#skull knight is evil

[ladygriffith]

REVEALED! The real villain of Berserk: The Skull Knight

(The Skull Knight) (Thulsa Doom)

Kentaro Miura has mentioned that Berserk was inspired by Conan The Barbarian (Robert E. Howard).

Conan the Great is a fantasy novel by American writer Leonard Carpenter, featuring Robert E. Howard's sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. It was first published in paperback by Tor Books in April 1990.

In Conan you have the kingdom of Aquilonia (Latin Aquilae means eagle, like Falconia means Falcon).

Conan rescues the dwarf Delvyn, jester to Balt. Delvyn, however, is not the fool he appears, but the secret instigator of the invasion and servant to Kthantos, an evil demon.

Delvyn feeds on Conan's anxieties about his advancing age, while heightening his concern over the amoral and ruthless Prince Armiro. 

Concerned by rumors Armiro has imprisoned his former lover, Queen Yasmala of Khoraja, he decides to liberate her and so gain intelligence on his foe.

He rides disguised across Koth to the Tarnhold, Khoraja's infamous prison fortress. Gaining entry through an underwater passage guarded by a giant water spider, he finds Yasmala indeed present, but in voluntary retirement. Armiro and some of his retainers, who had secretly followed Conan, burst in on the two; in the incursion, Yasmala's maid, Vateesa, is critically injured.  The enemies renew their combat, but Conan falters when Yasmala begs him to spare Armiro, now revealed as her son.

The demon god Kthantos, playing both sides, visits Yasmala, who is nursing the comatose Vateesa in their new prison. The demon attempts to possess Yasmala, a fate she evades only to fall to her death.

News of her demise reaches Conan he assumes Armiro responsible and guilty of matricide, kindling his wrath against the prince all the more. Kthantos then appears in a dream to Armiro with an offer of power; the prince is skeptical, but reports the dream to his subordinates as a holy visitation. 

Delvyn encourages him to envision himself emperor of the world with the godhood such a role implies, a notion previously implanted. After a disturbing dream in which Conan imagines himself drawn to his doom, he awakens to word that an army equal to his in size has entered the plateau from the Kothian side—Armiro and his host, guided by the prince's dream.

The antagonists face each other at the temple, which proves the lair of Kthantos. As the demon god hails them, Delvyn and Amlunia incite the two rulers to personal combat, the prize being mastery of their combined armies and the world under Kthantos's patronage. Both monarchs, realizing they've been used, are suspicious of the god but otherwise game, as each believes the other the instigator of Yasmala's death. Their confrontation is interrupted by Queen Zenobia, driven by chariot in relays all the way from Aquilonia. With her is the partially recovered Vateesa, now revealed as the queen's mysterious visitor. They reveal Conan that Armiro is not just Yasmala's son, but his own as well.

This balks Conan while inflaming Armiro to new fury as he vents on Conan the distress over abandonment that has afflicted him his whole life. The fight is on, and Kthantos manifests in triumph. Vateesa recognizes and denounces the demon as Yasmala's murderer, uncovering its machinations. At this the two kings put aside their quarrel and turn on Kthantos, toppling a shattered pillar into the well from which it issues. The dwarf Delvyn remains, released from his patron's spell, and is revealed in his true form—a giant twice the size of Conan. Shunned by humanity, he had studied ancient lore to achieve vengeance, which had led him to Kthantos. In his diminished guise he had played the fool, enticing kings to the demon's service until, in the troubled Conan, he had found what he deemed the perfect tool, to be first used and then supplanted. Now unmasked and thwarted, he challenges the king. Conan has his soldiers dispatch him.

Under truce, and still uncertain of their feelings for each other, Conan and Armiro resort to their advisers and diplomacy. A modus vivendi is envisioned in which both monarchs will pull back from Ophir and respect each other's spheres of influence, abandoning pretensions to sole mastery of the Hyborian world.

(Conan the Swordsman)

Kull of Atlantis or Kull the Conqueror is a fictional character created by writer Robert E. Howard. The character was more introspective than Howard's subsequent creation, Conan the Barbarian, whose first appearance was in a re-write of a rejected Kull story. Kull's mortal enemy is the sorcerer Thulsa Doom.

Thulsa Doom is described by Howard in "The Cat and the Skull" as having a face "like a bare white skull, in whose eye sockets flamed livid fire". He is seemingly invulnerable, boasting after being trampled by one of Kull's comrades that he feels "only a slight coldness" when being injured and will only "pass to some other sphere when his time comes". Thulsa Doom is the most authoritative and powerful sorcerer. One of his most notable abilities is shapeshifting, allowing him to claim various identities. Often impersonating someone else. He was able to hold his own in a sword fight against Conan or Kull.

Thulsa Doom is also seen as controlling the elements and being able to call up a storm out of a calm sea. While Thulsa Doom cannot be killed – even when pierced by a sword or thrown from a great height – he's vulnerable to steel being driven through his body, such steel acting to imprison him and prevent Doom from getting away.

Thulsa Doom is the prototype for many of the future undead evil wizards in Howard's stories. he is also called the 'Skull face' and he has foresight of the most possibilities.

He appeared when he and his legions invade the lands of Cimmerians for the first time, leading to a massacre of the people there including the young Conan's parents (the father was killed by Doom's dogs while the mother was decapitated by Doom with the father's sword). As the young Conan became a gladiator after years of slavery, Conan swore to avenge his people's tragedy by killing Doom.

Posing as the nobleman Ardyon, he forms an alliance with four rebels who actually dethroned the hero, and set him on a quest to regain his lost kingdom. Thulsa Doom sent members of his Black Legion to ambush Kull and Brule, though they won the fight. Thulsa observed the battle through a magic crystal. Kull and Brule's ship was later attacked by a sea serpent, with which Thulsa may or may not have had anything to do.

Thulsa Doom/Ardyon learned of the curse of Torranna (essentially, if a scarred man wore the crown and sat on the throne, he would be unable to ever leave the throne), which he determined to bestow upon Kull. Thulsa Doom drew Kull into Torranna and had him undergo a series of trials to gain the crown of Torranna. Thulsa Doom revealed himself to Kull, challenging him to one final battle. Thulsa Doom pulled Kull into a pocket dimension for their final battle. Kull managed to slash Thulsa Doom's face with his sword, but was ultimately overpowered by the necromancer. Thulsa Doom returned them both to Torranna, but Kull rallied long enough to push Thulsa Doom onto the throne and place the crown on his head. His face scarred by Kull, Thulsa fulfilled the prophecy and fell victim to the curse himself. Thulsa's power were drained by his curse as the city of Torranna collapsed, seemingly crushing him. Kull, luckily, escaped, and then returned to Valusia to retake his own throne.

Set in the time of King Arthur (though Arthur himself doesn't appear onstage) Thulsa Doom comes back to life after 18,000 years on a sinister deserted island. Recognizing Cormac Mac Art – an Irish adventurer who joined a band of Danish Vikings – as a reincarnation of his old enemy King Kull, Thulsa Doom immediately resumes his ancient vendetta and relentlessly seeks to kill Mac Art.

The Riddle of Steel In the beginning, we see Conan's father explain the Cimmerian lore concerning the ancient Giant Kings of earth stealing the forging secrets from the god Crom. Conan's father tells him that he must learn by himself the riddle of steel. Giving him a hint, he tells him that you cannot trust anything in this world, except for one thing; and, showing him the sword of steel he just forged, he says: "This you can trust." What he does exactly mean by "this" is not clear.

Years later, Conan tracks down and confronts Doom and his raiders. Doom tells him that he has abandoned the pursuit of steel, because flesh is stronger. To prove his point, he beckons one of his cult followers on a cliff to come to him. Enthralled by her faith, she steps off the cliff and falls to her death. This, the ability to lead loyal followers who are willing to die for you, is real strength for Doom, and he reproaches Conan for not recognizing where his own strength is. Then, in his final confrontation with Doom, as he is subjugated by Doom's mind control, Conan looks at the damaged sword and somehow frees himself and kills his enemy with one thrust of the still sharp sword. It is implied that, in that instant, he figured the riddle and the true answer to the riddle. Which these are, however, we are never told  Fans have come up with several explanations over the years. One is the Nietzschean idea that will is indomitable and stronger than both steel and flesh. 

“In this world, is the destiny of mankind controlled by some transcendental entity or law? Is it like the hand of God hovering above? At least it is true that man has no control, even over his own will. Man takes up the sword in order to shield the small wound in his heart sustained in a far-off time beyond remembrance. Man wields the sword so that he may die smiling in some far-off time beyond perception.”

What about Griffith / Femto then

Antagonist Villain

Antagonist vs. Villain

Griffith is the Antagonist of Berserk:

Antagonists are plot devices that create obstructions and challenges for your protagonist, while villains are evil characters with malicious intent

A story’s villain is always an antagonist, but not every antagonist needs to be a villain

Often, antagonists are other characters who have their own goals and their own obsessions. Unlike the villain, they don’t necessarily take pleasure in causing the main character harm—they just happen to have desires that conflict with the protagonist’s desires.

Many antagonists are compelling characters in their own right, since they’re not necessarily bad people. They can even go through character development and grow throughout the course of the story.

Skull Knight is the Villain of Berserk:

The villain in your story is the character whose primary motivation is malicious destruction. They’re usually the main antagonist of the story, causing the biggest source of conflict for the hero. Many of them remain hidden until the finale or hide their true intentions to create a plot twist.

He gave Guts the cursed Berserker armor, feeding off of his life force for vengeance. His hatred and darkness is consuming his flesh and SK wanted to kill the moonlight boy, who had helped Guts not to lose himself and hurt his party.

His astral form prevented Guts from killing Casca and falling into madness. Skull Knight could foretell the future but didn't prevent the eclipse. He also tried to kill Femto to stop the birth of Falconia, the peaceful city for human race.

He started the cycle of revenge and sacrifice when he probably tortured the clergyman who transformed into Void who called the god hand upon him.

Clearly, Griffith was an innocent child before he was corrupted by the God Hand giving him a behelit.

Finale Skull Knight Theory

I think Skull Knight will be the End Boss of Berserk and Guts will have to fight him.

Using the power of the Yobimizu no Tsurugi (Sword of Resonance/Actuation), Skull Knight can cut through dimensions. Time is often referred to as the "fourth dimension" 

Guts will win against him and take Skull Knight's Sword. He will cut through the dimension and time travel to Griffith's childhood.

When the clock struck notice the flashing purple light which opens a dimension and Guts appears before Griffith?

You have the same purple hue when SK visits him and Casca. Also The SK's eyes have the hue.

In Conan you have Doom who looks a lot like the Skull Knight. In Conan in the end he is revealed to be the main villain and Conan has to fight him!

Griffith is torn between his dream which is the castle and Guts. HE CHOOSES GUTS and runs towards him. Meaning they will see through the manipulation of those who forced his destiny and defeat the God Hand as well as Skull Knight.

Griffith's love for Guts is the only thing keeping him from losing his humanity, and Guts's too. Griffith is no narcissist. He is misunderstood and manipulated. As he grew up, he was corrupted. A tragic character, whose true will was taken from him.

Great foreshadowing there. Guts will save Griffith set it all right this time! They will beat their fake destiny.

[hologramartgalleryblog]

[donotdestroy]

Tales From The Crypt: Demon Knight (1995) | Official Trailer

[medievaljournalist]

death knight owners: this is Ûthrask Who Laughs Atop The Gallows, hes a fallen paladin-vampire mix, hes 8 feet tall, plants wither and metal corrodes in his presence, and he only eats the hope of the innocent

lich owners: this is Da Evil Skull hes scary lol

[angel-of-the-moons]

Small Surprises

Moon Knight System (Marc/Jake/Steven) x Single Mother!Reader

TW/CW: Some mentions of past childhood abuse, cheating partner, mostly fluff

A/N: Like the Symbrock one I did, this one will be one whole fic with a few times skips here and there! This fic will also explore a bit more into the autistic side of Steven as a character, based off my own experiences with my autism, tics, habits etc! Also, once again, featuring snippets of the hobby headcanons done by @my-secret-shame-but-fanfiction! (I love those headcanons so much they are canon as far as I'm concerned asdfghjkl)

Taglist: @chrishy973 @katitakenway @queerponcho

EDIT: Part 2 is out now!!! Read it here!

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Another droll day at the museum, the same disinterested customers and more nagging from Donna. Honestly, Steven was lucky he got his job back at the museum--though he only surmised it was due to the fact nobody else wanted to work for Donna--but he was grateful for the extra income.

And it definitely helped provide a distraction from Jake's night activities for Khonshu, as well as Marc's from time to time.

But of course, even though it provided a distraction, it wasn't much of one.

That is... until the day a poofy mop of curls bounced into the gift shop, eagerly looking at the wares within with big sparkling eyes. The child couldn't have been older than four--maybe five--as she happily looked at the myriad of items available.

Contrasting to most of the little girls he's seen come in (which, were admittedly few) she didn't immediately run over to the cheap horse figures with the chariots or even the cat plushies.

She went right for things like the plushie scarabs, the statues...

This of course had Donna proverbially chewing her nails as she watched the unaccompanied minor scamper about the gift shop.

"I'm going back to do inventory," She warned Steven. "If she breaks anything, it's coming out of your pay, Stevie."

Steven ground his teeth when she called him that, and waited for her to walk away before muttering. "What little you do pay me, you bloody old biddy."

Steven fixed his name tag and walked up to the little girl, crouching next to her as her chubby little face scrunched in what appeared to be distaste.

"Hey there, poppet. What's got you upset, eh?" He asked, his big brown eyes meeting hers as she crossed her arms with a huff.

"They don't look right!" She complained.

"Oh? What doesn't look right?" Steven asked patiently, a warm smile on his face.

The child pointed to the small canvases and posters of the various Egyptian gods. Namely the ones of Bastet and Anubis, and in particular of the two, one of the canvases depicting Anubis surrounded by shrieking souls and flames.

He himself had raised a complaint with that depiction, as after his own time in the Egyptian afterlife (alongside Marc, and unbeknownst to them at the time, Jake) he knew the afterlife was not like that. While they hadn't met Anubis himself, they were guided and weighed by Taweret.

But he wholeheartedly agreed that the artwork of Anubis was entirely wrong, and frankly, offensive.

"'Nubis isn't like that." She said, stomping her little foot. "He's nice!"

Steven raised his eyebrows at her, tilting his head as some stray curls fell over his face. "Oh?" He asked. "Then tell me little one, how is Anubis?"

"He's--!" She scoffed, rolling her eyes in the typical fashion a child does when they feel like they're explaining something painfully obvious to an oblivious adult.

"He's a good dog-man." She says to him. "He doesn't mess with skulls n' stuffs! He's nice, he helps people who might get lost when they die."

'That's a hefty subject for a kid.' Marc's voice spoke.

"No kidding." Jake remarked. "Where are her parents?"

Steven meanwhile, was positively thrilled that one so young understood that Anubis, while being the god of death, was not evil. And... naturally this sent him into info-dump mode.

"Why, yes! Anubis is good." He held up a finger as the little girl looked at him, awe on her face that he understood what she was saying and was willing to actually talk about it.

"He guided souls once they left their earthly bodies." He explained, grabbing a small replica of an Egyptian temple front. "Once their hearts were weighed, if they were good, he would help guide them to the afterlife. If they were bad..."

"They got ate by the crocko-lion!" The girl finished with a gasp.

Steven suppressed the urge to laugh at how she described Ammit. Jake and Marc meanwhile, held no such compunction and were laughing their asses off.

"I like this kid." Jake said as his laughter died down.

"Yes! They did. But did you know they also had to be judged? Not just with the scales?" Steven grinned at her as she bounced on her heels, the palms of her hands rubbing on her coveralls as she listened.

"Now that subject is very lengthy...." Steven leaned over on the flats of his shoes and plucked a small book about the Egyptian afterlife and mythos and showed it to the little girl. The cover was emblazoned with raised gold print; with images of sarcophagi, and motifs scattered on the front and back.

"But it's always worth a good read." Steven continued. "Now, if you want to know someone else who sometimes assists those who've passed on?"

The little girl plucked the book out of Steven's arms, nodding, her eyes tracking the way his mouth and hair moved. Not once did she make eye contact, instead settling for staring at other features instead.

Steven could understand, sometimes looking into people's eyes was... oof. It was difficult and frankly sometimes it made him uncomfortable, made his palms itch and the hair on the back of his neck tickle.

He stood up, and walked to another shelf, the little girl trailing behind him, the book looking three sizes too large for her tiny body as her little light up sneakers squeaked on the waxed linoleum.

Steven reached down, then, and grabbed a plaster statuette of a familiar feminine shape sporting a hippo head and kneeled back down, showing it to her.

"This is Taweret." He beamed proudly.

"She's the nice hippo lady." The child peeped, staring at the statue with rapt attention.

"Yes! Yes, she is! Very nice." Steven chuckled. "But she's also the goddess of motherhood and children, did you know? She protects women when they have their babies, and helps them."

The little girl nodded, "Yeah, I read a thingy 'bout her! She's--"

"Victoria! Oh my god." A breathless voice called from the front of the shop.

The moment Steven lifted his gaze, he could feel his heart catch on his throat when he saw you. Even Marc and Jake went quiet as you approached.

You were wearing some faded-out jeans and a t-shirt with a faded band logo that hugged your figure very nicely. You had a backpack slung over your shoulders and the keychains dangling from it tinkled and clacked as you moved, rushing to scoop up your child.

Steven could easily see that Victoria got her looks from you, those gorgeous inquisitive eyes, her nose, hair texture...

Jake had to give him the mental equivalent of a slap to stop his gawking as he stood up awkwardly, wiping the hand not holding the statue on his jeans as he gave you what he hoped was a charming smile, but judging by your wariness, you obviously weren't thrilled at the sight of your daughter talking to a strange man.

Steven was about to speak up, but Victoria did so instead for him, not reading the tenseness in the situation.

"Steven's my friend!" She beamed, holding the book in her pudgy little fingers, showing you. "He knows about 'Gyptian stuff, too!"

Steven blinked, feeling a blush creep up on his cheeks as you looked at him, raised eyebrows. It took him a moment of awkward glancing away to realize Victoria knew his name because she read his name tag. He hadn't once said it to her. Hell, he only knew her name because you said it when you ran in!

"Ah... Yes. I work here, in the gift shop. Egyptology is a major... um." He struggled to find a word.

"Hyperfixation?" You sigh, the tension easing from your shoulders as you smile tiredly.

"Oh! Yes. I s'pose!" He said, blinking his big doe eyes at you.

"Yeah, Victoria is... well." You chuckle, propping the young child on your hip with practiced ease. "She's obsessed with the stuff! I swear, the stuff she can shove into her noggin with how much she knows of ancient Egypt, it feels like she was born in the wrong era, I'm telling you!"

Victoria smiled happily and snuggled into you, rubbing her cheek on the soft fabric of your shirt with a content hum, almost like a happy little cat.

You didn't pay any mind to her as she rubbed her face on you, instead conversing with the man in front of you.

"Ah... A little scholar to be, eh?" Steven laughed awkwardly.

"Hah, more like she already is one. With everything she knows, I swear she outpaces me in the IQ department." You sigh fondly, brushing a stray curl from your daughter's face.

Steven's eyes anxiously tracked your movements, how your fingers curled, the way your eyelashes brushed your cheeks when you blinked, the way your foot tapped on the floor...

"I'm surprised she talked to you. She's normally very introverted." You hum softly, raising those drop dead gorgeous eyes to lock with his before he awkwardly dropped his eyes to your lips whilst you spoke.

"But then again, if you started talking about this stuff with her, it's no surprise. I'm the only person she talks to about it because nobody else understands."

You noticed his Steven was looking anywhere but your eyes, and how he nervously licked at his lips, his fingers wrapped around the statuette in his hands tapping idly.

"Oh! She's a lovely little conversationalist. Rather well-knowledged as well!" Steven replied, looking at Victoria again, who grinned as she once again rubbed her face on your shirt.

"Honestly, she's more learned than half the adults who try to talk to me about Egypt." He huffed out a chuckle.

His eyes dropped to the picture of Anubis that initially offended the child. "We got into a little debate about how inaccurate those pieces of Anubis are."

"Oh, don't get her started on those inaccurate artworks... She despises them!" You laugh softly.

"Oh, I fully understand why! It's so offensive!" Steven gasped. "Especially to a culture! Anubis is not an evil god by any means!"

"Oh yeah, believe me... we watched a movie the other day and she had a meltdown because they made Anubis the bad guy. She was so distraught it took thirty minutes to calm her down." You smile with infinite patience at your little girl.

"Oh, poor little dear! But I can totally understand that." Steven smiled, finally locking eyes with you as he reached some level of professional comfort with you.

"Mommy, can I get em?" Victoria peeped, interrupting you before you could get another word out.

"Hm?" You hummed at her, raising an eyebrow.

"The book and hippo lady!" She replied, holding up the book.

"Hippo Lady?"

"Yeah!" She said, sounding a little exasperated, pointing to the statue Steven clutched in his hands. "Her! Tawar!"

"Taweret." Steven chuckled softly at her mispronunciation.

"Tawww--" Victoria frowned as she tried to get the word out. "Tawweret."

"Close 'nough. I'm sure she wouldn't mind." Steven smiled warmly, holding up the statuette.

"All right, all right." You laughed, following Steven to the counter so you could check out, having another nice chat about what he and Victoria discussed. He even tossed in a little keychain that held a preserved scarab beetle in epoxy, much to Victoria's delight!

What you didn't know as you left the shop, was how positively smitten he was with you already.

That was your first meeting with Steven Grant.

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A few weeks crawled by, and every other day you were at the museum, letting Victoria lead you by the hand as she animatedly discussed what every object or picture meant, and you struggled to keep up, making mental (and a few digital) notes on what she was talking about. Of course, she insisted that after every tour, you stopped to say hi to her new "bestest friend" Steven.

You were thrilled that you found someone who operated on the same wavelength as your daughter, knowing that it was hard for her to make connections with other children, let alone adults. But Steven and Victoria took to each other like ducks to water.

And hey, he seemed harmless enough. Cute, too, beneath that mop of curls. You even started researching more just to be able to tag into the conversations between your daughter and her unlikely friend.

Today, you were at the local grocer and Victoria decided that she wanted to walk with you instead of riding in the trolley on her tablet like she normally did. You were happy, but ensured she kept her noise cancelling headphones over her tiny ears to make sure she stayed comfortable.

You had picked up a pack of steaks to examine the cuts when Victoria slipped your hand free of hers and darted off, squealing, "Steven!"

You almost dropped the steaks when Victoria darted down the aisle and wrapped her arms around the legs of the man she ran towards.

One minute Marc was looking at a box of matzahs, the next, he had a child clinging to his legs.

His whole body froze as he looked down, immediately going rigid as the little girl looked up at him, babbling something he didn't quite understand because of how quickly she was speaking.

He did make out the name "Steven".

"Uh--" He said awkwardly.

"I'm so sorry!" You say, hastily bringing the trolley up to the two. "She just got excited to see you, and..."

Your brows furrowed as you looked at him. He looked like Steven Grant, but he didn't feel like Steven Grant. His normally messy curls were combed back neatly, his flannel hanging open with the sleeves rolled up and T-shirt untucked from his pants. His big brown eyes were wide, looking at you with a face that simply pleaded "Help me".

"Uh..."

"I'm... Marc." He said in an unmistakably American accent.

"Oh. Oh!" You lean down and scoop up Victoria, hastily plopping her in the trolley, willing yourself to ignore her little wobbling lip as you messily search up her favorite video to watch on her tablet to prevent the simmering meltdown you could see just beneath her surface.

"I'm... I'm sorry. You just look like someone we know from the museum, and..." You sigh, rubbing your hands together as you cringed.

"Steven, yeah..." Marc said, giving a stiff smile in return as he dropped the box of what looked like crackers into his basket looped over his elbow.

"You..."

'Play it cool, Marc...' Jake's voice softly warned.

"We're, uh, brothers. Triplets. All identical." He spat out with haste.

"Oh! Well... That's... That explains the looks, huh." You smile, hoping to ease the awkward tension. His explanation didn't sit well with you for some reason, as to why he suddenly blurted it all out. But you chocked it up to him trying to explain to avoid upsetting Victoria.

"But, yeah. Um... Your brother, Steven? He and Victoria are like, best friends now. She looks forward to seeing him whenever we're at the museum." You chuckle softly.

Marc's eyes soften as he smiles, giving Victoria a gentle look. "Yeah, uh, Steven's told me about her. She's a smart kid, huh?"

"Oh, yeah. A real genius." You smile at her as she starts tapping away at her tablet, selecting one of her drawing apps and beginning to scribble.

"Sometimes I can't keep up with her."

"Hey, that's good. She'll go places." Marc replied.

Your smile falters a bit. "Yeah, if people will give her a chance..." You mutter.

Marc was about to ask what she meant, but he kept his mouth shut, watching as Victoria was engrossed with her tablet, her little feet wiggling and tapping on the sides of the trolley as she moved her mouth silently, mouthing words to herself.

"She's... Eh." You rub the back of your neck. "She normally doesn't come to the store with me. She says she can hear the lights buzzing and it upsets her, which is why she has to wear her headphones. I mean I can't hear the lights or anything, but all I need to know is that she can..."

"Yeah, Steven is the same way sometimes. It makes him twitch so he has to wear headphones when we go shopping..." Marc said, frowning.

"Yeah. That's something I'm kind of amazed about. Victoria doesn't really have any friends outside of well, me... and your brother? Steven and her are just... man, they're like two peas in a pod!"

Marc stays quiet as you smile fondly at your child, and he notes the relief in your expression as you recount that your child was able to finally connect with someone. It warmed his heart to know that Steven was able to socialize with someone who shared the same mannerisms, even if she was just a kid.

His eyes flicked down to your hands as you put your hands on your hips, and noted the lack of wedding ring and a ring tan line.

'Focus, cabrón.' Jake snickered.

"She's autistic. It was a pain to get her diagnosed, but we managed. I could tell she was different. Namely how she would act with fabrics." You sigh.

Now that grabbed both Marc and Jake's attention. If Steven were aware and co-fronting, he was sure he would be rapt as well. Steven explained the fabric thing to hime a few times, but being in the same body it was still hard at times to understand that Marc or Jake could feel one thing but Steven could feel another.

"Uh... Fabrics? You'll have to forgive me, but..."

"Oh! It's a sensory thing." You explain, rolling your hand. "With her, it's fleece, or satin-like textures. They irritate her and make her fussy. As a baby I never understood why she flipped out when I would put her little socks on her until the doctor explained it when she was older. But for some people it's cotton, or microfiber... The way Victoria describes it is that it's, uh..."

"Scratchy." Marc murmurs.

"Exactly!" You snap your fingers.

"Yeah, Steven is the same way. Though he's not like that with satin, he usually prefers cotton--the super soft kind? Or silk." Marc nods, shoving one hand in his pocket.

"Yeah... It's thankfully easy to shop for her, she prefers cotton and soft microfiber. It's why she rubs her cheek on my shirts or pants. Some people mistake it for being affectionate--and don't get me wrong sometimes it is--but usually it's a grounding thing." You sigh softly. "It helps her calm down."

"Ah... Sounds hard. What about her dad? He know how to handle it?" Marc asked curiously.

He immediately felt bad when he saw how your expression fell, and you glared at the ground.

"He skipped out on us while I was pregnant. I caught him in our bed with someone I thought was my best friend the day I found out she was a girl." You spit, angry and full of venom.

Marc cringed. "God, your best friend? In your bed? That's a whole extra level of degeneracy..."

"I know! Ugh! I swear, if he wasn't stronger than me I would have stabbed him that day!" You groan.

Marc rocks his head back in shock at the admission. "You were gonna stab him?"

"When you're five months pregnant, hormonal, tired, and sore and walk in on your fiancee doing the deed in your own bed? Yeah, emotions get high." You run a hand through your hair, smirking as you looked back at him.

"Grabbed the knife right outta the block and lunged at him. Chased em both half naked out of my flat."

'Shit, I'd be in love. That sounds sexy as hell.' Marc could just imagine the grin that would be spread across Jake's face at that.

Marc laughed, unable to contain himself, both at the retelling of your story and Jake's remark.

'You got problems, Jake.' Marc shot back mentally.

'Pot, meet kettle...'

'Touché...'

"So it's safe to say, he's out of the picture, huh?" Marc says, his laughter dying down into a soft chuckle.

"Oh yeah. Had his parental rights severed, and kicked his sorry.... well. I tossed him out and told him that my "best friend" could deal with him and his lazy antics, considering I pay for the flat."

"Yikes. Sounds like a real dirt bag."

"Oh yeah, he was. I have no idea what I saw in him, to be honest... And knowing that Victoria isn't "normal" like other kids, I feel like he would treat her badly, or... hurt her." You say, shaking your head.

"Hey, if he shows up and does that just call me." Marc grunted. "I hate it when people do that crap to kids. I'll knock his teeth down his throat."

The words slipped out before he could stop them, and the weight of them almost made them feel oppressive as glimpses of his abusive childhood shone through. The memories of his mother swinging her arm down, the crack of the leather belt, the red, bloody welts in his skin...

'Ay, hermano. Come back, don't think about that.' Jake's voice said gently, urging that door in his mind shut. 'That's not your life, anymore.'

Marc blinked and looked back up at you, his eyes locking with yours. And the concern on your face... he felt so undeserving of it. He wasn't sure why, but...

"Ah... I mean... Let's just say I have experience with that sort of thing. So I'm..." He struggled.

"No, no, I get it. My dad was a piece of shhh..." You cringed as the word almost slipped from you, casting a short glance to Victoria, making sure she couldn't hear you. "Er. He was bad. So yeah, I totally get you."

"Oh... Sorry, people get weirded out when I..." He rubbed the back of his neck.

"Disassociate." You finish for him. "I used to do the same thing when it came to my dad. It gets easier once you're free of it, I promise."

The soft, sweet smile you give him was strong enough to make his heart jump into his throat.

'Wow...'

'Ask. Her. Out. Steven won't do it, so you do it!' Jake urged him.

Marc choked suddenly, coughing awkwardly to clear his throat at Jake's further commentary.

"You okay?" You ask him.

"Y-Yeah, I just... Uh..." He cringed again. "It's... allergies! I've been dealing with them since we dusted the flat, and... Yep. Allergies."

You chuckle softly at him as Victoria tugs on your sleeve and whispers in your ear.

"Oop, mama duty calls. It was nice meeting you, Marc." You grin, giving him a short handshake.

"Yeah... You too." Marc replied as you walked off, giving Victoria a wave as she peeked over your shoulder as you push the trolley away.

'Allergies? Smooth, Marc. Really smooth. How the hell did you ever bag Layla with romantic skills like that?' Jake sighed sarcastically.

'I swear Layla probably only married you for your dick, man. You're so BAD at romance.'

Marc knew Layla did love him, at one point but with all the drama of being Moon Knight, it quickly snuffed that relationship... They were still close of course, but they'd never open up to another intimate relationship again. Which was fine, none of them minded particularly.

Especially not now. Not now that there's a cute single mom with and adorably--scarily--smart little girl on her hip to occupy those thoughts.

And that... was your first time meeting Marc Spector.

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Now, meeting Jake was different. Completely different. You technically "met" Jake weeks after you met Marc and built a rapport with him.

One night, Jake was sitting in the window, munching on some saltines he'd spread with sunflower butter as he read some old knitting patterns in a book he'd picked up at a resale shop.

He thought he could knit something for both you and Victoria and have Steven give it to you, it would be a good way to start actually flirting, to hopefully open up that door for all of you.

But of course... well. He knew Steven was way too shy to ask you out on a date, and Marc was too chicken shit and awkward about the subject to bring it up himself.

And so, it fell upon Jake Lockley to find a way to get closer to you, two. He understood that many single mothers found it tricky to date, especially with a child like Victoria. It would require immense levels of trust to get past those walls you would have put up to protect both you and Victoria, especially after you'd told Marc about Victoria's biological father fucking your best friend the day of your ultrasound.

He could just imagine how your poor face fell when you closed your front door, hearing the ridiculously high-pitched, false moans and the squeaking of the mattress as that miserable excuse of a man was having his way with your supposed "best friend"...

All while your hands would have clutched the pictures of your unborn baby girl, tears bubbling up in your eyes as you screamed at them while they scrambled to cover their shame.

And then.... as you told Marc, you would have grabbed the knife and the rest was history; bidding goodbye to that cheating bastard and woman you once trusted.

You were strong, loving and oh so patient with your daughter and her needs. Jake found your whole being attractive, honestly. He hadn't seen you angry, but he just knew you were a badass if you wanted to be.

He chuckled as he picked up his knitting needles, and began to loop the soft, thick yarn through each line. He was sure to pick yarn that wouldn't upset Victoria and her sensory issues, so he picked the softest yarn he possibly could, selecting enough to make the both of you matching jumpers.

Victoria's would be a little big, to allow for comfort and her to grow into it as she wore it. He could just imagine how adorable she'd look with the sleeves hanging over her little hands, squirming and giggling as you two played together--

Jake's hands stopped knitting.

Shit. He had it down bad for you, too.

When he looked down, that's when he noticed the green laser pointed right at him...

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You were there, simply cleaning up the mess from dinner as Victoria happily colored on her dry erase board, drawing the shapes and hieroglyphs she saw in the book Steven selected for her.

She had been quiet and engrossed in her little art project for so long that you jumped and almost dropped a plate on the floor when she squealed loudly.

"Mommy, it's Steven! Or Mister Marc?"

"Huh? What?" You looked around your flat, for some reason your brain told you to look inside instead our our the window where her little finger tapped the glass excitedly.

"No, there!" She insisted. "Over there!"

You walk over to her and lean down, looking out the window.

And sure enough, across the street, in the building across from yours, an apartment had the curtains open with the lights on.

In one of the windows, at a desk, sat a man. The streets were close enough together that you could make out some details. The shadow of a mustache being the first thing you zeroed in on, and then the immaculately slicked-back hair.

He looked like he was... knitting? This man, who looked like Steven and Marc. Marc and Steven both mentioned on different occasions that they had a brother named Jake, maybe this was him?

And wow! So close by, too!

Victoria waved her arms, trying to get her attention, but the man was so absorbed in his task that he didn't notice her try to get his attention. When her little disappointed sniffles could be heard, you snap your fingers.

"I got an idea!" You say, dashing to the end table by the front door and rummaging through the various keychains you'd accumulated. It was a guilty habit of yours, you found.

But then you pluck up the laser toy and run back to the window. It takes shaking it once or twice for the green light to illuminate, but when it does, you shine it directly through the window and at the man's chest.

Then, he looked up.

You break out into a happy grin when he spots the two of you, and Victoria giggles with unabated glee as she waves some more, her whole tiny body moving with every shake of her overly excited hand.

You see the man smile back and he waves at the both of you.

"Hey, baby, why don't we use your board to say hi?" You suggest, rubbing her shoulders.

"Yeah!" She giggles, grabbing the board and erasing her painstakingly re-created drawings from the book, and messily scrawled the word:

Hi :)

The man laughed and looked around until he grabbed a notebook, scribbled something with a marker, and held it up for you two to see.

Hello

You chuckle as Victoria hands you the board, knowing that your writing is neater than hers is, and with how excited she is, she was bound to mess up.

You quickly and clearly write something down and turn the board to face the window.

Steven or Marc?

He smiled at you and scribbled back.

Jake

Marc n Steven told us about you. Hi!

They've told me a lot about you, too.

"That's Jake, honey. Remember what I said? How Steven and Mister Marc look alike? He's the same way." You explain to Victoria.

"Oh." She sighs. Poor little thing seemed dejected that once again, she misidentified someone as her "bestest friend".

You lift your eyes as Jake showed what he put on the notepad next. It was a badly drawn cat with a happy face on it.

You can't help but laugh and grin, nudging Victoria to look at what he drew for her.

"It's a kitty!" She gasps, snatching the board from your hands to draw pictures for him.

You spent much of the evening that night with Victoria and Jake drawing pictures back and forth, writing messages until he ran out of paper.

That's when you put down your phone number and told him to text, to make it easier on Victoria.

Victoria, upon realizing this, dropped her board and snatched your phone, starting a video call with Jake and chattering his ear off. He seemed to take it in stride, engaging with her. Not on the same level as Steven, but something about how he handled it gave you the impression he had experience with kids, or even worked with kids.

He didn't talk down or dumb anything down for her, he spoke to her calmly and clearly like he would anyone else, and the fact he was so sweet was endearing to you.

He was even teaching her little words in Spanish. For some reason, she liked to repeat the word "cat" because she liked how it sounded, and it was "funny".

That was how you met Jake Lockley.

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It was now half a year since you'd indirectly met all three "brothers" and quickly, the pressure was beginning to mount on them to reveal the truth to you as their crush developed more and more into full infatuation with you and your darling girl.

But they still hadn't asked you out, yet. They'd come close a few times, but it was never when Jake was in control so Marc and Steven backed down at the last possible moment. Every time Jake was in control it wasn't a "good moment" for them to propose a date with you. But now?

It was late in the year, the harvest festival being over with and the holidays around the corner with Christmas, as usual, dominating all others. Snow and ice encased everything. It came early this year, and Victoria couldn't be more thrilled. (She could build snowmen with her friends, Steven, Mister Marc and Mister Jake!)

You and Jake would text, and he gave in and told you that he, Marc, and Steven all actually lived together and he would "let" Steven or Marc use his phone so he could video chat with Victoria and you.

You didn't know the boys all shared the same phone regardless.

It was nice having a social life again, even if it was small. Outside work and ensuring a comfortable upbringing for your little girl, you'd forgotten how nice it was to have friends. Even if those friends consisted of three identical, quirky brothers who lived in the flat across the way.

The day was coming soon, for when they would have to confess to you about the true nature of their identities. And the three unanimously agreed that they would tell you about Moon Knight.

For your safety, and Victoria's. They didn't want you to agree to date them (if you ever would) only to find out they snuck out in the dead of night to do the bidding of some creepy ancient bird god who could frankly do with a wardrobe update...

They just didn't anticipate that day to be today. Of course, Steven would rather have broken the news to you over a nice dinner in the corner booth of a quiet restaurant. Or even on a nice walk through the park...

But no. No, it had to come out when you decided to pull out your phone and go through your texts or the day as Victoria sat in Steven's lap on the couch of your living room.

Jake had sent a meme earlier in the day, of a little cat wearing a sombrero and you chuckled. You sent a meme back in reply, of a snail holding some maracas on some drawn-on arms.

That's when Steven twitched when the phone in his back pocket vibrated and chimed with a silly little ringtone.

You blinked at him as he fished it out of his pocket, careful not to knock Victoria off balance as he checked it. He awkwardly cleared his throat and gave you a strained smile as he set it on the coffee table in front of you.

"You okay..." You say, eyeing the very familiar phone. They could just have the same model and case...

"Oh, yes, just an email alert, luv. Don't worry 'bout it!" Steven chirped, quickly shifting his attention back to Victoria as she practiced her reading from the book in her hands.

You squint at him suspiciously. Your finger hovered over the send button when you selected another silly little image...

But you decided to call instead.

That's when a song began to chime. One you recognized very well as Steven's favorite song...

♫"Lonely is a man,

Without looove~"♫

'God damn it, Steven! You forgot to put it on silent again!' Marc's panicked voice shouted inside their headspace.

'Ay, hermanito, not now!' Jake groaned.

Steven began to sweat profusely as Victoria handed the phone innocently to him, urging him to answer it, not making the correlation with the song, or your phone number...

Steven shakily held the phone to his ear and answered.

"H-Hello..."

"Steven." You deadpan, raising an eyebrow and tapping your finger on your arm.

'Shit shit shit shit.' Marc hissed.

'Busted.' Jake almost sang.

You look at Victoria, hesitant to interrupt her time with Steven, but you wanted answers. Why is it that none of the men ever agreed to all meet up in person to hang out? Why did you only ever see one at a time? Yes, work was a convenient excuse, but every single day?

And then there's the phone!

Yeah, you weren't letting Steven wiggle free from this talk, even as Victoria pouted and trudged back into her room to play with her toys.

You almost feel like a cop in a bad movie, the way you lean back with your arms crossed, almost like you were an interrogator in a police precinct.

Would this make you both the bad and good cop?

You felt so bad, knowing that this kind of behavior would only freak Steven out, so you relaxed your jaw and posture, leaning away from him and giving him breathing room as his sweaty hands began to pat nervously in the memorized tune of that specific song that was just playing.

"I'm not blind, and I'm not dumb... So start from the beginning." You sigh. "I don't want anything to come out and upset Victoria, but I have to know who I'm letting around my little girl."

Steven licked at his slightly chapped lips, taking his bottom lip between his teeth briefly.

"Okay..." He peeped.

'Just take it slow, Steven.' Marc urged him gently.

'I can take control, if you want.' Jake offered.

"No, that's too much right now." Steven muttered aloud, without thinking.

You tipped your head to the side. "What's too much?"

Steven jumped and covered his mouth, his big doe eyes wide as can be, like he's a little boy who was caught with his hand in the cookie jar. He wanted to crawl into a hole and never come out.

He despised awkward situations like this. He could never tell what to say to keep someone happy and to avoid them getting angry with him...

"Steven, I'm not mad. I'm honestly confused. Please... Just... Tell me everything, okay? I just wanna know some things." You say, leaning forward to put your hand on his knee, your ever so patient eyes sweet and understanding.

Yeah, those eyes were his undoing.

"Do you know what Dissociative Identity Disorder is?"

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Whatever you had originally expected to hear from Steven, finding out that he, Marc and Jake all shared the same body was a lot to absorb. Especially after Steven blurted out about their superhero alter ego that apparently did bidding for an Egyptian god?

Steven expected you to be mad, braced himself for it, but instead, he and his two headmates were knocked entirely off center when you made the remark that if Khonshu ever got to be too much for the boys, they should lock him in a room with Victoria and her never-ending questions.

That would shut him up for a little while, surely.

Another thing you weren't expecting was the date proposal from Steven (and of course Marc and Jake).

You hesitated, at first... But...

They were so kind and sweet. They already have shown so much care for you and your daughter... And you were honestly happy to realize that you weren't crushing on different guys, that your feelings were no longer awkward and conflicted.

Or wait, were you crushing on different men? Yes they were completely different identities, but they shared a body, and... oh, this was gonna take time to learn more about.

Your first date was for later that week. Steven informed you it would be Jake, taking you out, as he felt like a "bloody awkward fool" and was afraid of messing it up, and Marc was just as bad at those social situations.

But you agreed, and when the date rolled around, you and Victoria were bundled up, all ready to go to the charming little Italian restaurant somewhere in town where apparently Jake was friendly with the employees there.

Victoria skipped in the snow, struggling to match her pace with yours, making sure her footsteps were measured so her prints mirrored yours exactly as she walked on her little tippy toes.

As you approached where Jake had his car parked, he smiled, his mustache quirking up as he scooped Victoria in his large gloved hands, laughing when she dragged her fingers over his hairy upper lip, comparing the stache to a caterpillar.

You stifled a snort and covered your mouth as you watched Jake buckle Victoria into a booster seat in the back of his car.

"Where did you..." You blinked. You fully intended to run back to your flat and grab the booster seat you owned, but you were surprised to see Jake already had one. A rather expensive-looking one, at that.

"Ay, cariño, you didn't think I'd let the little chiquita ride unprotected, did you?" He smirked at you, his dark eyes glinting mischievously.

"But, I have one. You didn't have to..."

"Hey, if it makes it easier, I'll be happy to foot the bill." Jake hummed, leaning in to check Victoria's buckles as she played on her tablet, snow-caked shoes kicking lazily as she did.

Normally, Jake was insane about his car. He always made sure his fares cleaned their damn feet off before getting inside. But for you two he willingly made the exception.

"Now, c'mon mamacita." Jake grinned at you once more as he enabled the child lock and closed the door on Victoria's side. "We got lunch to get to, right?"

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You couldn't remember the last time you were on a date. Actually wait, you could. The night you got pregnant. One of the only times Victoria's sperm donor was ever romantic with you, and he proposed the next morning after.

Yeah, you knew how that story ended.

But now it looked like a whole new book was being written right in front of you, as cliché as it all sounded.

Jake had treated you both well, engaging happily and drawing with Victoria on the activity mat the restaurant provided as you sipped your glass of red wine, watching; your heart was fluttering in your chest as you watched how happy she was interacting with them.

After a while, he went back out to his car and returned with a sparkly red gift bag for the two of you and you immediately felt your heart lurch up from your chest and into your throat.

He knitted the two of you matching jumpers. A mama cat and her kitten, of course, he managed to do it in an Egyptian style, much to Victoria's glee as she ripped off her regular jumper in favor of the one Jake made, immediately rubbing her face on the sleeve with a happy giggle.

You couldn't help but smile warmly as Jake helped her pop her head through the top, and you decided to slip yours on, yourself.

God, it was almost surreal how Hallmark it all seemed. Not one, but three men interested in you, a lonely single mother. All three men who adored your daughter and treated you both with respect. All three men, who shared the same body and nighttime secret.

And you found yourself falling just as hard, and somewhere in the back of your mind wondered if--if--you had met them first... would they have been Victoria's father(s)? Would they have rejoiced in your pregnancy? Gone to your appointments, held your hand in the delivery room? Would they have helped the doctors weigh and print Victoria for the very first time?

Your mind was knocked out of the what-ifs when your phone jingled, catching Jake's attention.

"Oh, it's Victoria's pediatrician. I have to take this." You sigh sadly, not wanting to step away from the cozy atmosphere in your booth.

Jake smiled at you and winked, "Go ahead and take it. I got her handled."

You smiled back, hoping the flush to your face wasn't as obvious as you feared as you got up and answered the call.

Jake continued to play and draw with Victoria, letting her explain how some of her learning games worked, what apps were her favorite, and who her favorite cartoon characters were.

Honestly, if anyone thought Steven was great with Victoria thanks to their same autistic traits? Jake was good simply because he was a natural with kids. Marc was, too, but he was a bit stiff and nervous. He needed to be eased into it just a bit more.

"Hey.... Psst. Mister Jake." Victoria whispered to him, blinking her big, bright, gorgeous eyes up at him.

"Yeah? What is it, gatita?" Jake hummed at her, grinning.

She waved her hand, urging him closer as she whispered conspiratorially, cupping her hand over his ear, "Look where Mommy's standing."

Jake lifts his gaze to find you among the crowd of people, where you stood on your phone, talking to the doctor about Victoria's upcoming appointment. He tracked where Victoria was pointing, and that's when he saw it: the mistletoe.

He knew immediately what Victoria was hinting at.

"That means you gotta kiss my Mommy." She whispered to him again.

"Oh, I do, huh?" Jake teased, poking her in the side. "And what if I don't?"

"Then Imma make you!" She squeaked and giggled.

"Oh, dear, then in that case I definitely have to do it, eh?" He chuckled.

"C'mon." Jake said, scooping Victoria up and holding her on his hip. "Let's go give another present to your wonderful mamá."

As they got closer to you, he caught the tail-end of your conversation.

"...yeah. Next Wednesday at 3pm. See you, then, Doctor Wilson. ...Of course! Happy holidays." You say cheerily, ending the call.

When you turned around, you saw Jake holding Victoria against him as he walked closer to you.

The sight really shouldn't have taken your breath away the way that it did...

But if you thought your breath was taken before? It was entirely robbed from you as Jake leaned in, wrapping an arm around your waist as he tipped his head down to kiss you, his mustache tickling your nose and upper lip.

You were so taken aback that you didn't hear the whooping and laughing from the workers of the restaurant as the scene unfolded in front of them, congratulating Jake.

Victoria squirmed and squealed and laughed and laughed, rubbing her face on Jake's leather jacket as your lips finally parted and your jaw dropped.

"What's the matter, mamacita? Cat got your tongue?"

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God, dating those men was the best decision you ever made. Even with them being Moon Knight.

They were kind enough to always say goodnight to Victoria before they went about their business, giving you a soft kiss before whichever one was in control of the body departed.

You had only been dating a short while, it was now entering February and you were all spending more and more time together. Marc, Jake, and Steven had all spent the night once or twice in their own time.

Nothing sexual happened, but it was so nice to fall asleep with someone wrapping their arms around you. It was even better to wake up and see Victoria snuggled onto his chest, his arms caged around her protectively, flexing when she made any movements as his unconscious body ensured she wouldn't roll off of him and--god forbid--onto the floor.

It was a few days before Valentine's, and Marc had spent the day with you and Victoria. He had gotten much more comfortable around her, falling into a natural and gentle routine unique to them. Just like she had with Steven, and Jake. And above all, they handled her autism well.

Steven was exceptionally good at helping distract her during her meltdowns, whereas Jake could cradle her, singing little songs in Spanish as he rubbed her back. Marc would start by talking to her in a low, gentle tone, urging her to just breathe, and talk, explaining what was upsetting her and what would work best to help her calm down from it.

But right now, Victoria was in the midst of a battle against sleep.

"Don' wanna sleep." Victoria sniffled into Marc's jumper.

"I know, babydoll, but you'll feel loads better once you do, mkay?" He murmured quietly to her as he padded, barefoot into Victoria's almost obnoxiously canary-yellow bedroom.

"I can make some apple pancakes for you in the morning, hm? How's that sound?"

He dodged the minefield of toys scattered about and chuckled softly at the shelf where her little ancient Egypt memorabilia sat meticulously organized alongside her books and drawings on the subject. A half-finished paper sarcophagus lay on the desk in the corner, a project Steven had started with her two days ago that they intended to finish together.

Marc laid her down and she nodded, rubbing her eye. "Okay..." She mumbled in agreement.

Marc picked up the plushy scarab that Steven bought from the gift shop and handed it to her, tucking her in all nice and warm.

"There you go." He said softly to her, kneeling next to the bed. "Snug as a bug in... well. Blankets, right now, huh?"

He grinned when Victoria giggled groggily at his pun, squeezing the beetle plush she named "Digger" and snuggled under the blankets, her feather lashes brushed her cheeks as she began to drift off.

"See you in the morning, babydoll." Marc said softly, giving her a kiss to her forehead before standing.

His finger had just flipped the switch to turn off the lights in her room, so only the salt lamp dimly illuminated her bedside, when he heard her peep as she rolled over.

"G'night daddy."

He felt like his heart stopped beating as he shakily closed the door, dragging his suddenly very heavy feet through your flat as he made his way to your couch, the weight of that word landing on his shoulders.

He felt like Atlas, carrying the world on his back as he dropped down onto the chocolate brown cushions.

You walk over, having finished dishes from dinner, wiping your hands on a tea towel. Upon seeing his shell-shocked expression, you sit next to him in concern as he covered his face with his hands, his arms shaking and skin pale.

"Marc, sweetie, what's wrong?"

"I..." He said, his voice breaking.

You lean in, reaching out to brush a hand through his mop of curls, letting him take his time. Maybe Steven or Jake was trying to front? You've seen how taxing it could be on them when it happened so suddenly. One time Steven had seized control in the kitchen from Jake and he fell and cracked his head open on the counter! Poor Victoria cried when she saw how much he was bleeding, scared that he was dying.

It took a lot of hugs and kisses to convince her otherwise...

"She... God. Fuck." Marc swore softly, sniffing. "She--she called me daddy."

Your jaw dropped and you gawked at him. Was Victoria already so attached to him? To them? But then again, she's never had a father figure, before, either, and suddenly having not one, but technically three men in her life doing all the things a dad should do? You can understand why she would--hell, why you would...

He dropped his arms and you could see the beginnings of tears clump in his beautiful eyelashes, heavy weights of emotion settling deep in his chest.

He looked up at the ceiling, trying to blink the tears away. God, he didn't deserve all of this. He didn't deserve this... this domesticity. Guys like him just didn't get to have a life like that. Not with everything he's had to do as a soldier, a mercenary... in Khonshu's name.

He didn't deserve such a beautiful woman, or the idolized gaze of her sweet and innocent baby girl.

'You're too hard on yourself, Marc.' Steven said to him in their headspace.

'Yeah, hermano...' Jake murmured.

"Marc, honey..." You say, leaning in and adjusting your position, so your head lay on his chest. You spread your hand over his heart, feeling how it hammered in the muscle of his chest.

"I just... What the hell did I do to get this?" He asked softly, bringing his arms around you to bury his nose in your hair.

"Well, I think it all started the day a certain little girl wiggled free of me and ran into a gift shop..."

Marc chuckled, squeezing you tight.

"Would you want us to?" He whispered. "Would you want us to stay? Would you be okay with that? I know it's soon, and--and I'm not saying we move in or anything like that, but..."

"I think it would crush Victoria if I ever shoo'd you boys away, honey." You assured him, tipping your head up to give him a sweet kiss.

You feel the tension slowly bleed from his body and his expression softens into a heartbreakingly sweet smile, his dark eyes sparkling with a warmth that you haven't seen before as your lips parted.

"Then we'll stay. As long as you both will put up with us." He said to you, his voice so quiet you almost couldn't catch his words.

"How do Steven and Jake feel about her calling you daddy?" You smile slyly.

Marc grins and drops his head back with a laugh, listening to the bickering of his headmates as his anxiety ebbed away.

"Oh... They're arguing over who Vicky is gonna call daddy next."

"We need to think of nicknames for you guys so she doesn't confuse you." You laughed with him.

Your laughter was cut short when you heard Victoria's door click open, and out she waddled, blanket clutched in one arm, Digger firmly squeezed into the crook of her elbow and her thumb was in her mouth. She only sucked her thumb when she was frightened, or severely anxious.

"Baby, what's wrong?" Marc asked, shooting to his feet even before you could, at her side in a split second.

You joined him and put your hands on her shoulders, looking into her drowsy and not-entirely-awake eyes. "Did you have a bad dream?"

She shook her head, mumbling something around her thumb.

"What is it, kiddo?" Marc inquired next.

She pulled her thumb out of her mouth with a pop.

"There's a bird-man in my room."

[simpingforheros]

Safe

Pairing: Gotham Knights! Jason Todd X Female! Reader

Summary: Being a mercenary isn’t easy. Being a lab experiment turned mercenary isn’t easy either. Being a Bio-engineered mercenary in Gotham city with a reformed Red Hood isn’t easy at all.

Warnings: Hurt Comfort, Angst with bittersweet ending, Enemies to Friends??, Female Pronouns, Mild Violence, Horrible Fight Scenes (I’m sorry), Reader is basically Black Cat but little different, implied OOC! Amanda Waller, Mentions of Death, Torture, PTSD, and Panic Attacks.

Author’s Note: I guess I’ll give y’all a break from my Toxic! Jason agenda. But I’m not giving y’all a break from calling y’all out on being slanderous to my underrated, unproblematic princess that is GK! Jason. He may not be as pretty as the other ones, but he got a better relationship with his family than y’all have with y’all’s daddies (jk I’m sorry). Also yes, the reader is Black Cat coded because I love her and I want to see Jason with a cool feline counterpart of his own.

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Fuck. FUCK!

Chanted through her mind as she realizes what the hell she has just done. This whole assignment was a set up from the moment that job listing hit her burner phone. Her clawed gloves raked through her hair as she desperately took in her situation.

Months after the death of Batman, criminals became bolder with their crimes despite the lurking remains of Batman’s legacy. New villains and mercenaries came in to either assist Gotham’s veteran rogues or building their own empires among the shadows of the bigger evil’s crimes. However, Y/N didn’t fall into either category.

Originally a lab rat for Amanda Waller to find a cure for her terminal cancer, the cat like mercenary became a quick popular option among gang leaders and the low life to hire to do quick jobs without minimum risk. Of course the cat like persona wasn’t due to her stealth…

A blast rings out of the previously locked door as the girl’s head snaps back. Her body collapses as the roar of victorious laughter fills the air.

“You see how that bitch’s head just snapped back like a twig?!” Victor Sionas laughed through his leather mask as his golden firearm flashed in the fluorescent light of the value.

It was supposed to be a quick heist, minimum risk on her end. Just grab a hard drive with 6.8 Billion dollars worth of stolen and encrypted medical documents and financial records and leave before Black Mask realized she was there. An easy heist for a fair reward.

Victor’s ranting and raving filled the safe in loud echos as his assistant tries to listen to her pager for their normal disposal team. As the crimson slowly sets into the concrete, a faint green glow began to form around her body. The harsh grit releases her life force as it recedes back into her skull.

Amanda Waller wasn’t normally a desperate woman, but when it came to her life, she didn’t care what criminal she had to deal with to get her life back. Even the League of Assassins…

As the pair was about to leave to attend a meeting of some kind, Y/N didn’t know or care to know as her ears ring back into tune. Her body jolts up as she springs back to life in an instant.

As her eyes meet Sionas’ shocked stare, her lips curled into a wicked smirk. Her E/C eyes shined with a new madness as she flexes her adamantium tipped claws, ready to rip out his throat.

Victor quickly raises his gun ready to shoot again as she swipes at his wrist. The appendage falling to the floor as his screams drowned out the echos of his false victories.

“I guess it was an easy job.” She comments before her claws strike again.

Maybe she should ask for a raise to make up for her dry cleaning?

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The crime scene was a bloodbath.

Police scrambled and crawled the building as lights and tape marked the massacre. Every surface, furniture, rug, and plant were all tagged, sprayed, and searched for any bodily matter that could lead you to the person behind this horrific crime.

Black Mask’s gang. A once prominent gang in Gotham city who survived fights between Batman and The Red Hood were all dead. Eviscerated. Slaughtered.

All of the dead were clinging onto weapons as either distinct claw marks either craved them to ribbons or they were killed by their own weapons. Whoever did it clearly attacked the ones who attacked first.

The only survivors were the ones who didn’t attempt to fight the assailant. Victor’s assistant was the only one that was harmed among them with a deep set of scratches on her face with a look of horror in her eyes.

A look Nightwing and Red Hood didn’t like to see even from a criminal.

“And you said you didn’t know why this happened?” Nightwing asks skeptical of the woman’s reliability.

The woman eagerly nods as she sputters out, “We caught her in the safe and Sionas wanted to teach her a lesson…we heard her reputation was only with stealing…not this…”

Jason growls as he grew inpatient with her stuttering, but he takes a deep breath. ‘Be Patient…’ He reminds himself before something made his ears perk up.

“It was like magic or something! Sionas shot her point blank in the head and she just came back to life in an instant!! That’s when she went crazy! We just wanted to get her back for stealing from our off shore accounts. We didn’t know that she was a…monster.”

Fuck.

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Fire. Fire is what it felt like. It crawls from the deepest part of her mind and spreads through her veins like a fever. Her vision tunneled in as memories of all her previous deaths haunting her brain surged forward as her body acted on instinct. Out of fear…

It took three days before the madness faded this time. That was probably the longest time she was trapped in that state since she escaped Waller. Those three days were a fog as she only remembered the splitting head ache from the gun shot and her costume covered in blood.

Once the new broke on a ‘maniac’ who killed the Black Mask’s gang, Y/N knew she couldn’t leave Gotham yet until the buzz died down. She already knew the Bat’s sidekicks were looking for her, so she used whatever cash she had left to hide out in a cheap motel room.

“Fuck….” She groans as her trembling hands dropped her cell phone. Her eyes tried to dart around the aisles of the gas station she was currently hunting for food in. The remaining madness caused her senses to be on high alert and her anxiety to be high.

If she was back home, she could hideout in her apartment with her cat for a month before finding another job listing, but she was trapped in Gotham in a ratty motel.

So venturing to the crummy gas station for some junk food and beer is the next best thing. At least the disinterested cashier doesn’t pay her any mind. 4am on a weekday with a case of beer probably made her just appear to be a normal tweaker.

(Y/N) adjusts her sunglasses and makes sure her silver hair was well hidden under her zip-up’s hood before she brings her items to the counter. The zit faced teen gives her a look over, not hiding the attention he gave to her exposed cleave from the tank top she had showing.

“Ma’am, we don’t allow sunglasses inside the store.” He creaks out. Her (E/C) roll as she takes her sun glasses off. The door chimes as someone enters the store, but her attention was focused on the cashier. When he finally scanned her beer, his cracking voice asks,

“Do you have ID, Ma’am?”

Her hands go to her sweatpants pocket and only feels the cash she brought. Her mental anguish grows as she sighs in annoyance. Her fake id was in motel, and she technically doesn’t exist so she never had a real id.

Deciding to turn up the charm, she smiles sweetly at the teenager as she says, “I’m sorry, but I left my id back at my place. I’m sure you can tell I’m old enough, right?”

Her cleavage seemed to not work its charm as the teen rudely says,

“I can tell you’re old by your hair lady. But I need ID.”

Her eyes widen as a faint glow of green shows as she snaps at him. “I’m not old! I’m 24, you little p-!”

She stops herself as she takes a deep breath as she feels the madness subsided. She really didn’t wanna kill a kid over some cheap beer.

“Fine…I had a bad day so just get me the snacks.” She admits in defeat as she pulls out a hundred bucks. Just as she was going to pay, a hand drops some beef jerky and a case of beer on the counter beside her items. A deep voice cuts the air and causes a shiver to crawl up her spine.

“Add her stuff and beer to my order.” A thick, veiny hand presents the cashier with his ID and a credit card as she turns her head to see who it was that saved her evening.

Before her was a man who stood well over 6 feet tall. His shoulders were as broad as an old oak tree with muscles strong enough to take one down. His face wasn’t particularly the normal standard for attractiveness, but the strong jaw and scar gave him a handsome roughness that made her stomach tighten. It didn’t help that his nearly buzzed hair gave him a military sense, but his eyes were what made her heart stop in her chest. The beautiful green eyes that glowed an unearthly hue that she was familiar with.

She sees it in her eyes everyday. The scar of the Lazarus pit.

(Y/N) almost forgot where she was before the cashier cleared his throat. Her focus returned back to the counter as she grabs her stuff. Before she could run off, something made her stop to wait for the man. Whether it was curiosity or stupidity, she didn’t know.

Maybe she wanted to see what his deal was? Was he with Waller? The League of Assassins? Can he tell she was from the pit too? How different were they? How many times did he die and come back?

The opportunity to speak with someone who may can relate to her outweighed her wariness from her situation. But it was curiosity that killed the cat, right?

As the man starts heading for the door, she follows as she says,

“Excuse me?”

His eyes meet hers as a small smile as he says,

“Hey, I’m sorry for stepping in over there. I understand when stuff isn’t going your way.”

A warmth takes over her face as she says shyly, “No, it’s fine I just wanted to thank you. That was really sweet of you…”

As the two walk out, the stranger's friendly demeanor drops a little as he mumbles into the empty night air.

"So, you're the one who killed Victor Sionas..."

Her breath releases as she hears the pin drop. Her eyes dart around the parking lot as she sees the only vehicle is a old school motorcycle. She doesn't have any weapons and she wasn't sure if how skilled he was or if he had gained powers just like her from the pit.

With a frown, (Y/N) gruffs out, "Yeah...what are you gonna let me enjoy my last beer before you turn me in?"

She looks up to the man as their eyes meet. His eyes studying her as she keeps a tight grip on her bag. Maybe if he charges at her, she can swing the bag to his head and throw him off...

"No." He answers simply as he heads towards his bike. Her eyes widen in disbelief as she sputters out.

"No? I just admitted to murder and you're letting me go??"

"Yep." He answers over his shoulder as he loads his things into the compartment under his seat. Irritation fills her being instead of the relief she should have felt. She stomps towards him as she fusses,

"What's your deal? You buy me a beer and casually ask me if I commit murder? And you're gonna just leave? Did the pit mess you up that bad??" She snaps at him as she stands face to face, face to chest with him. Her eyes glowed eerily as he was filled, and a familiar shiver went down his spine.

His hands clap onto her shoulders as he pulls her close to him. A wave of coldness filled her body as the eerie glow covered his hands. The familiar feeling of the Lazarus pit filled her as he leaned into a whisper.

"The only reason I'm not hauling your pretty ass to Arkham right now is because I understand that it wasn't you when you killed them, Kitty..." His eyes glowed momentarily as a sad look briefly flashed into those green pools. "A petty mercenary who had no history of mass murder on file doesn't just jump to it without warning. The Lazarus Pit fucks up people to their core, so trust me when I say that I understand better than anyone how you feel..."

'Understand? How can he understand?' Her mind unravels as she looks up at him in disbelief. Has he ever woke up afraid of what he might have done the night before? Worry about when someone would come and shoot him in the head or stab him just to see if he could come back without being submerged anymore? Did Waller use him to heal her at the expense of his own pain just to throw him away to fend for himself???

Rage flashes through her as she roughly pulls away from him. Her bag falls to the asphalt as glass shatters. Her eyes are wild as old memories filled her. "Don't you dare say you understand me? You don't know shit about what I had to go through?"

His eyebrows frown together as he grimaces. A look of recognition and guilt flashes before he says to her. "You're right. I don't know what you went through before you died, but I do understand how you're feeling. The anxiety, the rage, the blood lust...I wanna help you."

She laughs bitterly as she figures out something about him. He only died once and was brought back. The skunk stripe in his hair should have given it away when she realized he was similar to her.

"Which time?" (Y/N) asked as she turned around and walked away. "I've died plenty of times to know that you will never understand..."

And she leaves the man alone in the parking lot as she storms off to her motel, not caring if he sees where she went or not. Her heart was beating out of control as she felt the wavering thoughts of going back to him and either hitting him or hugging him.

‘Maybe I need to rest some more….’

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Silence filled the museum as the dust bunnies and art laid undisturbed during their rest from the public eye. Her footsteps were a minimum as she walked through the shadowy parts of the building, trying to find what she was sent to retrieve.

After another week of hiding out, a job was directly pinged for her on the job board. Her eyes squinted at it at first because the offer was a little bogus to her.

‘Steal a painting, retrieve the hard drive inside, and bring it to the disclosed location in exchange for 2 Million dollars in unmarked bills.’

2 Million for a petty thief job that would have more suited Catwoman instead her seemed pretty unusual. But, at this point, her phyiscal cash funds were running low and she still was afraid of using her offshore accounts now that she knows that some zombie like her knew who she was.

Her masked eyes scanned the building’s plaza until she found what she was looking for. A large flowery portrait hanging just beyond the fountain. Her head tilts as she looks at it from afar.

‘Pretty… I wonder if I can find a print of it to buy to hang in my living room…’ Her steps remaining slow and cautious until she reaches the fountain. She looks under where the painting hung, trying not to get too close to it. There was no tag or podium that held the artist’s name or any indication that it was an actual art piece. It was most likely some print from a furniture store catalog or Etsy.

Her eyes rolled as she realizes that the listing was another trap. Obviously from someone who didn’t know shit about art or how to buy mercenaries on the black market.

As if on que, her ears buzzed as she heard the pure instinct take over as she whips around. Her hand immediately stops the staff about to hit her in the face as she elbows the smaller opponent in the stomach before slamming her fist in his cheek to knock him back. The guy gets thrown back a couple of feet as he gasped for the air she punches outta him.

She looks to the guy as she twirls his staff absent mindedly in her hand. His costume and smaller physique gave it away as to who he was. She remembers seeing a tv show story about him the previous night on the news. The boy wonder, Robin. At least the third version of him.

“Hey, tweety bird. You good?” She asked in a nonchalant tone. Her eyes unamused as she watches the kid cough up a lung as he looked up at her in shock that she wasn’t attacking him like he expected her to.

“You know, it’s dangerous to be on job listing boards like that.” She scolds him lightly as she walks around him and grabs his arm, gently helping him up and sitting him by the fountain. “There’s actual killers on that board who would have happily tried cutting you up for pulling a shitty fake job like this.”

The sidekick glares at her as he was already confused as he just witness the girl he was sure killed an entire gang just casually scold him. “Like how you did with Black Mask?”

Her eyes flashed with guilt before the nonchalant personality appeared again as she focused on throwing the staff up to make it spin. “It was self defense. He and his gang had it coming for all the child drug peddling and the lives he ruined.”

A heavier drop down of three other figures caught her attention as she looks around. Nightwing, Batgirl, and Red Hood were surrounding the fountain, blocking her in. Her anxiety rising as she hides it with a now playful smile.

“Damn, didn’t realize little old me warranted for the whole family to come get me.” She says playfully. “Don’t worry I promise to be out of y’all’s city soon.”

“You still have to pay for your crimes.” Batgirl says as she steps forwards slightly. The feline mercenary tilts her head as she looks at them with now false concern.

“Me? A defenseless street cat?” She asked before laughing. “You can certainly try.”

Nightwing steps closer as her shoulders square up. Her defensive stance rising as she observes him. Way too lean to be the guy she met, and she can tell his face was more pretty boy looking.

“We wanna help you… but you still have to pay for what you’ve done even if you didn’t mean to.” He says softly.

‘So they know…that just means they are gonna be more defensive instead of offensive. They can’t risk killing me when they know I could rampage again.’ Her eyes shine as she laughs coldly at him.

“Oh, you wanna help me rot in prison?” She says as she finally looks at the Red Hood.

Right build, right height, and she’s sure if she can knock that helmet off, right face. That’s the man she met a week ago that affected her so badly. She knew she couldn’t let him get a good grab on her or she maybe toast.

She turns her now glowing eyes back to Nightwing as she smirks. “I think you would be better off letting me leave or else you can see what I actually do when I mean it.” She bluffs.

Movement nearly catches her off guard as Robin tries to rush her again. The staff in her hand flies into his face as she tries to move as Batgirl flies kicks her in the face. Her ears ring as the warm feeling of blood starts to run out of her nose. The cat catches the bat’s fist before she whips her in the face with another punch. She used the disorienting blow to slide under her legs and give a good kick to her knee. The distinctive pop and her cry lets her know she did dislocate the bone.

She remains in her crouched up position, ready to pounce. She can feel their eyes observing as her broken nose begins to heal as it disgustingly pops back into place as the blood retreats back to its original place like it was on rewind. Her wild eyes looks to them and makes notes of their stances.

Nightwing was ready to pounce on her. He stared at her like she was the wild animal that he knew she was. It was a look she was used to.

The Red Hood wasn’t even in an offensive or defensive position. He stood with his back straight as he watches her. Damn his stupid helmet from seeing his eyes, she wanted to know what he was thinking about. Was he bluffing too or was he trying to get a good feel on how to catch her.

Before Nightwing can start advancing on her, Red stops him with a step forward and raises hand. Nightwing looks confused as he asked him.

“What are you doing?” He seethes to him. “We gotta take her down, she already hurt Robin and Batgirl.”

“Out of self defense.” The Red Hood clarifies before chuckling. His modulated voice making the feline theft frown. “If she was dangerous like you think, she could have sliced Robin’s throat with those claws of hers when he first attacked. You guys were attacking first and she responded with non lethal force.”

Her eyes glared at the man as she stands up, slightly agitated. “So? Maybe I just don’t wanna kill a kid?”

Red tilts his head as he turns his attention to her. “Calm down, Kitty….if you surrender, I promise I won’t let them send you off to the pound.”

Nightwing looks at Red in horror as he basically promised to protect a wanted criminal. He didn’t seem to concerned by it. He even surprises his team by removing his helmet as he looks to the one they were chasing.

“I found your file on Amanda Waller’s network. Took me three days, but I know what she did to you, (Y/N).” The man she knew from the gas station.

The images of all the torture she endured flashed through her mind all at once as she remembers all Waller put her through for the sake of her cure.

Multiple executions to test the powers of the pit. Torture and savage punishments for the slightest disobedience. The nightmares and madness that fueled so many panic attacks. The feeling of her organs stolen to be put in that evil woman so she can use her healing factor to win against cancer while she spent days slowly dying and coming back to life over and over until her new organs regenerated back into her.

“Why?!” She snaps at him as rage filled her again. Her confusion over his insistence to help her made her so angry. Why would he wanna help her? Just because they were both dunked in a pool of Ra’s bath water?

“You’re the feared Red Hood! You’ve done worst shit than I’ve ever done and you are trying to act as my savior?!” She yells at him as she stomps towards him.

Nightwing tries to step between them, but Red keeps him away as she finally stood before him. Her hand rips off her goggles, revealing her face to him as she pokes into his chest. Her own chest tightening as her body shook. Her breath was tight as angry tears rolled down her face.

“Answer me, dammit! Why do you think you can save me?!”

“I don’t think I can save you.” He answers honestly. “I wanna help you save yourself…”

A look of grief passes over his eyes as he looks at the shorter woman. A memory of someone she didn’t know making his resolve strengthen.

“I was trapped in a state of anger for so long that I pushed everyone away that was trying to help me…it wasn’t until I lost the one person that tried to save me that I realized how much it meant to have someone just hold a hand out for me…” He says as he grips her shoulders. The expected coldness didn’t meet her. She felt him. The warmth seeping through his gloves into her suit. It felt…comforting….nice.

Her vision began tunneling as she felt her chest hyperventilating as she cries. His gentle words finally breaking her as he mumbles to her. “Let me help you fight the madness so you won’t be alone anymore…”

Her knees buckling as a sob broke through her. The warmth of his arms wrapping around her and pulling her into his chest made her cries so gut wrenching. Robin, Batgirl, and Nightwing watch in shock as they watched Jason, not only be the most gentle he’s ever been with someone, but see a stray tear fall from him eye.

As the two remained tied together as an unspoken bond was formed. A bond between two lost souls forcibly brought back into this world now feeling safe in each other’s warmth.

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Author’s Note: I’m gonna make a part 2 to this one because I actually like it. Let me know if you like this, if you hate it, or whatever. I’m trying to clear out my drafts so expect more Jason and other characters coming out either this week or next week.

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@simpingforheros fanfic. I DO NOT CONDONE THE COPYING, STEALING, OR REPOSTING OF MY FANFICS ON OTHER WEBSITES WITHOUT MY CONSENT.

[theres-a-body-here]

Scumtober- Day 14 (Marking)

Guts x Male!reader drabble

Sequel post

Guts found himself intrigued by your presence.

You were no warrior; your nature was one of kindness and gentleness.

Recalling that day when the Skull Knight rescued him and Casca, Guts couldn't forget the image of you, clutching tightly to the enigmatic knight, your eyes firmly shut. You had arrived with the mysterious knight, seemingly playing no direct role in the battle, yet offering moral support. It was evident that you had never wielded a weapon in your life.

But, despite your non-combatant nature, you had a strange ability that disrupted the boundary between this world and the Astral World.

Guts found this out the night you had begun to travel with them. You offered no explanation as to why you left the safety of your Knightly guard to travel with him. You were stubborn and there was no changing your mind. Guts was certain you would die once night came. But to his surprise, the monsters that hunted him each night seemed disgusted by your presence, causing them to maintain a safe distance.

For the first time in a while, Guts was able to relax during the night. It didn't take long before Guts found himself further enamored by you.

Honestly, you had done it out of kindness, but maybe you shouldn't have poked the dragon. You simply wanted to know if your abilities could remove his brand mark.

They can't.

But it helped dull the pain when evil spirits were around, causing the brand to bleed and writhe with agony. Especially when you kiss it. You figured that one out by catching Guts off guard while he was undressed, much to his embarrassment. You just wanted to be helpful.

Guts was not amused. And as he pinned you to the cold ground, you wondered if maybe you pushed him too far.

It was only when you felt Guts's mouth pressed against your throat, that you realized maybe he wasn't mad at you.

Feeling Guts's hot breath on your skin sent chills running down your spine. As he began to suckle on your delicate flesh, a low moan escaped your lips. Instinctively, you wrapped your arms around his broad shoulders, drawing him closer.

Your heart beat wildly in your chest, making you aware of just how close Guts truly was—his powerful body pressing down upon yours, his scent filling your nostrils, and his eye boring into yours with raw intensity.

You felt yourself growing flushed underneath Guts's intense gaze. Unable to bear the weight of his gaze any longer, you lowered your eyes, focusing instead on the night sky.

Without warning, however, Guts cupped your jaw firmly between two calloused fingers, forcing you to meet his fierce gaze once more. Then, before either of you had time to think twice about it, he leaned forward and claimed your lips with his own.

The kiss started out tentative—a mere brush of lips against each other. But soon enough, Guts deepened the connection, slipping his tongue into your mouth to explore its depths while occasionally using his teeth to nip playfully at your bottom lip.

Guts suddenly pulls away from you. Feeling his lips leave yours brought an unexpected wave of disappointment crashing over you. But it didn't last long, for he quickly moved on to kiss your neck once more.

"Does that skull fucker ever enjoy you like this?" Guts mutters darkly between kisses, referring to Skull Knight, whom you seem close with. His hand slithers behind your back and grabs a handful of your ass.

Somehow, amidst the stimulation, you managed to find your voice. "N-No..." you muttered, embarrassingly breathless. "Never."

At those words, Guts releases a primal growl of satisfaction as he begins to kiss your neck more feverishly.

Guts pressed his open mouth to your pulsing veins, suckling gently at first before applying more pressure. You let out a loud moan as you cling to his head, pulling him closer to your neck. The sight of your submission drove him wild, and he couldn't help but groan loudly as he continued ravishing your throat.

"Mine," Guts growled between kisses, his voice thick with desire. "Only mine now."

Each word was punctuated by another hungry kiss, each touch more desperate than the last. Each word echoed inside your head, causing you to arch your back in response to his dominance.

Each successive kiss left behind a swollen reminder of Guts's possession. Soon, purple marks covered your neck, shoulder, and chest—all bearing witness to the claim he had over you.

How the hell were you going to explain this to Skull Knight?

Scumtober 2023 Masterlist

[astrolovecosmos]

Aries Haunted House: Devils, hellish landscapes, fast-paced, flames and/or explosions, maybe dragons and slashers, loud and vivid, jump scares galore, made for thrill-seekers and the brave.

Taurus Haunted House: Luxurious hotel or place gone haunted, creepy woods, ancient or earthly monsters and powers, themes around materialism, vanity, lust, and gluttony may exist, pretty, comforting, and attractive enemies, be enticed and disturbed.

Gemini Haunted House: Mazes, mirrors, twins, doublegangers, tricks and pranks, fae-inspired horror, getting lost, haunted libraries or schools, dark vs. light, angel vs. demon, good vs. evil themes, a wild ride.

Cancer Haunted House: Ghostly ships, mansions, lighthouses, specters, chains, doors, winding corridors, family or romantic horrors, vengeful spirits, moonlight, curses, a haunting atmosphere.

Leo Haunted House: Otherworldly theater, haunted palaces or castles, fires, radiation, urgency, dark knights or anti-heroes, massive monsters, gold, crooked royalty, temptation or seduction, blood pumping, filled with warnings and feelings of DANGER, opulent, has appealing mystery or overpowering suspense.

Virgo Haunted House: Haunted hospitals, mad scientists and their labs, possibly gore or filled with body horror, themes of innocence vs. corruption, detailed and drawn out, curious yet upsetting, watch out for cobwebs and surprises from the floors and walls, sights you can't forget.

Libra Haunted House: Unexpected creepiness, whispers and strange voices, haunting melodies, whimsical or romantic settings, beautiful, delicate, and horrifying all in one, masks or many faces, shapeshifting, calming or attractive and then it bites you, deception with lighting, a little flirty, a little playful, a little smart, and a little dreadful.

Scorpio Haunted House: Psychological horror, all about the environment, suspense master, creepy crawlies, you don't even want to enter, howling, power plays, thrills, blood and bone, possibly vampires, the occult, stalking and obsessions, very observant and opportunistic monsters or actors, will push you to the edge.

Sagittarius Haunted House: Circus or amusement park themes, twisted games, traps, feeling trapped, frenzies, unexpected beasts and monsters, bad luck, hope vs. despair themes, lots of storytelling, maybe a little humor or teasing, glowing and dimming, shaking of things, loud bangs, feel like you are being hunted, unbelievable events or ending.

Capricorn Haunted House: Very cold or very hot, likely to make a moral statement, may have themes of torture or punishment, dark, intimidating, insanity, chains, sinister vibes, horns, goats or goat heads, may have an historical inspiration, feelings of disempowerment or being controlled, underground, skulls and skeletons, greed and selfishness themes, cruel and relentless.

Aquarius Haunted House: Spooky and fantastic, space or scifi themes, plays off fears of the unknown, will go to the extremes and/or unusual, may be innovative and trendy, could mess with group dynamics and/or separation, cults or secret organizations, odd monsters, you won't believe your eyes.

Pisces Haunted House: Isolation or imprisonment themes, feel like you are being watched, looming shadow in the corner or under your bed, feel upside down or dizzy, haunted lakes and pools, sirens (both the noise and creature), the undead, graves, sacred or cursed places, sea monster, ill fate or dangerous destiny, con artists characters, this house/experience sticks with you.

[zushikiss]

may I request a scara college au, with him as our secret admirer, being sweet in the letters he sends us but irl being really rude and mean. He one day catches someone messing with us and then stands up for us and confesses everything in panic after that<3

summary ; scaramouche drops his "i don't care about you" facade to protect you from this annoying boy who just won't stop trying to get your number, he reveals his identity afterwards too ;)

warnings ; red for kazuha, orange for hu tao, green for alb*rt, scara threatens your admirer but none of the actual violence, just him saying he'll break a few bones if albert comes near again, cursing

pairings ; scaramouche x gn!reader

notes ; ahhh i love this idea sm, thank you anon! also i made the letters pictures so that it's easier to read <3

you showed off your dozens of letters to your friends, though they were disinterested since this wasn't exactly your first time ranting about your oh so dear secret admirer, in fact it probably was your nth time talking about him in that week alone, your friend kazuha takes a closer look at the letters before letting a small smile take place on his lips.

"The handwriting looks familliar."

"Huh? Really?"

"Yeah, looks like Scara's handwriting to me."

Ah yes, Scaramouche. The person who you were sure only existed to make your college life a living hell, he pestered you daily, borrowing simple stuff like pens and when you ask for it back he shrugs you off with a "i forgot it at home" or a "i lost it."

"That gremlin? Pfft no way, he hates me with his whole being."

"That's not a lot of hate now, is it?"

And with that your group errupts in laughter, you couldn't help but join in, but kazuha's comment made you think, what if it really was scaramouche writing to you? nahh it can't be, your secret admirer is so sweet, they even bought you your favorite snacks and drinks the other day, comparing them to that evil goblin is truly offensive.

And when you parted with your friends to go to your respective classes you kept thinking about kazuha's comment, I mean scaramouche is attractive yes, but you just can't imagine him doing all the things your secret admirer has done.

On your way to your class you bumped into albert, this creep who just can't seem to read the room, you've rejected him plenty times and you've ignored him for plenty more but he just can't seem to get the hint.

"Name! Oh yeah by the way, are you free tonight? Wanna have dinner with me?"

"Oh albert, I'm sorry but I have to go uhh study for a quiz.."

"Aww c'mon, it'll be quick i promise! Or an even better idea is why don't you give me your number? So we can make plans for when you're finally free."

At this point your back hit the wall behind you since albert just keeps getting closer, you're clearly uncomfortable and you pray to archons above that someone passes by and helps you.

"I really gotta go, I'll be late-"

"Class doesn't start for another 5 minutes, name. What do you say we-"

"Finish that sentence and i'll crush your skull."

Out of nowhere a familiar tuff of indigo hair appeared, his hands were wrapped around albert's collar as he pulls him away from you.

"Hey man?! What the fuck is wrong with you??"

"Name said they're gonna be late. If I hear that you ever come near them again, I won't hesitate to break both your legs so you won't be able to go anywhere."

And with that albert ran off, scaramouche looked at you, his eyes no longer holding the dark aura that they possesed not even a minute ago.

"You okay?"

"Yeah.. Why'd you do that?"

"..do what?"

"Save me? You kinda don't give off that knight in shining armor energy you know?"

"Cause what kinda sick fucker let's the person they like be harassed like that? I spent so much time asking around to know what your favorite foods are so I can get them for you and you think I won't punch a bitch for you?"

And when it finally sets in that he basically just confessed to you his first instinct was to run away, and so he did. He turned his back to you as he started walking away, you grabbed his wrist as a way to stop him before he looks at you, he looked adorable, his cheeks stained red while he averted his eyes, trying to avoid your gaze.

"Are you really?"

"Yeah, look just reject me and let's get this over with."

"Reject? No! You owe me ice cream since you finally introduced yourself."

"What."

"I'd like to go out with you, Scaramouche."

[cocogum]

✨Quirky✨ labels that describes them in a nutshell 🤭🥰

Yugo: blue alien boy

Adamaï: puberty’s bitch

Az: stress relief mascot ball

Amalia: horny grass princess

Eva: hot elf with daddy issues

Dally: dumbass ginger “woops! I did it again! 🤭🤪”

Ruel: Mr. Krabs holding adoption papers

Elely: Ginger 2.0 charged with arson

Flopin: invisible Link

Pin: Jack-Jack

Rubilax: demonic bromance

Madagaskan: retired blind sniper

Cleophee: hot elf who can kick

Goultard: ginger who can think

Oakheart: best salad king

Armand: delulu cabbage head

Canar: drag queen number 1

Renar: drag queen number 2

Aurora: blue trophy wife cow

Osamodas King: blue cow king

Efrim: tiny cute monster feet

Nora: pink lesbian

Mina: your scarred unpaid therapist

Phaeris: arm chewer

Qilby: the original momma’s boy

Shinonome: the shit picker

Glip: dad noises

Balthazar: grandpa noises

Eliatrope Goddess: helicopter parent definition

Alibert: gets thrown babies at him

Chibi: loud ass inventor

Grougaloragran: third person user

Prince Adale: fabulous tea sipper

General Mofette: bondage and whips

Grany Smisse: Meowth’s cousin

Remington: Zorro compensating with swords

Grufon: arachnid map

Anathar: copycat daddy voice

Kerosho: Adamaï’s forgettable achievement

Rushu: god wannabe

Black Ink: sentient food

Elaine: had a shitty childhood

Galanthe: rip thick hips

Noximilien: loves taking his time

Igôle: does not want to die

Cabotine: baby mama

Justice Knight: sweaty himbo

Pandiego: smelly drunk panda

Kabrok: retired wanderlust

Miranda: corn’s victim…

Vampyro: spirit halloween reject

Xav the Baker: croissant addict

Kriss Krass: tongue’s always out

Maude: goth chick

Ogrest: professional whiner

Otomaï: stressed out alchemist

Joris: experienced father and uncle babysitter

Kerubim: white furry with life issues

Simone: cleaner for hire

Julie: the embodiment of gay furry

Atcham: bald

Lilotte: furry orphan by choice

Khan Karkass: oily misogynistic ginger

Bakara: teacher’s pet snitcher

Julith: mommy milker terrorist

Jahash: died for getting laid

Jiva: just wanted to get laid

Poo: Kung Fu Panda

Echo: half lizard

Sipho: ugly ass lizard

Toxine: evil deadpool with an ass

Harebourg: narcissistic obsessed stalker

Oropo: clam sucker

Coqueline: raccoon girl

Dathura: leaf hottie

Dark Vlad: rock metal enthusiast

Black Bump: panty sniffer

Kali: professional sadist

Ush: furry sore loser

Arpagone: not an actual enutrof

Barik: elvis gone wrong

Cendre Mystigrine: forgettable furry

Ramona: best enutrof grandma

Harcelo Estep: disowned cuz wtf-

Messer: talking skull

Lacrima: did not deserve this

Winmo Nodorh: Flopin did it better

Lupa: sadist sympathizer

Atone: laser beam vision

Bouillon: fighting boner

Ripulse: name stands for “disgusted”

Sidaire: little sonic twerp

[what-is-love-babey-dont-hurt-me]

He’s a work in progress still but I wanted to share the first pass of his completed look so badly X)

I’ve had Sir Meteor in progress since August 2023, if you want to see the progress it will be under the read more!

Sir Meteor’s story starts with my fist kirby OC I made, Terra Knight! I won’t talk about him too much except that I knew from early on he had a older brother. TK originally has a skull mask in his very early concepts, but then I learned Axe Knight existed, and they looked too similar. I shelved the concept for a while until I had more ideas.

In August 2023, I started to sketch out allosaurus skulls because I had wanted to revisit the concept and thought maybe I would redesign Terra Knight to have a dinosaur skull mask. It did not happen, but that planted the seed.

In November, I had been struck with inspiration and started doodling. The name is very important to the lore of my OCs and is very deliberate, so once I figured out the name for Sir Meteor, a lot of elements fell into place instantly!!

This is the first time I gave Meteor colors, and I also put him next to his siblings so they would look cohesive. Me mentioning how he doesn’t even have shoes yet is foreshadowing.

In the following day, I sketched him more to get a feeling for his design!!

The most notable thing about this is probably 1.) here I cemented the twin-tail cape because it looks like the tail of a comet and 2.) since it looked like a comet, I wanted the pauldron to include a star somehow

Also fun fact!!! The shape of his horns is directly inspired by Triceratops horns!!

Which led to the designing of his pauldrons later in November!

I ended up combining elements of the first and third design because together they would look like shooting stars!

This is also when I decided on giving him the four pointed star blushing! Around this time I posted a sketch of Meta Knight with star blushes and I wanted to include more fun blush shapes. Also the four pointed star is a subtle Galacta Knight reference! Sir Meteor is genuinely old, prehistoric even, and he comes from that time period, and I wanted the star shapes to reflect that

After this I was stuck. I was extremely stuck and could not figure out how to design his shoes. Since everything else was so themed, it had to mean the shoes had to match as well. I wanted to keep the prehistoric/star themes, going strong. I tried a few times to give him plain armor but it did not look correct at all!

I took a few months to think about it. Another important thing is that whatever shoe I drew had to look good and cohesive with AND without his skull mask. It was hard to balance but yesterday (21 February) I began to cook.

On the sketch page, you can see how the thought process evolved from the top of the page downwards. You can see the “haha drawing smiles with sharp teeth- oh wait a minute hold on” happen in real time.

On the page on the right, is when I finally designed his shoes!!! THE EVIL IS DEFEATED!!!!

This character is so heavily themed and I thought about it so much. So. Much. If anyone actually read this breakdown you deserve a gold star thank you for listening to my insane, several month long thought process. I’m so proud of him for a reason. Now I need to finalize the colors and stuff but for now enjoy!

EDIT: while making Meteor’s reference, i also went through a LOT of altered color pallets.

[bthump]

Do you think that so many berserk fans glaze guts to such an extend that they overlook griffiths feelings ? is the hate griffith receives like a trend hopper thing (on the sense of "Oh everyone hates him now I hate him too) or may it even be that majority of the berserk fans are homophobic?

My guess is the fandom's rampant Griffith hate is due to a combination of factors, including homophobia and peer pressure lol. I wouldn't say it's solely homophobia, especially since the gay stuff in Berserk is subtext - but it can't be denied that it plays a role. I mean that just becomes obvious when you see how so many straight fans talk about Griffith.

But yeah a lot of it is also because so much of fandom hates Griffith and, a lot of people are influenced by general opinion when it comes to forming their own thoughts on a story. Like I'm sure plenty of people start out torn about Griffith or maybe somewhat sympathetic, then they see someone authoritatively describing Griffith as evil and manipulative from the start and everyone in a forum like Skull Knight or Reddit agreeing, and they figure it must be true without really considering the evidence themselves. Considering how often I've seen that happen in real time (eg someone suggesting Griffith cares about Guts because he risked his life for him, getting the 'he only wants to control Guts' explanation, and just agreeing rather than pushing back) I definitely think it's another big factor.

Then there's differing audience expectations between cultures. I don't want to comment on this too in depth because I'm not here for cultural studies and I'm not qualified for that, but I think a reader who's more influenced by, eg, Hollywood tropes, might be more inclined to see Griffith as evil all along because human Griffith hits a lot of Hollywood villain traits (gender nonconforming, introduced antagonistically, opposed to the established social order, ambitious, etc), so despite the narrative not framing him as evil at all, people still see him as evil because of the associated tropes.

And finally black and white moralistic thinking can be blamed for a lot of Griffith hate too. He becomes a villain, therefore for many it's morally easier to believe he was always secretly evil than to believe a "good" person can choose to become evil, or to believe that good and evil are relative and subjective, or useless descriptors entirely. Some people believe good and evil are like, innate personality traits lol, and those people are simply not gonna be able to comprehend Berserk's themes and Griffith as a character, because Berserk takes the opposite stance - that your actions effect and change you rather than reflect your innate "true self."

Anyway yeah, that's my take on the english side of fandom's response to Griffith. Thanks for the ask!

[horrorsbeyondthycomprehension]

Beatrice Woodhearth

Version: 1.0

This is an OC bio for No City For Heroes. That you have context is paramount to your reading of this. Scroll through the "#oc tag yaaay" tag before reading.

This is updated as of her inciting incident. The main plot technically hasn't begun as of this. Beatrice is one of 2 protagonists.

Side note: I am very nervous about posting this, but here goes, I Guess.

Beatrice Woodhearth, of the house of Woodhearth, is an noble-born elf, born to Elizabeth Woodhearth and Victor Woodhearth. She was born in the Vezenian Empire, a feudal monarchy fluent in propaganda and censorship. As her mother went missing when Beatrice was 9, Victor would raise her to his wishes. Raised to be a socialite and politician, Beatrice was taught all the mannerisms and interplay of the Vezenian nobility at a young age. Raised by her mother on stories of knights errant and noble heroes, she developed a strong sense of morality. Seeing the nobility as "fake", she sought true meaning and valor by leaving her home to join the Vezenian Army. Believing it a good way to earn points with the military, Victor approved. At the age of 16, she begun training, and quickly earned her name among her peers. Upon completion of her training, she was assigned a mission everyone feared; She would go to the infamous Free City of Rooksterdale, a city with no formal government, territory carved by gangs and militias. Her mission was simple: to attack and destroy a caravan, which transported "contraband". However, having been assigned the same mission, Alex Strider, a local mercenary, entered into conflict with Beatrice. After a long fight with no clear winner, the two realized they had no reason for fighting and decided to inspect the van, confirming it's contents were destroyed. Upon doing this, they would discover that it was not contraband the caravan carried; but refugees, seeking shelter in Vezenia. Though Alex, jaded by the harsh environment of Rooksterdale, remained unfazed, Beatrice was shaken to her core. Refusing to believe that Vezenia could be this evil, she decided that the only possibility was a corrupt general, whom she decided should be questioned. If his answers were unsatisfactory, then satisfaction would be demanded; by means of a duel. Hiring Alex to help locate him and fight through his compound, they set off to find General Howes.

Throughout her hunt for general Howes, she was slowly exposed to the true nature of her empire by Alex. In Rooksterdale, and, in fact, everywhere else but Vezenia, the Empire's frequent massacres and killings are common knowledge. Though Alex supposedly did not care for morality, her level of knowledge on the current and past affairs of the world suggests otherwise. The duel with Howes was short: Howes massively out-powered Beatrice, and as he was about to claim coup de grâce, Alex, who supposedly wanted no part in the duel, bashed his skull in with her bat. Even after what Alex had told her, Beatrice was still incapable of accepting the truth. As such, she decided to report her elimination of a "corrupt" imperial to her superior, hoping to confirm that Vezenia was truly not as morally bankrupt as Alex claimed. When meeting with said superior, an agent implanted in Rooksterdale, she learned that there was no corruption involved; it was the empire's intention to murder those innocent civilians. However, seeing that it was a rather impressive feat to take out an entire unit by herself, the agent offered to cover up the misunderstanding, in trade for her becoming his apprentice. Beatrice, now fully aware of the truth behind Vezenia, responded to the agent's offer by swiftly eliminating him. Now deserted from her empire, and stranded in an unfamiliar and hostile city, she would once again meet with Alex, simply because she knew no one else in the Free City. Alex, recognizing that Beatrice, quote, "Wasn't gonna last a week in 'ere", and letting the little morality still left in her shine through, offered to accompany her for the time being, showing her how to survive in Rooksterdale.

[hanayori89]

🪶🪶Lesson 10: Believe in the Boy 🪶🪶

Each ripple of seismic quaking beneath your feet was nowhere near as lethal as the rumbling of insults that were currently cascading from your lips.

Your hand continued to jangle a knob that jutted out and was adorned with a grip of decorated grooves meant to fit your fingers. The more you tinkered with it, the more you felt anger laced with panic regurgitate in your throat. Were you wrong to assume this was the launch lever of this apparatus?

But you knew Groose; you had grown up with him after all. Whatever made sense to most likely be the launch lever was most definitely not the launch lever. When another minute went by without any result, you yelled into the empty chasm of spiraling hills. You stomped around and stuck your head into the machine's barrel, the wind from your own voice slapping you in the face as it echoed back at you. The heavy rock you had stuck into the barrel remained secure, nestled so tight that not even the force of the earth's crust convulsing was moving it.

"GRRR Groose! When I get my hands on you-"

But your screams of aggravation were subdued compared to the howling of the old pinecone.

Ugh. Impa. Link would want me to help her. But how?

Around you, cannons of wind spiraled upward from below, and with them, an idea was shot in your general direction. You slid off your Skyloftian tunic, standing in nothing but a billowy undershirt and your knight pants. You ran toward the precipice of the level you were on and jumped toward the air current, your hands gripping securely around each sleeve of your tunic.

The risk was great, but you couldn't stand idly by as the old hag continued to screech. You weren't a mighty hero, but you were still a knight. And even if Skyloft no longer had need of a knight, who was to say the surface didn't?

Did this evil, the imprisoned, somehow lead you to fall into your own destiny?

You slowly backed up until your back hit a mound of congealed soil, the plateau of the next tier. You took a deep breath and, with a calm mind and knees bent, blasted yourself into a running start and leapt into the closest gust of barreling air. The fury of the gale was something you had underestimated, as the air propelled you upward, but not without slicing up some of your flesh. You bit your bottom lip, relieved to see your tunic puff out, and it began to parasail you away from the current and toward the center of the chasm. As you descended downward, you frantically scanned each tier of spiraling land for any sight of Impa.

But it wasn't Impa you spotted first.

Beneath you, almost as inconspicuous as the soil, a gargantuan entity began to move. 

And you were falling straight toward it.

Your mouth fell faster than your floating body as you looked at the monster that was sprouting through the ground. Layers of grimy scales coated its body, and the light reflecting off of them gave the illusion of movement, as if it were covered in millions of worms. This was nothing compared to the alarming number of teeth protruding from its gums. Its long-fossilized fingernails sprung from the pads of its colossal feet as it kneaded at the mess of decaying dirt encircling its body. From where it broke forth, the stone column that had been in that part of the ground now sat lodged at the top of its skull.

"EEEK! No, no, nooooo!" You began to flail your body, hoping to guide yourself toward another of the powerful and abundant zephyrs scattered about.

But as it goes, Hylia had other plans.

"EEEKKKK NOOO! I'm sorry I laughed at the remlit joke! I won't do it again- ahhh!"

From one of the many coiled layers of land, Impa's voice rang out. "Brainless Sky child! Why didn't you stay put!"

"You ungrateful old pinecone! I was coming to save you!"

"Nonsense! I told you the hero would come!"

Link. He won't come. He has to keep his goddess safe. Is this thing what he was going on about? Is this... the imprisoned?

Before another thought could come to you, your body crashed down on top of its head. The impact of your landing forced your knees to bend and crumple. You began to slide backward off of its slick scales. But not before managing to catch the stone pillar on top of its head, your tunic somehow was tangled around it as you hung from your sleeves.

"EEEEE!"

Like a flea on a remit, it began to shake its head in an attempt to buck you off. As you whirled through the air, the verdancy of the grass and the singed sienna of the dirt began to bleed into a nauseating swirl of puke inducing bile-colored tie- dye.

Your hands began to slip as you felt vertigo take over.

"AHHHH!"

You could hear Impa praying in consistent chants. "Hylia, help her."

But she wasn't going to help you. You were the collateral to lead Link back down to the surface to destroy this beast for Zelda. Beyond that, you were an obstruction to the divine love story between a hero and his goddess.

She had no reason to save you.

But Link, you may not have been Zelda, but at the very least he considered you, his friend.

Even if you hadn't been much of a friend to him these past few years.

Between life and death, there was nothing more left for you than to believe in a boy you once called friend. 

As you felt yourself begin to slip, your vision blurred by the array of temporal colors whisking together, your hands slowly released their grip from the sleeves of your tunic.

The feeling of fabric within your grasp was replaced with the texture of human flesh instead.

"Y/N!"

Link pulled you up, anchoring your body against his with a strong arm around your waist. The possession of dizziness made it hard to focus on his face; the green of his tunic seemed to weep into the vestiges of the grass and dirt that had been whipping around you. When the vertigo began to ease up, you looked up at him, your head buried in his neck as he held you against him. Your eyes caught the glint of a sword. One you had never seen before.

"HYAH!" You could hear the creature beneath you cry out; Link's sword bulging from the stone pillar in its skull.

"Hold onto me. Don't let me go." His voice was a comforting sedative to the anxiety of looming death that had just controlled you.

You obeyed without a single retort. You held onto his waist as you both fluttered down to the ground.

You landed on your feet first, falling over, only to be scooped up by Link's arms.

"This isn't over. Stay here." And just like that, the tranquility in his voice was replaced by a burning husk of rage.

You watched as he ran away toward an air current, allowing it to shoot him upward back on top of the imprisoned's head to finish the job he started.

The job he would always have to finish for as long as he existed. 

Your fingernails dug into the soil your sore body rested on, as your head weakly hung. But your eyes couldn't help but remain upward, following Link and his fancy footwork. Every grunt, every bead of sweat, and every swing of that blade was that of a hero. He was no longer the Link you knew. In fact, you realized now that you never knew him well at all.

The Link you had thought you had known, the feeble little dork of a boy who struggled in Eagus's dojo, was schooling the ultimate of evils right before your very eyes.

And for some reason it made your heart rush. 

But the next part—the next part—is what made you wonder if, in fact, you were, if not dead, dying and your brain was being deprived of oxygen. Certainly, it had to explain the high level of emotion you were feeling toward Link in that moment.

Because around him, swishes of lavendar and navy. You scrunched your eyes closed, hoping it was just another dizzy spell.

But then you heard a voice beckoning him.

"MASTER!"

Before you knew it, Link grabbed you and pulled you into his chest as the creature began to writhe in agony. You saw another whimsical blur of the same colors that surrounded him like a spectral aura. Droplets of Link's sweat streamed down his face and pelted your own. You could feel his chest rise and fall, each breath a satisfactory heave of his deft skill.

"Y/N... close your eyes. Don't look at it. I don't want you to see something so evil." Link's voice came out in labored whispers. His fingers trailed circles on the small of your back as he held on to you, as if you had just witnessed a nightmare and he wanted to put you back to sleep. 

Then a soft, seeping tone of remorse hit your ear. "I want to preserve your innocence from this for as long as I can."

Link...?

You kept your eyes shut, but even beneath the umbrage of closed lids, it wasn't enough to block out the forcefield of evil. Ink drops of violets and reds—specks of black darker than your own closed eyes—rotated around, threatening to swallow your very soul. The wind wailed, as if it were crying in anguish that it was being repelled and embedded beneath the tomb of soil with this creature.

Then you saw flashes of light. Through squinted eyes, you observed a circular crest carved into the ground begin to flicker. The seal instantly ushered in the unfamiliar, robotic voice from earlier to speak again. 

"Master... you must use your skyward seal."

Link released you from his stronghold and walked over toward the center of the seal, where the stone column now stood back in its rightful place in the ground. He raised his sword, and a procession of light flitted down the shaft. Link's soaked, dark blonde locks swayed in tandem with the rhythm of malevolence being retracted back from where it came.

Then you saw an orb jump forth from his blade. An ethereal twinkle of a girl without a face, levitated by his side. Despite not having a face, you could feel her; she was watching you. And just as quickly as she appeared, whispers of the same amalgamation of blue and purple condensed back into Link's sword.

From the form of Link's strong back, you saw his head slowly turn to meet your frightened gaze.

"L-L-Link, there's a g-g-ghost in your sword..." 

The sound of his exhale told you he knew he owed you an explanation. It also told you he knew whatever he was about to disclose was only going to deepen the hero plot to a ridiculous and incredulous length.

"Y/N... what you just saw was the imprisoned. And this... is Fi... she is the spirit of my sword." 

He turned back to the task at hand, striking his sword downward. Not bothering to elaborate any further.

As if all heroes had phantom women living in their swords. 

Edited: 8/18/24

[hubristicassholefight]

Preliminary Round: Final Fantasy

Propaganda Below cut

Alisaie

When she first shows up she's wearing matching outfits and wielding matching grimoires with her twin brother, but when she properly joins the game's main cast it becomes clear that she has swordswoman energy so incredibly strong that as a magical prodigy her chosen fighting style is "manifest sword out of aether and then hit people with it." She later simplifies this to merely wielding a sicknasty crystal rapier; As we know, fury and compassionate outrage are more powerful under when concentrated, which makes this tiny elf sword nerd a volatile pressurecooker of heroism. She's here to care about the little guy, make frustrated noises, and charge off to solve and/or cause problems, and truly what else is swordswoman energy about?

She wanted to use a sword so bad she summoned one made of pure magic, before a friend gave her an actual sword because he was worried about the toll summoning a sword made of pure magic was having on her, I love her and her brother so much. One of them is trans (they did the identical but different-gender twins thing). At one point Alisaie mopes because her and her brother didn't get new outfits when everyone else did. She then jumps off of a balcony because she saw an opportunity for adventure. Canonically doesn't like pickles on burgers (she put them on someone else's plate!! the scandal!!)

Lucia

she fights with a sword and shield— very classic paladin flavor. she’s achieved and maintained high ranking status for her combat prowess!; nobody is immune to hot lady knight especially when she is over six feet tall and in full plate armor tbh . easily the hottest defector from the evil empire in xiv. also she can pilot a big robot so that’s automatically a point in her favor imo

Mylla

She's the leader of the gladiator's guild. Gladiators are the class that use swords and shields. She kind of gets sidelined once it upgrades to the Paladin job for a bit, but then they went 'no Mylla and her guild are cooler than these idiots' and did a tournament arc

Lightning

She uses a Gunblade. A sword thats also a gun. Said to be very rare because it takes so much skill to use. Does lots of slashing and backflips. Later becomes Champion of A God and sword fights a guy for eternity. Later becomes champion of a Different god and uses lots of different swords; She is dramatic and has lots of character growth and is awesome.

Agrias

She has the class Holy Knight which enables her to use Holy Sword techniques as long as she has a sword equipped, which pretty much makes her the most powerful swordfighter your party can recruit (with the exception of Cidolfus Orlandeau, who has her skillset plus extra); You meet Agrias at the start of the game, and it's a few chapters before she joins your party permanently during which she gets quite a bit of screentime. This is significant, since Tactics lets you dismiss any character that's not the protagonist, and consequently the story is written to not assume you have any particular character in your party except for guests, meaning Agrias gets more story time than most characters that join your party.

Paine

starts out as a swordfighter with a big sword with a skull design. #girlboss; ffx-2 is a Wild Ride already but that they gave us a goth lesbian with a sword as our third party member was a great choice. i love her and also ffx-2. it's underappreciated.

Terra

Swords are one kind of weapon she can wield. Her ultimate weapon is known as Apocalypse.

Celes

She was turned into a Magitek knight by the Gestahlian Empire which she betrays. Swords are one kind of weapon she can wield. Her ultimate weapon is a sword known as Save the Queen.

[horrorstreet]

HorrorStreet Masterlist

Rules for fanfiction requests

Fandom List

Slashers

Thomas Hewitt

Jason Voorhees

Michael Myers

Brahms Heelshire

Norman Bates

Chucky/Charles Lee Ray

Tiffany Valentine

Ghostface

Vincent Sinclair

Harry Warden

Bo Sinclair

Supernatural

Sam Winchester

Dean Winchester

Lucifer

Castiel

Gabriel

Charlie

Bobby

Crowley

Star Wars

Anakin Skywalker

Obi-wan Kenobi

Cal Kestis

Kylo Ren

Ray Skywalker

Luke Skywalker

Darth Maul

Darth Vader

BG3

Astarion Ancunin

Wyll Ravenguard

Gale Dekarios

Shadowheart

Lae'zel

Karlach

Resident Evil

Ethan WInters

Leon Kennedy

Lady D

Karl Heisenberg

Dead By Daylight

Ghostface

The Oni

Michael Myers

Trapper

Skull Merchant

Wraith

The Nurse

Legion (Frank Only)

Pyramid Head

The Trickster

The Knight

Albert Wesker

Marvel

Deadpool

Captain America

Bucky Barnes

Loki

Thor

Tony Stark

Miguel O'hara

Black Widow

Stranger Things

Eddie Munson

Billy Hargrove

Steve Harrington

Robin Buckley

Nancy Wheeler

The Walking Dead

Rick Grimes

Daryl Dixson

Glenn Rhee

Negan Smith

Fallout

The Ghoul