#hell prince: devils and realist

[devildomwriter]

Ten Manga I Think They’d Enjoy

Lucifer

He likes manga that reads like classic literature, dark stories, mysteries, psychological stories, and occasionally something sweet or cute

Monster, Devilman, Children of the Sea, A Country Without Humans, Doomsday With My Dog, Island in a Puddle, Erased, For the Kid I Saw In My Dreams, Innocent, Shonen Note

Mammon

He likes stories involving his personal hobbies like working on cars, gambling, etc. he also enjoys funny stories and secretly cute romances or relatable romances

The Brave-Tuber, Call of the Night, Fruits Basket, Life Lessons With Uramichi Oniisan, Initial D, Fairy Tail, Chio’s School Road, Gambling Apocolypse, Kakeguri, Prince Freya

Leviathan

Leviathan loves everything but he’s especially a fan of gaming manga, magical girls, monster girls, isekai, and the classics

That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, Black Butler, Berserk, Darling in the Franxx, Dragon Goes House Hunting, I Want to Be A Wall, The Great Snake’s Bride, Puella Magi Madoka, Sailor Moon, Magical Girl Incident

Satan

Satan loves manga that reads like classical literature but he also loves stories about cats, dark mysteries, psychological stories and ones with characters he finds relatable

Chi’s Sweet Home, Ascendance of a Bookworm, Ex-Yakuza and Stray Kitten, Evil Secret Society of Cats, I Am a Cat Barista, Case Closed, Night of the Living Cat, Natsume’s Book of Friends, Summertime Rendering, The Promised Neverland

Asmodeus

Asmodeus mostly enjoys romance whether it’s cute and fluffy or extremely erotic

Ouran High School Host Club, Lovesick Ellie, Monster Musume, MADK, Yarichin Bitch Club, Cherry Magic!, Dick Fight Island, Sweat and Soap, Shiori’s Diary, Nina the Starry Bride

Beelzebub

Beelzebub is a big fan of manga involving food but he also enjoys a good action adventure and sports manga

Food Wars, Delicious in Dungeon, Farming Life in Another World, Mashle, Sachi’s Monstrous Appetite, Starving Anonymous, Something’s Wrong With Us, Eyeshield 21, Kaiju No 8, Campfire Cooking in Another World With My Absurd Skill

Belphegor

Belphegor likes stories with relatable characters which can be hard to find but he also loves adventures, horror, and Slice of life; he’s a little all over the place

Sleep Princess in the Demon’s Castle, The Girl From the Other-side, Hell’s Paradise, Mieruko-Chan, Tokyo Aliens, Shibuya Goldfish, Non Non Biyori, Kemono Jihen, Beyond the Clouds, Laid Back Camp

Solomon

Solomon loves compelling narratives, dark psychological stories, stories that take a deeper look a humanity and immortality, and one’s that involves demons/angels/sorcerers. He does also love cat books like Satan

Death Note, Creepy Cat, No Longer Human, Devils and Realist, Frieren, Made in Abyss, Mao, Sakamoto Days, A School Frozen in Time, Stein’s Gate, Happiness

Thirteen

Thirteen is a little all over the place, she likes to see what’s popular but she also enjoys slashers, one’s that take a closer look at death and spirits, and dark romance

Elfen Lied, Attack on Titan, Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid, Momo the Blood Taker, Assassination Classroom, Can’t Stop Cursing You, Love of Kill, Angels of Death, Vampire Knight, Toilet Bound Hanako Kun

Simeon

Simeon enjoys reading manga that have some religious aspects, he likes ones about authors since they are relatable, and he enjoys some random ones here and there that are cute or funny. He’s also a sucker for a pure romance

Heaven’s Design Team, Gabriel Dropout, The King’s Beast, Merman in My Tub, My Girlfriend’s Child, A Sign of Affection, Tsubaki Chou Lonely Planet, An Incurable Case of Love, Monthly Girl’s Nozaki Kun, Perfect World

Raphael

Raphael canonically likes coming of age sports dramas. I believe he’s also he amused by one’s involving ant Christian aspects about angels and demons, heaven and hell. He also enjoys one’s that include his hobbies like security, military, and anything to do with fashion

Blue Lock, Haikyu, Blue Exorcist, Vatican Miracle Examiner, Maiden of the Needle, My Dress Up Darling, Not Sew Wicked Step Mother, Witch Hat Atelier, A Bride’s Story, Wind Breaker

Luke

Luke loves to try everything but his books are monitored to make sure he doesn’t stumble upon anything inappropriate for his age ana angel status. He loves ones about food, animals, adventure, and a good slice of life or 4-panel.

Happy Happy Clover, Yuzu the Pet Vet, Yotsuba&!, Sui and Tai-Chan, My Hero Academia, Demon Slayer, Dinosaur Sanctuary, Kitchen Princess, Astro Boy, Naruto

Michael

Michael enjoys funny books, one’s that take a closer look at humanity and war, classical adaptations, and one’s involving angels and demons.

Spy X Family, Maximum Ride, Takane and Hana, Obey Me! The Comic, Mr Villain’s Day Off, Hetalia: Axis Powers, Les Miserables, Apothecary Diaries, Deer King, Yona of the Dawn

Mephistopheles

Mephistopheles likes books that involve history, nobility, prestigious jobs, mystery, and equestrian sports. He also enjoys one’s about demons and servants.

From the Red Fog, Derby Queen, The Elusive Samurai, Imperfect Girl, Peach Boy Riverside, The Splendid Work of the Monster Maid, Tales of the Kingdom, Tokyo Ghoul, Noragami, The Rose of Versailles

Barbatos

Barbatos prefers books that are dark and disturbing as well as insightful books on time, immortality, grief, morality vs law, etc.

Phantom Tales of the Night, My Dear Curse Casting Vampiress, A Silent Voice, Orange, Moriarty the Patriot, Nicola Traveling Around the Demon World, Royal Tutor, Usatoki Rhetoric, The Valiant Must Fall, To Your Eternity

Diavolo

Diavolo absolutely loves cute family manga, funny manga, one’s that involve demons and angels, cute romances, and exciting action and adventure. He isn’t picky and will read anything if it’s been recommended to him.

Wolf Childen, Earthian, The Devil is a Part-Timer, Seraph of the End, Mama Akuma, Little Devils, Cells at Work, Snow White With Red Hair, The Vampire and His Pleasant Companions, Azumanga Diaoh

[ohnoitstbskyen]

So I know you headcanon Nami as a lesbian and Luffy as aroaco (both which is heavily agree with!) What are your romance/sexuality headcanons for the other Strawhats?

Hm. I think Zoro is ace, but not aro, but also the only thing he's really in love with is his dream of fulfilling his promise to Kuina, becoming the greatest swordsman in the world. Once he accomplishes that... well, I am not 100% sure he'll survive accomplishing it, actually, I think the story is signaling pretty hard that his moment of transcendence is going to be connected with the moment of his death (the "King of Hell" thing, all the Buddhism imagery, his tendency to find revelations about swordsmanship on the brink of death) but if he does survive it, that's when maybe romance can become a consideration for him. Maybe. That's when he can figure out who he's even into.

Sanji is extremely romantic - hyperromantic, even - but honestly in a way that's... almost totally disconnected from actual romance? He worships women as divine goddesses and sources of extreme aesthetic and emotional joy for him, but he seems to struggle enormously to actually relate to them a lot of the time. He seems more invested in Being A Gentleman Who Loves Women than he does in... actually being in any sort of a realistic relationship with a woman.

Pudding is the closest he comes to forming an actual romantic relationship, and even then, so much of it is ultimately motivated by his romantic fantasy of Being The Prince, of being the noble, self-sacrificing hero who Saves The Girl, of Being A Good Man. Committing to her is, for him, an act of self-sacrifice, for the sake of his crew, for the sake of his family (Zeff and the Baratie, not the Vinsmokes), and for the sake of her more than it is an earnest desire to build a future with a true partner. He's resigning himself to a life of being her perfect domestic husband servant, in worship and adoration of her, but never in partnership.

In an extremely weird way, the vibe I get from Sanji is he's like a... hyperromantic... aromantic? He's EXTREMELY invested in romantic fantasies, but not so much in the actual day-to-day mundanities of romance, he's in love with the idea of being in love, with the experience of being in love, with the thrill and act and performance of being in love, more than he is in love with any actual person?

Partly this comes down to One Piece just not being a romance story - romance is generally sidelined and elided in most situations, and Sanji's romantic obsessions are played for comedy 99% of the time, they are not taken seriously, so he never has an opportunity to really go through the process of romance as a grounded, flesh-and-blood process, but I can only discuss him as he is presented.

Robin, I think, might be the most straightforward of the crew. I am on board with the Frobin agenda, I think she's probably straight and... if not cis, then about as cis as you can be with a power like the Hana Hana no Mi. And I think she genuinely would be very attracted to a loud, dependable eccentric like Franky, as the other half to her quiet dependable eccentric personality. Especially since he is loudly and obviously an extremely decent man with a heart of gold, and Robin carries so much trauma of being a "devil child," I think she probably needs that kind of uncomplicated light of goodness in her life.

Usopp, again, is probably a fairly straightforward sort. The live action gives him a thing for Kaya, but I could see him being bi or pan, but much like Zoro I don't think he's going to quite have the capacity for Romance™ until he fulfils his dream of becoming a great warrior of the sea (he already has, of course, but he needs to internalize it and realize it within himself). I ONE HUNDRED percent believe he might end up taking a Giant for a spouse.

Franky is... okay this makes no sense whatsoever but I feel that he's gay? But also would fall for Robin? ... but in a gay way???

Look I don't know how that works either, it's a vibe it's a brain feeling it's a wibbly wobbly romance gender sort of situation. Franky is clearly in love with the male body, with masculinity, with maleness, and he especially loves building himself into those images of hypermasculinity, but he does in a way that feels hella queer to me. I don't really think you can be a self-made cyborg building his own body without being some flavor of queer-coded, like, I just don't think that that can be a cishet thing anymore.

He would fall for Robin is my point, in part because they share a knack for creating themselves, in part because Robin would appreciate and need him, in part because she would adore his cybernetic self-creation and find it charming and beautiful, and I think he needs someone who will love his creations (including, y'know, his body) as much as he does.

It's like... y'know how Neo and Trinity in the Matrix are clearly, OBVIOUSLY a t4t couple even though they're both technically cis in the text of the story? It's like that with Frobin for me. Yeah, sure, they're both cis and straight, but also they are trans and gay.

Jinbei I have no idea, actually, he could be into absolutely anything. Kind of a gay bear vibe? That's the best I got. Chopper is a child and I don't think he really has any idea yet either, and Brook... look, I don't think you can be THAT level of flamboyant rockstar and not be some flavor of queer. The Soul King wears Elton John outfits half the time. I don't know that he has a sexuality anymore necessarily (he could be ace, what with the having no carnal flesh and all), but if he's not at least bi romantically then nothing about him makes sense.

[fictionplumis]

Dreamling: Arranged Marriage AU

This idea won't leave me alone until I write it. A Dreamling arranged marriage AU where Night decides her children could stand to be a little closer to mortals lest they end up like their father and completely separated from them, so she decides one of them needs to take on a mortal consort--who would then become immortal, no she does not think this would eventually compromise the integrity of her idea. Ideally, all of them would have a mortal consort, but even she recognizes the problem with that. Destiny doesn't meddle in mortal affairs at all, Death is far too busy, Destruction has been pulling back from his duties and neglecting his realm (he's still there, for now, but they all know he's not really doing anything anymore, they just don't know how to bring it up to him), Desire is far too immature, making a mortal spend eternity with Despair would be cruel, and Delirium would drive her spouse insane.

So it's decided that Dream (this is about Sandman, not the YouTuber, if this post breaks containment PLEASE understand this is about the Sandman NOT the YouTuber) is the only suitable candidate, and the others will just have to experience mortals through their sibling-in-law. Night declares it, says she doesn't care how it's done as long as it's done, the end. 

(I'm sorry all you people that want Night and Time to be good supportive parents, but I read Overture, they fucking suck. Night will not show up to the wedding because she's already written off her children as selfish and ungrateful anyway, this is in part a way to punish them and to punish Dream, and Time finds this ridiculous but knows it will happen, has already happened, is happening, and he doesn't really care.)

Dream hates this. If he had his choice he would pluck the first mortal up, marry them, and promptly forget about them and go back to ruling his realm. That's why his siblings decide that he cannot, under any circumstances, be in charge of this.

Instead they decide on a friendly competition. They will each (all except for Destiny, who already knows the various different outcomes and has decided to observe but not participate) pick a candidate for Dream. The Endless don't really abide by silly things like linear time and whatnot, so it could literally be any mortal they nominate. They will each then devise a trial to test what they each believe to be an important quality necessary to marry Dream of the Endless and become Prince Consort of the Dreaming. All candidates will be put through the tests until there's one remaining. 

(I'm sorry, Calliope will not be in this because I can't think of a realistic way she would be eliminated and she's technically not mortal anyway.)

Death finds her candidate in a dingy tavern on Earth, circa 1389, when she overhears a drunken snippet of conversation. A man boldly claiming she's stupid and he's going to live forever. It's a jest, she knows. He doesn't actually believe he'll live forever, but there is the desire to within him and in thirty seconds he's proven himself a natural storyteller. It's a whim that she approaches him with an amused, "Did I hear that right, you intend to live forever?" 

The table goes silent. Hob's companions are smirking between him and the woman suggestively and Hob waves them off with a laugh. "Aye, that's right." 

"I believe you and I need to talk, then. Somewhere more private." 

There's some immature tutting from his mates, and Hob looks surprised and thrilled all at once, because she's very beautiful though why she's interested in him when her outfit implies she's chaste-- But hell if he's going to pass up the opportunity, so he goes with her, tries to make a move on her the second they're around the corner and she laughs in his face, easily bats him away, and goes, "You're cute, but not my type, Robert Gadling. No, I'm here to offer you a chance at immortality." 

He grows wary at first. Asks if she's the devil, but she just stares at him patiently until he realizes who she is and stumbles back in fear and surprise, only to be laughed at again. Kinder, this time. 

"I'm not here to take you, though..." She eyes the tankard in his hand with raised brows. "It is a shame you didn't lay off the ale sooner." He quickly sets the tankard down and steps away from it. 

The deal is this. He'll be part of a competition, though he won't know it or remember this conversation. Should he win, he'll be immortal. If he loses, he'll be returned to his life right before she approached him, to live out what few hours he has left, never remembering any of this. She leaves out how he'll become immortal, leaves out that he'll end up marrying her sullen little brother and becoming Prince Consort to his realm, but what are the changes he'll win anyway?

Dream is surprised to find that each of his siblings picks someone that does, on some level, appeal to him. He's a romantic at heart, it's hard not to fall a little bit in love with each other of them as he watches how this plays out.

The competition is this: 

Each candidate will live what they perceive to be four lifetimes in a dream. For the most part, they're just going to be jumping from important decision to important decision, with the blanks filled in for them through false memories to make it feel like it's been four lifetimes and not a few days at most. At the end of each lifetime, they'll be asked if they wish to continue living. That is Death's trial, because anyone marrying an Endless must be resilient enough to keep going. 

The first lifetime is Despair's test, in which the candidates discover that they won't age, they won't die, that their life may very well be unending. They lose their families, their friends, and realize that they always will. They don't know if there's any way to opt out or not, so for all they know, one day in the very distance future, they will be the only one left. Despair wants to make sure the idea of Endlessness is not a curse for Dream's spouse to bear, though she herself would thrive off that, personally.

Ironically, it's Despair's candidate, the queen of the first human civilization, that falls to this test. Nada lives the first lifetime without ever knowing true, passionate love. She's pushed into marrying someone who is a good ruler for her people, and when they pass, she marries someone else who is also a good ruler for her people, and she sees that there are those besides herself who have the judgement necessary to rule. She's proud of the city she's created, she's proud of her people, and the idea of eventually watching them die and come to an end as all things do, it kills her inside. It doesn't matter that it might be millennia from now. When a gentle voice asks one day if she wishes to continue living, she contemplates it, contemplates her current husband, closes her eyes, and says, "No. I think it's time for a new queen to rule my people." 

Hob, on the other hand, has spent his lifetime fighting, mostly, a bit of highway robbery when he couldn't find a war. Lots of brothels. He's eaten stuff he shouldn't have, gotten himself mortally injured more than a few times, bounced back from it, and now he's into this printing thing. No guilds to restrict it yet, it pays well, and he's been teaching himself how to read. He's sitting in an inn, drinking ale next to the hearth, no smoke in his eyes, and thinking about swindling the table next to him in a round of cards to pay for some more ale. When the same voices asks him if wishes to keep living, his eyes get bright and he answers, "Oh yes." The thought of what his immortality might mean never really crossed his mind. He lost people, sure, but he would have lost them anyway, and there's always more people to meet. This is amazing. 

The second lifetime is Desire's test. Desire, who actually cares on some level, in their own way, and knows that if their big brother marries an idiot, they'll have to put up with them, so they have to make sure Dream marries someone halfway decent. Someone who might keep him busy. Someone who desires things strongly, but is not so ruled by them that they'll give up their duty to chase distractions, nor will they give up if Dream doesn't desire them the way they wish--which is very likely. In Desire's test, each candidate is given people to love, fully and completely, with all their heart, and are forced to watch that thing die violently and terribly only to be asked right afterwards if they still wish to live. 

Delirium's candidate is Killala of the Glow, who finds out that the beautiful green star of her solar system, which is the cause of her power, is a conscious, living thing. And he loves her. He is everything she ever wanted. With him, her powers grow. She learns to use them better, to get stronger with them, to understand them and herself. It shouldn't have happened so soon, they should have had millennia together, but something happens and he has just enough time to warn her, to explain that he's dying and that she needs to be strong and use her powers to shield her world from him or his death will raze it all to the ground. She doesn't understand how this could happen, she can't concentrate through her grief, her planet is destroyed and as she's floating amongst the burning cold heat of her lover collapsing in on himself, she's asked if she still wishes to live and she says no. 

Hob meets Eleanor, who is charming and funny and matches him wit for wit. She doesn't ask about his past or how he acquired his money. He's never been in love before. He thought he would continue finding his companionship in brothels and had felt perfectly content with that, but now there's her, and he wants so very badly to marry her, to be her escape away from her traditionalist of a father who stifles her wit into silence. So he does. And he has a son, a beautiful baby boy that he promises the world to. Then there's the promise of another child, and he's thrilled. 

He's there in the room, holding Eleanor's hand, terrified when she goes into labor months earlier than planned. She's in so much pain. The baby isn't crying. The midwife is trying desperately to stop the bleeding. The blood is still warm on Hob's skin and clothing as he holds Eleanor's lifeless body and sobs. His son needs a mother. Needs a father but he knows, in that moment, that he will be a useless one to the boy like this. Robyn has his temper, he'll die too young and Hob will have failed him. 

When he's asked if he wishes to keep living, he thinks of how the blood is still warm on his skin, and how ashen Eleanor looks in his arms, and he brushes her hair back from her face and says, brokenly, "Someone has to remember her. She wouldn't... She wouldn't want me to give up, now would she?" 

Delirium knows better than any endless how pain and suffering can break a mind. Dream is the Lord of Nightmares as much as he is the Lord of Dreams. Or maybe she was just feeling particularly sadistic because she doesn't understand why she can't get married, she would love to get married, she could turn her spouse into bubbles and they would look so pretty floating around her realm, or maybe even glitter, or frogs! But no, she's not getting married, Dream is, and Dream is mean sometimes, so maybe she just decides to be mean to whoever he gets to married. It's hard to tell if even she knows her own motivation. 

But the candidates suffer for her trial, pushed to their breaking points and then past them. 

Destruction's candidate has never really known suffering before these trials. Or living, really. See, Destruction hadn't actually gone out to try to find someone for Dream, he had been busy trying to learn how to carve a piece of marble into a shape without reducing it to rubble. Once everyone else had found their candidate, he went to Desire and was like, "Hey, so..." 

Desire sighed, and rolled their eyes, and was like, "Fine, I'll help you. I'll construct a woman to be your candidate. If I don't win, maybe you will." 

Thus Alianora was created. She's strong, smart, and while she can handle loss, she was created to be a lover. To be loved. To be a partner. Under Delirium's trial, she is alone, she suffers alone, no one pays her any mind or they hurt her worse, and she withers. She grows morose, she grows desperate, she grows hysterical in her isolation. She loses her mind. She never does answer the question of whether or not she wishes to keep living. It's questionable if she can answer the question, if she even fully understands it. Unfortunately, there is no coming back from such a thing, even if they fix her mind and these trials became like just a dream to her. There's no place for her to go now that she's lost this trial, no home for her to go back to. She's the only true causality of this game and Dream, aching for her and bitter over Desire's causal indifference, makes a Dreamscape for Alianora to live in where she'll never be alone. It's the least he can do.

Hob goes a touch insane himself, but the cracks in his mind are strategic. Like crumple zones in a car, it's to survive what comes next. He's drowned as a witch. Over and over, rocks tied to his ankles, tossed into the water, and every time he surfaces they catch him and do it all over again. Again and again. Dirty pond water filling his lungs, his chest fit to burst, throat and nose raw from inhaling liquid, skin clammy and near rotten. He lets himself break so that when the moment for real escape presents itself, he's not so gone that he misses the opportunity or that he stupidly cocks it all up. 

He does escape, but he's lost everything in a world where value is determined by wealth. He sleeps on the street, mutters to himself, has arguments with made up people in an attempt to kept his mind sharp and to distract himself from the decades where he starves and starves but never dies, his stomach endlessly digesting itself and he throws up what little bit of scraps he can get his hands on, which just makes it worse. 

When he's asked if he still wishes to live, he tosses his head back and laughs, startling a couple people walking past him on the street, who walk a bit quicker, and he asks, "Are you crazy?" Dream is leaned in where they watch these dreams projected above the family meeting table, and if one paid attention they might see that his eyes were rimmed red, thinking that Delirium's trial would claim another. At least he could be fixed, and would soon after go to the Sunless Lands to live in peace. He deserved that. They all did. 

"Death is a mug's game! I have so much left to live for!" 

And now there are two left to face down Destruction's trial. 

Destruction may not have put effort into finding a suitable candidate, but he did devise a good trial. While his brother did need someone strong and resilient, they had to be what Dream lacked as well. They needed to be flexible. They needed to learn and grow from their mistakes. They needed to have compassion. All of these things to teach Dream the same, to encourage these things during the moments that Dream lacks them. His trial isn't about pushing the candidates into choosing Death, there's a very clear answer to his and if the candidate does not find it, they fail, whether they want to continue living or not. 

Desire's candidate has yet to break. She has no intention of dying. She's more than willing to let go of what she desires if it means furthering her ambitions. Suffering doesn't break her, it only pisses her off. Dream isn't sure what to think of this woman. He doesn't really like her on a personal level, she would be nothing but trouble actually, but there is a certain appeal to her. He would never have to worry about hurting her unintentionally, at least. But she's greedy and she doesn't care who she hurts to get her way. And when Destruction's test rewrites her memories to have it where her immortality is granted to her through the blood of other witches, of her sisters, killed by her and sacrificed to the Hecate, the Three-in-One, the One Who is Three, and that more will die by her hands to keep living, she feels a twinge of grief and guilt. 

So Thessaly simply decides to not think about it. She misses them, but it's just proof that she was stronger than them. Smarter than them. That she deserved to be here instead of dying out with them. And if she's able to continue making these sacrifices, if no one is able to stop her, then clearly it's just more proof she deserves this. 

She fails, and no amount of Desire calling bullshit on Destruction's verdict changes his mind. 

Hob, meanwhile, has rebuilt his life. His fortune. He's living well again, he's at no risk of starving, no need to fight in anymore wars because he has pockets of money all across the world he can run off to at the first sign of trouble. He has connections and a successful business. 

He's talking with someone about said business only to have them eye him judgmentally. He's told, "It is a poor thing to enslave another." 

He's a bit rankled at being called out on it. He shrugs, says that's just how it's done, because it is. It is. And at first it looks like he's going to fail too and this whole venture will have to be start all over, new candidates found, but as they watch him, the words aren't easily pushed from his mind. He dwells on them. He starts going through charters and logs. He gets restless sitting at home, surrounded by his newly regained wealth. He starts contacting his ships, digging into their practices that's never really taken the time to learn the specifics of before. A captain offers to let Hob sail a round with him so he could show off how safe the investment is, fearing that perhaps Hob is only questioning because he's afraid of potential repercussions.

He's shown how people are collected. Chained together. The conditions they're kept in on ship, the treatment the sailors give them. The captain explains that if they're pursued, it's easy enough to dump the cargo into the ocean, the chains ensure they all sink, no one is the wiser. 

They don't leave port until everyone is loaded off the ship, and Hob demands they go straight back to England. He contacts every ship in his business and puts a stop to it. Cuts every shipping tie he has and when captains tell him he'll never make another quid, he tells him them he doesn't care, it's not worth it. The guilt still eats at him. It's not enough to make him forget the imagined faces of all the lives he's destroyed, drowning the same way he had, again and again, or resigned to a fate worse than death in most cases. He drinks himself into a stupor most nights. 

He's drunk when he's asked if he still wishes to live. It's not the kind, understanding woman's voice that usually asks. It's a man's, soft and deep, curious, and Hob swirls his glass of brandy, contemplating whether he deserves to or not when he was responsible for the death of so many innocents. They weren't killed in a fight, they didn't have anything worth taking from them, it was just cruelty against helpless people. He swings back the rest of his drink and mutters, bitterly, "History has a way of erasing these things, doesn't it? It forgets what it doesn't want to remember. Someone needs to remember. Someone needs to remind people of this. It won't ever be enough to make up for what I've allowed, but this is something I must live with. To die now and let the world forget would make me a coward shirking responsibility for myself." 

Just like that, he's sober again and standing in a room that's a mix of the time periods he lived through in his dream. It's warm, inviting. There's a four poster bed, a large hearth with piles of comfortable pillows in front of it. An oak wardrobe simply carved but beautiful. Rugs over stone floors. There's a large balcony that lets in plenty of natural light, and it overlooks fantastical mountains in the distance, and a harbor filled with ships of every kind, and sea serpents lazily winding their way through them. Hob had never given much thought to what his perfect room would look like, but he knows he's standing in it. 

The dream he lived through feels like a dream, it's hazy and indistinct, disconnected from the emotions that he once felt were so real and consumed by. But he's not the same man he was when it started. He's retained the lessons learned about living, about compassion, he's more mature, he still remembers how to read. It's all still there, but the loss and grief and guilt are distant now, more like a story he read than a life he lived. 

And Death is there with him, dressed in black jeans and a tank top, smiling proudly at him. He suddenly remembers the competition and has a brief moment of panic, blurts out, "Oh god, I lost and drunk myself to death and this is heaven--" 

"No, you won, Hob!"

"What?"

"You won!" And then she has to explain that while yes, he technically will be immortal, it's only because he now has to marry her little brother. They move out to the balcony and she explains that they're in the Dreaming and what that means while Hob looks around in awe. "He's not bad, my brother," she assures. "He's a bit distant, mostly. A stickler for his rules. He's prideful and can have quite temper if you insult that. It's wise to remember that he rules dreams and nightmares here. But at worst, he'll probably go back to his work and forget you exist, and you'll have the whole of his realm to explore. Unfortunately, you can't back out now." 

"Oh, I wouldn't if I could," Hob assures quickly, waving the concern off. "Marrying a nightmare sure beats rotting to maggots in the ground. I'll take it. What's expected of me?" 

She tells him that he probably won't have any actual duties, and Prince Consort will more than likely just be a title. Theoretically, Hob could hold sway over the Dreaming nearly as much as Dream did, but that required getting close to Dream. "Consummating your marriage," she tactfully puts it. "Each time you got closer to my brother, each time he lets you closer and as his trust and care grows, you would find the Dreaming responding easier and easier to you. The Dreaming is an extension of him, after all. And it's better that way, because you're immortal but still human, and suddenly having awareness of this would be way too much to pile on your mind all at once. But I doubt you'll have to worry about it. My brother seems curious about you but he's stubborn and easily distracted."

The wedding happens that night. 

Hob hasn't met his betrothed yet. 

Death dresses him in a stunning white suit with gold accents. His cravat is the finest woven white silk, embroidered in gold. He has a halo of gold light. There's a bloody cape. It drapes like heavy velvet but it's light and sheer and glitters like stars. He's a nervous wreck and she laughs gently and assures him that he'll know what to do when the time comes. 

Everything that dreams attends the wedding. It shouldn't have been possible to fit so many people in a room, but they're there. It should have taken years for Hob to walk down the aisle to the staircase to the raised dais and the throne, but it was a short walk and the whole time Hob can do nothing but stare at the man standing in front of the throne who has his chin raised, his dark eyes a host of starlight. He does seem vaguely curious. And haughty. And prideful. And beautiful. He's dressed in a similar suit of black, his sheer cape swirling with galaxies and nebula, and there's a sword of obsidian glass in his hands, the point resting gently against the stone floor. 

Hob knows intuitively to kneel the second he ascends the last stair, but he can't quite manage to duck his head like he knows is proper because he can't look away from this creature. Thankfully it produces something startlingly close to amusement in his betrothed. 

"Robert Gadling," he murmurs, his voice soft but carrying, the same one that had last asked him if he wished to live. He holds out his hand, a ruby ring already on his finger. "Swear your fealty to me." And then lower, softer, just between the two of them, "Do not be nervous, the words will come." 

And they do. A bit breathless, but they come after Hob reaches for the hand and presses his lips to the ring, his eyes still on the entity soon to be his husband in what has to be the weird marriage ritual of all time. "I swear my undying fealty to you, Morpheus, Lord of the Dreaming, Ruler of the Nightmare Realms, Prince of Stories and Shaper of Form. I swear to reside at your side, to give my loyalty to you and this Realm first and foremost, and to never raise a hand or support any threat to the denizens here. I am yours, Dream of the Endless." The words tighten through his chest like a binding and good lord, there's the smallest little smile on the Lord's face and he doesn't have a halo but the way the light from the stained glass windows behind him shines, it looks like he does and it's beautiful. 

Dream takes back his hand. He raises his sword and taps both of Hob's shoulders. At the second one, Hob feels the weight of a ring on his own finger. "Arise, Prince Consort of the Dreaming." 

Most people leave after that, they wake up and go about their lives, knowing something changed but not sure what. Some stay, and there's some mingling, and a reception dinner, and Hob barely gets a second to say two words to his husband. He's introduced to family, to Titania and motherfucking Lucifer. A librarian gives him her congratulations, a scarecrow with a pumpkin heads does so with a bit more reluctance and wariness, a raven with a white breast chats with him. She explains that she retired not too long ago, and nods towards a larger raven currently trying to figure out how to get his head into a champagne glass, explaining that he's her replacement. Despite how stupid he looks, she assures Hob that he's a good raven. 

There's a murder at one point. A man is stabbed through the eye with a serving fork. Some blond man in sunglasses looks intrigued by the turn of events, but he's the only one that bothers to react. The murderer tells him not to fucking try it, and then drags the body off. His husband merely tells him that it's normal and fine and that's pretty much the most he says aside from introducing Hob to people and staring at him from the corner of his black eyes. It's a whirlwind night and Hob ends it champagne drunk and passed out alone in his bed in his private quarters, not realizing until morning that he doesn't even know how to find his way around, let alone where the fuck his husband's room is. 

But when he stares at the ruby on his ring in the morning, he knows that he won't stop trying to woo his husband until they are properly, happily married, because one glimpse and Hob Gadling or whatever his surname was now, was most definitely head over heels in love. And thus begins the long and arduous process of courting his husband, the most stubborn man in existence, who is terrified of falling of in love and potentially being too much and would just rather keep his distance thank you very much. He makes it hard for Hob, until Hob remembers Death explaining that the Dreaming was an extension of him. If getting closer to Dream makes him closer to the Dreaming, maybe getting closer to the Dreaming will make him closer to Dream? It's worth a shot.

At the very least, Dream definitely takes note of the way everyone in his realm seems to be so smitten with his Prince Consort all of the sudden.

And that's it, that's all I have. I'm yeeting this out there to get it out of my head and now that you have it, you're free to do whatever you want with it. Change it up, write it, draw it, whatever, I don't care, you can have it now, just tell me if you do something with it because I wanna see okay thanks byee.

[queer-book-character-tournament]

Quality Control Time

okay everyone: realistically despite having read some since last tournament I can't have read all of these books as I am one person running a blog for funnies

so I'm posting a list after I've gone through the submissions and I'm counting on you guys to tell me if any of these submissions don't count (or if someone typoed something in the submission I didn't catch)

that said here are your (tentative) competitors:

Rune Saint-John- The Tarot Sequence by KD Edwards

Quinn Saint Nicholas- The Tarot Sequence by KD Edwards

Layne Dawncreek- The Hourglass Throne by KD Edwards

Silas Bell- The Spirit Bares it's Teeth by Andrew Joseph White 

Daphne Luckenbill- The Spirit Bares it's Teeth  by Andrew Joseph White 

Benjamin/Benji Woodside- Hell Followed with us by Andrew Joseph White 

Sideways Pike- The Spacegracers by HA Clarke

Tayend of Tremmelin- Magician’s Guild series (The Novice, The High Lord) by Trudi Canavan

Gideon Nav- The Locked Tomb by Tamsyn Muir

Ianthe Tridenarius, Ianthe the First- The Locked Tomb by Tamsyn Muir

Harrowhark Nonagesimus- The Locked Tomb by Tamsyn Muir

Dekka- Gone series by Michael Grant

Therem Harth rem ir Estraven- The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin

Seregil í Korit Solun Meringil Bôkthersa- Luck in the shadows/the nightrunner series by Lynn Fleweling

Victor Vale- Vicious by VE Schwab

Alucard Emery- Shades of Magic series by VE Schwab

Rhy Maresh- Shades of Magic series by VE Schwab

Elliot Schafer- In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan

Sebastian Black- The Sacred Sins of Father Black by St John Starling

Father Victor Ardelian- What Manner of Man by St John Starling

Wenren È- Devil Venerable Also Wants To Know by Cyan Wings

Zhu Chongba- She Who Became The Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan

Ouyang- She Who Became The Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan

Giovanni- Giovanni's room by James Baldwin

David- Giovanni's room by James Baldwin

Danny Tozer- Dreadnought by April Daniels

Magnus Bane- The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare

Alec Lightwood- The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare

Thomas Lightwood- The Last Hours by Cassandra Clare

Alastair Carstairs- The Last Hours by Cassandra Clare

Alex Fierro-Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard series by Rick Riordan

Magnus Chase- Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard series by Rick Riordan

Nico di Angelo- The Sun and the Star by Rick Riordan

Frances Janvier- Radio Silence by Alice Oseman

Nick Nelson- Heartstopper by Alice Oseman

Charlie Spring- Heartstopper by Alice Oseman

Tori Spring- Solitaire by Alice Oseman

Gwen (Princess Gwendoline)- Gwen and Art Are Not in Love by Lex Croucher

Jack Alston/Lord Hawthorn- The Last Binding Trilogy by Freya Marske

Maud Blyth- The Last Binding Trilogy by Freya Marske

Robin Blyth- A Marvelous Light by Freya Marske

Silariathas “Silas”- Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson

Nathaniel Thorn- Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson

Ballister Blackheart- Nimona by N.D. Stevenson

Ambrosius Goldenloin- Nimona by N.D. Stevenson 

Neil Josten- All for the game by Nora Sakavic

Andrew Minyard- All for the game by Nora Sakavic

Nicky Hemick- All for the game by Nora Sakavic

Xie Lian- Heaven Official's Blessing / Tian Guan Ci Fu by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu / mxtx 

San Lang/ Hua Cheng- Heaven Official's Blessing / Tian Guan Ci Fu by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu / mxtx 

Luo Binghe- The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu / mxtx

Shen Qingqiu- The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu / mxtx

Lan Wangji/ Lan Zhan/ Han Guang Jun- Mo Dao Zu Shi (The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu / mxtx

Wei WuXian/ Wei Ying/ Yiling Patriarch- Mo Dao Zu Shi (The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu / mxtx

Kelly Bennett- Heartsong by TJ Klune

Linus Baker- The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

Arthur Parnassus- The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

Laurent- Captive Prince by C.S. Pacat

Damianos (Damen)- Captive Prince by C.S. Pacat

Will Kempen- Dark Rise Series by C.S. Pacat

Sarcean- Dark Rise Series by C.S. Pacat

James St. Clair- Dark Rise Series by C.S. Pacat

Ronan Lynch- The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater

Adam Parrish- The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater

Loki- Loki- Where Mischief Lies by Mackenzi Lee

Theo Bell- Where Mischief Lies by Mackenzi Lee

Daniela- We Set the Dark on Fire by Tehlor Kay Mejia

Carmen- We Set the Dark on Fire by Tehlor Kay Mejia

Seonid Traighan Sedai- Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan

Siuan Sanche Sedai- Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan

Shallan Davar- The Stormlight Archive series by Brandon Sanderson

Jasnah Kholin- The Stormlight Archive series by Brandon Sanderson 

Jesper Fahey- Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Wylan van Eck- Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Nina Zenik- Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Evelyn Hugo- The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Moiraine Damodred Sedai- The Wheel of Time Series by Robert Jordan 

Yan Wushi- 千秋 /Thousand Autumns/Qian Qu by Meng Xi Shi

Shen Qiao- 千秋/Qian Qiu/Thousand Autumn by Meng Xi Shi

Alex Claremont-Diaz- Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor- Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

Biyu "Jane" Su- One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston

August Landry- One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston

Jolene Whitaker- Stars Still Fall by Jules Kelley

Jude St. Francis- A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

Francis Abernathy- The Secret History by Donna Tartt

Ishita Dey- Hani and Ishu's Guide to Fake Dating by Adiba Jaigirdar

Carmilla Karnstein- Carmilla by J Sheridan le Fanu

Murderbot- The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells

Shuos Jedao- Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee

Achilles- Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller 

Patroclus- Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller 

Yin Hanjiang- Devil Venerable Also Wants To Know by Cyan Wings

Daja Kisubo- The Circle of Magic series, The Circle Opens series, The Will of the Empress by Tamora Pierce

Simon Torquill- October Daye Series by Seanan McGuire

Kade Bronson- Wayward Children Series by Seanan McGuire

Jack Wolcott- Wayward Children Series by Seanan McGuire

Sundew- Wings of Fire by Tui T Sutherland

Zanja Na'Tarwein- The Elemental Logic Series by Laurie J. Marks

Karis G'deon- The Elemental Logic series by Laurie J. Marks

Thaniel Steepleton- The Watchmaker of Filigree Street, The Lost Future of Pepperharrow by Natasha Pulley

Raff Barden- One Night in Hartswood by Emma Denny

Penn de Foucart- One Night in Hartswood by Emma Denny

Alec Campion- Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner

Richard St Vier- Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner

Nico Ferrer De Varona- The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake

Parisa Kamali- The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake

Sam Black Crow- American Gods by Neil Gaiman

Salim- American Gods by Neil Gaiman

Hunter- Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

Islington- Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

Tsukiko- The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Zachary Ezra Rawlins- The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

Dorian- The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

Katrina- The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

Katherine- The Privilege of the Sword by Ellen Kushner

Geraldine- Christabel by Samuel Coleridge 

Priya- The Jasmine Throne/The Oleander Sword by Tasha Suri

Malini- The Jasmine Throne/The Oleander Sword by Tasha Suri

Henry Gaunt- In Memoriam by Alice Winn

Sidney Ellwood - In Memoriam by Alice Winn

Benji Ovich- Beartown by Frederik Backman

Renly Baratheon- A Song of Ice and Fire (ASOIAF) by George R.R. Martin

Loras Tyrell- A Song of Ice and Fire (ASOIAF) by George R.R. Martin

Oberyn Martell- A Song of Ice and Fire (ASOIAF) by George R.R. Martin

Ellaria Sand- A Song of Ice and Fire (ASOIAF) by George R.R. Martin

Ead Duryan- The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

Thara Celehar- The Witness for the Dead by Katherine Addison

Iäna Pel-Thenhior- The Witness for the Dead by Katherine Addison

Vanyel Ashkevron- The Last Herald-Mage Series (Magic's Pawn, Magic's Price, Magic's Promise) by Mercedes Lackey

Galen- Paladin's Hope by T. Kingfisher 

Doctor Piper- Paladin's Hope by T. Kingfisher 

Eliot Waugh- The Magicians by Lev Grossman

Simon Spier- Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

Bram Greenfield- Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

Leah Burke- Leah on the Offbeat by Becky Albertalli

Abby Suso- Leah on the Offbeat by Becky Albertalli

Jay Gatsby- Self-Made Boys by Anna-Marie Mclemore

Harold Hutchins- Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey

Eric "Bitty" Bittle- Check, Please! By Ngozi Ukazu 

Jack Zimmermann- Check, Please! By Ngozi Ukazu 

Ollie O'Meara- Check, Please! By Ngozi Ukazu

Pacer Wicks- Check, Please! By Ngozi Ukazu

Maurice Hall- Maurice by E.M. Forster 

Alec Scudder- Maurice by E.M. Forster 

Clive Durham- Maurice by E.M. Forster 

Cal Stephanides- Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

Therese Belivet- Carol or The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith 

Carol Aird- Carol or The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith 

Baz Pitch- Carry On Series by Rainbow Rowell

Tennalhin (Tennal) Halkana- Ocean's Echo by Everina Maxwell

Evander (Andy) Mills- Lavendar House by Lev Ac Rosen

Kaiiestron (Kai) l, Prince of the Fourth House of the Underearth- Witch King by Martha Wells

Max Owen- Magical Boy by The Kao

Remy Pendergast- Silver Under Nightfall by Rin Chupeco

Ben De Backer- I Wish You All The Best by Mason Deaver

Nathan Allan- I Wish You All The Best by Mason Deaver

Genevieve Lefoux- The Parasol Protectorate series by Gail Carriger

Maddie Morrow- Havenfall by Sara Holland

Catherine St. Day- The Lady's Guide to Celestial Mechanics by Olivia Waite

Lucy Muchelney- The Lady's Guide to Celestial Mechanics by Olivia Waite

Fetter- The Saint of Bright Doors by Vajra Chandrasekera

Leonie Jackman- Her Majesty's Royal Coven by Juno Dawson

Red- This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone 

Blue- This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone 

Rose- Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle

Li Shimin- Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

Cliopher Mdang- The Hands of the Emperor by Victoria Goddard

Lily Hu- Last Night At The Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo

Patrick O’Hara- The Guncle by Steven Rowley

Ambrose Cusk- The Darkness Outside Us by Eliot Schrefer

Kodiak Celius- The Darkness Outside Us by Eliot Schrefer

[katboykirby]

That satan + princely mc has been living in my mind rent-free since you posted it. One concept I really love is it being a gradual thing rather than immediate grand gestures. A held door here, helping him carry his books there, subtly walking on the part of the sidewalk closer to the road when walking back from RAD together, whatever. So at first Satan doesn't even really notice. Until one day he's reading some romance novel or more realistically a bodice ripper tbh and suddenly windows bluescreens when he realizes he's imagining MC as the knight in shining armour rather than the other way around and when did that happen??

Oh, yeah, 100% you're right. In fact, I don't believe that MC would be likely to even initiate these kinds of gestures at all in the beginning.

You're still so brand new to the Devildom, see, and you're very aware of your current position - one lone human, among Hell's most powerful devils. You're not naive enough to act as if you're invulnerable, so for the first few days and weeks you take care not to draw any negative attention to yourself. You aren't cold, of course, and you still act politely to your new housemates, as that's just what comes naturally to you.

Once more time has passed and you've grown more used to things, and once you've gotten to know your demon friends a little better, that's when you start to feel a bit more comfortable. You no longer fear for your life at every turn, and the brothers aren't as intimidating or mean as they once were. Once you've been in the Devildom for a while, that's when more of your genuine personality would start to shine through.

Satan had respected you fairly enough so far, even if he wasn't as outwardly friendly with you as some of his brothers. He usually keeps himself neutral about a person until they prove themselves to be worth his time or not. And he appreciated how you didn't constantly make a fuss over nothing or cause trouble all the time, like Mammon or Levi often would. He also took note of the way you held yourself with dignity, despite being a lamb amongst wolves. He considered you respectable enough, particularly for a human.

But of course, the longer you lived together under the same roof and the more you became used to one another, the closer you became - especially after that whole debacle with the cursed tome, and after you helped him get his own body back.

He doesn't even notice the little things, at first. And he's a bit embarrassed that it took him this long to see the real you.

It was around the time that he made a pact with you that he started to notice the aspects of your personality that you'd kept hidden before. You started opening doors for him, started pulling out his chair for him, started greeting him in the mornings with a slight bow of your head. Satan liked this side of you, and he was grateful that you liked him enough in return to allow him to see it.

He enjoyed the way you would walk at his side whenever you were both on your way to or from RAD, almost like you were the one escorting him. Eventually you started to offer him your arm whenever you both were out together, and he'd simply be rude not to take it!

It didn't really hit him until the first time you kissed the back of his hand to bid him goodnight, your lips so soft and tender on his skin. It had him up till practically morningtime, tossing and turning in his bed while plagued by thoughts of you.

It all falls into place one afternoon while he casually peruses a few books from the library. It's when he's in the middle of reading a classic Devildom fantasy story that it sort of finally clicks for him - your behaviour was so welcome, so comforting, so familiar to him, because he recognised many of your gestures from his romance stories. He realised that he had been picturing you in the position of the charming prince, rather than the other way around!

Naturally this flusters him, and Satan quickly snaps the book in his hands tightly shut.

Oh, no...oh, no...

You're his Prince Charming, you're his Knight in Shining Armour -

And as much as he blushes at this fact, Satan has to admit to himself that he likes it. Really, he couldn't imagine you any other way ♡

[dross-the-fish]

What animal do you think the devil would be in your AU? Would he even be a realistic animal or would he be more of a mythical one?

Probably something mythical, maybe a unicorn, gryphon or manticor depending on the devil. I don't have one particular devil, hell has a number of princes, each corresponding with a particular plane. Whichever devil is the biggest baddie really just depends on player choices made during the campaign.

[devilisaloser]

Philip smiled brightly at the compliment and lifted his hand to fist-bump him in return. Maybe this wasn't much, but Damien clearly had an influence on Pip; often leading him to causing mischief just like the Devil Prince did. This, staying at the library? That was his favourite kind. Nothing too evil, nothing that dangerous, yet still mischievous and fun. Not to mention he would get to spend the time alone with Damien, which was definitely worth it.

"Oh dear, that sounds like a lot of fun!" he exclaimed in a hushed voice, taking a spot next to Damien, hiding together. "I definitely want to watch some movies! Did you have anything in mind?" he asked, staring at him. Maybe being evil wasn't in his style, but it felt different with Damien in the picture. There's the awe in his gaze as he stares at him, impressed and ready to follow him through the plan. Maybe he was a little too excited about the whole idea because as he listened to Damien's plans, his wings, horns, and tail popped out. He was unable to hold them back, but he didn't mind and didn't even notice at first. Not until his tail brushed against Damien as he waved it.

There's no time to comment on that when Damien warns him about the librarian. Pip moves to duck even lower, hiding behind Damien slightly, looking up curiously. It might be one of the wildest things he had done in a while, which likely says a lot about the scales of what he considers 'wild'. He waited until the steps went further towards the door, peeking slightly to watch as the librarian left the room and locked it, unknowingly trapping Pip and Damien inside.

Of course, that's exactly how it was supposed to be. Pip chuckled and turned to look at Damien. "What do you want to do first." @pips-cup-of-tea

---

Damien was sure that they had been caught by the look on the librarian’s face. Her nose was scrunched and her eyebrows were raised as if she had smelled something terrible and she was looking right at them! That was when she snatched a half eaten bag of chips off of the nearest study table, tossed it into one of the little trash cans, and turned to leave. They had been spared by the perfect distraction in the form of a bag of off brand cheesy poofs! Even with Pip’s wings hovering right up to the third row up of books on the shelf they were hiding behind for a moment, the librarian hadn’t seen a thing! After the sound of the doors locking echoed off the walls, Damien felt his shoulders lower: they did it! A couple of years ago, this would have been a nightmare of Damien’s; he hated it when Satan would tell him that he had a fun night planned for the two of them, and half of the time, that night would be a night in Satan’s library in Hell; if Damien had to hear one more love poem, even if it included blood, horror, zombies, and all of that cool stuff, it would be his true villain origin story. Now, though? He and Pip had a movie night of blood, horror, and zombies ahead of them, but without all of the rhyming sentences and cheesy declarations of love! That, and, he guessed that Pip could make some suggestions, too. It was only fair.

“So, I was thinking, we could start with the new ‘Nuns in Alabama’ or we could go with the classic ‘Lint Man’,” he flipped through a couple of DVDs in his hands, “It’s about a guy who leaves lint as evidence after he takes over space stations on Mars,” he summarized, skimming over the description on the back of the case. “That’s not even realistic. Wouldn’t the lint just float away in space?” With that, Damien tossed the case over his shoulder and it bounced twice on the ground before skidding to a stop in the next aisle down.

“There’s ‘The Forgotten Lasagna’. Looks pretty good,” he handed the beat up case to Pip with a picture of a piece of Lasagna with a pair of robot arms and legs on it. The background was of tall walls of fire, a detail that had caught Damien’s eye when he was pulling a ton of DVDs off of the shelves earlier that night. “Unless you want to do something else? Uncap all of the dry erase markers? Circle all of the Waldos in the Where’s Waldo? books? Boot up the computers and play some games?”

[engshoujosei]

Devils and Realist

15 volumes

Licensed by Seven Seas

Devils and Realist is an all-new supernatural manga series that pits a young, suave nobleman against Hell's princely demons.

After the failure of his uncle's business, the brilliant realist William Twining finds himself penniless. To make matters worse, demons appear before him, insisting he has the power to appoint the next King of Hell! The demons offer to pay his school tuition in exchange for his help. While his principles as a staunch realist prevent him from believing in them, how can William resist such a generous offer?   

Anime Start/End Chapter

Starts at Vol 1, Chap 1 Ends at Vol 5, Chap 29

Status in Country of Origin

15 Volumes (Complete)

Tags:

Adapted to Anime

All-Boys School

Angel/s

Angst

Betrayal

BL Subtext

Bookworm/s

Boys' Love as a Subplot

Catholic School

Comedic Moments in a Serious Manga

Conflicting Loyalties

Contract/s

Dark Ambience

Death of Loved One/s

Demon Lord/King

Destiny

European Ambience

Fallen Nobility

Hidden Past

Important Non-Romantic Relationship/s

Loyalty

Magic

Past Plays a Big Role

Possession

Priest/s

Reincarnation

Ritual/s

Second Chances

Secret Ability

Secret Identity

Smart Male Lead

Suffering

Trust

Unconditional Love

Victorian Era

[daughter-of-melpomene]

Please tell me about your Hazbin Hotel ocs 👀

Um, gladly?? Thank you so much for asking about them!!

So, I have three OCs, and I’ll start with Samuel, who mainly goes by Sam. They’re a fallen angel, a former exorcist-in-training who fell after they began to learn more about Lucifer’s ideas for humanity and agreeing with his and Lilith’s ideology, finally getting kicked out after they threatened Sera to either stop the exterminations or they would make sure all of Heaven knew. They actually met Lucifer and entered into a relationship with him after falling, since he and Lilith were on a bit of a break, but Lucifer eventually left without any warning and then they didn’t see him again until Lilith disappeared and Lucifer contacted them out of the blue to ask if they would be willing to keep an eye on Charlie and protect her. Originally they were furious about the very notion of the request (even if they wound up doing it anyway, because they never really stopped loving Lucifer), but they eventually came to see Charlie as a daughter themself and would do anything to protect her (as well as Vaggie, because as a fellow fallen angel they basically see her as a little sister). They’re very committed to helping Charlie with the hotel but don’t trust Alastor one damn bit, so they do their best not to leave him alone with Charlie, and even though they don’t really drink they become sort-of friends with Husker, and Angel once he gives up flirting with them. They’re a Lucifer ship, since ultimately the two of them decide to work on reconciling when Lucifer shows up to help Charlie and they’ve never really stopped loving each other, and they’re voiced by Okieriete Onaodowan.

Next is Jane Doe, my Husk ship, voiced by Eva Noblezada! She’s kind of based off of the Jane Doe character from the musical Ride the Cyclone, in that she died from being decapitated, showed up in Hell with her head sewn back onto her body, and can’t remember her real name or anything about her life from when she was alive, including why she’s in Hell in the first place (though it’s later revealed that it was because she killed her abusive boyfriend and was found standing over his body by one of his friends, who then killed her). She’s the hotel’s second resident after Angel, because despite not being able to remember why she’s even in Hell she still wants to get into Heaven, even though that’s obviously going to be a challenge due to her situation. She’s very shy and nervous and a bit awkward, and due to her head not really being attached she often suffers from memory lapses, forgetting where her room in the hotel is or trailing off in the middle of a sentence because she’s forgets what she’s going to say, but the others are all very supportive and there to help her through it. One thing that she does know is that she really likes cocktails, though she doesn’t know if it’s leftover from her life or not, and since Husk makes amazing ones she spends a lot of time at the hotel bar sipping on one and talking to him. Obviously they’re very opposites attract in a lot of ways, but they’re super cute when they do get together. (Oh, and she’s also a doe demon, like with deer legs and a little tail and fawn freckles on her face and everything, because I couldn’t resist.)

And lastly, we have my beloved he/they prince Nick Morningstar, an Angel Dust ship, voiced by Ben Platt! (And named after Nick Scratch, one of many nicknames for the devil, obviously.) He’s Charlie’s twin sibling, and definitely the more sensible and realistic one out of the two of them, always worrying about her trusting nature and doing their best to keep her out of the trouble it might get her into (he and Vaggie are the Charlie Morningstar Protection Squad), but they also support her unconditionally and will go along with any and all of her schemes and even volunteers to be in charge of the hotel’s finances once it’s up and running again after the battle with Heaven. He’s also had kind of a celebrity crush on Angel for a while now, but slowly comes to know him better as an actual person while he’s staying at the hotel and promptly makes their crush even worse. (He is definitely planning to either kill Valentino or trick him into giving up Angel’s contract so they can rip it up.) He’s also kind of a loser compared to Charlie - they aren’t half as social or even likeable since he’s kind of a wet cat, their proper demon form isn’t even as powerful as hers - but we love him anyway (and so does Angel, eventually).

Again, thank you so so much for asking about them!! It means a lot, and I’m definitely looking forward to posting more about them, and seeing more about your girl Frannie too!! <3

[shslcheshirecat]

Give it up for day 16383819191 of manifesting a makai ouji anime/adaptation that covers the manga from beginning to end

[nyctopheliiac]

‘ now is not the time to be carelessly moving. above the ground, the executioners of god - the four horsemen, are moving. the four horsemen are knights directly under god and are executioners for the adjustment of population. with them moving, we are unable to do anything. it would mean going against our father’s rule. ’

makai ouji: devils and realist pillar 76

[joshualhuntington]

[the-jam-breeze]

I am screaming

[selfdestructivecat]

My son Roman for the ask game. -👑👿

Our wonderful prince!!! It would be an honor!

Realistic Headcanon: Out of all of the sides, he has the most control over creating and summoning. This includes the Imagination (which is fanon, of course, but which I associate with all of my Sanders Sides hcs) as well as the rest of the Mindscape. While the other sides can summon their own possessions, shapeshift, and create a few things related to their function (Patton can create stuffed animals, Logan can create school supplies, etc.), Roman’s power is nearly limitless.

The only limit on his power is that he has to be inspired. For example, if there’s a fire, he may not be able to create a fire extinguisher if he’s panicking or even just facing a creative block. This can also be affected by the object’s appearance. For example, he may have an easier time creating a fire extinguisher if it’s covered in sequins and decorated in all the colors of the rainbow, rather than just creating a regular old fire extinguisher.

The only reason Remus doesn’t have this kind of power is because c!Thomas restricts him. If he were given as much influence as Roman, then he would be just as powerful and have the same limitations.

(More Headcanons Below!)

Unrealistic (but hilarious) Headcanon: When it comes to make-up, he’s the best out of all the sides… except for Virgil, who spends much more time on his gloomy emo look than you would think. There’s even a contest at one point where Roman and Virgil compete to see who’s better at doing makeup, with Virgil securing a narrow victory. And Roman may be miffed, sure, but he’s also very impressed, and eventually asks Virgil to teach him. It’s still one of their favorite bonding activities.

Heart-Crushing and Awful Headcanon: You’ve heard about Spider!Virgil and Frog!Patton, now get ready for…

Dragon!Roman!

God, I ADORE this headcanon! He transforms into the very thing he’s meant to destroy. After all, he’s a prince, and all princes are supposed to slay dragons to save the princess. But how can he do that when he’s the monster?

Like the others, this form is typically triggered when he’s feeling especially distressed and worthless, since his functions include being c!Thomas’ ego and self-worth. However, unlike the others who transform into more of a hybrid monster, Roman becomes a fully-fledged dragon when he loses control completely. He even loses some of his autonomy, his body moving without his consent and fire spewing from his mouth and destroying his precious creations.

My Prinxiety-loving heart adores the idea of Virgil being the one to find him like this first, of calming him down and convincing Roman that he’s still worthy of love even in this form. I can also see Remus coming to his rescue, his octopus form expanding into a mighty Kraken to fight against Roman’s rampaging form until he can regain control.

Either way, Dragon!Roman is very good and I should really draw that sometime.

Unrealistic Headcanon that will probably never happen: BATTLE SCARS, BABY!! I always forget to draw him with scars but I headcanon that he (and Remus) has them ALL OVER his body. Scars from fighting in the Imagination, scars from creative projects gone wrong, scars from being clumsy… perhaps even other scars.

Either way, they’re sexy as hell and he’s SO STRONG AND WONDERFUL! And I know it would be a lot of work to have Roman with scars in the actual series, given the amount of work that goes into Janus’ makeup and even Remus and Virgil’s looks, but whenever I see fanart of Roman with scars I’m immediately just like YES!!! THIS!!!

Thank you so much for the ask, wonderful Devil Crown anon!

Send Me a Character Ask, and I’ll Give You Some Headcanons!

[themadauthorshatter]

OH MY, GOODNESS!

RED SCHOOL UA HEADCANONS/STORY!

Sorry for not picking this up earlier. This part we are focusing on Arc 2: where the RQ cast meets the SGE cast.

Sophie is über excited at meeting the crown prince, but Agatha is less enthused because she's a realist and doesn't know HOW the RQ crew is getting over to the SGE.

Tedros and his friends are ecstatic they're meeting the Nortan princes. They even wonder if there are more than just Cal and Maven.

The students are all on the hot topic of Nortans visiting, though Agatha is pulled aside by Hester, Dot and Anadil, who all express their anger and impatience at Sophie, who won't shut up about Cal in particular, even though he's betrothed. Agatha assures them everything will be fine when Sophie sees that Cal and Evangeline are an item. (Yeah right. Marecal all the way.)

In Norta, it's rumor city among the Silvers, who aren't exactly looking forward to entertaining a bunch of school children.

Our main three in Norta are talking about their upcoming excursion to the school in the Endless Woods, Cal being apprehensive to leave Norta practically unguarded for an unspecified amount of time, but excited at the idea of seeing new lands, Maven just not wanting to go because it seems like a waste of time, effort, and resources, and Mare not exactly sharing her thoughts because she'll be even further away from her family than before.

Evangeline is not amused. At all. She's just playing along until they get back and never have to deal with the students of the School for Good and Evil again.

Regardless, they don't know what could be there, so they need to make sure they're not potentially making any new enemies by this complete accident on Tibe's part. Or, that's his thought process at least. And he's only told Cal this information, as, from what he can tell, the SGE isn't Red and Silver and instead use magic, a concept only found in fairytales. With an entire school of teenage witches and wizards and warlocks, and maybe a dragon or two, assuming this place is prestigious and in the higher end, it's better to make an ally rather than an enemy. And the idea of warring aginst school children does not sit well with Cal.

In training later, though, Maven and Mare see that Cal is absolutely faking his excitement at least a little bit, like 58% faking it. It shows when Arven pits him against Evangeline, Sonya, and Elane.

He ends up nearly burning all three of them alive, lost in wanting to get the fight and group training over with so he can be alone and think his thoughts.

Silly, Cal. Maven is paying attention, and asks what's wrong.

Cal brushes it off and says everything's fine, but Mare and Maven know better, Mare having seen what liars look like and Maven knowing Cal for all his life.

Cal tries to a go about his day and ignore whatever he's thinking, which is difficult to do because Maven's following him. He turns and Maven stops, simply explaining that he's going the same way as Cal. They continue walking, but Cal notices that Maven's not really going anywhere, content to follow his bother. This results in a chase between the two of them, Cal jogying before speinting to shake Maven off his tail, succeeding when he loses Maven down a hall, as in he ran down the hall partially before hiding behind a wall and watching Maven sprint right past him.

Maven only realizes he got played when he can't hear Cal anymore.

He and Cal don't meet up for the night.

He talks about this with Mare, and brings up that Cal's avoiding him.

TV/Graphic novel perspective, over time we see Cal get followed by both Maven and Mare, though over this time Cal grows more agitated and looks more annoyed and tired as they continue to try to see what's wrong with him. Maybe we even get a gag of both Mare and Maven spying on Cal from behind a wall, hiding behind it when he looks over his shoulder, and then continue their spying when he looks back, confused, annoyed, and agitated.

After a week, Cal catches Mare and pulls her into a room before leaving and telling her to wait for him.

He returns with Maven, who's over his shoulder, trying to remain calm, because Cal's stronger and bigger than him, and even tries, in mild panic, to negotiating to not beat him to a pulp, because Cal looks ready to murder them both.

He sets Maven on his feet and tells them both very bluntly to stop following him; not only is it freaking him out, but his soldier instincys are going haywire and he will not heistate to attack them both, which he doesn't want to do because it won't end well.

Mare and Maven apologize, but, being concerned despite herself, Mare asks Cal what his problem is, seeing as how he's avoiding both her and Maven.

Cal gives them a tired look and takes a breath. "Fine."

CUT THE THE SGE!

Tedros, Tristan, and Chaddick are hanging out together away from the Evergirls, though Chaddick does admit that the girls are looking nice today(16 year old hormones, am I right?)

Tedros isn't listening, balancing his sword on his fingertips.

Tristan, arguably the most feel-y of the three, wonders if or when the Silvers will arrive.

Tedros doubts they will, but one can hope.

This turn if pessimism confuses both Tristan and Chaddick, and Tedros happily explains:

They're all just students. What would royals and nobles want with a bunch of schoolchildren? They don't even have magic, don't believe in it, don't know it, just don't have any magic. The closest thing they have to magic is their silver blood, and not even THAT is magic because of how limited it is.

That, and Sophie and the Nevers will probably drive them all away.

Speaking if Nevers, Chaddick admits how weird it is to see them getting showered and clean, presentable in case the Silvers arrive as a surprise visit.

It is odd, but it's in their best interest to play nice with everyone, and that unfortunately includes a very babbly, and planning-to-be-flirty Sophie.

Speak of the devil, Sophie emerges from the trees to find the trio, specifically Tedros, who she wants to talk to.

He leaves, lying that he has some homework to do.

He's really going to find Agatha, who's reading to pass time and get her mind off all the gossip.

They have a rocky conversation about the current events and even wonder what silver blood would even look like, if they ever get the morbid chance to see it.

Agatha asks why he's talking to her and Tedros sighs that he just wants to avoid Sophie, but also wants to be around someone who's smart.

She smiles and asks if he thinks she's smart, sort of silently teasing him as he stammers and tries to come up with a save for the tongue-slip.

He spots Nicholas behind her instead, eyes wide and red as he raises an axe over his head, aiming for her.

Tedros, thinking quickly, tackles him and throws the axe away, which knocks Nicholas out of his daze.

Tedros shouts at him, "What the hell was that?" but Nicholas only looks around, very confused as to how he got into the trees or even got hold of an AXE.

There's confusion all around as Nicholas stumbles away towards some friends, muttering about a headache he now has and how sore he now feels.

Agatha and Tedros only exchange glances, worried and confused.

Was it a curse? A hex? A spell? And how did he get a weapon from the Doom Room?

CUT BACK TO NORTA AS CAL HAS JUST FINISHED SPILLING THE TEA! All three are sitting in a triangle on the floor, because it's close to night time and, because I'm a sucker for parallels in a story, to establish that despite the age differences between them and the students, and the experiences Cal and Maven had on the war front, they're still kids too.

Mare fights the urge to dry heave and Maven only hums at how Tibe is actually paranoid enough to consider war against a bunch of kids.

Cal admits that, yes it is ridiculous, but he's still unnerved. It doesn't help that they're dealing with people who have magic, which is stronger than Silver powers, even Mare's lightning is possibly no match; magic is all encompassing while their powers are limited to one "element."

Mare, in an attempt to alleviate the atmosphere, wonders if everyone will even BELIEVE what Norta says about these kids, as magic doesn't exist in their world.

Cal admits he does not believe in magic. It's not that he's heartless, he's just seen too much to know better. As much as he'd like to, he knows that it's nothing but slight of hand and tricks to fool the other person.

Maven agrees, except he's known because of Elara, but he gives them an explanation closer to what Cal said, only changing that he saw a magic show and saw how the tricks were done to fool the crowd.

When they ask her, Mare admits that if she believed in magic, and if it was real, it would have made things different for her and her family, she also inwardly admits that she'd make things different for all Reds as well.

After a moment of silence between them, Maven asks Cal if he's heard anything about them leaving and visiting these endless woods, and Cal shrugs, sighing that it's all speculation and in the air. If they do go, it will be both brothers and their betrotheds, Elara, Tiberias, a few other High House children(Elane, Sonya, Olliver, and Ptolemus), and a few guards, one of them being Lucas. Volo Samos and the rest of Tibe's council will stay behind to keep Norta in shape while they voyage to the School, stay for a little bit, and then come back, assuming things go okay and don't take long.

WE ALL KNOW NOTHING EVER GOES RIGHT IN STORIES😈

Either way, they all take a breath and leave the room together, Mare hoping Lady Blonos doesn't scold her for being alone with both princes. Cal tells her not worry because they'll cover for her, saying they had a bet and Cal won. Maven mutters, "By default," and he and Mare jog away as Cal chases them, yelling that they'd better explain what that means before he gets his hands on them both.

TIME JUMP/FADE TO THE DAY THE NORTANS LEAVE FOR THE ENDLESS WOODS, THE FADE HAPPENING WITH A PAN TO A WINDOW AND THEN GLIDE DOWN TO THE DOCK!!!

Mare sighs up at the ship before boarding, noting a very anxious Cal looking over the walkway as he himself walks aboard, Evangeline striding ahead of him.

Maven chuckles that Cal's always been a scaredy cat around water, even if he doesn't want to admit it.

Mare admits that while Cal is acting like a child, it's actually a smart move to know yoursl own limits and weaknesses.

From his place higher on the ship, Tibe gives Mare a, "Well said, Lady Mareena," and admits he may have underestimated her ability as a strategist. Maybe her time around Cal and the other High House children is rubbing off on her.

Mare fakes a thank you and notices Maven looking away.

I have not forgotten how Tibe isn't as loving as Maven; no amount of tragedy is going to negate neglect.

Mare tries to back up the now crestfallen Maven, but Elara calls for her son, asking to speak with him alone, mother to son.

He agrees and walks off to meet her, looking back at Mare before he does.

Tibe watches them walk off, and we get a glare off between him and Elara before the Queen leaves to speak with her favorite son.

Once they're gone, Mare asks how he can stand a bitch like Elara. She gets they were arranged to marry, but two people cannot hate each other that much.

For context, Mare's been here for about 4 months. She's visited her family only twice and has had a lot of time with Silvers and dealing with Tibe, Elara, Evangeline, and anyone who isn't Cal, Maven, and Lucas.

Back on track, Tibe semi-scolds her that, as a lady of the court, she should know better than to be mouthy towards him.

Mare, kind of fed up with his BS, folds her arms and counters that as a princess and his future daughter-in-law, they should be comfortable with each other enough for her to ask such a question.

Tibe gestures for her to come closer and she approaches, close enough for Tibe to sneer at her that if she thinks he's letting Maven, his son, his boy, marry a Red rat like her, she's more of a fool than all of the Scarlet Guard put together.

Lost in her anger, Mare asks which he's more afraid of: Telling Mare the truth or having his court, and the rest of Norta, Red and Silver, find out their secret.

With a glare down, Tibe congratulates her on how she's picked up verbal combat, and that she's a good learner. He then admits that the two of them aren't very different.

It offends Mare DEEPLY and she asks what that means as Tibe begins walking away.

Another bit of context, there are two sets of stairs to the upper level of the ship, a left and a right. In a fun bit of camera work/detail for anyone paying attention. Mare would walk up the right hand stairs to meet Tibe and, when he walks down the stairs, he walks down the left hand stairs and Mare follows him, the two walking back to the deck, so Mare basically walked around in a big circle. Just a cool thing I'd add, maybe it'd be symbolic of her situation or of some kind of cycle, I don't know. If you have any ideas, feel free to tell me.

Back to the story, Tibe explains to Mare that they're trapped by who they must marry, or have married in Tibe's case.

Another small detail, on the upper level, Mare would be on the left hand side of the screen/panel and Tibe would be on the right, but on the deck they're sides change, Tibe being in the left and Mare being on the right.

I'm a sucker for small details, so sue me!

Back on track for reals, Mare's VERY confused because she thought princes, or kings, could choose who they could marry. Tibe agrees that, yes, that usually is the case, but the reason he couldn't really choose was because there weren't anymore Queenstrial participants for him to choose from.

"But you have two sons?" Mare ponders.

Tibe shakes his head and asks if she REALLY thinks ending an alliance with Volo Samos of The Rift is a good idea, based on what she's seen from his daughter, Evangeline, half-joking that he's glad Cal is her betrothed and a simple friend of Ptolemus, who's shown how much of a berserker he is. (Yes the Scarlet Guard attack on the Summer palace still occurs.)

Mare asks what he'd do if that was the case, and Tibe chuckles, saying he'd renounce the throne and give it to Maven instead.

The two only chuckle, not comfortable enough with each other to fully laugh, and then Tibe admits that while he isn't sorry for needing to keep Mare a secret, he is sorry that she's alone, and forced into a life she never wanted.

"If you're so sorry, then why not let me go home?"

"Lady Mareena, the high houses would end us both."

For once, Mare can't really tell if he's lying or not, but doesn't get a chance to ask as Tibe returns to the top deck, Cal walking around the desk to Mare. He notices that his father is walking away from her and she looks a little distraught and very confused.

Cal looks between them and asks what happened and Mare simply answers that she and his father were just having a talk before leaving to her room/cabin

It's going to be a long ride to the Endless Woods

This is Part 1 of Arc 2, they do say the second act is the longest.

Keep your eye out for Arc 2, Part 2, because THAT is where things pick up even more

Anyway, Hope you enjoyed and thanks for reading!!!!

[wellhalesbells]

✨✨ TOP FIVES FOR 2020 ✨✨

2020 was, i think we can all agree, a massively chaotic year but i have never consumed as much media before in my life, so i thought others might benefit from my slothery uh, connoisseur.... ship?  yes, that.  below are the books, comics, shows, and movies that got me through!

B O O K S .

the starless sea, by erin morgenstern - i loooove this book because it loves me back.  it says: ‘oh, you’re a reader, well i have just the thing for you.’  it luxuriates in language and story and riddles and fairy tales and it feels like an entire library in a single tome.

they never learn, by layne fargo - oh fuuuuuck, this was satisfying.  i thought it might feel a little exploitative as it is very aware of the zeitgeist and likely would not exist without the #metoo movement but it never ever did.  this was a fucking ROMP, period.  reading about a woman getting away with murdering skeezy guy after rapey guy after shitty human just made me happier and happier.

moonflower murders, by anthony horowitz - this is the second in the susan ryeland series (and the first was hardcore good fun too) and really feels very classic mystery with the artful twist of catering to the literary community.  mainly because: susan isn’t a detective, she’s an editor and she gets drafted in this time because the clue to what happened to a missing woman is in a book she edited, if she can find it.  both of the books in this series have such an excellent coming together moment that is rare af to find.

the invisible life of addie larue, by v.e. schwab - the writing in this is just so good.  it has that feel to me where i just want to drop the book and open up my own page and let my fingers fly.  it’s that inspiring kind of writing that reminds you of all the things language can do.

crown of feathers/heart of flames, by nicki pau preto - aaahhh, this series is SO FREAKING GOOD!  why is there not more of a fandom for it, why???? it is so many of my favorite tropes all resting perfectly together to the point where you almost forget they’re tropes because they just so naturally evolved there.  ugh, it’s just.... it’s so heart-bursty good.

.... number 5, part 2?  raybearer, by jordan ifueko - this was just so original and i was invested af.  like, what a brilliant idea though and an even better execution??  i loved every character and am so looking forward to the next in the series so i can get to know them even better!!

honorable mentions (sh*t i still liked a whole heckuva lot): you/hidden bodies, by caroline kepnes // writers & lovers, by lily king // i’ll be gone in the dark, by michelle mcnamara // the faceless old woman who secretly lives in your home, by joseph fink & jeffrey cranor // girl, serpent, thorn, by melissa bashardoust // a little life, by hanya yanagihara // the guinevere deception, by kiersten white // obsidio (and the entire illuminae series), by amie kaufman & jay kristoff // the bone houses, by emily lloyd-jones // house of salt and sorrows, by erin a. craig // we hunt the flame, by hafsah faizal // savage legion, by matt wallace // blacktop wasteland, by s.a. cosby // crier’s war, by nina varela // the empress of salt and fortune/when the tiger came down the mountain, by nghi vo // upright women wanted, by sarah gailey // the monster of elendhaven, by jennifer giesbrecht // a deadly education, by naomi novik // you let me in, by camilla bruce // when you ask me where i’m going, by jasmin kaur // the lights go out in lychford/last stand in lychford (and the entire lychford series), by paul cornell // the devil and the dark water, by stuart turton // serpent & dove, by shelby mahurin // one by one, by ruth ware // ruthless gods (this was SUCH an upshot from the first book - it’s worth sticking with if you’re on the fence), by emily a. duncan // cemetery boys, by aiden thomas // the inheritance games, by jennifer lynn barnes // the fortunate ones (2021 release), by ed tarkington

C O M I C S .

cosmoknights, by hannah templer - the art was gorgeous, the gayness was glorious, and just.... hot HOOOOOOOOT lady knights in space?!  a princess winning her own hand?  find something not to love in there, i dare you.

don’t go without me, by rosemary valero-o’connell - wow. wow wow wow wow wow.  the writing was stunning, so lyrical and atmospheric and deep, and rosemary has to be one of my favorite artists but even that managed to come as a beautiful surprise because it was just so freaking bold.

through the woods, by emily carroll - i loooove emily carroll, the convergence of spine-tingling horror and art that feeds into it, that is both visually and aesthetically pleasing, is hard to beat!  p.s. i also read beneath the dead oak tree from her this year and it was also a BANGER.

the impending blindness of billie scott, by zoe thorogood - zoe is someone that i just want to follow.  she’s just starting and i want to be there for every single step.  i love her art style and her ability to tell a story with it.

above the clouds, by melissa pagluica - this was so unique, and such a baller concept, as nearly half the entire book is conveyed only through the art and yet you’re never once lost, never once confused as to what any character is thinking or feeling.  it’s a story within a story and only one of those gets words though they both are chock full of emotion!

um.... number 5, part 2? crowded, by christopher sebela - everything about this series is fun af.  crowd-funded assassination and a hirable bodyguard who’s rated like an uber driver???  and the chemistry between the two mains is so great and gay!!

honorable mentions: monster and the beast, by renji // long exposure, by kam ‘mars’ heyward // fence, by c.s. pacat // invisible kingdom, by g. willow wilson // ms. marvel, by g. willow wilson // heathen, by natasha alterici // not drunk enough, by tess stone // giant days, by john allison // die, by kieron gillen // be prepared, by vera brosgol // ascender (sequel to descender, which is also great), by jeff lemire // the unbeatable squirrel girl, by ryan north // bang! bang! boom!, by melanie schoen // gideon falls, by jeff lemire // life of melody, by mari costa // cry wolf girl, by ariel slamet ries // the tea dragon society, by katie o’neill // ptsd, by guillaume singelin // heartstopper, by alice oseman // solutions and other problems, by allie brosh // finding home, by hari conner // the magic fish, by trung le nguyen // something is killing the children, by james tynion iv // the weight of them, by noelle stevenson // spill zone, by scott westerfeld // skyward, by joe henderson // miles morales, by saladin ahmed

F I L M S.

parasite, dir. bong joon ho - oh it was satisfying, oh it was suspenseful, oh i had to watch some of it through my fingers but i loooooooved it.  such a good story and so well made.

knives out, dir. rian johnson - okay, everything about this movie was amazing.  every single character was fun as hell and i could’ve watched an entire movie about each of them.  what a great fucking mystery!

blindspotting, dir. carlos lopez estrada -  this made my heart hurt so damn much.  what glorious writing, acting, and story!

portrait of a lady on fire, dir. celine sciamma - gooooorgeous cinematography, amazing chemistry, and such a soft, atmospheric film.

the farewell, dir. lulu wang - i cried and my heart felt so full and i love it so so much.

um.... number 5, part 2? someone great, dir. jennifer kaytin robinson - no part of me expected to love a netflix movie this much but it’s a love story that doesn’t get told that often??  the end of a relationship and the true love of friendship and i love these girls and i love jenny and nate’s broken relationship.

honorable mentions: eighth grade, dir. bo burnham // booksmart, dir. olivia wilde // midsommar, dir. ari aster // the curse of la llorona, dir. michael chaves // the secret life of pets 2, dirs. chris renaud & jonathan del val // jojo rabbit, dir. taika waititi // the invisible man, dir. leigh whannell // the favourite, dir. yorgos lanthimos // can you ever forgive me?, dir. marielle heller // troop zero, dirs. bert & bertie // ready or not, dirs. matt bettinelli-olpin & tyler gillett // brave, dirs. mark andrews & brenda chapman & steve purcell // the half of it, dir. alice wu // palm springs, dir. max barbakow // doctor sleep, dir. mike flanaghan // uncut gems, dirs. benny sadfie & josh sadfie // birds of prey, dir. cathy van // bloodshot, dir. dave wilson // the old guard, dir. gina prince-bythewood // enola holmes, dir. harry bradbeer // hocus pocus, dir. kenny ortega // always be my maybe, dir. nahnatchka khan // finding dory, dirs. andrew stanton & angus maclane // die hard, dir. john mctiernan

S H O W S .

black sails (2014) - this show, this shooooooooow.  i cannot, it just makes me want to cry with how good it is.  the characters, the EMOTIONS, the story, the plaaaaaan.  like, the creators clearly had a plan for every single step of this show and it was a gOOD, GOOD PLAN.

the untamed (2019) - truly, cheesy good fun with one of the best gay romances ever.  i love these characters and their relationships to each other and the way it glories in its own ridiculousness.

the righteous gemstones (2019) - one of the things that bothered me about my next choice (the ratio of female to male nudity) was so much more realistic in this one (i mean, we’ve all gotten five thousand dick pics and i know like three people?  so the fact that there is so rarely male nudity in shows when there are tits everywhere..... no, how does that even make a tiny bit of sense?).  this show was such great, wonderful, awful fun.  they’re not great people and the show is under no delusion about that and it’s GLORIOUS!

the witcher (2019) - this was just hella fun, i loved the characters and the fantasy elements.  i’m excited for the next season, it’s just entertaining swashbuckling through and through!

fargo (2014) - all of this was really very enjoyable with the through line being somebody fucks shit up and gets involved in something they really shouldn’t be involved in that’s going to swallow them whole.  season one and season three were my stand-out favorites but they were all so violent, clever, and vicious!

um.... number 5, part 2? central park (2020) - um..... so many of the hamilton actors in a muscial cartoon drawn and written by the bob’s burgers team? WHAT ABOUT THAT DOESN’T SOUND AMAZING?!  it was such a joy to hear daveed diggs and leslie odom jr.’s voices again!!

honorable mentions: schitt’s creek // the mandalorian // mr. robot // broadchurch // mindhunter // jack ryan // the good place // the end of the f***ing world // big little lies // elite // kidding // servant // letterkenny // curb your enthusiasm // i am not okay with this // ozark // buzzfeed unsolved: true crime/supernatural // you // runaways // dear white people // dickinson // brooklyn nine-nine // will & grace // 9-1-1 // dead to me // solar opposites // never have i ever // killing eve // what we do in the shadows // grace and frankie // avenue 5 // roswell, new mexico // the bold type // evil // tuca & bertie // impulse // the umbrella academy // watchmen // infinity train // corporate // search party // on becoming a god in central florida // a.p. bio // criminal: uk // the morning show // mythic quest // last week tonight // prodigal son // the great