Elphaba Thropp, The Wicked Witch Of The West

"Tell me, little wolf, do you wish to punish those who have wronged you?" spoke the man, his insidious voice twisting and twining around the hero's ear, the villain's breath ghosting against the back of his neck.

The boy jerked away, shuddering from the terrifying closeness of his enemy, but unfortunately not getting far. The chains that wrapped his wrists and arms, connecting to the floor, prevented him from rising past his knees.

"The only one I want to punish is you!" growled the young hero, eyes narrowed in hate even as fear trickled through his veins, coming to rest in a tight knot within his chest.

The cold metal beneath him bit at his numbed legs. The hero could feel, second by second, drip by drip, his own blood draining from the various wounds inflicted during his latest escape attempt. He swayed, the floor rising to meet him for a split second before he caught himself.

"Oh? And why is that, I wonder," the man said, his tone darkly conversational as he observed the hero's rapidly fading consciousness.

"You took everything from me," said the hero, young voice cracking from an emotion too difficult to name, hatred leaking away to leave exhaustion in its wake, "Why have you never killed me? I've given you so many chances, but you never--!" the hero broke off, shoulders slumping.

"Perhaps this will explain..." responded the villian, coming to a decision as he stood before the tired hero.

Hero heard a soft click and the sound of the villian moving, the rustling of cloth.

"Look at me."

Startled, the hero froze, eyes locked on the grate beneath him. The villians voice was clear, unfiltered by the mask he always wore.

Hero didn't dare look into the villain's face, afraid of what he'd find.

Because he knew that voice. Knew it from a young age. And he hadn't heard it since the day his life shattered.

"Come, little brother, are you so afraid to see your precious big brother's face after all this time?" that familiar voice mocked.

Hero slowly looked up. He had to know. Maybe it wasn't who it sounded like, maybe it was a trick...

But as his gaze slowly traveled up, landing unerringly on the villian's face, Hero's eyes widened. He shook his head in denial, his face crumpling as something deep in his chest shattered

The Chosen One Troupe

I'm always wondering why most writers I see always have a very similar why of going around with this troupe. Think of all the possibilities:

They could be a literal war criminal who has killed thousands of people

They could be a tired college student who doesn't want to deal with this bullshit

Could be fucking married to the bad guy they're meant to kill and just go all "nah"

A gen z who is done with life

Could just die and those prophecy reading dunderheads were looking for the wrong fucking person

All the stupid possibilities

oooo can i request a drabble for that one post you made about the captured hero and the malicious villain because i want that if you have the time or inspiration. thanks :D

I ended up writing this one twice because I wasn't satisfied with the first, but here we are! Thanks for the request anon!

Add. tag: (@whatwhumpcomments )

Heed tags! Nothing too serious but just to be safe <3

******

Heels. Hero hated the sound of heels. Usually, he could tell what mood Villainess was in by how loud and precise the steps were. This time was different.

The steps were sharper, which typically meant she was determined, but this sound was different. It sounds...hollow. What did that mean? He didn't know, and there wasn't anything he could do to find out, seeing as he was shackled against the wall, except wait until she opened the door- which she did.

White light flooded into the room, and Hero had the sense to close his eyes immediately after he heard the lock of the door click. He let his vision adjust beneath his eyelids before opening them. Not without a couple of claws digging around in his stomach.

It happened- his body's discomfort- every time he acknowledged Villainess was in the same building as him. And when she was in the same room as him- when Hero could see her- his throat swelled like it was trying to keep down the stomach acid he knew his body was trying to toss.

Watching her step in now, Hero had to suppress the whine in his throat. He felt so pathetic, felt like a puppy dog begging for attention. Only, attention was the last thing Hero wanted- because attention was a code word for pain.

Villainess hummed. "What say you we do today?"

Hero only swallowed and screwed his eyes shut. The mere image of Villainess sent him into flurries of panic, and oftentimes begging. Instead, he hyper-focused on any amount of wrath he felt. Hero thoughts of his friends- his team. He wanted to return to them so badly, but his wishful thinking didn't last.

"Come on. Pipe up!" Villainess screeched. "I'm in a good mood today!"

Which is exactly why I'm not. The thought wasn't quipy, not at all. Hero imagined his voice being dreadfully tired; it's how he felt.

"You haven't asked why I'm dressed up."

Hero had noticed the stilettos, and even acknowledged that that was why Villainess' steps had been so much more piercing than usual. Most times she wore clacky boots. Not today.

"I have a banquet to attend to. I'm hostess, actually."

The hero groaned, waiting and waiting for Villainous to do something, anything. The anticipation was worse than the torture itself- so he liked to think.

"Bored, are you? Then how about you tell me what we're doing today?"

He shook his head, eyes still closed. Why did she always try to make him choose how she would torment him? It was cruel, and entirely undeserved. "May-maybe you should just- should get ready for your-"

"What do you think I'm doing now?" Hero looked up, only to see Villainess' mouth lift at either corner.

Don't tell me-

"You are going to the banquet, too. Only," She gripped his pretty chin, tilting it to either side. Villainess hummed. "Did you ever watch Beauty and the Beast?" She waited, but when Hero delivered a continued silence, she demanded an answer, to which he nodded. "Good. Then my little rose will be familiar with his glass cage."

Hero swallowed, tried to pull his head away from her hand, but she followed him in whatever limited space he had. "Is that it then? I'm just going to be on display?" His voice was hopeful, but still shaky. Hero doubted it would be that easy. And he was right.

Villainess' hand finally slid away from her captive's chin, but slid to his shoulder. She picked an invisible fleck off the shoulder of his tattered shirt. "I wish I could mend clothes like I did your skin." Hero shuddered at his too many memories of sliced skin. Villainess was a healer. Any prick, scratch, or mortal wound could be repaired to extraordinary health in a snap. Or she could take her time. It depended on her mood most days.

"But maybe not. I do like your skin. It'd be a shame to always have it covered in cloth." Villainess ran her hand across the holes of Hero's shirt. Her eyes lit up as she saw the goosebumps riddling his flesh. "You know what I'll do?" She took several steps backwards, eyeing Hero like he was bait. Villainess giggled. "I'll write the names of your friends on your arms after I rip the sleeves off."

Hero squinted at his tormentor. "You'll write them?" He tried not to think of what their names meant, or rather what Villainess would intend for them to mean. Instead of seeing their names and thinking of himself as a failure for being caught, he would see himself as- as a distraction. Yeah, that was it. Hero was a distraction. Because as long as Villainess was focused on him, she wouldn't bother trying to find the others.

"Not with ink, silly."

How many times had Hero swallowed since Villainess stepped in today? "With wha- how are you-"

"Well first I'll need a cutting tool. How do you feel about scalpels? I find them to be very convenient." Villainess sighed and let her hand fall from the hero's body. "So much work, so little time. You know your one friend has an eleven letter name? Ridiculous. I'm not even sure I can pronounce it."

Hero grunted. He didn't know if he could handle another day of torture. Every day was the same. Every day, Villainess came in and scraped him down to the bone, or raggedly cut patches of his hair off- oftentimes ticking off pieces of his scalp, or any other amount of physical tortures. "I don't- Please. I can't-"

Villainess stopped, faced her precious prize again. "Well, go on, then."

The worst thing about the villainess having the ability to heal was that nearly everything about her was perfect. If anything became askew- like a broken nose- she could fix it. Even worse, she could make it straighter than it ever was before.

Her ability meant that her teeth, as wolfish as they were, were perfectly straight, perfectly polished, and perfectly spine-chilling.

"If you can't handle it, then try to escape."

For the first time since he'd been captured, Hero snarled. And he did yank at his restraints. The metal holding him to the wall bit against his wrists. His elbows were thrown forward, but otherwise, he hardly moved at all.

He spat, "They'll come for me. They'll come, and they'll kill you before freeing me." Hero hated the way his stomach twisted further as Villainess' smile fell into a straight line. No doubt she was still amused, but whatever was about to happen, it was serious, and Hero didn't know how to prepare for it.

Villainess began the tiny trek back to her captive, eventually leaning into Hero and placing her elbows on his arms- keeping them pinned to the wall. She chuckled, pressing a finger against his lips. Surprised he wasn't biting, she told him in a delicate whisper, "They are dead. Just like I am myself in your dreams." Villainess didn't give him time to bite. She moved her hand from Hero's lips to his chin, grasping it between her slender, witchy fingers, and then throwing his head to the side. Villainess put her weight on a single heel before spinning her back to Hero and walking out, hollering before she shut the door, "I'll be back with my equipment in just a moment, love."

The door shut, and all Hero could do was listen as her footsteps retreated, only to hear them come back again. It couldn't be true, could it? That his team was dead? But then why else would Villainess keep him alive?

She wants a trophy to present. And if the rest of the heroes were dead, Hero was the only thing left to show. Villainess would keep him forever just to remind him- and everyone else- that she'd won.

******

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“You can’t adopt me! I already have parents.”

“Oh, well if that was the only thing bothering you, I can fix that.”

“What?”

“Preferably, if you give me your parents’ identities, I can get rid of them right now. Otherwise, I’d have to systematically get rid of all this city’s parents with kids who are roughly your age, gender, and ethnicity. It’d take me a while, but it’ll be worth it to have you as my kid.”

“You told me that my parents trusted you to take care of me."

"I did."

"But that was a lie.”

"It was."

"Surprise! You've just been adopted, by me!"

"I'm a kid but even I know that's not how adoption works you jerk!"

"Now now, that's no way to speak to your new parent."

My issues with Chiron is like a whole nother thing. Like that guy is just allowing all this shit to happen. You can’t say he has no power here because he fucking runs the damn camp. He sent this kid with 0 training on a quest right after looking over the fact that kid almost died. Chiron bashing is a tag I adore because he is also a jackass. He gaslighted a 12 year old into thinking he was crazy. He never answered anything Percy asked. He’s never shown actually teacher any of the demigods, these kids are teaching each other??

I will say, while I do enjoy enough of Percy Jackson books… I think I prefer the fanfictions that take that world and lean into the darker parts of it.

I really enjoy fanfics I find that have the gods be more… godly I guess. The gods in PJO just feel too much like regular people. Like just annoying people. Also they just suck in general… Luke was an asshole but I kinda get why he was doing it you know? They are fucking gods. They can’t like make sure they’re kids don’t have to struggle and fight just to fucking exist??

I will say, I live for fanfiction where Percy ascends even if he didn’t choose to. Beautiful and tragic and honestly with the shit Percy does thats all I can see happening.

Another thing i enjoy in PJO fanfiction is when it becomes critical of certain characters (if you like Annabeth Chase and Percabeth please leave) and of camp half-blood and camp Jupiter. I cannot stress this enough, those camps are cults making child soldiers. They are not a safe space. They are cults training children to willingly sacrifice themselves for their parents who don’t give a flying shit about them. Chiron literally looked over the fact Percy could have died in that capture the flag game. Camp Halfblood sent out a kid with the like 0 training to go on a death quest just because his father got accused of a damn crime, and they sent him with the girl who nearly gor him fucking killed (Im so sorry I don’t like Annabeth). Camp Jupiter is so much worse because Im sorry??? There are adults??? Why are the children the military??? Thats not even mentioning the fact that so many of these kids are year rounders. They don’t have an actual home to go back to. Thats terrifying, they are stuck in these fucking death camps. Once again, no wonder there are kids who joined Kronos’ army. Not a good thing but I kinda fucking get it.

Also oh my god Percabeth. I love Annabeth bashing fics. Those feed my soul. I don’t care much for Annabeth Chase. She’s interesting but she’s also fucking shit. She beats Percy everytime she gets and is praised for every shitty thing she does and I hate that so fucking much. Im actually so scared for Leah because when people start putting together how shit Annabeth is as PJO get adapted into shows Im so scared she’ll get the brunt of all the problems when it was just how her character was horribly written. Fandom made Percabeth cuter and healthier then they actually are in canon (she didn’t know his Achilles curse was gone yet judo flipped him. Percy. Could. Have. Died.)

Anyway… anyone have recommendations for any fics that lean into the more fucked up side of these books? I’d love to hear it

“I can’t let my mom date Villain.”

“Don’t you mean our science teacher?”

"He's a villain. I don't believe that whole 'retired' schtick. Clearly, he's up to something."

"I don't know. I used to fight him, and he was always more of a giant robot and death laser type of guy."

Orange side thoughts

I think them and Logan should be besties

"Whether you like it or not, I am your parent! My suggestion is that you get used to it."