#is my modern Poe in character

[the-necromancer-wife]

I've read a lot of theories pointing out that Skully might have grown in an isolated, religious-like community. But I don't think that's the case. Allow me to elaborate:

TW: Spoilers/ long post/ just me analyzing Skully

It's sort of a cliché for Tim Burton films that the main character is a hermit of some sorts. Someone who is not adapted to the society or social conventions and usually lived by themselves or basically under a rock.

A few examples could be: Barnabas Collins in Dark Shadows, Willy Wonka in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (and Charlie himself), Edward Scissorhands, Jack Skellington and of course Vincent Malloy.

So my hypothesis so far:

>Skully is not only based on Jack Skellington's appearance, but also in Tim Burton's characters archetype:

Skully had a hard time adapting to the enviroment he presumably lived in and presented difficulties with bonding and forming relationships with others his age. At first i was inclined to believe he could be on the spectrum (autism or asperger) and I don't really discard that possibility yet, but I don't think his social difficulties are entirely caused by autism. I think he is visibly different from others in opinions and behaviors and that's why he's labeled as "the weird kid". And "the weird kid" is not always autistic.

He is similar to characters like Edward Scissorhands who grew up isolated and was visibly different. As a result of his enviroment, he didn't know how modern society worked and he was misunderstood and rejected.

This is one of the main elements on every Tim Burton movie: a certain someone that had a different childhood or whose life experiences led them to have a different (sometimes excentric) approach that wasn't socially accepted, although they weren't really hurting others.

The psychologist Lev Vygotsky wrote about how important the enviroment and social interactions were for a child. The difficulties Skully presents are common in those who didn't really get to experience those.

If he had grown in a conservative community, he wouldn't have access to any material related to Halloween. Why would they keep those books around? And if the community was in fact centered around Halloween as a celebration, why would they be labeled as conservative? Either he was raised in a conservative household or he harvested those ideas himself by isolating and reading old books. Which makes sense and leads me to my second hypothesis:

>He's partially twisted from the character Vincent Malloy.

I already explained who Vincent Malloy was in another post but basically he was obsessed with Vincent Price (the horror actor), and had a dark and twisted view of the world as a result of this, plus the isolation and the books he read.

Skully could be somehow twisted from Vincent given his obsession with Jack Skellington and his behavior indicates, as I said before, that he wasn't part of the community he grew in, just like Vincent.

Jack Skellington, the pumpking king, is depicted everywhere as the harbinger of horror and fear, even if Jack himself is rather a sensitive individual that wants to do things differently. The whole Nightmare before Christmas plot revolves around that: People having a wrong view about Jack as a result of him being the Halloween representative and Jack carrying a crown that's too heavy for him.

Vincent Malloy also enjoyed the dark and twisted world of horror and fear. But I'll elaborate more im my next point:

>Skully's mannerisms and obvious gaps in common knowledge come as a result of his isolation as well as him (possibly) reading horror books that also helped to form in him a more gloomy representation of Halloween.

Skully's arcaic mannerisms and language could be from books he read. Just like Vincent Malloy enjoyed to read the books of Edgard Allan Poe and ended up introjecting some of the elements depicted in those novels as well as those represented by Vincent Price (for Skully, Jack Skellington)

Also, little Vincent decided to isolate himself because of how much he enjoyed to play with his imagination, leading him ultimately to the development of a maladaptative daydreaming that consumed him. And of course, the disinterest in playing with other kids since they didn't really share his obsession.

If this is the case and Skully was a kid that grew without contact with his immediate community (his choice or not), that would explain all of his troubles socializing at school.

And also his outdated knowledge on many things. Is not that he was born long ago before magic stones were a thing, but more likely HE didn't know magic stones existed. At some point he abandoned his solitude, of course. Maybe when he started school.

>His parents and/or relatives are not really involved that much in his life.

It's kinda obvious by now, but Skully could come from a family that neglected him emotionally or materially. If that's the case, it would explain a lot.

>It would explain his poor dental hygiene, as nobody teach him how to take care of his teeth and lips properly. As the clothes are provided by the book we can't really tell if he was wearing modest or elegant clothing before he entered that place. But why would the book would alter his mouth's appearance? The only obvious answer is that it didn't and Skully doesn't know how to brush his teeth, one of the first things a parent should teach their child to do.

>It would explain why he was isolated for so long. Either he isolated himself or was recluded by his parents. Either way, his parents should have known better than to leave him locked up from the outside world or should have intervened to help him interact with others.

>In the case he had a turbulent relationship with his parents or they were emotionally unavailable, that would explain why he developed his hyperfixation. Looking forward to a historical figure like Jack could be a result of him not feeling identified with neither a mother figure or a father figure. Of course this is a very very flexible statement as this is not always the case.

Anyway, everything I said here could be accurate or not. This are just my considerations given the information i have so far.

[herefortheships]

Why do you think he fell in love with Lydia? see, it's much stronger than it was for Dolores, I'm not going to ask when because it would be complicated Bj and Lydia have such opposite personalities

Love this question! And to be honest, ever since I watched BJBJ I've been wondering about this. Because, to me, at least when I first watched the movie, I got to the conclusion that he must have fallen in love with her over the years; that he never had any true romantic inclinations towards Lydia in the first movie. So I had to wonder, what changed?

This answer got long... So I'll put a little summary, Tl;Dr answer here: I think there's an in-canon reason he fell for her and a meta reason why Tim Burton and co decided to make Betelgeuse be in love with Lydia in canon. The in-canon reason: Opposites attract. She is exactly his type: a dark, mysterious beauty. Plus her calm demeanor suits his unhinged nature. Their energies play nicely off each other, completing and balancing each other in a way no one else could, whether Lydia realizes it now or not. Lydia also never seemed to mind ugly, scary, dark things, and Betelgeuse is kind of all of that. At some point he grew fond of her and started needing this sweet, dark beauty in his (after)life. The meta reason: Lydia and Betelgeuse are a favorite "Burton Couple", almost right there with Jack and Sally, at least to a LOT of people.

Now to the long answer, because I totally always write a lot (below the read more cut bc this one got pretty long):

I think to properly answer why he fell in love with her, I do need to get into the when. And this is where I might have to put a "trigger warning" just in case, since I will touch upon how he felt towards Lydia in the first movie, when she was a teenager. Anyone uncomfortable with that needs to click away now. We're going to analyze this with the context and nuance of Betelgeuse's backstory. Context and nuance tend to be overlooked a LOT when the purity factions of fandom want to impose moral superiority upon other members of the fandom, so maybe placing the "trigger warning" may not be enough, but, anyway, you've been warned about the topics of this post.

The context and nuance: Betelgeuse, when alive, lived in the time of the bubonic plague, this means he was alive during the 1300s, presumably in Italy. At that time, marrying a 15-16 year old was socially acceptable and normal. Heck, even younger than that (as unacceptable as that seems to us today in our modern times). So it wasn't that strange as it is today. The reason is that people often didn't get to live past 30. The average, oldest age of death around the time was 60 years old. It was also common for men of the time (and where Betelgeuse lived in Italy, and Europe, as I’m reading in these articles) to marry much later than women, as in it was common for men in their 30s and 40s to marry a 14 year old (which I believe is even younger than Lydia was in that movie, not sure). All of that is in that article. That depends entirely on social ranking though; if he was lower class often people married for convenience and I'm not sure but I think age wasn't a factor to consider when people were struggling. In Europe even in the 1800s you'd see age gaps in marriages. //Edit: and America! For some reason my brain when I wrote this at midnight thought Poe was European 💀.// Edgar Allan Poe married a 13 year old when he was 27, for example (which I totally find super weird, personally, but at their time it wasn't a super weird thing as it is today, as far as I've read; it was also normal to marry a cousin around that time in the upper class and upper middle class, or so I've seen). Was Tim Burton aware? Who knows. But at least I'm putting this out there as the context why it isn't weird for Betelgeuse the character to see a teenager as someone of marrying age. We also know he didn't want to marry her in the first movie because he was in love with her; she was a means to an end, more than anything, regardless of any interest he had in her due to her looks etc.

Ok, so now that that's out of the way we can keep talking. Even though I joined the Beetlebabes fandom only after the second movie, and shipping these two characters never once crossed my mind throughout the years of me watching the first movie, after some thought and after rewatching the movie with the knowledge of where the story goes after the events of that movie, I can definitely see that Betelgeuse became interested in Lydia ever since the first movie, and also why he's head over heels for her in the present.

Even though I still think he fell in love over the years after the events of the first movie, I think he became smitten with her since the first movie. Here's why he fell for her: For starters, she is a dark and mysterious beauty, and that seems to be his type (look at Delores, also a dark beauty). We can actually see the moment he first shows interest in her in the first movie, when he saw her while in his snake form. She was the only one he did not hurt. He only stared at her, almost like he was taken aback by her. When Barbara banishes him back to the model, we have that little moment when he mentions he feels the only one he can make a deal with in that house is "Edgar Allan Poe's daughter", meaning Lydia. And we have the little horny joke, so if you wanna throw that one in there as evidence he became interested in her here, then sure you can. As this happens directly after he's seen Lydia face to face... Rember the context above before you want to call him a pdfler or something... please. He is Not.

Then later when she meets him in his real form, she doesn't seem startled or scared that she's in the presence of a demon/ghost. In fact, she just simply asks him "are you a ghost, too?" and that's when he starts making some conversation. He realizes she can see him and communicate with him. You can tell at this point he is intrigued by her. She is the only one he's shown a sort of sensitivity to in the entire movie. He asks her "why?" when she says she wants to go in to the after life (essentially, that she wants to di e). He doesn't try anything naughty with her; instead, next time he sees her when she asks for his help, he proposes the marriage.

Now, at the time I don't think he loved her or even cared much about her; at this time he just wanted out and here was an eligible woman, who was not only beautiful and available, she could also see him and needed his help, which he used as his way to try to get out of the afterlife. I think once they got rid of him, and he realized he could still connect with her over the years, his interest in her grew and he started really growing fond of her until inevitably he fell in love.

Lydia is physically his type, but there's also a calmness to her that plays against his unpredictable, unhinged personality. She's someone who can balance him, and he's someone she could hold on to; there's an energy in him that she can use. Of course Lydia doesn't yet see how she'd be compatible with someone like him, but from an outsider's perspective, they really compliment each other's personalities. She's calm and quiet; he's crazy and loud. She's reserved; he's outgoing. She's a dark cloud; he's high-energy, like sunshine. Etc. Opposites attract. 💚

Now finally, the meta reason: Lydia and Betelgeuse seem to be a favorite "Burton couple" not only to Tim Burton himself (and the cast of the movie themselves!) but also to a great number of people. There's people who grew up watching the Beetlejuice cartoon series and didn't even watch the first movie, who for years had the idea that these two characters actually adore each other. There were people who were going in to watch this movie with that context only. And there were even people who were going to watch the sequel as their introduction to Beetlejuice (like my mom's best friend, for example! She loved the sequel but has NEVER watched the first movie nor the cartoon. She also wanted Betelgeuse and Lydia to end up together after watching this one, by the way). From a meta perspective, Lydia and Betelgeuse are just a fan favorite couple and an inseparable pair. So partly the choice to make it canon that at least he is absolutely in love with her comes from this expectation that many people had for these two characters. It just feels natural; they're just an iconic Burton pair.

[leo-fie]

I've seen some people describe Elliott jokingly as a "Shakespeare" type character, but he really isn't. He's a romantic.

Think Mary Shelley, Lord Byron, Victor Hugo, that one painting by Caspar David Friedrich called Wanderer above the Sea of Fog. That's why he lives in a cabin on the beach writing and stares longingly down the river.

What's interesting is that all the genres Elliott's novel could be set in make sense that way. Romance was a part of the romantic movement obviously. Jane Austen's novels got published around the time, though she is not considered part of the romantic movement. But Lord Byron became a whole archetype of love interest, the Byronic Hero.

Gothic literature was a subsection of parallel of the romantic movement, it brought stuff like John Polidori's The Vampyre (the first modern vampire story) and the works of Edgar Ellen Poe, who pioneered the detective genre.

And of course science fiction got it's first milestone in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, still one of the best novels ever.

I want to stress here that the romantic period lasted from about the 1790s to the 1830s, and much of what we consider classics came actually later (like Dracula, or the Sherlock Holmes stories). It was the groundwork.

What Elliott's character design tells me is that he's a hopeless romantic in the best way. He's a writer very aware of the literary lineage he's working in.

I don't know how much of this is intentional, or if Concerned Ape just thought it funny to have a Byron knockoff in Pelikan Town, but nice instead of rude. It will be my headcanon though.

[ryebecca]

── It's my birthday! So let's celebrate. 🥳

My birthday is this Saturday (8/3) and I'd like to come out of moodboard retirement for a bit and make some boards! Requests will be open through Saturday, 8/3 and I'll post them as I get to them!

REQUESTS ARE CLOSED

This party has two rules and two rules only!

Requests are open to followers only!

One request / moodboard per person, please!

✨ Send me a character + a vibe or a few AUs for me to choose from (within reason! I reserve the right to do as I see fit because as a wise person once said "it's my party and I'll cry do what I want to") and I'll whip up a board!

You can choose from the following fandoms/characters:

Star Wars (OT characters - Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia; Sequel Trilogy characters: Poe Dameron, Finn, Rey)

Top Gun: Maverick (Bob Floyd, Jake Seresin, Natasha Trace, Bradley Bradshaw, Mickey Garcia, Javy Machado, Reuben Fitch, Beau Simpson)

Outer Range (Rhett Abbott)

Twisters (Tyler Owens, Scott)

Bridgerton (Anthony Bridgerton, Benedict Bridgerton, Colin Bridgerton)

Law & Order: SVU (Rafael Barba, Sonny Carisi, Terry Bruno)

Masters of the Air (John Egan, Gale Cleven, Harry Crosby, Robert Rosenthal)

Jane Austen...anything, really. 😂 Same goes for Shakespeare. Hell, Regency!AU is always an option for any of these!

That being said, enjoy! ✨

COMPLETED BOARDS (under the cut!)

Dadley Dadshaw (for @notroosterbradshaw)

60s/70s Rooster (for @roosterforme)

Scott (Twisters) @ MIT (for @hederasgarden)

Wedding Date Ryan (Yellowstone) (for @writercole)

Tyler vs. Rhett (for @a-reader-and-a-writer)

Picnic Time with Bobby (for @attapullman)

Camping with Tyler (for @imjess-themess)

1950s Bob (for @auroralightsthesky)

Modern Emma x Knightley (for @lafaerie)

Regency!Jake (for @desert-fern)

Bodyguard!Nat (for @startrekfangirl2233)

MotA / WWII Bobby (for @lenafromthenordiccoven)

Beach Bobby (for @wildbornsiren)

Fluffy Jake (for @afriendlyneighborhoodhufflepuff)

Werewolf!Mickey (for @briseisgone)

Dagger Olympics (for @thiswaytoinfinity)

Road Trip with Scott (Twisters) (for @theharddeck)

Coffee Shop Bradley (for @oh-great-authoress)

Fake Dating Bruno (SVU) (for @rhettabbotts)

Benedict's Wedding Day (for @sorchathered)

Honeymoon Jake (for @bradshawbaby)

Post-War Buck (MoTA) (for @luminousnotmatter)

Teacher!Bobby (for @bradshawsbaby)

Feral Anthony (for @sometimesanalice)

[nowritingonthewall]

Let me take your hand

Fandom: Star Wars

Character(s): modern!AU Poe, Shara Bey and Kes Dameron

Pairing: Poe Dameron x gn!reader

Summary: Sometimes all you need to make the pain a little more bearable is someone to take your hand, hold you gently, kiss you softly and tell you that they love you.

Words: 6900

Warnings: Hurt/comfort with a lot of hurt (!) in the beginning, aftermath of losing a parent (please please please don’t read if you fear that you might not be able to bear reading this!), reader celebrates Christmas, kind of spoilery if you haven’t read “Free Fall”

A/N: This was supposed to be a cute little spin-off of another Christmas story that spiralled completely out of control. 2023 was the third Christmas with this story living rent free in my mind and I was really determined to finally write and finish it this time before becoming really sick for two months. Even though it’s nearly Easter I hope that maybe one or two of you might still like it <3

As always, I apologize for not being a native speaker.

Christmas used to be Poe’s favourite time of the year.

There were presents, bright sparkling lights all over the city, the smell of freshly baked cookies, joyful songs on the radio, people being so much kinder than usual, chocolate glazed koyo berries and most importantly: both of his parents would be at home. Because Christmas was sacred.

Sure, presents were nice and everything, but sneaking into his parents’ bedroom before dawn on Christmas Morning, cuddling up to them under their warm blankets, lying safe and snug between them in a huge loving hug sandwich, knowing that for once there was no rush to get up and nothing to worry about because the day belonged to no one but their family?

There was nothing in Poe’s whole world that would ever be able to beat that.

Christmas was his favourite thing in the entire universe.

Even his very first memory was created on Christmas Eve. Shara and Kes would dance together at every possible (and impossible) opportunity they got, but that very first dance in the light of their Christmas tree on Christmas Eve was special.

It was as special to them as the song that had to accompany their dance: 'Let Me Take Your Hand' by Hera and the Rebels.

It was the song that had played on an old record player when they had met in an airplane hangar for the very first time. It had played when they had shared their first kiss, when Kes had proposed to his beloved Shara, when they had their first dance at their wedding, and when Shara had told Kes with happy tears in her eyes that they were going to be parents.

Music like a tender hug wrapping its loving arms around you, caressing your soul and soothing your heart, leaving you feeling like nothing in the world could ever hurt you.

Would you let me take your hand

And hold you gently

And kiss you softly

If I said I loved you

That Christmas Eve, as his parents began to sway in tune with the first few bars of the old forty-five crackling over the loud speakers, little Poe had no idea that he had just become part of a very long and love-filled Dameron Christmas tradition.

He was simply the happiest little boy, cuddled against his Dad’s chest, who held him gently yet safely close to his heart. With his Mom taking his hands in hers and making funny faces at him while singing along to the music, his eyes sparkled even brighter than the lights of the Christmas decorations around him.

As soon as the song was over, he wiggled his tiny feet and clapped his little hands in excitement, squealing giddily, “‘gain pwease!”

And his parents didn’t mind at all. With the record playing over and over again, they took turns kissing each other and placing the softest of kisses on their son’s forehead, cooing how much they loved him.

Poe couldn’t get enough of it.

On his eighth Christmas Eve, as Poe clung to Shara’s leg during their dance, he decided that part of him couldn’t wait to grow up and find his special someone to dance to their song. He vividly imagined how he would look at them the same way as Kes was looking at Shara.

Of course, his parents would still be there and enjoy dancing right next to him. He would do a show of being embarrassed when his Mom would try to ruffle his hair, because for some weird reason, grown-ups were supposed to hate it, even though he wouldn’t actually mind at all. And his Mom and Dad would love you nearly as much as he would and his parents would be so happy for their son to carry on their Christmas tradition.

If only he had known. If only he had known that this would be the very last Christmas with his Mom. Maybe he would have clung to her a little tighter, maybe he wouldn’t have nicked quite so many Christmas cookies, maybe he would have told her how much he loved her just one more time.

But then again, if he had known, it probably wouldn’t have been the most wonderful Christmas ever or the last time that he could remember his Dad looking truly happy before everything changed forever.

Only a year later it was hard to believe that any of those beautiful memories had been real at all.

Despite his insurmountable grief, Kes had tried his best to make this Christmas as magical for his son as it used to be. It was just that he had never quite gotten the hang of how Shara had always managed to make the Christmas tree and their apartment look so beautiful and festive and welcoming. And no matter how many Christmas lights he would string or how many candles he would light, it seemed like all their warmth and brightness had left when Shara did.

It was the night before their first Christmas without his Mom when Poe woke up to the most desperate stifled sobs coming from the living room. Full of worry, he stumbled out of bed and through the flat, the sinking feeling in his tummy growing heavier with each step of his bare feet on the ice cold floor tiles.

When he reached the door to the living room, the picture unfolding in front of him nearly tore is heart apart: The hunched over figure of his Dad lying under the Christmas tree, face hidden behind his hands, crying so violently his whole body was shaking.

Before even being able to form a single coherent thought, Poe had already crouched down on the floor right next to his Dad, trying to pull him into a hug – just like he knew his Mom would have done to comfort him.

His arms didn’t quite reach all the way around the package that his Dad had folded himself into but Poe tried to make up for it by pouring all the softness and warmth and tenderness from his big little heart into his words when he said, “I love you, Daddy! It’s gonna be okay!”

His Dad didn’t react. So Poe tried again, squeezing him even tighter this time but all it drew from Kes was another heart-wrenching sob.

But Poe wasn’t going to give up that easily. After all, just because his Mom wasn’t here with them in person, it didn’t mean that she didn’t celebrate Christmas with them. And if she was looking down at them from her cloud in Heaven among all the most beautiful angels in the universe (because there was no doubt for Poe, that’s exactly where his Mom would be), it would surely break her heart to see her two boys crying on Christmas Eve. And he couldn’t let his Mom down, could he? Not at Christmas.

And there was one thing left to try.

Hurrying over to the record player, he found what he was looking for exactly where his Mom had stored it away neatly last year. Ever so carefully, as if handling the most precious item in the world, he let the record slide out of its sleeve and placed it on the turntable. Slowly and gently, just like his Mom had taught him, he lowered the tone arm before turning back to his Dad.   

With the first few soft sounds floating across the room, Kes finally raised his head, looking up to where his son stood, holding out his hand for his Dad. As he slowly got on his feet, Poe took a step towards him and tried his best to put on a brave smile, his eyes encouraging and full of hope.

Kes looked at his son. And he looked at the record player. Then he walked straight past his son and with a cry of agony that made Poe stumble backwards with a start, Kes tore the record off the turntable and threw it to the ground with enough force to break it into a thousand pieces. Yet they were nothing compared to the millions of pieces that little Poe’s heart shattered into at this very moment.

As his father stormed out of the room, Poe kept staring at the broken remnants of the last happy memory of his family. Trying to understand what on earth had just happened. What had he done wrong?

Maybe it was the shock, maybe it was the confusion, but he didn’t even notice how he began to shiver as the cold crawled up from the floor over his bare feet and under his thin pyjamas. Until he could no longer tell whether the numbness creeping into his heart and soul came from the cold or the growing ache in his chest. He had never felt more lost or lonely in his entire life.

For the briefest of moments, he wondered whether it would be possible to glue the pieces back together again. But as he knelt down and began to pick them up slowly, one by one, that last flicker of hope was extinguished quickly.

As he pondered over what to do, he spotted the stack of Christmas napkins that his Mom had bought last year, after Poe had insisted that the teddy bear pictured on them looked just like his beloved plushie Mr. Beebs. He had spent hours sitting right next to her, learning how to fold them into the most intricate shapes, just like his Mom had done, until he had declared excitedly that his Mom would never have to worry about folding a set of napkins for their guests ever again because now she had Poe to take care of that. Taking one of the napkins from the stack now, he could vividly remember the fondness in her eyes as her smile had outshone his proud little grin.

After spreading the napkin out on the floor, he piled the pieces of the record up onto it, carefully and gently, until even the tiniest of pieces had been accounted for. Looking around the room for something to tie the napkin bundle up with, his gaze fell upon Mr. Beebs sitting on the couch with his tiny bow tie around his neck. It didn’t seem right to take it, but Poe apologized to his teddy and promised that he would only borrow it for a little while.

Having the napkin tied neatly together, he got up off the floor, taking one last look at the Christmas tree. A source of warmth and comfort for as long as he could remember, its lights and decorations almost seemed like they were mocking him now. As his eyes began to wander along its branches, his gaze came to rest on the star at the top of the tree.

“I am sorry, Mommy,” he whispered.  

As Poe held the napkin bundle gently against his heart, the tears began to fall. Unseen and in silence, yet hot and burning.

He was still clutching the little bundle to his chest when he found himself crying quietly in his bed a little later. He held it even tighter when he could hear the soft footsteps of his father approaching.

“Poe?” Kes’ voice was so gentle, it was barely audible to his son.

“Poey, sweetheart… I am sorry! I am… I am so so so sorry!”

Staring at the wall in front of him, Poe couldn’t see how his father’s tears over losing the love of his life had turned into tears over the fear of losing his son. He couldn’t see how his father reached out his hand towards him, only to hesitate at the very last moment, too afraid that he would just make things worse.

He couldn’t see how Kes longed for nothing more than to hug Poe close to his heart and never let him go again, desperate to find a way to comfort his son without subjecting him to his own soul crushing pain.

All he could see, over and over again, was that moment when his father walked right past him to smash their record to pieces.

His father didn’t want to take his hand.

Determined that he didn’t want Kes to see him cry, Poe pulled the covers over his head. And just like he had wrapped the napkin around the broken pieces of the record, Poe could feel something else wrapping itself around his heart. Not nearly as gentle and careful, but way harder and tighter and indefinitely more painful.

His father didn’t want to take his hand.

It was the last time that either of them acknowledged the song. It was the last time that music was played in the Dameron household.

And Poe never danced again.

Sometimes he would dream of it, though. Holding someone in his arms and swaying to the soft rhythm of a melody while waiting for Christmas cookies to bake in the oven or the first coffee of the day to finish brewing. But it never felt quite right. As soon as that longing ache would make itself known, he would shove it back to where it came from. Burying it a little deeper every time. After all, life was not a flipping Disney Christmas movie.

Yet there was a part of him that never stopped trying to find the song again. Even more so during that time of the year. Whether it was at the Christmas markets or at the shops, as soon as the softest sound of music could be heard anywhere, Poe would strain his ears hoping against hope to hear that comforting familiar tune just one more time.

Now and then he would hum the melody to himself, especially in those moments when he missed his Mom even worse than usual.

More than once he found himself sliding into a panic when he seemed to stumble over parts of the melody or he needed a little longer to remember some of the words. Every time that happened, he feared another piece of the memory of his Mom might slip away.

One night, after waking up in cold sweat again, he frantically scribbled down the lyrics onto the next best sheet of paper he could find as if they might be lost forever if he didn’t write them down this instant. After taking a few moments to catch his breath, he carefully folded the sheet and placed it into the little wooden box in his nightstand, which held the napkin bundle and the record sleeve.

Over the years, there were a few people that he tried to confide in but his attempts always ended up with him being made fun of. So he gave up those attempts too, burying his feelings deep under the growing pile of pain and ache and longing. They were obviously too silly to share them with anyone.

Not to you, though.

When Poe and you were about to spend your first Christmas together, it had been several years since he had bothered to put up any proper Christmas decorations at all. So when you asked him excitedly whether you could put them up together, he really did it more for you than for him.

Though he couldn’t deny that your enthusiasm was more than a little contagious. You turned the whole thing into a proper little event with Christmassy snacks and hot cocoa and festive music. After a while he found your joy so infectious that it made him feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Feelings that he hadn’t associated with Christmas for a long, long time.

He even sent both of you into a fit of giggles and laughter after somehow managing to completely wrap himself in tinsel rather than the Christmas tree.

And then you threw him completely off balance with one seemingly innocent little question: “So what’s your favourite Christmas tradition?”

Before he could tumble off the chair he was standing on, however, his instincts kicked in, making him fall back onto his standard go to answer: Chocolate glazed koyo berries. “My father had this really amazing way of turning them into the most delicious…” he began.

But it just felt wrong. Of course he loved his father’s chocolate koyo berries, he actually used to love them a lot. But there was something else. As he looked into your warm and loving eyes, something long forgotten tried to force its way up from the deepest pits of his heart. And try as he might, it refused to be pushed back down again this time.

Determined to keep it together, he turned away from you, biting his lips until they hurt. He was not going to cry. He was not going to ruin everything again.

“Poe? Hey… sweetie, your hands are shaking…”

Squeezing his eyes shut with enough force to give him a headache, he could hear the confusion in your voice turning into worry.

“Oh Poe, I am sorry, I should have known that this might bring back painful memories, I really shouldn’t have asked, I am so sorry…”

Trying to stifle the wave of sobs demanding to be let out, he shook his head vigorously, still refusing to look at you.

“No no no, you didn’t do anything wrong, it’s just… it’s silly!” he choked up.

You paused for a moment before saying gently, “It doesn’t look like it’s silly to you?”

He didn’t resist when you took his trembling hands in yours and helped him to climb down from the chair. Not letting go, you carefully held them steady in your hands, drawing soothing circles on them with your thumbs, as Poe kept staring at the floor.

“You don’t have to tell me now, if it’s too much,” you tried to reassure him.

“No, I want to, I just…” Grunting in frustration, he broke away and began to rub at his eyes with the palms of his hands with increasing force as if the motion would somehow be able to rub those pesky and unwelcome feelings away.

Carefully taking his hands into yours once more, you slowly led them away from his eyes. As you cupped his face with your hands, tenderly caressing over his temples with your thumbs, he finally looked at you, revealing his sore eyes glistening with tears and all the pain and grief that lay beneath.

It broke your heart.

You hesitated, as you had to fight your own tears welling up inside of you now before asking softly, “Is this about your Mom?”

Poe nodded ever so slightly.

Your voice turned even softer. “Does it have anything to do with the little box you keep in your night stand?”

Of course you had seen the way that he looked at that box. You had seen how he would rest his hand on that box, how his expression would turn from soft to pained and to soft again. Now and then he had even seemed to be humming a soft little melody while gently caressing over the lid of the box. Yet despite all of your questions, it had never felt right to ask him about it before he was ready to open up to you.

Closing his eyes again, Poe took a few shaky breaths. Letting his fingers wander up your arms, until they came to rest on your hands still holding his face, he tried to ground himself, focussing his attention on you. Your kindness, your gentleness, your warmth.

“Do you really want to know?” he finally managed to ask before his voice broke again.

“I do,” you said gingerly. “Of course I do. But… I wouldn’t want you to feel like you’d have to tell me anything that you aren’t ready to share yet.”

Nodding slowly, he furrowed his brow, deepening the pained expression on his face. An even more overwhelming wave of sadness radiated from his eyes, spreading over his already grief-stricken features. He tried to open and shut his mouth a few times before giving up and taking you by the hand to lead you into the bedroom.

You knelt down on the floor right next to him while he opened the drawer of his nightstand to remove the little wooden box and carefully opened the lid, revealing its contents to you. You saw the record sleeve and the lyric sheet and the napkin bundle tied together with the bowtie borrowed from Poe’s old childhood teddy Mr. Beebs.

Taking a deep breath, Poe took the bundle out of the box and placed it on the floor in front of you, unwrapping it ever so carefully.

He hadn’t opened it in decades. The moment that the napkin came undone around the broken pieces of the record, the tight layer of repressed feelings and ignored pain and buried grief wrapped around his heart fell away with it. Until there was nothing left to hold back the swelling flood of tears.

As soon as the first desperate sob ripped through his body so violently that it threatened to take his breath away, you were there. Catching him, holding him, comforting him, sheltering him.

And Poe cried like he had never cried before.

“It’s not fair! It’s not flipping fair, it’s not��� she should be here… she should still be here… here with us…”

Everything seemed to bubble up to the surface at once. Pain and anger and confusion and helplessness.

“I wanted to hug him, I… I just really needed to hug him and… and I wanted to, but… but… but I was too small and… and… how could he just smash it?”

You were barely able to make any sense of all his memory fragments and turbulent emotions that were demanding attention all at once, but that wasn’t important right now.

“He came to apologize that night but I couldn’t… I couldn’t… I didn’t want him to see me cry and I… I… I should have…”

As you held him gently in your arms, he clung desperately to you, sobbing helplessly against your shoulder.

“I just… I… I failed them. Both…”

“Oh, Poe,” you whispered as you buried your face in his curls. And even though you knew that he wouldn’t be ready to believe you yet, you added gently but firmly, “You didn’t fail anybody!”

Smoothing some damp curls from his forehead, you pressed a tender kiss to the top of his head, when a new wave of tears began to stream down his face. Hot and desperate tears that had never been given a chance to dry, burning in his heart during all those years.

And now you were kissing them away. Softly. Every single one of them, even tough they were replaced by fresh ones immediately. Until sheer exhaustion made him collapse into your embrace.

As you cradled the back of his head, steadying him against your chest, rocking him gently back and forth, you knew that it wasn’t just your boyfriend crying in your arms. You held the wounded little boy, who couldn’t understand. Who blamed himself without even knowing what he had done wrong. Who hurt so deeply and yet would rather take care of everybody else around him before tending to his own wounds.

“I am here for you, Poe,” you cooed gently, hugging him tight. “I love you!”

And for the first time in decades, it felt like a few of the million shattered pieces of his heart were beginning to heal.

Unbeknownst to Poe, you made it your year’s goal to find the song for him.

The fact that Poe hadn’t been able to find it in all those years despite all his efforts, not even in the endless vastness of the internet, didn’t deter you in the slightest. Or so you thought. At least for the first eleven months of the year.

By the time December came around again, you were so close to admitting defeat that Poe began to worry about what brought you so low, even fearing that he might have been the one dampening your mood with his lack of Christmas spirit.

So, in an attempt to make up for that, he suggested taking you to the annual charity Christmas bazaar at your local school, hoping that a little Christmassy shopping spree for charity and the sparkly atmosphere of the Christmas lights might cheer you up again.

You tried not to get your hopes up, you really did. But the moment that Poe popped off to the restrooms and you found yourself stranded in front of a stall with several boxes of old forty-fives, you had to start browsing, of course.

Sorting swiftly through the records, you had gone through at least fifty of them, when your brain gave you a little jolt. You stopped. Going backwards very slowly, you looked at each of them again until you got back to the forty-second one. You carefully removed the record from the box. You read the title on the sleeve. You stared at it in disbelief. And you read it again. You shook your head. You read the title a third time. And despite your best attempts to stay calm, you couldn’t stop yourself from letting out a little scream that made the elderly gentleman behind the display ask in concern whether you were all right. It took every ounce of self restraint you could muster to keep yourself from throwing your arms around him and hug him until he turned blue. In the end, you hugged him anyway.

After handing the stall owner enough money to prompt him to ask you again whether you were all right, you hid the record in your bag and quickly hurried past the next few stalls, hoping not to give anything away.

You still weren’t able to keep the shine out of your eyes, though. Which Poe noticed immediately the minute that he caught up with you.

“What’s gotten into you?” he asked raising a confused eyebrow.

Letting out a happy sigh that you weren’t able to contain, you smiled, “I’m just really looking forward to Christmas!”

His gaze softened as he pulled you towards you, placing a tender kiss on top of your head. Gently rubbing your noses together, his smile grew wider until it painted crinkles around his eyes.

As he rested his forehead against yours, he whispered, “Me too!” And for the first time since what felt like forever, he actually meant it.

You spent the better part of the remainder of the run-up to Christmas trying to come up with the best possible plan to present the record to him. Should you simply hide it in a pile of other gifts in his stocking, should you make him close his eyes while you put the record on, should you wake him up with the music on Christmas Morning or maybe something completely different? In the end you decided that you would leave it up to Poe because the last thing you wanted was to overwhelm him in any way or even cause him more hurt.

When you found yourself cuddling with him on the couch on Christmas Eve, however, it became increasingly harder for you to remain patient until Christmas Morning.

Lying half atop on you, Poe had completely melted into your embrace, burying his face in the crook of your neck, while you played with his hair. The ease and trust with which he relaxed in your arms melted your heart. You were just about to turn your head and place a gentle kiss to his temple, when he lifted his head.

“Are you okay, bups?” He asked, raising a worried eyebrow at you.

“Hmmm?” you mumbled a little absentmindedly. “Sure, why wouldn’t I be?”

“You’re as tense as a loaded spring about to go off. And I mean that in a very non-euphemistic, sfw way. Although…” he wriggled his eyebrows, looking way too cute with his tousled hair curling itself into every possible direction, “I wouldn’t mind adding some ‘n’ into the mix a little later…”

You couldn’t help breaking into giggles, which made Poe grin in return. “That’s better,” he smiled, placing a sweet little kiss to your forehead before furrowing his brow again. “Wanna tell me why you are so nervous?”

You really hadn’t intended to spoil this peaceful moment but you also knew that Poe wouldn’t stop worrying until he knew what was up. With a heavy sigh, you reluctantly tried to wriggle yourself free from underneath Poe to sit up, drawing some grunts of protest and a pout from him.

“I have a little surprise for you.”

Humming in a slightly more relaxed tone, he wrapped his arms around you, pulling you towards him again.

“And can we stay on the couch for that or do we have to transfer to the bedroom?”

You snorted, “I’ve clearly given you the wrong idea now.”

With another smile, you brushed a few stray curls from his forehead and left a soft kiss in their place.

“You can stay here. I’ll be right back.”

Getting up to fetch your little present from the hiding place in the bedroom, you swiftly returned and set down next to Poe before giving it to him.

It took a few moments for Poe to realize what he was holding in his hands. As they began to tremble, he couldn’t help but keep staring at the record.

“How… where did you…” he whispered.

You gently laid your hands on his before explaining softly, “Actually… you kind of led me to it yourself when you took me to the Christmas bazaar three weeks ago.”

He let out a small shaky laugh that turned into a soft sob.

You immediately began to rub his back in soothing circles, leaving tender kisses all over the side of his face until he began to lean into you.

“Would you like me to play it?” you asked him gently.

He slowly peeled his gaze away from the record to look at you. As his big brown puppy dog eyes began to sparkle, he slowly nodded as if in a daze. He had gotten so used to hearing the song only in his memory, had both dreaded and hoped for this moment over and over again. As you put the record on and the song began to float across the room, it felt too surreal for him to grasp.

The music sounded even softer than you had imagined it. And so much more comforting than Poe remembered.

It sounded like the warmth of his Mom’s hand caressing his face and his parents’ laughter and tickle fights and the smell of his Mom’s baking and Kes scooping him up to carry him on his shoulders and morning cuddles and running towards his parents’ embrace. Both of them holding out their hands for him.

Just like you did now.

“Dance with me?” you asked him softly. Warm and open and welcoming while still giving him all the room that he might need.

Poe’s tears fell more slowly this time. As you laid your arms around him, pulling him towards you, swaying both of you to the soft rhythm of the music, he didn’t fight the soft and shaky sobs that turned another layer of destructive pain and grief into hopeful feelings of comfort and familiarity and home.

His head found his place leaning on your shoulder as your cheek came to rest against his. You held him gently and at the same time so close that there seemed to be no room left for anything that might hurt him. And yet your embrace was so soft that he knew he could trust you with his wounded bare heart in your hands.

As he wept in your arms, you kept caressing over his curls, leaving a trail of soft kisses along his hairline until his tears began to mix with your own. The moment Poe noticed the wet streaks running down your face, his eyes widened in alarm and he quickly reached up to wipe your tears away. But you gently laid your hands on his and shook your head with a sparkly-eyed smile.

“Don’t worry about those, Poe. Not all tears are bad.”

And Poe’s eyes that had been sparkling with tears of pain and sorrow slowly began to sparkle with something else.

It might not have been quite what he had imagined the first time to be like. Dancing to his parents’ song in the light of the Christmas tree with his own special someone.

Yet as his sobs subsided to the gentle rhythm of your soft kisses to his face and your hands tenderly smoothing over his hair, right now in this moment, he felt like the luckiest person in the universe.

Except for one thing.

When he let out an involuntary sigh, you pressed one more kiss to the top of his head before asking, “Why don’t you call him? Ask him to come over for Christmas?”

“Who?” Poe raised his head in mild confusion.

“Your father?” you smiled.

“How did…” Trailing off and letting out another sigh, Poe began to shake his head. “Me and my father stopped doing Christmas years ago. I don’t even have his number.”

“Well, funny thing…”

As Poe began to raise his eyebrows, you allowed yourself to break into a mischievous little grin, making him smile through his tears.

“I spoke to Auntie Leia the other day, and…” you began.

“…she had his number and gave it to you?” Poe finished your sentence in only mild disbelief.

“Of course she did,” you nodded and smiled again. “I don’t know how but it’s like she knew.”

Poe shook his head, unable to suppress a soft giggle. “She always does.”

You hesitated a little before you asked him, “Did you know that your father keeps asking after you whenever he meets her?”

Sobering up immediately, Poe lowered his gaze to the ground, furrowing his brow. “No, I… I didn’t…”

“Hey…” Cupping his face and gently guiding him to look at you again, you asked, “I can call him for you if you don’t feel up to it?” Your eyes softened before you added, “And no, Poe… I don’t think that would be ‘silly’.”

Poe let out a shaky breath he hadn’t realized he had been holding. “Could you do that for me…?”

So you did. And less than an hour later, Kes was standing at your door. His knock was so soft and cautious that you would have missed it, had you not been on your way to the kitchen at exactly that moment.

He was shivering from the cold as it looked like he hadn’t even bothered to take the time and find appropriate clothes for the freezing temperatures outside. Yet when you had introduced yourself and motioned quickly for him to come in and step into the warmth, he hesitated.

“Are you really sure that Poe wants to see me?” he asked full of doubt.

You gave him a reassuring smile. “Yes he does. Of course he does! We just didn’t expect you to be here so early.”

“Oh… if you want me to come back later…”

“No, no, please… come in! You must be freezing.”

As Kes stepped into the light of your flat, you could see the clear remnants of tears on his face that had been hastily wiped away. And your heart broke for him just as it had for his son.

Poe had spent the last half hour bent over your record player, carefully removing remnants of dust from the needle and the grooves of the record. Deeply focused on his work, he gave a little start when you entered the living room, announcing brightly, “Look who is here, sweetie.”

“Hello, Poe!”

Turning around, Poe let out a soft, “Hey…” before clearing his throat and saying more firmly, “I am glad that you came.”

“Really?!”

His father’s reaction threw him off for a few moments. Was he really so utterly convinced that Poe wouldn’t want to see him?

Kes had to swallow a few times as he began to fumble nervously with the handle of the bag he had brought with him.

“Oh… these are for you!” he finally said, producing a huge bag of chocolate koyo berries.

Poe gasped in surprise. “But… these take days to make, how did you…?”

The smile that spread across Kes’ face somehow made him look even sadder. “I still make them every year, just in case you might... Never mind, you probably don’t even like them anymore, I just thought…”

Taking a step towards Kes, Poe reassured him, “No, no, of course I still love them, that’s really thoughtful of you… Dad!”

For a brief moment, Poe’s gaze flickered over to you and you started the record player. It took only a few notes for Kes to recognize the melody and his eyes widened, displaying a myriad of emotions.

“I… I’ve been searching everywhere,” he whispered. “I thought that maybe if I could find it, if I could just… you might…” Kes’ voice broke and he closed his eyes for a moment, trying to gain his composure.

When he opened them again, his son was standing right in front of him, offering his hand to his Dad. The look in his eyes was neither angry nor reproachful, but open and warm and encouraging with maybe a slightly pleading undertone. And it hit him full force just how much Poe reminded him of Shara in that moment.

Clasping a hand over his mouth, Kes let out a half-stifled shaky sob as his eyes began to glisten with tears. Taking a careful step towards his son, he took Poe’s hand into both of his. Placing the softest of kisses on his son’s hand, he gently held it against his chest right above his heart.

“Oh, Poey,” he whispered. “I am so... I am so…”

The moment his voice faltered again, Poe pulled his Dad into a hug. This drew a surprised little gasp from Kes before he threw his arms around his son, holding him closer than he had ever held him before. Like he was never going to let him go again. He knew that he might not be able to make up for lost time. But he could show Poe how much he meant to him right here and right now. Between violent sobs and desperate kisses to his temple and his cheek, Kes pulled his son close over and over again.

“Me, too!” Poe whispered through his own tears. “It’s okay, Dad… I love you!”

Maybe okay wasn’t exactly the right word. Maybe it was never really gonna be okay again. But as they both clung to each other, it certainly felt more okay than it had in a very long time. Maybe this could be the beginning of creating their new okay.

As his Dad’s desperate kisses slowly turned softer, he pulled back just enough to be able to gently cup his son’s face in his hands. “I love you, too, Poe. So so so damn much!”

You were just about to sneak out of the door to give them some room when Poe softly called out to you, “Hey… c’mere!”

They both invited you to join them with open arms. There may have been some feet casualties before the three of you found your rhythm but those were easily laughed away.

Christmas Eve turned into Christmas Day and Poe was still dancing. Safe and snug in a hug sandwich between the two people that he loved more than anything else in this world and who loved him just as much in return.

As Poe’s face once again found his familiar place in the crook of your neck, he mumbled, “I wish my Mom could have met you. I really wish that she could have been here with us just one more time.”

“I think she is, Poe!”

Instead of an answer, he let out a little sob against your shoulder, hugging both you and his Dad a little tighter, as Kes gently ruffled his hair.

And when Poe looked up again and his gaze came to rest on the star at the top of the Christmas tree, he could have sworn that it shone brighter than he could ever remember.

Sometimes life may cause you wounds that seem to hurt so deeply that all the time in the universe wouldn’t be able to heal them.

And sometimes… sometimes all you need to make the pain a little more bearable is someone to take your hand, hold you gently, kiss you softly and tell you that they love you.

Thank you for reading 💜

[bitterkarella]

Midnight Pals: Usher

Mike Flanagan: Submitted for the approval of the Midnight Society, i call this the tale of Edgar Allan Poe's Greatest Hits…Updated for the New Millennium! Flanagan: what if roderick usher was a pharmaceutical bro? Flanagan: what if Hopfrog had a fidget spinner? Flanagan: what if the rue morgue orangutan vaped?

Poe: oh i don't know about this Poe: i've been burned on this sort of thing before Flanagan: no it'll be great Flanagan: roderick usher's gonna talk just like the big lebowsky cowboy, it'll be great

Flanagan: see, we take everyone's favorite bits from your stories Flanagan: but then Flanagan: we give them a nutty little twist Flanagan: to appeal to today's modern a-go-go kids

Flanagan: see, my fall of the house of usher is about this pharmaceutical dynasty crumbling King: i thought the story was about the actual house falling down Flanagan: haha of course not nothing so literal Poe: actually it is about a house falling down Flanagan:

Flanagan: haha no for real Poe: no i mean it. the house falls down Flanagan: Flanagan: wait, like, literally? Poe: yeah Flanagan: Flanagan: ok then

Flanagan: ok so Roderick and Madeleine Usher have a bunch of kids Flanagan: Prospero, Tamerline, Victorine, Brevet Brigadier General John A. B. C. Smith Flanagan: and Adolphus Montressor Nu-Nu Metzengerstein Valdemar

Flanagan: which by the way are all references to poe stories Flanagan: you might not have picked up on that, it's kinda subtle Poe: oh hey this is pretty good Poe: i'm kinda digging this

Flanagan: now the ushers run Fortunato Pharmaceuticals Poe: oh! i get it! Poe: this is great Poe: [nudging barker] like the cask of amontillado Poe: see, fortunato is a character- Barker: oh my god edgar I KNOW

Flanagan: so prospero is going to have this big rave Flanagan: you might even call it Flanagan: the rave of the red death! Poe: oh! Poe: oh! oh! oh! Poe: [nudging Barker] like the masque of the red death Barker: Poe: [nudging harder] you know, the masque of the- Barker: I KNOW

Flanagan: but Roderick Usher Enterprises Flanagan: or RUE Poe: Flanagan: where they do experiments on apes Poe: oh! Flanagan: yeah you know where i'm going Poe: [nudging Barker] like Barker: CHRIST, SHUT UP

Flanagan: but before the usher twins can take over Fortunato pharmaceuticals Flanagan: the CEO Rufus Griswold stands in their way Poe: boo! boo! i hate that guy! Poe: i don't know why i just instinctively hate this character Poe: i hope he gets his!

[a-fic-reviewer-757]

Satan Wears A Rolex

by: AquaWolfGirl | word count : 212,741 | AO3 | chapters: 35/35 | rating : explicit

Summary:

An aspiring writer who’s moved to New York City from Arizona, Rey Kenobi gets an in at General Fashion Magazine thanks to her friend Finn, a photographer. Working under head copy editor Poe Dameron, she thinks she’s found her place in the journalist world. But when Kylo Ren, Editor-in-Chief, needs a new assistant, she finds herself thrust into the line of fire. She tells herself that, after this job, she can work anywhere she wants, including The Skywalker Report. But will she last that long?

Tags :

Modern AU | devil wears prada au | September Issue AU | Romance | Fluff| Slight Angst at times | Non-binary character | Gender-Neutral Character | Fashion World AU | Canon-Typical Character Outbursts/Anger Issues | Some Problematic Behavior | Stormpilot Included

Review : 💜💜💜💜💜

I’ve been in the Reylo fandom for a while now since the force awakens i’ve been here and never have I encountered a Reylo fic ( apart from love hypothesis if you know you know ) in which I liked the characterization of both Kylo and Rey so much. I love the relationship. I love how the writer embraces the fashion world in this AU . But I especially love their relationship how it can be very hot and smutty ( which I would put in the tags ), but I love the fluff and the angst is on another level so might be my favourite Reylo fanfic yet !

@aquawolfgirl your work is amazing !!

[tunamayuuu]

Hey tuna! :3 just a question or kinda of like a idea what if the entire kny cast meets ur kny!bsd cast? OR what if the bsd cast meets ur kny!bsd cast? (Also love the au btw ^^ )

hello <3!

THE ENTIRE CAST? DO YOU WISH DEATH UPON ME </3 that would be such a funny concept actually. i've thought of it before like uhm,....

thoughts below the cut because they ended up pretty long! i didn't cover everyone BUT if you'd like to hear my interpretation of certain characters meeting, just send an ask!

kunikida and rengoku would get along in a strange way. they're both reliant on books in their everyday lives and i'm sure they'd talk about it. kunikida would feel less crazy and also find kyojuro crazy for being able to become an accomplished swordsman by learning the rest of the fire breathing forms in only 3 volumes. kyojuro would find kunikida admirable for his rigid discipline in upholding his ideals through his notebook and his personal moral code. i think kyojuro would foot the bill if they eat together, and kunikida would be endlessly grateful.

kenji and tanjiro would be a UV hazard. in the bsd world, kenji would have to guide tanjiro around like a puppy, and tanjiro would be way too overwhelmed to be out in the Modern City for longer than 30 minutes. i think they'd make for excellent training buddies! tanjiro would definitely admire kenji's brute strength and find it fascinating that he has an active farm on the rooftop of their work building.

poe and zenitsu meeting would be hilarious i think.. zenitsu would actively cringe at this grown ass man for being down stupid for another man, and constantly writing for and sticking close to ranpo, but i think zenitsu would understand, given his clinginess to the kamado siblings. they'd also have an affinity for creating morbid works, because acc to kimetsu gakuen, zenitsu has a particularly scary art style, while poe actively writes murder mystery! post infinity-castle zenitsu would definitely ask poe to read the Legend of Zenitsu and be cooked alive by poe's disapproval.

atsushi and inosuke will not get along, period. even if they're bonding over food. i do not see it. atsushi would be reminded of akutagawa's petty nature everytime inosuke tries to start shit, and oh god i don't even want to imagine them brawling it up. i think the only time inosuke would possibly calm down is if atsushi cooked food for him, making him feel all fuzzy and reminding him of tanjiro's tenderness. though in terms of a physical brawl? inosuke would respect the hell out of atsushi if atsushi fights in his weretiger form, he probably thinks it's badass.

kyouka and kanao are telepathically bonding by the way. kyouka would introduce kanao to modern day sweets and i think they'd bond over cute trinkets and sweets. i bet you, they'd also talk about their sister figures (aoi and lucy), as well as the boys who saved them (tanjiro and atsushi). they'd trade hair accessories i'm sure.

ranpo would LOVE NEZUKO. the same way he treated kyouka when she first arrived at the agency, ranpo would spoil nezuko with sweets and they'd bond over their excessive sweet tooths. nezuko think ranpo's a friendly guy, and probably admires him like she admired mitsuri!

[connorsnothereeither]

I dont know if youve talked about this before, but if not, how did you come up with some of your characters' names?

I’ve talked about it before for Ulysses here in this post but not some of the others!! But I would love to I shake their names about!!

Virgil Coronis (Sky Bound SMP)

So Virgil went through a lot of potential names. He was built up vibes-first in development, so I had my gothic, conspiracy librarian, and no names. I wanted something that sounded more sharp, and angular. Crow-like.

I went for some classic gothic literature names to start. Jonathan (for Jonathan Harker from Dracula), Percival/Percy (for Percy Shelly), and Auguste (from Poe’s The Murders in the Rue Morgue), along with some others were all potential candidates. By then, however, @jamphibiann had already chosen Pietro, and so I looked for some other Italian names to match since we were playing brothers. Romeo, and Salvatore were somewhat higher contenders then!

Landing on Virgil was actually sort of stolen from @venear-tmblr . When throwing around potential names, one of the ones that didn’t make the cut for him was Dante. And while Dante didn’t quite fit the character I had in my mind, Virgil definitely did! It had Latin/Italian roots, and felt angular and distinctly raven-like to me! :D

“Coronis” as a last name is actually an ancient Greek word, which is both referring to the curved flourish in old handwriting, and is same root word (corone) for the Greek for crows or ravens, referring the curvature of their beaks! So it felt very fitting too.

Leopold Haust (Terramortis)

Leopold was honestly… kind of a silly one. He never had any alternate names. I knew he was going to be from the 1920s, so I wanted a vaguely old-timey name, which fit the vibe, but could still be shortened into something more modern and easy to quickly say. And, at the time, I was reading Ulysses by James Joyce as a joke… and “Leopold” is the name of the Odysseus/Ulysses counterpart in that novel. So it just sort of… ticked all the boxes lol. It wasn’t supposed to be connected to Ulysses at all, but it jumped out at me as a perfect name for the character I had created. Haust was just a made up name that sounded like it matched well when spoken allowed!

D’Hakth’rkael “Daniel Thorns” Thoricht (Cantripped)

So Dan was… interesting name wise. I had the “bit” in mind long before I came up with the name. I was somewhat inspired by a lot of people I know or grew up knowing, who would have long, intricate names, and would shorten it to just like,,, “Mike”. But mostly I was inspired from the “folk hero” angle of how through Christianisation and colonisation, Celtic mythology names were super worn down into common, short Anglican names. Things like “Cú Cuhlainn”/“Conochubar” or “Fionn mac Cumhail” being worn down to names like Connor or Finn. I also just love when folklore figures have what feel like really mundane names, with a descriptor or trait. “Robin Hood”, “Jack Frost”, etc. it’s very English folktale to me.

For a while I wanted to play with “Tom” of “Jack” but for whatever reason “Dan” just stood out to me as a very mundane feeling name (and to be fair, Dan does go by Jack sometimes… in some places… just nowhere we’ve been yet…). So Dan Thorns came first, and I worked backwards from there.

From “Daniel Thorns” it was basically just a process of mashing fantasy sounds together until they sounded like a name. Thoricht felt like a believable evolution of “Thorns”, and could still pass as a human name. “D’Hakth” came next; I liked the juxtaposition of sounds, and the ways you could linguistically interpret it, taking it in a D, H, Y, or even J direction. The final part, “rkael” was mostly just for flavour. I started looking into vengeance Paladin, “avenging angel” imagery for Dan for a while, felt biblical, and I really liked the vaguely biblical feel it brought to the name, while adding another layer of “oh that’s why he just goes by Dan” akgakag

[selfaware-bungou-stray-dogs]

I never requested so I don't know if I'm doing it right. But I wanted to request the self aware bsd cast with a shy teen reader with a not so good background. Maybe the reader wants to be writer but gets made fun of for it (bonus points if they look up to poe and oda). I'm not sure if this is the write way to request but feel free to ignore this.

Hello! Hope, you liked it.

Your dream matters

Self-Aware! Platonic! BSD characters x GN! Teen! Shy! Reader

Self-Aware! Platonic! Edgar Allan Poe x GN! Teen! Shy! Reader x Self-Aware! Platonic! Oda Sakunosuke (Slight! Self-Aware! Platonic! Fyodor Dostoevsky x GN! Teen! Shy! Reader)

Description: Set after BSD gang got into your world. You always want to be a writer. But no one supports your dream. But then, Bungou Stray Dogs characters get into your world. Your life is changing. Hopefully, for the better.

Fluff, comfort. Reader are well-read.

Warning: Bullies. Neglectful parents and teachers.

Part two: Reunion

OOC. English is my second language.

You loved reading all your life. Ever since you were a child, you prefer reading to playing.

You always wanted to be a writer. You wanted to write about people, about magical worlds, about talking animals. Furthermore, you wanted to share your ideas with others.

Because of your love for literature, you have decided to watch Bungou Stray Dogs. You liked all characters.

But, two characters were your favorite. Edgar Allan Poe and Oda Sakunosuke. Writer and person, who wants to be a writer.

You can even say, that look up to them.

Bungou Stray Dogs characters (especially Poe and Oda) soon became your comfort characters.

Because, you have a feeling, that they won't laugh at your dream to become a writer.

______________________

When you were in a kindergarten, you didn't have any friends. Other children always thought, that reading books is boring. They prefer to play outside, run around.

While you were sitting somewhere in the shade, reading another fairy tale.

You wanted to have friends. You want to have someone to talk to. To discuss books.

...

But you have no one. Other kids don't want to talk to you. They called you boring.

Because if that, when you start going to school, you were shy and quiet.

But this time, you had a dream... A dream to become a writer.

Dream, that everyone laughed at.

At first, it was a homework. To write a short fairy tale about animals.

You wrote about kitten, who was friends with butterflies. And how he helped butterflies to arrange a beautiful celebration.

When you read it to your teacher and classmates, they liked it. But then...

"I want to become a writer!"

Silence. Then your classmates started laughing.

"You will never do it!"

"Writing is not a job!"

"Soon no one will read books!"

And the teacher didn't do anything to calm your classmates down.

You weren't that naive. You understand, that your fairy tale wasn't The best story in the world. But... You were still a child. You are allowed to dream.

You hoped, that your classmates won't laugh at your dream again. Or, at least, you will have someone, that will support you.

...You are in a middle school now. In a year, you will start high school...

Classmates still laughing at you.

"Hey, Super Star of Modern Literature, how many people bought your books today?"

"[Y/N], can we have your autograph? I will show it to my grandchildren. Will tell them that I knew The Great Author when they were a pathetic nobody."

"Why are you still laughing at me? I didn't do anything wrong."

At first, you tried to ask teacher for help. But they ignored you.

"[Y/N], been a writer is a silly, childish dream."

"You won't write anything good. You will never be as good, as real writers "

"But I want to try... What if someone will like my writing?"

At the end you were too shy, too ashamed to ask for help again.

You hoped, that your parents will support your dream.

"[Y/N]! Writing is not a job! You must become a valuable member of society!"

"All writers are lazy alcoholics! Stop wasting your time!"

"But you are drinking without been a writer. You two are stuck in dead-end jobs. You hate working. You don't have hobbies... Why you don't want me to have something that makes me happy? Why you lash out on me instead of going to the gym to do boxing?"

"I... I know, that writing is a lottery, but... I just want to write something... I only want to tell a story"

...

"Please... I just want someone to support me... Just one person"

But at the end, no one supports you. But deep down, you still dream about becoming a writer.

But you never spoke about your dream again.

And then, one day, you saw a picture of Edgar Allan Poe from Bungou Stray Dogs.

After spending some time on learning more about BSD, you decide to watch it.

Then you read the manga.

And install the game.

______________

In the middle of June, characters from the BSD franchise appeared in your room.

____________________

You still weren't sure, how Fitzgerald managed to get this house. You still don't know, how they manage to get a custody over you.

The only thing is clear. You are now living with your comfort characters.

You start changing. At first, you were too shy to spend time with them. Especially with Oda and Poe. But, after something happened, you became more open towards your new family.

You became closer to them, thanks to Fyodor Dostoevsky.

_______________

You walk inside your home library and plopped down on the chair. You groaned and cover your face with both hands.

"Hard day?" you hear someone's voice. You nodded. You hear, that someone move a chair closer to you and sit near. That mysterious someone put a hand on your shoulder. "Want to talk about it?"

You were annoyed. So annoyed, that you decide to vent.

"Today, I had a school literature club meeting. We were discussing our favorite book characters. We could name anyone we want, doesn't matter, who is the author."

You take a breath.

"So I talked about Rodion Raskolnikov from Dostoevsky's "Crime and Punishment""

It was silent for a moment. Then mysterious someone asked again.

"I guess, teacher doesn't like your answer?"

You nodded again. If you weren't that annoyed, you would notice, that your listener had well known among BSD fans Russian accent.

"Yes. They told me, that Raskolnikov is a terrible person and can't be anyone's favorite. I... I never said that I like what he was doing, but he is more complicated character, that teachers told us about. Moreover, they are doing Dostoevsky dirty, while teaching about him in high school... Oh."

You finally looked at the person, you were talking to.

Right beside you was sitting Fyodor Dostoevsky. His hand was still on your shoulder. The man himself was smiling. He looked both amused and worried.

You want to disappear. You were embarrassed, that Fyodor heard your rant about his real world counterpart.

Fyodor asked you another question.

"Did the teacher let you explain your choice?"

You shook your head, still embarrassed. Fyodor laughs.

"Then why won't you explain it to me?"

You looked at Dostoevsky with a mixture of disbelief and embarrassment.

"I am serious. I want to hear, what's your reasons behind liking Raskolnikov."

Fyodor squeezed your shoulder. You gulp and star talking.

"Well, first, let me tell you what author himself write about Rodion..."

At the end, you and Fyodor had a full on discussion about book characters. Others joined you two.

Starting that day, you slowly, but surely became closer to your new friends. You even confess, that Poe and Oda were your favorite characters.

__________________

You still didn't tell others about your dream. But now, you nave a real notebook to write your ideas in.

Your life changed.

You lived in a new home. With a new family.

But you still were going in the old school.

____________

Mori parked the car not far away from school. He turns towards you and smiles.

"We are here, Little Light. Be careful at school."

"I will, Uncle Ougai, don't worry. See you and other after school"

After getting a hug from Elise and a head pat from Mori (with a quiet "You can call me father, you know?"), you left the car and walked towards the school building.

You hope, that today is going to be good.

____________

This day was terrible.

When you were walking in school halls, someone ran into you. You fall, and your schoolbag was opened. Your notebooks were on the floor. You quickly pick everything up and hurry to the next class.

You didn't notice, that your notebook with writing Ideas were stolen.

After the lunch, you got a notification.

Someone posted photos of your notebook pages on the school site.

And a video. A video of bullies, mockingly reading your notebook. Tearing it apart. Destroying pages.

And comments under the post...

"The Weirdo are still writing?"

"LOL, cringe fanfics!"

"Hey, maybe they have another notebook, where they write porn stories?"

"Will you calm the [CENSORED] down! Stop flaunt your stupid dream before our eyes!"

"Your notebook is only good to be used as toilet paper!"

After school, you hurry home.

____________________

You slam the door behind you. Not paying attention to anyone, you hurry to your room and close the door. Soon everyone heard the muffled cries.

Everyone was quiet for a moment. Chuuya was first one, who spoke.

"Who? Who dared to hurt our [Y/N]?! Who made them cry?"

"I know the answer" Katai, who checked your school site, showed everyone post with your notebook.

Fyodor stood up. His voice was cold.

"I will deal with this little bastards. Kolya, Chuuya, Dazai, you are going with me. Oda, Poe, can you, please, check on [Y/N]? They like you two."

Without other words, Fyodor walked towards the front door. Gogol,

Chuuya and Dazai followed him.

_____________

You heard someone knocking on your door.

"[Y/N]? It's us, Oda and Poe. Can we come in?"

You manage to sob a "yes" and bury your face in a pillow.

The door was opened. Oda and Poe slowly approach your bed. Oda kneel before your bed, while Poe sits on the bed edge.

Oda spoke first.

"We saw the video. Are you okay? The Bullies... They didn't hurt you to take away the notebook, right?"

You sob more and shake your head.

"No... They stole it... Is it wrong for me to dream? Is it wrong for me to want to be a writer?"

Poe put his hand on your back, softly petting it.

"It's not, [Y/N]. Your dream matters. Your dream can become true. I will help you."

Oda spoke again. "And I will also help you."

You look at them in disbelief. Did they just? The characters you always looked up to support you?

Poe answers your silent question.

"I can teach you, how to write. We will do writing exercises, we will discuss your writing, I will give you a critique. I will support you on your way to becoming a writer."

Oda rub away your tears.

"Don't listen to the others, [Y/N], you can become a writer. We will work on it together."

You cried again. This time, out of happiness. You jumped up and hugged both Poe and Oda at the same time. They hug you in return.

"Thanks you so much"

Finally, you have someone, who supports you and your dream.

_____________

🐾 Everyone from the BSD gang will support you.

🐾 Poe is mentoring you. He is a good teacher. He points out what you are doing good and what you are doing bad.

🐾 Oda and Poe will help you publish your first book. Just a little storybook.

🐾 You got good reviews and it was quite popular. You got some money from it.

🐾 You buy presents for everyone. Oda, Poe and Fyodor got a three different "Best Dad in The World" cups from you. Mori was devastated. Now he tries even harder to make sure you see him as a father figure.

🐾 On the side note, now you are being homeschooled.

🐾 The Bullies (seven people), who created a post, were found stuffed in one trashcan. It takes half a day to get them out of it.

🐾 Person, who write a comment about toilet paper, was stuffed in the school toilet.

🐾 Teachers were also scared. Rumors said, that someone attack them and teach them a lesson on "How to be a good teacher".

🐾 Slowly, you are becoming more and more confident. Now you are sure, that you can be a writer. All thanks to your new family.

_____

A/N : The bit about Raskolnikov happened in real life with me. When my literature teacher started asking us about our favourite characters from classic literature, I said, that I loved Raskolnikov. I had a feeling, if my teacher could, she would expell me for this words.

[chuuyasheaven]

HAPPY 1k FOLLOWERS !!

Rules!!

ALSO THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH!!

1st: This is a different Event! 

All of the fics will be based off songs from my playlist! 

(MUSIC IS THERAPEUTIC!)

I will interpret the meaning and kinky them up and stuff!

You’ll be able to choose which character would fit the best with it! Most likely, it won’t be easy to choose so I’ll be making two versions with different characters each.

2nd: Here’s my no-no list!

M*ri and any minors 

S3xual assault / R@pe

Any weird kinks (p1ss, sc@t, vom1t, hardcore stuff, etc.)

3rd: This is a nsfw Event only, but maybe, I’ll open up a sfw one after!

4th: Here’s my character list!

Chuuya Nakahara

Dazai Osamu

PM! Dazai Osamu (18 ofc)

Kunikida Doppo

Atsushi Nakajima

Akutagawa Ryūnosuke

Fyodor Dostoevsky 

Nikolai Gogol

Ranpo Edogawa

Edgar Allen Poe

Tetchou Suehiro

Jouno Saigiku

Fukuzawa Yukichi

(THREE NEW CHARACTERS!)

5th: Requesting should go like this;

"Hi! I personally think that day four would really fit with Dazai! Could I request him with a afab!Reader please?" 

And to make it better, I will genderbend SOME characters! But only for fem!/afab!Reader tho!

Also mention what gender the reader should be: fem!/afab!/gn!/amab!Reader (trying amab! too!)

6th: Please be patient. 

Lately things have been fucking with me, so I may be a little slower or even take breaks! Writersblock can appear any time.

7th: Au's will and can be included, example; College!Au, Modern!Au, etc.

1st day: 

"I just wanna ride, get high in the moonlight.."

— You and your partner went out on a date, sitting in their car, you guys got heated while enjoying the moonlight..

Tags: making out, car sex,modern!au, soft sex, praise kink, pet names, etc.

2nd day:

"He had a cigarette with his number on it, (and) gave it over to me.."

— You boss called you to their office, wanting to 'talk' with you. But no need to worry, they just want to reward you for being good!

Tags: office!/normal!au, Office sex, teasing?, praise kink, pet names, etc.

3rd day:

"I hope, you’re ready, for what I’m about to do.."

—  You/Your Partner notice your/they’re kinda feeling low today, so you/they decide to cheer them/you up a little!

Tags: Oral sex, normal!au, praise kink/degradation kink, pet names, stress relief, etc.

4th day:

"He tore my clothes right off, he ate my heart and then he ate my brain.."

— A incubus, who was in a need of energy, needed you, really bad. So you let him fill you up!

Tags: Monster fucking?, incubus!au, praise/degrading kink, breeding kink, petnames, rough sex, cream pie, overstimulation, etc.

5th day:

"I’m gonna fuck you up, fuck you until you ask me for more.."

— You went out to a party with your partner, but someone tried flirting with you! So they got a little jelly!

Tags: Jealous sex, normal/modern!au, rough sex, praise/degrading kink, teasing, overstimulation, petnames, etc.

6th day:

"Buckle up, tonight I’m gonna give it to you stronger. Heads up, we can go a little longer.."

— During 'it', you got a little carried away. You needed to cum, so you got a little rougher, which made them get more submissive..

Tags: Switch!Character, normal!au, fingering, teasing, taking control, hickeys, overstimulation, petnames, etc.

7th day: 

"You’re dangerous, I’m loving it.." 

—  Your Partner/You are known to be the most dangerous person to Yokohama, but still, they/you can’t resist you/them..

Tags: Normal!au, marking, overstimulation?,slight breeding(?), petnames,  etc.

8th day: 

"As you recall, you know I love to show off.."

— Your Partner loves you very much, and they make sure you and everyone else knows, by showing you off. Bringing you gifts, kisses, cuddles and most importantly, making you feel good!

Tags: Modern!/Normal!au, passionate sex, overstimulation?, praising kink, foreplay, pet names, etc.

9th day: 

"'Cause I’m a jealous, jealous, jealous girl.." 

— Now the tables turned; someone was flirting with your partner?! You can’t help but feel jealous. You can decide, they could make you theirs or you’ll make them yours!

Tags: Jealous sex (2nd), modern!/normal!au, praising kink, pet names, overstimulation, teasing, etc.

10th day:

"Treat me like a slut, little bitch who loves to fuck.."

— You and your partner didn’t do it for a while, which had you sexually frustrated. So you were a brat, and how do you tame one? Easy, you fuck ‘em into oblivion!

Tags: Brat taming, rough sex, overstimulation/edging (u decide), (loving/degrading) pet names, etc.

Also, if you have any song-fic ideas feel free to request! 

Maybe smth like this;

"So, I had a idea for another song fic! The song "she’s so nice" by nice guy where the reader is like really nice but (character) fucks them really rough and calls them their slut? Also the reader's an afab?"

(Yes, mention what gender you want)

So can’t wait for your requests!! :3

Again, we’ve come so far! I can’t believe I have 1k People who like my works, so thank you all so much!!

[solunstell]

List of bsd headcanons

Dazai:

Has bpd. A lot of his traits remind me of my friends with it

He some kind of trans. Nonbinary. Transfem. Transmasc. Idk he's megender lmao

He's described as appearing very youthful in the first two light novels. I imagine that once the events of the main timeline start picking up though, with all the time stopping or slowing abilities that *dont affect him*, he actually ages faster than the other characters. I draw current dazai with small wrinkles, which also hints at stress and stuff

Also, I imagine current dazai getting tanner as he works in the light, as well as getting more prominent freckles.

Round/doe eyes because that is part of his appearance in my opinion. Seeming unsuspecting and innocent, especially during his mafia days

Bad eyesight in his right eye from being under the bandages for so long. Saw this headcanon and loved it

Similarly, beastzai has bad vision in general

I always call No Longer Human an anti-ability in my head, fun fact

He loves to touch other people. Not a fan of being touched by others unless asked

I draw him with red eyes in color, and usually black eyes in ink (inconsistent artstyle my beloved)

Aroace spectrum

heavy sleeper. Very

Chuuya

FRECKLES and tan from sheep days

He likes to be close to other people more than actually touching. Presence over contact

That shade of eyes that changes colors in the light (but I use a grey base lol)

Also some sort of trans, but in a different way than dazai

Brownish red hair. Not blazing, not just brown

That man is AUTISTIC

One time instinctively kicked a friend with his ability active, expecting them to dodge cuz he's used to dazai easily dodging. They did, but they were SO CLOSE to getting hit. Imagine a confused face like wtf why you try to kick me

Light sleeper, but every now and then sleeps like he just learned how to close his eyes

A lot of his jokes go over people's heads because they expect him to be serious and his voice just doesn't change between serious and not serious

Ranpo

Autism plus adhd ftw

Aroace spectrum

Poe

He/they vibes

Anxiety

Gay af

I can 100% see him being into knitting. Imagine the guide plus ranpo all in matching sweaters

Loves baking. Sooooo bad at it

Lucy

Bi (with a lean towards girlies) she/it

VERY good at baking

But she won't share :(

Atsushi

Anxiety, so much anxiety

Aroace spectrum vibes

Very easily idolizes people and then gets surprised when they actually like being around him

Akutagawa

Aroace spectrum

Autism cuz he is so mecore sometimes

Very trans vibes from me

(I like to imagine him having tourettes cuz I have tourettes and I am Not projecting)

Atsushi (special kitty hearing) and jouno being the only ones who can hear some of his tics. He will be horrified that anyone notices them

Wait no actually I'm gonna incorporate that into my belief system. That's canon now

Mori

Genuinely cares about a lot of his workers, but not all of them

He gives great bonuses for birthdays

He absolutely loves vtubers if bsd were in a modern setting. Rip mori. He'd have also loved vocaloid lmao

Ozaki

Masc energy. Fem energy. Ooh I can see ozaki with any pronouns and identity

Kinda person to accidently either overpack or underpack. Always has painkillers, never has a pen

Ridiculous memory. Incredible gift giver. Would get someone something months or years after overhearing them say they wanted something once

"Whyd you get me a hairdryer?"

"You said you needed one. I saw it and thought of you."

"...that was months ago. I got a hairdryer already."

"..." *takes hairdryer back* "sorry wrong person. I don't have my contacts in my bad"

She has perfect vision

Kunikida

Trans vibes. In any and every direction

Adhd af

Will always conveniently have room in his schedule when Aya wants to go do something and needs someone to go with her. No, he's TOTALLY not frantically writing and erasing things, get your glasses updated

You can usually count on him to continue the bit cuz he won't realize there is a bit occurring

[kimaratomoya]

Yippee!! Millie!

Soooo @theoscout my friend! I recently finished Millie's character analysis. Here's what I have for her.

- Goth/Daydreams of death/Loves Edgar Allan Poe/Wore the full Goth getup/Vegetarian/Loves Poems/Has a cat named after Annabel Lee/Likes Emo music (Curt Carrion - never got around to checking if this was a reference to something)

Now these are just observations about her, her external persona if you will. Then we go a bit deeper.

- Lives with her Grandad/Parents in Saudi Arabia/Parents have a bad reputation which is reflected on her/"Dracula's Daughter"/She's 14 years old

Ok so here we see how stuff is affecting her. It's clear there's family issues, with her loving with her Grandad, even if it was her choice. She mentions having cried over deciding, which makes sense since she's literally too young to be making large decisions like that. Her parents reputation and her reputation as a goth definitely affects her too.

- Her only friend Hannah left her/Instantly falls for someone who looks at her differently than other people (Dylan)

Clearly she is having a lot of social issues as well, which probably isn't helped by her goth exterior. Even though the book is set in more modern times with there being smart phones, being goth is still a bit looked down upon. Now, when Dylan gets mad at Millie, he makes the comment that she's had other male friends in the past and she says she has, even though she hasn't. Now I think she was just trying to make herself seem less lonely, but in reality, she only ever refers to Hannah as a past friend, and Dylan as a friend/crush and says there are no other friends.

- Honorable side note that on page 159 of the physical book I own, her grandad makes a comment about her meeting a guy, or girl, and insinuates she has a crush on them.

First of all he's supportive and that's cute. And secondly, it's possible she's bi, or questioning, and that's pretty slay for her.

- Not suicidal, just sad/Thinking about death "Changed her"/Unstable/Hormonal/Judgmental/Never happy as it's a "waste of time"

She was a teenager. And a young one at that. She acts way more like a 16-17 year old with how resigned she is, and I honestly thought she was that old. She is 14! She shouldn't be saying things like it's not worth it to be happy. Like obviously there's family issues going on and social issues too, but I do feel bad for her. To a point. She was extensively judgey on girls who weren't like her, and calls them basic. Now, that's a little hypocritical and I do agree with Dylan that she is in no place to talk about people's appearances, but I do also have to point out that those "basic girls" were the ones calling her names and basically shunning her so her anger is slightly justified. I think any teen or young adult would see where she's coming from.

- "Silly Millie"

Even as she is being threatened with death, she is being called names. Which is shitty. I hate Ft. Freddy.

I am trying to keep my AU stuff and my headcanons out of this, so any thoughts I said were based on the facts from the book. Please ask for more characters, and they don't have to be the main ones. I am making notes on side characters that are mentioned more than once as well as location and odd lore points. The villains are also having pages of information written for them.

(Also for the person who asked for Oscar, I'm working on his for ya! Should be out soon!)

[teecupangel]

Hi this Jasmine Miles from AO3! I was wondering how you might interpret this following setting:

Its 2020 and Desmond Miles has awoken held captive by a really minor front of Templars, here he meets Leonardo Da vinci and they not only become friends but because of already seeing him in Ezio's memories, they become lovers. In time Desmond learns Leo was an assassin and they meet up with Altaïr and Ezio who are also here. They eventually escape and they form a new group of loyalists with Desmond as mentor, gaining confidence as he goes.

You say minor front of Templars and my brain immediately goes for the Templar team that kidnapped Noa Kim in the Black Flag webtoon but that happened around 2023 XD

2020 is the year Valhalla’s plot starts so we can set this up to be a case of “While Layla and team were checking the mysterious message that led to Eivor’s remains, Desmond wakes up in an unknown Abstergo facility”.

The plot would be less like the webtoon’s Templars but more like the movie’s Templars.

Hell, we can even put Sofia Rikkin as the leader of the Templars that have ‘taken’ Desmond.

This sounds like Leonardo Da Vinci is an Assassin in this one which he wasn’t in canon so this could be a case of the Leonardo Da Vinci Desmond is introduced to is said to be a descendant of Leonardo Da Vinci who came from an Assassin family.

He’s a fellow captive who is being forced to watch the past Leonardo Da Vinci’s memories.

To be more exact…

How Leonardo Da Vinci was forcibly made to use the Apple by Cesare Borgia.

Desmond was in the same boat. They’re not looking for certain POEs or anything.

They want to see the memories of Altaïr using the Apple.

It didn’t take long before Desmond realized that they were looking for those memories because they have an Apple in their possession (kept in a different location because Sofia Rikkin is not an idiot, Desmond Miles is the most dangerous Assassin to ever wield an Apple easily after Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad) and they’re using data they gathered from the Animus sessions to try and create a ‘device’ that would control the Apple while they control the device because…

The Apple has a corrupting influence on everyone that wields it. Sooner or later, the user starts changing mentally and emotionally.

The only exception they could find to this rule were…

Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad and…

Desmond Miles.

Leonardo was being used as a ‘control’ subject, to give a more accurate reading to compare to Desmond.

Because reliving the times Leonardo Da Vinci used the Apple aggravate Leonardo’s Bleeding Effect.

But Desmond hasn’t had any negative effect at all.

That’s when Sofia Rikkins orders from two other test subjects to be brought in and to be given the same setup.

To see if Desmond Miles is the exception or…

If it’s his bloodline.

Now, this is where the plot separates into two routes you can take:

Route 1: This is really a case of historical AC characters being reborn in modern day

This is the less sci-fi and untwist-y plot. Ezio and Altaïr are reborn into the modern day. If you want to hammer in the ‘history repeats itself’, they are both from Assassin families that got hit by the Great Purge and are related to Desmond in some way. Ezio actually calls Bill ‘Uncle Bill’ and the Great Purge killed his father and brothers and Ezio only learned about his Assassin heritage after their deaths. He had been on the run with his mother and sister and he got captured because he stood his ground to buy them some time. He doesn’t know if they’re safe or they’ve been captured. Altaïr, on the other hand, was raised to be an Assassin from the get go in a facility very similar to the Farm. He’s related to Desmond’s mother (his late father is Desmond’s mother’s distant thrice removed cousin or something) and perhaps is even the grandson of the previous mentor (or so it’s hinted because Daniel Cross describes him as looking like his grandfather). If you really want to hammer some kind of past that will create conflict between him and Desmond, they’re both from the Farm and Altaïr is actually the only one who survived the failed rescue attempt back in AC1 so Desmond feels guilty and Altaïr is too awkward to clear any misunderstanding Desmond might have.

Because, technically, Desmond has more experienced among them (as Altaïr’s experience is more akin to an elite foot soldier), Desmond takes on a leadership role and that’s the start of the ‘let’s plan how to escape this place’ arc.

Route 2: This is a cloning plot that gives a ‘reborn AC characters’ red herring

Leonardo would note early on that “they say I’m Leonardo Da Vinci’s descendant and an Assassin. I don’t feel like either of them” which Desmond (and the narration) would mistake as Leonardo saying he feels like a failure.

No.

Leonardo has no memories of his life before waking up in the Abstergo facility.

That’s because he is one of the clones made from Leonardo Da Vinci’s remains using the technology left behind by the Phoenix Project.

Desmond has all his memories and believes he’s Desmond Miles but he actually isn’t and he finds this out when Altaïr and Ezio are placed in the same facility.

Altaïr only has memories up to that fateful night he spent with Maria.

Ezio only has memories of a night of passion with Sofia.

If they were reborn, why would they only have memories up to the ‘time’ of conception of Desmond Miles’ ‘next’ ancestor?

Sofia Rikkins didn’t bother to lie to Desmond when he confronts her and he learns the bitter truth.

Leonardo, Altaïr and Ezio are all clones.

As well as Desmond.

Altaïr, Ezio and Desmond were cloned after Sample 17 because Desmond Miles’ actual corpse went missing for some reason.

Cue existential crisis here, a callback to the whole ‘what makes us who we are but our memories?’ and hurt/comfort all over.

Because Altaïr and Ezio are pretty much ‘newborn’, Desmond takes on a leadership role and that’s the start of the ‘let’s plan how to escape this place’ arc.

Unorganized Notes:

I picked the movie’s type of Abstergo facility because (1 if this is reborn route) this gives you the choice of doing other possible reborn characters to include to the new group of loyalists Desmond’s gonna lead or (2 if this is cloning route) to keep the audience from fully guessing that this is actually a cloning facility by making them remember the movie’s setup

Altaïr calls Desmond ‘Al Mualim’ once and Desmond felt so disturbed everyone laughs. ‘Al Mualim’ now becomes their pet name for Desmond whenever they want to tease him or when they think he’s planning to do something stupid

Leonardo and Desmond’s relationship is slowly blooming when Ezio enters the fray and, well, with Ezio there, there’s now this awkward love triangle thing going on with Desmond believing that Leonardo would fall in love with Ezio again, Leonardo being torn by his feelings for Desmond and the Bleeding Effect’s feelings for Ezio and Ezio not actually realizing he’s part of a love triangle because he just sees Leonardo as his BFF.

Altaïr in the background, suffering through these three idiots’ drama and wishing he could just kill every last security personnel around… just to get away from all of these.

Sofia Rikkins is colder and more professional in this one. Cal killing her father after she and he got sorta close really fucked her up.

Up to you if you want Cal and his team to show up. I placed Sofia as the ‘main Templar’ because she’s one of the few Templars high enough in Abstergo to be able to do commandeer an entire facility, she has knowledge of the Animus, and is part of the Templar inner circle in some capacity.

[demigoddessqueens]

masterlist vii

Some links were going funky on my desktop so I’m adding a new masterlist to here so that it can be updated better

Tik tok tease 😈

Superman and Vash appreciation

Critical Role - coffee bae 💕 ☕️ //

Vox Machina - noble!reader // WEREWOLF PUPPY // taking care of them when exhausted // treating migraines // boys + period headcanons // you remember? // trouble in paradise // Birb Machina // reverse birb machina // Garmelie reveals through art // Grog romance // Vax and sweet bartender // Vax + childhood friend // you have beautiful eyes // close the door?? 🚪 // close the door 🚪 part 2 // day gone wrong 😅 // rizz them up ✨ // flying Treasure Planet style //

Song fic -Grog // song fic - (my) dandelion // song fic // Mothers Day - song - Percy // song fic - Vax angst //

Modern s/o series - different dance styles // bonding with Percy //

Mighty Nein - beach 🏝️ day // cuddle headcanons //

Song fic - Caleb // song fic - angst // song fic // song fic - outfield // song fic - 2 //

Bell’s Hells - song fic //

Crown Keepers - song fic + Dariax //

Ring of Brass - song fic //

Song fic for the ladies //

Castlevania - Hector A-Z NSFW // Dracula + fem!reader smut // drawing the boys // remember what they say // Alucard and his jealous lover // Alucard and art as a gift // got a black eye defending him // Isaac A-Z NSFW //

Marvel - Namor + nurse!reader // Guardians of the Galaxy fluff //

Star Wars 🌟- Poe fluff + Miguel //

Prey (2022) - Taabe smut //

Unicorn 🦄 Warriors Eternal - Edred headcanons // Aewulf HC’s //

Game of Thrones/House of the Dragon - horse riding with Aegon //

Ewan characters - Osferth and Tom //

Into/Across the Spiderverse - Miguel O’Hara fluff // biting kink headcanons // soft headcanons // angst headcanons // angst part 2 headcanons // sick headcanons // dancer!reader // touch-starved Miguel // Miguel and a shy reader // college boyfriend Miguel // fangs and claws oh my! 😍 // Miguel + parks & rec // incorrect quotes // Miguel AZ fluff alphabet // love nicknames // incorrect quotes + Gabriella O’Hara // good morning ☀️🌞// incorrect quotes part 2 // love me, choose me, pick me // Miguel Regency era // incorrect quotes part(s) 3-4 // wedding 💍 headcanons //

Assassin’s Creed - Connor Kenway fluff // AC OC Debut // Shay & Haytham + Assassin // Haytham NSFW // Desmond Mermay // barista bae ☕️ // Dad + kid just like mom // Haytham hurt & comfort // Haytham + hurt and comfort // love confession + “you” // Ezio birthday 🎂 headcanons // morning seggs + Haytham // codexmonthly - mirage // Ezio birthday headcanons part 2 // bath 🛁 headcanons 💕 //

Helluva Boss/Hazbin Hotel 😈 - Crimson SFW and NSFW //

Blood of Zeus - Apollo x daughter of Nyx // pantheon smut // ares and Amazon!reader // dating Seraphim headcanons //

Legend of Zelda/ToTK - Sidon and his illicit affairs //

Dragon Age

DA Absolution - Miriam + kisses on face //

[linkspooky]

BSD VS. LITERATURE: MURDER ON D STREET

The third entry in my long-running series analyzes every literature reference in Bungou Stray Dogs and tries to piece together the author’s intention in referencing the work. 

Ranpo’s the only character whose ability name does not reference a specific book, but his entire character seems to be a reference to Ranpo Edogawa’s collection of mystery novels and his life’s work in general. However, the first chapter to feature him is named after his first story facing his primary detective Kogoro Akechi. Let’s root out the references underneath the cut. 

1. Poe and Ranpo

Ranpo the character is not just a reference to the original author’s work, he’s a tribute to the mystery genre and detective fiction in general. 

Ranpo is an incredibly prolific mystery author in Japan. He is credited as one of the biggest influencers in the Japanese mystery tradition. He was an admirer of western mystery novels, especially Edgar Allan Poe, and tried to make his own more Japanese-inspired tradition of mystery novels. 

“His chosen name, in combination with his frequent allusions to works on crime and detective by mostly Western authors, demands that the reader or critic compare Rampo’s work with that of the famous western writers he references and consider them all as belonging to the same category. Ranpo believed that a Japanese detective story could match the work of Western authors in the modern ratiocinative tradition they had established. Some of his works bear directly on the debates surrounding the issue, such as “The Case of the Murder on D. Hill” itself which Rampo intended as a response to critics who argued it was impossible to set the secret incidents and mysterious dealings which formed the core of the modern WEstern mystery in the open, wood-and-paper houses of Japan and that it was thus a natural result of the Japanese way of life that Japan should produce no strong mystery tradition of its own.” 

Edogawa Ranpo - The Early Cases of Akechi Kogoro Introduction

Ranpo set out to write Japanese mystery stories written in a Japanese way, so eastern authors could establish their own traditions. In the same way, Ranpo in Bungou Stray Dogs is always interacting with other characters inspired by Mystery Authors, Edgar Allan Poe himself, and Mushitarou Oguri another Japanese crime novelist who was western inspired (He was known as the Japanese John Dickson Carr). Yokomizo was named after Seishi Yokomizo. His pen named Kindaichi is named after his private detective character “Kosuke Kindaichi.” In the same way that Ranpo was dedicated to helping Japan create its own mystery tradition, Ranpo himself is someone who gathers other detectives around him and befriends them. 

The relationship between Edgar Allan Poe and Ranpo in BSD itself is also a pretty heavy reference to the influence both share in their respective genres. Edgar Allan Poe is largely credited as being the first mystery author and “Murders in the Rue Morgue” as the first modern detective story. In the same way that Edgar Allan Poe invented mystery novels and inspired Ranpo, Ranpo then went on to inspire mystery novels in the east and be formative for the Japanese mystery tradition. 

2. Murder on D Street / The Case of the Murder on D. Hill

There are several references to Kogoro Akechi’s first case in the first real mystery to feature Ranpo in the manga. The first and most obvious is the title itself. However, the fact that the murder takes place when a corpse is discovered in a river is a reference to Ranpo’s chosen pen name. "Edogawa” which Ranpo chose as a pen name uses the characters for the Edo river which borders present-day Tokyo to the south and was originally the lower course of the Tone River. 

His pseudonym incorporates the geography of Edo, the old capital of the isolationist Tokugawa Shogunate, with the name of Poe, an American writer. This contradictory composition reflects Rampo’s own efforts to create a uniquely Japanese tradition of an imported genre. 

Edogawa Ranpo - The Early Cases of Akechi Kogoro Introduction

In D. Hill, the murder itself is a bit of a parody of more western mystery novels. Most of the deduction takes place when Akeichi and his friend the narrator are discussing the details of a particular case that appears to be a locked room. At first, the narrator makes a solid deduction in the way a Sherlock Holmes or Western detective would immediately jump to the conclusion of a case based on connecting a large amount of small evidence noticed at the crime scene.

The two characters themselves are also avid mystery readers and make references to several other mystery novels. 

“I know you’ve read Poe’s the murders in the Rue Morgue ad Leroux’s The Mystery in the Yellow Room, and I’m sure you know that Rose Delacourt Case in Paris. Even now, a hundred years alter, there are still mysteries surrounding that curious murder case. I’m recalling it now. Isn’t the way the perpetrator of tonight’s incident departed without leaving a trace somewhat similiar?” said Akechi.

The Case of the Murder on D. Hill

This was Poe’s first real attempt to create a locked room in a traditional Japanese paper wall and sliding door room. Poe even draws attention to that fact. 

“It’s often been said that the kind of serious crime you find in a western novel could never happen in a Japanese building, but I certainly don’t think so, because of incidents such as this one. Somehow or other, although I don’t know if I can, I feel that I’d like to try my hand at solving a real case, just once.” 

The Case of the Murder on D. Hill

The narrator goes through the process of deduction and comes up with a likely-sounding theory, that’s just like the kind of clever solutions in one of those novels. However, he comes to the wrong conclusion because he was thinking in mystery novel logic and Akechi goes out of his way to correct him.

The Murder on D Street chapter in BSD is structured in the same way, at first there’s an obvious culprit to the crime only for Ranpo to reveal that the culprit framed it as the mafia and there was another story behind it. In both cases too, the murder victim was killed by accident by her own lover. 

 In a way, Ranpo in his work goes out of the way to both parody and comment on the western genre of mystery novels themselves. Akechi even highlights that some of the guesses that characters leap to in those novels are ridiculous. 

“For example, concerning my relationship with that woman, have you made a thorough and psychological investigation inot what sort of childhood friends we were? Whether or not there had been a past love affair between us in the past/ Whether or not I bore a grudge against her? Those aren’t the story of things you can guess at, are they...?”

The Case of the Murder on D. Hill

Akechi points out that rather than solving mysteries by jumping to conclusions based on evidence he tends to solve people psychologically. 

“My methods are a bit different from yours. Physical evidence and things of that kind can take all sorts of appearances depending on the point of view. The best method of detection is psychological: to see through the depths of people’s heart.”

The Case of the Murder on D. Hill

Perhaps about this, Ranpo the character is a genius who can puzzle together the culprit of a murder with just a few pieces of evidence. At the same time, he is completely unable to understand psychologically the way people around him think. 

“I don’t understand what anyone’s thinking! I’m scared! It feels like I’m surrounded by monsters! It doesn’t matter what I say - nobody understands me! My parents were the only ones who did, and they’re dead!” BSD. VOL 3

Edogawa Ranpo the author also created a mystery series for children known as the “Boy Detectives Club”. Yoshio Kobayashi, the assistant of Kosuke Kindaichi starts a detective club of his own right by gathering other children from his own school. In the third light novel, Ranpo’s father is a reference to Akechi Kogoro himself. 

The man was a legendary detective. The “Headless Officer” case, the “Moonlight Phantom,” the “Cow Head Incident” - he helped solve several difficult cases that shook the nation. 

If his father was Kosuke Kindaichi, then naturally Ranpo himself would be a reference to Kobayashi the boy detective. Which also fits his role of gathering all the other detective characters and forming connections between them. He also gained fame for being a young genius detective, and it’s also how he gained his home and his place with Fukuzawa and the detective agency. 

Ranpo is also, much like the author himself a character who does not have a power like the rest of the ability users, trying to still create a name for himself. Ranpo Edogawa was an inspired and talented enough author to basically rewrite the japanese mystery tradition into something more unique. Whereas, Ranpo the character despite having no ability of his own is the most important character in the agency fights on the front line with everyone else. The same way Ranpo influenced the entire mystery genre in Japan, Ranpo the character also is the main reason the detective agency was created and the reason they all stay together. 

Which speaks a lot of the importance of both the author and the character.