#COME BY SOON FOR A NOT!DATE

[miqojak]

Here I've been calling Jak + Ketsuchi 'rivals to lovers' but uh. Physical violence HAS happened that once. And she is VERY proud of her scars from that encounter, these days, even if at the time she was LIVID and SCARED. But she figured out he was testing her, and pushed herself through the 'test'... and these days wears her scars as a badge that she proved herself to him. (So I guess... they're technically enemies to lovers, according to OP's bit about violence! XD) There was lots of name calling. Yelling. Breaking things. Sexual tension CONSTANTLY boiling over into 'god I think I hate you' intimacy that returns right to 'fuck you' except he still shows up at your door humming that same damn song, and you still let him the fuck in. And yet, even in the midst of their roiling rivalry... he was the first one she trusted to be physically intimate with. Even while they fought... she knew, intrinsically deep down... he was like her. She trusted something in him because it was so familiar. So yeah. With two years of writing between us before they admitted to what had been long simmering? That is the best slowburn I've ever written, and one of the deepest, most complex relationship dynamics I've ever written. These two fucked up people helped knit up each other's inner wounds (and sometimes literal ones) with lots of time and patience - because who understands your fucked up emotional walls like someone else who builds the same fucked up walls and lashes out in the same fucked up way? In real life, hurt people hurt people. In fiction? Sometimes the hurt people get to heal the other hurt people. They were both chasing a death-wish after losing people they loved... and both gave up chasing death for the other - all without ever once saying "I love you." Because actions speak louder than words, in their mad world. And yeah, to that bit about mocking names becoming pet names... he once mockingly called her Little Robin, so she added it to her tattoos, all those years later - and just like he brought color to her dull world, her robin tattoo is the only one on her body with color. And a gesture from her that was once defiant - pressing her hand to his chest, to show she wasn't afraid of him? Now, is a tender, loving way for her to connect with him. To feel his heartbeat, and be soothed that it DOES still beat. And she'll keep fighting to make sure it keeps beating. And OP is right - "It's about truly knowing every single piece of your partner's heart and soul, from their anger to their joy and loving them not just despite it, but especially for it."

Because there were times Ketsuchi would be just... caught up in his anger, and would call her names and rage at her... and she refused to even be upset by it. (Now and then a zinger really dug in, though.) But she knew what he was doing... because she did the same thing with others. Lash out. Bite, scratch, gnaw, be as nasty as you can... and they'll leave. They'll give up. But she doesn't give up. And she saw something too akin to her own hurt in him... and in refusing to abandon one another, and insisting they keep butting heads and 'competing' to one-up each other... they kinda just ended up falling for that ferocity in each other, and wanting something better for the other person. And now? They *have* seen the worst of one another - and I think they've actually progressed to trying to bring out the best.

One thing that has always pissed me off is when people call the Enemies to Lovers troupe toxic romance and say it's abusive. Like I don't know what was advertised to you as enemies to lovers but babe that is so not what this trope it's about.

Now listen I'm a fantasy reader, so my normal level of enemies to lovers is "they have tried to kill each other at least once" or "they have definitely physically fist fought" at like the minimum. Anything below that is rivals to lovers to me. Just wanted to make it clear I'm not sugar coating anything here when it comes to my ships.

Enemies to lovers was never about the abuse or the fighting and the attempted murder, that's not what makes the trope.

Enemies to lovers was always about seeing the worst in each other first, being unafraid to show someone the ugliest part of yourselves and them still managing to fall in love with you. It's about realizing that the only person who has ever truly known you is the one person you cannot stand, it's about them being an outlet to each other the one person they are not afraid to be negative towards because that's your dynamic all the time.

This is also why people enjoy the fighting and the bickering between the enemies, because it's the one time when these characters are not holding anything back, they are unafraid of showing each other cruelty because why fear being disliked by someone who you already hate, that also hates you back?

It's about this chemistry these characters have, how they are somehow always pulled towards each other, how they can recognize each other in a crowded room immediately because they are annoyed by each other's presence obviously. It's about them always somehow ending up in a situation together even though the last thing they want is to be near each other.

They start noticing more about each other, they realize their habits, they know little stuff about them that almost no one else has ever noticed and maybe along the way they realize that maybe they're kind of different from what they thought at first and maybe they're not so different from each other.

It's about name calling turning into pet names, verbal sparing turning into old married couple type of bickering, going from dreading each others presence to searching for each other in a room, sneers turning into smirks, it's about keeping the same dynamic you had but making it more lighthearted, warmer.

And this is my personal opinion, but I truly believe there is no way to make a good enemies to lovers story without it also being a slowburn. It makes absolutely no sense why these characters that hated each other until now are suddenly falling in love so quickly. Enemies to lovers was never just Enemies -> Lovers, There needs to be some forced proximity thrown in there, a begrudgingly friendship, actual friendship, unexplained feelings, realization of feelings, secret pining because we barely became friends there is no way they would ever feel the same way, confession and by the end lovers. It just makes sense since they have a very complicated relationship and they need to grow as people and need to get used to familiar feelings first before actually getting together.

And this is what enemies to lovers is all about, these characters knowing every part of themselves, from the worst to the best, hiding nothing and being free around each other. It's about truly knowing every single piece of your partner's heart and soul, from their anger to their joy and loving them not just despite it, but especially for it.

[nouverx]

*proceeds to drink the whole bottle*

Yeah Alastor you're gonna be loved and appreciated wether you want it or not :)

[loveafterlife]

"i shine only with the light you gave me,"

[blauespikmin]

Sooo that just happened, right fellas?

[scottstiles]

Girl, I am outta here. There's a DVR at home full of unwatched TV waiting to remind me how ridiculously single I really am.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

After months of deliberation, I have decided to restart Poorly-Drawn-MDZS with a brand new style!

[Episode Directory]  [First] -> Next

[alabasterpickles]

So, listen I’ve had this drawing in my files since I saw Mutant Mayhem in theaters and I love it but I never got the chance to finish anything up due to starting school back up this semester

So

Here you go

[leaving-grapefruitss]

obey me duolingo headcannons

lucifer:

has a 700 day streak, maintains said streak for the sake of his ego, does the fastest lessons possible

mammon:

did one lesson, lost his one-day streak the day after, never tried again

levi:

speedruns through units to ‘rank’ higher, is probably in one of the top leagues, doesn’t retain much knowledge though bc he keeps changing languages

satan:

actually enjoys doing the lessons, reminds his brothers to do them daily, has obtained every monthly badge

asmo:

has the app on his phone, opened it once, thought it was too green and promptly closed the app - the only reason he’s ever had a streak is because satan probably did them for him

beel:

only does the food related lessons, waffles his way through skipping the other units

belphie:

downloaded the app, deleted it without opening it because the icon freaked him out

diavolo:

introduced to it by levi, does it every morning and every night to collect respective chests, used to do lessons at the dinner table but got scolded by barb bc of the pinging

barbatos:

does it bc diavolo reminds him to do it everyday, really enjoys learning new languages, is very insistent on completing friend quests

simeon:

could not figure out how to download the app, had solomon install it and open it for him, takes a long time on lessons from trying to figure out the interface, gets perfect scores on each lesson

solomon:

maintains a streak that’s one day higher than lucifer’s, maintains it for the sole sake of his ego, is probably in a low league bc he does the quickest lessons just for the streak

luke:

does his lessons multiple times daily and is passionate about it, tries to use phrases he learns to translate recipes in other languages, is the one that convinced simeon to try it

[ingo-ingoing-ingone]

Well today marks 3 years of this blog!! :D

Originally I was gonna try n have an ABYS update for you all but! That didn't work out lol it's coming slowly but surely! I'll post a sneak peek in a different post...

Anyways thank you for your support over the years, it's been pretty crazy <3 theres been a couple bumps in the road but overall it's been fun! Going fishing in the tag for posts to share with you all every morning certainly is an adventure!!

Since I couldn't manage to finish my fic chapter, I said id do a silly doodle instead. Here's that silly doodle!

Cheers to another year!

[inhuman-obey-me]

So. The OM news.

Solmare announced on Wednesday that December will be the "final new content" for the two mobile games. Going along with that, Lesson 60 will also be the end of story content in Nightbringer.

Definitely quite some news to take in, and one that's gotten everyone into quite a tizzy, understandably.

First, a clarification: The games are NOT going into End-of-Service (not yet, anyway). Both the OG game and Nightbringer will continue on as-is, just without any new content in general starting in January. This means that we are still going to have access to all the content we've had up to this point, like the main story, Lonely Devil, Devilgrams, Time Chronicle, etc. The announcement also stated that "past events will continue to be periodically re-released," and while it's not completely clear what those re-releases are going to look like, it sounds like the apps themselves will still be around for a while.

Secondly, this is also not the end of the Obey Me franchise. The announcement specifically says, "We promise you that this will not be the end of the seven brothers, the Devildom, or of Obey Me!" It also mentions a "new era" with "new forms of content," and Solmare themselves tried to clarify this the day after too, with assurance that new projects ARE in the works. So this is not the end of our beloved boys (and Thirteen)!!

Now, we don't actually know what this "new era" is going to look like, or what specific kinds of new projects this is referring to. We have been specifically promised new in-person events and merchandise, but of course, that's not particularly promising news for tons of us in the fandom who are not in areas that usually get those events or those who cannot afford to buy the merch, which have sometimes been hard to access for those outside of Japan.

Based on a couple of the VAs' tweets, we do know that OM is specifically moving beyond "アプリゲーム" (app game) format, which means we should not expect a third mobile game anytime soon. (And honestly, thank fuck, because we think we speak for a lot of us in saying the community's trust would just be so broken at that point!) And given their involvement, there are some ideas we can probably safely strike out. But until we get more official information, anything else on this is pretty much just speculation at this point.

But hey, on this blog, we love to speculate and theorize and make wild guesses as to what's going to happen next in OM, don't we? So let's speculate!

Firstly, any kind of print format like light novels and further manga volumes wouldn't involve the VAs, so those are probably out. But we do have the manga volumes they already released, so one possibility could be making a proper anime off of the manga version of the main story! When the gag anime originally released, many people expressed interest in seeing the main story converted into an anime, so that could be an interesting avenue for them to pursue.

Another option would be for them to go down a more audio-focused route. Though we haven't gotten much Otaku FM content in quite a long time, they've only released a couple of characters for their ASMR project so far, and hopefully they will still continue it for the rest of the characters. It's possible that they could bring back Otaku FM or Boys in the House content, especially to promote other new content in this new era. And multiple of the OM voice actors are involved with the Ex and Bee, which seems to have somewhat low numbers so far but has been said to be good (though we haven't looked into it ourselves), so it could be possible for them to try out a similar audio drama format with OM, as a more established IP.

Also, while the VAs seem to be saying that app games (mobile) are done for now, that doesn't necessarily mean we couldn't get a PC or console game. This could open up a possibility of a more traditional route-based style of otome game, which could give the writers a better position at balancing romance with the larger world adventure elements, and then just extending it with things like DLCs, fan discs, etc. Hard to say if Solmare has the budget to pull off something like that, but it would probably be more up their alley as a game studio and still give their programmers things to do assuming they haven't all been laid off with the current state of the games industry.

And then, of course, we have more things like Overture, the "concert" they put on with new 3D models of the brothers. Even if they can't afford a full-fledged console game, they could definitely still use those models in other ways, but also in more Overture-like concerts. Though personally, we would prefer if they didn't -- no one got into OM to have an idol group game. There are a million idol games and franchises already, and while it's fine as extra content on the side we guess, they're not really strong contenders against all of the actual idol games already out there. But there's money in that genre, so who knows if whatever execs may continue pushing it that direction...

And finally, another possibility, though perhaps also not a very likely one, is a theater show. It's pretty common for animes and such to also have stage productions in Japan. Luke's and Diavolo's VAs in particular have also done theater, including musical theater, so it's not a foreign concept to some of the team. But given the limited geographical scope of something like that, this wouldn't really be good for anyone outside of, like, probably only Tokyo? Still, stranger things have happened, so it's not outside the realm of possibility.

Speculation and all aside...we've been here since basically the beginning, when OG Obey Me was released back in December 2019. The end of content in the games is bittersweet, and we'll certainly be sad after NB Lesson 60 is released. Despite all of its flaws, OM is what got us both back into writing and drawing after a very long time. We started this blog! Neither of us had ever done a fandom blog before! It's been something near and dear (if even frustratingly so) to us for the past five years, so we'll be watching for what's coming next! And in the meantime, we're still here with you all too, for however slowly we put our stuff out.

[rystiel]

well that’s one way to come out i guess

[felsicveins]

John Dory's Final ex reveal!!!

It's Creek!

Wait, what's this?

It's Patty with the steel chair!!!

Meet Patty the Pain™!!! She's a professional wrestler rock troll! She and JD met at a party after a wrestling show and she basically said "I like you. You're going to be my boyfriend for a little while."

[thoughts-rambles]

Levi knew his sin well. The burn it would leave in his chest, the sour sickness that would cling to his throat, he hated it. His sin was the worst thing he could never control. The envy he felt made him feel a type of anger that was only comparable to that of the Avatar of Wrath himself.

He hated when you talked to his brothers instead of him. Hated when he heard you laughing along casually with them. Hated when you said you "loved" them. The worst part was when they reciprocated. He didn't mind if you showed affections to others- at least then he could lie to himself and say that's just how you are. And even if you couldn't, at least he knew he'd always be the one you'd return to after rejection. He would always be the one you'd hang out with, under the covers in his tub and surrounded by the comforting blue glow of his room. You loved him didn't you? Of course you did. But then why wouldn't you act with him the way you did with them? It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair... It never was.

But now he heard your affections for his brothers through the walls of the house. Even his room- his sanctuary- seemed to mock him by reverberating the love you held for everyone. He couldn't take it anymore. He didn't care what you thought of him anymore- he was an isolating person and he knew it- but he needed you to return. And until you did, he'd try to cancel out the sound of your undirected love through the comforting sounds of his anime or the blasting music in his games. He'd quench the sick crawling up and out of his throat with the fictional worlds he held so close to his heart. Anything, anything, to forget the sin that was forced upon him. "Envy."

[slasherflicks999]

quick silly doodle bc i havent been drawing AT ALL lately and need to get back to the grind LOL

jeff + BEN being besties as they do

every day they question why they’re even friends and then the next day they forget all about it and hang out again LMAO

i also imagine they’re the type of friends that could go like two months without talking at all and it literally will not matter bc the next time they do talk it will be like absolutely nothing happened and they’re very real for that

my shayla!! :3 ………and jeff too ig 🙄 /j

[niccoguedes]

VERA record: 24/08/1973 "Single mother. Market Street." [...] [...] [...] XX.XX.198? - Avenida Michigan, Chicago (ORD)

O Favorito do Demônio (01/20)

[maydey]

Because mothers day is right around the corner