#(also unsure if it is an otome...but seems like it?)

[maladaptivedaydreamsx]

has anyone ever played this before?? bc i keep getting ads for it and im.. getting enticed 🫠

[twistedwonderlxnd]

skully time paradox

⚠️ spoilers : lost in the book with tim burton's nightmare before christmas.

since the beginning, there has been multiple hints implying that skully j. graves was from a different time period.

first of all, he mentioned he was also at the port when he got pulled into the book. however, he said this after the boys discussed about the book fest and the mysterious book so it was also possible that skully was lying to us after eavesdropping.

( translated by ekala )

later, leona pointed out that skully has magic, which the latter confirms and added that he is currently attending a magic school. this leads to two conclusions; he is either from NRC or RSA.

( translated by ekala )

leona canceled out NRC as an option since none of the dorm leaders or vice-dorm leaders recognise him. jamil pointed out that skully is a mage from sage island, but is not aware of magical pens. it is unsure if RSA students use magical pens as well since their magic stones are featured as brooches on their uniforms, they are still likely to be aware of NRC students using magical pens due to their inter-school competitions. therefore, leona also canceled out RSA as an option too.

but how could this be? it doesn't make sense since there are no other magic schools on sage's island and this is a very remote island. travel time is long and tedious according to adeuce in book 4.

( translated by ekala )

pointed out by idia, skully refers to himself as 'wagahai'—which is uncommon and old-fashioned. though, it could also just be a unique quirk like idia's 'sessha' which is pointed out by azul.

( translated by ekala )

skully himself says he is 16. however, he has also expressed that he does not know malleus. this is hard to believe considering non-mage NPCs seem to be aware of who malleus is (this is later backed up by leona). hence, it can be implied that skully was from a time period before malleus was born. so he is at least 200 years old.

( translated by ekala / ekala / ekala / otome ayui / gas mask )

in conclusion: skully is a night raven college student from the past.

here comes the final confirmation by skully himself; his shocked reaction towards the diasomnia flag, the dorm names, and finally his smile towards night raven college. at this moment he was processing the fact that they were from the same school but does not recognise them as his current schoolmates, or their current view towards halloween was also different from his schoolmates.

( translated by fleurism )

when yuu told skully to hang out together or to visit the school sometime, skully replied that such a thing is impossible. this is because he knew that they don't belong in the same time period at this point.

No… I understand now. I will never meet with you lovely people again. But… We can always meet through Halloween.

( translated by acesuuu )

when we woke up from the book, he is nowhere to be seen. he is not physically in their vicinity to have been sucked into the book together.

so how was skully and the NRC boys able to meet?

my theory is pretty simple; there are 2 timelines intersecting each other.

#1 — skully chanced upon this book in the past. he met jack skellington and celebrated halloween with him. he returned without any memories and stayed static. perhaps halloween was not as popular as it is now if skully is still convinced that only his halloween is right; spending it alone in solemn solidarity—nothing like the current halloween NRC celebrates.

#2 — the NRC boys teleported to the same time skully did when they opened the book. this caused a butterfly effect where skully's image of his idol shattered in front of his eyes. he then learns to accept halloween that are different from his ideals.

Jack reinstills his ideals about Halloween not being meant to be spent alone. It’s supposed to bring fear to everyone equally, as the holiday belongs to everyone. Which tells Skully he can’t be selfish with it, basically.

( summarised by acesuuu )

when "travelers" returned from the book world, they do not remember anything and the said book would disappear. perhaps these books are controlled by fate and appear as they pleased?

despite the memory loss, they will still remember what they felt in the book and the feeling of having "met" someone.

( translated by ekala / fleurism )

this is likely the same for skully. he probably retained the feeling of spending halloween with everyone along with the vague promise of "We can always meet through Halloween" even without his memories.

aside from his passion, perhaps his dedication to speading halloween in twisted wonderland and NRC is also influenced by this "promise" as well—to reunite/connect to each other through halloween. this was why he establish halloween not just as an NRC tradition but also spread the holiday throughout all of twisted wonderland. i'm likely reaching here but i wish that the hope of a reunion was the reason :')

( translated by fleurism )

in summary, skully's experience with the present NRC boys led to the current halloween we enjoy today. the end. idk how to end this. i hope this wasn't too abrupt.

the following are side tangents about some related thoughts i had while writing this:

remember that jack skellington was not a historical figure like the great seven are. he does not exist as a real person in twisted wonderland. he was a character from a legend in skully's hometown. therefore, it makes sense why malleus has never heard of jack skellington.

( translated by ekala )

it is implied at the end that skully might be a ghost now. considering these actions, could it be possible that skully was able to recover his memories from the time he spent in the book? this scene reads to me as skully reuniting with them. or it was simply his spirit lingering around the area since he isn't visible like other ghosts OR he couldn't be seen in direct sunlight?

( translated by fleurism )

i shall wait ✨ pATiEntLY ✨ for a year for skully's card. perhaps some of these can be answered then.

i hope i managed to convey my thoughts well ;; its been a while since i wrote anything on tumblr. thank you for reading!!

[imagine-knb]

gom+kagami+hanamiya accidentally seeing their crush playing an otome game and trying to capture a character that is similar to them in looks/personality

Kuroko: There's the smallest of pouts on Kuroko's face as he watches you play, going after a character who you tut as very similar to him. He never expected to be boiled down to only a few traits, thinking himself more complicated and nuanced. "You don't like him better, do you?"

Kagami: There's a red on his cheeks that almost seems to rival his hair when he realizes how similar your favorite character is to him. He's actually a bit in denial when you point out the similarities. "You kidding me?" He ends his question there, unsure whether to take it as a compliment or insult.

Kise: "Oooh, that character looks really handsome!" Of course, Kise is holding a hand up to his chin, posing very similarly to the character on screen as he says this. He definitely sees the resemblance between him and the character and grins teasingly at you as he tells you he thinks he would've made the same choice.

Aomine: "Of course you would choose this character, he seems like the best one," Aomine teases as he watches you choose certain dialogue options for your favorite character. With how similar their personalities are, he's easily able to help you whenever you get stumped on an option, choosing for you.

Midorima: "This character seems rather sensible, if not a little stuck up." Midorima watches you, not realizing that you were choosing that character in particular due to his similarities to your boyfriend. When you finally point them out, he seems almost shocked an surprised, as if he couldn't believe he acted that way as well.

Murasakibara: The character looks nothing like him, short and chubby cheeked, but the personality seems pretty spot on. Murasakibara sits beside you as you play, pouting whenever you try to convince him how similar the two of them were. "No we're not, ____-chin. You're just saying that."

Akashi: "I see you've got a type, then," Akashi comments with a smile when he notices the similarities between himself and your favored character. It has an amused chuckle coming out of him as he watches you play, though it also gives him a bit of an uncanny valley sort of feeling.

Hanamiya: "That guy seems like a dick." It's comical how Hanamiya seems to insult the otome character you happen to be going for, as if his self awareness is nowhere to be found. He makes fun of the choices you make to woo the character, but he's unwilling to admit a lot of the dialogue choices you have would work on him too.

[wildflower-otome]

[Translation] Cupid Parasite Sweet & Spicy Darling - Peter Flage Sweet & Spicy End After Story

Source: S&S Wedding Note - His and my Wedding Note (Otomate Sweet Box Bonus Booklet)

Peter Flage - Sweet & Spicy End After Story - Chii-chan’s Unexpected Weak Spot

After our wedding ceremony. A few years had gone by since we had returned to Celestia.

At first, I, the leader of the Dii Consentes, Jupiter, had decided to concentrate on my work as a god, but after a few years realised that would prove difficult. Humans evolve at a truly staggering pace after all.

‘Ah, I can’t take this anymore! I don’t get these trends!’

‘Trends…..?’

As I yelled out, utterly bamboozled, the Goddess Juno—Lynette looked in on me. Calming down at the sight of the reassuring figure of my beloved wife, I nodded.

‘Yes. I don’t understand what’s popular amongst the humans. Consequently, I'm not sure how I should deal with problems when they occur.’

Human culture—that is, what was in trend, had changed at a dizzying speed. Because views on romance and on life changed together, there were many occasions where I was at a loss when it came to trying to understand their sense of values. Even though it had only been a few years since I had been away from the human world, I was having trouble understanding the principles behind what motivated them.

At this rate, I would end up becoming a so-called ‘old man behind the times.’ As I dropped my shoulders, unsure what to do, for a moment Lynette put her hand to her chin—and then suddenly raised her index finger as if she’d had an idea.

‘Then, why don’t we go study in the human world for the first time in a while?’

‘That’s it!!!!’

The planning for our study trip went smoothly. Having decided to go with her to the human world for research, we came up with the idea of how we would do so together.

It would be a problem if the chief god were to be away from Celestia for a long time. Therefore, this time around we decided that rather than doing something large-scale such as going to university or doing an internship, we would visit the human world for a short period of time, as if we were doing a homestay. After that, we set up a door between realms so that we could return to Celestia at any time should anything happen, and rented a house in a certain city in the human world so we had a place to stay.

Like this, so that we could learn about human trends while continuing to work, she and I made up our minds to do a homestay together in the human world.

‘Chii��chiichi~♪’

On this day, I was on the floor in the living room in “Chii-chan” form, basking in the rays of the sun. Because I’d eaten my fill of food at lunch, my stomach was completely stuffed and I was unable to move.

So, thinking of what kind of study I would be able to do while lazing around, I was studying up on recent trends on social media. Smoothly swiping with one paw, various amusing news stories appeared one after the other. Even in this small body, the tablet was easy to use, I was thoroughly impressed by how advanced humans had become. (Hm. As usual, humans sure think up some pretty interesting things…..)

Developing such new fangled things as this, I could understand how their thought patterns would come to diverge from those of the gods.

(After this, I should go sneak into a university. In this form, no one will be able to see me after all!)

The weather was fine today, and it would be fun to go to university. Sneaking in using my Chii-chan form was a good idea, but going together with her in Peter form also seemed like it might be nice. With those thoughts in my head, as I gazed at my tablet— it happened.

As she was walking through the living room, she inadvertently stepped on my tail. Instantly, an incredible pain shot up my tail, and I screamed loudly.

‘Chiiii!!!!!’

The pain was enough to make me jump upwards. Startled by how excruciating it was, I rained down lightning without thinking.

The sky that had been completely clear just a moment ago darkened and it began to pour with rain.

‘Wah-, oh no! And I’ve got the laundry out there drying!’

She ran out to the balcony, and did her best to bring in the clothes. I did think that I had to help her, but was near fainting with agony. A shock ran up my tail, going all the way up my back, the only thing I was able to do was moan ‘chiii’.

Thinking that it might get better if I took human form since they didn’t have tails, I tried becoming Jupiter, and then Peter, but the pain didn’t disappear. Despite not having a tail, the area “around my tail” hurt so badly, I could only curl up into a ball in the end.

‘The clothes got all wet….. Sheesh, don’t rain down lightning just because your tail got stepped on.’

Hearing that merciless sounding voice from behind my back, I looked up, tears in my eyes.

‘It’s not “just” a tail-.....!’

As I raised my voice while crouching down, her eyes opened wide, and then she sighed as she looked at the drenched laundry she was holding.

‘Well, I’m sorry. But if you don’t want to get stepped on, then don’t sunbathe as “Chii-chan”. Chii-chan’s tail has so much hair, it makes cleaning really hard too.’

So speaking, she showed me the air cleaning filter, which was completely packed with strands of Chii-chan’s hair. Somehow or other, it appeared the loose hair had drifted across the room at some point.

My hair had been falling out. The idea that someone such as I was shedding hair was a tremendous shock to me.

‘I-I don’t know what you’re talking about! To begin with, there’s no way this body of mine would ever shed hair! Are you sure you’re not mistaken!?’

‘But, no matter how you look at it, this is Chii-chan’s hair.....’

Taking up a tuft and displaying it as she spoke, the white and glossy fur was, no matter what angle you looked at it from, strands of hair from my tail. Embarrassed that the tail fur I was so proud of had been falling out all this time, I reddened to the ends of my ears.

‘That’s not true-! Th-That isn’t mine-! Anyhow..... Don’t step on my tail ever again!!’

Having come out with it, I then went and holed up in my room. Laying down on my bed, I breathed a sigh. Even now the area “around my tail” was throbbing with pain.

(I suppose she’s right that it’s my fault for sunbathing in a place like that but.....she didn’t need to say it like that!)

With the pain of having my tail stepped on, and the shock at having the fact that I was shedding pointed out, my misery continued on unabated. Even though it had hurt so much, not only had she not understood my pain, it even felt as if she hadn’t seen it as all that big a deal, making me feel all the more down.

The sound of the rain hitting the glass of the window panes echoed. Even though I knew I was the one who had made it fall, the pouring rain seemed only to increase my gloom.

In the end, I spent all day shut up in my room, bearing the pain alone. But even in the morning of the next day, it still hadn’t faded.

‘Chiii.....’

Curling up in my blanket in Peter form, I let out a groan.

When I’d had my tail grabbed before it hadn’t hurt this much.

Still, somehow or other, it would appear that there was a single spot that, once stepped on, would cause me to be in tremendous agony. Just like the reverse scales on a dragon.

(Or perhaps.....maybe it’s because I’ve entered moulting season or something, with less hair on my tail it’s not as well protected.....)

I was definitely missing some hair. That might have something to do with it.

I wasn’t sure of the reason, but all the same, my pain still hadn’t disappeared. Not knowing how much time would need to pass before it got better, I was starting to feel pitiful all on my own.

Even so, I hesitated to go to her for comfort right after having gotten so huffy just the day before. Just as I was thinking that perhaps I might as well return to Celestia, I heard the sound of a knock.

‘Um, Peter. Can I come in?’

‘.....Alright.....’

As I answered weakly, she opened the door, drawing in a breath at seeing me curled up in on myself.

‘Peter, are you all right!?’

‘Chiii.....’

Truth be told, I wanted to run to her and have her treat me nicely as I told her about how much it hurt. But, feeling awkward, I was unable to speak. Seeing that I was still wrapped up in blankets, she was in a fluster.

‘Sorry, I’m so sorry. Does it still hurt? Wh-What should I do?’

Unable to help feeling guilty seeing her look so panicked, I tried crawling out from underneath my blankets. Still, even as I tried to move, the area around my tail started to throb with pain yet again.

‘Chii-‘

Hearing me unable to help crying out, the expression on her face became increasingly shocked. So, doing my best to hide the pain, I tried to pretend as if I were fine.

‘I-I’m alright.  It, doesn’t, hurt that much, anymore.....’

‘I didn’t realise that it was that bad.....’

She saw through me instantly.

‘I’m sorry, Chii-chan. Um..... The truth is, I made these for you, hoping that they’d make you feel better, but-‘

What she took out as she spoke were cookies in the shape of “Chii-chan.” At the same time as I felt a surge of happiness at how faithfully she had replicated my form, I also began to feel apologetic.

She had been that worried about me.

But I, on the other hand, without explaining how much it had hurt having my tail trod on, had childishly locked myself away in my room. Feeling a sense of guilt, I opened my mouth to speak.

‘.....I’m sorry too. .....I was just in shock because it hurt so much.....’

‘No, I’m the one that should be sorry. I even said it was “just” your tail.....’

Both of us becoming gloomy, we lapsed into silence.

‘W-Well then, since you went to all the effort to make them for me, would it be alright if I ate these cookies?’

‘S-Sure! Of course.’

I took the “Chii-chan Cookie” she passed over to me and stared at it intently. The more I looked at it, the more I could tell how well made a likeness of me it was. Feeling that it would be a waste to eat it, I took a photo of it with my smartphone. And then, after spending some time looking at it from different angles, realised that it might be even more of a waste not to eat it. Having made up my mind, I bit into the tail end. The flavoursome taste of butter spread throughout my mouth.

‘Mmn-, this is delicious.....!’

‘Really? I’m so glad.....’

As she watched over me with a relieved look on her face, I continued to munch on the cookie.

Once I had finished eating the head part as well, she looked at me timidly.

‘So, how do you feel now? Does it still hurt.....?’

‘H-Hm.....Well.....’

Unfortunately, the area around my tail was still sore. But, for some reason, it felt as if it had lessened from just a moment ago.

‘Whereabouts does it hurt?’

‘Around here.....’

When I pointed to the place around which the humans would call the tailbone, she gently touched the area in a soothing way.

‘Pain, pain, fly away—’

‘.....Chi?’

As I tilted my head in confusion at the unfamiliar words, she smiled as if embarrassed.

‘I came across it while I was reading a book. They say it’s a magic spell to make pain get better.’

Repeating the spell once more, she patted the “area around my tail”. Her shy and gentle hand movements were easing the pain.

Still, I had a feeling that it wasn’t the magic spell that was making me feel better. It was because she had made cookies while thinking of me.

A god had given cookies to a god. There was an emotion that was more than love in that.

Devotion was the most effective for a god’s recovery. Even if it was a prayer that came from a fellow god.

‘Pain, pain, fly away—’

Doing her best so that my pain would fly away, she massaged the sore area. It felt ticklish, and it stirred up a strange feeling in me. Unable to stand how adorable she was, and the ticklishness of her fingers as she touched me, I climbed on top of her.

When I pushed her down onto the bed, she looked surprised, as if she hadn’t expected it. As I hung over her, I licked away cookie crumbs that had been stuck at the corner of my mouth.

‘I’m fine now. It doesn't hurt anymore.’

‘Really?’

‘Mm. It’s all thanks to the cookies you made me. Thank you. But….my tail is my weak spot. I’m sorry, but I must ask you not to step on it in the future.’

‘.....Sure, I understand. Sorry for stepping on you.’

‘I’m sorry too. For lying around in a place like that….. From now on I swear to you I’ll take care when sunbathing.’

‘Yeah.’

We had finally made up. With this we were back to normal.

At that very moment, as I was thinking absentmindedly, she reached out her hands towards me.

Just as I thought she was about to hug me, she drew my head forward. Her lips pressed against mine, even though I was the one on top of her, it had been her who had kissed me.

‘Well then, we’re all made up now….right?’

Beneath me, she was smiling. While her smile made me happy, wanting to make her lose her composure since she was treating me as “Chii-chan”, this time I kissed her.

Sucking, gently biting, I deepened the kiss further. A biting kiss, the kind to make her breathless. As I continued to kiss her in a rapture, she gradually began to lose her earlier calm. When I trailed my tongue across her throat, she gave a small gasp. I wanted to hear more of her voice. I wanted to bite her. —I wanted to devour her completely.

Just like when I had eaten the cookie, I lost myself in tasting her.

Licking her ear, her throat, her collarbone, I changed the position of my head little by little.

The area “around my tail” no longer hurt, but now a different place was aching. Following that inner desire, I drew forth her voice from her.

There was something that was sweeter than a cookie. As I tasted it as if I were in a trance, I heard her say you musn’t, and my head was held back.

‘Peter…..’

‘My tail was stepped on. …..For today, allow me at least this much.’

We each had places that were off limits. I’d had mine stepped on, so in exchange I wanted her to let me do as I wished. Which was why I became more forceful than usual, and slaked my thirst. Yielding to my determination, she could only cry out. Body twisting, she grabbed onto my hair.

It was the first time I had ever seen such an expression on her face. An aching swept through me like a storm, and I became absorbed in making her mine.

Once the time came, my instincts overcame my reason. I forgot myself in my desire for her.

I no longer felt any pain. However the area “around my tail” had lit a fire in me.

After my first fight with her. Our passionate making up continued on.

[maleyanderecafe]

Hello I don’t know if you have any iOS devices but do you have any recommendations for iOS games with a male yandere love interest

I did actually make a list regarding mobile games, but that was a while ago, so its probably best to update that. I'll split them into two categories of ones I've played/watched and ones I haven't.

IOS Games I've Played/Watched

Dangerous Fellows from Lucy Dreams - I think this one actually does have spin off game called Dangerous Shelter though I'm unsure if there's a yandere in that one (though the yandere from Dangerous Fellows, Lawrence, does show up in that one)

Killing Kiss from StoryTaco - made by the same creators as Dangerous Fellows, this one is a BL game where you play as a pickpocket named Ryu to get a formula from the underbelly of Grey City. The yandere is this one is Clark though mostly in his ending.

Otome Chat Collection - generally the premise is that you text guys in different stories, but there is one yandere in this one, namely Izumi, who very quickly gains affection for you quickly. It's pretty short though, but it's fun for what it is.

In Search of Haru - the main character was bullied when they were younger but a boy named Haru came to help them. Years later she wants to come and find him. Seems like a short game and the yandere in this one is Haruka Fujisaki, though it is brief and a mostly possessive scene.

My Psycho Boyfriends - I'll be honest, I wouldn't play this one unless I was super bored because of all the grammatical errors, but this one does have a yandere and a fairly intricate story.

Yandere Boyfriend Leo/ Yandere Classmate Aiden/ Yandere Richman June/ Yandere Stepbrother Dean - I'm lumping these together because while they have the same story, they're generally similar in premise which is basically a story told through texts. Also has a lot of grammatical errors, so I wouldn't play these one unless you're okay with that. In my opinion, Yandere Richman Junes is probably the best one.

Mystic Messenger- pretty obvious since this is one more the more famous yandere mobile games, but there are 2-3 yanderes in it (depending on interpretation)

IOS Games I've haven't Played/Watched

Unholyc - I have yet to fully play this game, but it is similar to Mystic Messenger in terms of playing it, though way more sexual. The premise is that you are an Unholyc (like a succubus basically) who gets three guys into a contract with you to become a fully fledge Unholyc. The yandere in this one is Eater. Probably a future recommendation, since I have to get through this one.

Princess Closet - about a girl who becomes a fashion model surrounded by handsome men. I haven't played this one, but considering there is a switch port, I might just try it on switch. The yandere in this one is the photographer Akito Shinonome.

Any of the Ikeman Series games - I believe have at least one yandere or at least a male character that is possessive. Not really sure but I have seen screencaps of it.

My Puppy Fiance - this one is about the female lead having to find a boyfriend or else they get forced marriage and instead they pick up a dog like boyfriend! I know the bulter has a yandere ending. Might watch this one as well.

Jimi-Kare : My Quiet Boyfriend - this one I watched a bit of because the female lead basically trains him to be a bit more assertive. He turns into a yandere in the dark ending.

Liar! Uncover the Truth - a mystery game revolving around the female lead after breaking up with her boyfriend leading to meeting a bunch of guys.

There are probably more that I have yet to mention or are only in Japanese, but here are some. There are also some on this website here that has a ton of other recommendations for yanderes as well!

[lizz-revs]

Belle Automata I

This game is an otome game, where you play as a self-aware android to find your purpose and your special someone.

Story

The heroine of this game was sold by her previous owners after her master died (probably because they noticed she has emotions and is self-aware). At the beginning of the game she arrives at the mansion, where the people, who bought her, live. While she is still sad about the loss of her master, she cannot just sit there and grieve because she needs to find a new purpose for her existence and maybe (most likely, if you don’t fail) even love.

The Characters

Heroine (Aureve)

The main character is a self-aware android, a dreamweaver model, whose sole purpose was to weave tapestries for her master. Well, until he died. His family realized she was self-aware and proceeded to sell her off. Now, she was brought to a fancy mansion and for the first time in her life can decide for herself, what she wants to do in the future.

Victor

Victor is the only butler of the mansion she was brought to. He is stoic and can be cold and straightforward at times. He seldomly smiles, talks harshly and is very overprotective towards the Nightmare Prince. However, if the main character chooses him as her love interest, he will show you he can be very emotional, if you have the patience to deal with him despite his behaviour. (Well, not gonna lie my heart skipped a beat at some scenes…)

Nightmare Prince

The Nightmare Prince is the heroine’s saviour and employer. He is a very mysterious person, who alters his voice, when speaking with the heroine, and besides her, only speaks with Victor and his brother Roman. If the heroine is patient and tries to befriend him, eventually, he opens up to her and she get to see, what he looks like and why he is behaving this weirdly.  

My Opinion

I actually enjoyed this game more than I thought I would. It was especially refreshing to see a new kind of main character in these kinds of games. I’m used to the typical damsel in distress, who has zero combat abilities and endangers herself in every way possible to humankind. Not that I don’t enjoy reading those kinds of stories, but having a totally different heroine is a welcome change of pace as well.

The main character does not endanger herself in any way, but instead seeks to understand herself and her emotions better. She starts slowly liking the companion she chose, not aware of her own feelings in the beginning and unsure where everything will lead to. Additionally, she chooses not only whom to pursue, but also what to do with herself. She gains new friendships, new hobbies and new goals.

It is very nice to read this kind of a story in my opinion, although I do feel that it is in some parts way too hopeful (but, hey, it is a fairy tale after all). To be honest I still would have bought this game, if only to play the Nightmare Prince’s route because …. Well, this guy is so adorable and precious. You just feel like you want to hug and protect him and tell him that everything’s going to be alright. Lucky me got this for free though to review as a curator. (And I’m so happy because otherwise I wouldn’t have played it probably because it’s so underrated that it never popped up in my recommendations…) Anyways, even besides the Nightmare Prince, Victor’s route was nice to read as well.

Besides the writing, the game can offer you nice visuals (although the CG look worse than the character designs), really good voice-acting (yes, it is fully voiced PLUS the androids actually sound like androids, which is amazing) and some really good lines that you can quote and seem smart (as I did here).

So, while I would give a 10/10 for the Nightmare Prince, I’d only give an 8.5/10 for Victor. Why the difference in score? Well, like I said I didn’t like the parts, where the game gets too fairy tale-ish and it was especially so in Victor’s route. I also didn’t like how Victor behaved that much. If I was the heroine, I would have quit pursuing him (hell, I even thought the bad ending was the better one). Also, the difficulty to get the perfect ending is high. Already 3 wrong choices gave me the “normal ending” with the Nightmare Prince (and for me the right choices were kind of difficult to guess sometimes) and for Victor I even got the “bad ending” when I didn’t use a guide. And lastly, I did not like that the difference between the endings was so little. If you for example get the perfect ending, the normal and the bad ending will have 90% the same story, so you will be skipping a lot of text.

You might be puzzled, why the Nightmare Prince got such a high score then? Because his story was far more realistic and consistent with my interpretation of the heroine’s personality. His character was also deeper and more “thought-out” in my opinion. The difference in the endings was also very true to his character and in this case, it actually made sense for the story to be 90% the same for all endings. All in all, I just really liked his character and story. I was actually so engrossed that I played his whole route including all endings in one sitting because I just wanted to know, how it ends.

So, yeah, here you have my opinion on this game and I hope you consider at least looking into it because it is far more underrated than it deserves to be.

[silent-dragon]

TWST OC Profile ~ Flint Iron Thorn

Personal Info

Name: Flint Iron Thorn

Nickname: Wild Dog - Isbrand

IronFang - Genesis

Wolf Prince - Ivy

Gender: Male

Age: 22

Species: Human

Birthday: 4/18

Zodiac: Aries

Height: 215cm/7ft

Orientation: Straight/Bicurious

Eye Color: Sandy Brown

Hair Color: Violet

Homeland: Kingdom of Sand Thorn

Family: King Thorn - Father

Queen Thorn - Mother(Deceased)

Steel - Wolf Companion

Twist of Lance Vladislav Ira from Court of Darkness Otome

School Info

School: Royal Sword Academy

Dorm: Armonye 

School Year: 4th 

Occupation: Prince,Hand to Hand Combat Expert

Best Subject: P.E

Other Info

Dominant Hand: Right

Favorite Food: Granny Smith Apple Pie

Least Favorite Food: Peanuts(Allergic)

Dislikes: His Father,Being seen as a Good Prince,Pettiness,Animal Cruelty,Crying Children,Some Robotic Stuff

Likes: Animals,Children,Wolves/Dogs,People who love animals/children,People who can handle his feral behavior,Wolf Beasthumans,Drinking on Occasion,Pickles,Hot Peppers,Outdoors,Doing what he Wants,Riling up Others,Getting into Fights with Adam,Sexy Women/Men,Food

Talents: Hand to Hand Combat,Weight-lifting,Boxing,Lifting Heavy Objects,Intimidation,Inspiring Others,Battle Knowledge,Automata Building

Unique Magic: Classified due to Royal Status & Has said he never will use it again.

Personality: Flint has a very wild personality. He does things in a manner uncommon to the usual prince. He's loud,rude when need be,and seems he has no formal etiquette mannerisms. With that said he isn't fully mean just looks that way as he is a loner and only likes being around animals and youths. Being his friend means he cares about you on a different level than other people.

Fun Facts: While Flint is the crown prince of Sand Thorn you will never see him at the palace as he was banished from it and resides in another city far away where he has pretty much made it his own smaller kingdom.

Flint and his Father are not friendly with each other due to his father believing Flint organized a resistance against him a few years ago. Never was proven if Flint did and is partly why he was banished from the capital… He did..

Was raised by his caretaker who had two desert wolves that also looked after little Flint. Big reason why now Flint acts like a wolf in general. He loves everything about them and has Steel,his desert wolf companion who leads a pack so they all hang around Flint.

Has a big soft spot for children and becomes like this gentle giant dog when one is present. Will completely ignore most adults once he notices the kid too. Gets along with parents who are loving to their child. May bite ones who aren't.

Loves to pester Adam into physical strength things like arm wrestling and wrestling in general. Also the two have pie eating contests from time to time. They are the best of friends despite looking like they will beat down the other at a moment's notice. Just two big guys with similar interests.

Will be honest to say he has heightened senses just like a wolf and a wild drive. He is attracted to women more so if they have skin showing or act in flirtatious/sexy manner in front of him. Has shown some interest in men but unsure what exactly he attracted to from em yet.

He'd say he worst at flirting then Adam as both kinda share the issue of doing so. Flint just doesn't interact with people much so when he finds someone he wants to talk to its so awkward to him. However often ladies will come up to him out of the blue for some reason and he just goes into a flustered dog mode when caught off guard.

[krys-loves-otome]

Oh! Treat this like a mash-up for all your blogs I follow.

One reason is that I enjoy seeing your reblogs, otome or not. They're overall a rather interesting collection.

Another is that I enjoy seeing your OCs. I don't follow them very closely, but I sometimes take a time to go back and search for them, and they're delightful. I especially like your art with them.

And one other reason is that, hm. Whenever ask games roll by, I like to ask you questions, especially in regards to writing. The way I see it, you tend to offer a very grounded perspective, rooted profoundly in experiences that connect both online and offline world (what I mean by that is that you don't seem to lean too strongly into either direction; equilibrium?), so it's often very refreshing.

Anon or not, tell me why you follow me

Kinda sorry that that this turned into Self-Promo the Ask, but not really

For a short ref of my blogs (in case anyone else was curious):

@krys-loves-otome You Are Here! The main blog where I reblog otome content, both from others as well as my own. Asks and likes come from this blog.

@not-krys is my writing blog where I post all my writing content, be it fanfic or original. I post a lot of wips there, usually at least once a month for WIP Wednesdays. Hope you like OCs, bc I love OCs and I love writing with and about them. Matter of fact, just posted with my IkeSen girls Houki and Ophelia and my ikevamp girl Abby this morning!

@krys-reblogs is my reblogs channel where I post stuff not related to otome. Mostly filled with cats, anime, meta, and Fire Emblem: Three Houses. And Howl's Moving Castle, both the book and the Ghibli movie inspired by it.

I have an art blog, but I had wanted to make into an archive, which meant uploading a lot of content and whatnot, so it's just sitting currently. Might or might not do anything with it. I've got an insta tho /krysimeteri for more art stuff. And a twitter where I do art stuff and wips of the art stuff and talk about ocs. That one is /krys_does_stuff

And for OC related stuff, I also have a masterlist for them, both for Fandom OCs and original originals. It has links for fics and art I've posted on tumblr about them, in case anyone wants a quick link to my oc content!

Now that the shelling is out of the way (lol)...

I like to reblog things as a promotion for friends and cool people, to show everyone what things I think are cool or lookit what my friend has done! It's what tumblr is for! (Just kinda embarrassed that I prefer using the queue system rather than a string of reblogs. It helps me to stay organized and so that I can find things if I need to. But it is slow in posting stuff, thus the embarrassment).

I've been debating some of my study work for my OCs on this blog (like my real sketchy stuff with figuring out different body types and proportions, color studies, and inking practice.) Just unsure as it's OC stuff and studies at that, which might be interesting from an artist perspective, but not so much for the average layperson seeing my stuff.

And I like getting questions and asks! About writing, art, my ocs, or just random things, questions and asks are fun for me! Glad that I can give good advice and such, especially with a grounded perspective. Probably comes from being around for a while, both in actuality and being in online spaces since I was like 12 (y'know, back when dinosaurs wore powdered wigs with backwards caps and said outdated things things like 'radical', 'bodacious', and 'eat my shorts'.)

Thanks for the ask!

[kyupidos]

09/01/23’s delivery 🏹✉️ twisted wonderland

as if i know?!ヽ( ･∀･)ﾉ_θ彡☆Σ(ノ `Д´)ノ,ヽ( ･∀･)ﾉ_θ彡☆Σ(ノ `Д´)ノ ;; summary. ‘they ask a friend for advice on their turmoils— though they didn’t expect a response regarding romance.’

characters. scarabia , pomefiore, ignihyde : jamil viper , epel felmier , idia shroud ( separate ) ;; romantic . 🖇️ tags. reader is gender neutral ( you/your ), reader may or may not be yuu ( up to the reader ), pre-relationship, romantic fluff 📡

_a/n. finding stable wifi is hard, but anything to be on that tumblr fic grind 🫡 also i have such a twst bias something i forget i’m multifandom..i need to get to writing for those fandoms soon.

j. viper

— scarabia’s vice housewarden can’t be exactly sure what he feels for you. jamil was never one for expressing his feelings, considering his circumstances. and especially so in regards to romance, of all things. who was he to dabble in such a subject, after all, with it being so foreign to him? and yet all it took was you..and now he’s thinking and feeling all sorts of things.

— as for why he decides to consult kalim, he doesn’t know. well, at least kalim seems to be less emotionally constipated than he is, so there’s an excuse going for him. it’s a relatively normal scene, jamil is preparing food for a party and kalim asks him what he can describe about how he feels about you. it feels cathartic, actually, to get those emotions off his chest.

— though he doesn’t quite understand why when he looks up from his cooking, kalim is looking at him with an unexpected teasing face, holding back giggles; at least until it hits him. “jamil, are you sure you aren’t..in loooveeee??” oh, crud. he doesn’t know why it took him until that very moment, but his eyes widen just the slightest as he thinks back to every interaction he’s had to you thus far. yes, absolutely, he is in love with you.

— yet the first thing that jumbles out of his mouth as his face suddenly feels hot is, “how am i supposed to know?!”

e. felmier

— absolutely not; when it came to sappy, cringy things like romance, epel was not a contender in the least. so he absolutely could care less when he notices the way his heart beats faster when he’s around you, the way his palms get sweaty when he notices he’s a bit closer to you than he should be, and so many other idiotic romance tropes he swore he’d never fall into.

— however in the world he ended up confessing this all to troublemaker ace, he absolutely will never know. but at the same time, ace had a girlfriend back in middle school, right? so surely he has enough experience to tell him that no, it’s not romance, he’s just confusing it with something else, because there’s no way—

— “you’re in love.” ace sighed dramatically, epel sweating buckets at the response because based on how ace was acting, it was almost like the answer was obvious. as if he was the last one to know about his own feelings, even! though even despite this, it felt like epel knew that he was in love, yet being told it felt like being hit with a ton of bricks. “so, you gonna confess already, or what?”

— inevitably his accent ends up slipping, but he can’t be bothered to care. “uh..i ‘unno?!”

i. shroud

— romance? certainly something that’s the last thing on idia’s mind, that’s for sure. he’d much, much rather be involved in just about, well— anything else. such a thing always feels like such a chore to him, and it’d be way easier to be a romance god in an otome game, where the routes are laid out for him and all the options are pretty well coded as to whether or not it’ll romance the character or not. so real life romance? nuh uh. no way is he in love with you, surely not, there’s no way, nowaynowaynoway—

— he ends up asking azul for help during club hours. it made sense in his head, azul’s well versed in a plethora of things, so obviously he knows a lot about love, right? yet he was so quick to regret it. what if his stupid unsureness about his feelings for you end up as blackmail or something?! seriously, couldn’t he have gone to anyone else?

— though he almost screws up his play when azul lets out a knowing sigh, “certainly, you’ve caught feelings. romantic ones, at that.” “i have?!” ah, crapcrapcrap, he should’ve known! why didn’t his normie detectors work on himself?! and now he’s gotta deal with feelings, and his daydreams about being your boyfriend, and holding your hand when you get sad, and perhaps maybeevenkissingyou..

— “ah, you seem choked up, idia!” and the moment idia got lost in his thoughts about you, azul spoke up again. “could you perhaps be looking for a way to confess? well, i could help you out for the low low price of—“ “uwahh?! n-no, i’m fine!!”

[transcendersmedia]

Fictional relationships feel real

I’ve been writing a few posts now about the relationships in Knife Sisters and what we learned from making that game, as well as from the comments we received (here and here). This post is about one of the most important findings we’ve done when it comes to relation games.

Players invest themselves when playing

Knife Sisters was the first game I made about relationships. I've written novels, but as you might know, there are big differences between games and novels… one of the most prominent being that people who play games and retell what happened, talk about themselves in first person. That’s something I’ve never experienced when it comes to novels. It seems like the player identifies more closely with the player character than what readers do with the main character in a novel. That isn’t to say that readers don’t engage deeply with the characters in novels, they definitely do - I just think they do it in another way.

Players who played Knife Sisters tend to say things like “I dated Vicki”, or “I went to the forest to find a skull”… and by that, in a way, they’re stating that they are in fact the main character Leo – because they’re the ones making that character’s decisions. The one that brought this phenomenon to my attention was Christine Love in her fantastic talk Narrative Techniques in Ladykiller in a Bind at VNConf in 2017. And after hearing about it, I’ve paid attention to this habit in myself, and yes, I do it too!

From that viewpoint it also gets pretty easy to see something that I’m not sure I was fully aware of when I started working on Knife Sisters, and that I will elaborate on below.

Fictional relationships feel real and should be treated as such

Players invest themselves when playing, and the decisions they make, as well as what happens in the in-game relationships, needs to align somewhat with the player’s wishes for that outcome – otherwise it might feel very out of tune for them. The relationships in a game need to be handled with care, just like ‘real’ relationships.

The break-ups

From my own experiences of playing games, I have two examples, both from the same game, an otome game called Amnesia (the English release is called Amnesia:Memories) by Idea Factory & Otomate. (Note that there will be spoilers ahead so if you’re not up for that, you can stop reading here.)

In Amnesia you play a girl with memory loss. There are four parallel worlds which you as a player can enter and explore, to try to find out what has really happened. In each world, one out of four guys is the protagonist’s boyfriend… or are they really? She can’t be entirely sure that the guy presenting as her boyfriend was actually that in her previous life, before she lost her memories.

One of the boyfriends is Ikki, a very popular person who even has his own fan club. As the game progresses, the heroine feels quite unsure of her feelings and what she is to him. But me and Ikki (now I’m doing it) went on nice dates – and when I got to the first ending in that route, it was one where Ikki broke up with me. Even though I shared the heroine’s feelings of doubt about the sincerity of this person, I actually felt heartbroken. I still wanted the relationship to succeed – and I especially didn’t want him to break up with me!

Another relationship I had in Amnesia was with Toma. ​​Toma is a very jealous and “protective” person, and his route takes quite a strange turn, when he locks the heroine up in a cage to keep track of her. I detested Toma, and when I reached the so-called good ending – where the heroine chooses to stay with him and forgive his actions, I couldn’t feel accomplished at all. I really wanted a way to tell him that what he had done wasn’t okay in any way – and for sure I wanted the chance to break up with him (and more too).

I think those two examples from the same game are very different, even though both are about things that happened in the game that made me feel bad. I could accept that I had gotten a (mildly) bad ending with Ikki, and that I could replay his route and try to get the romance ending, where he wouldn’t break up with me. But I found it hard to stomach that I had to accept Toma’s actions toward myself, which I thought were repulsive, without getting the chance to object to it. In the first case, I think the game is fine in leaving me with my feelings of regret for being dumped, but in the second case, I absolutely think the devs should have added the possibility to say “thanks, but no thanks”. I think it would have been better to give the player the opportunity to set boundaries in this situation.

(I’ve written another lengthy post full of spoilers about this game and its anime adaptation, if anyone’s interested!)

If fictional relationships feel real, how does that affect game design?

Accepting that fictional relationships feel real, and that players might object to going against their own will, can definitely affect the way we design games. We need to be mindful of how we utilize characters and relationships in games and what options we give to players. But as game developers, and especially indie devs, we also have constraints. Every new character and every route with different options adds to the game’s size – and therefore to the budget and development time. So there needs to be a balance between the options given and the scope of the game. This can lead to tricky design challenges when deciding which characters are in the game and how the player can affect the relationships with them. I’ll continue the discussion about relationships and gameplay in my next post. 

Have you played any games in which you objected to relationship outcomes?

[melonegurureads]

@liliennacht Sure. Keep in mind, I have barely read over a quarter of the book, so my understanding of the story is limited.

The typical plot in recent romance webnovels and manhwas plays out in some shape as follows:

1. The naive MC is wronged to death, imprisoment, exile, or general misery. It might be they were manipulated by their love or schemed upon by their family or betrayed by those close to them or personally misguided and toxic, leading to their own demise. Dantes is by all accounts presented as a naive but loved and good man who is schemed upon to imprisoment.

2. Transmigration, regression, rebirth, etc. In some way, the character is given another shot. They may be reborn into another person while retaining their memories, they may return to their youth with their memories, or they may be replaced by a transmigrator. Although Dantes's stay in prison and learning from Faria can be related to this, I actually find it more in line with what I might expect from a chinese xianxia webnovel, which can loosely be understood as a fantasy martial arts story. In fact, the more I read the book, I am more inclined to compare the two moreso than romance webnovels, but I'll continue with the latter notion for now and say the result of Dantes prison stay is quite similar to rebirth into another person in romance stories.

He comes out of it unrecognizable from his former allies or enemies who have moved on. He is a no one now, forced to start over, but he can rely on his past skills and knowledge (sea fairing ability and familiarity with sea fairing peoples and processes) or those cultivated in this life (his training under Faria as a pseudo-aristocrat-philospher-scientist) to seek power and status.

3. Revenge, independence, or happiness. Using their knowledge of the past/future or newfound status, the MC will set out to seek revenge upon those who wronged them or try to break away from a person or structure in control of their life or claim a quiet life seperated from the drama (this of course by and large fails or we would hardly have a story). Clearly, Dantes seeks revenge, but I have yet to see much in his pursuit of it past claiming the treasure and information gathering.

Beyond the plotting of the bok, there are other aspects which lend to the romance webnovel comparison.

Dantes, in such a way that is quite common in the vast majority of romance webnovel‐like stories, easily acquires affection and loyalty. He seems equipped to deal with any situation, being an excellent actor, speaking many languages, and having exceptional speech, schemes, and skill. He could also be compared to a self-insert in fanfic, or to put it more plainly, he is mary-sue. (Reminder, I have only read a quarter of the book)

There are general parallels with specifically otome isekai simply on account of the time period and characters involved. Otome isekai often deals with pseudo-european aristocracy, so many things align due simply to that, but moreso I found the structure of "schemed upon to second chance to revenge" such a familiar story. Especially with how easy of a time Dantes seems to be having post meeting Faria.

I have yet to read much of Dantes's revenge, and I am unsure if we will see a degredation of his character as I might expect with a chinese xianxia novel or a continuation of his mary-sue-esque schemes which lack any real stakes and meander listlessly between reveals of the grand scheme as employed in the case of helping M. Morrel and his family or with what is currently occuring with Franz, which I might expect from a half-baked romance webnovel. Or as I might expect in a well conceived webnovel, we will see the real struggle comence when he truly sets out against his enemies and I may look back on this section of easy success as the rise before the fall or a long stand-in for #2 in the plot or some fluff before the angst.

Although, as I said before, I find myself more inclined to compare it to a chinese xianxia webnovel, which does overlap with otome isekai in many ways, but seems more aligned with The Count of Monte Cristo in the finer details.

Edit: I forgot to mention his haters are so otome isekai coded. They follow him around gossiping and scheming his downfall out of jealously of his success. Danglars especially is so two-faced like a social flower who's heart is actually dark, Fernard is literally a jealous lover, and Caderousse is pure cannon fodder.

I've read about a fourth of The Count of Monte Cristo and I am so amused by the plot. If you trade the prison for transmigration/regression, you could sell it as an otome isekai

The books is amazing mind you, I'm not belittling it. I eat up otome isekai. It's just so funny this absolute classic (well deserving in that front btw because it is an immaculately well put together story) plotwise so-far reads like a romance webnovel

[xinimartsy]

I just read your chevalier vs clavis route post and 100% agree. And I love both Chevalier and Clavis, but Clavis' route is so so much better than Chev's. Do you also feel like part of the reason it falls flat is that it's not just a starter route but they (cybird) were still kind of finding their footing with the story they were writing? This was one of their few otome's where it's not based on historical figures so they had a lot more creativity space. Space it felt like they were a little unsure how to expand upon at first. Like with each route release it's felt like the overall story is getting fleshed out far better and each route gets far more interesting.

Agreed!

While I do think it's a pity a route with SO MUCH potential like Chevalier's was so,,,, lacking, i do understand why that is, though

---

While we all love cybird games, and we do like to think the creators like them just as much as us, we gotta remember the Ikemen games are not a passion project. Cybird is a company and for projects to move forward they need to bring one thing: profit.

The cybird games very much work on a formula. I only caught Ikepri and Ikevamp on their English releases, so i can't really say for sure, but it seems to me that they do what works. The three starter routes:

The fun guy that befriends/protects the MC, that seems perfect in every way but got an angsty past (Leon/Napoleon)

The prickly tsunderes who just wants to be loved and has his own issues (Yves/Mozart)

The distant genius who sees MC as this bright existence in his "lack of humanity" (Chevalier/Leonardo)

And while they mix and have different personalities, of course, at least for me it's visible that cybird found something that works and is running with it.

These three personalities cater to their audience enough to make them keep playing the game. Even if someone doesn't particularly likes any of those, they're enough to make this person stick around and wait for a route that they think might interest them more, and it's playing the game that generates revenue.

---

Ikemen games are not exactly,,,, gameplay centered. There's no minigames or something we can actually PLAY. Sure, we have challenges that work as inconveniences while we're trying to read the story but that's hardly the same.

When I say "gameplay" in Otome games we can think of Obey Me! or Twisted Wonderland (even though it is not an Otome), or many other rhythm games that duo with dating Sims/narrative games. The Ikemen series is,,,,, not that.

We don't have to level up anything, or grind (just diamonds and in-game currency, but these come naturally). So i reckon that people might start to play these games for three reasons:

Narrative: they're interested in the story of the game.

Artwork: They're just here to appreciate pretty anime boys, and tbh, same.

Lighthearted mindless entertainment: they're not here for a wild ride, they're here for the romance and the cheese, it's their escapism after a long day of work/school, and they just wanna chill.

Taking that into consideration, the three starter routes are the ones that need to balance out all these three things so they can grab the attention of as many people possible, which, i theorize, explains why the starter routes are the way they are.

The three starter routes are always the cheesiest, blandest of them all, because they need to be simple enough to grab attention. No one downloads an Ikemen game to be mindblown, we just want to have fun, which,,,, it's hard, specially when the story involves politics.

I don't know if anyone else noticed or it's just me, but the deeper the plot gets, the more political it gets, and the more political, the less romantic.

If we compare the three starter routes, in which MC was way too busy being lost and fawning over whichever boy she chose to follow like a duckling, and the latest routes, more specifically, Clavis' (which is the most political by far) we can see that Clavis' route is way less romantic than any other route, because MC is way too busy figuring shit out herself, doing her duty as Belle and trying to keep up with Clavis to actually focus on romance. (I'm not saying it wasn't romantic or that it was lacking, but Clavis route had other focuses. It was even the route in which MC and the suitor took the longest to get together.)

So, the point of starter routes is to deliver just enough information to not let the the narrative-centered players down (some foreshadowing for future routes and characters, for example), but have enough romance and cheese/lightheartedness to deliver on the game's advertising (it's a LOVE STORY game, after all) for those that are only interested in that aspect of the game WITHOUT overwhelming them by pushing heavy plot down their throats.

They also gotta be all good looking and eye-catching enough for those interested in the graphics to stay interested (cue the starter character designs: a handsome more rough around the edges (Leon/Leonardo), a more lean delicate and stylish one (Yves/Mozart), one that is almost ethereal, perfectly balanced between handsome and pretty (Chevalier/Napoleon [a bit of a stretch, i reckon it]), all this, perfectly balanced to get all three kinds of people hooked on the game so they'd keep playing and awaiting for the next routes.

--

Why that doesn't work? I won't say it DOESN'T work, but i do think it was a mistake to have Chevalier as one of the starter route.

From an economical stand point? Great move. People ate it uP- Chevalier and Leon were the most popular routes, and even so Chevalier stans are gREAT numbers. From the people that want to be stepped on to the people who are convinced that "they can fix him", Chevalier is THE ikepri cash cow.

However, in my opinion, plot wise, if they really wanted to go feeding us little bits of lore, the starter routes should've been all from the domestic faction. I can easily see a world where, instead of Chevalier, the starter routes were Leon, Yves and Licht.

Why's that: as I said before, the easier to digest the route, the less political it is, and what makes a route political are the international relationships, which is what Chevalier's faction is all about.

So to make any of their routes (Chevalier, Nokto, Clavis or Luke) without making then political (heavy on the political drama, full baggage, full on war crimes) is a disservice to the plot, because that's what they DO. (Try to imagine Nokto's route, but take out all the international negotiating and diplomacy, take out the information gathering from the women he sleeps with, and only MENTION that oh yeah, Nokto's quite the savvy diplomat but he does use underhanded means. That's exactly what happened with Chevalier's route, but we didn't realize it until now because we didn't have anything to compare to,,,,, until Clavis)

While Leon's faction is all about internal affairs, which, in a scenario with the possibility of a war looming over the kingdom, could still be interesting while being lighthearted enough to not scare everyone off (plus, people loved Licht and it sealed with almost ZERO political drama aside from this madman trying to die on the battlefield)

In my opinion, Chevalier, as the LEADER of his faction, should have the MOST political route out of them all, on par with Gilbert's. So i do believe that Chevalier's route should have been one of the last ones, certainly after Clavis', which would've worked greatly to humanize him and show us a bit of a relationship between Chev and MC a bit before we get the full scope of who Chevalier is as a person and what made him who he is.

Thank you for coming to my TED TALK :D

.

.

Observation: Also, i dislike how calm and collected Chevalier is all the time. I wish his route was the most dramatic.

In a perfect world where I am Ikemen Prince's writing manager, his route would be released alongside Gilbert's, playing hard on the duality between them.

And in it we'd see this cold beast crumble. I'm saying full meltdown. All the emotions he "discarded" coming back full force as the man who's always ten steps ahead realizes he's met his match (resident Poor Little Meow Meow Gilbert) and he might be in over his head; something the impeccable genius can't do alone, and gotta rely on his brothers who he himself labels almost nuisances. But that's just me. It has nothing to do with this analysis.

[toshima-division]

Lillian's Thoughts on Meguro Division

Saji Buranka

"Saji Buranka, also known as 'Street Dog'. Subject is a high school student in the last year of schooling, which is a feat considering subject spent the majority of his school year, picking fights with anyone he came across. Subject is a well-known fighter, and has developed something of a reputation in Japan's underground fighting scene. Subject started fighting at the age of 14 after being trained by Qing Leung, an old martial artist whose current status and location is currently unknown.

"Subject seems to have a desire to die, wanting someone to finish him off. It's believed his reasoning for fighting in the underground tournaments, as well as entering the D.R.B., is because he believes that he can obtain his long-awaited death there. As for why he wants to die, it's believed that it may have something to do with the death of his girlfriend and the disappearance of his father-figure. Speaking of which..."

Lillian observes Kaori out of the corner of her eye, who is silently cleaning her HypMic, her panther by her side.

...I am a bit worried about Kaori-san. Ever since she received word that Subject Saji was entering the D.R.B., she has been incredibly distraught. It's believed that these two may know each other in some shape, form or fashion. I should relay this information to Otome-sama in hopes that she can do something. Subject is considered to be a threat to Chuohku, and should be dealt with."

Vito Koi

"Vito Koi, also known as 'Strongarm'. Subject is a former security guard who was Head of Security for the now broken and bankrupted company, Mafuyu Enterprises. Subject served directly under Ryuu Mafuyu, creator and CEO of the company. Subject joined the company after a failed attempt to kill Mafuyu, where the CEO was impressed by subject's skill and power, prompting him to invite Subject Vito to join the company.

"Subject served Mafuyu faithfully for many years, but after the CEO was sadly assassinated, subject was accused of killing his former boss, and was gunned down in retaliation by security forces, wounding him deeply. Despite his injuries, subject miraculously survived and relocated to the city of Meguro, where he spent several months healing before starting up his own tattoo parlor, Ink Inc., which has quickly grown to be quite popular due to subject's thorough approach to detail.

"Mei-san seems to have a fierce hatred for Subject Vito. This comes as no surprise due to the fact that both served Ryuu Mafuyu. However, research shows that Mafuyu often relied more on Subject Vito than Mei-san, which caused animosity to grow between the two. It's heavily believed that she will target the subject during the tournament. This should be relayed to Otome-sama to prevent any discourse from occurring. Due to his hatred for both Chuohku and Mei-san, subject is considered to be a threat and should be dealt with accordingly."

Yeong "Cain" Hajoon

Lillian looks at the photo of the model, and her stoic face suddenly changes to one of surprise. It stays like that for approximately five seconds before shifting back to her regular form. She places the photo down next to her, and begins typing up her report.

"Yeong Hajoon, also known as '9-Dan'. Much of subject's past is unknown, as it is almost entirely unsure of where he hails from prior to coming here to Japan. Most of what is known about him is common knowledge. Though he hides, subject is the estranged son of the esteemed Cain family of Korea. Subject was basically groomed to be the successor to the family name, but had different ambitions. After managing to convince his family to let him practice martial arts, subject took to them very well, becoming a master in just two years.

"After graduating senior school, subject, to the surprise of many, renounced his family name and changed his name to 'Hajoon', the last name of his martial arts teacher. Subject then spent the majority of his time in Korea, doing whatever floated his fancy, whether it was entering martial arts or Go tournaments, visiting different parts of Korea, etc."

As she continues typing, Lillian frowns as she feels a slight pain in her head growing stronger every minute. She places her hand on her head, as if trying to will it away, but it doesn't work. She tries to ignore it and continues typing.

"Subject's whereabouts after that are unknown, as he soon came to Japan, for some unknown reason. He was soon spotted by a modeling company, starting his career as a model, becoming acquainted with many famous people, including: Subject Takahashi of Saitama, Subject Rose of Okinawa, and Subject Aimono of Nagoya. Some time after, subject became acquainted with Subjects Vito and Saji, thus forming the third part of Meguro Division. As stated, most of subject's life up to this point is entirely unknown. This makes him a threat, regardless of his feeling for Chuohku."

DOG STREET CLUB

"Despite how new this division team is, the members have known each other for a while. Though their exact feelings for each other are unknown, all three seem capable of working together and forming a cohesive unit that is capable of taking out threats that greatly outnumber them. They trust each other to watch each other's backs, making them very dangerous when together. And even separate, they are still a threat when on their own without their partners.

"Confrontation with the group seems likely, almost definitely. I do not believe plans will work here as each member will combat those they have history with. Kaori-san will deal with Subject Saji. Mei-san will take on Subject Vito. Which leaves me with Subject Yeong..."

The pain in the computer specialist's head from before continues to grow, and she groans as the pounding in her head grows harder, as if it someone were hitting her with a hammer. She clenches her teeth, as a strange ringing is heard in her ears. Her heart rate increases as the thing inside of her chest continues to pump more frequently beating against her chest. Her eyes, which were closed, re-open with the familiar fog in her eyes gone. She looks to the computer quickly and only has time to type out a quick message before the pain causes her to scream and ultimately faint from exhaustion.

"...Yeong... help..."

[onyxiana-is-obsessed]

To Fall for the King | Izuku Midoriya x Reader

AN: Hello! This is another discord prompt! This month was a Royal AU and I had so much fun writing this! This is MY LONGEST FIC! I’m proud! Also, I got inspiration from the otome game Midnight Cinderella from Louis’ after story route and Byron’s main story. There are no spoilers through!

Length: 10.2k

Summary: You are first born royal of (k/n) and king Izuku from Toral has proposed to you. The marriage is simply to unite your two kingdoms but not long after, you find yourself falling for the stoic king.

Warning??? Izuku is OOC BUT based on the story it would be normal! Enjoy!!

“With this marriage, we have united both (k/n) and Toral!” At the words of your father, the crowd burst into a loud cheer, which was almost deafening. It was enough to bury your sorrow deep down as you looked upon the loyal citizens of your kingdoms. Your eyes glanced at the man next to you- your husband- but he was looking straight ahead with a fake smile, waving at everyone.

Izuku Midoriya was the current king of Toral and had been since his father passed away and his mother stepped down. Before the passing of the late king, they had approached (k/n) with a proposal, one you didn’t like from the beginning. They wanted a marriage to create an alliance between your kingdoms. Your parents were on board but hadn’t confirmed anything without asking you.

You didn’t want to marry Izuku, you’d barely known him and your parents were all for it… except you had no one else. Being a (princess/prince) who would succeed the throne kept you busy, you were learning the ins and outs of becoming (queen/king). Busy enough that you never had a chance to fall in love on your own.

Toral was a very powerful kingdom, with a strong army and an amazing, thriving economy. You hated the idea of marrying Izuku for the sole purposes of uniting kingdoms… but it’s not like you had anyone else waiting for you. In fact, you were getting older and hadn’t had the opportunity to fall in love. Toral would’ve made a great ally and that was your reasoning for what you did. You accepted the proposal, ready to marry Izuku for your kingdom. For your people.

The thing was, he was just as busy as you. Your families had set up a date for you… but sadly king Hisashi passed away before you could. Toral had to grieve and move on extremely quickly, meaning Izuku had to take the throne. Queen Inko kept her throne up until the marriage. One day prior to it, Izuku was crowned king of Toral and queen Inko stepped down, making room for you. 

Here you stood, minutes after your wedding, looking down at all people from both kingdoms. They looked so happy and you wished you could feel even an ounce of that happiness. Tears threatened to fall from your beautiful (e/c) eyes, tears that could easily be mistaken for tears of joy. Like Izuku, you forced a smile on your face and waved to the adorning crowd. One stray tear slid down, however, no matter how hard you wished to keep it in.

***

You sat on the bed, looking down at your hands in your lap as the tears dripped down your cheeks. You were currently in your new bedroom in your temporary home. Your parents still reigned over your country, which made you move away with Izuku to his, since he was king there. In a few weeks, you’d be crowned (king/queen) and your kingdoms would unite with a new castle being created in the middle of both territories. That would be your permanent home. 

This was supposed to be the happiest day of your life. You were supposed to be jumping for joy… yet here you sat in your wedding (dress/suit) crying your eyes out as the sorrowful atmosphere got thicker. From the day you were born, you were taught this was normal. This WAS the norm for royalty, often to unite kingdoms. But that didn’t mean you were happy about it. After all that happened today, you could no longer keep up the facade.

Right now was your honeymoon night and thankfully, Izuku was called away for business. Which both of you were happy for. Izuku was… hard to read. He was quiet, he didn’t look at you often, and he didn’t really express many emotions either. This was the curse of royalty, something your parents steered you away from. Becoming a stone statue, giving up your wants for the needs of your people.

You’d heard rumors that Izuku had fallen in love with a beautiful princess- some say she was a commoner- however, because of (k/n), he was forced to abandon her. The thought made your heart ache. You couldn’t imagine the pain he must’ve gone through, assuming the rumors were true. Of course, the only way to confirm the rumors was to ask him, but you just… couldn’t. You barely talked, even in a professional setting. How could you ask such a sensitive question?

You stood from your spot on the bed and walked towards the balcony. You opened the doors and stepped out, the cool breeze helped your hot face. Your eyes looked up at the sea of stars before looking down at the kingdom. You could see the beautiful lights and if you paid attention, you could hear the celebration of the united kingdoms.

You had 3 days to get acquainted with the castle before you were going to start on your duties to become (king/queen). Currently, your title was still (princess/prince) but once you’d learned the adequate knowledge about Toral, as Izuku would about (k/n), you would be able to become (king/queen). A proud ruler next to Izuku.

Who was Izuku? You… didn’t know. Toral wasn’t a kingdom that was shrouded in mystery like some others were, but it’s royal family was. Not much was known about the Midoriya’s, however, there weren’t many negative rumors, which was a good sign. Your predicament remained, you were now married to a man you knew nothing about. Even though he wasn’t a tyrant, you didn’t feel safe.

How were you supposed to rule a kingdom with someone you don’t know? How were you supposed to wake up next to someone you don’t know? How were… how was this marriage supposed to work?

You didn’t even have your parents to rely on and it hurt. You were completely alone in this new kingdom and you only had three days to adjust to all of this. Three short days. 

You could see your own kingdom in the distance. Well… you could see the lights, but that was it. You missed it and wished you could just… run away. Jump down from the balcony and run home, just like in the story books. This was reality, though, and something like that would never happen. 

You jumped, almost letting out a scream when you felt something fall onto your shoulders. You quickly grabbed it and sighed in relief when you saw it was just a blanket. You looked to the side to see Izuku leaning against the balcony, looking ahead at his kingdom.

“Wh-what-“

“You’ll catch a cold if you stand out here without one.” He answered curtly, without even looking at you.

“Oh, thank you.” You said, pulling the blanket around your shoulders some more. You hadn't even noticed you were cold. A silence fell between you two, and it was one you didn’t like. He didn’t really bother to make much conversation and he wasn’t even looking at you.

You snuck a glance at him, taking in his features. He had a boyish face, with dark green hair that almost looked blue under the moonlight. His green eyes seemed to hold something you couldn’t decipher in them, but they were beautiful. He was… handsome, you had to admit. That was one good thing about this, at least your husband was attractive.

“Um…” you started, unsure of what to say. Izuku finally looked over at you, his eyes meeting yours. “What do you think about this? The m-marriage, I mean.”

“It’s an alliance.” He responded, before looking away again. That’s all? That’s all he could give you?

“I mean how do you feel about this?”

“There’s nothing to feel. We’re married so our kingdoms could live in harmony and thrive together. The marriage is nothing else.” Ok, that hurt. You could feel the dread building up in your chest as you swallowed the lump in your throat. His cold response only made you want to cry even more. You held strong and nodded, unsure if he even saw it or not. You didn’t want him to see your tears, you didn’t want him to see you as someone weak. 

As much as it hurt, he was right. Your marriage was nothing but a treaty, and there were no emotions attached to it. It was an ugly truth you had to come to terms with if you wanted to be able to move forward. You so desperately wanted to ask about that rumor, but you couldn’t bring yourself to. Before you knew it, Izuku was retreating back into your bedroom.

“It’s late and I’m tired. I’ll head to bed first.” Without waiting for your answer, he was gone. You only sighed as you looked up at the sky, the glittering stars that seemed so far away.

“Take me away from here…” you whispered, silently begging for a happier end.

***

When you woke up in the morning, Izuku wasn’t there. You’d heard from your personal butler that he was busy and had been woken up earlier than usual. You didn’t have any complaints, sleeping next to him was already hard enough. 

The maid, Yana, offered to show you around the castle, which you graciously accepted. She showed you all the important rooms and locations. You’d even walked past Izuku’s study where you saw him busy with some documents and chose not to bother him. 

“If I may,” Yana started, looking at you, “You don’t seem very happy for a person who just got married yesterday.” Unsure if you could trust her, you chose to lie this time, forcing a smile onto your face.

“Oh I am! I’m just still getting used to everything! It’s a really big change.” It was clear Yana didn’t buy it, but she didn’t press further on the subject. The last thing she wanted to do was offend the future ruler.

After showing you around, she led you back to your bedroom and went to go prepare some tea. You sat down on the couch in your room and sighed, looking around.

You only saw Izuku once all morning and you weren’t even able to talk to him. Was this going to be your marriage? Were you just going to talk to your husband in professional settings? Would you ever even be friends with him? That thought hurt, you weren’t even on friendly terms with the man you were sharing a bed with. You shook your head and tried to think about something else, your new position for example.

After these three days, you’d have classes for two weeks in which you’d learn everything you could about Toral. Their economy, their farmlands, their trades, and about other kingdoms they were allied with. Similarly, Izuku would learn everything he could about (k/n). Because of this, you would barely see Izuku for two weeks.

You frowned at your own thoughts. You seemed so obsessed with the king, it made you wonder if he thought about you. Did he often wonder what you were thinking? Did he often think about you? Last night, when he brought out the blanket for you, was he worried? Was there a chance for anything to form between you two? Or would this loveless marriage last for the rest of your life?

***

You were alone all day, except for the company of your attendant. You neither saw Izuku nor heard from him. You spent a couple hours on the balcony once again at night hoping for a change in your life before ultimately giving up and heading to bed. 

You weren’t sure what time it was, but you’d caught a glimpse of Izuku laying down next to you before you’d gone back to sleep. Of course, when you woke up the next day, he was gone. Again. This continued on til the third and final day.

While you were getting ready for the day, you wondered if there was anything you could do to break the wall that stood between you and your husband.

“Hey Yana?”

“Yes, your highness?”

“Are you bringing that tea to King Izuku?”

“I am, why?”

“Can I take it to him instead?” She immediately shook her head, her eyes widening.

“Oh no! I couldn’t trouble you! I’ll take it to h-“

“Please. I insist. I… don’t know any other way to interact with him…” you frowned, falling silent. What were you doing? You looked up at her, before speaking again. “Wh-what’s he like?” Yana smiled a little and sat next to you.

“King Izuku’s not all that bad, you know. He’s very kind and gentle. Unfortunately, because of his life as a prince, he’s been… forced to push personal matters down to focus on what’s best for his kingdom. He is very… quiet. He doesn’t talk much and he doesn’t seem very nice either, but I promise you. It’s only a matter of time before you see it. It’ll be hard not to fall in love.” You almost laughed at her words, looking away.

“Fall in love, huh? Seems… impossible.”

“You’re not wrong to think so. When the idea of marriage was brought up, I was there. His highness didn’t seem to even blink at the fact that he would be in a loveless marriage. But I know, deep down, he must’ve felt something. He just couldn’t say it.” You knew that feeling. You had the freedom to reject Toral, but chose to accept them instead. Izuku had done the same. You were more alike than you thought.

“He seems pretty cold-hearted.” Though you were afraid to offend Yana, you couldn’t stop yourself from speaking. Thankfully, Yana didn’t take it personally.

“He’s just shy. His shyness plus him pushing down his emotions makes him seem like that, but he’s not. He’s always believed in justice. He’s always wanted to be the reason people smiled. He’s definitely ready to be king, I’m sure overtime, he’ll be able to open up again. At least, I hope he does.”

Is that so? Izuku… wanted people to keep smiling? Seemed a little bit… odd given your interaction with him a couple of nights ago. Maybe there was more to him you had yet to see. As much as you disliked being in this marriage, you wanted it to work. You wanted to fall in love with him and you wanted to rule beside a man that you at least LIKED. 

Taking a deep breath, you made an oath to yourself. You would do everything in your power to meet Izuku halfway.

***

“Come in.” A deep voice said, making you push the door open and walk in. Izuku was staring at some papers on his desk, looking back and forth between the ones in his hands as well. “Yana can you- oh.” He paused when he saw you, his emerald eyes widening a little.

“Sorry to interrupt, I just wanted to bring you your tea, myself.” You said, placing the tray on the desk, away from the documents.

“That’s alright, but why wouldn’t you want the maid to do it?” He inquired, placing the documents aside. You blinked at his question, expecting it but not having a definitive answer for it.

“I uh… um…” you sat down on the chair in front of the desk and tried to come up with a proper response. “I wanted to talk to you.”

“What?” Yeah… your mind said the same thing. What the hell were you talking about? Taking a deep breath, you tried to put your thoughts into discernible sentences.

“We… haven’t really talked, in general. Every time we’re together, it feels like an awkward silence. The only time we’ve had a lengthy conversation was when we were exchanging our vows.” You could see a frown forming on the king’s face as he looked down for a moment. However, he quickly reverted to his emotionless state.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for it to be like that. I just assumed you wouldn’t want to talk to me.” That was news to you, but you didn’t even have to ask why he said that. It was his family that brought up the arranged marriage. He could always see that you didn’t like it, whether it was him or the situation, but your reluctance was as clear as day. You, yourself, didn’t bother to hide it.

Now it was your turn to frown, not realizing that Izuku was just trying to comfort you in anyway he could. To him, he’d practically held a sword to your throat and demanded a wedding, but that wasn’t true.

“That’s not it,” you clarified, meeting his bright green eyes. “I had the ability to reject the proposal but I chose to accept instead. All of my own accord.” Izuku really didn’t have an answer, but you saw something cross his eyes. Was that… sadness? Why would he be sad? You tried to tell him his assumptions weren’t true.

“I see…” was all he could say. You tried to keep your disappointment down as you poured him, and yourself, a cup of tea. After a moment of silence, you spoke up.

“What are you working on?”

“I wanted to build a bride over the Toral river. The river makes it harder for merchants to cross it. I thought it would make life easier for everyone who lives on the other side.” Well that was a rather noble cause. However, he looked overly stressed about this, even though it seemed like it was something simple. He’s the king, all he needs to do is demand the bridge be built, right?

“Why do you look so stressed though?” He looked up at you again, before writing something down on the document in hand

“That part of the land is owned by another noble. Unfortunately, he’s neither using it nor permitting us to build the bridge. I know for a fact life’s easier for him without the bridge, that’s why he keeps saying no.”

“What would he get out of not having the bridge?”

“He’s really just a greedy and selfish noble. Besides, the location where we want to build the bridge is pretty far off from his estate, so he doesn’t have that excuse.” However, after saying those words, Izuku froze. He fell deep into thought, his brows furrowing.

“Is everything ok?” You asked, slowly, not wanting to break his train of thought. He was silent for another moment, before he looked up at you.

“(Princess/Prince), if you had a land where your leading monarch wanted to build a bridge… Why would you say no? Even if you weren’t using the land.”

“Hmm… well I would only say no if I was using it. Maybe if I was doing something I didn’t want you to know about.” You nonchalantly responded, before your own eyes widened. “Do you think he’s doing something illegal on those lands?”

“He would. Why else would he be so adamant on keeping lands he doesn’t use. According to him, it’s land passed down for generations. If he truly isn’t doing anything on it, then wouldn’t his lack of activity be an insult?”

“I would think so. If he cares so much, he’d always do something on it. At least, take care of it.” For the first time, Izuku smiled at you. A real, genuine smile. He promptly stood up and grabbed some documents.

“I’m sorry for cutting this short, but I have an idea of what to do. However, to thank you for helping me through this, would you go on a date with me, later this evening? I believe it’s your last day to rest before you start work? And you have yet to see our city.” Your heart leapt in your chest as a smile came over your lips.

“I would love to, King Izuku.” The monarch smiled once again before leaving the room. You looked down at the cup of tea in front of you as you felt your cheeks warm up. A date, later today, with your husband. You didn’t hate the idea, you didn’t dread waiting, and in fact, you didn’t want to wait.

The entire day was spent hoping the time would come for when Izuku took you out on your little date.

***

“You look wonderful, (Princess/Prince).” Yana commented, her eyes looking over your form. You were wearing (a simple dress/jeans with a silk shirt). You’d changed out of the formal wear you had to wear around the castle into something more comfortable, while still showing off your noble status.

“Thank you,” you smiled, looking at yourself in the mirror. You could see the giddiness in your eyes, and you didn’t want to hide it. For the first time in years, especially since you got married, you were extremely happy. It felt so odd, but so good. 

There was a knock at your door, pulling you from your thoughts. Yana quickly walked over and opened the door. You saw a smiling Hiro on the other side. He was an apprentice butler at the castle and he was doing a great job. He and Yana were good friends of yours, already.

“Ready, your highness?” You nodded as Yana waved to you before you followed Hiro downstairs to the foyer, where you saw Izuku waiting. He was talking to Noel, the Royal Guard Captain about something, before they both looked over and saw you. Both of them gave you a smile, which you returned.

“Are you ready?” Izuku asked, making you nod as you took his hand. He led you out to the carriage that awaited you two, helping you climb in first before getting inside, himself. You saw Noel get on his horse next to your carriage and all the way to the city, he followed beside you two.

“You look happy,” Izuku commented, looking at you. Your cheeks flushed red and you heard him chuckle as he looked out the window beside him. “Cute…” he muttered.

“Thank you so much for doing this, I hope it’s not too much.” You said, making him look back at you. You noted his gaze was much more gentle than before, which added to the hope building up in your chest.

“You’re my spouse, I was more than happy to do this. Besides, I needed a break from all that paperwork.” His words prompted a question you’d had for a while and this seemed like the perfect time to ask. 

“You’ve been king since 18, correct?” Izuku nodded at your words before slightly leaning back to be a bit comfortable.

“Officially, yes. However, I have been helping my mother since I was 15. When my father fell ill, I often helped my mother with his portion of work. Of course, I myself, couldn’t sign off of anything since I was still a young child, but I helped her with all the documents. I would read them for her and give her a summary for it all, along with what I thought would be the proper decision. Sometimes, she took my views under consideration and sometimes she would trust my judgement.” Wow, he’s been working since he was a kid. He really was ready to be a king. He… never really had a childhood, but then again, you didn’t either.

You weren’t making decisions, but ever since you were young, you’d been training to take over the throne. After the age of ten, you were an extremely busy child and hopefully all that work would pay off. Tomorrow, you’d be learning everything you could about Toral so you could be (queen/king).

“That… must’ve been hard.” You said, barely above a whisper. His emerald eyes found yours and you saw something that broke your heart. You could see the loneliness.

“It’s… our job.” He responded, looking away from you and back out into the window. You’d seen Izuku before becoming a little acquainted with him and he never showed off his emotions. So, he must’ve willingly let you see what he felt and it made your heart sink.

***

“Wow, it’s beautiful out here.” You said as Izuku led you through the city. Toral’s cities were known for their vibrancy and beauty, and the stories were no lies.

“Thank you. As you know, we pride ourselves on our country’s natural beauty.” Izuku commented as he continued forward. You were currently holding onto his arm as the two of you walked, making you feel warm inside. You actually felt like you were a couple on a date. Your eyes traveled to the sky which was a mix of red, orange, and yellow. It was getting late, which meant you’d have to head back soon and that thought made you a little sad. You were having so much fun.

“Oh, King Izuku, what’s that?” You asked, gesturing to a dessert stand in the distance. He looked over, seeing the item you were talking about and smiled a little.

“Those are dragon cakes.” He said, making you look at him with wide eyes. He almost chuckled in amusement when he saw the excited expression you sent him.

“Dragon cakes? I’ve never heard of them!”

“They’re a Toral specialty. Don’t worry, no dragons were harmed in the creation of said dessert.” He said matter-of-factly, making you giggle as the two of you walked closer to the stand. The owner looked towards you and smiled brightly.

“King Izuku! (Prince/Princess) (f/n)! Welcome!”

“We’d like the dragon cakes please.” The man nodded, happily packing two boxes of the cakes as Izuku dropped a few silver coins onto the table as the man placed two spoons onto the top of your boxes.

“Thank you! Please come again!” As you two walked ahead, you looked back and smiled when you saw Noel and his men buying a couple of cakes too. How cute.

The two of you found a nice seat in front of a beautiful garden as you ate your cake. You eagerly opened the box and smiled at the beautiful mix of colors on the dessert. Quickly picking up a small piece, you placed it into your mouth and smiled at the taste. It was extremely sweet, the flavor bursting in your mouth.

“Like it?” Izuku asked with a smile, making you turn and quickly nod.

“I love it! It’s delicious!” He chuckled and turned to you as you took another bite. The wind ruffled his hair a little and the golden glow from the sun made him look like an angel.

“Does (k/n) have a special dessert?” He inquired, making you fall into thought for a moment. You hadn’t really left your country, so you weren’t too sure about what everyone else had, but you did have a very famous dessert.

“We have (dessert)! I’m not sure if other countries have it, but it’s very popular! Almost like a celebratory dessert, people often buy it on special occasions.”

“I’ve never had it before, so I’ll definitely have to try it.” He leaned in closer, lowering his voice a little. “Do not tell Noel or Matsuo, they limit the amount of sweets I can have.” His childish tone made you burst out laughing and he feigned offense. “I’m being serious! Stop laughing!”

“I c-can’t help it! That’s so cute!” You said, leaning closer to him. The back of your hand, which held your spoon, pressed against your lips as you tried to stop laughing to no avail. Matsuo was his advisor and had been the previous king’s advisor. He was a rather strict man, but he was also kind and understanding.

“Keep that up and I’ll be using you as a means of distraction in my nightly escapades to the kitchen.” No way… you looked at Izuku with wide eyes and a big smile. He didn’t even bother to deny it!

“You steal candy from your own house?!” Your laughter increased and soon Izuku joined in. He couldn’t help it, your laugh was lovely and contagious. Just thinking about a cute little Izuku sneaking down to the kitchen to steal candy from his own house was just hilarious and so adorable. Especially as an adult, a king no less.

You looked over at the king, who’d almost seemed heartless the first night you spent together. He was… beautiful. His face and personality. Yana was right, he really wasn’t as cold as he acted. In fact, it didn’t seem like it was hard for Izuku to show his emotions. Life of nobility often brought situations where it wasn’t appropriate to show emotions, he probably just didn’t realize it was ok to turn that off when he was with you. As you watched his cheeks turn red from the laughter and the golden glow around him increase, you wished this moment would last an eternity.

How could you hide such a beautiful sight from the world? You thought as his musical laughter echoed around you.

***

Alas, your date had come to an end. The two of you returned home together, however, you went to your bedroom alone. Izuku had some work to do, but he promised to join you in an hour or so.

You had changed into your nightwear and sat down on the bed, when your eyes glanced outside of the window. Tonight was a full moon, yes? 

You stood and walked to the balcony doors and opened them, stepping out into the cold night. You walked forward and stared out towards the city. Once again, the lights were shining bright and even now, the city looked so alive.

Your eyes moved up to see the gleaming stars winking at you and the bright moon smiling down. Tonight was different, though.

The first night you were here, all you could think about was someone stealing you away from this fate you’d chosen and regretted. Now… all you wished was to be with Izuku. Today was the first time you two had experienced each other in a natural setting. Izuku opened up about himself and you finally saw past the King. You finally saw the man named Izuku. 

You wanted more of these nights. You wanted more dates where you could spend time getting to know Izuku or nights where you could just talk to him.

You smiled at the moon, the stars, and the city in the distance. You opened your mouth, speaking to no one in particular.

“I think… I’d like to stay here.” Your cheeks turned red when you thought about your husband and happiness flooded your chest when you thought back to his angelic laughter.

You liked Izuku, didn’t you? That was great news, you’d hoped he felt the same. If this kept up with you two, then you’d surely fall in love soon enough.

As your mind went on thinking about other date scenarios, you failed to notice a figure behind you. Just as before, something fell around your shoulders and you jumped, only to realize it was a blanket. You held the blanket closer and smiled to yourself.

“Don’t wanna catch a cold now, your majesty.” Your blood ran cold and you froze, the smile disappearing in an instant.

That wasn’t Izuku.

You turned frantically and saw a man with black hair and bright blue eyes, smiling at you. 

“Wh-who are you?” Your voice was shaky and any attempt to make yourself sound confident failed miserably.

“Oh? I am no one you should worry your pretty little head over, my dear. How… is your relationship going with the king?” The bright moonlight reflected on something that sat on his waist… a sword? No… a gun.

“I-it’s great…” you answered as the man approached you, making you back up until you hit the rail behind you. He smelled… nice, actually. His scent was a mixture of a cologne with something floral, almost like roses but not quite.

“Has he brought up his old love, yet?” Oh… no, you hadn’t been able to bring up such a sensitive question up to him. Not yet.

“N-no…”

“Worry not, your majesty, I will inform you on the subject.” He said with a smile, which sent shivers down your spine. “King Izuku had met a lovely dame in the city once. It was a day off, something that’s rare for him, when he decided to visit the lovely town. He had managed to escape from Noel and the other guards when he ran into a woman. She was carrying flowers in a basket. The collision caused the two to fall to the ground, her over him. It was a rather romantic scene where the woman quickly apologized but the king only laughed. Love at first sight, would you believe it?

Eventually, the two couldn’t stay apart. Izuku visited her as much as he could, even going so far as to sneak out of the castle. The two would meet for over two years like this before they finally confessed. That’s when the king bedded the innocent maiden, both of them promising each other their hearts and bodies. They would belong to each other no matter the outcome of their lives.” His blue eyes met yours again, and he smiled brightly at the anguish he saw on your face.

“I-it's all j-just a rumor…” you whispered, as the tears started to well up in your eyes. The man leaned down and whispered into your ear. 

“Is it, your highness?” Your gaze fell to the floor as the tears slowly rolled down your cheeks.

“... No…” He laughed a little, pulling away and taking your face in his hands. You wanted to slap his hands away. You wanted to shove him off of you. You wanted to get away. Unfortunately, you weren’t able to even think properly, your legs were frozen, your hands were shaking, so you just let him do as he pleased.

His warm fingers wiped away your oncoming tears and he put on a frown, but you could see the amusement in his eyes.

“Your majesty, I can take you away from all of this. You need only ask.” Before you could say anything, your bedroom door burst open and you saw an extremely furious Izuku.

“(F/N)! YOU GET AWAY FROM HER!” The man made a displeased face and shoved you forward as a distraction before jumping off the balcony. Izuku caught you before you hit the ground, holding you close to him protectively as he glared in the direction the man had gone. 

“King Izuku?” Your voice was barely above a whisper, as you looked up at him.

“Are you hurt? Did he do anything to you?” You shook your head, making his glare soften. He sighed as he wiped away the tears that were still sliding down your cheeks. “I’m sorry, I was late.” You buried your face in his chest and clung to his shirt as he gently ran his hands through your hair to calm you down.

***

Noel and the other guards searched the castle grounds numerous times but weren’t able to find anything. One good piece of news was that they knew of the man, everyone did, especially Izuku. His name was Dabi and he was a well-known thief and bounty hunter. It was odd that Dabi would come to you, you neither had a bounty on your head nor were you really of value, yet. Dabi refused to steal anything that wasn’t worth any value.

Izuku stayed with you all night, trying to help you sleep but failed. You were too scared and your tears wouldn’t stop. Of course, Izuku thought it was because you were scared, but that wasn’t necessarily true. Yes, you were terrified, but you were hurt. This woman… and Izuku promised their hearts and bodies to each other, no matter the outcome? Meaning… Even now when Izuku was technically married to you, he wasn’t yours nor did it seem like he planned on becoming yours.

Why did that hurt so much? You barely knew each other and just earlier today you were saying it was impossible to fall in love with him. Yet here you were, heartbroken? Were you starting to fall for him? Even so, with such little time, why were you so hurt? Sure, even if you had a crush… it shouldn’t feel like this.

Izuku laid next to you, running his hand through your hair, trying his best to soothe you. He even had some tissues nearby to wipe your tears. Hiro had brought you both some tea earlier, to help you calm down and sleep. However, it didn’t help. You weren’t able to drink much and all you could think about was the words Dabi had said to you.

“Will you let me hold you, (princess/prince)?” Izuku inquired softly. You both had kept a good distance from each other in bed and even now, he’d reached across to your side to pat your head. Your eyes met and all you could see was what Dabi told you, yet your body moved all on its own. You nodded and scooted closer, to which he opened his arms and pulled you into him.

He was so warm and just the sensation of his arms around you was enough to drive your tears away. Dabi’s words returned to your mind for the umpteenth time, but… you didn’t care. Not this time. You closed your eyes as you leaned into him, letting him take away all your worries. So what if Izuku promised his heart and body to someone else? Yours belonged to him, regardless.

***

The next morning Matsuo suggested you take another day off to recover from the fright the previous night, but you refused, saying you preferred to start your lessons instead. Yana, Hiro, and even Izuku opposed your idea, but you’d made up your mind.

Your lessons weren’t very hard, it was just a matter of memorization. Toral had a rather rich history and for the most part, you loved to hear all about it. Your teacher was a bureaucrat named Mirio Togata that worked closely with King Izuku at times. With the insight your instructor provided, you were able to understand how Toral came to be such a powerful kingdom with it’s flourishing economy and numerous allied countries. 

It was nothing less than impressive. Thanks to Mirio, you were also able to learn more about Izuku and the Midoriya family, including where your place would be. One of the things you learned, which couldn’t have made you happier, was that you weren’t expected to provide an heir. Toral’s nobility had a history of adopting and you were no exception. However, you would need someone to succeed the throne at some point, which you were ok with.

The entire day was exhausting and all you did was spend it with Mirio as he taught you everything you needed to know. Around 8 pm, your lessons came to an end for the day. You were in your room with Hiro, who, of course, made you some tea and even had snacks ready for you. Ever since the incident, you weren’t allowed to be alone. For the most part, Hiro accompanied you everywhere, but Noel also carried that duty. Whenever you left the castle, even if you were just walking around the gardens, Noel followed you. Every time you moved about the castle, there was a knight or two nearby.

Everyone, especially Izuku, was on high alert. You weren’t allowed to be alone, not even for a second. Unfortunately, since Dabi was able to sneak into the castle, the castle wasn’t the safest place. Both Hiro and Yana had plenty of combat experience to guard you, and since you were friends, that made the bothersome experience tolerable.

“Are you ok, your highness?” You blinked and looked over at a worried Hiro, quickly giving him a smile.

“Yes, I’m ok. Just thinking.” You answered as you picked up your cup and sipped the tea. Hiro nodded, not wanting to press further.

“King Izuku should be here in about an hour. He prefers to be around you when it’s late. I hope you don’t mind.” You shook your head and smiled.

“Not at all, I appreciate it.” Of course, the entire day all you could think about was this “innocent maiden” that the king had fallen in love with. Who was she? What was she like? Was she pretty? Strong? Talented? Was she better than you?

Thoughts of her made focusing on what Mirio said extremely difficult. You did your best to push down any insecurities but how could you? Why couldn’t you? You barely knew Izuku but here you were, ridiculously messed up. 

From the story, it was clear that King Izuku couldn’t be with her, so were you just a replacement? Maybe that’s why he accepted the proposal, he didn’t want anyone but her but he couldn’t have her. The thought brought an intense ache in your heart. Were you… just a replacement? Why? Sure, he may have loved that woman but… he could love you too, right? 

You could feel the pain spread to your chest and you looked down as the tears returned. God, you were so weak. You really couldn’t get a hold of yourself, could you?

“Y-Your highness!” Hiro exclaimed, rushing to you when he saw your tears. He knelt in front of you and frowned. “Why are you crying?” Your eyes met his bright blue ones and you mulled over your thoughts. Could you tell him? Could Hiro be trusted with this information?

“Hiro. Tell me about the rumors about the king falling in love with another woman.” He looked taken aback, but nodded, regardless. It wasn’t like he could refuse someone crying the way you were. 

“Even we haven’t been able to confirm whether the rumors are true,” Hiro said, swallowing hard, “the rumor is that King Izuku met the woman in town on his day off. They collided into one another and fell in love at first sight. King Izuku would sneak out to meet her and when he wanted to marry her, he was rejected. Both Queen Inko and King Hisashi we’re against it, so they weren’t able to get married.

Other rumors say she was a criminal. The woman, that’s why they couldn’t be together. I’ve known King Hisashi and Queen Inko since I was a child and I know they wouldn’t reject someone King Izuku loved, no matter her status. Which is why the first story is also not very plausible.

The third rumor is that she was a princess and she was already meant to marry someone else. In the two years they spent together, they fell deeply in love but in the end, they had to part. She wouldn’t let go, saying she couldn’t live with her heart and body belonging to a man she didn’t love. So, to do the only thing he could, king Izuku claimed her body and heart, saying that now they were with someone she did love.” Hiro fell silent after the story, indicating he was done talking. You were silent as well, thinking about what he said. Ok… so that was romantic, even though you hated it

The last rumor matched what Dabi has said with one difference. The commoner was a princess already engaged to someone else. Your (e/c) eyes met Hiro’s and you opened your mouth to speak.

“Do you think there’s any truth to the rumors?” He looked down with a clouded expression, clearly not wanting to upset you. However, at the same time, he also didn’t want to lie to you.

“I… I’m not sure. But I do know there was a period of two years where King Izuku would regularly sneak out of the castle. He always returned home with a single flower. Usually a rose.”

“How do you know?”

“I would help him. I would make excuses for him so he wouldn’t get caught. Thankfully, neither did I.” So, it was true. As you fell deeper in thought, Hiro’s voice pulled you out again. “You know, (prince/princess), it’s best if you ask him, yourself. All of these stories are rumors, they could have no truth to them whatsoever.”

He had a point. Dabi could’ve been lying, telling you one of the more popular rumors. The rumors were so widespread, even you’d heard of them in your country. But Hiro was right, they could’ve been false, yet you were here getting so worked up over them.

You sighed and placed your cup of tea down as you munched on one of the snacks Hiro had brought. Was it ok to ask king Izuku such a sensitive question? I mean, even if it was such a personal question, he wouldn’t mind answering knowing how much it bothered you, right? 

But at the same thing, asking him felt so… embarrassing and scary. What if he got angry or what if he confirmed the rumors true? What then? At least right now, it was all speculation. You could pretend they were all just fake stories, but once he’d confirm the truth, what would be left to deny? Was it better to stay in the dark? 

You were pulled from your thoughts and your head snapped to the door when it opened. You saw King Izuku enter and look at you with a tired smile. Immediately, your heart began to race and you became restless.

“Hello.” He greeted you two as Hiro bowed, before silently leaving. “How are you?” Izuku joined you on the couch, sitting right next to you. He reached out and took a small cookie from the plate in front of you.

“I’m fine.” Although you didn’t stutter, your voice was strained and you were sure he heard it too.

“Please don’t push yourself.” He said and took your hand. “I don’t want you to overdo it.” You nodded, letting him hold your hand. Even if he was already someone else’s, the warmth you felt from his hand eased your burdens.

“I won’t.”

***

It had been about a week since the Dabi incident and he was nowhere to be found. Of course, naturally, the security wasn’t as strict and you were finally able to breathe and have some time alone. Constantly being followed was more exhausting than you thought it would be. However, now you were able to rest easy.

It didn’t last long, however. As you sat in your bedroom eating the snacks Hiro had brought, you saw a figure on the balcony. No way… 

Dabi looked back at you and smiled, making you gulp nervously as you slowly approached the doors. He knew about this other girl. Maybe he could tell you more. Hopefully curiosity wasn’t about to kill this cat.

“It’s you,” you said, making his smile widen, “you’re Dabi.”

“So you remember me, doll. It’s an honor.” You were hesitant, but you pushed the words out anyway.

“Tell me more about the woman King Izuku fell in love with.”

“Of course, your majesty. Anything for our future ruler.” You invited Dabi inside, not wanting him to get caught before he finished the story. Even though he’d attacked you last time, your curiosity was too strong to call for help. You wanted to know more about this woman and you couldn’t bring it up to Izuku, no matter how much you tried. So, he was your best option.

“She’s said to hail from your kingdom,” Dabi started, making your eyes widen a little. “The commoner. The current rumor is that King Izuku married you in hopes to search your kingdom for her.” Ouch.

“What does he hope to do when he finds her?” You asked, your voice cracking with anxiety.

“What else? A king can have his harem or even a concubine. If anything, he could declare her his mistress and you’d be powerless to do anything.” Ok, sure king Izuku COULD do that, be he wouldn’t. He… he wasn’t like that. You hadn’t known king Izuku that long, but this just seemed so uncharacteristic. However, what would king Izuku do once he found her? This innocent maiden he fell for.

“I…” you had tried to say something, but were unable to. What could you say? This rumor was worse than the others. Was your husband truly using you to find a woman he was so madly in love with? What would he do once he found her? Tears welled up in your eyes again. You didn’t even bother holding them back as they slid down your cheeks. Dabi smiled as he leaned closer.

“Give it time, your highness. When he breaks your heart, I’ll come and steal you away.” You looked up, meeting his sapphire eyes. The pain in your heart just increased at his words and you found yourself speaking before you could stop to think.

“Promise?” You choked, making him reach out and wipe a stray tear. More followed in its wake, however.

“Of course. You’ll be of value then.” Right, he only stole things of value, and by then you’d no doubt be (king/queen). You only nodded as Dabi stole a biscuit and walked towards the balcony. “See you later, doll.” With that, he disappeared into the night, leaving you alone to wallow in your thoughts.

***

It had been a little over a week since your talk with Dabi. You hadn’t seen or heard from him again and from the way everyone was acting, it was obvious they hadn’t seen him.

The time was getting closer for you to be crowned (king/queen) next to king Izuku and you hated it. You hated it more than you did the first day you found out about this wedding. Recently, your husband had been extra busy in (k/n). You weren’t sure and he didn’t tell you much, but you could assume why. It must’ve been her. 

You were back to sleeping on your own and you felt that wall between yourself and Izuku standing tall. You were too busy with your lessons to properly sit your husband down to ask about why he was going to your country so much. 

“Are you alright, your highness?” You blinked and saw Mirio’s face peering down at you with concern.

“Oh, yes. I’m sorry.” He smiled, sympathetically.

“How about a break then? I think you’ve been working extremely hard, recently and you need to take it easy.” He smiled, as he poured some tea for you. You graciously took it and sipped at it.

“Mirio, do you know what king Izuku’s doing in (k/n)?” 

“Word is he’s searching for something.” You had to keep yourself from sighing. So it was true after all. He really is looking for his innocent maiden. You couldn’t compete, there was just no way. “Why do you look so sad, your highness?” You looked up at Mirio, trying to think of the words. It took a moment but you found them.

“I want something and I can’t have it. So I’m sad.” He frowned at your words and looked down at his cup of tea. A (king/queen)-to-be wanted something they couldn’t have? Seemed impossible.

***

You sighed as you fell back on your bed, your eyes glued onto the beautiful ceiling. The days were so beautiful but you weren’t able to enjoy them. You missed the one date you had with king Izuku. You missed the happiness you felt because recently, all you felt was loneliness and dread. 

Just when you thought you were getting closer to the man you married, it turns out you were wrong. You thought that wall had fallen, but it never did. You were merely too far away to even see it. Izuku could never love you the way you’d come to love him. That was the harsh reality you needed to accept.

The door opened, making you jump a little and you saw your husband. He was finally back? From the looks of it, he didn’t find her.

If you were going to be married to him for the rest of your life, assuming Dabi stealing you away would fail, you at least wanted to know the truth. You’d finally felt you had enough courage to ask and you no longer cared if the time was right or not. 

While you sat there thinking, Izuku quickly changed out of his suit and returned to you.

“You’re still up? It’s late, you should rest. I’ve heard from everyone you’ve been so busy I don’t want you-“

“Why have you been going into (k/n)?” You asked, interrupting him. He was clearly taken aback but shrugged it off. You hadn’t meant to sound so harsh and uncaring, but you couldn’t change it now.

“I’ve been looking for something, why?” Alright, so he WAS looking for something.

“King Izuku… I want you to tell me about those rumors. About you falling in love with someone.” He nodded without hesitation.

“Of course. Tell me all you’ve heard.” You inhaled before explaining everything you’d been told, making sure to leave out the names of your sources. Izuku quietly listened to every last word and could see your frustration building up. He found it almost too adorable. However, that feeling went away when he saw the tears.

“If… you’re looking for her, I’d like to know.” You felt as if you’d been rather harsh, but who could blame you?

“Well, (prince/princess), there is no truth to any of those rumors.” You froze, staring at him. Was he lying? 

“Well what about sneaking out regularly for 2 years? Coming back with flowers?” He smiled a little and shook his head.

“I did sneak out often but that was because I loved going to the city. I was always busy so whenever I could, I would sneak out of the house. The flowers were from a nice old lady who figured out I was the prince. She was such a sweetheart and always gave me candy with a rose.” Oh. “If anything, your highness, the “maiden” in the story is you.”

“What?” He chuckled at your obvious confusion. Ok now you looked even more adorable than before.

“It was nothing as serious as the rumors claim. I was visiting your country and it happened to be your 18th birthday. I saw you on the balcony with your parents. The entire kingdom was celebrating. I didn’t fall in love at first sight, but I thought you were absolutely beautiful and I couldn’t take my eyes off of you for a second. After that day, I couldn’t get your face out of my head. I was actually pretty desperate to meet you,” he admitted with a chuckle as your face turned shades off red. “That’s why when I was told I could marry you, I wanted to.

I didn’t expect it to work, actually. We barely knew each other. I just thought I’d at least be able to meet you and talk to you. Maybe it would put my heart to ease, a little. And to answer your previous question, I’ve been looking for a well known jeweler. There is a ring I wanted her to make, and I wanted to give you that ring instead.”

“A-another ring?” He nodded with a bright smile and took your left hand, his finger brushing against the ring.

“When I gave this to you, it symbolized unity between our countries. That’s all… but the one I was planning on having made will be a symbol of my love for you.”

“L-love!?” Your eyes widened and your cheeks flushed red at his words. He only nodded, lifting your hand to his lips and kissing them.

“Yes. I love you. It didn’t take very long… but I’m in love with you, (prince/princess) (f/n).”

To say you felt like an idiot would be an understatement. You’d been stressing over a story that wasn’t even real! If anything, it was about you! Your cheeks burned red at the thought of Izuku loving you and only you.

“Oh? Are you blushing?” He asked, leaning in close. Your cheeks only got redder as your embarrassment surfaced.

“St-stop teasing, king Izuku.” 

“I should’ve mentioned this before but we’re married now, you don’t have to use formalities.” He smiled, as his hand found its way to your cheek. You closed your eyes and leaned into the warmth before you felt something soft on your lips.

This was your second kiss with him and it was definitely better than the first. You could feel the passion he poured into the kiss and it made your heart race. 

You immediately melted into him, wrapping your arms around his neck. He pulled you onto his lap, deepening the kiss. A small sigh left your lips, making his arms tighten around your waist. He pulled away and looked up at you a little.

“Oh, if you keep that up, your highness, I won’t be able to hold back.” He whispered, his lips meeting yours again. The kiss was much more heated, but you responded with just as much fervor. Slowly, his soft lips trailed down your neck. You closed your eyes and let the warmth spread through your body, as the excitement caused tingles. 

Your hands raked through his fluffy green tuft and as his lips kissed your neck. You felt a pinch for a second before he moved his way down to your chest. He dropped you down onto the bed, crawling over you and staring down at your flustered form.

The look in his eyes drove you up a wall. So far you’d only seen Izuku as emotionless and adorable… but you’d never seen THAT look in his eyes. 

“(F/n). Will you give me your heart and body?” You nodded without hesitation, as he leaned down and claimed your lips before he’d claim all of you.

***

“I present to you… (KING/QUEEN) (F/N)!” The kingdom roared with applause, causing you to smile brightly. Ever since Izuku cleared up the rumors, you’d never felt happier. In a sense, the rumors were true. You had been the innocent “maiden” he’d fallen in love with and had claimed your body and heart, while giving you his own.

You smiled as you stood next to your husband, waving to everyone. You saw your parents and Inko standing to the side, waving back. Your parents would step down as rulers of (k/n) so you and Izuku could take their place and they couldn’t have been happier. The ring on your finger was a reminder of the love you both shared. Something you wouldn’t give up for the world.

***

“Still need to be stolen, (king/queen) (f/n)?” You smiled as you turned around and saw Dabi standing behind you with a smirk. The celebration had ended and you were by yourself, once again, at your balcony.

“I’ll be disappointing you tonight, Dabi.” He only smiled as he stood next to you and leaned against the railing.

“I think I’m ok with that, this time.” He mumbled, looking ahead at the large city. You were smiling before your brows furrowed and you turned to him.

“You lied to me about the rumors.” He chuckled and looked at you, his bright blue eyes gleaming with amusement.

“Hey, I never said they were true.” You scoffed and shook your head, glaring at him a little.

“I was so upset, Dabi!” He smirked and little and leaned in close to you, his fingers pushing a lock of your hair away from your face. You froze a little, not expecting something like this to happen. His cold, slender fingers slid down to your neck, brushing up against it. You shivered at the sensation, looking away a little.

“Oh? Keep that up, your majesty and I might just steal you for myself.”

“Dabi…” you mumbled, looking back at him.

“Oh right, you’re already taken. This mark proves it.” Your eyes widened and your face flushed a deep red, making Dabi throw his head back and laugh. You had a hickey this whole time?!! Who all saw it?!

“D-Dabi!” You exclaimed, smacking his arm. But you couldn’t deny the smile that made its way to your face. Yeah, you belonged to Izuku and that mark proved it.

“You know what, (king/queen) (f/n), call me whenever you need me. I’ll work for you and ONLY you.” You tilted your head, a curious expression on your face. Dabi was a thief… why would he say that?

“Why? I haven’t done anything.” He shook his head at your words.

“You make me laugh. You’re amusing and I like being around you. Call me whenever you need me. Whether it be stealing a relic or stealing you away from this kingdom.” He gave you a wink before hopping off the balcony and disappearing into the night. What an oddball.

With a smile, you looked up at the sea of stars. Deja vu. You giggled and closed your eyes, whispering to yourself.

“Please let me stay here… please let me be with him.” You felt something fall around your shoulders, and your eyes shot open.

“You’ll catch a cold if you stand out here without one.” Izuku said, with a smile. You giggled and leaned into his arms as he placed a kiss on top of your head. 

“I love you, Izuku.” You said, leaning your head on his chest as you stared out at the city in the distance.

“I love you too, (f/n).”

[little-ideas]

Winter’s a Season for Tragedies

I just really love thinking about the fucked up “what ifs” for when you skew a fictional character’s personality a bit -when they’re not what they seem and you realize too late. Fuyugumi Edition

Thank you very much for @otome-crow for the help with Tasuku and Guy’s portions! ^ w ^

CW: Dark content, emotional & social manipulation, threats, implied violence

Tsumugi: This man obsesses quietly, calmly, and always gives you room to leave, but framed at high a cost, if you notice at all. He’s always sweet, giving gifts -often beautiful bouquets of flowers, and when asked, he always has such lovely reasons for selecting them, such beautiful meanings; however, even roses have thorns, even the flowers he gifts were cut from life, and every bouquet will wilt, and you’ll notice eventually that no flower he gives you has a singular meaning, and while he doesn’t tell you lies, each one, too, represents more sinister promises should you try escape. A reflection of himself, perhaps, he is the most honest of everyone, the most direct, but with a hostage, still a most terrible thing. His smile will change to be forever unnerving, his touch a little long, his presence no longer a comfort, and even when he’s not around, you will be on edge. You will never be able to pinpoint why or what happened to begin these thoughts, and others will claim he’s never changed. When you think yourself in the throes of paranoia, Tsumugi awaits you, as kind as he’s ever been, as though nothing has changed, reassuring you that all is alright and assuaging your fears, taking no offense if you confess all that you feel. You will feel okay again, for a little bit, but later, once more, he begins to feel unsettling, yet you won’t know why. But Tsumugi knows, and he’s willing to do this again, and again, and again.

Tasuku: It would be cute if it weren’t so scary, how awkward yet committed he is. Tasuku is not anything but devoted to his passions, and you are now among them. Yet now he must divide his attentions further, and getting absorbed in something else, you’ll think you finally have freedom from him, when he returns his focus to you. There is no consistency to when or how long his preoccupation with each interest will last, so you’ll become more apprehensive for his return with each passing day. While he has firm morals and seems to adhere to actions of “good” conscience, Tasuku also participated in the competitive, suffocating environment of Godza, so is perfectly capable of ruthlessly establishing a power dynamic between you two -one where he’s always on top. He’s also able to fool everyone and make you feel you’re alone in this -he wasn’t top actor for nothing. Just beware for when he decides to act princely towards you….

Homare: A naturally lively person, his activities have only increased with your presence. You will be swept up in his pace, yet unable to prepare for anything as, when it comes to you, he is completely unpredictable. Hope you like his poetry, because you will hear lots of it. You won’t understand why, but sometimes it feels as though he knows what exactly you’re thinking, and other times is clueless. It’s both impressive and unnerving. Is he doing it on purpose? Is he always aware and is just trying to confuse or trick you? You won’t know and it’s frightening. How can you even try contemplating escape when it seems he can see right through you? Not wont for money and affiliated with the circles of high society, Homare will make sure you’re well taken care of, but such actions are shackles and exhausting -you’ll be trying to stay in the graces of his contacts, unsure of how extensive their connections are or what actions they might take should you upset them. Eccentric wealthy, each sophisticated and brilliant in their own ways, your status stands out and you’ll feel like an imposter, and where Homare may not notice or care, you’ll always be keenly aware.  

Hisoka: A situation you are hopeless to win: the stronger you become, the more of a deadweight Hisoka becomes, yet the opposite, and the more he can get away with. Hisoka is a physical barrier and will use his entire body to keep you close. Should you try to leave while he’s using you as his pillow, no matter how asleep he appears, he’ll reach out to stop you from going. If you still must leave, he’ll usually follow along. While Hisoka doesn’t do much, his knack for hiding places and moving silently will often be cause for surprise, shocking you when you think you’re alone or finally have a chance to be. Even when he’s not around, though, you’ll have a strange entourage of cats that appear to be watching and following you. Part of what makes Hisoka’s attachment to you even worse is that the rest of the company, while apologetic, are also extremely grateful for your presence -Hisoka is much easier to find with you around. 

Azuma: An enigma who will manipulate everything for you to always be with them. Azuma is willing to go to extreme lengths to not lose another person precious to them, and they have the money and connections to do so. You will most likely never notice, but should you become suspicious -too many things seem to align too perfectly, after all- you will be unable to prove anything -Azuma will never dirty their own hands, and will always have plausible deniability. Things will just seem to happen, and you won’t know why; however, finding your reactions and suspicions adorable, they’ll entertain your thoughts and insinuate you’re correct, though just barely -enough that you’ll make the connection, but not until much later, after which they’ll feign ignorance should you approach them about it again. Master of working human emotions, Azuma will have you in the palm of their hand, and even when you think you know them, you can never be sure. Azuma will become a constant for you, a familiar presence for you to return to, even if you want something different  

Guy: Does not leave your side. It’s….disturbing -despairing- how quickly he returns to a position of servitude. What you won’t realize; however, is that Guy is confident in his abilities here and will use this time to make you reliant on him. You can’t leave him easily when you require him to be with you -and even if you’ve become weary of him, you’ve grown accustomed to him, got complacent with some of the things he would do for you. He also uses this time to learn and gather information on you. He may not be as skilled as some of the others in the company in this regard, but he has done so, can do so, and if you won’t stay from reliance, then mayhaps you will with a little...informational negotiation. Worse comes to worst, he can, but would prefer not to, use force -a well-timed grip is usually all you need as a firm reminder that he is also incredibly capable physically. Should you ever think that you can use his “off” switch against him, well, he’s been regaining his humanity, so that will no longer work. You also have constant reminders of his connections to powerful people in Zahra with all of the shipments he and Citron receive; yet while you don’t know how extensive those connections are, you do know that Citron is willing to go to many lengths to help his friend, and Citron is not someone you want as your enemy

[bluucliiffoord]

Lullabies

full on mysme trash rn,,, def not my first time writing mysme oneshots but my first time actually posting them. just wanted to share this,,, wrote it as a vent story? or prologue of a story at least.

inspired directly by the line of all time low's classing song, Lullabies ( hence why it's gonna be the story title :33) .

i'll see you in my dreams

lowercase intended and here y'all go

BUT ANYWAY

spoiler/s: seven's real name uwu

‘it's not even 3am but i'm already lonely.’

it wasn't unsual for melancholy to strike during the late hours of the night. that was normal. almost everyone you knew experienced it at least once in their lifetime. and you were experiencing it right now. however, if you had to feel lonely, you'd prefer to succumb to the unwanted feeling during the ungodly hours of 2 or 3 am.

why? it seemed more romantic— more aesthetic to stare at the ceiling during those hours, continuously wondering why the fuck were you feeling this or to grab a pen and some paper and try to write poetry so you could distract yourself from whatever it was that caused this.

feeling lonely at 11pm seemed so... so pathetic to you. after all, there was still a chatroom that needed to be opened a whole lot of minutes later. maybe that could ease the consistent emptiness you felt in your chest.

you sighed, letting your eyes wander to the upper left corner of your phone. the corner of your lips curled into a curt grin at the sight of the time.

11:11pm.

23:11.

they say that if you made a wish during this time, it'll come true. of course, you knew that that was nothing but pure superstition spread by hopeless people that continued to believe that making wishes to a certain time would make your deepest, most desired wish come true, but hey, loneliness was a dick and you wanted it to stop visiting you ever so often. so, as a desperate attempt to stop being lonely— you tried.

you closed your eyes and tightened your grip on your phone. you racked your brain, trying to determine which wish to make.

‘should i wish for my loneliness to stop annoying me or should i wish the people that made less lonely be real?’

you bit your inner cheek. you went for the latter. well, something like the latter. you closed your eyes tighter and whispered, “i wish i was in the mystic messenger universe.”

the moment those words left your lips, it dawned on you how ridiculous that wish was. you snickered as you opened your eyes. a crestfallen smile settled on your lips while the hands that held your phone dropped to your chest.

you sighed, looking up at the ceiling. were you really that lonely?

perhaps.

how lonely do you even have to be to wish to be stuck inside the universe of your favourite otome game where the characters care deeply for you and love you for who you are, are real?

‘a whole fucking lot.’

you placed your arms on top of your face in an attempt to drown out the long, loud groan of frustration that erupted from you. you sighed before removing your arms from your face, and grabbed your phone. you checked the time once again.

11:13pm.

only twenty eight minutes before the final chatroom for day ten of seven's route would open. after that, you could finally get a good night's sleep. that was, if the circumstances allowed it. sleep never came easy to you.

now you kinda regretted the wish you made. instead of that beyond ridiculous, desperate as fuck wish, maybe you should've settled for something more realistic— something more attainable. perhaps you should've just wished for yourself to fall asleep easily and have sweet dreams where the mystic messenger characters were real for the rest of your lonely life.

••••

you fell asleep the minute you closed your eyes. awesome but the temporary bliss of nothingness proved to be short lived. you were awakened by a gush of wind hitting your face.

you gasped upon opening your eyes. white. everything you saw was white and hazy. everything seemed to be put in some sort of filter which made your surroundings glow with a tinge of red and a dark hue of blue.

you blinked, trying to process whatever it is you were witnessing wherever it is you were. the horizon seemed to be blocked by fluffy clouds as a light breeze blew your hair back. your skin felt like it was being kissed by the early morning sunbeams.

your feet stood on something that felt like grass, but when you looked down, there was no grass. just white concrete that was oddly soft.

everything was white. even the dress you wore was white. huh, that was odd. you were one hundred percent sure that you went to sleep wearing an old baggy shirt and a pair of worn out sweatpants and, not this white, frilly sundress.

you let your hand travel through the fabric of the dress you wore. it was soft and felt light. you looked up and began to get curious.

you stared at the ‘sky,’ but there was no sky. or at least something that looked like the sky you were used to. when you looked up, the colour white greeted you.

wherever you are seemed to be like a void like state. but somehow, it felt like you were in a field. the imaginary grass on your feet, the continuous light breeze that made your hair messy, and the warmth radiating on your skin.

curious, you took a cautious step forward. the world didn't break apart, neither did the floor you stood on. maybe... it was safe? you took another step, testing the waters. and again, nothing. and another test because you just didn't trust your surroundings. and again, nothing.

you let out a sigh and deemed it was safe for you to explore this place you were stuck in. as you walked, nothing seemed to change. white, hazy walls still surrounded you. it also seemed that you never got close to the horizon.

it was weird. this was weird. but what was even weirder was the fact you heard someone call your name. but to be honest, you were unsure if you should be frightened or be glad that someone was with you in this bizarre place.

the voice came from behind you. whoever it was seemed to be far, you could tell by how low and faint the voice was when you heard it.

so you turned, ready to take another step when you heard your name again. you froze. it seemed nearer than before. the voice sounded familiar. you couldn't exactly pinpoint why it did, but it was. it also felt like... like home.

you took a step before making a run for it. you didn't understood the need to run but your body told you to run and your brain simply followed. as you ran, something or someone began to form in your peripheral vision.

you slowed your pace until your running became slow steps towards the person. he had his back turned to you. his clothes were also white. the contrast to his white get up was his red, tousled hair.

‘red hair,’ you thought, tilting your head as you stepped closer to the man.

“y/n,” he said, turning to face you. a warm smile on his face as your eyes grew wide.

‘no... no way.’

you stood there frozen, unable to process what you saw in front of you. saeyoung... you weren't mistaken. this had to be him. the red hair, the stripped glasses, that voice that was very much imprinted in your brain due to the numerous times you had called him in and outside his route.

he stood in front of you with a bright, welcoming smile on his face. you were in shock that you couldn't even reciprocate the smile. your mouth hung open a little while your hands kept frozen at your side.

his eyes examined you. his smile never left as he began to clear the space between the two of you.

“you'll see me in your dreams,” he said, extending his hand for you to accept. “i'll— we'll be waiting for you.”

his smile was still warm and welcoming as ever. however, you still felt reluctant. but you threw that shook the doubt away and buried it deep within yourself. slowly, you reached for his hand.

the minute that you accepted the handshake, you couldn't even marvel at how soft yet rough his hand was when light began to glow from your hands, followed by what seemed like a supernova.