#to barry she's normal though she's not weird in the slightest to him

[cassioppenny]

cheren is "im so evil and fucked up" in a cartoon villain way

dawn is "im so evil and fucked up" in a weird little girl in a horror movie way

[skylarmoon71]

Eobard Thawne x Reader (Flash)- Chapter 10(B)

The day was just about to end, and as much as you wanted to avoid it, you had a lot to talk about with Eobard. You finally picked yourself up off the ground from the basement. It was a challenge just to get up the stairs.

You were a bit scared to confront Eobard, or look. Just being in the same space now had you anxious, just not for the reasons as when you first landed it this messed up reality. As you got to the living room you could see him. You approached slowly, when he saw you his gaze lifted.

"Earlier, you told me not to worry. That it happened before. Not just that but you felt the bullet. How?"

Eobard was leaning against the wall, and your statement made him straighten. "I believe in some weird way we're connected in this time. And as for the unexplained healing, your body did the same thing. I've never seen anything like it. I've been manipulating time for as long as I could breathe, but what you did, it's like you have control of it. Yet you seem to insist you're human. No human can do the things I've seen you done."

"It just seems so impossible. I'm not some celestial being. So how is this happening?"

"What exactly happened in the future. You were chasing me, you've said as much. But something else happened. "

The future.

You gave him a quick glance, looking back at your feet.

"I was hunting you, and I finally made progress. Everyone thought you were dead, but I knew better. When I found you, there was something in the warehouse. You were building some type of machine. I was convinced I'd die there, so I tried to destroy whatever you were building. I think it worked too, the machine exploded, but the blast hit me and you. After that all I could remember was waking up in the past, in STAR Labs. " 

Eobard took a seat on the opposite side of the table, going over all you'd said.

"Is it possible that your machine was some kind of time vault to get back to the past."

"It is possible." He still had a very serious look on his face.

"If what you've said is true, you must have entered at the same time the particle accelerator exploded."

You still didn't really get what he was trying to say.

"So I'm a meta?"

He shook his head. "Not exactly. If you recall, the particle accelerator is what gave Barry his powers. It's connected to the speed force. At that very moment you came from the past. The creation of the flash, and a traveler from the future. Two time anomalies occurring at the same time. No wonder your body keeps healing itself."

"So you know what's going on!"

"Not the slightest clue." You just gave him a blank stare.

"Thawne." 

It was a warning call, and he just wore that stupidly superior smile of his.

"What I'm saying is, I believe the reason behind your newfound abilities is because you were caught between two extraordinary events in time. Time has no idea what to do with you. So you're stuck between two rifts. The past and the future. "

"Are you saying I'm immortal?"

"Who knows. I'd avoid getting any more life threatening injuries. We're not sure what'll happen the next time. You may heal, or you may just explode. "

"Explode!!"

"It's a theory."

How could he say stuff so casually. The bastard, he was probably having fun watching you squirm.

"Well just remember if anything happens to me you'll be stuck here." You had a little leverage.

"I guess that just means I'll have to make sure nothing else happens to you. " You really didn't expect him to say that. You thought he'd make another wisecrack.

"Eobard, why do you hate the flash."

It came out of nowhere, but if you were going to try and stop hating the guy, you figured the least he could do was tell you why. He looked more guarded now. He leaned back in his chair, or for a second you could see the hate flash in his eyes. But was it really hate or was it...betrayal.

"It's not important." He said tightly. Being around him for so long gave you a better idea of some of his expressions. Right now you could tell he was going to run. Before he could move, you grabbed his hand from across the table. He froze at the contact. When you looked at him this time, it was with sympathy.

"I know exactly why I hate you Eobard, you tore my family apart. I've wanted nothing more than to deliver that same pain that I lived through everyday. Now as it stands, I'm your only ticket out of here, and I've decided that if we're going to get out of this, we need to stop hating each and start trusting. No one else in this time knows, or even understands what's going on. We only have each other. You owe me Eobard. Tell me. Why do you hate Barry?"

With your hand over his, he physically couldn't get away. His body relaxed slightly, and he leaned back closer to you, placing his elbows on the table. "He was my idol, my dream was to be just like him. I made some mistakes, but he should have tried harder. He betrayed me. He turned me into this. I never chose to be a monster, I only became what everyone else saw. " 

The spite in his voice, it was familiar. You heard it before.

"Do you want to be a monster?" 

He gave you an incredulous look. "Of course not! Are you mocking me!" you could feel him start to vibrate against your hold and you stood, rounding the table. You pulled him out of the chair, and into a hug. All at once, you could feel his body start to return to normal. His arms were stiff. He must have been completely confused.

"I'm tired, Eobard. Of everything. I don't want to be angry anymore. I just want to live. What's happened already, I'll let it go. My father...my family, I'll give it all up. I'm willing to forgive you for everything, but only if you agree to do the same. I'll even get you back to your time. I-I'll find a way I don't know how but I'll do whatever you want!" you stood there, pouring your heart out to him. "I don't want to feel like this ever again. '' 

When you pulled back, the look you gave almost brought him to his knees. Somehow, looking at you so helpless, he knew he didn't deserve your forgiveness. He didn't deserve anything. Reaching up, you carefully took the glasses off his face, placing it on the table behind you.

"Why are you doing this.." It was the first thing he said since you started your little rant.

"Because, my dad always said that monsters aren't born, they're created. I'm sorry Eobard. I played a big part in making you a monster. If you can forgive me, then maybe I'll finally be able to find some peace. I want to move on."

He could have laughed. You were asking him for forgiveness.

"I wish I could believe you, but words are nothing more than that. Words. I've used them more than enough to know. People say what they want to get what they need. " you chuckled under your breath. Perceptive as ever.

"I guess you're right." You could see the way he was now leering at you.

"So what is that you want (Y/N)?"

You took one deep breath before speaking. You weren’t sure what you were about to say for a second, maybe tell him that you could be friends. But the moment you looked at him, your eyes lingered on his lips, and you felt as though your body was moving on it’s own.

"I guess....this." 

Standing on your toes, you leaned in, pressing your lips to his. Eobard's body all but shut down.

"Is she really.." There was no doubt about it, you, you were kissing him. He would have slapped himself if he could get his body to move.

The entire time your lips were connected, he didn't move, and when you pulled back, you just watched him.

Waiting for something, anything. Even a vibrating hand to the chest right now would have been better than his complete silence.

[kileyrose-2003]

Rose the Hat x Fem! Reader

Hello lovelies! This imagine was requested by @merci-bitch I still love that username, lol. I hope you enjoy! Sorry it took me a while to publish. I was getting stuff ready for Christmas all day today.

Warnings: Violence, implied child abuse, implied domestic violence, mentions of child death, mentions of sexism.

For someone with such a beautiful face, you did not have such a beautiful past. You were a freak. Or at least that's what you thought.

You were born into a wealthy family and your parents wanted a little boy, not a girl. They were automatically biased about you from the start.

You were a beautiful baby and so happy. You loved everyone, even strangers. Your aunts and uncles would hold you close when they came to visit telling your parents how lucky they were or how special you were. You were an only child after all. They would just shrug. "It's a child. Nothing that special about her."

Over time though they realized just how special you were. You weren't like other children. You seen things and did things other children didn't do.

You could advise someone to go to the doctor because somehow you knew they were sick and could tell people little tidbits about their past or future.

Guest and other relatives marvelled over it, remarking on how cool they thought it was. Your parents didn't like it though. In their small minds, little girls weren't supposed to do things like that.

You did everything they asked but it was never good enough. You got good grade, got accepted into Honor Society, virtually any achievement anyone could think of. Your parents didn't care though.

Years of rejection hurt and once you hit your early teens you began to react like any normal teenager would. You cried everyday when you came over the smallest things and crying eventually turned to rebelling.

You'd go out for nights on end and not come. Your shine grew stronger and your parents could take you no more.

They sent you away to an inpatient mental health facility. You begged and begged not to go. You weren't crazy. You didn't ask to have this weird sonar in your head. You wanted to be normal. They refused though stating "You were to dangerous to others and yourself."

Those two years you spent locked away were the hardest years you ever knew. You were constantly doped out on all the medications they gave you and your shine became slightly surpressed.

Even though supression occurred though, dark things became attached to you. Demons and ghost would come to you in the night and you could take no more.

On a dark, summer night you took the first pair of clothes and purse you could find and ran off. You felt relieved but couldn't help but feeling distressed.

You had money and enough debit cards to get you anywhere you wanted at this point but eventually someone would notice their purse was missing and money was gone.

As soon as you got out of the bus, you turned to escorting wealthy men for money. The pay was good but some of the men were terrible.

More often than not, you'd wake up in an unfamiliar hotel room and no memory of how you got there. Days of the week blended in together and one drink eventually turned to the whole bottle. It was one of the very rare days you didn't have and you were currently at your favorite movie theater, nestled into your seat zoning off to the music in the vintage film. Your thirst for liquor was off that day and you just felt like doing something different.

The theater was mostly empty besides a few people and a couple sitting in the way back together.

"I don't see what you're fussing about." Rose mused, laying her head on Crow Daddy's shoulder. She wasn't enthused by any of this. Normally she'd enjoy a night out at the cinema with her Crow but the popcorn was bland and the teenagers sloppily kissing on the big screen were not the best entertainment.

"She's steamy. Just look at her." Crow gestured his hand towards you. "I'll agree, big steam but she has no particular talent. She's just steamy."

"You don't think she'd be good to turn?" Rose held a piece of popcorn up to his lips. "If the situation was different, then yes. For right now though, no. We need to eat more than we need steam. How old do you think she is anyways?"

Crow pushed her hand away. "Nineteen or twenty tops. If we train her though, she'd have so much talent. Plus she's kinda cute." Rose furrowed her brows. "What the fuck did you just say?"

"You heard." He shrugged, desperately trying to get a rise out of her. Rose glared at him out of the corners of her eyes, a slight pang of jealousy ran through her. "Spunky tonight, aren't we?"

"Guess you could call it that." Rose grinned tightly. "Not feeling the hunger yet from a few months ago?"

"Nope." He popped his 'p'

'Of course you're not. Because you want to be stubborn.' Rose shifted in her seat.

"We're not turning her. We just turned Andi a few months ago. You know how it is. You don't turn more than one in a short period of time. You don't want to make the baby jealous."

"If I may say so Rosie, Andi doesn't seem like she has a care in the slightest about anything." Crow's tone remained soft but he retained serious composure in his face.

Rose smiled sickly sweet. "I didn't ask for your opinion but that's fine, honeybunch." She leaned upwards, trailing kisses all over his collar bone. "You remember the last time we ate?"

"Six months ago..Rhode Island." He grunted, trying his hardest not to give in. "Remember how nice it felt? How good the sex was?" She nipped the sensitive part of his neck. "We can have that again very soon if we have her."

Crow's eyes rolled into the back, running his hands up and down her sides. "Do you have a plan on how you want to trap her?"

"We don't have to do anything. Matter of fact, I think we have the perfect opportunity..now." Your phone began to ring in your pocket and you walked up the aisle to step outside and answer it.

Crow took Rose's soft hand is his rough, lightly scarred one. A reminiscent of the physically grueling years of his youth. "Let's do this then."

Meanwhile you stood outside in the rain, your phone pressed up against your ear. "No..I'm not leaving. Because, it's my day off..and I said no! Look, I'm at a movie theater, I'll call you back. Bye."

You hung up the phone and shook your head, walking to your car but something felt off. You felt like someone was watching you. "Excuse me, Miss." Hesitantly, you turned around. Trusting the bright and cheerful smile despite that uneasy feeling in your stomach. "You left your purse in theater." He held up what you thought was your hand bag.

"Oh my gosh. Thank you so much." You approached Crow. "I was wondering where I put it." You went to take the bag in your hand but it was no longer there.

"What the fuck?" A hand grabbed your arm and you tensed. You spun in the opposite direction and was greeted by Rose.

"Well hi there, dollface." You paused and turned your gaze to the woman across from you. Her grey eyes hypnotized you as they locked with Y/c/e orbs. She was the most beautiful woman you'd ever seen, on the outside at least. Something wasn't right on the inside though. You didn't have to use your shine to know that. You had to get away from her.

"You want to let me go." The older woman looked amused and let out a hardy laugh. "Oh no, dearest..no, I don't."

"Yes, you do." Rose insisted. You struggled against her as you felt a set of arms wrap around your torso. "Stop it." You squirmed.

"It's alright honey. Just relax. It'll only be a little pinch." You shook your head and Rose held your shoulders tightly. "You are a special little thing, aren't you?"

Her eyes flicked blue and you gasped as the needle punctured your skin. It stung like a bee and you flinched. The further Crow pushed down on the needle the colder and limper you began to feel.

"How much more?" Rose eyed you closely. "Maybe a milliliter more." She smiled at you and gently caressed your cheeks. "You're going to meet some fun people, sweetcheeks. For right now though, I want you to sleep."

"I-" She shushed you. "Sleep." Your lids felt heavy and soon after your neck muscles gave out and head bobbed forward as you fell asleep.

"Well that was easier than I thought." Crow threw you over his shoulder. "How many cannisters do you think we can fill with this one?"

"I don't know..at least three." Rose slipped her fingers under your chin. "You're right, she is a pretty thing. Too bad she doesn't have any particular skill. She seems like she'd be fun to have around."

"You think?" He gestured to the bottle of liquor that fell out of your purse. Rose chuckled and picked it up of the ground. "Eighty proof. My she must be a busy girl."

The roar of an engine came up from behind both members and they turned on both heels as Snakebite Andi opened the door to the RV. "That the Steamhead?" Rose nodded and Crow carried you inside. "Where to?" Barry yelled from the driver seat. "That forest we passed on the way here. Nobody should hear her out there."

A few hours later you kicked and screamed as Rose carried you out of the RV. "No! No! No!" You begged and flopped against her. "Please..please! I won't tell! I swear."

"Honey, it's not personal and I know you wouldn't but it's just not a practical option." She dropped you on the ground roughly and the other's began to tie you up.

Crow was standing off to the side with a map in his hands. "Rosie, I thought you said no one would hear us out here."

"They won't. Why?" Rose began to sharpen her knife. "We're near a campground." She furrowed her brows. "No, we're not."

"Yes, we are." He held two of his fingers up and gestured for her to come near him. Rose snatched the map into her hands and looked down at you.

"Well I'll be damned." Crow nodded. "Yeah, not a good thing."

Meanwhile Andi hammered one of the stakes down by your feet. "It's a shame, really. You're a pretty girl and I was there once in your shoes but a girl's got to eat."

Tears started streaming down your cheek and Rose stood infront of you. She didn't care who heard something. They needed to eat.

"Rose, will you make her shut up?" Barry groaned. Rose grinned and kneeled infront of you, running the knife against cheek. "Shh..pain purifies steam. Fear too so now you understand."

She raised the knife above her head, balance it inbetween the tips of her fingers. "Are you going to hurt me?" Your inside burns and you felt like you wanted to throw up.

"Yes." Her arm moved forward to stab you but a light peeked through the bushes. "Hey, what's going on over here?"

A rush of adrenaline radiated through you and you swung your legs forward. Kicking Crow in the face. He groaned, holding his bleeding face. "Little whore!"

"They're trying to kill me!" You screamed as you ran up the hill. You expected some of them to run after you but most fled to their RV.

Meanwhile Rose shoved a cloth she had woven into her hair in Crow's direction. "Rosie, where are you going?"

"I'm going to find that pretty, little bitch." Rose ran after you, trying to find any sight of you. "Y/n?" She called out. "That is your name, isn't it? I'm Rose, in case you didn't know mine."

A twig cracked and she spun in the opposite direction. "You can't hide forever, sweetface. That's what you've been doing your whole life, haven't you? If you don't hide from me, I can show you just how special we are. Because like I said you are a special girl."

You cautiously peeked out from behind the tree you were hiding by and made your way to speak past Rose.

"I hear you moving, my sweet. Come to Old Rose." You near passed her when your forehead bumped straight into her's. That battered old top hat fell off her head.

"You asshole!" Rose got your hair in her grip and gave it a rough yank. You screamed and attempted to push her back. "Get away from me, you crazy whore."

You earned another tug to your locks for that remark. "Knock my hat over, hide from me, and be rude? Oh honey, you and I are going to have fun."

Rose pressed your body against the ground and you helplessly found yourself gripping at the ground as if it was going to help you.

There was predatorial prowess in Rose's gaze that made you feel nervous. In the distance you could hear police sirens. "I think I seen them this way."

Rose's head quickly bobbed up as if she was trying to figure out if it was a member of her family and she cursed. "I want to remember every single feature on your face that way you'll never be able to escape."

You let out a scream and she rolled her eyes. "Oh will you shut up?" Rose's lips smashed against yours, biting at your lip for entrance to your mouth. You stared at her in awe for a few minutes before letting her tongue enter your mouth. It felt so wrong but so right at the same time.

This woman tried to kill you. You shouldn't be making out with her but her dominace and aggressive beauty took you in an instant and you had to admit, she was a damn good kisser too.

Your tongues fought for a winner for a few more moments before she pulled away from you. Your lipstick was smearing on Rose's lip and she grinned.

Her rough touch turned gentle as she booped your nose. "You're lucky. Your screams saved you this time but rest assure my sweet, I will be seeing you again and like I said, you'll never escape."

"Until we meet again, pretry girl." Rose stood up off the ground and nodded in your direction before walking off. You laid on the ground, gazing up at the stars. In shock of it all. "What the fuck just happened?"

You heard rustling from the bushes behind and the police ran up to you. "Miss, are you okay?" You nodded slowly. "Yeah I'm..I'm fine."

"Can you tell us what happened?" You could see The True's RVs rolling out in the distance and you shrugged. "I-i don't know."

One of them mumbled something about amnesia and helped you off the ground. "Let's get you to the hospital."

Down the road Rose drove at a normal pace as she made her way from the scene. "How come you're not panicking?" He had a piece of gauze pressed up against his cheek.

"She didn't tell," Rose responded, keeping her eyes on the road. "So we're just going to let her go?" She chuckled and shook her head. "No..I have a different plan for this one. I thought about what you said before Crow and I think you're right." He raised an eyebrow at Rose and she smirked.

Less than a week later you were back at home when there was a knock on your apartment door during your movie night and you put the bowl of popcorn down to go answer it. You looked out the peephole before opening it.

Rose stood on the other side, clad in a pretty silk shirt and broad grin on her face. "Well, hi there. I told you I'd be seeing you again."

There waa no weapon on Rose and you stared at her in complete confusion, not knowing whether to return the greeting or push her out. Rose giggled at you and strolled past you, shuttling the door behind her. "Ooo what are we watching? Casablanca? Good choice for a rube."

"W-what are you doing here?" Rose chuckled. "I told you we weren't finished yet." She pecked your lips. "I still have to make you scream."

She playfully smacked your ass. "Where's your bedroom?" You pointed down the hall and Rose took your hand in hers, taking you to your bed.

Rose pressed her lips against yours and forced you down onto the bed. "I don't think we really had a proper introduction."

"You think?" The words came out snappily but you didn't mind. "What exactly are you because I know you're not human."

"An empty devil." The response came out coldly and chills ran down your spine. Rose laughed and kissed your cheeks.

"Not so fiesty now, are we?" She ran her hands down your side as she looker around your apartment. "Haven't lived here long, have you? Or had a family in a while."

"What's it to you?" You spat and Rose smiled. "What would you say if I changed that?" You raised an eyebrow.

"Here's the deal..I'm going to make you an offer Y/n because it's clear you're the hunt or be hunted type and you're steamy." She eyed you up and down. "How old are you, lovely?"

"Twenty" You hummed softly and Rose grinned. "What an age. You know I remember being your age once. Long time ago. I felt lonesome and turned to love in all the wrong places then I met someone like myself who showed me I wasn't alone. Wasn't crazy. That's how you felt for a long time, didn't you? Your family didn't understand you. No one did."

"I-i..I don't want to talk about it." You overted eye contact. "Shhh.. it's okay. We all have our deep and dark little secrets in our families. That's what I'm offering you. No secrets you have to hold anymore and no more hunting for a meal. Stay young, eat well, live long. What do you say?"

"I say I got nothing to lose." You shrugged. "Excellent." You attempted to stand up to grab your belongings but Rose pushed you back down. "Oh no, no, no..not yet. I told you. I'm not through with you yet."

Instead of your screams of pain it was screams of pleasure Rose heard all night and Rose was perfectly fine with that. Either way she had you trapped and she wasn't letting you go, ever.

[chiauve]

Aquarius - 4

Chris had no idea how a week could be so long as though nothing was happening while still keeping him busy. One would think a dispute between citizens that got a tad violent would be an RPD issue if anyone’s, but it was two fishermen out on the water and so fell to STARS. He spent an hour standing on a boat pretending he was doing something while Wesker had to mediate their stupid argument over... Chris had no idea he blocked it out. The argument was only resolved because Wesker started to finger his Samurai Edge where the men could see it.

They went back to the station, Chris wrote the most boring report ever, then picked up to go home. He swung into the bar by the station for a quick drink to wash the droll out of him and then started the walk to his parking spot. Well, a parking spot. There wasn’t a lot of parking by the station anymore. It used to be a museum but when it was converted into a police station the garage and range had been built and taken up most of the old parking. Chris gave up on the circular driving around the same two streets looking for a spot and finally found some free parking a decent walk away.

It started raining while he’d grabbed his drink and with an annoyed sigh he walked faster.

It was still the off-season, most of the businesses in this part of town closed early save a few bars, so the streets were quiet and empty. Yet Chris paid no mind to the solitary figure standing out of the way until he got closer and recognize him.

Wesker stood under an awning, arms crossed and gazing out into the rainy skies with an annoyed twist to his mouth. His foot tapped at the step. Chris had noticed he had an odd habit of hooking the toe of his boot around poles and table legs and such whenever he happened to be standing by one.

“Hey, Captain!” Chris called as he approached, slowing despite still being rained on.

Wesker’s head tilted in Chris’ direction but with his shades on he was unreadable. “Redfield,” he said flatly.

“You waiting on something?”

Lips turned down again, Wesker gazed out into the dreary street. “On the rain.”

Chris glanced up at the endless wash of grey above them. “I don’t think it’s gonna let up anytime soon. You might just have to make a run for it.”

“I can wait.”

“It’s just rain, sir.”

“And these pants are dry-clean only. Is there a reason you’re asking me these questions?”

Chris shrugged; it really wasn’t his business what Wesker did during his time off but a bit of small talk never hurt, and... Those trousers had always looked pretty standard to chris it seemed weird that they were dry clean only. And Chris had spent some time observing Wesker’s pants (more specifically certain areas of them) he should be an expert on them by now.

“Well,” he mused, “would you mind some company for a bit? Until the rain stops.”

Wesker sighed. “Does it matter? I’m sure you’re going to do it regardless what I say.”

“You know me so well,” Chris said with a grin and moved under the awning. He shook some of the water off his coat and Wesker stepped out of range of the droplets. “We’re off duty anyway so technically I don’t have to listen to you.”

“We’re always on duty, Chris.”

“Yeah, I know, but... Nevermind.”

They stood in awkward silence a while, Wesker’s annoyance increasing as the rain grew steadily heavier.

“Not used to the rain, huh?” Chris tried, desperate to end the silence, even if all that came of it was just as awkward.

“I am, just not like this.”

“Oh yeah? Where are you from, anyway? You’ve never said.”

Wesker glanced at hm, possibly glared but Chris couldn’t tell through the shades. “I grew up here, but I was...away, for a while.”

“Where at?”

“You’re from New York, aren’t you?”

Chris stuttered at the change of direction. “Y-yeah. You been?”

“No, I don’t get to travel much.”

And silence again. This was awful. It was never this awkward in the STARS office and on missions it was as though they could all guess each others moves because they knew each other so well. But here, now, having small chat on the street... Embarrassing.

“Look, I’ll leave you alone—“

“How are you settling?”

“What?”

“Aside from your obnoxious penchant to run off on your own your work in STARS has been commendable. You’ve adapted well, you have so much potential... But outside work, how are you doing?”

That sudden heat in his face was not a blush. “Oh, uh, good. Good, sir. Thanks for asking. I found a place near the water, it’s small but it’s better than the apartment I was at.”

“Good. Any plans?”

Plans? Plans? Well I plan on bending you over your desk at work and fucking you senseless while I wear your shades but that’s not a plan so much as a fantasy and shit he had it bad.

“Uh, my sister’s coming up to visit soon, for spring break. She says it’s to beat the summer rush but it’s most likely to check on me...”

“I meant for STARS. Any goals?”

What? “Well I just kinda got here...sir.”

“And yet your abilities already surpass many veterans I’ve worked with. My saying you have potential is not just flattery.”

What was it then? Where the hell was Wesker going with this?

“I may need someone I can count on in the future and I’d feel more at ease knowing that person was you, is all.”

All of Chris’ thought processes screeched to a halt. What?

What?

“Sir...is something wrong?”

Wesker’s pale eyebrows arched above his sunglasses. “No, why would there be?”

You’re just suddenly very interested in what I’m doing and saying you need to count on me so either something’s wrong or I’m in the introduction of a wet dream.

“I need to know everyone on my team is ready to step up and take charge if anything happens, but a clear chain of command puts everyone at ease. Perhaps you would be willing to take that first step after me?”

Oh.

That was...still pretty amazing.

“Like a protege?”

“Of course this would be for alpha only. Enrico remains vice captain should something indeed happen to me.”

“I’m...” so flattered and floored, “What about Jill? Or Barry?” Was he trying to be humble or did he genuinely think either would be a better choice? Maybe both.

“Jill is clever and highly resourceful, and Barry is reliable and experienced, but what I’m looking for is drive. You have that as well as the skills. If you learn to curb that recklessness of yours you could become a good leader.”

“So…are you going to teach me the mysterious ways of the STARS captain? Do I get my own pair of shades?”

There was no doubt that the look he was getting this time was a glare and Chris realized he might have overstepped. Wesker’s sense of humor, such as it was, was a bit off-kilter and he didn’t usually appreciate normal people jokes.

“Sorry, sir.”

There was the slightest twitch at the corner of Wesker’s mouth and the glare softened. “They won’t count as a work expense.”

Chris released a huff of relief that was meant to be a chuckle.

Wesker returned his gaze to the darkening sky. “Go home, Redfield. As you said, this isn’t going to let up anytime soon.”

“What about you, sir?”

“I’ll manage. I always do.”

Knowing a dismissal when he heard one, Chris nodded and pulled the hood of his coat over his head.

“G’night, Captain. Stay dry.”

Wesker nodded and Chris hurried out into the rain.

“I try,” he thought he heard Wesker say before the rainfall drowned everything out.

[minaminokyoko]

A ‘Justice League’ Rant

Foreword

Alright, DC fans. Before you light your torches and grab your Aquaman pitchforks and set off a rousing chorus of "Kill the Beast" when you read my review/rant, I am going to attempt to set the mood and explain myself. Some of you won't care. Some of you won't even read the whole thing before you jump onto your keyboards and proclaim that I'm just a stupid girl who doesn't understand comic books and comic book movies and that the Justice League movie is great and it's better than all the Marvel movies.

Let me stop you right there. 

This ain't about the Marvel movies.

This is about DC and Warner Bros and filmmaking in general.

I don't have it out for DC/WB. I don't have it out for the DCEU. This anger and disappointment is not a result of the 20+ Marvel Cinematic Universe's successful run. This anger and disappointment comes from deep inside a little girl who at the tender age of six or seven first realized what kind of person she wanted to be when she saw Batman: Mask of the Phantasm for the first time. One of my earliest memories was seeing the pain and torment that Bruce Wayne went through after he fell in love with Andrea and he wanted so desperately for it to be okay that he loved her and that he didn't want to keep his promise anymore. I have loved DC since I was old enough to love anything. I love Batman so much that I have his symbol tattooed on my right shoulder. Dead serious. He is my guiding light and he has been since I was six years old.

So, once more, I want you to understand that the reason I hate the Justice League movie is not because I dislike DC.

The reason I hate the Justice League movie is that the Justice League movie hates me.

This movie is hollow. It is a hollow farce. It took six of the most beloved characters in fictional history and stripped them of all the reasons why they have been beacons of entertainment since their inception and plastered them on a cheap ass green screen and shoved it out into the world to make a quick buck. There was no passion, no heart, and no creativity in this film. It doesn't have an original thought in its damn head. Not one. Everything I saw was something I've seen before elsewhere, and it was done better elsewhere. If you don't believe me, fine. Let's go point-by-point. I will fully explain every reason why I almost demanded my money back after sitting through this poisonous flick.

-The plot is so unbelievably thin you couldn't stretch it farther than a couple of inches. Forgetting the fact that Batman vs. Superman was one of the worst films ever, picking up where it left off somehow just made it hurt even worse since we had to acknowledge the fact that it exists and then have to build another plot from the resulting shitstorm. So we begin with Crazy Steve (Note: I refuse to call him Batman or Bruce Wayne, because BatAffleck is neither. He in no way represents any Batman other than Linkara's epithet Crazy Steve from his reviews.) catching a  burglar (with a literal sack of stolen shit on his back, like he's a fucking crook from the 1950's or something) and then a parademon appears and he kills it. So...first of all, was Crazy Steve there for the crook and the parademon just happened to be there? Or was Crazy Steve there for the parademon and he just used the crook? That makes absolutely no sense. Those two things didn't need to be there together. It's a plot contrivance of the highest order.  It was also unnecessary as fuck. You could have just had Crazy Steve on patrol and he saw the demon, caught it, and then it died. After seeing this, the jump from 'hey, a weird alien’ to 'ZOMG WE GOTTA GET THE BAND BACK TOGETHER' is liable to give you fucking whiplash. Crazy Steve immediately jumps to "putting a team together" when he has such little evidence of the calamity, and it's even more absurd since Crazy Steve has NO experience working with a team. At most, Jason Todd existed at some point, but that's it. He doesn't know anything about metahumans aside from maybe what Amanda Waller mentioned to him at the end of the equally abysmal Suicide Squad. Further more, he just starts trying to collect these people without explaining why they should just arbitrarily trust a man they just fucking met who dresses up like a giant fucking bat. I mean, would you? Really? Especially knowing that he tried to kill Superman on incredibly flimsy reasoning? How do you know he won't immediately turn on you if you turn your head and cough and seem like a threat to him? Crazy Steve had no way of knowing aside from Diana that any of these people were stable enough to form a team and try to fight an unknown enemy. It was so rushed. He just whisks them away and doesn't blink at revealing his secret identity to four perfect fucking strangers (though Diana arguably doesn't count; she's much more level-headed and hasn't shown a propensity for losing it at the slightest provocation.)

-There is no team dynamic. At all. It's just a room full of superpowered people. The closest thing to a relationship is between Crazy Steve and Wondy, and even then, they maybe have three whole fucking conversations, and none of them are beyond superficial. It's like the movie was afraid of making an actual development, so it just kept throwing inane quips around in the hopes of distracting you from the fact that there are no characters. The whole reason the Justice League itself as a concept excites me is because you have this room full of colorful personalities with different backgrounds who come together for the common good and want to help mankind and protect the innocent. We don't know barely anyone's motivations because this movie is running off the fumes of a bad sequel. We know Wonder Woman's motivations for the most part, but having the JLA movie before her sequels still leaves a large piece of the mythos missing because we don't know how she adjusted to modern life. We don't know if she lost faith in humanity again or where she stands because we were still in the 1940's when we last saw her. Cyborg's backstory is mentioned, but his motivations are also non-existent. We get the whole "I'm a monster" thing but they immediately move on from any possible origin or explanation of what he's going through and what he wants to do since he's got these abilities but could be seen as a freak to normal people. The Flash also got a driveby explanation, but again, without prior films or history, we basically have to guess what motivates him. I know Barry Allen because I'm a comic book fan, but your average person may not. It's completely unfair to them that you just jump from place to place without explaining how Barry got his speed, why his father's in jail, and why he just jumped at the chance to fight crime despite the fact that he doesn't know how to fucking fight apparently. It's so discourteous to the character to slap him in there and not tell us why. Why does he want to help anyone if he's scared? Why isn't he insanely rich by now from the various ways he could use his speed? And then, fuck me, Aquaman is the worst of the bunch. They make no attempts to explain anything about his background. Who is the red-haired lady? I know it's Mera because again, I am a comic book fan, but the chances that your average moviegoer knows are astronomical, and so they get to sit there completely confused about who she is and what she can do and what she means to Arthur. We don't know why Arthur was just chilling out around that one village and why he gave a single shit about humanity or how he got his powers or just...anything! Anything at all! Other than he's really mouthy and has a nice chest. Look, I might be able to overlook the depressing lack of explanation, but none of these characters bond with each other or have any reasons to care about one another. There are no human aspects to them because the only one so far who has been fully explored as a character aside from Wonder Woman is Crazy Steve. Crazy Steve got some development in BvS, but certainly not enough for you to emotionally connect with him because he was a revenge hungry psychopath in the previous film. The entire fucking point of the League is to see these interesting people butt heads, but then laugh and get along with each other and get ready to protect their home from threats. Here, they're just doing what Crazy Steve tells them to do because...reasons.

-Superman's resurrection. Holy fucking shit. I just spent the last twenty minutes ranting about this to one of my friends. Where do I even start with how goddamn stupid this shit is? It comes out of fucking nowhere. After this hastily slapped together team fights Steppenwolf one time, Crazy Steve in true Crazy Steve fashion decides that we should disgrace the dead and bring Superman back. Crazy Steve has no fucking idea how the Motherbox works. None. He has done no research, he has no knowledge of Kryptonian technology, nor is he at all aware of Darkseid and the New Gods' technology. But he's like, "Nah, bruh, we all suck and we need Superman." As an aside, I am really angry at how this movie is sucking that Kryptonian cock too. How dare you. How dare you imply that these badass heroes who were doing just fine on their own in the comics and animated shows need Superman like he's their fucking babysitter. Maybe if you had established the team dynamic and established the characters, they'd be able to fight better. Crazy Steve took one fucking look at the team that had been together a grand total of like four fucking hours and decided they were all gonna die without Superman's help. It's not only reckless and poorly thought out, it's honestly insulting. It's insulting that Crazy Steve would drag Kal El from heaven (because, for real, it's entirely possible he was in literal paradise and you sorry motherfuckers took him away from his parents and his loved ones of Krypton for your selfish asses) just on the assumption that the team wasn't strong enough. My God. I am just floored by this development in the movie. It pisses me off that the movie just shrugs and acts like it was for the best to spit in the face of God and drag Kal back to earth. Maybe you shouldn't have killed him in the first fucking place, you shitlords. And it's more frustrating to me since in the comics, after DC panicked and wrote in the "regenerative coma" that they didn't just use that instead. I'd be less angry if they introduced the idea that he was never dead to begin with, but in the death-like coma. It's a cop out, but it's better than literally Frankensteining Superman from heaven to fight your fucking battle for you.

-The dialogue is painful. So painful. It is so tacked on. I went to the theater tonight at 3:50pm and I'd say there was maybe 20-25 people in there and they laughed twice. You heard me. Twice. That was an almost two hour movie, and the audience only laughed twice. Hell, I only laughed once, and it was at the end credits scene where Superman jokes that The Flash is off the team if he loses. That was the only genuine line that I heard out of this movie. It's so apparent that the studio was trying to course correct the film away from the drab, hopeless "vision" of Zack Snyder. It doesn't work. The humor misses by a mile because it's just so awkward. These versions of the heroes take themselves way too seriously, or the quips are directed at the wrong characters. Aquaman is introduced pretty much as a dumb dudebro with a devil-may-care attitude. His snarky dialogue is fine, but when you try to have Crazy Steve the focus of a joke, it falls flat since he's a killer and an asshole and the levity doesn't feel right. There's a little tingle on the back of your neck from how awkward it is when someone makes a joke and then there's this awkward silence afterward because the movie assumes you need a minute to laugh. No, movie. No. If you want a joke to land, you need either timing or context. Pointing out the fact that Crazy Steve wears a batsuit isn't inherently funny. You need context. The "I'm rich" line is a better example of a joke that should have landed, but didn't because it was in the trailer. That has context. That is humor. Just having The Flash say things out loud that he sees isn't funny. Having him be awkward around Crazy Steve isn't funny because the two of them don't know each other and Crazy Steve is mostly straight-faced and so the lines slide off of him like dung. Diana is a better example, as she gives off a very warm presence. For example, Cyborg remarking that Diana needed to keep the merman off him almost landed because the two of them have at least held a conversation and so it feels natural that he might finally make a joke around her. It also landed better because Diana is definitely the only one who appears to have a heart. Everything else is just a vain attempt to lighten the mood, but it just clashes with the deadly serious tone everything else is shot with.

-Not explaining the mythology. Jesus Christ. I'm one of those people who believes that you cannot make a film and just sneer at your audience and go, "Oh, just read the comics if you want to know what's going on!" No. You are not allowed to do that. Film is not an add on. In a film, you are charged with telling a comprehensive story with characters who develop and change over the course of their adventure. That is storytelling 101, and this movie utterly fails. It does just like Suicide Squad where it just starts throwing names at you and not telling you who anyone is with the assumption that "only comic book nerds are watching this anyway" or "well, there are only children watching and they don't care to know who everyone is, they just want to see things get smashed." Wrong. You are wrong. We don't know Steppenwolf, we don't know Darkseid, we don't Apocalypse, we don't know Lanterns, we don't know Atlantis, we don't know jackshit as an audience! And yet they just jam all these names down your throat and expect you to be able to pay attention when you have about ninety thousand questions in your head during the course of the fucking movie. Films should find common ground with the audience. Some mystery is good. Throwing in small cameos or references can feel like a nice garnish to the mythology, but this movie just glosses over everything and thinks it's fine. None of this stuff has been established aside from Krypton and Kryptonian technology. You're doing everyone a disservice by refusing to lay the foundation for the villain and the premise of the plot.

-The effects are mostly atrocious. Out of everything I've cited here, this makes the least amount of sense to me. This is WB, for God's sake. Time Warner. You have all the money in the fucking world and this is the best you can do? I mean, the Dark Knight trilogy alone should have you funded for every superhero movie for the next ten years, and yet we get Henry Cavill's Uncanny Valley mouth as a result of the childish fucking dispute over his mustache, we get CGI that looks like it's from the goddamn Spawn movie at times, and then every single thing is shot from an obvious green/blue room that it feels like the fucking Phantom Menace all over again. I never felt like anything they were doing was real. I mean, to me, it felt like the only set in the whole fucking movie was the Batcave. They are so obviously on a soundstage the entire time and none of the backgrounds blend, and they don't even bother with smaller things like having the wind blow or the colors change or the shadows move to trick your brain into accepting the CGI. Oh, and why Digi-Bat? I'm flabbergasted as to why 80% of Crazy Steve's scenes are digital. He's the non-powered team member. Why wasn't it just a stunt guy? Was Ben Affleck really that fat and lazy that he didn't want to do any fight scenes? It was like watching a freaking PlayStation 1 game whenever he fought someone. My guess is that this project got rushed after shooting and reshoots and so instead of going over the effects with a fine toothed comb and adding layers onto them so that the scenes felt real, they just gave up and only touched them up. Now, I'm not talking about things like Cyborg where it was a front and center integrated effect. Even though I still hate his design (to me, he looks like a Black Ken doll head on a Terminator body), I believed he was there and moving around. Aside from him, though? Nah, bruh. I didn't believe anyone was doing anything.

-The fight scenes were worthless. Again, I'm confused as to how this was even logistically possible. Let's recap: we've got a guy who can run faster than the speed of sound,  a dude who can swim on top of Great White Sharks and punch craters into the ocean floor, a kid who has rocket boots and an arm cannon, a woman who can deflect bullets and shoot sonic blasts with her bracelets, a guy who can shoot lasers, fly, use ice breath, run faster than a speeding bullet, and is stronger than anything ever, and lastly a man who knows every martial arts style known to man on top of having a belt with endless nifty gadgets on it. Put that all together. You should be shitting amazing fight scenes, and yet everything last one of them was bland and forgettable. The true lack of passion in the film is what is on display with these boring fight scenes. It's so repetitive. Aquaman throws his pitchfork. Wondy swings her sword or hits her bracelets together. Batman swings. Flash runs and pushes. Superman punches. That's it. Are you fucking kidding me? I can name about a thousand different cool scenarios that we could have seen with these unique powers, and yet we saw the same moves with no creativity to them. Want an example? I personally thought the Wonder Woman movie was just okay, but I at least commend them for using her agility and her invulnerability properly to create excellent visuals for how powerful and capable she is. She smashes. She grabs and throws and uses combat techniques that a warrior race would know. It is very clear when she fights that someone gave a shit and wanted to make you feel like you were a part of the action and to give you something stunning to look at. Granted, I wasn't stunned because I've seen better, but if Wonder Woman had come out in the 90's before I had seen better, then it would have blown my socks off. The JLA movie's fight scenes are tired as hell and like the movie itself, it feels like they are just checking shit off a list. It's an afterthought. There's so little effort involved, and it matches the overall tired tone I was getting out of it all. I want to believe in these heroes. I want to be dazzled by them. I want to be inspired by them. I want the feeling I used to get when I watched the Nolan trilogy--where I knew Bruce Wayne as a character and as a person and I knew his limitations and his passion and his drive, but I also know how and when he was gonna kick some ass and that I was going to be able to enjoy the different creative ways I got to watch him kick some ass. Justice League does not have any of that vigor or wonder or splendor to its fight scenes. They are as thoughtless and calculated as the rest of the movie felt. You want examples? Pop in the first few episodes of the Justice League animated series. I implore you to sit down and watch the way that the team came together, even though we had the history of Batman and Superman previously. Then I want you to move forward to Justice League Unlimited. Watch those. Watch how they use their powers and personalities to not only provide fun, colorful, exciting fight sequences, but how the chemistry between the team members enhances the urgency of the fight and the overall enjoyment of the fight. That's what this movie is missing.

I can write another five pages' worth of criticism, but when I boil everything down to a single point it is this--the Justice League movie is a rushed, soulless attempt to cash in by manipulating the fans into accepting the massive lowering of their standards in our post-Dark Knight Trilogy years of DC/WB.

And I am begging the fans who have done this, accepted this movie and put on blinders to its problems simply because you love DC and you want to say that they made a good movie, please stop it.

I'm not saying you're wrong for enjoying it. If you did, good for you. But what I want you to do is stop letting them play you in this fashion. Because that's what they're doing. They know your heart. They know you have characters that you love that you want to see on the silver screen because they are important to you for whatever reason, and so you are purposely ignoring massive flaws so that you can enjoy what they are sloppily slapping into your eyeballs. I'm saying that you deserve the effort. You are worth the effort of making a movie worthy of these heroes we all love so much. I just want you to know that. You deserve a movie where everyone has a storyline and is developed. You deserve a storyline where the plot makes sense and the team has chemistry and a reason to be a team in the first place. Don't lower your standards so that this movie glides above them. Hold it to the right standards and demand that they do better next time. Don't give them a passing grade. You do have other options. You have the animated films, you have the television shows, you have comic books by the bucketload, and you can make a difference and demand that the filmmakers do these characters justice (cue rimshot) by telling them that this movie is a disappointment and refraining from going to see it again or from buying the DVD. Money talks. Hollywood will laugh off reviews, but that box office shock gets them every time. After all, even though the jokes were last second and tacked on, the fact that we all hated BvS made them change something to try to course correct. You did that. You made a difference. And you can do it again. You can help force them to give you the movie you deserve. You should want that. You should want that for yourself and I want that for you as well.

So if you gotta fight me, fight me. Fine. I'll rebutt you to the ends of the earth if you feel the need to go that far. I'm not trying to trash a thing you love. I love it too and I want them to put some fucking effort into these films and make them as amazing as they should be.

Until that time...I guess come at me, bro.