#hope he is in otome hell or something

[coronangelic1]

Burn Your Fat With Me is the perfect game to yell and scream at and damage your 2017 Gold Moto Z2 Play phone because of how much you fucking hate that man

[threepandas]

Bad End: Eve

You know how most Otome games are vaguely historical? Usually some non-specific mishmash of European countries? But fluffier and with more bows? It had once "gotten" to me, I think. I remember looking for outliers. Non-joke ones. Something that wasn't just "but this time with hats!"

I found one.

And now? Now I'm not sure if I curse that day or thank whatever force of nature lead me there. I guess... I guess it depends. Would I still have ended up HERE? If I had not found it? If so, then I genuinely and actually fucking rue it. Like... like actual "you'll rue the day! Bwahaha!" Type rue it. That's me. Ruing.

But? If it was always going to happen?

Then I guess...

I guess I'm weirdly glad. Because at least I have some fucking idea of what's going ON. Terrible, as it all is. Fucked, as the situation is. At least I'm not... not confused. Blind and at the mercy of those around me. Ignorance truely isn't bliss. All it does is leave you to try an fill in the blanks yourself. Usually with something far worse.

Not that the situation could GET much worse, by much.

I was in an Otome game. NOT a flower, high society, and dragons kind either. No. I? Was in a Dark Sci-Fi otome game. "Fate of man" was thrown around a lot. Power of luuuuv~ and such. Also, you know, HORRIFIC ethical violations. Human experimentation. Cataclysmic events and humanity "starting over".

All the high drama sci-fi concepts you could expect. It was a romp. Had good art. I'd had fun! Which is why I remember it so clearly.

Less fun when you're IN IT.

When you AREN'T one of the characters you KNOW will survive.

In fact, are one of the characters you know WON'T fucking survive. And will probably die MESSY. Horribly. Cause see, our BELOVED Harem collecting Protagonist? She? Was AN Eve. "AN".

Take a wild fucking guess what THAT project is about.

Did you say "breeding a better race of humans"? Ding ding ding! With humanity currently fucked, they want to FIX the problem by FIXING humanity. And of course, fuck ethics! Volunteers? Why use those?! Let's horrifically mad scientist our way to atrocity-ville! Make it all the more "God rightfully punishing us for our unforgivable sins" when we get wiped out!

Fffffffuck YOU, plot! I have to live here too!

You may, in fact, be picking up a slight note of stir crazy. A "wow, this lady rambles like a mother fucker" vibe. You would TOO, if you were stuck in a FUCKING TUBE. All I can do, day in and day out? Is wake, think, observe, then go right back to sleep. I can't even eat! I got a TUBE for that!

I... I miss showers.

Everything is GOO.

I'm an Eve. And if it weren't for the air tube controlng my breathing? I'd laughing hysterically until I died. And no, not in the "oh how funny" way. God. Oh... oh god. What a way to die. NONE of the Eves survive "the program".

Those IDIOTS are so OBSESSED with making bigger and bigger, better and better, FUCKING JUGGERNAUTS? That the Adams? Have long since reached the point of "mindless killing machine". UNSTABLE is putting it lightly. There is sexual dimorphism and then there's literal incompatibility.

But GOD FORBID the scientists admit that THEY are the ones with the inferior product.

It... it was even part of the game's plot. The scientist who made "Eve" HID her while HE made an Adam. I do not have that luxury. Somewhere, there is an unstable BESERKER being told I'm his "wife". That we're going to be HAPPY together. That he'll get to put his bruising, blood soaked hands anywhere he WANTS... just after he WINS me from the other Adam's.

Got to prove HE'S the best specimen, after all.

It makes my skin crawl. All I can hope, is that I can either provoke the bastard enough to kill me before they have a chance to stop him, or? I use my own enhanced strength to snap my neck. Maybe bite my tounge. Like HELL am I letting an Adam get near me.

The hiss of laboratory doors.

"Perfection at last..." Comes a relieved sigh. "All those HIDEOUS specimens. Why they make me suffer them, I'll never understand. We should have terminated them months ago. My poor project, they really think they're WORTHY of you..."

There's a derisive laugh. The scientist strolling into the lab I've been developing in, familiar. I watch him casually shrug off his lab coat and dump is bag. Hang his coat over the back of his chair. Turn, as he does each day, to STARE up at me. His eyes are a pale, pale purple the likes of which I've never seen before.

They're HAUNTING.

There is almost a red tint to them, though maybe that's the lights. The goo. I can never tell. He always looks ENTRANCED by me. Floating, visored, connected to far too many tubes an' wires. I'd think it was the fact that I was naked if it weren't for the way his gaze doesn't seem to drift lower then my shoulders. Seems more entranced by the way my hair moves, as though under water.

I've never once heard him talk about me lustfully.

But that doesn't mean he doesn't SCARE me.

"Let's begin, shall we? Time for your daily doses, mmm?" He says, voice dangerously affectionate. As though i had CHOSEN to do this to myself. As though he were merely reminding me of my morning medicine and not the hell ahout to come. "Going to be good for me? I know you shall, you always are."

He turned back to his desk, his computer. A few keystrokes... and I could feel the pod above me begin to hum, as it awoke. Oh god. Oh god it never got easier. From the corner of my eyes, bright chemicals slide down thind lines and into my veins. Like lines of lava. Bolts of electricity and pain. It was... AGONY.

My muscles seized. Brain screeched, first to the screaming I wish I could make... then static. With the long practice of daily pain, it took me far away. The click, click, click of keys. The sound of his voice, so terribly PLEASED, as I hung there and just TOOK it. No restraints, no strugging, no damaging myself. Just unbearable fire in my veins and a brain far, far away.

"Good girl~"

Distantly a phone rang. He made an annoyed sound, but picked up regardless.

"What. I'm in the middle of- ...Excuse me? I'm quite sure I did not hear you correctly. I said 'NO'. She's not-....I will NOT BE-...What. Are you out of your god damned MIND? That pile of scraps you call a project is coming NOWHERE near my-! ....you think you're clever, don't you?"

"Fine. You want to TALK? Let's TALK, Anderson. I'll be there in five."

From far away, past the pain, I watched him chance down at something at the screen. Back up to me. He hung up the phone but did not pause the program. Instead, calmly rising from his desk. Shrugging on his lab coat. Rounding the desk and striding towards my bio-tube.

"Hmmm, honestly, it should have been spaced out over a few more days... but you can take it. Endure a bit longer for me, would you, darling? Daddy's going to go deal with something for just a moment, he'll be right back, my perfect girl. Be good."

He leaned forward, pressing his forehead to my tank. One hand splayed next to it like he badly wished he could touch. Could stroke skin. Hold his creation close. It was not the first time he had done this. Small, covetous, little actions like he wanted to crawl inside my skin and STAY there. Like he cursed the glass that separated us.

He pulled back. Shifted to the side and kneeled. He... had hidden something behind my bio-pod? When? Apparently before I had become aware. Because I had not known about it. A black shoe box. I watched him open i-GUN. Thaaaat was a gun! Fuck. Well at least? By the time anyone thinks to look in on me? The overdose will probably have killed me?

There is a cold, terrible smile on his face as he rolls to his face. Tucking the gun into an inner pocket. It has a silencer. He leans forward one last time. Lightly kissing the glass of my pod, as though heading off to work and not to very obviously kill somebody. The pain continues. Builds. I watch him leave.

With nothing to anchor myself on... time blurs.

I think? There are alarms? Red lights flash. Then they stop. There is shouting at one point. But then silence. An explosion? Or am I hallucinating? Pain. My nerves are on fire. I don't want to have SKIN. Please... please make it STOP! Calm foot steps? Come to kill me? Please come to kill me. Make it STOP.

The lights died a... time? Ago? Emergency lights on now. Generators in the room are loud. Why can I still hear the feet? Footses? Words. H..hurts. please.

Click.

The pain eases to a stop. Aching but nothing new. Over? Oh, thank god. I can sleep now, right? But... sound? New. At my feet. Gurgling. Wha-? The very top of my head feels cold. Then my forehead. Then my temple's and ears, cheeks, jaw... wait. Is? Is the tube...DRAINING? I open my eyes.

When did I close them?

He's back.

Standing right in front of the tube. Blood staining the hem of his coat, lingering marks of his massacre cleaned but not quite scrubbed from his body. There are little off red stains on his cheek, from what must be blood splatter. They look like tiny freckles.

I'm... I can't...

I reach as the tube down my throat is pulled almost carelessly away by the machine. Choke, suffocate, as the same is done for my air tube. But then it's done... and I can BREATHE under my own power. Gasp and splutter, as the goo sloshes around my knees. Then it's gone. And the tube I've been leaning my weight against is roughly pulled away.

I collapse forward, my muscles having never actually supported me in this life.

Arms catch me. Wrapping me in a possessive hug. A hand immediately burying itself in long uncut hair, even as the other wraps itself around my torso to lean me against his body in a cradle. My face is pressed to his neck by the hand in my hair, cradling my head and neck. I can feel breath against the goo wet crown of my head.

"Finally~" he breaths out, whispering it against me like a sigh. "My beautiful, perfect girl. My darling creation. It took so LONG. Those retrobates interfering at every turn, lusting after you like ANIMALS, trying to keep you from me. Then, worst of all, trying to toss you to some pack of savages? Oh, darling~ Daddy's been so worried for you."

"But we'll be okay now, won't we? I finally have you. All fresh and finally finished. My perfect Eve. You can pick any name you want, of course. You and I will be leaving this ugly little place. Daddy has PLANS. A fresh new world, just for you, sweetheart."

He laughed, his hug tightening in a way that would have left bruises had I been a normal human. Kisses were pressed to my temple. A cheek, rubbed against my hair. He seemed... seemed GIDDY with it. That nothing could stop him now. There was no glass in his way. I could not move yet. My muscles twitched when I tried, but that was it. I wasn't even sure I could talk yet, if I tried.

"Aaah~♡ Welcome to the World, Darling. My Perfection. My Eve. This time no snakes or Adams to tarnish you. To get in your way. Just you and your Father~"

"FOREVER~♡"

Next: ->

[natimiles]

Midnight Kiss (Levi x reader)

Summary: You just want some alone time with your favorite and show him a human tradition for New Year’s Eve.

Words: 2647

Tags: fluffy; romance; first kisses; best friends; friends to lovers; anxious and shy Levi ftw; no pronouns for reader.

Notes: this was queued for my midnight. Happy New Year! May this year bring you happiness and may you have lots of fun with your otome husbands in 2024 too!

The castle sure was lively tonight, with a huge buffet featuring demon, celestial, and human foods and drinks. Demons from all over Devildom were dancing and chatting, and loud music was blasting from the speakers. As ironic as it sounded, this was a living hell for Leviathan.

Party and Levi were two words that didn’t mingle. His social battery was already low. Seated at a table in the corner, his tie was disheveled in an attempt to help him breathe better, and he looked tired. If he could, he’d just leave and go back to the comfort of his bedroom. But he couldn’t, or Lucifer would kill him. Besides, he knew you liked parties, so he was making an effort — he also couldn’t stand the thought of leaving you with his brothers.

Ah, his brothers. Every time Levi saw you walking his way, he felt so happy, but the joy was short-lived. They would always find a way to intercept you, dragging you across the ballroom, dancing and chatting happily. His jealousy soared, and he knew you could feel it through your pact mark because you’d look at him from across the room and give him the sweetest smile. His jealousy would heighten, and he’d pout, aware that everyone around also saw you smiling like that, even though it was aimed directly at him.

He sighed and looked back down at his video game. At least he could try to distract himself with something he liked. Keyword: try. It was too loud, and he stopped every other minute to scan the crowd, attempting to find you, only to discover you were with someone. The last time he checked, it was Simeon who had his arms around your frame, a confident smile on his face while he elegantly led you through the dance — and there was the vicious cycle again.

Levi looked up, expecting to see you still in the arms of another man. He frowned when he noticed you weren’t with Simeon anymore. Scanning the room, searching for everyone he knew you could be with, there was no sign of you. He panicked a little, realizing you weren’t anywhere he could see. He was about to stand up to run around the whole castle to search for you if he needed to, when his DDD started to go off.

“Heeeey, Levi!” Your voice sounded on the other side of the call. “Are you still sulking in the corner?”

“Wha- I’m not sulking!” he protested.

“Yeah, sure,” you snorted.

“Hmph, where are you?” He tried to sound nonchalant, but your giggles revealed he didn’t succeed.

“In one of the guest rooms, the last one on the left side.”

“Huh? Why?”

“I had to run and hide to have some privacy.”

“Oh, um… Sorry, should I hang up?”

“Levi, I’m the one who called you!” You laughed.

“Ah! R-right.” He bit his lip in embarrassment.

Your laugh died down, but your tone remained amused. “So should I summon you, or are you gonna come meet me on your own?”

“What?” He asked bewildered.

“Come meet me, Levi! What do you think I called you for?” You chuckled. “Just come on! If you don’t come now, I swear I’ll summon you!”

“No!” He yelped. He could almost see you squinting your eyes and pointing your finger at him, with that mischievous smile of yours. “I-I’m going!” He scrambled to his feet and started to walk, being as stealthy as he could while crossing the ballroom.

“Hurry, hurry!” You sounded excited on the other side.

“I hope no one saw me,” he muttered under his breath while glancing back. He walked through the corridors for a few minutes, as you silently waited on the other side of the call. “Last one on the left, right?”

“Yes! Are you almost here?”

He hummed and strode a little faster until he stopped in front of the door. “MC?”

“It’s open!” You replied with a cheery tone.

He took a deep breath, already feeling his nerves getting the best of him just from thinking about staying alone in the same room as you. He hoped he wouldn’t do anything stupid and ruin your friendship.

“H-hi…” he stammered when he opened the door, peeking inside the room and finding you sprawled across the king-sized bed. Oh, he was already sweating.

“Hi!” You beamed at him. “Wait, we don’t need this anymore,” you giggled and turned off your DDD, placing it on the nightstand. Propping yourself on your elbows, you looked at the blushing demon, still frozen in the doorway. Raising your eyebrow, you shot him a crooked smile. “Are you just gonna stay there?” He shook his head and closed the door. “Lock it, please.”

He did as you told him and looked back at you. You shimmied to the side and patted the spot beside you, inviting him to lie down. He blinked a few times and took a hesitant step towards you. He was sweating even more now. Could you see him sweating? He hoped not.

He quietly sat down and let his body flop backward, staring at the ceiling. You shifted around and lay on your side, gazing intently at him.

“I couldn’t even spend a few minutes with my bestie down there,” you complained in a low voice.

“Y-yeah…” He cleared his throat.

“I wanted to dance at least once with you, but your brothers wouldn’t let me!” You huffed. “Don’t get me wrong, I love you all…” You trailed off, and he felt his body twitch. Again, he knew you felt his pact mark and his jealousy rising. You chuckled and poked his cheek to make him look at you. “But I wanted to spend more time with you.”

He finally glanced at you, his whole face burning red. He bit his lip nervously, and your gaze followed the motion for a second before looking back into his beautiful sunset eyes. You gave him a smile and flopped down on your back again, closing your eyes and taking a deep breath. A few moments of silence enveloped the two of you, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. You were accustomed to being quiet and just enjoying each other’s company or watching the other play something — mostly you watching him play, actually.

“I wanted to be with you when it strikes midnight,” you confessed.

“H-huh? Why?” He turned to look at you, only now noticing your eyes were closed.

He held his breath and stared intently at your face. You were so beautiful; he could look at you for the rest of his life and still be in awe. And you looked so peaceful, so calm, and so unguarded… did you have all this trust around his brothers too? Well, of course, you did, but… was it so intense? He noticed that you looked even more relaxed when it was just the two of you. He attributed it to the time you spent together playing games and watching your favorite shows; after all, you were his best friend, his Henry.

“You’re my bestie!” You opened your eyes and saw him staring at you. He quickly averted his gaze, and you smiled. “I love being with you. You’re my favorite.”

“A-ah, right. And you, um, you’re my favorite human.” He stuttered but managed to express some of his feelings. He wasn’t lying, but his feelings ran much deeper. He just didn’t want to ruin the awesome friendship you two had by making things awkward.

“Human?” You questioned loudly.

“What?” He looked taken aback. “What’s wrong?”

“Am I only your favorite human? Do you have a favorite demon and a favorite angel that I don’t know?” You pouted.

“N-no, it’s just…” He sat up and looked at your upset face. He needed to fix it. “You said I’m your favorite demon, then I said you’re my favorite human.”

“I didn’t say you’re my favorite demon. I said you’re my favorite. And that’s it.” You gazed intently into his eyes, and he felt his heart stop and beat faster at the same time. Was that even possible? Was he dying? Maybe he was already dead, and that’s why he was having such a nice time alone with you.

He opened his mouth; he should say something. He didn’t know if he would be able to form a coherent sentence. Why was life so hard on him? It was unfair how all his brothers could tell you about their feelings and make you smile, while he had trouble expressing himself. It would be so much easier if this were like when he needed to command his soldiers… He had so much more confidence when he had to be an Admiral, but for some reason, he couldn’t project that Leviathan into his relationship with you.

You were still waiting for him to say something, and he was starting to panic. Lucky for him, your alarm suddenly went off.

“Oh, it’s almost midnight!” You sat up with a huge smile, turning the alarm off. “I set it so we could go to the balcony to see the fireworks!” You fumbled to your feet and ran. “Come, Levi!” You yelled, already outside.

He blinked a few times and got up, following you. You were leaning against the rail, propping your elbows and resting your head on your hands, looking expectantly at the always dark sky. He walked to your side, gazing at the sky and then at you.

“MC…” He called sheepishly. You hummed and turned your head to look at him, still resting it on your hands. “You are. My favorite, you know…” He pursed his lips and furrowed his brows, trying to suppress the blush rising on his cheeks.

You giggled. “I know. You’re my Lord of Shadows.” You winked, and he turned quickly to look at the sky.

“And you’re my Henry,” he muttered under his breath. If you weren’t already used to hearing his voice so low, you’d probably miss what he said.

You stared at him for a few moments, biting your lip nervously. You loved Levi more than a friend should, and you had wanted to do something about it for so long. You just hoped it wouldn’t make things awkward.

“You know, Levi,” you whispered, mustering the courage. You turned your body to face him and gripped the sleeve of his suit, asking for his attention.

“What?” He asked and looked at you from the corner of his eye.

“There’s a… tradition in the human world. For the New Year.”

“Hm? What is it?” He asked curiously, turning to face you too.

“When the clock strikes midnight and the fireworks start, we kiss our favorite.”

“Y-you what?” He yelled, his eyes widening and his hand gripping the rail tightly.

“We don’t need to if you don’t want to!” You hurriedly explained, seeing the shock on his face. “I just… I just…” You bit your lip to prevent it from trembling and tightened the grip on his suit. “I just wanted to do it with you,” you blurted out.

“A-are you sure you wanna do this… with me?”

“Yes, Levi!” 

“Is this some kind of joke?” His tone darkened, just as his cheeks got an even redder shade. You knew he wasn’t mad at you; it was just his low self-esteem kicking in. “I won’t forgive you if you play with me like this!”

“What? No!” You smiled. “I really wanna do this with you. Actually, I only wanna do this because it’s you, Levi.”

As if on cue, a loud ‘boom’ echoed in the sky, followed by a series of colorful fireworks. You could faintly hear the demons attending the party screaming and singing, but nothing seemed louder than your heart hammering against your ribs.

Levi still stared intently into your eyes; his thoughts were running wild, and every fiber in his body said you could be pranking him, that you’d laugh at him with his brothers later at how stupid and naive he was. But a tiny part of him still could see the way you were expectantly looking at him, waiting anxiously for him to say something and hoping he’d say yes.

“We can, um, do… this…” He managed to say something, loud enough for you to hear.

You took one step closer to him, still holding onto his sleeve, using it as an anchor. Your other hand laced around his tie, and you pushed him to your eye level, smiling at how lost and sweet he looked right now. You gave him a few seconds to back out and closed the gap between your lips. Levi tensed but forced himself to calm down and relax. His mind screamed, ‘this is real, this is real, this is real’, and he thought he’d go crazy before even kissing you properly.

Your tongue prodded into his mouth, asking to deepen the kiss, and that’s when he realized this was indeed real, and he should probably be doing something else besides being frozen. Your hands slid up and wrapped around his neck in a hug, and he uncertainly placed one hand on your nape and the other on your hips, adjusting your body against his. A satisfied and relieved sigh left him when he finally let himself enjoy the moment.

It was sweet, embarrassing, tender, and shy, like you always thought a kiss with Levi would be. His hands still trembled a little when he broke the kiss to look at you. Your face shone with the lights from the fireworks, your lips slightly agape and glistening, your cheeks flushed, and your eyes… his breath hitched in his throat when he looked at your eyes and the affectionate way you stared right into his.

“Oh, shit…” He mumbled without thinking. You raised an inquisitive eyebrow at him, making the demon stutter his words. “N-not in a bad way! I mean… I-I mean…”

You chuckled and pecked his lips to ease him out of his panic. “You know I can feel your jealousy through your pact mark, right?” He nodded. “And did you know I can discern the different ways you’re jealous?”

“What do you mean?” He frowned.

“When your envy kicks in because someone got a better item in our games, or when you see someone able to do something you wanted to… Or even when you see me with your brothers. It’s all different, and I can tell.”

“Wha- You can?” His eyes widened, and you nodded. “So, um… So you… You know…”

“I love you too, Levi,” you whispered. He opened his mouth to say something, but you knew him well enough to anticipate what he was going to say and cut him off shortly. “More than a friend. Yes, I’m sure. Yes, really sure. Yes, I wanna date you.”

“Very funny,” he pouted. “I wasn’t gonna ask about the date part.”

“Oh, you don’t wanna date me?” You feigned offense. “You just wanted to have your way and leave me?”

“Ah, n-no, no! That’s not what I meant! I just, you know, didn’t think you’d think about it…”

“Well, I do and a lot. But we don’t need to talk about it now, hm?”

“Okay…” He smiled sheepishly. You gazed into each other's eyes for a minute, basking in the happy and loving atmosphere. “Can I kiss you again?” He whispered.

“Please do!”

Your excitement was probably catchy because Levi found himself with a giddiness that wasn’t usually his. It was probably the way you kissed him, cradling his face like the most precious thing in your life. And he probably was. It was a New Year, and he was about to learn some new things, like how to accept your love and make his brain understand that he was worthy.

He had a feeling he’d have lots of New Years ahead to learn even more with you.

He couldn’t wait.

Masterlists

[kurishiri]

Hiiii!! I want to say how much I really appreciate and enjoy reading your translations!! I enjoy rereading them often because it helps me understand something new about the character I am interested in!! Right now it is Darius so I have been reading a lot of your translations on him and I can’t wait to read more about him on his bond levels as I really want to know more about him and how he is with Kate. I am really curious what kind of suitor do you think Darius would be and how his overall character is with Kate? Again thank you so much for your hard work and hope you have an amazing 2025!! 🫶🫶🫶 Please take care!! 💕

haaii, happy 2025! ✨✨ and ty for your kind words too. i’m so happy to hear you’ve been enjoying the translations i do – it makes it all worth it 🥹🙏

and as for darius…he’s indeed one fascinating cookie! i’m gonna put thoughts under the cut bc ,, uh it may or may not have gotten kiiinda long 😂👌

darius vogel essay ↓

HIS CHARACTER.

i feel he, as a character, is quite childlike in the sense he just does whatever strikes his fancy because that’s what he wants to do. but he’s also very calculating and subtle to not show potential weaknesses. i wouldn’t be surprised if he’s gone through a lot of trauma overall, though, seeing how he seems to dissociate from himself, going so far as to think he’s “above” humans, as if he himself isn’t one (and yet, he is also very human, in an almost raw sense – his interest in kate as his “favorite” shows that he is not actually that capable of letting go of worldly attachments, and he is drawn to the idea of the “impure” in his birthday epilogue, when he smeared berry sauce on kate’s cheeks and wanted to keep his eyes on that).

interestingly, how his childlike front and calculating personality interact is something we can witness in one go when we can look at his relationship with food. he probably has had some form of food trauma (e.g. dealing with assassination attempts via poison in his food), as he seems to need to see others eat the same food first before he himself eats. but he doesn’t ask this directly, instead phrasing it like an invitation for the other to eat first. in this way, he doesn’t have to put himself in a more vulnerable state than the other. he eats with proper table manners while dining with crown “out of consideration,” but he prefers to eat messily, likely as an act of rebellion…could he have been in a very controlling environment when he was young?

this could in turn spur him on to be controlling of others in the present. i don’t think he is incapable of love like he claims, but i do think his sense of love, thanks to what could be growing up in a controlling environment, is inherently warped. i mean, if we look at dari and his relationship with ring…i don’t think it’s that darius doesn’t hold any “love” for ring — he probably thinks it’s a form of love in a way — and i think ring does need darius in the sense that darius is the one who can provide him stability and validation. when ring is hesitant to do something, he turns to darius. if darius thinks it’s alright, then ring does too. but also, darius is arguably very controlling over ring and manipulates him too. could be abuse, if we’re speaking bluntly. (one that i think, in a sense, ring can feel too.)

RELATIONSHIP WITH KATE.

so if we extend from that logic, i think his relationship with kate would get a bit twisted and gnarly as time goes on, when kate starts to become more than a “favorite” that darius sorta likes to coddle over like a pet. he seems to hold some yandere tendencies fs over kate — which goes further to show his sort of controlling nature. hell, he joked abt shipping her to germany. darius calm down! we can discuss this ,,!

anw it’s probably more so a relationship where kate chooses to “fall” along with darius. stuck in this cycle of trying to prove love exists to him and whatnot. or, i think it would be cool for it to sort of be that way. i know it’s an otome game, but also i think i kind of like the idea of sort of exploring a more complicated relationship, where whether it’s really truly romantic in nature is sorta left more vague and up to interpretation.

at the moment, though, from what i can glean from these two…kate seems to want to get along with darius, yk, like she would want to do for others. she sort of wants to treat darius as an equal, even though she is a bit cautious of him, very understandably so. she doesn’t seem that afraid of approaching him as a whole, though she also expresses some dissatisfaction at him sort of treating her like a pet and whatnot. however, it feels like in the end, it’s always him who gets the last word. they also seem to be opposites in the sense that darius doesn’t believe in love, while kate believes no one can truly live without love, to which darius says to “prove” that love exists. so maybe there’s a bit of that opposites attract sorta vibe going on too?

basically, kate can either “prove” love to darius, or the “poison” darius imbues in her will act on her first. perhaps that’s a matter of time.

[notreallysane]

Kind of a Halloween thingy (VERY OOC) Au where Aventurine is one lonely mf. Okay, it's true he has a little friendship group but... he can't really say they're friends, they're close enough to have a dynamic and a group name but not for everything else except for a game night once in never.

You can say he is kind of a "Komi can't communicate".He is absolutely gorgeous but he tries to pretend his crippling social anxiety doesn't exist by talking to fictional characters on a screen, if you looked at it you would probably be surprised by the amount of Otome and gacha games he has on his phone.

One in particular recently caught his eye, it's a game in beta development with only three routes at the moment. A Priest, A Teacher and a Beautiful Tief lady. He decides to download to try every route, but gets bored of the priest route at the first date, turns out Sunday is not really the most fun person (character?) To be around even if his route is pretty interesting. Aventurine decides to not even try the pretty tief lady, Kafka is her name, Because he simply is non interested in woman, but he can admit she would make an incredible best friend irl.

That leaves him with the teachers route. And to say he became obsessed with Veritas Ratio would be the understatement of the century.

His plotline, His character, his looks, his feelings, everything feels so human to Aventurine, he feels thirsty for more, he wants to KNOW that man even if only two dates are available for public right now.

He won't be sleeping for awhile thinking about sunset eyes and shy animated smiles... is that healthy? Probably not. Topaz can at least say she tried to knock some sense into him. You can't possibly be in love with a videogame character, a videogame character That's NOT EVEN OUT YET! she sounded exasperated and Aventurine can't blame her for it.

Months pass and the game is out with other route options, none of those matter now that Aventurine has all the time in the world to get Ratio's 100% Route, but... things start to go weird by the middle on the game. The other characters seemed distant and Ratio was the only one talking to him constantly. ((Not that Aventurine complains, every second with Ratio is a second to be cherished... that should probably be discussed on therapy.))

Everyone else seemed to be doing their things individually, even talking to him about other character's he has never heard of even in the games wiki. Who the hell is Himeko? It's almost as if... they're alive or something... lol that would be stupid.

Until one day he gets to a specific chapter on Ratio's backstory, The character breaks down in tears and Aventurine does his best to confort him as much as the dialogues allow him to, but then, Veritas reaches out to the screen and a hand simply passes through his phone like some sort of portal, Aventurine, Panicking, freezes as he watches Ratio slowly emerge from the screen to hug him tightly. Am i dreaming?

They talk for a while as things settle down and Ratio decides to stay with him until they can find him somewhere to live comfortably.

((As he comes to find out, theres a lot of complaints on the steam page of the game from the general public on how the bachelors seemed to already be in love with other in game NPCS nobody has ever seem, the name "Aventurine" is mentioned quite a few times along with "Himeko" "Gallagher" "Acheron" "Dan Heng" "Moze" and others... he hopes he can find those people some day to create a support program for people who fell in love with AI's))

((Yes this is a troupe, no i did not mean for it to get that long

[aihoshiino]

chapter 162 thoughts!

Chapters Since The 143 Kiss Happened And Went Entirely Unacknowledged And Unaddressed Count: 19

Aqua Hoshigan Status: uh oh, gamers

damn they dragged his ass right to hell, huh

I was perhaps overly optimistic in expecting an immediate resolution to last chapter's setup. It's becoming increasingly clear that this handful of chapters covering the Aqua-Hikaru confrontation are intended to be read in one go but because I am pedantic I will continue to review them one by one <3 This chapter very much has all the same issues as the previous chapter without quite as many of the things I liked pulling it up, but Mengo's art is back to going absolutely crazy and I got to see 2.5 new panels of Hoshino Ai so who can say whether it was a good or bad chapter.

Like last time, we're starting with Hikaru again and… basically everything I said I didn't like about this handling of him is still the case but with this almost definitely being his final appearance with no more opportunities to explain anything about him, it really sucks that the note we seem to be ending on is just "damn, bitch be crazy". Given that Tsukuyomi mentioned his previously 'noble soul' last chapter, I was really hoping we might get some sort of flashback or Hikaru POV giving some proper context to his actions but all we got this chapter was him being like "ughh i miss ai. GOD i love killing people" which is, uh, underwhelming as a final note for an antagonist like Hikaru to go out on, to say the least

The thing is, I didn't need or expect Hikaru to be totes 100% an innocent bean or anything like that (ch109 looms large), but if he was going to be the final boss like this, I wanted his antagonism to come from somewhere, to have any kind of connecting thread with the story's themes or to at least tell us interesting things about him both in coming to understand where his behavior came from and why he went down this path. But we don't know anything about Hikaru, really - we know facts about his life but as person and a character in a story, our image of him is shockingly unclear. As far as the story seems to be concerned, he came into existence as an 11yo boy being abused by Airi, blipped out of reality when Ai broke up with him and then idk digivolved back into society into a guy from a yandere otome game when Ai died. Like, how in god's name did Hikaru go from the boy we see being broken up with as a teenager to… whatever the fuck this is? How did he start killing? Why? What is it about killing that makes him feel Ai's supposed presence? And most importantly - why does he pursue killing Ruby as his means of achieving this when the narrative is doing everything it can to convince us she's Ai 2.0 and therefore a living person in whom Hikaru should be able to feel Ai's presence the most strongly since her death? Hello? Can anyone hear me????

We don't get textual answers to any of that - hell, we don't even really have any textual confirmation that he is actually serial killer, despite it being something I guess we're supposed to assume at this point?? Like, whatever happened to Aqua seemingly crediting Yura's death to Nino's involvement? What happened to Aqua saying that Hikaru being the mastermind made no sense? Like, I guess he was right, but jesus

Even things I can take the time to try and infer (which, see last review's discussions on Inferring Things) just make me feel like I'm doing the work the story should have done in terms of trying to get his character to cohere. As it stands, Hikaru isn't in opposition to Aqua because he has harmful beliefs or behaviours born from his participation in society that stem from or are in conversation with the story's wider themes, but because he has one very specific unhinged belief totally disconnected from reality focused on one specific person and manifesting in such a way that caused him to just be Ontologically Evil And Broken.

And it's not like this would even be hard to do! Hikaru is literally, explicitly an affluent and powerful person in the entertainment industry despite being someone who was broken by abuse perpetuated by those very systems of power. Why not lean into that? Why not examine the ways in which Hikaru and Ai converged in their experiences of abuse - Ai able to truly sever the chain and begin healing while Hikaru ends up making Airi's mistakes and enacting abuse and control on people with less power than him to try and regain agency and dignity?

Ryosuke (even post retcon) and ch154 Hikaru work so well because their specific beliefs about Ai reflect real world misogyny and parasocialism that are rife in the entertainment industry (and even outside of it) so they're able to contribute to the story's wider themes pretty well. But as of this chapter, Hikaru's stated beliefs about killing and apparent overall worldview are so fucking detached from reality and so lacking any foundation or grounding in textual events or theming that it doesn't even feel like an exaggeration of real world issues to a logical conclusion like Ryosuke does. He just feels like a cartoon character.

Not only is this shallow in general and really a huge wet fart of an ending for a character who has been built up for 4 actual years and 150 chapters of manga, it's also just bizarrely inconsistent. There's no proper connecting thread in the text between the seemingly emotionally disarmed and remorseful Hikaru of 154-5 and fucking joker slenderman ass here. The story spent so long making Hikaru deeply and viscerally sympathetic through exploring his history of abuse and exploitation mirroring Ai's that I'm not sure of what the point of that was in terms of authorial intent if we were always gonna end at this point of "you are Ontologically Evil and must die". Movie Arc backstory Hikaru flows quite naturally into 153-5 Hikaru but these specific beliefs and fixations on killing almost feel like they popped up from nowhere to force this confrontation to happen.

Ultimately, despite being given ample opportunity to do so, it just kind of feels like Akasaka just kind of lost interest in trying to develop Hikaru into a fully fleshed out and coherent character. We get flashes and teases of what could have come together into a fascinating and compelling antagonist but he ultimately fails to evolve past a vague sketch of a character, full of unconnected ideas and loose threads. In the end, Hikaru is only ever a cipher for the story to enact tragedy through with no real interest in his own feelings and interiority in relation to it - not even his own.

To scooch back a bit into the chapter, I will say that him being dragged down specifically by Gorou is interesting, especially since he seems to have returned to his scary ass Tokyo Blade rage ghost form. This seems to represent Gorou and his rage being sort of 'exorcised' from Aqua now his revenge is complete (as I theorized might happen last week) - his memories and existence obviously live on in Aqua (F… FOR NOW…..) but as a character in a narrative, this feels like a fine enough place to leave him.

Anyway, speaking of Aqua! How ya doing, champ?

that bad, huh

The back half of this chapter revolves around giving Aqua some emotional resolution of his own and even though I've been kicking and biting to get some Aqua introspection for so long now, this one left me feeling pretty cold. After all this time of floating around the 'why' of his reincarnation, the answer we're finally given is….. just that Aqua was reborn to be Ruby's guard dog lol.

The idea that the twins were specifically reborn to be together has been imo pretty obvious for a good long while and I think it's a perfectly fine idea on paper, but this framing of it just kind of falls flat to me. I don't like that it positions Aqua's rebirth not as a second chance for him to love and be loved in a way he wasn't able to as Gorou, a gift from Tsukuyomi to two people who showed her a selfless, thoughtless kindness but as just yet more of the story using other characters and their stories to try and prop up Ruby or imbue her with more importance in a way that I think feels forced and does the characters who are used in this manner a huge disservice. I'm sure we could conclude that this is just Aqua's feelings on the matter and I really, really hope that Tsukuyomi fishes him out and gives him a slap while yelling YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO LIVE FOR YOURSELF AND BE HAPPY IDIOT or something next chapter, but the extremely warm framing this is all given makes me think this is something the narrative both agrees with and approves of and as an Aqua enjoyer I just kind of hate that for him.

I also have to say that like… it doesn't not make sense for the story's finale and this aspect of the reincarnation plot to center Ruby specifically. She is one half of the titular Oshi no Kos and at least hypothetically the co-protagonist of the story. But suddenly making her the answer and central turning axis of basically the biggest ongoing mystery in the story like this feels kind of jarring when Akasaka spent a solid half of this entire manga not really doing her justice. This attempt to tug on our heartstrings via flashbacks to the twins' childhood also doesn't really do anything for me because as cute as it is, it's just disconnected flashbacks to brand new events in their childhood we never saw or heard about before. And it's weird because it's not like we don't have in-story examples of Aqua being over protective of Ruby, so why not flashback to those?

Idk. It's hard for me to articulate why this left me feeling kind of cold, but it feels like a symptom of this being part of an ending that Akasaka set in stone too early on and hasn't compromised for he way the character dynamics and story that made it onto paper have shifted and changed in ways that don't one hundred percent line up with the ending he wanted. If the twins' relationship was going to be this important to the ending and be so central to Aqua's existence as a character, I wish we'd spent more time on it. One of the major critiques of OnK that people had from like chapter 12 onwards that I still agree with is that Aqua and Ruby's relationship doesn't feel like a close knit connection between two people who grew up together for 1X+ years, and that continuing issue makes it kind of hard for me to feel the warm and fuzzy sibling feels right now. Which sucks because I LOVE the Hoshino family trio and I love Aqua and Ruby's family dynamic when we actually get to see it - their chapter of interlude and some of the scenes in their home in early OnK are some of my fave parts of the story for that exact reason. But this just kind of whiffed for me.

It also isn't lost on me that Ai is basically absent from these flashbacks despite them primarily taking part in the part of the twins' childhood they spent with her. I get that the idea was to focus specifically on Aqua and Ruby's dynamic there but it still feels kind of…

I've already written a short essay on this topic as it pertained to the initial reveal of Tsukuyomi's role in AQRB's reincarnation and the TL;DR of that post is that early in the series, Ai is centered as a character of as much significance to the reincarnation plot as Gorou/Aqua and Sarina/Ruby are, with the togetherness of the Hoshino family as a trio and Ai specifically as Aqua and Ruby's mother being emphasized as having a great deal of meaning and importance. But this chapter doubles down on essentially erasing her as a figure of weight and consequence in the twin's reincarnation in a way that is both inconsistent and just kind of leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Like… I'm sorry, but given how much of Ai's character revolves around her being the victim of exploitation, of objectification, sexual and otherwise, of being forced to warp herself to response to the filthy desires thrust on her by the people around her, it's really just gross and a huge misstep for her to be reduced to a convenient walking uterus. It is yet another example of Ai being reduced to just a stepping stone in Ruby's narrative and part of a pattern in this regard I've come to really dislike. Framed like this, Ai's own act of bravery and love in giving not just herself but Sarina and Gorou the family all three of them were denied all their lives is now nothing more than a vessel for Sarina's wish fulfillment. As you can imagine, I kind of hate this too!!

Depending on if volume 16 follows 14 and 15's trend of being 11 chapters long instead of 10, vol16 will end on either 162 or 163 - based on how 162 ends, my guess is that this is our volume ender so I'm curious to see what form 163 will take - straightforward continuation of this scene or focus switch to other characters to maintain suspense? I guess we'll see in THREE FUCKING WEEKS……. Akasaka i swear to god……………………….

sidebar but tsukuyomi just out here floating is kind of wild. what happened to 'it's a normal child's body' ya little twerp?

[hostclubau]

By Any Other Name

This is an x reader, multi-ending, otome style story.

fem!reader

Summary: Your life is hell, and your parents abandoned you to a literal loan shark. A near death experience has changed the trajectory of things, but is this a blessing? Or an endless fall into things far worse than you had before?

Content Warnings: The host club has an After Hours that's effectively a brothel. There are BDSM themes and the exploration of a lot of kinks. Foul language, canon levels of violence, mature audiences only.

Chapter 1: Loaned Out

Your feet hit the pavement, spurring you forward through the tangle of streets. This was your city, but it was his too, and the only hope you had at this point was to either get yourself so lost he couldn’t find you, or get yourself to the nearest Marine Station.

Frankly, you’d almost rather take your chances with the fish-man. Marines were next to useless as far as you were concerned, and the only use they had was that most people wouldn’t shoot you in front of one.

You weren’t entirely sure if Arlong was most people or not.

Leaping over some boxes in a back alley, you turned in mid-air and darted down a different alley when you landed. Running errands for that stupid shark had at least paid off in the sense that you were capable of running for a lot longer than most people.

When you were strictly forbidden from fighting, it was a life or death skill to have.

You might be trying to dodge Arlong until his temper cooled now, but more often than that you were running from his competitors, the marines, and people who knew you worked for him. They were all idiots, and not because you could slip away from them easily, but because hurting you wasn’t going to do anything.

Arlong was more likely to throw your body in the river if you got your ass beat, than he was to see you patched up after. Probably grumbling the entire time about how much money you were costing him yet again.

Fucking loan shark.

Slowing down you take a look around and realize you’re in a part of town you don’t know well. It looked like it was almost central downtown, which was well outside Arlong’s turf. It also meant that whoever was in charge of this area was probably not going to be friendly to you.

Arlong always said that downtown was more trouble than it was worth. He didn’t trade loans with people who lived or worked around here, and he didn’t offer protection for any of the businesses. You usually avoided the area too, even if a delivery would be a little faster, but only because the city’s main Marine Office was here.

Well, looking out for marines was easy enough, especially if you stayed off the main street. Alleys were alleys no matter what city or island, so it didn’t really matter to you. Slipping back into the narrower paths you meandered through the back lines of downtown.

You’d took off from Arlong’s threats just after lunch, and with the sun lower in the sky it was probably closer to seven or eight. You might be able to find a street vendor and get something greasy and filling for dinner, and then sleep somewhere out of sight. Tomorrow he’ll be calm again, or calm enough, and you can deal with him then.

The blow to your face was a surprise.

You put your arm up as you stumble backward, nearly tripping over your feet. The punch had drove your cheek into your teeth, and you could already taste copper as you lean against the far brick wall and look up to see Arlong.

“Got tired of trying to catch you when you’re bad.” He snarls, holding up his snail box and showing you the tracker app that was running on it. “Technology’s a real bitch.”

“I completed the job,” you reply, struggling to speak clearly as your cheek’s already swelling. “I don’t get why you’re pi-.” You stop yourself. “Upset. Boss.”

“The job,” he says, breathing in and giving you a terrifying grin. “Was for you to deliver the package without being seen.”

Your stomach knots. If he’s mad, and that’s why, then someone or something clocked you. Otherwise he wouldn’t waste his energy being pissy.

“… What saw me?” You question carefully.

His brows raise. “Oh? Not going to argue huh? Finally wising the fuck up.” He straightens, tapping his snail box again until he brings up a still picture of you. It’s grainy, but the sequence of images show you dropping off the box and walking away.

It was pretty obvious it was you, but only because you and Arlong knew what you looked like. There wasn’t a shot of your face, and you weren’t wearing anything to mark you as a part of anyone’s crew. It’s a struggle to keep your expression neutral, but smart mouthing back at him right now wouldn’t help you.

“… Sorry.” You settle on the simple apology over any kind of argument. It doesn’t matter how grainy it is. It doesn’t matter that your own mother wouldn’t recognize you. All that mattered was that he didn’t want anyone to see you, and you were seen. You’d been dealing with him enough years at this point to know anything more would be an excuse.

You weren’t going to grovel, however, because there was nothing useful on those stills.

“Sorry?” He prompts and grunts something akin to a laugh. “Sorry might’ve worked before you ran through downtown to avoid me, little runt.”

At nearly seven feet tall, Arlong towers over you, and his large hand gathers most of your shirt at once, as he lifts you easily and shoves you harshly against the wall. “You’re never going to pay back what you owe as a runner.” He tilts his head, leering at you in that way he does every time he tries to convince you to do more lucrative work.

“I can tack on five grand for the inconvenience, and patch job.” He indicates your swollen check with a nod of his head. “Or we can write that off as the price of on the job training and pretty you up. Much as you humans pretty up, anyway.”

“I think I’d rather be a runner.” You grunt, the soles of your shoes scratching at the brick as you struggle to find leverage.

Your father, seas take him screaming, got into debt with Arlong when you were a kid. Dear sweet dad worked for the fish-man for a couple years before he took your mom and bounced. Or Arlong killed them, you couldn’t really be completely sure one way or the other.

With mom and dad gone, and the debt still on Arlong’s books, you were hired.

Aside from barely giving you enough money to live on, while working you to the bone, Arlong hadn’t paid much attention to you. Until recently. Maybe you hit some magic number in age, or one of his clients took a liking to you, whatever the case, he was getting pushier and pushier about turning you into one of his Dolls.

The idea of getting paid to fuck didn’t bother you.

The idea of having 80% of your earnings stolen by Arlong, who only wanted you to change jobs so he could make more off you, bothered you.

Arlong falls silent for a while, and you can feel your stomach knot. The look on his face is never a good sign. He’s irritated and what little good humor he might have had a moment ago is evaporating at an alarming rate.

“Don’t be like that,” his voice is flat, save for a slight tone of disappointment. “Really think about it. You’ll never pay off your debt as a runner.”

Even with him taking most of your earnings to pay off your debt, you would have more income. You’d be able to save up, and even have a chance at freedom. Assuming you didn’t screw anything up.

Wait.

“… I’ll never pay off my debt regardless.” You reply just as flatly. Realization had long since dawned on you the nature of this game, but there was a sudden clarity this time. There were no more slaves, not even for the nobles, not since the dragons were slain over twenty years ago.

Arlong had found another way to go about it.

Sure, you could turn him and his bullshit in, but you took a risk that the marine you reported to wasn’t already in his pocket. If they weren’t, and the risk might be small so it could be worth trying, but you’d be going down with him too. No one would give a shit that the illegal things you did were because you felt trapped.

It would be your own fault for not turning him in sooner.

Frankly, it wasn’t a comforting prospect to think about ending up in prison where Arlong would have far more reach than you’d have protection. Even as a runner you made him money, more than he spent on keeping you alive at least. It was more job security than some folks had, so you didn’t want to complain.

“That’s no way to be.” He laments, patting the side of your face. “I’m sure you’ll get-.”

“Every year I manage to pay you forty thousand berries.” You interrupt him. You shouldn’t have, you shouldn’t be talking, you most certainly should not be talking like this. “My dad’s debt was two hundred and fifty thousand berries, and I’ve been working for you for well over ten years. That’s over four hundred grand even with all the additions… boss.”

Arlong lets go of you, and you barely manage to keep your feet under you. He’s mad. At this point you’re going to earn yourself a lot more than a swollen cheek, and that’s probably going to cost you some random amount tacked onto your supposed debt.

You sigh, releasing your own frustration into the air. There wasn’t enough fear in you right now, just cold sure understanding, and anger.

Now that you’ve started its like the flood gates have opened, and you can’t muster the self-preservation needed to close them.

“Every couple months or so, something always seems to come up to tack more onto the debt. It doesn’t matter what the excuse is, the point is the principle hasn’t gone down in... fuck, nearly twenty years.” You shrug, an incredulous, clipped laugh escaping you. “It’s never going to go down. Even if you put me in a sexy suit and let your shady clients sniff my pits, it’s still not going to go down. You’ll just charge me for the sleazy dress-hurk!”

Arlong’s hand is around your throat, and the force with which he grabs you bounces your head off the bricks. You can barely breathe, your head’s throbbing, and the bricks are scraping your back through your shirt as he lifts you up roughly against them. You could swear his eyes are glowing red he’s so angry, and you aren’t sure what it was you said.

You expected you were pissing him off, but this is more akin to rage.

“Little bitch grew a pair of balls when I wasn’t looking, huh?” He snarls, driving his fist into your side. The hooked swing sends a sharp pain through you and knocks what little air was left in your lungs out. “You think some weak little cumshot can talk to me like that? Gonna stand there and tell me I’m charging you unfairly, yeah?”

He loosens his grip for a second and you suck in a pained breath. You know you should be using the precious oxygen to beg for forgiveness, but maybe this was it. The limit of what you could take. You’d been running for hours, and you were hungry enough you just didn’t care.

“Gonna… really… try an’… say you… aren’t?” You manage to choke out the words, but there’s spots on the sides of your vision and your lungs are pitching a fit again. Blacking out might be the last thing you ever do, and a small part of you wanted to succumb to it. Just be done and over with it all.

What would tomorrow bring anyway?

“You fuckin-.”

“Arlong.” A woman’s voice reaches you both and you see Arlong’s eyes widen before he looks away from you. “Don’t murder someone by my club.”

The words are enough for him to release you. This time you can’t keep your feet under you and crumple onto the ground. Gasping and coughing, it takes you a moment to recover, and both the mystery voice and Arlong seem okay with giving you that time.

You get yourself set up against the wall, opting to stay down on the ground rather than try to stand, and look around enough to see the most elegant woman you’ve ever seen standing on a raised platform. It looked like the back exit to a business, a smaller man door with the words ‘Employees Only’ stenciled across it.

It was only maybe four or fives steps up from where you and Arlong were, but she looked like she was untouchable from that far up.

A puff of smoke leaves her lips and your brain catches up enough to see the long cigarette between her fingers. The edges of her bob hair cut curl up, framing her face perfectly. She’s tall, slender, and dressed casually, but you’re left with the distinct impression she could salt and burn the ground Arlong was standing on.

And he knew it.

“I’ll buy her debt.” She states, taking a slow drag on the cigarette.

“What?” Arlong almost growls the word.

She exhales. “You said so yourself. She’s got balls.” The grin on her face is comforting, but you can’t shake the strange feeling that two demons are currently haggling over who will own your soul. “I like that.”

“You don’t even know how much it is, Shakuyaku.” He grumbles.

She laughs. “You think that matters? Leave her here, Arlong. Come by tomorrow in the morning with your books, and we’ll settle the balance.”

You notice Arlong’s fist tighten, but the angel on the balcony doesn’t seem to be bothered by it. He glares down at you for a second, but doesn’t say anything. Doesn’t even mouth anything as far as you can tell.

Not that he’s in a position to try and force you to turn down whatever’s being offered.

From one taskmaster to another, as far as you were concerned. The angel on the balcony only had your attention for the moment because she probably saved your life.

“You can call me Shakky,” she begins, pausing to take another drag before letting the smoke out in a slow exhale. At the very least she was more relaxing to be around than Arlong. “Can you stand?”

The question catches you off guard, and you blink dumbly a couple times before you reply. “Yeah. I think so.”

“Alright. If you get dizzy, sit back down.” She commands, taking out a snail box. She’s not watching you, but at the same time she is. Using the wall you get to your feet, but your head swims and so you just let yourself sit back down.

“I’m out back, we have a patient too dizzy to walk on her own.” She speaks in the same even and relaxed tone she’s been using from the start. You didn’t think your situation was anything to get excited about, but you wondered idly if she was ever anything other than calm. “Tell Blackleg I expect his best meal.”

She hangs up, tucking the box away and returns her focus to her cigarette. There’s silence between you that doesn’t feel heavy or awkward, but you also don’t really know where you stand. With Arlong you’d simply stay there quietly until someone came along.

Honestly, with Arlong, you’d be trying to walk no matter how dizzy you felt.

“What happens now?” You hazard the question. It’s safe enough, and you need to understand how this lady operates.

Shakky lets out another slow line of smoke and offers up a warm smile. ��Our head doctor’s going to tend to you. The shift’s lead chef is going to make you something to eat, and depending on the doctor’s orders you’ll probably go to bed after that in one of the guest rooms.”

She stubs the cigarette on the railing as the door behind her opens up. A tall man steps out, and looks over at you before heading down the steps. His dusty blonde hair is pulled back into the ponytail, and he’s wearing a button up dress-shirt and slacks. There’s a noticeable scar on his forehead over his eye, but it looks like it was stitched well.

He frowns once he gets a decent look at you. “Any loose teeth?” He questions, and after you probe with your tongue you shake your head. “Feel like you’re going to vomit?”

“Not right now.”

The frown twitches into more of a smile. “Injuries anywhere I can’t see?”

“Mm.. M’back, probably.” You mutter. “Hit the bricks more’n once.”

“I’m going to shine a light in your eyes,” he explains, pulling out a small pen light, and checking your pupil’s reaction to it a couple times on each eye. He hands you a thermometer. “Under your tongue, however you can without it hurting.” He says, pressing the back of his hand against your forehead briefly.

“You should be good, but that’ll give me a more accurate reading. May I have your hand? I want to check your pulse.”

After a second’s pause you hold your hand out. He gives you thanks and then presses his fingers against your wrist for a moment, going quiet as he concentrates on his counting. Once he’s done he pulls the thermometer out and checks it.

“Nothing concerning enough to warrant the hospital.” He turns toward Shakky. “I’d like Law to scan her,” he stops and turns back to you. “If you’re okay with that. It’s a devil fruit ability, but it won’t do anything to you. It’ll just let Law know if something’s wrong that I can’t see.”

“Uh… sure?”

“Alright. I’ll get him after we get you inside and settled.” He offers you a warm smile. “My manners are awful, young miss. My name’s Hongo, if you’re not against it, it would be my pleasure to carry you inside, since you’re not feeling well.”

“I, um, I…” You stop, pressing your lips together and look over at Shakky. She’s smiling, and you can’t tell if she’s giving you permission or not, but there’s no signs of irritation on her face at all. Turning back to Hongo, you consider asking him to just give you a hand walking, but he’s a good bit taller than you.

It’s probably easier for him to just carry you. It’s not what he’s offering that has thrown you, honestly, it’s the way he offered it.

“Sure.” You aren’t sure what you expect, and accept the little medical bag he hands you before he scoops you up like some damsel in distress. Being treated kindly was wild enough, but to be carried like you weren’t just a sack of potatoes was… different.

You didn’t want to get used to it. Good things were always just a veneer. Something pretty to hide all the shit underneath no one wanted you to see. If nothing else, you had to give credit to Arlong for being ugly right up front.

But if these two wanted to feed you and let you sleep somewhere nice for a couple days, you weren’t going to say no.

[still-a-morosexual-help]

so the nightbringer website is open now and from what it says, the mc is gonna be in this game too? and it seems like romance is still gonna be involved? I wasn't expecting that honestly, I was thinking mc wouldn't be apart of this at all.

but if this is the case, does that mean that we're gonna find out what mc really is (they obviously aren't human in canon, but not everyone thinks of mc the same way so that doesn't seem like a good choice on their part) or maybe it will be whoever mc was in the past life? the only other thing I can see is mc going back in time again but that also seems like a weird thing to do.

maybe I'm overthinking what's on the website but it's just not something I even considered until this moment lmao

still v excited for the new game, I really hope that even if they do keep mc as a main part in the game, that the romance is a small part of it (or rather that it's not thrown at you in every scene lol) and that we actually get a good story on how the brothers came to the devildom and more understanding on all of the characters in general.

(sorry if this is hard to understand, I'm sick and tired hehe)

Honestly (I might be completely wrong here) I think it's gonna take place in flashbacks or something similar? Like we're gonna be skipping between the past and present. Because the opening showed Luke in it and he (as stated in S3) wasn't alive while the brothers were still angels/during the time of the fall. Plus it showed Thirteen with Diavolo but S4 heavily implied that she first visited the Devildom in S4 itself. So if this is the case then MC and the romance elements would be taking place in the present (though I wouldn't mind seeing MC interact with the brothers when they were angels again, tbh)

I think this game is what's gonna be used to introduce Michael? He's been built up since S1 but some of the things said about him makes him seem like a heavily morally grey character and exploring that in a game like OM! which is just straight up a wholesome otome game won't work because he'll have to be watered down in order to become a LI. But if they introduce him in nightbringer through flashbacks (possibly in anticipation of him appearing in the present) then they wouldn't have to worry about watering him down as much (specially because the opening hints at nightbringer being more lore and angst driven)

I would really like to know more about what the hell MC is because, like it or not, general MC does have a lot of canon facts about them that are sprinkled throughout the game (here's my post that lists all of them) and the fact that they're not fully human is one of them that is brought up as early as in Season 1 (also the time it's brought up the most clearly/directly) and then hinted at/reintroduced in the following 3 seaons (post w/ canon evidence)

(get well soon! And take a nap!!)

EDIT:

I just checked out the website and okay it actually looks really good! The quotes from each brother!!!! Also looks like it might actually jump between past and present but in the form of timetravel rather than flashbacks? Not proper timetravel where they'll manage to remember each other later but something similar to what happened in S3 maybe? Okay but the fic potential of this!!? The angst potential!!!?

MC HAS TO MAKE PACTS WITH THEM AGAIN BUT NOW THEY'RE ALL NEWLY TRAUMATISED I'M CACKLING THIS IS SO FUNNY MC WENT THROUGH SHIT TO MAKE THOSE PACTS THE FIRST TIME AROUND AND THAT WAS AFTER THE BROTHERS HAD CENTURIES? MILLENIA? TO CALM DOWN. NOW MC'S GOTTA DO IT ALL AGAIN, BE A THERAPIST ALL OVER AGAIN EXCEPT SOMEHOW EVERYTHING’S GOTTEN SO MUCH WORSE ANDKNXIDNDN someone should start paying them for this shit 😭😂💀

Okay so the format (regarding the romance) might be similar to S1? Few romantic elements sprinkled throughout but mainly focusing on the therapy and found family elements until the very end?

Also from the three brothers who mention The Fall in their quotes (Mammon, Levi and Asmo) Mammon seems to be the only one who has (at least to an extent) made peace with it?

[soapels]

mutualism

simon “ghost” riley x female reader ♡

content: sfw, ghost is soft for reader but also tsundere and has little to no idea of how to express it lolol

jupe’s notes: hope u enjoy this lil blurb thing. :] its inspired by an otome i played like seven years ago lol. (dont ask why chocolate keeps appearing in my ficlets) also pls pls show sum love if u like it >_> reading yalls thoughts and comments cheers me up, fr makes my day hehe 💗 enjoy babes

all hearts, reblogs, & comments are very appreciated! ♡

“You hungry?”

Ghost huffs, “Aren’t you?”

It’s harmless, and he’s never unwittingly harsh with the intent to hurt you- it’s just who he is, and you know that.

So you swiftly brush away the flustered pang in your chest, deciding to inch closer to him instead, the burly man settled at the bank of the river.

Gases spill over the tree-line up at the village, tucked away behind poppies and pines on the mountaintop. The two of you won’t be getting out of here for a while- the heli crashed, pilot’s dead. The radio (or the general connection out here in the boonies) is so fucked up that nobody’s responding over it to all the calls for help you tried to make.

Regardless. You fix yourself down beside him, drawing your knees to your chest as a small hand digs through your breast pocket.

“Lieutenant, I—“

Before you can even properly pull it out, (and his prediction skills are beyond you) he’s giving you an uncivil shake of his head, wrapping his gloved fingers over your forearm to stop you.

“Save it, sergeant…” As if realizing his curtness, and the slightly-dejected flicker of your wide eyes, his grip on you loosens, and he murmurs softly. “Rather you eat whatever the hell it is than give it to me.”

You pause for a fleeting moment, thinking his words over.

His dark, chestnut hues sweep over you in uneven waves from beneath his mask, slowly, taking in every movement and micro-expression on your end.

(You wonder what it is he sees.)

When he releases you entirely, you clutch the small, wrapped food tighter in your palm and carefully hold it in your lap.

And for a few weighty, silent seconds- just the sound of fresh water rubbing at the pebbled shore, the pines rustling in the breeze paired with your and Ghost’s shared breaths- Simon thinks you’ve yielded.

He’s wrong.

“But—“

“No buts, pup,” he chastises, tossing you a lingering glance from the side of his eye. It makes you stiffen up some, your own gaze darting away to the lush swathes of grass beneath you.

But it’s not quite enough to sway you, or stop you entirely.

“Just take it, Lieutenant,” you near beg, flashing him that daunting, slow little smile that carves up into the apples of your cheeks. (Never knew something so sweet could be so haunting to Ghost- how ironic.)

He intakes a long, gruff breath.

And scoops it out of the dip of your gracious, eager palms. He looks down at it, the thing even smaller in his big, gloved hands.

Makes a half-amused sort of sound.

A Hershey’s Kiss.

The wrapping crinkles, breaks, Ghost stuffing the flimsy strings of it into one of his pockets before he pauses. And you hope he doesn’t hear the rather-obnoxious grumble of your tummy, observing him carefully, quirking a brow at the odd, foreign glitter to his umber eyes-

Wordlessly, he rucks up the bottom half of his mask and pops the small chocolate into his mouth.

Your scrutiny softens, then, your smile deepening as you linger on him for a moment more, relief billowing in your chest (you were so happy you’d saved the sweet, realizing you could do some good for your Lieutenant out here stranded in the middle of nowhere) as you turn away—

A gloved thumb finds your chin, snatching your attention in as his lips brush with yours.

Ghost’s tongue grazes the roof of your mouth, and amidst the initial shock of it all- the hot spark creeping down to your guts- you don’t even realize the sweetness that invades your tastebuds until he’s already leaning away, licking unsparingly at his lips.

You swallow.

You… swallow. The sugary remnants of the treat you virtually begged for him to eat.

…Dammit!!

Your face is going mad warm and you’re grabbing for his stupidly-strong arm before you can even think to stop yourself-

“T-That’s not fair!” You blurt out, brows furrowed into a cute, flustered pinch that does no favors for the sensual storm stirring in Ghost’s belly. “You cheated- that was supposed to be for you, Simon!”

Simon.

“Well, pup,” he punctuates rather harshly, eyes flickering away briefly- holding some unreadable twinkle to them- before they find yours again.

“It benefited the both of us, didn’t it? …Mutualism at it’s bloody finest.”

(Because he enjoyed it- fuck, probably more than he should’ve… His head spins like he’s been dealt a good blow.)

You spare him one last thoughtful, riled-up huff before turning away, tucking your chin to your knees as you curl in on yourself.

Your heart’s hammering.

Simon’s is drilling holes into his ribs.

But he doesn’t tell you that. And you’d never know, only if he chose to let you—

“Though…”

his low, thick voice strikes up again, and that’s when you realize his gaze never really broke away from you.

You glance over and his fingers are working at his right glove, those dark, inscrutable eyes set dead on you. You, you, you. It sends a chill right down your spine, down to your tummy, to your everything, and your breath stutters.

His does, too, as he suddenly dips in. A large, warm palm swallowing up the soft curve of your cheek.

“I think I’ve got an idea to sate the both of us- properly, this time.”

[rjthirsty]

Ikemen Princess Prologue

Based off the otome game Ikemen Prince, I've created an AU where the princes are (mostly) female, and MC is male. Several character names have been changed to suit their new gender (notes will be provided), and lore has been altered to work with the new setting and my accompanying headcanons.

Words: ~1.5k Tags: AU with Gender Changes, My First Long Fic, Chaptered, Scheduled Release A/N: You can find this and other chapters located on my ao3 account or on the Ikemen Princess Masterlist on my tumblr blog. Leanne = OG Leon.

Chapter Three: The Beast and the Beast

“If you really want to kick up a fuss, I’ll take you on. What do you say?” The mystery woman quirked a smirk, eyes narrowing at the drunk.

There was something about her that was larger than life, and the street grew quiet around her as all eyes were drawn to her. I slowly lowered my arms, realizing I wasn’t in immediate danger anymore. I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding, which she must have heard because she glanced over her shoulder at me and her amber eyes met mine. Suddenly I wasn’t able to draw air, my breath catching in my throat.

Wow… I have never seen anyone with so much presence! It’s like you dominate the scene just by existing!

Her gaze swept the crowd, the gaze of a predator looking for her next meal, and nobody wanted to meet it. Released from the hold of those hungry eyes on me, I managed to suck some air back into my lungs. The tension in the air continued to mount, she was clearly not someone you should pick a fight with, and everyone else had sensed it, too.

Well… ALMOST everyone.

Despite the fact that the drunk had let her casually lower his fist, he must have found his courage the moment her eyes weren’t pinning him to the spot anymore.

“You wanna fight me? Yeah? Let’s do it!” The drunkard leaned as he turned to face her rather than me.

Her eyes cut back to the man. “You’ve got spirit, I’ll give you that,” she said with a grin growing on her lips.

I threw my hands up placatingly, “Wait, wait, wait! Can’t we find a peaceful way to resolve this?”

“Shuddup!” Mr. Belligerent yelled, swinging back his foot and angrily kicking at my fallen books, sending several of them flying. I watched in horror as they soared through the air, pages flapping wildly, before landing in the middle of the street. Of course, it had to be right as someone was riding a horse straight towards them.

If it had been any other day, the sight of the majestic white horse would have been a sight for sore eyes, but today the steed that showed no fear at something large landing directly in its path told me a lot about the temperament. Normal horses tended to spook, especially if they didn’t have blinders on. This wasn’t a normal horse. My eyes slid up the animal to the rider on its back, an aristocrat for sure. She was staring down at the books as she reined her horse in, her light blonde hair long enough to obscure her eyes, but not the downwards tilt of her head that proved she was looking at the books.

“Who would be so insolent?” It almost sounded like she was talking to herself as her piercing eyes lifted from the books. A gaze as cold as ice landed on the drunk and she demanded, “Was it you?”

Something ruthless glittered deep within that ice-blue stare, like a tiger catching sight of its prey. She wasn’t even looking at me, yet I was afraid to move, afraid even the slightest twitch would bring death pouncing down on me. The only thing I could move were my eyes in this overwhelming presence, and that’s when the crest on her saddle made my heart lurch.

Oh, shit. Oh no! You’re a member of the royal family?!

“Huh?! Who the hell d’ya think ya are? Stop sneerin’ at me!” Mr. Belligerent Drunk challenged the royal woman. His face was already red from the alcohol, but it was clear his anger caused it to flush darker and he began stomping on my books.

My jaw dropped, all of this was the most unexpected series of events. I was silently hoping that I could laugh about it all later, but at the moment I was half-frozen with fear as the situation continued to escalate.

“I hadn’t intended to participate in such a vulgar side show, but perhaps this is how one finds amusement at a festival?” The royal woman spoke with disdain, her hand reaching towards her hip where her sword was strapped.

The babble of the festival around me seemed to fade into silence. Wait. The cruelty in her eyes was as clear and sharp as her gaze, honed in on the root of the problem. The drunk wasn’t just a nuisance, he was a bug only worthy of being squashed beneath her boot. Wait– Don’t! Sunlight gleamed off the blade, almost blinding me, and before I knew what I was doing, I was moving.

I grabbed the drunk man who was throwing a tantrum and incurring the wrath of the beast on horseback by his shirt collar, which caused him to refocus his attention on me.

“Wha-?!”

He started to protest, but I didn’t let him get another sound out before I hurriedly hissed, “Pull yourself together!” And landed a slap on his face that brought a sting to my own hand.

To be fair, I didn’t intend to slap him that hard. I didn’t intend to slap him at all! At the last second I chickened out from a straight fist to the face because I thought it would end up hurting a lot more. I had never actually hit someone before, I had never been in a violent fight. But I had read about bruised knuckles and broken bones from hitting hard objects, and a skull was pretty hard.

I could feel people staring at me. Lots of people. But most of all, I could feel the gaze of two startled predators on me.

“What was that for?!” Mr. Drunk and Violent groaned as he brought his own hand up to his cheek. His eyes seemed to clear for a moment, pupils refocusing like he could see me for the first time that day.

“You need to. Calm. Down.” I choked, speaking in a hushed tone since I was finding it hard to raise my voice above a raspy stutter from the tightness in my throat. “Or do you want to get yourself killed over this?!” I thrusted my stinging hand towards the books at our feet, I then flung it in the direction of the royal woman, waving it frantically to indicate the crest on her saddle, and the sword she was gripping.

He followed my wild gesturing, and all the color drained from his face. It was clear I’d finally gotten through to him, and I puffed a quick sigh of relief. I let go of his collar and smoothed it out, then patted it, trying to come up with my next step, my eyes cast downwards and not daring to look the blonde woman in the eyes.

“I…” A squeak was all that really managed to escape my stress-constricted airway. I swallowed the hard lump, my mouth the driest desert, the lack of lubricant causing me to give a small cough to clear my throat. “I’m very sorry if we caused you any trouble.” I dared a glance up at her before continuing on. “I hope you can find some way to forgive and forget this incident.”

And my eyes were back on the ground, head slightly bent downward. I didn’t want to see the daggers in her eyes. Suddenly an idea struck me and I gasped a little, “Oh!”

I folded my arm in front of me, and the other behind me and bent myself at the waist to imitate what I’d imagined a proper bow would look like. I had no idea how to address royalty, but it wasn’t like I had ever had the chance. The best bet I had was the brief descriptions in books.

Without warning the amber-eyed woman burst out laughing, a loud, refreshing sound that cut straight through the tension. I was so wound up I nearly jumped out of my skin, but I could feel the mood in the air lightening immediately.

“Don’t worry, she’s not so petty that she’d actually kill someone over something like this.”

“Huh?” I gawked at the dark-haired woman. It sounded like she knew the blonde from the royal family.

“Are you done playing, Chevalier?” Another well-dressed woman appeared, shrugging smoothly as she reined in on her chestnut horse next to the white one.

“Yes,” Chevalier - the blonde royalty - said curtly. “This was a waste of my time.”

The tension began to seep out of me, until I realized Chevalier’s icy gaze was focused on my books, strewn across the ground.

“Are those books yours?”

“Yeah…” I answered cautiously, watching her warily.

She fell silent again, still staring intently at my books, and my breath hitched in my throat as her eyes narrowed.

What am I missing here? I couldn’t figure out where this was headed. The drunk’s tirade was over, I had apologized, and the dark-haired woman claimed Chevalier wasn’t the type to kill over something like this, yet she hadn’t moved on yet.

Her gaze moved suddenly from the books to me, pinning me to the spot, and I only distantly heard the woman next to her speak. “What now? Don’t tell me you’re in the mood for romance?”

“Romance is worthless, but–”

For the second time today, I made a very unmanly “eep” as her sword moved in a quick, fluid motion towards my throat. I held absolutely still, not even chancing a breath with the tip of her weapon hovering just shy of touching me.

But– why–

She used the flat of the blade to tilt my chin up, forcing me to look at her. “Those books are different. They’re worth more than you are. You’d do well to remember that.”

I wanted to ask ‘what the hell is wrong with you’ but I knew better than to question royalty. And I was keenly aware of the cold steel touching my skin. Instead I gave a faint nod, attempting to not shift my head too much while I relayed that I had heard her words, and the blade moved away from my throat at last.

I watched in stunned silence as she sheathed her sword and took up her reins again, urging her horse onwards. The woman astride the chestnut horse watched Chevalier for a moment, before nudging her own horse gently with her calves. But as she rode away, I saw her gaze move towards me, and I was startled by the bright amusement glittering in those golden eyes. 

The second they were both gone, I felt the tension inside me unraveling all at once, and I took a great, gasping breath. I felt strangely tingly and lightheaded, my nerves all firing at once to catch up with everything I had ignored during the tense events. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the drunkard sinking weakly to the ground.

I thought that was going to end really, really badly… and I’m so glad we’re all still alive.

“Seven hells…” I muttered, the world filtering back into existence around me. The crowd grew louder or my heartbeat grew quieter, I wasn’t entirely sure which. I felt the sun shining on me, warming my numb fingers and face. After several deep breaths, I turned to face the amber-eyed woman who had stepped in and been my savior.

“Thank you for helping us. I’m indebted to you– incredibly so. Would you mind if I asked your name?”

“It’s Leanne. And you can relax a little, I stepped in because I wanted to. You don’t owe me anything.”

“Er– well, thanks, Leanne.” We just looked at each other for several seconds before I slid my eyes away, growing uncomfortable from the silence. “Do you… know that woman? The one on the white horse?”

“Yeah,” she said as I saw her moving out of the corner of my eye, belatedly realizing she was gathering up my fallen books. “But we’ve never really talked that much. Here you go.”

“Ah! Oh, thank you!” I started turning the books over in my hands, inspecting them as I piled them under one arm. They were a little scuffed, but somehow they didn’t end up torn or badly damaged.

And a good thing too– I spent WAY too much money on these.

“You really like books, huh?”

“I love them! They’re usually way more interesting than the real world. Not so much today…” I trailed off as I turned to glance the way Chevalier and the other woman had rode off. Suddenly I recalled how this all started and I spun to look for the young boy who I had originally come to the aide of. He was still sitting on the ground, sniffling and curled up with his knees pulled towards his chest.

I crouched down to get on an equal level with the kid, Leanne doing the same, but it was her who spoke first.

“Hey, little guy, you okay?”

With attention back on him, a fresh set of tears started again. “Mama…” He sobbed.

“You’re lost, huh?” Leanne offered her hand. “Come with me, then.”

The boy’s watery eyes went to her hand. “Can–hic… Can you find… Mama?” He almost wailed again, but Leanne was quick to answer.

“Sure can! Let’s go find her together.” She smiled like warm sunshine and the little boy took up her hand. She helped him to his feet, then scooped him up and easily set the kid on her shoulders.

Wow, I don’t know what to say– you’re like an entirely different person now.

I was watching her, rising to stand as well. I was probably staring. The stalking lion was gone, her predator’s gaze now friendly and almost sweet somehow. Her gentle smile gave my heart a little flutter. Her entire presence was still larger than life, but it was comforting now and for some reason I felt the desire to stay near her.

“Umm, Mis’er?” The kid, now higher up than me, tentatively called to me. I finally stopped staring at Leanne and gave my attention to the little boy. “Thank you for helping me!”

Sweet kid.

I couldn’t help but smile up at him. “You’re welcome! And I’m really glad you’re okay.”

“Same goes for you,” Leanne said to me. “Now c’mon, buddy, let’s go.”

Before I could offer to help them search, Leanne was weaving through the crowd, her hand lifted in a casual wave. I’d have to thank her properly if I ever ran into her again, and she sure stands out, so I hope I’ll catch her again one day. I watched until they were out of sight and then I turned away, hugging my books to my chest as I made my way through the crowds.

[xxsycamore]

Alright, I'll steal the remaining slots before it's too late!

Social Media AU with genderbent Fenrir and MC

Krys your BRAIN. Be honest, did you see it coming that I'm going to make Fen a Twitch streamer? Hope you like it as much as I did!!!

[ 🌈 part of the character x character or genderbent!character x mc requests🌈 ]

For Different Universe, Same Love creative challenge, hosted by @queengiuliettafirstlady and me.

𝐒𝐎𝐂𝐈𝐀𝐋 𝐌𝐄𝐃𝐈𝐀 𝐀𝐔 ┅┅┅genderbent!Fenrir x Alice

𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲

"Damn it, he got me!"

While waiting impatiently to respawn, Fen stuffs her mouth full of chips and directs her attention to the chatbox next to her game screen instead. She tries to pay as much attention as she can to her Twitch subs, maintaining a friendly and laid-back atmosphere where she can indulge in snacks, gaming, and occasional swears while her audience contently watches her.

gentlexdemon23: Maybe if you used something other than dual pistols in this map you wouldn't suck so bad :)

Fen barely remembers to gulp down her food before reading out loud this particular comment that caught her attention, using an annoying voice for it.

"Dude, dual pistols are the best what are ya talking about? Why bother with another weapon when I've already mastered one. Dumbass."

Fen relaxes back into her gaming chair as a wall of the same comments saying "you must be new here", likely directed at gentlexdemon23, flash at a fast speed across the chat screen. Suddenly a telltale noise announces a donation, and Fen excitedly thanks the person before reading out:

alicethe2nd: Dual pistons ftw! ☜(ﾟヮﾟ☜) Please show us your irl collection again after the match!

Fen's bright magenta eyes all but begin to sparkle with excitement upon seeing the request.

"You mean my babies? Hell yeah! Thank you, Alice the second! Wait, are ya a chick? Or just another guy using a cute anime girl as their pfp?"

Fen's eyes scan carefully through the endless wave of lol's in fear she'll miss that one username she's looking for.

alicethe2nd: I'm a girl, haha! I'm not even into these things, I just fell down the rabbit hole and found myself watching your streams... I think you're cool!

This time Fen doesn't read the message out loud, though the way her lips move the people watching her could probably figure that the reply got to her safely. There's a brief pause that Fen utilizes to get back on track after failing to notice she's been respawned in the game. That's rare.

She's far from being so naive as to trust random fans blindly and take their word for granted, much less initiate further contact with them, even if that one sounded quite cute.

Oh well.

"Actually, ya know what? For that generous tip, I can even offer you a one-on-one call to see them up close. See chat, it's whatcha get for respecting Fen's babies! Leave me a DM, Alice."

Taglist:

@arsnovacadenza @ale-teodora @kimi00twin @otomelady @privilegedpancake @g-kleran   @pumpumnnnp @thesirenwashere @ravenarld @kimmy-banana @devonares @galaxyprison @sadshaxk @starshards26 @thewitchofbooks @acethephoenix256 @ikevamp-shrine-2 @nad-zeta @crystal13unny @lordsister @ikemen-banshou  @themysticalbeing @otome-scribbles @rhodolitesrose @coornn @kpop-and-otome @queen-dahlia @kisara-16 @chaosangel767 @ikemenlibrary @queengiuliettafirstlady @aurora-morning @aquagirl1978 ​ @ikemenlover24 @mcofthemansion @joy-the-reader @katriniac @ikemen-writer @tele86 @lovely-bubb1es @aria-chikage @babyblue0t7 @rhodoliteschaos @shrimpy-kitsune @nightghoul381 @xbalayage @lucyw260 @kittygrimm88 @lokis-laugh @judejazza Let me know if you want to be tagged/untagged!

[violettduchess]

A/N: Welcome to my new series! While I am still working on my Kiss fics with the Vamp suitors, Prince suitors can move on to this which begs the question: What is it like with your suitor right after the fireworks of making love?

This is not a request but my own decison to start with Gilbert as it is the first fic after his route release and I wanted to test the waters with writing him. I am happy to say I think I found a balance between what I have imagined before and canon.

Gilbert x reader

Warning: Minor spoiler from his route

Word Count: 533

You are a prisoner. Your cell? The circle of Gilbert’s arms, the weight of his leg pinning yours to the matress, the scrape of his teeth over the rounded curve of your shoulder, holding the promise of another rosy bite. Another flower in the garden of crimson and pink blossoms he has already decorated your body with. Floral garlands of his desire adorning you like sylvan cords. He tightens his embrace, an anaconda wrapping itself around its prey, reassuring itself that the prey is still there. Reminding the prey that it has no hope of escape.

But you do not want to escape. You welcome your captor, the man with one eye blue as heaven and one eye red as hell. He has taken your heart, against all odds, against all logic, and cups it protectively, possessively, in his bone-white hands, hands that have delivered ruthless justice accompanied by the sharpest of smiles, and he will trample any man, woman, nation or God underfoot before he lets it go. You sigh, running your fingertips over the cool skin of his forearms, over the lines of sinew and muscle under the moonlight of his skin, the topography of a heavenly body whose gravity binds you.

“If my Häschen is still able to sigh, then I have not done my job.”

His voice is by your ear, soft as starshine, dark as pitch. It still sinks into your consciousness like a stone in still waters, but the ripples that emanate from that smooth tongue and spread through your veins are not pulsing with fear as they did when you first met, but smoldering with desire, gleaming with something you would dare call love. You bite back a smile, your lips still sore from the gnaw of his teeth, the demanding drive of his tongue.

He is a ravenous lover, your Obsidian emperor. Forever hungry, never satisfied. Even now, just minutes after you exploded like radiant meteors across the night sky, even as your skin is still sparking from the assault of his fingers and mouth, he is restless, needy, turning you around so that you face him, both of you shrouded by the dim shadows of his bedroom.

“Your job?” Your voice is rounded by tenderness, worn down like a stone to smooth affection by the waves of Gilbert's relentless insistence that you are his.

There is so much beauty in that face, in that gaze, that you can’t help reaching up, touching his face with a gentle hand, fingers stroking the line of his jaw. His eyes close, his breath shuddering in his chest at your touch, at the loving caress you bestow upon him. This is all he has ever wanted. He turns his head, catching your finger between his white teeth, your tiny gasp as loud as an explosion in his ears. He smiles slowly, sucking on the offended finger, pain and pleasure twining together like velvet barbs dancing along your sensitive nerves. Suddenly, he shifts and the world tilts. You are underneath his long body, caged in by his arms, pinned yet again by the press of his hips.

“My job,” he murmurs as he lowers his head, breathing in the familiar scent of your hair, the one that perfumes his every thought. “Is to leave you so breathless, that not even a single sigh is possible.”

Tagging: @aquagirl1978 @alixennial @alexxavicry @queengiuliettafirstlady @rhodolitesrose @ikemen-writer @bellerose-arcana @thewitchofbooks @redheadkittys @dear-mrs-otome @firestar-otomeobsessed @curious-skybunny @kpop-and-otome @writingwhimsey @mxrmaid-poet @silver-dahlia @wendolrea @otomefoxystar @nightfoxqueen @myonlyjknight @queen-dahlia @aceuuuuu @scorchieart @bubblexly @joiedecombat

[yunarim]

. . . loading : real-life otome simulator ☆ - chapter 4

❤︎ prologue ; chapter 1 ; chapter 2 ; chapter 3 ❤︎ tags : female reader, reader is yuu, extrovert reader, second-year reader, sfw, fluff, chapter 6 spoilers ❤︎ author's note : english isn't my first language, please make sure to point out mistakes if any! :) you can read this work on ao3 & wattpad ^^!

. . . loading 4th chapter : 60% (in which Yuu kinda realizes she got her new nickname for a solid reason, featuring Idia.exe crushing)

♡ before you read : minor mentions of death in tis chapter

What’s with that sudden pounding, my ass, Idia thought.

His heart was pounding when he woke up and got up from his bed too hastily, skipping beats accompanied by a white noise in his eyes. His heart was pounding when someone approached him in those rare moments he was actually passing through the college corridors, as if shadow crawling on the walls. His heart was pounding when Lucius made his way to Idia, who smiled with a glimpse of hope to hear a soft purr but got a scratch instead.

How would he know what was happening to the main heroine? Was she sick? Or was it the tea the characters shared together? Jeez, were these otome games always that hard? He even let an unanswered thought run through his mind that maybe he underestimated them just a little.

So a new task to his ultimate ‘totally not gonna tackle these problems ever ’ list was added.

⌜ Figure out what a girl in a romance visual novel could think about ⌝

His brain was working to excess when he was given a college task or developing new features for Ortho, thinking over a profitable in-game strategy to clear another dungeon and split obtained rewards between his teammates ー he’s a genius for a reason, after all.

But then again, collide with an 2D isekaied girl whose head is full of pink-colored bubbles of silly thoughts with a romantic hue on them? Never has he felt so stupid in his whole life.

Emotions were luxury. Why care if you’ll get an ending you want even if it would cost you a dozen walkthroughs and myriad retryings? It’s not like he would ever want to experience such dumb feelings in his whole lifetime, ever! 

And yet, something was different. Totally not a meowing notification sound he set specifically for Yuu (he’d rather die than admit he actually did that stupidly embarrassing thing). 

A week has passed since their last meeting. A whole week of Idia freaking out because of Yuu texting to him. At first he thought she was just being considerate and chatting with him out of an awkward feeling when you actually asked someone’s number and then realized that ghosting would be a perfect option but you have a socially approved quality called politeness, so there was no other way out but keep on texting basic things. 

Hell freaking no, Yuu wasn’t that simple and it was driving Idia crazy. 

Being a genius he was, he tried to divide analyzing his new… friend ’s (somehow the word itself wasn’t settling right, causing itching unpleasant feeling somewhere under his ribs) behavior into three stages.

1st stage: denying.

Of course she was sending him Gakemo short videos and frequently asking when the group has debuted, what their fandom name was, how many cats does the maknae* has ー all she had to do was to click on the internet icon and just type all her questions, getting a short summary in return. Maybe this was some kind of extroverts perk, when you actually don’t really want to chat but are still trying to be considerate and ask something…

Idia passed through this stage real quick when she made an ‘ultimate guide to Gakemo’ and uploaded it on her MagiTube channel, staying ever so unbothered by the insanely increasing number of subscribers. She devoted a freaking minute of a whole video to appreciate Idia’s help and thanking him for providing with an accurate info and things.

She’ll be the death of him.

2nd stage: making assumptions.

Okay, maybe she was at least slightly interested in keeping up with him and his interests. For what was it then? Ortho suggested asking her directly, but that option was out of the question. 

Why in the world would she be willing to continue chatting even if they took a little break from the game since Idia was thinking over the answer to the last in-game question?

Somehow he didn’t despise their conversations, genuinely appreciating silly photos of Grim she took. It was just enough to keep him entertained at first, but then Yuu proceeded to send him little greetings, sweet ‘good mornings’ and even more sugary ‘good nights’. 

Idia didn’t want to admit he grew to enjoy them with all his heart. Was he craving affection at least from someone so much that it became almost unbearable to wake up without another ‘gm!!’ from her with a different choice of emojis attached in the end?

But what was the profit for her in all those messages? She was an extrovert, not to mention she was extremely popular! 

3rd stage: getting embarrassed.

He was cringe. The cringiest man alive. Damn, given that he was nearly a freaking Ruler of the Underworld, he would still be the cringiest thing ever existed in the Twisted Wonderland history even underneath. The epitome of cringe, yes, that was the right name for him, waiting for Yuu‘s messages late at night when she was saying she’ll be back after bathing and then coming back only by morning, since she fell asleep out of fatigue. She would always apologize for not wishing good night to him. Oh Sevens, and was it necessary to make another Gakemo edit in an apology?

He felt stupid. Having feelings was the strangest thing he had ever suffered. The warmth flooded his heart as if wax, eroding over a candlestick from a dying candle. He was stuck to feeling undeserving, lacking everything which SSR-tier characters had, he was accustomed to being not enough. 

He wasn’t ready for those little messages of hers to drug him out and experience something flourishing in his chest when he realized he was genuinely thoroughly choosing an emojis to send in response.

Oh Sevens, it was 6:00 am.

A notification with a message popped up on his lockscreen, making him groan and click on his tongue. Sleep deprived again, he proceeded to pull an all-nighter and take a game session with his online teammates. 

Yuu‘s message worked better than any hangover cure. Not as if Idia ever had a hangover.

Isekai Expert ✨ : good morning!! I’m so excited for today~

Idia blinked twice and tried to collect his thoughts altogether, but all in vain since he could remember nothing.

Normie counter 👊 : wdym

Isekai Expert ✨ : dude… it’s potionology today

Normie counter 👊 : oh mkay congrats ig never knew your a sucker for potions

Isekai Expert ✨ : idia… we have joint classes for the second and third years today

Idia literally had left the chat.

───◌┈┈───♡⃝───┈┈◌───

Potionology was okay. Idia liked the subject, it was cool to work alone and mix something in a cauldron, but not freaking today!!

He wanted to merge with the furniture, sink through the ground, disappear in the blink of an eye ー all options would suffice, but there he was, awkwardly fidgeting in the corner of the auditorium and failing to hide his flashy hair. His height wasn’t helping at all, given he was almost twice as tall as most of the current second years. 

Sudden thought of being able to trace Yuu in this crowd somehow was quite calming, but a sweet feeling lingered only for a mere second. 

Right. She was an extrovert. 

It was Lilia who was always hanging around her, and Idia got used to it due to Yuu always nagging about how he was floating midair when she was studying in the library. 

What he did miss was the amount of affection Yuu was receiving from every freaking one in this hellish college.

Lilia did float midair, playing with her hair strands, while she was listening to Crewel’s explanation, her not even noticing Ace bending over her ear and whispering something. Grim used her as a means of transport, making himself comfortable on her shoulders when Deuce was fixing her protective glasses. As if the whole college was surrounding her, not even giving a place to breathe. 

Idia wondered if she ever was uncomfortable but was too occupied with his own predicament at the moment.

“Yuu, Idia and Lilia,” professor Crewel’s voice ringed in their ears. “You three are working together.”

Yuu gathered Lilia and Idia together, smiling brightly in an excitement to work with her best friend and… another friend?..

“Please take good care of me,” she proclaimed, nodding politely and causing Crewel to chuckle. 

“Pup, more likely it’s you who’ll take care of these two.”

“I’m not sure if I would deny it!” She giggled and turned to her companions. “Alright, shall we start?”

Alright, getting sorted into a team of those wasn’t so humiliating as Idia thought it would, but still he felt as if being sandwiched between two balls of energy, smiles surrounding him and caging in an extrovert trap. Could this whole situation be considered as a quest where he would get a reward from surviving?..

“Idia, are you listening?” Yuu asked, adjusting her gloves and grabbing materials, skimming through a manual given by professor Crewel at the same time. What a multi-tasking queen.

“Y-yeah, s-sorry…” a weak response escaped his lips as a long front locks fell on his shoulders when he benched over Yuu‘s small figure in an attempt to take a look at an manual Yuu was holding in order to get what he could do in order to get over this task real quick. 

“Guys, let me deal with preparations and mixing impurities in a mortar, I want to be at least a little of help,” signature smile appeared on her face, making Idia startle for a moment and try his best to ignore Lilia’s suspicious glances.

“Sure thing, sweetie,” Lilia replied and watched her making her way straight to the shelves filled with bottles of various contents. 

Idia allowed himself to take a deep breath and relax a little since Yuu wasn’t in his personal space (read as anyone within 20 meters) anymore. She wasn’t uncomfortable or overwhelming to be with, but rather… Yuu just shone too bright for him, overpassing the brightness of his fire hazard hair. 

He watched her trying to get something from a shelf she couldn’t reach as something just popped in his mind, urging him to offer his help, but of course he wasn’t the protagonist in this game called ‘Try getting Yuu‘s attention’ everyone was playing. It was Malleus who approached her in a loose manner, genuinely smiling at her and getting a dark purple bottle. SSR-tier character, absolutely OP, a whole ultimate material she’d totally simp for and ー

“You youngsters always manage to surprise me with your antics~”

Oh Sevens, Idia thought he fell straight into the Underworld itself as he jolted at a sudden Lilia’s remark.

“W-wha ー”

“Don’t you worry, you’ll get a chance to impress her someday~”

“I, ugh… Wh-what do you mean?..”

“Who knows… Just don’t hesitate, there’s a game-changing reward in the end.”

Right, Yuu mentioned Lilia was always the type to speak in riddles, but this was another difficulty level he couldn’t possibly surpass at the moment.

When Yuu returned with all preparations done Idia and Lilia proceeded to do their parts, accompanied by Yuu‘s encouraging words and little songs she hummed, from one of which actually recognized Gakemo’s latest b-side which went viral on social media and especially became a perfect material for editors makers. Really, she was cultured so much…

Professor Crewel asked them to show their work at the end of the lesson. Yuu was the one who presented everything, as if advertising a product for boosting magic energy and stamina (Idia even thought he heard Azul scheming something, being all ears at Yuu‘s presentation). Crewel asked Lilia and Idia to fill an empty test tube with their magic, and they did just so, then took a sip of the potion and took flasks this time, filling them once more. Crewel compared test tubes and flasks, giving a nod and appreciating how the magic color became more vibrant. 

“Since the potion wasn’t meant to be limited to magic boost only, prove to me that it has a great impact on stamina, too,” Crewel demanded, glaring at Yuu. She agreed, taking a potion in her hands and taking a deep breath. The thing is, she never tested potions she worked on since they only were meant to have an impact on magic abilities only.

“Alright!” Idia spotted Lilia frowning for a mere second, not actually liking his expression. 

Yuu took a sip from potion and demonstrated a few push ups she never really showed at Vargas’ lessons and then even jumped that high she was finally able to reach the highest shelf by herself. Amazed at her own abilities, she giggled, suspecting that was quite enough to prove that their potion worked.

“Beware of her, pups,” Crewel chuckled, taking notes and congratulating them on getting excellent marks today. “She may surpass you one day.”

“Huhu, isn’t she already?~” 

Idia took a quick glance at Yuu and got tensed when she spotted her biting her lip and placing her hand behind her back on the table in order to keep steady, she didn’t look good.

A permanent genuine smile plastered on her face wasn’t as calming as it used to be.

───◌┈┈───♡⃝───┈┈◌───

Idia rushed to get back home as quickly as he could. Enough with social interactions for today!!

“Oi, Idia!” 

No, no, no, silly, why would she yell in the schoolyard where everyone turned their heads to her and to him particularly, observing his awkward stance and then proceeding to stare. Ugh, why would she address him in such a crowded place andー

“Y-yeah, what do you want…”

He didn’t mean to sound rude but she didn’t seem to care, or maybe preferred to ignore this attitude of his, remaining considerate.

“A-actually,” she stuttered, her face looking paler. “It has been a long time since we hung out together. I wondered if you would be against my company for the rest of the day.”

“N-no, w-what are you saying!” Oh Sevens, how embarrassing this line was. “I’m o-okay..”

“Wonderful! Let’s go then?”

He nodded, thinking how awkward he looked, trying to figure out by what hand of hers should he walk, if she preferred to be from the left when she walked with someone, or was it more comfortable to be beside someone’s right? In any case, she didn’t say anything and just turned around to smile at him.

Oh Sevens, what’s with that indefinable tugging in his chest?

Just right when they reached the Hall of Mirrors, Yuu suddenly gasped and turned to Idia with an apologetic look.

“I forgot my books on the rooftop when I was having lunch with Lilia… Could you please wait for me here? I promise I’ll be back real quick!”

Realization hit him, as if in-game choice popping up in front of, options floating midair.

╰► Go with her

╰► Wait for her here

It took him a half of a minute to gather all his thoughts, weigh all pros and cons of his next step, and finally made his choice, biting his lip just before voicing it out.

“I-it’s fine, I’ll go with you… I-it won’t take a lot of time…”

Jeez, he was going absolutely insane. What, did he actually want to play a protagonist role in a jitney otome novel, trying to woo a female lead who obviously had better options? All she had to do was pick one, given she already managed to befriend The Malleus Draconia.

And there he was, waiting for her gathering all her belongings and almost ready to go back to his dorm. 

Thankfully, there was no one on the rooftop, and Idia sunk deep into his thoughts, calculating in his head whether they should watch a movie together or play some other games, he could introduce her to the Star Rogue lore, or they could rewatch Gakemo best performances ー

He didn’t realize a whole five minutes passed with Yuu staring somewhere into the sky and complaining quietly that the air turned quite stuffy. The realization hit him with small sharp needles of rainfall. 

He quickly made his way under the roof, feeling how the tips of his hair became steamy, scalding vapor dancing on his neck and shoulders. Idia sighed and took a quick glance at Yuu, her still standing beside the roof railing and slowly turning to him.

She seemed so… out of reach. Idia thought if she would turn to sand in any second and slip through his fingers, eluding him forever. 

“Right as I wondered how your hair would react on the rain,” no malice was heard in her words. “I’m sorry, I just… No, it’s nothing. Let’s go! Oh, and don’t worry, I have an umbrella with me.”

U-umbrella?! Oh no, another challenge awaited him, and THAT one was rated as S-rank difficulty one. Should he just embarrass himself and get his hair wet, a literally extinguished fire replacing his usual blue flames? Or would it be better to carry her umbrella so they wouldn’t get soaked together since she was obviously smaller than him?!

It was worse. 

She was the one to hold the umbrella all the way long just because she found it amusing to try managing the whole trip and jumped a little when it was really hard to cover Idia. Even worse that she actually succeeded and Idia cringed at the way he didn’t do at least something to help her. Again.

───◌┈┈───♡⃝───┈┈◌───

Idia hated himself for not cleaning his room up today. And even if Yuu convinced him it was okay and he should visit Ramshackle dorm someday so that he would never again think of his room as of mess, but mess aside, he forgot to turn off his PC.

With the cringiest isekai manga he was reading just to kill some time before going to sleep.

“A-argh, that’s not what you think!!”

Yuu just burst into laughter, while Idia was agonizing he embarrassed himself so damn much for today it was unbearable. 

“Goodness, I didn’t know you read such things! That one is a real cringe, though,” she commented on the opened frames with the heroine saying nonsense to her love interest. Then an idea came to him.

“How’d you know it’s cringe? Did you read it yourself? Sevens, don’t tell me you prefer such lame things over Star Rogue manga adaptation…” 

“Answering your question, yeah, I guess I just consume everything of the genre… And I didn’t have a chance to actually play Star Rogue, not to mention I didn’t even know there was a manga!!”

“Jeez, you’re so uncultured. Alright, gotta introduce you to the actual masterpiece. Get another controller, we’re about to pull an all-nighter in order to make you a Star Rogue expert.”

“Ooh, I like the spirit! Let’s start!”

He wasted no more second, adjusting his floating displays while Yuu took her personal pillow to sit on and grabbed a controller, ready for the introduction. 

The first few hours were considerably okay. Yuu was actually having fun and trying to grasp all the lore alongside with the gameplay and listened to Idia’s ramblings and mutterings, his speech turning into a current of incoherent phrases she was diving through, chickling sometimes.

Something wasn’t right with her body. 

She immediately thought of standing under the rain and getting soaked, but then her attention switched to the other event that happened today, potionology class that would be. Was it because their potion went wrong somewhere? But Idia seemed to be completely fine. Then she came to a conclusion she felt so sick due to her showing no possession of magic, while the potion was accustomed for magicians only. Shit, she thought, trying to cover her ailment with a gentle smile and concentrating on Idia talking.

Turned out her plan wasn’t much of help as Idia just paused the game, looking displeased with Yuu’s attention lacking.

“Hey, you won’t get the next scene if you skip this one!”

“S-sorry, it’s just… Could we take a little break? We were sitting this whole time for three hours straight.”

“E-ergh, alright. I guess you’re not so used to long gaming sessions as I thought!”

“Yep, but I bet you won’t last long reading manga! Damn, you missed my best manga-addict era, poor you~”

Idia sighed and took a quick glance at her, noticing her cheeks getting redder in a rather unhealthy way.

“U-uhm, actually, can I ask you a question?..”

“Sure, why not.”

“H-how…” he stuttered for a mere second when she switched her attention to him fully, looking straight into his eyes, making him avoid her gaze. “A-are you feeling after getting isekaied? I mean, you’re an isekai expert after all…”

She giggled and closed her eyes, as if she was recalling something.

“Promise you won’t cringe.”

“I would,” he replied half-jokingly. “I-it’s just… when manga heroines happen to isekai it always feels as if it’s not enough. Like, you know, don’t you all extroverts have your family, friends and stuff back at home?”

“Oh…”

She took a deep breath, opening her eyes and staring somewhere into the wall in front of her. 

“It's lonely. I miss my parents and friends. I had my routine back home, I was normal, and here I am, being absolutely magicless in a college full of magicians, always getting drugged into dangerous situations. I almost died, like, six times?” Idia personally felt himself included into this list of the reasons she got heavily injured and barely made it alive.

It was disgusting. He felt as if he was about to make himself out of the room, out of her circle of… friends? She was so strong and collected, while here he was, stuttering over nothing and stressing himself out just because he didn’t manage to pull his favorite character card in some shitty gacha game he was playing just to kill some time , when she was facing situations where she herself was almost killed.

He gulped at the thought of losing her one day, and an echinate sensation creeping inside him and wrapping thorny vines around his heart made Idia bite his lip hard.

“Sometimes I just think about whether I should return or not. It’s not like I know how but if I would, then what would my final decision turn into in the end? I have everything there, and yet I don’t have anything at the same time. I feel awful, as if I’m betraying my real self, making myself split into two parts: one remained back in my home, and one is the current me I’m presenting to everyone here. And the final question is always… which of the homes I have I can refer to as ‘my’ at this point?

Idia wasn’t thinking. An inexplicable impulse running through his entire body made him swallow nervously and cover her hand with his. It was suffocatingly awkward, and he wasn't sure— anything at all —whether she needed his support, but the overflowing warmth he had felt from their first meal together turned into a fond memory, and he sincerely wanted to calm her down for a mere second.

“i… “ she muttered. “T-thank you. Truly.”

“N-no problem…”

Unexpected fatigue covered her little figure when Idia tried to voice his speech he was mentally preparing in order to give a reply she deserved, but even though she did hear a few lines, Yuu closed her eyes and let out a small weak sigh, causing Idia to flinch a little. Did she not want his support in the end?..

“H-hey, I just wanted to… Huh?”

She rested her head on his shoulder, strands of her hair tossed on her face in a cute mess way. Idia stared at her parted lips with a cherry colored tint on them, which glittered prettily under the dim blue lights of his room and didn’t notice how the tips of his hair turned rosy, going from little flickers to massive bright sparkles.  

She leaned to his side with her whole body, almost sliding down, and he just realized she lost her consciousness and wasn’t controlling herself, her body hot and her cheeks almost burning. 

Oh Sevens, thankfully Ortho rushed into the room, looking worried, and found the two of them in an awkward position.

“Brother!! I just got a notification that your heart rate went crazy!” he proclaimed. “Is everything okay?!”

“I… I’m… Y-yeah, I’m fine, but Yuu… Check out her body temperature, please. It might be a fever.”

“Okay, leave it to me!”

With that Idia watched as Ortho placed her on Idia’s bed and then turned away as Ortho was managing with Yuu‘s clothes in order to loosen the tie so she can breathe easier. 

“I found traces of the potion in her respiratory tract, brother. Everything’s going to be okay, just let her rest a little, I’ll bring everything needed.”

“Y-yeah, alright… Thank you.”

As Ortho left the room Idia looked at Yuu and approached her, as if led by something intangible, not realizing his actions, and adjusted the blanket, taking a quick glance at her lips once more and almost weightlessly touching her fingers.

He figured out the answer for the last in-game choice this time.

❤︎ notes :

* maknae - the youngest member of the idol group

btw guys i wonder if you need a tag list for this one fic (or in general too)… please let me know 🤍

© ayavielle 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐝. 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭, 𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐲, 𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐲, 𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧.

[boycrazybimbo]

Hi again! I was the OG anon XD. Anyways, I hope ur doing well and all. Drink a cup of water and rest some- I know this may not apply to you, but still. :) Anyways, I came to rant again and get your honest opinion on WHB. Like, I don’t understand the part of being inclusive with male players. Don’t get me wrong, like, I’m fine with the game allowing male players, but that’s not exactly an Otome game, isn’t it? Like, its not actually targeted towards women, and it’s irritating that many fans make MC to be genderless… Like, it is an Otome game- Not a game “for everyone”. This isn’t offensive, but this will offend others. Like, come on. If prettybusy wanted a game for women, it should be for women- Sorry if I offend you, I just can’t shake this feeling off rn.

I agree with you. Here are things to consider:

The adult industry(pornography(hentai, games, etc.) is mostly male dominated. There’s a 2% chance that anything even remotely explicit will pertain to the female audience. Go check yourself. Visit your favorite site to watch adult content and you’ll only ever find things for males. Femboys for males, Lesbians for males, despite being lesbians, men fetishize them. Also, thus, there’s more gay porn for men than there is straight porn for women. It’s rare you’ll ever find porn female-centered.

Hentai games like What in “hell” is bad? always include male players. If it’s explicit, expect it to be for males, because apparently “more men watch porn”.

Hentai games, which are usually for males and are as proven many times, never include female players. You’re always playing this man who may or may not be an average joe, have a beer belly, may have dark skin or a blank face, or even a normal creep. Despite this, he manages to snag his harem of women by doing minimal tasks. Like… Umm… Hello? That’s not how women actually are- I would know as I am one myself and so are you.

So why are female-oriented games inclusive but male-oriented games aren’t?: There’s no explanation for that. Apparently making something for half the population, women, is seen as so inclusive that men can also be included. That’s not true, nor should it be. That’s basically a way of looking over women and catering to gay men. I find it odd how there’s more inclusion for gay men than women. Like, there’s definitely more women on this earth. That being said, that doesn’t help women at all. Like, if you cared so much about making things female-orientated, there shouldn’t be a male option to choose between. I don’t understand why prettybusy decided that to be best especially when their games “are for women”. Like, not really.

Making the MC neutral doesn’t contribute anything to female players, because if it actually were an otome game, and, as prettybusy said something along the lines of “We make MC’s face blank so others can relate more”, then making the MC female would definitely do the trick. If they clearly wanted female players to “relate to the MC”, then being genderless is not apart of that.

Other issues include:

The point of otome games are to raise and boost women’s confidence and self-worth. And creating an explicit otome games creates a bigger message: “A game for women that they can safely, unforgivably indulge in their desires and fantasies without being silenced”. This problem is still at large. Looking at pornography, women don’t receive foreplay, reassurance, or even viewed as humans sometimes. “Big butt latina”, “Petite asian chick”, “Hot ebony does […]”, “Sexy MILF”, “Curvy white chick”, “BBW does […]”… There’s a problem with all of these. They all either are (racist) stereotypes or unrealistic expectations.

“Petite asian”, “Big butt Latina” are either unrealistic or contributes to a beauty standard placed on women. Yes, it’s true many Asian women tend to be short and petite, but constantly putting labels like “petite” on them makes other women in comparison, usually blacks, appear more “masculine” or “unattractive”. “Big butt latinas” is a VERY high expectation of latin women. This doesn’t care about the well-being of the woman, but rather that assets she may or may not have. Women are more than butts.

Ebonies and BBWs: Ebonies isn’t a name I, as a black woman, would be comfortable of being called. The word ebony means black, which is a pretty stupid label to put on black women. Not all black women are dark-skinned and some aren’t even near the complexion of black. Secondly, saying Ebony meaning “black” emphasizes the skin tone of the individual. That’s fetishizing. Black women aren’t ebonies, they’re black women. People don’t call whites or Asians “ivory”, just mostly pale or fair. BBWs are beautiful, but mostly in porn they’re fetishized. Many people often associated BBWs as “curvy” or “voluptuous”. Not to say they aren’t, but that label doesn’t fit them since being “curvy” is defined as having either an hourglass figure, sometimes pear. Which means, that “curvy” women waists are supposedly small. Let’s just stick with what plus-size women since curvy only ever fetishizes them more.

MILFs: We all know the “step-son” in the porn isn’t a step-son. He’s just an actor in porn that he wants to live out his “taboo” fantasies. This is fairly the worst in my opinion. This is the most unrealistic, but not the worst one of expectations from women since, not every woman you see will be your step-mother-

In conclusion: Women don’t have much for them and are often shamed for their desires or fetishized. Female-oriented games should be for females.

[blupengu]

Oh my god I just finished Lucas’s route… oh my god I’m so mmmmmmmm I don’t even know bruh y’all oh my god 😂 big fat spoilers for virche and long ramblings as usual under the cut

Oof where do I even begin my word vomit like, ?!??!??!?!?!?? The funniest thing to me is still the fact that they they didn’t bother trying to hide him being Bourreau with the exact same fucking sprite poses lmao, but I guess that wasn’t really the mystery

CAPUCINE BETTER WATCH THE FUCK OUT THOUGH IT’S ON SITE 🔫🔫 (and whoever this mysterious benefactor is… better not be some shit like, it was Salome all along lmao)

Like okay I know Lucas is a lil extremely way cracked in the head in his despair ending (oh boy oh boy) but… he’s so pretty? When he’s in his Bourreau outfit and his hair is tied up?? Covered in blood??? Stab me harder please 👀 … Do I have a problem? Perhaps… but I’m just keeping true to my dubious taste in anime men 😌

You can’t give me a pretty character with long hair and blue eyes with a gentlemanly “oh ho” personality who’s such a sweetie, while everyone thinks he’s delicate but is secretly (obviously) super strong and very sus, and then tell me how super fucked up his situation is and *NOT* expect me to fall in love????? Boy you had me at the first “ehehe” laugh, you saint-germain-esque motherfucker, I 100% have a type in these games I am very predictable 😂

Aaaaaah I don’t wanna think about Nadia… 😩 girl, sweetie, honey, GIRL. Girl. Too good for this world. Too pure, too innocent… Girl I am so sorry you’re in this game LMAO jeez. I knew… I knew shit was gonna be bad, but oh I was so hoping it was not gonna go that way………. But with everything being all about despair you knew it was gonna happen…….. Big FMA fucking “big brother Edward” and oddly enough hatoful boyfriend vibes… I DID NOT WANT IT THOUGH NO I DON’T LIKE IT!! 😭 I am so scared about what Lucas’s salvation ending is gonna be now, and where it’ll start changing from this end… because BOY. IF THIS DOESN’T GET FIXED…! I am going to be so heartbroken, family in fiction just get me y’all ;-;

… God I know it’s not all gonna get fixed though, there’s just no way, there’s too much shit going on, something’s gotta give, especially in a game like this? If it was your normal otome game maybe, but… I don’t think Nadia’s making it… and honestly I wouldn’t be surprised if Lucas didn’t either… even if they both do, they’d barely be able to live another year so I can only see bittersweet endings lmao I’m very worried 😭😂 I NEED THAT FANDISK LOCALIZED NOW!!!

Also I did NOT expect Ankou to suddenly show up at the end?? Aight sir I see you, don’t worry you’re right behind Lucas for me… knowing he got his ass absolutely demolished by Lucas though is kinda hilarious, like I thought Ankou was gonna be some all powerful magic dude but nope. Lucas cut him into little bits LOOOL rip in pieces literally 💀 humanizes him surprisingly for me 🤔

And wtf was Ceres’s plan…? Like… hey lemme go die?? Hope Lucas snaps out of it after he stabs me??? GIRL PRETTY MUCH EVERYONE’S ALREADY DEAD. That’s such a shit plan how was Ankou okay with this 😂

At least uhhhh…. We’re his wife now………? Consolation prize… sorta…………?? 👀😬 yikes lmao but at least all his CGs are so pretty 😌

Wait I just checked his CGs actually… there’s… three left??? And 11/18 (oh shit that’s today’s date LOL). Oh yes, oh hell yes that means more for the salvation ending with variations, give me MORE!! I’m kinda sad now that the “good” endings are locked behind the final route… I need to know what the “good” ending is (BIG quotes around “good” lmao)

I’m gonna need to make one of those “do it for him” memes now to feel better, but I guess I’ll have to hold off until I get all his CGs LOL

OH MY GOD WAIT THERE WAS SO MUCH GOING ON I DIDN’T EVEN TALK ABOUT THE CAGE HOLY CRAP 😂 ah how could I forget?! Actually, after finishing his route I don’t have a lot to say about it… it was super hilarious when I first saw it and my only thought really was “not this shit again” lmao, but at least in this case it made more sense…

Ah okay I’m think I’m done venting… off to do Scien’s route next… maybe I’ll give Lucas a day to cook in my head though, this is the longest rambling text post I’ve ever done lmao… or maybe I’ll finish up the happy bits I have left to do from the even if tempest fandisk 😭

These two are so precious I can’t 😭

[daeva-agas]

Left: Ieyasu, Right: Masayuki

Hey Dousuru staff... what the hell?? Why is Masayuki so ancient-looking compared to Ieyasu? IRL Masayuki is 5 years younger than Ieyasu, you know. This is a Taiga drama, not an otome game where the characters are aged-up to facilitate the romance.

Is it so hard to get a somewhat younger actor to be in the Masayuki role??? Like, even if this guy doesn't wear the white hair wig, he is still very very visibly a much older person than Matsumoto (the Ieyasu actor). Get someone in the 40s age rage or something. They'd be still young-ish enough to pass as a younger guy and then in the episodes where you need them to look old, you can easily make them old.

Argh, to think I had such high hopes for this when I heard that they did away with evil Yoshimoto and evil Tsukiyama. But then it just turned into absurd fluff that shits on Nobunaga (amidst weird BL vibes), and it's just... Why.