arrived at the entrance, Kurono escorting her in. They made their way to the underground labyrinth and headed in the direction of the lab. Before opening the door, Kurono broke the silence, “Good luck.” And with that he was gone.

Walking over, she could see Overhaul’s figure at the workbenches by the whiteboard, the clicking of her boots echoing through the room until she was standing a safe distance from him.

“Good evening, Dr. Watanabe.” He greeted respectfully as though he hadn’t just hung up in her face minutes ago.

“Good evening. You’re so much more polite in person than on the phone.” Was the comment petty and unnecessary? Sure. Did she regret saying it? Absolutely not.

“Did you come to work with me or bicker?”

“I can do both,” she responded innocently. His eye twitched in irritation, just as he was about to respond, she finished,” but right now I’d like to work with you. Shall we?”

He sighed, “Let’s. First, we need to begin taking blood samples.” He motioned to a cart that had already been prepared with sterile syringes and tubes.

“Agreed. I’ll take yours first.”

He sat down, taking off his jacket and neatly rolling up his sleeve. She grabbed some fresh gloves and pulled up a chair and the cart, sitting next to him. Not wanting to trigger his mysophobia, she reconfirmed it was ok to touch him, “May I?” He cautioned her a glance before offering his forearm, before quickly looking away. “Just get it over with.”

Wait, is he scared of needles?

Refocusing she gently took his arm and fastened the tourniquet from the cart securely around the base of his bicep. As she was sterilizing the area, she noticed it was hard to keep her hand steady and looked down to see his knee bouncing nervously. He really is afraid of needles… Nanami thought incredulously. It was interesting to see someone so fearless get worked up over something so small, but she guessed there was probably a good reason for it. Either way, it would be impossible to get a sample if he didn’t sit still. He might kill her for asking this, but it was the only way.

“Hey,” she began quietly, Overhaul still fixing his eyes on a wall that was suddenly very interesting, “could you do me a favor?”

“Already acting like you’ve won before the experiment even begins. Aren’t you presumptuous?” He taunted her coolly, looking at her out of the corner of his eye.

“No, not that favor--just a small one.” She cleared her throat before continuing,” Could you hum for me?”

“Do what?” Now his head was turned, and he was looking directly at her.

“It doesn’t have to be a song, just a note.” She quickly clarified.

“Do I look like a child to you?”

“Absolutely not. You’re much less cute.” She shot back, but her face held a small smile.

“That’s definitely not a widely-held belief. And the answer is no.” He replied with a specific brand of arrogance.

“Please?” she pleaded, reflexively clutching his arm closer to her chest, the closeness startling him. “I can’t get a clean insertion if you’re fidgeting like that. Just try it for 5 seconds— it’ll be like meditation.” She reasoned.

Realizing she wasn’t going to give up, he relented. Giving her an exasperated look, he turned away, focused on the wall and hummed. It came as a hesitant, low rumbling and lasted exactly 5 seconds, though Nanami found herself wishing it had lasted just a little bit longer. Afterwards, he rolled his eyes, annoyed she was taking so long.

“Could you hurry up and get this over wit—”

He stopped, watching her place a small, pink band aid with little strawberries on it over the bend of his arm.

“All done.” She said confidently.

“What the hell is this?”

“Evidence of my expertise. Also, you didn’t have any regular band aids so I had to use my own. You’re welcome.” She smiled as he returned a glare.

Rolling down his sleeve in a huff, he impatiently demanded her arm, “Give me your arm.”

Realizing she was skating on thin ice, she decided to spare him a retort and cooperated. He was firm, but not rough and quickly extracted her blood sample. It was clean and clinical. His eyes trained on her arm, he put out his hand in front of her expectantly. What is he.. oh! Not wanting to waste the golden opportunity of seeing him have to do this, she promptly handed him another band aid from her bag. Placing it firmly on the wound, the deed was done, and she did her best to stifle a smile at his mild embarrassment.

Clearing his throat, he rose from his chair and went to the whiteboard. They refocused and decided on the specific day-to-day schedule as well as how they would log and test the samples most efficiently. They needed control samples to test against and, as though it was normal to have a fridge full of mysterious blood, Overhaul nonchalantly offered his stash. Knowing better than to even ask where the samples came from, they began, quickly forming a routine.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

A month of work passed by and the routine became more natural to Nanami. What was first a nerve-wracking trip to a yakuza hideout simply became a less-conventional commute to her side-project. What began as leers from the other yakuza, turned from indifference to casual hellos and then small talk. But most surprisingly, what began as a contentious partnership had evolved into pleasant tolerance.

For all his faults, Overhaul was an ideal lab partner. He was meticulous, tidy, and prompt. Even his usually grumpy disposition was dulled while they worked as she could tell he truly enjoyed burying himself deep into lab work. Comparatively, her day job was taxing and finding colleagues who hadn’t been jaded by the day-to-day seemed impossible. Coming to this lab every week was a breath of fresh air.

“Could you hand me a pipet?” He asked, stirring her from her thoughts.

“Oh yes, of course. Here.” She promptly handed it to him, resuming her work, but she could still feel his gaze.

“You seem distracted today.” He noted, turning back to continue his work.

She was a taken aback by the observation. They had made small talk before, but largely worked in comfortable silence. “Hm. I suppose I am.” She could feel him staring at her again and she looked up to see him raising a brow as though he was waiting for her to elaborate. “Well, I was just thinking it hasn’t been as awful as I expected… working with you here.”

“Oh?”

“I mean, it definitely wouldn’t be my first choice, but coming here… it’s been nice. I’ve stifled my quirk for such a long time, it’s just odd being able to openly discuss it, much less study it.”

He stared at her a beat before asking, “What caused it?”

“What?”

“What caused you to repress it?” he clarified, continuing to work. After a bit of silence, he looked over to see her open her mouth to answer then close it when the words seemed like they wouldn’t come out. Whatever the answer was, she was struggling with it in earnest. “You don’t have to answer that.”

She was shocked and appreciative of the consideration he was seemingly giving her, but didn’t want to waste the opportunity. She’d never talked about it with anyone—she couldn’t. But if anyone would understand, it would be him and she wasn’t going to pass up the chance.

“I killed someone.” She whispered gravely, staring straight down. From the corner of her eye she could see him turn to stare for a beat before resuming his task. Biting her lip, she added,” it was only temporary, but still, I killed someone.” Already feeling a portion of the weight coming off her chest at the simple admission, she continued,” I was twelve and my quirk had already manifested years before, but we didn’t know the extent of it. I had just assumed I could manipulate and reform little things, and only on non-organic matter. I mean I’d never tried it because who in the world would think to disassemble a living creature like that?” At this he gave her a look, raising his brows, “Well, at least I didn’t think to do something like that.” She corrected before continuing, the both of them working while she talked. “A boy moved next door to us and he had a quirk that manifested physically causing him to have these beautiful scales, like a dragon straight out of a fairytale. It was a bright, summer day and we were playing together in the park and I remember the scales shining and reflecting in the sunlight. I was hypnotized. I found myself wondering ‘What could they possibly be made of?’ The next thing I knew I was reaching out and the second my fingertip made contact I—I …” she was now shaking at the memory of it, gripping the pipet so tightly it might break. Suddenly, she felt a gloved hand gently place itself on top of hers while another coaxed her fist to open, releasing the now-dented tool. Clearing her throat she tried steadying her breath and met his gaze. It was placid and if she didn’t know any better, soft. He slowly removed his hand from hers, putting the pipet to the side to fix later.

“Continue.” He instructed as he replaced his gloves, but she could hear a sliver of encouragement in his tone.

“… I disassembled him. There was blood everywhere and I panicked. All I could think about was how badly I needed to put him back together and then... it happened. He was back in front of me, fully formed as though nothing had happened… But something had happened, and nothing would be able to change that. He ran home screaming that I was a freak. A monster. I never saw him again and my parents decided it was best to limit me and rebrand my quirk as simple ‘object manipulation’~. The rest is…history.” I said it. She thought sighing a breath of relief. Even if he thought less of her for it, she knew she would be alright, at least having been able to speak about it once. She’d accept the consequences and ridicule, whatever they were.

“You made a mistake. It’s over now.” He said matter-of-factly as he continued working like she hadn’t just shared one of her darkest secrets.

Staring at him in shock, she realized this was his way of comforting her. Was it sociopathic and a little too dismissive of adolescent homicide? Sure. But she couldn’t deny how nice it was to not be judged for the first time. Here in this lab with him, it was just a small piece of her past, a piece of data for their research. Here, she was more than just that incident and for that, she would forever be grateful.

She felt tears well up but didn’t let them fall. Instead she picked up the pipet and some tools to fix it, before simply replying “Thank you.”

He nodded and they continued to work, the silence a little more comfortable than before.

#same difference #overhaul #overhaul x oc #overhaul fanfiction #mha oc #mha fanfic #bnha fanfic #bnha #bnha oc #chisaki kai #kai chisaki #shie hassaikai

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loxxxlay · 6 years

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I think a big problem with certain, ahem, Discourse™ is the fact that people will look at any number of these categories:

autonomous

mind-controlled

under duress

psychologically manipulated

tortured

:and conflate them into one meaning.

When I say “autonomous,” I’m referring to the state we assume any character to be in unless given evidence to the contrary. they are in control of their actions and their decisions, and all responsibility for the consequences fall to them alone.

Mind-controlled is quite obviously the opposite of autonomous. this is not as simple as someone holding a gun to your head and saying “do this or die.” It’s actually someone taking even that choice away from you. the most obvious example of this in Marvel is Clint Barton the earliest Avengers movie*. In this situation, the character has no authority over their actions and has no responsibility to own up to them.

*Now I could also note Dr. Selvig, but it’s possible that even he was not 100% “mind-controlled” because at the end he admits that he maybe made a choice - for the portal to have an on-off switch. there’s a lot of theory on what this means, but canon leaves it entirely uncertain. So you see? Even here, there is some gray area within these definitions.

thus, psychological manipulation, torture, and duress fall to a sort of gray area in between, and it may be difficult to give them a value of how much control the character had over their actions and how much responsibility they should share for the consequences. For clarification’s sake, the gun scenario (”do this or die”) is duress, which can be any threat of harm; psychological manipulation is pressing on the trigger points of someone’s personality and pressuring/encouraging them into a decision they might not have otherwise made; and tortured is physical harm until one submits to the other person’s wishes.

this is where, as i’m sure you can guess, I’m gonna severely ruffle some feathers :’)

[read more cut]

For starters, let’s look at Bucky. Everyone agrees that he was not autonomous in his decisions as the Winter Soldier.

But was he “mind-controlled”? I say no. If he was fully mind-controlled, then the process Hydra enacted upon him shouldn’t have been able to be broken by a few words/memories from Steve. A parallel to this could be the fight between Natasha and Clint - Clint was going to kill Natasha while he was mind-controlled, and nothing Natasha could have said would have stopped him in that battle. It took that cute little “cognitive re-calibration” thing to stop him because the problem was with his actual brain. Someone else was controlling his actions. Versus Bucky, appeals to his emotions and memories did work, because the problem was less with his brain and more the fact that he had been beaten down into submission - he needed a emotionally-compelling reason to break out of the control.

My wording there is gonna piss a lot of people off because it sounds like I’m saying “hurting innocents” was not a compelling enough reason for Bucky to break out of the control - which puts his character in a negative light. And I guess, for the first half of that assumption, you’re right. :/ But it’s so much more complicated than that. And because of the complexity, it actually gives strength to Bucky as a character.

If he wasn’t mind-controlled, and he wasn’t autonomous, then he was either under duress (yes), tortured (yes), or psychologically manipulated (yes) - in short, All of the Above. He was under a constant threat of having his memories wiped, which was a very painful process - this was an instance of all three. And this doesn’t even go into what we learned about his history with Hydra in Civil War (in which he was used as a sparring partner (or less generously, as a punching bag) for other Winter Soldiers). All of these led to him being beaten down. All of these led to his lack of choice, his lack of autonomy. Personally, I think the effect was so strong that it absolves him of any and all responsibility for his actions during his time as the Winter Soldier. But I still wouldn’t call him “mind-controlled” - because for him to break free of that level of force shows how remarkable and admirable of a Survivor he is. And simply calling him “mind-controlled” erases both what happened in canon and also his character’s goodness & strength in my opinion.

So now that we’ve thrown ourselves to the wolves once, let’s do it again with a riskier subject: Loki. :’)

the fact is (and I think, the reason people argue so much) is that canon doesn’t really definitively give us evidence on way or another on any of the different terms. there’s been arguments for Loki’s autonomy as well as evidence for him being mind-controlled by thanos/the Other with the scepter, similarly to what Loki did to Clint (both arguments of which have flaws imo*).

For one, the Other still saw need to threaten Loki with harm, which is a compelling piece of evidence toward at least duress and also something that sways me from believing mind control because duress would be unnecessary if Loki was as mind-controlled as Clint.

However, the point isn’t really about autonomy or mind-control or the other grayer variations of. It’s about the discourse.

Some frequent statements I see are that “Loki was tortured into obeying thanos so his actions should be excused” or from the other side “Maybe he was threatened/tortured a little, but he acted mostly of his own volition, and to say he was tortured rids him of the moral complexity of his character.”

And my question toward statements like that are - are your two ideas really so far apart as you seem to think?

For the former statement, I see someone conflating mind-control with torture. For the latter, I see someone conflating torture/duress with autonomy. Both are an extremely similar headcanons at the core, but with different attitudes on what it means for Loki’s culpability - and with different (and sorry but also mistaken) views on what the gray areas mean morally.

For example, I don’t think Bucky is responsible for his actions because he was manipulated and tortured--but tony stark does. And while I don’t get that, there are a lot of people who side with tony in Civil War, so I can probably assume my point of view is not the only one that might be correct.

It’s the same thing here.

Judging someone who suffered trauma in their past which directly led them to morally questionable actions is a tough marsh to navigate. You might applaud a victim of child abuse for killing their abuser, even after their abuser is to be imprisoned. You might not applaud a victim of a gun-point robbery for killing their attacker after their attacker is to be imprisoned. Even moreso, you are extremely unlikely to applaud someone murdering their friend for a minor, verbal disagreement. Where do you draw the line of what constitutes culpability and what does not?

thus, the problem with Loki is that all of us might draw the line in a different place. And even then, all of us might put Loki on a slightly different side of that line because of the lack of specific canonical details.

But what few seem to be doing is acknowledging the fact that cases like this aren’t easy. there’s a lot of moral gray area between autonomy and mind control, and I doubt we, as complex individuals, are going to ever be able to find an answer that pleases everyone.

*Note: I have no problem with people who prefer headcanons in which Loki was fully autonomous or fully mind-controlled. While it’s true I don’t think canon supports either stance, I support you; fandom is your playground and you have every right to enjoy yourself how you see fit. I simply ask that you hear me out when I ask y’all to treat each other’s differences of opinions kindly and respectfully. <3

In the end, we are all fans of fictional characters--and because they are fictional characters, we have a huge opportunity here! We don’t need to worry about making the “wrong decision” toward a potential victim of abuse because Loki and Bucky and other characters do not suffer consequences the way someone in real life would. therefore, we have the ability to consider these questions of morality and test them out for ourselves without causing harm.

Unfortunately, what many people seem to be doing is yelling at each other and treating people with a huge lack of respect. :/

See, unlike Loki and Bucky, these are real life people you are hurting in these situations - people who are simply trying to test out their morality on fictional characters, like you. I see terribleness from all sides, even the ones I agree with, and so I just wrote this in the hope that there will be less fighting. And even if this only leads to a couple people somewhere modifying their feelings toward these subjects, I’ll consider it a success.

thanks so much if you read all the way through <3

Being autistic, I do tend to ramble and sound condescending, so if that happened anywhere in this post, I sincerely apologize. It was not my intent, and I did the best I could. :( Feel free to let me know so I can modify any of my language used here to be more polite. <3

Also, I apologize for lowercase t’s. My t key is broken, so I can’t capitalize it without it being time-consuming and annoying >.>

Finally - you’re welcome to reblog and debate on this post if you wishh, but I likely won’t be responding. Many times when people try to debate me, it’s because they haven’t taken the time to truly understand what I’m saying and they end up misunderstanding some of my points. I get upset trying to repeat myself to no fruition, and for my mental health, I will be avoiding that here. But if I feel I have something new to say and I have the spoons, then I will!! ^_^ (However, if you are attack me personally, rather than just my argument, then I’ll flay you or block you - whichever is easier at the time. ^_^)

#loki #loki meta #bucky #marvel #lox .... talks?#this isn't personal lmao #but i don't have a meta taggggg t_t #long post #but with a read more #meta #lox writes

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comingupforblair · 5 years

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There’s something I see a lot in relation to DC films and their critical opinions and it annoys me so I wanted to comment on it

I should preface this by saying that, while I understand the strong feelings people have on the subject, I am completely and unambiguously opposed to actions such as harassing people off social media, sending death threats or generally acting in a repulsive manner towards critics or fans in any given situation and that includes these films. Now that that’s out of the way, let’s begin...

The history of critics’ opinions (for the purposes of this post, I’ll be using this to refer to professionals, amateurs, bloggers, people with YT channels, etc) on the franchise are well documented so I don’t feel a need to go back over them here but, suffice it to say, it hasn’t been a positive one and fans such as myself have been vocal about calling out what we see as unfair or overly negative reviews, critical opinions and expectations for how the films are expected to improve in the eyes of detractors.

This has been seen as a misplaced move in the eyes of detractors who will say that we should be grateful for the presence of critical opinions in order to encourage the film makers to do better and that any and all blame should be put on the creators themselves.

It’s clear that people critical of these films have a lofty view of their behavior and goals, seeing themselves as compassionate critics who are only acting in the best interest of the films and who would love nothing more than to enjoy the franchise but are unable to and are bravely fighting the good fight for better cinema, however much it hurts them to act as they do.

It’s a nice story.

The problem is that it isn’t true.

Or, at least, it’s not as true as they keep insisting.

If you’ve spent any amount of time among people critical of these films, you have likely noticed that a lot of them are extremely abrasive about it. Personal insults towards the creators and fans, hyperbolic statements about the franchise’s future and the future of DC adaptations in general, unflattering comparisons to Marvel and a tendency to treat the films as something closer to a personal affront than they should are all common and certainly don’t play into the image of reluctant negativity they are so keen to cite when called out.

This isn’t even limited to online trolls or bloggers (more on them later). Respectable publications have joined in. There are articles written on the Guardian, a news site I genuinely respect and frequent, that wouldn’t be out of place on an independent site run by the stereotypical angry nerds we have been seeing too much of recently where Zack Snyder is characterized not as a filmmaker whose work they dislike but as an active detriment to DC who needs to be stopped and others where the films are treated with the usual nonsense.

The common response that people generally have when DCEU fans push back against criticism is to assume that we want a world where no one says anything negative about anything ever and the films are never called out when they make a mistake but that’s not it.

Criticism is necessary. It’s how people are given feedback to improve and I’m not going to say these films don’t have flaws to be called out or that Warner Bros haven’t made mistakes. But there’s a responsibility on the people delivering their criticism to do respectfully and fairly and without indulging in disproportionate harshness and unnecessary cruelty and to do so without being personal and realizing when you overstep as well as acknowledging progress and a lot of people criticizing these films haven’t been doing that over the years.

They still hold those earlier films over the newer ones more to their liking in a manner that suggests they have little, if any, intention of allowing the studio to move on or regarding any genuine improvement with little more than a dismissive, backhanded acknowledgement.

Even people who dislike the films have said they’re put off by just how vicious some of the negativity towards them and Zack Snyder personally has been.

Your criticism may be intended to encourage improvement but that doesn’t spare you from being called out on your execution or behavior in doing so, any more than a film makers’ sincere desire to make a good film means they can’t be criticized if they don’t live up to that goal in your eyes.

There’s also the issue of intent.

I have no doubt that people saying they’re critical because they want the films to improve are sincere about it. But it’s their definition of what would qualify as an improvement that needs to be question and scrutinized far more than it has been.

Many people’s definition of an improvement would involve completely annexing the films entirely and starting over from scratch. Others would be content with them merely getting rid of the ones they personally didn’t like or abandoning the idea entirely and just focusing on films and animation. Others would rather see Disney acquire the characters in the belief that any films they make would be worth the trade off (it wouldn’t be).

Others want the films to completely remove any trace of Zack Snyder’s vision, down to recasting actors still loyal to him as well as seeing the films adopt a tone virtually identical to that of the MCU. Others want to see Bruce Timm or Greg Berlanti put in charge while others are wondering why they didn’t bring Christian Bale or Michael Keaton back.

You can see the issue at hand. Every person saying this is doing so out of a sincere desire to see the films improve and that’s the problem. It’s their definition of what would qualify as an improvement that DCEU fans are so adamantly against.

You can’t just attribute good intentions to your actions and expect to be free from criticism from there on out.

That’s not even getting into how a lot of the criticism doesn’t serve a purpose other than to kick a franchise while it’s already down, to say nothing of how often it’s just blatantly inaccurate, and how many are the usual toxic fans who are just venting their anger at these films being made in a manner that differs from what they would have liked and whose manner of criticizing them is skewed more towards negativity.

I almost forgot about them. For every respectable critic out there, there are a dozen or so who take pleasure in going after these films and have no interest in seeing them improve. They just enjoy giving them shit and doing so in a very cruel and needlessly personal manner. Anyone can be a critic now and a lot of the ones doing so are, to put it bluntly, horrible people.

There’s also the fact that critics, fans and bloggers who have been doing this are being championed, being seen and seeing themselves as the victors in this conflict.

Their words and actions are certainly having an effect and not necessarily a positive one. Films have been drastically altered to better suit the expectations of such critics, directors have left due to the changes, arcs have been abandoned and some actors have left and others may follow due to how the franchise has changed.

Needless to say, fans have not been happy about this and are open about saying as much and have been vocal about blaming those with such intensely negative views for what they see as the loss of the franchise we could have had.

You can counter that they wouldn’t have faced that issue if they had done what was expected of them from the start but that’s besides the point.

If you’re a critic with an audience, wheter it’s writing or running a Youtube channel or whatever, you have power. People listen to you, even if it’s only a few dozen people, and that includes the creators. So it’s on you to use that power responsibly and that’s what a lot of people haven’t been doing in relation to these films so it falls to people like me and other fans to call them out when we see them as not living up to the lofty image and ideals they have outlined and assigned to themselves.

In short, fans are treating critics the same way critics have been treating these films and the fact that they are so against being held to such a standard only proves that they need it.

Those with negative views of the films have seen this and similar claims as fans putting the blame for the state of the franchise on someone other than the creators but really it’s the logical conclusion of the justification so quickly and frequently used of their behavior.

You can’t have it both ways. You can’t position yourself as someone whose actions are designed to incur change on a major level with these films and then distance yourself from the negative consequences that arise from your words or the actions you have been calling for, even if you didn’t intend it.

On a side note, one of the themes of BvS, the film that started all this, was how sincerely good intentions can have unintended negative consequences. Fate, it seems, is not without a sense of irony.

I wasn’t bullshitting when I said that criticism is necessary and I have no desire to see a world without film critics or where they are only seen as valid if they write what I agree with. I have read and encountered people who didn’t like these films but were still respectful, fair and even-minded about it as well as people who saw potential but felt it wasn’t being lived up to. It is possible to be critical of this franchise without engaging in the behavior I’ve mentioned so many times so I know it’s possible to achieve that which is why I’m annoyed at the behavior I outlined being so commonplace and being dismissed as an unavoidable side effect.

As with fandom, I want film criticism to improve and that will never happen if the people doing all of the stuff I mentioned are just invoking their good intentions as a way to beat away any kind of criticism of their behavior or refusing to ever reflect in a way that is absolutely necessary for improvement.

#dceu #zack snyder #man of steel #batman v superman #Wonder Woman #aquaman #shazam

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thosewhoruleegypt · 6 years

Text

The Cost of Kingship (Chapter 4)

Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh! Characters/Ships: Thief King Bakura, Zorc Necrophades, Diabound Rating: T (WARNINGS for violence and descriptions of starvation) Length: Chapter 4 / 6; 5300 words

Summary:

If I can figure out how to use these cards, I’ll never be starving again. The thought appeared out of nowhere, as if it wasn’t even his own. Bakura sat there in the darkness, contemplating the implications and running the worn, bony pads of his fingers over the edges of the rare cards he had unwittingly stolen: “Dark Master - Zorc” and “Contract with the Dark Master.”

The Rise of the Thief King. Alternative backstory for TKBakura, in the Ancient Egyptian AU-verse of the series Those who Rule Egypt. Can be read separately.

Read on AO3 Main Story Begins Here! Previous Chapter – Next Chapter

Bakura's wish came true.

The Thief King no longer wandered from city to city—he settled in Kul Elna, a moderately-sized city some twenty miles from the capitol. Notoriety was a power he wielded, now, not a burden he ran from. Thieves and swindlers and all other criminals flocked to him, though he was still a young boy, and begged to enter his service. Though the worst of the famine had passed, there was still a power void left by the largely uninvolved pharaoh—a void and a sense of desperation for the feeling of security that following a strong leader offered.

As Bakura's network of underlings grew, so too did his connections with legal businesses and temples—no one wanted to be a target, for the Thief King. It became unnecessary, rather quickly, for him to actually steal anything to survive. His heists became merely for show, to increase his own reputation, and for the sheer joy of the act. On the former, they grew increasingly ostentatious; on the latter, they began to focus on his incredible and ever-growing affinity for precious stones.

By the time Bakura was sixteen, his power—at least within the city of Kul Elna and the surrounding area—was nearing something absolute.

"You've done very well for yourself, borrowing my power, haven't you?"

Bakura grunted, tearing into the roast pig he was enjoying. He wasn't in the Shadow Realm, at the moment, but Zorc's voice had grown continually stronger over the years. He thought it was likely that, when Zorc had removed a part of his soul, the monster had implanted a piece of himself in its place. He tried not to be troubled over that, although Zorc was far from a treasured comrade—more often, was merely an annoyance, outside of duels.

"It's my power. I paid for it, remember?"

"You do keep saying that... Dear child, believe what you want."

Bakura glanced down at the human head on the floor. He'd cut it off himself when one of his messengers had brought him bad news, that morning. The blood was crusting in the expensive rug he'd stolen from a spice merchant earlier that month.

"I'm bored..." he sighed, leaning back. "What should I do today, Zorc? Any ideas?"

"Kill the pharaoh?"

"Nah. His successor's too much of a wild card. I'm comfortable with this one and his inability to control his own cursed kingdom."

Zorc chuckled. "Then how about we kill his successor?"

"Stupid beast..." Bakura growled, sitting up and stretching languidly. He enjoyed the sense of physical strength that came with the movement; the ripple of well-fed and conditioned muscles. He glanced at the golden bangle on his wrist, encrusted with blood-red stones. His fondness for gems had only increased, as his collection grew, and they were one of the few things that didn't bore him. He examined the bracelet, stretching his hand out in front of him, and said, "That'll just piss off the pharaoh himself. He might actually try to do something about me, then. Don't wanna play with that fire."

Again Zorc laughed. "How about we kill some—"

"What is it with you and killing?" Bakura growled, getting up and kicking the head lightly. "You're the one who told me to kill this guy, too. And now the rug's all dirty."

"Then steal another rug, today!" Zorc said. "That would be a great use of time."

Bakura scowled; crammed the rest of his meal into his mouth and licked the grease from his fingers. Washing his hands briefly in a handy dish of water, he pulled out his Diabound Kernel card.

"What do you think, Diabound?"

"I haven't seen that snake around for a while," Zorc put in. "I think he's rather bored, too."

Bakura frowned. Diabound... my pride...

"I've decided," he said, and Zorc made a questioning sound. "I'll have a duel, today. A proper one, at a duel field. It's been too long."

"Whatever you want to do, King of Thieves... the world is your plaything."

Nodding resolutely, Bakura picked up his deck and stowed it in an inside pocket of his beautiful red robe. As an afterthought, he picked up a collar he'd stolen a few days previous and tucked that into his robe, as well.

Several thieves greeted him respectfully, on his way out of the hideout. His "hideouts" could hardly be called such, anymore, though he did have two or three he kept entirely private. More often than not, he could be found by anyone at any hour, provided they knew where to look or who to ask. He had no fear of arrest.

On his way to a temple, he pulled up his hood; kept his head down, slightly, and managed a moment of anonymity as he slipped into a jewelry shop. He waited quietly until the one customer present had finished his business, then approached the counter.

"Aah, Highness." The proprietor was a young woman, well-versed in her craft. Bakura thought she was pretty—beautiful even, like her wares—though he had no particular desire to court her; was unsure he would know how to go about courting anyone, even if he wanted to. As it was, he appreciated her attitude—it bordered on friendly, though he had no illusions regarding the working nature of their relationship. She was one of the many folk who willingly did business with the Thief King and his band, and so avoided becoming a target of their activities. "What can I do for you?"

"How would you set these?" Bakura asked, his voice low. He slid the collar, with it's tiger's eye studding, across the counter. "I think I'm starting to understand—the setting is too deep, for stones of this size, but I'm not sure how to fix it."

The woman smiled. "Well, you would make the insets shallower," she said.

Bakura laughed. "Obviously. But how?"

"Melt the metal, a bit, just enough to make it pliable," she said. "We can reshape the sockets, then, without fully removing or damaging the stones. Assuming you like the current shape of the piece, overall—otherwise, I'd say melt the gold down completely and start from scratch."

"I'm rather fond of it, as a collar..." Bakura said. "Could you fix it for me, like you said?"

The woman smiled. "Of course, Highness!"

"Thanks." Waving, Bakura swished back out of the shop. He took a deep breath; carried on towards the temple to Anibus.

"Thief King!" one of the priests greeted him, surprised. "Can we do something for you?"

"Find me an opponent," was Bakura's growled reply. "I'm in the mood to duel."

"Right away, Thief King. Please wait down at the duel field, if it pleases you."

Bakura nodded; stalked down into the basement of the temple. While he waited for an opponent to appear, sitting cross-legged on one side of the field, he flipped through his cards.

"Diabound..." The white snake hadn't visited him in a while, in the Shadow Realm. As Zorc grew more omnipresent, the serpent's appearances had grown fewer and farther between. Bakura missed it. "Fight beside me again, old friend? It's been a while..."

After some time, the priest arrived, pulling a young man along by the arm. The man seemed reluctant at best; at worst, terrified.

"Welcome!" Bakura called, standing; the young man started violently, scrabbling backwards against the priest's grip. "Are you to be my opponent?"

"Do it, win or lose, and your transgression will be forgiven," the priest muttered, and thrust the man forward. The priest backed up as the man stumbled, then looked down, bewildered, at the cards in his hands.

Bakura felt his lip curl—called out, "What's the matter? Aren't you honored to duel the King of Thieves?"

The man's eyes darted about the room, never settling on Bakura's face. "H-Honored... so honored, Lord, I'm at a loss for words..."

Bakura laughed. "Let's get some spirit into the thing! Let's make it interesting!" He shook his robe dramatically, sending dozens of gemstones and gold figurines and bits of jewelry clattering onto the ground. The man's eyes bugged. "Beat me, and it's all yours! Beat me and you'll have three times this much treasure!" He laughed again, feeling adrenaline spike his blood like potent wine. "Win, and you'll be rich. Lose, and I'll kill you."

The man froze; the priest, still standing at the side of the duel field, paled slightly.

"That makes things interesting, doesn't it?" Bakura crooned, hearing Zorc's laughter ring in his ears. He hadn't intended to carry things so far, but he didn't question his own words. Such a bet would make things interesting, and life could be so boring.

The man, slightly panicked, took a sideways step towards the entrance; the priest hastily blocked his way, muttering something that sounded suspiciously like an ashamed apology.

"Or I could just kill you now," Bakura called lightly. "Your choice. I was rather looking forward to having a duel, though."

The man began to shake—visibly, even from the other side of the duel field. "Wh-Whatever... you wish... my Lord..."

"I'll go first, how 'bout that?" Bakura called. "I won't be able to attack on my first turn. Actually, how about this: I won't attack for my first three turns. That's a nice little handicap, isn't it?"

The man's eyes brightened a bit, and Bakura felt his smile grow nastier. There we go... gotta get a bit of spirit into you, give you a little hope, or this'll be so dull I'll just die.

"Here we go!" Bakura called, drawing his hand; his opponent did the same. Well, well... "I summon Souls of the Forgotten, to defend! I set one card, and end my turn."

His opponent looked at his hand, eyes as wide as those of a hunted animal seeking an escape route. Bakura glanced at the priest, still watching from the staircase. Souls of the Forgotten isn't an intimidating card. You better have given this weakling a decent deck... The result's already been decided, but I am still hoping for a bit of sport, out of the thing.

His opponent selected a card. "I s-summon Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress #1. T-To attack!" He watched, fear momentarily giving way to awe, as the winged monster took form.

Bakura smirked. "You know how to summon, at least! That's good!"

The man cringed; glared with pathetic resentment across the field. "I-I set... one card..." he said, though his voice was fainter than he seemed to want it, "and Winged Dragon attacks your defender!"

Bakura smiled as Souls of the Forgotten was destroyed; drew a card. "My turn—my second one." Diabound watched him, from his hand—the white serpent had been the topmost card of his deck. All I need is a tribute to summon you, my friend... on my fourth turn... just wait... "I summon Abaki, to attack, and end my turn!"

The cackling little fiend seemed even more animated than usual as it loped about his side of the duel field, and Bakura felt himself smile. Are you glad of the chance to duel, too? Don't frighten our opponent too much, now... he may do something stupid, like try to run away...

The man's eyes followed Abaki, growing larger with terror as the reality of the situation sunk in; if not for the handicap, his Winged Dragon would likely have been destroyed that very turn. He drew a card; switched his gaze, with some difficulty, back to the Thief King.

"I draw... I tribute Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress #1, to summon Battle Steer. Battle Steer attacks your monster!"

Bakura felt his lip curl as the beast-warrior smashed through his screaming little fiend; wondered how Abaki felt about being sent to the graveyard without having a proper chance to battle. He relished the cold rush of sensation as his life points took 100 damage—and 500 more, then, thanks to Abaki's effect. His opponent's mouth twitched in something that tried to be a smile; something that fell short of being a smile.

"You've wounded the King of Thieves..." Bakura purred, spreading his arms. He drew. "Well done."

Diabound's card seemed to hum in his hand, just slightly.

"I summon Earthbound Spirit, to defend. I end my turn."

The man shivered violently as the creepy ghoul clawed its way out of the duel field's ground, moaning like a true, tormented undead. He glanced up at his Battle Steer; down at Earthbound Spirit, with 2000 defense.

"I'll attack, on my next turn," Bakura called over, and the man jumped. "Not that Earthbound Spirit is much good for that, but we'll see what happens."

The man's hand shook as he drew his next card. "I draw... I summon Prevent Rat to defend. I end my turn."

Hunkering down, ay? Very well! Bakura drew another card; grinned. "My turn, then! I tribute Earthbound Spirit to summon Diabound Kernel!"

"I-I flip my set card...!" his opponent objected, and the card rose slowly. "Tribute to the Doomed!"

"My trap is Seven Tools of the Bandit!" Bakura crowed, as his set card flipped over with a mirage-like shimmer. "I pay 1000 life points to negate your spell, and destroy it!"

The man's face paled impossibly as Tribute to the Doomed shattered; as the summon proceeded, Earthbound Spirit dissolving and the form of a serpent taking it's place. Bakura began to laugh, quietly; louder, then, as he lost himself in the triumphant moment. But as Diabound formed, he felt a cold shiver in his bones; faltered, and fell silent.

As the winds stirred up by the summon faded, Diabound gave a grating hiss; collapsed, sideways, unable to stay upright. It's scales, instead of pure white, were a patchwork of angry red and necrotic black, wounds like the work of corrosive acid stretching across it's hide. It thrashed, agony as recognizable on it's face as it would be on any human's, and gave forth with a plaintive wailing.

Bakura's face twisted with fury, even as his heart flipped end over end in his chest. He stalked across the field; kicked aside the gold he had scattered earlier. He passed Diabound, screaming softly as it lay, twitching, on the ground. The priest had vanished.

"What have you done?!" he roared, grabbing his unwilling opponent's collar. The man, already shaking, began to sob. "What magic is this?!"

Letting his cards fall, the man held up both his hands. "I-I didn't do anything...! I've never even dueled like this, b-before! I don't know, please...!"

Again Bakura's face twisted, and he lifted the man; heard him gasp and wheeze as gravity made breathing difficult, though Bakura lacked the stature to lift him fully off the ground.

Diabound shrieked softly.

"You've forfeited this duel..." Bakura snarled; released the man's shirt and grabbed, instead, his head. The monster behind him wailed weakly, making the rage boil up in Bakura all the fiercer. He didn't hear the man's pleading—heard only the satisfying series of cracks as he twisted the man's head, snapping his neck quite thoroughly.

Diabound cried out as the man hit the ground, and Bakura spun; went to his monster.

"How did this happen...?" he breathed, touching Diabound's scales. Blackness corroded them, and in places the great snake's raw flesh was exposed. It tried to lift it's head, but managed only a weak thrashing against the ground. "Diabound... my friend..."

"Not as powerful as you though, is it?" came Zorc's vitriolic voice. "It wasn't the enemy who weakened it—it's dying, slowly, of it's own accord. Soon, it'll be only dust." </p>

<p>"What do you mean?!" Bakura demanded, twisting; Zorc was nowhere to be seen, and the dead man's monsters had already dissipated. Diabound gave a low, pained sound, and Bakura returned to it; stroked it's scaled muzzle. "Diabound... it's alright. I'm right here. What's happened to you...?" When the snake did not reply, he turned again and shouted. "Show yourself, Zorc! Explain!!"

The body of the man he had killed jerked suddenly, and Bakura bristled. From the corpse's neck—torn open by the force of Bakura's own hands—flowed crimson blood, and it bubbled up into a small spring. As Bakura watched, horrified, the liquid formed the silhouette of a man—solidified, then, into the likeness of a young man with gray hair and a scarred face. His eyes, apparently empty sockets, glowed violet.

"Show myself?" the effigy crooned, licking it's lips. "What form would you prefer I take? It's a rather small room for the true Dark Master to manifest, so how about this one?"

Diabound hissed furiously, though the sound faded into a pained whimper moments later.

"What in Ammit...?" Bakura breathed, then shouted. "What is this, Zorc?! Explain!"

"Zorc? Ah yes, I am Zorc..." the effigy said, chuckling. "I'm also the Thief King, and Bakura-who-has-no-name. Pity your feeble Diabound Kernel doesn't seem to care for me much."

Bakura lunged; took a swing, but the other fazed out of physical existence and his fist sailed through empty air. Bakura stumbled forward, but didn't fall; spun again to face the effigy, seeing Diabound now behind other other's shoulder.

"I grow ever-stronger inside you, Thief King," the figure said, spreading his hands. "You hate me? But do you really think you can tell us apart so clearly? How much is you and how much is me? Are we two separate entities, now, or one in the very same?"

"Shut up!" Bakura shouted, leaping again. The shadow figure slipped away beneath his grasping hands once again.

"Why so very angry? I'm what you wanted—power." The shadow figure grinned. "Sometimes you have a give up a little pride, a little self-identity to acquire power like that of the Thief King. So what's the matter?"

"Shut up!!" Bakura shrieked, and tried for one last attack. This time, the Shadow Bakura caught his wrists; held them, with incredible strength, above his head. Bakura jerked and struggled, fighting to get free as the effigy brought their faces close together.

"Stop resisting me," it crooned, only a whisper; it's breath smelled of rotting fish. "You'll only end up destroying yourself."

Then it was gone, vanishing like a summoned monster, and Bakura's knees struck the ground with enough force to split the skin stretched across them. He twisted; saw Diabound, too, dissolving, and scrambled to the great serpent's side.

"Diabound... Diabound, I'm so sorry..."

The snake gave a soft, mournful sound; curled it's head inward so that it's chin bumped his shoulder, and then shuddered as it vanished entirely. Bakura fell forward onto his elbows; bent his head.

"Damn it... Damn it!"

When the Thief King struggled to his feet, he saw that the priest had returned. The man was pale, keeping his eyes deliberately off the corpse.

"Thief King? Is there some way I can be of service?"

"Yes," Bakura growled, as he collected the cards from his deck that had scattered. He didn't bother with the treasures he had dropped. "I want every scroll with even the briefest mention of 'The Dark Master,' 'Contract with the Dark Master,' or the name 'Zorc.' I don't care how obscure a text it is. If it mentions any of those things, I want it brought to me immediately. Get word to the other priests and scholars who are in my graces, too. I want every single scrap of papyrus that mentions Zorc, no matter how briefly."

"Right away, Highness." The priest bowed; whisked off. As Bakura began to follow him, he glanced down at the man he had dueled so briefly.

Your only crime was weakness... he thought bitterly. If men were supposed to be put to death for such things, I would already be buried and rotting. There was no reason to kill you, and yet...

"But do you really think you can tell us apart so clearly? How much is you and how much is me? Are we two separate entities, now, or one in the very same?"

Bakura grimaced. We are not the same. And I can tell when a thought is my own, especially now that I know you're here. You've tipped your hand, Zorc, and that's the biggest mistake you can make, in a duel.

... ... ...

Over the next few days, countless books and scrolls and sheets of loose papyrus showed up at the main lair of the Thief King. He poured over each of them, searching for some clue, any clue.

From within his own mind, Zorc mocked his efforts mercilessly.

"Damn it... Damn it!" Bakura drilled a hand through the priceless mosaic desktop, then cursed as the broken glass cut his hand. As he sucked on the bleeding knuckles, he glanced over at Diabound's card, where it lay beside his bed.

Days... days, and everything I've read is either stuff I already know or blatantly wrong... damn... Stay with me, Diabound... wait for me...

"Diabound this, Diabound that," Zorc's voice rang out in his ears. "Pitiful. I should just kill the pretty little snake and be done with it."

"Don't you dare!" Bakura growled, swinging as if to face the invisible voice. He was, of course, still alone. "You touch Diabound and I'll kill you."

"You can't kill me, child. You'd kill yourself then, too. Don't you understand? We're one."

"Shut up," Bakura spat. He glanced at Zorc's card, sitting on the floor several yards away, and contemplated yet again destroying it. But he knew that would do no good. Zorc lived in the hollow spot in his own soul; had replaced a piece of Bakura with a piece of himself.

And that shadow entity... Shadow Bakura... is he the other piece of my soul, fuzed with Zorc?

"Aah, you're giving me a damned headache..." the Thief King growled, collapsing back onto a chair filled with plush cushions. At least there was that, he thought—he at least had material comforts, now. He was so anxious, though, that he hadn't been able to finish his breakfast that morning, for fear of throwing it back up. That irritated him almost as much as Zorc's incessant voice in his head.

"Thief King?"

Bakura glanced up; saw the woman from the jewelry shop, standing in to doorway with one of his men. He blinked, surprised.

"Oh. It's you."

She held out the tiger's eye collar. "I wasn't sure if you wanted me to bring it to you, when it was finished. It's been a few days..."

Bakura rose, feeling a smile come to his face. He'd forgotten all about the collar, if the truth was told, and it made for a delightful surprise. He waved his subordinate off, beckoned the jewelry seller inside, and closed the door behind her.

"Ah! That looks so much better!" he exclaimed, taking the collar and holding it up. The girl nodded.

"You have a good eye, Highness. Your assessment was very good."

"You're just saying that because you're afraid of me," the Thief King said with a chuckle, unbothered by the fact.

The girl looked genuinely surprised. "I am not. I have too high a regard for my craft to dole out such compliments lightly."

"Ah, well..." Bakura smiled; softened. "It's nice, anyway. Here," he said, holding the collar back out. "Wear it. It'll look nice, I think."

The merchant hesitated, then took the collar and clipped it into place. Bakura nodded, satisfied.

"That's payment for fixing the setting so nicely. And the compliments, regardless of the truth in 'em. And thanks for stopping by just to drop it off." He made a dismissive motion; returned to his chair.

The woman hesitated; bowed, then left with a respectful word. Bakura propped his feet up, waiting until her footsteps disappeared to speak.

"See that, Zorc? I can tell. 'Kill her,' you tell me—ha! 'She's plotting against you,' you say. As if I'd mistake that for my own thought! Ridiculous!"

"Are you sure?" Zorc asked. "You have pretty good instincts. If you're sensing something from her..."

"Shut up." Bakura closed his eyes. "Stop trying to confuse me, cur. It won't work."

"I can see your thoughts, child, every single one of them. And you aren't so sure, not about her and not about whether or not I'm capable of confusing you."

Bakura opened his eyes; glared up at the ceiling. "Great Bast, I said shut up."

... ... ...

Bakura's search regarding Zorc continued to turn up nothing of note. Though confident in his literacy, he was a rather slow reader, and knew it, which made the whole thing that much worse.

"You won't find anything... Give it up... This struggle against fate..."

Bakura was hunched over a scroll at his desk, the candle beside him flickering with the last of its waxen life. His eyes were deeply shadowed.

"How do you even know what you're reading?" asked the other figure, seated at his table with feet propped up. The effigy laughed. "I'm in your head, Host. I could change those letters to say anything, and you wouldn't know the difference."

"Shut up..." Bakura moaned, clasping his hands over his ears. "Great Ra, shut up..."

"I'm in your head," Shadow Bakura crooned, his voice unhampered by Thief King Bakura's hands. "It's useless to say that, to me."

Bakura groaned, closing his eyes. "Damn it..." He hadn't been sleeping regularly, to avoid meeting with Zorc in the Shadow Realm of his dreams, but that seemed a futile effort. It had been almost a week since his duel at the temple, and he'd hardly left his hideout.

"Stop fighting it..." Shadow Bakura said, leaning farther back in the chair. "You can't stop the process now. You're mine—a vessel. Accept it."

Bakura stood; swayed, on weary legs, but stalked to his door and wrenched it open. A thief, sitting a short ways down the hall, jumped and looked up.

"Fetch me a priest! From that Anibus temple!" Bakura shouted, and the thief scrambled to his feet; bowed, and darted off. Bakura tried to ignore Zorc's laughter in his ears. "And bring me some damned coffee!!"

When the priest arrived—laudably quickly, albeit in nightclothes and with the crust of sleep still in his eyes—Bakura poured them both a strong cup of coffee. It was an expensive import, and the priest looked a bit unsure whether he was actually supposed to drink his. The Thief King motioned to the table, where his effigy still sat, and deliberately took the chair Shadow Bakura currently sat it.

"Rude..." the shadow sneered, as it fazed through him and stepped slightly back. Bakura ignored it.

"Tell me about the Three Lost to Time."

The priest raised his eyebrows; took a sip of coffee and cleared his throat. "The Three Gods..." he murmured, then sighed. "The God Cards are said to be the mightiest of monsters, locked away as any others in rare cards. Legend states that not everyone can control them—indeed, they're said to choose their own masters. But no one knows what happened to them, after their initial sealing and the creation of their cards, and most of the information we have about them is unconfirmed."

Bakura thought about this for a moment; tried, with an effort, to separate his own thoughts from Zorc's. Shadow Bakura laughed—tremendously loudly and distractingly.

"You can't tell, can you?" it shouted, close to his ear. It was all Bakura could do not to swing around and snap, given his audience. "Is it me? Is it you? Is it us, or we? I am you, and you are me! We think the same, we act the same, and we—"

"How were the monsters sealed, originally?" Bakura asked, grinding the question out past Shadow Bakura's chattering.

The priest shrugged. "That's lost knowledge, Thief King. With our current knowledge, we couldn't reproduce such an act."

Bakura scowled. "Then how do you unseal one?"

There was a sudden beat of total silence, and Bakura felt a wave of relief. For a moment, he was alone; for a moment, Zorc didn't speak, nor did Shadow Bakura, nor did the priest, and Bakura nearly started to weep with how beautiful the quiet was.

Then, they all began speaking at once.

"We don't know that, either," the priest said. "I would certainly advise against trying to find out, also. That might lead to quite a disaster."

"Release a monster?" Shadow Bakura shrieked with laughter. "Are you that eager to die?!"

"Don't tell me you're thinking of that wretched snake," Zorc said, voice rasping with mock pity. "It wouldn't survive being unsealed."

"So it is possible," Bakura said—in answer to all three. Again, this earned him a moment of divine silence, and the priest fidgeted.

"In theory..." the priest said at last. "There are scholars... who hypothesize that each monster would have its own ritual for release. Sacrifice—symbolic and-or literal—would most likely be part of any one."

"What about Zorc? Are there any theories about how to release the Dark Master?"

There was a very awkward, drawn-out moment, and the priest asked softly, "Do you want to revive the Dark Master Zorc, Thief King?"

Bakura did—he longed for it, desperately. And, in that longing, he knew that Zorc was deeply lodged in his soul. Shadow Bakura cackled quietly in the corner.

"That's none if your business," the Thief King growled. "Know your place. Just answer my questions."

The priest swallowed visibly. "I... I've never heard of any, pertaining to Zorc, specifically..."

"Pity..." Shadow Bakura said, with a slight shrug. "Well, he's told us everything he knows. Best to kill him, I think. Don't you, Thief King?"

Bakura did. If he's lying to me... about what he knows... then he deserves to die. And if he's telling the truth, then he's of no further use... and he might tell others about this...

The Thief King gave a put-upon sigh, then said, "Fine. Thanks for coming over, so late. If you learn anything else, let me know."

The priest, clearly relieved, stood. "Of course, Thief King. If you need anything else of me, please call. Never pay any mind to the hour."

Bakura rose, too; stretched, then took a sip of his coffee. "Eyy, Zorc," he called out, and the priest stiffened. Shadow Bakura began to chuckle. "If I kill him, will you let me get some decent sleep tonight?"

"I thought we just agreed that it was a good idea to kill him," Shadow Bakura said.

"Yeah, I know, and I do agree," Bakura said, picking up an ornate dagger—a trophy, from a heist, not one he usually carried. The priest stumbled backwards slightly. "But I like him, a bit. And he has been rather accommodating."

"I've never stopped you from sleeping, child," Zorc growled.

"Yeah, but it'd be a bit more restful if you didn't show up in my damn dreams."

As Shadow Bakura fell to a delighted cackling, something that could be called maniacal, Zorc gave an indulgent-sounding sigh. "Alright, Thief King. I'll keep to myself, tonight, if you kill him."

"Great." Fixing the priest with his gaze, Bakura drew the dagger. "I hope your dog-headed master takes good care of you, in the afterlife."

With half-coherent pleas, confused and desperate, the priest fell to his knees. But Bakura didn't falter; thrust the dagger deep into the base of the man's throat. The priest fell, twitching, and moments later lay still.

"Another rug, wrecked..." Bakura murmured, then rounded on his still-chortling effigy; sneered, "Quit that, already!" and gave an exaggerated yawn. "I'm going to sleep."

"You've earned it," Shadow Bakura crooned, as the Thief King lay down in his plush bed; he faintly heard the sounds of one of his underlings removing the body from his floor. Then he sank, blissfully, into undisturbed sleep, putting all his thoughts of Zorc aside for just one night of much-needed rest.

#thief king bakura #zorc necrophades #diabound #yu-gi-oh!#yugioh #fanfiction #tkb #tk bakura #TwRE #those who rule egypt #TCoK #the cost of kingship

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lovemesomesurveys · 7 years

Text

1) Have you ever heard of the singer Edith Piaf? I had to Google her, but I recognize one of her songs from a commercial.

2) Do you enjoy singing? Sure, when I’m by myself.

3) How far would you go to pursue the career of your dreams? If I had something I was passionate about pursuing and had the drive and motivation to do so, I’m sure I’d go as far as I could.

4) Would you ever cut friends out of your life it meant succeeding in that career? No.

5) Would you ever consider performing in a circus? No.

6) Have you/would you ever sing on the streets? No. Just because I said I like to sing that doesn’t mean I can sing well because I can’t. At all.

7) Is one of your parents in the military? No.

8) Have you ever been to a brothel? No.

9) Are you very religious at all? Yes.

10) If you’ve prayed before, has your prayer been answered? Yes.

11) Would you ever be interested in learning how to breathe fire? I’d be way too scared to ever come close. I don’t even like lighting candles.

12) Have you ever had an eye infection so bad that you went temporarily blind? No.

13) Do you know anyone who’s an alcoholic? No.

14) Have you ever injected any drugs? Just the IV kind while in the hospital.

15) Where’s the best place you’ve ever been on a road trip? The road trip to Idaho with my family and extended family a few years ago was a lot of fun.

16) Have you ever collapsed at any point before? No.

17) Do you ever get any excruciating back problems? I suffer from chronic back pain.

18) Do you know anyone who’s been killed in a plane crash? No.

19) Are you interested in boxing at all? Nope.

20) Is there any kind of meat that you absolutey despise? I’m very picky with meat, actually. I like beef, chicken, and pork, but only certain ways. What I mean by that is, I like hamburgers but not steak. I like chicken tenders and boneless wings, but not chicken on the bone or like rotisserie chicken. I like shredded pork and sausage, but not bacon or pork chops. I won’t even touch like lamb or any other kind of meat.

21) What’s the poshest restaurant you’ve ever been to? This one restaurant in a nearby touristy town.

22) Has someone ever brought you breakfast in bed before? Yeah.

23) Do you know anyone who has gotten into a serious car crash? Yes.

24) Have you ever knowingly been the “other woman”? No.

25) Has someone ever covered your bed in rose petals? Would you find something like that romantic? Nope. Yes, I’d like something like that.

26) Did you move around a lot growing up? Nope. I lived in the same house for a great chunk of my life up until about 5 years ago.

27) Have you ever gone to a restaurant and then realised you didn’t have enough money to pay? No. Gah that would be so awkward I would die.

28) Have you ever slept rough? Slept rough?

29) Are you flexible enough to become a contortionist? Uh, no. I’m not flexible at all.

30) Do you have any regrets or have you come to terms with your life so far? I have many regrets. :/

1) Do you know anyone who’s a veteran from WWII or from an even earlier war? No.

2) What’s been your worst experience staying in a hotel? I haven’t had any bad hotel experiences, actually.

3) Have you ever had an ingrowing toenail before? Did you have it taken out? Yes.

4) Do you like things like moose heads as decorations or not? No.

5) What’s your favourite dish in the world to cook? I’m not a cook.

6) Do you/does someone you know make extra money from selling paintings? My uncle, actually. He’s quite good.

7) Do you live anywhere near a beach? Yes.

8) Have you ever had any problems with getting building work done? I don’t do any building work?

9) Do you enjoy playing golf? If you’ve never played, would you be interested? Nah, it doesn’t look interesting to me.

10) Would you ever consider wearing a wig? Actually, I was talking to my brother about that last night. It started out as something Halloween related, but then I was like, man I wish I could afford the nice wigs or extensions so that I wouldn’t have to feel self-conscious about my hair and worry up the upkeep of the color, which I’ve slacked off majorly on for months. It needs to be dyed again so bad as well as a trim. I just don’t really like my hair, so if I could wear wigs or extensions it’d be nice.

11) Have you ever sent food back in a restaurant because it was just so bad? I’ve never had any bad experience like that, but my dad has. Once he ordered breakfast from this restaurant we often go to for breakfast and got what he normally did. However, this particular time the pancakes were burnt, the syrup was like watery, and there was something just off about the texture of the Canadian bacon that came with it. It was so bad that the manager actually tried it and agreed it was horrible!

12) Do you always seem to put your foot in it? Is this like the saying, “putting your foot in your mouth?”

13) Do you always make mistakes even when you try really hard not to? I’m great at that.

14) Have you ever been conned or scammed before? What happened? Back in the day when I actually fell for the stupid pop up ads that said my computer had a virus and I needed to get this virus protection program, which of course was in fact the virus. I was so naive back then.

15) Do you enjoy classical music? Some, yes. I have an appreciation for it. Especially piano pieces.

16) Are you one of those people who puts things off until the last minute? I’m a big procrastinator.

19) Do you enjoy a drink every evening, or do you not drink alcohol that much? I don’t drink alcohol at all.

20) Where would you like to go on your honeymoon? I doubt I’ll ever have a honeymoon cause I doubt I’ll ever get married, so.

21) Have you ever had concussion before? No.

22) Do you often find yourself yelling at inanimate objects when they won’t work? Yeppp.

23) Have you ever had a pet which has escaped? Did you find it? No, thankfully.

24) Does it annoy you when people dress their dogs up? Do you/would you do that? No. We do that with our dog sometimes. We don’t leave it on for a long time, and if she hates it we take it off.

25) Are you friends with someone whose first language is different from yours? No.

26) Would you be interested in becoming a chef? No. I’m not a cook at all.

27) Have you ever been drunk at work/at school? Did you get caught? No.

28) Does it annoy you when you see customers in hotels or restaurants being extremely rude? I hate when I see that anywhere. It’s just so unnecessary and uncalled for. Why don’t they understand that it gets them nowhere, and maybe talking like a rational person might get a lot more done. When they act like that it makes the person on the receiving end not even want to hear what they have to say anymore and are probably less accommodating and helpful in return. Had the person spoke calmly and respectfully, maybe they could get their point across better and something could be done. I get being frustrated, but it’s often misguided and handled in the wrong way.

29) Do you know anyone who is really hard of hearing? Does it annoy you much? Yes, and I feel bad because I know it’s something they can’t help but at the same time they kind of can because they could get hearing aids. Or in my papa’s case, actually use the ones he has.

30) Do you have trouble sleeping when it’s too hot, or can you cope? Ugh, yes. I absolutely cannot deal with it being too hot. I sleep with my ceiling fan and a desk fan, and it still gets hot sometimes.

#personal #text #survey #surveys

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8/25/2017

Today was my last time spending time with Elsie and Kevin before I go back to San Jose. I’m glad I got to. We made katsudon, and it was delicious, and then watched the new Death Note netflix film that came out today. Needless to say, it was horrible, but it was even worse than I had anticipated. Like, it was horrid. Awful. Irredeemable. I wrote an entire review on it, which I’ll add to the bottom of the journal.

I really don’t have much else to say, other than the fact that I’m going to miss them... But I’m excited to go back to San Jose on Wednesday, and I’m especially excited about SacAnime. I start really packing tomorrow.

Let’s do this.

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

Okay, I’ve never written a review for a movie before, but I’m doing it for the first time here because I hated this movie THAT MUCH. Keep in mind, for all of you who haven’t watched the original Death Note series, this review will be laden with spoilers. Proceed with caution.

Now, I want to make it very clear that I understand how impossible it is to put an entire series into one movie. Most times, I don’t mind artistic liberties taken or scenes removed to make the movie feature film-friendly, because copying something scene by scene just doesn’t work for a movie adaptation. However, I would expect that the very basics of a plot are kept, and that the overall themes and mood are kept intact. This was NOT done in this film. This showed just… a blatant disregard and disrespect for the source material. It was like they simply took a name that people love just for the sake of having it. They didn’t pay any respect AT ALL. Let me explain.

First things first: Plot. Again, I understand taking artistic liberties in order to keep pacing suitable for a feature-length film. However, this film kept nothing. I can’t even make comparisons because literally nothing even remotely matched up. They only kept the main cast of characters (sort of) and the mere presence of the Death Note. The RULES in the Death Note weren’t even the same. Not a single character acted like their original counterpart. I’m not blaming actors for this at all, because I can’t really complain about the acting. That was entirely the script’s fault. Shame on you, scriptwriters. If any of you have seen the original series and then watched this botched piece of work, you’ll know what I’m talking about. From the story, to Light’s economic status, to the the very existence of his mother, EVERYTHING is wrong. A story has three parts: rising action, climax, resolution. Not a single one of these was the same. You would think a live-action reboot would have those, AT LEAST. Consider Disney’s live-action reboots. Extremely unnecessary, nobody really asked for them, but at least they had the basics of the story down! At least they, like, watched the original and made an attempt to recreate it respectfully. They take artistic liberties, add new songs, change some details, BUT AT LEAST THE STORY IS GENERALLY INTACT.

Next: Theme. The original series was meant to create a gray area between the roles of “protagonist” and “antagonist”. It was meant to make you question whether you were rooting for Light or L, and make you sympathize with both of them for different reasons. There was no clear “good guy” or “bad guy”, and that’s what makes the show so interesting to its fans. Light Yagami was a straight-A honors student with a clean record, on his way to becoming an upstanding member of society. His downfall was the introduction of the Death Note. No, it wasn’t Ryuk, as this film makes it out to me. In the original, Ryuk was a neutral party. He was an observer. He was simply the delivery method for Light’s downfall. It was Light who fell into the temptation and took those steps in the direction of a serial killer. He had a god complex and took it upon himself to create a new world free of crime, thus becoming a criminal himself in the process. In the series, this was a clear parallel to the biblical story of Lucifer. It was basically spelled out for you in the ep opening. The apples that Ryuk loved were a parallel to the forbidden fruit, a symbol of temptation, and then a symbol for the Death Note itself. This series set out to make you actually consider the concept of mass-killing criminals for the greater good. This film totally destroyed those themes of grayed morals and home-brewed destruction. It turned Light into a victim of circumstance rather than a totally self-aware genius with a god complex, thus rendering the original major theme that made the series SO WIDELY LOVED completely useless. You were forced into seeing the concept of mass-killing criminals as evil, rather than legitimately considering it and then seeing that it will ultimately only lead to more destruction in the end. You don’t get to think. You don’t get to consider alternatives. You don’t get to think through Lights’ and L’s schemes and work through how brilliant both of them are. This film had so many other aspects that just… didn’t survive this remake. The close rivalry between Light and L that went above a simple state of enemies. The total control that both Light and L had over their own plans. (This one just withered and died. Light was only shown as a genius in mention. The ONLY time he showed it was in the very final scene. And L was just… disappointing.) I could go on about this for a few more paragraphs AT LEAST but I’m gonna stop here.

Next: Mood. This one is a little more excusable as compared to the other things but I’m gonna complain about it anyway. The original series’ mood was one of the things that made me really fall in love with it. With a mix of color choice, unmistakable art style, and music, it was a perfect combination of sterile calculated mindgames and intense dramatic action. The juxtaposition made everything so complimentary, so everything was that much more impactful. The film was just grunge over drama over brooding over action over more drama. I felt suffocated by the sheer amount of edgy gore-fest romance death montage. Plus, the religious symbolism and mind games of the show really made the mood. It was a show that forced you to think and follow along. It wasn’t something you could mindlessly watch.

So, in short, this film is just… a disappointment. As a standalone film, sure, MAYBE it deserves it’s 40-ish percent rating from critics. I, however, find this to be very generous. In fact, I find 20% rather generous, because as a reboot, it fails completely. If you had given my father a synopsis of the original plot and told him to make a movie from it, he could have made something worthy of that 40%. And my father is a total IDIOT.

TLDR; this movie sucks.

#august 2017

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