#i know i should take it anyway because it takes a while to start working

[astrae4]

BOYNEXTDOOR WITH DIFFERENT PARTNER TROPES 🍊

pairings — boynextdoor x reader

genre — romance, slice of life, fluff, comedy

warnings — noneeeee! (wc. probs around 400-1k)

note — requested by my lovely 🍊 anon <3 hope you love it dearie (p.s. you can totally see that this was made in two different days bc halfway thru this my writing locked in..)

more works: navigation | bnd!masterlist

MYUNG JAEHYUN | with a clingier partner

impressed. did not think anyone could be as clingy as him but it all went down the drain and proved wrong when he met you. you guys are TOP TIER pda couple. there is no other way. the members are 100% grossed out. do you care? no. should you care? probably…but anyways! you’re always together, wether it be going out for midnight snacks or group hangouts. attached to the hip. even when you’re not holding each other’s hand one person is always holding the other’s belt hoop, the ends of the other’s sweater, or even intertwining legs under tables...you get what i mean. cheek to cheek is so common with jaehyun and you guys LOVEEEE it! overall you guys are toothache-tier sweet and a perfect match for the other!

PARK SUNGHO | with a habitual bone-cracking partner

he tries not to cry with how much you crack the joints of your knuckles and ankles, but with the constant pop of your bones it’s hard not to. He doesn’t know how to respond…concerned? Impressed? But one time you did it nonstop while counting to 100 ( real story btw i once popped my ankles 100 times nonstop in the car because I was bored ) and he just went 😦 because what is he supposed to respond to that? Definitely nags you LOADS though—pulling out all different kinds of articles of how bad it is for you to do so and when you don’t listen to him he begs you to stop doing it until you listen to him. Bribes you with home-cooked dinner as well to not do it for a month or whatever…and well, you aren’t gonna say no to that are you?

LEE SANGHYEOK | with a gamer partner

Sleepless nights become endless. But it’s fun; and with riwoo and you, life’s never dull. You're each other's partners in crime, each other's co-op teammate, and especially each other's rival in 1v1s. Competing with Riwoo in games is a must, for sure. it brings both your competitive spirits out and you usually add a wager to spice it up! If you're both good, enemy teams definitely hate you both. When one of you isn't in the mood to play games though, quality time is still really enjoyable— in fact, your favorite nights consist of you sitting on Riwoo's lap comfortably and napping while Riwoo grinds on LOL. Or when you play mobile games on the bed or couch and Rico puts his head on your lap to semi-cuddle with you. It's comfortable. Especially on days where both your social batteries run out and you don't want to speak anymore. One match to unwind, ya’know?

HAN DONGMIN | with a nonchalant partner

Sometimes people don’t even realize you two are dating. Taesan’s not used to that. With his members, his family—even past situationships—he’s always been the one people cling to. The one who gets showered with affection. But you’re different. You’re chill, unreadable, a textbook T in the MBTI system. And somehow, that makes him crave you even more. You don’t reach for his hand unless there’s a reason. You don’t baby him with goodnights or emojis. You’ll look at him with that neutral expression and ask, “You good?” and for some reason, that makes his heart pound. He starts being the one to reach first—with hugs, with compliments, with late-night texts that say “home yet?” like he’s trying to decode what love looks like through your eyes. It takes longer than most couples to get to pet names or “I love you’s.” But when it happens, it lands. It feels earned. Real. And yeah, emotional talks between the two of you always come with a bit of awkward silence or one of you going “this is so cringe,” but somehow… that makes it more you.? Dongmin wouldn’t trade it for anything.

KIM DONGHYUN | with a picky-eater partner

Honestly? It’s kind of hilarious how badly matched you both are when it comes to food. He’s picky, you’re picky—just in opposite ways. He doesn’t like things that are too sweet, you refuse anything that smells like vinegar. He can’t do weird textures, you can’t do anything green. Going out to eat is a minefield. Sometimes you spend longer choosing a restaurant than actually eating at it. But somehow, it works. You learn each other’s quirks fast—like how he always picks onions out of his food and you hand him your egg yolks without a word. There’s an unspoken routine to it now. People tease you both all the time, but it just makes you weirdly closer. There’s something oddly intimate about side-eyeing each other’s plates like “you’re seriously eating that?” but still sharing bites anyway. If anything, it makes your bond stronger. Neither of you feels judged. You get it. You understand. The picky solidarity is real. And when you both actually like something? Instant core memory unlocked.

KIM WOONHAK | with a dyslexic partner

Woonhak doesn’t mind reading things for you. In fact, he kind of… likes it? The first time you ask him to check a message because the words keep scrambling, he just nods, reads it casually, and hands your phone back like it’s no big deal. Because to him, it isn’t. He doesn’t see you as slow or weird or “bad at reading.” You just read differently. And if your eyes get tired or the letters bounce on a bad day, he’s already offering to help before you even say anything. The best part? He never makes you feel self-conscious about it. He’ll find creative ways to support you—voice notes instead of long texts, jokingly acting like a “human audiobook,” even quietly adjusting the subtitles so you don’t have to say it’s too fast. He’s sweet about it, but never coddling. You’re still sharp, still cool, still someone who gets his dumb references before he finishes them. And if you make a typo or skip a word? He just grins and says, “No worries. I understood you anyway.”

TAGLIST: @ja4hyvn @flwoie @sulkygyu @xiaoderrrr @ineedaherosavemeenow @teddywonss @taerae-verse @bbangbies @uncasings

NETWORKS: @onedoornet @k-films @k-labels

© astrae4 2025 — please don't copy, translate, or plagiarize my works on all platforms!

[vivieenee]

Flowers? In Gotham?

Jason Todd x flower shop owner! reader

Pt. II

"You're What?!"

"How the hell does that work?! You're fucking dead! It was all over the news!" She was still processing on how a dead man was now in her home, wearing a dirty suit, full of scars, and chipped up fingernails, which somehow made sense the more she thought about it.

"I don't know either, okay? It just kinda happened." He answered as he pinched his nose. "I just woke up suddenly I'm in a damn casket, and next thing I know is that I was dug myself out.

She blinked "Okay now that's odd. One, you're dead . Two, you're pretty strong if you're able to dig yourself out considering how compact the dirt would be. And three, you just woke up?" She crossed her arms still not believing him.

"Was, thank you, and yes." He answered all three of her questions.

Her brows furrowed "So what now? Do I call your family? Do I go to the police? What the hell do you want me to do in this situation?" She awaits his answer.

"No!" He paused realized that he was losing his cool, he took a deep breath before continuing. "Look, I know this isn't the usual weird gothamite situation you were expecting but... I don't want to go back to them. Before my supposed death, me and B has a disagreement..." His tone calm yet you could practically see how frustrated he was.

"Disagreement?" she her eyebrows furrowed. "How exactly did you die?"

That caught him off guard. He can't reveal to this stranger that he died from the hands of the joker, especially when he used to be Robin at that time.

She noticed the tension filling the room as she lets out a soft sigh. "Look you don't have to tell me if you don't want to... after all, you've been through a lot and would probably not want to talk about it. Not yet atleast... But just know... If you're ready... Im here for you..." she said as she avoided his gaze.

Jason's gaze softened as he acknowledge her words. "I'll keep that in mind."

She smiled before she spoke "Now what? What do you plan on doing?" she questioned.

He thought for a moment. "As long as it doesn't involve me going back to the manor, I'll cooperate" He answered calmly as he leaned back onto the kitchen counter.

She hummed in response. "I see, got bored of your luxury huh, rich boy?" she teased.

Jason rolled his eyes at the playful comment "Just because, I was adopted in some upper class family doesn't mean I enjoy the benefits." He retorted.

The girl grinned before playfully raising her hands dramatically "Okay rich boy..." she looked at him "How about... you crash with me for a while... and work at the shop if you're interested." she offered with a glint of amusement.

That... didn't seemed like a terrible option... Jason thought for a moment before letting out a chuckle. "You got yourself a deal, sweetheart."

"But first." She leaned closer to him. "Have you ever taken care of plants?"

Jason smirked. "Oh please, have some faith in me. I may be some socialite, but I know my way around plants." His tone, full of pride and confidence.

Well... it's safe to assume that he doesn't know his way around plants. Because, just within a week, Jason has managed to make every bouquet in his wilt.

"I can't believe you actually managed to kill all four of those bouquets..." She pinched the bridge of her nose. "You have no idea how to take care of plants... Huh?" She glanced at him.

Jason couldn't look at her. He was drowning in his own guilt and embarrassment at this point.

He responded with a short nod.

She sighed. "Alright... Let's start with the basics." She stretched her arms in front of her.

Dividers by: @uzmacchiato

A/n: chapter 2 doneee. Hopefully it's decent enough... Anyways if you guys have some tips, suggestions or if I should continue this story, let me know!

@lettucel0ver

Edit: chapter 3 is uploaded.

[sholiofic]

ME AGAIN - an alternate prompt/suggestion if you're in more of a h/c mood. maybe something where gurathin gets exposed to/drugged with some of the substances he used during his spy days? bonus points if MB, who i dont think knows about the addiction stuff, helps somehow?

(Slight references to physical illness, but nothing graphic.)

Update: Also posted on AO3 as Soft Reboot (1800 wds).

--

Okay, so I really did not expect Gurathin to be good at this spy stuff. I mean, I didn't have to do anything, I just had to stand around with my helmet sealed and look like a SecUnit with a working governor module, which I know I am good at. Gurathin had to do the talking. I knew what Gurathin was like normally when he was trying to talk to people, so do you blame me if I had doubts? And he didn't even have 13,237 hours (and counting) of entertainment to fall back on. (I should have loaded up some spy media beforehand. Actually, that's a good idea. I quietly circumvented the station's packet trace and downloaded some while I was standing around anyway.)

But the thing is, he actually was good at it. I was reading his biometrics, so I could tell he was stressed. But he did know how to talk to these particular people. Which is why I noticed immediately when his body language started going sideways and his biometrics got weird and -- shit.

I think you've been given some kind of substance, I sent to him over the feed. I was by the wall, standing with the other SecUnits belonging to those who had brought their personal security to the tech conference. (Show-offs.) He was down on the showroom floor. I was tracking him visually using the surveillance cameras that I'd hacked into, which -- as per usual for CR space -- were everywhere, but I wasn't close enough to hear him or easily get to him, which suddenly seemed like an even bigger security problem than I had realized before.

What do you mean? he asked, alarmed. I could tell that he also subvocalized it, which was worrying. Usually Gurathin was one of the few humans I'd met who could talk in the feed without giving himself away, and he wasn't slow on the uptake. (By human standards, I mean.) If I'd had any doubts before, I didn't now.

Drugged. You're drugged. Don't say anything else. Meet me by the door.

By the time he got to me, he had visibly deteriorated. He was sweating and shaking and his pulse rate was changing by the moment. Not good. I didn't see anyone moving in our direction, though, or security taking any notice of us.

"Damn it, damn it," Gurathin muttered as we went into the hall, stumbling and supporting himself on the wall, me walking behind him with my helmet up and looking SecUnit-y. I couldn't reach out to steady him because a SecUnit wouldn't touch their client without being told to, and I knew we were being surveilled from several angles in the hallway. "This is ... fuck. It can't be in the air. It must have been in my drink."

Or transferred via touch contact. Can you make it to the elevator?

"Yeah," he ground out. "I'll be okay. I'll have it under control in a minute."

Under control? But he was right, by the time we were at the elevator he was walking straighter and steadier, and clearly didn't need my help. 

Do you have augments for this? I asked him.

He shook his head. Through clenched teeth, he said, "Just used to it. I lost my, my .... forgot how to deal, I guess. It's coming back to me."

We got into the elevator. I immediately put its cameras on a loop and did a quick scan for listening devices, then put my helmet down. "We can talk here. What do you mean, it's coming back to you?"

His vital signs were still all over the place, pulse dangerously elevated, body temperature fluctuating, and his skin glistened unpleasantly with sweat. I could see him shaking slightly with the effort of maintaining control, shoving his hands under his arms as if holding himself in place. 

Still, he wasn't feeling too shitty to give me a swift sideways glare. "What did you look at when you were inside my head, anyway?"

His verbal filters had to be down by a good 50% for him to ask me that. We never talked about it. But I gave him an answer anyway. "I couldn't really understand what I saw. I had never scanned an augmented human before. It was a blur. Incompatible systems. Just -- flashes. What about when you had me in your head?" I retorted, because turnabout's fair play, augmented human.

That actually made him smile a little. "Same. Flashes. Incompatible systems." I wasn't sure if I believed that entirely (I was pretty sure he had some organic echoes of the experience, I just didn't want to think about it) but then he lost the smile completely and said, "I took substances like this when I was living in, and working for, the Corporation Rim."

"Oh," I said. It was all I could think of to say, and even that was on a delay of almost 1.2 seconds.

"They used them to keep me under control. If I haven't had this before, it was similar. So I know how to move and act normally when I'm using it." His teeth were chattering now; I could hear it now and then when he talked. It was why he was keeping his jaw locked.

"You mean," I said, "they drugged you against your will?" And then I felt stupid. I knew what he meant from the look he gave me. Most good shows, and a lot of the inferior ones as well, have a drug addiction plotline at some point.

"I wouldn't even be telling you this if I hadn't been dosed," he said tightly. "Inhibitions are down."

I had been afraid of that. "So stop talking."

We were at our floor anyway. I put my helmet back up, because I didn't yet have a good enough rapport with the hallway cameras to be sure they wouldn't record us. In our room, I already had the system on a fairly convincing loop, so I wasn't too worried about that. We went in, and Gurathin headed straight for the bathroom.

"If I ingested it," he said to me over his shoulder, "I need to get as much of it out as possible."

"Okay," I said a little blankly, and hoped he wasn't going to ask for help. He shut the door, so I guessed not. I promptly dialed the Sanctuary Moon theme song way up to cover whatever noises he might be making in there, and dialed down my helmet again. I generally didn't wear my armor in the hotel room, but I thought maybe I ought to leave it on this time in case we were going to be attacked. 

I went into the room's mini-kitchen, because I wasn't sure what else to do. Then I just stared at the various options, scanning them like that would make a difference. I didn't know anything about food and drinks except from shows (which were highly unreliable on this matter compared to how often humans ate in real life), and watching my humans eat (which I tried not to do if I could help it). So I had no idea if there was anything in the kitchen that would help or even if it was possible for an ingested substance to help in a situation like this, but most humans did tend to use food and drinks as an emotional soothing tactic. Did Gurathin? I wasn't sure. I did know that he didn't drink alcohol or ingest stimulants, even the mild liquid one that were common both in and out of Corporate Rim space. Nothing in Medcenter Argala was helpful here in the slightest.

However, even without guidance, by the time he came out I had figured out what to do, more or less. He looked even worse than when he had gone in, pale and sweaty, with his hair plastered to his forehead, but he wasn't shaking as much. He went to the couch and sat on it and stared at nothing.

"I made you tea," I said.

This seemed to take a minute to penetrate, and then he looked around. "What?"

"I made tea." I decided not to mention that I had never done it before, but Bharadwaj and Arada both made it a lot, and I had watched them enough times to have a general idea. "It's not the kind with stimulants. It's the other kind."

He huffed out a noise that I couldn't relate to a known emotion. "I don't think I want to drink anything right now. No, wait, you know, bring it over here anyway. I can hold it."

Humans liked doing that, holding food and drink items without consuming them. I wasn't sure why, it seemed pretty pointless to me, but it seemed to help them sometimes when they were upset. I brought the cup of tea, and he took it from my armored hands while looking up at me. I avoided looking directly at him, but I took the opportunity to read his surface temperature.

"You're chilled," I said.

He huffed that sound again. About 25% match on a laugh. "Drugging and forced purging will do that. Ask me how I know."

I couldn't think of anything else to offer, so I just stood there. Punching things and shooting things were my skill set. I had routines for dealing with injured clients, but that mostly involved getting them to a medbay or some other option that wasn't a SecUnit. "Do you need medical attention?" I asked.

Gurathin shook his head and winced like his head hurt. "No, I just -- I guess I need to get through this." A shiver wracked him, and I suddenly realized that there was something I could do after all. I turned abruptly (I heard him say "SecUnit?" behind me), got a blanket off one of the beds, and came back and dropped it on the couch beside him.

"Uh ... thanks." He pulled it over his legs. "You were in the camera feeds on the tech floor, right? I'd like to go over those, trace my movements, see if we can figure out what happened."

I wanted something to do too, preferably involving shooting someone. I reached out in the feed and began to gather in the data. "Will this make your headache worse?"

He looked up briefly, like he was surprised I could tell, or maybe surprised I had asked. "I don't care," he said. "I want to get the bastards."

I did too, so I could understand. I pushed a small part of the data at him in the feed. If he could tell I was keeping the much larger part, he didn't say anything about it. I sat beside him on the couch -- a normal, governed SecUnit never would, but he'd made it clear to me from the start that I could if I wanted to when we were alone, like I cared what he thought about it anyway -- and started sifting through the different camera angles. Beside me, Gurathin was obviously doing likewise. I made a shared workspace in our feed, tagged anything that might be relevant and put it in for him to look at too.

He stopped shivering after a while. He still held the cup of tea.

[r0semultiverse]

My take on the whole World War 3 WWIII WW3 whatever you wanna call it

This is a very simple look at why you won't die in a new World War (if it even happens) and a simple point of view responding to it. There are far better educated people to speak on this more thoroughly if you feel like researching and looking for that.

[marinecorvid]

blorbos from my brain

[sskk-manifesto]

Ep 5!!!

[dragons-and-yellow-roses]

Me, while manically cleaning my room at 3:27am: I should make several large, life-changing, irreversible decisions.

[arolesbianism]

I've been doing a casual second lob corp playthrough for fun and one thing that I've really come to adore is how the different success rates can paint a pretty cool image of how work with it looks like at different levels of each work type and while I think it's kind of sad that base game you can't see the work percentages I also think it in a way adds a fun game of is this marginally harder at level five than four or is my guy just being bad at their job

[ruvviks]

having an idea for a game but it's miles above your skill level

[toastingpencils37]

Bruh, the ninja's aim with the cannon is fucking ass.

Every damn time.

Lowkey also going to vent in the tags for a minute

[xiaq]

Absolutely wild to me how sometimes you don't even realize the way you'd been taught to perceive things as a kid was kinda fucked up, actually, until decades later.

Example:

As a kid, I constantly lived in fear of damaging shit in my parent's house. The walls. The floors (especially the floors. The wood was beautiful. Shiny. But so easy to scratch). The cabinets.

As a sixteen-year-old, I once took my car to the dealership after work and paid a very dear sum of $250 ($10/hr cashier salary) to fix a slight scratch in the paint because I knew if my father saw it there would be hell to pay. It didn't matter that I parked far out, like I'd been taught, and someone scratched it anyway. It was my fault. I failed in my duties as a steward of my vehicle.

Every time I scratched a rim on a curb while parallel parking or got a door ding or, god forbid, didn't wash and vacuum that car every weekend, it was treated like some sort of moral failing.

Last year, when my husband and I first moved into our house, he scraped the side of our car when parking in our (Very Narrow) garage. When he told me, my first instinct was to be afraid for him. Like something terrible was going to happen to him because of this mistake. I urgently reassured him that it was okay, it was an accident, I wasn't mad. Baffled, he was like, "Yeah? I know? Like, thank you for the reassurance, but I'm only a little annoyed, I'm not upset. It's just a car." And I had to take several minutes to process that. It's...just a car.

We keep the car tidy. We maintain it. But we wash it maybe 4x a year. We only vacuum it after dirty road trips or when the dog hair starts to get annoying. It has scrapes and dings and the leather seats have stains. But that's ok. Because it's just a car.

This morning, I realized that a small rock had gotten embedded in the felt foot on one of our bar stools. Neither of us had noticed. There are now scratches on our beautiful hardwood floor. My immediate response was fear accompanied by a heavy measure of paralyzing guilt. "I'm so sorry," I told my husband, "I should have noticed. I'll figure out how to fix it, I swear. I can probably sand down that section and match the stain and--"

"Whoa, hey," he said. "It was an accident. And it's fine. Floors are going to get damaged. They're floors. We live here. There was damage in places before we even bought the house, remember? It's not a big deal. It's just a floor." Right. It's just a floor. Right.

My husband's mom is visiting and this afternoon, as I was sitting in the kitchen looking at the scratches on the floor, I offhandedly asked her if my husband had ever broken or damaged anything as a kid. "Of course," she said. Household items. A TV. A wrecked car during his teen years. I asked how she punished him.

"Why would I punish him for things like that?" she said. "They were all accidents."

Right. Of course. Right.

[ourceliumnetwork]

good news: the noises i keep hearing outside are NOT intermittent fireworks!

not as good news: the noises i keep hearing outside are RIGHT outside because it's the neighbors doing stuff again because it's the weekend

[neverendingford]

.

[sleepdeprivedfrfr]

obsessedbf!toji who loves when it’s cold outside because he knows you won’t try and push him away for being too clingy because he’s so so so sooo warm.

obsessedbf!toji who loves when you curl up to him or wrap yourself around him at night in the middle of your sleep, he thinks it’s so adorable.

obsessedbf!toji who doesn’t go to bed until you do, even if it means he’ll wake up grumpy the next morning for work.

obsessedbf!toji who complains to you one night about your sleeping schedule, “Why the fuck are you still up?”

“I’m watching asmr.”

“Turn that shit off and c’mere.”

“Shh this is a good part.”

He snatched your phone out of your hands and turned it off, “Toji what the fu-”

“Pay attention to me ma, not the fucking phone.” He whispered in a gruff sleepy voice as he pulled you to his chest and engulfing you completely. You huffed into his chest. "Stop acting like you don't love this," Toji grumbled lowly, you could hear the smirk in his words.

"Your tits are suffocating me Toji. No complaints though."

"Fucking freak."

He couldn't help but smile though after hearing your sweet little giggles.

obsessedbf!toji who picks up extra missions just so that he can spoil you, he literally refuses to let you work and truly believes that he should be the sole provider while you don't lift a finger. Also having you care for him when he comes home exhausted is a plus :3

obsessedbf!toji who lets you do skincare on him when he comes back home, he claims he hates it but he loves how relaxing it is and how much attention you put on him while doing it.

obsessedbf!toji who constantly teases you for watching asmr but slowly starts getting into it once you do it to him.

You were propped up against the pillows on the bed, while Toji walked out of the bathroom. He was moody from being at work all day, only to come home to you already showered, leaving him to have to shower alone. "C'mere baby," you patted your lap signaling for your big grumpy boyfriend to lay in it.

He let out a soft grunt and quickly placed himself into your embrace, his head on your lower stomach and hands resting on your hips while his body between your legs. You began tracing patterns up and down his back with your nails, and up and down his large biceps.

"Fuck that feels good ma." he whispered, causing you to let out a soft giggle.

"You still mad at me you big baby?" Your hands moved up to his scalp.

"Tch, whatever. Jus' keep doin’ what yer doin'." Was all he said while his thumbs lightly brushed back and fourth over your hips. His breathing began to slow and he let out soft snores.

obsessedbf!toji who surprising plans really romantic dates for you two, but as soon as you walk out of the bedroom all dressed up his hands are all over you, making you guys late to whatever reservation he booked.

"Babe we're gonna be late."

"Fuck you look so good mama, I can't help it." He says between kisses. Safe to say y'all were definitely going to be late again, that is if you even left the house.

another toji drabble/oneshot bc y'all loved the last one sm, might do an nsfw ver soon so yuh. Also thank you guys so much for 500 followers, I know im behind on a lot of stories rn so js bear with me pls 😭

also I’m so tired of seeing people canon toji as a bad husband/bf bc like y r we acting like he didn’t take his wife’s name?!? Like sure he may be broke in the show but that’s js bc his ass was gambling all his money away, anyways hope u enjoyed ;3

Likes, comments, and rebloggs appreciated!!

divider creds: @cafekitsune

[adore-gregor]

my perception of grades totally changed since i started uni

[mohntilyet]

imagine being illario and finally finding the resolve to kill your cousin right. you seduce and fuck a blood mage venatori magister to get her to do this for you. you figure you’ll eventually kill her once you are first talon, tie up the loose end and make it look good for you. a vengeance story! except when your cousin’s body shows up your grandma retreats into herself presumably out of grief and you’re like jesus christ he’s a corpse and still the favorite. at this point you start feeling some regret and at the wake you’re beside yourself. it helps to be really feeling some of that to fool everyone else. but months pass and your grandma still isn’t even discussing the inheritance and you have to be normal because you don’t want to incriminate yourself. and then a year later some random guy (worse if its a de riva tbh) shows up saying they need your cousin to kill an elven god (what.) and he’s the only one who could (insulting). and its at this point your grandma is like “lucanis died… but he is not dead!”. record scratch freezeframe. while you juggle with the fact that the freak woman you fucked specifically to get her to kill your cousin didn’t even kill your cousin AND your grandma didn’t bother telling you (for good reason ofc but she doesn’t know that), you have to lead these assholes to go save him and unravel your hard work. so plan b. you kidnap your grandma and push your (now possessed) cousin away (and then get mad when he actually walks away. because you’re like this). and when your cousin comes dangerously close to figuring out what’s happened with you and the magister, you kill the magister. you ally with those elven gods and venatori (you aren’t sure how you’re going to get out of this one but it’s fine. that’s a hill for future illario) to make sure you have enough backing to stand up against the other houses if they challenge you becoming first talon. you continue to gaslight your cousin into staying away, because if there is one thing you can count on, it’s his literal inner demons and total lack of a support group, you’re certain he’ll fuck it up by himself. you know this because his support group used to be your grandma (dubious) and yourself (lol). you’re almost home free. and caterina will definitely acknowledge you as a player on the board. which isn’t important but it would be nice, right. BUT THEN IT TURNS OUT. YOUR COUSIN HAS RECENTLY MADE 7 FRIENDS. one of whom can speak to the fucking dead because of course he can. and then some of those friends show up to publicly humiliate you at the dinner party that should have been YOUR crowning moment. your grandma ALSO shows up to tell everyone you have gathered that your cousin is first talon. your cousin gapes at her because he doesn’t actually even want it so it’s kind of awkward for everyone. and then when you’re sure he’s about to ask viago de riva to poison you to death, he actually tells him just to take you away. because OF COURSE he’s being the bigger person. anyways the point is i’m surprised illario just lets himself be taken away because if i were him i would have started biting people and then bombed the villa