#he might just be an incie obsession

[ch3rry-l1m4d3]

This is something that happens too often between Therapist and Zoma where he starts just vaguely posting about that one guy he met only a few days ago(...?????)

The obsessive lover type , to be exact! ♥️

Polaroid images from these posts:

https://www.tumblr.com/pink-key/738587423456559104

https://www.tumblr.com/pink-key/738693756152414208/your-oc-is-adorable-but-he-might-kill-me

[gerec]

do you have any recs for serial killer AUs and/or fics where Charles or Erik (or both) are really dark? thank you!!!

Hi Anon! I have ALL the serial killer aus for you yes!!! (Not all of them have dark Charles/Erik but every single one is awesome and worth reading :D Also, the last 2 are not serial killer related). Hope you enjoy!!!

Rampage by wallhaditcoming (uvcatastrophe)

When police uncover evidence that notorious serial killer Magneto is obsessed with Professor Charles Xavier, they immediately move to put him into Witness Security. Only Xavier refuses. The police come up with trumped up charges to arrest him and thus keep him safe until they can apprehend the killer. Erik is not happy that the police have chosen to drag Charles into this and are now trying to keep him from him, and shows his displeasure the best way he knows how – an increased body count. Playing With Fire by professor

Charles is a detective determined to catch a serial killer.

If the serial killer doesn’t catch him first.

Paralyzer by Yahtzee

In 1965, Erik Lehnsherr has infiltrated the NYPD for his own purposes – but his powers make him a brilliant detective. Yet that’s not why FBI agent Charles Xavier has sought him out. It’s because the mysterious killer they’re both trying to find is murdering people like them: other mutants.

Their search for a madman binds them together. Their inner demons may tear them apart. But the greatest danger comes when the killer they’re looking for looks back …

Charles’ Killer by luchia

When detective Charles Xavier finds himself hunting down a vendetta-driven serial killer, it doesn’t take long for him to realize he’s in over his head. It only takes a little longer for him to realize his killer is, too.

Incy Wincy Spider by Tawabids

Erik Lehnsherr is a renowned homicide detective, with his husband Charles at home and his partner on the job, Moira MacTaggert. When a twisted serial killer starts targeting mutants, Erik and Moira are the perfect team for the job, especially since Erik himself is the mutant poster-boy of an NYPD trying to improve their image.

But what they don’t yet know is that the serial killer is an old soul out of Erik’s past, and his next move is to pull Charles into his web.

Thirty Years by Ourgirlfriday

Thirty years ago, Charles was rookie FBI agent working working the case of a serial killer. Little does he know, this mysterious new killer is Erik Lensherr, the man he saved from drowning one day when he first got started.

What Took Place in the Palace of the Snow Queen, and What Happened Afterward by cm (mumblemutter)

He was quite blue, yes nearly black with cold; but he did not observe it, for she had kissed away all feeling of cold from his body, and his heart was a lump of ice.

Let's Just Forget the World. by PippinPips

He's not supposed to be here, but that doesn't stop him. He wants to be even closer if he can.

The Bell's Toll by MonstrousRegiment

Charles Xavier goes to prison, and is recruited by a spy/assassin division of the government. Dismal a beginning as this might look, it unbelievably goes downhill. Erik, the necessary stoic ex-military man, gets sidled with him. Not a single person is amused.

A Game of Strategy by wallhaditcoming (uvcatastrophe)

In a world where Omega Class mutants are ageless, the only way to be rid of Emperor Magneto, who has ruled unopposed for centuries, is to kill him. The resistance, under the leadership of Charles Xavier, has taken up that task, but Xavier's motivations are not what they seem.

[a-v-j]

Can you rank everyone on how badly they need to see a therapist on a scale of 1 to 10. 1 being “well adjusted, but it couldn’t hurt” and 10 being “needs to be institutionalized ASAP”

1.Anti may seem perfectly fine but he brushes off issues and that might cause trouble in the future if they accumulate. Brightness is suicidal as seen in various occasions, Hue is a possible psychopath, and Sat needs to even out his extreme personality and compulsive kidnapping tendencies. Jailbreak has anger issues, unresolved past issues and a broken heart

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2.King Error had to kill queeno so that's kinda traumatizing in a way. Queeno, on the other hand, had been suffering way before with all that resets and shits in aftertale and then he has to go through a unhealthy relationship with Error while probably also suffering stockholm, and Eon, ever since he was a child Error had been tough on him so

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3.Even someone as chill as Auto could use some therapy, who knows what hell it is to go through just knowing everything before they happen and doing nothing when it happens because it's part of the story, he had committed some self-harm once a long time ago so might as well go to therapy. We all know how hard it is for Cor too, such maddening situation could make anyone suicidal. just imagine having all your fears happen before you, he tried his best. Ink's just fine. HQ!Error could be stubborn but boi needs therapy 'cause he's probably letting all his frustration and misery out by being destructive. Topie's an anxiety-ridden ball of fur who has infatuation/obsession issues that eventually bring him to state of denial, belief he's never enough and possibly a split personality.

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4.So Sage and Shortcut have some behavioral issues and nothing to serious but if you count Shorty's habit to lure people into their eventual death by pranking them through time and space then yes. Geno 3.2.1 is the Geno that betrayed Sans and went on to destroy their world with Error's help, same as Queeno, he were already suffering so much by endless cycles of misery and on such desperation begged for Error's help, if he were alive then it's a must-have for him to have therapy ASAP. BadSans!Error have some coping issues and his ways of letting off steam aint really healthy so a little therapy wont hurt, and as for his "toy", Sansti, he'd be needing more treatment 'cause the boi is in some serious case of possible stockholm. He and his Geno were despearate enough to ask Error for help in destroying their world and now the other is dead and he have some unhealthy beliefs that he deserves whatever comes to him at that point.

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5.Geno 2.1.1 is Eon's mom and he kinda hates both Recall and Eon, he went through some mental and emotional stress ever since Reaper's alleged cheating. After Recall and Reaper got reunited, he put up with it 'cause he dont want Goth to grow up without his dad. He had also been taken part of the blame for Recall's miscarriage after the accidental SOUL bond which, by twist of fate, later lead to his pregnancy with Recall's child, Eon. So it's a roller coaster for him. Same goes for Recall, being abandoned when he was Geno by reaper while he was carrying their child, extinction, surely wasnt a good experience. And now he had to share with the other Geno and it wasnt going good on his SOUL carrying(incy and acsy) either which lead to the said miscarriage, he went into depression so therapy he must go. All of the children involved might use some treatment 'cause of how dysfunctional their family is, most especially Eon since he had experience emotional negligence from his own mom at a early age, same goes for lethal since he's not given much attention in the family either and being the result of the so-called Fatal-Reaper affair that broke the family in the first place sure aint gonna be easy to take in.. Goth seems to be doing perfectly ok tho, for now.

And oh boy, these aint even ALL of the residents

[lgwifey]

Hey could I get a match up for any of the Blur or Oasis members! I’m a INFP, currently studying fashion at uni and I love all things creative! I love reading (mainly penguin modern classics) and exploring (anything from new locations to art galleries!) I’m definitely a big observer and more of a introvert, however with people I love I do seem very sociable haha. I wouldn’t know how to sum up my style…I honestly just wear whatever I think works, I really enjoy investing and wearing clothes that can be multipurpose (eg a skirt as a top). I love going to the pub and talking over a Guinness!

I have a short dark brown Kaia Gerber-esque bob with light blue eyes, I’m also half Welsh and half Irish! I’m very short (5’1”) and slim.

Thank you so much!!

⚠️ incy wincy tiny mention of addictions ⚠️

𝐈'𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐡𝐚𝐦 𝐂𝐨𝐱𝐨𝐧.

Sooooo...

• You meet at an awards show. You're studying fashion and helped on one of the film which had ended up being nominated for a Brit. Graham walked up to you at the bar because your outfit was different to what everyone else seemed to be wearing, in a good way ofc.

• When I tell you this lad was hooked from the first conversation !

• Okay so you start hanging out more obviously. Press get involved and the fangirls don't react in a pretty manner. Oof things get ugly. But at the end of the day you where with Graham because you cared about him, not because of what a few teenagers might think of you.

• Little dates to local art galleries and musuems because he knows you like them. Oh and regular gifts of hardback novels or the latest fashion books.

• You're not overly indulged in the britpop music scene. You stick to fashion and Graham sticks to music, but you do share a few friends AND you are known by the members of Blur for switching out which tops he wears because you don't deem them 'fashionably legal' (in Damon's words) ~ "Why can't I wear my blue top ?" "Blue jeans and blue top. Seriously Gray, you might as well be wearing slightly off shaded double denim" *throws blue polo top to the other side of the room* ~

• Your both introverts so are quite happy to stay at home and watch a film with some snacks and drinks.

• Locking Damon out of Graham's flat because he keeps trying to get youse to go to a new bar with him and youse just want to stay home.

• The magazines and newspapers are obsessed with your multiple styles. Since you're photographed out with Graham alot you get alot more recognition for your work. Graham basically brings you up every chance he can get, if someone's asking if the boys know anyone to help manage wardrobe on a different project. Hence, you end up having to decline alot of clients so you can actually have some couple time.

• Locking Damon out of Graham's flat because he keeps ending up third-wheeling your dates.

• Okay so eventually the Blur fangirls warm up to you.*Que every fifthteen-nineteen year old girl who listens to Blur dying their hair dark and cutting it so they can look like you.*

• Damon and Alex bullying Noel Gallagher because your almost as tall as him in heels.

• You both keep your relationship as private as possible because after all, you're not dating for media coverage. Graham doesn't want anyone ruining what you two have, especially not the Daily Mail of all things.

• You end up being the best help with managing his addictions, soon you're the only person who can remove a bottle from his hand. He only opens up to you about how he's feeling. Only you're allowed to know about how his mental health is. Not Alex, not Dave, not Damon, just you and you alone.

• I just think you'd be a cute couple OKAY. Like seriously. I'd die to see it happen hun x

[annie-rereads]

Annie Rereads Immortal Beloved by Cate Tiernan

Immortal Beloved Chapter 2

I have read this book mulitple times and the two that follow. The main character, Nas, and her journey of growth throughout the story is something that I admire. This tale of self-discovery, love, and healing is something that I haven’t found in many other books and I find that its a realistic take on the journey to change.

After some of the events I’ve witnessed, the Incy/cabbie/magick/neck night should seem like a party. I’ve raced away in the night, clinging to a horse’s mane, with a city behind me burned to the ground. I’ve seen bodies covered with the oozing sores of the bubonic plague, piled high in city streets like logs because there wasn’t enough people alive to bury them. I was in Paris on July 14, 1789. You never forget the sight of a human head on a pike.

But we aren’t at war now. We were living an ordinary life, or as ordinary a life as an Immortal can have.

Chapter 2 finds Nas in the immediate aftermath of the cabbie night. While we know she’s running, we having quite gotten to the running part of the story yet. Nas goes over things she’s experienced, all of them truly horrible, and the reasons why this new horrible thing shouldn’t phase her. Except it does, and that makes sense. While one can get desensitized to horrible acts (something I’ve seen my generation talk about often enough), those horrible acts are still going to effect you. Especially if they happen during peace time. Yet, it also shows that while Nas did a terrible thing by walking away, she isn’t a bad person. She knows what she did was wrong and that’s important if your story is going to include massive growth of a character.

In the paragraphs following this introduction, Nas makes mention of “northern raiders” and “berserkers”, which are a group of people that come into play later in the story.

Fun Fact: One of the things that Nas says she experienced is the storming of the Bastille which occured on July 14th.

Where had Incy gotten that spell? Yes, we’re Immortal, we have magic running through our veins, but one has to learn on purpose how to use it. Over the years, I’d known some people who were all about studying magick, learning spells, learning whatever they needed to learn to wield it. But I’d figured out a long time ago that I didn’t want to. I’d seen the death and destruction that magick could cause, I’d seen what people were willing to do to pursue it, and I didn’t want anything to do with it. I wanted to pretend it didn’t exist. And I’d found some like-minded aefrelyffen (an old word for immortals), and we hung out.

It’s important that Nas provides us context on magick, alongside the nature and rules of Immortals as she does later. It’s important that we, as readers, know that what Incy did has to be sought out. Magick has to be learned, and if Nas’s learning later on is anything to go by, it also has to be practiced. This makes what Incy did more disturbing because if he learned to a man’s back in a similar way that Nas learns to put ristrictions on her magick, then it means Incy practiced on other people.

Nas also gives examples of ways she’s used magick, all small which is probably because she doesn’t like to use it. She’s seen what magick does to people and boy has she seen things. She also used magic for the same things we all probably would. For all that her snark and actions might rub a reader the wrong way, these almost petty uses for magick endears her to us just a little.

To me he was sweet and generous and funny and fun, willing to go anywhere, do anything. He was the one who would call me to go to Morocoo at a moment’s notice. The one I’d call to get me out of a jam.

Simple friendly things like this are called into question in a later book, where we find out that Nas was actually reluctant to a lot of Incy’s “go here, do this” attitude.

We would howl about it afterward, falling together, laughing until tears came out of our eyes. The fact that we’d never been lovers, never had that awkwardness between us, only made it more perfect.

Incy and Nas’s friendship really does seem good and wonderful, similar to that almost to the friendships plenty of real people have. Except Incy did something terrible and its reminiscent of the times were you find out your friend wasn’t the kind of person you thought they were. And it’s incredible that they were never lovers, that it never came up for them, not even as a one-night-stand. And I can almost understand why, as later we find out that Incy was obsessed with her power. He had everything he wanted: unfathomable power and a friend to pull around to enjoy all his whims.

It was as if I’d woken up into a different life from the one I’d woken up into yesterday, and I was a different person. And this life and I were both suddenly much darker and grosser and more dangerous than I’d realized.

What Nas is feeling is familiar to me, having gone through some dark things myself (although nothing like she has). I like to think that its a common trauma or shock response to feel as if the world is different and darker. Because in that aftermath it is, as you’ve gone through something that was truly horrible. A big part of healing is moving on and out of that darkness, and realizing that that thing was out of your control and is not reflective of how the world is in its entirety.

Except for me. The mark on the back of my neck was a burn, and I’d had it since I was ten years old. It had never faded, never changed, and the skin was slightly indented, patterned.

We find out more about the mysterious thing on Nas’s neck! It’s a scar that’s been there since she was young, and unlike all other scars or injuries that Immortals get, it hasn’t changed at all. It was caused by magic, powerful magic, which explains why its never changed. And the reason everyone who has seen her scar is dead is because they were all probably mortal themselves. Incy is probably the first Immortal to see it, ever. And even if he doesn’t automatically know what it means, he can certainly find out. And now we’re left with the question of what magical object caused it?

It said, Trevor Hollis, 48, an independent taxicab driver, was attacked last night by one of his fares and suffered a broken spine. He is in the ICU of St. Jame’s Hospital, undergoing tests. Doctors have said he will likely be paralyzed from the shoulders down. He has been unable to name or describe his attacker. His wife and children have been at his side.

And suddenly we know about the cabbie and it makes the situation somehow so much worse. He is a father! He has a wife! It’s unclear if he was the sole provider for the family but either way this is devestating to them. And he can’t name his attackers which gives an excuse as to why he never appears again. We never do learn his ultimate fate though, never learn if he’s permantly paralyzed which is very likely unfortunately.

Finally, at about eight, I got up and went to my bedroom and pulled out my biggest suitcase, the one that could hold a dead pony. (Before you go there, I’ll clarify that it never has.)

Hahaha. We all have that one friend that would ask that question. I would. I am that friend. All my friends are that friend.

“Mr. Bawz and Mr. Innosauce were looking for you, Miss Nastalya,” he told me. I’d always been amused at how he butchered all of our names.

Nas is on the run. And look at the comparison on how she responds to this man messing up her and her friends names versus how Incy reacted to the cabbie. Nas finds it humorous. Incy broke a man’s back. Just because the doorman here is kinder than the cabbie and the fact that Incy was probably very drunk accounts for little or nothing. Nas may be a chronic partier who’s done her fair share of bad things, but she’s nothing like Incy’s level of bad.

“Here you are, Ms. Douglas,” said the clerk, handing over a set of keys. “And how do you say your name?”

“Phillipa,” I answered. Like every immortal, I have a bunch of different passports and IDs and driver’s licenses. Someone always has a friend who knows someone who can get what we need.

Okay so until Nas’s name changes again, because I know it will, she is Phillipa for now. This also explains a little more about what being an immortal is like: you need fake stuff because you’re old and suspecious otherwise. No doubt you also have to change countries or pretend to die.

The rental-car people could have plotted the course to West Lowing for me, but then they might have remembered doing it, if anyone asked them later. And right now I just wanted to disappear. I felt like - like the devil was after me. Like I was being swallowed up in a disaster or something and had to get far away.

Phillipa is headed for West Lowing, Massachusetts. Its near a bunch of other places also named Lowing, such as Lowing Lake and Lowing River. She’s hoping to get lost there, and going through an awful lot of effort to get lost, but its such as specific place that she’s clearly hoping to find something there. And given she apparently needs a map to get there, its not a place she’s been before.

So, the whole immortal thing. You must have questions. I don’t have all the answers.

World-building. Immortals have been around for such a long time that no one knows where they really came from. Like their name suggests, they don’t really die. They can have kids and partners, although unless your partner is also immortal your mortal partner and children will die. Mortal children of an immortal live longer than other mortals. Immortals age differently (one year = one year then one year = 100 human years). Phillipa is 460 years old, born in the year 1551. Immortals don’t get life-long illnesses or more fatal illnesses like cancer or diabetes. They do get colds and the plague. They live their lives like mortal people do, some party and others learn.

I didn’t even know what I was looking for. A sign? Either a literal sign, like RIVER’S EDGE, TURN LEFT, or a metaphorical sign, like a burning bush or something, a bolt of lightning point me in the right direction.

Phillipa is looking for a place called River’s Edge. She can’t find it so she uses a spell to find it. She also remembers how she learned about this place. A woman named River found her and Incy after the two and some mortals (who died unfortunately) were in a car accident in 1929. River told Nastasya (current name, no more Phillipa) who was then Christiane that she could be more, have more, than she currently did if she went to River’s Edge. River and Nastasya had immediately recognized each other as immortals, in a similar way that gay people can recognize each other, but also in a way that provides much more certainty. Nastasya refused so River left, leaving Nas with an open invitation. Nas and Incy hitched a ride sometime later. Nas has now hit a low enough point where she is seeking out River. It’s been eighty years and no guarentee that River is still there.

Nas eventually finds the long winding road to River’s Edge.

There was a tap on the window of my car, and I jumped, barely able to stifle a scream.

My frantic eyes focused, and the man leaned down to look at me.

This lovely man is an immortal too and he also lives at River’s Edge. He is apparently very handsome, a Viking god as Nas puts it. He is somewhat familiar to her, but she isn’t sure how as she can’t remember how she knows him. She recognizes him as another kind of immortal. There are two kinds. The kind that take their power from the life around them and then the kind that don’t.

The chapter ends with this reveal and the confirmation that River is still there.

[gerec]

Do you have fic recs for cherik detective aus???? :D hope youre safe and healthy!!!

Oh boy this fandom has SUCH amazing detective aus Anon! I don’t know how many of these you might have read already but these are definitely my favorites :D Happy reading (and thank you - stay safe out there)!

Playing With Fire by professor

Charles is a detective determined to catch a serial killer.

If the serial killer doesn’t catch him first.

Deep Cover by Subtilior

Omegas in heat? The perfect whores. Sebastian Shaw? The bastard who kidnaps them for his Hellfire Club. Erik Lehnsherr? A hard-boiled detective who’s been on the Hellfire case for months. The catastrophe that unfolds when he goes in on retrieval and finds Charles Xavier still writhing in a Hellfire bed? …. Deep Cover.

Rampage by wallhaditcoming (uvcatastrophe)

When police uncover evidence that notorious serial killer Magneto is obsessed with Professor Charles Xavier, they immediately move to put him into Witness Security. Only Xavier refuses. The police come up with trumped up charges to arrest him and thus keep him safe until they can apprehend the killer. Erik is not happy that the police have chosen to drag Charles into this and are now trying to keep him from him, and shows his displeasure the best way he knows how – an increased body count.

Note: This one is more serial killer au than detective but OH BOY it’s good you gotta read it :D

Spy Games by manic_intent

Written for Marourin as part of the Secret Mutant exchange, in a pinch hit. Prompt: Burn Notice AU, with Erik Lehnsherr as the spy and Charles as the trigger-happy ex boyfriend. Erik is burned for unknown reasons in Mexico and wakes up in New York City. Somehow, he needs to raise $500,000, in order to find out -why-.

Paralyzer by Yahtzee

In 1965, Erik Lehnsherr has infiltrated the NYPD for his own purposes – but his powers make him a brilliant detective. Yet that’s not why FBI agent Charles Xavier has sought him out. It’s because the mysterious killer they’re both trying to find is murdering people like them: other mutants.

Their search for a madman binds them together. Their inner demons may tear them apart. But the greatest danger comes when the killer they’re looking for looks back …

Guilty by Association by Regann

While investigating the homicide of a John Doe who he suspects might’ve been murdered while working the streets as a prostitute, Detective Erik Lehnsherr finds an unexpected ally in a hooker named Charles who seems as determined as he to solve the case. As they become more deeply involved both with the case and each other, there’s just one thing that Charles neglects to mention – that he’s really an investigative journalist, one quickly convinced that what they’re dealing with is more than simple murder. cop!Erik, fake-hooker-slash-reporter!Charles, Modern AU.

Charles’ Killer by luchia

When detective Charles Xavier finds himself hunting down a vendetta-driven serial killer, it doesn’t take long for him to realize he’s in over his head. It only takes a little longer for him to realize his killer is, too.

Incy Wincy Spider by Tawabids

Erik Lehnsherr is a renowned homicide detective, with his husband Charles at home and his partner on the job, Moira MacTaggert. When a twisted serial killer starts targeting mutants, Erik and Moira are the perfect team for the job, especially since Erik himself is the mutant poster-boy of an NYPD trying to improve their image.

But what they don’t yet know is that the serial killer is an old soul out of Erik’s past, and his next move is to pull Charles into his web.

The Long Bright Dark by lachatblanche

Ten years ago Detectives Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr closed the case on a grotesque series of murders that continue to haunt them even in the present day. When they are pulled in for questioning a decade later, they finally have confirmation of something that they have both suspected for a very long time - that there is unfinished business for them to take care of and that the case they thought they had closed so very long ago is in reality still all too open.

A True Detective AU.

Patterns of Light by fengirl88 (series)

Xavier’s still asleep, sprawled face down on the pillow, his dark hair tousled and sticking up all anyhow. He must have been thrashing around while Erik dozed in the chair; the sheet’s slipped half-way down his back, revealing a distracting expanse of bare skin.

Homo Sacer by unveiled

In a not too distant future, Detective Erik Lehnsherr meets Charles Xavier: street magician, former academician, and telepath.

[annie-rereads]

Annie Rereads Immortal Beloved by Cate Tiernan

Immortal Beloved Chapter 1

The point of this reread, alongside any following rereads that I may do, is to catalog my reactions to stories and the observations I made upon rereading them, and to share those with anyone who reads this post.

I have read this book mulitple times and the two that follow. The main character, Nas, and her journey of growth throughout the story is something that I admire. This tale of self-discovery, love, and healing is something that I haven’t found in many other books and I find that its a realistic take on the journey to change.

Last night my whole world came tumbling down. Now I’m running scared.

If there’s anything I love, it’s bookends. The first chapter begins and ends with the same lines.

But Boz was by no means a normal person: He was prettier than most, louder than most, funner than most, and, God knew, dumber than most.

I never noticed before reading the book a second time that Nas takes a bit to tell us that her and her friends are immortal.

His face was cold with fury, and he looked more awake than I’d thought.

I like how, upon rereading the series, little things like this feel very chilling. Neither Nas nor I had any idea what was coming or what Innocencio would do.

... and suddenly Incy muttered something and snapped his hand open.

I had a split second to think, Huh, and then the cab driver staggered as if struck with an axe.

Our first introduction with the magick of this universe and it is terrifying. Not only do we as a reader not know what exactly what is happening, although it’s easy to gather that it is magic, powerful magic, but this is such a cruel act to introduce us to the concept. It definitely provides a reason for Nas to be running scared, but the situation somehow gets worse from here.

A wave of nausa and fatigue overcame me - maybe I’d had more to drink than I thought.

Reading this for a first time, this line just struck me as Nas feeling incredible shock at what was happening, or, as she reasons, she’s just that drunk. Upon a reread, knowing that Incy had access to Nas’s power and how use of that power negatively effected her, turns this into a small bit of foreshadowing of those things.

With a loud, horrible cracking sound, the cabbie bucked upward, once, his mouth opening in a scream he was unable to voice.

Again I felt a wave of nausea, saw a gray film pass over my eyes. I blinked several times, reaching out for Cicely’s arm. She chuckled as I staggered, obviously blaming drink. A few moments later my vision cleared, and I straightened up, staring at Incy, at the cabbie. “Now what? What’d you do?”

Nas’s physical reaction to Incy breaking the cabbie’s back could be another bit of foreshadowing. It also clearly demonstrates the shock she is no doubt feeling, as the disbelief leaves her and the reality sets in. 

“Incy,” I said, take aback that the others were just leaving. ‘Incy - did you - break his back, with magick? Where’d you learn how to do something like that No - you didn’t. Right?”

Incy looked at me then, half-amused expression on his unearthly, darkly hansome face.

Nas expresses disbelief that her friends are just leaving after what has just occured, something she does as well sadly. This moment shows the eventual growing divide between Nas and Incy. While Nas is willing to party and maybe even use people at times, she wouldn’t hurt them permantly. She certainly wouldn’t enjoy it. Incy, though, has no such problems. Nas describes it as Incy having enjoyed breaking the cabbie’s back, something we learn later is very permanent. Incy also outright avoids Nas’s requests to fix the man’s back. It is possible that he’s telling the truth, that it can’t be undone, however upon learning more about Incy’s personality, I’m more inclined to believe that he simply wants to know how to cause harm and nothing else.

His fingers pushed into my short black hair, and with a sudden shock I felt an unexpected warm breeze on my neck.

Nas gives in to the oppertunity to ignore what just happened. She follows the rest of her friend group and continues to party, despite being plagued by the memory of the cabbie the entire time. Here she is, making out with someone, and we learn something else about her, other than her flimsy sense of right, wrong, and appropriate reactions: that there’s something she’s trying to hide and its on her neck. It takes some time to find out what it she’s hiding and even longer to discover what its something Incy would be interested it (and interested he is even if he walks away now).

The good thing about being immortal is that you can’t literally drink yourself to death, as frat boys can. The bad thing about being immortal is that you can’t literally drink yourself to death, so you wake up the next morning, or maybe the day after that, and you feel everything you would be spared feeling if only you’d been lucky enough to die.

I love Nas’s snark, sass, and sarcasm. The way she talks is so human, realistic to things a person might actually say. Despite the seriousness of the rest of the chapter, I gave a chuckle at these lines. Also despite never having been drunk myself, I feel this scene is an accurate portrayal of what that might be like.

At least it wasn’t raining, I thought, and then it all flowed back into my brain, against my will: the night before, everything we’d done, the rain, the knife fight, falling on the sidewalk, Incy breaking that cabbie’s spine, me almost losing my scarf in that club, in front of everyone.

Nas sneaks off from her party-buddy from the night before and is hit almost immediately with the memories she’d been trying to suppress. This brings us full circle back to her narration of what scared her so badly, which had been the hook at the beginning of the story. We too are forced to think about what had happened, the questions that Nas asks herself are ones that I asked myself too.

Nas also shows awareness of what horrible part she’d played, asking herself how she could have done that, and that’s the inciting incident that leads to her future growth. She’s at a very low point now and she’ll go through worse, but in the end she comes out on top.

I’d been obsessive about keeping my neck covered at all times for the last 499 years, and all at once, one night, that effort had been shot. Would Incy know the significance of what he’d seen? How could he? No one did. No one who was still alive.

Nas gives us some lovely nuggets of interest about herself. Earlier it was shown that she’d been hiding her neck and that hiding it was very important to her. Now we know that she’s been doing that for a very long time and that whatever she’s hiding is also very important. Important and anyone who would know what it means is seemingly dead.

Last night my whole world came tumbling down. Now I’m running scared.

Bookends!