#deli loses her shit in 4k

[twistedtavern]

You said in your scrapped content post that Leona used to be the only love interest in the self aware au (besides Rook apparently? 😳 what's the story with that??) Care to elaborate?

Ah yes, finally time to introduce The Simp Squad!! And with them, their respective arcs in the afterstory ^w^ (IN-DEPTH SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT)

Your romantic options for endings include:

These boys (at the moment)!! If someone can somehow determine that I have some kind of type based on these I am horrified to see what this reveals about me

Starting with the (relatively small) elephant in the room: Rook was mentioned in the scrapped post as a love interest, but he's not present in the simp squad picture. This is relatively easy to explain, he is canonically the player's ex! They hooked up around the time of the VDC, ended up not working out because of a variety of reasons, had a non-toxic breakup, and remained good friends even though they were exes all before spring. This is just part of the story. I swear if you look up the phrase "no hard feelings" you will see a picture of Rook throughout this entire au, what a champ. Maybe he could have an ending where he gets back with them and they do end up working... God dammit guys

Now onto the ones pictured above!

Leona: Ah, yes. The OG lover boy. If nobody got me, I know Leona Kingscholar got me. Can I get an amen? Yes, this is just "aha! the grumpy character has fallen in love with the sunshine character!" but it does have more depth than that. He starts off not paying the player any mind, but when Halloween hits and everyone is dragged down to the Spectral Realm, and he sees his ghost fighting to protect them with his (after)life, he definitely starts getting curious. After the events of Halloween, he starts approaching them, and since they're just a sunshine-flavored enigma, Leona just ends up getting dragged in more and more until he's realizing that he calls out to them whenever he sees them, and oh shit they've been snuggling together since noon and now it's 3 PM. Player honestly just thinks he's the sweetest ever and every other character is staring at them like 👁️👄👁️. The soft ship.

Octatrio: Yes, you are reading that right. All three. I just think the dynamic is frankly hilarious, because they can bounce off each other about their simultaneous crush on the player and form devious plots to get cheek kisses and snuggles together. Their dynamic is not competing for the player's hand, it's more like a full blown sprint toward the door whenever they come in to see who can get headpats first. There's a difference. They also apparently think the player is the funniest thing in Wonderland. If you ever catch Jade doing anything other than Polite Butler Chuckle #3, chances are the player probably suddenly remembered a meme they could recite from memory entirely out of context in the middle of a conversation. They definitely get hit the hardest by the "oh!! yeah, I'll kiss the homies goodnight" attitude when it comes to platonic affection, Floyd especially. He enjoys it when he gets it, but if he is blatantly flirting with them and it flies over their head, catch him looking deadpan into the nearest camera like it's The Office. Jade just gets shy and soft, he's scrunkly. Azul gets really flustered and tries to hide it, but he's absolutely touch starved and Needs It. All in all, Snuggle Pile Supreme.

Sebek: GOD HELP ME I AM ABOUT TO BE SO OBNOXIOUS ABOUT THIS. WE STAN. Definitely the most plot-reliant out of ALL of them. The hyper specific conditions of the afterstory have created the perfect habitat for this ship in particular. Malleus being missing was the key starting point for this ship to thrive, because Sebek suddenly had a wide open vacancy in the "liege to protect" position. It's really his devotion to the player and determination to be a proper guard for them that drives this ship forward. After all, if he can't protect a mere human, how can he protect the Young Master? Once he starts getting attached, though, that's when THE ANGST kicks in >:Dc. You see, there is one MAJOR point of angst that sticks with Sebek and largely defines his arc in the afterstory, and it's the player's memory. Throughout the entire afterstory, their memories have proven to be the main conflict of the afterstory, either because of what memory they have or lack. Sebek's conflict in relation to their memories is firmly in the 'lack thereof' zone, and it's the fact that they only remember him from the game, and not the kidnapping night. He is more than aware of the atrocities that were committed against them in that time frame, and that there were those who attacked and those who helped, but he's also aware of the fact that he is not remembered amongst their protectors, and because he loves and reveres them so much he's HORRIFIED of what that could mean for his past actions. But no flashbacks of him ever come. Never attacking, never protecting, nothing. And so the question weighs on his mind, what the hell could he have possibly been doing that night? It's when he starts getting answers that the angst REALLY kicks up (for both the fake answer and the real answer). And don't get me STARTED on how the return of Malleus/Tsunotarou throws a wrench into the works. Don't get me wrong, this ship certainly has its fair share of fluff and hurt/comfort, but by GOD this is the angst ship 100%. I will go into even further detail if asked.

Malleus: Was not included in the image because he does not deserve to be for a NUMBER of reasons. First off, he doesn't even love the player, like REMOTELY. Second, the only reason he's listed here is by the technicality of a VERY fucked up thing he did. Thirdly, CRIMES AGAINST DIASOMNIA. HE EMOTIONALLY ABUSED THAT POOR CROCODILE TO HELL AND BACK DAMN WELL WILLINGLY KNOWING FULL WELL WHAT HIS WORDS WOULD DO TO HIM ALL FOR A BITCH HE DON8 EVEN WANT!!!!!! LILIA RAISED HIM AS HIS OWN SON AND FOUGHT FOR HIM AND BELIEVED IN HIM UNTIL THE ABSOLUTE LAST AND WHAT DOES THAT MOTHER FUCKER DO TO THIS POOR OLD MAN?? HE JUST TOSSES HIM ASIDE. JUST LIKE THAT. HE TRIES TO KILL HIM!! AGAIN!!!!!!!! I HAVE NEVER WANTED TO BASH A MOTHERFUCKER UPSIDE THE HEAD WITH A CHAIR SO BAD!! I WANT TO BEAT HIM TO DEATH!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Anyways there's also platonic endings so lemme know if you want those too because I will get equally as obnoxious