How Does Our Crooked Hearts End?

If you’re hunting down wild theories about 'The Crooked Path', I can point you to the usual treasure troves and a few cozy corners I lurk in. I usually start on Reddit — not just r/fantheories but smaller niche subs that crop up around big books and series. Search for the title in quotes or look for a dedicated subreddit like r/TheCrookedPath (if it exists) and sort by ‘top’ and ‘new’ to catch both polished theories and fresh takes. I also love digging through Fandom wikis for compiled lore; dedicated pages often have sections for speculation and an edit history that reveals how community consensus shifts. Beyond those, Tumblr and X (Twitter) are surprisingly rich if you follow the right tags — try #TheCrookedPath, #CrookedPathTheory, or even character-specific tags. YouTube is great for long-form breakdowns; creators often timestamp arguments and link sources in descriptions, which makes verifying claims much easier. Don’t forget Goodreads discussion threads and author Q&A pages; fans there sometimes collect every line that might hint at larger patterns. For a deeper dive, fan podcasts and blog essays on Medium or Substack can offer sustained, evidence-heavy theories. My personal routine: I save standout posts to an Evernote folder, screenshot stray quotes from interviews, and cross-reference with the wiki. I also join a couple of Discord servers where people live-chat about snippets — it’s fast, chaotic, and excellent for brainstorming. It’s addictive to watch a small speculation evolve into a full-blown theory, and I always end up with a new favorite headcanon by the end of the week.

You know how sometimes a title pops up in a conversation or on a bookstore shelf and it sticks with you? That happened with 'barbed wire hearts' for me, so I tried to pin down who wrote it. After digging through my usual haunts—Goodreads, WorldCat, and a few indie bookstore catalogs—I couldn't find a single, widely recognized novelist attached to that exact title. What I did find were a handful of indie or self-published pieces and short works that either use the same phrase or a close variation, which makes sense because evocative phrases like that get reused a lot in fan fiction, indie romance, and small-press horror. Titles can be slippery: some are self-published with limited distribution and low metadata visibility, so they don’t always show up in big library systems. If you’re trying to track a specific edition of 'barbed wire hearts', the best bet is to look for an ISBN, check the seller listing on Amazon or a used-book site, or search directly on Goodreads where indie authors sometimes list works under pen names. Library catalogs (WorldCat) and the Library of Congress can help if it was picked up by a recognized publisher. Personally, I love these little mysteries—there’s something thrilling about turning over a less-known title and finding a hidden author. If I stumble on the exact byline in my future dives, I’ll definitely be excited to share the find.

I get a little giddy thinking about cursed objects, and cursed hearts are such a favorite trope of mine because they show how love, guilt, and magic can get tangled. If you’re asking about novels where a 'black heart'—literal or figurative—drives the plot, the classic place to start is 'The Picture of Dorian Gray'. Wilde doesn’t hand you a literal black organ, but the portrait functions exactly like one: it absorbs Dorian’s moral rot and becomes the repository of a corrupted self, which reads like a cursed heart in narrative form. From there, I jump between literary and genre picks. 'Heart of Darkness' doesn’t have an enchanted talisman, but Conrad’s exploration of moral decay treats the human heart as a site of blackness and curse. Toni Morrison’s 'Beloved' is another heavy, eerie example: trauma, memory, and the past conspire to make the heart a haunted, darkened place that haunts characters and community. On the YA/fantasy side, 'Heartless' by Marissa Meyer uses the idea of heart—romantic and symbolic—as a kind of curse that shapes a ruler’s fate. These aren’t all literal black hearts, but they all put a corrupted heart (souls, portraits, hauntings) at the center. If you prefer something explicitly physical—a mummified heart, an enchanted organ, a talisman labeled as a 'black heart'—you’ll mostly find those in darker fantasy, gothic romances, and folk-horror novels or novellas; indie fantasy and urban fantasy authors love crafting that object as a cursed MacGuffin. Personally, I love how authors take the heart—so intimate and visceral—and turn it into a moral or magical fulcrum; it’s dramatic, terrible, and oddly beautiful.

One cover that absolutely blew me away was by a YouTuber named Clara Mae—her voice has this fragile, breathy quality that turns 'Jar of Hearts' into something even more haunting. She stripped back the instrumentals to just a piano, and the way she lingered on the line 'you’re gonna catch a cold from the ice inside your soul' gave me chills. Another standout is the duet version by Boyce Avenue and Hannah Trigwell. Their harmonies add layers of emotion, especially in the chorus where their voices twist around each other like vines. It’s less about Perri’s original anger and more about shared pain, which feels refreshing. I also stumbled upon a rock cover by Fame on Fire that transforms the song into this angsty, guitar-driven anthem. It’s wild how the same lyrics hit differently when screamed over distorted chords—suddenly, it’s a stadium-worthy breakup rage.

I've always loved the little phrases that stick in your head like a song hook, and 'crooked smile' is one of those—simple, vivid, and full of implication. Tracing an exact origin is like trying to catch a particular leaf in a river: the words 'crooked' and 'smile' are both old English roots that have been around for centuries, and at some point writers began to pair them because the image is so useful. The compound itself shows up reliably in nineteenth-century prose and poetry, especially in the lush, character-focused scenes of Victorian and Gothic fiction where a physical trait signals inner twist or cunning. When I dig through digitized books and old newspapers (I do this for fun on rainy afternoons), I see the phrase cropping up in serialized novels, melodramas, and reviews. It became a kind of shorthand: a 'crooked smile' could hint at a slyness, a moral bent, a past injury, or simply an unsettling charm. Later, in twentieth-century noir and pulp, that same phrase was recycled to paint femme fatales or shady confidants; in comics and film, the visual of a lopsided grin evolved further—think of how characters with a skewed grin read as untrustworthy or dangerous in 'Batman' lore. So, there isn't a single pinpointable first instance to crown as the birthplace. Instead, it's more accurate to say the phrase emerged naturally from long-standing words and became a trope across genres from Victorian novels to modern graphic fiction. I love that it carries so much subtext in two tiny words—makes me notice smiles in books and on screens with new curiosity.

I can't help grinning when I think about how much fun a crooked smile can add to a character — it’s one of my favorite little details to play with when doing cosplay or spooky makeup. The trick is to trick the eye: pick a dominant corner of the mouth and commit. Start by mapping it with a light brow pencil or a tiny dot of concealer so you know where the asymmetry will sit when you move your face. Use a long, thin lip brush and a matte lip liner to overdraw one corner slightly higher or lower than the other; keep the line soft, feathering it out so it looks natural rather than drawn-on. Depth makes the crooked look believable. Darken the corner with a tiny amount of neutral brown or deeper red where the lip meets skin, then blend outward to create a shadow under the overdrawn corner. Add a faint vertical crease at the corner’s edge — I use a tiny angled brush and a cream contour for that. If the teeth show in your crooked grin, paint small irregularities with a thin white/ivory base and a tiny stipple of gray or warm brown to suggest gaps or unevenness. For a chipped tooth effect, dental wax shaped and painted with acrylic-safe paints is a lifesaver; stick it with skin-safe adhesive and blend edges with foundation. Practical bits: always patch-test adhesives, set cream products with translucent powder to avoid smudging, and keep cotton swabs and a small brush for retouches. I learned the hard way at a convention, mid-photo, that camera flash loves to flatten subtle shading — so go a touch stronger than you think for photos. Most of all, practice the facial movement; the best crooked smiles look convincing when you talk or laugh, not just when you pose. It’s a tiny detail that can turn a costume from good to memorably eerie or charming, depending on your vibe.

There’s a lot of buzz in the corners I lurk in, but I haven’t seen any official confirmation that a movie adaptation of 'Loving Hearts' is actually in the works. I keep checking the publisher’s feed, the author’s social account, and the usual news outlets because that’s my guilty pleasure now—refreshing a page late at night like it’s a drop for concert tickets. Fans have been speculating about either an animated film or a live-action drama, and those theories usually come from vague agent notices or a sudden uptick in casting rumors, which aren’t reliable until a studio posts a trailer. That said, the adaptation landscape is weirdly encouraging: properties with strong emotional cores and a dedicated fanbase get picked up more often these days. Remember how 'Your Name' and 'Kimi ni Todoke' made the jump in different directions? If 'Loving Hearts' has steady sales and viral fan art, it’s not crazy to imagine a studio taking interest. If you want real-time updates, follow the manga’s publisher, the author, and the major industry outlets; they’ll post the first legit notices. I also keep a little folder of credible leaks vs. trash rumors so I don’t get my hopes crushed every time someone posts a blurry selfie of an actor and tags it with the title. Honestly, I hope they do something that respects the pacing and the emotional beats—no one wants a rushed adaptation that ruins the slow-burn chemistry. If anything comes through, I’ll be camped online with popcorn and a thread-ready reaction. Until then, I’m re-reading the chapters and joining rumour threads for the company.

My wallet and I have had a love-hate relationship ever since I found the official 'Loving Hearts' shop online—true confession: I impulse-bought a hoodie during a midnight restock and it still feels like the best purchase. If you want the genuine stuff, start with the official source: the 'Loving Hearts' website or its shop link in their bio on social platforms. Official stores will usually have explicit branding, a verified domain, and clear shipping/return policies. I’ve learned to bookmark the store and sign up for newsletters so I actually hear about drops before half the fandom does. If the official shop is sold out or they don’t ship to your country, look for licensed retailers listed on their site (an official retailer page is a big green flag). Popular platforms sometimes host verified sellers—think of marketplaces with a badge or a link back to the brand’s site. Conventions and pop-up events are golden too: merchandise sold directly at panels, booths, or official pop-ups usually comes with tags or certificates of authenticity. I once snagged a limited enamel pin at a con that never showed up online again, and it still gets complimented on my bag. A few practical tips from my own trial-and-error: check for official logos on product photos, read buyer reviews and seller ratings carefully, and prefer payment methods with buyer protection like PayPal or a card. If in doubt, message the brand’s official social account or Discord—most teams respond and will confirm legit stockists. Happy hunting, and may your collection grow without the sketchy fakes!