#f/o: the tactician of scalding sands

[villain-in-love]

don't have my glasses on right now to double check what the questions actually are but if you're up for answering more 3 and 7? (@canarycurse)

If you need glasses to check the questions, then how were you writing this ask... Okay, never mind. I'm always open to answering more questions, even if it takes a while.

3. Favorite headcanon/fact you have for an F/O? You can answer for multiple if you want

Friendly reminder that mangaka said that Thistle would judge other dungeon lords for their incompetence, if he knew how much they relied on the demon. Because this insane little bastard refused most of the help from the omnipotent being that was literally there to fulfil his wishes, because this weird lion thing is suspicious and can go fuck itself, and instead proceeded to personally build an entire ecosystem all by himself.

No one does it like Thistle.

(He used to be sooo cute before the dungeon drove him mad... I like him better now, though.)

And a few shorter fun facts about some other f/os:

If I had a nickel for every time Jamil tried to burn down a shop because of his fear of bugs I would have two nickels...

If I had a nickel for every time Xerxes was beefing with a kid/teenager, I would have... dear gods, that's a lot of nickels.

When Mukuro first arrived to Japan to search for Tsuna, he was choosing in which school to enroll based purely on which one had the coolest uniform (and it seems like this attitude never disappeared in the future)

7. What's something you feel is uncommon that you do with/for/about/etc your F/O(s)?

Headcanoning ALL OF THEM as bottoms-

I feel like not wanting to marry and/or live with your f/o is somewhat uncommon. But it's just that, for me, things like marriage and domestic life together is a major turn off – it kills all romantic atmosphere.

I don't like the idea of marriage. Perhaps because of the unpleasant association with how it usually goes in our society, but also... It just feels as if my partner is doubting my devotion, if they go as far as to try to bind us legally. I think that... If there's nothing technically tying you together, and you can leave at any moment, but you still choose to stay... It means much more.

I guess I also dread that the realtionship can turn from something exciting into a routine, significantly lowering the fun?

Additionally, most of my f/os are very protective of their personal life and probably wouldn't want to bring their relationship to the centre of attention, so the thought of the wedding would clearly provoke some discomfort. The same goes for me.

That is to say, some of my ships might still get married. But they would obviously have their own individual reasons why they decided that this arrangement would be more beneficial.

[villain-in-love]

hello . it is me again. how about 5, 8 and 1? (@canarycurse)

Well, it's nice to see you here again~

I honestly intended for this to be a small game, but you asked the kind of interesting questions that the answers got a bit out of hand:

1. Newest F/O? Oldest F/O? Any similarities between them? What's the biggest difference/s between them?

*Heavy sigh* Oh gods.

Well...

I mean…

I was a fool for thinking that my tastes have changed in the last ten years. From Ciel Phantomhive to Thistle. I've come full circle.

So here we have two creepy brats with too much power for their own good. Both are of high social standing and work directly for the royal family. Both are traumatized to hell and back, both made contracts with demons, both got way too many responsibilities thrown at them when they were way too young for all this bullshit, but at the same time, they are handling those responsibilities with an astonishing competence? In terms of personality, their personalities are not pleasant. Serious, responsible, driven, intelligent, usually only laugh at other people’s misfortune. Both Ciel and Thistle would probably consider themselves to be a “necessary evil”, as both are quite villainous, but at the same time, don’t exactly have bad intentions…

Also both of them are small, cute, feminine, and are usually dressed in fancy outfits... And both are shotas, I guess. The only two shotas I ever had in my "harem", mind you. Even though I don't really have romantic feelings for Ciel anymore, and I do interpret Thistle as being a late teen going on young adult...

I think that the biggest difference between them is the fact that Ciel admits to being deeply selfish and even takes pride in in it, as that’s what makes him human. Meanwhile Thistle is defined by his selflessness, which, interestingly enough, brought more harm than good to everyone.

Other than that, unlike Ciel, Thistle is way more independent and self-sufficient. But Ciel is much more independent emotionally – something Thistle is very far from (Ciel is certainly dealing with the death of his brother much better than Thistle).

Obviously, Ciel is overall much more emotionally stable and put-together in comparison to Thistle, who grew hot-tempered, paranoid, and erratic as the dungeon took its toll on his sanity.

Ciel is a brilliant liar and an actor, meanwhile Thistle doesn't even try to lie. He doesn't even need to. I mean, Ciel was raised to navigate the noble society and play its games to do his job of policing the British underworld. And Thistle grew up with a 💫jester privilege💫, which later turned into a 💫king's best friend and sworn brother privilege💫, which later turned into "the entire country and the dungeon are under his control and he can kill literally anyone who dares to say a word against him".

...wow, Thistle really is a hot mess in comparison, huh? I still love him, though.

Honestly, I could make an entire essay just about comparing these two, because it is very interesting, but I think that I will stop here.

5. Any common themes or threads between your F/Os, if you have multiple? If you don't have multiple-- what is similar between you and your F/O, and what's different?

...qute a few of them are some kind of older sibling figures, or they otherwise end up taking care of others. Most evident is the connection between three of my main f/os – Thistle, Break and Jamil. Thistle will do anything for Delgal who is basically his adopted younger brother. Jamil has to look after Kalim, plus he has an actual younger sister Najma, who he’s pretty protective over. Then we have Xerxes with his sworn little sister Sharon, and a bunch of other youngsters he accidentally took under his wing.

It was mentioned with Break, and directly shown with Thistle and Jamil, but all three were basically raised from the young age to serve and/or take care of other people, usually in the higher positions than them. Thistle and Break, perhaps because they were treated with more respect and as a part of the family, internalized their position and got attached, later committing atrocities to protect those people. Also Thistle and Jamil are still barely adults themselves, why are they stuck basically parenting someone their own age or even older than themselves? This is all very fucked up.

To a lesser extent – add Portia, who also worked as a servant for several years, but always struggled with being a secondary character in her own life, always caring for and supporting others instead. Also we have Mukuro, who is different from previous characters in that he was always a self-serving leader, but he’s still something of an older brother figure to Chrome and Fran. He is surprisingly caring and responsible towards them, as well as the rest of his subordinates/friends, even if he tries to hide it and pretend that he's not. Then there’s Simeon who is Luke’s guardian…

Wow, I feel like Liang is the only one who doesn't have this going on. Lucky guy. To be honest, he is more likely to be the one who needs supervision himself (someone seriously should supervise this reckless hot-headed moron...)

This is all very strange and I’m honestly not even sure what my affinity for characters like that says about me. It’s not like I even want my f/os to take care of me?..

Uh. Other than that, most of my f/os are kinda mean. Also I tend to fall for arrogant and competent characters. Also, four out of my seven f/os are edgy INTJ boys with long hair!

Additionally... A common occurrence in my ships is my f/os ranging from being tsunderes to straight up wanting my s/i to fuck off (at least at first). Most of them aren't particularly romantic, but also, it definitely has a lot to do with the fact that my s/is tend to be absolute fucking monsters.

8. Anyone you don't have an F/O but like (be it a crush or just affinity)? Why aren't they an F/O? Can you imagine them ever being one? Why or why not?

Okay, there's one individual that I already mentioned here once, and who once again caught my attention as I was rereading some Black Butler chapters now, for the sake of refreshing my memories of certain moments of Ciel...

Yes, I'm talking about the one and only earl Charles Grey himself:

(I am so predictable)

Now, to make things clear, the criteria for a character becoming my f/o is actually simple:

1. I have to be actually in love with them;

2. I have to be able to create a proper lore for a ship with them.

I actually used to be in love with Charles. Out of all f/os I ever had, he was my sixth. Mukuro was the fifth, for the reference. The reason I do not currently have Charles as an official f/o is because he's even less than a secondary character and there's so little information about him, that he couldn't keep my interest for long.

Also I really struggled with coming up with the lore for him and my already existing s/i. Because I created my current Black Butler s/i WAY before I read the manga and fell in love with Charles. And inventing a way for an earl and a mortician's apprentice to date... It's not easy, you know.

BUT. He can possibly become an official f/o (again). Upon rereading the chapters he was in, I once again found him to be very charming... And I did figure out by now that I simply can ship him with the grim reaper version of my s/i, for the most of their story. I just wish he got more screentime and lore in canon...

In any case, I must reread Black Butler, and then we'll see...

[villain-in-love]

Guess who finally got to watching the Tapis Rouge event!

Jamil, you're awful. I love you.

I don't know why, but Jamil acting cheeky always activates something affectionate in me... I want to squeeze him, and kiss him.

[villain-in-love]

Jamil has you feeling things, hasn't he? 👀

This is magic, I'm telling you. This fucker has put me under a love spell, because I'll be climbing walls over there.

Or maybe Yana Toboso is stalking me, because how could someone create a character that so perfectly fits all of my tastes by combining so many seemingly contrasting traits?

For example, I love how Jamil is both a mom friend and a snake. A genius schemer whose plans just keep blowing up in his face. He's so serious that he just circles back to being overdramatic. Do you see where I'm going?

Also he's pretty like a girl and has long hair, which has always been a sure way to get my undivided attention. By the way, this was one of the first images I've encountered of him:

And it's not hard to imagine the effect this art had on me. From the moment I set my eyes on him, I was done for. He looks so cute when flustered, I'm going to eat him alive.

Jamil was also the first character who got his birthday card in the history of this game, and the new round of birthday cards starts with him every year (and I am... strangely proud of this fact).

[villain-in-love]

JAMIL WITH HIS HAIR DOWN!!! IN A LOUNGEWEAR!!!!! THIS IS NOT A DRILL, IT IS FINALLY HAPPENING!!!!!

What if I told you that I literally let out a scream when I saw this? BECAUSE I'VE BEEN WAITING FOUR YEARS FOR THIS MOMENT.

Anyways, Jamil, my beloved, Happy Birthday! And move, please, because I'll be also getting in there to cuddle.

[villain-in-love]

I must confess, I've been listening to these 24 second on repeat for the last 10 minutes.

And think I could go for another ten minutes.

[villain-in-love]

Good thing about Jamil is that I could go to museums with him. If left to my own devices, I can spend an entire day in a museum, but unfortunately, most of the time the people that I go with get bored after thirty minutes after just taking a quick look at everything. And then they nag me to leave already.

Jamil, however, actually seems to be interested in art museums at the very least, judging by his "Platinum Jacket" card. He's got an eye for aesthetics and is knowledgeable about art since he had enough opportunities to listen to merchants who specialize in it. We could actually discuss an exhibition without anyone getting bored.

[villain-in-love]

Somewhere in my Word documents there's a long and very angry rant about people being weird about Jamil when it comes to sexual context.

But I have to structure it properly before posting. There's A LOT to unpack here.

That is to say, I will throw a table at the next person who will assign Lust to him in another one of those "characters as deadly sins" things.

[villain-in-love]

I am so not normal about him.

Fuck Vil, Jamil is the real star of the show for me.

The arch of his back makes me feel things... I've always been against PDA, but for some reason now I want to pull him close to myself by his waist on this red carpet so that everyone knows that this beauty is mine.

And what a nice angle they chose for both sides of the card. That way I don't have to see those atrocious pants and boots, thank gods for that.

Also I imagine his hair would be all wavy after it's unbraided... I want to be the one to unbraid his hair at the end of the day and see it.

[villain-in-love]

I honestly don't know whether I should laugh or cry.

Because what the hell is this:

Who thought it would be a good idea? Those baggy pants are atrocious, made even worse by those clown-sized shoes. The silhouette is completely screwed up here. You shouldn't wear things like that with a trench coat... And why on earth would anyone cut a piece of a coat to replace it with this damn green lace fabric? (The fact that it's transparent makes things worse because of incompatible colors)

All coupled with the look on his face that just screams "dead inside":

I would be too, if I had to wear such an outfit.

Seriously, who was the stylist? I demand to know who gave him these clothes. Whoever it was, they must be charged with crimes against fashion.

[villain-in-love]

And so I decided to check Twisted Wonderland tag today...

...

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

OH MY FUCKING GOD

[villain-in-love]

To think of it, Jamil and Prefect are basically a disastrous couple of a tsundere and a yandere.

[villain-in-love]

All I want is just one card or a character sprite of Jamil with his hair down. Is that too much to ask??

[villain-in-love]

Wait a second, I just realized something.

That's how I see it.

[villain-in-love]

...honestly, if I have to imagine Prefect actually cheering at the game, it would be more like:

“ACE, FLOYD, JAMIL! IF YOU DON’T WIN I WILL FIND A WAY TO SHOVE THIS DAMN BALL UP YOUR ASSESS!! NOW GO AND DESTROY THESE LOSERS!!!”

Also she would act like every football (or basketball in our case) dad out there, yelling instructions, insulting the opposing team, and laughing like a maniac when the NRC team gets additional scores.

[villain-in-love]

Funny how I have two main f/os and both have strong but opposing feelings regarding dancing.

Jamil is extremely good at dancing as that is one of the very few things he's passionate about. Meanwhile Xerxes sucks at dancing and doesn't even want to learn (he's especially bad at dancing with a partner and it's basically a symbolic manifestation of a bigger problem that is his whole One-Man-Show act and refusal/inability to cooperate with other people-)