#mysme male!mc

[warmchillz]

My favourite interaction during Jaehee’s route lolol

Bro is 3rd wheeling so hard

bonus:

[kkarmiic]

# ‘GN!READER VALENTINES WITH THE MYSTIC MESSENGER BOYS

🫐 ‘ CONTENT AND WARNINGS

\\ synopsis: what 707, yoosung, zen and jumin would do for valentines!

‘+ genre: fluff

*# warnings: proposal mention in jumins part

# ‘JUMIN

He’s a big romantic with wealth, this man wouldn’t stop at any lengths to make this valentines perfect for you.

Wakes you up with breakfast in bed, a bouquet of roses sitting in the middle of the tray, with your favourite food(s) around it.

A perfect start to your perfect valentines.

He’s even more sweet the whole day, boxes of chocolates and a card, all high end.

He lets it be known how much he appreciates and loves you, and how he’s so grateful you joined RFA and how grateful he is that you two met.

Elizabeth also gets spoiled on Valentine’s Day but shhh…

Gifts you jewellery, outfits, shoes.

Doesn’t expect anything back from you, but if you do get him something, no matter how small it is, he will be ridiculously happy.

When it’s time for dinner, he takes you to a fancy restaurant, will make sure to shower you in compliments about your outfit.

Let’s you pick anything off the menu, ensuring that he will pay for it.

He’d be the type to propose to you on valentines, and so if you’re not already married/engaged, he’d be there, down on one knee at dinner with a ring box in hand.

“Y/N you make me the happiest man alive, I’ve never felt so free than with you, would you do the honour of being my spouse?”

Something awfully sweet like that. Valentines with Jumin are the best.

# ‘ZEN

I imagine he’d take a day off of work, and while not as romantic as Jumin, he would try his damn hardest to make the day about you.

Flowers, your favourite flowers, in the morning when he comes over to see you, along with a valentines teddy bear that’s probably way too big to fit in your bed.

A card with a sweet note telling you how much he appreciates and loves you.

Will play music and dance around with you in your front room.

And if you get him something in return, he’d softly smile, telling you just how wonderful you truly are.

Lunch at a quaint cafe, ordering sweet treats for the two of you, definitely trying out their valentines special.

He’d take you to the cinemas or a theatre to watch something, obviously romantic, maybe a rom-com.

When you come home, he’d run you a nice warm bath with scented candles and bubbles.

He treats you like royalty the whole day.

# ‘YOOSUNG

He’s a broke student; please have mercy.

You two definitely have an indoors date.

But he gives you a stuffed toy and a valentines card at first, and then for the rest of the day?

You start by cooking breakfast together, waffles, pancakes, probably with scoops of icecream.

He apologised for not being able to do much more, but I doubt you’re angry.

If you get him something, he will be jumping up and down in glee.

If you’re a gamer like him, he’d probably set up some games for you to play, and sets up a nice date night there.

It’s super sweet, he carries you in any game you two play, trying to make sure to enjoy your time.

But if you’re not a gamer, expect movies and cuddles.

He’d put on your favourite movie, grabbing the warmest and cosiest blanket he owns, fully sets up a pillow fort for you two to watch it in.

He really loves spending the day with you, even though it’s not fancy, it’s still nice.

# ‘707

Okay, I feel like there’s two ways this could go so I’ll do both.

But no matter what, he’d get you chocolates and or icecream to start your day.

If you get him something, he’d be grinning like mad, just so thankful he has you in his life.

First off, a movie date at home.

I imagine he has one of those big projector things and so he projects it onto a blank wall.

Puts in a movie he thinks you’d both enjoy, it doesn’t even have to be a romantic movie, it can be horror or whatever aslong as he knows you would like it.

But that’s if it’s later in the relationship; he’s a major introvert and would definitely feel more comfortable inside.

However, if it’s earlier in the relationship, he would push himself out of his comfort zone to impress you more.

Takes you to a theme park!!

Probably makes you go on all the big and scary rides (sorry).

But he takes those photobooth pictures with you! And they’re so cute.

Definitely has one where you’re kissing.

Would put it on his wall/in his phone case.

He just loves looking at you.

I also feel like, whether it’s movies or a theme park, he would take you star gazing after.

I’m not sure why, it just feels like a very him thing to do.

Tells you all about the different constellations and what they represent.

He’s so lovely.

POSTED BY: APOLLO

[cuddlybelphie]

Random facts about my MC because I'm bored as hell right now.

this is pretty much an accidental info dump I worked on for four hours- I didn't mean to lol.. So this is pretty long, just letting you know.

My MC's apart of many universes combined ★

It just happens one after the other.

Whenever he sleeps, he gets about an hour or less of it.

If he hasn't already awaken by himself and someone else happens to wake him up, he'll either flinch and sit up immediately or he'll grumble and turn away.

He drools in his sleep.. Another thing that doesn't happen often is that he sometimes mumbles in his sleep. It's odd, since he doesn't feel as if he dreams of anything, but sometimes mumble out clear sentences.

His dreams consist of either weird asf shit or just hellish nightmares where he or his family are targeted and in danger, never usually anything wholesome. Sometimes he doesn't dream of anything and is as stiff as a rock.

Not a morning person, a huge night owl - he has a raspy voice like any other person when he's fatigued or had just woken up.

Now, he's not an insomniac but he has pulled all nighters. Hence the eyebags.

For no reason in particular, he just doesn't feel the need to rest much; always often busying himself with studying, guide committee work, working on coordinating the parties for the RFA and convincing others to come to the party through invitations, or just simply reading.

He doesn't really find working a burden despite being sleep deprived, which is why he tends to overwork himself at times. He appreciates others concern, but he assures them he's fine.

If he's not busy with work, he's probably offering help to others or cleaning and tidying things up.

He can be a bit of a nerd; he's a bookworm and enjoys hearing praise from others whenever he's right.. Though inwardly he's been finding it difficult to believe them lately.

When he showers, it's always at night, when he isn't busy. He just finds it more convenient and comfortable if he does rest. Also double brushes his teeth, night and morning, gotta keep brushing them daily and keeping them clean.

He fears he can't afford to look bad as he feels the need to look presentable in front of others.

His favorite color is purple - but his favorite aesthetic is dark academia. When it comes to colors, he enjoys dark and warmer colors rather than bright or light colors.

He began to learn french in second grade, found the language fascinating and has been fond of it since. He likes to speak in french at times.

When he was younger, he was actually a female - but he transitioned when he was 13, he always wondered why he felt uncomfortable in his own body. Also explains why he called himself a tomboy back then.. lol.

The full transition happened when he was 18 though. His mom's very supportive of him.

He's currently around his twenty's (can't decide his age yet)

Bird feathers are something he enjoys collecting, he found an awful lot where he lived since birds commonly lost feathers now and again.

He enjoys flowers of any kind, and has thought of making a garden before.

His favorite animals are cats, he adores them to death.

He favours salty or savoury foods whenever he does have meals.

He may not look it, but he can hold, pick up or carry anyone or almost anything. He made himself become strong so he's able to offer support.

He can drive, but only drives when it's necessary or someone asks him to, for personal reasons.

He'd have work experience, but he chose to stay home and help his mother by watching over his younger siblings. He was technically like a dad to them - his older brother was the one who helped to provide by being the one who went out and got a job when he was old enough.

Knows how to cook decently due to helping out his mom whenever he could, still has a lot to learn and is definitely willing to be taught.

Owns a camera from his grandmother, he likes to take photos - they're not as good as his younger brothers he thinks. He really likes his younger brothers photos, he finds it all impressive.

He cherishes that camera since he received it from his grandmother, who has passed. He misses her, but he stays strong for her - along for his siblings and mom.

His older brother is a big enthusiast with horror movies, so he's prone to them and isn't too bothered by watching them. Still doesn't mean he enjoys hearing gore from it, such as movies like SAW.. He gets chills up his spines and is disturbed by it.

He remembers all of his brothers phases, and often teases them about it. Albeit, he can't really talk since he usually joins in too because they rope him into it with them.

Definitely coddles his brothers - he just cares about them a lot. Which also means he scolds them when they make silly decisions, but they don't really take him seriously.

By the way, he has five brothers. One older one and four younger ones.

If there's one thing you should know about him, it's that he appreciates his family unconditionally. Not his father, he doesn't include him or consider him family at all - aside from that, he'd do anything to protect his family.

He's seen a lot and been through a lot, yet continues to pretend to be completely fine and if he's offered any help he usually puts his family first.

After getting a job and saving up enough money to stay stable and enough to spoil others and himself, he decided to get himself his own wardrobe of his kind of style. He definitely wears suits more than anything.

He's gone to many places after entering college - he didn't expect so much to happen at once after having become an adult, but hey, his life had always been rocky.

He also enjoys to write, but he never showed anyone anything he's wrote. There's a possibility he owns a journal, he's just hidden it somewhere others won't find.

He is omnisexual and demiromantic, he just can't see himself getting with someone he doesn't know well or having a noncommittal relationship. He takes more interest in males more than females.

It definitely takes him a while to get close to others and trust them.

The whole situation with RFA was confusing and he doesn't remember how he ended up in the apartment nor how he got into the chatroom, especially since he's a very cautious guy - the whole thing was a blur to him.

He overthinks a lot, so he has many migraines due to stress. It exasperates him heavily, so at times he'll zone out. Not intentionally, it's a coincidence it helps ease the throbbing a bit. He's dealt with them since he was a teenager, and only realized why when he was fifteen.

He does NOT like being left alone, especially with having to deal with his own thoughts. He does drown them out usually with music.

He's not very nice to himself in his mind, oddly always fighting himself.

His body aches a lot due to him being stubborn and overworking himself, he never usually speaks up about it or received anything like a massage to ease up the aching. He also has a “weird posture” apparently, said by his father.

His aches probably worsened when he falls asleep against a table, desk, or chair.

He tends to ignore his own well-being.

Whenever he receives injuries or symptoms of a sickness he always dismisses it since it's nothing severe that needs attention and just convinces himself to pull through regardless and hope it goes away on its own with the help of his immune system.

He was mostly forced to think that way because of his father always saying it isn't that big of deal and had gotten used to doing it that way. That is until he's gained people who care about him and convinced him to take care of himself better.

Of course, when he gets a cold or flu, he always makes sure to never spread his illness to others. Usually coops up in his room until he's better.

He has an inferiority complex beneath his persona, but a slight superiority complex in front of others.

He's secretly insecure, despite all of his accomplishments nothing feels like enough to him.

He's good at taking charge or looking out for others, he's hopeful to be seen as dependable and reliable to others.

Due to his selflessness, he makes sure others are well taken care of before himself. He also wants to be able to protect others.

Likes to observe people from a distance, analyzing others personalities - he doesn't mean to come off creepy, he just sometimes find other humans fascinating.

Not very talkative, he doesn't initiate conversations.

Once you bypass his feelings of distrust and cold demeanor, and become his friend, just know you're stuck with him for good. (I mean.. Please don't tell me you'd also leave him like others have?)

He's very loyal and devoted to any relationship (platonic or not) he gets into, so expect some form of spoiling from him just for existing. He'd probably do anything you asked him to, within logic, anyway.

If you're his friend he'll probably also coddle you. He just gets worried about those he cares about.

If you're close to him, you'll probably see how he tends to act different - his personality varies a lot, and that's usually from picking up others ways of expressing themselves and copying to fit in. He's very good at masking it though and it depends on who he's with, so there's only a slight chance for such a thing to happen.

After losing some friends, he's become more rational and cautious about becoming close to others. At times he might often ruin his chances of becoming friends with anyone due to his plentiful issues and self sabotage from anxiety.

If you're friends with him and somehow managed to get into a quarrel with him, he'll probably back off and distance himself. He doesn't want to anger you any further or say anything he'll regret so it's likely he'd avoid you until things simmer down.. He's not really the type to apologize, but if he see's he's in the wrong he'll come around eventually.

He listens to rules, he's not one to disobey. He was taught to be that way obviously because of school when he was younger, but another reason was just because he wanted to make his mother proud of him.

He's adapted to being that way by now, but because of Lucifer trying to always remind him of rules he's been tempted to just not listen out of spite.

He's definitely apart of the Anti-Lucifer League once he hears about its existence, joining in on the pranks.

He never really gives a damn about the punishments much to others surprise. He doesn't find Lucifer scary or intimidating, but for the sake of it, he'll pretend to submit just so he can get it over with.

His only attachments are with Yoosung, Pollux, Belphegor, Satan and Mephistopheles so far, he's grown soft spots to them especially.

Has a confusing relationship with Lucifer and Sirius. He claims he hates them, but.. Well, he secretly feels a bit conflicted with them. He definitely hates them for the most part though, unpleasant feelings or thoughts still arise whenever they're present.

As for why he hates Lucifer, it's for ridiculous personal reasons, but also because of certain incidents that had happened near the beginning of the exchange program that I will not expand on just yet.

uuh, that's all I think. If there's any typos, please lmk, I hate having minor spelling errors.

thanks for reading :3

btw he's a self insert, but just made better

Probably gonna regret posting this maybe, idk it's four am and I probably made some mistake of some kind I'll notice when my body doesn't feel tired..

This isn't all of my MC's lore btw, nonono, this is just the beginning of it. This is the top layer, we've got loads to unpack with him.. But I spare you for this post is already too fucking long LMAO

[bonkbunn]

Breaking color theory's ankles with this wip of Dae-Jung and Saeyoung sjdjsjfndk

[lucckitty-333]

just remembered how during pandemy i crafted this daydream in my head that i would go back to daily where i was jumin han's younger brother and i was so fine and id make different routes to the story where id get with zen or seven or jaehee and UGHHH I HAD DELETED THAT FROM MY BRAIN

[awbublie]

slumber party thumbnail hit or no?

[dennavanhossen]

Yoosung's birthday 🎂🥳

[alotsgonnachange]

Uhhhh anyways *draws saeran being gay in a way that pisses mysmes fans off*

[tom-failure]

Hmm, how about Rika for that character ask game? 👀 And I'll throw in Zen as well, feel free to babble about him as much as you want <3

HO HO HO someone actually wants to hear my hot takes!!! Well, you’re in for a treat, my friend *cracks knuckles*

Rika

favourite thing about her

I’m gonna be hella controversial here, BUT my favourite thing about Rika is the lengths to which the game goes to justify her. HEAR ME OUT. This is the treatment always reserved for male characters. They are the ones getting coddled, loved, and redeemed (cough Jihyun Kim cough Jumin Han cough Saeran Choi). And Rika doesn’t even (arguably) get redeemed! She gets justified! The game explicitly tells you: ‘forgive her, or you’re a rape/pedophile apologist’. And hoo boy, that’s refreshing to see, especially in a game as misogynistic as MysMes.

I support women’s wrongs in this case. Raped women can have little a death cult. As a treat.

*mic drop*

least favourite thing about her

Hmm, I don’t know! I think Rika is a really good sympathetic villain. She’s sleazy, creepy, and at times plain terrifying. Recently I was chatting with a follower and we talked at length about how scary of an all-permeating presence Rika is/was to the RFA. But on the other hand, she has solid motivations for what she does, she has a pretty coherent (if fucked up) philosophy she follows, she’s well-rounded as a character!

I think the only thing I don’t particularly like about her is the voice performance and the whole Mika schtick. Rika doesn’t need someone nudging her towards the idea of a death cult to make her, as a villain, sympathetic. With all she’s been through, she is already sympathetic enough. And it’s enough that she takes her fucked up situation and turns it around to her advantage in this MORE fucked up way. It’s way more interesting.

And on the voice performances, I have very particular opinions. Rika’s strikes me as poorly acted oftentimes. Even taking into account the difference in mannerisms familiar to my Ukrainian ear VS the actress’ Korean.

favourite line

I love when, between being completely unhinged, she says incredibly sane stuff like this:

Like, SHE’S NOT WRONG!!!! Say it louder, queen!

But also…

brOTP

Honestly, I’m not sure Rika can truly have friends. I don’t think with her levels of fucked up, she could really keep such an arrangement. She can have followers, and she can have lovers, but I think, ultimately, she has never seen a normal equal relationship to such an extent that she wouldn’t know how to maintain it. So I guess it’s a blank here.

OTP

I think Rika with an evil fucked up MC is very *chef’s kiss*. V can suck it. And those two could be gay and do crime. Admittedly, I didn't pursue that ending, although I wad tempted, but I like the concept a lot.

But also, I love the dynamic of JuVRika and how they make each other worse, dragging everyone around them down with them. Those people are entangled in all sorts of manipulative and hurtful dynamics, and they all latch onto each other and refuse to let each other go. Truly a dysfunctional family, a toxic polycule, don’t join them when they spot you across the bar.

nOTP

I don’t have any strong negative feelings about Rika being shipped with anyone. Gonna be controversial again, but I don’t even judge people who see something romantic in Yoosung’s feelings for her. Go and indulge your toxic fucked up ships with my blessing.

random headcanon

Hmmm, don’t wanna repeat myself with the headcanons I already posted about her. I think a not-before-mentioned one that I really enjoyed was the one that came to life when I was talking to that follower about the Zen post. They said that Rika was down to solicit Zen for sex (maybe with V watching/filming/taking pictures) when they roped him into the RFA. And I’m seriously considering this possibility.

unpopular opinion

ANOTHER ONE?

Okay, here goes: I think Rika held way less power in her relationship with V than is often attributed to her. She was pretty much homeless and barely an adult when she was proposed to after just a couple months of barely knowing each other by some sort of a rich boy heir. She was severely mentally ill and she had pretty much no power in that relationship whatsoever. Without V, she would never have gotten access to those rich people and their resources, I don’t think. Yes, Rika made her fucked up decisions herself, but V made her SO MUCH worse beforehand. I think Rika is often blamed for what is actually his part.

song i associate with her

You are in luck! I make Spotify playlists for all characters and ships that interest me!

But if I had to pick one, probably On a Wire by Belasco

Shot myself

A final gaze

Through the glass of the watch

That you engraved:

‘To my love, my eternal love’...

‘YOU LIED, YOU BITCH’ —

I screamed from above.

And you,

Yeah you,

You wanted more than to fill a room with careless lies,

And you,

Yeah you,

You were the apple, no, the cause of my strife.

favourite picture of her

This one for the sheer memetic possibility.

Zen

favourite thing about him

I absolutely LOVE his backstory, even though it is so little explored. I love how dark it is and how it perfectly explains all of the shitty takes he has on the world and all the shitty habits he inflicts on the people he loves. I love his tragedy, I love how dark of a character he actually is, and how he came out of that hell so flawed, and yet undeterred. I love how rough around the edges his past has made him.

And oh, don’t get me STARTED on the voice performance. Best in the game, no contest.

least favourite thing about him

His route. I can’t STAND the whole premise, and I think it ruins him for a lot of people.

I’m also peeved by the way fandom doesn’t treat him seriously, but that pales before the treatment Yoosung is given, so I don’t think it’s worth elaborating on.

Yeah, the worst thing about Zen is his route, where he gets accused of raping a woman (poor boy gets his life ruined by an evil female, amirite, happens all the time), you gotta believe he is in the right there with no proof whatsoever (because women are evil and always lie, especially about rape, you know), AND THEN he is forced to reconcile with his shitty family that bullied him and let people harass him, to the point that he preferred to become homeless and a criminal??? And he never ONCE gets called out on his actual shitty behaviours?! Babes?!!

favourite line

This one on Jaehee route.

It’s so little yet so poignant. It is such a fleeting little thing, but it encapsulates his character in its entirety: lonely, hurt, yet caring about others first and foremost in his own clumsy ways; guarding his own wounds from others lest they suffer even a little bit of what he’s been through by proxy.

That guy makes me Feel Feelings.

brOTP

Zenhee! Or Zen/MC, specifically Joori, the MC I came up with and Jaehee’s girlfriend. But if we’re talking canon characters, then Jaehee. They would make each other so much better! Their friendship has so much potential! Zen would care for her in the very way she needs, I think his overbearing care is a perfect match for her self-neglecting self, and don’t get me started on how much he hypes her up! I saw a very good post recently about Zen wanting to be the older brother figure his own brother couldn't be to him, and here, I think, he could really shine. And Jaehee, with her reasonable and level-headed approach, would really give him good advice and bring him back to earth. She, too, can be overbearing with her care, but to beat Zen’s mind, set in his ways so hard he can’t look up? Yeah, that would work on him.

In general, it would be fun to see Zen have friendships with strong no-nonsense women, because he himself has strong enough a character and big enough a personality to offer them something cool and interesting, but also he really needs to be called out on his bullshit more.

OTP

…do I need to answer that? I’m THE Yoozen ambassador in this fandom, I am proud, and I’m still going strong. Yoozen/Zensung is THE ship ever, and I stand by it.

They care about each other a hell of a lot in canon, they compliment each other and stand up for each other, and I think they’re pretty much the only real friends in the whole RFA. And given Zen doesn’t let anyone close, the fact that he often invites Yoosung over and likes it is just very telling to me. The way they rely on each other and care for each other, despite Zen (and, arguably, sometimes Yoosung, too?) having no normal ways of showing it OR accepting it, makes my heart flutter. They talk about each other very tenderly to MC, too.

Also, I think they’d be incredibly good and healing for each other. Yoosung is very emotionally intelligent, empathetic, and insightful, and in him, Zen has a delicate and loving presence that he doesn’t have to explain himself to too much. Yoosung accepts him and wants to actually offer him warmth. And Yoosung’s open and kind enough to invite openness and kindness in return. He sees Zen for the big-hearted person that he is, and he could bring it out to shine.

And Zen is already so willing in canon to be the shoulder to cry on for Yoosung, to be good to him, he already wants to support him, help him, care for him, but he does it in all the wrongest and pushiest ways, hitting right into Yoosung’s own trauma. Yet, for all his forcefulness, Zen would give Yoosung the love that he craves: big, dramatic, and romantic. He is the protector, and he would do his damnedest to shield the softness in Yoosung, yet he would be the greatest inspiration and support for him to become firmer in his own personhood.

Besides, Zen with his fighting responses has the love that can complement Yoosung’s in its self-sacrificiality, and it’s just such a delicious dynamic for me.

nOTP

I am in general very faithful in terms of ships, so I’m not into any ships besides Yoozen that include Zen or Yoosung. But if we’re talking stronger feelings? Definitely Zumin. I am NOT into the trend of seeing outright hostility and saying, ‘yeah, that’s love right there’. I am old-fashioned like that.

random headcanon

I headcanoned extensively about Zen, both here and on Drawingmen, but the absolute pet headcanon of mine is the guy he had ‘too many firsts’ with, the unseen presence that prompted Love Story and that haunts Zen in all of my fanfic, but particularly Down Bad and The Wolf. I am currently writing a fic centering them both, and I even have a playlist about them now.

unpopular opinion

Romantically, I would not wish Zen upon any woman at all whatsoever. Zen has internalised the street code, he is EXTEREMELY prone to overcompensating, and he’s so desperate to be a beacon of masculinity (as an overcompensation, too, ironically) that he is bound to hurt people. His explosive character is just asking for trouble, and with the way he mellows down for the MC on his route… yeah, I know men like him. It never lasts long. I would not wish for any woman to deal with a man like that in a relationship.

song i associate with him

I got a Zen playlist, too, but it’s long and I haven’t filtered it in a while. The one song I would pick… probably Leave Me In by Zahl. 

It's all right if there's a battle tonight.

I'm right here and I'm ready to fight.

I swear I'm gonna kick daylight,

Serves him damn right.

So go on say your prayers,

But say them when I'm not there,

Cause that god, if he's there,

All he had for me was fear

And also, lately, Rokas by JUUK. After I drew that art with Zen’s hands over the years. Nothing quite particular about him in the lyrics, but it is now The Vibe.

You conceal your arms,

I conceal mine.

favourite picture of him

The CGs where he has Yoosung in his lap:

If I had a penny for each CG with Yoosung lying in Zen's lap, I'd have two pennies, which isn't much, but funny that it happened twice 😌

If you got this far, just letting you know I love you <3 Thank you for giving me the opportunity to ramble!

[miyuskye]

VADD NOVEL SPOILER ALERT ❗❗❗

After reading those chapters (158-159), seeing this cover hurts like hell. Eckles was (mind the past tense) my favourite male to ship with Penelope. (My overall fave has always been Callisto but he's like PERFECT so) I knew Eckles was twisted, when he threw those tantrums because Penelope wasn't spending time with him in s3, I thought 'it's fine, he's like this'. I always liked the yandere character type, after all. But the way that scene it's written in the novel, the way he victim-blames Penelope for his crimes is... too much.

"I don't care if I have to become a traitor who sells out his kingdom and his people..." (...)

"I want you, Penelope Eckhart." (...) "That's what you've done to me. You made me this way, and every time you pretend not to notice what you're doing to me, wearing that innocent look on your face... It makes me lose my mind, but what else can I do? You're still so lovely..."

Those words are terrifying. He says he loves her, he says she's lovely but in the same sentence he says that he hates her. The description of the favorability bar being a combination of love and hate (emphasis on hate), and how Eckles goes from praising her to blaming her for things she has no fault of... (she used him, but she never told him to kill Ivonne or betray his people!) it's so well written. I like to draw the line between fiction and reality, and I always like, in fiction, some toxic dynamics I would never condone in real life, but... The way it's written in this novel is too realistic to enjoy in a "romantic" way.

I feel like sometimes yandere characters are written through lenses that make them enjoyable despite their wrongdoings. Allendis from TAE is first rejected from the FL and then he goes crazy. This doesn't justify him of course, but it makes you feel sympathy, in a way. Jumin from MysMes never actually blames MC in his bad ending.

I love the narrative in VADD because there's just no way to feel sympathy for Eckles. As much as I liked him, as much as I wanted him to be ~the one~ for Penelope, it just crashed down the moment he revealed his true self. It made an impact to me because I felt as she felt. I knew some spoilers about him, I knew he was the yandere, but I didn't know it was this intense. That's probably what Penny felt too. She knew he was sick in the head and she wanted to just use him to escape. He fooled us with his fake submissive demeanor and destroyed us in the end. Penny, because she couldn't escape through him, me because I actually thought his love for her would eventually turn out to be good-natured. But those words he said to her cannot be excused, not even in fiction.

They are still an interesting toxic relationship to explore! And I LOVE the parallels between this relationship and the one she has with the man the myth the legend Callisto. The author did such a good job with the romance description in this series, I feel that, probably due to the whacky translation, the brutality of some scenes mellowed out. But I can't wait to see this in the webtoon

[cephydeluxe]

THE WAY I WANNA ROMANCE MC'S/GIRLS IN OTOME'S IS CRIMINAL, your tags are so correct

I remember playing Diabolik Lovers bc it's so easy to make fun of it and I just wanted a Yui route so bad....

None of those guys deserve her, let me grab her like a princess she is and carry her out of this insanity!!! She's so cute and sweet and clutzy!!! Girlfriend material.

And now I'm playing Amnesia and I have, like, two guys I kinda like, one I actually very enjoy and two I cannot stand. But then there's Sawa and she's so pretty and outgoing and silly!!! Lemme have my f/f friends to lovers!!

There's also Mine and while her personality is pretty shallow, I see a cute girl and my brain shuts off. I mean look at her

I'd listen to whatever nonsense she wants to talk about fr

this is actually so based cause I’d listen to a pretty girl talk about absolutely nothing and be grateful for it, and anyone who isn’t completely nuts would agree (/JOKE but y’knowww 👀 not really 🤭/j/j/j-)

AND UR SO RIGHT ABOUT YUI,,,.,, I haven’t played the VN or seen the anime outside of edits (yandere trope gets REALLY fucking boring if done badly/ too trope-y, im too pretentious and picky w my fucked up relationship antics) and they r so mean to yui :(((( like she’s not an idiot 🥺 and if she is I can baby proof my house she doesn’t need to deal with those gross ass mfs THEY DONT DESERVE HER FR lmaooo

str8 girls don’t get it, dumb girls r just as cute if not more than their dumb guys 😒

I think my obsession w female mcs definitely started with fire emblem 😭😭😭 idk why anyone plays as male robin/byleth, I forget they exist sometimes tbh

I don’t think id classify fire emblem as an otome game but it still gave me the same problem of thinking none of the LIs were good enough for the fmc 😭 except chrom because he was just as in love with female robin as I was ASHSDHDFH

and for mysme, (srry Saeran 🫣), but I literally could not even imagine hurting mc and living w it- I SAID WHAT I SAID

I can’t get a good pic of mc in this really cute dress without Saeran getting all up in it (😒😒😒😒😒😒😒) but like do you see what I mean

ALSO THIS PICTURE TOO‼️‼️‼️ actually insane I would kill 2 see mc in her evil bitch era no joke (see this is why im the perfect Rika kin cause I also have unruly hair, disorders, and an obsession with brunettes w long hair)

don’t get me started on obey me! Mc either she’s insane I love her for it (and h8 belphie for killing 😒😒😒😒😒😒😒😒😒😒😒)

[warmchillz]

1... 2... 3!!!

[astridthevalkyrie]

I would 1000% be down to date Tara, but alas... I also think its incredibly funny how down bad all the interests feel, it was certainly something replying to a Tweet and seeing affection go up, they are not normal, but thats not necessarily a bad thing, it certainly is How It Is with these things, adjklnadlkjn-

y'know what's funny, i usually do not get super into things that are romance centered. occasionally i'll have little hyperfixations on something like titanic 1997 or descendants of the sun but on the whole the stuff that i brainrot on heavily is usually some action/adventure with a little romance sprinkled in. and then through fanfic i'll lean heavily into the romance part lol.

and then i played mysme and i was like. holy crap. do i like this? do i enjoy the romance genre? i had jumin han brainrot for at least half a year before i watched my hero (sidenote getting into a new brainrot actually feels like cheating on my last one). and i tried playing obey me and wasn't into it, but love and deepspace has sucked me in so so deeply even though i think if someone was selling it to me like "these three guys love the mc so much they act like they absolutely can't live without her despite this being the literal first arc of the story" i don't think i'd be interested.

but man have they done it so well. they have animated and created the personalities for these men so incredibly well. whenever i'm selfshipping or thinking about x reader stuff or whatever, i never brainrot on more than one character aside from like maybe reading smut about them. like i could read the occasional zen oneshot but jumin had my heart completely and forever and there was no competition. erwin or dabi thirsts or even fluff/angst stuff is totally okay but i was not investing time in anyone but levi. but now i genuinely can't decide between these three. they're all too perfect and they all hit a certain archetype of fictional man that i go insane for. i'm in hell and nirvana and rafayel is my male primadonna.

[k4txlulzz]

have a mysme mc yume self insert oc in mind and i named him ესაია/esias to match the whole biblical symbolism thing with luciel ^^ (luciel--"light of god", esias-"god is salvation" or "salvation/help from god") . this ties into their character because esias deeply cares about saeyoung and is extremely devoted, he is willing to protect and shield him always and she is generally this kind of person, hence the name meaning of esias ! :)

she is genderqueer so they use all pronouns and are very androgynous ... because there is a severe lack of non-binary or male mcs in the fandom

i am going to draw him and post a cute art of her and saeyoung but all yall need to know is that : im planning to make him seven's personal knight in shining armor, basically xd they are also extremely similar to him and have gone through similar mental struggles, which is one of the reasons hes so devoted. on the other hand, esias is too infatuated at times, and gets kind of scary if her beloved is hurt

sidenote: they own a traditional georgian/kartuli dagger collection! (they are georgian/kartveli like me ofc) his dad taught them how to use these and ADDITIONALLY because of secret lore reasons esias is extremely skilled at combat ; esias is also a major space fan !!! they adore space and her grandfather is a scientist who works in a space observatory that he often visits; (there is also a...special lore connection between him and celestial objects wink wink nudge nudge ;))

maybe they are more than just a mere human? saeyoung notices that there is something ... off about esias ^^;;; almost as if at moments he is possessed by a higher, divine power ? anyways esias is actually a badass exorcist who slays shadow beings that prey on people's sorrows and much more but YEAH thats weird lore dump but this ties into my personal oc lore in general so yada yada its a looong story

[leastdatablebracket]

ROUND 4, MATCH 1

Propaganda under the cut!

Jumin Han

Propaganda

manipulative and abusive asshole

He's a stuck up trust fund baby, and won't take no for an answer. His route is objectively the WORST

He is in love with his cat and constantly compares you with the damn cat😭 like an actual fucking feline animal that’s not nickname 😭😭😭

unapologetic member of the bourgeoisie. makes his secretary cut her hair and wear glasses so he can take her seriously. 0/10 hate this man so much it has been 7 years since i first set eyes on him and to this day i have carried this with me in silence. my hatred for this man has been my burden. my old mysme mutuals will never know.

ok so fun fact when i tried to play jumin’s route i hated it so fucking much i abandoned ship on day 7. this is a grown ass man who is far too immature (and has too much money) to be romanceable like can he see a therapist first? i’m not his therapist. i’m not. i’m not his cat either. why are you locking me in your penthouse does this LOOK like amnesia: memories. also i hate that in order to gain favor ability you have to act like a jerk to other characters at times and also i love jaehee (his secretary that he makes do Fucking Everything For Him) too much to want to date him romantically. imo he’s a great character in other routes, but in his own it’s just…. :/ . did i mention i hate the whole “getting locked in his house” thing. 

he makes jaehee do so much shit that is WAAAAYYY outside the scope of her job description???? she’s his personal assistant. he makes her take care of his personal — completely unrelated to the company— projects related to cats, makes her watch his pet cat at HER APARTMENT OUTSIDE OF WORK HOURS (as far as i can tell he didnt pay her extra for that, though she does get paid overtime) which is so wildly entitled of him to do, but he’s a rich man so. in every route except for jaehee’s and his own— in jaehee’s she quits altogether and in jumin’s she gets a long awaited and well deserved vacation— he piles her with so much more work than is reasonable. for example: in another story she is tasked with— on top of her regular work tasks — to become the HEAD OF AN IT DEPARTMENT FOR COMBATTING HACKERS. also, he constantly pushes zen —someone who is very, very allergic to cats— to interact with his cat. like he wants to take his pet cat to their charity party/event, and seems very blase and uncaring and disbelieving to the fact that he’s allergic, and that other attendees could be too! and as another example: in zen’s route he offers zen a job when he’s looking work— but it has to do with modelling for a cat food brand, and interacting with cats. which he’s explicitly told jumin he doesn’t want to do. they reconcile and it leads to zen giving in and doing the modeling job :/ now, i don’t dislike cats— i love cats! but i’m also very allergic to them (fur, dander, and saliva) so this hits a little close to home. but constant exposure to an allergen can trigger chronic asthma and asthma attacks, and chronic asthma can be very damaging to someone. it can damage their lungs! it’s not a matter to be trivialized! and even if zen’s allergies were “minor,” jumin’s constantly trying to force someone who’s set up a boundary time and time again about not wanting to interact with cats to interact with them and while it is a small example — at least in comparison to the rest of his route— of him ignoring/overstepping/bulldozing past boundaries, it still makes me itch!

Sam Dalton

Propaganda

Spineless af, no personality but 'horny' for the mc. pretty shit at being a parent. Literally cheated on their fiance, but the fiance is made out to be the 'bad guy'. Character is gender customisable but is written so white male coded urgh. is terribly jealous but not in a cute way. just really annoying. much rather choose their ex wife or fiancé over them any day

He (like it was said before customizable but white man coded) was so bad when I played the game. He’s the only love interest of the story, but after a single chapter I decided I wasn’t interested in him. I went out of my way to avoid any romantic options with him. For me the game was just “The Nanny”. But, despite all my romance dodging, I ended up with a scene where he says word for word “My hands aren't clean, [character name]. How can they be, when I think about you every time I touch myself? Or when I want to murder the next man who touches you?”. BIG RED FLAG. Also at one point, Sam can give you the option to DITCH HIS 9 YEAR OLD SONS BIRTHDAY PARTY and hook up with him! 

[antiochean]

bleeding paint - banter #2

Hi! BP is the title of the rewrite of V's route and after ending that I'm working on, where V is not romanced. Posts tagged banter will be just that - drabbles between two characters that you can read in any order and nothing too plot-heavy happens. I do them to get a feel for the characters and they're a lot of fun to write, so I thought I'd share!

This one is mostly Jake. It contains one reference to banter #1 (the remarried parents line), but otherwise works as a standalone.

Pairing: CMC (Jake Park) x Vanderwood

Setting: the cabin, around what would be day 9

Warnings: swear words; baked potatoes heavily featured

Word count: 1,148

[Madeline Miller, Song of Achilles]

"You want to send..." one of Vanderwood's eyebrows is arched as they look at me. "Emails?"

"...Yeah?" I don't get the confusion. Every day I send emails. "I mean, I just wanted to know if one of the laptops would be free any time soon, if not it's absolutely no-"

"No, no, it's not that, it's just that..." Their eyes return to the laptop screen and their right middle finger skillfully goes about its business on the touchpad. "I mean, the cult's still actively looking for us, and you just got out of a hostage situation. People who get out of hostage situations usually want to, like, call their family..." could it be that they know this from actual experience handling these people? It's funny that their highly adrenaline-heavy and probably sketchy profession only comes up when briefly mentioned like this - and, just like that, it's gone again. "Not send emails."

I let out a short, weak chuckle.

"If you knew the amount of emails I had to send while the cult still had me," I slide my fingers underneath my glasses and rub my burning eyes. "You'd be horrified."

"That charity gala they're making you organize?"

"Mostly. But also college stuff. I'm more worried about the college stuff right now."

I have been confronted with the reality that the cult that kidnapped me is making me coordinate a charity party several times before. But I'd never heard those words coming from someone far removed enough from the context to really grasp the absurdity of it.

I feel almost... ashamed? Do I fear Vanderwood will assume I'm partially to blame for the absurdity?

Sometimes I wish I could pretend to be a little more normal in front of them.

I wish we could have met at the grocery store. Gone for the same box of cereal at the same time.

"Go ahead." They push the laptop away from themselves and get up. "I've been meaning to get some more sweet potatoes anyways."

"Yeah man, thanks. Go get your proteins."

They pass me on their way towards the kitchen and I take their seat. I hear the metallic sound of the oven opening up - I open incognito mode - and their voice coming from past the archway.

"Still. Your priorities surprise me sometimes."

"What, cause I'm still doing college stuff right now?"

"Yeah."

"Yeah," I employ my mocking tone, "tell me you don't have Asian parents without telling me you don't have Asian parents. If I was still in the cult when the term started, my dad would still give me a hard time about missing it."

The caramel scent of the baked potatoes fills the room as they return.

"Wait - that's right," they take a seat on the table across from me, "you're on spring break right now." Two parted baked potatoes with spoons dug into their orange meat. One for them, the other set down neatly by the laptop. And I try my very best to hide the smile I feel coming up, because - what were their exact words again? 'You're pretty bad at pretending you don't care'? And the response that's been echoing in my mind ever since: it takes one to know one. God. I open my inbox. "Do they still have you do 'college stuff' while you're on break?"

"It's - uh - it's thesis stuff," I reply absent-mindedly while I scroll for the email containing the museum contact information. When I look up from the screen, their eyes are fixed on me, and I realize they're expecting me to continue. "It's - uh..."

"You don't have to tell me." They break eye contact. "I didn't mean to pry."

"No - hey, I pry into your shit all the time. It's only fair. I'm just kinda... slow right now." I blink hard. "Anyways, my thesis. Have I told you what it is?"

"You haven't."

"So basically... I'm building a timeline of autobiographical - I mean, basically it's letters and journal entries from the Vietnam War. Some museums and Estates hold those as like museum shit. Right? God fuck it I'm doing such a bad job at talking right now." I let out a nasal laugh. They smile. Like, proper, both corners of their lips curved smile. Their laugh lines become visible to me for the first time ever - they stretch downwards towards their chin a little, and I have to put conscious effort into not melting into my seat like a shoujo anime girl. "Uhm," Right, words. Verbs, nouns. I find myself rubbing my eye again. "Historical artifacts, is the term I was looking for. To be able to see some of them, you have to schedule viewings in advance. That's what I'm trying to do right now."

"You have to schedule viewings? Never heard of anything like that."

"Yeah. I've already had a couple of those, and the conclusion I've come to is that some families don't want word to get out about the war crimes they were doing just a generation ago."

"I see. You've chosen a pretty lighthearted theme for your thesis."

"Tell me about it." I stretch my arms over my head for a second. Then, I grab my sweet potato. "If I had to choose a topic today I'd have picked something infinitely more fluffy." I was a different person when I started working on this. A completely different person. "I wonder if you could write a thesis about - what're those books you like - A Song of Ice and Fire."

"Several."

A natural silence as we eat. The sun is almost completely covered by the treeline we can see from the window at this point. I put the half-eaten potato back down and wipe my hand on my sweater.

"Gross. Who raised you?"

"Happily remarried middle-class parents."

I rub my eyes - again. I gotta stop doing that, it's probably not good for you. They're really tired and dry and uncomfortable. I'm holding my eyebrows up just to keep them open long enough to finish this goddamn email business.

"Hey, look, you look like shit." Their tone of voice is completely neutral. Two in a row, though? Just say you have a crush on me. "Remember what I told you in the car."

You said I was being stupid and inefficient, and that I needed to take the advice I was giving to V about wearing yourself out while trying to help others. The bottom line was that you want me to eat and sleep enough.

"I do. Thanks, mom."

"You know what? That one was on me. I was too nice." With one elbow on the table, they lean over and seize my sweet potato. "No sweet potato for you."

And, 'you bastard,' I think. Because now i have no choice but to grab your arm to stop you, and I'll be thinking about it for the rest of the week.