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she-wolf09231982 · 1 year

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Chapter 2-The Prodigal Soldier Returns

Summary: The day of the Super Solider Serum infusion arrives, and you may or may not emerge as the next gender bend Captain America. Either way, you survive Howard Stark’s experiment, and carry the torch supporting and defending the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic…and possibly intergalactic.

58 years later, Nick Fury and agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. discover Steve Rogers still alive and cryogenically preserved in ice. Rogers is returned immediately to New York for rehabilitation and recovery from his 66-year slumber under ice. When Steve is finally acclimated to his new 21st century life, he eventually bumps into you at the compound.

Author Note: Steve Rogers x Female!Avenger, Captain America x Female!Avenger, Y/N, L/N=Wolf, Reader!EnhancedAvenger, Avenger name She-Wolf, Avengers, Marvel movie references, Howard Stark, Maria Stark, Peggy Carter, Nick Fury, Agent Phil Coulson, S.H.I.E.L.D., story begins in 1953 ends in 2011, Military and Medical terminology, Pre/Post Captain America: The First Avenger, Pre Avengers

*Bold Italics represent character thoughts and flashbacks

~~~~~~~~

1953

The lab room suddenly became chaotic. Alarms started to sound off on the heart monitor connected to the Vita-Ray Chamber and red warning lights flashing. Your face began visibly wincing from pain in the window of the encasement you were locked into.

The serum made your blood pressure spike, edging you close to what could be a heart attack.

“Howard! Cut the infusion! Her heart rate is dangerously high!” Peggy called out over the commotion of white lab coats running around.

Howard Stark began to rush over to the main controls to shut down the serum transmission when he suddenly heard your voice through the container.

“NO! Keep going!” You pushed. You’ve worked too hard to stop now.

Peggy and Howard exchanged concerned glances.

“Stark, she’s only at 70% completion. If she’s already struggling now imagine what will happen to her at 100%.” Peggy cautioned.

Howard looked at the serum percentage meter indicating how much of the I.V. was imported into your blood stream. The meter continued to rise… 75%...80%...85%...

He glanced at your face in the viewing window of the chamber. Your eyes shut tight; jaw clenched doing your best to not black out.

…89%...90%...

“Stark??” Peggy yelled.

Your heart can take no more. Your heart rate reaches its limit causing you to go limp inside the box.

“Shut it down!!” Howard called out as he raced to the Vita-Ray Chamber door to force it open as fast as he could. Peggy joined him to assist.

You had flat lined. The sound of a steady drone from the heart monitor filled the room.

The extreme heat of the chamber had expanded the metal from within, making the door almost impossible to open.

One of the lab coats brought a crowbar to pry the latch. After a little bit of muscle and leverage, the door sprung open. Steam projected outward overflowing the room, blocking the view of you. Howard and Peggy began fanning the air so they could see you.

There you were, still vertically strapped in, head resting on your shoulder, eyes closed…still not breathing.

“…Howard.” Peggy said with breathy distress while looking at you.

Howard walked up to your lifeless form, placed two fingers to your carotid artery on your neck to locate a pulse. As soon as he pressed into your skin your eyes sprang wide open.

You gasp loud and harsh, frightening everyone in the room, causing Howard to fall backward into Peggy.

Exceptionally confused and panicked, your eyes darted side to side trying to get a grasp on what had just occurred. As the heart monitor machine came back to life beeping frantically, the lab started humming again, everyone calling out results and observations over eachother from their stations.

“Heart rate is detected and, on the rise…”

“Oxygen levels at 100%…”

“Blood pressure is getting high, Mr. Stark…”

“Her muscle mass increased by 70%!!”

“If we don’t calm her down, she may go into shock, Agent Carter…”

Peggy took the initiative.

“Everyone, simmer down!” She commanded the room. All the lab coats froze.

She walked over to you and in a soothing tone, spoke to you.

“Y/N, you’re going to be alright. The experiment was a success. You did it.” she said calmly.

She held your face firmly between her hands, so you focused on her. Your breath was short and fast as Peggy continued.

“Deep breaths, Wolf. In…” She inhaled with you.

“Out.” She exhaled with you.

You repeated this until you finally relaxed.

Howard approached you. “Y/N, how do you feel?”

You took a minute to assess yourself.

You noticed your white pajama set was suddenly quite snug. Some parts were even torn especially in the shoulder and thigh area. The hem of your pants that once hung closer to your feet were now shorter revealing your ankles and calves.

“I feel…taller?” You respond first. “And sweaty.”

Stark’s mouth curved into a triumphant grin. The serum worked. And it showed.

Your body was evidently more toned, developed muscles straining against the fabric of your white outfit. Pants now hanging at your calves instead of below your ankles, you’ve obviously grown at least 5 inches. You were a colossus compared to former your self.

Howard offered his hand to help you out after releasing the safety harnesses, but you stumble out like a newborn giraffe as both he and Peggy catch you before you hit the ground.

“Get a wheelchair over here now!” Stark called out.

He looked back at you. “This is the beginning of something big, Y/N. You are going to be part of some of the greatest stories in America’s history.”

You only nod at first since you are too weak to be excited about anything yet.

“Mr. Stark, I’d like to take a nap first if you don’t mind?” You finally responded.

The room chuckled in unison.

~~~~~~~~

2011

You spent the next 58 years battling local crimes in New York, and eventually deploying overseas mostly assisting medical squadrons or rebuilding critical structures for allies and joint forces in combat zones. You were utilized during conflicts such as The Vietnam War, Desert Storm, and The Global War on Terrorism. You were especially useful during Operation Iraqi Freedom clearing potentially hostile locations with Special Forces and patrolling with convoys to secure safe passage for American military to travel.

The Super Soldier Serum’s organic preservatives left you looking and feeling your best since the infusion in 1953. You didn’t look or feel a day over 25 in over five decades because of it. However, you were only able to withstand 90% of the serum’s deposit, therefore you weren’t at full potential of your superhuman capabilities, unfortunately. Nonetheless, you were still a success story in Howard Stark’s eyes.

Sadly, in December 1991 while you were tasked to a recovery detail in Eastern Europe, you returned to American soil to be met by an Agent Nick Fury with grave news. Howard Stark and his wife, Maria, were killed by a HYDRA assassin while you were away. This information absolutely ruined you. You didn’t take Howard’s death very well. You progressively became a shell of your former self, sinking into a depressive state. Since then, you became quite an introvert and kept a low-profile spending most of your time at the gym, in the library reading, or in your sleeping quarters.

Through it all, you still led a life of service to your country when called upon in memory of your surrogate father. Nick Fury assumed command of S.H.I.E.L.D. by this time and took you under his wing, making sure to commission you with new assignments to continue Stark’s legacy.

Even though you were one of Howard’s greatest accomplishments in decades, a resurfacing discovery by S.H.I.E.L.D had the entire compound particularly energetic today. You were leaving the gym and noticed all the lab coats buzzing back and forth whispering to eachother. You also hadn’t seen Fury in a few days, which was unusual because you would usually get a debrief from him of your assignments every night for the following day.

As that thought crossed your mind, he appeared before you.

“Y/N, just the woman I’m looking for. Come with me.” He ushered you down the hall.

You were utterly perplexed, but continued to follow him down the halls having no idea where he was taking you.

“Director Fury?” You began.

He continued walking at a brisk pace. “Hm?” was his response.

“Forgive me if I’m not up to speed on what’s happening here, but….”

You tread lightly about asking too many questions because Fury’s mind was obviously busy, and you weren’t sure if he was really listening to you. You pause as you arrive at a long observing window that peered into what looked to be a hospital room. He gestured towards the window.

“Have a look for yourself.” He invited.

You walk up to the glass and look through. In the hospital bed laid a man peacefully asleep.

Your heart stilled as you stared at this alluring stranger.

He had a thick head of blonde hair, disheveled strands laying softly across his forehead. A chiseled jawline, perfect nose, flawless skin, and the longest lashes any woman would be jealous of. And dear God, arms that look like they could crush concrete.

You stood there with your mouth agape staring at this brawny, angelic creature in front of you.

Fury tilted his head to the side observing your reaction. He was mildly entertained by your moment of shock that rendered you completely speechless.

“You know who this man is, Y/N.” He finally tells you.

You shake your head to snap out of your hypnosis. You look at Fury and raise an eyebrow at him. Clearly indicating you didn’t understand.

“Is that a question or a statement, sir?” You ask.

Fury chuckled as he continued.

“This, my friend, is the one and only Steve Rogers…TheCaptain America.” He explained.

You narrowed your eyes at him in disbelief.

“But sir…” You began.

“Yes, I know, but we discovered him conserved cryogenically under ice a few days ago.” He explained.

You look back through the window.

“Alive? But…how?” You manage to ask.

“Well, blood tests revealed that his blood contained excessive amounts of glucose as a result of his liver processing his glycogen storage, thus lowering the freezing temperature of blood-borne water and creating a 'cryoprotectant'. This process is similar to those of hibernating bears and wood frogs that metabolize glycogen in their liver to circulate ample amounts through their body to reduce the osmotic shrinkage of cells and prevents them from freezing. This, however, has never been seen before in humans.” Fury explained in a ‘matter of fact’ manner.

Your confusion must have reflected on your face because he reiterated by simply saying,

“Howard Stark’s preservative components in the serum allowed Rogers to survive freezing temperatures.”

You nod, “I see. You could’ve just led off with that, sir.”

~~~~~~~~

With Captain America resurrected, the atmosphere at the facility completely shifted. Agent Phil Coulson addressed the public to officially confirm Steve Rogers’ return. Which was an absolute honor for him since he was a huge fan of Captain America and everything he represents. All the lab coats walking around were all a flutter about Captain America’s presence in the building…especially the females which made you utterly nauseous.

You, on the other hand, thought everyone was being overdramatic. You were particularly curious about what would happen next, though. What did this mean for S.H.I.E.L.D.? For America? Where did this leave you? Questions stirred relentlessly in your head for days. Every thought of what could happen next now that Steve was back didn’t have a good outlook for you no matter which way you spun it. These intrusive thoughts keep your brain busy, causing you to lose sleep at night.

You became very irritable with the few people you came into contact with throughout the day, so you decided to spend more time training in the boxing gym hitting the heavy bag. Fury frequently gave you direct orders to hit the showers and sleep it off, which you begrudgingly comply with out of respect.

Fury knew you were less than pleased by Steve’s return, and he was correct in assuming so. Your mental and emotional balance was already thrown off by the passing of Howard and Maria. Now you felt your livelihood hung by a thread because of the sudden homecoming of the prodigal soldier. You felt resentment and anger with every passing thought. And as assignments grew scarce, there were less deployments to redirect your attention leaving you with little to no outlet for your concentrated emotions.

One sleepless night, you once again find yourself hooking deep punches into the midriff of a 100 lbs (45.359 kg) Everlast boxing bag. Your hands only ever wrapped in sports tape, your knuckles are constantly bruised and swollen by the excessive number of times you spend pummeling the cylinder sack.

Sweat beading on your forehead and soaking through your shirt, hissing out loud every time each hand makes contact, you’re so deep in the zone surrounded by fire and wrath that you didn’t notice Steve had entered the room. He stood there watching you intensely while holding his gym bag in one hand, as he held a towel in the other. You deliver one final blow to the bag, sending it across the room like a projectile into the brick wall opposite you. You stood there panting, staring at the pile of other destroyed boxing bags that you’ve launched with your fits of physical rage.

“Wow.” Steve said impressed with a half-smile.

You turn your attention to him, meeting his blue eyes from where you stood. Your eyebrows furrowed still trying to catch your breath. You realize it was only him, so you turned away without responding, (not before pursing your lips together in disdain while rolling your eyes). You pick up your hand towel and wipe your face, then retrieve a new heavy bag, lifting with one hand effortlessly hanging it, replacing the one you just demolished.

Steve coughed awkwardly, sensing the thick air in the room between the two of you.

You started to stretch in front of one of the mirrors that had a ballet barre, completely disregarding the man behind you.

“We haven’t formally met yet.” Steve stated.

You let out an audible exasperated sigh. You barely glance over your shoulder, almost acknowledging him, waiting for him to continue.

“I’m Steve Rogers. Brooklyn. It’s good to finally meet you…”

His voice was smooth and resonating…Like honey. He spoke deep from the chest and his voice projected, yet he didn’t need to yell. His voice just traveled through the room to you like music and almost had you melting into a puddle.

“Get it together, idiot…” You told yourself.

You decided to remain cordial. Even though you’d rather not engage with him at all, it’s what Howard would’ve wanted.

“You know who I am?” You finally responded with your back still facing him.

“I know of you, yes. Word is you were my protégé after I disappeared.” He replied.

“Is that all that was said about me?” You asked.

“Of course not.” He assured confidently.

You turned around while dabbing your neck with your towel, then draped it around your nape holding each end with your hands. You looked at Steve and started to walk towards him. Steve was positively handsome, and although he appeared intimidating and confident, he still had little experience interacting with women…especially if he found them attractive. As the gap closed between the two of you, his heart proceeded to beat faster. Your supersonic hearing picked it up right away, and you relished the effect you had on him.

Steve tried to diffuse his ascending apprehension as you stood feet from him.

“Um,” he started to scratch the back of his head bashfully, “if you’re up to it, maybe you can show me around the compound sometime?” He suggested.

You raise your eyebrows and inquisitively squint at him. Your mouth involuntarily curled into a grin because he looks so stinkin’ cute standing there tensed up in suspense, holding his breath, waiting on your response.

“Sure, Cap.” You say curtly. Steve let out a sigh of relief.

“Wanna start tomorrow?” You ask him.

“Uh, sure.” He replied.

“Meet me here at 0800?”

“Ok!”

You nod at him, shoulder your backpack and breeze past him without another word, leaving him slightly stunned and bewildered.

He watched you leave until he couldn’t see you anymore.

“Phew…that was exhausting.” Steve said out loud to himself.

You chuckle to yourself because you were totally close enough to hear that.

You kind of felt bad messing with him, but you’re the one that has seniority here. Even though he’s older than you and is the original super soldier, he’s “the man out of time” having been asleep under ice for almost 70 years. The horrific things you’ve seen and experienced during those years have hardened your heart and you weren’t one to coddle anyone anymore. Not even America’s favorite poster boy from Brooklyn.

~~~~~~~~

At 0745, you walk into the gym and see Steve sitting on a stool in a corner of the boxing ring. You shoot a perplexed look at him and smirk.

“How long have you been here?” You call out to him.

He looked up.

“Long enough.” He said simply smiling back.

“Waiting to go a few rounds with me, Cap?” You ask almost too flirtatiously.

Steve scoffed then stood up.

“No ma’am, I would never hit a lady.” He responded.

“I’m no average lady, Rogers.” You replied sternly. You weren’t about to let him categorize or underestimate you.

Steve’s smile faded to a look of fascination and curiosity.

“Should we head out then?” You ask.

Steve nodded and exited the gym with you.

~~~~~~~~

“I never knew a place could have so many…levels.” Steve said as you walk off the elevator where the living quarters were.

Up until now, you were the only one residing in dorms. Now Steve shared this building with you but had his room in another wing. It had a common area, an impressive kitchen, dining and living room and a full gym on a separate floor.

“S.H.I.E.L.D. obviously spared no expense.” You stated.

Steve nodded in agreement. He continued to admire the surroundings.

“So? What do you think, Cap?” You finally ask.

Steve looked at you confused.

You gesture to everything around you.

“All of this. What do you think?”

Steve let out a puff of breath and looked around again in thought.

“Well…” He started “it’s going to take a lot getting used to.” He finished.

“Mmhm.” You hum.

He continued.

“But I’ll manage.” He added confidently.

“I sure hope so.” A voice rang out from across the living room area.

Director Fury stood at the doorway, then proceeded to walk towards you.

“Director.” You greeted as he approached. He nodded at you.

“I see you two are getting along just fine.” Fury said with an almost visible smirk.

You released a faint laugh.

“Y/N has been very hospitable.” Steve responded earnestly then looked at you with a soft smile.

You felt yourself blushing when your eyes met his.

“Snap out of it, you idiot.” You scold yourself.

“Good, because one day, you’ll need to work as a team.” Fury explained.

You snap your head at Fury with anger rising in your chest like lava.

“Director??” You ask almost with panic in your voice.

Nick Fury released an irritated sigh, rolling his eye before facing you.

“Y/N, we discussed this. Why do you insist on acting this is the first time you’re hearing this?”

“Because, sir, I never agreed to it.” You pointed out.

“Last time I checked, Wolf, my title is ‘Director.’ I don’t need your consent nor your approval.” Fury retorted in a very parental tone.

Steve just sat, arms folded across his chest while his eyes flitted between you and Fury like he was watching a tennis game.

“With all due respect, Director, I refuse.” You declared.

“Excuse me?” Fury dared you to repeat.

“I refuse.” You restated boldly.

Fury began to open his mouth to reprimand you until Steve cut in.

“Ok now this is escalating quickly.” Steve said while inserting himself between you and Fury.

“Director, perhaps allow Miss Wolf and I to build more rapport before talking about working in the field together? We’ll cross that bridge when we get there.” He suggested.

Fury studied Steve, then looked at you.

“Fine. Understand this now, though, when you two are called upon, you will be responding…together.” Fury declared.

You only respond by crossing your arms. Fury turned on his heel and exited, leaving you there with this annoyingly reasonable and infuriatingly gorgeous super soldier.

~~~~~~~~

#marvel #captain america #captain america x you #captain america x reader #captain america x female reader #the avengers #marvel cinematic universe #howard stark #peggy carter #phil coulson #nick fury #chris evans #red white and blue #america's ass #stars and stripes #shewolf #the first avenger #agents of shield #super soldier

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katy-133 · 2 months

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TF2 Blender Guide: TF2 Walk Cycles (and Links to Other Cycles)

Image source: TF2 All Class Walk-Cycles by Steaky (Workshop page)

[A guide on how to apply an SFM walk cycle to a merc in Blender, in a similar way to using an animation library.]

Notes on Use:

Credit to Katy133 for porting is not needed.

Please read any additional notes (including in the Steam Workshop's description) for specific entries for permissions and crediting.

How to Use:

To import .dmx files into Blender, you can use the Blender addon Blender Source Tools: http://steamreview.org/BlenderSourceTools/

.dmx animations use FK (not IK/Rigify) rigs. The animations should work for both SFM and in-game models.

To use these in Blender, please follow this tutorial by hisanimations on how to make the FK rig work with .dmx imports by first importing the merc's ref.dmx: [Tumblr version does not include a download of this tutorial. A text summary version is to import the ref.dmx of the merc, go into Pose Mode, select all, select Apply -> As Rest Pose. Exit to Object Mode, rotate rig to the correct axis so that the merc is standing on the ground. You may now import a walk cycle to this FK rig.]

The needed ref.dmx files (mentioned in Hisanimations' tutorial above) for each of the mercs can be found attached to this post.

Alternatively, you can also download the in-game merc rigs pre-set up in this thread by MemeSquire [Tumblr version of this guide does not include a download of these files.]

For SFM models, if the arms look warped, select the arm tweaker controls and clear their values to 0. Thank you to MemeSquire for finding this solution.

[Works for both SFM and in-game models!]

Ported Cycles

[Tumblr version of this guide does not include downloads of the ported versions of the files, these are the originals.]

TF2 All Class Walk-Cycles by Steaky https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2700921048 This was ported for Blender by downloading the .dmx scene, opening it in SFM, and exporting each merc's walk cycle as a separate .dmx file.

TF2 Walk Cycles by _sfm https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=278944001 HL2 (Half Life 2) human walks applied to the mercs with animation fixes by _sfm.

Medic, Sniper and Spy Walk Cycle by Kal NavaLil https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1842082871

Spy Sneaking Animation by Kal NavaLil https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1552828276

Links to Other Cycles

Some weapon-less run cycles, sneak cycles, zombie walks, emotive walks (sad walk, angry walk, confident walk), and cycles for non-mercs (Miss Pauling, Saxton Hale) that I haven't ported, but wanted to link to below for people who are looking for more resources. These should be ready to use directly in Blender if you use Crowbar to download their .dmx files.

Crowbar: https://steamcommunity.com/groups/CrowbarTool

Scout:

Scout and Femscout Walk Cycle by Kal NavaLil: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1742795593

Cheerful Walk Animation for Scout by Kal NavaLil: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1503330167

TF2 - Scout Run Cycle by ProGamingNerd: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2540710472

Just Scout walk cycle by Pootisss: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2783180349

Suited Scout walk cycle by think: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1825710121

(Offset cycle that travels away from the Root) TF2 Scout Walk Cycle by FlawlessRemix: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=673478224

(Offset cycle that travels away from the Root) TF2 Scout Run Cycle by FlawlessRemix: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=674007955

Soldier:

Walk Animation for Soldier by Kal NavaLil: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1510113709

Zombie Walk [Soldier Only | Lazy] by Murtle: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1935591321

Pyro:

Pyro Weird Walk Cycle by Kal NavaLil: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1682737064

Pyro Tough Guy Walk by hellhounds04: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1392679004

Pyro Madman Run Cycle by CODAC: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2785382718

Demoman:

Demo Walk Cycle by Kal NavaLil: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1921505300

Grumpy Demo Walk Cycle by Darligt: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2612122998

Demo Walking Cycle and Light session by SynciNG: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1719635990

Heavy:

Heavy Walk Cycle "MvM Style" by Murtle: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2561383425

Heavy Walk Cycle by Murtle: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2492760340

Heavy Run Cycle by Kal NavaLil: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1215702456

Heavy Walk Cycle by Kal NavaLil: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1657333218

Heavy Tough Walk Cycle by Kal NavaLil: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2076017498

Heavy Confident Run Cycle by CODAC: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2786924701

Heavy zombie walk by Honey_Fly: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2452007693

Engineer:

Engineer Walk and Run Cycle by Kal NavaLil: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1800241824

Sniper:

Sniper cringy walk by CODAC: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2784367979

Misc characters:

Walk Cycle for Deathmatch Guy by Winona Scissorshands: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1924632630

Miss Pauling Walk Cycle v.2 by Kal NavaLil https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1828374281

Saxton Hale's Run Cycle by Murtle: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2968889734

Stonewall Jackson Walk Cycle by Kal NavaLil: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1588888881

#my blender guides #tf2 #blender #team fortress 2 #my text

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electricprincess96 · 5 months

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What do you make of the change the New52 made with Catherine and Sheila in Jason's Death storyline?

Despise it. And I've argued with plenty of other so called Jason fans on this one. They all hated Sheila and were happy to see her removed from canon but the fact is all they did was give her story to Catherine thus tainting the one good person Jason had in his early childhood. Jason fans need to realise you're meant to hate Sheila, she sold a young boy, her own son out to the Joker. They also need to realise just cause someone is bad to Jason doesn't mean they shouldn't exist for the purposes of the story. Sheila being an awful mother, an awful person, is necessary for Jason's story while tainting Catherine with that storyline removes the one adult figure in Jason's life that he felt didn't actively seek to hurt him even if she still let him down in another way.

Jason feeling ostracised in Bruce's family, finding out Catherine wasn't his birth mother and realising he had a chance at a parental connection with someone who might appreciate him only for that woman to turn him over to the Joker is heartbreaking and contributes to Jason's later unwillingness to trust people (unless you're Talia cause for some reason DC and some Jason fans think that woman is a saint when she used Jason just as much as everyone else, if not worse in many ways and is no better than many of Batman's other Rogues). However, despite this betrayal Jason still tries to save Sheila in the end showing that despite what DC want us to think nowadays about Jason as Robin, he was good at heart, he died a hero, trying to save a woman who sold him out and watched as he was beaten bloody with a crowbar. This is integral of Jason's character, it shows that he was more than the cautionary tale that Batman and modern DC want to turn him into. He was a hero.

Also easily the worst part about the change in the New52 is it makes Jason's entire life the product of some scheme by the Joker. I hate that. Not everything in comic books needs to be some massive conspiracy. Sometimes things can just happen coincidentally. Jason was not the only orphan (or in this case fake orphan since Catherine was not dead in this scenario) on the streets, Batman could have stumbled across any of them, the fact he takes Jason in is entirely because of actions Jason chose to take, no one manipulated Jason into stealing the Batmobiles tyres.

For people who don't know basically in New52 Sheila was replaced with Catherine. Catherine was originally Jason's step mother in Post Crisis Canon but was changed here to be his biological mother. In original canon Jason's father was killed by Two-Face and Catherine died of an "illness" speculated to either be a drug overdose or some form of cancer that she took drugs to try and dull the pain. Regardless Jason ends up orphaned on the streets and then found by Batman when he steals the wheels off the Batmobile to try and sell them for money. Then Jason finds out Catherine is not his real mother and goes searching for Sheila and finds her in Ethiopia where she's working with the Joker (admittedly unwillingly but she's being blackmailed due to her stealing charity funds so honestly I don't feel bad for her in that situation) and Jason tells her he's Robin and can help her with the Joker and instead of taking him up on that offer she sells him out to the Joker.

In New52 the Joker meets Jason pre death of his parents and orchestrates everything. Willis Todd's death, he fakes Catherine's death to leave Jason "orphaned" so that he'll be taken in by Batman and made into Robin, he then threatens Jason by revealing Catherine is alive and that's how he gets Jason to the warehouse where he beats and kills him.

I just hate that. I hate the idea that the Joker basically controlled every part of Jason's life even BEFORE he killed him. Newer DC writers seem obsessed with Jason being a puppet to the Joker due to him being Red Hood, constantly tied to the clown rather than acknowledging Jason taking the name Red Hood is his way of regaining some agency in his own life by taking from the man who took from him. But to a degree I can understand thinking post resurrection Jason is in a way controlled by the Joker, his existence affects Jason. Having the young boy who thought being Robin made him magic also just turn out to be one of the Jokers sick pet projects is just callous, cruel and ultimately adds nothing substantial to Jason's character arc. It was poor writing and I'm thankful for the most part more modern comics seem to have tried to distance themselves from this god awful retcon and that fans seem to have never accepted it as canon to begin with.

The New52 Outlaws run had its moments but I'll he honestly I'm not a huge fan of Lobdell's storylines, overall characterisation wise i think he normally nailed Jason decently well but some of those plots were.... just not good. This is absolutely, 100% one of the worst ones.

#princess answers asks #dc comics blogging #batman comics blogging #jasom red hood todd

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crowley-the-1-true-king-of-hell · 2 years

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It feels painful to watch Crowley get beaten up post season 8x22

Lucifer and the puppy

Demon Dean and shoving him

Amara and knocking him on the head

Lucifer and whacking tf out of him

Abbadon punching him instead of rescuing him

I know in season 5 Crowley was shot at by Bobby. In season 6, he was smacked with a crowbar into a devil's trap. In season 8 he groaned in pain from the holy water etc

So like I don't have a problem with people getting the physical upperhand on Crowley. But pre 8x23 Crowley handled it all like a boss. Like even if he was on the ground he gave of vibes of someone with dignity even if his opponents had the physical upperhand in that moment

So how did he do this?

After the Holy Water trap by Kevin Crowley stands tall and proud as he snaps Channing's neck

After being shot by Bobby he dramatically said ow and something about his suit to play it for laughs and then teleported behind Bobby like nothing happened

In season 6 he joked about his suit being ruined again and did the unexpected and kicked Meg's legs out from under her. Crowley uses his powers so often that we forget he is also an expert in hand to hand combat

Post 8x22 he just gets beaten up

I will make an exception for 9x2 though. Because Crowley sat there like a king who just had his nails painted 💅 after Kevin tortured him with a sledgehammer. Especially his lines

Not at all. You can consider them fair trade for the enjoyment that Kevin gave me.

He's my new favorite toy. Wind him up, watch him go.

Crowley goes from sometimes he gets physically beaten because he is NOT OP but is still badass to being a punching bag and it is painful to watch

#Crowley spn #Kevin Tran #Bobby Singer #Meg Masters #Either #Supernatural #Lucifer spn #Demon Dean Winchester #Demon Dean #Amara #Abaddon #990408

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fantastic-nonsense · 2 years

Note

Please may I ask about the "Leave Me and Live" WIP? (You have so many interesting sounding ones!) :)

leave me and live, my beloved and my beloathed. I've been working on this fic for over a year and I just can't seem to make it go anywhere. It's about Jason Todd and his accidental mother/mother figure acquisition habit, written because the boy canonically collects women who either want to mother the shit out of him or could have wanted to (in a better world), but he also loses basically all of them. Each section of the fic is designed to explore Jason’s relationship with one of his moms, canonical mother figures, or a woman who reasonably could have been like a mother to him had fate been kinder and DC wasn't so obsessed with making Jason Daddy Issues™: The Character.

Unfortunately, because of my obsessive need to make this particular fic as canon compliant as possible (within reason) and my desire to work across multiple universes (pre-Crisis, post-Crisis, post-Flashpoint, DC Bombshells, etc), I keep stalling out while writing it because of the sheer amount of research and re-reading I have to do for each section. It's also ended up being much longer than I expected it to be; it's currently ~10k and nowhere near done.

Anyway, here's a very tiny snippet I haven't shared yet, from the Sheila Haywood section:

Somehow, in the midst of his suffering, he locks eyes with Sheila. They stare at each other for a long moment, locked for the barest second in a battle of wills. His mother looks away. Then the crowbar comes down again, and Jason is once again lost to the pain. And Sheila, unable to watch, turns away and lights a cigarette.

Thanks for asking! 🥰

Ask me about one of my WIPs!

#I genuinely wanted to share a bit from the Selina Kyle section but I don't like any of it enough to share publicly yet #so you get another Sheila snippet instead #my writing #jason todd #fic: leave me and live #dc comics

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swampgallows · 1 year

Text

btw iwasnt trying to be fearmongering by calling the vaccines outdated i was more in the mindset of refuting people who go “umm but im vaccinated sooo no big deal right?” which is exactly what was happening in the notes of that post. believe me i would LOVE for covid to stop disabling people and being as monstrous as it is (I WANT TO FUCKING GO OUTSIDE. I WANT TO GO TO SWEATY FILTHY WAREHOUSE RAVES AGAIN AND CONTINUE PURSUING MY CAREER IN DENTISTRY) but we are objectively not there yet, not when over a quarter of the people who get covid end up with longterm symptoms. even if we truly “let er rip” and magically not one person died of acute onset that would still leave over a quarter of the population disabled. hello? those good numbers to you?

not to mention literally 90% of people who ended up with long covid had a “mild” case in 2020-2021, aka were not hospitalized, so even the metric of “well hospitalizations have gone down!” doesnt mean shit in terms of how it can crowbar your entire body

We found that patients who were hospitalized for COVID-19 had a greater risk of developing long COVID – and of having longer-lasting symptoms – compared with people who had not been hospitalized. However, because the vast majority of COVID-19 cases do not require hospitalization, many more cases of long COVID have arisen from these milder cases despite their lower risk. Among all people with long COVID, our study found that nearly one out of every seven were still experiencing these symptoms a year later, and researchers don't yet know how many of these cases may become chronic.

this article is from jan 2023 but the data sets are pre-omicron so i dont have the numbers on what post-omicron long covid numbers look like (i could go find em but its 5am and im just bitching on my blog). either way i dont think saying “oh covid is endemic” just because people arent being hospitalized as frequently (though who can say, since cases and hospitalizations arent even being tracked or reported anymore, and what is reported has been drastically misrepresented by the CDC since 2022) means that covid and newer variants are no longer a concern. im not saying xbb will outright kill you but it can certainly rob you of your will to live. and honestly whats the downside at this point lmfao like oh no people were TOO careful and protected each other!!!! people got worried so they stopped gatherings for a while and wore masks when they went out!!! like boo hoo hoo. welcome to where ive been since dec 2019. what’s the alternative? waiting for droves of empty bassinets and schoolrooms, polio-style, before you go “oops, maybe they had a point”?

#covid

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benbamboozled · 2 years

Note

Give me your thoughts on Jason for the ask game :)

Oh look and also @paigeoforacle got in on this one!

HOKAY, here we go!

1. Assuming you had to write the character for the New 52 era reboot (as in, rebooting from Post Crisis) how would you write them? Anything you would change?

So if I had to reboot Jay from scratch…

I mean, honestly? I think I would really only change a few things.

—Instead of stealing the Batmobile’s tires, I’d have Bruce catch Jason stealing whatever the Batmobile equivalent of a catalytic converter is (which btw my mind always wants to call those “flux capacitors” and never provides the correct term). Just to kind of update the setting (and actually he could have a crowbar to pry up the Batmobile’s HOOD, so, HEYYYY!).

—I would leave the source of his resurrection a complete mystery. I would throw out a few theories in the narration, but I would not confirm any of them. Ultimately, I think this is the way to go all around, because WHY Jason’s came back to life isn’t really the point of his story.

—I would actually SHOW JAY BECOMING COOL WITH BRUCE AGAIN HOLY SHIT??

Oh, and obviously keep pre-boot Jay’s Mean Little Bitch personality, because I miss it.

2. A single change from 52, Rebirth or Infinite Frontier you would keep.

NO. REDHEAD. JAY.

EVER.

E-V-E-R.

Ever.

3. Your top 3 changes from 52 and on you hate.

(Oh only three haha! Lolsob.)

—Stoic Sad Sack!Jason Todd. Literally, pre-Flashpoint Jason Todd and post-Flashpoint Jason Todd are two entirely different characters AND I HATE IT. Jason being depressed? GOOD! Jason being whatever the hell Lobdell was doing? BIG NOPE FROM ME.

—Everything that happened with Willis and Catherine Todd. What even is the status quo anymore? Is Willis still Wingman??? (I think Catherine got rolled back to “doing what she could” which I approve, but Willis is still a big ?????)

—THE FACT THAT JASON JUST GOT ROLLED BACK INTO THE BATFAM AND WE NEVER GOT TO SEE HOW. WHY was that not explored in the narrative??? WHY!!!!

Okay so as per the original post I’m gonna tag in…

@arkhamnyanight @prodigworl @hussyknee @disniq @peacockbastard (I know you don’t normally do these kinds of things but I wanna hear your opinions) aaaaaand @forcesofnatureunleashed

(But also if I see this popping up on my dash from any moots I’m gonna be in your askbox needing your salt!)

#ask answered #I’m shocked SHOCKED that the first character requested was jason todd!#I don’t have absolutely everything about nu52 Jay but the stuff I hate I *really* hate.

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creetchure · 2 years

Note

OH I WATCHED UNDER THE RED HOOD AND WOW I FORGET HOW HORRIBLE IT US WATCHING JASON GETTING BEAT UP W A CROWBAR

all of his actions! are justified i still do not think he was at all in the wrong w becoming like a sort of crime lord. red hood more like slay hood

i will say! that (and maybe the comics go into more depth w the backstory to why he even went after the joker) i kinda like the way they built up his death in the titans.

i will now explain bc it’s actually my favorite arc ever.

jason todd was tossed around in the system, yeah. obviously this causes mistrust w authority, duh. finally, fucking bruce wayne takes him in and suddenly he’s actually helping his community. the community he suffered in and saw others suffering around him and continues to see suffering!! so obviously that’s like so amazing and great.

except. then he starts feeling like batman is holding him on a leash. there isnt total trust both ways — he feels like he’s worth more than anyone is giving him credit for (teen struggles but ur a vigilante!! uh oh).

so when he gets sent to the titans he is really fuckin pissed. it’s just further proof that bruce/batman doesn’t actually believe in him as a proficient fighter (even though, while some of that might be true, im sure bruce wanted him to also gain new perspectives. not the point though).

and then of course he gets fucking traumatized to all hell from almost dying after running off on his own without thinking things through bc yet again he feels chained down. so he’s dealing w that when he gets back go gotham.

and bruce notices! and is like “hey you should go to therapy” but jason already lost some amount of trust so is like “hm no im *fine* let me *fight*” he sees therapy as an admission to weakness etc etc.

he eventually is kinda forced to go (no fight until therapy) and it helps for about a second until he just fuckin. convinces himself that it’s rigged against his favor. so batman totally grounds him and he then he goes to fight the joker alone and. yeah.

but it’s just so?? like?? idk it’s so. it makes so much sense. everyone’s side makes sense and i think that’s why i love it so much. idk how much of this correlates w the comics but the red hood movie did Not go into very mucb detail and i know that wasn’t the point of the movie but it was still a little disappointing somehow. i still super duper enjoyed it though. for sure very much super good movie/gen

and the fight sequences!!! ugh i love love love animated fights. how do they do that??? so much talent.

gotta say, i wasnt expecting so much from titans, fromwhat little ive heard about it. BUT. counterpoint. your honor, you should also watch Batman: Death in the Family. Goes into a lot of why jason went to ethiopia in the first plac e that ties in with him not knowing who he is outside batman, etc.

my main rec for post revival jason is teen titans #29 from either the 2003 or 2007 run i cant rmbr

OK spoilers for death in the family below, thoughPLEASE please pleaseread or watch it its SO worth it. its what shapes Batman into what he is now, changes a Lot of his motivations.

ok ? ok!

in comic canon, jason is a crime alley kid, that hasnt changed, but the difference i think is rhat its batman whi takes him in. he tries to steal the batmobiles tires, and bruce drops on him in full costume to buy him a hamburger and iffer him to stay.

one thing youll see people say is that jason was the angry/violent robin, and while i disagree on that whole thing, it is where most of his and bruces issues stem from pre-death.

he gets benched. he finds out catherine todd isnt his biological mother and in a fit of teenage angst and rebelion, decides flying to ethiopia is the way to deal with that, to try to find his bio mom.

and he does!! him and vruce find her!! only issue is: she sells jason out to the joker, who was blackmailing her.

so jason is there. he wat hed his mother sell him out. hes getting tortured nearly to death, and then you see what happens at the begining of under the red hood, except whatq not shown there is that jason died taking the burnt of thz blast for his mom.

tbe nextcomic is i thunk the ling halloween which introduces tim and a whole lot of iddues, superman has to stop him from killong etc.

what id rec for other post revival jason content is from the 2003 (i think, might be 07?? unsure) teen titans run, issue #29, which has a confrontation with tim that is so. so heartbreaking man. i love it but also holy fucking shitballs.

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kiba-the-lucky · 2 years

Text

Disco Elysium (SPOILERS)

I played through Disco Elysium a while ago. I recommend it if you haven't tried it yet... Don't buy it though, money doesn't go to the original devs anymore, and the people it does go to are shady af.

So, I had tried to play through the game before, but was never really able to actually get through much of the game. Very un-motivated at the time.

But a while ago I actually started a playthrough I'd be able to finish, and I gotta say, I love the game, best game ever made to be honest. Genuinely beats out any other game I've ever played, and that I'd ever play. So I'm making this post to share my experience, and the paths I took to complete it.

Day 1

Sobriety

I easily remembered the whole of the intro, the first day is all I've played at this point, and anything outside of the intro in the Whirling in Rags I did not remember.

I chose one of the template builds, the Thinker, and immediately started thinking of what kind of character I wanted this sad sad man to be. I ultimately decided in making him an ace detective, and horrible socialite, and also swearing him off of alcohol. Pretty much the opposite I imagined he was like before the INCIDENT.

He woke up, he grabbed his things, took a look in the mirror, and saw the beautiful man I would be playing for the rest of the game.

Behold!

He went outside to grab his other shoe, and then conversed with his neighbor for a bit, her being confused at his lack of understanding of who, what, where, why, and how he is. He goes downstairs and meets Kim Katsuragi, his new partner. When asked his name, he came up with "Raphael Ambrosius Costeau." This obviously wasn't his name, as faint bits of memory would later return in the form of "Harrier".

He would then go on to talk to the few people inside the Whirling in Rags at the time, learning about his new debt, and his job as a police officer. Learning about the world as he investigates. Once arriving at the crime scene he immediately throws up. Putting off investigating the body until later. He would investigate everyone around the crime scene, and those at the traffic blockade nearby. Getting a bit of a picture, multiple men carrying a man from a mercenary group to hang him on a tree, the main questions being: Why? Who? Was the man alive at the time, or already killed? He came back to the body, somehow resisting the urge to hurl his internal contents out into the now pre-stained ground. he was able to investigate some while the body hung, but he had an idea, a better idea. Asking for Kim's gun, he was somehow able to convince Kim that he would be able to shoot the body down. And he did it, after all, even if he doesn't remember, he took more off days at shooting ranges than anyone else in his precinct. He was a skilled shooter, and he knew it.

He tried his best to inspect the body, and did a decent job at it, but felt like he wasn't done, and took the body to a fridge to keep it cold to investigate tomorrow. He then went to go talk to the one person available he had not contacted yet.

God, he's ugly.

Managing to avoid sitting in THE CHAIR, he was able to get some information out of Evrart, namely the location of his gun, a rather important thing to have, and a bad thing to lose. Who knows what sort of malicious individual could have found it, and be actively using it for CRIME??

He took the money from Evrart, not because he was agreeing to help him, but because he needed to pay his debt.

He passed by the shipping container, and after yelling at the doors once, he pulled out his crowbar and tried to pry the doors open. In absolute disbelief, he managed to

WHAT THE FUCK

Quickly forgetting about what just happened, and whether or not he thinks capitalism is even an okay practice, he absconds with even more money than he came in with. And investment he said, somehow finagling a cool hundred into his pocket.

At this point, there wasn't much left to do, he had people to interrogate still, but they were elsewhere at the time. So he went back to his room, paid off his debt, and slept the day away.

...But not before tricking Kim into sleeping, and stealing the boots off the dead body, vowing to find the rest of the armor.

Day 2

The Hardie Boys

He went through a whole day without drinking, this is good, this is healing. He knew what he needed to do this day, and first went to investigate the body, as it was early in the day, and the Hardie Boys weren't at their spot yet.

He looked over spots he had already looked at before, but noticed something new.

A bullet hole, in the back of the neck of the body.

This is it, this is new, this implies that the hanging was not the true cause of death, or at least puts it into question.

He was hung post-mortem.

He went to the Hardie Boys for their interrogation at this point. They proved to be very... Strange. It's like they wanted to make themselves seem guilty, practically admitting outright that they hung the body, that they killed them. With the evidence of the bullet hole, this seemed off.

There was nothing else to do at this point.

He went to talk to someone who was near the tree where the body hung, and got directions to a piece of armor.

Harrier told Kim to bring the body back to the police while he went to sleep after a hard day's work.

Day 3

Communism

At this point, Harrier is getting a semblance of personality, a crucial part of any personality being, of course, politics. Harrier became a communist, partially due to the debt really cementing in his mind the idea of the cost of living being bullshit, but mostly just reflecting the beliefs of the player controlling him, who is also a communist.

Before his time, his prime time, Harrier's prime time, there was a war that broke out on this island, a fight between a group of revolutionary communists, and the government, a fight which, ultimately ended with the government winning. Of course, by the time of Harrier, this war was a distant memory of the older people of the island, specifically two people, two possibly gay men who both fought on different sides of the war.

A thought in Harrier's head as he investigated more of the surrounding areas of the body, was that, what if he, himself was the reincarnation of the founder of communism, Kras Mazov?

This was a stupid thought. He kept this thought for the rest of his life.

I'm starting to forget many small details at this point, so I'm going to skim through things.

At this point, Harrier was going into the fishing village, and there... He found his lost badge. In a car. Crashed into the ground. After it had been driven over the bridge connecting the village to the city. Which broke the bridge.

Harrier also joined a group of communists, although it wasn't what he expected, he had a good time with them, whether or not they are fit to lead a new-era revolution. They were fun.

During this time, Harrier also got really into the idea of cryptozoology. Becoming friends with a patron at the Whirling in Rags, and being asked to find her husband, a cryptozoologist. He was found at the fishing village, and he started helping him catch a cryptid, a sort of large bug of sorts, setting traps and lures to try and catch it.

At this point, he also talked to a friend of said cryptozoologist, noticing something strange about him, he got this friend to reveal that he had been keeping, and wearing, a piece of armor belonging to the hanged man.

He had acquired all of the pieces of armor he could at this point.

Day 4

Pew Pew

Today was the day. The day the gun would be found. Harrier's pistol.

It had originally been sold to a pawn shop, then bought by someone, and until today, the identity of that person was a mystery.

That person is "The Pigs", a policiphiliac, a wannabe cop. Possibly insane. Taking multiple things belonging to police, she pretended to be one. In front of the police. Harrier managed to talk her down, and was able to acquire his pistol, before telling her off and continuing the investigation.

It was at this point Harrier had found his style. He was a communist, unfortunately trapped within a reality of ultra-captialism. And at this point he didn't care who knew, which was perfect as he had found a had, a winter hat, worn by those during the war who had sided with the commune.

And thus. Harrier, ultra-communist, was finished.

And he looked damn good.

He also became very good friends with Kim yesterday, and was able to show off his sick pinball skills to him, managing to actually win a game. I only just remembered that.

His investigation was going well, as he was talking to his neighbor again. Klaasje. With her, investigating reports of sexual assault by the victim, reported by the Hardie Boys, although unintentionally. Harrier almost had a mental breakdown, losing touch with his multiple thought-personalities in the process of interrogating her. She revealed to him what actually happened with the victim...

Ellis Kortenaer, an Oranjese mercenary, and Klaasje's lover. During a party involving the Hardie Boys, she and Ellis had went up to her room, and FUCKED had private involvements within. This caught the attention of a so-called corporate assassin, who then shot Ellis in the back of the neck, while he was on top of her. Using his high perception, Harrier took into account the angles, the bullet hole in the window of the balcony, and where Ellis would have been when he was shot.

He deducted that there would only be three places where a possible killer could have be posted.

Klaasje, afterwards fearing that the bullet that hit Ellis was meant for her, and thinking if she covered it up as a group hanging it would not be noticed by who was after her, she gathered the Hardie Boys and another accomplice, deeply involved with the drug issues in Revachol, to fake a hanging.

Kim suggested they arrest her, but another option was to give her a note that makes her obligated to turn herself in.

Harrier took this option, at the behest of his easily-manipulated psyche, his inner thoughts, his personality. Although his volition was against it, his gut feeling, it told him to get Kim to arrest her here and now, but Harrier was too easily convinced by his other, compromised thought-patterns.

Within the day, he investigated two of the earlier mentioned killer's locations, noting that one has had no human life within it for weeks, if not months, the other, he was unable to rule out, being very secluded.

He then investigated a lead from an earlier delve into a drug trafficking ring. Below, where he found his revolutionary hat, in a secret tunnel network. He was assaulted by the accomplice of the fake hanging, Ruby, although not a willing accomplice. Using a device to disorient the two detectives, but after they destroy the device, she threatens to shoot herself. Harrier manages to de-escalate the situation, promising not to arrest her if she puts the gun down, and telling her they just want to talk to her. She does drop the gun, but runs afterwards, back towards central Revachol. Following her, the detectives stumble upon a most troubling scene...

The Mercenary Tribunal

The time has come, a promise from the mercenaries fulfilled. On this day, they have come to exact their revenge. Confronting the Hardie Boys. The detectives intervene, guns drawn, they try to talk down the mercenaries, trying to convince them that they know who did it, that the killer is going to be found soon, but nothing works. They say they already know who did it.

Bullets fly. Time slows to a halt. Harrier has just shot the leader of the mercenaries. He tries to yell for his comrades to shoot him, but he collapses before words could leave his hole-abundant mouth. The mercenary full clad in armor raises his rifle, but Harrier manages to dodge it, while Kim aims a shot at the man. Harrier notices the mercenary standing next to the leader raise her gun, towards Kim. Before he could call out, two shots ring out. Kim is unscathed, and the fully clad shooter is killed instantly... A member of the Hardie Boys has been shot. The leader, in his dying breath, his final moments of living, shoots Harrier.

Harrier blinks, collapsed on the floor, in pain too immense to describe. A lot of good the armor did him, he thought, as he bled out on the ground, seeing in his fading vision a figure, walking up to Kim who is trying to make sure Harrier is still alive. Harrier yells out to Kim.

Day 5

Harrier Du Bois

In the Whirling in Rags, Harrier wakes up, Kim standing next to his bed, explaining the situation, and aftermath. Two Hardie Boys have been killed. All of the mercenaries are dead. Harrier is in too much pain to move properly, unable to run too much, lest the pain take him. He decides to continue the investigation anyways, just one last place to look before it's all over, an island, an abandoned base back during the war.

Harrier, trying to feel better, brings a radio on the ride to the island. It feels badass. He feels badass.

Arriving, he makes his way up to the spot he had seen from the balcony of the Whirling in Rags. On the way, he spots a man, a very old man carrying a gun used by the communist revolutionaries.

After some time of questioning, Harrier discovers this man is a deserter of the army that fought for the commune in the war. The deserter explains some things, finally tired of the life he had been living all these years.

He had been spying on Klaasje from the island, and through a peephole inside the Whirling in Rags back rooms, watching her every move, watching her sleep every night, wake up every morning, watching her stand on her balcony in fear and contentment. He developed feelings for her, through these times watching her, leaving her flowers on her balcony that bloom mainly on the island he lived on.

Something is wrong with him, clearly, but something else is there. Another presence, which shouldn't be there, shouldn't exist.

Cryptid

The creature the cryptozoologist had been chasing the whole time. It was real. It was controlling the deserter through pheromones, controlling his brain processes, making him ignore its presence, but also making him go slowly insane the whole time he had been on the island, and live longer than he had any right to. Once it appears, the link is severed, and the deserter falls limp, catatonic.

Harrier touches it, linking his own fractured psyche with the creature. The conversation is long, a talk about the pale, a mysterious force akin to radiation, that appeared along with humans to the world, although Harrier, for a moment, thinks its talking about him when it mentions the pale coming into existence with "you". It talks about the bad relations between flora and fauna, and humans, with the creatures of the world believing humans will bring the destruction of everything, eventually. It talks about its own history, about how it, as a species, has gone unnoticed for over 4,000 years.

Harrier urges Kim to take a photograph. As soon as he does, Harrier moves away, sensing hostility building up in the creature.

The creature leaves, and leaves behind its nest. In the middle of which lies a helmet, the last piece to the set of Fairweather T-500 ceramic armor.

The detectives agree to leave and, when they get back, they find police officers gathered, finally catching up to Harrier, wanting to take him off the case, thinking he'd do irreparable damage to the stability of the investigation, not knowing that he had already completed his investigation.

The police have no idea of Harrier's recovery over the past week, Kim, having become very close friends with him very quickly, backs up Harrier saying that he has completely stopped drinking, and become a very good cop as well, at the same time also becoming extremely communist, though Harrier insists it won't interfere in his work.

They reluctantly accept this, and the evidence of a cryptid with the photo that Kim took, and in the end, Harrier is back to work, along with Kim who agrees to be his partner for good.

That was my completed playthrough of Disco Elysium. And I will never play it again. I feel like if I even make one, tiny, small choice that differs from my original playthrough, I'll be betraying my original experience of the game.

I recommend, even after reading through basically the entire main plot of the game, and spoilers on the ending, that you still play through the game. This was just my one perspective, and you could get a WILDLY different experience from this. You could become a fascist if you want, or a hyper-capitalist. Or a liberal. You can become a superstar cop, or a cop who is sorry all the time.

For me, I played through the boring cop communism, while accidentally dabbling into capitalism by constantly asking for money from people.

Please don't buy the game. Play it though.

#disco elysium #spoilers #harrier du bois #kim kitsuragi

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miss-m-calling · 9 days

Text

Trick or Treat 2024 letter

Dear writer,

Hello and thank you for writing for me! My requests are Almost Famous, Interview with the Vampire (TV), Justified, and Starred Up. I am requesting fic, and treats are enabled. :-)

Please don’t worry about whether whatever you write for me fits Just So within the treat/trick framework! I am requesting both treats and tricks for all my canons, and anyway I see that as more broad hints of preferred general flavor of fic, rather than as strict guidelines.

General likes:

-pre-canon, canon, post-canon, canon-divergent, and missing-scene stories

-character-driven as well as plot-driven stories

-fics which mix humor and angst/serious business (when this fits the canon)

-characters at work and play

-group dynamics, family dynamics (including constructed families), professional partnerships, friendships, alliances, rivalries, intimate couples (new lovers/first times as well as long-term/established couples), UST-ridden couples who are not just UST-ridden but connected in other ways too

-irony, snark, humor, angst – all arising from the characters rather than the plot crowbaring it in

-linear, non-linear, and 5+1 stories

-hopeful endings, happy endings, bittersweet endings, “everything is awful but you’re here and maybe I don’t entirely hate that” endings

-worldbuilding

-spiky characters who keep their jagged edges and spikiness in adversity as well as when their lives are going well, square-peg-in-round-hole characters, tough characters with (maybe not so well) hidden vulnerabilities, characters who are their own worst enemies, characters who manage to get over themselves when the occasion calls for it, characters with conflicting values which may or may not be reconciled/resolved, characters who treat each other with respect and as equals even if they hate/annoy/can’t stand/love to dislike each other, characters who may not be exactly friends and may well irritate one another but manage to rub along to get the job done and maybe even grow to care about one another (much to their surprise/reluctance/discomfort), characters who just cannot get along with each other or find common ground

-workplace stories (this can mean anything from an actual workplace/casefic/procedural setting to anything that revolves around the canon world in which the characters live) in which the characters get to be competent

Shippy and smutty likes:

-(where it fits the characters) banter

-competitiveness or antagonism shading into attraction (this tension need not be resolved)

-”oh god why did it have to be you what did I do to deserve this“

-”come here and say it to my face/do that again/kiss me, you motherfucker”

-bickering yet loving couples

-characters who are serious about their romantic interests

-characters who think they are much better at flirtation than they actually are

-characters forced to work together only to prove much more compatible than they initially assumed

-fics which mix an exploration of characters’ professional and everyday lives with shipping

-characters who are incompatible in some important way (they are ideological enemies, cop and criminal, spies from opposite sides, or there has been betrayal!!!), and while they love and/or want each other, they’re not willing to change sides or abandon/compromise their identity/beliefs for the other’s benefit

-I don’t know how better to phrase this than: smut which fits the characters; how does their canon dynamics spill over into hubba hubba stuff?

-sexual scenarios that subvert expectations a little and surprise the characters themselves

-sexual scenarios that contain an element of competition or antagonism

-“this is a bad idea but we’re going for it hammer and tongs”

-not wanting to admit feelings or show vulnerability except oops it happens anyway, whether the characters acknowledge it or not

-characters getting way more into the sex or being more affected by it than they thought they would

-quick and intense sex, slow and intense sex, rough yet willing sex (when it fits the characters), unexpectedly emotional and/or tender sex

-masturbation while thinking of the other half of the ship (or not wanting to think about them only oops there they are in the fantasy!)

-first time sex

-established relationship, we-know-each-other-so-well sex

-”we’ve both wanted this and now we both know it so here we go diving in headfirst” sex

-you can go as veiled or as explicit as you like, but please avoid excessive medical jargon – I don’t find a lot of mention of “penis” or “clit” sexy.

Ship/smut DNWs:

MPREG, A/B/O, knotting D/s, formalized BDSM, painful sex, hard kinks (holding someone down playfully, hair pulling and such like, the odd spank are a-OK) scat, watersports knife/gun/blood play incest deaging/infantilization, mommy/daddy kink under-16yos in sexual situations humiliation body distortion/horror (feeding/weight kink, come inflation, vore, etc.) unrequested ships/pairings soulmates and soul marks pregnancy and children (can be mentioned if canon, just don’t make the whole fic about them) wedding setting/theme secondary characters shipping the main pair like it’s their job xeno, tentacles, bestiality noncon/dubcon

Other DNWs:

torture and abuse (this and noncon/dubcon can be mentioned, but please don’t dwell on it in loving detail or subject any of my requested characters to it) descriptions of vomit, shit, and piss (”He pissed up against a tree” and the like is fine), toilet humor lots of gore/blood (mention it, yes; lovingly describe it, no), cannibalism, serious illness or injury character bashing genderswap/genderbent characters, characters as kids/young teens issuefic, gender/sexuality/race/ethnicity/religion/ability/identity headcanons death of requested characters hopeless, unrelenting gloom/angst/horror RL holiday setting/theme, RL religions as a major theme (invented fictional holidays and rituals are fine) reference to RL current events 1st and 2nd person POV unrequested crossovers or fusions AUs which have nothing to do with canon fic written in lapslock, poetry as my main gift, AI-generated fic

FANDOMS:

Almost Famous

Russell Hammond/William Miller

I think I osmosed this entire movie over the years but only got around to watching it this past summer. And I loved it, and by the end I shipped them. Then I watched the director’s cut, and I shipped them even harder. I love that William is genuinely just a sweet, uncool, un-smooth guy from start to finish, so earnest in his love for this music and these people, so good with his family while also seeing their flaws and quirks, wanting so much to be with the band but also remain somehow objective enough to judge the quality of the work. And I love that charismatic Russell is a selfish dick, but he too has lingering decency and thoughtfulness, and eventually he does the right thing because he wants to, not just because he gets forced into it. Give me whatever period detail you want, give me any other characters if you want, but give me some of that fine ascendant rock star/budding young music journalist shippiness!

Canon-specific DNW: demonizing Penny

Exception to blanket DNW: underage is a-okay! Let them hook up at the end of the movie or a bit later or so much later than William is an adult, whatever works for you. Don’t make William any younger than 15, please.

Actual prompts? Sure:

-The evolution of their relationship: When and how does it begin? How does it progress? What problems do they have along the way, and how do they manage to keep finding their way back to each other? Russell is doing better now, but he’s still a musician touring a lot with stress/groupies/drugs/younameit (and still needs to see himself through the admiring eyes of others), and William is still “The Enemy” who’s finally internalized Lester Bangs’s dictum that you can’t write honestly and mercilessly about people you feel close to/are dazzled by. How do they make it work? Does Russell even know who he is apart from a rock musician, and would William be as interested in some guy from Troy, Michigan if that guy’s appeal wasn’t tied up with what he represents for the music lover in William?

-Does Stillwater endure (and maybe go super commercial and stratospherically famous after all, or struggle with the time and financial pressures of being a mid-range band), do they break up, does Russell leave and attempt a solo career? Does William again follow them around for work (full-time or moonlighting while in college) or just because he wants to, or does he cover a lot of bands and has to make time for Russell when he can, and Russell gets it but also he liked being special when they first met?

-Does William give up the Stillwater beat so it doesn’t spoil the relationship? What happens if William dislikes a musical direction or experiment Stillwater take? How would this type of music and this relationship fare in the late 1970s or the 1980s? What even is Russell’s musical career in the era of glam rock, 80s big-hair rock and 80s pop, punk, disco, synth-pop and dance music; what would William’s take on some of these new genres be? (By the 1980s, there’s also AIDS, and hard drugs, and I’m not asking for full-on kitchen-sink realism, but I’d love to see how these people and their relationship change with the gritty, a-changin’ times. William still needs to grow up, and arguably Russell does too.)

-Sex! Gimme it! There are no secrets on tour, so do they have to escape somewhere where no-one knows them (well, where no one recognizes Russell) to be together, or make a home they can meet up in when their schedules intersect, or just assume that what happens on tour stays on tour? It can be sweet and awkward, can be “debauching the kid (all at once or in stages) will be a real ego trip but then oops feelings,” can be “wiping drops of come from mustache just before going on stage,” can be the exquisite torture of knowing what you both want while surrounded by people at a party/gig/Doris, can be “keep it down, Elaine will hear us,” can be “There’s Only One Bed, and William’s got into the habit of getting himself off thinking about Russell before sleep, so that’s a problem,” can be a first time, a later time, an established or recurrent good time.* Whatever strikes your smutty fancy!

* First (or second or whichever) kiss, “I love you” (I can totally see Sweet William blurting it out during sex and Russell not being super gracious about it at first, just a thought), blowjob, penetrative sex, Russell deciding he wants to bottom, trip to a public bath or sex club in the Castro or the Meatpacking District but at the end of the night they really just want each other – just whatever takes your fancy.

-Fast forward a few years or many years, William is interviewing Russell again, only now they’re also banging. How does that interview go? Or adult!William writes a book about the music of the 1970s or writes again, with adult hindsight, about his time touring with Stillwater and falling for Russell? I’d actually love to read some of William’s work, if you wanted to include that in the fic. Or how about Russell’s lyrics inspired by William but with plausible deniability built in, or Russell being asked about his private life in interviews with other magazines or on radio/TV?

-The sexual and social mores of the 1970s were changing rapidly, but people in public-facing positions being out would have been tricky and kind of niche. How would any of the other characters react to this relationship? Make it funny and/or heartwarming, make it angsty, make it whatever you want. I’m especially fond of William’s mom and sister, Sapphire, and Lester, all of them wise and hilarious and earnest and weird in their own ways. The other Stillwater guys’ reactions would also be something to see. And I’d be down for William-Penny friendship after all the Sturm und Drang of the movie, and for her to be healthy and happy and to never ever go back to Russell (plus, Russell said she wanted the two guys to be ~~together!). Or what if one or both got publicly outed, or there’s this rumor going around and fans/rival musicians/the media are sniffing around, uh oh?

-Russell quote from the director’s cut: “It’s not what you put into it. It’s what you leave out. . . . That’s what you remember, man. It’s the little things, the silly things. The mistakes. . . . It’s what you leave out. Yeah, that’s rock ‘n’ roll.” Also true of life, often of love, sometimes of sex. Make of that what you will.

-I’m not so interested in ship fic set during the movie (unless we’re talking the very last scene or immediately after it), but if you want a part of their backstory to be that, at some point during the Almost Famous tour William and Russell hooked up (maybe instead of Sapphire and Polexia, Russell popped William's cherry in lieu of giving the kid an interview), and that’s a part of William’s complicated feelings for and about both Russell and the band, and about Penny, ditto Russell’s feelings about William – I’d be down with that!

Interview with the Vampire (TV)

Bricktop Williams

I love this show with the fire of a thousand suns. The darkness, the poetic dialogues, the eroticism, the black humor, the OTT melodrama, the flawed and complex characters and their dynamics, the period detail, the beautiful people and beautiful costumes and settings, the questions of memory and perception, how do we know what happened happened and in such-and-such a way, and how do you ever know that you truly know another person (even if you can read their mind). It’s like someone took everything I didn’t know I needed in one single show and mixed a magic potion to keep me in a state of perpetual bliss. All the characters are fascinating, but I picked Bricktop because she stole my heart in, what, four measly scenes and I really felt the loss of her after the Storyville riot. I loved her self-awareness, her humor, her clear lines about what she will and will not put up with even as a Black woman in her position in that time and place, her fabulousness. Let’s pretend she didn’t die in the riot, or say “fuck this noise” and decamp to another city, okay? Okay!

Canon-specific DNW: I am fine with canon levels of everything, but please no smut-and-nothing-else fic. Smut as part of the fic is cool.

Exceptions to blanket DNWs: violence, gore, character death are all fine in the context of vampirism. Implied or referenced sexual violence and/or sex work are fine so long as you keep them “off screen.” Lestat/Louis as a secondary/background pairing is a-okay!

Prompts:

-More of Bricktop’s relationship with Louis, when she was one of his “girls” and/or later at the Azalea. Even in her first scene, he’s annoyed that he has to deal with the situation but he’s not pissed off at her (much), and later at the Azalea, he trusts her completely as his right-hand woman. He must have seen her potential pretty early on, and as two Black people challenging the Jim Crow status quo, they’d need to be able to rely on each other in many ways. But Louis also keeps secrets, both before and after he becomes a vampire, and Bricktop is smart as a whip and demands a certain amount of respect. What’s her real name and where did the nickname come from?

-I wanted so badly to see Bricktop’s interactions with Lestat. He respects her competence (“Leave the Azalea to the capable hands of Miss Bricktop”) and sounds so amused when he tells Louis “I think she’s onto us” – that must have taken her all of two seconds! She’d need to be able to read people well in her life and line of work, so what’s her take on Lestat (she can tell there’s something… off about him, right? and not just in the way of most rich white men) and/or her take on Lestat/Louis (whom I ship like burning in all their ultra-dysfunctional, amour fou, can’t-live-with-you-can’t-kill-you-(I-tried-)can’t-let-go, FEMA-cleanup-area-levels-of-toxicity glory. They deserve each other, and their chemistry could power the sun).

-Bricktop running the Azalea with a velvet-gloved iron fist as the resident madam/accountant/legal advisor/Louis’s all-around right hand. Sorting out issues with the “girls” or one of the staff trying to steal from the till. How did she learn about business/constitutional law? How does she handle a situation like the one when we meet her, only now she’s in Louis’s position? When one of the rich men she used to service comes around, she has to be respectful and welcoming, but I am certain she finds ways to let them know what she really thinks of them too.

-Instead of saving Claudia from that fire, Louis finds Bricktop gravely wounded during the riot and convinces Lestat to turn her. How long would she put up with being the third wheel in that house? How would her relationship with both men evolve? I could see Lestat wanting to control her but she’s a grown-ass woman, not a kid like Claudia (at first), and her primary connection is to Louis, plus she’s a reminder of Louis’s past life. Is there a (one-sided?) sexual interest there, because she’s gorgeous and awesome, and because it would piss off Louis, and because she can see right through Lestat and he needs to have the upper hand at all times? I can imagine Louis being, how do you say, not thrilled about this, and Bricktop being like “I don’t need this (but dare I piss off my lily-white maker who also owns the goddamn house).” Once she (inevitably, I think) takes off on her own, where would she go and what would she get up to?

-For vampire!Bricktop, have her be the one interviewed by Daniel in 2022 (in this house, we love old!Daniel’s unshakable cynicism, skepticism, lack of illusions about everything including himself, commitment to snark, and stealth vulnerability), either as a follow-up to Daniel’s interviews with Louis or in lieu of those. Let them verbally spar and come to grudgingly respect each other!

-Bricktop’s undeath has been going just fine, thank you. Maybe she keeps in brain-phone touch with Louis in Dubai from time to time, maybe she and Daniel sometimes get Bloody Marys (if they can find two gals called Mary, har har), but mostly she’s living her best undeath without owing anyone anything. Till one day there’s Lestat on a screen, gyrating behind a mic, wearing eyeliner and not much else, belting out lyrics about vampirism and sex with Louis, prompting her to say softly but with great feeling: “aw shit.” She wants no part of this clusterfuck in the making, but as one of Lestat’s fledglings, she doesn’t get the luxury of choice… Basically, gimme your version of S3, now with vamp!Bricktop!

-I am cool with gen fic, or I think she and Miss Lily would be a fun ship, whether Bricktop is human or she’s a vampire (but doesn’t kill Lily either accidentally or on purpose). What would they talk about that’s not just their line of work or all the entitled, messed-up men in their lives – or hey, if you want them to talk about that, that would be great too! Or they could just have a little fun for no-one’s pleasure and benefit but their own.

-If you feel comfortable going there, I am fascinated by how the changes to Louis and Claudia’s race and/or background complicate the characters’ relationships, and especially with Bricktop being both savvy and opinionated as well as having seen some shit, by all means tell me how race and gender play into it all. I don’t need the world or these characters to be better than they are, and I don’t need anyone to give an impassioned soapbox speech about race in America – I just want more of the subtext and occasional text the show gives us. The “fledgling/slave” argument, Claudia mocking Lestat as “massa” and the Bach/Nazis thing, Daniel ribbing Louis about the “in the quiet dark” thing, Bricktop being the ignored voice of reason about Louis’s “business plan” for the Azalea, Lestat blithely sounding off about all the skin tones of the beautiful people of NoLa – I eat all that up with a spoon.

Justified

Rachel Brooks/Boyd Crowder

I adore this show (the plots! the dialogues and rich language! the local color! the insane tribal loyalties clashing with centralized authority, and the people caught in the middle!) and two characters who are so fascinating in their own right and who should have interacted more in canon! I love how Rachel is so non-nonsense, dedicated, and capable, and never passes up the opportunity to point out racial and gender nonsense when she sees it happening and affecting her in her work. And Boyd is just the poetically-spoken, ruthless, manipulative yet sincere, forever outlaw of my heart. I ship them, yes, but don’t worry too much whether your fic is “shippy enough” – I am good with innuendo, subtext, a mutual attraction which ambushes them and is so inconvenient, something implied but maybe the characters themselves aren’t ready to deal with what it would mean for them, or full-on shippiness! Feel free to include any other canon character, I love them all. As for Boyd/Ava and Rachel/her husband, you can work those relationships into the story, handwave them, break them up off-screen, whatever works for what you’re writing.

Canon-specific DNW: anything more intense, sex- and violence-wise, than an M rating; basically keep it to canon levels of violence/gore/sex.

Prompts:

-Boyd has to work with the Marshals (again, or divergence from one of the canon occasions), and this time Rachel rather than Raylan is his contact/minder. Plots and schemes and double-crosses, oh my!

-As in those too-few, too-brief scenes where Boyd tries to sweet-talk Rachel when he’s in a jam, and she blows him off or spells out exactly how she’ll fuck up his life if he doesn’t cooperate, give me more of Rachel laying down the law and Boyd cooperating… up to a point… when it also serves his agenda.

-Rachel once acknowledged Boyd’s silver tongue. Let it get them both out of a bad situation. How does it hold up against Rachel’s unimpeachable stake on the moral high ground?

-Rachel is on Boyd’s prisoner transport once he’s in federal custody. Does she help him escape (shades of Elmore Leonard’s Out of Sight)? What would it take to get straight-shooting Rachel to make that choice? Or does he try to get her to break all the rules, but fails for reasons I leave up to you?

-Spoilers for Justified: City Primeval: once Boyd busts out of Tramble, the Kentucky Marshals’ office calls Rachel rather than Raylan to deal with it. She’s been promoted and moved to a different office, ten years later she might even be working at Marshals’ HQ in the DC area, so how happy is she about having to return to Kentucky to deal with goddamn Crowders? And why did Boyd bust out? And how much trouble can they cause each other, since middle age hasn’t slowed either of them down one bit?

-Boyd trying to pull the wool over Rachel’s eyes and her not having it. Having to work together or Rachel needing to use Boyd as a informant, and how that might shade into flirting, and how Rachel might feel about that, given Boyd’s past (even if, as Raylan said, Boyd’s too smart to really believe in white supremacy, there’s still his lifelong criminality). The beginnings of a good working relationship or friendship or affection, and how frustrating and difficult that would be, because they are who they are. Or the later stages of a relationship, when somehow they make it work, however tense it gets at times.

-For something more explicitly shippy, give me a strong hate/love (Rachel would be horrified to fall for a con, let alone this con!), “I know this is a terrible idea” dynamic. Give me their having to work together and/or antagonistic flirting/confessions of feelings. Give me UST, thwarted desire, angry longing. This may be a tall order, but I’d be super into non-issue-y ship fic which somehow deals with or touches on the fact that while Boyd’s white-supremacy period was almost wholly bull, he’s still the guy with a swastika tattooed on his arm, and Rachel is African-American.

-There be somethin’ spooky lurkin’ in them there hills! Maybe it’s just the usual bunch of hillbillies with more firepower than brains, maybe it’s something genuinely eldritch. Marshals and local crime lords walk right into it, and then these strange bedfellows (ha ha) need to get each other out.

Starred Up (2013)

Oliver Baumer/Eric Love

Yes I do ship it, I do, I do!

Ahem. Don’t get me wrong, I liked what the movie did with the father-son relationship and its influence on both men’s character development – but I really wish they hadn’t got Oliver out of the action before the story’s climax (not like that!). The final denouement with Love father and Love son was great, as was the hint at the end that Eric learned something in anger-management group and has a support network that will help him a lot. But. I would have wanted to see more of the intriguing dynamic between Eric the intelligent, semi-feral, yet not-incorrigible, young thug and Oliver the educated, dedicated, kind yet aware of his own potential for violence (what was he on about with “I need to be here”?), slightly older counselor. They had me at Oliver’s “I want him” and Eric later telling his father that Oliver’s a better man than Love Sr. Also the not-flirting and the push-pull in the scene when Oliver picks up Eric from his cell - yowza!

Exception to blanket DNW: dubcon is a-okay! If you decide to go there, my preferred flavors of dubcon for this canon are: power differential makes it a bad idea but they do it anyway; “I know you want this”; “if the answer’s no/you’re only doing this for a dare or to prove a point, then why are you enjoying this so much [as am I]?”; no no yes a.k.a. starts as dubcon (or one of them thinks they’re dubconning the other), becomes enthusiastic consent.

Prompts:

-I would love to see Oliver return to holding his group in prison, so the two of them can interact more, either in the movie’s immediate aftermath or years down the line, as it’s implied that Eric will be serving a long sentence. Give me more scenes from anger management or the ribald, honest, free-flowing conversations in group, either with the other men present (I liked Hassan and Tyrone especially, among the group members) or a one-on-one session.

-An oblique or open-but-undramatic admission/declaration that they both know there’s something there, even if they don’t know what to do with it. Or, one or both of them knows exactly what to do with it, and the push-pull that would result from that.

-Dirty talk: used for arousal, as a defense mechanism, as a form of flirtation. Eric using slurs to assert dominance, and Oliver not letting him hide behind profanity, when he can use colorful language to express emotion and/or sexual interest. There could definitely be some verbal taunting/flirting about who wants/is eager to do what or is good at doing something. There may be some sniping comments about logistics and (lack of) condoms and barebacking and what men get up to in prison. There probably wouldn’t be deep discussions about sexual identity.

-An emergency in the prison requires a lock-down, so Oliver gets temporarily stuck in Eric’s cell or another room with only Eric for company. Things get porny and/or emotional.

-Eric is eventually released (you can handwave this so it happens soon after the movie or have it happen years later) and crashes with Oliver while he adjusts to the outside world. You guessed it: things get porny and/or emotional.

-Oliver is sentenced to prison (maybe he gets done for GBH after attacking Deputy Governor Haynes), and now Eric is the more knowledgeable and “well-adjusted” one, the one with skills Oliver desperately needs. The balance between them shifts, so how does that affect this burgeoning something between them?

-How do they get to the point where both can cross that line from friends/whatever the hell they are and become, to lovers? (There’s Eric’s personal history and general discomfort with vulnerability, plus all the ways prison sex can be or make things complicated, and if it helps, I headcanon Oliver as either gay or bi and at least somewhat closeted, at work especially.) Who initiates and “directs traffic”? How does their always-contentious dynamic shift during and after sex? Is the sex an isolated (series of) occasion(s), or a progression/escalation over multiple encounters (how would I love especially an escalating series of encounters, let me count the ways)? Eric might seem like the logical initiator and/or dominant partner as well as using the possibility of sex to manipulate and exert control, but then Oliver might (or might not!) surprise him and is definitely the one more in touch with himself as well as aware of his custodial duty toward the men in the group.

-At some point in their intimate relationship (probably not right at the start, and probably not in prison, though if you can make it happen in prison, more power to you!), Oliver decides he’s going to take his sweet time and make Eric fall absolutely apart with pleasure, while using dirty talk to both arouse and empower Eric to own his desires – by that point, Eric is in a place where he can let that happen and enjoy it, even if he still talks tough.

-Or how about this: Eric gets out, relationship happens or is in the process of being negotiated, and while physical intimacy is a whooooole neeeeeew woooorld, you know what else would be cool? Phone sex. Yep. Or even, Eric gets himself one of those secret prison burner phones (preferably hidden somewhere that’s not someone’s arse), and… phone sex after lights-out and lock-down. Maybe nothing (much) has happened physically (yet), so phone sex can be a building block to that or one facet of that deepening intimacy.

-For smut: any top/bottom (or switching) combo is good. Hand jobs incl. mutual, masturbation, blowjobs, 69, intercrural, frottage, anal fingering, finger sucking, rimming, anal – all good.

#dear author letter #trick or treat exchange #trick or treat 2024

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