#like how easily he falls into the trappings of the person who abused him for 200 years once he got his power

[undead-dragonborn]

they released player stats that show the top 3 romanced companions are shadowheart, karlach, and lae’zel.

probably one of the worst things to happen because the people obsessed with astarion are going to be insufferable about it, about how he’s “so underrepresented” or something.

and i know this because it’s starting to happen on twitter.

[loveandmurders]

Imagine Michael Myers ruined your life. He killed your boyfriend and your friends because you were at the wrong place at the wrong time. You have been able to run away just in time, but he left scars on your body.

You couldn't stop watching them and you couldn't stop thinking about him. You used to be such a normal and mentally stable person, but then... You grew obsessed with revenge. You were a wounded animal desiring to wound in return.

So you started to plan out how you were going to kill the big and frightening Shape.

Imagine you completely change your basement for it to become the most perfect prison. You could easily tie someone there, and you could even more easily kill them without anyone to hear anything about it.

Transforming your basement was the easy part, then you needed to get Michael Myers out of the asylum and to trap him there. But you were smart, ressourceful and ready to murder him and to be covered in his blood.

You did get him out of the asylum by briding a few guards and nurses. You patiently waited for him to go back to his house, where you were waiting for him. Gosh, waiting was driving you even crazier.

Imagine taking Michael Myers by surprise; you shot him and hit him on the head. No matter how strong he was, he collapsed. You painfully pulled him to your car and brought him to your home. Whenever people heard Michael was out of his cell, they were hiding so it was easy for you to go unnoticed.

You were quick to bring him to your basement, not caring about the way his head was hitting one step after the other, or the way his shooting wound was staining his clothes. You were quick to tie him down with chains even an elephant couldn't tear apart.

And then you waited again. You wanted for the man to see your face before hurting him and killing him. You needed him to know who was hitting him.

Imagine Michael waking up in your basement, half confused of what was going on. He quickly understood he wasn't back at the asylum. He had no idea who you were, not that he cared. He simply wanted to kill you, to dismantle you and to forget about you. He didn't show his surprise when he couldn't break free from his chains.

"I'm gonna kill you so slowly" you darkly promised him and it made him completely freeze. He recognised your cold anger. You started to interest him.

You didn't try to guess what he was thinking; no one could understand him anyways. You just wanted him to suffer. You tried to make him scream, but you could slice his skin, burn him, break his fingers... and yet he wouldn't show anything.

Imagine getting so angry, you had to leave the room. You didnt want to kill without him to experience true pain and you wanted proof he was in pain.

It was then he hit you. Physically hurting him was useless. You needed to play with something so deep inside of him, that it would break him. You needed him to fall in love with you and then to put him back into the asylum, so far away from you, driving him insane.

You read about Stockholm Syndrome a lot. You fed Michael, you took care of his wounds, and then you would let him rot for a few days alone downstaires. You were alterning between abuse and some sort of "tenderness".

You were patient and it started to pay off. Whenever you were coming downstairs, Michael was instantly trying to get free of his chains, but not to escape, just to touch you. He couldn't think, all he knew was that he needed you more than oxygen. When you were around, he was behaving like a dangerous puppy trying to please you. When you were punishing him and leaving him alone in the dark, you were only feeding his obsession of you.

Imagine one night, you got a little bit tired and hence not being as careful as you should have been around a monster like Michael. You have come too close to him and you haven't moved quick enough. He caught your wrist and easily made you fall on his lap. You found yourself straddling him. You tried to move from him but his big hands were around your waist, keeping you close.

He had never wanted to kiss or to pleasure someone before, but he would be on his knees in between your legs if only you had wanted it. Him. He took in your scent and nuzzled in your neck as his hands softly slipped under your top so he could feel how soft and warm your skin were.

"Michael" you warned him and he froze "Let me go, or I'll be very mad"

Imagine the most dangerous of killers, twice your size and three time your strenght, letting you go. You saw the shadow of a pout on his face. He was so disappointed. Everything felt so cold without you.

You quickly went upstairs, not caring about the wounded grunts echoing in the basement as Michael was desesperate to watch you go. It was then you understood he was ready. He was ready to be put back in the asylum, far far away from you.

You went to work and when the night came, you joined Michael with some meal. You watched him eat and drink his water. You praised him before settling on his lap on your own accord, but you forbidad him from touching you. And even if he was struggling he obeyed as you moved closer. You didn't really know why but you kissed him, and he instantly - and yet a little bit clumsily - replied to it.

"You're gonna be a good boy to me and you're gonna have a little walk near by your house, okay?" you told him. Michael didn't understand why you would ask him to go "But then you come back. I want to see if I can trust you without those chains" you explained to him and he nodded.

Imagine playing with fire and removing his chains. He didn't care about the bruises littering his wrists and ankles. He only wanted to touch you. He had been love and touch starved his whole existence, and if his lack of empathy helped him to pretend it was alright, now he was in need of you. You allowed him to roam your body and to squeeze your flesh with want.

Soon enough you asked him to go and he reluctantly obeyed. He left your house with the only desire to come back to you. But before, he knew he had to obey to you like he used to obey his mother. He went near his former home - because his home was now you. You called the police on him.

He fought like a lion, but there were too many cops and doctors, even for him. He got shot with sedative. Next time he opened his eyes, he was back to his cell in the asylum. And he quickly lost it. Doctors had to intervene, to sedate him again and to tie him up to his bed as he was destroying everything around.

Dr. Loomis had no idea why the usually quiet man, was getting so out of himself. Nothing could calm down Michael, who was absolutely going even more insane the more time he was being away from you. He couldn't stand a world without your warmth and presence. You were a drug, the only thing he ever desired, the only thing that made him feel something.

Imagine missing the flash news about Michael Myers escaping the asylum, as you were asleep on your couch.

Imagine waking up to your front door being torn apart. You ran to your kitchen, grabbed a sharp knife and was ready to dialled 911 when you saw Michael coming into view.

He took a few more steps before kneeling down in front of you, showing you he was no threat to you, and more importantly that he was all yours.

"Oh. You came back home" you whispered to yourself as he wrapped his arms around your mid section.

He was indeed back home.

[darkveracity]

Tsukihime's cast rated by how mad Akiha is about Shiki falling in love with them from best to worst

Displeased

Sacchin: At a fundamental level Sacchin is just an ordinary girl. There's nothing objectively wrong with her. Akiha is never going to be happy about Shiki falling in love with anyone but there's very little she can object to here without looking insane. Also being a cute girl who's easily flustered, fun to bully, and has a bit of the vibe of a small scared animal makes her very much Akiha's type if she were willing to be honest with herself.

Hisui: Akiha's primary problem here is the status difference (which is fake but she'll never admit that). If the relationship progresses to the point of talking about marriage it will become an enormous issue. However in the near term this has a number of advantages for her - first, she genuinely likes and trusts Hisui, second falling in love with her instead of an outsider keeps Shiki trapped in the incestuous tidepool of the Tohno mansion where he'll also pay a lot of attention to Akiha, third she has no high ground to stand on considering her own relationship with Kohaku. She can't push too hard on this one

Angry

Arihiko: Akiha is homophobic. Full stop. She was raised in an intensely conservative environment and does not have enough self-awareness to understand that she herself is gay. She's going to ruthlessly bully Shiki about this and also every other one of the reasons Arihiko is an inappropriate partner - an unserious delinquent with dyed hair who skips school and stays out late at night. Absolutely unacceptable company for the eldest son of the Tohno family. The only thing that mollifies her is how genuinely happy he makes Shiki

Ciel: Ciel checks most of the boxes. She's serious, reliable, extremely talented, a good student, pushes Shiki to be better. She has everything Akiha would want in a partner for her useless brother except for status. However she has the enormous dealbreaking flaw of being an executor and any long term relationship with her is inevitably going to result in Shiki pursuing the same career. She and Akiha do not like each other any of the times they meet in canon but those are all under unfortunate circumstances - showing up in a combat habit with a comatose Shiki, trying to hypnotize her at school, sneaking into the mansion and getting into a fight to the death in the manga, etc. If Ciel were to properly visit the mansion and get introduced to Shiki's family as his girlfriend after her route then Akiha might be able to tolerate her a little better

Arcueid: Akiha absolutely cannot handle Arc. Their personalities are incompatible. Arc is an airhead who doesn't understand human norms and doesn't get subtlety and every word out of Akiha's mouth is a venomous barb that flies completely over her head. This relationship is the absolute worst case Akiha can handle before she starts physically trying to separate Shiki from his new lover

Ready to commit homicide

Noel: Noel has no redeeming qualities whatsoever (and is also my favorite near-side remake character). She's flighty, unreliable, selfish, petty, unprofessional, a coward, works for the church, and most importantly is an adult woman leveraging her position of power as a teacher to pursue an inappropriate sexual relationship with a student. Akiha is going to do everything possible to get rid of her from threatening her to destroying her career to sending her to jail to if worst comes to worst outright murdering her. She will never accept this relationship

Kohaku: This relationship drives Akiha completely insane in canon. The spectre of the abuse Kohaku has suffered, Akiha's intense guilt about it, and her own possessive pseudo-romantic feelings for her make her never want anyone else to lay their hands on Kohaku and also simultaneously her possessive pseudo-romantic feelings for Shiki make her never want him to fall in love with anyone else. The two people she loves most leaving her to be with each other double-cucks her and pushes her so far she tries to murder both of them. The only way she could ever be okay with the two of them kissing is if they're doing it in front of her for her entertainment

SHIKI: I do not think the city of Souya would survive Akiha's reaction to this

!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!

Len: What's wrong with you, Nii-san????

Bonus:

Extremely Pleased

Akiha: At long last you've seen the light, Nii-san. Why would you ever choose anyone else when you have the perfect younger sister right by your side who loves you very much. Please never look at any of those other wretched women again

[sp1dercandle]

Uhm... Lore dropping Zun's backstory....

TW: cannibalism, force-feeding (?), murder, abuse, etc.

Also this thing was literally inside of my discord drafts and I was still learning english at the moment so don't mind a few grammar mistakes and stuff although I kinda(?) fixed some

Zun lived in a small village with his mother, usually his father goes to the farm to work. He has a brother named Natsu, who later ran away for an unknown circumstances.

He has an abusive parents that usually abuses him verbally. By saying he was useless at speaking, learning and socializing. But they would say things like they would save him or take care of him well. Nonetheless, Zun would die without the presence of them.

A raid from a mysterious group known to have extraordinary abilities spread around Zun's town, targetting young children and forcing them to eat their own relatives or vice versa. They easily overpower the town's ability due to how they're that connected to the supernatural world, dealing with yokais (mythical creatures) and granting them great power. And to achieve that goal, one of the task is to kill the entirety of the town's population or about 80% of them.

Unfortunately Zun had been forced to eat his parents and also tasked to killing them first, he heard his mother said "I hate you" before he had been forced to kill her and made him felt guilty for what he has done for the rest of his life.

After a year passed he could take care himself locked in his house, he felt like he wanted to get his revenge on the person who had forced him to eat his parents and so he ate the person who had forced him to eat his parents. Yet he did not regret his decision and accepted everything, so he eats more and more with his selfishness and gluttony.

He got targetted to being a cannibal ever since. He also gain the ability to turn into the people he consumes due to how he ate someone that has the ability of a shapeshifter and so he began to bait humans that would fall into his trap of beauty and would eventually eat them once they've been close enough for him to fool.

Until he met a human that made him fall in love again, Ganrin Usagi (a.k.a Gemsy) is a beautiful woman that lived in a kingdom of Usagi but later run away because she got disowned due to her mother being ignorant. She also fell in love with Zun in first sight. Zun would spare her due to him falling in love towards her unlike the times he love-fooled his other victims. They bumped into each other in an accident and then they would start their love story (ask me for detail) and they also had kids together (named Yuki).

UNFORTUNATELY there's a lot of details I can't really mention right now since I'm kinda dizzy with the lore and stuff so yep I'll leave it like this for now

[miracles-and-butterflies]

Ok, so, what if all the madrigal kids were put on the "golden child" pedestal? Even Mirabel (she can have a gift or no gift, it's your choice).

Isabela = The perfect girl who can create flowers. She's agile, sweet, and beautiful. If you had a bad day she can give you a few flowers to make you feel better. She can also help with birthdays, funerals, weddings, etc.

Dolores = The girl who can hear if anyone is in trouble or just someone to spill the tea with. She can also help if any person or child is going through abuse of some kind.

Luisa = Has the strength to protect anyone in the family and just help around with heavy things. She's also just as agile and almost never smudges her clothes when she's out doing chores.

Mirabel = ?

Camilo = the perfect gentleman and sweetheart of the family. Always willing to help mothers or parents have a break. Or just willing to make you laugh or smile.

Antonio = The second sweetest boy of the family. Always willing to give a hug or help around. Especially with his new gift, he can easily speak to the animals of Encanto for anything the villagers need. (And to tell the bee's Agustin isn't a threat)

(I'm already writing an au like this, but I just wanted to see what your version of the au would be like. In my version Mirabel got the gift of creating diamonds (jewelry), crystals, and pearls. You can choose if she gets a gift or not tho)

To be honest, I wouldn’t want to do an AU too similar to that of someone else’s, if that makes sense? It isn’t that I dislike the idea though.

Anyway, here are my thoughts on this:

Having all of them be the “golden child” at once kind of renders the trope pointless. If they are all perfect, they are all equal; so there wouldn’t really be a pedestal or favouritism. In addition, having so much may also make it quite messy.

But it is a very intriguing idea to play around with what each child would be like in the role.

Isabela is already the favourite in canon. I don’t have anything to add here.

Dolores is definitely an interesting case. Her gift is one of the ones usually regarded as a curse or associated with negative connotations. Which it isn’t, it is arguably one of the more helpful gifts. Combined with her passion and intelligence, she would make a very capable golden child and definitely achieve that ideal of a perfect, young lady that we see Abuela going for with Isabela in canon.

Luisa is one of the more likely to be a golden child for me. If Abuela valued more hard work than reputation, as Luisa could easily be argued as the one who does the most to benefit the community alongside her mother. At the same time, she is also this figure of bravery and protection, which easily adds to the possible idolisation of her character to the town.

Camilo is similar to Luisa. Given his optimistic spirit and the desire to bring smiles or laughter to all, he is definitely one of the more friendly and social members of the family - it is easy to imagine him being the favourite of the town because of how his work brings him so close to their lives. He’d fall into a similar trap to Isabela, hiding his more mischievous and chaotic nature, in favour of a more gentlemen persona to please Abuela.

Mirabel is not usually handled well in AUs where she’s swapped to be the favourite. She gets wildly out of character and just becomes another Señorita Perfecta Isabela or idolised for being more vulnerable (which… why? You’d have to have the same feelings to the entire town). Mirabel is the brains of her sisters (Luisa = brawn, Isabela = beauty). There is so much potential behind a mind or logic based gift and the subsequent pressures Mirabel might face as “the most intelligent girl in town”. And I will never get why nobody takes advantage of it.

Antonio is another one to see being an easy charmer. The youngest favouritism is rather common and how could you say anything bad about a sweet, little boy who can talk to animals? I haven’t seen anyone experiment with him as the favourite before, so it would be very exciting to see what someone comes up with.

[mistysgardenn]

it’s 4 am so i’m going to rant about the ushers and how all their deaths are linked with one of the seven deadly sins + a color

prospero (lust) - obviously perry is lust. he went around trying to make his ideal nightclub which was basically centered around drugs and sex. plus the big party he threw was one big orgy which ended in a downpour of acid. in the end his downfall was somewhat caused by his excessive lust. if he had chosen something else to do with his life he would’ve met a less gory end like verna always says.

camille (wrath) - camille is wrath. i can see how maybe envy or pride would fit but in the end, she was so angry with victorine and her assistants for inconveniencing her earlier that day that she went ahead with checking out the monkey room. verna explained that camille hated vic so much because she better hid how bad of a person she was. camille was blinded by rage and got mauled by a monkey.

napoleon (sloth (pretend this is yellow)) - leo is easily sloth. he wasn’t that bad of a person compared to his siblings, but camille mentioned that he paid people to make video games. other than perry every sibling had some kind of profession that they profited from, but leo didn’t. sloth could be tied in to his excessive drug use and how lazy he was about not fixing it. this made him kill the cat, which led to him inadvertently inviting verna into his apartment and later throwing himself off the balcony.

victorine (pride) - victorine’s demise relates to pride. her life's goal was to create an effective piece of medical technology to earn her father's approval. to achieve this, she lied and falsified studies relating to her work. she was so wrapped up in maintaining her pride that she was driven mad, eventually killing her girlfriend and then herself.

tamerlane (envy) - tammy is envy. she obsessed over her husband possibly having an affair with another woman that she pushed him away. combined with stress and lack of sleep due to goldbug's launch, she descends into madness. in her last moments, she is overcome with envy because of verna, who has taken on a semblance of her appearance. she smashes mirrors in her bedroom and a shard pierces her neck.

frederick (gluttony) - as we all know there’s a lot wrong with freddy, but directly leading up to his demise, gluttony was his biggest issue. he started to abuse drugs and kept taking them. they started messing with his mind, causing him to fall into madness like some of his other siblings. verna was able to get him to put a paralytic in his own drugs and he was trapped in a building while it was being demolished.

roderick and madeline (greed (pretend this is gray) - of course, roddy and mads are greed. their whole lives were controlled by their desire for money and fame. it led them to do a lot of questionable things, including making a deal with verna that ultimately ended their bloodline. they both met their downfall in their childhood home as it collapsed on top of them.

just a little end note to say that this is all speculation; i just like talking about it because it’s interesting! i’ve heard that mike flanagan said the seven deadly sins associations weren’t intentional so there’s that. also, i wasn’t the first to come up with any of this i just built on it and included some of my own opinions!

[poisonousquinzel]

Listen, I'd have less of an issue with Elseworlds concepts for Harley in live action if we'd EVER gotten an accurate showing of her origin story, the manipulation that runs throughout every second of every session they had together and the sheer and graphic brutality of the abuse she's endured at his hands, but we haven't.

And I doubt we're going to.

Regardless if you want to face it or not, the live action films reach a much larger audience than the animated shows or movies or comics. They're popular, but these live action films have a chance to bring in a Huge outside audience and that's apparent with Harley's surge in popularity after Suicide Squad.

And right now, every version of her origin that's been shown in live action is either a watered down little montage with heavy censoring that can (and Did) leave audiences with a horrifically skewed perspective on the actuality of their relationship, or is reported to be a completely changed and altered dynamic where she's not even a fucking psychiatrist at Arkham, she's a fellow patient.

Like, an important aspect of Harley's origin and the entirely of her character as a domestic abuse survivor is that it's showing that no matter who you are, no matter how much you think "I wouldn't fall for that, I'm smarter than that", or believe that you'd easily pick up the red flags, or that you're trained to see these things so it couldn't happen to you-

That's just not always true. You can still fall victim to these types of people.

Anyone can fall victim to an abusive, manipulative mastermind.

"You little fool. The Joker doesn't love anything except himself.

Wake Up, Harleen.

He had you pegged for a hired help the second you walked into Arkham."

"That's not... No... No!

He told me things, secret things he never told anyone!"

"Was it his line about the abusive father? Or the one about the runaway mom? He's gained a lot of sympathy with that one."

"Stop It! You're making me confused!"

"What was it he told that one parole officer? Oh yes, "there was only one time I ever saw dad really happy, he took me to the ice show when I was 7."

"Circus... He said it was the circus."

"He's got a million of them, Harley."

/ also I think it's important to point out based on Batman's "You and the Joker?" reaction that, despite her relationship with Joker being near the 7 year mark in this episode, he did not Know this "thing" with them was anything more than the standard henchmen/henchwoman type relationship most rogues have with their goons.

And the minute he does, he tries to get through to her. He tries to get through to Harleen. And then in the end, when he's almost got it, she's almost convinced and seeing the truth, he calls her Harley. He calls her by the name she's going by now, not the woman he believes to be trapped inside, but the one in front of him who's crying while her world is crumbling before her eyes.

It does not matter how trained you are, or how prepared you believe yourself to be, it can happen to Anyone. And it's No One's fault except the abuser for the actions the abuser takes.

But you can be the smartest person in the room and still be abused.

However, now, instead, we've got yet another film that's going to completely miss the mark and make a mockery of her journey. And instead of it being a first Live Action appearance for her and many others and whatnot like Suicide Squad was, this film is different.

This is a sequel to a film that's already got a fan base full of apologists for him. A fan base full of incels who have taken him on as their icon, as their role model, and we all fucking know it.

However they portray her character in this is going to stick with people and a lot of those folks are going to happily believe and treat this as if it's the true reality for her origin. No matter what other medias say, this is the accurate one. This is the one that's finally just allowing them to be together and not toxic. This is the one that's "not butchering his character so she can be the victim", he just gets to be his goofy little self and isn't changed so her story can exist.

And the only other live action movie that these people will or have watched that's got her character is Suicide Squad, as it's apparent so many of them clearly do not care about the 3 decades worth of evidence showing their actual relationship.

Cause facing the fact that that crusty ass disgusting man Is, and Has Been, a domestic abuser would make their constant woobification of him all the more difficult.

And why would they do that when they could just keep pretending he's not the fucking problem.

[altocat]

Ok, is it just me or is it no coincidence that Square is giving us a bit more detail on Seph’s background right before Rebirth is released?? We’re gonna see the Nibelheim incident in full remake glory most likely…and I’m wondering if they are gonna try to give us further insight into why Seph completely snapped in Ever Crisis. Or maybe just make it feel even more impactful, understandable.

“We still don’t know Sephiroth” is a very suspicious tagline.

Fears and anxieties aside, what do you make of this?

I...have WAY over-thought and analyzed everything. I've run it all in my head a thousand times over, trying to figure out the angle.

I think it could mean anything. That Sephiroth was a victim. That Sephiroth was always a monster. That Sephiroth was trapped in Shinra. That Sephiroth always had ugly interior motives. Anything.

What I'm hoping for is something balanced. "We don't know Sephiroth" is a pretty loaded statement because it's hard to guess how they perceive the audience. Do they think the audience views Sephiroth as a terrifying monster and they're excited to reveal that he's actually a pretty sympathetic character? Or are they addressing fans of Crisis Core who view him under a softer lens due to his portrayal there and want to set the record straight that he was ALWAYS bad?

I'm hoping it's the former, but with a slant to it so that Sephiroth isn't TOO much of a pathetic woobie. The fact that we will be playing as Sephiroth makes it interesting as I don't think Square is nuanced enough to make a game in which the player plays as the villain committing terrible atrocities. Or Sephiroth could just be bonus content after the story is complete and this player-perspective aspect means nothing. They're referring to him over and over again in the advertising as a "hero". Is this an actual hero story or is Nojima going to reveal that it's a meaningless title given Sephiroth's canonically violent behavior during the Wutai War? Well that's old news if so--everyone already knew that.

I don't mind sympathetic Sephiroth. I think it makes him more interesting. I'm hoping for something very balanced, and very true to the person we knew in Crisis Core. A flawed, but otherwise morally gray individual who DID have standards when it came to certain situations or people. A fall from grace that was fostered through the worst circumstances coming together, rather than something inevitable and preordained because we have the boring born-evil trope.

Ever Crisis makes me incredibly nervous because of how easy it would be to mess it all up. I think Crisis Core genuinely did a lot of good to making Sephiroth a more interesting and grounded character. Ever Crisis could very easily undo that if they push too hard in either direction. Sephiroth as he stands should be both tragic and monstrous, compelling, but doomed. Someone who could have well and truly been a hero if born to those who hadn't abused and exploited him, but also paving his own path to darkness through understandable human flaws and decisions.

Please don't fuck it up, Square. I'm begging you. Do not fuck this up.

[magic-is-something-we-create]

WHISPERS - A Formal WIP Intro

“Why don’t you run?”

“Because I’ve seen people try.”

Ivan takes a drag. I watch him let the smoke linger on his lips before exhaling, wonder when he picked up the habit.

“They always come back.” He taps the ash away, and it catches in the breeze like snow, almost enough to distract from the dead resignation in his voice. “The alternative is always worse, and you always know it was your fault.”

The blaring of a train horn in the distance bridges the silence briefly before it fades, the chug of its wheels rumbling through the mountains and building like a crack of rolling thunder.

“Think,” Dakarsa mumbles.

Ivan glances to him. “Hm?”

“You’ll think it was your fault. But it’s the Shadow’s. All of it is.”

Ivan lets the cigarette drop, snuffs it with his shoe. “And whose fault is it if I skate despite everyone’s warnings, only to fall through the ice I was told time and time again was too thin to carry me?”

Genre: Tragic Dark Fantasy/Noir

Target Audience: Adult

POV: Dual POV First-Person present, where one POV frequently drops into First-Person past

Blend pitch: Six of Crows x The Magnus Archives x Carrie

Recurring content warnings: R+ rated violence; emotional abuse; episodes of unreality and loss of autonomy; gambling, smoking, and alcohol addictions; sex and sexual harrassment; transphobia.

Themes: The effects of losing loved ones unexpectedly and without closure or explanation; being trapped by the mistakes you made in the past; the inability to help those around you without digging their graves right next to yours; what do you do when the villain is right? When you see your face, your actions, in theirs?

Marika Swiftfoot has hidden from the Shadow for ten years, but ten years isn't a life complete.

She has a debt to pay, and the Whisper who indebted her has finally come to collect. And once again, she is ripped away from everything she calls home as the result of a poor choice she made years ago, when she didn't know what would come.

But she will not go to Fowden without a fight.

And she swears the man who brings her there will die by her hand, no matter how much she once loved him.

Lorelei, too, is steeped in the regrets of her past, in the legacy of her forebears. For she is known by three names: Softheart. Witmouth. Vowbreaker.

She wants to earn Hopebringer before her legs give out for good.

But first, she needs to find out what happened to her little sister. First, she needs to find the man who's disappeared with just as little trail left behind, thirty years later.

First, she needs to end the Shadow of Fowden.

For she is not her father; she does not break her vows.

WHISPERS is a standalone novel with its first edits complete at 176,000 words. It is in the hands of beta readers as of January 10th, 2024, and will begin querying once the critique period has finished in July.

The taglist for this WIP will be maintained under the cut, alongside a few short character overviews!

Marika Swiftfoot - Narrator I - The easily-angered woman with a past she's buried under soot and blood, who owes her life to the Shadow because of an offered kindness with strings she couldn't see at the time, and who now has to work with the one who offered it in the first place, as well as a naive young man who looks five years too young for a debt of his own.

Lorelei Witmouth, Softheart, Vowbreaker - Narrator II - The woman who has dedicated thirty years of her life to trying to find what happened to her sister between attempts to better the world in her name - including finding answers for all who disappear the same way, and ridding the world of the Shadow.

Ivan Greyheart - The man who helped, loved, and indebted Marika ten years back, and who has spent all of those years forced to shove his humanity aside for the Shadow's purposes.

Dakarsa - The man who looks more innocent than he is, and who has all but the Shadow convinced of it, despite the darkness he's more familiar with than most.

The Shadow of Fowden - The Sorceress who leads the Whispers to her bidding with magical tattoos and more knowledge of the world's depravity than any other, and uses it to strike fear wherever she can.

Katya Witmouth - Lorelei's eldest sister, bettering the world by helping those most easily left by the wayside, and worrying over each and every one that ceases to stay at her hearth without warning.

Arkady Starsent - The Police Commissioner of Myshari who has worked with Lorelei to try and catch the Shadow for twenty years, and who is losing his battle with addiction and temptation in the process.

Whispers Taglist (ask to be +/-):

@dragon-swords-prophecies ; @indecentpause ; @authoralexharvey ; @ceph-the-ghost-writer; @doriians ; @hungryslothwrites ; @muddshadow ; @kaiusvnoir ; @kd-holloman

NOTE: If you are a minor or are uncomfortable reading excerpts that may contain sexually explicit or similarly mature material, let me know so that I can filter the taglist accordingly for relevant excerpts. You do not need to state your age or any other reasoning; just saying "NSFW exempt, please!" is enough!

[houseofbrat]

I'm just wondering what things M will accuse H of because I think the divorce battle will be messier than the Depp/Heard fiasco.

Physical abuse/domestic violence and anger management issues. She’s been laying the groundwork since the engagement in 2017.

2017 - First Tom Markle made the comment shortly after the engagement was announced about how he made Harry promise not to hurt Meghan. It was a really strange one-off comment that raised a lot of flags.

2018 - Next the whole estrangement from Tom. Yes, it was “because” he talked to the press and she’s deeply concerned for her privacy but Meghan can easily flip it to “they made me cut you off and threatened me if I didn’t.”

2019 - “not many people have asked me if I’m okay”. Sure, it was in the context of motherhood and postpartum depression, but how easy it’d be to spin it as “people knew about Harry’s temper and no one cared what he was doing to me.”

2020 - There was the whole thing in Finding Freedom about how Meghan’s the only person who can calm Harry down when he gets raging angry because everyone else is fearful of him. She’s scared of him too but she loves him and can put her fear aside to help him.

2021 - Then the Oprah interview, where she said the royals took her passport, keys, identification papers, and refused to allow her to make her own money. Both are classic signs of abusers, making their victims totally dependent on them.

2022 - Then there was their time spent in the UK around The Queen’s passing prior to the funeral - Meghan’s cronies have pretty much said that Meghan felt like a trapped hostage because she wasn’t allowed to go out anywhere and had to stay at FC.

Even more recently, there’s been gossip on Reddit that a) Harry had been forcibly removed from the household and involuntarily sent to rehab and b) something happened to Archie at school that prompted CPS investigations. Obviously it’s Reddit and take with a hefty dose of salt but the thing about Meghan and narcs is that they’ll take any sort of gossip as long as they can spin it to work in their favor.

And finally the threat about not having signed a NDA and finding her old journals in one of the interviews. It more or less suggests she witnessed or experienced something unsavory. She can absolutely spin that to mean Harry’s temper (or the tempers of other royals).

1. The rumors I saw on Reddit regarding rehab didn’t seem legit. Seems more like Meghan trying to start rumors to make him look bad. Which, again, falls under the “tell me they’re acrimoniously separating without telling me they’re acrimoniously separated” variety. 

2. I’ve read the specific comments about Archie and the person who shared that gossip was very clear that CPS was not called. It was Archie’s school who realized that they weren’t “equipped” to handle a small child with such severe anxiety and attachment issues. The school has a person working with Meghan and Harry to help Archie get better. CPS wasn’t involved in that stage. However, if Meghan and Harry--although, it was commented that Meghan seemed to be more of the problem with her control freak issues--don’t work to improve things, CPS could be contacted in the future. Just hasn’t happened yet.

3. The one-off Thomas Markle comment allegedly originated because Meghan told her mother, Doria, that she was divorcing Trevor because he got “physical” with her. Doria told Thomas. That was one of Meghan’s lies to get out of that marriage and move on. 

4. No one is going to believe Meghan saying the BRF forced her to cut off her own family. It’s just not believable at this point, particularly after the Oprah interview. 

5. The big problem with Meghan is that she can’t keep track of her lies. She just keeps putting out more when the best option would be to keep her mouth shut. Just like what she does with pr, she’s way past the point of over-saturation. People do not care for her in the US. The only ones who do are her crazy squad members. She is a niche market that has over sold herself by the truckload. 

I don’t worry too much about any physical abuse or domestic violence accusations because she’s too dumb to pull it off right now. Also, there are too many witnesses in her household. How many nannies do the kids have? In any kind of legal investigation, they would be questioned extensively. Those nannies & other staff could, in fact, give a lot of information to charge her for domestic abuse, if the rumors are true about her yelling, tantrums, throwing objects, and hitting Harry. 

Oh, and let’s not forget about all the rumored recordings of her behavior that exist. I have no doubt that at least one of those will hit the internet post-announcement.

[dent-de-leon]

Keep thinking about...how Molly would've reacted if the Somnovem's Eyes ever awakened for him, if he had the chance to unlock that much power and just embrace it.

And I really do believe he would've never given in to the temptation. Thinking of...how he fought with Lucien and tried to talk him out of succumbing to the Somnovem's influence until the very end, how he desperately tried to understand--bargained, pleaded, defied him until the last moment. Thinking of the city falling apart all around them, Lucien himself tearing to pieces--Molly's horrified cry of, "Who dreams like this?" Thinking of how Mollymauk had every right to despise Lucien for what he did to him, and yet...Molly still cares enough to reach out a hand to him, to offer him the second chance that no one else would.

I think it's a combination of a lot different moving parts that made Mollymauk Tealeaf someone who would never take the Somnovem's bargain. Lucien was abandoned by all his family, abused and thrown away. But even though he awoke so alone and Empty, Molly was still embraced by a loving family, still found so much joy and love in a world he knew was, "harsh and cruel."

When his partner dies, he doesn't give in to despair; he mourns her, always carries her with him. But he also lets himself come to peace with her passing; always holds her close, yet still keeps moving forward and finding happiness--like she always wanted for him.

Whereas Lucien pushed away the Moonweaver's gentle touch at every turn, Molly wholeheartedly embraced her warmth. She reaches out to him again and again, between every painful death, ferrying him from one life to the next and giving him a softer place to land. Reminding him when he opens his eyes again "for the first time in the longest time," that it was love that made him.

And of course, Molly never wanted this. When he accidentally unlocked one of Lucien's powers for the first time, Taliesin describes him having "a mild nervous breakdown." He's terrified of the person Lucien's become, knows in his heart that he was cruel and vicious, the kind of person Molly wanted nothing to do with. He's desperate to keep from falling down the same path, so he runs from everything Lucien ever embraced.

"Whoever it was came to that end, and I want nothing to do with that. Whatever it was, it doesn't feel good when I--when something creeps through, I don't like it. I don't want anything to do with it. I was happy! I liked the circus! The circus was great!" Molly covers up the Eyes. He tells Cree to forget the book. He tries to hide his blood hunter abilities from the circus, and conceals the truth about them to the Nein at every turn.

I think a lot of it is also how Mollymauk always had the Nein to ground him. How, even when it seemed he was completely lost to Lucien's control, they never stopped reaching for him. Never stopped believing in him.

Thinking of how Caleb Widogast started off the campaign declaring, "I want to bend reality to my will," yet by the end, he burns away the one bridge back to his past--destroys it so no one else can ever have that kind of power and abuse it. Caleb, who tried so hard to save Molly from becoming that. "I think towards Molly, I say, 'Mollymauk, I am begging you. Hunger for control is insatiable, it will never be enough. Let it go.'" Who begs of him, "Snap out of it Tealeaf. We need you." Who is there to cradle him in the aftermath and promises him, "Empty no longer, Mr. Tealeaf." How the Mighty Nein all risk everything to try and save this one shattered soul. How they make him feel whole.

Thinking of how differently C2 and C3 deal with similar themes, how what could destroy one character might save another. How easily Molly could've fallen into the same trap as Lucien if the Nein weren't with him, if he wasn't so loved and cherished in a world where he still knew such terrible pain and loneliness--

[stargirlfeyre]

I saw someone say that Nesta gives them Petunia Dursley vibes and I just can’t stop seeing it. And I read a fic where Feyre dies when Nyx is born and how Rhys mentally checked out leaving Nesta to take care of the baby and I couldn’t stop laughing because it was just so OOC. If Feyre actually died giving birth, Rhys would never let Nesta get close to Nyx. In fact, she’ll be the absolute last person in the world Rhys would ever leave Nyx to. I honestly don’t think he would let Nesta even babysit his son, even with Feyre still alive. In a world that Feyre, Rhys, and the entire Inner Circle dies, somehow leaving Nyx to Nesta, I could easily see her treating him like how Petunia treated Harry - after all, she was verbally abusive to Feyre when Feyre was just thirteen years old.

There’s another fic where Elain and Lucien are basically Nyx’s parents because apparently Feyre and Rhys ignore their son. But in canon, Feyre was the one taking care of her family at the age of thirteen. She was the one who went Under the Mountain for the people she loved. Rhys was the one trapped Under the Mountain, enslaved to Aramantha, to save his family. To think that they wouldn’t care about Nyx is absolutely insane. And to then say that Elain and Lucien would care more about Nyx than his actual parents is even more insane. Elain neglected Feyre for years. She sat by and did nothing as Nesta verbally abused her just like Lucien sat by and did nothing when Tamlin abused her. And you want to tell me that those two would care more about Nyx than his actual parents?

There are so many people that hate Feyre having a child, but those same people use Nyx and Feyre’s pregnancy to insert their favs. They headcanon that Nyx will turn to Gwyn when he’s upset or that he’ll call Nesta his second mom. It’s ridiculous considering that out of everyone in the entire series, Feyre has displayed the most maternal instincts. She has sacrificed for her family for years. She was basically Nesta’s, Elain’s, and Papa Archeron’s mother in the cabin - begging Nesta to chop wood, making dinner, giving them money to buy whatever they need, and protecting them when Tamlin burst into the cabin.

These people have the habit of inserting their favs into Feyre’s storyline and justifying by calling Feyre boring. They say that Nesta and Rhys are real enemies to lovers. They claim that Elain and Rhys are the real Persephone and Hades retelling. As if Rhys would go for Nesta and Elain - two people who did nothing but abuse their little sister who fed, clothed, and provided for them. But while Rhys would never go for them, Cassian/Lucien/ and even Azriel would definitely fall in love with Feyre if Rhys didn’t exist. (Lucien 100 percent had a crush on Feyre in ACOTAR.) They want everything Feyre has because they know and won’t admit that she’s the superior sister and her storyline will always be better than her sisters.

You said it all

[magaprima]

While Lilith is never soft, she can be extremely benevolent/generous. Surprisingly so for those who think she’s only ever selfish and manipulative. The actual reality is that any of her actions that are perceived as selfish or manipulative are the product of survivalism, the things she’s gone through, the things she’s had to deal with and find a way to live through, have caused those habits and behaviour to develop. E.g Trying to get Sabrina to sign the book; because she can’t fail the Dark Lord for fear of punishment. Getting Sabrina to fulfil the prophecy; again our of fear of punishment for failure and also out of a desire to finally be free of her own terrible position and get the respect she deserves. No one has cared about her situation for thousands of years, so she finds it hard to care about anyone else’s (as caring for others is, after all, taught behaviour, and considering where Lilith has been for multiple millennia it’s a testament to her character that she still has a capacity to care at all).

But despite this illusion that is created, this idea that she might be as bad as the rest of Hell, she is actually capable of extreme generosity and loyalty but only in exceptional circumstances and only with those rare few who prove themselves worthy. Like, just because she still has that capacity and inclination, doesn’t mean she’s sharing riches with everyone; you have to prove to her that your deserving of it. I don’t mean like by completing tasks or her judging you; she actually doesn’t even realise she’s weighing all this up, it comes very naturally as she gets to know someone and spends more time with them. If she finds herself impressed or liking that person, or they do something that touches her or impresses her, then they’re half-way there to receiving that generosity. 

Think about how Lucifer being so kind in the beginning, being so gentle and understanding, of their falling in love and making plans together, basically earned her loyalty for thousands of years, so much so that she even looked past when he began to change, reasoning her way around it, still being generous enough to basically give him the time of day. He had earned her love and loyalty and that isn’t easily shaken from Lilith once it’s generated. 

Those who earn her trust and loyalty will find they have a guardian/mentor/supporter for the entirety of their lives, and it’s why despite the mistakes Sabrina makes and the callous things she can say, Lilith has become loyal to her, she supports her and protects her, gives her help even when she doesn’t want to. The same would now be true of the Spellman sisters after everything they did for her in Part 4-- that’s a loyalty that will never be shaken. If that coven said ‘oh we need help, please’, then Lilith would help them without question because of everything they did for her-- saving her life, saving her son’s life, protecting them both, giving them shelter, even offering to hide them from the Dark Lord, befriending her, helping her...that loyalty is fully secured. The Spellmans, and by extension The Order of Hecate, have a friend in Lilith eternally. Which is a big freaking deal. 

But anyone who betrays or crosses Lilith will have a violent enemy for just as long. I’ve said before that she can be a personality of extremes and this is no different. Think about how once Lucifer crosses too many lines how she not only joins a coup to overthrow him, but traps him and belittles him before his court, and then eventually stabs him in the back (twice) and robs him of his power and position and gives them to herself. She went from adoring him, defending him, supporting him, to destroying him because of his betrayals and abuse. 

Lilith is not someone you would consider evil (even if she did kill a boy to raise the dead, but as I said before that’s one of those selfish-actions-linked-to-survivalism which makes her morally questionable rather than outright evil, especially within a world where even the good guys get murder-y. She does too many helpful things to be evil, cares for people too much, falls in love, feels obligations, actually freaking did her job at Baxter High), she’s not someone who wants to kill or destroy for the sake of it, she doesn’t want to end the world; every situation and person is uniquely judged by her if they come into her line of consideration. Most fall short and she dismisses them quickly, and that can mean to the degree that she won’t pay attention if they’re in danger, fatal or otherwise, but those who impress her see a side of her no one else does; something close to the person she was in the beginning, even if it is now conveyed through a veil of ancient cynicism and sarcasm and eye rolls. 

[starry-crystal-skull]

🐈 & initials: MI

I wanted to ask for a career question but you specialized most on love and relationships, so is it okay to ask about my future husband?

oki ill use shufflemancy to figure out who he is, maybe some facts on him also, and what kind of person he is

the song i got before all the others (the prelude song) is lauren by men i trust. first of all, the name lauren might be of import when it comes to this situation, which is that you might realize that your husband actually isn't all you could ever want and start cheating on him. you also will get off on cheating on him, as you feel justified in your corrupted actions by the fact that your husband is sub par. and it literally gets you off so much that you literally get off sexually to it. you literally have to hold back from giggling whenever you see your husband, bc he's such a sucker. you literally think it's such a cool situation, it's a feeling that i couldn't describe other than feeling like god or being an angel living in god's heaven. it's almost a culty like feeling, like you're an evil cultist who is so easily deceiving everyone around them, like total villian power mode, and you genuinely want to laugh in such an evil way at the poor, pathetic saps that were stupid enough to fall into your trap. like literally like you're the sociopath in olivia rodrigo's and that other guy's songs, both titled sociopath and being abt sociopaths of the opposite gender. and you fooled them so much they're both talking abt you.

the first song that came up is mind of mind by zayn. this song also gives off a feeling of wanting to commit adultery, but, perhaps this song is meant to portray how he feels abt it. idk that's just the feeling i got

the second song that comes up is I'm not surprised by unlike pluto. this song just gives off the impression that you always knew your husband was sub-par or you always at least got the impression that he would let you down and disappoint you in the future. and then he ended up being just what you thought he'd be, a failure. a sub-par loser who could never be your dream guy. and you literally are not surprised.

the third song i got was parasyte by hvdes, which seems to be indicating that there are demons in your house and your house is haunting. all these songs have had a haunting feeling to them so far, so I'd say that also something extremely horrible is going to happen, like rape and abuse starting to happen. like he might literally start treating you like shit and committing marital rape and adultery and act like it's nothing and treat you with such disdain and contempt. and so that really explains the culty vibe.

the fourth song is you wanted more by violent vira. I'd recommend you give it a listen, you'll probably get the message easy.

hope this helped!

[my-coven-is-claudia]

this was originally a reblog of my “the mystreet cast are bad actually” post but i’d rather make this it’s own post cuz it’s a monster. this is what happens when i’m stuck on a train.

maybe mystreet doesn’t deserve this amount of analysis but the cast are bad people. not disney villian type of bad i mean they are all very flawed people and refuse to realise it. a lot of them are continuing cycles of abuse in some way and make no effort to stop it or make any self-reflection.

you have your obvious suspects: katelyn and aaron. katelyn is extremely aggressive,, taking after her father’s overprotectiveness and a lot of her general relationship issues can easily be tracked back to her mother and her disappearance. as elizabeth abandoned her,, the person who was meant to be the closest to her,, katelyn pushes away every person who attempts to get to know her on a deeper level. she blames herself for elizabeth’s disappearance and in fear of being left in the dust again she doesn’t let people in. when people do attempt to reach out to her she retaliates with aggression and wrecks her relationship with them. her highschool relationship with jeffory fell apart because of this as she couldn’t understand why someone could ever be so nice and understanding towards someone like her. she breaks up with him solely because he treated her decently and for the rest of her life she dreams about what could have been and doesn’t really move on from him. she abandons him like her mother did. katelyn’s relationship with travis is a more extreme example of how she continues the cycle and her more aggressive treatment of him is a consequence of her issues being suppressed and untreated. she is not only in denial of her own problems but also where these issues came from. during an argument with travis in love love paradise he implies that elizabeth did not care very well for katelyn. she’s in denial of her mother’s mistakes as well as her own. an example of this is when she almost kills travis she twists the story in her head as her simply being worried about him. she cannot see the severity of her actions and how she’s hurting people. she does love and care for her friends but she clings onto the idea that she’s unlovable and she tries to prove that by being the monster. she continues the cycle elizabeth started.

on the complete opposite end of the spectrum we have aaron. he continues the cycle of abuse less in relation to abuse towards others and more so abuse towards himself. aarmau is problematic obviously because of the age gap but also because aphmau doesn’t exactly treat him amazingly. in emerald secret when she suspects he’s cheating in an episode she literally throws a rock at him but when he’s given clear cut evidence of her potentially cheating on him in lovers lane he doesn’t immediately blow up but instead says he will discuss this with her. on top of this,, she invites his family at some point without his permission and when he subsequently begins to panic she pulls out the “well i want to know more about you through your family. how is that a bad thing?” subsequently crossing his boundaries. aphmau clearly has unresolved trauma from her dad cheating and then up and leaving and she projects that onto aaron and their relationship,, fearing it will fall apart like her parent’s relationship. her relationship with her mother also effects how she treats aaron as her aggressive behaviour seems to derive from sylvanna. although her mother clearly loved her aphmau felt trapped by sylvanna,, especially when it came to her love life. aphmau doesn’t want to be like her but in an attempt to distance herself from sylvanna’s control by getting with the person her mother despises the most she ends up becoming exactly like her. aaron loves aphmau so much that he ignores her mistreatment of him. her accusations. her crossing his boundaries. she is the only thing that matters to him as she was the first person to treat him with kindness. this comes to a head during starlight when he believes her to be dead. he enters a depressive episode,, completely shutting off from the world and everyone around him. now that he has lost aphmau nothing matters. she was the candle that gave him light and acted as his saving grace from his previous abusive environment. but in the end he ended up in another toxic relationship of his own making.

garroth and zane’s relationship is another good example i think of the cast treating others in the same way their parents did. garroth neglected and ignored zane’s feelings for so many years which perfectly reflects garte’s own neglect of zane. although not maliciously,, garroth ignored zane after highschool and fed into his father’s neglect of zane. their interactions in pdh are very surface level and there’s clear disconnect between them that i think caused them to barely speak to each other after graduation. garroth also likely found nothing wrong with garte’s treatment of zane,, too blinded by his own ignorance and also the pressure he felt by his father to become the owner of the ro’meave conglomerate. for years,, garroth viewed zane as someone he could simply pass the responsibility on to and it clearly never crossed his mind that maybe zane didn’t want that responsibility either. that both of them were trapped under garte’s thumb,, allowing themselves to be pinned against one another instead of fighting side by side against their’s father’s abuse. but garroth does not know zane,, does not understand him,, only viewing him as the vague concept of a younger brother similar to garte’s own misconstrued view of zane. he only sees him by what he could be: garroth.

i could say a lot more about other characters but omfg i can’t write anymore. but i do have one more thing to say.

the vylad joke about him being the least problematic out of the cast was a random thing i shoved in the original post but i think he acts as a shining light amongst all this bs. he comes from the same home as garroth and zane but he clearly has dealt with the effects of his situation a lot differently and more healthier than his brothers. he arguably was the most screwed over out of the three of them. a child born from an affair and a walking disgrace to his family’s legacy,, his existence was a curse. in diaries we see the negative effect this had on him as it’s implied he has a low self-esteem. but in mystreet he’s free. he’s not tied down by the ro’meave name and it’s expectations and instead gets to do whatever he wants with his life. he’s carefree and appears content. unlike his brothers he doesn’t inflict the same pain that he father did. by distancing himself from his family he escapes the shackles of the cycle. he puts a stop to it.

[frogtanii]

iwaizumi was... overwhelmed, to say the least.

the past few days had been such a whirlwind of change that hajime could barely properly process, much less appropriately react to it all, so he behaved much like a zombie, saying yes when prompted, signing papers when told, and packing up what was his entire life for the past 11 months.

wow. iwaizumi collapsed on his bed as he scanned his now barren bedroom. he’d been here for almost a year and yet, all his belongings were in boxes within a couple of days.

hajime couldn’t keep the disbelieving chuckle from escaping his chest as he leaned back on his bed, dark brown eyes trained on the ceiling.

it felt like he’d spent such a large chunk of his life trapped in this house, under the foot of the woman who he thought he’d marry but in reality, he’d been in little leagues longer than he’d been in love.

iwaizumi scoffed and rolled his eyes. yeah, “in love”. it’d been about a week since his whole life started to unravel and he had hardly seen, let alone spoken to meiko throughout that entire time.

over text, she’d sworn up and down that she loved and cared about him but as she passed by him packing his things a few days ago, she’d barely spared him a second glance.

hajime wasn’t going to lie. it hurt. he’d opened his heart up to her, something he didn’t do easily, and she’d taken his trust and used it to twist him into her weapon.

he always believed he was stronger than this — he’d never forget his mother telling him so when he was younger. he had fallen and scraped his knee yet he refused to cry to keep from upsetting his mom. iwaizumi existed to live up to what his mother thought of him but here he was, completely enveloped in meiko’s shit, doing her dirty work and following her bidding like some mutt.

god, toorū was right. he really was her bitch.

“i could hear you thinking from down the hall, iwa-chan.” speak of the devil...

oikawa stood at his doorway, leaning against the frame with a posture that seemed relaxed at first glance but if you looked a little closer, you’d notice the tenseness in his shoulders and the tightness of his smile.

hajime quickly sat up on his bed before motioning for his old friend to enter. “uh, yeah,” he began, his voice cracking a little from disuse, “i have a lot to think about.”

the light haired brunette let out an understanding hum before wandering into the room, sharp observant eyes darting to look at all the empty walls. “looks like you’re all packed.”

“pretty much,” iwaizumi nodded before the room fell into an awkward silence, the two childhood friends completely avoiding one another’s eyes.

“look, i-“

“iwa-chan, i’m-“

they both paused for a moment before bursting into laughter, the sound carrying into the hall and throughout the house.

hajime wiped a few stray tears from his eyes, shaking his head at their awkwardness. “you first, shittykawa.”

toorū gasped in halfhearted mock offense before quickly sobering up, training iwaizumi with a completely serious look. “i’m sorry and before you go on some bullshit, self sacrificing rant, you’re not the only one to blame for what happened to our friendship.”

he sighed while making his way to iwaizumi’s bed, sitting down gently beside him. “i should’ve known better, okay? i shouldn’t have let my jealousy and insecurities get in between us but i guess i got swept up in the attention, yknow? meiko is actually charming when she wants to be.”

iwaizumi nodded in agreement, knowing all too well how compelling meiko could be. the room fell into a more comfortable silence as both boys escaped into their thoughts, questions about the future of their friendship flitting throughout their minds.

“oh!” oikawa was pulled out of his own head at hajime’s exclamation, his eyes moving to observe his friend dig through his pockets to procure a thick white envelope. “here. i’d like you to give this yn.”

all toorū could do was nod, his brain short circuiting at the sight of iwaizumi’s apparent kindness to the woman he tormented for so long. “uh, what’s in it?” he ventured to ask, his soft hands toying with the sealed envelope flap.

a soft chuckle came from across the bed. “don’t be so nosy toorū, just give it to her, yeah?” oikawa rolled his eyes but obliged, the bed creaking as he stood to his feet.

“so... this is it, huh?” it was like the reality of the situation was just now sinking in — they hadn’t been close in a while but iwaizumi was still his best friend and he wasn’t quite ready to let him go.

they’d been through so much together, practically growing up together and now, they’d only see each other on holidays, if even then, and then he’d never be invited to hajime’s wedding as his best man as they’d planned and he also wouldn’t be the coolest uncle/godfather of iwa’s children and—

“fuck no,” hajime scoffed with a bright grin on his face. “thought you were gonna annoy me til the end of time shittykawa. don’t tell me you’re quitting your job now.”

the hidden meaning behind iwaizumi’s words brought tears to oikawa’s eyes and before he could stop himself, he launched his body into iwa’s arms. hajime hesitated, his hands stuttering at toorū’s sides as though he’d forgotten how to hug but the feeling passed, his arms winding around his friend’s lithe waist.

“‘m gonna miss you hajime,” oikawa’s voice came out as a broken whimper, his arms tightening around his shoulders.

iwaizumi hummed instead of responding, too afraid of his voice cracking under the weight of his emotions. they stood there for a moment but the honk of the moving truck outside signaled the both of them of their limited time.

hurriedly, oikawa wiped the tears off his cheeks before waving awkwardly at iwaizumi as he left the room with a friendly, “don’t be a stranger.”

and then he was gone.

toorū finally allowed himself to collapse into sobs on his best friends empty bed, his palms pressing into his eyes as he sat there and just let himself feel.

apparently, he wasn’t crying very quietly because it took only a few moments for you to find him, your soft footsteps alerting him to your presence. oikawa scrambled to wipe away what he knew was an unattractive mixture of tears and snot as you got closer.

you were one of the last people he wanted to see him like this.

“hey,” you whispered, standing a few feet away from him. “um, i know this is probably a bad time but i just wanted to thank you for apologizing? back at the awards show?”

toorū sniffed as he looked up at you with confusion written on his face. “what? you shouldn’t thank me for apologizing. ‘s common courtesy.”

you laughed softly, nodding in agreement. “well, not always. so, thank you.” finished with your piece and not too keen on lingering where you weren’t wanted, you moved towards the door but were swiftly stopped before you got there.

“um, here. it’s from iwa-chan.” you gaped at the thick envelope oikawa was handing you before taking it and opening it, a low curse falling from your lips.

inside the package was a dense wad of cash, more money than you’d seen in months. accompanied with it was a letter, written in beautifully loopy handwriting.

you shut it quickly before oikawa could see, stuffing the envelope deep within your pocket where you could access it alone in the depths of your room.

“do you wanna come eat? last i heard, bokuto and tsumu were doing a cooking competition and i’m sure it’ll be fun to watch.” you were severely thrown off by the money and letter but you were determined to show toorū that you’d accepted his apology and were on your way to making amends.

he gave you a shy nod and trailed behind you to the kitchen, the loud sounds of fire and screaming coming from down the hall. you wanted to focus on the fun and merriment but the envelope was practically burning a hole in your pocket.

later that night, you finally got the chance to open the letter and read it, your former manager’s words bringing tears to your eyes.

dear yn,

i’m probably the last person you expected to hear from. you probably didn’t want to hear from me at all if i’m being honest and i don’t blame you. i know there is nothing i can say that could make up for what i’ve done to you but i’d like to try.

i’m sorry. those words don’t nearly express in and of themselves how truly remorseful i am but they needed to be said. there’s no excuse for how i treated you — not meiko, not my stress, absolutely nothing.

you deserved my common decency and respect and i didn’t give that to you. instead, i abused my position and made your life hell. i’ll never forgive myself for that.

uh, i bet you’re wondering what the money is? i promise i’m not trying to pay you off, it’s just all the money i’ve denied you since you moved here. i have a lot of wrongs to right and this is one of them.

sorry, i’m not very good with words but i just wanted you to know that i’m very sorry for everything that i’ve done. and i’m in no place to make demands or anything but i just wanted to ask if you’d keep an eye on oikawa for me.

he’s strong but he’s also vulnerable. he might be a pain in my ass but he’s my best friend and since i can’t keep him from drowning, i was wondering if you’d do that - not for me but for him.

anyways, this letter is shit but i suppose you get the gist. use the money for whatever you want and if you’re as unselfish as i’ve heard, you don’t owe me anything. you don’t owe me money, kindness, or forgiveness.

take care of yourself,

iwaizumi hajime

℗ poker face

so... this is it

series masterlist

(●’◡’●)ﾉ

an - soooo m back :D hopefully this is the last of my mini hiatuses!! this chapter sucked to write but i’m not mad at how it turned out?? pls let me know how i did skjdkd don’t forget to feed me <3333

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