#(mob character spell)

[musubiki]

tiny limochi appriciation

[hcmxra]

i should really catch up on the mangas huh

[llycaons]

sorry but the argument that jc is a good leader because his disciples do what he says and people are scared of him is absolutely bullshit imo, didn't we just watch a show where a ton of people in positions of power abuse the people working under them because sect leaders have essentially no check on their power?

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

The Man 6

Warnings: non/dubcon, and other dark elements. My username actually says you never asked for any of this.

My warnings are not exhaustive but be aware this is a dark fic and may include potentially triggering topics. Please use your common sense when consuming content. I am not responsible for your decisions.

Character: mob!Lloyd Hansen

Summary: a demanding customer complicates more than your work life.

As usual, I would appreciate any and all feedback. I’m happy to once more go on this adventure with all of you! Thank you in advance for your comments and for reblogging ❤️

You stare at your phone. It can’t be. After everything else going wrong, you can’t deal with Floyd. It suddenly makes sense why he was messing around with your phone. Ew, he’s kind of a creep.

You don’t answer and put the phone away. Well. You have no money, you’re about to have no home, and your milk is spoiled. Don’t panic. You can figure this out. You’re an adult, aren’t you?

First, go to the bank. You need milk. Once you have a coffee, you’ll worry about the whole eviction thing. You leave the convenience store and open Maps to look for the nearest bank kiosk. Not too far, one block. At least you’re getting your steps in.

You follow the directions on screen and turn to cross the road. You’re so distracted, you forget to look both ways and nearly get hit by a gleaming bumper. You wave a head but don’t look up. You need to get to the bank.

You come up to the pulsing blue dot and glance around. Huh. You don’t see a bank. You turn around and face the ATM built into the side of the building. Oh goddang! You walked to a bank machine, not a bank. Is it you? Are you the problem?

You drop your shoulders. Alright. You’ll just try again. You scroll to the next location and spin around, nearly colliding with a new wall. Oh, not a wall, a person.

You look up at Mr. Henson as he watches you with a line between his brows. Somehow, you’re not very surrpised. This guy is everywhere. It’s almost like he has no hobbies.

“Oh, hi, sorry, excuse me, I’m just on my way to the bank--”

“Ah, running short? Need me to spot ya?” He raises his hand, showing a black credit card.

“Um... noooo,” you utter in confusion. The other day, you ran off after calling him names. You really don’t believe he’s changed his stripes. He’s still a snarling tiger getting ready to feast. “Thanks, but I--”

“Things are tight. Job market’s trash, housing isn’t any better, and those banks,” he whistles and puts his card away, “they like to fuck around, don’t they?”

You look at him, scrunching your face up.

“Y-yeah. Weirdly, I did just get a notice to...” your voice trails off. “Why are you bugging me?”

“Bugging you?” His brows pop up and he guffaws, “oh, sweet lips, you’re funny, you know that?”

“Yeah, I know few jokes but--”

“Think a little harder, cupcake,” he lowers his timber and stares at you.

You blink and wet your lips, pushing them together. Think about what?

“Look, about yesterday--”

“I’m talking about today,” he insists.

“Sure, uh...”

“Do I really need to spell this out for you?”

“Spell what out?” You cringe, clawing for some hint of what he means.

“Your bank card isn’t working, right?” He asks, you nod. “You’re getting evicted.” Another nod. “You have no job.”

You make a face, “yes, okay. Rub it in. Alright. I get it. You’re some important guy and I’m a loser. Don’t worry. You own this city but I think I’m on my way out.”

He sighs and presses his fingers flat on either side of his nose. He drops them and opens his eyes again, “it was me. I’m the reason you—Don't you understand what I can do to you? I got you fired, kicked out, and poor in one day. What else do you think I could do?”

Your chest hollows out and your stomach lurches. What? Him? He just doesn’t stop.

“Sir, what—why would you—I'm sorry I called you a meanie. I was upset and the coffee, I tried--” You sniffle and shudder out a half-sob, “I didn’t mean to.”

“Yeah, well, you shoulda shut those sweet lips and opened those ears, huh?” He grins, “look, cupcake, you’re not going anywhere. You try to run back to your family, I’ll find you. Your mom’s a good lady, you shouldn’t trouble her. She doesn’t make enough teaching brats to put up with another one.”

“My mom—how--”

He spins his finger in the air, “catch up, honey bun. Alright? This is it. I’ll lay it out real clear for you, right now. You have no money, no home, you have nothing. You are nothing.” He jabs his finger at you, “so, I can solve all your problems and make you something.”

You look around. There’s really no way out. He’s a psychopath. You think. You don’t really know the difference between that and sociopath.

“Are you like CIA or something?” You ask.

He scoffs and flinches, “oh man, you are something else. Really, each time you open that mouth, I’m blown away by the idiocy. Rather just get blown, you get it?”

You shake your head and pout.

“Look, I think we can sort this out, Floyd. Really, I’m really sorry and I understand now. I get it. You’re very important and I messed up. I’m nothing and I did everything wrong. And from the bottom of my heart, I apologise. So, can I please have my life back?” You say, “I think we’d both be happier if we just went on our way and never saw each other again.”

His eyes dart away and he stares into the distance. Exasperation wrinkles above his brow and he looks back to you, hands on his hips, “too late, buttercup. So, let me put it as plain as I can. You don’t get a choice. You belong to me now. Just like everything else in this city. You are mine.”

“You can’t... do that.”

“I am doing that,” he insists. “Another thing,” he raises his hand, showing his palm, “it’s Lloyd.” He emphasizes the consonants of his name, “Lloyd Hansen. You can call me sir or Mr. Hansen. Hell, if we’re getting frisky, you can call me daddy.”

“Ugh,” you groan in disgust and curl your lip.

“Ugh?” He mimick the noise, “I’m about to--” He shakes his hand and sucks in the end of his sentence, “fine. Show, don’t tell. Got it.”

You cry out as suddenly he lunges at you. He grabs you by the back of the neck and hauls you forward down the sidewalk. He marches beside you as you writhe and paw at his large hand. You whimper, helpless as pedestrians move out of your path.

“Your mouth got you into trouble, now let’s see if it can get you out,” he growls.

[chaifootsteps]

one of the more troubling things about hazbin’s poor writing is that it implies some really awful things about the morality of sex workers and addicts. Like angel dust’s wiki can talk up and down about his mob past all he wants but Heaven, Charlie, Vaggie, and every other character spends their time addressing his drug issue and trying to get him sober, not having him confront the bad behavior that stems from it. He’s not in hell for being a criminal, he’s in hell for being a drug user, we can infer this bc we are continually told that getting clean is not just essential to his progress, but it’s what’ll fix him and make him a changed man. And in terms of heaven, Lute spells it out during the court scene, a great deal of Heaven believes that “crack whores” aren’t fit to be in heaven but neither Charlie nor the larger narrative challenges the premise of that argument, never suggests that he’s in hell for a different reason, and just. Runs with that insanely flawed and prejudiced logic, instead deciding to ‘fix’ Angel by making him sober and giving him a love interest to romance bc promiscuity is bad I guess. Like that’s implying some really horrible things about addiction and sexuality, and while Angel is clearly suffering from being a drug user and hyper sexuality , those things aren’t inherently wrong and chalking his moral failings up to “he’s a crackhead” is such a spit in the face to anyone who’s suffered from addiction

And don't forget, being sober is apparently so integral to Angel's salvation that Husk -- two episodes after saying he accepted Angel as the coked up "loser" he was -- viciously tore him down for being in the mere vicinity of a party drug without agreeing to take it. A spit in the face is exactly what it is.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

I think malleus mentions, maybe in his dorm vig, that he tried approaching other students when he couldn't find the meeting place but they scream and run away from him in terror. If this is how people have been reacting to him approaching them then it makes sense for him to stop trying at one point. also think the senators never allowed anyone to meet him. Remember melanoir blessing. She blessed him to be feared by humans. Perhaps that is also at play. I would like to hear your thoughts on this.

One thing I take issue with is how inconsistently written the world’s reactions to Malleus are. On one hand, we're constantly told that people fear him and run away at the sight of him (which does happen with various mob students). On the other hand, we get dozens and dozens of instances of Malleus interacting with his classmates, staff, and the locals of Sage’s Island (Magicam Monsters) and other countries without issue. (Granted, the locals of other countries did not recognize him as Malleus due to how he was dressed, but the point still holds that Malleus can have normal interactions with people.) How he is received varies greatly across the main story, vignettes, and the events. You cannot have it both ways because it creates this cognitive dissonance about how we’re supposed to perceive his presence.

As for the senators, it is canon that Malleus was often kept inside the castle. However, that doesn’t mean he was entirely barred from interacting with people and that doesn’t mean Malleus never left. Clearly he still had tutors and servants around (although interacting with them would be different than interacting with peers), and surely he would have met his grandmother or foreign dignitaries as part of his training. He has also visited Silver and Lilia in their cottage which is far away from the capital city. Malleus has realistically had opportunities to engage with people, no matter how much the senators try to leash him.

Finally, on the subject of Meleanor’s blessing: firstly, there is no immediate indication that Melanor cast a spell of any kind. If you compare the scene where she utters the “blessing” (7-77) to when Lilia blesses Silver and changes his hair color (7-81), there is no sparkle effect to indicate magic. Meleanor asks Lilia to take care of her kid, hands her egg off to Lilia, summons thorns to drag him away, then vanishes away to fight, so the sparkle effect that proceeds is most likely to show her teleporting off to combat (which is finally when the sparkle effect comes in). Right before leaving, she says, “May the Night bless you/Night's Blessings (in EN)”, which is where I believe people got the “Meleanor blessed/cursed Malleus to be feared by humans” headcanon comes from. However, the phrase “May the Night bless you/Night's Blessings” is not a magic incantation as far as we know; it seems to be a saying among nocturnal fae to wish one another good luck. We see Lilia and others saying it in other parts of book 7. However, Lilia does utter “May the Night bless you/Night's blessings” prior to Silver’s hair color change, so I imagine this also plays a part in the fandom interpretation/headcanon that Meleanor blessed Malleus in a similar manner.

Even if it was a real blessing, it doesn’t work for me with how they’ve set up Malleus’s interactions with his peers. If the blessing/curse is supposedly making him feared by humans, how come there are several blatant exceptions who don’t fear him at all? This includes the light trio and arguably even characters like Leona or Rollo—because even feelings of hate or rivalry are still not fear. Additionally, Meleanor’s phrasing is that she’s sure that Malleus will be a good omen/“auspicious star” for the fae of Briar Country but a “fearsome, malevolent star” for humans. With the coming of book 7, Malleus is posing a real threat to both fae and humans alike. Furthermore, she directly follows up these lines by saying she entrusts her son to Lilia. She’s emphasizing the importance of Malleus to their country’s future before handing him away; it does not read like she’s blessing her child. This, combined with the very delayed sparkle effect in 7–77, leads me to believe that Meleanor’s words were not actually magically binding or a blessing, but rather a hope or a prayer about the kind of person Malleus would be someday: a leader that their country needs and someone who will strike fear into humans (who were enemies of the fae at the time). Until the canon says otherwise, this is how I interpret Meleanor's "blessing" for her son (ie it’s not a magical one).

I feel like none of these should completely dissuade Malleus from like... I don't know, going out of his way to locate a few open-minded people (again, like the light trio) and trying to make conversation with them? Maybe invite them over for tea? Taking little steps like that. I understand why he would be hesitant to try or adopt a defeatist attitude, but again Lilia is right there to help facilitate or to ask questions to. But he doesn’t really do that or seem to truly take what anyone says to heart; instead he gets moody, pouty, and sulks when he feels rejected because the situation is artificially set up for failure 💦

It sometimes feels like TWST wrote itself into a corner with Malleus’s presentation due to the nature of the original game format. His lore calls for him to be sinister and feared through all the land, but the devs are simultaneously compelled to write him in cute and silly social scenarios to show how likable he can be (so open up your wallet for him/j)… He’s supposedly always forgotten but you’d think that someone with a presence as fearsome as his would be remembered vividly or make a strong impression regardless of the contrived ways they try to keep him out of the picture… and that results in the clashing tones I notice now.

[afterartist]

HELICALTALE MAIN CAST LINEUP!!

(Not ll of the characters but the most important ones to the plot)

‘And now: AU Infodump

BUT BEFORE ANYTHING!!

I will be answering any questions (within reason) any of you have about the au, even if it’s about some random side character only three people have ever heard of before

I live world building and any chance to expand on this world are treasured

I’ll probably answer with fun little doodles as well lol

So ask away :D!!

Basic AU overview:

Helicaltale is NOT a classic based Timeline.

The AU is set in a world where Mt Ebott was destroyed during the war, leaving a desert crater in its place, no protection for the Monsters to retreat and nowhere to seal them underground. In response, the Human mages put a spell on Monster kind, ‘Helios’ Curse’, forcing them to be unable to touch sunlight or else they’d burn (think Vampires or Minecraft Mobs)

The main story takes place 87 years after the war ended and 29 years after friendly communications between the two races begun, with the Monsters settled in a camp like city, made of tents and canvas buildings, around the oasis that formed in the desert that was now known as Ebott crater. Humans and Monsters have achieved peace between the races, regular trading routes and communications set up between the two cities.

Now all that was left was for both Humans and Monsters to find a way to break Helios’ Curse for good.

(None of them can touch Sunlight (minus the humans) but the ones more lightly dressed (Gaster, Alphys, Asgore) all live in the city, with proper buildings not at risk of being blown over at any second so can afford to not be covered up 100% of the time)

Locations:

Ebott City-

The capital city of the country, Ebott is a massive human settlement, overshadowing old ruins left by the war. It’s currently the main base of conferences between human and monster relations.

The Oasis-

The Monster settlement, made from tents and interconnecting canvas sheets, from above it looks like a colourful cluster of a campground, large sheets stretched over the streets. From within it’s only lit by lamps and magic, the sky completely blocked out by tarps and canvas to avoid accidentally getting burned by sunlight, to those not familiar with the city it’s a labyrinth, others, its home.

(A major inspiration for the Oasis is the Kowloon walled city, for those interested in a more accurate visual of the Oasis)

The Great Fence-

While the name conveys grandeur, the fence is a simple chain link fence acting as the border around the entire Oasis, topped with barbed wire and adorned with tarps, it’s designed to protect the residents against wild animals like Coyotes and be a barrier against sandstorms more than it is to keep people out, one of the most regular jobs for the Royal guard other than being general peace keepers is to uphold the fence, often sending patrols out after heavy storms to keep everything in order.

Central Oasis-

A mix between Newhome and Waterfall, it’s the main hub of the town, the Royal family living there along with the majority of schools and recreational areas, most Water based monsters (ie: Shyren, Aaron ect ect) also live in this area, a large lake of water being the centerpiece of the city.

Lights district-

To the west side of the city is the main shopping hub, while much more open than the majority of the Oasis, many stores foregoing walls on their tents entirely, its full of stores and restaurants, the most well known being Grillby’s and Muffets joint restaurant, many visitors to the Oasis come for the night life of the lights district, the monsters that live in that area making the camp around them as flashy and attractive as possible, neon lights and dancing flames lighting up the darkness of the district, the Celebrities Mettaton and Nabstablook have also been alluded to frequent the region and perform for onlookers.

Sandbank-

The Snowden equivalent of the AU, having gotten its name due to its position at the east side of the city, being the least protected by the walls of the crater, Sandbank often gets the brunt of the sandstorms that hit the desert, leading many of the Royal Guards live in this area in case of an emergency during the storms.

Southside (the Black Market)-

Technically not its official name, the Southside of the Oasis is whispered about in the dark of night, rumours telling of an illegal market place and shady monsters working in the south, many a monster wandering in and never coming out. While most likely just old wives tales, its best you keep your distance, just in case.

(Yeah I made the Black Market an actual real marketplace because that will never not be funny to me)

Hotlands-

The north most section of the Oasis is best known as Hotlands, given the name as it’s the highest section of city but also the most shielded by the crater walls, leaving it boiling without any wind to seep out the heat’. There’s been speculation that Hotlands actually sits over an underground chamber of magma, adding to the blistering temperature.

Characters:

The Dreemurrs:

Frisk- (Any Pronouns)

Frisk is an 11 year old kid, a runaway from one of Ebott City’s Orphanages, known for its less than legal treatment of the children. Having joined Chara as the eldest helped them both escape, Frisk followed Chara into the desert, looking for shelter from CPS.

During the trek however Frisk falls sick with an illness, most common in Monsters but able to infect anyone with strong magic, called Icarus syndrome.

With Icarus syndrome being effectively Hyperthermia of the soul, any physical treatment is ineffective, needing a particular medication to have any hope of survival, leaving the crater as not just refuge but possibly their only chance of survival.

Chara- (They/Them)

Chara is 16 and the orchestrator of the escape from the Orphanage with Frisk, after having been in contact online with a kid from the Monster camp that offered assistance. During the escape Frisk fell ill, forcing Chara to locate and purchase the rare medicine. Ending up in the Monster equivalent of the black market, Chara found a monster begrudgingly willing to help, trading a magical glass eye, a prosthetic their grandfather made for both humans and monsters during the war, for a small vial of medicine. The trader warning them to keep out of the black market before dropping the two kids off safely at the center of the Oasis.

Asriel- (He/Him)

Asriel is the firstborn son of the Dreemurrs and heir to the Royal throne, at 16 he made contact and became friends with a kid online, the other telling him of the danger they and their sibling were in at the Orphanage. Quickly offering up his home, knowing both his parents had fostered and cared for many children in the past and wouldn’t turn away two more. Upon meeting them in the Oasis he makes fast friends with both Frisk and Chara, practically adopting them as siblings on the spot.

Toriel- (She/Her)

Queen of the Oasis at 143 years old, Toriel has seen her fair share of bloodshed and peacetime, giving her the knowledge to recognise that protecting young children is the best way to ensure their future, guiding them to Mercy and pragmatic solutions instead of Fighting. One of the first things she did after Monsters had finally settled into the Oasis being starting up a school, becoming the primary teacher for a good few years before other parents eventually began to join her staff. Though, with the two new children her son had brought to her doorstep, she’s begun to realise it’s not just the children of Monster kind that need protection.

Asgore- (He/Him)

King of the Oasis and 146 years old, Asgore grew up at the front lines of the war, the heinous acts shaping him into the pacifist he is today. Currently away from the Oasis, Asgore has turned his sights on communications with the Humans, staying at the city while conferences with the city leaders on trade routes and transportation commence. He is also overseeing the Monster half of the Science team, working closely with the Royal Advisor and Scientists Gaster in developing a cure to Helios’ Curse. He remains in frequent contact with the Oasis, making the trip back every weekend to see his now growing family and make sure Toriel isn’t overwhelmed with responsibilities.

-

The Fonts:

Dr. Gaster- (He/Him)

At 140, Gaster has spent his life developing weapons for war (the Gaster Blaster being his pride and joy) and perseverance for Monster Kind, having a massive distaste for all Humans and most Monsters. The sudden change from war efforts to restoration efforts throwing his life in disarray. Jumping at the chance to use Human equipment on government funded experiments, Gaster didn’t hesitate to leave his sons Sans and Papyrus (9 and 4 at the time) back at the Oasis to move to the city and begin work. He’s had a hand in creating many inventions helping Monster kind (both helping with the medicine for Icarus Syndrome and a magic Sunscreen that can briefly minimise the effects of the sun) and the head of the Selene Project, the project to break the curse.

Sans- (He/Him)

28 and thriving, Sans has made a name for himself as both the comedic slacker of the Royal guard and the savvy businessman as one of the Black Markets best traders. Having been forced to raise both himself and Papyrus from a young age, Sans became intwined with the black market at the age of 12, after Papyrus caught Icarus Syndrome and receiving no help from Gaster off in the city, Sans was forced to find his own way of getting medication. At the age of 12 he found his way into the black market, ending up trading his right eye, and subsequently some of his shortcut abilities with an underground doctor in exchange for the medicine, to this day he hasn’t told anyone what happened to his eye. From then on he found himself going back and getting into trading as a way of making money as a side job while both he and Papyrus worked to get into the Royal guard, quickly becoming infamous in the criminal world of the Oasis, though he had a rule that no kids were to ever be found trading in the market. A rule that quickly got broken when a young human kid stumbled into his shop, begging for help, offering a magic glass eye as payment. Unable to send the kid off without help (or turn down the irony of selling the meds for an eye) he made the trade before guiding the kid and their sibling to the Oasis center.

-

(Bonus:)

After dropping the kids off, Sans makes an attempt to use the prosthetic eye, yet upon fitting it into his socket, the magic activated and bonded with his soul, causing the eye to become fused with his being, immovable. Along with the eye he’s suddenly able to see things he, by all means, should NOT be able to see, including text bubbles from the creators (similar to error sans)

He also finds, magically in his pocket, a small golden key, only figuring out its use after stumbling across a door in the middle of nowhere, upon using the key on the door he finds himself in an entirely different AU, door closing and disappearing behind him.

This is what leads him to discover the Multiverse and travel between AUs (inconveniently ending up in Nightmares Castle more times than he’d care to count)

-

Papyrus- (He/Him)

The Great Papyrus, second in command of the Royal guard at the younge age of 23 (you may applaud now)

Having grown up with just himself and Sans, Papyrus always wanted to become something great to make his brother proud, despite Sans’ insistence that he’s already proud of him. When he was 13, while Sans was out getting food, Papyrus had been targeted and hunted down by a group of bullies from the Southside of town, the group of teens taking turns in beating him up, eventually escalating to the point where one of them pulled a mirror from their pocket and used it to reflect a beam of sun directly onto his face, leaving a permanent scar,

He was saved however, when a teen he recognised from the Oasis center came charging out from one of the nearby tents, picking up handfuls of sand and hurtling it at the other kids before beating them up with her fists alone. Once over, the girl had turned, helped Papyrus up and took him to see her grandfather, the current head of the Royal Guard, a job she loudly proclaimed she was going to have one day,

Ever since then he attempted and eventually got into the Royal guard, along with Sans and the teen, Undyne.

-

Gersons:

Undyne- (She/Her)

29, Captain of the Royal Guard, Wife of the best woman around, living the high life! Having been raised by her grandfather Gerson for longer than she could remember, she’s always looked up to the Royal Guard, no matter how her Grandfather told her it wasn’t all glory. She’d been sneaking out and training with one of the Royal Guards for 8 years by the time she was 19, stumbling across a fight, six of her classmates beating down on a young skeleton. She’d jumped to defense before she’d even registered it, helping the kid up and getting him patched up where eventually the kids brother, Sans, one of Alphys’ friends found them and thanked her profusely.

The three became fast friends, practically siblings, both of them there at her and Alphys’ wedding and her promotion to Captain of the Royal guard.

Alphys- (She/They)

27 and already one of the best Scientists in the whole country. Alphys’ having grown up in Hotlands would have never dared to dream she’d be working with a whole team of like minded scientists, especially not in the human city, though not being able to see her Wife as often was a dampener. Dr. Gaster was also a bit, overzealous, with the project, it was only a matter of time before the madman created some temporal superflux that blew up half the block, even if she wouldn’t be anywhere near as prestigious without his guidance, despite Sans’ reservations for letting them near him.

(I will be adding more to this AU btw, it’s in my top 3 faves lmao)

Bonus:

Animation I’ve done for Helical Sans to explain how his AU hopping works

[shigayokagayama]

incomplete list of weird/interesting manga-anime discrepancies

-you know the bit where they break into the girls highschool in episode 2? yea thats chapter 56. spliced into the middle of chapter 4. its supposed to go before the bit with the ghost family as a lead up to the mogami arc with mob starting to consider evil spirits as just as much “people” as living humans are. all things considered its kind of weird how well it fits its anime placement

-ritsu in the manga gets introduced in the same chapter as teru. you dont see mobs family at all for the first few chapters. infact i dont think his parents appear until like. chapter 25????? every interaction you see between mob and any of his family is completely made up for the anime

-in the manga during the claw arc instead of reigen sending them away all the lackeys just stood there awkwardly during the fight w the scars fdnjksndkjgnd

-mogami arc got GUTTED my god. the part where the fake psychics tried to murder minori got removed, shinras role in the arc got reduced to basically nothing, they move mogamiland ritsu to a bridge like 50 feet away instead of having him walk right over mob, mob only gets beat up like twice, the cat lives, the boxcutter bit is totally removed, the fight with the spirits is made a lot more abstract and less graphic. like im glad this one took the hit instead of the separation arc bc i cant imagine that arc ever being effective as one episode but wow.

-putting the “mob finding his family dead” thing at the end of the episode instead of in the middle of a chapter where it originally was was an objectively hilarious move

-rip the scene of teru outsmarting all three claw guys and saying “say old man have you ever been tortured before” unfortunately all scenes of teru being competent are not plot relevant and must die. also teru can make shadow clones

-hey remember those weird satellite people in claw keeping the viewer updated on where all the characters were in that infinite arc?

-mob with a gun.

-mob getting briefly knocked out while fighting toichiro and dimple possessing him then getting kicked out was replaced w toichiro just throwing him out the window or somethhing???

-toichiro saying that he only kept the super five around as spare batteries and draining serizawas power getting cut was a personal affront to me

-every single emotion mob cycled through in the anime got a 100% meter. the kid was super emotionally unstable in that fight

-that old man whos house they went to whos wraith made everyone asleep that they exorcised? yea they anime team made that up. they never went to his house in the manga, he just went to spirits and such for a shoulder massage

-manga reigen got 0 money for helping the yokai dude. it wasnt on the table. also most of the stuff he was saying was lifted from a video game serizawa played which he pointed out. also serizawa thought getting arrested was a type of spell

-takenakas general meanness was significantly toned down manga takenaka was a huge bitch

-in general the alien arc was a lot funnier in the manga? like the scene where reigen crashes they had reached a dead end on an extremely narrow path and were driving in reverse while tome and takenaka were screaming at each other in the back and inukawa was 5 seconds from snapping and killing everyone in the car. these might be my favorite pages in the entire manga they as so fucking funny

-originally when tome said she wouldnt keep climbing reigen suggested mob carry her with telekinesis (which horrified her) and mob said he was too motion sick to use his powers (obvious lie) but could carry her instead which got her to get up

-mezato asking mob to sign a t shirt for the psycho helmet cult in exchange for relationship advice got cut

-i cry every day that the sequence of ???% waking up didnt get animated it set a very different tone than the anime did. the anime was like. slow build up of dread. the manga was immediately bone deep horror i was literally sitting in my room yelling “WHAT???” over and over again at my computer as i clicked through it

-shigeo and mob conversation cut down significantly, all the references to the body improvement club being mob making a new self rather than embracing who he really is and being scared that all the friends hes made wouldnt like the real him removed </3

-the scene where reigen takes his shoes off is made a lot less somber and depressing. it feels less like “oh he knows hes going to die” and more like. triumphant? in the anime

-100% shigeo kageyama is an anime addition they added specifically to ruin my “the first time we see mob 100% is to fight dimple and the last time is to stop himself from fighting dimple” observation

-anime teru generally seems like hes in a better place than manga teru? manga teru seems very melancholy and like he doesn’t really know what to do with his life or his place in the world (which seems to put shigeo off) but anime teru is like wanna go shopping ^_^ *sips tea happily*

-manga shigeo deliberately threw the cake directly in reigens face and my fury over them making this ambiguous will last until i am dead

[yuurei20]

Malleus Facts Part 25: Frightening (pt3)

Malleus buys something from every vendor that calls out to him during Firelit Sky, as, “People in cities don’t normally address (him) so casually,” and he enjoys it.

Lilia asks if he truly wants to join events that he can never seem to attend, and Malleus is not amused: “Are you questioning my intentions? You of all people? Humans often fear us creatures of the night. Many avoid our company out of sheer fright. It was you and Grandmother who taught me that. And you were both right.”

While a few of the named-cast (and a majority of the mob characters) are openly afraid of Malleus, there are instances where people do not seem to fear him: Savanaclaw students threaten both Malleus and Silver during New Year’s, despite how they seem to be aware of who he is.

Unnamed characters also willingly attack him during Beanfest.

Malleus says that most animals tend to be afraid of him, and when he is met with a fearless goat during Glorious Masquerade he says, “I like it.”

Malleus seems amused by the prefect for the same reason, though he does threaten to smite them with lightning for their boldness.

For the main cast Malleus comments on how Ace “spoke (his) mind openly and honestly, without the aid of others” during Spectral Soiree. In his third birthday interview Malleus says that the opportunity to meet interesting people who know no fear, like Ace, is a reason why he is glad he came to NRC.

Vil also seems unafraid, escorting an enraged Malleus to a safer place during Spectral Soiree and maintaining a defensive spell to protect others from Malleus’ emotionally-charged lightning bolts.

Afterwards Vil observes that he should not be letting an audience get him so worked up, calling him an amateur.

[yurinaa-world]

Could I request a Knight Argenti x Fem Vash stampede reader who’s a wanted for 60 billion dollars? How would they meet and how Arenti falls inlove with them, also I love your stories!!!

Characters: Argenti x Female Reader

Synopsis: with reader that's like Vash

Warnings: Fluff, spelling mistakes,

Notes: OHHHH YEAHHHHH this is what this blog was made for!! my dearest VASHH (Thank you for liking my writing!!!)

𝒜𝓇𝑔𝑒𝓃𝓉𝒾

Honestly, he was going after you (kind of like what happened with the pompom in his trailer), running for your life with your hood up, and trying to conceal your face with your glasses as extra protection! “have mercy!” You scream with an empty gun—not like you were going to shoot someone! But to scare him?) running into an alleyway to escape from him.

“You the humanoid monster I shall strike you down, starting with your head." Those were the words you heard when seconds later, in that alleyway, you just ran into his chest, looking up in dread. He was there!! And strike down?! You didn’t even do anything!! Dropping your gun and putting your hands up spread out in front “Please don’t! It's a misunderstanding!” Sweat is dripping down your forehead.

(10/10 for not being a good experience) He strikes your head but falls backward, the blade missing you for an inch, your hood falling backward, and glasses off your face. And now, blade to your neck. You're totally done with it!! But he doesn’t slash your neck! He goes down on his knee to get a better look at you.

(Love at first sight) just not saying anything, almost touching your face with his hands, but you run off before he could, leaving your gun there too. Doesn't it look like you get another one since the condition of your clothes says a lot (okay, rich man) stitches of colored cloth trying to match the color of your original jacket, scratched-up face, and such an old gun?

Still a beauty with all that, somehow a beauty without even trying.

He plans on finding you again. You peck his interest with just one "fight.” You could have shot him with the bullets in your pocket (that fell out when you ran away) but didn't, and you added that you stayed away from civilians that you could have brought into the chase but didn't. Why not? You had so many opportunities. You were known for being heartless, like some sort of mob boss who showed no mercy and played dirty whenever you had the chance.

You had been laying low, knowing that if you were to be found out again, you'd get hunted like the only wild (and only animal alive) cow on an island full of hungry people, but the people are more money hungry and looking for vengeance. The few bits of cash you have (a bit from people who didn’t know who you were and pitted you, and some from the ground).

At night, lying in a tree and looking at the low amount of money you have, you wouldn’t be able to eat, not even a doughnut! And your gun. It’s gone! You left it there with the crazy knight! It’s been a few days; you'll have to get a new one, or if a miracle happens, you could get your gun back!

A large bang hits the tree you're on, making the whole tree vibrate. You fall off the tree and hit your head first into the ground before flipping from your head to your back in pain and saying, "Apologies." Hearing those words, you look up to see him. ”I’m fine,” you laugh at getting up from the ground, batting off the dirt.

“Are you going to chase me again?” You look at him, nervous that he was here to finish the job. “No, I’d like to have something back to you," he says, handing you your gun and bullets. "Why?" You ask, looking at your gun, which looked better than it did before.

It was as if it were perfect, just like you and your beauty.

if you liked this, consider tipping me on ko-fi! it'd mean a lot!

[musubiki]

I don't know if you have answered this already so if you have you can ignore this, but how did mochi and coco become friends? Since coco is a bit older is she from another class?

she is a bit older, but not in another class! shes one of those people in high school that either have a very early birthday so theyre always the oldest in the class, or she maybe fell behind a grade (since she had delinquent tendencies growing up)

BUT A GOOD QUESTION AND I DONT THINK I EXPANDED ON IT BEFORE MAYBE??? its somewhat skipped over in that webtoon chapter.... first ill talk about a little coco backstory that leads up to it:

essentially, growing up coco was the lazy, troublemaker, didnt-take-school-seriously kind of student that always had bad grades and skipped class. her parents obviously werent thrilled about that, but they were never really hard on her about it and had a good relationship with coco!! at one point (when she was about 12-13 maybe), they had quite a light-hearted and humorous talk with her about getting herself together before high school, and made a little list of things for her to do to have a good life ("a better life than we did," is how they put it).

the things on the list were rather mundane and normal, sometimes kinda dumb. it was things like "study hard 8 hours a week," "learn to cook," "exercise regularly," etc. it also has rather strange ones, one being "change someones life," which coco spent a lot of time trying to figure out what that one was supposed to mean. at the time she treated it lightly and as a joke, and more of a chore like "ah damn i gotta exercise now?? ill do this stuff later"

anyway, when coco was 14, both her parents and her little brother passed, and coco to this day holds on to that list and tries to fulfill every item (which is why she does the things she does, including running every morning, working hard on studies to go to college, getting a part-time job, etc).

NOW how this relates to mochi: one of the items on cocos list is "make friends with good people." when coco first moved to wessport and started school there, obviously she was new and didnt know anyone. the week she started was (if you remember the beginning of that one webtoon episode!!) a week where lime was fighting off a cold or something, so he didnt come to school and mochi was by herself.

their meeting was actually pretty mundane, but coco was lost in the school and asked mochi for directions to various classrooms and such. mochi was very nice to her (as mochi normally is), like she lent her a pencil and piece of paper cuz coco didnt buy any yet, things like that.

at the end of the school day coco just looks at her for a long time and goes "...hey, so you're a 'good person,' then...right?" and mochi just goes "Uh....I guess I try to be?" and for that week coco seeks out mochi to hang out with her. by the time lime gets back theyre already friends and coco lowkey adopted mochi ehehe (and then that one coco intro episode is where this mini story picks up)

[nimmie-nugget]

~Reincarnated as a Knolastname~

Note: HAPPY SPOOKY MONTH!! 🎃👻 gonna be honest- I actually think Crimson might have cared atleast a bit for Moxxie when he was a child 😭 Anyway~ take some reincarnated Moxxie’s Sister Reader Headcanons!! 🥳 Do keep in mind that characters may be ooooooooc, and when there’s 8 O’s you know it’s extreme 🤯. Also I haven’t been doing Tokito Twin’s content for a while so I just wanna reassure that I have some HCs coming up for them 😫!! Enjoy!

P.s in the back flashes of EXES AND OOHS I think Moxxie was 4? Yeah so that makes you 7, your 3 years older 😋👌 tho age is not mentioned at all- and I will make fics of this 😤

Warnings: a lot of slang(not rlly a warning, just thought I’d mention), ooc, may have punctuation, spelling grammer/etc errors,

Info: idk man just wanted to add this 😐

Edit: HOW DOES SOMETHING LIKE THIS- A POST I BARELY PUT ANY EFFORT INTO GET MORE RECOGNITION THEN THIS POST, THE ONE I ACTUALLY PUT EFFORT INTO 👹👹 I appreciate the likes tho don’t take it in a bad way- 😭👌

Edit#2: I recommend u don’t read 💀👍

Helluva Boss Masterlist

______________________________________________________________________

~Reaction to being Reincarnated~

-long story short you don’t know how you ended up here but you found yourself being the daughter of some random old ass guy that’s gonna be the main reason for your character development arc.

-at least that mom with an unknown name will provide you sweets and shit-

-gonna put sum realz shizz on this family fr.

______________________________________________________________________

~Death~

-isn’t this Tumblr? Yeah long story short this turned into a Wattpad story for a second and the famous Truck-kun killed you 🗿 but you forgive Truck-kun since Truck-kun’s just being Truck-kun 😌.

______________________________________________________________________

~Inside a Mansion~

Yup this “Mansion” is someone’s womb, zamn how da heck do you still have memories of your past life? Also why does your very tiny unformed body kinda look like an imp? Just like one from your favourite show Helluva Boss? How can you even see??? It’s pitch black bro- meh it’s whatever 🤷‍♀️ it’s fun kicking at least-

______________________________________________________________________

~Borth~

…I’m not even gonna explain this 🫡 but just so you know Crimson was not there for your birth 😶

-at least you still have the same Borthdah as you did before you were reincarnated???

-Girly just 🖕 this bullshit why’d you have to be re-born in this family out of all the ones in Helluva Boss? I mean- you don’t mind being Moxxie’s gay emo sister but like- Crimson…CRIMSON. Tho make sure to start those teenager phases early so no one becomes suspicious of you when your going through the teenage thinga ma jig 😔

-but yay! You bet that Moxxie’s mom- well basically your mom now, WILL BE THE BEST 😩

-but girly you weren’t even fazed when reincarnated- just accepted it like a champ 😎

______________________________________________________________________

~Crimson’s First Thoughts On You~

-Absolutely nothing- 😃

-only thought of you as his heiress and DEFINITELY to lead his Mob in the future 😔

______________________________________________________________________

~[Unknown]’s First Thoughts On You~

-this is the Mom btw 😃

-gonna be honest I don’t know much since we’ve never really gotten a FULL view of her personality- all that I know is that she’s kind? 🤷‍♀️ Yuh so I won’t really directly say what she thought but I guess I can just- I don’t know man just read I guess 😃👌

-101% THOUGHT YOU WERE CUTE AF!! what happened to infinite%? 😢

-she felt a warm and fuzzy feeling inside, something she never felt ever since she married Crimson 😔.

______________________________________________________________________

~Moxxie’s First Thoughts On You~

-‘Guppa duppa poo daaah dooo’

-don’t tell me you actually expected a real thought from him- Broski was just born 😔

______________________________________________________________________

~Your First Thoughts On Moxxie~

-‘zamn bro’s crying on his borthduh I could never 🙄💅’

-girly he’s like a few minutes old what on Satan’s ass are you talkin ‘bout? 😀

______________________________________________________________________

~What Crimson Thinks Of You~

-your a nuisance, like- what do you mean when you say “put those dawgs away💀”

-yeah you definitely got in trouble so many times- this stupid MF can’t understand slang and just thinks your insulting everyone around you 😶

-forget about you being his heiress, might as well make Moxxie his heir instead 😠

-Now take a very ooc dialogue 😋 btw this is after the Mom’s death 😃

-“[Name], cut it out. That will happen if you don’t stop.” He says calmly, too calm for you to know he’s pissed. (he was implying that he will drown you just like he did to the Mom btw-)

______________________________________________________________________

~What [Unkown] Thinks Of You~

-Loved you from the moment she layed her eyes on you 😩 (cheesy much 😶)

-wrote more then a dictionary just to prove how much she loves you 😔

-yuh that’s all I got 😐

______________________________________________________________________

~What Moxxie Thinks Of You~

He’s 4 rn-

-HE LOVES YOU!!

-your his sister why wouldn’t he- ?

-your basically his partner in crime 😈 both of you steal treats from the kitchen when your not supposed to 😤👍

-if the Mom found you 2 being naughty then sorry to tell you but yer’ both getting a time out 😔

-…BUT IF CRIMSON FOUND YOU- yuh that’s somehow gonna become a family issue problemo 😶💦______________________________________________________________________

I sometimes forget writing is for fun- but I certainly had fun writing this 😎 now I’m gonna tag this in some tags that this doesn’t even relate to which will make everyone hate me but they will soon worship me after reading this masterpiece. Praise this shit rn *points gun at you*

[astronomical-bagel]

yo mutual i love ur tags fr because like u took the words right of my mouth i was so baffled how ppl would side with one more than the other because the autism pvp felt so real to me that i related to Both of them rlly a lot like. So much so it has cemented itself as rlly one of my fave scenes ever because it was a Step up for growth like that fight made them both better people . and it makes me mad ppl belittle toshiros experiences and like ignore his autism for the sake of pitting two bad bitches against each other Good Lord. The Nuance. There is Nuance. and ppl who ignore it just feels so personal to me as an autistic asian person who's been told that there's no way they're not "normal" like ive not been masking and not even like That well either.

Toshiro to me is like a similar vibe of Autism to Mob aka Shigeo Kageyama MP100 where he represses so much of his true feelings and opinions and emotions that he will just blow up one day (validly!!!) !!! like. let him be autistic in peace. not everything has to be a moral failure and not everything has to revolve around Laios just because hes the main character of Dunmeshi. Like they were both so relatable it hurts me...

not me spelling empathized as emphasized lmao

but yeah anyways I really interpret the shuro and laios conflict as just two autistic people who just don’t mesh naturally? At the very least, it’s a complication between two people with very different cultures.

Both laios and toshiro are people who don’t exactly fit in. On shuro’s side, the source of his ‘otherness’ is a little redirected (is that the word?) because his status and nationality already set him apart on the island, but even back home he was reserved and didn’t socialize well. He struggles to connect with others and has a hard time being sincere!!! the argument between him and laios isn’t an evil neurotypical vs blorbo autistic, it’s conflict-avoidant autistic vs social cue blind autistic!

There isn’t really a right or wrong side here, Shuro tried communicating in the way he knew how, but he and laios just simply don’t understand each other’s languages. Their fight is a reset for the both of them; now they each know a vital fact about each other! Laios knows that Shuro has a hard time verbalizing discomfort, and shuro now knows that Laios needs to be told things to understand them. Now they can both find a middle ground and properly compromise between their two opposites.

and it’s important to note that if laios did know he was making shuro uncomfortable, he would stop as best as he knew how, all the way. This guy takes boundaries seriously, as long as there are clear lines to what those boundaries are. And he’s attentive to other’s needs! (See: him and chilchucks friendship. They understand each other very well, I could write a whole meta on it)

Now that he and shuro are seeing eye to eye, their friendship can now progress in a healthier fashion! This fight isn’t the end of the world. (Honestly having a fist fight is like third base to me but we won’t speak of that) Toshiro isn’t evil, he’s just a really cool foil to Laios, and their disagreement serves to establish important parts of their characters and to progress both their character arcs 👍

[nebmia]

Reviewing every rpg book on my shelf: 1, Dungeon Crawl Classics

Everything about this game is absolutely dripping with bonkers maximalist bombast that makes me excited to play. To start with book itself is nearly 2 inches thick. Is that practical? No! does it feel like you've got an ancient tome full of roleplaying possibilities? Absolutely.

In a world tending towards minimalism and 'polished' production its so good to have somthing thats just big and fun and unapologetic about not being what it is.

DCC's dice are a microcosm of everything great about it. Not only do they come in shapes they never taught you about in maths class but they also all come with a fun little bonus. One of my sets comes with a stat block for a monster, while the other has a ridiculous table of reality warping effects on which you roll ALL the dice in the set, and inevitably send your campaign careening off into madness. (and it has a frame story about a stoner wizard in a magic van).

And then there's the actual contents of the book, which is probably about 80% spells and ridiculous tables. And the spells are just so good. Each one takes up a a least a full page on average and gives a range of results according to how well you roll, from 'it missfires and things go horribly wrong' at the bottom, through 'it does about what you would expect' in the middle result ranges, to 'actually, this is almost too much' if you manage to get a roll in the 30s.

Alongside being sick as hell, this also has a satisfying effect of keeping low level spells relevent and interesting as their effects scale with the strength of the caster on a variety of axis.

related to spells is the 'spell duel' procedure. I have no idea how well it runs at the table, but the idea that when two (or more) wizards fight their spells can interact and you can use any appropriate spell to try and counter another spell is so increadibly compelling.

Ok, enough gushing about vibes. what about actually playing? So far what I have run is the 'level-0 funnel', which is probably what you have heard about if you have heard anything about DCC. The premise is simple: randomly generate 2-4 level-0 peasants for each player, send them into a dungeon, and then take whoever survives and level them up to become your characters for a campaign.

Not only does these lead to much hilarity as a mob of townsfolk bungle their way through danger but also really fun problem solving as the players work out how best to navigate problems with a shoehorn, a bundle of wood and a live chicken.

Specifically, what I have run is Sailors on the Starless Sea, which is correctly recognised as THE introductory module to use. Its a nice sequence of somewhat open investigation followed by a excellend sequence of bombastic set pieces, all the while giving the players lots of scope to come at things ininteresting ways. It can get a bit unwiedly trying to manage such large number of characters when they do run into combat but if you plan ahead a bit and use various tricks (it would be useful is more of that advice was in the book rather than coming from forums) it is manageable.

And to return to vibes one last time: the art in these books is just so good. We could not be further from the slightly stiff generic highly rendered fantasy art of wotc era d&d. Its all fantastically old school fantasy, so full of character, and just the right amount of rough around the edges. My only slight complaint is that this does include a little too much of old school fantasy art's treatment of women than I would like...There are still prenty of sensibly dressed women and i'm not about to decree that no sexy fantasy women are allowed but the dial is a little further in a direction of objectification that I would like.

[garlicbreadslice]

This is probably the most lukewarm take ever but I love how in TRC the character surnames are like, a weird spelling of the word ‘perish,’ a weird spelling of the word for a high-ranking military officer, an accurate spelling of the word for a mob illegally killing someone in the name of justice…

Plus, you know, a weird spelling of a type of knitted wool sweater.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Fellow watches a Drama Club production and joins them either because Vil Ortho ask or because he decides their performance needs the Fellow Pizzazz. “Let’s make it fun! That’s what theatre should be.”

… I couldn’t resist joining in the joke about how Fellow and Gidel’s localized names are their fake identities to dodge the police 😂

Fun fact, the buff student I mentioned in this interaction is a reference to Beans Day II; in that event, Vil earns the respect of physically intimidating mob students by beating them up www

So tell me, do you wanna go?

There was, Fellow noticed, a commotion in the courtyard as he and Gidel passed it.

Hmm? What's this?

Fellow waved his hand at Gidel, signaling for the boy to crouch down. Together, the two scrambled into the hedges to observe the scene.

Professional lights and cameras were set up, and the students swarming the perimeter bore clapboards, makeup palettes, brushes, and watches. Others were centered, having traded their school uniforms for new attire—sumptuous suits and glittering baubles. The fine metals and jewels caught the sunlight, winking at Fellow. His gaze snapped to them.

Jackpot!! Those must be worth a chunk of change.

“CUT!!”

Fellow balked at a stern bark cutting through the light hum of activity. Beside him, Gidel made to cover his own ears.

A slender young man with his golden locks pinned into a loose bun had come into focus. He slapped a rolled up script against an open palm, his beautiful face—one that had graced several glossy high fashion magazine covers and TV screens—twisted in disappointment. One withering look from him, and a blanket of silence fell over his peers.

“What was with that subpar performance?!” Vil demanded. “I expect better out of you potatoes.”

“S-Sorry, Schoenheit-senpai,” a mob student stammered an apology, “but I don’t see what I did wrong? I thought I played the conman flawlessly…”

“And therein lies the issue!” Vil countered, pointing his script at the mob. “You assume because your acting was flawless, you played the character correctly? Nothing could be further from the truth!

“The conman is meant to be highly slimy and suspicious, not inconspicuous. He is overly familiar, talkative, and invasive. I felt none of that from your portrayal. It was too safe and squeaky clean.”

They’re distracted, Fellow realized, a smirk slowly forming. Now’s a good time to lift the jewelry from these brats.

Keeping low to the ground, he slinked out of hiding. Gidel crawled after him, following Fellow’s lead.

A light touch of magic was all it took for a brief levitation spell. It was just st enough to make the trinkets float off of their fingers and wrists and to the ground—he didn’t have enough strength to bring them directly to him. Instead, the duo picked up the pieces, stashing them in their jackets and under their hats.

As Fellow was dropping a silver band with a sizable diamond into his breast pocket, a soft voice from behind met him.

“Those are fake, Fellow Honest-san, Gidel-san.”

“H-HIIIIE!!”

He yelped louder than he had intended to. Gidel’s eyes blew wide in alarm. Suddenly, all the students were staring at them.

The diamond ring tumbled from his fingers and onto the lawn. It landed at the heeled feet of the fearsome director. Vil paused mid-lecture, frowning as he retrieved the prop ring.

“… My, it seems we have uninvited spectators.”

“They must have be curious about the Film Research Club’s work!” Ortho suggested with a giggle. The android hovered over Fellow and Gidel like a specter, his eyes as bright as the blue flames he called hair.

“They appear more like thieves looking for an easy mark to me,” Vil scoffed, handing off the ring to a nearby mob student. He returned his attention to the intruders, both his expression and tone glacial. If looks could kill, Fellow would most certainly be a dead man walking. "Aren't you bold for showing your faces here after what you tried to pull. Ortho, you're far too kind to them."

"Hehe. I wonder if it's fair to call it kindness, Vil Schoenheit-san." Though Ortho's mouth was hidden from view, the way his eyes creased implied he was grinning. There was no innocence in it. "I did point them out to you."

"Hm? Club leader, Ortho-san, you know these guys?" a mob asked. "They friends of yours?"

"Friends? Hah!" Vil's laugh was cold and cruel, like that of a scorned lover. “No, nothing of the sort. We met them some time back, and they gave us… trouble, shall we say. And given that they're sneaking about and pilfering goods, I'd wager they don't have the proper permissions to be on school grounds."

“Huh? You punks givin’ aniki trouble?" a student built like a barn muscled his way to the front of the group. A murmur rolled through the others, some shifting to wall off route of escape. A few stepped forward, as if readying themselves for a brawl. Vil was their queen, and they, the huntsmen at his beck and call.

Fellow paled. Gidel gripped onto his trousers--Fellow could feel his little balled up hands shaking. There were too many of them and not enough of him, nor his magic.

"H-Hold on now!" he protested. "Can't we talk this out?"

His begging fell on deaf ears--until Vil held up a hand. His club members stopped in their tracks.

"You have a minute to explain yourself. If you fail to convince me, we will remove you from our campus. You'll have to go through the typical application and approval process to be allowed in."

"Eeeeh~ So kind of you, Vil Schoenheit-san," Ortho chuckled, echoing the dorm leader's word choice from earlier, "offering them a get-out-of-jail-free card!"

He folded his arms, giving a tight-lipped smirk. "I am not so easy to convince."

We'll see about that! Fellow set his jaw, the grip on his cane tightening. Since this kid already knows about my usual trick, I'll have to wing it with just my charm...!

He mustered up all the strength he could into his smile. "That's where you're wrong, my good sir! It seems you folks have made a grave error."

Vil arched a perfectly groomed eyebrow.

"You've mistaken me and my companion for other people! These... Fellow Honest and Gidel folks," he explained with the wave of his hand. "You see, we are not Fellow Honest and Gidel! We are...!!"

He removed his top hat, tossing it into the air. A shower of glitter and confetti rained down as Fellow and Gidel spun theatrically. He caught his hat on its descent, capping it at a jaunty angle on his head as he posed, leaning back on his cane. Gidel whipped out his oversized hammer, attempting to do the same (but stumbling over an untied shoelace before righting himself).

"Ernesto Foulworth and Gino!"

There was a beat of quiet. That moment felt like forever to Fellow--he could hear his heart thundering in his chest, blood violently churning in his ears.

"... Let's kick their asses," someone declared. Ugly shouts of agreement rang out.

"Bzzzzt!" Ortho formed an X with his arms. "Mission failed, game over! Now it's time for the punishment game."

"Hold on."

At Vil's command, the mob students froze, as if spellbound. Fellow would have been impressed had he not been preoccupied with cowering.

"Oooh! Intervention from the Game Master," Ortho marveled, delight sparking in his voice.

"Schoenheit-senpai? You don't really believe these guys, do you?"

Heheheh, of course he does! This Fellow Honest-sama is a genius at acting!

"... Of course I don't," Vil said (smashing Fellow's self-confidence like a toy he was no longer interested in). "No one with a half decent head on their shoulders would fall for such a clear ploy."

"Th-Then why...?!"

"Because we might have a use for them," Vil replied coolly. He pointed a dagger-like finger at Fellow. "Highly slimy and suspicious... Overly familiar, talkative, and invasive... He's the ideal conman for our production!"

"Hey, you just insulted me three times over!!"

"Now that Vil Schoenheit-san mentions it, it's true. Fellow Honest-san has all of the traits of the conman character in our script. It's a 98.9% match!"

"Of course I’m correct. In fact..." Vil tossed Gidel a glance. "There’s a young but well-meaning henchman in the story as well. Considering the strong off-set dynamic between our two newcomers, it could translate well on-set.”

"Whoa, nice thinking, aniki!"

"This will really make the film stand out."

"Vil-sama always has the best ideas."

"Oi, are you bastards listening to me at all?! And don't make decisions about me without my say-so!!" Fellow cried out indignantly. "You think I'm going to lie here and take you kicking me while I'm still down?!"

"Oh? Should I take your protests as an indication that you would rather be escorted off the premises?" Vil asked. "If so, that could be arranged."

"Why's it that my only options are between that and helpin' out with your crummy flick?!"

"You are the trespasser here. I think that speaks for itself." The Pomefiore dorm leader clapped his hands. "Make your choice quickly, then. We haven't much time."

"You just don't get it, do you?! I don't... I can't...!!"

Because I'm not a star. I was never meant to be one.

He couldn't say it. Couldn't admit it out loud.

Gidel tensed, hugging his guardian's arm. It was a warm, comforting gesture but—

The corners of his eyes burned, frustration knotting his throat. His breaths ran dry, ragged.

"... Fellow Honest-san." Ortho lowered himself to meet him at eye level. He was softer now, sweet—almost like a pixie. “You don’t need to worry. Vil Schoenheit-san is a great coach. He can teach you many valuable lessons.”

“He… can?” He sounded small, doubtful.

“Yes! I’m a product of his teachings,” Ortho chirped. “He taught me that if you don’t try at all, there’s a 0% chance you’ll succeed. But try anything and it’s possible for even a 0.01% to become 100%.” The android exchanged a proud look with Vil. “Heheh~”

“Heh,” Fellow scoffed. “Optimistic of ya, kid. Real optimistic. Not sure if I buy it though."

“… Do you doubt my skills? Or is it yourself you don’t trust?” Vil snipped back. "This, coming from the same man who claimed that anyone can become a star?"

"That was obviously a lie!"

“Perhaps the meaning behind it was—but I trust that your feelings weren’t.” The steel in Vil’s voice softened. “I am a skilled actor. It is simple for me to discern when others are putting on a show—but I know… you weren’t acting back then. The excitement and reverence you held for the stage was very much real.”

“…!!” Gidel suddenly leapt, standing up on the balls of his feet. He yoinked Fellow like the man was a tooth that needed to be pulled out.

“Whoa, Giddie! What’s gotten into ya?”

The young boy shot him a pleading look. Then he tugged again. Understanding set in.

“You want me to join,” Fellow whispered.

Gidel nodded firmly. His cheeks puffed with determination, and he returned to pulling.

Listen to them. Give your dreams another shot! he silently screamed. In his eyes, a hopeful sparkle.

A memory erupted in sharp colors and sounds. Him, indicating the stage as its lights kicked on, velvet curtains pulling back. The visitors, their breaths held in anticipation.

"On this shining stage... anyone—yes, even YOU—can be a star!" he had bellowed. Bright-eyed, heart racing. Eager for the next performance, full of dance and song, jubilance and freedom.

Where had that version of himself gone?

A visceral longing twisted in his gut. Admidst that fog of pain, a rebellious thought rose up.

That’s right. I want to be a star too. With all my heart, I want to be a star…!

Fellow choked out a shaky laugh. “… Yeah. Yeah, alright. What the hell, count us in.”

“Hmph, that’s the spirit.” Vil turned to his club members. “There you have it. We’ll resume with the production after a 10 minute break. Ortho, see to it that they are fitted and ready for filming.”

“Roger!”

Vil clapped once more, and the courtyard was set into a whirlwind of motion, students peeling off in different directions. Ortho floated over to Fellow and Gidel with a warm smile.

“Welcome aboard the Film Research Club! Please come this way for a full-body scan. I will be taking your measurements to ensure that the costumes are laser-cut to your figures!”

“You don’t have to tell us twice. Let’s go, Giddie!”

“!!”