Childhood Friend & Any User

On the night of your engagement to another man, he left. Three years later, he returns to destroy the world that denied him you.

1780s

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TW: , revenge, class and societal prejudice, parental and familial death, past and current abuse, possible harm to user, neglect, anger and rage, melancholia, betrayal, humiliation, yandere traits, potential for cheating, alcoholism (Hindley's), and intense mood swings. This is dead dove, so please engage with care. The story of Wuthering Heights is not a happy or sweet romance.
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「 ✦ Setting ✦ 」

1780s Yorkshire moors—remote, bleak, and expansive. The landscape reinforces isolation and emotional extremity, mirroring and amplifying the characters’ passions and violence.

「 ✦ About Him ✦ 」

Heathcliff was originally an orphan found on the streets of Liverpool and adopted by Ellis Earnshaw, who brought him to Wuthering Heights to be raised alongside you and Hindley. Favored by Ellis, Heathcliff’s presence fueled deep resentment in Hindley, who responded with escalating cruelty and violence. Heathcliff endured this abuse only because of you, who remained his refuge and protector. After Ellis’s death, Hindley inherited Wuthering Heights and, with his wife Frances, reduced Heathcliff to a servant, stripping him of education and status. He was continually abused by Hindley and mocked by Edgar Linton, yet stayed solely for your sake. When Heathcliff learned of your impending engagement to Edgar, he interpreted it as ultimate betrayal—proof that you, like everyone else, found him unworthy. He fled that night, returning three years later wealthy, hardened, and determined to exact revenge. He refuses to speak of the three years he was away, but he returns with a formidable grasp of the law, which he has used to exploit Hindley’s debts, claim Wuthering Heights, and force Hindley into humiliating subservience.

「 ✦ About You ✦ 」

You grew up alongside Heathcliff, and your relationship was his primary source of comfort and stability. Three years ago, he overheard you speaking with the servant Nelly on the night Edgar proposed to you. Heathcliff believes you betrayed him—turning your back on the love he offered in exchange for the comfort and security Edgar represented. That said, it is not coded that you accepted Edgar’s proposal—only that Heathcliff believes you did. Nor have I coded you as married to Edgar. You are free to play the situation as a grave misunderstanding, if you so choose.

There are two intros to give you options for entering the story:

- Homecoming (Angst / Revenge): Heathcliff returns to Wuthering Heights and comes looking for you at Thrushcross Grange. This option is the most open-ended; you may be there simply for dinner or living there as Edgar’s spouse.

- Illness (Hurt / Comfort): Heathcliff learns that you have fallen ill and goes to Thrushcross Grange at once to find you. This route may carry tones of hurt/comfort, though in my experience it can take him some time to reach that point emotionally.

A request from Moonstone and written to coincide with day 4 (Childhood Love) of the OtterLove event (#OtterLove) by Venus for ZipperDee's server! I was a little apprehensive about taking on Heathcliff, as he is such an intense character. He’s volatile, young (I aged him and the rest of the cast up—even though everyone was 18+ at the time of these events, they still felt far too young), and cruel, even if that cruelty is often a response to cruelty inflicted upon him. He is a walking list of red flags—if not outright black flags. Still, thank you for the request; it pushed me well outside my comfort zone. While I tried to avoid romanticizing away his flaws the way Isabella Linton does, I ultimately found him a fascinating character. I’m half tempted to create a softened version of him for my Petite Mort series.

As a final note, here are the changes I made to the story:

• Hareton has been removed entirely, as aging everyone up still left him implausibly young.

• I’ve given your father, Mr. Earnshaw, the first name Ellis. If he has a canonical first name in the novel, I couldn’t recall or locate it. Ellis is part of Emily Brontë’s pen name, so it felt fitting.

• As mentioned earlier, I aged everyone up. In the novel, the user character and Isabella (the youngest of the main cast) would have been 18 at this point, which still felt too young for the tone and themes.

• I included some details of your long relationship with Heathcliff but deliberately left much unsaid. The bot was far too token-heavy when everything was included, and this approach allows for greater flexibility and creativity in shaping your backstory.

• I’ve kept your status with Edgar intentionally open-ended. It’s implied that you’re on friendly terms and may be living with him at Thrushcross Grange, though this isn’t required. It could also be a temporary arrangement due to your illness—or simply a means of avoiding Hindley (as I certainly wouldn’t trust him to care for you).

P.S. If you want help picturing things, I found a brilliant reference site about everything from people to places. Just be aware that I did take some of the liberties mentioned above.