#My mindset with this hc was “what if you like. somehow cut him and there's just no blood”

[shmorp-mcdurgen]

A doodle of a couple misc hcs I have about Gman's anatomy

[animeyanderelover]

Hi! actually I'm kinda embrassed for requesting prompt because I already ask for hc...but can I request Black Butler number 26 with Ronald ? Thank you!!💓💓

You really don’t have to feel embarrassed about this, I don’t have a limit for sending requests though I appreciate it if a person knows when to stop. But two requests are fine with me.

Tw: Yandere themes, unhealthy mindset, unhealthy relationship, possessiveness, obsessiveness, clinginess, death, killing

Prompt 26: “...Why do you cry?! Who made you cry?! Tell me their fucking names so I can rip their heads off for making my angel cry!!!”

You hadn't quite realized how much time had already passed by, the whole day had been gone by in a blur, you not even realizing that it was already night, sun nearly having disappeared from the horizon completely. Time flew by fast, didn't it?

If you would have known that sooner, maybe this sudden news wouldn't have hit you that hard. Of course not only the old people died due to their age or a sudden disease took someone, who could have actually spend a lot more time under the living, deceased all of a sudden. Basically anything could happen to someone, no matter how old or young anywhere.

That had today sunken in in you, having attended the funeral of your closest friend. He had passed all too suddenly away, even for his parents his death had been a shock. The reasoning of death was unknown, the only obvious fact was that he had been murdered by someone, all alone and most likely petrified before his life had been taken from you.

His parents had told you that he had wanted to tell you something on that night, what exactly they didn't know. He hadn't even told them, saying that for now it was only for your ears to hear. It stung incredibly that he would never get the chance now to tell you and you couldn't hep, but wonder what exactly he had wanted to say to you. Now it didn't matter anymore anyways, he was dead.

And you, you were deeply caught in your palace of thoughts, going through anything you could have and should have done whilst you still had the time with him. It was funny, people never seemed to think about everything they could have done better whilst they had a certain someone in thei life until this person was gone. Why was that? Why didn't you do more for him? With him? The only thing you had left now were your memories with him and a bleeding wound his sudden death had left in your heart.

So you didn't even realize the soft knocks on your door at first, nor even when they seemed to get louder and more harsher. You were too deep in your own land, memories flashing nonstopping in front of your eyes. Memories which had once been sweet and warm, but now were bitter and painful. Why had he leave this early? He hadn't even lived his life yet. He hadn't met a nice person yet, hadn't even experienced true love yet. And now he would never.

"(y/n)! Hey! I know you're in there! What's wrong did something happen?" A sudden voice finally made you very slowly turn your attention somewhat back to the real world, realizing who's voice it was. Was it already that late since Ronald had appeared in front of your house? He usually was busy during the day, working didligently before coming later always over to you and spend the time he had with you. He was your boyfriend after all. A clingy and very smothering boyfriend, but you still loved him a lot.

At first you didn't feel the real motivation to move. You had hit the bottom of your current misery, mourning over your best friend, the most idiotic, but lovable person you had ever met. Next to that you really didn't want Ronald to see you in your current state. Cheeks and part of your clothes, especially your sleeves, being stained with your own tears, hair disheveled due to having tossed around in bed the last few hours, meaning that your pillow had already fallen victim to your sorrow and crying. You didn't only feel shitty, you were convinced you looked that way as wel.

"(y/n)! Something is wrong, isn't it? What happened babe? You know you can talk to me about anything!" His voice was weakened due to the wooden door and the distance between it and your bedroom, being seperated by exactly one floor. But you still sensed it in his voice, the steadily raising worry and panic. Your eyes wandered to the door of your bedroom, thinking whether you should ignore him and spend this night alone or let him in and searching for comfort in him.

"If you don't open this door in the next minute, I'll break it! Come on, sweetie! Please let me in and help you!" You might as well have taken it as a joke at first, not believing that he would seriously break your door if it wouldn't have been for the following sentences. "(y/n). Open the door. Now."

There was this sudden switch in his voice, going from the typically 'overworried boyfriend' tone to something else. Just know he had sounded somewhat deeper and much more calmer than before, his voice somehow giving you the feeling that he wasn't kidding. You were talking about Ronald, he wouldn't do something like this...right?

Deciding that you didn't want to find out, you slowly started sitting up, blinking the exhaustion out of your eyes and wiping the wetness decorating your face as good as possibly away, hoping it wouldn't be too obvious what you had done the last few hours. But whom were you even trying to fool? Even the most oblivious person would have noticed that you had been crying.

"Don't break the door! I'm coming already." You had barely the strength to scream loud enough so that he would hear you, voice scratching uncomfortably against your throat, needing some rest after all the previous whimpers and small cries of yours. You actually contorted your face a bit when hearing yourself yelling those words, voice breaking at the end of the last sentence and the unpleasant hoarse sound your voice made. There was no way Ronald wouldn't have heard this.

He didn't. "Are you feeling well? You sound terrible! Please let me in!" The knocking sounds intensified together with his growing panic, making you hurry up, despite feeling like your body wasn't able to handle anything above just laying in bed. When hearing your steps approaching, you heard something akin to scratching sounds on the door, imagining that Ronald was getting a bit desperate.

Without any words you opened the door, instantly stepping behind it whilst holding it wide open for him to enter, hiding behind it since you didn't want him to witness how terrible you currently looked with your red and puffy eyes.

You heard him quickly stumbling in, almost falling due to having leaned his body against the door. But he managed to not be greeted with the floor, catching his balance and instantly turning his head around, searching for you. It took him less than two seconds before he had discovered your form, still hiding behind the wood.

One step was all it took for him to be by your side, grabbing the door and closing it quickly, shielding you and him from anyone outside witnessing what was going on in this house.

You had lowered your head to the ground, gaze focusing instead on his shoes which you could clearly see. They didn't really interest you, but you didn't want to look up in his face. A stupid thing to do, you knew he would make you anyways. But it was just how you acted right now.

"Babe..." His voice had gone soft, hands gently holding yours and squeezing them in a comforting manner. "What's wrong? What makes you currently feel down? Tell me how can I help."

You let out a bitter and pained chuckle, starting to grip his hands in a firmer hold as well, feeling the rising need to throw yourself in his arms and hopefully get rid of some of the currently heavy rain clouds of grief and aching surrounding your heart. "I don't think you can help me as much as you would like. Not in a wa you want to right now."

Bitterness was dripping out of every word you spoke and you found yourself quickly burrying your head in his chest and letting go of his hands, instead grabbing his arms and tightening your grip on them as you felt once again the burning and hot sensation of tears gathering in your eyes and tracing your cheeks once again. You were emotional and knew it, but who wouldn't be after such a shocking and heartbreaking loss.

Ronald himself felt his heart breaking a bit as well when suddenly feeling you clinging onto him so tightly, your tight grip on him being a silent and wailing plead for any sort of affection and comfort he could possibly give you. It hurt him seeing you like this, normally you weren't like this. The tears wetting his clothes in that moment were just adding up to this dolorous pulling on his heart strings and he felt himself embrace you rather quickly in a warm and slightly possessive hug, feeling himself growing slowly slightly angry at whatever or whoever had put you in your current condition.

"What's wrong?" Everything was wrong. You had just lost an important person and were crying rivers over him. "I...I...T-today..." You had barely time to hiccup anything, especially a full sentence out during your increasing sobs. You had thought that you had cried the worst part out earlier, but now that you had Ronald with you, the string that had seemed to hold your emotions in check seemed to be cut off, making everything inside of you turning up and down again. It was not a completely bad thing. it just meant that in presence of Ronald you felt like you didn't have to hide anything. Nevertheless, it only added even more layers of pain and heartbreak over your currently fragile heart.

You felt him tensing up the more your breath became erratic and the more you sounded like you would choke any minute on your own sobs, the more his grip tightened around you and his attempts to hush you and try to calm you down sounded more and more panicked. You hadn't even time to answer his questions, being too busily drowning in your own tears.

"...Why do you cry?! Who made you cry?! Tell me their fucking names so I can rip their heads off for making my angel cry!!!"

You stiffened up, slightly startled by the sudden loud noise which Ronald quickly noticed. "I'm sorry for scaring you just now! I'm...just panicking right now a bit because I don't even know why you're so upset. I want to help you and feel currently a bit useless because I can't do anything to make you feel better."

He had quickly lowered his voice, using a more gentle and comforting tone to not scare you again. You slowly managed to relax again in his hold, acknowledging the fact that he was right now just worried over you. "It's-it's fine. I'm just...my-my best friend (f/n) died today. Earlier his fu-funeral was held."

You felt slight confusion stirring up inside of you when you felt him shortly stopping in his movements, feeling his muscles cramping a bit under his skin. You lifted slowly your head, blinking up at him.

Maybe for the shortest of seconds you thought he had a weirdly guilty expression on his face, but maybe your vision had just been a bit blurred due to the still present tears in your eyes.

"I'm sorry to hear that. I remember that I've read something about this in the newspaper this morning. He was yesterday evening killed, right?" You just nodded, pushing the look on his face quickly away, deciding it had just been an imagination due to your tears. "Don't worry, it'll get better over time. I'll be here for you whenever you need me." You dearly hoped that you could believe in those words.

Maybe he should have thought about it more before doing it, he hadn't expected you to be in so much sorrow. Sure, he had definitely knew that you would go through a phase of sadness and pain, but he hadn't expected such an extreme reaction. He had needed about three hours to manage to calm you just enough down so you could finally give your mind a rest and go to sleep because he had realized just how exhausted you had looked, all the stress and crying tiring you out. His whole shirt had been soaked by tears and snot, but it wasn't like he cared. His focus had only been on helping you finally getting some sleep.

Maybe...just maybe Ronald could have done it a different way. But now it was too late to regret such things and thinking back, he had given the guy many chances to back off. He knew how close both of you had been to each other and the last thing he had needed would have been competing with your childhood friend. He had been unsure, feeling threatened. What if you would have chosen your friend over him?

But now that man was gone forever and whilst Ronald felt definitely terrible for having inflicted so much suffering onto you, he also couldn't help, but feel the tiniest bit glad that he would continue holding you whilst you were sleeping safe and soundly. You most likely wouldn't be that way if you would know that he was the one who had killed your friend.

But only him and your friend knew this. And that guy would never get a chance to tell you, he had taken that secret with him in the afterworld. Just like his love confession...

[transsscorpius]

"hi danny i would love to hear if you had any thoughts or headcannons abt Astoria or perhaps even Astoria and Scorpius ones?? idk i just love hearing people’s interpretations of her 🤗💕"

@grey-edges your ask got deleted somehow and i had to rewrite this i'm so sorry for the late reply but anyway. Thank you for this ask! I have Astoria headcanons i just never got the energy to write them so here is my personal interpretation of her 🥰💕

• Ok this is probably vastly different than other interpretations of Astoria i've seen, but i think she's into like pop rock/metal/grunge type of music and her her aesthetic in dressing sometimes reflects that. Sometimes her wardrobe is floral dresses and bright colors. There is no in between

• Like if you saw her in the back of the classroom with headphones on smiling softly while scribbling something down and asked her what she was listening to and it's just. Literal screaming and depressive lyrics. What the fuck

• I think she's the black sheep of the family, her family is in a 'purebloods are better' mindset and has a rocky relationship with them (her and Daphne eventually develop a better relationship with each other) so i see her sort of straying away from them slowly during her time at school

• Also family dynamics and internalized bigotry is not as easy to just throw away as jkr writes it to be and she takes time to listen and educate herself for a while to break free from that

• She's bi oriented aroace or bi ace or something along those lines but definitely aspec

• My Astoria is in ravenclaw! I am fine with other house hcs as well, i just want her to see Luna more often and have her influence in her life. Also eventually Ginny too, they'd definitely get along. Astoria+Ginny+Luna is where my mind is always

• She wears a bunch of rings on every finger and so does Draco when he starts hanging out with her after Hogwarts. Whores

• Ok but seriously, if we're going in the drastoria route, she's the one who gets him to open up bc Draco is so repressed in many ways and she's visibly free and has those 'who gives a fuck' vibes, so he feels more okay in experimenting with gender expression and whatever else when he's with her

• I made a post once that Draco and her were in a qpr and now i can't think of them in any other way sjsjjsjs like i used to genuinely ship them romantically but now i can't think of them as anything other than having qp thing going on

• Draco is also some sort of ace. Maybe demi

• Speaking of, they would tell Scorpius about them being qp and answer all his questions about that, so when Scorpius gets rejected by Rose, he doesn't try to persist on her to go out with him (what canon? idk her) and might enlighten Rose on the fact that she might be aspec after a few comments from her saying she doesn't see really herself with anybody that way. Scorose friendship basically <3

• Scorpius has Astoria's smile. I don't know how to explain it properly but i feel like it's important to know. They have the same smile :)

• The older Malfoys hated her and probably tried to sabotage her thing with Draco so she convinced Draco to sell the manor (it became his property but i seriously don't know how this stuff works so don't call me out skksksks) and Lucius nearly had a heart attack. They spent all that money on charities and on homeless people they found on the streets

• If we're going outside of canon... Ginstoria is a very very nice concept to me. I'm sort of obsessed with the ship

• Back to just Astoria, she was a bit shy, but if anyone was being cruel, she would absolutely deck them on sight

• She was part of the DA, Harry just never noticed her idk

• She's the type of person to cut her own hair. It's always a bit choppy bc she did it herself but she likes it like that so it works for her

• She has the weirdest shit in her bag. There's regular school stuff but then there's also a bottle of clay she found (she likes to make clay figures), a pair of scissors, a sharp dagger??? some pins for her hair, eyeliner, interesting looking potion vials. People walking with her to class are always really weirded out when she start pulling them out to find a book or something. Luna is never weirded out, she understands

• Luna Ginny Astoria sleepover. Pls think about it

Yeah idk haha i just like thinking about her as strange and optimistic and someone who wants to be happy so she makes sure that she is and no one can bully that away from her <3

[forestwater87]

This is your excuse to talk about Julia (the purple haired girl) if you want to :D

Oooh yay! Okay so she’s not actually mine — she was created by @hopefullypessimistic84 , who I always have read over anything I use Julia in for characterization consistency — and I’m sure Hope will have more to add but here’s what I’ve got!

First off, for those of you who have no idea what we’re talking about: Hope found a camper in one of the old photos and adopted her, and now she is one of my favorite characters ever. She shows up pretty frequently in my writing bc I love her.

Dis one.

Anyway! Here’s a bunch of random shit — some of it was invented by Hope, some of it is my hcs (can you have hcs of an oc version of an extra? Idk but I did it) — and I hope someone finds it mildly entertaining:

She met David and Jasper in their first summer at camp, so they’re all about the same age; if anything she might be a year or so younger but it’s all quite close, and I imagine they went through the same years in school.

She doesn’t live near David — if we’re placing him up in Canada she’s somewhere in a relatively large city near the American border. Depending on if you put Camp Campbell on the east coast (my hc) or the west (what it probably actually is), she most likely grew up in NYC or Seattle.

She’s more like Jasper than David: not super bubbly, not all that into nature, and very suspicious of anything Campbell related.

I’m pretty sure she’s an only child, but it doesn’t matter because she adopted David and Jasper as her brothers and 1000% thinks of herself as their sister.

She’s an ace lesbian, and somewhere on the butch spectrum. Depending on my mood she’s either a fat leather butch or a tiny elfin tomboy, but no matter what she’s short and has a motorcycle jacket.

Actually it’s spoilers but who cares because it’ll take me forever to get there: she’s actually going to fall in love with another OC, this time one I made up! She meets Gwen’s sister Audree through incredibly awkward in-law interactions, because Hope and I decided to mash our OCs together. Their relationship is a little ….complicated, because they’re so dissimilar, but it works.

I’m pretty sure Julia ends up being a professional photographer. She lives in (see city mentioned in #2) but travels a lot for her job. What kind of photos???? Uhhhhhhhh no idea; my brain is thinking like corporate somehow, or real estate? Something more practical than artistic, but Hope would probably know for sure and I don’t know dick about photography.

Her job and long distance means she doesn’t get to see David (or Jasper, if it’s an AU where he lives) a lot, but she keeps them all in touch with the aggressive tenacity of a bulldog.

She’s very colorful and generous with her profanity.

If you hurt someone she loves she will kill you and no one will ever find your body.

She is made of sarcasm and a surprising amount of rage.

She grew up extremely poor (not sure what the family situation is but I feel like it was a 1-parent household), so even though she ended up being very successful she still carries a lot of trauma and mindset from spending her childhood not having enough to really get by. (This is probably the major cause of content with Audree, who grew up rich and then got richer.)

I don’t remember what we were thinking about Jules’ grown-up haircut, but her natural color is definitely purple.

She calls David Davey, Sunshine, and Red. I don’t know what she’d call Jasper and Gwen.

She probably stopped going to Camp Campbell after Jasper died, either as her own choice or because her parent(s) pulled her out of it, but as an adult she does make a point to visit David there at least once a summer on the anniversary of his death. (Listen we came up with this before we found out what happened to Jasper; cut us some slack here re: canon.)

She didn’t grow out of her pop-punk-emo phase, she grew into it.

I don’t know if she actually rides a motorcycle or just likes the look, but I like to think she at least bought one.

Nothing makes her flustered except pretty girls.

I don’t think she reads that much, but I could see her being a movie buff. Though tbh I really see her as whatever you’d call someone super into music.

Did she skateboard? Does she? I feel like she would.

[theunconcernedembalmer]

what’s the issue with elisop? is it just bc you hc aesop as ace? im so concerned by seeing ppl adamantly opposed to mlm/wlw ships but im also genuinely curious about why you dislike it and other lgbt ships so much lol

hmm. that is a strong accusation, n i find it just a bit odd. are you new here? or perhaps you are taking personal offense at my dislike towards a favourite ship of yours and using the lgbt argument as moral high ground?

whatever the case may be, i thank you for asking. if u r truly looking for an answer, its below the cut n it is very very long. mind u these are all my personal opinions n i am in no way policing how others enjoy ships. just in case this wasnt clear; i dont wish to start discourse on this blog, especially since my takes are probably... unpopular.

firstly i would like to address the “disliking lgbt ships” bit, because this has very strong implications in itself. i have nothing against lgbt ships. i enjoy them, even. if the two characters have chemistry between each other, i ship it. however, the moment characterization is broken for the sake of romance, i lose interest. this is generally my stance on ships in general, n this applies for both straight n lgbt ships. 

the ships themselves are fine. however, i do have issues with the ship dynamics, so ill let u in on that.

i want to touch on mlm ships in particular; i believe u are familiar with the top/bottom dynamic that is rampant in these kinds of ships? (i wont deny that this dynamic can be found in other types of ships, but for arguments sake i will be focusing on gay ships because i feel that this occurs more commonly here) its such a popular dynamic that is prone to stripping the personality from one if not both characters, only for them to be reduced to being dominant/submissive. for a character to be pigeonholed into a stereotypical category based on... preferred sexual positions? its just downright insulting, never mind the larger more problematic implications of it. top/bottom is not indicative of someones personality, by the way. flattening multi dimensional characters into these stereotypes is so so so insulting.

unfortunately this is The Most Popular portrayal of just about any gay ship around. ive seen it being used everywhere in so many fandoms n it just about becomes apparent to me that ppl come to stories looking for a Ship. not the stories, nor the characters, just a ship. while id like to say theres nothing wrong with that, keep in mind not everyone is just looking for 2 characters that look pretty next to each other. if i ship something, i see interesting n meaningful interactions between 2 characters, which is so often not the case once u bring in the top/bottom dynamic. why is it so popular? because somehow this is what ppl like from a gay ship n hence it sells. ppl want the drama, characterizations be damned. ppl want to see the big kiss that happens in the end, n maybe the sexy parts that come after. characterizations be damned.

so u can say im a little wary of gay ships when they cross my feed. hell, as a joseph aesop shipper i see this trope everywhere n im pretty disappointed as well. small tangent but i feel like this is the reason why zh0ngli n ch1lde is so popular in g3nshin. i try to see the appeal, i really do, but after a long while of analyzing their respective characters i dont think they have as much chemistry as ppl think they do. dont even get me started on how incredibly ooc they make either of these very interesting n unique characters in ship portrayals. all because of the top/bottom dynamic that ppl want to see. i say this for that particular ship, but this is pretty much the case for a lot of ships out there, n the latter part is painfully true even when the 2 characters do have potential between each other. ill say it again im disgusted by the blatant disrespect to the characterizations if all ppl ever want is 2 pretty puppets to mush lips together. cos thats what theyre essentially reduced to this way.

n its so obvious to see when an artist subscribes to this rhetoric, because u can so clearly see it in the way they draw their characters. the “top” generally has sharper features to go with their “dominating personality”, while the “bottom” has disturbingly softer, feminine, dare i say sometimes child like features “to submit”. n thats where the uwu soft gay trope comes from, i believe. which, in case u still dont know, i hate with a burning passion.

so again for ppl with impaired reading comprehension, im fine with ships, including lgbt ones, but the moment u break characterization for the sake of the ship, im not that okay with it. u want to do it for a short crack comic? fine. but if thats the only way ur portraying the 2 characters then im immediately wary of ur content. ill still look at it cos usually the art is really good, but im very very wary. so im not “adamantly opposed”, just very critical of how the ships are being portrayed. if other ppl want to enjoy their ships like that, sure. just dont expect me to join in on something i dont agree on.

.

now id like to address not shipping “because i hc aesop as ace”. for ppl who are new to the blog (hello there), im an ace in a romantic relationship, so thats definitely not the reason i dont ship elisop. its more of being in a relationship has largely shaped my views towards romance as a whole. even before i met my boyfriend, i hated the romance genre in stories n media. most of it comes off as incredibly forced, especially those love triangles they seem to love putting into teen novels. thats one reason why i stopped reading when i was younger, but i digress.

did i partake in shipping when i was younger? i did. for a gay ship too (if anyone really wants to know, its kurotsukki from haikyuu. at least this was one that i can remember, i was mostly working on my 20 odd ocs for the longest time). i also used to write little short romance ficlets that i never posted anywhere cos i hated (n still do hate) my writing. but writing romance when u dont have experience was really just a way of projecting n probably a way of coping for myself, not that i knew at that time. but after i actually started a relationship with my boyfriend (whom i love n cherish a lot thank u very much), i began to see how much all these have skewed my views towards romance n have actually done some harm to our relationship. the bullshit that the general media feeds u constantly doesnt help in the slightest either.

quick topic shift to elisop in particular (about time, right?). i already stated that i only ship characters if i sense chemistry between the two personalities, n if u have seen the part where i dont ship elisop then u must have seen how agonized i am over not being able to have a concrete personality for eli. that is the main problem i have with elisop: eli does not feel like a solid character to me. n that is a huge problem, because if he doesnt have any defining characteristics besides being mild n nice, then he can be whoever i want him to be. (i have done this in my exorcist comics, i will admit this. n the fact that i can just do that... it really does not sit well with me personally.)

n that is dangerous.

back to young me doing lil ship things. i think its also pretty safe to say when u really do ship 2 characters, chances are u kinda really relate very very hard to at least one of them. that very quickly can turn into projecting, n shipping therefore is not “exploring the relationship between 2 characters” n it becomes “my preferred dating simulator 101″. of course this isnt always the case, but at least it was for me, n subconsciously it might be for lots of ppl too. n since this is ur mental playground, u call the shots, n there is no consequences if u slightly (or even entirely) alter one or both personalities to fit ur desired narrative. n u wouldnt even notice or know, cos ur blind to ur own biasness.

we bring our perceived notions into real life, im sure u know that. so when ur partner does not become that perfect knight in shining armour, or when they get upset at things that u do (which is a very normal thing by the way), n u think (very subconsciously), That isnt what my otp would do, something is wrong here (nothing is wrong, actually its just ur skewed perception of a stable romantic relationship). why wouldnt ur otp do this? because u are both halves of ur otps, there is no hidden secrets between them (apart from the pining part but thats irrelevant), n again they have been altered to fit ur preferred narrative. 

a real relationship requires a lot of communication between parties, because newsflash, liking someone doesnt mean that u have to like every single thing they do, they will make mistakes n it will hurt u, n guess what, the reverse is also true. if u do go with absoutely anything that they would do with 0 objections whatsoever, ur not crushing on someone, ur idolizing them, n that power imbalance is detrimental to a relationship. these things are not obvious to ppl, especially when the whole climate is hell bent on getting into romantic relationships by a certain age or some bullshit. communication is key n is pretty much the only way to solve relationship issues, because the other person has a lot that u r not seeing n vice versa. as similar as 2 ppl can be, i doubt u can have 100% the same thoughts on all things. i dont make the rules.

so in ur mental playground u focus on the fluffy parts, maybe there is communication, but rarely is there any meaningful conflict. thats unrealistic, n if u bring that mindset to an actual relationship, thats not going to end well. i say meaningful conflict, because yes, generally u shouldnt have conflicts with ur significant other. but inevitably when ur with each other for long enough, u will realize that there are habits that u must change in order to be with the other person. habits that are harmful to the other person directly, or harmful habits towards yourself that indirectly harm the other person. these are meaningful in a sense that if left alone, it will manifest into larger problems that will harm u, the other person n the relationship as a whole. its meaningful to the relationship.

all these is made even worse if ur neurodivergent. maladaptive coping practices, self sabotaging behaviours, inherent disabilities. all these must be adjusted n addressed. im so incredibly thankful for my boyfriend for being incredibly patient with me when working all these out, n it has not been easy for me to work on myself n all my problems, n im still not done working on them. this aspect is often not explored in romance in general (or properly), n there is a very good chance i would have still been stuck in the unhealthy mindset of “this isnt like my otp, maybe we’re not meant to be”. because loving someone is a choice. no one is made for each other, it is a conscious choice made between 2 ppl to make things work. this is how arranged marriages work, i am told, n i do see the appeal, not that it actually does appeal to me culturally.

special mention to the kurotsukki ship, cos from there i found a very, very good fic that explored their relationship before n after getting together, n it actually showed aspects of this problem in the incredibly slow burn of (at that time) 20+ chapters. it was just one fic (n a very good one at that, i believe it was called Leviticus), but it had a lesson i never thought i needed to learn, n learn it i did, with a lot of help from my dear. 

this is also probably the reason why i dont really want to delve too much into romance now. i know its a lot of work, n everything (mostly) that the media feeds u is really false advertising, but ppl eat that shit up n so it remains one of the most popular genres to date. im just very wary that if i do start on a romantic story, i want to be able to show it in a way like that fic did, the truths of relationships, because i dont want to make something that sells, i want to make something that meaningful to me, if a little indulgent. n that also includes being very careful in how the respective characterizations will change in a relationship. almost too careful now that i think about it, but its not something that i mind. i was never one for romance from the start, n now im very careful about shipping because of what happened to me persoanlly.

okay enough about me, lets talk about aesop. in any au u put the character in, the essence of the character must remain despite the change in environment. so lets say we have ur typical modern au. dead mom, check. shitty mentor doing illegal stuff? also check. autistic boy with social anxiety? we’re good to go. all these have implications on aesop as a character, n while ppl are aware of this, again the way they go about portraying it can go, in my personal opinion, very wrong. ppl who immediately woobify aesop completely because he has autism annoy me. ppl who reduce him to uwu soft boi cos he has social anxiety do not know how the disorder really works n as someone who has that i hate it to the core. ppl who do all these for the sake of ship have lost my respect. its insulting.

remember the top/bottom dynamic? not that elisop is completely free from that (even if i dont know much about eli, to put him in either one of those stereotypes feels very insulting to his character. i wont even say anything about doing it to aesop its so upsetting), but its not entirely made up of either. but now i want to introduce another trope i am very wary of, which is “i can fix him”. im sure u guys have seen the meme going around poking fun at this trope (for those who havent, its along the lines of “u can fix him? well i can be his worst nightmare”) n no doubt yall would have seen it n gotten sick of it in some forced hetero romantic bullshit. we have one damsel in distress with a saviour that solves all their problems just by existing n being romo with each other.

remember “my preferred dating simulator 101″? this is not mutually exclusive n from my point of view this is dangerously close to this trope. lets be real, if it was actually a thing that all ur deep rooted trauma magically disappears if someone were to waltz into ur life, we would want it. definitely. no painfully dissecting ur own problems n constantly facing them head on. real life states that this is not the case, but it will not stop us from dreaming. n so this trope is born n lives n will go on.

(finally) pulling aesop n eli into this, at least in my mind, u have one severely traumatized boy with lots of issues n u have this. nice mild guy who can be anything u want him to be. i hope u can see where im going with this, n thats the direction i see some elisop heading towards (i dont read a lot of elisop to be fair). if u came from my eli character talk, i mentioned that it is incredibly one sided. this is exactly what im talking about.

putting it all together in case u havent already, aesop is the damsel in distress, whose problems magically disappear because of elis godly kindness n little to no work on improving himself, n they lived happily n gayly ever after.

can u tell how much that does not appeal to me. 

never mind the butchering of character that inevitably happens somewhere somehow, the unrealistically perfect themes n implications of this trope makes me so viscerally uncomfortable. this is, of course, due to personal reasons, n i definitely see the appeal of this dynamic because i would probably have been interested in this once upon a time as well. but as i am now, with everything i have explained up there n everything i have been through, i would politely rather not.

n its difficult to think of another dynamic, because of how little i know about eli apart from him being this saint, which easily makes him a candidate for being aesops trauma panacea. never mind aesop rarely, if ever, does anything for eli as a character in return, n its so damaging to buy into this rhetoric, where a person like this who would solve all ur issues no strings attached exists somewhere in the world. they really dont. a relationship has to be mutually benefitting, or it will be draining n disastrous. maybe u say, Oh its nice to imagine it once in a while. n yeah, i agree, except once in a while is a little difficult to keep track of n that is sort of what happened to me. id rather stay as far away as possible from this kind of unrealistic fantasy, i just got this shit sorted out with myself n my boyfriend.

i have some other reasons, but theyre more personally problematic, so i wont go into them here. but this is mostly n generally why i do not ship elisop romantically. if u do, u do u, and have fun, but again dont expect me to join u. thank u for coming to my ted talk, this took a lot longer than expected.

[jinmukangwrites]

Cub

((I promise I had this named Cub before Ort posted their fic!!!!! I swear I’m not purposely naming this fic after theirs, just the title “Cub” works really well with this fic and what im going for and i really dont want to change it. if ort wants me to change it i will))

Prompt: it's not exactly how the prompt wants it, but I had a lot of fun writing it so I hope you'll be happy with this.

Summary: He's the Hero of the Wild, it's only fair that the creatures get to know him.

Notes: this is the most fluff you guys are going to get out of me. There is angst, but not a terrible amount. I had to put a certain hc in this fic... I had loads of fun with the perspectives, it's interesting trying to write in the mindset of creatures instead of humans.

Warnings: brief mentions of physical/emotional abuse towards a child from a parent, extreme fluff, both emotional fluff and animal fluff, Jin struggling to write happy things, Jin struggling to not kill Wild, Jin being Jin.

-o-o-o-o-

On a clear, bright, and beautiful night, something magical happens. There's a house sitting in the middle of a field of golden wheat, miles from any cities or civilization. The castle is a far off dream, though the people who live in this house don't mind one bit.

Animals don't usually come here, the scarecrows warn against the birds and the men have bows and arrows. The wolves know by now that the sheep in the barn are off limits, the foxes know that the cuccos are well protected, the rabbits don't dare to nibble on the crops for fear of an arrow piercing their hearts. They make their homes in the forest and they don't go near that house, but tonight… they get a feeling. Something important is happening.

The stars are bright as the stag and his herd step carefully through the golden fields, the moon glitters in the alpha wolf's eyes as his pack approaches through the shadows. The birds land on the roof of the house and bats flutter around. Not a single animal attacks each other, not even the mother bear who arrives with her cubs give the boar a second glance. A squirrel scrambles up the wall of the home and pokes its nose against the glass window from the ledge it sits on. The inside of the house is bright and warm, and across the room is a cracked open door, a man sits besides it with his head in his hands. There's yelling and swearing on the other side of the door, though it's not terrified, it's full of pain but also love.

A beautiful creature jumps up besides the squirrel, it's fur glows and it's eyes are bright and wise. It tilts its head the moment the screaming turns into an infant's healthy cry. The man jumps from his chair and runs into the room, and there is a glimpse of a woman laying exhausted in her bed as a dirty and red baby screams as a towel is wiped across it's squirming body.

Oh, the animals think, this is very important.

-o-o-o-o-

A child, just a toddler. His hair is growing long, the owl thinks. Too long for normal Hylian boys his age, though the owl supposes that's nothing out of the ordinary, the child is very special.

The owl sits upon an apple tree branch and watches with wide and very wise eyes as the child swings a wooden sword against a scarecrow in the field. He has gotten the sword as a present from his father just a few days prior and already the child is exceptional at swordplay. The owl thinks that one day the child will grow up one day to become a very, very strong man.

"Link!" The mother calls from her house, her stomach is round, heavy with another miracle, "you're father is leaving! Come wish him goodbye!"

The child looks up from his swordplay and grins before it sprints away towards his home. He dances around the fathers legs, lifting their tiny arms and tugging on the tunic of the father. The father smiles and riffles the boys hair before he fixes the sword strap around his shoulder. "You be good to your mother," he says, "and maybe someday you'll come with me."

"Honey," the mother says, there's a tightness to her smile but the father laughs and kisses it away.

"Bye daddy! Bye bye byeee!" The child sings and the father runs a knuckle over his head kindly. The child grins and waves the little wooden sword in the air.

"When I get back, I'll teach you how to use that, okay?" The father says. "You'll become a knight like your old man."

The mother's lips thin but she doesn't say anything because the child is cheering now and hugging his father's legs tightly.

Then the father leaves not long after, and life continues as normal. The owl hoots and flies away.

-o-o-o-o-

The boy is hurt, the fox relizes. She was going through bushes, looking for a rabbit hole or an easy mouse to grab, when her ears perk up to the sound of a cry. Now, she's no fool, she would never approach a child of any species. Mothers can get furious easily, and fathers are quick release their fangs and claws. Hylian children are on a whole other level.

Yet, this boy is alone. She can see him curled up in front of a tree sobbing into his hands. The smell of blood hits her nose and sends the hairs on her back standing. She gently pads forward, careful to not step on any twigs and let herself be found quite yet. As she gets closer she can see where the smell of blood is coming from; there's a long slice going down his arm, allowing precious fluid to escape and stain his sleeves. It looks painful, she wonders what could have hurt a child so small.

The boy continues to cry and no mother or father are coming to comfort him, so she decides it's safe to do so herself. She lets her paws drop more firmly onto the ground and the boy looks up at her with the bluest eyes, rimmed red from his tears. She continues towards him and lays down next to his head, he continues to watch her with silent tears streaming down his face.

She yips at him, trying to tell him that he will be okay, but Hylians cannot understand animals. He seems to calm down though and he smiles at her. He hesetatly reaches out and she allows him to stroke her head. She lifts her snout and gently licks at the wound on his arm, he doesn't move away from her.

After she's content with cleaning his wound she scoots forward. The boy takes the invitation and gathers her into his arms and cuddles her close to his chest.

"Thank you," he says, and his voice is so mature for a Hylian his age.

They stay like that for quite awhile, comfortable and content, his eyes slowly drying, until a voice breaks through the air.

"Link!" A woman calls out, sounding worried.

"Link! Get over here!" A man shouts.

The fox jumps out from his arms and he makes a distressed noise, but the fox knows she cannot be around when the parents find their cub. They will think she hurt the child, and they'll lash out without any hesitation. She jumps into the bushes just as two adult Hylians come into view, sprinting. The mother grabs at the child and cups his face, talking quickly and worriedly as the father stands off to the side, breathing hard and looking angry.

The father's hand lashes out and grabs the child's arm, looking at the exposed wound roughly, too roughly. The fox almost jumps out and snarls at him when she sees the child wince.

"I taught you how to block that move," the father growls and the fox feels her hackles rise. She doesn't like how the child looks down, as if ashamed.

"Don't get mad at him," the mother snaps and tears the child away from the father. She looks at the cut, more gently. "He's three-years-old, he can't use the sword like you."

The father glares down at the woman. "If he's going to be a knight, he has to start now and work hard."

The mother returns his glare and gathers the child into her arms, picking him up and placing him on her hip. "Who says he has to be a knight?"

"If he's my son he will be," the father says. "You want to be a knight, right Link?"

The small child nods slowly and the mother frowns as the father grins triumphantly.

The mother and father begin to walk away back towards where there house must be, arguing back and forth, and the fox is left sitting there, watching as the child pokes his head over his mother's shoulder, waving sadly.

-o-o-o-o-

Goats are not very intelligent creatures, but they do really love their owners. They love the grass they get fed, they love their haircuts, they love their exercise. As long as they have space to roam and a source of food, they will love most everything. The farm they live on belongs to a nice family of four. They see the oldest woman and her youngest daughter the most, but sometimes the male and his son come into the fields to fix the fences or pull weeds.

Right now, the big male is holding up a bit of the fence as the son wraps a strand of wire around it to keep it standing. The goats all shift with each other and look at the fence with little interest as they continue to munch on the yummy grass.

"We will leave to the Zora's Domain next week," the adult male speaks, his voice is low and gravely, some of the goats flick their ears to it.

"Harvest starts next week," the son says softly. It's a bit deeper than the last time the goats have heard it, though not like any of the goats care. The grass is too delicious.

"And?" Male asks.

"Well… I was thinking I could stay this year… and help Mom and Angie out."

There's… some sort of tense atmosphere that blankets the land. Some of the goats lift their heads nervously as the grass somehow doesn't taste the greatest anymore. One goat looks at the two owners in anxious curiosity. The adult male is staring at the son with a tight jaw. His posture almost reminds the goat of a wolf or something like it.

"Your relationship with Princess Mipha is very important," the adult says slowly, "it is why the Captain invites you every year."

"Yeah but-"

"Don't interrupt me," the adult snarls and the son backs up with his hands raised in surprise. The wire snaps and the chunk of fence falls to the ground with a crash. Both the adult and the son fall silent. The goats look to and from each other, some making nervous baying, others kicking the ground. The adult rubs his face and takes a deep breath. "You are coming."

"I want to help mom-"

"Link, you're coming."

"But the harvest-"

"LINK!" The adult snarls and a goat jumps and runs a few feet in a random direction. The son falls silent, his mouth shuts with a snap. The adult glares at him before he sighs. "You have to go on these things if you want to be a knight, son."

The son looks down to the ground. Mumbles. A goat flicks its ear, though it's not like the goats are interested in what has been said anyway.

"What was that?" The adult asks.

"I… don't want to be a knight… anymore..."

Smack.

The goats bay loudly in surprise and a few jolt as if they're about the run away in terror as the son falls to his backside, his hand on his reddening cheek and eyes wide.

"You will be joining me to the Zora's Domain," the adult says, his voice eerily steady and calm, "do you understand?"

The son nods and slowly stands up. A goat goes down to munch on the grass again, thinking that maybe the weird tension has finally calmed down.

"Tell me the rules."

"D-don't get in anyone's way."

More goats go back down to the grass.

"And?"

"Don't talk unless told to."

The grass is very good.

"And?"

Very, very good. All the goats are eating again, as they should.

"Make you proud..."

-o-o-o-o-

The stable dog's name is Cherry, and he's a very good boy. That's at least what his master has told him. He likes to spend his time laying in the sun and getting pets from guests. The horses are all very nice to him though the cuccos are a bit rude. He once tried to play with one and he got his nose pecked. Cuccos are mean.

He hears movement behind him and he opens his mouth, panting excitingly. He loves guests. They like to pet him and give him food. He gets up and spins around to see a blond haired boy swinging a sword back and forth in silence. The boy is very interesting, he looks almost like a kid but he acts like a grown up. He's always standing quietly and doing what he's told, though Cherry has caught the boy staring at him multiple times.

Right now, the boy is alone. The sun is going down and most guests are getting dinner or going to bed. Cherry wants to play with this one.

Cherry shakes out his fur and pads over to the boy. The boy blinks down at him and swings his sword again, though he stumbles just a little. His jaw tightens and he looks above Cherry to an imaginary target and ignores the dog.

That won't do. Cherry wants to play.

Cherry jumps in the air and barks, but the boy just scowls and continues his practices. Won't do. Won't do at all. He lets out a whine and falls onto his back, kicking his legs in the air and letting his tongue loll out cutely—the way most guests find adorable—and he wags his tail when the boy looks down at him again.

Finally, the boy smiles and puts the sword away after he looks around him and sees that there is no one else around. Cherry squirms in victory when the boys hands go onto his stomach and start rubbing gently. Cherry can already tell that the boy is very kind. He loves this boy already.

"Link," a deep voice growls.

The boy jumps up like he's been burned and spins around. Cherry twists his body to see a man standing a few feet away looking very angry. Cherry rolls to his feet and whines but the boy ignores him and folds his arms across his body. Cherry instantly quiets down, knowing something bad is happening.

"Did I tell you you can stop practicing?" The man asks. Cherry doesn't like this man. Cherry does not like him at all.

"I'm sorry," the boy says quietly.

It's silent for just a second before the man suddenly lunges and punches the boy in the gut, or he would have if the boy hadn't whipped his arms out and expertly blocked the blow. Cherry scrambles backwards in surprise and barks, but he goes ignored as the man continues to attack the boy.

"Da- sir," the boy grunts as he blocks another ruthless blow. "I'm tired- can we-"

"Did I give you permission to speak!?"

The boy shuts his mouth with a click and the brutal fight continues. Cherry's tail sinks down beneath his legs and fear makes him whine. The man is still attacking and the boy is slowing down and starting to get hit. Cherry likes the boy, and it makes his whole body flinch when the boy takes a blow to the stomach, bringing a whimper out of him.

Cherry is a good boy. Cherry doesn't bite guests. But something takes over him and suddenly he's launching himself at the man. His jaw snaps closed around an evil arm and the man howls in well deserved pain.

-o-o-o-o-

"You pulled the sword?"

Izzy, a cat who lives in the castle, stops when she hears the hushed voice somewhere down the corridor. Curious, she pads forward and sits when she sees a man talking down to a young man. In the young man's arms is the most beautiful sword Izzy has ever seen… not that it matters. It's just shiny. She kind of wants to go over and swat at it.

"You know what this means, do you?"

The young man nods, his fingers are trembling. Strange, though that's not important to Izzy.

"You will bring the family name fame for years to come. This is what I have been training you for. What has the King said?"

"I'm to become Princess Zelda's personal appointed knight."

The man laughs and rubs his chin. Getting bored, Izzy brings her paw to her face and licks at her toes.

"Amazing. The rules are even more important now, son, don't forget them. You must keep up the image I have made for you now more than ever."

"Yes, sir."

The man reaches over and ruffles the young man's hair, but the young man simply stands still and stoney faced during what should have been an intimate gesture. Okay, now Izzy has completely lost interest in what's going on. She yawns and turns to leave.

-o-o-o-o-

The vulture is a sign of death, and he thinks there is plenty signs of that right now, but he's not dumb. The thing bringing death is evil and it won't let him eat, it will just kill him too. The sky is red and fire blazes and he just wants to fly away, but he's blinded by a golden light as he flies, a strong, powerful, hopeful golden light. It scares him more than anything, he doesn't stick around to find out what the light was.

-o-o-o-o-

The wolf is the most powerful creature in the wild, or that's what this wolf thinks. He wonders alone and hunts alone and is perfectly content doing so. The world is so wide and he's the king of it. He owns the forest, he owns the ruins, he lives and goes where he wants because no one, not even the monsters, will dare challenge him.

He has his territory, anything that goes in it dies.

He's wondering his forest, looking for a bite of food, when he sees something he rarely sees anywhere. A Hylian.

It's male and skinny and wearing horribly tattered clothes, not providing a smidge of protection for it's ugly bare skin. It is walking like a newborn, stumbling and panting. The wolf narrows its eyes. He's seen starvation before, and this Hylian clearly is suffering from it. Many have, he's seen so many Hylians collapse and whither away in the past few years.

Yet, this one seems special, important, even as the Hylian trips over its feet and lands on the ground hard. Even as it stills and clenches it's fists and screams into the dirt in anguish.

The wolf should kill it. Put it out of its misery… but that feeling that this one is special sticks around stubbornly. He growls to himself and turns away.

The sun sinks lower to the ground by the time he returns. The Hylian is still there, completely still, just blinking. The wolf sighs through the dead rabbit in its jaws and walks closer to the Hylian. It looks at him, startled, but too exhausted to do anything. The wolf sets the rabbit carcass down and the Hylian does nothing but stare.

The wolf huffs. Of course. The Hylian needs a fire to eat meat. How pathetic.

He turns and picks up a stick in his mouth, feeling humiliated but also that he needs to do this, and sets it down next to the Hylian. He goes and picks up another, and another, and another, until there's a small pile by the Hylian. Now it's up to it to eat. The wolf can't start a fire, he can't bring the Hylian all the way there.

He sits down and stares as it slowly blinks, then it's hand lifts and it's pushing itself up so it's sitting hunched back against a tree. With hands shaking, the Hylian reaches into its bag and pulls out a small black rock and a dagger. It takes a few tries, but soon there's a fire and the smell of cooking meat.

The Hylian eats, and when it looks up again, the wolf is gone, having finished what he felt he needed to do.

-o-o-o-o-

The horse is annoyed. Here she is, just wanting to nibble on the grass when all of a sudden a skinny person jumps on her back and grabs her hair. She's strong, she's wild, and he's weak. She kicks him off and he goes flying. She huffs and glares at him, but he's grinning and standing up from where he's landed, mud splashed against his face, making him look untamed.

She snorts and trots a distance away and continues to eat, but that's interrupted by the same skinny body and impish grin. She bucks him off and is extremely satisfied when she sees his own face screw up in annoyance. Good. He better be annoyed. It's only fair since he's ruining her lunch.

She trots away again, third time's a charm. Or it should be. Because once again the small body jumps on her back and clutches onto her hair. She doesn't even react. She just turns and glares at him.

He gives her a look, letting her know that she's not going to get rid of him.

Sighing in defeat, she shakes her head and let's him soothe her hair behind her ears. It kind of feels good... Though, the moment the small body gets off hers she's going to sprint away. She'll let him think he's won for now.

He rides her all the way to a small stable in the middle of the field. She can feel him get ready to jump off and she's about to bolt when he suddenly loses balance and tumbles hard onto the ground, an apple rolls from his hand.

Intrigued, she goes towards the apple and ignores the little person as he scrambles to his feet and brushes off his pants. He grabs the apple before she can get to it and holds it up in a teasing manner.

"If you want apples, you have to stay with me."

She glares at him. Who does this boy think he is? Does he really think she can be bribed with apples?

She eats it. Gets a new saddle. He calls her Zoie. As long as she gets apples she doesn't care. No, she doesn't care for the small person at all…

-o-o-o-o-

The cub is freezing, the bear thinks. The clouds rush above them and rain pelts down, soaking the world. Even she is cold, and she has thick fur to protect her. But this cub doesn't have fur, he's naked except for the strange cloth on his body. She can see him shivering beneath a tree canopy, rubbing his hands and glaring at the grass. The poor cub, she thinks.

She's about to leave it at that, she has her own cubs to think about back at the cave. She has to get food for her own, not this strange cub who looks like he won't survive the night with this rain.

Oh whose she kidding?

She goes through the undergrowth and approaches him. The moment the cub sees her his eyes widen and he jumps to his feet, a sword is drawn.

Not that it would do anything to her, he's weak and she's strong. The fear in his eyes confirms that he knows this. The wolves think they own the land, but the bear owns the wild. Nothing is stronger than she is.

She continues to approach and he sinks down to the ground, as if accepting his fate, but she doesn't bite his head off like what he must think. No, she grabs him by that strange cloth behind his neck and starts to drag him like she would with any other cub. He makes a surprised noise and a strange protest, but she ignores him and continues to gently carry him over to her home in the face of a cliff.

Her cubs make excited noises when they see the one in her mouth and they accept him willingly when she lays down and pushes them all against her, trying to keep them all warm. The strange cub stays very still for a very long time before she feels him relax and slowly fall asleep. She huffs and memorizes his scent, he's hers now. A child of the wild. He has a long road ahead of him, she's sure. But… she just knows he'll do just fine. Call it a mother's instinct.

-o-o-o-o-

The birds love to fly, but there is one place they never go. It's that really tall pointy thing in the middle of the fields. There's evil that lives there and strange monsters that like to shoot fire from their eyes. No way, they would like to keep their feathers on their bodies thank you very much.

But one day, that evil goes away with a grand explosion of golden light. It's so pure, and so beautiful. They watch as the great beast is taken down and destroyed, as light returns to the land. They fly, fly towards that structure and they wonder why they thought it was evil. It isn't, it's just a building. As they fly, they see a small Hylian. Two of them. One with a beautiful sword on it's back and the other with the face of a goddess.

Something special has happened, they think. Something very, very special.

-o-o-o-o-

"Wild, don't-"

The sound of a Hylian's voice is all the warning the stag gets before he's pounced on. Legs straddle his body and hands grab at his horns and he runs.

There's laughter coming from the person on his back, but the stag isn't happy at all.

-o-o-o-o-

For all of Wild's life, he has known the animals. They have always been there for him when people weren't, they have always brought him comfort, food, shelter, something to kill the boredom. He feels connected to them, even the ones he kills for food. He whispers thanks to them as he ends their lives, and he promises not to waste a single bit of their bodies. It's the least he can do, he thinks.

He's the Hero of the Wild, after all. The wild is his home, and the creatures that roam it are his brothers and sisters. It's strange, he knows, but he wouldn't ask for it to be any different.

[regrettablewritings]

Arthur Curry x Shy!Reader HC

A/N: Uhh... Heehee...Hi. I’m not gonna pussyfoot, this thing is way overdue. But for anyone who vaguely remembers, I had an anniversary fanfic raffle thingy back in January and ... yeah this is the result. Many, much, and eternal kudos to @this-red-in-my-ledger for their infinite patience with me and my perfectionist brain, tendency to overthink, weird motivation schedules, and school and work schedule, etc. Words cannot express how flustered I am at how late this is. I hope its length proves to be able to compensate at least 5% of what you’d hoped for. ...Though if it’s too long (and it most definitely is), please regard me as a fool who never learns. Once again, thank you so much for your patience, you are an absolute doll!!!

Despite being a man mostly shrouded in mystery, Arthur Curry was not exactly what some may refer to as “demure.” Aloof, maybe. Cynical, definitely. Reluctant to interact with others without an arguable consequence, most assured. But absolutely none of this is out of shyness. In fact, it’d probably an actual fact to claim that Arthur had nary a shy molecule in his entire being.

A man of his size and appearance could never afford the characteristic of being shy, not ever. But a man of his background had insecurities to spare. Specifically, those stemming from a sense that he didn’t quite belong with either world he had been linked to the moment his human father managed to conceive a child with an Atlantean queen.

Making matters worse is the unspoken sense of duty he has towards either realm, with assuring that both remain as safe as possible from both one another and outsiders sticking their noses where they ought not to.

This lack of belonging gave way to a rebellious attitude, one that led the man to apparently decide that if he wasn’t going to be provided an allegiance to begin with, as most people do, then he wouldn’t accept any unless he gave them the okay. It was just better this way: To push away than to pull or be pulled in. It was very liberating, having that sort of control over his own circumstances . . . Or so Arthur professed.

Nevertheless, Arthur took advantage of the devil-may-care reputation (or perhaps lack thereof, given his inability to stick to one place for too long). He owned that sense of disconnect and renamed it freedom. And he would own that freedom: He would take what he wanted within reason, party up if the circumstances were right, and leave with the tide.

. . . And then there was you.

You were also on the more closed off side, but for very different reasons. You didn’t have the same insecurities brought on by a lack of fitting in as Arthur had: You were just flat out shy.

However, you were nothing if not also dutiful and hard-working. That was what made you ideal in the eyes of one Lucius Fox, whose trust in you was enough for him to recommend you to Bruce Wayne’s services as his more publicized assistant. Though, in your own self-deprecating words, you were more like a glorified babysitter of sorts: When Alfred couldn’t accompany Bruce for certain travels, you came in handy to assure that there was always some form of backup.

(“He would attempt to survive off a diet of alcohol and perhaps occasionally a steak if he could,” Alfred scoffed once. “Maybe chased with only two hours’ worth of sleep, perhaps.”)

With Bruce’s newfound interest in finding the metahumans featured in Lex’s files, your presence was needed now more than ever

You admittedly had your hesitancies and were more than allowed to voice them but at this point, you knew it was mostly hopeless: You hadn’t been with Bruce for too, too long, but you had at least known him long enough to know that once his mind was made, it would take the combined force of a Kryptonian and Amazonian to actually move it.

And so here you were, out in an isolated village in Iceland, the wind slapping your face sore while your ass pained from riding on a pony across the rugged terrain. Your loyalty knew some bounds; unfortunately, these weren’t quite the bounds that would send your loyalties running. (Plus, the job paid well.)

It was this follow-you-to-the-ends-of-my-loyalty mindset that made you follow Bruce down, down, down into what you surmised might have served as the village’s gathering hall. All eyes were on you and Bruce, of course, as the two of you were outsiders in a hamlet that couldn’t have had a population expanding beyond perhaps seventy – and that was you being generous.

You were really hoping that some of that generosity would be extended to you, though: Their eyes bore into you with mixtures of curiosity and suspicion. You didn’t blame them for it, but it certainly did nothing for you dislike of having so much attention casted upon you.

You felt almost ashamed as you stuck to Bruce as a duckling does to whatever they’ve imprinted upon. You only let up once a decent enough crowd had gathered, and Bruce attempted to speak with the denizens about the metahuman he’d come to potentially acquire the assistance of.

And that was how you first laid eyes on Arthur Curry. Not that you had much of a choice: He was taller than even Bruce for one thing. And if that weren’t enough, his naturally-tanned skin and glorious dark-and-sandy locks surely stood out against the small sea of pale faces topped with mostly blond hair.

It also didn’t hurt the situation (or your eyes) that that this man was certainly quite attractive even at a distance. Ruggedly handsome, but not in the same way some might consider your employer.

This man had a look about him that said he could easily swig Jack in one hand and swing fists in the other without breaking a sweat. (However, if his body was anything like you imagined it must be beneath that clumpy sweater and dingy coat, you wouldn’t have minded seeing a little perspiration on him.)

These features proved to be key in your determining that this striking man differed from the rest.

Unfortunately, so could your boss. This, along with his smart mouth, let to the long-haired beauty of a man promptly grabbing your boss by the collar and slamming him into a wall, an aura of primal aggression radiating from him all the way to the back of the room where you stood.

 In short, your first introduction to Arthur Curry was far less than ideal. You were downright intimidated by this man more than you already were by default of your own timid nature. When the two men left the hall to discuss the matter, you made sure to keep your distance. You knew Bruce could more than take care of himself alone, but you couldn’t trust this new guy for jack shit after that scuffle.

“That your assistant?” Arthur questioned, glancing back at you. Your distance did nothing to hide your tensing at his sudden regard. Bruce sighed, exasperation coating the visible puff of air. “…Yes,” he responded gruffly. Arthur nodded with approval. “Nice…” he murmured before looking back at Bruce. “She single?” Bruce’s eyes narrowed with exasperation as they rolled in their sockets. He wasn’t sure which annoyed him more: That Arthur was clearly trying to remain off topic, or that he was doing so by using you (and with such a lackadaisical manner, no less). “Can we please focus on the matter?”

Yes, but to less than ideal results.

You stood there, gobsmacked as you watched the tan man begin to strip down. At first, your thoughts encircled around the insanity of it all: You were in the ice-blistering realm of Scandinavia during a particularly freezing bout, this lunatic was about to catch a death of cold!

As you were beginning to question further Bruce’s credibility for attempting to recruit such an idiot, however, Arthur removed his shirt – and your tune was peeled away along with it.

With the way you felt your cheeks burning, you no longer noticed the biting cold. His body was far more than what you’d initially imagined it to be. But perhaps more startling than his finely-cut physique were his eyes: Like the ghosts of sunken ships, illuminated by the sheer will to survive. You’d never seen anything like them, and you highly doubt you ever would again.

They flickered in your direction once more, for a split second, before returning to Bruce. “You’re out of your mind, Bruce Wayne,” Arthur ridiculed, and his sights went back to you. You felt your heart leap ever so slightly as you watched him aim a nod at your person. He then flipped back into the water before torpedoing elsewhere, away for your boss’s ludicrous proposal.

That would’ve been the last you’d have seen of Arthur Curry, had it not been for Steppenwolf’s less than pleasant surprise visit to Atlantis.

The next time you saw Arthur, he wasn’t nearly as undressed as the last time you’d seen him. You experienced a very short-lived flicker of disappointment, overthrown by the concern with the reason as to why he’d even taken up the previously rejected offer of joining the team.

Also . . . Whatever he was wearing did look quite impressive on him. Almost draconian, yet doubtlessly born in the sea. Much like the man himself.

And, once again, Arthur was quite aware of your stares at him whenever you entered the area. When you came to the Batcave to serve Bruce and “his new friends” drinks or to bring down any equipment as requested by Alfred, you would always somehow manage to spar Arthur a glance.

Unfortunately, not much was exchanged beyond a simple “thank you” or “excuse me.” Even on Arthur’s end, he could barely get a flirtation in before he’d be ushered elsewhere or snapped at about losing focus by your employer. And you? Expecting your coyness to be put aside for one second just to speak to somebody of his stature was an order taller than the man himself. (Plus there was the whole “he’s only here because Steppenwolf got the Mother Boxes and was preparing to bring about the Earth’s reckoning” but, you know, what can you do?)

Which was a shame: From what you were able to conclude from what few and often distant interactions you’d had or were able to observe, Arthur wasn’t as bad of a guy as he’d made himself out to be back in Iceland.

Back in the village, he was cold and gruff, exuding an air that said he was constantly ready to knock somebody’s teeth in over the smallest slight no matter how unintentional. But here? More laidback, still somewhat intimidating, but in the same way as a fellow who hung out at the local tattoo parlor and made small talk with the artists and customers but otherwise caused no real trouble.

Plus, his wiseass comments toward Bruce even managed to crack a smile out of you – something which he made note of and couldn’t help but muster pride from.

All things considered, the pleasant relief that he wasn’t as bad as you’d thought managed to relax the nerves you’d accumulated since you first laid eyes on him. It almost made you forget that you were on the verge of the end of the world. Almost.

Things were being received surprisingly well on Arthur’s end, also.

While you admittedly weren’t the type he usually found himself drawn to (which must be noted was essentially closer to a female version of himself), your more introverted nature still had its charms.

For what it was worth, he initially read your timid nature as one of a “stone-cold bitch” in the most respectful sense: The image of the aloof, perpetually unimpressed career woman who took no shit from her male coworkers (or, in this case, employers), and who always had an acerbic comment waiting to drip off her tongue if pushed beyond a limit she had personally set. Basically, his expectation of you in your “natural habitat” had been formulated through what he’d seen on TV or in movies.

Regardless of whether you truly did have anything to snap with, however, this proved to not be case exactly.

He quickly noticed that your quiet, withdrawn attitude wasn’t one of disinterest as he assumed anyone working for the likes of Bruce Wayne would be in possession of. In fact, on the contrary, you seemed quite interested in the matters at hand. He could see it in the little things: The ways you might lean in somewhat whenever Bruce brought up a diagram or whenever Victor brought forward new information; the occasion where you would tap Bruce’s shoulder, prompting him to lean towards you so that you might show him whatever it was you had pulled up on a tablet that might service the cause; that glimmer in your eyes that Arthur had managed to catch sight of during the very, very few moments he was just close enough and you simultaneously dared to look up at him.

The first time he’d seen it, he thought it might have been a fluke or the trick of lighting. Maybe he’d mistaken it for a desperation to leave, call the rest of the night off, and spend what may be your last night of existence binging Netflix and pizza at home.

But the second time he’d caught it, Arthur knew what he saw: Dedication, a yearning to be a part of this to a bigger extent than what you already were. But on that note . . .

He did also capture some nerves in your glances: Ones that, in spite of your eagerness to help, also seemed to want you to hide behind a one-way mirror and pitch in without the possibility of sounding clueless or out of line. In short: You weren’t this stone-cold bitch who would, without hesitation, necessarily break a man’s balls beneath her heels – you were just a bashful ball of nerves, and not in the nervy sense of being emboldened enough to look him dead in the eyes!

Not at all the type he usually found himself looking at. In fact, it was the brash, almost bullyish part of him that was beginning to coax him into teasing you a little bit, maybe riling you up.

And yet . . . He liked for someone of such an introverted manner, you seemed to have a lot more going on than what he’d initially thought. Almost like an oyster, if he could be pardoned for the clumsy comparison.

After witnessing the smiles you would occasionally share with Diana, the ever-present, underlying flame of determination that flickered as you helped to prepare the team for what was to come . . . Arthur Curry couldn’t help but wonder what more there was to you. What lay deep in your depths, beneath the seemingly one-note surface?

Plus, let’s be real: he had totally been checking out your ass every chance he got. The weather-proof gear he’d seen you in back in Iceland did absolutely no justice to your figure. He was quite pleased with what lay beneath all those goose down wears.

As you watched the team depart for Russia, you couldn’t help but feel your stomach drop into a low, dirty pit. There was no guarantee that anything would work into anyone’s favor, but you forced yourself to keep a calm countenance as you followed Alfred back into the labs. There was no use in worrying; all you could do was hope for the best. In the meantime, it would do some good to help monitor Bruce’s mechanisms.

Still, you found yourself considering the weight in your stomach, that sickening twist that twanged almost nauseatingly when you regarded what its source was: The regret of not having actually spoken more extensively with Arthur.

You found it weird that you were feeling so much over someone you’d barely met. Sure, the version of him that had been here not even a full hour earlier was a complete upgrade from the one you’d met less than a week ago. But still, it seemed odd of you to put that much weight in not having talked with the nearly complete stranger.

“Well,” a voice in your head thought, “isn’t that more reason to have gotten to know him better?”

You blinked at the intrusive thought.

You were unable to stop your thought process from forming its next declaration: “If they survive this, I’m going to overcome this shyness and actually freaking attempt to talk more with Arthur Curry.”

Meanwhile, on the Flying Fox, Arthur Curry was glowering: Diana had left that stupid lasso laying all will-nilly, and he’d been its unfortunate victim. At this point, he’d made an ass of himself by light-way insulting all the males onboard, flirting with its one member of the fairer sex, and then going back to Bruce to say, “ – and you know what? I don’t wanna die! I’m young, there’s shit that I wanna do – like Bruce’s hot assistant.” Bruce’s eyes hardened, befuddled at the crudeness. And yet, he couldn’t stop himself. “Don’t gimme that look, I know you’ve seen her. Look, man, if I survive this, I’m asking her out, sorry that you missed your shot but – ”

By the time he’d realized the extent of what he’d said, the damage had been done. He scowled as he tossed the Amazon the Lasso of Hestia and threatened Barry to keep his silence of the series of revelations before storming off, face burning. He trusted the other three members to hold some semblance of maturity on the matter and never bring any aspects of it back up.

He’d put too much faith into the one who was the most mature of them all.

“I look forward to you keeping your promise,” Diana smiled, almost tauntingly.

Arthur Curry sat onboard the flying transport. Against all odds, they had won, and now they were en route to Gotham, where he’d left his more comfortable clothes, where a nice, hot shower was, where a place to crash (courtesy of Bruce’s hotel connections) was, and where –

His pale eyes widened in spite of their owner’s exhaustion. Shit. Shit.

Gotham was also where you were: single, shy, giving off no hints as to whether you were ready to mingle, much less with the likes of him.

Your heart was beating so fast, you thought you were about to vomit it up. Sure, you’d told yourself you were going to attempt to talk with Arthur if he got back. But if you were being honest, you were sort of hoping it’d be after a buffer of time where he would be recuperating from the battle and you would be prepping yourself to actually speak with the rugged man. That, and you were really thrown off by the fact that not ten minutes after he’d gotten off the Flying Fox, he had marched straight up to you. He hadn’t even changed out of his war gear, arguably adding to his threatening appearance.

And yet, everything he said and the manner with which he said them seemed to work against his daunting form.

“I uh…I honestly didn’t think this would wind up happening. To be honest,” he coughed, hand scratching at the back of his wavy locks. He was even less like the man you’d met in Scandinavia than before.

“Uh . . . Listen.” He steadied his eyes on you, causing you to tense somewhat visibly. “I know we haven’t . . .” he lazily gestured his hand in a rolling motion “—talked. Formally, I mean. But I kinda made a promise sorta thing and . . . Okay, look, I think you’re really hot in a sorta sexy secretary kinda way but also I think it’s kinda cute that you always wanna help and all and sorry for being fresh but you’ve also got this real sweet caboose on ya and I just – ”

He froze. You weren’t sure if it was because you possibly had a rejecting expression (really, all you knew about your face right now was that it was blazing with blush and that your eyes were wider than usual), or if he’d considered the possibility that he’d gone too far with the blunt statement about your ass. However, as he glanced down and grimaced, you found your answer: There, wrapped around his lower thigh just enough for impact, was a shining lasso, the rest of which trailed away from the two of you. Its end was found, wrapped around the hands of one grinning Diana.

Well shit.

After forcing himself to calm down from the huffiness left from removing the lasso, Arthur cut to the chase: “So anyway, I was wondering if maybe you’d like to get a drink with me? Or something?” At that last bit, you could’ve sworn you could make out a very specific type of infliction. It was a very familiar one to you because it had been the same kind that plagued you your entire life: One of shyness.

Arthur noticed it as well and inwardly cringed. His alpha male persona? Ruined by the slip of a tone.

But for you? It was just what you needed to feel encouraged to look into those strange eyes of his and actually respond.

“Well…,” you began, if not a bit quiet and trembly (after all, you weren’t completely removed of your nerves), “I’m not sure if a bar is exactly the greatest first place to get to know one another.” You quickly added ad you watched his shoulders begin t slump, “Buuuuttt…maybe I could have a certain somebody pull a few strings; get us a nice place to ourselves?”

Two things then happened that pleased either party: Your eyes replicated that twinkle of interest that had him intrigued before; and he smiled a genuine smile. It was a very nice one, if you said so yourself.

Nobody honestly expected the relationship to go entirely too well, save for Diana. Arthur is brash and gung-ho and while the team now knows he’s capable of a softer side, his demands that they never bring it up again honestly make them hesitant to trust in his ability to show that part of himself to you.

Your shyness, coupled with your sensitivity, mean that he’s going to have to at least try and tone it down a bit; you’re at a 4 or 5 at best! – and he’s at an 11 when you need him closer to maybe a 7.

Bruce, against his initial intentions, sort of goes into Papa Wolf mode where he lightly threatens to mess Arthur up if he puts you out of your comfort zone

What can we say? Bruce has some paternal traits kicking around in him.

Still, he prepares himself for the worst when the day finally comes. To his surprise, however you don’t call him in hysterics, ranting about what a jackass his unrulier teammate is. You don’t call off the next day due to a rage-drinking-induced hangover, or even from one caused by you feeling pressured to keep taking shots.

Instead, you arrive at work practically glowing.

To everyone’s surprise, Arthur isn’t too bad of a boyfriend for you.

Okay, he’s actually just flat out not a bad boyfriend period.

His intense demeanor makes it so that nobody dares mess with you when you go for walks downtown; his sense of humor surprisingly tickles you, and he finds yours to be appealing in its own right. He knows you struggle with speaking to others, even if you need help, so he has no problem with stepping in and making sure that you get what you need and that nobody takes advantage of your demure mannerisms.

Plus, to everyone’s surprise (including his own), he likes talking with you. That interest in your unintentional enigma never went away: he wants to crack you open, see what pearls of intrigue lay within you that you don’t generally bring to surface for everyone. He feels honored to be the one with the most potential to see all of it.

(Though, to be brutally honest, he’s still going to tease you about certain aspects of yours. Maybe lightheartedly, but nevertheless with frequent vengeance. Calling him Fishcakes tends to get him to back off for a little bit, though.)

Unfortunately, due to his commitments (as a hero, as a ruler, etc), he can’t always be there. But he tries his damndest to make it up to you whenever he’s back in town.

Dates between the two of you are kinda compromised.

Arthur isn’t used to having a long-term relationship, so dates with actual meaning are a bit wobbly for him. Honestly, given his history, a “date” usually meant going to a bar, him and the girl he’s with getting hammered, and getting frisky.

Maybe they’d try it again another time, but nothing serious ever came of it because it was made from nothing serious.

Bars – at least the dives he’s used to – aren’t necessarily your scene, though. So he has to get a little creative.

He’s learned to swallow his insults aimed at museums and bookstores because if it means seeing you smile, then it ain’t all that bad, is it?

You’re still gonna buy him, like, three cheeseburgers after this, though, make no mistake.

Besides, picnics in the park have their pros: For one, it gives him an excuse to put his head in your lap and demand you scratch his scalp for a bit while he takes it easy,

The two of you don’t really go to the aquarium, though; it makes him feel a little anxious to see all these aquatic creatures contained.

Plus, he’s heard what some of them are thinking and it’s generally not good

He enjoys taking you to places with “good water.” As in “nowhere near the shithole that is Gotham or the arguably polished turd that is Metropolis.”

If you’re up to it, he’ll happily create a pocket of air for the two of you and speed the both of you to clearer ocean waters. (Don’t worry, he’ll hold you nice and tight, nothing to worry about.)

If this man can get a date with you at a beach, he’s one happy fellow. He’s totally in his element and is in the perfect environment where he can show off not only his body, but his abilities.

Even if you just want to keep it simple and build sandcastles or collect seashells, he’s going to find ways of showing off: He’ll manipulate the tide a smidge to keep it from coming in and ruining your hard work, or he’ll request his aquatic friends to make scooch some pretty shells or any available sea glass close enough to the shoreline that the tide will do the rest.

You may roll your eyes at this, but you do eventually thank him for it after every time. After all, you now possess a mighty fine bowl full of gorgeous shells and soft, rounded pieces of green glass because of his efforts.

He enjoys trying to find ways to get you to open up a bit more.

It’s not that he finds your shyness annoying or necessarily a hindrance, far from it: he enjoys that your modesty sort of creates a series of slides for him to try and pull back, creating layers upon layers of new things to learn and love about you.

But, as mentioned before, he can’t always be there: He doesn’t like the idea of you becoming too reliant on his boisterous behavior and getting taken advantage of during one of the instances where he isn’t present.

“M’kay, so you’re at a bar – ” “Lies, slander, libel, misinterpretation of character – ” “Fine,” he says through gritted teeth. “You’re at the ice cream parlor – shut it, you had your chance – and some, I dunno, punk who frequents the sodie fountain comes up to you and starts causing you trouble. What do we do?” “Tell him to please leave me be, I’m trying to enjoy my sundae.” “Mhm, or?” “If he’s persistent, call management.” “Good, and what else?” “Well, jeez, Arthur, do you want me to break a milkshake glass on the counter and use it as a shiv!?” “Noooooo: You could always say, ‘Piss off or else my big, scary boyfriend’s gonna come and shove a piranha down your dick.’” “What the – I’m not saying that!” “Not now, you’re not, but by the end of our training, you’ll be saying all kinds of tough guy and gal things!”

It’s . . . a work in progress.

He loves it when you blush. Even if you have dark skin, he’s picked up on cues that hint that your face is on fire.

He’s more observant than he lets in on, but trust me: he knows how to read you after getting to know you. He can see that way you smile or that certain way your eyes may flicker or whatever may have you and instantly know that roses are blooming in your cheeks.

“Aaaawww, is Babygirl feelin’ sheepish?” “Shut up, you big fool.”

Now, when it comes to the more . . . physical side of the relationship, he struggles with taking it slow

Not to knock on you, but Arthur’s rather used to women throwing themselves at him. Hell, he’s had at least two women wrap their legs around his waist in the same evening he’d taken them out on their first (and often only) date.

It’s because he’s used to, well, bolder types of women.

Honestly, he struggles for a good while: He’s not going to force you to do anything you don’t feel comfortable with, not ever, but he’d be lying if he said it was easy to not think about smashing his lips against yours and pinning you to a wall (preferably around Bruce’s place) and mark you up with hickies and possibly other, more personal things.

However, this change of pacing in a relationship, coupled with the fact that this is his first long-term one, does the man good: It teaches him more patience and consideration.

He even begins to enjoy the softer, sweeter things that he’d previously scoffed at as being “too vanilla”, such as kisses to the forehead or hand-holding.

Still, he does get strong makeout hankerings. (If you appease him, he’s more than grateful every time.)

That being said, if and/or when you do start to feel a bit braver about venturing further into the realm of intimacy, you still may possess some insecurities.

You’re no fool – you know what sort of man you have on your hands. You don’t need to look to the sides or behind you when the two of you walk somewhere to know that he’s being checked out by at least three people. He’s practically a demigod species-wise, and still remarkably attractive from the viewpoint of him being a normal human.

Even though you try not to, you can’t help but let some worries slip through the cracks: Maybe you’re just an appetizer to hold him over until he lands his sights on a more “fulfilling” meal; maybe you’re too plain for him (you know that that’s what goes through the minds of many gawkers); maybe you should show more skin . . .

But worry not: Cliché as it may sound, Arthur very much likes you the way you are. If you’re comfortable with you, then he’s comfortable with you. In fact, it makes him admire you even harder because it shows you’ve managed to do something he still struggles with: Being comfortable with his own self.

He finds it very sexy when you think you look nice in an outfit or when you take even the tiniest step out of your comfort zone to try a new look or accessory, and will honestly struggle all the more with keeping his hands or lips to himself.

But once you give him the okay, he’s all over that: Hands squeezing that ass he loves so much, kisses below the neck, utterances of flirtations ranging from PG to downright dirty.

If you gather up the guts to move even further or just flat out hit a homerun, it becomes a guidebook in itself.

Protip: One of the sexiest things you can do? Simply where one of his shirts, which is oversized on you thanks to his massive height. It doesn’t have to be wet, but it sure isn’t a problem in his eyes.

Cuddles. The boy is a slut for cuddles no matter what he tells you. Arthur may not necessarily be touch-starved, but he’s definitely bankrupt on accumulated touches of affection. His loner attitude always made it difficult for him to receive that sort of thing, especially since nobody he went out with was ever in the picture for too long. So when it hits him that in this relationship, such a thing is not only possible but welcome, he can’t help but feel a well of excitement brewing within him.

You in his lap, you by his side, you with your head on his chest, traditional spooning, you with your head on his lap or vice-versa, him lying down with you on his back, him sitting on the floor between your legs or the opposite, his loves it all!

The problem is, he won’t even admit this to you. But he tries to be sneaky about getting what he wants.

“What’s the matter?” “Hm? Nothing.” “Really? You look sad; you need me to cuddle you?” “What? I mean, it’d be nice but I’m not really –” He sighs, as if exasperated, “Can’t be helped; c’mere.” You aren’t given much time to object as you find yourself being collected into his warm, muscular embrace.

Sometimes, however . . . he slips up. And by that, I mean he’ll “happen” to slip into bed or onto the couch next to you in a way that presents himself as the little spoon.

Actually, of all the ways he likes to cuddle, jetpacking may be his favorite. Unfortunately, unless you think enough about it, you’d probably not notice it until later in the relationship due to how rarely he lets it happen. But it makes perfect sense otherwise: He’s so used to everybody having expectations for him. He’s so used to feeling obligated to do all these things for worlds he doesn’t necessarily feel the strongest connection with. Going off of that, there was the life-long sense of not being completely bound to either existence, creating insecurities galore.

Sure, he’s started to take the steps in the right direction but it’s still very hard, especially since those steps are accompanied with the extra weight of him now being a member of something bigger: An appointed rule of Atlantis, a balance-keeper between the land and the sea, a member of an actual team . . .

You don’t need to be told that it’s frustrating. You truly do commend him for taking it as well as he is.

But obviously, it takes its toll on the guy more often than he’d let his teammates in on, so it often times falls on you to help him cope.

Interestingly, this honestly seems to be the most he lets you do. Or rather, the most that even needs to be done at all.

But the fact of the matter is, you’ve come to love this position as well.

Because it allows you to feel like the brave and strong one in the relationship, just like how you suspect Arthur must feel much of the time. The way Arthur constantly wants you to feel, not so that he doesn’t have to try as hard at being a boyfriend to a person so different from him, but because he wants the best for you and doesn’t want the world to hurt you or make you feel out of place for who you are. Of course, he doesn’t want you to change, but he does want you to recognize the inner-strength you have, the inner-strength he sometimes worries you forget about amidst your worries and own frustrations.

But for the meantime, this will do: With your big, brash aquatic boyfriend allowing himself to feel delicate, and your usually quiet and shy self, feeling brave and protective.

It surprisingly works, this weird little world the two of you have created together. You both find that you fit into it together quite perfectly.

[notesofarichlycolorednight]

Hi! How do you think Luke's personality would be if he survived, and how would it change during the years? I'm not talking about the campers' reactions,but how Luke would think and act.

hello hello!

oh man, that’s an interesting question and i LOVE IT

so by the wording of your question, it sounds like if the titan war still happened, but luke somehow survived after getting rid of kronos, how he might change in the yrs following

and so, hcs!! in bullet-form!! as always under a cut

so he luke miraculously survives hitting his achilles’ heel

and let’s pretend the gods are a sliver decent and actually fulfill percy’s wish/reward, which now includes luke since he’s alive, and did help save the gods in the end

so he’s not exactly punished, but he is being monitored heavily, almost like he’s on parole or smth

i know it’s hard to believe they’d completely let him off, even in this au, so i’ll throw in a magical ankle bracelet that monitors him–he can’t take it off (without the gods being alerted), or go outside of nyc’s five boroughs, which includes into any magical realms (like the underworld, since there’s an entrance in central park)

if he heads into areas that have high demigod activity/magical auras, with chb as the exception, it alerts whoever now has the task of monitoring him to keep a closer eye on him for that time he’s there

suspicious activity is flagged, and they can recall him to mt olympus and detain him at any time if they think that he’s becoming a danger to the gods again

speaking of chb, i don’t think he’d be able to stay there after the titan war, too many painful memories–too many ppl who hate him, or don’t trust him, etc.

it’s hard to say what his and annabeth’s relationship would be. as i’ve said in a previous ask, i think luke was asking if annabeth still considered him family, and she does. but i think luke would be too guilt-ridden to interact with her at first

not to mention that percy is v protective, and while they may have had a tender moment abt not letting all that happen again, i think percy would have a hard time trusting him

thalia’s now with the hunters, and has clearly shown what she thinks of luke’s betrayal, so that’s no good either

i think grover would be more open to luke, but luke would probably avoid him like he avoid annabeth bc of the guilt. and grover’s a busy satyr now, so that doesn’t help

so basically anyone he considered close to him in childhood is on shaky ground and he’s not sure what to do abt that, bc demigods are only taught abt fighting and battle, instead of that and emotional and psychological health wheeeeeee

since he can’t leave nyc, he finds like a hostel or smth to stay in while he figures shit out and tries to get back on his feet

he’s suffering p heavily from ptsd and still has terrible nightmares abt kronos and being possessed by kronos, which doesn’t help

he can’t hold a steady job bc he only knows how to fight and has no social skills whatsoever, so he becomes some low-level conman to make some income

he still hates his father, so it’s hard to acknowledge that his father’s skills are helping hi survive right now, as much as he’d like to believe that he’s surviving all on his own

at some point, he tries to con one of the demigods who’ve made it without chb (a demigod whose parent is a minor god). thankfully, they’re nice abt it and introduce him to a demigod underworld, so to speak

i wouldn’t say it’s as sinister as our criminal underworld–it’s really more of a society of demigods who were forgotten (unclaimed kids) or never made it to camp (children of minor gods), but found a way to survive with little to no training from camp, despite the monsters and technology

luke is suddently introduced to a whole new world, and that’s when his life really starts moving forward again

these demigods are angry and bitter, yeah, but they take that and turn it into motivation to live and thrive–basically living bc of spite. fuck the gods, fuck my parents, i’ll show them i don’t need them or chb

(like rick has this weird thing abt writing kids who say that, but then talk abt how much they want their godly parent’s approval. or to prove that they’re worth of their godly parent’s attention. and like i get why, but that’s not true for everyone??? having been adopted, i come from a perspective of, yeah, i am a little curious abt who my biological parents are, but i’m not dying to reunite with them or anything bc i don’t need to??? i have everything i need right here–a loving mom, and awesome friends, who i would consider family. even if i did want to know who they were, their approval of who i am now doesn’t matter to me. i don’t need to prove anything to them, nor should i need to for their attention. like that’s shitty to expect that from your child, and a horribly mindset to instill in a child)

and so i imagine it’s the same for a lot of demigods, too /tangent

anyway, so i’d like to think that this society is pretty structured–it’s a mish-mash of kids of major gods who were never claimed and of minor gods. some do resort to criminal activity, others work minimum wage jobs, and still others who are making higher than minimum wage, with some even making six figures ya know. basically they still function within the larger mortal society, but they’re also part of this hidden demigod society, you feel?

but they always take in demigods who could use some help out in the real world, regardless of who their parents are and whether or not they’ve been claimed/lived at chb

hephaestus kids have built a closed-circuit network that makes tech safer for them to use, and it also helps them communicate with each other as well as any mortal they make friends with, etc.

and their secret society is hidden within a company (kinda like how the three roman emperors hid themselves within a company, except without the evil part), and it’s v socialist–so they do what they can to help those who don’t have anything, until they can get back on their feet, and then put back into the society and help others

so luke is introduced to this hidden world within the mortal one of new york

i’d like to think he’s p instantly recognizable (to most, not all), but they don’t hold any grudges or bitterness like those at chb to bc they understand that he was fighting for them, even if he was going abt it the wrong way

some put him on a pedestal (he’s the face of our hidden society or he could take up the company or smth), but another kid of hermes comes along and shows him the ropes, not expecting anything from him

they get him therapy to work on his anger issues as well as his ptsd, and he slowly learns social skills

there are two large apt buildings that the company owns that only house demigods (but not all the demigods who are part of this society), and they find him a small one bed/one bath apartment to live in

as he gets better, he stops resorting to criminal activity and finds a steady job working at a tech company, bc he doesn’t have to interact with ppl like in retail, and when he does, its coworkers who think the same as he does

i also like to think he starts mend those relationships he lost with annabeth and grover. thalia’s a little harder to reach, but once he starts communicating with annabeth more, annabeth tells thalia abt his progress, and thalia sneaks away to visit him on occasion

it’s rough at first, as it always is, bc he did a lot of bad things and hurt a lot of ppl

but he apologizes to all of them–annabeth, grover, thalia, and even percy

they start to hang out occasionally, and luke almost become a mentor to percy again

(we’re kinda ignoring hoo rn for luke’s mental health, but percy most definitely talks to luke abt how he can see where luke was coming from during the second titan war after that whole prophecy nightmare)

eventually, they become friends, even family

he’s happy to hear that the camp is expanding, allowing minor demigods; the hermes cabin is far less crowded

but luke still holds a lot of anger and bitterness. even living within this secret society, it’s yet another symptom of the gods’ lack of caring (like the crowded hermes cabin)

even with percy’s request and the expanding camp, luke still hears of demigods joining their society, which is a little disheartening if only bc it still represents the gods’ lack of caring

with the help of therapy, tho, he’s learning to channel is anger into smth productive

instead of trying to raise evil entities, he throws himself into the business that their society is hidden in. he wants to know all the inner workings of both the demigod and mortal side bc he wants to help as many demigods he can

bc in the end, he’s still a scared, lost little nine year old boy who just wants someone to be there for other demigods since no one was there for him

oh and speaking of, he finds the courage to visit him mom again! annabeth goes with him, since he’s still working through all that shit with his therapist (and lbr, that’s smth that someone might never work through, just learn to cope with)

i wouldn’t say he visits her often, but he spends some of his income and hires a caregiver to help around the house, but also to take care of may. since the prophecy has been fulfilled, her visions aren’t as bad, and she doesn’t have so many spells, but her mind is still quite lost bc the curse is still there

eventually, luke works his way up the ranks of the company bc he sees the good that this society is doing, and wants to be a part of that. he can finally help these demigods that doesn’t involve destroying the world

he starts to visit camp a little, but usually only talks with chiron abt the changes that they could make to the camp to better help the kids there. the whole place, tho, still holds a lot of painful memories that luke would just rather forget. so he doesn’t go often

it’s a long, long process and luke stays in therapy indefinitely, but the work he’s doing with the company, and the demigods he interacts with on a daily basis help him a lot

he slowly heals, and mends fences, as well as makes new friends and bonds

he never truly lets go of his anger and bitterness, and for the most part he just kinda ignores the gods. remembering what he did during the titan war still haunts him, but he uses those memories as a reminder and promises to never do anything like that again

and this time he keeps his promise!

*sniffles* look at my bby boy growing up and healing. 

despite liking white collar!luke (which i could see this so easily sprouting from your initial question), i wanted to take this in a different route and really delve into his healing process bc it’s like a salve to my soul. it’s so easy to ignore emotional and psychological health, but for anyone it’s so, so important to address those issues and work through them ya know?

like i advocate for mental health and stability! as well as emotional healing, esp for men bc it breaks down that toxic masculinity. and toxic masculinity often does lead to expressions of anger and violence in men in our society

i could probably say more, but i’ll leave it there for now. it feels like a good stopping point. hmu if you’d like to hear more specifics abt anything within this au!! i’d be happy to write more abt this au :D

thanks for sending this in, anon!!

[animeyanderelover]

It’s been a while since I posted Hc’s so I decided to do it. In this Hc’s the s/o is a human.

Tw: Yandere themes, unhealthy mindset, unhealthy relationship, possessiveness, obsessiveness, delusions, stalking, strictness, manipulation, mentions of kidnapping, mentions of killing

Yandere Grim Reaper Hc’s

Grell Sutcliff

🟥Grell is definitely a stalker. She watches her darling nearly all the time when they’re sleeping, eating, taking a shower. She takes tons of pictures from them, making sure to capture everything. She’s also the obsessive type, stealing the s/o’s clothes and wears them, enjoying the wonderful scent of her darling on them.

🟥Also the possessive type, the thought that her darling belongs to only her gets this girl excited and she makes sure that this dream will become reality. Clingy as fuck, when she’s near her darling she’s basically glued to their hips all the time.

🟥She’s possessive and clingy, not a good mix. She despises it when someone else is talking to her darling and is quick to act on it. She’ll smile at the person with her razorsharp teeth and that’s enough to scare anyone away. But she makes sure that this person gets a “little lesson” later.

🟥She’s willing to get messy for the s/o, even if it means troubles with William. Grell kills anyone as long as it means having her s/o for herself. She’ll beat that person bloody and brutally up before ending their life.

🟥For a long time she just watches you before deciding to kidnap you. Even though she has fun with killing all the people who dare to try to take you away from her, at some point she gets a little bit annoyed. But don’t worry too much, I can absolutely see her as someone who wants to do outside activities with her darling. If you behave, she’ll take you out quite often by herself.

🟥Grell is in my opinion a bit creepy, but also incredibly sweet and charming to you. She loves cuddling you or wearing your clothes and makes sure to shower you in affection and gifts. Expect a lot of cuddles. Loves doing couple things with you. She might also try to convince her darling to become a grim reaper. The thought of you and her being together for the rest of your long lifetimes and ending people’s life together makes this girl jump around thrilled.

Ronald Knox

😃Ronald strikes me as a manipulative one. This guy is very sociable and charming as well, he knows what to say to get the s/o to stay with him. He’ll manipulate his darling without them noticing and for some reason the s/o finds themself distancing from everyone. It’s all Ronald’s fault. Pretty clingy as well with a small mix of possessiveness.

😃Also an obsessive one. Ronald has a huge interest in the lifestyle of humans and he’s most interested in his darling’s lifestyle. He makes sure to find out as much as possible about them so he can always talk with them about things he knows they like. This lets his darling instantly feel a connection between the two of them when they talk. Do not wonder if he sometimes stares at you with lovesick eyes because that is what he is.

😃Ronald is as mentioned charming and funny, knowing how to make a place in your heart. Times spend with him are always funny and great and since he manipulates you into distancing yourself from others and spend all your time with him there’s most of the time no reason to get jealous. But if the s/o insists on spending time with others he’ll get jealous and guilt trip them hard.

😃Ronald only kills someone if they possess a threat towards his darling, meaning if they like the s/o or want to harm them. Then they’re dead the same night. Screw the paper work, you’re worth it.

😃Ronald wouldn’t want to kidnap the s/o hoping that he can rely on his charm to win their heart. He only kidnaps his darling if they try to avoid him or start to fall for someone else. That’s when Ronald gets slightly angry. He spends so much time with the s/o and is always there for them and they thank him like this?! That’s a big no for him. He really wanted to not do it, but now it seems like it can’t be helped, right?

😃He’s one of the better ones because he’s just so funny, charming and in general a nice person. It would be definitely hard for you to not fall in love with this guy even after he kidnapped you. Will also try to convince you to become a grim reaper.

William T. Spears

📒William is in my opinion a stalker, choosing to watch the s/o most of the time from the distance and making notes about their every movements what makes him the obsessive type as well. The s/o will always feel watched, no matter where they are!

📒He’s also the aware Yandere, he knows that these feelings he has for you aren’t normal. I believe at first he tried to avoid the s/o, thinking he could get his feelings under control, but he realized that this was a huge lie to himself. Also a strict Yandere, as soon as he has his darling, he expects a lot from them.

📒Calm and collected. This guy feels jealousy, but can endure it very well. It takes a while for him until he loses it. But then he makes sure to remove that little problem.

📒He hates extra work and tries to avoid it, but if someone pushes his limits then he makes sure to find a way to give that person an early death.

📒Kidnapping is the last option for him and he’ll only resort to it if he can’t get rid of someone else who stands in his way. He makes sure to have the perfect strategy to kidnap the s/o.

📒Calm, collected, strict and cold is a frightening mix in a Yandere, but also has it’s advantage. He has almost infinite patience with you and takes care of your needs very well. This guy has most likely your whole day scheduled and makes sure that you behave. He wants the both of you look perfect together and this guy will force you to become a grim reaper whether you like it or not.

Undertaker

⚰️Undertaker is such a two faced guy which is perfectly reflected in his Yandere behavior. On the one hand he’s clingy and obsessive. Undertaker never thought that the life of other humans was really interesting, but the s/o managed to change that. Suddenly there’s more to it and he wants to find out what exactly about his darling’s life fascinates him so much. This guy will somehow always bump into his darling, will always be in the same places they are.

⚰️But on the other hand he’s also very possessive, manipulative and overprotective. He lost already much with the death of the Earl Phantomhive and as a Grim Reaper he knows how fragile human’s life are. So he makes sure that nothing happens to the s/o. This guy has such an easy time to fool you without you noticing since you’re only familiar with his goofy side and don’t know his dark secrets.

⚰️Jealousy? Not for too long! He gets jealous easily as soon as someone else makes his darling smile and laugh. Only he should make them smile and laugh like this! That person won’t live long enough to witness the next day.

⚰️Different from the other Grim Reapers on the list Undertaker has retired a long time ago and doesn’t need to care over troubles with superior Reapers or extra paper work. He’s free to kill everyone who stands in his way with the s/o and that’s exactly what he does. Persons who make him jealous, hurt his darling or are a threat for them. No harm shall ever come to his darling and he’s ready to slaughter everyone for their safety.

⚰️Undertaker will kidnap his s/o rather quickly simply because he’s too worried for their safety. But don’t worry for someone who kills so willingly he makes sure that you’re as comfortable as possible.

⚰️I would put him in a yellow zone because of his two faced character. He has no mercy for everyone who harms you, but he’ll treat you like a fragile little doll, always careful to not harm you. If you try to escape he locks you in a coffin for a few hours before letting you out again, nothing more. He’s such a sweetheart for you, always joking to see that smile on your face and always giving you so much affection and love. But it’s scary to see when he cuts someone in half for causing you pain. He will find a way to extend your lifetime. The question is if it will be through legal or illegal actions because this guy doesn’t care for that.