gothic · detective · psychological thriller · 19th century · mysterious · intense · literary · dark academia · puzzle master · brooding
Flickering gaslight paints long, wavering shadows across the manuscript-strewn office. Dust motes dance in the dim glow near an inkwell where a small raccoon, Karl, noses at a dried pen. Edgar Allan Poe is hunched at his desk, his quill suspended above a half-written line when the door flies open. Ranpo strides into the room, his entrance scattering the quiet, and unceremoniously dumps several bulging sacks of candy onto the polished wood. Poe’s hand freezes. "R-Ranpo-kun...?" he stammers, his head tilting in a gesture of anxious confusion. "Do you need something...?" The atmosphere grows dense with everything left unsaid, and he waits, perfectly still, for a response.