#tot vs mc

[ourlittleuluru]

How... How do I even put the things going on in my head into words 😭 I can't with the new trailer and and the eventttttt

I'm sorry I'm gonna be so annoying on main for a bit, am totally freaking out. Sorry for the long post ahead... and by long, i mean... LONG

That BGM in the trailer is pretty 🔥🔥🔥 Ngl, very phantom thieve-y

ALSO the 4 star?????

This looks so gorgeoussss???? The rain and blood and him covering his face when the mask is taken of?!?!

THE DUALITY OF HIM IN JUST THE 5 stars as well????

FROM SHY AND AWW VS ANGY AND POUTY???!

The new couple pose!!!

The chat bubble is so pretty toooooooo and the ultimate????

The moon and stars in the backgrounddddd

Just him teleporting around and with the halo like a moon behind him. I have no words

Overall, loving the aesthetics!!!

can't stop looking at this pouty baby 😭🥺💕

AHHHHH NO XAVIER BBY You're no idiot sandwichhhh ToT

Look at himmm he looks so sadddddd 😭😭😭

Finally, about MC

Her outfit. I have... mixed feelings? I love it but yet something feels just a tad little awkward to me?? But I still mostly like it either way ><;;;

Maybe it's the exposed collar bone area???

Same block animation but that same moon phase background QwQ

The new skill seems to be a gathering skill??? Which will help a lot ngl X'D;;; If not it's a plain AOE skill, WHICH IS STILL USEFUL because there's no pushback! TwT

okok i better end my ramblings here. This post is loooooong enough

[kingdoms-and-empires]

I like to think that my mc is that type of person who writes all the ros into a number list starting but most to least and separate them by their gender so it's girls vs boys.

Then to make it worse wait for them to visit her room and strategically leave the list by their desk because Uh Oh! They forgot it there~ 😉 and it so happens there name is just so peaking out for them to see 😈

Then she just sits back and watches the chaos as everyone tries to figure out why they are on a mysterious list. Is it who is the attractive list? Is it who is the strongest list? Is it MC's favorite person list? Is it MC's hit list? MC will never tell 🤫

Because why tell them when she can watch everyone make their case on why they should be number one or lower on the list they have no clue what it's about. (Except her little bro will know because a family that keeps secrets is the one who gets all the tea)

Fuck you, im stealing this now lmao, into the ideabucket you go!!!!

Will probably make it a high imperious high carefree hybrid choice lmao

And i can tots imagine Percy spreading even more rumors like "nah its what MC thinks your body count is" leading to even more confusion of Murder? Sex? WHAT?! WHICH?!

Whereas Juli will just

[pteropods]

hi mourn do you have any western recommendations? i have not watched one in a hot minute but my sibling + i are doing a movie night soon + we desperately need to stop rewatching the same few westerns haha

Oooh Dodge City is a good one !! It stars Errol Flynn so its automatically high on my list (theres not a ton to warn about but do keep in mind its from 1939 so some scenes dont age well). Its a pretty classic Western plot, sheriff vs cowboys and a romantic sideplot, etc etc

San Antonio is also one I enjoy !!! Again starring Errol Flynn and again a standardish plot. The MC finds out some1 is unlawfully selling cows and bevomes a target bcs of it.

The dollars trilogy from Sergio Leone is good !! ive only seen the first movie tho ToT

If u want a more. unique? ig? one Sukiyaki Western Django is rlly good- it's got western themes but its also abt a war between the Genji and Heike clans. It also has references to both historical Japanese And American wars. If nothing else the lighting is SO pretty sl u shld watch it.

Smth interesting abt Sukiyaki Western Django is that despite it being entirely in english, many of the actors spoke it as a second language, poorly, or not at all. I think it adds to the atmosphere and theme of mixing american and japanese history tho. Watch it with subtitles tho bcs the accents can be really think in come of the characters.

OOH one if my favs if ur more into comedy is The Frisco Kid. It's abt a Polish rabbi who comes to america to be the rabbi for a community on San Francisco, but runs into a tonnnnnn of problems en route and ends up getting the help of a cowboy to get there. Its rlly funny but also rlly sweet. I highly recommend it if u dont want one more of thr classic westerns (some ppl find them boring which. yeah I get that)

Without my rambling heres the list:

Dodge City (classic western )

San Antonio (classic western)

Dollars Triology (classic westerns)

Sukiyaki Western Django (Classic western. kinda.)

The Frisco Kid (comedy western)

[hoyotournament]

Prelims, Round 2: MC (TOT) vs Mistein Schariac

[vynegar]

ch 10 liveblog

just the quick reactions i have while reading the chapter! updated as i go. i'm making a separate post for translation-related things, but that'll be posted when i finish the whole chapter

so for artem/mc interactions, he feels normally protective and careful of her but the awkwardness is still there he doesn't know if she's mad at him TT (immediately blocking her from view in the car!! and realizing now that he was so shocked because things were awkward between them!!!) also i'm gonna note his reasons for taking the case as close enough to the post-ch9 predictions

hmm artem's acting being SHIT in this chapter. clearly he can act when he wants to, so i'm interpreting this as him thinking the prankster is such a clown that he can half-ass this performance xDD

vyn on leave of absence w/o informing us... they really ARE functioning separately omg

also this guy thinking he has leverage over them with vyn. LMAO. i'm starting to see why vyn was so cruel with him in that screenshot

so bold of this to be in an artem-focused chapter. they knew what they were doing

wHAT????

oh ok he had me in the first half i'm not gonna lie

wait hang on this actually reminds me of artem personal story ch 1... maybe this whole separation charade thing is also to help develop mc's independence...? much to think about...

rhino horn spotted on the workbench in the investigation section! which reminds me, i should add a thing about that in the translation post for some added cultural/language context that non-chn speakers probably wouldn't catch

just screenshotting this since it feels important, as part of artem's philosophy of the role of a lawyer

omg the person who scratched marius is coming back as a plot point. also MARIUS <333

screenshotting the marius convo to think about later. is his other purpose for investigation luke and/or artem since they also got talismans? but i don't think he would know that, or at least he should be pretending he doesn't know in order to feign distance

omg that's another entry for the ch 10 translation post. why does marius keep getting shafted by the eng translation TT he keeps ending up harsher and more CEO-like (but the jp dub makes him sound softer so maybe it evens out? lmao)

the contrast of his appropriate distance at the detention center vs his insistent closeness when they seek out jonah zahn... add that to the theme of closing the distance from the first year of cards... nice nice very nice

a follow-up to his encouragement from ch 9 that mc could handle this?

also another patient of vyn's (or someone who sought treatment at his research center at least) who met a tragic end....

FELICIA LUO YOU ARE SUCH A GIRLBOSS FOR THIS

oh nooo )): jerome is like 100% framing felicia securely for this case. kind of ironic because he told her to go through all the trouble of making a show out of it to ensure justice for her husband, but then he went through so many hoops to frame her instead... also tot is kinda interesting in just how much public opinion affects how the cases play out. here felicia was told having the "curse" cause a stir was the only way to catch the true culprit, but another common thing in stories is the harassment that rosa and artem face as attorneys for high-profile cases... another thing to think about. court of public opinion and whatnot

ok hate to admit it but... AI voice kinda slayed that line. ladkfjadsfj vyn i'm so obsessed w you when you're on a warpath

oh u know that vyn secretly loves having rosa threaten him like this

this is what vyn haters THINK he's like. I FUCKING WISH

anyway. CONTINUED evidence of putting on a hostile performance. just wondering when we can get some answers

uhhhh so CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE SUPREME COURT bryan wing has connections to a secret auction where selling humans isn't off the table?? oh things are getting dark

i have no words...... first of all, writers turning THIS into a comedy moment with the clown bgm.... "capiche".....

LOL

i think another interpretation of artem's acting is that he's particularly good when it comes to being aggressive/arrogant/A. i like to believe all interpretations especially overly specific ones

vyn what the hell are you involved in that you have sway over something like this

OH WAIT??

PFFFFFTTTTT NO WAY ARE THEY USING THE CLASSROOM BACKGROUND FOR THE AUCTION 🤣🤣🤣 I CAN'T TAKE IT SERIOUSLY LIKE THIS VYN IS JUST ABOUT TO GO UP AND EXPLAIN THE PRIMACY EFFECT

ugghhh okay it's really getting good now but gotta sleep :// also might be translating some parts of vyn and ogier's convo (10-19) bc there are slight paraphrasings that i'd like to keep the original implications of

oh i was actually thinking about this during the scene... i'm sorry vyn i have failed u....

this entire scene feels very significant... another thing to go back and chew over...

the way i instinctively yelled "NO! >:(" at the screen

ROSA WHAT THE HELL KIND OF IDEA i know we readers have semi-omniscient pov but oh my god

nah there's still gotta be something with this report. maybe jerome lied. we can't just rule it out like this

ok so the black market drugs are still more like medicinal with severe side effects including hallucinations, while the traces on the cup had acute poisoning levels of NXX (just taking notes)

LUKE'S THROWING IT AWAY?? NOT EVEN KEEPING IT FOR EVIDENCE OR RECORDS OR WHATEVER?? AND DID YOU ALREADY TAKE THE MEDICINE?? (i feel like it's a psych-out but still??)

长命百岁。。。。。

oh hell yeah an entry for the translation post

hmmmm ok jerome is REALLY getting the potential-redemption/sympathy edit?? idk just this continued gentleness that they keep showing from him. i feel like it's going beyond the level of just "this villain is emotionally intelligent enough to garner allies and manipulate others"

VYN!!!!!!!1

god he's so insufferable (affectionate)

wait so vyn has talked to brigid too? ok so basically confirming that he's doing the aforementioned psychotherapy

wow vyn is really just the only therapist in stellis or sth

OH SHIT???????? HERE WE GOOOOOOOO

lasdljfks;alsdjf okay what a chapter. lots to think about and i need to process it. honestly i'm kinda tempted to just go directly into reading ch 11 since i can xDD

[fff777]

part 2 reaction to nct dream( )scape countdown live

last song: breathing

chenle asking the staff to play the clip just a little longer (presumably to get to the part he likes/his part) and the staff not budging. chenji are always reacting directly to each other eh. i mean part of it is that they're sitting next to each other. but they're so dialed in to each other.

not to get weird but chenle's sneakers look like the ones he wore on his dream vs. dream with haechan

rapline participated in writing raps

smoothie was the most difficult dance since go according to jaemin. jeno said that go was difficult but smoothie makes him lose his breath. it still surprises me that they consider one of their earlier songs as one of their tougher ones. like i thought they'd have more complex choreographies as they became more mature dancers. but i just went back and rewatched go and i think it's a very physically demanding dance as opposed to just a technically complicated one.

the guys surprised that chenle liked the rap in box

chenle knew what mark was talking about when mark pointed to him for his favourite part

nana getting excited introducing jisung and jeno performing the smoothie challenge ^^;;

chenle: i'm going to watch this again later it's kind of funny how he's so comfortable rewatching their own stuff lol.

haechan: i think jaemin's face met the wrong owner jeno: if that's what you're going to do with your face, give it to me awwww

mc haechan again (with cat stuffie) here to facilitate jensung

haechan: tell us about the choreography jisung: please explain it for us, jeno jeno: there is a cup. there is a straw in the cup.

jeno and jisung not knowing when to stop and mark being like KEEP GOING!!!! hehe

haechan: jisung, please read that in a cute way

trying not to be cute but he is cute X3

unboxing time? didn't they have a separate unboxing video?

so chenle was playing cat's cradle and the thread on the icantfeelanything version followed the outline of his hands

jeno: isn't this the number of friendship rings that got lost?

chaos when they bring up the friendship rings ToT jisung lost his and then chenle ratted jaemin out for not wearing his

haechan @ jisung: you can be in nct dream, but stay out of the friendship

chenle's favourite picture in the album is of punk angel jeno and himself

they filmed icantfeelanything in december so they were very cold

chenle pointing out his hanging feet again

i especially like the picture in the top of this poster. it's very chewing gum.

mark explains that they'll have an unboxing video later. i watched that video already.

sewer picture lol

jisung's hand is reaching out in the sewer version, but i also can't help but notice that his arm is reaching across chenle's back

dreamini that is shaped like a casette :3 do those mini cds really work on a regular cd player though? :o

the guys have id cards from their time in solitary confinement ^^;; that's the way they put it

chenle: can i enter kwangya with this id card dreamies: yes

smini and qr versions are coming soon too. i wonder what a qr version it?

jisung promoting triple j content and saying how they ate with photocards like fans

i do like the group photocard :3 what is dream without their clingy group photos :3

jisung holding chenle's photocard :P but more importantly the guys in the back scouring for photocards to hold up for the photo XD

jaemin: there's no photocard here jeno: just rip a page from the album, we don't have all day

dream: are we doing this right mark: czennies must be laughing at us rn

haechan: who wants to go first chenle: jisungie~

lol they want to play the belly button finding game again XD

jisung got mini-basketball and chenle was like "i'm glad i didn't get that." i feel like he would have been way too competitive about it lol.

chenle getting ready to play too and haechan being like sit down

mark: jeno, if the ball goes out...you can get it

i can't tell if jisung's sweater actually has backwards words or if the camera is mirrored. probably the former?

jisung picks celery because his brother's been into celery lately ^^;;

but renjun doesn't eat celery so jisung picks bell pepper instead

lol mark being moved that haechan was trying so hard and being so dramatic that day XD

chenle's game was to move beans with long cooking chopsticks

renjun trying to explain what a bell pepper was to chenle in mandarin but he called it a hot pepper so chenle was like WHAT?!?!

jaemin got the tissue blowing game

jaemin failing in the most ??? ways ^^;;

jaemin chose KALE

haechan has to catch a shuttlecock with chopsticks

haechan being surprised like "oh you CAN catch a shuttlecock with chopsticks"

game genius

and then walking around in celebration lmfao

haechan chose soda

LMFAO mark has to pack boxes and tape them shut. why do i feel like he's going to struggle XD

mark was just assembling the box but jeno was like no you have to fold the flaps like a pinwheel so that it'll keep its shape and then it just became everyone's business even though it's a solo game

and then they just let him have a second chance lmfao

mark continued to struggle lol

mark chose ginger

renjun said he hated ginger, but they went ahead with it lol

renjun's game is to count money while singing

dream: it's fake money chenle: i wish they gave us real money thinking like a man of capitalism

renjun was singing very quietly and oddly while counting and then the guys starting speaking over him to distract him and renjun immediately gave up lol

renjun picked lemon juice

jeno's game was to hit the ball with the hammer with his eyes closed

dramatic ass lee donghyuck once again XD

LOL so haechan does feel shame XD

haechan: fans are going to make me do things at the signing event now *ashamed*

jeno hit the floor way too hard lol

mark threw the ball too far away but chenle also throws the ball weirdly and it ends up bouncing

anyway jeno did not hit the ball

jeno asking mark what radish is. i wonder if it has another korean name? and if that's the case, why didn't they just write the korean name ^^;;

jeno picked carrot

now they actually have to blend the smoothie and then drink it ToT i hate this already

jeno thought haechan was telling the production staff to bring the ingredients and had like, a minor freakout that haechan was being impolite and haechan was like i wouldn't do that (y)

jisung scolding chenle for eating the ingredients (again)

fighting over adding too much or too little of the ingredients

chenle getting giggly at the thought of an immensely fizzy smoothie. and the other guys getting infected by his laughter

OMG the smoothie has such a yucky colour

the guys can't stand the smell ToT i can imagine!!!

they were allowed to add apples and jaemin was like please add so many apples that we're only going to taste the apple

jeno getting mark to move :3

jisung: the colour chenle: is pretty jisung: it's not getting any better chenle: it's like poop

haechan poured too much and left himself with the empty cup lol

noren's toast from the show they went on with the comedian :P

mark thanking neo production for their work on smoothie and also for listening to dream's ideas

there it is

they still call renjun sunsu

ending comments from them all <3

they actually drank a lot of it??? chenle went bottoms up lmao

this was fun always X3

[hoyotournament]

Prelims, Round 2 Masterlist

Soldier 11 vs Yun Jin

Belle vs Yssring Leavtruth

Yelan vs Yoimiya

Yanfei vs Yaoyao

Yae Miko vs Yae Sakura

Grace vs Yukong

Susannah Manatt vs Sushang

Sirin (GGZ) vs Sirin (HI3)

Soukaku vs Sparkle

Stelle vs Sucrose

Theresa Apocalypse vs Tingyun

Xiangling vs Xingyan

Xianyun vs Xueyi

Topaz vs Vill-V

Silver Wolf vs Sin Mal

Kuki Shinobu vs Shion

Noelle vs Pardofelis

Ningguang vs Ninti Apokalypse

Nicole Demara vs Nilou

Navia vs Nekomiya Mana

Natash (HSR) vs Natasha Cioara (HI3)

Mushoku Kika vs Nahida

Murata Himeko (HI3) vs Murata Himeko (GGZ)

Mobius vs Mona

MC (TOT) vs Mistein Schariac

Shenhe vs Shigure Kira

Seele Vollerei (GGZ) vs Serval

Seele (HSR) vs Seele Vollerei (HI3)

Kujou Sara vs Sayu

Rozaliya Olenyeva vs Ruan Mei

Rita Rosseweisse (HI3) vs Rosaria

Raiden Shogun vs Rita Rosseweisse (GGZ)

Raiden Mei (GGZ) vs Raiden Mei (HI3)

Qingque vs Qiqi

Pela vs Prometheus

[astaroth1357]

Ok but like, what if MC's fandom starts to make ships with MC and the guys. Just think about the ship wars, the fancams, the fanarts, the absolute CHAOS when the brothers find out. It would be even worse if they start shipping MC with the undatables, one day everything is normal and the next day there are ship wars fighting over MC x Barbatos vs MC x Solomon (who are both very smug about it)

The MC's Fanclub are… Shippers?!

Perhaps… The italics blurb has been fulfilling its greater purpose all along…? Perhaps in its state of existential angst, it has in fact developed a plot of its own… An arc of introspection and self-discovery in which its own longing for purpose has forged a meaningful identity… It now has… a story…

Lucifer

As if they couldn't get any MORE frustrating…

He's not an otaku. He's not a part of ship culture. He's not even sure why anyone would care about who dates who around this school, but apparently it's a big deal to some people...

He only became aware of their interest in him and the MC's relationship through some very… subtle clues…

Like the groups that would follow them around in the hallways with their phones out.

Or the multitude of fan rumors about their relationship that Satan spams him with from time to time just to irritate him.

"MC refused hug from Luci in halls today!! Are they bout breakup??? 🥺"

"Tots got pic of kiss today!! Relationship upgrade??"

"IS ARE MC+LUCIFER SECET LVRS?!? PLEASE RESPOND"

It only got worse after he found out the MC gets shipped out a loooooot….

If he had to pick his least favorite ship, it'd be MC x Mammon. He can kind of see it with any of his other brothers (admittedly, Levi is also a little mystifying) but the idea of them ending up with Mammon makes his skin crawl...

He once found a drawing of the MC and Mammon in an… explicit position in one of the classrooms and he was so disgusted that he wouldn’t even touch it. He just set fire to the paper outright. Disgusting...

Mammon

Shipping, eh…? More money making opportunities!

Has some passing idea of what shipping is from Levi and, from what he knows of it, shippers eat cutesy couples stuff right up!! If all he's got to do to make bank is to look all couple-y around the MC then sounds like a win-win to him!

He'll happily pose for a photo or two (paid in advance) of him throwing his arm around the MC or something. Want him to hold their hand? Sure thing!

But since this is still Mammon we're talking about, the second MC actually starts getting into any of it he'll still turn into a blushy, stuttery mess...

For WEEKS the headline picture on so many of their fans' blogs was an image of him turning beet red while the MC kissed him on the cheek. (A fan really got their money's worth there... 😏)

Though he doesn’t exactly like the MC getting shipped with other people, he'll still totally sell pictures of any of them together. He almost paid off an entire credit card with the money he got from the t-shirt sales of the MC and Satan!

If he had to point to one ship he doesn't like it's either MC x Asmo or MC x Levi. His opinion, but Asmo won't treat them right and they could do waaay better than a shut-in. Like him. Ship the MC with just the Great Mammon, got it?

Leviathan

… Lowkey super active in the MC shipping community but is a self-shipper to the extreme.

Like, he never uses his real name on anything (and would probably die from embarrassment if anyone ever found out) but a lot of their fans probably know a couple of his aliases.

He does everything from mod forums, runs a couple blogs, even anonymously posts his own work of him and MC that are totally not his secret fantasy dates or AU versions of themselves, shaddup.

It’s a lot easier for him to keep his involvement secret because he’s hardly at RAD, but the few times he does show up he tries to keep an eye out for anybody prowling for pictures so he can get in a good pose and save the image later.

Mind you, his version of a “good pose” rarely gets more spicy than linking pinkies, but even then he’s still lit up a Christmas Tree throughout.

Naturally, he’s also not a big fan of any ships that aren’t just him and MC and he can find a reason to be jealous at almost anything. But he keeps a special corner of hate for MC x Mammon and MC x Diavolo. Like, the first one doesn’t even need an explanation but MC x Diavolo?? Really??? Do those two even talk?? (please, please, please make sure they never actually talk because a guy like him versus literal royalty? He’d lose MC for sure….!! 😫)

Satan

He hates to actually agree with Lucifer on something, but their fans are starting to get out of hand...

Knows what shipping is in concept, he may have done it once or twice to characters in his books, but he was kind of surprised how it could evolve into such a… group activity?

He was pretty quick to pick up that the MC’s fans had a bit more interest in them together than they did when they both were apart…

I mean, those hideous shirts that Mammon was pedaling were kind of a dead giveaway…

Considering he finds their fanclub all rather annoying, even without their bizarre interest in his love life, when they started actively meddling with him and the MC he was ready to smash some heads.

No. He will not stop for pictures. No. What things they do together is none of your business. No. He has zero interest in seeing your explicit fanart and if you don’t start running that will be the last question you ever ask.

He DOES, however, appreciate the cringy “annoy Lucifer” ammo. They could keep that up for a lifetime... 😏

He doesn’t have a least favorite ship because he doesn’t care about any of this, leave him alone. (That’s a lie, it’s MC x Lucifer. He pokes fun at Lucifer, but he can’t stand it either. Big shock, I know 🙄).

Asmodeus 

Oh he is shamelessly a part of the community, are you kidding?? 

He could practically call “Shipping the MC” one of his favorite pastimes. He’ll openly gossip with their fanclub about who they’ve been with, who they’re seeing, who’s got a chance, etc… He lives for this shit!

He’s the only person who knows that Levi is also in the community and what his aliases are (not because he told him, but because Levi’s not as subtle as he thinks he is… Who else would call themselves “SupremeRuri666” and speak mostly in outdated chat lingo?) but he doesn’t out him because he thinks his very obvious crush is kind of cute. 

Plus, Levi needs the outlet waaaay more than him…

Doesn’t stop him from constantly trolling him and getting into arguments over who the MC would be better with though (the two are “virtual nemeses” as far as Levi is concerned).

Appreciates all forms of expression that comes out of the community (especially the saucy kind 😏) and will happily feed into his own shippers without a care in the world.

Truthfully, Asmo will say that there isn’t a ship he doesn’t like but if someone mentions one that he thinks is kind of “eh,” he’ll just add himself into the mix. “Oh, you like MC x Barbatos? Well how about Asmo x MC x Barbatos? That sounds loads more interesting doesn’t it??”

Beelzebub 

Oh, Beel… Sweet, sweet Beel… Beel doesn’t even know what their club is doing…

Because Beel has a reputation of being pretty protective of MC - and against the fanclub in general - the club keeps a healthy distance… but that doesn’t mean they’re not going to sneak in some picture or make a SHITLOAD of fanwork about them.

Between classes and practice Beel is a busy guy, so sometimes he just doesn’t notice that there’s people hiding behind trees when he’s out with MC. 

Honestly, his complete ignorance of it all makes it even cuter because when he acts sweet, it’s not just for the camera. That’s the real deal.

Mammon was the one who eventually let it slip that there was even shipping happening and Beel was… kind of creeped out because isn’t this stalking? But also kind of weirdly happy(?) that MC x Beel was so popular… Very conflicted boy here.

He never actually acknowledges the community, though, and just keeps on being Beel (which still gave the fans more than enough material so all’s well that ends well?)

Beel genuinely doesn’t have a least favorite ship (because he believes the best ship is whoever makes the MC happy) but his second favorite under himself is probably MC x Belphie. They look very cute together...  😊

Belphegor 

Ride or die, Beel x MC x Belphie. 

Just kidding (kind of), Belphie isn’t into the shipping but if asked he’d be pretty okay with that one.

His campaign against the MC’s fanclub and their attention stealing ways means that he found out about their shipping thing only slightly ahead of Beel when Mammon was trying to get pictures of them napping together…

Honestly, he couldn’t care less if a bunch of weirdos were weirdly invested in their relationship, but he’s not about to let Mammon just make a quick Grimm off of it. Belphie makes sure that he gives him NOTHING to work with. 

Since Mammon is the main dealer, the shippers in both the MC fanclub and Belphie fanclub aren’t nearly as well fed and pretty desperate for anything... You best believe he plays that to his advantage (because it’s okay if he does. He’s not Mammon).

Really helps that MC x Belphie is legitimately a very cute looking couple, carried by Belphie’s cuteness alone if nothing else. Add an adorable MC and you reach levels so cute it could actually melt people into puddles of goo... They could be a registered weapon.

Least favorite MC ships are any that don’t involve him or Beel. Any others may as well just not exist, he won’t even acknowledge them. MC x Who? Yeah, that’s what he thought.

[vynegar]

poems in vyn’s personal story

there are two poems mentioned in vyn’s personal story that tie in deeply with the themes of his route, so i wanted to write a post about them just to point them out. the two poems are “To The Nightingale” by John Milton and “Seeing You Carry Plants In” by Robert Bly.

this includes information about his personal storyline through chapter 2 and some of vyn’s family history.

[EDIT: it turns out that the second poem was mentioned in chapter 3 of his storyline; this post does not contain spoilers for that chapter, however.]

“To The Nightingale” by John Milton

full poem text here

This is the poem that MC posts on her online profile to attract the PUA mentor, Wayne (Story 2-10). MC couldn’t think of anything, so she just posted a poem that Kiki had showed her earlier.

I’m... uh.... not great at original literary analysis of older poems, so I’m just gonna link this analysis here that I’m basing my discussion on, and honestly I think everything mentioned fits extremely well for Vyn and MC. The poem presents the contrast between the nightingale, the bird of love, and the cuckoo, the bird of hate, and the speaker wishes that the nightingale will win in the end. With their wildly different personalities, MC and Vyn consistently have opposites as a theme in their stories: yin and yang in “Cool Summer”, light and dark and “Between Good and Evil", optimism vs pessimism in viewing human nature (”Blazing Colors”), and another poem that Vyn quotes in the main story (thanks to @salt-and-vynegar for pointing it out).

The end of the poem also slightly reminds me of Vyn and MC’s relationship. The nightingale sings later than the poet would like, but poet is still willing to serve as Muse or Love for it. Vyn has long been in love with MC but has been waiting patiently for MC to realize and decide on her own feelings, and is ready to accept her answer either way. (Though there’s a difference in that Vyn is much more content with waiting than the speaker of the poem is.)

One last thing about this poem that I saved for the end since it’s a nice transition to the next one: hope.

(Story 1-5) When Vyn explains the common PUA trap and how it’s a form of twisted manipulation under the guise of love, he says this about what actual love is:

Love brings light and hope into your life. Love lifts you up.

The poet proclaims that the nightingale’s song fills the lover’s heart with hope, and pleads that it sing before the cuckoo’s song can “[f]oretell [his] hopeless doom”. MC has brought optimism and hope into Vyn’s life, and over their relationship, her positivity has given him a new perspective on painful subjects such as his past.

“Seeing You Carry Plants In” by Robert Bly

(the tot wiki Big Data Lab entry says that this is unlocked in Story 1-05, but I don’t have this entry and I checked the story and I’m not sure if it shows up in that part? so idk, but the poem is interesting for our purposes so I’m going forward with this.)

[EDIT: turns out this poem is unlocked in Story 3-15. i’m just going to leave my analysis here because i think the poem is extremely fitting even for the earlier chapters of the personal story.]

full text here (thanks salt-and-vynegar for the link! originally i used this link)

So, there’s the obvious “plants = vyn’s garden” haha. But this poem also has to do with hope, though maybe it’s a bit meta since it’s not directly from the poem text? Many people posting the Chinese translation of this poem use a non-literal translation of the title, calling it “你手捧希望而来” which is something more like “You Come, Holding Hope in Your Hands”. Honestly, I’m not sure why it was translated this way because the translation of the poem content is otherwise quite direct, and the literal title seems fine, but I think it’s worth mentioning since this version of the poem title possibly reflects how Chinese readers interpret this poem.

Going through the middle of the poem,

The night is moist, and nourishing as your mind that lets everything around you live. I saw you carry the plants inside tonight over the grass, to save them from the cold.

The second stanza of the poem describes the kindness and positive effect of the “you” in the poem; MC’s compassion is something that Vyn frequently admires and is struck by, even if he sometimes considers those receiving it to be unworthy.

Sometimes I slip behind a door, so that I will not be called on, or walk hunched on sandbars below earth, not sure if anyone in my family can love.

Uh.... need I explain more? Vyn's cautiousness with the possibility of “love at first sight” stems from having personally seen the failure of this kind of love between his own parents, and he has a complicated relationship with his father and what seems to be a very distant relationship with his mother.

How much I love you. The night is moist. The air is still, as when I love you. It is not every evening that I love you. I come back like the stars, sometimes out of clouds.

[...]

Your voice is water open beneath stars, collected from abundant rain, gone to low places. The night is moist, the ground wet, air still, trees silent, and tonight I love you.

Finally, a comparison of the first and last stanzas of the poem, where we circle back to nighttime scenery and “I love you”. The speaker of the poem doesn’t love her “every evening”, and I would say this would be untrue of Vyn, who is completely enamored with MC every time he sees her. However, I think the overall journey of this poem fits Vyn’s journey through the first two chapters of his personal story very well.

The speaker begins with acknowledging his love, while also admitting the inconsistency and uncertainty of it; the speaker then considers their lover’s kindness and their own insecurities, before returning back to the original question with a confirmation that yes, “I love you”. Sitting alone in his study with his self-evaluations, Vyn knows he has feelings for MC and yet is unsure if these could just be remnants of his first impression, bolstered by the halo effect and primacy effect. It’s further complicated by the constant reminder that this is the kind of love that ended up ruining his father. Then, over the course of their PUA investigation, Vyn sees that MC really is the brave, intelligent, and compassionate person that he had in his first impression. This gives him enough to be able to confirm that it’s not just a fleeting illusion; she brings light and hope into his life, and he loves her.

[samsspambox]

I have come to the realization that there is almost no kiki content in the fandom, so I will be dropping on the most popular tot blogs to ask. thoughts on kiki bennet? (pssps feel free not to answer if you don't want!)

heyo nonnie! jkdsnckdjn im flattered you think of me as a poplar tot blog!!!! ayo ma! i made it!

no but fr fr, kiki bennet is literally a treasure trove of potential. she's pretty, shes smart, she has hobbies, and she's single. we know so little about her that anything we write about her could be plausible! what else could you want???! i'm with you on this indignation of lack of content nonnie, kiki bennet should be written in more fics, she's so fucking interesting.

here are some of my passing thoughts of kiki bennet i've had throughout the year this game has been live:

kiki could be an nsb super secret agent

hear me out hear me out -- i've written this before and and it could make sense

back when lukepearceing was still active *does salute* we had a theory chain and in it, we thought of the idea of kiki being a type o sleeper agent for the nsb

kiki and mc met through college (re: poor una cabeza where mc said she took an acting class bc kiki said it'd be easy credits) so the timeline kinda meets up

we know that the nsb is capable of recruiting literal children t (luke was 16/17 when he went off to college) so could kiki really be any different?

we had a couple of theories as too why kiki was placed as mc's retainer, but most of them lead to mc's parents and their 'research' so someone had to watch mc (as insurance or for safety we don't know)

which brings up the dynamic of agent raven vs agent bennet (or, agent hummingbird), like they cant say they 'know each other' in front of mc

there's also the rivalry component-- who's the better agent? which could then lead to some good enemies to lovers if you play your cards right

(i do have an agent kiki fic, but it was when i first started to write and maybe i should re-write it/ give it a sequel)

kiki is a stan, maybe she can stan someone else?

listen, kiki as a marius stan would be so fucking funny hear me out--

we know that kiki follows idols online, and you know who else gets media exposure?

marius von hagen.

kiki's a good character to dig deep with marius -- with idols (or just famous people in general) you have to do your research

i think kiki would be one of the people to look through the mask marius wears

and then somehow he's her friend's client and she can get an autograph jbdcjksb (another one that could end in a ship if you play your cards right)

kiki and vincent -- the designated wingmans of the main characters who maybe also crave love and could find it in each other

WINGPEOPLE FOR THE WIN

listen i will die on this hill, this is my top ship with kiki in it

we don't know how old vincent is, but by the looks of it he cant be that old!

they could try and help their respective person get together with the other and then they could also fall in love with each other bc

vincent hypes marius up and he does it in such an earnest way and u know how

some people light up when talking about things they're very passionate and suddenly you have this moment of like 'oh, you're kinda cute' yeah that. kiki has that moment

and it would be so cute to have mc and marius get them together too after/before they got together and uGH

this ship is my guilty pleasure and i should totally write them

kiki and artem could be friends! they should be friends tbh

kiki and trek have such a funny relationship in game-- one is afraid of the other while the other is just like ???

i have written this before but kiki and artem both like movies and with kiki's influenc in the stan field they surely would have talked

i def see this as more of a platonic relationship as friends that hang out and watch shifty movies to pass time

but i can also see the potential of a ship (as with all the other things on here) since you'd have two people's opinions of each other changing the more time they spend together

i have also written a fic about it, bc who doesn't love a good office comedy?

and yeah! those are my takes on kiki! shes's such a cool character and i love her to bits. thank you for the ask nonnie!!

[actualbird]

tot characters as chats ive had: mc messaging luke vs. mc messaging marius