#he's actually pretty weak compared to our mcs

[elmaxlys]

Vote Aikawa!

[andorerso]

sissi hello!! in regards to the post about ocs, i would LOVE to hear more about dani and elijah 💜 (partly bc i love both of those names so so much, always have, and that intrigues me instantly).

hope you're having a wonderful day!

rolling up almost two months later like hiiiiii <3 sorry it took me so long to answer ahfgdchg

but first of all, thank you for asking because I love talking about them, second of all, I'm so happy you like the names because I do too 🥰 well obviously, I wouldn't have chosen them otherwise, but I'm very particular about names and they have to feel right, and this was one of those instances when I almost instantly knew their names, like it was just fate. meant to be. and I think they sound nice together!! anyway, I'll stop ranting about names now

so, the story is urban fantasy, and their tropes are slowburn, mutual pining, idiots to lovers, battle couple, codependency, angstttttt, two sides of the same coin, flirty & awkward, snarky & serious, impulsive & rational, short-tempered & calm

Dani (full name Danielle Preston but she hates being called Danielle) is our leading lady, she's in her mid-20s, and she's the flirty, snarky, impulsive, short-tempered side of the two. she's always cracking a joke, which is mostly a self-defense mechanism, and tends to cover up real feelings with humor, sex and booze. I have such a soft spot for characters who'd rather cut open a vein than show weakness or vulnerability in front of someone, but still deeply care about people and are intensely loyal if you earn it, so she's kinda that archetype. she'd literally burn down a whole city for someone she loves but will never actually say the words. also she's bisexual like almost all my MCs

here's kind of how I imagine her (made with this picrew)

and Elijah is the more level-headed, serious, all business no fun counterpart to Dani's generally chaotic behavior. he's a couple hundred years old, and not human, but he looks to be in his early 30s. he's very matter-of-fact, goal-oriented, and pragmatic, but he's also very kind to those who deserve it, and can be surprisingly intense and passionate when he actually lets himself feel it (which is not very often, at least not at first). he has a very strong sense of justice, but he kind of follows his own moral code, so he definitely falls into the morally grey category (Dani kind of does too, but Elijah even more so)

here's a picrew for him too

as for their relationship, it starts as kind of an unwilling partnership and they clash a lot at the beginning because of their different approaches and worldviews, but they eventually form a friendship. Elijah's kind of drawn to her/fascinated by her from the start, because she's so different from him but has a lot of the qualities he admires/wishes he had too. Dani takes a bit longer mostly because she's better at lying to herself lmao. but there's an attraction of sort from the beginning. it's a difficult ride, mostly because they're both stubborn idiots who tend to repress their emotions, just in different ways. she's lost people and is afraid to lose more, and he's just not sure he knows how to allow himself to want things and be a functioning human person, so neither wants a relationship and they're both violently trying to deny any feelings. but the feelings are definitely there. like they're not together but they're deeply devoted but they will never admit it but there's no one else who could possibly compare. those kinda vibes, you know?

some other tidbits/details that I love about them: she loves to antagonize him (mostly in a teasing way) and he's so offended/annoyed at first until he realizes it's her love language. then the annoyance turns into fond exasperation. she's pretty much the only one who can make him genuinely smile and laugh, in fact sometimes he's the only one who actually finds her funny at all lmao (she definitely overdoes it sometimes but he finds it charming). she's a bit of a romantic deep down, and he's very intensely devoted once he commits, so it's the kind of relationship she always secretly wanted but never thought could have. and he's the only person she will tolerate calling her Danielle (it's kind of a turn-on from him).

anyway, I could go on but it's gonna get long very quickly, so this is just the basics. but I love talking about them and I'm always open to more specific questions from anyone <3

also here's a moodboard too because why not

[randomnameless]

@zeroabyss replied to your post “@zeroabyss replied to your post “You're not wrong...”:

I definitely say a father telling him he has to do it all on his own and that he can’t even rely on his friends or even their fellow nations, definitely pushed Lyon to take the path that he did. No one can handle something on their own, and so Lyon was tempted to use the one power their texts said had the power to avert disaster.

​You can see how this issue was more than likely a flaw when Lyon talks about him to the twins. About how his father took on the burdens all on his throne and barely, if ever rested. The man shouldered everything that it likely played into his worsening health and death, and his final words being to tell Lyon he can’t rely on help from others concerning a natural disaster and that the other countries would leave any Grado refugees to die at the border to protect themselves

Vigarde pushing all of the country's hopes and aspirations on his unprepared son was his mistake, sure, but...

Between Vigarde telling him to deal with Grado's fate alone because relying on Renais is impossible, and Vigarde/Father Mc Gregor/The World telling him not to free Satan to use his powers because Satan nearly destroyed the continent centuries ago, if Lyon had to pick one command to disobey, I suppose he could have picked the "I'm still going to ask for Renais' help" instead of "I'm going to use Fomortiis' powers".

Vigarde might have steered him in the wrong direction - Lyon already playing with Fomortiis' powers (to save a child! and then to predict tempests and save more lives!) was his own thing.

It's SS in a nutshell, good intentions alone cannot justify the worst means used to satisfy/reach them.

Lyon lamented and complained about his perceived weakness, feeling he would never compare to the twins nor would be the kind of ruler Grado will need to save itself... so he doomed Magvel, wanting to be the strong and kind person he wished to be.

I think this is the flashback where it's more or less spelled out :

Lyon: “Mm… My research isn’t complete yet, but there’s no mistaking the power the Sacred Stones contain. And the Stone of Grado seems especially responsive to my dark magic. I suppose it’s because it contains both sacred and demonic properties. Regardless, if I can just press my studies a little harder… Well, I think I might be able to use it to heal my father’s illness. If that works, there’s no telling how many other people I can help as well.” Eirika: “Do you think this is wise? The power contained within the stones is beyond our understanding… My father tells me that the stones possess a power not to be trifled with.” Lyon: “Uh-huh… Father MacGregor is also against it. That’s why they still won’t give me direct access to the Stone of Grado. For the time being, I’ve made do with the radiant energies surrounding it. They’re nothing compared to the raw power of the stone itself, but… If I can show Father MacGregor some real progress, perhaps one day…”

(...)

Lyon: “Thanks, both of you. Hearing those words from you means a lot to me. Actually–and this hasn’t been made public yet–but… I’ve already saved someone using the knowledge I’ve gleaned so far.” Ephraim: “You have?” Lyon: “Uh-huh… A while back, a fire ravaged Serafew, and a little girl got trapped in the flames. Her burns were terrible: not even healing staves were able to cure her injuries. But just a sliver of the stone’s power restored her life and healed her wounds. We saved that girl’s life, Ephraim! Oh, if you could have seen the tears of joy in her mother’s eyes!

Fado, Ismaire and I'm pretty sure Vigarde himself know it's not wise to triffle/use the SS powers... Father MacGregor is also against it, as the resident "holy man" around - and his words are important, since the Church of Magvel was founded after Latona, who fell herself (but managed to fend him off for some reason ???) to Fomortiis' possession! - but Lyon's reply is... Mockery? Or disinterest?

Father Mac Gregor wanted to prevent him from continuing on this path, and forbade him access to the Stone! But Lyon didn't care and still used what was... available, when he also knows the power he is using has demonic properties, and a will of its own!

Lyon's reasoning isn't "Father Mac Gregor is right maybe I should try to consider that I cannot "use" Fomortiis" but something like "maybe he doesn't believe me when I tell him this power can be used for good! I just have to continue working on it!" completely missing the point...

Or is he?

Sure, Lyon saved the Serafew child... but this hadn't made been public as of yet (2 years before the start of the game), like was this not enough to convince Father Mac Gregor that he could use those powers to do right and good things? Or Lyon himself realised he... "saved" someone who was already dead?

This flashback is even more interesting because we have this, the twins' failure :

Ephraim: “Using the Sacred Stones to study magic…” Lyon: “Ephraim, Eirika, what do you two think? Using the divine power of the Sacred Stones in this way… You don’t think it’s a very good idea, do you?” Ephraim: “…It’s just that I know nothing at all of magic. I would that there were some way I could help you, but I simply can’t. But, Lyon, I’ve seen how hard you’ve worked to help others. I know how much you want the power to make others happy. I know these things, and because I know you, I trust your intentions.” Lyon: “Ephraim…” Ephraim: “If you hope to use the power of the Sacred Stone for good, I trust you can. I’m behind you all the way.” Eirika: “I agree with Ephraim entirely. You spend every night in the library, studying cures for your father’s illness. The power of the Sacred Stones is too powerful to be used for personal gain. But you, Lyon… I think you’ll be fine. You’re the kindest person I know.”

It's a double failure on their part, firstly because they give empty reassurances to Lyon claiming to know him, how he wants to use this power because he has the right intentions, or how it's totally not used for his personal gains...

When part of Lyon's desire for power was to help people, sure, but also, to be worth someone in Ephraim and Eirika's eyes!

Secondly...

No, the power of the SS (especially the one housing Fomortiis!) cannot and should not be used, even for "good" or with "good intentions". There are lines that shouldn't be crossed, even if it means not being able to save people/not reach your dreams.

The Epilogue in Eirika's route is very explicit :

Eirika: “That would be nice… But first we must seal this away… This stone banished the Demon King. With such power… Do you suppose we could bring back Father and Lyon… That everyone who died in this dreadful war could be–“ Ephraim: “Eirika.” Eirika: “I know, I know. Such things would be– I cannot wish for such things. No matter how it hurts, or rather because it hurts, we must learn to accept sorrow. We must take it into our hearts and tame our grief…” Ephraim: “Eirika… Tell me, Sister… If Lyon were here with us, what do you think he would want?” Eirika: “What he would want?” Ephraim: “Yes. You see, I think I know. It was the reason for his studies. It’s why he wanted to know about the Sacred Stones–or rather the Fire Emblem. Let’s take Lyon’s dreams and fulfill them in his stead. We can do that, can’t we? Without relying on any mystic power?” Eirika: “You’re right, Brother, we can. Let us fulfill his dreams. As Lyon wanted, as we all want… So we may live in peace and joy.”

Sure this epilogue sort of sucks because Eirika has to be explained things by Eph out of anyone (when we know how he takes the news in his route!), but the point still stands, tempted with the power to achieve the impossible... the heroes refuse and accept to move forward and fulfill their dreams (make the impossible possible?) without relying on mystic powers, especially if it comes from Fomortiis himself!

[anenbylittlepotato]

The Bros + side dateables (Minus Luke) React to You Comparing Your Hand Sizes

Warnings: Very fluffy. Not for the faint of heart. You might die of cuteness. You have been warned.

You're sitting with this person just kind of chilling while you're both doing your own thing when you glance over at their hands. You wait a long enough pause in what they're doing before reaching over and taking their hand, holding it so that you can gently press your palm against theirs. Also, this is an MC who has relatively small hands so-

Lucifer

You're sitting beside him as he works, scrolling through your D.D.D.

After several hours of both of you sitting in silence, each doing your own thing, you finally look up from your D.D.D.��

You look over at Lucifer, who's still completely absorbed in his work. 

Then your eyes drift to his hands, the pen he's gripping gliding across the paper in front of him.

As you watch, he sets the pen down and starts stretching his fingers. You aren't surprised his hands are cramping. He's been writing for a long time now. You're probably the only person he would show this kind of weakness to, which makes you feel kind of special.

As you watch, an idea pops into your head. You set down your D.D.D. and gently grab his hand.

He's a little startled at first and gives you a quizzical look, but he doesn't stop you. At least it's a distraction from all of the bills Mammon has piled up.

You hold his gloved hand so that you can gently press your palm to his, lining your fingers up with his as well.

He has pretty big hands. They're not huge, but they're somewhat significantly bigger than yours.

He lets out a low rumbling laugh.

"What, exactly, are you doing, MC?"

"Comparing our hand sizes. You have really big hands."

He lets out another small laugh.

"Or perhaps you just have small hands."

And at that, he gently folds his hand over the top of your smaller one, almost as if proving his point about your tiny hands.

He then smiles and brings his other hand over to cup your cheek as he gently plants a kiss on your forehead.

Afterward, he lets go of your hand and goes back to work.

Mammon

You two are sitting together on the couch in his room.

You're both on your D.D.D. sending each other random memes that you find and giggling together. 

And during one of the moments of quiet moments where you're both scrolling, you look over at him.

He's still absorbed in his D.D.D., a big, goofy grin plastered across his face as he scrolls through the memes.

Your eyes drift to his hands as his thumbs move, pausing every so often to read a meme, then moving on when he deems it unsuitable to send to you.

As you watch, he pauses on a particularly long meme. You take this chance to reach over and gently take the hand, pulling it toward you.

He immediately tenses and looks over at you, his face flushing bright red.

"H-Hey, just what do ya think you're doin', MC?"

Instead of answering, you move his hand so that the palm is facing upwards and you gently press your palm against his, making his fingers flatten out as you line your fingers up with his.

He watches you, his face red, his heart racing, and his fingers trembling ever-so-slightly.

His hands are probably not that big, only being a little bigger than yours.

"M-MC? What are ya doin'???"

You look at him and smile a little.

"Comparing our hand sizes. Yours are bigger than mine."

"H-Huh? Oh! W-well, of course, they are! Just shows how awesome I am! After all, I'm the GREAT Mammon!"

You laugh a little at his words.

"Yeah, yeah. It's just hand size. Doesn't make you any better or worse than me."

Then, without giving him a chance to respond, you curl your fingers between his, holding his hand.

That's it. He's dead. You've killed him.

His whole face is red and he's a flustered spluttering mess.

He literally cannot form a single coherent sentence. He's dying, help him.

It takes him a full 10 minutes just to calm down.

When he finally does, he turns his head away before gently holding your hand back.

You laugh a little at how flustered he is.

Leviathan

You guys are just chilling in his room together, sitting side by side. You're watching anime on your D.D.D. while he plays video games on his handheld console.

At the end of one of your episodes, you look up and glance over at Levi.

He's so entranced by his game that he doesn't even notice you looking at him. His brows are furrowed and his tongue is sticking out slightly in concentration.

You smile when he lets out a small cheer when he beats the level he's on. He leans back a little and lowers the game as he relishes in his victory.

Out of a random whim, you reach out and gently take his hand, pulling it toward you.

He jumps in surprise and lets out a small yelp as you turn his hand so you can flatten your palm against him.

His whole face turns red as you closely study your hands pressed together.

His hands are actually surprisingly big. Not big like Lucifer's but definitely bigger than yours.

"M-MC! Wha-what are you d-d-doing?!"

In response, you look at him and smile.

"I'm comparing our hand sizes. Yours are actually pretty big."

He covers his face with his other hand, not moving the one you have away.

"Wh-what a normie thing to do, MC… I guess it's to be expected from a normie like you…"

You were literally just watching anime but okay-

When he notices you look a little downcast at his insults, he frantically tries to apologize.

"W-wait no! I- I didn't mean that I'm sorry!"

When you look back at him, he smiles at you a little.

He was so focused on trying to apologize, he didn't even notice that you'd curled your fingers around his hand. 

When does realize, though, he's immediately back to being a flustered, stuttery mess.

You broke him.

Leviathan.exe has stopped working.

Satan

You're both sitting in his room, on his bed together.

Both of you are reading books. You're reading a really interesting fantasy book he'd recommended to you. Meanwhile, he's reading a book about cats.

At the end of the chapter you're on, you sigh and lower the book, processing what you just read. You cannot believe that just happened to the main character.

While you're doing that, you glance over at Satan. He's still very much absorbed in his book. 

As you watch, he takes one hand away from the book, shifting it so that he can balance it in one hand, and brings the other up to his chin, rubbing it as if he were deep in thought.

Then, just as he's reaching back down to turn the page, you set your book down and reach out and gently grab his hand.

He blinks, shocked, and looks over at you curiously as you gently press your palm to his. His cheeks flush a little.

His hands are only a little bigger than yours. They're still a little bigger than Mammon's though.

"MC? What are you doing?"

"Comparing our hand sizes."

He looks down at the two of your hands. 

"I see. It seems my hands are a bit bigger than yours, huh?"

You nod a little, smiling at him.

Then he glances at his book before looking back at you.

"Now… I can't exactly turn the pages with one hand, can I?"

You laugh and reach over with your other hand, turning the page of his book yourself.

He chuckles a little and thanks you as he curls his fingers around yours.

Asmodeus

You're both sitting on his bed while he's looking at his reflection in a mirror, applying makeup.

He's going to do yours next, so you're scrolling through pictures on his D.D.D. as you try to decide what look you want.

When you finally find a look that you like, you click the image and set the D.D.D. down to wait for Asmo to finish his own makeup. While you wait, you look up and watch him apply his makeup, carefully applying the pink lipstick.

When he's finished, he caps the lipstick and sets it down on the bed beside him while admiring his work.

Then, just as he's bringing his hand back up to the mirror, you grab his hand, careful not to touch his freshly painted nails.

He looks over at you quizzically at first, then he smiles at you.

"Aw, do you want my attention~? Don't worry, I'll get to you in a moment, darling."

Without responding, you press your palm to his, lining up your fingers.

Asmo has pretty small hands, being about the same size as yours, maybe even a little smaller.

He looks a little confused as he watches you study your hands.

"What are you doing, dear?"

"Comparing our hands' sizes. You have small hands."

He laughs at that.

"Oh, you are just so cute!"

He takes his hand from yours and gently taps your nose with his index finger.

"Come now, show me what you have picked out there."

He picks up his D.D.D. and looks at the image you have up.

"Ooh! Good choice! Now come here, love."

And with that, he starts working on your makeup.

Beelzebub

You're sitting in his lap on his bed. He has his chin resting on top of your head as he munches on one of the many bags of chips you two had bought earlier. You're looking at recipes online, trying to figure out what to make for breakfast tomorrow since it'll be your turn to cook.

Soon, Beel has finished his current bag of chips and he sets the empty bag aside. You glance at his hand as he reaches out to grab another bag.

You smile a little and set down the D.D.D and gently take his hand, laughing inwardly at the feeling of his greasy fingers.

He's a little shocked by this action.

"Huh? MC, what is it?"

You gently press your palm against his.

"Comparing our hand sizes."

Oh boy, does this boy have some big hands.

Very large hands.

Definitely bigger than yours. By quite a bit, actually.

You giggle a little as he moves his head down to rest on your shoulder to get a better look at your guys' hands.

"Your hands are so big, Beel."

He laughs, and you can feel the sound in his chest, vibrating you a little bit.

Then he closes his hand around yours.

"Well, yours are pretty small. At least compared to mine. I like that. It's easier to hold them."

Then, he cups your cheek and gently kisses your lips before taking his hand away from yours and finally grabbing that next bag of chips.

Belphegor

You and Belphie are sitting on your bed together. He's sitting beside you with his arms wrapped around your middle and his face nuzzled into the crook of your neck, half asleep. Meanwhile, you're in the middle of sewing up a hole in his pillow that he'd somehow managed to tear. Not surprising, seeing as he carries it everywhere. And, of course, it was Mammon's fault, even though you have a sneaking suspicion that it was everyone's fault. So now you're his new pillow until it's fixed. You have no choice. Deal with it.

After a while, you have to set down the needle and thread and stretch your cramping fingers. Sewing is painful-

He notices your pause and lifts his head, looking at you. 

"Is it done yet?"

"Not quite. I still have a little ways to go. But I need a little break. My hands are starting to cramp."

He then grabbed the pillow and peered at the mostly sewn tear.

"Huh. You weren't lying when you said you could sew. That's actually pretty good."

You laugh a little as you watch him start to pull his hand away. Without thinking, you gently grab his hand.

He blinks and looks at you as you press your palm to his.

His hands are a decent size. Not big, but decently bigger than yours.

"MC… you're being weird again."

"No, I'm not. I'm comparing our hand sizes."

He looks back down at your hands.

"Hehehehe, mine are bigger. You have small hands. Baby hands."

Baby Hands is your nickname now.

You have no choice.

He will now call you Baby Hands any chance he gets, just to see how frustrated you get with him.

He is pure evil. A gremlin man. Stinky bastard man.

Diavolo

You're sitting in his lap as he works. You're drinking tea made by Barbatos.

You watch as he writes papers and signs forms while sipping your tea.

Soon he's finished a full stack of the papers. He leans back with a sigh, wrapping his arms around you.

"I think it's about time I could take a break now. I made quite a bit of progress."

You lean your head back so you can look up at him, smiling. Big man

He grins right back at you.

Then you look down at his hands placed gently on your belly. One of his thumbs is moving, gently rubbing your belly.

You softly grab one of his hands. He's a little surprised, but he's more curious and leans down to watch what you do.

You gently press your palm to him. He tilts his head like a confused puppy, trying to understand what, exactly, you're doing.

BIG HANDS. BIG HANDS BIG HANDS BIG HANDS.

This man's hands. Are Fuckign. Enormous.

He has such big hands. The biggest. Bigger than Beel's.

They fucking engulf yours.

Big hands for a big man ig

"Is this some kind of human world tradition?"

He asks that question so earnestly I can't-

You laugh.

"No, no. I'm just comparing our hand sizes. Yours are huge."

This time it's his turn to laugh.

"Yes, I suppose they are."

He then brings your hand up to his lips and kisses the back of it.

Barbatos

You're sitting beside him while he folds laundry that just came out of the dryer. You're sipping some milk tea that he'd made you.

You're watching him as he works. Every fold was so meticulous and pristine. It's almost mesmerizing.

As you watch, he pauses briefly to let out a breath before immediately reaching to grab another article of clothing.

Before he can though, you gently take his hand.

He looks at you, not really surprised, as he likely saw this coming.

He watches quietly as you gently press your palm to his.

His hands are bigger than yours but they're not particularly large.

He smiles softly as he watches you.

"Are you enjoying yourself?"

You look at him and smile a little.

"Yeah, I suppose so."

"I'm glad. I really do like seeing you enjoying yourself."

You look back down at your hands. 

"I was comparing our hand sizes! Yours are bigger than mine."

"I can see that."

He takes his other hand and places it on top of yours, smiling softly. He rubs the back of your hand with his thumb.

"Now, I must get back to work. I have many more things I must get to."

He kisses the back of your hand swiftly before returning to his laundry folding.

==

Don't worry, guys, I'm still adding Simeon and Solomon, I just... Couldn't fit them in this post. I'll be adding them in a reblog

[luminari-mc]

(Mammon x MC/Reader)

Prompt: "She doesn't compare to you. No one does.”

Genre: Angst, hurt(emotional)/comfort.

Pairing: GN!MC/Reader x Mammon

Summary: You and Mammon finally get to enjoy a well-deserving shopping trip just between the two of you. Just as you are about to hit the next shop, your attention is caught by an image advertised in the street.

Warnings: N/A

A/N: I wanted to try my hands at a prompt that is tagged as "fluff", but of course I ended up turning it into something angsty instead. But I like sad stuff, so that still works for me.

-------------------------------------------

It wasn't often that you got to spend time with Mammon without having any of his brothers around to bother you. But you had made it very clear to them that these few hours after school would be spent with Mammon, and only him. And for today's trip, you two had decided to go shopping in one of the busiest streets in the Devildom.

Clothes and jewelry stores, malls- you had done them all. When most of this time had been spent doing window shopping, Mammon had still insisted on getting at least a few bags of purchased goods for each of you by the end of the day. After all, what was the point of going on a shopping trip, if you didn't end up emptying your bank account only to regret it later?

And so, thanks to the demon's wonderful influence, your arms had now several bags hanging off of them. There was a certain guilt still looming over your head as you realized way overboard you might have gotten with your purchases, but Mammon promised he would take care of any financial problems you could encounter in the near future because of that. You still wondered how he was going to manage it, him being Mammon and all...

"Damn, now THAT'S what I call a good haul! Look at ya!" The white-haired demon grinned as he watch you hop out of the store, the glass doors opening automatically at your presence to let you out. He placed his wrists on his hips as his own bags dangled in his hands. "What'cha got for yourself this time?"

"They actually had that jacket I saw in a magazine the other day!" The doors closed behind you as you showed the white bag which contained the jacket. "You were right, that store was amazing. I can't believe you never showed it to me before."

"Ha! Told ya the Great Mammon knew where the best treasures were! Consider it an exclusive info, because I ain't gonna share more if any of my brothers are around next time." Mammon turned around before flipping a few of his bags over his shoulder, as you instantly began to trot to get to his level.

"What? So all this time you knew about it and you didn't tell me? Just because Asmo comes with us sometimes?" You expressed shock, right before your eyebrows joined together. "Really, as if you couldn't have told me over text or something."

"And have you go without me?! Nah, ain't gonna happen- you'd just get lost and end up in the worst store possible." Mammon glanced your way, and you could only smirk at his poor excuse.

"Sure, you're right. I forgot that humans don't have the same flawless sense of orientation as demons do." Despite your obviously sarcastic tone, Mammon didn't seem to register it as he nodded at your words.

"Exactly! Even if I gave you the full address, who knows where you'd end up? I don't want ya to come and complain to me afterwards, so it's gotta be with me or nothin'."

Even as you rolled your eyes, you noticed Mammon's face slightly turning away from yours, probably to hide the extra shade of color that had appeared on his cheeks ever so discreetly. Even when he was in his usual tsundere mood, it was endearing to see how concerned he was for your safety. And just how badly he wanted to be alone with you.

"So, where to next?" You asked without really thinking, surprising yourself that even after your extensive purchasing, you still wanted to do more. Or maybe it was that you didn't want this date to end right away. The past few weeks had been nothing but the brothers interrupting each other when any of them found themselves alone with you, so getting to spend some alone time with one of them, especially with Mammon, deserved to be extended a bit more.

"Glad ya asked!" As if a battery had been plugged into him, the demon brandished his arm into the air, the bags swinging by his face and missing him by a few inches. "I got this whole place where they're sellin' tons of stuff for pretty cheap, but it's actually authentic branded things. See, they're actually sold to that one guy who then has to sell them to another guy, and..."

As you listened to Mammon explain how he was able to find "authentic stuff" (probably not that authentic, you were pretty sure about that) for less than a quarter of its original price, your eyes found themselves drifting to an impressive ad plastered on a building the two of you were walking by. Recognizing the habit of Majolish to put their models on display for everyone to see was pretty easy, but that wasn't what caught your eye in the moment.

What tuned Mammon down completely in your ears, were the models themselves. The second born, sitting on a stool with a ripped shirt and pants, a few accessories hanging off his neck and barely covering anything of his exposed chest. He looked serious, staring straight at the objective- and at you, while the light shined on him to completely capture his frame for the picture.

And sitting down in the middle of the shot, between his legs, was a female demon wearing a red leather dress, her head resting on top of Mammon's leg. The clawed hand dangling off his knee- covered in golden rings, seemed to taunt you, as well as the piercing yellow eyes she had. Saying she wasn't beautiful would be lying. In fact, she was absolutely stunning. A perfect model for a perfect shot. Just looking at her made you feel small, like a prey that was about to be devoured by a hungry beast, the longer you were looking at her.

But that's what demons were supposed to make you feel like, right?

"Hey!" Mammon called out from the distance he had put between the two of you since you had stopped walking beside him. "Yo, MC!"

Watching as you kept staring into nothing, Mammon rolled his shoulders with a furrowed brow before walking back toward you, his head tilting to the side as he noticed your dead expression.

"Huuh hello, Devildom to MC? In which realm did ya get lost this time?"

"They replaced it." The words that left your mouth were weak, almost too silent for him to hear. It's as if all of the energy you had had evaporated from your body in an instant.

"Huh?" Mammon grew a bit concerned at this sudden change. His eyes perked up at the ad you were looking at, as you continued.

"The shoot we did together." Finally, you spared yourself from the sight, your gaze dropping to the ground. "They already replaced it with another one."

As soon as Mammon understood why *this* ad in particular seemed to be upsetting you so much, his jaw was already clenching. He remembered the stars he had seen in your eyes the previous week when you saw yourself on the Majolish ad, posing beside him- a shoot opportunity you had gotten while accompanying him after RAD a few days prior. In the middle of his shoot, he practically didn't leave any choice to his agent and had insisted that you be included in the shots to promote one of the new pieces of jewelry the brand was planning to release in the upcoming months. Asmo, who was there to witness your reaction on that day the three of you went out, had even taken a hundred pictures or so of you posing in front of the ad.

Except that, the jewelry you had posed with, was now present on the new model posing alongside Mammon.

He had made sure to engrave that smile of yours in his head at the time, even going so far as to snap a picture of your face while you were too focused on Asmo to notice him. But now, there was absolutely no trace of that same happiness anymore.

"The fuck?" The snarl that left him shook the walls of his throat. "That wasn't supposed to be advertised before another month! Why'd they have to take ours so soon?!"

"It's okay, Mammon." The demon stopped growling as his eyes lowered on the hand that was clutching his arm. "I mean... I'm not a model. Figures they wouldn't put it up for long... I-I mean, look at me. Seriously, who would want to see my face being exposed for longer than they can bare? It's hard to imagine. I wouldn't probably have sold their product anyway, so... it's okay."

The look on your face was devastating. Despite trying your best to smile, the tears pricking in your eyes were threatening to roll down your cheeks at any second. Mammon felt his heart being stabbed with a thousand invisible daggers, he couldn't bear to watch you feeling insulted in such a way.

His bags were immediately dropped onto the floor, the demon no longer caring for any of the fragile items he may have bought. His hands swung forward to cup your cheeks, forcing your face up to look at him straight in the eyes.

"Hey hey, MC. C'mon, look at me."

You did your best not to let your vision turn blurry because of the upcoming tears, and stared back at Mammon, your bottom lip trembling weakly.

"I don't care what anyone, model agents or not, can say- you'd sell a thousand more times than any fuckin' models out there, okay? In fact, you're worth even more than their stupid jewelry!"

His thumb quickly brushed away a tear from the corner of your eye as his other hand came to rest on your temple.

"They just put that one up there because that model is famous. They don't care about what's really beautiful, they just want to boast their popularity to the rest of the world." The blue of his eyes seemed to radiate the closer he moved towards you. "But I know what's beautiful. And her? She doesn't compare to you. No one does."

You could only look down in shame as his hands never left you, closing your eyes shut to let a couple tears out before Mammon grabbed a tissue from his pocket to dry your face. He patiently waited a few seconds for you to calm down, soothing you with slow caresses of your hair until your shoulders stopped shaking.

"I'm sorry..." you muttered, sniffling as you passed a wrist over your eyes. "I don't know why that upset me so much..."

"Ya got nothing to be sorry about." Mammon retrieved his hands from your head, only to grab the bags that were hanging off of your arms. He somehow manages to hold them alongside his own behind him, before wrapping the other arm around your shoulder.

"Hey, I'd call this a day. How about I prepare ya a bath when we're home? Courtesy of the Great Mammon."

You nodded, your lips arching into a smile as you grabbed the hand hanging off your shoulder. The day was cut too short for your liking, but you didn't feel up for any additional purchases, or to properly enjoy your outing anymore.

"Will you wash my hair?" You entertwined your fingers with his as he gave them a gentle squeeze.

"Pah, of course! Who else but me could do that?" He huffed through his nose, shaking his head at such an obvious question. Your laugh ringing in his ears gave him a brief moment of respite.

But the demon furrowed his brows as he lead you into your walk back home, keeping you snuggled at his side. Holding the bags in his left hand, his white nails sharply digged into his palm the more steps he took alongside you.

Making them cry? Such a big, big mistake. One thing was sure, Mammon wasn't about to let that one pass.

"But before that..." The hiss that escaped his throat went unnoticed by the two of you as your head rested against his shoulder.

"I'll have a few calls to make."

[missnight0wl]

Just for fun. How about a character tier of R and former R members?

Duncan Olivia Real!Jacob The fugly slut that's pretending to be our brother Shiratori Rakepick Burke Pettigrew Verruca Merula Peregrine

(do tell me if I forgot about someone)

This is mine. HBU?

I absolutely love that the top tier is just “Rakepick” 💖

Also, I couldn’t resist the urge to separate it into two lists as I didn’t know how to approach the “Pawn” tier. See, the thing is that I don’t think it’s necessarily connected to being powerful… Therefore, I decided on “How powerful they are?” and “How important they are for R?”.

Oh, and I added Zenith Xeep. I believe she was involved with R only for that one thing with the Memory Potion (and probably didn’t even know much about what’s going on), but still.

“How powerful they are?”

“How important they are for R?”

Some commentary under the cut.

I actually believe that Verucca is pretty damn powerful, and I do think that she's pretty much equal with Rakepick and Peregrine. I even wouldn't be surprised if Peregrine is above her not because he's more powerful, but because he is The Father of the siblings.

Reall!Jacob has to be pretty powerful as well, and I'm thinking here mostly about the scene where Rakepick told MC in the fourth year: "You remind me of myself. I have only said that to one person before...". That one person was probably Jacob (full analysis in this post). And come on, if Rakepick compares anyone to herself, they must be quite impressive.

I also put Shiratori higher in the ranking. Jam City did him pretty dirty later on, and currently, I don't think he's that powerful (even if he's apparently a powerful Legilimens). But I remembered when he escaped in Y6. Moody told us then that he defeated his best Aurors, so... I have to acknowledge that he was meant to be way more powerful.

I can agree on Olivia but I think that Duncan was pretty good, too. For example, Bilton told us that he used to reconstruct his products entirely. I mean, you need some decent level of magical prowess for that.

Surprisingly, I do believe that Fugly Slut is decently powerful, simply because I doubt that R would send someone weak for such an important mission. On top of that, I still think there's a small chance that he's actually Verucca, so...

As for Merula... I might not like her, and I do think that she's terribly written, but... she's not weak. It's mostly her personality that stops her from being really powerful.

Pettigrew is a disgusting human being, but again, he is pretty powerful. He did become an Animagus, he killed 12 Muggles with one non-verbal, he outsmarted the whole wizarding world, and he played a rather big part in bringing back Voldemort himself.

Burke... I mean, he can't be totally weak if he worked as a Healer for so many years, right? Also, he kind of kicked Moody's ass... But I don't know. I'd say he's alright overall, maybe just not very experienced in combat.

Finally, I'm afraid that she was rather weak even before her accident. I mean, she was an opera diva for her whole life. In the best-case scenario, she was extremely out of practice.

Now, I put Rakepick in the "Crucial for their existence" tier simply because of how obsessed R is with her. Like, it's still not known when they started sending her threats to stay away from the Cursed Vaults, the Red Cloak talked about her again. Seriously, it's not healthy.

*insert the image of Patty as Regina George with the caption: "Why are you so obsessed with me?"*

Real!Jacob and his importance are rather obvious.

Verucca mentioned once that they had high hopes for Shiratori because of his lineage, so I assume he had to be pretty important, even if he became redundant. Plus, we have his Legilimency. Silimar argument actually applies to Fugly Slut. I assume that he was chosen for this task for some reason. His skills, perhaps? I mean, I still think it'd make the most sense if he was a Metamorphmagus as the Polyjuice Potion can be pretty risky.

In the "Pawn" tier, I put basically anyone who might be useful somehow, but if something happens to them, it's not a big loss. They're not necessarily entirely equal, but... yeah.

Finally, we have Pettigrew because I still refuse to accept his existence in this story. I'd like to know what kind of drugs you have to take to decide it's a good idea.

[beelsnack]

Obey Me! Boys Taking Care of a Sick MC

In honor of me no longer having covid, I decided to write down how I mentally coped with having the plague  some headcanons about our boys and a sick MC. Because I’m all about the hurt/comfort life.

-----

Lucifer: “You should be resting.”

The human scowled. Of course Lucifer was standing guard at the bottom of the staircase.

“I’m just going to get some water,” their voice sounded like sandpaper against wood as they spoke. They felt like the living dead, and judging by the cool stare Lucifer was giving them, they looked it, too.

“No, you’re just going back to bed.” He caught them by the elbow as soon as they were within reach. “I’ll bring a pitcher of water to your room for you.”

“Lucif--” their complaint was cut off by a sudden coughing fit. The force of it made them double over, and they clutched at their chest with one hand while the other went to cover their mouth. Demons couldn’t catch human illnesses, but old habits die hard.

It wasn’t until their lungs stopped trying to eject themselves from their body that they realized that Lucifer had sat them down on the bottom step. He was rubbing slow, soothing circles on their back, a rare look of concern in his dark eyes. “Easy now, my dear,” he murmured as they caught their breath. “You’re shaking, are you chilled?”

“...Just a little,” they wheezed. They must not have sounded very convincing, because Lucifer quickly removed one glove and gently pressed the back of his hand against their forehead.

“Your fever has come back.” In one quick, fluid movement, he had taken the cloak from around his shoulders and wrapped it around them like a blanket. “Go back to bed, now. I’ll bring you water and something to bring your fever down,” he spoke softly, like raising his voice would trigger another coughing fit.

It was too bad they were too sick to appreciate Lucifer’s soft side.

Mammon: “…A’ight, that should be everything.”

Admittedly, he might have gone a bit overboard. But, could you blame him? He’d never nursed a sick human back to health before!

…Okay, so Lucifer may or may not have let Mammon use his credit card to get stuff for them. And he may or may not have taken a few liberties. It was for the human though!

“Mammon, holy shit,” they mumbled, poking their head out from the blanket burrito they had cocooned themselves in. “Is there anything left at the convenience store or did you buy them out?”

“Shut it.” he set the last six-pack of Gatorade (well, the Devildom equivalent of it, anyway) at the foot of their bed. “Ya’ weren’t specific, so I just got one of each!”

Their room looked like a doomsday prepper’s bunker. Cans of soup, a myriad of flavors of instant noodles, a portable heater, the works. Maybe they should have been more specific.

“Do ya’ need anything else?” Mammon sounded vaguely annoyed, but underneath the gruff tone he spoke with, his concern was obvious. They had given him a scare when they first came down with the flu two days ago, temperature so high that they ended up collapsing on their way to RAD. He had been fussing over them since. They weren’t even sure if he had slept.

“...Just one more thing.”

“Yeah?” he perked up like a dog waiting for an order from its master. “Whaddaya need?”

Instead of speaking, they wiggled their arms free of the blankets and held them out. For a moment, Mammon just stared at them in confusion. When what they were asking for finally clicked, his face grew so hot they could use it as a space heater.

“What are you, a little kid?” he grumbled, but there wasn’t even a moment’s hesitation as he climbed into the bed with them. They settled themselves against his chest, sighing contentedly. Sleep had taken over in a few heartbeats.

“...Get better soon, you hear?” they didn’t, obviously, and Mammon took the opportunity to gently pat their head, like they so often did for him. “If you’re gonna be all cute and stuff, I want ya to be conscious of it.”

Leviathan: “You know, I really thought you would take longer to go through all of these.”

The human looked like a whole new person compared to the last time Levi had seen them. They were sitting upright, although they looked ready to slide back down into their previous coma-like state any minute, and the number of blankets wrapped around them had been reduced to just one instead of three. They managed to shoot him a weak grin as they handed over the manga he had let them borrow.

As much as Levi loved staying locked away in his inner sanctum, it was only an enjoyable experience if one’s source of entertainment was also locked away with them. And he couldn’t, in hood conscience, let the human die of boredom instead of dying of illness, so he had ventured out of his lair armed with his collector’s edition box set of I’m A Scholarship Student At An Obscenely Rich School and Now I Have To Work Off A Debt Because I Broke A Vase That Belonged To A Host Club!

That had only been a few days ago, but this morning he had gotten a text from them saying that they were finished.

“It’s not like I have anything else to do, Levi.”

“Pretty sure you could have been sleeping, but okay.”

They stuck their tongue out. “I couldn’t put it down.”

“Right?” Levi nodded enthusiastically, clutching the box to his chest like it was worth his weight in gold. Actually, knowing him, he probably paid his weight in gold for it. “I definitely bawled my eyes out at the end. You have to watch the anime next, the music really brings the scene together. And, like, I’m not usually into pastel themes, but the color scheme actually really fits the mood, and - “

Somewhere in the middle of Levi’s overly-excited info dumping, the human’s eyes had slipped closed. By the time Levi realized he was geeking out, their breathing had evened out and they had slumped against the headboard.

…Oh. They looked really cute like that.

“Sheesh, c’mon, normie,” he muttered, shaking his head. “I can’t believe I bored you to sleep.”

He set down the box on their nightstand and, very carefully, so he didn’t wake them up, inched them down to lay were laying against the mountain of pillows they had. Once they were settled into a position that wouldn’t give them a crick in their neck, he pulled the blanket up to their chin.

“There,” he nodded to himself. “You rest up, because you and I are going to have an anime marathon, and I won’t forgive you if you fall asleep in the middle of it.”

They mumbled, but otherwise stayed unconscious. Levi had definitely seen this in an anime before. His heart was pounding somewhere around his throat, but he wasn’t getting this opportunity again any time soon. Gently, like he was approaching a wild animal, he leaned in close and pressed his lips to their forehead.

“Seriously, get better soon.” he murmured. “I don’t like seeing you sick.”

Satan: His leg was falling asleep.

He had been sitting in the same position for at least an hour, and if it were anyone else he simply would have shoved them off and went about his day. But, how could he push the human away when they were curled up like a kitten in his lap?

They had been complaining about being bored, since they had been too feverish to attend RAD for the past few days. So Satan, always the man with a plan, had arrived in their room ready to binge watch his favorite crime drama. Even though he had seen this show at least eight times, he still found himself getting absolutely sucked into the plot. So much so that he didn’t notice the human starting to nod off until they landed against his side.

“Honestly, you could have just told me you were tired.” he muttered, gently rearranging them so their head was resting in his lap. They made a small noise in their sleep, but otherwise remained unconscious.

It was so rare that the human was still. They seemed to have an endless source of energy, able to be embroiled in all of the shenanigans that tended to happen around the family without absolutely disintegrating. To have them finally at rest, even sick, was quite the treat. Satan couldn’t quit help himself as he reached down to pet their head.

Well, if he was going to be stuck here until they woke up, at least he had a good show to watch.

Asmodeus: “Asmo, I can bathe by myself.”

“Yeah, no, don’t even try it.” Asmo shook his head as he ushered the human into his bedroom. “You passed out in the shower the other day, darling. This is the only time I’m grateful for Mammon’s snooping, because you might still be there if he hadn’t heard you fall.”

They subconsciously touched the sore spot on their shoulder where they had collided with the wall. The pain blended in with the rest of their body aches, but the bruise certainly didn’t.

“Besides,” Asmo sat them down on the chaise lounge. “A nice, hot bath with some quality oils will rejuvenate you like nothing else. Now, go on, strip.”

When they gave him a clearly unamused look, he just laughed. “Not while you’re sick, darling. You know full well being with me requires you to be at peak energy.”

With a sigh, they began peeling themselves out of their days-old pajamas. Admittedly, they did feel like a bath would help them feel a little better. They were pretty sure they read somewhere that the steam from hot water would help clear out all the gunk in their chest. And if anyone knew the intricate rituals of bath time, it was Asmodeus.

While they were stripping, Asmo had made his way over to the Grecian temple that was his bathtub and turned on the tap. After a few moments of running his hand under the stream to test the temperature, he stood and began browsing his impressive collection of bath accoutrements. “Hm, let’s see, let’s see…here it is!”

Asmo turned around, holding up the little bottle like he had just found buried treasure. “Eucalyptus, to help clear out the lungs. It’s good for muscle aches, too!”

With a flourish, he put a few drops into the water. “Alright, ready. Can you get in yourself or do you need my help?”

“I’ve got the flu, not the plague, Asmo.”

“You. Fell. In. The. Shower.” he punctuated each word with a poke to their cheek before holding out his hand to help them. Although they grumbled, they were still feeling kind of weak, so they allowed Asmo to pull them up.

“There, now, easy does it,” he spoke softly as he guided them to sit on the edge of the tub. If this were any other situation, they would be painfully aware of the fact that they were completely naked in front of the Avatar of Lust. But, the fragrant steam rising from the water was beginning to ease the ache in their chest, and Asmo’s soft hands had begun massaging their shoulders. They barely even noticed when they were fully seated.

“You’re not coming in?” they murmured sleepily as Asmo sat himself along the edge of the tub. He just laughed.

“Next time, darling. Now, you just relax and let me take care of you.”

Beelzebub: The phrase “don’t have much of an appetite” just didn’t make sense to Beel. How could someone not want to eat? Maybe he was a bit biased, being the ever-starving Avatar of Gluttony, but still. Humans needed lots of nutrients to get better when they were sick, right? He was pretty sure that was what Satan told him.

Beel scowled, scrolling through the eighteenth listicle about foods to eat when sick. Honestly, he was making himself hungry, but he was starting to get the general idea. Looks like he’s making them some soup.

The kitchen was separated into “human” and “demon” sections, after the one time that they almost used cyanide instead of salt. Human cuisine took less time and involved less magic, so Beel knew his way around the human spice cabinet. Making the soup was the easy part, making sure it got to its intended recipient was another matter.

Climbing the stairs to the human’s room felt like a Herculean task, but he did it - mostly. He may have taken a few bites here and there. But he had purposely put more in the bowl than he knew they would be able to eat, so it was fine, right? He knocked on their door twice, listening to them shuffle around before they finally called out weakly that the door was open.

“I brought food.” he said, shutting the door behind him. “You haven’t been eating much lately.”

They poked their head miserably out of the blanket burrito they had wrapped themselves in. A thin sheen of sweat covered their forehead, but they were shaking, which meant their fever hadn’t broken yet. Did humans always take this long to get better? Another question for Satan.

“I’m not really hungry, Beel.” they mumbled, voice thick and gravelly due to the sore throat they had. “You can eat it.”

Shaking his head, Beel sat himself down on the bed beside them. “I had some already.”

“Have some more.”

“No, I made it for you.” his stomach growled, completely undermining his words. “It’s basically just broth, you can drink it.”

They wiggled around for a bit before they managed to extract themselves from the absolute cocoon they had made. “…What kind of broth?”

“Just chicken, I promise.” he laughed. “I wasn’t about to try to get you to eat a Devildom recipe.”

Finally, they got themselves into a sitting position, but even that seemed to wear them out. They flopped against Beel’s shoulder, and he definitely didn’t like how hot their skin felt against his. Their breathing was ragged as they tried to get the energy to sit up.

“Here,” Beel dipped the spoon into the broth. “I’ll help.”

“I’m not a baby…”

“No, but you are really weak.” he replied gently. “Let me help you.”

He could feel the urge to protest vibrating through their body - their independence was definitely an endearing quality of theirs. But, eventually they must have come to the conclusion that a content of tenacity between the two of them was going to take longer than simply waiting out their illness. With a huff, they opened their mouth and let Beel feed them.

“Oh, wow, this is pretty good.”

“I’m a good cook if I don’t eat the ingredients first.”

Belphegor: “I thought humans slept a lot when they got sick.”

The bags under the human’s eyes were almost as intense as they glare they gave him. When the rest of the brothers had begun arguing over something stupid, Belphegor had taken the opportunity to bundle them up and whisk them away to the peace and quiet of the attic. His intent had been to take a nice long nap with them, but apparently their lungs had a different plan.

“We should,” they groaned, sounding like their throat was made of sandpaper. “Every time I feel like I’m going to fall asleep, I start coughing.”

“That sounds counter-intuitive.”

“Tell me about it.”

Belphie rolled over so that he was lying on his side, facing them. “Well then, you picked a good nap partner.”

They blinked blearily up at him. “Why is that?”

“Come here, I’ll show you.”

He reached out, tugging them towards him until they were settled comfortably against his chest with their head tucked beneath his chin. Although he wasn’t the tallest of the brothers, he had enough height to basically surround the human. “Can you hear my heartbeat?”

“I’m too tired for you cheesy lines, Belphie.”

“No, seriously, just listen.”

He could practically hear them roll their eyes, but they quieted down. Once he was sure they were synced up with the steady ba-bump, ba-bump of his heart, he began to work his magic - literally.

He brought his hand up to cup the back of their skull, fingertips tingling as he focused his magic their. They squirmed for a moment before sighing as the cool rush of Belphie’s special brand of sleep magic washed over them.

“I told you, being tired isn’t the prob - “

“Hush,” he murmured, letting them feel his voice rumble through his chest. “Just relax for me, okay?”

Belphie massaged their scalp like he was washing their hair, working his magic into their skin. Slowly but surely he felt them soften, the tightness in their chest easing. Finally, their slightly labored breathing evened out, and the poor human finally succumbed to sleep.

“About time,” he kissed the top of their head. “You need to rest if you want to get better, so let’s sleep as long as we like, okay?”

[ready-to-obeyme]

[OM!] Mother!MC with Demon Brothers + Luke Headcanons

Scenario: Instead of a younger human, the Devildom welcomes a mother (with a 3-year old son in tow) into the exchange program. 

intro + headcanons about how the brothers would interact with her 

no romance… just uwu

bonus how the brothers would treat the son (why son? Perhaps because I too want a son)

Female reader!! (MC is referred to as she in this post) 

bonus character: Luke :3c

I JUST WANT THEM TO FEEL LOVED OK

Lucifer wasn’t prone to believe in fate-- and the beginnings of the exchange program was just another reason why he did not. He let the breeze-- the wind pick a human applicant for him; and if he had gone through every application (though he wasn't completely sure he'd be sane by the end of it all) maybe this situation wouldn't have happened. 

"What do you mean you can't be one of our exchange students?" Diavolo inquired, more curious than anything, an amused smile gracing his lips.

"I have a son," she said hesitantly. And there he was, peering around at the assembly room in his mother's arms that were wrapped protectively around him.

A mother and her human child, Lucifer thought blearily. One could only imagine what would happen if both of them remained here. (Which is why he never cut corners in anything he ever did ever because the one time he does, things go to shit. Damn Diavolo for enabling him.)

--

Lucifer

disgruntled by the adjustments made to accommodate a human child and his mother; mf will he ever rest

probably has to worry about babysitting duties delegated to his brothers 

however, pleasantly surprised by MC's calm demeanor and reliable personality; finally another competent person in the house he doesn't have to really pick up after

...actually adores her and her son

accidentally does things to please her without really realizing it and hates the slight disappointment or worry he sees when he goes through sleepless nights or lashes out from anger

doesn't remember the last time he's been chastised, but he's as embarrassed as he can be when she fusses over him

the hell coffee she makes for him every morning and the snacks she brings during his breaks makes him lowkey wanna cry-- he doesn’t know how to deal with a selfless, unconditional love

is used to being a single parent ngl so taking care of her son is kinda… easy especially if the son is compliant

finds himself pressing a kiss to his forehead absently and catches himself only after he's done it (bonus points if Barbatos takes a pic of it and sends it into their trio gc) 

“Barbatos, please delete this picture.”

“Oh, are you sure about that?”

“................”

ah he's attached, and so are his brothers, which kind of perturbed him a little but he’s kind of in the same boat after a short week or so

(if there was one brother who had a chance of harboring feelings for a mother mc, it’d be Luciiiiiiii uwuwuwuuwuuw; what can I say? He can’t resist the milf) 

eventually, he opens up to her about the war-- because if there was any human he’d trust with his secrets, it would be MC

Mammon

he's crying 

he doesn't think anyone has ever talked or held him as gently as MC

similar to the game, absolutely adores her and can't even lie about it

ok jk he's still a tsundere, but blushes every time MC looks at him with a knowing look because he can't lie convincingly enough that no, the head pats dont feel nice and no, he's just eating the lunch she made because it'll be a waste otherwise, ok?!

Her son definitely thinks he’s related to Mammon

Definitely the first one to accidentally call her “mom” 

But hey don’t blame him-- he’s weak to how MC looks at him endearingly as she brushes hair out of his face motherly, like he can do no wrong 

Nothing can compare to how Mammon feels when MC tells him she’s proud of him

feels legit guilty when she calls him out on his habits of stealing things to the point he remembers her voice when he tries to do it again-- basically his conscience ngl

she's like a cold hand to his feverish forehead, a cooling balm to the burn on his hand

when she defends him from his brother's insults, swears he'll protect her and her son 

on that note, adores her son too and her son adores mammon!

surprisingly (or not) good with kids and treats them well; plays with them, very lively and dynamic

takes babysitting pretty seriously-- makes him consider the fact that he might actually want to be a father in the future if possible

not that he doesn’t have reckless endeavors with her son... they just end up okay so no one is none the wiser until it shows up on someone’s devilgram or spoken about through Barbatos/Diavolo

Leviathan

Honestly doesn’t know how to to react 

A little miffed tbh that he finds it so easy to talk to her about…. Everything??? 

When he enlisted her (and her son) to get his money back from Mammon, did he expect to rant to her about all his animes and gush about his figurines to her because that was one of the first time someone’s allowed him to indulge in his hobbies and listen patiently?

No, and now he’s crying 

And the fact she gently addresses his self-deprecating comments and urges him to see how she sees him (smart, witty, forgiving)---

Will probably do anything for MC and anything she says at this point; the pact is just a formality LOL

Listens to her and genuinely thinks the things she does for him is in his best interest 

Had a hard time knowing how to deal with her son for a while, simply because he doesn’t know what he could do to actually entertain the child

Then finds out he could literally put up TSL or any of his favorite animes and the kid will watch it-- and ABSORB

Levi might as well be the kid’s best friend at this point-- dubbs him ‘Henry’-- which is really the greatest compliment MC thinks her son can get from him

Honestly volunteers to babysit him and proceeds to spoil him rotten

Satan

Slightly annoyed at how motherly she is at the beginning-- he takes her care and actions as if she treats him like a child

Finds it frightening how soothed he feels when he’s around her

There’s something about an older, calming presence that saps the anger from him and makes him feel like he can be himself around MC

Surprisingly the second person to accidentally call MC by “mom” probably an hour after he makes fun of Mammon for doing it (lol karma)

isn't one to seek out her attention like with levi, mammon, or asmo but is pleased whenever he does have time to spend with her because she always seems to have insight on everything and a strange wisdom that all mothers apparently do

has a lot of late night talks with her about her life, her career, what it's like having a child

often finds himself asking her for advice, and even if she doesn't have the answer, he always comes out of it thoughtful and clear minded 

always willing to take care of her son; delights in reading him his favorite books and enacting the exciting scenes 

always treats him like an adult to the point that their conversations are really funny to listen to

"So would you say the author's intent of the blue door was to convey the agony of grief?"

"I like the color blue."

"As did the protagonist; hm, you bring up a good point."

the son is Satan's partner in crime against Lucifer 

"It's better if we do this, isn't that right?"

"Yeah!" MC’s child says, happily chewing on his favorite snack that Satan always gives to him and honestly not caring about the conversation at hand at all

"See? He agrees with me!”

And Lucifer just sighs bc he always loses in these arguments and Satan is unbearably smug

Asmodeus

similar to Satan, finds her presence in Devildom to be very pleasant and calming

she never seems to be disapproving of his past times, and Asmo is endeared by the way she never fails to say "stay safe" or "have fun!" or even "do you want me to leave the front lights for when you come back?"

the little motherly ways in which she shows she cares makes Asmo adore her

loves taking her shopping; always has a good time just gossiping, trying new clothes, or having a girls night out with self careeeee

when her son tags along, loves to have him dress up too or try on make up and it's too adorable NOT to post on devilgram

pretty sure MC's son has trended on devilgram before-- but that was the first and last time because Lucifer yelled at him for advertising the fact there was a human child in Devildom

which Asmo thinks is silly because he's pretty sure the caption under the selfie of the three of them ("So adorbs! I've only had MC's son for a day, but if anything happened to him, I would kill everyone in Devildom and then myself. Teehee!") would have deterred any demon from laying a finger on him

When Asmo has him for babysitting duties, always loves to bathe him and play with bubbles, morphing his hair into an afro or an equally fashionable hairdo

actually very attentive to the child!!

Beelzebub

Not much changes from how Beel treats MC, but does view her actions in a more motherly manner 

I think one thing that would change is that-- considering MC is a mother of her own child, is actually very protective of the brothers and sensitive to their changes in moods

When Lucifer gets angry at Beel and Luke, MC is furious and furiously protective, not yielding one bit or hesitating to put herself in front of them because of her instincts-- Beel has never admired her more 

Physical strength has always something he can easily understand, but it is the strength of wills and of bravery that surprises him every time 

After Mammon and Satan accidentally calls you “mom” Beelzebub has no qualms with calling you by mom either-- I mean, what’s the shame in that? Everyone already thinks of you as their mother-figure anyways

MC helps him deal with the loss of his sister

With MC’s child… You know that one meme with the two ways dad deals with kids: one is softly kissing his child on the forehead as he sleeps and the other is carrying his kid by the leg with one arm

Both of them is Beel 

carries the kid around in the weirdest ways sometimes, including on his head, in one hand like he's holding a trophy, upside down (dw the kid thinks it's funny)

main transport is on his shoulders though; thinks it's kinda cute how the kid puts his arms around his head

wouldn't love anything more but to nap with him, but Beel is afraid of hurting him when he sleeps

Is the softest with MC’s son--- he’s not used to being the older brother, so he takes this responsibility kind of seriously 

Always makes sure the food that MC’s son eats is appropriate so he tastes/tries it first… and sometimes ends up eating all of it, but he always manages to succeed in feeding the kid so it’s all good

Belphegor

Wants to hate MC so badly the first time they meet when he’s in the attic

He’s supposed to HATE humans, damn it-- why the hell is MC trying to be so motherly and understanding, huh?? How dare she make him guilty after he lied to her like wlkjaflksjfkjasdlfj

Out of all of them, seeks MC the least; whether it’s from guilt or the fact that her presence reminds him of the things and resentment he used to hold against her 

Takes a little more cajoling from MC to talk to her and explain how he’s feeling so they can move past it

He’d rather die than let anyone else know that he teared up when they talked about Lilith and how he felt about everything; urges Belphie to talk to Lucifer and seek reconciliation with him individually (because it may be a family problem, but the feud was between the two of them, don’t you think?)

Finally gets the redemption arc he deserves and feels a lot lighter knowing that everything that has happened is now in the open and he’s ready to start healing 

In avoiding MC after the whole debacle, Belphie ends up spending more time with her son because he thinks Belphie is fascinating and Belphie has no clue why 

Similarly to Satan, treats the kid like he would anyone else but does find it amusing if the kid chases after his tail like a cat

Always ends up napping with him whenever MC’s son takes a nap-- after all, what’s easier than looking after a kid if you’re BOTH asleep?

Keeps an eye on him by putting a hand on his torso as they nap together

Uses MC’s son as an excuse to not do something, especially when Lucifer tells him to do something he doesn’t like to do

Honestly the son is a part of his arsenal-- he knows how weak everyone is for this kid (and so is he tbh but more lowkey) so cute pics of him is like… currency (Mammon WISHES he thought of this first) 

Bonus:

Luke

MC practically adopts him the moment she lays eyes on him-- how could she not? Luke may as well be her other son

Luke can’t say no, especially after she saves him from Lucifer

Definitely calls her mom by accident and the brothers tease him-- only for him to retort back that “don’t you ALL call her by mom?” and they shut up lol

Simeon still gets to tease Luke though heheh 

Really really really tries hard not to refer to MC as mom, but it slips out sometimes and no one even bats an eye 

Baking together is such a family bonding moment

Treats MC’s son most like his younger brother almost automatically and makes sure he doesn’t get into any trouble while he’s taking care of him (though he does anyways) 

Kind of likes the responsibility of babysitting MC’s son; makes him feel trusted

(MC takes the cutest pics of them together when they fall asleep; starts thinking about maybe having another child wouldn’t be so bad)

[thefinalcinderella]

Honestly the more I think about it, ep 5 was kind of a letdown (warning: long ass paragraphs, this is all just my personal opinion)

I still enjoy this game a lot but there’s some questionable writing decisions which I’m not entirely sure are intentional or not

A lot of this is due to the fact that there were so many unexplained delays

It has more chapters than any other ep so far, but a lot of it feels very pointless (did the middle part need to be all about touring the the festival?) and even though it's supposed to be the pom chapter, i still don't really feel like we don’t really get all that close to them, particularly rook and vil to a lesser extent. Even Epel’s relevance kinda disappears from the story after the middle part. Compare this to ep 1 which has 28 chapters and 5 main characters yet you get a good sense of who they all are and they have tangible roles to play. Part of this is due to the fact that there are more characters that are getting involved with each ep. I know people always go on about how twst is not an otome game to explain why mc has weak presence/influence but considering they're our only way to directly interact with the characters i think they should be utilized more

It also feels like a lot of points that were brought up before and during the ep that were never addressed. E.g. the dwarf mine monster (actual dwarfs show up in the ep so why was there no mention of it?), the fact that Pomefiore is the oldest dorm, Kalim mentioning that he enrolled in nrc late, Jamil hearing our conversation with Kalim, Epel being a poison apple, and so on. I don't want to think the writers forgot but...

Also this is sort of a personal opinion but I don't really like the fact that we're supposed to be on Vil's side? Like personally I myself don't really care about beauty, I think everyone has their own standards of beauty and that sometimes I just wanna look like a swamp witch lol. There's a lot of talk about social media influencers and body image and how it has a negative effect on self esteem and such, and I thought maybe we'd get a moral where we'd tell Vil that “hey you don't have to be so hard on yourself and base your self worth on what other people say.” Now obviously this isn't going to solve Vil's issues since he's a child actor and it's sort of engrained in him at this point due to the nature of the industry, but solving deep personal issues isn't the point of twst anyways, it's more about making a breakthrough I guess? I think it should be addressed that just because Vil puts a high standard on himself it doesn’t mean others have to follow it? And that the high standards themselves might not be something that should be met especially if they’re created to please other people (”please” might be the wrong word for Vil but I hope you get what I mean)

Like don't get me wrong I think it's cool that the game makes a good point about how striving to be beautiful isn't limited to one gender and that it's also strength and Epel's definitely working through some issues with toxic masculinity and his own self image, but on the other hand why should he go along with an ideal . I don't really like it when someone arbitrarily imposes their own will on others with no one questioning it, even if they do have good points. Guess I just feel there should be at least a small revelation similar to Epel's on Vil's part.

And now for the infamous ending... I personally expected rsa to win and I thought Rook being an idol otaku was pretty funny and it does fit with Rook’s M.O for him to do what he did, but the way it played out was really...it leaves a bad taste in your mouth. I’ve seen some twitter posts speculating that the light element characters like Rook and Neige were meant to be portrayed as insensitive and callous since it’s a story from the villains’ point of view and what not, but I’ve also seen other posts speculating that it might be Yana Toboso’s bias to make the “good” characters look bad to make the “villain” characters more sympathetic. Kalim in ep 4 also inspired similar reaction but I think people sided with him more at that time. Now I don’t want to assume anything and I really hope that isn’t the case, but that kind of thing just invites controversy, which the fandom has a lot of already

Now this is all before we really understand what the game “Twisted Wonderland” is really about. The fact that there’s an unsatisfied feeling after each episode ends seems to be intentional considering the nature of the game. Maybe there will be some big revelation later in game that will make all of this seem silly and everything will make sense. Most games have these kinds of growing pains when starting out (FGO Rome anyone?) and writing for a mobile game is different than writing for a manga or novel, so hopefully the staff can learn something from this and maybe be more transparent about the game’s development. I’m sure this will all be forgotten by the time ep 6 or a new event comes, but until then...I’m going to be just a little disappointed.

[lifeofkaze]

An Art of Balance #29

Orion Amari x MC

A/N: Julian Bennett belongs to the wonderful @slytherindisaster

Word Count: ~ 3.300

___________________________________________

Chapter 29: Unbalanced

With the school year drawing to an end, the amount of attention spent in Professor Binns’s classes had dwindled even further. Half of the students enduring the dull droning of the ghost alongside Orion were asleep, the other was using the time to catch up on neglected assignments, so they could spend their afternoon outside. For all that Binns cared, they could have chucked their inkwells through the classroom.

Like the rest of the students, Orion’s mind was anywhere but on the Witch Trials of 1692. He was bent over a piece of parchment, drawing and crossing out lines and circles as he tried to come up with a decent match plan. The last game of the season was only a few days away and he still didn’t have the slightest idea how to let his team play against Gryffindor. He had been trying to think of something for the last two weeks, but nothing good would come to him.

The Gryffindor team was known for their speed and dexterity, both qualities combined in their seeker and captain, Charlie Weasley. Orion had either watched or participated in every game Charlie had played since he had joined his House team and he knew raw talent when he saw it. When Charlie set eyes on the Snitch, he was always the one to catch it, no exceptions so far. They would have to make sure to keep him out of the game as well as possible.

Having an idea about what strategy Charlie was going for would have helped Orion design an appropriate counterpart, but the Gryffindors had taken care. As of late, they had started training at odd hours, often at the break of dawn or just before sunset, so no one would watch their manoeuvres.

Being friends not only with their captain but some other players as well, Lizzie usually could provide at least some insight into the Gryffindor team’s plans; but since she and Charlie had stopped speaking to each other, she was as clueless as the rest of them.

Maybe Orion’s own strategy would have come easier to him had he known how to incorporate the newly changed dynamic in their own team into his thoughts. But the way Lizzie, Skye and himself were working together these days still felt foreign to him.

He knew Skye and Lizzie were practising on their own a lot; as a result, their playstyle had become attuned to each other and they had developed some new moves that only worked between the two of them. They did include Orion in their manoeuvres of course, but the perfect balance between them had shifted.

Tearing his eyes away from the playbook he was writing in, Murphy looked over at Orion's notes sceptically. “I hate to break this to you, but with that strategy your chances of winning against Gryffindor sink to a discouraging 22.4 % at best.” He tilted his head and squeezed his eyes as he tried to make sense of what he was seeing. “If I interpret it correctly, that is… is that even a strategy chart?”

“Our thoughts need room to unfold before they can evolve into ideas,” Orion explained airily, although he knew full well his work certainly wasn’t what he would call productive. “It is no good judging a diamond before it is cut and polished. However, true wisdom only comes to those who know how to listen, so if you have any idea how to improve our odds, I’m all ears.“

Murphy chuckled at Orion’s long-winded admittance of being stuck. “Let me finish the design of my new move and I’ll think of something.” He snorted as he glanced at the confusing array of lines and arrows once again. “Anything’s better than that.”

With a sigh of relief Orion dropped his quill and let his gaze wander out of the window towards the Quidditch pitch. It was good to know Murphy was too involved with their team’s success to let them down; not that he would have anyway. Even though their philosophies couldn’t have been more different, both of them knew the other would always have their backs, no matter if it was about Quidditch or anything else.

But even with Murphy’s brilliant mind on the matter, he knew the best strategy was no use without a well-balanced team to carry it out. And balance was something not only his team, but he himself was seriously lacking these days.

Orion was still pondering on this when the class was dismissed what felt like hours later. When they emerged from the dingy classroom, he was surprised to find Skye waiting for them in the corridor. When she spotted Orion and Murphy, she pushed herself off the wall she had been leaning against and made her way over to them.

“According to my notes, you are supposed to have Divination right now,” Murphy greeted her with a surprised voice. “Was class cancelled? I did see Professor Trewlaney at breakfast and lunch though, if she didn’t fall ill in between lunch and now - which, by the way, only is 12.5 % likely - I’d say you’re skipping class. Which is not good, Skye,” he added reproachfully. “You might get removed from the team if you’re caught.”

Skye didn’t seem fazed by his concerns and merely shrugged them off. “Don’t worry, I told Trelawney I feel burdened by the stars and some other nonsense I came up with. She felt very sorry for me and let me go to ‘find respite from the grim fate that’s awaiting me’,” she snorted and rolled her eyes. “Getting out of this class is way too easy if you ask me.”

Orion wasn’t happy with her heedless attitude either. Skye being careless about attending her classes was the last thing he needed right now. “You shouldn’t risk the privileges we hold so readily,” he scolded her mildly. “Unfortunately, our team is not prepared to meet Gryffindor eye to eye on the pitch as of yet. You getting banned from Quidditch for unnecessarily missing classes would be a harsh blow to our team.”

Skye’s expression had turned serious. “I wouldn’t call it unnecessary; the team is exactly what I wanted to talk to you about.” She fell in step beside them as they made their way to the dungeons; they had Potions scheduled next. “We have to do something to get everyone back on track, and fast; the match’s almost here and we’re in a damn sorry state right now.”

Orion sighed. “I understand and appreciate your concerns about the balance of our team; I share them as well. But the fragile unison between all of us is a delicate matter; one wrong step could make everything worse and easily lead us from the way to our goal onto the one headed for failure.”

Skye huffed incredulously. “Worse? Wake up, Orion; it’s never been worse since the early days before Lizzie joined the team.”

“I actually have to agree with Skye here,” Murphy chimed in. “Looking at the numbers alone, the Hufflepuff team is stronger than ever.

As always when he was delving into his statistics, his grey eyes lit up with excitement. “The precision of your Seeker improved by 44.2 % compared to when she started out on the team six years ago. Everett and Judith only miss 5.6 % of their shots and our Keeper deflects 68.9 % of all attempts on his goalposts, 72.6 % on a good day. But you Chasers… ,” he trailed off for a moment and then shrugged. “Well, I hate to say it, but it’s only you guys that are lacking in performance at the moment.”

“Cheers for stating the obvious, McNully,” Skye muttered glumly.

“My pleasure; the physical abilities to win the match are there, but the sideshows going on are distracting the whole team. Like this, the chances of a Cup dressed in yellow and gold diminish to 23.6 %; and as impartial as I am, I really don’t like that,” he couldn’t help but add.

“You’re right,” Orion conceded. “The Chasers are the weak link in the chain holding us together. You and Lizzie balance each other well, but between the three of us, we lack the harmony we used to share before… well, you know,” he trailed off; he generally tried to avoid speaking openly about what had happened between him and Lizzie a few weeks ago. He could push the thought into the back of his mind when he focused on something else, but it would resurface every now and again. Orion had tried to let it go many times, but so far his attempts had been unsuccessful; thinking about it still hurt.

“Agreed, it’s because of you and Lizzie,” Skye mercilessly brought the subject up again. “Stop talking around it. She always knew best how to showcase our playstyles at the same time.”

“She has a point,” Murphy surprisingly agreed. “Lizzie’s style of playing Chaser is the most balanced out of the three of you, for lack of a better word.” He laughed lightly at the thought of anyone being more balanced than the Hufflepuff captain. “She is a perfect mixture of Skye’s overly rash and aggressive offensive and your more cautious, tactical approach.”

Skye looked at Murphy for a moment, trying to decide whether he had insulted her or not. She let it pass, however. “Whatever McNully said, this is exactly why I’m here. We have to do something about this whole situation with you guys or we might as well hand the lions the cup without much bother.”

Orion didn’t answer her; the prospect of Skye meddling in his business was not a thought he found reassuring. He brushed his hair out of his face before fiddling with the tie of his uniform; it suddenly felt even more suffocating than usual.

“Sometimes the ventures that are seemingly the easiest to undertake turn out to be the most complicated ones,” Orion conceded; he knew Skye easily lost her patience and let a topic drop if he wasn’t getting straight to the point, but not this time.

“That’s nonsense,” she snorted. “The way I see it, you need to man up and Jameson needs a kick in her pretty behind to get her to stop moping.”

Both Murphy and Orion were silent; even for Skye, her words were unusually straightforward.

She waved her hand impatiently. “Don’t look at me like that, you know I’m right.”

Lowering her voice a bit, she looked down at her feet. “Seriously, I can’t stand her being so sad all the time; none of you deserves this. And besides,” she quickly added in an attempt to play over her genuine concern for her friends, “if we don’t get that bloody trophy this year I’m going to lose it, let me tell you!”

They had reached Snape’s classroom where most of the Hufflepuffs and Slytherins were already waiting for the class to begin. Skye turned to leave for their Common Room until her next class would start, but not without looking back over her shoulder one last time.

“I’m serious, captain. Fix things with her or I will do it for you, one way or another.”

*

Skye’s words never really left Orion for the next couple of days. They would pop up in his mind in regular intervals, making it almost impossible for him to focus on one thing for a longer period of time.

For one, he really didn’t want Skye to interfere and he knew she absolutely would; although she would never admit it, it was clear to see that he wasn’t the only one concerned about Lizzie. And while he knew Skye was invested, her approach was seldomly a gentle one. He shuddered at the thought of what she might come up with.

But what was even more than that, he knew that she was right.

He and Lizzie hadn’t spoken alone since their meeting on the stands, when she had told him about her decision. As much as it had pained him and still did, he had respected her choice, and left her alone; there was no need to hurt both of them any more than necessary.

Orion was reluctant to break the fragile peace between them but Skye had a point; if they didn’t manage to find some form of common ground, their prospects of winning against Gryffindor were anything but promising. He knew confronting her would reopen both their wounds they had worked so hard to patch up these last few weeks, but what he felt personally didn’t matter in that instance. He was the captain of his team and had to put their shared goals first.

Just as he had feared, fixing things with Lizzie was a thing easier said than done. She was hard to catch these days, especially for him. Ever since the Slytherin match Lizzie had made sure to keep a low profile. Always being involved with some friend group or another, more often than not right in the middle of the action, she kept to herself and spent most of her time somewhere on the Grounds, her dorm or the library; neither place was particularly suited to have a serious conversation.

It wasn’t until their last official practise before the final game of the season that Orion finally managed to get hold of her. Everyone but Lizzie, Skye, Murphy and himself had already left the changing room as they packed their things to return to the castle.

Skye gave Orion a pointed glance and nodded in Lizzie’s direction; she had her back to them as she was stowing away her Comet for the evening. Murphy was still pondering the final details of their strategy he had just presented to them; he looked up in surprise as Skye grabbed him by the arm and dragged him out of the tent.

Lizzie raised her head at the commotion to find herself alone with Orion. She immediately tensed and quickly secured the holdings of her broom before starting off towards the exit herself.

Orion reached to stop her instinctively. “Wait up, I need to talk to you for a moment.”

When he touched her arm, however, she flinched from his touch and he immediately pulled back; that certainly hadn’t been the best start.

Lizzie took a step back from him so she was out of his reach. He noticed how her shoulders tensed further as she looked at him, meeting his eyes only briefly.

“What can I help you with?”

Her tone was very formal; Orion knew it was her way of keeping more than just physical distance from him. He hated having to make her talk to him this way when she clearly didn’t want to; but the wellbeing of their team was his responsibility, so he ignored the sting he felt at her reaction and gave her a small smile.

“Our final match is nearly here and it is my duty as captain to make sure every member of our team is feeling balanced,” he explained. He knew she didn’t buy it by the way she was raising her eyebrows doubtfully. Even now, she could read him like a book.

“We haven’t talked for weeks now,” he admitted softly, “I wanted to know if you’re alright.”

For a short moment, he saw a trace of uncertainty flicker across her face before she regained control over her expression again. Her eyes dropped and she shuffled her feet uncomfortably.

“Is this about my performance today?” she asked contritely. “I know I’m not in the best state right now, I’ll do my best and be ready in time for the match, don’t worry.”

Orion shook his head. “No, you were doing a good job. While your way of playing seems to have changed, I welcome the newfound harmony between you and Skye. It is plain to see that your hearts are beating to the same rhythm when you are flying next to each other.” He tilted his head sideways, trying to catch her eyes that were still fixed on the ground. “But no chord is complete without all of its notes; if one is missing, the sound rings hollow. Like in a musical chord, there are three of us Chasers; and where you are one with Skye, the bond we shared is all but gone.”

Lizzie’s shoulders slumped and she sighed deeply. “I know,” she muttered and bit her lip. “I’m working on it, okay?”

They both knew that finding a common place, where they weren’t fazed by neither what was in their past nor what might have been in their future was an almost impossible feat. But for the sake of their team, they had to try.

“If I may offer my advice, I’d tell you to focus on what’s imminent instead of tearing yourself apart over something you cannot change anymore. Concentrate on the match; when we’re on the pitch, nothing else counts.” He smiled softly and a little bit sadder than he had meant to. “Leave what’s past in the past.”

She chuckled wryly. “You make that sound a lot easier than it actually is, Captain.”

Orion’s smile widened the slightest bit upon hearing her using her nickname for him. “I know that, Chaser,” he couldn’t help but play along, ”just remember, I told you time and time again, that whatever happens, I’m still your friend and I always will be. If it helps you overcome your difficulties, forget everything that happened this year; push it to the back of your mind where it won’t dampen your spirit anymore. Imagine we are the same we were when the year began.”

“Are we though?” she asked silently. “But what if I don’t want that?”

Raising her eyes, Lizzie finally met his gaze without shying away. She searched his face for any sign, any giveaway whether pretending like nothing had changed was what he himself wanted or not. She hadn’t looked at him that intensely since they had parted on the stands back in March; he felt the butterflies dancing in his stomach as his heart rate was speeding up.

Orion hesitated for a second when he raised his hand to touch her. This time, she didn’t flinch when he put his hand on her shoulder. He tried to not let the contact between them exceed the encouraging gesture of a team captain to another player, but he couldn’t ignore the tingles spreading from his palm into the rest of his body.

He tried to shake the feeling off by concentrating on what he had to say. “Listen up, Chaser; my advice as your captain is, take your struggle with you into the air. Use it, let it fuel your fire, because no one I know burns as brightly as you do. Ignite your fire again, so everyone else can see that it is unmatched.”

The corners of Lizzie’s mouth quirked up as her smile, that had been sad before, widened. Her eyes were sparkling again as her fighting spirit was returning to her. “Thank you, Captain, I’ll do everything I can not to let you down. There’s still a lot on my mind, but you’re right; on the pitch, nothing matters but the game and we’ll show Gryffindor how it's played.”

Orion was glad to see a bit of the Lizzie he knew shining through again. “Exactly,” he grinned as his lips curved into a lopsided smile. “Go now, find your focus and clean your slate; because it is only with an unburdened mind that we can win.”

[chocolate-parfait]

Okay, I just got myself a tumblr account to ask for this Ikémen Vampire scenario, because the world needs this. Can you do one where the MC questions Mozart about his song "Leck mich im Arsch" (Ger. for "Kiss my ass" (lit. Lick me in the ass). I just can't imagine IkéVamp Mozart composing something like this so please be creative and do something funny. The song really exists btw. Real Mozart was a savage.

Started off serious, became trashy insults somewhere in the middle

Mozart being asked about his song “Kiss my ass” - ikevamp scenario (TW; mature language)

Thoughts are in italic

Bold AND italic is just me highlighting something

"Ugh, it hasn't even been a week and Sebastian is already burying me with work!" You mentally whined as you stretched your arms over your head. "Collect the sheets, wash the dishes, polish the shoes and wash the tablecloths..." each chore you listed made one of your fingers go up, and as the count reached ten you let out a deep sigh. You weren't even nowhere to be finished. "...ain't mama raise no weak bitch. Better get done with this before Sebastian yeets me into oblivion", you quietly spoke to yourself before going back to your full time slavery.

A lonely figure in the long corridor, you walked slightly bent forward for both the heaviness of the basket you were carrying and the mental and physical tiredness of your untrained body. As you took a turn at the end of the hallway, the lone sound of your footsteps found a companion. A sweet melody, a familiar one you had heard as a child, drifted through the air and waltzed its way to your ears. About ten meters from you there was the music room; you remembered it from Sebastian's tour of the house, but mostly because of the ever-so-friendly white haired composer that threatened you to stay kilometers away from him unless you wanted to be smacked to outer space. You had every intention of listening to him and avoiding any type of unnecessary contact with the man, but right now an irresistible curiosity pushed your feet to the prohibited door.

Was he composing something? Would he let you listen to one piece of his or play a modern-time song if you begged hard enough? somebody come git her she's dancing like a stripper If getting on your knees and throwing the last ounce of dignity you still had out of the window meant getting to witness Mozart's genius with your own two eyes --an impassable opportunity, too taunting to be ignored-- then someone better had to open up their purse and buy you some protective knee pads, 'cause ya girl was ready to crawl all around the mansion to get that P iano performance.

Inhaling some well needed air to get oxygen to your already malfunctioning brain in preparation of what was to come, you left the heavy basket full of dirty laundry and responsibilities behind and gently pushed the door open while peeking in with your head through the opening. As soon as he felt a pair of eyes on his back, Mozart abruptly stopped his magical fingers to turn to you, face contorted in an annoyed grimace.

Mozart: what.

MC: I- uh- uhm,,,, uhhhh- I... um

"Great job, chicken brain. The hero I absolutely didn't need right now"

Mozart: "I- uh- uhm,,,, uhhhh- I... um"...? I understand 15 languages and troglodyte isn't one of them. If you have nothing to say then leave.

MC: wait I-

Mozart: you didn't even knock. Are you really that impolite or did you grow up in a cave or something?

It hadn't even been 30 seconds and you had already been owned so hard not even a burnt Thanksgiving turkey could compare to this level of roasting, but there was no way in hell you were going to give up just for some edgy frail-looking man spouting some insults at you. You could probably smash him to the ground if you wanted, maybe... actually it would probably end with him snapping your neck like a twig, but at least the will to punch him was there.

You were ready to talk back with a savage comeback of your own, but before your mind could send the input to your mouth, his curt tone cut you off.

Mozart: Staring at people is a normal thing for future people? Makes me pity mankind. Get out.

...as kind as ever, the pianist! Kinda makes you want to kick him in the shins but you kept that thought to yourself.

As you were about to leave, two pair of footsteps got nearer to you from the corridor. Turning your head to the side you saw the clown duo making its way to the room, and you knew they were the ones who could provide you with the perfect chance to either succeed in your intent or bring you to a violent death.

Arthur: Oh my, what's happening in here? Is our wolfie making a move on our lovely MC before I can ask her out on a date myself?

Dazai: Good evening, Toshiko-san! Is something the matter?

And if this was your only opportunity, then you were going to use all your cards from the beginning. Mustering the best puppy eyes you could manage, you turned to the couple, and with a slightly whiny tone that resembled a half plea for help, you said:

MC: Ah, Arthur, Dazai-san! I just wanted to ask Mozart if I could listen to him playing the piano but he did nothing but be mean to me the whole time! I didn't even speak a word and he's already told me to leave twice~

Mozart: Which you didn't. So now I'm telling you a third time, leck mich. (=bug off)

Catching your subtle hint and feeling in the right mood to mess with the other fellow vampire, they decided to fan the flames of his annoyance by bringing in the discussion that one thing they knew he abhorred talking about.

Arthur: "Leck mich"? Why, Wolfie, you surprise me! You really haven't changed from your youth days, haven't you? My dear MC, did you know that the genius pianist here wrote a song called "Leck mich im Arsch"? A song about licking bums!

Dazai: Buttholes!

Arthur: Arseholes!

Dazai: Bungholes!

This was NOT the type of conversation you would've expected to have in a house full of historically important figures of such caliber, and foremost you were so close to bursting into a raging fit of laughter that only the scary aura of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was preventing you to do so. Despite the amusement you were worried the vein on his temple would explode and show you something you did not sign up for.

Mozart: Haven't I already told you not to bring that up?

Dazai: My, what a chilling smile, Wolfie-kun! Keep that up and you'll scare all the ladies away~

MC: pft——— what ladies?

Mozart: What are you laughing about, dumbass

Arthur: Woah, woah, woah! That's not the proper way to speak to a lady, Mozie! Bad wolf, bad!

Mozart: Did you take me for a dog, you four eyed caveman?

The more the snow white haired man was filled with rage, the more the situation escalated into something even more ridiculous , so much that in the midst of it you didn't even mind the recent insult.

But something was nagging you at the back of your mind. Why did someone as much as a clean freak as him write a song about licking ass? Though you realized Arthur probably gave you the literal translation just to be more direct about his bullying, you guessed it still was something pretty vulgar for someone like him. although you had to admit that the gracious idea you had of him crumbled away the second he opened his mouth

MC: I would've never expected someone like you to write such a song...

Mozart: What are you talking about?

MC: Uhm, you know, you're pretty neat, you don't let anyone touch your piano because of their 'filthy hands'... a piece about butts is a bit...

Mozart: I was still young at the time. My humor used to be different from now, people change in the span of 100 years, you know?

Arthur: Sense of humor? I wasn't aware you had one!

Mozart: Ahahah, so very funny, you stupid tratschtante (=gossip aunt)

Dazai: Maa maa (=now, now ; ara ara maa maa), I don't think the song is that out of character. After all, "licking butts" still has the idea of cleaning something, doesn't it?

Everyone: ...

Arthur: ...That was a bit too much

MC: Yeah, it was.

Mozart: Disgusting. This is why I dont like you people

MC: Wait, so can I listen to-

Mozart: Scram. All of you.

[prrplwtch]

headcanons for all the demon brothers on what their thoughts are about dating a human, considering humans age quickly and die. they barely have a century, if that. and if they do last a century they'll be old. idk... if mc asked them if they truly meant to date them when they are 70 years old, what would they say?

Ahh, nonnie thank you for this request - this is just the kind of angst I’ve been craving lately 💜I’m kinda assuming here that the whole entire “die, turn back into angel, and then live happily ever after with MC in celestial realm” things that’s briefly mentioned in the game isn’t really an option for the boys, since I don’t really understand it. 

Anyways, after I wrote this, it appears Lucifer, Satan, Asmo and Belphie would break off relationship on account of MC’s mortality, and Mammon, Levi and Beel would stay. 

Lucifer

Lucifer starts thinking about it as soon as he finds himself falling for MC. 

He knows that the human life is quite short, and he’d lost so much of what he loved before - but for the first time in his life he’s this scared.

It seems MC will be taken away from him in a blink of an eye. 

Lucifer is not the type to give up without a fight, however, so he’ll likely try and find a way to increase human life span. He knows, of course, that it’s not possible to make humans immortal, but he will do his best to find a way to get more time for the two of them. 

Diavolo might find out about his efforts, and may offer to make MC a demon, but Lucifer will decline. That’s not to say he’s not tempted to accept - after all, that way they’ll be forever by his side, but he knows all too well the cost of a deal with Diavolo. 

If he finds something that may help lengthen human life, he’ll approach MC about it. If they accept, he’ll be delighted, but if they reject, he would fall into despair.  

Assuming that MC rejected the “longer-lifespan” solution and question Lucifer on whether he would stop loving them if they aged and died like a normal human, Lucifer would become very sad - picturing himself still “young” and full of strength when MC is old and frail is quite jarring to him. 

Will likely begin to pull away from the relationship in that case and might actually break it off - he is not ready to spend decades in fear, waiting for MC to become old and die. 

Alternative option is that he’ll apply the “long life” treatment to MC anyways (since often he thinks he knows better) but this would likely blow up in his face, since MC probably won’t be too happy about it, and for a good reason. 

Mammon

Mammon does not think about it at first - after all, he kind of lives in the present moment. 

However, one day, one of his brothers (maybe Lucifer or Satan) will definitely being up the fact that he’s dating a mortal and that their time together is quite limited. 

That would scare Mammon very much - MC is the best thing that’s ever happened to him, and he absolutely cannot lose them. 

He likely won’t talk to MC about it right away, but will ask around about the ways in which a human’s life span can be lengthened. He’s not big on doing research, so he’ll likely turn to Satan or might go to the witches and ask if they know of something. 

MC will definitely figure out that something is bothering Mammon - the boy is as transparent as they come, even though he tries to hide his true feelings. 

When confronted will tell MC about his worries and will mention whatever ways he had found of increasing the human life span, then will ask MC is they’d agree to those. 

If MC agrees, like Lucifer, he would be elated. If MC does not agree, and instead asks him if he’d still love them when they were old and frail, Mammon would feel really guilty. 

It would take him some time to figure out what he truly feels about this situation - after all, this is all so new and he’d never had to encounter such problems before. 

In the end, he’ll decide that he’ll stay with MC who refused the “lifespan lengthening” treatment - the man is the avatar of greed after all, and there is no way he’ll give up the most precious thing in his life, even if it’s inevitable that it’ll be eventually taken away. 

Leviathan

Like Mammon Levi does not really think about it, until one day he he ends up watching an anime with a similar premise - an immortal girl meets a mortal girl and they fall in love, and the anime follows their life together. 

He thinks a lot about himself and MC when he watches it. He’s worried at first, but the story is a beautiful one and very peaceful, all the way through the end, and that definitely gives him solace. 

“Even though our time is short, we can still live a happy life,” he thinks to himself. 

Unlike his other brothers, will likely bring this up to MC unprompted, but asking MC whether they had thought about the future with him. MC will likely wonder why he’s asking, prompting Levi to explain about the anime. 

“So then you’ll still love me when I’m 70 and old and frail?” MC will ask him with a smile, and Levi will assure MC that of course he would. After all, theirs is a true love, just like that of the two characters from his anime, so how could he ever walk away from his one true?

Still though, Levi would like to get as much time with MC as is possible - he loves them very much after all - so he will ask if they are interested in looking into ways to increase the human lifespan. 

If MC agrees, Levi would be very happy - the more years he has with them the better, after all. But if MC declines, though sad, Levi would respect their decision. 

Satan (you can pry tolkien-fan satan out of my cold dead hands lmao)

Satan definitely thinks about the fact that he and MC would not have much time together as soon as he finds himself falling for them. 

After all, how could he not when some books he enjoyed reading had discussed at length the griefs that would befall the mortal and immortals who decided to spend their lives together. 

It worries him, of course - he knows that human youth is painfully fleeting and soon enough MC would age. Compared to millennia that he had lived, it seems as though MC will turn old and frail in a blink of an eye. 

He thinks he’d like to stay by their side, but one thing worries him - how will they feel when old age came upon them, and he’s still as “young” as the day they met. 

Satan would likely talk to MC about his concerns, trying to see what they think about the issue. 

When MC asks him if he would still love them when they are seventy, the question will likely put fear into Satan’s heart. It would seem to him that MC resents the fact that they will age, if they are asking things like this.

Satan knows a lot about magic, so he, like his brothers, might try to find away to make sure that MC lives longer, and will be glad if they accept. 

However, if they do not, like Lucifer, Satan might withdraw from the relationship. It would be unintentional at first, but the more time passes, the more he’d think about how MC would feel in the end - when they are old and he is still young. 

He knows he would not be able to hide his pity for them when that day comes- and he knows he does not want to shame them like that. So it is possible that Satan would break off the relationship to prevent more hurt further down the road. 

Asmodeus

Asmo, like Mammon, doesn’t really think about the future the whole lot, until someone points out to him that his time with MC is limited. Well, “doesn’t think about it,” is not completely fair - he did for a moment, but then quickly pushed the thought to the very back of his mind. After all, how can he be his fabulous self if he’s sulking? 

Still, now that someone else had pointed this out, Asmo cannot avoid the topic any longer. It causes him great anguish - he loves MC, and imagining them old and grey and weak is not something he wants to think about at all. 

MC would likely pick up on Asmo being more sad/reserved that usual, and when they ask him about it, he’ll likely be pretty open about his feelings. 

“Not to worry though,” he’ll tell MC, “I know this one witch - and she looks not a day over twenty five, when, in fact, she’s about five hundred years old. I’m sure if I’ll ask her nicely, she’ll share the secret of how to lengthen human life span.”

He’ll be delighted if MC agrees and would proceed right to calling the witch. However, if MC declines and asks him instead if what he said means he would not love them once they turned old, Asmo would be conflicted. 

On one hand, he would, of course - after all they’d still be them, but on the other hand, he could hardly bear to picture them old and frail. He’ll try to convince them to change their mind, of course. 

If he does not succeed, Asmo might find himself pulling away from the relationship. He loves MC a lot yet, but he does not want to get hurt - and he knows their death would absolutely destroy him. 

He might find it easier to break off the relationship completely rather than suffer for decades in wait of MC’s death.

Beelzebub

Beel, like some of his brothers, is not really the type to ponder subjects like this, so it’s most likely that he hasn’t thought about how the relationship between him and MC would inevitably come to an end with their death. 

That is, until one of his brothers points it out. 

The thought makes Beel very sad - he loves MC so very much and he never wants to be separated from them. Still, he understands that that’s the reality of life - humans are mortal and one day MC will be taken away from him. 

Knowing that they only have a little time together (well, obviously decades are not quite “little time,” but to someone who’s lived for millennia it probably is) he’d want to spend all the time he can with MC. 

He’d likely stay in MC’s room as much as he can, go with them everywhere, spend all the free time that he can by their side and be really sad when he cannot be next to them. 

MC would likely notice the change in his behavior - it’s not like he did not spend a lot of time with them before, but now he’s spending considerably more time with them - and ask him about it to which Beel would likely tell them the truth, that he’s scared that one day he’ll lose them. 

When MC asks if that means he’d still be by their side when they are old, Beel will be taken aback by the question. How can MC possibly think otherwise - of course he’d never leave them?

Unlike his brothers, he probably won’t look into the lengthening of the human lifespan - after all, MC does not seem interested in it, and he’s already grateful for all the time that they got together. 

Belphegor

Unlike his twin, Belphie definitely thinks about the fact that humans are mortal and that there is so little time for him to be with MC, as soon as he finds himself falling for them. 

Belphie’s terrified of losing any more of the people that he loves, so MC’s mortality is causing him great anguish. Unlike some of his brothers, however, he’s pretty good at concealing his true emotions, so it’s likely won’t be as easy for MC to read him as it is to read some of his brothers. 

Still, eventually the silence will become too much to bear, and Belphie would tell MC that their mortality scares him. 

When the conversation occurs, he likely hasn’t looked into the ways of making humans live longer just yet, but he’s certain that that’s possible, so he brings it up as a possibility to MC. 

If MC accepts, that makes Belphie happy - the more time he has with his beloved the better. If MC rejects, he feels really sad and a little angry - he wonders if MC doesn’t love him enough that they are refusing to do this for him. 

When MC asks him if he’d still love them when they are seventy years old, Belphie’s taken aback by the question. On one hand, MC would still be themselves, but on the other hand, loving someone who is on the death’s door, who is bound to die so soon. The very thought hurts.

Belphie thinks he’d suffered enough hurt in his life, and he does not want to go through several more decades waiting to get hurt again, so he’ll likely end the relationship to prevent pain down the road. 

[all-things-mlqc]

hi! sorry i dont know if your askbox is open, sorry if its not 😰. If it is, can i ask a scenario for who from more to less if the boys whould have "stronger stomachs", i mean who could deal with more extreme situations. (like a s/o who gets severely hurt, or has a bug acident or dealing with a pregnant s/o who has to deliver at home, etc) Thanks!

Ofc! Asks are open and I’m slowly but surely getting through them doing a few at once as well.

To be honest, the boys all have pretty strong stomachs when it comes to injuries and accidents considering the amount of chaos they’ve already been through. However, they’re all different in a way as well which I will get to. As for pregnancy at home, yeah some of these boys are a mess. Full summaries under the cut!

Victor:

I honestly believe Victor has the weakest stomach among the five of them. As far as we know, he hasn’t been through as much as the others. Sure, he and MC went through some childhood trauma together, but as for more severe incidents, he doesn’t seem to have as much experience. He very much seems like he would have a hard time seeing someone dear to him in an accident and/or severely injured. The same goes for seeing unknown people this way but it hits him a lot harder when it’s someone he knows. We already know this man has anxiety levels at 100 when someone dear to him gets hurt please stop having guards follow me into the women’s bathroom for the LOVE OF GOD IM FINE. But anywho, weak stomach > strong stomach for Victor. More on the weaker side just because he has a shit ton of anxiety and doesn’t want to believe it when he sees it.

Do I have to explain for pregnancy at home? The man is FREAKING O U T. He has called guards, personal doctors, a whole team of people, literally anything his money can buy him to help MC in this situation. He doesn’t know what to do at all and tries to play it off but miserably fails at doing so. Anxiety levels have reached 1000%. His weak stomach here is also mainly from anxiety rather than blood and such but lord help his soul.

Kiro:

SPOILER ALERT. Kiro’s will include spoilers from both the main story and information from his latest rumors and secrets which has not yet been revealed in the main story.

Kiro is a confusing one. The best way to explain it is by putting him in a certain scenario:

One of his very close friends/loved ones has been seriously injured. Upon seeing these injuries and the blood that came with them with his own eyes, he covers his mouth from naseuousness. The idea of someone so dear to him being in such pain—

However, theres a sense of nonchalantness he couldn’t quite make out. While he may not have the strongest stomach after seeing severe injuries, he doesn’t seem as bothered as he expected to be; Almost as if he was used to it. He has an idea why but they’re only fade memories. **CHAPTER 10+ SPOILERS** Having an “alter ego” is difficult considering he doesn’t always remember everything as the other person. Kiro only has partial memories of Helios while Helios only has small fragments of Kiro. But was he really Helios that often to become used to such injuries? He can never remember but he always assumed he was Kiro more than Helios. **Rumors & Secrets Spoiler** While that may be true, Kiro isn’t his core self. Deep deep down, he isn’t Kiro at his core and only became Kiro when instructed to as a child (it was revealed that he was told to become Kiro at a young age. We don’t have too many details on this yet but I’m assuming it was either an experiment tested on him or someone’s evol getting in his head). At his core, he has seen much violence. He has been a pawn for Black Swan and has been on many missions. Blood and injuries don’t faze him in the slightest anymore. He doesn’t like making a mess of things but he also doesn’t hesitate if a job needs to be done. He’s been injured far too many times to care at this point. The reason for Kiro’s calm composure is purely because of how nothing affects him as Helios, but he, as Kiro, does not know this. This also explains Kiro’s serious hacker side as well as Helios’ soft side when it comes to MC. Kiro and Helios act so different yet have very similar traits all because they affect each other as a whole.

Now as for pregnancy, Kiro is surprisingly calm. Sure he’s nervous but he’s a lot more encouraging and reassures MC that everything will be ok. He makes calls, texts for advice and what to do in this situation, but he still remains as cool as ever. He has a pretty strong stomach with pregnancy because he knows and understands the beauty in life. After all, he is our sunshine. Seeing the baby coming doesn’t scare him, it makes him beam with joy as he continues to encourage MC to keep pushing and that she’s doing a great job. He keeps a smile on his face the whole time as to not make MC worry.

Gavin:

Gavin is a complicated one. He has worked with the police force ever since graduating high school. He’s a captain for not only the police force but for the secret evol organization as well. This doesn’t just mean he’s one of the strongest and most intelligent individuals in the force, but also one of the most capable during missions. You can’t freeze in a mission; You can’t hesitate in the slightest. You have to be prepared for anything and everything and that includes serious injuries or even death. You can’t let things like that faze you or you won’t make it. This tells us that Gavin has a pretty strong stomach when considering injuries or accidents. HOWEVER, as told to us in later chapters, Gavin lost his mother in a fire. Because of this, he gets much more anxious and shaken when fires are involved. Eli, Gavin’s partner, also mentioned how Gavin hates fires in general, confirming that fires are unsettling for Gavin. This doesn’t necessarily mean that Gavin can’t handle the situation, but that he has more anxiety when dealing with anything fire related. Anxiety is a different kind of effect on someone’s stomach compared to not being able to handle the sight of blood. Gavin’s weak stomach to fire incidents is purely from stress and anxiety. Other than that, Gavin has one of the strongest stomachs out of the suitors.

As for pregnancy… haha oh lord you bet your ass this man is nearly on the floor. You probably have to do the contraction count for him so he doesn’t pass out, himself. Like I said before, blood doesn’t faze him especially when he knows it’s natural during pregnancy. However, the idea of not having a professional or someone to help you gives him more anxiety than he’s ever had. He only wants you and the baby to be ok. I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if he suggests the idea of him flying you to the nearest hospital. And to be quite honest, that may even work considering how FAST he flies. Overall, he has a pretty strong stomach here as well. He just has a lot of anxiety when it comes to MC.

Shaw:

**There will also be spoilers on Shaw and his background/where he comes from. I will try to make it as discreet as possible so not too much will be spoiled for those who don’t know yet, so read at your own risk**

Again, this boy has been through thick and thin his whole life. Considering his dad is a big shot in the military/police force as well as some Evol organization, Shaw has very likely seen a lot. Because his father was a very important part of an evol organization, he wanted a child with a powerful evol and ended up having Shaw who possessed an evol at a very young age. And because of this, Shaw was taken away from any family he had and was raised by his bitch of a father if I must say so myself. In later chapters, Shaw takes out a big group of people all by himself and laughs it off (just the kind of person he is, I swear he’s not crazy, he’s just broken on the inside). While Shaw and Lucien are very similar when it comes to being mysterious, I actually think it’s more difficult to read Shaw. He’s very unpredictable so I really don’t know if injuries or accidents faze him more than I believe. However, from what we’ve seen, I don’t think he minds all that much. He has a strong stomach and can handle these sort of events but I can’t say for sure if he hates it deep down or not just because he seems very sad and lonely behind his facade.

As for pregnancy, he’s somewhat in the middle of being calm and freaking out. If any of y’all play Ikemen Vampire, think of Leo in this case. Tries to play stuff off, panics on the inside, but still knows what to do in this situation. He’s more or less quiet in this situation as well. No sassy remarks, more focused and even supportive Shaw? supportive??? Yes he can be a good boy too, he’s just an asshat 99% of the time. I’m also convinced he doesn’t know much on pregnancy considering he doesn’t know WHAT A MCHECCIN DATE IS. But Shaw being Shaw probably knows exactly what to do just because he’s an intellectual little SHIT. To be honest, I feel like he may even have more of a weak stomach when it comes to pregnancy in general. He has this sort of innocence to him so he isn’t fully prepared for what is to come with pregnancy. Especially if MC is delivering at home, he probably has no idea what is right or wrong so seeing something completely natural may make him panic on the inside because he’s really unsure. He just has a natural talent at knowing what to do in situations.

Lucien:

Lucien has seen some shit. Nothing fazes this man, let’s be honest. Out of all the suitors, I believe Lucien has seen the most gruesome and disturbing events this goes without including Helios. **CHAPTERS 10+ SPOILERS AHEAD**

Lucien has practically been a test subject his whole life. His evol is still very confusing to us, but the best way to explain it is by saying he has the ability to “copy” or “steal” evols. There’s not much information covering this yet so I won’t get that far into it, however, he was only one of the many experiments, such as Hades, who have been tested on and survive. Being grown up as an experiment automatically helps develop a stronger stomach for him. Even if he might’ve had a weak stomach as a child, constantly being put through this stuff his whole life surly would’ve had an affect on how much he would be able to handle. Seeing the same stuff over and over again, consistently would eventually build up tolerance to the point where he can handle almost any sort of injuries or accidents. So Lucien has one of the strongest if not the strongest among the group.

Then there’s pregnancy. He is there. He is ready to deliver the baby himself. Yes, he can do that. No, I don’t think he is completely qualified LMAO but let’s be real here, he’s a prodigy and one of the most intelligent people in Loveland City honestly probably even the country. This is like a walk in the park for him. He knows everything about pregnancy MINUS THE PAIN and everything to do in this situation. He keeps a smile on his face the whole time as well. Very loving and supportive while delivering their own baby. The blood and sight of pregnancy doesn’t faze him one bit. He only gets worried when MC looks terribly in pain. He does everything he can to soothe the pain for her and takes care of everything after to let her rest. Honestly hate how amazing of a husband and dad he would be. Overall, he has one hell of a strong stomach with pregnancy and a very strong stomach with accidents/injuries.

[fatelotusorder]

Name: Elizabeth Tudor

Others  Names : Good  Queen Bess  , Liz  ,Lizabeth  ,Beth

Class: Ruler

other  Classes He  Qualifies For - Berserker(All Tudors Except Ed) , Caster, Saber(All English Ruler Qualify  for this class Bess Finds  this  dumb ), Lancer , Shielder

Alignment: Lawful Good

Voice Actor:Mitsuo Iwata (Sunny from Toriko , Hes  Also The Second Voice  For Ivanvok in One piece )

https://youtu.be/76jZj7Ymy9Y

Gender: Male  Likes: Sweets, Fashion , Beauty  in general

Dislikes: Don't call Him  Fat or  A Drag Queen , Dentists  , His Sister and  Father

Tags:King  ,English , Divine  ,Humaniod ,Servant ,Weak to Enuma Elish  NaturalEnemy: Mary Tudor  , Herny  the 8th  , Gilgamesh,Ozymandias  , Aslaung  , Medb

Cards: Buster,Art , Arts ,Arts Quick Active Skills:

Unwavering  Charisma (Increases Attack for  all Allies  and   Increases Allies  Defense  For 3 turn)

Ageless Beauty- Chance  to  Charm  All  Enemies  for 1 Turn ,and Seal their  NP for  Three  Turns

Glory of the Crown-Increase NP Gain and Apply Damage Cut to all allies for 3 turns

Passive Skills:

Rage of  Tudors - Increases allies   Attack  When Bess  is on  the Felid    Magic Resistance  

NP: Tudor Rose- Protection From the  Queen -  Arts-  Bess  Gives  a  Pray out  to God

,"when wars and seditions with grievous persecutions have vexed almost all kings and countries round about me, my reign hath been peaceable, and my realm a receptacle to thy afflicted Church. The love of my people hath appeared firm, and the devices of my enemies frustrate"

Before Similar  To  Neros A Room  Appears  Around  Him   as He Walks Towards  The  Throne , He Smiles as  Bess Sits  Down on  the Throne   And Snaps His Fingers   and a Light illuminates the Room. Give Invincibility for two hits and a 3 turn Heal Regen for Allies and Lowers Defense  for all Enemies .

Biography:

Elizabeth Tudor known By Many Aliases the last  Ruler of the  Tudor Dynasty in  England  , who Unlike her predecessors Before Enjoyed a Long Reign of about 44 years. Although Documented as a Woman in the History , The "Queen" was Actually  Male, Born with the name Arthur Tudor after his fathers late brother  but then Why Didn't  Bess take the  Throne  next Instead of   Edward he  was the Son Henry always wanted  .

Truth is  Henry  Declared  Bess as one  of His Daughters as Bess wasn't the son Henry wanted and Henry  didn't  consider   Bess Manly Enough  to  considered   His Next Heir   and  so Hid the Fact He Had another  Son by raising Bess  as  Girl and Eventually Declared Bess along with His Sister Mary as   Illegitimate  as Soon as He  had Edward .

Bess despite  His Arrogance, Flamboyancy, and Confidence in himself.Bess  Dose question if he truly a Man as He went through Great lengths to Hide the fact that he wasn't a Woman (even pulling an Artoria and giving himself breasts temporarily ) Mainly for political Reasons and so he didn't suffer the Similar short Rules of His Sister. Not for the Reasons that Modern Day people do it so His pronouces are He/ Them.

-—-

Summoned: "Elizabeth Tudor ,Servant Class : Ruler ,Is it Nice to be in the presence of a Queen  ,Master"

Bond 1:  Its  not  Everyday  Your  around a Queen My  Master ,Smile ~

Bond 2:Hm ,your an Interesting  person  to Say the Least

Bond 3: Your orders Master ,I’ll Do anything you  ask me  to.~"

Bond 4: Hehe ,You Remind Me  of  Someone Very  Special to  me in life. Who is this person? Your not ready for that just yet

Bond 5: this special person , Well his Name was  Robert Dudley , I  had a crush on him for the longest time .

Dialogue 1:"Why  Do you Stare At  me like that ? ,Master ? Is it Because I'm So Breathtakingly beautiful ... or Is it Something Eles?"

Dialogue 2: "D-dentist, Master ,I D-don't need a Dentist"

Dialogue 3:"Master ,This Scale Has to Be wrong I can't  have gained  weight ,I Cut  back on Sweets"

Dialogue 4: "Some Days I wonder Why I was Summoned as a Ruler I'm Not a Saint  or anything ,Just  a person Who believed that God was  on His Side protecting Him. "

(If you Have  Henry the 8th) " Master  , Don't   Compare me  to that  Boar  in Humans  Clothing  ,He dosen't  Deserve the Comparison "

(if You Have Mary Tudor ) "Mary ,Your Here  ...M-master We need to  Talk"

(if You Have Francis Drake )

"  Don't Go Telling People , How Big My (temporary) Breasts  Were! and they  Were Not  Bigger than  Raikou's Cow Udders ! "

(if You Have Ivan  the Terrible ) "You  Look Just as   Ugly and Horrid as  that Letter  You wrote Me"

(If You Have  Ragnar or Judge Vinsmoke )" You  Remind me  of my  Father   ,That is a  Bad  thing "

(if you  have  Sanji,Before whole Cake ) - Okama! Who are you To Say whether I'm  an  Okama or not  , I'll  break You  Arms  Clean off!

(if you  have  Sanji,After  Whole Cake ) "I seem We were Similar Situations, Your father  wanted to mold  you Into a Warrior that lacked Empathy and Compassion and Hated your Passion of Cooking  for his Ridiculous Standards on  What Royalty should and Shouldn't do.. ...Huh ,but I  thought You  didn't  like ugly ass Okamas.~"

(if you Have  Ivar the Boneless Before  Rwby Event) - "he's  the shortest  Viking I've  Seen  and  his Legs Flop around like  if he   was a Ragdoll , He's Kinda  Adorable looking  He reminds me of a Cat .”

(Ivar After Rwby) " Of  Course Come Here  ,Ivar  , If you Need  a Shoulder  to  Cry   come  to  me  , I have been Moved by Your Life  Story, You  still Remind  of  a Cat  though "

(If You Have Gilgamesh , Ozy or Medb) " Aww ~ You seem Jealous, Is it because of My Breathtaking Beauty  attracts Everyone to me like bees to a Flower."

Something you like: I love Sweets and Sugar ,but I'm on diet after looking at the Scale .

Something you dislike:  I personally Hate being  Called a Drag queen or Okama  its Basically  telling me I couldn't  past for a Woman to save my life  , I don't like being Called Fat my Father had to be carried by crane  you know.

About the Holy Grail: Grail , If I had  I'd wish  to  be able  to Find  True Love   and Get married   During an

Event: An  Event , Ah something  Different   than Our Usal Missions we should take break and relax. Birthday: Happy Birthday , Master  ,I shall  get the Cafeteria  to prepare a Banquet.

——-—

Other stuff

to clarify Bess is More gender non conforming and Really doesn’t caring for looking or acting Traditionally Masculine or Feminine . He’ll wear a Pencil skirt cause it looks nice and if people Mistake him for a women then he really dosent care to him that just means He looks pretty. He’ll drop to his natural sounding voice . Mainly because Elizabeth was Literally praised for his beauty even in his older Years where he was worse for wear in Servant form hes at most in his 30’s .

The reason why Bess hid as Women all his Life is that he was afraid of appearing weak and having a short chaotic rule like his sister as he says” It better to appear as a strong woman than be consider a weak man.“

also He’s 6’3 very tall .

In Fate Lotus order

The some of servants of Chaldea seemed to started a Fan club around Bess . This was started by Nobu and Nobukatsu( Whose actually a saber in this universe) cause Nobukatsu ended up forming a crush on him .

Bess pseudo Harem( cause he dosent know about this )now has

Finn mc Cool

a Chinese moth

Drake in there technically cause they’re Friends

his Advisor who is now a Pretty boy merged with a Snake like Eldritch god due messing with the Occult ( John dee )

he is unapologetically Bi and Unapologetically aware that he’s Thicc

Bess being a Male is based of a Debunked theory of Elizabeth Tudor being replaced by Similar looking male child after dying of illness . He is My Very first servant Oc along with his Sister Mary and Red riding Hood.

[ikenugs]

I was literally just thinking of what new thing I should fantasize in my head about, and that's when my dad called me to say good night. As like everyone in my family says, "Goodnight, love you" or something along the lines and gives each other a hug. So the Mc really missing the same practices her parents used to do, as she had an affectionate family. While also being too afraid to ask anyone about it, especially Nobunaga.

Ikesen Scenarios~ Goodnight Hugs

And here she found herself in the meeting room, yet again being dragged from the comfort of her bed and bearsace. Agriculture was a very important part of Azuchi's economic structure and was thought to produce some of the ripest crops around. Though along with that, to have the ability to cultivate the land, the farmers had to acquire the right materials and skillfully use them. The Oda had just received fertile land a little to the east, so this meeting was mainly about transporting supplies there and investing the money for the supplies. Though she didn't recall much that she learned in school on Japanese history, she found this sorta thing a bit interesting. Obviously, it's different reading it from a textbook you've been staring at for hours, then actually experiencing and observing farmers. Watching them plow fields instead of using huge machines that pollute the Earth, like they do in the future. She hadn't seen anything beyond Azuchi's bustling shopping area, aside from the woods and Honno-Ji. So it'd be nice to see more of ancient Japan. She was still very sleepy, and blah blah money, blah leader accounting financial stuff. And you could occasionally see the drool falling from her mouth, as she dozed off. Though she did brighten up when they began decided who would deliver the supplies. Which ended up being Masamune, as he was 'itching to get out and cause some mischief somewhere else' resulting in a whack from Hideyoshi. Besides that he glanced over at her with his signature cheeky grin, "Would you like to accompany me, Lass?" Now that wasn't an offer she could just refuse, again, a bit of adventure couldn't hurt. She wondered how different their lives were compared to Azuchi. "Well, that would be lovely, only if I'm not a burden." Which she could see the unmistakable glint of mischief in his eyes, and knew there was more than just and invite to deliver materials. For all she knows, that look could mean he's gonna set a tree on fire and tie her to it. Maybe throw a dagger at her while he's at it, so this was going to be some journey.

In a commanding tone, Nobunaga officially dismissed them all, though everyone lingered and chatted comfortably. Now that it was over, she couldn't stop herself from imagining the toasty feeling of her bed 'soon my love'. It didn't ease the thoughts that have been pestering her recently though, they were thoughts about her family, ones she missed dearly. She recalled when her father would knock on her door to tell her goodnight and give her a hug. Her loved ones always hugged and wished everyone a 'goodnight, love you', as she grew up in a very affectionate family. So, you could say that she was feeling quite 'touch starved', not in a thirsty way, but a pure one. All the warlords gathered in that very room, we're playing the roles of her Sengoku family, and she loved them all very much. But she missed her old family habits, she was even affectionate towards her friends and loved hugs. So even after being there for a month, it was difficult not to reminisce on her past (or now, future). She didn't notice that she had zoned out in deep thought, her gaze landing right beside Nobu's head. He silently scrutinized her, it seemed as though she wanted something.

"Is there something you need, Emi? You've been staring at me for the past few minutes now." Now she was alert, and apologized sheepishly. "I-im very sorry, I was just thinking about something. And was wondering......um.." Mitsuhide's attention was drawn to the flustered girl before Nobunaga and chuckled a bit 'what could she be on about now?' She tried to begin again, shakily, " uh.... Well, umm.. You see... I" He raised his eyebrow as if to say, 'if you're gonna say something then get on with it' She just started at his desolate frosty eyes, with lack of warmth. Asking him for affection may not be the best, maybe Mitsunari would be easier to ask? "Actually, uh.. I think I'll just go ask Mitsunari, instead.." Emi began to think away from the lord. 'What does Mitsunari have that I don't?' Is what went through his brain as he waited to see what would happen if she asked the sweetheart of their group.

With a blush still dusting her cheeks, she reached a hand and tapped on Nari's shoulder, who turned around with a welcoming smile. "Lady, Emi!!" She giggled at his innocent reaction, her conversations with him were a bit flowier. Yet again she became a little shy, but the friendliness radiating off of the sweet angel gave her the courage to continue. "Mitsunari, .......? Could you give me a hug??" He titled his head for a moment then spoke, "A..........hug?..Well, of course Lady, Emi!" He then embraced her tenderly, what a fricken cinnamon roooooooooooooolllllll.

"Is it comfort that you seek? Because I can't give that to you." Nobu said as monotone as ever, Nari's enthusiasm had drawn all eyes and ears. "So you just wanted to ask for an embrace, then?" She bowed her head a bit towards him and spoke what was bothering her. "Well, yes, but that's not everything. You see I was just missing my family, and we had a practice where before bed we all gave each other hugs and said that we loved each other. And whenever we did that... I got a warm feeling in my chest, it always helped me sleep." They all noticed the wistful look in her eyes, it was difficult to ignore the way her heart ached, a pleading for intimacy. It was a pretty lonely feeling. No one wanted to feel that way, and I guess the loneliness she felt could be understood by the lot. She couldn't see her family for at least two months around 61 days, it was a bit heartbreaking. She did have Sasuke and Bearsace other than the six there, but Sasuke was quiet busy doing Ninja stuff, and Bearsace isn't a person. She even tried expressing her emotion and passion in her sewing, but things like that were just momentary distractions from her inevitable feelings. Even though she was in a bit of a vulnerable state, Mitsuhide being the tease he is decided that this is perfect bait, and he couldn't just let this chance slip by, could he? He chuckled softly, and his eyes sparkled with amusement.

"So, if what my ears are hearing is correct, you want us to express our love for you and embrace you warmly as though you were our wives?" Emi immediately flushed, I guess in this time that would be something only lovers would do. "N-no, of course not, I just want a hug, as you guys are the closest thing to family I have here, " The unmistakable tear in her voice pierced the hearts of even the coldest warlords in the room. Her hair covered her eyes as she bowed down, she had said her family was so far you couldn't point it out on a map, but they were in different TIME PERIODS. But, she couldn't cry, a show of weakness like this one could cost her too many precious things in the Sengoku period. Her actions even made Mitsuhide loss his composure for just a moment, only a second though.

Hideyoshi frowned and looked seriously towards his vassal. "Mitsunari, " "My Lord, should we........?" "I believe it's time..." Mitsunari nodded in understanding. Ieyasu's face turned to one of dread, of pure horror. Mitsuhide raised a singular eyebrow, as Masamune grinned, Nobu remained stoic, though you could see the shine in his cold eyes.

Ieyasu quickly protested, "No........... You must be kidding me, no way. Nuh uh. I refuse to participate in that, not again." She looked up concerned, what could possibly be so awful to have Ieyasu practically running in the opposite direction. Well, actually there are lots of things, having to interact with Mitsunari, acknowledging his emotions, another one of Hideyoshi's lectures, the list just goes on. This time Nobunaga stepped in to assist, "Ieyasu, " He gave a stern unwavering look, "Do you dare.... Betray the Oda by defending the victim due to your lack of being able to process physical--" "Ugh, please stop. Fine. But if you ever speak of this again, you won't wake up the next morning." This caused Mitsunari to break out in a sweet smile.

After their interaction, each one, with Ieyasu a bit more hesitant than the others, began to surround the poor girl trapped in the middle. Even Nobunaga had arose from his dias. They slowly began tightening around her, closing in on their one and only target. 'Victim?! What we're they going to do to her?! Did her declaration define her as too weak?!' Suddenly, they all slowed to a stop, a calm before the storm, a glance passed around the circle, resulting in Emi's pulse to quicken to the pace of lightening. At last, the look ended at Hideyoshi, who gave the final nodding signal.

"GROUP HUG!!!" Rang around the room as the warlords pounced on her, squishing her tight in the middle. She opened her eyes only to see a cluster of the six samurai clutching onto her in a warm embrace. Correction, actually, five samurai, as Ieyasu lingered and watched. Masamune was the first to notice, "Come on Ieyasu, wouldn't it be nice to get in on the action?! Don't be such a sourpuss!" Ieyasu scoffed at his comment, though it did look comfy, and comforting. "Oh, Ieyasu-sama, why don't you come join us?! You'd surely enjoy it!" Mitsunari called to him, that sealed the deal, despite his snide comments towards Nari, he had a bit of a soft spot for the boy. Ieyasu sighed one last time, closed his eyes and walked towards the group. Ending up squished next to the very same angel, their cheeks almost touching.

After a few moments, they backed off only to uncover a beaming Emi. She actually thought they were going to like attack her or something, her heart felt so warm, she felt like poppers we're going off in her chest. In all her excitement she went around the room and hugged each one individually. Ieyasu didn't even deny her this time, her hug with Nobunaga was a bit odd, but still made her feel fuzzy and loved.

"Hey, why does Mitsunari get two hugs?" Masamune asked, "What if I wanted another one?" She smiled brightly again and began moving in for another hug, she never took Masamune as the overly affectionate type. At the last second, she realized his cheeky tactics. "You flirt?!" There was still this feeling on her heart, as they laughed away his attempts. And each said their good night's before the sweet girl skipped out of the council room. A satisfied look on her face. Nobunaga rested his cheek on his palm as he watched her go. Shortly after they heard the crash and concerned apology from their princess.

"What an unusual woman........."

Sasuke's whole face was beet red as he watched the whole situation play out. He could most definitely say he was jealous of the woman, +15 Jealousy gained! Fanboi mode activated! If there was ever a time he wanted to fall through the ceiling tiles, it was then, how lovely it would have been to join the group hug.

"Wow, who knew the Oda were such softies....." Whispered a soft voice behind him, he jumped a bit and had to adjust himself as to not actually fall through the ceiling. "Yuki?!" He had forgotten he brought his BFF along, his fanboi had placed him in his own little world.

Needless to say, she slept very soundly and happily that night..

_____________________________________________

I SWEAR, GET THE HISTORY BOI HIS VERY OWN PERSONAL GROUP HUG! Anyways, but just imagine this scenario, it's like so adorable. Also, Ieyasu had learned what that look meant the hard way, as he hadn't seen Wasabi for a few days and he was a little saddened by that fact, despite claiming Wasabi could run away anytime and he wouldn't care. As Mitsuhide could practically pick up anything, like the sneaky snake he is. It started with a whisper from Mitsuhide to a gasp from Hideyoshi, and with a look from his vassal, he was actually like AMBUSHED and HARASSED with hugs. It did make him feel better, though he'd never admit it lol.

Ieyasu and Mitsunari make such a cute pair don't ya think 😊 (whether platonic or not). Also I realize I forgot to include Ranmaru.. Forgive me for that...

[taww]

First Take Review: Gryphon Essence Preamplifier & Stereo Amplifier

Okay, let’s get this out of the way: with a combined retail of over USD $40k (and that doesn’t include another $6k for the optional Zena DAC module), The Gryphon’s Essence preamplifier and stereo amplifier are by far the most expensive electronics I’ve ever had in my home! They might be the Danish firm’s entry point into separates, but that’s akin to calling a $146k Aston Martin Vantage “entry level.” There was a time in the not-so-distant past when spending such sums of money on stereo gear struck me as pointless excess. Perhaps I’ve been numbed by flipping through too many issues of The Absolute Sound or walking the halls of an audio show; perhaps I’m just entering a life stage (mid-life crisis, anyone?) where I’m allowing myself to indulge in such luxuries. Whatever the case may be, I’ve now had the good fortune of several months with the Essence combo, and despite a number of people prodding me for this review it’s been quite difficult to put into words how they perform. Why? Because every time I sit down to do the “work” of reviewing I just end up getting sucked into the music and forget to do the reviewing bit! But, here goes...

The arrival of the Gryphon components was a case of one thing leading to another. My first experience was when I strolled into Gryphon’s room at RMAF 2018. After being disappointed by so many other mega-buck systems at the show, I was delighted that this one actually sounded like music! Frankly, a lot of über-expensive show systems landed on my ears like amusical hi-fi effects or whimsical fancies of what some people think music should sound like, rather than an actual musical performance. Like other big systems, the Gryphon rig was imposing and fancy-looking, but with a decidedly purposeful, even stark, aesthetic. And the sound - so tangible and luscious, maybe a little dark and brooding, but in a way that connected me emotionally to the recorded performance rather than distracting me with sonic affect. 

At the time I was happily running the Valvet A4 Mk.II monoblocks, and also had @mgd-taww​’s Pass Labs XA30.5 at my disposal. Both delivered the pure and colorful musical flavors of Class A amplification, and both are superb amps. But things got thrown for a bit of a loop when I settled on the Audiovector SR 6 Avantgarde Arreté speakers as my new reference. I had auditioned them at AudioVision SF with the Gryphon Diablo 300 integrated amp ($16k) and the sound gave up nothing to high-quality separates - big, bold and dynamic with tremendous poise and nuance. Coming back to the Pass and Valvet amplifiers (coupled with a Pass Labs XP10 line stage) certainly wasn’t a let-down, but they didn’t have quite the same level synergy with the Audiovectors which sounded more complete and visceral with the Gryphon integrated. 

This combined with the strong aural memories from the RMAF room led to a call to Gryphon’s US distributor, Philip O’Hanlon and Pandora Pang of On a Higher Note. Philip acknowledged that the Diablo was indeed excellent but teased that Gryphon had recently introduced a new line of separates worth consideration. The Essence had just arrived in the States and he had one more set in stock if I were so inclined... and next thing I know, a pallet loaded with what my wife lovingly referred to as “an illegal arms shipment” landed at our doorstep.

Serious crates for serious gear

Like all separates in The Gryphon’s 35-year heritage dating back to the original DM100 amplifier, the Essence line features pure Class A operation with minimal negative feedback, but brings it at a lower price point ($22,990) with more conservative aesthetics and practical packaging. Prior to the Essence, to get a Gryphon amp one had to shell out anywhere from $39k for the Antileon EVO to $57k for the flagship Mephisto (double those if going for monoblocks). The tradeoff is a lower power rating - just 50wpc, albeit in pure class A and doubling into 4 ohms and again into 2 ohms - so you’ll want to pair it with a reasonably efficient speaker. The Essence preamp meanwhile is a repackaging of the Zena preamplifier launched in 2018 (also $17,500), reskinned with cosmetics to match the amp. It features fully balanced operation via a discrete DC-coupled Class A circuit with zero global negative feedback, and can accommodate either of two optional internal modules, the Zena DAC ($6,000) or an MM/MC phono stage ($2,250). Being strictly digital I opted to evaluate the DAC, which I’ll talk about in a later installment. I’ll also save more details about the design and operation of this beautifully-crafted gear, including Gryphon’s unique Green Bias system, for a more in-depth review. For now, let’s get down to the business of how it sounds...

The Essence Preamp

When the Essence components arrived I clearly needed my wife’s assistance to safely unpack and set up the 45kg/99lb Essence amp. But she was busy making reeds for her oboe that evening, so I initially made do setting up the preamp (it weighs in at “only” 13.4kg/29.5lbs) and comparing it to my Pass Labs XP10 with the Pass Labs XA30.5 amplifier.

Firing up the Essence preamp from a cold start was one of those “damn, I don’t understand how a preamp can make this much of a difference” moments. Even though the Pass XP10 is a very solid performer - I find the sound of my PS Audio DirectStream significantly improved by it vs. feeding an amplifier directly - the 3x-as-expensive Gryphon outclassed it from the first note, taking musical resolution from the micro to nano level.

The first thing I noticed was how the entire back of the stage opened up. I never realized how triangular it sounded before, becoming narrower as you went deeper. With the Essence it suddenly feels rectangular and whole, with winds, brass and percussion able to naturally spread out and breath on the stage. It didn’t even take a big orchestral recording to experience this - my very first track was an intimate vocal with piano accompaniment, soprano Elsa Dreisig singing Strauss songs with pianist Jonathan Ware (Qobuz). The sense of the space - a church, as you can see from this video - and where the performers occupied it became strikingly tangible. Piano has starting clarity, with all its complex overtones unfolded and laid out for your ear to sample at its leisure. Dynamic resolution is also unlocked - subtle gradations in vocal intensity flow so organically. Going back to the Pass pre, macro dynamics weren’t Iacking, but the transitions somehow came across more synthetically, as if the volume dial was being turned rather than the performers modulating their instruments in the original performance. 

One thing that didn't change too much was overall tonal balance. I find the Pass pretty neutral and extended, if anything having a subtly warmish character to it, at least by solid state standards. The Gryphon doesn't deviate notably from that, leaning slightly in that direction though with more sophisticated and varied tonal richness and density. The quality of the frequency extremes, however, is a different matter. Most striking is how triangles sparkle and ring with startling presence on the Gryphon. With a claimed frequency response out to 1MHz, the Essence pre delivers the highest highs with a sense of ease and finesse. And the bass is everything people have come to expect from the Gryphon house sound - deep, taut and powerful with beautiful tonality. The Pass Labs wasn’t missing any of the music per se, but the deepest bass notes and highest overtones sounded constrained vs. the effortless and wide-open delivery of the Essence.

So, yeah - a preamplifier that costs 3x as much as the Pass XP10 sounds clearly superior. Not much of a news flash, and a much fairer comparison in the Pass lineup would be the XP32 ($17,500) or at least an XP22 ($9,500). But what took me aback was how a preamplifier like the Essence could bring out so much life and nuance that was being curtailed by an otherwise fine piece like the Pass. The net effect was to make the musical performance feel significantly more tangible, visceral and unclouded - something that even the change of a DAC or amplifier doesn’t consistently achieve. The Gryphon Essence pre is simply an incredible conveyor of the musical signal.

And we haven’t even tried the amplifier yet...

The Essence Amplifier

Once I got my wife to assist in positioning the hefty Essence amp in the cabinet (safety first!), I hooked up the Audiovectors via my usual Audience Au24 SX cables and powered up the Gryphon using the stock power cord (the amp requires a 20A IEC connector, so standard cords won’t work). I played a bit with the Green Bias settings but obviously settled with it in red-hot Class A operation for serious listening. And while the amp has since benefited from multiple months of break-in, it was apparent from its first notes that the Essence had resolution, clarity, dynamics and tonal completeness on an altogether different level from any amp I’ve experienced in my system. But there was something else remarkable about its presentation that’s taken me many months to put my finger on, and I think I might be finally getting it.

The Essence amp has a very special ability to deliver the leading edge of a sound with incredible speed, precision and clarity. I’ve heard amps with fast leading edges (some attribute this to high slew rate), I’ve heard amps with very clean ones (lack of distortion and ringing). The Essence delivers a combination of fast and clean that is truly exceptional, and perhaps close to the state of the art. Every impulse and note attack hits you with perfect timing and delineation, then decay with similarly impeccable control. By comparison, amps like the Pass Labs that struck me as very pure have a bit of fuzz to them. Ever listen to an AM radio station when the signal gets weak, and all the starts and stops of sounds get staticky and fuzzy? There was a bit of that feeling going back to other amps in my system... no, they weren’t literally fuzzy and distorted. It’s just that the Essence amp sounds exceptionally lithe and clean, removing an extremely subtle layer of distortion that became difficult to un-hear in other amplifiers. 

Coming from the Pass XA30.5, the Essence’s midrange was less overtly warm but even more substantive in tone. The Pass is certainly on the warm and lush side for a solid state amp, but past Gryphons I’ve heard had their own dose of chocolatey richness, so I was initially surprised by the balance of the Essence. It has the midrange density and lush tonal colors I was expecting from a Class A Gryphon amp, and yet it also sounds close to dead neutral in character. There’s a crystalline transparency that makes everything else sound a bit cloudy by comparison. Class A amps usually get the tonal part right, but can sound a bit sluggish or rounded dynamically; Class AB amps often have great transient speed but with some roughness around the edges and a bit of tonal hollowness. The Essence backs its exceedingly snappy and clean transients with real tonal substance and an infinite palette of realistic tonal colors. It can simultaneously preserve the gravitas of a string bass ostinato, the glowing warmth of a French horn, the delicate nasality of an oboe and the ethereal lightness of a flute all in balance. Orchestral recordings have never sounded this vivid and realistic in my home.

An interesting display of the amp’s prowess was in violinist Hilary Hahn’s recording of the Vieuxtemps Violin Concerto (Qobuz). The album also contains Mozart’s popular “Turkish” concerto which probably gets most of the plays; the Vieuxtemps is infrequently performed and mostly known by violinists as a sort of advanced student concerto (yes, my teacher made me study it). Vieuxtemps was a Belgian virtuoso of the romantic era and while the concerto has its charms, its orchestration is rather clunky. This actually made for a fascinating sonic experience in the concerto’s orchestral exposition, where different instruments pass melodic fragments back and forth in somewhat disjointed fashion rather than the more cohesive harmonization and counterpoint you’d get from a German master. A flute here, a clarinet there, a timpani roll or violin flourish coming and passing - the Essence conveyed each one with striking clarity and trueness of timbre and dynamics, arranging all the instruments across the stage in perfect proportion. So much of the feel of an instrument lies not just in its tonal makeup but the shape and feel of its notes - the reedy breathiness of a clarinet, the ringing “bong” of a timpani, the firm attack of a trumpet, the brush stroke of a violin. This is where the Essence’s leading-edge precision and lack of electronic haze help it truly evoke the feeling of sitting on the stage with the musicians, each and every instrumental entrance having that tactile realism.

Having been a classmate’s of Ms. Hahn’s I also have first-hand experiences of her playing, and the Essence strongly evoked memories of hearing her performing in recitals or practicing in our conservatory. Though we were both teenagers at the time, she had already developed her distinctive tone and focused intensity, and hearing that reproduced so vividly through the Essence and Audiovector speakers is uncanny.

The frequency extremes of the Essence amp, particularly in combination with the Essence preamp, are also something special - the crazy-wide specified bandwidth of Gryphon components is no joke. The speed and tautness and slam of the bass brings realistic clarity to the foundation of the music. It’s bass that I like to call “sneaky” for the way it doesn’t unduly call attention to itself, but then will come out and smack you in the face as in a live event. Instruments like string bass or contrabassoon are naturally portrayed in the orchestration, rather than getting buried in the mix. The top end is extended and articulate, capable of bringing out all the energy and brilliance of string, brass and percussion instruments, and yet certain recordings that tend towards brightness actually sound warmer and smoother than I've heard before. It sounds so pure and free from distortion, so that if there’s any distortion already present on the recording it does nothing to aggravate it. Sibilants and tape hiss and clipping are still there, yet come across less obtrusively, making them easy to tune out in favor of the music. 

Case in point: the DSD remaster of Strauss Don Juan, recorded in 1958 by the Cleveland Orchestra under George Szell (Qobuz). My wife and I have listened to this recording dozens if not hundreds of times and while the performance is riveting, the recording quality has always been a bit hissy and strident. My wife asked to listen to it again on the Gryphon setup for study purposes and halfway through I remarked, "does this recording sound a lot less bright to you?" She concurred - we had never heard it sound so clean and natural, and for the first time I didn't notice the tape hiss at all. The Gryphon gear really does excel at extracting the essence of the musical performance locked in the recording, neither artificially filtering nor amplifying the distractions of its mechanical limitations. I’ve heard far too many ultra high-end systems that need absolutely pristine audiophile material to sound their best. With the Gryphons, every recording in my collection has never sounded more distinguished and compelling.

The sense of space that the Essence preamp conveyed with other amplifiers becomes even stronger in combination with the Essence amp. I have never heard the different sections of a symphony orchestra arranged so palpably. Winds and percussion have clearly delineated space behind the string section, and delicate clarinet solos that are typically a bit hazy in recordings are conveyed with both clarity and intimacy. There’s something about the Essence’s blend of clean transients, tonal rightness and harmonic resolution that bring out the distinct ambience and texture of each recording - the aural equivalent of the “mouth feel” of a wine. Going back to otherwise excellent amps makes everything feel a bit more homogenous, a hair less stimulating.

There are a couple of potential shortcomings to call out, and they may be interrelated. The first is that the bass in combination with the Audiovector speakers isn’t quite as hard-hitting as with, say, the 600wpc Class D Legacy iv2, or as what I heard with the Gryphon Diablo 300 integrated; nor is it as plump and room-filling as with the Pass XA30.5. Quality-wise it’s exceptional - fast and deep and pitch-perfect in ways they can’t match - but sometimes I just want it to fill out the space a bit more and punch me in the gut a little harder. I mostly miss this when listening to pop tracks, e.g. anything from Billie Eilish where the raw punch of the Legacy amp factors more strongly than the n-th degree of refinement from the Gryphon.

The other nit is that the soundstage, while vividly painted, feels a bit less “generous” than bigger-sounding amps like the Legacy or Pass Labs, or the Gryphon Diablo for that matter. There’s a bit more emphasis on the precise constituency of an orchestra, as opposed to its sheer scale - a little more of the trees, a little less of the forest. To some, this may make the Essence feel a hair light in presentation, despite its rich and layered midrange.  Ears I trust tell me moving up the Gryphon line to the Antileon EVO or Mephisto can give you the best of both worlds, but those are obviously at increasingly exorbitant price points. 

I’ll need to try tweaking these area of reproduction more (e.g. cables), but as it currently stands, I could see the Essence best matching with speakers that are tonally richer and a bit less critically damped on the bottom end, vs. requiring care with something leaner and more laser-focused. It’s slightly lean with some recordings on the Audiovectors, and I’d definitely want to check before paring it with the likes of a Magico. It goes without saying that when you get to this level of fidelity (and cost), you should expect to spend a fair amount of time and effort on component matching.

As a side note, I was able to further extend the capabilities of the Essence via Furutech’s DPS-4.1 power cord (custom built with 20A connectors) and DSS-4.1 speaker cables. These upped the clarity and transparency yet another notch or three, opened up dynamics further and created a wider sense of space on recording after recording. I’ll have more on these excellent cables and how they synergize with the Gryphons in a future installment.

Capturing the Essence

It’s been challenging pinning down the character of the Essence system, the amp in particular. Even more so than other great Class A amps I’ve heard, including from Gryphon, the Essence amp has a combination of purity, openness, refinement, clarity, speed and dynamic life that defy the usual idiosyncrasies and limitations of Class A vs. AB vs. D. It’s dynamically fleet, rhythmically incisive, tonally sophisticated, dimensionally resolving, and sneakily powerful and punchy. In combination with the superb companion preamp, it uncovers a sense of space in virtually every recording I throw at it with greater detail and palpability than I’ve heard before, without seeming artificially holographic like some tube amps. The tonal purity and resolving power of this pair are simply at a level I have rarely experienced anywhere at any price. Moreover, the name “Essence” couldn’t be more apt - all these sophisticated qualities are squarely focused on conveying the beauty and quirks of the original recording without need for enhancement or editorializing to make it enjoyable. The closest aural recollection I have of this sort of musical resolution was the MSB Reference + Magico M3 system at RMAF 2018, which had a significantly superior DAC and a total cost approaching $300k. 

As for the price... well, I can say that the monies spent on a piece by The Gryphon clearly go towards obsessive engineering and craftsmanship in the service of state-of-the-art music reproduction, rather than ostentation or frivolous excess. This is musical fidelity of the highest order, and my new reference in amplification.