#really i don't think the canon mc is likely to do. but anyway i guess solomon's friend could also be adam maybe?

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Hey Raven, hope your doing well. I was rewatching book 5 and something struck me. Crowly stills does his thing to get yuu/mc to host the NRC tribe at Ramshackle. But compare to previous chapters hes seems a little nicer, i guess? He offering renovations and upgrades ( a positive), instead of just threatening to cut yuu's food budget or something (a negative).

Where im going with this is, do you think Crowley may have felt a tiny tinge for his (in) action in book 4? Or atleast, realized he actually screwed up. He did give Yuu in case of an emergency.... and promptly ignored it (or just turned it off) when he went on break. He likely had to have heard what happened over the break...an likely saw his missed calls and put 2 and 2 together. Sure he may not feel bad enough to apologize (at least openly), but he does seem to make himself scarce early in b5. That could just be him being, well, the headmage. Maybe he's just not sure how to deal with MC or how they'd react to seeing him? So instead of threatening Yuu, he offers them something instead? Idk, maybe im reaching. Crowley relationship with Yuu is complicated. I do like to believe he has some empathy or regret (or maybe he just has more respect for yuu by b5?) After everything up to that point

Like i said, i may be reaching here. Wanted to get your input. Sorry for the long ask. Have a good one :)

In many fandom depictions of Crowley, he often serves as Yuu's guardian who is incompetent but well-meaning. I'm also guilty of doing this, Crowley is considered my OC's father figure (even if my OC isn't a Yuu). That's how we choose to engage with the characters and the world that we love! However, I don't believe that Crowley has that sort of tenderness for Yuu in canon, whether at the start or as their relationship develops over the course of the main story. Now, that's not to say that I think Crowley is cold or hateful towards Yuu. Far from it! He does care for them, but in the same way that a teacher might care about nurturing their students and preparing them for the world beyond graduation. Crowley demonstrates a similar attitude towards other NRC students, with one very clear example being in his Raven Jacket vignettes. In those stories, he likens his students to apple trees that he raises and nurtures, hoping that one day they might bear fruit. He does not particularly grant Yuu special treatment unless it's a scenario where he wants them to do a favor for him. (Though here I would also argue he does the same for other students when he wants them to resolve an issue in his place, which happens frequently in event stories; in Fairy Gala, he warns the boys they'll be held back if classes cannot proceed due to the wacky weather. In Ghost Marriage, Crowley shames the boys for not expressing interest in rescuing Idia, etc.)

I also want to set the record straight regarding how exactly Crowley gets Yuu to comply with his requests. Reviewing all avaliable books in the main story, Crowley rarely outright threatens Yuu if they refuse to help him:

Prologue — Crowley does not initially ask anything of Yuu, but he does provide them a temporary home and food until they can sort something out. During Yuu's stay, they are meant to do handiwork to earn their keep. However, Crowley tries to expel them after their involvement in breaking what is considered a precious chandelier. In this case, his anger is somewhat justified but it's still the one major example of Crowley leveraging something to force Yuu to act in a way that he desires. The thing is, it's revealed in chapter 19 that Crowley did not believe Yuu could acquire the magestone he asked for and was all set to finalize the expulsion papers. So really, he wasn't serious at all in giving Yuu a chance to redeem themselves and was going to expel Yuu anyway (until they happened to prove their "usefulness"). Whether this counts as an example of Crowley "threatening" Yuu, then, is up to individual interpretation.

Book 1 — Crowley makes no specific request to Yuu. He shows up late in the book and suggests to the frustrated Adeuce that they fight Riddle to claim his seat as dorm leader, but does not tell Yuu to do anything in this situation. Recall that it was Ace that marched up to Ramshackle's front door and demanded that he be allowed to stay overnight; Crowley had no part in that.

Book 2 — In 2-7, Crowley asks Yuu to investigate the strange string of accidents that has befallen the students set to play in the upcoming inter-dorm magift/spelldrive tournament. There is a part where Crowley says he "never promised to cover living expenses". You, as Yuu, have the option to ask him "Is that a threat...?" to which Crowley never properly responds. Interpret that how you wish. He then offers Grim and Yuu a chance to participate in said tournament if they succeed, seeing as they lacked the 7 players needed to form a team. Crowley even says he will find 5 other players to fill in their missing team seats for them.

Book 3 — Here in 3-6, Crowley never actually threatens to cut off food. Instead, he is trying to earn pity from Yuu by guilt tripping them and emphasizing that he, the headmaster, is so busy with his tasks (like finding Yuu a way home) and will provide them with the funds they need regardless because he is so very kind. He's trying to tug at their heartstrings by pointing out the things he selflessly does for them, so they feel obligated to do something for him in return. Once Yuu agrees to help, he lavishes them with praise and says it is "expected" of someone he personally chose.

But!! I want to add that in the Episode of Octavinelle manga, this same scene is depicted as Crowley threatening to cut their food budget. I'm not sure if this is just a different interpretation (since Yuuta seems to prepare more food than is usually implied in the game; this would explain why their food costs go up significantly) or if Crowley truly was also threatening to cut the budget in the game.

Book 4 — Crowley makes a reasonable request in 4-2; he asks Yuu and Grim to tend to the fire fairies over winter break since it's a task no one else will be present to handle. In exchange, he says he will give them a banquet of tasty foods (which is not an empty promise; in 4-39, the Ramshackle Ghosts tell Yuu and Grim that the headmaster has left them with a ton of food as thanks.

Book 5 — Crowley appears in 5-21 asking that Yuu allow the NRC Tribe to stay at Ramshackle for their month-long training camp. He explains that Vil and Rook are willing to give up their share of the prize money if Yuu agrees to these terms. It is then that Crowley adds that he will help with renovation too, most likely to sweeten the deal with his word.

Book 6 — Crowley does not ask anything of Yuu. He does, however, call in STYX in 6-2 because he becomes concerned about the threat that Grim poses after consuming multiple crystallized blots. After Grim is taken, Crowley instructs Yuu in 6-4 to wait until Grim has recovered and been evaluated by a third party to speak with him again.

Book 7 — Crowley makes no specific requests to Yuu.

You can see in almost all instances that Crowley uses a variety of tactics to get his students to do what he wants them to. He bribes, shames/guilts them, points out very real consequences if the problem at hand is not resolved, and, yes, occasionally makes what can be interpreted as a vague threat. Despite this, the fact remains that he was always nice, not just post-book 4 (in fact, Crowley was also nice during book 4). I don't see the circumstances as "anything before or during book 4 is him being negative and threatening to punish Yuu and anything after book 4 is him being kind and positive to Yuu". In most cases with Yuu, he is offering them something they would want. His go-to strategy isn't threats, it tends to be the promise of a reward.

I wouldn't tie any of Crowley's actions to feeling a sense of remorse or guilt on his own part. While it's true we don't really get to see inside of his head, from what we see of him... this man is utterly shameless. He's willing to resort to emotional manipulation to convince literal children to solve problems that he, the powerful mage and adult, should be dealing with. What's more, he praises himself for Yuu's competence and willingness to step up. That's him placing a lot of faith in his students, and I don't think he feels any guilt in doing this. Why else would he send them into dangerous situations over and over again? He must, to some extent, believe they can already handle themselves just fine, otherwise he's creating tons of legal liabilities for himself by purposefully throwing children of tons of affluent families into the line of fire. Besides, he's a highly skilled mage himself--if any true, TRUE danger were to befall them, surely he could save the day himself. My thought is that he has sort of a "tough love" approach where he tosses his students into the fires and sees how they get out of it in one piece, but it's just presented in a "devil-may-care" way because of his lackadaisical attitude.

Regarding book 4, I personally see Crowley giving his cell phone number as just a means to provide reassurance to Grim and Yuu, since they (especially Grim) are protesting about him seemingly leaving on vacation. It's an empty gesture so he can have his getaway without much of a fuss; I totally believe that Crowley did not ever intend to answer his phone. When he returns in book 5, he's already asking another favor of Yuu, so I get the sense he isn't really bothered by what happened. I would even say that Crowley still has several major appearances in book 5, not that he has made himself scarcer. He appears to ask the favor, appears again to evaluate their performance, and then a third time at the cultural festival to speak with the headmaster of RSA. Crowley gets plenty of screen time here, much more then in books 6 and 7. If he truly felt bad or actively wanted to avoid Yuu, he could easily just tell other students (ie Vil) or even school staff (ghosts, teachers, etc.) to relay the deal for him.

Again, I want to be clear: THIS IS NOT CROWLEY BASHING. The only thing I am expressing in this post is that while I do love this bird-brained goober and think he cares for his students, I don't believe it's done in the conventional sense you're thinking of. Crowley can be selfish and callous and throw his students into danger, and that's okay! Sometimes we want to love a useless man who's trying his best, even if his best is pretty lousy/j

Whew, that was a lot of brain dumping! I hope I properly responded to all your thoughts and that you found this read semi-entertaining~

[itsdefinitely]

Definitely, can you pretty please go into depth about the MC outfits because I would LOVE to hear that /gen

WOOHOO!! YIPPEE!! DANCING AROUND MY LITTLE CORNER FULL OF RED TAPE AND MADNESS!!

gonna start in no particular order

TINKY COSTUME my beloved and beloathed (the colors fucked me up). to be honest most of it is pretty obvious. the maze design on the sleeves and the box on the shirt is meant to represent the bastard's box, but i imagine that box glowing in the game. for important plot or something. i just want the box to glow. the pants are pretty much directly because i wanted to give the MC boots (i didn't draw shoes because hell if i was gonna design six good looking pairs of shoes) and they fit in with the pattern on the sleeves + the overall steampunk-ish vibe tinky has. the outfit itself wasn't really steampunky or yellow, but these outfits were made to compliment the lord, so rather than two engineers, it's like a mad scientist and his loyal lab rat. so something that would be easy to move around in

and now is a good a time as any to mention this. all of the outfits were made with the CoTSC designing them in mind, which is why they look all different, because i feel like the church has different views on how each lord wants to be treated. like they're pretty sure nibbly is good with things being more modern, but wiggly and pokey would be more "traditional" i guess. the church is just convinced some of them need to be held to the same standard they were given decades ago

anyway. blinky. the whole thing with the blindfold is that the CoTSC thinks you're not meant to look at blinky. blinky actually doesn't care whether you look at him or not, but there's this air of "you're not supposed to do this" when the MC tries to take the blindfold off. the eye button-thing was very fun for me to think about because i saw this button a while ago that was the pupil as the button, and i've been trying to incorporate it into something ever since. the pants are more of a stylistic choice than anything, so interpret it how you will

nibbly's costume was actually so fun for me to draw. i wanted it to look like something out of a fucked-up twisted willy wonka. the base for the top is really similar to tinky's but that's fine because they probably all steal something from the others. tinky's costume steals the specific yellow from blinky's costume, who steals the midsection part from pokey's costume, who steals the whole robe thing from wiggly's costume. also there's no cape or flowy thing for nibbly's costume because if the MC failed i don't think the CoTSC would want nibbly mad at them for having to chew extra fabric. also you need to be able to run without tripping over yourself if you try to escape him :]

pokey's costume was also really fun. obviously the grey, blue, and the cracks (it's also supoosed to be lightning!) are from his canon design, but the glasses are because i wanted something on the MC's face like the mask. it couldn't be another mask because pokey would get offended by that i think, and sunglasses are in the superstar/thespian ballpark. this costume also has the most stars on it (they go all the way around the hem of the robe) because of pokey's connection to space

finally, wiggly's costume. this is the one i think i have the most to talk about. first and foremost: there's a full black outfit under the robe. the fingerless gloves and pants are actually one jumpsuit, like president howard's suit in black friday. the collar thing is connected to the cape, which is split into six parts to be kind of like wiggly's tentacles. the fluffy collar is meant to be like the doll's fur. the whole thing is meant to keep the MC insulated, because i imagine the temperature drops whenever a lord is around, and especially when THE lord in black shows up. all of the sniggles (+ blinky) have fur, so they've probably had to adapt to the cold. now that i'm thinking about it, the CoTSC aren't that antagonistic in the costume design process. they cater to both the lords and the MC's needs, or whatever they think those needs are. like i said before, wiggly's costume is meant to be more "traditional", like the robes they wear. this costume is similar to what they'd put you in before sacrificing you

thanks for coming to my braindump

[etheries1015]

I’m so glad someone else is talking about the horny ratio of whb because I feel like it’s so unbalanced. Cause when you look into the story of the game it’s so FUCKED like there’s war and canonical child torture and experimentation but that’s just like brushed aside so the demons can grope the MC? I feel like if they kept the horny to events/cards and h-scenes then it wouldn’t be so bad. Or if they just fully committed to making a horny game and didnt try to make a weird mix of horny and serious.

I was reading Satan and Mammons attacker cards and I kind of felt myself stare at my screen like:

and then:

The most random of times to start going at it...but I guess that's the beauty of the game so to speak...lmfaooo..whomp whomp. Anyways, yes I see where you're coming from. I like alot of the seriousness inside of the game but they do tend to brush around some of those topics and over shadow it with sexual inuendos.

I think pretty much all of Levis story cards and stuff are a prime example of that, he's had so much trauma and pain but when he's telling MC it's suddenly like. "Okay I just trauma dumped u now we should bang" BRUHH don't you want like...a moment to breath...? Maybe? Perhaps? smh.

All in all I do really like this game, but they do try a little toooo hard to run with the sex jokes and overshadowing the serious topics just to fullfill the explicit content. There is a time and place and maybe they should find ways to seperate it a little better...?

It is difficult to make a game that'll make everyone happy tho, so I guess i'm kinda a the point where it is what it is, i'll just enjoy whatever content I get lmfao

[cloudcountry]

assigning the ikevamp characters that live in the mansion love languages with my very limited knowledge of their characters because i thought it would be fun

(part two: ikepri)

napoleon gives acts of service simply because he protected mc in the prolouge. also he seems very sweet in general so i'd imagine he tries to take care of them to the best of his ability in his route C:

mozart is such a bitch in the prolouge and idk if that gets any better in his route BUT he gives quality time!! i crossed off physical touch and words of affirmation pretty quickly bc he seems too prickly but yk when i get to his route i might be proven wrong!!

leonardo gives gift giving??? like im not sure why but he seems like he'd buy you random shit he thinks you'd like.

arthur is SO physical touch coded??? maybe its because he's a flirty but i feel like hes such a hand holder. and a smoocher. and a cuddler. very grabby.

if vincent's CANON love language isnt words of affirmation i will be SHOCKED. IDC!!! he seems so sweet and kind and loving :(( hes very warm and i can imagine him showering his s/o in praise so easily ahahhawawh

theodorus stumps me. but uhhh hm. maybe acts of service??? i literally have no idea i am so sorry theo kissers

ISAAC MY BABYGIRL :((( um i started playing his route recently so i know a little more about him than teh rest of the characters and i think quality time!! but the quality time were its just him existing with someone and were they pull him out of his shell to go do things (like teh tour!!! aaaa that was so cute!!!!)

i don't know a single thing about jean but if i had to guess...sorry i spent like twenty minutes thinking it over because i KNOW NOTHING ABOUT HIM so i'm going to guess physical touch. he seems like he needs to be held.

dazai seems like a little shit from the interactions ive seen in isaac's route LMAO so physical touch or words of affirmation. eitehr one i am debating. its probably both. he can be special SHUT UP!!!!!

still trying to figure out how to spell Comte de Saint-Germain because why is his name so long. anyways. um acts of service. he seems like he'd like doing things for the mc.

sebastian is probably acts of service and yes its because he serves people all the time and he really admires all of the residents BUT ALSO i think he'd like receiving acts of service too!!!

a bonus shakespeare because hes technically a resident i think??? but words of affirmation totally. this guy wrote sonnets and he's going to write some for you. (shakespearean sonnets are actually pretty fun to write!!!)

[poisonouswritings]

Hello, Ozzy. I hope you are doing well and doing magic, as usual.

I have a perhaps a little silly request. Would you write some head canons of the M4 reacting to a MC who just told them (seriously) they are beautiful?

I don't know if you find the subject suitable, but anyway thank you. Love your writings.🌸

I still have several of your asks in my drafts I'm so sorry aofeiuhferpofhuearoifj

GN!Reader, short and sweet, I think this post also more or less fits the criteria aside from it doesn't include Rime

Felix Escellun

Felix has been studying all day. You're not entirely sure what for - something about a spell for harnessing the power of emotions? You're 77% sure that he's trying to find a way to prank Escell - but he's hyperfixating hard. You try to make sure he takes breaks but he's hesitant to pull himself away from his desk unless it's to get a tome from the bookshelf.

So you carry on without him. Do your studying on the floor, practice your spells in the hallway, feed Stella in the kitchen, that sort of thing. You even managed to squeeze in a nap on the couch.

Sometimes you look over to see what he's doing. Different emotions seem to lead to different colored magic. Happy is yellow, sad is blue, angry is red, love is pink, so on and so on. But from what you can tell, this is all only in theory. He hasn't gotten it to work in practice just yet.

Now the moon is high in the sky and you wanna go to bed. But it won't be easy to pull Felix away from his work.

You go over. Squat down beside him and lean your elbows on the desk so you can see his face.

He looks tired. He is tired. He's been at his desk for the last, what, 14 hours? Give or take. That's just how he gets when he's really invested in something. It's admirable that he can have that much dedication, but it's also,, not,,, healthy to be staying up like that. And from the way his brows are furrowed, he's clearly determined to push through the exhaustion.

While he never pulls his eyes away from the paper, he fluffs the tip of his quill against your nose.

"I know what you're about to say. I'll be along just as soon as I can. I know I saw a formula somewhere in this infernal book, and I will find it!"

"Wouldn't it be easier to find it if you were more awake? You look like you're about to drop."

"I most... certainly..." - he pauses to yawn, half-heartedly covering his mouth. His glasses slide down the tip of his nose, and he rubs his eyes before pushing them back into place - "am not falling asleep."

His hair is hanging loose around his head. It really is getting long. You tuck a single soft strand back behind his ear. You can see his eyes starting to close before he jolts himself back awake. So you lean closer and kiss his cheek.

"Alright, alright. You know yourself better than I do. I just think it'd be good to get some beauty sleep - but you're already so beautiful, I guess you don't need it."

..... *strangled noise of mortification*

A light yellow ball of energy - streaked with pink - sparks at his fingertips, surprising both of you.

........ :)

His silver eyes widen as the sudden breakthrough wakes him up. He's positively beaming in excitement as he grabs his quill again, frantically scribbling notes.

"MC, you're absolutely brilliant!"

"I didn't do anything?"

Felix turns deftly in his seat and puts his hands on your shoulders. The bags under his eyes are deep and dark and stubborn, but at least he doesn't seem like he's about to faceplant anymore. He does seem surprisingly open though.

"You were honest. That's more than enough."

"Then I honestly think you should go to bed and get back to this in the morning."

"... Five minutes?"

You get up to your feet, kiss his cheek again in goodnight, and head over to your shared room to get some sleep. It'll be an hour at least before he finally gives in to sleepiness, but at least he's happy.

Meanwhile he spends the next ten minutes burying his face in his arms because he's so flustered that he seriously had that strong of a reaction to being complimented like that.

Anisa Anka

Sometimes you like to watch Anisa train.

Actually you always like to watch her train, but usually visitors aren't allowed on the training grounds or you're busy with Felix and Sage or Saaros.

But anyways today is a day you get to hang out with your amazing super strong girlfriend! Yay!

So you're sitting off to the side. Drinking water does not help your thirst™

Anisa,,, in her armor,,,, swinging her sword around,,,,, flipping her opponents over her shoulder,,,,, she's so strong,,,,,,,,,, hehehehe

Oh I'm so gay for her

It doesn't take too much longer for her to finish up. After she gives her troops a few more rousing words and officially takes them off-duty, she comes over to you. Her cheeks are a little flushed, but you can't tell if that's from over-exertion or embarrassment at how adoringly you're staring at her.

"I hope I gave you a good show."

There's a teasing lilt in her voice and a grin on her lips. You hold one hand out, doing the little grabby-grab motion until she sets her hand in yours. You gently brush your lips along her knuckles, all the while looking up at her.

"You certainly did, Beautiful."

...... *hair poof*

Her eyes search your face to see if you're joking. You're not. So she looks away, clearing her throat like she's trying to keep any semblance of professionalism about her that she can.

"Not at work."

Her protest doesn't sound very genuine, though.

You laugh and finally get up from your seat, looping your arms around her waist and tugging her close. She smells like roses. You nuzzle into her neck, kissing the bottom of her chin.

"I thought you were off-duty?"

She opens her mouth but all that comes out is a little sigh as she holds you tight.

"You're incorrigible."

"Well thank you very much."

Sage Lesath

Sage is still wearing his eyepatch. Even when it's just the two of you.

No matter how much you reassure him, he's self-conscious about it. You can't exactly blame him. Not when you know the two things he associates with it; getting mutilated by the Corrupted in the sewers (he says what upsets him most about that is the fact he couldn't protect you, but you're pretty damn sure that's not the reason he wakes up gasping and clutching his body in pain some nights - he went through something horrible and traumatic and he doesn't want to admit it. You're always there for him, though, and that helps) and being corrupted.

So. Eyepatch.

He'll take it off if you ask nicely enough, but even then his hair usually curtains the eye. Or he looks away from you. Or he just keeps it closed.

The rebuild of Porrima is slow-going. People are hesitant to stay in the open for too long. Always anxious to go into the crumbling remains of buildings for fear of finding familiar faces that never got to see the sun one more time.

It happens more often than anyone wants to think about.

Luckily, the castle itself wasn't damaged (of course Mike took good care of it, he needed it for dramatic flair), so the survivors have been able to use it as their base of operation. It gives them access to a medical wing, plenty of supplies, and a safe space to breathe (once Felix and Rime and other surviving mages have purged the last of the corruption out of the building).

Sage never really liked the castle though. It was always too fancy, full of nobility that judged him and rules of etiquette he didn't see the need for. So he prefers to stay in Fathom.

(So does Tulsi, although you think she mostly just wants to stay close so he doesn't vanish again)

The familiarity is helpful. Once Sage has scent-marked everything in the room, he's more willing to sit still and relax.

Meaning you have an easier time convincing him that you wanna see his eye.

It's one of those types of nights. Sage is curled up beside you, arm thrown over your waist and cheek mushed into your shoulder. You're combing your fingers through his hair, carefully scratching behind his ears. You're talking softly about nothing of real importance. Just,,, being together. That's all.

"Hey. Sage."

"Mm?"

"Can I see it?"

In the old days, he would have grinned and stroked his tail up your thigh and brushed his fangs along your collarbone and asked you what, specifically, you wanna see.

Now he just pouts a little.

"Why?"

You lean down and kiss the top of his head, just slightly favoring his left ear in the spot he likes the most. While you keep your tone casual, your words are genuine and clear.

"Because you're beautiful, and seeing you makes me happy."

........ he presses his face further into the crook of your neck. There's a whine in his words, but it's decidedly more light-hearted than anything.

"You... You always manage to surprise me, y'know."

He slowly shifts off of you, ignoring your self-satisfied grin in favor of carefully undoing the strip of fabric. He spends much longer than necessary foucing on it, winding it up around his fingers neatly. It's fraying pretty badly. He should probably replace it soon. Maybe with a proper patch this time?

Then he buries his face in your chest and shyly peeks up at you, gauging your reaction. His hair covers his eye.

You carefully brush the strands away so you can get a good look. Smile. Smooch his forehead.

"Pretty Kitty."

His content purr vibrates your chest.

Rime Varela

Rime doesn't sleep much.

He says it has something to do with dying, or maybe it was the way Felix wrenched him back. All he really needs is an hour or two a night. Maybe three if he's been doing a lot of intense magic.

So what does he do while everyone else is asleep?

Sometimes it's studying. Other times it's practicing what he's studying.

And then other times it's a very rigorous skincare routine.

It's four in the morning when you're woken up by ice creeping up your spine. A glance over your shoulder shows it's Rime crawling into bed behind you, hugging you against his chest and resting his chin on your shoulder.

"You've been busy."

You can hear the smile in his voice.

"All this doesn't come naturally, darling."

You twist around to face him, cupping his cheeks in your palms and using the tips of your fingers to gently pin his ears back against his hair.

"Well, I've always said you're drop dead gorgeous."

....

He tries to glare at you. But you're smiling like you just told the best joke in the universe - even though you make that joke at least once a week - and he can't help but laugh.

"I'm serious!" You protest, but you're laughing too. You drop your hands but he picks them back up and nuzzles his cheeks into your palms.

"You're always serious."

You sweep your thumb along the swath of freckles that bridge his nose.

"You're always beautiful," you reply with a casual shrug.

His nose twitches and his ears flick once before relaxing.

"... Dork."

[radiokathryn-if]

What types of MC's do the RO's like the most and what do they dislike the most?

hmmmm to answer this I'm going to go with what the ROs look for in a partner rather than what the MC would be like... if that makes sense──I don't want to make any 'canon' ideals for MCs! (did I answer this right??? I'm second guessing everything today)

Current Nate is tricky because he's not looking for a romance he's looking for one night stands or a fuck buddy. He likes it when people are bold enough to look him in the eye and tell him they want him (he's an egotist!) He's interested in a challenge but not if he has to actively work for it. He won't get with someone who can't keep their mouth shut (about their circumstances, not particularly during the sexy times...) so Nate tends to stray away from overly talkative people or those who can't keep a secret.

Eva is open to all kinds of personalities. She likes trying to get shier people to open up for her──she has no problems taking control of conversations or... situations. She likes playing the game with playful or flirty people, keeping her on her toes interests her. She likes seeing how far someone bold can go before she's the one who can let go and get a little looser/more passive. (she's the ultimate switch I'm telling you now) However, the core through line is she will not be with someone terribly selfish and arrogance gets old fast... mostly because it reminds her of Nate. (don't be like Nate, essentially.)

Mica doesn't particularly enjoy straight-laced or just judgemental people. They are very easy going and very spontaneous so a partner that wouldn't even entertain their plans or judge them for trying something completely random is very off putting. They do prefer more talkative people rather than stoic or quiet/shy people but it's not necessarily a turn off.

Let's be real, Detective Han is... emotionally stunted at best. They don't have time (in their head anyway) for romance so they've never given it a first thought let alone a second one. They find themselves more intrigued by someone who can match them──who won't back down from their morals or beliefs, someone who can challenge them to think and help them understand. Other than that they have no idea what their preferences are! (they don't like the feeling of being clung to... but in a isolationist 'you have to do everything with me and only me' kind of way not a physical way.)

José's hard no is someone who won't/can't get along with their family. Their second (less hard) no is someone who can't respect their autonomy and line of work/way of thinking. They don't have a particular preference over their partners personality or hobbies but they do know they want respect and loyalty. (Though, they must admit it's kind of fun to bounce off of a personality type different to theirs.)

Honestly, Ji Han doesn't know if he has a preference or not──he's usually the one who changes things up to fit the bill for the other player, you know? He can say he doesn't gel well with people who are elitists or those who look down on others just because they can (he's been with a few of them... didn't end that well) and he doesn't even consider people who are morally strung up... on their high horse for example. He bounces well off of shier people because he likes to get reactions from them──though he likes getting reactions from anyone he dates so really if they can't take his teasing well then they're not for him.

Fauve is a bit different. She hasn't gone for people genuinely in a very long time so she's a little rusty in the real feelings department. She likes people who let her be her──independent. He really appreciates it when someone can communicate well, because she needs to be on top of things surrounding emotions and she can't just take over a relationship with someone who won't work with her. (does that make sense? in essence she needs a partner that will let her 'take control' but not of everything. she still needs their involvement, she's not a dictator.) However, she does like it when she gets romantically surprised──randomly but her flowers or suggest going on a date out of the blue. Be involved with her personally not just aesthetically, ya'no?

With Jackson, his hard no is if they are child free/if they don't get alone with Cilly. He will not ever drop his daughter for a potential romance──he comes with 'baggage' he knows, so he won't even entertain people who can't handle it. I think Jackson actually prefers a more quieter partner, not shy per say but maybe calmer? He needs time in a relationship to build up a connection of trust and understanding. That and he's not the most talkative person in the world so holding conversations isn't his strong suit. (That's not to say he wouldn't go for someone louder or talkative, as long as they respected him to be a listener rather than a converser.)

??? is fairly new to this... romance stuff but not nearly as fresh as the detective. Their first, and only, relationship didn't last very long and they didn't really know them all to well (it was a mess and ??? was very hurt by it... itwasadare) they look for someone to trust─or rather someone who has shown ??? they can trust them─which is why they tend to gravitate towards openly kind and warm genuine people. Their ex was really snarky and mean in bad faith so they tend to avoid that like the plague.

[mintmoth]

Chrys looks so pretty! Love the quirky vibes! Could you tell us more about them?

I've had a couple people asking for some Chrys info but I don't have an actual character sheet yet oops

Chrys is an MC/Yuu who technically exists in an alt universe compared to Ambrosia for alt shenaniganz, but also maybe I can have two Yuus for jokes sometimes because time and space bend to my will

So while Ambrosia is more of the character I created in my head as the MC while I was actually playing twst, Chrys is me loving the ambiguity of the MC and how many people go "yeah my MC is a girl stuck at an all boys school" like that sounds such classic otome game plot right?

Okay but Chrys? Even if she's somehow living out the ultimate otome she's just.. she's a huge nerd (affectionate)

After the initial shock of being trapped in another world settles down she's immediately just "oh wow there's fairies and beastmen and mermaids and magic?? Where's the library I need to get my hands on every history and informational book you'll let me check out. What is the world like? What kind of cultures are there? How are the relations of these different species with one another? Can someone explain to me how the mermaid transformation potion works- are their insides changed to human insides or do they still have fish insides??"

While Ambrosia mirrors the canon MC's "oh man I guess I'm stuck here. Well I can still make friends and try to have a normal school life I guess" attitude that we perceive, being interested in things as they come up and taking what they can in stride-

Chrys absolutley just dives into meeting everything with this excited fascination (that definitely gets on some people's nerves), but it's really just her being so curious about this new world she's found herself in and as such is eager to learn about anything she deems interesting

Which is also how she gets caught up in more Octavinelle nonsense. Approaching Azul like, "Hey I know I helped my friends kick your ass like a week ago and that should make me want to avoid you and the concept of even thinking the word deal around you BUUUUUT- all the books I've read in the library that talk about mermaid culture SUCK! They're like, written by humans who are like 'yeah I totally talked to a mermaid once here's a book about what I learned'. It's garbage. Anyways what would you want from me if I asked you to write me a list of books about mermaids with actual credible sources? I figured I'd ask you since I know you'll definitely find what I'm looking for."

Azul just offended that he's being asked to do something that a quick internet search could yield while the tweels are just, "oh you want to learn more about mermaids? Here's the creepiest things we can tell you"

Also despite her still being "shrimpy", her hair colors were loosely inspired by a sea nettle lmao. Though I've made the joke on twitter that Ambrosia is an orange shrimp and Chrys is a ghost shrimp and that's how they can both be shrimp

[worst-fake-bae]

So today I wanna rant about how I fucking hate how Hero is so underrated and overlooked by the fandom

How the hell did I end up liking one of the MC's for once and STILL barely get content for him.

Sometimes I even wish Hero had haters, a hate-dedicated reddit or something... Just because I want him to be at least somewhat discussed?? Some controversy going on? He's pretty controversial, I tell ya. Just like Basil, just like Sunny and Aubrey. He can be considered problematic or uncomfortable and I think it's NEAT. I want DISCUSSION. NOT... NOT JUST IGNORE.

Because that's what Hero is. Ignored.

It's funny how most of the time he ends up being the "trophy romantic interest" and/or "the parent of the squad" but, like, in a BAD WAY. By that I mean he gets put aside or outright forgotten up until someone needs to be a "cishet himbo to cook breakfast/be cute with mari". It's as if he doesn't even have OTHER characteristics or relationships with OTHER characters??? It's as if he was always about "grieving Mari" and don't even get me started on his state of depression, because it was SO MUCH MORE than "grief for a girlfriend". It was, in fact, about HIM. How he felt about himself, how he persieved himself, his actions, his life. It wasn't just the "my crush died", it was "my perfect-hero facade was stupid, I was being inconsiderate, selfish and useless and If I couldn't even help the one I love, how can I do anything at all? what if I'm really not that great and everyone is just confused about me? because if I was really a hero, I would be able to do something", and it's still brief. Hero is not about Mari, he never was. His character goes FUCKING. DEEPER. He's tied up with some of Omori's centric themes, such as "perfection", "lies", and "UGLY REAL coping", yet people seriously go and forget that??

Because THEY DO. Lemme just tell you when this shit made me go wild, it went to the extreme... I saw a meme. Y'know. A meme about "every character in Omori is depressed". And you know what? Hero wasn't there. They seriously cut out the character with ACTUAL DEPRESSION THAT'S BEEN STATED IN CANON, AND WHO'S ENTIRE THING IS BEING PRONE TO " SAD" EMOTION, from the meme about DEPRESSION.

It's just one example but it sums it up so well. ~~~ thanks, I hate it.

Oh well.

Anyway... To everyone who analyses Hero and thinks about his mental state and his character for more that one second... Thanks. You're great. I love you.

The rest of you? "Um", I guess?

[sketch-guardian]

Odon makes me go puppy eyes!!!! I love them so much they're so lovely!!! I love touch starved eldritch beings so baddd.

Out of curiosity, what are they comfortable with in a relationship? I'm aroace too and I know how much these things vary

-Isa (this is soconfused, the anon option makes me feel very safe i'm sorry jsigjdjc)

Aw you're so sweet!😳💕Hearing that you like Odon so much makes me really happy, thank you!☺💚I'm sure they would find you quite lovely too✨ since they aren't used to receiving such compliments🙈(and I love the touch starved eldritch being trope too-)

Before replying to your question, I guess I'll have to make a clarification, just in case: although I know I once mentioned my OCs orientation, those were quite hypothetical and what I would have imagined for them if my OCs weren't in Obey Me. However, being part of an otome game with a gender neutral MC, I think it would be more inclusive not to specify their orientations, like with the canon characters from the game. So basically those would be headcanons kinda, like some other people do for the seven brothers🤷🏻not sure if it makes sense, but I hope I was clear🙈anyway-

WHAT ARE THEY COMFORTABLE WITH IN A RELATIONSHIP?

Odon is quite a hard demon to embarrass, they're pretty chill, a gentle giant and basically impossible to fluster, plus they have never been in a relationship, so even if you asked them this question, they wouldn't be able to give you an answer right off the bat. Odon doesn't mind PDA, they like to be shown affection and they just appreciate it, whether hugs, kisses or piggyback rides. The advantage of showing Odon affection in public for MC is that lesser demons wouldn't dare to approach them, because although Odon is friendly, other demons don't want to find out what they're capable of in case they hurt MC. Odon prefers to give kisses on MC's forehead and to receive them on the sides of their mouth, those kisses reassure them that MC isn't afraid of their weird grin. The only things I think Odon would be VERY uncomfortable with are: trying to look under their bangs without their consent, touching them in inappropriate areas insistently and poking the eye sockets of the floating eye-like creatures that follow Odon.

And this should be all! Also don't worry Isa, I don't mind you using the anon option☺(and being ace and probably aro too myself, I know what you mean). Again, thank you for the compliments and for the ask, I hope the answer was satisfying enough💜✨

[bentosandbox]

1 to 7 👀

take a guess before opening this (it's kind of long)

so actually when I rb'd the post I was thinking about Hoshichen tehe was it obvious (I don't actually hate it... I like it even..but I'm very particular about their dynamic) but I kind of have 3 other ships I basically feel same-y about

Specrene

FranLisk

SariaSilence

Their standard(??)/popular depictions basically have 'Webtoon CEO with yaoi hands harassing/forcing themselves on naive powerless guy' kind of vibes to me (This applies to a lot of Lapptex too I think) basically if you turn the 'bottom' into a kyaa noo stop type of girl with no agency...goodbye forever

What OTPs in your fandom(s) do you just not get?

See top but I guess more specifically Specrene: specter is treating her like a actual pet bird to torment/tease than a fellow humanoid(?) until the end of her op rec where she finally kind of acknowledges irene as a fellow 'human' like whaa

2. Are there any popular fandom OTPs you only BroTP?

Hoshichen but they're also like more than that to me im just going to quote my friend here and hope it suffices

uhh like. they know that they'll never get the other's full background and theyre (may be begrudgingly) fine with that (as opposed to chenswire thats like mutually 'i already know everything about you why are you still pretending otherwise' in all actions but speech)

3. Have you ever unfollowed someone over a fandom opinion?

man idk honestly lol... but i also rarely unfollow people over this kind of stuff usually I just mute words or just go hm interesting i guess (scroll past)

4. Do you have a NoTP in your fandom? Are they a popular OTP?

see top I think they're all popular/the 'default' ship (except for specrene)

5. Has fandom ever ruined a pairing for you?

see top (and below...) chen sir is cringefail but not like a hollywood damsel please....

6. Has fandom ever made you enjoy a pairing you previously hated?

I wouldn't say hate but I used to be really ehhh on

1) Mos/Fia because (see top) but I love fail mostima and cringe fia I'm glad GA showed how pathetic the two of them can be

2) I kept seeing Lin/Swire with (see top) dynamic and i was like goddamn you guys did it to hoshichen and now them too COME ON.. JUST BECAUSE SWIRE APOLOGISED ONCE EVEN THOUGH SHE WAS BACK TO BEING QUEEN BITCH RIGHT AFTER uhh anyway. there was this weibo post I saw when Lin was announced that like awoke something in me it was kind of like a drabble or something...? basically something like 'lungmen quad is so nice because you have 2 police(chen & swire) and 2 underworld people(lin & hoshi <ex tho) so the dynamics is like wowww!! honestly it was kinda hard to read lol but it was basically like canon compliant imagining about after swires kidnapping when they were kids, they fractured fr fr because chen was like im going to 1000% train while lin feels awkward since swire got kidnapped by underworld guys or sth and her family and therefore she herself is part of the problem and it ended with the both of them butting heads while thinking "why wasnt it me that saved her back then?" (cause it was hoshi right lol) and i just went like MANNNNN. it's like the core of my wuxia/gufeng AU that's collecting dust in my folder sorry if that made no sense

3) hoshichen but see below first and then come back; JP fan interpretations just hit different man the biggest reason why i still eat this ship sometimes

7. Is there anything you used to like but can’t stand now?

see top but especially for HoshiChen because i don't really care for the other 3 ships lol. people depicting Hoshigummy like average yaoi mafia boss that forces themselves on the MC without an ounce of respect for either party when shes like actually perfect(to me...)

omake/bonus chart i made a while back before WWB dropped

hope nobody gets mad over my opinions though lol enjoy whatever you like even if its ooc!!! peace and love on planet terra

[1218-814]

I decided to make a profile for my OC, which I changed more things than I thought I would. Also because I can't find my Wacom pen and I was bored.

(by the way, this child is a carbon copy of me but cuter so-)

Name: Yuu Lupine (Very much a fake name)

Grade/Class: 1-A

Birthday: 3/10 (Pisces)

Age: 16 (?)

Hight: 163 (Looks smaller than/as tall as Riddle because of posture)

Dominant hand: Right

Homeland: The World Beyond The Mirror

Club: Board Games. Can't go sometimes because they work at Sam's.

Best Subject: Magical History

Hobby: Sleeping and drawing

Dislikes: Betrayers/surprises

Favorite food: Salmon/ikura

Least favorite food: Depends on the mood

Talents: Fast reading skills

Main Base: Mickey and all the people who wandered into a foreign place. (Same as Yuu, basically)

Sub Base: Loki, Mulan, Gogo, Edna (will add more if felt like it/some are taken what I assume canonically)

Black Butler Base (similarity): Sascha and Othello

Magic: No, but actually yes.

Idia did make something for them to have the ability to use magic. Based on Loki's staff, it holds a magical artifact inside. Blot will work the same; basically magic pen, but not pen. Only uses it sometimes, to prevent overblots.

Rollo comes in later and he dislikes it a lot.

Doesn't tell a few people, for some reason.

~~~~

Lv up 1: ...What is this "level up" for-

Lv up 2: I wonder if I can get stronger...

Lv up 3: Maybe I can be strong in this world...

Card lv max: Wait, hold up, I'm pretty sure this isn't magic. What do I need this for!? Well, they do say "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger".

Limit break: I think you should re-think this-

Groovy: I feel like I can beat some of the dorm leaders now! ...Never mind, I'm back to normal.

Episode lv up: Freinds are cool... I can't explain it, but it feels kind of nice and warm inside... Sorry, that was embarrassing, pretend I said nothing. We should have tea some time to talk again.

Lesson 1: You should let me follow you to class, I don't know where I'm supposed to go.

Lesson 2: Ditching class is an option, you know. I mean I think it's good for us to go to class though.

Lesson 3: Wait we have a quiz?

Lesson start: Let's get this over with.

Lesson End: I think I want to have a snack now.

Battle start: I can't use magic... Let me just cheer you, people, on.

Battle win: well, rip to you people who lost.

Attack/duo/etc.: N/A

Magic history ★1: Grim, give me some snacks/ Lucius is as cute as always/ meowww nyaaaa/I'm really bored right now...

Magic history ★2: I've read this before/ I finished this!/I memorized this part/So it's the same thing back in my world?/ My ink...

Magic history ★3: I could write an essay on this in 40 mins/I guess I got some luck today.

Crowley/Special lesson: Did you find a way back for me? No? Then why are you here./ It's not going to matter in the end anyways...

Flying: N/A, just watches (sometimes with Idia)

Alchemy: N/A, just watches. (For now, at least)

~~~

Relationships:

Same as MC, but doesn't vibe with a few. (Including Kalim, Cater, Trey, etc.)

Also, friends with my other OC, Sice (Mob who was friends with Riddle for a short period of time).

~~~

Anyways my other OCs are:

Since- number 6 of the Hearts dorm. He's based off of Doll. NRC

Bishop Hunt: Twin of Rook, very opposite lore. RSA

There are 2 or 3 OCs for the movie "Frozen". Elsa boy is very powerful bc of his UM being similar to Trey's

Might post some art of them in the future?

[misc-obeyme]

what are your thoughts on Michael and Luci?

Oh, an interesting question, anon!

I'm honestly kind of on the fence about Michael in general. I can't tell if he's the one who is like making all the decisions or if he's just following orders, you know? I mean, he's obviously got a lot of power since he's helped MC out of some sticky situations a couple times when nobody else could. But does that mean he's the one who's like... in charge? Was he the one who was going to enforce Lilith's punishment, for instance? Was he the one who decided about what happened to Simeon in Season 4 of the OG? Or was it the decision of uhh... well they call him Father but I guess it's God? That's so weird lol. Anyway, was it God's decision and he's just following orders? Because I feel like this would inform not only my opinion on him, but my opinion on his relationship with Lucifer.

But even without knowing that, I think it's pretty clear that Michael does care about Lucifer and the brothers. It sounds like he was a pretty big part of their day to day lives in the Celestial Realm.

And I can't even tell how Lucifer feels about him, either. When he talks about Michael, it's usually pretty casually. Like he doesn't seem overly agonized about it, but then again this is Lucifer we're talking about. As far as I'm concerned, the man is emotionally repressed lol. But he doesn't seem to blame Michael for anything.

Based on what I've seen, I think they have a complicated relationship at this point. And I think they could potentially work it out, but it'd take a lot of communication and re-establishing of trust. And I think it could easily go the other way and they end up absolutely hating each other instead.

Of course, if we're talking about shipping, there's the potential for friends to enemies to lovers lol. But you'd also have to be okay with the concept of the angels all thinking of themselves as siblings. I personally don't ship Lucifer and Simeon for this reason, so I imagine I would feel the same way about Michael. Though I do get the impression that Simeon was closer to Lucifer than Michael was.

I know some people have come up with some really cool Michael designs and concepts about who he is as a character, so this opinion is all based on canon stuff. The fact that we haven't really met him leaves a lot of room for fan interpretation, so I might feel differently about a more fleshed out fan version of him.

Anyway, I apologize for this long response lol but I guess I had more thoughts about this than even I knew! Thank you for asking, it was interesting to think about this!

[epicfranb]

GUYS GUYS GUYS GUYS i got an idea for a new au 😅 BUT HEY i believe it's ,y first actual Life Series AU, and i called it: nth life_

The usual team, no new characters, no lizzie and mumbo (sorry lizzie and mumbo), they get 3 lives (tho that could be changed) and their goal is... to survive in the void. (inspired by this video lololol)

Initially i wanted them to have some time on the surface, they they have to go down and survive in the void for as long as they can. i struggled to imagine how that would go, so i uh... accidentally might've made a Made in Abyss crossover 😅

So, each session, the guys go down lower and lower in the world. first it's just caves, then it's the deep dark, then they start going deeper and deeper... the nether and the end are also layers, they can't just go there whenever they want. And i want to add some cool mc mods in there to spice things up (mostly so layers are cool and different, but also mods that let them find or make food where there isn't any in vanilla)

Now, i don't want to copy Made in Abyss in that going back to the upper levels has more negative effects the lower you go, but i do want some sort of drawback to doing so. I think the lower levels could be opened up gradually, so nobody rushes, and the lower you go, the better materials and equipment you can get, so players are discouraged from staying in one place for too long, and setting up permanent bases IS NOT ALLOWED. You do need materials from every level to survive the void though.

Void really fucks with people's heads. The closer they are to it, the more paranoid and anxios they become. Some wil also become aggressive, have hallucinations or derealization, thinking they're in previous season or in a different series bringing up things that didn't happen and people that aren't there (Grian searching for Mumbo? Etho paranoid that Gem is out to get him? Pearl and Cleo feeling like Lizzie and Gem respectively possess them?)

With that, i think it could start out silly,similar to how the normal series usually goes, but, as theygo down, it gets more serious in tone and even steps into the horror category. that could be neat.

I either don't want watchers there at all, or have a non-obvious interpretation from fanon? Something like in OFF, DDLC or Undertale, where the player is a separate character in the story, but here it's the reader. Idk yet if the reader will be able to make choices or not. Could intepret watchers in some fun way, but only if it adds something to the story. They don't need to be there and they're only canon to Martyn anyway im pretty sure

I guess the reader could make a choice of whose story to follow, mirroring how you choose POV's when you're watching the actual series. Like, Martyn and Cleo are doing something, and there's Joel and Scar somewhere else at the same time, and you choose who to watch. Could also add replayability/rereadbility (is that a word??)

I imagine the whole thing as a text adventure, with cryptic vibes like "breaking the 4th wall/they know they're in a game" and "liminal space/backrooms". there could also be puzzles for the audience to solve to make it more engaging and immersive :)

Maybe i could start out by deciding who teams up with who. I don't want to pair up people who i actually want to pair up, cuz that could make me focus solely on them (looks at clethubs), but i still want the teams to go well together and have fun dynamics.

Some brainstorms from 1 am me:

For Jimmy, i want him to team with someone as stupid+silly+goofy like himself. Current options include: BigB, Martyn, Skizz (i might go w him) and Ren. Any combination of them could also work.

The team i'm 100% decided on is... Etho, Pearl and Cleo. Girlbosses + a wet rag

Joel and Bdubs would be suuuuper fun. Tango, Joel and Bdubs? Do i want a team that just gonna yell at eahc other all the time? Perhaps yes,

But Scott and Bdubs... sounds chaotic.

I want Grian with Impulse!!

Scar and Ren are left? Scar and Joel could be a good combo.

Aaaand that's everything for now. It's not an au i believe i can work on by myself though. as much as i like this concept, it feels like one of those that i will abandon very quickly, especially seeing as i have other au's i'd like to work on... but i want to at least do a lil bit on this one!! so uh... if anyone gets the vision and wants to collab... i invite u :D

[funkytimeoats]

Things I wish were more present in SWD?: Ninja Shadow (PART 1)

So this is just a word blurb from me just spewing out my thoughts. Some of it may not make sense, but I'll try to keep my thoughts as concise as possible.

Topic: More Sibling Interactions (especially b/w Makoto and Toru)

We kinda got this b/w Saori (MC) and her brother Kaname in that one Spin Off where either they go to the Nagasaki Vigilantes together or you pick the other story route (I can't remember the contents of that storyline, but I remember it being cute).

I thought it was really cute and nice seeing their sibling relationship.

I just wish we got spin offs like for the other siblings in this game (Seiji-Seiya, Kunihiro-Nobuyoshi, Kaede-Amon, Yugiri and Ritsu with their unnamed younger siblings, the puppeteer brothers, even Ukyo-Eduard who are more like adoptive siblings). They didn't need to be non-canon, they could've been anecdotal stories from their pasts.

I know it's meant to be an otome game, but getting more character back story would have been so cool.

I especially wanted to see more sibling interactions b/w Makoto and Toru. They are a main pair of siblings in the series, so I wish we could've seen them more, specifically without Saori being there (because yeah, it is an otome game).

Toru is shown to love his little brother very dearly. It's one of his major reasons for trying to "destroy Nagasaki and build it back up". Because it's "the city Makoto loves". His dream also spreads to completely reconstructing Japan, but his main focal point is Nagasaki because that's where his baby brother is.

Makoto does love his big brother too, but he has resentment toward him as well. Toru has always been better than him at everything, Toru has always been the golden child of the Nakagawa family. Now even then at most Makoto was just a bit envious.

The real resentment begins when Toru just up and leaves one day leaving Makoto to clean up after his mess.

Now, I say he just leaves out of the blue because while in the early original routes, Toru was said to be a founding member of the Nagasaki Vigilantes, however, in one of the later canon spin offs called Back to the Beginning, which I'll consider to be the actual storyline, Makoto says that Toru just kinda disappeared one day without any warning and without telling Makoto or Shintaro anything.

I guess Toru just had an epiphany about his ideals. I don't really know and I'm not sure/don't remember if it's explained anymore. I honestly don't know lol

Anyways, that's where Makoto actually seems to gain resentment towards his brother, because when Toru leaves Makoto has to take care of stuff Toru left behind. And of course the Nakagawa family, specifically the branch family, love to beat down and berate Makoto because he was the "lesser" brother. Literally calling him the stain to the Nakagawa name (which, holy shit, is really fucking mean and evil, holy cow).

If I remember right, Makoto didn't even want to really take up becoming the next head of the family, he just wanted to become painter, but because Toru left now he has to, which I think is really sad, poor Makoto.

As for what happens to Toru, depending on the route he's either captured and then escapes (usually with the help of his pal Tsubaki) or he's just captured, or he turns into a traveling merchant(?) (I honestly can't remember everything that happens in his route, I think he becomes a merchant though).

And if he and Makoto aren't really involved in the route, ig he just kinda dilly-dallies and runs around doing whatever.

I think it would have been interesting if we were able to get a spin off where Toru and Makoto have a deep and meaningful conversation about why they chose the choices they did, how they were feeling, how they felt about each other's choices and decisions. It would be a very emotional and vulnerable moment for the two, especially Makoto who tends to hide his true emotions. I think it would've been interesting to see Makoto open up more to Toru about how the Nakagawa elders treated him, obviously Toru generally gets the idea, but Makoto could tell him in detail and how that made him feel.

I wish we could've had an emotional spin off like that. Though I might be biased sense I find the sibling dynamic of the two to be most interesting out of everyone's.

Like I said Toru loves Makoto so much to the point that he would cause some hurt and pain to his baby brother to keep him safe. He even tries multiple times to get Makoto to join him in his rebellion and becomes quite hurt when Makoto doesn't take up his offer. I mean just look at this bit of text from the Ninja Shadow Tropedia/wikia page

When he's beaten in Makoto's route he's extremely distraught as he was so sure he win.

He was so sure he was going to win because he has such a strong deep love for his brother.

Toru wanted to protect one of things his little brother held so dear to him.

I just love the two so much, they deserve the world

Well that's the end of this word blurb (part 1) lol. I hope what I said makes sense and maybe some of you might agree.

[luxaryllis]

50+ Followers Special!

Note: Yes, I'm aware that no one asked for this; and that I'm prbly not supposed to be doing this-

But I'm doing it anyway-

Now!

As a celebration for the 50+ Followers I have somehow got, I will be making this special!!

For this special, I will be doing:

Riddle's Younger Sibling (from the Scared!Younger Sibling!Reader with Riddle Rosehearts series) meets Vil's Younger Sibling (from the Younger Sibling!Reader who doesn't want to be like him with Vil Schoenheit to-be series)!

Since a bunch of people have been requesting for continuations of these two series! I will be making a little 'What if' fic wherein both of them are together and spoke to each other about their trauma.

So yeah!

Also, please note that R!MC refers to Riddle's younger sibling, and V!MC refers to Vil's younger sibling.

Also, V!MC is 14 (as they are 4 years younger than Vil, who is 18 in canon), and R!MC is 15-16 (they are 2 or 1 1/2 years younger than Riddle, who is 17 in canon).

So before we start, I would like to thank all my followers for following me and liking, reblogging, and sending me requests and messages! 💙💙

Now then, let's get to it!!

Warning: Mentions of past abuse and domestic violence, possibly toxic sibling relationships, Both MCs possibly have PTSD, Anxiety, A bit of angst, Comfort, etc, tell me if I missed anything.

"Thank you." V!MC politely says to someone as they guide them in the room.

'Why... the HECK did I agree to this', V!MC thinks to themselves.

They look around the room and see another person sitting on one of the loveseats, drinking some tea.

"Uh.. hi. You must be... V!MC, correct?" The person says as they elegantly but awkwardly put down the tea cup.

V!MC slowly nods in affirmation to the other person's question.

"Ah.. okay. Well, I'm not sure if the strange people out there told you; but my name is R!MC Rosehearts.", the other person says to V!MC.

"Oh, yeah, they told me. It's uhh... nice to meet you, I guess?", V!MC says as they slowly walk up to the loveseat across R!MC and take a tea cup from the table between them.

"I was told that we were both put in the same room because we both have similar pasts? And that we could talk and share about our personal experiences... about uhh..." R!MC starts.

"Trauma... yeah...", V!MC quietly finishes.

Both nod awkwardly.

"So uhh... I guess I could start? They said that they wouldn't be filming this or sharing this with the public, so I hope you don't mind if I break my on-screen character." V!MC bravely says and volunteers.

R!MC slightly smiles and nods at them in affirmation.

"Whew... well... as everyone knows, I'm Vil Schoenheit's younger sibling. So, being his younger sibling, EVERYONE expects me to be JUST LIKE him! Vil does too! He expects me to be his "poisoned apple" and be like his "protégé", or something!! It's annoying!", V!MC starts getting more passionate with their words as they continue on.

In the meantime, R!MC is nodding along, thinking how hard that must have been for V!MC.

"I mean, acting and modelling aren't THAT bad! But with my BROTHER in that industry, it's HORRIBLE!! My every single breath, word, and action are scrutinized by not only the public media, but Vil too!"

"Everyone is all, "Vil this", "Vil that"; but do they not understand that I'M NOT VIL!?", V!MC exclaims, but apologizes when they see R!MC flinch.

"Sorry- Anyway. Most would think that Vil "truly loves me", but does he really? Because it's more like he hates me. He insults me, he criticizes me, he even compares me to people who I'm very different from!"

R!MC nods at this in sympathy and empathy to V!MC's experience. They, too, have experienced their older brother, Riddle, and their mother act just like that. The insults, the criticism, and the comparison!

"Vil thinks that he knows what I want! But he doesn't!! He hasn't even asked me, "what do you want, V!MC", or something. And if he does, it's not like my opinion or preference has anything to say about the final decision he makes!!"

As they listen, R!MC silently offers some treats, which V!MC gratefully takes.

"One time, when I had to make a cameo appearance in a movie Vil was in, I kept messing up. So obviously, I wasn't doing a very good job. Do you wanna guess what Vil did?", V!MC said, directing their final question to their current companion.

"Criticize you and disguise it as constructive criticism, but he also adds in some insults about you?", R!MC had 'guessed', based on some of their personal experience with Riddle and Mrs. Rosehearts.

"Yes! That's EXACTLY what he did!", V!MC exclaims.

This time, R!MC doesn't flinch as badly because they got very much used to V!MC, despite the short amount of time they have known and spoken to each other. Possibly because of the fact that they share quite a lot of similarities.

R!MC also has found a little part of them wanting to keep V!MC safe, especially as they have been going through so much trauma, when they are younger than R!MC themself.

"So, I may have exploded and shouted at Vil. Which definitely wasn't a good idea... I ran away after, though!!", V!MC continued.

"And then, [I will be keeping this blank as the next part for this series has NOT been posted yet]. And that's it!", V!MC concludes their sharing.

Both have, by now, finished the entire tea pot, as well has all the treats. The table suddenly flips over and a new table pops up, with new treats and a refilled tea pot, with water too.

"Oh-", both quietly uttered, startled by the sudden movement.

"So, I suppose that it's my turn to share my story. By the way, thank you for sharing your story. I uhh... know that this was quite sudden so... I'm grateful that you shared your experiences to me.", R!MC starts out, stumbling on their words a little, even though they rehearsed this in their head right before speaking.

"So uhh... my mother, Mrs. Rosehearts, is a famous doctor and healer in the Queendom of Roses. She was... IS a very strict mother to both me and my older brother, Riddle Rosehearts. She has always controlled both of our lives from what we eat, to when we eat, to when we sleep and wake up, what we do, everything, basically."

V!MC is reminded of the multiple times Vil has also had them follow a very strict schedule, with a diet and all that.

"My mother never let Riddle or I play outside, or have what most would consider a normal childhood. Our every moment was crammed to the brim with studying, and learning, and memorizing. She also drilled into so many rules into our heads, it felt like it wasn't even my life anymore...", R!MC tenses up at all of their memories of their not-really childhood.

"She raised both my brother and I with a controlling attitude and a heavy hand as well. And well, you could say that my older brother... 'inherited'... my mother's attitude. Whenever I got wrong, he, like my mother, would hit me and/or shout at me and lecture me... he was mean, scary, and horrible. Like a tyrant."

"And one day... I saw Riddle playing tag with two other children outside. I think he had snuck out of the house when he was supposed to be doing self-study time. I remember thinking, 'this is unfair', 'how come he gets to play and have fun and make decisions of his own without punishment?', and others. It really was and is still unfair to me. He was always mean and strict, yet he was blessed with a friend and being ablw to have fun? I heard that he was able to taste a tart... mother never ket us have sweets, like tarts.", R!MC says, tearing up at the memory.

V!MC frowns. What kind of mother would do such a thing? Why did R!MC's older brother do all that stuff?

It was something V!MC couldn't comprehend, but they still understood it anyway.

"The first few weeks of NRC, the school Riddle and I attend, was hell but worse.", R!MC continues, taking a quick sip of tea.

"Luckily, I was able to keep as much attention away from me as possible. Though being the tyrant dorm leader's sibling doesn't help at all."

"And then... one day, Riddle was challenged for the Dorm Leader position; because that's what you're supposed to do if you wanted to become the Dorm Leader.", R!MC explains as V!MC slowly nods, on the edge of their seat in the suspense.

"I didn't want to attend, so I skipped the fight; sadly I don't have the complete details. Nor do I know the details of what happened after the fight. It sure lead to the ENTIRE dorm being in ruin, though."

"When I arrived, the whole place was a huge mess! There wasn't a lot of people there either, as if people had been evacuated or left or something. I walked around and heard some sounds, so I slowly walked up to them and listened in."

V!MC quickly nods, wanting R!MC to stop with the suspenseful pauses.

R!NC, noticing this, leaned in closer to V!MC, as if telling a secret. V!MC, in response, lead in a bit closer too.

They weren't so close, though. Just close enough to be able to hear each other whisper.

"And then, I heard Riddle confessing!", R!MC exclaimed softly.

"Confessing his love?", V!MC jokingly asked.

Both of them promptly laughed, going back to sitting properly on their respective love seats. The atmosphere was a lot lightee than before.

"Pfftt... no. No, he wasn't pfffffftttt- confessing his love, ahem. But he was confessing a bunch of stuff.", R!MC continues off from where they left off, a bit of laughter left in them, before clearing their throat and becoming serious.

"He was confessing his true feelings about the rules. He was saying things like, 'the roses are fine being white; the flamingos are fine being pink', which are actually against a couple of rules of the Queen of Hearts, who the dorm was founded upon."

V!MC nodded in response, also becoming serious.

"And... honestly... why would he be saying that now? He's been saying the opposite for YEARS now. Why change now?", R!MC says, still confused on the questions they asked.

"And... why is he changing now? Couldn't he have changed when we were kids? Pre-teens? Teenagers? Why now? Of all times?"

"And... why... why did you change... because of people he bearely knows. Why... why not change for me? I was also pretty jealous that Riddle wouldn't... didn't change because or for me.", R!MC admits.

"And... at the same time, I didn't want to believe he had changed. No one just changes their behavious, beliefs, and such in the blink of an eye!! It's simply impossible! What if... it was a sick test Riddle wanted to pull on everyone?"

"What if, the moment anyone breaks the rules, Riddle goes back to his tyrant phase and starts screaming his head off?"

"And... yeah... that's my uhh... my story.", R!MC finishes.

V!MC speechlessly nods, and asks in a soft, quiet voice, "Can we hug? I want a hug. I want to hug you too."

R!MC tears uo again and nods as they both stand up and hug each other, crying.

"You did... you did great."

"You are amazing for putting up with all of that."

"You were strong enough to go through all that."

"You're so admirable"

"You're awesome for doing this."

"Great job."

"Yeah, great job."

END!

Thank u so much for reading!!

And thank you so much for all the support and appreciation!!

Again, thank you for 50+ followers!

Love you all 💙💙 (platonically)

[steamberrystudio]

Finished all the routes some time ago and haven't been able to stop replaying! There are some scenes in particular I've bookmarked that I enjoy coming back to (I will never not laugh at the training mishap in Magnus's route). The game is so good, and it absolutely deserves more recognition!

Just the sheer amount of lore and world building that went into this is mindblowing! You've obviously put a lot of care and attention to detail in this, and I can tell it was a product of passion and love. Normally I don't care much for scifi. It's a genre I like only in theory and not in practice, but Gilded Shadows just has that little something that makes it different. I can't really put a finger on it, but it's there and I'm all for it! I can genuinely say I Iove each and every one of these boys and their routes, and any one of them could be the "canon" love interest and I'd be happy (though I do prefer certain stories and endings over others).

I really appreciate you not changing/dropping Caleb despite ealier backlash. Hearing the journey you took with him, I can only applaud you for sticking with him till the end and letting us smooch this angry adorable man!!!

Anyways, I hope you don't mind if I ask a few questions, two of them (hopefully) fun scenarios:

How would Jack and Caiuss react to Magnus's "big reveal" and what he'd been through? What were the reactions of the people Magnus told?

What kind of grandfather would Keres be?

Say ROs and MC have a daughter. The daughter, in all her youthful naivety and with rose tinted glasses, starts dating an actual human dumpster fire. A hot human dumpster fire, but a human dumpster fire nontheless. How do they handle the situation, and how would they react if, in an argument about the daughter's beau, she cries "But daddy, I love him!"

Haha. That training mishap was fun to write. XD I always felt bad I ended up needing to tell it as a flashback to make the scene flow better - and no one was able to see the training room lighting go blood red as the alarm starts.

I encounter a lot of people who say they don't like science fiction - I'm also not really sure what it is that turns people off. I know hard SF tends to put a lot of focus on the science and technology, which I absolutely don't do. I like using a bit real science, then going completely off the rails with it. There's a lot of fantasy in my science fiction for sure. I guess I just also try to keep things familiar because I feel like society is a very slow moving beast. Despite that there have been a lot of changes in the last 500 years on earth…people are people. And a lot of things have actually not changed at all. I like writing science fiction that feels like a natural progression of things I guess - at least in the sense that society still has a lot of the same problems. Different situations and context, yes. But people make the same mistakes they've always made and often with the same outcomes.

I like SF that has that sort of familiarity and feels like "Yeah, that sound about like something humans would do." LoL

Now to your questions!

I don't think Jack would be surprised. He didn't stick around long enough to see the full fallout of what happened, but I imagine he does know something happened. And Jack is very aware that at least some of his anger is misplaced. I suppose knowing the full details might have him redirect more of his anger towards the council, but the only thing that would make him truly move past his anger at Magnus would be Magnus showing up at Cordis asking for their help to topple Endgame for good. Caissa, I imagine, has always been a bit more sympathetic to Magnus. He just doesn't like him much. Knowing why he is the way he is would make him like him…a little more, I suppose. Otherwise, Magnus didn't tell anyone what happened until he tells the Guard at the very end of his route. So their reactions are there. Angry, rib-cracking hugs and lots of tears. Caleb probably used hugs as on-going threat for a while. And if he didn't, Van definitely used Caleb-hugs as a threat.

Stupidly loving and stupidly protective. He would spoil any grandchildren so badly. LoL. He'd be a disturbingly docile teddy bear around his child and would probably take the approach of chopping the fingers off anyone who looked at them sideways as a way to deter anyone from considering harming them.

Ari - would ask her what she loves about him. Would literally have her make a presentation about what she enjoys about this dumpster fire and why they are worthy of her. What are his actual good qualities, how will these qualities lead to a long term and healthy relationship? How does he show respect for her? What kinds of things does he demand from her and are they fair, etc, etc. He would make her be so thorough she would hopefully come to the conclusion he's trash all on her own. Caissa - Let's be real. He'd play dirty and the dumpster fire wouldn't have a chance. Caleb - He'd handle it poorly. MC would have to sequester him from his offspring and handle the situation to keep the situation under control. Ari would have to babysit him to keep him from committing murder. Then he would try Ari's presentation approach - half because he thinks it might work and half for punishment. Jack - Wallow in self loathing and determine he should never have become a father. MC would have to handle the situation because Jack would be a huge baby about it. Caissa would have to babysit him to keep him from doing something stupid. Then they'd go do it together instead because Caissa is a terrible babysitter. Lance - Talk about it calmly and rationally. Similar approach to Ari but not an actual presentation. He'd just ask a lot of questions and point out all the logical fallacies. He'd also quietly sabotage the dumpster fire's…..*everything* to prevent this person from every coming around his daughter. Ever. ^_^ Magnus - *sweats* Quill - This might not be an issue for Quill. Neo Human children mature differently and NH parents are very…laissez-faire when it comes to child rearing. He'd assume his daughter would handle it on her own. Reuben - He'd be prepping for a full criminal background check before MC and Uncle Wynter stage an intervention and handle the situation themselves. Reuben would struggle a lot. A LOT to respect his daughter's agency (of course, if his daughter is still a minor, he'd intervene if he had to, MC or not). But he'd try to help her see reality without overstepping. Yuu - Would approach it honestly and logically. But if his daughter insisted, he would allow her to choose - under the agreement that he will step in if the relationship becomes abusive in any way or seems to be harmful to her in any way. He would want to respect her agency but not at the expense of her well-being.