#this will be living rent free in my head for a while

[affableramen]

this idea has been living rent-free in my mind jealous!pantalone early stage of relationship, spy and criminal themes

Jealous!Pantalone was coming up with a plan to expose an evil merchant who had been plotting something big and cruel against Teyvat economy. This particular merchant abused power and destroyed many innocent lives. Yet the mastermind Pantalone is, he created a strategy to take over this nasty man’s plans and finally unveil his dirty business. Yet this whole plan had a big flaw - your involvement.

Pantalone, Tartaglia and Arlecchino were all at his desk while he was explaining the rules of the “game” he plotted against the merchant. At last, you enter the room but, good god—what are you wearing?

“I’ll be the bait.” In extraordinary clothes you shine like a precious diamond, and the glittery makeup makes your rounded eyes the centre of attention.

Arlecchino looks at you with approving and slightly proud look - what a bold move you’ve taken for the sake of Fatui’s secret mission. Tartaglia agreed too:

“She is the only one who can do it”, though his words sounded ambiguous and indefinite, Tartaglia coughed into his fist and explained, “I mean… She kind of seduced you too, Pantalone. I think she can work her charms on another merchant just fine.”

“And besides - it will be nothing more than just shallow flirt.” Arlecchino glared at Tartaglia who just could not shut his mouth in time.

Pantalone stopped writing and almost dropped his pen but gripped it immediately then.

“Absolutely not. We’re not doing it.”

He sounded more gloomy and grumpy than usual, not a hint from the familiar friendly-mannered and charming Harbinger.

Everyone stared at him like if he were an idiot.

“Don’t be ridiculous. Y/N won’t be the bait. I do not allow it, even if it is simply for mission purposes.”

“I will simply talk to the target and look pretty, nothing more nothing less”, you finally said, but that did little to convince Pantalone. He shook his head, the Knave and Childe fell silent.

“Are you jealous?” you crossed your arms.

“No.” Pantalone turned away and continued drawing the plan. “This task is extremely dangerous, I refuse Y/N’s involvement.”

“Yes, he obviously is. If I were him, I would feel jealous too”, said Arlecchino nonchalantly.

“Come on, give her a try, Pants. We don’t really have another choice. There should be a beautiful lady involved in such missions. As if someone would die of it!” He rolled his eyes.

Arlecchino gave you a smirk.

“What are you two blabbering about?!” Pantalone finally exploded. “I won’t let her go—not looking like…this!”

“Looking like…what exactly?” Arlecchino was not happy with his choice of words.

To shift the attention in some way and prevent a conflict you used the red lipstick and rubbed your lips together.

“Then it’s decided.”

This little action made Pantalone bite his own dehydrated lips as the sight of you was so intoxicating.

“Is that enough to charm our target?”

“Too much for some greedy old man.” Pantalone responded earlier than Tartaglia or Arlecchino could open their mouths.

“Relax.” You said to him silently.

“How am I supposed to—when you’re going to work your charms on another man?”

“We need it for a job. We need it to take the damn criminal down.”

Pantalone hit the desk with his fist furiously.

“Fuck the plan, I don’t want to sit and watch you flirt with an old jerk.”

Arlecchino and Tartaglia gave each other a knowing glance and left the room.

“You two decide it between yourselves.”

When everyone left Pantalone grabbed you by your hips and set you on top of his desk and kissed you in the lips passionately.

“Stop—come on—you’ll ruin my makeup!”

He only stopped for a second to look at your face again before proceeding to kiss you more anxious and desperate. After a while he pulled away, breathing heavily, like a pathetic jealous old man he is.

“You may flirt with the target but under one condition”, still gasping for breath profusely he says quietly, his fingers lingering on your shoulders as if he were discreetly trying to hug you.

“What is it, [Pantalone's real name]? What are you afraid of?”

One hand appeared on your cheek and he stroked it gently and affectionately.

“You’re going to seduce me later.”

“You’re unbelievable!” You chuckled under your breath. The audacity and bluntness of this man were insufferable. “But I promise to stay safe and come back to you after this all ends.”

[pouralaura]

This is like THE question of the ages but here goes. Is your Raphael capable of love? It is my understanding that devils are capable of an obsessive, manipulative, perverted version of it; but the Raphael in your fics has a particular human fallibility that is endearing, and a willingness to entertain those follies (for the sake of his favorite mouse) that I’m wondering if it’s possible that he would (accidentally) fall in love in a mortal sense, going against his fiendish nature (it would have to be a very special mouse). I’d love to hear your take on his fiend/human dichotomy. 🫶

what a fabulous question. thank you for asking! I've thought a lot about this and I always come to the same conclusion: yes, my Raphael is in fact capable of love. there is a "however" which I will get to shortly.

let me first say that I really simply do not care about canon. bro lives in my head rent-free as his own entity and does not necessarily fit DnD/BG lore in that space. that's just a disclaimer, take it as you will.

Raphael's love with my Tav (both generic and my Eris specifically) is definitely just magnetic obsession at first until they realize how hard they match each other's freak. he power plays and power plays and power plays, letting his mouse in ON HIS TERMS ALONE until it's too late and she's as much a part of him as he is of her. fwiw, Tav/Eris's love is the same as his - but his makes him more human and hers makes her less, all for better or for worse. and I think his capacity for love has so much to do with the other person in the equation, which is extremely human of him - Tav pushes him back and needles him but also worships him in her own way, taking on some of his traits the more time she spends with him. some of that is unconscious and some is fully intentional. it's all a part of the Game, which, for her, is Understanding (literally figuring out what makes him tick), while for him it's Winning (taking what he knows of her and using/manipulating it however he wants). Raphael is a narcissist and naturally loves himself most of all, but once he sees himself reflected in another person I think that unlocks a new layer of longing and deep connection within him.

I've used the lyric I won't speak of love since the beginning of writing about the two of them and it's always gonna fit. Tav/Eris knows what the feeling is on both sides, because she is 100% human and overly perceptive, intuitive, and insightful. but she is smart enough not to push that understanding onto Raphael because attempting to force him to admit what he perceives as a weakness would destroy their dynamic.

which brings me to my main point: again, yes, he is capable of love. he is even capable of unconditional love.

BUT

he will not accept that about himself, even for a moment. his love is obsessive and manipulative and perverted OF COURSE but it's also his purest emotion, which is an embarrassment. he will ignore the truth of what it is fully out of pride. if Eris pushed him to acknowledge it he would drop her in an instant and shed all remaining traces of his humanity. it's simultaneously the strongest connection he has with anyone and the thinnest tightrope of a line they could possibly walk - but they complement each other so well that they've somehow found that perfect unacknowledged balance. Eris is prideful too but understands that to maintain the status quo she MUST swallow some of her pride and allow Raphael to keep up appearances for his own sake - which is one of her major ways of showing love from her side.

he loves her purely and earnestly and deeply but he will ALWAYS love himself and his image more. some might say that means he is not capable of real love but I think the two can coexist! people are complicated!

this is fun to think about and I really hope it makes any kind of coherent sense all written out.

[insanityisfine]

So, I know I'm late to this party, but in my defense I just got the invitation.

I recently went through Little Goody Two Shoes, and then learnt about the existence of Pocket Mirror, so I went to look that one up too.

Loved how LGTS built upon PM, how it recontextualized COMPLETELY one of, if not THE generally agreed upon, happier endings.

And yet.

Maybe it's because I arrived here late, I haven't seen a lot of mentions of Henri's role in the most gruesome ending of PM (Witching Hour), and how deep Ozzy's manipulation and disregard for his own rules goes.

In the Witching Hour ending, we see Henri casually talk with Ozzy, clearly they know each other well, and I got the feeling Ozzy would eventually take him as an apprentice, or a new "lord", like the crow - Murim, and the snake - Aziel.

And LGTS makes SUCH a big deal of, well, the deal between Ozzy and Elise, with him demanding her first born, and her offering her second born (in one of the rare instances of smarts from Elise), and him agreeing to it.

Thing is: both of them were lying through their teeth.

Elise had no intentions of ever having children, and Ozzy went after BOTH of her children in the end.

Did he know she was trying to trick him, and decided to make sure she had two children, and then take them both, as a punishement? Or did he have no intention of following whatever counter offer Elise made, and take a child of hers regardless?

Did Elise ever had a choice?

In the non-canon endings we see Elise lament that Ozzy took Goldia, meaning she's most likely dead, but given what we see in the Witching Hour ending, Ozzy either has, or will take Henri too.

There's no saving grace, there's no honour among thieves, there's no escape. Ozzy takes what he wants, period.

Hell, the PM ending where Elise didn't take Ozzy's deal, where she apparently never even learnt of his existence, has Goldia finding the shoes, just like she did. He's going after that lineage, no matter what.

Elise's birth, her whole existence is tied to Ozzy and the supernatural, hell, it's basically unnatural, and Ozzy decided to torment her in every way and path possible, including taking both of her children, just to further fuck with her.

Hell, he even went so far as to guide Rozenmarine, who was basically groomed to eventually be a willing sacrifice to something, to Elise, to make sure he got his way.

He's a bitch, but he's a dedicated one.

[slayerscake]

You think they had to remix the VM symbol so they wouldn't get sued by gmail

[hmura-hmara]

No thoughts, head full of dinluke

[reds-skull]

Had the passing thought "what if Gaz had long hair" a few days ago and I just had to draw it

(Actually obsessed with 'hawked Gaz...)

[slavhew]

maybe dirk and jade hanging out ?

this is their entire dynamic to me. Dirk being neurotic around his bf(f)sie's gradmadaughter and her finding the whole thing deeply funny. dave should count himself lucky that she likes him otherwise she would be doing the exact same thing to him (more often).

[shrimparts-blog888]

🍎🍎🍎Bad, bad apples🍎🍎🍎

[sableeira]

Sigma for kokoasci’s 5k dtiys ✨

@kokoasci

[xero013]

Nimbasa's Shining Star does it again✨

(🚇⚡)

[hedonistbyheart]

They are trying very hard to be adorable so he won’t ask about The Shenanigans they’re hiding from him.

[t0bey]

WON’T LET ME SHAKE, I’M SHAKEN

[xulips]

honorifics

[easyaesthetics]

Happy 4 year anniversary, Persona 5 Royal!

[ex-mortis22]

See you later space cowboy…

Cowboy bebop but it’s Boothill

Every time I see people call Boothill space cowboy, my brain goes “…huh.”

[chucapybara]

a shorter blurb because i'm so tired rn but i would be happy to see others expound on this

laying in a flower field with arlecchino, beyond the walls of the court. it's you, of course, who had taken her hand, twined your fingers together, and pulled her off into a boat. the laughter and amusement that springs from your attempts to steer the little vessel, until arle kisses your cheek and mans the controls to sail where you wish to go.

you find a verdant field, wildflowers growing. she thinks it's a little too bright for her but when she's with you she doesn't mind, not at all. she lays with you, the grass and buds tickling her palms and her cheek; the sun is eclipsed by the shadow of you, most pleasant. her thumb trails across your cheek, and her heart hums. just for you.

you lean down to kiss her, anywhere on her sweet countenance, but purposely evading her mouth, to her mild disdain. still, she relishes every touch, and the softest of curves lilt on her lips; your kisses are sweet as honey, peppering all over. you trap her in your arms, and there is nowhere else to go.

"my love. arle," you murmur, and there is nowhere else she would rather be: with you, bringing her into the gentle sun, loving her in the daylit dew of the morn. no one else could make the day as kind to her as you do.