#i think it's a crime i don't talk about riddle more often

[merakiui]

Me waiting patiently for you to post another riddle fic even if it's just a ramble..

😼 hehehe I might have some things cooking for Riddle... there are a few fics stowed away in my drafts. Mayhaps one of these concepts and titles will be of interest!!!

✧ king riddle x assassin reader (execution waltz)

✧ overblot riddle (moros's looking glass)

✧ goldfish mer in captivity (ramune mermaid)

✧ fem riddle (sequel to boyfriend. titled girlfriend)

✧ dr. riddle (the crocodile's dilemma)

[katskitoshi]

May I please have this? https://www.tumblr.com/katskitoshi/696416151501209600/sheepy-twisted-wonderland?source=share

But instead of sheep a Bunny and with the other dorms?

Thx Love your work!!!<3

"MY CUTE LITTLE BUNNY!" with TWISTED WONDERLAND.

synopsis: you thought you would be prepared to never let another sheepy incident happen again. however, you clearly underestimate your friend's ability to ruin your life. but this time, you turn into a fluffy little bunny rather than a fluffy little sheep.

characters: riddle, trey, cater, ace, deuce, leona, ruggie, jack, azul, jade, floyd, kalim, jamil, vil, rook, epel, idia, ortho, malleus, lilia, silver, & sebek x fem! reader

you took extra precautions to try to prevent yourself in an alchemy incident. you watched each ingredient go in, stopped horse playing and petty fights, and double-triple made sure the order of each ingredient was correct. somehow, after a miscalculation or addition of some unknown substance (grim added something without telling you), your body turns into [color] smoke and you shrink down a bunch of feet.

you're no taller than grim now, with cute floppy ears, a fluffy tail, and a cute twitching nose thats flicking especially fast from stress. and just like before, you're left in the hands of the dorms as crewel looks for a way to turn you back. let's see how they do, yeah?

HEARTSLABYUL is a pretty safe place for a bunny like yourself! nice roses, cute animal friends, and nice tea parties you get to be apart of. it's easy to get lost in the twisty-turvy halls, but it's still a pretty dorm for a pretty bunny!

riddle is a pretty suitable caretaker. you're fed each meal, which is surprisingly more than carrots thanks to trey. he'll brush your fluffy coat and keep you looking as proper as possible! a nice, long bath is due after a tiring day of hanging out with the hedgehogs and flamingos, and he's pretty good at restoring your fluffy coat to it's former glory. once bed time rolls around, he'll let you take one half of his bed and he'll take the other. if you hop into his arms while he sleeps, he won't push you away. however, if you nudge at him with cute pleading bunny eyes for a bite of his tart he will. he loves you dearly, but he will not share his tart with you while you're in bunny form. that's a treat reserved only for when you're human.

trey is your sole reason for sanity. you thought you'd be fed carrots and lettuce all day, but he's able to whip your vegetables into anything you wish. carrot cake, sugar free fruit tarts, hay biscuits. any food you could think of, trey will try and most likely succeed in making it perfect for your bunny tummy. besides his amazing cooking, trey's good at grooming and reading you. he absolutely loves your little ear or nose twitches! if you're good, he'll let you help him bake or collect some ingredients. but only if you're good, okay?

pretty predictably, cater is thrilled about your transformation! it's super cute and magicammable. don't worry, he has his phone, a brush, and a cute diamond hair clip on standby as soon as you enter his care. it's time for a makeover! he'll manage your fluffy fur into a nice style with the hair clip and take a bunch of pictures. once that's done, he'll take you out to the rose garden and just talk for hours with you. he takes notice of your every reaction and pets your cute ears in response. if you couldn't tell, he loves them. but it might be obvious due to how often his hands will gravitate towards them and just fondle them. gah, you're so cute! all these pictures might overtake his sheepy one!

ace was supposed to be beheaded for his crimes, but he seems to like punishment. somehow, he got his hands on you and you're terrified. but this time, it's all for nothing. surprisingly, ace was a much better caretaker than before. he fed you and kept you out of harms way enough the survive your time with him. but ace made his time with you special. a little dream of his was to pull a rabbit out of a hat, so he used a small teleportation spell to transport you from his bed, to be slowly pulled out of his top hat. with a "ta-da~!" leaving his lips, you begged to go again! it was fun, and ace was finally not putting you in harms way so its a win win.

sweet deuce always wanted a bunny growing up. he never got one, but perhaps this mishap was a blessing in disguise. he hugged you close to his chest gently when he first got to hold you and smiled brightly. deuce is a great caretaker. he'll bring you whatever you want, even if you shouldn't eat/have it, and he'll let you play outside for a nice long time! all he asks for in return are some cute snuggles and to let him pet your ears. his dreams will come true!

perhaps letting you stay in SAVANACLAW for a bit was a mistake. it was hot and scary. the blazing sun and dry conditions were nice, but the sand blowing in your face and wool was not. oh, and not to mention you were at the bottom of the food chain here. i mean, who's brilliant idea was it to keep a prey and a dorm full of predators?

be lucky leona values human you a bit. if he hadn't, who knows what would've happened to you? maybe a big, scary beastman would snatch you up, tun you into bunny stew, and eat you for dinner with no remorse. leona'll tell you all those things to try and scare you, but sevens forbid once of the losers in his dorm lay a hand on you. then, they'll turn into beastman stew and leona will slurp them up and go right back to bed while using you as a pillow.

how adorable could you get? ruggie will chuckle at your new form, his familiar laugh and smile making you feel a bit less stressed about the situation. as usual, leona will throw ruggie some money to take care of you, only use a bit for you and pocket the rest. he still cares, so he'll even watch you frolic and play around the botanical gardens or fields of savanaclaw.

jack is such a good boy, as always. he always takes care of you and does it pretty well. nice meals and groomings obviously. he'll also let you play around outside if you get bored, or do anything your little bunny brain wants. as long as it's in reason, he'll give it at least a thought. so, to put it short: no, [name], jack will not let you go inside the microwave to see what it feels like.

when approaching OCTAVINELLE, your best decision is to hop as far as you can and as fast as you can. but unfortunately, that cannot help your poor, unfortunate bunny soul for there are eels and octopuses that stop you from going before the fun begins.

dollar signs ring in azul's head as he hears about your form. hooray! marketing! you can either sit pretty in the eating area of the lounge or in his office for private pet sessions. for the cheap price of 1000 madol, a student can pet your cute little bunny ears. besides being a marketing tool for him, he cares for you pretty well.

jade drugs you. nothing more to say than that he wanted to give you some mushrooms and well, bunnies don't fair well with them. next thing you know, you're hallucinating carrots and [favorite food] and begin chomping away at him. jade only laughs. he's an okay caretaker. but he much enjoys seeing you woozy from just a common mushroom. he really wants to see what happens to you with psychedelics.

look, when you said you wanted to go in the microwave, you were joking! floyd attempts part 2 of attempting to cook his crush. it was crazy, honestly. floyd seemed to learn no lesson! but at least your so squeezable in this form! ah, his cuteness aggression is kicking in! he's still harsh, but at least the number of injuries has decreased. so perhaps something has changed. but let's not forget of his crimes. attempted microwave cooking, attempted drowning, yanking your ears, flicking your nose, and quite a few more that will most likely not end up on his record but should.

similar to savanaclaw, SCARABIA is a dorm with great living conditions for bunnies! most of the time, the dorm members are nice and the dry ground is fun to dig in.

kalim had changed a lot since last time. he's a lot better at taking care of you. if it's too warm, he'll make a little oasis. for you to swim in or drink out of. he'll let you hop around the desert planes of scarabia but he'll most likely lose you. and when he pets you, he's a bit rough from cuteness aggression, but he loves you and treats you like royalty nonetheless.

jamil is again your main caretaker, and again one of the best people you can end up with. nice food, well taken care of, lovely head-rubs and all sorts of affections. i'd like to believe that once upon a time kalim or one of his siblings had a rabbit and it turned into jamil's responsibility to take care of it. who would've know that their negligence would help him?

hopping into POMEFIORE was lovely. the scenery was breathtaking and it smelled of fresh fruits and apples. this is one of the only dorms you can hop around and just find food lying there. nice fields to get lost in, nice waters to swim in. this dorm is like bunny heaven!

vil is a great caretaker, and he'll carry you wherever you need to go. you know this little poodle pouch bag things, vil owns one just for you. after treating your wool, whiskers, and paws and such, he'll plop you right into his little bag and stroll around pomefiore to invoke the jealous stares of his dorm mates. now, you're the prettiest bunny with the prettiest man to carry you around!

you know those fields you like to get lost in? yeah, you're never really lost because rook always has his eye on you. he loves you as a bunny dearly. taking photos at every moment or chasing you just to see your ears and nose twitch in fear. it's hilarious to him! and insane for you to think he wouldn't just love to sneak up behind you, grab you, and hold you to his chest while giving you kisses all over your little bunny head and ears. as soon as you're back in human form, he'll give you some real kisses while he forces you to look at all the cute bunny pictures he has!

sweet epel shares his apples with you. back home, he was familiar with bunnies as they'd come into the orchard and try to steal apples. he'll cut them up into cute shapes for you so you don't have to hit the trees to try to get them to fall for you. again, he'll carve you a little apple figurine of you in bunny form. epel'll share some sweet moments of just talking as he rambles into his southern accent, like he used to do back home, but instead he's just rambling onto his crush.

IGNIHYDE is freezing! but luckily you have nice thick, fluffy wool to cover you and keep you warm. it's a refreshing change from the warm weather of other dorms, but one things the other dorms were definitely better at was their natural aspects. there was barely any outdoorsy space for you to frolic in!

idia has never considered having a garden in ignihyde, but your pleading bunny eyes and downturned ears somehow convince him. next thing you know, idia's had a small garden built for you to jump around in. he even leaves his room to watch you. when you aren't in his garden, he's sit you on his desk or lap and pet your ears as he games or something. perhaps he'll even give you some pomegranates to snack on. oops! looks like you have to stay in ignihyde just a bit longer~!

ortho is darling, really. he searches the web for how to perfectly care for you and caters to your every need. he even helps convince idia to make you that garden. he'll even take you to the gardens of night raven for you to be able to play around properly, and buy you some bunny feed. overall, good job ortho! he's a good caretaker.

DIASOMNIA is a scary place for a little bunny like yourself. oh, you thought you were being towered over in other dorms? that's funny! people are like giants here, and you haven't been this scared since octavinelle.

of course, malleus was left out of the meeting that explained that you would be passing through the dorm's care. he went to ramshackle expecting you, only to find you were at his dorm! he teleports there immediately, and smiles once he get's to hold you. he didn't think you could get any smaller! malleus was more interested in stone animals than anything, but a cute breathing bunny is fun too. especially when it's his child of man.

lillia should not be left in charge to care for you. well, at first he shouldn't. he'll play the ropes a bit and is quite rough at first. pulling your ears a bit and flicking your nose a bit too hard, but he'll suddenly flip a switch and is super gentle and sweet. nice pets, kind words, the whole kindness bundle. but then, he tries to feed you. and you're certain it was all a act to get you to trust him and for him to feed you his awful food! once you're human again, he'll wonder why you have a little grudge with him, not understanding that he's nearly killed you with his food.

silver is missing in action. not a bad caretaker or a good one. but he naturally has animals gravitate to him so he barely noticed having you hop in. once he familiarizes himself with you and realizes you're not just some woodland creature, you're his friend and his crush, he'll straighten up his act a bit and make sure you're taken care of especially. although it makes the other animals jealous, silver can't help but hold you specifically while he's sleeping. it's so sweet!

sebek is okay. he's not all that familiar with animals, but can hold his own in taking care of you. you're fed pretty nice meals but not given that much affection. his cuteness aggression might kick in, so he refrains from it. he'll also try to watch his voice, because he knows it'll hurt your ears if he's too loud.

[the-pea-and-the-sun]

ok so i talk a lot abt how i find inverted detective stories/howcatchems more compelling than whodunnits but i feel like knives out v glass onion shows like. the fundamental difference between a rly good howcatchem an a rly good whodunnit and why i will always ultimately prefer howcatchems. (the howcatchems im mostly thinking of here besides knives out include columbo, hannibal [the book series and nbc hannibal], and death note)

obviously knives out subverts the distinction between those genres in the first place, but like fundamentally knives out is about showing us the perspective of the person trying to evade the detective while glass onion is showing us the detective's perspective. if we are seeing the story primarily from the perspective of the person trying to avoid detection, that type of story if more compelling to me even if, like in knives out, they don't actually end up being "the killer" or a villain protagonist.

people often think of the killer's perspective as the less relatable one, but being positioned as having motives directly contrary to the motives of the figure of authority, while being forced to cooperate with them anyway, is a position that a lot more people have been in and can relate to i think (besides it being the overall more difficult and sympathetic position to be in). and the person who's eyes we're seeing through has committed the most unforgivable sin possible. so a good howcatchem allows the audience to feel that sick fear of being the most hated, the most evil and irredeemable person possible. even if we're rooting for the detective, it allows us to empathize with someone who's committed the worst possible crime, and imagine what we would do under similar circumstances. (in knives out, this is taken to its most extreme, where even the victim is rooting for the apparent killer)

in a whodunnit sympathy for the killer is not necessary, and can even detract from the plot since the story needs to spend an equal amount of time focusing on several potential killers for the payoff of the reveal at the end. the killer can be completely unlikable and impossible to sympathize with, like in "glass onion", and the story can still work. their perspective can be safely dismissed except when its relevant to the mystery.

in a howcatchem on the other hand, "the killer" is not just one of many potential answers to a riddle. the killer is the single person that the detective has to understand and empathize with completely in order to solve the case. hannibal and death note are of course all about blurring the line between the killer and the detective, implying that to truly understand the killer the detective has to have a sort of super-empathy, and be able to understand the way the killer thinks by "getting into their head", often losing parts of themselves in the process (i think this is true of all dn adaptations but is basically explicitly stated in the musical). the killer and the detective have apparently opposite goals, but because of the level of empathy required to catch and evade one another, they become one in the same. even in columbo and knives out where the blurring between the detective and the killer is less of a central theme than it is in the other examples i mentioned, the detective is still unusually kind to the killer, even friendly, and the killer struggles not to be charmed by the detective, struggles to stay away from them despite the eminent danger that the detective represents. even if the detective's goal is still ultimately to find the truth, their kindness toward the person who they know to be a killer is genuine. unlike in a whodunnit, in a howcatchem the relationship between the detective and the killer is the heart of the story.

when we are seeing from the perspective of a watson in a whodunnit, we want the truth to be revealed, we want the killer to be seen. we watch the detective uncover the truth while they explain to us as outsiders how he got there. but in a howcatchem the killer and the watson become one in the same. we are the killer, but we still want what the watson wants. we want to be seen, wholly and completely, by the detective. we want to purge ourselves of what we've done wrong and be seen for what we tried to do right. only the singular "greatest detective", uniquely better than all other detectives, uniquely capable of divine retribution, could possibly see us. we cannot allow anyone else to judge us, anyone else would see only the crime and the criminal and not the person behind it.

we, as both the killer and the audience, love the detective. the detective is charming and clever and impressive, strange, mysterious and aloof. the detective knows what we did and is kind to us anyway. we are the killer and we want to be made to confess. we want to lose to someone better than us, smarter than us, kinder than us. only the detective can reveal our sin, only the detective can see all and still forgive us. in both types of detective stories the detective represents divine punishment, but only in howcatchems does the detective also represent divine forgiveness. the detectives singular goal may be to reveal and punish sin but the detective will always love the sinner. we as the killer will confess to nobody but a god.

so yeah 👍 knives out is rly good i enjoyed it

[pluckyredhead]

Is the ideal superhero story/setting one that you would read even without villains?

I guess by definition yes, because it would be ideal?

I think this depends a lot on what you mean by "villains." I don't necessarily need supervillains in a story, but are we also talking about street crime, organized crime, corrupt cops and politicians, etc? Because I do think you need conflict, and natural disasters only go so far.

I'm not a person who cares all that much about villains, and I think modern superhero comics are way overinvested in supervillains and constantly upping the ante in showing how badass they are and endless pages of nonsense about "look at us, our destinies are intertwined, clowns are the natural enemy of bats" like SHUT UP. If I never read another story with the goddamn Joker in it again it will be too soon. There's also that old chestnut of "superheroes create supervillains" which I find fucking exhausting and contrived as hell. Like just because you dress up as a bat to stop a mugger, it's your fault someone else decides to murder people with riddles? What??? "Don't help anyone, you'll create monsters!" SHUT UP!!!

Street level heroes do particularly well in stories where they're fighting organized crime and corruption; some of the most beloved stories and eras for Batman, Green Arrow, and Daredevil focus on this. (Green Arrow should probably almost never fight supervillains. His villains are so dumb.)

Even Superman - one of my favorite Superman eras ever is the Golden Age, where there were almost no supervillains and the ones he fought were often relatively harmless and it was more about exposing their cons than fighting them (Prankster, Toyman, my beloved J. Wilbur Wolfingham). These stories, again, often focused more on corruption and exploitation - which, crucially, means that Clark Kent has as big of a role to play in the story as Superman. I'm not saying get rid of Lex Luthor and Brainiac (although I think Lex also works best as a corrupt businessman instead of a guy in green and purple armor), but I do think there are many stories that can be told about Superman that don't require supervillains. And I think that requires refocusing on the idea that Superman is not here to fight bad people, he's here to help ordinary people.

But on the other hand...I don't know what the hell you would do with the Flash without supervillains. I just don't see how anything else would challenge him. "The Flash exposes a corrupt politician" just doesn't work for me unless said corrupt politician has hired Captain Cold for protection or something, I don't know why.

So I'm not saying get rid of supervillains, because they have their place. But I think the current emphasis on them is unnecessary, and overemphasizes the importance of, like, punitive and retributive justice and heavily militarized policing. There are not bogeymen in our streets in wacky costumes murdering dozens with freeze guns or whatever, but there is widespread and systemic corruption and abuse in business, politics, and law enforcement, so if we're going to have inspirational stories about defeating evil, I know where I think the emphasis should be. Superhero comics don't always have to be drawn from life and I enjoy a silly story where the Flash fights the Rainbow Raider as much as anyone else, but I think every so often it would be helpful for writers to take a step back and think "Hmm, what is this hero actually fighting and why?"

[ryuichirou]

Replies

Some replies! Mostly about weird dicks and ehh having kids I guess…

characharing asked:

''Is Ruggie's grandma packing?'' OF COURSE SHE IS, ANON, GILF RIGHTS

Yesss!! POWERFUL GRANDMAS OF TWST!!

Anonymous asked:

Somtimes i feel like when I leave this blog for a few days, idia gains like, 270 new kinks

Exactly, now imagine how Idia feels. Every new day should feel like a holiday, but he sure is struggling lol

Anonymous asked:

Yesss, Riddle gets to savor all the exotic dicks whether he likes it or not as the Queen intended. Wonder which one he'll like the most? I feel like Deuce might also join in but probably by accident

I am a romantic at heart, so I would assume that Riddle’s favourite one would be the long, supple and slippery eel one. It just sounds right. 😌 It’s also probably the most unpredictable because it moves, and Riddle hates unpredictability, so we get a perfect match.

Deuce would definitely join in by accident, and he would probably feel kind of guilty for enjoying the exotic dick so much… maybe because of how much adrenalin and panic he felt when he experienced knotting for the first time, but his body reacts very strongly to Jack now. And experiencing one of the tweels would feel so weird that it would actually fry his brain for a couple of hours…

Che’nya should visit NRC more often. For no reason in particular, he just should.

Anonymous asked:

On the topic of parents, I was asking myself who would be the most likely to raise a kid together in canon in the future, and I think that if Kalim has kids he will definitely rope in Jamil, no matter the kind of relationship they have. His life would be even more at risk as the head of the Asim, so I can imagine he would try to get someone he can trust to become the legal guardian of his child/children in case something happens to him, and we all know that there is no one he trusts as much as Jamil. "And when I'll die you'll take care of them" "When!?". I don't know, it's just kind of funny to think about how even without Kalim, Jamil would still be stuck with the kalimlings (who probably don't even get along with da-, I mean, uncle Jamil)

Oh there is absolutely no chance for Jamil to get away from nurturing another Kalim, even if the first Kalim hires 10 nannies for the kid. For the sake of protection too.

“When I’ll die” lol so ready to kick the bucket and leave Jamil with kalimlings…what a word 😭 Jamil’s entire life is Kalim. Even if Kalim is gone, Kalim is still there. Maybe Kalim will do what his father did and leave 30+ kalimlings behind just so uncle Jamil doesn’t get lonely.

Anonymous asked:

out of the twst cast, who do you think would selfishly ~baby trap~ their partner? like tbh i don’t see floyd as the type, if anything a baby would make him fuck off lol

Yeah, a baby would absolutely make Floyd fuck off lol Which is ironic, because while I don’t see Riddle as someone who would necessarily do it, he gets pretty unexpectedly unhinged sometimes… I don’t see it, but I don’t not see it if that makes sense. It wouldn’t be a premeditated decision; it’s more like a crime of passion. If he manages to make a baby with magic somehow… the chances are super low, but considering how unstable Floyd can make him, never zero lol

To answer your question properly, I can’t think of many options to be honest, but two characters who came to mind first would be Malleus and Azul. My reasoning for Malleus: lay an egg => demand attention.

And Azul would do anything to tie a person to himself if he needs to; a baby would bring a lot of unnecessary expenses, but if nothing else works, putting a bunch of eggs inside his lover’s body is always an option. Wow, both of them are egg related…

We are talking about the boys here, but I feel like even if Azul was a lady, he wouldn’t want to get pregnant herself. The world would hear the most menacing “I’ve already paid the surrogate, Idia-san” ever.

Ortho could do it in a yandere scenario, I think. Sebek and Kalim are also suuuuper not likely, but somehow more likely than the rest of the boys.

[nthspecialll]

Hola! I'm a big fan of yours, I'm not sure if you answer questions or not, but I'm watching rdr1 and I can't help but wonder: how do you think an AU would be where Bonnie MacFarlane could be in the Van der Linde gang?

Bonnie is one of my favorite characters from rdr1, and I always wanted to see how she could interact with the gang, I look forward to your answer ^^

I am so glad you like my content and I absolutely do asks! I love them so much.

Firstly: Bonnie would have been 15 in 1899 and we don't know much about how she was at that time, but it is an au so for my own sake we are going to create a universe where she is interacting with them as we know her in 1911.

Bonnie is a very responsible person and with the death of five of her brothers and the only surviving one moving to New York, she sees herself as responsibe for her family's ranch, meaning, unless she was forced to leave, she would not. To get Bonnie to join the gang, the ranch would have to be ruined, so i assume a situation similar to the Adler family except in a much larger scale considering how many live on the ranch.

Of course we can't know how Bonnie would react to a traumatic situation like that, but as we know her, I doubt she would stay with the gang like Sadie did. Bonnie is not seen as a very revengeful person, nor has she shown any desire for committing crime. While she is often seen as a badass, carrying guns, wearing pants, standing up for herself and so on, she does still lean into societal expectations. While John and her father talks, she is the one who makes tea and brings it in, and when everything is done in 1914, she marries and as far as we know live a regular life.

She isn't a criminal, she doesn't have any reason to become one, she has a support system she could return to to help her get back on her feet.

But, let's say for some reason she does stay with the gang, I once again don't think she would go Sadie. I think she would be a lot like Karen actually, with a mix of Tilly.

She would probably take guard duty and other "male" chores like chopping wood, moving bags of gain, hunting so on and so forth. But I also think she would happily take part of the "female" chores, sewing, cooking, washing clothing, she would do whatever would be needed of her, probably more of the "female" chores due to the sexism of the gang, but I don't think she would do crime. I think the most she would do would be helping with plans: "With your trigger itch and my feminine intuition, we should make quite a team."

I also think that she would do a lot of the day to day legal stuff for the gang, like getting groceries, getting mail, if they need to buy a horse or chickens or something like it, that would probably be her.

Now how she would act with the gang:

Anyone trying to make a sexist or disrespectful comment or joke, she would take none of it. She isn't afraid to speak her mind, she is a very no-nonsense person, even when it is about "taboo" subjects, like this moment right after John saved her from being hanged: "If you think I'm going to lower myself by making a joke about being 'all tied up' - you've got another thing comin'"

During campfire convosations she would be very compassionate, listening closely and using it to help her get a better understanding of who they are. Similarly to when John opens up to her, which also proves that she is a person people tend to open up to as she is the only one John opens up to.

She is quite playful too, making a lot of sassy jokes and remarks like asking John if he talks in riddles to make up for the fact he has nothing interesting to say.

So between her no-bullshit attitude, her playful yet kind and compassionate personality, I don't doubt there could be some fun interactions.

[plzkillmesworld]

I don't know how to request stuff very well but I wanted to have a Platonic Twisted Wonderland boys (+staff) with a reader who doesn't like the way that most of their body looks because I don't like a lot of things with my appearance and the bois are my comfort but not romantically (taken and gay lol)

❗Self hate, mentioned Ed, body hate❗

Riddle, Leona, Kalim, and Sam

Riddle sees you as a little sister figure, and takes care to keep his emotions in check because he doesn't want to hurt his little sister

Riddle is dumbfounded when he finds out, how could you think of yourself like that. He only takes things he thinks are perfect or extraordinary because of his mother.

For you to say that you hate your appearance will make him step up and grab your cheeks, forcing you to look at him.

"You are like a little sister to me and let me tell you one thing, you are beautiful and if you don't believe it than tough, I never lie." Or something along those lines

Will look for tricks to help you look prettier to yourself but will probably leave that to Cater. He might even paint his nails with you and let his guard down, who knows

The reason Leona is so protective of you is because you are his family. His niece to be exact. He likes you more than anyone else in the family and so you look up to him the most

When you tell him that you hate the way you look at first he thinks your joking until he sees your eyes

Unshed tears that reminds him of when you were a younger cub and when he was a cub so he'll sit with you and allow you to explain to him - what don't you like

"Little cub, I am here and that is all that matters, your heart is better than your looks anyways. People who are too pretty annoy me." Something like that. Extra points if he makes you laugh.

But he Will start working out with you (so you don't hurt yourself or lose motivation) and will do your hair every day

Kalim is your best friend and partner in crime, often stealing away treats Jamil makes from the kitchens, so hearing you say that you don't like the way you look will cause him to start sobbing.

He is so nice too because he just wants to know what you don't like. Protect the sweet potato

"What?! I think your beautiful though! You are, and the rain in your head is messing with you! I will convince you that you are pretty!" (I like thinking he calls negative thoughts rain) Saying something like that

Will ask Jamil for help 100%

⚠ Mentioned Ed and thought of Ed ⚠

Your just his favorite imp that comes by the shop all the time, so it's a friendly, familiar relationship between a student and teacher

His friends on the other side told him about the whole thing and how you thought about starving yourself to lose weight.

He approached you immediately and told you he knew. You cried instantly saying that you needed to lose weight.

"My favorite imp, not like that. We can talk to Vargas about exercises for your body type. Just...please...don't starve yourself." I feel like he would offer you a different option to lose weight - even if you are in a healthy weight range - to burn fat.

[brokentoys]

i will admit i'm growing exhausted by dc's indecisiveness when it comes to riddler's character. which i didn't mention this about the comic yesterday, but when superman was asking about riddler, gordon said he's a thief (which, y'know, implies nothing more)

which, while this is the first batman/superman world's finest comic i read - but from first impressions, it seems more lighthearted maybe. so i understand why they don't wanna say / make riddler a murderer in it. but this isn't the only time they've done this.

i believe this is from green lantern - and i forget which issue, i just know it's a newer one (probs from rebirth era.) which also just refers to him as mostly a thief.

an 80s comic also refers to him as mostly a thief, too. although unlike the others, gordon does suspect he may commit murder is desired. and like. i know. this seems consistent, right? there's these many instances of them simply calling ed a thief - it must be so! except... these statements do not match eddie's history. not when there's been quite a few comics where he straight up murders or nearly murders. zero year, joker's asylum, everything tom king and tony daniels corrupts, riddle me that, batman chronicles #3, are all examples of eddie having actually murdered (or in zero year's case, nearly killing all of gotham.)

so... which is it? is eddie just a thief, or is he a serial killer? and like. even tho i prefer ed as a murderer (WITH CAUSE) and my depictions has him as such (WITH CAUSE) - but like. the comics should stick to one instead of sometimes saying he's just a thief, but then having him commit horrific crimes.

and although i'm talking about this point a lot - this isn't the only point of them being indecisive with riddler's character. another problem is his backstory. what was the riddler even before he became the riddler? was he a teacher? a carnival game host? a deliveryman? did he cheat his school puzzle contest, or did he win it fair and square? is he abused by his father or? did he finish school and go to college or is he a high school drop out? like there's just so many different versions of riddler's backstory it's not even funny. and that's just mentioning comics alone. his backstory gets even more different if you mention adaptations - which i wouldn't mention because adaptations tend to have different takes on characters. however, i think eddie still has the most different backgrounds compared to other characters. because he's also been a scientist, forensics scientist, video game developer, head of the cyber crime unit in the GCPD, and so on. meanwhile the other rogues, even in adaptations, almost always have the same background - scarecrow was always a psychologist, mr. freeze and manbat are always scientists, harley quinn is always a psychologist too. so it's just kinda funny how dc just can't seem to decide what ed's backstory is. he doesn't have a solid, concrete one like the other rogues do.

and then there's his design, which is also indecisive.

is eddie a young man (early 30s) with nice hair or is he a middle aged man (40s-50s) with a receding hairline? hell, year of the villain practically confirmed eddie is in his early 30s. yet some artists still draw him looking much older. also - is he a redhead or a brunette? dc was pretty consistent on making him a brunette during the 2000s up until 2013 (new 52) and the new 52/rebirth was... mostly consistent with making ed a redhead is seemed - up until now. which i've been noticing ed's been drawn as a brunette way more often now, while sometimes still being a redhead in other comics. so. which is it?????

i love this character, but i just wish dc could be a little more concrete with him. sometimes, it feels like he is a character writers look at and just decide to do whatever they want and dc just lets it happen. especially when this doesn't seem to happen to other characters as often.

[randomfrog2]

As a passionate fan of space operas I NEEDED to do this. So yea. Space opera AU with twisted boiz.

Part 1

Heartslabyul

Space police, basically.

Their main office is located on space station that's called "Garden of Roses" and looks pretty much like a big white rose with red spots. One could say this station is so big that it's more of a maze than a space station.

Riddle Rosehearts.

The youngest lieutenant in the history of Komissarium (name of space police).

Very strict with schedule, and follows charter every day, every second.

"Newbies, I expect you all to follow regulations or else," on LITERALLY every briefing.

He has his gun for a reason. But he's strong even without the gun. One time Ace challenged him, thinking that Riddle as weak as he seems to be. Ace was almost broken in half so he has never ever said anything about Riddle's strength after.

He can seems cold sometimes, but he really cherishes his co-workers, not only that, he remembers their birthdays and favourite presents.

He has little neuro pad for that.

Actually, he has neuro pad for every occasion in his life.

"Didn't know? Cabinet of lieutenant Rosehearts is known as cleanest place in Universe. If I was you, I would just leave these papers near his door. I don't want even imagine what he'll do if you leave those in a wrong folder."

Ace Trappola.

He became part of Komissarium not so long ago, but he showed some skills in one case, where he was working as partners with Deuce Spade.

He can be dum-dum sometimes, but he's sharp when he's on a crime scene.

And he's pretty strong.

...but uses his strength for winning in arm wrestling against his colleagues (he has collection of food talons, I tell you what)

As it was said he lost to Riddle once. So now he has some pretty strong motivation to go the gym.

"What do you mean we can't cooperate with criminals? Talking about wasted potential..." he said and after that he had a long conversation with Trey about things you can say in office.

Local menace to society.

Deuce Spade.

He's also a newbie with some potential.

... especially in chasing.

Although Riddle forbid him and Ace to do so, they participated in local racing around small planets.

By the way their number was 69 and Ace couldn't stop laughing.

They also almost hit satellite of a planet.

He has pretty low scores on exams, but his pilot exams scores always 90 or higher.

Ace is being salty about that so Deuce brags even more about it.

"That's just about that feeling to fly in space that I can't get enough of. One day I'll be a captain on one, just you wait!"

Trey Clover.

Not the oldest, but everyone joke about his age anyway.

You forgot to do your papers for Riddle? He got you. You have worked all night and run out of coffee? He got you.

He got you in any way.

He helped Ace and Deuce in their first case although he tried his best to not interfere.

Trey is known for his diplomatic skills, so he more often escorts important political parties on planets and space stations rather than seeking for offenders.

And, of course, he's often in the office together with Cater.

Some might say those two have a romance, but nether of them have ever accepted that.

"I haven't seen my family in a long time. They're on Earth currently. Maybe I should take Cater with me the next time I visit them. Why? No reason at all. That's what friends do, right?"

Cater Diamond.

Works in office and knows EVERY rumor there.

This guy has somewhat magical skills in knowing how Riddle would like to see papers being sorted, so everyone ask him for advice.

He is a pretty good navigator.

Also, he knows a lot of people on planets and systems that out of reach of most investigators' connections.

And even Riddle can take him on a case so Cater can help with witnesses.

Drinks a lot of coffee in their buffet, but only Trey and Ace know that coffee that he drinks is extremely BITTER.

Ace knows that because his cheeky ass decided to try Cater's coffee without permission one time.

"Look, I reeeealllyyy would like to do that work but tonight I'm going home early. They have opened new club on 50th floor so I want to go there. Thanks for filling those papers tho! You're da best"

Komissarium has around 52 spaceships. Riddle's favourite one is Queen of Hearts. It looks like big sharp black heart with four powerful interstellar engines that look a lot like white roses with red spots. Also this ship is the only one that has anti-field that can turn off enemy's engines completely for a long period of time. Employees of Komissarium joke that this ship can have the head of other ship.

The one that was used by Ace and Deuce in race is called Five of Hearts.

Five of Hearts looks like a big white card with popping out belly. Belly has a form of sharp heart, one side of which is dark blue and the other one is red. Ship has five interstellar engines, but they are way weaker than the ones that Queen of Hearts has.

"This ship can't lose! Its name is so close to legendary 'Queen of Hearts'. And I believe five is a good number. So I'm sure we're betting on right horse here." (by Ace, before the race)

"C'mon now, dear, we need some more speed to win. We have our limits doubled here!" (by Deuce)

[blnk338]

c(u)n(t) 7

"I am doing this because you’ll be fucked up to high heaven" was almost "I am doing this because you'll be fucked to high heaven." Changed due to the worry that people would find it too vulgar. Why? I frankly have no idea, yet, here we are today.

Looking back, I think I most often use the over-the-top affectionate terms for PB constantly because that is his main purpose; a comfort. A lot of Reaper's description of the things in her home used to be riddled with a muddy, jaded feeling, but as she moved to the UK, she has begun to describe her life in more beautiful terms. This also applies to Peanut Butter. He himself is quite literally the color of the sun, his eyes are a bright playful yellow, and he's described to have a "permanent smile." I intentionally chose him to be orange because orange cats are usually the stupidest, sweetest little idiots (though if your cat is of any other color, there is not a muscle in my body that does not a) want to see them and b) know they are terribly sweet).

YOU LOOK LIKE USAGI!” While I'm not sure a ton of people caught it (it's come to my attention that apparently a lot of people haven't seen or heard of the show), Stella likes Sailor Moon.

Claire is important to Reaper because she gets to see someone who looks like her, or rather, dresses like she used to, only this time, this person is happy. I think this derives from my own internal joy when I see emo/goth/alt kids just being happy, because in the time that I was like that, I faced a lot of negativity for just dressing how I wanted to. I put a lot of effort into describing Claire as happy, excitable, and filled with life, but also still a normal anxious teenager because I want people to see alt characters in good lights. While more of those characters are seen in modern pieces of media (ex: Hobie Brown), I still think we need to see more women in those areas.

I changed it, but some may remember that I added double exclamation marks for Stella's remarks-- not a terribly large note, but I used to do it to emphasize how loud she was.

Claire would love Hobie, Stella would love Gwen.

"Feels like shit gets really loud all of a sudden.” Again, something else Reaper and Claire have in common: Sensory overloads.

I changed it all, but in Ghost's pov, I used to respond to Reaper in the third person. I ultimately changed this because it no longer fit with the current iterations of Ghost's POV.

I almost didn't make a comment on the true crime thing because I know people get death threat-y. Even though I don't like the community's fawning over people's deaths and serial killers, I know that there are people who approach the topics politely, with that being said, I don't love it.

“It’s hell.” I believe this is the first time I've ever made Simon actually vulnerable. Instead of shutting Reaper's words down, he fills them in for her; he properly expresses how much agony he's in.

“Was I—was it clear?” Again, another moment of vulnerability from Ghost. He's terrified to do this, he's nervous, he's uncomfortable, it's clear, but it's Reaper and he trusts her.

... Most of the stuff I know about guns is from PUBG...

"One hand rising up, he rubbed the back of his balaclava. Perhaps he could use a trim, too." I was actually going to have a scene where Reaper cuts Ghost's hair but I... forgot LMAO. But I guess that haircut had to happen eventually, huh?

“I don’t think you could handle my stack of documents, Sergeant.” Both an innuendo and a metaphor for Simon himself. It's a bit between the lines, but I attempted to hint at the idea that Simon doubts Reaper would ever be able to, let alone want, to deal with him and his shit.

“I bet it’s just page after page of the same shit I’ve gotta do, what’s the harm in taking a load off, big man?” And it's thrown right back into his face. As in, "no, I can take care of that sort of thing, because it's not a burden to me."

there's a clear sadness when König and Reaper talk to each other, knowing they should've killed each other. It's continued in their conversations as background noise or a prominent topic, the idea that they weren't supposed to be friends. If anything, there's an underlying fear that one day, they might be the reason the other is dead.

Its mentioned briefly, but König likes to draw :)

König actively changes around people. Around Reaper, he lets his walls down. Whether this is because they don't know each other or not, he decides that she is being kind or transparent enough to be trusted with his more awkward side. This also plays into the fact that he's a Colonel (which was information that I didn't have at the time of posting the chapter).

On top of this BB was deemed to be the "squad leader." Even though I'm not changing this, I like to think that König asked BB to hold up that role for the 141 so they would treat him like a regular soldier to see how they would react. In turn, they didn't treat him like shit, and he actively gained a new friend: Reaper.

Originally, there was a push to make König's group more of a boy's club, but that changed after they split up because I felt like it was too girlboss-y of Reaper.

Mind stroll coming to a stop, you turned to look up at Ghost, but his eyes were already on you. “Do you know where we’re going?” Simon was caught staring at Reaper watching the domesticity, yearning to do the same with her. Another in between the lines sort of thing, but hey, it's there.

By this point, Reaper had begun to call Ghost "Big Man" and this is big because Reaper's never shown this kind of affection outwardly to anyone else. She has her own internal nicknames (like Bug Boy), but she doesn't call anyone them to their face. But Reaper loves that Simon is big and this is a big flirting step for her.

"Look up for me." This was WAY more sexual than I realized when I wrote it, but honestly, this is a good way to point out that Simon was super obedient to Reaper. Again, when the hell is he like this with anyone else? WHEN ELSE DOES HE WHIMPER?

Glancing between the two for a second, your lieutenant staring a lot harder than he should have. I think this might've been the most deliberate example of Ghost being jealous of König. I almost included a scene where Ghost asked König to "step back" but I thought it was too Wattpad-esq and hated it LMAO

I typically have Reaper in boxers because they're a) comfy to wear b) good to exercise in and c) pretty GNC. I know some folks aren't comfy with wearing thongs or something (which, believe me, seems fucking awful. Why are writers putting their main female characters in lacy underwear and thongs when they're in the military? That sounds awful!), so I chose a bit more of a comfy example.

Reaper likes doing things in threes. stabbing three times, triple takes, etc.

Reaper knows how to kick down doors bc of her Marine dad.

A lot of Reaper's words are cut short. Ex: "medbay will be quick." This is because she's spent pretty much all of her life in the military.

[hopepunk-priest]

Okay since everyone's doing it, I'm gonna do it too

My version takes place in the 70's, the gang is college-aged, dodging the draft by solving mysteries with a background of the rise of grindhouse horror films, second wave feminism, student strikes, "the silent majority," environmentalism, Watergate, Queer liberation, and groovy rock music. As a more adult take, the monsters of the week and overarching villains will reflect, criticize, and celebrate the cultural movements of being in your early 20's during the 70's. That means villains ranging from nerds in star wars costumes to paranoid political scandals to actual real aliens. Stakes range from being inconvenienced to being in mortal peril.

Fred Jones: Mom friend with first aid training (that he learned from med students during a campus protest), the moral compass of the show in that he reminds the gang that laws exist and they are very much on the run, fucking HATES Nixon dude like HATES Nixon. Heart's always in the right place, even if things don't always work out. Knowledgeable in traps and whatever level of engineering is needed to solve the episode, also acts as the primary face. Also just loves mysteries.

Norville "Shaggy" Roberts: former track star, dropped out of culinary school, collects cool belt buckles a la original series, straight man in the horror movie "maybe we don't go in the haunted house" way, brave considering zombies and witch's ghosts are straight up real and he will still never leave his friends to face danger alone. Anxiety disorder he treats with weed, super knowledgable in pop culture which also gives him a variety of random trivia needed to fill gaps when needed. I think he really likes Lord of the Rings and Pink Floyd. Good at riddles.

Daphne Blake: inferiority complex because of her many successful siblings, wants to be a journalist like Gloria Steinem. Has taken a few self defense classes, but overall acts as the second face for the group. Still into make-up and fashion, and can use her skills (and a little high school theatre experience) to make believable disguises. She can pick up when someone's lying and can pick locks.

Velma Dinkley: Jewish. Loves mysteries and paranormal fiction, believes in conspiracy theories and urban legends. Her intelligence specializes in puzzles, historical, and chemical knowledge. She can be reckless, but only because she becomes very single-minded when she's onto something. Snarky, lesbian, and headstrong.

Scooby: Mischievous, food motivated, and gentle. Protective of the group, Scooby is just a big, goofy great dane who doesn't understand he isn't a lapdog anymore. He can talk, no one inside the group questions it, and only a select few outside the group even notice (part of the mystery). Intergalactic being but doesn't know it, he's much more dog than other iterations.

Scrappy: Just appears one episode, everyone acts like he's always been there. Revealed at the end that he's actually a trickster deity, comes in and causes chaos every now and then mostly just to fuck with Scooby.

The Hex Girls: a psychedelic witch-rock group with a heavy emphasis on environmental protection and new age metaphors, actual witches, a sound somewhere between Cream, Hendrix, and Stevie Nicks. Genuinely just friends with the gang.

Scooby is Shaggy's emotional support dog.

Daphne and Fred are together, healthy, and often end up hyping each other up to the point where other members have to step in and go "you're getting carried away, can we focus."

Daphne and Velma met at a feminist rally, and often have nuanced discussions about different feminist theories. Honestly, most likely to commit very real crimes to get to the bottom of a mystery.

Fred and Velma met in elementary school at a Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew book club (or whatever the 50's equivalent of this was) where they were the only two members. Their friendship is like an anti-macho brotherhood, paralleling the overly masculine friendships of the era.

Daphne met Shaggy in High School and she immediately adopted him the way extroverts adopt introverts. She is very dedicated to helping him build confidence, and Shaggy helps her with her inferiority complex and keeps her true to herself.

Fred and Shaggy are very physically affectionate, share a brain cell, most likely to get into shenanigans if left alone together. Second most likely to get into shenanigans if left alone together are Fred and Daphne.

Shaggy and Velma have a shared interest in music and films, and love talking conspiracy theories.

Shaggy and Scooby are inseparable. Real boy and his dog vibes.

They all smoke weed on screen, are constantly broke, they all are capable of being equally intelligent and dumb as rocks, they're all snarky in their own way, and they all say things like jinkies and Ruh Roh to like... Murders and cryptid kidnapings and issues of national security.

[dreamcubed]

she’s my collar | tom riddle x reader

song; she's my collar [gorillaz, kali uchis] pairing; tom riddle x fem!slytherin!reader genre; angst, hurt comfort(ish), soulmates, s2l word count; 6,8k timeline; riddle's last years at hogwarts warnings; swearing, minor character deaths, minor character murders, discrimination (muggle-borns), talk of hate crimes (muggle-borns), mentions of physical pain, injuries (involving blood), implied depression, implied manipulative relationship summary; most people were destined to never find the person who was born with a matching tattoo to theirs - you weren't one of those people, but you were forced to endure your soulmate creating horcruxes and the effect it had on your soul

masterlist

fyi i do mix up the order that tom makes the horcruxes a bit :)

"she's the serpentine, she's my collar."

——————————————

In a wizarding world with soulmates, but no guarantee that you would ever find yours, you - like many others - resorted to hopeful dreams of the perfect match. Your parents didn't inflate your hopes, and kept you grounded, as they themselves weren't soulmates, like so many other lifelong couples. Nonetheless, like little muggle kids dream of being royalty and heroes, wizard and witch kids dream of finding their ultimate love.

It was estimated that less than five percent of wizards and witches found their soulmate, which was a huge reason behind parents not fuelling their children's imagination. The whole concept might as well not exist if you weren't destined to find your partner - at least that's what you thought frequently.

Nonetheless, some hope remained burning within you even after your infancy ended, and resided in the back of your mind as you started Hogwarts. Often at night you found yourself tracing the snake tattoo curled around your left forearm: it was significantly larger than your friends' soulmate tattoos. Most inked marks were small, no larger than a galleon coin, and yours in comparison was massive.

Your friends often speculated that it was a sign of you being more likely to meet your soulmate than the rest of them, but you had always had a feeling it was something much more sinister, but you didn't know why - so you brushed it off as simply your pessimistic mindset. A signature trait of yours was only seeing the bad in things.

Perhaps you got that from your parents, who had reacted so negatively to your tattoo that they had told you to hide it, in fear of something dark. You had never really understood why - sure, snakes were associated with evil, like basilisks and Salazar Slytherin, but there were a fair share of Slytherins in your family who were the nicest of people. Despite that, they had reacted negatively to you being sorted into Slytherin. Sometimes it felt like they knew something that you didn't.

It wasn't something you liked to think about too often, but it still crossed your mind sometimes, like in potions, where you sat etching mindless graffiti into the table. You couldn't help but stare at the tip of your tattoo poking out of your sleeve, unaware you were subconsciously transcribing a snake into the dark wood.

You were so consumed in your thoughts that you failed to hear Slughorn dismissing everyone, until he walked up to your desk and tapped his wand where your graffiti was.

"A fascinating drawing, Miss L/N. Why a snake?"

Your eyes snapped up, a small hint of fear at being caught bubbling within you.

He sensed your apprehension, and laughed, "Don't panic, it's nothing a little magic can't cover up."

You watched as he wordlessly moved his wand over the snake, transforming it back into smooth wood.

"You didn't answer my question - why a snake?"

You shrugged, playing with the sleeve that covered your tattoo.

Slughorn noticed the fidgeting, and also caught sight of some of the ink. "Your soul mark? Is it a snake?"

You nodded.

"Fascinating. Very fitting of a Slytherin, don't you think?"

"I suppose," you said quietly.

"Perhaps your soulmate is a Slytherin?"

"Maybe."

"Anyway, my lesson has finished, if you hadn't noticed. You're free to go."

You pushed all your belongings into your satchel, and began making your way to the exit in a hurry.

"Oh, Miss L/N, I think you dropped something."

You span around to see Slughorn clutching a black book, cornered in brass - it looked like a handful of notebooks you owned from that distance, so you didn't think twice about moving forward and accepting it from him. As you shoved it into your bag, you mumbled a "thank you" before leaving the dungeon classroom for good.

***

Only now you were sat at your desk in your dormitory did you realise that the book was in fact not yours.

Like usual, you had completed your evening routine of going through your satchel and organising any new assignments and notes you had gathered that day, causing you to open the book you had thoughtlessly accepted from Slughorn to see what you had written in it. Except, you hadn't written in it - meaning it couldn't be yours, as at this point in the year there was not a notebook you kept on your person that wasn't written in.

At the very least, its emptiness probably meant no one was missing it.

You shoved the book aside and picked up a fresh piece of scroll for your next due assignment; you dipped your quill into the ink pot sat at the back of the desk, and as you brought your hand back to the scroll, a couple drops fell from the quill and landed on the still-open page of the mystery book. You wouldn't have paid any attention to it if the ink hadn't then dissolved into the page.

Suddenly, the assignment didn't matter to you anymore. All that mattered was the evidently charmed book, that could potentially hold someone's secrets if it was some kind of invisible ink spell.

Maybe someone was missing it, then.

In the case you managed to return it, you decided to write a small message to them, to ensure to them that you didn't invade their privacy.

Your charm works by the way - I can't see a thing in here.

You watched as the ink disappeared, but it surprised you when ink appeared in return.

D: Do you know the charm placed on this diary?

You hadn't expected a response, but found yourself replying nonetheless.

Y: An invisible ink one, right?

D: Wrong.

Y: What charm is it then?

D: A companionship charm. I provide company to the owner.

Y: Do you have a name?

D: I am named after my creator. I am him, in a way.

Y: Who is he?

D: Tell me your name first.

You hesitated. You didn't want the owner of the diary to know you had been writing in it.

Y: I don't think I should say.

Y: What did you mean by "I am him, in a way"?

D: A part of his soul lives in this diary.

D: It allows me to think, talk, and act like him.

At the time, you assumed that the diary was referring to a soul-imitating charm of sorts, as you hadn't gotten the impression of dark magic being at play.

Y: Does that mean this diary is connected to his soulmate too? Has your creator met his soulmate?

D: I suppose I would be bonded to his soulmate - that's my soulmate as well, as I am a part of the soul.

Y: That's cool.

Y: What's your soulmate tattoo?

D: Tell me your name first.

You chewed your lip in thought. Were you really this curious? Did a part of you think that maybe the owner of this diary was your soulmate? It was perfectly normal to compare marks with every person you met - although this wasn't really a person.

Y: Y/N L/N.

D: Okay, Miss L/N, this is my soul mark.

You watched as a design began forming on the page, as if being drawn by an invisible hand. You stilled in shock as you realised it was taking the form of a snake - one exactly like your own tattoo.

Y: Do you have eyes or something? A seeing charm?

D: What do you mean?

Y: You drew my soul mark.

D: I do not have a seeing charm placed on me.

Y: What's your name? I've told you mine.

You stared in nervous anticipation as the diary began to reply.

D: Tom Marvolo Riddle.

The grip you had on your quill tightened until your knuckles were white.

Tom Riddle was the mysterious - albeit handsome - boy in your year, in your house. He scared everyone with his dominating presence and calculated words, along with his fascination in dark magic. He had always had a magnetism of attraction about him, but a million girls fancied him, so you had always thought that everyone felt it.

You knew that should have been where you returned the diary to him, but you found yourself way too curious about your potential soulmate. So, you found yourself conversing with the diary right until the early hours of the morning.

***

Were you ready to have Tom Riddle as your soulmate?

Sure, he was a woman-charmer, a handsome guy, clearly intelligent beyond his years... he just seemed so disinterested in love and relationships. Did he even want you? Well, not you specifically, but a soulmate in general.

Did you even want him?

The sinister feeling around your snake tattoo had grown stronger ever since you first wrote in the diary, and something told you that Riddle was a person of many dark mysteries. Yet, still, in spite of that, the childish desire to be in the arms of your fated remained twisting inside of you, pulling at your core and urging you to confess to Tom.

"Riddle," you called out, just as your defence against the dark arts class had been dismissed.

The boy looked up, and narrowed his eyes at you as you approached him.

You couldn't help but gulp as you reached his desk, feeling threatened by the height advantage he had on you. "I believe this is yours," you finally spoke, presenting the diary to him. If he was paying any attention to your appearance, the bags under your eyes - which were normally well-rested - would probably give away that you had been up all night writing in it.

"And how did you reach that conclusion?" he replied - his tone as cool as ever.

"Whatever charm you put on it works. The diary talks back."

You placed it in his hand, looking up to meet his gaze.

"I must apologise - I did write in it for a few hours. It was so fascinating that I couldn't resist."

He didn't say anything in response, so you took that as your cue to leave, bowing your head as you exited the classroom.

***

"Avery," Tom drawled, staring daggers into his friend, "Your little spell of life force draining doesn't work."

"My Lord, I promise you it does. It isn't even my own spell."

"Yes, it's the oh so trustworthy dark magic you found in Knockturn Alley."

"May I ask what leads you to believe it doesn't work?"

Tom sighed, "Little Miss L/N in our year found my diary - which you dropped, by the way, I trusted you with it in confidence-"

"My apologies, my Lord."

"Do not interrupt me - anyway, she found it, spent some time writing in it, and didn't form an emotional attachment. It's supposed to happen within a few minutes of writing in it."

"Maybe the diary was already attached to someone else? It can't drain two people at once."

"Then that's all the worse for you if two irrelevant nobodies got their hands on it when it was supposed to be in your possession."

"The charm is genuine, though, my Lord, I promise."

"Liar."

"The book did say the charm doesn't work on the soulmate of the caster."

Tom stilled in his movements, slowly leaning towards Avery with a cold expression, "Are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting, Avery?"

"Maybe, y- yes, my Lord."

"That's a weighted hypothesis you're making, you know, I would hate for you to be wrong."

Tom flicked open the pages of the diary, grabbing an ink pot and quill from the nearest table surface. Slowly, but carefully, he began writing.

T: Why couldn't you begin draining L/N's life force?

He watched as the part of his soul within the book began forming ink on the pages.

Within seconds, he was staring at a fully drawn version of the soul mark imprinted on his left forearm: the serpent.

His hand gripped the edges of the page tightly, and he watched as his knuckles whitened as a result of the pressure. Eventually, he let go, throwing the diary towards Lestrange, "It's your responsibility, now, don't disappoint me."

He then stormed out of the room swiftly and menacingly, with only one thought bouncing through his mind.

***

At this time of night, you weren't necessarily meant to be asleep, but you were meant to be in your common rooms or dormitories. You shouldn't have been in the library so late - Merlin knows it's a miracle the librarian didn't find you tucked away in your corner. It was also a miracle you made it back to the Slytherin dungeons without running into a teacher or a prefect.

Only when you walked into the common room to see that it was completely deserted did you realise why you hadn't run into any prefects: it was very late. Hence the empty room.

Or so you thought.

A cough made you jolt, spinning around frantically to identify the location, to then spot a figure looming in the shadows.

"Y/N L/N."

"Yes?" you replied meekly, preparing yourself to grab your wand from your pocket. You relaxed when Tom Riddle emerged from the darkness, letting your hand fall back to your side.

"My apologies, I didn't meant to scare you."

You didn't think you had ever heard Riddle apologise to anyone before. "It- it's fine. Do you need something?"

He didn't reply verbally, but walked closer to you. All you could do was observe as he reached down to grab your left wrist, and pulled up your sleeve. You heard his breath hitch as he looked upon the serpent design, and you felt your eyes wander to his clothed left arm.

Letting go of your wrist, Tom stepped back and pulled up the material of his jumper, revealing the identical tattoo patterned on his skin. You didn't know what to say as his gaze met yours, so you hoped that he would lead the conversation.

"You are my soulmate, L/N."

No shit, Sherlock.

"I can only apologise for what your soul will have to endure."

***

You wish the night hadn't been sleepless for you, but the truth is Tom's words were playing around in your head like a broken record. Maybe it was just a joking apology about being soulmates with him? He didn't seem like the type to crack a joke, especially considering he said it so cryptically. No, you knew that there was a darkened undertone to his words, and you had a feeling it was connected to the diary.

Still, there was a burning desire inside of you to grow close to him - to be his, and for him to be yours. Every ounce of self-doubt told you that the man had no interest in a relationship, he was clearly preoccupied with other business.

That was definitely evident when you sat down at the Slytherin table for breakfast, immediately looking in Tom's direction. He watched as you sat down, but then turned back to whispering to his friends. Well, friends was a strong word - you weren't sure you would refer to them as that. Avery and Lestrange seemed to follow Riddle not out of platonic affection, but out of obedient loyalty. Their "friendship" dynamic had always immensely confused you, but they appeared happy so you didn't question it.

Tom didn't sit next to them in defence against the dark arts that day - he sat at your side, forcing the girl next to you to move. You gave him a glare for being rude to her, but it was futile as he clearly didn't care.

"There are certain things that come with being my soulmate that you might not be prepared for," he said quietly to you while the professor droned on.

"Such as?"

"I can't speak of them here," he said, "But I have great plans for my life, and you cannot be of any hinderance."

You frowned at him.

"Essentially, you're either with me completely, or not at all."

"I need to know your exact plans before I make that decision," you whispered, unable to squash the confusion you felt, along with the slight hint of hurt that you might not spend your life with the boy who was already making your heart race.

"It will have to be discussed in private."

***

You weren't entirely sure where you were, if you were honest. To your utter dismay, you had been blindfolded and led to a secondary location, something that had been strongly advised against by your parents. Unfortunately, you had been inclined to oblige, due to the blindfolder being your soulmate. Avery and Lestrange were tagging along as well, as you could hear them talking a little ways behind you, but couldn't make out what they were saying as you were too busy attempting to memorise all the turns and twists you took - though you weren't doing a very good job.

Eventually, all movement stilled, and you felt smooth hands brush against your skin as the blindfold was removed from your face. You looked around, but quite honestly still had no idea where you were: the room was darkened, with no windows, and you could hear the faint sound of dripping. After your eyes adjusted, you decided it was an abandoned classroom deep in the dungeons. Every instinct in your body told you that you were about to die.

You looked upon Tom shakily, wondering just what he was capable of.

"Everything said here must not leave this room, do you understand?" he asked, disregarding your blatant fear.

It seemed best to comply, so you nodded.

"Even if you decide not to join me, you cannot speak a word of this to anyone. Ever."

Again, you nodded.

Tom pulled his wand out of his cloak and held it to the palm of his other hand, "Blood pact."

You watched as he cut the palm of his hand open with magic, and held out your hand to allow him to do the same. Closing your eyes, you felt his fingertips brush over the back of your hand as the wand cut a stinging line on the front. You opened your eyes to shake his hand, feeling in your bones the bond then created between the two of you.

Tom then stepped away from you, looking towards Avery and Lestrange, before beginning to talk. "I am the only known living descendant of Salazar Slytherin... and thus I have a large legacy to live up to. Thankfully, my aspirations and skillset align with great things."

You held your injured palm in your other hand as he continued to speak.

"I desire to be the most powerful wizard of all time. The entire package - indestructible, intelligent, immortal."

The emphasis on the last word made you tilt your head in confusion.

"Did you know that immortality is possible, Y/N?"

You nodded, "The philosopher's stone - but only one has ever been successfully made."

"There is in fact a much more direct way," he said, "However it is not popularised due to the method involving... dark magic."

Shock and understanding coursed through your being: suddenly all of Riddle, Lestrange and Avery's strange behaviour was making sense.

"Have you ever heard of a horcrux?"

You shook your head.

"It is an item or creature in which a part of one's soul is contained. The division of one's soul into multiple vessels allows for it to be very difficult for one to be killed. All horcruxes must be destroyed for one's life to end - do you understand where I'm going with this?"

Meekly, you nodded your head once more.

"The more horcruxes the better, therefore, and by spreading them out far and wide - it would be near impossible for someone to find them all, especially with no clues."

You remained quiet as he stared deeply into your eyes.

"The diary that you found is my first - and currently only - horcrux."

"Do you age?" you finally summoned the courage to ask.

He nodded, "Yes, it is simply my soul that cannot be erased. Eventually my physical body will die a natural death of old age - but I can gain a new body with my continually living soul."

"How?"

"There are a multitude of spells and rituals for the task - all dark magic, of course."

"Who will do it?"

"My faithful followers," he said simply, as if it were the most obvious piece of information in the world, "I'm thinking of calling them death eaters."

You gazed off into the distance as you thought about the diary. "I was talking to an actual part of you?"

"A part of my soul, but yes."

"How do you make a horcrux?"

"Through a painful and grim procedure."

Trying to ignore the dull ache in your palm, you asked, "Why would you have followers?"

"I already have Lestrange and Avery, as you can see - it's really no mystery as to why many pure-bloods and half-bloods will be willing to follow me."

You frowned, connecting the dots in your head, "Something to do with muggle-borns?"

"Part of the cause is my- our- vow to erase mudbloods from existence."

Every part of your body froze, as your mind ticked back to the memory of muggle-born student Myrtle Warren's recent death. You couldn't help the itching sense of terror that consumed you as you looked upon Tom, who was analysing your body language carefully.

"I understand if this is a lot to take in."

You gulped, looking between him and then Avery, and then Lestrange.

"Can I- can I have some time to think about it?"

As he opened his mouth to reply, Avery cut in, "My Lord, it's getting late. We should return soon so as not to attract suspicion."

"Very well," Tom said, "You may have a week to decide. Regardless of your decision, you must not tell another soul of what we have discussed."

"I can't anyway," you mumbled, in reference to the blood pact.

The blindfold was soon on you again, and you were being led out of the mysterious location wondering how you made it out alive.

"Would I have to call you my Lord as well?" you asked.

"No," he said shortly, "I suppose not."

The journey then continued in silence, until you tripped when going up a set of stairs. It seemed that a fall was inevitable, as by some miracle one had not occurred on the way there.

"Please tell me when there are stairs," you snapped, with an anger-driven wave of courage.

Tom, who had caught you by gripping his hands on your arms, muttered, "My apologies."

You almost missed the surprised and confused way Avery and Lestrange began whispering to each other after that. In your defence, your mind was filled with a million thoughts a second.

You hated how safe you felt in Tom's arms, how secure his hold was, because there was a very good chance he was a killer. It should be a no-brainer declining his offer of joining his muggle-born hate group, but the part of you that was soulmate-bonded to Tom wanted nothing more than to be by his side.

But, at the end of it all, you were petrified. Petrified both of your soulmate and of being without him.

You had a lot of thinking to do.

***

One thing you read up on was that upon first making skin-on-skin contact with your soulmate, your bond would deepen and you would find it more difficult to be away from them. Many long-wed soulmate couples spoke of how it became easier eventually, but only after it got harder.

That was one famous quote you had always been irritated at the paradox in: it gets worse before it gets better. If you were going through hardships, and kept repeating that line, what is the point at which it gets better? Surely it would just continually get worse, as it has to get worse before it’s able to get better, but if it constantly has to get worse, then the better that was spoken of never takes place, which would mean that the quote- which is somewhat of a theory- becomes null and void.

You were overthinking it - fixating on one specific minute detail so as to distract from the mortifying ordeal of the bigger picture. Maybe it got better once things could no longer get worse, i.e. when you reached rock bottom. A more inspirational quote to you was once you've reached rock bottom, the only way to go is up. The only problem was that you weren't at rock bottom: your grades were perfectly adequate, your friendships were perfectly intact, and you had achieved the most common desire among wizarding folk. Of course, your woes were as a result of the latter.

You wished you had never found out it was Tom Riddle, the orphaned boy with sinister plans, because you knew deep down that this would end with you choosing your heart's wishes over your brain's logic. His touch was the subject of your cravings, and his elegant manner of speaking the music in your mind.

Your dearest friend Sullyoon could do little to gain your attention as you stared longingly at Tom from across the potions classroom. Despite having permanently placed himself at your side in DADA, he had not made the same move in Slughorn's lessons.

Sullyoon was a weird part in your finding of your soulmate, as normally she dragged you out of lessons the second they were over, but the day in which the diary was mistakenly handed to you was the day she was in the hospital wing nursing a severe quidditch injury. If she hadn't swerved left when in a quaffle-battle with chasers during the match between Slytherin and Gryffindor, the beater of the opposing team wouldn't have accidentally whacked her arm instead of the mischievous little bludger he had originally intended on. The poor boy had felt absolutely awful, but thanks to the wonders of wizarding medicine, Sullyoon didn't have to suffer for more than a day.

"Babe, I can't even get you to look my way for more than a second these days," she spoke, adding various ingredients to your shared cauldron, "You keep gazing at Mr Arrogant like Cupid has struck you."

The look you gave her in reply must have been an open book, because her jaw instantly dropped.

"Oh, Cupid has struck you."

You saw no point in denying it, but you weren't sure if she had jumped to the conclusion of soulmates yet, or just thought that you had developed a crush.

"Well, he's handsome, I'll give you that. But completely and utterly up himself."

You hummed.

"Not even sure if he's capable of love, to be honest, he's very closed off - always whispering suspiciously with Avery and Lestrange."

Part of you wanted to tell Sullyoon that she had every right to be suspicious of their whispers, but you were bound by a blood pact. You were reminded of that when Tom's gaze shifted to lock with yours, quirking an eyebrow in the most subtle of ways. Subconsciously, you began fidgeting with the sleeve that covered your soul mark, and only realised the habit when Tom then moved his eyes to look there.

Sullyoon observed all of this, and when you turned back to look at her you couldn't miss the understanding now enveloping her expression.

"Shit," she muttered.

"Shit," you repeated in agreement.

***

Did Tom feel the longing you felt on his end? Did he desire your touch? Crave your presence? You had to agree with Sullyoon's questioning of whether he was even capable of feelings as soft and affectionate as love. However, you reasoned, that wasn't the only way to love - some love was toxic, obsessive, but passionate. Was Tom the protective type?

All these questions that you wanted answers so desperately to seemed to push you in the direction of joining him. It was bad.

Fuck, that was an understatement.

It was immoral, unethical, evil - but at its very core, it was powerful and impressive. If Tom were to succeed entirely in his dark dreams, then he would be a serial killer. Even that term felt mild to describe who he would be if he followed through with the things he spoke of. He would be the most terrifying wizard to walk the planet, the miserable cloud hanging over history, and the name people feared to speak.

But, worst of all, he would still be your soulmate.

Whenever your eyes met his in lessons, when your hands brushed in the corridor, or when he greeted you politely at meal times - you would temporarily forget his dark side. The cliché butterflies in your stomach accompanied with the blood rushing to your ears would flourish as he gave you that devastatingly gorgeous smile, and you would feel at ease. Why did you feel so safe with someone so unarguably dangerous?

Which is why, to your utter moral dismay, you approached him before the week time limit was even up, telling him you would join him. He had grinned devilishly, before quickly instructing you to meet him after dinner in the girls' toilets that had been closed ever since Myrtle's untimely death. No one of a sane mind dared to step foot in them, as the death was far too recent.

Plus, Myrtle had elected to come back as a ghost.

***

Tom wasn't there when you arrived, but you caught sight of a ghostly flash in the corner of your eye. Apparently, Myrtle was far too shy to start properly revealing herself to students yet, but you assumed that would change as the years passed.

When the boy arrived, he appeared as calm and collected as ever, and it took you by surprise when he kissed you on the cheek and took your hand in his. Still, he did not say a word to you, turning towards the sinks before speaking- to your horror- in fluent parseltongue. You knew all too well that it was an ability blessed upon the bloodline of Salazar Slytherin, but you also knew it was heavily associated with dark magic.

Your shock was replaced by a different one when the sinks moved to form an entrance to somewhere - but all you could do was let Tom lead you into the unknown abyss of darkness, leaving the faint cries of Myrtle Warren's ghost behind.

You walked for a while in silence, though your tight grip on his hand must have spoke volumes. You didn't fail to notice the way his thumb lightly stroked yours, and for a brief second you speculated that maybe Riddle was capable of affection.

Those thoughts were quickly forgotten, though, when you reached a gate with a design of snakes decorating it extravagantly. Subconsciously, you shifted closer to Tom's side and gripped your free hand around his bicep. He made no objection to your movements, and spoke in some more parseltongue to make the gate open, presenting a very large and very scary room beyond.

"This-" he finally spoke, stepping in, "-is the Chamber of Salazar Slytherin."

You gulped.

"I've never taken anyone here before," he paused, "Well, that's a lie. I've never taken anyone here before in good intent."

At your frown, he further explained.

"I've never taken anyone here before without the intention to kill them," for a brief moment you felt a pang of fear for your life, but it was soothed by him saying, "Until you."

He guided you further into the chamber, and you couldn't mistake the sound of something moving in the background.

Tom, again, began speaking in parseltongue, and you nearly jumped when a giant snake- a basilisk- slithered out of one of the many interconnecting tunnels. Its eyelids were shut, but you knew what lay behind them, so instinctively buried your face into Tom's shoulder.

"Darling, the basilisk obeys me - another perk of Slytherin blood - so rest assured that I will not let you see into its eyes. I prefer you alive."

Cautiously, you peeked out from the material of his cloak, feeling your heart thumping tenfold in your chest. He spoke more parseltongue, and the basilisk began moving around the two of you, at which point he reached out to stroke it with the hand you weren't holding captive. He gestured for you to stroke the serpent as well, and with an immensely shaky hand you released his bicep from your grip and let your fingertips run over the reptilian scales.

"I always saw a soulmate as a weakness," Tom began, "I hoped I would never meet mine so as to not be held back in my plans, more concerned about you not being able to handle this lifestyle than being with you."

You looked back up at him from stroking the basilisk.

"It's strange, though, how now that I've met you, I don't care about weakness anymore. Despite the fact you're evidently going to take some warming up to my choices, I feel the need to protect you, to hold you safely in my arms from any dangers."

Pulling your hand back from the snake, you let it wrap around Tom's side, somewhat forcing him into an embrace with you. He returned it, much less stiffly than you had thought that he would.

"And to protect you from these dangers, I must create you a safety net," he spoke, stepping back from you to pull out his wand.

For a split second, you thought he was going to use it on you, but he didn't. He turned away and muttered a charm under his breath, which, to your further horror, brought two younger students into display - alive, but tied up and gagged.

"In order to be further bonded, and for you not to be a weakness of mine, we will become horcruxes for each other. I will not be your last horcrux, of course, but it is a rather romantic first step, I'd say."

You nervously looked over at the two students, feeling the urge to sob when you saw the fear in their eyes.

"Hey, shh, shh, darling," he only spoke gently to you, pulling your head into his chest, "They will be at peace soon."

Why did you lean into him even now?

"Did you not notice all the ruckus about two missing students? Mudblood students? Did you not suspect I was the cause?"

You hadn't noticed nor suspected him. You had been so wrapped up in your thoughts lately that you hadn't even spared an ounce of attention towards Sullyoon's relentless gossiping, or the rumours spreading like wildfire throughout the castle.

And that's when you heard more parseltongue, and the movement of the basilisk once again. It had its back to you now, but it wasn't difficult to decipher that it had opened its eyelids under Tom's orders. You were then overwhelmed with blood, and his voice, and the feeling of something within you being ripped and stolen like you were being mugged by a sadist.

But then it stopped. You collapsed a little, weakened by the experience, and noticed a burning sensation on your left wrist. Once your vision stopped spinning and Tom had pulled you upright, you looked at your soul mark to see that it had risen beyond ink, taking a bumpier three-dimensional form, blackened completely. You soon saw that Tom's mark had done the same.

What then took you off guard was your soulmate speaking to the basilisk, only this time, you could understand him. He was telling the snake to leave now, but with a hissing edge to his voice. It then further surprised you when you found yourself speaking to him effortlessly in parseltongue as well, which only caused his grin to expand.

"Yes, only my soulmate should also possess the ability of parseltongue. Very fitting."

And then his lips were on yours. A voice in the back of your head screamed that you should resist, that you should walk away, but you melted into Tom's touch. The number of books you had read on the first kiss with your soulmate didn't even come close to capturing the euphoria you were in, as well as the security you felt.

"You, my darling, are my forever."

***

TEN YEARS LATER.

***

"My Lady, the Dark Lord is waiting for you," the small and nervous death eater spoke, his height falling shorter than yours.

You dismissed him, turning back to the mirror that was cracked at the edges and scratched along the centre. Despite its wear and tear, you could still make out the darkening bags beneath your eyes, giving them a sunken look. The whiteness of your eyeballs had long since taken a permanently bloodshot appearance, but you found yourself uncaring. You ran the tap of the sink in the old-fashioned bedroom, and splashed cold water on to your face, enjoying briefly the refreshing feel - not that hot water was an option in this abandoned house.

Eventually, you left the room, forcing yourself to take upon a more confident walk as you passed death eaters in the dozen. They all bowed respectfully at you, and instantly rushed to open the door to the main room of the house - the centrepiece.

Within the room, Tom was sat alone at the head of the grand but beaten-down table, but his face lit up when he caught sight of you.

"My darling, my Dark Lady," he spoke, rising from his seat to peck your lips and pull you into his chest. You remained there for a while, unwanting to move, which Tom sensed. His arms were the only place you felt comfortable and happy these days. "What is troubling you?"

You shook your head, knowing that your dissatisfaction with this life was a bad thing to discuss when in a house full of murderers. "Nothin', Tom."

Tom was a name rarely spoken when in reference to the man before you anymore, being pretty much exclusively referred to by his chosen name of Lord Voldemort. You were about the only person who could speak his birth name without igniting a fury that could kill nations, but only when you were within closed doors. You could get away with "Tom" in public, but it would lead to a stern chat once you got home that ended in your tears more than you'd like to admit.

He would then comfort you, and coddle you, and, well, you could never stay mad at him or away from him for long. Sometimes you were sure that he had masterfully manipulated you along the way, ensuring your dependency on him, but you were thinking about your situation less and less - in a permanent state of disassociation save for when Tom embraced you.

"Darling," his voice pulled you back to reality, "You don't have to attend if you don't want to. You're the only person allowed to ignore my orders and I want you to use that privilege."

You shook your head again, nuzzling your nose into his warmth. Perhaps you would have taken him up on that offer had you not been under the influence of the drug that was his being.

"Are you sure? The last time you witnessed a murder you were quiet for a week. I don't like seeing you upset and unhealthy."

You mumbled something, but your voice was too muffled for Tom to understand it.

"Hey, hey, look at me, my darling," he said, tilting your head up with his forefinger so you could gaze at him, "Please look after yourself, you are my rock, my forever."

You nodded slightly, feeling exhaustion settle in your bones.

"I want you to rest, we will be back shortly."

He then kissed you, taking his time, slow and delicate as if you were a fragile ornament. But then he parted from you, leaving another peck on your lips before exiting the room.

And, as you watched him disappear out of sight, you briefly allowed yourself the luxury of pondering how life would have been had you walked away all those years ago.

————————————

masterlist

written; 19/07/2022 —> 05/08/2022 published; 06/08/2022 edited; —/—/——

[zazzander]

The Scene Where Gwen Dies

Looking for more? Here's my master list of Octavian analysis.

I think we can all agree that Riordan intended for this scene to convince the reader Octavian killed Gwen. And thus, he is a bad guy.

However, the scene is riddled with issues.

The entire sequence is a plot device. But one that impacts character and worldbuiling in a negative way.

What was the purpose for the plot?

Rick uses Gwen as a plot device with two purposes:

showing the Romans demigods are coming back

making Octavian suspicious

I have seen an argument that it establishes more than just that for Octavian's character, namely:

that he can even get away with murder

that he's the type to overreact to a slight (in this case losing a mock battle)

I want to refute these. As much as Riordan might have intended to write this scene like this - it's undermined by too much ambigity and later statements.

Let's discuss how much Octavian can get away with:

“We should just keep going. Once we’re over the Atlantic, we’ll be safe – at least from the legion.” [...][Jason] shook his head. “You heard Reyna talking about the ancient lands. They’re much too dangerous. Roman demigods have been forbidden to go there for generations. Even Octavian couldn’t get around that rule.”

This statement is in past tense (if it was present Jason would say "Even Octavian can't get around that rule) which implies:

1. Octavian has previously wanted to go the ancient lands,

2. but couldn't "get around that rule",

3. will not try to do so again (that's why they'll be safe from the legion)

We also learn what the consequences of ruling this rule is:

Frank slid over a jar of salsa. "I can’t believe Reyna would try to find us. It’s taboo, coming to the ancient lands. She’ll be stripped of her praetorship."

But Reyna isn't stripped of her rank, in fact, she returns and everything is business as usual.

To me, that shows that overall, that while going to the ancient lands is taboo and against the rules. It's not so much that one will be killed or exiled from the legion. They will be stripped of rank, sure. But it seems even that is not 100% true if you have the influence necessary. (You'd think Octavian would have that kind of influence, since Reyna does).

Interestingly, we have another character who is also accused of murdering a centurion during training: Bryce Lawrence. And he got exile, rather than death, because of his family's influence. Which, while less than Octavian's, is still substantial.

So while Octavian could certainly avoid being executed, it's hardly reasonable to state that there would not no consequences at all.

Especially because Octavian does not go to the ancient lands. He fears his own rank being stripped from him. More than Jason or Reyna, even. He doesn't have the influence and standing to get away with this lesser crime.

Thus, how can it be said that Octavian doesn't fear the consequences of his actions?

If he doesn't have some righteous excusethen he can still be presecuted. Moreover, he often tries to bring people to trial even when he has honour and the support of the legion behind him. He needs their authority to supplement his own.

Octavian is not untouchable. And this scene certainly doesn't prove that he is. Perhaps if Frank has verbally accused Octavian - and been rebuffed, that would be different story.

Next, I'm going to talk about Octavian's reaction. And why it's out of character.

Firstly, Octavian is days away from being elected praetor. He has a tenuous lead, it seems, because he has turned to blackmailing Hazel. Who, as we know,

1. doesn't like him,

2. isn't very popular or influential,

3. a member of the Fifth who generally despise what Octavian stands for.

She represents exactly one vote. If Octavian is clammering for a single vote (out of approx. 200 hundred), then he's not confident he'll win this election.

Why he isn't confident, we don't know.

Up until Percy's arrival, Octavian has not rivals. So it seems odd that he is going around blackmailing people if he's about to waltz into the praetorship. Why lift a finger? Why anger people unneccesarily?

Which is why, if Gwen had been his politial rival the blackmailing scene would also have been given the context required. Octavian isn't about the win, that is, until he takes down Gwen.

But the narrative seems to want to dissaude us from this intrepretation.

We learn this about Gwen at the senate meeting:

After ten years in the legion, she will retire to the city and attend college. Gwen of the Fifth Cohort, we thank you for your service.

Legionaries typically serve for ten years. They can serve longer, it seems, since Jason has done so. But I would argue Jason is the exception, rather the rule. Since we have no reason to believe adults commonly remain within the legion.

So we can assume Gwen was on her way out regardless. She was not, it seems, trying to become praetor herself. She was content to be centurion. To retire soon.

So the argument goes that Octavian was simply throwing a tantrum, violently lashing out, because he was unhappy that he lost. Now, I could understand him being upset if he thought this loss would affect his votes. However is Octavian really so stupid as to risk not only the election but his rank as centurion and possibly his entire life in New Rome just because of this set back?

No.

Octavian experiences set backs in the story. He doesn't become praetor, instead Percy does. And we see Octavian's reaction:

The look on Octavian’s face was priceless. The centurion stared at Percy with shock, then outrage. Then, when his own troops started to cheer, he had no choice except to join their shouting: “Rome! Rome!”

[and] Octavian shot him a dirty look, then turned to the crowd and smile like this was all his idea.

[and] Octavian embraced him and whispered, “I hope it hurt.”

If Octavian was so rash that he risked everything just to strike out at Gwen over a simple training excerise, then how it is that he was so quick to accept Percy was now the praetor? That instead of lashing out with violence, Octavian attempts to make as much of the situation as he can. Immediately after losing the election, he is scrambling to save face - not to kill someone.

Whatsmore, Octavian is a very expressive person.

He shouts. He screams. He schemes.

But he doesn't kill willy-nilly. When he decides to bomb the Greek camp, to wipe them out, that is a decision motivated by anger (yes) but it's also something that's planned and purposeful. Such an action is advantageous to him and his plans. And, as I've discussed, killing Gwen is the complete opposite of that.

Moreover, let's take about his expression. Because Octavian is usually an open book when it comes to his expressions, especially went outraged. However, in this scene, we get this:

Frank scanned the crowd for Octavian. The centurion was watching with more interest than concern, as if he was examining one of his stupid gutted teddy bears.

[and then, after Gwen wakes up] Frank glowered at Octavian, but the centurion's face was a mask of polite concern.

Basically, Octavian isn't that outraged. He can control his expressions, which is something he fails to do over and over when he's upset. Even after Gwen dares come back from the dead, he's not that angry. Implying that he probably wasn't angry enough to kill her in the first place.

Overall, this scene fails at establishing Octavian's character, because the character we see later would not do this.

Regarding the "Evidence" Riordan gives us

There simply isn't enough evidence to condemn Octavian for the murder. Sure, you step out of the story long enough to go "oh, so the author wants me to suspect Octavian because Frank suspects Octavian". But that's weak writing. But it leaves the story open, it leaves the occasional reader to think, "hold on a minute". And, as I've said, the reader must be like, "Frank has the benefit on the author's omniscience, so of course Octavian did it." Not great.

Let's discuss the various reasons, established in Riordan's own narrative, that Frank's choice to condemn Octavian is... more of a reflection of Frank's character and experience with Octavian than whether or not Octavian actually murdered this girl.

And, to be honest, if Riordan had used this moment to develop their relationship. To show why Frank himself hates Octavian beyond a general bias, that would have been a good call. But that doesn't happen either.

Frank provides one piece of evidence when he accuses Octavian (in his head), that Octavian is the only person without a pilum.

Right, so, can we all argee that Octavian is probably too smart to kill someone with his own hands? And even if he did do so, why use his own pilum? Pilum are ranged weapons, by the end of the fight there would be dozen scattered around the scene. He could have easily picked up one from another Cohort.

Moreover, because pilum are ranged weapons, it could just have easily been an accident. Yes, it was in the back. But that implies that Gwen somehow turned away from the enemy at some point. Or that she was attacked by ally. By using this as a way for Gwen not to know who killed her, Riordan opens up the possibly this was, in fact, just an accident.

Yet the characters ignore that idea:

"There will be an investigation. Whoever did this, you cost the legion a good officer. Honourable death is one thing, but this..."

Frank wasn't sure what she meant. Then he noticed the marks engraved in the wooden shaft of the pilum: CHT I LEGIO XII F. The weapon belongs to the First Cohort, and the point was sticking from behind - possible after the game had ended.

I'm going to get into the idea that it happened after the game ended a little later. For now, I want compare these two lines:

Reyna surveyed the campers from her pegasus. Her expression was hard and dark as iron.

[...] Frank scanned the crowd for Octavian. The centurion was watching with more interest than concern, as if he were examining one of his stupid gutted teddy bears. He didn't have a pilum. Blood roared in Frank's ears. He wanted to strangle Octavian with his bare hands, but at that moment, Gwen gasped.

I want to note that Frank looks for evidence against Octavian. He's already decided that Octavian is guilty before he gets this evidence. For me, at least, that's not the action of an honourable hero. Now I don't need my heroes to be honourable. But this narrative seems to think Frank's fury here, based on limited evidence, is justified. And if Frank did have the omniscience of the writer, Riordan, it would be justifed. But he doesn't. Because he's a character in the book.

Not only that, but Reyna is surveying the same scene. And she knows Octavian better than anyone. Yet her gaze doesn't settle on him, she doesn't seem to notice Octavian's lack of pilum. Or if she does, she doesn't care. Could Reyna not have glanced Octavian's way, could Frank not have followed it and made the same connection as her? Would that not have shown that both characters suspected Octavian? And thus made it more likely he was guilty.

After all, Frank barely knows Octavian. He's been in the legion for six weeks. And he's a member of the Fifth, not the First. There is very little reason for them to interact, beyond Frank's initial arrival.

Now I want to address the "after the fight" theory.

During the battle, Octavian is knocked out by Percy.

Octavian screamed in a shrill voice - maybe ordering the First Cohort to stand their ground, maybe trying to sing soprano - but Percy put a stop to it. He somersaulted over a line of shields and slammed the butt of his sword into Octavian's helmet. The centurion collapse like a sock puppet.

So that's a heavy blow. Octavian is out, fully, completely. He probably has a concussion. He needs medical attention.

Slowly campers regrouped on the Field of Mars. Frank saw plenty of minor injuries - some burns, broken bones, black eyes, cut and gashes, plus a lot of interesting hairdos from fires and exploding water cannons - but nothing that couldn't be fixed. [...]

[from earlier] Half a dozen giant eagles flew in formation behind her - prepared for ambulance airlift duty if necessary.

So we know that either the medics collect the injured and bring them to this one place, where everyone is now gathering, while the fight is one. Or after the fight is over. Regardless, because Octavian was in need of medical attention, he would have been brought to this place.

Which is outside of the fort, where Gwen died.

Not only that, but he fell relatively late in the fight. After he is knocked out, the defenders lose pretty quickly. And Gwen was - we can assume - still alive when Octavian went down. As she is leading the Fifth through the gates.

Gwen was the first to unfreeze. She grinned and repeated the order. A cheer went up from the battlefield. Hannibal the elephant trumpeted with happiness. [...] The Fifth Cohort charged in behind the elephant, and the battle went hand-to-hand.

Octavian and Gwen are facing off (so he'd not behind her) in this set up. And then he's knocked out.

So let's talk timeline.

He's knocked out. Probably found by some medical staff, because he "collapsed like a sock puppet". So either he was moved, Perhaps, he insisted on staying behind.

And perhaps he used that short time between being healed, sending people away, to hunt down Gwen and kill her. But this is time for a victory! The Fifth are all coming together to celebrate. How it is that both Octavian and Gwen have no one around them, no one watching?

Were there seriously no witnesses?

The Fallout:

And if Octavian was involved in Gwen’s death, why was he never put on trial?

If Reyna had even a suspicion that Octavian was involved, she would have wanted to get to the bottom of it before the Feast of Fortuna.

At minimun, she'd want to use it as an excuse to keep Octavian from being in the running. That way Octavian wouldn’t be elected praetor.

But even an accusation of murder would have put him in a precarious position. Like sure, that trial might come to nothing. There isn't enough evidence to convict him. And what evidence there might be can be waved aside.

But as we've established Octavian is not assured of his victory. He has to blackmail a no-name legionary (Hazel) to try and get a vote. Plus, Percy - despite being a member of the legion for a less than a week - is elected above him at the end of Son of Neptune. These things show us that Octavian, while influential, is not untouchable.

Not only that, but Octavian might have influence over the Senate, he doesn't control it completely.

Reyna announces she's going to conduct a trial. Which means she has the power to call for it. As I've said, even a suspicion could dash Octavian's chances at getting praetor.

He doesn't have the votes. He isn't popular enough to weather going to the ancient lands (even after the Greeks bomb New Rome!). He is certainly not popular enough to weather killing a fellow centurion.

So ultimately, this scene is an example of poor writing. Possibly, one could stretch themselves as say it was "decent" writing. That it "got the point across". But I don't judge scenes by that standard. I judge them on how they work for the characters and the worldbuilding, just as much as it does for the plot.

[impales]

what's ilkhabar's relationship with the targs and her family

KING VISERYS I TARGARYEN ilkhabar wasn't particularly close with her father-in-law but she finds him pleasant and humorous to speak to. however with his ailing health, he was often kept on strong herbs and painkillers and he would forget the names of those around him, including ilkhabar. but she was also aware at how aemond privately feels that his father never cared for him.

QUEEN ALICENT HIGHTOWER ilkhabar initially clashed with alicent during their first meetings due to differences in cultural protocols and decorum and she often found her new mother-in-law to be overbearing and slightly insufferable. in turn, alicent mistrusted ilkhabar for several months and thought her deceitful and overly ambitious. but over time, their relationship developed and bettered and strengthened - and ilkhabar ended up respecting alicent and supporting her. and alicent ended up seeing her as a true daughter.

CROWN PRINCESS RHAENYRA TARGARYEN ilkhabar never knew princess rhaenyra very well. but in their brief interactions and meetings, she was very neutral. their relationship was initially polite and dignified - as expected from two noble women from differing houses. as for the matter of the parentage of rhaenyra's children, ilkhabar cared very little. she didn't care whether the children had velaryon blood or not because at the end of the day, they had targaryen blood and that made them contenders to the throne. but their relationship most likely deteriorated after aemond commited a certain murder that was probably a war crime.

PRINCE DAEMON TARGARYEN ilkhabar had always heard rumours and tales of the rogue prince. her initial opinion of him was that he was dangerous (and a correct opinion considering how she saw him lop off the velaryon's head in the middle of court) and he definitely wasn't someone who she would befriend so she probably stayed away from him. [note: i'd wait after episode 10 to properly comment on what happens after due to aforementioned war crime]

AEGON TARGARYEN they're friends and allies but in the way that they won't hesitate to push each other off a balcony if the other person breathes weirdly in their direction. ilkhabar thinks aegon is a half-drunk lout who doesn't deserve the throne (and ofc, she thinks aemond should take the throne) and aegon thinks ilkhabar is a stuck up prick but in the grand scheme of things like civil wars, they trust each other.

[note again: i got too tired making gifs last night 😭 so no more gifs my bad! 💜]

HELAENA TARGARYEN ilkhabar finds her sister-in-law to be sweet but difficult to talk to. she bears no ill feelings or grudges against helaena but they simply don't speak very often. ilkhabar is a very straight forward sort of person who dislikes riddles and so she often leaves conversations with helaena with a headache. that being said, she finds helaena to be a sweet and kind soul.

AEMOND TARGARYEN she's never seen this man in her life. [read tags]

LORD JALEH FAIDLAN she's her father's favourite child. he always doted on her growing up and she would spend hours with him poring over books and learning about the world. he taught her political intricacies and allowed her to accompany him into counsel meetings. she was heartbroken to leave him as she was to be married in westeros.

LADY QAMAR FAIDLAN ilkhabar has mother-issues. her mother always wanted a son so she never really paid attention to her three daughters - least of all, her youngest tempestuous daughter. ilkhabar would often act up or cause issues just to get her mother's attention because even if she was being scolded by her mother, at least she was noticed. ilkhabar carries around a certain grief about her mother - she hates her and loves her and no matter what - she can't out the part of her that came from her mother.

LADY RASHIDA AND DANIYAH FAIDLAN ilkhabar really does care about her older sisters. her eldest sister, rashida, may as well have been a mother to her when lady qamar was not. she often looked up to rashida and her clever wit and kind nature. her relationship with daniyah was a bit trickier as ilkhabar was always a cautious and calculating sort of person and daniyah was impulsive and (in ilkhabar's eyes: frivolous) but she would do anything to protect her sisters and support them.

[isaidtheysaid]

The Devotion of Suspect X

— Keigo Higashino

“... Sometimes, you could follow a mistaken route to a false treasure, and proving that it was false could be even harder than finding the real answer.”

A part of Detektif Galileo series (the tagline). But surely, the Detektif Galileo (Manabu Yukawa) himself isn't the star or spotlight of the book! In fact, l barely feel his presence throughout the book.

He's just there most of the time to give vague hints and talked in riddles which is typical detective stories characters.

“... Whether it’s more difficult to think of the solution to a problem yourself or to ascertain if someone else’s answer to the same problem is correct.”

Detective Galileo isn't an actual detective, rather he is a genius scientist who's often help his friend (the actual detective) in some cases and earn the nickname.

That being said, I don't really feel anything special or impressed about Manabu Yukawa yet, something I look for a detective mystery series. Maybe I chose the wrong book to gave me the impression.

Mostly, bc in this case the most interesting part about Yukawa is the fact he's in personal relationship with "the suspect X" and their dynamic help Yukawa's character. Which creates a personal conflict for Yukawa, even though I hardly care about it. Because they don't really convinced me about their relationship. They were hardly an old friend, like Yukawa describe, more like, an acquaintance.

Ishigami stopped. “So why are you telling me this?” Yukawa stopped as well and turned toward him. “Because I’m your friend. No other reason but that.”

I think, to sell the 'friends' narrative between Yukawa and Suspect X doesn't really work, when there's also another dear friend of Yukawa, a real one, Kusanagi the detective. Although, they did have a bond that quiet can't simply describe. As both bond over their own interests, and respect each other as a worthy acquaintance, ones that could understand them. But I don't feel enough reason for Yukawa to feel the way he is.

The only thing their relationship that looks important, because it's actually help help him a lot to solve the case (and I guess the twist and conclusion around the same time he did).

So, Yukawa failed to impress me as a character and as an investigator.

“... Now, I’m guessing you want to know why I ‘had a feeling,’ and all I can say is, it was a hunch. Call it intuition. I’m not sure that anyone who didn’t understand Ishigami pretty well would be able to pick up on it. You’re always talking about a detective’s intuition, aren’t you? It’s something like that.”

However, the charm of the book definitely the plot and its storytelling. Since it's Higashino's first mystery novel that I read, I don't know if it's his noticable writing style or not. The Devotion of Suspect X isn't the kind of murder investigation mystery 'who-dun-it' type. Rather, the reader knew pretty early on about the crime. So, the story telling the processes about the investigation and how the authority and our detective and protagonists could come to the conclusion about the case. It's a battle of geniuses between Yukawa and the Suspect X.

Although, there some mysteries left kept in the dark, so the reader could guess to uncovered and kept in the uncover and guessed. It's something that makes us wonder whether the detectives will succeed in solving the case or the suspect will could really outsmart them and get away with murder.

The plot and mystery itself isn't really complicated or groundbreaking. Someone who's familiar with murder mysteries, might've guessed the twists.

Like I said, the detective isn't really the vocal point of the storytelling. It's the Suspect X. The title describes his character well and heavy through. And he really is the character that make me want to read more.

All in all, like the title said, this is the story of devotion. About how far someones willing to do with their devotion, impressive and terrifying as it was. And somehow, ended in a ironic way.

“He hadn’t realized it was possible for anyone to devote himself so utterly to another. It was as impressive as it was terrifying.”

So, I guess, the series follow the case Kusanagi's cases with the hel Yukawa a.k.a the Detective Galileo. I don't know if it's the same with other books in this series, if Yukawa mostly jus being a side character. I definitely tried to read other books though.

So far, it's an okay book for me.

[bigfan-fanfic]

For me, excluding the typical batman chasing catwoman story, it was a really good movie. Bruce was angry and depressed, the only thing keeping him alive was fighting to avenge his parents, he was broken.

I liked that he didn't have perfect fighting skills, he got beaten up and it showed that even with the suit he is not invincible. I expected more from the penguin but the way the riddle manipulated Bruce was epic. I recommend it.

Hmmm... alright, so. Let's talk about Bruce here. His whole deal is often relegated just to backstory but talked about in the vaguest terms. The Gotham tv show has him planning to become Batman very soon after his parents' deaths. Nolanverse movies have him decide to be Batman after the trial of Joe Chill, and he dropped out of Princeton to do so. For some reason, Yale believes he went pre-law and got a law degree.

Personally, I don't think Batman as a character makes sense as a college student. First of all you have this damaged individual planning his sort of altruistic revenge through crime prevention, and already has a low opinion of law enforcement and has seen the corruption present in Gotham. This kid isn't going to college. The moment he turns 18, he's doing the rebelling against his father figure thing and traveling around the world learning and training. That's one thing about the Nolanverse movies. They kinda downplayed Bruce's mental infirmity that would put him on this journey, which is why it was so easy for him to fake his death and settle down with Catwoman in the end. Like really, a guy who was planning his movement into vigilantism for a decade and spent years training wouldn't have suspected he needed to play for the press and the cameras?

Anyway, I do appreciate that apparently they show Bruce as a maladjusted individual, because he is. But I don't think he'd really show it. He's not just maladjusted, he's OBSESSED. That's why he's so good at playing up his fun, rich douchey side for the press, because he considers it his mask. It's more of a costume for him than the Batsuit. Realism in his skills (which, while he has trained for years with martial artists, would be relatively untested in the field) is good and equipment (which is at worst self-constructed by a man who taught himself engineering and mechanics and at best, experimental) being unreliable is also good. Also great for making the villains actually matter. There's a certain point in realism where it just makes comic-book villains look goofy, so it's good to make the major villains scary and not just placeholders for when they force a new Joker in there.

Is it kinda grimdark and edgy, though? Cause I'm getting that vibe from it and it's just a really tired take.