#tsundere model

[gothgirlsblogx]

I'm ready for our date at the beach... how do I look?

[kinnoth]

I don't know how to phrase this in an acceptable way so I'm just gonna say it the way it's been rattling around in my head:

Vergil is not the scary twin at this point, yes he is crazy but Dante is fully order of magnitudes crazier

Like Vergil has a low regard for life he considers beneath him but he is also proud, and part of that pride is his code of honour which includes a code of combat and a code of mercy

But Dante fully 👏does 👏 not 👏give 👏 a 👏 shit👏. Like if he has decided you're a threat, he has decided and that is the end of that discussion. He's just going to hunt you down and kill you.

Like I'll fully stand by my interpretation that Vergil actually does not have the disposition to hunt, and would actually make a poor addition to Devil May Cry™ LLC. He is not inclined to pursue people/monsters/things that are not pursuing him, and can't really be persuaded by external motivation. This man has no concept of money and nearly no concept of gratification. And if something is hunting him, he'd much rather wait for it than spend any amount of time or effort seeking it out. Hence every time we encounter him waiting for Dante on the top of something very tall.

Dante! on! the! other! hand! Has been a hunter his entire adult life! And he has lost So Much. Indescribable loss, just constantly, his entire life. So would he pre-empt perceived threat before it could reach him? You bet your ass he would. Would he be primed to perceive threat, be possibly oversensitive to it, would even the passing whisper of the opportunity for another loss to him send him immediately into hunter-killer mode?

You. Bet. Your. Ass.

Anyway, Vergil's about to have a very secure reign in hell, is all.

[leoxtsukinaga]

@lyricofpride

[starcurtain]

Comparing Phaidei and Other Hoyo MLM Ships (Part 2)

<- Part 1 is back that way.

In the first part of this, I laid out some of the ways Phaidei fits within Hoyo's normal pattern for queer-coded MLM ships: They're equals but opposites, perfectly matched; they've ostensibly got a "rivalry" as a cover for their laser focus on each other; their models are deliberately placed closer together in cutscenes than other characters' are, and they're intentionally paralleled to a heterosexual married couple. All of these are traits that other Hoyo MLM pairs also show, a sort of foundational standard for Hoyo's queer-coded MLM ships.

But then Phaidei just took a huge side-step around all of them, and started doing things that Hoyo hasn't done in any of their other recent games. (Tiny aside here: HI3 does wildly different things with its characters; I think that being first published when Hoyo was a more obscure company allowed them to get away with things--like the Bronya/Seele kiss and Welt and Co.'s cross-dressing, for example--that "modern" Hoyo games cannot get away with due to greater levels of public scrutiny.)

I said it in the other post, but it bears repeating:

You really aren't imagining things--Phaidei is actually different.

So I wanted to take a closer look at what was making it feel so unique, by comparing its differences to other popular Hoyo MLM ships.

Here we go:

1. The Feeling's Mutual

There was no heterosexual explanation for this framing.

In Part 1 of this post, I noted that Hoyo has a typical personality pattern they follow when queer-coding their male characters, particularly in using "difficult" personalities to create an artificial sense of distance between the characters. If one character is angry all the time, or tsundere, or using sarcasm to cover for their fear of getting close to others, Hoyo can mobilize that personality gap as a shield to give anti-LGBT+ players plausible deniability. Hell, there are people still out there genuinely convinced that Alhaitham and Kaveh have a toxic relationship. There are people out there saying Ratio despises Aventurine because he was mean to him one (1) time while undercover. That's how effective injecting a little bit of bickering into a queer-coded relationship is.

Hoyoverse is very, very familiar with creating this delicate balance of teasing the ship while feeding anti-LGBT+ players and censors just enough "Look, they don't like each other; they're arguing!" contrary material to avoid setting anyone off.

Which... makes it absolutely bizarre that they made almost no effort to do this with Phainon and Mydei.

Sure, on paper we're told that Phainon and Mydei are rivals. Phainon describes it as "He's both my friend and my foe." And yes, they have their quips (Phainon's "It's exhausting talking to you sometimes" comes to mind).

But animosity--the genuine desire to one-up each other--is completely missing from Mydei and Phainon's "rivalry." They aren't Sasuke and Naruto. They aren't Izuku and Bakugou. They don't actually even want to beat each other--they want to be equals. If you defeat Mydei in the 3.0 competition, Phainon immediately folds and calls the contest off. If you let Mydei win, Mydei immediately folds and declares no contest.

Although Aglaea notes they compete because they're "impulsive youths," what she was actually missing is that Mydei only let himself be goaded into Phainon's hot bath competition because he was worried about Phainon and wanted to take Phainon's mind off the failed trial. Then, immediately after beating Phainon in the hot bath challenge, he lets Phainon win the "take more people home" challenge, to tie up their score again.

In fact, Mydei and Phainon's relationship is so devoid of the actual back-and-forth typical of other Hoyoverse MLM ships that at one point, Phainon even asks for it:

(Though he's equally quick to demand compliments from Mydei too.)

Instead, virtually every line from Phainon and Mydei through both 3.0 and 3.1 reiterates that they care deeply about each other, and are concerned for not only each other's physical well-being but also each other's mental and emotional health. They freely and consistently support each other both on the battlefield and off, confessing their struggles and relying on each other for advice. Whenever they're separated, the game intentionally hammers home how worried they are without the other around.

Over and over and over again, the devs tell you how well Mydei and Phainon know each other and how much effort they're putting in to take care of each other:

The game doesn't let us forget that they are one another's "closest person," and that the respect they have for each other is mutual. Although I wouldn't go so far as to speculate they actually recognize romantic feelings, canon makes it clear that they are aware their emotional connection goes both ways. They don't just value each other's battle prowess, intelligence, or usefulness--they value each other's feelings explicitly, every single time emotions are expressed between them in the game's text.

In fact, Mydei even scolds Phainon for approaching their goodbye with a straight face; he knows that Phainon is hurt by their parting, and he wants Phainon to be honest, as Mydei is being honest in turn:

The rainbows in the background really sold the scene, ngl.

This isn't Renheng, where resentment has taken away any glimmer of joy. This isn't Ratiorine, where even if Aventurine were in a more stable mindset, Ratio's inability to spit out his feelings might keep them from going anywhere. Even with Haikaveh, the Hoyo ship known for Alhaitham's devotion, Kaveh's own struggles and refusal to accept Alhaitham's kindness are an active plot point keeping them from progressing. Maybe you could draw a parallel between Phaidei and Cyno/Tighnari for levels of "mutual," but even then, Cynari interactions are often left off-screen or in the background, for the players to fill in the blanks. On the contrary, Phainon and Mydei's fondness for each other is constantly in our faces.

The devs wanted players to know Phainon and Mydei are invested. We're supposed to see how much they want to be near each other.

More than that, we're supposed to understand just how deeply they trust each other.

Okay, okay, yes, I know this is massive foreshadowing to the inevitable betrayal and tragedy impending (come on, Amphoreus wouldn't qualify as an ancient Greek drama without it!), but I think that a lot of people are missing the key here: By this point in the story, Mydei already knows how he's going to die. He knows someone is going to stab him in the back and finally end his immortal life. When he entrusts Phainon with this secret, he's not trusting Phainon to keep him safe. He's trusting Phainon to do the opposite.

He's telling Phainon: "I want it to be you."

If the prophecy can't be changed and fate is set in stone, then Mydei wants Phainon to be with him in his final moments, to be the one to finally set him free from the "curse" he perceives his own immortality to be. Of course it would be Hoyo who makes "I want to die by yours hands" into a declaration of ultimate trust, but it is an explicit statement of trust, in a way that very few--if any--other modern Hoyoverse MLM ships get to show each other on screen.

Phew, that was a lot!

But I think this is one of the clearest and most defining differences between Phainon and Mydei and other Hoyo MLM ships--the devs took away players' ability to claim they don't get along. You might still be able to call them "just friends" or "brothers in arms," but unlike Alhaitham and Kaveh who fight, Ratiorine who scheme, or Renheng who are actual enemies, Mydei and Phainon explicitly like each other. They trust each other. They seek one another out.

It might seem like a small thing on paper, but this is actually a big thing in practice. Hoyo is pushing the boundary here, reducing the avenues for deniability. It is harder for anti-LGBT+ fans to claim that Phainon and Mydei don't have obvious in-game ship-tease than for virtually any other modern Hoyoverse MLM ship. (By the way, this is why people have resorted to calling Phaidei "industry plant yaoi;" because they can't deny the queer-coding is actually there this time, they instead have to try to de-legitimize the ship in other ways, such as dismissing it as nothing more than bait.)

This also means Hoyo has less of an "out" if people start to really question. It would be harder to explain away Phainon and Mydei's relationship than it would be to explain away even Alhaitham and Kaveh's. Alhaitham and Kaveh have "They're always arguing" and "Their friendship was ruined by their fight" or "They're just roommates," etc. to lean back on. Phainon and Mydei... are really bad at even pretending to be rivals...

All of this to say: Hoyo made a bold and deliberate choice allowing two of their mainstream male characters to be so emotionally close and attentive to each other on screen. They went outside their own current comfort zone for this one, guys.

2. We're Conspicuously Missing a Twink

Moving on from Phaidei's emotional differences, I wanted to talk specifically about Hoyoverse's perspectives on gay men, and how easy it is for companies to slip into not only stereotypes for gay characters, but also extremely heteronormative portrayals of gay relationships. As sad as it is, it is easier to market queer-coded male characters to yaoi fans (who are often--although obviously not always--heterosexual women) if they fit into the expected pattern for heterosexual relationships: a highly masculine man to "wear the pants" in the relationship, paired with a delicate, effeminate man to obviously be the bottom.

Now, don't get me wrong: Gay relationships come in all varieties; people have different preferences, and categorical groups like "twinks" and "bears" exist so people who have those preferences can find each other. Obviously plenty of hyper-masculine (and just masculine-leaning) gay men do want more effeminate partners. Plenty of real guys consider themselves twinks and have great relationships with men ranging all the way up the most masculine dudes you've ever seen. But "masculine man with feminine man" isn't the only kind of gay relationship around, despite the fact that that's what Hoyo's yaoi shiptease might lead you to believe.

(Edit: I can't believe I have to say this, but it seems some portion the HSR fandom cannot read, so apparently I do: Stop using my post in your hunk/twink or hunk/hunk discourse; if you didn't bother to read the paragraph above this in which I word-for-word point out that real gay relationships come in all varieties, including lots of relationships between masculine men and more effeminate men, then that is on you--this post isn't about how "hunk/hunk" is more "real gay" material or "hurr durr twinks bad;" it's about how Hoyo has served up the exact same ship with different clothes on 13 times in a row, with their constant modus operandi being yaoi genre staple tropes in which one character is essentially designated as the bottom and the other as the top specifically using masculine versus feminine coding, because that is what sells to the yaoi fan demographic they are targeting, particularly to heterosexual female yaoi fans, who are predisposed toward heteronormative relationship patterns even in the gay media they consume. The only situation in which hunk/hunk is "more progressive" than hunk/twink is for Hoyo, who clearly have hunk/twink as their comfort zone and only very, very rarely step out of that established pattern. This entire post is about Hoyo's patterns for creating their mlm ships, not about gay rights activism--read the essay in the context of Hoyo's design philosophy or just stop reading here, fucking please.)

I don't want to say that Hoyo's track record on this front is bad, because honestly it's not. Their male characters often have surprisingly complex expressions of gender identity, with interesting blends of masculine and feminine traits. But... Hoyo does have a pattern. Plenty of their queer-coded MLM ships fall into this same general (and kind of stereotypical) profile: a masculine man with a more feminine man. Alhaitham is inexplicably ripped and represents calm rationality, while Kaveh is "the spitting image of his mother," has to wring out his wrists when he uses his own weapon, and represents passion and romanticism. Ayato is the head of his clan; Thoma holds housekeeping classes for Inazuma's other housewives. Xingqiu is the "refined" rich boy in ruffles; Chongyun is the down-to-earth working lad. Wriothesley is the most masculine man in Genshin Impact; Neuvillette mothers the entire race of Melusines. Over in Star Rail, Aventurine covets pink diamonds, bathes himself in sparkling perfume, and is so tiny Ratio's hands can encircle his waist. (I don't actually think Aventurine is that feminine, but trying to pretend that he isn't designed to evoke queer tropes is just silly.) Moze is as ripped as Alhaitham, while Jiaoqiu is... very pink. I'm going to talk more about Renheng in a sec, but Renheng is also this way, with the more "delicate"-looking Imbibitor Lunae to Yingxing/Blade's solid frame.

Mydei and Phainon don't fit this pattern at all. Both of them are as tall as Star Rail models come, and while Mydei's build has an impressive degree of bulk, Phainon is no slouch either:

Neither one of them is visually effeminate in any manner, and they're also not effeminate in personality or role in the story. Neither of them is a housekeeper or a home-maker; (again, poor Aventurine catching strays, but:) neither of them is in the business of blinding people into deals with their good-looks or careful facade of helplessness.

Theoretically we could say the devs tried to squish Mydei into a more heteronormative role by giving him traditionally "feminine" traits: he cooks, he plays house with children, he puts milk in his juice and turns it pink, he's paralleled almost exclusively to his own mother... But his role in the plot is such a quintessentially masculine story (son of a self-fulfilling prophecy, father-killer, god-slaying warrior, king to his people, aura-farming champion of the Amphoreus battle cutscenes, etc.) that clearly we are not meant to perceive him as a stereotypically feminine figure. The whole "malewife Mydei" thing comes across as so comedic because he is so masculine.

Conversely, Phainon, despite being the "gentler" of the two characters, the one who is described as having a soft heart and being outgoing and kind, is even less suited to being called feminine. His "Messiah"-esque role in the story, literally being the "prodigal son" of Amphoreus, paints him as the very picture of a classical male hero. Even more so than Mydei, he is a private and closed off person who hides his heart--and his own identity--from those around him, traits more often stereotypically associated with emotionally-closed-off men than female characters.

Up to this point, Hoyoverse had a relatively stable pattern in the MLM ships they baited in their recent games. They primarily played it safe, sticking to queer-coding relationships that both visually and narratively reflect heteronormative relationships.

But Phaidei once again broke the mold.

This time, Hoyo chose to queer-code not the more delicate-looking man (although I guess there's still plenty of time for Anaxa, I shouldn't sell him shorter than he already is lol), but two overtly masculine male characters, who can't be readily projected on to a stereotypical heterosexual relationship. This was a big departure from Hoyo's norm, and I think this actually deserves a lot more respect than people are giving it. Hoyo didn't have to pick their two muscle-bound warrior male leads and make them close and caring. They didn't have to expose themselves to the obvious question: "Why are two 'manly' characters being so soft on each other?" It is harder to pass off Phainon and Mydei's queer-coding as accidental, or suggest the fans are just reading too much into it, when nothing about them can be mistaken for a "traditional" heteronormative relationship. For a game produced in China, where standards for depicting men and masculinity in media are so high, making the choice to bait two masculine men together (let alone this expansion's "hero," who is an expy of a beloved former character), was a very bold and risky choice on Hoyo's part.

Companies don't make bold and risky choices on accident.

Finally, I wanted to make one more point about why I appreciate Phaidei's emotionally attentive depiction--it's because there's a whole other realm they could have taken the "definitely going to turn into a villain" queer-coded main character. As I mentioned in the first part of this post, queer-coding villains is a trope as old as dirt. When you queer-code a male villain particularly, you add an extra layer to the danger: Now the male villain is not just a physical threat, but a sexual one. Adding queer-coding to the male villain has often, in past media, been used to conflate homosexuality with deviance or perversion and suggests sexual violence even if nothing ever truly occurs.

Maybe the real Hoyoverse queer-coding was the red flower petals we threw along the way.

I said I was going to bring up Renheng, and here it is: Unfortunately, Blade and Dan Heng fall into this latter pattern a bit. Although he has his reasons, the game's portrayal of Blade's "pursuit," especially in the early portion of their story, casts Dan Heng into the role of the victim, a young man being hounded by a crazed stalker who refuses to let him go. Their cutscenes, including Dan Heng's nightmares, paint Blade as an overwhelming presence who invades both Dan Heng's physical space but also his mental space, making it impossible for Dan Heng to escape his clutches. This "We must pay the price together" absolutely reads, out of content anyway, as some sort of yandere death pact. Their lightcone is literally called "Nowhere to Run."

Even though Blade is not deliberately engaging in any form of sexual behavior, his obsession with Dan Heng in their early scenes can give players the impression of a cliched "depraved homosexual," and the implication that sexual violence could occur is present through their early interactions. This isn't on accident; Hoyo was playing with the yandere trope on purpose! I'm not going to lie, part of Renheng's early appeal for many players was how scary and dominating Blade came across as. The subtle sexual implications of pursuit are the point, and if you think Hoyo wasn't capitalizing on the intersection of "sexy" and "dangerous" with Renheng's early interactions, then you're probably a little too pure for this world.

As things progress, of course, we see this dynamic between Renheng dissipate, shifting his narrative from "crazed pursuer for unknown reasons" to "potentially the victim" of their past scenario, an effect which they achieved through the slow drip feed of Yingxing and Dan Feng's backstories. This, I think, speaks to not only a shift in the devs' intentions for Blade and Dan Heng's relationship (there's more to be said here about the Yingxing-Baiheng-Dan Feng mess that is the cut lore, etc.), but also to a shift in the way the devs wanted Blade to be perceived by fans, from a potentially predatory figure to a much less toxic potential love interest.

Anyway, back to Phaidei: We know that Phainon is headed for a downfall. It's been so obviously foreshadowed at this point that there's really nothing much more to say than that--however, even though he will likely also descend into villainy like Blade, and even though we know he's very likely going to kill Mydei... I don't think that the devs will use Phainon's queer-coding as part of his villainous identity. I don't get any sense that the dev team has any intentions of conflating Phainon's potential homosexuality with depravity, or using it as a motive for his descent into villainy (he might be gay and a villain, but he won't be a villain because he is gay). I definitely don't think we will see the kind of sexually-threatening physicality between Flame Reaver and Mydei that the devs did earlier with Blade and Dan Heng, even if "stabbing someone from behind" does have an inherent sort of sexual symbolism.

I appreciate that even in a story headed for the obvious "stabbed in the back by the villain form of the man I loved," the devs seem like they have moved on from falling into the pitfall (accidentally or intentionally, to sell yandere tropes) of portraying of gay men as predatory.

3. Leave Room for the Trailblazer

In part 1 of this post, I mentioned that Hoyo uses the placements of characters in scenes to indicate closeness, and I already pointed out that Mydei and Phainon stand really... really... close together, much closer than they stand to other characters.

However, it's not just that their models are literally positioned closer together in cutscenes--it's that their body language explicitly closes other characters out. Plenty of Hoyoverse MLM ships are ship-baited by moving the models of the male characters closer together, but very, very few of them are positioned to so consistently exclude even the player.

For comparison, consider the well-known scene where Alhaitham brings the Traveler and Paimon to his and Kaveh's house, which was framed with both domesticity and intimacy:

Although Alhaitham and Kaveh are also prone to the "stand shoulder-to-shoulder" thing that Hoyo does when they want to imply closeness between characters, the framing of their scenes nevertheless leave enough space for the Traveler and Paimon to be active participants in the conversation, enough space between Alhaitham and Kaveh for Traveler to not look blocked out.

For example, despite standing next to each other in that moment above, the camera deliberately cuts Alhaitham out, so that only Kaveh and the Traveler duo occupy the shot. Later on, Alhaitham bridges the divide between the Traveler and Kaveh, turning away from Kaveh toward the Traveler--once again, the conversation and scene are open to the Traveler, and thus, to the player.

Here's a live demonstration of my earlier point: Alhaitham and Kaveh stand closer together than the player and Candace, indicating their closer connection.

Other scenes play out similarly--although Alhaitham and Kaveh are close, their body language doesn't actively exclude other characters or the player from feeling like part of their conversations.

Over in Star Rail, we see the same general situation. We know that Aventurine rarely stands close to other characters, with Ratio being the one relatively consistent exception, but even so, the camera will usually give them some breathing room, making it feel like there's enough space for the player on the other side of the screen to be part of the moment:

Meanwhile Blade excludes both Dan Heng and the player, putting us on equal footing to Dan Heng and giving the impression that the player and Dan Heng are standing against Blade together. There is still room for "us" in this scene.

However, once again, Phaidei proves the exception. Mydei and Phainon don't just stand close--they don't even want to share air with anyone but each other.

A very normal way to have a group conversation. Definitely.

Consistently when standing side-by-side, they turn inward to face each other, rather than facing other characters in the conversation, literally forming a closed unit despite the fact that they're supposed to be in a group scene:

The thirdest third wheel to ever third wheel.

If it wasn't enough for the devs to just imply that the Trailblazer isn't able to break through Mydei and Phainon's circle, they decided to call it out in the text itself, echoing the player's own thoughts: "What about me?"

As I mentioned in the first part of the post, the devs also consistently use specific camera angles to capture both Mydei and Phainon in the frame together, at the same time, further emphasizing the closed nature of their conversations.

You will never see so many over-the-shoulder shots again in your life. You are the outsider looking in!

Perhaps most telling about the devs' intention to create an intimate air for Phainon and Mydei's conversations is that literally everyone else disappears when they speak to each other. For example, Phainon and Mydei's first goodbye takes place in the Garden of Life, which is actually a pretty bustling plaza with numerous NPCs. But every single NPC was deliberately removed by the dev team for Mydei and Phainon's scene there, to allow them a private moment:

Even in their final farewell, where Mydei was seen off by a literal bustling crowd of NPCs, not a single person is visible during their goodbyes--until the exact moment Mydei reminds Phainon that the whole rest of the world is waiting for him. The whole rest of the world didn't even exist for Phainon until Mydei forced him to remember.

It's not just the Trailblazer (and us, the player) who is third wheeling Mydei and Phainon's relationship. They literally exist in a world of their own when they speak to each other. No other modern Hoyoverse ship is on this level of excluding even the player--excluding even the damn NPCs!--to make a point about their closeness.

I thought I was going crazy the first time I was watching these scenes, thinking "It can't be that the devs actually went that far in framing Mydei and Phainon as a pair." But they did. They actually did.

The envelope has been pushed off a mountain, my guys.

But that still wasn't enough for the devs. They needed to go further.

4. Deploy Shoujo Manga Trope #57

I know I just said that Phainon and Mydei's relationship doesn't map well a typical heteronormative male/female relationship, but that doesn't mean the devs gave up on any and all attempts to apply typical romantic cliches to Phaidei. On the contrary, the dev team's thought process seems to have been "Hey, we're doubling-down on our queer-coding for Phainon and Mydei. How can we make it really, really, really obvious they're a ship?" And then they literally spun a roulette wheel of romantic tropes and threw every single one of them at patch 3.1 at the same time.

We have the "romantic lead beautifully framed by red rose petals blood glitter":

The "You used my love to manipulate me" subplot:

Phainon begs for compliments, and Mydei's reaction is to look away demurely and call him a scoundrel?? Am I seeing things?!

This is where he'd be blushing like a tomato if he was a female character.

The "please look after my dear husband when I'm gone" tragedy trope:

THE RING???

"LET'S MEET AGAIN IN THE NEXT LIFE"?!!

What do I even say about all... this...? Do I even need to say anything at all? Has any MLM ship in a recent Hoyoverse game gotten remotely as many romance flags? Alhaitham, where is Kaveh's ring?!

What I actually want to say isn't a specific breakdown of any of these moments, but what they mean in totality. Remember that Hoyo made every one of these choices with deliberate intent. They knew what the picture would add up to. These are explicitly romantic tropes that are extremely difficult to interpret in other lights.

You are supposed to read "If there's a chance in the next life" as "I want to be reincarnated with you; I want to meet you again; I want to be with you in a softer world."

You're supposed to think of the ring as a wedding ring. For one, Gorgo would only have gotten it through her marriage to Eurypon, but even more so--there was no reason this item needed to be a ring in the first place except to evoke images of wedding rings. We already knew from 3.0 that Castrum Kremnos used crests and seals for identification. Why make it a ring and not just the crest of Castrum Kremnos? Furthermore, why involve Phainon at all? The audience would never have known any different if Chartonus just said "Found this I did, have it you should, Mydei." It's a ring and it's a ring deliberately from Phainon because the devs want you to see it as a wedding ring.

What an incredibly bold move on Hoyo's part, and I don't even really mean just in the context of being a Chinese company, but even in the context of being a global company. Hoyo lives and dies by the revenue of their character banners, and choosing to explicitly and (nearly) exclusively apply romantic tropes to their male lead and deuteragonist in a brand-new patch cycle was a legitimately daring choice. Their deliberate application of romantic staples to an MLM ship, in a way that is difficult even for anti-LGBT+ fans to write off, was a very, very calculated decision. I genuinely hope it pays off for them. I hope Mydei and Phainon's banners both sell well, so the devs' receive a clear message in turn that fans appreciated their boldness and their commitment to creating queer content for these two characters.

I'm just going to end on one final note, about a scene that you may have noticed I conveniently skipped. Yes, the most conspicuous scene of them all:

5. A+ Censor Dodging

By some miracle of obliviousness, some Olympic-level mental gymnastics, or by sheer force of will, I think some people might still have made it to this point thinking that Phaidei was not being deliberately baited by the devs. You could maybe, somehow, convince yourself that the blood glitter rose petals and the shoulder-to-shoulder emotional conversations were just coincidences, that the tsundere "I'm not worried about him" was just dudes being tough guys, that the Trailblazer was a third wheel because Phainon and Mydei are "just good friends."

But then devs said "No, we need to be unmistakable. We need to make ourselves 1000% clear. We are baiting the yaoi fangirls, guys; please stop ignoring our hard work."

If going further than they've ever gone with Mydei and Phainon's body language wasn't enough, if Phainon's being willing to kill a god to save his man wasn't enough, if implying a wedding ring wasn't enough, what else could the devs possibly do to remove all plausible deniability and make it undeniably clear that Mydei and Phainon are queer characters (even if it is only for the benefit of yaoi fangirls)?

They can do something they've never done in their recent games before: Imply actual sex between male characters.

(Side note, Hoyo lesbians have had this implied sexual content pass from the beginning. You will always be famous, Beiguang. It's only the male characters that can't even have implied sex. 😂)

Obviously Phainon and Mydei are not having sex in the game. The dialogue even goes out of its way afterward to remind us that they remained fully clothed in that bath, thank you. But the refusal to show what was actually happening--censorship used as a tool to imply--the cut to the black screen, the narration of one animal pursuing another, the discretionary water droplets between the moaning... (And another little edit because @mynabirb made such a good point in the tags: The fact that they chose to "censor" this with a butterfly, the literal symbol of romance in Amphoreus, is almost too much. The devs really did say "Time to silence all doubts.")

From the player's perspective--and examining this as a choice on the dev team's part--there is no way to read this scene other than "sexually suggestive." You're supposed to think "This sounds incredibly sus." Because it is sus. Because the devs added this scene knowing that it would intentionally make people think about the idea of Phainon and Mydei having sex.

Sure, this scene is really funny in context. You're supposed to come out of it laughing, going "Wow, they're idiots." But you will also, whether you like it or not, come out of this thinking "Damn, Hoyo really went all in on the yaoi bait, didn't they?"

You can't "Devs didn't mean it" out of this one.

Which is brave as hell on Hoyo's part, to be honest! Even if this is nothing but queer-baiting, they saw that sick yaoi fan money and decided to go all in on it.

Say it with me: A dev team from a country with notoriously strict rules against depictions of homosexuality in media, from a company with a huge global fanbase including many conservative and religious countries, and with a majority male target audience, went out of their way to undeniably include sexually suggestive gay content in their game.

Whatever their motivation--be it simply money or from a genuine desire to tell gay stories--this wasn't a casual decision. This took commitment. This decision almost certainly went all the way to the top brass of the team for clearance. Someone probably had to fight to get this added.

But they did it, and not with Kaveh and Alhaitham (the previously undisputed kings of current Hoyoverse queer-coding) but with two brand-new (to Star Rail at least) characters who have extremely important roles in the game's on-going narrative--major characters who can't be overlooked.

Phaidei is literally built different.

But I'm still left with one lingering question:

Is Hoyo queer-coding or just queer-baiting?

Even though I played 3.1 in a sort of stupefied haze because I actually couldn't believe what I was seeing in Phainon and Mydei's scenes, I also ended it with a pretty bittersweet feeling.

How amazing that Hoyo pushed the envelope so far with Phaidei... But at what cost?

Did Mydei really have to leave Okhema never to return? Or is he being banished from the plot because his relationship with Phainon was too intense?

Isn't this just the "bury your gays" trope, in essence?

Lore-wise, there isn't any reason Mydei actually has to leave Okhema forever. Sure, he presumably is going to fight the Black Tide where it manifests across Amphoreus, but what about that requires him to "never return"? Demigods aren't geographically bound to the locations their Titans blessed, or Aglaea and Anaxa wouldn't be able to leave the Grove. There shouldn't be any reason Mydei can't visit Okhema when he wants.

The more you think about it, the worse it looks that the dev team implied Phaidei harder than they've ever implied an MLM ship before, only to immediately turn around and go "And then Mydei left forever." As if the only way it's okay to make characters that gay is if you then get rid of at least one of them. (Speaking humorously, at the rate Phainon and Mydei were going, if the devs didn't get rid of Mydei, he and Phainon probably would have been making out on-screen by 3.2, but you know what I mean.)

Sure Phaidei can be the MLM Star Rail ship with the most support in canon--but only at the cost of never being seen together again, apparently.

I'm not sure I like this trade off.

However, I am telling myself to remain cautiously optimistic. We know that Mydei's role in the story is not done, and that he and Phainon are destined for at least one more reunion, even if it won't be a happy one. We've been told that Amphoreus's story will be "heart-warming." I choose to believe that the devs will try to scrabble some sort of positive ending out of all this. At the very least, perhaps we'll end with a "in another life montage," and get to see Phainon and Mydei finally meeting in that library.

So is Hoyo queer-coding from a genuine desire to include gay characters or just baiting hard to sell Mydei to fangirls?

I'd say let's wait and see. Amphoreus has barely started cooking.

In the meantime, I think it is worth examining (and appreciating) Hoyo's willingness to mix up their own patterns, break their own trends, and to try something truly new and different with Phaidei. Even if this is all the content we ever get, Hoyoverse did things they haven't done before in any of their recent games, and showed that they're willing to push the limits for queer content in order to tell the stories they really want to tell.

I am a served fan, Hoyo. Well played, well played.

[saerotonins]

actor!yuuji & actor!sukuna headcanons

ft. itadori yuuji and ryomen sukuna 

content warnings: fluff, itadori twins au, overall cuteness, implied x reader (separated), jjk manga spoilers, characters are aged up to 20+

wc: 2.3k (jesus christ lol)

note: i miss my little actors so much lol. also, i think this is a bit too long, my bad 😭

jjk actor au masterlist

as twin actors:

believe it or not, jjk is like one of the roles that had them cast together 

both of them usually like to play different roles in different shows because they just don't want to be known as each other's twins

love that for them, they're so real for that

but when they were cast, they accepted it since the script and plot were interesting 

yuuji is a sweetheart inside out and sukuna is the quieter one between the two, sukuna is soft for his brother though so don't get fooled by his tough persona

yes, he is the older twin LOL and always holds it against yuuji just to be petty

"dude can you get me that can of soda?""why are you ordering your older brother around? have some shame"

yuuji just rolls his eyes but before he gets up and get it himself, sukuna will wordlessly stands up and does it anyway

checks on yuuji whenever he does intense fight scenes

both of them do the stunt themselves since they ate both so physically active

education wise, yuuji graduated as a marketing major and sukuna has a degree in physical therapy 

which explains why him and his brother always practice fight scenes together and he helps yuuji with his stance and warm ups!

it's adorable really and he's so tsundere about it too

"no not like that, put your legs this way dumbass" like that typa stuff

sukuna started off as a model but was later on casted because casting agencies thought he has that great villain face

yuuji started off as a side character and really likes acting (he is the theatre kid between the two and sukuna is the quiz bee kid, their mom is BOOKED and busy) and later on recognized because he's just THAT good

yuuji is usually a romance lead or 2nd lead and a slice-of-life guy so when fans found out he will be in an action show, they are excited!

sukuna on the other hand has been casted as a tsundere in romance shows, sometimes a bully and an antagonist in action shows, but a villain that is literally so powerful??? that is so new so his fans are anticipating 

both of them usually arrive on the set together (sukuna is the one driving btw and yuuji just sleeps during the trip)

yuuji prepares both of their bento boxes btw

sukuna loves it

he can cook, but that's it LMAO

he won't admit it but yuuji is the better cook

lowkey a picky eater so yeah

ACTOR!SUKUNA HEADCANONS:

sukuna is the intimidating one (obv) so when him and the other casts first met + the first few readings, it was sooo awkward 

turns out he's lowkey a goofy guy

has fun with his costars and helps them with fight scenes too, gotta put that physical therapy degree into good use

both him and nanami have this silent bond because whenever they're together they just don't talk and bask in the silence as they sit, they just peace amidst their crazy schedule

also an avid toji fan so when this guy found out he's in the same show with his idol he's almost shitting bricks

let out a really loud cheer when he found out and only yuuji knew about it LOL

has a deep-rooted respect towards him and it's sooo obvious whenever toji is around

he is such a fucking fangirl

he just thinks he's so badass and feels so honored to be casted in the same show as him

feels bad that he has to beat up almost everyone 😭 he is also a sweetheart deep inside

deep inside, he's such a caring and protective brother for yuuji because even though he doesn't have any scenes to be filmed, he still joins him on set whenever time allows him

he may not show it but he's sometimes lowkey terrified about fans tearing him up into shreds whenever he kills their favorite character 

imagine sukuna dripping big sweats by the time THAT episode with [redacted] aired oh my GOD he was so fucking nervous considering their fanbase is so big

yuuji has never seen his brother THIS nervous before and he's enjoying it

luckily though, not much hate happened and most of the time it's just memes and playful banter

his ass is barely on social media LOL

in the years of his instagram existing he only has like 90+ posts or even below 😭 usually it's just promotion, being an ambassador, magazine shoots— very lowkey 

doesn't have much digital footprint and i love that for him

whenever he posts, his fans are EATING IT UP since it happens every once in a blue moon lmfao

ACTOR!SUKUNA AS YOUR PARTNER:

as tough as he looks, he actually can be quite clingy, just behind closed doors though

lowkey feels bad when he has to beat up children (LMAO) and his co-actors and asks for cuddles from you for comfort

it's actually kind of adorable 

sometimes if his schedule doesn't allow him to have time to visit you, you'll get messages like "babe i just beat up megumi :(" 

since he's not active on social media, he knows some stuff online through you or yuuji

kind of a sad reason why he doesn't go online as much is because as tough as he looks, he's just a guy scared of the hate he's going to have just because he plays a villain or antagonist most of the time

he knows it's not his fault, he just knows that some people just don't know how to separate reality from acting

especially when that scene where he had to off a certain jujutsu sorcerer actor with a huge fanbase

oh boy was he so fucking scared and ran into your arms for comfort :(

he's a softie deep inside ok

when they have to go out of town or even overseas to film, he gets incredibly homesick and misses you so much 

expect a lot of "i miss you" messages, including selfies and candid pictures that he took around the set to

practicing his lines with you is close to impossible, this guy gets all blushy and shit because you're in front of him

and since most of his lines are mean as hell, he just doesn't want to be mean to you

he wants to impress you so bad but when you're around he just becomes a little high school boy with a big crush LMAO

he's such a sweetheart deep inside oh my god

when he decides he wants to post a new photo in his ig, you're the first and only person he'll ask for opinions

so this just means that most, if not all of his posts were handpicked by you

wears your matching stuff like accessories on set and gets sad when he has to take it off while filming

when he learned that his character would have face tattoos, the first thing he did was come home to you with his face makeup on (he had to ask his makeup artist to let it stay) and imitate it on your face

i have this headcanon that sukuna knows how to draw (and is very good at it) so it takes almost no effort to draw the tattoos on your face

you two then have a mini photoshoot (aka just taking a lot of selfies) with the both of you with sukuna marks on the face

it looks so cute that he made it his lock screen

he's lowkey such a sap don't let the character he's playing fool you

ACTOR!YUUJI HEADCANONS:

THE MAN THE MYTH THE BABY

he is literally a sunshine in or out of acting

so polite and so kind it's hard to hate him (not that he is even worth hating on)

so naturally, everyone on set loves to work with him!

unlike his brother, before acting, he doesn't really know a lot of fighting stance (he's a marketing major ffs lol) BUT ever since he was casted, he doubled up on his working out routine with the help of sukuna

even invested his time learning boxing which later on paid soooo much

can literally make everyone on set "aww" whenever his script requires him so cry or even witness a gruesome death scene *cough* nanami and nobara *cough*

during breaks, him and nobara do tiktok challenges and even those kpop challenges all the time and the crew enjoys watching them do it and the fans like it too

he does it too with choso and todo

this guy literally has 3 older brothers who are protective of him it's so cute

this man is so talented, he can cook, sing, dance, act, and is pretty smart too during his university days, it's so hard not to be in love with him

the greenest of the green flags (just like nanamin!) the girls the guys the folks LOVE him so much, literally the standard 

just like sukuna, he was fangirling so hard when he found out he's going to be in the same drama with THE nanami kento

he's such a big big BIG fan 

has a fan account of him on twitter that is pretty popular but you didn't hear that from me

it's so cute when they're together because they're literally THE father and son duo EVER

has the time of his life whenever he visits nanami and his wife's house and just chill there, sometimes brings his first-year trio besties too (both nanami and his wife don't mind at all)

aside from sukuna, he sometimes practices fight scenes with nanami too!

he is so active on social media 😭 interacts with as many fans as he can and posts all the time on ig and twitter 

has a lot of cute interactions with fans too

by extension, his account is sukuna's behind the scene account LOL

since his brother doesn't post a lot, sukuna's fans tune in to his posts and stories of sukuna behind the scenes or even just some pictures of him that he doesn't post

some of it are just pics of the brothers chilling or going out

yuuji is literally the sukuna fan's saint because of the amount of sukuna content he's giving them LOL

ok but don't get fooled by yuuji's sunshine personality, because he knows how to bite too

whenever he saw hate tweets his brother is getting for playing a villain, he is quick to respond and defend his brother

lowkey a nightmare for the PR team but they know where he's coming from

and despite sukuna telling him to just ignore it, he appreciates his little brother more than anything 

ACTOR!YUUJI AS YOUR PARTNER:

one word: ANGEL

he's literally so lover coded oh my goodness

leaves you some post-it notes on the fridge every single day before he leaves to film

if the trip goes on for days he will leave at least three long love letters for you to read when you miss him and he's busy

creates personal vlogs JUST FOR YOU so if the both of you can't facetime, you'll still know what he is up to

when he was contacted to be the main character of the show, he confided in you whether or not he should accept the offer

don't get him wrong, he is beyond grateful the people think he's capable enough to be the main lead but it makes him nervous 

this is his first main character role and the pressure of it all is heavy on his shoulders 

he asked for his brother's opinion too but he trusts you enough to talk about his feelings regarding this

of course, when you said that you'll be there with him in every step and support him all the time and do everything to keep the communication between the two of you going despite his soon-to-be hectic schedule, his heart is finally set on accepting the role

you are so proud of him! your baby finally getting the recognition he deserves? hell yeah

his busy schedule was never a barrier between the two of you, yuuji never forgets to update and call you whenever his time permits and he always appreciates every cheer you have given him

type of actor boyfie to show you off his social media platform!

he posts your dates and even hangouts with each other

his fans find it quite adorable and is in love with your whole relationship 

likes to do those couple tiktok challenges with you and post them online, you guys even have shippers lol

of course, if you're the lowkey type, yuuji would respect that and will only include you in his online shenanigans when you feel like it or allow him to post it

practicing lines with you is always exciting but never productive LOL

you both just end up giggling and laughing 

in the end you just both opt to cuddle instead (or even make our LMFAO)

yuuji just feels so lucky to have his ever-supporting partner along the way

[screamofdespair]

池田理代子 Riyoko Ikeda Interview About Oniisama E... (2016)

池田理代子 Riyoko Ikeda

Mangaka and Vocal artist, she began drawing mangas during her university studies, and her work The Rose of Versailles, serialized in 1972, became a huge success, even turning into a social phenomenon. She became highly appreciated internationally. She received the Excellence Award from the Japanese Cartoonists Association for Orpheus no Mado in 1980. The French government decorated her with the Légion d’Honneur for her contributions to spreading French history and culture in Japan.

What led to the creation of Oniisama E... ?

When the serialization of The Rose of Versailles ended, I had already decided that my next work would be a historical epic : Orpheus no Mado. But since it would take time to prepare for the historical research and start drawing it, I thought I could write something in the meantime (laughs). I feel a bit apologetic calling it just a filler, though, but actually, "Oniisama E..." was born from my own personal experiences. It’s a very important and cherished memory for me, and it just came rushing out all at once.

So, was your correspondence with the "Oniisama" also based on your own experience ?

When I was in my third year of middle school, just like Nanako, there was a preparatory course offered by university students from the University of Tokyo. I asked the graduate student who was in charge of social studies (the model for Takehiko Henmi) the same thing Nanako did: "Could you be my 'Oniisama'?" (laughs). I was deeply fascinated by the concept of an 'Oniisama" It's different from the idea of love, though. Through our letters, I learned a lot about history, religion, and various things. When I mentioned my interest in Christianity, he wrote me, "Christianity, as it is called, not only « participated » in the WW2 but was also one of its central protagonists : This is a historical truth.." I learned so much from those letters and grew a lot. I even went to the University of Tokyo’s May Festival. Actually, the "Oniisama" always had someone with him, like the omiki sake bottle. That person was the model for Takashi Ichinomiya. He was a person with a thin and delicate appearance, giving the impression of a young master from a wealthy family.

What were you like back then (during your school years) ?

I was really bad at sports, but for some reason, I was quite popular with the girls during my middle and high school years. In middle school, which was co-ed, I had good grades, had a very tanned skin, was tall, and completely lacked femininity, maybe that’s why (laughs). Even in high school, younger students would write me letters. After graduating, I found out that knowing someone like 'Ikeda-san' was really a source of pride for them.

Did you have the storyline planned out from the beginning of the serialization to the ending ?

It was more like ideas came to me as I was drawing. I don’t clearly remember if I had planned everything out until the end, but let’s say I had set certain elements in advance. For example, the idea that Kaoru and Henmi would be a couple came to me along the way (laughs). Even for The Rose of Versailles, I hadn’t decided from the start that Oscar and André would end up together. Of course, there are aspects I plan carefully, but in the end, the characters started acting on their own. And when that happens, I feel like the story is "successful."

Nanako is a very emotional girl, but also extremely determined. As for Mariko, she seems to embody the 'tsundere' archetype to some extent.

Nanako is very similar to Rosalie, isn’t she? Devoted, but in the end, she’s the strongest (laughs). For Mariko, there was a real-life model: a friend whose father wrote erotic novels. I gradually incorporated various elements from the people around me. I think many aspects are direct projections. Even the way Kaoru speaks, that’s really how we used to talk back then. We would say things like “Omae-san” (laughs). Oniisama E... reflects a lot of memories and episodes from my student life.

Oniisama E... is a short story, so its general recognition is low, but it has quite a passionate fanbase.

There are many men who tell me, "I'm a fan!". Recently, it's no longer embarrassing for men to enjoy shoujo manga. During autograph sessions, quite a few people enthusiastically tell me, "I love this work!" Some even say, "Oniisama E... is really my favorite!" When I hear that, I can't help but think, "Well, here's a true connoisseur!" (laughs). Of course, there are also many women among the fans. In that regard, I think Oniisama E... has nothing to envy from The Rose of Versailles.

And then, in 1991, it was adapted into an anime.

Actually, I was very busy at the time, so I wasn’t able to watch it properly… What left a strong impression on me, though, was how they carefully portrayed Fukiko’s feelings for Takehiko, which I hadn’t depicted in the original. I thought, "Oh, that’s so wonderful." It really fit perfectly, and there was no sense of discomfort at all.

It's a remarkable aspect of the anime adaptation. I wish I could have read it in your manga as well.

If I had a little more time, I would have liked to draw it myself. Originally, due to the planning period for Orpheus no Mado, I was rushed. Even though I still had many ideas in mind, it felt like I was forced to wrap it up (laughs).

Given what you’ve just mentioned, have you ever thought about remaking or creating a sequel to your own works?

Right now, I’m drawing a chapter for The Rose of Versailles, but... the art from that time was really bad, and I even hate re-reading it. I realize there were things I could only draw back then. When the serialization of The Rose of Versailles ended, I realized that in order to depict Europe, I would have needed much more knowledge of Christianity. That’s why, before starting Orpheus no Mado, I spent a lot of time studying Christianity. I don’t think I could have drawn the story without that knowledge. A work is the product of its time, of its era, the sensitivities, and the knowledge of the author, so remaking something seems difficult to me.

In 2017, you'll be celebrating your 50th anniversary as a writer.

I can't believe it's already been so long, and at the same time, I realize that some parts of my body are starting to hurt, which reminds me of my age (laughs). I've also been very active in music, but lately, progress has been slower. However, I truly want to cherish each passing year. For me, true happiness is living in a way that I would never regret anything, even if I were to die tomorrow. There's no reason to look back on the past. After all, it’s impossible to rewrite it. I don’t reread my works much either (laughs). I’ve lived my way, sometimes causing trouble to others, but doing what I wanted (laughs).

For this Blu-ray release, new illustrations were specially drawn.

I wasn’t satisfied with the drawings of The Rose of Versailles because I think they were awkwardly executed. Personally, I think Oniisama E... is the work where I drew the best. At that time, I was able to draw very precisely, even the lines were very clean. Over time, some works become hard to rediscover, but Oniisama E... is the one I drew almost effortlessly, simply letting the ideas flow. That’s why, even today, I can dive back into it without effort (laughs).

To those who have brought this product.

Oniisama E... is a work that originates from my own experiences, and it’s the work that I’ve let mature the longest, so I have a strong emotional connection to it. The idea for The Rose of Versailles came to me when I was in my second year of high school, which is quite early, but Oniisama E... came even before that. I would like as many people as possible to see and read it.

About Osamu Tezuka :

He wasn’t my lover, nor a relative, and calling him a friend would be too presumptuous. When I heard the news of his death, I really hit the desk and cried uncontrollably. That feeling was something I’d never experienced before, and it was the first time I felt that way about Tezuka-sensei. I truly respected him. Recently, it’s been the same with Muhammad Ali. Tezuka-sensei's Wellspring of the Crane was the first work that deeply moved me when I read it. It really squeezed my heart. I read it at a friend's house, and after returning home, I couldn’t eat, and my mother wondered if I had picked up some food off the ground. Ah, no one could understand! I remember thinking, as a child, that my sensitivity was different from others! (laughs).

Source: Oniisama E... Blu-Ray BOX SET Booklet.

Note : The translation might not be the most accurate word-for-word, but i did my best to make it coherent.

[thepeaklegendoffirstgen]

Okay, hear me out (I know this might be controversial but still…) I love both James and Jaegyeon but they are fundamentally different as lovers. Here’s my no-sugarcoating, brutally honest two cents on how each of them would be in a relationship:

Jaegyeon:He comes off like a total bitch on the surface, but deep down? He’s a devastatingly soft, pining, and hopelessly devoted puppy. At first, he won’t act gentlemanly—nope, not even close. Especially during his current blonde era, he gives off that annoying energy of guys who watch YouTube videos about how they're "too tough" to need a girl. But plot twist? He has a massive crush on that one girl who shows up at the same petrol pump as him.He’ll pursue you, but in an incredibly tsundere way. Like:

“Why are you even talking to that guy? He’s totally going to break your heart.”

“And why do you care, Mr. Na?”

Rough around the edges? No—very rough. But gradually, once you start noticing the little things he does—like letting you into his car even though it just came out of service, stocking your favorite drinks just in case, or quietly dropping you home—you realize there’s a tenderness there. He’s not bad. Not at all.

Once you’re actually in a relationship, though? Don’t expect roses and candlelit dinners. Sorry—no flowers and cheesy stuff. Fights will happen. Screaming, shouting—you name it. But in the middle of it all, he’ll catch himself, stop, and try to pull you into a cuddle. Still, he’ll give you space when needed… albeit very, very reluctantly.

You can be completely silly with him too—he’s totally down for theme parks, cat cafés, and dancing in the rain.

Now the not-so-pretty part: If you guys ever break up, he will let you go. Not in a “get lost, I’m better off” kind of way, but because he loves you too much to keep hurting you. His maturity will come through here. It’ll hurt—a lot. He’ll be a mess after the breakup. Jealous if you move on. But eventually, when he sees you smile genuinely after a long time, that aching part of him will finally let go.

Now to ......

James: Let’s skip teenage James for now (that deserves a whole other conversation) and talk about adult James—both when he was an idol and now as he is.

When he was still in the industry and you two were together, he wouldn’t even look at anyone from the entertainment world. Not because you were some “special princess” above actresses or models—no. It’s just that the risk was far greater. He already had Charles breathing down his neck, and a relationship with someone inside the industry would be much harder to hide. So weighing on the scale of vulnerability, dating someone outside, someone “normal,” was easier to conceal, protect, and cherish.

That said, James will be a gentleman. Gallant, suave, respectful—he treats you like a lady.But he’ll make it up to you with luxury—gifts, trips, anything you want—except his time.

Even in arguments, he won’t raise his voice. He’ll stay calm and composed. He’s the type who’ll quietly keep track of your preferences, your quirks, your dreams—you’ll feel like the one person in the world he truly sees. And you are. You’re the tiny corner of his heart he protects at all costs.

So what could go wrong, right?

Here’s where it gets dark : At his core, James is a manipulator. He’s soft on the surface but harbors a cold, calculating fury beneath. During fights, he won’t scream—but the words he says will sting deeper than any shout. “Sorry” won’t fix the wounds he leaves behind.

He’ll say: “You don’t need to know everything, sweetheart. I’ve already taken care of it.”

He always thinks he knows best. And when your relationship teeters on the edge, and you want to leave?

He. Won’t. Let. You.

You’re his. The only one who’s ever held his heart—and he expects you to cherish that privilege.

Who are you going to leave me for? Who could possibly compare to "James Lee" or "Diego Kang"—for the world?

He has the looks, the money, the power. And if you try to walk away? He’ll make it painfully hard. You’ll suddenly realize what it feels like to pry something from a lion’s mouth.

Now, I’m not saying he’s some yandere (ew, please no—I hate that trope). But in my interpretation, this is just how things would unfold.

To wrap it up: Being with Jaegyeon is chaotic, rough, and emotionally intense—but the guy’s got the right heart.Being with James? It’s a dream… until it’s not. And if you ever try to end things, be prepared: leaving James Lee is not something anyone does easily.

[ethofangorl]

Hermitcraft/life series incorrect quotes

Scot: Can I have some water?  Joel: *starts chugging their water bottle*  Joel: *chokes from drinking too fast*  Joel: *spills water all over themself*  Joel, coughing: I don't have any water.

Scar: Vegetable oil is made from vegetables, coconut oil is made from coconuts, so BABY OIL-  Cleo: CAN'T WE JUST HAVE A NICE FAMILY DINNER FOR ONCE?!

Grian: Act natural.  Mumbo: For this kind of situation, the most natural thing would be to panic, so technically I can panic.  Grian: NO, that’s not what I meant! Act like it’s a normal day!  Mumbo: My ‘normal’ days of late, consist of a lot of panic.  Grian: Will you just cooperate?  Mumbo: When a person is panicking, they are not apt to cooperate very well!

Grian: You really believe in Joel?  Lizzie: Luckily, they believe in themself enough for the both of us

Scar: You should see Grian, he’s a total tsundere. Isn’t he just the best? Gem: He stabbed you.

Scar, throwing their head into Grian's lap: Tell me I'm pretty!  Grian, lovingly stroking their hair:You're pretty fucking annoying, that's what you are

Cleo: I love sarcasm! It’s like punching people in the face, but with words!

Doc: I apologize for saying 'fuck' in front of Gem.  Ren: You just said it again.  Gem: Doc: I am not a role model.

Lifers reactions to being called straight:  Joel: The fuck, no I'm not.  Ren: Excuse the hell out of you?  Scar: Ding dong, you are wrong!  Martyn: Who told you that? And why did they lie?  Grian: Rude.  Cleo: *punches the person*

Grian: Scar... you've been cuddling with me for over and hour now.  Scar: *muffled* mm hmmm :)  Grian: Fuck. I should be annoyed but you're adorable.

Joel: Bitch.  Bdubs: Blocked.  Joel: Wait unblock me I need to tell you something.  Bdubs: Unblocked.  Joel: Bitch.

Scot: When I said bring me something back from the beach I meant like a conch shell!  Martyn: *Struggling to hold a seagull* Fucking say that next time!

Ren To Mumbo: Wow, left handed AND British? You really are an illusion.

Gem: When I first met you, I thought you were weird and annoying.  Joel: And?  Gem: And you are.

Grian: I’ve been described as a ‘heartless villain’ and a 'little shit’, but I prefer… 'has alternative ways of having fun

Grian: The best way to gain someone's undying loyalty is by saving them from a perilous situation.  Scot: So you're just gonna wait until Scar is in danger and save them?  Grian: Of course not, I'm going to create a situation that puts them in danger and then save them.  Scot: ...  Scot: You're insane.

Grian: The time to act is now.  Scar: Wink, wink.  Grian: Don't say "wink wink". Just wink.  Scar: Oh, sorry.  Scar: Wink.

*lifers at a family dinner*  Pearl: Can you pass the salt?  Scot: *throws Joel across the table*

Tango: Did you buy eggs like I asked?  Jimmy: Even better!  Tango: What the fuck did you-  Jimmy: *holding up a chicken* Her name is Fluffy Tango: She’s… beautiful!

Skizz: I’ve never asked someone out. How do you even do it?  Joel: Oh, what I do is, I look them up and down and I say: “Hey… how you doin’?”  Skizz, scoffing: Oh, please.  Joel, to Jimmy: Hey, how you doin’?  Jimmy: jimmy: *giggles and blushes*

Joel, driving in his car with the other winners and singing to the Little Einsteins theme song: We’re going on a trip-  Martyn: In our favorite piece of shit!  Grian: Doing 95!  Scot: We’re gonna fucking die!

Scar: The clock is ticking! We don't have time for this asinine tomfoolery!  Impulse: This unmitigated poppycock?  Gem: Extravagant hogwash!  Grian and Mumbo: Okay, stop.

[evenmorefatallyobsessed]

H.O.T.D. Model Candidates Order

[dumpywrites]

BTS Masterlist by dumpywrites :)

⊹ Kim Namjoon / RM

· So What if We? - Slight angst, friends to lovers, minor mentions of smut · Tears and Poetries - Fluff, comfort, idol Namjoon, non fan reader  · Emulsion - Angst (happy ending), arranged marriage, slow burn

⊹ Min Yoongi / Suga

· Cat-astrophe - Fluff-ish, strangers to ???, minor mention of anxiety. · Cat-enaries (Cat-astrophe pt. 2) - Fluff, smut (protected sex, vanilla) · Adrift - Angst (happy ending), slight mentions of smut, friends to friends with benefits to lovers · Locked! - Slight angst, fluff, boyfriend Yoongi/established relationship · Wanna See My Cat? - Fluff, situationship-ish, clueless reader vs flirty Yoongi · Test Drive - Fluff, friends to lovers, friends with benefits? but they only kiss · Club Brooklyn - Slight angst, drama, mafia au, partners in crime au, mentions of violence/crime/assault

⊹ Kim Seokjin / Jin

· Fish in Disguise - Fluff, enemies to lovers(?), university au, they are both dumb lol

⊹ Jung Hoseok / J-Hope

· Osculate - Fluff, friends to lovers, producer! Hobi, slight drama, slow burn(?), mentions of cheating ex · Twisted Reality - Fluff, tiny bits of angst, alternate universe, idol! Hobi, fan/army reader, delulu plot, Hope on Stage era! Hobi

⊹ Kim Taehyung / V

· Nomenclature - Fluff, strangers to lovers, simp! Taehyung, christmas cliche, some mentions of Yeontan passing · Star Crossed - Fluff, feel-good sweet soft fluff, university au, strangers to lovers (?), drable-ish

⊹ Park Jimin

Nothing yet!

⊹ Jeon Jungkook

· Two Days - Fluff, friends to lovers, biker jungkook, jungkook is a goofball and a simp · Facade - Fluff, strangers (?) to lovers, idol Jungkook, fan/army reader · Knocked Out - Fluff, idol Jungkook, fan reader, drabble-ish, they have language barrier · Trophy Boy - Fluff, friends to lovers, model! Jungkook, soft! Jungkook, office worker reader · Ugh! - Pure fluff, tsundere Jungkook?, exes that are so not done with each other

[beneaththetangles]

One of the most incredible things about being an anime fan in 2025 is the massive amount of anime figures available to collectors. And figure companies aren’t just focusing on new series—they’re developing models for older anime, too! A decade ago, that would have been unthinkable, but now? We’ve got new Toradora figures!

We are giving away one Pop-Up Parade figure of Taiga Aisaka, everyone’s favorite tsundere, from the classic series Toradora! Here’s a little BtT trivia: my love for that series sparked a dormant love for anime within me, and it eventually led to me blogging about anime, which led to Beneath the Tangles.

Thank you, Taiga!

But onto YOU. How can you win this figure? It’s pretty easy! Follow us, like and share our pinned posts on Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, Facebook, or Substack. And then double your chances of winning by answering this question:

What “old school” anime would you recommend?

The deadline to enter the contest is midnight ET on June 13th. You can find additional rules on those pinned posts. Good luck!

And after you enter, read some of our Toradora articles from throughout the years:

The Code of Kushieda

12 Days of Christmas Anime, Day 12: Toradora

My Experience with a Voice Actress…or, Get Over Yourself, Minorin!

12 Days of Christmas Anime, Day 6: Toradora’s “Holy Night” Is Anime’s Christmas Carol

[cultofdionysusnet]

Check out this The Boyz fic written by Topaz!

𝚨 ꓝ୦𝜊￨ ꭵ𝗇 𝐋𝜊ꮩ𝒆

🤎A/N: Kicking off this month of revenge since it's Scorpio season is this beauty. Sometimes you just gotta torture you bestie @mejuii with her own professed weaknesses 😘 🤎Pairing: Lee Juyeon (The Boyz) x Reader (f) 🤎Au: Model au, Stylist au 🤎Genre: smut, angst 🤎Trope: unrequited love, oblivious to love 🤎Warnings: reader is mean to Juyeon (think tsundere), sub!juyeon, dom!reader, verbal instruction, oral (f), hair pulling (m), praise kink, hand kink 🤎Rated: 18+, MDNI 🤎Word Count: 1,727 🤎Summary: Juyeon is in love with you, his stylist, who degrades him at any chance she can get. But little did you know... all he wants you to do is order him around

🤎credit to @cafekitsune for the banner!

“Juyeon, you better stop looking at her like that, she’s going to bite your head off,” Sunwoo nudged the older man.

Juyeon sighed heavily. If only his stylist felt the same way about him as he felt about her. He watched as Sunwoo ran-walked to you and smiled happily as you fussed over his hair and makeup. Sunwoo gratuitously pushed his lips out as you rubbed some lip stain on his lips and you smacked his chest for leaning in too close. Sunwoo could afford to be playful with you but you would never let Juyeon act up like that. Where was the fairness in that?

Juyeon had a massive crush on you. Maybe he was stupid. Maybe he was attracted to the idea of a slightly toxic relationship. Maybe he really liked the twinkle in your eye you got when you talked to Sunwoo. Whatever it was, Juyeon wanted you to look at him like you looked at his model partner. But that never seemed to be a reality for Juyeon.

“Juyeon!” You barked for the model to come over and get inspected before they went back to shooting.

Juyeon’s long legs took him to your side pretty quickly. His effortless brain-empty grin pulled on his face as you took the handle end of a comb and moved some strands of his bangs. Your eyes were focused on the task at hand but you were chewing on your lip and Juyeon’s heart exploded. What he wouldn’t give to press his lips to yours, for you to giggle, and let him sweep you off your--

“Helloooo?” You snapped your fingers in front of Juyeon’s face. “Earth to Juyeon? I said I’m done.”

Juyeon moved to where Sunwoo was lounging on the set, fighting everything to not send a hurt look over his shoulder. Juyeon already knew you would give him a look as if he was a child and he’d regret it.

Sunwoo was cackling by the time Juyeon joined him. “You look like a dog with his tail between his legs.”

The next time Juyeon saw you was at his red carpet event with Fendi. You had walked into the room where Juyeon was preparing. What you had not expected was to walk in on that man in slacks and a silk top that draped on his form. His blazer was still hanging on the rack as he waited for you to do hair and makeup.

You stood there with your jaw on the floor until you managed to school your features before Juyeon turned around. Except it didn’t get better. Juyeon’s dark eyes looked down at you as you formulated a plan for his look. 

“Sit in the chair so I don’t have to crane my damn neck and break it,” You barked.

Juyeon easily slid in the stylist chair, eyes still on you. “Do you like the top?” He asked. His big fingers rubbed the chain between the pads of his fingers.

“That’s none of my business,” You replied in a clipped tone and Juyeon’s face fell.

“Looks stupid, doesn’t it,” Juyeon lamented, “I knew it.”

“I--” Your mouth snapped shut. You hadn't actually intended to make Juyeon feel bad about his look, you just didn’t want to feed his ego… “It’s beautiful,” You said quietly.

Juyeon’s head snapped up, eyes meeting your own again. “Really?” he said, that casual, happy smile was on his lips again.

“The top,” You clarified, “With the blazer over it, I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

Juyeon let you do his makeup and then his hair in silence. You had to straddle his feet and legs a bit to style his hair and you froze when you felt one of his hands cup the back of your thigh to steady you. Fuck, his hands were huge. 

“Juyeon,” You said, “Why is your hand on me?”

“You looked like you were going to tip over,” He said, somewhat innocently, but you could see the look in his eyes. Instead of the empty-head appearance, his eyes were sharper right now.

“Get them off,” You said in a clipped tone.

“Why?” Juyeon asked, putting his other hand on your opposite leg, “Do they bother you?”

“They do,” You said in a reserved tone, “Now get them off of me.”

“And why do they bother you?” Juyeon pushed.

You couldn't very well tell him that your entire body wanted his hands to cup your ass too, and kneed your cheeks, perhaps splitting them open as he thrust--You shook your head. Nooooo, that was not happening. “Because I need to move freely and you’re stopping that. Now. Let. Go.”

Juyeon did and you felt the tinge of regret and stuff it down; far, far down. And when you told him you were done, Juyeon stood up and you stumbled back to avoid touching him--which caused him to reach out and grab your upper arms. Would his entire hand grip harshly onto your arm as he thrusted into you or would he be soft and rub your arms as you--?

"Juyeon," You said in a sickly-sweet voice, "what are you doing?"

“You almost smashed your head on the glass!” Juyeon protested, eyebrows furrowing cutely.

“Remove your hands or I’ll knock you into your next life,” You threatened.

Juyeon looked so dejected as his hands left your body that you felt that stupid tinge of regret again that you thought you had buried. “You sure do listen well, for a man,” You found yourself admitting as you finally stepped away from the chair.

“I could listen real good for you,” Juyeon said.

You froze in disbelief. You turned around slowly. Juyeon met your eyes. “What did you say?”

“You reward Sunwoo for his bad behavior, but I could be really good for you. I would only do what you say I could do. I’d crawl for you if you ordered it. Wear a collar and leash for you, please--”

You threw your hands up to stop whatever was coming out of Juyeon’s mouth. It was…it was too tantalizing. “No, nope, stop that right now.”

“But--!” Juyeon had puppy dog eyes, pleading with you. Was this really what he wanted? And with you of all people???

“I am not--we cannot--Juyeon, I’m your stylist!!!” You objected.

“So what?” Juyeon raised his chin stubbornly. 

You sputtered some more. “That’s unethical, that’s morally incorrect, that’s insane!”

Juyeon took a step forward. “You want to, don’t you?”

You took a step back. Damn it, wasn’t Juyeon supposed to be empty-headed? You cleared your throat. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Juyeon moved to his knees. “I will do whatever you want.”

You rolled your eyes. “Then crawl on your knees to me.”

Your eyes bulged out of your head when Juyeon did in fact do that. And once he arrived at your feet, he looked up at you. “Tell me what to do next.”

You let out a laugh because you couldn't help yourself. This was ridiculous. “Prop my leg up and kiss up my leg.”

Juyeon cupped your foot and put it atop his knee and began to lovingly kiss up your leg along your dark tights. Your lower half tightened inadvertently in anticipation. What was this fool doing to you?

While looking down your nose, you instructed Juyeon. “Lick my cunt through my tights and underwear.”

And didn’t Juyeon dive head first into your clothed pussy. Your plaid skirt was up to your hips now, Juyeon enthusiastically poking and prodding your cunt. His nose brushed your clit and you bit down hard on your lip. Only then did Juyeon stop, if only to plead with you. “Please, if I can’t kiss you, don’t bite your lip. Let me hear how good I'm making you feel.”

“No one can know, Juyeon,” You hissed.

Juyeon jutted out his lip but continued back with his task at hand. You grew frustrated and then bold with the need to feel more. “Rip my tights, Ju. Rip them and push my panties to the side. Be a good boy and make me cum with your tongue.”

Juyeon gripped your tights, and with a loud rip, made a hole in your crotch. His fingers reached through the hole and pushed your panties in the way. And then he really showed you how much he wanted you. That tongue circled your clit, making you buck your hips upwards. Your clit grew engorged from the pleasure and soon he was able to suck on the sensitive flesh, rough tongue flicking and tempting and pushing you towards your high.

You couldn't help yourself, your hands buried into his hair, part of you screaming that your good work was about to be ruined, and another part of you saying fuck it, you wanted to cum. "That's it, Ju, you're doing so good! Make me cum."

Juyeon moaned into your mound and then wrapped his arms around your thighs. He ate like a starved man, sucking, licking, nipping; whatever it took to make you cum. You came with a muffled cry in the back of your throat. In the height of your orgasm, you don't remember getting head like that ever.

Juyeon let go of your arms and sat back on the balls of his feet. You had praised him, finally. Juyeon couldn't do an awful lot in your eyes, but he could do this for you. Finally, he could be of use. "Was I good for you?" He asked, eyes hopeful of more praise.

You couldn't look at him, however. "I came, didn't I?" You said under your breath.

Juyeon grinned, the empty-head type that you normally hated. "I told you I would treat you good; that I could be good for you."

You shimmied your skirt back down your hips and pushed your hair behind your ear. "Yes, well, get back onto my chair. I need to fix your hair and makeup again," You grumbled.

“Does this mean you’ll start taking me for Taco Tuesdays with Sunwoo?” Juyeon wondered as he sat back down in your chair.

"Don't push your luck," You muttered, unconsciously tugging his hair into place a bit harder than normal; perhaps even just like you did when he was eating you out.

And Juyeon remained smiling the entire time you fixed him.

Taglist: @starlitmark look i finally wrote juju 🥺 thank you for all the help with the new formatting, you're neat 💞

[wolfofcelestia]

When he asks you if you're attracted to him

Because even the most aloof of men get self-conscious in front of the love of their lives

There's a small hint to this headcanon for Sylus

I was thinking about making Sylus's insecurity something internal but he turned out to be the most insecure about how he looks

MC is slightly tsundere for Sylus here because I still can't let go of my tsun for him so she's just gonna be that way ajdkssgak

Zayne

Z: ...MC, do you think I'm handsome?

MC: Zayne, are you feeling okay? What's with the sudden question?

Z: I just want to know... Nevermind..

MC: Zayne, of course you're handsome. Don't you have an entire fanclub dedicated to you?

Z: I don't care about what they think. I care about what you think.

MC: Of course I think you're handsome, dummy. Even more now that you've opened up to me and showed me your smiles and your tears.

MC: If our nightly dose of intimacy hasn't convinced you that I think you're the hottest man alive, maybe we should increase the dosage. What do you think, doctor?

Z: For such an ill patient, I agree with your assessment. The patient is severely lacking in kisses and cuddles. It looks critical. He will need around the clock care tonight. Are you available to take the shift?

MC: Why wait for tonight? Like you said, the patient is critical. I can't keep him waiting.

Sylus

S: MC... Do you like how I look?

MC: What do you mean? You're not wearing those pineapple glasses again, are you?

S: No, I mean, my face. My hair. My eyes. My nose. My lips. And everything else.

MC: Your face? Didn't you say your face could get you in anywhere? And you keep showing off your abs like you're trying to challenge me to a fight, it makes me so mad.

S: Do you like how my face and my body look? Do they make you happy?

MC: Sylus, where is all this coming from? You may as well be a model. I'm surprised you don't have modelling agents hounding you every time you step foot in Linkon.

S: Answer my questions, MC.

MC: ......

S: ......

MC: Yeah, of course I like how you look.

S: That's it?

MC: What more is there to say? You're hot. You should know that.

S: Say it again.

MC: You're hot, Sylus. You're an extremely attractive man. Your face is conventionally attractive and your body is perfect. Can we stop now? It's embarrassing...

S: Mm... Your blush makes you even cuter, kitten. But you said that I'm "conventionally" attractive. What do you think about me? Am I attractive to you?

MC: Are you just trying to make me blush by making me say these things now?

S: Of course not. I just want to hear you say it. It would put me at ease.

MC: Alright, alright... You're attractive to me. Of course you are.

S: That's it?

MC: You're going to make me say these things all night, aren't you?

S: Oh, you caught on already? I'll make it worth your while. Every time you say something you like about me, I'll make you cry out a little louder. Deal?

[the-travelling-witch]

summary: a pouty demon has become part of your nighttime routine

pairing: mammon x gn!reader

warnings: fluff with mentions of insecurities (skin/appearance related)

obey me! masterlist

“Babe, how much longer are ya goin’ to take?” Mammon whined from behind you, his pout reflecting in the large bathroom mirror.

“I’ve only just finished with cleansing.” Turning off the faucet, you gently dabbed a towel over your face, watching the demon with affectionate eyes. “But everything else shouldn’t take too long.”

“Why d’ya have to do all of this anyway?” Apparently not content with your answer, he stepped closer to you and cut himself off with a yawn. “Just come to bed.”

You’d think that, as a model, Mammon would understand the importance of skincare but, to your annoyance, he was one of those guys who seemingly splashed their face with water and still had the perfect complexion.

Could demons also be god’s favourites? One glance over his shirtless form definitely swayed your answer towards ‘yes’.

“No, this is important. Especially if you keep sitting me down for a bowl of spicy late-night ramen,” you sighed. By now, Mammon had closed the gap between the two of you, his arms comfortably circled around your waist and his cheek squished against the top of your head. “Besides, I finally want to be free of these blemishes and look good too.”

Immediately, Mammon stood straight and held you a little tighter. The angelic eyes looking at you through the mirror were earnest and genuine as he spoke with a bewildered tone, almost as if what you had said never occurred to him.

“But yer already so pretty! How could ya get any more stunnin’ than this?”

That was what you loved about him. Despite his usually tsundere behaviour, he never failed to compliment you with his entire heart behind it. Having someone so sincerely tell you you were beautiful, while you wore an old shirt of his as pyjama, had no makeup on and had your insecurities out in the open like this, it made you start believing it too.

A thought that was kinda terrifying.

But you had no time to go teary-eyed or worry about whether you were starting to become too conceited or delusional. Not with this demon around. Before you could say something, Mammon had already swooped down, snowy hair obscuring part of your vision, and planted a sweet kiss onto your cheek. Both the surprise of his action and the visual of his face scrunched up in disgust as he tasted the toner on his lips made you laugh, shushing the voices in your head.

“That one’s on you, I already told you not to do that when I’m doing my routine,” you giggled. Then, you twisted in his hold and returned an equally affectionate kiss to his cheek. “Thank you so much though. Hearing that means a lot.”

“Don’t look at me like that! Just hurry up, so we can go to bed!” Though he averted his eyes, you could still feel the heat radiating off his face and you suppressed another laugh. He really was too cute for his own good.

Even though he’d complained a lot about the lengthiness of your little ritual, he still attentively watched you work, offering his concerns about the colour of a hot pink serum (“Should ya really be puttin’ that on yer face?”) and having his eyes nearly pop out of their sockets when you casually mentioned one of your creams could bleach clothes or hair.

“Well, good thing your hair is already white and you’re already shirtless,” you joked as you finished putting on your moisturiser before turning and looping your arms around his neck. “Because I plan to cuddle you all-night long.”

“Ya’d better! Yer the only human who’d ever make me, the Avatar of Greed, wait, ya know,” Mammon huffed. Contradictory to his words, he had already swooped you up princess-style and set off towards the bedroom.

“Mhm and I am so glad you were generous enough to give me so much of your time. Maybe this,” you put a hand over his heart as he gently lowered you onto the mattress, “is made out of gold after all.”

“Now yer just bein’ cheesy,” Mammon snorted as he crawled under the black sheets with you and pulled you close, the same way a tide would always reach for the shore again and again. “Ya should get some rest before ya say somethin’ even more stupid.”

“But I was just about to confess to the best thing that ever happened to me,” you hummed. When he sceptically raised an eyebrow, you looked him deep in the eyes and smiled. “I love you, Mammon.”

For a fraction of a second his eyes widened in shock before he shut them tightly as he inhaled. When he opened them again, he mirrored your fond smile as a slender finger traced the side of your face.

“I love ya too, treasure.”

© the-travelling-witch 2023 - do not repost, translate, copy or edit

if you like my content, reblogs, comments and asks are always much appreciated ♡

➺ send in an ask to be added to or removed from my tag list

[reixtsu]

hello! how are you? I dont know if you do multi characters, but if not, then one of these characters is alright! ^^ i like to request wanderer, tighnari, wrio, and neuvillete (separately) witnessing/dealing with nice guy who's hitting on their partner (gn! reader) and what they would do if the nice guy doesn't get the hint that the reader is taken, please. ^^ thank you and have a nice day!

Hi anon! I’m sorry that it took me a long time to respond to this request, and the fact that I’m still working on the second half is kinda bad… but your request will be fulfilled first. Please enjoy!

Wanderer, and Tighnari dealing with a nice guy hitting on their partner.

(Wriothesley and Neuvillette coming soon)

Warnings: jealous boys alert, Wanderer is a tsundere

Wanderer

It’s been far too long now -an eternity, really- of you chatting with some random student from the academy. From his spot in the distance, Wanderer watched in silence, taking slow, deliberate sips from his bitter tea. Each sip did little to ease the tight knot forming in his chest. His frown deepened as he observed the student's overly cheerful demeanor, the way his eyes lit up when you laughed at his every joke. Wanderer’s grip tightened around his cup, the edges of his irritation sharpening with each passing moment.

Wanderer continued to down his cup of tea, one after another, as if they were bottles of beer. Setting his last cup down with a jarring thud, he looked down, glaring at you with his peripheral vision.

"It's impressive that you managed to make the journey all the way from Inazuma to Sumeru, Hajime," you praised the student, your voice warm and sincere as you flashed that irresistible smile of yours. "I'm really glad you're here.”

"Me, impressive? I beg to differ."

"Why is that?"

"Well, you are very accomplished," Hajime said simply. "Helping everyone, so intelligent. You are a role-model for all." he winked at the end.

Wanderer nearly choked on his own spit, his breath catching in his throat. How on earth were you tolerating this man—and giving him compliments, no less? (And why wasn’t he the one receiving them?) His mind buzzed with disbelief and irritation, the questions swirling in his head. What right did this plain, insignificant nobody have to be so close to you? He let out a shaky breath, struggling to silence the spiraling thoughts before they consumed him entirely.

"Aren't you nice," You chuckled.

"Say..." Hajime hesitated, shyly placing a hand on your shoulder. "Would you like to join me at the tavern one of these days, dear?"

Wanderer instantly shot up from his seat, his eyes narrowing into a piercing glare directed at Hajime. How could he? Had he completely lost his mind? The audacity! Wasn’t it blatantly obvious that you were spoken for? His disbelief simmered into a potent mix of anger and possessiveness, the intensity of his emotions threatening to boil over.

You smiled awkwardly, not too sure how to approach the situation. "Um, I'm sorry."

"I know you have a partner, but I heard that he is very rude. Let me treat you for a day."

You chuckled, sweating a bit as you stepped away. "Oh, uh... He's really nice to me though, so there's no need to worry."

Hajime's eyes softened. "There's no need to lie. If a guy is toxic, why stay with him?"

“Hands off,” came a gruff voice, as Wanderer seemed to materialize out of thin air, his presence sudden and imposing. His arms were crossed tightly over his chest, and he leveled a glare of pure disdain at Hajime, as if he were nothing more than an irritating pest. And in Wanderer’s eyes, that’s exactly what he was.

Hajime raised an eyebrow at him, curious as to why he was acting so protective of you. "And you are...?"

"Their partner, obviously," Wanderer spat, his voice laced with venom as he roughly seized your hand, gripping it with a possessiveness that bordered on harshness, as if you were a dog being yanked by its leash. Hajime frowned at the scene, his expression hardening as he crossed his own arms, clearly displeased by Wanderer's aggressive display.

"You're the one who is rude to them, no? Even after all of what they've done for you."

“Don’t talk like you’ve known them their whole life,” Wanderer sneered, his voice dripping with disgust. “Those are just baseless rumors, idiot. You’d have to be a fool to believe any of that.” Hajime’s eyes flashed with irritation, as if the mere suggestion was an insult to his intelligence.

You nodded, leaning your head on Wanderer's shoulder. "Yeah. Besides, Wanderer here is like a black cat. Sure, he's rude, but he actually is really sweet." You kissed his temple for emphasis."

Hajime frowned, his mouth opening and closing like a fish struggling to find the right words, clearly wanting to protest but ultimately deciding against it. With a reluctant sigh, he offered a small, respectful bow before turning away, choosing to leave without uttering another word.

Wanderer let out a relieved sigh, one that was barely audible. "Finally. That pest was getting on my nerves."

You smirked, feeling Wanderer's grip on your arm . You watched as he looked away, a small pout forming on his perfect lips. "Why were you so interested in him anyways? He was a nobody.

In your mind you translated that to 'why were you being sweet to him and not me?'. You smiled, leaning forwards to kiss his forehead. "I was just hearing his stories of his journey here. That's all."

All you heard was a small hmph. "Whatever," huffed, lowering his hat down with his hand. "Let's just go home now."

"Does my baby want cuddles?"

"You goober, I hate cuddles!!”

Tighnari

You and Tighnari were busy gathering flowers for the upcoming banquet in honor of your friend when you encountered a fellow forest ranger. He was tall, friendly, and exuded a natural charm that seemed to radiate from him effortlessly. As you engaged in conversation, everything seemed pleasant—light-hearted jokes and genuine compliments flowed easily. However, the atmosphere took a sudden turn, escalating into a situation that Tighnari could only describe as disgraceful.

"You've actually seen an aranara? That's so cool!" The random guy said, impressed.

"It's not a big deal, really," you said with a touch of humility, though you couldn’t ignore the enthusiastic reaction you’d provoked. With a polite smile, you continued, "By the way, what’s your name, sir?”

"Ah, the name's Arash, but you can call me yours," He winked. "What's your name, lovely?"

Tighnari visibly cringed, his ear twitching and his tail flicking in irritation. He watched with growing dismay as you smiled at the ranger, chuckling at his so-called 'funny' behavior.

"Y/n," You said, extending your hand in the graceful way you always do. "A pleasure to meet you."

"The pleasure's all mine," Arash extended his hand, attempting to shake yours before a hand got in between.

Tighnari had his eyes closed, his ears twitching in annoyance as he wore an irritated smile. "If I may interrupt, my dear here is already taken."

Arash's eyes widened, surprised. "Really? By whom?"

"Me," Tighnari said, his voice firm as he wrapped his tail possessively around your legs. "So enough with the flirting. We were in the middle of picking flowers, so if you have nothing else to do, you may leave." He offered a tight smile, clearly signaling for Arash to go.

Arash looked at Tighnari, at you, then back to Tighnari. "Right. I apologize. Have a nice day." He bowed his head and waved, turning around to leave.

Tighnari let out a sharp breath through his nostrils, his arms crossing defensively over his chest. "When someone starts flirting with you, you should tell them to stop! You're already taken," he said, his tone stern and unyielding.

You chuckled, bringing your hand up to scratch his soft hair. "Ha! Sorry, I just found him interesting."

He raised an eyebrow, clearly displeased by the response. "Excuse me?" he said, his tone sharp.

"Not as interesting as you, of course," You scratched his ear lovingly.

Tighnari, of course, leaned into your touch, a sense of relief starting to wash over him as he subconsciously began to relax.

"...Let's continue picking flowers, shall we?”

[fandoms-x-reader]

Role Model

Requested By: @mikudreamland

Oneshot

Summary: MC is a child who takes Mammon's tsundere nature at face value and believes he hates them. Mammon x Child!MC (platonically) Word Count: 945

Social cues were not something that children had a perfect grasp on. 

That was something that Mammon didn’t understand.

You were just a child. You didn’t know that when Mammon was putting on a tough act and calling you names there was a hidden message behind his words.

You had heard the others call him a “tsundere” but you weren’t even sure what that meant.

So, in your mind, you truly believed that Mammon hated you.

Mammon was desperate to be accepted by others and yet he refused to let others see him give the slightest bit of compassion.

Maybe he was afraid of looking weak. Maybe he was scared that the others would tease him for being kind.

After all, he was a demon.

What book or movie demonstrated a demon being a kind and caring creature?

He wouldn’t allow anyone to see the side of him that so desperately wanted to be exposed.

There were countless things done behind the scenes that he declined to take credit for.

Moments where his brothers would question his involvement, genuinely touched by the matter. But, Mammon would deny having any part of it.

And nothing changed when it came to you. 

As far as Mammon was concerned, this was how he always showed his affection for others. By doing things on the side and never letting his true feelings see the light of day.

You had been asking for a really special gift for a while now and Mammon had finally saved up enough money to buy it for you.

Yet, when you found it in your room one day, he claimed he had no idea how that wound up there and that you should ask Lucifer or Diavolo, doing his best to remove himself as a suspect from your mind.

Things like that tended to happen more often around you as Mammon tried to compete with his brothers to be your favorite role model.

But, because he never admitted to being kind to you, the only thing you saw was the way he teased you and called you things like “dummy”.

The way he claimed that he wouldn’t want to hang out with you and that the only reason he was doing so was because he would be in trouble with Lucifer if something bad happened to you when he was supposed to be watching you.

And it caused you to want to spend more time with his other brothers instead.

It was hard for you to think that Mammon didn’t like you because you really looked up to him.

Sure, he was awful with money and was always finding himself in trouble.

So, to believe that someone you looked up to so much couldn’t stand you made you feel really sad. 

But, he also was very laid-back and knew how to have fun.

He was light-hearted and while others would consider his tendency to not take things seriously annoying, it was perfect when spending time with a child.

And, with nowhere else to go, you ended up expressing those feelings to the other brothers.

They, of course, knew Mammon’s true feelings and attempted to explain his behavior to you. After all, they had a whole lifetime to adjust to him being a tsundere.

But, their words went in one ear and out the other.

How could you believe their claims about Mammon when you had never seen anything from him to back it up?

It wasn’t until Mammon saw how much closer you had grown to his other brothers that he realized something was wrong.

He tried to get you a gift to possibly persuade you away from his brothers, but you were completely uninterested in it. 

Mammon was truly at a loss for what to do.

He ended up sulking the next few days and when his brothers finally grew tired of it, they held an intervention during which they all but stated that Mammon was acting like a fool.

Satan explained that though they could see past his neutral facade, you were just a child who took his actions and words at face value.

Mammon was devastated by the news. He didn’t hate you or actually think that you were stupid.

It was a refreshing thing for Mammon - to feel accepted by someone. 

All of his brothers looked at him with disdain for his small flaws and sin.

But your innocence allowed you to look past all of that and see the person that he actually was.

And now he had ruined it because he hadn’t realized he was pushing you away.

After that conversation, he was determined to fix things and be your favorite role model.

It was a slow process, full of Mammon trying to completely change the way he went about things.

He would still buy you gifts, but he would own up to them, more afraid of you hating them than he was of anyone else judging them.

He would congratulate you for doing a good job on your school work and he would even offer to take you out for a treat as a reward.

As Mammon repaired the bond and the two of you got closer, the other brothers noticed that you really started to blossom.

For once in his life, Mammon felt responsible for someone’s life other than his own and he accepted that responsibility with open arms.

And in return, you also started to change Mammon.

He had gone to the casino less and less and even tried to pay off some debts to get out of some of the witches’ grasps.

When he put his mind to it, Mammon was an excellent role model.