#her character- having just died and to make it believable she has relaxed and he is holding her ‘lifeless’ body

[tutuandscoot]

Oh nothing, just Scott getting Tessa out of their Moulin Rouge ending pose.

[liliewrites]

Hi, I love the way you write. You express the characters very well, I can really hear Arlecchino's voice in your sentences.

You can do one with Arlecchino x femreader? Where Arlcchino and reader are married and take care of the children together (would be great seeing reader being maternal with Lyney, Lynnett and Freminet) After reader arrived in their lives, parties and family moments were common. One day at a gymkhana held with all the children, a traitorous Fatui was ordered by an Arlecchino's enemy to kill Arlecchino while she was distracted, but Reader noticed and got in front of her, taking the hit. Reader almost dies and Arlecchino, Lyney, Lynnett and Freminet want revenge.

(Sorry for bad english)

HELLOOO ANONN:)) lmaoo sorry i was brainrotting a lot about this ask and i didn't know how to write it and end it because it's such a good idea and has a lot of potential.. anyw here u go and eat uppp!!:) also forgive me if i understood the word "gymkhana" wrong.. i just searched up the definition on google since i am not familiar with the word hihi..

-warning/s ; a bit of violence at a certain part:) besides that, none!:)

(men dni utc please!)

it was a fun, festive day for the children at the house of the hearth.

arlecchino and you had decided to host a fun little event for the kids, as both of you agreed that it'd be beneficial to the children not just for improving their skills, but for their enjoyment as well.

as of the moment, you and arlecchino were sitting on the side, lyney and freminet were currently tasked with helping and assisting the younger children, while lynette had mostly insisted on staying with you and arlecchino while helping out with organizing the event. you and your wife didn't mind much as you knew she was more introverted and a couple more helping hands would help a lot.

"mother, i believe that we should start the flag race soon.. shall we get the horses and the players ready?" lynette asked, looking down at the clipboard in her hands. you couldn't help but smile, lynette has grown into such a fine, young dependable lady. you pat lynette's head, giving her ears a little rub as praise. "yes, my dear. i would appreciate it too if you assisted them with getting on as well, see to it that none of them get injured." you told her, and she nods at you, her tail slightly wagging as she walks away. you couldn't help but chuckle, knowing that your praise didn't go unnoticed by your daughter.

"mother! mother! look, look!"

"don't i look cool, mother?"

"mother! this is so fun!"

left and right, children were all calling for your attention, and your heart was bursting in joy as you got up from your chair to approach them. you could see the smiles on their little faces and you knew they were enjoying themselves. one child ran up to you, holding freminet's hand and a drawing in another. she brought it up and showed you, smiling widely. "mother, ah- look! big brother fremi drew me an octopus!" she boasted, making freminet look to the side shyly. you couldn't help but feel proud of freminet, whom was usually alone and reserved, was now trying his best to get along and help out with the younger children. "my, what a lovely drawing, hm? mother is very glad that both of you are having fun." you smile, the turning your head to look at lyney as they both walked away. he was currently busy entertaining the audience (who were also kids) with his little magic tricks as they waited for the flag race. little eyes looked at their older brother with admiration, watching him unfold each trick with excitement.

and of course, as all this happened in the background, your wife was currently sitting from where you had currently sat with her on the side. arms crossed as she leaned on her chair, eyes watching over you and the children intently, yet the intimidating look had gone away from her face. instead, a soft look could be seen from her eyes, and she was sitting in a rather relaxed manner as she smiled at the sight of you with the children. her heart swelled joyously, seeing you interact lovingly with them, your laughter along with theirs ringing pleasantly in her ears as she made sure to capture each pretty smile you had on your face.

funny, as her comrades and enemies alike told her that "your wife is your weakness, knave. you've gone soft." if it were the old her, the old her that were full of hatred, of revenge-- devoid of the compassion and acceptance that you've taught her, it would've been an insult but right now? it was a fact, she knows it herself. you were her weakness, but you were not her drawback nor her flaw, but the weakness to the lost, angry soul that she was without you. you were the guiding hand that gave her a reason to continue watching over the house of the hearth, a proper one, unlike a certain motherly figure she came to know.

amidst the festivities, lyney had told everyone to calm down as the flag race was about to start. a big smile on your face as you stood there, instead of going back to sit with arlecchino, as the kids wanted to be with you.

everyone had got into position, the kids were safely mounted on the horses. the audience was cheering, and lyney was holding party popper to use as a signal cue. all of you were filled with thrill and excitement, as lyney counted off to start the race.

"alright, on your marks, hold tight!"

"get ready, set, and-"

before he could even pull on the string and say go, another loud bang was heard- and it was not from the party popper that lyney was holding.

much to everyone's horror, you were clutching your sides. you felt like you were slowly falling the floor, eyesight getting hazy, you were losing your senses quickly- everything was becoming blurry.

the whole event was silent before high pitched, loud screams calling your name could be heard as they ran towards you. the older trained kids, however, were sure to hold them back to give you space.

arlecchino, the moment she saw you get shot, wasted no time in rushing towards you to catch you. ".. d-darling, darling. are you okay? i got you, beloved.. i.." her eyes widened in shock, but her face froze in horror as she held you. warm, thick and sticky liquid pouring onto her and her clothes, but she didn't care.

"d.. darling, you-"

she was blinded with rage. all she saw was red and black, you just got shot, the perpetrator shouldn't have gone far. "children, find who did this. now!"

the older kids had gone and scattered, lyney and freminet leading them as lynette ushered the youngers ones to evacuate. as they dispersed, arlecchino held your body with gentleness and care, you weakly held onto her. ".. b-beloved, don't.. don't get the kids into this.." you pleaded, but arlecchino shook her head. you were in a critical situation, and yet, you still thought of the kids?

"my love, they are trained for this. have faith in our children, now, hold on. i will take you inside."

arlecchino gently lifted you up, holding you closely to her chest as she possibly can without hurting you. "don't pass out on me, beloved." she gently coaxed you as she brought you inside, trying to keep you awake.

as she finally got you in the clinic, the kids whom were trained in medical aid had prepared to take care of you while they waited for a real doctor to come. she gently laid you down on the bed, sitting next to you and she held your hand. every time the children made contact with your wound, you couldn't help but groan and moan- this was all being done with anesthesia after all. the sight of you crying in pain made arlecchino's chest tight with anger and fear. it was the first time the children saw their father become eerily quiet with such an expression on her face.

"father! we've caught the culprit!"

lyney came running in the clinic, panting. arlecchino leaned in to kiss your forehead, you were dangling on the edge of consciousness and it made her feel bad to leave you, but she had to- lest her wrath consume her whole and that would not be good for all of you. "beloved, the children will take care of you while we wait for a doctor. i'll be back soon, i promise." she whispered, before joining with lyney. "lyney, is the man tied?" she asked, and lyney nodded. "yes father, shall we turn him in to the-"

"no, never mind that. i will take care of him on my own."

she dismissed lyney with her hand, making the boy silently nod at her father's command to not hand the criminal over to the authorities. however, he couldn't shrug off the creepy feeling coming from his father. arlecchino had a blank expression on her face, he couldn't decipher her feelings at all. he paid no mind to this, not wanting to be the outlet of whatever his father was feeling.

as soon as they walked into the room where the culprit was held captive, the room was filled with a chilling atmosphere. all of the kids within the room could feel it. the perpetrator however, his face was full with fear as he looked at the harbinger. he started talking, but his words were muffled as his mouth was tied and covered.

"children, i am proud of you all for catching this man. we've given your mother justice, but for now. you are all dismissed. tell lynette to come over."

at your words, the children silently obey and leave the room. now it was just the man and arlecchino. for the whole time, arlecchino had held herself back from showing any kind of murderous intent, as she knew you wouldn't appreciate having it shown to the kids.

but now? the look on her face was indescribable, her hand was trembling in pure wrath. she leaned down, grabbing the man by his collar and throwing him against the wall. "i will ask you questions, and for every wrong answer, i will cut off one finger. think wisely." she threatened the man, grabbing a chair and pulling it in front of him. "however, seeing as you've decided to hurt my wife in the first place, i can see that you lack a brain."

the man was silenced, and she carefully studied his features. he was a fatui, much to her annoyance. "a traitor, i see. now tell me, who was it that ordered you to do this?" he asked, tugging on the cloth on his mouth.

"p-please, my lord- it wasn't my intention to-"

the man was cut off by his own agonizing scream of pain, with arlecchino stepping on his leg, piercing his flesh with the tip of his heels. "let this serve as a warning, you buffoon. if you do not give me an answer, i will cut your finger off next."

"i-it was one of the rich men you offended last time, my lord! s-sir van duyn!"

arlecchino clicked her tongue, tsk, it was one of those greedy capitalists again. how childish they are, just because of a few true but harsh words, and they act pathetically like this? sending in someone to hurt the knave's wife as they spend a fun day for the children?

arlecchino walked out the door and lynette was already there. "clean up the mess, do not let anyone else know of this." she ordered and lynette silently nodded.

oh, now they've done it. with a snap of arlecchino's fingers, the man's curdling screams had echoed within the room, his flesh slowly being consumed with her flames and soon, the one behind all this would suffer a much more painful death.

it was already nightfall when you had woken with you in full grasp of your senses. you looked around you, the children sleeping, and you immediately felt bad. they must've been so tired to fall asleep this early.

"beloved, are you awake?"

you were startled, but you looked towards the door. your wife, she was there. there was blood on her. you immediately sat up, but she immediately brought a finger to her lips, a silent cue to be careful not to wake the kids up. she walked towards you and sat by your side.

"oh celestia, my beloved.."

you gasped, hand touching her cheek. blood was splattered against her pale skin, but you were able to deduce that it wasn't hers, seeing as there were no visible wounds on her body. arlecchino however, had leaned into your palm, her hand on top of yours as she closed her eyes. "careful, my love. i do not wish to dirty your hands.." she reminded you, but the blood was dry. your chest was spilling with worry and fear. "what happened, arlecchino? are you okay? are the kids okay? i-" she took your hand off her cheek, kissing your knuckle.

"i'm glad that you are back to your senses, beloved, but yes i am fine. the kids on the other hand, i told you to have faith in them remember? they are fine and unharmed." she assures you as she crawls into bed with you, gently pushing you down and collapsing onto your chest as she wraps her arms around you. "now please, i wish to hold what i've almost lost in my arms." she wishes with a pleading tone, so you decided not to press on further. knowing that it's been hard for arlecchino to see you like this, you sigh, moving your hand to run through her hair again. she closes her eyes, now was she only truly able to calm down, feeling your warmth invading her senses. "if it means being able to keep holding you like this.. i'll do anything- anything, my love, just to protect the warmth that you give.."

a little bonus hihi ;

you sighed, deciding to let this go for now. however, at bedtime, you refused to let arlecchino sleep next to you (for awhile) as you were upset that she had made the kids do something as dangerous as running after the culprit.. but the next morning, arlecchino smiled, seeing as you were sleeping soundly on her chest.

currently, you were having morning coffee with arlecchino while the kids were still asleep. you were skimming through the newspaper, and you couldn't help but gasp in shocking as you read a certain news. "oh, darling? do you remember sir cecil van duyn?" you asked. arlecchino hummed, placing her cup down. "yes, one of our investors? what is it, dear?" she asked, looking at you curiously. "he was found dead! i may have not seen him often, but what a shame.." you sighed, oblivious to the fact that it was your wife's doing. arlecchino looked away, bringing the cup to her lips again. "yes, indeed darling, what a shame.."

she would not tell you this but for you, if it meant keeping you well and alive-- yes, she'd kill for you any day. she could paint her whole arm with the blood of those that dare to even lay a finger on you and she'd wear it proudly, to instill the image of it in their minds, so that her enemies know that it could be their blood next splattering on her if they decide to do the same dumb mistake the others already have.

[demigod-shenanigans]

Re: Reyna joining the Hunters and why I think it’s actually really depressing

So for a variety of reasons I’m not a huge fan of Reyna’s arc ending with her joining the Hunters of Artemis. Part of that is rrverse characters should be allowed to be single without joining the eternal celibacy club, but that’s not a problem exclusive to Reyna. I also think handling asexuality in the context of celibacy by choice is… messy by default, especially if it’s your one confirmed ace character.

Beyond that, though, there’s a bunch of context surrounding Reyna’s life and personality that just make that choice seem really sad to me?

I’ll split this into three thematic subsections and put the second and third one under the cut because this got pretty long

Reyna and her sense of duty:

I highly suspect Reyna’s fatal flaw is her sense of duty. This is never explicitly confirmed (because no one except Percy and Annabeth has confirmed fatal flaws), but duty is the theme her entire character revolves around. Basically from birth she’s raised to believe the fate of New Rome lies on her shoulders. A lot of her actions in the books explicitly link back to her sense of duty.

She runs herself ragged trying to find Jason and trying to manage a job made for two people on her own before Son of Neptune.

A lot of her conflict stems from the fact that what is necessary to protect her home (leaving her post and following Jason) inherently clashes with the rules of that home.

Reyna also actively chides others (like Lavinia in ToA) for leaving their posts and not sharing that same sense of duty.

Because of this, like Jason, Reyna is never really able to be a kid.

Joining the Hunters sort of does a good thing in that it allows Reyna to gain some distance specifically from New Rome, which her fate and also a lot of her trauma regarding her upbringing revolves around.

But it doesn’t allow her to be a kid any more than being a praetor at Camp Jupiter did. Potentially less so, actually, seeing as the Hunters are basically always on the move doing something important while at Camp Jupiter you probably have regular days off and a city to visit and relax in always right around the corner.

Reyna lays down one duty and immediately commits herself to the next one. She doesn’t grow and learn that she doesn’t have to carry the fate of the world on her shoulders. She just trades one burden for another.

—————————

Reyna and her emotions:

The timing of Reyna’s choice to join the Hunters seems really off. New Rome is mostly destroyed and just suffered a catastrophic amount of losses. Reyna absolutely has a right to step down as a leader, but this seems like an odd time for her to do it, especially considering she just completely up and leaves instead of at least sticking around to help rebuild her home and then join the Hunters after. As someone so fundamentally defined by her duties and her loyalty to New Rome, why does she spend half a day off-screen and then suddenly decide actually she’ll leave her destroyed home and all those grieving people for someone else to deal with? It just seems really out of character for her.

This begs the question: is Reyna really making that choice because she figured out it’s what she wants, or is it because she can’t deal with what happened? Because looking at all the destruction and attending all the funerals—deaths that happened while she was technically in charge but unable to be present, people she was supposed to protect—reminds her of every way she’s failed her home?

Also, Jason just died.

Jason was Reyna’s best friend for years. He was the first person she allowed herself to grow close to after her sister left her, and very possibly the first person she ever fell in love with. She never properly got to make up with Jason. Very likely they were both afraid to be hurt again. They both thought there’d be time for it later. But there wasn’t. There isn’t. She only got her best friend back in a coffin, and even in death, returning to New Rome (to her) wasn’t Jason’s choice.

Reyna leaves the place where they grew up together, the duties they used to share and all the memories—memories that were just hers, no longer his, since he never properly got them back—two days after she watched his pyre burn.

How much of that is her leaving because she wants to, and how much of it is the fact that she can’t keep her walls up and keep herself going in the place that used to be theirs, where Jason’s ghost is staring back at her at every corner? How much of her leaving is her unwillingness to deal with her grief?

Reyna running away from her feelings is an ongoing theme. It makes sense from a lot of different angles why she’d do it.

She was raised by an abusive father who often turned his feelings (what child Reyna would have seen as “love”, but was primarily paranoia/anger) against her and Hylla.

It’s also addressed directly that Reyna worries if she feels nervous or scared, her emotions will cause the camp to worry as well—her power is quite literally to project her own emotions outward, so if she does that with negative emotions (intentionally or unintentionally), it would cause problems. Suppressing them feels safer. On top of that, in her role as a leader, she has to provide a certain sense of confidence and assurance even when she herself doesn’t feel it.

Joining the Hunters instead of facing those feelings is not exactly a great way to heal in that regard.

————————

Reyna and the weight of Bellona’s prophecy:

As far as we’re aware, Camp Jupiter has faced more threats in the few years Reyna was in charge than it has in centuries. First the Titan war (which Reyna must have arrived partway through, depending on how early the Romans even knew about and were involved in what was happening there), then the war with Gaia, then the Emperors.

And obviously that’s not actually Reyna’s fault—Reyna is, in fact, a huge contributing factor to why these disasters weren’t a lot worse and didn’t claim even more lives. But this is all put on the shoulders of a girl who knows her fate is intricately linked to the legacy of Rome.

A girl who is already convinced that her love is fundamentally destructive and keeps other people from being happy. Her father spent her entire childhood suspicious of Reyna potentially betraying him—and, because she ended up killing him in self-defense, it’s very easy for a traumatized ten year old to internalize that maybe that suspicion was totally warranted. Then Circe’s Island gets destroyed. Then Hylla finds her happiness with the Amazons by leaving Reyna. Then Jason leaves her, seeming so much happier with Piper and Leo than he ever was with her.

Everyone she loves always seems to be happier without her.

So maybe the best thing she can do for New Rome—a home that she loves and that has faced so much destruction in the short time she’s spent there—is to leave.

Maybe the best way to keep New Rome safe (because New Rome’s survival is linked to Hylla and Reyna’s bloodline continuing to exist) is to make herself immortal and preserve it that way. Because, unless Reyna dies in battle, she could live centuries—potentially thousands of years—as a Hunter. She can’t ever properly go back to the home she loved, because that’s not how the Hunters work. But she’s still bound to her fate by her blood. She’s still doing her duty to New Rome by living as long as she can.

It’s not something she can ever be free of.

The worst thing about this is I think Reyna choosing to find a fate for herself outside of New Rome could have actually been a great way to conclude her arc, but god do I wish it was executed differently and actually given proper exploration/space to breathe instead of just resolved by taking her off-screen for a few hours and then sticking her with the group of female warriors that barely gets to have any plot relevance outside of conveniently coming to people’s rescue.

[sassytheturtle]

Thinking about how we’ve never once seen Hunter fighting at full strength and power in toh.

You need to remember this dude has been trained his entire life to serve as an elite soldier under the emperor. Belos wouldn’t have made him his right hand man and eventual coven head after Lilith left if he wasn’t capable of handling himself, anyone who might seek to harm the emperor or anyone else of importance, dangerous monsters and demons, and capturing powerful wild witches.

I mean, think about all the specifics of his job and training that he’s mentioned. He had to have been really freaking tough and talented to have been able to make it through all that.

And we never once get to see what he’s truly capable of.

In Seperate Tides, Hunter doesn’t see Luz or Eda as any sort of threat. He knows they’re both powerless. He’s clearly relaxed and toying with them. He’s confident that he has the upper hand and isn’t worrying about having to handle a couple of troublesome criminals.

Hunting Palismen takes place late at night. He was expecting this to be a quick and easy in and out mission. It’s understandable that he would be tired this late. And again, you have to remember that he still doesn’t view Luz as any sort of threat. He’s annoyed by her and gets caught off guard because he wasn’t expecting her to be any sort of challenge to handle.

Plus he was just in a crash and doesn’t even have his staff the majority of the episode, but is still able to easily keep up with Luz. And he willingly goes along with her afterwards so that he can get the palismen quicker and then dispose of Luz.

By the time he fights Kiki, he’s been running around all night and clearly just wants this mission to be over with. Kiki has been shown to be a pretty powerful person fighting wise, and even though she’s barely conscious, Hunter bests her fairly quickly. It wasn’t something that was really that hard for him.

Then comes to Eclipse Lake. By the time he and Amity fight, he’s exhausted, just had a mental breakdown, and fighting on an unfamiliar staff. Mental breakdowns like this leave people feeling super drained and burnt out, but he still gives Amity a pretty good run for her money.

I believe he would have easily won if not for the events in the episode leading up to the fight. I mean, he was literally just involved in a mine cart chase before he got to the lake.

In Any Sport in a Storm, other characters clearly point out the fact that he’s very talented at what he does. But he doesn’t exert full effort. He’s trying to recruit teens and play a sport.

In Labyrinth Runners, he’s dealing with the impacts and trauma from Hollow Mind. This dude has just learned that everything he thought he ever knew was a complete lie. He knows the man he once saw as his uncle wants him dead. He’s terrified. All he ever had to do before was follow orders, but now it’s up to him to make decisions and he has no idea what to do, where to go, or who to turn to. All he knows is that he has to stay as far away from Belos as possible.

All of this is clearly mentally and physically draining him. But even at this weak point, he’s able to push through and get to Gus when several other scouts and a literal coven head could not.

Again in Clouds On the Horizon, he’s still terrified and dealing with everything that happened. He’s still not in a good head space.

In King’s Tide, he’s been in yet another crash and is being effected by the draining spell. But he’s still able to push through and fight Belos, holding up fairly well, when everyone else with a sigil can barely even move.

It wasn’t even him fighting in Thanks to Them. That was just Belos using his body. But still, an argument can be made. He’s able to push through Belos’s possession after being rusty on fighting and all of his training for literal months. Belos was clearly trying to hurt Hunter when possessing him and didn’t care whether he lived or died. Hunter pushes through in minutes.

When Belos possessed Raine, he didn’t want to hurt them. He needed a body and to sustain Raine as long as he could. Raine has been trapped as a puppet, but they haven’t been conscious for months. If they were freed from puppet form, then they’d still be as used to fighting as before they were enslaved into a dreamless sleep.

Belos even comments on how powerful Raine is, but it still takes them a lot longer to push through his control than Hunter did. They did also have to push through Collector’s, but there’s still a point to be made.

In For the Future, again Hunter is still rusty, in painful grief, having to deal with all of his worst traumas coming back, and now has no magic at all. He figures out he’s able to use it later on, but it’s only ever that one spell.

This brings me back to my main point. In all of these instances, Hunter has either been tired, burnt out, in mental distress, just previously dealing with another physically taxing event, not really trying or having to use effort, rusty from lack of practice, using unfamiliar magic, or a combination of those. I believe that if we ever got to see him fight in his prime—with a staff and magic that he was used to, in a mostly stable emotional state, physically rested or not just previously having to deal with another taxing event, and with all of his training in tact and not out of practice—then we would see just how powerful and terrifying of a foe he could have really been.

[lycorogue]

Latest Story: You Pretended Not to Care

HOO BOY! THIS STORY! (And by that, I mean the source material) I've barely written 3k words of fictional prose since 2022. Then I read through episode 20 of the webcomic adaptation of Not Your Typical Reincarnation Story (aka I Thought It Was A Common Transmigration), and I churn out a 7200-word BEAST to fill in that "fade to black" we got.

I did try to write this so even if you don't know/remember the source material you can still (hopefully) enjoy this sweet bit of smut. Hope I did right by all of you!

Oh! And btw, it wasn't until after I had this story edited did I go back and find the English translation of the original Korean webnovel. I'm pleasantly surprised at how close I was to the character's motivation and inner monologue. It was so cool to find out that I was able to pick up on the crumbs the author (and adaptor) left for me.

Also, in case it isn't clear, any italicized text between two chevrons (<>) is Killian remembering passages from Edith's diary. Also, for any who may be unfamiliar with the source material, or who might need a refresher, the reason Killian had Edith's diary in the first place was because she used it as a handwriting sample to prove papers were forged in her hand.

Finally, I tried really hard to make it evident when I switched POVs. If any part (or the whole thing 😬) feels "head-hoppy" please let me know.

OK! Enough stalling!

Summary: When Suna Choi reincarnated as Edith Rigelhof, the villainess of the novel Suna read the night before she died, she knew she had to do everything possible to avoid Edith's cruel execution at the hands of her own husband. Seemed easy enough to avoid the pitfalls that led to Edith's demise. She attempted to befriend the novel's protagonist Rhyse Sinclair. She refused to be her despicable father's spy. Most importantly, she wouldn't fall in love with her husband Killian Rudwick. His heart already belonged to Rhyse, and his arranged marriage to Edith wasn't going to change that. Despite her best efforts, Edith is still being forced down the same path as the original novel's plot. At least, that's what it seems like. But when Edith finally waves the white flag and decides to just follow the plot after all, the novel again has other plans. Edith steels herself for the next main plot point: a failed attempt to seduce her husband… except… this time it isn't going to fail…. **A more in-depth look at Episode 20 of the Webtoon adaptation that doesn't shy from the smut** Rating: Mature/Explicit (due to description of a sex scene) Word Count: 7,228 Status: completed one-shot Continue reading below, or find this story over on AO3 or on DA.

You Pretended Not to Care

Dreading what she was about to do, Edith cracked open Killian's bedroom door. She hated this. She hated it all. She hated that she had no control over this life either. She hated that her fate was locked in. She hated that she had no choice but to have the entire Rudwick family despise her. To have Killian hate her.

Worst of all, she hated how she didn't hate him in return. She wanted to. She needed to. It would make everything easier. Despite the past three months, though, she didn't hate her husband. What's worse, there were those quiet moments where he didn't seem to remember that he was supposed to hate her as well.

Those quiet moments -- those glimmers of hope that he could maybe learn to love her -- were the cruelest parts of this new life. Those breaths of fresh air where she truly believed that she might have found a home where she could relax and enjoy life. That she found a loving family. That someone could maybe fall in love with her. That she wasn't destined to have her own husband cut her down while she begged for his mercy.

She didn't want to advance the story to its next plot beat. It was too painful to be so vulnerable, and for that vulnerability to be twisted into manipulation and used against her. She had no choice though. That was now clear. Despite how much she fought to not be the Edith Rigelhof she had read about, despite showing kindness and humility and making every strategic move she could think of to avoid Edith's downfall, the story marched on exactly the same.

Edith purposefully didn't pick out dresses for herself while the dressmakers were at the estate, and she was still accused of being rudely disapproving, unappreciative, and entitled. She graciously accepted the dainty ruby necklace Rhyse picked out for her, and yet Killian's older brother Cliff still bought all of the other jewels for Rhyse in order to make a point. Just like in the novel. Edith wanted nothing to do with espionage and smuggling information to her father. She even sent him a letter stating precisely that. She was then framed and accused of espionage nonetheless. It didn't matter what she tried. The story was already written. There was no way to change it. The plot would just correct itself to keep following the path already carved by the novel.

Tonight, Edith will attempt to seduce her husband. There was no getting around it. The story would find a way to make sure of that. Even if Edith never left her room again, she'd probably still be accused of it; hated for it. She'd lose Killian no matter what she tried. She might as well lean into her fate. She could at least enjoy getting one kiss.

Edith stood beside Killian's bed. She stared at his beautiful face; his bangs fallen into his eyes. His white shirt was loose and partially unbuttoned, leaving a tantalizing view of his strong, broad chest. A chest she wanted to lie upon; to be held against. Edith knew she was doomed the second she set eyes on Killian. Not just because he was destined to literally kill her, but because – aside from his older brother's mesmerizing golden eyes – Killian was the most breathtakingly beautiful human she had ever seen.

She knew the deal. Killian was madly in love with his family's ward: Rhyse Sinclair. He'd spend his whole marriage to Edith loathing the arrangement and resenting his wife's very existence. It was impossible to win her husband's affection, especially away from the gorgeous and charming little Rhyse. There was no point in falling in love with Killian.

She couldn't resist no matter how hard she tried, however. Even before being reincarnated as Edith, Suna Choi had preferred Killian. He was the secondary love interest of the novel Stop Obsessing Over Me, Brother! She knew that his attempts were hopeless, that Rhyse and Cliff were end-game. Still, the way Killian loved Rhyse and supported her felt so much more sincere. Suna had wondered what it would be like for Killian -- or, really, any man -- to love her the way he loved Rhyse.

And then she was reincarnated as his wife in an arranged marriage. She saw him pine over Rhyse instead of her. Suna didn't fault him, though. It was that devotion towards Rhyse that Suna had fallen in love with Killian for in the first place. She didn't begrudge Rhyse for making Killian smile so brilliantly. She just wished he would smile her way now and again as well.

After tonight, there was no hope that she'd ever see Killian smile again.

Good, she thought, I can't keep pretending this marriage will ever work out. I can't keep holding onto hope. After this incident, please hate me like you're supposed to. So that I can resolve my own feelings.

Edith brushed her hair back and out of her face as she leaned down towards her husband. His soft lips were temptingly parted as he slept; beckoning. It would be the last bit of fun Edith would be able to have. She could give herself a treat. Make what she was about to do worth it.

Even with how cruel Killian had been to her, though, she couldn't do that to him. She knew that he was saving every part of himself for Rhyse. He was going to hate Edith either way, but she couldn't bear to take that away from him. She wasn't the villainess they had all decided she was.

Instead, her lips drifted to his forehead, softly brushing his bangs out of the way without use of her hands. She soaked him in best she could; inhaling his scent as her lips tenderly kissed his smooth skin, the tension of his daily scowling at her relaxed as he slept.

Her lips lingered a bit longer than they probably needed. She didn't want to pull away and give up the only loving contact she'd probably ever have with her husband. Edith needed it all over with, though. She retreated slightly, but still stayed close enough that her face would fill Killian's vision as he opened his eyes.

Now, when he wakes up, Edith thought, he'll look at me with disgust.

She wanted to avoid this next part so bad. She feared seeing what true disgust would look like carved on Killian's angelic face. She knew she'd seen close, and it pained her each time she remembered each of those cold, heartless looks. This would be a new level, though, and she struggled to not cry in anticipation.

Killian stirred oh-so-slightly. His breathing shifted. His lashes fluttered.

Here it comes. Get it over with, Killian. Prove to me that you will only ever hate me.

Edith expected a scowl upon him seeing her. Shouting. Shoving. A demand for guards to take her out of his sight. A berating for her vulgar behavior.

She did not expect Killian's right hand snatching hold of her left wrist.

Edith jumped back, tugging slightly against Killian's tight -- but still gentle -- grip.

“You pretended not to care this whole time.” There wasn't any grogginess in his sharp tone. It was as if he had been awake the whole time. Edith panicked that he had somehow known about her seduction attempt and had faked being asleep.

She wiggled to break free, but Killian tightened his grip. Edith was startled not by his strength, but by his control. His grip was firm, unrelenting, and a bit ravenous. But it didn't hurt. The tension made it seem like he wanted to hurt her, and yet his grip never once clamped down enough, as if something inside him was able to stop his muscles just before breaking that thin line.

“Are you now so overwhelmed with lust,” Killian continued, “that you can't pretend anymore?” He was sat up in bed. His head was tilted forward, knocking his bangs back into his eyes, giving him a mischievous, fox-like stare. He finally smiled at Edith, but it wasn't the warm, beaming, kind smile he would give to Rhyse. This was a lecherous smile full of cunning and the satisfaction of a successful hunt.

This wasn't how it was supposed to happen! Everything else had gone exactly how Edith had read it in the novel. No matter how she handled the situation, the end result was always the same. Edith was still accused of being vulgar and entitled after the dressmakers visited. She was still left with just the dainty necklace while Rhyse received the rest of the stock the jewelers brought to the estate. Edith was still accused of espionage, put under house-arrest, and eventually let go. It shouldn't have mattered what she did that night. Killian was still supposed to awake disgusted with her seduction attempt.

Killian's look was anything but disgusted though.

“No,” Edith choked out in fear. Her mind raced as she tried to sort out what Killian was planning on doing with her. “I just--”

“That's fine,” he interrupted. With the elegance and strength only gained from years of sword mastery, Killian yanked on Edith's left arm, pulling her towards his bed while also flipping her onto her back. In an instant, he was straddling her knees.

Edith's long, red hair billowed out behind her like a messy halo; pinned beneath her body. Her left arm equally pinned to the bed by Killian's stern grip still on her wrist. Her right arm was free, but it felt too heavy to move as Killian looked down on her with that mischievously lustful grin.

“Satisfy me, Edith. Seduce me like the Rigelhofs taught you.” Killian started undoing another button on his thin, white shirt. His eyes drilling into his stunned bride beneath him. “Who knows? I might end up attached to your body.” His voice got deep and had a voracious gravel to it.

What is he doing? This isn't right! This isn't how it was supposed to go at all!

“W-wait! Killian!” Edith willed her right arm to move, and she pried Killian's hand off of her. Without him pinning her down, Edith sat up best she could. Her eyes flashed with worry, panic, and confusion. She knew this wasn't what Killian wanted. It couldn't be. The novel version of him had no interest in Edith. He would never fall for her seduction attempts. He was too devoted to--

“Are you sure...” She took a deep breath. She didn't want to ask. She didn't want to hear his answer. She didn't want him to change his mind. She knew she had to be certain, however. “You'll be alright with me?”

Killian stopped undressing himself. The passion and thrill of the hunt flushed from his face as Edith looked up at him in full earnest.

“...and not Rhyse?” she finished.

A pain shot through Killian's chest and his stomach twisted slightly. Does she truly not care, he wondered, enough to bring up my feelings for Rhyse?

He pulled away, stepping off the bed and allowing Edith to sit the rest of the way up. Her eyes were so huge and sincere. It was hard to not recognize the surprise painted across her face. It made Killian want to both retreat from her and devour her.

Even if we were forced into a marriage of convenience... she really doesn't expect anything from me, her husband....

Her lack of expectation from him infuriated him. She was fully aware of his love for Rhyse, and she had resigned herself to a loveless marriage. Even so--

<His face is glowing and his body is so hot! I can't stop drooling, just thinking about him....> <I really think Killian is more my type than Cliff.> <I happened to see him wave at Rhyse-- I thought I might be blinded by his smile.>

Killian was giving himself to Edith, and yet she stopped him. Even when he thought he was offering her exactly what she desired she still expected nothing from him.

Killian wanted to satisfy her. He demanded that she satisfy him, but he knew he wanted it the other way around. He wanted to reward her words in her diary. He wanted her to keep watching him and desiring him. He didn't want her to give up her fight for his affection. He yearned for her to crave him.

He rested a hand beside her leg on the edge of the bed, then made it creak slightly as he leaned towards her. She leaned away, giving him space as she studied him and tried to figure out his angle.

His angle was lust.

With the blinding swiftness he used before to catch her wrist and pull her onto the bed, Killian pinched Edith's chin between his thumb and forefinger. Halting her retreat instantly, Killian leaned closer, bringing her face inches from his. He stared intensely into her large, uneasy eyes, and delighted in how his boldness caused those doe-eyes to soften and close slightly.

They were the furthest from Rhyse's eyes. Edith's large breasts -- raising and lowering in quick, short breaths -- were far from Rhyse's as well. Edith's full, supple thighs and curved hips were the opposite of Rhyse's slender frame. Her wavy, fiery red hair equally foiled the elegant fairness of Rhyse's straight golden-blonde locks.

Killian loved Rhyse. It was true. He'd do anything for her. He wanted to spend every waking moment with her. He delighted in her smile. He wanted to protect such a gentle and delicate woman. She was sunshine personified. He had wanted to give her his all.

Edith was the farthest from Rhyse that he could think of. Yet he also wanted to give her his all. In a different way. In a more primal way. He wanted to gift himself to Rhyse. He wanted to lose himself in Edith.

And yet, Edith hesitated when he offered precisely that. If this was what she wanted, why would she care if Killian would regret their night together?

“I should be asking you that question.” He whispered. Soft. Firm. Challenging. Playful. Aloof. Yearning. “Aren't you the one who was so confident in yourself that you would crawl into my bed in the middle of the night?”

She wouldn't believe him if he told her he wanted this. He wasn't even sure he could say those exact words.

Edith...

He'd get her to accept his offer. To forget Rhyse the way he did. This wasn't about her. This was about a man and his wife. This was about quelling a fire. This was about finally letting go and truly going for something he desired without hesitation.

Killian pressed his lips against Edith's.

Her eyes stayed wide; frozen in shock. Those lips weren't supposed to be hers, as much as she wanted them to be. They were Rhyse's. Killian had waited the last four years for her. He had never before felt the touch of a woman. Never tasted another's mouth. And yet he was pressed against Edith's.

It was a bit awkward. A little innocent, but still very lustful. Suna never felt this level passion before in her life. Either of them. It shot warm shivers through her core.

Killian ravenously pushed on her mouth with his own, trying to force her down. Edith retreated across the mattress, and he pursued her, crawling his way back onto his bed. His left knee wedged between her legs.

Edith's fear of the consequences and misconceptions of this night vaporized as Killian's kiss drained her brain of oxygen. This night alone didn't cause her eventual death, so why not enjoy the bliss?

With a gasp and slow exhale to steady his breath again, Killian pulled away. He towered over Edith as he remained kneeling with their legs interwoven. Before Edith could regain her own senses, Killian brusquely snatched her wrist once more.

<His face is glowing and his body is so hot!>

“After all the snooping and sneaking glances,” Killian aggressively teased, “now you can touch me all you want.” He finished unbuttoning his shirt and pressed Edith's right hand against his tight pectoral. With a shrug his undone shirt slid off his shoulders, revealing them to her as well.

Edith fiercely blushed as she remembered that Killian had read a portion of her diary when she used it to try to prove her handwriting was forged; that she wasn't the one who sent insider knowledge to her father. Her face and ears burned as she tried to mentally recount exactly what she had said about Killian; what he could have possibly read. How lustful had she been in her writings? Was he just toying with her to teach her a lesson?

“N-no,” Edith stammered in a panic, “that's not what I...” Her eyes darted from her hand on his chest up to Killian's deep, dark eyes. The puckish grin and challenging stare had both fallen; softened. Killian almost looked defeated; pleading. He couldn't have possibly wanted -- genuinely wanted -- Edith to lust after him, could he?

His chest beneath her hand was firm and silky, but it rose and fell in uneven, subtly quivering breaths.

That's right. Killian didn't know the touch of a woman before now. He wouldn't possibly go this far just to mess with me, right?

“What I mean is...” Edith relented. She pressed slightly with her finger tips, and Killian's grip loosened, more cradling her wrist than actually holding it. He gently directed her to follow the crease separating his pecs. Edith's fingers quaked against the soft ridges of his chest. Before her mind could catch up with her body, her fingers slid down to his abs. She outlined each one with her nails, memorizing the sensation as it shook through her.

Killian's muscles were all the more defined as he directed Edith to explore them. He flexed each one as her fingers wandered. He had to. It was the only way to keep himself from shivering at her touch. He wasn't expecting the tingles along his skin. He didn't anticipate how much his body would miss the delicate tickle of her fingers as they roamed to a different part of him. He wanted to collapse into her. He wanted to give her everything she desired of his body. He wanted to devour her in kind. He wanted to tear the nightgown she was wearing. Ruin his sheets. Decimate his mattress.

He had always been able to keep his desires in check before. He was able to have full control of himself. With Edith, however? With her feather-soft touch? With those fierce quips? With those saucer-large inquisitive eyes? With her quiet lusting for her husband? With that porcelain skin? He was becoming a beast and he needed to rein himself in.

“Are you happy now?” He asked her barely above a whisper. His voice strained as he struggled to contain himself. They hadn't even done anything physically strenuous, yet sweat already dotted his temples. He hoped Edith didn't hear him gulp down the sticky saliva making his mouth dry and his teeth hungry for her skin.

<I really think Killian is more my type than Cliff.>

He had never been preferred over his brother before. He was either Cliff's equal or he had fallen behind at some point. Killian knew his father would never overlook Cliff and name him heir of the dukedom instead. He also knew that it was pointless to think that he could ever win Rhyse away from Cliff. There was no world wherein Killian got what Cliff desired.

Killian didn't need to fight for Edith though. She was all his, and she preferred it that way. He wanted to make sure she would always choose him over his brother.

As he stared down at her, Edith melted at Killian's soft, flushed face. His tight voice rattled in her head; otherwise empty due to her brain traveling along with her fingers across Killian's exposed stomach. His hand giving her the guided tour. Happy? she thought, I could spend the rest of my life just touching this man's waist, stomach, arms, and chest...

Suddenly, she realized he had asked her a question that she didn't answer. Blushing harder, she focused on her hand traveling back up to his left pectoral. She was acutely aware of what she had been doing, and how humiliating it was that he had read her diary and then called her out on what she wrote via... this! She couldn't look at him. Not into those soft, pleading, lost eyes.

She tried to ignore the quivering in her voice as she answered. “Huh? Oh... I-I...”

Killian used his right hand to continue directing Edith's fingers as they skated across his chest. Meanwhile, his left hand found her ankle and started venturing its way up her leg, pushing up the skirt of her nightgown slightly as he did. His nails dug tantalizingly into the back of her calf just below her knee.

“Yes...” Edith breathed, finally answering Killian. Yes! Good Power Almighty, yes! In both this life and her previous one, she had never been more happy. She wanted this to go on endlessly.

Screw restraint. Edith's breathy “yes” was all Killian needed. That single word was filled with tension begging to be released. It broke Killian's willpower. He needed her now. His hand snaked from outside her gown to under it, feeling the silky lines of her bare legs. A fever raced through him and his groin twitched.

Like a taught fishing line, Killian's eyes darted to the nape of Edith's neck. That obscene lure that snagged him their wedding night. With an invisible yank of the line, Killian's lips crashed into her neck.

Edith gasped and twitched at the touch, which just made Killian linger there all the more. His teeth gently scraped across her collarbone and his lips brushed against her skin in phantom kisses. Each inch his mouth crawled caused her to squirm and gasp again.

This was a fun game. He wondered how many times he could make her quiver. Was it infinite? Would she eventually numb to his touch? Could he turn that gasp into a squeak or a moan?

I can't believe I find Edith Rigelhof adorable...

Her chest heaved in shaky breaths against his bare chest, and his heart raced knowing how undone he was making his fiery bride. His hand crept higher up her thigh, his forearm pushing the skirt of her nightgown up and over her knee. All of his slow, methodical, gentle touches made her shift and squirm, and it excited him all the more.

“K-Killian!” she gasped as her leg twitched against his touch.

There must be something wrong with me, Killian mentally berated himself as he shifted his weight forward, creaking the bed again.

Then it happened. Edith groaned. It was strained, like she was fighting against letting the lewd sound escape her lips. It was soft and deep and rumbled out of her chest.

Killian ripped his arms out of his sleeves and tossed his shirt to the floor. He then crashed right back into Edith, concentrating on her right collarbone this time. His hand reaching her bare hip as he rested more of his weight against her.

Edith's mind went blank. She knew she needed to keep her wits about her. She needed to strategize. She had to deduce how this act would be twisted by the story to keep the plot on track. Prepare herself. Find a way to at least lessen the blow.

Instead, her mind was filled with Killian's lips on her skin and his hand on her hip; wordlessly instructing her to strip. She was more than happy to comply.

Shifting her weight, Edith slid the back of her nightgown up to her waist so she was no longer sitting on the skirt. Lightning shot through her as her fingers entangled briefly with Killian's. She then squeaked out his name as his hand followed hers and he caressed her ass.

“What's wrong?” Killian roguishly chuckled into Edith's ear before nibbling on it. “No final words for me tonight?”

He was right. It was mortifying for her to be his putty like this. She needed to take charge. Just as she had always done with him. She had never allowed him the upper hand before. Every time he had pushed her she would push right back.

First, she needed to regain her bearings.

Edith arched her head to try to pull away from Killian's insatiable mouth. It backfired and instead left more skin for him to explore, making her squeak with surprise. Her nails scraped across the sheets, and she gathered whatever loose cloth she could into her tightening grip. Her toes curled. Her stomach flipped. She had failed. She didn't want Killian's lips to ever leave her skin. She panted his name once more as she submitted to him.

Shifting his weight to better balance himself, Killian kept his left hand exploring Edith's leg and hip. His right hand then traced its way up her spine, searching for the tie to her nightgown. Upon feeling the soft ribbon tail, he tugged. Her gown loosened. The neckline instantly drooped and slid off her right shoulder, granting Killian more real estate to traverse. As his lips and left hand continued their private expeditions, Killian's right hand traveled back down Edith's spine, making her shiver at his touch.

His middle finger caught the buttons along the ribbon at Edith's waist. It was a bit more work to slide them back through their restrictive loops than he expected. Despite normally being a very dexterous person, Killian was clumsy with his unbuttoning, and he growled his frustration about it into Edith's shoulder. Gasping, Edith grabbed the back of his head and held him against her skin. Her hips shifted in his grasp as well. Her left leg pushing against his right, spreading herself more for him.

Killian's chest tightened. His nails pressed against her hip. He slid his left leg over, shifting her leg as well. A new fragrance wafted into the room. It made his head spin and his heart race. Cradling the back of Edith's head, Killian broke from her grasp and collided with her lips.

Running on an autopilot she didn't even realize she had, Edith massaged Killian's lips with her own, demonstrating the proper way their mouths should dance. Her tongue gently tapped against his lower lip. He instantly granted her entry, and she gingerly ventured into his mouth. He greedily pushed back, nearly choking her.

She pulled back with a gag, and Killian instantly stilled. Heat billowed off of them both as they stared each other down, studying their partner for their next move. Cradling each side of his face, Edith gently pulled him down to her. She gave him a cautious, closed-mouth kiss. He allowed her to set the pace, so she tested the waters with her tongue again. His lips parted hungrily and welcomed her inside. She gently pushed against his tongue before trying to wrap her own around his. Understanding, Killian responded in kind. Softly this time. He let her take the lead as his mind instead focused on her buttons again.

Edith rested her head against the bed, and pulled Killian down with her. She left her back arched for his hands to undo her buttons. The new angle helped him, and they unfastened all the easier. Each time she felt her nightgown loosen a bit more around her waist, Edith ran her nails across Killian's back. Finally, the third button was released.

Realizing his task was done, Killian sharply inhaled Edith's scent. Pulling away from her mouth, he slowly let his breath back out with a ravenous sigh. His hands roamed her bare legs. Her hands explored his back. His heart pounded in his ears. He couldn't believe the next step he was about to take. There would be no undoing this night. He would never be able to pretend it didn't happen.

“Killian?”

Her voice was too gentle. Too breathy. Her eyes were too wide and pleading. Her hair looked too enticing sprawled out behind her on his bed. Her skin was too soft. Too warm. Too welcoming.

“Tell me what you want, Edith.”

“I--” She studied him. This was her out. She could escape before this whole thing went any further. They'd regret this in the morning. She knew that much. At least, Killian would regret it the moment his lust was satiated. She just needed to tell him no, and he'd probably let her leave.

She couldn't deny what she wanted though. The weight of his body pressed against hers was too sweet. The slight roughness of his swordsman-calloused fingers sent electricity through her. Her body was feverish and her mouth was dry and starving. She'd break if they stopped now.

“I want you, Killian,” she whispered.

That puckish smirk returned, along with a glint in his eyes.

“What do you want from me?”

“Whatever you are willing to give.”

“What if I already did that?”

Edith's face fell. Of course he was just teasing her, playing with her. Her face burned with embarrassment and desire. She curled in on herself, and nibbled her thumbnail to try to release some tension.

“Do you wish for me to leave then?”

Killian's stomach flipped as Edith looked up at him with a little pout. Watching her bite down on her fingernail made him instantly miss her mouth. He wanted to hear her pant again; moan again; to gasp out his name again. He would never sleep again if he didn't know those sounds by heart.

He leaned in so his lips were tantalizingly close to hers. “I wish for you to tell me specifically what it is that you want from me.”

Her gasping breaths tickled his lips. Edith's mind raced for the right answer. She knew this was a test of some sort. Her brain was too full of lewd thoughts though. Now wasn't the time for strategy. Before she could finish calculating, her mouth blurted out, “I want to feel you.” Her eyes darted towards his waist before blinking back to match his gaze. “All of you.”

Killian's crotch twitched. In an instant, his tongue was in Edith's mouth again, and his hand was tangled up in her hair. His free hand scrambled for the bottom hem of her nightgown, and he was startled to find her hand already pulling it up for him.

They broke away from each other, and he hurriedly peeled her gown up and over her head. He didn't look at her skin as it was exposed. Instead, his eyes followed the cloth as it slid up her body and through her long, thick hair before it dropped to the floor. When he turned back to his bride she sheepishly had her arms over her chest and her knees pressed against his leg still wedged between them.

Could Edith Rigelhof be shy about her body?

With a tenderness Killian didn't understand, he brushed his fingers against her exposed collarbone. He then played with her shoulder for a second, drawing a few circles and causing Edith to shiver at his touch. He then traced her arm down to her elbow, and then across to her wrist. His hand never ventured towards her breasts, instead concentrating on the goosebumps growing on his wife's arms.

Edith squirmed beneath him. Her breath quaked in anticipation. She fought the urge to just grab him and do whatever she needed to satisfy herself. She felt so close to the brink as it was already, it wouldn't take long.

What is he doing? she thought as Killian's feather-light touch skated across her skin. Why is he so--? It kept her a second to realize the word she was looking for was sensual.

She was still nervous about letting him fully see her. True, he had watched her in the tub their wedding night, but she was able to partially cover up, and the rose water obscured his view slightly. Killian's room was dark, but this was still different. He could destroy her at any second.

She didn't take her eyes off his face from the moment her nightgown was tossed to the floor. That fox-like mischievous hunger he first had when he caught her in his room was gone. As his hand traced her arm his eyes had a soft concentration to them. He focused on exploring every inch of her skin with genuine curiosity. His upper teeth brushed his lower lip, as if fighting against biting it. He gently pressed his knee against her bare crotch, and Edith resisted grinding against it.

Why isn't he simply taking me?

Then Edith remembered how new Killian was to all of this. As flustered as she might be, she still had some experience in her previous life. Killian didn't. When his hand reached her wrist she relented to his touch and let him pull her arm away with ease. With her free hand, she cradled his face and brushed his cheek with her thumb.

“Edith.” He whispered her name. He had no clue why. It was like a prayer. Like a confirmation that he wasn't actually asleep. She was there. She was waiting for him. She was gorgeous.

He started at the nape of her neck, then kissed down to her cleavage. He tasted the faint salt pooling along her skin. He felt her chest shiver at his touch. He focused on her soft panting. Her breasts were so velvety. He never imagined how pillowy they actually were. As his lips and tongue explored her chest Edith moaned again.

“Killian--” She sharply inhaled as he switched to the other breast. “Please.” She whimpered slightly, but held his head in place.

Hearing her plead with him awakened the animal instincts in him once more. In a flash, his pants were off and on the floor. He then grabbed behind each of her knees and angled her so he was pressed against her soft flesh. She gasped at him simply knocking on her door. Her heat engulfed him. Juices already welcomed him.

“Do it again,” he growled. It wasn't malicious. He meant to demand this of her, but his voice came out wanting.

“Hmm?”

“Plead.” He hoped she didn't hear the pleading in his own voice.

Edith's nails dug deliciously into Killian's upper arms as she weakly tugged on them. She looked up at him with her large, saucer-wide eyes, her eyebrows pinched in yearning. “Please,” she whimpered. “Keep going. Don't stop.”

Killian's crotch twitched again in response, and he thrust forward, causing Edith to cry out. His angle was off and he instantly knocked into bone.

Edith winced, but truly didn't want him to stop. She pulled his hands down to her hips. Then laced her legs around his waist, holding him in place so he couldn't retreat. She then shifted her hips and arched her back. As she readjusted around Killian he rubbed against her clit and she cooed.

“Are you okay?”

Edith blinked up at him.

Did he seriously ask me that?

She nodded. “Slow. Please?”

He complied. At an achingly slow pace, he slid out of her until just his tip remained inside. He then slid back in just as slowly, allowing Edith to shift and readjust his angle as he crept back into her. He watched every inch of her shifting body and blushing face.

“Like this?”

Edith whimpered out an affirmative as she bit her lip.

Killian gave her a couple more slow thrusts to memorize the proper angle. He felt like he was going to burst at this pace though. His whole body vibrated as he ached to build up the pressure faster.

“I can't keep going this--”

“Faster,” she interrupted. “Please.”

He gladly complied. Noting the angle he needed to be in, he shifted them both so he could thrust his hips faster. Edith cried out once more, and Killian instantly paused, nervous that he hurt her again.

“No. Please. Keep going,” she panted. “Like that. Please.”

He did as his wife asked of him, causing her to squeak and moan some more. It was becoming Killian's new favorite sound.

“Killian.”

No. Hearing her pant out his name like that. That was his new favorite sound.

He leaned in and kissed her neck and along her jaw. She shuddered at his touch and ran her fingers through his hair.

Suna had boyfriends in her past life. She had slept with them before. It wasn't terribly frequent, but she wasn't inexperienced.

Nothing felt as good as Edith felt in that moment, though. Her body was feverish. Tension was knotting in her stomach. Her mind grew foggy. Her skin tingled. Killian's body was the exact weight to counter the pressure building inside her.

Maybe it was the learned vigilance of a swordsman. Maybe it was because Killian was a virgin. Maybe it was because he was exploring and experimenting. Maybe it was because he was subtly looking to Edith for direction while pretending he was still in charge himself. But Edith had never known a man so attentive. Every changed note of her moans told him where to press. Every shift in her breath directed him where to kiss. Every mew that escaped her lips informed him of how fast he should be going. A few sharp gasps instructed Killian on where to focus while inside her.

“Killian,” she panted again. She was cresting the hill. Her whole body felt so tight. She didn't realize that sex could feel so amazing. She wanted more. She didn't want Killian to ever let her go.

His back was clammy against her greedy hands. The sweat from his chest mixed with hers. His primal grunts and growls only made her body heat up faster. His face remained buried in her neck and chest.

“Edith,” he gasped, causing her heart to skip. She didn't want to admit until that very moment that she had been wondering if he was just picturing her as Rhyse. That he was ignoring who he was actually sleeping with. That he was using her as little more than a sex doll stand-in for his true love.

“Edith, moan again for me.”

He quickened his pace again. One hand anchored him to the bed. The other wrapped around Edith's back and latched him to her. He rocked his hips, trying to remember to grind against her slightly as he thrust into her.

Edith's chest tightened as her breath became harder and harder to catch. She bit her lip and groaned against the tension. She whimpered with longing and pinched her eyes tightly closed. The pressure in her crotch increased, but the one against her stomach lessened.

“Edith.” Killian's voice shook as he struggled with his own tight chest. “Look at me.”

She did. She released a breath she forgot she was holding, and opened her eyes. He wasn't pressed against her anymore. He had pulled far enough away to look at her; watch her face again. He grunted as he quickened his pace once more, slamming hard into her. She didn't care. She needed that extra pressure as well. She winced, trying to trap a scream inside her throat.

“Don't.” He brushed her lip with his thumb. “Don't hold it in.”

He grunted and gasped as he climbed to his own climax. With an animalistic drive, he did whatever he needed to finish. He barely slid out of her, keeping the pressure of her vagina firmly wrapped around him.

Every inch of Edith felt too weak to do anything but let him use her. Still, she wanted to repay him for his efforts, so she tightened herself best she could. She instantly felt him pulse against her, and she screamed out. She didn't try to muffle herself this time.

Her constricting around him, followed by her crying out in ecstasy was the final push for him. Loudly moaning himself, he released all of that built up tension inside his wife. She responded in kind. Her back arched and she rocked onto the back of her head. Every muscle within her tightened like a rope about to snap. Her toes curled and her nails dug into his back. He felt her hips shift and her walls pulse around him; squeezing him dry. She cried out with a high pitched scream of pleasure, and her legs shook against his hips.

Both spent, Killian collapsed against Edith's chest. Her legs flopped to either side of him, and she melted under his weight. They both struggled to catch their breaths, but Edith had little problem running her hand through Killian's hair, petting him.

Killian was the first to even out this breathing. Gently, he lifted himself off of Edith and brushed his sweaty hair out of his face. Her hand rested against his chest, not ready to separate from him.

“Edith,” he whispered once more.

She couldn't respond. Her own breath was still too shaky.

Tenderly, he untangled himself from between her legs.

Here it comes. Edith looked away from him. He was satiated now. His senses would soon come back, and he would throw her out of his room; instantly regretful for his lapse in judgment.

Killian took her in. He watched her start to curl into herself again, her eyes tightly closed against him.

Is she nervous that I will want to go again before she recovers?

Killian brushed her hair out of her eyes and kissed her forehead.

Edith's eyes shot open, and she turned to face him. “Killian?”

He didn't say anything. He simply snuggled next to her and rested his head on her shoulder. He then pulled the sheets up around them.

“You should stay here tonight.”

She blushed as she nodded, then rolled onto her side. Killian's arm snaked around her waist and pulled her close to him. His body heat wrapped around her was soothing, and it wasn't long before she fell asleep in his arms.

Killian felt Edith's breathing slow as she dozed off. Her body relaxed against him. Her scent filled his nostrils, making him feel a little dizzy. He didn't hate the sensation though. Despite common sense screaming otherwise, he didn't hate anything that happened that evening.

He had been relieved to find out that Edith had woken up earlier that day, but didn't know how to approach her. He had feared that he was part of the reason she had fainted in the first place. He had assumed that she no longer wanted anything to do with him.

His heart had danced when he caught her in his room. She looked so earnest and innocent it had overwhelmed him.

Then he was inside her, and he never imagined a feeling so amazing. It took all of the willpower he had earned from years of training to not climax after that first corrected thrust. He couldn't let that opportunity go by so quickly. He focused on Edith instead of his own euphoria as best as he could to make it last.

Besides, after everything, didn't he owe Edith that much?

Killian kissed the crown of her head and pulled her in tighter.

What am I going to do with you, Edith Rudwick?

He buried his face into her plush locks, and fell into one of the deepest and most restful sleeps he remembered having.

[hiimweird3]

Random Ethgoesboom head canons

I know I mostly post Sams/laes stuff but damnit Ethgoesboom is a channel that will live in my heart and mind rent free forever so here's head cannons I made at work not all characters though some will have more then others

Everyone: every character who's possessed by a childs spirit lost big parts of their personalities after they were killed and when Afton was confronted by them for the first time he didn't recognize them as the kids he killed at first

Freddy: Freddy sometimes wants to give his microphone to Bonnie Chica and even foxy somedays because he really wants to give them the chance to shine in the spotlight, once when candy tied both of them up Freddy tried calling everyone for help because he wasn’t in the mood react to anything that day but when bonnie foxy and chica came to check on them they just laughed and took pictures before leaving, the big part of Gabriel's personality that got lost after his death was that he was someone who couldn't ever be in the spotlight because he was afraid that people would laugh at him but he would look up to Freddy because of how confident he was so when he possessed Freddy he gained that confidence

Foxy: foxy is banned from playing bored games after he threw the monopoly board and broke the window of the office,the big part of Fritz's personality that was lost was that he was extremely smart when it came to marine biology and would always say if he couldn't be a pirate when he grew up he was at least going to do something involving the sea so he can always be with it had he grow he would've done anything he could to clean the ocean

BB: BB is possessed by the soul of the biological little brother of Fritz so he and foxy are actually siblings and when alive both saw the soul in JJ as a little sister, actually no personality was lost from him because he died extra young so there wasn’t much to lose

Bonnie: Bonnie is banned from playing Uno with foxy for his own safety after he annoyed foxy so much that foxy punched him very hard and broke one of his teeth and to answer the question they both lost to cupcake and had to make Chica and cupcake pizza for a week, the big part of Jeremy's personality that was lost is that he was very much a fighter yes he was a comedic child but pick on his friends and family and he will break your nose (yes this is based on the theory that Jeremy died fighting)

You’re probably thinking that chica is next but I believe in saving the best for last so she will be last, love you chica :3 💛

Golden Freddy: Goldie has dreams of if he and everyone were never killed by Afton and sometimes he would wake up crying because of how much he wished it was real, Goldie also had nightmares of not being able to protect everyone from the nightmares or springtrap (I have honestly no idea what part of his soul’s personality would be lost since idk if eth’s doing the two soul theory or not so unfortunately he won’t have that part puppet too)

The puppet: much like Goldie puppet had dreams where no one was killed and also has nightmares of not being able to protect them but something different is that they also dream of the day everyone’s souls are finally free and they can have fun and finally relax with their families and other friends in the afterlife

The cupcake crew: whenever the cupcakes are extra protective especially to their chica’s they growl and bark since they’re possessed by dogs (watch the movie again and try telling me that cupcake isn’t a dog I f🐬king dare you) ,the reason chica can understand the cupcakes/ all small food animatronics is because of how much Susie loved animals especially her own dog when they were killed their souls connected in a way that allows her to finally understand what her bestiest friend and it allowed her to understand other animatronic possessed by pets

(Sorry toys, phantoms, nightmares, etc I got nothing for y’all)

Main fowa together: due to how long they’ve been with each other they all see each other as siblings chica being the youngest of them but in life some of them had actual siblings (like bb) and the ones with siblings will sit with each other and talk about what they remember about said sibling, very rarely they would refer to each other by their real names especially when talking about something serious (example:

Foxy: Freddy you need to talk to us something is clearly upsetting you

Freddy:guys I’m fine…

Bonnie:but you’re clearly not Freddy..

Freddy:…I’m fine i swear-

Chica: Fred-…Gabriel!..please talk to us we want to help you with whatever is hurting you..)

Chica 💛: chica has pizza hidden in vents all over the pizzeria that she eats though out the day and she eats all of them and surprisingly none gets spoiled because she always remembers where they are, she’s terrified of bugs and actually sprays herself with bug spray after her cockroach infestation, (had to give some happyish ones before the main point sorry long and kinda sad) Susie lost basically all of her personality when she died due to her A. Possessing a animatronic who’s supposed to be gluttonous and B. Being killed on a empty stomach she didn’t eat breakfast because she was saving room for pizza and birthday cake then her dog got hit by a car and she was too sad to eat anything before being killed, when alive Susie was very smart, and if she wasn’t going to be a veteran when she grew she could’ve been a amazing actress where she’d get the spotlight but now she doesn’t get the spotlight and her knowledge is gone due to being in constant pain from a empty stomach that can never be filled (this also is my own FNAF theory for Susie too not just for egb)

That’s all I got fowa now I’ll try thinking of more later thanks fowa reading

[melonminnie]

BUT ILL KNOW!.. I’ll know (Various characters x fem! Reader)

INCLUDING ! : Alteris takar , Tristan Valentine, Esteban hermano

SUMMARY: How I think they’d react if you died 🫶

ALTERIS TAKAR the current emperor.

Alteris was never one with emotion, even when he met you, it could be said that maybe for the short amount of time that you existed.

He was able to feel love for the first time again.

At first the emperor would push you away from him, Maybe he’d relax one moment the second he’d be screaming at you to go away.

Of course as any person you were deeply hurt by his actions but understanding why he kept such a walk around people, you’d leave him be.

Smiling after every curse that came out of his mouth towards you, you knew he didn’t mean it as he never acted this way until you came along.

it was hatred, Now Alteris realized it, perhaps maybe he’d liked you just maybe a tiny bit for him to feel guilty after what he said to you.

and so he planned the most extravagant apology he could think of, with the help of tan.

Alteris planned to apologize to you no he planned to confess to you, His heart finally filled with the warmth he never knew he needed.

And so he got ready and waited, waited and waited, With time passing Alteris slumped against a chair and sighed.

He realized how much he wronged you. Two knights slowly approached the defeated emperor shakened slightly.

“your majesty,” the bowed their head as the man’s blue eyes wandered to them giving them permission to speak.

“Her majesty, Y/N has now been pronounced dead an assassination attempt ” one of the two declared, Alteris’s eyes slowly started showing its true colors. Sadness, Alteris was sad and so he would stay sad eventually he’ll move on get a family and he’ll open his heart to another.

TRISTAN, former Duke of Valentine

Tristan was known as a tease when he was seen with you, Which was most of the time.

he smiled warmly around you, you two being friends sense childhood had grown into companions and nothing more.

You growing up to become one of the most beloved people of the empire, One whom everyone desired to be with money and fame, Adorable children and a faithful husband.

But nonetheless nobody liked your relationship with Tristan, As the two of you were married people still let rumors spill in between the cracks.

“Tristan why would I make up such rumors about the two of us?,” the girl cried desperately, The Valentine household had a name to keep and to him you were ruining his hard work.

The duke sighed slightly, “Y/n, go home please” Tristan said, Y/n was hurt as this was the first time she’d ever seen her best friend plead.

And to her nonetheless it made her tear up, “Fine!, I’ll go but..” she trailed off, “Please tell me we will still be friends no?” She said tears filling her eyes.

“What you want to believe is what you want” he replied, “Now go,” he pushed her without any room for conversation.

The two of course had grown apart within time, As y/ns children grew older her letters being rejected she no longer needed to remember a bad memory.

Needing to fulfill her duty as a mother, she’d left behind something she assumed would never be fixed.

‘Y/N F/N THE VISCOUNTESS FOUND DEAD IN THE FOREST’

without ever even contacting you again, you had disappeared it hurt him truly as he hadn’t apologized to you.

not even once and you definitely to him deserved an apology.

ESTEBAN HERMANO current emperor of the hermano country

Being the first empress was of course stressing in every way possible, but you made it work if it meant that you’d have to sit idly starring into space.

Esteban loved you as much as you loved him to protect you from the public eye.

Even when the two of you divorced after the birth of the crown prince, it was known that the two of you were very friendly with each other.

So when he heard that the former empress had been murdered he was shocked yet he refused to believe the rumor.

Of course he did find out that the rumor was true a very long time after the actual rumor.

He wanted to at least be sad that you died, yet he was not able too.

[asirensrage]

The Fall - Sano "Mikey" Manjiro x OC

Title: The Fall Rating: Mature Fandom: Tokyo Revengers Pairing: Sano "Mikey" Manjiro x Undescribed!OC Warnings: Dark!Fic. Suicide ideation and assumed attempted suicide. Obsession. Swearing. Mention of illegal activities and threats. Unbeta’d. Word count: ~2k Summary: She was drowning before she even realized he had dragged her into waters she couldn’t survive in on her own. Based on the prompt: “Step away from the window. Come back to sleep. Don't make me have to come get you.”

Notes: This went in a whole surprising direction, even for me. I kind of love how it turned out though. I just find this timeline and the characters compelling. I know this is a heavy topic for some people. Help is always available if you're experiencing thoughts of suicide. Reach out.

Heed the warnings!

The room is dark except for the city lights that shine from the window. It’s not enough to keep either of them awake. The blanket is pulled up to under her chin as her head rests on his chest. One of his arms is around her, holding her as she curled up against him. His lips press into her hair and she closes her eyes, letting herself relax in his grip. His heartbeat sounds in her ear, lulling her into sleep. 

---

She’s not sure where she is or how she ended up here, but it doesn’t matter. Not when someone’s standing on the edge, staring out at the people below. Her heart feels like it stops in her chest. She can’t let him jump. She can’t. She’s not the person to turn away from something like this.  

“Hey!” She calls out, moving forward. He turns slowly, not leaning forward but not stepping down either. “Don’t do it, okay?” 

His stare is blank, half hidden behind blond hair he’s letting fall in his face. He tilts his head slightly to the side as he finally looks at her. “Do what?”

“Look, I know things might seem bad right now but this isn’t the right choice. Things can change!” 

He looks back out at the city. “Nothing changes.”

“It does!” she insists. “I promise it does!” She doesn’t know why she’s so frantic, so determined to help him, but she is. She can’t let him do this. Not when she’s here. “I don’t know what’s happened in your life, what you’ve gone through, but nothing is bad enough to end it all because of how you feel in this moment. It will pass. I have no doubt that people will miss you! That there’s at least someone in your life who cares!”

He looks back at her. “No one would miss me. Not really.” He tilts his head to the sky. “My men would say they would but they’d be fine.”

“I don’t believe that,” she says, trying to be as earnest as possible. “What about your friends?”

“Don’t have any. I pushed them away. It’s safer like that. They deserve better and everyone–” He turns back to face the city, taking his hands out of his pockets. Fear shoots through her that he’s going to lean forward and it’ll be over. “No one’s gonna miss me.”

“I would!” She reaches for him, grabbing the back of his shirt, ready to pull him back if she has to. She’s not letting this happen. “I’ll miss you and if you take that step, we’re never going to get the chance to be friends. Don’t do it!” She says it quickly and feels a seismic shift within her, a heavy weight that she can’t explain. 

When he looks at her this time, it’s like he finally sees her. His eyes widen slightly but he shakes his head. “You don’t want to be my friend,” he says softly, looking away again. “Everyone around me dies.”

“So what?” His gaze snaps back to hers as soon as she says it. “Everyone dies. It doesn’t mean we should take their deaths for granted or let ourselves die with them. We have to live our lives to the best that we can, to take care of each other and find whatever can make us happy. Death doesn’t mean that life shouldn’t be worth living.” 

His mouth falls open slightly but she nods to herself, feeling like she’s starting to actually get through to him. If he’s grieving, he can heal from that. “Please. Come down. Talk to me.” She tightens her grip on his shirt. “Please.”

“Why do you care?” he finally asks.

“Because I do,” she says, unable to put it into words. She couldn’t live with herself if she never tried. “Okay,” he says and steps closer to her. She lets go only when he’s away from the edge of the roof.  

She doesn’t know how much time passes, but the sun is starting to rise and Mikey is staring at her like he’s never seen anything like her before. He’s sweet, even if he’s a little lost, and she can’t help but appreciate the way he listens to her, the way he teases her gently as they sit on this roof. 

When he calls her name, he’s no longer beside her. He’s standing back on that edge, silhouetted by the sunrise. He reaches for her and she runs to stop him, to grab his hand and keep him there with her. Her heartbeat races as he smiles at her. 

“Don’t you wish you pushed me?” 

He yanks her towards him, falling back off of the roof and dragging her with him. She tries to scream as she falls, but she doesn’t hit the ground. Mikey’s hands are on her, weighing her down as the world turns black around them. It tightens around her, leaving her clawing at the pressure to escape, to breathe, before she drowns–

---

She wakes up fast. Heart pounding, gasping for air that she can suddenly breathe. She sits up, looking around the dark of the room as reality slowly hits. It was a dream. Just a dream. But she almost feels like she’s still falling. It felt real. Too fucking real. 

She glances quickly at the man still sleeping next to her. A miracle, really, considering how little he sleeps. She eases herself out of his embrace, turning to press her feet against the cold floor. It was a memory. That’s all, but she needs to feel grounded. She doesn’t dare leave the room, but she takes the chance to get out of the bed. Arms wrapped around herself, trying to stop the way she’s shaking, she moves for the large window that’s the only source of light she can get without waking him. 

The city skyline is bright against the dark sky. 

It looks vibrant in contrast. Lively. Full of hopes and dreams and promises you know will never be kept. The lights of the city just highlight how dark the shadows are and how many there are. Everyone always focuses on the lights but it’s in the darkness that you know the truth of the city really comes out. There are those that thrive in the dark, those that wander in without warning and the unlucky souls who are thrown in. The city hides them all. She’s just not sure who to pity more. 

She hears movement behind her and she forces herself to relax. It’s no surprise he’s waking up. He never seems to sleep long, not if she’s not there. 

“What are you doing?” he asks, still sounding half asleep. It’s rare he lets himself show this sort of vulnerability. He only does it now with her and only when they’re alone. It should be an honour. It should be more than a noose around her neck. 

“I had a weird dream. Didn’t want to fall back asleep and I didn’t want to wake you.” She turns to look at him and offers a small smile. “You need your sleep.” 

His hair is tousled and his dark eyes are half open, still processing the situation. It reminds her of when he was younger. When he used to lay with his head in her lap in the sun and she’d run her fingers through his hair, listening as he talked. She can tell when he fully starts to wake up because his stare deadens and he sits up properly. 

“Come back to bed,” he demands. 

“I’m not tired,” she says softly, knowing that isn’t what he wants to hear. She hears him shift in bed, his back hitting the headboard as he sits up fully. She closes her eyes for a moment, wishing he had just kept sleeping so she could have this moment. 

“What did you dream about?”  

“When we first met, only it wasn’t…it wasn’t right.” She doesn’t say more than that. 

“The day you saved me.”

Her eyes clench shut. “I didn’t save you,” she says. “You were never going to jump. I just made an assumption and you let me talk and talk and talk until the sun came up.”

She had left once they parted ways, when he promised to take care of himself, to talk to his friends and she assumed that it was over. She had done her part, she had tried and she was never going to see him again. 

Except that she did. 

She greeted him with joy at the fact that he was still alive, unquestioning how he ended up at her work. He seemed surprised but pleased and before she knew it, she was introduced to his men. She was drowning before she even realized he had dragged her into waters she couldn’t survive in on her own. 

Mikey had made her fall in love with him before revealing the complete truth about himself. It was too late after that. Not only did he cling tightly, ensuring that she knew that she was the one who brought meaning back into his life, but his men liked him when she was with him. She was good for him. They didn’t care that he wasn’t good for her. 

“Come back to bed,” he tells her again. 

She doesn’t move. The distance between them seems like a gaping chasm that she stands on the precipice of. Like the dream that she woke from, except that this is a nightmare she can’t escape. She loves him, she probably always will, but she’s afraid of him too. She knows exactly what he commands. She can’t bring herself to crawl back in next to him, to feel the way he curls himself around her, as though his hands aren’t stained in blood. She turns back to the window. How many people down there are under his control? How many are mourning lovers, family, or friends because of the man behind her and his men? How much blood is on her hands, unable to stop him and unwilling to try?

She wonders if falling from this height would feel like flying. A last moment of freedom instead of fear, a choice of her own making, that would release her from this. A suitable punishment for what she’s never tried to stop. 

It’s funny. She used to be the one to talk someone off of the edge and now she’s lost that part of her. She’s always been too smart for her own good, even if she was a bit naive, and she knows that if she had protested any of the choices Mikey has made, it wouldn’t have made a difference. Not with the men around him. 

“Step away from the window.” He’s no longer willing to tolerate her disobedience. “Come back to sleep. Don’t make me come to get you.” 

She moves automatically at his tone. She swallows tightly as she crawls back into the bed. Mikey waits until she’s in before he moves closer, resting his head on her shoulder and throwing an arm over her waist. She lifts one hand and runs her fingers through his hair, nails scratching gently on his scalp. His irritation fades as he holds her tighter. She feels the way he breathes her in, how he relaxes against her. 

“You’re not leaving me.” His voice is quiet but there’s no room for argument. 

“I never said I was,” she replies just as softly. She was just thinking about it.

“You can’t. I refuse to let anyone have you. Even death. You’re mine.” 

She hums softly. “We all die eventually, Mikey. But don’t worry, I’ll let you go first.”

He laughs at that like she’s teasing him. “I’m not going anywhere without you. You promised forever, remember?” There’s a threat there. He would kill her before he killed himself, and if she somehow survived, she knows his men would never forgive her. Sanzu would ensure she followed Mikey whether she liked it or not. 

“Yeah,” she looks up at the ceiling. “I remember.” 

She just wishes she didn’t. 

taglist: @raith-way @chickensarentcheap @residentdormouse @themaradwrites @kingsmakers @far-shores

[crazydaymycrazyway]

The high school kids in Unordinary have like, such a f**ked up life.

Like, we have Seraphina who was raised to be a perfectionist. She never got to make choices of her own and had to follow the norm imposed by the society while she never felt happy. Have an abusive and controlling mother who doesn't give a sh*t about her, might have beaten her up her entire life and was never given a break. She doesn't have any privacy and she was controlled like a doll by her parents. And her sister was pushed way past her limits and abused to the point that she had to run away. Which resulted in Seraphina having to endure everything alone. Everybody would judge her no matter what and she had to keep up an image of being the strongest and the top student. Everybody looks upto her, but at the same time us jealous of her and talks behind her back. She didn't even have a genuine friend, maybe because everyone was too scared or intimidated by her or she doesn't think she wants friends. The expectations placed on her was such a burden. There wasn't a moment she could relax. Let's not talk about the torture she went through when she lost her powers. Truly the fall if a goddess.

It's quite refreshing how Seraphina actually got to let go of all those nuisances in life. Like, she doesn't have to attend the classes, but she's smart enough to get enough marks. She minds her own business and couldn't care less of what others think of her. She started to live for herself and make her own decisions.

Then there's Arlo who had the rights, wrongs and hierarchy ingrained into his brain from his childhood. He was an ass during season 1. And most people hated him. But I kind of understood why he did what he did. In his eyes, John was like the one and that strayed out of it's path while all the others are walking in a perfect line. He was taught that the authorities are right, and the current system us the best for everyone. That peace will only exist like this, the low tiers being oppressed and looked down upon and the high tiers receiving all the benefits and titles. It's just like the time when someone found out the earth was round and declared to the world, but the people who had grown up learing the fact that the earth was flat since their childhood couldn't accept it. For them, the world is flat is a fact like the sun rises in the east. Most people just saw him as crazy while some others decided to burn him alive for saying such nonsense. They're wrong, just like Arlo is. I'm never going to defend him and say what he did was the right thing. But according to what he was taught, it was the right way. Later when he slowly starts to see the cracks in the society that the authorities either overlooked or created, he starts to doubt the system. Then he knows everything he had been taught and believed was wrong. He had a big character development, and there's still room for more. His aunt who he thought he knew and looked upto turned out to be different than what he thought. What he doesn't know is that she's a cold blooded murderer who doesn't hesitate to kill even the kids. And she's the one who killed Rei. Imagine the person whom you looked upto, your mentor and best friend, the one who has a special place in your heart (platonic ofc) was murdered by your own family, the person whom you trusted and idolized the most. We haven't even reached that part though. Because Arlo is now working with the authorities, thinking that he can somehow change it. He tries his best to help his friends. But turns out his aunt is a manipulative bitch and the entire bureau is rotten to the core. He nearly died and lost his powers in one of the missions to help his friends (I suppose all of those kids went through that). He gets blamed by his friends too, and he's trying. But the evidences are glaring at him and he has to make a choice and he's conflicted. I feel bad for him in a way. He was stubborn but he did change when he realized he was in the wrong. Him apologizing to John when he realized what the latter went through was a proof of that. Arlo was the just one of the successfully created product of the system.

But it's good that he was capable of understanding that he was wrong. He had to deal with a lot, but I like it that he's trying his best to keep a level head.

Then we have John, whose essence itself is trauma.

These God tiers did have a hell of a childhood. And they're still kids!

[gaybananabread]

(Hi again) Srry- can u do a lee!Nezha and Ler!Mei I got them mixed up arry, have a good day :>

Mmmm I love this show! Nezha got so much screentime recently, I can finally get a good feel for his character! It's a bit short, writer's block has come for me. (-_-) Hope this isn't too OOC, Enjoy!

Lee: Nezha

Ler: Mei

Summary: Nezha is brooding, as per usual. When he makes one too many quips towards Mei, she takes things into her own hands to cheer him up.

Warnings: none! This is a tickle fic, so if you don't like that, scroll away!

Nezha, as per usual, was grumpy. His signature frown on his face, he stared out the window, mulling over the plan in his head. He knew Wukong was crazy, but this... They have a very real chance of dying. That, as much as he hates to admit it, scares him. He almost died in the last fight, and he had the Jade Emporer's army assisting him. Now all he has is this... rag-tag band of friendly newbie-heros and their crazy mentors.

Mei walks in on his brooding session, sighing when she sees him. This boy can never just relax, can he? She walks over, speaking loudly to get his attention.

"Hey princy, why're you brooding?" Nezha huffed when he heard her voice, closing his eyes. Goodbye, relative peace.

"Why must you always be so nosy?" She gasps dramatically, feinging offense. It was rather noisy, in his opinion. "...And loud?"

Mei crossed her arms, expecting the annoyed answer. "I don't know, maybe because I care that you're upset, and that nobody is just naturally that grumpy. I'll ask again, what's bugging you?"

His response is snarky and curt, keeping his eyes on the window. "You're 'bugging' me with your incessant yapping. I'm **fine**, dragon horse girl. I am Nezha, the third lotus prince. I need no help, especially not that of a nosy mortal."

She scoffs, sitting down beside him. "Listen, Nezha. I know too many people with issues to believe that you're fine. It's okay to have emotions, but it's not okay to bottle them up. You'll feel better if you talk about it."

Nezha rolls his eyes. The girl might have a point, but he's an immortal being. He has lived her lifespan many thousands of times over. How could she possibly help him?

"I'd feel better if you *stopped* talking about it. Actually, just stop talking all together."

"Oho, that is *it!*" Mei launched herself at the prince, being mindful of his wounds. Due to the surprise and injuries, she had him pinned in seconds.

He thrashed around, not able to move much due to the injuries. He also didn't want to hurt the girl, as much as he might vocalize it. Wukong would kill him. "What the- get off me, mortal!"

"Neh, I don't think I will. You're all crabby and broody, way more than normal. I think you need an attitude adjustment." She brought a hand to his torso, tapping her fingers on his belly. He huffed, trying not to flinch at the gentle touch.

Not this fuzzy nonsense. Wukong had shown him this crazy mortal ritual before. It was unfortunately very effective on him. He yanked at his arms, feeling a nagging pain in his side when he did so. So much for the mighty lotus prince...

Mei saw the pained expression and relaxed her hold, just enough for him to move but not escape. "I'm not gonna be mean, Nezha. You need to smile man, all this moping is getting sad. I'll go slow, okay?"

The prince scoffed, but didn't say no. He was honestly feeling pretty bad, it would be decent to laugh it off. He hoped the girl would take the hint. The feeling is mildly unpleasant, but he needs to forget about the mission for a moment.

She took his silence as a yes. With a chuckle, Mei gently skittered across his belly, carefully avoiding his injuries. Anyone with eyes could tell he needed a distraction. Lucky for him, she knew exactly how to help.

At first, Nazha bit his lip, refusing to make any noise. He agreed, but that doesn't mean he would make it easy for her. He has a reputation to protect, after all.

It doesn't phase her, she kinda expected him to be a challenge. More fun for her. Keeping her promise, Mei took things slow, moving her hand to lightly scribble at his uninjured ribs.

This broke him. Small, poorly repressed giggles slipped past his defenses. The lotus prince squirmed, knowing it wouldn't do him any good. He slowly let his guard down as more giggles bounced out of him. "Mhmehehe! Noho!"  His cheeks gained a pink tint as he "fought" the feeling.

Mei tried not to coo at the sight, keeping her teasing to a minimum. He's injured, best not to kill him. She smirked down at him, speeding up the tickling. "You're actually pretty cute when you aren't sassing me."

"Qu-quihihiet, mohortal!" Nezha started to squirm more, acting like he was against the tickles. Who he was pretending for is unknown. He doesn't mind the feeling exactly, and it was helping to keep his mind off the upcoming battle.

It was quite the sight. The ever-grumpy Nezha, squirming and giggling while pinned down by a mortal. Mei wished she had her phone on her.

As much as she was enjoying the giggling, Mei had yet to hear actual laughter. Inching her hand upwards, she slowly made her way to his armpit. Before she could get there, Nezha yelped and tried to twist away from her fingers. Bingo.

She had found his sweet spot. Right under his armpit, at the top of his ribcage. Nezha, who had been strangely unresponsive this whole time, started to babble out protests. Mei promised to he gentle, but a few seconds on the spot wouldn't kill him...

"Wahait- nononohOHOHOHO!" The prince kicked and squirmed, the sudden intense feeling more than he could ever prepare for. Loud, almost happy laughter poured from his mouth, nose scrunched up and eyes shut tight. Anyone who walked in on the scene would have melted at the sight. He looked... like he was enjoying himself, to a degree.

Mei allowed herself to coo this time, smiking down at him. "This is actually adorable. I should've done this way sooner, who knew you'd be so ticklish!" The word sent a flurry of butterflies loose in his stomach, bouncing around with the laughter and shocks to his nervous system.

Nezha's mind was practically goop. And, if he's being honest, he didn't mind it. It felt nice to just let himself go, to stop worrying about all little details of everything and just laugh. He trusted Mei, and could finally relax a bit.

This continued on for a few minutes. Mei scribbling along his ribs, drilling in on that dreaded spot every so often. Nezha just existing in the moment, enjoying the odd comfort the feeling brought. It was a nice way to unwind before the big fight.

Unbeknownst to them both, Wukong sat up in the rafters, taking plenty of pictures. He wouldn't be cruel, but a quick text to the right people would help the broody prince relax in the future. Maybe he'd even crack a smile every once in a while. Only one way to find out...

[littlealeta]

Telltale's The Walking Dead Season 2 Review

Long post! Scroll down for a TL;DR and Aleta Rewrites Version!

I had a lot of thoughts after watching a LP of this season, but I decided to go back to the first season to see how it holds up against this one. I always felt this season was a little off, but I wasn't sure. While the first one isn't amazing, it was still a lot better than whatever this season was. But even without playing the first one, this season Is still badly written in general so I'm not going to compare the two much.

Story

To start with the positives, there are some good ideas in here. Seeing how Clementine has grown since the first season and the themes of figuring out who to trust and side with are good themes to explore. However, the execution of these things are horrible. The game doesn't actually explore the trust theme much, your choices do not have much impact on the theme of your story or the characters, the trust theme gets thrown out the window by the time Carver is introduced and you are forced to stick with this group of shady people, and Clementine is treated like an adult and forced to babysit all the pathetic adults around her.

First of all, the intro tells you all you need to know. A random b!tch comes in to bully and threaten our 10-year-old protagonist (who has never even met her in the first place), Omid and Christa are both written out of the story, and a dog dies, all happened 30 minutes in. Jeez, relax, story. Spoiler alert, yes, Christa does not come back. And Clementine just decides to forget about her. The beginning of the game does a good job of showing you how pointless and melodramatic the rest of the story will be.

The next episode has Clementine seeking help for her dog bite. No one believes her and decides to lock her in the shed. God, this season is mean-spirited. Even I think Lee was treated better in season 1 than Clementine A FUCKING CHILD. I get being worried about it being a walker bite, but why lock a literal child in a shed, like have some mercy, man.

I will explain more about the story in the character section. But what I will say is that overall, there are a lot of quick deaths and characters getting written off, so don't get too attached to these characters, because you won't get to bond with them too much. None of the characters really get much time to grow or shine due to the story writing them off 1-2 episodes in. There was potential for Nick and Luke to grow, but they both die before that can happen.

After Carver dies, the story seems to struggle with figuring out where to go. As terrible of a villain Carver is, at least he has some point to the story unlike a certain Russian guy who comes out of nowhere and the story wants you to sympathize with despite trying to kill you TWICE. Oh, and Kenny comes back... somehow.... and the story makes him out to be a bad guy all because he was trying to whip all the manbabies up into shape and protect everyone from the russian b!tch who ambushed them. In no way am I saying Kenny is a saint or that the way he approaches situations are always healthy, but the game makes him out to be a madman and everyone else is morally correct or sympathetic when everyone in the group are fucking manbabies except for Clem.

The ending is a mixed bag. I would say the choice between leaving Kenny for Wellington (due to overpopulation) or staying with him is one of the few times where I think the game makes actual sense. But the fight with him and Jane before that just feels so forced. It's just again, the game trying to prove to you through this annoyingly cynical woman that Kenny is a bad man and shouldn't be around Clem. So she does something completely heartless to try to prove that to Clem, when I'm sure many (especially a hothead like Kenny) who found out their baby was left to die would probably react that way or close to it. Why couldn't this b!tch have stayed gone? Why am I supposed to like these characters?

Characters

Nearly every character here is just unlikeable, forgettable and dumb. They are so dumb that they literally make Clementine do all the dirty work while they sit there with a thumb up their asses. I even forgot to write a couple characters into this section because they were just that unmemorable. Even the characters that I liked have their own problems.

For example, Pete is probably one of the characters that I liked more, he's one of the more rational adults and has one of the few deaths that made sense. I also like Alvin too, his love and commitment to raising the baby that may or may not be his is admirable and his death at least serves a purpose. Luke is perhaps the most rational adult in the group, but he can make some dirty coward decisions (like for example, running away from the group twice (yeah another way the story tries to keep you from bonding with these characters) and refusing to shoot Carver) and he acts out of character in episode 4. Thankfully, he mellows out in episode 5 and we get to see more of his personality as he pities himself for not doing more for the group. But then he dies, so goodbye character development.

Kenny is still the same, sometimes an asshole but also loveable and kind. Clementine is still Clementine, with a bit more sass and edge which is to be expected. I personally would've liked more done with her, but I'll explain more in an Aleta Rewrites version.

I'm in the minority when I say that Sarah (Aka Futaba) is a good character. A lot of people call her useless, but I think she's a worthwhile example of what would happen if you shelter someone in an apocalypse and she can make for some good back and forth with Clementine. I would've liked to see how she grows, but she also becomes an annoying burden and then just dies. I understand she's coping with PTSD and her father dying, I have no problem with that. But girl, you are in a zombie apocalypse and you're just sitting there letting yourself die in a house. Come on, now.

Now, for the problematic characters. Nick is just Ben 2.0 but more hotheaded and less likeable. His whole deal with Matthew made no sense because he claims that he shot Matthew for allegedly pointing a gun at his friends, but HE was the one who drew the gun first before Matthew so why he shot him, I don't understand. I think there could've been a better way to keep this storyline intact without having him going insane thinking Matthew was going to kill Clementine and Luke.

Carlos and Rebecca are just straight up assholes to Clem in the beginning and Carlos treats Clementine like she's his own FUCKING ANXIETY RIDDEN DAUGHTER, WHAT?!?!?! Like I said, I think it's interesting to show the ramifications of sheltering someone in an apocalypse but I just can't get over these two being the ones to push the bright idea of letting a little girl suffer in a shed. I would say Rebecca's story with the baby is cute, though.

Sarita... doesn't really have much personality. She's a pretty likeable character, but I think there could've been more to do with her (see the Aleta Rewrites version).

Mike was ok until he started whiteknighting Arvo. Bonnie was a weird character. At first, she sides with Carver, but then she joins the group and is on their side while also making some dumb decisions like *coughs* Getting Luke killed on the lake *coughs* and also whiteknighting Arvo.

Jane just gave off so many red flags. She's cynical, always telling Clementine the worst that could happen like Sarah being dead after losing her glasses and Kenny being a bad person. She has a hidden evil side (willing to leave a baby in the car out in the cold). She gets involved with Luke for whatever reason. And she just seems like an extremely twisted character overall while trying to keep up the cool, nice girl act.

Carver and especially Arvo are both horrible villains. I felt like something interesting could've been done with Carver, he wants to raise the baby that may or may not be his, but he was such a confusing character. On one hand, his motivations seem clear, he wants to get rid of Alvin and help Rebecca raise the baby. But then he has another motivation is that he is a ruthless Karen who wants everyone to work with him and will hurt them if they make even the tiniest mistake. Arvo just feels completely out of the blue. Even if you didn't make the choice to steal the supplies, you still get ambushed by his group. He's clearly a villain yet the game wants you to sympathize with him at the same time. Also a confusing mess of a character.

Gameplay/Animation/Voice Acting

What about the gameplay? Well, besides me not liking the QTE events, the gameplay is still relatively the same and I don't have much to complain about it. Overall, the gameplay and the technical aspects such as the animation and voice acting are still competent. But I'm a writer first and foremost so I focus on the writing more and don't have much to say about anything else.

Overall/TL;DR

I give The Walking Dead Season 2 5.5 bells out of 10.

It was pretty hard to rate. I mean, I have so many mixed feelings about this season and I don't think it's an awful season, but it does so much wrong in terms of writing. I don't want to be too mean to it because I think it's playable at best, it didn't make me want to rip my hair out. The gameplay is competent and there are a few characters to like here (though, it really doesn't help that pretty much every likeable character is killed off and have issues of their own).

But overall, the story rarely makes sense and is just overall mean-spirited and melodramatic, filled with pointless deaths, dumb character decisions, and characters being assholes. One character from the first season gets treated like a villain despite being one of the more rational characters in the group. Characters die before they have much time to develop. Clementine is an 11 year old who's either treated like the only sane adult or treated like a clueless child. Story throws in a bunch of random conflict that throws off the pacing and consistency. Both Carver and Arvo yo-yo between being somewhat sympathetic characters (at least in how the story portrays them) to completely ruthless classic villains. Even the more likeable characters have their own problems, usually as a result of dying off too soon. Or even just other things like Luke being out of character in episode 4 and Sarah becoming an empty husk before her death. Sarita is an anomaly in that she's not an asshole, but pretty much a blank slate.

Aleta Rewrites

Clementine has no character development whatsoever and is somehow a cold, blood-thirsty killer and wise way beyond her years after only two years. Instead of being this static Mary-Sue, why not give her a coming of age story? Show her as a still sensitive, naive little girl losing her innocence as she makes some big choices and sacrifices. Make her hesitate a bit and freak out over the stuff she is doing and going through. Show a major breakdown over everything she's going through. She doesn't need to be a Sarah, but she does still need to have some vulnerability. This could make her bond with the adults (especially Luke and Kenny) much more dynamic and emotional. And THEN by season 3, we can see a cold, cynical, blood-thirsty Clementine, hardened by everything she had to go through, especially in season 2.

Luke. He should've survived at least up until season 3. I could see him having a more heroic death where he sacrifices himself for Clem. If he was able to survive longer, I think he would've had some great character development. Either it's going to be him making less stupid choices, or having to make more morally grey choices in order to survive.

Sarah (aka Futaba). They at least should've kept her until season 3 as well. Maybe season 3 would be the development of Sarah struggling to become more of a badass.

Nick, like I said, the guilt about a huge mistake he made is a good concept to explore. It was just the way it was done didn't make sense. They could've done the simple thing of having Matthew pull out his gun on him first, being suspicious about the group, which then causes Nick to shoot him. Nick could've survived a little bit longer as he tries to make up for his misdeeds, and maybe he dies while doing so.

Sarita, how about having some drama come with being a replacement goldfish for Katjaa? Since Kenny is an emotionally unstable character, maybe he and Sarita don't really get along that much and he's only using her as a rebound. But Sarita doesn't want to break up because she kinda loves him and she wants to keep him happy, it's a codependent issue.

Jane, I think is one of the characters that possibly could've been written out in this season. She's a strong and smart character, so after teaching the group all her skills, having her die instead of Luke maybe during an all is lost moment for the characters would be emotional and would cause the group to go frantic, if only she was a more likeable and loyal character.

Carver. Focus more on his motivation of trying to raise the baby. Considering that the story tries to make him sympathetic at some points, maybe don't imply he r@ped Rebecca in his backstory? I just feel like having that kind of topic even for a villain makes a character instantly unsympathetic and irredeemable. Maybe he was an old fling or flame and she used Alvin as a rebound or another fling that became a relationship or something, idk. Maybe Carver is someone who constantly steals from the group or is an assassin working for someone to kill someone or two in Carlos's group in order to make enough dough to raise the baby.

I could see Arvo being a minor villain to the story if you choose to steal the supplies, but he overstays his welcome. Instead of Arvo, BONNIE should've been the secondary antagonist after Carver. Actually, have HER turn out to be the one who wanted Carver to work for her in assassinating someone. She was initially allied with Carver when the group first talked to her so it'd make sense she'd want revenge after his death. We don't have to have that whole lake bullshit. We don't have to have Bonnie blaming Clementine for someone's death and then turning her back on her while allowing someone to point a damn gun at Clem. JUST MAKE HER WANT VENGEANCE! Seriously, how hard is it to make her be the one to shoot Luke in the leg and Clementine causing her near-death experience? Or idk, that would conflict with Arvo. Maybe don't have him in the story at all. Unless maybe Arvo gets one of your allies killed (maybe Mike, who probably lets himself die in order to make up for stealing the supplies, But also, Mike doesn't do anything so maybe he should die at some point in the story anyway by either Bonnie or Arvo).

Kenny and Luke already had tension built up for episodes and with Kenny gradually losing more and more of his sanity, it would make sense for HIM to be the one to attack Luke because their tension reached a breaking point and Luke did something that he strongly disagreed with. Maybe it was stupid, maybe it got someone killed. Maybe it was Sarita? She was the closest to Kenny.

[sunflowersandcherryblossoms]

The character everyone gets wrong?

7. What character did you begin to hate not because of canon but because how the fandom acts about them?

9. Worst part of canon?

The character everyone gets wrong?

Oh boy... Let me be a bit controversial here, even towards my mutuals, probably:

Kuchiki Byakuya!

Because it's very easy to say "Oh, but only what appears on the Manga is really canon" and ignore that all of it, even the fillers and omakes leave an impression on us...

And Byakuya is seen by the majority of fandom as this cold, stoic, arrogant man and he's just...not?!?

First and foremost Kuchiki Byakuya is so Autistic coded it's not even funny. Some people don't see him as such because people forget autism is a fucking spectrum!

Many people think only about Rain Man and such as a general portrayal of autism on adults.

Byakuya is for me on the high functioning side of the spectrum, but damn it if I don't look at the man and go "He's like me for real!".But then again no one believes I'm autistic either so ... There's that.

Also, he's trained himself to be always in control of his emotions, but if you paid any attention to TBTP, you know deep down inside he's got a short fuse.

He's also a lovable dork who takes things too literally, as issues with social clues, relating to others, hyperfixates on his OC, Wakame Taishi and become hyper protective of his sister the second that switch flicks in his mind that sometimes rules really suck!

Many people don't truly develop his personality beyond the Shinigami and the Head of the Clan and make him bland and boring.

Sure, write your fanfictions with him being stoic and closed off in his professional life and with people that aren't part of his inner circle, but give him a fucking personality in his mire private and intimate moments!

Also, — and this is a pet peeve of mine...— stop writing that man as the dominant person in his relationships!

He's a Captain and a Head of the Clan! Let that man relax and give control over to his partner (I'm taking about Ichigo here... We all know I cannot and will not ship these two with anyone else but eachother...)

Let the man learn how to do things that canon keeps telling us he can't do!

Let him be the opposite of what everyone else expects when he's at home.

Okay... Done with Byakuya.

Now on for question number 7.

Hisana!

Fucking Hisana!

I cried when I saw the episode with Byakuya telling her story to Rukia. I liked her as a plot point.

But man oh man... It's always the fandom, isn't it?

"Oh, she was perfect and they were truly in love with each other..." No.

"You don't understand! She was suffering! That's why she abandoned Rukia!" Listen... I tried taking my emotions out of it and consider culture and history, but I just can't excuse abandoning a baby.

There's a space of a hundred years between Hisana and Rukia dying in the World of the Living and her marriage to Byakuya.

(did I say I was done talking about Byakuya? I lied...)

She lived in Inuzuri for all that time, apparently. We have zero info on what she'd been doing, how they met, but it's kinda implied she either didn't really look for Rukia for years or she's just really bad at tracking down a child that looks exactly like her and becomes knows on their specific Rukon district for being kinda gangster...

"Byakuya should have died because he had no reasons to live for as a widower..."

I'M SORRY... WHAT THE FUCK?

And here's the fucking thorn in my side with her character: She's used as an anchor around Byakuya's feet.

Fandom denies him a life, because apparently you should be faithful forever to a dead person. You should entomb yourself in life and only live to mourn them forever.

No more laughter for you, sir... No more joy... No more love... No nothing.

You're sanctifying a plot device character that has no presence in the actual story of Bleach.

And now.... Drum roll...

Question 9:

The award for Worst Part Of Canon goes to:

The fucking ending!!!

Ichi//hime...

Boxer Chad...

Doctor Uryu...

Translator Ichigo...

Dropout Inoue...

Antichrist Kazui...

And the fucking new Hell Arc...

Like....

Excuse me???

No. Just no...

And let's not forget erasing everyone's character growth in one sweep by showing us that EVERYONE allowed for the new Sokyoku Hill Execution Scaffold to be built...

It's like we walked this path for absolutely nothing!

[oh-shtars]

You said you loved to get asks about your AU

Weeeeell I wanted to know, what are your plans for Amaya? What’s her deal? Her backstory? Her personality? Tell us about the queen 👀

I’ll be honest here Anny, I have NOT done her redesign yet and she’s a character I’m so frustrated with right now because I keep getting stuck on creating her- jdksjdjsks

But I have worked out her backstory! It’s just her role in the actual RFTS!storyline that’s bothering me 😭😭

Character Plans:

See, just as I’ve made Magnifico a parallel of Star, I’ve made Amaya a parallel to Asha. Whereas RFTS!Asha keeps her dreams and desires to herself because she’s insecure and afraid to take charge, Amaya is also just as highly ambitious but headstrong and ruthless.

I have Asha to represent how “To achieve great things and for people to believe in your lead, you need to be the person to believe in your capabilities first. To be brave enough to take a leap of faith.” Amaya is the opposite. She has her dreams and desires, but she’s willing to do whatever it takes to get her way. Even if she needs to crack a few eggs to get it. I wanted her to represent how “Pursuing your dreams is great, but at the expense of other people and dragging them down to get there, is a very shtty thing to do.”

Amaya has a passion for discovering and desires to learn everything there is to the world of magic around her. I did say she was just an eviler version of Zarina, didn’t I?

The thing is though, she is willing to sacrifice certain animals and “poor unfortunate souls” as fuel for her experiments. So umm, yeah. I wonder what happens to the people kept in the castle’s dungeon-

She believes the reason that most of the magic in the world is unknown and undiscovered is because people are holding themselves back because of “sympathy and feelings.” Amaya didn’t like that one bit, so her main hobby and goal is to keep digging out for more. Always hungry for more.

Bonus Facts:

- Unlike Magnifico, whose trauma has prevented him from effectively learning magic, Amaya is actually competent with magic usage without the use of any certain artefact. No staff or anything.

- She’s skilled at disguises and making up fake stories or lies on the spot that are easy to believe. (As a reference to previous Disney villains who used this tactic)

- Similar to Asha who has a sketchbook around with her, Amaya keeps a notebook that she keeps her notes in. (I guess this can be the substitute for the ‘forbidden book’ in the canon movie. lol)

- Amaya has a pet sphinx cat whom I decided to call ‘Espino’. It means ‘thorn’ in Spanish.

- While everyone else is just a tool for her to use, she does feel genuine love and concern for her husband when he does spiral into a PTSD episode. She’s had no one else in her life for a while now and Mag was the only one who ever understood her, so she’s willing to aid him whenever she can.

- She likes horse-back riding in the woods and does so often to relax or collect ingredients for her experiments

- She hates the idea of anyone or anything holding her back from what she believes is her true potential.

- Amaya holds the calculative and strategic skills in her ‘brains and the brawn’ duo with Mag. Mag is more on delivery and force if necessary. She’s calmer and aids Mag whenever he’s stressed or having temper issues.

- She’s also quite a fan of novels and poetry and likes the sound of poetic and fitting endings. It’s the reason why she’s being so nice towards Asha because she sees her as a fun toy to play around with. Especially when it comes to considering the king and queen’s strong opinion about Tomás.

(Tomás used to be hers and Mag’s assistant before he was tragically killed died after strongly holding beliefs that oppose their rule. It’s quite an entertaining irony if they were to have Tomás’ own daughter follow in his footsteps. One that he obviously would’ve hated to see if he was still alive.

Magnifico disliked the idea of having an inquisitive annoying girl around his work. Like I said in my previous drawing, he finds Asha ‘unbearable.’ But oh well, anything for the wifey. Happy wife. Happy life.)

Backstory:

Amaya grew up a little typical girl in Rosas with big dreams of mastering and getting to know everything regarding alchemy and magic. It’s a whole world that’s surrounded by it and who knows how much is left undiscovered?

The unfortunate thing is that her family was against this passion of hers since, well, not everyone thinks magic is a necessary skill worth your time when you can do it by yourself the traditional way. While her parents didn’t mind how King Oliver and previous other rulers have always provided an easier living for their people with magic, they want to keep the family tradition of achieving things by themselves magic-free. It’s how their ancestors established their livelihood as farmers after all.

Rosas had the best reputation of being the most inclusive and welcoming kingdom, so people holding these magic-free beliefs still have their boundaries respected and allowed to refuse magical help if they wish.

But Amaya? Amaya didn’t want to follow her parents’ footsteps. She wants to pursue her own dream.

…..

Mag and Amaya’s love story is basically Royalty x Commoner.

They met when Mag was 15 and she was 14 and were best friends ever since. Back then in the past, when there wasn’t as much worries and things were a little more simpler. But Amaya’s parents progressively start discouraging her to interact with Mag as they believe his role as prince and the future sorcerer king of Rosas is influencing their daughter to take up magic too.

Until one day, Magnifico never heard from her again. And then years later as young adults, they found each other again in the woods, where Amaya had fled away from her home to secretly study magic on her own there. They bonded over feeling so pressured to give up on their initial desires just because their parents and life decided to be unjust and cruel to them.

“Like, don’t you ever just wish you could hold the world and shake it soo hard because you’re so mad? OMGG BESTIE, SAAME.”

👆That was the look Amaya gave him when Magnifico asked if she ever felt “helpless and trapped,” like he did. It was at that moment that Magnifico fell down a flight of stairs and head over heels for this woman.

Sooo, childhood friends, to losing each other for a bit, to finding each other again, and then to romance.

(Wait- wdym they’re like Simba and Nala too? Pfft-)

The thing is though, Amaya is a wanted outlaw. (Or criminal? Idk the right word. Do they mean the same thing?).

Her identity is not exactly known. The guards are aware that there’s someone stealing ingredients and breaking Rosas’ rules and safety regulations about studying magic. The kingdom bans the production or study of any magic that could actively harm or terribly curse animals and humans. Remember when I said Amaya couldn’t give a single flying sht about that? She just managed to keep her real name clean because of her skills in disguises.

Amaya’s state and Magnifico potentially withholding information lead to another father-and-son argument with King Oliver again.

But just to sum it up before this gets too long, Magnifico ended up taking his role as the next king with Amaya by his side. Upon obtaining his magic staff and finding the ability to collect wishes, he banned the usage of magic with the exception of him and his wife ofc. Under the excuse it’s for Rosas’ greater good and safety. In the castle, Amaya is finally given the freedom to explore the unknown. Something about “I’ll give the whole kingdom to you if you asked for it” and “I promise we’ll both get that world we both deserved.”

Which would be a sweet kind of thing if it were another couple in another innocent context…. :)

Idk, Anny. Might change things up a bit but let me know what you think. Thanks so much for the asks btw!! 💖

[aceofwhump]

I know that it’s not realistic to headcanon that all of my favs are ace especially when there is canon evidence that says otherwise but it’s not my fault that all my blorbos are actually ace so 🤷‍♀️

(I have only seen broadchurch s1 and s2, but spoilers for those, and TW for not entirely enthusiastic sex/internalized acephobia/Tess being Not Nice to Alec and also Alec being Not Nice to himself…)

Alec Hardy is ace and always has been. The thought of sex makes him mildly nauseous. He might not know precisely how to label how he feels but as gross as the deed makes him feel he really truly did love Tess romantically and he tried to make her happy and do what she seemed so enthusiastic to do (and he got Daisy out of it so he’ll never regret it), but his reluctance (“Can’t I just hold you instead?” Tess rolls her eyes and shifts away from him on the bed, brushing his hand away when he reaches for her) may have been a contributing factor to things falling apart.

He asks Becca because he’s so confused and he’s such a mess and people keep saying it will help (it never has) and if part of him is so disgusted with himself he thinks he’d deserve it anyway nobody needs to know…

Nonny! Oh my god! Now to preface, I tend to do the same and just headcanon all my favorite characters as ace because I'm ace and I can do what I want. BUT! I've headcanoned Alec Hardy as asexual since I first watched the show!!!! He's one of my favorite ace headcanoned characters!!!! Oh I'm thrilled to talk about this.

Alec Hardy is totally asexual!!! All of what you said. All of it. My headcanons incoming! So he has ZERO interest in sex and always had. He did it just to please Tess but would never initiate and after a while Tess got pissed off and annoyed at always having to be the one to initiate and believes he doesn't care about her since he doesn't initiate anything physical. That, coupled with Alec never being home because of work, was a major contributing factor to her cheating on him during Sandbrook. Alec never liking sex but yes like you said he got Daisy out of it so in the end he can't regret having sex with her (even though he didn't want to have sex).

After Daisy starts living with him she notices how little he dates and how disgusted he usually looks when anything sex related comes up that she asks him if he's asexual. He's never heard of that before and she shows him some websites and he finally finds the word for what feels.

Ahh god I love it! So many ideas!

Oh guess what! I've found a couple of fics with ace Hardy! Please enjoy!

It's not like love at first sight is an actual thing by thisisarandomuser Summary: A night out in the pub and a conversation with his daughter help Hardy to make sense of his sexuality.

Recalibrating by pulse_in_the_pages Summary: Alec Hardy didn’t understand what all the fuss was about sex. Or, four times Hardy didn't know he was asexual, and one time he did.

Admissions Aren't Easy by Asexual_Enjolras Summary: When forced into sharing yet another hotel room with just one double bed - once again - for a new case, DI Alec Hardy and DS Ellie Miller soon discover that their relationship is a lot more developed than what it was the first time this mess-up happened at a reception desk. While settling into their new room, Alec reminisces about the hotel, having stayed their with his ex-wife in the past. In their discussion, Alec finds himself admitting that he is - in fact - an asexual man. Ellie tries to comfort him as all of his truths begin to spill out, and then they find their feelings for one another also beginning to come to light.

italicized oh for the realizations by strawberryopals Summary: Daisy Hardy talks to her dad, and they both realize something about him.

Our experiences have shaped us by brokenlycan Summary: Alec had been very stressed lately so the two of them decide to surprise him with something to help him relax. But it backfires.

[justcallmefox89]

Irresistible Force Paradox: Chapter Five - An Open Heart fic

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

After a tragedy, Rory and Ethan call a temporary ceasefire.

I sprint into the waiting room at Edenbrook, frantically looking around for anyone who may have answers about Delores.  I spot Ramsey sitting alone, staring down at his hands, and I rush over to him.

“Dr. Ramsey?  What happened? Where’s Delores?” I pant, bending in half and sucking in air, my hands on my knees.

He doesn’t answer me for several long moments, making me fidget impatiently.  I’m opening my mouth to repeat myself when he finally meets my eyes.

“Delores had a seizure,” he says hollowly, his eyes distant and unfocused.  “Full eclampsia.  We had no choice but to deliver the baby.  It’s 50/50 he’ll survive the night.”

“No…” I breathe out.  My knees buckles but I mange to catch myself on the arm of the chair Ramsey is sitting in.  “Where’s Delores?”

“She died.”

My blood roars in my ears, drowning out all of the other mundane hospital sounds surrounding us.  My eyes burn as small tendrils of grief take root in my chest, quickly stamped out by the heavier, more intense feeling of anger.  Anger at the randomness, the unfairness of it all.  Anger at myself for not having done more, not fighting Ramsey harder, not making Delores understand just how serious her condition was.

NO.

“Dr. Ramsey, - ”

“I’m fine.”  He stands and quickly strides away without looking back. 

A while later I tiptoe into the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, clutching that stupid stuffed frog, and silently begin searching the incubators for Delores’s son.  I allow myself a tiny smile when I finally find him and read his name tag.

Ethan Hudson.  How about that…

“Can I help you?”

I whirl around in surprise to face the attending on duty.  “His mother was my patient.  She got to name him?” I ask, vaguely gesturing towards the incubator. 

“She told me just as she was rushed to the O.R.  The poor thing.  We’ll know more in the morning,” she answers, casting a sad look towards the baby.

“Do you mind if I sit with him tonight?”

“Feel free.”

“Do you mind if he has this?”  I hold up the frog.  “His mother wanted him to have it.  It’s been sterilized.”

“Go ahead,” she says, shrugging as she walks away.

I pull on a pair of sterile gloves and place the stuffed animal into the incubator, tucking it close to the baby.  He snuggles weakly against it, and tears prick my eyes.  “That’s it, tadpole.  That’s the way.”

I sit down on the couch next to the incubator and put my hand back inside, allowing the baby to grasp one of my gloves fingers.  I relax into the couch, preparing for a long, sleepless night.

********************************************** Ethan rounds the corner to enter the N.I.C.U. and draws up short as the sound of a now irritatingly familiar voice floats out to meet him.

“Can you believe some people actually think Black Jack Randall is attractive?  Like the book version, not the actor in the series?”

Ethan peers around on the doorjamb to see O’Shea seated next to the incubator housing Delores’s son, having a very enthusiastic one-side conversation with the infant.

“I know!  After everything he did to Jamie… I can’t believe it either.  How do you feel about Lord John as a character?”  Rory pauses as if listening to the baby’s reply.  “Well obviously… clearly you’re a gentleman of taste.  Can I talk about my gripe with Roger for a second?  Because honestly - ”

“Ahem.”  Ethan clears his throat and Rory glances over at him, eyes wide and cheeks pink with embarrassment.  “What are you still doing here?”

“I’m staying here tonight.”  O’Shea turns his attention back to the incubator.  “I hate the idea of him fighting for his life alone.”

“There are plenty of doctors working overnight.  If something happens, they’ll be here.”

“I know.”

The whisper is so soft Ethan can barely hear it.  “Would you mind if I joined you?”

O’Shea’s wide green eyes betray his surprise and it takes him a moment to answer.  “Not at all,” he finally says, shaking his head and scooting over to make room on the couch.

***************************************************

Ethan settles down on the couch next to me and for a while the soft, rhythmic whoosh of the ventilator is the only sound in the room.  He catches sight of the stuffed frog and breaks out into a rare smile.

“You gave him the frog.  Delores would have been…”  His face falls and his falls silent at the reminder of the loss of his friend.  “She would have been pleased.”

I bite the inside of my cheek and blink quickly in an effort to hold off the tears that have been threatening to fall all night.

“The first patient I lost… I was in my fourth week,” Ethan says, his voice more gentle than I thought him capable of.  “I didn’t make any mistakes.  He had stage four metastatic melanoma.  He just… fought like hell and lost.  I liked him.  He wasn’t much older than I am now.  I knew he didn’t have long to live, but it still hit me hard.”

I take a shallow, shuddering breath.  “I can’t let this get to me,” I mumble.

“Grieving a lost patient isn’t a weakness.  Good doctors should value life.  For itself.  I’d be more concerned if you weren’t upset.  Just know this wasn’t your fault.  Or mine.  Or Delores’s.  We all made the best decisions we could with the information we had.”

The argument that we could have done things differently is at the tip of my tongue, but I bite it back.  “I could have done more,” I say bitterly.  “I failed her.”

Ethan sighs.  “It’s important to push yourself, Rookie, but you will take a lot of losses.  We all do.  What matters is that you come back stronger.”

I glance at him suspiciously from the corner of my eye.  “Why are you being so nice to me?  Usually you’re…”

“Demanding?” he helpfully supplies.

“An asshole,” I mumble.

Other than a slight raise of his eyebrows Ethan doesn’t comment on my assessment of his character.  He stares off into space, sorting his thoughts.  “There are doctors with unlimited patience,” he says eventually.  “I am not one of them.  Energy I could use socializing, or making someone’s day better, I put towards my patience.  They’re who I’m here for.”

“Well that explains why you and Dr. Emery broke up,” I mutter under my breath.

“Rookie…”  Ethan’s tone is warning.

“You’re a teacher too,” I point out, attempting to backtrack.

“One of many, and you shouldn’t model yourself after any of us.  Idolatry among physicians is absurd.  We’re here to teach you practical medicine.  You need to find your own way of being a doctor.”

“And… how do I do that?” I ask, twisting on the couch to fully face him, ready to absorb whatever Yoda-like knowledge he’s preparing to hand down.

The corner’s of Ethan’s lips tip up into a gentle smile.  “You already are.” 

What the fuck does that mean?

The baby stretches and wiggles, and Ethan scoots closer to the incubator, offering him a gloved finger.  A soft, absent looks washes over Ethan’s face as the baby tightly clutches his finger.

“She named him after you,” I murmur.

His eyes widen in surprise as he looks down at the nametag.  His jaw tightens and his throat works as he swallows.  “I… see she did.”

“Did you know Delores a long time?” I venture.

“Over ten years.  When I first emailed her I only meant to check in.  But she was recently divorced, feeling alone, so she insisted on coffee.  And then it turned into more emails and meeting once every couple months for Sunday roast.

“She sounds like a good friend.”

“I didn’t make friends easily when I started here, so I was always grateful to her for that.”  Ethan swallows hard and falls silent, gazing intently at Delores’s baby.  His eyes are red.

Unconsciously I reach out and place my hand over his.  “I’m so sorry this happened,” I whisper, my voice cracking slightly.

Ethan glances up at me, surprise at first, and then something I can’t decipher in his shining blue eyes.  He holds my gaze, his hand broad and warm beneath my own. 

“Me too.”  He roughly clears his throat.  “I think we need coffee.”

“I can get some,” I offer, not having the heart to tell him I don’t like coffee.

“No.  I’ll go.”

Several minutes tick by as I watch baby Ethan sleep, counting each shallow rise and fall of his chest.  I start to drift off, the ambient hospital sounds soothing me. 

“Here you go, Rookie.” 

I shake my head, trying to clear away the cobwebs, and gingerly take the steaming mug Ethan’s hand me.  I wrinkle my nose as the bitter smell of coffee assaults my senses and steel myself to take a sip.  I fight the urge to gag, rather valiantly I think, and force down the drink.

Ethan attempts to hide a smirk behind his mug.  “You could have said you weren’t a fan of coffee, Rookie.”

Apparently I’m not as subtle as I thought.

I sheepishly set the mug on the small table next to the couch.  “Sorry.  I do appreciate the thought though.”

************************************************

Ethan gazes down at the sleeping O’Shea, who’s currently curled up against Ethan’s side.  The two had talked long into the night, seamlessly bouncing from subject to subject.  Ethan had found himself truly enjoying the conversation; Rory had proven to be well-versed in many subjects, and his quick, caustic sense of humor had Ethan laughing more than he had in months.  Several strands of inky dark hair have fallen over Rory’s face, and his glasses are slightly askew.  Ethan’s lips quirk up at the endearing sight, his breath catching as Rory’s nuzzles against his arm.

“Rookie,” he murmurs, gently brushing the loose hair back away from Rory’s face.  “Come on Rookie, time to wake up.”

Rory sits up slowly, yawning and stretching his arms over his head.  He adjusts his glasses and turns to the incubator.  Baby Ethan rests soundly, still snuggled against the stuffed frog.

“He made it!”  Rory flashes Ethan a beaming smile, unable to contain his joy.

“And he’s getting stronger.”

Rory takes out his hair tie, shaking the unruly strands loose, unable to stop smiling.  He runs a hand through his now unbound hair and checks his phone, his smile falling a little as he notes the time. 

“Damn,” he sighs.  I have rounds in twenty minutes.  I need to go shower.”

Ethan sucks in a shallow breath, fighting to think about anything other than a naked, soapy Rory, hands trailing over lithe muscles…  “I’ll stay a little longer,” he quickly offers.

Rory stands, smiling at the baby one last time.  “Catch you later, tadpole.”

“Rory,” Ethan calls out as the other man is halfway out the door.

Rory skids to a halt and looks back over his shoulder.  “Hm?”

“Thank you.”

[abyssal-ali]

you knew the hero died, so what's the movie for?

Pairing: Gen Ao3 Masterlist

Rating: E for Extra Bad Mental Health WC: 2.2k

Summary:

Babs finds some footage of Jason acting strangely and calls in the Bats to help her figure out what's up with Jason.

TW: Suicidal Ideation/Passive Suicidal Thoughts, Implied/Referenced Depression, Major Character Death/Major Character Undeath

A/N: (Yes, I'm fine<3) Title from hoax by TS. I love the Immortal Jason Todd theories but I also think he'd have a lot of Thoughts and Feelings about death and life after the first time. (Also don't worry, there is a happy ending.)

~

Barbara Gordon spun on her chair’s wheels to face the Bats. The whole clan, minus one, were admitted to her domain after her special request.

“Why could you not send us the footage?” asked Batman, his voice not so raspy with the modifier turned off.

“It’s safer here. This is extremely delicate information here, and I cannot have it fall into the wrong hands somehow.”

The Bats exchanged glances at Oracle saying she didn’t want to risk this being hacked. Her finger hovered over the play button on her large screen.

“I hacked Hood’s helmet just after he ducked out of patrol to tell him I’d received info I thought he might want to know for a case he’s on. He was speaking, but it didn’t seem like a call or voice-to-text, and the security cam from the alley he was in doesn’t show anyone or anything. The context is weird and the whole situation is…disturbing.”

Babs finally played the CCTV footage after her explanation, showing a typical Gotham alleyway, Red Hood’s large shape the only figure visible as he walked normally into it from around the corner. 

His steps stutter, then his whole being seems to lose tension as he walks further in, his shoulders curling inwards slightly. “Now?”

A pause, then, “What is it this time? I haven’t decided what I wanted to cross off my list this time.”

He leans against the wall, one foot propped on the rough brick casually as he tosses a knife through the air, always catching it by the handle. After a couple seconds of seeming silence, he turns abruptly, his posture tensing. “I just want quiet, is that too much to ask?!” 

He calms, then continues, “I don’t hate you, D. It’s your sister. She always interrupts and it’s gotten really old. You…can either stop flirting with me or do somethin’ ‘bout Elle. She keeps bringin’ me back down…”

He sheathes his knife and shifts into an offensive stance. “I was at peace, D! I’m just…so…tired…” His voice trails off, revealing the weakness his family has never picked up in him.

After a moment, he relaxes back into his slump against the wall. “We’re running outta options. Explosions, blunt force trauma, asphyxiation, suffocation, smoke inhalation, drowning, exsanguination, jugular sliced, cardiac arrest, hypothermia, electrocution…” He ticks off his fingers. “I’m immune to most poisons and toxins, so they’re out, medication burns through me too quickly…” Another pause.

“I can’t just run off with you, D. They’re detectives, and any explanation they’ll believe is falsified, and they’ll pointlessly search space and time. I’m not gonna spark PTSD and make them sad. Oh! We haven’t tried decapitation yet, we could recreate Dickens’ scene…or there’s my personal favourite, you kidnap me in my sleep. Sounds peaceful….NOT THAT I WOULD KNOW ABOUT PEACE!”

The watching Bats flinched at the sudden outburst from the dejected Hood they were wrapping their minds around. 

On the screen, he waves at air, then turns on his heel and stalks out of the alley, heading somewhere else. 

Babs’ trackers showed everyone in the Clocktower, and one red dot at a known safehouse of Jason’s a few blocks from the alley.

Babs turned to the Bats. 

“Hmm,” Batman mused.

“Ambiguous,” decided Nightwing. “You didn’t pick up any interference, magical or alien?”

“No. Everything is clear,” replied Babs, spinning back to her computer to run more scans on the footage. 

“I hate one-sided conversations,” said Spoiler, staring thoughtfully at the frozen image of Red Hood walking out of the alley.

“Who’s this ‘D’ he’s talking to?” demanded Red Robin. “He usually only calls Dick ‘D’, and even then it’s rare. And Dick doesn’t know about this.”

Batgirl got the others’ attention. “Jason is hurt. Always. Not from fighting.” She thought for a moment. “Heart-hurt. Always tired. This is…tired, but relieved.”

“Hmm,” said Batman again.

Two days later, Nightwing and Red Robin knocked on Jason’s door. He’d managed to instill the basic modicum of manners in them with careful traps, a fair amount of glitter, and occasionally a minor wound or two. When he didn’t answer after two tries, and Babs reassured them through their comm link that his tracker was still pinging from that location, they let themselves in.

The first thing they found was Jason, dead in his bed.

In shock, confusion, and grief, the Bats were notified, confirmed it was truly Jason and not some elaborate scheme to fake his death for some Jason-only-knew reason, and taken back to the Cave to prepare him for burial. Again.

To their great surprise, Talia al Ghul marched into the Cave and swept past all their baffled questionings to the table Jason lay on, more peaceful in death than they’d ever seen in life.

She carefully scrutinized him, then sighed and put her hand on his. 

“Don’t touch him,” Bruce snapped, looking worse than he had in years. 

Talia removed her hand after a slight hesitation, turning to face the grieving Bats. “Before you bury Jason, please wait one more day.”

“Why?”

“You do remember what happened last time you buried him,” she reminded them flatly.

With a grunt, Bruce agreed to wait 18 more hours, looking over at his son’s body every few moments from the tea Alfred was forcing him to drink.

The Bats were quietly mourning their brother, son, grandson, friend, tormentor, coworker, rival, saviour when a loud stream of swearing shocked them out of their grief. 

“NOT AGAIN?! WHY?! WHAT THE FUCKING HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!?!” Yelled one very alive Jason Todd, sitting straight up and looking as pale as a ghoul.

He slipped off the table, stumbling towards the group in zombie-like motions, collapsing into Talia’s waiting arms. “Tals? Why’re ya’here?”

“To stop your idiotic, grieving, well-meaning family from hastily burying you again.”

“Oh, thanks.”

The still-stunned bats slowly gathered around the hugging duo. Talia dragged Jason over to the cot in the medbay and forcing him onto his side. “Stay still until you’re better. You should know better, habibi.”

“But my mom was here, I had to hug her,” he grinned crookedly up at Talia, who was unimpressed.

Still, she smiled softly at him, running her fingers through his hair. “Just lie still. 15 minutes on every side.”

“This ain’t my first rodeo, Tals,” he grunted, but stay where she left him. 

Tim opened his mouth and Talia turned her fierce glare on him. With one motion, she directed them all away from Jason to the debriefing area, where he was still within sightline, but wouldn’t be disturbed by their sure-to-be-invasive questions.

“How did he die?” she asked them, looking sternly at Bruce.

“I don’t know.” He collapsed into a seat, staring at Jason blankly. “Oracle showed us a concerning video she found with Hood, we went to his safehouse…and found him…peaceful, in his bed. A little smile on his face,” he choked out.

Talia sighed, glancing back at Jason.

“Why are you here?”

“Mother’s intuition,” she shrugged. “Something was very wrong with him. I was worried, so I came.”

“T, I can deal with them,” called Jason. “I’m a big boy, I can handle their need for privacy invasion.”

Talia sighed but relaxed from her gatekeeping stance, letting the Bats crowd Jason’s bed again.

“How dare you alive again? You were definitely dead,” blurted Tim. 

“Life and I have a mutual hate for each other,” said Jason cryptically. “And Death and I are kinda close.”

“How did you die?” asked Dick, quietly horrified.

“Oh, D was really accommodating–I was asleep this ti-”

“‘D’ is Death?!”

“Yeah, I call Death ‘D’, so what? You all have nicknames. And like I said, this ain’t my first rodeo, We’re tight, she likes me.”

“Ethopia…” remembered the Bats awkwardly.

“Why are you lying down?” asked Steph as Jason shifted to his front, turning his head to watch his family.

“I can’t lie on my back for longer than a few second because of PTSD. And my heart hasn’t been pumping for…awhile, so blood flow ain’t the best right now. 

“First, there’s numbness, like when your leg’s fallen asleep, only full-body. 

“Then, prickles of pain as all your muscles and circulatory system start up. 

“Third, your brain’s fuzzy from lack of oxygen and bloodflow, so you spill your deepest darkest secrets to your needlessly nosy family because some twisted part of you feels guilty for putting them through your death again. That last part might just be me, though.

“Fourth, I’m tired and I want to sleep, so ask T or wait for me to wake up. Trust me, I will,” he grumbled. “Oh, you may wanna shock me a li’l bit to make sure my heart’s started properly again. Sometimes it needs a bit of a tune-up to make sure it’s good as new.”

“Why do you sound like this happens regularly?!” Dick demanded.

“It does.” Jason closed his eyes, turning his head to the other side.

Talia shooed the murmuring Bats back to let Jason rest in peace (consciously).

A couple hours later, Jason sat up again, with more colour to his skin and smoother movements. Talia carefully supported him, leading him to a chair and mug of steaming hot chocolate.

The disturbed bats gathered around him until he looked up with a grimace at them. “I’m fine, okay? Why are you even so worried?”

“No, you’re not fine! You were dead, again, and now you aren’t, and you’re acting like this happens every week!”

Jason shrugged. “Done it enough it feels like it. Don’t worry, I get better quicker the more often it happens; you’ve never noticed."

“You died the first time in Ethiopia?”

Jason nodded.

“And it took…six months for you to come back? This was…24 hours or less. So how often have you died, and what’s the exponential rate?” demanded Tim. 

Jason shrugged again. “Dunno. Based on past times…” he trailed off, looking to Talia.

“With this one, it should be about twenty hours until his resurrection the next time.”

“Why were you even looking for me?”

“I hacked your comms when you were, apparently, talking to Death, and I brought the CCTV footage from that alley to their attention,” reasoned Babs, pulling his free hand into hers and squeezing it gently. “Why would you not tell us about this? We were worried sick about you after we saw that! And then you disabled your tracker, and it took me ages to find your last ping and find your new safehouse!”

“Sorry,” he mumbled into his mug. 

“So you were actually talking to Death? Who is…apparently a person…being?” asked Steph.

“Yep, she’s cool. I’m her favourite repeat customer,” he joked. It fell flatter than one of Bruce’s pancakes.

“You sounded happy to see D,” said Cass, watching him closely.

“Yeah, she’s a lot nicer than her bitch of a sister, Life. She keeps bringing me back,” Jason bemoaned under his breath.

“You don’t want to come back?” Dick asked sadly, inching closer.

“Not really. It’s peaceful being dead. Being alive is so…tiring,” he sighed, leaning his head back and gently placing his mug down.

“Habibi,” Talia said thickly, running her fingers through his hair again.

“But…but you talked down that jumper last week!” pointed out Tim.

“So?”

Cass rewound the footage Babs had played them, playing a section back for the others on the Batcomputer. “I’m not gonna spark PTSD and make them sad.”

“‘Sad’ is…a wrecked car. Replaceable. ‘Grief’ is you dead. We cannot replace you. We are not sad for you. We grieve for you.”

At Cass’s revelation, the Bats’ heads swiveled between Jason and the screen. 

“Little Wing…do you think we would grieve you less than the first time?”

Jason didn’t answer, picking up his mug to see if there were any dregs left.

Talia laid her hand on his shoulder. “Why are you still the Red Hood, habibi? No one is forcing you to. You became the Red Hood to antagonize Batman*. You’ve done that, moved past it. Move on, don’t just give up.”

A strange look crossed Jason’s face at Talia’s face. His eyes darted to a harrowed-looking Bruce, then back to the depths of his mug. “Thanks, T.”

Red Hood retired, Jason choosing to hand the reins of his crime bossing business over to his trusted lieutenants as he moved to Europe, entering Oxford to pursue a secondary education. 

One or another of his family members were more often than not flying to and from his flat to remind him how much they loved and valued him. 

Talia visited him often, making sure that he knew just how much the other side of his chosen family also cared for him. She introduced him to a therapist that was accustomed to dealing with clients with more confidential matters than usual. 

Gradually, Jason healed and discovered his personality aside from ‘anti-hero crime-boss vigilante’. He pursued therapy as a career, becoming a therapist and mentor to the Justice League and its associates, specifically the sidekicks and teen heroes. 

The twenty-hour resurrection rule wasn’t needed for several more decades.

*****

A/N2:

*Yes, I'm aware he also wanted to change Gotham in a way that Batman couldn't/wouldn't etc, but I couldn't get into the nuances there.

Jason has canonically died several times, including the time Bruce stopped his heart (don't ask me for canon references, I don't touch those things with a 10-foot pole) but as I was editing this fic, I decided to go the good/semi-decent dad Bruce route instead; Jason's hurt enough, so you'll only find one small easter egg about that. I also left out the line about the slit throat from the Batarang Bruce threw in UtRH, which I am firmly convinced hurt Jason more than was shown in canon.

I got the inspiration for Jason dealing with post-mortem/post-resurrection stiffness etc from a fic but I can't remember which one. Possibly Who I Am. Who I'll Never Be by Zootopon?? If you find one, feel free to lmk.

Jason is depressed and isn't very objective about the Batfam, and even though they're on fairly good terms in this fic, they're still emotionally consitpated Bats and Jason's a good actor; they're not thinking to reassure him they love him and want him, and he's sure not gonna outright ask for reassurance. As someone with depression (not speaking for everyone, just drawing on my own experience), it really makes you feel like even those you love most and who love you most don't actually. It's hard to ask for confirmation of their love, and especially with dynamics like the Batfam/Jason have, that complicates matters further. If you're reading this and you don't somehow have Issues, learn from this and face your feelings.