#like in one card the mc specifically is trying to plan things so they do things at night

[violetsareblue-selfships]

oh also just thought about how he has like a sensitivity to the sun (is why he's nocturnal) but w/ my shadow evol i could use that to help shield him from it if the sun's particularly harsh or overwhelming for him

[roonotrue]

Day 1 - Ice Skating with Vil!

Twisted Wonderland Writings Masterpost

Prologue, Day 2

Prompt: In the end Epel is the one who manages to convince a housewarden to help, specifically getting Vil to help distract the MC while he and the other freshies enact their plan, which is now being referred to as Operation 'Christmas Miracle!'

Reader: GN reader - They/Them pronouns and the reader is called 'MC/Prefect.' The reader also knows how to ice skate but hasn't in a while. (I am too scared to ever try ice skating, but for those of you who do Merry Christmas.)

Included Characters: Vil Schoenheit

Warnings: Mild Swearing.

Tags: @twistedcece

~~~

It's been weeks since you spoke with your fellow freshmen about the winter holidays in your world, and the cold has really come rushing in full force at NRC.

Snow blankets the ground, and students wear thick layers to class to keep warm.

You didn't really have any thick layers to bundle up in, but luckily Professor Crewel noticed this when you and Grim came into class a Prefect and Cat-shaped popsicle, ten minutes late. He then personally saw to yell at Crowley in his office for twenty whole minutes about letting you freeze to death.

So now you have a winter coat.

Big enough for Grim to hide in with you when heading to class. Maybe you can wrangle some gloves out of him to if you play your cards right.

But that's none of this is the point. The point is, it's cold enough to go ice skating on the pond outside the Alchemy Workshop.

Which Vil invited you to go do.

Vil.

Vil Schoenheit.

Invited you.

To go... Ice skating.

The famous model and actor, and the Housewarden of Pomefiore (though much less relevant than the FAMOUS MODEL AND ACTOR part) invited YOU... To go ice skating with him.

Okay, look, it's not that you find it hard to believe (you do actually find it very hard to believe), it's just that... Vil is... Vil.

And you're you. In his eyes, a potato. Not that you mind. Most people are potatoes compared to Vil Scheonheit, but also, potatoes aren't that bad of a comparison.

One of the most diverse ingredients and stand-alone foods in this world and yours. Easily able to fit into any dish or meal as a main ingredient or a side.

You'd say since coming to NRC, you fit that description kind of well.

The point is, you and Vil are friends, but like, you've never gone and done something alone with him like this. You'd asked if other Pomefiore students might be there (namely Rook or Epel), but he'd said it'd just be you two.

Alone. Without one of the idiots (read: friends) in your life (take your pick, there are many), contributing to, or leading the conversation.

You're totally not overthinking this or anything.

You try way too hard to wear something nicer than usual- but as mentioned before, you don't have a ton of warm clothes. And they'll be covered by your coat anyway so why the hell does it matter?

Because it's Vil. That's why it matters. You want to look nice.

"You know, I still think the first shirt was the nicest." Grim mutters between bites of tuna.

Which you don't appreciate considering you gave him that can so he'd shut up for a minute.

"It had a hole in it, Grim. Do you really think Vil wouldn't notice that?" You scoff, searching your closet for another nicer button-up.

The only good one you have is for your school uniform, but it needs to be washed, and you don't have time for that- Vil is literally on his way to pick you up.

"No, cuz it'll be hidden under the coat! Now hurry up, he just texted you he's here."

"What!?" You rush to your phone, quickly throwing on the shirt, rushing to button it up as you see the text.

"Okay, okay, okay- Uh, I left another can of tuna on the counter for you if you get hungry while I'm gone, and if anyone swings by needing me for something- I'm dead, got it?" You tell Grim, putting on your coat.

"Sure thing, henchhuman! Stay out as late as you need, the Great Grim has got things handled!" He says with a large smile, way too excited for you to leave.

Normally he complains anytime you go somewhere without him and get's all grumpy or will end up sneaking along after you. 

But today, he's been all too happy to help you get ready and push you out the door.

It's suspicious. He's been acting suspiciously for the last two weeks.

So have the others. Avoiding you, getting anxious and awkward when you're around. Lying.

You're not an idiot. They're up to something. You can't quite figure out what exactly but you can reckon it's probably something that you're going to have to fix later.

But right now, you've got more pressing issues.

Like stopping at the hall mirror to make sure your hair isn't messed up, and your skin's not greasy or anything.

When you open the door Vil is, as always, the vision of perfection. Dressed snuggly in a deep blue winter coat, black leather gloves, and a white fur scarf, his hair tied back in a bun, only the front half left loose to frame his face as it usually does.

His violet eyes glimmer when he sees you, swiftly putting his phone back in his pocket.

"There you are, are you ready to go?" He smiles.

"Yep!" You chuckle as you rub your hands together at the cold breeze that comes rushing in from outside.

It snowed particularly hard last night, so classes had been canceled today. But right now, the sky is clear, and the fresh snow sparkles under the late morning light.

The motion, however, catches Vil's eye, whose smile drops as he looks you up and down and raises a brow.

"It's quite cold out, MC, are you sure you don't want to put on gloves? And a scarf you be a good idea too. And maybe a different coat, that one simply is not your color, who did you let pick it out, Crowley? It hardly looks warm enough for the weather." He asks, poking at the sleeve of the item.

Actually, yes, he did pick it out. The cheapest one he could find.

"It's the only coat I have, and I don't have any gloves or anything. It's fine though, I've gotten pretty used to the cold by now." You laugh it off, and Vil's eyes narrow.

"Hm. Very well, let's just get going, I'm sure we can swing by Sam's shop and pick you up something." He nods, resolute.

"Oh, I don't really have any money for it. Not if I want to eat something other than the cheap microwave meals Crowley leaves for me over break." You wave your hands, stepping outside and closing the door before you let any more heat out.

It was hard enough getting the furnace working, you're not wasting a single second of the warmth it provides before it breaks again.

"Microwave meals!? Is that birdbrained idiot trying to kill you!? Do you know how many preservatives and chemicals are in those!?" Vil looks horrified and you can't help but chuckle, scratching at the back of your head nervously.

"Well, food is food, as Ruggie would say. We can worry more about it later if you'd like, but I'd really like to have some sort of fun on my snow day, don't you?" You ask, trying to change the subject.

The housewarden cringes at the idea of dropping the subject, but lets out a defeated sigh.

"Fine. We will be talking about this later though. Or at least I'll be talking with Crowley next housewarden's meeting." He mumbles the last bit as he grabs your arm, looping it through his.

Oh. Oh.

He leads the way down Ramshackle steps towards the gate. And you try not to think about you two looking awfully a lot like a couple.

Ice skating is a common winter date where you're from... And then you have a thought.

A stomach-dropping thought.

Is this a date?

You nearly stumble to a stop at the thought.

You didn't think to ask. Why would you!? It was such a random out-of-the-blue offer! You didn't think 'Would you like to go ice skating with me today?' translated to anything nonplatonic!

It's probably not a date. Probably.

So you quickly decide to distract yourself from the warmth radiating from where your and Vil's arms are locked.

"So, you wouldn't happen to know what's up with Epel lately? He and the others have been avoiding me. I think they're planning something, but I don't know what." You mention, and Vil glances at you with a small smirk.

"It just so happens I do. And trust me, it's nothing to worry about. Let's just focus on us today, yes?"

Oh, this might be a fucking date.

Fuuuuuuuck.

You would have tried so much harder to look nicer if you'd realized this sooner!

"O-okay. Well, how have you been with all the cold weather? Are you excited for the break?" You ask, suddenly feeling very nervous.

"I don't mind the cold, it dries out the skin, but simply adding an extra hydration step to my skincare routine in the morning and night is a simple fix for it." He informs and you smile.

"I've tried that face scrub stuff you got for me, and it works really well. Smells nice too. I'm almost out of it, so I'll have to save up for some more." You mention, the gift- or well, 'charity' as he called it at the time a few months ago, of skincare products.

It was nice of him, and you're pretty sure it was a 'thank you' for helping him during his overblot. Which is more than you got from Leona.

You've been able to set up a routine for yourself with it, probably nothing as complicated as his routine, but you're proud to say you have seen some improvements.

"Oh? I'm glad, I wasn't sure you'd use any of them, Epel certainly doesn't." He scoffs, and you chuckle.

"Yet somehow has incredible skin." You remark as you walk out the gate and towards the Alchemy Workshop

"I know, as to how he got so lucky when all he does is wash it with water and a cloth in the morning- sometimes- I will never understand." Vil sighs, bringing a hand to his head in disappointment.

"Well, at least he's got you to look out for him. Wish I were so lucky to have gotten the fair Vil Schoenheit as a guide throughout my time here at NRC. All I got was Crowley." You sigh, unintentionally leaning into him as a cold breeze passes through.

"Hm, well, if you'd like I can certainly dedicate some of my time to help you with self-care and style? And trust me, it's no burden on me. After all, if we're going to be seen together more, it ought to be my job to make sure you look good enough to impress. I want the world to see you as beautiful on the outside as I know you are on the inside." He meets your wide-eyed gaze with a soft smile.

There's a fondness in his eyes that you don't think you've ever seen before.

A fondness meant just for you.

"Oh my, are you sure you're not cold? Your face is all red." He asks, though there's a knowing look in his eyes and a smirk on his lips.

Oh, he's teasing you.

"I'm fine! I just didn't expect that! I don't get compliments often, you know?" You turn away, focusing on the path ahead of you.

"Oh, I doubt that sweet potato, with how selfless and determined you are? There are a lot of people here at NRC who should be singing your praises for everything you do for them." He brings his other free hand to rest on top of your arm, still locked with his.

"Well, all I really hear is people telling me that I shouldn't be so kind, or that I'm naive, too trusting, too generous, and foolish for never requesting anything in return... Sometimes it's like none of the students here even know what kindness is, the way they react to it." You can see the Alchemy Workshop ahead of you.

"Hm, I see. Well, I might agree in some aspects that you're too trusting and generous at times, but for the most part, it's... Not a bad thing. You've helped people, MC, even at your own detriment, and though the idea of you continuing to do so worries me, I know you will. Because you have a good heart. You care about people, even when they don't deserve your care. It's admirable." He sighs wistfully, staring off ahead, the condensation of his breath floating in the icy air around his face.

You pause when you reach the Alchemy Workshop, looking at him as he turns to you questioningly.

"... Thanks, Vil. You have a good heart too. Even if you don't show it very often. You look after your dormmates and underclassmen, you make sure they're taking care of themselves, eating healthy, and doing well in school. You encourage their passions a lot, even Epel's love for Spelldrive, despite not liking the sport yourself. You have your own way of caring about people, it's a more 'tough love' style than mine, but it's still just as admirable." You know he's thinking back to his own overblot and behavior leading up to it.

To be honest, it was bad, but people are more than just their worst moments.

And perhaps that is you being too forgiving, but empathy is something that NRC has been lacking for a long time. So perhaps it's just your cross to bear.

Vil meets your eyes for a long moment, thoughts swirling around those long lashes and pretty lavender irises.

"The way you're able to see people, sweet potato... It's a remarkable ability, you know that right?" He finally smiles, and it remains the most beautiful sight you've ever known.

"A blessing and a curse at times. Now come on, I wanna ice skate!" You laugh and pull at the connection of your arms to usher him forward.

"So you do know how? I never thought to ask, but I figured if you didn't I could teach you." Vil inquires as you walk around the building to see the frozen pond.

It looks beautiful, sparkling in the daylight. There are a few students on the other side skating, but they're far enough that you and Vil can still skate with plenty of room. It's a big pond after all.

"Kind of, I haven't in a while, so I might be a bit rusty- and certainly not as elegant as I'm sure you are." Of all the talents for Vil Schoenheit to have, ice skating may be the least surprising.

It's a beautiful hobby. Elegant, graceful, refined, and mature. All words that can describe ice skating and Vil.

"I only started learning a few years ago, and only really in the wintertime when I'm home alone on break. I picked it up to pass the time." He explains, walking you over to the pond edge where two bags sit- a note attached.

"You're alone during winter break?" You ask, slightly hesitant, not wanting it to be a sensitive topic, but he probably wouldn't have mentioned it if it was, right?

"Yes, my father's work schedule is usually packed, so he's not home often. I have the house to myself for the most part, save for the housekeepers." He picks up the note (you see that it's signed 'from Rook') and opens the bag nearest so you both can see the white ice skates inside.

"Oh, well, you can always call or text me during break if you get bored. I'd enjoy hearing from you." You grab the other bag as he hands it to you (ignoring how your hands brush), and he chuckles.

"I just might, sweet potato. Here, I sent Rook to buy these for you, so don't worry about returning them to me." He tells you.

You brush snow off a nearby tree stump and sit down to put them on. They fit perfectly, and you don't even want to begin to guess how Rook got your shoe size.

"You sure? I can pay you back-"

"Don't worry about it. Consider them one of your gifts. Now, let's go, we don't have all day." 

Wait, one of your what-

You stumble a bit and Vil's arm darts out to steady you.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, fine, just haven't worn a pair of these in a while!" You laugh it off, and you both make your way to the ice.

Vil is as elegant as you thought he'd be, gliding across the ice smoothly. You have a rocky start, nearly slipping straight onto your butt the moment you touch the ice, but you find your balance quickly.

The memories of your last time skating flow back to the forefront of your mind, and you manage to not look like a complete fool gliding across the ice with Vil.

"Gosh, it feels like so long ago since I last did this!" You laugh, doing slow wide circles around the ice with Vil.

"Hm, it is a rather elegant winter activity, we could make it a tradition if you'd like? Coming to ice skate before winter break. It would keep either of us from getting too rusty and I can give you some of the hydrating face masks I use in the morning and night to keep your face from getting dry- and lip balm, chapped lips will not be accepted while we're together." He asks you, and you turn to him, skating in front of him backward.

It's a bold offer. Everything about Vil had been bold today. Does he truly like you? Like, like-like you?

You certainly like-like him.

By the seven you sound like a middle schooler with their first ever crush. Hell, you've certainly felt like one for... Awhile now.

Every time you're near him, acting like a blushing idiot, twirling your hair and giggling. You're not actually doing either of those things, but you sure feel like it!

Ever since his overblot, he's been a consistent voice of reason in your life, helping you curb the chaotic tendencies of those around you every time he's around.

And somewhere along the line, you've developed that terrible fluttering in your stomach that people call a crush every time he speaks to you. Or offers to help with something. Or looks at you. Or calls you 'sweet potato' which really only started just before Halloween.

God, he really has been dropping big hints, huh? So you should make a bold move too, right?

By the seven, please don't let this backfire.

"I'd love to, but only if you let me take you out to dinner afterward." You smile, the slightest of nervous flushes on your face, and his eyes widen, startled, but so does his smirk.

"How bold. And here I was worried that even after today you wouldn't get the hint. It's a date, sweet potato." He skates closer to you.

"I'm not that dense you know, just... In a state of shock that you'd want to go out with me. You do know you could have anyone right? You're a famous model, actor, and the housewarden of Pomefiore. From what I've seen so far, there isn't a girl or guy alive that wouldn't throw themselves at your feet." You acknowledge and he just laughs.

"Ah, yes, all the guys and girls that would love to be with me just for my looks, fame, and money. No, thank you. I'll stick with one of the only people in the world who sees me. Who appreciates my help, even when others think I'm being a bitch. Who values my advice, and actually listens to it. Who makes me feel like I... for a single second... Don't need to try so hard to be perfect." You stop skating at his words.

So does he.

"Vil... You never have to be perfect with me. I'm not perfect. Neither is anyone I know- I mean, look at my best friends! They're morons! But I still love them! Because they make me laugh. They care about my wellbeing- in their own ways, and they're there for me when I really need them." You list fondly, skating just a bit closer to grab Vil's gloved hand.

"That's all I really need from anyone, and maybe to some people, that's a low bar, but hey, I'm happy. So it must not be that bad of a thing, you know? So if you're up to doing just those three things, then I'll gladly date you, and do the same in return." When you look up at him, he's watching you closely.

Or well, maybe not you.

Your lips.

"I think I'm quite capable of doing all of that. And more, if you'd allow me?" He glances to meet your gaze his hand coming up to cradle your cheek.

You smile and nod.

And he kisses you. Slow, soft, and gentle. Warmth fills you, making the cold that your cheap coat couldn't keep out, melt away.

You lean into the kiss, and you have to stop yourself from chasing after it when he pulls away.

"Lots of those. That's also part of the deal- I require lots of those." You sigh wistfully and he laughs.

Bright, and melodic, and real.

You move to skate an inch back just to see it better and-

"Ack-!"

Your skate catches on something, stalling and sending you falling back.

Your arms frantically reach to grab something and stabilize yourself. At the same time, Vil quickly reaches forward to grab you, which he does, but then his skate trips over the same thing that must have tripped you.

You land in snow.

Ah. You two were at the edge of the pond.

You tripped on solid ground.

And dragged Vil down with you.

Not a great start to the relationship.

It takes a moment of blinking to fully process what just happened but when you do, you find Vil on top of you, a single hair fallen out of his bun.

Without thinking you reach out and tuck it behind his ear so it's less noticeable to someone who isn't this close to him.

His eyes meet yours and you flush, suddenly bashful and worried all at once.

"I'm so sorry! Are you okay!?" You ask, feeling the snow below you, freezing cold seeping through your coat and clothes.

You use your hands to prop yourself up, ignoring the cold and how it starts to sting.

"I'm alright, are you?" He asks and you nod, looking around, your happy you two are now the only ones at the pond.

Vil may have agreed to date you, but he might quickly retract it if anyone saw that.

You sigh in relief, and then... You can't stop yourself from laughing.

"Care to enlighten me on what's so funny about this? Ugh, I've probably messed up my hair- and my clothes-" He pushes himself up, standing swiftly, brushing the snow off of his coat.

"Because we weren't paying attention at all!" You snort out, still laughing at the whole clumsy situation.

"Exactly! You could have gotten hurt, you are aware of that, correct?" He scolds, leaning down to offer you a hand up, which you gladly take while still giggling.

"Yeah, but we didn't, and this will be a hilarious first date story someday." You struggle to balance only for a second when he pulls you to your feet (he's stronger than you thought, duly noted) but he holds your arms to keep you steady.

"We are not telling anyone that I fell." He says firmly, but you smile up at him and can immediately see that fondness softening his sharp glare.

"Of course not. The beautiful and fair, Vil Schoenheit was my hero, helping me up, checking for injuries, kissing them better-" He scoffs as you giggle out the lie.

"We're not telling anyone that either, sweet potato. Let's just stick with you fell, and I helped you up, yes?" He smirks, and you sigh with a smile still glued to your face.

"As you wish, my fairest." You loop your arms and begin skating out towards the middle of the ice once more.

"How about you show me some of those fancier moves you were doing earlier? The figure skating stuff. I'm no master like you, but I think I can learn a few things." You suggest.

"I wouldn't call myself a master, but I can show you a few things I've learned, so watch closely, sweet potato."

"Oh, trust me, I will."

You two spend the next hour skating, Vil teaching you some more advanced moves, which leads to you falling once or twice more, but you get a few down before evening rolls around with no serious injury.

"I think we should probably head back now, my hands are going to go numb." You sigh, a little disappointed to call it quits, but your hands hurt from how cold they are, and you legs are getting tired too.

"That's probably for the best, to much time out in the cold is terrible for the skin." He sighs, already skating towards you.

"I though you had hydrating face masks for that?" You joke and he rolls his eyes.

"There's only so much a face mask can protect you from and prevent. Are you hungry? We can grab something to eat before we go back, my treat this time, since I was the one who invited you out after all." He suggests and you would like to protest that you should at least pay for your share but- you really don't have the money.

And you're actually starving. You both kind of skipped any kind of lunch, being too distracted with skating and confessions and all that.

Note to self, pack lunches next year.

"Sure, Mostro Lounge would be the best option-" You go to recommend, but Vil quickly interrupts.

"I was thinking of somewhere else. You've been to Mostro Lounge dozens of times, but I'd love to bring you to a restaurant in town that I think you'd like." He asks pulling out his phone and typing something very quickly.

"Oh? Okay. So long as Azul doesn't find out I'm cheating on him with another restaurant, we should be fine." You chuckle and your words draw one from Vil to.

"It's a small place, quaint, quiet, and... Homey. I think you'll enjoy it." Good, so nothing that's 5-star fine dining.

You're really not dressed for that kind of restaurant.

"Alright, but I should stop by and tell Grim I'll be out a little longer, or he might get worried."

"Oh, I think he'll be fine. You can text someone else to check on him if you're really worried, or I can have Rook do it?" He pulls you a bit closer to him as you shiver a bit from a cold wind.

Oh, yeah, Grim will definitely be fine.

"Alright. Lead the way, my fairest." You sigh with a dopey smile, and he glances down at you with a smirk.

"Is that your pet name for me now?" He asks with a raised brow and you nudge him.

"Like you can judge, you literally call me a potato!" You laugh.

"A sweet potato." He correct.

"Still a potato. But it's fine. I quite like it. Would you like me to call you something else?" You ask, tilting your head in his direction and he hums in thought.

"No, I think that will work. As well as darling, love, sweetheart, beauty, my queen- those all work too." He smiles proudly, and you giggle.

"Of course, my queen." You give a small, mock bow, and it's his turn to nudge you.

Today has been... Wonderful.

And even if you're alone during winter break, at least you know Vil is only a text or phone call away.

It'll be a good Christmas this year. You just know it.

~~~

Vote for the next character below!

[cozymochi]

ALTERNATIVELY TO MY PREV QUESTION <3

Is there any saved something you have which needs context, and that you definitely could write a whole post essay about, and maybe even wanted to, if someone had only asked or only the opportunity had arisen?

And if so, would you like to use this ask as a perfect excuse to do so~? ;)

One time I conceptualized a 1st year sleepover at Ramshackle event type thingy. They’ve had them before but what can i say— im a sucker. It’s was more so catered specifically towards things involving my MC and their specific issues, but, for brevities sake— it involved trying to cheer up the Prefect, then in trying to come up with something cool to do, one guy has a brilliant plan and it suddenly becomes an unwanted escape room/home-invasion horror movie thanks to a magic skeleton key that fucked with Ramshackle. I never ironed out the details. But here are 5 out of 6 hypothetical “cards” I drew for it.

These are all hella old, and the only thing that bugs (aside from never finishing Ace’s rip, sorry😭 ) is that I drew them on a canvas that was too small and I didn’t notice until it was too late!! Then i had the grand idea to make them bigger, but that made them more jank. So the quality has been compromised across the board. There’s a lot I’d change design wise nowadays. BUT I’M STILL a fan of Deuce and Ortho’s appearances specifically (even if there are minor things i’d adjust, like maybe Ortho’s pose since i wasnt comfy drawing him and his machinery aesthetic yet.)

Hypothetical “SSR” belongs to Sebek because at the time he didn’t have an event specific one. This era was a throw a bone W. Nowadays I just want the guy to always have Ws.

It’s a little janky presentation wise across the board imo, so if I ever come back to this one day with more refinement, everyone is getting redone. And maybe Ace can be an “SSR” too to make up for never finishing his image (not showing the old wip). No promises though, even dropping this much in the states they’re in is enough to shoot my nerves tbh. I like the base idea fine, but it could do with a lot more refinement everywhere. AND NEXT TIME I’D REMEMBER THE RESOLUTION SIZE. BUT YEAH THATS IT REALLY the end. This wasn’t an essay this was venting lmfao rip

[gyusfavlibra]

MY BROTHERS PROTECTIVE BEST FRIEND

Johnny Suh x afab Reader! Ft. Brother!Mark

WARNINGS: +18, sex, smut, unprotected sex, language, fluff, maybe angst if you really consider. Fingering, grinding, sexual language!

Word count: +1k

Proofread: yes finally! Although I’m dyslexic so my grammar might suck🫣

…………………………………………………..……………………

“Mark! Give me my fucking earbuds!”

You throw down the large pillow you had just been holding from the queen sized bed inside your bedroom. You just got home from a long day of college. Ready to chill out, listen to music and finish up some school work. Considering it is a Friday and you wanted the weekend to yourself.

That is until you couldn’t find the one thing that would top that whole plan together. Your earbuds. You remember setting them on your desk right before you left for your final class of the day. Even remembered to charge them as well. But now they were gone.

And only one name came to mind. The identification of your younger brother. Mark.

You weren’t even 100% sure why Mark was at your apartment right now. You had come home and heard a game being blasted in the living room but never even agreed to him coming over.

But he’s your brother so of course, you let it be.

“Mark! Mark! My head phones please!”

You barge into the doorway, but pause when you notice another figure sitting on the sofa with your relative. A figure you are always suffocating yourself to see.

“Oh, Johnny. I didn’t know you were here.”

The brunette looks at you and smiles. “I just got here.”

You purses your lips. Trying so desperately to chase down the beating in your chest, your ears, even your fingers. Swallowing it, you turn back to your brother before you say something you regret. “Mark, my earbuds.”

“I’m busy, Y/n. Stop bothering me!”

“In my apartment?”

Johnny sighs out at his friends rude actions. Sweeping the box of cold Mc Donalds fries off the coffee table and throwing it into a bag. He knew better than any one that you hated people invading your space AND leaving it messy.

“Mark seriously. I have homework and I want my headphones. I don’t even know why you have them.”

“Sis, respectfully, please be quiet and leave me alone.”

The tone and words your brother sent your way not only triggered you, but his friend as well. Johnny hated when Mark was so difficult with you on situations like this. He had witnessed so many of these altercations and every single time, he was definitely on your side.

You can see the way it bothered the tall figure that man spreads at the other end of the sofa. Man you wished he’d stop wearing such sexy joggers when around you. But you got to push that aside for the time being. This is important. You huff a breath out with a pout. Eyes gazing to the other figure to plead cutely for some help.

Mark can never argue with him. “Johnnyyy.”

“Mark, c’mon man. Give her the earbuds.”

Johnny sticking up for you made your stomach do several flips. Which wasn’t that shocking because he’s done so many, many times before. But each time, it warmed your heart even more than the last.

When Mark stole one of your graphic t shirts. Specifically, one Johnny had given you. When Mark came over and took pillow cases for Halloween instead of using his own. Mark spilling orange juice on your kitchen floor and decide to wait until it was actually sticky to clean it up. There’s an on going cycle. Johnny’s been on your side for every single one.

Mark sighs out loudly, loud enough that you were sure Spain could hear it. His occupied hands now change course and pull the earphones from behind him. He slaps them into your own hand before looking at your eyes. His annoyances spoke loudly.

“Good, thanks. Now head out and get food for me. I’m starving.”

His jaw dropped.

“Why me?”

“Because I know if I go, you’re gonna make demands about getting something as if you’re actually paying.”

“True.”

You rip your card from your pocket and set it down on the table sat an inch below their knees. “Here’s my card. Get something for you and Johnny, too.”

“Thanks sis,” he chuckles. He pauses the game on the television. You weren’t even entirely sure what it was. Guns and animation was the farthest you’d get.

Mark turns to Johnny just as you exit the room, who was staring blankly at his phone. “You wanna come with? Or stay here?”

“I’ll stay here. I wanna try the level myself.”

“Well do you want anything?”

Johnny accepts that whatever Mark gets, he’ll enjoy too. Taking that as an answer, Mark nods and heads out of the apartment to a restaurant.

Johnny stands from the sofa after tossing the gaming controller off to the side. His brown orbs peek through the curtains to see if Mark had reached the car yet. Thank the heavens you were located on the second floor. The boy always could get to the parking lot fast enough.

Watching as Mark steps beside his vehicle to unlock the drivers door, Johnny takes that as a clear to go abbreviation.

Racing down the apartment hall, he finds himself standing in front of your bedroom door. You’re on the inside studying, laid out on your stomach with a textbook in your face, headphones playing in through your ears. Loud enough that you didn’t hear the double knock, nor the sound of the door opening.

Johnny creeps behind you. Shutting the door behind him in the process. You didn’t notice his presence at all. Considering you’re facing away from the door.

That is until you feel the end of the bed dip under your legs. Then a hand lands beside your elbow that dig into the mattress from holding you up. You pull off your headphones and place them in their case.

“I’m studying.”

“I know,” he replies. Moving his upper body down so that you could see his face. “Just wanted to see you.”

When he spoke like this, you had to give in. If it was any other words, you would’ve kicked him out to finish your work, but as of now, you just can’t.

You place your homework sheet into the textbook and push the whole thing aside. Turning onto our back, you can see his whole figure so clearly now.

His faint smile sits so beautifully on his face. Johnny tucks a strand of your locks off your eyebrow and behind your ear. “Hi.”

“Hi.”

His head dips down, soft pink tinted lips pecking on the corner of your mouth. It almost makes you scream that he didn’t hit your lips, until he does.

“You look so pretty today.”

“Really?”

“Of course. You always look so pretty,” he traces the outline of your jaw with his mouth. He props your knee to the side so he can have his lower body laying in between your legs rather than straddling you.

You thought it was just for him to get more comfortable, but it was really so he could connect his now covered bulge on the thin legging material that covers your heat.

The hand of his that laid in the bed now tugs on your waist. Pulling your bottom half to rub against his own. If you had on ANY other underwear, these actions probably wouldn’t have been so effective. But you in thin lace. And your leggings were a thin material so you can feel it all.

And with his sweats, this was just a perfect day for clothing choices.

The pulls were continuous. One pull of your hips after another. “J-Johnny, what about Mark?”

“What about him?”

“What if he comes back?”

“Then he comes back. I don’t care,” he shrugs, placing his lips on your neck. He leaves soft wet kisses rather than hickeys because he knew better. “Besides, have you even gone out to eat with your brother. He never knows what to get anyway. He stares at the menu for at least five minutes.”

“I guess you’re right.”

“Mh, glad you realized. Now, let’s forget about him. Thinking about your brother is the last thing I wanna do when I’m trying to fuck his sister.”

His words spark something in this moment. You hadn’t seen or been with Johnny in at least two weeks. They’ve been finishing their sports season. So there was no hiding how horny you are right now because of the lack of touch.

Not blaming Johnny.

But now, it’s gonna be even harder to see him because of the fact that the season is over. Which means Mark will want Johnny all to himself.

So moments like this, you have to savor.

“Where’d you go?”

You didn’t realize the words were meant for you until everything, the kisses and grinding, had stopped. “What?”

“You zoned out.”

“Sorry- I was just thinking.”

“About me I hope.”

You smile. Of course he’d want that. “Well yes. And no. It’s just, I’ve missed you this week. And now that your sport is over, Marks gonna hog you all for himself.”

“I’ve missed you, too, baby. And I will make time for you. I promise. Mark doesn’t need me all the time. Don’t worry, okay?”

You nod. If Johnny makes a promise, he keeps it. So him promising to try to see you more is enough to set it aside and focus on the both of you and what you’re doing now.

You pull him down so your lips touch. His hand on your waist grips tightly on the skin that peeks from under the sweater. HIS sweater. The one you placed on yourself when you returned to your room because you knew the second Mark left for food, Johnny would be right at your door.

His ruts his hips deeply so that his heavy erection grazing so perfectly onto your aching core. His hand on your waist now pulls at the band on your pants. Pulling them down and off your legs. Leaving the underwear intact.

His eyes darken at the sight of the lace underwear HE had taken you to buy. The green sits perfectly against your skin.

“God, you’re so fucking sexy.”

“I want you, Johnny.”

“You have me, baby.”

You whine at the feeling of his finger rubbing your clit over the fabric. The underwear is definitely soaked but for some reason it feels better this way. Maybe it’s because it makes it harder for his finger to slip away or the material just feels perfect when being moved around. Who knows?

His lips mend with yours. The extra intimacy arouses you even more.

Johnny takes this occupied moment to pull his throbbing dick out his joggers and boxers. Replacing his finger motions on your heat with the tip.

He rubs it back and forth. Same motions he’d do if it was his fingers. You remove yourself from the kiss to watch. Johnny kisses the corner of your mouth again, then your cheek, then your temple, and then behind your ear before he whispers.

“Want it inside? Hm?”

Sucking your bottom lip into your mouth, you hum in response. He wasn’t gone force words out your mouth. Not when you’ve already expressed how badly you want him moments ago. Any other day he would, not today.

He pulls aside the wet lace, picking up some of your juices before slipping right inside. Not too fast. It has been a minute, so he allows the adjustment.

You moan into his shoulder just as he grunt into your ear.

“Fuck you always feel so good around me. You were made for me.”

If you had a dollar for how many times Johnny has told you that he loved when you were wrapped around him, you’d be in the Bahamas right now. But he just had to make sure you knew how much he enjoyed being intimate with you. Especially since the first time when you questioned whether he had other partners.

He didn’t.

But you don’t know any better at the time.

So he always made sure that you knew he loved being with you in every way possible.

“Fuck- I might just cum already.”

You hands grip the mid length locks on the back of his head. His face still being tucked next to your ear allows you the access to do so. You were so glad he was deciding to grow it out. Gave you more to hold onto.

His thrust into your pussy speeds up. Johnny holds back on cumming so you could get there first. To help, he puts his fingers back onto your clit. Circling them around just perfectly. Just how you loved it. “Fuck. Johnny, just like that.”

“Do it feel good? Hm baby?”

“Y-yes. God yes.”

“God, I wish I could fuck you like this everyday. Fucking shit!”

The constant clenching you were expressing around his cock made it harder for him to hold it in. So he rubs his fingers faster. Slamming his lips onto your mouth knowing that the extra feeling will help you get there.

You expose a string of moans. Each one getting louder than the other which informed him that you were peeking.

“Cum. Cum for me.”

And you do as told. Letting go right around his still fastening dick. He hardens his thrusts inside you and removes his fingers to hold your hips as he thanks the heavens that he can finally let go himself. His white cum shoots inside of you. Painting your insides so much, he’s so sure you emptied him out completely. Grunts echoe into your mouth. On and on until he stills and collapses on top of you. His face right back next to your ear.

“God, you’re so perfect.”

“You too,” you smile. You wrap your arms around him to hold his figure against you. Placing a kiss on his head.

You both stay like this until your phone dings. You pick up the device and notice a text message from Mark. You turn the phone and taps Johnny’s shoulder so he could see the message as well.

Mark

Traffics a little backed up

Mark

I got the food but it might be a little cold :(

“He really does take forever.”

“I told you,” he chuckles. Johnny kisses your cheek again and then your reddened lips. “Let’s clean up and watch a movie until he gets here. Sound good?”

“Sounds perfect.”

[arcplaysgames]

whbat in the absolute fuck

look at her fucking pose in the gameplay, what is this.

WHY IS THIS SUCH A TROPE? Like how come out of the three Persona games I know enough to speak to, all three of them have Sexy Teacher Who Is Wildly Inappropriate With Students? What the fuck. I'm uncomfortable. How did we get rid of Mister "everyone in this room is a slut destroying our society" and have not by default gone up in the world? goddammit.

I cannot help but assume that's the point. The shadows are getting more and more rowdy in each dungeon, the news of the channel is spreading, like.... that has to be part of the point.

Naoto shows up to let everyone know there is a prime suspect that the cops are trying to apprehend, but in doing so shoves his fucking foot so far in his mouth his stomach is chewing on louis vuitton

fucking GET HIM

like for real, Naoto, dial down the condescending bullshit about 25% bruh

LITERALLY THE BEST CHARACTER. he is just-- look. you are allowed to laugh at me. go ahead. the comparison to Akihiko is very funny to me. Two lightning bruisers, but Akihiko funnels all of his energy into tending to the temple of his body until he's acting like vegetables will personally slit his throat in his sleep, vs Kanji, who has like the same power and energy profile but doesn't have an outlet for it yet so he keeps doing funny outbursts that don't make sense even to him.

Lightning boys!!!! Who is lightning in P5 and are they this good? I hope so.

also look at his facepalm while studying. best boy. Also in his social link, we met a little boy sad about losing his "friend's" rabbit doll, and Kanji went looking for it and now plans to make the boy another one. LOVE.

Maxing out Yosuke's SLink. Buddy, I don't know if punching you will fix you but if you want me to try, by golly.

PICTURED: Two fucking idiots.

OH SNAP THE ULTIMATE PERSONA IS LOCKED TO SLINKS? OH DAMN. I will miss Jiraiya and their awesome scarf. The locomotion of their spin has always brought me joy. But I'm hyped for Ultraman Buzzsaw Hulahooper.

So that was Magician! I.... am still not sold on Yosuke as the Magician honestly? I really liked his arc and the simmering anger and learning to deal with grief and coming to terms. But it's not very Magician-y at all? Eh whatever. Not everyone can be Junpei.

Sometimes, I don't have to look up these answers because I have a specific knowledge set and it includes weird card knowledge.

Rise is really compelling and funny. She's down to earth! She also will just get a translator! She's fun.

C H I E. DON'T JUST TELL PEOPLE THAT!

This game is like.... very good at portraying teenage immaturity. Like, everyone is generally a decent person until they're kind of a little shit about something or other. They're all very likeable but the maturity gap with SEES is really stark, yanno? Everyone in SEES was a traumatized kid who had already been through shit BEFORE they got their gun-shaped Superpower Launchers. the P4 team is just. dumb kids! with powers!

but really chie don't tell people kanji is queer, for fuck's sake girl

LOVERS SOCIAL LINK: GET! I ain't saying shit about how someone doesn't seem like Lovers, I learned my lesson.

However. One thing, another point of comparison from P3P-- I somehow doubt that Rise would do the Lovers thing with someone other than Reverie like Yukari did with Mitsuru. With the exception of Chie and Yukiko, it feels like everyone's most important relationship is with the MC, not with other characters.

I do feel very sad about that. Akihiko and Ken had Shinjiro, Yukari and Mitsuru had each other. Fuuka and Junpei arguably were closest to FeMC, but they weren't islands. Junpei and Akihiko were frequently in their own little scenes, and Fuuka had that with Junpei and Shinjiro as well.

With the P4 team, everyone orbits around the MC. Which isn't bad. It's fine. But it also loses something, you know?

The police still haven't actually gotten ahold of their suspect, and Nanako gets scared and runs over to sit by Reverie. God, that's crushing. Do you ever think about Nanako pre-P4? How much fucking time did she spend alone? God, I hate Dojima.

MEANWHILE, I DON'T KNOW WHY THE GAME KEEPS GIVING ME FLIRTATIOUS OPTIONS WITH ADACHI BUT I AM GOING TO KEEP CHOOSING THEM LIKE THIS IS HATOFUL BOYFRIEND AND I'M HITTING ON SHUU I GUESS? What is this. Why was I able to invite him to dinner????

anyway its FINALLY SUMMER VACATION TIME!

Everyone is making plans to go to the beach! Which leads to a very important question.

Thank you Persona 4 for giving me the best possible options.

Also, Yosuke, I'm gay. It's that simple, homeboy.

...... Kanji, are you.... related to anyone from Iwatodai? Wait no that's impossible, Akihiko is literally an orphan. But still: lightning bruiser boys who want hydrodynamic swimsuits is a Type I guess??????

[actualbird]

//CN... theories? spoilers? i'm not sure which one this is.

ZAK I WAS ON WEIBO AND I SAW SOME THEORIZING.

People are saying that Marius' third solo SSR is hinting towards the existence of a "darker" marius, per se, and that this could be the angst in the prologue.

From what I can tell, those comments are saying that the Marius illustration (with shattering glass) is from a dream. A dream that apparently, both of us are in. The game hinted towards Marius having had that dream for a long time. (desperately trying to avoid spoilers as i say this)

I'm planning to watch this card soon, but I'm just thinking. The prologue. Painting of crying Rosa. Marius' disappearance.

The implication of a darker Marius also comes with the implication that he's falling more and more in love with us, but in the growing obsession way.

And wouldn't that be something worth crying over?

Just the potential of watching him, knowing him before, knowing him this whole time, and knowing he wasn't like this before but being completely unable to stop him. and the guilt of the thought that "Marius wasn't like this before he met me, so if he never met me, this probably wouldn't have happened."

The possibility of this deeply obsessive marius, this marius who wouldn't let us go makes me vibrate in excitement but at the same time, NOOOOOOOOO LET HIM GO BACK TO THE INNOCENT BABY HE WAS.

irt the most beautiful tot illustration ever

first off, anon bless u for giving so much information with minimal amounts of spoilers. ive been Very curious about this card, specifically this illustration's context, ever since i saw it! but as far as i know there arent any full translations out so i will patiently wait for that so i can eat it up all in one go ahsjfhavkj, so this is Much Appreciated :DDD

second off,

PAIN....SUFFERING,,,,ANGUISH!!!!!!

i mentioned this in a previous response that im not too big on theorizing nor on checking out other theories (just a personal thing idk, my brain isnt big enough for theories HAHA) BUUUUTT

he concept of a darker marius is SO interesting to think about because....hell, hes already talked about that himself

he mentions in it main story 7.1, that if he didnt get lucky with the life he got, if he didnt get lucky with a family that truly loved and cared about him, if his life were worse or crueler or sharper, marius told mc that he could see himself succumbing to the same kind of darkness jun had succumbed to.

this is already something hes outright admitted: his heart is good and hopeful now, but if things get worse, hes scared of what he might be pushed to do.

additionally, marius' darkness manifesting as over obsession is SO GOOD to me because YES. EXACTLY. THAT MAKES SO MUCH SENSE to me for 2 slightly different but nonetheless connected reasons:

reason 1

it's like The Obsessed Artist trope but...with a twist. the traditional Obsessed Artist is one that meets their self destruction on an impossible journey to perfect their creative craft. with a darker marius, i think it's more of him meeting his self destruction in perfecting himself and his love/relationship.

if life gets terrible and horrible and bad, he would want to keep this part of his life beautiful, unknowingly destroying himself and everything that made his relationship beautiful. which loops back in nicely with the crying painting of mc in the intro: it's a beautiful picture, but shes in pain

and as the artist of that image, marius created that.

reason 2

even without thinking of a darker timeline, the roots for over-obsession are already within our current wonderful marius whom we love so much:

so many people have betrayed him already in his life, which causes trust issues and difficulties

so many people have already left his life (his mom passing away and giann still being missing), which causes intense abandonment issues and the fear of people leaving.

with those already in place (and already things he struggles with normally) it makes a lot of sense for a dark!marius to go the route of over-obsession. if life gets terrible and horrible and bad, he stops trusting new people completely, may even to an extent stop trusting the people who are already on his side. but the people on his side cant leave, he wont let them, he cant be left alone and hes going to make sure they stay.

like, all the pieces are there. while im not into theorizing, this is great food for thought for aus or fic or just understanding deeper what exactly marius was so afraid of succumbing to, when he told mc back in main story 7 about how fear of becoming somebody like jun if his circumstances were worse....

....very interesting to think about, all in all. also painful, btw. dont forget the pain. JHVKJSVFJKHSDF

[thegeekcloud]

Ikepri Headcanons

Hobbies

So i was just laying there on my couch doing nothing and thought, "Hey, what hobbies would they have?". Actually i thought of a very specific one but i'm not gonna start from there :).

So what hobbies would the ikepri characters have? Here are some ideas

Jin

He says his hobbies are women women and women yes.

But what about later, when he is with mc? He does not have a hobby?

Well, at first, no he did not.

But then he went to run an errand for licht at the castle blacksmith

And of course the man was busy so jin waited and watched as he forged swords and asked to try

He went again and again so much mc thought he and sariel had another agreement made

But no, our man got better and better until he forged a new sword for himself

Of course his duties caught up to him (it takes A LOT of time and effort to forge anything from steel) so he had to limit his visits

But to this day he loves it cause it makes him feel like he has a trade and he's not just a prince in name

Chevalier

Who am i kidding, our boy loves reading

He doesn't do pointless things

If it doesn't help him become a better ruler he doesn't do it

He's already perfect at swordfighting and riding so...

Basically he's new forever "hobby" would be to be the best partner for mc.

I'm pretty certain he would put all his ideas in paper one day. Like, "Ethics and Ruling" and "The importance of Farming and Trade in Economic Growth" or "The Psychology of a Ruler".............but yeah i don't think anyone would call those a hobby, it's more like a compulsion to Chevalier himself

Buuuuuuttt

I have a theory where mc introduces him to fantasy books (in the modern age I'm thinking of tolkien)

And he starts writing his own language

And mc learns it and they have secret messages exchange

(They each leave their message in a hollow book in the library)

And since clavis couldn't read these he would write all sorts of things chevalier had countless times told clavis were stupid and pointless

Clavis

He likes pranks yes

But he's also into magic tricks

I am 100% certain he does card tricks

And he is actually good at them

He has a lot of decks but he always uses the same one he has since he was a kid cause for some time it was his best friend (when Chevalier was too much)

He definitely asked mc to be his assistant but she put a stop to everything once she found out about his plan to use the vanishing cabinet on yves

Leon

In the event first love he takes mc out for gambling

It had darts in there which is not gambling but i'm 100000% certain that he lied about him not playing darts before. He most definitely play darts regularly

He has his soldiers and officers play as well to pass the time and calm the nerves before a mission

But i suppose it's not exactly a hobby

I don't know what kind of sport they like in rhodolite but watching and playing that would be his hobby

I just see him that if he lived in the now he would adore football (and i mean soccer). I just know it he's that guy. He would have a shirt and one year a big game would fall on valentine's day and he would be like nah we'll go out to dinner but mc would get them tickets and she would give them to him while wearing his jersey and they would go together and have fun (even though mc did not necessarily like the game) because they would be together

Wow that was specific ok

Yves

We all know he loves baking

But oh boy it is more than baking to him

My man is a pro

He has books on decorating cakes and sends people to get him rare ingredients from "that one store in town"

Of course Licht and mc are the first to try them and they're always perfect (except one time where he made a carrot cake covered in whipped cream but licht figured it out after eating it and spat it out)

I'm also certain he has passed through a sewing phase but figured sewing is actually freaking hard and just sticked to designing what he wants others to sew for him

Licht

I would love a story where licht ended up studying medicine (perhaps only because the suicidal character in my book becomes a doctor)

But anyway

He loves horses and riding

I think what he does to clear his head is just litterally go for a ride. In the forest alone, the wind cascading on his face messing up his silvery curls...

I see him taking mc for a picnic date one time in a spot he found where the view is amazing and the world is very quiet

Of course, yves made the food.

I think he would also have a few pots where he would grow strawberries at some point 🍓 🍓 🍓 🍓 🍓 🍓 of course they would never reach the kitchen. He'd eat them there in his room.

Nokto (language warning)

...

...i call him a whore for a reason you know

Ok ok but besides that i think he would do the most anatractive thing in movies

Certainly one from each place he's visited during his diplomatic travels

He would collect stamps

Yes. Stamps

He hides the album better than he and jin hide their porno

But Clavis knows where it is

Clavis knows where everything is

That's how mc found out where it is and took it out and hasn't stopped bugging him cause he used to make fun of her reading (before he got accustomed to listening to her reading to him)

Ahahaha nokto would be so upset

But she secretely finds rare stamps and puts them inside and watches his face light up once he sees them. A smile and a kiss always follow

Luke

Anything animal related

Like if he was in the modern world he would DEFINETELY work in an animal shelter during his free time

He only shares his honey with mc and the animals at the shelter

I am pretty sure he has brought more than a few strays home until he found them new owners

I think he would be the type to own a hamster or a bunny at some point. And because it would fit in his jacket's front pocket he would take it for walks in the town telling it to hide when he entered a store with mc giggling at his side.

Sariel (fifty shades of grey warning)

Yeah i mean i would call it an 18+ warning but come on who doesn't know

Because ok mr whip guy

He is a bdsmer for sure. Like, have you seen his cards?

But apart from that

I think he enjoys sketching

He hides a sketchbook in the first drawer and everytime he is tired of looking at documents but doesn't wanna leave his chair (cause how is he ever gonna concetrate again) he takes it out and continues his last sketch/doodle

He would only use pencil and black pen though. He hates coloring

He did try to use charcoal once......it did not go well, especially for his documents.

Rio

Oh dear the little pet.

I don't like rio, i find him to be the bad type of simp.

But anyway

He's the one who usually finds stamps for nokto

I don't know what his deal is (guess I'll find out since his route is coming out in the japanese version) BUT

He would have all the kinds of secret talents mc doesn't know about

I'm preety sure he can do knife throwing cause i saw a card of him and he's holding them like wolverine claws. Oh he knows how to throw a knife oliver queen style

He would say his hobby is being mc's everything

But i happen to know that he secretly likes working at the palace

And he likes mixing cocktails most of all

Originally nokto was his test subject (a tradeoff for the stamps)

He asked yves to try one he had made one day they were both working in the kitchen and yves told him to bring his new cocktails to the faction parties

[maxkirin]

Hello! I just wanted to drop in to say that I find that the graphics you make about your writing projects are so wonderfully inspiring and compelling. They really help show that a novel isn’t a mountain you need to overcome with your bare hands; that all you really need to beat it is a shovel (or, if you’re lucky, a dump truck 😋).

That being said, how do you go about planning your stories? How do you go from starting point A to end point B? And how do you know what to include, and what’s actually relevant? I’m struggling with my own story at the moment, trying to put together a plot that’s consistently slipping through my fingers entirely at the midpoint. I can’t tell if I’m simply overcomplicating it and trying to balance too many extraneous details at once in the hopes of calling it a plot, or if I haven’t dug deep enough to find that one nugget of clarity that will piece it all together (which I’m suspecting is the case).

So how do you do it? How do you piece together your own stories, and know what’s “right” to include or not? How do you know how the story should end? Thank you so much for any insight, and again, for spreading as much inspiration as you have!!! 💗💗💗

Hi there! Thank you for the lovely message~ 😊💗

As for your questions, first off. I totally get where you're coming from. On one hand, I think that if your gut instinct tells you that you need to find the glue that sticks the whole story together, then that's probably what you need to do. As writers, we know our stories better than anyone ever will. On the other hand, I know that we writing-types can also get hyperfixated on specific little things. We often miss the forest for the trees. (I know I'm guilty of that).

It's such a good thing that you're reaching out for another point of view! So, let me tell you what I do. 😉✨

How do I figure out the starting point and end point of my books? How do I decide on what goes in the middle?

After I know what I want the book to be about (for example: A Book About Gay People with Psychic Powers), I decide on what the end-point should be. Please note I didn't say "ending". I said "end-point". Rather than predicting the very spot where the story is going to end, I come up with a general idea.

For example: let's say the first book will be about the MC achieving a goal, and thus the end-point of the story should be when the MC's goal has been resolved; note that I didn't say "achieve", leaving it open to the possibility that the MC may not achieve the goal. I do this because I like to live dangerously.

Once I have this general end-point, I work backwards. If the story is heading towards this end-point, what would be the most fun place from it to start from? In my personal experience, I try to have the gap between the start and end points be as short as possible. That's just my personal preference though.

Now, with the end-point and start figured out, the rest is just to look at the space between these points and place the big scenes you want to see happen in this story (or that you think need to happen).

Here's a pro-tip: Take some index cards, label each with a small summary of the chapter/scene, and arrange them in a line. This will help you visualize the flow of your story.

For instance, if later in the story there is going to be a betrayal, then it would be effective to add some scenes earlier on to develop the trust between the characters; so that the betrayal hurts even more. 😈💔💔💔

I use this technique to outline my books, but that's not it. I also use it to plan each individual chapter. The night before I have to write a chapter, as I'm journaling to wind down, I consider the following questions:

What should happen next chapter?

What should be the end-point of the chapter?

What would be the most fun point for it to begin?

What should happen in between those two?

That right there is my secret sauce.

I must add that these exercises (at least for me) are not about coming up with a hard plan. I've had plenty of chapters and books where things did not go as planned (sometimes right from the first line of chapter 1), but these have always led to a more fun story.

Once the pen hits the paper, the outline becomes more of a suggestion than a hard plan. Follow your gut instinct.

At least, that's what works for me.

I hope this was helpful or insightful! Let me know if you (or anyone else) has any questions. I love getting mail~ 📫💕

[thefools-journey]

So. Some of you may be wondering why we haven’t written a whole ton about the secondaries or what have you. Here’s the reason: we were waiting for them to end before we really dug into the problems we were noticing. We felt that it was only fair to wait for the routes to finish so that we had an understanding of the writers’ vision. Who knew, we thought, maybe they would see the problems themselves and course correct, maybe they are building to something we can’t quite see yet and these issues will have actual payoff, maybe-

In light of Muriel and Lucio’s endings, and the general mess that has dominated Portia’s route for a year plus now, we are breaking our silence. We are actually going to talk about this shit show.

The fandom at large has talked about a bunch of issues with the secondaries but for me, the cardinal sin, the thing that really all the issues lead back to, is this: the writers lost sight of the tarot themes which so strongly defined and held together the primary routes. Let me explain.

The primary routes each center around three thematic cores:

The Love Interest’s Major Arcana and its Reversed/Upright meanings

The MC’s Fool’s Journey, both how it can go right and how it can go wrong

A question about the MC’s identity and their relationship to said identity

Asra’s route asks: Who was the MC? How does the MC navigate a past they cannot and will not remember? What do they owe a past they cannot remember? How do they handle the revelations of what Asra, Nadia, Julian, etc did? How do you right the past? Can you?

Nadia’s route asks: Who is the MC? The MC has no past. Are they the Fool only? Are they actually the same person they were? How can they tell? Who are they, really? Are they an imposter? No one can answer these questions for them.

Julian’s route asks: Who will the MC become? How does the MC see their future? Is there anything worth fighting for for that future? What will become of them and their loved ones? 

Now, if you notice, these themes are expertly woven throughout the primaries. Asra’s past dominates his route, Nadia is also missing memories and trying to construct her identity both with her family and with Vesuvia, and Julian’s fear of the future drives his flailing for control. Asra has to learn to take a broader view of his actions to get his Upright Ending, Nadia has to learn to trust herself and those around her for hers, and Julian has to learn how to let go for his. These lessons are the issues their cards stand for. The primaries are so dang elegant and delicate in their handlings of theme it is honestly awe-inspiring.

Thematically, the secondary routes have completely lost their hearts. First of all, the MC does not have strong, core questions which need to be answered. They just don’t. I suppose the writers did not want to retread old territory (which is weird considering how tightly bound the primaries are; it really tricks you into thinking you’re living the same events but from different angles depending on your route) but they did not replace the old with anything new. Muriel’s route is, on the surface, about discovering and owning his past, the good and the bad. Why not tie MC’s self-discovery to that story? Or they could have taken the angle that Muriel’s route is about convincing him to be present and active in the world while MC builds an identity for themself outside of Asra, the shop, and the memories they cannot retrieve. Why not tie the investigation themes running through Portia’s early route back to MC and their past? Portia has the unique angle of being as in the dark as MC about all of this, why not discover the past together? And for goodness’ sake, Lucio has no future when his route begins, why not tie that to his need for growth, responsibility, and MC’s own future between the Fool, the Devil, or something mortal and in between?

Secondly, the routes lost their tarot backbone. We have a primer on how to get specific endings for each LI and it still holds, but the writers did not follow through on the thematic coherence of each secondary. The Hermit is looking for something, be it perspective, insight, a solution to a problem, whatever. The key here is that the Hermit must find or learn what they are searching for, this thing must change their understanding of the world, and finally, they must bring this lesson back to the world from which they retreated. Can someone please enlighten me as what exactly Muriel learns then teaches the world around him? Nothing Muriel learns from Morga, MC, or even the Hermit ties back into anything. The Devil warns that you are out of control and exerting a lot of manipulative, destructive behavior on the world around you. It asks you to take responsibility for yourself and your actions. So can someone tell me why Lucio’s route actively avoids any interaction or reflection on two of Lucio’s biggest victims: Muriel and Julian? Why does the route only try to make amends with the “easier” of his victims in the cast? The Star is first and foremost the card of clarity, the light at the end of the tunnel. Perseverance, if you will. Yet Portia’s route has been the muddiest of the trio; the writers drop the investigation aspect of her route in favor just handing her and MC information they could have easily found and muddying the waters with Tasya (she blows up the palace but it’s all okay bc she has a secret daughter Julian never thought to bring up or mention) and the complete removal of the Devil as antagonist. 

So that leaves just the Fool’s Journey trying to hold this stool up with only one leg. And well...it doesn’t go well. At best, the secondary route books pay the barest surface level homage to the themes of the individual cards. At worst, they ignore the cards completely. Muriel's Moon book has nothing to do with illusions or delusions or lies or even an Alice in the Looking Glass upside down world. Portia's back half is a complete and utter mess, starting with her Temperance book being so badly mangled that Muriel's aftermath book does it better. Lucio's route too bungles the Tower and the Star. There just isn't enough here to carry the routes alone.

Add to the core loss the loss of intertextuality. The primary routes are very good, even great but they too do have their moments and mistakes. What helps strengthen them when the cores stumble is how the trio is woven together. Things you learn in Asra's route can inform the way you play Nadia's, for example. Julian's route informs what is going on in Asra's route and slots some missing puzzle pieces together. Nadia's route tells you of the power struggles she is facing and informs the other two routes' handling of Julian and his trial. On and on, the three routes support each other because they are built out of the same basic plot beats, just tackled in very different ways. Now, the writers are allowed to try and write whatever they want. They apparently wanted to be more experimental and less tied down to an overarching plot with the three secondaries. Okay, fine, they are allowed to do that. The problem is that they sacrificed one of the key strengths of the primary trio and didn't replace said strength with anything else. They also, on some level, harmed the very premise of the game, which is that only the player's choices and route selected change the overall plot. Instead of feeling like legitimate possibilities or offshoots of the same timeline/plot, the secondaries feel almost like Arcana AUs. The secondaries throw out all relations to the primaries and each other as quickly as possible and for what? 

It is probably the height of arrogance to suggest fixes for works whose behind the scenes I do not know. At the same time, some small, obvious changes could have salvaged Muriel and maybe Lucio's endings (rip Portia). Instead of having the Hermit appear as a disappointing cameo, why not have him say something cryptic to Muriel, then have MC start trying to seal the Devil. Then let Muriel use his forget me mark to cloak MC and hide them from the Devil's attacks. Protecting MC by hiding them from Lucio, keeping him focused on Muriel, seems to me a simple third solution between Muriel's desire to run and his desire to never fight again. It lets him stand up to Lucio and let him have it while holding onto who Muriel has become. The Reversed End would have MC try to draw Lucio's attention at some point, disrupting the sealing, and eventually leading to Muriel killing the Devil. With Lucio's Upright End, I just have to ask: why doesn't MC fully claim the power of the Fool instead of the Devil? We don't need the other Arcana involved in this fight; we have three routes that demonstrate that. Just have MC pull Scout into the conflict, then have Lucio tell MC he believes in them, then add his power to the mix. You got yourself a full Fool who leaves Scout guarding the realm until they and Lucio's mortal bodies fail and they return to the realm to be together forever. Boom, you're done, you can even add some ambiguous lines so that players can decide how happy their MC is with this arrangement, send me the check.

Here is the bottom line. Our group is full of aroace, and several combinations therein, individuals. We are the last group who should have gotten into a dating sim of all things. But the Arcana did something with the primaries that was special; they wrote a compelling plot with dazzling lore, complex characters, and strong themes wrapped up in a dating sim bow. The writers know better and we know they know better. I do not know what happened with the secondaries, especially around books 10-11, which is where minor issues slowly start spiraling into major ones, but it is clear that Nix Hydra needed some more planning before they released these routes. Hopefully they will learn.

TL;DR: Nix Hydra fired their tarot consultants about eighteen months ago and it has wrecked their secondary routes until they were just embarrassments. They never intended for the secondary routes to even exist and once they had to make them, they scrambled and threw out everything that made the primaries work.

- Mod Telos

[beelsnack]

Obey Me! Boys Taking Care of a Sick MC

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

-----

Lucifer: “You should be resting.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“...Just one more thing.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

…Oh. They looked really cute like that.

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

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

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

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

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

Satan: His leg was falling asleep.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Have some more.”

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

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

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

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

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

“I’m not a baby…”

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

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

“Oh, wow, this is pretty good.”

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

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

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

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

“That sounds counter-intuitive.”

“Tell me about it.”

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

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

“Come here, I’ll show you.”

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

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

“No, seriously, just listen.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

[solomonish]

Solomon Headcanons

I didn’t like my old headcanons for him and I think I have a slightly better feel for him so I’m posting these bad boys. Maybe at this rate I’ll just post Solomon HCs every month 

Also this turned into more of a “I’m going to talk about Solomon in depth and maybe throw in one headcanon about kissing him” and is no longer “lol what kind of dates do you go on? <3″ so uh. do with that what you will. It’s also SUPER LONG (or feels that way) so make sure you have a hot second to read them

you can find my for real headcanons for him here but I don’t necessarily stand by them anymore? They’re just there for fun now lol

Solomon’s Relationship With Relationships

Solomon has been alive for...a long time, and with that naturally comes a lot of experiences, negative and positive. It’s also natural that it would also have him break out of traditional structures regarding...everything, but especially things regarding relationships and specific other people.

(Not to get sociological or philosophical about society or whatever, but the way we view everything is accented heavily by the end. With exceptions, and this certainly varies from culture to culture, but as a general idea, we view things expecting them to take place over the span of 70-100 years. Certain positions in politics or business or something try to look at things generationally, but how capable of that are we and how far ahead can we truly see?)

(What I mean to say is that immortality naturally shifts the entire context in which you would view things that were expected to be “lifelong.” What once existed to enrich a life is now a tether to a system that doesn’t necessarily suit his existence.)

Psychologically, however.....I don’t think Solomon has tried to (or even can) rewire himself entirely to the point where he doesn’t feel love. He’s already got a fondness for Simeon and Luke (always crying about him calling them “dear friends” in the circus event i don’t know if he says anything in the lessons because i’m only on like 21 LOL) so he’s clearly capable of fondness and affection.

Not that those should equate exactly to romantic feelings (because they shouldn’t), but there’s undeniable similarities between platonic and romantic affection and, for the purposes of speculating about an immortal’s capability to still feel both, I think they can be equated in this regard.

There are a lot of assumptions I’m making about him to make this post, namely the following: that there is still reconciling to be done internally between his immortality and humanity, that Solomon’s composed and confident nature is a bit of a front (only a bit - I’ll explain more later), and, related to these two, that he even cares about humanity and that he still wants to preserve his humanity.

While this might be my perspective as a regular human, I really don’t believe that the desire to be human and fully encompass what that means has left. If anything, I think his intrinsic desire for knowledge and power stems from it, and he’s just suppressed the “mushier” emotional parts of that as a sort of....defense mechanism, if you will.

SO the tl;dr of this is that you know how alloromantic people just like feel in love and they get their romantic crushes and it’s natural and they can’t control it? Solomon gets that! He just isn’t the type to swoon over someone or really make it known.

He also as a person is big on being manipulative shady and in control, so if he were to just be super obvious about having a crush on someone and not being able to do anything about it, that would sort of tarnish his whole image.

So yeah, I think Solomon just has his emotions on a tight leash when they probe to be out of control. Clearly, he doesn’t have every part of him under this sort of watchful eye (whether that’s because he still wants to feel genuine happiness or he knows if he came across as emotionless and calculated people would trust him even less, I haven’t decided), but those that cause trouble stay behind locked doors.

Additionally, I don’t think Solomon is opposed to falling in love. I’d bet he’s had lots of different partners over the years and remembers them fondly (you know, assuming they ended well)

I also think his immortal status makes dating different? I feel like doesn’t really date to find a life partner because. well. (gestures).

That’s not to say that he doesn’t date casually sometimes or something. In the terms of a serious romantic partnership, though, it’s rare that it happens because he knows that it’ll die with them (and stay within him for probably forever, even if/when there comes a day he can no longer remember their name or their face).

Another assumption I’m making that I forgot to mention: I think it’s rare that Solomon’s serious, long-term partners know the true extent of the magic he dabbles in. Maybe he lets them know it’s real magic, or he pretends it’s all show magic and parlor tricks. Sometimes he pretends his pact marks are tattoos, sometimes he tells the truth. If ever these confessions are laughed off, he laughs them off too and creates a cover story.

He doesn’t intend to lie, but it’s very difficult to meet someone and explain........all of THAT. On which date to you mention that you can control 72 demons? Do you send a card explaining how you’ve been alive since Biblical times and you’re not even sure if you birthday is your real birthday anymore, let alone how old you are? And should that card be store bought or homemade?

So while it’s rare for Solomon to have a serious romantic partnership, it’s even more rare for him to be entirely understood or accepted for EVERYTHING that he is because he can’t get into it. Arguably, that hasn’t happened since his “death” in his original timeline.

A crush for Solomon isn’t a hopeless affair, either. Should you choose someone else, he’ll allow himself the disappointment and move on.

With Solomon, romantic love sparks naturally, but genuine true love isn’t some all-powerful, unstoppable force. He falls more in line with the people who believe it’s a choice and a decision, somewhere between “it’s purely a biological impulse we just gave a fancy name” and “it’s the magic that makes life more enjoyable”

With MC

In the case of MC, however, I think he might initially see it as bothersome or a hinderance to whatever his plan is with being down there for the exchange program. Maybe he convinces himself he’s just naturally attracted to you because you’re human like him. Once he comes to terms with his feelings and gets to know MC a bit more, he might even see it as a lost cause seeing as you already have several of the brothers vying for your affections.

For Solomon to act on a crush that he’s already decided is hopeless, it’ll be up to the MC to show that THEY are interested in HIM

He finds no particular pleasure in being someone who is chased after or “playing hard to get,” but he already has a complicated relationship with complicated relationships. He’s gonna need a down payment of affection a sign that there’s anything even there to pursue 

Traditional flirting, while he’ll have his fun with it (and probably enjoy it at least a little - who doesn’t like feeling desirable?), doesn’t really work for him. Lots of people and creatures have used it to try and charm him, plus he has a pact with Asmo, so at this point he really sees it as more casual fun then an indication of true interest.

Honestly, to get him to realize “oh shit I actually have a chance,” you’re going to have to do two main things: 1) make him feel chosen over the others, and 2) respond to his displays of affection

Making Him Feel Chosen

This isn’t really a competition thing, or some selfish hoarding of your time. The thing is, Solomon knows he isn’t the only one in the running and he knows that anything he has to offer, somebody else could give you a portion of it.

(You won’t get the same experience or combination of traits with somebody else obvi, but with 11 suitors and an added chihuahua, there tends to be a little bit of overlap with everyone)

A crush for Solomon is a romantic interest, but if he intends on pursuing a serious relationship (which, I feel, is what he intends to be the final goal of his crushes as opposed to more casual affairs), he needs to see SOME reciprocation

Being with him is an ordeal, maybe a lifelong one for you, so he needs that assurance that it’ll be worth it and there aren’t better avenues

Basically, this means that ✨ quality time ✨ is of the utmost importance

At first, it doesn’t have to be anything big. Sit with him at lunch when you see him in the cafeteria, meet him in the library while you wait for your demon escort to be finished with their extracurriculars, chat him up in the one class you have together (and then ask him to help you study what you missed in class by talking. it’s a required transfer class but you already know everything about it, right, Solomon? 🥺)

As your relationship progresses, that’s when things start to get harder. Invite him out to things that you think he’ll enjoy, and say yes to as many excursions with him as you can. Bonus points for making it clear that you want to go when you’re unable to attend. 

(He finds himself a little embarrassed how happy it makes him when instead of just a “no” or a “sorry, not today” he gets something like “I’m on dinner duty so I have to spend that time preparing :( but we should definitely make a date so you can tell me about it later!” It makes him feel like a priority.)

It isn’t until you find yourself comfortable enough to ask him to accompany you to something you want to do that he starts to realize you’re hanging out with him for him and not because he’s just offering up a bunch of fun new experiences for you to try.

You don’t even have to say “hey, i’m pretty sure you know all about the birds in the Devildom aviary but I haven’t had a chance to go and would really like to spend the day with you. Wanna come with?” If it’s something that he knows you know isn’t in his wheelhouse, he’ll be able to figure out that OH.....you’re inviting him for HIM.....oh

Make him feel like a priority, like he’s the one that you want, even out of all your choices. You can be as enthralled by the birds in that aviary as you want, just as long as you make it clear that your enthusiasm to be with him is on the same level and he’ll finally kick himself into gear.

Responding to His Affections

Now, you don’t have to do anything you don’t like. I hear in his dame card devilgram he’s a consent king, and he stands by that every day of the week

He also isn’t the type to need an exact equal to everything he does. Yes a relationship is a two way street, but this isn’t saying that if he gets you a gift you need to present him something with equal or greater value within the next 24 hours. he’s not mammon haha i’m so FUNNY

Just...let him know that he’s doing things right. His serious relationships are few and far between and people change as often as the times do, so make sure that he knows what he’s doing is landing. He’s not insecure per se, but he would like to know that he isn’t making a fool of himself entirely, you know?

Don’t brush him off in front of the brothers or he’ll think he’s read the situation all wrong and you’re back to square one. If you do it because you don’t like touching and he put an arm around your shoulder or something, that’s fine, but if he thinks you’re uncomfortable being with him in front of the brothers he’ll wonder if you even liked him at all.

To him, a secret relationship isn’t really feasible. First of all, those brothers are ALWAYS in your business so bold of you to think you’ll have ANY secrets by the time the exchange program is done, and secondly, don’t you both have enough on your plate that you shouldn’t make something that makes you happy needlessly complicated?

He is an odd case and knows there’s a lot that comes with him, so if you’re uncomfortable simply showing that you’re in a relationship and reciprocating, he’ll think you aren’t equipped to handle.....All That.

In case you haven’t noticed, he’s weird. He’s a weirdo. He doesn’t fit in. And he doesn’t want to fit in. Have you ever seen him without that stupid cape on? That's weird.

If you respond to his affections in a similar way, such as putting you arm around his waist or a hand on his back when he puts an arm around your shoulder or reaching up to fix his hair when he reaches to mess with yours, it’ll make him happy for sure. He doesn’t have any specific expectations for you but he’ll like to feel like you’re on the same wavelength.

A lot of his affections are morphed into specific and targeted teasing (but not like *gently bullies u* teasing). It’s a lot of inside jokes at your expense (and the more inside jokes he has, the more he probably likes you)

It’s also a lot of messing up your hair, sharp pokes and frustrating games like “guess what?” “i don’t know, what?” “i told you to guess, MC.” “ugh...you won the lottery” “guess better” “please don’t do this to me Solomon”

He probably responds best to Acts of Service and Quality Time (though at any stage in the relationship he’s a flexible man). While he’s trying to woo you to solidify his spot in first place against everyone else, if you continue to make the effort to be around him or like. recognize he’s taking time out of his day to romance you and do something for him in return he’ll cement the fact that oh yeah, this is happening between the two of you

(not to say that romancing you is a chore, because it’s not, but man if it doesn’t make him happy that you’re wanting to make his life easier on him so he can pursue the other things he enjoys, too.)

What a Relationship with Solomon is Like

He isn’t the biggest person on PDA, or at least not on purpose. He won’t see you and immediately be like ‘oh there they are i need to kiss them kiss kiss kiss’ or whatever, but he’s not averse to it?

He doesn’t want physical affection to be a big deal, or at least not in public. unless that’s what you’re into ;) If the two of you are out and about and you kiss his hand, or you’re a generally physically affectionate person he’ll smile and respond and be generally unbothered by it, but don’t expect him to ever really have the desire to like make out in public or something. Really, you probably won’t get much more than a quick kiss because he DOES always have other things on his mind.

You will NOT be able to get out of him messing with you. If you need him to tone it down that’s fine, but the more you let him get away with, the less energy he’ll have to redirect into other troublemaking activities

Has a weird thing with licking too probably? like he’s not gross about it and it’s not like a NSFW fixation but he’ll do that mom thing where he licks his thumb because “you’ve got something on your cheek” and then reveal that he’s a LIAR

or he’ll put his face really close to yours and stick his tongue out when you turn your head so it hits your cheek

it just gets such a DRAMATIC reaction out of you so that’s why he does it? if you ask him genuinely to stop he will but if you comment on it he’ll just give you a small smile and not say anything then continue to do it

when he messes with you, it’s ok if you say he’s doing something weird but don’t make him feel childish. setting boundaries (and making regular observations - he is kinda weird) is more than alright but admonishing him just feels......off and will turn him sour for a bit

VERY appreciative of someone who supports his adventurous side. Also fond of someone who’s happy to tag along but knows that some things he has to do on his own.

Even if you don’t want to go, he’ll appreciate the support or the interest you show in what he does. Ask him where he’s going and what he’s doing there, but ask him because you’re interested and not because you’re overly worried.

Please be there for him when he gets back to talk about it. He really likes feeling important or cool when he tells his tales, even if all he did was go and catch a few magic salamanders or something.

PLEASE be a soundboard for all of his ideas. He knows that sometimes he’ll talk about things that are way over your head that he hasn’t learned yet, but he really does want your undivided attention. It doesn’t matter if you’re encouraging him, debating with him, telling him the idea is stupid (though don’t pull this one too often unless you intend to ask to be let in to the fun) or just watching in confusion. It’s important to him that you value what he has to say, and he hopes one day that he’ll be able to tell you anything and you’ll have a response to it all. (Even if you don’t learn magic to the degree he knows it, he hopes you’ll get to a point where you understand what he wants, even if you don’t know what magical elements he’s talking about or something.)

A relationship with Solomon is one where you’re both independent, but also can’t imagine not going to the other at the end of the day. It’s startling how quickly you become constant in the other’s life despite being in COMPLETELY different stages of magical development and learning about the demon world.

The relationship will be lots of fun, but there will be many serious moments, too. 

They’ll happen randomly. Maybe something from a class or a spell reminds him of something from his past, or maybe he’s reminded that he can’t remember so many things that he knows were important to him.

Sometimes, his Tuesday night blues will feel like a life-changing existential crises for you, but please, do what you can to be there for him in these moments. It worries him how much love and happiness he’s lost, especially when he knows he promised to remember it.

Once you get him to think aloud, he’ll say super heavy stuff life “What if I’ve forgotten who I really am and now I’m just something other people and magic have morphed me into?” or “When will the human race evolve or go extinct and leave me behind?” and it fucks you up, really. It fucks him up too

But please be patient with him, because there’s something important he has to get off his chest eventually. He’s worried already that he’ll forget you the way he’s probably forgotten so many others, but he doesn’t want to offend you and know that saying it would come off as uncaring.

You won’t have an answer for these moments, and he knows it. It’ll be best if you just hold him tight, stroke his hair if you’re laying down, and reassure him that you don’t care.

With how long he’s been alive, you’ll have to get past caring if you’re his “one true love” because he doesn’t have that. He gave up the right to having a one true love in exchange for never-ending life. But he still loves and he does love deeply, it just has a lot to cut through to properly be articulated.

So tell him. Tell him you know he’s had other loves, that you know you might not even be the best partner suited to him that he’s had. Tell him that you know when your time has come, he’ll find someone else eventually.

Tell him that what matters to you is that he loves you now, that he’s making things work with you now, and that he isn’t secretly yearning for some lover that’s come to pass or yet to come when he’s with you.

You can’t control what happened in the past or what happens in the future, but right now he’s yours and you’re his and he needs to learn to take things one lifetime at a time. Right now is YOUR Solomon time, and what happens after is just a consequence of time and you’ve already forgiven him for it.

instead of “mom says it’s my turn on the xbox” it’s “god says it’s MY turn on the Solomon”

send that to him for real and he’ll probably never forget you lol

How to Make a Relationship with Solomon Work

With all this in mind, the key to a good relationship with Solomon is keeping his head on his shoulders.

He’s ambitious, powerful, scary smart, and capable of so much more than you can even guess and he knows it. It’ll be good for him to have somebody to keep him on the ground.

Now, don’t be overbearing. If you try to stop him from going places or try to hinder his pursuit of knowledge out of fear for his safety, that’ll cause unbelievable strain on him. You will have to learn to let him work his things out the way he wants to, and it won’t always be the safest or most responsible way either.

He doesn’t mind a gentle scolding if he gets hurt. He won’t say it, but he kinda likes to be reminded how important he is to you.

Also be down to have fun and be a little reckless. Your safety will always be a priority to him, but nobody ever got anywhere without a little struggle, right? Sometimes adventuring with him and following him into the darkest magical corners of the world will require multiple (sometime literal) leaps of faith, but he’ll always be there to catch you.

Let Solomon work for you and the relationship, and you work to keep him sane and remind him that he can belong somewhere, even when he’s been himself for who knows how long and nowhere ever really stays the same.

You’ll always have to remind Solomon that not everything revolves around magic and power. He’s not been mortal for some time, so he gets caught up in the heady and lofty topics and ideas. 

Remind him about the simple joys of just having fun and goofing off, that not every moment not spent on homework has to be spent on potions. Remind him (in the human world) how cool a sunset is, or convince him to go through a museum and pretend he’s seeing everything for the first time. 

As much as he lives for understanding the grand topics most people can only dream of beginning to grasp, remind him of the little things. Remind him of human indulgences that he’s abandoned. Get him back in touch with that part of himself.

Solomon as a character feels like he’d be really aloof, but he’s honestly extremely devoted to what he invests his time in. He shows this devotion in small ways that feel more like riddles sometimes, in the way he always comes back after a rather dangerous magical excursion, in the way he shortens his time away so he can get back to you, in the way he learns to quiet his mind so he can properly take care of you and what you need and strengthen your relationship.

One thing that I think is a hallmark of a relationship with him is that Solomon loves things that can teach him more about what he doesn’t know. You don’t need to be the smartest person on the planet, or have a specialized and thorough education in some bizarre topic, or come from somewhere entirely different than what he knows to keep his interest.

You are uniquely human, and you help teach him about himself, the one thing that he can never seem to properly grasp and understand the way he wants to.

More importantly, you are you, the one who made pacts with all seven demon lords, the one captured his heart and promised to take care of it when you could throw it away for anybody else.

And you are the only one who could say those words that he believes. Hopefully, you’ll believe him when he says them, too.

[vynegar]

You watched both of Artem's anniversary cards, 1 and 2. What did you think?

tl;dr 1st anniversary: very touching and fitting, i think it was good. 2nd anniversary: in various ways, it was rather disappointing and didn't feel like a proper extension of the artem storylines we've seen so far.

the full version gets pretty long, since i was expecting to have Opinions and i did, so under the read more:

i think artem's 1st card was very sweet and touching :') it ended up leaning pretty hard into the "chance" and "fate" themes, which made sense for their relationship. i think you could really feel how much he trusts mc, and he was extremely thoughtful throughout all of it (to both mc and the red bean npc). i didn't expect the part about mc feeling insecure since i didn't remember that being one of the major conflicts at that point in his personal story/cards, but i think it was handled well; artem shows his trust in mc and his willingness to support her, and it was a convenient way to let him plan the confession in secret lol.

i went into his 2nd card having already read some criticisms of it, so there were some things i was expecting to pay attention to. also, i haven't read any of his post-confession cards besides the AUs, so i'd be very interested to know if there is anything from those cards that impacts the context of anniv2 or if there's something i'm really missing the mark on.

it’s like. not as egregious to me as i was expecting, mostly bc i was expecting nothing less than character assassination based on those asks, and also maybe bc i’m not really an artem stan so i don’t really follow his storylines as closely. but it’s very VERY disappointing in multiple ways, which looks even worse in comparison to two excellent anniversary cards and one that is fine/good/perfectly acceptable

i overall like the idea that celestine's wedding plays a big part in this, since celestine played a huge part in getting them together. and her sprite and voice acting in this card are excellent, which was great to see. i also really liked the talk that jeremy had with artem; it was very sincere and sweet to see artem get that kind of support from someone who understands his position. (although has it been mentioned before that they're friends? i guess they wanted celestine reuse her trick to get artem to do that shakespeare play, but is artem really close enough to be jeremy's best man?)

it didn't really have any of the major themes of their relationship though; except for a few lip service lines, i didn't see the ideas of fate, choosing to be together, sharing workload, and partnership that i expected. those were there in the confession, but if i had to try to pick themes from this card, i guess i would have to say artem's nervousness, overwhelming desire, and insecurity? which are such weird choices to make. idk, have any of these been a major theme in the recent artem cards?? i've been wondering if i'm just missing the context from the new cards, but i feel like i'm not; artem's cards are generally quite consistent in his warmth and stability, and even for all the other LIs, their anniv card themes are ideas that have also been there since the beginning. it's their engagement, it needs to recognize and build on the foundations of their relationship.

and the way that artem did the proposal felt almost like a regression to ch1 artem; he tries to plan a rather textbook romantic gesture, but it mostly just causes confusion and worry for mc. it's even stranger because anniv1 specifically subverts this to show their relationship growth: the card opens with artem with confession gifts on his tablet, but it's revealed that it just happens to be a well-timed ad. his actual plan is inspired by something personally significant to their relationship, and he forgoes any grander ceremony in order to put mc's mind at ease. pretty much the opposite is true of what happened in anniv2?

is it too harsh to say that this artem card reads like it hates the fact that it's an artem card? it just doesn't fit tonally with the rest of his storyline and the card's main story beats aren't typical at all for him...

re: the way artem brings up his insecurity after the proposal... i don’t necessarily dislike it as internal conflict for him to have: worrying they weren’t good enough for the other was one of the main themes in the confession card, and it also makes sense considering artem's awkwardness and lack of relationship experience. but the execution here just was kind of clumsy. the way that he admits it after the proposal almost made it feel like insecurity was a motivator in him wanting to propose, not just out of pure love and wanting to spend his life with mc. this is probably not the intention, or if it was intended, it was probably meant to seem romantic, but it kind of left a bad taste in my mouth. and then it doesn’t get a satisfying resolution bc anything addressing it was mostly overshadowed by the ending scene, and anything they said seemed more like something in the heat of the moment rather than the typical thoughtful words mc usually uses to reassure a LI.

artem also talks very little about the ring; i think he only explained why he picked the word for the inscription? which is also disappointing (even appalling?) since the token of love always has a relatively significant role in the story (for both anniversary years), and he supposedly has been planning this ever since he decided he wanted to be with mc. in every other card, there’s a significant part of the story where the LI is shown working on the token or explaining the thought he put into its design.

what i would've wanted to see: anniv1 had a lot of fate and artem supporting mc, so i wish they had built on that with more emphasis on the choices they've made or showing mc supporting artem. for example catching the bouquet toss represents fate, but their choice to be together is what led them there and will build their future together. or maybe show the closeness of their partnership by having mc ask him why he's busy/distracted lately, so he admits he's been preparing sth for both of them and she takes on a bit of artem's workload. artem can have a bit of a surprise, but mc isn't worried throughout the process, and can anticipate something is coming.

anyway not sure if you were expecting this much, but thanks to anyone who read this ^^ feel free to add on or comment or point out how horribly mistaken i am, etc~

[lunarrin]

Twisted Wonderland Theory! May have future spoilers so please skip this post if you don’t want to risk getting spoiled.

I accidentally posted this before it was finished before, that’s why this might seem like a repeated post, whoops sorry. Edit: Also I tumblr keeps on messing up the format and making me edit it again ;-;

Anyways, It seems like a bunch of people are interested in learning more about this theory circulating among JPN twisted wonderland fans so here I am to display the possible evidence/hints. I had to use google translate to look at some of their claims and although it’s easy to just confirm on your own the claims I have to admit I couldn’t list some of their claims simply because I couldn’t understand what they were saying. Please keep in mind this is only a speculation and has no in-game proof or foreshadowing that I’ve seen at the very least proving it, so take it with a grain of salt. Now, onto the theory!

The Ace Betrayal Theory

This theory concerns our beloved Ace Trappola and concerning “coincidences” that point to Ace possible betraying us in the future. If you would like to look at the twitter posts yourself, search up エース 裏切り説し on twitter.

So first of all, the first thing that may point at things being not what they seem, or at least that something is wrong is the Heartslabyul dorm main characters. There are 5 main characters from the Heartslabyul dorm and in terms of cards it seems a bit odd that there is no sign of a joker within the dorm, of course you could chalk it up to Riddle being the Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland so he doesn’t count as a “Heart”. With the “heart” suit being represented by Ace and Riddle, is it possible one of them could also represent the joker? In this case, when I say “joker” I don’t mean they’re gonna be like “surprise I’m actually a joker not a heart suit!” I more so mean that one of them will like a wild card. Given that Riddle already had his episode, and Ace’s status proven by the twisted wonderland opening to be a main character, could we say that Ace could be the “joker” of the dorm in a way? The wild card? Of course this point is based on perspective, if you exclude Riddle from being counted as a “Heart” suit then the dorm is fine, but if you count him as someone representing the “Heart” suit then the repetition seems odd.

There is one main concerning part of this theory that surely would be difficult to pass of as mere coincidence, and it’s Ace’s last name, “Trappola”.

In Italian is means  “trap/pitfall(a possible danger)".  

And Ace is the only dorm member to not have his suit somewhere in his last name, instead he has Trappola, a Venetian trick-taking card game where the Ace is the most powerful card. (Funny enough, it seems like the Deuce is the second most powerful in terms of points alone) And it’s no news to anyone who’s read Ace’s profile that he enjoys card games doesn’t he? What’s a trick-taking card game? It’s a tile based game where each round is called a “trick” and in Trappola, your goal is to take/win the trick. Funny thing is, in Trappola specifically, it seems like the player is awarded bonus points for taking a trick(s) with a Deuce.

There is also another trick-taking, or more so, trick-avoiding game called “Hearts” where you try to have the least amount of points by the end of the game. You get points by wining hearts in tricks in which the amount of points lost depends on the the specific card, with the ace of hearts giving the most points (something you do not want). A fan interpreted this in terms of twisted wonderland to be another pointer for Ace betraying the group just as the Ace of hearts in the game in a way betrays you because it gives you the most points, I personally feel like this is a stretch? But I listed it anyways in case you wanted to know.

Edit: It has been brought to my attention that the Red Queen and Jack of Hearts are from Alice through the Looking Glass and not Alice in Wonderland so the next point does not hold as much ground anymore, but I’ll leave it here anyways

Then there is Ace's similarity or possible link to a character within Alice in Wonderland, being the Jack/Knave of Hearts, who betrays the Red Queen (whom he was previous lovers with, and in general close to the Red Queen). Both Ace and Jack(or the Knave of hearts) have a heart on or around their left eye (our right). Both Jack and Ace steal a tart from the Red Queen (Queen of Hearts (Riddle) in Ace's case). Next, Both betray the Red Queen/Queen of Hearts respectively at one point (Jack tries to kill the Red Queen while Ace tries to take Riddle’s dorm leader position).Off topic coincidence, there is an otome game where the Jack of Hearts is named "Ace". Now this point’s coincidences seem difficult to be just “coincidences” but at the same time you could also say that Ace’s role as the Jack of Hearts has already ended since he has already had his failed attempt at overthrowing Riddle. The concerning part of this link though is that the Jack of hearts tried to kill the person they were at least it seemed to be very close to and at least loyal to (when in actually he hated her) while Ace himself wasn't very close to Riddle at that point, but who is Ace close to and loyal(?) to? MC and the gang ;-; But still take this possibility as a grain of salt.

Of course, we know Ace’s name isn’t Jack, or at least, hopefully he doesn’t pull a “Ace is not my true name at all! Instead I’m also named Jack/Knave!”. But he does have a older brother who once went to the same school, could it be that Ace’s brother is named Jack/Knave? We don’t know much about his brother besides it seems like he was rather relevant as he led a parade that is shown in a picture in one of the halls of the school and that he’s good at card tricks. And similiar to how the Red Queen and the Queen of Hearts are different, the Knave of hearts and the Red knight could also be different, with the Knave of Hearts and the Red knight being Ace’s brother and him. Still, we need more info to see how relevant Ace’s brother is in all of this.

Next we have the Twisted Wonderland Opening Movie, which has proven to spoil/hint at plot lines before with Azul as the opening movie teases Azul’s overblot form as well as his child self photos. Now in the opening a fan has noted that every character so far that has been seen alone (besides the part where they have the character’s names and dorms, this part (because Kalim appears and the dorm leaders have to be alone)

Every character that has appeared alone or a bit during the opening so far has overbloted, Jamil, Leona, (and we can guess Malleus and Idia will overblot). While every other character has been introduced with someone alongside them, for example, Epel only appears with Rook, Floyd only appears with Jade, Jack only appears with Ruggie, and the Diasomnia group(minus Malleus) only appear with each other. But who else appears by them self? Our boy Ace.

And Deuce who the OP proves alongside Ace has the same amount of relevance is introduced alongside Cater and Trey

Now for Ace to overblot, it probably means he’s gonna do something villainous like I don’t know, betray the group?

Now here’s the thing, does Ace’s character/personality have the potential to be evil/betray us? Yes, 100 times yes. This is the man who went up to us in the prologue and acted all nice and everything explaining the Great Seven, only to laugh (maniacally?) at our misery and ignorance claiming to have only visited us to mess with us and essentially mock us. If Deuce is the person who could and would (if you pissed him off) physically beat you to death, then Ace is the person to psychologically and emotionally torment/manipulate you, oh and verbal abuse too, he’s good at that. One thing I personally find very concerning about Ace is his hobby of card tricks, like aren’t you guys based off of cards? Are you trying to tell me Ace is good at manipulating/messing with people? 

Like we’ve seen Ace be good at acting and lying on two separate occasions in the story, one with us in the beginning, two with the guard at the underwater museum. In his personal stories, for example in the ‘A Kouhai This Honest’ story, Trey comments on how Ace did indeed have ulterior motives to helping Trey besides just wanting a cherry pie as Ace was trying to fish possible test questions out from Trey. This is their conversation:

Ace: “To collect information, I’m carrying all this heavy stuff~ Beside, Trey-senpai you too… You knew from the beginning I wouldn’t carry all this stuff for a pie with lots of cherry on it “

Trey: “ You… could it be you were lying about liking cherries too?”

Ace: “ That’s the truth. I learnt that from my big brother. “When you’re lying mix a bit of truth in it” he said”

And with the ‘Tch, I Got Found Out’ personal story he tries to take the profit all for himself:

Ruggie:  “ But anyway, isn’t it fine in the end? It wraps up without sensei knowing so your mark doesn’t get affected Anyway, I’m also… wait, Ace-kun!? Where are you going with that bag? That’s the mandragoras to be sold to the ghosts. Don’t just take it like that!”

Ace: “ Tch, I got found out. I thought I could sneak off with it while you two aren’t looking at me ”

Ruggie:  “ You were planning to slip out and take the pay all for yourself huh? What an impudent first year”

Jamil:  “ When I thought you were being all meek…You sure are bold”

Ace: ”Hehe, I’ll take that as a praise, senpais ♪ “

It clear to see Ace at times schemes for his own benefit, whether that is taking advantage of his senpais or other people, Ace will lie and pretend to be innocent while carrying out his ulterior motives. Funny how his big brother taught him that.

On another note, Ace has the uncanny ability of being able to copy what he sees, from his brother’s card tricks, to how to speak hedgehog from seeing Rook just say the phrase once, from quickly learning how to extract um, something from mandragoras and doing it very efficiently. Perhaps will his unique magic be a copy magic, maybe copying the unique magic of others? If so, that sounds like an ability that could build up blot fast if he uses it willy-nilly. (it also sounds OP)

All in all, it seems like Ace really does have the potential to be the villain at one point (even though almost all of them are villains lol).

One more thing pointing to a possible Ace betrayal in the future is kinda a stretch in my opinion, but I will list it anyways because it’s coincidences are a bit unnerving. It has to do with birth month flowers and the Dahlia, a flower which can symbolise “Warning someone about a potential betrayal” and Dahlia is the birth flower of August, what month comes right after August? September, the birth month of both Ace and Jamil. Guess what? Jamil betrayed Kalim in the story.

Well, that’s it for the evidence at least I found people using for the Ace betrayal theory, some of it is a stretch and some of it’s is concerning if it was a mere “coincidence”. I hope you enjoyed reading this, regardless if in the end you believe in this theory or not. I personally love this theory because I love the thought of Ace getting more development in the future, also the fan art people make for this theory is great. For example, the twitter account  @GPs_ac has a piece of fan art of the ace betrayal theory and it’s great.

Also If Ace does betray us, I want to see Deuce beat him into the ground ahahaha... (I still love you Ace but I will be hurt if you do betray us, this is why I stan Deuce lol)

Turns out MC can’t trust anyone but Deuce, because Grim is probably gonna overblot and Ace might betray.

Also, fun fact. The Ace of Spades symbolises death

Haha very funny Disney, making our lovable no braincells duo represent death

Anyways feel free to comment your thoughts on the theory!

[takemyopenheart]

Surprise

Pairing: Ethan Ramsey and f!MC (Luz Beltrán) | Category: fluff | Rating: G | Warnings: none | Word Count: 1.6k | Ao3 link

summary: It’s Father’s Day, and Luz and baby Rey have special news for daddy.

Ethan’s whistling-snores in Luz’s ear awoke her. The strands of her hair flew up in the air each time he exhaled, which had her almost giggling to herself. He looked so at peace, his arms underneath the pillow, his long lean body stretched out so comfortably. Today was his day, and she would make sure her hard-working husband got all the rest he deserved.

She opened the curtains and stared at nothing but the June gloom outside, but that wasn’t enough to dampen her spirits. There was a lot planned to do today, and she smiled to herself as she stared back at Ethan’s sleeping form. Someone else needed to wake up, so she carefully tip-toed out of the room to check on their 17-month-old. Her heart felt full every time she stared down at the tiny life she and Ethan created. Aréya had her daddy’s piercing blue eyes, and they stared up at her as she walked over to her crib. Rey’s smile lit up as she hugged her favorite star-patterned blankie, and she opened her arms out for her mommy, all the while letting out an excited babble. "Good morning, Rey." Luz picked her up in her arms, quickly smelling the evidence that she needed a diaper change.

Once she was clean and happy, she sat her in her high chair to make her a banana toast breakfast. It was still only 7:30, and knowing Ethan was a morning person, Luz knew she had to be quick before he decided to wake up.

As Aréya ate her breakfast and babbled away, Luz grabbed the Father’s Day gift to wrap it. Her elation was still present as she wrote a message on the card, which had Rey’s handprints on the front in the shape of a heart—or what was an attempt at a shape of a heart, as Rey hadn’t been too cooperative. Next, she fixed up a stack of chocolate chip pancakes with fruit on the side—his favorite, strawberries and cantaloupe.

She froze when she heard a loud sound, thinking Ethan had gotten up, but only laughed when it turned out to be Rey’s sippy cup that she had thrown on the floor. She mimicked her mom’s laugh, and Luz quickly stopped and put on a serious face so she wouldn’t think what she did was right.

"No, Rey," she said as she picked it up to wash it.

"No," Rey repeated, shaking her little head.

"That’s right." Luz cleaned Rey’s mouth and her hands. "Now, are you ready to surprise daddy?" she whispered while getting her out of the high chair. "Say ‘big sister’."

Rey stared at her lips as Luz enunciated the words in an exaggerated fashion. "Big sister."

"Bist-oo," she repeated over and over again. Luz let out a small laugh when she realized that was the best they could do.

As she approached the master bedroom with Rey in her right arm and Ethan’s breakfast in her left hand, her heart thumped in her chest. She really hoped he would take the news well. It wasn’t easy being doctors while raising a baby. But they did the best they could for their daughter. She was their number one priority. And she knew he loved being a father. Welcoming her into their lives had been the biggest blessing, and they hadn’t stopped smiling since the moment they held her in their arms for the first time. She just hoped he wouldn’t be terrified by the prospect of going through the terrible-twos while raising a newborn.

Well, there was no going back now. This was happening no matter what. Taking a deep breath, she crossed the threshold and hovered over Ethan’s still-sleeping form. She bent down and placed Rey on top of him. He lay on his back, still snoring away, with one arm over his face, and the comforter pulled down around his waist, exposing his sculpted chest.

As soon as Rey moved around on top of him, his snores stopped and his eyes slowly peeled open. Ethan stirred awake as he felt something moving on top of him and two small hands on his face. His eyes stared back at his identical ones belonging to his precious daughter, and he smiled at the sight of his little girl.

"Well, what do we have here," his groggy voice said.

"Happy Father’s Day, daddy!" Luz crawled in next to her darling family and lay a gentle kiss on his lips. His smile widened as he wrapped his arms around his girls and kissed each of them. This was the perfect way to wake up—surrounded by his two loves.

"Thank you very much!" He sat up, blinking his eyes to adjust to the light, and lifted Rey in the air, causing her to giggle.

"Say ‘Happy Father’s Day’, Rey," Luz instructed her, but she was too busy laughing as her daddy tickled her and blew raspberries on her stomach.

"We made you breakfast." She placed the plate of pancakes in front of him after he put Rey down.

He moaned in delight as he brought the plate up to his nose. "Thanks, sweetheart. This looks incredible, you’re the best. And you’re the best," he tickled Rey once more under her arm and placed a kiss on her head. "This is the best Father’s Day I could ask for." He looked into his wife’s eyes with all the love he had for her. She felt so damn lucky to have such a man in her life.

"Oh! But that’s not all." She gave him the gift bag, and he reached for the card. "Before you open the gift, just read this first."

His face was full of anticipation as he opened the card, and he let out a soft laugh as he looked at the artwork on the front of it. "This is adorable. You did this?" he asked Rey, pointing to the card. She looked on with a giggle as she moved around, and he began to read what was inside.

"Dear Ethan," he read aloud. "Though we don’t need one specific day to remind us that you’re the best father anyone could ever ask for, I just wanted to tell you how happy you make Rey and me. The way she lights up whenever you walk into the room, the sound of her giggles mixed with yours, the times you calm her down after she’s had a crying fit, the joyful looks on your faces whenever you’re around each other, is the greatest thing for me to witness. You never cease to amaze me. I feel like the luckiest woman in the world to have landed such a delicious husband and baby daddy. Our nights are never boring—winky face. But seriously, Ethan, thank you for being an incredible and supportive husband and father. Rey and I couldn’t be happier to have you in our lives. You and I created an amazing little human from our love, and that love continues to grow in more ways than one—look inside. Happy Father’s Day, handsome. We love you."

His smile didn’t disappear as he read, and her anxiousness grew when he read the last few sentences. He choked up as he finished and wrapped his arms around Luz. "Thank you. I don’t know what I did do deserve you two." Rey was seated in his lap, trying to pull out the tissue paper inside the gift bag. He looked down at her, blissfulness painted on his face before meeting Luz’s eyes again—that same expression not dissipating.

"You’re welcome, mi amor."

He finally peered in and reached for the small rectangular box. She could tell he missed the clue she had written in the card, but she didn’t care. He opened it, and once his eyes settled on the positive pregnancy test, he felt his breath catch. His smile was replaced with a look of startled surprise, and he whipped his head toward her, staring back with tenderness in his eyes. He had not prepared for this, how had he missed the signs? But that wasn’t important right now.

He took her hands in his. "Are-are you?" His eyes were wide and fixed on her. Her vision became blurry, and all she could do was nod her head. He finally gave in to the emotion, and a lone tear rolled down his cheek, and he pulled her toward him, hugging her as he sniffed his nose and buried his face in the crook of her neck. Rey came in between them, and they broke apart to share the excited news.

"You’re gonna be a big sister, Rey!" Ethan exclaimed excitedly.

"Bist-oo," she blurted out, which earned a small gasp from him as he cupped her chubby cheeks before kissing them.

"Yes! Are you excited?" Rey pushed his hands down and crawled over to the plate of breakfast. Ethan fed her a piece of his strawberry and kept his eyes on Luz as he held her close.

"So, you’re happy?" she asked him.

"Of course I am! Why wouldn’t I be?" He looked down at her, brows furrowed in confusion.

"I just...I was a little anxious considering Rey’s not even two yet."

"Oh, sweetheart. I promise you, I’m delighted. We didn’t exactly plan this, but you know what? I wouldn’t trade this for the world," he simply said, and her tears flowed again. "Come here." He pressed his lips against hers, finding himself placing his hand against her stomach. It astonished him that there was a second being they created growing inside.

They sat in bed with their toddler by their side and their growing baby inside Luz’s belly. She couldn’t believe a year from now, they would be celebrating Father’s Day cuddled in bed with two babies. It was the greatest surprise they could ever ask for.

• @openheartfanfics

[storysofmyown]

How the demon bro’s would ask you to marry them

Note: I am unaware if this was done before, i have not seen this specific scenario yet, so if there is any resemblance to an already existing work it was unintentional!

Lucifer:

This man, he knew from the moment you two started the relationship that he would marry you. There was never a doubt in his mind, he was not letting you get away.

So, of course, he knew that at some point he would ask you to marry him. His pride dictating him to ask you first no matter what, and so...he did.

It wasn't a big party, nor was it with his brothers or anyone else. It was just the two of you. No interruptions and no drama, just you two, just like he wanted to be for the rest of his live.

He had planned the entire evening, making sure none of the brothers would interfere at all. He rented the whole restaurant, the only ones that stayed longer were the cook and after delivering the food they left.

There was soft music in the background, a dim light illuminated everything, the proposal, just like many things in your relationship was going to low-key.

You would be eating and chatting for a moment, look down, and the moment you look up there is a neatly placed black velvet box.

At first you were confused, but with a soft smile, Lucifer ushered you to open the small box. Inside there was a beautiful small ring with red stones. It was simply breathtaking, but so was the softness in Lucifer’s smug smile as he watched your face lit u[p at the sight of it. He would take your hand, give a kiss to it, the ring in his other fingers as you look at him directly in the eyes, before simply saying

“Marry me.” The weight of the ring and the feeling on his fingers between yours would only become present as you nod slowly, tears in your eyes as the demon looked at you with the most love sick expression he had ever shown.

Mammon:

Dear lord, did it take this demon long before he could simply say “I love you” in a sincere way without feeling embarrassed or berating your afterwards. But you stayed with him, no matter what, and where others would make fun of him and insult him, you put care and love in his life.

So...yeah, he wanted to marry. The moment he realized he wanted to marry you it was a soft night in your room. The two of you were in bed after the other’s leaving, you had fallen asleep in his arms and he was caressing your cheek, and he realized he simply couldn't live without you anymore.

This demon would want EVERYONE to know you are his, and only HIS.

He would buy you the biggest and most expensive ring there is. After all, you belonged to The Great Mammon, you would now need better jewelry and stuff like that. And what a better start than the best ring he could find? (He also bought this with half money earned from working and half from Lucifer’s credit card. The eldest made sure Mammon paid back after threatening him saying he would not pay one grimm for the wedding.)

Now, the demon would want this to be both a special and memorable moment, but he would want to have you all for himself when he asks.

So, he would take you to a carnival of sorts. It was almost as chaotic as your relationship with him, which was simply befitting.

It would be an EXCELLENT time. The most fun you had with him, and the relationship was always fun. The whole time would be spent between laughs, jokes, throwing popcorn at each other, etc.

Then,it would  be quiet. But not in an uncomfortable way, less and less people would be at the carnival, and when there is few people, he would grow quieter, mustering the courage to actually ask you. He would take a deep a deep breath, hands buried in his pockets as he plays with the small box. Finally, he would speak.

“Yo” he wouldn't wait for an answer. “Y-y’know that we...have been dating for a while, right?” One hand in his hair as he no longer looks at you. “And...and you are always so nice to me and you basically thought me how to feel lo-love or whatever and- and i guess what I’m trying to say is-” He would stop, a blush covering his cheeks as he finally looks at you and pulls the box out. “Would you marry me?”

And it amazes you, it amazes you that before, when your relationship was fresh and new, he would go on a tangent about how you should feel honored that someone like him, would be interested in someone like you. But not now, he didn't had to say that. Because you were honored that he would love you, and he was honored that you would even consider to love him back.

“Oi! Erh...are ya just gonna stand there?!” He would ask after several moments of silence, before you tackle him in a big hug and smile saying yes over and over. He would never admit it, but the demon cried a little, but never nearly as much as when the actual wedding arrived.

Leviathan:

Oh boi, oh dear, this poor demon is soooooooooo insecure at first!! He questions why you would ever want to be in a relationship with someone like him. He honestly believes that you will one day realize you could be with someone much better than him, so the idea of marriage never crosses his mind...until a certain day.

It had been years since you started the relationship, and little by little he had started to believe you loved him. He had his insecurities...and the fact that his sin was envy had not helped...but now he honestly believed you did love him. 

You were in his room, you guys were watching an anime you had been following for a while now. There was a specific scene that threw him off, the protagonist had claimed something that completely contradicted something that had happened back in episode #123. Before he could even say anything, you paused the show and went over a half an hour rant about the exact same subject he was just about to start talking about, even providing theories of your own about if this was intentional or not.

That was it for him. Man knew he needed you in his life forever. No one had ever taken interest in what he liked or cared to actually pay attention to the things he was fixated about, so knowing that you cared...he knew he couldn't risk ever losing you. Because even if one took away all the romantic parts of your relationship, you were still his friend, the best friend he had ever had. So, that night he started planing.

He had to ask Asmodeus for help, baby was so scared and nervous about the whole thing he didn't knew how to ask you at all. But in the end, he had his idea. He was going to ask you in anime fashion. He would think of your favorite anime from all of those you had ever watched and rambled to him about. He would pick your favorite, and base an entire game around it. he even dressed as our favorite character from the anime (no matter how embarrassing it was)

The final stage of the whole thing was a competition. Asmodeus will ask you both questions, and the winner would get a prize. This was a call back to that time you two competed to know which one was a bigger TSL fan, except that this time he would let you win.

You were so happy after winning you didn't notice the man take out a ring. The moment you stopped celebrating and turned to look at the demon, you noticed a blush across his face and the way his hand fidgeted with something between them.

“Mc...” His voice would be too quiet, barely even audible. For a second you thought he was going to attack you just like that one time, but instead he took a deep breath.  “I know i said there would be a prize for the winner, but i dont know if this is much of a price...I just know that...that I-I love you.” The last part was quiet, but sincere. “ And i know im a good for nothing otaku and that it isnt easy dealing with my insecurities but...I want to be with you so Mc...would you marry me?”

 His voice broke in several instances, barely even able to to actually say those words. But at the end he was able to get them out, tears and all. But the one that would be crying the hardest would be you, as you walked up to him and embraced him while whispering yes against his chest. His shaky hands would barely be able to put the blue stoned ring that for some reason reminded you of both the ocean and his room.

I might do the other brothers later on and possibly one undatable, but yeah i hope y’all liked whatever this was!

[lovee-infected]

twisted wonderland theories (part 2 ): Overblot's timeline

Oh well , seems like I accidentally deleted my previous ask while answering it...

Dear @ I don't remember your personal tag since I FORGOT to take a screenshot from the ask , I dearly apologize and I hope you get to read this anyway ❤

The ask was about the monster we faught during our first battle and the possibility of it being the overblot grim

I've been considering writing this for a while so here we go

(note : I wasn't planning on this theory to be part 2 but , why not?)

It has already been mentioned and theorized several times that the huge beast we faught during our first battle in the prolouge could actually be Grim because :

They're pretty similar in appearance and of course details

The blue fire and sharp teeth , together with tail and skin color

But let's not forget about the most important part : The signs of overblot

Just compare it to Riddle's overblot form and it'll become pretty obvious that this monster's definitely on its overblot

All these hints made us make sure that it's probably Grim..

But check this thing out :

fun fact : Did you too lose on your first battle against this creature?

Well you might feel a bit relieved after knowing that this battle was specifically designed to make all players lose on their first try . With enemy's 99999 Hp you won't be able to defeat it unless you make a team of five having 90000+ HP(It actually means to have 5 lv 100 groovy SSR cards )which isn't easy at all...might take months of permanent gaming to upgrade your team to 5 SSR to just have a chance of defeating this monster...

But what does this mean?

Was it just a coincidence and a simple randomly designed battle?

I don't think so

If they only meant to challenge the players by making them all lose their first battle , then why would they design the enemy to be awfully similar to Grim...?

Well it'll give us two possibilities : We'd face this monster again in the storyline and this time we have to surely defeat it . But considering it's awfully high HP , it's not gonna happen this soon . I'm almost sure that we won't face this monster before defeating the seven dorm leaders' overblot form , and who knows how long we've gotta wait until facing this monster again ?It isn't really clear now but we'd either have to fight it again in the upcoming chapters or we'll have to return to prolouge once again to face it one more time

But facing Grim's overblot form in the future of the game has given me another fancy idea :

If Grim , who plays the rule of MC's closest friend it the game is gonna be one to overblot after the seven leaders , then aren't we missing the high possibility of another overblot...?

Ace Trappola and Deuce Spade ; two of MC's closest friends (after Grim) who have been beside MC throughout the whole story

Let's be honest that aside the great seven and our mysterious Dire Crowley , the two of them play the most important rule in the game

Their rivalship has lead us plenty of adventures and let's not forget their mention in the opening :

See? The only non leader characters who have been put into this scene

their rivalship might seem to be no big deal , but it wouldn't have been mentioned this much if it weren't anything important...

(note : We all know that they're good friends but this isn't really going to stop their rivalship from causing a terrifying disaster...)

Also these two are sticking to each other the whole time , so I guess the both of them might evem overblot at the same time due to severe frustration , anger and jealousy

Since the game's going to be continued after chapter 7 in which we face overblot Malleus , we've got a lot to see about other characters and most likely their overblot . Except our beloved trio of 'Ace , Deuce and Grim' , the other first years as well have a terrifying chance of overbloting :

1) Sebek Zigvolt : Remove Malleus from his life and...what would be left from him...? He's way too obsessed with Malleus that even his biography is connected to Malleus (Good god his personality is really fading through his young master...) Also his sensitivity and moody personality has made him dangerously insecure and unstable

Anyways , if we're gonna consider possibility of other characters' overblot , this guy's gonna be nu 1... a simple disappointment from Malleus may cause him to overblot

2) Epel Felmier : He's really different from what he seems to be , isn't he? While having the face of a pure innocent cute guy , he's a little gremlin inside . Struggling with his unwanted fate and being put on Pomefiore's by force is really driving him crazy. His trying to prove himself to both Savanaclaw and Pomefiore students is just hilarious , but this isn't really gonna do him any good , is it? Well whatever this guy is currently up too , it's surely going to be interesting and maybe , sadistic . We don't know how much pain he might be feeling at the moment

3) Jack Howl : Personally I have no clue on why he might ever overblot. Despite his harsh appearance and seemingly cold personality , he's really calm and collected , protective over his friends , and mature . His side stories with Vil and Azul proved that he's also pretty acceptive toward judgement and really knows how to deal with different people and their different personalities....

Finally , all I've gotta say is , this game's background and characters' developments are simply amazing . I can't even imagine how much time and effort had been put into creating such a maze of mystery

In the very end , there's no way we could surely tell what will happen next . All we can do is to wait to see it ourselves