#she's such an intruiging case i love her so much

[bluerasbunny]

I HAVE REALIZED I FORGOT TO INTRODUCE THE OC I'VE POSTED MOST ABOUT.

here she is; Phoenix Apollo Kolasi!

somethign something 'i'm the prettiest poison you've ever seen /lyr'. queen bee, resident social climber, carrying a very complicated relationship with the idea of love and being loved, this close to killing orion with her bare hands- phoenix is by far one of my favorite of my OCs!! she's a very, very complicated character with a lot of depth to her (and if i went into detail i fear it'd do terrifying things to this posts length) and a very, VERY important one for the story!!

[monsterswithimagines]

Undisclosed Desires - Part 4

Joe Goldberg x female!Reader

Summary: Twenty minutes before he would have met Guinevere Beck, Joe meets you instead. You intruige him, but it will soon become clear that there is something off about you.

Words: 1121

Masterlist

American Gods is a very good book, I'll give you that. It's about a man whose wife dies while he's in prison. When he gets out, he starts to work for an eccentric stranger. His wife's corpse follows him around. It's exactly the kind of stuff I imagined you'd read.

I tear through it in a few days, and am disappointed when I hate your other favorites. Addie Larue is alright (Addie falls for a guy in a bookstore) but I can't stand The Secret History or The Raven Boys and have to put them both down before I'm even halfway through them.

Are these the kind of people you're into, (Y/n)? Rich assholes who think they own the world? If that's the case, I have no chance with you.

But no. Shadow Moon is your favorite, and he is an every man's man. He went to prison for aggressive behavior, but I can tell that he is not an aggressive person. He made a mistake and he regrets it. Like me.

I'll admit, (Y/n), that I have made mistakes in the past. Before you, there was Candace, and everything about that relationship was a mistake. I regret my behavior deeply. But it's okay, because it was all just practise for the moment I met you.

We text a little throughout the next week. It's all superficial. Sometimes you tell me you're at work, but you don't tell me where it is that you work or what you do there. I get the sense that you don't want me to know too much about you.

I tell you I'm reading American Gods because of you.

YOU: !!!!!

YOU: lemme kno what u think!!

But you don't give me any more than that, and when I tell you I loved it you only send me a smiley.

Worse, I'm not at Mooney's when you next come in. Ethan tells me he saw you, and I want to put my hand through a wall.

I've only just found you, (Y/n), and I already feel like I'm losing you.

Finally, a lucky break. You come to the store again, and this time you're not alone.

There's a girl with you. She's taller than you, and dresses more modestly. She's also more quiet, but you introduce her to me as Nadia Ronig and when you both leave - not a lot of conversation between us today. You're focussing on your friend - I find her on Instagram.

And through her, you.

Nadia is from Belgium and is visiting you for the week. Like most people, she enjoys attention more than she lets on. Her account is public, and she is a serial-poster. Which is how I find out you've had breakfast together at the same place two days in a row. You are a creature of habit.

She's also posted a picture of your apartment building, and the park next to it, which is how I finally, finally find out where you live.

You shouldn't let your friends post pictures like this so publicly, (Y/n). This time it's just me, but anyone could find you this way. Who knows what kinds of creeps might be interested?

Scrolling back through Nadia's account, I find pictures of you together as young adults, teenagers, even as children. You've known this girl for a long time. Maybe longer than anyone else. That's important to know, because it means you must value her deeply. She values you, anyway. Until three months ago, when you must have moved, almost every one of her posts included you.

I find Nadia on Twitter, too, and realize pretty quickly that the account she most interacts with is you. @MoonShadow_. You don't use your own name because you don't want to be known, but you've told me American Gods is your favorite. You wanted me to find you on here.

On Twitter, your account is public. You mostly post about books, in English anyway. With Nadia, you interact in Dutch, and translating it makes me understand why it's been so hard for me to get to know you. In English you're aloof, but in Dutch you're not afraid to speak your mind. You talk about your day and your life and your political opinions, which mean nothing to me because I don't know any European politicians.

Maybe I'll learn Dutch for you. I won't let you know about it right away - it'll be a surprise. We'll go to the Netherlands for an anniversary of some sort and I'll be able to talk to your family in their language. You'll see how good I am to you, how hard I'm willing to work.

And I am willing to work for you. Of course I am. Otherwise, I wouldn't be outside your building at two am. Don't you think I'd rather be sleeping? But these are the things I do for you.

It may be late, but the lights in your apartment are still on, so I can watch you. You live in a shoebox on the first floor. It's a single room with an attached bathroom. Your windows are open, and you have curtains but they aren't closed. You're on an air mattress on the floor, scrolling through your phone. Nadia has your bed, but she's in the bathroom right now.

I like your apartment, (Y/n). It may be tiny, but it's undeniably you. Every wall is covered by a bookcase, except for where you keep a rack of clothes. You don't have a kitchen but you do own a microwave. You eat exclusively TV-dinners, as far as I've seen. When we're together I'll take better care of you than that.

I'm across the street. It's not a good neighborhood to be out alone this late, but I'm willing to risk it for you.

Nadia comes out of the bathroom, and the two of you start a conversation.

The street is narrow enough that I can hear the two of you talking. That doesn't help me, though - you and Nadia speak Dutch, exclusively. I wish I understood what you were saying, because I think it would help me know you. Unfortunately, I'll have to make do just listening to the sound of your voice and the tone you speak in.

I think you two are having an argument. Either that, or Dutch is just an exceptionally harsh language.

After a while, you turn out the lights and you both go to sleep. I'll leave, for now, but I'll be back tomorrow. During the day, this time. I want to see where you go every day. What you do when you're not reading.

It's time for the two of us to meet somewhere outside of where I work, don't you think?

[greyghoulette]

my notes on the reckoning of new york demo (spoilers of course)

new character redesigns -

•D’Angelo with the vape pen my beloved

•Thomas wearing RED and that COAT, they did that for me thank you for everything draw distance.

•Ok Qadir I see the vision with the outfit, love his redesign. Miss his suit though, but I guess it’s chilly outside so.

•Aisling looks really young, younger than she was. She was 25 when she was embraced and to me she now looks around 20. I don’t want to come across as nitpicky I just wasn’t expecting it.

•I’m kinda glad they’ve went with a natural skin tone with Panhard, her face to me is unique! Her outfit is cool

•Julia in JEANS, she looks so fuckingn cool I love my loser gf so much

•Payne and his servant p much the same

•So glad they gave Torque his hat back, I missed it

•Valerie…. is Valerie not much to say on that

new characters -

•Kali is already a fav, love her inner dialogue yet with the trailer I have SO many questions about the similarities in outfit and accessories with the character appearing to feature in Padraic’s route

•Very intruiged for Padraic’s route, esp with him being a mediator and on Torque’s side. From the trailer there is another chatacter who is quite important to him who I think we won’t see at all (apart from being mentioned) until Padraic’s route

•Love Padraic’s fashion (also more Irish rep? We love to see it)

•It seems we’re going to be getting a lot out of this game, esp with the additional route where we play as Padraic. Maybe there will also be a third route that wraps things up?

•The hunters are interesting, don’t really have much to say about them as of right now

•Hound’s character description saying he just wants to play video games he’s so me

•No name for him yet but the guy basically cosplaying Blade, I respect that

•The menu music and the trailer music is so fucking good I can’t wait to obsess over the soundtrack when we hear more of it

•The backgrounds we’ve seen so far in the demo and the trailer are STUNNING, I can’t wait for an art book release

story notes -

•We are in 2024 now, going into 2025. The last game was in 2020, we can assume a lot of shit has went down but Panhard is still prince

•Kali attempting to use Awe in Elysium. Kali my sweet summer child.

•I’ve seen multiple ppl mention that Padraic could be a Malkavian caitiff which I find very intriguing.

•Also Padraic is apparently a mediator and he’s an anarch seemingly? If Torque is bringing around Padraic and not Mia then that seems odd but time has passed maybe something happened

•Where is SAMIRA GAME WHERE IS SHE WHERE IS SAMIRA WHERE IS SAMIRA

•Thomas yap yap yapping we are so back

•We love to see more of Panhard, but I feel it will not end well for my girl this game

•The Shadows of New York good ending being canon, again thank you for everything draw distance

•So they mention that two duskborn have been killed and another kindred, from the Ventrue Clan “Just last night, two Duskborn and a fledgling from your clan were reduced to ashes”

•Are Hunters the main threat here? Knowing this franchise I doubt that’s the case. It sounds like there’s been an issue of multiple kindred dying over the past couple years

•…Is Larson alive? He was completely absent in Shadows, and in Coteries he COULD seemingly die depending on what choice you made in D’Angelo’s route on how to deal with Sana

•I just love the Christmas setting, going into new year. It’s like they’ve read my mind.

•The art style initially put me off, but it definitely matches the tone their going for, which I feel we would lose with the previous games style

•The trailer showed clan symbols in different territories and I don’t know much about the geography of New York, but the Tzimisce symbol was on Ellis Island right ??? (interesting because in New York By Night, Isaac’s sire Vaclav resides there)

•So that was definitely Reyner with Aisling at the very end of the demo right? Looking at it, the silhouette doesn’t match with anyone else

In conclusion, I am so hype for this game. Yet with it being the final one I’m also so nervous for how it’s going to end, like I’ve been way too invested in these set of games and sometimes I feel embarrassed about it, but these games really helped me through a horribly shitty time in my life so their a comfort for me (even though there is no comfort in them but y’know)

[stargatelov3r]

Oh bestie I absolutely wanna hear you go off about Elizabeth and Simon

okay bestie, here goes (i don't even think it's super controversion but i have been thinking about them a while)

first of all, in their case i'm not a person that denies their relationship. of course we could just go ahead and pretend the relationship never happened but i think it serves its purpose that's why it's part of my personal canon

They probably met at a party of a friend of them, or some kind of event or something, they fell in love, and i do believe they fell in love. it wasn't the romance of the century but that's nothing Elizabeth wanted anyways, or was even expecting. They got enganged, moved in with each other, but Elizabeth probably kept a small apartment somewhere, a safety apartment so to speak. Simon probably didn't know about it.

I think the biggest thing about their relationship is that they settled for it. As i mentioned before, i think they did love each other at some point, and they did like each other's company (for a while) but I also feel like there were huuuuge, unsurmountable differences between them. I think Simon wanted to get married bc he wanted a family, a home, stability, follow tradition. Idk if he ever questioned that.

Elizabeth also wanted that, at least a home, a family (but only when she arrived in atlantis did she realize that family can mean much more and different things than a husband and children and maybe a dog. a dog can be a family for that matter). But she also wanted something else, she wanted adventure, she wanted to work, she wanted to help people, she always believed that what she did was important, and she didn't want to give that up for the family home with the picket fence.

i'm not sure if they ever talked about it. i think for a while they were living together and as coincidence will, they were both living and working in the same place. But then Elizabeth got assignments that led her further away, and they never talked about it. And then Stargate Command happened. Then Antarctica. Then Atlantis. And I don't think they ever talked about that either. Elizabeth never asked Simon if he was okay with that, she didn't question that it would get into the way of their relationship (at first). Maybe Simon led her to believe that he would always be there, that he would be her haven once she got back.

I think the basis of their relationship is a colossal lack of communication and the voicing of one's dreams, wishes and desires, or at least actual discussions about what these dreams, wishes and desires meant for their time together. They were living together, but they were living parallel lives, and at some point Elizabeth took a turn and Simon just kept going straight forward.

I still believe they loved each other on some level, but as I said earlier, I think they mostly settled for each other. It was nice in the beginning, then it was comfortable, then neither really wanted to leave the relationship bc why would you leave something so comfortable? As long as there are no real problems you can stick around, right?

Anyways, Elizabeth leaves, not knowing if she'll ever come back. "Home" happens and i think it shows in the deepest sense what Elizabeth saw in the relationship with Simon, he was kind, he was hopeful, he was attentive, he was honest, heartfelt, he loved her openly. It was the ideal, maybe it was the Simon she first fell in love with.

But as time moved on, as things in the pegasus galaxy grew worse she realized that this was not working out, this was not fair towards Simon, who she believed was still waiting for her at home, so she let him go. This has absolutely nothing to do with a certain stunning and intruiging Athosian woman ;)

But lo and behold, they can return to earth! she can see Simon again! and turns out, he's actually kind of a dick. not because he moved on, i don't blame him for that, at least she told him to do so (but it begs the question if he even watched her message? we never saw him finish the first one, maybe he never did, or not until a few months later. Or if he even got her message, we know some people didn't). For some reason I don't believe he waited for Elizabeth to break up with him to look for someone else. Again, can't really blame him, she went off to gods know where, no idea when she would come back.

But what majorly pisses me off is the way he behaved when she actually came to talk to him about coming to Atlantis in person. he was so cold, so abrasive, so dismissive of the whole thing, shut off and again, not really telling things how they were. Okay, you can wonder why Elizabeth would come back to Earth and pretend like they were still together. And I do wonder about that. We don't see their first meeting (at least I don't think the one we saw in "The Intruder" was their first one), but I think that Elizabeth called him or maybe just showed up at his place to say "hiiii i'm back, how are things." He could have told her right then and there that he found someone else.

maybe he really didn't watch the message, because then he'd KNOW that she gave him the go ahead and he technically wouldn't have to feel guilty bc girl it was her idea!

So yeah, she put him on the list, he got the NDA but didn't sign it but didn't even have the guts to tell her, didn't have the guts to tell her that he was seeing someone else UNTIL SHE COOKED A FUCKING CANDLELIGHT DINNER FOR HIM. Really. You waited until then. Wow. Thanks for nothing i guess.

Anyways, I think letting Simon go in that message in "Letters from Pegasus" was not an easy decision for Elizabeth, because of everything i said in the beginning. And maybe some part of her still hoped that he would be there once she got back, she was definitely shaken up about it, but I don't think you can blame her.

ANYWAYS, after "The Intruder" Elizabeth is totally free from any attachements she still has to earth (save her mom) and i think that will only work out in her favour :)

that was a lot, but these are my two cents on Elizabeth and Simon

it turned out to be a lot longer than i thought

thanks for reading!

sleepover asks

[symphonic-scream]

fma au chloix? Ur hcs about them are always great no matter what au

Skdidbdnsbdb

Cap and I have had many a conversation about this cause I can't shut up about this au or about them

Combing the two has made me into a monster

So, I present, as much as I can remember and be bothered to type out about them. Enjoy

Stuff to sum up what should be known: Alix is the mechanic slash automail engineer for Juleka, but she has a capacity to use alchemy and she's the only one that knows she's the last living person to know the secrets of flame alchemy. Chloe is the commander of the northern base, Fort Briggs, transferred after her mother had a huge scandal

So at one point Luka and Juleka need to head up north, and Juleka's arm and leg freeze up, and they need to call Alix up to fix it. When she arrives up North she had a drink on the train, and at first sight she's just, in Love with Chloe. She had a bunch of flowers she bought from tipsyness and there's way too much, and she bought them as "get well soon" flowers to mock Juleka but thats out the window

Chloe: hello, Mechanic, Guardian, and, Guest. Welcome to Fort Briggs. I am Major General Bourgeois, and I will be escorting you-

Alix: HEEEEY YOURE PRETTY, I GOTCHU SOME FLOWERS~

Chloe: i- I'm sorry, is she drunk??

Nathaniel: honestly I have no idea

The answer btw is no, she's not drunk, just acting drunk in case her flirting isn't well received. But, it very much is. Chloe is very intruiged, finds this actually charming. She is also basically in love at first sight

Chloe: oh noo we didn't anticipate these two random men we only have one spare room, oh where will Alix stay-

Juleka: she can share with me

Alix: *glaring and hissing* DONT. RUIN. THIS. FOR. ME.

Juleka: ...nevermind

Chloe: okay, well- ahem, I suppose I can set you up on my office couch

Well. Alix doesn't end up on the couch. I'll assume y'all can figure out where she ends up sleeping but just know. PG-13.

Plot shit happens, Alix stays in the Fort Longer. Everyone who lives there full time is weirded out cause like. Their cold, mean-affectionate leader is like a lovesick puppy suddenly, but only around or towards this snarky, little mechanic

Alix does have to go back to her apprenticeship eventually, so they do spend 6 months apart. They do mail each other letters. Chloe sends Alix scrap metal to make shit with, Alix has flowers sent up north since they tend to die. Oh, and the overly cheesy, grossly romantic letters

They don't meet up again until the final fight segment. So uh. Trying to keep away from too many spoilers for FMA, won't do those unless y'all ask and then I'd give a warning. But there is a big climax fight

So by this point the cat is out of the bag, Alix has shown she can use flame alchemy but she really doesn't do it often cause her mom wouldn't want her to use it violently

But she gotta cause big climax fight. Long story short she ends up super injuring her hand before she meets up with Chloe and they have a moment

Chloe: h-hey! You're here! I missed- oh, darling, what happened to your hand?

Alix: ah, I'm okay, love, I promise. Just, my little sacrifice for the greater good,

And Chloe takes her injured hand and kisses it all sweet,

Felix: what the fuck gross

Fight happens, fight ends, and epilogue. Chloe gets transferred back to the main city where Alix lives, and they move in together over Alix's new automail shop. They ask their friends to help them move in, all without telling them they got married.

Cause they got married

Alix made their rings herself, smelted them with her own flames to honour her mother and all that. Her dad who is alive and shit and back, he signs off on the marriage and that's that they're gross and domestic and in love forever

I hope this is what you were looking for and if not, let me know so I can talk about them even more

[natewrightt]

Hello, could you write a fluff Five x reader where they got married in secret while in the 60s and the siblings realize after seeing the couple being cute together and they think it's adorable how in love Five is ?

Please, love ur blog 😊💖

 Summary: Five Hargreeves enjoyed the sixties a lot more then he originally thought he would.

Ship: Five Hargreeves x criminal!reader

Warnings: none

Note: I added so many details because I love this concept LMAO. also I don’t know how I would be able to make them married because he’s in a 13 year old body??? but yeah I tried djddoidjkijsds 💖

“Hey, stop right there!” the cashier of Manny’s Groceries shouted, grabbing everybody’s attention.

But she didn’t stop.

She turned around and flipped the worker off, then ran faster out of the scene and she completely disappeared by the time the police had arrived. And besides, they didn’t have much to go by. The girl was wearing a large hoodie with leggings and converse. It was pointless.

That girl was none other then Y/N L/N, a 13 year old ‘criminal’ who lived on the main floor of an apartment building without anyone knowing. However, mentally, she was 60. A long time ago, her body was frozen by her parents because the girl suffered from a sickness that didn’t have a cure. Just recently she was unfrozen and given the cure, but her parents had died and now she’s all alone, stealing from stores just to survive. 

Y/N arrived in the apartment building and practically collapsed to the ground from exhaustion. Looking through the bag, she was relieved to find her favorite item: waffles. She would eat those delicious things if they were stepped on by the worlds dirtiest pair of boots. The starving girl stuffed about 3 in her mouth, being sure to swallow it down with a water bottle she had found on the ground outside. It wasn’t the best life to live, but it certainly wasn’t the worst.

She gazed at the clock on the wall. Shit! Y/N was going to be late. Getting up and running towards Elliot Gussman’s door, she was surprised to see that it was open. That paranoid man always locked his door.

You could say that Y/N was Elliot’s friend, or you could say that she was really interested in his crazy theories he makes up. Either way, it’s still fun.

“Elliot?” she called, holding the box of waffles like it was a weapon. The ruffling noise in the room had got quiet, and Y/N gulped. “Hey, if it’s not a good time, then-”

Suddenly, a boy that appeared her age was in front of her in a flash of blue. She was so taken aback that she fell over. However, she caught herself and the boy furrowed his eyebrows, seemingly impressed.

“Do you know Elliot?” He asked, weary of her every move. She scoffed, deciding to be sarcastic towards him.

“No, I just happened to walk into the room calling Elliot. Elliot as in my dead cat. Have you seen him, by the way? He’s ab-”

He covered her mouth with his hand, rolling his eyes. Y/N was prepared though, and quickly bit down causing the boy to scream curses, letting go. She ran to Elliot.

“You okay? What happened? Did he hurt you?” She asks frantically, checking for injuries. Y/N would never let the only person who treated her with respect get hurt. 

“No, It’s fine. We’re fine.” He responds in a panicked voice. Too panicked. She looks back at the boy who’s smirking at her.

“Yeah. Let the adults talk, okay princess?”

- 

The 3 of them sat in Elliot’s living room. He was explaining his theories to the boy (named Five, out of all the names to exist) and he was very interested in the theories Elliot was talking about, except he actually believed them. One them being how the man saw people come out of ‘black holes’ in the exact same spot at different time periods. He was SO interested, in fact, that he offered to look for them.

That made Y/N suspicious.

Very suspicious.



After some very serious research (stalking) she had come to a conclusion that Five Hargreeves was from 2019 and he accidentally teleported his family to different parts of 1963 and were now determind to get back to their original home. It intruiged her a lot if she was being completly honest. Luckily, Elliot had eventually made a little room for her to stay in and Five was often there. So, her and Elliot were officially “part of the gang” as some people would put it.

After some time, Five and her got along REALLY well. They were both incredibly smart (and both mentally the same age but that was past the point) and had the same hobbies and interests. It wasn’t long before a relationship had started.

Well, it wasn’t labeled. And they certainly weren’t friends. Friends don’t share secret kisses and hold hands under the table.

And they thought that they could keep it secret.

And for awhile, they did.

-

Luther and Diego entered the house to find a dead Elliot on a chair. They were both very saddened by this, but it quickly turned into concern when the two of them couldn’t find Y/N anywhere.

She was always with him.

So you can only imagine the panicked state Five was in when he came in.

“What do you MEAN you don’t know where she is?!” He seethed, looking around. “How is she not with him? She’s ALWAYS with him!”

“Five, I’m sure we’ll find her-”

“Your reassurance is useless. I’LL find her, not you imbeciles. Now do us all a favor and stay here and...behave please. I’ll be back whenever.” And with that being said he teleported away.

-

In honesty, Five wasn’t that worried. He knew exactly where she was. It was a hiding spot she would go to whenever she felt sad or nervous. He went there immediatley to find her in the fetal position in the corner, crying and covered with Elliot’s blood.



“Y/N?” He asked weakly. She looked at him.

“He’s dead, isn’t he?” Her voice broke. Five couldn’t bare to do anything but nod sadly, looking away. 

“It’s my fault.” She muttered, barely audible for him to hear. “I...I watched them, Five. I watched 3 guys beat the absolute shit out of him...I did nothing. I just ran! Like an idiot! He would be alive if I had just been there! Bu-”

Then Five did something that she (and he) never thought he would do.

He wrapped his arms around her torso and hugged her.

For the most part, Five wasn’t an affectionate person. The only thing he would allow were small touches on the hand if he was scared (which wasn’t often) and pecks on the lips if he was really feeling it.

It took her by surprise, but she melted into it, letting tears fall into his shoulder. He let her go when he noticed that her breathing was finally back to normal.

“You okay?” He asked softly again, wiping the remaining tears off of her face with the pad of his thumbs. She sniffed and nodded, making him smile.

“Not that this isn’t adorable...which, it is, but Five? We gotta go!” Diego’s voice was heard in front of them. They both gasped, turning to him with red faces.

“What are YOU doing here?!” he seethed, helping Y/N up. He chuckled before holding out a tracking device that showed Five’s location.

“Just in case you decided to turn against us at some point, I had this.” He explained, a smirk planted on his face. 

“Whatever, let’s go.” Five mumbled, walking out of the room, his face still a nice shade of red. However, Diego turned to the girl.

“Sorry about Elliot.” He ruffled her hair before exiting.

-

GUYS I KNOW THIS IS TRASH AND HER BACKSTORY DOESNT MAKE ANY SENSE BUT BARE WITH ME HERE IM RUNNING ON 1 HOUR OF SLEEP AND CAFFEINE HFJKIUJHNDKIUJSK 

[kodzumie-archived]

I want to submit this anonymously but I can’t rn so oh well,

I had an idea last night for Shuichi with an Ultimate Lawyer S/O so this is sort of a oneshot (yes I used the argument from Ace Attorney Im not creative with law shit)

I wanted to write this genderneutral but I’m insecure about my writing style and I’m used to writing female Mc’s so apologise for that

Also also forgive any spelling or grammar mistakes I’m super dyslexic

Anyway anyway I’m rambling enjoy my brain rot- 👑! Anon

If you ever asked Shuichi Saihara what his thoughts were on trials he'd tell you he hated them. He hated everything about them. Fully believing in the person he was defending only for them to turn around and reveal some truth they hid making him look an idiot.

Trials truely brought out the worst in people in Shuichi's opinion.

Speaking of the detective right at the moment he was enjoying one of his rare quiet moments, sitting outside the courtroom he sighed deeply, this was his least favourite part of solving a case; for some reason part of being the ultimate detective meant he had to appear in court with his client. He wasn't exactly their lawyer but he did play a big part in defending them, But that wasn't the big reason he hated trails, His wallowing in self pity was interrupted when the very reason he was thinking about walked past him and made her way towards the vending machine nearby.

(Y/N) (L/N) The Ultimate Lawyer, anyone that manages to get her to defend them is 100% guaranteed to get cleared of all their charges or at least a very light sentence. And for some reason almost everyone she agreed to defend involved his clients in some way and therefore him.

And he could never win.

No matter how many arguments he and his client had she could take them all down easily, He hated having all the attention on him, everyone at school knew it too, But whenever the two of them were in the courtroom everyone there knew they were in for a show.

He stayed hunched on the seat for a few seconds, waiting wondering if she didn't notice him he could stay outside a little longer. Keeping his stare on her she realised Instead of her usual suit he couldn't help but notice she was wearing a pencil skirt today ending below her knees, everything about her screamed professionalism. He didn't even realise he was staring until she was suddenly standing right in front of him. nothing was said and instead they both just maintained eye contact. Before she turned around and made her way back inside.

He would never understand her.

He wondered if this process could speed up a bit. He hated the courtroom, the smells, the people, the noises, that's why he always watched her he told himself. He kept his eyes on her because she was the only interesting thing there. They way she moved, the passion in her voice when she talked, how she always kept her cool no matter what was thrown at her.

"And that's why your honour my client is innocent"

"Objection!" Shuichi found himself standing up, he'd been listening to every word that had left her mouth, and thanks to that he'd heard something that didn't add up

"(L/N), your client said he found the body 9:30, correct?"

She looked at him, instead of anger or annoyance her eyes held an excitement he'd never seen her have in the courtroom before.

"That is correct Mr Saihara,"

Standing up straight, in a complete reversal of their position before she sat in a seat while he stood tall.

"But there was a blackout, and since we know your client didn't have their phone on them since they ran downtown to call the police correct? So how did they know the time?"

The client decided to speak up

"I- I heard the time on the tv"

"But there was a blackout, so how would the tv be on?"

They opened their mouth

"A-Actually it wasnt the tv, it was the clock!"

Shuichi objected again;

"the murder weapon that had been accepted into evidence earlier was a statue, not a clock"

You were the one who revealed that The Thinker statue did indeed double as a clock; by tilting it, it spoke the time after.

However, Shuichi refused to back down now, and with the look in your eyes as your stared at him made him want to continue.

"there was no way your client could have known about the clock function without having held it in his own hand. The reason that you knew the time was because he was the real killer. As he killed Stone, the clock announced the time, leaving a strong impression on him."

Shuichi spoke, every word held a confidence to it he'd never felt in the courtroom before, and as he stared at (Y/N), her expression for a split second looked shocked, and he thought for once he'd finally put her down a peg, before her face twisted into a smug grin.

"Mr Saihara you seem different today" leaning on her hand her gaze was focused on him, like she didn't even care that she was losing the case at all. Shuichi didn't understand this side of (Y/N). From every argument he'd ever seen in this courtroom she knew every detail and every loophole, she always had a fire inside her and a determination to help her clients, so why was she staring at him like that? The in her gaze that usually appeared when she argued was now fully directed at him.

Her client, infuriated at Shuichi's ruining of his testimony, began to breakdown on the stand, discarding his sycophantic demeanor and angrily throwing his toupee at Wright's face.

This was once of the rare times her client was guilty, but she didn't seem to be affected at all. Outside the courtroom and crouching in front of the vending machine grabbing your snack she didn't seem phased at all when the Ultimate Detective appeared behind her.

"Hey there Saihara"

"What the hell was that?" He spoke, standing up and leaning against the machine she tried to look innocently at him but the wide smirk on her face betrayed her.

"That was not like you at all (L/N), I know damn well you saw the same discrepancy in your clients testimony I did"

Placing your finger up to your lip you feigned innocence

"Did I? Maybe I didn't notice"

"There's no way, your the Ultimate Lawyer, that case should've been child's play" Shuichi frowned, his tone getting louder as he got more annoyed

She laughed, "truth be told Saihara I knew he was guilty since the start"

Shuichi recoiled the tiniest bit at that news, his eyes widening slightly before he regained his composure,

"Then why did you take the case?"

Walking toward she stopped till she was a few steps from pressing her body against the detective who was at that point hide How activity flustered he was. Her hand slipped into his pocket and she left something light in there before leaning to his ear

"Why do you think I take all the cases I know you'll be at shu-i-chi" she whispered, dragging out his first name before walking away, a flounce to her step. Only when she was out of his view he remembered she had slipped something into his pocket, grabbing it and pulling it out to inspect it his face bursted into fifty different shades of red.

'This must've been why you'd worn a skirt today' he thought as he hurried to find a seat on the train so he could get home, trying to inconspicuously place his hat in a specific way on his lap.

He really wanted to get home now. He had something he needed to do.

⤷ Kodzumie; INCREDIBLE!! THIS IS AMAZING, WAAHH..!! I CAN’T EXPRESS HOW HYPED AND EXCITED I GOT DURING THE TRIAL AND THE CONTRADICTION, IT WAS AMAZING!!

AAAH, THE PACING OF EVENTS WAS LITERALLY PERFECT, MY ADRENALINE WAS PUMPING THROUGH IT ALL AAHH!! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE HOW EVERYTHING PLAYED OUT AND THE NARRARATION!!

THIS IS WRITTEN WONDERFULLY, I ADORE THE STYLE OF NARRATIVE YOU USED!! IT FELT SO RAW; SO PURE OF EMOTION AND PERCEPTION!!

I LITERALLY ADORE THE PERSONALITY YOU’D GIVEN THE READER, THEY WERE SO FUN TO TUNE IN TO!! AND, AAHH, THE ULTIMATE LAWYER IS TRULY SO INTRUIGING, ESPECIALLY PAIRED WITH SHUICHI!!

I CAN’T EXPRESS HOW MUCH I LOVED THIS!! SERIOUSLY, IT’S ACTUALLY SO, SO, SOOOO GOOD!! WAAH..!!

DO..! DO YOU HAVE A WRITING BLOG? YOUR WRITING IS SO WONDERFUL, I GENUINELY ADORE THIS ONE-SHOT SO MUCH!! I’D LOVE TO SUPPORT YOUR WORKS, IF YOU’RE COMFORTABLE ENOUGH!!

THIS IS AMAZING!! WAAAH, I LOVE YOUR WRITING WITH MY WHOLE HEART!!

[moldwood]

@vampcleric @churchyardgrim @marusea-a-random-dm

ask and you shall receive. under the readmore because sheeeeesh that's a lot i'm just copying and pasting it

this sounds ridiculous but this took me so long to respond to because i read it before bed then answered it in a dream. whoops. thank you so much for the kind words!! ♥

honestly, the biggest thing that i recommend for the brides is keeping them within the castle. i have seen a lot of people explore their characters by giving them various roles throughout the module, but i think that defeats the purpose of them being trapped simply by virtue of their relationship with strahd and what they've become from loving him. i like to let them wander the whole of the place instead of being just in his crypt though, so if you have a dinner before the final confrontation, they should definitely be there. they are, unfortunately, characters in curse of strahd, so just like every other npc, they are meant first and foremost to show something more about strahd's nature more than their own; in this case, strahd's tendency to want to control the lives of those he loves. whether that's to keep them safe since he has lost brides + tatyana in the past (patrina is one that he has definitely lost, but there could be more) or because he's a control freak -- or both, mankind is full of multitudes -- is up to how you want to play strahd! going to the castle once or twice before the final fight is a good idea so the party can get hints that there's more going on in there than just dead things walking around -- strahd leaves the doors open for a reason, but it doesn't work out with some parties. in my campaign recently, the party ended up waking up in the dungeon after an adventure into the (heavily modified) interactive tome of strahd, rahadin gave them all formal clothes up to his standards, and they had a dinner they had been avoiding. this was a much more physical trap for a resistant party full of monster hunters and barovians, but depending on the characters, a social trap can work just as well (+ strahd prefers them to physical ones tbh). i just wouldn't give the players total free exploration, unless they wanted to sneak in. rahadin, strahd, or the brides can guide their path through the castle towards where you plan to take them to make sure they don't see too much too early and don't walk into a trap and die. it's also an opportunity for talking with any of those characters which is always fun.

in the castle, i gave them each a dedicated place/role in strahd's life. from oldest to newest: with patrina gone, strahd no longer had anyone to further his magic studies. ludmilla, who was already interested in the arcane living in a valley with more and more undead popping up each day, heard about the count-turned-necromancer, was intruiged, and went up to the castle. what started out as a desire to understand these things to hold out against them turned into a curiosity, and that curiosity turned towards him with time. she fills that magic-study-focused role, though she's not as good as patrina of course, so they ended up studying side by side more than anything else in my mind. anastrasya was a noble from vallaki who hated the way of life she had to live, probably met strahd at a formal dinner type affair before he was no longer allowed in the village, and fell for him + the escape from all those social rules that he represented (and that they both desired). all further courting events had to be meticulously arranged to play the social dance of the upper class. she brings the political aspect back into the castle, a sort of unintentional reminder that strahd's life is bogged down by politics -- there is no escaping it for him with any relationship with him being a prince + count (+ king?), but she's the most direct representation of that to me. volenta was a street rat from barovia the village that went to the castle as a desperate last resort to steal something that'd get her enough money to finally eat a good meal. she got caught, but strahd liked her so she was allowed to live and was subsequently romanced. this is a big deal because the greatest crime in strahd's eyes is stealing. (rahadin would never question strahd, but he particularly didn't understand this one, even though these are the two that get along best now lmao) how could she not fall for the stability he offered her? she's similar to gertruda's role in showing that it's very fairy-tale-like how strahd can pick you up out of your life and suddenly give you luxury and power, but she's not disillusioned like gertruda is, which is why strahd liked her imo. she used to bite the hand that feeds. she's the one who sets the traps and resets ones that have gone off. she has her fun. escher appeals to strahd's repressed emotions, being a writer + poet (i see many people give him an artistic leaning role, it just seems to fit him haha). i had him be from berez 😬. following the destruction of the village (it happened while he was visiting vallaki so he was safe), he was utterly lost, and was picking up what remained of his life there when strahd went there to grieve. the two met and waxed poetics and, knowing he was responsible for escher's lack of house, gave him a place to live. i don't have too much more to say about him since the book already has more information on him than the other brides, and it all is pretty good. this is all just speculative backstory with no backing in the module, though. just how i like to play them. now for some speculation with a lot more backing:

from strahd's point of view, to simplify their relationships, he was always trying to fill the void left from his obsession with tatyana. he mostly sees relationships as give and take, so each of the brides shows something that he assumes people wants from him and that he's willing to try to give just to fill that emptiness with openhandedness. he's not wrong in that regard, just traumatized and misanthropic from war and being a prince. he's going about feeling about it all in the wrong way, even though his actions are in line with proper romance. he does have a noted habit of lavishing those he courts with material gifts thinking that is enough and what you're supposed to do, as well. (specifically, with my ideas for their characters: ludmilla fulfills strahd's thinking that people are interested in him for his abilities: his mental + physical + supernatural prowess. anastrasya fulfills strahd's thinking that people are interested in him for political gain. volenta fulfills strahd's thinking that people are interested in him for material gain. escher fulfills strahd's thinking that people are interested in him as a brooding mysterious dark handsome count.) all together, they fulfill strahd's thinking that peoples' lives are falling apart around him and he can offer them something and he will feel loved in return. and he's not wrong about any of this! ultimately strahd is a walking contradiction when it comes to honest relationships and love because he sees himself as worthy of anything he could ever want + a genuine good old-fashioned lover boy à la queen, yet he feels like carrion waiting to be scavenged on by vultures. that's what the brides give us insight into.

unfortunately for them, they are some of the less important npcs in the campaign to focus on so spending time with them is not a priority, but sometimes that can work in your favor. by introducing them with hints that more goes on in their lives beneath the surface, it gets players intruiged and restless to know more. who knows! maybe they'll fall in love with one in an interaction and decide they want to save them from strahd, the bride draws them in, and they realize too late it was all a trap and that strahd will always be the most important thing in their lives (whether the brides are happy about that or not is up to you). munch munch yummy pc blood!

this got too long i had to split it in two. second half about rahadin incoming 😳

PART 2

rahadin on the other hand gets a lot more free reign. as chamberlain, it's his job to organize strahd's day and social affairs, and as his former general, he definitely has strahd's safety in mind throughout all that. (as his closest "friend," though he would not have the gall to call himself that even in his own thoughts, he has strahd's emotional wellbeing in mind too as if there's any emotional wellbeing left lmao.) he is one of the only people in the valley on strahd's side who feels he can act without asking strahd first because *strahd trusts his judgement,* which is no small feat. that doesn't mean he does anything he doesn't think strahd would approve of, though. in the end, strahd trusting rahadin's judgement means trusting that rahadin would do what he wants him to do, and trusting that rahadin understands him enough to know what that is in the first place. trusting rahadin's judgement means trusting his own. big mistake! his judgement is bad! this is one of the things rahadin shows us about strahd. but moving on! if you want him more present in your campaign, maybe he could use opportunities like delivering invitations to spy on the characters. he wouldn't pick a fight since he knew he wouldn't win and would dip if things got out of hand. if they see him, you can have a fun little interaction there. if they don't, you can drop clues that he's been spying/gathered news on them from the vistani by having him or strahd hint at something he would have seen later on. just a possibility! i love what you did having him showing up strong in the one-shot. in my campaign, i'm lucky enough to have players that are very invested in the dusk elf story, one of them being a warlock with patrina as their patron, so for that i give you this: rahadin is the only one who would really give an accurate account of patrina's death and the subsequent execution of the dusk elves. kasimir and strahd both know the details, but both have extremely biased memories and are prone to leave out facts that don't suit their narratives. rahadin, for as much as he hated her for how she wanted to use strahd in his eyes, would at least have an accurate retelling of events.

the most important thing is this: disregard everything i've said. in the end, you know what is best for your campaign. i didn't even follow my own advice. i had escher in vallaki working with lady wachter as the one to organize the feast of saint andral because in my group a player wanted a complex slow romance with a pretty vampire boy that wasn't strahd and it fit his character well enough in my eyes (i won't get into the details, this is long enough as it is). whatever your story you are crafting with your players needs, do it! curse of strahd has a lot of wonderful characters that might already be doing what your story needs once you read between the lines of the few sentences the module gives you and speculate a little (or a lot). don't be afraid to shift someone's role if it would better serve a player's growth or fall to darkness. (but at the same time, don't make it too easy for the players. make them play by barovia's rules, unlikable npcs and lose-lose situation after lose-lose situation and all.) imo the module needs very little changing to be a compelling, complex, intertwined, amazing gothic story already, just a healthy dose of speculation. but yeah whatever you are hoping to get out of your campaign, do it.

this got very long and rambly. rereading it, it isn't the clearest thing in the world... oh well! i hope it was helpful in some way! if i worded something in a way that's too confusing, don't be afraid to ask "what the hell did you mean by this?"!! thank you so much again!! :')

^^^ there you go enjoy the comment essay. thank god they did not also ask about strahd because getting into his sadism vs nobility vs sensitivity vs hunger vs ETC would be tooooo much 😓

spent my morning typing out a youtube comment that exceeded the 10k character limit in response to being asked the simple question "how did you enhance the brides and rahadins roles in the module?". 🥴. im going to eat lunch now.

[aliciaspinncts]

SIX MONTHS OF NOX: DAY THREE → four favourite dynamics !

not to be a birdie copy-cat but i’m cheating. i’m gonna give my four fave to WRITE and four faves to READ. haha

TO WRITE:

it’s not a list without DUDLEY & ARTHUR / @arthurw - you truly pulled your galaxy brain out of your pocket when you suggested this and i am so DAMN GRATEFUL!!! not dudley finding a little found family in the weasleys the same way that harry did... like he fully deserves to be knocked around a bit by the weasleys they knew the shit he let harry go through but like... the redhead compassion is very very sexy. i just love thinking about arthur & dudley going for a pint, dudley bringing a muggle board game or a tamagotchi or just letting arthur go ham on candy crash on his phone, and dudley is just so... grateful to have that casual figure that also still feel so protective? at this point dudley would probably stab a dude for arthur if he asked... and do a full bodyguard NOOOOOOO leap in front of a bullet or something

gotta give a shoutout to The Lads ALICIA/ANGELINA/OLIVER / @angiejohnscn @qviddiitch - alicia is so chaotically fun to write and i LOVE the depth that plotting w angelina added to her ( for me at least! ) and oliver has such a big soft spot in my heart, because they both have that same himbo energy and it gives me LIFE. i’d love to do something cool with the both of you at once if that’s...... a thing that’s possible on tumblr. i don’t know how these things work!! but maeve you really made me mentally kick katie bell out of the iconic quidditch trio for ollie’s sake <3

i am already SO intruiged by PENELOPE & DAMIEN / @chacswins - and i can’t wait to develop the two of them further with you!! when i started writing penny’s intro i was just like this bitch is a friendless loser post-hogwarts and, hey, that can still be the case ! but damien was the first character i was like – oh yeah she loved making friends at hogwarts i should probably do some more of that  ! and dude like the implications of them both being werewolves... when they go to werewolf anonymous meetings together and end up just complaining abt niko ♡ 

THIS IS A NEW ONE AND... we haven’t actually put it in public writing yet but when i tell you i am so fucking excited for GEORGE & DUDLEY / @wheezely​ - SOMEONE needed to give dudley a good smack around the chops and who better than one of the twins who totally scarred him permanently with antics <3 but for real i am VERY VERY excited and i love your george so the excitement in me is just PEAK. when they end up like just... fist-bumping in support group like “yes little dickhead process that trauma!”

--

TO READ:

OOF. the options become so much wider with this one

trying to make these NOT AS LONG AS ABOVE because no one wants to read my rambles but </3

MAFALDA & DRACO / @blondsnake & @heavycrovvn - the chaotic energy. the potions shop. bullying the 3rd employee. together they are absolute dickheads and i love them so much for it... i think it would be hilarious personally if that connect were never to be filled because it’s just like they’re imagining the third person to project their evil little feelings on

ARTHUR & GEORGE / @arthurw & @wheezely - GOD THESE MEN!!!!!!!!! THIS FATHER AND SON-NESS!!!!!!!! i don’t know how to put into words the feelings they make me feel but i DO but it doesn’t make sense: i feel like i want to put them both in fluffy oversized weasley jumpers and sit them down in front of the fire on a cold day and hand them hot cocoa and ruffle their hair and let them just talk and cry. love them so much

NIKO & PRETTY MUCH ANYONE / @monstrovs - is this a cop-out? a little bit ! the truth is i find it very hard to narrow down which interactions with niko i enjoy the most because... they are always either fucking hilarious or lowkey gutting. at a push i’m gonna go NIKO & VIKTOR (i think i’ve run out of @’s allowed in one post but) because it’s so funny AND gutting... niko doesn’t fucking like anyone and then he acts like he does around viktor and it must be SO CONFUSING FOR VIKTOR whos just like yeah this dude is okay i guess...

ASTORIA & HERMIONE / aastorias & graenger - i don’t know where you two are planning on going with them but from what i’ve seen so far i am READY FOR IT. their energy is so soft and caring and no offence if neither of you have thought about them being girlfriends you’re COWARDS... that’s a joke but also not <3 they’re just two characters that i don’t think people naturally connect in such a soft way and i love that you HAVE!!!

everyone. gimme more of the GOOD STUFF. when i hang up my writing hat and just lurk on my dash to keep up with the noxies because i LOVE everything man. you guys are awesome

[wings-whiskers]

Sorry for the errors if any this is mostly ramblings to set backstory for myself~ :>

This is Nene Nekoyama my oc, I’ve had her for awhile but havent drawn her much, I figured this would be a good way to get some practice with drawing her. Also I feel like she would be just the cutest love intrest for Keigo. She is a very soft natured person, kind and gentle also sometimes easy to take advantage of. Her name literally translates to gentle. But she has another side lying dormant - It’s a secret for now~ More back story will be developed as I go. 

Her favorite dishes usually have fish ot other meats lsimilar to other cat quirk types. She loves fatty tuna sushi the most though! Also she has a rather cute habit of meowing (nya) durring some sentences, which is to her own embarassment, but usually intruiging to others.(Nene thinks of it more like a lisp if anything, and she works to contain it in ‘most’ conversations)

Nene’s dream is to become stronger and futher develope her quirk. She has alot of people she admires and wishes to help, being a hero is the way she felt would work best!

She is from a family of mostly animal quirk types, so like cats, bunnies, the like... ( she’s actually related to Miruko heh :3) However Nene doesn’t have a cat quirk nor a physical strength quirk like most of her family members. Her quirk is actually optic nerve disruption ( name still under construction) or sending impulses to painfully disrupt the vision of her enimes.

This basically would be like sending amplified pulses though her own eyes to whomever she looks at. Regardless of if they are looking back, it only requires them to have optic nerve function. It can range to mostly harmless ( causing discomfort, and blurriness to the eyes, or temporary tunnel vision) to causing permanent damage to the nerve. ( or worse case permanent blindness)

With such a high risk quirk there is also return risks. Nene gets tremours at the least, aswell as migranes at times, the worst has been fainting- she has combated this to limiting the amount of power while using her abilities. Additionally with the amount of times she can use it in a day. At the moment only 5 times through training. She actually has a great grandmother whom had a similar quirk and ended up loosing her sight from not limiting her use of the ability. 

It is because of this that her family is apprehensive about Nene’s hero status. Often underestimating her and treating her like she is very weak.

Nene was able to secure a position with the wild pussycats due the the resigning of one of their own field members. (aswell as a recomendation from Miruko) With her keen sight and uncounterable quirk she has proved to be a great asset! 

Though Nene is a huge fan of her older cousin Miruko for her amazing achievements as the top fifth hero. She has also always admired another hero amoungst the top ten. That being the very Hawks... she has yet to meet him in person but her cousin knows all about her sweet little ‘admiration’ and loves to tease Nene mercilessly. This will undoubtably lead to the eventual meeting of Nene and Hawks....

This is where I am if you want to avoid Wings and whiskers content simply unfollow or block the tag wingsandwhiskers

[justallamaimaginingthings]

Braavos [Jaqen H’Ghar x Stark!Reader]

A/n: I was rewatching old GoT scenes while trying to find something for a request and this came to my mind. Enjoy!

Words: 1000ish  || GoT Masterlist

Being held captive by the Lannister army had been nothing but pure hell on earth. Seeing innocent northerners being tortured and slaughtered this way hurt you deeply. Knowing there was nothing you could do to help them was ever worse and you couldn’t help a feeling of guilt overtaking you. You had to get out of there and you had to do that soon. Luckily, your sister, Arya had managed to talk Jaqen into helping all of you out of Harrenhall. You couldn't wait to leave this horrible place but you were worried at the same time. 

What if you were caught? What if Jaqen was caught?  

Over your time in the fort you had developed some kind of friendship with the strange man from Braavos. Being completely honest, you should admit the bond the two of you shared was something more than a friendship and you both seemed to know it, even though you didn’t dare address the subject in fear of having misread the other’s intentions. But deep down you knew. Friends did not spend so much time sitting together is silence. Friends did not stare at each other’s lips while they were talking. And most of all, friends did not fall asleep thinking how it would be to wake up next to the other.

"And that's all he said?" you asked Arya for what seemed like the hundredth time that day. No matter how many times she explained what the red haired man had said, you couldn’t find it in yourself not to stress about it.

"We have to be at the gate at midnight, that's all he said. You opened your mouth to form another question but she beat you to it "No, I haven't seen or talked to him since then. Just stop worrying about it, you've seen what he can do" You sighted and nodded but your thoughts just couldn't strain from him.

Time seemed to go by in an agonizingly slow pace but after a lot of anxious waiting it was finally time to head for the gate. Upon finally reaching the much awaited destination the four of you froze. You looked at each other and quickly came to your senses as you rushed to hide behind an abandoned carriage.

"There are soldiers up there" Gendry half whispered half yelled, fear being clearly evident on his voice.

"But Jaqen said…"

"I don't know what your friend told you but I'm not risking that" Hot Pie interrupted Arya nodding towards the guards. Your heart was threatening to beat out of your chest as your brain struggled to find a logical explanation behind this. Jaquen had promised he’d do that and you knew he was a man of his word.

"I know this looks bad, but I trust Jaqen and so does Arya" you said after getting over the initial shock, hoping that if you remained calm the others would follow your example.

"There are two Lannister soldiers out there. This doesn't look bad, this is bad" Arya deadpanned

"It is our only choice. I don't know about you, but I'm not going back there. They are going to kill us and even in the exceptionally impossible case when they don't I will not stay here and stand by as the Lannisters torture innocent people" you insisted, emphasizing on the fact that no matter what it took to escape, it was a risk you were willing to take.

"How much do you trust this friend of yours?" Gendry asked

"With my life" you replied before getting up and walking straight to the gate. You expected the soldiers to yell at you but no reaction came. Arya and the boys were holding their breaths while they watched you nearing the solders. As you walked closer you realized they were all dead, but their bodies had been placed in natural stances so that no one would suspect something was wrong. You let a breath you didn't know you were holding and motioned to the others to come with you. The four of you ran out of the fort never looking back. You continued running until the sun came up.

Suddenly the shadow of a person appeared on a hill next to the path. Being unable to make out any features, you attempted to approached the dark cloaked figure, but before you had the chance to reach close enough he disappeared.

"What are you doing here?" you heard Arya ask, but you were too far behind to see whom she was talking to

"Waiting for you" The moment you heard Jaqen's voice you rushed past the two boys and Arya and almost knocked the redhead down. At first he was surprised by your actions but he soon relaxed into the hug and even held you closer.

"Thank the gods you're still alive" you whispered drawing a light chuckle from him. Hearing the relief in your tone was enough to make a warm feeling flood his chest as an unusual sense of joy and protectiveness got the best of him.

"It takes more than two solders to kill a man" he noted causing an equally wide smile to light up your features. You couldn't help but miss the feeling of his arms wrapped around you the moment he let go. For a second your eyes met and Jaqen could swear his heart skipped a beat. What was wrong with him? He was supposed to be no one and that meant no attatchments.

"How did you know we'd come this way?" Arya asked again, interrupting the sweet moment the two of you shared.

"After all the things you have seen, this is your question?" Jaqen replied trying to appear nonchalant by keeping his poker face.

"How did you kill those guards? Was it hard?" the young Stark insisted. Your sister had always been the stubborn type and you knew she was able to achieve whatever came to her mind.

"No harder than taking a new name, if you know the way" Jaqen explained calmly which only served to intruige you as well. The way he talked about it was almost magical and you couldn’t resist wanting to know more.

"Can you teach me how?" it was your turn to ask causing his eyes to snap back at you as he observed the genuine curiosity in your eyes that seemed to be mixed with admiration and a hint of something else, he couldn’t quite place his finger on.

"If you would learn, you must come with me" he secretly hoped you'd take him up on that offer because even though he knew he shouldn't, somehow he had fallen in love with you over the short period of time he had known you.

"Where?"

"Far away across the Narrow Sea to Braavos" he answered as a sad smile formed on your face. No matter how much you wished there was a way you could go with him, you couldn't leave Arya behind. She was your sister whom you loved dearly and had sworn to protect.

"I want to… but I can't. I just can't leave Arya behind. I made a promise to father to keep her safe" you explained hoping he would understand your reasons, no matter how much saying goodbye hurt.

"Then we must part" For the first time you caught a glimpse of emotion in his eyes though you couldn't really recognize what it was "Take this" he said giving you a silver coin. The moment your fingers touched an electrifying shock travelled up and down your spine.

"What is it?" you asked observing it closely, not aware of the burning stare Jaqen was giving you in an attempt to memorise your beautiful features and warm smile.

"A coin of great value. If the day comes when you must find me again, just give that coin to any man from Braavos and say these words to him, Valar Morghulis" he started walking away but you gripped his arm making him turn around

"Please don't go" you said, the almost begging tone of your voice surprising the both of you. Since the moment Jaqen had met you had never begged for anything, always keeping your head up high proving how much of a Stark you truly were.

"A man has duties" It took every ounce of strength in him to remember his duties since the only thing he wanted at that point was to hold you as close as possible and ignore the world around him 

You stayed like that for what seemed like hours, just staring into each other's eyes. The tension was getting thicker and thicker with every passing moment, full of unspoken words. You didn't want to let go of his arm, afraid that if you did he'd disappear from your life in the same sudden way he had come into it.

"Jaqen-" he silenced you by placing his lips on your pulling you into a passionate kiss. Your body reacted before your mind could even realize what was happening and you let your hands wonder in his chest and finally rest on his shoulders, pulling him even closer. You felt like sparks were running down your spine as his lips molded perfectly with yours lighting up a fire deep inside you. He pulled away and rested his forehead on yours, eyes still closed.

"Come to Braavos" he whispered and turned around. Not once did he look back, knowing that if he saw you one more time he'd completely forget about his duties. You stayed there watching him walking away. Your hand moved to your lips and you smiled. The moment you knew Arya was safe you'd take the first ship to Braavos. You heard footsteps behind you and saw her running to catch up with you

"Where is Jaqen?" she asked

"He had somewhere to go. I don't think we'll see him again soon… Now tell your friends to hurry up. We made it this far, we can't get caught now"

[plexxable-reads]

REVIEW: Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse

✪✪✪✪✪

Read: 7/22/20-7/26/20

Okay, pals. Buckle up.

I want to start this review with a confession— I DNF Game of Thrones...

I know, I know. Scold me. GRRM's style and prose is just way too slow for me. To me, he writes like he has severe ADD, and I mean no offense to anyone with attention deficit problems, but I can't read a saga that derails itself over and over and over ad nauseam. I just can't do it, can't get into it. Thank goodness GoT translated very well onto the screen (ignoring the final season that I just have decided to wipe from my memory Eternal Sunshine style to deal with the grief, obvi), or I might not have ever become familiar with that world.

I bring this up as introduction because Rebecca Roanhorse is a brilliant author and I will take this statement to my grave. She has not only managed to build a brilliantly lush and visceral world like so many legendary fantasy storytellers have done before her, but she managed to do so without needless expository! Nothing was missed, nothing was left unsaid necessarily, but I could just tell that she was very intentional with where she decided to embellish, and from a reader standpoint it absolutely thrilled me! So, thank you Rebecca for knowing that it wasn't necessary to launch into an entire 5 paragraph expository section, detailing (view spoiler)

There several other examples where she chose not to divulge useless information for the sake of taking up a page, but this one was the first time I really was like, "Oh, wow, thank god.. T H A N K Y O U".

I'm not going to go into too much crazy detail as far as plot and characters go, I'm not that kind of reviewer, and you have a very fine summary provided by the author/publisher at the top of the goodreads page, bookstore description, etc. but here's a little synopsis in case you haven't actually read anything about this book before reading this review:

This epic takes place pre-columbian infiltration, so like our author, its characters are indigenous (YES PLEASE LOVE). Thus, the lore that Roanhorse introduces us to is influenced by a lot of real native customs and culture. Every chapter begins with telling us where on the map we are, and gives us a timeline in relation to the Convergence: when the Sun, Moon, and Earth all are in alignment. The first character we are introduced to is a young boy, 10 years before convergence, Serapio. His mother carves sigils into his skin, and blinds him, because she believes he is The Crow God. It's difficult to talk much about Serapio without getting into spoiler territory, so I'll just leave it at that he's endlessly fascinating, and a far more intruiging take on GoT's (not to keep bringing this comparison back....) Bran. I have a lot of mixed up feelings about Ser, and I think anyone who has finished the book can understand why. We don't return to that timeline for some time, as the next main character we meet, 20 days from convergence, is Xiala—a ship captain and a drunk, to be direct. We meet her in a jail cell, locked up for public indecency and getting physical with a Lord Pech. She is bailed out by another merchant lord, Lord Balam, on the promise that she is to captain a ship carrying precious cargo, that must arrive across the map before convergence. Although Xiala insists to Balam that there's not enough time and that it cannot be done, he seems oddly confident that she'll do as he desires. Xiala is incredibly likeable, the kind of heroine that I love to relate to. She's moody, she's super comfortable with her (pan)sexuality... oh, and she's a Teek: she can hold influence over water. Pretty handy in her profession, as you might imagine. Our third main character in the same aforementioned timeline, is newly appointed Sun God, Naranpa. I have a great deal of love for Naranpa—she ascended despite coming from a common clan, not of Sky Made, like all of the other priesthood. She's a realist, and has very keen instincts for people: Iktan— her nonbinary sheild, knife, and former lover (who is the first character to feature nonbinary pronouns!!) is one that I'm still not sure how to feel about. That said, Abah her priesthood nemisis, can go straight to hell. Fuck Abah. The final main character arc that we follow along the timeline towards the Convergence is Okoa— Prince of Tova, Carrior Crow. His journey starts later in the timeline because he's only brought in when (view spoiler). He is so essential to the plot, and I'm excited to learn more of him from a more personal level in the installments of the series to come.

The other choice of note that had me grinning from ear to ear and screaming, "Y E S S S S S" at 2am, most likely waking my husband, dog, and our neighbors: Xe, Xir, Xed freakin pronouns. NONBINARY PEOPLE, YALL. YES, NOT JUST ONE. YES. YES. What a treat.

I gotta tell you guys, I have, like many, been making a much more conscientious effort to read more fiction by BIPOC authors, and I am kicking myself and my privilege for not doing so sooner. BIPOC authors are murdering the fantasy/sci-fi game right now, and this is just another brilliant example.

Frankly, if HBO or Netflix doesn't option

Black Sun

for a series, they would honestly be pretty fuckin stupid.

Btw, here's a map just in case you're like me and thought while reading an ARC,

hmmmm, I'm loving this but I'd really like a map...

https://simonandschusterpublishing.co...

Okay, I'm done rambling, but seriously: this is in my top 5 favorites of the year. It's amazing. Endofstory.

ENJOY!

[nanigma]

Id like to hear your take on the four childhood friends from BL! Theyre nice and deserves all the love :) except maybe sylvain lol (im kidding)

Ooh boy, four in a single post! Here we go:

Dimitri

When the game was first revealed, I never imagined I would love him like that. Before this, the only Lord I considered a fave was Micaiah. Most left me indifferent to them. But Dimitri himself is a really great protagonist with a journey not many have been allowed to take as he was. 

His portrayal of mental illness isn’t perfect, but it’s still pretty respectful all things considered. I like how they explicitly establish that his darkness is part of him and he needs to atone for the crimes he committed while stuck in it. I don’t know, it just felt like they took him seriously as a human being, rather than just your standard woobie archetype. 

Felix

The boy, the man, the wonder. I guess this proves that my type is tsundere boys with communication issues. Keep an eye out for that when the next FE’s roster gets revealed. Anyway.. I really really appreciate him as a character. Typically the Navarre type doesn’t hold much appeal for me, but they made it work here by having Felix just care so goddamn much about other people, he can’t stand their suffering. So he just stands on the sidelines and verbally jabs at them in hopes of getting them to notice their errors. 

I also love how done he is with knightly ideals in his country and can openly criticize what is usually endorsed by the series. His intense relationship with Dimitri is always an important point for him. Dimitri’s fate directly affects his own. Then there is his supports with Sylvain, where they get this close to being an official couple, if it wasn’t for Intsys being cowards. Like his relationship with these two is always going to matter, regardless of who you actually pair him with. I can dig that.

(stopping myself here, because I need to get to two others still)

Sylvain 

Before I got into tsundere, I had a different kind of fave. The type best describe as “red-headed flirt, who hides his inner pain behind a laid-back/jokester attitude”. It sounds really specific, but you’d be surprised by the amount of characters like that in fiction. Anyway, teenage me was kind of starved for attention, so the thought of a good-looking guy coming onto me was pretty appealing. This obviously changed in the last years.

Encountering Sylvain gave me a good chance to reexamine the character type and recognize some of the more toxic parts in how he treats women. The game seemed to note this too with Dorothea pointing it out. Sadly it never really goes the entire way in making him think about it and change his ways. I do like how Sylvain is someone who has experienced his own pain, but become too wrapped in it to see other people suffering in very similar ways. His way of coping is by lashing out at the society and the people he feels did this to him. Yet because of his lack of perspective, he doesn’t see how he is actually mostly targeting the innocent.

It makes for a very intruiging character that sadly was never allowed to live out his full potential.

Ingrid

I’m a bit torn on Ingrid actually. On the one hand, I like how she is usually the one keeping the gaggle of boys in line. She also has very sweet supports with a lot of people (I like her with Ashe personally). And her wanting to be a knight despite her father’s wishes, yet struggling with disappointing him is great. However, I am not entirely fond of how they handled her relationship with Glenn. Sure I can buy her being sad about his death, but am I really expected to believe that a betrothal made when she was child, which ended when she was just 13, was really the big first love of her life to which all other relationships have to measure up first?? I don’t know, I can’t really get behind that. 

It would be one thing for them to play it up as her talking from nostalgia for something that could have been, but it really doesn’t seem to be the case with how everyone talks about it. I am also not entirely fond of how they handled her racism against people from Duscur. Did they really have to go the “you are a credit to your race” route? Anyway, aside from those things I still like her. Unlike the boys I always make sure to recruit her and give her a happy ending, because god knows at least one of them should have that.

[whitewolfofwinterfell]

(2/2) especially given that the first thing i shipped once i knew what shipping was comes from the realm of daytime soaps, where people are betraying and backstabbing each other constantly lol. for me, i think it comes down to framing. if the show frames a pairing as abusive/toxic, i can deal with it a lot better than with fandoms and shows that romanticize it or sweep it under the rug. that, and of course, chemistry, is a big part of the reason i hate ships like c$ but can enjoy a pairing (2/3)

So, Tumblr ate some of your asks again (damn this hellsite lol) but we spoke on PM’s and you explained that in your other asks, you discussed toxic/dark ships, asked me what makes a dark ship work for me and the darkest ship I’ve ever shipped. You also said that some of the toxic ships you like such as Todd/Blaor and Joker/Harley work for you because of the framing of those ships.

I want to start off by saying, thank you so much for this ask. It’s such an interesting topic to discuss and I feel like it’s very relevant in fandom. There’s this hysteria around “abusive”, “toxic” and “dark” ships with people misusing or misunderstanding those words. I briefly discussed this previously in an ask I recieved about Stelena being abusive, which you can read here if you’re interested.

Overall, I think dark ships are brilliant because when they’re done correctly they can be the most intruiging, complex, authentic and gripping relationships in television. There’s no getting around the fact that love is tricky and complicated, and it can lead people down dark paths. Also, everyone has their issues, insecurities and scars, which often bleed into their relationships. So it’s only right that these sort of relationships should be portrayed in the media.

I feel very much the same as you about what makes a dark/toxic ship work for me. It’s all about the way that it’s portrayed and written. I can’t ship a dark or toxic ship when it’s romanticised or when the toxicity is glossed over or ignored, which is the case with ships like Ross/Rachel (Friends), Damon/Elena (The Vampire Diaries), Spike/Buffy (Buffy the Vampire Slayer - although my only qualms with this ship are in season 7, I actually think they were well written in season 6), Edward/Bella (Twlight) and many more. I have a particular issue with this because I think of all the young people that watch or read about these kind of relationships and aspire to have them and it concerns me. In my opinion, nobody should aspire to have a relationship like any of the ones I’ve just named or any other like them. 

Dark ships work for me when they’re authentic and realistic. These types of relationships are intense and passionate, but they’re also exhausting and very detrimental to the people involved. So when I see a ship like this I expect to see that. I expect to see the consequences, to see the people change as a result of the relationship and be pushed to the extremes. I’ve discussed this previously in response to an ask about Delena which you can read here (be warned, it is anti-Delena). In that ask, I use Jax and Tara as an example of a toxic ship that works, and I stand by that. What makes Jax and Tara work so well as a toxic ship is that it’s constantly acknowledged and we see the devastating impact their relationship has on both of them, but Tara in particular. Yet with ships such as Damon/Elena or Emma/Hook, all I ever see is their love being glorified and romanticised. 

I have to admit, I don’t have a tendency to ship dark ships. I’d say the only ships that I have that could fall into this category are Cook/Effy (Skins), Damon/Katherine (The Vampire Diaries), Dexter/Debra (Dexter), Ben/Callum (Eastenders) and Henry/Anne (The Tudors). There may be others, but I can’t think of any off the top of my head. There are different reasons as to why I still ship these couples despite them being dark and/or toxic. I’m going to analyse these ships one by one. Feel free to skip over this, because it’s going to be long and I’m literally just using this as the perfect excuse to talk about some of my favourite ships lol.

Cook and Effy (Skins)

I’ve spoken pretty in-depth about Cook and Effy being toxic and bad for each other previously. However, I’ll do it again because there are little things that I missed from my previous meta. Cook and Effy are toxic for one another at points, and this stems from the fact that as individuals they have a lot of issues and they use each other as a buffer for those issues. The reason they enter into a sexual relationship in season 3 is because they both use sex as way to deal with the disconnect they feel with others, but also because Cook wants to get one over on Freddie and Effy wants to deny her feelings for Freddie. As a result, they both unintentionally hurt each other. Cook knows that Effy is using him, but he allows it to happen which feeds into Effy’s pain about Freddie, whilst simuetanously causing himself pain, because he has genuine feelings for Effy. Their communication throughout season 3 is poor and they’re rarely honest with each other. Cook knows that Effy is in love with Freddie, but neither of them address this and it causes them both a lot of hurt. They also use each other as an escape. They run away together at the end of season 3; Effy to get away from Freddie and Cook because he wants to pursue the fantasy that he and Effy are going to live happily ever after. Although Effy willingly stays with Cook during that time, he does take her away from her home and loved ones and isolates her to an extent, because he wants to pursue this fantasy by any means necessary. He knows Effy doesn’t love him the way he loves her, but he goes into denial because he’d rather live a lie than lose her.

In season 4, when Effy finally admits her feelings for Freddie and gets into a relationship with him, she continues to cause Cook pain because she never validates his love for her. Instead, she ridicules and belittles him for it and downplays their relationship. When he tells her he still loves her, she tells him to piss off and later on she tells him that he was never good for her. Instead of admitting that what they had was real, but that she simply loved Freddie more, she makes Cook feel stupid as though what they had meant nothing. This leads to Cook once again going into denial. When Effy is suffering from mental illness and appears to not remember him, he plays along with her because it enables him to be with her, even if just for a short time.

The reason I’m still able to ship Cook and Effy is because despite the toxicity, there’s an equality present in their relationship. Everything that happens between them is mutual. Cook loves Effy but he never actively manipulates, coerces or pressures her to be with him in any way. In fact, he respects and accepts that she loves Freddie even though it hurts him. Effy hurts Cook by undermining their love, but excluding the one occassion where she tells him to piss off, she respects him and treats him with kindness. Cook and Effy never purposefully hurt each other or try to keep each other harm. The hurt they do cause each other is more an extension of their individual issues which have a knock on effect when it comes to their relationship. It’s not their relationship that’s toxic, it’s them as individuals. But also, the narrative never portrays Cook and Effy as being anything other than they are. We see the detrimental impact of their relationship and we hear Effy admit that they were bad for each other and would’ve never worked.

Damon and Katherine (The Vampire Diaries)

Once again, I have discussed Damon and Katherine’s relationship in-depth over at my writing side-blog, so don’t need to go into too much detail. I don’t think any explanation is needed here as to why Damon and Katherine are toxic. From the moment Katherine meets Damon she uses him for her own amusement, she sleeps with Damon and his brother at the same time without any regard for Damon’s feelings, controls every aspect of their relationship to suit her, fakes her death and lets Damon think she’s dead for over a century, continually plays with Damon’s feelings to get the reaction she wants, is continually dismissive of his love for her and rubs the fact that she loves Stefan in Damon’s face. And that’s just the aspects of their relationship that are toxic from Katherine’s side. Damon’s love for Katherine is so consuming that he goes to terrible lengths to be with her and when she rejects him resorts to violence and cruelty.

But again, the reason I’m able to ship them is because Damon and Katherine opearate on a level playing field. At the start of their relationship when Damon is human, Katherine definitley has an upper hand, but later on it’s tit for tat. They both hurt and manipulate each other, and in fact, they almost thrive on it. It’s part of how they communicate and relate to one another. Over the years, their feelings for each other become so twisted that they can’t express their love in the correct way anymore. Most importantly, just like with Cook and Effy, the narrative never strays from what Damon and Katherine are. They’re not true love, they’re not good for each other, they’re not healthy or a love to aspire to have. They’re profoundly connected and have a dark, twisted and complex history which is underlined with love but that manifests itself in often awful ways.

Dexter and Debra (Dexter)

These two are by far the darkest and most controversial ship I’ve ever shipped. As adopted siblings, there’s an incestious nature to the relationship which immediately creates toxcity in their relationship, but as individuals Dexter and Debra are both really messed up. Dexter is a self-proclaimed psychopath and serial killer, and Debra endures a lot of trauma throughout the series which deeply impacts her. Dexter and Debra have such an unhealthy and co-dependent relationship, it’s actually kinda crazy. Dexter lies to Debra and keeps an entire aspect of himself and his life a secret, he kills for Debra, he fails to validate or understand her feelings for him and he emotionally blackmails her. Debra lies and compromises her entire identity and morals to protect Dexter’s secret of being a serial killer, she murders an innocent woman to protect him and harbours a wanted criminal for him. Dexter and Deb will quite literally do anything to protect each other, but the result is devastating. You only have to watch Deb in season 8 to see just how damaging and toxic her relationship with Dexter is to her. Dexter and her love for him quite literally destroys her.

So it begs the question how and why do I ship these two? Well, the answer is the same as always: because the narrative doesn’t portray them as anything other than exactly what they are. Their relationship and Deb’s feelings for Dexter are completely fucked up and we’re told and shown that repeatedly. They’re not romanticised in any way, if anything they’re written in a way that would make most fans and viewers despise their relationship, particularly the romantic aspect of it. The show is true to them as individual characters and the toxicity of their relationship is authentic and understandable. I’ve briefly spoke about this previously, but Dexter and Debra’s relationship is supposed to be completely messed up because it’s an extension of them. Dexter, in particular, is damaged beyond repair and destroys everything he touches. Debra is part of that. Likewise, her falling for him makes perfect sense in the context of what she endures. Deb is a naturally self-destructive and self-loathing person, and loving Dexter is the biggest act of self-destruction she could ever enter into. In my opinion, of all the dark ships I have, Dexter and Debra are the perfect example of it being done right. They’re so dark and they love each other so much, but every step of the way the toxicity of their relationship is acknowledged and explored properly.

Ben and Callum (Eastenders)

I love Ben and Callum so much, and as far as they’ve come in their relationship, I can’t help but see the toxicity of it. In the beginning, Callum was unsure of his sexuality, was extremely closeted and carried a lot of internalised homophobia and self-hatred. This impacted on his relationship with Ben who had struggled with the same issues and didn’t want to return to that sad, lonely and miserable place. Callum’s relationship with Whitney and inability to admit his feelings for Ben made Ben feel rejected, sidelined and frustrated. At the same time this was going on, Ben’s issues of being afraid to love and let someone in after his ex was murdered, meant that he was unable to be completely open to Callum. By the time Callum was ready to come out and embrace his feelings for Ben, Ben was scared and backed away from Callum. Since the two have entered into a relationship, there’s been so much hurt and so much back and fourth. Ben is so afraid of hurting Callum and bringing harm to him, that he constantly pushes him away. The issue is that whether they’re together or not, Callum and Ben get hurt simply by loving each other. When Ben breaks up with Callum or pushes him away, they’re both heartbroken and long to be together again. But when Ben and Callum are together, their differences causes issues, and Ben’s actions put Callum in awful positions. Callum’s been forced to keep an innocent man’s murder a secret (he wasn’t really dead, but Callum didn’t know that), and now Callum’s been kidnapped and beaten, his life threatened, because of Ben’s actions. Ben has gone to extremes to save Callum including holding a gun to his own dad’s head and threatening to pull the trigger.

Unlike the other ships I’ve already discussed, the reason I’m still able to ship Ben and Callum isn’t because the narrative acknowledges they’re toxic for each other. It does acknowledge it, but the main reason I’m able to ship them is because none of the hurt they bring to each other is ever intentional. The hurt that Callum caused Ben before they were together was something he couldn’t control. He couldn’t force himself to come out and break up with Whitney. He had to come to terms with it in his own time and come out when he was good and ready. Likewise, Ben never intentionally hurts Callum. He does everything he can to protect him. Sure, he makes mistakes in trying to protect him, but all he ever wants is the best for Callum. A lot like Cook and Effy, the toxicity of Ben and Callum’s relationship doesn’t come from their relationship itself, but them as individuals. More specifically, Ben. Ben’s lifestyle, choices and actions have a detrimental impact on him and everyone around him (the mother of his child was also kidnapped not too long ago), including Callum.

Henry/Anne (The Tudors)

These two are a weird pairing to analyse, since they’re technically a real-life historical couple, but I’ll obviously be discussing them purely from a fictional stand-point and how they’re portrayed on The Tudors.

Henry and Anne are toxic as hell. Their relationship develops because Anne’s father uses her as a pawn to seduce Henry for the benefit of his own political career. Henry is also married to Katherine when their romantic relationship develops, so there’s infidelity and lies involved. Henry pursues Anne and although she falls for him, she actually has little agency in the early days. She’s told to entertain Henry and play on his attraction to her by her father, and later on, she has to submit to Henry because he’s the King of England. As the King of England, Henry has more power than any person should ever have and his arrogance and self righteousnous means that he’s more than happy to play on his power and use it to his advantage, even where Anne is concerned.

In the early stages of their relationship, considering the type of person he is, Henry is reasonably generous and gentle when it comes to Anne. He respects her, he listens to her and she has a voice in the relationship to a greater extent than Katherine did. But the moment that Anne challenges him or speaks out of turn, he shuts her down and forecfully reminds her that he’s the one with the power. He tells her to shut up and endure like her betters before her and he threatens her by telling her he can bring her down as quickly as he raised her. When she miscarries, he makes her feel that she’s a failed as a wife, mother and queen. He makes her feel embarassed, ashamed, anxious and unloved; the exact opposite of how she should feel during such a traumatic and painful time. Things only get worse when he proceeds to cheat on her whilst she’s pregnant. And we all know how this relationship ends. There are a lot of toxic ships out there but very few who actually kill their significant other, so Henry and Anne take the top spot for that alone. 

The question arises again, why do I ship this? And it’s because a) they have amazing chemistry b) the ups and downs in the relationship are portrayed fantastically c) you visibly see the downfall of Anne as a result of her love for Henry. Anne is destroyed, both metaphorically and literally, by her relationship with Henry. None of the bad aspects of their relationships are ever masked or ignored, they’re laid bare, but we see that despite how bad they are for each other, they have a deeply intense and passionate love which neither of them can fight against.

So if you’ve read all of that, I guess I’d say that when it comes to dark/toxic ships, they don’t always work for me. I take them on their individual merit. Sometimes they work and other times they don’t. It all depends on how they’re written and portrayed, and how their relationship develops overtime

[arinowickib]

maybe this was exactly like a child in a candy store. ari had told her that he had a couple of rare items that could be good for potions, but seeing them up close was something entirely different. rosalind was in awe for a moment as she grabbed the eye carefully and then the fang before setting both of them down again.

a wide smile was spread across her face as she looked over at the blond. “next time you go out searching for items, invite me will you? all of this is amazing and can be used to brew some pretty powerful stuff.” the scientist brought out a small book of potions that she had, with ingredients and some descriptions.

“the cyclop’s eye can be used to brew a potion that can help you cure blindness. don’t know how much that happens to all of you, but that can be useful.“ then rosa carefully flipped the pages while her bottom lip pouted out. god she was lost in thought… “the giant bat fang can be used for a potion of vampirism. depending on your luck is what determines what exactly of a vampire you’ll get.“

[ ARI spent time with and donated to ROSALIND ]

“ we sort of go out and do quests, then we fine these special ingredients. but i’ll let you know the next time something else like this pops up. ” ari is ecstatic that she seems so excited and so eager to have such powerful ingredients at her disposal. “ honestly, i’d like to keep the cyclops eye, just in case, but i’d love to gift you the fang. i’m sure that you’ll make better use of it than i will. ” the thought of a vampirism potion sounded quite intruiging.

“ if there’s anything i can do to help you in the lab, let me know. i’m fairly useful, i’d like to think. ”

@godspeednpc​

[riyuu-bsd]

Rest [Edgar Allen Poe x Reader]

"What's the new book about?" she smiled, (h/c) lockes swept behind her shoulders,

"A-ah! (L/n)-San! I'm going to write a book that will absolutely stump Ranpo-Kun, because as his rival, I have to challenge him," her boss smiled,

"Sounds awesome, Poe-San!" the maid enthused, "Can I read it so far?"

In truth, the girl had no interest in reading, preferring to lead her life as a detective for her fix of action. She may not have been able to protect Poe, but she certainly could support him wholeheartedly.

Which is what she did.

"Oh, of course, but I never knew you enjoyed reading so much," the male said with a small chuckle and a faint dust of pink on his cheeks, standing up with the draft in hand.

"I could've gotten it myself, you know," the lady chuckled, moving closer so that she could get the book so far.

"Yes you could I never doubted that I justt thought that it would be better for me to hand it to you myself," he rambled, flustered at his own awkwardness as he sat back down, hiding his face in his hands (not that it made much difference, with how his hair covered his eyes). You smiled at how adorable you found it, however unprofessional it may have been.

In truth, it wasn't far off to say that she liked the shy male. His aura of mystery (which only existed due to his timidity) was alluring, and his dedication to being a good rival was refreshing. He was incredibly friendly, underneath all his awkward fumbling, and when he was comfortable with someone he was somewhat clingy. It was all adorable to the (h/c)ette, though she knew how scandalous it may seem to romanticise her boss in the work place. She had tried to drop hints, but they fell onto deaf, awkward ears. Whenever she would brush her hand against hi, he shuffled to the side, thinking it was a signal he was too close. Whenever she would give him a smile, he shied away, assuming that it was because she saw him looking at her and found it unsettling but knew how sensitive he was. It was almost frustrating, when she dwelled on it.

Snapping out of her thoughts and concentrating on the carefully crafted strings of words infront of her, she looked in amazement at the effort put into a draft of the novel. She smiled to herself, flipping the page.

The author peeked through his hands to see how she reacted so far.

A smile?

Did she find it laughable?

It would be crushing if his kind, sweet maid laughed at his work.

But at least it would be honesty, right?

Drowning in his insecurities, he failed to notice he was staring again, and quickly ripped his gaze from her.

"Its great, Poe-San," the lady smiled, holding it out for him. Whilst she had no interest in books, writing or reading, she had been encapsulated in the intricate strings of words, the sense of mystery and clues dropped intruiged her.

"Y-you think?" he stammered, unable to take the compliment at face value. His face flushed slightly, a small smile forming at the smile and nod of his assistant. She looked at her pocket watch, noticing the time,

"Ah! I should be going, I have things to sort out and rooms to clean," she chuckled, standing up and excusing herself, "Thank you for your time," she smiled with a bow.

Poe himself had lost track of time, glancing to see what it was.

11:43.

"(L-l/n), you've worked a long shift, you should really be going home," he fussed, getting up and stepping towards her, "I-I could get you a cab," he offered, "Or I could d-drive you, don't overwork yourself-"

"Don't overwork myself? Poe-San, you've been working on that novel for a week straight, you've barely left your office," the head maid fussed, turning around, "Besides, I still have work to do,"

"B-but-"

"No buts, I'm not paid to have a good nights sleep," she pouted, leaving with a small bow.

The author was left feeling nervous and guilty. He resumed finishing up the final version, mind racing with his thoughts.

His mind was clouded with thoughts and concerns of how tired she must be, if she was eating properly and other things he never usually worried about. On multiple occasions he had found himself writing her name rather than the word he was supposed to.

"Poe-San, I'll be leaving now," the maid said with a curtsy, "Unless there's anything else you need help with,"

"N-no, there's nothing else, (L/n), thank you," he smiled, amazed at how confident he seemed (despite the initial stutter),

"No problem, Poe-San, I'll be going," she said with a small smile. Before he could offer her help getting home, she was on her way out. He scrambled to his feet, chasing after her,

"W-wait!" he called, trying his best not to trip, "Have tomorrow off, i-if you'd like," he said, somewhat out of breath after not running for so long,

"I'll be fine with just coming in a bit later, if that's possible," she smiled,

"S-sure," he agreed, Karl catching up and climbing back to his usual place on Poe's shoulder.

"I'll see you, then," the lady said, somewhat curt. He nodded, retreating to his room at a brisk place.

.

.

Laying in bed with Karl curled up next to him, Poe began to feel somewhat feverish. He felt too warm, head spinning and focus askew.

What was happening?

He brought his hands to his usually cold face, pulling them away quickly at the intense heat.

That wasn't usual.

He was usually stone cold.

Why did he feel warm?

Why was his face red?

Why couldn't he take her off of his mind?

He stroked Karl's fur, hoping it would destress him and that he could find answers. He wanted answers; answers he couldn't get.

"Oh Karl, what am I going to do? I can't get her off of my mind," he whispered to his beloved raccoon, "And I'm so warm lately.. What's happening?"

Karl remained curled up, falling asleep to the quiet, worried rambles of insecurity lulled by his owner.

Stealing a glance at the clock, he groaned.

Two hours later and he still hadn't slept. Dragging himself out of dull, grey sheets. He trudged into his office, tugging at the light switch. Greyish, lavender eyes fluttered and squinted in the sudden, yellow light. He sighed to himself, slumping over the table as he began to continue writing.

.

.

//Timeskip//

.

.

Walking in to the small office, the girl sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Poe-Kun, did you not sleep again? Are you awake? Cold? Do you need a blanket?" she fussed, walking closer.

All she heard in response was soft snoring which somewhat warmed her heart. She smiled to herself, wrapping her arms around him as he continued to sleep, "Do you need me to help you get back to sleep?"

He stirred, feeling the warmth of someone against him. He flushed red in embarassment,

"(L-L/n).." he stammered, before realising the situation.

He began to panic mentally, scrambling to get away. He didn't want to make her feel uncomfortable by having her hold him so close for too long.

"Ah, Poe-San, how was your sleep?" she smiled, picking him up with incredible ease,

"I-I didn't realise I fell asleep.." he admitted, giving up on resisting and resting into her warm hold.

"That's okay, when did you last know you were awake?" she continued, walking into the hallway, "Ah- Which one is yours again?"

"I think.. I think I fell asleep at maybe.. Four?" he managed, casting back his memory, "I-I can walk myself, (L/n),"

"Poe! You need to sleep more," she scolded, "No, I'll carry you; you're tired, anyway,"

"I-I couldn't sleep.." he sighed, pointing to a room, "That one's mine,"

"Why couldn't you, Poe? What's bothering you?" she cooed, walking into the right room and placing him on the bed. Digging through his drawers, she looked for some nightwear for him to wear.

"(L-L/n), I have work to do-"

"How are you going to do work passed out, huh?" she retorted, throwing a confortable looking pair at him,

"You don't have to do this, you know," he whined, the girl standing outside to give him privacy.

"Poe, I care about you and I know that you need sleep; and that means you're getting to sleep whether you like it or not," she sassed, "I came by to drop off a cake I ordered for you, and noticed you weren't around,"

"R-Really? ..Y-you care, (L/n)..?" Poe whispered, ready to get some sleep as he reopned the door,

"I.. I mean.. Yeah.." she blushed, rubbing the back of her neck awkardly. He noticed that she was dressed in a blouse and skirt apposed to her uniform, and realised what she said was quite true. "A-anyway, what was bothering you, though?"

"I felt.. Really warm.. And my face was really red, and I couldn't stop thinking about someone.." he admitted, too awkward to say it was her.

"That means that.. You're in love," she smiled, eyes holding an underlying sadness.

"O-oh.." he whispered, before the lady tucked him into his sheets,

"Would you like some tea to help you sleep? Biscuits? Anything at all?" she offered, eyes plain.

"C-could--" He cut himself off, realising how absurd his answer would seem to her, "Could you open the window for me?" She nodded, smiling and granting his request.

"I'll stick around, just in case you need anything, okay?"

"O-okay.."

His mind still raced. She cared about him. About his wellbeing. About his happiness. It made his heart flutter, the butterflies in his stomach intense. He wove his hand in Karl's soft fur, hoping to relieve his mind of such thoughts. Every once in a while, he noticed she would come and check in on him, only to get flustered and scold him when he was still awake.

How could he not be?

He was conflicted over her; did he love her? Or was it just that he wanted to be friends, and his social anxieties over exaggerated the situation, feigning admiration as infatuation?

Who was he kidding? Of course he loved her. Afterall, he was fixated on her. Wanting to be close to her, to be near her. He was quite comfortable with her, seeing as she was his maid and (possibly) his friend.

Curling up, he decided to just close his eyes and hope to fall asleep, before hearing the door open. He knew the familiar scent of lavender from anywhere; (L/n). She came to check on him again, moving closer.

Poe held his eyes shut, no matter how desperately he wanted to gaze at her beautiful features, he should have been sleeping. She brushed away the dark hair covering his eye, smiling down at him softly.

"Dammit, why do I have to love you?" she whispered, "You're my boss; I shouldn't be feeling like this towards you."

Poe felt his cheeks burn in embarrassment. It went unnoticed, the lady continuing to speak,

"I mean, you're the one I work for; surely it would be awkward if we were together.." she sighed, still relatively quiet, "But you're just too darn cute.."

He cracked open one eye, holding out his arms for her to fall into, "I.. I love you too.." he whispered, wrapping his arms around her loosely. She melted into his hold, taken aback by his confidence. Whilst he had stuttered, he also engaged in physical contact; something she was quite proud of him for.

"O-oh.." she said, realising his words as her face grew redder, "You heard all that?" Poe nodded against her back, having sat up to be closer to him. He felt the drowsiness he should have felt the previous night hit him like a train, finding himself almost unable to keep his eyes open.

"I-I'm tired.."

"Anything you could do with to help you sleep?" the (h/c)ette smiled jokingly.

"C-can you stay here..?" he whispered into her neck, having burried his face into her shoulder, "I-it's kind of comfortable.."

"Sure thing, Poe-Kun," she smiled, laying back down as the shy author snuggled closer to her, drifting into a much needed sleep.