#can this man be any shadier at this point

[reginrokkr]

◟༺✧༻◞ Collected Miscellanies #6

Even as I speak, strange events that I cannot comprehend are unfolding in Sumeru City. Fortunately to Tighnari, though he lacks knowledge of the full situation, his intuition has saved him from becoming entangled in it. In Tighnari’s opinion, however profound and esoteric knowledge may be, it does not equal virtue. Elitism and deceit can lead to no good. Ironically, the Akademiya sages who manage knowledge neither comprehend the true meaning of knowledge nor understand the yearnings of human heart. Though Tighnari has rejected them several times still their pleas come, time after time, to his door. Let’s see where exactly the path of stubbornness and ignorance will lead them in the future.                                                                                                                  —Tighnari miscellany.

[...] Good things come to those who are willing to work toward their dreams. [...] Growth means different things to different people. Some simply wish to grow up in peace while others pursue loftier goals. As for Collei, she believes that overcoming the past is a necessary step on the long journey to the future she pursues. This is wise. For to overcome is to move forward, not to wallow endlessly in the past. …Pity that my former travel companion, for all their years of rumination, lacks Collei’s clarity on this. …Or perhaps some situations are simply too complex to be resolved by good intentions and honest effort alone…                                                                                                                 —Collei miscellany.

In my travels across Teyvat, I’ve heard people say that “curiosity was mankind’s original sin”. Perhaps everyone has the impulse to explore the deep secrets of the world, but only scholars can truly fulfill such ambitions. Cyno can relate to some degree. Placing the mysteries of the universe before scholars with a burning desire for knowledge would be like placing a dragon-themed deck from Genius Invokation TCG in front of him... Both are irresistible temptations. Perhaps the Akademiya established the Matra not principally to punish wayward scholars. But rather, to protect them... because the gravest crimes committed in the name of wisdom may be beyond the matra’s ability to punish.                                                                                                                 —Cyno miscellany.

People who have lost their guardian deity often display the greatest interest in the gods. But having never seen a god with their own eyes, the far-fetched products of their naïve imaginations are poor substitutes for reality.                                                                                                                 —Candace miscellany.

I must stress that I am a warrior and in no way versed in the disciples of song and dance. If anyone was expecting my philosophical musings on these topics, I’m sorry to disappoint. But while I am no connoisseur, even I find myself moved once in a while by the sight of an extraordinary performance. Even for the Nation of Wisdom, citing the pursuit of rationality as a justification for refusing to acknowledge the comfort that an audience can find in the arts is sheer arrogance. When groups clash or human ideals conflict with the rules of the world around them… disputes of this nature most often arise from the inability to tolerate the existence of that which is different from oneself.                                                                                                                —Nilou miscellany.

[back2bluesidex]

Haegeum - MYG (18+)

Pairing: Gangstar!Yoongi X Bar-owner!Reader

Theme: SMUT, PWP (MDNI)

Summary: Banning Yoongi from your bar has its own consequences.

Word count: 1869

Warning: Strong Language, sexual theme, dub-con, sex on the bar island, creampie, mentions of gun, a little bit of violence, Yoongi is hot OMG!!

**************

“How dare you?” you seethe through your teeth, staring at the man that seemingly has no emotion at all. Your eyes scan the pieces of shattered glass all over the floor of your bar. You wanna cry. Your bar means the world to you. After pressing yourself under the unforgiving wheels of the corporate sector, you finally saved enough money to open your own bar. It has been one of your biggest dreams since forever. All of it was going good, so fucking good until one day Min Yoongi, the infamous delinquent of the city stepped inside. 

Nothing has been quiet and peaceful since then. Using your bar for his illegal deals has become one of the common things. You have warned him again and again but you received nothing but a smirk in return. 

However, everything has a limit so does your patience with this terribly handsome delinquent. The dam of your cool demanour broke yesterday when he pulled out his gun and pointed it at the man he was supposed to be making the deal with. You threw both of them out of your bar just at once. Thanks to your bulky security guards, the deed has not been tough. But you knew that you were jumping in a pool of fire. You knew it the moment Yoongi turned his head to stare and smirk at you before being pushed out of the entrance. 

And just as you thought, he came back today. He came back with his gang of thugs and jerks and destroyed the large mirror that you installed behind your bar counter, it was your favourite decoration. Seems like he knew it. 

You miss the way Yoongi’s eyes rake over your body as you continue to stare at the broken glass all over the floor. 

“Are you regretting, kitten?” Yoongi cooes in a low voice, taking your attention. You look at him and visibly cringe at the nickname. 

“This is what you get for banning me from my favourite bar in the town.” He says again. 

“This is my bar, you nutjob! I get to decide who can step in here and who can’t!” you scream at his face. Your fury didn’t let you see the way you are stepping towrads his body. 

“And this is my area, Kitten. I get to decide who can start their business here and who can’t.” Yoongi replies calmly, as if he didn’t trespass your property and scared your guests away less than seven minutes ago. 

“You don’t own the property, Yoongi” you reply, boring your fiery eyes into his cold ones. 

“You bet I do, kitten. And do you know what else I own?” he pauses, taking a step towards you, “you”. 

You stand still. You don’t know if you should be scared or thrilled hearing such a handsome delinquent calling you his. But what you do know is that even if you want to oppose it, it will all go in vain. He is Min Yoongi after all and what Yoongi wants, Yoongi gets.

“Have you ever asked yourself how you got to open this bar without facing any trouble?” Yoongi asks, taking another step towards you and this time you take a step back. You indeed have asked yourself. Since your capital was limited you didn’t get to open your bar in a fairly decent area. You decided to settle for a little shadier place instead, promising yourself that you will shift it to somewhere better once you earn enough profit. However, you heard stories about how other pub or club owners in this area had to pass money under the table for opening their businesses. When you faced nothing like this, you indeed asked yourself several questions starting from why and how. You somehow knew it would come with a price. But you didn’t imagine the price to be Min Yoongi himself. 

“Because I let you do so.” Yoongi growls, breaking your reverie and taking another step towards you. 

“Becuase I wanted you from the day my eyes landed on this pretty face of yours, this inviting body of yours.” his eyes travel down your face to your neck then your chest. The heat of his gaze and his body makes you feel lightheaded. You almost jump when your body comes in contact with the bar top. Yoongi’s body towers over yours and he locks you between those vieny arms of his. You should be angry and furious but the sudden dampness of your panty says something completely different. 

“Why do you want me?” your voice is softer than before and you fail to recognize yourself when you say those words. It is as if you want to hear him saying something very specific, you don’t know why. 

“I like strong, confident and self-dependent women. I like to see them fly until they find that one place they can’t reach.” he smirks that lethal smirk again, “and in your case, I am that place.”

You are about to protest but then your words get cut as you feel something hard against your stomach. Unfortunately, that object isn’t his bulge but the cold metal of his gun. 

Your breath gets stuck on your throat as you feel terror creeping up your spine. But you don’t want to show it, not today. 

“Go ahead, kill me if you want. I still am not bending in front of you.” you say and Yoongi chuckles. 

“You got some courage, don’t you? But kitten, you gotta bend in front of me if you wanna save your precious bar. If you don’t, next time it will be those expensive bottle of liqours to be shattered here on the floor.” He presses the gun on your stomach even more. 

“No!” you mutter. 

“Then do as I say. I promise it won’t be painful. Rather you will like it all.” Yoongi’s gaze falls down on your lips and your cunt leaks with anticipation. 

“What do you want me to do?” you say, letting your own eyes fall on his lips.

“Strip” the demand in Yoongi’s voice sends you working in auto-pilot and you find yourself shredding each piece of garment one by one. 

Yoongi’s eyes darkened the moment you are left only with your emerald lace lingerie. You see him licking his lips as his body still towers you greedily. 

“Stop” Yoongi commands when you reach for the hook of your bra. He places his gun in the back pocket of his jeans and places one of his giant palms on your bare thigh. 

“Better than my imagination” he says, squeezing your thigh harshly. Within a moment you find yourself being lifted up and sat on the bar top. 

“You are already wet? Is this how much you hate me, kitten?” Yoongi says, regarding the wet spot that is visible through the cloth of your lacy underware. You are embarrassed but you’re aroused much more than that.  

Yoongi takes out his gun again. He holds you by your waist and he presses the mouth of his gun on your clothed clit. You hiss at the contact. Yoongi’s mouth finds the expanse of your collarbone as he bites down on your skin, “you like it, kitten. You are just as nasty as I thought.”

Moaning out a little, you try to roll your hips for some friction, you are badly in need of that. 

“So impatient. Just like a little slut. You are lucky, I have been waiting for a long time to get you like this, which means I am in no mood to tease.” Yoongi mutters in your throat before he pulls his face away from yours and hooks his fingers on the hem of your underware. He snatches that away within a blink. And now you are sitting naked on the bartop with a leaking core waiting to be ruined by Yoongi. 

“Fuck” he curses, as he places two of his fingers on your slit gathering some of your juices. Your pussy starts throbbing at the contact. And without your own knowledge you moan out his name. 

“Yes, kitten, yes. Moan my name. Let me hear it.” Yoongi says with a dazed expression. He places the gun on the top of the bar just beside you and starts removing his pants. You know he is just as impatient if not more, when he pulls his boxers away along with his jeans. His delicious looking dick frees from confinement to greet you in its full glory. 

Your mouth waters at the sight. As much as your pride hurts right now, you can’t really deny the fact that you would love to suck him dry. As if reading your mind, Yoongi says, “I would love to give you a taste but, I need to be inside you now.” 

He aligns his dick on your entrance and presses on your clit with the tip of his cock once. You hiss at the contact, yet again. 

“Fuck Yoongi!” you moan. 

“Yeah kitten. I am gonna fuck you till you can barely walk.” he says, slowly entering you. He pulls out his length once he is midway and then slams into you without any warning. You grasp for a handful of his thick hair. He barely gives you any time to adjust as he starts moving with a good pace already. You don’t even register when his hands reach your back and unhook your bra. You finally get what is happening when he pulls the garment away from your body and throws that away. 

Yoongi latches his mouth to one of your perked nipples as one of his hands massage the other tit. He sucks hard and messily, leaving a trail of his drool dropping down the swell of our tits, reaching your naval down to your mound. He bites your nipple and that gets you seeing stars. 

“Yoongi” you whine. 

Yoongi takes up a much faster pace, this time he shifts his mouth to your other tit and his hand reaches down to draw circles on your clit. The pleasure that you feel is unexplainable. You feel like you could faint from this. 

“Fuck fuck fuck fuck” a string of curses start flying out of your mouth when his cock hit your g-spot twice in a row. As a result your walls start squeezing his shaft and his cock starts twiching. 

“Cum on my cock, kitten” as if you obey his command, you cum on his dick. Yoongi follows right behind as he spills his seed in you. He bites on your nipple again and the pain overstimulates you. 

Yoongi pulls out his softened dick from your cunt and watches as his semen flows out. He chuckles at the sight. Your breath is heavy and ragged and seeing Yoongi chuckling at your fucked out form makes you angry. 

“What’s so funny?” you ask furiously. 

“Not funny but definitely amusing how you ended up bending before me.” He smirks again. Your jaw gets tight at his cockiness. 

“It’s a one time thing” you say as you start climbing down from the bar top. 

“Oh, kitten, you thought so. Cause now, you belong to me.” Yoongi says, grabbing his gun and pointing that to your temple. 

**************

Taglist:

@phenomenalgirl9 @variety-is-the-joy-of-life @soraviie

[gay-dorito-dust]

Hey I’m the anon that asked if you write for Tekken 👉🏻👈🏻 I always like the grumpy x sunshine trope, and I was wondering if you can write headcanons for Kazuya with an s/o like that? Very soft, sweet, affectionate, I feel in a way it would also be funny 😆

Idk if this is what you wanted but I have it my best shot. 🦦

Not me back on my Brutus and Pixie agenda (seriously it’s my favourite thing to reference at this point.)

All I’m going to say is; it’s not easy showing kindness to a man who had been so vastly removed from it from a young age, and the only memory he has of experiencing such kindness was from his mother; which in of itself was merely candlelight in comparison to the suffocating darkness.

So needless to say if you keep at it, not showing agitation or anger towards his inability to see your acts of kindness towards him as just that; pure acts of kindness. Then Kazuya will slowly -baby steps mind you, extremely small baby steps- begin to believe it to some extent.

Everyday is an uphill battle but you were willing to fight it forever without ever showing an ounce of fatigue if it meant earning Kazuya’s trust. Something that he one day noticed and will- in his own unique way- show his gratitude for sticking by him for as long as you have.

Let’s hypothetically say he came back injured, you naturally wanted to help him but much like showing affection or acknowledging how he felt towards you, he will have those walls up again faster then you could blink. It’s just natural for him this way to never pay any mind to the ‘weaker’ side to himself and reject any and all notions that could possibly end up in him becoming ‘soft’ and ‘pliable’ for those who might have it out for him.

So imagine the feeling of achievement you’d get the moment Kazuya let’s you tend to his wounds, listening silently as he slowly began to open up to you, even if it was a little bit, it was still something to celebrate for the both of you; especially when going forward into this relationship where you’d gradually bear your entire heart to the other, letting them see the most vulnerable parts of yourselves and silently praying that the other doesn’t destroy you with it in the future…

And imagine how nice it was to be hugged by a pair of strong arms, held against a firm chest by powerful hands and just finding yourself melting into him…smiling softly at the fact that Kazuya wanted to hold you out of his own accord. Feeling protected from any and all harm that could come your way. It was enough to make you want to cry but instead you smiled brightly and told him how utterly proud you were of him for taking the first step, for taking a chance on something he was once so vividly against.

This man looks like he’s never be told that someone was proud of him ever in his life. So hearing someone who had nothing but the most wholesome of intentions with him say it? He’s not going to know how to react, but from the way his grip on you would tighten slightly told you more than enough as you reminded yourself to keep reminding him how proud you were.

Is it a stretch to say that he would be protective? Especially towards the person who had shown him their truest self and shown him how being in love and being loved don’t inherently make you weak or lesser than, boldly proving him -a man dead set in his ways- wrong on several occasions and him not feeling an ounce of anger but instead a weird sense of relief? So Kazuya will want to keep you away from the shadier side of things in the instance that he might not always be there to ward away unwanted attention.

He may not say it aloud but then again why would he when his actions were loud enough for you to understand their intentions, no matter how few and far between they might be but at least you knew that he would stand by you and keep you protected by any means necessary.

He just has a fear of loosing the one good thing in his life because of who he was; For if he were to loose you then everything he originally believed would then become truth, that it would become reality.

The fact that you were both opposites would be made apparent in everything that you did but that’s what made your relationship work when in any other circumstances it probably wouldn’t. However it only made your appreciation of the other stronger than before.

It’s not perfect, not that I’m saying it ever was, but ultimately the hardships are what made you treasure your relationship with the grumpy man even more. You didn’t try to change or ‘fix’ him because that was not your job, you’re not fixer and you knew that as much as he did and instead you -with your unwavering kindness and gentleness- had let him taken his time with getting to a level of comfortability with you where he knew he could relax beneath your touch instead of flinching away.

You soothed his scarred heart whilst also loving it unconditionally without feeling the need to change it to fit your fantasy.

[paraliveimaginesblog]

the drunk mc rejecting their partners because they didn't recognize them was so cute and funny please <3 was wondering if you can do something similar for iori, saimon, and ryoga, thank you so much!!!

(i'm so sorry to Saimon FASDFASD)

Iori Suiseki:

Now this was an interesting situation. When he sidled up next to you at the bar he expected you to greet him with enthusiasm, but instead he received a side eye like he hadn’t showered in a week. When you purposely get up and put a seat between you, it takes all his self-control to not burst out laughing, hiding his smile behind his hand as he knew you’d find him even shadier if you saw his reaction. He tried to play it cool, calling out your name and reveling in the shocked look on your face; you actually looked like you might call the cops on him, head whipping around to see if there was any security nearby. He popped up a family picture on his phone, zooming in on your happy faces squished together due to everyone trying to cram into the picture. You took a moment, looking between the picture and him a comical amount of time before accepting that you knew this man for sure. There’s a thought chipping away at the back of his mind, the one that reminded him how lucky he was to have you and that this could’ve been his reality (with him just a stranger to you) if he hadn’t reached back out to you after the death of the Suiseki Clan. You seemed to trust him enough to walk you back to your home (which he subsequently had a key for, leading to more panic before the kids stepped in to back Iori up).

Naoakira Saimon:

Saimon is admittedly amused by the situation, hands sliding into his pockets as you clarify that you’re happily taken. You rambled a bit about the situation, hitting a sore point as you talked about how you weren’t sure if he saw you or his late wife when you were together, but you quickly apologized to the stranger as your sad thoughts weren’t meant to slip out like that. Saimon offered to hear you out, having a glass of water delivered directly to you as you both sat back down at the bar. He listened to woes that you could never be direct with, thoughts that scared you because you never knew the answer to them; he feels guilty that you felt like this, having to hold himself back from physically comforting you like he wanted to. He thanked you for putting your trust in him with your words, promising that he would see you home safely so that you have the chance to tell your boyfriend exactly how you feel.

Ryoga Tosa:

Ryoga let out a huff, not knowing if you were just messing with him in your drunken stupor or not. But he knew how you were normally, and the way you pulled yourself away with a fierce glare at a man who towered over you, biceps the size of your head, made him realize just how deep your loyalty ran. He couldn’t admit that it was making him feel some type of way due to the situation at hand, which was convincing you his intent was pure and he was simply trying to see you home safely. He considered just tossing you over his shoulder and running, but he wasn’t looking to add more years onto his sentence should someone call the cops on him. He has a very non-threatening Yuto escort you home safely, not happy he had to ask for help but your safety took priority over his pride.

[deadlyanddelicate]

ADAM INFILTRATING BOUDICCA!!!! YOUR MIND!!!! pls elaborate the people need this

oh boy!!! unfortunately my brain is a little too fried from work (i just think video calls of over two hours should be illegal unless you’re bantering with the besties) to come up with any actual plot but like. ok hear me out.

i simply think that it’s such a tragic waste of potential to have this guy who is paralleled with criminals not once, not twice, not thrice but FOUR times (kavinsky/declan/the gray man/mór o corra) and not have him be a little criminal at least ONCE. in fact i genuinely thought, after we were introduced to the fairy market in cdth - what a fucking cool concept btw, and hey isn’t it insane that these were marketed as kids’ books in some forums?? - that this was the direction we were headed!!! bc like declan brings ronan to the market, and tells him to be cool and calculated and wary, but of course ronan is ronan, so that doesn’t end up happening so much. you know however who IS cool and calculated and wary and would have done so so well in such an environment? yeah, you got it, good old adam “lizard son” parrish.

there are hints of this grittiness potential throughout trc as well i think. for instance, adam is the one who thinks to get his dad’s gun at the end of trb; and granted, he actually does so out of protectiveness for his awful mother (because the one thing that keeps adam distinct from his shadier narrative foils is that he has a huge heart, and he keeps choosing goodness even when it’s not his first instinct) - but he still is the one who reaches into that seedier world, where ronan would rather wield a chivalrous sword and gansey shies back from weapons altogether.

we also know what adam is capable of when he doesn’t chose goodness, even if he usually does it for sentimental reasons still: for example, refusing to spare whelk after whelk threatened to kill gansey; or, more glaringly, hatching a nefarious plan to blackmail greenmantle when he threatened ronan’s life. yes he had good reasons for his actions, but he can and WILL go darkside if need be. my dude plotted out a whole criminal case involving grisly child murders specifically to make sure that greenmantle would not only be put away, but put away for a crime that had very good chances of getting him killed.

the other characters are aware of this too - greenmantle himself, yes, but we also get admiring comments from the other two overtly criminal characters in the series - from declan calling adam “a creepily clever little fuck” to the gray man thinking that adam is “cool and resourceful” under pressure and would handle himself well specifically in the context of a shootout. his “criminal adjacent” characterisation stays consistent with that in the trilogy, from scamming rich kids with blatantly fake tarot readings, to oh yeah— hacking into several government databases apparently???

so yeah, when boudicca was introduced as a powerful, shady organisation operating within the magical mafia world, of COURSE i thought adam was gonna be a part of that plot. i was not entirely serious about him infiltrating them since it’s an all-women collective, but he could certainly infiltrate their records if he so chose. a guy who can both hack into your computer AND scry into your thoughts? a guy who’ll point a gun at you AND call down lighting from the sky? that’s a scary fucking opponent, man. i wouldn’t want him for an enemy.

anyway yeah these are my thoughts on mob wife adam who would actually be a lot better at the mob life than his supposed mob husband ronan “let me just hand over my social security number” lynch

[trashideas]

Average guy Dokja and mafia leader Joonghyuk

Dokja is a normal, average guy. Nothing about him stands out and the only thing noteworthy about him is how he can function on practically zero hours of sleep every day.

Dokja works horrible hours at Minosoft, some weeks he works practically nothing while other weeks he can clock 17 hours in a day. Dokja is a filler, a person who works when others call in.

There has been whispers in the office for the past few weeks about a company party. Apparently, all the employees were going to be invited. Dokja wonders if this will be mandatory.

A week later, Dokja receives an automated email from his company that he will receive a letter with the address of the party.

Why couldn't they have just put it in the email?

...

Dokja stares at the letter in his hand with disdain. He doesn't know whether to be surprised or not.

[Meet at Constellation Park, 6th Avenue]

The card was small. The size of printed business cards. Black with grey print that Dokja had to hold a light underneath to even read.

Honestly, if Minosoft couldn't even print readable cards, then why host an event?

And then came the second thing- why at Constellation Park? It was known for its nefarious activities at night. Wait- there wasn't even a time?

Dokja’s business email pinged, notifying him that someone called in and he needed to pick up tomorrow’s shift. He could ask Yoo Sangah about the time then.

...

It's the day of the company party and Dokja is really regretting all of his life decisions that lead up to this point. Of course it would be a mascarade party because why wouldn't it be?

It's 8 pm on a Saturday and Dokja doesn't work tomorrow. This is the perfect reading hour, but nooo, he just has to go to some company party in the middle of the night in a shady place.

Dokja probably looks shadier than any regular shady person. He doesn't have the money to go out to buy anything fancy, so he has his normal business suit with a simple black mask and sunglasses.

Sunglasses. At night.

Yeah, nobody would approach him.

Dokja passes an alley, when something catches his eye. He stops and looks back into the alley.

There is a man, also in a black mask with a suit. Was... Was this where the party was at? This place looked sketchy as fuck.

The man, who was standing in front of a door painted to look like the bricks around it, looks up at him. “Do you have an invite?”

Dokja fumbled for the business card invite and showed the other. The man took it and shone a light underneath the card, revealing the words. Once he accepted the invite, he knocked on the door a few times in a rhythmic pattern and the door opened.

Holy shit the company was really going all out with this party.

Dokja could see a brightly lit hallway furnished with very expensive looking small tables that held even more expensive looking items on them. Dokja was gestured inside.

Walking down the hall, Dokja feels his phone buzz. He opens it up to see a message from Yoo Sangah.

<Where are you?>

Dokja replies with a quick, <just got here. Where are yiy at>

<I’m by the punch table. It's right by the door, you can't miss it>

Dokja looked around. Yep, still just a long hallway with an open doorway at the very end. He quickly just takes a picture and sends it to her.

<Kim Dokja where are you?>

<the party?>

<That does not look like the company building>

<the party is at the company building?>

<Kim Dokja what is the address you're at?>

<not too sure>

<Is this a joke?>

<nope>

<You're trespassing so get out of there.>

<i was invited in>

<Oh my God.>

<dw I won't die probably>

....

Yoo Joonghyuk arrived at the location listed and knew instantly that something was wrong. Not only was this a company building, but also there were no guards or security.

He called up his associate, Han Sooyoung, who was already at the meeting.

“I have the wrong address.”

“How big of an idiot do you have to be to get an address wrong. It's literally the only thing listed.”

“I have the wrong invitation.”

“Well that's an uh-oh. What did you do with it?”

“Has someone suspicious entered?”

“Everyone here is suspicious.”

“I'm going to kill you. Be serious.”

“I'm being deadly serious.”

Joonghyuk’s grip on his phone was deathly, it's honestly a surprise the device isn't broken yet. “Give me the address. Tell the guards to not let in anyone suspicious.”

“Will do- I'll make sure everyone leaves.” with that, she hung up.

Joonghyuk doesn't know why he even puts up with her. She gets on his nerves way too easily.

...

Dokja isn't sure if he walked in on a cult meeting or the mafia.

In all honesty, it could be both.

People are in ornate masks. Some masks are form fitted to the face, others are geometric shapes or patterns, and then there are the masks that look to be of some sort of animal. The most notable of the last kind was an entire dragon head.

Could this be some sort of underground furry convention..?

Someone with a form-fitted golden mask and- are those angel wings? Why are they made with actual bird feathers?!- walks up to him, a drink in either hand. She offers one to him, he was about to say he doesn't drink but didn't want to offend her and ends up taking the alcoholic beverage. “Hello! You seem new. I'm Demon-Like Judge of Fire, also known as Uriel.”

So we’re using our fake names. Quick. What's the last novel he read? “Demon King of Salvation, at your service.” That's the best he could come up with??

Part 2 tomorrow I swear

[siren-sashimi]

Hey, I had some questions about your marquis de gramont ballet fic

1: how does the reader do under Vincent’s tuleage

2: I know you said that chidi tries to know things about ballet to connect with the reader but does he ever make a move (I.e asking the reader out)? If so, does the reader reciprocate his feelings?

3: does Vincent ever find out about chidi’s crush? If so, does he support chidi or does he block him?

4: If he blocks chidi is it out of professional disdain (like “you’re both working with me, I don’t want you dating”) or is it because HE also feels something for the reader and wants to pursue them

Hello Anon! :D

Alright, the reader dating Chidi under Vincent's patronage was a separate story coming to my mind which might branch off from Hemimetabolism.

So generally, even without Vincent as romantic endgame, Vincent is very much someone who doesn't dish out favours without the work if he doesn't want to. And Vincent wants someone who does work for the money he pays and the prestige he gives them. Meaning, he sees a lot of potential in the reader but also demands them to overcome any restraints and doubts to give it their all. He wants the reader to focus and set clear goals. Casting choices, landing good spots is an easy exercise in influence for him. Actually it's not that bad to work in an artistic arrangement for him you're mostly left alone. But when demands to deliver you have to deliver in best form. So the reader is constantly labouring on, reflecting, ironing out details in their work. The thing is, it can mentally separate this protegée from their environment because they don't have to compete anymore against someone but only need improve for this man. And the oportunities he offers are amazing. Although be it, if Vincent wants to see you dance for the company in St. Petersburg the reader has to out all their effort to be worthy of St. Petersburg. At some point humoring Vincent becomes a runner because he's so enrapturing, he can easily outshine anything else in the reader's life.

Okay now to a plot bunny with Chidi. *rubs hands and cackles* As far as Chidi sees it both of you are employees under Vincent. While you might get a bit more pampered that treatment is more due to the nature of your job. In the end Vincent isn't too emotionally attached to any employee, loosing them is a mere loss of good staff. (Unless Vincent is personally more interested but that's another story. ;))

Let's say on the ocassions they meet Chidi isn't directly flirting, at least not with his boss present but he smiles at, compliments, and sometimes even makes little jokes with the reader. Intensity growing with each meeting. And it's nice. Nothing obtrusive but a relief to have someone be nice to a reader when they have to approach a very demanding Marquis de Gramont. Not that Chidi can't be nice to other people but he opens himself up because he is crushing on you. Only after you're noticeably easy going with him, he begins to flirt with you when you're on a coffee break, whenever Vincent happens to be in town.

On the reader's part it is all more a classical case of slowly building up romance with a a guy at work who seems nice enough to try going on a date with. Event though the work is on a shadier side life. Oh yeah, Chidi dating the reader is something needs to notice for a very long time. Again, Vincent is too absorbed in his own matters to spend much time thinking in any humane way about his employees. Maybe it takes such an obvious scene as him seeing Chidi hand you a bit bouquet backstage and kissing your cheek after a performance of yours.

Now, two outcomes: 1. If Vincent sees the reader purely as employed for "art for art's sake" then he might maybe sit the two of you down and make some things very clear. In the end he tolerates it more than he approves, afterall the reader could've dated anyone while under patronage, in this case it just happens to be Vincent's bloodhound. (Vincent just didn't think about it before.) The Marquis' demands are super invasive, during the talk the reader feels more like property than a person. The Marquis "allows" this relationship to happen under the condition that you remain "intact". Meaning: No injuries, no marks on stage (this is not the right moment to remind the Marquis that stage make up exists), no pregnancy, any personal drama shall not affect your performance, no romance related retirement for both of you. Chidi is less shaken by the speech than the reader is as he already lives a life under similar conditions, all submitted to the will of the Marquis de Gramont. Safe to say, while the incident of conditional speech is unnerving, Chidi and the reader can go on as usual.

2. Alternative if Vincent harbors a crush on the reader. Oh boy, does he become possessive. Chidi's very much used to Vincent's mercurial personality as well as living a life with the primary raison d'être: All for the will of the Marquis de Gramont. Vincent retaliates by first forbidding Chidi to see you (no explanation as to why,) even goes so far to switch the Myrmidone who accompanies him for cultural excursions. Chidi is very much unhappy about this but his life is so centered around the Marquis that his resistance lies only in a very honest letter to the reader. In which he writes that he's forbidden to see you, what he loves about you, how much he wishes for you prospering. Time by time Chidi is ever so romantic sending a bouquet anonymously. The reader knows it was him, the bouquets always bear at least one one of their favourite flowers.

It's not like as if Chidi doesn't suspect the Marquis acting out of personal impulse but it's not in their relationship to question the Marquis. At least Vincent is intelligent enough to pursue the reader under Chidi's notice. One has to keep their employees somewhat happy, aka not give them a reason to revolt or quitting the job. But Vincent could enter unsavory territory by explaining to the reader dating would ruin their performance (again, if he wasn't interested he would only care if relationships actually interfered with the reader's work) while slowly but surely dismantling the reader's defenses around him. Like invading their privacy more and more by having unnecessary personal meetings, sending the reader clothes and jewelry he wants to see the reader wearing for him on galas or charity events, secretly odering the costume staff to design the reader's costume in a way he likes to see on them. Vincent will also aggressively try to outmatch anyone nearing you. You were invited for a date? Ah, it just happens that Vincent would like to have a performance review. Someone showed interest in you? Their past dirt is dragged out without mercy. You privately show signs of unhappiness to be this lonely? Suddenly the Marquis de Gramont is personally at your doorstep and shows a previously unknown capability of attentiveness.

[lizhly-writes]

cleaned up something in my wip doc. behold! the otome isekai wip where the mc is.... well, he's certainly shadier than my other isekai/transmigration mcs.

one day i will escape the otome isekai pit but that day is not today.

I’m not good at smiling.  My face doesn’t work like that.  It has a hard time transitioning past “dead neutral”.  The best I can manage always makes me look like I’m trying sell something, so normally, I don’t bother.

The above point is irrelevant because this isn’t my face.  It’s Septimus Mattevi’s, and Septimus is good at smiling.  He does it easily, openly, and naturally.  As I smile his smile at his fiancee, I know that it’s the most charming expression I’ll ever be able to make.

“Vivian!” I say, in a tone that would sound transparently fake in my own body but manages to sound enthusiastically pleased here.  “What brings you here?”

It’s obviously because something’s gone wrong. When we’re alone, Vivian Leto doesn’t look at me like this – eyes narrowed, lips pressed tight, jaw tense, like she’s about to confront an enemy.

“Get out of my fiance’s body.”

…That would do it, wouldn’t it.

I do my best to look surprised.  If there is a chance this can be salvaged…  “What do you mean?”

Vivian barks out a short laugh.  “Did you think I wouldn’t notice?” 

“Vivian?” I say piteously, considering what I could possibly say next.  Vivian, I really don’t understand what you mean.  Vivian, have I really been acting that weird lately?  Vivian, is there really something wrong, have I been doing something wrong?  

“Don’t look at me like that with his face.”

Hmm.  Obviously unsalvageable.  Well, it was a miracle I lasted this long, anyway.

“Did I think you wouldn’t notice,” I repeat. “You say it like it’s obvious, but it actually did take you a while, didn’t it?”

Predictably, this makes her furious.  She bares her teeth, stalking forward – oh, she’s well-equipped, isn’t she?  A blessed sword at her hip, one hand starting to glow with sacred fire, a vial of holy water in the other.

I don’t like my chances with any of the above, thank you. 

“Vivian,” I call out.  “Freeze.”

Fortunately, the body obeys, even if the owner is unwilling.

“What–” 

She figures it out quickly.  It would be odd if she didn’t, with that pendant I coaxed her into wearing glowing so fiercely.

This woman.  So devoted, so loyal to the man she loves.  I say I coaxed her, but truthfully, she had put it on the moment I had given it to her, so pleased that her fiance had given her something pretty.  She hadn’t questioned it; why would she have, when her fiance gives her pretty little gifts so often?

That pendant is a filthy thing.  It’s from a set of jewelry, one that a bastard of a king gave to his concubines, meant to keep them unable to hurt him, meant to keep them obedient.  It had been used on the heroine in the novel, so of course I knew all about it.  How to find it, how to get it, how to use it.  

All this time, I knew I couldn’t stop Vivian from realizing who I wasn’t for very long.  It would have been fine, if Vivian Leto and Septimus Mattevi were really as distant and estranged as they were in the novel, instead of disgustingly in love.  Yes, that was a shock – but that’s the problem with limited points of view.  The narrative only knows as much as the protagonist does, and the protagonist certainly wouldn’t have known all the details of someone else’s private life.

“I’ll kill you,” Vivian spits.  “I’ll kill you I’ll kill you I’ll kill you–”

“See, that attitude is what makes things like this necessary. If you were a little more likely to talk things out…”

Actually, it wouldn’t have changed much. I would have done this anyway; it’s not like I would have trusted her not to kill me.  Trust isn’t something that gets people very far, is it?

“Well, that doesn’t matter,” I say.  “Don’t tell anyone about this, and I’ll get your fiance back for you, hmm?”

[samruebee]

A Realization

Finally deciding to post any of my backlog of short stories on here, I said I wanted to start doing this back in like late December? So I’m glad I’m finally getting around to it, this one IS a bit long for a first one, sitting at about 1600 words, but, I was rather proud of this one, my partner gave me the prompt: “A fateful meeting between three enemies to lovers: a sorceress, a dragon, and a princess.”

Without Further Adieu

A Realization

Late at night one Midsummer night in the Kingdom of Fortund, long after anyone besides the town guard, unsavory folks and some select servants have gone to sleep, there was a lone hooded figure walking down one of the shadier parts of the town.

Moving swiftly so as to not get caught by any night watchman, the hooded individual quickly ducked into an alley and knocked quickly on a heavy wooden door. A few moments passed before a slot on the door opened and a voice came out “What do you want?” came a deep gruff voice from the other side of the door. The Cloaked Figure sighed for a second before responding “Honestly Frank you’d figure you’d know by now you’d know it’s me, I DO come here the same time every time” she shook her head before continuing “Fine fine, ‘A trip to endless wonder’” 

As she finished her sentence she heard multiple locks on the door being undone before the door opened, Frank standing in the doorway, beckoning her inside “Sorry about that Miss Sharrow, you know how the boss can be, policy is policy after all, come on in"

Walking past him Ms.Sharrow put a gold coin on his desk behind the door, thanked him for letting her in, and continued downstairs, further into the large basement beneath the district. At one point this space was likely used as some shelter for the neighborhood when the fear of the city coming under siege was still a worry. But nowadays what with magical barriers, and a lot of fighting being done away from the city, these bunkers of sorts had long been forgotten. And in this ones case, turned into a quite literal underground gambling den.

Coming up on the woman at the front counter, Ms.Sharrow began in earnest “Glad to see you back and healthy Marren! Hope the sickness passed you without too much trouble!”

Looking up on surprise Marren smiled at the Cloaked Girl “Ah Ms.Sharrow! Thank you, yes! Things are all cleared up finally, that bit of sickness really didn’t want to let me go!” She paused for a moment and checked some papers she had on her desk “Looks like your usual suspects are already in the usual private booth, shall I inform them you’ve arrived?” Chuckling slightly before waving her hand, Sharrowstarted walking off to the side of Marren “No need, those two bastards would just start something about me needing to be waited on or something, I’ve been coming here long enough to know where to go thank you.”

Walking down the hallway she reminisced for a moment, it hadn’t been too many months ago that Sharrowhad no idea this place even existed. The Deep Phoenix was a place often overlooked by the Monarchy of Fortund due to the proprietor occasionally helping to feed them information on some of the more extremist individuals that frequented this place of vice.

While the place wasn’t the grandest place Sharrowhad even been to, not by a longshot, for what it was, they had really done up the place to a much higher degree than she could ever expect. Some rather nice paintings hung on the wall, there was a well stocked bar, even often some nice live music playing. It might be a den of scum, vice and villainy, but it at least was a NICE one

Passing a variety of side doors all named after a variety of gems, she stopped before one labeled The Emerald Room. The room was kept constantly reserved for a very select three, a group Ms.Sharrow was a part of. Fishing a key out of her cloak, she started to go to open the door, when suddenly someone from the inside opened it. “You’re late, girly” said the man opening the door. A taller gentleman, with short unkempt hair, wearing a rather nice black doublet, but whose most noticeable feature was the seemingly glowing red eyes he had, signifying him as… “Oh shut it Malik, you’re one to talk, surprised you managed to get off your horde and make it here before me, damned greedy Dragon” 

Pushing past him and going inside the private room she heard another womans voice from inside the room “Oh calm down you two, I think we’ve all been doing this for long enough to hear pretty much any and all insults we have for each other. And keep in mind your highness, the staff aren’t the only ones who can realize you show up at the same time every week”

Walking in fully past the curtain dividing the room Sharrow finally discarded her cloak, sitting down at the table across from the woman, “Yeah yeah, sure, Nora, just deal me in already if you guys have been waiting for SO long for me to get here apparently”

The three of them hadn’t known each other for too long, meeting in The DP just a few months back, a bit after Sharrow had joined the place herself actually. But ever since they met there had been animosity between the three of them, Dragons like Malik were hated due to terrorizing villages, and going after magical users due to the fear of them trying to control Dragons like him. Sorceresses like Nora were often considered troublemakers, always causing issues for nations across the continent of Thorell, from terrorizing the kingdom with things like plague, to terrifying people by transforming into crazy beasts.

And of course Princess Sharrow had grown up hearing such awful tales about them, so even though she had never seen the two of them actually cause any of the kinds of trouble from her teachings, she still held animosity towards them, just as they all did for each other. All that being said though, there was a quite strict no fighting rule the DP, so instead of causing problems for themselves with management, they had decided to settle things with a game of cards to prove who was the best.

Several months later, and with weekly matches ever since, the three of them had gotten to know each other better, and while the animosity proper had worn off, that didn’t mean they liked each other at all. Just that they weren’t actively at each others throats during every game.

And yet, as Sharrow sat there looking between the two of them, she had a moment of realization, sure she’s heard a lot of STORIES about trouble people like them have caused in the past. But in reality? There hadn’t been much issues between the three of them outside of prejudices they all had between the three of them.

The more she thought, the more she realized she didn’t have any real reason to hate the two of them outside of what she was taught, and after months of talking with them during games she was starting to think that she might actu…

“Hellooooooo? You good there Sharrow? You know you’re up right?” Came a voice next to her, startling her out of her thoughts. Realizing she must have just been sitting there staring off into space for a while she picked up her cards, “Yeah I hear you Malik, don’t worry, just, realizing some things is all you know?” She paused before looking between the two of them “Ignoring what I’ve been taught for a second here, I don’t think I’ve heard of either of you causing trouble like I was taught.”

She pointed to Malik “You, Mr Terrifying, village burning, kingdom destroying monster. The only thing you seem to talk about you doing is sleeping, eating and drinking, you seem more like a party animal than a monster of legends”

Shifting her finger to point at Nora she continued “And you Madam, for someone who has some honestly quite horrifying legends told about her kind, all you seem to want to talk about is what new odd potions you’ve come up with and stews you have cooking at home”

“Hells, it seems like the owner of this place is scarier than both of you combined, and I got her daughter a gift for her birthday last month, no problem!” She shook her head looking back at her cards “But whatever honestly, just because I might have realized I have no reason to properly hate either of you doesn’t mean I wont kick BOTH your asses again tonight at cards”

The room went silent for a minute as Nora and Malik looked between each other before breaking into a hearty laugh, stunning Sharrow.

“Oh Princess… We might not match what you have been taught, but YOU are EXACTLY what we thought you were like. Headstrong, aggressive, tomboyish, all around rebellious girl, I mean you are a member of the Royal Family, sitting here with two of the nation's long term enemies.”

“Agreed, tho you can add rude to that list, I don’t ONLY Eat, drink and sleep you know. A guys gotta have hobbies, you know! Just because I don’t tell you about my art doesn’t mean I don’t do any” followed up Malik a smile coming across his own face “You really are something else Princess”

Sharrow could feel a deep blush coming on as she listened to the two of them. While she had hoped that they wouldn’t talk down at her when she had admitted her thoughts, she couldn’t have ever imagined hearing what they just said. Tonight was going to be an interesting night for sure it seemed.

[mayxthexforce]

A Life I Wish To Call Mine || Nuru & Thrawn

Starter for @thrawnur

Once, Coruscant had been the capital of the galaxy, the vibrant heart of the Republic. Now, little was left of that once vibrant heart– or perhaps Nuru had grown too used to Nar Shadda's neon lights and holograms assaulting his vision so now, the just as crowded but much duller sights of Coruscant's underworld felt... lackluster. It took him some time to adjust to the lack of- well, any source of light that didn't come from a sign showing faces of the Empire's most wanted or shady businesses advertising even shadier products. Either way, the underworld was better than the surface.

Just a glimpse of what was once the Jedi Temple, his only home, had made Nuru's chest feel like his heart was being crushed by an impossible weight.

Cleaver, once a personal navigation droid that now occupies the chassis of a BX-Series droid commando, walked by his side. Going incognito had Cleaver quite excited, back when they'd had the support of Breakout Squad, they'd never used Cleaver for sneaky missions– not that this counted as a 'sneaky mission' since they were there to deliver something for Big Gizz and now, they were just walking around, but he was letting Cleaver believe what he wanted to.

Now, however, Nuru knew why the droid was better off staying on the ship.

A glimpse of blue surrounded by the type of imperial uniform that Nuru would rather stay AWAY from was the only warning he got. Cleaver saw the wearer of the uniform and moved forward before Nuru could even get a proper glimpse at them, blocking his view as he walked ahead– towards troopers and an imperial officer, like he was just approaching a friend he was running into by chance while grocery shopping.

"Mitth'raw'nuruodo, sir!" Cleaver greeted once he was close enough. Completely unperturbed by the blasters half-pointed in his direction. "It is very good to see you again. I am-"

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," Nuru interrupted. "My droid's dealing with some malfunctions and-"

The rest of that excuse died in his throat as he actually looked at the man in front of him. Blue skin, red eyes- another Chiss. Instinctively, Nuru straightened himself, running a mental checklist of his appearance before he reminded himself that he was not negotiating with an aristocra like he had once tried to for the Republic. He was in danger.

Cleaver took his silence as enough reason to fill the silence with his chatter.

"You might not recognize me, Mr. Mitth'raw'nuruodo. I've been rebuilt since we last crossed paths," he started over. "You taught me Cheunh, I used to be called Navigation Droid 2JTJ, Teejay. Now I am called Cleaver. This is my friend–"

"Spiker," Nuru quickly interrupted. "You can call me Spiker."

[archiefeathursby]

Task 11: Intro & Connections

Name: Dr. Archimedes Feathursby Age: 63 Gender: Cis man (he/him) Occupation: Dean at Redwood College Sexuality: Gay Birthplace: Redwood Hollow Redwood Hollow Residency: Lifelong resident

FULL BIO | MUSINGS | HEADCANONS | ALL MUSES

TL;DR BIO

Archie grew up in Redwood Hollow with his parents and four siblings. He was an extremely bright student and had a promising career ahead of him doing whatever he wished.

However, his father walked out when he was a teenager. He dropped out of school to work full time to support his family as an accountant, taking on shadier jobs that more “professional” accountants wouldn’t.

His mother became very ill and would eventually pass, splintering the rest of the family. His siblings moved on, but Archie stayed in Redwood, unsure of what else he could do.

He took on a job as the bookkeeper for the Snake Eyes Casino, where he met and fell in love with Oz. The two remained a pair for decades as they built a criminal empire together.

Archie always struggled with alcoholism, but it got worse as the years went on and his guilt about his involvement in crime built. He eventually fell into a spiral of heavy alcoholism, depression, and suicidal ideation.

He was found by his old teacher, Merlin Merrill, who managed to convince him to get his life on track. Although it was painful and difficult, he left Oz, quit the casino, got sober, and went back to school.

Archie has since spent the last 20 years in academia. Throughout his career he has been a high school teacher, a college history professor, and a dean.

PERSONALITY

Cantankerous, coarse, and crafty, anyone who looks at Archie will see a brilliant but deeply grumpy man. He is known to go on rants about anything, and is extremely cynical about the world around him.

Despite this, he cares deeply for everyone who comes under his wing. Knowing how awful and resistant he’d been to Merlin--only to become the man he is today--Archie is confident that anyone can turn their lives around at any point. He is here to guide others the same way that Merlin guided him.

He feels great responsibility towards his staff and students and refuses to give up on them.

WANTED CONNECTIONS:

College Professors: Archie is the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. If your specialty falls under that umbrella, that means he is your boss.

Students: If you have been in Redwood Hollow High School or College in the last 20 years, then you have probably been a student of Archie’s. The exact timeline of teacher -> principal -> professor -> dean is a little nebulous for the sake of plotting but we can figure something out. In all likelihood he remembers you, and wants to know how you’re doing.

Locals: Archie has lived here his entire life and even outside of academia, knows the town very well. If you’ve lived here for long, you’re probably at least acquaintances, if not more.

Haters: It is really easy (and honestly fun) to get under Archie’s skin, so please do so.

Criminals: Before his 20 year stint in education, Archie spent his life as a criminal. While mostly doing white collar crime, he is probably familiar with anyone else who was in that scene at that time.

Elders: 50+ year old residents of Redwood probably have a more extensive history with Archie, which is always fun to plot.

Oz mututals: Archie and Oz’s history is messy and continues to remain complicated. If you’ve interacted with him, Archie may have a thought or two to share.

WANTED PLOTS:

Under My Wing: While Archie takes care of everyone in his purview, there are some cases that need more care and attention than others. Either you are in the process of trying to get your life on track, or you need convincing to do so. Archie’s been there, and he won’t give up.

AA Sponsorship: Archie “runs” the town’s Alcoholic Anonymous group, which has meetings several times a week. More than this, though, he is willing to take on a sponsee, someone whose progress he is personally involved in. Once again, whether your character is in the process of getting sober, or needs convincing, Archie will be there.

Shove It, Old Man: In all these cases, convincing doesn’t come easy. Archie has decided to help you, but you don’t want it. No matter how hard he tries, you’re not giving in and it’s causing a lot of tension and stress.

TAKEN CONNECTIONS:

Professor Underlings: James Sullivan @jxmespsullivxn, Honeymaren Nattura @honeymxren, (potentially) Ares Olympia @aresolympia

Students Past/Present: Ella Fontaine @sweetellafontaine, Jim Hawkins @jxmhawkins, Tina Bell @xaspiringbeamoflightx, Becky Detweiler @beckydetweiler, James Hook @magicaljameshook, Minnie Myshkin @minniemyshkin, (potentially) Flynn Rider @flynnxrider, Logan Borror @lockborror, Sofia Bach @sofia-bach

Ex-Lover: Oz Borror @ozborror-highroller

Ex-coworker: Lorelai Hart @queencfharts

OTHER:

Need a Saaiqa (Shock, Nightmare Before Christmas) to complete the Unholy Trinity of pseudo-step children

Would love to see an Arthur to complete the Sword in the Stone characters, whether he’s an actual bio or just an NPC

[misireads]

Män som hatar kvinnor ("Men who hate women") by Stieg Larsson

[ audiobook, listened in finnish ]

an investigative journalist and the head of a magazine named millennium is convicted of publishing a fradulent article defaming some billionaire guy and decides to step down from his position. he's then hired by an elderly former CEO of a powerful family enterprise to travel to some tiny ass town in the middle of nowhere to investigate what happened to this old man's great niece who disappeared 40 years ago. mikael the journalist accepts the assignment, not expecting to find anything new at this point, but is drawn in deep into the vanger family's troubling history and broken relationships with each other. his research is eventually joined by a very weird young woman named lisbeth who turns out to be one hell of a hacker, and together they not only solve the lost niece's case but also reveal how that billionaire that mikael originally wrote about is even shadier than expected.

➕ this is really three stories in one: the story of mikael and millennium and the wennerström guy he wrote the article about; the story of the vanger family and the mystery of harriet's disappearance; and the story of lisbeth, her past and present, a total deep dive into what made her the kind of person she now is and how she operates. and i looove that, i really enjoy layered storytelling. when you go in, you don't know what to expect and there's the intrigue about mikael's sentencing, then you're thrown a curveball about this really complicated family, all while lisbeth's story kinda plays in the background seemingly unrelated. this captured my attention wholly and completely.

➕ i adore lisbeth's character. she's implied to be neurodivergent, a total bad bitch who doesn't take shit from anyone, defies all expectations, is independent and resourceful despite nobody having any faith in her. she gets back at her tormentors in the most satisfying way.

➕ the vanger family deserves its own plus point because i just love stories about weird families with internal conflict and tons of skeletons in the closet and the protag has to kind of dig it all out because nobody is willing to speak but it's obvious there's something very wrong about these people. though the truth about them turned out to be so gross instead of just weird, it's really off-putting but

➕ i liked that this was a mystery solved by a journalist and a… well whatever lisbeth is, because i'm not really a fan of police or detective novels. i mean i've read some good ones but i dunno, i always prefer stories about laypeople solving mysteries and crime.

➕ this is soooo swedish.

➖ could have been a bit shorter, some parts kinda dragged on. although i liked the ending, there were like 3 hours left of the audiobook by the time the harriet mystery had been solved which made me kinda… okay time to speed the audio up to 1.25x because this is gonna drag the fuck oooon.

➖ content-wise this gets really really gruesome. it was almost a bit much even for me.

➖ not a minus about the book itself but i find it in such poor taste that the english translation is titled "the girl with the dragon tattoo" which is a reference to a very minor detail about lisbeth and it just does nothing for this novel or anything in general. i can understand maybe they didn't want to call this "men who hate women" (which is the literal translation they kept for the finnish title) for international marketing purposes because it would deter so much of the male target audience lmao (i don't think it does in sweden and finland??? just saying). but the original title packs way more of a punch because that's exactly what this book is about, it's about misogynism. and that title is so self aware. but no, instead you make it "the girl with the dragon tattoo" and lisbeth isn't even the main character. she's a secondary one, a sidekick to mikael. this book isn't about her per se and most definitely not about her tattoos. what a stupid choice. i don't want to watch the film versions because i worry they made this way more about her than it should be.

⭐ score: 4- -- one of the better mysteries i've read in a long time for sure. i don't think i'll go for the sequels though, i had my share of mikael and lisbeth already. the audiobook was like 18 hours long.

[fileskept]

paz, background.

LA VIDA ES DOLOR.  0-16 YEARS OLD.

you are not old enough to remember your parents when the nuns open the doors of their orphanage to take you in. you don’t know you are stepping into a cage yet, but you will learn.

you learn how to pray until your legs ache so badly you shake, from kneeling on the wooden step for hours, from hunger and thirst. you learn how to endure pain. you learn to kill. the nuns teach you (you think they were nuns, at least, to this day you are not sure who they were, exactly).

you are 12 when you make your first friend. she is pretty (you think about it often, you won’t understand why until much later). and she is kind to you. she is not like you: she is one of the regular orphans, not selected to become killers. she has plans to live with a nice family, become someone important and good, like a doctor or a scientist. you already have blood on your hands, you don’t know what any of that means. but you want her to be happy.

your friend leaves. a wealthy couple adopts her and you will never forget the smile on her face as you watched her leave in their car. by that point you know that no one will come to get you. but she is happy, she is happy, she is happy.

you are 16 when your heart breaks for the first time. your friend has been found dead in her nice house. she has been choked to death, violated in ways no god should allow. you try asking him why, but no one answers. you don’t believe her adoptive father’s lies. you think he did it. let me do it, you beg the nuns. let me kill him, you say, because it’s the only language you know for love. they don't allow it. la vida es dolor, child, forget about this and only use your knife when we tell you.

RISE LIKE A PHOENIX.  17-28 YEARS OLD.

forgetting is not so easy, even if the nuns try to burn this ache from your heart. the chance to run away comes like salvation, and you grasp at it with both hands. you kill for them for the last time one sunny afternoon in el paso, texas. after that, you disappear, you hitch hike all the way towards los angeles with no money or documents to your name. for the world you don’t exist. 

you start small, working in shady bars that don’t care about this, in even shadier and murkier car repair shops, you hang around criminals and gang members until someone tells you there’s real money to be made in killing for hire. you bristle, at first, because you just left that kind of life: but this time is different, this time you can choose your targets. 

you enter your first continental at the age of 21. from there, things change. you start earning enough money to avoid working low pay jobs. you buy fake documents and leave behind your old name, the one the orphanage gave you (angelica). you are a killer for hire, but you only kill the most despicable criminals, those who have abused children or women, who deal in human traffic. the ones who don't deserve any mercy.

you also start to embrace your sexuality and gender identity more and more. you become part of a community that advocates for queer and trans rights in los angeles. finally, you live for something that’s not just blood and survival, but also love and joy.

CALLATE MI AMOR.  29-CURRENT DAY.

an old trail for an old case resurfaces, a contact with a possible lead on a man, a shadow, a ghost. the person responsible for the murder of their first friend and love. paz gives chase for years but can never find him, uses every scrap of resource at their disposal to no avail.

until one day they get a location, as vague as they come. new york.

ARC 1.   paz is now living in an apartment in new york city. they have a monster to hunt down and a choice to make: the organization that trained them to kill since they were a child might have ties that run deeper than they thought, possibly even with the high table. will paz risk going after them? or will they let all that pain and trauma go?

[ddazzlingblds-archive]

🧨  —  a long fuse!    a headcanon about my muse and their temper, and a time when they lost it.

how do u always send me the specific one i eyed the second i reblogged the meme DO U HAVE MAGIC POWERS- ━ @femtaile

      his irritation at the blond man keeps growing by the minute.

      this dude has been following him for days, reaching for him the second he saw Sampo tumbling out of a cargo-carrying ship. he helped the scrawny teenager back on his feet with a welcoming smile, sapphire eyes all but shimmering as he said “ welcome to Astrarziv-B! hi, hello- you sure took a funny way to get here... ” ━ and then, just as Sampo was ready to make an hasty escape, he did the unthinkable- the guy started asking questions.

      “ you sure are young to be traveling like this! where are you from? ”

      “ Punklorde, ” a quick lie, meaning to divert the attention. with short and colorful hair like his, where is he supposed to be from? “ i came here to trade some stu- uh, goods. ” better. more professional.

      “ oh, a merchant? dear me, i never saw such a young one- ” you said that already, Sampo fights the urge to eyeroll everytime the stranger points it out with growing surprise, “ do you need any help? i could show you around- ”

      “ don't need it━i'll look around myself. thanks! toodles, ” thankfully, the man's raised arm allows a young Sampo to slip under it, mixing himself in the crowd and making quick work on losing the guy.

      or so he thinks.

      during Sampo's stay, he keeps appearing, irritatingly trailing behind him like a puppy, always with his “ hi, hello! ” that is grating on the nerves. the man doesn't want to buy anything from him- which loses any interest the merchant may have had for him very quickly. he seems instead to be guided by an hero complex. thinking that the teenager that Sampo is seems to be lost and in need of guidance. the simple idea of it is quick to triple the growing resentment.

      “ found you! and just in the worst place of all- ” a sucker he was trying to sell something to quickly lifts his eyes from the relic and scampers off faster than Sampo can imagine once the familiar voice speaks up from his right. an hand lands on his shoulder, and he almost startles, looking up at cerulean eyes.

      irritation immediately settles in. “ thanks for blowing up the deal, buddy. real nice of you- ”

      “ deal? what deal? this place is dangerous! it's one of the shadiest suburb in the planet! the only deal you can find here is a stab to the gut. ”

      there's real concern animating his eyes, but Sampo is too pissed off to make something out of it. concern doesn't sell anything.

      “ duh! why do you think i came here? the shadier the district is, the better stuff they wanna buy for themselves, ” the merchant informs him, like he's speaking to a poor idiot who can't understand basic language. “ and you just blew the entire plan. it took me a week to convince the guy to even look at my stuff! ”

      a push to the other's chest, and the guy is forced back, startled by the touch.

      “ now, go help someone else like the good samaritan you are, and stop trailing behind me. i got stuff to do- without you acting like my bodyguard! shoo! ”

      before he can be chased on foot, Sampo slings the backpack over his shoulder and escapes again, with the dude's voice growing less and less loud behind him. perhaps the message will be clear, this time.

      in the following weeks, he keeps growing more and more bothered: the people of Astrarziv-B are cheap, stingy and overly-suspicious, and a merchant can only have so much patience before he has to verbally encourage someone that his relics are safe, and a real deal- only for them to detect the irritation in his tone of voice, and slip from his grasp too fast for him to follow.

      isn't his tongue coated in silver enough? there's no way he wants to sing the praises of a ragged idiot looking and pawing at his wires. if they don't buy anything, he has wasted time- and, even if they buy something, it's still too little to be repaid for a sore throat spewing compliments for half an hour.

      he can never sound sincere enough for them to fall for it, anyway.

      to calm the angered bubbling of his temper down, his fingers pick at a dirty packet in his pocket- and pull out a long, white cigarette that he lights with an huff, inhaling the smoke and letting himself have a small break. he thinks he did well, today- well, as well as he could given the circumstances-

      “ you smoke? ”

      with a jolt of his entire body, he witnesses the blond idiot emerge from a bush, looking more surprised and concerned than ever.

      rationally, he knows that the dude is acting out of concern- and it doesn't make it less annoying for him. he needs a punching ball- he needs a scapegoat for all that anger and unfairness since he stepped foot in here, and it's right in front of him.

      good for Sampo. less good for the guy where Sampo's expression mutates into a frown, and his mouth opens.

      “ ━i told you to QUIT FOLLOWING ME! ”

      the exasperated bellow is powerful, his voice pratically snarling it out; it's directed at the man that quickly puts a few meters between, palms up in a conciliating gesture and such a sheepish expression that screams for his face to be punched in.

      it doesn't matter how hard he's trying to backtrack, because Sampo is on him in an instant, finger digging in his chest.

      “ you keep appearing behind me like it's some sort of fucking magic trick- i told you to stop! I SAID STOP FOLLOWING ME, did you not heard it?! ” he's pretty sure he'll leave a bruise between pectorals for how hard he's mashing fingertip into the other's chest.

      “ do i have to speak in another language for you to get it? ” tap tap tap. “ what do you think i am, a little kid with no sense of danger? i'm a merchant- i sell things, and i know damn well how to do it- ” kind of. he won't tell the dude.

      “ -and if i see you popping up like a fucking spring box sniffing around me again, i'll- ”

      he doesn't know what he'll do. he guesses it goes hand in hand with a sharp weapon in the other's guts. the sharp weapon in question is drawn from behind his back- a sharp, big hunter knife, the blade uneven due to the rust coating it.

      raised until there's barely an inch between the sharpest part of it and the dude's face- he doesn't want to hurt. just to scare. “ -i'll cut a whole slice out of you! ”

      a much older Sampo is laughing quietly, shaking his head as he recounts the tale.

      “ ━and you wanna know what he told me next? ” he chuckles, incredulous. “ he just pushed my knife away and said careful, you'll get tetanus from that thing. i'll get you a better one. aeons, ” his laughter is just a bit on the sad side, clueing the listener to the man's destiny; nobody speaks this fondly of someone alive.

      “ not many guys like him left out here- and for very, very good reasons. ”       is this one of Sampo's many tearjerking stories, or the truth? hard to figure it out- and he doesn't seem particulary keen on telling...

[violetren]

Blood of the Basilisk Chapter 18

I am rotating Pyter rotating that pendulum around over and over in my mind. I wanna know what the fuck it is.

When I said I wanted to see Nadani leave the house independently I didn't realise I was wishing on a monkey's paw and that an entire full market in the semidaem ward would get burned down to make it happen, holy shit.

Good to finally meet Dura on page though. She was a delight. Calling everyone in the household Lady, and presumably something along the lines of young master for Pyter just to be sure she doesn't go causing offence is such a good little trait.

Sikudhana needs to elaborate on that "you've got a bit of dragon magic in you" factoid. What did Pyter do? Or could Kota have accidentally done something when removing the slave brand? I'm still leaning towards well intentioned feradrake shenanigans.

Feels like a point of potential worry for Nadani until they figure out how it happened what the nature of the dragon power is though. As far as she is concerned it could be a stealth slave mark. I reckon its probably some kind of "you're family" or "you are loved" type deal instead though just because of the genre we're working in.

I love that Sikudhana's response to Nadani's explanation of why she doesn't think it was a gremlin (complete with unicorn) was just to look at her silently for a moment. Like yeah. Same. You're right arson doesn't sound gremlin-y when you put it like that.

The healing of burns by drawing fire out was cool as fuck. This:

The power of the flame was intoxicating, and it took time for her to clear her head enough to realize the man had spoken to her.

fucking worries me a little. It could be nothing. Could just be an innocent comment on what its like using powers when she hasn't had access or understanding before. Could be me fully projecting just because I once played an onomancer who could get power boosts by exploiting elementals with her magic (at least thats what her master trained her for) and so everytime powers of any kind are described as intoxicating I am primed to go "What if they did get addicted though?"

I love how the community has come together to help not just with clearing and healing and rebuilding, but also making sure food and water and such is there to sustain the folks working and in need of care, up to and including putting umbrellas up wherever anyone finds a place to rest. It's so good.

Which makes it such a shame Guthrie arrived to ruin my mood.

Full honestly my first thought was "I wonder if she's returning to the scene of the crime." Closest reason I would be able to think why though is to flush Nadani out and of all potential bounty hunters that might be out to recapture Nadani Guthrie would know she wasn't in the ward, and would have no reason to think burning it would draw Nadani out of the safe confines of Kota's house.

I do think the fire was lit by someone less informed and hoping to get at Nadani though. I suppose it could be unrelated or more to do with the keystone and far gate thing, but... idk.

I like that Dura's response to Guthrie's shit talking Kota was a hand to her knife. I wonder if later Nadani will look back on that as "Loyal Orc Girl gonna Loyal Orc Girl" or as "Kota's employee was ready to pull a weapon on someone Kota doesn't like being around Nadani." One point Kota will have in her favour is that Dura didn't actually make a move against Guthrie.

Every time, or rather the longer, we see Guthrie she feels shadier. Idk. I don't like the interest she's taken in Nadani. She's too careful in her wording and framing of events to set Nadani against Kota even when Nadani speaks against that interpretation to feel well intentioned. She might not have been a direct threat the first time they met, but she's had time to have been contacted or heard about a lucrative kidnapping job by now ('cause you can bet the cult wants Nadani back as much as they want Kota dead for "taking" her) and she definitely feels like the type to finesse the target into practically black bagging themselves.

I have the opening shift tomorrow so I should have been in bed 40mins ago, but I saw this chapter started with Pyter getting scritches and basically fell in a trance so I'm gonna sleep now.

[melatoninburst]

A little on Genshin!Verse but with the sidemuses:

Anna: Shanice’s boss in this verse, Anna was a kind woman who would spend most of her days working in charitable cases, given she never had to work a day in her life due to her families vast wealth- until one day she came down with a disease thought to have died out centuries ago, knowing that modern civilization had forgotten the cure to such an ailment, she became panicked and employed a small group of specialists to find any ancient or lost books in order to find the cure. She’s harsh and very rarely allows breaks, if only because she knows should she end up dead, there’d be no way for her to provide for the people she cares for. ( she even makes deals with the Fatui, should they bring a good offer to the table. )

She and Shanice were childhood friends, but now that things have gone so strangely and she’s changed so much, Shanice can’t help but be suspicious about her motives, but she does what Anna asks, even if it means she rarely, if ever gets a chance to rest and ends up exhausted most days. Due to this, Anna greatly appreciates her friend, but she refuses to let her know what’s going on, knowing that if she did- well, Shanice would start throwing herself into danger just for a chance to help.

Anna has a pyro vision, she also used to be a claymore user, but she can no longer muster the strength to lift her weapon at this point. She’s still very sly and can work out just what to say to throw people off, though, so she rarely has to resort to violence anyway. Generally, though, she’s brushed off as an eccentric rich woman who’s callous and cold. 

Liam: Liam is Anna’s husband in this verse, thus the only one who knows the real reason why she’s so desperate to find these books- and the one who knows about her shadier connections, while he disagrees with some of her methods, he doesn’t stop her. He doesn’t know much about ancient texts, nor about medication, but he often goes to Liyue in hopes of finding something that may offer some insight, but he does do his best to care for her when he’s at home. He goes out of his way to treat her well, even acting as a body guard to her, ( which is odd since before she contracted the illness it was the other way around ) when faced with anyone that opposes her methods.

Liam’s a man defined by loyalty, unable to move from the sides of the people he cares for, even if he disagrees with their actions, he will devote himself to them and do his best to ensure that they’re safe no matter the issues it causes him or other people. He has a one track mind, given his goals and the safety of others are all he focuses on. He’s pretty deadpan, but his passion for his interests, goals and need to protect others is very apparent, no matter how monotone his voice may be. He and Shanice used to be quite close but she finds that he’s avoiding her as of late, as he’s loyal to Anna’s cause but thinks not telling Shanice was a bad move- so he doesn’t face her so he won’t spill it.

He’s a cryo archer user. His attacks are normally timed with whoever he’s fighting with to have elemental reactions, rather than focusing on fighting on his own, but he is very much capable of doing so- it’s just hard to get him to comply to those terms if he sees his way as a better solution.

Noah: Shanice and Noah work together under Anna and are friends who bully each other/friends that seem to hate each other, on rare occasions they team up on harsher projects in order to assure each other’s safety and they’re on pretty good terms, they bicker a lot and will often make fun of each other if one of them gets hit during a fight, which usually lands in them getting hit while distracted and the cycle continuing. Noah is deadpan and sarcastic, often leading to others finding him hard to deal with, especially since he delivers everything the same way- leading in him being very inconsiderate. 

He’s from a rather poor family, though, so he took up this job due to the amazing pay, being able to spend most of it on his family and improving their situation, although it does depress him that he can’t see them nearly as often, he puts that behind him and does his best to focus on the task at hand. Anna also bought his family a new home in a much better area, so he feels very devoted to her and her cause- even going as far as to renew his contract two months before it’s due each time. 

Noah is a hydro Claymore user and he’s known for having a very brutal attack style, so much so that is seems like he’s aiming to kill even during sparring- but he’s really not, he’s just trained to be forceful and knows how to best manipulate the weight of his claymore to end fights quickly. His hydro vision is also used to have quick drinks from time to time. If that’s hygienic or not? he doesn’t care enough to check.

More on their relationships with the gremlin for those curious:

Shanice, Liam and Anna before work picked up so much and before the disease hit used to get coffee together all the time. Shanice was the third wheel who’d just sit there, looking disgusted whenever they got sappy, so she started inviting Noah to blow the paper straw covers at him when they got too sappy. 

Shanice and Noah have once gotten so invested in fighting each other that they threw their weapons at each other, took the other ones weapon and continued fighting even though each others weapons are the ones they’re worst with. They both suffered so horribly that day from the humiliation that they secretly began training with Claymores and Polearms respectively.

Shanice used to play word games with Liam when they were bored, which eventually led to card games, to them both bringing board games to meetings they had.

Anna once chased Shanice through a large area in Fontaine trying to get her to go to a speed dating event.

Shanice once waited for Noah to sit down to kick him off the chair across the room and Anna had to make them sit on the stairs of her home as a ‘time out’.