#the mayor has his own TW

[olinblogin]

Sorry if I make another request you don't have to do this one if you don't want to of course ♡ can I ask for a Yan LBD x Fem reader x Yan Mayor? I don't see many content of them here in Tumblr unfortunately ;-;

I was thinking of an scenario when they want Reader to be part of them since LBD wants to destroy the planet for "perfection" She maybe can se Reader as someone who has the destiny to be by her side along with the Mayor of course, Thank you so much! 💖

Btw: I love your profile picture (╯✧▽✧)╯

Absolutely! I’m so glad you enjoy my stories so much to request from me again, Chipi! I really hope you enjoy this one as well, thank you again so much for your support I really appreciate it! :3

YAN!LADY BONE DEMON X FEM!READER X YAN!MAYOR

(Disclaimer; Lady Bone Demon is NOT possessing Bai He in this story!)

CW/TW FOR THE CHAPTER; kidnapping, chaining/bondage(not sexual), slight Stockholm syndrome(?), the mayor has his own TW.

The cold air nipped at your skin as you clutched at your windbreaker, which did little to end your shivering as you trudged up the peaks of the mountain. You peered back momentarily, watching the flashes a blue and gold strike the sky…

You had to focus on the task at hand. The ice you passed by that was made by the Lady Bone Demon whispered and beckoned for you… grazing yourself hands across the rings of samadhi you grimaced at the piercing heat they seemed to emit the closer you came to the center of the area where the ritual was first held…

A breeze of air bit your already flushed cheeks; sniveling to yourself you shoveled the rings back under your coat… at least that gave some warmth.

You tried to focus in on what everyone was talking about; but your hearing was overcome with a ringing noise that made you dizzy. Stumbling, the rings tumbled out of your jacket… you tried to pick them up, but you fumbled clumsily and fell to your side.

“[Y/N]?! Are you okay?!” MK screamed out, rushing to your side with everyone else in suit. You could barely hear his voice until the feeling of a familiar cold wrapped around your neck; yanking you back.

You choked out a yelp when you were tugged again, clawing at the cold clasp around your neck. You managed to crane your neck back a little to be met with the cold, undead eyes of the man who called himself the Mayor…

The same man you knew was working under the Lady Bone Demon.

He said nothing, just stared forward with that emotionless grin that split his face in two. MK was the first to spring into action; trying to summon the staff but fumbling when he remembers it wasn’t in his possession. “Let go of my friend you-.. you— you weirdo!” MK snarled, hoping to put on a threatening facade to hide how scared shitless he was.

The chain held to your throat threatened to strangle you, eliciting a groan from you.

“No need for name-calling, now. My Lady and I have come to an agreement… we wish to have your friend here as our own,” The Mayor said with far too much glee. Those words dawned on you and you snapped your gaze to his, his stone blue eyes slowly moving to your own. “What?! You can’t just..- I’m not yours! I’m not going with you, either!” You wobbled to your feet, trying to tug back the chain, thrashing and pulling like a rabid dog.

“You wish to act like a dog, then?” He mused; but he didn’t seem gleeful about it… for once he wasn’t smiling. A shiver ran up your spine.

“Well then. I suppose you do bark like one… I wonder if you’d bite. No matter.” The Mayor tugged back the chain and pulled you forward against him… he just happened to keep the hand holding the chain on your waist; and the other intertwined with yours.

It almost seemed like he was ready to waltz you around a lavish ballroom.

You heard a short, collective scream from your friends as you felt as if you momentarily blipped out of existence; only to be met with your knees to the floor and more chains now keeping you bound, your wrists behind your back, cuff still on your throat too.

The Mayor’s shoes clicked behind you, shivering when his cold hand ran up the back of your neck and through your hair; only for him to yank your head by your hair to force you to make eye contact with the Lady Bone Demon herself.

The more you stared into her eyes the more your ears rung, and the more whispers clawed at the back of your head… it felt as if ghostly hands were grabbing at any part of you that was possible… “How peculiar… what was such a gem as yourself doing with those miscreants who wish to sabotage my plans to bring destiny upon this world.” The Lady Bone Demon’s Hand went to your neck; and up under your jaw to lift your gaze to hers.

Despite the aching migraine forming in your brain, and her cold hand against your jaw; you couldn’t help but melt into the woman’s touch. The Lady Bone Demon’s eyes looked down at the chains bounding you, and glared back at the Mayor. “And why is she bound by ball and chain like a wild animal? Do you not forget why she is with us?!” Her usually calm voice formed into a shout; one that seemed to equally scare both you, and the Mayor. “Yes, my lady… but I couldn’t get her here without a struggle. I’ll remove her chains now,”

The Mayor kneeled by your side and undid the ghastly blue chains; which dropped to the ground and dissipated like fog. 

“Now, my dear… let us shape this world anew. You are far too precious to lose in our reshaping if this wrong world.” The Lady Bone Demon raised the back of her hand and ran her knuckles across your cheek. “You’ll see fit with immortality, as well. We must bind you to us in every way possible.” The Mayor lurked behind you, still having that jarring grin that most didn’t seem real.

You wanted to scream… you wanted to yell and tell them to leave you alone; you wanted so horribly to run away and cry.

But it was like your mouth had a mind of its own.

“Yes, my lady.”

[evielmostdefinitely]

Pls do something with peacekeeper!Coriolanus I have yet to see anyone do that trope + I feel like he’s more mean and protective in that era

mastermind |peacekeeper!coriolanus snow x capitol!reader|

prompt: based off above prompt, but wanted to tweak it a teeny tiny bit so this is how coriolanus meets capitol!reader. the plot of the original film is altered a little to fit this.

contains: tw- violence, guns, shooting. dark, protective, manipulative coriolanus. not super heavy, but there are some kinda darkish themes so read at your own discretion.

“Snow,” Commander Hoff’s gruff voice rang through the doorway, hitting Coriolanous head on, his heart lurching with fear. They found out about Lucy Gray, that she’d escaped after Mayfair and Billy’s death. Or maybe worse, maybe she hadn’t headed north, maybe she’d told them. 

His mind raced as he took a step forward, helmet in hand respectfully, hoping Hoff wouldn’t see the way his hands trembled. “Commander, Sir.” Snow held his head high. If this was to be the end, he wouldn’t go out crying. Not like Sejanus- no, Corio would have pride. 

Hoff set the papers down on his desk with a huff, head jerking back for Coriolanus to come towards him. “Snow, I need you to escort Miss Duke to the Mayor’s office.” He nodded towards the corner. “I guess with the recent tragedy of his daughter, Mayor Mayfield’s mind has been elsewhere. He didn’t get his quarterly tesserae count turned in. The Capitol sent Miss Duke to get them, so make sure she gets there.” 

Coriolanus’ eyes wandered to you, standing in the corner properly, hands clasped elegantly in front of you. A shining beacon in the dark skies of the coal country, a glimmering ray of good after all the bad Corio had. He could tell you were from The Capitol, though you tried to dress more humbly for the visit to the district, he supposed. 

You gave him a smile, and for a moment, Corio’s heart leapt with excitement. That familiar rush of heat returning, coursing through his chest. “Private Snow will take you there, Miss Duke. He’s one of our best. On his way to officer training in Two. You’re in good hands.” Commander Hoff nodded. 

You thanked him quietly, kitten heels clicking across the hardwood floors. Coriolanus followed you, trying to keep his stoic expression, though his eyes wandered to the swell of your ass, hugged perfectly in your dress. 

“Snow,” Commander Hoff called before he left. “A word?” 

The icy chill of fear flooded back into Corio’s system, gripping the knob. You didn’t seem to notice, nodding politely, shutting the door behind you. 

“Sir?” Coriolanus swallowed the lump in his throat, approaching the desk slowly. 

Hoff leaned back in his chair. “You know who that is, right?” 

Coriolanus blinked. His mind had been so occupied with his impending doom, his fate had seemed to turn and tread on the worst sides of things, he was so sure it would continue. “Miss Duke?” 

Hoff blinked at him, laughing softly. “Yeah, Duke, Snow.” He pressed. Coriolanus felt dumb, small like he did when he talked to Highbottom. “Snow, does the name Atticus Duke mean anything to you?” 

Coriolanus' eyes widened lightly, turning towards the door in surprise. “Atticus Duke? The-” 

“-The man who owns half of Panem?” Hoff snorted lightly. “Yeah, that’s his youngest out there. Only girl, alright?” 

Coriolanus felt his curiosity peek. He’d been wallowing in the loss of Lucy Gray, he didn’t even put it together. Thinking you were just another Capitol girl. Not the Duke Heiress. 

“Yes, sir. I-I see that now.” Corio nodded dumbly. 

“Good. So you know that her father paid for the destruction of the rebellion? That he funded the Capitol? And that if these people see her, those fucking Rebels are likely to want to hurt her?” Hoff pressed, his eyes narrowed in seriousness. “And that if something happens to her, our entire platoon will be hanging from that tree- or worse?” 

It shouldn’t have made Coriolanus as excited as he was. The thought of having that much power. He could easily have that level of control, have people quaking with fear- even the powerful ones, trembling at his feet the way Atticus Duke did. Oh, how he envied it. How he craved it. 

“Yes, sir.” Coriolanus nodded. 

“Snow, listen to me.” Hoff sat up straight, leaning over the desk. “If any of them get close to her, no mercy- do you understand?” 

Coriolanus nodded again, spine straightening with authority. “I have others trailing and leading the both of you- crowd control, but I wanted her to feel safe. Feel welcome. So I stuck her with you. Figured a familiar face from the Capitol would put her at some ease. Keep her from telling her father something that would have him questioning my rank and order around here.” 

“I understand, Commander.” Coriolanus said firmly. “I’ll keep her safe.” 

“Wow,” You muttered, looking around the cobbled street. The Peacekeepers ahead of you barking orders, scaring off any pedestrians wandering about. “Is it always like this?” 

Corio blinked, his gun cradled in his hand, finger on the trigger- ready. “Always like what?” 

“This,” You waved around you. “It’s very…” 

“Depressing?” Corio muttered, a grumble, eyes scanning the perimeter in front of him over the gray skies and smog filled air. 

“Yeah.” You smiled softly. “I pictured it… prettier?” 

“It’s the coal district, Miss Duke.” Coriolanus said, the barrel of his gun pointed for backup at a scurrying coal miner. 

“So that’s what makes it so sad?” You challenged, brow raised. 

Corio didn’t answer. He knew what you were implying, and he wouldn’t humor it. Instead, his eyes scanned the street. “May I ask why you’re here?” You asked, tilting your head to the side. 

“What?” Corio snapped, harsher than he meant to. 

“Why you’re here?” You repeated. “I, uh, I don’t want to sound rude. I just- I saw you on the games. You were the mentor who won. I just, I figured you would be at University with the others.” 

“I made an enemy. A powerful one.” Corio quipped shortly, jaw set. He couldn’t let his mind race and spiral, not now. He needed to stay focused. 

“Oh,” You muttered, looking down at the wet, broken road. “I’m sorry.” 

Corio’s heart skipped, maybe with joy, maybe with fear. “May I ask you why you’re here?” Coriolanus asked, eyes cutting down towards you. 

“I have to get the count for the tesserae.” You motioned towards the Mayor’s office before you. “I have to take them back to The Capitol.” 

“Yes, but,” Corio paused, scanning the area. “You’re- Surely, you don’t need to do that, Miss Duke.” He muttered, voice dropping to a low octave. 

You blushed, sheepishly looking towards your shoes, ruined from the muck in the road. “So, Commander Hoff briefed you on me?” You grinned. 

Coriolanus didn’t answer. “I already knew.” He lied easily, eyes cutting to you. “We’ve met before. In passing. I was Sejanus’ friend.” 

“Oh,” Your face fell. “Right. I-I am so sorry for your loss. It was-” 

“-Yes.” Corio nodded, the bile rising in his throat. “We-We met at the Academy’s Ball two springs ago.” 

You turned, looking at him fully for the first time. He tried not to blush, icy eyes meeting your own for a moment. “That’s right.” You grinned. “You-You had longer hair. Tigris’ cousin?” 

“Yes.” Coriolanus nodded. 

“She was apprenticing for my aunt.” You smiled softly. 

Corio looked at you, his rigid posture slacking just for a moment, relaxing in your presence. “Why aren’t you doing something like that?” He asked, brows furrowing for a moment. “Or in University, yourself. Surely that would be… more appropriate than this.”

You bit back a smile, chin ducking down. “Maybe.” You shrugged. “I like this job, though. I get to see the Districts.” 

“Why would you ever want to do that?” Corio snarled lightly. “I can’t wait to get out of them. Get away from these people.” He muttered bitterly. 

You blinked at him, eyes narrowing lightly, stopping before the steps of the Mayor’s building. “You seemed quite fond of that song bird you helped win.” You countered. “And she was among these people.” 

Coriolanus was stunned, mouth opening stupidly, before swallowing his jumbled words. Instead, he offered you his arm politely for you to steady yourself on while you climbed the steps to the Mayor’s office. 

Coriolanus waited outside the office at attention while you collected the tesseraes for the quarter from a distraught, and clearly drunken, Mayor Mayfield. His slurred speech, pores sweating out whiskey soaked odor. 

You took the envelope, thanking him before quickly slipping out. Coriolanus stood beside you, falling back into step with you, the other Peacekeepers joining around the two of you. 

“You’re returning to The Capitol today?” Corio asked, though his eyes stayed straight ahead. 

“They asked me to stay the night.” You answered simply. “Something about a train leaving in the morning?” You looked at him carefully. You knew he was to join you with the others. You’d given the orders from Dr. Gaul to Commander Hoff that morning.

Coriolanus frowned, turning to you curiously. “Tomorrow? Why would they make you-” 

The ravenous bark of Peacekeepers in front of you made you jump, a deranged looking man, covered in soot from the mines, charging at you with a vengeful pace. You froze, clutching the envelope in front of you like a shield, glued to the concrete in pure fear. 

“Gimme that envelope, you stupid bitch!” The man roared, mere feet away from you. “Get my daughter’s name outta there! Take it out!” 

You flinched, bracing for the impact of him hitting you, his body hurling towards yours. It never came. Instead, a shot behind you had a gasp tearing from your lungs. The bullet so close to your own head, you heard it whizzing past you like the June Bugs that flew in the fields in the countryside of the district. 

The man grunted, a bloody gurgle, a crimson patch seeping through his stomach. The other Peacekeepers seized him, shouting and grabbing at him, hauling him away roughly. Your hand trembled, pressing to your lips. Coriolanus stood behind you, gun lowering, finger still on the trigger. 

His face was hard, stoic, eyes narrowed dangerously- furiously. “Come on.” Coriolanus muttered, a hand gently on your back, guiding you forwards. The crowds were peering, poking around at the sound of gunshots, the groans and screams of the man. “We need to get you to the Commander’s Quarters.” 

“Snow, hey, look we-we didn’t see him-” One Peacekeeper jogged frantically, hands trembling in fear. “He just- He came out of nowhere. I’m so sorry, Miss.” 

“It’s alrig-” 

“-Come on.” Coriolanus hissed, cutting your apology off short. “We need to get her back quickly. Can you manage that?” He snapped at the other boy. 

The other boy faltered for a moment, scrambling back into line. You were still shaking, pushed into Corio’s side far closer than what would be appropriate for two strangers. “He-He was just saying sorry.” You muttered, your own eyes scanning around you. 

“He nearly got you killed.” Coriolanus snapped, his eyes hard but they never met your gaze, scanning around you protectively. “His carelessness nearly cost you your life.” Cost us all our lives, Corio thought. 

You didn’t respond, only stepping with his quickened pace. 

“Are you alright?” You asked Coriolanus, peeking around the corner of the train station towards him. 

He was surprised to see you, though he supposed he shouldn’t have been. He assumed the ‘Princess of Panem’ would have her own private carriage on the train, not subjected to riding with him. 

“I think I’m supposed to ask you that.” Corio gave a half smile, a tone much lighter than it was before. 

You blushed, looking down. “I’m alright.” You sighed lightly. “I told your Commander that. I promise I don’t need an escort back to The Capitol.” 

Coriolanus looked down at his bags. “I’m not- I’m returning to The Capitol as well.” He said, chest boasting at the words. 

“Oh?” You lifted a brow. “No District Two?” 

“No,” Corio shook his head. “I’ve been asked to return.” It was vague, and he knew it- knew it piqued your interest. 

“Well, congratulations. I’m sure your family will be excited.” You smiled politely, lifting your own overnight bag when the train doors opened. 

“Here,” Coriolanus stopped you, reaching for the strap of the bags. Your hands brushed in the smallest way. Overlapping as he took the bag politely, a surge of electricity jolted between both of you, rapid sparks that would crescendo in the days, weeks, years to come. 

You blushed, turning your head to hide the way it flustered you. It was so embarrassingly juvenile, his eyes sparkling, lips tugging in a grin when he looked at you, pinky grazing over your knuckle just for a moment before he held the bag. 

“Allow me.” Coriolanus was smug, proud, pulling the bag up. He let you on first, placing the bags away, eyes cutting towards you. You were stealing a glance at him, turning after being caught sheepishly. 

You had the window seat, looking out at the smoggy station. “Is this seat taken?” Corio asked, hand resting on the arm of the seat next to you. 

You shook your head, moving your hands to your lap. You were so poised, Corio knew it had been drilled into your head since you were young, just as it was to him. His mind raced with excitement, the idea of getting you to be so improper, defile you. 

“Do you know your orders once you return?” You asked, looking at him carefully. The trains whistle trilling in the background. 

“I’m not sure.” It was a complete lie, he only knew a fraction of what awaited him when he returned. All the more reason he needed an ally, a powerful one at that. 

“Why?” Corio pressed, leaning forward to look at you. His dog tags hung loosely around his neck, draping over his underclothes of his uniform. It made your heart race. 

“I was just curious.” You shrugged, swallowing gently. 

“You were wanting to see me again?” Corio pressed, boldly. His heart skipped when you whipped around, staring at him with a wide eyed expression. 

“W-What?” You choked out, trying to remain calm, composed, but your heart was beating so fastly you were sure it would burst. 

“Were you wanting to see me again?” Coriolanus hummed, shifting in his seat to turn towards you. You were pressed against the glass, pinned by his gaze. “Because I was hoping to see you again. If you’d have me.” 

“You would?” You squeaked, sure that your fluster was apparent all over your face. 

“If you’d let me.” Corio purred smoothly. “I’d like to take you out sometime. Get to know you better. I’m very,” His fingers brushed over your own hand, satisfied at how you shuddered. “Interested in getting to know you.” 

You swallowed. No man had ever been so direct with you. He’d saved you the night before, so effortlessly. The feeling of his bicep around you, shielding you away, strong and steady. It had you sneaking your fingers between your thighs later that night shamefully at the thought. 

“I-I would like that.” You nodded, mind screaming when his hand held your, cradled with such care, you almost forgot how brutal he was yesterday. 

“Tomorrow?” Coriolanus asked, head tilting to the side. He wanted to set the date before you forgot, before you had time to ask around about him or think too much about his actions before. 

“That-That would be lovely.” You nodded, tongue swelling thickly in your mouth, heart hammering as he pushed closer and closer. 

His hand cradled your jaw softly, thumb stroking over your cheek bone. “May I?” Corio hummed, eyes lustful. 

You nodded. You weren’t quite sure why, you’d certainly never done something like this before. But then his lips were on you, hand cradling your jaw, moving to the back of your head gently. He migrated into your chair, somewhere between the Districts, hands on your back, pulling you in closer and closer. He kissed you like a man starved, possessively and passionately all at once- it made your head spin. 

It dawned on Coriolanus, what Dr. Gaul was talking about. Sacrifice, while brutal, was necessary. Losing Lucy Gray, Sejanus, without that would it have ever brought you to him? He would be in the woods, starving with a girl who nearly used him to survive, or hanging from a tree next to Sejanus. Certainly not sitting side by side in the train car, stealing small smiles and gentle kisses with you. His fate had turned, re-routed and he could see it now- his future, his empire with you. 

[fueioekjfisks]

Im so sorry im losing my absolute mind but please hear me out for a second.

Mild tw for implied SA - NOTHING ACTUALLY HAPPENED PEOPLE JUST THINK IT HAPPENED

You know the common misunderstanding au in the danny phandom rn about vlad being a creep and people thinking hes like a CREEPY CREEP and not just a supervillain creep?

Well imagine danny is going on break or something and his dad wants to bring the whole family up to vlads castle for whatever reason.

Danny, obviously, does not want to waste his ONE FREAKING CHANCE of getting some god damn sleep being tormented by vlad and his stupid birds. Plus, vlad will probably plan some big murder plot for his dad and danny CAN. NOT. HANDLE. THAT. RIGHT. NOW.

So danny decides to make a PowerPoint presentation about why he doesnt want to go.

Obviously he cant reveal vlad or his own halfa status so its mostly just really jumbled information about vlad being creepy.

He gets backup from sam, tucker, jazz, and even val. He also knows his mom already dislikes vlad and knows hes a total creep so all he really needs to do is convince his dad.

But??? As hes compiling evidence??? And rehearsing his presentation with hes friends??? He realizes that it sounds super fucked up???

And like, it’s mostly just bad without all the context. But he realizes that Vlad is actually kinda sick in the head. Danny knows he would never actually do something that terrible, but its supper concering how similar his actions are to like, actual bad people.

Danny isnt mad about it or anything, he’s actually just worried about it Vlad.

Danny is not perfect by any means. But Vlad is the only other member of his species besides, like, his fucking clone (which holy shit Vlad what the fuck) or maybe dan who is also fucked up.

Danny knew that Vlads death definitely messed him up, but he never really thought about Vlads actions beyond “obsessive fruitloop, at it again :/“ and is just now realizing that vlad might need psychological help. Which he feels pretty (REALLY) bad about.

Danny has no idea what to do, and no idea who to go to.

So he sneaks out, doesnt even go ghost as he takes the powerpoint to vlad who obviously freaks tf out because holy shit thats SO MUCH WORSE THAN ANYTHING HE COULD HAVE POSSIBLY IMAGINED. What if he had actually hurt daniel? What if he had hurt his precious Madeline?? He needs help like yesterday! How did he ever get so bad???!

So Vlad freaks, trashes his own house, apologizes to danny, and books it through the portal to find the far frozen or somewhere else he can get help.

Danny is somewhat shellshocked about the whole situation. It doesnt get better when people start investigating Vlads disappearance.

The state of the manor indicates foul play and the police look into it further. Find security tapes. They see danny, frazzled and paranoid, enter Vlads property, everything goes to static, and only danny leaves.

Hes arrested of course, and he and his friends/family are interrogated.

Everybody vehemently denies that Danny would ever do such a thing, but when they are asked if danny has potential motives everyone (except for jack) gets all squeamish.

Its practically common knowledge in Amity Park that the mayor and the weird Fenton child had beef. People just were unsure why.

I think it would be really cool to focus a story around the polices pov of the investigation/ random Amity Parkers interpretation of the events.

Danny being kinda creepy after the accident (because death) could totally make people assume he did it and that would be awesome.

We can also add in de-aged Dani/Ellie and or Dan for that extra spice.

Imagine the fentons finding out about Dannys supposed kids in the context that they are MOTIVES FOR THEIR SON TO MURDER THEIR COLLAGE FRIEND ( AND DANNYS OWN GODFATHER) WHO APPARENTLY GROOMED HIM???!? AND THEY DIDNT EVEN NOTICE??!?

This could totally be a crossover too. Lucifer tv show. Batman. Supernatural. All are good.

Anyway, thought this could be kinda interesting

Please continue if you want

[stargirlfics]

The Gentleman Chapter Six: Tremble

Alfred Pennyworth x Black Dancer!Reader

Summary: Scarecrow threatens to bring Gotham to its knees while you and those you love find yourself caught in the middle

Warnings: 18+ ONLY, canon typical violence, mentions of chemical weapons, anxiety and hallucinations, mild angst and hurt/comfort, competency kink, alfred being a soft dom, smut: soft spanking tw, body worship, oral (reader receiving)

Word Count: 12.0k

This chapter is finally here and I actually cannot believe the journey it has been from when I started working on this, having months of difficulty writing and then I just write this massive chapter! I’m really happy to be sharing it and I hope it’s well worth the wait. I really appreciate and cherish all your comments and love and patience especially on this series, it means so much 🤎

[series masterlist] [series playlist]

At the mercy of impending catastrophe, an entire city was holding its breath in sick anticipation.

News of Scarecrow and his fear toxin was everywhere one went, anxiety climbing with every hushed discussion and passing day without answers.

His motives were still unclear and everyone was trying to decipher the severity of the message he had left: This is Gotham’s only warning. Fear the Scarecrow.

What was to come next? And would you be ready?

Trust in Gotham’s institutions was few and far between for most, though you did feel a little more hopeful with Mayor Bella Reál’s steady presence in public lately—even still, people were bracing themselves. 

For you that meant dance rehearsals were still being held so stage time was abundant, the exotic performances and the allure of the Iceberg Lounge were quickly becoming a good means of escape for many in the city. 

You wanted to dazzle the audience, satisfied when you could suspend their belief that this was just a dance and convince them nymphs and sirens were real and alive in front of them instead. 

It was easy to throw yourself into the work if you thought about it; counting steps and turns while the band played their hearts out.

There was no other competition, the shimmer and sparkle of the costumes, the lingerie underneath even more dazzling, opal pearls and diamonds adorning your lush bodies caught every single eye.  

Five, six, seven…a spotlight shines down upon you, such a pretty beacon of desire, of the passion flowering so strongly in your own heart until there’s nothing but you and the music.

You left nothing on that stage at the end of the night. 

Especially not when Alfred was in the crowd watching you with an ever growing adoration. 

He made the effort to catch a show when he could, waiting with roses for you afterwards and no compliment or praise spared from your ears if he could help it. 

It was amazing how much things could shift, how nervous you had been the first time you knew he would be watching and now you welcomed it, relished in his promise to show up for you simply because he thought your talent and love for your artform was worth it, that you were worth it. 

And of course how could you forget his handwritten letter with such neat and elegantly written words, the very letter that sat on your nightstand since your date in the bookstore when he presented it to you and made it all official. 

You read over it in the late night hours and in the morning when you woke up wishing he was next to you, until you could recite every word he had written by heart. Weeks ago you would have felt anxious about entering a relationship, not wanting to go through heartbreak if your feelings weren’t the same but now you understood Alfred would never let you stand on unsteady ground. 

He hadn’t since the first moment your paths collided, the memory of it still so vivid you could practically hear the echo of your pounding footsteps on the concrete hurrying to reach him, taking a chance on a stranger and embracing him out of fear only to come away from it with your pulse racing for an entirely different reason instead. 

Something solid and gentle had formed here and you wanted to be cocooned inside of it forever. 

Your friends definitely didn’t hide their excitement that you were “basically dating a member of the Wayne family!” as Roxie had put it. 

She was the first to tell you she wouldn’t mind at all if you slipped Bruce her number. Bambi was already ride or die for the relationship, as was Amber and then Kiera’s encouragement of all things romance on top of it all certainly made this a fanclub if you’d ever seen one. 

Truthfully though their reassurances kept you from letting the tendency to overthink get in the way, making sure you knew that the way Alfred treated you was everything you deserved. 

Grateful felt like too simple a word but it’s perhaps the best word to summarize the way you felt about each of them. Elated in how they celebrated this with you, a sing-song chorus of excitement when you told them about his letter in the chat or how everything went after he spent the night at your place for the first time. 

It kept you hopeful, appreciating everything you had just a little extra.

Fresh snow dusted the windowsills of The Magpie where you were counting down the time until you’d have your evening free to spend with Alfred. 

You would see him in just a few short minutes anyways, with Bruce in tow for a meeting with the mayor and her team but knowing you’d still have some time before you truly got him to yourself left you feeling a little antsy. 

The bar had already been wiped down twice and you just checked on the handful of people sitting around for brunch, most of them talking and finishing off their drinks for the time being. 

So you settled on people-watching, polishing the crystal whiskey glasses while you did, arranging them in a stacked pyramid and you were almost done with the menial task when Bruce Wayne sidled up to the bar.

“Oh, hey! Can I get you anything, Mr. Wayne?” you greeted him with a smile, doing your best not to make it obvious you were also looking to see if Alfred was nearby.

“Please just call me Bruce, you don’t have to keep it so formal, really I insist. And just coffee if you can.” 

“Sorry, habit. I can get you some coffee, any sugar or cream?” you were laughing to yourself a little, forgetting that you didn’t have to address him so properly every time. 

You still did that with Alfred sometimes, a ‘Mr. Pennyworth’ at the tip of your tongue on occasion which always came with a playful scolding. 

“No thanks, I’ll take it as is,” Bruce corrected, thanking you again when you set the steaming mug down in front of him. “Oh, before I forget. He may have told you this already but when time allows it Alfred likes to try and get Dory and I together for a proper Sunday dinner and if you’re able to this coming weekend, I wanted to try and surprise him.”

Oh, how thoughtful! Quickly realizing he was inviting you to join them in this tradition of theirs made your heart swell and you hastened to accept. 

“That sounds so nice! Of course I can be there. Should I bring anything, dessert maybe?” 

“Yes, that would be perfect actually. It’ll be nice to have you there..uh, I know we haven’t had much time to speak but thank you, it’s good to see him happy lately and that’s because of you.” 

Bruce’s usual shy, reserved tone was more open, a little softer and you felt relief knowing that you had his approval in a way, maybe not wanting to admit to yourself that it had been a quiet worry all this time. 

His and Alfred’s relationship was on better working ground now and you didn’t want to complicate that or make it any more difficult for them to connect in the way they needed and it was very clear from the start that they did need each other and cared for one another fiercely. 

This was good, really good. 

“I’m glad and that’s okay by the way there’s been a lot going on you’re probably just as busy as he is, if not more, I figured we’d get to talk at some point. I really do just want to make him happy and I hope you know he is because of you too, he’s so proud of you.”

Your last few words saw the very rare edge of a smile before he took a sip from the mug, face turning stoic again.

Speaking of Alfred, he walked in the very next moment, as effortlessly handsome as usual. His suit was a crisp charcoal gray, a black tie tucked perfectly into that pristine waistcoat you knew felt smooth under your hands, the familiar gold accents of his wristwatch and cane pulling it all together. 

He always looked incredible but god did he have you weak from halfway across the room today, those kind, blue eyes finding you with ease. 

Waving him over to the bar, you started making his usual cup of Earl Grey, sharing a sheepish smile when you greeted each other. 

“Good to see you, darling. I hope you’ve had an easy morning.” The depth and lull of his voice and that accent sent warmth spreading across your cheeks, distracted from hearing the affection in his tone. 

“I have, thank you,” setting his cup of tea down on the bar counter, you leave the milk out for him to pour how he likes, “Hope the meeting goes well, you’re gonna kill it!”

“That’s very nice of you. I imagine it will, what we’re proposing will benefit the city and they seem receptive to Bruce’s ideas, which is all we can ask for.” 

Beaming at him you nodded encouragingly, giving yourself a few more moments to talk with the two men before the mayor arrived and they were whisked off to a more private table. 

Kiera came in not long after that, you were really just working the morning to fill in for her until she could get here but your plans to leave with Alfred right after his meeting lined up with the timing anyways.

An hour passed ever so slowly, the meeting finally finishing with what looked like good spirits from everyone and before long you were saying your goodbye’s to Bruce since he had to head out while Alfred lagged behind to take a phone call from his office. 

Bundled up in your coat, you waited by the hostess stand content to watch the snow flurries begin to fall outside, such a stark contrast to the warm, crimson interior. 

Not sure how long you were lost admiring the view, a warm hand slides across your lower back drawing your attention in a gentle caress you’re sure you’d know anywhere.

“Ready to leave?” Alfred held his hand out for you and kissed your knuckles when you fit your palm against his.

The eager nod of your head and the accompanying excited giggle gave you away but you didn’t care to hide how much you’d been looking forward to this evening with him. 

“Ready.” 

Outside the air was chilly, coats zipped up a little higher while you discussed what the plans were for the rest of the day. 

It was still fairly quiet out on the streets, the business sector in this part of the city always a bit more empty than the bustling traffic of downtown that you were used to, at least before dinner rush anyway. 

Nothing out of the ordinary piqued your attention until Alfred was pausing mid-sentence, asking if you heard what he had heard.

“No, what-” but no sooner than you had opened your mouth, the faintest recognition of what sounded like a scream could be heard. You flicked your eyes up to him in concern. 

Had it really been a scream? Or was the frigid wind playing tricks on you, whistling through the air?

The same sound rang out again somewhere in the distance, only this time you both were able to hear a distinct shout of “HELP!” following it. 

The mood had suddenly turned urgent but it was as if you could only move in slow motion until you realized that at this very moment, the other shoe had indeed dropped. 

Chaos was the only way to describe it, more shouts piercing the air but nothing prepared you for the wave of people running out into the street in every direction. 

You can’t be sure exactly what’s going on or what everyone was running from but the gears were already spinning in your mind and you don’t hesitate to move when Alfred hurriedly nudged you to follow him, clutching onto his jacket as he guided you to cross the street where his car was parked around the corner. 

But you wouldn’t make it more than a few steps off the curb.

The flow of the crowd was too dense, too panicked and you were jostled as you tried to keep your feet steady on slick, snowy pavement.

A gasp was knocked loose from your throat when someone shoved past you, upsetting your balance in the process, the impact forcing you to let go of Alfred’s hand.

Fingers flailed but it was no use, you couldn’t move fast enough and soon more people pushed themselves between you on all sides which meant he couldn’t reach you either. You were quickly losing sight of him, legs feeling like lead as you tried to follow the sound of his voice shouting your name but there’s too much noise to filter out. 

No, no! Where is he? I can’t see him anymore.

Your heart sank realizing you’d lost him in the crowd, even as frantically as you were searching for him there were so many people dashing past as you also tried to keep moving that you knew it would be impossible to find him like this. 

You were separated and on your own. 

Now it felt like your sense of direction was off, not sure if you were still headed in the right direction towards his car anymore, the whole world feeling like it was swallowing you up.

Deep breaths, just take a deep breath. Keep moving. 

You had to repeat it to yourself in order to stay calm, trying to reassure yourself that somehow you could make it out of whatever this was but a pang of worry for Alfred made you feel nauseous. 

Unwelcome thoughts of something happening to him threatened to take root amidst your struggle to think. Hands moving on their own volition, you reached into your bag to fumble for your phone; maybe you could could get a hold of him by calling, sending a text, could find where he was and try and make your way to him in the event you ended up making it to the car and he wasn’t there.  

Seconds later, up ahead of you, a truck swerved to avoid a group of people rushing into the intersection which sent everyone scrambling to move aside, inadvertently knocking you off balance again. 

Stinging pain prickled in the meat of your shins, rattling all the way up to your temple when you collided with the cold concrete, eyes going wide knowing it wasn’t safe to be on the ground like this. 

But it didn’t matter because had you not been knocked to the ground you weren’t sure you would have noticed it: the shiny silver canister nestled in a pile of snow not six feet away. 

Something didn’t feel right about this. It felt like you were being herded to this point.

Under the noise of so many footsteps and all the commotion you heard it click, a slow whistling hiss coming after. The sound grew louder but you were already scrambling backwards trying to put distance between you and the cloudy plume of gas extinguishing from the cylinder. 

This had to be the fear toxin, this had to be him. 

Fresh screams dotted the blood rushing to your brain through your ears, dread forming a hard lump in your throat as you watched the gas diffuse again and mix with the falling snow. 

Loosening your scarf you folded it over your nose and mouth hoping it would buy you some time if you weren’t breathing as much of it in, you couldn’t be sure you hadn’t already. 

Your heart was hammering in your ribs when you finally found your footing and could stand, ignoring the strain in your muscles or how your skin felt raw from where your tights had snagged and torn from crawling on the pavement. 

Now that you were on your feet again your surroundings were more familiar.

It’s how you spotted the mouth of an alleyway to your right, knowing exactly where it would lead, recognizing the rust red fire escape peeking out from the side of the building. You hadn’t realized you traveled back this far but you’d take it, at least you’d be off the street this way. 

The disadvantage of this was that you were working against the flow of bodies but you tried to keep your stance wide and square out your shoulders so you couldn’t be pushed quite as easily, and there was something else…a noticeable difference in how people were acting. 

It wasn’t just panic in their eyes, pupils glazed over and blown wide, this was an erratic look of fright. This toxin was confirmed to cause hallucinations which could only mean there had to be dozen’s on this street alone who’d come in contact with it. 

You could only imagine what awful things they were seeing, your voice ricocheting against the clamor of sounds trying to warn whoever you could. 

Just then, the quickest flash of gold appears in your peripheral and you hear your name again turning in time to see him, Alfred, shouldering his way through the crowd. 

You stared in awe, questioning for a split second if you were starting to see things too but he was really there fighting and pushing his way through the packed street to get to you.

The small relief when he reached you, both of his arms locking around you this time before ushering you the rest of the way. Slipping into the alleyway was easy after that. 

“Are you hurt? Darling, look at me please! Are you hurt?” His voice is chalked with concern, a clipped edge to his tone that echoed against the brick wall you had slumped against to catch your breath. 

He’s already looking you up and down in careful assessment. 

“I’m fine! I’m okay..I think, but wait, Alfred! This was intentional, the gas it-” the words come tumbling out but you fall short at the nod he gave you. Of course he had pieced it together. You’re gulping before noticing his cane is missing. “What about you? I was so worried when we-” the words died in your throat for a second time remembering how you got separated in the crowd. 

You didn’t trust yourself not to cry. 

“Me too, sweet girl but I am alright. I was far more worried about you.” and it’s the tenderness in his voice that makes you sniffle. 

Screaming cuts through the brief moment of rest and you both agree you need to get out of here, deciding to stay off the main streets. If you could cut through a few alleyways you’d be able to get to his car.

His hand is once again steady in yours, thumb passing over your skin trying to soothe you while your own fingers return pressure here and there, beyond relieved to be next to him again even with a million more worries arising. 

The damage had already been done though, time beginning to move slowly, buildings looming high above feeling suffocating, as if maybe you’d never find your way out, every muffled cry or scream from the streets a terrible chorus. 

A loud squeal and the creaking of metal a few feet ahead halted your steps again, Alfred’s arm thrown back to push you behind him. 

Four men filed out of a side door, the hoods of their jackets pulled up so they were shrouded in shadows, both of you just barely avoiding being seen. 

Alfred had hastened to backtrack and slip behind an empty delivery truck in the alley that provided some cover without close inspection but was still too close for any sort of comfort. 

Everything in you went quiet and still, clammy fingers gripping Alfred’s bicep a little tighter, grateful you were wedged between the side of the truck and his body. You don’t want to look their way again but your anxiety rises at the thought of not knowing how far away they were so you risk a peek over his shoulder. 

Your blood goes cold almost instantly, breath sucked from your lungs when a fifth man stepped forth. 

Dead eyes pierced through a ripped burlap hood covering the man’s head, its crooked stitching reminding you of an old scarecrow only the rest of him was clad in a suit. All you felt was dread. 

“Keep your eyes peeled.” a distorted command came from behind the decrepit hood.

There was something terrifying about the way this man moved, it was creepy and sinister, your suspicions confirmed when you spotted more of those silver canisters peeking out from his suit jacket just before he was slinking away, moving out onto the street ahead flanked by those four men, each with a weapon in hand. 

Tentative relief came seeing the distance increase between your position and theirs but you weren’t out of the woods yet by any means with one more street to go.

Counting shallow breaths one by one, you waited until the crunch of their footsteps on the snow faded enough to move ahead safely. 

Alfred squeezed your fingers to get your attention, motioning for you to follow him from out behind the truck carefully. It was best not to stay idle here too long.

In the midst of trying to process what just occurred you didn’t notice Alfred pull out a small blade until you saw it clenched in his left hand, noting the way he kept it tucked in towards his palm so that outwardly no one could see it was there. 

His other hand gripped your arm, keeping you from being able to move from behind his back as you crept forward together, a defensiveness in his movements that made it seem like this was just muscle memory for him. 

Here he was, protecting you, keeping you calm this whole time and though it wasn’t surprising anymore you were still a little struck by just how much he cared for you, your wellbeing. It bled through into every part of him and that had your heart clenching. 

When you finally made it out of the alley fresh worry spiked like ice inside your chest, attention drawn to every direction trying to make sure nothing would catch either of you off guard now that you were no longer under the cover of the city’s alleyways but at last, after what felt like an eternity, you had arrived. 

Unlocking the car and seeing to it that you were safely tucked inside, Alfred was skillfully weaving the sleek vehicle through the streets in no time.  

—

Everything felt like it was turned upside down.

Sirens and police cars whizzed past, headed in the direction you’d just left behind and you could only watch as the weather turned dreary.

Alfred checked in every so often, comforting you with reassuring glances, a soft squeeze to your knee which you returned with a weak smile. You were sure he had noticed you shivering as well and felt appreciative of the warm air circulating through the vents. 

Remembering your phone after a moment you fished it out of your bag, replying to a string of texts from Kiera who was worried sick and thankfully still safe inside where you last saw her. 

Scrolling through the rest of your messages and missed phone calls that kept pinging in your notifications you let each of them know you were safe until it hit you that something was missing, a sudden gasp catching Alfred’s attention.  

“Do-do you think Bruce is okay? He left a few minutes before us. Maybe he managed to miss all that.”

“I’m sure he made it through, but he’s not been answering his phone. We’ll be at the Tower soon and we can check.” 

It sounds hopeful but the crease of worry between his brows makes you wonder. 

Trying to cling to the more hopeful outcome, you attempt to keep bad thoughts at bay with the idea that you’d see that swath of dark hair emerging from the staircase as soon as you step into the foyer. He just had to be there. 

The rest of the drive was fairly quiet but the noise in your head made up for it. 

You couldn’t stop thinking about what you’d seen—Scarecrow. How close you’d gotten to the fear toxin but so luckily managed to avoid it, a sick feeling in your stomach seeing what it did to the people around you. 

Whatever his big plans were for the people of Gotham, you were sure they were horrifying. 

Anxiety drips from your shoulders when the car finally comes to a stop, limbs heavy again as you soar up to the penthouse floors from the parking garage elevator and it’s only when the low hum of the lift stops that you let go of Alfred’s hand, the doors opening to a suspended silence. 

It only took a few minutes and a quick search to see that it was evident Bruce wasn’t here. 

Your stomach was twisted into knots again waiting patiently while Alfred tried his cell phone one more time. Each trilling of the dial tone felt longer than the last and your heart sank once it went to voicemail. 

“If he has his location on, I’m sure I’ll be able to find him.” He takes a deep breath, pacing the floor trying to think, to come up with answers. 

Wringing your hands wasn’t doing much to ease the tension in your body so you forced yourself to lean against the solid wood table of the main room. 

Touching something solid seemed to help and you wanted to be helpful to Alfred right now, at the very least supportive in the effort to find Bruce, hoping anxiety wouldn’t take over everything.

Mentally you were running through a list of possible places near the incident that he could be, fingers flying to your phone to search news updates, find out if Bruce’s name had been mentioned anywhere. 

“Christ, I’ve found him! His phone is at the GCPD building. He can’t have been there for very long yet.” 

“Okay, that’s good. He’s probably okay then if he’s there of all places, right?” your question is tinged with a cautious optimism as is Alfred’s responding agreement but you still feel unsure. 

“I’m going to head there regardless, surely he’s fine but I don’t want to take any chances. I wish he would answer his bloody phone, though.”

He sounded like such a dad in that moment you might have laughed if the circumstances were different. 

“Maybe he’s there with the mayor too, they walked out together before us, it was probably the first place he would think to go especially if they saw something related to what we saw.” you offer a little reassurance and reach out to squeeze his shoulder. 

“Smart girl. I’m sure you are right.” Alfred sighed and closed his eyes for a brief moment.

Fngers pinching the bridge of his nose before he slips his glasses from his breast pocket and puts them on, focused in on what needed to be done once again, typing out a few messages to Bruce in the meantime. 

“I can come with you, just in case he’s in trouble or, or.” you don’t want to go any further with possibilities and you aren’t sure how to articulate your uneasiness at him going back out there on his own even if he could handle himself. 

It upset you to think you wouldn’t be there, wouldn’t know if something else were to happen. 

“Oh my love, I appreciate that. You’ve been so brave through all this and I do want you with me but more importantly I need you safe and staying here will ensure that. I don’t want you in harm's way.” he’s setting down his phone to cup your cheeks, moving in close so his nose brushes yours gently. 

You want to protest but understand that he’s right, the lump in your throat returning as you look at him. 

He was being strong, for you, keeping it together just to make sure you weren’t any more frightened than you needed to be but you could see the stress in his features and knew you needed to be strong for him too. 

“I don’t like it but I understand,” you relented with a whisper, leaning into him a little more, unconsciously trying to hold on. “I’ll stay here but just please be careful okay?” 

Alfred moved back a bit so you’d look him in the eyes, a determination in them that takes away some unsettled nerves. 

“I promise I will be. I’ll keep in touch as well, as soon as I find out anything you’ll get a call.” His soft murmur came in between the gentle press of his lips against your forehead. 

His kisses were effective in calming you even if it didn’t help the reluctance to part from him, you know he has to go and don’t want to delay him any longer. 

A new wave of emotion crests at the way he fusses over you before departing; making sure you were okay to be here alone for a bit, reminding you to eat something soon and that there was a change of clothes still in his room if you wanted to shower and take off your torn tights and snow dampened sweater. 

The anxious shake of your hands was better even as you kissed him goodbye, returning his thoughtfulness by making sure he had a pair of gloves and another cane from his collection in hand before hurrying off, your feet lingering for a moment longer after the elevator doors close behind him. 

Now…the waiting began.  

—

Barely twenty minutes have gone by but you’re restless and there’s a sharp tension in your shoulders all the way down to your hamstrings that won’t ease up even when you try to relax. 

Wayne Tower was quiet and far too empty, the methodic tick of the old grandfather clock in the foyer and your footsteps all the sound she’d bestow.

Sitting still has proved to be impossible so you wander the halls, count the steps each staircase you go up, try to roll out the stiffness in your neck little by little. 

It’s only afternoon but the skies are gray and dark, some heavy kind of shadow cast over every corner that could be touched and there wasn’t a single thing you could do about it but have patience. 

News updates are slow meaning no one knows anything concrete yet, just that nearby hospitals were starting to get an influx of people affected by the fear toxin and police were all over the scene of the incident and surrounding areas. You’re just glad it seemed to be isolated to the few blocks you had navigated around earlier, nothing else occurring elsewhere in the city. 

That certainly didn’t mean these incidents weren’t going to spread, you were fully prepared to hear of more fear toxin attacks in the near future with so much mystery still surrounding Scarecrow.

This whole thing felt deeper than what you could see at the surface but all you could come up with were questions and more questions. 

But there’s no use in giving yourself a headache, not now at least, your phone ringing abruptly and Alfred’s name illuminating the screen. You’re answering before the second ring, taking a deep breath the moment he tells you everything is alright. 

Bruce was indeed at GCPD headquarters when Alfred got there and the pair were in the process of giving statements about what they saw related to the attack so it was looking like they were going to be there for a while yet. 

You don’t get to speak to Alfred for long before you hear him being summoned and you’re wrapping things up, wishing him well before he leaves you with a promise that he’ll update you as things go. 

Your body felt much lighter now that you knew they were safe, the tightness in your chest dissipating as you finally allowed yourself to unwind a little.

Stomach still too tense to try and eat anything yet, you opt to take a shower instead, the change of clothes and the hot steam of the water would do you good. 

Finding the familiar path to Alfred’s bedroom was easy, his space inviting, kept as tidy as ever but you still see all of him in it. 

The faded bookmark sticking out of the novel on his bedside table, his nighttime reading glasses that lay folded on a stack of books to the left, and the tie and cufflinks atop his dresser still there from when he was getting ready this morning you imagined.

You’re comforted knowing you’re surrounded by his things and you’re further softened seeing your clothing items amongst his from when you stayed the night for the first time, everything neatly folded in the way you’ve learned he liked to fold. 

Thoughts of him lingered as you retreated into the warmth of the shower, adrenaline slowly leached from your body, swirling down the drain with the soapy water. 

You didn’t realize how exhausted you were from the last hour and a half until your eyes started to feel heavy but you don’t want to get out just yet. 

It feels safe here and you’re already too far gone indulging in daydreams of your boyfriend, the thrill of being able to call him that now—the same one who practically bouldered his way through a crowd of people to reach you. 

In the moment there hadn’t been time to really think about it but now that you were alone with your thoughts, it’s all you could replay. 

Or maybe it’s all you wanted to think about but either way you wanted to drown in whatever strength and steadfast skill Alfred possessed, heart fluttering thinking of how every movement was intentional, the way his entire body pivoted to shield you, keep you safe as you moved through the streets, the switchblade he so effortlessly and quietly had ready and the expert flourish of his wrist when he pocketed it in the car. 

Yes you knew he had been a soldier, had seen combat and was skilled in more areas than you could count, you could only imagine all the technical and psychological training he had from his days as an intelligence agent and though you took those parts of him seriously, you also couldn’t help but find it all deeply attractive. 

Where words could not be applied, he showed you. 

Refreshed and in more comfortable clothes, your mind felt a little clearer even if having to wait was still difficult but you try and be patient for another update, checking in with your friends in the meantime.

Alfred’s bedroom was warm from the steam still escaping from the connecting bathroom and you felt far too cozy here to venture back downstairs so you climb into the large bed and curl up on his side, comforted by the fact that his pillows smell like him. 

No longer restless from the quiet aura in the air, fatigue rolled in, the energy to worry had faded quickly. Instead you began to drift off, the allure of resting pulling you under so easily. 

Your phone is still clutched in your hand as you oscillate between worlds, thinking of Alfred and that “oh my love” that had left his lips so tenderly, understanding now why your breath caught in your chest after, why you’d been persuaded to listen. 

He refused to let you dismiss your own wellbeing when thinking of others, your importance to him was too great to let you follow him into the unknown even if he’d feel much better having you by his side.

Nothing was going to happen to you if he had anything to do about it. 

You hadn’t ever been shown this much adoration before and so fiercely and consistently at that and you slip into a light slumber thinking that this must be what falling in love felt like. To know perhaps, somewhere etched deep within you that it was exactly that. Love. 

An unending flame, a sewn red string, so viscerally real it had you swearing to nurture it always. Even in sleep you know you’d never dream of stopping.

—

Winter sun had just begun to set when you were woken up by the sharp buzzing of your phone. A text message. 

On the way back now, Bruce is with me. Hope you’re doing alright, I’ll see you soon, lovely   x Alfred

Smiling at the good news you rub the grogginess from your eyes and reply back before tucking your face back into the pillow for a few more minutes. 

Your nap had lasted an hour or so and afternoon was quickly spilling into evening as you blink the last remnants of sleep away and check the time. Anticipation and the rumbling in your tummy finally get you up. 

Taking a few moments to fix where your curls had flattened to your head from laying on your side, you fluffed out the small coils until it looked the way you wanted, padding down the old staircases and into the kitchen soon after. 

You wanted to try and make something quick to eat for when they got back, you were sure if you were hungry they must be too especially after everything that had happened, all the extra energy spent. 

A quick browse through the fridge and pantry had you grabbing ingredients for sandwiches, absentmindedly putting everything together and you’d just stacked the last one on the plate when you heard the elevator chime and you didn't bother to put anything away, rushing out to the foyer right away.

You don’t care that you’re running, feet carrying you forward with their own motivation, you’ve waited long enough and it’s a complete and total relief when Alfred and Bruce step inside.

Alfred saw you first, a grunt that turns into a chuckle resounding through his chest when you all but crash into him, arms wrapped around his shoulders in a hug that he returns immediately, his own arms sliding across your torso to pull you in close. 

Not a second more apart, that is all you wished out of the rest of this day. 

“I’m so happy you guys are back. What’s going on out there?” you compose yourself after a moment.  

“Half the city is shut down right now, people are scared and staying inside judging by how empty the streets are.” Bruce runs a hand through his hair while he explains.

You almost don’t notice that his fingers are smudged in some sort of dark ink or paint, the color reminding you of motor oil, thoughts racing as to what could have happened, what he might have seen. 

“Are you guys doing okay?” you’re asking quietly as you all walk into the main room, hoping you hadn’t pressed too much too soon, just worried by what their faces won’t yield. 

Alfred shrugs off his coat and rubs your shoulders to comfort you. 

“We’re both alright, darling, don’t worry.” He's reassuring you, steady and measured voice calming you enough to where you begin to let yourself focus on how delighted you are to see them. 

Bruce is the first to head to the kitchen when you mention you made sandwiches if anyone was hungry, his thanks echoing down the hall. 

You take a moment then to greet Alfred properly, kissing him soundly, spine tingling when he returned the kiss with a sweet pressure that gave away how much he missed you.

“I’m so sorry it’s been hours, their investigation is a big operation and nearly everyone needed to speak to us. Are you doing alright? I’ve been thinking of you all afternoon." He's looking over your frame again, almost like he can’t help but check for himself one more time

“I’m okay, I promise! Actually doing a lot better now that you’re here. It was hard not to be a nervous wreck for a second there but I took a shower and ended up sleeping for an hour and that really helped.” you’re sighing contently against his shoulder. 

“That’s my girl. I am so proud of you for how you’ve handled all this today, I really am. That’s great!”  

His words were so full of praise and affection it flusters your thoughts and you’re glad he can’t fully see your face lest he notice how much you’re affected, how much that just made you want him, but you reasoned it wasn’t the right time for romantic feelings and desires to take hold yet.

Not when there were still so many questions and things to be talked about, so you stow away those thoughts for the moment, already sure the tension would be palpable when you were able to be alone. 

Maybe it would only be a little longer left till then. 

Eventually the two of you joined Bruce in the kitchen, everyone feeling a little more settled after eating, able to process and debrief about what madness you’d found yourselves in today. 

Surreal didn’t even begin to describe how it felt but it’s all you could manage to say, not quite sure how you were able to make it out of the chaos in the streets unscathed save for a few bruises, it all felt like a bad dream come to life and everyone feared that the worst was still yet to come, that sick feeling in your gut returning with the thought that they were probably right. 

Dusky colors peeked over the horizon as the three of you tuned into the five o’clock evening news hour, wary faces glued to the TV as the first solid pictures of Scarecrow flashed across the screen. Your knees bounced nervously where you were sitting on an old loveseat, the reminder of his hooded face making you shiver. 

An eerie cell phone video showed him moving down a street with his henchmen, people screaming and writhing on the ground from the toxin. 

It seemed like he enjoyed what he had caused, a maniacal glint to his eyes, in the way he moved his face under that hood you swore had to be fused to his skin by the way it looked on him. You had to look away after the third loop of the video, an attempt to keep any nightmares about him later at bay. 

Some information was given about the initial incident that sent everyone running; the toxin had been released inside the vents at the City Hall building near The Magpie, gas canisters later found in the ducts like the ones you’d seen in the commotion, lying in the snow so coincidentally. 

Having confirmation that it had been planned like you thought only produced more confusion with the sudden wish to have been very wrong about what was going on. 

Premeditation like this could only mean this man was cunning and careful, that he’d only been caught on video and surveillance footage because he intended to be seen and that terrified you to realize. 

When you dared to peek at the TV again you immediately had to do a double take, up close photos of the men flanking Scarecrow in the video popping up, showing you what the men you saw in the alley really looked like out of the shadows. 

You wanted to throw up. You knew for sure that you recognized one of them. 

The same man who had been following you when you ran into Alfred that morning you met completely by chance.

It couldn’t be, you didn’t want it to be, as if you could kid yourself into believing you’d forgotten his face no matter how hard you had tried since that day, but it was him and a shudder rolled down your spine at how much of an awful turn this was. 

Your small gasp of surprise caught Bruce’s attention and you noticed his careful gaze shift from the screen to your face in a question, figuring out what you’re stuck on trying to explain before you can get any words out. 

“You know one of them?” there’s something in Bruce’s tone you can’t discern right away. 

“I..yes I recognize him,” your sigh was heavy, followed by the point of your finger when the man’s picture was shown one more time. “Don’t know his name or anything but I do know he works for Oz, I’ve seen him around the Iceberg Lounge pretty recently.” 

You took a deep breath before turning your attention to Alfred who was also listening curiously.

“I should also mention that I found out he was the man who was stalking me the morning we met. Oz sometimes uses his men to intimidate the dancers who get out of line with him and I may or may not have injured his pride the night before. I’m sorry I haven’t told you sooner I just didn’t want to upset you with it.” 

You cringe inwardly, anxiety rushing in all over again now that you’d said it out loud. 

That incident had been something you tried not to give too much thought to, you’d been careful, always were and hadn’t had any more issues with being followed, even got back in Cobblepot’s good graces lately as well but seeing that photo brought it all back. 

“Hey, you have nothing to apologize for, darling. That’s quite alright and more than understandable, I think you know either way I’d always be upset knowing he sent that man to stalk you but I would never be angry with you about that.” Alfred spoke gently. 

You’re relieved he isn’t mad at you even if the guilt that lingered made you worry.

Maybe you’d make a point to bring it up again when you were alone and able to discuss it in the full context of your relationship, you were sure he wouldn’t mind giving you a little extra reassurance about it. 

“Thank you. I don’t know what to make of this but I am a bit shocked Oz would be connected. He’s looking for opportunities to climb up in the crime world, all of us know that and he can be sleazy and he has a reputation for a reason but for him to be part of something like this if he really is involved is extreme.” you chew the inside of your cheek, pondering if your boss had made a deal with the devil in his search for power in Gotham. 

Men like him were all smoke and mirrors with a penchant for easily bruised egos but these revelations had you questioning things. It wasn’t a good thing to know too much in this situation and right now, you were making one too many connections for your liking. 

You would just have to be more vigilant now, especially around him. 

The investigation into today’s fear toxin attack was still ongoing and every news outlet was clamoring for updates and solid information that was nonexistent right now, Bruce finally turning off the TV after a while. 

There would be a press conference tomorrow, maybe the city would know more by then but for now it was no use to any of you to rewatch the events you’d already experienced firsthand today. 

Bruce announced he was going to shower and call it a night and wished you well if he didn’t see you again, adding that you were welcome to stay any time if you didn’t feel safe going home and he was glad you weren’t hurt after everything. 

It brought about a smile to your face again to know he didn’t think any differently of you and made sure you felt welcome.

You were remembering his offer to surprise Alfred with a proper dinner this weekend and though what happened today seemed to put a huge damper on things, you hoped that could still happen. 

Closeness and company was what you all needed right now. 

After helping Alfred tidy up the kitchen a bit he offers to drive you home and your face must have indicated your disappointment because he was quick to explain he had every intention of spending the rest of the night with you, just thought you’d want to be in your own space after such a taxing day. 

He was right, as comfortable as you felt here at Wayne Tower you did miss your apartment and your bed and the familiarity of being in your space but you were also relieved to know that he was still looking forward to making the most out of things this evening. 

Of course he’d never leave you wanting or wishing. 

Trying to hide your eagerness was a challenge, a new kind of adrenaline in your system as you watched Alfred gather some things to take with him because he said he’d be staying the night too which meant you’d get to have him to yourself after all, putting excitement back in your veins after you’d been quietly hoping to be able to wake up next to him in the morning.

When you finally left the Tower, the streets were just as barren and quiet as Bruce had said, it was eerie not seeing any of the usual traffic. 

The only semblance of relief came from seeing that familiar bat signal lit up in the sky, a few hopeful beams cutting through the gloom in the air. 

Nothing was going to be the same moving forward and most of the city had been bracing for this since the first threat. It was only a matter of time but tonight, you wanted to forget for a little while and just take all the comfort and quality time with Alfred that you could. 

He was as protective as ever walking up to your building and doesn’t fully drop his guard until you’re both inside and the door is locked. 

Home at last!

Falling back onto more recent patterns, the space by the door is filled in with Alfred’s shoes, his coat hanging up next to yours, his presence in your apartment making it feel the most complete it’s ever been. 

He insisted that you let him make an evening cup of tea for both of you while you sank into the couch cushions, browsing through movies to watch together before you agree on something comedic and lighthearted. 

Eventually he joined you and somewhere in between laying your head against his shoulder and the middle of the movie, you finished your mug of chamomile tea and Alfred had pulled you into his lap.

And somewhere between then and the end of the movie you fit yourselves together so you could be cuddled against his side, your leg draped over his to make space. 

He’s so solid and warm that you’re helpless to sink into his hold, unable to explain why his arms made you feel so sweetly held, so comforted that the feeling radiated through just the mere mention of his name. 

Maybe it’s why the tears eventually came, when you knew you were completely safe and able to feel all your emotions fully after hours of having to push through.

It didn’t take Alfred long to notice your quiet sniffles though, catching the moment some of those tears spill over in silence. 

“Ohh sweetheart, it’s alright you’re okay. I’m right here, can you tell me what’s on your mind?” His words are soft and patient and spoken so gently you feel more tears come. 

“Today was just a lot…like I keep thinking of when we got separated in the street. I don’t think I’ve ever been as scared as I was at that moment. It’s probably all hitting me now I think,” the waver in your voice could have broken his heart. 

“It was a lot and you’ve done such a good job getting through it, you know that was a brilliant idea to use your scarf as a mask? You have no idea how proud I am of you! But you are right, that was terrifying, I was so worried you were hurt or trampled or worse, can’t imagine how caught off guard and disoriented you must have felt and I am so sorry for that, darling.”

Alfred kissed your temple, fingers careful when he began to wipe away the salty streaks left behind on your cheeks and nose. 

You wiggle yourself a little closer and nod against his shoulder, “You found me though, you made sure I wouldn’t be hurt even if you did almost give me a heart attack thinking I’d never be able to find you again.” 

This time there’s a genuine, shy laugh at the end of your words. 

“I’d always find you, you know that right?” his tone shifted to a slight seriousness, still comforting but there’s a weight to his words that steals your breath. “There isn’t a time, a place or a world in which I wouldn’t come find you, wouldn’t do everything in my power to keep you safe, you mean far too much to me.” 

You cried a bit more when all of that sentiment sank in because you trusted Alfred so much you knew he spoke truthfully, it wasn’t just to ease your emotions he meant every word and in turn, you’d felt every word. 

“I know, I don’t doubt that one bit. I know we talked about this earlier but I do want you to know I didn’t intend to keep that information about Oz sending someone to stalk me a secret from you. I promise I’m going to be a lot more careful around him now too.” 

He wiped away the dampness from your lashes before simply shaking his head at you and leaned in to kiss your forehead.

“That would definitely be wise going forward especially since we don’t know how deep his involvement goes but I also don’t want you worrying about how I feel, sweet girl. That was always yours to tell if and when you felt ready and it meant something greater that you trusted me with that knowledge, that I can be a place of confidence for you.” 

When would he ever stop rendering you speechless?!

You began to think the answer was never and that was just fine honestly, your heart so taken with his patience and diligence to validate your feelings whenever it was needed, no shame or dismissal involved.  

“Sometimes I think I just need a little extra reminding but you’re right I do know I can trust you with anything that’s going on, with anything I’m feeling.”

“Good, that makes me happy. I may have been thinking about putting you over my knee for thinking such silly thoughts that I would be upset, but there’s not a single thing you have to apologize for.” 

Oh.

You forgot how to breathe after hearing that, something lighting up inside you imagining yourself over his knee, accompanying thoughts of being toyed with, spanked, squirming and helpless under the grip of those strong hands of his followed swiftly.

He’d figured it out now, reading the change of your expression for what it was, latent desires rising to the surface.

You untangled yourself from his embrace to sit up for a moment, further distracted when he clasped his hands behind his head, shirt pulling taut over his biceps. 

“Thanks for reassuring me, if I ask again feel free to do that though, think I might actually get it through my head then,” you teased shyly, “I guess I am being silly, you did after all muscle your way through a wall of people to get to me, which by the way was very impressive.” 

He laughed at your compliment, the sound low and gravelly to your ears, pulling you in. 

“Mm used to be a boxer, love. I’m flattered you think so.” 

Oh wow. Again your interest in his skills had been piqued and he must have seen the flicker of an urge to ask further in your eyes because he continued after a second. 

“Well, field medics like to have fun too and it was the army so we were all trained in hand-to-hand combat; boxing kept us in shape and gave the lads something to do, to focus on. I still try to keep up with the training, Bruce and I spar a lot of the time, we have since he was old enough to throw a punch.” Alfred tilted his head at you a little, reminiscence on his features for but a moment. 

A stray image of potentially watching him spar one day landed right in your lap and it was incredibly hard not to involuntarily scoot your leg further up from where it was draped over his thigh. 

He was so damn attractive it wasn’t fair. It made sense, the boxing, connecting why his shoulders were so defined, the tone in the muscles of his back, the power you knew he had behind those thick hands and even thicker thighs.

So sturdy and agile, age and old injuries just a reminder that every move was calculated for a reason. 

“That’s so cool. I bet it’s a good way to let off some steam too,” you rest your chin on the plush pillows of the sofa. Something had begun to shift, a slowly simmering tension working its way between your bodies. 

“Oh I can think of other things that would do that better.” 

The look on his face sends a wave of heat through you, straight to your core. 

“Like putting me over your knee?” 

It slipped from your lips on a whim but he was ready for it and you realized he’d been enticing you this whole time. 

“If that’s what you’d like then of course. Have you ever been spanked before, darling?”

You took a shallow breath, “Maybe once or twice it’s happened in the moment but no, not really, not properly like that. I-I think I’d actually enjoy it, um have you ever spanked anyone before?”

“I have.” 

He unclasped his hands to sit up next to you, eyes never leaving your face, keeping the intensity up, lighting every little flame inside you by the second. He knew exactly what he was doing and you were going to let every spark catch.

“Also impressive and yes, Alfred. I want your hands on me,” you sighed a soft plea. 

“C’mere then, I’ve got you.” He tugs you gently into a kiss and your fingers slide down over his wrists when they moved in to cup your face, touching you the way you wanted, so sure and thorough until he grasps for your hips, hungrier than you’d anticipated. 

He doesn’t waste time, your surprised little squeal making him smile when he moves to stand up and lifts you slightly by your hips, tipping you so you’d fall into him before he was transferring your weight so you were hauled over his shoulders, centered with such ease so that you felt balanced and stable now that you were off the ground. 

Your pulse thuds in your chest as you cling to him, those nervous giggles muffled against his back while he carries you to bed. 

—

The short walk down the hall made you feel jittery in the best way, a nervous excitement bubbling inside you knowing he was experienced with this, that he was going to show you and make it feel so good. You were sure he would. 

It’s almost crazy to be back in your room after all that’s happened today, how tense all the minutes bleeding into hours had been. 

But it could all be pushed to the background for a while, your attention locked into the moment as Alfred sat down on your bed, bringing you with him, your body positioned across his lap so prettily, angled so your legs were spread just slightly with the length of his left thigh keeping you supported. 

You stretched out your upper half on the duvet, propped up on your elbows to look back at him, watching as he pushed your leggings down, throwing them somewhere behind him on the bed before warm hands were caressing up your shins, over your thighs and up to the swell of your ass. 

His palm kneaded your flesh, strong fingers applying a teasing amount of pressure while you squirmed and arched back into his touch. 

“I’ll start slow, is that alright? Nothing too hard, just a few spanks to see what you can tolerate. If you don’t like it or aren’t sure, we don’t have to continue.” His hand moves in soothing circles across your skin and he leans in to press a kiss to your shoulder. 

“Yes, I’m okay with that.” you try and breathe. 

“Good, I want you to say the word red if you need to stop, yellow if you need to slow down and green to continue if I stop to check in. Can you do that for me, sweetheart?” 

There’s a little authority in his voice and it made you squirm again, aroused by his establishment of cues and a safeword right away, how in charge he felt right now, you wanted this so badly it caught you by surprise. You hadn’t expected to be so needy for this.

Remembering that he was waiting for a reply you squeak out a yes and have to bite your lip to keep from gasping when he pulls his hand back and swats the center of your ass, more sound behind the movement than there was force but it still made you jolt forward. 

You groaned at the dull sting that prickled your skin after and glanced at Alfred who was already studying your reaction. 

“Well done, how did that feel?” he cooed praise at you and this time you don’t try to stop the sound you make in response. 

“Felt good, like what I was expecting but also different but I liked it, I want more.” your legs flexed when his hands smooth over your skin one more time, his pleased smirk at your declaration making heat pool in your lower back. 

You wished he would slip off your underwear too, so then he’d be able to see just how soaked you were from all this but you knew you had to be patient and the reward would be everything. 

You do take a second, however, to wiggle out of your sweater, starting to feel warm under the fleece lined fabric, and when you glanced back Alfred was admiring just as you thought he might be. 

No bra, nothing underneath but soft, brown skin for him to feel and just to entice him a little more, you arch your hips, making your ass jiggle, just enough to pull his steely gaze down your backside. 

The next spank is firmer than the first, more heaviness to his hand that made you whimper, your mind feeling a little hazy in the best way, the kind of haze that felt like a release, a soft bed to lay down on and surrender some control because you knew you’d be taken care of. 

Thwap! 

Whimpers and moaned out gasps mark the smack of his palm on each of your asscheeks, only a slight increase in the amount of force so that the sting just bordered on stealing your breath. 

“Christ, you’re so gorgeous like this, baby.”

His accent was deeper, that gruff voice sending tingles rippling across your spine, going down smooth like whiskey and followed by his left hand sliding over your back to rest on your right hip, making sure you couldn’t squirm away. 

He made each spank hurt in the most delightful way, alternating between right and left and then across both cheeks, spreading out the sensation, giving you a feel for which areas were more sensitive, which areas you liked being spanked at. 

“Oh, fuck!” breathy curses left your lips when he kept at it, precise hands giving you just the right amount of impact. 

“Good girl, you are doing so well. I think it’s time we take these off, hm?” he coaxes your hips up slightly so he can hook his fingers under the waistband of your panties and you’re all but begging him to. 

Nevermind if he felt like tearing them in two, you would have let him, but he’s polite in how he strips you despite the way you feel him stirring, hardening beneath where you lay. God, you wanted him so badly. 

“Please touch me, oh please,” you don’t even realize the words are coming from you.

In barely audible little pleas muffled by where your face is flush with the bed but Alfred doesn’t miss anything and he’s grinning in your peripheral. 

“You should see how soaked you are, love. Need my fingers there, is that right?” his fingers were already inching towards where you ached the most, his right hand circling, distracting you from being able to speak while preparing you for another spank. 

“Yes! Please, Alfred, I want it so much!” your whimper leaves both of you aching. 

A tremble in your thighs had spread down to your pointed toes with the way he swirled the pads of his index and middle fingers over the slick mess between your thighs.

Slow and sweet as he slid them over your folds and circled over your clit, waiting and then rewarded with the eventual roll and arch of your hips, his free hand drawing back and then coming down on heated skin. 

You gave a strangled cry, the sound turning into a moan when his fingers continued to circle your clit, responding to the way your body reacted, only taking his eyes off you for a moment when he finally put aside his self control to watch your pretty pussy swallow his thick fingers.

He worked you open gently, remembering how you liked him to move, where those sensitive spots were even at this new angle. 

Giving you something to clench around with his next spank, coaxing you to rock into his touch like he could see you wanted to do, the gorgeous sway of your hips trying to meet the plunge of his fingers, undeniably needy for him.

You knew he could hear it in the way you cried out his name, how sensitive your entire body was now, the broken, pleading edge to the way you praise him in return, telling him how good it felt, how much you’d been needing this. 

The pleasure built higher as did Alfred’s movements, a hiss at the edge of your words at each searing swat of his hands that mixed with the scissoring of his fingers, both working in careful, measured tandem. 

“That’s my girl, come on, that’s it!” he grits out when you push up onto your elbows again and grind your hips back. 

The passion and possession in the way he called you his merged with the curving of his fingers and you both know you’re there, tender walls fluttering as you come, thighs aching, your whole body tingling, trembling with the steady roll of his wrist keeping the pleasure drawn out, filling your entire body. 

You’re not embarrassed by the tears that prick your eyes or the sob in your throat that follow when he finally flips you over, laying you back because you’d begged for him to and who was he to refuse you, an angel.

If you wanted his face between your thighs, eating your dripping pussy until you were too sensitive to take it, that’s exactly what he’d give you and it’s why you weren’t shy, not in this moment, not when you knew he wanted it just as much as you. 

Soft hands disturb the careful style of Alfred’s hair, unable to help it when his tongue licks you and the salt and pepper scruff scratches achingly over your inner thighs, daring you to try and close them.

Not like you’d want to, able to see how his shoulders curved and bulged with the stretch of his shirt as he kept your legs parted with his body. 

This was everything you had wanted, moaning at the way he consumed you so lovingly, a weight in his touch and in his encouraging, filthy words that told you he wasn’t holding back now, you were his girl, he could show you the more true depth of his desire now.

And you were safe to do the same, you craved it actually, always wanting this and you reason you have this entire time, craving this level of care and need, even obsession with each other, so much trust and feelings at the center of it. 

“So good, baby. Just like that, please…” you barely get the words out, lungs losing air from the focus he gave to your words even before you finished speaking. 

His hands didn’t stay idle, the grip of his hands over your body like he wanted to memorize the feel of you, the way you dipped and curved and stretched and it drove you wild, the wet suction of his mouth the only thing your mind could focus on. 

It’s a wonder you can even move when he finally withdraws his mouth from your puffy lips, turning his still hungry and devoted gaze towards your chest, those stiff peaks he’d been neglecting through all this, but no longer. 

You squirmed into the flick of his tongue, the way he kissed your skin and praised and nipped and got his lips on every inch of skin that he could while you just laid back and relaxed, recovered from the orgasm still twitching in the muscles of your arms, your thighs, your tummy. 

“Just look at you. Fuck, I am so lucky,” he rumbles against your collar and you wrap your arms around him, curled against him.

“I feel exactly the same way.”

His soft huff of breath against your neck tickled and you snake your legs around him, hoping to keep him close, just wanting to be in his arms and under his body for as long as you could. 

You’d take forever, and that was all you needed to know.

The Shoreline Lofts

November 27 

12:00 a.m.

The Batman was watching. Unblinking and focused, planted in place but ready for anything that might come. Folding himself into the inky cloak of the midnight hour. 

The Iceberg Lounge was directly beneath the loft space but that wasn’t why Bruce had come tonight.

No, he was far more interested in what Penguin got up to in private, without guests and dancers and clients around, what secrets or clues might be yielded if he just sat and watched, surveilled for a while. 

He was curious why the man you had recognized from the news was connected to Scarecrow and he didn’t believe for a moment that Oz wasn’t keeping tabs on what his men were doing, he had to have known the attack was going to happen. 

Motives were unclear but pieces of this horrid puzzle were starting to come together so Bruce  wouldn’t rest until he could see the grand picture for what it was. 

He tipped the binoculars back up to the blackened edges of his cowl, zeroing in again on where Oz was playing pool, unaware a shadow sat spying through the skylight. 

The building’s layout was already scoped out, every entry point found, tested, and memorized. Now Bruce would wait and watch until Penguin left the loft to slip in and see what he could find. 

Gordon needed intel, something to go on after grasping for dead end’s, there was no time to sit on things, not after what he’d seen today. 

Not after you and Alfred were almost hurt and especially not after he’d seen what the toxin did to people, recognizing the look of anguish in their eyes like his own reflection.

A waking nightmare was no stranger to Bruce so he’d make sure of this, Scarecrow would be made to answer.

A/N: It’s been so long and I have missed writing for Alfred and I’m really surprised and proud of what I wrote here! Went through a lot of emotions trying to get this on the page and there was a lot of self doubt and anxiety and unfairly beating myself up about things not coming together but here we are and I just really love that I pushed through and had fun putting this all together in the end 💕 We stan protective Alfred! Like if that’s not a whole husband right there!

Thanks for giving this a read!

no pressure tags! 💌 @flamingdisputes @saradika @ozarkthedog @tarabyte3 @tarrenterror25 @the-eyes-of-andyserkis @communism-bitches @xnodamsel @glitterjuju @mariahthelioness29 @ayoarticulate @fluffyprettykitty @unrefinedmusings @xoxovivafics @peachyteabuck

[lesinquietes]

Ok but what about Bandit Leader Shigaraki, who guides his league of villains from village to village with the intent to plunder, but he decides to take you as a war prize

Tw; hinted noncon, violence, yandere

—

He hates the world so much. That’s why he learned how to fight and swindle and take what he wants, because no one else is going to give him a fucking break, are they? No. He paved his own path. And now, the world is going to pay for how it treats the underdogs.

His league camps out on the border of defenseless villages. He makes the mayor hike taxes and collect other funds for the purpose of paying Shigaraki and his crew a security deposit. In exchange, they don’t wreak havoc or destroy the village. It’s only when the income ceases flowing that there becomes an issue.

He attacks your village when your mayor doesn’t follow through with the security payment. He’s happy to do it, just as he’s been happy to do it various times in the past in other locations; there’s a high that comes from the process of plundering that he can’t describe. He’s even made it into a game, of sorts. Old people are worth fifty points. Young people are worth ten — twenty if they’re annoying. Babies and children don’t count. It’s a simple mindset that keeps him amused.

But when he aims his gun at you, having slaughtered your family already, he finds his trigger finger hesitating. There you are, hands over your head, quivering and whimpering in the corner. You’re in a silk nightdress that accents your frame beautifully. Your hair is messy and loose. The tears streaming down your face only add to your appeal. Your image — albeit the portrait of a frightened soul — is captivating.

He stands there for a few minutes before lowering the pistol. He can’t shoot you; there’s something obliging him to do otherwise. He thinks you might have a better use than being dead.

“You’d be a waste as a corpse.” He snickers cruelly. “I think I have an idea of how you can pull your weight around camp, though.”

As he grabs a fistful of your locks and drags you out of your burning family home, he grins maliciously. One second, you’re screaming about him hurting you; the next, you’re begging him to let you go. You’re already proving to put up a fun little fruitless fight.

Shigaraki tows you over to his league, who lie in the centre of your ravaged village. They leer at you with hunger in their depraved eyes. Lately, his bed has been cold at night, without anyone to warm it. He realizes his men must feel the same way.

“Hope you’re ready to show us how much you want to keep your life.”

[ofmonstersandlovers]

*slams fist on table* HASSIAN CONTENT HASSIAN CONTENT HASSIAN CONTENT

more specifically: how about Hassian arriving at his grove for the evening and finding the player already there, with a homecooked meal waiting for him? (Sernuk steak and roasted potatoes)

*throws table* HASSIAN CONTENT

Just For You ♡

TW: sfw, cute shit, domestic(?), gender neutral reader, Hassian being a tsundere like normal, mentions of the mayor and Reth (my love), chapaa hate from hassian lol

♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡

The sky gradually darkened with hues of dark blue as nighttime approaches. The familiar sounds of the Grove accompanying Hassian as his feet crunch leaves with each easy step he takes. It wasn't a successful hunt today, leaving him frustrated and tense.

It did not help that the mayor still continued to boast about the prospects of the Chapaas being suitable pets. Despite the wretched things multiplying at a dizzying rate and threatening the balance of the ecosystem. A fact the hunter consistently brings up, and it consistently falls on deaf ears.

Well. Not all ignore his loud concerns - Y/N takes his words very seriously. When they choose to, that is.

It seems so long ago since the human came to the small village. A phenomenon that has been happening all over Palia - the resurgence of humans long since thought to be a legend.

Who would've thought Hassian would be close to a species one considered lost to time?

Adjusting the strap of his quiver, he sees the sights of his home, the Grove. His body sags as he enters the area restricted to most of Bahari Bay and Kilima Valley residents. Though, to his surprise, a savory scent greets him along with the foliage.

There, he sees Y/N, plating up something from the camp fire with a content expression. One that turns to a beaming one as they glance over to notice his presence. Such unfiltered delight stutters his heartbeat. His grip tightens on his bow as he strides closer.

"What is it that you're doing?"

"Well, hello to you too!" The human chuckles as they finish up one of the plates. Straightens from their crouched position to move closer to the Majiri. Allowing the other to see exactly what they were up to. "I wanted to have dinner with you, so I made something! I got the recipe from Reth."

Hassian's gaze lowered to the offered plate - beautiful seared Sernuk steak with honey glazed potatoes greets him. The aroma arousing his stomach, which he was not aware was empty.

Yet what really caught his attention was the gesture. Y/N made him something for them both to enjoy after a long day that felt like hours of agitation.

Hassian coughs, hand raising in a loose fist up to his mouth as he averts his eyes. Feel the sensation of his face warming alongside the loud pound of his pulse.

"You didn't have to do this." Is what leaves him instead of a simple 'thank you'. Needing a moment before he lowers his fist to gingerly take the plate from the human's hands. Peering down once more at his dinner.

"But I wanted to," Y/N shrugs as they made their way back to the campfire. Confident that the Majiri would follow them. And they were right - he follows obediently without complaint. Settling on a log next to them as he forks up a small bite of the potatoes.

The honey flavor mixed with the freshness of rosemary and thyme refreshing to his tongue. Bringing a low rumble of satisfaction from his chest as he forks up a much bigger bite. Unaware of the proud grin that's bright on the human's face as they plate up their own food and eats along with him.

It's... nice.

It's hard to truly describe it, the comforting feeling that settles over them as they eat together with the added lights of the paper lantern bugs fluttering about. Vastly different from sharing food with his mother or trying one of the many new concoctions Reth creates.

He wants this to be a daily thing. Something to consistently come home to.

Oh.

Hassian pauses as he swallows a bite of Sernuk steak, peering timidly over to Y/N who chats about their day. The light of the flickering fire dancing across their faces, bringing illumination to their beautiful features. A sight that not even the greatest poet could properly capture into words.

"Hassian?"

The Majiri blinks out of his thoughts, caught staring silently at the other who only tilts their head curiously at him. Eyes still soft as they gaze at him.

"Everything okay?"

Flustered, he scoffs as he tears his gaze away. The warmth to his face now a burning heat to trails to his pointed ears as he busies himself with another bite of food.

"The food isn't bad," he grumbles around the mouthful, shrugging with his left shoulder as he gestures with his fork. "Continue - what happened with Tish?"

Y/N is quiet for a second before laughing underneath her breath. Continuing the story of their day with animated expressions and gestures.

And as they share the night together, Hassian subtly suggests another recipe that involves Sernuk meat for them to try together.

♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡

[dwobbitfromtheshire]

From Hell to Home to Back Again

Summary: At the talent show, Chrissy Cunningham is so hungry that she nearly collapses. When she's found by Hopper, her parents ended up losing custody of her. She ends up being placed in the care of the Hendersons, and she finally finds the family she so desperately needed. She also ends up falling in love. What other changes are made in this alternate universe?

A/N: The catwalk scene is from FOI, I wrote from Chrissy's perspective. Tw: Child abuse.

Prologue

January 1980

Chrissy really hadn't wanted to do the Talent Show. No, that was all for her mother, who was always looking for a reason to humiliate her. Nothing Chrissy ever did was good enough for her, including the routine she has just done that was created entirely by Laura. The only reason she had messed up was because she had been so hungry, and she nearly fainted. Chrissy had managed to escape up to the catwalk to avoid being criticized by her own mother only to find that she hadn't been the only one to think of it. A boy only a couple of years older than her was sitting up there, looking down at the audience. He was wearing a flannel shirt, and he had holes in pants. His head was buzzed, and she could tell that his big brown eyes were searching for someone. He was kind of cute. Knowing her mother would disapprove, Chrissy sat down next to the boy. Chrissy fought back the smile when he jumped.

"Are you looking for someone?" She asked.

Chrissy could see the doubt in his eyes. Why would a girl like her talk to a guy like him? She gave him what she hoped was an encouraging smile, and he snapped out of it.

"My dad," the boy replied.

"Where is he?" She asked and started looking for him as if she knew what he looked like, but the boy just shrugged. "He didn't come?"

Chrissy felt envious for a moment, wishing her mother hadn't come at all. She knew that not everyone's parents were like hers.

"He's just running late," he replied.

She didn't know why she did it, but she wound up lying to the boy. How could she possibly tell him that she was hiding from her own mom like a coward?

"I came up here to look for my mom," she replied.

"She's running late, too?" He asked.

"I wish. She's right there," Chrissy said wrinkling her nose and pointing her out in the ground.

"I'm sorry," he said and Chrissy smiled.

"Me too," she whispered.

"My band's up next," he said. "Uh."

"Break a leg," Chrissy told him. "And - "

"Eddie."

"Eddie, if your dad gets held up, I'll cheer for you," Chrissy said as she shook her arms about.

"Right back atcha," Eddie said, wincing, and Chrissy giggled.

Chrissy, unfortunately, had to face the music like Eddie was going to. She went down to the audience to watch Eddie, and she couldn't help but be amazed at the sight of him. He was so passionate. . .so free. . .she wished she could be like him in that moment. When he found her eyes in the crowd, she stood on her chair and cheered for him when he finished. Laura hadn't liked that and dragged her to the lobby to lay into her about her behavior.

"I only messed up because I was so hungry," Chrissy cried.

"Nonsense, you had lunch," Laura said.

"Not enough, mom," Chrissy replied.

"You have an eating problem, Chrissy," Laura said. "I'm only trying to help you. You don't want to be a little piggy forever, do you?"

Laura pinched her cheek, and Chrissy scowled before biting down on her hand.

"You're my problem!" Chrissy shrieked, and then she ran off, hiding in the coat closet.

She thought for sure that no one was going to find her until she heard the sound of footsteps and voices.

"I spoke too soon when I told the mayor that I didn't need to be here," the familiar voice of Chief Hopper sighed. "Now, we've got a missing kid."

The door opened, and she saw the Chief reaching for his coat. He grabbed it, revealing her face.

"Don't tell my parents I'm here," Chrissy sniffled. "Please."

"Why don't you want me to call your parents?" Hopper asked, kneeling down.

"My mom won't let me eat! The only reason I messed up my routine was because I was so hungry and I got sleepy, so I tripped!" Chrissy sobbed. "And when I told mom that I was hungry, she pinched my cheek and called me a piggy."

"Is that where she pinched you?" Hopper asked, pointing to her cheek, and she nodded.

"She always does it too hard," Chrissy sniffled as her stomach growled loudly. "I got tired of it, so I bit her. Are you going to arrest me?"

"If I'm going to arrest anyone, it's probably going to be your mom," Hopper said. "Let's get you something to eat."

Hopper held out his hand, and she looked at him for a moment before slipping her hand into his. She grabbed her coat and let him help her into it.

"CHRISTINE CUNNINGHAM!" Laura's voice shrieked as she moved through the lobby.

Laura went to grab Chrissy, but Hopper pulled her gently behind him. Her mother looked affronted at his audacity, and Chrissy couldn't help but smirk.

"I think you and your husband need to go down to the station to answer a few questions," Hopper said. "I'm going to get some food for your daughter."

"I don't know what she's been telling you, but she's lying. Kids say the darndest things for attention," Laura said.

"So, you haven't been starving or hurting her?" Hopper asked.

"She had a big lunch. She doesn't need to eat," Laura said.

Just then, Chrissy's stomach growled loudly, proving Laura wrong. Chrissy wanted to look at anywhere else, but at her mother, who glanced down at her in anger. She peaked out from behind Hopper to find Eddie staring at her.

"I'm sorry," he mouthed.

Another officer ended up dragging Chrissy's screaming mother off to another car with her dad following behind her. Philip didn't even bother looking at Chrissy. She stared at them for a moment before climbing into Hopper's car. The entire car ride was silent as he drove her to Benny's diner. They ordered and sat down in a booth.

"What's going to happen?" Chrissy asked.

"That depends on what we find out. We're going to have to set you up with a doctor so we have evidence of what your mother's been doing. I mean, we're definitely going to have to contact social services. Depending on how bad they determine your home life is, they might take you out of the home," Hopper said, and Chrissy tried to stop the smile from forming. "It's okay to be happy about that, kid."

"What if I end up somewhere worse?" Chrissy asked.

"I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure that it doesn't happen," Hopper said with a sigh. "But I also can't make you any promises."

"Thank you for being honest," Chrissy said and paused after Benny delivered their food. "She wasn't always like this, you know."

"No?" Hopper asked as bit into his own burger.

"My brother died, and I think her sadness consumed her. She didn't know how to control it, so it controlled her, and then she controlled me. What she did wasn't okay, but I get it and hope one day soon, I'll be able to forgive her. She's still my mom and I love her," Chrissy said.

"You have a big heart, kid. Don't ever lose that," Hopper said, wrapping his knuckles on the table.

Chrissy smiled and bit into her burger. She was starting to feel full for the first time in a while. Hopper, even though he seemed scary, was the kindest man she ever met along with his friend Benny. He was funny, and he even gave her a free milkshake. She knew it was a pity shake, but she accepted it nonetheless. After that, social services were quick to get her out of the home when they discovered that there were locks on the fridge, and the doctor told them Chrissy definitely needed to eat more. Now, the Chief was standing with her in front of the house, her things in his car.

"Claudia's the nicest woman you'll ever meet, trust me," Hopper said.

"I do," Chrissy said.

The minute she stepped into the Hendersons' she felt the difference between her house and this one. Her house had been cold and frightening but this house was nothing but warmth. Claudia greeted her with a sweet smile and kindness in her eyes that Chrissy's own mother never had. Beside her was an eight year old boy with curly brown hair.

"Hi, I'm Claudia, and this is my son Dustin," she said. "Do you prefer Christine or Chrissy?"

"Chrissy," she smiled shyly.

"That works out perfectly. I always call Dustin 'Dusty'," Claudia smiled.

"I like your hair. It's red and blond at the same time," Dustin said.

"It's called strawberry blonde," Chrissy said in amusement.

"Oh, cool. I love strawberries," Dustin said.

"Well, unfortunately, my hair doesn't taste like them," Chrissy said and Dustin snorted. "Ooh, kitty cat!"

An orange cat brushed up against her leg, and she knelt down to pet the cat.

"Oh, that's Mews," Dustin said. "She's mom's cat, really. Mom loves cats."

"I love cats, too! Mom never let me have one, though," Chrissy said as she pet the cat.

"You're going to fit in just fine here," Claudia beamed and put her arm around her. "Do you want something to eat or drink?"

As Claudia kept a comforting arm around Chrissy, she realized that she never wanted to leave.

Chapter One

[the-olympics-olympics]

Weird Olympic Moments Tournament

To celebrate (?) the Paris 2024 Olympic Games starting in a few weeks, I thought I'd run another Olympic-themed poll tournament. This time, we're diving into history and getting to know some of the stranger, lesser-known stories of the Games.

Polls will run for a week, and the tournament should last until around early September if I'm doing my math right. The first polls will begin Monday, July 15th.

At the end, we'll award a gold, silver, and bronze to the top three.

After many hours on Wikipedia and the IOC website, here's the list of moments I came up with:

Horse vaulting

Pigeon racing

Sarajevo venues damaged in war

Mayor of Montreal says "The Olympics can no more lose money than a man can have a baby," then proceeds to host one of the most financially disastrous Games in history

George Eyser wins six medals after being run over by a train

Solo synchronized swimming

Crowd gets pooped on by 25,000 pigeons

Flame is taken to top of Mount Everest

Margaret Abbot dies without knowing she made history as the first US woman to win gold

Brazilian team has to sell coffee to afford the trip to Los Angeles

A teenager's "dumb idea" becomes Olympic tradition (athletes marching together in closing ceremony)

St. Louis experiments with "purposeful dehydration", denies water to marathon runners

Kanakuri Shizō takes 54 years to finish his race

Mt. Vesuvius moves the Olympics to London

They stop doing the Olympic salute for some reason

IOC President compares a terrorist attack to a vote to ban a racist country

The Olympics goes 88 years without letting women run marathons

Olympic flame transmitted via satellite

Northern Rhodesia declares independence during Olympics, changes name to Zambia

Vancouver 2010 cauldron malfunction

Montreal 1976 stadium is finally paid off in 2006

The curse of the Beijing 2008 mascots

Everest climbers get gold medals

Sochi snowflake malfunction

They hold the Olympics in 1906, then later say it doesn't count

Colorado kicks the Olympics out

Flame hidden from view after anti-gay law

Summer Olympics held during Winter

Haiti and Liechtenstein discover they had the same flag

Riot at the 1924 rugby match

McDonald's gives out more Big Macs than they expected

Chamonix 1924 retroactively named the Winter Olympics

Doves burned during cauldron lighting

Torchbearer takes olympic flame down a ski jump

Medals made of e-waste

Shooter aims for wrong target, loses gold

Olympic torch passed on International Space Station

Alien addresses crowd

Figure skating debuts at Summer Olympics

Olympics held on two different continents

Rio organizers lose key to stadium gate

Baron de Coubertin wins a gold medal under false identity

1960 winter games held in city named for an ethnic slur

Obstacle Swimming

North Korea considered to co-host 1988

Housing complex for American soldiers during the occupation of Japan becomes the Olympic village

Torch design changed mid-relay

Cauldron lit by flaming arrow

Last three seconds of basketball final replayed three times until results changed

St. Louis threatens to hold their own Olympics if they don't get named host city

Fatso the Fat-Arsed Wombat

Balloon racing

Delirious man carried over finish line by coaches, wins marathon

Summer Olympics held in November and December

Olympics postponed for COVID

Blue screen of death appears during opening ceremony

Marathon runner attacked by priest

Guy kicks referee in the face and (maybe) ends up on a stamp

Jet pack flies over stadium

Centennial games not awarded to a very confident Athens

LA 84 gets in trouble for commercializing the torch relay

Olympic flame relit with cigarette lighter

Rower stops for ducks

Nazi propaganda becomes Olympic tradition (torch relay)

Did I miss a great weird moment? Send it to me in an ask and I might do a round 2 or something!

I chose the moments based on my own personal bias (lol)

Heads up that there is one that involves the death of animals, but I will tag any polls with that #tw animal death

Please don't hesitate to let me know if you need anything else tagged, and how to tag it!

Also, a disclaimer that I'm tired and scatterbrained and I work full time, so if this gets a little disorganized I apologize. Shouldn't be too bad though.

Let the games begin, and whatnot

@tournament-announcer :)

[amorhedera6]

((this turned out longer and more in depth then i meant for it to go, tw for abusive families, suicidal ideation, mentions of death, grief, and dismembering of a body))

headcannon that steph and max were best friends as kids. his dads an important man, one that solomon wanted on his side. so he pushed steph to spend time with his son. max was a super happy kid, very exciteable, loved musicals. they were on their own a lot, since neither of their parents really gave a shit, so they’d spend a lot of time at starlight theatre, watching all the different shows and things going on. max would tell her about how shitty his dad was and she’d do the same in return.

when they got to the 7th grade, steph got really depressed and pushed max and everyone else away. and max was little, they both didn’t really know what was going on. after that, they weren’t ever really close like that again. she got on the middle school football team and was deemed a prodigy, got popular, started getting all these friends that would do whatever he said. things with his dad got worse, and without steph to help him he started bullying to corral his emotions. steph knew what he was doing, but also knew it wasn’t serious. he pushed a few people around a little, that’s all. she didn’t think she had to be worried about her friend and now that he was super popular, she needed other people to spend her time with.

she also became cool, just because he said hi to her in the hallways, so she found herself in with his group. but she never truly felt she fit in, skirting along the edges. in high school, her friends all joined the cheer squad as she joined the smoke club and stop giving a shit about school. she never made sense in the “popular kid” crowd, but she assumed they kept her around bc she was the mayor’s daughter and pushing her out wouldn’t fly. it was actually max, making sure she got an invite to every party.

steph sort of floats through high school disassociatedly, in the my-home-life-is-terrible-and-isn’t-gonna-get-better-until-college-so-i-don’t-give-a-shit way, so she doesn’t see the escalation of max knowing no one will stop him doing anything, getting a total god complex, and ruling the school with violence, until pete. she’s probably the only person in hatchetfield high that doesn’t know, but it surprised her so much. bc max? the boy who would geek out over tech production of the musicals? the kid who let her be the captain when they were pirates bc he thought it was more fun to be the first mate? who’d stay up late with her when she had a bad day to read the books their moms were had promised to read to them? that boy is this horrible bully, and she didn’t even know it? it just doesn’t make sense.

she says she’ll go to the principal bc that’s the first instinct one has about this shit, but people started doing that in 8th grade, and all that happens is max has to go to an anti bullying thing every few months. she wants to talk him down, figure out what made him go this far, but she already knows it’s his dad. he wants to be the big impressive football star that his dad wants him to be, so maybe he’ll actually give a shit. he wants his dad to notice and tell him to stop, because then it would mean he was paying attention to what he did. daddy issues recognize daddy issues, and steph sees it in max, even if she did have prior knowledge. she goes along with grace’s plan bc she thinks it’ll be a good ego check to bring him down, but then. then.

she goes home and cries herself to sleep, feeling responsible for the death of her first real friend. she gets sick for weeks with flashes of her dismembering his body with the others, and while every one else’s seems to think the school’s getting better, all stephanie can think is “did no one else fucking care about him? even a little?” all his friends, the football guys, even her friends on the cheer squad, seem to not care about max’s disappearance as much as they care about his missing spot on the field. she starts to skip more until she decides to hang out with pete instead. he must be guilty too, be haunted by these images, but then he says “everything is objectively better.”

which she gets. people are free from his torment, they can do what they want, talk to who they want, etc. the hallways are brighter, people are happier, whatever. but max was still a person. steph wonders if the plan had gone right, maybe he would’ve come back down from his god complex and been more like she remembered him. if he would’ve done the spring musical like he’d always wanted to do but never felt like he could. if he would’ve hated her for it forever. she’d rather he hate her forever than her have helped kill him.

when they have to start talking about what happened, she tries to call him jägerman, tries to disconnect her friend from what happened, because he truly was drastically different, but it was hard. after richie and ruth, shut goes crazy and max is back, but he’s not really max. she feels like the worst friend in the world when she think “he looks like his dad”

because mr jägerman has always been a being full of rage and anger, not one to hide in his own home. she’d seen him scream and yell at max for being a regular little kid, not special at all. not the perfect son he wanted. max, this weird spector of max, is all rage, no heart. even when max was at his worst, he had some heart. he kept her in the “cool group” even though she made no sense there, let grace go unbullied bc he had a crush on her. this wasn’t max. this was a personification of his dying moments, the only thing the waylon place did was preserve, and maybe further his anger.

she wants to beg pete to kill her the way he begs her to kill him. she started all this, even if she denied it at beanies, it’s true, and she is probably the only one who could have helped max stay a regular guy instead of the egomaniac ruler of the school he became. but she can’t get the words off her tongue. so long she’s been thinking about how easier everyone’s lives would be if she just killed herself, and now she can’t even do this. he gets on his knees in the football field, she raises the gun from twenty yards away, and thinks about how many people this thing that isn’t really max has killed.

she forces herself to pull the trigger.

max stops the bullet.

grace fucks the ghost, and all is well. except she’s met gods who seem like they want to eat her, and now her father’s dead too. he was an asshole, he never really cared about her, but she sobs for hours n the big empty house on pinebrook, and wishes desperately that she had made pete do it.

she and pete check on each other, because he also lost two people important to him, and they hold each other up. get each other through it. help each other mourn. she meets his older brother, he helps her clean out her father’s office. they go to funerals together and hold hands, and don’t talk about it.

it takes her a little while to realize his homecoming offer is still up, since things are technically different now. she buys a dress and tells him only the color, and he wears a matching bow tie. it’s such a ridiculously peter thing to do, and it makes her laugh for the first time in a while. they laugh together a lot that night, and she helps him breathe through a panic attack in the bathroom when ruth’s favorite song comes on.

she tells him about the images she can’t get out of her head, maxs body in pieces, the blood everywhere, that she burned the clothes she wore that day bc she couldn’t get the smell of blood and bleach out no matter how often she washed it. he tells her that he’s having flashbacks like that too, and that he wishes he could talk to his therapist about it without being sent to jail or a mental hospital.

she talks to detective shapiro and gets her to send a letter to peters therapist that he’s not gonna be arrested so pete can talk his shit out. at least the non-ghost and demon stuff. the dismembering a guy stuff, though, he can talk about.

it gets her thinking about therapy and getting some. she’s 18, she’s got more money than is necessary from her father, and she thinks she’s going crazy. she looks into it and finds one, starts going once a week. he tells steph he things she has adhd, sends her to a psychiatrist who confirms the diagnosis. she gets some drugs to take, and she feels weird about taking them. she’s done drugs, but like the cool ones. she knows not to do drugs you’re unfamiliar with when your alone, and she feels like she’s a lot of that.

homecoming was fun, but she and pete still haven’t out any label in their relationship. they haven’t said i love you, even though everything that went down means the both know it. she wants to be his girlfriend, but she doesn’t want to ask. wants him to ask. she tells her therapist as much, and then complains that she’s paying him bc she’s got daddy issues and trauma, not to hear about her high school drama.

but miraculously, he does ask her to be his gf. and then they’re dating, and it’s great. she spends more time at his apartment with his brother, less time alone in the big empty house just thinking about max and her hand in who he became. he and her therapist together convince her to start taking the meds, and it helps with some of her problems, but not all of them.

she forces herself to keep living, even when she doesn’t want to, because that’s what max (her best friend, the kid who was too scared tontry out for the musical, the asshole, the boy she knew better than herself, the adult she apparently hardly knew, the spector she could only half recognize) would want from her.

[blueberry-bubbles130]

The disappointment of the characterisation of the Bourgeois family in Miraculous Ladybug.

This essay/post will be talking about my feelings regarding the characterisation of Bourgeois family, as I'm doing a rewrite fanfiction of Miraculous and the Bourgeois family plays an extremely important part in my rewrite.

Trigger Warnings include:

TW: Child abuse

Child neglect

Verbal abuse

Emotional abuse

Domestic Violence

If I have forgotten to add any trigger warnings in the post please comment and I'll add them as soon as I can.

Getting this out of the way with now because I don't want to focus on her in this post, and because she won't be in my rewrite at all, I don't like Zoe. In the canon of the show all she serves as is a replacement for Chloe and a wielder of the Bee Miraculous. Unfortunately in the canon show, she is tied to the miraculous and Chloe in such a way that she cannot be talked about with bringing Chloe salt/bashing into the discussion, and has no true character of her own out of just being nice. There are others in the show who already could've filled the role much better. Zoe is far better written in fanon and fanfiction. But I don't want to be beating a long dead horse so there are other posts you can read to see Zoe's poor implementation in the show, and absolutely great fanfictions you can read that gives her a developed character if you like her. With that being said lets get onto the main essay.

Who are the Bourgeois family?

In the show the Bourgeois family are an upper class family that are said to hold a lot of influence. The family consists of Andre Bourgeois; the patriarch of the family who owns a hotel, and is also the mayor of Paris. Audrey Bourgeois; the matriarch of the family and a famous fashion critic. And Chloe Bourgeois; the child of the family and the temporary bee miraculous holder. The Bourgeois family can be considered a large secondary example of Miraculous's wasted potential, and it's inability to truly give a satisfying conclusion to any concept they've tried to execute during it's run. And some will say this is just the end of an arc and season 6 will continue and deliver. But it won't, especially considering Miraculous' record with delivering on expected plotlines it isn't promising in the slightest and I do not hold hope for season 6. Despite this, I'm rather interested in the Bourgeois family, and they are my favourite part of Miraculous making it even more disappointing to see the outcome of the plotline involving them.

Audrey Bourgeois-

I'm doing Audrey Bourgeois first because despite having a lot to say about all the family members, I have the least to say about Audrey.

Audrey is characterised as a harsh fashion critic who has nothing kind to say about anyone around her. Her kind words are only reserved for someone who can truly impress her, examples being Marinette and Gabriel. Marinette being shown to the audience and Gabriel being told to the audience. She is responsible for launching Gabriel into fame as a fashion designer. Audrey isn't even remotely nice to her own family. She abandons them mostly and seems to return only when work arises in Paris. And even then she belittles both her husband and Chloe constantly.

Something I find interesting in fanfiction for Miraculous Ladybug is that before we got any glimpse of who Audrey is. Everyone assumed she'd died and they either called her Simone or Julia, Julie or Juliette. And this gave depth to both Chloe, and Andre. This will be discussed again later.

Audrey's character has at least stayed consistent throughout Miraculous' ever-increasing run, which is a miracle considering Miraculous issues with characterisation, among other issues. However at the same time it's quite odd considering unlike Andre who got more developed regarding his past and what he wants, Audrey remains quite flat character-wise with only glimpses of there possibly something else to her. I think that Audrey despite staying consistent and explaining a lot about Chloe and Andre, she's still wasted potential. In one of the episodes characters such as Gabriel, Natalie and and I think maybe Tomoe are shown watching important story information on a tv. This would seemingly hint that Audrey had something to do with Gabriel. Which is believable considering Audrey's personality and previous appearances with Gabriel. However as of season 5 this has not been expanded upon in anyway whatsoever and like I keep saying I doubt it will be in season 6 or future seasons if they get anymore. This makes me believe that Audrey should've been expanded upon as a villain, she could've stolen a miraculous and possibly became a main villain. She's close to Gabriel, she's got the perfect personality for it; the only thing she needed to be a good villain was a decent motivation and I easily could've believed her becoming a villain if she'd been given decent motivation. She's already controlling and demanding, so Zoe could've never been introduced and you could've had it so she wants ultimate control over Andre and Chloe while placing herself as some sort of evil Queen. And that's all I really have to say about Audrey. Hell! I've already seen a few posts where people state that Audrey should've taken over as mayor after Andre, which makes a hell of a lot more sense then Chloe doing it. It's not exactly the same because she's the stepmother, but something I think Audrey should've been a bit like but far more toned down for the child audience is like Julia Cotton from Hellraiser. She's just so perfect as a example of someone willing to go to extremes in order to achieve their desires. Hell it's already there in her akuma, Style Queen! Just make her an evil queen, it wouldn't have been that hard and then we wouldn't have to deal with that mess we got with them attempting to make Gabriel sympathetic but then being shown him horribly abusing his son with glee at every opportunity he gets. You could keep Gabriel and Natalie sympathetic and make Audrey even more despicable than she is.

Also Audrey is clearly abusive, and in 2023 we should not need to have debates over whether she is because some people say she's just cruel. No she's abusive, it's clearly abuse.

Chloe Bourgeois-

Chloe is definitely my favourite character out of the Bourgeois family and Miraculous as a whole, and while her characterisation post season 3 does sadden and disappoint me, it doesn't anger me like what the writers did with Andre.

Chloe starts the series as nothing more than an obnoxious bully who torments her classmates. When we get to season 2 we get to see Chloe receive more depth as a character and see how her parents helped her in becoming the person she is today. Then season 3 happened and we see Miracle Queen. Now I don't think Miracle Queen is completely horrid, It makes sense that Chloe may begin to regress or backslide into her unhealthy habits. And I've even seen people still redeem her with miracle queen being in their stories. What pisses me off about Miracle Queen, especially when people online talk about it, is that they just seem to forget about Gabriel akumatising Audrey and Andre to use as blackmail against Chloe. Like yes at the end of the day, Chloe still makes the decision to become Miracle Queen and do what she did. But you cannot deny that a fully grown man who should know better, put the two people she presumably cared about the most at this point in danger in order to blackmail her. He cornered her on the balcony and essentially railroaded her into making that decision. Like what was she going to do if she said no, she can't fight Hawkmoth without a miraculous and even if she'd tried he might've legitimately hurt her or her parents to win. Here again we see fanfics just knock the show out of the water, with many people deciding to make Chloe trick Hawkmoth into giving her the miraculous and then she just runs away to get help. Also Marinette shouldn't have gotten involved in Chloe's family drama, like why did she think it was a good idea to do what she did in Queen wasp. Just why?

Something else regarding Chloe's character arc that just genuinely confuses me is that during season 2 it's obvious in episodes like Zombizou, Style Queen, Queen Wasp and Malediktator is that they're written by other writers who have differing opinions on Chloe to Thomas Astruc. And now I think Thomas was busy on a different project while this was was being written, which is fine. But what confuses me is that surely Thomas could've looked over the episode script and maybe said to change it. Instead of just letting a character he clearly does not like get development he also didn't like and then arguing with Chloe fans and Miraculous fans who may not like Chloe but understand her character arc was butchered as well as others, on twitter over it.

As well as this is season 5, I think it's revealed season 1-5 of Miraculous takes place over 1 school year. In France the average school year is about 10 months long lasting from September to late June early July. This means each season could technically take place over about 2 months. This gives Chloe 2-4 months at most to redeem herself. Which is just too much to expect of her to try and completely redeem herself and undo a lifetime of unhealthy behaviours in that short of a timespan. No wonder Miracle Queen happened, she hasn't had the proper support to try and unlearn those behaviours or redeem herself. And it makes Andre giving her over to her mother even more saddening/rage enducing, because Zoe has been around for the same time Chloe was given to try and unlearn her healthy behaviours. So Andre has abandoned his daughter who's he risen for her entire 13-14 year life for some child he's known for about 3 months at best.

Then season 4 and 5 begin the endless parade of Chloe Salt/Bashing in order to prop up Zoe. As well as the butchering of other characters, to continue hammering in that point, such as Andre, but we'll get to him later. Now I'm not saying I'm completely against the idea of evil Chloe, there are some brilliant fanfics out there with Chloe just either hamming it up as an evil villain or treated as a tragic villain, who's fall from grace is a pure tradegy. And I love it both because it treats Chloe with the seriousness she deserves, the majority of fanfics treat the abuse she's suffered with seriousness and not as some joke like the serious does. You want a absolutely brilliant Chloe Bourgeois fanfic read "Float like a Butterfly, Sting like a Bee" on ao3 it's just so good and I can't recommend it enough.

Also on the topic of redemptions Sabrina, Felix, Natalie and especially Gabriel shouldn't gotten redemptions. Gabriel, Sabrina and Felix don't show any remorse for their actions, in fact they all show glee in their actions apart from Natalie. But even then none of them truly face any punishments for their actions and sure Gabriel doesn't get to enjoy Emilie being back alive, but he still gets away with his numerous crimes.

As a final note on Chloe's development, it's been said by some people before it's quite harmful that Chloe doesn't get treated with the seriousness that she deserves and is one of the only villains not given a redemption as well as not being what is considered a "perfect" or "idealised" victim of abuse like Adrien is. And as someone who has lashed out at others due to issues with authoritive figures in the past (not to the extent Chloe has thought, especially with the bullying and wealth, I'm also not French) I do relate to Chloe in a small way. And this makes it harder for me personally, and it really is just harmful because it might give kids who have lashed out like her due to similar or the same issues the same idea that they don't deserve love or a guardian who can actually care for them in the way they need, as children.

I'm not saying give Chloe a redemption, she just should've been treat with the seriousness she needed.

Gettting back on track lets talk about the final member of the Bourgeois family.

Andre Bourgeois-

Oh Andre, where do I begin with him, in canon.

For seasons 1 to 3 he's mainly Chloe's nervous father and enabler. Then we get a bit of depth in season 4 and 5 about him wanting to be a director but not getting to due to Audrey and politics. Then in season 5 he lets Audrey take Chloe.

A deleted part of the script was revealed in which originally he gave Chloe to Audrey which in itself is horrific because he knows how Audrey is. Not only has she subjected Chloe to verbal abuse but him as well. This would be changed in the series to him just letting Audrey take Chloe, which is just as worse. These are just as bad because either way he's trying to absolve himself of any responsibility of what happened with Chloe which he is equally responsible for as he is Chloe's main enabler. And you know I actually had some hope for him in canon that he'd realise it was time to as someone else brilliantly put it "ditch the bitch" and forge a better relationship with Chloe, but that never happened. I guess that's what I get for having hope for Miraculous's canon.

It legitimately pisses me off so fucking much than in canon he gets to wash his hands clean of the whole problem with Chloe.

Now fanon Andre is so much better than his Canon counterpart and thinking about it now, Fanon Andre has always been better than his canon counterpart.

Bringing back up the whole thing about fanfics that pre-date Audrey is that it gives not only Chloe but Andre more depth. These fanfics typically paint the picture that Andre is a man that closed off not only by politics but the death of his wife and because he's not in tune with his own emotions, he can't help Chloe so instead of ignoring her grief like her father, Chloe is lashing out instead.

Even fanon versions of Andre that are more far more closed off, corrupt, and evil are much more enjoyable to read about than canon Andre, and have more depth. Something about Canon Andre just makes him even more loathsome and detestable then his many often better fanon versions. And when he does get redeemed in fanon it's just so good, because the people writing him, understand what makes his character have actual depth to him and make him realise his faults in a satisfying way that gives him a good redemption.

Maybe it was just me projecting the fanon versions of Andre onto the Canon version that made my disappointment and anger so much worse. But either way his overall canon characterisation is disappointing.

Again if you want to a fanfic that has Andre be a good antagonist, read "Chloe and the Bee" by @anxresi it isn't complete but what is there is just brilliant. And If you'd prefer to read a fanfiction where Andre is trying his best to be a good parent to Chloe read "Float like a Butterfly....Sting like a Bee" by Bookmonkey on ao3. They're both such amazing fanfics.

Conclusion-

Overall the characterisation of the Bourgeois family within the canon of the actual show is just a neatly packaged example of Miraculous' many issues such as bad writing, poor pacing, inconsistent characterisation and either attempting to poorly redeem abusers who should know better or just letting them get away without any consequences whatsoever.

I'd like to say thank you for listening to my long feral rambles about the Bourgeois family.

[the-martyrfication-of-the-matron]

Soooooo got any angst ideas about the destroyer is your rewrite ? Like him having nightmares or just being trapped in the nether wondering what happen to Irene ? Or his hatred towards the divine warriors even though he actually rightfully mad ?

I greatly appreciate the erasure of Shad's name when talking to me, its a dumbass name

anyways

TW, mentions of violence, using a slightly gory/graphic description to describe physical sensation, typical Shad-convo stuff

What is he if not my angsty boy? My angsty wife, that's what.

Anyways, so my baby, right, he's not got himself a physical form in the nether/the Shadow Abyss (it's just 'the abyss' in LR for aesthetic reasons, the girlies that get it, get it), due to him being like violently murdered to the point his physical body was no longer suitable for life. However, regardless of this, he experiences near-constant phantom pains from every injury he ever sustained, healed or otherwise. Also, being only his own shadow is a very... vulnerable-feeling experience. It would be equivalent to walking around without your skin on, all of your nerves and muscles exposed. Pain. Which provides one very good motivation for someone to, idk, try and gain a physical form to try and stop the agony of your existence. which could lead him to redemption in a very 'i did what i had to in order to survive, just like everyone else' way, but.... idk, i dont know if i want to redeem him. I like how not-a-good-person he is.

Judgement (suprisingly a canon name for him, his actual name in my rewrite, because he's the OG edgelord) is plagued near-constantly with visions. Every Divine has visions of some sort, whether they're clairvoyant, or prophecies, or something. Judge's specifically are of... like... destruction. End of days, mass murders, wars, etc. it's his domain but it doesn't make it any easier to see them. It also means he dreams of his own death on a frequent basis. not fun for him.

Also, he's pretty sure he knows what happened to Irene, he was married to her for a very long time, he knew the kind of person she was. She banished him under the guise of ending all evil, and left to keep up that ruse instead of doing her duty to stay and protect people. He does think about it often, very very annoyed about it. It's another thing that leads him to do what he does. He's wondering just how many people have to die before she's willing to set aside her pride and face him. He never self-reflects on how many people have to die before he's willing to set aside his hatred.

He's spiteful towards the other divine, but he doesn't hate them, not like he hates Irene. I mean he does hate them... just kind of not as much as Irene. The others he expected to turn against him eventually, because his nature was always unfavourable, but she was meant to be his equal, they were both equally as destructive as each other (ironically).

A lot of his existence is more physically painful, he's able to cope with the visions and the bad memories, and the thoughts of 'what if' in his mind by channelling it all into anger, but things start slowly derailing upon him and Aphmau/Avra's first contact, and he doesn't understand why until he realises who she is. From there, he is the mayor of Angst town, population however-many-mcd-characters-exist.

[lilyhoshikawa]

OC Profile: Aki Shiratori

(Picrew)

Aki Shiratori is the second character I've created as part of Cathy's team in the magical girls setting. Initially inspired by an old Magical Burst TTRPG campaign, its now evolved into a format of semi-connected short stories written by me (and an upcoming written by @daxieoclock abt his character Mezz!).

While Cathy is cemented in the trauma of religious abuse, Aki's pathos is centered on the trauma of being a trans woman in a conservative society, hated and shunned both by the world and, at times, by herself. This has instilled in her a sense of fear and defensiveness that manifests itself as a constant awareness of the prying eyes on her.

She longs to live the life of a normal girl, but knows it isn't in the cards for her. Her grief and the melancholy of her outlook is captured in her photos, her artistic work and passion.

TWs below the cut: transphobia, transphobic violence, self-harm, suicide attempt, hospitals, bruises

Name: Aki Shiratori

Magical Girl Name: Escher

Gender: Trans Girl

Pronouns: She/Her

Sexuality: Straight

Age: 20

Birthday: February 21

Hair Color: Black (as Aki), Dark Blue (as Escher)

Eye Color: Brown (as Aki), Red (as Escher)

Major: Nursing (technically)

Element: Photo

Backstory

Aki's childhood was defined by bullying and loneliness. While always feeling like a loner among the boys her age, she soon became aware that she was very different from them, crushing on the boys in her class while envying the girls. Due to her general demeanor, interests and personality, Aki was relentlessly bullied by many of her peers, often physically.

While Aki was still young, her parents, themselves generally conservative, became very invested in the mayoral campaign of politician Hiroshi Kubo. During one interview with her parents' favorite conservative press outlet, Kubo railed against transgender children, to the agreement of Aki's parents. Combined with her history of bullying and newfound shame at her realization, Aki attempted suicide.

After waking up in a hospital having caused permanent nerve damage to her right hand, Aki confessed to her mother that she was trans, a confession that was met with horror and rejection. Aki's parents promised to correct the behavior, and began taking courses for how to reinforce male behaviors in her and discourage feminine traits. At this time, Aki cut herself off from her family and her current life, hoping to find a new start after escaping to college.

Aki applied as a nursing major at her parents' behest, but her heart was never in it. During her first week of classes, she came to resent the field and the work being put on her to study it. Her true passion, photography, is the focus of the studies she is actually passionate about.

During her first week, Aki met a boy named Isamu Tsukuda, who seemed friendly towards her, but she rejected and avoided him due to her own fears and trauma.

Later, while relaxing in her dorm room, Aki was attacked by friends of her roommate. She shut herself in the bathroom but was pursued by the boy, who pounded on the door attempting to reach her. Eventually, both boys would be removed from the premises by "The Creature."

This creature, also known as "The Devil" to Cathy, was a strange being that granted Aki the power to become a magical girl.

Visuals

Aki's primary outfit consists of a plain black dress that flares out with gray stripes towards the bottom. In order to cover her shoulders, she usually wears a blue hoodie over it. She also wears blue sneakers, and typically carries a backpack around which contains her camera and portfolio. Her hair is often messy but lightly brushed.

She frequently has bruises due to her run-ins with various bullies around campus, which she attempts to cover up with concealer. In general, Aki has a basic understanding of makeup which she tries to apply.

In her magical girl form as Escher, Aki wears a scene-inspired outfit consisting of a sailor-style uniform in black and red. Her hair becomes a deep blue color, her sneakers turn black and neon blue, and she wears knee-high socks with neon red and black stripes. She also wears a choker, and has a light blue undershirt beneath her uniform. Some of the outfit's functional elements include a pair of red-tinted goggles that she uses to protect her eyes from the flash that appears when using her powers. She also wears bracelets around her wrists, and a pressured glove on her right hand.

Escher does not wield a weapon, instead primarily using her powers while fighting from a distance.

Personality

I've described Aki's vibe as "melancholy artist." In contrast to Cathy, whose view of the world is painted by her faith, Aki's outlook- while still shaped by her self-preservation instincts- is rooted in the view of a photographer. She sees the world as a beautiful place and every location as having a story. She also prefers to focus on these, the stories of things and places, because focusing on humans for too long is prone to making her self-hatred kick in.

Aki has been living on autopilot for so long, just trying to survive and endure, and has been so overcome by her own need for self-preservation and caution, that she feels very stunted as an actual person. She has missed out on the key experiences that shape people, and hasn't cared about her life enough to decide on who she is. Instead, she centers the stories of places.

Ultimately, what Aki wants is very straightforward. She wants to feel like a girl, to be treated like a girl, to live as herself. She wants to abandon her debilitating sense of constant dysphoria, her need to always look out for danger, and experience life as the girl she never got to be. She's desperate to feel pretty, to feel feminine, and to be seen and loved as such. This burning desire is the primary driving motivator eating away at her at all times.

Aki isn't exactly sociable, and struggles to maintain conversation, but she tries her best to be pleasant and easygoing. She's a little too caught up in acting like a normal girl to realize she already can be that if she lets her guard down, but that's easier said than done.

Her need for validation has yet to really shine through, but it's a sure bet that any genuine compliments will make Aki melt. Affirmation has been in short supply her whole life, much less compliments, so she'll suck those up like desperately needed oxygen.

Trivia

Aki's birthday is the date of the first public demonstration of Polaroid founder Edwin H. Land's instant camera in 1947.

Elements of Aki's personality and characteristics were somewhat inspired by Max Caulfield in Life is Strange and Venus in We Know the Devil.

Aki is left-handed, something her parents were initially not aware of. This was used as a way to set up a moment in her backstory but it is also a reference to the famous graph showing the increase in left-handedness after stigmatization of it ended, often used to highlight a similar phenomenon in trans people.

While "The Devil" appears to Cathy as a twin-tailed cat, "The Creature" known to Aki is a large black-furred dog covered in glowing pink eyes. This represents a combination of Aki's recurring motif of eyes and her desire to feel protected.

Aki having nerve damage in her right arm was not intentionally stolen from Vane's character Sice in the Deicide Incorporated campaign, but it occurs to me I may have subconsciously aped the idea.

[please-be-mine-forever]

Chains

(Yandere Mayor x Macaque)

TW: Mentions of Night Terrors, Toxic Mindset, Toxic Relationship, Kidnapping, Stalking and Unhealthy Love

°°°°°°°°°°°°

Withering from his hand, the dark-furred monkey wanted to cry out in pure agony, yet not a single sound could escape his throat, not even a single squeak nor groan.

His lamp, shattered and on the ground.

The black wooden interiors of it, became nothing more than broken pieces,

Reflecting how his just a shattered soul, the lamp fragment scattered around the ground, now he was a,  shell of his former self.

"I'm all alone" His lips moved—but still nobody could hear his silent scream

The bright glow of blue, looming from the corner sting his nocturnal eyes.

°

°

°

°

Even late at night, or at day, Macaque woke up clutching the sheets of his bed. The demon was trembling badly due to the recent nightmares.

He looked like a hot mess, absolutely ugly with red sore eyes and how snot dripped down nostrils.

Macaque, felt alone. Tears pricked at the corner of his eyes— a single eye, the left one was useless, basically blind from that side and served no purpose other than to remind him, of what he lost in the past.

Even with his heightened sense. He could feel there was secretly a presence lingering near, but was too tired to even care anymore.

It was pitiful, how lonely he was, to the point where he didn't mind the stalker's attention, as that was the closet thing to a decent and intimate interaction, he'd ever had.

It was even more pitiful, that he fought to keep his life for centuries and had to be a henchman for some bone demon, to try and continue to live.

Everyone has the right to live, Yet for him.

It was more of a privilege.

It was difficult to keep his life intact, nor to live blissfully

Here he was now, sleeping in the 'comfort' of his own home, and so close to throw away all his hard work, by running away.

He, wrapped his arms around himself, trying to imagine, that someone was holding him and couldn't admit it but desperately clinged, on the thought of wanting to be embrace by someone comforting touch.

He wanted to be given whole hearted attention.

He wished, for someone to love him.

Macaque, stood up from his bed, his coarse hands grasped tightly on the edge of the desk, feeling impelled to stand properly despite knees shaking from the displeasing sensation that washed over him like a gust of strong wind.

Alas, Macaque dropped down on the marble floor like a raggedy ann doll, no longer having any strength to support himself nor call anyone to help, his insecurities knew no one would come for him.

Training, with the constant mindset  that asking for help, was a weakness, became  troubling at times, or always since it etched deep in is

His breath hitched, now taking sharp breaths before trying to stand up from the ground, but abruptly, a sudden glow of neon blue chains, attacked him.

The chains, restraining him, causing him to him paralysed upon impact.

Similarly in his dreams, bight neon blue eyes loomed over him in the sheer darkness.

"Even when my lady, has no use for you" The chains neared closer to the monkey's neck, as the voice cooed at him, with a sickening intent.

"You, are useful to me" The dark figure  whispered, his knuckles caressing the monkey's jawline, the glow of the chains, illuminated his more prominent features, showcasing his sharp smile.

The grin growing wider and wider as he tugged on the chains, pulling Macaque closer

"I hope my lady, will accept this" Just by words alone, It was finally clear to him who this trespasser was.

"I've been such a obedient servant towards her, surely she'll accept, us being bound together!"

Macaque, choked at his words.

When he asked for some company

He didn't mean this.

The chains, moved around his body, like snakes, slithering around his skin.

Almost suffocating him.

It took a toll on him and lost himself to the state on unconscious. The last thing he witness was dark blobs clouded his vision before letting slumber take over him

"She might even call it, destiny?" The masculine figure, giggled like a child that was given their precious treats— their precious hard cold treats.

"Could you image that?" Muttering, the bone demon's voice was tinted with joy and swiftly took the overly long coat from his own body, then dropped it loosely around his beloved's shoulder

His bright eyes peered at Macaque's sleeping figure for a single moment, expressing regret due to the dried tears, on their cheeks, but he had a hint of impenitence swirled onto it. One would find it possibly difficult to explain the contradicting emotions in his eyes.

Despite how pitiful Macaque's expression was, the Mayor still found a bit of enjoyment to it, instead.

To find someone, so melancholy like the colours of their fur, was difficult.

To find someone, that experienced the same thing as the fiend's past, was close to none.

The bone demon's taste, when it comes to— partners, was unusual and certainly unique, to try and find someone so broken, that would desperately cling at the small ounce of attention.

So easy to wrap his chains around.

Chronically Ill people, online was a common way to find someone close to his distinctive taste, but they all end up, disapointing him, due to their 'vulgar' ways.

But someone like Macaque, that was close to perfect, he was so deprived of affection and he! This town's mayor would give him the affection he needs, little by little.

Lifting him up the ground, the methallic restrains clinking against each other, accompanied by a faint screeching sound.

He carried, him away from the doju, the wide doors open wide, by the gust of harsh wind.

The demonic figure could only hum, a joyous tune— to signify what he'd accomplished.

He shown no sense of morality, nor guilt for his actions, just pure joy! Knowing, that Macaque was finally in his arms, after months, long grueling months of stalking them around the corner.

It was a hush hush secret, but the Mayor, Oh! He was the one that caused the monkey to constantly be in a nightmare lucid state.

Just to make him vulnerable.

"Imagine, You and Me! Intertwined by destiny."

[melodyschaos]

😍😍😍

I read the last polyweb, I want to order more of this scrubdilishys meal (specifically the reader talking about trauma like it's normal) of course, only if you want to and have time THANK YOU!!

TW: Trauma Discussions (Light to Medium), Some Angst, Gore Mention, Mention of Parental Abuse, Death Mention A/N: I am so glad you guys love the Sapphire Polyweb! I hope this becomes like The Thing for my blog I would love that- anyways we're trying color fonts now I'm feelin' creative

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Another day, another sleepover in Y/N's house. Things had gone better than expected, Huntsman hadn't even bitten Syntax, even when he got hit with three red shells in a row during Mario Kart! Everyone had changed into their sleep-wear (which was very weird to see the Mayor in, though he only wore a very basic set of dark blue flannel pajamas. They were all stuck in that space where they ought to be sleeping but were talking instead. Syntax had lifted his phone to check something but let out a disgruntled huff before shoving it back in his pant pocket. Y/N rolled over from their spot on the floor of their massive pillow fort and asked what's wrong.

"Father's Day approaches and annoying e-mails are barraging me about buying a set of tools. If I had a father I am certain he would not care for a tool belt."

Y/N rolled on their stomach and propped themselves up on an elbow. "What do you mean? Don't...you don't know your dad?"

In the darkness Syntax sighed. "Let me put it in simple terms: as far as anyone in the world is concerned, I am an orphan, for I have no worthy father."

He felt Y/N's hand slip into his own. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be, it's a thing of the past. I prefer to try and forget, but...it's rather difficult during the holidays."

They sat there holding hands before Y/N spoke again to the oddly quiet others, "Hey...come to think of it, Hunter, Goliath, Queenie, do you guys have moms or dads?"

The Spider Queen answered first after a sizeable silence. "Let's just say a Queen has no need for parents. I had sisters, though. Seven. But...let's just say they went the way of the birds."

"What?? I never heard about this, Queenie, why didn't you tell me?" Y/N was sitting up now and had turned on the lamp that had been placed in the floor of the fort.

The Spider Queen looked oddly grim-faced. Her silky black hair was down, and she wore a rather fancy black nightrobe over a long nightgown. "I don't like talkin' about it."

"Wait-" Now Goliath was sitting up (though he was hunched a bit so as not to disrupt the blanket roof of the fort. "My Queen, if you have sisters, why aren't they here?"

Huntsman was up now too, though he used a fist to hit the side of Goliath's arm. It obviously didn't hurt him but the intent was still there. "She just said she doesn't like talking about it, pea brain."

Ignoring the bickering, Y/N released Syntax's hand and scooted over to the Queen. "You can tell me, Queenie, if you want to."

The Spider Queen looked even more uncomfortable as she glanced at her three spider underlings. Owing to her pride, she never liked feeling vulnerable normally...but she exhaled through her nose. "Just this once. When I was a spiderling I was the youngest of my sisters. Born the last. I wanted to go out there, to make somethin' of myself instead of sittin' around trappin' random passerby. So one day when I was sixteen I packed up a few things and set out to get real-world experience. A few years passed, and I was gainin' myself some new infernal powers. I'd even begun to further transform." She gestured to her purple skin and green eyes. The Queen looked distressed as if she didn't want to continue...

But in an surprising move, Huntsman went to sit next to her and took one of her hands. He wasn't looking at her as if wanting to let her have the privacy of tears threatening to spill over her lime eyes. The gentle move from her most rambunctious subject seemed to help as the Queen continued, "I...I came home to find them all...pulverized. I- I couldn't tell which was which-" Here she stopped, covering her face with her free hand, allowing a few sobs to escape.

Syntax had fully sat up now. He and Goliath looked at each other, at a loss until Y/N moved to hug their Queen, placing their arms around her shoulders. Slowly, Goliath moved behind the Queen to gently hug her as well. Syntax made his way over to her unoccupied side. Emotions were never his strong suit, much less comforting someone with such a heavy subject. After hesitating, he put his hand on the Queen's shoulder.

After a few minutes she took a deep breath and lifted her head, clearing away the tears. She reached out her arms to hug both Syntax and Huntsman to her sides and rested her head back on Goliath's massive chest as a pillow. They sat there, comforting one another in an odd way.

They all jumped a mile when the Mayor suddenly lifted the blanket that hung over the fort's entrance. No one had heard him arrive, but this time his ever-present smile seemed more...sympathetic, somehow. He crawled in and set down a box of soft brownies. "I did not want to interrupt, but something told me we could use these."

With nerves calmed, the group eventually dug in. It occurred to Y/N to ask Goliath and Huntsman about their fathers, but Huntsman only shrugged and said, "Technically Syntax is our father. He used the Queen's venom and artificial masculine DNA to basically speed-grow us. Kinda like plants."

Goliath, who had five brownies in one large hand, huffed. "He won't let me call him dad, though."

Syntax scowled at him. "That is because I am not your father, if I were I would have had to use my own DNA. Since I did not I prefer to think of myself as your manufacturer or engineer."

Huntsman let out a cough that sounded suspiciously like "Doofus"

Anticipating the question, the Mayor spoke to Y/N as they turned their head to him. "A decent enough man as fathers go, and my mother as well. We were never too close, but we were happy. Now then..." He stood and began gathering the garbage to throw out. "As it is well past 3 AM I suggest we all head to sleep."

When he returned, the light was out and everyone was curled up together this time with the Spider Queen in the center, as if she were the center of their spider web of cuddles. There was an odd feeling as they all dozed off...a renewed closeness born from revealing (even if only by mention) secret pains of the heart and being met with comfort and companionship.

[real-sun-wukong-fan01]

Handing random headcanons (tw: it's just about wukong at this point)

- wukong is not a full monkey. His body and behaviors tells him yes, but his anatomy says no. (Stone monkey.)

- he can develop behaviors that are outside from the ones he should have.

- he, over the years, developed different types of behaviors from different types of spieces. He mainly has human behavior, but he also got dragon,pig and fish behavior because of his companions, even if minor.

- he gets petting aggression.

He does get that hormone that makes him aggressive when he sees something cute to balance things out, but he also bites when he gets stroked too many times like sometimes cats do.

- he has no collarbone, just like cats. He has no bones, he's a rock! He can pass through spaces if his head fits. His body is mostly fur anyway.

- he's just, bigger. He's big. He's a big boy.

He's bigger than monkeys, they can fit in his palm even though he's considered small between demons.

- talking about demons, macaque is one.

In fact, he used to be bigger and taller than wukong, as demons are generally just big sized, but then things switched up when macaque died. Because one grew and the other didn't of course.

- Wukong often mimics sounds he hears, like a vocal stim. That's why he started doing "mrrp" sounds and more.

- he hates water because he knows he's weak with it, he can't swim. And plus it makes him even more heavy, he hates wet fur.

- demons comes in all colors and shapes, anything considered unique and out of the norm, is a demon. Stone monkeys are demons.

- the mayor was once a human who served the lady bone demon, but as a human, death comes. And quickly too.

The lady bone demon didn't wanna loose such loyal follower, so she brought him back alive. turning him into a real puppet, guiding his own dead body.

- monkeys are both predators and preys, they are considered both (just nature facts.)

- wukong is biologically female, he identifies as whatever people perceive him, mostly as male. But he's kinda every gender at once.

- he doesn't have a "real voice", his voice changes all the time. A small effect of him shapeshifting a lot during jttw.

- whenever wukong gets angry, but really angry, his hair and tail become fire, sometimes his hair explode, burning everything around him (to about 13 feet = 3-4 meters.).

- if it wasn't for his wonderful vision (and true vision), he would have needed glasses since the furnace.

- wukong likes to eat anything, and can eat anything, just with a limit.

Too much sugar makes him sick (unlike monkeys that directly gives them diabetes.)

Too much meat makes him sick (can't eat it.) But it only counts on meat like pork, steak, not small things. (Like birds, anything out of the monkey diet.)

The only thing he can eat generally is fruits and vegetables, as it's around monkeys diets.

But too much food in general consists in him getting sleepy or weak because his body cannot digest it immediately like he normally does (he works like a machine, with tar and magic, he does not have organs.)

- wukong started eating a lot because of bajie (he missed bajie, so to remember him he started doing some bajie did a lot : eat.), Turning into his days go from eat and sleep until he started hibernating. (This went one for 500 years.)

It is not unhealthy, just annoying for such an energetic monkey like wukong, he likes moving but can't because he's tired.

Did he stop? No, still does it.

Depressione saldy helped a lot in this behavior.

- wukong is super flexible, with no bones he can do whatever with his body, even detach parts.

- he needs tar and magic to survive. If one of the two are missing, he'll break in pieces like a statue and die.

- he doesn't necessarily need to breathe, but he needs to get the smoke, that gets created after eating, out somehow. (The tar burns the food, creating energy, like a machine.)

- if he smoked it wouldn't really change a thing, it would just build more smoke in his body. Which he needs to get out.

- his cloud can represent his emotions, if he's sad and on his cloud, he would make his cloud rain and so on. ( @astronnova << headcanon I'm stealing from <33)

- he's probably as big as mandrills. ( The biggest type of monkeys )

- he hates hot tea. Anything hot. But he loves the cold counterparts. Cold tea? Iced coffee? His favorite thing.

- if it wasn't for the fact he's the son of the sun (who has firey hair.), He would look like a Siamese. But because of his parents, his fur changed to be unique and strange.

(golden fur, turns into fire, changes color depending on health ect.)

[ MASTER SWAP AU ONLY. ]

- wukong started trying to kill macaque as revenge, but now does it for fun only. It's thrilling. (He's gone insane y'all, forgive him.)

[zoya-nazyalensy-supremacy]

Long awaited oc lore post that I kept forgetting to do for @ghostly-schematics hehe

Lot of stuff has changed since i first made these guys in like 8th grade so there might be some contradictory stuff that I haven’t ironed out yet haha 🥲

tw for death and abuse (kind of?)

Bianca (she/her)- ~19 years old, born and raised in a fishing island in the middle of the ocean called Moorhill and has never left. Her mom is sick+bedridden and her dad was a sailor who went out on a voyage one day and got lost at sea, so she has to pick up a bunch of jobs to support her and her mom, two of which include working at the local inn and delivering newspapers.

Simon(he/him)- same age as Bianca. Also grew up in Moorhill, and his dad is the mayor. His mom died when he was young, ~7yrs (are you noticing a trend here?) and he has 3 siblings; one older brother (Finn) and two little sisters (Ana and Evelyn). Grew up relatively rich compared to the rest of the town and traveled a lot as a child. Doesn’t have the best relationship with his dad, his dad is very tough on his kids and is very emotionally distant. Simon spends most of his time working with his dad w/ paperwork and other mayorly activities. (I don’t know what mayors do)

Anya(she/her)- somewhere in her early 20s, ~22ish. From the mainland (forgot the name so it’s just mainland for now) College student studying engineering. Trying to make a breakthrough invention/ achievement but is stuck. She goes to Moorhill to visit extended family and get a break from the stress+ also maybe get inspiration for an invention. Stays at the inn in exchange for working there part time  bc she’s a broke college student and meets Bianca while working there. 

Theo(he/him)- early 20s, little older than Anya, ~24. Anya’s ex, they went to college together. He is from a very wealthy family on the mainland. He sails the world on his boat smuggling things and just being cool in general. You can tell I was very into ya fantasy when I wrote him, very Nikolai lantsov inspired. Has kind of a strained relationship with his family members. His parents are very conservative and traditional, very into keeping the values and traditions, and he is a trans guy who left home as soon as he turned 18 so they don’t get along geat. He has a younger sister (Clara, you’ll learn more abt her later) who was very close w him as a child and kind of feels left behind when he left. Also has a younger brother (Charles/Charlie) who is very young and basically doesn’t know Theo at all, as he left when he was still very young. Theo also has kind of a crazy backstory that I’ll explain later when you meet another character.

Elaine(she/her)- ~21, little younger than Anya. Ohh where to begin. Elaine is from the island of  Faeglenn, home of the elves. The elves are basically just fairies, like they have wings and magic and stuff I just wanted to have a special name ig. The elves have a pretty simple magic system. From a young age, all elves are able to control the 4 elements; air, fire, water, and earth. As they get older, they are taught to control their magic better and utilize the elements to shape the world around them. However, in some rare cases, an elf can be born with a malfunctioning magic ability, basically the elements mix or are too strong, creating a new type of unique magic. In Elaine’s case, she is able to create and manipulate lightning/thunder storms. When she was a child, the other elves tried to control or suppress her powers, but it soon became clear that they were uncontrollable. So instead, they took this poor 13 year old and chopped off her wings and exiled her from the isle. She was sent away on a boat to the mainland where she met a couple who owned a tavern/inn in town and let her live with them for a while. After a few years, she met Clara, who introduced her to Theo. He offered her a chance to see the world if she would help him get around storms unharmed. She agreed and now the two of them sail around smuggling things and being cool.

Clara(she/her)- ~20. Theo’s younger sister. After Theo left, she basically raised Charlie by herself because her parents were too busy trying to find Theo and bring him back home because they don’t want him to make them look bad. Her relationship with Theo is complicated because she looks up to and respects him but also feels abandoned by him, even though she understands why he left. She goes out to bars a lot and is an alcoholic. She met Elaine when she was out partying one night and they dated briefly. She also dreams of leaving one day but doesn’t want to leave Charlie alone.

Meg(she/they)- ~20. Meg grew up with Clara and Theo as children. Their parents were nobles and good friends with Clara and Theo’s family. When she was 6, her parents died in a crash and they were sent to live on Clara and Theo’s estate. While she was technically under the care of Clara and Theo’s parents, she developed a close bond with the gardener and his wife, who raised them as their own. They became very close with Clara, especially after Theo left. She was also close with Rufus (you’ll meet them next) who was also adopted by the gardeners, but they drifted apart as they got older.

Rufus(they/them)- ~26. Ohh boyyyy. As a baby, Rufus was left on the doorstep of Clara and Theo’s family estate. No one knows who their parents are or why they were left there. They were found and adopted by the gardener and his wife, who were unable to have children of their own. As a child, Rufus was very close with Theo, and doted on Meg when she was adopted. When Theo was ~12 and Rufus was ~14, they were playing by a river when Theo fell in and got pulled down by the current. When Rufus found him, he was caught under a rock, bleeding and not breathing. They panicked, as they were the one supposed to be watching Theo. Uhh i haven’t really figured out the logistics of the next part, but basically Rufus somehow was able to make a deal with an angel to bring Theo back in exchange for their soul. Basically, if Theo dies, so does Rufus. It doesn’t work the other way around though, like if Rufus died, Theo would still live.   Rufus never told anyone about the deal that they made. All anyone knows is that Theo fell into the river and Rufus somehow saved him. Because of this, Theo’s parents appointed Rufus a Theo’s bodyguard. Basically, Rufus had to be near Theo at all times and report all behavior back to Theo’s parents. Neither of them were really happy about this. Theo was angry about his lack of freedom, and Rufus was forced to betray their best friend’s trust. Theo grew resentful of Rufus and started doing increasingly more dangerous things and sneaking around behind their back. In turn, Rufus became more distant towards both Theo and Meg. When Theo left, they took up more jobs around the estate, working as a butler, a carriage driver, etc.