#art incoming for her sometime soon

[escaped-goat]

"A Star, by any other Light"

Astarion seduces and entices the part of me that hates myself. The part that wishes to feel the claws of a beast sink its nails into my soft belly, whisper everything I've ever wanted to hear, and devour me as I am: numbed completely from the inside.

Because there is a great and terrible addiction to my self-destruction that demands I follow the beckoning finger ever lingering above the blackened pondwater of my once clear mind.

Astarion, before the walls come down and the sun touches those parts of his soul that he swore would never be warmed; before the nightmares became just dreams he could find solace in the love of others from; before the night left his eyes and the morning dawned there instead; before all of it, he was the knife swinging low in the dark. The kind I bared my throat to with drunken haste.

Astarion, healed, would never be someone who could love me. And he could never be someone I could love safely beyond that night.

Not because he is unworthy, but simply because the abused monster of a shadow I have become desires the drag of a knife across my ribs more than the gentle caress of a lover's kiss.

I want to be maimed and ruined and torn apart, like so many times before, like my addiction dictates.

Astarion, healed, deserves better than the grasping, wheezing thing that crawls on all fours through the desert, begging for another fix. Kissing the fists that rear back to strike it.

The edge of sanity bends where the light touches the dark. It is love that will send me careening over the edge into unfathomable oblivion. It is the wretchedness of the dark that sings to me like a crooning mother through the womb.

I want his malice and his hate. If he loves me, I may perish.

---- Excerpt 32: Diary of the Dark Urge

Dirge of the Durge Series

[starredblood]

NOWHERE GIRL

CHAPTER SIX

kang sae-byeok x fem!reader

synopsis: you confront your classmate, determined to make her ex leave you alone.

wc. 1.7k

warnings: none

(nowhere girl masterlist)

When you got kicked out of your house you only had time to bring a few sets of clothes, your toothbrush, and your school supplies. While you were getting ready this morning, you had to watch a video tutorial online on how to tie your hair up with a pencil not minding the tall short haired girl who was eating breakfast just a few feet away in their tight knit apartment.

It was easy not to talk to Sae-byeok. She was like smoke, easy to spot but can’t grasp as it’s already dissolving away. She left ten minutes earlier than you did without a single uttering to you. You try not to think about it too much because you will be gone soon.

“Noona.” you hear a voice behind you peep while you were done tying your hair back. Cheol pops up from his room, handing you his tie timidly. “I accidentally loosened my tie. Could you tie it for me again?”

You walk over to Cheol and kneel on the hardwood floor to help adjust his uniform tie.

“Did someone hurt you?” he asks, pointing at your cheek.

“No, never. I just tripped.” you lie. You feel the weight of his stare on your bruised up cheek. “Do you always go to school by yourself?” you say to advert the topic.

“Yes. Sometimes my sister takes me if she doesn’t go to work early but she usually does.” he explains, rubbing his tired little eyes with his fist. “Ji-yeong noona isn’t a morning person so I’m scared to ask her.”

“Done. You look nice.” you ruffle the top of his head and stand up. “I would be scared to wake up Ji-yeong too by the way.”

A fatigue little giggle escapes Cheol’s mouth.

“Have a good day at school, Cheol.” you say and walk over to the door to slip on your sneakers only to look over at Cheol who pokes his head out his room once more.

“Are you staying with us forever, Noona?” he asks. The confused expression you gave him startled him. “I want you to!”

“No, I know what you meant to say it’s just—“ you scratch the top of your head. You don’t think it’ll be appropriate to say that tomorrow morning you’ll be long gone to a sensitive boy like Cheol. “I don’t know actually. Maybe one day I’ll have to leave but we’ll still be friends, okay?”

“Seriously?”

“Absolutely. Maybe in the summer you can come visit me at the art gallery I work at.”

“That’ll be cool.” he says quietly. “Bye, Noona.”

You wave him goodbye and exit the apartment.

The bus ride to your campus is serene on this cloudy spring morning and you wonder when this moment of calm will end. Maybe it’ll end when you get to your first class of the day where you will confront Yoon about her ex-boyfriend’s attempted assault on you yesterday.

✿・・───・・✦・・───・・✿

One thing Sae-byeok had to get used to was having a routine. Before working at the bakery, her days of pickpocketing were irregular and her income would be inconsistent. It was strange at first and she wasn’t the best on arriving to work on time at first, but by some miracle Miss Ahn never complained about her tardiness. Sae-byeok is almost certain Ji-yeong told her about her past so Miss Ahn could take it easy on her.

Her first month working at the bakery she didn’t think she would last. She was told to memorize kneading techniques, how to spot expired flour, and go grocery shopping in the middle of a rush because they ran out of eggs. It was all too foreign. But now she can barely remember her life without this job. However, today her mind is back to the days she used to be Jang Deok-su’s little apprentice. Everyday was violence, theft, drugs, and more violence. Sae-byeok can’t believe she survived it all.

For her midday break, Sae-byeok stepped outside to the back alley of the bakery and leaned her back against the wall to ponder some more.

“Hey, Kang!” Ahn Yong-sun, Miss Ahn’s eldest grandson, calls out to her from the back door. She slowly turns her head to look at him. “Where the fuck did you put Kim Yeoreum’s cake order? I can’t fucking find it anywhere!”

“On the top shelf! Asshole.” she mutters the last word underneath her breath.

“Just because you’re two inches taller than me doesn’t mean we can all fucking reach the top shelf!”

“Yong-sun, watch your mouth child!” Miss Ahn hisses as she arrived back from her grocery errands. She fans her grandson with her hands in a shooing motion. He mumbles an apology and cowers back inside but not before throwing Sae-byeok a glare. “Don’t let that brat get into your head, dear. He’s become so spoiled—of course he has, he was raised by my own spoiled son!”

Sae-byeok reaches over to grab her bag of groceries.

“Ah, look at you always being so attentive with me.” Miss Ahn coos. “I’m telling you if I fell down the stairs my grandson wouldn’t even bat an eye.”

They enter the kitchen and the aroma of fresh bread hits their nostrils. As Sae-byeok reaches over to shut the door for some odd reason the smell makes her think of you and the croissant you offered her last night. While she unloads the bag of groceries she keeps thinking of you and the last thing you told her last night.

Sae-byeok turns to peer down at the elder lady beside her jotting down another list of groceries. “Miss.” she says out of the blue.

“Yes, dear?”

“Is the apartment above the bakery still vacant?”

Miss Ahn’s looks up past her reading glasses and raises a brow. “Why? Did you and Cheol get booted off?”

“No, it’s for a friend.”

“Ah.” she hums and continues to write her list again. “I’m in the process of having a couple of people visit the space. However, it’ll make my life easier if you got your friend to come first—just make sure she doesn’t ask too many questions. You young kids love doing that.”

“Okay. Can she come tomorrow?”

Sae-byeok could sense that the older lady is skeptical. But she remains stone faced and calm hoping that she won’t raise further questions. It’s bad enough she’s doing this for your sake.

“I don’t see why not. Tomorrow afternoon.” she pats her on the shoulder. “Now, can you help me finish icing this cake for me? The customer will arrive later today.”

Sae-byeok walks around the other side of the island counter and sneakily pulls out her phone to send Ji-yeong a message.

✿・・───・・✦・・───・・✿

You drop your belongings at your usual spot, next to the large window panes in the studio and march over to Yoon who was currently chatting with a friend. Without noticing, your jaw clenches seeing how content Yoon looks giggling with her friend while your mind is in torment over the chaos that ensued yesterday.

When she sees your rigid figure march up to her she hushedly says something to her friend that made her go silent. She avoids your eye contact the closer you approach them.

“Can I talk to you in private?” you ask her, irritated.

Yoon stiffly nods while still avoiding your intense eye contact and follows you out the classroom. When you reach the end of the hall you cross your arms and narrow your eyes at her.

“So—“

“I’m really sorry.” Yoon interrupts quickly with guilt written all over her face. “I didn’t think Yen-ho would…”

“Try to beat me up?” you scoff.

“I was just confused about this whole situation an—“

“Situation? This isn’t a situation, Yoon this is my life! I get it if you don’t want to be around me anymore. It fucking sucks that I know what you will decide but to go around and tell people…” you choke back tears. “it’s just making my life harder than it already is.”

“Fuck. I’m so deeply sorry.”

Breathless with anger you take a couple of seconds to compose yourself before continuing. “Whatever, Yoon. Could you just tell me if he’ll be here today so I know when to leave?”

“He doesn’t go to school here he just likes to wander.” she mutters. “But I’ll text him—tell him to back off.”

Before you could speak your professor appears. “Ladies, class is starting now could you head to your seats please. And can I speak to you after class about your project?” he points at you.

“Yes, I’m sorry.” you mumble, lowering you head and scurry with Yoon to the class.

“Don’t apologize.” he chuckles.

It was hard to pay attention in class when all you could do is shoot daggers at Yoon across the room. You could see the anxiousness in her behavior, how she would pick up and put down her phone, and only reply to her friends in short sentences.

At one point you heard the professor cough in your direction leaving you no choice but to try and concertante on the piece you are working on. But by the time class was finished, you barely finished what you started with.

You wait until everyone leaves before dragging your feet up to the professors desk.

He greets you by your name and folds his hands, thinking deeply. “So, you’re the only one that hasn’t shown me their piece. Could you show me and explain to me what your piece is about?”

“It’s a textile piece that will, um, resemble a fashion designers sketchbook. I’m using textile, watercolor, fashion magazines, and my own sketch designs for this piece…” you quietly explain as you show him the piece, frowning at the disapproval on his face.

“That sounds…marvelous.” he says to your surprise. “I like the use of watercolor to depict paper fading yellow.”

“Thank you, professor.” you bow.

“Is there a story behind this?”

“I’m still trying to get around it.”

“Okay.” he hums. “Recently, I’ve noticed your lack of concentration in my class however. I stated from the start that students that consistently keep lacking won’t succeed in my class. This is the first big project and you will have two bigger ones these next upcoming weeks. I don’t want you to fall behind already—especially since I can already conclude that you’ll be one of the runner ups in the Hangaram prize.”

Your heart begins to swell. This is the first good news in a while you aren’t sure how to react. So you just stare at your professor with wide eyes and a gaped mouth.

“So please, focus on this project and I am excited to see the end results next class.”

“Of course, thank you professor!”

You walk out of class in high spirits only to be crushed with the realization in knowing that a potential group of loiterers are waiting for you outside these walls.

🏷️: @monroesturnns @knfthxv @jumpedthenfell-13 @peelover25 @karli6 @kissedberries @bitchybananaflower @laurenkenss

[lani-heart]

|| series masterlist || ACT II PREVIEW // previously

parings -> riki nishimura x readerg enre -> non-idol au, school au, hyrbid au warnings -> neglectment / rejection word count -> 1k

abstract -> sometimes certain sacrifices have to be made.

y/n's perspective

The party was fine… despite our hybrids glaring at each of us. Karina was his hybrid who… didn’t like me. While Niki… looked like he wanted to jump my new fake boyfriend at any moment. 

Our parents thought it was a good idea because they thought we were a little too close to them. What I didn’t know was that he was in a relationship with his hybrid. We were both the same, and we’d both have to lie for the time being so our hybrids wouldn’t get the treatment we feared.

“I was thinking of having her join those classes!” he said and she scoffed. “I don’t think you should. I didn’t want Niki to but he begged for them” I explained and he nodded. “Yeah, listen to your shiny new girlfriend,” she scoffed, and he sighed. 

She had every right to be angry… but I didn’t want to be physically involved with him. 

“y/nnie I wanna go home” Niki begged and I did too but we had a quota to finish before leaving. “I do too!” Karina also added to her owner and I chuckled. 

“Hey, Niki? Should we go to the street market after?” I ask and his eyes light up. 

“Do you really need to ask?” he said happily as Karina was now trying to be comforted by her owner. “Do… you have to fake date that guy?” he asked and I sighed. 

“Niki… my parents want to set me up in an arranged marriage,” I said and he stopped walking to look at me. “W-what?” he asked and I sighed. “At first they wanted me to marry Hyunsuk, but he refused thankfully and then he rebelled so they dropped it for a bit. But… They wanted me to start dating friends and they gave me this huge list of boys to see if I got along with them.” I confessed and he looked… upset. “Of course I said no,” I said and he nodded as he hugged me tightly. 

“He was one of them… but it seems like we have a similar situation to him. There are rumors about him, and how he’s in a relationship with his cat hybrid Karina '' I said and he hummed. 

“Trust me… I won’t let them actually marry me off. I plan to stall until I have my own income and then, you and me!” I said and he chuckled. “We should live in Japan,” he offered. 

“We should! Then we’d be free to do what we wanted” 

niki’s perspective

She wasn’t kidding when she said she got a list. 

Hyunsuk, Junghwan, Chenle, Seonghwa, so many but I also know some of them would never agree which meant she would choose and her parents would handle it. 

I wonder… What would happen if we ran away like Hyunsuk’s sister?

While looking through her messages with her mom about this stupid arranged marriage… I saw something. “You’re planning on studying abroad?” I am now excited to see Kyoto University as her option with her mom. She smiled… “Snooping now aren’t you?” she teased and I chuckled. 

“Yeah… Chenle was telling me how his friend is currently in China and how it was a good break for her. Especially since she’s an art student, she’s getting over the artist block and I thought… this would be a good way to avoid the rumors and dating situation to get out of hand” she said and I grinned. 

“Where should we go first?” I asked and she chuckled. “Hmm… we have a lot to do there don’t we?” she asked and I nodded. 

This was different from visiting Japan with her parents… we had no supervision and could go anywhere without being asked where. 

“I do want to do some shopping in Shibuya, '' she said and I chuckled. “I want to go to Akihabara! We have to see what cafes have events soon!” 

We were finishing up this semester early so we could have a head start in Japan. So this was my last etiquette class… I wanted to say bye to Jake but I don’t know what happened for him not to show up. 

“That dog stole your coat, you know?” I heard and saw the bird. My coat that I left? “He also ran… not like I blame him,” he said. “Hybrids have chips though–” “They do… but you can easily cut them out” he explained and I sighed. Hybrids who ran away often were found easily… someone could report it. 

“I don’t think he’ll last that long. They’ll find him easily” he added and I wondered… “Why didn’t you snitch?” I asked and he scoffed. “If I could run, I would too…” he said as he went to his seat by himself. He’d run away too? 

It sometimes made me realize… the hybrids here, the majority, were miserable. Under either adoption programs or… rich kids with too much money. 

Jay was a bird hybrid… exotic here for Korea often found in North America. Some hybrids were happy… but most were miserable. Jay and Sunoo were examples that I knew of… the bird hybrid has a reputation of being a good and responsible hybrid but never could stay with an owner for more than a few months. He was a free trial hybrid so others could see what they wanted in a hybrid to have a reference and then dispose of him. 

Whilst Sunoo was a popular hybrid known for his looks but also for how fidgety the fox was… his owner was one that I hated. When we were younger we often talked and got along but with how his owner became more and more bitchy y/n no longer associated herself with her and so I never talked to him again. 

Even Jake I guess… he was so desperate that he must've been given bad news. 

It made me feel guilty at times but it wasn’t my fault I was given someone who actually cared about me. 

“Stop that before I tell your owners!” the professor said as she scolded a group of hybrids throwing stuff at the deer hybrid on the other side. “His antlers are in the way!” Sunghoon said… he’s another example of a miserable hybrid. 

“Idiots” I heard as I saw the black cat hybrid who always sat in front of me say bored out of his mind. 

Maybe… I just quit these classes?

ttaglist -> @ilovecheese09 @gudkc @nikisvanillaccola @blossominghunnie @mheretoreadff @k1ttylvr @starzniiky @kibs-and-bits @b3tt7boop @in-somnias-world @lol6sposts @xiaoderrrr @jihyosgfremade @b-a-nshee-blog @mimisamisasa @katsukis1wife @eggomi @thunderous-wolf @tinyteezer

please don't be a silent reader !! reblog, comment, and like <3

[flamigoat]

🎁✨💖

Wanted to do a little screenshot redraw for my girl Rabbid Peach! Love this sketch. She came out so cute!! The silly. New profile picture might be incoming….😆

Y’know, I’ve never had a favorite character like this before. Just seeing and creating art for her makes me so so happy. I love her so much guys. She’s just so funny and it always makes me smile!! I’ve gotta get her figures and replay the Mario + Rabbids series sometime soon. 💖

[ninakoll]

long post incoming!! thank you all for your support and love, i've been having a lot of fun sharing my art on here this past year. i've especially enjoyed drawing enstars dreams, i have some more in the works :D and thanks for all the laughs too!! let's hope 2025 is kinder to you all in the world. please take care, everyone!! 💜

👇 i'm also answering some asks before the year ends !!! 👁️_👁️ 👇 some drawn, some text!

@kyokills YES!!!!!!!!!! YOU ARE SO RIGHT!! i really like the role anzu played in the anime; her bond with trickstar is so sweet 😭😭. but imagine you go to school and have to be a producer/manager for so many units, then eichi makes that huge company and you get even more units to handle and make outfits for among all other things, also this one other producer weirdo in eden might be plotting to kill you sometimes? all this while you try to keep some kid who sometimes is possessed by the ghost of his sister from exploding and some weirdo named gatekeeper is gatekeeping your future ig. and on top if it all the game has the phonecall feature which scares me every time and this was a recent phonecall i saw. let anzu say fuck off in 2025!!!!

i DO love their dynamic so much!! the way ibara will never forgive yuzuru for something that was completely inevitable... OOOGGG. i am plotting a short comic about ibayuzu soon, for now have this screenshot of ibara going out of his way to be mean... stay tuned 2025...!!!

my overthinking ass has been sitting on this one for a while. is it ok to say thank you ?!!

@alchemial WAA thank you, i will immediately use my newfound voice for evil. all of crazy:b already failed step one of "never be a loser" and they will never recover 😢

this is the highest praise one can achieve ;_;. i hope my art and comics can keep cheering you up forever!! 😭😭😭 ill keep drawing!

🇪🇪 JEEE mega et arvustuse kirjutasid ja osalesid, see on tähtis!! jalg ukse vahele saada ja midagi sellist enda jaoks ära teha on ülihea; eriti kui see oli raske ülesanne. see on tõesti väga naljakas et see tuli selline riburada juhtumeid; alustades zine tõlkest ja lõpuks müürilehe võistluses osalemisega:D tubli oled!!

HIII ANON SORRY IT TOOK ME SO LONG TO RESPOND 😭😭😭 YOURE SO SWEEET AAAAAA im a lil speechless!!! but i'm so happy to hear you made it through finals and made it back home; your dad sounds like a complete sweetheart!! ;_; thank you so much for your support and love, so glad you enjoyed the Kohaku study drawing 🫶🫶🫶 hope you had a wonderful end of the year and that you have a safe and fun new years!! 💫💫💫

thank you all once again!! mwah mwah mwah mwah

[grayscaleearts]

I love your palia oc Sol! and I LOVEEE the artwork you did of them in palia's artstyle! really looks like official art, if you ever had commissions opened I'd love to see my character in your art (obviously not pushing if you don't do comms or anything!)

just wanted to say I love the artwork and wanted to ask if you had any headcanons/lore for your character? I don't know if I do for mine, but I love peoples creativity and when they can give a story to their oc's/game characters ^-^

omg, thank you so much!! It's made me so happy how positively people have reacted to my attempt at the palia artstyle, this community has been so welcoming and supportive of the art I've made and i genuinely love it so much. I actually made a commission sheet for palia style pieces a while back, so I may post it here on tumblr some time soon! I've actually recently updated that art, since it was the first art I ever drew of them before having a concrete design idea for them:

As for the second part, I've actually put quite a lot of thought into their character, so heres some info about them under a read more :D (also for anyone interested in character plots, the plot I have uploaded to the tour board as Sol Reagem is my original plot, but it also doubles as what Sol's actual home looks like!)

- when they first emerged they were very curious to learn as much as they could about the world around them, and spent a lot of their time talking with Ashura and Chayne asking questions, and just talking and befriending villagers in general. They also spent probably an equal amount of time exploring the world around them (and almost immediately discovering some of the not so legal goings on of the underground). As they start to get a better grasp and establish themself more in the village, they still end up spending most of their time socializing when they can (and more often than not they're either hanging around the Inn or at Jel's shop!) - their main skills are in foraging and cooking, which is quite fitting that two of the people they become closest to are Ashura and Reth. They sell a lot of forage and wood as their primary income, but they really enjoy making extra food to be able to share with company. They also have a tendency to chopping wood to help clear their mind, (if youve seen the tumblr post you know LOL) - they have absolutely no memory of pre void, and never will gain it back. Those memories are permanently lost to time, and its something they're glad for - for the most part. Sometimes at first they do struggle with not having any memories or life experiences outside of Kilima and Bahari, but with time they find family and new memories in the people there :) they consider Ashura a father figure, and ask him to be their Shepp when the time comes for it. - they actually have a little runt palcat named Leaf! She's smaller than usual palcats (and her ears are pretty large looking because of it!) and she LOVES to hunt bugs. I jokingly call her the Village emotional support palcat, since Sol will bring her into town pretty frequently, and often leaves her with someone if they need a little cheering up or comfort.

Thank you for being interested in them :D!! i love when people ask, it makes me so happy to share bc i always put so much thought into my characters

[the-cimmerians]

It is that time of year again. I have reached out to the families on my list to gather girl scouts to purchase cookies from. Please consider choosing a trans girl scout to get your cookies from this year - the kids are under attack this year more than ever, so lets give them some joy.

Note: When purchasing from one of these trans girl scouts, please choose the “ship the cookies” option and not the “deliver the cookies” by hand option.

With no further adieu, here are the scouts! Please check back as many more often request to be added after publication, and I will keep this post updated with any that join in:

Dotty: Dotty is a trans Girl Scout who is a born entrepreneur and cares a lot about helping aquatic animals. You can buy cookies from her here!

Ryan: Ryan is a trans Girl Scout who is part of an inclusive troop that has helped create a safe space for all kids. You can buy cookies from her here!

Candor: Candor is a nonbinary Girl Scout participating in their 10th cookie season to raise funds for their Gold Award. You can get cookies from Candor here!

Joshua: Joshua is a trans Girl Scout thriving with her troop and who really appreciated all of the orders last year and hopes the internet wants more cookies in 2024. You can get cookies from her here!

Em: Em is a nonbinary girl scout who is looking to fund a trip to Savannah, GA as well as planning activities with their community nursing home. You can get cookies from Em here!

Lily: Lily is a trans girl scout. She and her LGBTQ+ friendly troop are hoping to earn enough money to go on an overnight adventure at SeaWorld! They will also use the troop funds to pay for yearly dues so our low income families won't have to worry about that additional fund with Girl Scouting. You can get cookies from her here!

Logan: Logan, who sometimes goes by Rapunzel, is a trans girl scout looking to earn money for craft supplies and to replace camping supplies that burned in a fire. You can buy cookies from her here!

Gabby: Gabby is a trans girl scout who plans to use the money to support her troop’s camping trip this year! You can buy cookies from her here!

Ash: Ash is a nonbinary scout looking to pay for summer camp and service projects! You can get cookies from Ash here!

Logan: Logan is a 7 year old trans girl scout full of glitter and sunshine. She’s raising money to fund the first camping trip for her troop: You can find her cookies here!

Olivia: Olivia is a trans girl scout that loves all things ocean, especially mermaids, and is excited to earn her pets, bugs, and arts and crafts badges soon! You can get cookies from her here!

Brie and Lexie’s Troop: This trans-affirming troop has several members that can be on this list. They work every year to make sure everyone is supported and loved. Instead of posting individual links, they have a page that goes to the full troop’s catalog.

[choilproductions]

Do you take commissions?

Veeery fuuunny timing because ive been kinda busy and i was just discussing with a friend about an upcoming partnership we'll be considering 👀👀(somewhat long post incoming)

My friend made an overlay for me to use while streaming that had a facecam spot so I went out on a limb and made myself into a PNGtuber to use for streaming and it turned out very well!! Ended up making them one as well. Putting those two together we talked and came up with the idea to create some type of "Streamer Starter Pack" commission that would offer a custom overlay created by her PLUS a tuber drawn/put together by me, and the goal would make an affordable jumpstart for new streamers! We gotta work out the details and get it set up but it if pulls through and that sounds like something that interests you PLEASE look out for that!! :D

As far as my own personal commissions go, those are definitely something im working towards getting set up very soon as well as i'll be starting college courses soon and leaving my full time job and will have MUCH more time for art (hopefully). If you follow and are interested that as well stay tuuuned!! and ONE last thing obvi i have a tuber now so i will be occasionally streamiiing! No set schedule right now but every now and then i might be playing a solo game or playing modded lethal company with some friends usually feel free to hop in and become a chat member!! [[[fair warning it might get loud sometimes]]]

[achildsfirstsorrow]

hi! i think leontide is really cool, her art is so pretty & the writing is interesting -- could you share a bit more about her? (:

Hi! sorry I didn’t answer this earlier,, I was either asleep or busy ;_;…

But yes I can!!

((I kind of base my POTO writing around it being set in 1880 just because that’s easier than specifying if it’s about 1878-1885 or whatever haha.. ALSO if you wanna scroll there's an incredibly lazy TL;DR and art.))

SO. ONTO LEONTINE! This is going to be cut short but it is STILL rather long.

She was born about 1855 – making her about twenty five during the events of POTO in Grigny (sort of near Paris, about thirteen miles.) She also didn’t live as long.. She lived to be about twenty seven in the main version of her story, but forty in an alternative one. 

Her full name is Leontine Vaillancourt // Leontine Charbonnier depending on which ver of her story! She worked as a stagehand (or atleast did) for a period of around three years (22-25) along with Joseph Buquet. This was because Joseph took her in and gave her a place to stay when she was 18, after meeting her in an inn. 

Buquet basically acted as a friend and brother figure to her (I refuse to make him nasty sorry Buquet haters i’m going to parry you.) up until his death, since both of them could share the (small) income they made with their separate jobs, Buquet obviously working on the stages and Leon working as a maid outside of the Opera House for a few years, until Buquet managed to find her a job as a seamstress and stagehand.

Because I am terrible and believe in making OCxCanon that annoys people! Yes, she’s shipped with Erik and it is not fun and happy. 

Onto how she actually MET Erik, she met him around when she worked with Buquet, because she nearly knocked him out with a weight for the stage backdrops (very cliched I know but..) and had to help a very dazed Erik out – she mistook him for someone who just frequented the Opera instead, despite the rumours about the Opera Ghost stuff which she thought was nonsense DESPITE Buquet trying to tell her that they were true. 

She sort of became acquainted with Erik after Joseph dying, and whilst it wasn’t really a friendship or anything he did see her as a basic needs to an end (because no I won’t make Erik a nice person muahahah.) 

Erik didn’t let on that he had killed him when the events of POTO basically started, and Leontine still thought he was just a rich Opera-goer, so didn’t question too much. Mostly because she was grieving, and due to the fact to cope with said grief she turned to alcohol and other means a lot. 

Due to Erik obviously setting his sights on Christine and stuff, he basically chose to view Leontine as someone he could - for lack of a better phrasing - get what he couldn’t get from Christine from. Erik being a massive asshole, took advantage of the fact she would be drunk sometimes (Not sexual advantage. Thanks.) to get pity from Leon and manipulated her emotionally a LOT. 

However she wasn’t very nice either – and treated Erik with a lot of disregard etc etc, use the fact he was a lot richer to basically extort what she wanted from him etc. 

Eventually she killed herself and there’s a lot more until then but that was ALSO Erik’s fault, as much as I love Erik I refuse to be nice. 

There’s a lot more but here’s some stuff that scrapes it, since i’d be here for much longer trying to explain it. 

TL;DR :

Leontine born in 1850s in poorer part of France

Moved to Paris in late teens/ early 20s

Stayed with Joseph Buquet and worked at Opera House

Became a stagehand

Joseph died

Met Erik via nearly killing him by accident

Sought him out after a while and started very very messy ‘relationship’

Sang and did some performance stuff for a while

  Fuckin’ died.

Also she's a ginger. sorry world.

I have a bunch of art of her, but it's pretty old and I need to redraw it.. so you'll get that soon ya'll sorry. Here's some old doodles anyway though;

[pastacrylic]

Starting to get a little self conscious about my art setup, to be honest :S

All my friends working in the industry or on their way to working in the industry really soon use dedicated pen displays (especially wacoms). I, on the other hand, have been using an 11in iPad Pro 2018 since the thing came out, and I really can't see myself going back to a non touch-display.

But like, the other day I was over at my friend's who's a professional illustrator, and she has a MASSIVE cintiq just sitting on her perfectly laid out desk, and in comparison my setup looks... Super childish. An iPad and a Macbook.

And!! I did try drawing on her cintiq to familiarize with pen tablets again!!! But not being able to zoom, undo, redo, with just finger gestures is so incredibly jarring to me.

Not to mention the PRICE of these things. Sure, art is my main thing, so I SHOULD be able to afford expensive equipment, but... I'm only 23, I don't have an income other than some disability grants and a few commissions, but... 1 grand... 2 grands... 3 grands, sometimes, JUST for a tablet!

GAH I just have a major case of impostor's syndrome. I don't feel like I'm a real artist because I don't have the fancy professional equipment and ARGGHHHHH

[galaxyedging]

Lucien Flores (still don't know if that is his name but I'm going with it) x f!reader

Follow on from this.

Full blame goes to @thegreenkid2

Part of the Exposed Masterlist

WC:2.1k

Warnings: male masturbation. Mentions of female masturbation.

Summary: Lucien unwinds after your photography session.

Tit for Tat

Lucien ignored the way he was still throbbing in his jeans. His mind wouldn't rest until his work was done and his studio was tidy. When he was in the moment, living his art, he was happy to go with the flow. In between, he needed to be organised. Maybe it was the nature of his career, the unpredictability of it. Never knowing when inspiration would strike. Never knowing where his next paying gig was coming from. He needed some order where he could get it.

Once everything was reset, he gave himself permission to deal with the erection he'd be sporting since you'd lay on his table. Even the anticipation of you touching yourself for him had him stirring. By the time you told him you were going to start, he was pitching a semi. As you moaned and writhed behind the curtain, he grew painfully hard. When you reached your peak, he almost missed his shot. He almost made another shot, too. Maybe he was wrong to carry this on, knowing he was attracted to you.

The first woman who answered the ad was beautiful, she used to be a model, before she gave it up for a career in sales to support her kids. Lucien could see her being successful in both with her looks but she had no spark. He felt bad thinking it but she was a pretty face, nothing more. Then there was you. Pretty, smart, witty. There was enough spark in you to resemble a roman candle.

Opening the door to his modest bed room a curt meow from behind him reminded him he had one job left.

"Hey, Buddy. I wasn't expecting you back. You hungry?" The cat's response was to drop down from the open window.

Lucien closed it behind him before making his way to the small kitchenette and Claude's food.

Claude wasn't the most affectionate of cats. Since cats were notorious for being aloof, that sort of gives you an idea of Claude's disposition. He had his moments though. Sometimes he would circle Lucien's ankles to rub his hair free head against his legs. On occasion, he would allow Lucien to pick him up when he needed it rather than when the cat did. When Lucien needed a moment to calm his racing thoughts and needed someone to co-regulate with. The cat would concede and let Lucien snuggle him to his chest. The cat's purrs reverberating in his own chest, helping to soothe him. Claude was a great companion in many ways. He was also, sadly, Lucien's main source of income. Well, not exactly sadly. Lucien was kind of proud that his little web series gathered so much attention that a streaming service picked it up. It was just that he would rather be making a living from his other forms of artistic expression.

The idea for the series started as a way for him to cope with lockdown. Lucien was never fond of being cooped up. He wasn't a homebody. Yet when he had to stay home, he quickly got used to it. He created a routine for himself. Morning coffee on the roof to get some fresh air. A quick workout before working from home. The late afternoon was for his art. In the evening he watched classic movies that he had never gotten around to watching. There was a comfort in the routine and predictably when the world had gone mad.

Then Claude came along. He yowled on Lucien's fire escape, just outside his studio window, one night. As soon as the window was open the cat had shot in. He appeared to weigh Lucien up before yowling at him again. Lucien took a minute to weigh the cat up in return. He looked healthy enough. He had a collar. Lucien thought he must belong to someone but he sounded pretty hungry.

Lucien was always a dog guy, it wasn't that he disliked cat's per se, he'd just always been around dogs more as a kid. He hadn't had a pet himself in years so it felt strange talking to an animal. "Are you hungry, little guy?"

Lucien had folded himself down onto his haunches to get closer to the cat. After a moment's regard the cat came over to sniffle his outstretched hand. After another moment he butted his head against it. Lucien took this as a positive sign, and reached over to pick the cat up. The small gold tag on his collar read 'Claude'.

"Come on, Claude, let's see what we have for you." Lucien carried Claude over to the kitchenette searching the cupboards with his free hand. He eventually pulled out what he wanted from the small pile of tins. Setting Claude on the floor, Lucien emptied a tin of tuna onto an old plate and placed it in front of the cat who instantly wolfed it down.

"Hey, easy. Someone's hungry." It was a few weeks of regular visits and gobbled up tins of tuna before Lucien found out why Claude was so hungry.

Someone finally returned the voicemail that Lucien left for the number on Claude's tag. "...we've been trying to catch him to take him to the shelter. He keeps coming home and crying for her."

Lucien sighed heavily, the world was so full of loss at the minute. "I'm so sorry for your loss. If it's all the same to you, I'd like to keep him."

And that is how he came to 'own' Claude. The little guy must have been traumatised when he'd first found his way to Lucien because as soon as he was settled enough to show his true self, well, as someone who had studied the English language extensively, Lucien could only describe Claude as a bit of an asshole.

He comes and goes as he pleases, yet gets irate if his food isn't ready for him. He is the most dramatic creature Lucien has ever come across. If he finds a bug he'll torment it then act outraged when it does something back to him. He'd gone full Disney Princess one time when the mouse he dragged into the studio escaped. He flung himself into his little bed and wailed until dinner time.

Still, when Lucien needs him, in the middle of the night when his thoughts are spiralling and his art isn't clearing his head. Claude will still allow him to pick him up. To scratch his little head, to feel his reassuring weight against his chest. Until he feels that Lucien is fine then he's back to pushing things off counter and randomly sprinting across the room.

Life with Claude is far from dull anyway so the cartoon came easily. He exaggerated Claude's eccentricities then added a few touches of himself. The love for art. The unlucky love life. Over time Cartoon Claude became a therapy of sorts. He wrote about his insecurities in a dry way. People resonated with that and his observational comedy. It was last year that Netflix picked it up. Lucien still has creative control, he still gets to write, he just has help when he needs it. It's actually pretty fun collaborating with other creative types. The style of animation is still very much Lucien's style but a team does it for him. The last, and biggest, change is Claude's voice. It used to be recorded by Lucien in his makeshift sound booth, the closet in his kitchen. Now, it's done in a real studio, by two time Oscar winner Dieter Bravo. Lucien had been stunned when Dieter had expressed an interest. The actor was in the midst of a career high since getting married and getting clean. Apparently, it was his wife that told Dieter about the show. They both become huge fans. Lucien had met them a few times. They were such a lovely couple. When he first met them. He was struck by how an easy banter flowed between them at the prospect of Dieter playing a horny, artistic cat. They sat on the sofa next to each other as they read his script for the pilot. Lucien felt a pang of jealousy at how they always kept in physical contact in some way. Knees touching, a hand laid on a thigh. Their hands brushed each other as they pointed to lines that they loved. They were so in sync, so in love. Lucien had never experienced a love like that. At this time in his life he'd convinced himself that he didn't need a love like that. It bled into Cartoon Claude's cavalier attitude towards sex and relationships. That, and the fact that the cat has whored around with half the cats in the neighbourhood, despite being recently nurtured, keeping Lucien awake with that god awful screeching. Lucien always felt the need to paint after seeing Dieter and his wife. He painted the canvas as if he could paint over the desire clearly written on his heart.

That's why he was so stupid to get close to you. You were meant to be the subject of his art, nothing more. He was supposed to take your picture. He was supposed to capture your ecstasy in his photos and your wisdom in his words. He was supposed to create something honest that people could relate to, a comforting piece, to show people that they weren't alone.

He was not supposed to be laying on his bed, sweatpants pants around his thighs, pumping his well lubed cock to the thought of your moans. He wasn't supposed to be thinking of your hands being the ones slowly jerking him off, your thumb brushing over his swollen head with each flick of your wrist. He wasn't supposed to be wondering if your pussy tasted as good as it smelled. Despite being so hard and ready to blow, Lucien took his time. He was going to indulge in this once, just to get out of his system. He thought about your pretty lips being stretched around his thick girth. He thought about feeling your pussy slowly accept him as he pushed inside. He already knew some of the noise you made, he wondered what noise you'd make as he bottomed out. Would you sigh? Would your breath hitch at being full of him? How would you want him to fuck you? Syrupy slow like the strokes of his own hand now, or fast and hard, something he was going to have to do soon as he couldn't take it anymore.

As he prepared to take himself over the edge, an idea struck him. Pulling off his sweats, he made his way to his studio. He lay in the same position as you, just foregoing the curtains. He set the cameras to repeatedly go off with the touch of a button. He thought about bending you over his desk so he could fuck you deep from behind. That was always his favourite position. He'd keep your photos open on his laptop so he could still see your face contorted in bliss as he slammed into you. As his balls began to tighten he pressed the small remote in his free hand. With the cameras doing their thing, he came hard across his stomach. He worked himself until every drop was spent, thinking about pumping every last drop into you.

Shame dulled his high as his head cleared. He shouldn't be thinking about you this way. Should he? You did ask him to let you use his voice to get off. You'd kissed him, and teased him. You'd wanted more. Maybe you were at home thinking of him? Before he could think better of it, he sent you a photo of him at his peak.

'A little tit for tat' he called it. Really, he was fishing to see what your response would be.

The two blue ticks burned into his retinas for a while. Then a message came through as he watched the screen expectantly.

And here's a little tit in return.

Underneath appeared a picture of one of your breasts with your nipple teasingly concealed by your fingers.

Lucien should really stop this. Whatever it was. He wasn't good at dating or relationships. You were a perfect muse for his project. He shouldn't throw that away for what would probably just be great sex and a couple of bad dates before you never call him again. He shouldn't blur the lines. He should just come clean and end both relationships, the professional one and the flirty one, now.

He should. He really should. 'Same time on Thursday?' He sent.

'I look forward to it.' The little winking face emoji followed.

If he'd have known what was going to happen on Thursday he really would have ended the relationship there and then.

@kirsteng42 @prolix-yuy @thegreenkid2 @hquinzelle @fangirl-316 @gracie7209 @jedifarmerr @doommommy @scorpio-marionette @sturkillerbase @harriedandharassed @aynsleywalker @mswarriorbabe80 @quica-quica-quica @rise-my-angel @adancedivasmom @kinda-nobody @movievillainess721 @munsonownsmyass @mandoloriancookie @faceache111 @elegantduckturtle @shadowtrick @simpingcowboy @pedrit0-pascalit0 @yourcoolauntie @pedrostories

[latteartxpmc]

It'd been a slow morning within Latte Art; a few customers here and there with similar orders to the ones they'd had yesterday, though nothing Thomas felt was particularly noteworthy.

It was still too early in the morning for his main rush; sunlight barely peaked above the hills to illuminate the world below. Birds were still motionless, though roosters would be going off soon. Life would spring into action within the hour, and he'd be rushed off his feet for the morning ahead.

Thus he'd start getting prepared; drinks he knew by heart, for customers that he knew would be coming by first ready to go with food to go with it.

"Lo and behold..."

He'd chuckle to himself, cup handed over with coin exchanged; a ping of his register opening as cash was deposited. Soft jazz accompanied the steamy coffee shop, dulcet tunes cascading out with each swing of the door.

As the clock struck 8:42am, however, he knew his most important customer would be coming through the door within 3 minutes; her platinum hair hung low, silver eyes complimenting her pristine features despite the messy appearance she gave from getting up and rushing over.

As his large fingers finished his work - a masterpiece by his standards, though he'd need nothing less if he wanted to impress her - the door swung open, the sweet scent of feminine perfume loitering through the air.

"Well now, if I didn't know you better, I'd say you'd almost had a bad night."

There was a chuckle behind his fanged grin, emerald eyes glancing her up and down; he was doing his best to hide the tinge of jealousy he could feel creeping into his flushed cheeks, hidden deep behind fur.

"The usual, I assume, Liliana?"

He'd already began pushing the white cup towards the cat-woman, struggling to maintain his gaze at her face and not look down her blouse. He wanted to be a gentleman, he truly did...

Lili just made that difficult, sometimes.

"I, uh... W-Was hoping that maybe after work, we could... Hang out, o-or somethin'! Just chill together, 'Promise!"

He didn't want to start stammering in front of her, though she'd seen him be nervous enough times by now that she'd know it was apart of his package.

In truth, Thomas had something to give the other; a small diamond ring, all of his savings in one package. He'd wanted to formally propose for a while, now; especially after their mock wedding and his venture into wedding hospitality.

That was going really well, by the by; it'd generated him enough income to allow it to be self-sufficient and still net him a decent income. This ring, however, had eaten into every last piece of savings he had. It had to be special to him for Thomas to even consider it being special to her.

----------------------- For @haemoxin // Please do not reblog if you are not the intended recipient!

[foster-the-world]

Aw, man

Last night the district wide school board meeting turned into a debate about Israel. With some claiming the DOE is not doing "enough." Apparently enough means they haven't yet written a email condemning the kidnappings in Israel? With claims they would have already sent a letter if it was black people. I guess the district is waiting on a legal team to approve language. So it should go out today or tmrw. Not good enough for these people. I don't get it. The DOE did send a letter condemning racism and it doesn't do shit to protect my kids. We are still in the most segregated school system in the nation. I am 100% confident the man claiming they "would have already done it if it was black people." made sure his children were in the majority white schools. The anti-racism letter didn't change his desire to segregate his children so why would a anti-semitism letter help jewish students? Writing a letter condemning the kidnappings in Israel is not going to protect my kids one bit nor help the children who were kidnapped. Our district has migrant children pouring in every single week. Let's talk about how we can support them. Letter or no letter I do not care.

I left that meeting to go to our schools PTA meeting. We did spend a good amount of time talking about how we can help the new migrant children who started at our school last week. Apparently 1000 more children entered the district on Friday - set to start next week. My 2nd graders class got three more students last week. Rebel's 1st grade class got two more students. We've been working on our Spanish at home and making sure the girls include them. I'm so glad we are at a school where we teach the kids to welcome their new friends. I have no doubt the uniform, clothing, coat drive will be fully funded - even though we have a school full of low income parents who aren't exactly rolling in the dough.

This morning I'm talking to the Principal about the clothing/Halloween costume drive when she gets a text message and looks horrified. Apparently a lower grade kid told their teacher they can't be around them because they are Jewish and their Mom told them Jewish people are dangerous. So fucked up. Poor baby being taught that hate and poor teacher having to hear it from a student she pours her hard work into.

I'm not really worried about my girls hearing shitty things. As mentioned they are tough and can handle themselves. The toughness does mean they can be jerks but also means they wouldn't hesitate to fight back if someone says shit like that to them. People have said other shitty things to them and they returned with the 6yo version of "go fuck yourself" and were indignant more then hurt. *Obviously they didn't use the f word. They have a solid group of friends in their class who would know to defend them. Although we are going to have a talk about what to say if someone talks negatively about Juduism or if they hear someone say anything racist/prejudice/etc to themselves or any of their friends. We've had the general talk before but probably need to be more specific on the Jewish side of things. Every year my husband and I bring Hanukkah celebration stuff to their class. Everyone is always very receptive. Last year Bee's teacher was Jewish. They've generally had at least one jewish family in their class - although that dwindles in the older grades. We live two doors down from the JCC - so they go to classes there so do get to spend time around Jewish children regardless. This semester they are taking an art class there and we go to the shabbat dinners sometime.

Bee has a Ukrainian girl in her class - well her grandparents are from Ukraine. So Bee came home last year talking about how people are murdering babies "as soon as they come out" in the Ukrainian war. Now this year her little friend is from Israel - so she comes home with more horror stories he hears from home and interprets into six year old language. The world we are giving our children is not okay.

[roter-zirkus]

Ma'am, I just work here

Working in a pawn shop in Baldur's Gate sometimes means being privy to the most interesting items, even those that maybe you should have never put your hands on.

or: Raphael visits the most unfortunate little pawn shop worker

It's another quiet day at the "Brokering Gate", a little smarmy pawn office that lies between the recently collapsed Steel Watcher Foundry and the Guilt docks, a blocked-off area for incoming trade that remains just barely under the table. Ever since the rubble of that huge flying brain mass came down, there has been a weird rotting note to the air that borders on repugnant just barely. To keep the worst of it out, most of the "Gate's" shutters have been closed and enchanted with a shield-type spell – Yas doesn't care much for the details – due to their windows being blown to shittereens during the initial blast. It's a wonder, or curse depending on who you ask, that the shop still stands.

Yas hates, absolutely loathes working at the "Brokering Gate" on account of its weird customers and despicable owner, but she also hates not having anything to eat or a roof over her head, so in the end she just has to bite the bulette. And with the evasion of total annihilation comes some perks. People find the most interesting things to sell amidst the chaos coming to their silly little pawn shop, their competitors having mostly been wiped out or turned into ilithids.

One of those people had surprisingly been none other than THE hero, Tav, and their merry band of weirdos waltzing into the store, most of them heaving under the weight of overfilling pouches and backpacks, the jingle-jangle filling the air when the bags hit the ground. It had been a bad day for their accounts but a good one for stuffing the shop up the roof with items of varying usefulness.

One of these items had been a trilogy of diaries. As soon as Yas opened them during a lull in the shop she knew she had found her new obsession for the next weeks. Two of the three books were filled to the brim with mischief, silly little poems, intricate plans, or just daily developments, all written by some seemingly third-grade bard working hard to fill his made-up fantasy with lore. The third one however stopped halfway through, leaving an open end to the saga of the writer, a self-serving schemer hungering for power over the Nine Hells, and his assumed dalliance with the so-called hero, a tadpoled fool trapsing through the world the writer seemingly controlled.

Usually, Yas wouldn't go for such bottom-of-the-barrel fiction, but after skimming over them she had decided to fully embrace their weirdness.

Now it's deep into the afternoon and instead of having another go at the inventory she stands entranced at the counter ruffling through the pages, giggling to herself.

"Predilection. Who talks like that?", she quietly murmurs, although a part of her envies the artful usage of these special little words. With a grin, Yas comforts herself by imagining the fop with this kind of speech trying to order a beer at the bar she works her evening shifts at.

The soft little chime from the bell above their entrance takes her back to the store and she mentally readies her customer service personality. In walks an older man, a slight limp to his right leg, steadying himself on an intricate wooden cane with golden inlays, the soft tock of it accompanying the scraping of his "good" foot across the floor. Yet something about his demeanor stops her from emphasizing with him. His "warm" smile sends shivers down her spine, not the good kind, his left hand readies itself in the air for a grand gesture and his clothes look preened and faultless. She knows she probably can't hide it behind her fake smile, but all she feels is disdain.

Yet when the man starts to talk, she does notice that his voice has a deep rumble that resonates with her. Yas gets a good look at his sharp features and soft skin, since no matter what he says, he can't seem to stand still, instead opting for theatrical movement and emphasis on his words with every twitch of his face. "My dear bespackled attendant of this fine éstablissement, may I use some of your precious time to inquire about some items that might have found their way into your possession? Obviously, your help will be well compensated should you have any of these items at hand. I have had quite the adventure searching all over town and imagine my unbridled surprise upon finding out that there was still one last market to peruse. Resting amidst the-"

By this point Yas has already put two and two together, looking forward to the peacock finishing his exhausting monologue and confirming her suspicion. In the meantime she nods politely along, adding some "Uhuu's" and "no way's" here and there, nearly draining her affirmative vocabulary, until she finally has it and simply moves the diary she had been reading across the counter.

That shuts him up all right. As soon as his eyes spy the unassuming, worn-down cover, a wave of joy washes over his features, quickly hidden away just so, behind his noble mask.

She hopes that between his grandiose entrance and the following speech, he never realized that she was actively reading one of his diaries, before pushing it out of the way. When trying to glean his face for a reaction all she gets is the usual calm demeanor.

"I'm sorry for interrupting you, but from my colleagues' descriptions, this book and its siblings might be the item you're looking for. If you would like we can verify this by counter-checking the text with your description." Yas is trying everything not to let her face betray that she knows about the innards of this book or that she can't believe that the writer is the guy in front of her. It's never good to directly laugh at a customer.

A shadow crawls over the customer's face and suddenly her giddiness dissipates into fear. Unlike before, this time she feels like the show of emotion is meant for her. Yas quickly puts up her hands in defense: "I'm so sorry that my colleagues rustled around in your private property but they had to make sure none of the books were cursed or dangerous in a similar fashion. Obviously, I have no interest in further violating your privacy."

Now a toothy smile flashes across his features and instead of the cane he now leans onto the counter, somehow still being taller than Yas standing at full height. "My dear friend, I am so very grateful for your understanding. The loss of these precious memories has left me quite hurt and it would not do to add to this pain. There is no need for you to read more of the text, there should be a sigil on the blurp, simply lay it out here and I will show you."

With an unsure grin of her own, she does as he bids and lays down the book, blurp for both to see. A swift motion later he holds a dagger in his hand, much to the shock of Yas, yet before she can exclaim her bewilderment, he simply pokes himself in the finger and vanishes it just as quickly as he conjured it. A distinct smell of sulphur fills her nose and she gets a bit queasy looking at two drops of blood spilling on the page of the book.

A second ticks by and suddenly a fiery symbol burns itself into the book.

The silence afterward is palatable.

"Yeah. I guess this is yours, huh." Yas is sure that she is not getting paid enough to deal with what kind of fiery devil shit this might be, so she just shrugs and goes to the backroom to get the other books. She wants this man out of the shop as soon as possible.

As soon as she comes back into his view, he starts up again: "Thank you very much, dear. Say, you don't happen to have some hellishly delicious paintings lying around?"

Oh no.

She knows very well where they are, but considering what Cambrin, her boss, has done to them, she decides she won't be the one to bring this up.

"There might be some more in the personal vault of my employer, but he is unfortunately not in today and won't allow anyone else into his office." Before she finishes the sentence anger flashes into his eyes and his nose scrunches, but she has an idea to smoothe him over immediately. "I'm sure he will come in in the evening to make sure everything is up to speed. Considering how late it already is, it shouldn't be long now."

That somewhat appeases her customer and she allows herself a moment of respite.

He purses his lip, a hand to his chin as if to seriously consider what she just said. "Well, I think I can offer up some more of my precious time for your employer, even though it will certainly throw around my plans for the evening. Will some of your other colleagues be there tonight? Specifically, those that wanted to sate their curiosity with these books?" He is all smiles but there's a dangerous shine to his gaze, that renders his brown eyes almost black.

"The evening shift should be taking over then, yes. We usually stay open late into the night, so we have to change it up. Considering the work plan they might be there, but I can't make any promises."

He pushes himself further onto the counter to lean closer to her face as if to share a secret just between the two of them. "Surely you have heard of the little idiom of the fortunate rat, fleeing the ship before it tragically goes down with its captain. I suppose, there are certain situations in which one should adhere to that principle, saving one's skin before it is too late." He gifts Yas another smile, this time arguably more toothy than before, his canines growing before her eyes.

She can't stop herself from mumbling: "That would make me the rat I presume." They both lock eyes and all he does to acknowledge Yas is a slight tilt of the head.

Living in Baldur's Gate is hard enough as it is, with weird tentacle monsters, bandits, and bloody murders seeping into the daily survival. And now this… thing was making it very obvious that the shop was going to see his reckoning. Maybe it was finally time to leave the city for good.

With a deep inhale she takes a step back and fishes the key to the store out of her pocket, puts it on the counter with a soft clink and slips it over to the stranger.

"A very wise decision."

Without another word or acknowledgment, she steps out behind the bar and slowly makes her way to the exit. Before she can fully leave, however, the stranger has to get in another sentence:

"I do hope you remember to keep privacy matters a higher priority from now on, my dear. After all, you never know who might be watching."

She can only nod, locking eyes with him once again before she all but runs out of the store.

The next day she will walk past the store, finding it surrounded by Flaming Fists trying to put out the fires and talking about the charred corpses inside.

[saturncoyote]

After much work i have finally written down my analysis on the fictional character Creek from hit children's movie Trolls 2016, open Read More on your own discretion because this shit is about to get long

Alright let's start with a small summary for the folks that have never watched a Trolls movie and don't really know anything about Creek outside of the plethora of art i've made about him

Creek is one of the movie's side characters and secondary villain, he is Poppy's (the main character) friend and acts as a short-of twist villain (i'll explain that 'short-of' later,). Although shown to be a stereotypical nature-loving hippie he later betrays his friends and everyone he's ever known as he sells out the location of their village to Bergens, a race who 20 years ago used to keep the pop trolls in a large cage and would eat them once a year during a holiday called Trollstice.

He is first introduced when Branch (the movie's second protagonist) is confronting Poppy about her decision to throw a party, arguing that this could attract the attention of the Bergens, this is also where my first point about Creek's character begins First thing to notice is that, unlike what some people would like you to believe, Creek is NOT the only troll in Poppy's friend group (the Snack Pack) to be dismissive towards Branch, if anything Poppy herself is the only one in the group that seems to want to give him a chance ("i think everyone deserves to be happy"). Creek also shows up late to the conversation, only appearing once Branch escalates the situation by throwing Poppy's party invitation to the floor and stomping on it. You could easily argue that, in Creek's perspective, he is only doing what a good friend should do and protecting his friend from someone who is being cruel towards them, and although Branch has a GOOD reason to be upset and we later find out more about his backstory, there is no reason for us to believe that Creek or even the rest of the Snack Pack know anything about his situation, to THEM Branch is nothing but a party pooper who actively chooses to stay miserable ("some folks just don't want to be happy")

One point that i sometimes see that i would like to snip in the bud as soon as possible is that Creek doesn't truly care about his friends, especially Poppy, and is only using her to get something out of her (what exactly ? well we don't know, we could especulate that since she is the princess, he may want to use her for her status, possibly wanting to become royalty himself, but we're not here for that), the reason i bring this up now is because of the scene that follows the interaction with Branch, where Creek is the first one to notice that Poppy is still upset about the results of the conversation, not only that but he doesn't seem too happy about it himself

It would have been extremelly easy to animate him smiling or looking smug after Branch storms off, but that doesn't happen, he even glances down at the ground before looking towards Poppy, which is when he attempts to cheer her up. This small scene ALONE already leads me to believe that he truly does care, and although his attempts at cheering her up aren't exactly the best nor the most productive ("tune out his negative vibrations Poppy, they're toxic") he is still trying.

However we do not get enough time to find out more about his relationship with Poppy outside of this very moment as the next scene in the movie is the party and their imminent capture by the Chef Bergen, this is where i'd like to remind you that i called him only a "short-of" twist villain. For a twist villain to truly work we first need to understand why this character is considered to be a "good guy", and their relationship with the protagonist, so that the incoming reveal of them being the antagonist has a impact, not only on the other characters, but the audience themselves. The thing about Creek is that we don't GET that insight into his relationship with Poppy, they interact TWICE before the reveal, and one of those interactions is Poppy attempting to save him from being carried away by a Bergen, therefore the "twist" itself falls flat... but what if i told you that was done on purpose by Dreamworks ?

Before the existence of Creek there was another character who was meant to take his place in the storyline, and her name was Miss Guffin

According to concept art, Miss Guffin was originally going to be Poppy's mentor, and be captured by the Chef Bergen, and much like Creek she would sell out the other trolls as an attempt to save herself. Now that would have had a much bigger impact, not only on the audience as they realise that the respectful elderly character was a selfish coward at heart, but for Poppy as she would have had a much closer relationship with Guffin as her mentor. So why was she changed ? It's simple really, she was just too likeable.

Creek, by design, was created to be unlikeable, not only so that his reveal wouldn't upset the audience, but so that you wouldn't feel pity about his eventual demise. THIS is what i mean when i refer to him as a character "doomed by the narrative", he only exists because a much more appealing character had to be turned down for the sole reason of not upsetting those who watch the movie, he would never have been allowed to have a closer relationship with Poppy, because that would have given the viewer a emotional attachment to him, and we can't have that. Creek is a tragic character in the sense that he was destined to be the traitor, not only a traitor but a unredeemable one, and i understand why that is, there was never going to be enough time in the movie to give him a satisfying redemption, and it would have thrown off the entire flow of the story, killing him off was a much easier choice than trying to squeeze an awkward redemption at the very end, but that doesn't stop me from wishing that there WAS more. His fate feels unfair to me, as his only crime is being kind of a dickhead, and it's hard to blame him for his decision to sell out Pop Village when his only other option wasn't much better, so let's talk about that next.

In the next scene where we see Creek, him and the rest of the Snack Pack have been put in a cage by the Chef, this is where i'd like to point out that his first reaction to this predicament is to try and get everyone else to stay calm ("Woah, woah ! Everyone, we must all remain calm") This scene leads directly to the one where he gets nearly eaten by King Gristle, and when i say nearly i mean it, he is shoved INTO his mouth and assumed dead by everyone except for Poppy, who is only holding out hope that he is still alive. Of course we later find out that he is indeed, not dead, but that is only because he clung to Gristle's uvula causing him to choke and spit him out. The way we find out that he is alive is through Gristle himself, who reveals to Bridget that he has him locked inside his cape's clasp

Notice how little space he has in there, i'd say barely any to move let alone breathe, as he lets out a desperate gasp just as the clasp is opened. We do not know how much time has passed since he escaped being nearly eaten alive, but we can estimate it has to have been at least a few hours, as quite a few events happen between the formerly mentioned scene and this one. We do NOT get to see what happens between him, Gristle and the Chef during that time, which means we can only ESPECULATE why he was put in there in the first place, so allow me to do just that:

- Firstly, we do not know if Creek agreed right away to the Chef's request to reveal the location of the village, for all we know he might have declined to do so, and putting him into a small claustrophobic space was a way to give him that final push. - However this could have also been a way to stop him from escaping and telling the other trolls of the Bergen's plan, but i fail to see why they would have had to resort to such a, let's be honest here, barbaric method of keeping him put, when a normal cage would have done the job just as well, perhaps the Chef wanted to make sure he wouldn't change his mind. - Thirdly, this could have been a way to have someone keep an eye on him as the Chef busied herself with other things, essentially making Gristle the guard to Creek's prison No matter what option you decide makes the most sense, one thing is clear: Creek was tortured

At last we finally reach the moment he reveals to Poppy, Branch and the rest of the Snack Pack that he plans on betraying all of them and selling out the location of the village, this is the scene that is supposed to make you despise him, for being so cowardly and selfish that he'd rather let everyone he's ever known die horribly than.... give up his own life ? Hold up did i read that right, oh... hm Creek is a character who finds himself in a situation out of his control and is forced to make a decision between two truly awful options, he can either let himself be eaten or everyone else goes, there is NOT a correct answer here, and in the end his sense of self preservation wins. A decision probably influenced by the fact that before this moment, he had spent hours trapped in a small space with barely enough oxygen. There was NEVER going to be another way, as the Chef states herself:

Especially bringing attention to how he acts in this scene, to me it comes across less like he's finally showing his true colors as a manipulative person, and more like he's desperately trying to justify his actions not only to Poppy but to himself ("At least you get to die with a clear conscience")

And it seems like he's successful in doing so, for him at least, what other options does he have ? It's either give up your own life, or convince yourself that what you're about to do isn't truly that bad, he chooses to look at it with a positive outlook, ignoring the very obviously bleak reality he finds himself in ("So in a way... You could say... I'm doing this for you")

Another thing about this scene is that we don't really get to see his true feelings on the situation, as during this conversation the Chef Bergen is actively sharpening knifes in the background, even if he did want to come up with a escape plan or air out how he feels about this predicament they find themselves in, he would be unable to do so, as the person who could easily just snatch him up and kill him right then and there stands in the very same room. And that is a recurring thing when it comes to Creek, we don't get to SEE much of him, we don't see the events leading up to his betrayal, we don't really get to see his relationship with Poppy or even the rest of the Snack Pack for that matter, we don't SEE how he feels about being trapped inside Gristle's cape clasp or having to choose between himself or his friends, and honestly we probably never will. For a secondary villain he barely gets any screen time at all, and the screen time he does get is spent in near constant live-threatening danger.

And finally, his story comes to an end, the Bergens discover true happyness, Chef Bergen is defeated, and the last time we see Creek he's getting swallowed up by a mountain sized creature, the very thing he tried so hard to save himself from, to the point that he would give up everyone he's ever loved, happens regardless of his choice, was he even given a choice in the first place ? When both options led him to the same fate ? I would say it's almost tragically poetic if it didn't feel like salt to the wound.

Of course, Trolls: The Beat Goes On exists, but it's not even close to being a good continuation of his character let alone a satisfying redemption, his introduction is incredibly rushed, characters who have no reason to forgive him for his actions immediatelly welcome him back with open arms, and the one person who doesn't do so is shown to be in the wrong even though his reaction and suspicion make complete sense.

Besides, TBGO is it's own can of worms and opening it now would only make this post longer than it needs to be, so i'll spare you from that.

My final point is that Creek is a much more complex and interesting character than the story would like you to believe, and it CAN be quite frustating seeing people brush him off as just a selfish fraud who never truly cared about anyone but himself when there's really so much more under the surface. Of course i'm not saying that you should love him, hell you don't even need to like him, he has a lot of flaws and has made terrible decisions, but that's also exactly the reason why i am so keen on giving him a better ending. He shouldn't need to be perfect to deserve a nicer fate, to be given an actual choice for once, one that isn't going to blow up in his face in the end, the ability to be better and do better. You don't deserve to be tossed aside just because you have a big ego or some other personal flaw, you don't deserve to be considered unredeemable because you were put in a situation out of your control, making a bad decision shouldn't define your existence for the rest of your life.

I've come to accept that Creek is a very important character to me, he's a character who NEEDS to be selfish for the story to work the way it does, one who's the narrative is actively trying to make as unlikeable as possible at all times, but it's attempts had an opposite effect on me, and the more i dug only solidified him as my favorite in the entire franchise. I love him because of his unused potential, potential that'll most likely never get a true chance to shine due to Dreamworks not seeming to really care about him as a character, so i have taken upon myself to do what canon failed to. If i had to pick ONE THING for folks that read this post to get out of it, is that you should never be embarassed of your enjoyment for a fictional character, no matter how unlikeable or one-dimensional they seem to be, analyse every frame they show up in, write that fanfic, draw that art, create that self indulgent AU, find meaning where no one else did

[lavwen-archive]

-- hear me but a word!

FULL NAME: Lillian Wen PRONUNCIATION: LIL-ee-uhn WEN  MEANING:

Lillian: derived from Lily, symbol of innocence, beauty

Wen: of Chinese origin, warm

REASONING: Lillian is named after her Nonna’s favorite flower -- she was born soon after her Nonna passed and never met the woman, but her Nonno always keeps the patch of lilies that grow in the back gardens watered, and Lillian spent hours of her childhood playing in those very flowers. ALIAS: Lavinia NICKNAME: Some variation of Lily, though her Nǎinai calls her Lu Ling (the tinkling sound of jade against jade) sometimes. PREFERRED NAME: Lillian BIRTH DATE: June 29, 1993 AGE: 25 ZODIAC: Cancer GENDER: cis female PRONOUNS: she/hers NATIONALITY: French-Italian dual citizenship ETHNICITY: Half-Chinese; Half-French RELIGION: Agnostic CURRENT LOCATION: Verona, Italy LIVING CONDITIONS: Though Lillian grew up lower middle class, she now stays at the flat she purchased for her mothers under their names. The spacious three-bedroom flat is in a nicer location than where she grew up with lots of plants and light and most importantly a large terrace. It’s only been a couple years since her family moved in and given how much she travels, it still feels newer than like home. TITLES: Emissary CONTENT WARNING: mentions of sexual assault, homophobia

BACKGROUND

BIRTH PLACE: The local clinic in the Third Arrondissement in Paris  HOMETOWN: Verona, Italy SOCIAL CLASS: Upper middle class EDUCATION LEVEL: Cultural Heritage (Art & History Track) Bachelor’s -- University of Verona FATHER: Unknown -- She knows that his nationality is French, he had brown hair and blue eyes. and that he’s 6′ 2″ which was apparently all her mothers needed to pick him from the binder. MOTHERS: Mei Lei “May” Wen (Birth Mother aka “Mama”) -- An out and proud Chinese bisexual woman with French Nationality. Her father came from the Wens: they immigrated in the early 1900s and worked in porcelain. Her mother had immigrated to Paris after marrying Lillian’s grandfather. Mei fell in love with a lovely Italian foreign exchange student in college. Her parents didn’t approve of their daughter loving a woman and so Mei and her love eloped to Verona. Mei’s parents would ultimately come around -- they hadn’t really liked the sperm donor idea but had been delighted to have a granddaughter. Lara Renzetti (Adoptive Mother aka “Ma”) -- Lara had more or less been open about loving women from the beginning; she was lucky to have parents who believed in love more than words in a book (though both were big proponents of education, having not gone to university themselves). Lara was in Paris to study Art -- and met bold, tattooed Mei Lei. Lillian would inherit this love of art and it would inform her own studies in the future. She and her Nonno were much closer when she was younger -- now that he’s older and struggles to remember things, it’s harder. SIBLING: None PREVIOUS RELATIONSHIPS: A few girls, a few boys through secondary school and university. None of them seem memorable anymore. Lillian hasn’t been in any kind of relationship since her assault 2 years ago.

OCCUPATION & INCOME

PRIMARY SOURCE OF INCOME: Elite Milano (Model Agency based out of Milan) SECONDARY SOURCE OF INCOME: Capulets (Emissary) TERTIARY SOURCE(S) OF INCOME: Occasional sponsorships APPROXIMATE AMOUNT PER YEAR: €87,000 though she receives significant benefits like clothes, accessories, make up, as gifts.  CONTENT WITH THEIR JOB? Lillian is passionate about her job, specifically as a spokesperson model. It’s important for her to use her platform to discuss relevant issues. She’s an activist. Her new financial situation is nice, if only for the security. But Lillian also knows it’s a privilege so she wants to make sure she’s a) earned it and b) is doing good deeds with it. PAST JOB: She briefly worked as a Barista at the University Cafe, but was scouted out for Royal Management, a Verona based agency pretty early in university. She shot her first photo shoot at 19. She stayed with them for four years, before ending her contract and accepting representation through the Milan agency. SPENDING HABITS: Lillian has the thrifty habits of her childhood when her mothers struggled to make ends meet. While her lifestyle seems lavish due to the sponsorship “gifts” she receives, Lillian rarely makes big purchases -- she didn’t move into the new villa until she could purchase it entirely, no mortgage.  MOST VALUABLE POSSESSION: Her home --  €298,000 +  €20,000 in renovations.

SKILLS & ABILITIES

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 4/10 OFFENSE: 3/10 DEFENSE: 7/10 SPEED: 9/10 INTELLIGENCE: 8/10 ACCURACY: 6/10 AGILITY: 8/10  STAMINA: 9/10 TEAMWORK: 7/10 TALENTS: gaining trust, aware of how she’s perceived, physically fit, financially thrifty, intelligent SHORTCOMINGS: nervous, low muscle strength, lack of conviction, passive, uncertain

LANGUAGES SPOKEN: Wenzhounese, Italian, Mandarin (Lower proficiency: French, English) DRIVING: Lillian hasn’t learned how to drive. She prefers scooters. CAR MAINTENANCE: No BICYCLING: Yes SWIMMING: Yes INSTRUMENTS: Yes (Piano) CHESS: Yes  BRAIDING HAIR: Yes TIE A TIE: Yes LOCK PICKING: No

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE & CHARACTERISTICS

FACE CLAIM: Adrianne Ho EYE COLOR: Black HAIR COLOR: Black HAIR STYLE: Type 2B, typically naturally air dried, with a little serum applied. She ties it back in ponytails or french braids often. DOMINANT HAND: Right HEIGHT: 5′9″ WEIGHT: 54.5 kgs BUILD: Lillian was always slim, but she didn’t start focusing on fitness and strength until a couple years ago. Now that she has some muscle definition (she hasn’t gained as much as she’d like), her build is more athletic. EXERCISE HABITS: Every weekday morning that she’s home, Lillian joins her mother for an early session of Qigong (her Mama is a little bit of a...hippie. Both are really.) It warms her muscles before she goes on her daily run. She runs on the weekends as well. Twice a week she conditions. She misses strength training the most because of how often she told to not bulk up before a shoot. SKIN TONE: Lillian’s skin is roughly the same tone as her mother’s, the color of a fawn or beach sand, with warm undertones. She typically tanned, rather than burned and is grateful to have inherited her mother’s genes for this. SCARS: She’s got a scar on her knee from her childhood friend, angry at her for some childish conflict pushed Lillian off her bike, a tiny line of a scar right under her chin from when she fell on the concrete steps outside her school her first week. The newest set is still a couple years ago, on the heel of her palm from the broken mirror -- a prop from the photoshoot -- in her struggle against her assaulter. NOTABLE FEATURES: Shapely brows, excellent figure, high and sharp cheekbones USUAL EXPRESSION: A neutral expression, could be interpreted as blank. She doesn’t want to suggest anything positive or inviting at first glance. CLOTHING STYLE: Comfortable but stylish, casual mixed with athletic/athleisure on her own, but enjoys dressing up for shoots and parties. DIET: Drinks as much water as possible. Typically something like avocado toast in the morning (something fatty + protein + complex carbs). Her lunch follows the same format of complex carbs (quinoa, brown rice, certain greens) + protein (salmon, chicken, edamame, etc.) + whatever is in season in a bowl with various dressings/flavorings. Dinners are whatever her mothers have cooked -- both traditional Chinese and Italian food. She snacks on fruits and trail mix sort of things, and will splurge with dark chocolate (especially dark chocolate covered goji berries). Moderation over restriction.  PHYSICAL AILMENTS: None.

PSYCHOLOGY

JUNG TYPE: ESFJ (Fe-Si-Ne-Ti)

Judging Functional Axis (FeTi): Socially conscious and loyal to family, Everett seeks to build up those he cares about — evidenced in his relationships with Catherine and Easton. His love language is practicality, shown through actions rather than verbal affirmation. Prior to joining the mob, Everett had little qualms with sharing his emotions, but since joining he has been stuck in a grip (inferior Ti) and thus has begun repressing his emotions. He has a strong moral compass, but struggles to make difficult decisions if it means creating social backlash (e.g. not believing that his mother would degrade Easton, not leaving the Capulets despite moral qualms). As a capodecina, Everett is quick to mentor his soldiers and seeks to understand the underlying patterns behind the information given to him before acting so that he never has to sacrifice a soldier for the sake of larger gain. He is very in tune with human behavior and uses this knowledge to manipulate others when working for the Capulets.

Perceiving Functional Axis (SiNe): Everett is visionary, able to project large-scale future plans for C&R (Ne) based on past experiences (Si). He adroitly uses observation to speculate people’s ulterior motives, giving him an edge when at society parties (alongside Fe). Despite his serious front, he is actually quite laid back around those he cares about, allowing himself to crack jokes and indulge in new things. Everett is steeped in past experiences, unable to let go of traumatic past events (e.g. his failed relationship with Vivianne). Furthermore, he applies his experiences to outward speculation — if Vivianne was using him, so must most other people, therefore he cannot trust people to be honest with him.

ENNEAGRAM TYPE: 1w2 (The Advocate)

“Conscientious and ethical, with a strong sense of right and wrong. They are teachers, crusaders, and advocates for change: always striving to improve things, but afraid of making a mistake. Well-organized, orderly, and fastidious, they try to maintain high standards, but can slip into being critical and perfectionistic. They typically have problems with resentment and impatience. At their best: wise, discerning, realistic, and noble. Can be morally heroic.”

“Want to be right, to strive higher and improve everything, to be consistent with their ideals, to justify themselves, to be beyond criticism so as not to be condemned by anyone.”

“Ones attempt to control or repress their anger and instinctual energy. They feel that they must stay in control of themselves, especially of their instinctual impulses and angry feelings at all times.”

MORAL ALIGNMENT: lawful neutral TEMPERAMENT: sanguine ELEMENT: air PRIMARY INTELLIGENCE TYPE: Interpersonal, followed closely by logical-mathematical. APPROXIMATE IQ: 139 SOCIABILITY: High. Everett is very good at hosting, socializing, or swaying a crowd. It’s that classic Craven charm. EMOTIONAL STABILITY: Everett considers himself quite emotionally stable — and for the most part, he is. However, this is partly due to a large part of his emotions being repressed, particularly in relation to Vivianne as well as his guilt over his involvement in the mob. If incensed (although it’s difficult to do), it’s possible he can become volatile. ADDICTION: Cigarettes. He can’t quite shake it. DRUG USE: No. Slightly hypocritical, but he considers himself above such vices as recreational drugs. ALCOHOL USE: Everett drinks wine, and will have a scotch or two when out with friends. He does not, however, get tipsy in public. PRONE TO VIOLENCE? No. He hates it.

MANNERISMS

SPEECH STYLE: It depends on the audience, although some (read: Tiberius) have mentioned that poshness practically reeks through his words. In strictly business settings, Everett speaks quite formally in order to adhere to typical negotiation protocol. In others — such as casual business lunches, public appearances, and Capulet dealings — he adopts a more modified version of formality that’s casual enough to not sound stuffy, even if a bit of upper-class still seeps into his tone. Around those he’s comfortable with, Everett’s fond of teasing and can often be seen with a bit of a smirk on his lips. ACCENT: When speaking Italian, Everett has a slight Milanese accent similar to his mother’s (e.g. pronounces z as /s/ instead of /ts/, very quick, precise speech, vowels more at the front of his mouth). He learnt English from his father and speaks with a typical RP accent, although when he gets excited the inflection of his sentences and a few words here and there can seem a bit Italian. In terms of timbre, he’s a baritone. QUIRKS: always takes the stairs two or three steps at a time, absolutely cannot fall asleep with the light on or in a warm room HOBBIES: playing violin, traveling, wine tasting, reading, sparring HABITS: regularly updates a task list on his phone, attends mass once a week, speeding, goes through the rosary once a day NERVOUS TICKS: Virtually imperceptible, as Everett has become quite adept at hiding his emotions. However, he tends to tense his jaw when he’s irritated. MOTIVATIONS: Everett’s primary motivation in his life is his loyalty to his family, specifically his father, Gabriel, and his younger brother Easton. This can be divided into two sub-motivations of healing the rift between Easton and himself and preserving the family legacy, such as C&R’s financial status and the family reputation. Other driving factors include his protective instinct towards close family friends, his religious beliefs, and self-ambition to make his mark in the world. FEARS: Everett’s primary fear is failure: specifically, failure to live up to the standards he’s set for himself. This is an especially powerful source of stress in his life due to the conflict between his moral code and his mob involvement. Other fears include those close to him using him for superficial means and the prospect of a loved one’s safety being compromised. POSITIVE TRAITS: compassionate, perseverant, protective, dutiful, conscientious NEUTRAL TRAITS: loyal, well-bred, in control of emotions, shrewd, hardworking, dry-humored NEGATIVE TRAITS: hypocritical, averse to confrontation, supercilious, repressed SENSE OF HUMOR: A bit dry, mostly. Everett loves a good laugh, even if it’s at his own expense, and is prone to teasing people he’s fond of. DO THEY CURSE OFTEN? Not particularly. His parents taught him that cursing is relegated to those who don’t have a large enough vocabulary to properly express themselves otherwise, so Everett, for the most part, refrains from cursing. Sometimes it’ll slip out, though. CATCHPHRASE: More of a filler word than a catchphrase, but tends to say, “well” at the beginning of sentences.

FAVORITES

ACTIVITY: traveling ANIMAL: wolf BEVERAGE: sangiovese BOOK: John Milton’s Paradise Lost CELEBRITY: his mother COLOR: green DESIGNER: Armani FOOD: pickles FLOWER: lily HOLIDAY: Christmas MODE OF TRANSPORTATION: car MOVIE: 12 Angry Men MUSICAL ARTIST: Count Baise SCENERY: the view from the Conservatory SCENT: bay rum aftershave SPORT: football SPORTS TEAM: Inter Milan WEATHER: sunny with a brisk breeze VACATION DESTINATION: Vienna

ATTITUDES

GREATEST DREAM: At his core, Everett’s main aspirations are more or less the same aspirations he had when he was eighteen: living a life of peace, stability and happiness, having a fulfilling career, and perhaps someday raising a family. GREATEST FEAR: Easton or Catherine dying. Enough said. MOST AT EASE WHEN surrounded by people he trusts and genuinely cares for — this includes Halcyon, Catherine, Mikael, Odin, Maeve, among others. He’s also at ease when he feels as if he’s in control of his life, or in a place where the equilibrium and success he’s built for himself is not threatened. LEAST AT EASE WHEN he’s out of touch with himself or who he wants himself to be, a situation that manifests during late nights at the cathedral. To a lesser degree, Everett also feels as if he’s going mad whenever he’s around Faron. WORST POSSIBLE THING THAT COULD HAPPEN: See Greatest Fear BIGGEST ACHIEVEMENT: Everett is proudest of guiding C&R from a billion-euro company to a multibillion one and proving to the board of directors that he deserved his position as a CEO for reasons more than just his family name. BIGGEST REGRET: The entire situation with Vivianne — including falling in love with her, joining the mob, and making his first kill. If he had the choice, he’d have picked a different spot to study on that fateful September afternoon. MOST EMBARRASSING MOMENT: Realizing Vivianne had lied to him for eight years. On a less emo note, Everett wanted to stab his eyes out after he walked in on Mikael and Grace having sex in his own bedroom. BIGGEST SECRET: He has none. Incidentally, he also doesn’t care at all for the Capulet underboss. TOP PRIORITIES: Protecting his family, maintaining a spotless reputation and securing C&R’s financial situation in that specific order.