#while still being overall low stakes

[robbiefischer]

possibly unpopular opinion but cramps are not utilized anywhere near often enough in whump. i will die on this hill.

[becauseicantthinkwritings]

Nightfall (3)

Vampire! Billy Russo x Female Reader

Part 1 // Part 2

Warnings: Bickering, spanking, biting, consumption of blood, oral (M receiving), implication of dark themes (such as the buying/selling of humans for blood), reader goes undercover as Billy's 'pet'.

A/N: Overall, the themes are a little darker than I tend to write. I'll try my best to be as honest as possible with the warnings.

You shove him back, hand wrapping around his throat as if you could ever conceive of doing any real damage to him. His expression is blank, eyes pinned calmly on you.

"You filthy fucking bloodsucker." You hiss out through your teeth, contemplating the actions it would take to bury a stake into his heart.

"Keep talking. Makes me hard." He sneers.

You almost consider spitting in his face. He'd had the nerve to describe exactly how he'd buried his hand into Ethan's chest not a minute after you'd driven away from him last night. 

"He was my friend." You grit out, hand tightening on the column of his throat, you reach for the dull knife on the coffee table beside you, bringing it up to his neck.

"Planning to tickle me with that?" He taunts as you shove him further back, until your full weight is propped onto the hand pressed around his neck, your thigh pressed right between his, forcing you to straddle his leg. 

Unbelievably, you feel his hand grip your hips, holding you securely in place as if he wants you as close to him as possible.

"I can do some real damage with this." You warn, voice low and enraged, trailing the knife slowly down the column of his throat, "Don't you know dull knives hurt more?"

His lips part, his chest drops a little as if the breath in his lungs has escaped him.

"The only thing hurting me," he whispers, "Is that you're not naked."

You take the time to press the tip of the dull knife into his skin. It would take a lot more force to puncture his neck, but doing so meant you could shred his throat easily. You wonder if that would even slow him down.

Your mouth curls in disgust, pulling away from him and sliding off his body quickly. You ignore the little wet spot your cunt has left behind on his pants, still being dressed in just his shirt.

There’s a tense moment of silence, the smell of delicious chinese food in the air- he’d ordered it for you while you were asleep so that there would be food available for you not long after waking. You’d only been a few bites in when you’d asked about the last time he’d fed, and he’d revealed to you what you’d already known was true, that he’d left Ethan’s body in a dumpster, missing a heart.

“You’re sick.” You whisper, facing away from him. Ethan had been trained alongside you, saved your life just as much as you’d saved his, and Billy had killed him because he’d dared to touch you.

You feel Billy behind you now, not worrying to think about how fast he’d just moved.

You huff when you feel his hands glide over either side of your hips, fingers twitching as he holds you firm.

You try your hardest to hate it, to feel disgusted by his cold hands on you, but all you feel is flutters, in your chest, your stomach, and somewhere lower.

“From the minute I put my hands on you, I knew you were mine.” He says. You squeeze your eyes shut, mentally rejecting the words.

“I know you can feel it, the way I do when I’m not near you,” he continues, drawing closer till his voice is just in your ear, “Like there’s no air in the room, unless you’re here.”

“You’re deranged.” You gasp out, feeling his hands tighten on your hips.

“You call that boy your friend, but you forget that I saw the whole thing. You didn’t want him touching you, and he did anyway. Is that not a good enough reason to tear his heart out of his chest?”

“He touched me. Not you. It was my situation to handle.” You retort.

He’s silent for a long moment.

“You’re right. I let my anger get the best of me.”

“Thank you.”

He pulls you back suddenly, till you’re pressed against his front securely, his nose running gently against your neck, one of his hands rise to tug your shirt collar down, till his face is pressed to the scar of his bite on your shoulder.

“Don’t mishear me. I’m not saying I’m sorry. Believe it or not, but I’ve been in that position, and I guarantee you, that if it’s not you, it’s someone else.”

You feel him kiss your scar, tingles spreading over your body. You’re deep in your own thoughts, thinking about his words.

“You’ve been in that position?” You echo his words, mind fuzzy with his attention.

“Mhm,” He hums, open mouthed kisses roaming your neck, “Wasn’t as strong as you either. It’s why I’ll always stand up for those who can’t stand up for themselves.”

You suck in a deep breath.

“But you’re a vampire.”

He spins you around, arms gripping your shoulder, eyebrows pulled together.

 “You’re still thinking like that?” He utters in disbelief.

“Well, you haven’t really given me anything else to work with.”

He huffs, taking your hands in his and pulling you back to the couch.

“Okay, come, let me explain.”

You follow easily, and when you try to sit beside him, he eagerly pulls you into his lap. You huff, rolling your eyes as you try not to grind your wet centre against his thigh. He watches you, as if he can hear every thought.

“Believe it or not, vampires are very much like people. There are good, and there are bad.”

When you open your mouth to voice your opinion, he grabs the back of your head quickly, pulling you into him to lay a scalding kiss against your lips. His body might be cool to the touch, but he makes you sizzle anyway.

Heavens, he kisses like sin, plump lips owning whatever parts of yourself were still unclaimed, now his fully.

“Why don’t you let me finish, and then you can ask your questions.” He suggests, forehead pressed to yours.

A smarter side of you would argue, protesting his need to feed you what was most likely a lie.

You swallow, nodding your head hesitantly, feeling your body heat up with the memory of the things he'd done to you last night.

You look away from him, trying to get your thoughts together.

"We don't have to, I can always just lay you back right here and lick you to my heart's content."

You groan, clenching around nothing, acutely aware that being this close to him is making your head spin.

"Shut up and talk, Billy." You say with a pained hint in your voice.

He raises his eyebrows, his lips pulling into a slow grin. Thankfully he doesn't comment on your contrasting words.

"Okay, so as I was saying, from a moral perspective, vampires aren't that much different compared to humans. Realistically, if we killed someone every time we fed, more people would know about us."

"That's still a parasitic existence."

"The next time you interrupt I'm going to spank you."

You groan, clenching around nothing for a second time.

He explains it to you like you're a child, carefully arguing that the creatures of the night weren't all monsters, that they were a still budding society trying to figure out the logistics of existing.

"You sound like children." You interject.

Billy doesn't hesitate to draw his hand back and slap your thigh, watching you hiss in pain, that then quietly bleeds into pleasure, to your embarrassment.

"For most of human history, the number of vampires have only been in the hundreds. Now, we might have hit only a couple of thousand. The number of people that humans have killed vastly outweighs the number of vampires that exist and you still want to accuse us? Can't you see that the way you've been taught to think about us is flawed?"

You huff.

"Why is it so important that I believe what you say?" You ask, and it earns you another loud smack to the curve of your ass. You shut your eyes for a moment to fight the urge to rut your hips on his thigh.

"I'm trying to show you who the real monsters are. The ones that hide in the shadows and pull the strings, the ones that sell their own kind to the highest bidder of ours. These are people you should be hunting, little girl, not the fledglings that want to dance in clubs and feed from unsuspecting humans."

You open your eyes, blinking at him.

"You're saying there's something bigger at play?"

His hand comes down on your other asscheek. He grins when you glare at him.

"Yes. Your organisation trained you to kill the first vampire you see, making us all out to be monsters, but it's just not that simple. I can show the real monsters if you want, and let you-"

He cuts off, and after a second, he grins at you.

You look at him quizzically.

"You're so wet, I can feel it soaking through my jeans."

A low groan of annoyance leaves you, and you raise your hips, in an attempt to get off of him.

He’s not having it, gripping your hips firmly and pulling you back onto his thigh. When you struggle, his arms wrap around you, bringing you even closer, one hand settling low on your back, and then tugging your shirt up to grip your ass tightly. He holds you in place till you find that you are unable to even move an inch.

You study him intently as heat flushes through your system, eyes tracing the scars that line his face.

His eyes are dark, decisive, your eyes flit down to his lips, the sweet curve of them making your tongue feel heavy in your mouth. The shape of his beard urging you to rub yourself against him, the memory of his mouth between your thighs coming to mind.

You let out a slow breath.

“As I was saying, I can show you the real monsters,” He says softly, the air growing charged between you, “And let you decide what you want for yourself.”

You could barely remember why you were even fighting him, the magnetism of his form was too strong for you to resist.

“I’ll think about it.” You whisper, tilting your head to the side, and leaning into him slowly.

At the very last moment before your lips touch, you pause.

“Wait.” You whisper, pulling back.

You feel his hands tighten around you.

“What?” He bites out, lips parted so you can see just the smallest hint of his fangs.

You try to ignore his snippy attitude, and resist rolling your eyes lest it get you into more trouble.

“The thing you said… about choosing mates? What’s that about?”

You watch his lips part, to take a slow breath in.

“It’s something vampires do. Sort of, like an imprint- a voluntary imprint.”

You blink at him, horror washing through your body.

“You- imprinted on me… willingly?” You try to draw away from him, and he resists your movement, hand tightening on your bare ass subtly.

It brings you back to where you are, half naked on his lap.

“Yes.” He grits out, “When I first tasted you, I claimed you as mine.” 

You fight him harder now, pushing against his chest.

“Claimed me? Don’t I get a choice?”

Billy huffs.

“You came up to me in that club- or don’t you remember?” He says, and you can see the clear anger in his features.

“You didn’t even know me!” You protest, finally getting enough leverage to wiggle out of his lap and to a stand on shaky legs.

He grits his teeth, tilting his head and watching you move away from him.

“The imprint might be voluntary, but it doesn’t work unless we’re compatible.”

“You’re sick.” You respond quickly, not even thinking.

He closes his eyes slowly, rolls his neck. You worry for a moment that his need for you has just expired. 

Would he kill you? If he didn’t get what he wanted from you?

You swallow, eyeing him steadily.

He stands, walking past you without a second glance.

“Eat. I’ll take you hunting tonight.”

“Wh- what if I want to leave?” You ask softly.

He stops at the doorway, looks down before turning his head to the side. You study the scar on his cheek.

“They’ll kill you if they catch you, just to get to me. And if they hurt you, I’ll scatter their body parts across the state.”

You gulp at the imagery.

.

It was more irritating to you that he was giving you space.

He’d gone from keeping you in his arms, to not touching you at all and it made you seethe with all the hatred you had for him.

You hadn’t left- because you knew your organisation, and you knew Billy was right. They’d try to kill you the second they found you, if only to prove a point. Especially now that you knew for sure that Ethan was dead.

You pause while applying your mascara, sucking in a deep breath. Someone had dropped off a small duffel bag of supplies for you at the door, and Billy had slid it into your hands, telling you to get ready, you’d be going out in an hour.

He’s checking his watch when you emerge from the bathroom, dressed in jeans that fit you surprisingly well and a baby pink crop top.

His eyes scour your frame, face stoic as he makes his assessment.

“Ready?” He asks.

You only nod.

.

The heat of the club was familiar to you, an abundance of bodies so close together in one small space, moving under the soft neon lights.

You’re following his large frame, trying to keep an eye on the olive shirt wrapped around his shoulders, fighting each dirty thought about him that crosses your mind.

He’d looked good, to your annoyance, and you were wondering how long it would take for him to touch you again.

The answer was not very long at all, because when the crowd gets too dense, he reaches behind, extending a hand for you to take.

His hand is rough in yours, cool to the touch, undead and owning it and you feel your heartbeat kick up at the casual way his hand grips yours.

You didn’t like him, definitely not.

You weren’t too distracted by him to notice some of the other vampires in the club. You catch them in your peripheral vision, eyeing you both up, no doubt your scent packing a metaphorical punch to anyone with an advanced sense of smell.

"Easy baby," Billy whispers into your ear, fully knowing that anyone could be listening in on your conversation, his hand smoothing over your shoulder and down to the small of your back.

"We'll have our fun soon enough." He continues, his voice in your ear sending sharp waves of want down your spine.

If he notices your response to him, he doesn't show it, simply guiding you to an open seat at a secluded booth in the club.

He'd briefed you in the car on the way here, explaining that the objective was to be invited into the back rooms where the questionable conversations happened. All he’d been hoping for, was an idea of where the location for the next big meeting might be.

“The real shady conversations don’t happen in nightclubs, they happen in the back rooms of libraries or secluded five star restaurants that cater to our specific… diet.” Billy had explained.

That had made your stomach twist into knots at the idea that there really was something worse at play, made you want to do anything possible to put a dent in it.

He sits at the booth, and like you’d discussed in the car, you sit quietly beside him, body stirring with thoughts of what he’d said he’d do next.

“I’ll put you on my lap, I need them to think you’re my pretty pet. They’ll do anything to try to convince me to share you.” 

When he pats his thigh, you do what you know he wants you to. You move slowly, crawling into his lap, straddling his hips.

It brings you face to face with him, and there’s something of a silent conversation going on between you.

Though his hands are on you, gripping your body tightly, and very inappropriately for anyone to see, there’s a distance to the expression on his face that stings.

You study his scars, his eyes closing when your noses brush.

You think about the imprint he’d confessed to. You wonder what it really meant, that maybe you weren’t at his mercy as much as you’d initially thought.

After a moment, you roll your hips against his, body igniting when you manage to feel hints of his thick erection through your layers of clothing. 

He pins you with his red eyes.

It sends ripples of pleasure through you.

You didn’t know what you wanted, not even sure if it was him, with his sharp jawline and thick hair, and the scars that sit on his face, someone’s attempt at making him less beautiful gone awry.

All you knew, that in this moment, you were searching for a higher purpose, a reason for being in your current position that wasn’t just because of him. Because what kind of person would that make you? If you genuinely enjoyed being with him after the things he’s done?

After a long moment of looking into each other’s eyes, he takes a deep breath, gripping the back of your neck to bring you closer so that his lips brush your ear.

“I can smell how wet you are. Is that all for me?”

He’d know if you were lying anyway.

“Yes,” you whisper, “I need you.”

He hums, the sound goes down, all the way to your aching clit.

“If only you’d worn a skirt,” Billy continues, “I could have had my cock inside you from the minute we sat down.”

You don’t suppress your reaction, sighing in need, clenching hard around nothing.

Although this was just a performance, you realise it’s not so hard to actually act.

You pull back a little, so you can look down at his mouth. You clench again at the memory of sitting on his face.

His fingers tighten on the back of your neck, warning you that someone is approaching, your debauched act finally prompting someone to come near.

“Pardon me,” The feminine voice says- a vampire you realise- and you resist looking over at her, “but I couldn’t help but overhear your problem, and would like to extend an invitation to our basement lounge to you.”

Billy pauses, seeming to ponder her words, you attempt to ‘encourage’ him by leaning in to place kisses on the smooth column of his neck.

You feel his hand tighten on the back of your own neck imperceptibly. 

“Private rooms?” He asks.

You both already know the answer before she says it.

“Not completely, but more private than this.” She says, no doubt pointing out the wide open area of the dancefloor where anyone could see the both of you.

“I’m not sure if I’m interested.” Billy responds, making sure he doesn’t look too eager to follow her.

You keep kissing his neck, running your tongue up to his earlobe before continuing your kisses, feeling the vibration as the woman slides in beside Billy.

You pause for a second, looking over at the woman, makeup done perfectly, brunette hair falling gracefully as she moves, before Billy turns your head away, a silent urge that as his pet, his conversation was none of your business.

He’d warned you about it before, that people would speak about you like you weren’t there and playing along was necessary. You could do that, you’d played hundreds of roles before when hunting, this was just another character.

The character you were playing right now, was an empty, aching little hole. Someone eager and willing to go along with anything her partner says as long as it made him happy and got her ache satiated at the end of the night. You’d pulled inspiration from your own life for this role.

“She smells so sweet.” The woman says, to Billy in a soft voice, “Surely you don’t want to enjoy her here out in the open where you can get interrupted.”

“And I’m sure that following you is going to have a price of its own.” Billy murmurs, and you squirm on his lap a little to give off an air of impatience.

Despite your aversion to him, you’re forced to admit to yourself that you enjoy sitting in his lap. This role of needy girl coming naturally to you, because you wanted, and you wanted and you wanted him to give.

“Honestly, I’d love a little taste.” The woman confesses.

“Hear that, pet?” Billy hums, fingers sliding into your hair to pull your head back so that your eyes meet his, “This one wants a taste. What do you think?”

You think she’d look nice with a stake buried in her chest.

You flutter your eyes, giving him the look of eager obedience.

“Whatever you want, sir.” You mumble.

Billy’s dark eyes give nothing away.

“Perhaps I can share a mouthful with you, but on my terms.” He says, and you smile as he continues to look into your eyes.

He’d also warned you that he might have to bite you at some point. He promised he wouldn’t let anyone else.

You trusted him. You could see it in his eyes, that maybe the idea of letting someone else touch you had been out of the question from the very start.

“We have a deal.” The woman says, standing easily, and waiting for Billy to follow.

You’re wobbly on your legs, too drunk on your own lust for him, the way he holds your hand, silently pulling you along.

You almost forget the real reason you were here, lost in wondering how he would take care of you later tonight if you’d let him.

On the way down, the woman introduces herself as Petra, Billy gives his name, and no one even mentions you. It makes you a little irritated, that you were being treated as that much of an object, but it didn’t really surprise you. They were vampires after all.

You don’t ask where you’re going, following easily, memorising every hallway and door, making a mental map in your head.

She guides you down a flight of stairs, so narrow that Billy’s shoulders brush the sides of either wall. At the bottom, is a short hallway that stops at an iron door. 

Three sharp knocks, and the door cracks open.

You can feel the pulse of the music, emphasised by the lighting in the room, it’s like a dull thrumming, echoing the need inside of you, much slower and more erotic than whatever is playing in the club upstairs. 

Inside is like a large cavern, the walls give off an impression of being somewhere underground, with rough rock walls and lighting fixtures jutting out.

The room is filled with secluded booths, sheer drapes to hide the bodies within, the low light accentuating the writhing figures of people dancing inside, no doubt putting on a show for their partners.

“Nice place.” Billy says, he doesn’t scan the area like you do, using senses beyond your comprehension to make his observations. He gives six squeezes to your hand- one per vampire in the room. 

Six, if you had to fight your way out, things would be a little complicated.

Billy slides into the booth easily, his fingers still laced with yours, guiding you. When he sits, you settle beside him. Almost instantly, his hands are on your hips, pulling you onto his lap, making you straddle him.

You look down, feeling a little vulnerable in this position, arousal settling warmly in the spot between your legs.

“She smells divine,” Petra hums, interrupting your debauched thoughts, sitting in the booth at a respectful distance away, “You promised me a taste.” She reminds him.

“Of course.” Billy says, but when she inches toward you, he raises his hand to stop her from moving any closer.

His hand smooths over the top of your head, your eyelids fluttering at his attempt to calm you, he grips your chin gently, tilting your head to the side.

You close your eyes, your neck tingles, your mind preparing itself for the pain of it.

There’s no fear, just acceptance. You’re almost eager, from the last time he promised he’d bite you. 

He takes a deep breath at the crook of your neck, hands wandering to your backside to keep you still.

You try to relax your body as much as possible, knowing that resistance made it hurt more.

His tongue glides over your neck, and then his fangs press against your skin.

Billy somehow manages to find a way to be gentle about it, he presses in fast, keeping steady as his fangs penetrate your neck.

Delight floods your system for a moment, sparking through your body from where his mouth is latched to your neck. You can’t help the small hum of surprise that leaves your throat. Surely, bites weren’t supposed to feel this good?

It pinches next, and then it stings. You close your eyes and breathe through it, experiencing the pain, letting it move through every cell of your body.

Then, the throbbing begins.

Your neck pulses, as if your body’s suddenly noticed that it’s been breached, and is trying to process the intrusion.

You whimper in pain when he raises his head, freeing his teeth from your skin, the most painful part in your opinion.

His mouth remains latched to your neck, you feel him take one big mouthful of your blood, and swallows. His grip tightens on your ass and you can only imagine what you taste like to him. He only pulls away after he takes a second mouthful.

You watch, peeking through your closed eyelids, as he beckons Petra closer, his fingers under her chin as he seals his mouth to hers.

Something ugly rears its head inside of you. An anger that wasn’t there before, burning as you watch their lips lock, as he shares your blood with her. 

She moans into his mouth, pressing forward, and you watch, with blood trickling from your open wound, as she glides her tongue into his mouth.

All you can feel is hate. When he finally pulls away after what felt like hours of watching them kiss, she chases his mouth, but he braces one arm on her shoulder to stop her.

You couldn’t figure out why you were so upset, it wasn’t like… like you wanted him. Right?

“I need more.” She says, leaning in, now red eyes flitting to you, and to the blood dripping slowly from your neck.

Billy keeps her at bay, glancing at you for a moment.

“Pet,” he says easily, moving his hand off your ass and fishing in his pocket for a hankerchief to present to you, “Why don’t you put some pressure on that for me.” He inclines his head at your wound.

You nod, taking the soft white material, and pressing down to stop the bleeding.

“Please,” Petra begs again, “She’s delicious, you need to bring her to an auction we’re having next week. You have no idea how much she’s worth.”

His eyes are dark when he glances at you, seemingly deep in thought.

“I really could use some more blood, I can’t feed from her all the time.”

She jumps at Billy’s admittance.

“Exactly, you could get ten bodies with the amount of cash you’d get for her.”

When she leans in further, Billy’s hand drifts to wrap itself around her throat.

You can see that she’s too taken with your blood to focus properly, her eyes are glued to your neck despite the hold Billy has her in.

“Where is this auction?” Billy hums, with a tilt of his head. When she doesn’t immediately respond, trying to fight to keep the secret for as long as possible, you entice her by pulling the piece of fabric off your wound.

You’ve long since stopped bleeding, but the cloth has enough of your blood on it to loosen her lips easily.

She speaks the time and place in a very soft breath, that not even you can hear, all you can see from the corner of your eyes are her lips moving, and after a moment, Billy nods in understanding. 

“I’ll think about it. Now leave. You promised me privacy and you’ve already had your taste.” He pushes her away, releasing the grip on her throat. 

She catches herself as she falls back, and with a sour look, she backs off, leaving you alone with each other.

Did you have to kiss her? You immediately want to ask, but with the knowledge that anyone can hear your conversation, you can only roll your eyes at him, and lean away.

You know that technically, you’re supposed to be locked into an intimate embrace with him, but you can’t bear the thought of kissing him after watching him kiss someone else.

You needed to find a way to make this believable on your own terms, and you also didn’t want to actually fuck him either. You’d had enough of being vulnerable for the night.

Without thinking too much about it, you reach for the button on his jeans. 

His hands reach to stop you, a silent exchange passing between you. He raises his eyebrows in a 'What are you doing?' type of way.

You both knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt that you couldn’t very well just leave after getting the information you wanted, it would look too suspicious. Something had to be done, and this is what you’d decided on.

You bite down on your bottom lip, deep in thought, watching his eyes drift down to your mouth, and when you reach to undo his pants again, he doesn’t stop you.

You shuffle back, tugging at his jeans and working his boxers down until his cock is exposed to you.

He's almost at full mast, and his indecent exposure and the implications of that succeeds in bringing him to full hardness. 

You feel something twist inside of you, a pleasure racing through your body at just the sight of him.

You wanted to do this, for yourself as much as for him.

Shuffling back, you keep your eyes on his, slipping easily onto your knees between his parted legs.

When your knees hit the ground, you watch his eyes flash red momentarily.

There’s nothing to be said between you. You can’t convey to him that you’re only doing this because any of the alternatives mean opening up to him, and that’s the last thing you feel like doing right now.

Right now, all you want to do is take from him.

So instead, you lean forward, and wrap your lips around the head of his cock.

His cock is so fucking good you have to fight the moans that rise so easily within you.

Your eyes flutter shut, leaning forward even more, tongue roaming over his tip.

You hear a sharp intake of breath, and you reward the sound by taking him deeper.

It feels so right to have him in your mouth, heavy against your tongue, the head of his cock is smooth, and you're intrigued by the sensation.

You reach for his hand, the one that's got a death grip on the soft cushion beside your head. He releases the couch on your insistence, and you encourage his hand to grip the back of your head.

He grunts out what you think is an expletive, and you pause, raising your head to look at him.

His eyes are dark, the scars on his face look downright devilish in the low light, and you want him to use you for his pleasure, so that you don’t have to feel bad about wanting.

You can tell he’s hesitant, for the very first time you see him pause in his pursuit of you, dark eyes unsure, that is, until you begin to lick gently at his tip.

Teasing him with small touches of your tongue, you watch the darkness grow and grow in his eyes, until he finally takes control- gripping the back of your head harshly.

Your mouth falls open at the sensation, obedient to whatever he wills. You move easily as he pulls your mouth back onto his cock.

He takes it slow at first, guiding the movement of your head up and down on his cock, pushing you down a little deeper each time.

You suck a little- because for all the control he has- you’re in charge here.

“That’s a good girl.” He hums lowly, guiding your head. You hum in response.

It feels good to give him this, feel him filling your mouth so rhythmically, your cunt weeping for the attention he gives your mouth.

You push farther than his hands guide, taking him to the back of your throat. Your body isn’t prepared for the intrusion, and resists, forcing you to pull away with a gasp. 

Tears in your eyes, you look up at him in apology.

His lips are parted, licking at his bottom lip, he grips your hair harshly, and pulls your head up.

You grunt, scalp tingling for a moment as he pulls your body taut between his legs, leaning down until his lips are pressed to your ear.

“You have no fucking idea what I want to do to you, little girl.” He whispers in your ear.

You swallow, cunt squeezing around nothing.

You wanted to hate him. 

You wanted him to use you however he wanted.

You don’t say anything, and when he pulls back to look at you, you make sure he can see the fire in your eyes.

All he does is smirk, and pull your head back down to his cock.

This time, he’s rougher with his motions, guiding your head faster, till your jaw begins to ache but you refuse to give up, wanting to taste his cum, the way he tasted your blood, to have a part of him, just like he had a part of you.

His hands tighten in your hair, a warning, you suck rhythmically, using your tongue to stroke the underside of his cock.

You hear his breath catch, before he’s pushing you down on his cock. You squeeze your eyes shut as he fills your mouth with salty cum, his cock pulsing against your tongue, and you do your best to take everything he has to give.

You don’t swallow immediately, pulling your head off of his cock, you look up at him, parting your lips and sticking your tongue out to show him the evidence of his release.

His eyes flash red as he watches you swallow his cum, appreciating the salty taste of him, before opening your mouth again to show him that it’s all gone.

You breathe deeply, gazing at each other for a long moment. His hand slips from the back of your head, cups your cheek gently.

“I can smell how wet you are. Let’s go home. The things I want to do to you I can’t do here.” Billy says softly, and you nod, getting out of his way so that he can stand and tuck his cock back into his pants.

When he’s done, he extends a hand to you, which you take easily, rising to a stand.

When he leans in to kiss you, you turn your head to the side to avoid his lips, still upset at seeing him kiss another.

He pulls away, a stony expression on his face as he guides you out of the secluded booth.

You grab the handkerchief with your blood on it, tucking it into your back pocket, making sure there’s no evidence of your blood left behind.

Billy nods at Petra on his way out of the room, and you keep your eyes fixed to the floor like the pet you’re supposed to be.

.

.

.

[hellisanhonourstudent]

Dr. Chase,the physician from The Land Down Under

In the Season 8 episode "Dead and Buried",Chase appeared in a TV show playing a stereotypically Australian doctor on some skit(there was no Watsonian explanation given for this,I love how bonkers House MD can be). Despite the embarassment when House and Taub found the video,Chase's "first and big role" was massively beneficial to him.

It started on early clinic duty,due to a mistake. Chase was approached by some random teenager who saw him online. She was wondering why the actor was dressed like a doctor in a hospital waiting room;

In response,Chase claimed to be an aspiring actor wanting to make it in show business. He donned a fake but convincing American accent and a beautiful smile. The girl,now smitten by the not-so-fake doctor,asked to take a selfie with him;

The other professional at the scene were fuming and confused at the same time. Chase was hidden in plain sight,there was no way to convince the other patients the guy was an actual doctor;

The way out of clinic duty was discovered,and Chase was over the moon. He looked up the girl's social media,lo and behold,she not only posted the pic with him but also said she wanted to see more of him;

Chase created social media profiles for his character,totally separated from his professional/personal ones(that were very low-key and private,especially after the nude pic fiasco. As for professional fame,Chase didn't need more than he had - Princeton-Plainsboro was cozy and high-stakes enough). The character was named Robert Chase as well. Between the fact that his name was already common and the fact that "Doc from Down Under" had way more fame than "Head of Diagnostics/House's Successor",it would make him being hard to found out with search mechanisms(this particular tactic made Robert love the fact that the surname Červený was far too complicated for the immigration officers that recieved his father in Australia. Robert Chase vs Robert Červený says it all). To top it all,the real "Dr. Robert Chase" might look like an elaborate goof;

Now,onto how Dr. Chase would be able to keep the facade and his medical career. His main method of testing the candidates to Diagnostics Fellows is to have them pretend to be R. Chase - regardless of gender,race or any characteristics. Of course,he's keeping tabs on both the new doctors and patients - same doctors see the same patients. It has a double usefulness - the candidates have to be skilled with deceit and quick on their feet while able to be coordinated by Chase himself;

When it comes to the cases themselves,Chase goes see the patients sometimes,but always in a disguise(glasses,a thick beard,make up to look 10 years older and a British accent(canon have him an American accent for no reason,so let me make Chase a fake Brit!);

Oftentimes,Chase is seen making videos of the Doctor. After a while,his videos had extremely simplified explanations of complicated diseases. The simplifications were done by someone who deeply understood the pathologies,anyone with medical knowledge would see it. The cherry of the cake was when American Accent Chase played the dumb person who needed said explanations(but still struggled to understand them). His underlings found it annoying but overlooked it,because Chase was generally competent and nice overall;

Last but not least - Chase got away with all that BS because competence levels and he was fucking his boss. Foreman is just as batshit,he's classy about it tho.

Just gimme Chase being just as chaotic as House,but in different ways,please!

[from-the-coffee-shop-in-edoras]

On the desecration of Háma…

I’ve been thinking a lot about Háma lately (though when am I not?) and his death. Content warning for violence!

Háma is a unique and singular individual in many respects, and none more so than in the manner of his death and its immediate aftermath.

There are untold numbers of casualties at Helm’s Deep, but only ONE — Háma — where we are told that the person was not just killed but that their dead body was then literally chopped into pieces. Even beyond Helm’s Deep, the gruesome cruelty with which Háma was treated seems to largely stand alone, at least within LOTR (the Silm is a much bloodier and more grisly work overall, and Háma’s death fits much more neatly alongside Fingon or Gelmir than Boromir or Théoden). Other characters are killed, obviously, or nearly so. But their deaths seem to be less ruthlessly excessive. Beyond very vague “rumour,” we don’t really see specific people being wantonly dismembered and their bodies subjected to intentional, gratuitous violence far in excess of what was needed to achieve their death. We don’t see enemies taking time mid-battle just to mutilate and disrespect the corpse of a fallen foe. But we’re explicitly told that’s what happens to Háma.

The only situation I can think of that’s even remotely comparable is the men of Minas Tirith who were decapitated so that their heads could be volleyed back into the city.* But that’s not a wholly analogous situation. That was an indiscriminate act, applied to every man who fell in that battle, and presumably carried out after the fighting was over so that the heads could later be used for a clear strategic purpose: to fill the surviving Gondorians with fear and despair. Háma, by contrast, seems to have been singled out for unique and especially vicious treatment while the battle was still ongoing and without any offered explanation.

I’ve thought a lot about why this happened to him, and ultimately it doesn’t really matter. There are any number of possible in-universe explanations: to horrify the Rohirrim and destroy their morale; to stick it to Théoden by targeting someone he was especially fond of; to “punish” Háma for having drawn the particular ire of the orcs somehow in the midst of the fighting; just a random and meaningless display of general contempt. There’s no definitive answer given, and, really, they’re all equally objectionable as rationales. There’s a reason that desecration of corpses has been considered a war crime since antiquity and is still categorized as such even today. It’s the ultimate denial of a person’s humanity, individuality (since it can make it impossible to identify them), and dignity. It prevents that person’s loved ones from being able to undertake the usual rituals of mourning and, thus, it denies them the chance to start healing. It’s a breach of norms that can never be redressed.

What’s probably the most relevant explanation is actually the meta one. Whatever motive the orcs had, Tolkien’s motivation was to show us exactly how debased, ruthless and vicious they were. For them to stoop so low was a significant upping of the dramatic stakes, and for it to have maximum narrative impact, it couldn’t just happen to some nameless background character. It had to be someone we know and, more than that, someone we are specifically supposed to like. Háma fills this role perfectly, as he is fundamentally decent and good — literally *everything* he does in the story is just and wise and kind — without being such a central character that readers would fully rebel against him ending up with this fate. (Tolkien clearly did not write this with Háma stans like me in mind!)

Setting aside cause, the effects of Háma’s sacrifice are certainly wide reaching. We don’t ever find out how his family took this news or what it meant to them to try to live with that knowledge, but we see how it hit Théoden. Of everyone who died at Helm’s Deep, Háma is the one that Théoden mourns by name. He casts the first earth on Háma’s grave, which is separated from all the other fallen Rohirrim who are buried together. Théoden repeatedly cites what happened to Háma as one of the biggest wrongs committed by Saruman against him and against Rohan at large. He even lists it above the death of his own son, which I can’t fully account for except to say that Théodred died a more typical battle death that was no less tragic but not as shocking.

If Saruman had *any* hope of convincing Théoden to go easy on him in the aftermath of Helm’s Deep — which he tried to do quite strenuously when our heroes visit Isengard at the battle’s end — that hope died when the first gratuitous blow struck Háma’s dead body. Far from cowing Théoden into submission and sending him in search of any way to head off more such brutality, the desecration of Háma hardens Théoden’s will. He may be “a lesser son of great sires,” but he is not someone who will excuse or accept that offense. And he’ll go to his own grave helping to ensure that anyone who would is denied the chance.

No one else can suffer Háma’s fate. There can be only one Háma. There was only one Háma. He was singular, and he was perfect.

*There is also, in a footnote of UT, the suggestion that Grimbold put the heads of the axemen who killed Théodred onto stakes where they fell. But that’s a) a footnote in unpublished material and so not of the same textual weight as a story that was explicitly included in LOTR itself; b) very vaguely worded (“it is told”) so who knows if it’s even true; and c) unclear as to whether those axemen lost their heads in the battle and they were then displayed as such, or if their heads were taken after just for that purpose. No matter how you choose to read it, though, it wasn’t the same scenario as Háma!

[myechoecho]

Perfect Marriage Revenge, ep 7

It gave me great joy to see Jung Wook and Yoo Ra's little stunt announcement didn't go as planned. Most of them called it out for what it was (adored the "if you go as low as them you are just like them).

Do Guk told the truth: Jung Wook's been using that lame leg as an excuse his entire life. The man has a limp and needs a cane to walk. I don't know what the leg looks like or what other lingering pain/physio it might need, but overall on the horribly disfiguring totem pole, it seems pretty low. Add in the fact that he is the eldest son of a powerful company, surely he could have found someone who accepted (or tolerated) his leg??

Jung Wook really cannot control himself. Do Guk told some truths, in an level tone and Jung Wook is the one that grabbed Do Guk. Grandma really has the power in that family.

Yi Joo probably should have held on to her temper and not said anything about not being the fake one but I love how Do Guk was like Yoo Ra is not worth engaging.

Cheering at Yi Joo turning the tables around on Jung Hye and using the same sort of tactics that Jung Hye used to do on her, forcing her to play along in front of the reporters. I'm not sure what that painting has to do with the secretary or why he wanted it but I'm enjoying what we've seen of them working together. LOL at Yi Joo teasing him how he used to stare at the painting.

I like that Yi Joo has hidden her grandfather away from Jung Hye, but I don't think that some one who supposedly has dementia and is in a home for it can make decisions about his company's shares.

The ex is such a weasel but I also see hints of him eventually breaking with Yoo Ra and maybe siding with Yi Joo. Still the nerve of him going into Do Guk and Yi Joo's home and finding the contract. (also Do Guk do you not have any security??). Grandma is the only one who seems a bit objective because she accurately points out that while the marriage contract is a bit weird, the fact that Yoo Ra and Jung Wook somehow have it and shown it to everyone is worse.

SCREAMING at the domestic scene. Yi Joo ate without a thought! The look on Do Guk's face because he automatically went to test her food and she just ate a huge bite before he could. The trust she has with him. He also tells her he's proud of her, and asks what's changed but she her only answer is to take another bite and a smile. The sex must have been real good.

What's more, she considers Do Guk's place THEIR home. Where it's safe, and she can come to heal if she's hurt. She doesn't even really realize what this means about her feelings for him. But I also love that while she's focused on her revenge, she also doesn't leave out Jung Wook and Teaja group.

Also, they are dressing Yi Joo and Do Guk in similar colours the closer they get to one another:

I adore that Do Guk laid it all out for his mom. What they did to Yi Joo and what they continue to do to Yi Joo via the staged fight and news article. His mom is so outraged by what is being done by Yi Joo's family. Do Guk begs on his knees for her help which apparently is only the second time he's asked for a favour. She refused the first time so I wonder what that is about.

Still his mom needs to see Jung Hye for herself. Jung Hye showed her through the house when she came to visit, which his mom definitely understood why. She can also tell that Jung Hye is excited for what is happening to Yi Joo. Cackling at how his mom deliberately misunderstood Jung Hye when she their son and daughter should break up. I also think it was a bit of a test which Jung Hye failed. I love how ruthless his mom was in saying that she was not going to just let others get the divorce they want. She has a stake in that marriage - Yi Joo promised to get Do Guk to come back to Teaja. Which blindsides Jung Hye but it's also something that she would understand a mother wanting/scheming about. (though Do Guk's mom is not shady or murdery).

Last thought - good for Yi Joo for doing the paternity test to confirm that she is the leigt bio daughter.

[mermaidsirennikita]

what would you say are the biggest trends when it comes to romance novels getting published nowadays and how do you feel about them?

Oh gosh, that's hard to say. In part because I am both deeply NOT on trend in what I seek out, and on trend in that I read a lot of ARCs from trad publishers? Who aren't the only trendsetters by any means, but are the ones with the most $$$.

(This got long so some of it goes under the cut.)

—Romantasy. Obviously. I hate the term romantasy, I think it's literally just made by marketers

(digression: I don't care if a random TikToker came up with the name, the nebulous thing that it IS... pure marketing, there is no definition, and I truly think that genre has to have DEFINITION to be a genre or even a subgenre, it can't just be what one random person thinks it is; you can genre-bend, play with it, but the people you are directing your product to needs to know SOMETHING about what they're buying; I'd compare it to selling a necklace and calling it jewelry without telling the buyer what the stones or metals ARE)

but undoubtedly this is a huge trend. There seems to be a biiiit of paranormal romance making a return with this—see: Kresley Cole's IAD rerelease books being marketed as "romantasy" when there's very little romantasy about that series.... But overall you see the connection to shows like Game of Thrones, etc, within them. Tons of dragons.

—Romcoms continue on. Lots of low stakes romcoms. I do not like these. A lot of the time they blur into women's fiction. The women's fiction blur I think has something to do with Colleen Hoover (though most of her books aren't intentionally funny) but also just publishing trying to capitalize on romance without committing to romance. Emily Henry is a good example of this. Sally Rooney is a more ~literary example. Jasmine Guillory. Etc etc.

They're impossible to really figure out, imo. Are they gonna be hot? Are they gonna be funny? Are they gonna be emotional? Yulin Kuang's How to End a Love Story is a great example of a book that is, to me, near-perfect. It's ABSOLUTELY a romance novel. But is it a romcom? Not really. It has funny moments and a beautiful HEA, but it's a VERY angsty book. Yet I saw it marketed as such.

—Kickstarter campaign books on the indie side, plus other ways to sort of circumvent the tradpub issue while also not... losing as much money. Several big time authors (in and out of romance) have seen huge success with Kickstarter; obviously, it's harder for small-timers, but still possible! I also know of authors who've written chapter by chapter on Patreon and given their patrons special goodies before publishing the book.

—Genre diversity for authors. A lot of authors in the past wrote under one genre or subgenre, then had to use a pen name for anything else. Amanda Quick was Jayne Anne Krentz's historical romance pen name, for example. Now... I don't think people are as strict. Sierra Simone has written erotic historicals, contemporary, dark romance, monogamous, poly, m/m, m/f, f/f, m/m/f, f/f/m, romcoms, etc. Sarah MacLean is dropping a contemporary (not romance) novel soonish. I see this as a good thing all-around. Pen names are cool, but I don't think they should be a MUST.

—Less angst, more fluff. THANKS I HATE IT LOL. I'm gonna say something controversial (apparently) but this is my honest opinion: It is not a story if there is no conflict. What you wrote was a scene. Perhaps a very good scene! A very long scene, maybe! But there is not a STORY unless there is CONFLICT.

Now, I don't know if I've read a book with ZERO conflict. But I've read many lately wherein the conflict was so thin... I felt the story had little substance. Not every conflict has to be ANGST ANGST TRAUMARAMA. A book I recently didn't LOOOOOVE but whatever, I'll accept it as an example, is Heaven, Texas by Susan Elizabeth Phillips. The heroine and the hero are not in danger of losing their lives. Their conflicts are internal. She loves him but doesn't feel like he'll ever genuinely love her, he's a dipshit who essentially doesn't want to accept that she's the one because he a) has a hard time trusting women in general b) has a specific idea of what his life is going to be that was disrupted when his career ended unexpectedly, and he's still working through some shit on that.

Nobody is at gunpoint, nobody is cheating, nobody is doing one last job. They're just... struggling with their feelings and their senses of self. (If the hero hadn't crossed ONE LAST LINE, I think I would've rated that book higher, but it's a testament to SEP understanding conflict that I can dislike the book and still say "solid conflict".)

I just see a lot of authors shying away from serious conflict, and I wonder how much of it is because readers keep complaining about it. And yeah, bad conflict... sucks. But conflict does not inherently suck. I don't want to read 800 pages of PWP or pointless slow burn. I need PLOT. I need ACTION. And I think we can have low-conflict books and high-conflict books in the same market! But it feels like publishers (and perhaps some authors) don't feel confident in that.

Which is why your girl has realized that a lot of the books she loves are like... 10+ years old.

—Historical specific... the unproblematic 1800s white people. I want to make it clear: You can absolutely write politically progressive people of bygone eras well. The Duke Gets Even by Joanna Shupe has a heroine who's outspoken about women's rights and reproductive freedom. Joanna places this against political occurrences of the time to make it flow easily, AND I think is actually pretty real about the heroine having to give some things up to be with the hero (a duke) even though he supports her and doesn't expect her to be a conventional duchess. Some sacrifices are inevitable. Adriana Herrera's An Island Princess Starts a Scandal has a great portrayal of semi-openly queer women in 19th century Paris... and that's something that totally existed and again, flows well.

It's not that I'm a stickler for accuracy at all. See: my love of Alexis Hall's Something Fabulous series. But I think that you either have to lean the fuck in to not being super accurate like they do, OOOOR you have to make it flow. When we suddenly have a duke being like "AND BTW I'M A FEMINIST" I don't fucking buy it lol. I need to see growth, and I need to understand why he has these views. I think there's a lot of low-effort shit being done to make historicals appear more progressive. And while I do think HR has a lot to reckon with, if that's the only way it can continue to exist... It feels as if that subgenre has to exist within a structure that we don't necessarily expect from other subgenres. Not a lot of billionaire romances (and that's still popular, despite what some may tell you) have the hero going "LET ME STOP AND EXPLAIN HOW I'M AN ETHICAL BILLIONAIRE".

I think that romance needs to be aware of its environment and progressive; I also think that romance requires some suspension of disbelief, and I think we're seeing a lot of white guilt driving some newer historical romances.

Because to go back to Adriana Herrera... That's a woman of color writing very politically aware historicals, while at the same time FULLY diving into the escapism and wish fulfillment and all the things people should be able to get out of a romance novel.

(And btw: All the things marginalized groups should be able to get out of romance novels! A Shore Thing by Joanna Lowell is an amazing romance novel with a trans hero, and I've gotta say, the book confronts transphobia, sure, but there is such fucking delicacy and it BY ZERO MEANS drives the fucking book, and I find that really important. That the hero is existing. That Adriana's heroes and heroines exist. And so on.)

[beevean]

Do you think comic books or stories always need to have high stakes? I think its nice when stories take a break or have low stakes in a while. Some of my favorite episodes of The last airbender is where Aang and the gang just have fun or help with little things

That's not what I meant.

IDW peaked with the Metal Virus arc, which was long, grueling, grim, and bleak until the end. Characters were "dying" left and right. The entire conflict was a moral one too: it asked us if Sonic's mercy was a good thing. Flynn admitted that the only reason he introduced the D6 was to raise the stakes even more than they already were. The ending was Super Silver ripping off corrupted DNA out of infected people.

You can imagine that after that, having stories such as "oh no a chao race went wrong! okay we chased the bad guy away", "oh no this new bad guy kidnapped this new supporting character! well she's fine now", "oh no this new bad guy has caused a traffic jam! oh well she tripped on bolts", "oh no eggman has an expanding city! welp we defeated it nvm" comes off as a bit... tired, like they exhausted all of the energy at the beginning and now they don't know what to do.

Obviously at this point it's clear that MV arc was basically false advertisement and the norm for IDW is being low stakes lol, but my point still stands. There are arcs that straight up add nothing to the overall story, like the one where Eggman trapped Sonic, Tails and Amy in a tower of sorts.

It's as if Steven Universe opened up with a grandiose Gem invasion and the rest of the show was Steven having goofy adventures in Beach City.

[befuddled-calico-whump]

I would like to check out riot kings lore but im intimidated by such a long story i was quietly wondering if you could quick sumary it :3 kudos

I appreciate your interest! (And makes sense ahaha it's been going for over three years now)

I'll write a quick summary below and put the full plot summary and prominent characters under the cut :)

QUICK SUMMARY:

The former leader of a violent freedom fighting group is overthrown. He is abandoned in a cell, found by a young psychic and her brother, and brought into the heart of enemy territory: a ship belonging to the galaxy's military faction. He's received to mixed feelings, and forms a gradual bond with the psychic. Meanwhile, his former organization increases their activity, now led by a woman who wants to conquer the galaxy.

CHARACTERS:

Nabi - the only confirmed psychic of her generation. Still learning her powers, kindness > rules

Jin - Nabi's older brother. A seasoned soldier who's respected onboard the Inferno

Melchior - the former leader of the titular Riot Kings, betrayed by his own men before the start of the comic

Mercury - the current leader of the Riot Kings, taking the organization in a new, more "world domination" focused direction

Dr. Stevens - the Inferno's head medic. Has a grudge against the Riot Kings, but is overall a reasonable person

Captain Ramirez - head of the whole ship

Greer - Ramirez's second in command, has a strong bias against the Riot Kings

Wes - Riot King, and Melchior's former best friend

The Riot Kings - an interplanetary freedom fighting group that focuses on violent justice. Viewed as heroes by some and terrorists by others. Their reputation worsened during the Ash Wars, a conflict between the Riot Kings and the Fleet that resulted in a lot of deaths and collateral damage. This "war" wrapped up close to nine years ago, and tensions are still high

The Fleet - the galaxy's military and police force. The official hub for justice and conflict management for all occupied planets

The Inferno - a Fleet spaceship, home of most of the characters, and large enough to function as a base

PLOT:

The story begins when, while on a low-stakes training mission, Nabi and Jin stumble upon a badly injured Melchior. Despite being a criminal and one of the Fleet's most wanted enemies, Nabi advocates for him, and he's given medical treatment instead of being taken directly to the brig. Among his many injuries is a broken and infected foot, which has to be amputated.

The population of the Inferno has mixed feelings about Melchior's arrival. Some are indifferent, or curious, or even excited, but others remember the Ash Wars too strongly and take their frustrations out on him. Nabi is upset by this, and once again advocates for him to receive better treatment. Meanwhile, a group of soldiers sneak into the med bay to attack Melchior. Despite disliking everything he stands for, Jin intervenes for his sister's sake, saving him.

The next day, Melchior is interrogated by Greer. Seeing his methods are only making things worse, Nabi attempts to convince the captain to let her give it a try. As she does, the Inferno receives a transmission from Mercury, who simply greets the crew and introduces herself. With permission, Nabi shows the transmission to Melchior and asks if he knows who this woman is.

At the sight of Mercury, Melchior spirals into a flashback, revealing he was propositioned by the woman several months ago, but he turned down her request for partnership. As a result, she rallied his own men against him and took him prisoner. Nabi, unable to fully control her powers, sees every memory, and unintentionally drags Melchior along for the ride.

Nabi reports what she's learned to the captain, admitting that she accidentally accessed his memories with her powers. Captain Ramirez advises she work on training the ability. Meanwhile, the intelligence team traces the transmission to an abandoned factory. Wanting to weaken what he assumes is a Riot Kings base, Greer presses the captain to send a team in with Melchior as a guide.

As this is happening, Nabi apologizes to Melchior for going through his memories. He says he knows it was an accident, because it feels different when it's done deliberately, revealing that Mercury Swift is also a psychic.

Later, in the med bay, Melchior attempts to use a prosthetic to walk in preparation for the mission. Though initially dismissive of his struggles, Dr. Stevens softens towards Melchior when he insists he deserves the pain. Immediately afterwards, Melchior is briefed on the mission and sent with a team of scouts. Jin, acting as the team leader, briefs the group on the plan: they'll find whatever tech hub the Riot Kings are using and destroy it in order to slow whatever they have in the works.

When moving in to enact the mission, the team is ambushed. Jin and Melchior are separated from the rest of the team and cornered by a trio of Riot Kings. Jin is wounded and falls unconscious. Though he has an opportunity to escape, Melchior saves him instead, bringing him back to the ship.

Jin is angry when he wakes, demanding to know what kind of trick Melchior is trying to pull, but the other man responds calmly. Nabi has a conversation with Melchior, and they start to open up to each other. Meanwhile, the team briefs the captain on the mission, but are interrupted by another transmission from Mercury. She tells them it was a setup; the local town near the factory was being attacked while the team was there, but the Fleet was too focused on attacking the Riot Kings to help the civilians. Mercury implies she will damage the public's trust in the Fleet in order to have the Riot Kings fill the gap, gradually gaining more control.

After the team is dismissed, Jin informs the captain that Melchior saved his life, and vouches for him to be given more trust aboard the ship. Ramirez agrees and tells Melchior that he will be welcomed as a probationary crew member. Ramirez also reaches out to Mainfleet to brief the situation, but the admiral refused to take the threat of the Riot Kings seriously. He is also shown to be skeptical about psychics.

The Inferno receives a tip about a defecting Riot King. Jin and Nabi are sent to meet with him and get information, but Nabi senses something is wrong. She offers the Riot King, Sammy, protection, and he tells them the meeting was a set up; the Inferno is in danger.

At his warning, nearby Riot Kings attack the trio, holding them at gunpoint. Meanwhile, the ship is under red alert as Riot Kings storm onboard. Dr. Stevens and Melchior bunker in the med bay with a few others, and Melchior comes face to face with Wes, who drops his weapon in shock, having thought Melchior was dead.

Meanwhile, Sammy is revealed to be an attempted deserter forced into this role by his former allies. The leader of the group, Alec, orders Jin and Nabi be taken captive, but says he'll kill Sammy, since he's outlived his usefulness. Nabi, extremely distraught at this, uses her powers to kill Alec, and in the aftermath, Jin drags her and Sammy away. Onboard the Inferno, Wes is taken prisoner.

Sammy parts ways with the other two, knowing with his past, the Fleet isn't a safe place for him. Nabi is distraught over what she's just done, and Jin tells her to keep it a secret from the Fleet, afraid her new power will be weaponized. Wanting to interrogate Wes, Greer calls Nabi in to help, knowing she can see memories.

Still wracked by guilt but wanting to help, Nabi gives it a try, pulling back when Wes becomes visibly distressed. At this, she refuses to try again, not wanting to hurt anyone else. From her brief time in Wes's head, she saw that the Riot Kings are planning something big for Freja, an outer planet. Captain Ramirez informs the admiral, once again requesting help with the threat, since a Fleet ship was just directly attacked. The admiral agrees to meet and formulate a plan, but wants more information. Greer continues the interrogation on his own, torturing Wes.

Hours later, Wes is thrown into the cell beside Melchior. He tries to reason with his former friend, but Melchior is still wounded over the betrayal, and the fact that Wes did nothing to help him. He asks Wes to help the Fleet stop whatever plans Mercury has for Freja, but he refuses out of his hatred for the Fleet. At this, Melchior is no longer willing to speak to him.

During his next interrogation, Wes is locked in a cupboard for an extended period, and manages to escape. This doesn't last long, as he is quickly apprehended by Fleet soldiers, who beat him. Nabi intervenes, and Greer takes the opportunity to coerce her into reading Wes's memories again, saying if she doesn't, he'll have no choice but to continue doing things his way. For Wes's sake, she agrees, but instead of forcing her way into his mind, she talks to him.

With Nabi proving she cares about Wes's well being and the civilians on Freja, and Wes wanting to redeem himself to Melchior, he gives her the information the Fleet needs. At the same time, Wes further humanizes the Riot Kings to Nabi, saying most of them were just impoverished kids who needed somewhere to belong, in a world where the government doesn't do second chances. Greer begrudgingly accepts that Wes is being honest about the information, but says they don't need him anymore, and that when the admiral comes for the meeting, he'll send Wes to a Mainfleet prison.

With the meeting only a few days away, the captain asks Melchior for help with getting the admiral to take the threat seriously. Meanwhile, Jin tells Nabi about the meeting, and urges her not to tell them about her increase in power.

Aaaand now the day of the meeting has arrived, so that about brings us up to speed! This got long and may be a little out of order, but it covers the main points :D

[gascon-en-exil]

A Very Belated Octopath Traveler II Ranking

I had an anon asking me about Octopath Traveler II story rankings a few weeks ago. I'd been wanting to do one of those for a long time now, but between all my other projects I haven't really had the time. I can however throw together a quick summation. If there's any interest in longer versions I might be persuaded to explore that...but when I say "long" I really do mean it. Most of my notes at the moment go on for paragraphs for almost every traveler.

#8 Ochette

Knockoff Pokémon. Kind of shapeless thanks to the nonlinearity. Brings up heavy themes but can't really explore them in part because the beastlings are just handled weirdly. The villain only existing offscreen sucks.

#7 Hikari

Literally the standard Fire Emblem plot, only it doesn't work in the Octopath format because of geographic isolation and the travelers being handled oddly as a group like always. Has some pacing issues especially in Chapter 4 with its massive cutscene dump. Was pretty much exactly what I expected from start to finish.

#6 Throné

Fantastic opening and even better midgame, then dives off a cliff at the end because it has to escalate to the Final Story. Overall story can't accommodate such a bittersweet ending so it just kind of...doesn't. Still earns points for how it handles familial abuse and the perpetuation of the cycle of violence.

#5 Partitio

Man's dads get divorced, so he starts an industrial revolution to get them back together. Is as awesomely ridiculous as that sounds, and is enhanced by various unique stylistic flourishes. Succeeds as long as you don't try to bring any serious economic or political themes into it. Also extremely gay homosocial all around, soured only by the token female character...and not remotely in the way you'd expect based on how I'm describing it.

#4 Agnea

A low-stakes, feel-good romp that's exactly what you think it's going to be, and is wonderful at it. Begins leaning on the fourth wall in amusing ways by the end, and although it's also weirdly leashed to the Final Story it goes over better than it does with Throné's or Partitio's stories. Primrose was my favorite from the first game, and while the tone of this one is completely different I'm surprisingly okay with that.

#3 Temenos

A bit lazy doing another story with a Sherlock Holmes-esque approach to mystery when the first game already did one, but the stakes are higher from the start and Temenos is also doing most of the heavy lifting building to the Final Story. Crick provides some much-needed emotional stakes, even including his ultimate fate. Gets a bit lost in its own plot twists at one point, but that's mostly a minor nitpick.

#2 Osvald

Opening is constraining and atmospheric in just the right way. Appropriately dramatic at all the right points with a delightfully hammy villain, and pivots from revenge to the Power of Love adequately enough so as not to feel too cheesy. Spaces out its multiple flashback sequences much better than Hikari's story. It and #1 are actually helped by being narrative cul-de-sacs relative to the Final Story.

#1 Castti

Does pretty much everything the other stories do right. Deftly handles an amnesia plot with clever presentation and a strong supporting cast. Healeaks is devastating, the villain is hammy but also sympathetic (his turn being offscreen is the weakest note of the whole thing), and Castti is a solid presence throughout even if she never really stands out much to me as a character. Ending is satisfying but still allowed to feel melancholy, and it doesn't lead to mood whiplash like Throné's does.

[gamesception]

Sception Reads Cass Cain #40

Batman (1940) #594 - October 2001 Writer: Ed Brubaker.......Pencils: Scott McDaniel Inks: Karl Story...............Colors: Roberta Tewes

We go from a very archetypical Cass story to something very different. Another guest appearance to begin with, this time in the pages of Batman proper. But where a 'Cass Story' as per last week was defined by being a tightly focused stand alone 'street level' low fantasy one shot with an emphasis on human emotional stakes, this time we've got aliens, federal agents (working for president Lex Luthor) and super criminals in multiple disconnected plot lines that neither begin nor meaningfully end in this issue. And yeah, it's really cementing the thought in my head that the reason Cass's Batgirl run caught and held my attention so much more than other comic books at the time was down to the kinds of stories she was used to tell, at least as much as it was about the character herself.

Not too much point talking about the story this time, as Cass isn't actually terribly involved in either of the main plot lines, so mostly we're just looking at the art, and on that note we've seen Scott McDaniel's Cass before (link).

That time I was mostly positive about McDaniel's Cass for the expressive mask, though jokingly compared it to Munch's 'The Scream' in one panel. This time though...

The comparison's more stark and not really in a good way. That head shape feels... inhuman. And the thing about Cass is that, while, yes, her costume's spooky, in many ways she's the /most/ human of the bat family, the most strongly grounded in human emotion and trauma and empathy, so visual depictions that make her more of a weird monster don't work as well for me.

It's not all bad though, there's this cool action scene where she beats up a bunch of President Luthor's (don't ask) government goons before they can bust into a church building offering sanctuary to a crashed psychic alien (don't ask).

I said we weren't talking about the writing this time, but it is worth pointing out that Brubaker remembers Cass can talk now, which was still something of an exception in guest appearances, so that's nice.

Overall not terrible appearance for Cass, but doesn't really do anything for her other than confirm that she's still a thing outside of her own book, and remind me why I found the stories in her book so much more compelling than those in other bat family books at the time.

..............

Otherwise, sorry about the missed update last week, and late one today. I'm kind of burnt out lately (in general, not on this project in particular), and other stuff is intruding more on my time. Things should even out in April, but these posts might not be super reliable for the rest of March.

[sketching-shark]

If you could reboot LMK how would you do it

WAUGH I could go on at length about this but I guess my main changes would be

A) LOWER THE GOSH DERN STAKES/ LET SUN WUKONG SHOULDER MORE OF THE BURDEN IN A COMPETENT MANNER

Said before that my favorite season of Monkie Kid was the first one mainly because its lower stakes and lighter tone meant that an episode's concern could be wrapped up in a satisfying manner in a 10-minute time period. But given Everything that's happened since then, the now routine world-exploding stakes of the past few seasons seasons are really starting to grate not just because it means one horrific trauma after another for MK and his allies but because the reasons that they happen end up re-enforcing the idea that Sun Wukong--even though he does obviously run around like mad trying to do everything he can to make things better once things have gotten to a really bad point and even though he doesn't ever intend for things to get as horrible as they do--is a genuinely terrible mentor, leader, and friend and an overall bad influence in MK's life. As such, I think that doing a more low-stakes monster-of-the-week formula with a focus on MK & co. with Sun Wukong mostly in the background doing other things but with a decent presence in the foreground to sincerely help when things got tougher for the Monkie Kid could create a good balance between keeping the spotlight on Qi Xiaotian and his allies in their adventures while still letting Sun Wukong be a caring and competent shifu.

B) LESS MYSTERY-MONGERING PLEASE

There's been much fun made of those who act like a plot not revealing all of its mysteries from the first makes for a bad story, and for very good reason. HOWEVER, in Monkie Kid's case I think that it could really benefit from answering some of its big questions earlier on so that characters could deal with them and move forward in their development. For example, I'd love to see an arc that's all about why the Demon Bull King and Sun Wukong had their big battle in the first place and what the ongoing consequences of it are. This could give them a real chance to confront how it's still negatively affecting them and their relationships in the present (Sun Wukong with his refusal to even try to forge new friendships & tendency to push people away, the Demon Bull King with taking out his anger on everyone and everything, even his own son) and maybe even let them ultimately move forward knowing that they can't be sworn brothers again but they can be better and happier people. I'd also love to see an arc that's focused on Sun Wukong telling Qi Xiaotian flat-out what happened to the other pilgrims that resulted in their deaths and the failure of the westward journey, and also that if he doesn't want to be the Monkie Kid any more with that information then he doesn't have to. tbh I think it would be great if MK's hero worship was shattered BUT ALSO came with the reality that if he didn't want to fight yaoguai any more then it wouldn't mean all of reality would explode because he actually could depend on Sun Wukong to keep the situation from getting that bad. So then Qi Xiaotian does go back to his normal life for awhile, but is still irrevocably changed by the knowledge that there's all this danger out there that the Monkey King is confronting alone. I think this kind of arc could conclude with a really neat reflection of the "we are all capable of being Sun Wukong" idea with MK, the whole monkie crew, and others ultimately coming together to help save the Monkey King and each other with some issue in a refutation of the idea that you have to suffer and die to atone and also be a "it takes the world to save the world" sort of story.

C) MORE MONKEYS. MORE ALLIES. MORE FRIENDS.

Fore sure I'd make at least some members of the og classic's Mt. Huaguoshan troop along with Sun Wukong's og sworn brotherhood be characters in legoland. There's a number of really cool things you could do with them, but personally I'd make it so that their presence and role in the narrative acts as something of a response to the yaoguai battles in the og classic. I think it would be cool if for at least a few episodes an issue isn't solved by beating the yaoguai in question but by finding some creative alternative to the issue at hand that would also show the moral grayness of other characters as well as let MK & Sun Wukong himself flex some of the Monkey King's less utilized abilities and powers. For example, maybe the monkie crew responds to a call for help about ferocious storms at a sea port. And when they get there, they discover that this is the work of the Dragon Flood King, one of the Monkey King's former sworn brothers. And once this is revealed, then we have to deal with the situation where one of the big reasons the Dragon Flood King is doing this is because back before he met Sun Wukong he was kicked out of the dragon king family for being "ugly"/deformed in some way (I did see a post suggesting that this is a headcanon in China), and now that the warlord days are over he's been surviving by doing a version of what Ao Guang did for centuries in creating a weather-based protection racket where humans are forced to give him offerings or else he causes floods. And besides the interesting issues this could open up with Long Xiaojiao and her own family, then we ultimately don't solve this by beating the Dragon Flood King until he disintegrates, but by Sun Wukong and MK acting as mediators between the dragon and a few rain and storm gods so that the Dragon Flood King ultimately finds a new home in a desert oasis that the monkie crew helps him create.

Also I think it would be cool if MK got more friends in the form of some of the youngsters from the Mt. Huaguoshan monkey yaoguai troop.

Just a few sketchy thoughts! I honestly do think that there's so many cool and interesting things one could do with Monkie Kid's premise.

[lara635kookie]

Ship Analysis pt. 5:

Red Crackle, Carmivy and Carulia.

When Gray says he is that guy, he's always been that guy, Carmen says to him he's not and it's never too late to change, but I think Gray, just like Shadowsan at the start of the series, thought of himself as irredeemable. Because that's how V.I.L.E. works. They don't give a damn shit about you and repeatedly show that but because of their alluring skills they manipulate you into thinking they care about you and staying there it's what's best for you. For example Sonia was almost manipulated into V.I.L.E. by the thought of financial stability. We know for the application video Maelstrom shows that it wasn't the case for Gray as he had a pretty good job, just wanted some something even "more lucrative" so what was in it for Gray? We'll never know for sure, but considering his orphan background it probably was the illusion of the feeling of familiar union and security V.I.L.E. passes. The only character that may be an exception to this rule is Paper Star. I do believe she has a darker background just like everyone else at V.I.L.E. must have but the difference is that just like Maelstrom, she is criminally insane. They are the only persons at V.I.L.E. I would call truly evil. And honestly we need more of that. Villains that are evil just because they are and it has nothing to do with being misunderstood or something. Don't get me wrong, I like villains with that kind of depth but you can show a villain who really is evil and still has depth without a sad and tragic backstory. I feel like we have too much of those and I'm not saying it should stop, but have a balance between the two types of villain, so it won't get boring. Carmen Sandiego made it pretty well since we have villains like Gray and Paper Star. Also, while Gray was a villain, he was also more of an antagonist. He thinks differently and opposes to Carmen, the protagonist. And because of that, I think the stake is being held too high for Gray. As far as we know, Gray never killed anyone. Chief killed Carmen's FATHER and Shadowsan was a part of the YAKUZA. And if you know at least a little bit about Yakuza and how brutal they are, it's delusional to think Shadowsan has never killed anyone for them. His main weapon was a literal samurai sword! If he's never killed anyone, he had at the very least cut someone's legs or arms, or something that made them not die immediately in the moment, but after. The chances that Shadowsan never killed anyone are low. Almost non-existent. I think overall he probably did more harm to people than Gray ever did, even if he regretted before. Do not get it wrong, I like Shadowsan's character, because of how complex he is(it's kinda the same thing with Gray) but I think these aspects about his past actions are things to consider when mentioning his character. Even with these things I said, most people like Shadowsan and Chief(sometimes, it depends on what she's doing). Most people also like PAPER STAR, the truly evil person here, and yet Gray is the character that divides opinions. He's that 8 or 80 character:or you love him or you hate him. There seems to be no middle term between the fandom. Why is that? For me, it's because, out of all the character of the show, he's the one that leaves more room for speculations. Like Chief said:"You're a walking enigma, Calloway." So a lot of his actions can be interpreted in ways we'll never truly know the answer for. This person has a seemingly negative outcome on Gray, forgetting his good side and I'm trying to show both sides here. This person believes those things and can keep believing it because we'll never have confirmation so me, as an optimistic positive person, I choose to see Gray in that light.

[driftingballoons]

2 for the ask game? I have a feeling i know but I offer an invitation to yap hehe

I always welcome the opportunity to ramble heehee :3 anyway you all know it—it’s explorers babeyyy! It was a fantastic introduction to pokemon, which set my expectations for the franchise perhaps a tiny bit higher than they should have been, but to be fair something like explorers is tough to beat. I honestly think it being my first pokemon game was partly why it stuck so much in my mind, as everything was new and exciting, from the pokemon themselves to figuring out things like moves/type matchups. I honestly felt like I was experiencing it as similarly to Hero as possible—having no idea what is going on at any given time. 

And then there’s the plot itself. The fun low-stakes exploring adventures suddenly escalating to a life-or-death situation where time itself is on the verge of collapse was really exciting, and to be honest quite unexpected. I hadn’t even seen a trailer for the game, so had absolutely no idea what to expect going in (which was partly why I thought a plot-twist would be that Grovyle was Hero (=treecko for me) in the future—I didn’t know Grovyle was just always a grovyle🙈).  Plus, I think that, being my first experience with pmd, the plot twist was more impactful than for gates/super. Despite feeling unsettled by Dusknoir even before he started acting shady and being randomly drawn to Grovyle, I was still quite surprised that that was the direction it went! I remember actually feeling bad before the reveal that I just didn’t vibe with Dusknoir, and was wondering what the issue was, especially before he started acting suspicious (beyond his design, which I honestly wasn’t a fan of back then). Really made both characters so much more interesting to me and got me thinking more about the dark future and the pmd world overall :3 

And of course can’t ignore the characters—it’s such a great cast. The guild members were great for the lighter half of the story, while still pulling through as things got heavier, showing that, despite being a bit silly and weird, they really are accomplished explorers. And then here’s Grovyle, Dusknoir, and to a lesser extent Celebi (we were truly robbed). I could probably write an essay on each one—they truly make me insane, probably more-so now than when I first played it 15 years ago.

It was a truly incredible game which, in many ways, made me re-evaluate my approach to and outlook on life. Absolutely rewired my brain. And, although quite a few years later, introduced me to a lot of great people who are also still experiencing the brainrot :3

[live-love-boruto]

Ep. 16 | Crisis! The Threat of Failing

Rating: 15 / 25 | Watch

Plot: 3 / 5

Characterization: 5 / 5

Visuals: 2 / 5

Importance: 2 / 5

Entertainment: 3 / 5

A great episode in between arcs, especially if you love Denki or Iwabe like I do. I think if you want to understand these two characters, this episode is vital watching. It shows their true friendship begin and hints at the future of them (and Metal) being on a team together.

Denki, like we've seen before, is afraid of being a disappointment. He knows that he chose this path, but may not be able to see it through despite of being a good student otherwise. By failing, he'd be showing his father that he was still weak and unworthy. It also shows that Iwabe is a symbol of what could happen to him if he fails and Denki voicing that fear comes off like he's looking down on Iwabe (which he kind of was, at the beginning.)

Despite being a mainly Denki episode, I think Iwabe is where this episode shines. He has been held back twice (I believe) so he's older and therefore more isolated from his classmates than Denki is, and he has past trauma related to being left behind by the friends he did make because he was held back (though were they really his friends if they didn't keep up with him?) He is still trying hard to pass and puts on a brave face for Denki, but seeing him resigned to having to take another year to be a shinobi was hard to watch and I'm glad he took Denki's insistence on teaching him engineering to heart.

Though why these kids are learning engineering at 12 is beyond me. Maybe I've been out of school too long or maybe they've just got higher expectations of shinobi, who knows.

It was mentioned that Metal was preparing for the test extra hard in order to not be nervous during the exam, but considering that it's been shown multiple times that he literally cannot overcome it, I wonder how he managed to pass any of his practical exams. I also think it was nice to bring in Rock Lee as an adult that also failed to help Denki, even though I'd think that if anyone could explain how to walk up walls with chakra to someone with difficulties, it'd be the guy that can inexplicably do it despite not being able to do any other ninjutsu.

While a bit contrived that they'd just so happen to need to use these specific skills in an emergency situation the day of their final exams, I did enjoy the escape from the fire and it was fulfilling to see them apply what they've learned so flawlessly (and pay off Denki getting the Super Special Jumpsuit earlier in the episode.) Shino's speech about how it is important to apply his lessons in reality and in times of need was sweet, and I'm glad that he accepted their story as a form of passing (even though I don't know how he verified that Iwabe did the electrical work; I guess he just trusted Denki's word or that he confirmed with the fire department off screen.) As shinobi, their routine is going to be emergencies, so it's nice that Shino acknowledged that.

Overall a great episode for the characters, and I love to see them grow. This episode is peak early Boruto, and shows off a low-stakes charm that is present throughout these first few seasons.

[fauxkaren]

My Holo Love - 7/10

This was cute. Idk if it was especially GOOD, but it was cute. The premise felt fairly unique while still having some classic K-drama tropes. I think the execution wasn't always perfect but there was at least an attempt to explore some interesting themes and do some good character work regarding being open to people and vulnerability.

You've got to suspend a bit of disbelief in terms of the technology, but like... just go with it. Don't question it or think too hard, lol. Secretive genius computer programmer, Nando, has developed a holographic AI (called Holo- whose entire appearance is based on Nando's) that the user can view and interact with via a fancy pair of glasses. When a competitor company tries to steal the Holo glasses, Nando's sister ditches them in a stranger's purse to hide them. This stranger is Soyeon, a woman with face blindness. You can see how a holographic AI can be helpful to a woman with that condition. Soyeon becomes increasingly reliant on Holo and Nando monitors their growing relationship while also hiding his identity from Soyeon.

As you can surmise, the show explores if an AI can experience emotions and whether a human can love an AI. Luckily the show doesn't spend TOO much time on that because really it kinda becomes obvious that Soyeon finds herself following in love with Holo because she's isolated herself from others due to her face blindness and Holo has helped her open up to people. And, lol of course, it's WAY less low stakes and emotionally vulnerable to love an AI vs to love a flawed human being. So you know... relatable, lol. But it's obvious to the viewer that Soyeon's really just projecting her growing feelings for Nando onto the AI he made and modeled on himself. So there's that aspect of AI that the show deals with, but it also takes a stab at addressing the dangers of wearable tech in terms of like a surveillance state and society not engaging with each other. I think the show is a less successful on that front but they tried at least!

Other than the AI stuff there's also the standard K-drama fare of Evil Conglomerates, a Secret Tragic Past, and Hidden Childhood Connections. It's all pretty well done and overall the show was enjoyable even if it wasn't super spectacular. If the premise seems even a little bit interesting to you, it's worth watching.

[kaocat-tatatat]

just read batman #71 and that moment with Tim really pissed me off, and now I am having thoughts about comic book bruce wayne and the direction of his character.

Look I don't mind bruce not being a good parent, in fact I kinda like it, and I understand it's a part of his character complexity (especially in the the canon comics) but ffs it's just really ruins his character for him to be physically abusive. like yeah, doesn't happen often in comics (thankfully) from what I've read but it's happened a few times in the past and recently, so I still see it as a problem rather than a product of the times or whatever, I really don't like it and I'd really wish they'd stop doing it.

a bruce wayne that hits his kids is not my bruce wayne, and I can't see in any capacity how it makes any story with him in it better, or makes his character better. the only thing I can think of that it is useful in is raising stakes and making things more dramatic (for lack of a better term). like there are other ways to show bruce's unstable emotional state and short temper than having him beat his kids.

Since they seem fond of it happening repeatedly though (looking at the time he hit Dick and ofc the way he treated Jason after learning he was red hood to name the first thoughts that come to mind) I need them to address it and for him to face consequences (and learn and grow so he can become the mediocre parent he was meant to be) directly in some form or another soon because it just feels like such a horrible thing to have as a reccuring character trait, one that is displayed over multiple stories by multiple writers, and just not resolve it or develop it much? like inxmost cases they at least recognise its wrong, and maybe they even have bruce deal with it individually- but never all at once and never with him actually dealing with the consequences and changing for the better.

I mean I have tried, but imo not very well and considering hoe it pops up again and again, it doesn't last long. I do have hope though, post gotham war (and now with failsafe), I think writers have been trying to in some way have that happen. Bruce loses his wealth, money, hand, and his relationships with his children are frayed after being taken over by zur-an-arth, and has to work to get to it back. then he has to fight failsafe, and then he finally gets clarity, with what things have been building up to, with the clone situation. of course, with the ending of the most recent arc has him get to have a new beginning, with bruce getting his money back, a new house, and potentially having his children live with him again. he faced consequences for hurting people through his actions and mental state and then has to build himself up again, and finally he gets to have a redemption arc and a second chance. while I don't think it has been done in the best way (there are high highs and low lows), I can see what they are going for and hope they are taking it the direction I think they are, and finally having bruce gore to be a better parent.

i am upset it hasnt exactly been direct, which makes me worry om reading into things wrong, but its a step in the right direction, and i feel that its possible comic book bruce wayne may actually take a second chance?? don't get me wrong bruce has had plenty of second chances thrown at him by the narrative, and while I think personally that this comes a bit to late, if my reading of the recent comics and there overall themes is correct then we may, may have bruce not be physically abusive anymore ( or less emotionally abusive too, ideally)

in conclusion: let bruce wayne have character growth, permanently (I have hope, aka, I am coping) AND STOP HAVING HIM BEAT HIS CHILDREN!!! HE IS PRONE TO HURTING THE PEOPLE HE LOVES THE MOST BUT THAT DOESNT MEAN HE SHOULD PURPOSEFULLY LAY HIS HANDS ON HIM!!

I might expand on this with why so many writers choose to write him this way, where i think it comes from, and ehy i still think him being physically abusive is bad for his character and (not OOC per say because its happened too many times and in multiple points in history for it to be) but rather, just a poor take on his character, but it's currently 1:35 in the morning where I am and the only thing keeping me awake is my poor decision to hyperfixate on bruce fucking wayne of all characters, so I must pay the price