#weird even though them all being furries when the mc is a human and the love interest is humanoid was way weirder' and shit like that

[fxggotclown]

i find it very sad that i read a stupid amount of yaoi on mangadex earlier this year just to see what was up but forgot to put them in a list so i dont know what ones ive read

[gavin-plz-call-me]

The Brothers + Dateables & Luke react to MC owning a cat named lucifer

A/N- To attempt to avoid confusion, the demon Lucifer’s name will always be capitalized, while the cat lucifer’s name will never be capitalized.

~

“Now,” Diavolo said, obviously nearing the end of his speech, “Do you have any more questions, MC?”

You nod, “Is my cat up there all by himself?” you ask, “I don’t want him to get lonely, and without me he wont have anyone to feed him.”

The men, no, the demons in front of you stared, all obviously dumbstruck. You had been ripped out of your home, brought to a strange place, and told you were to live here for a year, and your first thought was of your cat? What a strange human you were.

“We can arrange someone to take care of your cat,” Diavolo said, smiling wide, but your face fell at his words. Diavolo seemed to sense your discontent as he spoke again, “Or we can arrange for your cat to be brought here?”

“Yes, please,” you spoke almost immediately.

Diavolo called for a demon named Barbatos, telling him to go to the human world to retrieve your cat. He disappeared then reappeared in a matter of seconds, your cat laying comfortably in his arms.

“Oh, lucifer,” You cooed, taking your cat away from Barbatos, kissing the cat’s forehead.

The hall went silent once again, before someone, the demon they introduced as Asmodeus, spoke up, “Honey, that’s Barbatos.” He said, a slight chuckle laced within the words.

Confused, you glance back up at the hall of demons, you point to your cat, “No? His name is lucifer.”

Lucifer

Can't decide if he's confused or insulted.

He's confused because, who the hell would someone name a cat of all things after a demon

and he's insulted because WHO THE HELL WOULD NAME A CAT AFTER HIM?

He's one of the strongest Demons in the Devildom, much stronger than a mere housecat, the insinuation that he, Lucifer, avatar of pride, shares anything in common with a cat has him fuming.

Of course, he shows none of these emotions outwardly, keeping his face stoic as always.

And any one of his brothers who dare joke about this cat's name will be hanged from the ceiling in a matter of seconds.

Is fairly annoyed with their shared name in day-to-day life, and not just because it's insulting.

But, many times a day, Lucifer'll hear his name called through the halls and, when he goes to investigate, one of his brothers is cooing over the damned pun intended cat.

Will eventually get used to lucifer and will definitely be seen cuddling with him.

Is like the dad who insists he doesn't want a cat, but as soon as he gets one they're inseparable.

At the end of the day, he loves that damn cat.

Mammon

Laughs out loud at the revelation that the cat's name is lucifer.

Until he realizes now he has to look after the human and the cat.

Will complain about it in typical Mammon fashion, but he warms up to lucifer about as quickly as he warms up to you.

Buys him a bunch of cat toys when he has the grimm, and loves to play with him

especially with a laser pointer.

Also loves to cuddle, but always acts very tsundere about it.

"What is it lucifer? Oh, of course, you want to cuddle with the Great Mammon."

Will either steal lucifer from your room at night, or sleep in your room to cuddle with him and totally not you, of course, but you should be honored he's even sleeping in your room.

Leviathan

Thinks it's hilarious as well.

Though he prefers anime, Levi is well versed in other human media, especially classic Disney films, so, because of Cinderella, he's well aware that lucifer is a popular cat name in the human realm.

That doesn't make it any less funny, though.

WILL NOT allow lucifer into his room.

He has too many expensive figurines to risk it

Plus, he doesn't want to risk Henry 2.0 getting hurt.

Will only play with, pet, or cuddle with lucifer if he initiates it.

"He probably doesn't want to be pet by a gross otaku like me," as if cats know what otakus are.

Will, at some point, sew lucifer a costume that looks suspiciously like what his older brother tends to wear.

He may or may not have been hanged for that one, but it was totally worth it.

Satan

Like Lucifer, Satan is conflicted.

On one hand, cat! He loves cats, he wants to pet this cat all day, and give him kisses and cuddles and love.

On the other hand, Satan would rather his soul be ripped apart than give love to something named after Lucifer.

Will try his hardest to completely ignore the cat's existence.

Has to leave the room if lucifer comes in because he can't trust himself to not pet him.

Is like this with lucifer until he sees him respond to the name luci as well.

After that, you cannot separate Satan from lucifer even if you tried.

Spoils him rotten.

The two are often found reading together in the library, Satan leisurely petting lucifer.

Fights with Mammon at least once a day for lucifer and always wins.

Goes on long rants about how cat lucifer is much better in every way than demon Lucifer.

Asmodeus

Another one who thinks it's hilarious.

Definitely thinks lucifer is cute but hates all the shedding, so he usually keeps his distance.

Like Levi, Asmo doesn't allow lucifer in his room.

Will constantly complain about fur getting all over his clothes.

Has had to buy more lint rollers in the first year you spent in the Devildom than he had bought in the last century.

Constantly posts pictures of lucifer on his Devilgram because, despite being a furry monster, he is just the cutest little kitten around.

Beelzebub

Thinks the name is a bit weird but accepts it pretty quickly.

It's just a name, after all, lots of people who are very different share names.

lucifer's food has to be hidden from Beel because he can, and will, eat it.

"It just smelled so good, and I was so hungry."

Apologizes by buying him some luxury cat treats that took all of Bee's willpower not to eat on the way home.

At first, he won't interact with lucifer unless lucifer approaches him.

Beel is so big, and lucifer is so small, he doesn't want to crush the little cat.

But with enough time and reinforcement, Beel will pick lucifer up himself for some much-needed cuddles.

Before Belphie comes down from the attic, Beel'll bring lucifer up to their room at night when he's feeling a bit more lonely than usual.

Beel will invite you up to his room as well.

Belphegor

Finds out about lucifer after everyone else, due to the whole, being locked in the attic, thing.

Hears Asmo trying to coax lucifer into a good pose from down the hall.

"Oh lucifer, cutie pie, you gotta look at the camera."

Is surprised that Asmo is still alive talking to Lucifer like that.

Is even more surprised when he turns the corner to find Asmo talking to a cat, not his eldest brother.

Thinks it's hilarious, but Lucifer is already over it so teasing him about it doesn't do much.

Won't actively seek out lucifer's attention, but will gladly nap with him.

Beel continues his habit of bringing lucifer up to their room for cuddles when Belphie returns, so the three of them usually end up in a big cuddle pile.

Bonus points if he brings you up too.

Diavolo

Thinks it's very amusing.

Laughs about it, probably for a bit too long.

He can't help it, especially because he knows Lucifer is most definitely a bit upset about it.

Will tease Lucifer once or twice about it, but will ultimately leave it alone.

When he visits the House of Lamentation, he'll give lucifer a nice pat, hello, but won't go very far beyond that.

Barbatos

Read lucifer's name tag while he was collecting him from the human realm.

Wasn't surprised in the slightest because nothing ever surprises him

Is definitely excited to see everyone's reactions to his name, and is not disappointed.

If given the chance, he will spend hours brushing lucifer's fur and pampering him

but doesn't get the chance to do so often, if ever.

Solomon

Has had a cat named lucifer in the past.

I mean, he's lived hundreds of years, it's not out of the realm of possibilities.

Named his own cat lucifer because he thought it was funny, and the humor hasn't faded since.

So he's very amused by this new lucifer in his life.

Will unabashedly cuddle and play with lucifer whenever he's given the chance.

I mean, this lucifer reminds him of his own cat, so he becomes pretty attached pretty quickly.

Whenever he visits the House of Lamentation, he'll hold lucifer until the very last minute he possibly can, and will be pretty sad when he has to leave.

Will joke about stealing lucifer, may actually try to steal him.

Simeon

Like Levi, Simeon is pretty well versed in human media, so the concept of cats named lucifer isn't new to him.

Still finds it a bit funny nonetheless.

Tells Michael right away.

Likes cats well enough, and, when he's in the House of Lamentation, will seek out a few pets from the kitten

but he doesn't venture to the House of Lamentation too often, so he never grows too close to lucifer.

Luke

WHY? WOULD YOU NAME A CAT? AFTER A DEMON?

There are so many better names for a cat!

Like whiskers, or oreo, or simba.

Is genuinely confused, and maybe even a bit concerned.

He's afraid you were consorting with demons before coming to the Devildom and that's why you named him lucifer.

After his brief stay in the House of Lamentation, Luke is absolutely in love with lucifer.

Plays with him constantly.

Wants to pick him up, but doesn't know how to.

Luke will end up getting scratched eventually, but Luke forgives him.

Bakes lucifer special cat treats and hopes you'll let him feed lucifer one.

[anenbylittlepotato]

What are the reactions of the demon brothers to MC's pet bunny who gives bunny kisses to the brothers?

Aww, this is so cute! 🥺

The Demon Bros with MC's Pet Bunny

Lucifer

When he first sees MC's bunny he just groans. He has to take care of a human and a bunny now?! Why doesn't Diavolo tell him these things?!

He just sighs and takes a moment to make peace with the fact that he'll just have to buy bunny food for the next year... Right...?

NOPE. Turns out taking care of a bunny is much more work than it seems, as MC explains to him. Great...

So uh... Yeah, safe to say that he has nothing but burning hatred for this bunny at first. Stop causing him so much more work dammit.

But honestly, who could conceivably stay mad at a bunny for long? They're so round and soft and fluffy and adorable. Even Lucifer, the almighty himself, isn't immune to a bunny's charms.

Eventually, the tiny little thing grows on him. He never lets any of his brothers see, but he'll occasionally slip the bunny a little treat or two, and sometimes he'll set the bunny on his desk while he works so he can reach over and pet her occasionally. And one time when he was sitting on the couch while his brothers were away and he was so stressed out to the point that he was almost tempted to bash his head against a wall, the little thing came up to him and just??? Puts her tiny little paws on his foot??? And looked up at him with those big round eyes, nose twitching and ears perked??? Almost like she was concerned for him??? Oh, he's in love. Now every time he's stressed out like that, he seeks out your bunny for comfort.

But then??? One day??? The bunny??? Gives him little bunny kisses??? Oh, he melts. This man is fucking putty. He's weak.

Please, this man loves your bunny. But of course, he never shows it around his brothers. And he rarely shows it around you. It's just a him and the bunny thing. No one else needs to know.

Mammon

The moment this man sees your bunny for the first time he's in love. Love at first sight is real, my dudes.

But she's just so??? Small??? And round??? And fluffy??? And cute??? How could you NOT love such a thing, honestly?

He still complains when he has to take care of you, but he's still really excited about your bunny.

This man,,, spoils the hell out of your bunny. He's constantly smothering her with love, and he constantly gives her little treats and gives her carrots and lettuce and any little snacks that she likes. And he lets her up on the couch and he holds her in his lap. He's adopted your bunny. That's his bunny now.

And when the bunny gives him little bunny kisses? He's dead. His heart spontaneously combusts right then and there. He didn't think he could love this bunny any more than he did, but then it happened. Please, bunny, you're going to be the death of him.

He definitely doesn't let his brothers see how much he loves this bunny though. He knows they would endlessly hound on him for it.

Leviathan

Honestly? He's definitely not very fond of your bunny when he first sees her. Sorry, but he's much more privy to reptilian and aquatic animals. Land mammals aren't really his thing.

They're just so... Weird to him, honestly. Those big weird eyes, the fact that they're completely covered in fuzz as if they're a moldy piece of food, their weird nails and their weird little noses. They freak him out.

So yeah, definitely not a fan of the bunny. He avoids her at all costs. Every time the bunny comes near him or touches him in any way, he's immediately in his demon form and leaps to the other side of the room, moving faster than anyone's ever seen him move in his life. Get that thing away from him-

His brothers find this so damn amusing. Especially Mammon. Mammon constantly pulls pranks on Levi that involve the bunny (though, of course, bunny-safe pranks, he doesn't want it getting hurt-) and teases him relentlessly about it.

One day you go over to Levi and gently try to convince Levi to at least try to bond with your bunny. It takes a lot of convincing and bribing, but he finally agrees. So you take him over to the bunny and sit down in front of her with him. Levi is shaking like a fucking leaf as you grab his arm and hold it out to the bunny. He jumps and lets out a small yelp as the bunny steps forward to sniff his hand. And he's whimpering and shaking when the bunny moves even closer to him and???? Climbs into his lap??? He's he is frozen with fear at this point. He doesn't know what to do, MC, help him. When you tell him the bunny likes him, he just really shook. It likes him??? A yucky, gross otaku like him???

And then, when it gives him bunny kisses???? MC has to explain what it's doing but when he understands he's just??? In shock.

There's no way he could hate the bunny after that. He finds solidarity with the bunny after that.

Satan

Satan is a cat person, through and through. However, this absolutely does not mean he'll stick up his nose to other furry, four-legged friends. Quite the contrary, he likes them too. Make no mistake, cats are and always will be his go-to, but that he still likes other animals too. He's flexible with his love.

So, safe to say, when he sees your bunny, he gets quite excited. Are you gonna help him annoy Lucifer, little girl? Are you?

He's also really excited to use all of his reading knowledge to help take care of the bunny. He knows exactly what the bunny needs and helps you pick out the things that would be best for her.

Sometimes, when he's reading, your bunny will walk up to him and, without looking up from his book, he'll reach over and gently stroke her ears. Though he has to keep the bunny out of his room because she loves to nibble the books.

He doesn't really care about letting his brothers know he likes the bunny. He's not embarrassed by his love of animals.

Asmodeus

He adores your bunny. She's just so cute! Though don't put her on him, it'll get hair on his new outfit!

This man takes so many Devilgram pics of and with this bunny. His fans love her! And he even gets cute little outfits for her! And he grooms her soft fur and gives her cute little bows! One day he tried to give her a bath, not knowing the dangers. Luckily, MC and Satan managed to stop him before it was too late. Please don't bathe your bunnies in water unless your vet tells you to, it's very bad for them

Seriously tho, this man gives your bunny some little bunny spa days. He pampers your bunny. Asmo, please, she doesn't need her nails painted, she's a bunny. And did... Did you seriously put cucumbers on her eyes??? She's gonna eat them-

But when she gives him bunny kisses? Oh, she's so cute, oh my goodness! He absolutely has to get as many pictures of this moment as he can! It's just too precious not to post all over Devilgram! His fans are going to adore this!! And he was right, too, as it ends up being one of his most popular posts.

And he's never been shy about showing his affections toward you around others why would he be shy about showing affection to your bunny?

Beelzebub

When he first saw her, he may or may not have thought about eating her-

But don't worry, he managed to resist.

Honestly, he doesn't really mind the bunny too much aside from the occasional thought about eating her. He never really pays much attention to her at first except when he's really hungry.

But as he gets closer to you and starts spending more time with her in turn, and he comes to like her. She's really cute. Just like you!

Sometimes she'll come up to him while he's eating and he'll drop her the occasional leaf or carrot piece. And she really likes to crawl into his lap and just peek out at everyone. And he really likes to touch her soft fur. Sometimes the bunny follows him around. I think she feels safest with him out of all of the brothers. Which... Fair enough, honestly.

And when she gave him bunny kisses? Oh, the little large pure boi was so happy and excited. MC, look, she likes him!! Are you looking, MC?

He's never been the most secretive when it comes to his feelings, so he doesn't really mind showing affection to the bunny around his brothers.

Belphegor

Haha, he's in the attic what are you talking about-

Nah, nah, jk, he still sees your bunny after he's out of the attic.

And honestly, he's chill with her. He literally doesn't care that much.

Though he does like how soft her fur is... Do you wanna be one of his nap buddies, little bunny?

Apparently, the answer is yes because whenever Belphie is taking a nap, she hops over and makes herself comfortable beside him. Hey, he's not complaining one bit. She's soft and that's all that matters. Actually, whenever the bunny wants to sleep, she wanders over to Belphie and settles down beside him. She seems to see him as just as much of a good nap buddy as he does to her.

And when she gives him little bunny kisses? Honestly, he's more surprised than anything. He does think it's cute, sure, but he kinda just blinks at her a few times in surprise. Then he chuckles a little and pets her head.

And this man couldn't possibly care less about showing affection towards the bunny around his brothers. He gives zero fucks.

==

That took way longer to write than it should have. It probably would have been done faster if I had the ability to not procrastinate 😔

[thelovelyghostwriter]

Ranking the HxH guys in my Simping Tier: Countdown

Note: This is just for fun and lame-ass humour. You are free to like anyone in hxh and this tier doesn’t reflect how great the character is. It’s just a ranking based on how much I simp for them. 

14. Meruem

Okay. There’s a reason why Meruem is at the last list. He’s an ant. He’s not even fully human FML. Can’t believe people wanna fuck this teenaged mutant ninja ant. Can’t even say those people are a furry because this ant has no fur. It’s a no for me. 

13. Illumi

The Illumi simps are gonna hack me for having him too low. I find him cute and has really nice hair that can be for shampoo ads... but his eyes... it covers 70% of his face. It’s guppy eyes. It’s like he wore those coloured contact lenses that enlarges the eyes. 

12. Shalnark

OKay. Shalnark is cute. He’s really one of the most good looking guys in the series. However, I don’t know why but his personality is kinda “ehh”. He’s a little psycho who controls people with his phone, but somehow his personality is overshadowed by a lot of extreme characters with Hisoka. Also, I try not to get too attached to him because of what happens in the current arc. 

11. Kite

Okay. This is weird but... I find Kite more attracted when he’s a red-headed female ant right now. Okay. I know I went all like “MERUEM ISNT EVEN HUMAN” but female Kite LOOKS human. She has freckles and all that. It’s real cute. But I’d say he’s a little lower because he doesn’t really have that “oomph” personality so-

10. Pariston

Now, talk about a character with FABULOUS presentation of himself. Pariston shows himself off with extravagance. NOW, that’s a personality. He’s like one of those celebs that are just so extra like Lady Gaga that it’s amazing. I know he’s underrated in the simping world, but he’s essentially kinda like Hisoka (who has a big simping fandom), only he prefers to play with people’s minds rather than fight people. 

9. Tserriednich

You might be wondering, why the fuck is he here? Okay, first of all, he reminds me of Hannibal who is by the way, charming. And yes I mean it in the Mads Mikkelsen AND the Anthony Hopkins way. Makes me wanna his Clarice but I’d rather have Theta have that spot. Secondly, he’s a prince so being his bride is literally a dream come true. Thirdly, yeh, Tserriednich is actually very handsome. Nice blond hair and that facial beard. 

8. Gon

He’s quite low on the tier because I had always seen him as a cute green mini-Ging. Personality-wise, he’s really sweet and I can see a lot of girls liking him because he knows how to treat women respectfully. He can even handle the crazy ones like Palm. His alpha side came out during the Chimera Ant arc and his adult form is hella attractive. 

Jokes aside, this character is really amazing as an MC. It’s sad that he gets overshadowed but I believe he’s a pretty unique shounen MC because most of the time, a shounen MC doesn’t kill or has a pretty much black-and-white morality. Gon Freecss breaks that stereotype and he’s truly appreciated. 

7. Leorio 

Listen to me. This man is supposed to be the type of man you’re supposed to marry. Doctor, loyal, caring and funny. This man is the total package. I think the reason why he’s a little lower in my simp tier is because well... he’s the type of guy that I will go for in reality. In fiction, that’s where all my crushes for crazy guys should be. My simp tier is based on my heart, not brain. 

6. Killua

Okay. I was down bad for Killua when I was younger. DOWN BAD. So down bad that it was scary. I sort of got over him now. But what can you do? Killua is simped by a lot of teenaged girls or women who had a crush on him since the beginning of time. He’s fiercely loyal, has white hair and pretty blue eyes, is a fun mixture of mischief and seriousness. He’s the type of guy you can count on to get out of trouble and one to always treasure you. I do think that if I ever meet Killua though, that he’d bully me to oblivion. 

Okay, we’re at the top 5. From here onwards, some real NSFW simping words.

5. Hisoka

I kinda do understand Hisoka stans, but at the same time, I do not get them. Like him or not, he’s a very flamboyant character. He stands out of the crowd and he just have that unexplained charisma. 

He’s actually a really well-written character. He’s the balancing factor in the narrative of HxH. He’s like the joker in the deck of cards. Back to my simp tier, he’s very attractive ESPECIALLY with his hair down. There’s a certain aura that is addictive about him that I can’t pin-point. And for that, he earns my top 5 spot.

4. Feitan

I swear. This simping phenomenon actually manifested from Hiei. Yes, Feitan’s character blueprint, Hiei from Yu Yu Hakusho. (The real OGs will know that Hiei is the character blueprint, not Levi). I know a lot of people compare him to Levi but let me explain why Levi and Feitan are alike: it’s because their character blueprint is Hiei. 

Anyway, Hiei is HOT. And to me, the hxh equivalent is Feitan, with a huge addition of sadism and emo-ness. Okay, that makes it even hotter. 

I have read some Feitan/Reader on AO3 and BOI. I enjoyed reading certain stuff that I never thought I would enjoy. I read a fic about Reader-chan getting whipped and basically all sorts of BDSM and OMG it’s heaven. 

“They say all good boys go to heaven, but bad boys bring heaven to you”

3. Chrollo

At first, I didn’t really care about Chrollo until he wore that tuxedo and let his hair down (Is it just me or a lot of hxh boys look good with their hair down?). HE LOOKS SO GODLY HOLY FUCK.

I’m 100% sure that his character blueprint for the hair-down is Koenma. He also gives me Tuxedo Mask vibes. Overall, such chivalry and handsomeness all in one man. Not to mention, that sexy sexy voice when he recites his fortune-telling. I would say he has the sexiest voice among all hxh guys. He is just that HOT and charismatic. I wanna see where he hid that Spider tattoo and scratch his back. 

2. Ging

Okay. Ging is hardly simp by girls. And I do not understand why?? He is motherfucking attractive. Even now. GAWD. I love him.

I think my attraction to him pre-started because he looks and acts SO much like my childhood crush Yusuke Urameshi from Yu Yu Hakusho. I know he’s an asshat but he’s a CHARMING asshat. Yeap, I said it. He is actually highly intelligent and just acts like a total haggard because he can. 

It’s not just when he’s young. I STILL think he’s hot even in his 30s. He’s not that old for me to me honest. I don’t care if he’s a decade older than me because I think that’s the appeal of it. I

It’s kinda sad that he’s not that popular because I need some Ging/Reader smut content. Like, I envisioned a smut fic where the reader is like in her 20s and is strangely attracted to Ging. He’s wildly confused over this but he’s seriously considering of tapping it because his old ass haven’t had any action lately. The other Zodiacs are also confused and are convinced that he must have given some sex pollen to the reader because who the hell is sane enough to be attracted to him? (But it’s just that you need some acquired taste to actually find this man alluring). He’s one of the most fuckable characters ahhh. 

And... for the last one...

Drumroll please....

1. Kurapika

Seriously, was there even a surprise. 

THIS MAN IS THE AKAKU GOD. He’s beautiful, he’s sexy and fucking dominant (yes, I say he’s domineering because do you see the way he throws a hot tantrum during the whole YorkNew arc, demanding shit from his enemies, taking charge of everything?) His chains drives me nuts. I love it when he gets angry. I know he’s kinky on the inside. When he wore that tuxedo... ooof. He looks hella fine. He’s the only guy in hxh that fulfills my ala Michael Corleone mafia boss kink. I want him to ^&*(%%%*%^ (to save myself from embarrassment, I self-censored) as we attempt to repopulate the clan and produce more scarlet eyed babies, as he whispers some real degrading and possessive shit in Kurta while he tells me what to do. AHHHHH. *bye gotta go write some kuraneon porn now byeee*

[astaroth1357]

Demon Brothers Meeting the MC’s Family

I mean, if they have any family at all, what could they even tell them anyway? “Sorry Mom, still in Hell so I won’t make Thanksgiving but I’m doing great though!” This is another long one folks, but I lowkey kind of love it a whole lot. Sooo fun to write. One of my favorite posts so far.

Lucifer

Thinks it's a little weird that they’re so adamant to introduce their family to a literal demon but also kinda gets it. Family is the most important thing to him too.

Is very focused on making a good first impression, from image to attitude. Their approval isn’t going to do jack to stop him from being with the MC but he’d still take pride in being able to charm them for a night. Besides, if the MC cares then so does he.

Has more experience with the human world than the others so he’d know a lot of the do’s and don'ts already. They won’t need to worry about him making some kind of slip up.

Would love the irony if the MC’s family is religious at all. Christian/Jewish especially. May or may not play along with their little rituals but is going to make a lot of thinly veiled, passive-aggressive comments towards his "old man."

Would be most comfortable in a setting where there’s a lot of intellectual discussion or debate. He loves to steer a conversation down towards politics or other controversial things to get a rise out of people. The MC may need to reign him in if that’s a big no-go zone.

Isn’t really going to get along with any younger siblings the MC might have. Either he’s too stiff or too scary. If they’re looking for a playmate, look somewhere else.

Also not going to be particularly fond of any pets they have one way or another. Though he may take a shine to pitbulls or rottweilers because they remind him of Cerberus.

Mammon

You sure about this, MC? Him? Really? Are you really sure? He’s going to think they're crazy but he’s not going to refuse.

Will be so freaking excited if they’re from a well-to-do or, dare say, rich family. So much stuff to steal admire. Yeah, yeah no stealing from the MC’s family, he gets it... He’ll really try his best but it might be good to keep an eye on him.

Surprisingly though, he’s not going to be disgusted if they’re from a poor family either because the dude gets it. Money is hard to come by and things can be tough. He might even… pay... for some stuff while he’s there... You know, if he can. Don’t make a big deal out of it… He's got an image to keep.

He’ll try his best to not come off like a total scumbag and it may actually work. He’s rough around the edges but there’s plenty of chances for his better side to shine through as long as he stays on good behavior. 

They will have to be sure that he doesn’t get to talking too much because his dumbass will let it slip that he’s a demon. 

Mammon may not love kids but kids love him and any younger siblings are going to do the same. Even if he calls them little gremlins, he’ll let himself get roped into whatever game they’re playing and make it a lot of fun in the process.

Bring on the pets! He’s more of a dog person but he’ll play with a cat too. He may not be as animal-obsessed as Satan but he loves a good furry companion every once in a while.

Leviathan 

NOOOOO and you can’t make him!!! A social event involving strangers where he has to make a good impression?? Fuck no, that sounds like actual hell and he doesn’t want anything to do with it!

… But he also can’t just let the MC go back to the human world alone because what if they meet someone better than him and get reminded that they’re with a good-for-nothing otaku…? Okay he's going. But he’s going to pout about it.

His first impression is going to make him come off like a nervous wreck no matter what. There’s really no polishing this bundle of anxiety. The best he can hope for is to ride this thing out until it's done.

Will be pretty quiet and cling to the MC like a life-raft the entire night. Refuses to be left alone with their family in any capacity, he could not handle the awkward silence. If they’re going to the bathroom, then he’s going too damnit.

If they have a pretty nerdy family then he might be a bit more comfortable. Especially if any of their siblings/parents game or are into anime. Steering conversation more towards his comfort zones will help him out a lot...

If they have little siblings who play a lot of video games then he is going to be the coolest person in the world. Period. He knows all the best strategies to practically any game out there, demonic or human. He may even loosen up a little bit and start smiling if he gets to wow an audience with his gaming prowess!

Like Lucifer he’s not going to be all that impressed with pets either way. He’ll think fish are pretty neat and probably even reptiles too but don’t expect him to get too cuddly with a dog or anything.

Satan

Doesn’t hate the idea but agrees that his name is going to have to change if they’re really serious about it. “Hey everybody this is my boyfriend, Satan!” is only going to be appealing to very niche circles...

Like Lucifer, he's going to be mindful of how he comes across. He'd rather the MC's family likes him than didn't, even if it's irrelevant, so expect him to be very polite and sociable. Damn near the perfect gentleman.

… Until something/someone sets off his temper. He may not go full Wrath on the situation but it's probably best to get him out of the room real quick so he can cool down.

Would love if the MC comes from an super educated family but it’s not a must. He's the kind of guy who will ask a lot of questions about any person's profession/skills and how things work regardless of background. He's curious that way.

Either way, he is going to show off his smarts and make sure that their family knows where his intellect is at. He wants them to know that the MC picked someone with a good head on their shoulders, after all.

Best keep him away from small children and bratty teens. He isn't exactly opposed to kids, but it takes one little shit to set him off and NO ONE looks good yelling at someone else's kid. Deserved or not.

Will there be cats? Do you have a cat? Please say you have a cat! He's okay with dogs too but if the MC has a cat this man will be ecstatic. The cat will love him and he will love it right back. Honestly, he's already adopted it. It's his now. Who's MC?

Asmodeus

Baby, you can take him anywhere and he’ll be the life of the party! A little family gathering doesn’t matter to him.

Is going to make sure that the moment he walks through the door the MC's family is in awe of what a catch they've got for themselves. He wants them to be proud of their little MC! To him, that translates to looking good and being fun!

Hope this is a house used to physical affection because he will not (and probably cannot) turn it off. Everyone gets hugs. Everyone.

Extra affectionate the whole night. He'll hold the MC's hand or arm or waist or really any part he can get away with. Kisses on the head and cheek aplenty. He may also lowkey butter up their parents with loads of compliments no matter what situation they're in.

If he's told to cool it on the touching though, he may get offended.

Is going to be better with teenage siblings than little, little ones. The man lives to give dating advice, fashion tips, or makeovers, you name it. Though he has to be careful to mention just human products and not some of the stuff he has back home.

Animal fur on his clothes? After he dressed himself so carefully?? No thanks. You can have your cute puppy or your little kitty. He'll take pictures, but he's probably not going pet much.

Beelzebub

Is honestly kind of honored by the suggestion. The MC is already a part of his family so it only seems natural to make him part of theirs. Though he has some reservations, mostly around his appetite...

He doesn't go up to the human world very much because it's really hard for him to stay fed. He's well-known enough in the Devildom that restaurants know what to expect when he walks in. Not so much up there.

Arrange the meeting around a state fair, festival, or carnival where the food is plentiful and he's golden. Hopefully their family won't be too disturbed by how bottomless his stomach is…

Beel is a sweetheart through and through but his lack of knowledge about how the human world, or humans in general, work might come back to bite him. He may need a little 101 about human manners before going.

Truthfully, their family is in for a real treat! This giant may look intimidating, but he's as gentle as they come. The kind of guy who will carry their grandmother’s bags with a smile on his face just for the sake of being helpful. 10/10 Sweetie, mother will approve.

Ooooh little kids are going to love Beel. He'll let their siblings hang off of him like a jungle gym. Will also play games with them if they want him to. Doesn't matter to him, their family is his family too and he wants to see them all happy.

Man wants dogs. Preferably big ones that he can rough-house with but little dogs he can cuddle work too. Do remind him that he can't just rip a whole-ass branch off a tree to play fetch like you could with Cerberus.

Belphegor

Really? You want that? Lol, okay but no promises. This is pretty much the equivalent of sticking two unlabeled chemicals together in a beaker and leaning in to see what happens. Who knows, but now you're stuck in the middle of it.

He's not going to try especially hard to make a good impression or change himself in any way. If their family is into people who are kind of chill and sarcastic then he'll get along swimmingly. If they were expecting more of a Satan type, yeah. No. He's not holding open any doors.

Won't be taking the whole thing all that seriously to be honest, like, what are a bunch of humans going to do if they don’t like him? Tell MC? They're certainly not going to be able to make him leave. He's humoring them at best, even if he's nice, so why bother fussing about it?

Might be a disrespectful little troll at times like pretending to fall asleep or making casual jokes like "Oh no, ma'am. I'm not all that comfortable with that cross over there because I'm a demon. …. Got ya, didn’t I? That'd be silly." *shit-eating grin*

Would appreciate a quiet, slightly introverted family the most. He's going to start getting annoyed if people in the house are too loud and may speed the whole thing along as a result.

Kids are things he'd rather avoid than have to interact with, but if pressed he will humor the little ones too. Don't expect him to do a whole lot of moving, though. If they're happy to just show him things that he can semi-pay attention to, that works for him.

MC has a pet? Is it fluffy? Is it lazy? Bring'em here. Like Beel, he likes big dogs but would rather just bury his face in fluff than try to wrestle it. He may actually fall asleep with them if they lay still enough for it.

[future-dregs]

Send Me a Fandom Ask Game

@nitghowl1600

Yu Yu Hakusho, I love that, thank you.

Let's dig in and see what the answers are.

The first character I first fell in love with: Hiei!

My sister actually read it first, and then we watched the anime together, and from the moment she showed me his first picture I knew I would love him. And I was RIGHT. He's a bastard gremlin (affectionate) and that's just the ones I like, so it was really no surprise that he rocketed right up to the top.

The character I never expected to love as much as I do now: Yusuke. Despite being the MC, he was an absolute ASS (which was all part of his character development but I digress), and I really, REALLY didn't like him. Brash, crass, sexist, and irritating, I did not want to spend any more time around him than was strictly necessary. Now, of course, if you've seen any of my posts or tags, you'll see that he's shoved his way into my heart and I love him very dearly. He's amazing, and his growth, maturity, and tenderness are something outstanding.

The character everyone else loves that I don’t: Yoko Kurama. Idk who was a closet furry in that translations room, but giving the giant, muscled fox man a "time for spankings" line was a damn choice and a choice they kept on making. Every time he opened his mouth I braced in horror and despaired of what he would say, cause ALL OF HIS LINES ARE LIKE THAT. (My sister assures me that wasn't in the manga….that...I have yet to completely finish). I do not like Yoko Kurama. But the fandom does. Oh, how they do.

The character I love that everyone else hates: Itsuki. He's not great and his relationship with Sensui is (imo) weird at best and unhealthy at worst (though I wouldn't go so far as to that its abusive). But idk man, he's a compelling, interesting character. He's a demon, who was being hunted by Sensui and was about to be killed by him, but Sensui thought he was funny and hot I guess so he let him live and they started hunting together. After Sensui's horrific (in every absolute sense of the word, holy fucking shit) realization about the humans he had been working to protect, and he was so shattered and disturbed and at loose ends that he had to make multiple personalities to protect himself and process what happened to him, Itsuki stuck with him. They may not have dealt with what happened to them in the healthiest manner, and Itsuki stepped back and let him go when he should have intervened, but what they hell else were they supposed to do, really? He supported and loved Sensui in the best way he knew how, even if that way turned out to be pushing him to the point of self destruction. Their last moments together were very moving, and solidified him as an intriguing character to me. Idk what the fandom feel for him is, but my sister greatly dislikes him, so that's who I'm picking.

The character I used to love but don’t any longer: Lame, but I don't think I have one.

The character I would totally smooch: Yukina. But a nice, cute little forehead kiss. She's precious and want all good things for her, and I'd like to kiss the top of her head like a cat. I don't have any character I'm attracted to though.

The character I’d want to be like: I admire Kuwabara. He's strong as hell and can fight like crazy, but he runs off of love. Like, the power of love is what motivates him. He's kind, loves his friends so much that he was willing to debase and humiliate himself so that no harm would come to them, he loves cats, his sister, PEOPLE in general and he just genuinely wants to make the world around as good as he can. He applies himself to his studies and is determined to make himself into a good man, and if I could be at all like him, I would consider myself to be a success. (The dub frickin' BUTCHERED him and all of his character traits btw)

The character I’d slap: Koenma. He deserves it. He bears a lot of responsibility for the REALLY bad stuff that happened and the unnecessary pain and torment that several characters went through. Aside from that he's also a little whiny and should really treat his second better but hey, what else is new?

A pairing that I love: YuHieiRama. This is not the most *popular* paring in the fandom (30 fics on Ao3, minimal art, there's…there's next to nothing, basically) but I LIKE it.

Kurama treasures Yusuke, he doesn't even attempt in any way to hide that fact. Also Kurama has two hands and he knows it. There's a reason Hiei/Kurama is one of the biggest ships in the fandom, their flirtation, instigated mostly and many times, by Kurama, is too much to be ignored. Hiei had THIS wonderous line "I would kill you before you could touch him (Yusuke)" which is HUGE for him and his character because his whole shtick is that he "doesn't care" about other people (he does sometimes he just doesn't show it) but when he thought Yusuke was in imminent mortal danger, he didn't hesitate even a moment to VERBALLY THREATEN (AND THEREBY ACKNOWLEDGE HOW IMPORTANT YUSUKE IS TO HIM) the one posing the danger. And he would have. And he's not a big talker, so this was a BIG MOMENT to him and his character development. Also, though not as open as Kurama, and more bashful about receiving, he reciprocates the flirtation, and seems almost to expect or wait for it at times (and then he tries it out on Yusuke, it's so cute). On Yusuke's end, he admires and respects them both, he likes them both and he just genuinely WANTS to be around them. They are right up there with the top five or so most important people in his life and his devotion is obvious. There's also the common bond between them with Kurama and Hiei being yokai, and Yusuke (SPOILER) also now being one. They have an understanding of each other and a deep care and they make such a wonderful unit, and their interactions, both between any of the two of them, or all three of them together, are just LACED with care and affection and (I think) romantic, flirtatious undertones. *deep breath* I'm so sorry about this.

A pairing that I despise: Yusuke and Keiko. And NO its not because I ship Yusuke with someone(s) else, its because I never believed them as a couple, and they seem supremely unsuited to each other. They kept saying "I love you, I love you, I like you, I miss you, I admire you, I want you" But they never seemed to show it, to prove or display that in any romantic way. They do care for each other, I'll believe that. But IN love? No. They make a horrible romantic couple, and I dislike it greatly.

[devourer--of--books]

So, I just started to play Obey Me! Shall We Date

And well, I have thoughts

Im currently stuck on the first levels of lesson 5, so my knowledge of the plot is limited to that + some spoilers I accidentally got while going though the obey me! tag. Do I have a deep understanding of this game? No. Am I gonna rant anyway? Yeah. See me do another one of these soon after I play it some more, but for now, I need to put this out there:

First, mechanics-wise, the first thing on my mind was "Mr. Love from Hell", which is honestly not too far fetched. Maybe it's because I'm playing in my old ass tablet (I need a new phone, this thing ain't gonna survive 2020) but it's just so slow??? I've tried downloading full data, and it kinda helped, but still, it just annoys me so much! It's not crashing like crazy (cof cof Love Island The Game cof cof) but it could be better, it takes forever to get the itens to level up cards because it just ????????? takes forever for them to load???? anyone else got this problem or it's just my device? Anyway, that aside, I quite like it, if you played MLQC, it's pretty easy to manage, and while it takes a bit more of attention to win battles, I think that's a good thing. Getting shards has a been a bitch, like, I keep on suffering with the loading and my competitive ass wants to finish begginer's missions, and again I think Mr. Love has spoiled me. Also, someone please tell me how to level up skills, because I have no idea???

Now, moving on to the actual tea: what do I think of these boys?

Let's go in order, shall we:

So, I open the app and I see Lucifer in all his red and black glory, furry cape, Dom-Daddy, Big D Energy for days and go "Oh, Demon!Nobunaga, fun!". I'm immediately drawn to him beacause Nobu was my first ever otome guy and while I eventually grew out of the whole "this man is so controlling and sexy and dark" phase, nostalgia ya know? So, turns out the vibe I keep getting from Lucifer is more like all those dark-kinky-Jumin-Han-fanfics (as in, the only parts of Jumin Han that I hate) rather than Nobu? Idk man, this guy just seems shady?? They all do honestly but Lucifer is just plain scary. Dude, I know you've got the whole "most-powerful-oldest-control-freak" going for you but, like, can you chill?

Yet I can't really blame him, cause, Veronica (that's my MC's name) why, girl???? She be going up those stairs, and I'm just ??? Real talk, I'm kinda of a rule follower? I don't wanna make this guy mad, man, all I wanna do is hit on Satan (which we shall discuss soon) and see some family drama shenanigans. Lucifer says "don't go up those stairs" I'd be like "okay???" because up until now he hasn't given me a reason to not trust him (aside from being shady)??? But I have no choice but go talk to Belphegor (don't even get me started on this one) and I can just tell I'm gonna get in trouble for this. Could I not get there accidentally? Do I have to go there against Lucifer's direct orders? I don't think this is gonna go well, I just don't wanna get on his bad side hskshskshk

Lucifer's room, however, is everything to me, the deco is lovely (skeleton aside) and that bed, maaaannnn

Mammon started really annoying but he's been growing on me. I have a soft spot for dumb bitches like him, I guess? He just cracks me up? Not to be cheesy, but I like him as a friend? Maybe that'll change in the future, who knows, but for now that's how I see him, the best friend guy who is gonna be in love with you in every single route (read, Seven, but dumber). Can't wait for the angst. Looks wise I kind got him mixed with Solomon at some point (my dumbass though it was a bug) but all those Surprise Guest moments have me thinking he's way cuter than I gave him credit for at first.

I always feel bad for ratting him out to Lucifer, but boy, you and Veronica practically share one single brain cell, okay? I need to get my girl into Lucifer's good graces, I ain't about that troublemaker life

Levi is gonna be brief: No. He's not my type (otome or real life wise) and he annoys me. He reminded me a bit of Yoosung at first, and I'm trying to power though it like I did with him, but I can't. He keeps dragging me into his stuff and it's not cute, it makes me resent Levi. I'm not much of a tsundere enthusiast by nature, and I really don't like when they portray fans and gamers in this kinda "I'm weird, look at me I'm so weird and different" light ("have you ever seen me without this stupid hat on? that's weird" jsjdndmsksjdnsmskdjnddm). It comes across (to me at least) as childish and dumb (not endearing dumb, like Mammon). Idk, maybe I'll change my mind? Don't come for me, Levi stans

So Satan

I love Satan

Otome makes you say the strangest shit hm

Still. I haven't interacted much with him but I'm obsessed with this man. Let me date you, okay? You look like posh book-cat-candle super model I wish existed. Let's be petty together. Since I haven't been playing long I hope I don't end up regretting putting my heart and soul into loving you. I'm doing all kinds of jobs to get intimacy go up with him, because guyghbkhiugiygufgfydddyghvjgvjg I'm all about that soft dom energy he has going for him, it's basically everything I love about Jumin Ham, but less CEO and more cute-bookstore-guy. Ideally, Satan is 100% my type, even if not the usual otome route I take first. Also, he is the Avatar of Wrath, which, along with Pride, is my most prominent sin, so I might be projecting

Pls babe don't turn out to be terrible

Kay, so Asmo. Asmo gives me all the Shingen vibes but realistic Shingen. Like, of Shingen is all about worshiping his MC, Asmo looks like he wants to be worshiped himself. Not judging, tho. That thing he said about loving himself above all things, I feel like it was supposed to be shady but I kinda agree? He's onto something. All this self-sacrifing thing is so romanticized. Can't we all be in healthy non co-dependent relationships? Love yourselves, kids. Which is why, while I said Satan is my ideal type of man, in real life, most of the people I've been with are Asmos. That being said, that's why he doesn't really work as an otome LI for me (at least for now). I'm here to live a fantasy of dating demons, not to see my exes. He is tempting tho. Who doesn't want a friend to do face masks and fuck from time to time, no strings attached until, "oh no, we both caught feelings, whatever shall we do" and then have it end well? (can you tell I'm projecting? my therapist is gonna love this). Poor Asmo, it's not his fault. Darling I'm sure you'll turn out to be lovely

On Beel, not much. I'm not into him, at least for now. his personality so far is that he's hungry. So what, man. I'm not here for that either. I don't find food particularly fun or sexy, it's just here to keep us alive (unless it's sweets, sweets are the best, but I'm having to cut down on sweets so), so he's not doing much for me. Gotta wait for that character development I guess

And to end this rant, Belphegor. Bitch, I've seen you on my demon cards, don't you dare tell Veronica you're human. But she's a dumb hoe, my girl Veronica, so she just doesn't question it???? I swear, this girl. Shady doesn't even cut it with him. Sorry, you're telling me what to do? Dude, lol, you're lucky this is Veronica and not me, because I'd be out of there as soon as you started this bull about me doing pacts with demons to get your ass out of that room. Don't prey on my empathy, it pisses me off. Spoilers tell me he's like a human-hater or something? Boy, fuck you, okay? Am I going to end up loving him? Who knows. For now he can rot in that room for all I care

Anyway, that's pretty much my first impressions of this game. I'll be playing it for some more time, until I get up to date on lessons and story or until colleges comes to drag me to literal hell, whatever comes first

Peace, my dudes

[ivanaskye]

WoT book 3 reactions!

So you may remember how I recently finished book 2. Now I’m done with book 3! It’s titled The Dragon Reborn, despite barely having a handful of Rand POV scenes.

Thematically, it serves as a reminder that there are two ta’veren—people who get shoved around by fate but also have a good chance of changing the world—OTHER than Rand here. Moiraine had almost forgotten how important they might become, distracted instead by Rand’s literal-chosen-one-ness, and so probably had the readers.

BUT NO LONGER!

Once again, I’m going character-by-character here under the cut (if tumblr can remember how to cut.)

[[MORE]]

Perrin

The largest chuck of the book’s POV is him (though Egwene’s a close second), so we get to know him pretty well

He still Doesn’t Want To Be A Furry, though we finally get evidence that he might be right to be wary—he encounters someone else with his ability who has completely lost his connection to humanity in favor to being a wolf.

Although I’m pretty sure actively trying to walk that line is much safer than pushing it away only to be overwhelmed by it later, but Perrin only makes so many good decisions

See also: yelling in mixed company, RAND’S THE BLOODY DRAGON

despite this, he is typically the smartest of the three ta’veren boys.

He’s real cute when he gets into blacksmithing, I’m glad he has something that makes him happy

Also he just has a Dead Wolf Friend That Always Wanted To Fly But Can Now Fly In The Afterlife as his partner in prophetic, can-totally-kill-you, dreams?? Adorable.

He also absolutely has a girlfriend-to-be now, which was so obviously set up that it feels forced, but also I really like her and also they’re cute together and I ship it. I’m conflicted. Anyway, more about her later.

Egwene

The other MC for this book

I still love her?? How much more is there to say than that.

She’s ACTUALLY UNCOMFORTABLE HIDING THINGS, which is really big mood and also she’s a @sortinghatchats gryffindor secondary.

She’s showing more and more signs of actually being a Dreamer, maybe. Also she gets more vengeful and terrifying each book. IS she going to torture someone to death later in the series. (Don’t answer that, I wanna find out for myself.)

Mat

Oh my gods he’s so stupid

SO STUPID

Almost the first thing he does once he gets healed from the evil dagger, about 1/3 into the book, is think about how he can win a lot of money with His Dice

So I think, “oh, he has loaded dice”

Spoiler: he DOESNT

THEYRE JUST NORMAL DICE

HIS ENTIRE PLAN HINGES ON WINNING A LOT OF GAMBLING WITH COMPLETELY NORMAL DICE

Good thing that he suddenly came about magical good luck.... which he didn’t know about before he made this plan of course

The magical good luck might also have something to do with him being possessed by an ancient general of the country that used to exist in the same place as his hometown??? Though that could just be him in a past life—if people have multiple lives within the same Age, which I’m unclear about.

I think the one smart thing he does all book is think to himself “but when have I ever been sensible?” Self awareness is the first step!

Perrin yelling out to him in a dream “YOURE DICING WIITH BA’ALZAMON!!” has really big “oh god he has AirPods In HE CANT HEAR US” energy. Which is pretty much just the mood with Mat.

When he’s not denegrading all his supposed friends and annoyed that people aren’t grateful to him, anyway :x

Moiraine

It’s actually hitting me how Weird it is that I like her, because Characters Who Hide Things From Everyone are usually my least fav

But I think her POVs early in the series really, really helped—I know she’s doing her best

It’s just that her best does not include the skill of summary

“I can’t tell you because how could I ever condense a lifetime of information into one conversation???” its called cliffnotes Moiraine

Also she has balefire. Which she apparently only learned the last YEAR. When. Inquiring minds want to know!!

Nynaeve

Speaking of balefire, she can do that too

But, like all other channeling, only when she’s angry. Which means that in order to heal people from near-death, she has to rile herself up. “HOW DARE PEOPLE.... PUNCTURE FLESH!”

She’s also like, getting weirdly upset at Egwene for Everything, which, Hm. Don’t Like That

Elayne

IM PROUD TO ANNOUNCE.... A NEW CONFIRMED BRAINCELL!!!

The braincell was confirmed when she looked at the list of the Black Ajah who escaped and determined that its sheer patternlessness was unlikely to be random, and instead was probably *designed* to make it hard to discern any clues just by looking at who left

Mostly in this book she’s just playing the Friend Of Egwene role though

Faile

NEW FRIEND NEW FRIEND

What a legend. She just sees this really weird group of travelers and is like “ah... I treasure hunt (a particular treasure)... they are weird... I must join them to see what happens”

(Chased by literal demon dogs) “oh yeah I’m still sticking around, where will I find a better story than THIS”

“Also my name means falcon, I picked it myself”

Fills a role that was conspicuously empty before: non-channeling combat-oriented woman

Also totally Perrin’s gf now

I guess that’s what happens when you follow someone around on purpose and then he plunges himself into wakeless dreams just to rescue you!!! You kinda get invested!!!

Lan

He’s playing with the concept of having facial expressions now! I’m proud of him

Literally wants nothing more than to die before Moiraine

Again, why is Nynaeve so thirsty for him...?

Loial

Is still just There

Min

Where the heck did she go. I want her back.

Rand

I saved the best (and in this book, most mysterious) for last

Main POV character whom??? “What if... instead I totally lose it from the stress of being the chosen one and having too much magical power to control and basically being filled with everything at all times”

“And leave my friends to just attempt to chase after me for a whole book”

Honestly the early Perrin POV chapters about Rand made me ABSOLUTELY invested in him. The filled-with-power-ness. It’s so good.

His entire motivation this book is to either prove he’s actually the Dragon by getting The Magic Sword, or prove he’s not by dying, and he honestly looks like he might prefer the second option

He does not get the second option

Speaking of that, I had Callandor (the magic sword) pegged as totally-not-Excalibur, but I’m pretty sure Excalibur doesn’t glow like a supernova or warp the fabric of reality, so,

He keeps getting so convinced that he’s killed Satan THIS time, even though there’s 11 more books to go

And yes he doesn’t know how many books he’s in.... BUT he knows some of the prophecies, all of which say that what he just did is only the beginning

Chill on the wishful thinking Rand

You’re in for the long haul

[sage-nebula]

Mystic Messenger - Entry 10

After a brief hiatus, here we are once again with my Mystic Messenger playthrough. Of course, by this point I have finished the game (and then some), but since people seemed to be enjoying these liveblogs, I figured I’d go ahead and continue posting them anyway. Entry Nine is here, and as a quick recap---

Previously on Mystic Messenger:

Everyone is aware that the special security system in Rika’s apartment is a bomb, installed there by Seven on V’s and Rika’s orders.

We had a flashback sequence to the day Rika had Seven install the bomb, which included a lot of emotional abuse and manipulation on her part.

Seven is still ignoring me, and was doing a good job of it until MC decided to look at a book he had brought with him, which contained a floppy disc that he did not want MC to see. This led to an argument (at least in my rewrite of that scene), and so far, relations have not improved.

So with that little recap out of the way . . .

If you’ll remember, everyone is trying to get in touch with V at the moment, because V’s actions and motivations have become highly suspicious ever since the hacker broke into the apartment, the bomb was discovered, and Seven revealed that he installed the bomb on V’s and Rika’s orders. V, if you’ll recall, is off gallivanting who-knows-where, last we heard. Seven has left him messages, Jumin has left him messages, and now Jaehee is waiting for V’s phone call on Jumin’s orders, despite the late hour. As much as it sucks for Jaehee to have to wait for V’s phone call like this, I will say that the amount of trust and faith that Jumin places in her is sweet. He’s being sweet in his own way.

Although, at least she isn’t alone.

Poor Jaehee. Also poor sales department intern, because I’m sure that falling for Han Jumin can’t be easy due to the fact that he is ace af and doesn’t seem to develop romantic feelings for others very easily (if at all). 

Anyway, Jumin obviously turned down Jaehee’s offer, because she’s the only one he trusts to take V’s call. It makes sense, honestly, since none of the other C&R employees are members of the RFA, as Jaehee is. Either way, Elizabeth the 3rd was there with him, much to Jaehee’s dismay since Elizabeth was shedding everywhere, and---

Jumin is a fucking furry, pt. 3.

V did finally end up calling at the end of this VNM segment, much to Jaehee’s relief. And after he finished talking with Jaehee and Jumin, V . . .

. . . decided to enter the chat at long last. Also, I found it funny how he added an exclamation mark after “you’re here” like he was super excited to see me. Like, are you, V? We’ve spoken a grand total of one (1) time. Are you really that excited to see me?

Someone else is just as eager to see V (and he seems excited to see Seven as well, but . . .), but . . . not quite in the happy way. I also love how Seven was so “!!” about V being in the chat that he typo’d at first. I like to think that he was over in his corner, doing his work and pretending like he wasn’t paying attention to MC (when he totally was), when he noticed her bolt upright on the couch, staring at her phone with wide-eyes as she quickly typed a response. Seeing as her reaction was strange (why would she react that strongly?), Seven decided to log into the chat to see what was going on . . . and then had a similar near heart attack when he saw that V was in the chat. That’s what I like to think happened, anyway.

This cracked me up, honestly. All of this shit is going down, Saeran keeps hacking the RFA chat and broke into the apartment, there is a bomb in the apartment, etc etc, and V just:

V: [walks in 15mins late with Starbucks] “Sorry, I was in the mountains taking photographs. What’d I miss?”

Iconic.

V said that he heard from Jumin that the special security system was hacked, and that he was glad that Seven was able to make it to the apartment on time. Seven was surprised that V heard about this from Jumin, and then got angry that V called Jumin first, demanding to know why V didn’t call him. V explained that---okay, I don’t remember if I mentioned this before, so apologies if I didn’t, but in a conversation that took place before V left on his mysterious trip, Seven talked about how he gave V a new phone that had a bug detector in it. Supposedly, if the call was being tapped, a red light would come on the phone. When Seven demanded to know why V didn’t call him, V explained that the red light kept coming on every single time he tried to call Seven, hence why he chose to contact him via the messenger instead. Seven was mollified . . . though only just.

Anyway, the conversation shifted then. V made it clear that he knew that Seven was staying in the apartment, and warned Seven not to open the drawer to the desk. At that point, Seven got High Key Offended™, demanding to know why V would bring that up out of the blue, if V didn’t trust him. V said that no, that wasn’t the case---the issue was not that he didn’t trust Seven, but rather that he just felt like it should be said. Apparently, according to V, the drawer holds love letters that he had once written to Rika. Hmmm.

Seven’s not having any of that bullshit, either.

I mean, I’m literally fine. I’m not in any more danger than you are, Seven. We’re in the same boat, here. The sooner you realize that, the easier this will be for all of us.

Mmmhm. Mmhm. See, V, that sounds a lot like the backtracking of someone who realizes he fucked up and is now trying to sloppily cover it up. Unfortunately, it won’t work . . .

. . . for me. MC is another story.

This was a part where I got hella frustrated, because I was following the guide to make sure I’d get the Good End, and honestly, it’s a good thing I did, because if I chose the answer choices that I wanted to during this segment, I would have ruined my file hardcore. I wanted to accuse V of being suspicious, and to point out the fact that his backtracking was sloppy. However, that would have led to a Bad End according to the guide I was following. Instead, I had to scold Seven and tell him to listen to V, which I just . . . why? Why is siding with V the correct answer here? WHY DOES THIS GAME MAKE NO SENSE SOMETIMES?!

Anyway, so I had to act like an idiot and side with V throughout this conversation. It’s fine. Whatever.

That aside, Seven was not about to give up. V kept trying to say that Seven was misunderstanding the situation and that he would explain when he returned, but Seven . . . Seven was not about to have that. If you’ll remember, the hacker turned out to be Saeran, who is Seven’s twin brother. Seven was stricken to see Saeran like that, insisting that Rika had said that he was fine, but Saeran views Seven as a traitor. And that . . . that led to this:

(I had to pick that dumbass option for the Good Ending, don’t judge me.)

As you can see, Seven just about has a total meltdown as he demands answers from V about Saeran, and V fakes having bad service so that he can duck out of the conversation. (I mean, he might genuinely have bad service, but let’s be real. He was totally faking it to get out of the confrontation.) I think the most powerful part of this to me was the bit where Seven said, “The filthy hacking jobs that I do, why is that boy, Why is that boy, why is he doing it,” because the repetition really makes it seem as if Seven is nearing hysterics. You can practically hear his hands shaking. People repeat themselves like that when they’re getting hysterical IRL, and while that’s harder to replicate in a chat room, the fact that Cheritz had Seven do it here really emphasized the fact that he is not calm about this, he is losing his shit, this is a very serious situation to him, and V is dodging his questions and making everything worse. 

There was another VNM after that chat in which it’s revealed that, in addition to the robot puppy, Seven also made a robot cat, just as Jumin had suggested before. (Of course this is the one he brought with him. When will the cat bias end? I mean, it’s sweet, but . . .) Whereas the robot puppy was meant for security and breathed fire in order to ward off foes, the robot cat seems to have been made for companionship, and . . .

. . . senses depression.

Of course, Seven is not in the mood to be cheered up by Meowy (which, as it turns out, is the robot cat’s name), so he tells it to shut up and go sit in a corner repeatedly. Meowy refuses to give up, though, until I tell it to be quiet, at which point:

It shut down because Seven programmed it to “absolutely obey” my voice. I’m guessing he must have recorded at least one of our phone conversations to make that happen. It’s kind of sweet. I’m touched.

Anyway, once Meowy quieted itself and goes to sit in the corner as requested, Seven said that he knew it was weird to say this after he told me to ignore him, but that I should absolutely not trust V under any circumstances. Like a decent person I asked if there was anything I could do to help, and he just

Tbh, Seven, I’m never going to stop worrying about you, and it’s clearly not “nothing”, so you really should just cut the nonsense, js.

Seven went on to say that he didn’t even know why he was blabbering, and that he feels “like [he] should shut down instead of that robot.” Seven, you’re a human, not a machine; don’t talk about yourself that way. He told me not to worry about the drawer, and because I was forced to in order to get the Good Ending, I had to say that I really think there might be love letters in there, even though the contents of that drawer are very clearly not love letters, but rather are materials that no doubt prove that Rika has been the Big Bad this entire time, just as I’ve known she is. Saying that the drawer was suspicious, though, leads to a Bad End, so . . . I was forced to act like an idiot. I was forced to be a dumbass. I hate this. I hate it so much.

I especially hate it because Seven responded by calling me “innocent and naive.” Specifically:

SEVEN: “Scrawlers, you’re very innocent and naive. In this situation, I only think that you’ll be very easy for others to manipulate and exploit.”

mfw:

I may be a lot of things, but “innocent and naive” and “easily manipulated and exploited” are not labels that apply. I mean, I know it seems that way because I was forced to pick the dumbass ditz answer choice for MC to get the Good Ending, but . . . asdghdsaghdsgdsdas. I can’t help but feel that the reason why you have to pick the dumbass answer is because Generic Shoujo Heroines are supposed to be naive and innocent, because that is moe~ and cute~, but god damn, do I hate it with a passion.

And unfortunately, things didn’t get better from there. Seven went on to say that MC should forget about the RFA and everything associated with it, including The Party™.

At that point, I was given two choices:

On the plus side, that terrible first choice led to a Bad End, so I didn’t have to pick it. But in all honesty, the second choice isn’t that much better. Seven did not order MC to leave the RFA; he asked her to. He asked her to please leave as soon as the situation was stabilized, and yes, look---he used the word please. He even emphasizes that this is a choice in the next set of dialogue, albeit in a mildly insulting way at the start:

I say “mildly insulting” because while “I know much more than you” is insulting, at the same time it’s kind of true in this situation. Seven does know more about Rika and V than MC does at this point. He has known them since he was a child, and has been used and manipulated by them for just as long (though he’s only just now starting to realize that). He has also been involved with the RFA since its creation. MC, by comparison, has only been involved for a couple of days. She doesn’t have nearly the same scope of information that he does. So he’s right---he does know more than she does---but he’s still being a bit insulting with how he says that, particularly since he’s not actually giving her the chance to learn what he knows, and thus make a more informed decision on her own.

But the rest of what he says isn’t out of line. Though he is a bit insulting at first, he goes on to say that of course he can’t make decisions for her, that it’s her choice whether she wants to stay or not. However, if she chooses to stay because she wants a relationship with him, that’s off the table. That is in his power to decide, and he has decided “no.” He is giving her a hard no. He still feels that what he does is too dangerous for MC to be involved in. And you know what? That is his choice to make. He’s not doing anything wrong here. He’s giving her advice on what he thinks she should do, he’s acknowledging that he can’t make her choices for her, but he’s also saying that he does not want a relationship with her, will not consent to one, that they��ll talk through the messenger from now on and that he wants to return to his work undisturbed. Yeah, it hurts to be rejected yet again, but he’s within his rights to say no. He has every right to say no. No one is obligated to give themselves to someone else. No one is entitled to another person’s time or company.

Unfortunately . . .

LITERALLY WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH THESE ANSWER CHOICES?!

Good god, they’re BOTH horrible!! The second is the most obviously awful, for the most obvious reasons---seriously, what the fuck? What the actual---cheating is never acceptable, never. Granted, it wouldn’t really be cheating in this case given that Seven has said that we are not in a relationship, therefore it isn’t possible to cheat on him---but still. But still. Cheating is never, ever okay. If you want to be with someone else while you’re in a relationship, then break up with the person you’re with. End the relationship, but don’t ever cheat. The fact that “can I cheat on you” was even an answer choice is downright revolting.

But that said, the other answer choice isn’t much better. It’s whiny, entitled, and selfish. “What do I do about my feelings for you” --- bitch, that’s your own goddamn problem, not his! It’s not Seven’s fault if you have feelings for him, any more than it would be your fault if he had feelings for you that you didn’t reciprocate! And yes, Seven does reciprocate the feelings---but it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter because to him, the cons outweigh the pros when it comes to pursuing a relationship at this point in time. Trying to guilt trip him into changing his mind, accusing him of being “too one-sided” as if he’s obligated to be in a relationship just because you want it, is downright wrong. If someone says “I don’t want to be in a relationship with you”, they are not being “too one-sided.” They are doing what is best for their own comfort and feelings. It doesn’t matter how much the other person wants to be with them; both people have to equally consent to be in a relationship. Only one person needs to decide to end (or not begin) it. Acting as if Seven doesn’t have that right, or as if he’s in the wrong for saying “no” just because he’s a boy / the love interest, is fucking disgusting. I was so disgusted at this that I almost threw my phone.

Unfortunately, MC has to be a selfish bint here either way, and the “what about my feelings for you” is the one that leads to the Good End (I mean, I would hope to god that “can I cheat on you” doesn’t lead anywhere good, but this is honestly a “lesser of two evils” situation), and as such, MC got the chewing out that she tbh rightly deserved:

mfw:

I’ve seen a lot of people come down on Seven for this, saying how much it hurts to have him say “I don’t care about your feelings”, among other things. And yeah, that’s harsh. However, I maintain that Seven was not in the wrong here. He was perfectly polite with MC up to this point. He told her how he felt, he reiterated for the umpteenth time that he does not want a relationship, said he was going back to work and that he didn’t want to be bothered. And what did MC do? She bothered him. Specifically, she tried to guilt him into being in a relationship with her, at which point he snapped. And that’s a justified snap. If you can see that someone doesn’t want to talk to you, and you continue to push them---and, moreover, you push them with a guilt trip, then you deserve it when they snap at you. MC brought this on herself. She was the one who tried to guilt him into being in a relationship with her. This is on her and I am on his side.

(I understand I’m not having the intended reaction here. I don’t care.)

I’ve also seen people call Seven “tsundere” for this, but I disagree with that as well. He’s not being tsuntsun, he’s being genuinely upset that MC won’t respect his boundaries and listen to him when he tells her that he doesn’t want a relationship with her. That’s not tsun, that’s normal and justified.

Of course, it doesn’t end there:

mfw:

Again, I was forced to pick that for the Good End. I don’t remember what the other answer choice was, but I can only assume it wasn’t much better.

I mean, the first half is fine. Seven is very obviously worried and freaking out at the mere idea of something happening to MC, and calling him on it isn’t wrong. But “so don’t avoid me, please?” is just so goddamn whiny, and it isn’t being considerate of his feelings at all. He’s high-key stressed, he’s worried about MC and about his twin brother who is very clearly in a bad place, he’s not sleeping, he’s barely eating . . . Seven is going through a lot right now, and all MC can do is whine about how she feels lonely and sad that he’s not being nice to her. =( What a fucking joke, honestly. It’s disgusting. I’m disgusted by this behavior. I would never treat him like that, not ever. I may not be the best person in the world, but at least I’m considerate enough to see things from the perspective of someone I care about when they’re going through a hard time instead of making it all about Me, Me, Me.

Seven, understandably, doesn’t agree to stop avoiding her.

You deserve everything in the entire world, actually. You especially deserve to be with someone who isn’t an oblivious, selfish bint, but what can we do.

Of course, MC just continues to be Sad™ because he’s insisting that they’ll never see each other again after this, and while it’s totally fair for her to feel put out by that, I find it hard to sympathize given how horribly she’s handled this entire situation. And as you could expect, the conversation doesn’t end on a happy note . . .

. . . but instead ends with Seven leaving the apartment altogether because he can’t take being around MC like this anymore. (Presumably because MC is being sad and he’s feeling guilty about it, particularly because he does have feelings, he’s just repressing them because he feels like he has to.) 

Re-writing this scene so that it’s a bit more in-line with how I imagine MC (and contains less of the “wahhh pay attention to meeee” nonsense) was a bit difficult, but I did manage it, so . . . (reminder: My MC is MC 4, so---short hair, gold eyes, et cetera.)

MC let the hand holding her phone fall to her lap. The empty chat room (empty except for her, anyway) stared up at her, and despite how quiet and still it was, it felt like it echoed. V had---he had fled. Ran away. Avoided all accusations, but in so doing basically admitted to his own guilt. She couldn’t say she was surprised, really, except---except she was. It made sense---if Rika was suspicious, if she had been up to shady things, then it made sense that her boyfriend, V, had been, too. But the one time MC had spoken to V, back when she was first pulled into this whole mess, he had seemed so nice. Appearances could be deceiving, she guessed, especially in an online chat room, but she had just gotten this feeling---

“God Seven! God Seven! I sense you are depressed, meow.”

MC blinked, and pushed herself up on her knees so that she could see over the back of the couch. Seven was still in his corner, his elbows on his knees and his face in hands, his cell phone on the floor beside him. Standing next to the phone on four shiny, white paws was a little cat, whose tail waved slowly back and forth with a faint whirr noise on each wag.

It was a cat, she realized. A little robot cat.

“I automatically turn on when I sense that you are depressed, meow,” the cat went on. Its voice was high despite the obvious computerized tone, and far more emotive than MC would have expected from a robot. Then again, MC supposed she didn’t know very much about them. “The source of God Seven’s depression is bad service, meow. I analyzed, meow.”

Well, MC thought wryly, that’s close enough.

“Shut up,” Seven said. His voice was muffled by the hands he still had over his face. His glasses were pushed up to his hairline so that he could smash his palms into his eyes.

The robot cat was not deterred. “Cheer up, meow! I, Meowy, do not lose service, meow!”

“Be quiet,” Seven said, and he lifted his face at last to turn to the robot cat---Meowy---who gave a whirring purr in response. Seven picked it up with one hand and looked on its underside, scowling as Meowy waved its paws in response to being lifted up from the floor. “How do I turn this off? Damn . . .”

“Need explaining, meow?” Meowy asked.

“I said shut up!” Seven snapped, and dropped Meowy unceremoniously back on the floor.

True to the species it was designed on, Meowy landed on its feet, undeterred by the rough treatment. “Meowy wants to hear master, meow!”

Seven groaned and put his face in his hands again, and MC stood up from the couch. She had a feeling that Seven still wouldn’t want to talk to her (especially now, given what had happened with V), but it wasn’t as if she could be any more aggravating than Meowy was apparently being at the moment. She locked her phone and slipped it into her pocket as she looped around the couch, and when she was near enough, said, “That robot . . . you made it, then.”

Seven took a deep breath---slow inhale, slow exhale. He then dropped his hands back into his lap, his glasses slightly askew on the bridge of his nose, and said quietly, “Don’t worry about it.” He opened his eyes to glare at Meowy, who was still staring at him expectantly. “Hey, robot cat. Go away. I don’t want to talk to you, so just go to a corner.”

Meowy didn’t budge. “I can’t leave once I sense depression, meow! Cheer up, meow!”

Seven gritted his teeth, his hands balling into fists on his lap, and MC---sensing danger---bent down and scooped Meowy up off the floor.

“Meowy,” she said, “let’s stay quiet for now, okay?”

Meowy chirruped, not unlike a cat that had spotted a bird, and then purred again. “That’s a voice I have to absolutely obey due to my programming, meow. Shutting down, meow.”

MC stared at the robot in her arms as the purring whirred down into silence, and its blue eyes went dark. Once it was deactivated, MC looked back at Seven, feeling more than a little bewildered.

“You programmed it to obey my voice?”

It could have been her imagination, or maybe the lighting, or maybe both, but it looked like Seven’s cheeks tinted red. “Whatever. It doesn’t matter,” he muttered. He took another deep breath and released it, closing his eyes once more as he leaned his head back against the wall. “At least it’s finally quiet.”

It did matter, MC thought, whether Seven programmed a robot to respond to her voice (and how had he done that, anyway? Had he recorded some of their phone conversations?), but she supposed it wasn’t the most important thing to discuss right then. She sat Meowy on the floor behind the couch before she walked back over to Seven, and sat on the floor near enough so they could talk, but not so close that she’d be invading his space.

“Hey, so . . . that whole thing with V was kind of a mess,” she said. “Things didn’t go well at all. Want to talk about it?”

Seven huffed a humorless laugh, and without looking at her said, “Not really. But . . .”

MC raised her eyebrows. “But?”

Seven looked over at her at last, chewing the inside of his cheek a moment before he said, “I know it’s funny to say all this after I told you to stop paying attention to me, but whatever happens . . . don’t trust what V says.”

“Yeah, I kinda got the feeling that he was dodging stuff back there,” MC said. Seven nodded, and looked back at his laptop monitors. “God only knows why, but . . . anyway, it’s not like I talk to him a whole lot, anyway. I’ve only talked to him, what, once or twice before? So unless something big happens with RFA, it’s not like we’ll be chatting much anyway, probably.”

Seven snorted, and tugged on his headphone wire. “God,” he said. “RFA.” He was quiet a second before he said, “I think you shouldn’t be more involved with RFA.”

That came out of nowhere. “What? Why?”

“What do you mean, why?” Seven asked. He gestured vaguely with his hand. “Look at all of this. Look at the mess you’re in. You look at this, and then you still have to ask that?”

“This is because of Rika---and V, I guess,” MC said. “Jaehee, Jumin---the others have nothing to do with it. And neither do you, really.”

Seven gave her a dumbfounded look. “Have you forgotten who installed the bomb in the first place?”

“No. I also haven’t forgotten who saved me from its detonation,” MC shot back.

Seven shook his head and rolled his eyes, and looked straight ahead again. MC followed his gaze to a desk on the other side of the room.

“V told me not to open the drawer because there’s something in there,” he said. “An alarm will ring if someone like you opens the drawers or one of the cabinets.”

“Yeah, I remember.”

“But I can control all the alarms, so if I want to, I can see everything. I’m sure he logged in because he heard that I’m here and got nervous about something.”

“Makes sense,” MC said. “So why don’t we open the drawers and take a look?”

Seven didn’t look at her. He kept his eyes trained on the desk, chewing the inside of his cheek. At length, he said, “I will someday . . . but not right now.”

“Why not?”

“I’m sure there’s something that an RFA member should never see . . . and it’s hard enough for me to keep sane right now given how my trust in V is shattered. I need time.”

“Understandable,” MC said. They were both quiet again, Seven still staring at the desk across the room, and after a moment MC asked quietly, “But, hey . . . are you sure there’s nothing I can do to help? Even if it’s just getting you a drink or something. You look like you could use one.”

Even before she finished speaking, Seven was shaking his head, and he closed his eyes. “It’s nothing,” he said, and that was one of the biggest lies MC thought she had ever heard. “God, I made you worry again . . .”

“Seven, I’ve been consistently worried about you for days now,” MC said. “This doesn’t change that.”

Seven gave her a sharp look. “You shouldn’t be. I’m not worth worrying about.”

“Agree to disagree,” MC said.

Seven gave her a frustrated look for only a moment before he tore his eyes away. Once more, he scrubbed his hands up his face. “God. I feel like I should shut down instead of that cat.”

“Sleep would be good,” MC said. “You really look like you could use it. Want to take the bed?”

“No. It’s late. You’ll need to go to sleep soon. You should probably already be in bed, actually.”

“Look who’s talking,” MC said, and Seven rolled his eyes. “I can sleep on the couch, I don’t mind. Or the bed’s big enough for both of us, if you won’t freak out about sharing.”

“I can sleep on the floor,” Seven said. “Right over there by Meowy.”

“If you want to sleep by Meowy so bad, I’ll put him in the bed,” MC said. “Then you two can snuggle and have a great slumber party.”

“Why are you being so difficult?” Seven snapped.

“Why are you?” MC snapped back.

They glared at each other for a few seconds, and only after Seven seemed to realize she wouldn’t back down did he look away, loosing another sigh before he opted to change the subject instead of continuing their argument.

“Whatever. Look, just . . . don’t worry about the drawer. I’ll take care of it.”

“I never had any doubt about that,” MC said. “It’s not the drawer I’m worried about. It’s you.”

Seven shot her a frustrated look. “Don’t worry about me. I already said---”

“I know what you said,” MC interrupted, “and I don’t care. You can control a lot of things, Seven, but how I feel is not one of them. I’m going to care and worry about you whether you like it or not.”

“So you care about me, yet somehow you don’t care when I’m telling you to stop?”

“I don’t care to buy into the lie that everything’s fine and you’re okay when you’re obviously not,” MC said, and Seven tossed up one hand before he let it fall back to his side. “You need help, Seven. I don’t know what kind of help you need, but you need something. I’m beginning to think everyone in RFA does, actually. This is one of the most drama-filled charity organizations I’ve ever seen in my entire life. Not that I’ve been involved with a lot of charity organizations before, but---”

“Why don’t you just forget the RFA?” Seven said. “Forget everything related to RFA. The members, the party---forget it all.”

“Uh, that’s going to be kind of hard considering I’ve been the one coordinating all these e-mails and party invites,” MC said. “Not to mention the fact that I’m pretty sure Yoosung might have a meltdown if I say the show’s over that suddenly, but---why?”

“You’ll only be in danger by staying in some place like this,” Seven said, and this time MC rolled her eyes. The danger again. Of course. “So as soon as the hacker issue is solved, please leave.”

“Believe it or not,” MC said dryly, “this apartment is probably safer than where I was staying before, bomb and all. It’s definitely a lot nicer. It has running water and everything.”

Seven furrowed his brow. “Where were you staying before?”

Fuck was what she wanted to say, because it was honest even if it wouldn’t answer his question. She cared about him---thought she loved him, probably, as much as she had ever loved anyone, anyway. But despite that, or maybe because of it, she still wasn’t ready to divulge her past with him. She still wasn’t ready to tell him where she had been before, or what she had been doing . . . why she had decided to take up residence in Rika’s apartment even though party planning wasn’t one of her life callings.

So instead of answering his question, she said, “Why don’t you tell me, Mr Genius Hacker?” She snorted. “I knew you didn’t really do a background check.”

Seven glared at her. “Don’t be so sure,” he said, and in truth she wasn’t, but she also knew that any background checks he did wouldn’t have turned up much of anything. “I just didn’t want to invade your privacy. I told you, I was only looking into you before to make sure you were safe, on V’s orders.”

“Well, no worries about that. I’m perfectly safe. Totally legit. On the up-and-up.” MC touched two fingers to her heart, and then held them up. “Scout’s honor.”

Seven eyed her for a second before he said, “You’re not a scout.”

“Guilty as charged,” she said, and grinned. His lips twitched, but he didn’t smile. “But seriously, this is a definite upgrade from where I was before, even if it’s not permanent. I’m safe enough right where I am, especially since you’re here. There’s nothing to worry about.”

Seven sucked in a breath, and looked down at his laptop again. He was quiet for a long moment, and just when MC thought that he was going to go back to ignoring her (which would be fine, in a sense, especially since this was the longest and most pleasant conversation they had had in the apartment yet), he said, “You’re free to do whatever you want. But my thoughts will not change.”

MC felt her heart pick up speed in her chest, but in the unpleasant way that came right before an unwarranted visit from the police or realizing that someone had just picked her pocket. “Meaning?”

“Meaning that even if you try to get involved with me, I’ll refuse,” he said. “This isn’t something a person like you should be involved in.”

Hearing that he didn’t want to be with her---again---hurt, even if it wasn’t surprising. Rejections worked that way, she guessed. No matter how many times you were rejected, it never took the sting off. But with the sting came a flash of annoyance, particularly since she felt she hadn’t done a single damn thing to warrant the rejection this time.

“If you don’t want to be with me, fine, I get it,” she snapped. “I never even said that I was doing this to be with you, so thanks for assuming. But if you could do me a favor and stop acting like I’m weak and helpless, that’d be great.”

Seven locked his jaw, and didn’t look at her. “I never said you were weak and helpless.”

“That’s how you’re acting,” she said. “‘This isn’t something for a person like you to be involved in’ --- a person like me? What the hell does that mean?”

“It means that you’re pure, and innocent, and naïve, and you don’t understa---”

“I don’t understand? You’re the one making a hell of a lot of assumptions about me with no basis to go on!” MC snapped, and once again they were glaring at each other. MC didn’t care. “Where the hell did you get the idea that I’m pure, innocent, or naïve?”

“You don’t know anything about this situation,” Seven said. “You don’t know the truth about V, or me, or---or any of it. That’s naivete---ignorance.”

“It’s ignorance that isn’t my fault. How am I supposed to know anything if I haven’t been told? And I know,” she said, holding up one hand as he opened his mouth to fire back, “that it’s none of my business, but I don’t think it’s fair for you to hold it against me, either.”

“I’m not holding anything against you,” Seven bit out. “I’m trying to protect---”

“Maybe I don’t need as much protection as you think I do,” MC said. “Maybe I can take care of myself. Maybe I’m not some braindead, helpless child that can’t understand things or handle tough situations. I don’t know a lot about you, Seven. You’re right. But you don’t know a lot about me, either, so maybe stop acting like you do.”

Heavy silence hung between them. She regretted what she said almost as soon as she said it; no doubt he was pissed, or hurt, or maybe rethinking whatever it was he felt about her, and not in a good way. But before she could try to smooth over what she had spat in anger, Seven looked back at his laptop.

“Let’s just stop talking about this,” he said. “From now on, if I have to tell you anything concerning your safety, I’ll do it through the messenger, so . . . that’s that.”

MC was filled with a heavy, hollow sort of defeat, and her shoulders sagged. “Yeah,” she said. “That’s that.”

“I’m going to get back to work,” he said. His voice was still even, but it somehow sounded just as empty as MC felt. “So don’t bother me.”

“Fine.”

Once again silence fell over them, though this time it was broken a few seconds later by the sound of Seven clicking his mouse, and then putting his fingers to the keys. He was a fast typist; he didn’t so much as glance at the keyboard, yet he typed so quickly it was as if his fingers were gliding over the keyboard instead of actually pressing the keys down. The sound of the keys clacking was like raindrops on a windowpane. It felt too awkward to go back to the couch, now, and the weight of what she had said before was still rooted in her gut. This conversation, like so many before it, had ended on a bad note. And that had been the norm for the past couple of days, and she knew that, but she still couldn’t let it go.

So after another couple seconds of silence punctuated only by swift typing, MC said, “Just so you know, this---this doesn’t change anything. It doesn’t change how I feel. I still care about you, a lot. Regardless of anything that’s happened, or anything that could happen . . . you still mean a lot, and are still very important to me. I just want you to know that.”

Seven had stopped typing the second she had spoken up, and when she finished, he slammed his hands down at the base of his laptop. Despite herself, MC jumped.

“I told you not to bother me!” Seven snapped, and he looked up to glare fiercely at her. “What part of that didn’t you understand?!”

“I wasn’t---!” MC began, but as he raised his eyebrows, she felt her shoulders sag, giving him the point. “Okay, I’m sorry. I should have left you alone. But I just wanted to let you know how I feel, because---”

“I don’t care about your feelings!” Seven snapped. “And I never asked---”

“Well, I care about yours!” MC snapped back, and that brought him up short. He stared at her, eyes wide, and MC curled her fingers into fists. “You think I don’t get that you don’t care about my feelings, Seven? After how you’ve been the past few days, ever since you got here---after you didn’t so much as look happy even for a second once we finally met in person, you think I haven’t gotten the message that you don’t care yet? ‘Cause trust me, I’ve got it. Loud and clear. You care about my safety, yeah. You care about my body, my life, whether I’m breathing or not. But you don’t care about me.”

He looked stricken. “That’s---that’s not---!”

“And that’s fine,” she said, and she raised her voice a little speak over him. She was shaking so bad she could feel her teeth rattling, but that was the adrenaline. She wouldn’t let it stop her. “It’s fine, I---I don’t care if you don’t care about me, that’s fine, it’s whatever, I can live with it. But that’s not going to stop me from caring about you. I care about you. I---like you, a lot, a---a whole hell of a lot. And whether you like me back or whatever doesn’t change anything. It doesn’t change how I feel. So I wanted you to know, not because I want or expect you to do anything about it, but just so you know that there’s someone, however unimportant, who cares about you. There’s a lot of people, actually, I think, given RFA, but---whatever. Point is, I care. And if you need me, I’m here for however long this lasts.”

MC stood up.

“I’m . . . I’m going to go lay down for a bit. Clear my head. That sort of thing,” she said. “But if you need anything, just . . . come get me.”

Seven said nothing. The conversation was over, and MC couldn’t decide whether she was relieved for that or not.

But when she went back to the bedroom, she only just made it inside the door before she heard the sound of shuffling equipment. Quietly, so as not to let him know that she had noticed, MC looked around the doorway to the bedroom in time to see him gathering his laptop and other equipment in his arms. He didn’t so much as glance in her direction, nor was he very careful with the equipment he was moving. Instead, he piled cords and his wireless mouse on top of his laptop keyboard, balanced that on the crook of his arm, and then headed to the front door.

He stepped aside, and let the door shut behind him, without looking back once.

MC sighed heavily, and walked back to the bed, flopping back on it as she had told him she would. She didn’t expect him to go far; whatever she had snapped about him not caring about her (which wasn’t really true, she knew, and she felt bad, but she was hurt and angry and---), she knew he did. Probably he was sitting just outside the door, in the hallway, regretting his choice to go out since the wifi was worse in the hall than it was in the apartment. Then again, maybe he had his laptop rigged to get choice signal wherever he was. It wouldn’t surprise her.

She didn’t know what to do. When this was over---she had figured the party would be pretty basic, and that she’d be let go once it was done. She’d be free to return to that little studio apartment she had been squatting in, provided it wasn’t already taken by some other drifter, or rented out by the landlord. Or maybe RFA would have wanted to keep her as a party coordinator, and maybe she could have found a way to help one of them get her a job and an apartment. Jumin would probably hire her. She didn’t know what she could do, but maybe Elizabeth the 3rd could use a more dedicated pet-sitter. It’d probably make Seven happy, if his girlfriend was cat-sitting Elly. Then again, dating Seven would probably disqualify her.

Not that they were dating. They weren’t. They never would, unless Seven’s mind changed, and she doubted that was going to happen any time soon. She rolled over on her side, glaring at the wall.

It was fine, she didn’t care---well, she did care, but she wasn’t---she didn’t need him to like her back. She had been on her own for long enough before this, and she could continue on this way. But everything felt like it was spinning out of control, and she wanted to help. She wanted to be there for him. And though she had always been alone before, it was different now. It wasn’t just that she was alone; it was that she was now aware of a space beside her that should have been filled, but wasn’t, and now that she was aware of the empty space, she couldn’t ignore it.

Her phone beeped. She shifted just enough so that she could pull it free from her pocket, and when she unlocked the screen, she saw that Jaehee and Yoosung were in the chat. No doubt Yoosung would have more than a few words to say about what V had done, and none of them nice. For once, MC didn’t think she could be very annoyed by whatever tantrum she was about to walk into.

She sighed, and tapped her screen to open the chat.

[sealedbeastnue]

early-mid season (brunch?) anime review time, featuring acclaimed hits such as Oreimo 2: Incest Divide By 0 Error, Re:Zero Sidequest: Furry Fuckers who Shit in the Woods, and my personal favorite, The Cube Show

oh god this is so long im officially otaku trash here we go

so lets start with the best show ever:

clockwork planet: wow this was weak. I really liked No Game No Life but this does not hold that standard (not that it’s a high standard to aspire to but this is just not as fun). This was absurdly slow cheap looking trash that uses a Potentially Interesting concept to do absolutely nothing. dropped. dropped right on its dumb head full of gears.

alice to zouroku: also looks pretty cheap but it has a lot of interesting stuff going on. I don’t know how to Feel. the show hasn’t really ramped up yet but it could go in a ton of directions and I’m ready to be totally blindsided by where this goes.

ID-0: man this really is the Season of Baffling Concepts. tay keeps telling me this is a comedy but im not seein it. I think it’s a pretty decent space sci fi concept show that seems to be gearing up for... something philosophical? no clue. I like what we’re setting up and I want more. unfortunately this is the type of show where, like with gatchaman, I cannot physically focus my eyes on the mech designs long enough to realy appreciate them. probably just my problem though.

seikaisuru kado: the real standout of the SF offerings this season and my personal favorite this far. I don’t want to spoil too much but The Cube Show is not a show you should skip. looks and sounds fantastic, concept is great, writing is... really not fucking around at all, is it? slow, grindy high concept sci fi with very human characters (lol get it). this will be remembered even if it ends up being stupid (it wont). dont miss it

re:creators: I really dont know. every episode is an infodump but we’ve got a cool cast of characters, they’re likeable, and this has tons of potential. IIRC this is the team that did aldnoah:zero so it could go to shit instantly but for now it’s solid and has me wanting more. also gunpuku no himegimi <3 design <3

oushitsu kyoushi haine: had no expectations and was not planning to watch, turns out this is top 5 shows this season? it’s not fujobait. probably. has a fantastic OP/ED pair, looks consistently Really Good and everyone’s likeable. also if we’re going to bring back chibi this is the way to do it: sparingly, and with really strong visual gags. the one thing I REALLY WANT is more worldbuilding

uchouten kazoku S2: glorious so far. this is even more wild than season 1. if you haven’t heard of uchouten and you have even a passing interest in japanese mythology, comedy, or shapeshifting moms you really should go check it out - everyone is a FUCKER and everything Escalates Very Fast. tenmaya is best waifu of this season though... this fucking old guy... hes perfect

eromanga sensei: call me trash I dont give a shit. this show is pretty good. its definitely weird siscon bullshit but its pretty good regardless. I like to have fun. do you like to have fun?

sakura quest: more like Too Real Feels Quest. if you’re a person in your 20s-30s who has ever struggled with adult life in any way, this is for you. I have no idea how something like this got produced in the current industry climate but it’s fuckin great and painful and honest and real. I have a pet theory that Manoyama is Not On Earth as We Know It and that this town is fae folk btw lets see how that plays out

bastard akashic records magical instructor super dangerous dudessss better watch out boyz: likeable just because of how blatantly shitheaded MC is. these character designs... uh... those sure are garter belts... so far this is entertaining and not much else but that’s okay they dont all have to be miracles

soutai sekai: I have no idea why this exists or what can justify this show. Reol why did you get involved in this. you’re so far above trash like this. someone must have offered her serious fucking dosh to associate herself with this. im gonna complete it (its only 2 eps) but this is definitely garbage.

girl beats boys: ever wanted to watch cromartie highschool but with no comedy instead its kind of a weird documentary? turns out I did. this is kind of fun actually! it’s so odd I can’t help but admire it

maid dragon specials: ?????????????okay???? if we gotta

kabukibu: I’m a big fan of SHOUTING AWKWARDLY. dropped instantly. dont care if accurate, this is weird and dumb.

frame arms girl: this is where it becomes clear that I have desperately overextended this season and have become WAY too generous with my time when it comes to anime. this was a miscalculation I am regretting. also, this show isn’t good but I guess I can see the appeal. if anything should be an 8-minute-episodes show it’s this. probably dropped.

forest fairy five: I got bamboozled by the cover. I can’t make an excuse for my foolishness. It Will Not Happen Again.

high school fleet OVA: this needed to come like six months ago if you wanted to capitalize on this. I dont remember a single one of these characters. sorry lads, its not workin

mahoutsukai OVA 2/3: Yes. show coming in the fall is fucking hype

sin: nanatsu no taizai: I, too, like to get fucked by tentacles. also Miami

sekai no yami zukan:

also currently watching:

kekkai sensen: holy shit dude this is so good. I can’t believe the animation and music quality? how is this not legendary? maybe it gets fucked up down the line but on episode 3 this whole concept is such a solid package I cant see myself not loving it very strongly.

scrapped princess: I sscrappedddd (JOKES!!!) this show a few times bt now that I’m finally giving it a chance I can see that the fight scenes have a surprisingly good quality and end up in cool locations (crystal caves with actual foley work to back it up? and a complete tonal shift in the visuals? sign me the fuck up dude)

older stuff I finished recently:

did I mention girls und panzer last time? probably. this is still great though. I cant get over the fucking Finnish artillery gun scene in the movie jfc this is just soooo good

so ra no wo to: fantastic as a slice of life/military show with musical elements. if you see people comparing this to K-On tell them to fuck off because the only similarity is the time they were released. this isnt a light music club show. probably the best visual style of any show I’ve watched recently - really sets the tone of the show and adds a LOT of otherworldly and mysterious qualities... strong girls... let them be strongth... OP/ED is wonderful too

death parade: looked pretty cool. ended up making me kind of sad and the characters were a bit empty (no I’m not counting the fact that they’re Puppets as a valid reason for that). more than enough has been written about this show.

upotte: who told me to watch this? who the fuck? I’m gonna find them strangle them. dropped this is for weird gun otaku smeglords

kuzu no honkai: my dick was absolutely raw at the end of this. I was leaning to the side and hunching over slightly for the next 24 hours. people who dont like this have never been challenged by a horrible relationship and/or are repulsed by raw painful emotionally-charged human sexuality (both of these things are fine by the way)

rakugo lovers double suicide (season 1): on the other hand. with regard to human sexuality. time for probably my most controversial opinion ive ever had. this show is GARBAGE. VALUELESS GARBAGE. the characters are absurdly, laughably flat; the entire season is a bait and switch; it’s REALLY SLOW and drags for about 2/3 of the season because it only had about 4 episodes worth of actual content; every character motivation makes no sense especially the death scene near the end are you serious? did people really take that seriously? I was so irritated by the fact that this went down like this that I actually had to go away from my computer for a while. this show isn’t gay either, it’s the most painfully straight thing and it has no perspective other than that of a straight person who has never experienced anything outside of their sphere of comfort. also FUCK this hoe what is her PROBLEM? go ditch her stupid ass if she’s gonna be like that. she’s an abusive partner who abandoned her child repeatedly and it is absolutely ridiculous that they put up with her presence. they’re all pretty abusive though so whatever I guess that  makes this fine. people who enjoyed this, I’m sorry but you got fucking duped man. this was not written by a fully formed human mind. this was its season’s Yuri on Ice and is currently hideously overrated. please do not waste your time on this. or do, so you can see how awfully it’s written and understand that Most People Are Dumb Idiots With No Taste.

ao oni the animation: please explain why this franchise was ever popular. I do not fucking get it. I really tried. this show came about 6 years too late regardless I cannot justify its existence

gakuen handsome: 2deep4me zaaannkoku no tenshiii no these (evangelion playing in the background my third eye is opening)

yumekui merry: Painful. if this is actually a quality show, my bad but fuck these goddamn cats. I hate anthropomorphic cats with all of my being