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pbaintthetb · 3 years

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Watership Down Rant pt.2/ How Hazel (Arguably) Misinterprets Bigwig

“Bigwig would certainly be a useful rabbit in a tight corner, he would also be a difficult one to get on with. He certainly would not want to do what he was told- or even asked- by an Outskirter.”~ Chapter 3, Hazel’s Decision.

As I briefly mentioned before, Hazel is the POV character, and while there is a narrator, it can sometimes be difficult to separate the two. My first time reading the novel I was much more inclined to go along with Hazel’s interpretation of Bigwig, but after finishing, seeing Bigwig’s whole character journey, and on a reread I don’t entirely agree. There are two main characters who Bigwig gets very angry at in the novel, Fiver, and Strawberry. Strawberry who Bigwig blames for leading to Bigwig’s almost death (and he forgives it soon enough), and Fiver who is continuously (at least in Bigwig’s eyes) putting Hazel in danger- until the snare incident.

Hazel seems to imply that Bigwig is trying, whether maliciously or not, to create trouble. One of his fears when they leave Sandleford and Bigwig asks to join is that, Bigwig, as an Owsla and generally much larger and slightly short tempered rabbit is going to fight with him for position of leader. A position Hazel feels naturally falls to him. Hazel lets Bigwig come with them, mostly because he can’t really refuse him, but also because as much as Hazel doesn’t want a power struggle he’s aware that he needs strong fighters and someone who knows more about the wider world- aka, Bigwig. (More on Hazel’s pragmatism later.)

Bigwig’s two flaws that Hazel picks up on and I agree with are- he can be quite short tempered (though we’ll see, Bigwig is good at separating personal feelings from non-personal matters), and specifically doesn’t take uncertainty particularly well.

However, these aren’t traits that make a particularly good Chief Rabbit, Bigwig can think on his feet- but not as well as Hazel, Fiver, or even Blackberry. I feel like Bigwig is somewhat aware of this fact (his reaction to being told he’s not suited for a task later in the novel due to his temperament is one of someone who doesn’t disagree, but doesn’t like the fact). Therefore, my basic point is that I don’t think Bigwig is gunning for Chief Rabbit, and I particularly don’t think he is at any point trying to usurp Hazel. As to whether he truly believes Hazel is their true/great Chief Rabbit from the beginning… no. But, he does acknowledge him as leader of the group, he does seem to default to him, or at least treat him as equal, and his criticisms of Hazel seem to be more that he wants Hazel to be better than Bigwig thinking he, or anyone else, would make a better leader.

Bigwig has a basic level of respect for Hazel from the very beginning, seen when he allows Hazel to speak to the Threarah, even though Bigwig knows it will create trouble for him because he trusts Hazel has a decent reason. Who doesn’t Bigwig really respect? Five, at this point he’s entirely neutral, but he trusts Hazel to trust Fiver. There is still plenty of room for Bigwig’s respect of Hazel to grow- arguably culminating in Efrafa- but he never once treats Hazel as lesser or makes a bid for power. The closest he comes to a mutiny is actually against Fiver and specifically because he thinks Fiver is endangering Hazel and Hazel’s authority.

Now, Bigwig’s not perfect, he does feel he’s owed more respect than say, Blackberry or Dandelion (though he also respects their own skills and talents and gets pretty mad when Cowslip’s rabbits aren’t impressed by Dandelion’s story telling), but also like... eh, he’s not wrong. Bigwig is the most knowledgeable about the world (Blackberry is a mad genius, but he more theorises things than knows) and is often the one explaining crucial things- roads, snares, predators, and most importantly- how to stay safe. He and Silver (tldr Bigwig but calmer) often stay up to take watches- amd this, like most of the tasks Silver and Bigwig do together are clearly coordinated and arranged by Bigwig. Bigwig also takes charge of a lot that Hazel feels he should do as leader, but Hazel is not lazing about during these times, he’s taking care of other tasks that a leader needs. The most usurp thing Bigwig does is essentially take charge while Hazel is away, but he always hands it back. Bigwig works like a second in command- and Hazel doesn’t seem to see this. This is particularly funny but also a misunderstanding on Hazel’s part when considering some of the first things Hazel does is put Bigwig in this role. Additionally, Bigwig is more than happy to share is wider knowledge as a result of his experience, but mostly to Hazel- because teaching takes time and it’s not worth, for example, teaching Pipkin how to fight a cat. This is why I feel that Bigwig simply wants to improve Hazel, he’s very calm and polite when he teaches him about the road, and points out that as an Outskirter and not an Owsla there is no reason why Hazel should know these things when Hazel is embarrassed about the fact. Both the other two Chief rabbits we meet in the book are ex/current Owsla, Hazel is not, and thus it makes sense for Bigwig to catch him up to speed. Personally I think Hazel is paranoid about his own position and protecting that outwards.

Onto how Hazel views Bigwig and why I think he’s wrong- but with textual evidence.

Hazel seems to think Bigwig wants to usurp him because he was more powerful than him before they left their home. And in Hazel’s mind this is justified by Bigwig’s bluster and the fact that Hazel keeps stumbling across him taking charge of the rabbits... because Hazel has been away/busy/doing another important task and someone needs to hold down the fort- so Bigwig steps up, and then quite calmly steps down once Hazel is back, who doesn’t seem to quite see this at first because he’s paranoid. No Hazel hate, just truth.

However, for all of Hazel’s fears, there’s little truth to them. I’m going to quickly run through all the supposed challenges Bigwig offers upto their arrival at the Warren of the Shining Wires. (I’m deliberately not calling it Cowslip’s warren- because it’s not, he’s not Chief- the human is, the rabbits just live there.)

“If you’ll take my advice-” began Bigwig. “If we stay here any longer I shan’t be able to,” answered Hazel.~ Chapter 4, The Departure (after Bigwig has bested Holly, immediately before they leave Sandleford.) See how respectfully Bigwig brings up his potential criticism? And there is no note of Bigwig being resentful, rude, or sulky that he was shut down. He acknowledges that now is not a time for discussion/democracy, it’s a time to pack up and follow Hazel- whereas you’d expect some kind of grudge if Hazel was right. At the very least you’d expect something the next time Bigwig “criticises” Hazel in chapter 5. However, Bigwig simply states that the group needs to stop, he lists out the reasons why he knows Hazel won’t want to, but also lists why they need to- simply put that Fiver and Pipkin physically can’t. At this point Bigwig doesn’t even know Pipkin’s name (he refers to him as “this half-sized fellow”), but he’s one of Hazel’s squad and Bigwig’s protective instincts are coming out. Hazel is reluctant, but listens. Also of note is that Bigwig doesn’t demand this in front of the group as if it were some power-play, he walks off away from the group to quietly talk to Hazel, and it’s still Hazel who announces they’re stopping. Bigwig is not trying to convince Hazel of this after the fact.

Chapters 7-8. When the Badger finds them it’s Bigwig who leads them away, however, this most seemingly obvious element of insubordination is not remarked on by Hazel- internally or otherwise. This is because Bigwig is the only one who knows what it is, how dangerous it is (it’s of the “lets not invite trouble” variety). And yes, it’s because he’s Owsla, but Silver is Owsla too- this is how Bigwig seems to view himself, not as Chief, but Captain of the Owsla for their group and sharing power with Hazel. Now, Hazel has not given this role- but as we’ll see later he kind of defaults to putting Bigwig in it and Bigwig has already won a fight for Hazel, it’s not an unreasonable assumption. Bigwig is very annoyed when they arrive at the river and takes it out on Hazel- who notes that Bigwig is only steady if he’s certain of their options. Hazel uses some flattery to calm Bigwig down (honestly, a great talent of Hazel’s in many situations).

Bigwig gets angry. So, in chapter 8 Bigwig starts to actually shout and rage, but it’s interesting to note that this is prompted by Fiver. Bigwig is clearly irritated at being led to a dead end- but it’s more the exhaustion and confusion than anything about Hazel. However when Fiver says they need to swim the river (noted to be impossible for exhausted rabbits by the narrator) that Bigwig starts to get annoyed- remember that Bigwig was the one who got them to stop earlier. Especially considering there are other options. Still, Bigwig lets it go. And again, when he comes to talk to Hazel about a potentially sensitive situation he talks to Hazel aside from the group, and comes to ask what Bigwig should tell the group- Bigwig very much asks for permission not forgiveness. It’s when Hazel says they should stay- clearly for the Benefit of Fiver Bigwig gets annoyed- probably because of his slightly more worldly nature- they are in a very open and vulnerable position and he’s smart enough to know that Hazel just wants him to cross the river. However, some flattery, and Bigwig happily swims across, alone, to scout. This, again is very telling. Bigwig is clearly able to swim the river and not altogether unwilling. It also displays Bigwig’s protective instincts and why he’s such a good Captain. Bigwig’s issue is revealed- though Hazel doesn’t seem to realise- to not be crossing the river, but the fact that not all the rabbits are able to make it. This culminates in Bigwig screaming at Hazel, after BIgwig reveals there’s a dog in the woods. First, he gets all the other rabbits to swim across (Bigwig has returned) and then he shouts at Hazel to go over, and not to stay for Fiver and Pipkin saying they’ll all be killed. Even Hazel notes here, that he’s surprised, but admiring the fact that for all his talk, Bigwig isn’t running off to save himself. Bigwig is a captain and can’t leave his men to die, but Hazel is the leader and he can’t leave the survivors. Frankly I’m very interested to see if Bigwig would have stayed, fought Hazel, or dragged him had Blackberry not saved the day. The main point here is that Bigwig never challenges Hazel on the grounds of not trusting or respecting his authority, only occasionally his decisions, and primarily for the collective safety of the group. However Hazel is still viewing Bigwig as a fierce independent rabbit who is going to make trouble.

4. Hawkbit, Speedwell & Acorn challenging Hazel, Chapter 10, The Road and the Common.

Hawkbit, Acorn & Speedwell (HSA) start to challenge Hazel, first saying they’d like to stop (they’ve been having a very gruelling climb), and then it escalates to saying they’d like to go back because they believe Hazel is lying to them and full of it. Notably they bring up his lack of knowledge about the road- something Bigwig did talk to Hazel about in front of the whole group for once. Hazel starts trying to explain why this is stupid (if the rabbits go back they’ll be killed), and what they even expect him to do, likely in the hope that HSA will talk it out until they air their grievances until they realise they’re wrong. However HSA are cut off before this can happen by Fiver and Bigwig approaching, Fiver who wants to talk to Hazel, and Bigwig who- it’s not explained why he’s there- but he’s heard the whole thing (likely looking out for Hazel). Bigwig scowls and says he’s going to have a “few words” with HSA- which from the little we hear through Hazel’s POV is mostly insults with the purpose of reminding them their place. We hear what we’re told is likely the end of Bigwig’s speech though and-

“And now, you bunch of mole-snouted, muck-raking, hutch-hearted sheep ticks, get out of my sight sharp. Otherwise I’ll-” [then he’s cut off by the wind].

Once more evidence of Bigwig throwing his weight around doesn’t support him being a usurper, in fact he seems angry at the disrespect to Hazel, and is doing his best to make sure dissent and disorder doesn’t fester in the ranks. Whether Hazel or Bigwig’s approach is better is a different story and more to do with their different personalities and roles- Chief/Captain.

Hazel, upon returning asks Blackberry where HSA are and we’re told this:

"There's been a fearful row. Bigwig told Hawkbit and Speedwell that he'd scratch them to pieces if they didn't obey him. And when Hawkbit said he wanted to know who was Chief Rabbit, Bigwig bit him. It seems a nasty business. Who is Chief Rabbit,anyway--you or Bigwig?"

Bigwig, being Owsla manages discipline much firmer and through strength/power. Hazel notes that he doesn’t know who the Chief Rabbit is, merely that Bigwig’s stronger. But this is actually a very good example of Bigwig’s loyalty- he’s angry but sticks to physical discipline while they’re merely talking about not wanting to follow Hazel. However, once they start snarking and perhaps suggesting Bigwig lead a coup/suggesting he’s a usurper/Hazel isn’t a good leader you can see how the switch flips in Bigwig’s mind. He doesn’t take the insult well, Bigwig views himself quite clearly as a second in command, and a loyal one at that. (Loyalty, strength and protectiveness are some of Bigwig’s best features). The incident isn’t really focused on again, but safe to say there’s no more questioning who’s really the boss, just as there’s no questioning Bigwig’s tendency to lead in lieu of Hazel. This isn’t just because of Bigwig’s own presence, it’s a lot to do with how Hazel treats Bigwig, even if he doesn’t seem to quite consciously focus on it yet…

Lastly to note and really seal the deal, when they meat Cowslip several of the Sandleford Rabbits refer to Hazel as “Hazel-rah” (calling him chief), Bigwig… doesn’t, but he doesn’t seem to object in any way, and, in a scene that I will dissect, really does seem to view Hazel with incredible respect and as leader- to who Bigwig follows but offers meaningful criticism to allow him to be better.

#watership down i guess #PB's long rant on watership down #Bigwig Supremacy Agenda

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rainythefox · 3 years

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Nightfall (CH.16)

Synopsis: Pre-Resident Evil 1, slight-AU/Canon Divergence. Claire Redfield comes home to visit her brother Chris for the holidays but gets caught up in a dangerous game of cat and mouse with Albert Wesker, the Captain of STARS, after stumbling upon dark secrets. She can’t call the law; Wesker is the law, and she can’t tell Chris. She is trapped…Claire/Wesker & Slight Chris/Jill (There’s Wesker & William Bromance too lol). Rated M for smut, language, violence, adult content.

AO3 Link

Chapter 16: Mine

Warning: this chapter contains lots of smut. You’ve been warned, okay? Okay! :P Because of this, only the first section of the chapter is available on Tumblr. Please follow the link to AO3 to read the rest. Thank you! :)

Okay, she knew her luck had taken a big dump recently, but this was ridiculous! If she thought the university job was difficult, she promptly changed her mind. That was a walk in the park compared to this. Claire stared at all the people. The exquisite party was happening at the ritzy Orient Restaurant on the second floor of the most luxurious hotel in the city, Central Hotel.

There had to be close to a hundred people here! The whole restaurant was closed to cater for the invitation-only event. Why did she even assume this “Christmas Party” was going to be just a group of rich, old dudes bragging all night? With how her luck has been, she should've known better!

Claire gaped at the man beside her who was unfortunately the closest thing she had to a friend at the moment. She recalled William’s little “briefing” on the drive over here.

“The party’s not gonna be that big. Just a simple “get in, get out”. You’ll be home in no time! Actually, you’ll probably be at Al’s home in no time!”

He was still rubbing his arm where she decked him.

“This is nothing like how you explained it!” she hissed.

But the mad scientist only half-heard her, his eyes lit up as though he was a kid about to enter his very first amusement park. Something in here was on his kill list because Claire overheard he wasn’t a stranger to parties, at least not to parties like this that could get him something he wanted.

William was actually quite handsome all cleaned up in his suit. Claire had grown accustomed to his usual disheveled appearance that made him attractive in his own way.

He grinned slyly. “Oh relax, sweetheart. You’ll be fine. Most of these people are total bores…losers just out trying to feel important. They got nothing on you!” He winked at her. “You know what to do, who to find. Ada’s on your earpiece and Al and I are here to watch your back. Don’t worry. Al _definitely _won’t let you out of his sight. Just…don’t distract him too much. I need him focused tonight.”

“Are you fu-”

“Erica!” William nearly squealed, waving both arms and abruptly abandoning her. “Is that gown designed by Broca’s aphasia? Because I’m speechless!”

Claire glared at the fickle bastard as he ditched her to join some other people standing around talking and drinking. She was on her own for now.

“Forget about him, Claire. Just focus on getting to Bennett. Best not drag this out longer than we have to and risk exposing ourselves,” Ada said on her earpiece.

“Okay,” she mumbled, and got into character, her natural Redfield bravado and assurance making it easy to stroll through the party like she owned the place.

It was a beautiful Asian restaurant. Most of the dark tables were accented with candles and glasses. The lounge-like chairs were colorful and comfy, and the tall ceilings gave way to soft LED string lights, oriental paintings and sectioned lattices. In warmer seasons, the same kind of setup could be seen on the massive balcony, but it was currently closed off.

She felt many eyes on her as she started her objective. But she only cared about one set of eyes as she discreetly scanned the place for them.

This many people here was both a blessing and a curse for her mission, and it could go either way real quick at any time. More people meant no room for mistakes, too many eyes. But on the other hand, this many people distracted amongst themselves could make it easy to get away with nearly anything.

Claire soon found the eyes she had been seeking, felt the familiar, pleasing burn on her skin they always caused. She traced them to an area with more people, where a grand, gold statue of Lord Yama sat. Directly in front of the god of death, Wesker was encircled by a small group, mostly beautiful women, and he charmed them effortlessly.

The younger Redfield had to keep herself from staring, also charmed by his chameleon smile, good looks, and striking black suit. Her nerves tingled from simmering blood. She couldn’t believe it. She was actually jealous?! Claire was angry with herself. How could she possibly feel anything of the sort over the man that was blackmailing her?

Besides...she knew Wesker well enough by now to know that it was all pretense. She was sickened and enthralled by how easily he could deceive and influence people. Ada was right. His calculating mind, his clever tongue, those were his deadliest weapons; not his hands, not his gun.

The statue of Yama was simply a backdrop to the true god of death in the room. His admirers probably had no clue and listened intently. The women batted their eyes, pushed out their chests, even the ones who had dates. And those men did nothing about it, perhaps too enthralled themselves or maybe it was the fact that Wesker had an uncanny ability to make most men around him submissive.

He may have looked like he was paying attention to them, his eyes concealed behind black shades, but Claire knew he was watching her. All of her. Every breath, every step, he was in complete tune. Something about that lit a fire in her belly so fierce, she trembled.

The jealousy she felt instantly crumbled. It didn’t matter if those women were rich or prettier or dressed in nicer dresses. They meant nothing to him. Not like she did.

And why was that, exactly?

Claire frowned, faltering mid-step, eyes still locked on Wesker across the room when she should've been moving on. She had some suspicions, if her gut and Ada and William were anything to go by.

More importantly, why do you care?

“Claire?! Earth to Claire, hello?”

“Huh?”

“You aren’t exactly being inconspicuous staying in one spot drooling over Albert.”

Claire’s face flushed and she briskly walked away with a huff. “I’m not drooling!”

The first place she needed to check for her target would be the bar. Typical. It was in the back of the restaurant, low-lit, a massive, semi-circled bar with a marble countertop up against an airbrushed wall depicting a dragon floating through the clouds.

“Whatever you say, hun.”

Claire bit her tongue, taking a deep breath. “I was just happy to see him chatting up other women. Less problems for me.”

Ada sighed. “Claire, fishing is beneath you. First, they aren’t his type. More importantly, Albert detests easy women.”

That wasn’t her intention. “I wasn’t-”

“Unfortunately and fortunately for you, you are his type and are as difficult as they come. I probably shouldn’t be saying this, but you’re as close to obsession as he’s going to get romantically.”

The only fortune she could come up with was that it was unlikely Wesker would kill her. But obsession through people with sociopathic and psychopathic tendencies like Wesker were never a good thing. Her life might be spared at the end of all this...but at what cost?

Claire briskly pushed that thought aside, something cold and heavy dropping in the pit of her stomach. She needed to focus on finding Bennett and getting this over with. That was her excuse. After all, she wasn’t ready to acknowledge that her own growing infatuation would likely veer her into her captor’s arms for good.

She looked around the bar area. There were all kinds of high-status people attending Bard’s Christmas party. Doctors, politicians, city officials, even Mayor Warren and Chief Irons were here.

She recognized Mueller from Raccoon University having a casual conversation with the man that had to be her target. A picture was never granted, but a detailed description allowed her to quickly analyze him. It had to be him. Tall, average build, auburn hair and an anchor beard. He chatted with Mueller with a drink in his hand.

Just as Claire stepped their way, a strong grip snatched her wrist. She was spun around, coming face-to-face with Nathaniel Bard. He looked fine since the anaphylaxis she put him through with the shrimp, but the creep wasn't happy one bit with her, still keeping a painful grip on her arm.

"I knew I'd see your face again, girl. What happened at the university is all your fault."

Claire glared at him. "You're gonna be hurting more if you don't let me go right now."

The music and all the guests chatting around them helped conceal her threat from eavesdropping ears but the Spencer Memorial doctor heard her clearly.

He considered challenging her, lips pursing, but soon let her go after his eyes scanned the numerous faces within the party. "I know you're working with those two bastards. You have no idea how much harm you’ve caused me and several of my colleagues. Lowery was a good man, understand? He had a family. And now I’m trapped doing those two psychos’ bidding.”

“Maybe you aren’t the only one who is trapped.”

“Well then there’s more to your pretty face, isn’t there? They wouldn’t risk it otherwise.”

Who the fuck did this guy think he was? Claire clenched a fist, as it took all of her willpower not to break his damn nose. She had a job to do here. If she caused a scene in the middle of this party, especially with the man hosting it, then she could kiss her freedom and potentially Chris’s life goodbye.

She did let him in on what he was narrowly missing out on by grabbing his hand and twisting it slightly, squeezing hard on a pressure point. Just enough to make it really hurt, just enough to get her point across while looking like she was just holding his hand to nearly everyone else. “If my life didn’t hinge on fulfilling this job, you’d be on the floor with a broken fucking face, do you understand me?”

“Damn, Claire. I like your style,” Ada chimed in.

The younger Redfield ignored her and smiled, showing the guests they were having a pleasant conversation. Bard hissed in pain, quickly nodding. Claire released him and he jerked his hand away, shaking it off with a grimace.

“Listen, I’ll make the job easy for you. Just...do what you need to do and get out of here. Take those assholes with you. And never show your face at one of my social events ever again.”

“I’d love to, but it’s not my call. But...I have a feeling you know exactly who you can talk to about that.”

Bard scowled, rubbing his injured hand. He muttered something under his breath and motioned her to follow him, heading towards Bennett and Mueller in the back of the bar. “C’mon, and follow my lead.”

“Ugh, he better not screw this up.”

Bard put on a welcoming smile once they reached Mueller and Bennett’s table. Mueller recognized her, but didn’t say anything. She barely got a moment’s glare from him before he flashed Bard a guarded look, as if asking “what are you up to now?” The two men stood and the doctor shook their hands.

“Mr. Bennett! I trust you are enjoying the party? What kind of host would I be if I was neglecting my honored guest?”

He looked to be in his thirties maybe. His smile was warm as he nodded. He noticed Claire nearly right away, and there was a definite reaction of some kind. Attraction, she guessed, immediate infatuation. Great…

“Oh yes,” he said in a European accent. “I am grateful to you and Greg’s hospitality. You’ve made being so far from home much more bearable.”

“Good, good! It’s a shame your business partner couldn’t join us this evening. But I’m sure he had his reasons. You two are busy men, after all!”

Bennett nodded, composed yet amiable. “That we are. I’m sorry, but I have to ask, who is this beautiful young lady you have with you?”

Bard didn’t skip a beat in his front, presenting her with a grin like she was a piece of treasure up for auction.

“I know, stunning right? This is Elza. She’s one of my...assistants.”

The European man held out his hand with a handsome, friendly smile. It could’ve fooled anyone, and it almost fooled her. But her gut constricted at the last moment, her first indication something wasn’t right about this guy.

He took her hand and kissed it softly. “It is my utmost pleasure, Miss Elza. I’m Stephan Bennett. Please, just call me Stephan.”

Claire put on the sweetest smile she could muster, batting her lashes. “The pleasure’s all mine, Stephan.”

He looked her over, and although he was an attractive man, it made her skin crawl.

“Has Greg taken you up to your suite yet?” Bard asked cordially. “I’ve left you a little treat as a thank you for choosing to stay the night in Raccoon City’s famous Central Hotel!”

Bennett ripped his eyes from Claire and shook his head at the host. “No, sir. I got the keycard to the room earlier, but wanted to check out the party before retreating for the night.” He presented a friendly, almost sheepish smile. “Honestly, I’m still a little messed up with the time zone changes. I didn’t think it would affect me this much.”

“That’s not a problem. My assistant and I will escort you up there. There’s a little bit of business I’d like to discuss with you anyway,” Bard replied.

“What about your party?”

“Eh, they’ll entertain themselves! Greg will take care of things while I’m gone. It won’t be but a few minutes.” Bennett glanced at Claire, expression unreadable, and Bard quickly added. “My assistant is completely trustworthy, don’t worry. She knows about our research.”

Bennett nodded, relieved. “Alright, lead the way, Nathaniel.”

Claire was uncertain what to do as Mueller shook hands with Bennett and bid them good night before heading for the bar. Her job was to stick a bug on the European businessman, probably so Wesker and William could track him straight to Aaron Roth. Leaving the party just tossed her whole plan into the garbage. This just got way riskier.

Nothing like winging a mission where my life’s literally at stake. What’s the worst that can happen?

“Great,” Ada whispered in her ear, not helping Claire’s gut feeling. “Wesker’s watching and listening through your piece. He says it’s fine. Just get that bug on Bennett without him knowing.”

Was that supposed to make her feel better that Wesker said it was fine? And how exactly was he able to do that anyway? That just made her earlier conversation with Ada a lot more awkward...

With a slight tick of her jaw, Claire composed herself with a friendly smile and followed the two men out of the restaurant and into the fancy, historical hotel.

They went to the lobby, a grand room with high ceilings, bright lights, and expensive carpet and decor. The elevator ride to the fifth floor seemed extra crowded, even though there were just three of them. Bard and Bennett chatted normally about their lives and careers. Claire didn’t like the frequent glances Bennett gave her. She waited for an opportunity, stayed vigilant with that inkling sprouting in her gut.

It got worse when Ada told her she lost visual on her from their location.

Wesker’s making you do this alone because he wants to see how you do, said a small voice in the back of her head. She didn’t have proof, but she wouldn’t put it past him.

She gave vague answers when Bennett asked her something, either curious and flirting or digging and deceiving. She wasn’t exactly sure.

Bennett scanned his card and held the door open to the big, two-bedroom suite. Bard strolled right on in but Claire hesitated, not wanting to put her back to these men. When she did, she felt his eyes all over her, and when he closed the door, he purposely brushed her to get by.

They stepped into the spacious living room first, accented with a bar and impressive kitchen. There was a home theater set up in the den, opposite a wall of glass that displayed downtown Raccoon City. Dark buildings silhouetted within soft glows of lights of all colors. Speckles of white rained down softly outside.

“You meant it when you said this suite had a view,” Bennett stated, drawn to the panorama.

Bard gave her a look, dipped his head in the direction of his “guest”, as if urging her to get her business done. Claire glared at him as he turned off to the bar instead.

“Yes, I did! And over here, something just for you, Mr. Bennett. Your favorite wine. All the way from home!”

“I don’t like this. Are you okay? Cough if you are.”

“How thoughtful of you, Dr. Bard. Thank you. You’ve gone out of your way to make me feel at home here.”

Claire didn’t like it either. She looked around, keeping up her appearance as she joined the men at the bar. She didn’t see any danger, but something like it was lurking about. Whatever it was, she was fine for now.

She coughed. “Oh, excuse me.”

Bennett watched her more than Bard, but she still couldn’t read his expression. Bard took the fancy bottle out of the container of ice. “Shall we have a glass while we talk?”

“Yes. I’d like that.”

That clicked an idea in her brain. Claire put a hand on Bard’s arm, mustering up the realest fake friendly smile she could handle, looking between the two men under thick lashes. “How about you gentlemen take a seat, get comfortable? Let me serve you.”

Bennett’s smile held something darker, but it was gone in a flash. Bard looked at her funny, but composed himself and slowly put the wine down on the counter. “Of course, Elza! You’re always the sweetest thing! Come, Stephan, over here.”

“What do you have planned, exactly?” Ada asked. “Ugh, I hate going by sound alone.”

Her cohorts had lied to her, she realized. William promised Wesker wouldn’t let her out of his sight and Ada said she would watch over her. Wesker didn’t say much to her before the party, but disclosed if she did what she was told, she would be fine. She was alone here and certainly felt something other than “fine” was coming her way.

The doctor and his guest went to the lounge chairs nearby, sitting across from each other. It was the perfect way for Claire to bug Bennett without him knowing. She opened the white wine and poured their glasses, giving them time to get settled in their seats and start talking. The more distracted they were, the better. It also gave her a moment to get the tiny tracking device ready.

The younger Redfield served Bennett first. She caressed her fingers up his arm, across his shoulder, stopped at the back of his neck, squeezing his collar gently. Her flirtatious smile was enough to distract him from Bard when she handed him his drink. She didn’t remain long, crossing to Bard and giving him his drink with the same smile, the same caress that made her skin crawl. She left them and returned to the bar, gathering up the wine bottle and ice bucket and placing them on the table in between the two men.

Claire eavesdropped on their conversation, but a lot of it made no sense to her. Big research, Sheena and Rockfort Island, Roth, Ashfords, prototypes, T-series. All similar topics that Wesker and William discussed and were involved with.

“You know, it’s strange how all of our business associates keep coming up dead or missing since we’ve been in town,” Bennett said after a long sip of his wine.

Bard grew quiet, confused, his fingers clenching around his wine glass. “What…do you mean?”

The European man looked at Claire, like he knew all of her secrets, not near as charming now. “You know what happened to them...don’t you, Miss Walker? Or should I call you Miss Redfield?”

Claire stiffened, nails digging into the chair arms. She dared not blink, glaring at him, keeping calm, but reeling underneath on how to react. He knew her name. Her _real _name.

Shit!

“Shit!” Ada echoed in her ear. “Claire, don’t do anything rash. Hang in there.”

It wasn’t as though she had much of a choice. She was on her own. Bard’s alarmed face told her everything. He was just as surprised as her, but would be too much of a coward to help her.

Claire took a deep breath. “I don’t know what happened to them.”

“I think Dr. Lowery would say otherwise.”

“How do you know my real name?”

The European businessman crossed one leg casually, swishing the wine in his glass, sharp eyes on her. “All it took was a little digging. You really shouldn’t use your mother’s maiden name as an alias, darling. Especially one as unique as hers.”

Cold steel bumped the back of her head. A gun.

Wesker had told her the same thing. Warned her.

She was careless to use it after not being prepared at the university. Now she was in real danger. The other wolves that Wesker claimed he was protecting her from had stalked her right into a corner. Then again, maybe he wasn’t expecting _this _pack. Or maybe he had and was ready to give her up as tribute for his own motives…

“Uh, Stephan, what’s going on, is t-this necessary?” Bard asked.

“Quiet, or you’ll have one to your head also.” Bennett motioned for Claire to stand. “My business partner, Aaron, would like to speak to you one-on-one, Miss Redfield. You have the time, right? You can help fill the gaps on what’s been happening to our dealings. We’re getting warm, but it seems as though everyone is too afraid to give us answers. Whoever you’re working for, we’ll cut you a nice deal if you expose them.”

Claire kept his gaze, defiant, silent. She had no choice but to comply. She had no weapons on her, no way to hide one in this dress. She slowly moved her hands down to her sides, preparing to push herself up, and felt it. The cold, metal coil of a corkscrew. She forgot she had brought it with her while serving the drinks.

Snatching it up between her fingers, she stood. The man who had the gun to her head pulled her out away from the chair. Bennett rose from his seat, finishing his drink and setting the empty glass down.

Bard shot up as well, looking between Claire and his guest, panicking. “Wh-What are you doing?”

There were two other men in suits now. They must’ve been hiding in the suite this whole time. Although they didn’t have weapons drawn, they were probably packing like the one behind her.

“Nathaniel, lying to me that she is your assistant? After what happened to Simon, I’m shocked. Someone’s got you cowering and afraid, just like Greg. Just like our friend the Police Chief.”

“I-It’s n-not what you think.”

Bennett nodded to the other men. They grabbed Bard by the arms, containing him. The European man pulled a gun equipped with a silencer from his suit jacket.

The doctor fought his captors. “Wait! No!”

Claire stabbed the man behind her in the groin with the corkscrew. He cried out as she spun, disarming him and shoving him away where he tumbled to the floor. She grabbed the bottle of wine and threw it at Bennett’s head just as he switched his gun on her. The bottle shattered on his face.

She didn’t get far with running. Not in that dress, not in those heels, before she was snatched by his men. A bash above her temple instantly made the world spin. Still, she fought, as weak as she suddenly felt.

Bennett was soaked, his face earning a few gashes from broken glass, blood mixing with golden-colored wine. He cursed, wiping his eyes with his sleeve. He grabbed her neck, squeezing hard.

“You little bitch! You’re lucky Aaron wants to speak with you, or you’d be dead!”

That’s when his arm snapped. Like a twig. He screamed. Claire, her vision still hazy from the blow to her head, realized he was attacked. His men were attacked; she was let go. A few blinks and she saw Wesker using some sort of martial arts to swiftly dispose of them. Not Bennett though. He raced away to his escape while holding his limp arm that flopped uselessly as he ran.

The STARS Captain had killed the other three. In seconds. With his hands. He paused, looking to the door where Bennett had fled, as if deciding whether to pursue him. He was over it in seconds though, grabbing her and pulling her to him. Not as rough as she had expected, but gentle wasn’t really in his nature.

“Hold still,” he commanded. She felt his hand on her head. He must’ve been examining the clout she had received. “Are you alright?”

There was some blood on his hand when he withdrew it, and she felt it trickling in her hair. It must’ve been just a small cut, otherwise it would’ve been all over her face by now.

“Yeah,” she said. And she was. It had only made her light-headed for a minute or so.

The nearby chair squeaked as it scooted on the carpet, and a muffled curse came from the other side. Wesker finally looked away from her, jaw clenching. He marched over to the furniture and kicked it. The chair crashed and skidded several feet away. Wesker seized Bard by the collar and picked him up, slamming him into the nearby bar counter. The sound his body made hitting the granite countertop made her flinch, and Bard’s yelp confirmed it.

“Wesker, wait, please! I d-didn’t know! I didn’t! I swear! He was gonna kill me too!”

“He was,” Claire confirmed.

She had no idea why she defended the asshole, especially when he didn’t offer her any help before. But she could tell he was telling the truth. Wesker paused, but didn’t look at her, probably contemplating what to do with the doctor as he shuddered in his hands.

“Consider your...contract extended indefinitely,” Wesker growled, and shoved him over the other side of the bar. He put a couple fingers up to his ear, the same hidden piece she had. “Ada, William, we’re finished here. Ada, track Bennett. William, tell Irons he has a mess to clean up with Bard and Mueller.”

Bard got to his feet, shaken, his surprised eyes finding hers. The younger Redfield glared at him, a silent message he understood. She had spared him a cruel fate from the Devil. But she wouldn’t do it again.

She returned her gaze to the three bodies around her feet. The one she stabbed with the corkscrew had a snapped neck. The other two looked as though they had suddenly dropped dead, nothing to attribute to the hands of the STARS Captain. But she had seen it with her own eyes. And although it shouldn’t have, it lit a fierce fire in her lower belly, spreading when his arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her towards the door.

The flames were fanned when he whispered in her ear, his hand squeezing her hip. “You did exceptionally well, dear heart. You make me proud.”

When Ada told her Wesker would want to take her home after seeing her in her dress, she had denied wanting him to, denied she wanted to go home with him willingly. But after what she saw, how he held her close to him like she was his, and his alone, how his breath upon her ear titillated her, made her receptive to him only, she could no longer deny it.

Claire wouldn’t be able to stand the drive there. She wanted him. Wanted him to take her. She was a liar; it wasn’t just a one-time fling or a mistake. It was going to happen again. And she wanted it to, and would do nothing to stop it.

#resident evil #resident evil 2 #resident evil fanfiction #resident evil fanfic #clairexwesker #claire x wesker #Claire Redfield #Albert Wesker #chris x jill #ChrisxJill #Chris Redfield #Jill Valentine #William Birkin #sherry birkin #Annette Birkin #Ada Wong #fanfiction #fanfic #AO3 fanfic

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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How Final Destination Went From Real-Life Premonition to Horror Phenomenon

https://ift.tt/30jSLcc

The year 2000 was a scary one for horror films and not always in a good way.

While American Psycho and The Cell offered up visually striking nihilistic thrills to genre fans, the majority of horror movies released at the dawn of the new millennium were at best forgettable and, at worst, lamentable – yes, we’re looking at you, Leprechaun in the Hood.

This was the year of duff sequels like Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2, Urban Legends: Final Cut and, though it is painful to admit, Scream 3. Horror fans were screaming out for something different, something exciting. They found it with Final Destination.

Discarding the stalk-and-slash thrills that had enjoyed a revival in the years following the release of Scream, Final Destination centered on a group of high schoolers who end up avoiding a fatal plane crash thanks to a premonition, only to discover there is no escaping death’s plan as one by one they are offed in a variety of brilliantly inventive “accidents”.

Released in March of that year, Final Destination was a sleeper hit with word-of-mouth helping the film to clean up at the box office, earning $112 million off a $23 million budget with more than half of that coming internationally.

To date, it has spawned four sequels as well as a variety of novelisations and comic book spin-offs while a franchise reboot is also on the horizon.

Movies

The Final Destination Movies, Ranked

By Sarah Dobbs

Jeffrey Reddick has worked on several films during his career to date but he’s probably best known as the creator of Final Destination. It’s something he has come to terms with.

“It’s probably going to end up on my gravestone, it’s such an ironic title,” he tells Den of Geek.

“Sometimes I’ll be out and I will hear someone say ‘you just had a Final Destination moment’ and it will make me smile. The whole thing just took on a life of its own.”

Nightmarish Origins

A screenwriter and director, Reddick recalls how his neighbors in rural Jackson, Kentucky, would laugh when his six-year-old self would tell them about his plans to work in the movie business.

An avid writer and reader of Greek and Roman mythology, he recalls spending his formative years watching horror movies with his friends. His mother was only too happy to indulge his burgeoning interest too, knowing it kept him out of trouble elsewhere.

Reddick’s life began to change after he saw A Nightmare on Elm Street.

“That film cemented my love of horror. I was this 14-year-old hillbilly from Kentucky but I decided I was going to write a prequel. I went home, banged it out on my typewriter and sent it to Bob Shaye.”

The legendary head of New Line Cinema initially dismissed Reddick’s draft out of hand, returning it with a note explaining the studio did not “accept unsolicited material.”

Undaunted, Reddick sent the script back with a note telling him “Look mister, I spent three dollars on your movie and I think you could take five minutes on my story.”

Shaye was impressed and struck up a bond with the youngster that saw him sending everything from scripts to posters to Reddick during his teenage years.

When Reddick moved to New York to study acting, age 19, he was offered an internship with New Line, which would become a full-time role despite acting being his “main passion.”

“Diversity in casting was not a thing at that time,” he recalls.

“My agent was like ‘I don’t know what to do with you as an actor. We can’t put you up for gangsters or pimps and you don’t rap and you don’t play basketball.”

“So I figured, screw it, I will just write stuff and put myself in it.”

Reddick was present at New Line during their company’s early 90s creative heyday and credits the experience with helping him get Final Destination off the ground.

“I learned a lot about how to get a movie made. I knew that to make a movie that connected with an audience you had to tap into something that was universal. Death is the ultimate fear.”

As luck would have it, the idea actually came to Reddick while on a flight back to Kentucky.

“I read about a woman who was on vacation and her mother told her not to take the flight she was planning to take home as she had a bad feeling about it. The woman changed it and the plane she was supposed to be on crashed.”

At that point however the idea wasn’t Final Destination. It wasn’t a film either. It was an episode of The X Files.

The Truth Is Out There

“I was trying to get a TV agent at the time and they recommended I write a spec script for something already on the air. I was a huge fan of The X Files and thought about a scene where somebody has a premonition and gets off the plane and then it crashes and used that as the plot.”

“It was going to be Scully’s brother Charles who had the premonition. He gets off the plane with a few other people but they start dying and Charles blacks out every time there is a murder so people suspect he is doing it.

I Still Want to Believe: Revisiting The X-Files Pilot

By Chris Longo

“The twist at the end was that the sheriff who had been investigating alongside Mulder and Scully the whole time had actually been shot and flatlined at the same time as the plane crash. Death brought him back to kill off all the survivors, including Charles.”

It would have made for a great episode except it was never submitted to The X Files. Reddick showed his spec script to some friends at New Line who were so impressed, they told him to develop it into a treatment for a feature, which was eventually purchased by the studio.

Producers Craig Perry and Warren Zide were brought onboard to develop the story and set about tweaking his idea.

“Originally the cast of survivors were adults because I wanted to explore more adult themes but Scream had come out and teenagers were hot again so New Line got me to change it”

In a twist of fate, two established writers from The X Files, James Wong and Glen Morgan, were brought onboard to rejig Reddick’s script.

“My version was definitely darker and more like A Nightmare on Elm Street,” he says.

“In my script, death would torment the kids about some kind of past sin they felt guilty about. They would then die in these accidents that ended up looking like suicides.”

For example, Todd’s death saw him chased into the family garage by an unseen specter where he accidentally ended up rigged in a noose triggered when his dad opens the automatic garage door.

Death is all around us

Ultimately that death scene and several others were ultimately scrapped in favour of what would prove to be the franchise’s calling card.

Reddick credits Wong and Morgan with coming up with the idea of having the film’s key death scenes kicked off by a Rube Goldberg machine-like chain-reaction that would see everyday things colliding to create a lethal scenario. It was nothing short of a masterstroke.

“It created this notion that death is all around us,” Reddick says.

“Death would use everyday things around us. It made it more universal and allowed us to set the deaths in places where people go all the time. The payoff would be fun but it was the build-up that had you on the edge of your seat.”

There was one major sticking point for the studio though: the presence of death, or rather the lack of.

“I fought really hard to make sure we never showed death because for me, if you didn’t show it, it could be something someone, no matter their belief system, could project onto our villain. That was a tough sell for the studio. They would be like ‘this doesn’t make any sense, you can’t see it and you can’t fight it’ but that’s the point, it’s death.”

“Luckily both James Wong and Glen Morgan were very insistent we never show it and tie it in to a specific belief system.”

Reddick credits the move with helping Final Destination become “an international phenomenon”.

“It struck a chord with people around the world. It broke out beyond the horror audience.”

Casting dreams

When it came to casting, Reddick had a clear idea of who he wanted in the lead roles, even if the studio’s opinion differed drastically.

“I had a wish list with Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst as my two leads but New Line was like ‘well…’”

He might not have got his first pick but Final Destination boasted an impressive cast of up-and-comers who had already made waves among teen audiences.

Devon Sawa had starred in Idle Hands, while Ali Larter was known for Varsity Blues and Kerr Smith was a regular on Dawson’s Creek. There was even room for Seann William Scott, fresh from his breakout turn in American Pie who was drafted in on the recommendation of producer Craig Perry, who told Reddick “you’ve got to get this kid, he’s going to be huge.”

Even so, Reddick was left a little unhappy.

“One of the conversations we had early on was like ‘Just remember this is set in New York, which is one of the most diverse cities in the world so let’s make sure we have some diversity in the cast’ and they were like ‘oh we will’ and then there wasn’t anyone who wasn’t white in it.”

New Line chief Bob Shaye did find a way to make amends on some level at least, casting Candyman horror icon Tony Todd in a cameo role as a mysteriously foreboding mortician.

“He called me up and said they had got Tony Todd and I flipped out. He is an icon. Such a talented, serious actor.”

As well as co-write the film, Wong took on directorial duties while each of the film’s death sequences would require careful planning, his first aim was to have the film start with a bang by creating as terrifyingly realistic a plane crash as possible.

“We want to do for planes and air travel what Jaws did for sharks and swimming,” he declared in one interview.

Yet the film would later garner criticism for its eerie similarities to the explosion and crash of TWA Flight 800 off East Moriches, Long Island, New York in 1996 where 16 students and five adults died.

“There was some criticism that the movie was written to exploit this real-life crash,” Reddick recalls.

“I even realised later they used footage from one real-life crash which I wasn’t particularly happy about.”

Indeed, much of the news footage shown in the film actually came from the 1996 crash.

That didn’t stop the film becoming a major hit and spawning a sequel within three years.

Final Destination meets Game of Thrones

Reddick returned to write the treatment for Final Destination 2, determined to move the franchise away from its teen Scream origins.

“We had tapped into that zeitgeist and didn’t have to do that again. I wanted to expand the universe and subvert it, so I had it open by following a bunch of teens who are then killed off.”

Once again, divine intervention led to divine inspiration for the opening set piece.

“Originally, I was going to have it open with some kids going to spring break and they stop off at this hotel and there is a fire but the producers were not sure. Writers always say you should go out and live life – life informs you and a lot of inspiration comes out when I go out for a walk.

“I was driving back to Kentucky to see my family and I got stuck behind a log truck and the idea just came to me. I pulled off the highway and called Craig and was flipping out with this idea for a log truck on a freeway.”

The resulting freeway pile-up that leads to multiple deaths is one Reddick ranks as his “favourite scene in the entire franchise.”

“The second film is my favourite. I wanted to create a sequel that didn’t feel like a remake of the first. It went in a more fun direction – but it’s still scary.”

That first sequel also represented the last of which Reddick was formally involved in, though he remained very much in the loop as the Godfather of the franchise, revealing that producers had been “looking at scripts before Covid hit.”

He also revealed that, at one point, things looked to be heading in an altogether different and thoroughly fascinating direction.

“There was talk about setting a Final Destination back in Medieval times. Like Game of Thrones in Final Destination. Craig Perry worked with a writer and they talked about the idea and put a teaser trailer together [which has leaked online].

“I would go and see that movie in a heartbeat but the studio said that the reason Final Destination was so popular was that element of deaths in normal, everyday situations.”

Future Destinations

Reddick hasn’t given up on a return to the franchise though, hinting at a “unique” idea he has for a new film that is simply too good to reveal yet.

In the meantime, he has been busy writing and directing Don’t Look Back, a film that shares some surface similarities with Final Destination and is painfully relevant to society today.

“It’s a mystery thriller about a group of people who witness someone getting fatally assaulted in a park and don’t help the person and somebody films them and puts it online. The public turns on the witnesses and someone or something is coming after them.”

Eager to make more horror films and celebrate diversity in his work, Reddick remains immensely proud of Final Destination and the impact it has had on audiences.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

“It’s cool. To have one movie that is going to be talked about after you die is a life goal. If that’s what I leave behind as a legacy that’s enough – but I still want more.”

Don’t Look Back is available on DVD & Digital from 14th June

The post How Final Destination Went From Real-Life Premonition to Horror Phenomenon appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3oUb1UD

#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

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a-deadly-serenade · 3 years

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overall this season was pretty decent. i have some thots whats new so im gonna share them below the cut if anyone’s interested :)

so!! first off i’ll say that there were a lot of things i did really enjoy from season 4!

the action was super fun as always!! i loved all the crazy enemies and callbacks! the skeleton fight and all those little goblins they kept killing throughout were a nice touch ;) sypha’s use of her powers is INSANE her ice-chainsaw?? her WALL of fire?? electric balls?? come on. and the animation was NICE. i really wanna know who did most of the fight scenes bcuz the style is so different and it just POPS but in a really good way?

my favorite fight has to be ofc when everyone is REUNITED yes im basic. but the THEME song going off and well, im a whore for sotn references and i CAME when i saw the leap stone ref w the winged cape or when alucard turned into a hoard of batss AND THEN HIS WOLF FORM OOOOHH BABY!!! actually episode 9 is just a straight banger.

STRIGAAA. STRIGA. oh mama i was sweating during that fight. mad kudos to her va for them growlsss

carmilla vs isaac was a lot of fun and i loved the visuals but my hype was instantly ruined when i saw her kill herself 😭but thats smth i’ll complain about later.

not all the lines were bangers, some of sypha’s swearing seemed even a bit too much at times, and it was especially jarring to be having a face-to-face death-math with literal Death and hes acting like a naughty little 5 year old thats just learnt to swear. maybe cut back on the fuck-isms? just a bit? BUT when they hit they did GOOD. “the fuck what now?” yes

ISAAC. you weren’t in this season as much but man do u still shine through. i loved his introduction back in the town where he has his night creatures digging graves and rebuilding the city 😭 and then the conversation he shares w his flyman?? obsessed.

Hector chopping his finger off and giving lenore and carmilla a good ol FUCK YOU!! as he helps isaac. we love to see it

Trevor and Sypha’s “I love you!” “I know.” <3

DEATHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

oh! alucard actually having a story & purpose in the plot? :) luv it love to see it. that being said... the Plot.

its... ok? it’s kind of split up into 3/4 parts, as the story progresses, one eventually merges with several of the others kind of? cohesively? while leaving the other to sort itself out.

now, i didnt have too many qualms with it, it was pretty straight forward. dracula is going to be resurrected and we have sypha and trevor looking in on it, while alucard helps the nearby village and hector and isaac go on about bringing on their inevitable showdown. however, the way the story was paced and some of the decisions they made... werent so great.

st. germain for example, brought the ENTIRE momentum from the last few episodes to a halt. you have sypha and trevor fighting through heaps and heaps of monsters only to find themselves back in Targoviste where they meet the mysterious Zamfir!! and Alucard!! he’s been asked to help save this village!! all jam-packed with crazy action and animation that leaves you fired up!! and then episode 5 comes to a screeching halt and we spend nearly the entire thing on st. germain’s backstory and explaining his motives for the rest of the season

like. imma be real with you chief: he didnt need to be here lol. you could have just left varney as the main vamp in charge of bringing back big daddy drac and he could reveal to his.. idk henchmen or something that he’s death. but u gotta fill them ten 20 minute slots somehow!! he just fell so flat and unfortunately, a lot of the side-characters suffer from this this season.

i enjoyed great and zamfir, i love their desgins esp, but they really could have been fleshed out more. zamfir is shown as nothing but a spoiled brat the majority of the time she’s on screen but they wait till she’s about to die to try and turn her character around? huh? greta is given a bit more screentime but this sudden confession of feelings in the last episode felt so... huh?? why couldnt she just be dedicated to her people and show that u can love someone w/out necessarily being their partnr? i thot that was her whole thing; taking care of her people. it’s like. where did this come from. they cant have known each other more than a week at most dog 😭

it sucks they dedicated to much time to scenes that didnt really need to be there where we could have gotten this proper development, like maybe have a scene zamfir and sypha connect over struggles they’ve dealt with in the past and that has her open up about how traumatizing dracula’s attack on her city was. u could have expanded upon her role in the court and WHY she worshipped the monarchy so much instead of making it a throwaway gag about her being “crazy”. but why have that when we could instead spend the first 5 minutes of said episode watching a monotonous back-and-forth b/w varney and that big burly russian vampire who’s name im sure mor than 98% of the audience cant even remember?

just a lot of fat that needed to be trimmed so that the actual MEAT of the story could be slow cooked to perfection. people really arent kidding when they say less is more.

another big problem i had was there... i dont even know what to call it, re-humanization? redemption? of Lenore. like lmk if im wrong but she manipulated hector, yeah? coerced sex to slip on that ring that binds him to her?? orr whatever weird shit warren’s into. but the way they interacted, ESPECIALLY in their first major scene together was sooo uncomfortable to watch lol at first i thought perhaps hector was only playing along because well. hes enslaved to do her and carmilla’s bidding. but no, he actually LIKES her. he spares her when isaac comes around, he says that he wants to keep her as his own. and in the meantime, lenore finds time to complain to a man that’s been beaten and enslaved how upset it makes her that carmilla got angry at her 😭 or says thats she tired of isaac keeping tabs on her and wants to escape this ‘cage’. to aman thats literally been imprisoned since youve known him 😭her death is seen as peaceful, calm, they even try and tug at ur heartstrings by swelling this sad, dramatic music as the sun rises. really? LENORE?

and carmilla’s death happened WAYY too early imo. she was the villain for practically 3 seasons and this is how she goes? isaac couldnt get more than a stab at her? his night creatures couldnt take a nibble? HECTOR couldnt even be given a chance to do somethng like come on

the resolution was... strange? it was cute!! and happy!! but i dunno if they really needed to have lisa and vlad coming back, but, like i said; it was cute! definitely not the ending i was expecting.

i’m glad that they put their focus back on what made the show so much fun and that was the FIGHTS. they definitely helped add some much needed spice to things when scenes started to drag, but im a gal that really luvs a good story and even though reviews were raving that this season helped closed the lid on all the themes theyd been exploring, i just didnt really see that. which isnt necessarily a BAD thing, i knew i wasnt gonna find some deep introspective themes in this hack n slash horror-fantasy, its just what can turn somethng like this from an ok show to a GREAT one.

in the end, im glad they stopped at this one and im curious to see if they really DO go ahead on making spin-offs. bcuz unfortunately, i will always be down for som new castlevania content

#cv4 #this is REALLY long #and BRIMMING with spoilers #so read at ur own discretion #otherwise ty for spending ur valuable time to hear what a random sob like me has to say <3

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handfulofmuses · 1 year

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What was Vervain's old chief rabbit like?

"...."

Strangely enough? He never hold the betrayal against him and he never figured out why. The same can't be said about the other rabbits from his former warren. Which...fair.

He still remembers that his former chief tried to reason with the general. After watching what was going on with in that warren, he decided to talk with the large rabbit about it.

Those who see leadership as control and take advantage of their position of powers are no leaders. True leadership requires work. Your warriors rely on you. Their failure will always be your failure.

Obviously that whole conversation was all for nothing. Wasted his breath. So, his old leader decided to take matters into his own paws. While he stayed in Efrafa, one by one rabbits from his old warren disappeared. Making sure members of his warrens get away safely somehow while the leader stayed behind. Not each day, because he didn't want to create a pattern, he did it in a sneaky and cunning manner - although Vervain wasn't sure how.

And yet - he even extended that to him as well. The one who betrayed him and yet he wanted him out of here? Laughable. A trick, perhaps?

Becausse that's how he found out his old chief rabbit was behind the disappearances in the first place. And instead of taking that offer...he just threw him under the bus a second time.

Which resulted in him becoming an example of what happens if you resist the general.

.....And he still wasn't mad. It did not made any sense.

"He was a fool."

#;deceitful coward (vervain)#gets this asks #quickly thinks of something???#vervain headcanons #Vervain is like #ok this would have been easier if he were mad at me like everyone else #hate me you fool

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hellyeahheroes · 5 years

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The Gwen Stacy book

Technically this book wasn’t as bad as I thought it was. It didn’t rewrite Gwen completely as I feared it would. I’ve only seen one out of character moment but again that’s from my perspective of the character.

This first panel threw me for a loop because 1. I don’t think it was ever mentioned that Harry and Gwen went to the same high school together and 2. Harry as Gwen’s guy friend does make sense because it was peculiar that Harry never expressed interest in Gwen. He went straight for Mary Jane. So it does retroactively explain why. Also this school is placed in Manhattan which is peculiar because Gwen lived in Forest Hills, Queens. It is quite the journey to just attend school here but then since Harry goes here as well, I guess this school is an advanced private school. Gwen has always been upper class and Harry is rich so...yeah. It is nothing contradictory as of yet.

The book focuses on Gwen’s life as the daughter of a police chief. Apparently there is this plot to disgrace Captain Stacy by supposedly Wilson Fisk since it’s his enforcers. It would have been cool if it was Miles Morales and I would have done a spit take. But who it actually was is kind of a contradictory moment that has a plot hole. But more on that later

She is just a normal ambitious high school girl running for class president with a boyfriend who wasn’t named but looks a lot like Miles Morales. He is a member of Standard High’s Football team. I reread this a couple times to see if he had a name, but I couldn’t find it.

The fact that she is dating a jock makes sense because she and Flash were an item before he went off to serve in the military. And honestly, Gwen had boyfriends. So yeah. Not seeing a lot of contradiction in character. She remains Gwen, mostly.

And yes, that is Peter Parker researching how to make his web fluid. I think that is a neat addition given what happens later but yeah, the likelihood that Peter and Gwen were in the same library at one point is kind of funny as Gwen talks about being huge nerds. I’m glad that this book didn’t try to rewrite her proported interest in science and being a nerd herself when that is disputed. Sure, Warren Miles made her is intern but those were for ulterior motives that nothing to do with her science acrumen.

Oh and Yuri Watanabe and Jean DeWolfe are Stacy’s confidants and good friends with Gwen. Which...makes sense. I actually like Yuri.

Alright so let me hastily explain the plot. Captain Stacy is tracking down the Lucky Lobo gang with Yuri and Jean. Unbeknownst to Gwen, she has been tailed by a mysterious dude in the limo speaking to the Enforcers. You think it’s Kingpin or even 616 Miles given that it’s the Enforcers but nope. Anyways, Gwen pretty much lives her life while Captain Stacy meets his snitch. But it was a trap.

So captain shot at the snitch after feeling someone behind him. Snitch is dead and Stacy went to the hospital. Gwen finds out and sees this on the news.

Now we have set up when exactly this happened. This is when Uncle Ben was murdered. Keep that in mind.

Anyways, Gwen tends to her father and Jean informs him on her visit that George Stacy is being investigated because forensics concluded that he shot his snitch first so he is being seen as a dirty cop. George maintains that there was someone else in the building but he can’t prove. Gwen insists that he save his reputation. He agrees and then this happens.

The Enforcers threaten to assault Gwen if he fought against the case. The plan, the whole time, was to sully his name. Of course after he is threatened, he of course loses the will to fight to save his reputation.

Later Gwen realizes that she was being threatened which is somewhat uncharacteristic of her to be aware of plans like that. If she had that awareness, she would not have been thrown off the bridge in the first place. Regardless, Gwen resolved to save her father’s reputation when he wouldn’t.

Now here is the stinger that may have created a contradiction.

There is no way in hell Green Goblin was behind this, right? I can’t have been the only one confused by this. For one, it implies that Norman Osborn has always been the Green Goblin and there has always been one before there was a Spider-man. Which again means that Norman was trying to form a criminal enterprise even before he met Peter. Crime Master makes sense and honestly I am glad that he is back and getting love especially after the obscure cameo in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse. But Osborn? No. Like why would he bother with the mask and get up if he was operating in secret anyways. Green Goblin had to have been after Spider-man. It just doesn’t make sense. If it were Wilson Fisk, totally. Maybe even 616 Miles because again why would Fisk’s Enforcers work for Green Goblin? And even then,while the plan matches Norman’s convoluted MO, why would he even bother being so clandestine about it? Just to smear Captain Stacy? To what end?

Okay, I find it odd that in Gwen’s book, she is pretty much Veronica Mars while in Mary Jane’s own book she is being sidelined for Mysterio.

So to sum it up, it’s not as bad as I thought it would be.

@ubernegro

#gwen stacy #amazing spider man #616 gwen stacy #spider-man

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jazy3 · 5 years

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Thoughts on Grey’s Anatomy: 16X10

So, I watched the Grey’s Anatomy Station 19 Crossover Premiere over the weekend. I have to say overall I really liked it! The pacing of Station 19 was a bit slow for me but other than that it was great! The fast paced Grey’s Anatomy episodes are my favourite! So I really liked this one. My heart went out to Bailey in these episodes. All the Ben and Bailey moments and they’re excitement over the new baby made me cry. Poor Bailey. She loses her pregnancy, almost loses her husband, and then her residents’ lives are left hanging in the balance. In the aftermath of the crash, Helm needs surgery; Schmitt collapses; Simms needs major facial and neurosurgery, and Parker goes AWOL and needs treatment.

I really like Meredith’s monologue in this episode. Being the best really is a catch 22. The amazing thing is no one else can do what you do. The terrible thing is no one else can do what you do. I loved the moment between Bailey and Schmitt in the supply closet. In other news, Jo totally stole that baby! Her drunken panicking about the cops is hilarious. But then we find out it’s only Meredith. Crisis averted! And she’s got wine! She came to drink with Alex because quote “Cristina sent an obnoxious Irishman as a gift” and he stole Alex’s old job. I love her. Never change Mer. Never change.

I loved her line, “That’s what I said when I stole a baby,” about Zola and Link’s response, “Why are people stealing babies?” Mer gets it. Link is confused. To be honest Jo talking to the baby in a baby voice about how Meredith is a convicted felon is everything. Cut to the hospital where Amelia and Tom are bantering back and forth. I love their banter. Amelia is looking for Maggie because she just found out that Link might not be the father only to find out from Tom that Maggie quit. Yikes!

And as usual DeLuca mouths off to his superiors and defies orders before being put promptly in his place. How is he still Chief Resident and why does he still work here? In real life that would get you fired real fast. Parker’s storyline this episode got me hard. I really like him and watching him repeat the same thing over and over again while he suffered from PTSD and head trauma was heartbreaking. I’m glad they got him the help he needed in the end. Bailey’s line, “Wouldn’t be the first time,” about her residents really got me. RIP George O’Malley. I still miss his character.

We all deserve a partner as amazing as Ben Warren. My god that man is supportive. His wife just suffered a miscarriage, he’s suffering the loss of a child, and he’s not okay, but he puts all that aside for Bailey’s sake because as he says to Webber, “Miranda comes first,” That’s true love right there. Side note: I like that Amelia and Teddy are becoming friends. I’m over this whole women on women hating each other over a man thing. That always pissed me about Addison and Meredith. Meredith never intentionally did anything to her and Addison was the one that cheated yet she treated Meredith like crap.

Eventually Jo does in fact take the baby she stole to the hospital’s nursery and in walks not her husband, but Dr. Cormac Hayes! Cristina’s Yang’s present, the new Chief of Peds, and Meredith’s new love interest. Swoon! Oh course, Jo is a weird hot mess because she’s drunk haha. Watching Hayes check the baby out using technical terms while using a baby voice so as not to scare him warms my heart. I loved Jo’s line, “Oh you’re him!” when she figured out who Hayes was and then tried to hide it so as not to scare him off. I feel like that’s going to be an ongoing plot point and I’ll be interested to see how he finds out that and how he reacts to being brought to Grey Sloan on false pretenses and the fact that all of Meredith’s friends went along with it.

The scenes with Jo and Cormac in the nursery are very revealing. He’s comments imply that he might have worked for Cristina previously which is interesting and thickens the plot considerably. I really like Hayes as a character so far. He checks all the right boxes and in his interactions with Jo this week we got some more insight into his character. Hayes is shown to be competent at his job and as someone who is willing to roll with the punches. He feels compassionate towards others in difficult situations, which includes both scared birth mothers and safe haven volunteers, and doesn’t judge them or their choices.

What Jo initially thinks is a bad idea turns out to be rather genius. Hayes advocates for the baby hatch/box/chute because it gives birth mothers who are scared and frighten a safe way to help the child they’ve given birth to have a better life and know that they will be taken care of. They help hospital staff help those babies the best way they can. Hayes recognizes that that’s what Jo is trying to do to for this particular baby and is sympathetic. Already that puts him leagues above most of the other men on Grey’s especially with Alex MIA.

I’m also excited by the prospect of finally seeing Meredith date somehow her friends and family like and who has the potential to be a real partner to her and a real stepfather to her children. They’ve established that Cormac has teenage sons of his own which means there’s the potential there for their kids to interact and to see Meredith and Hayes re-build their lives together and merge their families. That’s way more interesting to me than the whole ‘love interest of the week’ thing they’ve been trotting out for the last little while.

It’s true that Hayes is obnoxious and arrogant at time, but the show has also established that he’s got the skills to match and can admit when he’s wrong. Before the break we saw how he was impressed by Meredith’s skills, but not intimidated or jealous of her and that is exactly what Meredith needs. Someone whose on her level and who gets it, but who understands that he can’t possibly compete with her because she’s just that good.

I was really worried when Schmitt collapsed in the OR. I’m glad he made it. I loved Mer and Schmitt’s banter afterwards. She’s got all the jokes. I’m not an Owen fan and these days I’m not much of a Jackson fan, but his line to Owen was EPIC! “I figured ‘cause you have two kids together, you live together, you marry everyone, but I guess you have been busy haven’t you?” Jackson spilling the tea!

In other news, I still hate DeLuca with the passion three thousand burning suns. He’s assigned to help Elliot, the patient whose heart hasn’t restarted whose wife just had a premature baby and he spends the whole time acting like all of it is beneath him. God what an ass. He breaks up with Mer over his own insecurities and then instead of apologizing like Link told him to he mopes around the hospital and stares at her creepily and then texts her the next day wanting to talk. Ugh. Also, I hate that he calls her Mer.

That’s what her friends and family call her. DeLuca barely knows her. From the minute he took an interest in her and she indicated that she might like him back he started acting like they were madly in love and acting like they’d known each other and been together for years when they’d barely been dating a few weeks and she was adamant he wasn’t her boyfriend. God I hate this guy so much. He’s such a loser. Can they just write him off already so Mer can live her life in peace? In happier news, I was ecstatic when Elliott’s heart started beating again! His poor wife. And then we’re back to Jo and Hayes. The baby’s good to go but he sees how attached she is so he suggests they wait a while longer before calling social services.

We also learn some important information about Hayes in this scene. We learn he’s a father to two teenage boys and was in residency when his boys were infants. We also learn that Hayes is a member of the ‘it’s okay to steal cute babies’ club! He’ll fit right in with Mer and Jo! Although maybe not with Link. I really love Link and Jo’s friendship and the scene at the end with them was super cute. I loved how Richard was there for Bailey in the OR when she needed him. I’m happy that they’re friends again. Poor Bailey the scene with her and Richard in the OR made me cry. She’s not fine. “She just was. And now she isn’t.”

Admittedly, I don’t like Owen as a character but that was a good save with Simms! If he hadn’t caught that Simms would be dead. After the surgery is complete Jackson and Owen talk to Simms’ Grandmother where they learn that when Koracick moved to Seattle and wanted Simms with him he paid for his grandmother to move there too. I loved their exchange. “You know how emotional he is.” “Koracick? Of course, yeah super emotional guy.” LOL. But seriously though that was really sweet of him. He’s an ass, but he’s an ass that cares when it counts.

I like that Koracick thanked Owen and shook his hand. That was good of him. If the situation was reversed I don’t know if Owen would do the same. The Schmico scene at the end was cute! I think there’s an interesting parallel here between the Schmico scene and that Calzona scene from several seasons back. And just then, Hayes is standing at a nurses station, when Meredith comes around the corner! Squee!

Straight up, Meredith and Hayes were in a scene together for all of 5 seconds this episode and they had flat out more chemistry than her and DeLuca have ever had! Or most of her other recent love interests more that matter. I said what I said. They talk for a few minutes and then Hayes walks off to go do something. At which point Jo walks up to Mer and says, “I have to say I kinda see it.” Jo Karev: A woman after my own heart! Sing it sister! Grayes all the way!

Meredith is displeased as she finds him obnoxious to which Jo replies, “Don’t be mad at me. He’s Yang’s gift.” Haha I love it! I want my best friend to send me a man. Anyone else? In other news, Owen finally proposes to Teddy! I’m not a towen shipper, but I have to say this proposal was really sweet. Amelia decides to learn from her mistakes and tell Link the truth only to have Owen and Teddy announce their engagement right in front of them! Yikes!

And Koracick sees the whole thing from a far. Oh boy. RIP Tomaltman? Korackman? Whatever we were calling it it’s dead now. Amelia can’t bring herself to come clean after that and who can blame her? I wouldn’t be able to either. So instead she tells Link they’re having a boy Oh boy. Here we go again. We then cut away from the hospital to find Maggie drunk and passed out on the couch. Oh dear.

Someone won’t stop knocking at the door so she gets up to answer it. And look who it is. It’s none other than her ex DeLuca. Man this guy is the gift that keeps on giving! He tells her that Elliot’s heart restarted which is nice of him. He should have stopped there and left. Instead he asks if they can talk and Maggie being grateful let’s him in. He then proceeds to complain to his ex-girlfriend whose obviously hurting about how he blew it with her older sister.

God this guy is such an ass! He breaks up with Mer over his own insecurities and then has the audacity to go to his ex whose her sister and ask for advice to win her back while Maggie herself is hurting. Screw this guy! Then he tries to act like he didn’t break up with Meredith while also admitting that he meant what he said. Wow. He’s both a gaslighter and a complete idiot. As Maggie says he, “Hurt someone whose had more than enough hurt for a lifetime.” Maggie gets it and DeLuca needs to get the hell out.

He keeps talking about how he wants to undo the hurt he’s caused as if they got into a minor fight. Buddy. You don’t undo it you idiot you just move on and let Meredith and her sisters live their lives and leave them alone you jackass! And as if DeLuca’s idiocy isn’t bad enough, we then find out that Maggie’s being sued for wrongful death for what happened with Sabrina.

Also how does DeLuca not comprehend that someone with the last name Webber is related to Richard and Maggie? Man, this guy is dumb. We then cut back to the hospital to find Bailey alone in her office, but not for long. Richard and Meredith come to her office to comfort her. Mer brings her tissues and donuts and holds her hand while she tells her that, “I had a miscarriage once. I never felt so lonely.” God Grey’s just break my heart why don’t you? And then everyone laughs about the donuts Meredith brought. My heart.

Well that was intense! Now onto next week’s promo! Oooooh and it looks like things are heating up between Mer and Hayes! In the bad news column, it looks like DeLuca continues to try and gaslight Mer with the whole ‘I didn’t dump you, you just interpreted it that way’ thing and it looks like Mer is having none of it thank god! In other news it looks like Teddy somehow lost her engagement ring and Amelia finally comes clean with Link! Can’t wait!

Until next time!

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sarcasmrights · 5 years

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Brothers at Arms

a gift for @yaboybergara! i thought you and hozier anon might enjoy this c:

EDIT: i just caught up with stuff and uh, since you’re planning to leave nini, hi! i’m actually hozier anon and thought i should play coy. we should stay connected, if you want. otherwise, good luck chief. thanks for all the work you did for us, the grateful and the un.

~oξo~

Glass shines like the billions of stars in the galaxy, twinkling dangerously from the stained carpet. Shane had made the unfortunate decision of trying to pick one up after Ryan, eyes wide, had taken a hammer to Annabelle’s cage. The holy glass burned on his fingertips, leaving blisters and threatening to pucker the rest of his human skin before Shane had tossed it aside, pointedly dodging the rest of the glass on the floor.

“Is there a reason you did that?” Shane had asked, looking to Ryan who looked like he wanted nothing more than to vomit his stomach into the floor. His little believer didn’t have an answer, only furiously shaking his head and tossing the hammer away like it scalded him. There wasn’t much Shane could ask him now, humans could only cope with so much exposure to the other side before they went into shock. A shame, Shane is sure that if Ryan were coherent, he would be absolutely thrilled and horrified to know he’d been possessed for a split second.

“Alright, Annabelle,” Shane says, addressing the doll that has fallen unceremoniously to the floor. Pure evil energy rolls off of it like waves off rocks, enough to make Ryan fall backwards and cut his hands on the glass in a desperate bid to escape. The door to the Warrens’ haunted room slams shut, Ryan ceaselessly pounding on it.

Shane lets him, staring passively before suddenly kicking the doll aside, letting to slam against a wall as an inhuman growl escapes his throat. It’s been centuries since Shane has shed his humanity, has forfeit the many requirements that keep him just nearly human. This body has already been through the cycles, a poor human he’d picked up and is now held together by his black magic alone.

An equally disgusting sound greets Shane, the dark shadows of the room opening two yellow eyes. Shane chuckles, rolling up the sleeves of his flannel. Small burnt black holes appear where he touches it and Shane curses, murmuring something about it being his favorite. A rattle snatches Shane’s attention, one of the knickknacks of the room warbling before falling off of its place on the shelf. Shane sets his jaw and turns his attention back to Annabelle, the demon pooling from the shadows into a corporeal form.

“You know you can’t kill me yourself, so you brought friends!” Shane says, tone far more jovial than he feels. “Lovely! I’ve always wanted to meet a room full of things like me. Monsters that go oogie boogie in the dark.” Shane chuckles humorlessly, calmly reaching out and picking up a little necklace said to make communication with the dead easier. He turns the locket in his hand before tossing it at the yellow eyed demon, watching her fanged maw swallow the thing whole.

“Hungry aren’t ya? Wouldn’t you love a good soul to crunch on,” Shane says and spares Ryan a glance over his shoulder. His human has come to crouching with his back to a corner, eyes darting wildly between artifacts in the room. Still alive then. Good, Shane thinks as he feels portions of human flesh peel back to reveal demonic scales and leathery skin.

“Just gotta keep it that way,” Shane thinks aloud, his voice becoming many. His eyes flicker black as night, a symbol of his status amongst the demon hierarchy. Yellow eyes stare back at him and Shane almost tastes the vitriol Annabelle feels. Even better, he thinks as he draws a long-buried power from within himself. The angry ones fight harder.

~oξo~

Blood. Shane is really getting tired of the goddamn taste of it. Between Ryan shaking behind him and the spirits and demons edging closer to their cornered position, Shane really has to wonder how he came to be here.

With the combined powers of a demon just one rung below him in power and the plethora of cursed objects in the room, the Annabelle demon has enough power to make Shane nervous. There’s a couple of open wounds Shane can feel, not enough magic or strength left in him to patch them up. If he leaves this human body, he’s sure the original man will die the moment his influence disappears. No human walks away from being clawed at by this army.

“Sh-Shane? You okay?” Ryan asks, heavily favoring his right side and blood running down the length of his left arm. If only he hadn’t tried to help, had understood his mortality and stayed out of the goddamn way.

“Yeah, fine,” he hoarsely replies, Ryan flinching at the sound of his voice. If they survive this, there’s going to be a very deep long talk about everything.

Shane gasps as something, some spirit reaches through his human body and squeezes his stomach, winding him as the very real pain runs up and down his spine, forcing him to heave what remains in his stomach. It’s all Annabelle needs as she shoots out for him, arm outstretched and snatching Shane’s mortal throat, digging her nails into his voice box. She lifts him clean off the floor and Shane barely hears Ryan scream. For the first time in his damned life, Shane panics, hand going to her wrist as she squeezes harder and cuts deeper into his source of power. His voice, his everything. The tool he’s used to influence wars and throw entire empires off balance, the one method he’s been able to talk Unsolved into success, how he’s been able to protect Ryan from all the spirits he taunts.

“Fuck,” Shane gurgles, blood starting to pour into his esophagus. The sound of flesh bending and warping, tearing in places it shouldn’t, warns Shane of how little time he has left with his power. His voice will come back but healing, even when encouraged by demonic magic, takes a while to finish. He’ll be next to useless for at least an hour if she tears his voice out and when a minute is too long in this hell hole, Shane can’t even dream of Ryan surviving an hour without his help.

He stares into her eyes, those pus yellow beads that resent him so much. She doesn’t want him, she wants the meat behind him. Wants the soul that came willingly back to the Warrens, the good inside of Ryan is too tempting for them. Ha, if only Ryan knew how he looked to the other side. A great beacon of hope, something that could satisfy them for eons to come.

Without him though, Shane loses everything. Loses the popcorn banter they always have when Ryan invites him over for a movie, loses the way their elbows bump together when they edit videos. He’ll never hear Ryan’s whooping laughter when they answer clever questions for Post Mortem, nor will he get the opportunity to tease him about being scared of every little noise. Fuck, Shane thinks, sure he’d cry if he wasn’t in so much pain. Fuck, fuck! He doesn’t want to, he doesn’t want to but for Ryan...

Shane sets aside his pride.

With the rest of his power reserve, Shane opens his mouth and out comes a language that’s primal, more clicks of tongue and teeth than coherent syllables.

“Andrew,” he wheezes and like magic, a wave pushes from Shane, shoving all demonic energy away from the pair. Shane collapses to his knees, hand immediately going to his throat to stop the bleeding. He tries to wheeze but blood only rushes down his throat, Shane spitting a mouthful of it out. As the chaos settles and the spirits are turning their attention back to him, a resounding click echoes in the silence. Shane weakly holds up an arm to shield Ryan from the sound, black eyes turned warily at the door. If it worked, if the summoning really worked...

“Little Shaney,” a pleasant voice croons, slowly turning the door open. Somehow the sound makes his spine rattle harder than anything in the room. Andrew appears, one slim hand holding the door’s handle. He looks just as he does in all the concert recordings and press photos Shane sees on his Twitter, a mop of curly brown hair and patchy beard hairs. He must have summoned him from a performance because there’s a thin shine of sweat on his forehead and his eyes are hidden behind trendy sunglasses. Shane hates his goddamn guts.

“Little Shaney, a warning would have been appreciated. It’ll be hard to explain why I just disappeared,” Andrew says, not a tint of worry in his voice. Shane can tell he’s looking at his throat and Andrew hums, crouching down to grab Shane’s jaw and tilt him this way and that. For a demon, Andrew has too motherly instincts, Shane thinks, sure Andrew can hear him. Shane bats his hand away and flicks his head at Annabelle as she slowly picks herself off the floor.

All other artifacts and spirits of the room have gone stock still and Shane can’t help but appreciate how Andrew makes things simply freeze when he arrives. If he were any less fascinated with humans, Shane is sure there would be many more wars and disasters rained upon them.

“Annabelle,” Andrew greets, talking to her like she’s an old friend. He languidly stands, walking towards her as he takes his glasses off. His arms are outstretched, as if he’s going to embrace the demon.

Annabelle immediately crouches defensively, hissing at the approaching man. Andrew chuckles and looks over his shoulder at Shane, red eyes somehow blinking in a friendly way. However, Shane can see right through his façade, eyeing the rigidness in his spine and the way his grin has a hint of a primal energy in the corners. With a very smug feeling blossoming in his throat, Shane can’t help but think about how fucked everything in the room is.

“Holy shit, is that Hozier?!” Ryan hisses, his good hand on Shane’s shoulder.

“Yeah,” Shane resounds, unable to keep the respect from his tone. He really wanted to sound irritated with Andrew but it’s hard when he came to save their lives.

“Hello, Ryan. We should talk after this,” Andrew calls, offering a sweet smile before turning his attention fully to the black Annabelle demon. Shane watches her hiss and try to swat at Andrew, always missing because she pulls back at the last second. She’s afraid of hurting him, Shane realizes. Afraid to hurt a demon so high in the hierarchy but afraid to be smithed by his hands too.

“Annabelle, don’t tell me being in that coffin made you forget!” Andrew calls out, tone still so goddamn friendly. “Don’t you remember? Shane and I, we were born just two days apart. I, from the world’s first love song, and he from the first destructive fire. Course, he’s younger, funny how that worked out...” he calls, looming over her. Shane hears the damnation loud and clear. You bullied my younger brother.

“Annabelle, you haven’t been out for a while so, I’ll just give you a lesson.” Andrew bends over and snatches the demon by her throat, a plea or a hiss silenced by his hand. His red eyes stare deep into her yellow ones, the gap between their powers palatable in the air. “If you are a yellow eyed demon, you are nothing. Not even the gravel under my shoes. Your power scares humans but to me, your powers are party tricks. Black eyed demons outrank you, and I am a red eyed demon. Do you know what that means, Annabelle?”

The demon chokes on something but Hozier pays her no heed, continuing with his lecture.

“It means I am eons stronger than you. It means I can do this,” he purrs and Shane barely has time to shield Ryan’s eyes before the yellow eyed demon simply explodes. Blood splashes across the shelves and walls of the room, chunks falling off and hitting the floor immediately after. Shane almost wants to vomit at the sight of it all and he’s not at all surprised when Ryan does just that, heaving all down the back of Shane’s shirt.

“Sorry,” he murmurs and Shane makes a gesture to say it’s alright since his voice is almost destroyed. They both stand and Ryan looks over to Andrew, who is turning around to meet them. There must be something terrifying because Ryan freezes up and Shane looks over at Andrew, seeing the same friendly smile and the gore running down his face. He takes a step towards him and Ryan, bless him or damn him, immediately moves to stand between them, still clutching his bad arm and shaking to his knees. The gesture warms Shane’s dead heart and it must amuse Andrew since he chuckles and doesn’t immediately squish Ryan’s head like a bad grape.

“Come along, let’s enjoy some sunlight,” Andrew says and breezes past them, out the door from where he came. Shane gently pushes Ryan towards the direction, limping after his “older brother” and hoping Ryan will trail along.

The sun is too bright against Shane’s eyes as his body hurriedly tucks away any demonic parts. His horns retreat back into his skull, his skin does its best to hide his scales and such... He’s still bleeding from his throat.

“Shaney,” Andrew calls and Shane gives him a look before thin fingers run over his throat. All damage there heals up, muscles realigning and skin covering up the patches left from Annabelle’s claws. If he could see down there, Shane is sure he’d see Andrew’s sigil burning before evaporating into nothing.

“Andrew,” Shane addresses, voice back to his normal tone. Hozier laughs and pats Shane’s shoulder, looking over at Ryan behind them. The movement makes Shane’s hackles rise.

“This one, my brother? Are you sure?” Andrew asks and Shane scoffs, not ready to dignify the question with an answer.

“Alright then. Tweet me some time hm? I’ve been told my tweets are rather... meme worthy,” Andrew says and Shane can’t help but laugh at that. Meme sounds funny when Andrew says it, in that sophisticated tone he always uses.

“Ryan,” Andrew calls and the believer in question makes a noise before shuffling over. Andrew greets him with a gentle hand on his head and a soft smile, gazing down at him with such a fondness that it makes Shane’s skin crawl. He looks away quickly, sure the stress can’t be good for his healing body. They must be talking, thought Shane can’t be sure since Andrew is staring so intently at Ryan.

“Well, I should be off. I was in the middle of a concert after all,” Hozier says suddenly and Shane rolls his eyes.

“Don’t forget to clean yourself before you show up in front of people,” he reminds and Andrew’s lips curl into a grin.

“I could say the same to you, Little Shaney,” he says before singing a belting wordless melody, a shimmering veil bending to his voice. Andrew reaches out and throws it open like a curtain, a peek of a stage and rushing applause of an audience bursting through before Andrew disappears through the portal, gone in the blink of an eye.

Shane stares at where his brother was, only broken from his trance when Ryan clears his throat.

“So... demon huh? Black eyed one?” he asks, almost shy about it. Shane can’t help the smile that breaks across his face, sucking in a deep breath and willing all their wounds to heal, a little demonic miracle of his own. Once their skin and blood is back where it should be, Shane hums and clasps his hands behind his back.

“Yeah, I suppose so.”

#shyan #shyanlibrary #yaboybergara #man i couldnt get this out of my head haha #demon!shane #demon!hozier #drabble

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pika-ace · 5 years

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In the Heights AU-Watership Down

This is more of describing the characters rather than the story as a whole,I’ll get to that later. If you think anything can be improved just say so!:-)

((Ironically I started watching the original movie when you sent this to me XD; with that said, I LOVE this, it’s perfect!))

Usnavi and Sonny take the place of Hazel and Fiver respectively. Instead of being brothers,they are cousins of course. Sonny was taken in by Usnavi’s parents after his own parents were killed by predators. Usnavi’s parents later died of sickness, so both of them were looked after by Abuela,since they were still relatively young. The warren they live in is fairly big, but there isn’t much care from the group as a whole,more like individuals caring for other individuals. But there is a chief and the Owsla,like in any warren. Usnavi is really an average rabbit in this warren,but is very caring and protective,especially of Sonny. Of course,as the story progresses, he actually becomes a leader of the group,as Hazel does in the original story. Average size, but he talks very fast and excitedly, one of the few to really believe Sonny in the beginning. He’s also nervous and unconfident about his ability to be a chief, and he struggles to overcome his doubts. Abuela is a fairly old rabbit,still able to run if she needs to,but is up in years. She’s been in this particular warren since she was a very small kit with her mother. She doesn’t have a mate or kits,but instead looks after everyone, especially Usnavi and Sonny. She doesn’t represent anyone in the original story,but I think Abuela should be here. She also has to take breaks sometimes when traveling to the new warren, but will push herself so as not to slow down the group so much,much to Usnavi’s concern. Has great advice for practically anyone. Is the group storyteller as well,telling ancient tales of the Prince of rabbits. Sonny is Usnavi’s cousin, he’s been having bad dreams for a while now,but isn’t extremely concerned about what they could mean until he has a vision while out grazing with Usnavi. He sees that something very bad is about to happen to the warren,and tells Usnavi that they need to warn others and get out NOW. Unfortunately, not everyone believes him. I don’t think Sonny would be as frail and nervous as Fiver is as much,I think his personality would stay relatively the same,but it would be very stressful sometimes to see the stuff he sees,and worse,not know what it meant,so he is still very much able to have a breakdown about them. Usnavi and really, everyone, do what they can to help him through it. Benny is a member of the Owsla of the warren, much like an average guard or officer. Used to be a bit of a troublemaker when he was younger. Is much nicer than Bigwig in the original story,friends with Usnavi and Sonny, but he also wants to impress the chief and his superior officer, Kevin. So while he sometimes goofs off,he tries to do his job like he should. He let’s Usnavi and Sonny talk to the chief when they’re trying to warn of the trouble coming, but nearly gets his head bitten off by the chief for doing so. Annoyed by how he’s been treated, he disobeys Kevin to escape with the others and help them escape from the pursuing Owsla. Kevin is the Captain of the Owsla in the original warren. He’s strict,but doesn’t abuse his power,unlike some other officers in the warren,and can be kind. Took Benny under his wing when he was a young juvenile rabbit,to get him to stop causing trouble and to train him to become part of the Owsla. Tries to stop the group from leaving,but thanks to interference from Benny, is unsuccessful. Mates with Camila,they had a single kit named Nina,who unfortunately was snatched by a bird when she was still young. Still mourns her. He can be stubborn, but his mate is often his voice of reason when he gets this way. Willing to do anything for those that he loves. Fortunately able to escape the destruction with Camila,though he is injured in the process, and later joins up with the group. Camila is Kevin’s mate,and again is often his voice of reason when he gets stubborn, unfortunately this can still be a hard task sometimes. If you pushed her too far though,you will definitely know it! She’ll stand up to anyone if they’re acting Isn’t like a jerk including her mate. She’s still very sad at the loss of her daughter,but very motherly to everyone. You can be sure that she’ll make sure the others are eating enough. She stays at the warren with Kevin initially, not wanting to leave him,though she’s nervous about what Sonny said would happen. Kevin reassures her,but the destruction comes as predicted. Fortunately able to escape with Kevin,though they are the only ones who survive and Kevin is injured. Are able to rejoin the group at their later home. Daniela is the “gossip queen” of the warren. Seems to know practically everything about everyone, though how she’s knows some things is a mystery. She never gossips to hurt anyone though,just for something interesting to do. Friends with our main group,but a little skeptical of the claim that something bad was coming. Eh,she was getting a little bored here anyway, this should be interesting. Becomes really close friends with Carla when she joins the group from another warren. Carla was from a warren that was fed by humans. The food was bountiful and good quality, but the humans would also lay out snares to harvest rabbits from time to time. When the traveling group came,she befriended them in the few days they stayed. She tried to warn them of the snares,but was always interrupted or stopped before she could. Benny was later caught in a snare,and she helped to rescue him by preventing the enemy rabbits from stopping the group. Asks to be allowed to join the traveling group to their new home,as she doesn’t want to stay in such a dangerous place and is accepted in. Becomes really good friends especially with Daniela. Good at digging tunnels, that’s something she helps with at the new warren. I’m thinking that Pete can be one of those loner male rabbits that wasn’t really part of the warren,but still was around the territory. He’s a little bit of a troublemaker, will sneak in to steal some food from inside the territory, or something just to annoy everyone. Willing to trade some things he finds for good food. Friends with Sonny,Usnavi doesn’t like him(thinks he’s a bad influence). Has a good heart and very protective of those he cares about. Sees the group leaving, and after hearing why,decides to join them,much to Usnavi’s annoyance. One of the few to really believe Sonny,besides Usnavi and Abuela,at least at first. Very fast, instrumental in leading attacking crows away. Nina is the kit of Kevin and Camila. Very smart and hardworking,and it was thought that she could even be chief of the warren one day,but was snatched up by a hawk,and thought to be killed. Fortunately the hawk dropped her,and she landed in a bush. Was able to hide,and later found by a kind human who nursed her back to health. The human kept her as a pet rabbit in a hutch on their farm,protected from the cat by her cage. Was friends with Usnavi and Benny when she was younger, also would watch over Sonny when he was really little. Her farm happens to be nearby the down that the group comes too,and while passing by,Benny stops and looks at her, though not realizing it was her due to the distance. Would like to be free,but isn’t able to escape herself. Since they are looking for more members for the warren, a couple is sent to ask if she wants to join, made up of Kevin and Benny,both who are overjoyed to see her alive. They help her escape,though they barely escape the humans, who end up grazing Benny’s leg with a bullet. When they make it back to the down everyone is very happy to see her. Eventually falls in love with Benny,her father isn’t as opposed more like a mix of, “I just got you back why are you growing up so soon” and “Of all the bucks,you pick Benny!?” Gets captured by Efrafa while looking for herbs to help Benny’s wound. Vanessa is part of Efrafa,but not willingly. Wants to escape with others but the escape attempts always fail. She doesn’t give up hope however, and keeps trying, despite the punishment she and others receive. Meets Usnavi,Kevin,and Pete when they first meet up and are captured by Efrafa, and bonds with Usnavi especially. She helps them escape from the Efrafans,but cannot escape herself,to which Usnavi promises to her that they will come back to free her,and to not give up yet. She later meets Nina, who accidentally got captured while looking for certain herbs, and Benny,who has been sent as a double agent of sorts to “join” Efrafa. When they are able to,they make escape plans. Piragua Guy is the bird that the other rabbits meet who is injured. He’s much more friendly than Kehaar is in the story,and is very grateful to the rabbits for helping him. He’s a seagull from the docks a ways away,and talks a lot about some sort of food called “piragua” Apparently he nests near a human that makes piragua,and over time has given him little bits of left over ice and syrup, so he talks a lot about the different flavors.(I’m aware this would probably be bad for a real bird,but let’s pretend it isn’t bad in this world). I’m thinking maybe he’s named Eliseo? He helps with finding the Efrafan warren when the others are looking for more rabbits, and also helps them to escape by attacking their enemies. I’m thinking the one who could represent Blackavar would be Ruben from Do No Harm? He was raised in Efrafa but always resented it because of how they treated him and his family. He tries to escape only to be recaptured and his ears torn up a bit,then paraded around to be seen as an example. He joins later in the escape with Benny,Nina,Vanessa and any others who join. He’s a great tracker and a good friend to everyone, but is still traumatized from his time in Efrafa,something that his new friends try to help him through. El-ahrairah is represented by Hamilton. He’s the Prince of the rabbits, and the one who’s stories have been passed down from generation to generation. He still has those “Icarus” qualities, though he does everything for his family and people. They became too numerous, and he refused to control his people,so this led to the creation of the thousand enemies to the rabbits. But they were given the abilities to run and dig to escape and survive as a species.

#submission #anonymous #in the heights aus #watership down #usnavi de la vega #sonny de la vega #ruben marcado #PRECIOUS COUSINS #barrio bunnies!#the part with nina was brilliant btw #great connection

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