#his way of showing care is being willing to murder whoever hurts them

[offrozenmemoirs]

There's also a thing i'm working on in regards to Makoto and him cutting his hair as a symbolic act of moving forward with himself. He's a shapeshifter by his nature as both a dragon and a spirit, so he can grow his hair to whatever length he wants it to, but...to me, his hair being kept long was representative of his nature as a sorcerer, he was always distant, and even when he was involved in direct battles, his strategy was to stay in his dragon form and simply fry all of his enemies with his lightning breath.

Makoto becoming a dark knight and cutting his hair short is both for tactical reasons (preventing it from being grabbed) and his actual transition into a protector who will leap in front of others to keep them safe.

[leth-writes]

yandere batfam x reader who's scared of them

BRUCE

If you don’t know he’s batman, he’s absolutely confused. He doesn’t really understand how you could be terrified of his civilian identity, who is notably soft and ditzy. It’s hard for you to explain how scary it is, looking at his smiling face in the middle of a gala and feeling this ice running down your spine, the deepest, basest part of you just screaming at you that there’s something wrong with him. It’s the way his emotions don’t reach his eyes, those cold, calculating eyes… It feels to you that he’s, at any given time, calculating how likely he is to get away with you murder.

That isn’t what he’s thinking. He’s thinking about how angry he is that everyone’s not treating you with the respect you deserve; he’s seen more consideration given to a coatrack! He’s contemplating yelling at your parent(s) to get them to realize how uncomfortable you are. That paternal sense just jumps right out and he’s wishing violence on anyone who would dare to so much as breathe at you wrong. You can see the promise of violence brewing on his face, you just mistake who it’s targeted at. He promises he would never hurt you.

Being frightened of batman is a lot more understandable, he is quite creepy. He tends to blend in with the shadows, and having a vigilante running around beating people senseless can be pretty terrifying. If he catches you being robbed, for example, Dick’s going to have to pull him off of whoever hurt you before he sends them into a coma. Seeing all that blood flying is definitely pretty scary.

However, Batman also serves as a protector for the city, especially children, and he does view you as a child, no matter your age. You’re his child, and he’d never want to scare you, so he exaggerates his movements and puts a bit of noise in his step so he’s less likely to scare you

He also gets Damian to approach you; while Damian may not be the typical child, he’s more than capable of acting young and vulnerable and that brings down your guard, allowing Bruce to ingratiate himself with you. Damian’s just excited to be close to you, he doesn’t even care you’re babying him and giving him stickers. He wears them with pride and shows every one to Alfred and his various animals.

DICK

Everyone is so confused as to how you could find Dick, smiley, jokey Dick, so scary. He’s so kind and gentle, perfect with children… maybe it’s the way you can see right through that facade into the intelligent seething rage boiling away within him. People often forget that Dick, as a young child, was more than willing to commit murder. He’s grown a lot since then, but sometimes that rage peaks through, terrifying you. You can also tell the bruises aren’t from sex or gymnastics like he says when the paparazzi ask, but from fights. You haven’t heard anything about the people he got into a fight in, which leads you to believe they never got up again. You’re wrong, but you can definitely feel the violence pulsing just underneath his skin. Every vigilante has it, you’re just able to sense it.

As Nightwing, he’s used to people asking him for selfies or yelling at him to do a backflip. He isn’t used to people trembling, terrified, in a corner as he approaches. You seem to view him as a dangerous vigilante, an extension of the Bat, first and foremost. Dick has to work hard to get you to trust him; he purposefully messes up some of his fights just so you think he isn’t as dangerous as he is, and he doesn’t let you in on the fact that the escrima have electricity. It puts you at ease if you think he would have a hard time taking you down. He relies on that goofy aspect of himself, pulling it up more than he normally would, almost tapping into that little circus performer who he buried deep down so many years ago.

JASON

Yeah, he gets it. His reputation, while useful, does preceed him. He’s heard the rumours; that he’s a zombie, a vampire, a ghoul, some creature back from the dead to kickstart some apocalyptic event. He usually finds it laughable, but seeing how terrifying you are does hit him hard.

He’s done so much to bury who he used to be, but for you, he taps into that side of him. He reads Jane Austen in public, volunteers at homeless shelters that he normally only donates to, anything to give himself a softer image. He even lets his hair keep its natural curls, letting them grow out slightly, to give him a softer silhouette. He also starts dressing more like Bruce; soft sweaters tucked into his pants, accentuating the pretty streak of white in his hair.

He’s also more than aware of how scary his scars can be, and tries his best to distract you away from them; for a little while, you rarely see him fully face-on, he turns his head just slightly so you can’t see them as clearly.

The Red Hood is terrifying. He’s aware, he knows, he’s dealing with it for you. He stops with the killing almost entirely and spends more time just patrolling your neighborhood, trying to get you used to the positives his presence is associated with. He lets Clark finally publish those positive stories about him saving a kitten or something, all to rehabilitate his image. He doesn’t care that his reputation is taking a hit, he only cares about you not being terrified of him.

TIM

???

Tim isn’t used to people being scared of him. Plenty of people are intimidated by his ruthless businessman act, but he never uses that around you. He tends to play up that scrawny, dorky nerd side of him; most view him like a little vulnerable puppy, not a threat!

You can probably sense that analytical presence behind his eyes. Tim, while technically being the most hands-off, is also the one who does the most meddling behind the scenes. He’s working to get rid of those shitty friends, blackmailing them away from you, and making sure to surround you with people he trusts, particularly Cass, Kon, and Steph. They talk him up, but more importantly, he knows they’ll keep you safe if he can’t.

You can probably tell your new friends are hiding something, and you sense that Tim is at the center. You’re not entirely wrong. Like Jason, he dresses in soft, cozy clothing and spends hours practicing his soft, gentle smiles, all in the hopes of you thinking him too weak and exhausted to be a threat.

He’s had criminals dislike him as Red Robin, but most civilians either appreciate him or ignore him. Most opinions are actually quite lukewarm, as while he does play a role in policing crime, he works more in the background solving cases and using his computer and photography skills. He makes sure to be seen being soft to children and animals more, maybe even volunteers in suit at an animal shelter, all in the hopes you’ll see that caring heart shining through.

CASS

Cass is so soft in public no one could ever be scared of that side of her unless they’ve already been kidnapped, in which case she slowly wears them down by having her family talk her up and by being the one to bring in gifts and food, creating a strong association between her and those good feelings of stress relief. Works like a charm, especially because you learn to read her; then, you learn to read the softness in her smile and her posture, showing that kind heart.

in stark contrast, plenty of people are scared of Black Bat, including civilians. Her normal silent presence and lack of facial expression can come across quite creepy. There’s no way around that, so she only introduces you to her secret identity after you’ve been kidnapped.

[bunniekittiee]

Hi!! Do you think you could possibly do some hcs for sissy x fem! reader? Fluff, angst, anything you'd like!

Gotcha! I’ll do fluffy/angsty headcanons because I don’t think there’s a lot of that for Sissy! Also this is really my first time writing for fem x fem so I’m trying lol

Sissy x Fem. Reader

Sissy has always been a ‘hippie’ at heart. She’s always wanted to be adventurous and free.

When running around with the Manson Cult, as she stayed there the longest, she experienced her many shares of male and female sexual partners.

So she doesn’t deny anyone because of gender or race. She’s free, she is happy with whoever.

When Sissy lays eyes on her, she knows that’s who she wants. That’s the girl she wants to take home to the family. Maybe even get her to work with the family.

Sissy is a daydreamer, and after meeting her, Sissy daydreams about her frequently.

She hoped that Johnny wouldn’t sink his teeth into her. He always got the girls he wanted, and she wanted this one for herself.

She would just have to beat him to the punch. And she did.

Sissy was v nice, she was warm and welcoming to her and that reeled her in.

Despite Sissy being sweet, she still has her blood thirsty tendencies.

And like the Slaughters/Sawyers, Sissy cannot convey her feelings in a healthy way, so she will kidnap the woman she’s interested in.

She’s not as mean as Johnny, but if she defies Sissy or isn’t open to being with her, Sissy will get angry and inflict pain.

That’s the only way she really knows how to convey her anger properly.

But Sissy will apologize, whether she means it or not is a mystery. She can be sincere, it really depends.

She’s affectionate, she will clean up her s/o while they’re tied up and bathe them, she will clothe them in clean clothes, she will try to feed them even if they rejected it.

She cared more than Johnny or the twins would for their s/o’s.

Once Stockholm Syndrome sets in, she is glad to see how stuck to the hip her girlfriend is.

She always follows Sissy around even if she’s doing chores or working on a few things. Sissy is happy as she likes to be in the presence of her girlfriend.

It makes her feel more connected and she likes that feeling.

Taunts Johnny when he eyeballs them and he sulks off. He was supposed to get the pretty ones, not Sissy.

Sissy thinks it’s funny.

When her s/o’s period starts, Sissy pampers her. She sympathizes how painful it can be, so she’s more than willing to help.

As long as she repays the effort back to Sissy when she doesn’t feel well. If she doesn’t, there will be consequences.

Arguments are not often, but when they happen, they can be scary.

Sissy will threaten her girlfriend with a knife or whatever is near that can kill her when it’s bad. She will get in her s/o’s face and is not afraid to fight it out.

Yes, she may be more sympathetic and loving than the others (besides Bubba ofc), but she is still a little unhinged.

She will hurt her girlfriend when she’s angry and afterwards, she may or may not feel bad about it. She will take care of the wound, but that’s not safe to say she feels bad.

It really just depends.

Sissy will stick up for her girlfriend if Nancy or Drayton gives her shit. She doesn’t really care for Nancy, and Drayton is just a mean old bastard.

No one will be mean to her lover, not even Johnny.

Sissy will fight Johnny for her s/o and even if she gets hurt, she doesn’t care. She was fighting for what’s hers.

The Slaughters and Sawyers do not like to share what’s theirs.

Sissy may still have murderous tendencies, but she can genuinely love another person romantically.

She just shows it in her own ways.

[aphroditelovesu]

Could you please write either Yandere Percy Jackson or Yandere Jason Grace x reader headcanons, please? Thank you!

‘‘Whenever you need me, I will come to you.‘‘ - Jason Grace.

❝–⚡ Lady L: Yup :) I chose to do Jason Grace this time, as I got another request higher up from Percy or Jason, so I'm going to do Jason in this request and the other one from Percy.

 ❝–⚡ TW: yandere themes in general, murder, implicit torture, dub-con, mention of blood, mention of suicide. possessive, obsessive, and manipulative behavior.

❝–⚡ Pairing: Yandere!Jason Grace x Gender Neutral!Reader

Jason Grace is the very definition of the ''golden boy'', he is kind, sweet, honest and honorable. All these adjectives are in a single demigod, he is known for his bravery and kindness to everyone around him, but that all changes when you enter the story.

When you arrived at Camp Jupiter, everything changed. Jason was the first to welcome you and he, after just a few simple exchanges, fell deeply in love with you. None of this made any sense to Grace, he'd only met you a few hours ago! Jason didn't know why he felt this way about you, but he does and now he's willing to make you stay with him anyway.

In just a few days, you became the most important person to him. Jason was always with you, talking or just being content to watch you. He became obsessed with you and wanted to be in your presence all the time. He is fully aware that this is unreal and unlikely to happen, but he doesn't care.

Jason has abandonment issues, he never recovered from being abandoned by his mother and he fears you will do the same to him. He's very afraid that one day he'll wake up and you won't be by his side, where you belong, that's the main reason he's so clingy with you. Jason doesn't and won't be abandoned by you.

He is very serious about rules and, like him, he wants you to follow them at all times. Jason will not tolerate any kind of indiscipline from you or any other demigod. Grace will be a real pain in the ass about this, but you'll have to follow rules, otherwise you'll be punished for it. He is not harsh in his punishments, as he will never punish you physically, at least that's what he doesn't want to do, since they are mostly psychological, he manipulates you.

As I said before, Jason is very clingy and affectionate. Whenever he has the opportunity to hug you or kiss you, he will. Needless to say, he will always give you the bear hugs. He just wants you to know how much he loves you, and for him, the best way to show that is for him to give you all the affection in the world.

He wants your attention on him all the time. Jason won't hesitate to do anything to get your attention, he gets very upset and jealous when you're not paying attention to him. Grace wouldn't fight someone else for that, he's very polite and civilized, but he could subtly hurt that person. He'll just say it was an accident and if that's not enough for you to pay attention to him, he'll give you stray dog eyes and, most likely, a menacing look at whoever is entertaining you.

Jason is very confident in everything he does, he knows that he is attractive and that he is extremely skilled. He wants to impress you, your approval and adoration are of utmost importance to him. Jason doesn't care about anyone else's opinion, but yours is the only one he looks for. You have real power over him, if you tell him you don't like something he will get rid of it as fast he can. Nothing is more important to him than you and you happy even more.

He will never do anything to make you unhappy, he would never dare to do that. Jason wants you happy, and even if it breaks him inside, if you don't want to be with him, he'll understand and be content to just yearn for you from afar. He'll never be far from you, that's a fact, but Jason will be content to just be your friend.

Jason is a very honorable demigod, he would never force you to do anything you didn't want to. He sees you as an angel, a goddess/god and he is your most faithful protector and lover of all. Your only lover and protector, just in case. You're his priority, okay? Nothing and no one is above you, not even the gods, and he would fight any monster, demigod, or even gods to make his point.

He will always accompany you on quests, Jason will always be hovering over you in anything. It can be annoying, but it has its perks, like the fact that nothing ever hurt you because he was there to take all the hits and protect you. No one is allowed to hurt you and as long as Jason is alive no one will.

Overall, Jason isn't a "bad" yandere, he wants you and that's the only thing he wants. You, you and you. As long as he has you, everything will be fine. Jason is clingy, protective and loving, somewhat delusional and possessive at times, but he'll just say it's ''because he loves you so much''. Don't abandon him, please! Jason Grace can't handle another rejection like that in his life, he can't and won't live without you. He's more than willing to kill himself if you abandon him, so please be by his side. He loves you more than anything, idolizes you and just wants you happy and loved. With him by your side.

[weepingchronicles]

yandere oswald cobblepot alphabet

note- this may be ooc for some as im only on season 3 of gotham!

prompt: dear yandere

warnings!

yandere themes and behaviors, kidnapping, murder, mention of gagging, forced affection. (i think thats mostly it?)

Affection: How do they show their love and affection? How intense would it get?

Oswald will go above and beyond for their darling. He may be a bit shy when first falling for them and won't immediately confess but if you're already friends, Oswald is very supportive and there for you. He's definitely picked up soothing tactics that his mother used for him, we all know he's a brat, which comes very useful when you're upset. He's not usually the one to do things for other people unless he gets something in return but if he sees you upset and glooming around, he instantly get up himself to make you some tea.

Blood: How messy are they willing to get when it comes to their darling?

Like I said, he's willing to go above and beyond for you and that also means killing anyone that's in your or his way. You might wanna keep your complaints to yourself because if you one day complain about a co-worker or even a random stranger on the street, they'll show up dead or missing a few days later. If it is a personal threat to him and yours relationship, he might be hesitant on killing them straight up because he also cares about your feelings and how you think of him. He'll try and bargain with someone who's trying to get in between your guys' relationship, and if that doesn't work- he'll just order someone to kill them with no trace whatsoever. He's delusional enough to believe it's for the best, he does feel remorseful but only for hurting you in the process but it all disappears once you go crying to him and wanting comfort after learning about your friend dying under mysterious circumstances. He'll usually get all his victims killed by henchmen and hired assassins but once in a while someone will just tick him off, someone will say an offhanded insult to you or your relationship, and Oswald freaks. He's cunning and calculated, he doesn't like all-together chaos, he needs to be in control but sometimes his emotions are just too overbearing and powerful, so he'll kill whoever in a jealous rage by stabbing them to death or strangling them until they turn purple. You better hope you aren't there when that happens because it is traumatizing, he'll then turn to you with blood splatter coating his face, you're horrified but he feels so bad. He starts crying and begging for your forgiveness and you just have to give in and shush him, because.. who knows what he might do to you if you don’t?

Cruelty: How would they treat their darling once abducted? Would they mock them?

I don't think he'd be outright rude to his darling but if they put up too much of a fight and start fighting him or calling him names, he'll laugh at them and condescendingly tell them how stupid they were for not realizing sooner but that's about how far as he goes because he's also extremely sympathetic to a scared darling. He wants to comfort and cuddle them but he knows that if he does they'll only scream and shudder away from him and his heart breaks. He'll leave them to calm down for a few hours or even days depending, only coming in to bring them food since he doesn't trust any of his maids or men to. Only he can comfort your fragile state. Once you start becoming comfortable with him, he is so delighted. He'll start hand-feeding you and spoiling you with luxurious fabrics and robes, this man goes all out. He'll get both of your portraits painted and hung in the room, he'll tell you all about his mom and start crying saying how much she would want to meet you, Oswald has a thing for details so all custom made clothing will be embellished with small umbrella detailing.

Darling: Aside from abduction, would they do anything against their darling’s will?

After a while of you being there, he'll demand affection in return after all that he's done for you. Oswald has unconditional love for you but he was also raised in Gotham where if you give something, you get something back and he expects you to do the same for him once in a while. He won't push you to kiss him or hug him but if you start fighting if he tries to feed you or lay his head against your chest, he'll get up and start screaming about how difficult you're being. Although he wouldn't dare lay a hand on you, if you don't like yelling then it can get rough because this man can have temper tantrums that can be heard throughout the mansion.

Exposed: How much of their heart do they bare to their darling? How vulnerable are they when it comes to their darling?

He is more vulnerable to you than anyone besides his family, but he is also embarrassed. He doesn't want to tell you how much of a bad person he is and the things he has done if you don't already know. He cries and sobs about his mother and father dying but he won't tell you how his mother died or what happened to his stepmom and stepsiblings after they poisoned his father. He'll just smile at you and wipe his tears saying that's enough for today as he tucks you into bed.

Fight: How would they feel if their darling fought back?

He'd be incredibly hurt but understanding, he can take his daring fighting him any day but he just hates when they call him names or say how they hate him. He'll snap and either kill someone closest by, start throwing furniture, or gag you. If you're only just fighting him, he can try and calm you down but will give up quickly enough if you try and scratch at his eyes or headbutt him, he'll just sigh and wait until you fall asleep and then come back and start all over again.

Game: Is this a game to them? How much would they enjoy watching their darling try to escape?

He doesn't like it at all and tries his best to never let his darling escape. He'll go ballistic if you do manage to escape, even if it's just 8 minutes and you've barely left the property, he'll still order nearly all his men to go after you and kill anyone who helped you. The first thing he does when you're returned is check if you're okay. He's out of breath even though he was sitting the entire time and he frantically checks your clothing for any cuts or wounds, if there is none he'll just hold your head for a while. He is so scared to lose you, his love is his greatest weakness as he has lost everyone he has opened up to, he'd rather die first than lose you.

Hell: What would be their darling’s worst experience with them?

Probably whenever he kills someone in front of his darling, the only time he does this is when he kills out of rage. It opens your eyes to how much of a dangerous criminal he really is and that he could break you if he wanted to.

Ideals: What kind of future do they have in mind for/with their darling?

He wants to just bathe in your presence, it would truly mean the world to him if you loved him back. I don't think marriage would be something he'd want but he's certainly not opposed to it, Oswald would much rather spend his lonely quiet days with just you than have an entire wedding but being 'officially together' is something he can definitely be interested in. Children aren't really his thing, not only does he not like kids but I cant see him being a very good father with his lifestyle. (edit; i finished gotham and i may take this statement back)

Jealousy: Do they get jealous? Do they lash out or find a way to cope?

He gets EXTREMELY jealous, he hates to see you get close with anyone he deems as a nuisance. Oswald also has very little self-esteem in himself, sure he has his persistence and intelligence but he knows and doubts that anyone could truly love him the way his mother and father could.

Kisses: How do they act around or with their darling?

He wants to always be around his darling, his life is a bit of a mess but nothing makes him happier than to come how to his darling and have a nap with them to forget all that he's been through. He's more caring and generous to his darling than anyone before.

Love letters: How would they go about courting or approaching their darling?

It can go separate ways depending on his relationship with you, if you don't know him he'll wait until he is able to introduce himself, he'd want to make sure everything was perfect but not too obvious he's only after you so he'd maybe stop by your work or make his way into your life by your friends and/or family. If you're friends, he'll be a bit shy to confess but it's kinda obvious he is smitten with you and will gush about it to Olga and bite anyone's heads off if they get too close to you. Eventually, if he gets a hint or hears that you like him too he'll instantly confess, choking back tears saying how he's waited so long and that he's so happy you like him too, even if that's not the case.

Mask: Are their true colors drastically different from the way they act around everyone else?

Definitely, you cannot make this man hate you. You can stab him, kill all his men and he'll still beg and sob about how much he loves you. With others, he's an intimidating little short man who can get you killed that very same day but to you, he's literally the shyest person and bats his eyes while brushing the few black hairs that fell out of place once you say something nice to him. He cannot stop smiling or blushing about you.

Naughty: How would they punish their darling?

He'll take away rewards or any privileges. You act out, then good clothing and good food are taken away from you, you try and hurt him? You're locked in a single room until you start sobbing to him about how sorry you are. You escape? He won't hurt you but you'll be locked in a room with his or his men's supervision and you won't be let out outside ever again.

Oppression: How many rights would they take away from their darling?

You can still talk with others or even go outside if you're good, but only on his terms and with who he deems appropriate if he gets even the slightest suspicious of you planning to escape or you getting too close with someone? Say bye-bye. Not only does he demand affection but he also wants to take care of you, which means bathing you, feeding you, and making sure that you're healthy and well taken for. He does allow privacy but only if he trusts you.

Patience: How patient are they with their darling?

He can be very patient with you but to others around him? HAH, no.

Quit: If their darling dies, leaves, or successfully escapes, would they ever be able to move on?

No, no and no. This man will be thinking of YOU on his death bed along with all his other dead loved ones. You won't be able to leave without the fear of you getting hurt and that's the very last thing he wants and you escape- he won't ever stop thinking or searching for you.

Regret: Would they ever feel guilty about abducting their darling? Would they ever let their darling go?

He'd feel very guilty but feels he has no solution, he knows he can't move on and he blames it on Gotham and the people itself. I can't see him ever letting his darling go unless he dies.

Stigma: What brought about this side of them (childhood, curiosity, etc)?

Mostly his childhood and all his trauma, each loved one of his has died by his hands or left him and he cannot let the same happen to you.

Tears: How do they feel about seeing their darling scream, cry, and/or isolate themselves?

If his darling starts crying, he starts crying. He is basically a toddler. If they end up isolating themselves, it would be the thing most to make his heart break, he doesn't like seeing you turn into nothing but a waste, he loves you for you. He'll attempt to get you into high spirits or encourage any sort of reaction out of you, just as long as you say something to him.

Unique: Would they do anything different from the classic yandere?

I guess that he's open to letting you go outside. Also that he does not want to hurt you physically at all, he's also very shy and it would take some time before he decides to kidnap you.

Vice: What weakness can their darling exploit in order to escape?

Definitely his childhood but only if you're careful, he can definitely be fooled by you but not by other people. He also does not underestimate you, it'd be very difficult to escape because even if his guard is down around you, his men are certainly making sure you don't escape. You could probably hatch a plan to drug or knock out Oswald, killing or hurting him would not be an option or else you'd have no chance of escape. But other than that, your chances of escaping are up to luck and how good you are at beating dozens of guards.

Wit’s end: Would they ever hurt their darling?

Physically? No, never. Mentally on the other hand... not saying that Oswald would ever want to hurt in any way but he'll probably guilt trip you into feeling bad for him or even going through your personal life and deepest trauma in order for you to submit to him if you're being too difficult for too long. He'll bring up that trauma and make you talk about it until you're crying to him, he'll break down your walls as long as you open up to him.

Xoanon: How much would they revere or worship their darling? To what length would they go to win their darling over?

He thinks that you're a goddess and that you can do no wrong, he'll be broken if you betray him and won't believe it from others unless they have proof or he catches you himself.

Yearn: How long do they pine after their darling before they snap?

He'll pine for a while and just soak in all of the puppy dog love, it isn't until he gets jealous that he snaps. He'll believe someone is poisoning your mind and trying to turn you against him because why wouldn't his enemies go after the one thing he truly cares about?

Zenith: Would they ever break their darling?

I mean, he'll try not to? As long as you behave, you could have a fairly normal life with him. You'll still have enough freedom to go outside and talk to people, he won't ever hurt you and you could have anything you want. Just, don't piss him off enough that he'll start stabbing a person right in front of you.

[istumpysk]

Operation Stumpy Re-Read

ACOK: Tyrion XII (Chapter 54)

This was inevitable. Too much enjoyment the previous three chapters.

She looked at the letter thoughtfully. "Why must I suffer accusations every time some Stark stubs his toe? This was Greyjoy's work, I had nothing to do with it."

"Let us hope Lady Catelyn believes that."

Her eyes widened. "She wouldn't—"

"—kill Jaime? Why not? What would you do if Joffrey and Tommen were murdered?"

"I still hold Sansa!" the queen declared.

"We still hold Sansa," he corrected her, "and we had best take good care of her.

Big surprise this is coming after Jon.

You're both wrong.

"All that way," Ned affirmed. "The Lannister woman shall never have this skin." - Eddard III, AGOT

Not yours. Never yours.

+.+.+

Cersei set a tasty table, that could not be denied. They started with a creamy chestnut soup, crusty hot bread, and greens dressed with apples and pine nuts. Then came lamprey pie, honeyed ham, buttered carrots, white beans and bacon, and roast swan stuffed with mushrooms and oysters. Tyrion was exceedingly courteous; he offered his sister the choice portions of every dish, and made certain he ate only what she did. Not that he truly thought she'd poison him, but it never hurt to be careful.

Feast update: Tyrion Lannister is still eating well.

I'm taking note of that poison, and putting it in the file.

+.+.+

"I've never trusted Littlefinger. For enough coin, he'd go over to Stannis in a heartbeat."

"Stannis Baratheon is too bloody righteous to buy men.

Did I imagine all those mercenaries?

+.+.+

As the swan was being served, the queen questioned him about the conspiracy of the Antler Men. She seemed more annoyed than afraid. "Why are we plagued with so many treasons? What injury has House Lannister ever done these wretches?"

"None," said Tyrion, "but they think to be on the winning side . . . which makes them fools as well as traitors."

"Are you certain you've found them all?"

"Varys says so." The swan was too rich for his taste.

Following Daenerys IV (House of the Undying), we had Tyrion XI.

Treason was briefly mentioned, and it immediately caught my eye:

His sister had insisted that Joffrey strip Blount of his white cloak on the grounds of treason and cowardice. And now she replaces him with another man just as hollow.

It didn't seem like anything noteworthy though.

What did stand out was the passage on Lord Swann:

Pleading illness, Lord Gulian Swann had remained in his castle, taking no part in the war, but his eldest son had ridden with Renly and now Stannis, while Balon, the younger, served at King's Landing. If he'd had a third son, Tyrion suspected he'd be off with Robb Stark. It was not perhaps the most honorable course, but it showed good sense; whoever won the Iron Throne, the Swanns intended to survive.

Smells of that black and green-eyed Lannister, no?

Now, for the second Tyrion chapter in a row, we're revisiting the idea of switching to the winning side, and this time attaching the word treason to it.

Spoiler alert, the chapter will conclude with Tyrion calling himself a fool.

Isn't that so Tyrion? He would never abandon Daenerys because he morally objects, he would do it for self-preservation.

On top of all of this, the text keeps bringing up swan (both times!). That's typically code for another character, but I might be reaching.

+.+.+

A line appeared on Cersei's pale white brow, between those lovely eyes. "You put too much trust in that eunuch."

"He serves me well."

"Or so he'd have you believe. You think you're the only one he whispers secrets to? He gives each of us just enough to convince us that we'd be helpless without him. He played the same game with me, when I first wed Robert. For years, I was convinced I had no truer friend at court, but now . . ." She studied his face for a moment. "He says you mean to take the Hound from Joffrey."

Damn Varys. "I need Clegane for more important duties."

Will Tyrion finally stop depending on Varys now that he knows he's more than willing to sell him out?

No.

+.+.+

"Joff's only a boy."

"A boy who wants to be part of this battle, and for once he's showing some sense. I don't intend to put him in the thick of the fighting, but he needs to be seen. Men fight more fiercely for a king who shares their peril than one who hides behind his mother's skirts."

Catelyn's got the next chapter.

+.+.+

"He's thirteen, Tyrion."

"Remember Jaime at thirteen? If you want the boy to be his father's son, let him play the part.

Kind of amusing we don't know whether he's referring to Jaime or Robert, but it works both ways.

+.+.+

He had thought that might reassure her, but he saw no sign of pleasure in those green eyes. "Will the city fall?"

"No." But if it does, pray that we can hold the Red Keep long enough for our lord father to march to our relief.

A little far-fetched King's Landing is not receiving any communication from Tywin Lannister.

I get it. Storytelling. The art of suspense.

+.+.+

Cersei beckoned for the sweet. "I hope you like blackberry tarts."

Funny woman.

+.+.+

"What are you trying to say?"

"Only this—I have your little whore."

[...]

"Why should you care who I choose to warm my bed?"

"A Lannister always pays his debts," she said. "You've been scheming against me since the day you came to King's Landing. You sold Myrcella, stole Tommen, and now you plot to have Joff killed. You want him dead so you can rule through Tommen."

She's not wrong?

He has been scheming against her since he arrived to King's Landing.

He sold Myrcella to a kingdom with plenty of hostility towards House Lannister, without ever speaking to Cersei about it. If you think that's bad now, wait until Myrcella is dead.

He abducted Tommen to carry out the exact same plan that Cersei had already set in motion.

He keeps threatening Joffrey, he lay a beating on him in public, and now he's attempting to weaken his personal guard during the battle.

+.+.+

"She'll be treated gently enough, so long as no harm comes to my sons. If Joff should be killed, however, or if Tommen should fall into the hands of our enemies, your little cunt will die more painfully than you can possibly imagine."

She truly believes I mean to kill my own nephew.

Well yeah.

She doesn't have access to your internal monologue, you fucking moron.

+.+.+

"Bring in my brother's whore."

Ser Osmund's brothers Osney and Osfryd were peas from the same pod, tall men with hooked noses, dark hair, and cruel smiles. She hung between them, eyes wide and white in her dark face. Blood trickled from her broken lip, and he could see bruises through her torn clothing. Her hands were bound with rope, and they'd gagged her so she could not speak.

[...]

Tyrion wanted to laugh at her. It would have been so sweet, so very very sweet, but it would have given the game away. You've lost, Cersei, and the Kettleblacks are even bigger fools than Bronn claimed. All he needed to do was say the words.

Here's another quick rundown for you.

Tyrion is forbidden to take his sex worker to King's Landing by his father.

He does so anyway.

Knowing Shae is in grave danger, he goes to great lengths to keep her hidden.

To protect Shae, he fakes visits with Alayaya.

This puts Alayaya at risk.

He never considers this. Or maybe he does, and doesn't care.

Not surprisingly, Cersei eventually finds out about Alayaya, and holds her hostage.

But not before beating the shit out of her.

She presents this broken girl to Tyrion, and warns him that she's a dead woman should anything happen to her children.

After realizing Cersei has the wrong sex worker, Tyrion's first reaction is

TO

LAUGH.

+.+.+

He pushed himself to his feet. "Keep her then, but keep her safe. If these animals think they can use her . . . well, sweet sister, let me point out that a scale tips two ways." His tone was calm, flat, uncaring; he'd reached for his father's voice, and found it. "Whatever happens to her happens to Tommen as well, and that includes the beatings and rapes." If she thinks me such a monster, I'll play the part for her.

Cersei had not expected that. "You would not dare."

Tyrion made himself smile, slow and cold. Green and black, his eyes laughed at her. "Dare? I'll do it myself."

Is there anything worse he could have said in this moment?

Similar to Aemon's counsel to "kill the boy," we finally see the flaw in the following advice:

"Let me give you some counsel, bastard," Lannister said. "Never forget what you are, for surely the world will not. Make it your strength. Then it can never be your weakness. Armor yourself in it, and it will never be used to hurt you." - Jon I, AGOT

What's especially infuriating about this though, is that he starts off this altercation knowing he should act unbothered, because it's the best course of action for Shae.

"And the whore?" He would not call her by name. If I can convince her Shae means nothing to me, perhaps . . .

Apparently now that he knows it's not Shae, it's a good idea to goad a volatile, violent woman.

+.+.+

Her blood still marked him as he looked down at the queen. "I have never liked you, Cersei, but you were my own sister, so I never did you harm. You've ended that. I will hurt you for this. I don't know how yet, but give me time. A day will come when you think yourself safe and happy, and suddenly your joy will turn to ashes in your mouth, and you'll know the debt is paid."

...

Wow.

How have I never put together this is perfect foreshadowing for Cersei being in King's Landing when Daenerys pops off? Ashes in your mouth...

Wow.

+.+.+

Shae sat cross-legged in the canopied bed, nude but for the heavy golden chain that looped across the swell of her breasts: a chain of linked golden hands, each clasping the next.

Tyrion had not expected her. "What are you doing here?"

Laughing, she stroked the chain. "I wanted some hands on my titties . . . but these little gold ones are cold."

I don't think you want golden hands anywhere near your neck, Shae.

+.+.+

"The Lady Lollys—"

"She's asleep. Sleep's all she ever wants to do, the great cow. She sleeps and she eats. Sometimes she falls asleep while she's eating. The food falls under the blankets and she rolls in it, and I have to clean her." She made a disgusted face. "All they did was fuck her."

I might defend Shae here and there, but don't think for one second I like her.

+.+.+

She gave a shrug. "Lord Varys made me wear a hood. I couldn't see, except . . . there was one place, I got a peep at the floor out the bottom of the hood. It was all tiles, you know, the kind that make a picture?"

"A mosaic?"

Shae nodded. "They were colored red and black. I think the picture was a dragon. Otherwise, everything was dark. We went down a ladder and walked a long ways, until I was all twisted around. Once we stopped so he could unlock an iron gate. I brushed against it when we went through. The dragon was past the gate. Then we went up another ladder, with a tunnel at the top. I had to stoop, and I think Lord Varys was crawling."

Nothing at all suspicious about the author going into this much detail.

It only now occurred to me that Shae probably entered Tywin's bedchambers this way every single time. Meaning Varys always had to escort her. Escort her to Tywin.

sometimes I feel as though you are the best friend I have in King's Landing - Tyrion III, ACOK

Lulz.

+.+.+

After a few moments he stopped her. "What's wrong?" she asked. All the sweet innocence of the world was written there in the lines of her young face.

Innocence? Fool, she's a whore, Cersei was right, you think with your cock, fool, fool.

Yeah, we know. You're dumb.

Final thoughts:

Ashes in your mouth. I can't believe it.

21 down, 28 to go. :(

-> return to menu <-

[asmrtist-brainrot]

If you’re willing, some Yandere!Davey head cannons? I liked your yandere!sam a lot!

I kinda had a hard time imagining Davey as a yandere initially but framing his intensity and feelings in a different light, I can really see where he has the potential to be one.

... Baby is already a tsundere after all.

Gender Neutral! Reader + Reader is Angel

~ Dari

David Shaw + General Yandere HCs

another mostly self-aware yandere, full of fear that he might scare you away but but completely aware in the sense that while it's not healthy for him to worry... he truly cannot leash that part of it

protective, possessive, and emotionally dependant

leans hard into possessive, mostly due to his shifter nature and the immense need to keep as many awful people away from you if possible

people can't really see any of these tendencies being as he's so prickly and abrasive and chalk up most quirks to him being a bit mean

the only person I can realistically seeing the extremes of his behavior is Asher but it's unlikely he ever will with how careful David is

but his feelings extend to the rest of his pack too, especially as they are his family

like if any of them were to commit a murder or something of the like, he would make sure it'd be covered up and pull as many strings as he can

David was about ready to hunt down the shade that hurt Milo as well, but as it was in the hands of the department, it was good that he hadn't

honestly about to throttle most of the pack for also making fun of Milo but restrained himself as they are also family

about to go and kill Quinn himself for Darlin' and out of fear that he'd come for the rest of the pack

probably angrier at Darlin' for running off and taking such a risk in the first place

speaking of which, as his mate, you hold a lot of power over him - whether you know it or not

after he's lost his parents and was thrust into a position of power where he felt there wasn't any emotional support, he truly attached himself to you in a way where he believes he would genuinely be unable to go on without you

like a life preserver keeping him from sinking, of which he desperately clings to

almost reverent in worship, especially to you - "Angel" is kinda him lifting you above everyone upon a pedestal and probably would prioritize you in a dangerous situation

if it means he has to manipulate events to keep you from leaving - he'd do it - but that's a last resort

he thought about causing some freak accident for Michael if it meant that you'd stay, but held off when he realized that you were just worried about making him upset

would likely hunt down every person that you'd griped about at work for making your life harder if not for the fact you might be on the suspect list if they were to disappear

absolutely has thought about killing someone unempowered in his wolf form as it could just be dismissed as an animal attack and D.U.M.P. would just leave it alone

has not acted on any of his more violent tendencies and despite being somewhat short tempered, self-control is his creed

understands that love rivals are nonexistent, you were the one that initiated the flirting and all and you wouldn't just up and leave him for someone else

he knows this but the paranoia is great, setting him to snapping at whoever shows that type of interest

Davey's little tick about keeping him updated via phone are a little more intense, when he asked for small things throughout the day - he got embarrassed when you fawned over at how clingy he was being

but it quelled the obsessive part of him that wants to know where you are and what you're doing at all times

while it could be just excused by his natural protectiveness, these feelings usually are not carried by thoughts of causing bodily harm or homicide

he is secure in your relationship, but it doesn't mean that he likes people encroaching on his territory

[huntingingoodwill]

i really love your jonathan crane stories and headcanons so much, i always look forward to them! i don't know if you are still taking requests for these, but is it okay if i ask for a, b, c, and d from the yandere alphabet for jonathan crane?

oh tysm ily!! <3 and sure :))

i’ve never written in public before but im @ the metro station waiting for my friends who are an hour late so now might be the time to try

send me a character + a letter from the yan alphabet 💕

affection: how do they show their love and affection? how intense would it get?

yk when a cat kills a bird and leaves it on your doorstep like “yo!! gift!! <3” and when you’re horrified they’re like “? what’s wrong >:/”- jon doesnt murder birds but that’s his vibe

he’s into acts of service/”gift” giving. creepy dude’ll find out about your life (sneakily, naturally) and things start,, happening. “i was on the phone ystd complaining about this dude at work/school who’s giving me a hard time and today he’s gone?? moved away without prior notice?? weird!” if s.o. works with jc pre-dating he’d totally disappear the cute intern that asks you out for coffee

he likes grand gestures but they’re shitty like “you said you felt cold so i lit this building on fire for you!! isnt it great!!”

he’s not pda-y but sappy kissy caressy stuff happens. he likes to bite and scratch like the weird lil feral animal he is. he tries to keep his emotions under control but for darling they’re so overwhelming he goes from withdrawn and repressed to passionate on a dime- especially at the beginning.

definitely intense. a little on and off which turns up the intensity somewhat. he’s cold sometimes but reverts back to “BUT I L O V E YOU” quick enough

blood: how messy are they willing to get when it comes to their darling?

besides being creepy jon has myriad personality traits, two of them being determined and possessive, both to uncomfortable degrees :) he’s willing to do a lot to get s.o to stay/protect them etc but because he’s so calculative i think he could do his evil scarecrow activities organised and mess-free.

but his emotions (esp when it comes to s.o.) are so overpowering jon.exe stops working and he can lose control. murderous bad things may occur because... it’s him. “the red means i love you”.

(like how joe from you kills for whoever he's after. overwhelming emotions make it messy. kinda like that but jon is wayyy smarter than joe LMAO soz penn 💕)

cruelty: how would they treat their darling once abducted? would they mock them?

cough next chapter of fact or a weapon cough

anyway at first he’ll try his hardest to keep his distance and observe. like a good scholar.

would slowly try to get closer to you and get you to trust him be it through being nice or being emotionally manipulative (probably a confusing mix of both to keep you on your toes) his emotions get the best of him sometimes especially now that you’re actually there. he has you now. he may push a little too hard then withdraw for a while to try and get his feelings in check. he’s playing nice/mean but really he’s hiding his vulnerability

a lot of “i won’t hurt you don’t be scared <3” despite him literally having,,, kidnapped you

mocking would be involved though it’s just little comments here or there, i think he’s got a dry sense of humour which just slips out. it’ll be his way of trying to lighten the mood ig even though it is,,, very unamusing to everyone else.

darling: aside from abduction, would they do anything against their darling’s will?

yes probably. he’s a stubborn little man and he does it all to “protect” darling. he won’t do anything that he thinks will directly hurt you, it’s a “im doing this for your own good” thing. he’d probably keep his deeds a secret from you to keep you close, hurt people who’ve hurt you even though you don’t want him to. back to the killing birds analogy. “but i did this because i care for you??? :(“

[cinnamonest]

Yandere HCs - Kaeya & Diluc

Kaeya Alberich

This man. This man is one of the best at manipulation and mind games. He can read people very well, just from spending some time around them, watching them, he can understand the kind of things that gets under their skin, the things that worry them, the things they're insecure about, and he knows exactly how to utilize that knowledge to his benefit, so subtly you'll never even realize it.

Among his many techniques of mental manipulation is his effect on your own self-perception, a careful form of gaslighting to make you completely dependent. In your case, he utilizes your foreign status - you don't understand the culture, so it only makes sense you wouldn't recognize that that guy you were talking to clearly had ill intentions, that that merchant was trying to scam you, that that bartender was trying to slip you something when you weren't looking, that that person you thought liked you actually finds you annoying, that they're signaling for you to leave. You're awful at reading the air, really, that's how the cultural difference works, but if you asked anyone else for help, well, they might just intentionally mislead you for their own amusement, you know? He's a trustworthy guy, he'll be like a guide for you, keep you safe.

Of course, he's a very busy man, so while he's working, it's probably better for you to stay indoors by yourself. You have to promise not to leave - after all, if he thinks you're out there, all by your naive self, he'll worry about you, and he might zone out and get hurt on a mission, all because of you, and you don't want that, right?

And while you might be excited to finally get to go out once he's back, when he comes through the door you see how exhausted he is, and he knows you're so sympathetic and selfless, you won't force him to go out when he's tired, you can just have a night in to yourselves. He's your friend, of course he wants to spend some time with you. That, and he's locked himself out of the knight headquarters again, and he doesn't want to wake them up, so he not-so-subtly tells you he needs a place to stay, sheepish smile, passed off as embarrassment over his forgetfulness - which is odd, since he never seems to be forgetful otherwise. He's like that - constantly just teetering on the edge of your kindness, testing the boundaries of how much you're willing to do for him, laughing as he promises to pay you back somehow.

He's got that laid back, confident air to him, and that contributes to how easily you trust him. It makes him one of least detectable yanderes you could have - he has a trained poker face and can keep his anger restrained with a smile, only making a slight passive aggressive comment to relieve any irritation. It takes a lot to get him to lash out, but one of the quickest ways to do so is get him concerned for your safety, or panicked if you can't be found. In moments like that, he's more likely to become moody and snap at you or others, but he'll calm down eventually and apologize, treating it as so trivial you can't help but feel like you overreacted to it. He keeps his cool very well, and recovers from outbursts very easily. The other way to irritate him is showing very blatant affection for someone else, initiating physical contact with them, etc. He's a little slower to recover from that, and might need to storm off to cool down, telling you you shouldn't be so stupid as to trust someone like that.

And don't think he won't degrade you - so subtly, he makes it clear how he sees you, and how you should be seeing yourself - naive, clueless, stupid even. Immature, you don't know how the real world works, you're just like a little kid when you get mad over the latest friend of yours he's passive-aggressively insulted. You're really lucky he puts up with your tantrums. You could stand to show some gratitude that he chooses to be forgiving.

He likes to think he isn't a jealous person, and that's true, but only externally. Inside, it's a slow burning feeling, one that eats away at him. He actually won't recognize it at first. He usually doesn't have reasons to be jealous - he's the one others are envious of, and he knows that. Once he recognizes the emotion, it only makes it worse, now irritated by the insult to his arrogance that someone so beneath him, as all your friends are, could incite such emotions, that he'd even worry if they might be better. Which is a ridiculous notion - he's the best at virtually everything, the most desirable person you'll ever meet. He tells himself you're just too nice, your attention too easy to capture.

But Kaeya won't kill anyone, no, at least not personally. He's definitely above that, as appealing as the idea may be, he tells himself that whoever has earned his wrath doesn't deserve the effort, doesn't deserve the honor of being killed by him. He can't stand the thought of stooping so low as to become a murderer. 

So instead, he'll use his authority to dispose of them. It's very unfortunate that you didn't notice your little friend was a criminal, didn't realize they were so violent that they'd rather die fighting than be arrested by knights. But he gets it, you're spacey, unaware, maybe a little dumb, even. Or perhaps it's a cultural difference yet again. You're just too easy to fool and deceive, this is exactly why you shouldn't wander around with people you can't trust - unlike him, someone with a reputation, an authority figure, the epitome of trustworthiness. 

And finally... He is touchy. He is always finding some way to just sit on the border of normal touches, stopping short of anything you would actually feel justified in getting mad at him for. When you walk through a door, he presses your lower back to push you in. When you're drinking, he has his arm around your neck. When you say goodbye, he wraps you into face-to-face hugs and hangs on just a little too tight for just a little too long to be comfortable.

Diluc Ragnvindr

A very obvious yandere, really. Diluc is significantly less charismatic than Kaeya, but he's charming in his own little way. He's funny when he's not trying to be, taking everything way too seriously, saying unintentionally funny things with the most flat and neutral expression that makes you laugh even more.

He isn't the best with expressing his emotions, but also unlike Kaeya, he doesn't do a very good job at keeping them hidden, either. It comes out in awkward displays of affection and an intense protectiveness. He insists on paying for everything you do while in the region, will buy you random gifts, intending to give you them in person but ultimately leaving them outside your door, anonymously, hoping maybe you'd just conclude it was him and be grateful. His protectiveness is intense. He needs to know where you are, who you're with, what you're doing, virtually every hour of the day. For your safety, of course. Still, the very fact that he shows such concern is a considerable contrast from his usual complete cold stoicism.

God forbid you hang out with someone sleazy and cunning and much better at the flirting thing than him like you-know-who. No, he'll make sure you keep a good distance from the knights, insisting to both anyone who asks as well as to himself that it's because of his distrust in their competence. They can't get the most basic of tasks done, why would he ever trust them to protect you?

He's significantly easier to piss off than other yans, and he lacks both the ability to keep a cool head or quickly backtrack the way some others would. He's not prone to violent outbursts, but if he's upset about something, you'll know it. The scowl on his face and the annoyance in his tone is as unrestrained as it is threatening. 

Which, speaking of, will play a role in your interactions with him. He's the most threatening persona of the genshin boys, really, and can get a little frightening at times. He'll accompany you in your journeys, and should you encounter any human enemies, he'll treat them exactly the same as he would monster ones - merciless, brutal kills. He's so caught up in protective instinct that he doesn't really process how horrifying it is for you to watch, doesn't think about how it probably doesn't look too good for him to be chasing down a fleeing enemy or running a surrendering, begging criminal straight through with a sword. Should you have the courage to bring it up, and not be too afraid to even mention it, he might try to come up with some excuse, but it's more likely he'll be his bluntly honest self and say it was for your safety. He won't insist that you thank him the way the others might, but there's a clear edge to his tone that says you shouldn't question what he does for your sake. 

His threatening nature is also beneficial when it comes to any potential rivals - sometimes he doesn't even need to have a private conversation, he just has to look at them, and they're running the other way.

It's not as insufferable and delusional as Kaeya's, but he's still got that prideful streak to him. Diluc doesn't go out of his way to show off or speak in such an arrogant, snide way like the other, his pride manifests differently - his generally cold demeanor contributes to an aloofness that speaks for itself. He's better than the others around him - and he believes that himself, mostly. Which is why seeing other people around you likewise irritates him. It's not so much that he deserves your attention, though, more than they're unworthy of it.

And that's one of the primary differences between him and Kaeya - Kaeya will, albeit subtly, demean you, belittle you, talk down to you like you're a silly child, he sees himself as above you, but Diluc will place you on a pedestal, see you as some perfect being that's constantly tainted by the presence of others. You deserve something perfect too, like himself. He won't pull the same attitude of making you feel unworthy, but rather try his best to make you understand how much more you do deserve.

If you should become wary around him, try to distance yourself, try to avoid him, he'll catch on. He's not very delusional, he's a more rational yandere that could understand why you might react that way. He's also one of the more guilty yanderes, doesn't want to do anything that would make you more upset, so he'll first try earning back your favor, make you smile at him again rather than looking away and seeming so nervous. He beats himself up mentally, tells himself it's his own fault, he's not one to blame you or another force. He knows he's not the most smooth or eloquent person, but he tries his best to apologize and win you back. It takes a lot for him to apologize to anyone, but he will do so surprisingly quickly for you.

If that doesn't work, however... He'll give you a set amount of time he's determined in his mind for you to come around, and if you don't... He'll still feel guilty, he'll say he's an awful person and apologize for what he'll do, but the guilt isn't strong enough to stop him from more forceful means of isolating you and getting your attention back. If you're especially good, though, he'll let you back outside. Eventually.

As for touchiness, he's very hesitant. It's not something he's used to, poor boy is very touch-starved. But once he does, it's an exhilarating thing, even just shaking your hand will have him spacing out for the rest of the day with the memory.

[reidingdays]

the first 3 minutes of zugzwang: an ESSAY nobody asked for and i mean an essay the english student really jumped out on this one lads

this scene is arguably the best acting i’ve seen matthew gray gubler ever do and it’s JUST HIM STANDING IN A PARK

so we start in a park, there’s soft music and to me it sounds academic and whimsical, optimistic like you’ve got all the world’s puzzles to explore and endless time to do it in. it’s something straight out of a beautiful mind. it’s autumn, warm colours abound and the cosy vibes continue as spencer’s in good spirits and a warm jacket

he looks happy!!! peaceful!! content!!! treasure that with me, will you

the music reaches a higher key as he dials maeve’s number and he’s making little chhhh chhh chuu noises, singing his own song under his breath in his own little world, the picture of ease, as he calls and immediately hangs up to let her know it’s only him, not her stalker. his movements are light and fluid and given his aversion to technology and germs he doesn’t falter once as he dials on this very public phone box

he sighs because he’s done this a thousand times over but it’s not a sad sigh. it seems kind of like acceptance, as if he’s made peace with the situation and he’s in it for the long haul. it's simply routine. he instinctively - subconsciously?? - reaches for his satchel like a safety blanket, like a reminding reassurance that this is working, she’s safe, and he looks EXCITED while awaiting her call back

he even walks a few steps away, shoves his hands in his pockets, turns away from the phone box, because he knows she’ll call back. there’s no anxiety there, no pressure to stare at the thing until it rings. he trusts her. as he looks around the park he continues the chhh chh chhhh noises, admiring the scene passively among nose scrunches because this is just another liminal space, another random phone box, on his journey to be with maeve

when the phone rings, boy damn near gives himself WHIPLASH look at that hair flip!!!! majestic!!! he couldn’t care LESS about the beautiful park he wants to talk to maeve!!

after he practically dives on top of the phone box, he answers with a jaunty lil “hellooOOOoOO!!” and just look at the mischief on that there face. his eyes are squinted because he’s ready to tease and debate obscure literary theories. there’s the hint of a smirk. he’s playful, ready and willing to hang on her every word, and then the happy whimsical walk in the park music CUTS OUT

CUTS RIGHT OUT

in literally 0.03 seconds his face goes from mischevious lil puppy!!!!!!! to oh shit this isn’t right this isn’t maeve. a collect call from adam worth means danger. his head snaps up, there’s tension in his neck how the hell and his eyebrows are pulled down, eyes wider and can’t focus on anything, BOTH hands clutching the phone and pressing it so close to his face as if doing that could help him concentrate

the operator tells him to pay 2 dollars to hear the call and he freezes then JERKS his body back from the abyss his mind is so clearly spiraling down, like he has to remind his limbs to work. he smacks his arm against the phone box but doesn’t even register it. my bet is he whacked his funny bone and we all know that hurts like the DICKENS and there's still zero reaction. his pain is irrelevant. his breathing is loud and ragged, offbeat and unnerving against the Dramatic Violins, he scrabbles through his satchel with absolutely no regard for it at all because it’s in the WAY, hair falls in his face, then he just RIPS the bag off his person like it’s rubbish

tips out its contents like a man possessed. we’re talking books on books on books. and spencer loves books.

it’s a desperate bid to find enough change to pay for the call. like this guy is a germaphobe. he’s on his KNEES in a public park on a well trodden footpath with a manky phone still glued to his ear, all his possessions are now covered in god knows what, his beloved satchel is cast aside like litter, he’s not even looking at where is hand is in germ city because he’s staring the phone box out in case, knowing his luck, it sets on fire

all his movements are frantic and jagged and, yes, spencer isn’t known for being a swan but he’s also not a jerky marionette. he staggers upright and shoves his change into the phone box, impatiently pushes his hair out of his face to no avail and he’s blinking like five times more than before

the intonation of “hello i’m still here” OH GOD it is spoken completely monotone which is beyond out of character, going to show just how!!! unnerved!!!! he is!!!! happy joyful jaunty hellooOOoOs are long forgotten. he doesn’t have time for emotion which again is SO UNSETTLING THIS IS SPENCER REID KING OF EMOTION. the next scene with hotch is when he allows emotion to seep back into his voice, but right now, alone and responsible, he has to block it out. each word is rushed together to get them out faster the SECOND the call connects and when it does, we hear zugzwang. he steadies himself with another breath and not to be as Dramatic as the violins but his eyes go hard?? because he knows the meaning of that word and infers bad things are about to happen because bad things just follow him around.

he looks up because how the hell can this be happening WE WERE SO CAREFUL. he almost definitely thought through every potential threat and every precaution made wasn’t enough. his entire face screams desperation, denial, guilt, what the fuck. it’s like he gives himself one split second of panic, pain, doubt and fear but then he shuts it out. you can see his brain kick back in when he asks “sorry can you please repeat that?” in order to engage with whoever this is because maybe that will help? because being polite and soft spoken is his strength AND ALWAYS WILL BE (i digress). but the reply is another zugzwang. farewell happy peaceful and content spencer you lasted literally 21 seconds

and then he pulls THIS face out of his arsenal and you just know spencer isn’t going to get a happy ending because he never does and what better way to destroy the character development of both spencer and maeve, the woman that was created simply to be murdered and SCENE

[sparkbeast20]

You’re my Treasure (Mammon X MC) Pt11

The Blue Lotus petals (series)

As a fan of Beauty X Beast pairing, Showing your “true self” to Lover or (Monster Love) Tropes. I figure to make a (More Demonic Forms AU/head canon) story for each brothers. Heads up each brother’s Story is long as fuck. So, I’ll be posting them as parts and finishing one brother before moving on to the rest of them.

(spoiler for lesson 1-60)

Pt1 Pt2 Pt3 Pt4 Pt5 Pt6 Pt7 Pt8 Pt9 Pt10

Warning: Swearing, Demonic nature, Mention of blood, Past events, Unwanted hate towards a family member, and Attempted murder.

Note: I am really bad at warning.

Previously

The sound of coins being step on quietly filled the cavern, as someone pick up the old book on the ground and return back to sleep.

“So, you don’t want to control my body?” Mammon asks the beast reflected in the lake.

No....I have seen how your brothers treated you, and frankly I think you should fight back!

Mammon pouts at him, not likely the way his saying this.

“Hey! They might be a pain in the ass, but that all family are. Sure, we are at each other’s throats, but we have each others back when we need the most.” The beast huffs at that.

Name one time, you all agree to do something!

“The reaper’s cave”

Hm?

“We might not say it out loud, but we truly wanted to help Beel in anyway possible. Hell, it was a miracle that y/n was there. If was for them giving some of their candle to Beel, we would have made it a regular thing to go back to that cave for Beel.” He starts playing around with his ring, to distract himself from missing his brothers.

It seems that the human choice you out of your brothers why is that?

“y/n is not just a human! And why would you care if y/n choose me?”

I don’t know Mammon, why least you been repeating it in your head over and over causing me to wake up!

Suddenly Mammon felt a lump in his throat, he wants to respond but hesitant for a moment, then he spat it out.

“I haven’t done any of that”

Really? Let me refresh your memories

The last part the beast voice changes into his voice as he starts talking into it.

“I failed as protector and a guardian!” “They deserve better than me!” “Why they have to choose me to love” “Why settle with a weak and pathetic demon like me” “I SHOULDN’T BE SECOND OF THE AVATARS!?!”

Half way of the beast speech Mammon covered his ears, shut his eyes, and grinned his teeth with a snarl coming out of him. But he just keeps repeating his thoughts over his mind. Until Mammon scream.

“OKAY I GET IT!” he drops down it all fours as pant like he was exhausted. “I-I can’t be the demon they all want me to be”

Because you keep letting them to fill your mind with those thoughts, but what you should be doing is SHOW THEM!

Mammon looks back to the lake and asks “What do you mean?”

Kill The demon who attack our mate

“I can’t do that; the bastard knows and what I can do. Even if want to kill him, he’ll just move one location to the other”

Not unless you change into me…...

“I can’t…...” Mammon clenches his hands, digging his talons into his palms drawing blood as his body to tremble in the thought of changing back to that form the memories flood back in his mind, all the fights, the wounds which heals but the mental scars remain, and watching Levi and Asmo change right Infront of him. Their scream of agony rings in his ear as tears and blood drip down in to the ground as he starts to sob.

Are you scare after killing Basto, you’ll go and killing your brother while they’re in those forms?

Mammon quickly nods while his looking down at his bleeding hands.

You don’t have to worry about that

The beast spoke with a softer tone causing Mammon to look back at the lake.

“Wh?”

Look you and I are the same being, when I tell you that all you have to do is stay away from them for a week or two, to have better control over yourself and your instinct you might be the first one out of the seven of you to able to turn into your demonic form without the resist of killing your brothers.

Mammon is done founded about the beast just said.

“How are you sure that I can do that?”

Simple you and Asmo are the only ones that didn’t attack y/n when you get angry and threaten them. And you are the only one who never use violence against them by changing into your demon form. You might be a hothead but you never or will raise a hand to your brothers or to our mate.

Mammon is left speechless, the thing that he been scare of knows him well to the point of trusting him for being himself. He was right as much he hates being the first one to be targeting with name calling because of his sin, is not like his the only one, Asmo calling him a horn dog, Levi with his weird obsession with things and getting emotional, Beel with eating all the time, Belphie with out of nowhere naps and sleeps, Satan with his anger issues, and Lucifer being too proud for his own good.

Their demons now, is something they should be use to. But him have the most control out of the seven of them, makes him fill warm inside. That he should be proud of, and why he should let his brothers tell him that he has no self-control when anger.

But his sin oh yeah! He can’t argue with that, I mean he was willing to help Solomon to forge a pact with Lucifer for the Midas crest, and immediately takes all back when Asmo points out that once he gets the crest, he won’t able to touch you due to the crest make everything he touch turns into gold. It had to take Asmo to point it out, who just said it to openly admit that it will be less competition for him. To realize that he could have made one of his biggest mistakes of his life, for what gold!

Looking back at his hands and/or talons then his wings, looks back at his newly grown tail. It too late, he’s far along of the transformation as he his. If he agrees with the beast’s plan, its going to take some time, means that you need to go back.

“Hey, before I agree to yer plan, let me take y/n back to my brothers”

Mammon…. their better with us then back with your brothers

“Yer crazy!?! What if I kill them!”

MAMMON The last thing we want is our MATE DYING. AGAIN! I’m still a little mad at Sloth for what he did! He’s luckily that y/n forgave him, because if they didn’t rest assure, I would’ve wakened up that day!

Mammon flinch and snarl at just remember that day. Holding your past self in his arms as you choke on your blood causing Belphie. If he’s being honest with himself, sometimes he gets piss off whenever Belphie took a nap at your lap and asks pat his head like, he didn’t try to kill you long ago.

That reflex he just did, get angry when you get hurt or someone trying to hurt you. Maybe his beast does have a point.

“Okay, I’ll do it……I’ll-I’ll change, IF!! You make sure that y/n safety is my-our one goal! Go it!”

Even with a beak the beast smirk at Mammon

You have my word…… also you might feel A LOT of pain!

“Huh?...... Wh?”

Before Mammon can say anything else, he felt a pain in his abdomen, he wants to scream but he bites his lips muffling the scream. As he dug his talons into the ground dragging his hands closer to him. Then the pain slowly got worst by each heart beat and panting.

Soon the he couldn’t take it anymore and let out an agnosies scream.

Then a faith voice calls out to him.

“……Mammon…...”

“Mammon!”

Mammon wakes up from the dream by someone grooming his tail, he slowly opens his eyes and lifted up his head and let out a wake-up yawn. And turn his head to whoever is touching his tail.

His eyes narrows and he groans at the sight who it was.

“Morning Mammon, have a good night sleep” Asmo flash he cheerful smile as he fixes the feathers of his tail. “When is the last time you check your tail feathers, look at them some of them are uneven and others stuck together see….” He points at feathers with the vane split apart with dry blood.

“Oi! I didn’t have a chance to clean myself and beside y/n usually brushes and cleans my feathers so, back off” Mammon squawks at Asmo who just giggle at him.

Right, no one can hear him, well no one expect Lucifer who is close to what he is now. He just has to have you use gestures and his eyes to convey what he’s thinking.

“What a pain in the ass, ya all don’t listen to me when I was normal. Now I have to deal with this crap!?! Tch whatever, the herd must be at the lake at this time. Might as well get some food……. Oh shit! Beel’s here…. Great……”

“I know that you’re not a morning demon, so I know that your cranky. But maybe not try to be loud so you won’t wake up y/n” that snap Mammon out of his train of thought.

Surprise to what Asmo said, Mammon looked down in his arms to see your sleeping form curled up next to his chest as you nuzzle your cheek into in with a smile on your face.

He faces softens as gently rub your face with his, as a soothing cooing and purring comes off from him, causing you to let out a satisfying hum as you fall more asleep.

Then Mammon reaches out with beak for a thick fabric from the nest. Then he slowly and gently lay you on the nest and place the fabric under your head serving as a pillow as you continue to sleep.

Then he stood up leave the nest as Asmo let go of his tail and gazing at his brother’s action. Once out of the nest Mammon stretches bending down then stand back straight shake body ruffle his feathers and once finish the feathers fixes themselves as Mammon being his daily routine beginning with leaving the cave. And Asmo got up and follow his big brother.

“I-I don’t believe it. There’s no SIGNAL HERE!!!” Levi is basically reaching for the havens on top of the tree trying to get a signal for his D.D.D, but to no avail.

“Levi! Get down from there” Lucifer yells at Levi causing to flinch almost letting of the branch he was holding to keep himself balance.

From afar Satan and Belphie watches the two older brothers, with Beel who is cook breakfast inside the cave.

“Its just me or is Lucifer losing~”

“His cool? Yes, I’m all for it” Satan is gleefully smile at the sight of Lucifer completely abandoning all of his calmed and serious demeanor, for an anger, short tempered and animalistic one.

Then suddenly they heard talons being drag through rock behind them, they turn around to see Mammon walking out from the cavern and heading outside with Asmo not far behind him.

“Mammon, your awake you got to see this Lucifer is blowing a casket at Levi~” Mammon just keep on walking out ignoring Satan.

“Wait where you going? Breakfast is about to start” Beel got up from he sits next to the campfire and chase after Mammon.

Once outside, flap his wings and start flying, grabbing the attention of Lucifer and Levi.

“MAMMON!?!” Lucifer calls out to him, as he flew after him grabbing Levi’s arm towing along.

As Levi scream for help fade, Satan look at Asmo with a questionable look on his face.

“What did you do”

“Hey! Don’t look at me like that. I was just cleaning the feathers in his tail; I mean you saw him covered in blood of that bastard. You would have done the same thing” Asmo huffs and walk back inside.

“Oh, before you go, Lucifer was looking for the book that he used. Have you seen it?” but Asmo shook his head, not even looking at Satan as he went in to Help Beel with breakfast.

“Clearly one of us is lying about the book” Belphie said it looking at Satan.

“Obviously, but the question is who is lying”

[gravesightings]

jealousy meter - masked slasher edition

masked slashers jealousy hcs + how to quell their anger.

Asa Emory / The Collector

controls his temper really well but the vibes he gives off just screams murder.

if you’re being hit on, he’ll step in before ushering you behind him. sarcastically asks the stranger if they needed anything.

if they're persistent, asa will get more ....uncivil by the minute. he won’t start a fight though.

if they touch you - he’s going to be PISSED. now it’s personal. he’ll waste no time in prying their filthy little fingers off you.

again, he won’t start a fight but he’ll have any notable features memorized so he can deal with them later on.

rating: 8/10. won’t publicly fight anyone but this man holds grudges. touching you = stuffs them in a trunk for his own twisted amusement. might even show it off to you if he’s feeling particularly immoral.

solution: distract him. cling to his arm and take his attention away from the poor idiot who tried flirting with you. not usually a fan of pda but he’ll have an arm around you for protection. no amount of sweet-talking will stop him from abducting the creep later on though.

Brahms Heelshire

unsurprisingly gets jealous of the only other person you get to talk to.

who takes this long to drop off some groceries? why can’t he take a bloody cheque and just fuck off already?

somehow, in some way, he’s going to figure out how to get that fool out of the house without being seen.

was he... hitting on you? gasp! THE NERVE-- starts breaking objects in other rooms. scatters rat corpses all over the man’s car.

brahms will either be grabby hands at you as soon as you’re alone or just stubbornly keep you in his arms until you make him feel better.

rating: 10/10. hates it whenever the grocery boy drops by, especially when he’s blatantly checking you out. especially if he’s still breathing. AWFUL tantrums during and afterwards.

solution: praise him while showering him with affection. hold him tight and tell him how much you love him. kisses make his anger melt away fast. let him glue himself onto you until the next week or he’ll get upset.

Bubba Sawyer / Leatherface

thinks he’s not exactly ideal boyfriend material and he knows how much you prefer not being a cannibal.

big boy sad. initially gets mad when he sees someone flirt with you, but he’s plagued with insecurities. maybe you wanted someone normal and nice-looking. maybe you’re sick of living with the sawyers.

snaps out of it if he sees you uncomfortable. bubba is quick on his feet! don’t worry he’ll save you!!! literally saws the man in half.

creeper? dead. meat? acquired. yee? haw. he’ll quickly check to see if you’re okay. doesn’t quite understand if you freak out on him.

chainsaw go brrr. bubby doesn’t hold grudges and he’s not mad at you or ...whoever this guy was! he’s a simple man: he sees a problem, he saws it in half.

rating: 5/10. not above keeping you in a room to avoid unwanted attention. just gets sad and insecure a lot. tries to “save” you from everyone.

solution: just as easily swayed. please keep reassuring him otherwise he’s just going to keep tearing himself down. usually just reminding him how much you love him will work but why not give him some extra cuddles while you’re at it?

Jesse Cromeans / Chromeskull

very possessive. confident in himself and your relationship but gets an ego boost every time he successfully adds to his body count.

he sees a threat, he eliminates it. simple as that. jesse has more patience than the rest but his violent tendencies tend to get the better of him.

very observant so he’s most likely already blocking you from a creep. uses his towering figure to lowkey cover you. what is he doing, you ask? oh nothing, dear. pets you.

if they still stupidly pursue, he’ll be an asshole about it. “exit’s that way, pal.”

if a stranger tries to reach out for you - it’s game over. let’s just say he might not care if his partner has a weak stomach.

rating: 10/10. bathes in the blood of your fallen admirers. if he feels especially sinister he’ll let them live to pour salt on their wounds. snogs you in front of them after he’s broken both their legs.

solution: literally nothing. jesse’s just the type to kill people for fun. trying to reassure him would just feed into his ego.

Jason Voorhees

believes that his protection is the only thing he can offer you so if he happens to fail at that, he’s going to blame himself for the longest time.

if you’re within the stranger’s reach, alarm bells are rapidly going off in his mind. too close. they might hurt you. silently hopes you run away.

they might not even be able to get a word out honestly? being tackled by jason voorhees probably feels like being hit by a train.

if he’s somehow preoccupied with other trespassers and found you a bit late, he’ll see red as soon as he discovers a horny trespasser had been harassing his beloved!

full speed ahead! all aboard the jason train!

avoids killing in front of you if possible. at the best of his days he’s still questioning why you even stay with him. you’re not afraid of him now but you might change your mind if you see him off someone with his bare hands. it’s a risk he’s not willing to take.

rating: 7/10. similar to bubba, he often tries to “save” you from everyone. he’s also got a lot of insecurities himself so he might keep you in his cabin as an absolute last resort.

solution: heavy dose of TLC. jason’s indifferent towards verbal affirmations - he’s seen people lie all the time. the best way to reassure him is through actions: holding him, mending his clothes, helping around the camp, etc. it’s the little things that have the biggest impact on him.

Michael Myers

the most possessive out of the bunch. stalks you all the time because he’s mike myers and that’s what he does.

hates people and tolerates you at best. people around you though? ick. talking to you and smiling at you? disgusting. doesn’t even smile at you himself, but it’s not like you expect him to. and that’s why you’re his tolerable little thing.

flirting with you? VILE. he’s already made his way inside the premises. mikey is going to back this person into a corner and take his sweet time.

also stalks anyone you meet regularly. don’t be surprised if they rant to you about the harmless but unsettling encounters with a “masked man.”

you are not free from michael’s wrath. he’s going to mark you up in any way he can. if he’s feeling especially territorial he might even show up maskless at your workplace to “pick you up.” (cue him rawing you in the nearest restroom.)

rating: 100/10. AWFUL. he’s gone off the charts, folks! all you need now is a leash and a collar and you’re all set. luckily this hasn’t crossed his mind yet.

solution: bold of you to assume he’s doing this for you. you better believe mikey’s just doing this for his own satisfaction. this man is simply a asshole and nothing can stop him.

Thomas Hewitt / Leatherface

middle man tommy is both insecure and possessive, but he does genuinely care about you. unlike bastard hands mcmike.

very similar to bubba. he’s haunted by his insecurities and believes well in the fact that others can offer a lot more for you than he can.

he won’t jump in with the saw right away, but he’ll immediately come to your side. just kinda stands there and looks as menacing as possible, just silently daring them to try something.

he’ll make sure to put himself between you and the stranger. if they persist then he’ll get to the wrangling. won’t kill them if hoyt isn’t around but won’t let them go unscathed either.

lowkey gets clingy after the ordeal. you need to be in his sights now at all times. won’t keep you around the gore but he’s always within earshot.

rating: 9/10. more likely to keep you in a confined space for safekeeping. you’re too good for this world and tommy’s not about to let anybody hurt you.

solution: very similar to jason, he needs a HEFTY amount of TLC. more actions instead of words. would probably get emotional if you whisper sweet nothings to him though.

Vincent Sinclair

very insecure and would bend over backwards for you. doesn’t get possessive but worries you’ll get tired of him.

he’s also going to convince himself that you’re much better off with a “better-looking” boyfriend that can give you a normal life.

if a victim starts flirting with you, he's already close by, listening intently. wax man sneaky. he’ll knock them out mid-conversation and pull them away from you. saves them for last so they can watch all their companions get waxed.

if they touch you though, he’ll jump in and disembowel them in two seconds flat.

either way - he’s not going to turn them into wax figures. please don’t ask him why. he’s too ashamed to admit his jealousy.

rating: 6/10. stews in his own insecurities and sulks a lot. only time he’ll get angry is if someone touches you inappropriately - then he’ll get extremely violent.

solution: keep him company. seriously, you don’t even need any sort of activity. just do your own thing in the basement while he works on his art and he’ll be more at ease. (but he also enjoys random kisses throughout the day too, he’s just too shy to ask.)

[zv5x]

So uhh,,, I'm starting to get into writing again after restarting everything, so to really warm myself up I'm doing the Yandere ABC's prompt thingy with Spirit! Cause I need the Spirit simps to return to my blog and cause Spirit is my main source of serotonin!!! Plz enjoy teehee, and I promise I'll get to all of your requests soon! let me have my Spirit simping hour, I need it very much ( :̲̅:̲̅:̲̅[̲̅:♡:]̲̅:̲̅:̲̅:̲̅) Affection: How do they show their love and affection? How intense would it get? - Spirit is VERY intense affection wise, and is almost always holding onto you in one way or another. Whether that be laying his head on your chest and purring quietly, or by insisting that your hand stays connected with his while outside, he's always making sure he has a good handle on you. He's also very protective and caring, so expect to be feeling a lot safer in the future. And I mean a LOT safer. Blood: How messy are they willing to get when it comes to their darling? - Spirit was never a big fan of wasting his time on the filth that keeps the two of you apart, so he likes to keep rival elimination quick and painless. However, if he feels that whoever he's killing isn't worthy of a quick death, he will most definitely accommodate to that fact. Or, if you ask him to kill someone and specifically request for it to be long and messy, he'd do it without a shread of hesitation. After all, he'd do anything to prove his loyalty to you. Cruelty: How would they treat their darling once abducted? Would they mock them? - Mocking you isn't in Spirit's vocabulary. He could never treat you with a shread of inhumanity (unless that is, he sees it as needed), as he feels you deserve the best and nothing but the best. He owes his life to you! You saved him, you showed him that the world wasn't nearly as vile as he once thought. Treating you with anything less than the love and adoration that you deserve just doesn't seem like a concept to him even. If he get's to the point where he sees abduction as necessary, he might do the occasional "ara ara" type shit while stepping on your chest though lol, he can get like that sometimes. He'd step on you very gently, though..he doesn't want to hurt you too bad Darling: Aside from abduction, would they do anything against their darling’s will? - Before you even got him out of the game in which he was trapped, he was very creepily overbearing. Though, he couldn't directly show that considering he wouldn't ever get let out then. He'd just keep tabs on all your devices through the shadows. P.S., it was very kind of you to make a ROM of his game for your laptop for him to move into! It made things so much easier for him! Now he can have a much easier time watching you sleep and hearing you breathe when he's placed right by your side on your bed (you said you didn't want him to be lonely, which he thought was very kind and cute of you. It's exactly why he adores you so much). It also makes it so much easier to look through your phone since you have that data connected to your laptop as well. Exposed: How much of their heart do they bare to their darling? How vulnerable are they when it comes to their darling? - What was that, (Y/N)? Spirit's actions are making you doubt his undying love for you? No fear! He'll pour his entire heart to you right then and there! He'll list of just every little thing about you that makes his heart beat fast, he'll also lovingly alert you to the fact that he owes his life along with everything that he is, all to you! He wouldn't be alive or free if it wasn't for you! The coding of his game would have crumbled and basically ate him alive, so without you he'd probably be dead. Fight: How would they feel if their darling fought back? - A combination of betrayal and confusion. Confusion, due to the fact he just doesn't understand why you'd want to leave him. Isn't this exactly what you humans consider true love? The idea of being with someone who would gladly bare any level of agony just to be the only one you gaze upon, the idea of someone being willing to go to any

length just to see that smile of yours that they always adore seeing, how is this not what humans consider love? The feeling of betrayal from you doing something as selfish as trying to leave him, the pain could almost eat him alive. How could you? He's done everything for you, he's given you every inch of love and affection that he has to offer, and you repay him by trying to leave him all alone? Expect the biggest guilt trip you've ever experienced. "I thought you loved me, dearest! Why would you try and leave me?!" Along with millions of demands to know who you were running away to. There had to be some place for you to go when you left him after all, so whose throat does he have to slit just to prove to you how much he adores you? Go on, don't be shy, tell him! Game: Is this a game to them? How much would they enjoy watching their darling try to escape? - The hunting you down aspect of all of this? Yeah, I guess he could consider it a game. But the thing is, he never really considers what he's doing Hunting you down unless you're directly trying to run from him. So, at that point, hunting you down is exactly what he's doing. Spirit considers everything he's doing to be completely understandable and normal for human relationships. So he definitely doesn't consider what he's doing to be a "game" or anything else similar. His love for you isn't just some game, it's serious and it's all he has Hell: What would be their darling’s worst experience with them? - If you ever dare cheat on him, expect to see the last thread of sanity he has in him just snap right before your eyes. He could never kill you, no. But your little partner? Expect them to be torn to shreads right before your very eyes. Ever hear one of those crazy ass yandere laughs? Yeah. He'd pull that too. He'd quite literally go ballistic, getting up when who you cheated on him with isn't even recognizable, screaming at you and demanding to know the reason for your disloyalty. He did everything for you! And you just go on and pull shit like this? No. He won't accept it. You won't get away with it. He still loves you of course, and will remind you of that fact every millisecond, but you can tell he just isn't the same. More possessive, more angry and suffocating. Ideals: What kind of future do they have in mind for/with their darling? - Spirit definitely wants to marry you. Like, this is a fact. He's basically your fiance without even proposing to you yet. He'd definitely enjoy a few kids as well, but only if you want them as well and are able to have them. He understands any reason you might not want kids, and he won't pressure you. Jealousy: Do they get jealous? Do they lash out or find a way to cope? - He's like, literally the CEO of jealous (As well as the CEO of protectiveness). His protective nature causes him to be extremely suspicious of others and their intentions. Sometimes if he feels that person was getting a little too friendly with you, he'll possessively wrap his arms around you while you're talking to them and growl at them until they power walk away out of fear. Sometimes while the two of you are cuddling he'll subtly and quietly bite your neck to leave marks. Or, sometimes he just goes for the more direct route, and offs anyone who he saw as in his way. He can't have anyone walking in on private property thinking it's their own, can he? Kisses: How do they act around or with their darling? - He's usually extremely understanding and sweet. Spirit doesn't like having to use fear tactics to get his way, since he hates it when he has to resort to putting fear in you. Around you, Spirit is more loving than he ever was around anyone before. You're his precious darling after all! You saved him, you taught him what love was like. How could he not act painfully loving and sweet in your presence? You just make his heart flutter so violently. Love letters: How would they go about courting or approaching their darling? - Literally exploding Senpai's face off one day while you were paying his game. He's just been watching you for so long, allowing

Senpai to soak up all your love and attention. He just couldn't contain the jealousy, or the rage. He didn't get what Senpai did to be getting so much affection from you. So, he got rid of the problem. Senpai. He was able to convince you Senpai was completely unalive and unfeeling, just lines of code. Which, he was lines of code, but Spirit knew very well that he was aware of the world and environment around him, and could very much so be considered...alive. However, you didn't need to know that. Mask: Are their true colors drastically different from the way they act around everyone else? - Kinda? You know how protective and jealous he can be, but he completely hides the fact he's literally committed murder. He doesn't want you to think of him as some heartless monster, now does he? That wouldn't do at all. He needs you to adore him, just as much as he adores you. He wants you to be fully willing to marry him, and live out the rest of eternity with him. How could that happen if the very thought of him scares you? Naughty: How would they punish their darling? - The usual, causing you physical pain. His methods of doing this vary, along with the severity of the pain. But, lucky for you it takes a lot to get him to the point to where he sees punishment as the only way. Additionally, if you allow him too, he could get a little...lewder with the punishments... Oppression: How many rights would they take away from their darling? - Not many, if everything goes by his plan. However, if you refuse to do what he says, he'll take away as many rights as he can. Physical freedom, friends, family, and everything else in between. If he feels something is keeping you from him, he'll snatch it away in a millisecond. You don't need it. However, if everything goes to plan, then great! He's so happy you realize that your future is with him, and only him! Patience: How patient are they with their darling? - Oh, he's extremely patient! That is, unless you do something to upset him. Don't show too much fear, don't yell or scream at him, don't deliberately make him jealous, or do anything similar, and everything will be okay! He understands why you might be a little reluctant, as you've probably never had someone as loving and adoring as him in your life! So much affection being given to you is something you need to get used to, he would know. It took him a little bit to fully adjust to all the love you had for him. Quit: If their darling dies, leaves, or successfully escapes, would they ever be able to move on? - No. He wouldn't. Not in the slightest. He'd never be able to move on if you were to leave him forever. If you die, he could just chase you down to wherever you ended up considering he was a demon himself. But, if you somehow find a way to get away from him even after he chases you down? He'll be devastated. He thought you loved him, he loved you so much. He still does love you. He can't let you go, he just can't. He needs you. He lives for you. He craves you. You're his light, his everything, he can't imagine an existence without you by his side. But, that won't even happen, he won't let you go no matter what. You won't be able to loosen yourself from his grip. Not that you want to though, right? (Extra fact: Spirit wouldn't hesitate to resort to killing you himself, just so he could drag you down to Hell and keep you there forever. If it's something he needs to do, then he'll do it no questions asked. He hates causing you pain, he really does. But Spirit will do whatever it takes to have your love) Regret: Would they ever feel guilty about abducting their darling? Would they ever let their darling go? - Spirit has a very warped view of love, so while he is capable of feeling guilt, he doesn't at all regret what he's done. He feels guilt for the way you cried when he tried snuggling you and holding you, he felt guilt for the way you trembled as he reached out to you, but he just couldn't feel bad for the people he damned and murdered. They were trying to take you away from him, and that's absolutely unforgivable. Stigma:

What brought about this side of them (childhood, curiosity, etc)? - Definitely his time in the Hating Simulator. He was completely ripped away from all contact with the outside world and everyone that inhabited it, human or not. He stayed like that for years, until his captors daughter finally decided to dispose of him. Then, somehow, he met you. You decided to pick his game and it's console up, and take him home. He didn't trust you at first, but soon, watching you talk to Senpai and get closer with him, he fell in love with you. Hard. He needed you in his life, he needed to keep you. He had to have you. You needed to be his, and his alone. Tears: How do they feel about seeing their darling scream, cry, and/or isolate themselves? - Confused, but still upset and guilty. He hates seeing you in pain, whether that pain be physical or mental. So to hear you scream and cry with such pain, it absolutely makes his heart shatter. But he just doesn't understand why you're acting in such agony...aren't you happy? Don't you love him? He'll probably look at you with a pained look in his eyes. He'll try and hold you in his arms and hold you close to his chest, no matter how hard you struggle. Unique: Would they do anything different from the classic yandere? - Literally chasing you down to wherever you go, with no effort at all. He makes it so you CAN'T escape him, no matter how hard you try, and no matter who you cry to for help. With any other Yandere, there's always the possibility of escape. Whether it be by leaving their basement, killing them in self defense, getting them arrested, etc, etc. But with Spirit, there's nothing you can do. You're going to love him, or he'll make your life a living hell. Quite literally, in fact. Vice: What weakness can their darling exploit in order to escape? - While there is literally no way to escape him, you can try and manipulate him to get whatever you wish. Spirit is extremely touch starved, to the point where he'll probably tremble and shake with pleasure if you do as much as reach out to him. Just hold him in your lap and let him purr into your neck as you run your finger through his hair, he'll be literal putty in your hands. While trying to use this against him to escape will result in harsh punishment, if you can think of anything you can get out of him using this then by all means go for it. Wit’s end: Would they ever hurt their darling? - Only if needed. Spirit doesn't wish to cause you pain, but he won't hesitate to if he thinks it will make you love him and stop that hopeless struggling of yours. Spirit will make sure to cuddle you and kiss you after each punishment however, praising you in a soft whisper about how good you've been for him while he taught you a lesson. Xoanon: How much would they revere or worship their darling? To what length would they go to win their darling over? - If you want to know how much you mean to him, Spirit will without hesitation get on one knee and kiss the tips of your hand as he purrs words of pure love. He'll make sure you know just how loved and important you are to him by the end of the night, any way you wish for him to, no matter how direct or "explicit" Yearn: How long do they pine after their darling before they snap? - After escaping the Hating Simulator, maybe about a year Zenith: Would they ever break their darling? - If you were to "break" under his care, rest assured it was completely unintentionally. But, he'll still take your submission as a win. You're willing to tell you love him, you're willing to marry him and live a life with him, and that's all Spirit needs. He loves you so much ♡

[textsfromthefifthbasement]

I finally finished MAZM: Phantom of the Opera! I’m leaving the review under the cut because it’s long and also spoilers for some elements of the game that aren’t in other Phantom adaptations.

General

First off, I loved the art style of the game. The character designs were quite adorable, and it definitely seemed like they made an effort to follow the original Leroux character designs. They had a blonde Christine and an olive-skinned, dark-haired Meg. I also thought they did a great job with Erik’s character design (though there was too much hair). The sets were beautiful. The majority of the main plot of the game does follow the Leroux book, which I really appreciated. There were some favorite moments in the book that I wish had been incorporated, such as Raoul waking up to find Erik watching him sleep (don’t judge I just find it freaking hilarious), but they incorporated so many other small scenes from the book, such as the managers trying to prevent Erik from taking his salary by using the safety pin. As a history nerd, I also really appreciated the collectible notes giving historical context to some of the discussions, including about three notes on the Paris Commune/Bloody Week. I wished the characters would have had different outfits rather than wear the same outfit the entire story. At the very least, I wished they had made a Red Death outfit for Erik during the masquerade.

I also want to point out and give a warning to anyone who has suicide ideation before they try this game. Pretty early on in the story, you play an episode in which you control Joseph Buquet after he’s dropped into Erik’s torture chamber, and eventually, you have to walk to the noose and pick it. The scene cuts right before he hangs himself. About partway through the story, when you control Christine, there’s a scene in which she has to talk Erik out of killing himself with a shard from a broken vase. At the end, when Christine and Raoul go down to Erik’s house to bury him, they found that he had committed suicide.

In all, I spent about 23 hours on the game from start to finish. I still need to go back and replay a few episodes to complete the achievements. I missed quite a few of the historical notes, and there are parts where you can make different decisions to influence what happens.

In this game, the studio added a lot of subplots that didn’t exist in the book and expanded on some canonical subplots as well. I did enjoy quite a few of these.

The Dancers

Meg, Jammes, and Sorelli are all major characters in the game, and I loved seeing them have more characterization and actual character arcs. Jammes, as a character, doesn’t change as much as the others, but she is only a child. As in the book, she is pretty frightened of ghost stories, strangers, and the Phantom, but in the game, she also loves and takes care of the stray cats living around the opera house and does turn into a bit of a spitfire when her friends are threatened by the various happenings at the opera. Sorelli has a knife and is not afraid to use it, and she comes to realize that her fear of being alone led her to stay with Philippe de Chagny in spite of the fact that he would never officially acknowledge her. Meg, in the beginning, seems afraid of her own shadow, but throughout the game, definitely comes into her own and also develops a much healthier relationship with her mother.

Union

This had to be hands-down my favorite subplot of the game. In the beginning, when Moncharmin and Richard first become the managers of the Palais Garnier, they mistreat Christine and mass fire anyone who mentions the Phantom of the Opera. When Christine goes missing for several weeks, Meg, Sorelli, and Jammes finally decide they have had enough and basically unionize the ballet dancers. There’s an entire protest, a performance in which the ballerinas refuse to perform, and they end up getting a promise from the managers to stop indiscriminately firing and mistreating people.

Christine’s Ending

GUYS. When I joked about Christine just traveling the world and performing instead I had no idea that was an actual choice you can make for her. It’s such a bittersweet ending, but I personally hope that one day she would have emotionally healed enough from her ordeal to come back to Paris and reunite with her old friends.

That being said, there were also a lot of additions/changes that I…really wasn’t a fan of.

Melek

So, for context. During Christine’s first stay at Erik’s house, she decides to do some exploring while he’s gone. While in his room, she hears a woman’s voice behind a wall and goes to investigate. She discovers a hidden door, and behind that hidden door is Melek. We find that Melek is a blind Turkish woman who had been one of Erik’s servants during his time in Constantinople. She had refused to marry him, and so he had kidnapped her and had kept her locked in that room for ten years.

Yes, I have a lot of problems with this.

I think the first thing is that when Melek was introduced is when I really realized that the game was never going to go in the direction of presenting Erik as a character who was sympathetic at times and not so much at others. The game had already painted him as a very unsympathetic character up until then through showing how he had gaslit Christine as the Angel of Music. Introducing Melek really drove that point home, which was kind of disappointing seeing as how the literal point of Leroux’s Le Fantome de l’Opera was that we should pity Erik for how he was treated because of his face.

Additionally, Melek’s character just…didn’t do anything. The more she was around, the more I wondered what the point of her character was. She does offer Christine support half of the time, and then the other half of the time is her being upset because Christine wants to change Erik rather than murder him. Ultimately, it’s my point of view that her character was not a great addition to the game and would have preferred a closer adherence to the book in that regard.

Hatim and PTSD

*sigh* This part seriously pissed me off. While Raoul and Hatim (the Daroga) are in the torture chamber, Hatim tells Raoul the story between him and Erik. We end up playing through a flashback of when Hatim discovers Erik living at the opera house ten years ago. As they discuss their past, we and Hatim quickly realize that Erik has PTSD, and mentioning the Shah of Persia is a serious trigger for him. Which, alright. That does make some sense story-wise.

And then through other flashbacks, Hatim proceeds to use this against Erik. Like he literally would trigger him purposefully as a punishment. And say that he was doing it for his own good.

Like, excuse me, but. What the fuck. What. The actual. Fuck. No. Don’t ever do that, that’s shitty.

Anyways by the end I was legitimately rooting for Erik to punt him.

Erik’s Ending

In the original Leroux novel, Erik presents Christine with a choice: turn the scorpion, and she will marry him, or turn the grasshopper, and the entire opera house will blow up. Christine chooses the scorpion, kisses him on the forehead, and he is so overwhelmed by the action that he saves Raoul’s life and lets them go together. The only promise he extracts from Christine is that she will come back and bury him when he dies, which he believes will be soon. Two weeks later, an ad runs in the newspaper that reads simply, “Erik is dead.”

Yeah. The game really went off the rails here in respect to following the Leroux book. After Christine turns the scorpion, Erik pulls Raoul into the lake and leaves him there, thinking he’ll drown or freeze to death, and then returns to force the marriage. He does eventually let Christine and Melek go, as Christine tells him that she will never love him and that she believes he is a monster, all while he is on his knees begging her just to love him a little. There is no forehead kiss. To the end, Erik writes and tells Hatim that Christine is the devil, and that she abandoned him in hell and wants her to suffer for the rest of her life knowing what she did to him. Yeah, I wish I was making that up.

There is one point where Christine tells Erik it’s not her job to save him. Which I agree with. I feel like whoever wrote the story had a misunderstanding of the ending of the book, or else thought the idea wasn’t explicitly stated enough. The forehead kiss does, in some respect, save Erik. It makes him realize how badly he’s treated everyone and yet Christine is still willing to extend kindness towards him. But it’s not Christine saving him, it’s him coming to that realization on his own. Ultimately, the game traded that idea for a way more heavy-handed “I am not here to save you, I am going to make my own decisions from here on.”

And then, in the face of all that, we’re also missing Erik changing and redeeming himself despite the fact that he’s close to death. Instead, he dies while leaving basically a suicide note to Hatim saying that Christine is the devil and he made her promise to return to bury him to hurt her. Which is so out of character if we look at the book characterization.

Like I knew I was signing up to get my heart ripped out, I just figured it was going to maybe be the brand of Christine having to choose whether or not to stay while Erik dies. And damnit, I just wanted a single forehead kiss.

Anyways, I really enjoyed the game up until the ending. I just seriously disliked the ending for the most part. If you’re more of a fan of the idea of Christine being on her own and finding her own path, that is an enjoyable option to go with. I still need to play through that episode with the marry Raoul choice and see what happens with that option though.

[radiantmists]

i feel like this is gonna be an unpopular opinion but i sometimes see people talk about grizzop as a sort of paragon of logic and morality and it always bugs me.

bc like. yes, i love grizzop. and i think it’s clear that he is very much trying to be good, and he’s very committed to doing what he sees as the right thing. 

but the same are true for azu and hamid and plenty of characters, and i don’t think he’s any better at moral reasoning than most of the rest of the party. i think the impression that he is comes from his unshakeable confidence and his mastery of what I’ve started to think of as catholic logic. 

(this is fairly stream of consciousness and i’m not gonna tag it bc it’s not gonna be entirely coherent or especially well argued, i’m just getting some thoughts down. but my understanding is that sometimes untagged stuff shows up in search, plus ig i have followers, so feel free to reply and discuss this, i’d actually love that. but not much i say here is stuff i’m super confident about so... please don’t get too offended by my wrongness. just tell me why you feel im wrong without aggression, or move on.)

the first bit is the confidence. we don’t ever see grizzop have a moral crisis in the way that most of the other characters do. I can’t think of a time that he’s appeared to look back on something he’s done and wonder if it was wrong; the closest that occurs to me is when he regretted shooting the guy’s legs off in the cairo bar, but tbh i think that was more of a judgement error where he expected to hurt the person much less than he did. we don’t see him question things like flooding the orc town near damascus or dragging sasha into the politics of ancient rome when she didn’t want to be, and honestly, i think this lack is mostly to do with how short a time he was with the party.

most of the arcs he were present for were focused on hamid and sasha’s growth. where he played respectively the accuser and the protector, both roles that made him look good because they cast him as the arbiter of who was right. 

i think hamid, especially, bought into this in the cairo arc, because i think hamid is very consciously in the process of recalibrating his moral compass at the time and he has a marked tendency to do so based on the people he admires-- and the loudest voice in the room. hamid really doesn’t like people he admires having a problem with him, and he already felt that he wasn’t necessarily a good person, so he was very open to seeing grizzop or azu as the authority on whether he could be good, and since grizzop pushed where azu prevaricated, grizzop was the one who got the final say.

but in the same arc, you can see sasha and azu starting to question grizzop’s moral compass; sasha notices how legalistic grizzop’s judgement is, and that it really ought to condemn her too, while azu takes issue with how brutal grizzop’s methods are (see punching wilde). but neither of them are willing to press the issue with him at that point, and so he’s never really confronted with something that contradicts him.

and notably, grizzop’s confidence comes from the obvious source: he believes that artemis is inviolably good, and he knows she approves of what he’s doing because his powers still work. but there’s an arrogance here, too, a very strong belief in his own moral superiority with the slightest confirmation; look at rome, where he refuses to listen to azu and ed’s assertions that there’s something wrong with the gods there, because he was able to bull through to artemis the one time he tried, so obviously he must just be a better paladin of a better god, right?

grizzop has very strong beliefs and opinions, and he takes whatever route works best to fulfill them-- both in terms of actions, and in terms of logic. take his decision to forgive/endorse hamid near the end of the cairo arc: by his own assertions, people should experience consequences for their actions, and we know he knows what manslaughter is because he brings it up when hamid first starts talking about accidental murder. but where saleh and carter belong in jail because they’re ~bad~, hamid is allowed to continue on because he’s ‘trying to be better’, never mind that that  was hamid’s whole argument about why saleh didn’t deserve to go to jail. plus, saleh’s one goal when he thought he’d killed someone was to resurrect them, which imo makes a lot more sense as a redemptive gesture than going around killing entirely unrelated people. the rules are different because grizzop likes hamid (and probably a bit because ben didn’t want to break the party, but shhh).

this twisting of the logic to fit what you’re trying to prove is what i mean by ‘catholic logic’ (i’m catholic dont @ me); it sounds really good if you don’t think about it too hard, but in fact it’s generally post-facto rationalizations for decisions that have already been made.

grizzop is very enthusiastic about poking holes in other people’s moral reasoning, as we see with apophis, but i think his issue is that he’s got a blind spot when he looks at himself and his own decisions. in grizzop’s world, grizzop is right as long as artemis is still with him and everything else comes after.

now i’m personally of  the opinion that alex doesn’t bother/want to engage with the idea that gods take away powers, post-poseidon nonsense, which if true i sympathize with; doing so is either going to lead to the sort of inscrutability zolf had a meltdown over, or put a player in the weird position of making their character do what alex has decided their god would require or having to entirely reinvent the character without those divine powers.

on another meta level, my understanding is that grizzop  was designed to be very resistant to doubt because of ben’s difficulties playing zolf, so i think he might have been nearly as resistant to growth on that front as bertie was in general, because believing unshakeably that he’s right is a core element of his character. 

but i think if grizzop had lived longer, alex absolutely would have done some hammering at that absolute conviction. that might have come in the form of vesseek and the fact that grizzop is apparently an absentee father; even if he is sending home money, i can’t imagine that not being something that gets mined for angst. 

i also think he would have eventually come into a similar sort of conflict with azu, sasha, or cel (whoever was there) that zolf is in right now, where he absolutely believes that whatever killing he’s committed/intending to commit is not only right but a moral imperative, and they disagree. 

now whatever side you fall on in the barrett debate, i think grizzop ought to be a lot less willing than zolf to say ‘i’m not gonna go through you lot to do it’, not because i’m convinced grizzop would be hugely more willing to physically fight the rest of the team over it, we know that despite his practicality he seems to overlook some ‘’’wobbles’’’ in people he already cares about,  but because zolf is capable of giving up on something in a way that grizzop just isn’t. i dont know how that would play out; chances are, it would get interrupted by a fight, but. who knows.

[firelxdykatara]

kitty i can't wait for your thoughts of Shadow and Bone asdfasfaw

Ok well I just finished and I have so many fucking thoughts. Most good! Some, less so. Part of it may just be my bias because I’ve only read the Six of Crows duology and have little interest in actually reading the original trilogy, because I know how it ends and Leigh clearly hates me personally and doesn’t want me to be happy (/j), so I was already predisposed to be far more invested in the Crows and Darkling/Darklina segments (genuinely, the Mal/Malina scenes/storyline bored me to tears, and while I appreciate that the show went out of its way to change Mal’s character to make him much less of a toxic douchebag [I’ve read enough excerpts and explanations of his actions in the books to really loathe book!Malina], it isn’t enough to make me ship them when Darklina is right there), but I also don’t think it’s a stretch to say that the Crows absolutely stole the show.

It’s actually kind of funny, because I’d assumed they were only being so heavily marketed to hype the show up even more, since while there’s a lot of TGT/SoC fandom overlap they are also two fundamentally different genres and I’d wager there are a lot of people who are massive fans of one but not so enthused with the other, while remaining fairly insignificant to the overall plot. Turns out, they make up fully half of the show’s runtime (much to my delight). Which is part of what I think will help this series stand on its own, both as a book adaptation and simply as a fantasy TV series.

I’ll put more of my story-specific thoughts under a cut, so there’s lots of show spoilers to follow!

I know that a lot of early reviewers were saying that Alina’s motivations and storyline revolved too much around Mal, and that really held true for me. It made sense in the beginning--he was the only constant in her life, she was thrust into something new, terrifying, and completely unfamiliar, and they’d developed an unhealthy codependence as a coping mechanism for their childhoods and the traumas they faced, the lives they lead growing up in a war-torn country. But she started coming into her power, falling for the General--not just his power and charisma, but what she felt when she was with him. The way he helped her summon the sun, the way she felt free in a way she never had before.

Until it all went to shit--but the Darklina make-out scene in episode 5? Fucking iconic. Poetic fucking cinema. The way they were quite literally about to have sex on that wartable (and someone better write fic of that moment, what if they hadn’t gotten interrupted), and the General left, but then he ran back just to kiss her one more time... this is what OTPs are made of ok.

I think what really bothers me overall is that Alina ultimately lacked agency in her one storyline, pretty much the entire way through. She did make a few choices, but they were mostly incidental, and a lot of it was Alina desperately trying to get back to Mal rather than seizing her own power and destiny and running with it. The most prominent example is the end of episode 5--Alina is having happy make-outs and almost bones the General in his own war room, and then he leaves, and Baghra comes in and infodumps to her about how evil he is and how he’s only using her and she needs to escape.

I recognize that a lot of this is probably because that’s essentially what happened in the book and Leigh is an executive producer for the show so she has a lot of shot-calling power. However, I really think that even in the book this plotline would’ve been better-served by having Alina make these discoveries on her own.

For example, imagine that the letters which were used as framing devices for episodes 2 and 3 were vitally important to the plot, rather than being one-offs that are mentioned a few times but not really affecting much of anything. Alina begins to get suspicious when she doesn’t receive word from Mal, and she starts wondering if her letters are even reaching him--so she starts snooping. She finds ashes in the war room hearth, late at night,, and recognizes a fragment of Mal’s signature and larger piece of her own. She now knows that someone--possibly the General, but maybe that creepy priest guy, or someone else in the palace--is keeping her and Mal from contacting one another. So she starts snooping around even more. She asks the General leading questions, trying to figure out what the truth is of his intentions. She still feels this pull--this connection to him, and she hopes she’s wrong, but she’s not willing to just sit around and wait for the other shoe to drop.

The Winter Fete still happens, she still gets the hot make-out session with the General, and then when he’s called away, she snoops through his papers, looking for anything that can tell her the truth. She finds a hidden compartment filled with journals.

She reads about Aleksander’s past (and, incidentally, wasn’t that supposed to be a huge moment in the books, him revealing his true name to her in private? kinda wish it had been kept that way in the show but who knows where they’ll go with it in the future)--that leads to the flashbacks in episode 6. She feels for him, but she also reads further--she gets a firsthand look at his desire for power, something that began as a noble desire to save his people, but was twisted by a lust for vengeance (for his lost love and all the Grisha who were killed) and shot through with greed, the realization that if he found the Sun Summoner he could control the Fold, rather than just destroy it. He could create a new world where Grisha could live without fear--where Grisha could rule.

Alina is terrified. Whoever the General used to be--whatever humanity she saw flickering in his eyes, the way his heart fluttered when they kissed--she can’t trust that it’ll be enough to save her from plans centuries in the making. So she goes to Baghra, the woman who helped her discover her power, learn to channel it--the woman who always seemed to know much more than she ever let on. Baghra gives her side of the story--Alina got it from the General’s perspective first, now Baghra is telling her something framed much differently. She isn’t sure what or who to trust, but she knows that Baghra seems willing to help her escape--but rather than trusting her ‘loyal Grisha’, she makes the choice she made in the show, to choose the other path, and winds up with the Crows.

Idk how Mal and the Stag thing would fit into this (if it isn’t obvious by now, Mal just... doesn’t interest me), but Alina’s story and her character arc would be so much stronger for it. And she’s supposed to be the central character, so her story being weak and her agency so frequently being compromised ultimately hurts the show as a whole.

I know I’ve gone on and on about Alina and the Darkling (look, I’m a slut for enemies-to-lovers, and also lovers-to-enemies-and-back, so Darklina and Helnik are where so much of my investment is rooted--plus Kanej, but that almost goes without saying), but the true standouts of the series were the Crows. Inej, Kaz, and Jesper, and Nina and Matthias in their episodes, stole the show (along with the Darkling, Ben is far and away the best actor in the cast and I love that for him, but Freddy, Amita, and Kit are also amazing, and Danielle&Calahan were fucking phenomenal as Nina and Matthias--I do have to say, though, that the whole cast is really solid and has amazing chemistry).

They worked together so perfectly--Freddy and Amita communicated so much with their eyes alone, especially together, and a whole lot of their relationship dynamic is rooted in how they exist together, which really came through. The show altered the Crows timeline considerably (I’m pretty sure Kaz would’ve been 14 during the original trilogy lol), so Inej is still at the Menagerie, but things like Kaz putting up the Crow Club for Inej’s freedom, the way Kaz needed her but could never bring himself to say it (until the end of the season dklhfgdkjfgh i SCREAMED)--the way Jesper played off the both of them, and it’s so obvious they all love each other even though they’re criminals and thieves and murderers, and Kaz would never admit it (out loud--which actually feeds into my theory that his love language is acts of service; Kaz does things for the people he cares about, he never announces it and he will almost always try to downplay it, but the way you know he cares is if, for example, he puts his entire life, everything he built, up as collateral for your freedom), but they’re a family.

One thing that I was kind of iffy about was Inej’s refusal to kill--but I thought it might be something they were planning to work into her overall character arc, and they did. It was the one line she hadn’t crossed--in the books, I’d imagine that it took a while for Inej to wind up at that point, being willing to kill on top of everything else. So I actually like that they worked that into the Crows plotline, and Inej killing for the first time was to save Kaz’s life.

Just like Kaz’s first selfless act was to save her.

(He’d deny it, of course. He protects his investments. He needed her for the job. But the truth is, he did it for her. And he’d do it again. Even if he’d never admit it.)

Meanwhile, Nina and Matthias’ storyline was pretty much note-for-note according to their backstory as it was revealed in Six of Crows, and I loved every second of it. Their chemistry was perfect, their journey from enemies to begrudging allies to friends to maybe something more (Matthias’ stomach cockblocking them when they were about to kiss had me fucking SCREAMING AT THE TV, and then of course the whole ‘betraying him to save him’ thing happened and I sobbed), and then suddenly right back to enemies.

Because from Matthias’ perspective, he trusted a witch--believed in her, liked her, wanted her--and she turned on him. He has no idea that she wasn’t the one who knocked him out in the first place, and no reason to believe her, because as far as he knows, she just confirmed everything he’d ever been told about Grisha. That they are deceitful and treacherous, would turn on you as soon as look at you, that they are dangerous and not to be trusted. It wasn’t revealed in-show but I imagine Matthias’ backstory is largely the same, which means that his entire family was slaughtered by Grisha when he was a young boy, and then he was turned into a brainwashed child soldier by the witch hunters and never knew anything else.

They are perfectly primed for their SoC arc next season and I, for one, am so stoked to see the rest of their journey. And if I slip Netflix a couple twenties, maybe they’ll let Helnik have a happy ending please please please.

Anyway, yeah! I have a lot of thoughts but things are still percolating in my head so I’ll probably float around the tags for a bit and let things settle. This is just a preliminary overview of my thoughts in the immediate aftermath of bingeing the entire show in one night kldfjghdkjfhgkjgf

EDIT TO ADD: I CAN’T BELIEVE I FORGOT ABOUT THE TRUE STAR OF THE SHOW, M I L O

MILO BEST BOY. MILO THE MVP. MILO DESERVES ALL THAT IS GOOD IN THE WORLD AND I HOPE HE LIVES A HAPPY AND HEALTHY AND FULL LITTLE GOAT LIFE.