#but I’m still incredibly grateful for this book and for his route - I’m gonna miss them so so much

[aslanvlad]

This was the scariest thing I’ve ever seen in one of these visual novels, no horror book could even come close to the fear this put into my heart when it appeared on my screen:

[the-unconquered-queen]

Please I wanna know more about your thoughts on Dan x mc relationship. I know its been age since ILITW ended but this is a hill I will die on. Like, I didn't romance anyone else on this book. If I couldn't have him then I didn't want anybody else, 🤧

oKAY, we’re going for it

This is the first time I’ve ever put an answer to an ask under a read more. That should really tell you something about me and about what you’re about to be subjected to.

I would like to start this off by saying that I couldn’t care less about when it ended because it is ALWAYS It Lives hours on my blog and that’s never gonna change. But let’s get into this:

I completely understand why Dan wasn’t an LI. It’s not the same case as with, say, Noah, who’s such a prominent character in the book they could’ve easily added him. Even though Dan’s influence is strong in the series - seeing how his absence brought the group together when they worked to save him - the actual Dan was in a coma for a sizable portion of the book, which would’ve frustrated his romancers to no end. This is why if you look up fan made Dan x MC content, most of it takes place after the events of the book (not including the epilogue), not during them, because at that point, there wasn’t much to go on.

I think that if ILitW had had a sequel that wasn’t an anthology, so a second book with the same MC focused on the same group (which obviously can’t happen because of all the possible combinations of deceased/survivors in book 1), Dan could’ve been made an actual LI in that second book, or maybe players would’ve gotten the first romantic dialogue at the end of book 1 if PB knew they were gonna commit to giving him a route in the sequel. The seeds are all there in the first book, from how close they were in their backstory to how that closeness seemed to linger ten years later even though they’d barely spoken during that time. Dan admitted to never talking to people about his struggles because he was worried people would think differently of him, but with a little bit of encouragement from MC, he opened up to them, which shows a very strong bond between them, which could easily turn romantic in his hypothetical route. I mean, he’d known Stacy for as long as he’d known MC, had interacted more with her since she was the only one who kept in touch with him out of the group and was concerned about his well-being, and yet it was MC he trusted with his feelings.

Also, like I said earlier, the way he spoke of them when they were kids in his scene suggests (to me, at least) that, after Jane, Dan was the one MC was closest to out of everyone in the group. And when, after not speaking to MC for ages, they show up at the orientation he’s attending and tell him they went solely because they knew he’d be there and they missed him, he thought they were joking, but was genuinely happy when they told him they were serious because he felt the same way, which shows that even though they had a falling out that lasted a decade, they easily fell back into a familiar friendly rhythm after just a minute together. Now, as much as I love this ship, I’m not really entirely sold on the idea of Dan having had a crush on MC since they were eight and having it last well into their senior year of high school, but I believe that their easy bond would’ve been a major factor in him developing that crush, and maybe it would’ve already existed by the time the orientation scene took place, only strengthening when they got to actually spend time together when they properly reunited.

But giving it some thought, I doubt he and MC would be a couple right away. I mean, Dan’s been through a lot, and he probably wouldn’t be in the right place to be in a relationship as soon as everything ended, even if he started healing after what happened in the cave. It’s possible that he and MC would’ve mutually acknowledged their feelings to each other so they’d know they were reciprocated but not actually acting on them for a while, just until Dan feels like he’s in a better place to do the relationship and get it right, because I can’t imagine him disregarding that just because he wants to be with MC so bad and then the relationship falling apart because it was too soon, too hasty, and MC would for sure understand that they’d need to take their time to make it work out. 

I feel like even before they got together, MC would be good at reading Dan’s moods when he has off days, knowing when he needs company or someone to talk to and when he just needs space, and they don’t take offense to Dan not being in the mood to talk sometimes because they’d understand that even though Redfield is gone, that doesn’t mean that he’d just go back to what he was like before the PTSD and everything else happened. Dan does the same in return, since he knows MC went through more than their fair share of bad stuff, but he’d also have to learn to navigate that, like I said in my other ask, there would be times when MC might wake up from a nightmare and he’d try to comfort them and find that MC somehow looks even more freaked out and then it dawns on him that MC might be having a flashback of when a dirt monster wore his face in their room and he’d have to talk them down and tell them it’s him.

Moving AWAY FROM THE ANSGT, an established, dating Dan and MC would be such a cute couple. If it happened in-game, the “define the relationship�� talk would end with them kissing while the overhead achievement banner reads “Dynamic Duo” (guess why). I feel like it would be a chill relationship in the sense that they didn’t go straight from acquaintances to lovers, since they had a lot of history together being friends for a long time before dating, so they’d be so at ease with each other’s presence and so used to it that they wouldn’t need to be like some of the couples in their high school who’d need to always have their hands all over each other or constantly making out for you to tell they’re in love, because they could do the most low-key stuff and still be happy together.

They’re probably actual relationship goals. Dan would make such a caring boyfriend, always making small gestures that make MC smile, a real Pinterest-type boyfriend. You ever see those pictures of football players running to kiss their partners on the stands? Yeah, that’d be him, because you know MC would show up to every single game and be his personal cheerleader.

MC would probably get along well with Dan’s parents, too, since I bet his mom would be really grateful that Dan’s got someone close to him he can open up to and who makes him so happy. He and MC would probably have stay-in dates where they just cuddle up close and watch Star Trek while Dan’s cat is curled up and purring between them, and Dan’s mom probably makes them mac and cheese because MC missed her cooking from when they would all go to the Pierces’ for lunch. And when they do their stay-in dates at MC’s place instead, MC always pretends to get upset when their cat wants to be on Dan’s lap instead of theirs, but really they love it because, hello, cute boy being cute with animals? They fall deeper in love with him every time. Also, imagine some time later, MC and Dan’s cats having kittens and then they’re trying to co-parent a couple of furry little babies. No, seriously, imagine Dan sitting on the floor while a bunch of tiny kittens try to climb all over him. Get that mental image in there.

At this point I have written a lot about how much I love Dan and I am fully aware that I’m rambling BUT I JUST THOUGHT OF MORE. Okay, you know the iconic Dan x MC Captain Incredible team up? Imagine Dan and MC slaying every single couples’ costume contest ever. They coordinate that stuff so well that they just own Halloween and nobody stands a chance. I mean, I did say they were goals, didn’t I?

And then of course there’s MC being so completely supportive of him when he starts seriously thinking about pursuing psychology as a career to help people cope with trauma. I mean, they know how complicated his own journey was and they are so proud of him for choosing to dedicate his life to that, since his caring nature is one of their favorite things about him. They probably help him prepare for his exams by setting up study dates to keep him motivated and working so he can make his career happen, and he’s just as supportive when it comes to whatever MC chooses to do.

Oookay, not that I don’t have lots of feelings about this, you know, ‘cause I really just went on and on about how I feel about Dan off the top of my head without any organization whatsoever, but I deadass thought “hey, this is a very long response” and put it through a word count and it is, no joke, over 1.4k words, so I really should stop talking now because people are gonna forget that my brand was supposed to be stanning Andy x MC, but the gist of it is Dan x MC is an amazing pairing, even it It Lives in the Woods didn’t explore the romantic potential there.

[kastillia]

hi hi! @eunoshin asked me to talk about some of my three houses faves besides dimitri which is a crime btw so here we go!!

first things first! i played the blue lions route but i did end up recruiting everyone. however! i....recruited ferdie and leonie too late to support them but i have started my ng+ and have gotten their respective C supports so far so there’s that

at first glance, i really liked dimitri, felix, mercedes, bernadetta, linhardt, marianne, flayn and claude....

i still don’t think i know enough about claude but he’s good in my book

hey guess what i’m gonna talk about dimi anyway

DIMITRI..... god i. i love him so much. i knew he was gonna be a mess even before the timeskip portrait had been revealed but wow. he’s just. so sad. so much!! so often.... you better believe that i started flailing about every time he would comment on my smile and how he loved seeing me happy. and yes i was incredibly sad in those months after the timeskip where he would barely even speak to me (or anyone for that matter) and i absolutely cried when The Thing happened and he began to open up again and i was just so proud of him and i???? i’m on the floor dying still

felix....he’s a little shit. a big grump. but i love him all the same. when dimi was going through his phase i was so close to being like “you knoW WHAT DIMI MAYBE I’LL GO AFTER YOUR ASSHOLE CHILDHOOD FRIEND INSTEAD” but then i got his A support with flayn and whoops back to dimi. i think felix being voiced by lucien dodge made him score higher on my list fdkjfs but he’s a powerhouse and he was very helpful in battle even if he was a piece of shit to dimi and....many other people pfff also damn have you seen those eyelashes

mercedes....i liked her the moment i saw her portrait. i was like “oh she’s cute!!! even more reason to pick blue lions” and she did not disappoint! there was this one support with byleth where she mentioned how she could usually tell when someone was worried about something and i was like “damn is mercie me” pfff but she’s a very nice and very loving mother figure. also she totally throws lorenz into the sun with her burns and i love it

bernadetta....bernie, bernie, bernie....she’s such a mood....and so nervous....and her timeskip portrait is adorable!!! erica mendez did a very good job voicing her. i’m sad that she’s so nervous all the time and god her backstory makes me so mad but all the more reason to protect her....

linhardt....sleepy boy!!! also such a big mood!!! god i feel so attacked by almost everything he says fgdsjkfd i always had him helping with my missions bc i figured i needed another healer and it was always so amusing to me when he was like “ick...battle...” when you pick him and then the reluctant “i’m awake...” after the timeskip dskfbgdh also he’s very pretty...

marianne...i heard somewhere that you were only allowed to recruit two people outside of your house and when i heard that marianne was an immediate go to. she looks like berkut and rinea’s child!!! no i haven’t finished echoes yet and she looks so tired.... and then i finally talked to her and realized that she’s voiced by xanthe huynh and was immediately sold that’s my baby girl!!!! i’m going to protect her from everything!!!! i also....relate to a lot of things she says which is perhaps a bit worrying but wehh she’s so good....

flayn....do i really need to say anything. it’s flayn! she’s so good! so pure! so excited!!! i love her. and she’s so excited when you get Blessed By The Goddess and you now have similar hair/eye colours

claude....i don’t know much about claude on account of only playing blue lions but. he’s a pal. and he’s a pretty. i didn’t trust him at first thanks feh for introducing him as “the schemer” but....he is good.... i’m still playing blue lions for my ng+ but i invited him over for tea for his birthday and he’s very good

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as for those who ended up growing on me....

there’s sothis, dorothea, hilda, ferdinand, dedue, sylvain, seteth, cyril......rodrigue....

figures sothis is voiced by cassandra lee morris. there was a very palpable morgana aura with the way she was always scolding me fdhkdgf but damn....i....really wasn’t expecting her to be so kind and understanding after jeralt died...and i was actually starting to miss her after she granted us her power.....

now dorothea.... i hate her hat i’m sorry i think it looks so stupid and now that i’m on ng+ i’ve changed her appearance so i don’t have to see if as much fdhgfdf her C support with byleth made me very “no thanks” towards her character since she seemed very much like a gold digger but...she got better....as much as i....didn’t think it would happen pfff but i really appreciate how patient she was with bernie... but also a slight yikes at her supports with hanneman

HILDA...first impressions was that she was just a lazy bitch. i mean i should’ve known since claude was explicitly like she’s the definition of lazy but i really didn’t like how she seemed to just take advantage of everyone??? but her A support with byleth really hit home and it.....changed how i saw her. also her timeskip outfit is cute. also her supports with mari are cute.

from the small snippets of dialogue i had with ferdinand, i kinda got the impression that he was just another lorenz and also extremely annoying about being better than edelgard but....he’s a sweet boy...and he’s cute...he kinda looks like alucard after the timeskip but he’s still cute but boy is his father not

dedue is very much the stoic type. a very tall, awkward man with a hidden gentle side.... funny how he ticks off most of the criteria of exactly my type but idk i just didn’t see it at first fdhskjfds i do think one of the things that had the biggest impact was when he shows up on the bridge all those chapters later after dimitri had said that he had died. i mean i knew that he hadn’t actually died but i was still...very emotional at that point fdhsjkfd also i had tea with him the other day and one of the topics was “dimitri...” and i’m dead SAME DEDUE SAME

i’m sure i can’t be blamed for thinking that sylvain was the typical silver tongued noble who flirts with every girl he sees... and i was very quick to call him a jerk in that C support....but it’s...very understanding actually; his way of rebelling. his supports with mercie were surprisingly cute until the “crest babies” part dsfskj and that part when he said he wanted to kill me was...jarring, to say the least but...he’s been through a lot....he’s a good boy

SETETH. MY GOD. i was SO “oh god not this guy again” every time i saw him for like the first quarter of the game but then after we rescued flayn and he started being....y’know, not as “lady rhea why are you putting your trust in this STRANGER” he’s....very good. the brains of the whole monastery. everyone’s dad. and his blind overprotectiveness of flayn is really endearing as much as flayn doesn’t think so pfff

every time i saw cyril before the timeskip i was like “who is this sassy little kid” like damn he seemed so angry and unimpressed all the time. but, this may have been bc i didn’t focus too much on getting supports until after the timeskip, at least by then i was like “wow he actually doesn’t look like a baby anymore...” and also his bluntness was very amusing in his supports with hilda and manuela dfhskjfds

rodrigue....i....feel bad thinking that he was gonna be a bad guy.....i mean he...kinda looks the part.....and i thought maybe there was more to why felix hated him but......he really was just a genuinely good man...and i’m very grateful for all he did for dimitri especially after the timeskip......such a good man...

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there are...more characters i love.....maybe not my absolute favourites but.....i do like plenty of the cast

i guess i’ll probably have to play the other routes to find out more about their exact circumstances

but for now i’ll revel in my blue lions ng+