#like its so good its so fascinating in my head i have a whole hxh au

[isaut]

𝒄𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒐 𝒔𝒖𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒏𝒐. 𝑰 𝒊𝒏 𝒈 𝒎𝒂𝒋𝒐𝒓: 𝑰. 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒖𝒅𝒆 — chrollo x f!reader. song

originally posted on my old blog @/saintchrollo after i read anna karenina for the first time. court advisor!chrollo (but you all know he's kuroro to me) and princess!reader. i've been in such a kuroro mood you'll have to forgive me. its something about autumn and schoolin. here is a link to an audiobook of anna karenina so you don't have an excuse to not go read it.

“I thought I might find you here.” 

The voice from behind startles you. You jump slightly in your chair, holding the book you had been reading against your chest. Turning, you relax slightly upon seeing where the voice was coming from. “Lord Lucifuru, you startled me.” 

The black haired man tilts his head to the side as he approaches, hand resting on the back of your armchair. “Are we not on a first name basis anymore, Princesse?” He lilts the title in the accent he’s picked up from his years of council. 

You avoid his gaze, cheeks heating up. The room warms with the memories of the other night. Squirreled away behind a statue, whispered confessions, his lips everywhere they shouldn’t have been— Your lips, your neck, your chest. 

“What if we aren’t alone?” You whisper. If you lose yourself to the daydream enough, you can feel his hands on your hips. 

“I checked,” Kuroro says, voice soft and reassuring. “We are most certainly alone.” 

You straighten up and crane your head around, as if to double check his words. He tilts your head back towards him with a finger under your chin. 

“I’d never steer you wrong,” Kuroro promises, then tacks on, “[First.]” 

It fills you with such warmth to hear your name from his lips, and you have to avert your gaze to keep yourself from melting into a puddle. 

“Are you sure there’s no one else here?” You ask again. 

“And risk my own head?” Kuroro asks, a smile pulling at the left of his lips. 

You suppose he has a point. You relax back into the chair, resting your book on your chest to hold its place. “Have you been searching for me, then, Kuroro?” 

His half smile reaches his eyes. That’s more like it. “I have, actually. All over. I should have started here, it seems. Would of had more time with you.” 

“You should have known I’d be here,” You hum. “After all, I was told this morning over breakfast that my crate of books finally got deemed… What’s the word you use?” 

“They were found to be without ill intent,” Kuroro restates. “We just wanted to be sure that no harm would come to you.” 

“Father coddles me,” You remark, “As do you.” 

“Well, I’d be out of a job if I didn’t do as he told. And you’d be out of a job if you didn’t get coddled. That is under the description of princess.” 

“I do other things,” You protest. 

“I know you do,” Kuroro says, his eyes glancing down at the book splayed across your chest before back to your eyes. 

“What have you come found me for?” You press. 

“Do I always have an ulterior motive with you?” Kuroro returns your question with one of his own. At the raise of your eyebrow, he concedes. “There is a dinner tonight that you are expected to attend. A prince is here to make your acquaintance, in the most casual manner possible.”

Disgust fills your face. “This is what you come to tell me of?” 

“Would you have preferred someone else?” Kuroro asks. 

No, you’d rather have not. “I simply thought… I thought you had come to see me. For no other reason than to see me.”

Kuroro hums. He cups your cheek in his hand, thumb smoothing over its softness. You can’t help but lean into his touch, bring your hand to cover his. To keep him close. 

“I offered to come tell you,” Kuroro promises, crouching down by your chair. “I wanted to break the news to you, not someone else.” 

“Will you be at dinner?” You inquire. 

“I’ll be there. I must advise your father that the visiting suitor is not up to your family’s standards. That is my job, after all. As an adivisor and as a lover.” 

Kuroro’s tongue was always so smooth, and if you had more control over your life you’d be wary of it. But, with your sole outlet being the man before you, you ease yourself against his silver words. 

“Lover?” You repeat, eyelashes fluttering at such a title. 

“Should I take it back?” He asks with bated breath. 

You shake your head. “You should tell Father to marry us instead.”

Kuroro’s chuckle is self deprecating. “I am no king.” 

“You could be,” You whisper, getting your hopes up against your best judgement. 

“My best work is done from the shadows, my darling. I crumple under the public eye. And you were made for it. The people adore you.” 

You pout. “You’re going to break my heart.” 

Kuroro smiles gently at you. “You’ve known that, [First.]”

“I wish I didn’t,” You sigh. “I wish I wasn’t so aware.”

Kuroro shifts his hand to take yours in his own, bringing your knuckles to his lips. The gesture is familiar, impersonal now. He rolls your hand over, slides his fingers down your wrist, the underside of your forearm, and presses a kiss into the palm of your hand. 

“It’s for the best you are,” Kuroro says. “Tomorrow I will find time in our schedules for us to take a walk, how does that sound?” 

“A long walk?” 

“A long walk.” 

Your fingers trace Kuroro’s jaw. “Why not tonight? Why not now?” 

“You are not dressed for a walk,” Kuroro says softly. “And you need to get ready for dinner. We do not have time for a walk right now, sweet [First.]” 

“Oh.” Your fingers stop their movements, and you withdraw your hand. 

“Would you like me to walk you to your room?” Kuroro asks. 

“Will you stay while I get ready?” You hope. 

Kuroro sadly shakes his head. “I can go get you something from the kitchen and come back while delivering it.”

“So yes?” You conclude. 

“In a way,” Kuroro says, standing. He holds his hand out for you to take, which you gladly do. 

You look around you, double checking for your solitude. The door would have been audible had it opened. 

“Do you think I could have a kiss?” You whisper. 

“A kiss?” Kuroro hums. Slowly, he lowers his head until his breath mingles with yours. 

“Please?” 

“You should never have to ask for anything,” Kuroro responds, sealing his statement with a solid yet brief press of his lips against yours. “It is cruel that you want what you can’t have.”

There is no second kiss, just a hand on your cheek and Kuroro’s steady breath. A whine leaves your lips. 

Slowly, you open your eyes to look at him. “One more?” 

He obliges, slotting your lips together. The kiss lasts for a breath longer, his tongue gently swiping against your bottom lip before pulling away. 

“I don’t think I’ll ever be able to kiss anyone else,” You murmur. 

Kuroro chuckles at that. “I’m sure you’ll kiss many more.” 

You shake your head. “I don’t wish to.” 

“You flatter me,” Kuroro murmurs, “When it should be the other way around.”

This turn, you hum, a little smile flickering across your lips. You pull away, out of the fear that built inside you from the amount of private time you’d had. Someone was bound to come for you any moment. 

Greedily, Kuroro steals another kiss before leading you out of the room. It’s a cold walk down the halls, shoes echoing on the stone, a distinct space left between both of you. The wind from your walk whips through it. The more distance put between yourself and the library, the larger the space becomes. And, as you round the corner of the hall, you can no longer feel the lingering warmth against your lips. 

[punderfulowl]

Top 10 Anime (That I've Seen) in 2019

Three months late than never, I guess? There has been a LOT going on in my life and recent developments going on in the world doesn’t help things. However, I recently found a bit of a silver lining to help me back up onto the positive side of things and I hope to turn this into momentum.

With that said, I want to explain the rules of my end of the year list. As the title shows, this list won't be a showcase for the best anime that came out last year, but rather the best anime that I happened to view last year. I’m not the first to make a list in this format, but I find it fun to do so. 

Okay, let’s finally put 2019 to bed! Starting with...

10. Lord El-Melloi II’s Case Files (2019)

Once again, something Fate-related graces its presence on my end of the year list. Sure, being simply what it is gives it a good chance to make it on here, but what made it earn its spot, at least for me, is that this anime gave me a pleasant detour of what I’m used to from the Fate franchise. In short, this anime expands on the Fate lore, specifically on the mages of the Clock Tower, through eyes of an older Waver Velvet (Fate/Zero) as he solves magical mysteries with his Saber-faced partner, Gray. There’s no earth shattering revelations here, but, like I said, it’s a fun detour with magic, decent fight scenes, world building, and some “feels” if you stay till the end of the series. 

9. Humanity Has Declined (2012)

Well, isn’t this the most colorful post-apocalypse ever? 

Humanity Has Declined takes place on a post-apocalyptic world where the human population is down, resources are scarce, and tiny being called “Fairies” seem to be everywhere. The show is episodic in nature, but it doesn’t need to be anything more than that. After all, we don’t always need some deep commentary with a story that takes place after the world ends. Sometimes we just want to see how the remaining inhabitants live their lives in this soothingly-colored environment. If only Covid-19 was more colorful...

8. Shigofumi (2008)

What if you suddenly found yourself in the afterlife and had the opportunity to write one last letter to someone that’s still alive? Who would you send it to? What would it say? Shigofumi takes place in a universe where these happen and, well, there’s not much else I can say about it. Full disclosure, I can get pretty sappy when it comes to stories that involve heartfelt letters. I’m not doing a good job at convincing you to seek this anime out, but please give it a chance.

7. Kakegurui (2017)

Yeah, jumping from a show that tugs at my heartstrings to a show that scratches my head, here’s Kakegurui!

Kakegurui takes place at a prestigious (you guessed it) high school where your place in the social order is decided on gambling. Me trying to describe anything that happens in this anime won’t do it justice. It’s nuts, but it has my respect despite the violence and fan service. A philosophy I have for stories like these is if you’re gonna go crazy, go all in and it surely does. If any of this doesn’t appeal to you, at least check out its OP because it is, as the kids say these days, a “bop”.

6. Aggretsuko S2 (2019)

When putting this list together, trying to figure out what I’d rank where, and coming up with what I wanted to say for each, I decided to add a new rule: No more sequels. That doesn’t mean that I’ll never watch new seasons of a show, but I just won’t include them on the lists for now on. 

With that said, Aggretsuko season two was more of what made me a fan since last season: relatable scenarios for us twenty-somethings. Season two decided to focus on the struggles of romantic relationships and even though it was touched upon in the previous season, it went a little deeper this time.

5. Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl-Senpai (2018)

This anime fascinates me in more ways than one. In the biggest way, I consider this show to be on par with the movie, “Cabin in the Woods,” because fans of both have done a good job without giving anything away. To keep this (kinda) tradition up, I will also not say too much. I WILL say that I loved the dialogue and dry sense of humor. Please watch this so you can be in on this, as well!

4. The Rising of the Shield Hero (2019)

I didn’t watch this because it was recommended to me, I watched it because people kept making memes from it.

The Rising of the Shield Hero surprised a lot of anime fans considering that it was ANOTHER isekai, but it just goes to show that an overexposed genre still has room for the occasional compelling story. I was originally going to put this in the top three, but decided to dock it a spot out of precaution. It has another season coming up which means a whole season to screw this up...please don’t screw this up!

3. Infinite Ryvius (1999)

It’s Anime Lord of the Flies in Space. Yes, it’s better than it sounds.

Infinite Ryvius follows a big group of students living and learning in a space station, but one thing leads to another and now these kids have to fend for themselves. The biggest strength this anime has is how lived-in the environment feels. You get to see all these minor characters live their lives whenever the camera isn’t focused on the main cast. It’s also nice to look back on the amazing 90s animation. Take some time for this underrated classic when you get the chance!

2. Made in Abyss (2017)

“Don’t judge a book by its cover,” indeed.

I was definitely one of those that went into this thinking this was going to be a cutesy adventure, but coming out the other end being several shades of wrong. The abyss is a strange and fascinating world that, in a way, becomes a character in its own right. Can’t wait to learn some more when the movie comes out!

1. Hunter x Hunter (2011)

I’ll admit that Hunter x Hunter being number one on this list is a bit unfair, but it’s also earned. For a long time, HxH was one of those shows that I would hear about here and there, but never anything in-depth. Any art I would see came across as colorful with nothing that would stand out to me. What would eventually get this anime on my radar, oddly enough, was a bit in an AMVHell. Skip ahead to about this time last year and I would finally give show a try. I don’t remember ever coming across a fictional world that’s this thought out. The rules of the power structure alone is enough to floor me. The characters are likable as well as interesting. The animation is consistent throughout. GAH! Please check this out if you haven’t. This very well may be the best shounen anime ever made!