#HOW IS THAT PLATONIC KARSON HOW

[pendinganchor]

(before the post starts: to everyone who follows me for stranger things i’m sorry you have to deal with my random adventures into other fandoms — this is for the marauders fandom so if you don’t care about that feel free to scroll 💞 and also as always fuck jkr)

me: this fic is going to be so fucking full of angst and jealousy and toxicity with rosekiller endgame

also me:

It’s silent for a moment— Barty convinced the Gryffindor’s eyes could bore into his soul if he let him stare long enough. “You’ve never needed to simply feel something, Potter?”

-

[Barty] lowered his voice, a hand almost absently reaching up to the other boy’s face. His middle finger ran down his jawline. “What does [Regulus] see in you?”

“What-?”

“He’s never looked at me the way he looks at you. What are you doing that I wasn’t?”

-

“I can move. Do you want-“

“No, stay.” James laid back down. It was dark, but Barty reached up anyway. His hand started in James’ hair then ran down to his cheek. His middle finger traced his jaw again— like it had that night on the tower. “I can see what he sees in you now.”

me in some tags AFTER i wrote the stuff above:

BRO OPEN YOUR FUCKING EYES YOU SHIP IT AND THIS IS HAPPENING

[reynasdream]

FOR YOU!

⤷ pairing: sotheby x reader

⤷ content: reader is gender neutral with no pronouns, reader is implied to be an adult, reader is sotheby's personal bodyguard, platonic relationship, fluff, slight angst, sotheby cries 😿, not proofread

⤷ word count: 1.3k+

⤷ synopsis: sotheby decides to get you a gift as an apology for her...accident.

⤷ note: written for the advent event of the st. pavlov foundation, my prompt is "gifts"! this was kind of rushed because i wanted to get this done and spend time with my sister but i hope this is alright.

⤷ taglist: @maimishou, @julestotaldrama

sizzle...sizzle...

in front of the scattered beakers and drops of colored liquid on the table and ground was a young girl, around 13 years old, with a worried expression on her face.

"oh...what to do...what to do..." she paced around the laboratory. "this room was already cleaned...what do i do...?"

she turned her head to the pool of a clear liquid with broken shards of glass dispersed around it. she sighed, slightly thankful for the sage green gloves that covered her hands, for if they were not there she would have bitten her nails off.

sweat beads formed on her forehead as she continued circling the room, thinking of how you would react. you had already cleaned the laboratory after she caused an explosion with her experiments just a week ago. how would you feel after seeing the absolute mess she had caused?

unsure of what to do, she ran her hands through her fixed coils, looking around for something to be able to conceal the current clutter on her table.

her ears suddenly perked up as she heard the door knob turn. she whipped her head to her wide open door, rushing to it to shut it.

"miss sotheby?" you called out. "i have arrived from the training. have you eaten lunch yet? i will ask mr. karson to help prepare it for you if you haven't."

panic rushed through sotheby as her face went pale, even paler than her usual complexion. she fiddled around with the bracelets on her gloved wrists.

"i-i'm fine! i already ate earlier!" sotheby yelled, yet her voice trembled slightly as she spoke. when she uttered those words, she knew she was done for.

"miss sotheby, you sound rather worried. is everything alright?" you hung your coat up on the coat stand. looking around for sotheby, you faced the closed door to the laboratory.

"miss sotheby..."

"yes...?"

you walked toward the laboratory and came to a stop, hovering your hand over the door knob for just a moment, before opening the door.

you widened your eyes as you stared at the predicament of the laboratory. a shattered beaker on the table, liquid flowing down onto the floor, drops of different liquids on the table, knocked down test tubes...it was a mess.

"miss sotheby, what did you do?" you stared at the table.

"i...i was just trying to...uh..." sotheby stammered, putting her hands behind her back. "i'm so sorry."

you rubbed the bridge of your nose, sighing. "i will fetch the broom and dust pan. please, stay here. don't do anything."

you ran out of the laboratory, leaving sotheby with her worrying thoughts that had come true. she wanted to help, truly, but she knew she would only make the situation worse if she did.

soon, you came back, yelling for mr. karson and the other butlers to help in the laboratory. sotheby only stared in silence as she tried to stop the tears escaping her eyes. she didn't know how to apologize for her actions, but she was oh so sorry.

after the cleaning, sotheby silently walked to her bedroom, deeply ashamed. she laid down on her bed as she stared at the ceiling. she blinked out of her thoughts once there was a familiar, soft knock on the door.

one...two...three...

"what are you doing?" a younger sotheby asked. she held a black bunny with a red scarf and shorts as she looked at you.

"i always knock on the door thrice, miss sotheby."

"how come?"

you shrugged. "it is simply a habit of mine, miss sotheby."

sotheby nodded, smiling at you.

sotheby could hear the three knocks on the door. she sat up, muttering a shaky "come in".

she averted your lingering gaze, her back facing you as you entered her bedroom. you leaned onto the doorframe, arms crossed.

"you cannot ignore me forever, miss sotheby. i hope you are well aware of this."

after a couple moments, sotheby turned around, her legs crossed as she sat on the bed. you mumbled a, "that's more like it" before closing the door and sitting down next to her.

you took a deep breath and exhaled before speaking again. "didn't i tell you not to perform experiments when unsupervised?"

sotheby nodded.

"and didn't i tell you that only chaos would happen if you did so anyway?"

sotheby nodded again.

"was i right?"

sotheby sighed. "i'm sorry-"

"was i right, miss sotheby?"

sotheby looked down at her bed before nodding once again.

you looked at her and placed her coils behind her back. "don't cry, miss sotheby."

"but i'm no-"

"i can tell you are."

sotheby nodded and you took out a handkerchief from your chest pocket, handing it to your superior. she took it gently, wiping her tears from her eyes. the tears soon came to a stop as she stared at the blanket's patterns on her large mattress.

"i will prepare lunch for you," you stood up, dusting off the place where you sat.

"but i already ate-"

"i know you haven't."

sotheby fell silent as you headed out her bedroom, closing the door. different thoughts raced through her mind as she was left alone. she took a pillow and placed it on her lap, hugging it as she began crying again.

the sun was beginning to set as several dishes laid on the dinner table. they were already cold, and the servants had been sent home. you had your hands on your hips as you looked at the table.

"are you alright, mx. l/n?" mr. karson walked into the dining room. "do you need help with cleaning up?"

"no thank you, mr. karson," you turned to him. "you should get some rest."

the man nodded and walked out. the sky was darkening as there was a slight shuffle and a yelp.

immediately, you ran to where the high-pitched scream came from. turns out, sotheby had nearly slipped down the stairs, and she clutched the railing with one hand and a small box on the other.

"miss sotheby?" you walked up to her and helped her. she seemed to be in a much better mood than before, and she was nearly back to her cheery self.

"ah- um, i am so sorry for what happened earlier. i should've listened to you, truly," sotheby chuckled nervously. she held the box with both her hands, keeping it close to her and looking away from you once again.

the box was sky blue, with a navy blue ribbon wrapped around it to keep it shut. it was tied quite poorly, and it seemed to be tied in a rush, but it was a cute box nonetheless. the wrapping had white polka dots, presumably stolen in the storage closet upstairs.

you glanced at the box sotheby held, as she showed it to you, silently asking for you to take it. you gently took it from her hands, untying the badly created ribbon and opening the box. your eyes lit up at the sight, and sotheby looked at you. she grinned.

inside the box was a choker, paired with matching earrings. the choker was adorned with white pearls and a pink square gemstone in the middle, plated in pure gold. the earrings had a white pearl on each earring, with a pink square gemstone plated in gold.

"...is it okay? it was supposed to be a gift from a business associate for my birthday, but i decided it would look better on you!" sotheby had then returned to her happy self, as she gave you a toothy grin.

you smiled at sotheby. "thank you, miss sotheby, but you did not have to do this."

"oh, but i wanted to mx. l/n! i wanted to give it to you as an apology...for earlier," sotheby finally looked at you and your brightened eyes. you simply stared at the necklace.

"well, thank you very much, nonetheless," you smiled at her, before turning back to the dinner you had prepared many, many hours ago.

"i will prepare another dinner for you. and i hope you will eat it this time," you said in a joking tone. sotheby's cheeks flushed red with embarrassment.

"i-i'm so sorry, mx. l/n!"

[hpowellsmith]

Since the last couple asks have been pretty gloomy, how would the ROs react to a fake-date scenario where MC needs them to fill in the role of their partner for a party or meeting, maybe cause they told their parents they were in a good relationship with a person of good status just to get them off their back? (ik it pretty much wouldn't work with Karson and Freddie because their statuses are lower than MC's but c'mon let's play pretend, ooh maybe MC can beg ask them to pretend to be someone else if they're ok with it?)(also I love you because you let us have that with Gonzalez, it was such a joy having my ace MC get fake-engaged to them (not fake, more like platonic but you get me) it was so fun lol. Sorry it's so long, and thanks for writing such a story!

Gonzalez and Freddie would go for it and find it really funny, though they're very bad at pretending anything so would probably crack up during it

Hartmann, Auguste and Karson would be a bit confused, I'm not sure if they would go along with it because they'd be concerned about it getting complicated and becoming a web of confusion!

Rosario would try to do it quite seriously but would be very inept

Max and Florin would both get a kick out of it and would go very over the top, like "yeah we're basically married"

Delacroix and Blaise would do it and would be very intense about it

There is something related to this that will happen in Royal Affairs but I am keeping my mouth SHUT about it because it's going to be ridiculous and I'm not going to spoil it!

[pleasefeedthebirds]

A Relatively Deep Dive Into My “Crème de la Crème” MCs - #2. Arminia Weschen

(“Crème de la Crème” is by @hpowellsmith. See my first post in this series here.)

Arminia “Ms. Weschen” Weschen

she/her/hers

Olive complexion and wavy brown hair

Favors conventionally feminine fashion

Domineering

Manipulative

Traditional → Progressive (*In the very end of the game)

Exceptional Poise and Intrigue

Commonplace Spirit, Wit, and Flair

LOADS more info and spoiler content under the cut!

Ooooo Mean Girl alert! After playing through the game twice as relatively well-meaning albeit inherently-morally-questionable-via-flimsy-upbringings-socialized-within-the-cushion-of-wealth characters, I had an absolute blast throwing high regard for redeeming qualities to the wind, and making a full-on self-centered and socially ruthless manipulator.

As the middle child in a sibling spread of five, Arminia felt overlooked for most of her young life, being the only one of her brood who wasn’t excellent at anything tangible. Her parents—busy-bodied magnates—would be exorbitantly rich if they weren’t such spendthrifts. I take them for bristling, insecure types who enable each other to the extreme, and who cater to their children's’ every material want, supposing that it makes up for being busy and distant. They believe in flagrant displays of luxury as proof of status, which is something that imprinted their kids thoroughly, Arminia included.

Making the executive decision that Arminia was “too good” for Holtsfield, they arranged her transference to Gallatin for her final year of college, hoping to expand her education in social graces before coaxing her into the business world, as they had her older brother and sister. Just before the term began, Arminia’s parents were exposed. They were both involved in an embezzlement scheme each (lol classic) and dropped swiftly and irreparably from their prior standing.

Arminia was already conditioned to view society as a tower, but when her parents fell, it suddenly became a matter of sink or swim, win or lose—and the stakes were higher than ever.

So, she takes Gallatin for her own personal jungle gym. She recognizes the system, and chooses to manipulate it as an aspiring expert of “the game.” Never being the type to talk seriously (not trusting anyone enough), she actually thinks that she’s the first of her circles to realize the hypocritical convolutions of high society and social graces. Instead of rebelling, she leans into it all the more, and clings to her realized understanding as an advantage.

Though working for her own benefit usually comes first (typically by emotionally strongarming kids into doing her bidding), Arminia is no stranger to putting others down for cruel amusement, and may step out of her way to do so, only partially in the spirit of preserving her alpha status. She’s a merciless strategist, because that’s what she thinks it means to thrive in the world today, and with quite the competitive streak, she’s determined to stay on top, no matter how lonely it turns out to be.

5’7”, with a soft, pear-shaped body. Her favorite vice is getting scandalous on the side, so she knows how to flaunt it, too.

Has very thick and dark eyebrows. She’s frequently enraged by their presence, and plucks them relentlessly. They always come back.

Is dexterous with makeup. Her lips are naturally thin, so she draws them out each morning, rouges her cheeks, and softens her face’s edges. On weekends, she dabbles in eyeliner.

Her eyes are a very light brown—nearly yellow at golden hour. For her spotty vision, she has prescribed reading glasses, but never wears them, because she doesn’t like integrating things into her aesthetic that are outside of her choice.

Freckled all over. Their allotment becomes more profuse the tanner she gets. She feigns indifference to them, but shifts between liking them (for distinguishing her) and hating them (for distinguishing her) depending on the day.

Suffers something of a protagonist’s condition, living in a self-made belief that everything she does matters beyond compare. She clings to this idea for the sake of feeling important, but generally fails to recognize that other people are every bit as complex as she is.

Has trouble handling her anger. She’s great at hiding it in the moment, but absolutely rampages when she’s alone.

A tragic kissass to all of her teachers. Mr. Griffith raises an eyebrow, but respects her social wit. I don’t think Mr. Blanchard knows what to do with that kind of deference, and so ignores it. Miss Dalca probably likes her moxie, but thinks she’d be better to use it for good, and has called her out on being unnecessarily pointed in class discussions (Arminia loves and hates this). Lady Renaldt likely sees her as adequate, if a bit too brusque toward her fellow students.

Virtue: 74%

Popularity: 87%

Coursework Grade: A

Exam Mark: C

Extracurricular: Gallatin Swans (offensive)

Entanglements: Platonically engaged to Gonzalez. Physically involved with Florin.

Her only real friend is Gonzalez, who she actually confides in. Not totally, though she gets as close as is doable for her. I think Gonzalez is the only one of her peers who genuinely falls for the faux-nice act, and Arminia takes pity. It’s not kind , but at the end of the day, Arminia still takes her for a total idiot. They get engaged for appearances.

Has a physical relationship with the Honourable Florin Kraemer. Florin seems to thrive on trouble, giving as much as receiving, and Arminia takes risks as her favorite vice. However, post-mine conflict, I imagine Arminia’s scarred into changing for the better, and would do her best to encourage Florin to do the same, at least be more conscious of their actions on other people and what their profligacy is capable of.

Cordial with Auguste, who respected her traditionally respectable appearances at Archambault events.

Cordial with Rosario. She and Arminia shot the shit a few times. The princess’s naïveté was easy for Arminia to work around, and say the right thing to. They wouldn’t easily become genuine friends. 

So-so with Freddie, who stays out of Arminia’s way. Arminia likes that, so there’s no issue with them.

Treats Karson like a servant, and sees little issue with that.

Could have been friends with Max. I bet she intrigues him for her scandalous-by-moonlight ways, but her faux-pleasantries absolutely would turn him off.

A bully to Delacroix. Says mocking things to him and his interests in a tone that’s just sweet enough to fly below the radar. Gets a sense of her own social security out of doing so.

She and Blaise were utterly abhorrent to each other. Upon the latter’s first introduction as a thorn in her side, Arminia sniped right back at Blaise like a spitting cat for as long as Blaise was around. She gets a smug satisfaction upon her “resignation,” though she acts sad to avoid coming under fire. Later turns to a confused sense of guilt when she learns where Blaise has really been. 

Some Choice Plot Pieces (cue spoilers):

Gathered evidence against Mr. Blanchard in compliance with Lady Renaldt.

Has a surprisingly great working relationship with Miss Benton.

Gathered information for Annick against Lady Renaldt (to avoid a smear on her own reputation).

Endgame (cue SUPER spoilers):

Almost ended up working with Lady Renaldt in the mine plot, hoping to turn the situation to her own gain. However, when Karson spilled that Gaspard Breiner died there, and when Lady Renaldt demanded she send Gonzalez, it was too much to comply with.

Sent Gonzalez to the mines (as part of her own plan), but got everyone out.

Barged right into the graduation ceremony.

Went on to study at Reissenger (I imagine on a lacrosse scholarship—fully just to be with Gonzalez).

Planned a trip with Florin over the summer, where I think she’ll get just a bit more worldly before her coming term at university.

[sarspax]

I hope this isn't too weird/invasive a question, but why is sex such a big part of your world(s)? For my three big stories/worlds, it's very much a minimal/nonexistent thing in the societies/species I have. I am thinking it has something to do with my personal feelings on the subject (discomfort/distaste), so I am wondering what your thoughts/feelings are on why it's a big part of your things.

Not at all! This is going to be a bit of a long answer so bear with me, I think it’ll be interesting for you and many of my followers who are much newer to my work.[I’d like to quickly preface this now that I’ve gone back and proofread what I wrote a few times. It’s entirely okay to have worlds that cater to and reflect your discomfort with something. Being aware of the creator’s relationship with their own work is a big part of understanding the work itself. So I’m really glad you’re asking about it!] I struggled for a long time with my own sexuality, and still do. Between body dysphoria, being a person of color, and our societal norms and expectations, I grew up being afraid of sexuality as a whole. There was too much evidence that I could easily expect to be a target for sexual assault or violence, that because of how I looked I wouldn’t  be expected to be openly sexual, that sex was a disgusting animalistic urge, that sex was the ultimate show of affection and trust, that sex was violating and invasive, that it is an obligation, and that I could be reduced into something that is used for one sided sexual gratification rather than be considered an equal contributing partner. It was a long time before I came to terms with recognizing I had sexual urges at all and that they were okay to have but still left me in a place where my desire to explore that with others is in conflict with fear of violence or potential to be pressured into consenting to something I don’t want or don’t want at the time. I’m fascinated by all aspects of sex and sexual relationships (biologically, socially, personally) and simultaneously incredibly uncomfortable with it. It’s also related to my unease and overall distrust of people because of our current societal norms. I see the world from a much different angle than most people but I know it’s not easy to shift that which is why I use my work to push those boundaries. I have multiple headworlds and each approach sexuality, gender, the influence of evolution and biological pressure on the formation of social expectations and rules among humans and sentient non-humans from a different approach or focus. It may seem like sex is super prominent in my worlds because my non-conventional approach to the topic gets people asking me a lot of sex related questions. I don’t mind at all given that it’s the reaction I want. I want people questioning the societal norms we don’t think about that my work addresses and this extends beyond sex. Sex is such a culturally taboo thing to talk but it seems to work pretty well as a gateway into my worlds. Its been a pretty incredible journey over the years. Trying to explain 7 years ago what genders and sexes that exist outside of the binary or don’t at all function like male and female was difficult and took a lot of time and now I hardly need to explain it beyond a few sentences. My conversations with people quickly go from answer sex questions to talking about how public transportation is handled or whether my aliens believe in assisting in dignified deaths. The headworld my shapeshifters belong to (Reed, Karson, etc) mostly focus on memory, the ways different people approach addressing or avoiding trauma, how they learn to cope, and self awareness that extends beyond recognizing all the nuances of yourself and why you do what you do, towards recognition of how you influence others on a personal level to a global one. It’s very much about the interconnectedness of things and even touches on reincarnation in it’s own way. Sexual relationships, romantic relationships, platonic relationships, and every other form between and outside of that are a relevant part of that. The headworld in and of itself isn’t sex focused, but it doesn’t shy away from talking about it either. The Zenn headworld focuses mostly on social expectations related to evolution and biological pressures and how those shape the values of their cultures. It talks a lot about gender identities, ethnic identity, body integrity, sex positivity, and mental+physical illness in a way that is intersectional. As much about sex as I’ve spoken about this particular headworld when asked I don’t have any plans to depict any explicit sexual context. It’s more about portraying a culture that is overwhelmingly sex positive in a way that leaves room for openly talking about the entirety of the sexual spectrum including asexuality in it’s many forms. The several other worlds I’m working on including the Skiliquivi (which I know people aren’t super familiar with yet) don’t explore sex in any form aside from what is needed behind the scenes when it comes to developing their cultures and sexual dimorphism if at all applicable. My Forgefire headworld (which is going to be renamed soonish) doesn’t have any consideration for sex at all. It’s also a project currently geared towards a more family audience. Some of my worlds have cultures that aren’t anti-sex so much as having little importance placed on it while others have themes that point out the effects of sexual repression and/or toxic manifestations of sexual obsession. None of these exist in a void though because they intersect heavily with other cultural values just as they do in our world. I know what little artwork and material I have up doesn’t immediately convey these things necessarily but it is what is driving all of my design decisions, stories, and worldbuilding from the ground up. I took a bit of a break for art school but now that I’m back at it I’m going to be quickly getting all of my headworld information up to date since the majority of what is available is three or more years old and vital components within them have changed for the better. I’ll be digging into my tumblr tags soon to update or remove and reorganize dozens of pages of outdated world information.