#kara x mc

[loveandleases]

Wanted to write cute Halloween drabbles, yet they've somehow ended up having angst and character backstory.

[blackaquokat]

First IF MCs Post!

So I've been playing IFs going on five years now, but I think I've only ever made one post about who they are, like, a year or two ago. They mostly only exist on the discord discussions or DMs with fellow IF fans because I also have no art skill (though I should post the Infamous fics I have in my drafts eventually--).

All that to say, getting a shoutout from @loveandleases herself (STILL RIDING THAT HIGH) has finally given me the kick I need to post about some of my MCs. This might open a floodgate for MANY of my OCs that I still yet have to talk about, so everyone beware!

(Picrews used will be credited at the bottom of the post)

First up, my Cam-mancer, Peridot "Dot" (last name tbd)! (Might change her eyes to hazel, but I'm keeping this picrew image for now.)

She started out very similar to my Infamous main, Genevieve, but now she's come into a life of her own. Has been hopelessly in love with Cam for most of her life, but resigned herself to just happily being his best friend (not knowing, of course, what the rest of us know about Cam--). Chris and Jade's betrayal stung, especially with what it solidified about the kind of people those two are, but I think a big part of her arc is realizing that she's not as heartbroken as she thinks she should have been about it. Then it's just her reconciling the years lost.

Anyway, she's a quiet, sweet woman, who normally doesn't mind not having attention on herself, but she's mostly become that way because of Jade demanding so much. She's also an artist, often preferring to spend evenings in the quiet, painting and sketching. I think she definitely has a stash of paintings she's made of Cam's pictures that she gives to him on bad days or his birthdays. She's a passable cook, but a far more enthused baker. It's mostly a calming activity for her when she's stressed, though her friends and loved ones certainly enjoy the results. The Clarke parents still talk about her pear custard recipe, even after the breakup.

She's still relatively new, along with the other MC I'm about to share, so I'll probably think of even more details as they grow and as the game progresses!

Anyway, now for Jumana, my G-mancer!

Jumana (last name also tbd) goes back to my usual trend with making MCs: she's of Lebanese heritage. She's a departure, however, because she's got grey eyes instead of brown like I usually give my Lebanese-coded MCs. She also met G during her goth phase in college (it slowly just turned to grunge), so this is the look that eventually grabbed G by the throat. She's not afraid to throw punches, but will try to talk people down first. Unless she's mad. Then all bets are off. Someone will be thrown across a desk. She is Very strong, and Very scrappy and she will not be fucked with.

Anyway, she's also a Literature Nerd and is almost always reading, especially in inconvenient spots. It drove G insane, because they never seemed to see her study in public, so HOW was she keeping up with their grades--

I do think, however, she's not a particularly ambitious person. I think she got high grades like G and that got under their skin and their reaction tickled her so much that she just. Kept trying to get high grades so she could keep getting a reaction out of them. Honestly, if G hadn't been there, she might not have tried so hard in college. But she definitely had a crush on them well before they probably realized their own feelings. Losing G gutted her, they were It for her. Chris was absolutely a rebound, and maybe a bit of self-punishment. Maybe a terrible part of her hoped being with Chris would one day get G angry enough to come back to her life, tell her to be with them, not Chris.

Now that Chris and Jade have royally betrayed her? Well. Jumana has ideas for making their lives miserable without her actually getting involved with them again, and that goes for her parents too, for their own betrayal--

I'm sure I'll think of more as time goes on, but in the meantime, these are my gals! Can't wait to see how they fit into the game!

Picrew used for the images:

[lizzybeth1986]

Maxwell and Penelope: When You Like Your Side Character So Much, You Gift Her a Shiny New LI

Series - TRR's Alternative LIs: The Romances that Didn't Happen

Previous - Liam and Olivia: When You Prefer the Side Character to the Main

A/N: There won't be a lot of exploration on Maxwell x Penelope, as there is very little the pair gets in canon. I will be largely looking at their individual characterizations and the changes and retcons made there. There will be a lot of exploration on Penelope x Ezekiel.

CW: Mentions of Penelope's actions as part of Constantine's nefarious plot against the MC in TRR1 & 2, mentions of Penelope's social anxiety.

(Screenshots from the Skylia YouTube Channel, Drake playthrough)

Compared to the other three alternative romances, Maxwell x Penelope turned out to be a bit of a one-chapter wonder. It was extremely short-lived, and the only indication that it had ever happened was one conversation between Penelope and the MC in TRR2 Ch 6, after which there is no reference to it, ever again.

In my mind there are two major factors behind this pairing being left behind, which I will get into later in this essay. However, what I find even more interesting is what the narrative and the writing team did with Penelope after they set aside that subplot. What did TRR3 give her in lieu of this alternative romance, and why, and what does it tell us about the narrative that she alone got that?

But before we can get into that, we need to look (separately) at how Maxwell and Penelope were written in TRR1, and how it culminated in the characterizations they got by TRR2.

The Evolution of (White) Side Characters

One thing that fascinates me about TRR1 is the trajectory of some of the characters, when you observe them on rereads. We often go into those rereads with a strong impression of their character type (or stereotype), before we learn to our surprise that the initial writing doesn't always match the image we carried in our heads.

In the case of some side characters, we may find traces and hints of a totally different characterization, before the team zeroed in on a trope or characteristic that may have hit the right chord with the audience. When done right, this could result in a more rounded character. But in the wrong hands, the writer may keep falling back to that one trope that made the character click, and turn them into caricatures instead.

Maxwell and Penelope are representative of different tiers of side characters, at least in TRR1 - which means that what we may expect in terms of treatment will vary as well. Even before TRR2, Maxwell was more LI-tier adjacent; until he got his LI-upgrade in TRR2, he was a frequent presence in the story and the MC's life, enough that his fans started a "Make Maxwell an LI" campaign. Penelope (along with Kiara) was a far less important character with infrequent appearances.

So of course their trajectories wouldn't be the same. It's interesting, nonetheless, to see how the writing changed over the course of the series, what parallels or complementary traits made the team consider Penelope as an alternative for Maxwell by TRR2, and why they ultimately let go of the pair after one chapter.

As we go through these stories, I think I'd like my readers to keep one thing in mind throughout - Penelope is an anomaly as a character. There are very specific things she is given that at least one other character in the same position doesn't get. Why?

I might not be able to give the answer in this specific essay, but I do think it's a question we need to keep asking ourselves as we go through her story.

Maxwell and Penelope - TRR1

A truly interesting thing about Maxwell was that he was initially not even conceptualized as a prominent character in the books! In their promotional interview for TRR2, Kara mentioned this about the creation of his character:

Excerpt from The Royal Romance: Book 2 interview.

Maxwell was initially conceptualized as a fun foil for Bertrand, the MC's tentative guide for the social season - who the writers considered too stiff and boring to stand alone as a character. Owing to his proximity to both Liam (close friend) and the MC (sponsor), it made sense that Maxwell was a part of the group scenes from the jump.

Going by the interviews, clearly Maxwell's 'fun nature' was his main USP for the writers. TRR1 does try to balance this aspect of his personality with scenes where he shows perceptiveness (such as pointing out opportunities to ally with Kiara or Penelope), but as time goes on he is viewed more and more as the 'funny guy' of the group. He also has a side-story connected with his older brother, who isn't very impressed with his work during the social season (tbh, for good reason!). This side story allows us to view him with sympathy and perhaps overlook all his failures as a sponsor (and there are many examples of this throughout TRR1. Most of the opportunities to connect with the main LIs emerge from all the times Maxwell failed to adequately guide her - teaching her the Cordonian Waltz, explaining the significance of the Regatta Race, finding the right tents, telling the MC to get swimwear for a beach party!).

Of course, because TRR2 (where the Beaumonts are her staunch allies from the jump, even before the LIs return and pledge their support shortly after) and the "Make Maxwell an LI" campaign created such a strong impression on the fandom, people remember him most as the "person who was always there for the MC".

Though he doesn't become an LI in TRR1, we do get our first ever hint of the possibility midway through the book:

(Screenshots from the HIMEME YouTube Channel)

Most of the people I know joined the TRR fandom either in the middle of Book 1, or after Books 2 or 3 - therefore, much of what I'm about to say next is down to conjecture. It is possible that either some stans did pop up in the initial chapters, resulting in the hint in Ch 8, OR that the writers tentatively teased this pairing with the dialogue at the Lythikos Ball, and were gratified enough by the response to continue teasing it. By TRR1 Chs 10 and 11, there was already plenty fanfic on Maxwell x MC. The writers were clearly encouraged enough by the response to toss a few more hints (the MC asking Maxwell about taking his shirt off at the beach, the implications of the MC telling Maxwell she is falling for someone else). Before the fandom knew it, Maxwell had already become the beneficiary of two diamond scenes focused on him in TRR1 (a flashback scene that introduced Savannah, and having fun sliding down banisters in the finale).

Penelope's trajectory in Book 1 didn't experience as meteoric a rise in popularity, but there were changes made throughout the series until she did become somewhat popular. Her trajectory could be categorised in three parts:

1. A minor noble who was very poised and proper (snobbish, if you weren't fitting in well enough)

2. Adorable ditz

3. The lady with social anxiety (TRR2)

From their entrance in TRR1 Ch 3, both Penelope and Kiara were written as extremely minor characters compared to the three frontrunners (and one female LI) of the social season. They accept early on that they don't have much of a chance in the competition, and are the first contenders (barring Hana) that the MC can get on her side. They represent the opinions and mindsets of the royal court.

Because of this, Penelope and Kiara initially appeared almost indistinguishable from each other. The only thing that seems to set them apart is perhaps the introduction Olivia gives at the Masquerade, pointing to Penelope's lineage and Kiara's linguistic skills and diplomatic pedigree. She was the titled one, Kiara was the "smart" one.

(Penelope's scenes from my failplay, in order:

1 & 2: Ch 3, while speaking about Olivia's connection to the Prince, and if you ask her and Kiara why they allow Olivia to call them 'harpies'

3 & 4: Ch 4, Penelope's response to the MC saying, "Penelope, hands off my man"

5 & 6: Ch 6, if you don't fall in line behind the Queen and bump against her instead

7: Ch 6, when Olivia is shocked that Liam chose the MC

8: Ch 8, reaction to Olivia kissing Liam)

Penelope's early scenes in TRR1 didn't showcase the traits she is now so well-known for. She wasn't the "adorable ditz" until the Applewood chapters; in fact her scenes in the first half often showed her as poised and very proper. At the Masquerade she calmly points out to the MC that there is no reason to be offended, when Olivia bluntly declares that no one else has a chance with Liam. She expects decorum from the MC when she cuts in during her dance with Liam, and even comments on the inappropriateness of some of Olivia's behaviours and cautions her when she gets a chance. If your MC makes mistakes in public in certain scenes, Penelope doesn't hesitate to laugh at her.

Her allyship scene in Ch 10 hinges on the MC's ability to convince Penelope of the advantages of supporting her, and rescuing the lady from a crab bite. She is extremely rude in certain options, and ends their conversation with the sentence "I'm not nice" if she isn't convinced the MC is worth supporting. In fact, she is allowed to call the MC a commoner wench in a certain dialogue option!

(Screenshots from my failplay. The top half shows a response to one of the MC's dialogues (she is merely sad if you choose the second one). The second is the end of the conversation when the MC asks for her support)

In a failplay especially, she can be very, very mean-spirited, which is truly ironic given her later characterization as someone who is herself uncomfortable in court and makes more than her fair share of silly mistakes. Fortunately for most of the players, the more "positive" version of the scene sounds a bit more like she's scared and uncomfortable and not equipped to handle the rigors of court. Which makes the "adorable ditz" direction that PB takes, post Regatta, a bit more believable.

Once Penelope is no longer a contender, both she and Kiara recede to the background. You don't see much of her in Applewood and Ramsford, but the little you do see primes us to view her as "sweet and silly" with a bit of a poodle obsession. Two very good examples of this is the "cheating scene" at the pie competition (TRR1 Ch12) and the aftermath of the Beaumont Bash (Ch 16). At the pie competition, Olivia and the MC can team up to distract Penelope so they trick the rival team into adding salt in their pie instead of sugar, by getting her to talk more about her poodle obsession. At the end of the Beaumont Bash, she is shown exchanging drunken chatter with a horse. The book also makes her preoccupation with poodles way more obvious, where before it was brought up only once at the Masquerade Ball.

Discrepancies between portrayals in the first book vs the latter ones is par the course for TRR. Every character has those in some way or form. Maxwell's story in TRR1 and 2 at least could make sense with enough headcanons to fill in the gaps (for why he was inefficient in his support of the MC, for why his relationship with Drake was so fraught) and his characterization is a little bit more consistent. But Penelope's, on closer observation, is a complete mess and her story doesn't make any sense when put together.

Maxwell and Penelope - TRR2

Compared to the other three pairings, Maxwell x Penelope doesn't go beyond a single chapter.

(Screenshots from Skylia's YouTube channel)

This solitary hint pops up in TRR2 Ch 6, right after the Big Clue about Penelope's social anxiety. We're given the usual options one gets for alternative LIs - a "matchmaking" one, a gently discouraging one and an insulting one, the last two of which could be read as jealousy from the MC's end. In fact, the MC's third dialogue option in this scene is so mean spirited that Hana is required to soften the blow!

There's something interesting about the matchmaking response for this scene, and I think it says plenty about the writers and the lasting impression of these characters they wanted us to have.

"You're both a bit silly...but in a way that works." It's a reading of Maxwell and Penelope that leans very strongly into their potential as comic relief, that views the two characters as alike. Both "cute", both "silly", both there to give the characters (and readers) the occasional laugh.

Is this completely accurate to their characterizations in TRR1? Probably not. But it's clearly what the writers imagined would work well for those characters.

Interestingly, TRR2 is also where the team seems to experiment more with these two characters, and finds the characterizations they think would land with the audience. Maxwell's changes are related more to the belated buildup the narrative was giving him to be an LI, and most of Penelope's was related to her role in the plot against the MC. Maxwell is given more heroic traits (eg. the Savannah storyline and his involvement in the investigation) to beef up his story a bit, and plenty of hints are scattered specifically to tease a romantic route with the MC for more than half the book. The narrative also leans far more into his position as comic relief than TRR1 does, making it his most identifiable trait.

There are tiny nods to his "perceptiveness" (Liam mentions it twice in TRR2), but he does a lot of things that you wouldn't see a TRR1 Maxwell do, like tossing a bruschetta at a foreign dignitary or playing with food to get the forgiveness of his friend (btw the Drake Maxwell friendship reads very differently from the first book; they're remarkably chilly in their vibes towards each other initially. Of course, one could headcanon what caused a rift, but that's still us doing the work instead of the writers!!).

Because so much time has to be spent bringing Maxwell's romantic route up to speed with the rest, the progress of the relationship is different from the other three and his romantic scenes cost less (until TRR3 Ch 10, his first 30 diamond scene). Much of this is par for the course for an LI who has entered the game late. In addition, the narrative also tries in TRR2 and 3 to balance his role as the MC's sponsor with his new role as LI, and it doesn't always land (eg. his excitement for Liam's proposal to the MC two chapters after becoming an LI, or his weirdly impersonal reaction in the TRR3 Ch 11 Armory diamond scene in his playthrough, in response to Madeleine mocking Liam for the MC favouring Maxwell). In part this is a result of laziness from PB's end, and in part it's because navigating Maxwell's new role itself may have been a tricky business.

Penelope's TRR2 trajectory, in contrast, is the textbook definition for "throw spaghetti against the wall and see what sticks". Hints of her involvement in the plot don't even show up until Ch 6, just one chapter prior to the reveal. The reasoning given for Penelope's actions in TRR1 - social anxiety - also directly contradicts what is shown of her during the timeline when she was supposed to have been involved in the plot. TRR1 Ch 14 and the Coronation at the finale shows her acting calm, collected and enjoying herself. A lot of Penelope's actions in TRR1 and 2 - esp at the Coronation and in Fydelia - cast an extremely poor light on her when you take into account that she knew the MC was innocent, and that she'd played a part in framing her. From the way the reveal of her condition was done, and the way we're expected to brush her wrongdoing aside immediately, it's clear that Penelope's "social anxiety" was more about tossing in a last-minute Hail Mary to excuse her actions, rather than any real interest in exploring the subject.

Given the sloppy execution of this reveal, it is entirely possible that Madeleine could have been the "lady" in initial drafts (the strongest evidence of this is TRR2 Ch 1's "constitutional clause", which is never referenced again once Madeleine is no longer a suspect), and they made a switch in the nth hour.

It is also possible that writers in the team liked Penelope enough that they wanted readers to still like her after she'd betrayed their MCs. She hasn't been referenced or mentioned in any team interviews, but the writing speaks for itself. No matter what she's done, the narrative insists the MC center her, sympathize with her, and coddle her. I will speak more at length on how in the TRR3 section.

Why did Maxwell x Penelope Not Take Off?

(The first three screenshots are from the Abhirio YouTube Channel, and the rest are from the Radiance Guardians YouTube Channel)

Unlike in the case of the other pairings, not a lot was said in the fandom about this pair either way, even among Maxwell stans. You did have the occasional "hands off my man!" post from a Maxwell shipper, but not to a great extent. At this point many of them were still unsure whether a Maxwell route would be finalized, and even kept Liam as a standby in case all that teasing from the team came to nothing.

Again, most of the theories for why this pairing had just one scene are mere conjecture, since there isn't much evidence overall. But looking at the placement of this scene and what happens before and after it, I can think of two possible reasons why it was nipped in the bud:

1. Maxwell being a late-in-the-game LI could have made balancing an actual romance route and interactions with an alternative love interest tricky in the long run. As it is, his writing was subject to gaffes and mistakes in TRR3 even without this added storyline. It's possible they decided to just ensure that they got Maxwell to the point where he could have his own 30-diamond love scene (which happened in TRR3 Ch 9 btw (half a book after Drake and Hana got their first 30-diamond scenes), and not focus on anything else.

2. This teaser scene came up in Ch 6. Ch 7 is when Penelope is revealed to have tricked Tariq into coming to the MC's room, and paid the photographer to take intimate photos of her. Now to be fair, the narrative does insist she be sympathized with rather than judged. But I do think a subplot like that would automatically make her an unpopular candidate for any LI, much less one who hasn't even been clearly established as an LI yet! Having Maxwell fall for a woman who did the MC dirty wouldn't reflect very well on him, social anxiety or no. In fact, in Ch 8, Maxwell's reaction to the news is the strongest - he calls Penelope "a few dogs short of a pack", "downright diabolical" and even suspects she was lying about having poodles.

3. It is just as likely that Maxwell x Penelope was never a serious consideration for the writers in the first place. Possibly, Penelope's scene here was simply another hint in a rising pile that teased a Maxwell romance route. Players often do get an added pleasure from watching their MCs mouth a catty dialogue or two to a romantic rival, so this scene may have been more for the benefit of a Maxwell stan who wanted to "fight for her man" rather than an actual possibility if he wasn't getting picked.

Whatever their reasons, Maxwell and Penelope's chances as a couple ended pretty much in the same chapter that it began. It didn't create much of an impact, and no one really seemed to notice this pairing, or the lack of it. It basically started and finished with a whimper.

TRR3 and Beyond - Penelope and Ezekiel (ft. A Flanderized Maxwell)

Penelope is an anomaly among the side characters (and even among certain mains!) in both series'. She is the only person seriously involved in the plot against the MC, who needs massive coddling to even answer our questions about her betrayal (if not, Hana has to take over for you). She is the only lady-of-the-court who can refuse to attend your wedding. She is the only lady-of-the-court who can choose to travel with the entourage to another duchy, despite not being part of the Unity Tour. She is the only one among the three former ladies-in-waiting who can openly complain about Madeleine's bullying, and expect protection against her from the group. Until TRH2, Penelope was the only side character for whom massive divergences in the narrative would be made as well, to accommodate her comfort and mental health (More on that in this essay).

She is also the only alternative LI to be "rewarded" with a brand new character, crafted specially for her.

Until TRR3 Ch 7, the fandom didn't even know Kiara had an older brother. Even though the person we know best in Castelserraillan is Kiara, we actually spend less than a minute with her, and far more time with Ezekiel Theron. There is an entire diamond scene that's about pampering and complimenting him, making him comfortable around us, getting him to open to us - even though his sister was the one injured at Homecoming Ball. And of course, the entire reason for Penelope to even be present at Kiara's estate is so that she and Zeke can be paired up by default! Even at the Food and Art Festival, Kiara's only real default dialogue apart from winning over her mother (or not), is about moving Penelope and Ezekiel's romance along.

Both Penelope and Ezekiel join the Unity Tour only by option, so the narrative puts in a great deal of effort to get the romance going (by having Penelope only stop at Kiara's estate by default) and allowing the two to still have a fledgling courtship going on if they weren't together at the Unity Tour (Penelope still gets to meet people who inspire her into dog fashion and she and Zeke still show their interest in each other, propelling the parents to discuss their match).

The only thing we know about Ezekiel, and pretty much the only thing that really matters, is that he loves animals. In a court that views Penelope's love for dogs as an oddity, Ezekiel is a character tailormade to romance her. He rarely features in scenes that don't show her (the only exception is the menagerie scene in Ch 14), he rarely has dialogue outside of his scenes with her, he doesn't even have a personality beyond what would best suit Penelope. This character exists only to romance Penelope, which is depressing esp when you consider that she is a white woman, and he is a black man - and she is clearly the only one who even matters in this relationship!

There wasn't any real reason to give Penelope a partner. "Penzekiel" doesn't really do much for the story in general, and not a lot would change if you dropped them. But the narrative deems it essential to give her a "reward", which is ironic considering what she put the MC through and how much we had to coddle her for her to even consider cooperating, either in the investigation or during the Unity Tour. Presumably this "reward" is for her "niceness" and "sweetness", which only works because the narrative completely erases her misdeeds in the social season after TRR2. She never has to remember what she did, nor does anyone in the core group remind her.

With regards to Maxwell, by TRR3 he is a full-fledged LI who gets a wedding with his MC, in certain playthroughs. Much of his playthrough focuses on trying to catch up with the other 3 LIs - you can sleep with them if they're your fiancé/ée, but you have to wait until Ch 10 to sleep with Maxwell. The narrative mentions him taking up "responsibilities" for House Beaumont in lieu of Bertrand, but without any real scenes that show us what he is doing, nor any tangible results (we will not talk about Maxwell's book here!).

He doesn't have any alternative romances. In fact even his romantic playthrough is kinda bare - his only individual scene is the Armoury scene which isn't even about him, and there were glitches that were very noticable particularly in his and Hana's playthroughs. There are no references at all to the alternative romance Maxwell was given in TRR2; it's almost as if that option had never existed.

Penelope being a romantic option for Maxwell doesn't stop the two from having friendly exchanges in TRR3 though. Maxwell was not only allowed - but expected - to treat Penelope with sympathy and respect.

(First set of screenshots is mine, the second is from Skylia's YouTube Channel)

Not only Maxwell, even Drake - who hates most nobles - is shown being extremely protective of Penelope in both TRR3 (promising Penelope to protect her against Madeleine) and TRH3 (showing anger at Guy's blackmail of Penelope and her family). The narrative is very clear that we are expected to make Penelope feel safe, even if she has never made us feel anything but unsafe.

This relationship - and the level of coddling that Penelope has always received from TRR2 onwards - continues into TRH, where she and her beau Ezekiel are shown together, there are occasional updates on their relationship when either one appears in a chapter, and where they eventually marry and start a family. An interesting pattern begins to emerge once we get into TRH.

(Screenshots from Skylia and HIMEME's YouTube Channel)

As the only courtly lady in a relationship in TRH, Penelope gets a nicer, cleaner, more luxurious and more drama-free parallel to the MC's romantic journey. Like the MC, she finds a suitor who falls for her and wants to be with her. Like the LI, he eventually stages a grand proposal for her (TRH2 Ch 18), after they have spent a significant amount of time together. Like the MC, she has a widely publicized wedding (though tbh Penelope's was better customised to her tastes, and as the MC we put even more work into her wedding than we ever did our own!! (we were both her bridesmaid and her officiant, our daughter is the flower girl, we give her the perfect bachelorette, we rescue her from her asshole ex-husband, we help her select lingerie!!!)). And when the MC announces her second pregnancy, Penelope announces to us her first. Penelope's storyline has all the romantic trappings that the MC had with her LI, but without the tension, the conspiracies, the attacks and kidnappings, or the constant fear that someone is out to get her and her family.

Penelope is basically treated like MC-lite. Quite the upgrade for a mere side character who actually did us dirty at one point.

Does Maxwell - her potential LI for all of one chapter - suffer as a result of this upgrade? Apart from the Flanderization, I would say no, he actually didn't.

He doesn't get the lavish Drake treatment, true, but he is centered in the issues that bother him. The MC, by default, has always been expected to defend him to Bertrand from TRR1 onwards, and often argues that Maxwell tried as hard as he could to help her, even when he didn't. Her sympathy towards him whenever Bertrand justifiably berates him for his negligence is by default too. And while he improves in TRR2 and (somewhat) 3, in TRH3 the entire group is thrown into this position again. Even though Maxwell exaggerates events in his friends' lives to an insulting degree in his book and the subsequent movie adaptation, the group often brushes their discomfort aside and supports him instead. And even though his lies in said book about Bertrand (TRH2 Ch 11) indirectly cause the latter to give up his lands to their father (resulting in Bartie Sr's attempt to usurp the throne), the MC spends all of the next book comforting him, involving him in her investigations, and patting his hand sympathetically while he moans about the father who killed the former queen of the country, all while ignoring the son of the woman Bartie Sr. killed, and raging against the elder brother who is secretly supporting them (even after the reveal, the group judges Bertrand heavily and even suspects him of being part of Via Imperii in TRF). Very little is said - either by Maxwell himself or by anyone else - about his role in facilitating this awful takeover.

All in all, Maxwell may have not gotten an alternative LI at the end of the day, and his overall LI path was pretty messy - but there was some thought and consideration put into his writing. The focus on Penelope and her new romance never actually harmed Maxwell.

Fandom

As I've mentioned before, Maxwell wasn't an LI in the beginning, but rose to LI status in Book 2. While the writers did make claims once in their TRF finale livestream that they had planned to make him an LI all along, I find that a bit hard to believe. From the way the hints were dropped it's way more possible that this was a development that came up once enough people in the fandom found him attractive enough to be LI material.

As the Make Maxwell an LI campaign grew in popularity, the fandom often held a rosy view of him, calling him "the only valid white guy", celebrating his queerness (as they should! It was hinted that he was pansexual in TRR2 Ch 18), showered him with sympathy and called Bertrand names for berating him. None of the nitpicking that certain other LIs would get for not supporting her properly, ever touched Maxwell. Nor did the fandom - who did criticize him quite a bit for his trashy book, and protested his Flanderization - ever view him with anything besides sympathy when he struggled to believe his father was evil, after he'd encouraged his brother to make said father the head of Beaumont House. This was the same fandom that didn't hesitate to find the most nonsensical excuses to trash Liam.

The Maxwell-Penelope scene was a fun way for some Maxwell stans to allow their MCs to act a bit possessive of him, and they were very critical of Penelope's betrayal later. But the overall response to Penelope's storyline was overwhelmingly positive. Many related to what she said about suffering from social anxiety, and especially to the lines about her emotional support poodles (ironically in another book, Sloane Washington got scant sympathy or respect despite clear indicators that she suffered from social anxiety too), and were quick to forgive.

(I must confess I was among this portion of the fandom too, but with the belief that she would address it more strongly herself in TRR3)

Fandom didn't mind buying into the canon myths that Penelope was a "sweet, naive" girl, and part of this is understandable because not many got to see what she was like in the failplay. So it was easier to presume that she would still take a little responsibility and wholeheartedly regret her actions, without seeing the failplay scenes where she is shown expecting to be treated like royalty by the woman she screwed over. Penelope and Ezekiel were viewed by most as a cute pair, with some (justifiably) liking this interracial match initially. Many readers who were fond of Penelope even criticized Kiara for being "mean" to her or "joining in Madeleine's bullying of her", when Kiara's behaviour was clearly more protective than harmful.

There was a slight rise in a general negative attitude towards Penelope in TRH3, when she could prioritise her wedding over the looming terror of the MC's child being taken away from her, and only speak up when the MC encouraged her at the altar. But very often people who made these criticisms clubbed her and Kiara together, as if they were a single unit...as if their actions and choices throughout the series were the same. As if Kiara got the same concessions and pampering that Penelope did. In reality, the choices the two women made - and the narrative treatment the two women got - couldn't be any more different.

Individually, Maxwell's and Penelope's stories show us what happens when the writers of a story lean too much towards fandom adulation, and allow it to dictate the way their stories will go. In both cases PB found a beat that the readers liked and stuck with it, never expanding beyond that one trait and causing the two to be caricatures of themselves. In Penelope's case especially, once her anxiety story resonated, the narrative used that to encourage readers to pamper her ad nauseum, and justified her lack of genuine care for anyone but herself through constant reminders of her mental health condition.

I will repeat the question I'd asked at the beginning of this essay - What did TRR3 give her in lieu of this alternative romance, and why, and what does it tell us about the narrative that she alone got that? That's a question I hope you'll keep asking in the next two essays.

Next - Hana and Madeleine: When You Reward Your Favourite Bully with One of Her Victims

[obey-me-hoe]

Asmodeus as songs from my comfort playlist:

*Disclaimer: my criteria for this was all over the place. Some are because of the lyrics, some are based on vibes, and some my brain just said choose that one 😬 (all the OM! songs are in the playlist too but obviously they don't count)

(This song gives vibes of "I'm cute I can do whatever I want" which definitely fits Asmo. I could see him becoming a sugar baby. He's still gonna work hard on stuff he likes though but only when he wants to and not bc he has to)

(He's the IT girl. What else do you need to know. Pretty self explanatory if you listen to it)

(He literally charms people so it fits. I could see him giving someone a lap dance to parts of this song especially if he slowed it down)

(The lyrics talk about wanting to be loved and especially by one specific person which I feel like fits Asmo generally and specifically with MC)

(If Asmo were to get pissy he'd definitely start saying stuff like in the song. Sometimes he gets in really lusty moods and needs to let it out somehow)

(I feel like this song's vibe shows what Asmo's softer side would be like. Man's is a lover. Also it's cute just like him)

(I feel like this song represents Asmo's struggle to accept his new reality after falling and how MC came into his life and helped him through it which made him love them more)

(This feels like Asmo talking to any of his lovers except MC bc he'd be more upset over MC leaving)

(This sounds like a song Asmo would dance to while wearing a feather boa. It's a mix of cute and sexy like him)

(This song's vibes remind me of Asmo when he's being cute, sweet, and lovey especially with MC)

Combined OM! Playlist

Asmodeus Playlist

Other versions:

Lucifer, Mammon, Levi, Satan, Beel, Belphie, Diavolo, Barbatos, Solomon, Simeon, Luke & Raphael, Mephisto & Thirteen

[evereinefaust]

. . . ⇢ ˗ˏˋ 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐘𝐨𝐮 ࿐ྂ

Pairing: Starish X afab!Reader X Quartet Night

Synopsis: On this momentuous night, MC ends her visit with a special song dedicated for each of her beloved idols.

Word Count: 1,504

Tonight's the night. The night that she finally finished visiting them. She already seen their smiling faces and their unique personalities, each and everyone differ from each other and it truly captured her attention.

The [h/c]ette teen hummed a gentle tune that was written by no other than the girl herself—For You. It was the song that she wrote to express her feelings for each and every one of her beloved idols, and that's the reason why she's very jubilant tonight.

[E/c] eyes wandered around the place as she walks; the blooming, pink leaves of the famous cherry blossoms caught her attention successfully. The bright, full moon shone its white moonlight down unto her figure, an opaque shadow forming right behind her walking form.

After meeting everyone from both St☆rish and Quartet Night, [Y/n] left the premises and decided to take a midnight stroll once again outside. She arrived at the garden that was filled with bountiful cherry blossoms everywhere. A smile found its way unto her lips once she saw the moon giving light to the place, several pink leaves floated around.

'Koko ni aru no wa

Kimi ga ima made eranda michi no

Kotaetachi yo

Hora jishin motte susumeba ii

Totemo shizen na no

Ameagari no asufaruto ni

Niji ga kakaru you ni'

She sang. Her angelic and soft voice resonated around the place, creating an echo of delicate harmony. The wind picked up and made the leaves of the trees sway, some fell off from its respective branch and floated pass the girl. Her [e/c] orbs reflected the shine of the moon as she halted to a stop, her figure glistening under the heavenly arrays of light. The previous soft breeze gently caressed her [s/c] skin whilst her hair danced along with the evening winds.

'Lonely kaze ga fuite

Feeling ki ga tsuita yo

Kotae wa doko ni mo nai kedo

Call me wakatteru wa

With you ai wa itsumo

Atae au mono'

[Y/n] reached a gazebo and slowly trudged her way towards it. It was designed with ivory, marble tiles, and white, wooden pillars on each corner, vines climbing up until it reaches the top. The white roof was painted with a cherry blossom design, covering most space with pink and green hue. In the middle of the gazebo was a lone white, wooden bench. She sat on it and closed her eyes, relaxing her body as she leaned back. The girl continued to sing her heart out, both of her hands clutched on her chest. Her eyelids slowly fluttered close, deciding that it is better to sing with closed eyes to be able to feel the emotions surging through.

'For You

Kitto kimi wa itsu no hi ka

Kono sora o toberu hazu dakara

Nando tsumazuita toshite mo

For You

Taisetsu na koto wa hitotsu

Yume miru koto

Kokoro dake wa tozasanaide ite'

Unbeknownst to her, three members of St☆rish heard her sing and taken by curiosity, they decided to search for the source of the voice. Though even without any evidence, those three knew whose voice that was. They knew that it belonged to no other than [Y/n] herself.

Red, brown and bluish-black hairs emerged from a corner and their eyes immediately fell on the gazebo. There they saw the silhouette of the girl sitting on the bench in the middle of the gazebo.

Otoya's reddish-orange eyes stared lovingly at [Y/n]'s silhouette from the distance, listening attentively to her angelic voice. As for Tokiya, he was entranced by the girl's harmony with his blue eyes dilated wide in surprise. Though a small smile soon tugged his lips.

"[Y/n]-chan's voice is blessed by the muses..." Cecil breathed, taking in every tune.

'Kizutsuite mo namida korae

Gaman shiteta yo ne

Sonna kimi o ichiban chikaku de

Mitekita kara

Nani mo iwanakute mo

Wakatteru yo

Donna toki mo gambatteta koto'

As the song progressed, a pair of blondes appeared from behind the building, rounding the corner and soon their eyes landed on the gazebo before them. The two blondes, one tall and one short, immediately stopped in their tracks and stared at the person from afar.

Natsuki's emerald eyes lit up in recognition of the voice. "It truly is [Y/n]-chan!"

"Ssh! Not so loud, Natsuki!" Syo instantly scolded the taller male in a hushed voice. "You don't want to ruin her performance, do you?"

"Sorry, Syo-chan..." Natsuki rubbed his head apologetically.

The two didn't exchange words after. They stayed silent and focused on listening to [Y/n]'s singing. Syo and Natsuki once heard the [h/c]ette sing before, and the first time that they did, they were enthralled by her delicate song and gentle voice.

Syo's blue hues softened as he gazed at the girl's back, watching her from the shadows. He leaned on the wall with his arms crossed, deciding to close his eyes in order to feel the emotions even better.

As for the tall, glasses-wearing blonde, he had his hands clasped together in front of his chest. A genuine smile sported his lips, along with gentle gem-colored orbs filled with excitement.

'Lonely mayotta nara

Try again nando datte

Yarinaosu koto dekiru kara

I'm here soba ni iru wa

Believing osorenaide

Shinji au koto'

"Well, well, well~ If it wasn't little kitty~" Ren purred quietly while emerging from the garden of trees.

Masato soon joined him and his sapphire eyes spotted the girl singing in the distance. His eyes widened by an inch after realizing whose silhouette was that. "It really is her..."

"Told you that it was her voice~" the blonde teased, chuckling slightly.

"Shut up. I know it's her, I'm just making sure," Masato remarked, closing his eyes in the process.

"Whatever you say, Hijirikawa," Ren shrugged and leaned on a tree.

The two decided to stick for a while and listen to the girl's singing. After all, this was their first time hearing her sing and the first time they ever heard her voice this angelic. Both males had a small smile on their faces.

'For you

Kitto kimi mo itsu no hi ka

Kono sora o toberu hazu dakara

Nando kizutsuita toshite mo

For you

Taisetsu na koto wa hitotsu

Yume miru koto

Hitomi dake wa sorasanaide ite'

A blue-haired android appeared from the other side of the garden, his face showed no emotion whatsoever. Along with him was the blonde count who looked very serious.

"I never thought that [Y/n] would be singing here," Camus stated, walking closer to hear her properly.

"I agree," Ai nodded. "Though it seems that we're not the only one who're listening while she sings. Look."

Camus's cerulean hues went from the trio of Tokiya, Otoya, and Cecil to Ren and Masato then lastly to Natsuki and Syo. The count scoffed and closed his eyes. However, he didn't appear as he was irritated, rather, he seemed to be delighted as shown by his small smile on his lips.

"Let them be. [Y/n]'s singing had the power to enchant her listeners; It's like magic."

"I can agree with that," a smile tugged the blunette's lips as well.

'Kimi ga egaku yuuki ga hora

Kakegae no nai takaramono ni kawaru yo

Ima ryoute hiroge Fly high'

"Heh~ I can't believe that I would be able to hear her sing again," Ranmaru mused, a grin etched on his face.

"You heard her sing before, Ran-Ran?" Reiji asked, catching up to the silverette who stopped a few meters away from the gazebo and stared at the person sitting on the bench.

"Yeah. Only once though."

Reiji fixated his gaze on the girl and decided to listen to her singing. The song sent warm sensations throughout both males' body and somehow, it made them happy inside. The brunette smiled and clenched his pounding heart.

"Your voice sends warmth to anyone..."

'Kitto kimi wa itsu no hi ka

Kono sora o toberu hazu dakara

Nando tsumazuita toshite mo

For You

Taisetsu na koto wa hitotsu

Yume miru koto

Kokoro dake wa tozasanaide ite'

As [Y/n] finished the last words, she heard new voices singing 'La~la~la~' in the background. Her lids shot open in surprise and saw the boys walking slowly towards the gazebo she was currently in. The [h/c]ette didn't stop, however, instead she continued to sing and hum the last part of the song.

She slowly closed her eyes again, feeling all emotions surging through her being and filled her with warmth and happiness. All 11 idols soon emitted their own warmth and it combined with her own, engulfing all of them.

At last the song has come to an end, her voice slowly died down as well as the boys. [Y/n] opened her eyelids and revealed [e/c] eyes staring back at her beloved idols' multicolored ones. She smiled brightly, blush painted her pale cheeks. All of them had smiles on their faces as well.

"For you..."

[uenodivision]

Hypnosis Mic Shuffle Team, Vol. 4 (Part 2) (Cont.)

The Power of Justiceマジックパラディン! (Paladin Solo)

7 Wonders of HypMic

Akihisa "Azrael" Mashiro

Maki "Professor Z-3" Umemoto

Shuu "Men-H" Edogawa

Rintaro "Ignis" Himura

Yoichi "Jekyll" Shujo

Ren "Vox" Nakashima

Kaiji "Jinx" Sano

Hypnosis Break (Welcome to Our Realm)

The Fatherless

Kunio "James Moriarty" Chōten

Kokomi "Snegurochka" Morozov

To the Motherf*cker of My Sperm Donner

The Nemesis Council

Tomi "High Class" Chōten - "The Gentleman of Crime"

Reiaki "Black Cat" Suzubayashi - "The Cat"

Nadya "Vipera" Kuromiya - "The Master of Fear"

Iwao "TRIXT4R" Masuda - "The Prince of Puzzles"

Reika "Belladonna" Aichi - "The Green's Chosen Warrior"

Yuno "Kiiro" Kamora - Professor Strange

Tasuku "Katame" Kawanoe - Harvey Dent

Eko "Aoi" Seishin - Basil Karlo

Akihisa "Azrael" Mashiro - "The Fastest Killer Alive"

Max "Ōkami" Soukoku - "The Demon"

Eiji "MC KRATOS" Mizoguchi - Waylon Jones

Ryuko "Mista Z.B." Umemoto - Roman Sionis

Rashaad "Straight Up" Young - "The Man Who Never Missed"

Aoba "Guinevere" Yamamura - Victor Fries

Oki "ATLAS" Teagan - "Lover of Venom"

Rinko "X-Tasy" Kurosaki - Harleen Frances Quinzel

Kanon "Mz. Hyde" Hojo - "The Clown Prince of Crime"

Woe to Gotham

Digital Demons

Reiaki "Black Cat" Suzubayashi

Criss "Paradox" Hiromi

Joey "Joker" Kurusu

Eiji "MC Mogul" Noguchi

Yuriko "Black Dahlia" Kuromiya

Village of Nightmares

Lady Luck's Charm

Yorii "Sireen" Sakuma

Lola "Aphrodite" Takahashi

Makina "Screen Shot" Setsukura

Hoàng "MC Lotus" Diệu

Evelyn "SPIRIT" Rose

Sakura "Renegade" Kito

Kotono "Shiki" Ohara

"Queen Card"

Gambling Freak

Kiya Kara

Ryūzō "Kage" Mizutori

Kotono "Shiki" Ohara

Takumi "GUTS" Wakaba

The Sannin

The OP League

Tetsuya "FЯE4K" Yashiro - "The Son of Sparda"

Ryūzō "Kage" Mizutori - "Jack the Ripper"

Seiji "Avenger" Tsukimoto - John-117

Oki "ATLAS" Teagan - Doom Slayer

Aika "VeeXn" Yumi - "The Umbra Witch"

Shian "Ready or Not" Meizono - "The Guardian of the Galaxy"

Kaiji "Jinx" Sano - "The One-Winged Angel"

Aoi "Blue Wolf" Yamamura - "God of Wrath"

Ryuko "Mista Z.B." Umemoto - "The Raging Demon"

Ted "Teddy" Bridges - "The God of War"

Zakari "Icarus" Hiroya - "The Champion of the Jötnar"

Why We Can't Be Beat

HypMic's Best Friends

Tasuku "Katame" Kawanoe

Shisuta "The Saint" Heisha

Sayaka "Rhopalocera" Miyuki

Maki "Professor Z-3" Umemoto

Ririko "2Cute" Akihara

Eden "Ember" Yamamura

Saigo "Tsukumogami" Fuyugami

Anika "Rush Hour" Kiyozaki

Kensaku "Dr. K Tone" Morimoto

Itsuki "Tsuki" Kamiko

Everything is Connected

Hikikomori Hip-Hop Clan

Aoi "Blue Wolf" Yamamura

Ryūnosuke "Fist N Fury" Sekiguchi

Zakari "Icarus" Hiroya

Joey "Joker" Kurusu

Yano "Y-STARR" Ietsuna

Ace "MC Patriot" Douglas

Tasuku "Katame" Kawanoe

Makina "Screen Shot" Setsukura

Yuuya "ARROW" Kanata

Eko "Aoi" Seishin

Eiji "MC KRATOS" Mizoguchi

Kaoru "Arachne" Shinozaki

Eiji "MC Mogul" Noguchi

Yorii "Sireen" Sakuma

Tetsuya "FЯE4K" Yashiro

Lyall "Corvus" Shiba

The Book of Otakus

@obihiro-division @katsushika-division @suginami-division @sapporo-division @kobedivision

@kumamoto-division @hakodate-division @minato-division03 @minato-division01 @shizuokadivision

@fukuokadivision1 @naradivision @aichi-division @okinawa-division @ginza-division

@adachi-division @akihabaradivision @kanazawa-division @edogawa-division @setagaya-division

@saitama-division @akihabara-division03 @sendaidivision @kagoshima-division @niigata-division

@aomori-division @nakanodivision @toyama-division @kyoto-division @fukuokanodivision

[stalkyarsen-ebook]

What other Dislyte ships do you like besides Limian and YamatoxTangXuan?

I'm a multishipper, so the list might be long. and the reasons are various depending the ship lol

(reminder, i didn't explore all of dislyte stories yet)

OTP :

Yamato x Tang Xuan (ultimate enemies to lovers)

Li Ling x Long mian (im very surprised it became OTP o-o)

Embla x Fu Shi (they got me crying)

Alexa x Abigail (GIRL! FRIEND! GOALS!)

Ship :

Tang Xuan x Yuuhime (you gotta thank reshy for it)

Tang Xuan x Lewis (they would be very cute together !)

Tang Xuan x Li Ling (casually)

Yamato x Triki (they're business partners-)

Yamato x Chu Yao (very fun to play around)

Falken x Sander (everyone wants them to be back together)

Yun Chuan x Li Xiao (obviouslyy)

Tang Yun x Hall (The New Guy)

Tang Yun x Xie Chuyi (monkey is jealous awwwwwww)

Long Mian x MC (it is very funny in concept lol)

Heng Yue x Anesidora (they go to bounty missions together alot)

Heng Yue x Kara (girlboss scientist x gremlin henchwomen)

Amir x Elif (that one fanfic haha)

there would be more later ig

[cadybear420]

Here I chose this option because I eat the fuck up out of mutual relatability and being each other's rock in the relationship. But honestly I think this is actually a big contrast between the two and I think the "that's so sweet" option would have been more in character for Alan. But not for the reasons you think.

Very long ramble below. I was spending a long time going over these thoughts of the Emmalan dynamic.

While Emma is shy, awkward, and is learning to be brave and step out of her comfort zone… Alan on the other hand is already very brave, social, and confident. He has absolutely zero sense of humbleness, modesty, self-loathing, or anything of the like. He encourages Emma to be brave, and she values him for that.

That being said, Alan may be confident, but to some degree he was made into an outcast in his former schools, being a guy who almost exclusively likes feminine and female-associated things. But don't get me wrong, that's not something he takes for granted.

In fact, part of his confident self-aggrandizing personality stems from years of practice in the art of Not Giving A Fuck, due to being well aware of the stigmatism he might sometimes face. He's liked "girly" things from a very early age, and his dad really made sure he understood that that was okay, no matter what others might tell him. And so he became someone who wouldn't let any of that bullshit get to him. He'd fight and scream against anyone and anything that tried to prevent him from participating/enjoying in what he liked.

Then he meets Emma, who is made into an outcast for different reasons than Alan is. She's shy, nerdy, anxious. And the way other people like Brian treat her does indeed get to her. And I think there's something to be said about how they have very contrasting personalities (other than being lovers of sappy romance) but both are outcasts.

To quote Nelson Mandela, "courage is not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it". I wasn't quite sure how to put it, but this is something I think Alan does not fully realize about himself and takes for granted. He is brave and couragous, but he also sees himself as fearless.

Alan is brave, but he is not fearless.

I already mentioned the motivation behind his boastfulness and self-aggrandizing personality. But also, how he is quick to lash out when someone/something either harms or gets in the way of something important to him, most demonstrated by how he behaves in Book 2. And in part of Book 3, he does feel threatened when Kara and Zoe push Kieran into going for the cheerleader solo that was originally meant for Alan.

Alan is brave, but he is not fearless. And the fact that he is not fearless is what makes him brave.

For Alan, the fear motivates him to become more confident, to do what he loves without shame, to love himself without shame, to stand up for himself and what he believes in. In contrast to Emma, who initially tends to hold herself back because of her fear.

In the game of course, Alan/MC makes Emma feel more brave. This is something I think that is brought up at a couple of other points in the route as well and I think that would be important to Alan. I think Alan in a way would feel more brave (as in, truly brave and not just fearless) because of Emma, but not at this point in the story.

Now, I've said before that I think Alan would have more chemistry with Maria than with Emma. They're both high-achievers with a tendency to act out when things don't quite go the way they like.

However, I'm now thinking Emma and Alan would also have significant chemistry and be more than just a delicious fem4fem minxy flirty cheerleader guy x shy nerdy wallflower girl dynamic. I think while connecting with a girl who is very timid and is learning to step out of her comfort zone in spite of her fears, Alan would realize his own fears and how those motivate his behaviors. Emma is the type of person I think who would be able to help him realize and admit that about himself and that's really important for him. <3

Realistically, I think this realization would happen in the aftermath of Isa's reign, but Emma's "you make me feel brave" comments would definitely be a factor. At some point, I definitely will need to replay the Alan x Emma route and see where/when exactly this realization would happen but yeah

[raleydrew]

Wanna know the fandoms I'm in or at least interested in? Get to know me a bit more by the characters I ship and obsess over down below:

Juleka x Rose - Miraculous Ladybug

Madoka x Homura - Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Sakaki x Kaorin - Azumanga Daioh!

Luz x Amity - The Owl House

Aya x Yoko - Kiniro Mosaic

Yuri x Natsuki - Doki Doki Literature Club

Stelle x March 7th - Honkai: Star Rail

Lumine x Sucrose - Genshin Impact

Belle x Ellen Joe - Zenless Zone Zero

Jane x Seth - Zenless Zone Zero

Zhu Yuan x Qingyi - Zenless Zone Zero

Female Rover x Yangyang - Wuthering Waves

Hatsune Miku x Megurine Luka - Vocaloid

Nanako x Yukari - Locodol

Kara x Lena Luthor - Supergirl (TV show)

Ji-yeong (Player 240) x Sae-byeok (Player 067) - Squid Game

Joker x Futaba Sakura - Persona 5

Naoto x Kanji - Persona 4

Chie x Yukiko - Persona 4

Minato (MC) x Yukari Takeba - Persona 3

Yui Yamada x Tomoka Kase - Kase-san

Makoto Naegi x Kyoko Kirigiri - Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc

Hajime Hinata x Chiaki Nanami - Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair

Tenko Chabashira x Himiko Yumeno - Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony

Komaru Naegi x Toko Fukawa - Danganronpa: Ultra Despair Girls

Izuku x Ochaco - My Hero Academia

Fluttershy x Rainbow Dash - My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic

Naofumi x Raphtalia - The Rising of the Shield Hero

Chiya x Kon Tatsumi - Urara Meirochou

Aoba x Hifumi - New Game!

Ritsu Tainaka x Mio Akiyama - K-On!

Saaya Yamabuki x Kasumi Toyama - BanG Dream!

Yumi Fukuzawa x Sachiko Ogasawara - Maria Watches Over Us / Maria-sama ga Miteru

Ami Kurata x Aoi Niigaki - Long Riders!

Nurse Morikubo x Miyake Mia - Wanna Skip School in the Infirmary?

[allianettemie5]

Question: can we get another special Chilled x Oli collab?

Like an Among Us lobby. Or an MC server that Chilled will stay longer on.

I honest to god believe that Chilled can have a lot of fun with Oli, Scott and Shubble in maybe a Phasmo or Lethal Company lobby

I am still in a post-MCC hype train, let me cook

Also, Chilled absolutely HAS to team up with some combination of Jojo, Shubble, Kara and Elaina as now an MCC survivor, in just like anything at all, I CRAVE FOR HIS MCYT ARC

[xantheyyy]

Idk im bored sooo here are some of my fave and NOT fave yaoi/bl/shounen ai/manhwas:

I: The perfect prince loves me, his rival!?

•Ok so when I first read this, i thought its gonna be like a enemies to lovers trope but upon reading it further, its abt a young man obsessed with a game and then died later on by a truck and got isekaid in his fave game. Has a crush on the prince and prince was cold towards him cuz he was isekaid as the bad character smth like that

•Im gonna be honest here, mc is annoying as fuck

•Prince thinks Mc wants to kiss his fiance and tried to kill him like in a potion room idfk amd mc threw a love potion at him and they fucked

•Prince was kinda being a horny bitch

•ALL CHAPTERS ARE JUST SEX????

•mc still being annoying as hell LIKE UR A GROWN ASS MAN

•overall 4/10

II: Salad days

•OH MY FUCKING GOSH THIS MADE ME SQUEAL SO BAD

•No sex scenes (Stay away horny ppl)

•THEY ARE SO FUCKING CUTE A BALLERINA AND A BOXER 😭😭😭

•Boxer dude was nice to the ballerina boy AND KDJSKSNDKEJ THEY MAKE ME GO HEBSKDNSKZNDJD UEEUEUEUEUEE THEY MAKE ME FEEL SINGLE

•19237/10 I LOVE THIS OMFG 😭

III: Monetary love

•Debt shit ofc

•The bottom works as a sex worker to get money

•Ends up getting kidnapped by a yakuza

•Then yakuza kept him and made him his whore

•But the next few chapters they kinda like being lovey dovey

•The bottom joined the yakuza and the dude was worried for him cuz yea

•I'd give this aaaaa 6/10 its kinda cute but boring at the same time and theres sex scene

IV: Viva o muerto (Dead or alive)

•OK NOW THIS IS MY FAVORITE AND SHEESSSHHHH THE HUNTER IS HOT (ngl he looks like gallagher LMFAO)

•Wants to hunt down the scammer

•Scanmer is a cute baby boy ngl

•The hot hunter took the scammer

•Then they fucked they broke the bed at a random ass bar/motel (i think??? I forgot)

•EPILOGUE WAS ACTUALLY CUTE THEY HAD A DOG YAYY

•I dont wanna explain all so yea

•10/10 recommended if ur into men with big tits fr

V: Raoin Gotoki no Kuni Kara

•The cover was cute as hell

•THE MC IS CUTE

•Didnt realize it was yaoi the whole time i thought its just gonna be a cute bl story

•12/10 its cute as hell

VI: Waterside night

•When i first read this, i didnt know it was omegaverse

•PROTECT THE BABY AT ALL COST

•The omega needs a break fr

•Alpha was being an asshole and r worded the omega

•Dropped it because of that scene but then went back reading it again becauee of the updates

•BUT HE CHANGED

•Baby got taken away by his fucking dad

•Andd yea pretty messed up shit happening

•SUDDENLY THE ALPHA IS LIKE BEING NICE BECAUSE HE CANT FORGIVE HIMSELF FOR WHAT HE DID

•Worried as hell for the omega if hes near the water

•they got the baby back and lived at the alpha's house

•I'd rate it a solid 8.5/10

VII: Roses and champagne

•HELLOO??? LEE WON IS PRETTY AS FUCK 😩😫

•Caesar being horny for him

•And uhhh he r worded Lee won

•Dropped it because of that scene

•But went back reading it again I just felt bad for him :(

•Give Lee Won a break

•7/10

VIII: December rain

•THIS SHIT HAS ME BAWLING MY EYES OUT PLEASE

•THIS THIS RIGHT HERE HAD ME SCREAMING AND PUNCH THE WALLS

•PLEASE WHEN THEY SAW EACHOTHER AGAIN HAD ME SOBBING

•IN ANOTHER LIFEEEEE

•spoiler if u dont wanna get spoiled joke im not gonna spoil the rest i dont wanna ruin it for yall

•Happy ending tho

•12/10 if u wanna get depressed

VIII: Obey me

•I was curious and my friends also said i should try to read it

•First chap? Dropped it already

•Do i need to explain?

•-12237462827/10 if u like this, DNFI pls

IX: Pufferfish and Dolphin

•Oh my fucking gosh why did i even read the whole thing

•This had me crying and trying process what the fuck just happened

•Save the boy please

•-1928283736517172625115/10 pls stay away from it

X: Cherry blossoms after winter

•CUTE AS SHIT

•I just randomly got weirded out by sex scenes i cant rlly see them like that tbh

•PRECIOUS BABIES

•12/10 yes

[loveandleases]

hey! so in the darkness of the night I was thinking about one scene in particular 😂

americans have a Thanksgiving, right (in my country we don't)?

so, I imagined MC's family and Clarkes are sitting together in awkward dinner. and MC starts to thank everyone:

"Kara, thank you for being my friend. Mr. and Mrs. Clarke, thank you for creating THE best and most perfect man on Earth - Cameron. Chris, thank you for being a cheating asshole. it opened my eyes and made me realise my perfect man was near me all this time. Jade, thank you for being a jealous and greedy person and fucking my fiance. It saved me from being married to cheating bastard. Mom and Dad, thank you for raising my sis the way she is. If it wasn't for her I would never realise that the only family I need is Cam. And, finally, my favourite person - Cam. thank you for being you. I hope I can make you as happy as you made me. I love you. Let's get out of here." 😘

so, any reactions to this little speech from families and Cam?😆 I imagine it's even more funny if MC was a shyest and sweetest person who really tried to get along with both families and Jade were her idol before she knew about cheating.

I love that you were thinking of your own scenarios <3. (they do have Thanksgiving.) It's under the cut ~

Mr. and Mrs. Clarke - They will first try to thank you for the compliment until they hear the bit about Chris. Then they will be appalled. They're going to be butthurt about it. Then look to Cam like it's his fault. (as usual.)

Mc's parents - Will tell you not to talk about your sister that way, then apologize to the Clarkes for the disturbance.

💔 Chris - They're going to try and say something, some kind of excuse. When they hear what you say about Cam, they're going to get angry. Kind of their boiling point. Hearing you say that about Cam, it annoys the hell out of them.

💀 Jade - She's going to look to her parents, she likes to seem calm, collected. This is going to make that mask she thinks she has crafted so well break. When she sees Chris's reaction, it makes it that much worse.

💚 Kara - She is going to thank MC. Then try to butt into the conversation when her parents or Chris try to talk to keep them in their place. She knows that this could be explosive, especially because of Cam/Chris's relationship. So she will ensure nothing is said to MC.

❤️ Cam - (our favorite child) - He was eating when MC said it. Devouring a turkey drumstick. So when MC begins telling the others off, he laughs while trying to swallow so he gets choked. Once he gets the food dislodged, he smiles at mc (he is finding mc badass/ hot as hell at this moment). Then goes in for a kiss, tells MC he loves them. Then loud enough for the others to hear, "We could just go upstairs to my old room, we never did it in my bed." (He has no shame <3)

[fzzr]

What I'm Watching, Fall 2023 Anime Season

New Stuff:

16bit Sensation: Another Layer - I hate making galge in the current industry, so I got sent back in time to the 90s to make galge then. Wacky concept, let's see where they go with this.

Boukensha ni Naritai to Miyako ni Deteitta Musume ga S-Rank ni Natteta (My Daughter Left the Nest and Returned an S-Rank Adventurer) - An overpowered fantasy character series, but this time it's heartwarming fun.

Boushoku no Berserk (Berserk of Gluttony) - If Eminence wasn't getting its second season right now, this would be my pick for edgy trash of the season. As it is, I'll enjoy some bottom of the barrel sludge with an overpowered edgy MC and no subtlety.

Bullbuster - Provisionally watchable. You take what you can get with mecha sometimes. This one is about fighting ugly cg giant beasts but also deployment was delayed until liability coverage was confirmed, and further by the broken printer.

Hametsu no Oukoku (The Kingdoms of Ruin) - I'm concerned this will turn into a lot of indulging in violence against women as shock material, but continuing with it for now since the setting raises some potentially interesting questions.

Hoshikuzu Telepath (Stardust Telepath) - Cute girls doing (psychic) friendship things? It's probably nothing, but I'll give it a try.

Kimi no Koto ga Daidaidaidaidaisuki na 100-nin no Kanojo (The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You) - Now this is garbage! After a double meet cute comes a double confession and double acceptance of same. A shenanigans-type romcom where a poly harem end is supernaturally enforced, and I am here for it.

Konyaku Haki sareta Reijou wo Hirotta Ore ga, Ikenai Koto wo Oshiekomu (I'm Giving the Disgraced Noble Lady I Rescued a Crash Course in Naughtiness) - Not that kind of naughtiness! No ecchi tag! Kinda looking like a nothing show, but I'll give it some more time.

Kusuriya no Hitorigoto (The Apothecary Diaries) - This one is starting late, so actually a placeholder for if I get to it later.

Shangri-La Frontier: Kusoge Hunter, Kamige ni Idoman to su (Shangri-La Frontier: Crappy Game Hunter Challenges God-Tier Game) - Another full-dive MMO game, but this time it's about a dude who is just having fun being a minmaxer and speedrunner. No angst, just a side of very light romance. Imagine a show about games also being about having fun!

Sousou no Frieren (Frieren: Beyond Journey's End) - This one got started fast, so I'm already several episodes deep. Tagged in advance as the likely show of the season, it's a slow and thoughtful show about a near-eternal elf mage learning to understand the fleeting humans in her life. Very much a "vibes" show.

Tearmoon Teikoku Monogatari: Dantoudai kara Hajimaru, Hime no Tensei Gyakuten Story (Tearmoon Empire) - We Have Marie Antoinette At Home gets to re-do her life after getting the guillotine. I'll go with it for now, why not.

Toaru Ossan no VRMMO Katsudouki (A Playthrough of a Certain Dude's VRMMO Life) - Did this trick me into watching a cooking show? Maybe. It's fine I guess.

Undead Unluck - This is excellent. So much fun. David Production was the right studio for an anime where a character climbs buildings by severing his own limbs and use the force of them growing back for propulsion.

Watashi no Oshi wa Akuyaku Reijou. (I'm in Love with the Villainess) - Yuri Villainess? Sure I'll take it. Looks fun.

Sequels

Dead Mount Death Play Part 2 - More of the excellent edgy reverse isekai from earlier this year.

Dr. Stone: New World Part 2 - New World part one shaped up in the second half, so here's hoping they keep that momentum.

Kage no Jitsuryokusha ni Naritakute! 2nd Season (The Eminence in Shadow Season 2) - Yessss. Eminence was the highlight of the excellent Fall 2022 season and I am super ready for more.

Spy x Family Season 2 - Oh boy, time for more Anya antics!

Uma Musume: Pretty Derby Season 3 - More horse girls? Don't mind if I do!

Ongoing

Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Kenkaku Romantan (2023) - It's Rurouni Kenshin again. Actually nevermind, I'm just not going to continue with this.

Zom 100: Zombie ni Naru made ni Shitai 100 no Koto (Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead) - This one is mostly done, just keeping track since it ran over a season.

Hall of shame (Shows I dropped after just one episode):

Dekoboko Majo no Oyako Jijou (The Family Circumstances of the Irregular Witch) - Meme about weird that it happened twice for adopting a daughter you found in the woods. This one is about a 200 year old loli and her 16 year old daughter with giant anime tiddy. Pass.

Hikikomari Kyuuketsuki no Monmon (The Vexations of a Shut-In Vampire Princess) - Dog Days meets Liar Liar? I liked those things, but together, nah.

Bokura no Ameiro Protocol (Protocol: Rain) - Didn't even get through the first episode of this one. Painfully ugly and awkward. If you're going to make a show about a fake esport, make the fake game look good and make the players not play it like shit.

Keikenzumi na Kimi to, Keiken Zero na Ore ga, Otsukiai suru Hanashi. (Our Dating Story: The Experienced You and The Inexperienced Me) - Again dropped halfway through the first episode. Just such a drag. Not worth it for the trash.

[lizzybeth1986]

Have you heard of PB’s vip special, Villainous Valentines or something? I don’t have vip but Olivia has a route and if the spoilers are true….her chapter opens with MC rejecting Liam’s proposal 😬😬

PB just cannot give that guy a break!

Sorry I got so late in responding to this, anon. The past few months have been packed IRL.

I'm kinda not surprised that the MC rejecting Liam's proposal was the opening they went for... though I'm very tickled by the prospect of TRR2 being a romantic starting point for Olivia x MC considering all Olivia did was mope about for Liam and disappear for 3/4ths of the tour 🤣🤣🤣

This isn't much compared to a lot of other shit they've already done to him tbh. I'd say PB did far far worse to Liam already - Kara and Jen just recently had written a "backstory" kinda TRR-story for the now-defunct Storyloom, claiming to explore "Liam's perspective" of the bachelor party in TRR1 Ch 1. In this they made several retcons, few of which I'm listing down:

1. Acc to this retcon, NY was a detour from a larger diplomatic tour, rather than something the group and Liam had actually planned to have his bachelor party at.

On the surface this seems like a good change, but it also excuses Liam's friends not arranging for things Liam actually liked for his own bachelor party (remember - he'd told the group about his love for the Statue of Liberty, and they never bothered to even see if something could be done about that. They took him to a dingy bar), leaving a complete stranger like the MC to make that effort instead.

2. Remember how Liam approached us to apologise for the way his friends behaved? According to this version of TRR, Drake persuaded him to do that. Apparently in the story, Liam wants to go up and talk to her and ppl like Tariq and Maxwell give some nonsense suggestions before Drake says this:

First of all, they make him sound like he was socially inept in the dialogue options before this. Secondly, I think Liam can make his own decisions without Drake making them for him, but the writers' boners for Drake wouldn't allow them to admit that.

He confirms that the apology was Drake's idea later in this story, saying this:

This change doesn't make much sense unless you realize that the writers had Drake claim Liam was leading the MC on back in TRR3. This is maybe the second time the TRR team tried to retcon the events of the book to make Drake's lies the truth (the first time, they tried to rewrite the first four chapters of the book so that Liam was way more flirty).

I'm sorry but when Liam approached the MC with respect and apologized for his friends' behaviour, that was his choice and those were his actions. No retcon from a set of biased and greedy writers is going to change that.

Compared to that this Olivia thing is...okay? Like, you really can't explore the possibility of romancing her without having the MC turn down Liam' proposal first. That's just the structure of the story. It's whatever.

[lesser-mook]

She Hulk Episode 1 | Hulk saves the men from She Hulk

Those women dressing her up was the only way for this to happen, if she was fucked up & bloody like before, the m8s would've helped her. 

 We can’t have helpful useful mens, XY Vessels are bad, must be rapists or assholes. 

Unless they’re attractive to Jen, like Matt, then they’re good.

Or non-threatening like Pug

Or neutral like her pops

Wouldn't surprise me if the entire show was an elaborate wet dream and Jen wakes up from being asleep in her original office. Same loser she was 5min ago.

Bruce’ Father killed his mum in front of him, abused him for being born because Brian was convinced that Bruce was a demon monster child spawned from Gamma itself.

Nothing Bruce did was good enough, not even a baby. And his only protection was his mother, until her life ended in their home/on the driveway of their home. (Depending on universe)

Hulk, like Batman, is a coping mechanism of a scared vulnerable child that was desperate for a Guardian/Father to protect him so one was born inside his head and came to life through a freak event, that we now know (IMMORTAL HULK) opened a door into another Universe.

Green Door. Gammaverse.

And that man became one of the most powerful beings in comic fiction. Because his father was an abusive pos.

THAT’s the goddamn HULK.

Jen’s height of stress: Guys finding her attractive on the street, or being called “difficult”, or men explaining her expertise to her (Let a man have this energy, he’d be sexist that thinks Women can’t teach him anything)

Or swiping left or right on a dating app.

Poor Jen. 

Now I’ve seen some She-Hulk stuff in the lore, she’s OK. I find her to be better when she’s with the F4, to bounce off of them. 

She’s been on many teams, but she works really well with the Four.

Otherwise this is why i can’t stand knockoff’s, like Supertoken. Kara Bore-El

They almost always lack the authenticity of the original.

Very rarely do you get versions of the heroes that match the energy of the original in a different way, it works., and tell the same/similar story but different in some way

I criticize mainly the one’s that don’t work (Conceptual, Writing, Creative, Execution) reasons, but there are many that do work:.

I recommend those reads (Except My Hero, only cause Yagi isn’t the MC technically), the only one I didn’t get to yet is The Dark Knight Returns Sequel.

That shit has got New Krypton invasion arc x Invincible Viltrum invasion Arc vibes. 

Kryptonite Rain, and Supes’ Daughter joining Terrorist Kryptonians jfc.. I can’t wait to read it.

[shreyamistry]

Kara x Mc dating head cannons plz and thx

Kara Dating Headcanon!

Kara asks MC out in a fit of anger/rage, she’s having a really bad day dealing with Max and Lacey, Natalie tries to help but she’d rather hang out with MC.

She marches up to MC outside of the ice creamer parlor they planned to meet at she grabs them by the shoulder turning them to face her.

“Will you just go with me already?”

“I thought you’d never ask.”

“Damn, all right. Cool.”

Kara is a wonderful girlfriend, she’s fiercely loyal to her significant other, she’s (overly) protective, and threatens anyone who looks at MC in a way she doesn’t approve of.

Kara loves to spend time with MC, she doesn’t care what they’re doing as long as they’re doing it together, she puts in the effort and energy in the same way she did with Max before she realized he was a total douche.

Sometimes Kara gets scared about her relationship with MC, she worries that the person she fell in love with will turn into a monster like Max and worries that it’s her fault that Max is who he is.

“It’s never your fault that Max cheated on, treated you like shit, Kara. And you didn’t do that to him, you tried really hard to help him and fix him.”

“But did I try enough?”

“Yes. Your best is always enough, baby.”

MC gets their friends to come around to her, and even gets Mia and her to the point of being friends again. Mia always keeps her walls up, and Kara tries to make sure to not fall into her old self.

Kara transfers to MC’s school to keep herself as far away as possible from Hearst, it’s a huge adjustment for her and the student body, but she proves her worth. Ace and her become quick friends and bond over the proving yourself because you were problematic in the past.

Kara loves surprising MC with dates, all the time anywhere any place any time as long as it’s fun and safe.

“I just won radio tickets for a band I’ve never heard of, TBD I think they called them, I don’t really know. Wanna come?”

“As long as the lead singer doesn’t throw a greasy shirt at us this time.”

“Us?! It hit me you dummy. Whatever see you later, babe.”

Kara texts MC with periodical updates about her day, anything really so she has an excuse to talk to MC, they repeatedly tell her she doesn’t have to try so hard to impress her. They love her just as she is.

Kara sometimes gets caught up in her emotions and starts to act like who she had to make herself become at Hearst, and MC always tries their best to make her get out of that mindset, sometimes it’s hard other times it’s easy.

Their relationship has been rocky a few times, but Kara always pulls it together and doesn’t want to lose MC. She finds herself doing little things for them, buying them flowers, their favorite candy, and of course MC does it back for her. 

Kara is shockingly the first to say I love you, it happened during a cheer routine that Mia let her play lead and help with choreography. Kara is so excited to feel the buzz of a crowd and a team that cares that she blurts it out to MC when they hug her.

“Hey, not to spook you off or anything, but I fucking love you.”

“I fucking love you too, Kara.”

hope you like it!