#she doesnt even change much she's just as delusionally villainous

[lazyveran]

my favourite azula redemption arc is just azula chanting "im going to kill him later im going to usurp and kill him later just wait im going to kill zuzu in a moment" over and over and then just. never getting around to it. yeah girl you defo will kill zuko. its been four years and you've been helping him rule. totally part of the murder plan.

[morceauoleander]

hello i have thoughts abt gristol so. you're hearing them im sorry

anyway i definitely think that he is a very sudden twist, though there is build up to there being A villain i.e. truman acting suspiciously - not knowing ford likes bacon, not knowing/being sure what the brain id thing is ((i cannot remember what its called rn)), the caviar and hotel key NOT getting explained and the delugionist scribbles on the wall, and there is some background into the tyrannical gzar even if it doesn't imply there's a prince or focus on that. Oh also his body being shipped to truman

Anyway the best part about him is that its unapologetic. he sucks. hes a spoiled, bratty prince that doesn't care if people DIE as long as he gets what he wants. his head is Its A Small World because he fabricated a world which makes himself the star of the story, a tragic figure, while his family still has caviar and fancy casino hotel money. It's honestly a great character to add to a story mainly focusing on how people who cause harm are often hurt by their trauma, and help and support can bring them out of a bad place, or help them control darker tendencies.

But then there's this bitch. gristol - absolute tool. I think he's really key to show because all the other villains got redeemed in some way - oleander, maligula, loboto - i think there needs to be someone who - though he is technically influenced to do all this due to his trauma, you SEE his mind, and that his trauma is pretty baseless and ignoring key facts - like maligula wanting to kill his family. He's delusional, but even when you specifically address the bad things about grulovia and his dad's reign, he does admit that he doesn't care cause he doesn't have a cotton candy machine in his room.

anyway this is just a long-winded way to say I love that they did the gristol twist. I feel like its an honest reflection of a world where good people can be bad through trauma, but there are always people who are also selfish implicitly, "delugional" to a point beyond repair. In therapy, clients drive their own change. Gristol doesn't want to change, or see the need.

anyway sorry im like this here u go

oh yes, i do mean “sudden” simply in that hes like, not properly revealed at all until the very end- which is such an interesting move to me (and a great one). i had made a post a while back about how there are soo many hints that definitely put you off to him before knowing its him-- he calls loboto a “psycho”, doesnt know the thinker print, he says to “fix” ford, etc. he exists in a twist that feels sudden due to not ever getting a clear answer until what feels like the last minute (in an already stressful situation i may add, as you struggle to understand maligula)

but yes! he really is awful i love that he comes up right at the end, so terrible. i remember getting into the last parts with maligula think “is it really just her? is she really the villain of this game?” and of course she isnt. and gristol such a GOOD terrible villain. because he pads out the need for someone who had true malicious intent, tying together those last holes in the plot. like, its great that so many characters get a story to allow them to change, but there is also a point where thats not how it always goes. and in this case with a story that hits so much harder, Gristol is a great addition. because this story was so much more high stakes than the first, and it really just upped the stakes right at the end as everything is coming together.

i also found his mind to be so interesting. everything about it was made up. part of me kept think “this is so damn boring” but i think thats my instinct as having ridden Its A Small World a few times before lol. because its such a good design for his character. its all made up to be a retelling of his life that validates him and only him. hes in his own little bubble of what he considers the truth and it also seems obvious no ones ever had the chance to challenge that in him as he seems to have gone straight from his home to running away with his family- who likely never told him the right story either.

the twists PN2 threw out were just great, i agree. from maligula to gristol, every one of them got me tbh! every character in the new game really gets me but i cannot say i expected maligula or gristol to be such stand-out ones for me either lol.

[pandastern]

Gravity (Bakugou x OC)

Part 10: Declaration of War

If youd like to be added to the taglist for upcoming parts please dm me :)

Masterlist  II  AO3

Bakugou x Vigilante!OC

Warnings: angst, explicit language, violence

Word count:   2146

Genre: enemies to lovers ; angst ; romance, slow burn

When a new student makes an entrance, Bakugou has a real bad feeling. There is something about this girl that just doesnt feel right. From the flaming hair to the calculating glint in her green eyes, everything about her just pisses him off.

Little does he know that his fate is intertwined with the person he despises so much, defining his future path in a way he would have never expected

Lunch break was a fucking nightmare. Artemis couldn't remember when she’d last felt so goddamn tired. Her head pounded to the point where it became increasingly hard to stay focused, despite having had not one but three cans of energy drinks in the morning alone.

Her mood was getting worse, too. People just wouldn't leave her alone. Her classmates swarmed around her constantly. When the lunch bell rang, Iida, Uraraka and Midoriya dragged her along to the cafeteria in what turned out to be an attempt to make sure she ate healthily, forcing her to eat every single vegetable they piled on her plate, despite her having clearly stated how much she hated them.

Whenever she went to the bathroom, there was always at least one girl from the class accompanying her, assaulting her with friendly chatter as if they’d been friends for years.

It was truly puzzling, and Artemis wasn’t sure if she was comfortable with it.

By the time the last period finished, she’d had enough. She just wanted to go home. At least there, she’d have the peace and quiet she so desperately wanted.

The moment the school bell rang, Artemis packed her belongings into her bag and shot out of her seat.

“What the heck are you all doing here?” she heard Uraraka say loudly.  The tone of her voice told Artemis something wasn't quite right.

She looked up to see a big crowd of students she’d never seen before standing in front of the classroom door. Not only were they blocking the exit, but their stares were a little too curious for her liking.

This day just wasn’t going to get any better, was it?

“Do you students have some sort of business with our class?” Iida asked in his best diplomatic student rep voice.

“Why are you blocking our doorway? I won't let you hold us hostage!” Mineta shrieked so loudly it rang in Artemis’s ears.

With a frustrated groan, she slung her bag over her shoulder and stepped closer. Something told her that this had something to do with the USJ incident. According to her classmates, the whole debacle had caused a huge media storm. Not that she was surprised. After all, UA was the school for young heroes in the country and the villain attack was a big tarnish on their name.

Artemis had no desire to be part of this spectacle. She prepared to march her arse through the crowd, pushing people aside if she had to. She just wanted to go home. Enough was enough.

“They’re scouting out the competition, you idiots,” Bakugou growled as he made his way past Artemis. “We’re the class that survived a real villain attack.”

For a split second, his eyes lingered on her as if there were something else he wanted to say, but then he changed his mind. He stood in front of the crowd with a posture that said, “I’m ready to brawl”.

“They want to see what a future pro looks like,” he continued, narrowing his eyes. “Now move it, extras!”

“You can't call people ‘extras’ just because you don't know who they are!” Iida piped up, horrified.

Artemis had to bite back a laugh. That sounded more like the Bakugou she knew: ready to start shit, not giving a damn about what anyone else thought. In a way, she shared that sentiment, though she knew better than to make the whole school her enemy. But maybe that was because she actually possessed some form of common sense.

“So, this is class 1A? I heard you guys were impressive, but you just sound like an arse.” A rather tall boy emerged from the crowd. “Is everyone in the hero course delusional, or is it just you?”

A soft snort escaped Artemis at his words. The look Bakugou gave her only made her laughing worse.

What? she mouthed at him. After all, the person was telling the truth. It was hardly a secret that Katsuki Bakugou was, in fact, an arse.

The small vein at Bakugou's temple started to throb, a telltale sign that his patience was running out.

“How sad to come here and just find a bunch of egomaniacs,” the unfamiliar boy continued, his voice dripping with contempt. “I wanted to be in the hero course, but like many others here, I was forced to choose a different track. Such is life. I didn't cut it the first time around, but I have another chance. If any of us do well in the sports festival, the teacher can decide to transfer us to the hero course, and they’ll have to transfer people out to make room.”

The more he spoke, the more Artemis realised that the contempt she’d first picked up on was actually closer to jealousy. If what he was saying was true, none of their places in this class were safe. That was an interesting concept. Survival of the fittest. Despite the harshness of the policy, she supposed it ensured that every student gave one hundred percent at all times. It also allowed the school to weed out who wasn’t fit for the job or just not willing to put in the work. She gave Mineta a side glance.

The boy looked over her classmates and scoffed. “Scouting the competition, you say? Maybe some of my peers are, but I’m here to let you know that if you don't bring your very best, I'll steal your spot right from under you. Consider this a declaration of war.”

Artemis rolled her eyes. Judging by Bakugou’s hot-headedness and the provocative look on the other guy’s face, this would likely take a while. And after spending the day wasting her energy on being nice to her overly-concerned classmates, she had absolutely no desire to wait here until they’d finished their dick-measuring contest.

Before Bakugou could bark his reply, Artemis cleared her throat loudly, attracting the attention of him and the crowd.

“I don't know what you’re trying to achieve here, treating our class like a monkey circus and all, but could you please get out of the way?” she snapped at the unknown guy. “If you need to have a little fight to figure out which one of you has the bigger dick, do it somewhere where you’re not in the fucking way. Thank you.”

Silence fell over the crowd.

“Artemis! You can’t use these kinds of words at school,”  Iida gasped in outrage, but Artemis just waved him off.

“Iida, do I look like I give a fuck? Now, move.”

Leaving her stunned classmates behind, she made her way through the crowd. Artemis was aware that her outburst was uncharacteristic for the persona she’d put on until now and that she’d probably regret having snapped like this as soon as her mood lightened up again, but that wasn’t going to happen anytime soon. This day could go fuck itself, as far as she was concerned.

The following days didn’t prove to be much better than the first. After three days, Artemis had given up questioning her new friends’ behavior, or why they were constantly around her. Maybe that was how things worked? She wouldn't know. The whole ‘Deku-Squad’, as she liked to call the small group of Midoriya, Iida and Uraraka, certainly didn't miss a chance to involve her in every activity possible. Group work during class? One of them would always call her over. Lunch? Artemis couldn't even make it out of the door without them swarming her and dragging her along to the cafeteria with them.

Before long, Artemis started to catch herself actually enjoying the time she spent with the group. No, not enjoying , she told herself. More like accepting this in order to fit in.

Today, however, her splitting headache made it increasingly hard to keep up her friendly facade. Her dreams hadn’t gotten any better, either, the haunting images leaving her nauseous when she woke up. Artemis wasn't sure whether all this was the result of the poison still wreaking havoc in her body, or if something else was going on behind the scenes.

“Artemis, are you doing okay? You’ve been pushing that shrimp around your plate for five minutes now.” Uraraka’s voice cut through her train of thought.

“Huh?” Artemis blinked and looked up, meeting the worried gaze of her classmate. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Are you sure? You look a little pale. Shall we escort you to Recovery Girl’s office?” Iida was already getting out of his seat to help her, but Artemis quickly waved him off.

“No, please. I’m fine. I just… need to go get some air real quick. Don't worry,” Artemis responded and quickly got up.

It might have been her only chance to get out of this overcrowded room, where so many voices banded together into a loud humming noise that threatened to detonate her brain like one of Bakugou's explosions.

Before any of them could say anything or offer to join her, Artemis slipped out of the cafeteria and made her way to the school roof. Over the past couple of days, the place had become something of a refuge for her, as nobody rarely went up there.

One thing she’d noticed after the attack was that her stamina had noticeably decreased. Again, she guessed it was the result of the still-prominent poison in her blood causing her to get light-headed as soon as she did anything physically taxing, like walking up several flights of stairs.

She had to sit down for a moment to catch her breath once she’d reached the roof. It was pathetic, really, how weak she’d become. A bitter laugh escaped her. If her father could see her now, he'd tell her how much of a disgrace she was. Or worse. That man had never taken kindly to weakness.

Suddenly, her quirk picked up an approaching heartbeat. Great. She really wasn't in the mood to be seen in a vulnerable state like this.

Forcing herself back onto her feet, Artemis grabbed her bag and proceeded to push herself onto the last flight of stairs

“I swear, “ she muttered to herself, “if one more person asks me if I'm okay, they’re going to be taking an involuntary swan dive off the roof. I've had enough.”

“That doesn't sound very heroic coming from a student enrolled in the hero course,” said someone with a husky voice behind her.

Artemis froze. She’d heard that voice before. Turning slowly, she spotted the same boy with lilac hair that had antagonised Bakugou in front of the classroom a couple days back making his way up the stairs. She groaned.

“Do I look like I care, fuzzy head?” she huffed. “Not that you would know, being from General Ed.”

Apparently, that rubbed him the wrong way. His brows furrowed.

“Not for long, that's for sure,” he replied in a sour tone. “You should really check that nasty attitude before someone pulls you off that high horse that you’ve become so comfortable on.”

“Oh, really?” Artemis scoffed. “And who, exactly, would that be? You? Pardon me, but I am not in the mood for whatever…” She gestured vaguely between them. “… this is, so please leave me alone.”

With that, she proceeded to climb the stairs again as fast as she possibly could, which, given her current condition and the growing dizziness in her head, wasn't exactly lightning speed.

“You seem to be pretty sure of yourself. You shouldn't underestimate your competition. I am going to take a spot in the hero course.”

“Competition?”

It was clear that this guy wouldn't leave her alone until he’d said his two cents. What was it with grumpy men in this academy and their need to measure their dicks? She didn't even have one!

Letting herself slump down onto one of the steps, she sighed deeply and took a closer look at the boy before her. He was tall and a little on the lanky side. His lilac eyes were underlined with dark circles, making him look like he hadn't slept in days, but his gaze was focused and determined.

“Look. I don't know why you feel like you have to hype yourself up by robbing me of the last shreds of serotonin that I possess, but I can tell you this: your ‘declaration of war’ on the hero course doesn’t worry me in the slightest. Why? Because I’m not here for some silly naive fantasy of heroism like most of you. So, no. A sleep deprived, unkempt, scrawny teenage boy trying to make me nervous doesn’t scare me.” Artemis shook her head. “So, if we're done here, I would like to spend my lunch break in peace.”

With that, Artemis turned on her heel and stubbornly forced herself up the stairs, despite her body's protests.

She didn't catch the boy’s intrigued gaze as he watched her disappear up to the roof.