#Spooky Attorneys AU

[greentrickster]

Sorry if you answered this before, but what’s Larry in the Spoopy Attorneys AU?

@sillyfluff I’m curious, what do you think Apollo and Athena would be in the spooky AU?

XD 'Spooky' Attorneys AU, technically (though I only specify so you can find the other posts for it in my tags), and I haven't decided for any of them yet! The people who are assigned are as follows:

Phoenix: vampire, Edgeworth's husband (not mate)

Edgeworth: werewolf (fluffy and grey, with a white patch on his chest), has two forms - wolf and human, more wolf-minded in wolf form, more human-minded in human form

The Feys: spirit mediums, as usual, but such things are universally recognized as real in this world; DL-6 just gave them a reputation for being inaccurate

Klavier: a witch, wears his usual outfit and a witch's hat that matches it, uses his magic mostly to fly on his broom during shows (the broom is black with purple bristles and silver detailing), part of Edgeworth's pack

Kristoph: not a witch, normal human, very bitter about this

Ema Skye: mad scientist, in denial about being a mad scientist, do not provoke her on this subject, that's how zombie apocalypses happen and the normal zombies find that highly offensive

Kay Faraday: half goblin on her dad's side (her dad was full goblin), mostly human on her mom's side, gets a large boost to her agility, dexterity, and stamina as a result (goblins are sturdy and agile), as well as a notable green tint to her skin and pointy goblin ears that she loves (could have stood for them to be a bit bigger, honestly), part of Edgeworth's pack

Shi-Long Lang: werewolf, can be human, wolf, or a blend of the two, personality and mind are an equal blend of human and wolf at all times

Franziska von Karma: mostly baseline human, but has half a dozen girlfriends of varying spooky natures who all adore her in a carefully negotiated, fully functional polyamorous relationship centered on Franziska (because Franziska deserves all the girlfriends)

Aura Blackquill: mad scientist and owning it

Simon Blackquill: baseline human, but from a family with a long history of mad scientists prone to self-experimentation, probably hence why the unusually high strength, part of Edgeworth's pack

Trucy Wright: baseline human, possibly a magic user? It's Trucy, it could be all sleight of hand, but no one knows for sure, pack of Edgeworth's pack

Sebastian DeBeste: baseline human, but gets adopted into Edgeworth's pack anyway

Gumshoe: Not technically undead, but has had some body parts reattached a few times, so isn't fully baseline human anymore, and has some enhanced strength as a result

Larry Butz (as of right now): ...I'm going to be awful and say that Larry's a demon, he's just really incompetent, yes he has hooves, a tail, li'l horns, pointy ears, and red skin. And fortunately this is just a Spooky AU, not a Scary AU, so that doesn't matter much, no one's stealing souls around here anyway

As for everyone else... I'm not really sure! But I sure would love to hear some ideas on the matter - here's some further stuff to go off of!

Most witches, mediums, mad scientists, and the like are baseline humans. This world, as well as were-beings, vampires, werepires, goblins, and demons, also has skeletons, ghosts, peaceful zombies, fish folk (scaly, semi-amphibious, not merfolk), harpies, nagas, and any sort of spooky Halloween creature you care to think of running around (note: mummies exist here, but they're a subset of zombie that come from specific places and cultures, not a separate species). Baseline humans, vampires, were-beings, and goblins can all interbreed no problem, with goblin-human being the most common combination due to no known medical complications or supernatural difficulties resulting from it for the parents or children. Other mixes can happen, but it takes more work or has more risks, and fully undead beings cannot reproduce (though they can adopt).

I'd love to hear some ideas! And also, thanks for the ask! ^U^

#Spooky Attorneys AU #ace attorney #larry butz #phoenix wright #miles edgeworth #trucy wright #sebastian debeste #simon blackquill #aura blackquill #klavier gavin #kristoph gavin #kay faraday #franziska von karma #ema skye #dick gumshoe #freaking everyone #ask #anon

[spookylittledoodles]

SO UM I KINDA GAVE UP ON THE IDEA but I still made this one edit, so to not simply forget about it I'll post it here

Pls Robert looks adorable

#Spooky month #Spooky month fanart #Extraordinary Attorney Woo x Spooky Month AU #Sm Robert

[thereturnofthem]

HOT NEW EGO AU INBOUND

I wanna spit ball about my Paranormal Investigator AU I'm cooking up for Who Killed Markiplier, because the concept has been taking up real estate in my brain for DAYS.

Baseline it's a rework of WKM that focuses on the mechanics and history of Markiplier Manor, and the magic system that builds the strange microcosm the place exists in.

For consistency sake, the DA, playing the investigator themselves, was a middle man hired by Damien after a good year of increasingly concerning behavior from Mark following his divorce. Keeping the DAs role as the outsider of the group in tact giving me room to explore differing character dynamics.

The start of the plot is really just a beat for beat retelling of the poker night shenanigans with more detail, until the DA strikes out from the party to start their investigation after noticing Mark just kinda disappeared after his welcome speech.

It's going to lead up to the angle of Mark himself not being influenced by the manor entity, but BEING, the entity himself.

Throw in a few chapters about the DA exploring the place as increasingly spooky shit starts happening until Mark eventually catches their ass and its a whole back and forth.

There will be incredible violence, but also a bucket full of manipulation and gaslighting from the old romantic himself.

Also to keep the tone similar to cannon I'm gonna whole subplot about the others noticing the DA vanished and going on a search in which the house just becomes utter nonsense to confuse them.

Also, gotta be shamelessly self indulgent by hamfisting in the toxic abomination of a relationship that is Actting Attorney, you can't have monster shit without some ungodly occurrences afoot.

No idea if it's gonna be an ongoing story with no set end or if I'm gonna do it more like a novel but eeeeeh, yeah.

#wkm #markiplier egos #markiplier lore #wkm da #wkm actor mark #acting attorney #AU

[ikoarts]

September 2022 Art

vvv dates + info under the cut vvv

1, 2, 3, 4 - 05/09/2022 : drawing Ru in various styles, somewhat x laika puppet style, cosgrove hall (esque) puppet style, ace attorney, then invader zim. I still have such a soft spot for the laika Ru, shes so cute... when will they make a film about her life...

5, 6 - 09/09/2022 : toni is a spectre ghost who taunts u. how spooky of her. also toni n ru but little shop hehe.. alhamdulillah toni will be eaten by a plant soon

7, 8, 9, 10 - 10/09/2022 : rip to queen liz. happy for u or soz that happened idc. caspian is my resident anglophobe (im litrally english). also moar rurus, ofc, i never stop drawing her, my autistic muse...

11, 12, 13 - 13/09/2022 : i held a OC tournament thing around this time which was good fun, so i did a couple doodles for that, Phoebe was sweeping the competition which was funny like yall got beaten by a fucking baby,, also wren being wren, he beat noah in the vote. also i drew a lemmy

14 - 15/09/2022 : my deltarune MTT AU!!!! one of my aus i get funny about coz i love it a lot and ive had it for ages like since the ch3 teasers dropped but theres way more popular and newer versions of the same concept....... forever stuck between not wanting to be a big artist at all but at the same time getting stuck on my ideas being overshadowed by similar ones by more popular artists.......... (no hate to them im just mental)

ANYWAY he rocks, i liked the idea of him goin crazy sicko mode and being the antagonist, or, secondary to a greater power, hehe.... only coz hes in a form way more affirming in the dark world, so REFUSES to give it up, u will pry his trans joy from his cold dead ghost hands

15 - 16/09/2022 : horse. she is horse

16 - 23/09/2022 : was thinkin of my koopa ocs again so did a super quick doodle of Vermillia (lemmy & iggy's mam x)

17, 18 - 30/09/2022 : first one i cant believe i never uploaded since its a polished digital piece?? anyway i saw a cool shirt and wanted to draw Ru in it, also a doodle of Alice bc i was redesigning her, way happier with this hairstyle on her

#iko's shit #don't tag as kin/id/me #Sept2022 #2022art #fanart #original art #digital art #fine art #original character #ocs #ocs:toni #ocs:rushada #ocs:caspian #ocs:wren #ocs:phoebe maeda #ocs:noah #ocs:vermillia #ocs:alice #super mario bros #super mario #koopalings #lemmy koopa #undertale #deltarune #mettaton #mettaton ex #WCBF #YM&V

[apatheticcrossovers]

✨{Introduction}✨

Hello! You may know me from my other blogs. Well, i made a new one, cause I have no sense of impulse control, and I think he need more writing blogs specifically for crossover ships.

About Mod Apathetic

Just call me Mod Apathetic, or Apathetic!

I am an adult

I am a Fudanshi, Himedanshi, Profic, and Anti-hara!

Pangender probably, Any pronouns (no she/her)

My ao3 is ApatheticCrossovers, all requests and stuff will be archived over there!

I also plan on posting original fics here too!

My other blogs are @/Syrups-edit-corner (Edit requests), @/Syrups-fanfic-cafe (General requests), and @/Spookyscaryships (Edit/stim request blog run by both me and my friend)

If you aren't if I write for a certain fandom/topic, just ask please! I have anger issues and I will get extremely aggressive

WHAT I *WILL* DO:

Headcanons

Imagines/Oneshots

Crossover ships (Obviously)

Age gap ships (Including Minor/Minor age gaps, Adult/Adult Age gaps, and Minor/Adult age gaps)

Shipcest (Mainly headcanons cause, yaknow, crossover ships rarely have canon shipcest)

Alternate universes (Including "what if Character A was a canon character in Character B's universe" and Isekai type scenario's)

Yandere content

Ot3's (no more than 3 characters please!)

NSFW

WHAT I *WONT* DO:

Same Source/Series Ships (That included characters from two different games in the same series, and two different shows that take place in the same universe. This rule can be worked around if its an ot3 involving a character from a different source/series)

Satire/Joke ships (I have nothing against these types of ships, they just personally make me feel insecure about my own ships, since I take a lot of comfort in crossover ships /lh /gen.)

Things about active S/H (Things about recovering from S/H or brief mentions of it are fine!)

RPF/Stuff involving real people (Stuff like c!mcyt characters and musicals where the characters are based on real people are on thin ice /srs)

Drug Use/Abuse (Again, recovery is fine) [note: This rule does not and never while apply to weed. Weed is super cool /hj.]

Anything considered Unsanitary/generally gross (if you aren't sure if something would apply to this rule, please ask)

FANDOMS I'M IN:

Ace Attorney

Angels of Death

Animal Crossing

Afterl!fe (yes, even if the fandoms kinda dead)

Baldi’s Basics (+ mod/fangame characters)

Bendy and The Ink Machine

BFDI/BFB

Boyfriend to Death (Both 1 and 2)

Break In 1/2

Bugsnax

Cookie run (Both Ovenbreak and Kingdom)

Creepypasta

Danganronpa (all main games + UDG)

Deltarune

Doki Doki Literature Club

Doors (Roblox)

Eddsworld

Five Nights At Freddy’s series (+ Fangames)

Friday Night Funkin (+ Mods)

Happy Tree friends

Hazbin Hotel

Helluva Boss

Henry Stickmin Series

HLVRAI

Homestuck

Huniepop (both 1 and 2)

Identity V

Inanimate Insanity

Inscryption

Junji Ito

Madness Combat

Minecraft Storymode

Monster Prom

Mortal Combat

My Little Pony

MyStreet

Obey Me! Shall We Date

Object Terror

Okegom

OHSHC

Rainbow Friends (Roblox)

Roblox Myths

Riddle School

Saints Rows series

SCP Foundation

Smile For Me

Sonic Series

South Park

Sr Pelo’s Spooky Month

Steven Universe

Tankmen Series

Telltales TWD Games

The Backrooms

The Nightly Manor

Therapy With Dr. Albert Krueger

Undertale (+ Au’s)

Vincent: Secret of Myers

Welcome Home

Yandere Sim

Your Turn To Die

Zardy’s Field

And more that I currently can’t remember :p

FANDOMS I'M NOT IN BUT I AM FAMILIAR WITH ENOUGH TO WRITE FOR:

DC

Dream SMP (Characters, never the streamers)

Marvel

Genshin Impact

HFJONE

Pizza Tower

Sparklecare Hospital

Spiderverse

Super Danganronpa Another (1 & 2, mainly 2)

Twisted Wonderland

Probably more that I, again, can't remember.

CURRENT REQUESTS:

[Tumblr Inbox]

Hopeless Romantic Part 2 (Millie May x Amy Rose x Moxxie)

Barbatos [Obey Me] x Yuri [DDLC]

Beast Boy [Teen Titans] x Steven Universe [SU] SOulmate AU Headcanons

Vector [Sonic the Hedgehog] x Alphys [Undertale] NSFW

Hellborn Artic Owl!Rarity [MLP] x Stolas [Helluva boss]

Fischl [Genshin Impact] x Gundham Tanaka [Danganronpa] NSFW Headcanons

[Ao3 Inbox]

Yuri [DDLC] x Noelle Holidy [Deltarune]

Donut Joe [MLP] is accusing Soarin's [MLP] new boyfriend, Drago [Animal Crossing], of stealing from his shop, and Soarin doesn't know who to side with.

Glamrock Freddy [FNaF] x Audrey Belrose [Huniepop] NSFW

Golfball [BFDI] x Tennisball [BFDI] x Test Tube [II] Headcanons

Monika [DDLC] x Senpai [FNF]

Collin [Helluva Boss] x Lila [Spooky Month] Short Fic

That's all! Feel free to request stuff from me! I'm always looking for new crossover ships to write about! /gen

#*✧･ﾟ:{Introduction} #*✧･ﾟ:{Promotion} #proship #proshippers please interact #proship safe #crossover ship #crossover shipping #ask to tag.

[go0m13]

This is an Empires Ace Attorney AU ask

Could we have a lil summary of some of the cases??? For brainrot?

OOH SURE!! GRINS I'm less into empires but i still really enjoy the AU ehehe gonna put this under a read more because I'm gonna summarize a good amount of stuff

Case 1 - The Sunken Turnabout This is Jimmy's first case! The defendant is his sister Lizzie, (their designs and plot is more based on their season 1 selves and some season 1 exclusive characters also appear... also i never finished season 2) and Jimmy's co counsel is his mentor, Pixl Riffs. Pix is a fairly famous lawyer, but there are a lot of rumors surrounding him and his methods so some people are hesitant to trust him. This one is the one most based in season 2, as the victim is False Symmetry! She hit her head on the bottom of Lizzie's swim team's training pool and drowned, and it is believed that Lizzie had pushed her in during an argument about False falling behind in their practices. Also, Jimmy gets some suitably dark and spooky flashbacks because ✨ courtroom related traumaaaa ✨ it's eventually proven that the victim was not False but her twin sister! They were both swimmers, who competed for a spot on the olympic team. While False got on the team, her sister grew resentful of this and made her move when her sister broke her leg, cutting off her communication with the team and bribing her doctors to be able to replace her. After her leg healed, False confronted her sister about this and ended up pushing her into the pool where she became concussed and drowned. (I don't know their lore completely but I thought this would be fun ehehehe) Despite being proven innocent, the swim team ends up dissolving and Lizzie calls Joel, who is away on a business trip, telling him that she just lost her job. He decides to come home for emotional support and books a flight in a few days. Case 2 - Turnabout Beacon This is the "main case" I have the least thought out, so sorry about that! If anyone has any ideas I'd love to hear em. Pix goes to pick Joel up at the airport and brings him to their apartment, calling Jimmy and Lizzie so they could meet them there. When they arrive, they find that Pix has been killed and Joel is laying unconscious next to him. As Pix was killed by multiple gunshots, a neighbor overheard and called the police, accusing Joel of committing the crime as he was the only other person in the apartment at the time. This case is also the introduction to Scott and Shrub, two main characters! I feel like it'd be fairly similar to turnabout sisters, but I got no idea who the killer would be. Maybe one of the hermits? The downside of empires here is that the cast is small enough that a lot of characters end up not being from the series itself.

Case 3 - A Certified Turnabout

After getting to know Shrub better through the previous case, they decide to help Jimmy cheer up by introducing him to their friends and having everyone go out for lunch together. Because these characters can't have nice things, this obviously goes wrong. When going to pick up Katherine at her workplace, a flower shop, one of Katherine's coworkers is stabbed in the neck with Katherine's flower cutters and Katherine is accused of the crime. In the storage room for the shop, the true killer hid out and attacked the victim when she entered. After stabbing her in the neck, she heard Oli gasp and grabbed the body, holding the scissors and her hand and chasing him away to make it look like she was going to attack him too. I have an idea on who I want them to be, but I'm not too familiar on either of their content as I want this case to be more based on Afterlife SMP which included a few ccs who I'm unfamiliar with, including both of them. This case also has a moment like in turnabout samurai where Scott gets to help take down the killer! In the end, Katherine is acquitted and all is well. Shrub is also officially on Jimmy's side from now on and tries to help him whenever they can!

Case 4 - Turnabout Twins

This case is where stuff gets real. fWhip is murdered in the middle of the night in a closed library and the only one inside when it opens is Scott who is immediately arrested. Jimmy offers to defend him and initially is declined, but soon Scott decides to accept his offer as there's pretty much no one else that will help him. Lizzie and Joel both act as assistants here, same as in the last case. Lizzie is co counsel during the trial and I want Joel to be able to help with investigations in some other way. There's a lot more to the case and it gets into people's backstories a lot more from here on in!

While I'm not gonna divulge everything from here on out, I like to be vague ehehehe and I don't want this post to get too long, I will say I plan on 2 more cases and then the big finale one that delves deep into the backstories of Jimmy, Lizzie, Pix, Pearl, and characters introduced in that case (a lot of them are from the life series). The last 3 cases will also have a different prosecutor and Gem will get to help out as a sort of assistant for them as well! If you have any more questions I'd be happy to answer! :DD

#empires x ace attorney #empires smp au #empires s1

[cock-holliday]

Bait & Switch

Chapter 9/10

(Chapter 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10)

Post-Dreamland AU

Fandom: TXF

Rating: T

WC: 1670

Scully and Mulder sat side by side, silently pleading with one another to speak. Kersh was growing impatient, and he rose from his chair.

“I asked you both a question, dammit,” Kersh snapped, “Explain yourselves.”

Scully clenched her fists, shooting Mulder a pleading look.

Please, Mulder, say something. Speak so I don’t have to.

They were trapped in an impossible riddle. If Mulder spoke, taking the blame, Scully would be taking the blame. If Scully spoke, Mulder would be taking the blame. Mulder was convinced Kersh would blame him regardless, so Scully trying to soften the blow as him might be useless, but could Mulder, as Scully, talk them out of this? When presented with a sword, both thought to fall on it for each other, but now they couldn’t, not without plunging the blade into the other.

“Sir,” Mulder began, the word cutting through the deafening silence, “We both…take responsibility for our actions…” Mulder swallowed, looking down at Kersh’s desk.

He looked like he was trying to make himself smaller, and Scully almost couldn’t bite back a snort at his performance.

“Agent Mulder…had suspicion about Judge Graham after what Pastor Graham said…” Mulder continued.

“About the honorable Judge Graham being the ‘real’ problem?” Kersh snapped.

“Yes, sir,” Mulder continued softly, keeping his eyes down, “We have reason to believe that Judge Graham had been covering up crimes of senators when he was a prosecutor, and he may be continuing to do so.”

“And you have evidence of this?”

“The beginnings of it, yes.”

“Certainly not enough to warrant an arrest,” Kersh barked.

Mulder licked his lips.

“No,” Scully cut in, deciding it was her turn, “But assaulting a federal agent is. As is trying to kill one.”

Kersh shot Scully a look.

In the corner of her eye, Scully could see Mulder trying not to smile.

“Agent Mulder saved my life,” Mulder continued demurely, “If he hadn’t been there…”

Scully bit her lip and refrained from rolling her eyes. Kersh’s gaze was on her, narrowing.

“Agent Scully is being modest,” Scully countered, “She handled herself admirably. We simply wanted to speak to the judge to obtain a better picture of the situation. And he fled. I pursued him, and he fought back. Agent Scully attempted to stay with the other man, whom we have identified now as an attorney with the DA’s office, Michael Roechamp.”

“ADA Roechamp was a protege of sorts for the judge during his time as a prosecutor,” Mulder explained, “We wonder now if a zest for law and order wasn’t their only shared extracurricular.”

“You think Roechamp is in on it too?” Kersh huffed.

“Possibly,” Scully added, “If not, you have to wonder what else was worth trying to kill a federal agent with a knife.”

“You know the only thing they’re being held on is assault and battery, right?” Kersh sighed, “Nothing you have told me is anything we can charge them with. Not with the pittance of evidence you have so far.”

Scully nodded, “We know, sir. We’d like to look into this matter further.”

Mulder’s lips curled into the start of a smile.

Scully kept her eyes on Kersh, trying not to give Mulder too much satisfaction.

Kersh heaved another sigh, sitting back down and lacing his fingers together on his desk, “Let me make something perfectly plain to the both of you…”

Scully adjusted in her seat.

“You don’t have a lot of allies here right now,” Kersh told them, “You really wanna keep making more enemies?”

Scully swallowed, feeling the heat of Kersh’s warning glare.

What did she want to say back? Scully had a million things she’d like to say to the man. What would Mulder say? Spooky Mulder, sitting in a hole of his own making, brandishing a shovel and threatening everyone with digging deeper. Should she try to help him climb back out?

“Sir,” Scully sighed, “With all due respect…”

Kersh cocked his head to the side.

“This isn’t a social club,” Scully continued, “Enemies made in the search for the truth are enemies at face value. The FBI motto is ‘fidelity, bravery, integrity.’ If we cave now, we are subscribing to none of those principles.”

Mulder ran a hand over his mouth, covering a toothy smile.

Scully’s heart fluttered, “I’m sorry, sir, but…”

She glanced at Mulder, but his eyes didn’t waver. He gave the subtlest of nods. Scully turned back to Kersh, “We can’t just roll over and kiss a judge’s ass when he’s insulting the very concept of justice and fairness. Whatever enemies we incur for this journey…including at the FBI…” Scully let the words hang there as she quirked her brow, “...So be it.”

Kersh snapped his head to Mulder, “Agent Scully, I’d advise you to talk some sense into your partner, before you start looking at suspensions.”

Scully wanted to reach across the chasm between their chairs and take Mulder’s hand.

I did what you wanted. Please. It’s okay. It’s your turn.

“I…” Mulder looked at Scully, and for a horrible moment, she thought he’d back down, but he received her message, “I agree with Agent Mulder.”

Kersh let out a huff.

“Despite his…colorful language,” Mulder continued, “His message rings loud and clear. Corruption should be weeded out. At any level of the government.”

Kersh shook his head, clearly disappointed, “You two are playing a very dangerous game.”

What else is new?

“We are done talking about this today,” Kersh began, “But we are not done talking about this indefinitely. Take the weekend to get your heads on straight.”

“And if our tune doesn’t change?” Scully challenged.

“We will talk Monday,” Kersh threatened.

In the hall, Scully and Mulder let out giddy exhales.

“God, Mulder,” Scully huffed, putting her face in her hands, “He’s gonna suspend us for sure.”

“You were great in there,” Mulder smiled, “It was like having an out-of-body experience.”

“It was like watching a car accident in slow motion,” Scully sighed, “And then crashing another car into that accident.”

Mulder laughed.

“I was worried you wouldn’t let me join you,” Scully continued, “I really thought you were going to let me hang you alone.”

“I wanted to,” Mulder nodded, “I didn’t want to see you tank your career.”

“But you didn’t wanna miss out on the fun?”

Mulder snorted, “Yeah, something like that.”

“Well, thank you,” Scully pressed.

“You’re thanking me for ruining your career?” Mulder asked, perplexed.

“Thank you for not shutting me out. Taking the fall alone. I am in this just as much as you. It wouldn’t be right.”

Mulder shrugged, “You’re welcome. I will try to be more selfish in the future.”

Scully rolled her eyes, “Please do.”

“Come on,” Mulder nudged her arm, “It’s our lucky long weekend. We’ve got a flight to catch.”

----

They each gathered their bags in their respective apartments. They spoke on the phone, making requests about what they’d like the other to pack.

Pick out something sexy for me to wear for my return, Mulder teased.

Pack something comfortable, I’m exhausted, Scully instructed back.

They decided to wear the outfits they wore when they switched--as if it would be any help in the process of their return, but it made it feel like it was going to happen. Scully slipped on Mulder’s grey shirt, touching the fabric gently with her fingers. What if it didn’t work? Scully’s stomach knotted.

What if it did?

The pair met at the airport, exchanging nervous glances and making forced small talk. They both were anxious. The flight was uneventful, and Scully almost wished something would happen so they had something to talk about. Something on their minds besides what awaited them.

Not long before they touched down, Mulder tipped his head up towards hers.

“Uh, your mom called,” Mulder informed her.

Scully turned her attention to Mulder, “Oh?”

“Yeah, last night–everything’s fine,” Mulder clarified, “She just wanted to talk.”

Scully had completely forgotten. In all the mess, she hadn’t called her mom. She couldn’t have, but the missed chance made her feel ill. What if they were stuck like this for longer? If they weren’t, the very first thing Scully was going to do was call her mother.

“How did that go?” Scully pressed.

“She’s good,” Mulder smiled, “I got all the hot gossip.”

Scully smiled back.

“You won’t believe what Janet did with her rose bushes,” Mulder deadpanned.

Scully snorted a laugh, quirking her brow, “Oh?”

“Well,” Mulder shrugged, “I don’t want to spoil it. You’ll have to call and find out.”

Scully chuckled, shaking her head and looking down at her lap.

It warmed her heart how much Mulder and her mom got along. She knew she liked Mulder a lot, and loved to tell Scully so. To see how Mulder was with her was another level of comfort. So, Mulder had entertained the call as if it was her, taking in all the details and humoring her mom. Scully blushed a little.

“Oh,” Mulder added, “Um…a Mrs. Franklin passed away?”

Scully’s face scrunched up.

“I’m sorry, Scully.”

“Who?”

Mulder sputtered a laugh, “Mrs. Franklin? She goes to your church. Went.”

Scully racked her brain for a face to go with the name but was drawing a blank, “I’ll…take your word for it, Mulder.”

“I take it you two were close?”

Scully rolled her eyes, nudging Mulder’s elbow with hers.

Mulder grew quiet and his face took on a hollow expression. Scully’s own smile slowly faded and she felt compelled to press, but she wasn’t sure he would share. It was nice to laugh and talk about normal life things. Mulder was probably thinking about their fate again. What was going to happen? What was going to happen to them?

Would they be stuck like this? Would they trade places and proceed as normal? Would they even have to worry about Monday–or would they go back to the start? Would they forget everything that had happened?

Scully felt the beginning of tears sting her eyes.

I don’t want to forget…

#txf #msr #txf fanfic #xf fanfic #fictober22 #b&s #b&s chapter 9 #day 15 #link for chapter 10 is now live!

[hiccanna-tidbits]

HICCANNA MONTH WEEK 1, DAY 6 - “I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO” “WE’LL FIGURE IT OUT” DRACULA DAILY AU

*Collapses in an exhausted heap and plops this on your dash* IT’S DONE IT’S FINALLY DONEEEEE

So anyways I was talking with @ohlooksheswriting about Dracula Daily and how Jonathan Harker has some of the biggest Anna Energy I have ever seen (i.e.  the appreciation of good food, the general desire to give people the benefit of the doubt perhaps a little more than is wise, politeness even in the most dire of situations, the aggressive focus on the positive in the face of imminent doom,   the general vibe of “ah no!!! I can't let my people down!!! Gotta push through even when things get dicey!!!”, whether it be with sketchy real estate deals or your sister accidentally freezing the kingdom etc etc), and there’s already some pretty suspiciously romantic undertones between Jon and Drac, so I was like “OMG Dracula Daily AU for Hiccanna Month??? DRACULA DAILY AU FOR HICCANNA MONTH???” And here we are XD

Fwiw I can totally see Hiccup being a loving househusband who spends his time nerding out over books on places he’s interested in, so it works, fight me. Also, I think Hiccup deserves to do the spooky little castle lizard crawl. As A Treat! And lawyer!Anna??? Immaculate. She has Elle Woods vibes and I intend to see her put them to full use. Anyways these two invented girlboss/malewife in this fic and I love that for them.

Not me legit doing an internet deep dive researching Transylvanian food for this, just so I could do justice to Anna’s foodie/generally-food-preoccupied tendencies XD That’s basically the only aspect of this I have any confidence is like...sort of accurate to the source material. Apologies in advance for any general anachronisms and/or inaccuracies in the way property attorneys and property law are portrayed here (property law practice was something admittedly a bit heavy to research for a fanfiction XD). I got most of my lawyer info from the Dracula emails themselves, and I tried not to use any anachronisms that don’t feel like they’d show up in Frozen or HTTYD themselves, so hopefully it reads all right. It prolly doesn’t feel as much like an old-timey period piece as I was hoping for, but hopefully I ensnared at least a little bit of the classic spooky gothic vibes. Idk.

I decided to try bolding instead of italicizing for emphasis to give the whole thing a more, like...“handwritten journal” feel? No idea if it worked, but I tried! XD (Also, in case you’re wondering, Anna starts off her journal entries with “Hi friend” because she considers her journal her friend!!!)

Is this more wholesome than the OG Dracula? Oh yeah, absolutely! Did I keep the impeccable comedy of the original book while swapping out the more horrific parts for a fluffest and angstfest of a romance that would probably make Bram Stoker turn in his grave? Definitely! Listen, I was too jam-packed with internalized misogyny to have a Twilight phase in 2008, so I gotta get that angsty vampire romance nonsense out of my system now before it consumes me. So something something AU of “what if the real-estate-buying vampire...wasn’t evil??? What if he was a sadboi instead???” Sometimes I get to have a few supernatural monster sadbois who get girlfriends anyways. As A Treat. Also yes, Anna caring more about workplace romances being unprofessional than dating a dude who sucks blood is the hill I will die on because a) it’s absolutely hysterical to me and b) it feels oddly in-character??? Girlie will give you the benefit of the doubt to ridiculous extents, but not if it gets in the way of important duties and responsibilities! She also has fried post-BAR brain so like. That doesn’t HELP--

So, without further ado, join me for this fun, wacky jaunt into the life of newly-certified lawyer Anna, going on a business trip to Transylvania and hoping to collect some local recipes for her two recently-engaged best friends! She hardly expects to be so taken with her first client’s eccentricities, nor did she ever dream that a rather inconvenient and unprofessional crush on him would blossom, but life is full of surprises! Featuring Merida and the Thorston twins as Count Haddock’s slightly-unhinged freeloading eternal roommates, and a little Jackunzel on the side--as a treat!!!

Not me thinking about how if I had the drive to make this a longer thing the endgame pairing would probably be Hijannunzel to pay homage to the shameless polyamory of the source material akbsahydgewoyvd

Fic under the cut! As always, moodboard pic credits available upon request!

***

May 15

Hi friend,

Anna Runeardsen here! Or should I say Certified Property Attorney Anna Runeardsen here!!! My god, I still can’t believe I passed the BAR. I passed the BAR!!! I PASSED THE BAR!!!

Anyways, you already know that. Duh. I’ve said it like 5 times already. I’m just still in shock. Like I go to law school like “let’s see what happens! Maybe I’ll flunk out!” but then I didn’t? And here I am! Those all-nighters took years off my life I’m never getting back, though. My brain still kind of feels like mamaliga.

Wow. I have a lot of news. I don’t really know where to start, because a ton of stuff has happened since I last wrote. Maybe I’ll start with the little things?

So first off, my god, the other night I had the BEST roast chicken!!! Literally so good!!! I don’t know what it is about the cooking here—maybe turning it over a blue fire gives it a slightly different flavor? I mean yeah, I don’t know for sure Count Haddock’s been cooking with those blue inferno circle things, but maybe that’s what gives it the kinda extra-savory, smoky flavor? Anyways, he gave me the recipe! Turns out he just used some salt and pepper and cloves and a bit of saffron and then drenched it in this olive oil mix. I’ll have to see if it tastes any different when I try making it back home in Oslo. I’ll add the recipe to the collection I’m giving to Jack and Punzie.

Can I just say, by the way, how GREAT that is going??? I’ve only been here a few days, and I’ve already got 5 recipes!! I’ve got mamaliga, paprika chicken, mititei, szekelyalmas, and the Count Haddock Roast Chicken Special! At this rate, I’ll have a whole bookful of them by the time I go back to Norway. Actually, I think I am gonna bind what I have into a nice little book, and give it to Jack and Punz as a wedding gift. It’ll be so exciting to make all this new food!!!

I still can’t believe Jack and Punz are finally getting married, honestly. Took him long enough to propose! I seriously thought I was going to have to fail and retake the BAR a few more times, and THEN maybe they’d finally be engaged. Right before the big boss man sent me out on this special mission, Punzel told me Jack stumbled up to her by the fountain in her estate garden and just started rambling incoherently. He pulled out the ring, and his hands were shaking so badly that he dropped it in the fountain??? So Rapunzel sees and she notices Jack was doing really bad at the whole talking thing just then, so she diffuses the tension by saying “well, if we’re wishing on things we’re throwing in the fountain, I wish you’d marry me!” And then she picks up the ring and proposes to HIM with it!!! Let me tell you, it was a whole thing. I really have to work on that maid of honor speech when I get the chance. They’re my two best friends in the world, and I want to do them justice!!!

But back on the topic of food! Did I mention Count Haddock does all his own cooking? I think he’s kind of embarrassed about it because he keeps pretending like he has a whole kitchen staff. When he gave me the roast chicken recipe, he said “here, let me go fetch it from the chef” and ran off into the hall, but…then I heard him doing this thing where he was like…stepping more and more quietly to make it seem like he was getting farther away? And then I could have sworn I heard him scribbling something? Anyways, he gets back with the recipe and there is no WAY he had time to go all the way down to the kitchen.

I don’t know what his deal is. The boss would probably say it’s a rich person thing. I don’t know why they’re so ashamed about cooking??? I mean, I’m not RICH rich or anything, but I’ve cooked loads of times and I never developed the black plague or leprosy or what have you. And look at Rapunzel—her family is drowning in money, and she still plays around in the kitchen! She loves keeping busy and hanging out with the kitchen staff, but it doesn’t make her any less of a fancy lady.

I’ve been trying to get Count Haddock to open up about his cooking. Just, you know, raving about how good it is, compliments to the chef, et cetera et cetera, in sort of a wink-wink-nudge-nudge kind of way. A lot of the men back home really brighten up when I shower them with compliments, so I was hoping Count Haddock would do the same. Sometimes the fellows back home will even try to one-up you and start gloating about their accomplishments if you compliment them enough! Not Count Haddock, though. He seemed really nervous, and just mumbled that he’d be sure to tell all that to the cook. I DO think I saw him blushing, though??? Kind of hard to tell—his skin is this pale whitish, and it turned kind of grayish for a second. I wonder why his blood looks so weird. I shouldn’t pry, though.

Count Haddock is actually SUCH a sweet host, and I wish he wouldn’t be so self-conscious about it! Like I’m not going to judge him for not having servants. I think it’s admirable how hard he works, doing everything himself! Did you know I caught him making my bed the other day? GOD, so many men I know wouldn’t be caught dead doing “woman’s work” or “commoner’s work” or whatever. He’s so humble!!! He really wants me to be comfortable, even if he has to do all the work on his own. Imagine what a thoughtful and attentive husband he would make! It’s not every day you find a man who’s willing to help with the housework without complaining every step of the way.

I MEAN—

God, I shouldn’t be talking like this. He’s my client, for god’s sake, and I have to keep our relationship professional. The entire firm is counting on me succeeding!!! But sometimes I—well, I don’t know. He keeps leaving these little mints on my pillow, and even the nicest places I’ve stayed don’t do that. I mean, they give me maybe 1 mint when I check in or something, but not every night or anything like that. He’s so consistent!!! Sometimes the mints even have a little chocolate coating, and I have to wonder if he remembers me saying I’m really into chocolate?

Maybe it’s just a coincidence. Either way, it’s a nice gesture.

Count Haddock is honestly such an interesting person. Unusual, but like…in the best kind of way. He’s so into Oslo—has a whole shelf of books about it and everything. I came in the other day and caught him reading…an Oslo train schedule??? A little boring for my taste, but it’s nice to see someone with an appreciation for our public transportation systems. They’re not half bad, if I do say so myself.

I started talking to him in the library the other day, and the time completely got away from me. I just got so swept up in the conversation, and he was so excited, telling me all the things he learned from his books about Oslo and recounting some of his old family stories. Did you know Norway is apparently his ancestral home? He said his ancestors used to tame dragons there!!! DRAGONS!!! They’ve been extinct for hundreds of years now, as far as I know, but Count Haddock’s ancestors saw them with their own eyes! It’s crazy. I think that’s part of why he wants to move to Oslo. To him, it feels much more like his homeland than Transylvania does.

I asked how he ended up in Transylvania, and he got really sad—completely crushed, honestly. I felt so bad—I told him we could drop the topic if he wanted. But he said it was fine, saying it was only natural to be curious. Apparently there was some huge war in Scandinavia all those years ago, and his ancestors and their dragons fought side by side. Then a terrible evil guy named Drago Bludvist found a way to control the dragons and possessed them all to leave Count Haddock’s ancestors and their village. One of his ancestors was the next in line to be chief, and his dragon was killed in battle. His spirit was too broken to continue fighting after that.

It was a little weird—he looked so downtrodden and miserable when he talked about his ancestor’s dragon dying. If I didn’t know better, I’d say HE was the one who lost a dragon. That would be ridiculous, though—no one lives to be THAT old. I guess he feels like…really intimately connected with his past family, and all their pains and struggles. It’s kind of inspiring, in a weird way—if not a little atypical.

Anyways, he says with their dragons gone, his ancestors were overwhelmed by Bludvist’s armies and had to flee. Considering all the literal dragons this Bludvist guy had at his disposal, no surprise, I guess, that he was able to chase them all the way across the continent. The only place they could find to hide was tucked away in these imposing-looking mountains, where they eventually built a fortress of sorts. They’ve been there ever since—well, Count Haddock has, anyways. He’s the last of his family’s descendants, and the rest of his ancestors’ village dispersed long before he was born.

Seems lonely, honestly. I asked him how he managed, with no family to keep him company, and he claims the servants are company enough. That just made my heart hurt, since I know damn well he doesn’t have a single staff member waiting on us. Seems to me like Count Haddock’s been alone for longer than he’d care to admit, and he doesn’t want to admit how painful isolation can be.

Anyhow, he told me about all kinds of fascinating things, and just—his eyes were shining so bright and he was so giddy and so excited and he was grinning so big (yeah, I know I should probably be concerned about the fact that two of his top teeth are honed into these long, sharp points that don’t look very natural…but they look so pretty when he smiles!!! How can I hate them???) and I couldn’t bear to stop him. Then, before I knew it, it was morning already! Can you believe I was up all night talking to him? It really only felt like a few minutes! Went a lot faster than all the nights I had to stay up studying, that’s for sure.

Well, anyhow, Count Haddock said he had to take care of some business when the sun started to come up, and…wow. As soon as I left, the exhaustion decided to come back from lunch—or wherever it skipped off to when the Count was with me. The distinct feeling of numbing, on-the-brink-of-death emptiness and muddy swamp brain I remember from my exam-taking days hit me like one of those trains Count Haddock is all too fond of. I decided to take a nap, and I feel a lot better now.

Can I tell you something, friend? I know I shouldn’t be saying this. It’s probably really out of line, considering Count Haddock is a man of class and high status and all, but…okay, I’ll say it. (I know you won’t tell.) I’m worried about him. Sometimes I hear him letting out plaintive wails in the middle of the night, when I guess he thinks no one is listening. Or shuffling down the halls, looking sullen and miserable and muttering about what a terrible monster he is. I’m a little surprised—I mean, the men back home ARE embarrassed when they have to do housework or kitchenwork, but I’ve never seen any of them spiral into such a vat of self-loathing over…I don’t know, making a bed and cooking a chicken, that they call themselves a MONSTER over it. Seems a little rude to the people who actually DO do those kinds of menial things for a living, but maybe I’m misinterpreting what’s going on here. Maybe he’s talking about something else. You have to be open to a number of different scenarios when you’re looking for an explanation—in my line of work, at least.

Whatever it is, I’m sure it’s not as bad as he thinks. Take it from me—sometimes you’re so sure you’re the worst person in the world and totally not good for anything, and then you graduate law school and pass the BAR!!! Count Haddock is a kind man, and he shouldn’t be so hard on himself for being unconventional. He’s a fantastic homemaker, a charming conversationalist, and an excellent cook! What could he hate about himself so much?

There IS one thing that’s a tad off-putting, but it’s probably not too big a deal.

The other night, I went out to find him—mainly just to tell him that I think he’s wonderful and appreciate his hospitality. I don’t know how long he’s been alone in here, and since he seems to regard himself so poorly…well, I don’t know how long it’s been since someone said something nice to him. I intend to change that! Everyone deserves to feel good about themselves, even when they live alone in a kind of creepy castle in the middle of nowhere and cover up weird things about their household activities and close their eyes whenever I get a cut and constantly look at my crucifix necklace weird.

Anyways, so I stopped to admire the view out one of the castle windows, and then I saw a head pop out a window a little ways below. Didn’t take long to realize it must be Count Haddock—I think I’d know those wiry, well-built shoulders and that luscious mop of dark hair anywhere. He’s hard to miss.

So he puts one of those thin, elegant hands of his (look, he gestures a LOT when he talks—I’ve become very familiar with the way his hands look. I’m not being weird or anything.) on the castle wall, and sort of…pulls himself out of the window? And then before I know it, he’s stuck all his hands and feet on the stones and is clinging like a gecko. I kind of wonder if his ancestors’ dragons infused him with reptilian powers or something. So then he scuttles down the wall, and his cloak is blowing every which way, and it was VERY weird to watch. I stood there for a really long time trying to process what—pardon my French—the FUCK just happened.

That said! I don’t think being able to walk on walls is EVIL, it’s just…kind of unsettling? I want to ask him what’s up with that. But I also wonder if that’d be too nosy. Maybe I wasn’t supposed to see?

Oh well. If this is all Count Haddock is upset about, then I think it’s fine. I wish there was a way to tell him it’s not scary. I think it’s an amazing ability, personally! (So lucrative if you want to go rock-climbing, especially.) If a little…odd. Still, I want him to know it doesn’t make him a monster, no matter what anyone else says.

May 18

Hi again friend,

Wow, do I have news!!! Some of it’s sort of disquieting, but some pretty good, so…net positive?

So the good news is that I’m pretty sure Count Haddock is into me. Like…into me into me. You know what I mean. (I’m not holding my breath for a ring or anything, since I know it took months of formal courting for Jack to pop Punzie the question! But I just have a feeling??? I don’t know, I could be entirely off-base. Like a court case red herring or something.) The bad news is that Count Haddock has some…friends? Roommates? Some guys who live in his castle and definitely want to eat me. No, I will not elaborate on that.

Just kidding! I absolutely will elaborate. It’s literally my job! I PASSED THE BAR!!! I rant to people about laws and logic for a living!!!

Anyways, do you remember those locked rooms Count Haddock told me to avoid? Because of ghosts or something? I mean yeah, I guess I can understand how spirits would be a safety concern, but I figured logistically, how bad could they be? I mean, they try to punch me or kick me or bite me or what have you, and it’ll go through me, right? And according to some of the books I’ve perused in the library, the worst ghosts can do is like…knock a cup over here and there. Well, I’ve seen Jack’s cats knock mugs and glasses over plenty of times, and I lived to tell the tale! If the ghosts come for me, this property attorney is READY.

So all this to say I got pretty bored, and I, uh. I may have gone creeping around in the rooms Count Haddock told me not to. Whoops. To be fair, I normally wouldn’t have, and just sought out Count Haddock for company, but he was running errands.

I don’t know if I mentioned, but he asked me if I could stay a little longer so I could help him learn Norwegian. He speaks mostly Transylvanian, and a little Old Norse, too. Pretty impressive his ancestral language was passed down through the family for this long! He told me his parents taught him as a kid but got kind of weird and evasive when he started talking about his childhood. I don’t know why—maybe he’s self-conscious about knowing such an old language? He doesn’t need to be. Lots of people have ancient dialects passed down through their family lineages, I’d bet!

Anyways, I wrote a letter to Jack and Rapunzel and the big boss man telling them I was staying a bit longer and assuring Jack and Punz I’d be back in time for the wedding. Count Haddock said he’d run all the letters to the post office to save me the trouble—such a gentleman!—although he grabbed all the envelopes in his teeth and gecko-ran down the wall again when he thought I wasn’t looking. I mean, I don’t mind when he does this—it’s kind of morbidly fascinating to watch, actually—but I do have to wonder why he doesn’t just use the front door.

So the hours sort of dragged by, and I guess I’ve read basically all I can in the library. Everything else is in Old Norse or Transylvanian, and I mean…it’d be nice to learn a couple new languages, but I don’t think I could do it in one night, you know? And okay, against probably my better judgment, I decided to go check out this ghost business. How bad can it be? It’ll spice things up a little, at least!

Heh. Spice. So many nice spices here! Did I mention that Count Haddock made the most delicious mititei the other night? It’s these little meat rolls with sour cream inside and all this paprika, saffron, and cloves sprinkled on it, and I LOVE IT!!! Really, if Count Haddock didn’t have all that old family money, I’d suggest he go into hospitality or the cooking business or something. Punzel’s an amazing cook, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t think she’s ever made me stuff this good. Am I a bad friend for saying that…? Maybe I’m just a little preoccupied, since Count Haddock is so…I don’t know…

Oh, right. I was talking about the ghost adventure. Well, it didn’t actually turn out to be a ghost adventure, but it sure was…something.

So anyways I was bored out of my head, so I wandered around and tried a bunch of the doors. This one was actually unlocked, and it led into this big fancy room with all these couches and tables and stuff—maybe a parlor or something?—and this HUGE panoramic window!!! Like I could see the whole SKY and all this silvery, moon-washed forest and hills and landscape and I am here to tell you it was EPIC. It’s times like those that I wonder if this is actually the best business trip ever, despite the lizard-walking and the weird lack of servants and that one thing Count Haddock does around mirrors where he sort of tears up and runs away.

I found this one nice velvety green loveseat-looking thing, and I wiped the dust off (only a little bit—victory!) and just laid on it for awhile and admired the view. It was kind of relaxing, taking in the nightscape and the moonlight and feeling this weird kind of peace. Ironic, since this castle seems like it SHOULD give me the major creeps, but…I guess in that moment, it really didn’t. It felt almost like…home. Is that weird?

Probably. I feel like I should be more concerned about the fact that I don’t really mind not having seen the sun for a while. How long has it been? A week? Two weeks? Ah, well—it’s not like I can’t remember what daylight looked like. Granted, my memory historically hasn’t been the best, and I probably wouldn’t have passed the BAR without lots of…whatever Ingrid Olsen was slipping me, but I can remember what’s important, okay?! Or not important, maybe, so much as like…things that don’t make me feel like I’m drowning in information. Point being, I’m not forgetting how sunlight looks anytime soon, so I can just file that away in my brain and focus on the moon right now. Or at least that was my train of thought last night.

I think I must’ve dozed off, because the next thing I knew, I heard these voices drifting over from the corner. My first thought was “ah, great, how am I gonna tell the big boss man that I’ve lost it??? That’ll be so bad for business!” But the voices seemed way too distinct for my brain to have made them up. I mean, one of them had this really thick Scottish accent! Why would my brain randomly make up a Scot living in Transylvania?! It doesn’t make any sense. And if there’s one thing they taught me in law school, it’s that MOST things have a rational explanation behind them, and the occasional completely illogical nonsense is the exception rather than the rule, etc etc.

Anyways, I kind of slowly sat up to see what was going on, but I tried to be inconspicuous about it. I didn’t know who these people were, and I mean…just because Count Haddock lives in a creepy castle and is really nice doesn’t mean EVERYONE who lives in a creepy castle is going to be really nice, you know?

Besides, I was like, are these people even supposed to be here?! Count Haddock never mentioned living with anyone besides servants, and these people didn’t look like servants. They seemed to all be fancy ladies—well, it was a little hard to tell in just grayish moonlight, but the Scottish lady had this huge, luxurious mane of red curls, and the other two had this long, shiny blonde hair. And they didn’t really hold themselves like the common folk would, I don’t think. Does Count Haddock have a bunch of aristocratic squatters?! How did they even get in here, with all the locked doors???

I probably don’t need to tell you, but I really didn’t trust these strange girls. I mean, I study property law—I KNOW you have to be careful with squatters. I decided to eavesdrop for a while, just to figure out what was going on. Here’s what I got:

Scottish Lady: I’m telling you two, he wouldn’t have let her wander in here if he didn’t want us to have a little scran!

Blonde Lady #1: Ugh, you’re so stupid. Isn’t he doing a property deal with her or something? He probably doesn’t want her sucked yet.

Scottish Lady: Wait. THAT’S the lawyer?!

Blonde Lady #2 (who actually had a pretty deep voice, so come to think of it…was probably actually a guy with long hair??? My mistake): So what? Lawyers are a dime a dozen! We drain this one, and the head lawyer guy in the firm will just send another one.

Scottish Lady: You gommy! What are we going to tell him, ‘Ah, our bad one of your employees mysteriously vanished while staying in our castle! We’ll do better with the next one, we promise!’

Blonde Guy: Sounds like Hiccup’s problem, not ours. He’ll be fine, he can reason with anyone. And didn’t you JUST say we should suck her?

Scottish Lady: Yeah, but I didn’t know that’s the property lady! I thought she was just some village lass he charmed in here.

Blonde Guy: In THAT kind of business casual?

Blonde Lady: Ugh, I don’t CARE anymore. She’s starting to look too delicious for me to care what Hiccup thinks. He can find himself another lawyer.

Scottish lady: Maybe you’re right. A quick little slurp couldn’t hurt.

Blonde Guy: Yeah, that’s the spirit! We’ll leave enough for her to sell us the land plot or whatever.

Blonde Lady: Aw, Thor, YES! Dinnertime! Uhhhh, someone else go first, though. I don’t want to get thrown out the window again.

I really had no idea why they were talking about me like I was some kind of fancy buffet, but I decided I didn’t want to stick around to find out. I tried to slink out while they were bickering, but these people were alarmingly fast. I’d barely started to get up before they suddenly surrounded the couch, the blondes on either end and the Scottish lady eyeing me up in a way I was not super crazy about.

“Oh, beautiful young lass!” she purred. She climbed on top of me before I could even move, and before I knew it, she was straddling me. I pretty much froze up because I mean…no one is EVER that forward with me that fast, let alone strange women I’ve just met. Also I mean. I’ve never given much thought to liking women like THAT. I mean…I guess I’m not opposed, and maybe what happens in weird Transylvanian castles can stay in weird Transylvanian castles, but the fact remained that I didn’t even know this lady’s name and she was already looking at me like she wanted to…I don’t know. Do things not really discussed in polite society.

“Our hair matches. How about that?” she said, in kind of this thick, breathy voice. She picked up a lock of my hair and twirled it between her fingers, pressing it up against her own curls. They were in fact pretty close in color. But, man, was that awkward. I’m not super stingy about my personal bubble or anything, but that was a little much. Like, not because she’s a lady or anything—that part I was strangely okay with. More because I only met her five minutes ago (if you can call this making someone’s acquaintance), and also the metaphors comparing me to dinner weren’t my favorite.

She leaned down and whispered in my ear “you know what else is a very pretty shade of red?” I wasn’t sure I wanted to find out. But did I have much choice at that point?

That’s about when she lowered her face to press it against my neck (which I might have been into otherwise, but for god’s sake, we were NOT at that point yet!). Then I felt two very sharp teeth piercing into the skin just below my jawline.

I barely had time to start panicking before this huge roar shook the room, louder and fiercer than the dragons I’ve read fairy tales about. OR the ones Count Haddock described.

Then someone’s hand was around the Scottish lady’s neck, and she was being yanked into the air. I saw this flash of green eyes and white fangs, and that’s when I realized.

God, it was Count Haddock. And I had NEVER seen him that furious before. It seemed like every part of him was radiating rage. He was tensed up like a panther ready to spring, his eyes all flaming malachite and his teeth bared like a wolf’s. He took the Scottish lady and slammed her against the wall, hissing.

I honestly never imagined he was that strong, what with those skinny limbs of his. Some kind of adrenaline rush helped, I imagine.

I was stunned. I couldn’t say anything—I just laid there. Count Haddock was friendly, but I never knew he cared so…passionately about my safety. It’s flattering, thinking back on it. At the time, though…well, I’ll admit I was a little taken aback.

“Great Odin’s ghost, what is WRONG with you?!” he spat. “Attorney Runeardsen is our guest, and this is NOT how we treat guests! You dare lay so much as a FINGER on her when I’ve told you to leave her be?!”

The Scottish lady choked, and Count Haddock threw her at the blonde lady. They both stumbled back, the blonde man scurrying over to hide behind them.

“What, you let your little pet go wandering about the castle, and you’re surprised when we think she’s free for the taking?” the Scottish lady said scornfully.

Count Haddock stepped in front of the couch, shielding me from his three strange cohabitors. I saw he was so angry he was shaking, and he had to run a hand along the wall to steady himself, His fingernails dug into the wood like claws, and left long gougemarks.

I hadn’t noticed before then how sharp his nails were. Maybe seeing those two pointed front teeth so often desensitized me to sharp things on Count Haddock’s person. Maybe I should have been more alarmed. Truth be told, though, in the moment I was glad he was pulling the intimidation card on my behalf.

“She’s not my pet,” he snarled at his cohabitors. “She’s my business associate. If any of you so much as LOOK at her again, there’ll be hell to pay. You want Ms. Runeardsen, and you’ll have to go through me.”

“What’s so special about her?” the blonde lady griped. “She’s just a property lawyer! Can’t you get another one?”

“Yeah! We’re hungry!” the blonde man added crossly. “You haven’t brought us anything to eat in two weeks.”

I remember thinking, huh. They don’t look too worse for wear, for not having eaten in a fortnight.

Count Haddock scoffed. “A lot of business you have complaining when you three haven’t paid rent in 400 YEARS! I’ve been sharing my home with you, letting you freeload century after century, and THIS is how you thank me?!”

“Oh, here we go again, with the rent lecture,” the Scottish lady complained.

“Yeah, when are you gonna let that go, man?” the blonde man demanded.

“I’ll let it go when your lazy behinds start getting your OWN meals,” Count Haddock shot back, starting to sound tired.

“Why ARE you so enamored with that lawyer, anyways?” the blonde lady asked.

“Oooooohhhh!” the blonde man sneered. “Hiccup’s in looooove!”

The Scottish lady let out a harsh cackle. “Don’t be daft, both of you. He can’t love any more than we can. Not anymore.”

“Speak for yourself.”

Count Haddock’s voice softened, the anger and frustration seeming to drain out. He turned to face the three freeloaders, and I caught a glimpse of the side of his face.

His expression was tense, and his eyes were glistening in the darkness. He looked almost…sad.

“Maybe you’ve decided you can’t love anymore,” he said quietly. “But I’m not so sure.”

His whole body suddenly looked so crumpled and broken, and more than anything I just wanted to hold him. Sweep myself under that dark green cape of his and wrap my arms around his waist and tell him everything was going to be okay and he wasn’t unlovable and that I’m so grateful he probably saved my life. But with everything happening so fast, and his three creepy friends so close by, I just…I still couldn’t move.

“So, what?” the blonde man whined. “We don’t get any dinner? You promised!”

Count Haddock sighed. “FINE. You really don’t deserve it, after that horrifying stunt you pulled, but dinner’s in the bag.”

He walked over to the door and grabbed a large bag he had left there, slinging it over his shoulder. As he came back, I noticed something long and mangled sticking out of the top.

It was—and I wish I was joking—a human arm.

I thought all that talk of sucking and slurping and eating me was some kind of bizarre metaphor, but I guess not. Count Haddock and his friends, evidently, actually do eat people.

I guess my brain decided that was enough stress for one night, because the next thing I knew, I blacked out.

When I woke up, I was in my own bed. Pretty sure I didn’t sleepwalk all the way back here, so the only thing I can figure is that Count Haddock carried me. It’s vague, but the last thing I remember before I passed out is feeling his arms scooping under my legs and shoulders.

He must’ve carried me like a bride. Like Jack is going to carry Rapunzel after their wedding this summer. And all the way down the hall, too. And then he tucked me into bed and blew out the candles.

The thought shouldn’t make me blush as much as it does. I know it’s unprofessional. (Not to mention he also eats people.) But something about him…

The more I came to, the worse it got. As in, I realized he also left a glass of water on my bedside table and a platter of little mints and fresh Belgian chocolates, folded all my clothes on the floor and put them on a nearby chair (look, it is HARD keeping my room tidy, okay?!), and even changed me into a nightgown. All these little favors for me while I’m not even conscious, on top of keeping me safe from those strange roommates of his? How are you supposed to maintain a “strictly professional” relationship with—well, with someone like THAT? Someone who treats you so softly, and senses your needs better than you can, and is willing to unleash the wrath of a thousand ravenous beasts on anyone who may wish you harm? I mean yes, I should check up on what exactly the cannibalism situation is, but other than that…

I don’t know. Call me a naïve, wide-eyed sap, and a sorry excuse for a certified property attorney, but I don’t know if I can be “just colleagues” with Count Haddock. Something in me tells me we’re meant for something more.

Is that stupid? Probably. Nonetheless!

Human-flesh-eating aside, could you ask for a more perfect man??? I think not!

May 20

Hi friend,

Okay, SO. Hiccup finally told me what’s actually going on.

Yes, Hiccup! Uh…so Count Haddock and I are on a first name basis now. But more on that later.

So it all started when he called me in for dinner. So much good stuff last night, let me tell you—there was this kind of fried pancake thing called clătite brașovene, covered in batter and with beef, mushrooms, and breadcrumbs inside. It tasted amazing!!! He also made me this stuff called “robber steak,” and you really HAVE to try it—bacon, onion, and beef, red pepper seasoning, what’s not to love??? It reminded me so much of the little kebabs you can buy on the street back in Oslo! You know, the ones you give to the cats?

I got so excited when I saw the kebabs that…I think I squealed? Kind of unprofessional, but oh well. Probably so is lizard-walking down walls on all fours and feeding human bodies to your roommates, so Hiccup’s not in a place to judge. Anyways, I DID get a little embarrassed, and I guess I expected him to look amused, but he just seemed…sad?

And I couldn’t help it, I told him how much his robber steak reminded me of all the cats I buy street food for (and there are a lot…Jack’s always teasing that I’m going to blow through my first real paycheck buying dinner for every stray in Oslo), and how it felt like a little piece of home. And I swear, I think he teared up at that.

His tears weren’t…clear was the thing. It kind of looked like there was a little blood in them? He wiped them away too quickly for me to really tell. Anyways, his voice got curt and he corrected me, saying it wasn’t HIS robber steak but his COOKS’, and I shouldn’t group him in with commoners, etc etc. It sounded stilted, though, like he was rehearsing a script. And he wouldn’t meet my eyes as he said it.

He started to leave—and yes, I’ll admit it was a little undignified, but I called after him and asked him to stay for dinner. Not even to eat (seeing as he somehow always manages to eat before me), but just for company. It gets so lonely here, and he really did seem so melancholy. I thought maybe if we had an engaging conversation, we could perk each other up!

But he rushed off, saying he had to make dessert—and then immediately correcting himself that no, the COOKS had to make dessert. And he was gone, and, as usual, I had to eat my clătite brașovene and my robber steak in silence.

It was a long time before he came back. I was starting to doubt he would, thinking “dessert” was just an excuse to leave. Nonetheless, I waited at the table after I finished, admiring the paintings on the wall. Mostly portraits of sophisticated-looking young men, all in varying styles of dress from different time periods. Count Haddock’s ancestors, I assume—although oddly enough, all these men looked exactly like him. There were some pictures of those three strange people I ran into the other night—recent commissions, probably. And, of course, your standard gorgeous hill, forest, mountain, and river scenery—all landscapes in daylight, I noticed.

For as often as Count Haddock stays up all night, he doesn’t have many paintings of nightscapes, or the moon and stars. I guess he figures if he wants to see those, he can just look outside.

I was so wrapped up in the dining room art gallery that I started when the door opened. And there he was after all, holding a platter with some kind of cake on it.

I think it was meant to be…cozonac? It was hard to tell, honestly, because the whole thing was kind of flat and saggy and odd-looking—and when he cut it open, it was a mess of walnuts and melted chocolate that just sort of oozed out everywhere. It didn’t look anything like the pictures I’ve seen, but I’ll tell you what—it DID look delicious.

“I made this for you,” he said. No correction, no last-minute insistence that it was the kitchen staff. He swallowed hard and seemed to force himself to meet my eyes. He was fully owning up to producing this dessert that loosely resembled a cake, and I thought that was beautiful.

“You’ve been a great guest, and really helpful, and you’ve taught me so much about Oslo and Norway,” he added. “And I wanted to make you something with chocolate. Just, uh. I hope you like it.”

He started to back away, a little less quickly than he had with dinner. He hesitated, glancing from the table to the door like he couldn’t decide whether he should leave.

I chanced my input again. “Count Haddock, won’t you stay?”

And that’s when he sat down, smiling at me so softly that I felt warmer than the sun could ever make me. I don’t think the sharpest front teeth in the world could have made it any less beautiful.

“Call me Hiccup,” he said. “And yes. I’d like to stay this time.”

He cut me a piece of cozonac-ish cake, and was silent as I began to eat. When he did speak, his voice came out as this like…ashamed mumble, almost.

“I haven’t been honest with you.”

I was tempted to tell him that was obvious, but that seemed rude. I kept eating my dessert and looked at him expectantly.

“There…aren’t any kitchen staff, Anna. I wanted you to think I was some…normal, dignified nobleguy, with prestige and class and all that. Just your average member of the gentry, not…well, whatever the townsfolk say I am. But there aren’t any cooks. I’ve been preparing all your food myself.”

I barely managed to keep myself from laughing, and nearly choked on the cake in the process. “Hiccup,” I got out, fighting to keep my voice level. “I know.”

He gave me a weird look. “Wait. You do?”

“You’re not exactly subtle,” I told him. “And I know you’ve been making my bed and cleaning my room and leaving little gifts on my table. I think it’s endearing, and you’re without a doubt the BEST host I’ve ever had. You shouldn’t be so embarrassed just because this sort of thing is below your station, usually. Only the humblest AND noblest of men would work this hard to help a guest feel welcome.”

His cheeks darkened, and he looked away. “I mean—well, I DO appreciate that. But that isn’t the only thing you should know.”

And that, dear friend, is when I learned the whole truth. The full, would-be-court-approved testimony.

The Haddock story didn’t end with them fleeing Scandinavia and disappearing into Transylvania for the next several generations. Drago Bludvist was relentless, and he wasn’t about to let the foes who made his conquests so difficult get off easy. He slaughtered most of the Haddocks’ village and hunted down the survivors, ambushing them just when they finally thought they fled far enough.

The only ones to survive the second assault were the Haddock son and two of his friends. And this Bludvist guy, well…apparently, he had a pretty twisted sense of humor. He got a powerful warlock ally of his to put a terrible curse on all three, trapping them in a limbo where they could never age, supernaturally strong and fast forever (not bad perks honestly), but they had to subsist off human blood to survive and could never be in sunlight without getting burned. And so they found someplace out of the way, somewhere to hide from everyone who called them monsters.

Hiccup was crying by the time he finished the story. And I knew I wasn’t imagining it this time—there WAS blood in those tears.

And that’s about when I figured it all out. The pictures—they were all of HIM. He was the one who lost his dragon to Bludvist’s armies. And he was the last Haddock son, cursed with the worst kind of eternal life. Centuries old.

I thought he was being hyperbolic the other night, when he said his three roommates haven’t paid rent in 400 years. I guess not?

In any case, I couldn’t deny it any longer. I knew then that he was hungry for my blood. I knew then that he constantly must fight the urge to kill me, every instinct in him screaming at him to rip me apart. But I also knew then, without a shadow of a doubt, that no part of him WANTED to be that way.

I mean, I’m an attorney, for god’s sake. I can recognize fake crying when I see it.

And this boy had lost everything. His family. His tribe. His draconic best friend. His fiancé.

(I really don’t know why I still feel so weird about him having a fiancé several centuries ago. I guess it didn’t occur to me he might, although it shouldn’t be surprising—he’s an attractive man! Still, thinking about it makes me feel…uneasy for whatever reason. Funny how that’s eating at me more than him literally having to eat people to live, huh?)

That’s about when he confessed what I suspected all along: He was terribly lonely, locked away from the sun and the city and forced to live this kind of parasitic life. I can’t say whether he was venting in the heat of the moment, or if he had been working up the courage to admit this to me. Whatever the case, it only seemed to make him crumple more.

And I couldn’t help it, friend—something in me gave way. I don’t think I’d ever seen someone look so lost, and…shattered. In that moment, I decided “strictly business” etiquette could go to hell—if someone’s in immense distress, who am I not to help?!

So, in only the most unprofessional of ways, I rose from my seat and sat next to him, throwing my arm around his shoulder. He leaned into me in a way that made me think he had not been affectionately touched in a very, very long time.

For a while he cried into my neck, and I rubbed his shoulder and his back the way Elsa used to do before we grew apart. He stopped only to assure me he would wash the blood and tear stains out of my new suit as soon as he got the chance (having no staff means that, regrettably, he has to do all the washing himself. I did make sure to tell him he’s been doing a superb job of getting the sweat stains out of my blouses!). I told him not to worry himself over it, and I would be happy to help if laundry proved to be too much for him to handle right now. I’m sure resisting the urge to eat your delicious-smelling new friend is a trying affair, and I figure one gets stressed rather easily anyways when subjected to an eternal existence of sucking human blood in order to not die.

He told me, a little unsteadily, that I was the nicest person he’d met in 200 years. Every time he goes into town (to get cooking ingredients or new soap or what have you), everyone is always so rude, hissing and clutching their crucifixes and whimpering prayers. Last time Hiccup asked the grocer how his family was doing, the man called him hellspawn and told him he hopes his castle gets struck by lightning and goes up in a terrible inferno to match his personality! He also insulted Hiccup’s sun umbrella, saying it was severely out-of-fashion, and threw a bag of garlic at him that left burns that lasted weeks! Look, I know sucking blood can be a bit off-putting, but everyone deserves basic common courtesy, whether they eat people or not. Like come ON, have some maturity!

Anyways, I guess I soothed him after a while, because the crying died down—more like small sobs now and again instead of outright bawling. Once he seemed past the worst of all of it, I admitted something was confusing me. How was he so lonesome when the three strange people I met last night lived in the castle too, and apparently had been for quite some time? He chuckled a little darkly at this.

It turns out the four of them used to be great friends, a very long time ago. The blondes—a twin sister and brother, Ruffnut and Tuffnut—were the only other survivors from Hiccup’s village, and only others (that he knows of) to be afflicted with the vampire curse. That’s what his condition’s called, apparently. They were all each other had for a while. Merida, the Scottish lady, came a century or so later. She was a princess on the run from an arranged marriage, and she stumbled on Hiccup’s castle in her quest to go where no one could ever find her. Hiccup, Ruffnut, and Tuffnut invited her in, but Ruffnut ended up liking her too much to make a meal out of her, so she made her into a vampire instead. Apparently you can transfer the curse through some specific type of biting—who knew? I guess it makes sense, with those big pointy teeth and all.

They were thick as thieves, those four, back in the day. All kinds of running around the woods, climbing trees, scaling cliff faces with weird lizard wall-clinging skills. Seeing who could lift the thickest tree trunk (it was usually Merida). Dining on the town’s most depraved, stumbling on Hiccup’s castle on their run from the law.

But over the centuries, Hiccup and his friends grew apart. The main reason, he told me, was…“diverging opinions on the value of human life and such,” as he put it. Eventually, they ran out of deplorable townspeople and traveling ne’er-do-wells and bandits to eat, but the need for blood remained.

So Hiccup tried to live in moderation, taking only what he needed to survive. Occasionally even feeding on wildlife, for as far as that would get him. The others, however…

It sounded like an addiction of sorts—getting a little too fond of how lively and powerful they felt just after feeding on a human. And they wanted more, and more, and more…and kept finding ways to justify the killing to themselves, until they barely saw anything wrong with it at all. Makes me nervous, thinking of what they would have done to me the other night had Hiccup not showed up.

(I asked what happened after I passed out, and Hiccup told me his friends took their dinner and scuttled out the window in a huff. I didn’t ask who the “dinner” in the bag had been. Maybe I’d be happier not knowing…)

These days, Hiccup’s three cohabitors have gotten lazy, preferring to let Hiccup do the hard work of putting himself in danger to get them all food. They’ve been freeloading for…300ish years now, he tells me? And he dutifully provides still, despite how tumultuous things have gotten. I guess out of obsolete loyalty to his longest-standing friends, no matter how…morally questionable they’ve become. Or maybe grief for the friendship that once was. As is, though, he feels he has little in common with them anymore.

He told me how it breaks his heart, seeing how much the curse twisted the three of them. Often, he can’t even bear to be around them—to see what they’ve become. So he stays away, seeking them out only when it comes time to feed them. But the resentment, the anger that they’ve let themselves stray so far into the darkness—I can tell it’s still there. And the bitter loneliness of seeing his three best friends go down a disturbing path that he doesn’t have the heart to follow…it must weigh on him terribly.

“And that’s not even the worst part,” he told me when he finished the story. He stood suddenly as he said it, knocking my hand off him. It was difficult to imagine what could be significantly worse than having to regularly drink human blood, but nonetheless I gestured for him to continue.

“Ruff, Tuff, Mer, and I…” His voice shook as he said it, and he gripped the table like a lifeline. I wondered if the tears were going to come back.

“We were planning…” He trailed off and took a breath. “I’ve been trying to reach out to them. For, I don’t know, the last 50 years or so. Trying to rekindle the friendship we once had, because I couldn’t bear an eternity alone. Even if my only alternative was to spend it with people who had become…well, bloodthirsty and completely depraved. But I wanted someone. So the four of us made a plan—I made a plan. To try and make them happy. I thought maybe then, they’d love me again.”

He frowned at me and stiffened, like he was trying to hold himself together. “We figured it had been so many centuries that no one in our ancestral lands would remember who we were. If Drago had some kind of lineage, they surely would have died out by now. So we decided to return to the homeland in Scandinavia—to Oslo.”

“Of course!” I nodded, because it all made sense then. “That’s why we talked through buying all that land. You want to go home.”

“I was hesitant at first,” he admitted. “I was worried there were too many scenarios where we all ended up discovered and slaughtered. But the idea grew on me. I read books and newspaper articles and learned how much the outside world had grown since our time. And I realized how much I’ve missed the fjords and the sea cliffs and everything else. So I started setting everything in motion.”

He paused, like he was waiting for me to scream or wail or flee in terror or what have you. I planned on doing no such thing! I’m a professional, after all.

“Anna,” he added bluntly, when I didn’t provide him with a sufficiently horrified reaction. “We eat people. And we bought land in and planned to move to YOUR hometown. Shouldn’t you…I don’t know, be more concerned?”

Huh. Well, when he put it like that, I DID understand why this was concerning.

I couldn’t find myself too surprised, though, that this was the story behind everything going on. I’ve suspected something was up for a while now, and Hiccup and his roommates being cursed, blood-sucking creatures of the night fits with what I’ve seen. After all, what good is a lawyer if they can’t piece together the evidence they gather and arrive at something resembling the truth?

Hiccup doesn’t eat human food. No one in town will work for him. He can lizard crawl up the side of buildings. He has two front teeth perfected for breaking skin and drawing blood. He’s constantly in distress over seeing himself as some sort of “thing of evil.” His friends were talking about sucking me and draining me and calling me a meal. The townsfolk are terrified of him. He always disappears at dawn. He has circles of blue fire just lying around. Really, him being a blood-drinking night creature explains all that better than perhaps anything else could.

As absolutely absurd as it all sounds. But if law school taught me anything, it’s that oftentimes the truth is a LOT stranger than you think it will be. You can’t ever rule anything out until you have significant evidence against it—and it’s quite the opposite, in this case.

Strangely enough, I found I wasn’t hugely bothered with the idea of him coming to Oslo. It took me a moment to realize why.

“Well, you have to have blood to live, right?” I said. “So either you’ll be eating people here or you’ll be eating people in Oslo. What difference does it make where you are?” He gave me kind of a weird look, so I elaborated. “I mean, obviously the ideal number of people you would be eating is zero, but it sounds like that isn’t an option.”

He gave me what seemed like a genuinely apologetic look. “Anna, your friends…your family….”

Oh. Right. Jack and Punzie. Elsa. My colleagues at the firm.

I guess some part of me figured if I asked Hiccup to leave them out of it, he would. That he’d do me that one favor, after how much I’d tried to help him with the legalities of property transfer and the intricacies of Norwegian. That after everything…

Maybe he’d come to care for me.

The boss man would call me naïve if he knew. I guess I never could quash that little romantic in my chest, who kept insisting I wasn’t just fated to become some cranky, law-practicing old maid. But affection is a powerful thing, and I’d be an idiot to deny the reserve of it that was steadily building for Hiccup.

“And you…” He turned and walked away from the table as he said it. He started pacing back and forth, burying his face in his hands and groaning. “That’s the worst of all.”

That’s when the unease really started to set in, but I kept my cool. No one ever accomplished anything by descending into embarrassing hysterics.

“What about me?” I asked (impressively calmly, I think, given the situation).

“Once we got the property deeds, we were going to…” He cut himself off and sank into his hands, heaving a strangled breath.

I didn’t want to make him say it. “You were going to let your friends eat me. When I wasn’t useful anymore.”

“Yes!” He lowered his hands and looked right at me, and I saw he was teary-eyed again. “But I CAN’T, not now that I know you. These last few weeks have been the best I’ve had in decades. I’ve realized that I don’t just want to go to Oslo—I want to walk the streets with YOU, stopping at those little stalls to buy kebabs for the cats. I want to hold your hand under the aspens in the park and feed oats to the ducks—and I’d probably only eat one or two ducks, I promise. I want to ride the streetcars and window-shop and buy you things for Snoggletog…or whatever your equivaent of that nowadays is, anyhow. I want to roam the fjords with you at midnight, when it’s quiet—and watch the stars and the northern lights when there’s no one around but us. I want to see the moonlight on the waterfalls, and I want you to show me everything you love.”

He took a deep breath then, like he was willing the courage to go on. “You make Oslo sound so beautiful, but I can’t—I just can’t imagine it without you there, too. Getting excited when you point out all the things we talked about and filling my head with all of your fun facts. Telling me about your latest property court cases over fresh-cooked fårikål I made. Taking the train into the mountains on the weekend and watching the lynxes and puffins and reindeer and white foxes. I want to experience it all with you, Anna.”

I just stared at him, stunned. How did I, your run-of-the-mill property attorney, manage to impress a man who was centuries old?

“And now…the thought of hurting you, I just can’t—” He cut himself off again and heaved a ragged sob. “I couldn’t forgive myself. I’m so sorry I planned to. Sometimes, I think the townspeople are right about me—I really AM some kind of vile demon.”

And that’s when—god forgive me—I made what was easily the most unprofessional move of my career.

I couldn’t help it. He looked so devastated, and I had to show him he was a better man than he believed.

I stood and crossed the room in a few strides. His head was in his hands again, but he looked up as I approached.

And then, before my logical lawyer brain could kick in, I leaned in and grabbed his cheeks and I kissed Count Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III just like in the fairy tales!!!

His mouth was on the cold side, and his lips were dry and chapped, but he tasted so right. And he smelled like chocolate and nuts and cake batter and a little bit like what had come to feel like home.

I think I shocked him at first, because I felt him stiffen. But then he melted into it, and cold arms wrapped around my neck and suddenly it was one of those moments where I felt rather foolish for ceasing to believe in magic when my childhood was over. If the mystical was a farce, how did you explain the soft, velvety feeling in my chest, brought about from nothing but unchecked bliss?

And let me tell you, I don’t think I’ve ever felt safer than in the arms of a centuries-old undead creature. The irony is scandalous, I know.

Even after our lips parted, he still clung to me like a lost kitten. I pressed my forehead to his, just to assure him I was comfortable.

I spoke as quietly and soothingly as I could, saying “I’m not afraid of you. And I know you’re not going to hurt me now. I trust you.”

“How do you know you should?” he asked me, voice trembling.

I had to laugh at this, and I told him “Because, um…I really don’t think you would have put so much thought into all the fun activities we were going to do in Oslo together if you still planned on draining all my blood out.”

That got a laugh out of him, too! I think I was doing pretty damn well, all things considered.

“You…don’t hate what I am?” he asked.

“No,” I told him. “I’m not really that surprised, given all your…well…all the oddities around here. But you can’t help it that you were cursed, and I can tell you’ve got a good heart. That’s what matters to me.”

“It’s just…ugh. It’s all so complicated now.” He pulled away a little, hands on my shoulders as he stared at the ground. “The four of us were going to take over the whole damn city, draining or turning every last one of them. But now I can’t. I can’t do that to your home! And I wouldn’t hurt the people you care about, but…how am I going to keep Mer, Ruff, and Tuff away?”

He started to pace again, gesturing wildly as he talked. “And I already sent off the property deeds to be approved by your boss! What am I going to do when they come back?! How do I tell Merida and the others that maybe I don’t want to do this after all? Would they just kill me? Could they just kill me?”

I pointed out that was unlikely, considering they seemed like they hadn’t been outside the castle to even hunt in several years, but he still seemed worried.

“I can’t take over an entire city!” he went on. “Or subject them to this—this life I’m stuck with! But I still want to go to Oslo, but I have to eat! What am I supposed to do?!”

I pondered on it as he continued with his anxious ramble.

“Well,” I said—perhaps a little cheekily, I’ll admit. “You know, there’s plenty of ne’er-do-wells and criminals in the backalleys of Oslo. I’m sure they could stand to lose a little blood here and there. I mean, the authorities TRY to round them up, and we lawyers try to make sure they can’t make any more trouble, but even the keenest of law-upholders can’t catch them all.”

“So how long would they last?” he demanded. “How long before I start having to eat good people again, Anna? I don’t know how much longer I can take it!”

I pondered more at this. “I don’t know. It would take careful planning, for sure, and you’d have to figure out how to reign in your friends so they don’t make all of Oslo into a bloodbath, but I don’t think it’s hopeless. I’m trained to navigate, er—tricky situations, you could say. Legal, mostly, but it’s not strictly limited to that.”

“I just don’t know.” He shook his head, breathing hard. “I want to go, I want to explore, I want to see my homeland again, but I don’t—I don’t want to ruin your city with my…my undead debauchery! And I don’t want to put your friends in danger, but I want to stay with you, and this whole plan is a mess, and I just…I don’t know what to do. I don’t know what to do. I don’t know what to do.”

He repeated the words frantically, over and over as he paced with his hands tugging at his hair. A strange calm settled over me, and for whatever reason, I suddenly felt more collected than I had in days.

Even if he was fraying, that didn’t mean I couldn’t tie up his loose ends. I didn’t pass the BAR to fall into panics whenever trouble arose.

“Hiccup,” I said, walking over to him again. I reached up and placed a hand on top of his own, guiding it down from his head and lacing our fingers together. His shaking seemed to wane, if only a little.

I spoke with as much confidence as I’d ever had, and I told him:

“I know it seems like a lot, but I promise you we will figure something out. I’m a lawyer, after all—it’s my goddamn job.”

#hiccanna #hiccannamonth #hiccannamonth22 #hiccannamonth2022 #moodboard #aesthetic #hiccup x anna #anna x hiccup #hiccup #anna #hiccup haddock #princess anna #hiccupxanna #annaxhiccup #jack frost #rapunzel #jackunzel #(peripheral/background Jackunzel anyways) #merida dunbroch #ruffnut thorston #tuffnut thorston #fanfic #fanfiction #rotbtd #rotbtfd #dracula daily au #httyd #frozen #crossover

[fantroll-purgatory]

World: Alternia! Same AU as Renuti. 

!! Hihi! Oh man I remember Renuti so well; I think you last updated your fan adventure at the end of 2020 and I saw that you used his updated appearance for it! I know it’s been a while since you’ve gone back to the well but I do hope you pick it back up some time; I love seeing people creating their own fan adventures and I like the themes you were exploring in yours.

Name: Prodit Narcor. Prodit is probably from the Latin root for loyalty, and Narcor is. Well. Narc. Narc core. 

Lol got it ACAB.

Age: 7.62 sweeps/16.5 years. (same as Renuti)

Theme/Story: She’s the person who eventually calls the drones on Renuti’s radio station, and is then of course forced to “cooperate” with them when SGRUB rolls around. Also, I came up with her while listening to National Anthem, so there’s that. 

Review Goals: General! Also, people frequently mistake her for a Blood player, so advice on how to push the Doom angle harder would be nice. 

Strife Specibus: Fireworkkind? Because patriotism and also explosions. 

Also quite Doomy. I approve.

Fetch Modus: No idea. I kind of think it would be funny if it was something very practical that she picked as a little kid and now regrets. 

Oh that’s easy it’s a Hangman Modus which shreds the captcha card if you fail to guess in time. It’s Doom-themed, and is super easy when you’re a kid but becomes increasingly more difficult as you grow older because 1) you store more items, so you’re less likely to narrow the pool of the card up for grabs all that quickly, 2) stuff just gets more complicated, yknow? You may not be able to get “immersion blender” just from looking at the spaced and guess the most common letters, and 3) time-consuming, so you can’t just grab an item on demand. Also a nod to how much work it ostensibly takes to get the necessarily equipment when one is working for a public office.

Blood Color: Near-perfect cerulean (#005780). It’s a bragging point for her. 

Lunar Sway: Prospit!

Title: Witch of Dooooom! She manipulates the rules of society to suit her own needs, causes explosions and death and forces the rules on others, and like most Witches, takes a maybe too practical and hands on approach without really listening to others. Also, I like the contrast of this very fancy, charismatic, preppy kid getting the most Halloween Spooky Goth classpect (in name at least). 

I also like this, especially because she’s theoretically a very successful Witch of Doom right now! She’s doing a good job of narrowing everybody’s options to an increased number of failure states.

Symbol and Meaning: Scormini, the Fatalistic. 

Handle: sweetieSnitch!

Quirk: She rep}a{es {ertain }etters with symbo}s. It }ooks }ike b}owing a kiss, see?

Ooooh I like that.

Special Abilities: Mild mind influence–basically weak charmspeak, if you’ve read Percy Jackson. She swears up and down she’s just a nice person and that’s why people do things for her. 

Ehhh T B H idk that she need a power. we can tell an interesting enough story about a cerulean exploiting their position on the hemospectrum to take structural power without adding the psychic abilities, especially since mutations like Vriska’s appear to be somewhat rare.

Lusus/Guardian: A Monarch Butterfly, because it’s pretty, poisonous, and, well, monarch. Prodit loved her as a kid, but now that she’s older she doesn’t spend much time with her anymore. Call your damn mom, Prodit. 

YEAH LOVE IT.

Interests: Listening to music and dancing (badly) in her room, messing with other people’s code, trying and failing to care for her pet cactus (the fifth one this sweep), playing Troll Ace Attorney. 

Appearance: Just fyi, the sprite used is a slightly recolored FarragoFiction sprite. Didn’t want to take credit where it wasn’t due. 

Yeah absolutely, thanks for letting me know! Always appreciate people giving other spriters credit where credit is due.

Personality: Prodit is genuinely a very friendly person. Yes, she’s also kind of a manipulative asshole, but she does have some actual friends who she actually likes as well, and is easy to get along with. She’s practical and perceptive, but tries to ignore any twinges of moral dissonance by going along with the flow and not causing a stir unless she wants to.  She’s also great at talking her way out of bad situations, and will get you out of a jam as well if necessary. She’s very self-confident because of the aforementioned traits, and thus far her confidence hasn’t exactly been proven wrong. However, she tries to stick to her own caste–she has some sense of what life outside her bubble is like, and she doesn’t want her perfect view of the Empire disrupted. 

Hmmm I can see why people think she’s a Blood character; this bio leans heavily on relationships and charisma as her backbone. It might make a little more sense for it to go like this: she has plenty of Cerulean friends because she has to; she’s seen what life is like outside her caste and sees the spectres death and destruction. Her friendships with them are borne out of genuine care but also out of obligation; if she doesn’t have them, who can she even count on? She can still affect self-confidence, but it rests on an empty shell and she knows it.

Land: I kind of want to use Land of Truth and Consequences, because it’s a fun name and I think it makes sense for her. Learn to face the hard Truths of Doom or face the Consequences, Witch. 

That would imply that the Feel of her land is one of Truth and the Quest is one of Consequences, which is a little difficult to visualize. How about instead it’s land of Tabloids and Yarns? It’s all about the tales being told about her and her fellow questees, putting the onus on her to right the story and unite the planet in truth? I’m picturing a planet plastered with print with big colorful string connecting everything a la a conspiracy theory board.

As for the appearance...I’m gonna be real, I have no notes! I know it was sprited by another person, but I believe that you had-draw your adventure, correct? The vibe is right, the horns are good, and the outfit recognizably conveys what it needs to. It’s good to go!

-TR

#ceruleanblood #submission #prodit narcor #prodit #narcor #review #tr review #bread--quest

[fazkins]

MEDIA LIST

we are willing to do any media!! even ones we arent quite as familiar with ^^ this is just a list of ones we are most familiar with, but just because your media isnt on the list does NOT mean you arent allowed to request stuff for it <3

also, just because we are fnaf themed doesnt mean we are fnaf exclusive! anyone from any source can request anything :]

that being said, media lists for each of us as individuals are under the cut!

-🧸💤

EVI'S MEDIA

bold is high interests of mine!

FNAF

Dream SMP

Outsiders SMP

Rats SMP

Omori

MCYT Life Series/Traffic Series

Attack on Titan

Assassination Classroom

My Hero Academia

Heathers (Movie + Musical)

Pokemon

HFJONE

Avatar: The Last Airbender + Avatar: Legend of Korra

Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation

Rick and Morty

Pokemon: Starter Squad

A Silent Voice

Death Note

My Little Pony

Hamilton the Musical

The Promised Neverland

more tba when i think of it LOL

FIZZ'S MEDIA

FnaF

Old FnaF fanbase [Rebornika etc]

FnaF HS (+/-)

FnaF [Pole bear AU]

FnaF [It's All Scripted AU]

My little Pony

Hamilton: an American musical

Six: the musical

Heathers

Dear Evan Hansen

Les Miserables

Warrior Cats

Wings of Fire [first five toms]

The Promised Neverland

Kaichou wa Maid-sama

The Amazing World of Gumball

Over the garden wall

Shera

Bluey

Heartstopper (serial only)

Helluva Boss

Hazbin Hotel

more tba(?)

SOOS'S MEDIA

tba ^^

HEN'S MEDIA

Five Nights at Freddy’s

The Magnus Archives

Persona 5 Royal

MCYT (Empires SMP + Dream SMP)

Dayshift at Freddy’s

Ace Attorney (only the original trilogy + first two second trilogy games for now!)

Arcane

Welcome Home

RWBY

Hatchetfield Universe

Portal

Undertale/Deltarune

Spider-Verse (ITSV/ATSV)

The Owl House

Gravity Falls

Markiplier Universe

Marvel Cinematic Universe

Hamilton

Hazbin Hotel/Helluva Boss

Lackadaisy

Stranger Things

Team Fortress 2

Bendy (BatIM/BatDR)

MIKEY'S MEDIA

bolded r faves, unbolded are just things i know a lot about

fnaf

spooky's jumpscare mansion

monster high

doki doki literature club

hatchetfield series (starkid musicals)

markiplier universe

Bendy and the ink machine

Omori

Vocaloid

danganronpa trigger happy havoc

hazbin hotel

#not kin related #important

[littleladymab]

1, 3, and 9 for the ask 💕

What is your most popular fic?

On hits/bookmarks, it's "Visions (are seldom all they seem)", my sleeping beauty Klapollo ace attorney AU!

On kudos, it's "stumbling and spinning", from my jongerrymartain no spooky archives au

3. What's a fic idea that you haven't written yet?

Okay actually so my planner is a 3 year one because I rarely use one so I thought "why buy weeklies or monthlies that I'll never use when I can buy one that will last me through the end of 2025?" so all of that is to say that in the back I have a list of fics that I am calling my "three year writing plan".

One of them, because it's on my brain: Owl House but with A Court of Fey and Flowers vibes. I have been two steps away from busting out my Good Society books and actually making up character sheets for the main characters, but Luz is a human wandering through Fey and you have the unseelie court (aka wild magic witches like Eda) and the seelie court (broken down into houses that are the covens) and: fun shenanigans ensue!

9. What's your favorite line or scene you've written?

OUGH don't make me choose okay because it's me full up on my bullshit and now I just use it ever where in my own notes when I'm trying to make a point it's "I would know your touch anywhere, little flame" from "my place to land" (friends at the table), basically the entirety of chapter 18 from "tiny cracks of light" (the magnus archives), and the scene where Ezra crashes the Chimaera but especially this section from "far from the world that i made" (star wars):

I’m not done yet, he says and this time, when he presses his hands to the deck beneath him, he swells to fit the hull of the ship. It’s vast but not the insurmountability of time and space. This is the width and breadth of war, of man’s capacity for violence. This is a coffin to bury those within.  But not him. Not yet. 

hehe thanks!

(send me fanfic writer asks!)

#lil miss writings

[greentrickster]

Okay, we’ve had some werewolf and were-bring stuff, here’s a big ol’ pile of info on how vampires work in the Spooky Attorneys AU!

For starters, vampires don’t burst into flames or turn to ash if exposed to sunlight in this universe, but they do get a severe sunburn/allergic reaction to direct sunlight after being in it for just a few minutes. A severe enough burn or prolonged exposure can easily result in fatalities. For this reason vampires tend to go out more often when it’s overcast for whatever reason or the sun is down (they don’t have to worry about indirect sunlight because this is a supernatural reaction, not a scientific one). Strong sunscreen and a parasol or umbrella are a must for any vampire going out during the day, just for safety’s sake. They are otherwise generally one of the sturdiest species in this world, though not as quick as goblins or were-beings, being more ambush and stealth predators than tracking or pursuit.

Vampires in this universe can transform into bats, but it takes a lot of power and effort, so most of them don’t bother. In contrast, there’s a well-known spell that allows the caster to fly using the cape or cloak they’re wearing, and all vampires are innately, stupidly good at this spell, so the majority of them use that instead. Phoenix can and does do this and owns a pretty nice cape that he generally has with him and wears with his classic blue suit, but he also still has his bicycle because it’s easier to use that for things like groceries or traveling when it’s sunny out. This spell can be learned by other beings, but vampires are the best at it.

In regards to religious symbols having power over them, I’m going to go with the Castlevania anime explanation and say that their eyes work is very different to other beings’, and shoving a large, geometric shape in their face causes their brains to temporarily short-circuit (in modern times it’s been described as a similar sensation to brain freeze). For example, this means that a wooden cross or a Star of David would be equally effective against them (though it should also be noted that in this universe cultures world-wide developed quite differently in many aspects due to the known presence of these various beings, so whether any of our religions there is up in the air).

Vampires can survive on any kind of blood (or fresh, unpasteurized milk in a pinch, though none of them like it), but the blood of sapient beings tends to be the most nutritious and best tasting to them, and they require less of it to get their full needs from feeding.

Speaking of which, a vampire feeding in this world isn’t inherently sexual in any way, but it can be done in a more amorous manner if the involved parties desire. That said, one way that drinking blood directly from a living, sapient being and having sex are still very similar is that both require very clear, precise boundaries and expectations. These days it’s very common for those who allow vampires to feed on them to have a sheet stating where they’re okay being bitten, what sort of setting, how much blood they’re comfortable giving, how it’s okay to touch them while being fed on, and the like. Similarly, the vampire is expected to know how much blood they plan on consuming, how to properly feed without causing damage to the other person, what their own boundaries are for where they’re comfortable biting and where they prefer to do the biting, etc. Vampiric saliva has minor healing quantities, enough to close a tidy bite wound without scarring, so cleaning and closing their feeding point is an expected part of the bargain unless the person bitten specifically requests this not be done for whatever reason. It is shockingly, shockingly rude to not get one’s blood source a protein-rich meal after feeding on them, to help them regain what they’ve lost.

Modern mad science has discovered that Vampires actually do better on small, frequent meals than on large, infrequent ones. A vampire can technically consume enough blood in one go to last them a month, but it’s better for them to break it up into smaller weekly or half-weekly feedings instead. How much blood a vampire needs to survive and thrive varies from vampire to vampire, just as the amount of food required for the same varies from human to human. Vampires can technically eat non-solid human foods (they can’t digest anything more solid than a milkshake and even that’s quiet heavy for them), but it’s not great for them - very much zero-calorie junk food. (Phoenix still has a ramen habit in this universe, but only the broth.)

Vampires also tend to be pretty mouthy on the whole - bite and chew toys and necklaces are very common. Phoenix has one that he’s quiet fond of that he used to keep in his pocket prior to getting his magatama from Maya. One mis-grab and panicked trip to the dentist after that, and he keeps his chew toy in his jacket pocket or on a string around his neck now. Maya’s torn between being apologetic and teasing him mercilessly about it.

And, last thing, vampires are long-lived in this world, but not exactly immortal (they’re not quite as alive as most sapient beings, but not true undead like a zombie, animated skeleton, or ghost). There are processes using magic or mad science to extend their lifespans almost indefinitely, but on average they tend to live two to three times longer than a baseline member of their base species. Phoenix himself was born to vampire parents, and thus has always been one - as a human-base vampire, he can be expected to live to two or three hundred years old, as long as he doesn’t do anything stupid. Everyone who knows him expects he’s either going to kick it before his first century or just never friggin’ die for no discernible reason. A person who is born a vampire will experience a childhood and young adulthood at the same rate as a person of their base species, after which their aging process slows exponentially.

(Also, this was supposed to be a silly, goofy Halloween monsters AU, how did it turn into so much deep world-building and lore???)

#Spooky Attorneys AU #ace attorney #phoenix wright

[salmonrainy]

happy halloween bratfeen nation !! 🧛👻🦇

#if u see any mistakes no u didnt #this was rushed but also not #i am knee deep in exams week HAWYEE #anyway. themb (spooky edition) #sal draws #ace attorney #aa #phoenix wright #ace attorney fanart #naruhodou ryuuichi #miles edgeworth #narumitsu #wrightworth #bratfeen #softfeen + punkworth au #i keep forgetting a.) to tag that n b.) this tag name HAHA 😭 #one day ill clean up the tags for them lol #bratworth #feenie #feenie my beloved #m

[lusiaarts]

⚠️Warning! Blood

Feast 🍷🦇🐺

It's finally here, my (very, very, very late) narumitsu Halloween art! Enjoy~

#narumitsu #wrightworth #miles edgeworth #phoenix wright #mitsurugi reiji #naruhodo ryuichi #ace attorney #phoenix x edgeworth #phoenix x miles #ace attorney fanart #ace attorney au #spooky season #halloween

[writemyaceattorneys]

Based off suzume anon's idea...

What if they drew something back for S/O? We all know phoenix was an art student, so a file titled self portrait.png appearing out of the blue, dropped off by them would be certainly quite interesteing.

...they did intend to do one as of late after finishing a piece of phoenix fixing up his suit, was it late at night that they had forgotten or aomrthing?

But the style's far too unlike their own, using the watercolour tool over the oil pastel, no dark lines to seperate the more blended parts, hair flowing rather than angular.

The timestamp is late at night as well for when it was last saved... but what kind of break and enter would just draw a portrait of them with no proper reference?

It doesn't make sense, and yet a fee more appear every time a piece is finished. Each in different styles per the character drawn, and the camera set on those nights following nights where a piece is done never diaplays anything but the PC turning on temporarily for a fee hours at a time. No sign of being hacked either,S/O supposed they'd just have to deal with it.

It wasn't anything bad,after all. Some were a tad bit of an eyesore anayomically, but earnest pictures of them conversing with someome over tea, someone obscured by perspective, of them watching TV and eating their favourite snacks with someone enjoying themself in the far corner, a smidge of some vermillion trousers, someone hiking up a mountian with them in robes unfit for the journey and on an olf timey boat across the waves, a tan coat from them over s/o's asleep shoulders...

...it was eerie, sure, but it was endearing.

👁👄👁

HhhHhHhHHhHhHHh

Phoenix would definitely see S/O as his muse, he might be a bit out of practice with his art skills but that definitely won't stop him from creating a folder on S/O's PC that he just fills with drawings of them.

He's only going to end up encouraging the rest of the crew to draw S/O too. They'd all want to try and impress S/O with their drawings which would definitely lead to some tension amongst those who maybe aren't as skilled in the art department, or at least, aren't as good as Mr Arts degree over there.

But they're trying their best, you know? 🤷‍♂️

S/O would definitely start to become concerned over time though, especially if the nature of some of the images began to become more disconcerting. Some of the more levelheaded characters would definitely have to reign others in.

They'd also definitely assume that the character who S/O draws the most has to be their favourite character, so cue a lot of word documents left open with characters begging S/O to draw them.

Honestly, if S/O doesn't factory reset their PC or just have it scrapped after dealing with this, I'd be very surprised. But its all a matter of time before our sentient friends find a way to reach S/O more permanently :) Then they can all draw S/O to their hearts content.

With S/O as a live model.

#talking to mod miles #spooky ideas #its October 1st #happy spooky month #yandere ace attorney #sentient au #yandere ace attorney x reader #🌌 anon

[mickules]

Hopefully I don't sound like a killjoy, and if I do I apologize- in my opinion, I don't think Celeste would love Gonta romantically? If only because she's picky with the men she likes I feel...

That said, I could maybe see it platonically! She'd definitely use him as a bodyguard for sure.. Again, sorry if I put a damper!! I don't mean to diss you or anything!

Otherwise I agree about Nagito needing to see the ultimates as people and that I too don't jive with Kokichi.

[From this ask] I want to preface this by saying please don't ever worry about dissing me or upsetting me if our interpretations are diametrically opposed! I am not precious about pairings or headcanons or the like in the least, super chill 👍 I'm always down for hearing other's interpretations! Is it canon-compliant? Is it complete crack? Familial? Romantic? Platonic? Hell, you could walk into my home and state "Actually I think Taka and Mondo's relationship is doomed to end in misery" and I'd say "Ah! Do tell! how does that come about? but also how'd you find my address?"

If nothing else, platonically or romantically, Celeste and Gonta would have a really compelling dynamic to explore - the real noble raised as a complete unknown looking to rediscover his heritage, and the fake noble clinging to her dream of ascending to aristocracy, juicy!

Kokichi is a menace, and I'll have none of his fancy jiving footwork in this house.

@ididnahthither Personally no. However! I've seen some nice variations of Kirumi, Mukuro and Sakura with Taka, I think matching the girls' sensible and dedicated natures with his own - and a lot of pairings with Celeste! Often with Celeste initially pursuing Taka based on how he fits into her desired aesthetic, feelings developing later, and I'll admit- they do have the spooky goth couple look down. I think the one that surprised me with how well it could work was Leon with Taka. Leon's volatility being shown as more performative, and in fact he uses his social fluency to hide his nervous need to be liked - it creates a compelling dynamic with Taka who cannot read a room to save his life, and wears his heart on his sleeve.

That is actually kind of adorable

Given Leon's over the top, dramatic personae - calling Makoto, as someone who totally understands him, his 'soulmate' fits well into his all or nothing style. No half measures with Leon Kuwata.

He kind of reminds me a lot of Klavier Gavin from Ace Attorney, although not a suave - they're both very outwardly loud and flashy; both drawn to the spectacle of being a rockstar, but are internally much softer and in need of reassurance from those around them than you might have thought.

(Thanks so much!! :D)

fem!mondo and fem!taka are a blast to mess around with!

It'd be really interesting to see how someone goes about developing their relationship as women- A huge part of how Mondo presents and interacts with others is how he's tied his identity as a man to his reputation; his strength and pride as the leader of the Diamonds, and this is what has boiled over into his toxic masculinity. Approaching Mondo's crises and dated view of gender expectation from the lens of Mondo as feminine rather than masculine would be fascinating

@yaysof11037 [the pride comic!] In my main non-despair au I've got Mondo in my head as Bisexual, although takes his sweet time recognising his attraction to men as more than just 'admiration'. The pride comic however doesn't take place in that au, so although at first I was gonna have him with the Bi flag, I thought it might be more in line with the spirit of the comic if I left it open; so people could imagine what flag they wanted instead :) (lol I did actually mention it in the tags, but it's easily overlooked XD)

In my mind, I tend to see Takemichi as having a platonic found family style relationship with the Oowadas, basically like their 3rd unofficial brother- Mondo still being the youngest, but Takemichi as a sort of moderating, long suffering, middle sibling. I've mentioned in [here] (in the asks after the readmore) that I don't have anyone specific that I pair Daiya with. In my little non-despair au, he's somewhat of a permanent bachelor, and has only really had casual relationships previously.

I'll admit that Daiya and Michi isn't one I've seen before! Takemichi does have the briefest hint that he might not be traditionally heterosexual, so him nursing a crush on Daiya wouldn't be outside the realm of possibility. However, perhaps it's because we're introduced to Daiya through the lens of his little brother Mondo, I have to say that personally I can only really see Daiya as a sort of pseudo brother figure to the members of his gang.

Daiyakure is a pretty popular pairing, and it was a bit of a surprise to me when I first saw it! And whilst it's true they never meet in the games, I think people like to explore the sort of loose and wild dynamic they could have, and since there isn't an established interaction people can go crazy with it!

BIG OLD DISCLAIMER

UNFORTUNATELY BECAUSE TUMBLR IS A FANTASTIC WEBSITE WHICH IS VERY MUCH DESERVING OF A PAID SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE; *looks straight into the camera like the office* I'VE MANAGED TO DISAPPEAR SOME ASKS, WHILST I HAD THE ANSWERS FOR 'EM HERE IN MY DRAFTS FORGIVE ME IF IT WAS YOUR ASK WHILST I TRY TO WORK OUT WHAT THE HELL THE QUESTIONS WERE

I definitely remember something about being surprised that said I wasn't too into romance in [this ask] (which I also linked above ^) I think the rest was about being jazzed for Hina/Taka interactions, perhaps from the [pride] comic?

"I'm not romantic" *continually posts romance*

yeah, that's very fair XD I was thinking in the grand scheme of all the shows I like, and found that there are very few canonical romantic pairings that I'm invested in, and the number of headcanon ones I have, I could count on one hand.

It's worth mentioning here that the only pairing I really personally ship in Dangan is Taka with Mondo. However! I'm happy to talk about any pairings as well as ones where Taka and Mondo aren't together, zero issue there! My brain just doesn't really connect the dots of any others without prompting. My internal relationship needle mostly points to platonic like a true North, unless I see something that catches my eye and it knocks it off course XD

Taka and Hina share so much boundless passionate energy, and a certain naivete - I love to see them form a close alliance!

This ask was asking since I drew Kaito and Maki as adopted siblings in the previously linked ask dump ^ and [this one], the query was something like 'Since you drew them as siblings I assume you don't ship Kaito and Maki?'

In the original ask someone said that they saw Kaito as Mondo and Taka's kid- but I thought out of the cast of V3 Maki was a better fit than Kaito, so for that one ask, I put them as adopted siblings! In my own opinion however, Kaito fits better as Hiro's son, and upon further reflection I think Maki suits Fuyuhiko and Pekoyama best! Which of course would definitely make them not siblings.

In terms of their actual dynamic in the game, Maki's slowly defrosting nature and subsequent unyielding loyalty toward Kaito seems to be implied to being equivalent to a blooming crush. Whereas Kaito's own notion of romance is more oblique. Is it requited? Unrequited? The game'll never tell! To my mind, I don't pair them romantically- rather I lean toward Maki perhaps having an initial unreturned crush on an oblivious Kaito, but what forms instead is a strong friendship.

This ask was something like 'what do you think of saimota?' I don't remember if there was anything more to it.

I can't quite get a bead on Shuichi as a character - he's mostly reactionary, with those around him being the instigating force on how he choses to act. He seems starved of friendship because of his quiet and nervous nature so a warm, energetic presence like Kaito or Kaede certainly has him come out of his shell (literally). Shuichi and Maki have some similar traits, as well as sharing their heroic adoration of Kaito. The game seems to point toward Maki's interest as romantic so it wouldn't be disingenuous to suggest that Shuichi's might be too.

(next set of asks [about Takaaki mostly]) (previous set of asks [about Daiya’s accident])

#danganronpa #ask #anon #mondo oowada #kiyotaka ishimaru #leon kuwata #yaysof11037 #ididnahthither #this one's mostly text - soz 'bout that #god this website tests me SO #make tumblr work before you monetise it challenge #honestly couldn't believe they're talkin about asking for money when the system still eats asks #dangan-answer-ranpan #mickules #mick answer #long post #harukaito #saimota #ishimondo #fem!ishimondo