#eva watches dynasty

[mermaidsirennikita]

A few people have asked me for the recs that come with my historical romance archetype quiz in full, and since it's been around a week and I've been procrastinating.... Here they are, in order of popularity (check your triggers, as always):

The Good Guy (by far the winning result... which saddens me a little as a reader but I respect your life and your choices):

Unclaimed by Courtney Milan--virgin hero, sex worker heroine, he's a genuinely lovely man

Scandal in Spring by Lisa Kleypas--a lot of people like Matthew Swift, I like Matthew Swift, there's a very good scene where she hides a key in her bodice and is like COME FIND IT

My Fake Rake by Eva Leigh--gender-flipped She's All That retelling with a nerdy hero who fake dates his equally nerdy friend while being super in love with her

Unmasked by the Marquess by Cat Sebastian--this blurs into a rake vibe, but the hero is a disaster bi who falls in love with his new best friend, only to find out that said best friend is not a man but in fact AFAB and NB; there is a delightful scene in which he watches them from across a ballroom while they pull their glove off with their teeth that lives rent-free in my head

Gentleman in the Streets, Freak in the Sheets:

The Duke Gets Even by Joanna Shupe--THEEEEEE PRIME EXAMPLE, "I'm going to cover you in bite marks, darling" Duke of Lockwood I'm your biggest fan

The Duke Who Knew Too Much by Grace Callaway--the one where the duke is like "oh my god girl I didn't murder anyone I'm just into tying people up consensually"

Waking Up with the Duke by Lorraine Heath--the one where the hero's cousin asks the hero to knock up the cousin's wife and the hero is like "I mean because you asked nicely"; SUPREME angst

The Earl I Ruined by Scarlett Peckham--uptight earl is slandered by the heroine who insinuates that he likes submitting in the bedroom; incorrect, he actually wants to tie her tf up

The Truth About Cads and Dukes by Elisa Braden--marriage of convenience with the world's most uptight duke and a heroine who thinks he finds her plain and fat and gross when in fact he mostly just spends his time restraining himself from doing nasty things to her

Villain Recs:

Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas--because you gotta, though St. Vincent is a softer touch villain than some ("he wouldn't have actually... done it... riiiight?")

Duke of Sin by Elizabeth Hoyt--a kidnapping loony tunes hero who blackmails everyone, stabs freely, and calls the heroine the wrong name for like 70% of the book; he also stabs someone while completely naked except for his pink robe

The Dragon and the Pearl by Jeannie Lin--Tang Dynasty evil warlord hero kidnaps heroine to use her for information, then realizes he's falling in love

Shadowheart by Laura Kinsale--medieval assassin hero forces the heroine into marriage for his evil plot, makes her his apprentice in evil, then realizes he SUUUUPER likes it when she doms him

The Prince of Broadway by Joanna Shupe--hero owns a casino and becomes the rebellious heroine's mentor, but is secretly plotting to destroy her father

Daring and the Duke by Sarah MacLean--hero was the villain of two previous books and maybe tried to kill the heroine when they were kids, either way she's super mad about it but oops he's OBSESSED with her

Tortured Hero Recs:

My Darling Duke by Stacy Reid--hero has had to use a wheelchair due to mobility issues after an accident, becomes very reclusive and angsty, until he finds out the heroine has been pretending to be engaged to him...

Dreaming of You by Lisa Kleypas--Derek Craven was born in a drainpipe, named himself, and essentially was a sex worker until he made his way up in the world, now feels completely not good enough for the intrepid novelist who's stolen his heart

A Lady for a Duke by Alexis Hall--hero has survivor's guilt and chronic pain + a laudanum addiction after surviving the Battle of Waterloo when his best friend died... twist is that his best friend faked her death so that she could transition and live as who she really is, and now they met up again for the first time in years without him realizing it's her

Pippa and the Prince of Secrets by Grace Callaway--scarred hero reunites with his childhood sweetheart, who's now widowed and way above him in social station... but she's also tortured, and they come to find solace in each other (also: her old husband told her that pursuing her desires was wicked; hero DISAGREES)

Duke of Midnight by Elizabeth Hoyt--literally Georgian Batman, he is the night, also he has a home gym

The Duke I Tempted by Scarlett Peckham--super tortured duke who hides his masochistic tendencies from the world enters into a marriage of convenience with a woman he believes will reject him if she realizes what he wants

A Rogue by Any Other Name by Sarah MacLean--local man who lost his inheritance and land in a game of dice shows up again after years and forces his childhood friend to marry him so that he can reclaim WHAT IS HIS!!! (both the estate and her)

Rake Recs:

Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake by Sarah MacLean--prototypical rake book, Ralston is all "my God woman, binding your breasts is a crime and I am here to save them"

The Duke and the Lady in Red by Lorraine Heath--this guy's mom literally shows up at his house and is like "please tell me you've cleaned this place since the last orgy"; he then gets taken in by a con woman and learns how to love

The Lady Gets Lucky by Joanna Shupe--hero's not taken seriously by anyone because he's such a playboy; he makes a deal to teach the shy heroine sex stuff in exchange for recipes so he can start a SUPPER CLUB and prove himself as a Srs Person

A Rake's Guide to Seduction by Caroline Linden--hero is a ne'er do well rake who realizes he's fallen for his best friend's little sister right when she's proposed to by another man; years later they meet up when she's a depressed widow, and he brings her to life if you know what I mean

Indigo by Beverly Jenkins--hero is a VERRRRRYYYYY smooth rake who also helps free enslaved people in the Underground Railroad, gets the shit beaten out of of him and ends up being cared for by the quiet and practical heroine; and he's like "HOLY SHIT SHE'S THE ONE"

Scot Recs:

When A Scot Ties the Knot by Tessa Dare--heroine makes a Big Mistake and ends up having to marry the gruff hero, but it's only a handfasting so as long they don't consummate the marriage it won't be legit--SIMPLE ENOUGH

When a Girl Loves an Earl by Elisa Braden--heroine becomes obsessed with local giant man, doesn't even realize he's Scottish until she's trapped him in marriage and he drops the English accent and it is a RIIIIIDE for her from there

The Taming of a Highlander by Elisa Braden--heroine ends up having to marry physically and emotionally scarred hero in order to avoid testifying against him, he's all "YE WON'T BE ABLE TO TAKE ME LASS" and she's like "oh bet"

The Highland Guard series by Monica McCarty--medieval Scottish books "what if Robert the Bruce made a Suicide Squad and they were all hot"

The Madness of Lord Ian MacKenzie by Jennifer Ashley--widow heroine ends up in a FWB situation with the hero, who is on the spectrum and considered "mad" by many; then shit gets complicated

When a Girl Loves an Earl by Stacy Reid--heroine gets pregnant by another man and runs to Scotland to marry this guy she's been writing platonic letters to; he agrees to claim her baby; hero is mute and they communicate through written notes at first, but the heroine learns sign language to make it easier for him, super emotional

[eva-and-jasper]

Beware of the Ides of March

Quadruple Trouble at the Shelby Mansion...

TW - Blood, Murder, Death

The two couples entered together, devious smirks all around.  Their host would have no inkling of the actual motivation behind their attendance. Had he, he might have considered revoking the gold leaf edged invitations that he'd had hand delivered to the ladies that were now entering his mother's mansion on the arm of a demon and an angel.

Instead his hubris had overpowered all and he'd sent the invitations.  Seeing them both now, a wide grin spread across his face.  Those that doubted him would soon come to understand that he could come to run the family business just as well as any of them.  He would show them, he would show the all!  And with those two ladies on his side, no one would doubt that he could pull in contacts and associates that would form an empire.

Jasper and Adriel knew they had little to worry about from the mortals milling about.  In fact, the mortals should be fearing them.  Only slightly less lethal were the women they walked in with, the witch and the grigori.  So, there was no fear that anything would happen as they momentarily left the beauties to obtain drinks from their host's bar.

With the latest bauble that Jasper had gifted her, a blood red ruby, around her neck, Eva was damn near untouchable, and Anna was a power immortal in her own right. Eva and Anna were the perfect juxtaposition of dark to light in almost all ways - magic, complexion, business dealings. They could both be ruthless and devious when the need arose, and it most certainly had this night.

For the next few hours, liquor would flow, conversations would as well, dances would be shared, and food enjoyed.  The end goal would never leave the mind or sight of the foursome, but they would allow themselves some enjoyment before the pinnacle of the night.

There was supposed to be an announcement at midnight.  One about the usurping of the throne of the Shelby dynasty. However, that announcement never would come.  

At a quarter til, Anna lured their host into his office with seduction she had honed over the years of having to distract beings in New Orleans.  The men were in the room, but kept to the shadows, they were mere observers in this endeavor.  Once the door was closed, and privacy ensured, Anna pulled their host very, very close.

“Michael, you really never should have double crossed Tommy, cher. I'm afraid you have to die now.  And then you can rot in Caligo.” Anna whispered it in his ear and then pulled back just in time to see his eyes go wide as Eva slipped her blade slowly between his ribs to embed it in his heart.

Both women then moved to the side, joining hands as they watched the life drain from Michael Gray.  A large crimson stain growing on the beige oriental rug beneath him.  Jasper and Adriel came to stand on either side of the two women. The quadruple being the last thing Michael saw as he slipped into the hereafter.

“Right then,” Jasper quipped with a devious smirk.  “Time to take this bastard down to Caligo.  Arioch is so looking forward to a new play toy.  He has a new cerberus puppy, you know, needs a chew toy.”  He winked and kissed Eva on the cheek before ripping Michael’s soul free from his body with a *pop*.  “Be right back, love.  Don’t want to keep the Demon of Revenge waiting, he gets testy, you know.”  With a wink, the demon was gone.

“He does enjoy doing that.”  Adriel chuckled as he waved his hand.  All fingerprints and memories of the foursome were removed from the entire party.  When Michael’s body was found, there would be nothing to tie them to it, and therefore, nothing to tie Tommy to it either.  Jean Pierre’s attorney was getting him released from jail presently on the trumped up charges Michael had orchestrated with the Bowery Boys from London.  They’d also brought over a few friends from the French Quarter to help him get some payback for that.

“He promised to take me to see the puppy tomorrow, I’ll have to give our regards to Michael again.  It was such a nice ending to the party.”  Eva smirked and winked.  The surprise on Michael’s face had been quite delicious.

“Want to join us for dinner?  We’re going to myst down to Tuscany for some authentic Italian.  I know an amazing cook down there that is over a century old and has some tricks up her sleeve.  You and Jasper are more than welcome to join.”  Anna smiled.  She was glad her friend had found a woman that complimented him so.  “There’s also a siren down there that needs a talking to, so we’re going to take a dip in the Mediterranean.  Always a fun time.  We like to do it naked.”  She winked at Eva.

“Now, how could I turn down an offer like that?”  Eva grinned deviously.  Naked fun with her demon was always a good time and if that siren looked at him wrong..well, accidents did happen and she knew Anna was always amused when Adriel had to fix things.  She and the other woman did get along so well.   Yes, this was turning out to be a very good night.

Eva Smith belongs to @evita-shelby

banners by: @cafekitsune

[evita-shelby]

Ooh, I’ve been dying to ask you, do you remember when you first thought up Eva? Did you have any idea she would explode into the fandom the way she has? I swear she’s canon to me now!!

I came up with her in early 2021 when i was so bored during the pandemic that i was watching everything on netflix. It was the first three seasons of Peaky, the Dance of the 41, Dynasty, and a documentary about Benito Juarez' presidency that mentioned the Batallion of Saint Patrick who were catholics who deserted the us during the mexican american war.

i spent about half of 2021 saying i won't write an oc for this, I'm not even english and i haven't even finished it (i was in s5 by then, but the idea of Eva came when they took what little personality Grace had in s1 and reduced to her to Mrs. Planky Shelby in s3) but then i saw Oka Giner (Eva’s first fc) in La Venganza de las Juanas and said this is Eva (which then was short for Evangelina)

Other inspirations for her were Morticia,Eva (who is the femme fatale of a 1920s mexican film called la tigeresa) who pretends to be poor to seduce a lower class man only to leave him in the dust and drive him insane, and Dolores del Rio.

I had no clue she'd be this popular as ocs of color hardly get readers as a white oc does and frankly, eva is a bit of a mary sue given how overpowered and liked by the canon characters as i made her lol. Eva's popularity was a surprise even if like every fic writer we dream of the fic taking off to great heights.

Thanks for the ask lee, i enjoy infodumping about my ocs, Eva in particular

[nautiscarader]

A king needs an heir- and fortunately, Amalia has that covered. But pregnancy is more tiring than she expected- seriously, how did Eva do so much adventuring?- so she's spending most of her time off her feet. And Yugo's been waiting on her hand and foot, fetching food, or drink, or whatever else his love demands. Right now, she just wants him.

Yugo got used to it by now - travelling through portals not to dodge enemies, or save people, but to bring his pregnant girlfriend a snack or drink from the kitchen. After all, carrying his twins, the future of his race and their joined dynasty was not an easy task.

So when Amalia nudged her husband, he thought he would be on his way. But then, her nagging murmur turned seductive, and he realised she did not crave any sweets - her appetite demanded him…

In the dimly lit room, he saw her lecherous smirk as Amalia gently lifted her leafy blanket, exposing her nightgown and lack of panties. Yugo swiftly slid between her thick thighs, his head disappearing from her sight behind her round, swollen belly, a true proof of their love as the Eliatrope king craved a sweet of his own.

Amalia threw her head back into the pillow, when Yugo's tongue lapped her swollen, sensitive, puffy lips and gathered some of her precious nectar. His caresses continued, giving Amalia only faint glow of his wakfu antlers, aside from jolts of pleasure that spiked with each invasion of his tongue or fingers.

But as much as Amalia loved his foreplay, she had enough of the appetisers, and was ready for the main course. With a quick tap, Yugo rose to his knees and looked down at his lovely wife. He grabbed her thighs, and immediately, a flood of memories filled Amalia's mind. This was the same position he put her in those seven months ago - except then, he could fold her legs against her very flat belly…

But even now, he hooked her legs onto his shoulders and with her nod, he slid inside her wet sex he so thoroughly explored, watching her face and listening to her moans, ready to catch any sign of discomfort. But he only heard pleasure and needy begging for more, which he gladly delivered, diving deeper and deeper with each push, until his cock was completely sheathed by her welcoming warmth.

He was slow and meticulous, an opposite of the Yugo that furiously claimed her in the same bed (though under slightly different angle) and with each minute of his love torture, Amalia was writhing and quaking, praising her lover and begging for quick release…

A sleigh of his finger over her clit has done it, pushing her over the edge, spraying him with some of her juices, as climax rolled over her body. He was about to ask her where does she want him to finish, when her mischievous smirk and pat on her belly explained her intentions - she was hungry, after all.

A quick jump over to the side later, Yugo found himself groaning over Amalia's mouth draining his balls into her mouth, her tongue lapping each glob of his thick seed, until, after a solid minute she proclaimed that her belly was full, giving his tip a gentle kiss.

A moment later, the queen was fast asleep, but Yugo opened a portal - for himself, as this time he needed a midnight snack…

[juliiwrites]

Currently Watching

911 | season 4 episode 12

Abbott Elementary | season 1 episode 6

Beef | episode 3

Daisy Jones and the Six | episode 5

Girls5Eva | season 1 episode 4

Grace and Frankie | season 6 episode 11

Platonic | season 1 episode 7

Strange Planet | season 1 episode 5

The Magicians | season 3 episode 8

The White Lotus | season 2 episode 4

Wedding Season | episode 4

Currently Re-watching

Friends | season 10 episode 6

Hacks | season 1 episode 7

Modern Family | season 5 episode 12

Sherlock | season 1 episode 2

The Office | season 9 episode 9

Watchlist and Finished Series are underneath the cut 🤗

Watchlist

911 | seasons 2-5

Abbott Elementary

After Life

Agent Carter

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D

Always a Witch

American Gods

Anxious People

Arcane

Atlanta Medical

Babylon Berlin

Bones | seasons 11-12

Breaking Bad | seasons 2-5

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina | seasons 3-4

Crashing

Damaged Goods

Der Tatortreinger | seasons 2-7

Desperate Housewives | seasons 5-8

Dexter | seasons 6-8

Downtown Abbey | season 3-6

Dr Who

Dynasty | seasons 3-5

Elite

ER | seasons 2-15

Extraordinary

Fakes

Fleabag

Flora and Son

Girls

Girls 5 Eva

Glow

Grey’s Anatomy | seasons 12-19

Heartstopper | season 2

House of Cards | seasons 3-6

House of the Dragon

How I Met Your Father | season 2

How To Sell Drugs Online (Fast) | seasons 2-3

It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia

Jack Ryan | season 3

Jerks. | seasons 3-5

Kaulitz & Kaulitz

Little Fires Everywhere

Loki | season 2

Love

Love & Anarchy

Marvellous Mrs Masel

Money Heist | parts 3-5

Mythic Quest

Narcos

Never Have I Ever

Not Dead Yet

Once Upon A Time

Outlander | seasons 3-5

Ozark

Parks and Recreation

Parlament

Partner Track

Peaky Blinders

Platonic

Queen Charlotte

Ragnarok | seasons 2-3

Roar

Rick und Morty

Riverdale | seasons 6-7

Scandal

Scream Queen

Selling Sunset | seasons 6-7

Selling the OC

Seven vs Wild | seasons 2-3

Sex Education

Shadow & Bone | season 2

Space Force

Special | season 2

Stranger Things | I’ll only watch once the series is wrapped

Succession | seasons 3-4

Superstore

Sweet Magnolias

Ted Lasso | season 3

The Bear | season 3

The Bold Type

The Brothers Sun

The Diplomat

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier

The Flight Attendant

The Gentlemen

The Gilded Age | season 2

The Good Fight

The Great

The Handmaid‘s Tale

The Last of Us

The Morning Show

The Mandalorian

The Resident

The Rings of Power

The Witcher | season 4

This Is Us

Tiny Beautiful Things

Valeria

Wedding Season

Workin’ Moms

Finished

Arrested Development

Baymax!

Below Deck

Below Deck Mediterranean

Bluey

Bridgerton

Brooklyn 99

Champion

Community

Criminal

Cunk on Earth

Daredevil

Dash & Lily

Dead to Me

Derry Girls

Die Schwarzwaldklinik

Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency

Doctor’s Diary

Don’t Fuck With Cats

Emily in Paris

Fate: The Winx Sags

First Kill

Friends

Game of Thrones

Get Even

Gilmore Girls

Golden Girls

Good Omens

Good Witch

Gossip Girl

Grey’s Anatomy | season 1-12

Hacks

Half Bad: The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself

Heart of Dixie

Heartstoppers

How I Met Your Mother

IKEA Heights

Iron Fist

Jane the Virgin

Jessica Jones

Jury Duty

Killing Eve

Luke Cage

Lupin

Loki | season 1

Modern Family

New Girl

Obliterated

Only Murders In The Building

Please Like Me

Pretty Little Liars

Rebel Cheer Squad

Santa Clarita Diet

Schitt’s Creek

Sherlock

Shrinking

Soundtrack

Supernatural

Superstore

Teen Wolf | season 1-4

The 7 Lives of Lea

The Actress

The Afterparty

The Bear

The Big Bang Theory

The Buccaneers

The Circle

The Defenders

The Mole

The Night Agent

The Office

The Queen’s Gambit

The Recruit

The Sandman

The Umbrella Academy

The Vampire Diaries

The Witcher

Tiger King

Too Hot To Handle

Treason

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

Unnatural Selection

Wednesday

Westside

You

I will not watch

American Horror Story | … horror isn’t my genre, but I have heard only great things about this series!

The Boys | I know, I know, the hook is great and the series is supposed to be amazing, but I’ve seen the very first scene and did not expect it 🙈 it really shocked me so I might need a while to get over it.

Law and Order SVU | I have tried watching it but I cannot stomach it

[daisyachain]

Two types of misogyny in storytelling, alike in indignity. In your bog standard Anglosphere pop media (mostly USA) (basically USA), attitudes of misogyny manifest as the erasure of women from life. Women don’t exist, when they do exist it’s only as a sexual object or as a mother-like emotional support (as the girlfriend), and where they do exist, they should be dead if at all possible. We’re all familiar.

The mold of the 2000s-2010s Generic Hollywood Media Property targeted at teenagers is a cast of 5-8, including a maximum of 2 women, both of which will be romantically involved with male cast members. The female characters’ roles or professions will be less physical, less visceral, more cerebral, more emotional. In a cast of soldiers the woman will be a doctor or spy, in a cast of doctors the woman will be admin. The general messaging is that women belong in the household as domestic servants (they don’t belong in any place where Things Are Happening) and that women are both mentally and physically weak (even the exceptional women who can achieve anything must be romantically involved with a man and must be in a position that exerts no direct influence over the action).

Now, there are plenty of exceptions. Every era has its Chick Media made for women. Daytime television, romance, and now a lot of literary fiction/non-genre novels are by gals for gals. Hegemonies also change over time; the default popular film in Old Hollywood has more women than the current popular film, because the popular genre has shifted from romance (women required in order to not be gay) to action (no women required). I’m just talking in generalizations.

Switch media environments to your pop Japanese/to some extent Chinese media (can’t speak in detail as I haven’t watched many dramas at all) targeted at teenagers/young adults and you have…plenty of pieces that still follow that mold. Sports anime/action/etc do exactly the same thing. There are also exceptions; just as romance media offers a break to women in the western audience (except for me because I hate it), so are there female-targeted romances. What’s interesting though is that there’s a whole raft of extremely misogynistic, extremely popular media that put women at the forefront.

Fate, Seven Deadly Sins, CLANNAD, Eva, Haruhi Suzumiya, anywhere you got a hot-tempered tsundere in a skimpy outfit with a big gun, there are loads of properties that position women as legendary/powerful characters while also being paint-peelingly sexist. Why? How could a writer who hates women far more than your American Dick Wolf come out of a professional environment that is one of the most misogynistic of the wealthy nations, and create Tsunade?

Who knows. But using Fate as an example, it may come down to the position of women as the possessions of dudes. In American media, the idea of women in the workplace as people you might meet is so pervasive that people can only fantasize it away by forgetting they exist at all. You have to imagine women having lives, you can’t imagine a woman without imagining her being alive, so the best solution is to forget entirely or just make her hot to look at and nothing else.

Contrast what I’ll call the Battle Bound Bikini Babe phenomenon. This also explains why misogynist weebs will have their walls covered in posters of girl-only shows. The idea goes: if women exist only as the possessions of men, as housebound servants or children or mothers who don’t exist or have a presence in the professional world, then obviously you’d want to have your possessions be top class. A powerful/genius woman isn’t a threat or competitor; she’s a status symbol. You want a luxury watch, you want a car, you want a designer suit, you want to fantasize about a top class kitted out girlfriend who is the heir to a dynasty of mages AND a mech pilot AND has big boobs. The male player of Fate (regardless of nationality) must not be able to conceptualize a world where Tohsaka Rin would ever be employed over him, would ever be promoted over him, would ever get a scholarship if he was denied one. That’s not a possibility that exists in his reality. So, her powers or her brains aren’t a threat, they’re a status symbol, and so she’s tolerable as a main-ish character where e.g. Buffy might get the boot

[rockislandadultreads]

Read-Alike Friday: How Can I Help You by Laura Sims

How Can I Help You by Laura Sims

No one knows Margo’s real name. Her colleagues and patrons at a small town public library only know her middle-aged normalcy, congeniality, and charm. They have no reason to suspect that she is, in fact, a former nurse with a trail of countless premature deaths in her wake. She has turned a new page, so to speak, and the library is her sanctuary, a place to quell old urges.

That is, at least, until Patricia, a recent graduate and failed novelist, joins the library staff. Patricia quickly notices Margo’s subtly sinister edge, and watches her carefully. When a patron’s death in the library bathroom gives her a hint of Margo’s mysterious past, Patricia can’t resist digging deeper—even as this new fixation becomes all-consuming.

The Last Flight by Julie Clark

Claire Cook has a perfect life. Married to the scion of a political dynasty, with a Manhattan townhouse and a staff of ten, her surroundings are elegant, her days flawlessly choreographed, and her future auspicious. But behind closed doors, nothing is quite as it seems. That perfect husband has a temper that burns as bright as his promising political career, and he's not above using his staff to track Claire's every move, making sure she's living up to his impossible standards. But what he doesn't know is that Claire has worked for months on a plan to vanish.

A chance meeting in an airport bar brings her together with a woman whose circumstances seem equally dire. Together they make a last-minute decision to switch tickets — Claire taking Eva's flight to Oakland, and Eva traveling to Puerto Rico as Claire. They believe the swap will give each of them the head start they need to begin again somewhere far away. But when the flight to Puerto Rico goes down, Claire realizes it's no longer a head start but a new life. Cut off, out of options, with the news of her death about to explode in the media, Claire will assume Eva's identity, and along with it, the secrets Eva fought so hard to keep hidden.

The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz

Jacob Finch Bonner was once a promising young novelist with a respectably published first book. Today, he’s teaching in a third-rate MFA program and struggling to maintain what’s left of his self-respect; he hasn’t written—let alone published—anything decent in years. When Evan Parker, his most arrogant student, announces he doesn’t need Jake’s help because the plot of his book in progress is a sure thing, Jake is prepared to dismiss the boast as typical amateur narcissism. But then . . . he hears the plot.

Jake returns to the downward trajectory of his own career and braces himself for the supernova publication of Evan Parker’s first novel: but it never comes. When he discovers that his former student has died, presumably without ever completing his book, Jake does what any self-respecting writer would do with a story like that—a story that absolutely needs to be told.

In a few short years, all of Evan Parker’s predictions have come true, but Jake is the author enjoying the wave. He is wealthy, famous, praised and read all over the world. But at the height of his glorious new life, an e-mail arrives, the first salvo in a terrifying, anonymous campaign: You are a thief, it says.

As Jake struggles to understand his antagonist and hide the truth from his readers and his publishers, he begins to learn more about his late student, and what he discovers both amazes and terrifies him. Who was Evan Parker, and how did he get the idea for his “sure thing” of a novel? What is the real story behind the plot, and who stole it from whom?

The Unkindness of Ravens by M.E. Hilliard

Greer Hogan is a librarian and an avid reader of murder mysteries. She also has a habit of stumbling upon murdered bodies. The first was her husband's, and the tragic loss led Greer to leave New York behind for a new start in the Village of Raven Hill. But her new home becomes less idyllic when she discovers her best friend sprawled dead on the floor of the library.

Was her friend's demise related to two other deaths that the police deemed accidental? Do the residents of this insular village hold dark secrets about another murder, decades ago? Does a serial killer haunt Raven Hill?

As the body count rises, Greer's anxious musings take a darker turn when she uncovers unexpected and distressing information about her own husband's death...and the man who went to prison for his murder . She is racked with guilt at the possibility that her testimony may have helped to convict an innocent man.

Though Greer admires the masters of deduction she reads about in books, she never expected to have to solve a mystery herself. Fortunately, she possesses a quick wit and a librarian's natural resourcefulness. But will that be enough to protect her from a brilliant, diabolical murderer?

And even if Greer manages to catch the Raven Hill killer, will living with her conscience prove a fate worse than death?

This is the first volume of the "Greer Hogan Mystery" series.

[shop-korea]

Watch ""The Movie In My Mind" Music Video - Eva Noblezada and Rachelle Ann Go" on YouTube

MISS SAIGON - 25TH - ANNIVERSARY

EVA NOBLEZADA - POB - SAN DIEGO

NEW YORK - BROADWAY - THEATRE

STINT - TONY AWARD - NOMINEE 4

BEST - ACTRESS

BUT - GBC - AWARDS - TELEVISED

NOMINATION - ACCEPTED - EXAMPLE

$900 BILLION - X 3 - FOR - ACCEPTING

$900 BILION - X 8 - FOR - APPEARANCE

$900 BILLION - X 15 - FOR - WINNING

GIVEN - SPEECH - THEY - MIGHT LIKE

2 - USE - BIG - CLOCK - 2 - SHOW THE

TIME - LEFT - 2 - SPEAK - THEY HAVE

PAID - REHEARSAL - LIKE - THEY ALL

WON - ARROWS - ON - FLOOR - 2 YES

SHOW - WHERE - 2 - GO - AND - FIRST

STOP - LIVE - WITH - AWARD - PHOTOS

THOSE - WHO - CAN'T - GO - INSIDE - 4

FULL - THEN - ARROWS - 2 THE - RIGHT

THEN - L - FOR - BUFFET - AND - THEY

CAN - WATCH - THE - AWARDS - SMART

TV - SCREEN - AS - THEY - RELAX - OR

MORE - NOMINATIONS - SO - USA - IS

CUTE - THINKING - ASIANS - ARE YES

ALL - INTERESTED - IN - OSCARS -

ACADEMY - AWARDS - SUGA BTS -

GRAMMY - AWARDS - WHEN YOU -

USE - CONNECTIONS - 2 - GET - A -

TICKET - NO - THANKS - EVEN - IF -

U - BUY - TICKETS - 'FOR - THE -

LOVE - OF - MONEY - IS - THE -

ROOT - OF - ALL - EVIL' - BIBLE -

NYPD - POLICE - PROTECTS - THEIR -

BROADWAY - THEATRES - WELL WE -

WILL - INVADE - NEW YORK - CITY 4 -

YOUTUBER - SARAH FUNK - HER NY -

BUILDING - LANDLORD - INCREAS'G -

RENT - COMING - 2 - NEW YORK - NY -

DEMOCRATS - APARTMENTS

NO - LANDLORDS - MANAGER

24/7 - CONCIERGE

DOORMEN - PLUS

STORAGE - SARAH - WE - HAVE - 2 - GET -

TOGETHER - APARTMENTS - 4 - RENT - & -

FULLY - FURNISHED - WE - BUY - USED -

FURNITURE - AND - MORE - 4 YOUR XO -

CONVENIENCE - INCUDING - USED YES -

CLOTHES - SHOES - AND - MORE -

NEW YORK - APARTMENTS - MANHATTAN -

SAME - $0.25 - PER - DAY - NO - LEASE NO -

RENT - NO - CONTRACT - LIKE - INNS - YES -

INSIDE - OR - OUTSIDE - THE - DOOR - 2 XO -

PAY - TRAVELERS - CHECKS - PASSPORTS -

MONEY - ORDERS - ELECTRONIC - CHECKS -

VISA - MC - AMEX - DISCOVER - DINNERS XO -

CLUB - JCMC - GOOGLE - PAY - APPLE - PAY -

COMING - DEMOCRATS - APARTMENTS -

$0.25 - EACH - DAY - FULLY - FURNISHED -

FULL - KITCHEN - ATTACHED - STEAMERS -

DRY CLEANING - KOREAN - LIKE - CLOSET -

WASHERS - DRYERS - NO - MORE - NEED 4 -

DRY CLEANERS - SO - EXPENSIVE -

CAFES - PUBS - KARAOKE - PUBS - IN - THE -

BUILDING - SARAH FUNK - INTERESTED - IN -

TRANSFERRING - ADD - THIS - 24/7 - YES

DEMOCRATS - MOVERS - 50 STATES TOO

THE - MOVERS - UNIFORMED - AS WE YES

BUY - EVERYTHING - U - WANT - 2 - SELL -

AS - THEY - HAVE - APPS - 2 - GET - THE -

MONEY - MARKET - OF - EVERYTHING & -

RECEIPTS - ITEMIZED - WHAT - WE - YES -

BOUGHT - 4 - RECYCLING - AS - WE - HAI -

DISAPPEAR - EVERYTHING - TOTALLY -

SARAH FUNK - YOUTUBE - HOW - YES -

ABOUT - TRANSFERRING - HERE -

DEMOCRATS - APARTMENTS

NO - LANDLORDS - NO - MANAGERS

24/7 - CONCIERGE - 24/7 - DOORMEN

STORAGE - UNITS - ELECTRIC - PLUGS

4 - ELECTRIC - CARS - KIA - KIA - KIA KR

COMING - 2 - 50 STATES -

DEMOCRATS - APARTMENTS

$0.25 - EACH - DAY - PAY - 1 MONTH - IN -

ADVANCE - NO - LEASE - NO - RENTAL -

CONTRACT - FULLY - FURNISHED AS U -

WILL - HAVE - OUR - BUILDING - STAFF -

OFFICE - 24/7 - FOR - EVERYTHING - U -

NEED - LIKE - WHAT - U - NEED - 2 SELL -

WE - BUY - 24/7 - SO - U - WILL - ALWAYS -

HAVE - MONEY - AND - WE - DISAPPEAR -

ALL - THAT - HAS - NO - MING - DYNASTY -

VALUE - LIKE - CLAUDE MONET -

PAINTINGS - THINGS - OF - NO - VALUE -

WE - DISAPPEAR - OR - SELL US FOOD -

WE - EVEN - BUY - FOOD - LIKE - YOUR -

FRIED - CHICKEN - FR - PUBLIX - U YES -

CAN'T - FINISH - WE - HAVE - THE TRUE -

VALUE - MONEY - MARKET - OF PUBLIX -

WE - GIVE - U - THE - MONEY - THUS -

BUILDING - STAFF - OFFICE - IS - 24/7 -

2 - HELP - ALL - EVERY - HOUR EVERY -

DAY - HOLIDAYS - DEPENDABLE - AND -

UNIFORMED - PERSONAL - HIGHLY -

PAID - NO - TIPS - NO - TIPS - NO NO -

TIPS - APARTMENT - BUILDINGS

DEMOCRATS - APARTMENTS

COMING - 2 - 50 STATES

JESUS - IS - LORD - WILL

LEAVE - SOON - 2 - USE

RESTROOM - 4:45P EDT

[eternlmisery]

goes back to grieving after fucking with her husband 

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA STOP JOSEPH 

HE IS THE BEST I CAN’TTTTTTT

*triggered* 

you owe him now boy 

you realize it can be a counter-virus?

ALL I CAN THINK ABOUT IS JEFF DUNHAM 

how many agents what the fuck 

oh he is getting arrested 

WHAT 

STEVEN? 

STEVEN IS LITERALLY THE MOST INNOCENT PERSON WHAT IS HAPPENING 

WHY DO THEY NEED 15 AGENTS AND WHY DID FALON ONLY REACT TO IT? 

that 80s reference 

STEPHEN AMELL OH HEY 

[amayaswatchtowers]

alright but we gotta call out Liam for hanging out with Eva all dem times and not telling Fallon. 

like he wasn’t doing anything but i mean still....

[iwasbored777]

So I'm watching Dynasty and this is what a REAL obsessive stalker looks like: Eva stole wedding photos of Fallon and Liam and glued her face on Fallon's to make it look like she married Liam, worked on a long-term plan to separate Fallon and Liam even though Fallon was her boss and a good friend who appreciates her, flirted with Liam and spent time with him pretending to be his friend and lied about Fallon to break them up while pretending she's Fallon's friend too, bought a wedding dress planning to marry Liam, made a move on Liam immediately after him and Fallon broke up, when Liam and Fallon decided to stay friends she shot Fallon attempting to kill her and she smiled as Fallon collapsed in pain. Does this sound like Marinette Dupain-Cheng to you, ML haters? Does it? Because fuck you. I just ended the obsessive stalker discourse. Also I hope Eva chokes. That's not even hear real name, she had to change it because the police is after her after she was kicked out of her college for stalking.

[cicerobussytransplant]

what are your fav historical fiction tv shows?

ohhh very interesting question bc i do watch a lot of historical fiction, some of which im pretty sure nobody has heard of (that period drama abt the culpepper ring, that king arthur tv series with eva green playing up catholic issues etc) but I cannot say they are particularly dignified choices 90% of the time. also, necessary premise, by fave i mostly mean things that have held up through an unspecified period of time

Black Sails

The Great s1: only s1 tho. unpopular opinion but peter/catherine were SO boring in s2 and in general the show imho swerved in directions that i didnt care abt. rip count orlo getting character development

The Borgias 2011: i cannot in good conscience leave them out considering my story with the show* but i do still stand by it being good

North & South: old but a very good alternative to pride&prejudice for me aftee i got really tired of the 2005 movie version. the marriage proposal is still iconic to me

Ming Dynasty: this is unrepentantly bc of tang wei in period clothing. i am not the best person to judge on accuracy, propaganda elements or anything but, considered the reason i watched it for, i was happy and content and satisfied ngl

Reign: i just think its one of the best teen shows out there djdhdhs sorry like i recognise the prom dresses and the acting and everything make it unpalatable but considered how much misogyny there IS in the writing of these tv shows, reign really came through those first 3 seasons (mary's sexual assault storyline was surprisingly very delicately handled!!) and in general it treated its female character unlike what i expected of it ngl

now, a few more that i add begrudgingly but i have gripes with so its a kind of ehhhh *shrugs* category:

rome hbo :////: i vehemently hate like 70% of it (every scene that involves titus pullo or lucius vorenus; most scenes with women bc bruno heller is so misogynistic) but I also am compelled as i often am when it comes to bad historical fiction involving rome. begrudgingly. (*points at the icon and url*)

Penny Dreadful: very defining for teenage me but ehhh need to rewatch properly tbh!

Magnificent Century: i like soap operas

[coaxare]

Radiohead Pathologic Megamix

LINK TO PLAYLIST ON SPOTIFY Track listing w/ suggested interpretations & selected lyrics below the cut. Spoilers/context from Pathologic 1/Pathologic 2/Marble Nest combined into one suggested continuity.

Street Spirit (Fade Out) - Isidor's Letter to Artemy

Be a world child, form a circle Before we all go under

We Suck Young Blood - The Kain Dynasty

Are you fracturing? Are you torn at the seams?

Optimistic - Grief's Rise to Power in the Warehouses

I'd really like to help you, man Nervous messed up marionette

Paranoid Android - Peter Stamatin

Please, could you stop the noise? I'm trying to get some rest

The Tourist - Andrey Stamatin

Sometimes I get overcharged That's when you see sparks

Knives Out - Farkhad's Death

If you'd been a dog, they would have drowned you at birth Look into my eyes

I Might Be Wrong - Stakh and Artemy

What would I do? If I did not have you?

Backdrifts - Oyun's Decision

All evidence has been buried All tapes have been erased

Morning Bell/Amnesiac - The Plague

Cut the kids in half Cut the kids in half

Scatterbrain - Dankovsky Worrying About Thanatica

I'm walking out in a force ten gale Birds thrown around, bullets for hail

Blow Out - Stakh Rubin Dealing with Isidor's Death

I am fused Just in case I blow out

Life in a Glasshouse - The Onset of the Haunting of Katerina by the Rat Prophet

Well of course I'd like to sit around and chat But someone's listening in

Kid A - Khan and Notkin's Schism

We've got heads on sticks And you've got ventriloquists

Idioteque - Khan in the Polyhedron

Here I'm allowed Everything all of the time

Treefingers - Climbing the Polyhedron

[Instrumental]

Pyramid Song - Eva Yan (P1)

I jumped in the river and what did I see? Black-eyed angels swam with me

Sit Down. Stand Up. - Aglaya Meets with Bad Grief

Walk into the jaws of hell (sit down) Walk into the jaws of hell (stand up)

A Wolf at the Door - Bad Grief Meets with Aglaya

Born and raised for the job Someone always does

Karma Police - Block and Aglaya's Dueling Interrogations

This is what you'll get When you mess with us

Just - The Continued Haunting of Katerina by the Rat Prophet

One day he'll get to you And teach you how to be a holy cow

Hearing Damage - Stakh and Artemy Part 2

Your ears are wrecking You're hearing damage

I Will - Capella Asking Artemy to Let Her Care for His Bound

I won't let this happen to my children Meet the real world coming out of your shell

Packt Like Sardines in a Crushd Tin Box - Big Vlad Getting Dragged to the Termitary

I'm a reasonable man Get off my case, get off my case

You and Whose Army - Big Vlad Facing the Kin in the Termitary

You forget so easy We ride tonight

2 + 2 = 5 - The Plague Enters the Stoneyard

You have not been Paying attention

You - Nina and Victor's Relationship

You, me and everything Caught in the fire

Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors - Victor Allowing Nina to Possess Him

There are doors that open by themselves There are sliding doors and there are secret doors

Climbing Up the Walls - Simon and Georgiy Kain

Fifteen blows to the back of your head Fifteen blows to your mind

The Gloaming - Dankovsky Realizes the Nature of the Kains

Your alarm bells, your alarm They should be ringing, they should be ringing

Black Star - Alexander Mourning Katerina

I get home from work And you're still standing in your dressing gown

How to Disappear Completely - Anna Angel On the Brink of Death

I'm not here This isn't happening

There, There - Artemy Dreams of Nara

In pitch dark I go walking in your landscape

Hunting Bears - Artemy going to Shekhen

[Instrumental]

Everything In It's Right Place - Artemy Accepting His Inheritance

Everything In its right place

Faust Arp - Dankovsky Intercepts the Courier

Watch me fall Like dominoes

Reckoner - Diurnal Ending

Because we separate (In rainbows) Like ripples on a blank shore (In rainbows)

[evita-shelby]

Hi, July!! I'm sending new questions for your OCs and here is yours:

What modern day tv show would they binge over a weekend? 📺

❤️.

Oooh i love this Flor 🖤🖤

Eva: La Casa de las Flores/House of Flowers, Dynasty, los espookys

Charlie: The Boys/Gen V, Loki, (secretly) bridgerton

Diane: Call the Midwife, alguien tiene que morir, game of thrones/house of the dragon

Bonus: they would all watch La Casa de Papel/Money Heist

[starry-sky-stuff]

Historical Romance Recommendations

I've been talking with @missbrunettebarbie about different historical romance novels and I thought, since I've read a lot recently, that it would be fun to make some recommendations. Here it goes.

Marriage of Convenience:

Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas: Sebastian needs to marry an heiress to save him from financial ruin. Evie needs to marry to escape her abusive family, so she offers Sebastian a marriage of convenience.

The Duchess Deal by Tessa Dare: After his fiancee leaves him because of his scars, the Duke of Ashford is intent on finding a new bride and getting an heir. Fortunately for him, seamstress Emma Gladstone turns up on his doorstep in a wedding dress and his problems are solved when she agrees to his offer of a marriage of convenience.

Lovers That Start Off Antagonistic:

To Love and to Loathe by Martha Walters: Diana and Jeremy have spent most of their shared moments bickering. So, when Jeremy’s latest mistress critiques his skills in the bedroom, he knows just where to turn to for some honest feedback.

It Happened One Autumn by Lisa Kleypas: Westcliffe is a stodgy, stuffy earl. Lillian is a forthright, opinionated American heiress. Its dislike, and attraction, on sight.

No Good Duke Goes Unpunished by Sarah Maclean: Eight years prior, Mara kind of accidentally framed Temple for her murder and disappeared. Needless to say, when she returns to clear his name in exchange for forgiving her brother’s debts, they don’t exactly get along.

Childhood Friends:

A Rogue By Any Other Name by Sarah Maclean: Penelope and Bourne were childhood friends until his financial ruin broke them apart. When Penelope’s father attaches Bourne’s ancestral estate to her dowry, he returns to marry her, regain the estate, and ruin the man who ruined him.

A Rogue of One’s Own by Evie Dunmore: Lucie has known Tristan since childhood and always regarded him as a dissolute rake. Tristan has been equally entranced by Lucie. When he buys half the shares in the publishing company she’s purchased to publish a suffragette report, he offers to sell her his shares in exchange for a night with him.

Friends to Lovers:

My Fake Rake by Eva Leigh: Grace and Sebastian have been friends for years, both having feelings for the other unbeknownst to them. Grace has pined over another man for years and to get his attention she plans to turn Sebastian into a rake to fake date.

The Duke Who Loved Me by Jane Ashford: When James Cantrell inherits an estate from his hoarder uncle, he plans to marry Cecelia, his childhood friend and the daughter of the man named trustee of his estate. Cecelia, who’s had feelings for James for years, doesn’t take well to his offer of a marriage of convenience. After being rejected, James decides to court Cecelia for real.

Second Chance Romance:

The Day of the Duchess by Sarah MacLean: Malcolm and Seraphina’s marriage has been shrouded in heartbreak and betrayal, but when Seraphina returns to get a divorce Malcolm is determined to win her back.

Female Leads That Are Widows:

When He Was Wicked by Julia Quinn: Francesca Bridgerton was happily married to John Stirling when he tragically died. Michael, his cousin and best friend and certified rake, was in love with Francesca and fled after John’s death. Years later, Francesca has decided to have a baby and needs a man to do it.

Waiting for a Scot Like You by Eva Leigh: Beatrice is a widow intent on enjoying her freedom…by attending an orgy at a country estate, unbeknownst to her escort Duncan McCameron. Obviously, hijinks ensue. This one is interesting because Beatrice is older than Duncan and they’re happy ending doesn’t include marriage.

Books Where the Lead Has a Job:

Forever Your Earl by Eva Leigh: Eleanor Hawke owns a gossip rag and the Earl of Ashford is one of her favourite subjects. So, when the Earl marches into her office angered by the reports of his whereabouts they reach an agreement that she will shadow him during his illicit activities to get an accurate report and so he can keep her from discovering his real objective of searching for his best friend.

Scandal Takes the Stage by Eva Leigh: Maggie Delamere is a one of Cameron, Viscount Marwood’s favourite playwrights and completely uninterested in noblemen because of her past experiences. Plagued by writer’s block, Maggie reluctantly takes up Cam’s offer to use his country’s estate as a writer’s retreat.

Temptations of a Wallflower by Eva Leigh: Lady Sarah Frampton is known in society as the Watching Wallflower, but for years she’s been secretly writing erotic fiction under the pseudonym The Lady of Dubious Quality. Jeremy Cleland, a clergyman, is tasked with unmasking the author by his domineering father. Unbeknownst to him, the women he’s growing closer to is the person he’s trying to unmask.

The Rules of Scoundrels series by Sarah MacLean centres of the owners of a gambling den, so they're all employed

Books That Involve a Mystery:

The Duke Dynasty by Sabrina Jeffries: This series of four books centres on the family of Dowager Duchess of Armitage, who was married to three Dukes, all of whom died in mysterious circumstances. The central mystery of the series is finding out who killed the husbands and why.

Do You Want to Start a Scandal by Tessa Dare: Charlotte and Piers were caught together alone in the library, then accused of having a scandalous tryst. To avoid being forced to marry, they must discover who the real culprits are.

A Lady’s Guide to Mischief and Mayhem by Manda Collins: Lady Katherine Bascomb is a newspaper columnist reporting on crime when someone gets murdered at the house party she’s attending. Andrew Eversham is the detective on the case, whose career was damaged by Bascomb's reporting.

Series Centred on Female Friendship:

The Wallflowers series by Lisa Kleypas

A League of Extraordinary Women series by Evie Dunmore

Girls Who Dare series by Emma V Leech

Books Where the Female Lead Isn’t a Virgin:

Bringing Down a Duke by Evie Dunmore

Forever Your Earl by Eva Leigh

The Raven Prince by Elizabeth Hoyt

When He Was Wicked by Julia Quinn

Thief of Shadows by Elizabeth Hoyt

Never Judge a Lady By Her Cover by Sarah MacLean

Rake Romances:

Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas

To Love and to Loathe by Martha Walters

A Rogue of One’s Own by Evie Dunmore

When He Was Wicked by Julia Quinn

Dreaming of You by Lisa Kleypas

Forever Your Earl by Eva Leigh

Scandal Takes the Stage by Eva Leigh

Say Yes to the Marquess by Tessa Dare

Non-Rake Romances:

Thief of Shadows by Elizabeth Hoyt

My Fake Rake by Eva Leigh

Temptations of a Wallflower by Eva Leigh

Lord of Darkness by Elizabeth Hoyt

If you want any other book recs, feel free to ask

[sullustangin]

Random headcanon for Risha!

You're getting the entire package! (throws confetti). Also, I have had a LOT of thoughts about Risha Drayen as I write her.

Sexuality Headcanon: Risha Drayen loves fucking men. Women are ok, but they're not her first choice. She's 'experienced' with women, but it's nothing that she'd keep a file on. Risha isn't opposed to fooling around to get to a man, but she knows what she really wants.

Gender Headcanon: Much like Eva, Risha is more interested in sex than thinking too hard about performative gender while getting through life as a displaced heir of a planetary dynasty. At the same time, Risha understands that looking the part is as important as playing the part. Risha always has a mind as to how things appear to outsiders. Eva is oblivious to it; Corso has anxiety about it; Risha manipulates perception to suit her future goals.

This results in an intertwining as to how she presents her gender and sexuality. To the underworld, she isn't as much of a goer as Eva is, but at the same time, she's hardly a prude. She does like them inexperienced -- moldable. To a certain social strata, Risha is deliberately more discreet and prim and ladylike. She obscures her ability to disassemble and reassemble a freighter engine in less than four hours. Any serious noble marriage candidate has to be dragged through the hoops to make sure they are serious and they are worthy of being her consort when she becomes queen. This does fit in with, if romanced, how long she makes the male smuggler wait to sleep with her (marriage).

A ship I have with said character: This is where a lot of headcanon comes in. Risha always seems to deflect any statements of affection with business or money or material exchanges. She bickers with the smuggler, even if romanced. She actually doesn't say "I love you" to the smuggler until "Unhappy Returns," post-KotET. Even then, she's playing it off as if it's reluctant or something that does not come easily to her.

Based on that and the dialogue she has with both the male smuggler and Count Rineld (her would-be suitor), I actually headcanon Risha to be aromantic. I do have her getting a lot of feelings for a few characters that cross her path, but whether that results in a 'romance' is not known. So for now, aromantic, possibly demiromantic or gray romantic. Even when talking about her potential future kids, she talks about 'doing it for Dubrillion' -- not because she has a romantic idea of having a baby with the person she loves. Risha totally does love, but it's never in that romantic, world-through-rose-colored-glasses way. Sex serves a purpose. Having relationships has a purpose. Romance isn't something she wants just for a sake of having it. She's not anti-romance; she's a huge cheerleader for Theron/Eva and then Akaavi/Mako. Hell, she even liked watching the Darmas/Eva relationship.... when Darmas fooled her, he had made her like him, and how she wishes Eva had killed him.

Darmas may yet find an awful fate in prison for him, if Risha ever has the inclination. Theron was on the List too, but then he saved Eva and eventually married her. Risha bawled her eyes out at the wedding because she was so happy that Eva finally, after 15+ years, got the happy ending Risha felt she deserved.

I don't ship Risha with anyone at the moment. The way Risha thinks of it, it's unfair for her to 'take up space' for someone that does feel romantic love toward her; that feeling won't be reciprocated... and there's still some part of her that believes everyone who falls in love deserves to have someone fall in love with them. But don't tell anyone about THAT. The door isn’t fully closed on the topic yet. 

A BROTP I have with said character: Ultimate platonic love? Eva and Corso. Eva was probably the person that came the closest to understanding Risha Drayen -- the person closet to cracking that hard shell. And Corso -- he went with her into exile. All of that is love and not the romantic sort.

A NOTP I have with said character: If I had to say 'no never' to any character, it'd have to be Theron Shan. That's her best friend's husband. Now, before they were serious, Risha was sort of joking, sort of serious about going for Theron after Eva ruined him. Risha shelved that idea on Rishi. Risha did approach Theron during the Carbonite Years with information about Eva....while wearing the Voidhound outfit; she had to make sure she got his attention. She originally was toying with the idea of 'comforting each other in their grief,' but Theron's expression at the Voidhound's reappearance was akin to a person who had just gotten hit by a speeder. She immediately aborted that mission -- didn't even suggest it or make a joke.

A random headcanon:  Everyone refers to the various class stories as ‘found family.’ Here’s the thing: the smuggler crew isn’t the smuggler’s found family.

It’s Risha’s.

Look at what we know of her history prior to linking up with the smuggler.  We know she did business with Beryl Thorne when she was very young; it resulted in Beryl getting caught and Risha fleeing to save her own skin.  Risha feels guilt over the Beryl situation.  Sometime after that, Risha makes friends with Sumalee and Shariss and they make enough of a name for themselves to be known as the Triple Threat.  Risha takes the smuggler off the main track to save Shariss, and then they work closely with Sumalee to save Corellia.

Keep in mind Risha is only 21 when the game starts; between the age of 11 and 21, she’s had the above relationships/crews.  Whenever she loses friends or has them exit the underworld, she seems to reassemble a crew as soon as possible.  Is it career driven?  Pursuing the crown?  Yeah... but at the same time, Risha seeks people to bring into her circle... and based upon Guss’s and Corso’s continued inclusion despite the canon friction between them and Risha,it’s not just based upon utility.  Based on the letter you get from her as a romanced smuggler, she doesn’t even give up until 3 years after Eternal Fleet. She doesn’t want to be lonely.  The crew is her family -- and the smuggler is the closest one of all.

General Opinion over said character:   Risha is one of the best formed companions with or without a romance.  She is more than just the Princess Leia stand-in, and she has a great backstory.  I wonder if she was originally meant to be your first companion, but then Corso got put in; his sidelines with Rona and his former merc crew are less compelling to me than Risha’s.  Sadly, I think they kept her out of the game too long.  I tried to run with her as my main comp on Onderon as part of a “the girls go on an Indiana Jones-esque adventure” ..... and it didn’t click. :(    None of my original comps clicked the same way after carbonite, except Bowdaar, who was the first smuggler companion to return and was my main guy on the Star Fortresses.  I didn’t feel this kind of loss with Corso, but I did with Risha.  Frustratingly, all of the Smuggler companions are OPTIONAL to get in KotFE/KotET.....so even Bowie doesn’t have a heroic role in the main storyline after a certain point.  :( 

Ok, too many feels.  Time to go steal something expensive with Risha on my Canon!Eva who is now Lvl 29.