#im just a child but im not above violence

[flamecoloredparadise]

henry creel is preacher’s daughter by ethel cain coded send tweet

[blackangelism]

I really want to cut myself but I don't have any sharp object. really want to cut so deep that my family finally starts realising but I think I also know that theyd taunt me on it rather than think that I'm in pain

[somberlys]

I CANT BELIEVE I MISSED THE ETHEL CAIN MERCH STORE DROP

[eepyuii]

to embrace and consume

pairing ; childe x gender neutral!reader

content ; childhood friends to enemies to lovers?

cw ; violence, choking, frequent mention of injuries and blood, blood drinking, hurt/comfort? angst??? kinda???

notes ; sorry folks, not a new frostbite chapter!!!! life still pretty hectic, preparing for college now but i’ve had this idea for a while now and i thought trying out a oneshot would be cool!!! :3

this is kinda like an alternate reality of frostbite where the reader and childe still grew up together but they do actually grow to hate each other instead of that pussy shit i wrote before LMFAO. perhaps in this instance the reader didn’t join the fatui or maybe moved away from snezhnaya??? idk and they face off like they did in the golden house

also bear with me with this idea… i got it from that video of the boxer’s laying down and rubbing blood all over each others faces IM SORRY I JUST THOUGHT IT WAS RLY COOL ;w; this is the steamiest thing i can write that’s not smut, i don’t think i could ever write smut

ANYWAY I HOPE U LIKE IT

small tip-taps of two children running simultaneously. uncontrollable giggles echo from either side. they run circles around each other, in an infinite futile attempt of catching one another— they care not, for the point isn’t to win.

silent, calculated footsteps. they’re slow and careful, like a predator and its prey rounding each other, or perhaps even two predators— they only serve to postpone the inevitable clash of claw and teeth, in which only one will leave alive.

ajax tackles you into a bed of snow that steadily cushions your fall. he falls on top of you with a ‘puff!’ and you’ve both gone past the point of any hope in containing your laughter, chests shaking against each other as you cackle. you feel your head grow warm from the excitement and exertion, the fluffy snow that surrounds it creating a pleasant juxtaposition.

right as the two of you have finally managed to catch your breaths, panting out the last few giggles remaining inside you, ajax’s mouth grows into a devious grin. he leans back above you, arms winding back behind him… and lunges down at you— his small skittering fingers tickling your sides in a vicious attack. you roar in unceasing laughter as you shake from side to side in a futile effort to evade your best friend’s tickles.

“aja- ahahah.. s-stop! i can’t- hahah.. can’t breathe!”

the first arrow is fired, you dodge— then the second, then the third. they’re shot almost rhythmically, very predictably into your previous position, like childe is expecting you to dodge them. his expression is unreadable, unrecognizable even. he’s entirely unrecognizable to you. thinking about it nearly distracts you from the woosh of his arrows around you and the sound rushing water as he charges the next one with hydro energy, but your instincts thankfully take the wheel and allow you to evade childe’s onslaught of arrows almost subconsciously.

you’ve long since given up on maintaining a poker face, as your expression had slid down into a frown of pure resentment. you hate him, whatever he is right now— not ajax for sure. it feels as though it’s been an eternity since that name last left your mouth, the fond familiarity that it set on your tongue long dead, much like the boy the name once belonged to. he’s dead now, he must be.

within a flurry of varied attacks, a particular sharp wave of water finally outsmarts you— you’re a breath away from successfully evading it when it slashes your bicep in a cut as thin as a hair strand with a sting that feels cold and ruthless against your skin. the coldness of the cut is quickly replaced with a seeping warmth, your blood slowly making its way out of the incision as you huff with frustration and finally decide to get on the offensive. your polearm swooshes through the air with heavy, vicious swings hellbent on landing on your opponent.

a millisecond after one of your swings lands on childe’s shoulder, he’s already reacting with a near animalistic growl and unforgiving slashes of his transformed hydro blades.

and so ensues a bloodthirsty back-and-forth.

it’s akin to a battle between birds of prey, or africanized bees— violently and ceaselessly, the two of you clash at the center of the battlefield and the sheer force of your exchange in hits and counterattacks pushes you back apart, sending either one to opposite poles of the arena. two magnets on the wrong end that insist on approaching each other by the pure drive of utter hatred.

childe, much like his namesake, still manages to find a window to be cocky and throws taunting words at you with an overconfident smirk. even as a living weapon of war, he doesn’t forsake his immaturity.

after feeling like you might die from laughing too hard, you finally obtain the advantage on ajax and his fierce onslaught of tickles and manage to push him off of you— he lands on the snow behind him with an equally cushioned ‘puff!’. you stand over him, half-triumphant and half-malicious with the intent of paying him back in full for his sudden attack.

ajax comprehends your wordless intention immediately and kicks his feet into the ground to slowly back away from you as nervous giggles leave his lips. like a reversed déjà vu, you wind your arms back to prepare your own tickling power— only now, as your in the midst of lunging down at your best friend, he disappears and you land face down on the snow, ajax’s roaring laughter ringing out from a distance behind you.

it doesn’t take much to spot the fiery blur of ginger hair, plus his favorite red scarf, zooming through the trees. you start chuckling once again and take off after him.

“get back here, ajax!”

“you’ll never catch me, slowpoke!” he taunts.

“all you do is run!” you retort.

a raspy grumble escapes childe, one that sounds a lot like the words ‘all you do is run!’, but you’re far too simultaneously tired and pumped with adrenaline to process it properly. thinking those words are truly what he said brings a burning to your chest, one unlike the physical injuries you’re sustaining— no, it feels more like the ache of a fond memory now long lost. you can’t bring yourself to remember why that would be the case.

you’re both exhausted at this point, panting uncontrollably, movements turning sluggish.

childe’s steps falter, knees shaking as if he’s about to fall, and he braces himself to summon the power of his delusion as violet sparks of electricity emit from him. you feel the hairs on the back of your head rise to attention as you tense up and prepare for the new challenge your opponent seems to pose— only for him to utterly fail.

being far too weak, the electro particles dissipate and childe’s legs finally give in when he falls to the ground with a miserable groan. shouldn’t have left his delusion as a last resort.

that previous seeping warmth of blood has since taken over your entire body as you’re practically dripping in your own blood, soon enough it’s far too much for you to handle and you join childe as you slump on the floor pathetically. the silence becomes deafening as both you and your opponent become far too incapacitated to do anything but pant and stare at each other with burning glares ridden with loathing.

you utterly despise him. how far he’s fallen, how much he’s done. all for the sake of a loveless ruler and the thrill of the bloodshed she promises him.

“i-i…” you mutter, voice strained and shaky, yet it still catches childe’s attention in full. “i hate you.”

those three words seem to irk childe to his very core, as his anger grows into seething growls completely rid of any previous composure. he roars ferally as he uses his remaining strength to launch at you, slamming you down into the cold floor. your head painfully lands against the hard surface and leaves you with an overwhelming ache in your cranium.

a shaky but determined hand rises to your throat and tries its mightiest to squeeze. your own hands immediately rise to fight back and push him away, feeling the air in your throat grow thinner and thinner. you instinctively panic and thrash under him, terrified that you might actually die by childe’s hands, like pathetic prey. your heart is drumming in your ears like it itself is drowning in a panic attack. oh god you’re going to die.

miraculously, your protests prove to be needles as the harbinger himself doesn’t have the strength to properly choke you to death—he gives up and resorts to just looming over you while choked, heaving breaths and coughs leave you, filling in the silence. within the dizzy haze that your head injury brings, your vision blurs for a moment and you’re almost able to see the shining face of a grinning, ginger-haired young boy above you. it’s gone within the next second.

you wonder if childe sees the same thing you do. you wonder if he, even for a millisecond, sees your giggly younger self beneath him. you wonder if that’s what makes him falter in his attempt to strangle you.

your questions seem to be sensed by him and wordlessly answered as he slowly lowers his forehead to yours, tired eyes falling to a close. his nose drips blood like a faucet and it lands warmly onto your face. you’re far too tired to bring yourself to care about it, you just close your own eyes instead. you remain like that for a while, just breathing in the metallic scent of each other’s blood. your wounds scream at you, you don’t listen— you listen to childe’s journey into regulating his breathing instead and subconsciously follow suit. you’re so unbelievably fucking tired, you’re 99% confident you’ll pass out underneath childe any moment now. there aren’t enough words in the world to explain what happens next.

a sudden wetness drags itself across your face and you perplexedly open your eyes to discover that it turns out to be childe dragging his blood-soaked face against yours, cheek rubbing onto your own and spreading crimson all over it— like a slobbering puppy. it’s utterly inexplicable.

just like how it’s utterly inexplicable that you don’t pull away. no, you laugh. you’d like to blame it on your delirious exhaustion, how you just stay and accept it. allow your blood to mix with his, more than it ever would’ve if you had just killed each other and been done with it. childe soon joins you with his own weak giggles and the two of you, for even a fraction of a moment, feel like children again.

it’s mindless, it’s silly, it’s uncaring. like you’re merely playing in the snow again and rubbing the melting snow that clings onto your faces on each other.

your hands irrationally rise to cup childe’s cheeks but you still don’t think to push him away, nor does he think to leave your touch. it’s utterly familiar and completely foreign all at once. though not as much as what happens next— in the harbinger’s mission to slobber blood all over you, your lips brush several times but neither act upon it. until childe finally decides to firmly clamp his mouth onto yours, like a parched man desperate for water.

he kisses you. and it’s okay, you’re okay. you’re both okay.

the sanguine soup that you two create inevitably to slither into your mouth and you gulp it down— it feels like the freshest sip of water you’ve ever taste. you must’ve hit your head catastrophically hard. you feel childe’s content sigh blow over you from his nose and realize you’ve got your own sigh of utter fulfillment to let out. perhaps this is more familiar than it is foreign, this subconscious affection. perhaps if you had had more time together, grown up together, you would’ve noticed the effortless childhood connection the two of you had would’ve blossomed into something more at some point. you know it would have.

you know this because you and childe seem to only kiss harder and deeper, pulling away only when breathing seems to be absolutely necessary and falling back in. drinking more of each other’s blood, intertwining further. the taste makes you nearly delirious.

you pass out from exhaustion in each other’s arms, both thinking that it might not be so terrible to be killed by the other’s hand if it means you’d get to consume each other so purely once again.

[paraphwrites]

@carpediemma made a poll post about which characters would be who in an alice in wonderland au and none of the one's winning are the ones i want so i will now be justifying my thesis

alice - niko. above all else, alice must be curious and kind. she is also afraid, a lot, because she's in a wild new world - very similar of how niko is scared and in a new world (both ghost/supernatural, america, and a world without her father)

white rabbit - edwin. polite yet preoccupied, punctual yet anxious, obsessive yet unpredictable, always dressed smart... the similarities go on. and while i think some of their actions might not align entirely, i think there is a case to be made for edwin shewing someone along, insisting it must be done his own way

mad hatter - charles. playful, defiant to social norms, bit of an eccentric dress style! though charles is a bit less over the top, i feel that in the right environment, he could go totally mad. hatter has a lot of fun but there is this hint of despair to him which to me, entirely emulates charles

the dormouse - jenny. tired, confused, and underpaid, next question

the march hare - maxine. unpredictable, bizarre, reckless, excitable. not a huge character so not too much to go from but i see some loose similarities in the erratic nature - it's not that they're evil, it's that they're so invested in existence that they might stab you

please do not think of the implications of shipping the dormouse and the march hair i will not be held responsible for that

tweedledee and tweedledum - litty and kingham. petty?? childish?? looks similar??? guys come ON there is no more iconic duo in dbda! they're not very kind, they're not anti violence, they love attention- am i talking about the tweedles, or litty and kingham? you literally can't tell.

the caterpillar - tragic mick. appears when alice is uncertain and needs help, prompts her to reflect on her own identity. not particularly nice but is very helpful and kind, in his own way. calm, almost cryptic, slow manner of speech.

cheshire cat - the cat king. im not gonna explain this one

ok guys bare with me for the next two. they're kinda controversial. i could see them flipped and i did flip them many times but this is what i decided on

the duchess - esther. the duchess is abusive to her child (monty), but can be overly affectionate, as well. duchess is hella comedic in a dark way, she's got a fucked up relationship with power (duchess is a slave to the Queen, esther is a slave to the Snake), she's absurdly contradictory (like esther and her contradiction of wronging girls using lilith's gift)

the queen of hearts - the night nurse. the queen cannot see a way of life other than executions. i know she SEEMS hella emotional, but legit, i think it's more this desperate desire for feelings and sensations because she is so stuck in a loop of being listened to. the night nurse is similarly stuck in this loop of bureaucracy. neither are happy and neither have any true meaning to their lives. they both also seem to lack a nuance to empathy (nurse thinking ends justify the means so no need to feel guilty about the means, almost viewing finding the boys as a game in order to feel SOMETHING). neither would not survive a day in therapy

the king of hearts - kashi. foil to the queen of hearts, very minor character. gentle, soft spoken, trying his best, exists more in his own universe than anywhere else. the key difference is if they went to therapy, kashi's therapist would end up getting therapied, and king would just break down sobbing

the knave of hearts - monty. while if esther was the queen, maybe this would be more apt, but this is my analysis so i'll do what i want. the knave is a victim of absurd injustice, is somewhat sympathetic but ultimately a perpetuater of this same system. monty does the same thing with esther & her abuse. he is also young and handsome which, we've all seen joshua colley, i don't need to explain

the talking rose - crystal (with/pre-david.) haughty, mean, cruel, flirtatious. she's not a villain but she's definitely not on your side. she's critical, both of your looks, personality, and general vibe. but she's also just one of the many flowers, kind of how crystal was just one of the rich kids, not really doing all that much

in this version, i'd have when the flower's roots are freed be the same energy as the boy's getting rid of david. moment of self-transformation, free from curse. i will probably make a follow up post on how i'd do the plot, but i wanted to throw that bit on david out there.

[mackjlee9]

Are y'all ready for this?

Leon Kennedy x Male!Reader [Ansgt]

Warning; SPOILERS, mentions of blood, wounds, knives, gun, violence, all that stuff, horrible English and bad pacing. Long chapter, 8.5k words.

Masterlist.

next part »»»

Resident Evil 4

(M/n) stumbled as he got back on his feet, the wound above his brow was gushing blood very rapidly, making him grow dizzier the longer it passed. He blinked a couple of times, trying to focus his sight ahead, his feet struggling to make him stand up again, his arms trembling as they pushed his torso off the ground.

Grunting in pain, (M/n)'s blurry sight was soon met with a pair of military combat boots, he gritted his teeth as he refused to believe this is where he dies, under the hands of the man he once trusted with his life.

"Poor, poor lieutenant," the man bent his knees and reached his hand to hold (M/n)'s chin in his hand, the sadistic glint in his eyes made (M/n)'s stomach turn, watching how his smirk grew wider, "Time to say goodbye."

The last thing he saw was Krauser's fist inching closer to his face at an alarming velocity, and if even he wanted, he couldn't dodge the punch that landed on his face, knocking him unconscious soon after.

//////

The feeling of his head throbbing woke him up, but he couldn't open his eyes, and he couldn't move either. The swinging of his body side to side made him realize that he was being carried like a potato sack, hearing the quiet humming of Krauser's voice as he took him somewhere he didn't know.

The sound of a big door reached his ears, soon entering a room with a nice echo, it sounded like the room was pretty much empty, and (M/n) still continued trying to open his eyes, tried to fight Krauser's grip off his body, but it was useless, his body was numb, his head throbbing, he couldn't feel half of his face and he definitely didn't have the energy or strength to take on Krauser at the time.

So he stayed there, completely quiet, trying to remain somewhat conscious.

"Where'd you want 'im?" Krauser asked to someone in the room with them, and (M/n) was frightened for a moment, they hadn't made a single sound so they never made themselves present to (M/n)'s hearing.

"Over there," a raspy, horse voice said, and Krauser groaned a positive response as he continued to take him away to wherever he was taking him. The squeaky sound of wheels echoed in the room, and he soon was laid on what he recognized as a hospital gurney, then footsteps getting closer to him after Krauser walked away got him on edge.

"It's time to join us, my child."

He felt something sharp and cold pressing against his neck, pressing until it pierced the soft skin and he could feel how something slithered its way inside his body.

"It's just a matter of time before you become one of us," he felt an icy cold hand pressing against his forehead, moving his hair away, before turning around and leaving him all alone in that cold room.

He's not sure for how long he remained conscious, but he ended up giving up on keeping himself awake.

//////

The car ride was silent as he looked out the window, getting a view of the place he was approaching.

His mind raced over the same words, like a song getting stuck in your head, one that you can't get rid of.

"Whilst rescuing the president's daughter is your main priority, the higher-ups want you to get any idea as to what happened to Lieutenant Colonel (L/n), Leon, can you do that?" He had responded that he will do what he can, but he knew he was gonna go look for whatever he needed to know his superior's whereabouts.

He heard both cops talking amongst themselves, understanding bits and pieces of their conversation, it varied from paperwork, annoying superiors back at the office, football, and then him, but Leon just ignored them, remembering that he was gonna be dropped off near where (M/n) had his last communication before going M.I.A.

Images flashed across his mind, all the moments he got to spend time with (M/n) when he had just been recruited, yet being assigned under Major Krauser's command to assist his training. It had been a while since he saw any of them, being occupied with their own missions and tasks ahead. One of which he was assigned after (M/n)'s sudden dissaperence almost two weeks ago.

He was just hoping that he was still alive, even if Leon knows how capable (M/n) was of taking care of himself, something didn't sit right with him about the whole situation.

And damn, sometimes he wishes to be wrong about his gut feelings.

//////

Krauser walked into the camera room where Saddler had been observing the American forastero killing everyone in sight, no second thoughts about them, and Saddler was incredibly mad about it, not caring anymore if he had also been blessed and was allowed to carry the same sacred body as them.

The scarred blond observed the cameras and recognized that "precious" rookie of (M/n)'s.

"So that bastard was sent here, huh?" Saddler turned to look at Krauser, who leaned against the door frame, looking into the screen with hatred burning in his icy blue eyes.

"So you know who he is?" Krauser scoffed, and glanced back at (M/n) who was laying on the same hospital gurney, completely immovable as he stared seemingly into the void. He had turned into nothing but a lifeless puppet, and yet, his body hasn't shown signs of La Plaga spreading.

But it was there, especially noticeable when Saddler talked to him, his eyes would turn bright red, and black veins would crawl up his neck momentarily, before returning back to his catatonic self.

"That bastard," Krauser pointed at the screen where Leon was shown, "Was that bastard's favourite recruit," he continued nodding his head toward (M/n), "Makes me sick," he grunted with gritted teeth.

Saddler looked at (M/n) and observed the images la plaga had copied from the parts of his memories it's managed to gather, and he witnessed from (M/n)'s eyes how much he cared for that young man, always there to guide and help him, providing the comfort he longed for.

"Ooh, how amazing it'll be," Krauser looked at Saddler with a questionable look on his face, "To betray that trust..." He spoke while walking closer to (M/n), "Take him to that forastero, he'll be the ace under my sleeve."

Something about the thought of having (M/n) against Leon made him almost burst out laughing, moving to stand right next to Saddler, as he started controlling (M/n)'s movements, maintaining eye contact with his now red eyes.

"Your new mission... Is to kill Leon Kennedy, child," (M/n) stood up with wobbly legs and bowed to Saddler.

"Yes, sir."

His new order had reached la plaga inside him, being taken away by Krauser as soon as Saddler allowed him to.

//////

Leon was beyond stressed, but he was still determined to complete the mission, but right now, he had to find Ashley, maybe on his way to her he'll be able to get a better lead on what had happened to (M/n).

He just hoped that the ride in the underground mines with Luis could help him with that.

The lift ride was quick, and somehow a blur to Leon, since the first thing he saw when he turned around was Luis falling on the ground, the silhouette of a muscular man approaching him as he crouched to pull the dagger out of Luis' back.

The encounter with Krauser was anything but pleasant, yet somehow his body was able to remember his attacking and blocking patterns, including the one movement that (M/n) taught him to be able to win against Krauser in a 1v1 fight.

And the scarred blond wasn't happy about it. He scoffed and frowned, jumping and landing behind Leon quicker than he could react, but before he could remotely get closer to his vital point, the sound of a gun being fired caught them off guard. They both turned and saw that Luis had gathered enough strength to take his gun out and pull the trigger to save Leon, Krauser let out a dry chuckle and retrieved his dagger, jumping and landing on an elevated surface, about to return the way he came before stopping and glancing down at Leon over his shoulder.

"Oh! I almost forgot!" He chuckles again, but it's a sinister chuckle that makes Leon grip the handle of his pistol on instinct, "I left a gift for you, rookie, you better find him quickly, the clock is ticking and the oxygen is running out," with a boisterous laugh he left.

Leon ran toward Luis, spending his last moments with him, watching as he exhaled his last breath, the lit cigarette falling out of his parted lips, the lit end landing on the pool of blood that had formed underneath him, turning itself off.

Placing Luis' lighter back in his its hand, Leon said goodbye to the Spanish male and took a deep breath, standing up and looking around the place he was.

Krauser's words resonated in his head again, the vague mention of a 'him' being here, as a gift for him...

Leon had no idea how long had Krauser been in Spain, but if his gut feeling was right again, then he must be-

"(M/n)?!" He screamed whilst he ran around looking everywhere he could think of, "Where could he...?" He stood still and his eyes caught sight of a pile of scattered crates, and one stood out the most. It was slightly bigger than the others, but it also had 'LEON' engraved on the wood, obviously done with a sharp object. Like a knife, or a dagger, "Lieutenant!" He screamed once again, running toward the wooden crate as fast as he could.

He rushed to push off the smaller crates on top of the lid, his hands trembling as he opened it, observing the poor state (M/n) was in.

"Sir!" Leon struggled to pull (M/n) out of it, falling on the floor with his arms wrapped around him, "Sir, sir!" He yelled as he sat up, shaking his superior with a desperate tone in his voice, " Please, wake up!"

As he came back to life, (M/n) took a sharp breath in, coughing some dust and dirt that had gotten in his mouth and nose, his hands gripping onto Leon's chest strap and skintight shirt.

Looking up, (M/n) made eye contact with Leon's worried eyes, a glint of relief at seeing him alive and in his arms.

"Leon...?" (M/n)'s voice was grumble-y and hoarse, blinking slowly and looking at him as if he was nothing but a hallucination.

"Hello, sir, it's nice seeing you again," he responded with a hint of a smile on his face, making him look even prettier than usual. His blue eyes trailed down (M/n)'s body, blushing a cute pink when he realized that his clothes were in a less-than-ideal shape. His shirt had ripped open where he could see knife cuts, showing off part of his abdomen and chest, the jacket he wore wasn't looking its best, but it seemed to be covering more ruptures in his clothing, which Leon was glad for.

This was definitely not the time nor place to be feeling like this about his superior.

//////

Every few meters they walked, Leon had to look back at (M/n) who didn't seem to be in peak shape, which he could understand after everything that he has gone through, he could imagine (M/n) going through worse until he found him.

And that lead him to the question... What happened to (M/n) after his last communication with base?

Hopping together in the fancy-looking cable car on their way to the clock tower, Leon stares at (M/n) as the male swung side to side very slightly, hardly noticeable, he almost seemed in a trance. "What happened, sir? When you came here?"

(M/n) blinked once, twice and his eyes opened wide, a wince leaving past his lips when he saw the images of what had happened. The images were blurry, and he could feel his blood boiling inside him, the knowledge of what was in him remained in his mind, something he was ordered to keep to himself by Saddler.

But why was he following his orders anyway?

That quiet thought was the first step to breaking the chain connecting him to Saddler through la plaga.

He clenched his jaw, closed his hands tightly, and approached the gold edge, leaning over to observe the night sky.

"I was following the lead to finding Ashley, and I met up with Krauser before I reached the village..." He trailed on because he wasn't exactly sure what happened after that, "He... He ambushed me and took me away, I don't remember much after that," he looked back at Leon, who was frowning at the information provided, "Sorry, Leon."

Leon watched how (M/n) smiled at him, that same gentle and understanding, comforting smile he always showed him, his hand raising to slowly move a stray lock of blond hair away from his face. Something about (M/n)'s actions and the way he looked at him made his heart race, he just felt like when he first met the male, flustered, intimidated, and safe. A weird and odd combination of feelings, but (M/n) managed to cause those in him, and many more.

(M/n) had always treated him right back when he was first recruited for this "special agents" training, and whilst Krauser was the one beating the shit out of him until he learned, (M/n) taught him in a way that he was able to understand better, that's how he learned the move that could potentially help him win a 1v1 against Krauser, it just had to be done at the right time. That was another reason for Krauser to hate him more as the years passed, despite having (M/n) as his superior.

Krauser had seen (M/n) smiling down at Leon when the rookie had managed to pin him down with a move he recognized as (M/n)'s. He had seen countless times how (M/n) praised and was always nice to the blond rookie, who had managed to remain being his puppy self when he was around the (h/c) haired male.

Just like how he was right now. Leon had always heard nice words about (M/n), and he got to witness that firsthand during the first trainee evaluation. Every instructor was there, and so were their respective recruits, and of course, Leon saw (M/n) standing there, serious eyes observing every move they did, down to the smallest details and mistakes they did.

Unfortunately, Leon's team had an uneven number of recruits, so he was paired up with his instructor, Krauser, who realized what Leon was trying to do and went all out on him, which might've resulted in dark bruises, cracked and/or broken ribs.

Most recruits had already left to go and get patched up depending on the severity of their wounds, and every instructor stayed, observing how poor Leon got beat up so badly (M/n) had to intervene.

"Major Krauser," he spoke with the same harsh voice he used when scolding a reckless agent, "This is an evaluation, not a boxing ring, don't forget that."

Krauser grumbled a 'yes sir' and left the room, (M/n) dismissed all the other instructors in the room and kneeled in front of Leon, who was breathing rapidly with his arm covering his eyes.

"You did well, Leon," the blond male peeked at (M/n), whose expression had turned soft and gentle, the same way he always looked, "I have some lessons for you, but first, let me help you, okay?"

Ever since that day Leon came to him whenever he needed help with something and wasn't feeling like being beaten up by Krauser until he was forced to understand, so it was understandable that they became quite close, even going as far as to be Leon's bisexual awakening, especially since back then he had no idea Ada had survived Racoon City, so he figured moving on was the right solution.

The moment the cable car stopped, Leon snapped out of his thoughts, and they walked off it. They headed inside and barely made it past a big wooden door and a small staircase before Salazar showed up again, and all the infected in the clock tower began their attack.

After Leon found him inside that crate, they had noticed that a few of the small ones had opened the moment they fell, and some of (M/n)'s gear was there, even so, with the lack of magazines, Leon gave (M/n) some spare ammo he had in his pouches, silently agreeing on covering each other's back.

Whilst Leon made his way up the clock tower, (M/n) remained behind him, shooting and stabbing any infected that came up to them, and a part of him hurt whenever another body fell to the ground dead, la plaga inside him made him feel guilty of killing his "siblings" but there was a part of his brain that remained conscious and was fighting control over the parasite, reminding it that it was nothing but an intruder in his body.

"Lieutenant!" Leon called him catching his attention and making him turn around.

Leon was kneeling on the strange lift the clock tower had up on the higher levels, reaching his hand down to him as the platform got further and further away from the ground.

(M/n) ran toward Leon, jumping and holding his hand, reaching his free hand up to hold himself up, easing the task Leon had of pulling his body up.

They rode all the way up to the very top, as high as it reached, and by then, pretty much every infected was dead or dying. Leon ran ahead kicking a door open as he neared the edge, careful not to fall to the void as he took out his binoculars and looked out, mumbling to himself something (M/n) couldn't understand.

His head started throbbing and after closing his eyes tightly his legs gave out, far away enough for Leon to hear him grunting in pain.

"Kill him, child..."

Saddler's voice echoed in his head, and he slowly opened his eyes, black dots started to darken his vision, and he caught a glimpse of Leon standing near the edge of the platform. He could easily walk up behind him and push him off-

Groaning with anger, (M/n)'s fist hit the metal floor, making an obvious dent in it, and his eyes observed the black veins disappearing from his hands.

"Fuck-" he muttered pulling the sleeve of his jack further down to no avail, that was as much as it reached, so he put his hands in his pockets and followed Leon as he called him.

"You alright?" Leon asked trying to look at (M/n)'s but he just avoided eye contact all together.

"Yeah... Yeah, don't worry about me, let's keep going."

Even with his words, Leon couldn't help but feel worried about (M/n)'s wellbeing, he wanted the male to rely on him, just like he does.

But perhaps, it's not the right time just yet.

//////

The encounter with boss Salazar was nasty, (M/n) gets shivers whenever he remembers his slimy tentacle-like appendages around him, which makes him feel disgusted. And then he remembers the pain he felt in his chest when he and Leon worked together to bring him down, something inside (M/n) was screeching at him to not kill one of theirs, but with his consciousness regaining control over la plaga's control he couldn't give two shits about Ramón, or Saddler.

Both of them broke a sweat fighting Salazar, but there was no time to rest, they had to save Ashley. That was still their mission.

They ride the lift down looking off into the distance, where an island was visible in the distance, despite the fog surrounding it.

They hopped off and found a motorboat, but no keys nearby, and you hear a female voice behind you.

"Looking for something?"

The moment (M/n) turns around, he sees a gorgeous woman with Asian features, short black hair, a tight red dress, and long leather boots, along with all the gear she had on her body.

"Why am not surprised, Ada?" Leon's words made (M/n) glance at them back and forth for a few seconds.

That Ada? (M/n)'s mind flashes with the brief memory of Leon talking to him about Racoon City and everything that happened, including having met a woman named Ada that "helped" him but in reality, she just used him for her own benefit, and well, how he had caught some feelings for her, but he wasn't sure if he actually loved her or anything.

And he remembers the small detail that she fell to the void and died, it seemed like she was in better condition than both of them combined.

"Let me take you, gentleman," she said lowering her gun and getting in the motor boat, turning the engine on and glancing back at them, "You coming or not?"

(M/n) and Leon looked at each other and sighed before jumping in and sitting down. (M/n) remained in the back, looking away and enjoying the feeling of the cold water hitting his skin, it helped him cool down the burning feeling he felt going through his veins, and it cleared his mind, as if the fog clogging his memories was finally dissipating.

He could hear Ada and Leon's voices, muffled by the wind in his ears, and the sound of the engine roaring behind him. Yet soon enough, the boat stopped and Ada stood up while shooting her grappling hook, (M/n) glanced away before he began staring at the woman's body and released a yelp when the boat shook as she left them alone.

(M/n) stood up when Leon stabilized the boat and sat next to him, hearing him sigh and mumble under his breath, "Women."

He had to hold in a chuckle, and soon Leon continued driving into the island, finding a place where they could get off easily. The short time they spent together was nice, despite the silence, it was a comfortable silence, unlike how it was when Ada was present.

"Well... Let's find Ashley," (M/n) said as he got off, reaching his hand out for Leon to grab onto. The blond looked at him from his position and showed him a small smile, holding his hand as (M/n) helped him step on the island.

//////

The journey to find Ashley definitely wasn't an easy one, running around the military facility and underground, trying to find the way that would let them continue on, it was more mentally exhausting than it was physically.

But eventually, as they continue their way forward, they arrived in a room upstairs that has a direct view of the room. A room where Ashley was kept, passed out on a military bed.

Stuff got a terrifying turn after that.

(M/n) and Leon found files that talked about an experiment with la plaga on people, called 'regenerators', and how one had escaped its cryogenic tank and gone wild. Along with that, there was valuable information about upgrading the key card to be able to find what was needed and get to Ashley.

Leon was busy reading a file when they heard the sound of the automatic door opening, and neither of them had moved from their spot, so they instinctively pulled out their weapons, the light of their flashlight shining brightly onto the humanoid creature, freaking out at the sight of it.

"What the fuck is that?!" Leon exclaimed emptying his magazine on it, and they both watched how that thing started releasing some sort of smoke or steam, and the pieces of flesh missing grew back on its jiggly body.

"Leon, run!" (M/n) drew his knife just in time as the regenerator extended its arms at them, releasing out a loud screech as it's arms were cut off, (M/n) held Leon's wrist and ran out of the room, dragging the blonde with him. (M/n) tried to convince Leon to separate as a way to cover more ground quicker, but Leon refused, he didn't want to have (M/n) out of his line of vision, which was understandable.

Unfortunately for them, there were more of those things around and while Leon was working on upgrading the key card to level two, a regenerator sneaked up behind (M/n) while he was busy shooting the two ahead of him, and he got grabbed his pistol falling from his hands as he struggled against it's grip.

"Let go of me, motherfucker!" He yelled in rage, unable to break free from its strong grasp.

"(M/n)!" He heard Leon's voice calling him from inside the room he was in, but he was also having issues with one of these creatures, so he could only watch how (M/n) got taken away while he remained locked up in that room, "Fuck-" He got rid of his anger and impotence by unloading the shotgun shells on the regenerator, exposing what appeared to be its weak points.

//////

(M/n) decided that struggling was futile, there was no point in it, so he just let himself get taken away by the regenerator.

He got locked in a dark room, he couldn't see anything, and the emergency lights didn't reach the area, so he had no idea where he was, and yet, he didn't care, the burning feeling of his blood surging through his veins let him now that Saddler was using him again for his own selfish benefit.

"Why haven't you killed him yet?" His voice was calm and understanding, but the way it echoed in his mind let (M/n) know that Saddler was all but calm about the current situation.

(M/n) had to think of something quick, he could feel wriggling inside him, his flesh and skin turning and pulsing, causing him great pain, but he clenched his jaw and pulled through it.

"We just have to be patient, my lord... The boy has to trust me blindly, there's... No way he's not suspicious of me, sir, just... Let me handle this, I'll... Get it done..." He struggled to replay whilst fighting the pain that the mutation was causing him, and for a moment, Saddler hummed, convinced of (M/n)'s words, having not felt a single trace of lies and betrayal in his body.

Without uttering another word, Saddler cut their link through la plaga, and (M/n) fell to the cold metal floor, regaining his breathing, and the screeching sound of a regenerator resonated behind him.

"Fantastic..." He mumbled, crawling away to somewhere he could hide for the time being.

//////

Stumbling his way past more regenerators, (M/n) found traces of Leon's path, like the broken wooden boxes, the dead bodies, and the scattered bullet cases on the floor, it made a fine trail toward the blond.

He ran down the hallway, and slowly approached the open gate, walking slowly and searching around for Leon's whereabouts, when he heard muffled voices of a man and woman. He stumbled his way to the electronic gate and saw Leon helping Ashley get up from the bed, her blue eyes locking onto (M/n).

"Who is that?" Leon followed her line of sight and saw (M/n) standing there, holding his side with his knife in his empty hand.

"(M/n)-" Leon rushed toward him and hugged him tightly, apologizing briefly when he heard the male groaning from the pain, "I was about to look for you, I was worried."

(M/n) smiled at the blond and released his side, lifting his hand to pet Leon's hair, giggling at the sight of his rosy cheeks and bright eyes.

"What can I say? I'm a tough cookie," he muttered and took a step aside, looking at Ashley who seemed taken aback by their interaction, (M/n) realized and took a step back, "But I'm fine, Leon, so don't worry."

Leon swallowed at the sight of (M/n)'s gentle smile, and nodded, reaching his left hand to his earpiece. (M/n) smiles at Ashley and nods his head as a greeting.

"Hello, Miss Graham, sorry we had to meet in such a bothersome circumstance," Ashley chuckled and shook her head, her bright blond hair swaying as she did so.

"No problem, we can always grab dinner when we go back home," her cheerful tone hurt (M/n), as it reminded him of the truth. Even if Ashley and Leon escaped, he had no hope but maybe... Just maybe-

His train of thought was interrupted when he heard Leon mentioning something about "removing the parasite" and for a moment he thought he got found out, that Leon knew he was infected, but just then (M/n)'s eyes noticed the black veins poking under the sleeve of his shirt, making their way down to his elbows, and glancing at Ashley, he noticed she also had signs of infection, the veins were really light colored, but they were there.

And now (M/n) was wondering how long they had until it was too late.

"Alright, let's go," Leon unholsters his gun and takes a step outside of the room before stopping for a moment, "Oh, this is yours, sir."

(M/n) watches as he takes his pistol out and hands it to him, well, no wonder (M/n) couldn't find it on his way back, so Leon had kept it...

That small, meaningless gesture shouldn't have made (M/n) feel giddy, it had no romantic meaning whatsoever so why did it cause this in him? Probably because of the small flame of hope in his chest saying that it had some sort of meaning other than being nice.

He took his pistol back and checked the clip, it was pretty much full, how it was when he dropped it.

"We can go now," Leon added and took the lead, (M/n) made Ashley walk in between them, as their bodies acted as a barrier to protect her from the infected.

//////

On their way to Luis' lab, Leon found himself feeling grateful that (M/n) was there with them, helping him protect Ashley whenever he couldn't, in other circumstances he would've had to leave her alone and he wasn't sure he would have been able to get out of that situation unscathed.

And now, Leon hopped on the wrecking machine and glanced back at (M/n) who stood still looking around them, trying to potentially find another way that would take less time, but right after the first hit to the wall with the wrecking ball, his eyes caught sight of hoards of infected.

"We got problems!" He yelled as he opened fire, and Leon rushed to his side when he got caught by an infected, kicking it away with full force, making it knock onto a few other infected behind him, (M/n) seemed surprised at the strength of Leon's legs.

Well, Krauser was the one who actually trained him, he just gave advice to the cute rookie.

Shooting the explosive barrels as they grouped up was making things easier for them, but not any quicker, however, the wall soon finally broke with a last hit and Leon helped Ashley get down whilst (M/n) moved some of the big debris out of the way and called the elevator that would take them to the top of the mountain.

On their way up, something went across (M/n)'s mind, something that made him zone out, tuning out any kind of conversation both blondes were having.

(M/n) walked right behind them, but he felt like a sensation of dejá vù, as if... He had been there before. And he has.

The moment he caught a glimpse of the amber and la plaga a piercing headache made his body tumble, gripping his skull as a loud ringing made him groan. Leon noticed and was about to turn around to help him up, when they heard Saddler's voice.

And Leon's mistake was shooting him.

The yelp that Leon released made (M/n) grit his teeth as he held onto the shelves to stand up, having some view of the scene through a piece of worn, tattered cloth.

He observed how Ashley's body was being controlled by Saddler, and (M/n) wasn't gonna let him get away with this.

"Saddler..." He growled with hatred, and he saw Ashley's body falter, obtaining more control over her actions.

"Do not resist, child," He said in what he called his "gentle" voice, Ashley whimpered small 'no's' as she was forced to pick up Leon's pistol, trembling hand holding it up straight at the blond agent.

"Please, no..." (M/n) groaned in pain, dragging his body forward, his anger and hate growing stronger toward Saddler.

"I won't... Let you..." Ashley's aim move farther toward Leon's left side, shooting one of Saddler's companions, and (M/n) watched how Saddler made Ashley point at Leon again, her body trembling even more, "Hurt them anymore..."

Pulling the trigger, Ashley shot the second companion behind Leon's right side, and the pistol clicked, and not because its clip was empty, rather because it jammed.

(M/n) fell to the ground away with a gasp, holding himself up with his shaky arms, his breath rapid and labored, his ribs painfully pressing against his lungs, cutting his oxygen supply.

While he was regaining his breathing back to normal, he heard the sound of a metal door closing and Leon's groan as he fell to the ground. "Leon...!" (M/n) tripped over his own two feet, slipping on the tile floor and pushing himself up, rushing toward the blond.

(M/n) helped him up, making sure he was okay, observing how the black vessel veins on his face started disappearing, and Leon got flustered at having (M/n) so close to his face, but he tried to focus more on getting up rather than the proximity (M/n) and he had, they had to get Ashley back, again.

//////

(M/n) had been stumbling his way behind Leon, traces of the headache he got early still remaining, and Leon was worried, making sure (M/n) was close by before resuming his path forward.

But (M/n) just told him to keep going, that he'll be fine soon enough, and Leon hesitated before doing as told. Well, only for a short while.

"I've been waiting for you, rookie," Krauser made himself known, and Leon couldn't help but glance at (M/n) who was leaning against the door frame he just walked through, trying to focus on what the scarred blond was saying but he just couldn't stop glancing at (M/n), watching how his body gave out under his weight, and Krauser realized, "Enough!" He exclaimed finally getting Leon's attention, "Let's settle this, rookie."

Before he could fully understand what was happening, Krauser had pulled out his weapon and bullets were flying toward him, making him crouch behind the broken pillars, finding cover whenever he could.

(M/n) could hear the sound of guns blasting, and knives colliding, his blurry sight making him feel slightly nauseous, but he had to help Leon, at least a little bit, Krauser was out of his mind and was definitely gonna kill Leon if the chance came up, this was no longer training, this was life or death. And he knew that Leon couldn't afford to focus on him right now, so he pushed through the pain, the burning feeling, and the fog clouding his mind once again.

But Saddler had other plans, briefly checking on Krauser, he saw him fighting Leon, so he knew (M/n) had to be close by, which he was. Saddler took care of (M/n) while Krauser finished his job, but keeping the male under his control was proving to be harder and harder the longer he did it.

Right now, (M/n) wasn't Leon's priority and he didn't want to become a bother for him, but he could help him out.

Gripping the walls and crawling across the floor, (M/n) saw how Krauser's body had mutated, he got closer to the edge and grabbed his pistol, raising his arms to hold it as steady as he could, taking a deep breath and slowly releasing it, aiming to Krauser's back, right next to his spine.

"Show me what it is that you got that I don't!" His booming voice seemingly echoed off the whole island, and keeping his hold on the pistol's grip, (M/n) muttered to himself.

"He's got me, Jack."

The bullet shot out of the barrel and hit its target right before it was too late.

Krauser had Leon pinned to the ground under his foot and his arm was ready to finish him, but before he could, the sharp pain he felt on his back was followed by a few more shots, until (M/n) ran out of ammo.

The scarred blond raised his arm toward the (h/c) haired male, "You should just die already! You're such a bother!" Krauser's rage distracted him from Leon, who stood up with his jaw clenched and his hand gripping onto his knife before running to him and stabbing him in the back. He hesitated momentarily before pulling it out and stabbing him again, the memories of Luis' body flashing in his mind and he wasn't gonna let Krauser kill the only person that had shown him some value in his life.

They watched as Krauser fell to the wooden planks, his dagger falling right next to him.

"Do... What you have to do," Leon glanced at it too, his breath slowly but surely evening out after that tough fight with his superior.

Leon picked up the dagger and briefly looked at his reflection before looking away, falling to his knees next to Krauser.

(M/n) slid down the pillar he was resting on, watching silently how Leon seemed to have an internal debate, hesitating and unsure about what he was about to do, but there was nothing that could bring Major Krauser back to normal. (M/n) knew how hard this was for Leon, after all, Krauser had trained him for years and had forged him into the man he is today, and he couldn't be more grateful that he had served under Krauser's commands, despite the asshole he usually was with everyone.

Holding his breath, Leon forced the dagger to pierce through Krauser's chest, rupturing his heart in the process.

"I trained you well... Leon," were Krauser's last words in between coughs, before falling limp back on the blood-stained planks, his blood seeping through the thin separation of each one.

(M/n) observed how Leon stood up and slowly walked away, giving his back to Krauser, his shoulders slightly rising with each shaky breath he took in, "That you did, Major."

Feeling his strength coming back to his body, (M/n) managed to stand up, his eyes landing on Krauser's military beret and he picked it up before making his way down to go back to Leon, climbing the ladder and making eye contact with blue eyes, glossy with tears.

Leon turned around when the door behind him started lowering, opening to let them in.

(M/n) leaned down, placing the red beret on Krauser's chest and saluting him, "Farewell, Major Jack Krauser. You served well." He said with a rough voice, ending his salute and following Leon who had stopped to glance back at Krauser's lifeless body.

Leon sees (M/n) stumble and grip his head with a groan, he obviously isn't doing good, but they can't stop to rest right now, they were running out of time. They had to keep moving and take Ashley back home safely.

//////

The glimpse of hope was fading.

(M/n) really thought they could make it on time when Mike arrived with his helicopter, helping them wipe out the enemies quicker, but right before they could reach the ladder to climb up, those disgusting bugs showed up, causing the helicopter to crash.

And standing menacingly before the erupting flames were Saddler, whose eyes were filled with rage as he looked down at (M/n), muttering to himself with spite.

"Traidor..."

After that, ignoring the uneasy feeling in his chest, (M/n) encourages and convinces Leon to go ahead on his own, that he's got his back and he'll be right behind him.

The moment (M/n) reached the double door he was done dealing with the infected, and he closed the door behind him, and he took a sharp breath in, hearing Saddler's voice echoing off the hallway. He ran toward them when he heard Leon's screams of pain, reaching his hand to his knife and throwing it at Saddler, watching how it landed on his chest, but before he could anything to him, the echoing sound of bullets firing from a submachine gun caught his attention.

Ada was there.

"Go!" She yelled at them and (M/n) didn't waste time to help Leon up on his feet and pick up Ashley.

"This... Way..." Leon mumbled pulling on (M/n)'s arm as he tried to not put all his weight on the male, despite barely being able to walk on his own.

They made it past the rock arc and one of the statues collapsed behind them, blocking the path.

(M/n) saw Leon trying to walk on his own, but he rushed to him, placing one knee on the ground while still holding onto Ashley, "Hold onto me, Leon," the blond wanted to refuse, seeing (M/n) already carrying Ashley was enough for him, "Leon... Please, just do it..." His quiet plead made Leon frown, placing his arm around (M/n)'s shoulders, his free hand grabbing onto his bicep, "Good boy."

Reaching the map on the wall, Leon and he observed the way they had to go, and the whole way there, Leon was grunting and muttering things (M/n) couldn't quite understand, the black vessel veins covering most of his skin, fighting the control of la plaga. And damn, (M/n) has never hated laboratory facilities more than ever in his life, the hallways seemed almost endless as he felt Leon's grip on his arm getting worse.

And yet, finally, he could see the door.

"Leon, we're here," momentarily, he lowered Ashley's lower body, his now free hand keeping Leon steady as he opened the door and the blond stumbled his way to the machine as (M/n) walked in behind him, placing Ashley on the gurney, "You're okay?" He asked Leon who simply nodded, turning the machine on.

Closing his eyes at the screams Ashley released, (M/n) tried to distract himself for a moment, and a file caught his attention. He quickly skimmed through it, understanding that an already hatched egg had a period of a week before it couldn't be removed anymore, or it would kill its host.

(M/n) didn't have a long time to assimilate what he just read because from the corner of his vision, he realized how Leon's body was swaying, and he soon started falling unconscious.

"Leon!" He yelled and ran, sliding through the floor as the blond fell on him instead of the hard floor.

He sat up, his arms wrapped around Leon as he waited for one of them to wake up, but the male in his arms started shaking, his body convulsing as the black veins extended even more across his skin.

"Shit...! Ashley!" (M/n) reached his hand up to shake the girl awake, still holding tightly onto Leon in a futile way to help him calm down.

After the third rough shaking, Ashley woke up, hearing grunting and growls, along with rapid breathing and a voice other than Leon's, looking down to her left she saw (M/n) looking up at her with glossy eyes and a convulsing Leon in his arms. She rushed off the gurney, slightly dizzy for getting up so abruptly, and silently helped (M/n) lay Leon on the gurney she previously was on.

"Remove the parasite...! There's not much time left," (M/n) said as he struggled to keep Leon's body steady whilst Ashley got the machine working again.

Both of them endured Leon's screams and watched him writhe in pain as the parasite was removed from his body too.

The moment it ended, (M/n) fell to his knees next to him, hearing Ashley's boots clicking as she walked around the room.

"(M/n), I think I found something," she said walking closer to him, showing him a crumbled paper with markings in red. It was obviously a map, and it was marking their way out of the island.

"Well done, Ashley," (M/n) smiled up at her and she blushed a bit at the genuine praise.

Now they just had to wait for Leon to wake up.

//////

Ashley and (M/n) follow Leon's lead as he guides them forward on their way out, but as they arrive at the elevator, Leon stops them.

"Stay here, it won't be long," he tells Ashley who nods before turning toward (M/n), "Take care of her in case something happens."

(M/n) nodded too as they watched Leon descending.

Both of them watched how Leon got Ada down and how Saddler showed up, their hearts racing as they started feeling worried about Leon. But they didn't have anything to worry about, or well, at least for now.

As the fight against Saddler dragged on, (M/n)'s body started to feel weak, and soon he was no longer able to stay up, his legs giving up on him as he ended up falling against the things on the edge, making them fall off to the water.

"(M/n)!" Ashley screamed and held his hand before he could also fall into the ocean, dragging him toward the opposite wall. She continued to watch as (M/n)'s condition got worse, his body trembling before it started convulsing, just like how Leon was a short while ago.

Glancing back down at Leon, Ashley watched how he was fighting a version of Saddler that reminded her of a deep sea creature, the fight seemed pretty even, but she was also seeing how Leon seemed to be having some sort of superpower... Then again, she has seen Leon taking nasty hits and brushing them off like it was nothing, so she wasn't that surprised.

And now Saddler was gone for good. But (M/n) had also stopped moving, which worried her, and she made her way down to Leon, groans left her mouth as he struggled to drag (M/n) propped on her back.

"Leon!" The blond turned around after looking at the little teddy bear charm on the key Ada threw at him, and he was instantly worried, rushing forward to Ashley as he got the weight off of her, holding (M/n) up like he held him before.

"What happened?" Ashley shook her head, panicking.

"I don't know! He started convulsing and then he just suddenly stopped responding!" Leon was about to say something when a big explosion when off at the top of the mountain.

"We have go to, the island's about to blow."

Their ride down worked to bring (M/n)'s consciousness back slowly, his blurry sight focused on the metal floor under his feet. They got off the elevator and Ashley managed to dodge an infected going at her who fell to the ground and remained there, convulsing...

Ignoring the thought in their minds, Leon took them to the jet-ski he could see.

"Hold on, (M/n), we'll get you home," those words made his eyes open wide, completely stopping in his tracks, catching Leon off guard, "(M/n)?"

"I can't..." Leon blinked confused at those words, he couldn't what? "I can't go back home, Leon."

Raising his head, both Leon and Ashley gasped at (M/n)'s appearance. His eyes were bright red and bloodshot, pulsing black veins had already covered him from head to toe and everyone knew that it was too late to save him now.

"Just go, get home safe..." Leon shook his head, stubbornly refusing to allow himself the pain of knowing he lost (M/n) again, and this time, forever.

"No! No...! You're coming with us, we can... We can find someone- something that could help you- there has to be something that can be done-!" (M/n) held Leon's face in his hands, his icy cold touch contrasting with Leon's hot and sweaty skin.

"There's nothing that can help me, Leon, not anymore," he heard a distant explosion and he knew it was time to say goodbye, "But remember this..." He brushed his hair away from his face gently, his free hand reaching up to the chain around his neck, pulling it and breaking it, "I'll always love you, okay?"

Feeling a knot in his throat, (M/n) leaned closer and place a short kiss on Leon's slightly parted lips, his hand reaching for an empty pocket where he could place the now broken necklace.

"Live a happy life, Leon."

He said before gently pushing Leon, who fell on the jet-ski, where Ashley held him to prevent him from going after (M/n) who was making his way back to the elevator.

"No! (M/n)...!" The soul-breaking scream that echoed under the island was gonna be one that no one would ever forget, especially (M/n) as he was only able to witness the island collapsing on itself, praying during his last moments that Leon and Ashley make it back home safe.

//////

Leon found it hard to talk to Hunnigan on their way back until she told him she was sending a chopper to their coordinates asap.

He moved his hand to rub his right shoulder when he felt something slightly poking out of one of the pockets of his vest.

He grabbed it and immediately recognized it as (M/n)'s locket, he always had it with him, and said it brought him good luck.

He took a deep breath and opened it, his eyes filling with tears he looked at the picture and the message engraved on the inside.

'Live to be with him' it said and next was the first picture they had taken together, and he couldn't contain his tears anymore.

"Hunnigan..." He whispered, waiting for her to reply back, "I found Lieutenant Colonel (M/n) (L/n), he... He died saving us."

Hunnigan was speechless for a moment, "I'll... I'll let the higher-ups know, Leon."

He hummed and the call cut out, as he gripped the locket tightly in his hand, promising to himself that he will continue living to keep (M/n) alive, through his memory.

++++

I have a possible happier ending for this, but it depends

[despairots]

THE ORACLE: ACT 1, SCENE 1

「 i want to touch. i want to be touched. i want to hurt. i want to be hurt. and if you feel the same way, you’re as bad as me 」

CONTENT WARNING: swearing, suicide, suggestive themes, cults, implied self harm, self destructive behaviour, depression, mental health, disorders, sexual assault, blood, canon violence, implied misogyny, reader gets mistaken as a women from men and they get mistaken as a feminine man to women, reader goes by they/them, torture, cult activities, murder, masochism, sadism, manipulation, slow burn, obsessive themes, unhealthy love, religious trauma, etc.

AUTHORS NOTE: first chapter lets gooo!!! :333 my writing might suck but please bare with me it’ll get better. did you guys pick up that reader isn’t exactly healthy and is completely deranged when it comes to their reverse cursed technique. also slow updates i forgot to say this but im not a really motivated writer when it comes to fanfics and long chapters, im okay with oneshots that have 3 parts but anything that goes 4 and beyond drains me so im sorry if chapters are slow :( just please be patient

the way you’ve been dotted and spoiled was too much that you thought you would grow up to be spoiled brat (you didn’t but it would be likely). always littered in white and always clean— they never liked dirt on your skin— so, you were always spotless.

spotless until the sacrifices.

you watched on your throne that was made but thorns, how so many people were restrained and sacrificed for you. their yells and pleads hunted your memories, the cheers and claps from your worshippers made vomit edge your throat but you held it back. they didn’t like it when you were dirty.

if you could’ve healed them, you would, but they were sacrifices for you, you. everything they did was for you, because you deity, a child above human society—when you didn’t mean that much— all because of your technique.

it could only help people if they were on the verge of death. simple wounds like a cut wouldn’t be enough to heal it, so if you restrained them and done enough damage to make them on the verge of death, you could help them and they would be okay.

physically, not mentally.

that’s also a thing you couldn’t heal. someone’s mentally stability. couldn’t heal what they saw, couldn’t heal the mental scar that had cut open their heart and burned itself there.

you weren’t capable of it—you wish you did— then maybe you could heal all the people that had come up to you and asked for you to heal the things they’ve seen, that had went ahead and snapped their minds.

the faces and curses that were shown to you once you had told them you couldn’t help. there was one time where a man had went ahead and sliced your cheek, he was apprehended and sacrificed.

but still.. you couldn’t wipe that moment away. it was a sign that you were only ever good at healing people physically. that in the end, you were actually useless if you couldn’t help them, mentally and emotionally at least.

the worshippers expressed their concern to you, watching you sit on your knees while holding onto your bloody cheek—they don’t like it when you were dirty— they took you to a bathroom. so white and bright.

a white bathtub, which was being filled with warm water, in the middle of the bathroom, herbal essentials being poured into the bathtub as they stripped you from your white clothing and helped you into the bathtub.

washing the impurities from your skin and cleaning the cut on your cheek. staring at the water of your reflection, something that shows you you’re human—anything, please just something that says you’re heart is beating and you’re real.

they had hummed a tune they always hummed when being in your holy presence, it almost seemed like they blushing while touching your skin. were always so smooth? they thought, you were some deity sent from above.

you doubted it.

some simple child with a reverse cursed technique wasn’t special nor were they sent from heaven. you born into a clan that had not visited you once and had given you to an insane clan that worshipped the child who inherited this technique.

but you weren’t a child anymore.

and here you sit. watching your worshippers laugh maniacally and kill themselves or killing eachother—they don’t like it when you’re dirty— so why? why is their blood imprinted on your hands?

did they want you to be impure? did they drag you out for so long that they went and burned these sins on you? you were supposed to be a saint, an angel, a deity.

but look.. you’re followers are dying for you and you couldn’t save them.

you’re no saint, no angel, no deity. you were a sinner, a devil. their blood was shedded for you because you were so special to them, so divine. you couldn’t help but laugh.

laugh to save yourself from sanity as you clenched onto the now stained white clothes. tears were flowing down your cheeks where it started to grow sore from all the painful laughing.

you were free. you were finally free from an endless cycle, an endless addiction that they had said you were. it was a mass slaughter of eachother.

until it went quiet from you. all their bodies were surrounded you, some would assume you killed them, you wouldn’t blame them. it was your fault. it was because you were so divine that they went ahead and sacrificed themselves for you.

your eyes widened when you felt a hand be placed on your shoulder— no, this was moving to fast— just a few seconds ago, your worshippers had killed themselves for the sake of you and now, a impure hand (though it’s ironic) laid their hand on you.

“don’t worry my child.” did you know her? why was she so warm? so motherly? why were you so drawn to her that you had crawled into her arms where you shredded no tears, you already wasted them.

thoughts and words swarmed your head, it almost seemed like you’re going insane. it reminded you off all the people who asked you to heal mental scars, you were turning into them. now you knew why that memory had craved itself in your head.

there was butterfly and spider that had managed to crawl inside the house of divinity, both had positioned themselves beside eachother, waiting for one another to attack. until heels went ahead and stomped on the butterfly, carrying a 13 year old in her arms.

could you ever guess the significance of your life? no, you couldn’t. you didn’t value your life nor did you value the time that was wasted on you. if life and death was given to you, you would’ve chosen death.

after all, you were responsible of so many people’s death and sanity. their blood was still stained on your hands that couldn’t be washed away by the water in the bathtub you submerged into. there was blood all over your body that only you could see through the water.

you couldn’t take it.

sinking your face into the water was the only thing that made the blood wash away from your view. drowning yourself in blood and guilt was relieving and delicious. did you enjoy the sight of their blood?

it made you grin with happiness. you were insane. sharp ends were dragged through your delicate (which was cut multiple times) skin, blood dripping into the bathtub as it turned the water into a wine colour.

your eyes saw black dots—you were dying— until the cuts were healed once again and you popped your head out the water, staring at the now bloody bathtub with empty eyes.

“haven’t i told you? stop staining the bath with red.” a women sat beside the bathtub, holding a towel and waiting for you to stand up—you looked good in red— she held a soft smile that made you swoon.

turning your attention from the large window beside the bathtub to the women, you sighed softly and threw your head back against the bathtub, staring up at the ceiling.

how long has it been since the incident? 2 years— no, it was 3. you were 16 now and with your family. every since the women beside you had found and taken you back to your clan, you were taught more about your clans curse techniques.

they had two techniques you had inherited: stringing art cursed technique and the technique that had cursed your entire cult.

“but it’s beautiful.” you had whispered so softly that people might’ve not heard it but she did. she always did. especially now, when she cleans and wipes the impurities off from your skin.

hearing her light and breathy chuckle made you blush from how sweet she was— and then she proposed a question she always had asked you; “would you like to die by a knife?” and you’d always respond, “i wouldn’t want to die by something so boring—so trivial— like a knife.”

and she would always hold a knife against your throat before drawing it away with no intentions of actually harming you. you had always held admiration towards her, how she can be so cunning, you wished to be like her.

you changed into a new pair of clothing, a black turtle neck, a greyish black blazer over it (that had reached the back of your thighs), and shorts with black tights. a necklace with a ring on it was around your neck, you had almost forgotten who had given that ring to you if it weren’t for the letter that was framed.

my one regret was not being able to marry you.

how childish but yet how sweet. remembering the time you had gotten that letter was the moment that made you cry for a second time but that was year ago… and you hadn’t moved on yet.

maybe one day though. one day— “thinking about him?” her voice had interrupted your thoughts about him, turning your head towards her while she stood at the foot of your door, waiting for you to start walking out.

you closed your eyes with a sigh and walked to her side, “he’s too precious to not think about.” hearing you speak so highly about him made her wonder what would happen if she died. would you speak highly about her?

no. you wouldn’t.

not after what she did.

and she knew that aswell. you wouldn’t have ever forgotten about that, you could forgive but you didn’t dare to forget. rather would take it to the grave then forget—

“oh, look at you, my dear web!” another women had approached you, taken your hands and pulling you close to her. your mother, yuka etō, now you knew where you got your looks from, and your father, arata etō, was the man who you had taken your personality from.

humming softly, one of your hands fingers slid in between hers as you held it softly, “morning.” her other hand went and caressed your cheek—never called you by your actual name— “my lovely and dear web.” her tone was implying something you didn’t want to be hooked into.

she smiled, a haunting look in her eyes that was covered sweetness, “they’ve requested you to come to tokyo metropolitan jujutsu technical school.” oh. she had stated with a slight laugh seeing your eyebrow twitch in irritation.

you wished you could decline, you really did, why couldn’t the women standing behind who’s laughing take the job? a child weaned on poison considers harm a comfort. sighing, you pulled your hands away from her grasp and shoved them into your pockets.

some heavy god has put more pain on you then any other human being.

what becomes of the shepherd when the sheep are cannibals?

couldn’t escape this one now, “yeah, i’ll go.” your tone was evident of clear irritation as your mother cheered and clapped her hands, your father approaching you and patting you on your head—what a sinful touch.

“satoru gojo, huh?” you dangled a photo of the boy above your head, a lollipop being savoured by your tongue as you smirked and threw a leg over the other, leaning forward with a cheek in the palm of your hand.

the women in the driver’s seat had chuckled at your fascination towards the boy. no, it wasn’t fascination, it was more of a short interest, “where’d your sudden fascination for him come from?” she had questioned, not sparing you a glance.

she didn’t want to see the annoyed look on your face when she had said that, knowing it wasn’t a fascination or admiration, “don’t jump to conclusions.” go jump of a cliff instead was cut through your throat, keeping your mouth shut.

though, she already knew what you wanted to say. you had always wanted to say something snarky but bit your tongue back until the blood trickled down the corner of your mouth.

you sighed, rolling the window down and throwing the photo of him away, watching it fly through the air then disappearing from your view. “what’s so fascinating about this boy?” you queried, glancing at the women and tilting your head when she hadn’t responded.

all you heard was silence from her, did you she really not want to say anything about this boy? you knew gojo satoru was important and you had done your research but what’s so fascinating about him?

pouting, you crossed your arms and leaned back—until her mouth opened which got your attention— “you’ll find out.” what a boring answer but it’s better then nothing. you groaned and once again, leaned back into the seat.

you craved knowledge, more then anything actually, you were probably more gifted with knowledge then anyone else in your family. always anticipating someone else’s moves and predicting them aswell, your father had said you were truly terrifying.

knowing the gojo clan and having them technically burned into your head since your parents were teaching you about the most powerful clans out there when you came back, satoru gojo hasn’t been told to you.

a smile appeared on your face while biting your pinkies nail, satoru was cute, just not in a way where you’d expect. more like, you wanted to hold him down, cut him up and study him.

but the corpse still remains.

[electricbathsalt]

I saw a recent post on r/bokunoheroacademia about “how can you possibly feel bad for Chisaki” and like…it’s not the “how can you feel bad for child abuser” itself that boggs me, but rather how people in comments repeat over and over “oh boss was so kind to him tried to guide him but he still became a poss he was evil from birth” and I’m like where are people who can look above the “what text says” level of understanding

Oh my lords, that’s my least favorite type of Chisaki hater. Like fuck dude you can dislike a character, but 1: do you have to police everyone who does like them, and 2: you clearly didn’t care enough to actually understand his character and story before you decided that there’s no reason to like him/have empathy for him.

What I hate most is not people disliking Chisaki. I don’t really care about that. I hate people who clearly don’t understand the character they’re slandering. If you’re going to publicly complain about a character, please do it while having an actual clue of what the fuck you’re talking about.

“Pops was so kind to him and constantly tried to steer him down the right path!!” Pops was a fucking Yakuza leader who never called Chisaki by his given name once in his life. Meanwhile, we don’t even know Pops’ real name because Chisaki never failed to call him either “Pops” or “Boss”. The “constant steering down the right path” was just “hey, don’t do that violence, only the violence I want you to. Im gonna scold you”. Idk man, but if I had a kid who I picked up off the streets, I’d probably get them into therapy literally as soon as they’d had a drink of water, a good meal, and a full night’s rest. But Pops decided that wasn’t worthwhile even when the child started exhibiting blatantly concerning behavior. He decided slapping Chisaki on the wrist was the most effective method to get him mentally stable. Ah, yes, reprimanding; the best way to get rid of violent tendencies, self-worth issues, and attachment/abandonment issues in your traumatized child, who you are raising in the mafia. Flawless.

Saying Chisaki was “born evil” is actually so absurd that it kinda makes me wanna laugh. It goes completely against what the entire point of MHA is, or supposedly is. Just because his entire childhood wasn’t spoon-fed to you does not mean it was a good one that didn’t at all influence him into being the way he is. Even the absolute crumbs we get from canon don’t imply he had a “good” childhood. “Pops was so good to him, though—“ he was a yakuza leader who integrated the child he took off the streets into his gang, without ever doing anything to help resolve any of the trauma he went through (and inherently gave him more via being in the yakuza). He was disowned by his daughter, who he called a fool for having a rash reaction to her child killing her husband, and never bothered to reach out further to her. He put Eri in Chisaki’s care, knowing of Chisaki’s violent behavior. The only “positive” flashback we ever get of Chisaki & Pops’ relationship is when Chisaki got scolded, and then told “thank you for protecting the Hassaikai’s honor”. And something tells me that any “praise” Chisaki ever got from Pops was to do with the Hassaikai, esp considering Chisaki’s unnaturally-strong dedication to it. I’m tired of people pretending that Chisaki’s pure evil that prevailed over a sweet, innocent man. Chisaki wasn’t even the only one who experienced ill-treatment from Pops—his entire fucking family did.

The other thing is—Chisaki was literally doomed from the start. The only two people we get to know he was ever in the care of were both people who would inevitably turn Chisaki into a criminal/villain. Him being anything else was something that was never even allowed to grace his mind.

[soullessjack]

🔥 jack

oh my godddd I have so many unpopular opinions where do I even start….HOLY DISCLAIMER BATMAN!

anyways so in no particular order or tier system:

✯ i don’t think jack would wear anything feminine im sorry spn fandom. for lolz he has same-outfit-pattern-everyday autism and for serious it’s like. Really weird how fandoms tend to HC/portray non-binary amabs (and men/transmascs in general) almost exclusively as GNC or fem-presenting…like DGMW that is a real and valid form of self expression but it’s not the Only type of non-binary expression that exists. and honestly…**dare I say that most fandom/queer spaces just need to realize that queer masculinity exists and it doesn’t always have to be a matter of breaking gender norms??

** genuinely do whatever u want idc I can’t stop you i don’t want to stop you yada yada. paint his nails and put him in a skirt all u want but Please recognize patterns yall 😭

✯ more headcanon complaints (see disclaimer above ⇧) but I promise to switch it up soon. anyways every time somebody on this lil website says something along the lines of “Jack can’t handle/doesn’t like [insert violence, scary or adult-oriented thing], he prefers [soft or blatantly childlike things]” I shrivel inward like a dead spider. It’s annoying, it’s completely inaccurate to his canon personality and interests, it’s annoying ˣ2, and whether ppl wanna admit it or not—it stems from infantilization. not necessarily ableism, as infantilization is not exclusive to disabled people, but still just about the same thing.

honestly all I see of majority jack headcanons are ones that set him back to just being a child or otherwise being treated like one. for example, the one about him being able to shapeshift is pretty cool...until it just becomes about him deciding to age regress, yknow, to an age set he canonically chose not to go through, showed no desire to be in, and is more offended than anything to be considered as such. all of his interests have to be some shit like bluey or animal crossing, and he drinks apple juice from a sippy cup instead of beer. BARF.

I’ve lessened on my keyboard warring over babyjack in the past year but I have not lessened in being a hater. and I’ve said this before, but the baby-jack au already breached headcanon containment a long time ago when it’s not only so widespread that ppl take it for canon and it makes having any intelligent conversation about him nearly fucking Impossible, but it also lead to harassment and accusations of being a fucking predator, to anyone who dared find a whole grown man attractive. any potential jack ship, like jackharper? automatic grooming case to them. it’s like the fandom is just so dead set on this idea that jack really truly is a child in every aspect you can think of, and for what? if it’s just a headcanon, something you know is not part of the actual show, then don’t go Travis the Chimp levels of apeshit when you see him being treated like he is canonically 💀

unpopular opinion numero 3 which is slightly connected to 2:

✯ baby-jack and a handful of the domestic au’s are BORING (see disclaimer again ⇧), not just on a surface level to my suiting, but also because I feel like it just ..misses the point of the show?

the ragtag untraditional found family is now as nuclear and traditional as the Atomic Age. Dean and Cas are the most heteronormative “who wears the pants in the relationship” gay couple ever, Sam is demoted to the uncle that gets written out of his own family, Jack is just there to make his gay dads look cute and emphasize that they’re a gay family (while still being very heteronormative), and at least 5 of them could be found in a California gated community. everything that made any of them unique or defined their personalities is just scrubbed off, even for an AU.

so much of the later seasons focus on Sam and Dean realizing that they don’t have to make a hard splitting decision between the lives they want to live; that they can find a balance; be happy and have good things—namely families—without giving up hunting (and vice versa, that they can have hunting without giving up on family or happiness). everybody loves the gay hunters from S10(?12?) and what they represented for Dean, but I almost never see that be put into practice in the fandom.

THEY’RE ALREADY DOMESTIC!!! AND WITH THAT PERFECT BALANCE!!!! Season 13 quite literally gave Team Free Will a surrogate son to raise and established them as a family; highly untraditional, largely dysfunctional, overall not fitting of a family family, and yet they are a family still. Dean wears an apron and cooks and bakes for everyone; he built himself a man cave and established two separate family night events that they all ritually keep up; Sam has a morning jogging routine and visits his girlfriend every so often; Jack was taught how to drive, has normal chores like washing dishes, and gets groceries. And they didn’t just have that while fighting monsters—they had that while fighting a whole fucking archangel. Even if it did go down the gutter by the end, they still had it: domestic familial bliss and violent messy hunting without having to trade one for the other.

✯ I truly genuinely think Jack’s relationship with Dean is the best, most interesting and most misunderstood out of the three, and I also think that the problems with his relationship to Cas and Sam are hugely overlooked by the fandom—granted they are very small, especially if you’re comparing it to Dean, but they’re still there and I think we should bully Cas and Sam about it more. I shan’t elaborate because it’s 5AM and this was an impulsive add-on ❤️

✯ getting normal now…his plaid pattern jacket from the first half of Ouroboros is ugly as SHIT i have never liked it and don’t think I ever will. but I cannot deny it; he got that shit on.

✯ most unpopular opinion of all, I wanna do insane shit to his cervix 🙌

[theetherealbloom]

THE SILVER LINING — CH. 1

Chapter One: The Mercury Keeps Rising

Summary: After aiding the Republic and the fall of the Empire, you left the Jedi Training Clan on Bogden 3 to help families in need of medical care with the call of the Force. You are a kind, warm-hearted healer on Nevarro, treating the citizens and albeit the bounty hunters as well. Imperial remnants still linger in the shadows, waiting to strike at the perfect moment. Leading you to assist the Mandalorian with rescuing the Child has somehow led you to your biggest adventure yet.

Paring: Din Djarin x Empath!FemReader

Warnings: Violence, Age–Gap Romance, Angst, FLUFF, Eventual SMUT, Swearing, PTSD, Depression, Anxiety, Crying, Suggestive content, Flirting, People pleasing, Flattery, Blood, Blasters, War, Religion References, Aliens, Sith, Character Deaths,

Word Count: 6.7k

A/N: YA’LL IM BACK TO WRITING MY SOUL OUT HERE YAY! I feel like this is gonna be a weekly updated fic or updated twice a week if I’m feeling speedy hehe. Did I turn to the Enneagram again? Yep! You are an Enneagram Two for this fic! Yay! (Cause I’m an Enneagram Two :>) And Din is an Enneagram One, so ya’ll are romantically compatible. Anyways, my thoughts and explanations are gonna be in the end notes! Leave a comment to let me know if you want this series or if I should scrap it. :)

Song: The Great War by Taylor Swift

Next Chapter | Series Masterlist

NEVARRO, 9ABY – DAWN

Just a little longer now… Shouldn't be much longer. Wait, what is this about? You’ve been having trouble sleeping since you were young. The nightmares were nothing new, but the sharp flares in your chest and side kept bothering you recently. Your nervous system's acting up and now being awake feels unsafe as you lay there in your cot, clutching your chest, feeling each breath that escapes from your nose and out through your mouth as you stare at the ceiling above you.

You were a long way from Bogden 3, where you were raised. Nevarro wasn’t the ideal place to hide. It was situated within a sector of the Outer Rim Territories, in a system with a singular star and asteroid fields. An ashen world of black sands, with rocky and volcanic terrain that consisted of regions of rocky flats and hills along with vast fields of lava, which contained lava rivers both on the surface and underground. 

The planet became a bounty hunter hive after the fall of the Empire. The Bounty Hunters’ Guild owns hubs throughout the Galaxy. One of such hub is located on the Outer Rim planet Nevarro, which functions as a cantina. The cantina works around the clock, has its brewery, offers a wide selection of drinks with snacks, provides coolness from the air conditioner, and is a favorite place for rest and meetings of bounty hunters.

By some luck or the unknown ways of the Force, no one had recognized you nor put a bounty on your head yet. After aiding the Republic during the revolution against the Empire and after the Battle of Yavin as a healer and a medic, you left to medically aid those in need after the war. If you were being honest, you missed your friends in the Soaring Hawkbat Clan and the people who raised you. However, you knew that what you were doing needed to be done. 

Droids may sometimes be unreliable, and no matter how sophisticated technology becomes, there is no substitute for the human touch. No droid, no matter how dexterous, can offer compassion. It might be able to store and process more medical information, but only people can offer a truly sympathetic ear. As one of the few who possessed the knowledge to provide primary care to the sick and wounded, Greef Karga eventually established a small medcenter a few blocks away from the cantina.

You decide to push yourself up and away from your cot, seeing the glimmer of light peek through the window. Cleaning up, getting dressed, and after quickly eating a piece of purple fruit, you sling your brown satchel over your shoulder and hurriedly make your way to the medcenter. As you enter, you greet the 2-1B droid which had modular limbs that allowed them to use a range of surgical tools and other medical instruments based on their patients' needs. You made your way over to your desk, setting down your bag and then sterilizing your hands afterward.

Different energy and buzz were happening around Nevarro. As you patched up one of the Trandoshan and sold them a couple of cans containing bacta for a good amount of credits, you had overheard them talking about receiving a job from the Client and planning a flight to Arvala-7. Living on this bounty hunter-infested planet taught you to listen for information and to use it to your advantage when necessary. They were usually given a holopuck, a simple holographic device used to display an image of the quarry and the bounty payout. However, they were only given a tracking fob, the Trandoshan briefly flashing it to you before tucking it away in their belt.

The next few hours were spent treating different families with various illnesses and injuries, then sending them off with some medication and a specific date to return. This was your usual routine, nothing new to note except for that tiny piece of information from earlier.

The sound of the doors hissing to life causes you to turn your head. If you were being honest, this was the last person you expected to show up in your medcenter. Your mouth gaped open as you take in the sight of the tall and imposing figure in front of you. The unmistakable shape of the Mandalorian helmet and polished silver causes you to nearly choke on your saliva.

“Do you have any bacta spray?” The sound of his rough and modulated voice causes you to try and gather your composure as he walks towards you, which proves to be slightly challenging. You clear your throat and look at his vizor, “Yeah, let me just go to the cabinet to get some.” He doesn’t respond, leaving you to awkwardly stand there for a few more seconds before moving to retrieve the bacta spray.

You usually aren’t this nervous or anxious around anyone, but the Mandalorian was completely different. As you rummage through the cabinet, you try and fight the overwhelming urge to sense his feelings, but it is no use. He radiates with deep hurt from his past but tries to bury his soul in the dark. This Mandalorian weights living heavy on his spine. A man who has created mistakes grips at them until his hands are bruised and burning. You wince at that, nearly dropping one of the bacta sprays but manage to catch it, turning to the Mandalorian keenly observing you as you make your way over to him, trying to ignore the waves and streaks of grey and silver glowing around his figure, you quickly hand it to him while saying, “I hope three is enough for now.” 

He curtly nods, “How much?” You shake your head, “You don’t have to pay. It’s fine.” The slight tilt of his helmet almost causes you to blush, you feel his curiosity and concern, “I insist.”

You blink and shake your head again, “Nope. Just… be careful on your journey. That’s enough for me.” You sense his confusion and interest before he turns and walks away, leaving a trail of gray streaks only you could see, hearing the slight clink sound of beskar, and the doors closing.

Once you’re sure he left, you bring both of your hands to the side of your face, using two fingers to rub into your temple, sighing in embarrassment and disappointment for allowing yourself to nearly reveal who you truly are. Having strong Force empathy abilities involved picking up impressions of an individual's feelings and general emotional state. There was no explanation for the aura you could see around individuals, a specific color for each living creature that encompasses their character, personality, morals, past, present, and sometimes, a rare glimpse of their future emotions.

You try and ground yourself by closing your eyes and breathing, controlled and steady breaths of air as you reassure yourself that you’re safe. The peace doesn’t last long, as flashes of visions begin to cloud your periphery. Loud explosions on Nevarro, blaster fights, the unmistakable loud cries of a child, and the Mandalorian at the center of it all. You fall to your knees, clutching your chest tightly and the other to hold your upper body. You sensed the dark side, anger, fear, aggression, and a lust for power from this planet long before, but now you sense there is something much more sinister approaching.

NEVARRO, 9ABY – NOON

After a few days, you intercepted a transmission from the Mandalorian successfully capturing the bounty from Arvala-7, and must be directly given to The Client. While the Mandalorian was gone you had been secretly training, meditating, and gathering more information about whoever this Client may be, allowing the Force to guide you to the path you must walk on.

You step out of the medcenter to see the Razor Crest preparing to land on the settlement's spaceport and disembark. You toss the hood over your head and use a scarf as a mask, hiding in the shadows, watching the Mandalorian and a hover-pram pass you by swiftly and you catch a glimpse of a green creature inside. Your mouth slightly drops open in shock and the quiet feeling of the Force settles inside of you as you eye the baby.

You follow the two of them from a distance, not wanting to be noticed or seen. The Mandalorian turns right into an alleyway, and you wait a few seconds before trailing him. You hide behind one of the stone pillars, keenly observing his movements. The Mandalorian pounds loudly on a metal door and a TT-8L/Y7 gatekeeper droid,  a simple photoreceptor mounted on a retractable eyestalk. The Mandalorian shows a disc as proof of identity. You notice The Child reacts in surprise as the droid retracts.

The door unlocks, and you realize you must follow them without getting caught. Your eyes close as you calmed yourself, deep breaths in and out, registering the light and sound waves around you, every particle and atom. Tiny pieces of music, notes in the air that only you can hear, each sound of your heartbeat, you hold my breath and try to swim. Making infinite room for hope and oxygen, every cell across your skin comes to life, and slowly willing the light particles to bend and render you invisible to visual and audio detection.

When you open your eyes, you silently gasped, seeing a pair of Remnant Stormtroopers exit the house, and watching The Child lowers its ears and head. Your hands clench in a fist so tight you reminded yourself to breathe, following after the Mandalorian and the Stormtroopers before the door slides shut behind you. Inside the corridor, one of the stormtroopers roughly yanks the Child's cradle. Your eyes narrow in agitation and annoyance, the Madalorian is quick to say, “Easy with that.” To which the first Stormtrooper snarkily replies, “You take it easy.”

The stormtroopers lead you to a frail old man who you assume to be the Client and to a familiar-looking doctor on the side, the Client is delighted, “Yes!” He holds the tracking fob and approaches the Child, “Yes, yes, yes! Yes.” The Doctor begins to scan the child with a device, eventually, the scanner beeps to his delight, “Very healthy. Yes.”

The Client stands taller to speak to the Mandalorian, “Your reputation was not unwarranted.” The Mandalorian isn’t the least bit flattered, opting to question him, “How many fobs did you give out?” To which the Client responds, “This asset was of extreme importance to me. I had to ensure its delivery. But to the winner…” He walks over to the desk, bringing out a large container, “Go the spoils.” After a few buttons are pushed, the sides of the container bloom open to reveal bars of Beskar. The Mandalorian comes closer to the center table, holding two bars of beskar as you frown in disappointment.

“Such a large bounty for such a small package.” The Client says, and the Child cries and coos for the Mandalorian as he is taken away by the doctor. He can’t help the guilt that bubbles inside of him, he asks, “What are your plans for it?” The Client isn’t amused by his inquiry, “How uncharacteristic of one of your reputation. You have taken both commission and payment. Is it not the Code of the Guild that these events are now forgotten?”

Two more Stormtroopers appear from the room to the right, standing behind the Client, “That Beskar is enough to make a handsome replacement for your armor. Unfortunately, finding a Mandalorian in these trying times is more difficult than finding the steel.” With that, the Mandalorian places the two pieces of Beskar inside the container. No longer speaking and leaving with his prize as you follow him outside undetected.

Once you were in the main streets of the city, you pull back your cloak and render yourself visible, watching the Mandalorian walks through the marketplace and down the steps into the sewer below. You feel the heavy weight on your chest, unsure if the emotions you feel are coming from him or if they are your own. You shake your head and make your way to the Cantina, needing a drink after all of the information you’ve gathered.

You were taught about Master Yoda, a legendary Jedi Master and stronger than most in his connection with the Force. Small in size but wise and powerful, he trained Jedi for over eight hundred years, playing integral roles in the Clone Wars, and helped in the upbringing of Master Luke Skywalker, to which your clan members were deciding to join him or not. Could this Child be another one of his kind?

The Cantina doors opened and you were immediately greeted by Greef Karga, “Well, look who we have here our favorite medic! Never thought you’d step foot in this place.” You shrugged in response, trying to shake off the stares of the different guests in the Cantina, “I gotta support Mikgel from time to time. Besides, he said he owed me a free drink.” You walk a bit closer to Greef Karga’s table as he asks, “Why would a woman like you, so carefree spirited need a drink?” 

You sit on the other side of the booth, placing both of your arms atop the table, “Would… finding out about Imperial Forces hiding in out in a safe house on our planet count?” Greef Karga chokes on air and winces, you tilt your head down and raise an eyebrow, “Did you think you could keep this from me? What the hell are they doing here?”

He regains his composure and leans forward to whisper his reply, “I never intended to keep it from you. I was trying to protect you.” You scoff in disbelief and annoyance, “Protect me?”

To which Karga says, “Yes! Protect you, if they knew who you were and what you are they’d–” You rarely get angry, always choosing to see the good in people, but you sense the feeling of Karga’s greed and mixed lies.

You raise your hand, palm facing him, “Don’t lecture me about something I’ve lived and fought through. Giving them your services makes you an accomplice, a rat, and a damn coward.” The taste of acid and the waves of color that is radiates off of Karga is a mix of a bright lava orange and red, his simmering anger hisses at you, “Look who’s to talk. Hiding all your life. Running from your own future. Isn’t that a bit selfish and cowardly?” You deflate at that, understanding that he is partially right.

But before you could respond to the sound of the doors hissing open, you turn your head to see the Mandalorian entering the cantina, which silences its patrons as everyone gazes at him. Completely decked out with shiny new armor, he is completely unbothered as he approaches the table where you and Greef Karga are conversing. Karga heartily laughs, “Ah! Mando! They all hate you, Mando. Because you’re a legend!”

You try and get out of the booth and leave but Mando uses his right hand for you to stay put, so you settle back down again. You raise your eyes to hear the raspy voice of the Mandalorian confront Karga, “How many of them had tracking fobs?” Greef Karga scoffs and gestures around the Cantina, “All of them. All of them! But not one of them closed the deal. Only you, Mando. Only you.” The Mandalorian looks at you, “What about her?” To which you look up at him and frown, “No. I’m just a medic getting a drink after a tough day. But congratulations, I guess.”

Greef Karga continues, “And with it, the richest reward this parsec has ever seen. Please sit with us, my friend.” The Mandalorian obliges and unclips his Amban sniper rifle, placing it on the side of the couch before you move a little to the right to give him room to sit next to you. He took up almost half of the booth with his width and physique. You feel your left arm warm up with how close he was, the comfort that allures you to his orbit was unlike anything you’ve ever felt before. You choose to look straight ahead, trying not to acknowledge him pressed up beside you, luckily Greef Karga opens his mouth to talk, “They’re all weighing the Beskar in their minds, but not me. No. I, for one, celebrate your success. Because it is my success as well.”

Your right leg bounces up and down in anticipation Karga continues, “Hell! Even I’m rich.” He chuckled and digs into his breast pocket to reveal the two bars of Beskar he was given by the Client. You roll your eyes in annoyance, but the Guild Master says, “Now, how can I show my gratitude to my most valuable partner?”

Mando cuts to the chase, “I want my next job.” Greef Karga takes a sip of his drink before placing it down on the table, he eyes him with confusion, “Next job? Take some time off. Enjoy yourself. I’ll take you to the Twi’lek healing baths.” You frown at that and Mando doesn’t seem to care, “I want my next job.” Karga sighs, “Sure. Fine.”

“You hunters like to keep busy, right?” Karaga says with an amused tone, “Well, these are all far away.” He places a bunch of holopucks on the table and the Mandalorian reaches out to grab one, “The further, the better.” Karga smiles, “Well, take your pick. You’ve earned it.”

Mando places the holopuck on the table and it whizzes to life, showing an image of a Mon Calamari. “Ah. That’s the best one of the lot. A nobleman’s son skipped bail. Looks like you’re headed to the ocean dunes of Karnac.”

The Mandalorian doesn’t say anything and simply takes the puck and moves away from the table, grabbing his Amban sniper rifle, seemingly satisfied with his pick. You turn to watch him go but he freezes, and you use the force to reach out what he’s feeling, to be flooded with waves of guilt. Your eyebrows knit together as you hear Mando ask, “Any idea what they’re gonna do with it?”

Karga is packing the rest of the holopucks, “With what?” The Mandalorian turns to face him, “The kid.” Karga shakes his head, “I didn’t ask. It’s against the Guild Code.” Mando’s voice goes deeper as he points out, “They work for the Empire. What are they doing here?” You raise your eyebrows at Karga, as you smile smugly at him, “I asked the same thing.” To which he says, “Are the two of you working together? The Empire is gone. All that are left are mercenaries and warlords. But if it bothers you both, just go back to the Core and report them to the New Republic.”

You rolled your eyes and the Mandalorian grunts out, “That’s a joke.” Greef doesn’t give a remark about his statement, instead, he says, “Mando, enjoy your rewards. Buy a camtono of spice. By the time you come out of hyperdrive, you will have forgotten all about it.”

The Mandalorian doesn’t reply and simply takes his leave. You shake your head, scoffing at Karga and he calls out your name as you near the exit, “I suggest you keep yourself out of sight with those Imperial troops. For your safety, of course.” You say nothing and leave the Cantina, you feel the ground shaking under your feet and feel the pressure building until you can't breathe.

You shake your head, and the temptation of the dark side calls to you, to give in to your rage and hatred, you internally fight it off, gritting your teeth as you say, “No.” You catch your breath and focus, rationalizing your decision to break into the Imperial Remnant safe house to save the Child, then you will yourself to move towards the medcenter.

You swiftly walked towards your desk, grabbed your satchel, and opened the flap of the leather. Finding the fabric that wraps around the object you were searching for, you pull it out of the satchel and unwrap it. The lightsaber hilt that you haven’t touched since the day you left the clan, weighs heavy in your hands but the familiar cool touch of silver and gold metal forged into one grant you a sense of comfort. You wrap the hilt once more, not yet needing your lightsaber, placing it inside your satchel and instead arm yourself with a blaster. As you were gathering a few bacta sprays, the double doors sounded open, you don’t look over your shoulder as you say, “We’re closed for the day.”

“I need your help.” You feel your eyes expand and widen, the familiar voice of the Mandalorian causes you to wince a little bit as you turn to see his figure standing a few feet away from you.

You try to act nonchalant ask you ask, “What did you um… need?” Mando steps a bit closer to you, which causes your back to hit the cabinet door, his grave voice echoes through the modulator, “I need your help with rescuing the kid.” You swallow away your nervousness, “What? Why would you ask for my help?”

“You never showed up to the Cantina until today. You were asking Karga about the Imperials and you were curious as to why there were here. You never carry a weapon with you so I’m assuming you’re about to infiltrate their base. It looks like our interests are aligned,” Mando stated plainly as you quietly shook your head, “You don’t know me. So why trust me at all with this?”

It takes him a moment to form a response, you watch as his shoulders rise and fall with every intake of breath, then he says, “I’ve heard the good you’ve done for the people of Nevarro. No judgment or malice. Sometimes giving them medical care for free. You’re right, I don’t know who you are or what you’ve done before. But right now, I do know you’ve only done the right thing. So, I’m asking for your help.”

You were startled by his response, completely breathless by his honesty and directness. You had thought he didn’t know who you were, just some medic around Nevarro, plain and simple. But it seems the Mandalorian also keeps tabs on the citizens around the town.

The color aura of the Mandalorian returns as you blink at him, feeling his emotions bouncing off of him and you becoming the receiver. Sparks of white and silver illuminate him, sensing his sincerity and need to save the Child. You lick your lips as an anxious tick and then nod, “Okay. I’ll do it. What’s the plan?”

The sun was beginning to set, casting shadows on your figures as you swiftly walk down the marketplace and down the alleyway to see the giant green metal door to the Imperial safe house. You make a right to find the hovering pram in the dumpster, and you feel his rage beside you. Like wildfire within him, mountains made of ash and clouds of smoke. It's fight or flight buried in his mind as alarms will sound.

You both climb up to the rooftop of the building across, positioned on his stomach, using his sniper rifle to listen to his targets. Clicking the side of his helmet to which the device whizzes and the static could be heard as you lay flat next to him. You figured he was listening to the targets and waiting for him to relay the information. After a few seconds, the Mandalorian quickly says, “We need to get the kid out of there before they leave.” You nodded as you lifted your hood up, “Okay.”

You both climb down off the rooftop. The Mandalorian bangs on the green door and is greeted by the gatekeeper droid. However, the Mandalorian violently grabs the stem, causing it to screech and rips off the droid's head, causing it to short circuit. He quickly walks away to the side, causing the two stormtroopers to come out to investigate. 

One of them tells the other, “Check the perimeter.” 

You and the Mandalorian plant a grav charge on a nearby wall, he grabs your wrist to hide behind another wall, “Cover your ears.”

You follow his instructions, using both of your hands to cover them, the beeping chirps louder, then sparks begin to fly, blowing a hole in the Imperial compound. Alarms are blaring, as you both walk into the corridor, positioning yourselves and waiting for the stormtroopers to advance.

The yellow lights flicker and eventually short-circuit, catching a glimpse of sparks flying on the side of the wall. You see the stormtroopers pass you and the Mandalorian to inspect the giant hole in the wall, using the flashlights on the side of their blasters to find nothing.

You both appear from behind the stormtroopers, the Mandalorian shooting the both of them from behind. Another stormtrooper enters the corridor and finds his fallen comrades, one of whom has a smoking hole in his chest. The Mandalorian once again appears from the shadows, knocking him down with his blaster and shooting him as well.

So far you hadn’t even needed to draw out your blaster, Mando is truly skilled. You walk through the corridors of the facility, checking each corner for stormtroopers. You and he venture deeper into the compound where he traps a fourth stormtrooper with his grappling cable and stabs him with his vibroblade. 

You shoot a door open and the stormtrooper manages to get a hit on this shoulder pauldron, causing him to jerk backward but manages to shoot the stormtrooper inside the laboratory. You both walk inside and you spot the doctor and an IT-O Interrogation Unit. The doctor begins to plead for his life, “No, no, no, no, please. Please. No. No, no.” You raise your blaster to shoot down the IT-O Interrogation Unit, watching the pile of junk collapse on the ground. 

Mando raises his blaster to shoot at the doctor, but he begs you both once more, “No, please. Please don’t hurt him. It’s just a child.” You and the Mandalorian walk toward him and he continues to plead, “Please. No. No! Please. No. No, no.” Mando grabs him by his chest and shoves him to the side, causing him to fall to the floor. He points and clicks his blaster at him, and he curls into a ball with his arm stretched out begging. You make your way to the machine keeping the child, finding him deep asleep.

You feel the Mandalorian break at the sight, alarms are still blaring, but it's too late for holy water now. He points the blaster, angrily asking, “What did you do to it?” He doesn’t get an immediate response which causes him to repeat the question harshly, “What did you do to it?” The doctor shakingly replies, “I protected him. If it wasn’t for me, he would already be dead! Please! Please. Please.”

The doctor whimpers as you quickly grab the Child and leave with the Mandalorian. You make a right but here the doors open, Mando grabs you and presses you up against a wall to hide behind some of the storage crates. You suddenly feel nauseous and can hear your own heartbeat flutter as you register the cool kiss of his armor against your warm flesh. You close your eyes as you feel the rise and fall of your chest and hear Mandos’ quiet breathing.

You try to push down your powers and senses, not wanting to feel his emotions at this particular moment right now. You feel the strings and waves radiating and intertwining with yours, the silver wisps curling with your bright shining colors. You tightly shut your eyes, hoping that you were almost out of this compound.

Suddenly, you hear the Mandalorian whisper, “They’re gone.”

Your lashes flutter as you open your eyes to meet his gaze through his vizor, there is a spectrum of color, surrounding you both. Your mouth partly opens to say something but there is no sound. For a moment, you believed he felt something too, the pull of gravity within your orbit. However, Mando pulls away from you and the colors disappear once more as if it was never truly there.

Neither of you spoke as you trail behind him and walk into a storeroom. The unexpected sound of the door opening catches you and Mando off-guard as two stormtroopers with flashlights attached to their armor try to shoot you both down. One of the stormtroopers says, “Split up. We’ll flush him out.”

You see their flashlights give away their positions, giving you and him time to defend yourselves. You turn to your left to give Mando the Child, letting him carry it, and make your way to the other stormtrooper.

“Give it up. There’s nowhere to–” You hear the groan of the stormtrooper being taken down by Mando, and you do the same to the other one, hitting him over the head with your blaster before knocking him out completely.

Another stormtrooper announces his arrival, “Hey!” To which you grab Mando’s Ampan sniper rifle on the floor, electrocuting him with the fork end of the device.

As you both exit the storeroom only to run into a stormtrooper. You both exchange gunfire, the sharp whizzing sound of blaster fire echoes in your ears, and the Mandalorian shoots him down. A second stormtrooper blasts his way through, and he unleashes his flamethrower on the second stormtrooper, scorching him. The Child looks away as this happens. The charred stormtrooper falls to the ground.

You groan in annoyance, “How many are there?” Mando hums, “Way too many for the Empire to be considered gone.”

You follow him and enter the meeting room with him holding the Child. Seemingly empty you walk straight to the exit doors, however, they open to reveal four more stormtroopers, “Freeze!” You three are completely cornered, “Don’t move! Hands up!” One of them yells, “Drop the blasters!”

You glare at the stormtroopers as Mando speaks calmly to them, “Wait. What I’m holding is very valuable. Here.” Mando gestures to you to do the same as you get down on your knees to place your blasters on the ground and he gently places the Child on the floor as well. “Now turn and face me!”

A stormtrooper commands, but neither of you moves, allowing yourself to have faith in the Mandalorian’s plans. You watch him clench his fists, and you hear the device on his arm chirp to life. “Stand up!” They command once more but you don’t follow their orders. A beat passes. The sharp sound of whistling birds creating fireworks as he unleashes them onto your enemies, you hear them groan in pain as it takes out all of the stormtroopers.

Mando gently picks up the Child and his blaster to which you grab your blaster from the floor, quickly exiting the compound. You walk side by side with the Mandalorian through the streets of Navarro, feeling the menacing stares of each bounty hunter. You spot their tracking fobs have been reactivated, loudly beeping as they point it towards your direction. Soon enough you are surrounded by several armed bounty hunters.

You spot Greef Karga stepping into view, “Welcome back! I’m surprised to see you ask for help from our talented healer. Now put the package down.” You analyze the several bounty hunters, trying to find an escape. “Step aside. I’m going to my ship.” Mando said, and Karga softly chuckles, “You put the bounty down and perhaps I’ll let you pass and our medic can be easily forgiven, after all, she’s done for the citizens of this town.”

Mando doesn’t relent and states, “She and the kid are coming with me.” You turn to look at him in surprise that he wouldn’t just leave you here to face the consequences of your actions. “If you truly care about the kid and her, then you’ll put it on the speeder and you’ll let her walk away as if none of this ever happened and we’ll discuss terms.” An R6 astromech droid, on the speeder, turns its head.

“How do we know if we can trust you?” You asked and Karga scoffs, “Because I’m your only hope.” You watch Mando walk over to the speeder and you feel your eyes begin to fog with oncoming tears. Karga says your name, “Walk away and we’ll discuss this later.” You clench your jaw and glare at the bounty agent before turning your back toward him, and placing your hand on your blaster as you sensed it, the tingling in your spine and throughout your body.

Mando whirls around and shoots at the other bounty hunters, jumping onto a repulsorlift vehicle carrying luggage. You quickly take cover and shoot down the other bounty hunters running towards the Mandalorian and hopping onto the repulsorlift. Deep and commanding, he demands the astromech droid, “Drive!”

The droid shakes its head in disapproval and Mando raises his blaster at him, “Drive!” The astromech screeches in fear and drives the repulsorlift vehicle while you and Mando are shooting down as many bounty hunters as you can.

You aim for the sniper above and shoot while Mando covers the ground as you drive by. The astromech is shot down by Karga, you see bright yellow sparks and you hear the droid power down. You hear Mando whisper, “Are you okay?”

To which you hum and nod, “Mhm. I’m fine.”

It’s now deadly quiet as the rest of the hunters step closer toward the repulsorlift. The fork end of the amban rifle peaks through the luggage as Mando aims and blasts bounty hunters into ash. Different species groan and clamor to hide behind various objects.

“That’s one impressive weapon!” Karaga states and Mando’s voice booms as he announces, “Here’s what I’m gonna do. I’m gonna walk to my ship with her and the kid, and you’re gonna let it happen.”

“No. How about this? We take the kid and the medic, and if you try to stop us, we will kill you and we strip your body for parts.” Karga says menacingly, and suddenly you feel someone pull your leg, dragging you and you yelp out in fear and surprise.

Mando is quick to your aid, using the butt of his rifle and then shocking him with the fork of his weapon, completely stunning the first bounty hunter while you shoot down the second.

You spot the rest of the hunters advancing towards you with their weapons, firing every part of the speeder.

Greef Karga yells, “Don’t hit the target or her!” As a last resort, Mando activates his flamethrower, which causes the bounty hunters to fall back for a moment, only for it to run out of fuel. You lay down next to the Child, craning your head to the right to gaze at his peaceful sleeping form.

You feel the sudden weight of Mando hovering over you and the kid, trying to protect both of you til the end. You hear the Child coo beside you and smile in adoration.

You reach into your satchel and dig for the lightsaber hilt, readying yourself to defend Mando and the Child the moment it comes down to it. Without notice, you hear the whooshing sound of rockets streaking through the air to hit one of the bounty hunters straight through the chest. Fortunately, several fellow members of the Mandalorian Tribe, donning jetpacks and blasters, come to your aid, taking out several bounty hunters.

You watch in awe as the Mandalorians skillfully use their weapons in taking out the remaining bounty hunters, the head infantry lands close to the speeder and says, “Get out of here! We’ll hold them off!” To which Mando replies, “You’re going to have to relocate the covert.” The head infantry responds, “This is the Way.” And Mando echos back, “This is the Way.”

The firing continues and Mando carries the Child and helps to pull you up. You and the Mandalorian board the Razor Crest, but are soon cornered by Greef Karga, “Hold it right there.” You both turn to face Karga as he states, “I didn’t want it to come to this. But then you broke the Code. And you,” he turns to talk to you, “Since you’re with him they will come after you too now. And the Imps will soon follow.” You raise your chin as you steadily replied, “Let them try.”

The Mandalorian uses his grappling hook to trigger the carbonite chamber, unleashing some tibanna gas in an attempt to blind Karga. You expertly doge his attempts to shoot at you only for you to outstretch your hand, using the Force to let his weapon fly out of his hands, he stands there completely stunned and Mando uses his blaster to shoot him off of the Razor Crest.

The hatch closes and you strap yourself in, the Razor Crest takes off, watching the other Mandalorians provide covering fire through the window. You comfortably soar into the skies of Nevarro. You spot the head infantry flying beside the ship and salute him before flying off.

The Mandalorian makes a remark, “I gotta get one of those.” And you snort in amusement. The Child is seated beside his lap and is reaching for something. The Mandalorian unscrews the metal ball on the stick and gives it to him to play with before taking the Razor Crest into space.

End Notes:

YAYYYYYYYYYYYY! SPACE DAD STORY!

You are a force-sensitive empath! HORRAY! 

You can force cloak yourself because this skill tends to come to people as more of a natural talent, for it is extremely difficult to learn otherwise; thus, the reason the ability is rarely seen.

The reader is an Enneagram 2! You are a part of the Heart Center; The benevolent, embrace of the good in other people, engage in every emotional love, you experience and feel their emotions more than anyone else. Helpful, natural nurturers, understanding, generous, supportive, mistaken as the passive, embodiment of what love and embrace look like.

The Mandalorian is an Enneagram One personality type with a Nine wing. Enneagram Ones belong to the body center, along with Eights and Nines, and they naturally make decisions based on gut instinct. The Mandalorian likes to feel in control, particularly of his physical environment. For Enneagram Ones, freedom and independence are important.

SO THAT'S A GLIMPSE INTO THEIR PERSONALITY TYPE AND THE WAY THEY MAKE CHOICES! 

All will be revealed in the coming chapters! I can’t wait for you guys to read them AHHHHHH

Thank you for all the reblogs, comments, feedback, and likes! Ya’ll really are too sweet and I truly appreciate your kind words. SEE YA IN THE NEXT CHAPTER!

TAGLIST:

@wastingspaces @avengersheart @lunatic1012 @keepingupwiththeskywalkers

[moonlit-dreamers]

*sighs loudly* so i Was going to draw them but turns out my own design is too difficult for me to draw. but i'll be making this post anyway bc this au has been cooking for so long i might as well!

Featherless Flight AU

aka dca avian au where these fucks r BIRDS

(disclaimer this is a sun x moon au. it also deals with heavy themes such as child abuse, death, violence, and. ya know. wutever tws come with the apocalypse (also these will not be talked about in detail in this post))

nothing robotic in them. just feathers, blood, and bones. a lot of that stuff may be lost or break throughout their story! but lemme at least tell u wut they look like (without having my own drawings OTL (i only have a ref for their faces (which im not confident of)))

a quick note for both of their designs, they r both Fully Covered in feathers, including their arms and faces (yes they have arms And wings). the only places that dont have feathers is their lower legs and hands. they have anthropomorphic legs. and their face shape is also similar to a barn owl, as shown here (ignore the lack of mouths, idk wut to give them)

suns design! he has the coloring and general design of a sun conure. hes full of bright reds and yellows, tho the green is replaced with a bit of blue. he has multiple crests around his head that fluff up similar to a cockatiel but theyre in a way that make it look like rays. in the drawing above is wut they look like without their crests raised; that is their default. suns feet r grasping feet which r 2 toes in the front and 2 in the back. sun has high speed wings so aes a lot faster. (if u dont know wut any of this means i recommend u look it up, im a bird nerd) sun is also specifically an omnivore (them having different diets is actually plot relevant)

moons design next. moon is the color of a hyacinth macaw tho his anatomy is closer to an owl. he has one large crest on his head like a cockatoo. its also colorblind! since its anatomy is based mainly off of owls, for moons ability to see at night means he can see less colors. and bc hes more sensitive at night his eyes r always half closed in light, making it look sleepy despite being fully awake. moon has raptor feet with 3 toes in the front and 1 in the back. xis claws r also much larger than suns. moon has passive soaring wings which is better for longer flights. and moon is a carnivore :)

theres also an eclipse but their design is an enigma to me even in my own mind

but back to sun and moon! if anyone is curious moon uses he/it/xe pronouns while sun uses he/it/ae pronouns. they r both aroace and love each other deeply (qpr babyyyyy). sun is genderfluid while moon doesnt give a shit (agender).

sun is more bubbly and energetic. very much high energy bouncing off the walls. hes the kind of optimist where u cant tell if their "bright side"s r trying to help or be condescending. its a master at back handed compliments. heavily a perfectionist and will reach the point of screaming fits if wut he doesnt isnt perfect. ae has a lot of self image issues. ae hides a lot of aers lack of self confidence and doubt behind a wall of "im the best", tho that wall can crash very easily. a bit of a flirt, but mainly bc he just enjoys seeing how ppl react. he takes compliments from everyone but moons compliments r always the best

moon is lower energy and calmer. at least, he acts like it. hes more reserved and if it wasnt for sun he wouldnt have any friends or talk to ppl at all. he fears abandonment and sun is the only person who has stayed with him this whole time and is the only person he truly trusts. is very aggressive towards anyone it doesnt know. despite being shorter than sun (hes 6ft while sun is 7ft) it definitely does a good job at intimidating ppl. over time when xe becomes comfortable with someone xe will eventually calm down and show a bit of a softer side to them. when xes actually calm and likes someone xe can be a bit... chaotic :)

im honestly not sure where ill start their story since ive already thought about their childhood but i also wanna write about their adulthood as well. the story of their childhood mainly deals with the abuse they went through, then with adulthood theyre shoved into an apocalypse bc... y not :) (btw the apocalypse is mainly just bc ive been enjoying apocalypse aus a Lot lately and wanna write one. the child abuse is for their development and to show y they act the way they do. while it will be fun to write their development, i am by no means saying abuse is okay and this topic will be treated carefully and seriously.)

oh theyre also nd as Fuck

but yeah. these r my babies! i hope to at some point start writing the fic so i can show it to u all, but im already in the process of writing another fic, which will be coming out soon!

[dyke-will-graham]

Long Live Abigail Hobbs!

In honor of our best girl I’m sharing my favorite Abigail Hobbs coded songs because she’s quite literally the ghost haunting me. No one deserved her.

Killer- Phoebe Bridgers

“Sometimes I think I’m a killer. I scared you in your house, I even scared myself talking about Dahmer on your couch.”

“I am sick of the chase, but I’m hungry for blood. And there’s nothing I can do.”

Family Tree- Ethel Cain

“I’m just a child but I’m not above violence.”

“Christ forgive these bones in hiding and oh and the bones I’m about to leave.”

Sun-Bleached Flies - Ethel Cain

“God loves you but not enough to save you.”

“But I always knew that in the end no one was coming to save me so I just prayed, and I keep praying and praying. If it’s meant to be then it will be.”

Strangers- Ethel Cain

“I tried to be good, am I no good? With my memory restricted to a Polaroid in evidence.”

“Found you just to tell you I made it real far. And I never blamed you for loving me the way that you did.”

“Am I turning in your stomach? Am I making you feel sick?”

Bite the Hand- Boygenius

“Who do you think you are? Who do you think I am? Maybe I’m afraid of you?”

“I can’t love you how you want me to.”

Vienna (in Memoriam) - the army, the navy

Enough said.

Smother - Daughter

“In the darkness I will meet my creators and they will all tell me I’m a suffocator.”

“Sometimes I wish I had stayed in my mother, never to come out.”

Im Right Here - Theodore Shapiro

The humming and melody feel like what Abigail’s life with Will might have been had they been in WolfTrap instead.

House Song- Searows

“Something is rotten inside me, I have to find it and cut it out.”

Hard Times- Ethel Cain

“Tell me a story about how it ends where you’re still the good guy I make pretend cause I hate this story where happiness ends and dies with you.”

“I thought good guys got to be happy? I’m not happy. I am poison in the water and unhappy. A little girl who needs her daddy real bad.”

“I’m tired of you still tied to me.”

OKAY THATS ALL FOR NOW. Abigail is one of my favorite characters ever and I think her complexity should be observed more. She was a survivor and perceived in the light of those around her and never as she truly was and I mourn her daily. I think about how she deserved to go to school abroad and never want for anything but in the end was a playing pawn in a game between two men who were themselves too terrified and confused to make sense of each other much less her as an independent.

IF YOU WANT MORE HERES MY PLAYLIST FOR HER

[lace-coffin]

For when your requests open soon kinda like the child breaking in how do you think the collector would rect to like teens using the hotell as a smoke spot or something also jow that im thinking about it he would just kill them since the start of thr collection it starts by saying he kills anyone and doesn’t discriminate personally i say dang but also i hsve no idea i might be making up everything im typing as i go along hoping your like oh wow this fella this extremely homosexual fella is so right!!!! #guess whos drunk game!!!!!£!

How would Asa Emory react to teens breaking into the hotel to smoke?

I absolutely love this request lmao, from one homo to another u r absolutely so right. I hope u had a good night pookie < 3

Tw for violence and gore

The acrid ashy smell was a dead giveaway before he’d even stepped into the hotel. Teenagers using his hotel as a smoke spot, hadn’t they seen literally any trashy slasher movie? This was a perfect setup to get murdered by a hulking masked man with an axe or whatever the kids were watching these days.

It’s not like he could completely blame them, him having been a teenager once and not above bumming a smoke off other students when the stress got the best off him.

Groaning and dragging a gloved hand down his face, Asa enters the building, pulling the door with more force than necessary and effectively slamming it into the wall in annoyance. It’s not like it was worth being stealthy, these little fucks will be dead soon enough, not like it’s going to matter in the end.

Two hounds sit either side of the collector at his monitor, Allister on the left and Aster on the right, waiting at attention for orders but mostly soaking up the absent minded pats Asa has been giving them whilst focused on the screen.

A group of teenagers, maybe about college age, sit slumped against the filthy walls of the abandoned hotel room smoking, what, he’s not sure, but that’s not relevant. smashed beer bottles litter the floor, glittering under the barley there fluorescent lights.

Disgusting, spilling all that shit over his floors, don’t they know he has art pieces in here that are priceless? Not like they would understand the work that goes behind his beautiful collection.

A pissed off groan escapes Asa’s gritted teeth, the dog’s ears perking at this, shifting to sit slightly more alert. Asa looks down to his pups, tilting his head in thought. He has a good view of the room from here, he may be able to put on a show for himself in the future before finishing them off. Setting the camera’s to ‘record’ he stands, scraping his chair backwards.

Pulling the mask taught by the strings and tying himself in he double checks his hunting knife is where he left it and sets off. Aster and Allister follow happily down the halls, just happy to be included and by their masters side.

The door is slammed open before any of the teens can react, dogs ordered to dispose of the intruders with a shout and hand signal, realistically no matter how well trained his pets are they wouldn’t be able to take down 4 teenagers by themselves. knowing this Asa pulls his knife from his belt, the teens paying no attention to him, solely focused in attempting to either kick the dogs snouts away and detach the muscle deep bite they have lodged into them off or trying to tear the hounds off their screaming and struggling friends.

Grabbing one of the men by the throat the collector slams the stranger against the wall, knife raised at his jugular with intend to slash.

“Y-you don’t have to do this man, we’ll leave ok? We’ll even clean up, fuck just..just let us go and we won’t say shit I promise”

the fear is evident all over this kids face, the desperation gives Asa a sick kick, feelings of superiority and giddiness bubbling up in his chest. the masked man adds more pressure to the knife, enough to break skin and allow a few dribbles of crimson to run down the knife, watching the panic increase ten fold.

Apart from letting out an undignified squeak the teen stops reacting, bracing for the end. How dull. Realising his toy has stopped performing he rips the blade across the soft flesh under him, making it messy and careless. The gasping body slumps against him, no longer able to hold himself through the agony. Asa’s lip curls in disgust, shoving the bleeding body away from himself to crumple to the ground.

Glancing back over it seems the dogs have fatally wounded at least two of the intruders, they aren’t dead yet but regardless they won’t be rushing anywhere in a hurry. The injured strangers flinch in terror as he approaches, before anything can be said Asa’s heavy leather boot is smashing the teens head against the dirty floor as hard as he can, skull making a sickening crunch under the weight of it and sending a wave of euphoria over the killer. He notes his boots will need cleaning later, viscera caught on the laces.

Something about the display must have awakened something primal in the least injured victim, taking off down the hall clumsily, usually he would send a dog to give chase or do it himself but he knows this hotel inside out, there’s a range of traps lining the walls of just that hall, let alone the entire building. Regardless if Asa bothers to follow or not he won’t be making it out alive. As if on cue a guttural scream then groan can be heard. He made it atleast two corridors down, better than most.

Attention now back in the room Asa looks over the last victim, curled up and bleeding into the ratty carpet. Shock probably. No point in making a show of this one, his mind has already checked out. He might make good food for the projects in the basement…you can never be too prepared. Sighing Asa slings the man’s half conscious body over his shoulder without care, whistling for the dogs to follow as he makes the trek to the basement.

[redbird-tf]

better together

Matt murdock × (platonic) blind young reader

Description: stick makes an appearance in Hell's Kitchen again, but things take a turn when Matt finds out Sticks brought a teenage girl into his war.

Notes: this is strictly platonic relationship, based on daredevil show may not be accurate to comic events

Warnings: mention of death, gun violence

Stick was in town, and that was never a good thing. Stick meant someone was going to get hurt and Matt had to run interference. Not something he enjoyed.

Matt had been following Stick for two miles now on rooftops, the night was young and he could hear the soft ocean waves as Stick stopped at the harbor. Stick walked into a rundown building, and Matt followed in entering through a window.

"You never learn, do you" the groggy voice called making Matt swiftly turn to face him. "You're in my city" Matt stated. "I have a job to do, you need to stay out of the way" Stick crocked. "If your job involves that gun in your pocket then i can't let you," Matt said taking out his sticks. "I thought you might say that."

"Take him down" A swoosh was heard from above and Matt wasn't able to dodge a blow to the chest from a pair of feet that came swinging from the ceiling. Matt gasped on the floor regaining the air knocked from his lungs. Stick chuckled "shes good isnt she?"

what the hell was this, matt thought. "Get that heart under control kid." Stick told whoever this kid was. Matt listened, a girl, a teen maybe, a scared one. He could hear her heart beat breaking out of her chest. He listened as the heart slowed. You had been able to drop your heart rate making it undetectable.

Matt slowly got up holding his back, "you brought a child to your wars?" Matt huffed out. "You weren't willing, i found someone who was and now you've become too soft.. and a nuisance, i can have that." matt could smell the faint metallic blade entering the air as you held out a switch blade. “I don't want to hurt you” Matt mumbled. "Thats just sad" Stick groaned.

"Kill him"

You quickly swung your knife at him, he leaned back dodging it before grabbing your arm twisting it to your back, and shoving you down. "Stay down-" he couldn't even finish before your leg swooped under his feet making him take another hard fall to the ground. You hovered over him with the sharp edge to his throat. "Don't do this" Matt whispered. "Kill him" Stick commanded. The tension was thick, your breath was shaky and so was your hand "you don't want to do this, you don't have to” Matt pleaded.

You started to pull away, "your both weak" Stick stated. Stick pulled the revolver out of his pocket aiming it at your back. "NO" Matt shouted rolling your body under his, taking a bullet to the shoulder. Matt screamed out and grabbed his baton throwing it in Stick's direction and knocking the gun out of his hand. "You both disappoint me" and without a sound stick was in the wind. Matt stood up with a groan. "Are you alright?" He asked, silence filled the air. you stood up and started backing away trying to figure out where to escape.

"I'm sorry" you whispered "Where do you think you going, from my experience with Stick, he doesn't usually train or bring children of loving households into his war" he stumbled in front of you, placing a hand on your shoulder "Stick will find you, you're coming with me"

He had brought you back to his apartment and sat you at the table. "Stay here" he ordered he disappeared for a moment before returning with a medical kit and took off his shirt. "I don't suppose you could help me stitch this up" he asked. You stood up moving behind him and mat the first incision making him hiss. "Whats your name?" He asked and a moment of silence filled the air "y/n" you answered. "Im sorry" you apologized again. "You were manipulated, its not your fault" he stated emphatically. You cut the end of the stitch and sat back down.

Matt took a breath "What happened to you" he asked, “ um, i was attacked by a dog three years ago" you replied keeping your head down. "And you've been with Stick since? What about your parents?" he asked confused "Having a blind child was too much for them i guess, they left" you mumbled. Matt raised his hand and you could feel the heat next to your face "may i?" He asked and you nodded. His hand cursed over the scar tissue that lined around your eyes. "You're blind to?" You asked as his hand dropped down. “Yeah, car accident when i was a kid and my father passed shortly after" he explained biting his lip. "I think we both know what happens next" he awkwardly chuckled. "I just thought." You started. Matt tilted his head "i thought i had found someone who would care for me again" you said in shame. Matt placed his hand on your neck "i think we're all just trying to find someone who cares for us, You're not alone anymore" he said before crouching down to hug you.

"I think you should stay here, you'll be safe here and maybe we can care for each other" he explained "Really?" You questioned in disbelief "It's what i needed as a kid and i think you deserve that chance." he gave a small smile. You smiled back and chuckled a little "So you're like Batman, but for blind kids" you laughed. He chuckled "A sidekick would be nice to"

[dogboyklug]

klug's sam & max au full entire whole

i am so tired

this is more an extensive collection of hcs than a fully-fledged au but yeah

this is also th basics of my entire. fanfic story im making ig. fun times.

enjoy

when sam was a child, he was heavily traumatized by the general environment. his parents put a lot of pressure on him, and a majority of his relatives (extended or not) were cruel towards him due to their military histories. sam is a transgender man, and he was allowed to partake in more "masculine" activities solely due to the hope that he might join the military once he was older

max had a similarly awful relationship with his family, being almost entirely starved of both attention and praise for all of his childhood. many of the women in his family were alcoholics, which was joked about and normalized even when that alcoholism led to violence. he's also a trans man, but his family are so apathetic they didn't give a shit and just let him dress and act however he wanted

the two met by chance in school and ended up immediately bonding. the two were basically inseperable throughout their shared childhood, relying on each other for basically all warmth and support - especially considering the two were prime targets for basically every bully in a five-state radius, being obviously queer (especially bc max kept screaming joyfully abt how him wearing dresses was crossdressing) and (equivalent of) black and mixed respectively in a predominantly white town in the 60's

being autistic, sam had a lot of special interests, more specifically noir detective films (which he dissociated from cop shows for years, somehow...) and computers/robotics/machinery in general. he made some of the most advanced videogames at the time everywhere he went, leaving bits and pieces for other people to find and put a patent on while he stayed entirely unaware.

max, meanwhile, didn't give half a damn about anything but himself, his best friend, and proving to the whole wide world that he was a boy. though being significantly less violent than sam was (thanks to all those damn noir films sammy watched i'm sure. kids those days), he defintiely wasn't above using his AWE-INSPIRING MANLIKE STRENGTH to beat up bullies who didnt immediately confess and repent for all their sins. he also read a LOT of comics (and ripped out all the oversexualized caricatures of women that were put together with the leads [and replaced them with himself])

once the two were teenagers, sam decided to go on a diet in the hopes that girls would like him more, styling his naturally coily hair into a very unnaturally-colored tiny afro to seem Hipper and Cooler while ending up just looking goofy. around this time, max realized he was near-sighted, and (due to sensory issues) decided to get perscription sunglasses instead of contacts

during highschool, sam was still studying engineering despite his future self's best efforts. though the highschool they went to didnt have a computer lab or anything, he taught himself everything he could about computers, learning from library books and "learning" from comics. max, however, Still didn't give a damn about any sort of schooling thing, only going to stick around with sam. he picked up a lot of random tidbits of information, and started becoming more perceptive (mostly to avoid bullies)

once max graduated, he immediately went on the road, roadtripping across the country in an attempt to leave everything about his past (sans sam, who he occassionally called) behind.

sam ended up getting a job (probably in computer repairs?) and detransitioned due to a do-goodery belief that him pretending to be a woman would somehow help fix sexism (while feeling a lot of guilty pleasure after finding out he was seen as " one of the boys " in his class)

in max's absence, sam ended up incredibly depressed, refusing to cook or clean for himself, overworking himself both as punishment and as an excuse to further avoid responsibility for himself. only after he got a health warning from the landlord did he clean up his apartment, which he ended up having to call max to help out with (which s a fic m actively working on actually)

though max only stayed in sam's apartment for a while, he ended up deciding to end his roadtrip prematurely, and started "stalking" sam around the campus out of a twisted desire for human[oid] contact with a dear friend. sam knew and did not care, especially when max later snuck into his graduation ceremony and screamed his praises so loud everyone near him ended up with tinnitus

honestly im not sure what happens in between then and them deciding to become cops. probably max suddenly forgets all he learned from travelling w a buncha hippies and anarchists and sam gives up becoming a computer scientist or engineer due to the toxic and constantly shifting environments ... and they needed an excuse to work together of course considering max is a bit less than qualified to work with computers

while searching for an office, the two saw flint paper throwing several men out his office window and immediately begged the landlord to set them up so they would be right next to him.

personally i think both of them have NPD, so the reason that the comics feel like they have more 'npcs' is because neither saw people (other than themselves, each other, and flint paper) as people, just background characters in their story

anyway i dont rlly have any changes from this until telltale. EXCEPT FOR ONE KEY FACTOR.

around 2009, much to their shared horror, sam & max found out (/fully realized) they were disabled. not just in mind, but in body too. crazy that.

turns out max being extremely stretchable without any real Training was a symptom of hypermobile joints, and sam's aching back, frequent migraines and near-constant Agony were signs of arthritis and fibromyalgia. who knew!

anyway, final note is that altho i havent played tdp i do know how it ends and im gonna say that after that, Somehow, sam & max recieved their respective past & present selves's memories, allowing past max to 'remember' 305 and for sam to 'remember' how tdp went in the past timeline which explains that one weird line in ttiv.

Also. Sybil moved and has divorced abe. superball prolly has a job woodworking and training interns. bosco found dead in miami. ms. momma bosco is thriving. and sam & max are gonna have kids at some point in the timline. cya

[jiangwanyinscatmom]

seeing all these posts in canon jc tag saying how jc did better than madam yu ... pretty sure madam yu never hit jc (did she? if im wrong tell me xd but still he'd be the same if she did cuz he hits jin ling in anger multiple times), or expose him to herself torturing innocent people to death so much that jc would be used to smuggling them out... yea jin ling and his relationship turned out better no thanks to him tho, jin ling got lucky to be more jin than jiang tbh cuz majority of his time would be at the sect he's heir of and jc does love jin ling unconditionally but madam yu in all her abusive glory also loved jc unconditionally, like jc was willing to die for jin ling, madam yu was willing to die for him too, that aint undoing the harm the two adults ended up doing to the two kids in the scenario at least in the emotional sense, and aint no way ppl are saying hes doing better than her, hes at least on the same level in lack of affection cuz jin ling was so unused to being even hugged or how to handle a hug the barest of affections jin ling turned out better and grew purely on his own effort coz jc sure wasnt setting any positive examples for him-

It seems to be implied that Madam Yu herself has no issue getting physically harsh with either of her own children as well,

1:

Madam Yu sent a look at Jiang Cheng. “Horsing around again? Come, let me have a look at you.”

Jiang Cheng scurried over, and Madam Yu squeezed his arm with her slender fingers before giving him a sound slap on the shoulder.

"Not a bit of progress in your cultivation. You’re almost seventeen and still acting like an ignorant child! Running around with this lot, doing mischief all day—do you think you’re the same as them? Hell knows which gutters they’ll be crawling in in the future, but you’ll be the leader of the Jiang Clan!”

Jiang Cheng staggered from the force of her slap. He hung his head, not daring to argue back.

2:

"Sorry!” said Wei Wuxian loudly. “I didn’t know shijie would come! I’ll go look for my clothes right now!”

Madam Yu was even more incensed. “You dare run from me?! Get the hell back here and kneel!”

As she spoke, she cracked her whip. A searing pain spread down Wei Wuxian’s back.

"Yowch!” he exclaimed aloud. The pain was so intense it almost sent him rolling on the ground.

Just then, Madam Yu heard a soft voice ask, “Mom, do you want some watermelon…?”

Jiang Yanli’s sudden appearance startled Madam Yu. With this delay, the group of little brats had vanished without a trace. Madam Yu was so infuriated she turned to pinch Jiang Yanli’s cheeks.

Eat, eat, eat. That’s all you know!”

The pinch made Jiang Yanli’s eyes water. Vaguely, she said, “Mom. A-Xian and the rest were hiding here to cool off. I came looking for them on my own, so don’t blame them… Do…do you want some watermelons…? I don’t know who sent them over, but they’re very sweet. Eating watermelon in summer can relieve the heat and quench your fire. They’re sweet and juicy. I’ll slice some for you…”

Violence seems to be an unfortunate overarching theme regarding the Jiang Family and how they exhibit any emotional behavior. Madam Yu each time she is on page is the main instigator of physical punishments and pain out of anger, Jiang Cheng seeing her as his own role model follows this same pattern with Jin Ling. The above passage of Madam Yu'a introduction as a parental figure and Jiang Cheng is terribly similar to what we get for Jiang Cheng's introduction as Jin Ling's uncle and a caretaker,

"Since Hanguang-jun wants to punish you, take the lesson this once. It’s not easy for him, either, to manage the juniors from another clan.”

His tone was sarcastic, but it was unclear to whom it was directed. Lan Wangji, who never responded to such provocation, ignored him.

Jiang Cheng turned, his voice scathing. “What are you standing around for? Waiting for the prey to run into your sword itself? If you can’t catch the creature here on Mount Dafan tonight, then you needn’t come to me again in the future!"

And to answer the main point of your ask, no, Jiang Cheng is not any better towards Jin Ling and how he treats him. He treats him exactly as Madam Yu did with Jiang Cheng. With cruel ever changing expectations that were too high for a child to ever be reasonably expected to achieve without help or the care that should have been exhibited to raise a confident child. Jiang Cheng took the role of his mother in all ways and superimposed his life onto Jin Ling as well. Generational trauma is not always easy to of course pick up when you have grown within that environment. Yes you may know something is not "normal" as you interact with others but it's hard to name or describe why. Jiang Cheng thought of his mother respectfully despite her own many flaws, generational deference is difficult to question when that is all you have known until you are in a better environment to explore and comfortably learn despite being less than grand in execution. Jiang Cheng did not get that chance in life, but he does finally let Jin Ling have that as Jin Ling seeks out Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji for nighthunts to learn from.

Unconditional love isn't always a saving grace, and that is an unfortunate reality of life that not all love is always good or healthy despite how very much you love them or each other. Unconditional love can be selfish cruel and hurtful in the ways that people choose to express it when they don't want to be better for their loved ones. The play of trauma and victim blaming is terrible when you are both the abuser and victim and continue that cycle.

The only thing that Jiang Cheng "did better" than Madam Yu, was living to let go of his hates and insecurities enough to stop imposing them on to Jin Ling as well so the child could grow better and with actual role models that encourage a nurturing non-mocking environment first and foremost.