#AND I KNOW HES NOT JEROME ANYMORE

[emeraldbabygirl]

I made a moodboard because uhhhh 👉👈 idk lol I felt like it and I’ve had Teddy Besr by Stayc stuck in my head I love that song so much I didn’t think I would but it’s so upbeat and makes me feel happy and I just want to learn the dance so bad cause it’s so fun and cute and that half influenced this moodboard but also some pics I choose cause idk but they reminded me of Sungmin 😡 idk but anywee <3

IS CUTE! 😡💕💍

[jeromefox]

I miss him so much.... I hope he is doing okay.

[ozymoron]

hate having a favourite character whos barely in the show cause now i gotta wait hours and hours just to see him pop up for like 5 minutes and then wait like 10 more episodes for him to pop up again for another 5 minutes

[pumpkin-cake]

begging for ANYTHING fix it related for the most recent season !!!

five x reader and they are married?? it would be nice if the reader had a more relaxed job in comparison to five in the CIA (the reader used to also work for the commission but wanted a calm life)

like maybe working in a daycare or flower shop?

i’m honestly begging for anything sweet please if you’ve got the time !

THIS HAS ME IN A CHOKEHOLD. YES, I WILL WRITE THIS FOR YOU <3 I ALSO HATE THE WAY THEY CHARACTERIZED FIVE IN THE NEW SEASON. This will be very domestic :3 And it's been a while since I've written Five, I hope he's not too out of character, let me know if you have any pointers :3

The door to your apartment creaks open and heavy footsteps enter, the jangling sounds of house keys hitting the ceramic bowl reaching your ears with a sigh following.

"Good evening, Jerome." You coo.

"I did not pick that name, quit calling me it." Five huffs as he shrugs off his suit jacket, entering the living room. He looked tired, but he was okay with that. He didn't want to settle for some repetitive job he'd be bored as hell at. Even if they gave him stupid aliases like Jerome.

"You could have at least asked. That's embarrassing, telling people your name is Jerome. What about...Ethan? Or even something that's close to Five. Like, Finn, or something." You answered with a chuckle, while Five crumpled on the couch next to you.

"There isn't any point. It's not like you need to go around calling me that name." He said, taking off his tie and laying it across the arm of the sofa. "Anyway, how was work?" He asked, taking off his brown Oxfords and laying them nearby but out of the main walkway. He reached over to the stack of papers on the coffee table and looked at the first page. "Jesus, this is the sloppiest handwriting I've ever seen."

"Ah yes, because children who still have shitty motor skills are going to be writing in perfect print. That's why they only have to write their names, not write full-fledged essays." You said sarcastically, plucking the piece of paper from his hands. You looked over the assignment your kindergarteners were given. The instructions were to count the different types of bugs on the paper. There were no more than 9 of each bug. 4 butterflies, 7 caterpillars, 1 beetle, 8 spiders.

"I was never that dumb." Five said a little snarkily, pointing to the answer spot that said there were only 5 caterpillars.

"Don't be such a prick." You huffed, getting out a blue pen. You didn't like to use red, too harsh. You circled each answer wrong, not making any corrections.

"How are you even meant to teach them this? It's basic counting." Five asked, sort of actually curious.

"We'll just go over it in class tomorrow. Everyone will count together."

"Then what's the point of the homework?"

You groaned. "We are not having this conversation anymore, old man." You pulled out a pack of stickers, putting one on each sheet of paper.

"You're just as old." He countered with a smirk, leaving you to roll your eyes and continue 'grading' the papers. He did shut up and drop the subject, letting his hand stray to your hand that wasn't busy grading papers. He wasn't ever one for physical affection in the past, but ever since getting to this place? He was more lenient. He was never hanging off of you, but his touches were gentler. Each contact of skin was a small way of saying 'I love you', because it was hard to say it out loud after years of isolation.

The biggest way of him saying he loved you was twisting the ring that nicely fit on your finger like he was doing right now. Like he was making sure you were aware of its presence and meaning.

You finished the papers in less than five minutes. You did not envy the fourth-grade teachers who had actual homework to grade. "Your dinner is in the fridge." You told him, taking his other hand and playing with the black band that adorned his ring finger.

"Not hungry." He said shortly, like he was offended you'd ever assume he wanted to do something aside from this. He wouldn't ever say that out loud, of course.

"It's sushi. Made by yours truly." You added, holding back a chuckle when he sucked in a deep breath, very torn between the options. It was weird, able to sit and think about something. He wasn't rushing home to eat and go to bed, he got to do domestic shit with you and fuck did he love it.

"..." Five stayed silent like a brooding teenager.

"I'll come with you." You reasoned, and he reluctantly sat up. You smiled and got up with him, the two of you traversing to the kitchen. He opened the door to the fridge and grabbed the small Tupperware of delicious looking sushi. You were not a fan of Commission cafeteria food, and you took pride in buying the best ingredients for you and your spouse. You were already grabbing him a pair of chopsticks, sitting with him at the kitchen island.

"...thanks." He said after eating a roll. He was stubborn, but he really did appreciate you taking the time to make more for him when he got home late. It was so nice to come home to a homemade meal. It reminded him of Grace.

"Of course, honey." You smiled, sitting in silence while he ate. He savored every moment. After being in the apocalypse for forty years, he really grew to appreciate the things he didn't have. He swore he would never take this life for granted.

He never questioned why, because the whole reason was sitting right next to him.

[i-smoke-chapstick]

‘NWA, [kinkpril day 2 - bukkake]

-GOTHAM!VILLIANS X READER-

⋆ Characters ↬ Jerome Valeska, Jervis Tetch, Jonathan Crane (J-Squad)

⋆ 𝐒𝐘𝐍𝐎𝐏𝐒𝐈𝐒 ; foursome with the j-squad !!!

⋆ tags/warnings. GOTHAM!villains x female reader. Day 2 of gotham tv kinkpril! How this works is each day I follow the prompt list; and pick gotham characters who I personally think would resonate with said kink. SMUT!!! PURE PORN. BUKKAKE! FOURSOME!! Poly relationship!!! For those who don’t know, bukkake is just getting your face came on by multiple men. Hard kinks. Warning for spit, overstimulation, pseudo-degradation, and cum. lots of it.

♫ “She just wanna fuck crazy, She just wanna fuck till she can't move no more. / We should make her pay for this.” NWA by Miguel

The whole room smells like sex. You feel filthy, you feel free. Strange how the three men in front of you could bring themselves to share you. You don’t mind a bit.

You’re spread-eagle on a bed in someones mansion. You’re unsure who owns it exactly- but you are sure Jervis hypnotized some poor sap. Any other day you might’ve playfully scolded him, but not today. From the moment you entered the house, Jerome has been licking and kissing your body like a madman. Hard to pay attention when your lover has no perception of personal space.

Jerome ranted to you, mindlessly, all last night and throughout today. He couldn’t keep his mouth shut, which earned him a glare from Jonathan. You’d been curious as to why the redhead was more talkative than usual, but everything clicked when you were roughly shoved on the bed by Jonathan. They wanted to try something new.

And they’d done just that.

“J-Jerome, please.” You’re muffled voice whispers, choking on dick. The pause in you sucking has Jonathan growling, delivering a sharp slap to your chest. You blink away tears as he forces himself deeper.

“Anything for you, doll.” Jerome teases, and theres a sarcastic edge to his voice. He’s laughing at you. His hips wildly buck into your slit, sloppy movements sending wet squelches echoing from the room. The bed is bouncing as his nails dig into your thighs.

At Jerome’s remark, Jervis gives a small giggle, seemingly just as high on this as you are. You continue to wet your lips around Jonathan’s cock, spit bubbling around him. Jervis is pressing his member into the small of your back, fingertips circling your clit while Jerome fucks himself into you. You feel your eyes glaze over.

“Eyes on me.” Jonathan tugs harshly your hair, possessivley taking your attention away from Jervis’s movements. You try your best to see through your tears of overstimulation, exhaling through your nose. You look up towards him, and he lets out a grunt of approval from under his mask. Jervis looks less than pleased, eyes narrowing at the gesture. His patience is thinning, and his circles on your pussy turn rougher. You let out a yelp.

You can tell Jonathan’s getting close from the way his hold on your hair tightens painfully. It only enhances the pleasure. You moan around him when Jerome hits a particularly sweet spot, and you feel Jonathan’s hips sputtering into your mouth.

Jonathan pulls himself out of your mouth with a slippery pop, and his dick twitches as he spills his seed all over your face. The thin coat of cum covers your eyes, mouth, and cheeks, and you wince. You breathe wildly underneath him. You instinctively go to wipe the cum away from your eyes, but feel you feel your wrists pinned down.

Partially blinded, you squint, realizing the feeling of Jerome’s cock is not filling you up anymore. You attempt to look around, finding your hands being held to the mattress by Jervis and Jonathan to keep you firmly in place.

Jerome hovers above you, smiling as he unleashes his own load on your face, laughing through his orgasm. Once again, your face is painted in cream, and you’re whimpering loudly. The sound only makes Jerome laugh and cum harder it seems.

“See? I told ya you could take it!” Jerome’s voice is all you hear, and all you can do is choke and moan loudly. Jervis’s fingers are still working impossibly fast on your clit, and your back arches into him.

“All yours.” Jonathan nods to Jervis, responding nonchalantly. Jervis offers a begrudgingly polite smile. Jerome nods his head wildly, effectively in his happy place through maddening orgasmic bliss.

“Thank you, Gentlemen.” Jervis cocks his head, hand movements stopping. You take the time to catch your breath, which is ripped away from you as you feel Jervis’s heavy cock slide into you in one wet fluid motion. You can’t help but scream at the feeling of being re-stretched, heat filling you.

Through the tears and cum, you can make out Jervis grinning, the figures of Jonathan and Jerome disappearing behind you. For a moment you think they’ve left, until you feel Jerome kitten-lick a swipe of his and Jonathan’s own load off your face. Jerome’s hands roam over you wildly, tweaking your nipples to illicit another loud yelp from you. He cackles.

Jonathan takes Jervis’s previous place, uncut fingernails scratching up and down your ribcage, before swiftly rubbing at your soft nub of flesh. The pleasure is just too much for you, feeling three sets of hands claim you as their own. You taste Jerome and Jonathan’s cum as it drips into your swollen lips.

Jervis’s hand comes under your chin, delicatley moving your face to look at him. His thrusts are sharp in contrast, slapping into you at an animalistic pace. He drawls under his breath; smiling.

“Tight, isn’t she?”

Jerome hums in agreement, coming up from his spot on your neck to spit in your mouth. You’re forced to swallow. Jerome’s grin doesn’t waver as he responds, “Best pussy I’ve ever had.”

Jonathan doesn’t speak, but you can tell he’s giving a crooked smile under the mask. He presses a slap to the fat of your thigh, watching it jiggle underneath his palm.

Between Jerome’s tongue on your neck and nipples, Jonathan’s hand smacking and flicking against your cunny, and Jervis’s fast pace pounding into your pussy, you feel the knot in your stomach tighten in anticipation.

Beside yourself, you match Jervis’s movements, trying desperately to fuck for any friction you can get. Your hips lift into him, chasing your own orgasm.

The moment of bliss finally comes when Jerome’s hand comes to squeeze around your neck, playful gesture sending you over the edge. You find yourself cumming around nothing, Jervis’s cock already in position. Pussy twitching only around Jonathan’s cold fingers, Jervis’s thick ropes of cum land on your face, groaning as he does so. You feel the hot creamy liquid drip down your forehead into the contours of your cheeks.

You refrain from opening your eyes, not letting the cum sting even more. But you hear Jerome’s voice right in your ear.

“Good aim.” He praises Jervis, and you can picture his small grin in response.

“I’ll go get a towel. Stay.” Jonathan’s blunt tone calls, weight shifting on the bed. You feel Jerome cuddle up into your breasts, and Jervis trace small circles on your wrist, pressing a gentle kiss to your knuckles.

You feel your fucked out mouth form into a dazed smile of your own. You love your boys.

[coupleoffanfics]

Part 2 of Batfam and batsis y/n headcons

Masterlist

It was a surprise to see y/n at the of the manor one night after her "outburst" that was a couple months ago. Alfred is happy to see her but notices her troubled expression. She greets him and asks if Bruce was here.

Entering the Batcave for the first time in years, it hasn't changed too much from what y/n remembers. The first to notice her walk in is Damian. "Sister, what are you doing here?" It's always so weird hearing him call her that now. He's never called he that until her "outburst".

This gets the attention of Tim and Babs, making them look away from the monitor. Tim is glad to see her again and hopefully, she is here to mend their broken, not completely burnt, bridges. Babs is also glad to see her as they haven't been communicating as much this past week, but concerned as to what brought her here. She has a feeling that y/n wouldn't come here without a reason.

"I need to talk to Bruce." Damian is almost upset that y/n didn't say she came to see him. He doesn't even have to open his mouth as Bruce is right behind her. Bruce makes his presence known which made y/n jolt up a bit.

Turns around to see him suited up just like the others. Not seeing his full face made her more comfortable oddly.

She takes a deep breath before talking, "I want to clarify that I'm talking to Batman and not Bruce Wayne. I have some information and I desperately need your help." Everyone's interest was already peaked before she said anything.

Bruce watches her pointer finger curl around her hair, her eyes shifted away from him, and her shoulders somehow become even more tense. "Jerome is looking for someone, not me, but I'm worried about them. Wait not looking for he's found them and I- ugh, I'm sure you've already done a background check on him. He has a twin brother and he supposedly wants him dead. I'm…"

All their eyes on her were worsening her anxiety. "I'm best friends with him, Jeremiah Valeska." Babs is already putting the pieces together that Xander Wilde was just an alias. She does remember thinking that they look similar, but she's only met y/n's boyfriend a handful of times and never looked that deep into Jerome's relatives. There wasn't any need to look at his family as long as they aren't committing illegal acts with him.

"Jerome, he did something to Jeremiah. There was this gas and it messed him up. He…" y/n was trying not to get too emotional from talking about a topic that was sensitive to her. "He's not right in the head anymore. It's almost like he's turning into Jerome. He's losing control, he knew a week ago that something is wrong but now he's saying…"

Their eyes and her various feelings on the matter were making her feel that this was a dead end. It's been nearly three months and things have been getting progressively worse. As she looks at Bruce and all she expects is to be rejected. To tell her that she was overreacting and that time was going to heal whatever this mess was.

y/n looked Bruce in the eyes and for the first desperately begged, "Please. Please help find a cure or something to end Jeremiah's madness. I…" She choked back the urge to say that she loved him. There wasn't a need for that and she'd rather keep them in the dark about her life. "…I don't want to lose my best friend. I know you're busy, but I had try asking. Just tell me now if you'd be able to help in any way possible and I'll leave you alone."

This came out of nowhere, but with y/n looking Bruce in the eye with glassy and a scared look in her eyes. How could he say no? "I'll do everything I can, but I'll need a blood sample."

Anything that he said after that went in and out of y/n's ears. She was just relieved that she had the greatest detective help her. "Yeah, um, I can do that." Her voice was softer than a few seconds ago. She wiped the tears of relief with her palm and quickly made her way out of the cave.

Tim wanted to go after her, but Damian was already following behind her and Babs gave him a discouraging look. Babs finally understood why y/n has been so quiet these past weeks. She also knew that y/n needed time to herself and she'd hope that Damian would understand that. She thinks Bruce knew that as well as he stared at the exit for a moment before swiftly going back to work.

Damian kept calling out to his sister before grabbing her wrist. y/n really wanted to shake off his hand and tell him to just leave her alone. Though feeling how firm his grip is she knew it would probably be best to go with whatever to not trigger another meltdown. That was the last thing she ever wanted to see or deal with.

Genuinely though she didn't know why he followed her. It didn't matter if he was trying to repave their relationship, she always expects the worst to come out of his mouth. As a shield, she says what he thinks he'll say. Putting herself down before he or anyone can do it.

"Yeah, I know I shouldn't be down there. It's no place for me and I get in the way. I'm not going to lie and say I'm fully sorry. I am, but I need to try everything to save him, and if that means you'll all have to bear witness to a living failure once more then so be it."

Damian is stuck by her words again and lets go of her as if her skin burns him. He was unsure of how to respond to that, but that wasn't the reason he was there. He tells her with full confidence, "Father will find a cure. Your friend will be okay."

She doesn't look at him. Surprised that he didn't degrade her and slightly smiling that he was comforting her. "Thank you, Damian, that was nice of you to say." Then walks out of the manor just like last time, but this night Damian can fall asleep without regretting eating him alive.

Bruce hires a team of toxicologists. Buys a whole new laboratory for the team. Making sure that there is progress being made while he's not working on it. Tim is the one who spends the most time searching for a cure.

The day after y/n would make her regular trip to the psychiatric hospital with Tim watching from a distance. Tim wasn't stalking y/n he'd claim fully knowing that's exactly what he's doing. He just felt that something was missing and he just wanted to know. He was sick of all her secretiveness. He's given y/n some space after her "outburst" unlike Damian and Dick. So he feels like he could do this because it's not like he forcing her to be around him like the other two.

But regardless the stalking. He was concerned about seeing y/n walk into a mental hospital. It wasn't Arkham, but personally knowing her track record of depressive episodes made him wonder why she was here. Was she admitting herself again?

y/n going through a mental low is difficult no matter how many times Tim sees and helps her through it. She'd stop having this bubbly aura around her. Not being able to get out of bed. There were few times she talked of how hopeless and empty she felt. When she had these episodes they'd never last a few days. They'd always be a week and the worse he's personally seen it last for 2 months. Then the mental image of her dealing with this on her own and coming to the point that she felt the need to admit herself was devastating to him in many ways.

Disguised as part of the staff, Tim followed y/n. Quickly realizing that she wasn't admitting herself, but visiting. He stood by the door of the patient's room that she dispersed in and closed the door. Interestingly Echo walked out of the room at one point and went back.

Seeing y/n standing by the door and about to leave, Tim quickly put some distance between himself and her. Watching y/n, Echo, and a man wearing a hat walk out. Following close behind as they left the hospital and entered the parking garage. He noticed how closely y/n and the man were walking together while Echo walked behind them.

Suddenly Echo came to a halt making the others stop and look at her. Then she ran full force toward Tim and pushed him against the concrete wall. A sharp knife pressed against his throat.

The handful of times Tim has seen Echo he's never seen her exhibit any emotion. There was a sort of underlying anger as she calmly ask who he was and why he following them. He's not able to get his mouth open because y/n runs up panicked while the man walks slowly.

y/n doesn't even need a second to see that it was Tim. Makes Echo let go of him before asking what he was even doing there. There is no good lie that he can come up with on the spot and he knew lying was just going to make y/n more upset than she already was.

"You never talk or are around anymore. You're so secretive now that it makes me worried." Tim would continue if he didn't notice y/n clench her jaw. He would have to be blind to not see y/n trying to keep her cool.

That's when the man placed his gloved hand on her shoulder. Just that simple action alone got rid of any tension in y/n. The man would introduce himself as Jeremiah.

Tim felt uncomfortable by Jeremiah. It could have been the fact that y/n did say his mental sanity has deteriorated, but Tim could just feel something was off with him. His bright green eyes remind Tim of someone. His face also looked to be caked with makeup and the way he talked was unnerving.

The three leave Tim behind. y/n stating that they'll talk about 'this' later. He goes back to the manor even more perplexed by everything.

Later that day y/n drops by the manor. Trying to be discreet as possible because she doesn't want to trigger Damian jumping out. Handing the blood sample to Bruce then turning her attention to Tim.

They have a long drawn-out conversation about what transpired earlier. Explaining why he felt the need to follow her and how he wants her to be open with him.

"— I want us to friends again." That made y/n's heart and mind stop for a moment. Just a moment because she immediately rebuttals. Not trying to mean when saying she doesn't want to be near any of them. That just things change, that they've changed, and they drifted apart. That he had nothing to worry about, but to also never do that again.

y/n spends most of her time with Jeremiah until she has classes and takes a minute to drop by the manor for any updates. Now that y/n is visiting the manor, Damian doesn't surprise her with visits anymore. Since she comes over quite often, daily almost.

He always tries to prolong her time there. He remembers the few things she's interested in. Art and fencing. He'll try almost bribe her to spend more time with him. Mentioning that he's going to an art museum or that he's done with his latest painting. It doesn't get her attention. Talks about how he's got tickets for a fencing match, but that doesn't interest y/n in the slightest.

It's like she's purposefully ignoring him. It's not the case, but that's beside the point. One day when y/n drops by and gets ready to leave, Damian walks up to her with one question. "Can you teach me how to fence?"

Taken aback the question y/n has to take a moment to register it. She sighs, "You're better off getting a professional trainer because I haven't held a saber or epee in a hot minute." She's not even trying to avoid Damian even though he just reminds her how much of a failure she is. She's just being honest.

The boy is becoming visibly frustrated. Panicking and remembering his last tantrum, y/n quickly says that she'll teach him the basics after her classes. Seeing that he was calming down y/n makes a quick escape.

After her last class, she sees Damian waiting right outside of her classroom. Once she's in his peripheral vision he tries to drag her back to the manor and into the newly established fencing room, but she needs to make a quick stop.

Will not let her go alone no matter what. So she kinda has no choice but to bring him along. It's nothing new. She makes a quick call informing someone that she'll have someone with her before jumping into her car. They take a long ride out of Gotham and into the woods. Making Damian wonder where the hell y/n is going.

The second one to meet Jeremiah is Damian. Jeremiah only politely greets him before leaving to talk with y/n in another room. The first impression Damian has of Jeremiah is not a good one. Highly suspicious of him and is not comfortable letting y/n be alone in a room with him. Low-key impressed by the labyrinth that Jeremiah calls his house and likes the interior of the living room. Every classy.

Would have put his ear against the door to hear what they were saying if it wasn't for Echo. She was staring him down. He's pretty sure she hasn't blinked since they got here. Going off what Tim said to the others about Echo possibly being y/n's lover, Damian wonders what y/n sees in Echo.

When they leave and get back into the car Damian brings up Echo. "Your girlfriend should learn how to blink." y/n almost stomped on the breaks. "Girlfriend...? Echo?" She's very confused. "Who else am I talking about." This is when she learns that the whole family thinks she's dating Echo. The idea is funny but also irked her because that was far from the truth. Calmly explains to Damian that isn't the case and that she was simply Jeremiah's bodyguard. Damian can't wait to tell Tim that he was wrong.

Once they get back to the manor y/n teaches Damian about fencing. First going over the rules and the 4 types of fencing before doing anything physical. Surprisingly time flew by. They probably would have been fencing all night if Alfred didn't interrupt them for dinner. y/n planned on leaving, but Damian convinced her to at least stay for dinner because Alfred made her favorite dish and dessert.

This is around the time y/n starts to think that Damian isn't too bad. Out of everyone in the family, Damian is probably the one she'd be the most lenient towards. She's lenient towards the whole family, but Damian is still relatively young. He was able to move on from his horrible childhood, even though that resulted in him lashing out, y/n can forgive that to an extent. Deep down she sees him as her little brother even after their rough patch.

The fact that he isn't breaking into her apartment and trying to connect with her, makes her think that it's safe to be around him. That she isn't going to be verbally reminded that she's one of the most worthless human beings to be alive.

She starts straying a little longer at the manor to mentor Damian a few times. He starts to worry when she easily has the wind knocked out of her and has a cough that doesn't go away. She tells him that it's nothing to worry about. Might lie to him if doesn't give up on the topic by saying she's developed asthma. The lie isn't implausible since anyone can develops asthma at any age and it is hereditary.

It calms Damian down a little. Now he constantly carries an inhaler just in case y/n needs it. She feels so bad lying to him, but she thinks it's for the best that everyone should stay in the dark about her medical condition.

Seeing y/n willingly hang out with Damian gets under Tim's skin. He's given her space unlike Damian, except for that one time but it was only one time. The little gremlin has been harassing her since that one "outburst". He'd want to pull out the 'I knew her longer' card, but he knows how petty it would be. Who she hangs out with isn't his problem and he should mind his own business.

He does mind his own business, but he may occasionally check the cameras to see what y/n and Damian are up to. That's all he swears. Oh, my god, they're going to orchestral concerts and museums together now!? This is so unfair Tim thinks to himself.

They use to be so close.

Honestly, Bruce is thankful for Damian. He's keeping y/n around the manor longer so she can be completely safe from the madness of Gotham. It's also good to know that she's willingly interacting with one of her brothers. It almost warms his heart to see her not be so anxious while in the manor. Just almost because she shouldn't have to feel anxious in the first place. This was the place she once called home, it should make her feel safe not anxious.

Remember the team of toxicologists?

If you don't that's fine. They were killed by the bomb placed in the laboratory, so it's not like they'd be brought up again.

Everyone thinks it's Jerome. The loss of innocent life and y/n suddenly going missing seems like a Jerome thing to do. When they hunt down Jerome, he just kinda shrugs his shoulders while doing a poor job at hiding his smile. Damian wants to scratch his face off or rip his face off depending on the state of it. Dick has to hold back the little monster while Bruce interrogates the ginger.

It goes nowhere until Jerome gets bored of interrogation and tells them, "I'm tired of him thinking that he's better than me. We're quite the same, but I'm the better one. I just had to give him a fresh air of courage to be his true self." Everyone understands what he's say and also groaning that they have to deal with another fucking Valeska.

BONUS

Jerome, Jeremiah, Joker, and Harley being a sort of dysfunctional family is a fun idea. (Inspired by this) Joker and Harley enable the twins' unhealthy love for y/n Wayne.

Harley is more "innocent" in her enabling because she sees nothing wrong with it. The staking, the murder, it's nothing when it's the name of love. (When she leaves Joker for Ivy, she might feel guilty for egging them on. That she played a part in instating y/n into a toxic relationship. Out of anyone, she'd be the one to understand what's it like to be in one. This might motivate her to help keep y/n safe in the future.) Out of the two Harley is rooting for Jerome. He just seems like the lesser evil for y/n.

Joker finds the whole thing funny and pathetic at the same time. The twins are destroying half of the city for a girl, it almost makes him want to roll his eyes. Almost because of the lengths they'll go to. How they're always butting heads and seeing how distraught the girl gets is fun. He can't help but laugh at it. He'll be putting his money on Jeremiah because he sees potential. He's not reckless like Jerome or impatient, Jeremiah is in it for the long haul.

[lulu2992]

Does Jacob Seed believe in God?

It’s a popular theory that, even though the oldest Seed brother is part of the Project at Eden’s Gate, he only has faith in his own ideology and doesn’t necessarily believe in God or the Voice. So is Jacob one of Joseph’s Heralds simply because he wants to support his brother and use his influence to his advantage, or does he actually believe in a higher power and in the Father’s message?

The first time we come (very) close to Jacob, during the mission “The World is Weak”, he explains why he thinks humanity has “forgotten what it is to be strong”. He says that “our heroes used to be gods” but that they are now, among other flaws, “godless”. If Jacob associates godlessness, so the lack of faith in God, with weakness, one of the things he criticizes the most, it implies to me that he thinks believing in God is a quality, so he most likely does too.

The next time the Deputy is captured by Jacob’s soldiers, he stays in the background to let Joseph talk to them and explain how he lost his wife and daughter. The Father tells this story in the Whitetail Mountains for a reason: it’s about pain, sacrifice, being tested, and doing whatever we’re asked to prove our devotion. Although Jacob doesn’t say anything to the Junior Deputy in that scene, the pained expression on his face proves that Joseph’s speech affects and resonates with him, and we only fully understand why the next time we meet him.

The third time the Deputy gets captured and ends up in one of Jacob’s cages, he too has a story to tell. While he casually shows how submissive and “well-trained” Pratt has now become, he talks about his experience in the military and more specifically during the First Gulf War. He explains how he and another soldier, Miller, got separated from their unit without food, water, or radio, and had to survive in the desert. When he realized, after eight days, that they were most likely going to die, he accepted his fate. “And in that acceptance came clarity”, he explains, and before he says the last two words, Jacob pauses and looks at the sky. In my opinion, this may indicate he believes this epiphany was of a divine nature.

When he continues his story, he says sacrificing Miller so he could survive “wasn’t something [he] wanted” but “something that [he] had to do” before concluding that it was “[his] test” and looking at the sky once more. Again, to me, this suggests he believes that this “test”, this sacrifice he didn’t want to make but thought had to happen, was a divine trial, a “test of faith”, exactly like Joseph killing his own daughter. And in order to join his army, people are expected to do the same: they must sacrifice something (or someone) that’s holding them back. To Jacob, it appears a sacrifice is not just about the “weak vs. strong” ideology and culling the herd, it’s also how you prove your devotion, your commitment to the Project, to the Father and, by extension, to God.

In his final moments, Jacob says what led many people to conclude he was possibly an atheist: “My brother saw all this coming. I don’t know if he talks to God... that doesn’t matter. He was right.” I don’t think this means he doesn’t believe in a higher power, though. Many other characters in Far Cry 5, such as Jerome or Grace, clearly are religious but also think Joseph is a false prophet and that there’s no way the Voice he claims he heard is God’s. Here, Jacob doesn’t say it’s not true and that the Voice isn’t real; he simply admits that he doesn’t know if Joseph can communicate with God.

So, in my opinion, it’s very likely that Jacob believes in a higher power and that part of what he does to people has a religious significance. That said, as he takes his last breath, whether or not the Voice Joseph hears belongs to God doesn’t matter much to the Soldier anymore. What does, and what he seems to be certain of, is that he was right to believe in his brother.

[correlance]

Paradise Lost: How John Milton's 1667 work influenced "Hazbin Hotel"

I've been thinking about why the "fruit of knowledge" in Hazbin Hotel is depicted as an apple, as opposed to another fruit that would've been more accurate to the Middle East during the Fall of Man, as well as how Paradise Lost by John Milton (1667) influenced the show.

Per one source:

"Because the Hebrew Bible describes the forbidden fruit only as 'peri', the term for general fruit, no one knows [what exactly type of fruit it was]. It could be a fruit that doesn't exist anymore. Historians have speculated it may have been any one of these fruits: pomegranate, mango, fig, grapes, etrog or citron, carob, pear, quince, or mushroom."

Per Wikipedia:

"The pseudepigraphic Book of Enoch describes the tree of knowledge: 'It was like a species of the Tamarind tree, bearing fruit which resembled grapes extremely fine; and its fragrance extended to a considerable distance. I exclaimed, How beautiful is this tree, and how delightful is its appearance!' (1 Enoch 31:4)."

In Jewish and Islamic traditions, the "fruit of knowledge" is commonly identified with grapes. The Zohar explains that Noah attempted (but failed) to rectify the sin of Adam by using grape wine for holy purposes. Today, the "Noah grape" is still used to make white wine.

Furthermore:

"The association of the pomegranate with knowledge of the underworld as provided in the Ancient Greek legend of Hades and Persephone may also have given rise to an association with knowledge of the 'otherworld', tying-in with knowledge that is forbidden to mortals. It is also believed Hades offered Persephone a pomegranate to force her to stay with him in the underworld for 6 months of the year. Hades is the Greek god of the underworld, and the Bible states that whoever eats the forbidden fruit shall die."

So, how then did the apple become the foremost symbol of the "fruit of knowledge"? You can partly thank Paradise Lost by English poet John Milton, a work which the lore of Hazbin Hotel is based off of.

Milton published the book in 1667, a time when the hedonistic Restoration era was in full swing. The exiled King Charles II was restored to the throne as King of England in 1660, and was a party animal, with dozens of mistresses, and nicknamed both the "playboy prince" and "Old Rowley", the latter after his favorite lustful stallion.

However, the association of the "fruit of knowledge" began with a Latin pun long before Milton immortalized the association in Paradise Lost. Per the linked article above by Nina Martyris for NPR:

"In order to explain, we have to go all the way back to the fourth century A.D., when Pope Damasus ordered his leading scholar of scripture, Jerome, to translate the Hebrew Bible into Latin. Jerome's path-breaking, 15-year project, which resulted in the canonical 'Vulgate', used the Latin spoken by the common man. As it turned out, the Latin words for evil and apple are the same: 'malus'.

[...] When Jerome was translating the 'Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil', the word 'malus' snaked in. A brilliant but controversial theologian, Jerome was known for his hot temper, but he obviously also had a rather cool sense of humor.

'Jerome had several options,' says Robert Appelbaum, a professor of English literature at Sweden's Uppsala University. 'But he hit upon the idea of translating 'peri' as 'malus', which in Latin has two very different meanings. As an adjective, 'malus' means 'bad' or 'evil'. As a noun it seems to mean an apple, in our own sense of the word, coming from the very common tree now known officially as the 'Malus pumila'. So Jerome came up with a very good pun.'

The story doesn't end there. 'To complicate things even more,' says Appelbaum, 'the word 'malus' in Jerome's time, and for a long time after, could refer to any fleshy seed-bearing fruit. A pear was a kind of 'malus'. So was the fig, the peach, and so forth.'

Which explains why Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel fresco features a serpent coiled around a fig tree. But the apple began to dominate Fall artworks in Europe after the German artist Albrecht Dürer's famous 1504 engraving depicted the First Couple counterpoised beside an apple tree. It became a template for future artists such as Lucas Cranach the Elder, whose luminous Adam and Eve painting is hung with apples that glow like rubies.

Milton, then, was only following cultural tradition. But he was a renowned Cambridge intellectual fluent in Latin, Greek and Hebrew, who served as secretary for foreign tongues to Oliver Cromwell during the Commonwealth. If anyone was aware of the 'malus' pun, it would be him, and yet he chose to run it with it. Why?

Appelbaum says that Milton's use of the term 'apple' was ambiguous. 'Even in Milton's time the word had two meanings: either what was our common apple, or, again, any fleshy seed-bearing fruit. Milton probably had in mind an ambiguously named object with a variety of connotations as well as denotations, most but not all of them associating the idea of the apple with a kind of innocence, though also with a kind of intoxication, since hard apple cider was a common English drink.'

It was only later readers of Milton, says Appelbaum, who thought of 'apple' as 'apple', and not any seed-bearing fruit. For them, the forbidden fruit became synonymous with the 'malus pumila'. As a widely read canonical work, 'Paradise Lost' was influential in cementing the role of apple in the Fall of Man story."

To tie this back into John Milton's relationship with King Charles II of England, as mentioned, Milton originally served Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of England, and the English Commonwealth, which was formed with the overthrow and execution of King Charles I on 30 January 1649, following the bloody English Civil War (1642 – 1651).

The King's two sons - the newly-christened King Charles II, the elder, and James, Duke of York (King James II), the younger - fled into exile on the European continent. However, with the death of Oliver Cromwell on 3 September 1658 came the 2-year-long dissolution of the English Commonwealth, and the restoration of the monarchy.

As for Milton himself, we can look to an article by Bill Potter.

Milton, born on 9 December 1608, was around 51-52 years old when King Charles II was restored to the throne. He attended Christ's Church, Cambridge in his youth, and mastered at least six languages, as well as history and philosophy; making him, perhaps, the most knowledgeable poet in history. He spent more than a year travelling across Europe, conversing with and learning from intellectuals, linguists, poets, and artists, including the famous Galileo Galilei.

However, Milton was a controversial figure of his time, being unafraid to criticize institutions of authority; arguing that "divorce was Biblical", for which he was routinely condemned; joining the Puritans; penning the Areopagitica, a treatise on liberty in favor of Parliament and the Roundhead rebels, during the reign of King Charles I, arguing that the King must be held accountable by the people; and agreed with and justified the murder of King Charles I, for which Parliament hired him in 1649 as a propagandist and correspondence secretary to foreign powers, on account of his fiery manifestos against "the man".

The collapse of the Commonwealth with the death of Oliver Cromwell in 1658 did not deter Milton from continued political writing against the monarchy and the new public sentiment that brought about its Restoration under King Charles II in 1660. On the contrary, Milton - now totally blind, having lost his eyesight by the age of 44 in 1652, a decade earlier - began writing Paradise Lost in 1661, and spent the next six years dictating the work to transcribers.

A supporter of regicide, Milton was also forced into exile himself, and faked his own death, as Charles refused to pardon - and sought to execute - any of those directly involved with his father's murder. Milton's friends held a mock funeral for Milton on 27 August 1660, just months after the coronation of King Charles II on 23 April 1660.

King Charles II commented that he "applauded his [Milton's] policy in escaping the punishment of death [execution for treason] by a reasonable show of dying", but insisted on a public spectacle nonetheless by having Milton's writings burned by the public hangman.

After eventually obtaining a general pardon from King Charles II, Milton was imprisoned, and released, likely due to political friends in high places. He died, aged 64, in 1674. His theological views were sometimes considered heterodox by the best Puritans, and his political views came close to getting him executed on several occasions. His poetry, however, has endured as some of the greatest works in the English language, especially Paradise Lost; much of his greatest work was written during his 22 years of complete blindness.

One of the main factors in King Charles II deciding to grant a pardon to Milton was, ironically, Paradise Lost. While originally written by Milton as a scathing criticism of King Charles II and the monarchy - depicting Lucifer Morningstar as a sympathetic rebel against God, with King Charles II claiming that is right to rule came from "divine ordainment" - Charles II enjoyed the work, and authorized its publication on 20 August 1667. We know this because a 1668 copy of Paradise Lost in royal bindings by Samuel Mearne, bound lovingly in a fine red leather made of goat skins tanned with sumac, and stamped in gold with the royal cypher of King Charles II, was found. The endpapers bore a watermark with the royal arms of Charles II.

Per one Miltonian scholar: "The most single important event in Milton's life was the event against which he struggled most: the Restoration of Charles II, [and his relationship with the King]. Had it not come, we might have never had Paradise Lost...certainly, we should never have had [it] in [its] present power and significance."

Milton followed up Paradise Lost with Paradise Regained in 1671, three years before his death, with advice for King Charles II, urging the hedonistic Charles to "reign over himself and his passions":

"For therein stands the office of a King, His Honour, Vertue, Merit and chief Praise, That for the Publick all this weight he bears. Yet he who reigns within himself, and rules Passions, Desires, and Fears, is more a King; Which every wise and vertuous man attains: And who attains not, ill aspires to rule Cities of men, or head-strong Multitudes, Subject himself to Anarchy within, Or lawless passions in him which he serves." - John Milton, Paradise Regained, Book II, lines 463-472

To summarize: "If we must have a King back again, my Lord, please try to be a good man, unlike your father, who fell to his pride, [which was also the downfall of Lucifer]."

To quote another source: "Though the passage begins by noting that the office of a King is to bear the weight of public concerns, it is the control of one's private concerns that truly set a King apart as a virtuous character. Indeed, so important is self-command that any wise or virtuous man who attains it is like a king; any king who does not practice [self-command] is nothing more than a mere subject, ruled by anarchy and lawlessness."

Milton's words, too, echo a work written by Charles' grandfather, King James VI/I of Scotland and England: Basilikon Doron ("Royal Gift").

Per Wikipedia:

"'Basilikon Doron' (Βασιλικὸν Δῶρον) means 'royal gift' in Ancient Greek, and was written in the form of a private letter to James' eldest son, Henry, Duke of Rothesay (1594–1612). After Henry's death, James gave it to his second son, Charles, born 1600, later King Charles I. Seven copies were printed in Edinburgh in 1599, and it was republished in London in 1603, when it sold in the thousands.

This document is separated into three books, serving as general guidelines to follow to be an efficient monarch. The first describes a king's duty towards God as a Christian. The second focuses on the roles and responsibilities in office. The third concerns proper behaviour in daily life.

As the first part is concerned with being a good Christian, James instructed his son to love and respect God as well as to fear Him. Furthermore, it is essential to carefully study the Scripture (the Bible) and especially specific books in both the Old and New Testaments. Lastly, he must pray often and always be thankful for what God has given him.

In the second book, James encouraged his son to be a good king, as opposed to a tyrant, by establishing and executing laws as well as governing with justice and equality, such as by boosting the economy. The final portion of the Basilikon Doron focuses on the daily life of a monarch.

All of these guidelines composed an underlying code of conduct to be followed by all monarchs and heads of state to rule and govern efficiently. James assembled these directions as a result of his own experience and upbringing. He, therefore, offered the 'Basilikon Doron' ('Royal Gift') to his son, with the hope of rendering him a capable ruler, and perhaps to pass it down to future generations.

Overall, it repeats the argument for the divine right of kings, as set out in 'The True Law of Free Monarchies', which was also written by James. It warns against 'Papists' (Roman Catholics) and derides Puritans, in keeping with his philosophy of following a 'middle path', which is also reflected in the preface to the 1611 King James Bible. It also advocates removing the Apocrypha from the Bible."

King James VI/I further instructed his son and grandson:

"A good monarch must be well acquainted with his subjects, and so it would be wise to visit each of the kingdoms every three years."

"During war or armed conflict, he should choose old-but-good captains to lead an army of young and agile soldiers."

"In the court and the household, [a royal] should carefully select loyal gentlemen and servants to surround him. When the time came to choose a wife, it would be best if she were of the same religion and had a generous estate. However, she must not meddle with governmental politics, but perform her domestic duties."

"As for inheritance, to ensure stability, the kingdom should be left to the eldest son, not divided among all children."

"Lastly, it is most important...that [a royal] would know well his own craft...to properly govern over his subjects. To do so, [one] must study the laws of the kingdom, and actively participate in the council. Furthermore, [one] must be acquainted with mathematics for military purposes, and world history for foreign policy."

"[A royal] must also not drink and sleep excessively. His wardrobe should always be clean and proper, and he must never let his hair and nails grow long. In his writing and speech, he should use honest and plain language."

King James VI/I further supplemented Basilikon Doron with a written treatise titled The True Law of Free Monarchies: Or, The Reciprocal and Mutual Duty Between a Free King and His Natural Subjects.

"It is believed King James VI/I wrote the tract to set forth his idea of absolutist monarchism in clear contrast to the contractarian views espoused by, among others, James' tutor George Buchanan (in 'De Jure Regni apud Scotos'), [which] held the idea that monarchs rule in accordance of some sort of social contract with their people. James saw the divine right of kings as an extension of the apostolic succession, as both not being subjected by humanly laws."

Milton's own Areopagitica was a follow-up on De Jure Regni apid Scotos by George Buchanan, and also to The True Law of Free Monarchies, as well as the idea of the "divine right of kings". It takes its title in part from Areopagitikos (Greek: Ἀρεοπαγιτικός), a speech written by Athenian orator Isocrates in the 4th century BC.

Most importantly, Milton also wrote on the concept of free will: "Milton's ideas were ahead of his time in the sense that he anticipated the arguments of later advocates of freedom of the press by relating the concept of free will, and choice to individual expression and right."

The concept of free will, too, was a major topic explored in Paradise Lost. Per one source: "In 'Paradise Lost', Milton argues that though God foresaw the Fall of Man, he still didn't influence Adam and Eve's free will. [...] God specifically says that he gives his creatures the option to serve or disobey, as he wants obedience that is freely given [or chosen], not forced. Some critics have claimed that the God of the poem undercuts his own arguments; however, Milton did not believe in the Calvinistic idea of 'predestination' (that God has already decided who is going to Hell and who to Heaven), but he often comes close to describing a Calvinistic God. God purposefully lets Lucifer (Satan) escape Hell, and sneak past Uriel into the Garden of Eden, and basically orchestrates the whole situation so that humanity can be easily ruined by a single disobedient act. In describing the Fall of Man before it happens, God already predicts how he will remedy it, and give greater glory to himself by sending his Son [Jesus Christ] to die, and restore the order of Heaven."

In Hazbin Hotel, Adam also describes the Calvinistic idea of 'predestination', and that "the rules are black and white":

However, "This possible predestination leads to the theory of the 'fortunate fall', which is based on Adam's delight at learning of the eventual coming of the Messiah [from his bloodline]. This idea says that God allowed the Fall of Man, so that he could bring good out of it, possibly more good than would have occurred without the Fall, and be able to show his love and power through the incarnation of his Son. In this way, the free will of Adam and Eve (and Lucifer/Satan) remains basically free, but still fits into God's overarching plan."

However, there is one major flaw with this, and that is that we don't know if Jesus Christ exists within the Hazbin Hotel universe or not. Yet Charlie Morningstar, the daughter of Lucifer Morningstar and Lilith, and the "Princess of Hell", is depicted as a savior-esque figure within the show who, like God in Paradise Lost, encourages lowly sinners to choose obedience to God out of their own free will. More interestingly, Charlie does not come from Adam's bloodline; yet, while Lucifer decries 'free will', Charlie supports 'free will' instead.

Perhaps is is merely because Charlie, being the daughter of Lucifer and Lilith, claims to want to fulfill Lilith's "dream" of humanity being empowered in Hell ("The mind is its own place, it can make Heaven out of Hell, or Hell out of Heaven" - Lucifer, Paradise Lost); however, I think it also stems from Charlie having a genuine belief that 'free will', and people choosing to do good instead of evil, is "good" and "Godly".

True to Paradise Lost, this is also in fulfillment of God's plan; and, according to one fanfiction, why God allowed Charlie to be born to Lucifer and Lilith, so that sinners may be redeemed through Charlie.

For more on differing interpretations of 'free will', I suggest reading: "Free Will and the Diminishing Importance of God's Will: A Study of Paradise Lost and Supernatural" by Kimberly Batchelor (2016)

Excerpt: "'Paradise Lost' –and Milton’s purpose for writing the poem— is rooted deeply in postreformation Arminianism and this is apparent in its employment of free will. Chapter 1 argues that Milton turns to free will as a tool to justify the actions of God. Freedom of choice is God-given, and sets up a morality in which right and wrong are dictated by God. Chapter 2 shows that in 'Supernatural', free will is not given by a higher power; and, in fact, free choice functions as an act of defiance against God's will."

This raises the question: Is 'free will' given by God, using Lucifer as his vessel, in Hazbin Hotel, as in Paradise Lost? Or is 'free will' not given by a higher power; and, in fact, an act of defiance against God?

This brings us back around to our first question: Why is an apple, or 'malus', used to depict the "fruit of knowledge", especially if 'malus' means 'bad or evil', whereas Milton depicts 'free will' as God-given?

Well, for one, Lucifer still chooses to associate himself with apple symbolism and imagery, despite being skeptical of free will:

Based on the introduction to Episode 1, Charlie also views 'free will' as a gift (Miltonian), whereas Lucifer appears to view it as a curse.

However, Charlie also notes that it was through the 'gift' of free will that the "root of all evil" entered the world, for if mankind could choose to be good, then they could also choose to be evil ('malus').

John Milton states in Paradise Lost: "Of Man's First Disobedience, and the Fruit Of that Forbidden Tree [malus], whose mortal taste Brought Death (evil, malus) into the World, and all our woe."

Thus, the use of an apple specifically is likely a tie-in to what others have been speculating about a character that series creator Vivienne Medrano (Vivziepop) alluded to a while back: "The Root of All Evil".

However, "Roo" itself is depicted as possessing the body of a human woman, presumably Eve, the first one to eat the "fruit of knowledge":

Thus, we can discern that "Malus" likely refers to this character. (Also see: "Maleficent", a name that also uses the root word "mal", "evil".) As for Roo's intentions, if Charlie is "good" - and, if, in fact, Alastor was sent by "Roo" (Eve) - then they may want for Alastor to work on their behalf to "corrupt" Charlie, or make sure the hotel never succeeds.

This is because demonic power is tied to human souls, and there are "millions of souls" in Hell, which likely fuels the great power of "Roo". The more souls there are in Hell, the more powerful "Roo" becomes. The Overlords also get their demonic power from "millions of souls".

The deal between Eve and "Roo" might even be the first contract, or deal, between a human soul and a demonic entity; in exchange for 'free will', and the knowledge of good and evil, Eve allowed the "Root of All Evil" to inhabit her body, and to escape the void or prison it was confined to by Heaven (Hell?). (For one cannot be 'all-good' unless you attempt to 'eliminate' or 'ablate' evil; and, in Greek mythology, Zeus imprisoned the Titans in Tartarus for all of their evil deeds.)

Another possibility, brought up in an article by Gillian Osborne, is that Lucifer sees the "fruit of knowledge" as an apple, but it may appear as different fruits to different people, depending on how they view it. This also fits with Lucifer and angels being able to easily shapeshift.

In Paradise Lost, only Lucifer describes the fruit as an "apple" (malus), as he associates malus with "bad, evil", while the narrator also describes the fruit as "a mix of different colors" and peach-like. This then begs the question: "Did the fruit of knowledge of good and evil become 'evil' because Eve harbored resentment towards Adam?"

Quote: "Lucifer (Satan) gives Eve yet another hint that this tree may be more complicated than he wishes her to believe: although elsewhere in Milton's poem Eden is heady with its own newness, sprouting spring flowers left and right, the tree of knowledge is already old: its trunk is 'mossie'. Nevertheless, Lucifer claims to wind himself around the tree 'soon'; the quickness of his reported arrival stands in contrast to the timescales required to cover a fruit tree with moss (PL 9.589). Placing Lucifer's winding body between these two timescales—an easeful present and the inhuman scale of natural history—Milton suggests that there is something dangerous in entangling the past with the present. Yet, 'Paradise Lost' also makes deep biblical history feel like present politics for its readers. When Adam and Eve wander out of Eden at the end of the poem, they famously make their way not only into an earthly paradise, but also into the present. Eden's mossy apple tree therefore represents the pitfalls of conflating nature and history, of seeing any action in human history—even Eve's eating of an apple—as natural, if by nature, we mean inevitability. For Milton, history, unlike nature, is directed by humans, progressive, and, like the reading of 'Paradise Lost', hard work. While trees may inevitably collect moss the longer they live, Adam and Eve's labors in the garden, and our labors of reading, require agency and effort. Milton's poem refuses mourning the loss of Eden, [and the perfection of Heaven], in favor of a perpetual, melancholic, recreation of paradise: a present perfecting."

To quote Twisted: The Untold Story of a Royal Vizier, which also draws inspiration from John Milton's Paradise Lost: "It's an unfortunate situation...but you do have a choice [i.e. free will]."

[frank1nsaint]

Franklin Part 1.

You look around the crowd of people, slightly overwhelmed by the turn out at the fair today. It was a Saturday night after all anyone who wanted to enjoy an ounce of fun weekend before work/school on Monday was here. Unfortunately for you crowds weren’t your thing since a fight tended to break out and nowadays a gun would be pulled quickly. 

“Damn! he walks like his dick is heavy” you hear 

You start coughing choking on your cola

“What?!!” Wanda comments

“She must be talking about Franklin”  Lashay adds as you all now looked towards where she looked, Franklin’s crew walked towards them mostly because of Leon but still they made their way towards you 

There’s a light laughter between you girls “Girl you crazy!” your best friend who just happens to be your cousin Harmony adds to the discussion 

“Oh shit they coming this way yall straighten up!” Tasha snaps quickly adjusting herself clothes  

You groan internally you didn’t want to deal with Franklin and his men. You were around them from elementary to now, and right now mentioning Franklin and his men was like mentioning the grim reaper and his minions. After Kevin's death and Franklin’s release, it was like they were untouchable, and anyone who crossed them ended up dead. Franklin didn’t have that innocent aura about him anymore, you couldn’t describe it he was different confident

“Ladies!” Mike Mike greets bowing his head

“Hey y'all” Lashay greets

“What y'all doing here?” Leon asks

“We are at the state fair duh we are here to get some drinks food and have fun” Wanda responds

“The questioning is what are y'all doing here?” Harmony asks

“Shit y'all can’t be the only ones having fun!” Jerome comments

You hang back as the group merges and moves through the fair. You would integrate, often joining the discussion, but for the most part you kinda just chilled in the back and watched as the couples (Tasha/Franklin, Wanda/Leon, Harmony/Sean Louie/Jerome) cupcaked while the rest of you walked at a distance from them. 

“Girl Sean talking about making me his girl” Harmony comments as you two finally made it back to your rented out home 

“Oh nice!” you say removing your shoes

“You had fun tonight?” 

“Yea!” you smile 

“Good see it was fun” she says in a “i told you so” mocking tone 

“Yea yea whatever!” you wave her off before retreating to the kitchen. You two spend the night conversing before heading off to sleep. 

Life goes on and not much can be said about trying to survive and make it in a world that wouldn’t allow you to. 

“No,” you look at your cousin with a dead face

“WHYYY GIRL? COMME ONNNN” she begs

“Why do I” you point to your chest, “need to go? Tasha, Lashay, Bri, CiCi they are all going” 

“Because cousin, it's a christmas/new years party, damn you wanna be the only bitch in south central staying home on new years eve??”

“You know i don’t like crowds” you argue “and you know damn well that house is about to be packed” 

“When will you get to experience partying at a drug lords house again?” she counters 

“I would hope never Harmony”

She fake cries “come on girl pleaaassseee” she begs as she hugs you

“Harmony”

“Franklin said bring all your friends you know I cant show up without you” 

“Why not?” 

“Because you are part of the package” 

“Just go with the girls” should 

She turns you to face her “Y/N! why don’t you want to come?”

You sigh “i already told you!” 

She gives you a light push “Fine, be boring, have no social life, have no love life, just  survive, Work, school, home, bills thats it???” She throws her hands up when you give her a blanks stare in return 

You roll your eyes as she walks away. What she said got to you eventually, you didn’t want to only survive, you wanted to live just not around Saint and his men, it's like a body dropped every time he was around. 

You ponder for a few days before approaching her, what could hurt a one time party never to be mentioned again at least you could counter if she ever asked you to leave again. 

“Whats the dress code?” you ask as you stand by the kitchen counter 

“What?” She asks as she mixes the rice on the stove

“For this party” you clarify 

She turns to you with a stunned face, mouth a jar wide grin quickly taking over, “you coming?!!!” she asks softly, when you nod she screams and throws her arms around you “OH MY GOD!!!! AHHHH! YES GIRLLLL YESSSS WHAT MADE YOU CHANGE YOUR MIND?”

“Okay calm down!”

“Sorry” she takes a deep breath “I’m just soo excited” 

“Yea yea whats the dress code i mean can i show up in jeans or?” 

“Jeans girl really?” you shrug “You can or you can get a nice pretty dress stand out, get your hair done, nails?”

“So dress up is the dress code?” 

She shrugged “he never said just you know dress nice”

“I can dress nice in jeans”

“In a dress!” she stresses

“Fine” you weren’t going to argue your way through this party 

“Ooh girl, I can't wait to go shopping, let me call the girls and then we can plan to go out together!” she comments before returning to the stove.  You groan already regretting agreeing to go to this party.

The night of the party approaches quickly and you feel your stomach doing flips, it was too late to tell Harmony you changed your mind, you two were looking for a parking spot in the neighborhood, it seemed like half of south central had already showed up to the party. 

You don’t even know how time flew by so quickly, one minute you're in the chair getting your hair done, next thing you're putting on your lipstick, perfume, shoes, now walking towards the door. Watching as people poured in and out of the party. 

The chilly LA evening weather was much appreciated as you were not trying to arrive at the house with a thin layer of sweat on your body. Not after you've primped and primed the entire day. 

“HEEEEYYYYY!”  Harmony greets as you two walk in 

“MY BABY IS HERE!” Sean yells on top of his lungs

You stand back as you watch them greet

“Y/N?” you hear your name 

You turn to face one of Franklin's men “I’ll take your coat”  

“Oh you shrug off your trench coat.”

“I missed you baby” you hear harmony whine in a baby voice you can’t help but laugh 

The house was sorta full, you could still see across the room and make faces you knew that wouldn't be the case in the next hour or so. You just know the party was bound to get shut down

You step further in securing the coat check in your clutch. 

“Hey”  you greet Franklin

“Glad you could make it Y/N” he greets giving you a half hug, you quickly inhale his cologne he smelled good you make a quick note to yourself 

“Thanks for the invite, we brought you this” you say handing him a gift bag

“Oh shit you didn’t have to” he smiles at you

You shrug “well my mama said never show up to a person's house empty handed you know” 

He nods “what yall get me?” He asks trying to move the tissue paper around 

“Oh uh really good wine” 

“Expensive wine”  Harmony adds

“And some Bourbon” 

“Expensive bourbon” 

“Okay Harmony!” you look at her incredulously causing Franklin to chuckle

She chuckles “I’m fucking with you girl but”  she turns to face Franklin, “my cousin went around turn looking for the best wine for you”

“Oh word?” he turns to face you a bright smile on his face 

You feel yourself getting flustered “No I just” you feel yourself blushing “It's a gift and I  like to give good gifts” you defend, you don’t even know why you were blushing 

“That's true you ever want a good gift you ask her she’ll find some good shit” 

You smile “I’m gonna say hi to the girls and boys”  you say walking away from them

“Awkward ass” Harmony comments causing Franklin and Sean to burst out laughing. You throw your middle finger at her and keep walking

It wasn’t that you were purposely trying to impress Franklin, it was just a gift. What would it look like showing up with cheap wine and liquor when you kept hearing about the thousands he was moving weekly.He would probably be offended, you heard about his temper. 

1 hour you say to yourself as you made your way around the room, thats it thats how long you were staying 1 hour. You eventually find a small group of girls to talk to, avoiding Harmony and the rest as they were either in the circle with Franklin or right near it, in the center of the house. When you turn to look at that area you catch a glimpse of Tasha on Franklin's lap, with a flash she gets up and other women take a seat on his lap, you shake your head internally before returning to the conversation. 

The next time you look down at your watch you realise 2 hours had passed. It was already past 11pm and you should have been home by now. 

You quickly chug the water you have been drinking, (you weren’t gonna take risks drinking and driving) you slowly push your way through the massive crowd avoiding anyone from that group spotting you. Unbeknownst to you Franklin had his eye on you the entire night. He watched as you stood in the corner and talked to the girls, then back to the kitchen, bathroom, he even saw you spill water on yourself, he smiled slightly before returning to his conversation, no matter where you were tonight he made sure his eyes were on you. 

At one point you two make eye contact but you smile and quickly look away. Plus the comment Harmony made awhile back about him looking at you a certain way had you nervous being around the man, you can’t explain it you just wanted to get out of South Central unscathed and gaining the attention of Franklin wasn’t a plan. 

“Yea I’m leaving,”  you chuckle nervously while handing them the coat check

“Damn before New Years? it's gonna happen in like 40 minutes” 

“I know but I kinda wanna start getting home before traffic you know” you explain 

You already knew Harmony was gonna be with Sean tonight at his place you begged her to go to his instead of ruining your night with their sexcapeds gladly for you she agreed

He nodded in response “Yea that makes sense, LA traffic can get crazy” 

“Yea it can” You open your clutch to pull your keys but find nothing, you frantically push things around to see nothing, your lip gloss, napkins, mints and your wallet

“Shit” you say to yourself as you think back to the night? Did you leave them in the car? Are they with Harmony? Did they drop and you didn’t hear them? Your mind races trying to trace back the night. 

“Here you go” he says handing you your coat 

“Thanks”  

“Leaving so soon?”  you hear close to your ear from behind you, 

You instinctively tilt your head away, “Huh?”  as you continue to check the pockets quickly turning around slowly

You release your breath as you feel the keys in your coat pocket, you look up and see Franklin looking down at you smiling

“FUCK!”  you curse internally  “Heyyy” you smile quickly turning to glance at where he was to see if anyone else noticed. It was so packed now you couldn’t see past the sea of bodies now

“Leaving so soon?” he asks again pulling his hands behind his back 

You giggle nervously “Oh yea I don’t wanna get stuck in LA traffic”

He tilts his head slightly confused “But you just got here” 

“No i got here 2 hours ago” 

“I didn’t even get the chance to talk to you tonight” You make a face, he chuckles in response “I’m saying i wanted to catch up with you” he shrugs “we ain't really talked since highschool” 

“Oh” you shrug “nothing much going on with me” 

He smirks “Nah you more interesting than that, I aint even get the chance to tell you look good tonight yet,” You look down at your semi formal sweetheart dress, you were actually glad you agreed to dress up as many women were and you didn't’ want to be the odd one out actually even Franklin was dressed up suit tie the whole shebang

“Oh” you smile “thank you Franklin, you look good too clean up nice” 

He removes the coat from your hands gently “how about you stay a little longer?” he bargains

You chuckle nervously this could not be happening “Noo” you reach for the jacket but he puts it behind his back. “Franklin!”  you scold 

He smiles looking at you “comeon girl you can’t leave right before new years!” he argues 

“I don’t like driving at night. You know how the cops are? And its new years too!?” You catch his eyes drifting lower to your cleavage before making their way up to yours. You use that to your advantage and reach around but he quickly moves the jacket the opposite way

“Franklin!” you look towards where he was seating in the center of the house and see a very ugly mug on Tasha’s face and the other women seemed to share the same sentiment glaring in your direction 

“Come on its" he looks down at his watch, "only 30 more minutes, that can’t hurt” 

“No! Plus looks like Tasha is gonna kill you” you comment

“Tasha?”  he looks at where you tilted your head

“Oh shit!” he laughs “I don’t care about Tee” 

You cross your arms on your chest “Aren't you two dating?” 

“No!” 

“Mmmm well you might not be but she believes you two are and I need my coat Franklin” you open your hand out for him to give it to you

“I’ll take you home” 

“No how are you gonna get back here plus it's your party don’t be ridiculous!” 

“RIdiculous?” He guffaws  “I'm not the one leaving a new years party 30 minutes before new years that's the point of the party!” 

You huff and look up at the ceiling. You need to find a solution. You would leave the coat but it has your keys! He moves closer smiling at how flustered you were getting (“I just wanna go home”) you think to yourself, this shouldn’t be happening he should be dating Tasha. Why isn’t he? Weren't they over each other at the fair and tonight? What was this some freakyshit they were into or what?

“What is it?” He asks softly bringing your attention back to him, that damn smile, those dimples, nope no Y/N you need to go home

“Franklin I would like to go home please” 

“Y/N I told you I’ll take you home” 

“What about Tee?”

“Tee can get a ride home, why you keep brining her up?”

“Franklin”

“I’ll take you home. I promise”

“When?” 

“Right after the celebration is over!” he smiles slyly 

You frown “No thats like at 6am!” 

He chuckles you caught on quick “No give me till 1am at least” 

You contemplate no way you were getting the coat back that was for sure

“Fine you promise?” 

“I promise ima get Dreads or Mikey to take you”  You scoff “what?”

You  reach around and snatch your coat shocking him in the process

“No you said you were gonna take me home so you needed to take me home not punt me off to your men” you complain as you throw on your coat quickly 

He smiles at your brattiness “okay okay i will” he reaches for you

You move away from him “Nope i’m going home goodnight Franklin!” 

He sighs, “can you at least let me know you made it home safe?” 

“Fine i’ll page Tee” 

He  groans and you chuckle, he bites his bottom lip as he watches you walk away defiantly 

[deirdre-belle]

Itsy Bitsy - Jerome Valeska x Reader

Summary: Jerome meets Y/N in Arkham. Warnings: swearing, mentions of past violence A/N: I know it sucks but it's my first fic so bear with me.

Jerome had only been at Arkham for a week, yet he was already tempted to commit a second murder as he noticed a migraine waiting to happen had strolled right into the cafeteria.

"Hey, Ginger." Flashing a toothy grin, Greenwood plopped down on the chair across from him, and Jerome wondered if he'd be able to rip out a couple of the cannibal's rotted teeth before any of the guards had time to stop him.

"What do you want, Greenwood?"Jerome rolled his eyes and said in a bored tone.

"You see that girl over there?" He motioned towards a girl with dishevelled hair as if she hadn't brushed it in some time, and a blanket was falling off her shoulders as she doodled furiously on a piece of paper. "I dare you to spill this one her notebook."

Greenwood smirked while sliding him a plastic cup filled halfway with what Jerome hoped was water.

"No." Jerome, with a dangerous smile, slid the cup back. He wasn't in the mood to deal with Greenwood's shenanigans.

"I'm not asking, Ginger," Greenwood smirked, shoving the cup back to Jerome.

"Not interested." Jerome roughly grabbed a hold of the cup as he got ready to shove it up Greenwood's-

"Why? Because you're weak?"

Jerome froze.

He had two options. He could go over to that girl, "accidentally" spill whatever was in the cup onto her notebook, and risk her never wanting to talk to him. Or, he could refuse and prove to Greenwood and everyone else in this hell hole that he is weak, boring, and he is already walking towards her.

"Mind if I sit down?" He huffed in a bored tone.

The girl studied him for a moment before nodding her head and watching him take the seat across from her. She quickly shut the notebook before Jerome could sneak a peak at what she was drawing.

"I saw you talking to Greenwood, so I know he probably told you to pull my hair or throw that drink in my face," She grumbled.

"How did you-"

"He always tells the new inmates to be mean to me." She leaned back in her chair, fixing her blanket so that it no longer fell off her shoulders, and glaring at him as though expecting him to deny it. Instead, he asked her why Greenwood hated her so much.

At his question, she perked up. Before, she was able to hid it well, but now he could see the insanity lingering in her eyes. And her smile- Jerome nearly feel out of seat at sight of it. It was crazy, beautiful, and made it obvious she was up to no good.

"Did you know that Greenwood is afraid of spiders?" She leaned towards him conspiringly. Jerome wasn't entirely sure where this was going but he knew he liked what he was hearing.

"I'm listening," he smirked devilishly.

"One time," She beamed, "Bitsy got lost and somehow ended up in Greenwood's cell. He thinks I put him there on purpose."

She looked around, ensuring there were no witnesses before she lifted a large hairy tarantula from her lap just enough so that only Jerome could see it. There was nothing itsy about Bitsy at all. In fact, he could see why Greenwood would be freaked out by it.

"I used to have a pet snake," She mumbled sadly, "but my parents gave him to my cousin after I got locked up."

"You would have loved the circus," Jerome said, remembering how Haly's Circus had all sorts of animals.

"Have you ever been?" Her face lit up with excitement. "I've never been to a circus but I've always wanted to be one of those circus acrobats that swing from those really high bars without a net-"

"A trapeze artist?"

"Yeah!" She exclaimed louder than necessary, earning the attention of some of the other inmates. "And the animals are really cool too, though I'm glad they aren't shown at circuses anymore."

"Not at the one I'm from," Jerome scoffed. The memory of being forced to clean out the elephant cage on a scalding summer day caused him to grit his teeth.

"You're from the circus?" She asked, obviously wanting to know more.

"My mom was a snake dancer," he plastered on a smile. "You know, the snake was actually the one that led those dumb cops to her body."

"No!'" She gasped incredulously.

"Yeah." He nodded. His mouth curved into a wicked smile as a fun idea popped into his head. "So, back to Greenwood, I think I know how to get him off our backs."

"How?"

After talking to her, Jerome sauntered back to his own table where Greenwood waited impatiently. Despite his smile, he was clearly fuming.

"I knew you were too much of a wuss to do it," He sneered, although Jerome wasn't bothered by it. It just made what he planned to do a hundred times more worth it.

"You were right," Jerome shrugged, placing the cup back in front of Greenwood.

"What'd she do? Bat her eyelashes at you till you chickened out?"

"Something like that." Jerome grinned in anticipation. Greenwood brought the cup to his lips only to let out a blood-curdling screech as he threw the cup across the room.

The girl's laugh echoed through the cafeteria, gaining everybody's attention.

"You little-" Greenwood roared, charging towards the girl who looked more elated than frightened by his outburst. He never got the chance to do anything because, as soon as the guards burst in, the whole room went into a frenzy.

Half the inmates were in a panic, due to the guards tackling Greenwood. Some were screaming, crying, running around, and a few pretended to be injured. In the middle of all the chaos, Jerome spotted Y/N on the far side of the room gently picking Bitsy up and hiding him in her blanket. Then, she approached him.

"That was amazing!" She grinned. She took her notebook out from under her blanket, placed it on the table, and flipped to the last page. Carefully, she ripped the page from the notebook and handed it to him.

On the paper was a surprisingly well-drawn portrait of himself and in the bottom corner she wrote:

To Ginger -From Y/N

[beatricebidelaire]

Beatrice has been inside his office for the past 48 hours. The dark shadows under her eyes hint that she has barely slept, and her hair is messy in a way that her adoring fans will probably still find beautiful but she'll never let them see. Beatrice presents a certain image in public - aside from when she's on stage and performing, that is. She looks like she might've cried, earlier. Much earlier. Now she just looks exhausted.

The concierge Frank has tasked with sending meals to her reported back that the meals were all finished, which is good. Under the circumstances, he thinks it's probably the best they could ask for.

"I finished it," she says, her voice a little hoarse. He looks down at the desk, and sees a suspiciously thick bundle of papers. Bizarrely, his first thought is that "I'll need to remember to buy more" and then, the implications hitting him, he says, slowly, "This is your letter?"

"Yes," Beatrice says simply.

"………….. all of it?"

"All 200 pages," she confirms, quietly.

He stares at her.

It the situation isn't so bleak, he thinks, this whole scene would be rather comedic.

"I owe him an explanation," she explains.

This, he thinks, is not what most people would call "an explanation". He wisely does not say that, and instead asks, "Are you sure about doing this?"

She laughs, a little brokenly, "Not at fucking all. But also yes." She exhales. "I love him. I love him so much but it's - I thought I could wait for him forever, but - every time I see another newspaper reporting his death, every time I -" she cuts herself off. "I can't go on like this. I thought I could, but I can't do this anymore. If I had my way I wouldn't let him run away alone, go on the run alone, doing what he thought was best by leaving me behind, leaving me alone without him. But he made his decision, and I - I'm making mine."

"Beatrice ….." he says, quietly.

She smiles shakily through tears. "I know it must be surprising to find out I'm not actually as brave as I look on the surface. That I'm not brave enough to continue doing this. Waiting for him while the only thing that ever comes anymore is false reports of his death that one day might not be false anymore."

Before he can respond, she quickly continues, "This is of course where you agree and say it's completely surprising. Because I always look so perfect."

He sighs. Even in this state, she insists on putting some kind of an act. Even while admitting truths, admitting her vulnerability to him, she needs to do so in a dramatic way, as if to distant herself, as if it's easier to make it into a performance of some kind. Not that he can point any fingers, probably.

She catches his glance and says, warningly, "Let me have this. Indulge me. I'm just about to be broken up with my boyfriend."

Well, if she doesn't want him to acknowledge her vulnerability, so be it. "You're the one breaking up with him," he reminds her.

"Exactly!" She snaps. "He'll leave me behind but he won't break up with me. So I have to be the one to do it." She shakes her head angrily. "He's so noble, you know? He thinks it's for the best. To protect me. I think J also encouraged this. If only if he's a little worse, if only he's not so noble."

"The Snickets," he says slowly. "Are all very noble." If only Jacques is a little worse, too, he thinks. If only J doesn't think it'd be "stringing Frank along while waiting for Jerome to realize his feelings" to sleep with Frank. Too indecent of a thing to do, in Jacques's mind.

She looks at him, and narrows her eyes. "They really are," she agrees. "Oh, F."

"Shut up," he says briskly. "We're dealing with your problem today."

She huffs. "Get your concierge to send up a bottle of brandy. Wait - two. We're getting drunk tonight. And a carrier pigeon too, so I can get this mailed."

"Are you absolutely sure?" He asks again. "You don't want to send this out while drunk, B."

"It's not an impulsive decision," she says, impatiently. "I've thought it over and I've decided. I just need - to get it over with. Or else I'll never summon the courage." She grimaces. "Plus, I wrote 200 pages. Nobody writes a 200 page letter and not send it out. Then what did I put in all the time for?"

"Sunk cost fallacy," he murmurs.

"Mmm, something like that," she says.

[snailfishingg]

Time for me to go crazy mode and explain why I think these two dogs were gay asf

(Ps. I’ve mostly only seen the anime, however im working on reading the manga- which yk, is hard bc theres no official eng translation that i know of-)

Jerome was the first and ONLY dog to show any kind of sympathy or empathy or kindness towards P4/Kaibutsu. He kept him company and tried to distract him from his pain, when everyone else willingly ignored him and his screaming. Kaibutsu literally says that Jerome was the only thing that gave him hope.

During his escape, Jerome is the only one he doesn’t kill (at least, the only one he doesn’t try to kill). He even explains that he couldn’t bring himself to kill Jerome, even when he was sent to track Kaibutsu down and kill him.

And although he claims he’d kill Jerome now,

He doesn’t. Even when Jerome’s quite literally got Kaibutsu’s heart in his jaws, he doesn’t kill him. They still fight, and you could say its just because if he pulled Jerome out he’d die, but I don’t think thats his only reason. Especially considering Jerome lets go at some point due to being so exhausted from the fight. He could’ve killed him then, he could’ve also let him fall to his death when they were both almost knocked off the cliffside. But he doesn’t.

From all that I can at least gather that, yes, they were friends. And that at the very least, Kaibutsu loved Jerome.

The real question is: was it reciprocated?

Well it’s pretty clear Jerome also considered Kaibutsu a friend. Spending days on end for several years talking to someone through a vent, describing the cherry blossoms and the weather, reassuring him that everything will be ok; not exactly something you do for someone just because you can. Also, I think Kaibutsu’s death changed Jerome’s feelings on humans, at least a little bit. And as the saying goes or whatever, to be loved is to be changed (or to love is to change, idk idc)

When the humans show up to check out the scene and collect their dogs, Jerome doesn’t go with them. In fact, he yells at them to leave. He’s angry and grieving. Assisting in his best friend’s death is the last thing (as far as im aware ofc) Jerome ever does for humans. His stance used to be that, as man’s best friend, its a dog’s duty to do/endure whatever their human wants. However, after Kaibutsu’s death, that seems to change (at least i think so). While he doesn’t act outwardly aggressive to humans, he also doesn’t just let them do whatever anymore and fights back when he has to.

Tldr: these dogs are tragic lovers to enemies🫵

[jeromevalecka]

୨୧ jerome valeska x reader smut oneshot .

words : 1563

warnings : nsfw , choking kink , mentions of violence , doll(y) and love petnames , breeding kink , cunnilingus

summary : you join jerome on one of his busy days, telling him how you've been feeling lately as he proposes to show you how much he still loves you

notes : reader is gn but afab , smut. sorry for any possible grammar mistakes ♡ reqs r open!

⚠︎ NSFW BELOW PROCEED WITH CAUTION ⚠︎

Jerome was always busy, never having any time for you. It made you upset and feel unloved, but you didn't know how to tell him that. Today was another day in where Jerome had plans, you couldn't bare it anymore and decided to ask him if you could join him for the day. "J?? can i come with please" you ask him as you look at the redhead in front of you. "u sure dolly?" he says as he places a hand onto your cheek, caressing it softly with his thumb. You nod at him "yes please...i miss you" you say as your facial expression changes to slightly sad. His eyes widen a little and he gives you a smile "alright then, i do need to go now though so slip on those shoes" he says and caresses your cheek one more time before pulling his hand away. He starts walking towards the front door of your shared apartment, you quickly slip on your shoes and follow him, grabbing onto his hand and holding it tightly.

You both arrive at an abandoned building, seeming to have been a theater down in the narrows. You look around and follow Jerome inside as the two of you pass some scary and intimidating looking guys. Jerome nods at them and pushes open the main door, giving you a quick glace. "you sure you'll be okay doll? i need to take care of some guy who's been betraying me. You don't mind seeing me torture him do you love?" he says and smiles, with a hint of insanity behind his smile and eyes. you shake your head no at him and watch him walk up to a rather short man, tied to a flimsy chair. Jerome slaps the guy in the face and laughs, you turn around and sigh quietly as you hear screams behind you. Once the screams quiet down again you turn around, seeing Jerome breathe heavily as his chest rises up and down in a fast pace. He enjoys hurting and torturing others, you always wonder if he'd ever hurt you that way, you chose to believe he wouldn't. I mean you're his s/o after all, though...the man was very unpredictable. He orders one of the men dressed in black to take the guy away, they obey him and pull away the lifeless body. Jerome turns around and his gaze meets yours. He smiles and makes his way over to you, he cups your cheeks with his hands. His lips meet yours as he kisses you passionately, you return the kiss. He smiles and pinches your cheek with his pointing finger and thumb. "Jerome...?" you say and look into his green eyes, still filled with a little blood lust. "yes my sweet doll?" he replies and kisses your forehead. "can...i talk to you please, under four eyes" you say and look around seeing a few members of Jerome's cult hanging around. He nods and grabs your hand, pulling you into a room behind the old theater stage. "what is it?" he says and leans up against the dirty looking wall. "i feel like we barely have any time together anymore...i get it i do, i mean you have stuff to take care of and such. but i really miss you, all we do is say good night and good morning to each other these days and im left all alone at home again" you say as your eyes start to water. His facial expression softens and he pulls you against him, holding you tightly against his chest. "im sorry dolly...im here with you now though" he says and looks down at you in his slightly muscular arms. "you'll always be my little doll, my only doll. i promise" he smiles at you, warmly. It's in times like these where you forget he literally just brutally murdered and tortured a man. You smile up at him "make it up to me, will you??" you say in a rather teasing tone. He smirks and leans down whispering into your ear. "right here, huh? naughty doll" he says. His lips attach onto the soft skin on your neck as he starts leaving kisses all over. Your cheeks start turning red as you smile, clearly having missed his kisses on your body. He starts to bite down, sinking his teeth into your skin. As he pulls away he licks the marks he left and smirks.

Jerome picks you up and sets you down onto an old case, probably still containing some kind of equipment. He places his hands onto your waist as you straddle him, pulling him closer. His lips reattach to yours again as his kisses begin to get more rough, still passionate though. His hands slide up under your shirt as they make their way to your back, unhooking the clasps on your black colored bra as he helps you take off your shirt, along with the bra. His lips leave yours as he attaches them to one of your nipples, sucking on them ever so softly as he plays with your other nipple. He squeezes and pinches it as his teeth start to nibble on your other nipple. He kisses you and leaves hickies all over your collarbones, shoulders and breasts as he smiles up at you. Jerome's favorite way of showing you how much you mean to him during these situations is leaving marks all over your body, since he is very possessive over his doll after all. His hands slide down, as he proceeds to strip you of your remaining clothing, leaving only your panties behind. He bends down and starts peppering the inner of your thighs with hickies, kisses and love bites. Slowly he inches his way up, his hands sliding off your panties ever so slow. Once they finally hit down to your ankles his lips start to kiss down onto your pussy. Your hands find their way to his hair as you tug on it lightly, his tongue starts licking away and sucking on your clit. You let out moans as he continues to give you head, two of his fingers now also thrusting in and out of your hole. Once you almost reach your orgasm he pulls away, licking his fingers and smirking at you. "i bet you've missed my tongue too, huh?" he says in a teasing tone. You nod and smile, catching your breath. His hands attach to the hem of his pants as he pulls them down to his ankles along with his boxers. He lets his cock out and spits into his palm, stroking a few times to coat his cock in his saliva so it'll slide in easier. He grins and positions himself in front of your entrance, slowly sliding it in with a loud groan. You straddle him again as his cock now slides into you fully, Jerome bites onto his bottom lip as he places a hand onto your neck. He gently starts squeezing it as his hips start thrusting. "god...i missed you too dolly" he says as he throws his head back with a loud groan. His pace fastens as his grip on your neck tightens more. You moan out his name as he continues to rearrange your insides, whenever Jerome fucks you its like he loses all control, his hips bucking into yours with speed. He releases his grip on your neck and places his hands onto your hips, slamming his cock into you harder with load groans. He presses his nails into your skin, making sure to leave marks as he thrusts in and out in a fast pace. Sounds of skin slapping against each other, moans and groans filling up the tiny room behind the old stage. "let them hear that i own you, be a good dolly" he says and smirks, continuing to slam his cock inside of you as he hits all of the right spots. You obey him and moan his name louder, he chuckles at the sound of them as he pulls you close against his body as he presses his forehead against yours. His thrusting starts to become more sloppy as his chest starts rising up and down faster, his hot breath hitting your face. "All mine...you're my property aren't you little doll?" he says with a smirk. You nod and smile, kissing him roughly as you notice him getting close to his orgasm. Your orgasm also feeling close, a few more seconds after he finishes inside of you with a load groan. You finish not too soon after him as you let out moans, your legs shaking ever so slightly as you bite onto your bottom lip. Jerome grins and chuckles as his hands release from your hips, he pulls you into his arms tightly and hugs you. "ill clear up my schedule for you anytime my little doll" he says as you nuzzle your head against his chest.

"thank you J...i love you so much" you say as you look up into the redheads green eyes. He caresses your hair softly with his fingers and smiles "i love you too my love" he replies. The both of you staying there a little longer just holding each other tightly, getting dressed again afterwards as Jerome immediately goes home with you for round two.

thank you for reading , have a good day/night ♡

[moleculegirls]

uhm. little sorta setomu drabble? uhm its like 1000 words so pretty small? i think?. yeah idk what to call this but here idk. inspired by @femmedeadlox's little setomu drabble because that was literally so cute and i loved it

Through the sound of blood pumping in his ears, he could barely hear the now muffled sounds of mobs. He near collapsed to the floor, scrambling to the furthest wall from the monsters as he fumbled with his pickaxe. Clutching at the wood hard enough that he'd likely have to draw splinters from his hands later.

Each breath came out like a hiss, muscles twitching and firing at random as he attempted to clear his head. Slowly drawing in breath after breath, each one slower than the last. He wasn't fighting anymore, he was safe. A fickle sense of awareness crawled through his body, feeling every small movement he took as if still checking for any new hits landed on him. Deep breath in, then out. Shoulders retreating down, goosebumps flattening, and magic slowly loosening its hold on his surroundings and focussing in on keeping the barrier between him and the monsters just beyond it.

He gives himself a quick check over for wounds, cave spiders can be venomous, even without a bite. A simple scratch can tick away at your health, even if the spider happens to be the average sort. Seto himself has had a long run of helping through ailments caused by small doses of toxin or bacteria, enough to recognize the poisonous substance by scent alone.

He runs a nervous hand down his forearm, landing at a bracelet-like obstacle. He paused. Jason had given him this quite a while ago, something akin to a breakthrough in communication that came adjusted with a little built in responding system in its creators wake. Jason was sure to be asleep by now, likely along with everyone else.

He felt around the device, examining in the near complete darkness of the barrier until he found a small circular button. The screen lit up a dark buffering blue colour.

"Ah," He blinks, eyes adjusting to the influx of light. the screen blinks back up at him, still calibrating.

"Good," a heavy sigh of relief rattles from inside his chest, nervous hand thrumming through his hair. It works. "Good."

"Hello!" the little figure inside greets him, "Oh, it's you!"

Seto murmurs in agreement, voice halting as a scuttling sound passes above him. His eyes trail where he assumes it to be. 'It' likely being a larger cave spider. His heart still thrums away in his chest as he listens for scuttle of its claws to trail farther and farther away from him. The whole area still felt off kilter with the knowledge of various mobs just beyond the barriers he'd set, even feeling occasional brushes of spider legs against it making him shiver intermittently.

"Where are we today? It's a little late." The autoresponders chipper ding as his text appears onscreen distracts him.

"Underground." He barely percieved the unusual hushed tone of his own voice. The time had passed him by, the adrenaline of getting nearly killed must've kept sleep far from his foremost thoughts

"And you're in need of a little conversation I assume?"

Seto nods, before correcting himself, the autoresponder cant see him.

"And a light." he adds.

The statement was false, of course. Seto could summon his magic at any time to make a light.

The AI easily adapted to his hushed tone and short responses airing out his distress simply by giving him company despite not knowing what situation he was in or where he was at. He wasn't even sure it knew who he was. 'Minimu' (as Jason had dubbed it) aparently couldn't do anything too complex, just basic intake- Jason had told him all about it while he handed over the small device before leaving to hand out the next to jerome and mitch. He appreciates the little device's presence immensely, he'd have to be sure to sing its praises to Jason as soon as he was able to.

The cold of the cobblestone against his back makes his hair stand on end, he's sure his cloak would be drenched without the spells he made the night before. They're probably wearing and fizzling out by now..

Each sound made outside his little hovel still has his heart trembling.

"Where are you right now?" The ping of the responder's message cuts through his thoughts

"Ah," He looks towards his coordinates, watching the numbers flicker by before his eyes lock onto them. The knot in his stomach loosened a little as he considers them, "Only a couple hundred blocks from spawn."

"And how close to your place?"

"Pretty far, but decently close to Brice's." His doors were always open, at least to Seto.

"Great!"

Seto doesn't respond. Moments pass like minutes, he leans his head back and closes his eyes, counting the seconds like a clock. Day would be approaching soon. Could he stay awake long enough to just wait it out? He would likely get attacked by phantoms the moment he hit the surface too, so it might be now or never. He swore under his breath.

The screen flashed, shocking him out of his head. The screen looked back at him, "What is it?"

Caught off guard, he replies "Huh?"

"You seem upset, what's up?"

"Oh, uhm..." He pauses "I'm waiting to muster the strength to find my way out of here. I didn't want to do it alone." The last part comes out quiet. He looks up and away from the screen, eyes catching on each crack in the stone.

"I screwed up this time."

The AI pauses, screen going blank as it intakes his words, each one spelling itself out on the screen like a reflection without ever seeing his face. Talking to the AI is surprisingly refreshing. It's comforting being judged only on his words, not having to coax his expressions or body language out of his natural distrustful manner. He'd bet that Jason accounted for his lack of technological skill while making the auto responding system. The thought made him smile internally. He'd have to ask later about how it works.

"My apologies." Seto looks back to see the words flashing out on its screen, "If I was more able, i'd try to help."

Seto blinks, surprised once again. He didn't know an AI could feel inadequate.

He shakes his head, breathing out a smile. "No,"

"You're just what i needed."

[destinyc1020]

Unpopular opinion, but I think interracial love parings onscreen killed the black male lead. I think studios think that if a love interest is black or poc with a yt pairing, that's diversity. I remember watching Force Awakens trailer thinking John Boeyga's Finn was the lead, and Daisy was the love interest. I was shocked when it wasn't like that. I think the yt boy of the month kinda erased the ability for black male actors to attach a following to achieve the opportunities as their yt counterparts.

Damson Idris is one of them, and the reason why is because his projects appeal predominantly to black audiences. His next break is a film with Brad Pitt, which sucks cause the opportunities for black male actors are leftovers, supporting yt leads, if it's not playing a slave or drug dealer.

Daniel Kaluuya won an oscar, and he's not being asked around directors. MBJ has Ryan Coogler, but he's limited to the same team.

There's another discussion to have of the opportunities that oblack american actors have vs black african or british and I dont have the range😭

Oh girl, I could write dissertations on this topic alone chiiiiilllle lol 😆

In answer to your ask, I personally don't know if I'd say that IR pairings in films and TV have "killed" the black male lead. IR pairings have been depicted onscreen for decades.... Do you know of the film "Guess Who's Coming To Dinner?" 😏

And that's just one of the more famous older ones.

I actually don't feel that it's the black male lead in Hollywood that's been dying as much as I feel like the dark-skinned black female lead has been dying. In Hollywood, when they're looking for an actor to play a black man, they usually still find a monoracial black actor to play the role. But when it comes to looking for a "black woman", colorism comes into play, and many times in mainstream roles, they'll choose a biracial actress to play a "black woman".... even though, most of us are not biracial. 🥴

I'm curious who was further down the list though. Like, who was #11? #12? #20?? 👀

I love John Boyega, but no way were they gonna make a black male a lead in a Star Wars film. The SW fandom had fits just because Daisy was cast in a lead role and wasn't a male. 🙄 I remember that time vividly.

You mention The "White Boy of the Month", but girl that's been existing since goodness knows when. Brad Pitt was one, so was Tom Cruise at one time... so was Leo DiCaprio! So was Tom Holland! Like, c'mon....

The point is, even though they existed, we STILL had Denzel, Will Smith, Morris Chestnut, Eddie Murphy, Cuba Gooding Jr, Laurence Fishbourne, Wesley Snipes, etc making mainstream films and being leads and sought after.

Now days? It's almost like Hollywood likes to pretend that black people don't even exist in mainstream films anymore or smthg.

Anyway, Damson, Kelvin, John B., Michael B Jordan, Jharrel Jerome, etc.... they're all very talented actors. It's just a shame that Hollywood chooses not to recognize or even cast our talent.

I just can't believe we're going BACKWARDS. Like, I know HW was no picnic back then, but at least Sidney Poitier was well-known and doing many films in his day. He was winning Oscars. Like c'mon.... 🥴

[coupleoffanfics]

Hey, it’s almost 1am and I’m riding the angst train I wanted to ask ur opinion on something.

How would the fam react to Y/n getting grievously I hired or dying by the hands of a villain or by Jeremiah and getting caught in the crossfire???

❤️❤️❤️

I'm so glad that people like reading my stuff. It's more self-indulgent, but what fanfic isn't self-indulgent?

Anyway, I'm so excited by seeing this ask because it sounds fun to write about. Let's start with the "less" angsty one. y/n getting gravely injured (I'm assuming that's a typo) by a villain.

TW: Mention of suicidal ideation once and gore.

Getting Gravely Injured by a Villain

It'd depend on the Villain. The family is going to act accordingly in their personas. Their punches are probably hitting harder than usual.

Jason might shoot the villain in the head, but ultimately can't. He's in Gotham following the Bat's rules slightly. So he'll just shoot their knee.

y/n isn't Batgirl anymore. So that means the villain must know the publicity they'll get by attacking, kidnapping, or holding a minor celebrity would give them. The fact that it's Bruce Wayne's daughter who's painted out to be a saint by the media would spread like wildfire. They'd have to be doing it to get attention or money.

How severely y/n was harmed doesn't matter too much. Bruised, broken bones, stabbed, etc are going to make the family more protective. Trying to persuade y/n into coming back to the manor, so that they can keep her close and prevent this from happening again.

Now the Valeska twins will differ in how y/n gets hurt and their reaction.

Jerome is like a child on a sugar high when with y/n. Wouldn't deliberately harm her in any way. Kidnaps y/n and go on a joy ride around the city even though she has no choice and isn't finding any joy from this. She'll probably get a scrape on her legs or arms from falling because Jerome is running too fast while he is holding her arm. Maybe have a bruised arm or wrist because of how tightly he holds her.

He doesn't think too much about things and will get into dangerous situations. Pick a fight or mock the wrong person leading to a shootout. He's having too much fun to care about anyone until y/n is hit.

One of the family members finally caught up to Jerome and was ready to— oh, my God y/n is bleeding from her side! Oh, fuck! AHHH! Jerome knows he can leave y/n in the hands of whatever bat family member showed up. She'll be in good hands while he hunts down the one who shot her.

"I know you're one of the 'good guys', but take care of her. If I hear that you did something that upsets her I'll— actually, I'll keep that a surprise." He looks at y/n who is just bleeding on the floor and in pain with a big ol’ smile. "I'll make sure to give you the head of that fucker who got you. Until then see ya later, toots!"

After that y/n is forced to stay in the manor. They made a deal that it would just be a few weeks, but her stay is indefinite.

Bruce

Opens the door one day to find a large box. It wasn't a delivery because it has no shipping information on it. Just an envelope with y/n's name on top of it. Bruce opens the envelope first and reads the letter which has poor handwriting.

Hey, doll!

Hope you're resting up and not in too much pain. I didn't think picking on a mob boss would get so messy. They just couldn't take a joke. I'll pick a more private place for our next date cuz I know how shy you are. Hope seeing them brightens your day. Made sure to get rid of the eyes since I know how you don't like too many eyes on you. Didn't know who shot you, so I just killed everyone who was there.

Love Jerome.

Bruce doesn't need a minute to take things in. He already knows what's in the box and sends it to the authorities. Does not mention a word of this to y/n. She is already going through a lot and best to not tell her.

He does increase the security around the manor. He ends up putting a tracker on y/n because knowing where she is the only way to keep him from worrying.

This further solidifies that she needs to be in their protection to keep this mentally disturbed boy away. The whole thing is twisted but the line "a more private place" bothers him the most. He's not letting his daughter be alone with Jerome longer than she already has.

Dick

It's early in the morning and Dick wanted to check up on how y/n doing. As he walks up to the manor there's a large box sitting in front of the door. A letter sits on top of it with y/n's name on it. Rips up the envelope and begins reading the letter.

Once Dick was done reading, he looked down at the box. Noticing dried blood around the box. This makes him nauseous and immediately goes to Bruce to inform him. They sent it to authorities so they could identify the heads in the box.

He doesn’t tell y/n or the others about this. Everyone is already in a frenzy from the events prior, so it seemed best to keep this between him, Bruce, and Alfred.

"Made sure to get rid of their eyes," Dick isn't sure why that sticks with him. Maybe it's because he wonders if Jerome beheaded them or took out their eyes first. It doesn't matter though because he needs to keep his little sister safe.

Barbara

Doesn't even want to go near it, checks that there isn't a bomb in there waiting to explode. She takes one peek in the box and immediately looks away. Does not read the letter because what was in the box said what needed to be said. Informs the whole family and that sets the mood for the day.

She checks up on y/n after telling everyone. The poor girl is so overwhelmed by everything that she doesn't want to be around anyone. Spends most of the day with y/n, trying to cheer her up. Get sweets since that's y/n weakness and sugar releases dopamine. She has Alfred cook y/n's comfort food.

The day is meant to help release all of the stress. Barb wasn't sure if it was working until y/n said thank you before going to bed. Barb makes a promise to herself that she'll become better at shielding y/n from this type of depravity.

Jason

Can tell who this is from just by the envelope. y/n's name with little hearts around it. Shoves it into his pocket, he'll give it to y/n when he sees her. Opens the box to be hit with a familiar disgusting odor. Looking inside there are 3 heads. Recognizes one of them being a mod boss he has on his list for a while now.

Jason wasn't sure what to expect, but it wasn't this. He pulls out the envelope and tears it open to get some sort of context. Reading the letter left him unsettled and a little…satisfied? Grateful maybe? For taking care of those who harmed y/n even though it was entirely Jerome's fault that this happened in the first place.

Closes the box and informs the whole family of what he found. Everyone is put more on edge. y/n isn't allowed out of the manor for a few days. y/n is upset by the news and she’s more quiet the following days.

Jason almost wants to laugh at, "They just couldn't take a joke." Bets that these" jokes" were just thinly veiled threats and pointing a gun at them. He probably would have snickered if this didn't involve y/n.

Tim

All he wanted to do was check the mail. Now he's reading a sort of love letter written by a psycho and looking down at the heads that could not look back at him. Their empty eye sockets had- ugh, God there was so much blood.

Debates on whether he should tell y/n about this, but ends up telling her. There was no point in hiding it because she'll probably find out one way or another. Sees the guilt and horror flash across her face. Wants to comfort her as much as he can, but all she does is detract from him. Of course, when Barb opens her arms y/n jumps into them. What happened to them always being there for each?

Doesn't like, "our next date", one bit. He doesn't like the insinuation or the thought of it. He starts keeping his eyes peeled for Jerome and ears open if anyone has information on where he is or going. The sooner he's in Arkham the safer y/n is from him and going on that next date.

Damian

Not impressed. The delivery was lazy and the writing was so sloppy that he almost couldn't read it. The heads must have been cut with a butter knife with how unclean and jagged the cut is. Every unprofessional. Nonchalantly brings this up at the table during breakfast. Not even when everyone is finished, just right in the middle of it.

Never really had respect for a villain or any, but the whole "Didn't know who shot you, so I just killed everyone" was almost respectable. Damian having a speck of respect doesn't mean he likes Jerome. Still thinks he's stupid and annoying.

He'd give him a 3/10 for the delivery and would not order again.

Per-Spray Jeremiah isn't going to do anything, but Post-Spray Jeremiah is a different story. Will break one of y/n's arms or legs just so that she can't get away from him too easily. Though that's going to the extreme, he's more likely to guilt trip her. Getting into her head isn't hard and more effective.

"I thought you loved me. You were the one who always said you loved me. y/n, who has been here for you the most and always will? Not your best friend, Norah, she's leaving you behind and you know it. Not your family because they never cared about you in the first place. No one will love you like I do. You need me, y/n."

By the time the family saves y/n and brings her back to the cave for medical attention. She's consumed by guilt and almost believes she deserved any harm done to her. Will cry to Barb about this and only Barb.

Concerned by this revelation Barb will tell the whole family. Bruce is worried as it's clear that y/n's mental state is worsening. He knew that it would be after bad being kidnapped by Jeremiah, he just didn't think it would be this bad. Bruce and Tim have the same idea to get y/n another therapist if she's still not seeing one.

Jason and Damian are mad that y/n would think that she deserves any pain. Jason is kinda, sort of, not really more understanding about the whole thing than Damian. He gets how she could feel that she failed Jeremiah. If she has revealed that they had been dating and she can't or won’t give up on him, everyone is conflicted and concerned.

Dick has had the most romantic relationships and will try to convince y/n that Jeremiah is a lost cause now. Leading her to a spiral into a depressive episode. Oops!

If y/n is on the verge of death the family freaking the fuck out. Slowly recovers at the manor and convinces her that staying with them is the best thing for her. Depending on if her injury is life-threatening or not will determine how cooperative she is.

Getting Killed by a Villain

Doesn't matter who it is Jason is shooting them on the spot. Though with how emotional and choked up he's getting, he'll probably miss. Damian would react the same way if his whole body didn't stop upon seeing y/n's lifeless eyes. He doesn't want to step near her to see if it was true that he lost his sister.

Bruce, Dick, and Tim will force themselves to act professionally. They're still in their hero personas and killing was a strict no. If the whole family is there then whoever killed y/n is getting a beating of their life.

It could also depend on who's at the scene. Bruce and Dick hold on to the moral code that killing is wrong. This will prevent any further killings from happening.

Damian and Jason would probably end up killing the villain after seeing y/n's corpse. They know it's not going to bring back y/n, but what else can they do except making the villain to pay their debt?

Tim teeters between the lines. If Bruce or Dick is there then he's on their side of not killing. If it's just Damian and/or Jason then he won't stop them. He won't participate just stands back to let them do their thing.

Depending how and when she died will weigh heavily on their mind. Quick and painless before they got there? At least she didn't have to suffer too much, but still keeps them up at night.

Tortured for hours before succumbing to her injuries? They already feel guilty that they couldn't save her on time, but her last hours of living was being in pain will only intensify it. Out of the whole family, Jason would probably be the most distraught by this. He reopens old wounds and memories. y/n meeting a similar end is horrifying to him.

Get there on time, but it’s too late to save her from her injuries. Then slowly dies in their arms. If they're all there then y/n is dying in Bruce's arms.

"Please tell Jeremiah, I'm sorry and- and that I love him. Tell Norah that I hope s-she achieves her dreams of becoming a doctor. Are- are you still there? I can't see or feel you." She can slightly hear Bruce's deep voice while what seems to be the others are screaming. It's getting harder to hear and her body is starting to feel heavier.

This is the end and everyone knows it. Jason, Tim, and Dick don't want to accept it and are trying to patch her wound(s). Trying to get help there as soon as possible. Bruce and Damian are quiet trying to listen to her soft voice get quieter.

y/n starts slightly laughing, it's a nervous tick. "I always fantasize about having enough courage to end it all. Bu-but I- fuck. I'm such a fuck up." She starts crying and any words of comfort are either not heard or ignored. Starts coughing blood, but that doesn't deter Bruce in the slightest. Damian squeezes her hand though he doubts she can feel it.

"I don't even feel the pain anymore…At least I…At least I'm not dying alone." It isn't long before she stops breathing.

Alternatively, I thought of y/n saying, "I wished I was surrounded by loved ones." But she wouldn't stay that no matter how angry she is at the family. Might think it though.

In both cases of the Valeska twins, y/n would be caught in the crossfire. Jerome isn't going to kill y/n because she's his one and only. Jeremiah isn't going to kill y/n because why would he kill his wife? He's already planned out most of their whole lives and she already signed the mentally fabricated marriage certificate.

Jerome gets into a frenzy seeing y/n drop dead. No one is spared from his wrath. He can't bring himself to look at her body and will just leave. Inactive for a short time before getting back into the swing of things.

She is buried next to Jason. The family will catch Jerome hanging around her grave "talking to her" or something. Who knows what the hell he's doing. They'll have to chase him off or turn on the sprinklers if they want him to leave.

He didn't kill her himself, but he's still responsible for the events leading up to it. Meaning the family isn't going to pull back any punches.

Post-Spray Jeremiah has a similar reaction to y/n's death. Honestly, y/n could have died by just jumping in front of him to take a bullet. Doesn't matter how much y/n should hate him, she can't bring herself to. Ultimately it doesn't matter how she died, Jeremiah will blame Batman or the others for their inability to save y/n. Deflecting any responsibility.

This reinforces that he has to destroy Gotham and make it into his perfect image. y/n always talked about wanting to make the world a better place and that's exactly what he's doing.

If she dies in his arms he'll make a quick escape with her body. Having Echo hold back everyone to buy him time. Buries y/n in an undisclosed location and the tombstone will stay y/n Valeska instead of l/n or Wayne.

If he knew of the family's identity, he'd make subtle jabs at them. Mocking them for their mishandling of y/n. When or if he takes over Gotham he'll make sure that they all have front-row seats of the destruction before killing them off.

If he's feeling ruthless he might just have one of his followers get plastic surgery to look like y/n. Even change the pitch of their voice to get close enough to y/n's. Then send the follower after them and make various claims about how they lied about caring about her. How they let her die on purpose. That she'll never forgive them.

Traumatizing the whole family. Will make his follower's death gruesome just fuck with them and have them relive that day.

Bruce regrets not having kept y/n closer. He has a lot of 'should haves’ and 'if only’ in his head. He knows that's not going to do anything, but it'll take a while to accept her death. Always visits her grave every week.

Dick wishes that he'd been a better brother to y/n. He'll often wonder if she's looking down at them from above. Any mention of her will upset him for a while. Tim feels the same as Dick but often finds himself reminiscing about those happy moments. When they're smiling and laughing, once the memory is over he's left feeling melancholy.

Barbara is heartbroken by this. y/n always talked about how she wanted a normal domestic lifestyle. How much she loves Jeremiah and believes that he's the one. Now she's in the dirt and never experienced that simple quiet life she wanted. Carries a photo of y/n and her smiling on her all the time. Believes that y/n is in a better place where she can live out her dreams. One day Barb will see her again and give her a bone-crushing hug.

Jason and Damian think of throwing her body into Lazarus Pit if they have access to her body. Jason seriously thinks of it for only a minute before throwing it out. The pit messed him up and he can't handle bringing y/n back only for her mental turmoil to worsen. Damian doesn't think about that. He wants to apologize for all he's said and done. He wants his sister back, but the family is quick to turn down the idea. Explaining how it could only lead to more pain.

Damian would most likely listen to the family since they're technically right. Although there is a small chance that he wouldn't listen and do it anyway. Right out of the pit, y/n's thinking of her only love. Tries to run back to Jeremiah, but Damian is not having any of that. 

When he returns to the manor with y/n tied up the whole family will have a verbal MMA fight. After that, they lock y/n in a nicely furnished room with hidden security cameras. y/n is like a zombie. Only has one thing, rather one person on her mind. She's a shell of who she once was.

At least they have a second chance, right?

y/n can not go ten minutes without talking or asking about Jeremiah. Will speak with herself if there isn't anyone else with her.

I think this turned out horrible, but hope you enjoyed this. Feel free to ask anything else as my inbox in always open. Also sorry for misspells or grammar mistakes, kinda rushed this.