#and I may not be going into hc territory here I don’t exactly remember the lore but like

[jgffkek]

this song is so yazov core like AHHHHH idk I’m Thinking about him a lot

[infernalrevenge]

HCs abt an S/O of Lady D's who's struggling to get her daughters' approval? It's rarely addressed in fanfics, but y'all.. becoming a stepparent is a hard and frustrating journey, especially when mama and kids have such tight bonds. Makes small wins feel so rewarding, tho! What are your thoughts on that? How would D react, how would she help? (or make it harder, in true possessive Mother Hen™ fashion..) Which flybaby would warm up to S/O first? How would S/O try to win each of them over, etc..?

Oooh this is a really cool thought! Not that I have a lot of experience with stepparents but yeah, changes and adjustments in family dynamics like that can't be easy. I think I'm gonna have some fun with this.

When the Dimitrescu sisters found out you were the human dating their mother, at first they were mostly indifferent. Not like it's their business as to who Alcina gets it on with anyway (and they could also be thinking you would quickly turn to lunch if you fuck up badly enough, in which case they would gladly join her in the feast.)

They might quip with you sometimes, but for the most part, you're left alone.

But when they realized you were here to stay and might become a parental figure in their life... oh boy.

You're telling them they have to answer to you now? A mere mortal? On what grounds? Just because you have sex with their mom? They think the fuck not.

Hell, they're individually old enough to be your parent, so truly... what the fuck?

(Part of that fear of you joining the family may come from thinking that Alcina now has someone else to preoccupy herself with, so there's less time for them. Perhaps even less love for them. They can't have that. That can't happen.)

As for your partner's reaction? She's kind of torn. On one hand, she understands how her daughters feel about having a new family member suddenly join the dynamic -- someone they barely know relative to each other. You could have been around for a few years, but they've been all together for more than half a century, and they're doing just fine.

On the other, she wants to see you all getting along. She loves you and wants you to be a part of her life, and of course she also loves her daughters with all her heart.

She's not really sure what to do, so she kind of... ends up not doing anything.

But she is curious as to what you'll do about the situation though, since the sisters would hardly make it a secret that your presence is an annoyance at best, completely unwanted and unwelcome at worst.

Bela, surprisingly, might be the hardest to win over. You would think that, as the eldest, she should be the one to lead by example and be the mature one. Plus, she's always looking for her mother's approval, so approving of you may get her on her good side (and yours.)

But she's very opposed to change, especially one that affects her life this much when it's not her choice.

She lets Cassandra and Daniela get away with pulling harmless pranks on you to get under your skin, or make Alcina mad at you. She pretends to not have a direct hand in them and would passive-aggressively remark on whatever they did.

Oh, your clothes were misplaced and looking for new ones made you late to a date with the Lady? "None of them were very nice anyway. This is doing you a favor."

You found dog poop under your bed and now you reek? "I don't smell that much of a difference."

Getting doused in sticky honey and molasses somehow? "At least Mother has a reason to think you're sweet now."

They would never do anything to hurt you, not unless they want to incur their mother's wrath or sadness, just... little things (hopefully enough to get you to leave.)

But luckily, if you're a patient and persistent person, they (ever so) slowly warm up to you in different ways.

The most important thing to remember is that they're different people despite having a lot of things in common, so your manner of approaching them will have to vary for each sister.

Daniela might be the easiest to win over, such a sociable little fly. She might try to be standoffish at first, but if you bring up a book series that she enjoys reading as a topic for conversation, she can and will keep you there for hours talking about the characters, dissecting certain themes, and explaining her theories of the inner machinations of the plot.

If you actually start reading it upon her recommendation, she becomes ecstatic. Finally, someone other than her sisters she can explain these theories to! And someone who can actually relate and add on to them!

Eventually, she'll come to realize that having you around won't mean the end of their family. It just means they're getting more out of it -- a new member to love, and one who loves them.

Cassandra might be a little territorial about her current interests, so you'll have to take on a different approach.

Maybe try introducing her to something that peripherally matches what she likes now. She seems to really like hunting and torture to take her aggression out on, so uh... maybe try martial arts?

It would be more fun if it was something the both of you were new at, so you could bond over attempting to do things together. Nothing says "I want to get to know my stepdaughter better" like letting her throw you to the mat and laugh in excitement when she gets the technique right.

She is still very stubborn though, so she may take a while to fully convince. Even when it seems like you're on her good side, there's a tiny bit of denial. But she'll come around, no matter how reluctant.

Finally, as for Bela, she just needs to see that, though most of her family now genuinely likes you, that it doesn't have to change a thing about how they feel about her either. They're not going to abandon her or anything that drastic just because someone new has entered their lives.

Seeing her sisters approve of you can be jarring, no matter how long or gradual the process may have been. Like, weren't they switching out your shampoos and putting snakes in your closet last year? Why is everyone buddy buddy now? (Why are they leaving her behind?)

She'll start to act bitter toward everyone, feeling like she's been betrayed and shut herself away. She doesn't even want to see her own mother anymore.

But eventually, you have to talk to Alcina to do something too -- she could see you were making an effort, but she's not making it clear to her daughters what exactly was happening. She should be the first to approach Bela regarding the subject, along with her sisters.

You may need some time alone with her as well to drive the point home too. Having more people in the family doesn't mean less love, but in fact it means more, because now you're there to care for her too.

And she has to admit that seeing her mother care for you, having her sisters like you, it didn't really feel like they were any different towards her. They were more insistent in getting her to spend time with you, sure, but other than that... things were mostly the same.

The acceptance may be begrudging at first, but when she actually gets used to this new norm, she'll come around.

If you want to bond with her, you can teach her something. She likes learning new things, and she'll start to warm up to you more if she has reason to keep going to you to get this new information.

It can be anything -- music, arts, sports, cooking, you name it. Even introducing her to new technology will help get on her good side. You'd be surprised at how quickly she gets into it that you start to wonder why it was so hard to get her to like you in the first place.

Also, just talk to her. As a person, as your new daughter, whatever. Just acknowledge her and be honest. She appreciates the little things.

All in all, it's going to be tough. The journey will have its ups and downs, and not everything is going to be smooth sailing. Communication is key, though, as with any sort of relationship. Let the girls know you care for them just as much as you love and care for their mother. In a way, that's all they really want.

But they're not calling you "mom/dad/parental unit". First name basis with a stepparent (affectionate) all the way.

[a-world-in-grey]

King’s Speech in Eos

Prompted by and ask from @ends-of-the-wayward-storm that spiraled out of control. Tagging @secret-engima because she’s always down for my rambles.

If anything doesn’t make sense or you notice any grievous errors, let me know!

I’m gonna cover the broad history of King’s Speech, including origin, evolution, and its spread throughout Eos, along with some hcs on the varying concurrent historical events that would influence the language. It’ll be somewhat vague, because we don’t have hard dates for... a lot of events.

Origin

Gonna start with a bit of set up for what Eos might have looked like around Somnus’ time.

Going way back, we’ve got Solheim. We know it existed in at least Cleigne and Duscae, given we’ve found ruins there. I also theorize that the rest of the Solheim Empire stretched further north of Cleigne and maybe even up to the three islands off the north-western coast of the Cleigne region. It’s possible the Solheim empire stretched into Western continent - most likely Tenebrae and Succarpe and Eusciello - but I don’t have enough information to make a solid assumption one way or the other.

As the ruling power of the time, Solheimian would have been the dominant language within their territory (think Roman empire and Latin), and it would have persisted amongst the survivors after Solheim fell.

On the Eastern continent, that would have been the Cleigne and Duscae regions. On the Western continent, Pitzala, where they did find very ancient remains of humans that I think were theorized to be from that time period?

So Ancient Solheim would have influenced the languages in Cleigne, Duscae, and part of Tenebrae.

Now we get to Somnus’ time. Somnus, who founded Lucis, whose tomb is in Duscae. It is very, very likely that Duscae is Somnus’s birthplace, and the birthplace of the Lucian Kingdom. And early King’s Speech.

So, we’ve got at the moment, the various regions/kingdoms: On the Eastern continent - Cleigne, the newly formed Lucis in Duscae, Leide, Cavaugh, and Galahd. Accordo is in the middle of the ocean to the south. And on the Western continent - Tenebrae (the mountainous Ulwaat region and the coast Pitzala region) and Niflheim (the regions of Succarpe, Eusciello, Vogliupe, and Ueltham).

At this point, the Old Lucian language will have the most in common with the language of the Cleigne region (they might even be different dialects of the same language) and Tenebrae, as Aera and Ardyn are shown to have no issues communicating. (Admittedly, the historical world building in the game is not what I would call extensive, so it’s likely the game developers and writers never actually considered this when making the game.)

Leide will have its own language, as will Cavaugh and Galahd. Accordo has its own language, one likely to be vastly different from any of the others on the continents. As far as Niflheim, the Ueltham region will have a separate language, perhaps similar to the Vogliupe region, and the Succarpe and Eusciello regions might have similarities but will be separate from the Tenebrae and inland languages.

So there’s Old Lucian (Duscae and Cleigne dialects), Old Tenebraen (which is separate but mutually intelligible to Old Lucian), Old Leidan, Old Cavaugh, Old Galahdian, Old Accordan, Old Niflheimian (Ueltham and Vogliupe dialects), and Old Succarpe/Eusciello.

Someone please write a fic of that era where the characters have to deal with language barriers. Please. Think of the sheer opportunity for miscommunication! The drama! The comedy!

Old Lucian to Middle Lucian: Birth of Continental Lucian

Also known as the Lucian Kings get Conquest Happy.

Rome falls, Latin lingers but ultimately falls out of global use, and Late West Saxon is the predominant language in England.

And then 1066 rolls around and the Normans invade, bringing both French and Latin with them. The West Saxon language of the common locals eventually picks up the Norman and Old Norse from the ruling upper class, and the Latin from the Church, becoming Anglo-Norman, better known as Middle English.

Congratulations, this is exactly what happens when Lucis conquers Leide and Cavaugh. Just replace West Saxon with Old Leidan and Old Cavaugh, and French-Latin with Old Lucian-Tenebraen.

Mix well, and bam, we’ve now got what Lucian historians will call Continental Lucian.

Galahd is still minding its own business, and no sane Lucian wants to go to the jungle, so while Old Galahdian isn’t the same as was during Somnus’ era, vocab falling in and out of use, it hasn’t changed all that much.

Old Niflheimian has changed however. Ueltham is somewhat isolated from the rest of the continent, so their language changes less, but the Vogluipe region has evolved to the point they are no longer a different dialect of Old Niflheimian but their own separate language as they pick up bits and pieces from Tenebrae and Eusciello. Old Tenebraen will develop two different dialects by this point - High and Low Tenebraen. Low Tenebraen will shift closer to Vogliupe, Eusciello, and Succarpe influences and is the common language in Tenebrae. High Tenebraen is the language of religion and used by the Oracles, priests, and upper classes. It’s the language used for higher education on the Western continent.

Accordo, unlike Galahd, has become the trading hub of the world, and picks up influences from Leide, Lucis, Succarpe, and Tenebrae, which shifts them from Old Accordan to Middle Accordan.

Global Conquest: Rise of the King’s Speech

Or, in other words, The Warrior.

Loses his wife, wages global war in his grief. Only one of the Kings of Yore to have his tomb outside the Lucian continent. (Which I also have hcs on but that is a completely separate post.)

Now, the writers do not tell us just how far the Warrior or the kingdom of Lucis managed to conquer. The Warrior is buried in Tenebrae, so we know he made it at least that far.

Which, I’m going to quibble on in just bit.

Given how the King’s Speech is global, even in Niflheim (presumably, we don’t ever see your run of the mill Niflheimian commoners/working class), it’s highly likely that Lucis once controlled both continents. And Accordo.

And here’s where we get into some, well, very not nice parts of history.

King’s Speech is the language of Eos. The only other language we ever see is that of the Astrals (and maybe Ancient Solheim? That wasn’t in the cutscenes so I’m a bit iffy), which means either the majority of Eos are bilingual, or King’s Speech is the only language.

How do you make half a dozen other languages disappear?

Genocide.

Not necessarily full on Holocaust round them up and exterminate them. But by forbidding them to speak or write in their language. Ever. By taking their children and raising them in a different culture, until there’s no one left who remembers how to speak their language at all.

It’s horrible, I know, and I doubt anyone wants to go that dark when writing their fics, but that’s what history tells us. The Indigenous tribes of North America, forced onto reservations and sent to ‘cultural’ schools to raise them as ‘white men.’ Britain, making it illegal to speak Welsh, Irish, and Scottish. Those are the examples I’m most familiar with, but I don’t doubt there’s a lot more.

A language is a representation of its people. Of its culture. It changes with its people.

And dies with them.

So for at least a couple generations - probably closer to five or six - Lucis occupied most of the world. But not all of it.

Tenebrae.

Tenebrae, the longstanding allies of Lucis. Tenebrae, ruled by the only other family with Bahamut’s Blessing. It would not be surprising at all if Tenebrae served as a foothold for Lucian forces to strike into Niflheim territory, to conquer the continent.

It can be so very easy to go from, we are blessed, to we deserve this, to we deserve more. When a Blessing becomes a Birthright, where does it stop?

When your Empire crumbles.

We don’t have a date for the rise of the Aldercapt dynasty. Only that they became the rulers of Niflheim, and they later decided to conquer the world, using magitek advances uncovered from Solheim ruins.

Which, if you are the ones to lead the faction that frees your home from the occupying forces, you might just get put in charge. And then if you need a way to defend your people in case the magic wielding enemies come back, you might just turn to the ancient civilization rumored to have fought the Astrals.

Yeah. Can’t really argue with that.

So King’s Speech becomes the global language. Ueltham, Vogliupe, Euscellio, and Succarpe disappear. Low Tenebraen likely disappears as well. Accordo may suffer its own occupation during this time, in which Accordan disappears, or it gets so heavily colonized by Lucians that the two languages merge, producing the Accordan dialect of King’s Speech.

Modern King’s Speech

With the entire world - with a couple exceptions - now speaking the same language and Lucian forces pushed back to their own continent, we’re going to start seeing different dialects emerge again.

Niflheim will develop their own dialect, different accents in Ueltham, Vogliupe, Eusciello, and Succarpe, but the same dialect depending on how rapid Niflheim’s technological advancement is. 

Tenebraen King’s Speech will be closest to Old Tenebraen and Old Lucian, and therefore known as High King’s Speech, favored by the upper classes around the world, but especially in Tenebrae, Niflheim, and Insomnia. 

Accordan King’s Speech will be the dialect most different from Standard King’s Speech, due to lingering Accordan influences but also due to Accordo being a major trade center and being influenced by the other dialects.

Lucian King’s Speech will become known as Standard King’s Speech. There will be a couple notable dialects, the Leidan and Insomnian dialects though the Leidan dialect will be the most noticeable.

At some point, Galahd is also conquered, but while they submit and King’s Speech becomes part of Galahd, they remain insular enough that they keep their native language alive. Though there is enough influence from the mainland through King’s Speech on Old Galahdian that it firmly shifts into the Modern Galahdian language.

[dunkalfredo]

Im in love with your vision of Infinite and Rookie and i want to hear some of your sweet headcanons about their time together. If anyone asked something similar, refer me to this post, please. Thanks!

alskdjnsjklnljkls tysm!!!! yeah sure ill share some headcanons. i did a post on a similar topic about a month ago but that’s more their individual personalities/aesthetics than actual relationship material so ill go ahead and add on some stuff here.

i should note that portions of this are based heavily off of the idea that they grew up together so prepare for some au territory at this point. my backstory for them is becoming so intricate jfc;;;;;; i really hope ur not disappointed with this answer i have like an entire pre-forces narrative planned out in my head at this point OTL if u were hoping for more general stuff just lemme know i can give you some more hcs for that (there’s already some but there’s also Backstory stuff that i can’t really explore through oneshot format)

this is entirely self indulgent tbhhhh anyways click that mf Keep reading button

there’s a lot of like. casual touch. lotsa hugs and leaning on each other and resting their chin on the other’s shoulder (or top of head depending on who’s who bc height difference) while looking over them at what they’re doing and its really rooted in their learning early on how much Gadget loves that sweet sweet Physical Contact (if u scratch behind his ears he will melt, guaranteed, you’ll have yourself a Boneless Gadget with a two-liter coke)

if it’s raining out gadget will insist on doing something that’s not just sitting inside all day but snugglin w/ infinite ends up tempting him into doing Exactly That lol

there’s a lot of companionable silence between them when it’s just Them Alone in a Room. sure they talk and chat and joke but there are so many times where it’s just,,, being Together,,, and enjoying being in the other’s presence as they each do their own thing

sorta going into childhood/backstory stuff but uhhhh:

starting freshman year of highschool they started just bein each other’s dates to school dances even though they were “just friends” for like half of that timespan . i love cheesy stuff like that im sorry bro i had to include that tidbit i know it’s super specific and particular to my own backstory for them but just, they’re best buds and they gonna have a good time at homecoming lol

please imagine: those cute pre-dance pictures that parents take at the stairwell or front porch or somethin right before their kids leave, but with gadget and infinite. gadget’s got braces and they dont really fit in his mouth and his lenses reflect the light in the photo and oops infinite blinked and his shirt is too big and tbh their suits in gen just don’t really fit them right, gadget’s shirt is untucked and infinite’s tie is crooked but it’s okay, they’re both smilin reeeeaaaal big (and besides they figure out how to look Aesthetically Pleasing by junior year)

summers were hot in their hometown (note: i grew up in the north so i know nothing of True Heat, bear with me on this one.) most evenings were spent out on gadget’s fam’s back porch, cold towels resting on the backs of their necks, sweat in and under their fur, and they’re melting into the wood of the deck, fan plugged into that one weird outlet on the outside of the house that’s really more a fire hazard than anything else but the cool air is nice. they’re just lounging around reading comic books and listening to music on infinite’s old zune (lots of mid-2000s punk rock bands bc what else were u expecting) and in later years when they’re in that teen puppy love stage they’re trying to cuddle but it’s TOO DAMN HOT OUTSIDE so they resort to like, gentle hand holding, infinite reading some pretentious literary work or whatever and gadget spacing tf out next to him

when they graduate and are assigned a partner to walk down the aisle with they still end up w/ each other even though technically the partners are chosen according to alphabetical order and they’re on opposite ends of that list whOOPS how’d they do that? (hint: last minute shuffling in line)

when they move outta their small lil home town and into The Big City (im gonna say that would be Sunset Heights to tie in some canon plot relevance) they move in together and share a flat. a) its more financially manageable to just split housing costs like that and b) it’s been a dream their entire lives to live together when they’re older so oh!!! they’re older now!!!!! time to live together

(okay that’s all for backstory stuff back to reg hcs)

neither can cook but its ok

it may seem like they bicker a lot but it’s usually either the like, joke argue of “what do you mean craft mac n cheese is gross take that back” or reprimands like “it’s one a.m. time to sleep u Fool” (self-care is important, lads). they actually communicate really well so high-stakes arguments aren’t super common (and when they do happen they dont tend to explode. i wanted to have them be the type that argue for understanding and not to prove they’re right, so that greatly affects the outcomes of their disputes.)

infinite loves to hum while he’s doing things, or just in gen, and his voice is very low and smooth and gadget looooooves it, so much. they’ll be, i dunno, doing some mundane thing, like maybe they’re out getting groceries or doin dishes or something (i love me that domestic content) and he’ll start humming quietly and it just, it really grounds gadget in a way that sometimes he doesn’t even know he needs till infinite does it.

anyone here ever played bayonetta? any a yall remember those bits where there’s a woman in bayo’s memories singing and/or humming ‘fly me to the moon’ all quiet and low? think that but just,,,, pitched down,,,, yeah,,,

the tunes are usually very slow and while not so much melancholy theyre just? i dunno melodic in the same lax, smooth-tempo’d way a lot of melancholy songs are? i dunno i like quiet, introspective infinite and aesthetics that reflect that

here’s a long one: about a month before infinite “goes missing” and forces happens, infinite lands a job at a local news outlet as one of the column writers and even tho he’s more into prose than journalism he’s so fuckin pumped. it’s mostly just excitement over not doing cashier work and having a money-makin outlet he’s at least somewhat interested in lol …aaaaaand the way ship headcanon works into this bullet is that when he finds out that he landed the job he so excited that when gadget walks into the room (it’s morning and gadget literally was just gonna get some coffee, he’s still in his pajamas, he’s got bedhead) infinite sees him and whoops he tackle-hugs him and then whoops he knocked them both onto the floor but its cool gadget kinda let it happen and when infinite tells him what happened and apologizes he’s now also super excited and happy for him so now there’s two (2) people screaming inside (and out) about this awesome development

here’s a short one: they wear each other’s clothes a lot

gadget’s v cuddly in his sleep so he gets really clingy w/ infinite when a) it’s early morning and they’re just waking up b) it’s Late o’ clock at night and they’re chillin at home or c) he’s Actually asleep and within like three feet of infinite

i dont really know how to end this lol i dont really wanna just start repeating myself and i might think of other stuff later but for now pls consider the following: when they sleep whoever’s big spoon ends up resting one hand over the other’s heart and it’s super sweet

oh and they smooch a lot (i told you this response was self indulgent)

[quccnvictoria-blog]

Can I ask why you hc Vic as trans? No judgement, just curious. I've heard a lot of Chloe, but not a lot of Vic. I'm curious.

Buckle up kids, it’s time for…..

                 REASONS VICTORIA MARIBETH CHASE IS A                                                             TRANSWOMAN

Disclaimer: all these reasons are personal to my interpretation. I do not demand that other Victoria blogs follow this headcanon, but I ask that people interacting with me respect that this is how my interpretation of her is played out. ETA: I received a message that some of my phrasing in #2 is worded poorly/can be hurtful, so I just wanted to reiterate that I don’t think those features point her out as trans in day-to-day life, it just stood out to me as a possible indicator. But I don’t mean any disrespect or to say that those features jeopardize her passing. 

By far my weakest reason, but whatever, it’s a reason: I just see it. You know you look at a character and you go, ‘oh yeah, *insert headcanon here* and just can’t unsee it? That’s how it started initially. Sounds corny, but it’s true.

Her body type/facial structure. Stereotyping as it may be, it’s a factor. She doesn’t exactly wear form fitting clothes, so you can’t see much of her torso, but her hips are very narrow. Also somewhat noticeable (but also possibly just a design fluke) is her upper arms. In most female bodies, a lack of actively working out and making an effort to stay in shape will lead to the muscle lying fairly flat. In men, there tends to be a slight curvature to the muscle regardless of activity (until they get into the overweight territory, which Victoria obviously does not). Seen in certain clips with her movement, her bicep is defined in that specific way. 

Lack of absolutely any photos from home/her childhood/etc. in her dorm room. While this could be chalked up to Vic just not wanting to take all her pictures to Blackwell, I don’t believe it and choose to believe it’s because she transitioned very, very soon before going to Blackwell and wanted to keep her past in Seattle a secret. 

Being killed in the Dark Room, if she believes Max’s warning. This could also be explained by Jefferson panicking over her knowing too much, but I can easily see him taking her there, discovering her post-op scarring (that’s a whole other… awful… hc about Jefferson but WHATEVER), and killing her for not being “pure”. Transphobic? Yes. A stretch? Not at all, IMO. 

Her hyper-femininity. The game takes place in 2013, in rural seaside Oregon. Designer clothes and pressed shirts and skirts are not common. From what I remember, Victoria and Kate are the only characters to even wear skirts in-game. Like everything else Victoria does, I believe this is (unnecessary) over compensation for the fact that she doesn’t feel confident in her skin yet. 

For any of my trans followers: if any of this strikes you as offensive, or is a huge mischaracterization of how I should be writing her, please, please let me know. Your opinions matter greatly to me, especially seeing as I have zero personal insight here.

[regrettablewritings]

Being Bruce’s S/O and Getting Kidnapped HCs

Because we’re all disgusting sadists and I obviously have issues. Trigger warning for kidnapping, torture, and some cruel language from the kidnapper’s side … I have a lot of problems …

Bruce has a crapton of enemies, even without the members of his Rogues Gallery being taken into consideration

From the nameless thugs to the morally bankrupt dirty cops to the monstrous traffickers, everyone wants to take down the Bat of Gotham

But for Bruce, it’s a nearly entirely different crowd…

Overzealous competitors and enemies of Wayne Industries, people who just want to slander his name to detrimental effect, people who’ve never met even met Bruce yet have an intense obsession with his existence that could easily tread into murderous territories, even a few villains from his moonlighting job who simply want to take a crack at the Prince of Gotham

Of course, being that Bruce is a taller-than-average guy with pretty decent coverage, there aren’t many opportunities that can be taken to kidnap him

You, on the other hand…

You, the significant other of one of the richest men in not only Gotham, but the entire world, the one people liken to Cinderella, who still keeps an apartment in the city as well as the humble job they’d had even before dating the billionaire… You’re easy pickings

You’d kept your downtown apartment because you liked the environment it was in: surrounded by enough noise to never feel too alone, but peaceful enough for you to relax. It wasn’t in a bad part of Gotham, either, so you’d gotten used to the feeling of not worrying too much. Besides, it was closer to your job than Bruce’s home could ever hope to be.

But you’d been careless: Even if you were in one of the nicer areas, Gotham was still Gotham

You were supposed to be having a date night with Bruce: dinner at the Blue Heron, one of the finest establishments on either side of the Gotham-Metropolis Bay. And you were completely psyched, planning out exactly what foods you wanted to try while you were there

What you hadn’t planned, surprisingly enough, was what you would wear. You eventually pieced together a cute outfit at last minute but realized that the crowning piece wasn’t with you: a pair of Martha Wayne’s earrings.

Bruce had given them to you for your one-year anniversary. Considering how much Bruce loved his mother, you understood how big of a gesture this was, both in terms of how much he loved you and trusted you, and in terms of how much faith he had in this relationship altogether

After frantically searching your and Bruce’s room at the Glasshouse, you remembered that you’d left them at your apartment after you two spent the night there a week ago

It didn’t occur to you that someone might be hiding in there

It just seemed so quiet…

It wasn’t until you’d walked into your bedroom to look through your jewelry box that a hand slammed over your mouth, a damp cloth being pressed to your nose. You knew what it was, you were so angry with yourself for inhaling out of reflex

You weren’t sure what hit you first: The darkness or the fear

Bruce would be at the reserved table. He’s on time for once. How ironic it was, he noted, that you weren’t

The first couple of minutes, he was being patient. By the end of an hour, he was anxious.

He tries to appear calm and collected: He checks his phone, orders some drinks but rations his sips so no-one can suspect he’s a lush

He must’ve sent at least seventeen messages asking of your whereabouts, if you were okay, etc. Because of the Blue Heron’s environment and how calmly he’s trying to appear, he can only actually call your phone four times

By the end of the second and final hour, of waiting, he felt humiliated and, for lack of better word, pissed

For two hours, he endured the stares and whispers of people looking his way – everyone wanted to take a gander at Bruce Wayne getting stood up

And stood up by his significant other no less!

It’s only during the drive home that he recognizes that beneath the fury, he’s also extremely hurt by your apparent abandoning

Because of who he is, both day and night respectively, Bruce doesn’t get as many opportunities as he’d like to spend time with you. Therefore, every date and moment together needs to count. The fact that you missed this one after expressing so much excitement prior wounds not only his pride, but his heart as well

In hindsight, it is the fact that you had been looking forward to it that he should’ve known something was wrong

As intelligent as Bruce is, we all know how blinded by his emotions he can potentially be and how it clouds his judgment

It is only when he returns to his home that Alfred begins to demand where you are

Before Bruce can even explain himself, his phone goes off: Unknown number? He almost doesn’t answer. When he does, however, a chill caresses and then grips his spine with an icy fist:

“We get why an Average Joe might like her, but… You ain’t exactly average, Brucie. So here’s what’s gonna happen: we’re gonna give you a chance to prove how much this bitch means to you. 24 hours. That’s all we’re gonna give you. In those 24, you’re gonna give us $6 million. Gonna leave it at the address we give you. In fact, leave a little tip of $300K first so we’ll know you’re in for the long run. You’re gonna leave a bag at the corner of 1939 May Street and 27th. But I swear to God, if you stiff us or stick around to watch what goes down, we’ll fuck up her pretty face and make sure you’ll pay just to keep her away. Got it? You give us what we want, we’ll give you what you tell the press you like. Everybody wins. Oh, and, uh, don’t even think about getting the cops or the Batman involved. Wouldn’t wanna surprise us so hard that a bullet goes flying through your damsel, would we?”

The blaring sound that accompanies being hung up on worked in sync with the numbness beginning to overcome Bruce. He wasn’t sure what he said next to Alfred, only that the next thing he knew, he was settled in front of the multiple computer screens set up in the Batcave, fervently trying to find as much information as he could. The problem was, he wasn’t even sure what he was supposed to be looking for

The phone was a burner, so there was no luck in trying to track it. And while the speaker didn’t sound like any of the rogues he usually encountered, there was little luck in that either, considering that they were often accompanied by a whole host of toadies that he’d never even heard speak; one of them probably could’ve been set up to throw him off

He considers the possibility that they’re linked with Lex but ultimately tosses that idea to the side: Lex, in all his cunning, probably wouldn’t be able to communicate with anyone on the outside of penitentiary enough to plan out a ransom. And even if he had, somebody would’ve found out about it

It eventually is just accepted that your kidnappers are likely just regular people with multiple tricks up their sleeves and a bone to pick out of sheer greed

The fact that somebody so simple could hurt Bruce in such a way infuriates and humiliates him. He knew that something like this would probably happen at some point, but now that it has, he realizes he never would’ve been prepared for it. And he can’t express how angry at himself he is and that now you’re paying the price for it

Honestly? It’s a little too much like the night his parents died…

Meanwhile, you’ve spent your time in captivity in various states of consciousness, due to either stress-induced fainting, your captors slipping something questionable into your system whenever they felt you were getting too rowdy, or even getting clocked so hard that your body goes out cold

When you’re bleary-eyed, tied up in a chair, all you can do and slur some sass. Maybe spit at their feet

When you get more lively, your words become more biting and daring, trying to play off the facade that you’re not secretly terrified

Batman’s significant other or not, being held ransom is a terrifying situation. There’s no telling what your captors will do before the money gets there or if they’ll even give you up if Bruce gives them money

When they get too close, you bite, earning a backhand to the face. Really, if you say one word too many for their liking, you get struck. You’re not sure how long you’ve been in their captivity, but you’ve already received a painful amount of bruising, including a busted lip and a scar on your forehead

As much pain as you’re in, you quietly think to yourself about how at least they haven’t put their hands on you in other ways…

It therefore makes your heart freeze over with complete and utter fear when you hear one of the kidnappers call Bruce again about the ransom later on, mentioning something about “keeping you.”

You no longer offer any sass, instead training your eyes on the ground of this dimly-lit, old, abandoned warehouse they’ve held you up in, willing yourself desperately not to cry

Against his better judgement, Bruce does go to the assigned meeting place

He doesn’t however, let the GCPD know, deciding that too many people would reek havoc: Because once the police department knows that Bruce Wayne’s s/o has been kidnapped, then the media will find out and make things even more complicated than they already were

Money isn’t an object to the billionaire, so he has no trouble leaving the demanded $300K in a bag

He even lets the two mooks who came to retrieve the bag get a head start on leaving as he watches them from the shadows, content with the fact that he’d placed a tracking device in the bag

Bruce does, however, go as his alter ego, which scares the living shit out the man when he realizes who’s tailing him and his partner

He’s not excited about getting thrown off the trail, however, when one of the mooks attempts to take him on, letting the one with the bag and  tracker get out of the area.

After trading fists in a pretty one-sided fight, Bruce would start demanding answers in that voice he reserves for when he’s extremely pissed off, made more unearthly and dark by the voice altering gadget his cowl is equipped with

Time is of the essence, and Bruce has no desire to pussyfoot around for an answer – he’s getting what he can, when he can

When the poor sap can only offer small potatoes worth of details, probably not desiring the punishment handed to snitches it takes everything Bruce has not to destroy the sobbing mess of a man

He’s already become an excessively aggressive figure as of late – the fact that your life is in danger only makes him closer to unhinged in his actions. He is thankfully aware of this, however, and stops himself from going through with much else by dropping the toady off in police custody

To add insult to injury, when he does follow the tracking device, Bruce finds that the guy who got away must have realized it was there, because Bruce finds himself down a dead end alley

The device, barely functioning at this point and on its last leg, is found in a garbage can, symbolic of where Bruce’s hopes of finding you any time soon had landed

Returning back to the Batcave to reconvene, he receives a phone call: Unknown Number. Shit.

After making certain that the voice altering device would not work during the call, he answers and hears:

“Brucie, Brucie, Brucie,” the caller sighs mockingly. He makes a tsk-ing noise with his tongue. “What did we say about getting the Bat involved?”

“I swear, I didn’t tell anyone,” Bruce insists, technically not a lie. He tries to sound vulnerable, like a regular man would be, but realizes he may not actually be trying at all. He adds in, “I don’t know how he found out – maybe he has phones tapped.”

The caller, one of your captors, isn’t buying it. “Bullshit,” he says in a tone between bemusement and irritation. “We sent two of our own just in case one of ‘em gets too cocky and tries to run with it, or in case you blabbed and one needs to run ahead of the other with the money. And what do you know, one of ‘em comes back pissin’ his pants about how Batman took down the other guy. Seems you’re not as invested in this whole idea as we thought you’d be, huh, Brucie?”

“I swear, I am, just –”

“Yeah, well, we’re not ones for playing games. That’s how the rest of the world works, Bruce: We ain’t all rich enough to screw around. Though, speaking of screw and common people …”

Bruce could feel his gut tying into knots in and around his lungs and heart

“Feisty as she is, we’ve kinda grown fond of your lil broad. Dunno … Thinkin’ of maybe keeping her!”

(Bruce is seething at this point, struggling not to break his phone by his mere grip)

The captor, if he knows, doesn’t care and continues to egg on and on about how they might as well “keep” you because “apparently Bruce doesn’t care much about you”

“Hell, I’ve taught my dogs not to bite me; how is this any different from the others? Use the right tactics and you can break any bitch.”

Bruce has only seen pure red a couple of times in his life. This is quite possibly the reddest he’s ever seen, fury nearly blinding his vision as his body begins to tremor with nigh uncontrollable wrath

“Tell you what: She really means that much – so much to you – then you wouldn’t mind it if we speed up your time limit. Now you have one hour. Use all those rich boy gadgets or whatever to track her down; that’s what the luxury of being rich can do, right? You find her before then, she’s yours. If not …”

He never finishes the sentence, hanging up the phone and leaving Bruce hanging on the last word. What the hell intentions lay behind that implication?!

Ten seconds later, Bruce receives his answer. He’s not sure if it’s better to have received it or not

It’s a picture of you, bruised, tired, and obviously stressed, tied up in a rickety chair. Your eyes are red and puffy from crying, tear streaks staining your face

Upon further inspection, Bruce notices that there’s a collar around your neck. A shock collar. The fact that they had one on standby makes his gut churn, wondering if they intended something like this all along

The caption soon follows: “This spoiled rich bitch needs to relearn some things. Obedience training starts soon. The first lesson: Making sure your bitch stops yapping. Hint: You know what you do when your dog shits or pisses in the house, right?”

Bruce hasn’t worked so rapidly in ages, using whatever he can to pinpoint your location

The picture, disturbing as it is, was decidedly a blessing: he can tell from what little amount of the background shown that you must be in the warehouse district of town

He nearly smothers Alfred with kisses when the older man finds records of not only which warehouses had recently been recorded with break-ins, but also which ones are noted as vacant

Added with the x-ray abilities utilized by the technology at their hands, and Bruce is nearly joyful. But just nearly. For the most part, he’s beyond the realm of pissed …

You’ve barely made a sound beyond shuddered breathing. Ever since your captors placed the collar around your neck, you’ve felt too humiliated and scared to do much of anything. Well, on your own accord.

If they wanted to provoke a response, they would have one of their men step on your foot or yank your hair. If you yelped too loudly, the collar would shock you, sending a blasting pain up and down your body

You’re pretty positive they have it set on the second worst level and it frightens you

How many shocks could you take before you died? Could you die? You weren’t sure, your mind too blurred from stress, agony, and undernourishment

The small samples of water they allowed you could only do so much, especially when your throat was beginning to hurt from attempting to swallow your screams

You can see from the wrist watch of one of the captors that the hour is almost up and guiltily do something you never thought you would: You consider the possibility that Bruce won’t get to you in time

You’ve always had faith in Bruce, known his capabilities to be seemingly boundless when compared to the average person. He was an amazing man, to say the least

But that’s just what he is: a man. Men have limitations, no matter how big or small. You never thought that the limitation could appear in the form of a ransom kidnapping by a couple of supposed no-life low-lives, but then again, how fair of you was it to blindly assume that Bruce could do everything

As the minute hand hits the 56th mark, you slowly close your eyes, exhaustion overwhelming you as you decided you didn’t want to see it truly hit the 59th minute. Maybe if you kept your eyes closed, the hour wouldn’t pass and everything would stop

Just long enough for Bruce to find you …

The sound of glass breaking hurts your ears. Maybe it was because your head was already on the verge of throbbing, or maybe it was because the piercing sound was abrupt that your ears had no way of coping with the sudden noise. Either way, your eyes stay closed, albeit tighter, as a knee-jerk reaction

When you open them back up, it takes them a moment to regain focus, what with all the bleariness they had been caked with as a result of your ordeal. But the minute they maintain proper functioning, you feel your heart swell large enough to pop out of your body

You don’t care that the air is now filled with the meaty sound of fist meeting bodies, you barely pay any mind to the cringe-worthy crunch of bones breaking upon contact with a much harder force

It doesn’t matter – Bruce is here!

He makes sure to keep the fight away from you just enough so that you don’t get caught in any crossfires

He becomes even more desperate the moment a few of your captors whip out guns, trying to work the shadows of the dimly-lit warehouse to cause confusion. Just until –

Everyone goes silent, save for heavy breathing, once a couple of Batarangs shatter the remaining lights

Many of the men don’t stand a chance in the dark. Not when they’re up against a 6′3″ demonically-dressed man with night vision installed into his cowl.

Bruce makes sure to save the strongest punch for the man whose voice he recognizes as the ringleader’s

To his extreme disgust, he can hear him talking in the general direction you happen to be in. When he glances over, lo and behold: The ringleader is there, knife to your throat, threatening to cut you like a pig if Batman takes so much as one step closer

To which Bruce calmly tells you to close your eyes. If you weren’t already prepared to do so, the underlying animosity in your lover’s words would have convinced you enough

You therefore don’t get to bear witness to the blinding flashbomb that gets sent your way, nor to you see your captor fling himself back and paw at his eyes in an attempt to relieve them

You do, however, feel the knife leave your throat, though not without causing a slight cut due to the sudden movement. It’s not enough to cause death, necessarily, but you can feel a thin line of blood begin to drool out

You do, also, feel a gust of wind and the smallest brush of a cape on your cheek as Bruce sprints past you to pounce on the sorry bastard who dared lay a finger on you

As do you hear the rapid, loud sound of fist meeting face, a struggle to the ground where the fists, without relent, continue to fall upon their intended target

You even hear the nearly incoherent, almost beast-like growls and curses your boyfriend spews to emphasize every blow

Insults, threats, ridicules, just plain heavy breathing that couldn’t capture the amount of rage he held –

You never hear the end of it, however, as you finally succumb to the stresses of your ordeal and fade away into a state of unconsciousness   

When you wake up, Bruce is by your side, face in his hands, settled in a chair by your bed in a hospital room

He’s back in his civilian clothes, having dropped you off earlier then gone home to relieve himself of his Batman attire

The purple tinge of his knuckles confirms that he had done some serious bruising, causing you worry. Enough to attempt reaching out and taking his hand for consoling

Your intended touch, however, doesn’t make it, as the rustling of your sheets alerted Bruce to look up at you

You’d never seen Bruce look so tired, so silently happy

You’d also never seen him leap up from his seat, or practically suffocate you in as gentle yet passionate of a hug as he could possibly muster

The exchange is quiet, with neither side being certain of what to say. You consider breaking the silence with a thank you, but Bruce once again beats you to it:

“I’m so sorry,” he says, just barely above a whisper. It’s so fragile and light that it quivers and cracks ever so slightly. The amount of guilt dripping off of every syllable just about broke your heart

“It’s okay,” is all you can weakly offer. You know it isn’t, but you also know that what happened wasn’t Bruce’s fault. You pray he doesn’t want to break up with you

A quiet discussion is held between you two. You try to avoid creating an actual argument from it, with you trying to calm him down (being so unused to this side of him), and with Bruce afraid of agitating your wounds or stressing your poor body out even more. He’s already hurt you so much by just being the person he is.

A sense of calm is somehow achieved, though not entirely. It’s just enough for him to take your face into his big, calloused hands and press his forehead to yours

Just enough for him to whisper about how he never wants to let any harm happen to you ever again

And to tell you how important you are to him, how devastated he would be if those men had disappeared with you

You two stay like this for a while, with you staying quiet and taking in Bruce’s every word.

Bruce keeps his eyes closed throughout the entire moment, knowing that if he opens them, combined with the feeling of vulnerability, there’s a chance that he might allow a tear or two to slip through

Every once in a while, he removes himself from this position to place a kiss on your forehead or to the scars and bruises that freckle your face and neck. Every kiss, no matter how brief, has this underlying yet overwhelming feeling of relief. Relief that you’re here at all, in his arms, still able to be kissed and to love and to be loved

He spends every night that you’re in the hospital by your side, curled up around you as if someone else might take you

He doesn’t say it out loud, but he vows more diligently than before, that no-one will hurt you again and that he will protect you and always save you

Because despite being a billionaire with everything money can buy, Bruce’s most precious, most beloved thing is something that cannot and will not ever be replaced: You.