vampireistic

[vampireistic]

41. he cares about consent a lot!! he reprimands MC when they kiss him out of nowhere (he gets a little defensive about it too) and actively has to be told that you want the same thing as him for him to initiate affection

42. when asked if he would make a pact with a human in nightbringer, he told MC it would have to be with someone he truly loves and cares about

43. actively buys matching clothes/gifts for himself and MC

44. whenever there’s an activity where they’re split into groups, mammon gets upset when he isn’t paired with MC

45. has never stolen from MC, Beel notes that despite going into their room he can’t find it in his heart to do so because he has a crush on them

46. got a crush on MC in NB after they started being kind to levi

47. he’s the reason his brothers are so well respected presently due to the whole cerberus thing, and despite him feeling bad about them being saved by lucifer, he doesn’t let that alone blind him to the fact his brothers started to be treated better

48. has never (and would never) lashed out violently at MC

49. in NB, when belphie crashes out after finding out MC is human, he’s the first to tell him to calm down and follow after MC to ensure they’re safe

50. even when completely upset and angry, if his brothers apologise he immediately forgives them

❤️‍🩹💛 This is so sad... Mammon has lots of good traits, too 💛❤️‍🩹

This is so sad because Mammon has many good qualities. So I decided to make a list:

He's loyal. Mammon was the first one to follow Lucifer after he was sent down. He always has Lucifer's back when it comes to it, he also is extremely loyal to MC.

He's kind. While he puts a facade of toughness at first, Mammon is actually compassionate.

He thinks about others' well-being and safety, even if he tries to act like he doesn't. He does put others first.

He is actually generous with the ones he loves. He's been shown to think of ways to make each of his brothers or MC happy by giving them gifts!

He absolutely loves his brothers to death, and that's admirable, considering they are always putting him down.

He always has his heart in the right place, even if his means aren't effective most of the time.

He's optimistic.

He's ambitious. He has entrepreneur ideas, and he tries them all, even if they don't work (He also has very illegal ones, let's not forget that).

He's persevering.

He's strong!

But, despite being such a strong demon, he despises violence and rarely uses it. I think that's something admirable, too.

He has amazing control over his powers, and that's something his brothers lack to his extent.

He's reliable when someone needs him to.

He's a natural protector. MC can always count on him to feel safe.

He's sweet.

He's romantic.

He's gorgeous!!

He has a beautiful voice.

He's a talented model that gains popularity over time.

He takes care of everyone under the shadows.

Mammon's army of crows is actually helpful to gather intel.

He's resilient.

He's empathetic, so much so that he practically adopted a human child that got attached to him and put her under the care of a group of witches (these extort him for this reason). Most of his debts allegedly are because of this.

He's carefree and relaxed. While this can be troublesome, it also can be a good thing: why worry about stuff that you can't control?

He's the fastest being (probably in all the realms).

He takes care of his brothers when they need him to.

He's a goofball, and it's been hinted that he makes MC laugh. Yes, he's good-humored.

He's trustworthy.

Mammon is good with children.

He's open-minded!

Mammon is hard-working when he wants to.

He knows about fashion and apparently gives good advice about it.

He knows about media like photography, filming, acting, and similar. I bet he's artistic and talented on these.

He's flexible and adaptable.

He is really good at math since he can calculate big numbers quickly, although if related to money. But that's okay, because that's still impressive!

He's friendly and outgoing.

He's adorable! I mean, have you seen that pic of when he's eating ramen? Or, more importantly, have you even played the game at all?!

He's so sexy!!

Mammon loves MC with his whole heart, to the point that his favorite thing is spending time with MC!

He actually wants to marry MC 😍

Feel free to add yours as well, let's make a 100 🤭💖

Ps: I'm not saying he's perfect. He also has a lot of negative traits as well. He's a demon, after all. But to not recognize his whole personality is almost a crime. Mammon is an interesting character with both good and bad characteristics.

[vampireistic]

Detangling Mydei's Backstories Backstory?

My last post, casting doubt on 3.2's revelation that Mydei's immortality is deliberate on his part, led to some interesting discussion in the comments that definitely reinforced my earlier thoughts that the inconsistencies in Mydei's backstory are too numerous to be accidental. Star Rail is not known for its flawless continuity (Robin and Sunday's backstory, I'm looking at you lol), but usually the inconsistencies are not so overt, and repeated so many times, that they become central to the entire plot of a character.

So I wanted to refine my earlier theory a bit: I'm cautiously optimistic that there are enough signs that the inconsistencies in Mydei's backstory are deliberate, and that the Mydei of the current cycle in Amphoreus is actively experiencing an entanglement between two different timelines, without (yet) consciously recognizing the incompatibility of his own "memories."

When we work from the standpoint that the events of Mydei's backstory can be separated into two distinct timelines, the inconsistencies vanish:

The "Sea of Souls" Timeline

This is the most prominent timeline, and the one that appears most accurate for "our" Mydei. In this timeline, Mydei was thrown into the Sea of Souls as a tiny infant and spent the first nine years of his life there. This is confirmed both in the flashback we're provided early in 3.1, as well as in Mydei's voicelines and character stories.

After nine years, he crawled out of the sea (possibly motivated by witnessing Tribbie's "star" in the sky). On the same day (or very near it), he met with a band of Kremnoan exiles.

Whether this was a larger group already, constituting a small "detachment" army of exiles, or just started with the five exiled friends and Mydei then grew into a small army by picking up other exiles over time, is still unclear. However, at this point, Mydei makes no mention of returning to Kremnos and instead goes straight from "leaving the sea" to "living ten years in exile:"

This is the key point of inconsistency between the two "halves" of Mydei's story--either he lived in Kremnos or he didn't. We can handwave here and say "Yes, he returned to Kremnos with his friends and they just hid their identities, leaving Kremnos years later in a self-imposed exile," but the story gives us absolutely no indication that this realistically could have happened. Mydei never once mentions hiding his identity, changing his appearance, or living a double life in the city, and never explains how he would have had access to the inner city of Kremnos ("as befitting a crown prince") and the royal library, yet still go totally unnoticed by his father or anyone loyal to Eurypon, including Krateros. (There's also no explanation at all for why he would have wanted to return to a city ruled by someone who tried to murder him and where he would have had to live life under a fake identity just to get by, but you know...)

Instead, the game does give us several pieces of information indicating that the five Kremnoan exiles did not return to Kremnos after meeting Mydei:

First, Mydei's character stories confirm that Mydei deliberately hid his name while traveling in exile across Amphoreus, indicating that he knew he would be recognized by Eurypon/Eurypon's loyalists if he didn't hide his identity. This awareness suggests it is extremely unlikely that Mydei could have returned to Kremnos without being identified:

This also suggests that, at this point in this timeline, no one in Castrum Kremnos knew for sure that Mydeimos had survived being thrown into the Sea of Souls and returned. This is further confirmed by a memory fragment where Krateros says there has been a "rumor" that the leader of the exiled Kremnoan army is one who "defied death." Krateros alone makes the assumption that this could be Mydei and decides to defect to aid him:

This memory suggests two things clearly: Mydei was not living in Kremnos at the time Krateros defected, and the exile of all of Mydei's friends must have taken place before they met Mydei, years in the past, as there is no way an entire small army could have been exiled from Kremnos, with Mydei in toe, and not at all attract Krateros's attention until after they were gone.

The idea that Mydei never returned to Kremnos is further enforced by Eurypon, who did not recognize Mydei when he confronted him, to the point that he didn't believe Mydei was even Kremnoan. This suggests that Eurypon not only didn't know Mydei's true identity--he'd never seen him before at all, making it extremely unlikely that Mydei was walking around Castrum Kremnos, talking to Chryseus Leo, and reading in the royal library all under some false identity for years. Eurypon certainly wouldn't have been capable of exiling someone he'd never seen before from Kremnos, in any case!

Therefore, we can assume the series of events in this timeline is pretty straightforward: Mydei entered the Sea of Souls as a baby, came out nine years later, went straight into a life of exile with his five friends, amassed power and support for ten years, and then returned to seek vengeance on his father.

The only remaining question in this timeline becomes "When did Mydei join up with Okhema?"

I think, in this timeline, it makes the most sense for Mydei to have only joined up with Okhema after killing his father. In 3.1, Mydei confirms to Phainon that all his friends died before he was able to kill his father, and that none of them ever made it to Okhema:

Therefore, the final order of events for the more prominent timeline is:

Dumped into the sea as an infant, nine years in the Sea of Souls

Ten years in exile with his friends amassing strength and support

Returns to Kremnos, kills his father, and the last of his friends dies that day

Then he defects to Okhema, leading any of the Kremnoans willing to follow him there.

By itself, this story makes perfect sense. If this was all the information we'd been given, there wouldn't have been any gaps.

Unfortunately, we also have a whole other set of information that massively conflicts with these events, which can only really be explained two ways: Either Hoyo messed up (again) and really dropped the consistency ball when it comes to writing Mydei's backstory... Or there's an entire separate timeline going on. Personally, I'm leaning toward the latter, because there are just too many seemingly deliberate fingers in the story pointing toward the inconsistencies for them to feel entirely unintentional to me.

Therefore, I propose that Mydei's memories are actually getting infiltrated by a second, entirely different timeline:

The "Gorgo Lives" Timeline

From 3.0 all the way to 3.2, we're given numerous pieces of information that point to a wholly different order to the events of Mydei's life, contrasting the story that Mydei tells Phainon in the Garden. At first, these events seem scattered and nonsensical, contradicting the "main" timeline in too many ways to be anything but errors... But when taken as a whole, we can build a second coherent timeline out of these events if we make one assumption: There is a timeline where Gorgo lived longer.

In the second timeline which is intruding on Mydei's memories, there appears to be one key point of divergence: Gorgo did not die dueling Eurypon. Either she never challenged him to the duel, or (more likely) she was never successfully poisoned, and therefore it's possible she won the duel, allowing her to rescue Mydei from the sea.

Working from that possibility, a second complete timeline emerges:

Mydei was thrown into the Sea of Souls as an infant but did not drift there for nine years. Instead, he was rescued and brought back to Kremnos, where he was allowed to grow up in the inner city, with access to both Chryseus Leo, who served as his teacher, and access to the royal library, which he is proud enough of to call "his" library. He is able to lead Phainon and the Trailblazer around Castrum Kremnos even in its ruined state because he grew up there, spending enough time there to know the city like the back of his hand:

This is where we can slot in the inconsistent memories Mydei has of Gorgo:

(By the way, although Mydei writes this scene off as a dream, you can actually hear Oronyx's whisper play in the black screen seconds before this "dream" occurs...)

But okay, let's say this is just a wishful dream. Maybe this scene never happened. If all we got of Gorgo supposedly raising Mydei was this moment in 3.1, I might agree that it was just a dream (other than there being no reason to play Oronyx's sound effect there, but you know). However, in 3.2 they then hit us with this:

That's multiple moments now pointing to a timeline where Gorgo raised Mydei. Once is handwave-able--twice? That's deliberate.

In this secondary timeline, Mydei appears to have grown up as Kremnos's beloved crown prince, being warmly embraced by his people (at least until Kremnos fell into calamity). Apparently his days consisted of eating pomegranates, training for combat, playing with Kremnos's kids, and hanging out with his five friends. We see snippets of this idyllic life (along with his five friends appearing to be roughly the same age as him--something that likely wouldn't be true in the "main" timeline, by the way) on Mydei's long march back into Castrum Kremnos:

I know some people took this to be Mydei hallucinating or just wishfully imagining a life where he was able to be happy with his friends, possibly even some metaphorical "encountering the souls of the departed in a paradise," but I don't think this is true. Every single time Mydei phases in and out of this "hallucination," the visual effect and the sound effect of Oronyx are distinctly played--the exact same sound and visuals that play when Trailblazer activates Oronyx's prayer to jump between timelines.

Mydei himself doesn't seem to quite understand what is happening to him in this moment, as you can hear him stumble and pant as he repeatedly goes through flashes of Oronyx's power. You can listen to comparison video clips on the prior post I made about Mydei's backstory.

Furthermore, if we work from the assumption that these moments actually represent a rupture between timelines, then the rest of the inconsistencies can finally be cleared up:

In 3.0, Mydei says that his choice to leave Castrum Kremnos was not a forced exile but a "self-imposed" one:

And this aligns with what he stated in the Garden of Life to Phainon, that he and his friends "left Castrum Kremnos" to go into this self-imposed exile, rather than having never returned to Kremnos from the sea:

Furthermore, this also aligns with the angry NPCs in the past version of Castrum Kremnos that Trailblazer and Castorice travel back to:

Remember that this version of Castrum Kremnos was supposed to be occurring while Eurypon was still alive, so there is absolutely no way this line makes sense in the same universe where Eurypon didn't even know Mydei had survived. There isn't any way, in "our" timeline, that Mydei could have been both the "crown prince" of Kremnos for these NPCs and completely unknown to his father, the king.

These NPCs, furthermore, directly accuse Mydei of "deserting Kremnos," suggesting that Mydei was living in Castrum Kremnos as their prince, and then abandoned them to join Aglaea in Okhema, getting himself and everyone who went with him labelled as "traitors to Kremnos" in the process. None of this makes sense in the context of a timeline where no one in Kremnos knew he had even survived.

Instead, all of these elements point to a different sequence of events:

Gorgo lived, likely winning her duel and thereby (likely) giving her the right to save Mydei from the Sea of Souls and bring him back to Kremnos. He was raised by his mother as the beloved crown prince of Kremnos. Then, years later, as his father and Nikador both descended into full madness, Mydei and the Kremnoan detachment defected.

But what would have triggered this sudden need to defect after years of leading Kremnos as a well-liked prince?

The flashback between Mydei and Eurypon actually suggests a possible reason:

Apparently, at some point, in some timeline, Mydei knew about Eurypon's plan to break Nikador's divinity into separate parts and seal him away, harnessing the power of their titan for himself.

Yet the Mydei of 3.0 seems to have no idea about any of this, never able to give any explanation for how Nikador has degraded so much nor why Nikador is seemingly unkillable. Castorice, Mem, and the Trailblazer have to come up with the idea to go back in time to the past Kremnos by themselves, because Mydei never makes any mention of there ever having been a plot to break up and seal away Nikador's divinity, even when they walk past the very blades that did the sealing.

Finally, there's one last piece of conflicting information: While talking to Phainon in the Garden of Life, Mydei states that all of his friends died before the detachment could ever join up with Okhema and that all of their deaths occurred by the time he went to kill his father. But this conflicts with the NPCs above, who state that Mydei had already defected to Okhema and joined the Flame Chase Journey as a Chrysos Heir while his father was still alive.

This inconsistency is further reinforced by a memory fragment with Krateros, who confirms that Mydei had joined up with Okhema already before killing his father:

Putting all of this together, the complete series of events for this second timeline becomes:

Infant Mydei is quickly rescued from the Sea of Souls, is instead raised by his mother, and grows up as the crown prince of Castrum Kremnos with his five friends.

At some point, years later, he discovers Eurypon's plot to break up and imprison Nikador's divinity, and he and his friends and supporters defect from Kremnos as a result.

Either they go straight to Okhema (I'm inclined to say that "ten years of wandering" doesn't fit, chronologically speaking, into this secondary timeline) or they do wander a bit, but ultimately, Mydei reaches Okhema and aligns with Aglaea before killing his father.

After aligning the Kremnoan Detachment with Okhema, Mydei returns to Castrum Kremnos to kill his father, possibly to halt Eurypon's evil plan to harness Nikador's power.

At some point in this timeline, presumably before Mydei returns to kill his father, Gorgo likely still dies (possibly killed by Eurypon and/or Nikador), which explains why the Gorgo in the Sea of Souls seems to be the one convinced that she raised Mydei.

And this is just pure personal speculation, because there isn't enough evidence to really confirm it, but I almost feel like we can even pinpoint how/when the whole decision to defect to Okhema took place. At the end of Mydei's flashbacks to the "peaceful" Kremnos, Peucesta says that Mydei has been away from Kremnos for a while.

Leonnius assumes that Mydei was away on some apparently extended training trip, but this moment specifically ends with Gorgo welcoming Mydei home and asking him one very important question:

Obviously these lines are doing double duty, symbolically welcoming the present Mydei back to the ruins of Castrum Kremnos and asking him whether he's finally ready to take on his role as the "Guardian of Amphoreus." But as the wiki notes, this takes place in a flashback to the past, and for the "Mydei of the past" (aka the Mydei of the alternate timeline), this could very well have been Mydei disappearing from Kremnos to make contact with Aglaea in Okhema, and Gorgo questioning him about his decision to commit himself to the Flame Chase Journey, leading up to an ultimate and permanent defection from Kremnos. (This is just speculation though, trying to tie the last few loose ends together.)

Anyway, when taken from this perspective, that there are two separate backstories here, one from a world where Gorgo lived and the more prominent one where she died, we can sort all the seeming inconsistencies in Mydei's backstory into two surprisingly tidy and complete timelines.

I haven't yet found anything in any Mydei scene that doesn't fit one of these two scenarios, so I'm starting to definitely feel optimistic here that this writing was intentional, and that the "contradictory" backstory we're seeing for Mydei isn't "the worst continuity Star Rail has served up to date," but instead an actual deliberate choice to present us with a character whose memories are a hodge-podge of two divergent timelines, snippets of one timeline constantly erupting and "filling in the blanks" of the other.

I think this would be a fascinating way to lead up to the idea that Amphoreus's world isn't real, that it's a cobbled together story or set of memories that someone is barely holding together, and that it's constantly cyclical in nature, with events repeating with slight variations across times. The idea that Mydei is actually experiencing two different sets of memories crushed together into a tangled jumble and that he's only just now starting to become aware of the discrepancies would be such an excellent way to reinforce the "unreality" of Amphoreus's plot as a whole.

I really hope this is the direction that they take the story... Or at least that I won't one day be looking at all my Mydei posts and sadly thinking to myself that I put a lot more thought into the character's backstory than his own writers did, RIPPPPP. 😂😂😂

Cope with me, people!

[vampireistic]

NO SHOES NO SHIRT AND I STILL GET SERVICE.

꒰warnings꒱ spoilers, probably ooc (it’s my first time writing for this lot ‹/𝟹), second person, purposeful lowercase, suggestive

⠀꒲ ` synopsis . . . nothing more awkward than realising that your entire house has witnessed you lounging freely in your underwear, a flashy robe and or topless? WRONG! it’s even more awkward when they start to miss it after you’ve began nervously dressing more modestly.

⠀꒲ ` characters . . . non-realised! amir, betty, freddy, hector, mitchell linn, tyrell, curt & rod + some others for fun

⠀꒲ ` notes . . . chose some characters that would probably be the most likely to see you and potentially comment on your sudden dressing changes, honestly it was so fun trying to write for this game i might do more if i feel like it :P

summer boils your skin into a warm, molten liquid. clothes stick to you with your sweat as the glue, pants dig uncomfortably into your crotch and your entire body heaves with the needy want for cool. so why haven’t you bothered stripping from the uncomfortably tight long-sleeved shirt and the baggy trousers?

it’s because of those damned dateviators!

dating objects around your house and understanding their sentient thoughts, stories and emotions? that was sick as fuck, totally fun and interesting! do you know what wasn’t? having the sudden realisation that all these inanimate objects have watched you laze around the whole house in a way that’s less than appropriate.

we’re talking ass out with a baggy shirt for the bare minimum modesty; occasionally, topless when the AC decides to work good that day; a cozy robe after your bath, showing just the slightest tantalising slope of what’s beneath; and when you’re particularly lazy? just a towel.

there was no way you were going to be doing any of that while holding the frightening knowledge that they can see, and worse, comment on your habits.

because what’s worst than your neighbours catching a glimpse of a naked shoulder? all the objects in your house having front show tickets. to fight that inherent embarrassment, you clung to your clothes like a shield—with little thought as to how the others would react to your sudden shift from playboy bunny magazine cover to nun. (spoiler; they hate it!)

ദ്ദി(˵⎚ᴗ⎚ ˵ ) ᢉ𐭩 AMIR

‪♡ he noticed immediately.

‪♡ how could he not? he’s your mirror, your confidante, your lover—nothing pains him more than seeing less of the form he used to admire so freely especially when it’s very evident from the sweat patches pooling where your limbs meet that this sudden dress change has caused you even more discomfort.

‪♡ “azizam, what reason do you have for dressing yourself like…” his voice cuts off, his captivating grey eyes giving you a completely overt once-over. “well, that—in such weather? i’m sure i can fit you in something much more suitable.”

‪♡ he’s not one to particularly pry on what you wear because anything you wear is perfection, but part of him really does miss seeing your bare shoulders…the gentle curve of your back, the soft fat of your thighs—simply, some sights shouldn’t be reserved.

‪♡ he’s a little more subtle with his pleading—it’s your decision at the end of the day, but if you ask him? he will not shy away from telling you that he really misses getting to look at your bare form, and somehow, when it comes from him? it doesn’t feel demeaning or disrespectful, he looks at you the same way the sun looks at the moon.

‪♡ oh, but if you do decide to go back to wearing so little? rest assured he’ll find it impossible to not go on long rants about how gorgeous you look (while sneaking in a few gentlemanly kisses).

ദ്ദി(˵⎚ᴗ⎚ ˵ ) ᢉ𐭩 BETTY

‪♡ she sees you every day so she was definitely the first to notice this sudden change in wardrobe, and while normally she wouldn’t comment…what do you think you’re doing?

‪♡ it’s not the fact that you’ve been sweating through your sheets for days now, or the fact you’ve kicked off nearly every blanket on the bed due to the excess heat, it’s the fact that you don’t even consider letting her cover your naked form!!

‪♡ dress up like a nun all you like baby, but for the love of god take off the sweater and hide under the covers if you’re really that worried she can FEEL you tossing and squirming from overheating.

‪♡ part of her wants you to go back to the free wardrobe for your comfort and another much louder part of her wants you to do so because the silk of your skin feels so much more alluringly sweet than the scruffy fabric of your dusty shirts.

‪♡ then again…she has to look at it in the more pleasing way too—this way, she can spend hours fantasising about what exactly you’re hiding beneath those clothes. sometimes the chase is better than the reward, no?

ദ്ദി(˵⎚ᴗ⎚ ˵ ) ᢉ𐭩 FREDDY

‪♡ the fridge is one of the first places you go to during the summer: ice cream, fresh fruit, cubes of ice to slot in whatever drink you need to refresh yourself with and that absolutely lovely immediate cooling from the freezer whenever you open it? pure bliss.

‪♡ so how come it seems like freddy has been ‘malfunctioning’ more than usual nowadays?

‪♡ “oop—sorry, cool kid, i’ll get you another right now!” as the nth ice cream drops into a splurge of vanilla on the floor, alongside the cumulating puddle now soaking the edge of your sweats.

‪♡ you can’t even count how many times he’s told you how he can’t allow you to sit in front of the freezer while you’re waiting for food to cook to “save energy” (it’s totally not because he’s patiently waiting for you to take off that cardigan, no way! you know, it’s just…the energy, yeah!)

‪♡ he doesn’t even do any of this with the intention to creep on you, he just loves and absolutely misses how squishy and adorable you look when you’re lounging on the kitchen counter while waiting for the timer to tick for your chicken nuggets, it’s so cute!!

‪♡ yes, maybe the way your thighs press together and the way you lean back to show off a sliver of stomach also gets him antsy but he swears if you don’t want him looking, he won’t! (but also please let him see something, he promises to keep you real cool if you do).

ദ്ദി(˵⎚ᴗ⎚ ˵ ) ᢉ𐭩 HECTOR

‪♡ he’s too attentive to your every want and need to ever play about with the air conditioning during the summer, but, he’d be a massive fool to deny how much he absolutely winces when he watches you walk around the house clothed head to toe with a clear discomfort shadowing your face.

‪♡ the others have certainly attempted to try bribing him into warming the house up solely because they think your new attire is ridiculous. okay, frankly most of them are complaining because they can’t peep a glance at you now, but can you blame them? they’re so used to you being so languid and free, this shit sucks!

‪♡ his voice is low and gentle when he randomly mumbles: “my love, is there…are you not feeling overheated in those…clothes?” when you mention how weird it feels walking around knowing everyone can actively see and have opinions on you…he gets it completely! it’s not like he has any right to judge you and all…but it doesn’t make him any less sad…

‪♡ because to him? you’re so beautiful :( and lovely :( your body is perfect and deserves to be shown without shame :( what do you mean it sounds ironic coming from him? :)) ‪

ദ്ദി(˵⎚ᴗ⎚ ˵ ) ᢉ𐭩 MITCHELL LINN

‪♡ he’s a gentleman, so he wouldn’t dare outwardly comment on your chosen apparel…ooh but does he loathe it though.

‪♡ the slick slide of ice cream as it pools down the naked slope of your chest; the way you lick your fingers clean from a melting ice-lolly when it sticks to your skin; the sound of a slurp when you eat watermelon, the fresh juice dripping down your chin: those are some of the delicacies that mitchell wouldn’t trade for even the highest quality truffle.

‪♡ now?? food drops onto your shirt, mingling into the sharp scent of sweat, you curse and gasp every time you ruin another pair of shorts and while he does feel the slightest bit guilty, he does find it simultaneously humorous how each time you hesitate to take your ruined clothes off. those little hesitant flickers of your eyes? his new favourite thing to watch.

‪♡ when you come to him to ask for meals that you could make and or snack on to get rid of the heat he very eagerly wants to tell you: “please, just change into something shorter.” but that would be way too distasteful for a man of his calibre.

‪♡ if you do ask him whether he misses it or not, he’ll try to sugarcoat it as lightly as possible because honestly…the softness of your skin is so much more tantalising to touch and caress than the sturdy material of a sweater. he won’t look…too much.

ദ്ദി(˵⎚ᴗ⎚ ˵ ) ᢉ𐭩 TYRELL

‪♡ NOOOOO!!! PLEASE! this is the one thing he had above most of the others…getting to be fully skin to skin with you, having you trust him enough to wrap around your luscious body to soak up all that warm water…this was unfair (he’s not jealous of bathsheba or river for getting to feel your body in its full regardless if you were embarrassed or not…he isn’t!)

‪♡ and don’t think he hasn’t noticed you using him much less or at least much more hesitantly!! he’s never complained about it before but this was starting to bother him because eating dirt off the floor is so much less fun than getting to dry you from your own sweat.

‪♡ so yes, maybe he has started to discreetly write notes and place them on the towels shaped exactly like your favourite animals just to garner your attention…is it working? :3c please say yes.

‪♡ don’t blame his hand for wandering beneath your shirt to wipe away at the sweat that’s glistening at your navel, he’s like a siren to water (quite literally). it’s in his nature!

ദ്ദി(˵⎚ᴗ⎚ ˵ ) ᢉ𐭩 CURT & ROD

‪♡ “okay, but why though?” — “because it feels weird knowing all of you can just see my ass 24/7, this isn’t a free show.” — “but why can’t it be.” that’s basically their entire mindset.

‪♡ honestly they’re about to crash out, man. they’re willing to draw close (sorry wyndolyn) to make sure the neighbours can’t see, but come on!! why can’t they?? >:( not even one slither of thigh?? not even an arm?? what is this, the victorian days?

‪♡ just to tease you they will not hesitate to list all their favourite outfits of yours: that very specific set of underwear with the cute cats and whatever shirt you find in the clean pile, a cliche but a goodie is some sweatpants that have seen better, oh and did you know your tummy does this cute thing where it turns squishy? and that your chest—what do you mean they’re making it worse? honesty is the best policy.

‪♡ they’re one of the few that will actively comment about it when you walk past, because why wouldn’t they? maybe they still hold a little bit of a vendetta when you tugged too hard on the curtain tassels to draw them closed or because the house is 50x more entertaining when you’re giving everyone brain lag from being too fine—either way; they’re not gonna be stopping any time soon.

BONUS (⁎⁍̴̛ᴗ⁍̴̛⁎)

‪♡ telly hates it. genuinely. you used to sit there so cozily on koa, shorts riding up to reveal those creamy thighs, shirt barely covering your stomach—it was great!! it was the one time he could only focus on you instead of the sound of plates shattering in whatever soap opera you picked to watch.

‪♡ honestly everyone in the bathrooms think it’s funny. seeing you hurriedly shut the door and take the quickest showers or baths of your life is pretty much better than drama. those little slip ups of skin though? now that’s what they live for. plus, it’s quite fun to hear the others complain about how it’s unfair that the rest of the house doesn’t get a chance to see your body so intimately any more—sucks to suck doesn’t it?

‪♡ hank 3 specifically hated this change because your body is nice to look at, why the sudden shift in confidence? ass out, baby!! the others don’t want to pry buuut…when you come into the laundry room they do look at each other very excitedly knowing full well they could very easily hide all those long-sleeves and baggy pants of yours (hey, it would make harper very happy too to keep it for a little longer!)

‪♡ dirk just finds it all hilarious. seeing everyone crash out over not seeing some skin basically all because of him? call it trashy, but he revels in the rage.

‪♡ speaking of trash, cam doesn’t care…because he can make anything filthy and he’s pretty sure you know it too. he kinda adores how annoyed you get when he can make you flustered just by looking at you a bit too sultrily. you think wearing a few too many layers is going to make him forget the curve of your back when you bend over? or the way water and sweat mingle on your skin?

‪♡ mac is gonna create a whole damn word file simply titled “RIP MC’S NUDIST LIFE” to commentate the end of an era. all those days of you taking your shirt off in front of the screen when it gets too hot…watching your fingers flex on the mouse and sometime write pure filth while clearly getting a little heated—that’s worth at least a special digital funeral.

[vampireistic]

I can't belive no one wrote something for Date everything x reader where the MC is walking around the hause without pants on. MC's entire outfit before gating the deteviators is just some plain t-shirt and underwear, maybe sometimes even without the shirt when theres a heatwave. Sadly, when MC got the deteviators and realized that all the objects in they'r house are sentient, they stoped walking around with they'r ass out, whitch kinda got the detables like this

[vampireistic]

omg wait bc let me think about this logically LMAO (might get long bc i’m on my autism shit rn) also SPOILERSSS

asmodeus is a massive flirt and outwardly very charming, but he’s also shown to be VERY obsessed with MC on par with the other brothers. i do think he would still be uh…appreciative of other people’s assets (plus when you have him you get solomon too, sorry, they’re a package deal), but he’s also attentive and self conscious himself so i also think it may be more likely that he still enjoys the attention from his fans and such, but he won’t be as provocative. MAINLY because asmodeus’ seductive personality comes both from his innate sin, and also because his insecurities are muted by the love and affection of others—and once he has the one person that he’s ever truly loved, i’d like to believe he would never step over a boundary set by the MC because he doesn’t have the need to fill a hopeless void when he has them. i mean, lust isn’t lust if it isn’t enjoyed by both parties so if he sees you uncomfortable with his behaviour, he would 100% change it. (can you tell i’m biased to asmodeus…)

belphie i’m a bit 50/50 with…he’s a massive asshole for lack of a better term and repeatedly uses his younger brother status to get away with not doing chores/general work, however he also has shown to have diligence and an element of hard work (even though it makes him tired) like in that one cow event i completely forgot the name of where he ended up spending the whole night trying to tend to the animals. plus in every instance both in main story and chats, any sort of activity revolving MC gives him immediate motivation. it’s unlikely that he would be a total and complete mooch (hey that’s levi’s job), but you would 100% have to do the chores at the exact same time as him and occasionally switch to more menial tasks to conserve his energy.

levi i’m once again 50/50 with LOL. in NB he definitely showcases these issues extensively, quite literally flooding the entire devildom at the mere prospect of MC going “home” because he’s jealous of all the people that they have waiting for them and that he isn’t enough for them—but he’s learns to accept it and loves MC more for them willing to risk themselves for him. buuut, leviathan also isn’t as envious as i think he’s typically presented as?? there’s only a few times he really outwardly states that he’s jealous of MC spending too much time with the others, but while saying so he doesn’t try stopping them from doing so (once he encouraged it simply because someone else required MC’s comfort and the other i’m pretty sure with mammon he joked that MC should just stay and play games, but he doesn’t get angry if they decide to leave). eh the rest tho…yeah, he’s a massive NEET. i think he’s hygienic to a degree (you cannot walk around in that house otherwise because asmo would honestly kill his brothers), but he’s so useless at chores 😭

satan’s concern idk… it depends on the context. i think the MC in game would be way too used to his outbursts and would just yell STAY!! and go back to their business, but as a person with paranoia particularly with loud noises i can also see that there could be a slight discomfort with his anger. i do think it’s only likely for him to crash out when in the presence of his brother’s, and never when in the single presence of MC—and i absolutely do not think he would ever lay a hand on them, their relationship has grown so far past that. they’re so close and special to him that when MC jokes about revealing what happened in the celestial realm (season 3 og game where they fall into that trap set up by the fairies), he directly puts up mammon as collateral instead of punishing the MC. arguably, he’d be one of the best wives husbands out of the current seven. with MC (and cats) he’s calm, rational, a little subtly flirty and sweet, he’s so into domesticity and nurture the brothers (including lucifer mind you) playfully started calling him “mom”. all and all? so long as he has the MC he’d be completely fine.

now i love beel but i do not have a single counterclaim to this because like…i mean. come on. i have an IDEA for how it could potentially be challenged in the game if the MC and demon brothers spend their marriage in the human world, for example like having foods transported weekly from the devildom to aid his monstrous appetite but as we know with beel, that’s never enough. unless your character is absolutely stacked there’s no way you’re affording 666 servings of tacobell deliveries when he’s starving. i don’t think it would ever be on purpose, beel would never deliberately inconvenience the MC and would 100% help in providing for them, but lord would he absolutely KILLL your daily shopping.

lucifer is another oddball in a way that he does refuse to show and accept his vulnerabilities and seemingly actually uses his affection/sex to distract the MC from serious issues (like that time in NB where after he pours his heart to you about his concerns for simeon’s safety, there’s an insinuated nsfw scene), BUT in the kind of “og” timeline in NB, it seems he’s gotten more comfortable on the idea of relying on others and even more so, he holds MC in high regard it’s no doubt he would ensure both their needs are brought into consideration with whatever he decides. he also seems to light up whenever MC enters his study/work space so i find it improbable he would ever prioritise his job over his lover (i mean he literally skipped his speech at the RAD founding just so he can wish the MC a farewell, boldly proclaiming they were more important than the devildom).

i think this one is the only one where i am completely against merely because of how many times the story emphasises mammon’s goodness and his absolute ride or die energy for MC. he works his absolute ass off actually working to be able to buy MC gifts, he has a whole child in the human world and allows himself to be exploited by witches just so she can live a good life, and beel sometime in the og timeline mentions how, when mammon is snooping around your room, that he would never steal from the MC bc he has a crush on them. that man is WHIPPED, if you don’t want him to go out gambling? he’ll chew his own tongue if you promise to be with him for that night at least.

I was writing a fanfic with small texts about the ✨️obstacles✨️ of marrying each demon brother and coping with their sins. But as I was writing it, I realized that it was getting too real, like:

Coping with Asmodeus flirting with everyone, maybe not cheating on MC but definitely flirting. Or ppl just making a move on him all the time, even if MC is right there! Like a hot supermodel that slides him a small sheet of paper with their phone number. And/Or maybe MC even questions his loyalty, thinking he might have or will eventually cheat on them.

Coping with Belphegor doing nothing around the house or falling asleep mid-whatever he's supposed to be doing, especially house chores, so MC ends up working twice or thrice as much, incredibly tired, not able to rest because they have to keep it up for both their sakes.

Coping with Leviathan questioning MC about their whereabouts, asking over and over again how they feel about him, maybe even making a scene of jealousy because they hugged a friend to say "good bye". Coming home and all he has done is play video games, read manga, and watch anime while MC worked their ass off.

Coping with getting scared when Satan gets uncontrollably angry. Maybe he hits stuff, destroys everything, and MC just shrinks in fear, scared that he might hit them next time even if by mistake.

Coping with the stress of not being able to afford food because Beelzebub simply eats everything and MC barely makes ends meet. Or scared that he gets too hungry in the middle of the night and eats MC (and not in the sexy way), even if by accident.

Coping with Lucifer never admitting to be wrong, acting almighty, unable to accept that he made a mistake, especially if it's huge; you'll never hear him say "I'm sorry". Not to mention him working all the time because he's too proud to admit he's getting sick or that he's simply tired as MC watches him deteriorate slowly and they can't stop him. Waiting for him in bed with the false promise that this time he'll arrive home early to spend time together.

Coping with Mammon's growing debt. Having to lock valuables up with powerful spells that might not fully work against an incredibly strong demon. He has gambled important posesions and lost them before. Getting calls or visits from collectors, some even fishy and/or scary.

And that doesn't include children because that would be even worse.

So yeah, I'm not gonna write that. Project canceled.

Nevertheless, here's the collage I did for said post. Enjoy it, anyway:

[vampireistic]

brennan lee mulligan is just the autism rep in the game. the character doesn’t exist to me that’s just brennan 🫶

what you see: haha funney dating sim where you can fuck the furniture!

what you get: loving explorations of things like adhd, alcoholism, ocd, chronic illness, body dysmorphia, toxic relationships, the evils of capitalism and ai. brennan lee mulligan is there

[vampireistic]

the l&ds fandom just fucking sucks actually

and i’m saying this as someone in both the genshin and honkai fandom—this fandom is actually horrific.

i wanted to bring to light a certain incident that happened a few days ago with one of my favourite streamers in the l&ds community, i won’t be outing who it is just because i do not want her to get any more unnecessary attention and or hate, it’s clear she doesn’t want to associate herself with this community and deserves a break.

but in short, over this streamer’s time playing l&ds she’s received countless hate, rape/death threats, violent and aggressive attacks from l&ds players—a lot of which boil down to the fact that people are upset she “switched up on sylus” and began making more caleb-centred content.

that’s just HOW entitled, parasocial and insecure this fandom has become that some of you would dare cyberbully a creator over something as pathetic and petty as liking a character.

so let’s have a little discussion…

tw. mentions of rape, misogyny

i KNOW other fandoms are worse, i KNOW the stuff i’ll be talking about occurs in other fandoms, and i KNOW not everyone’s like this—but we are solely talking about love and deepspace and the community that’s been cultivated.

now, this fandom has had problems for ages now. from; people heavily mischaracterising the love interests and belittling them to fanfic tropes (because god forbid we use a little bit more reading into a character’s personality and story); dark skinned MCs constantly being faced with racism and isolation from game/fandom; the heavy misogyny both in and outside the community; the whole caleb drama (with people still insisting that they’re siblings and making degenerate fics to feed into the narrative)—it’s been AWFUL.

but it’s come to a point where i’m genuinely concerned about how people have LOST fandom etiquette.

i rarely believe content creators who moan about receiving death threats because a majority of the time they only use this as a scapegoat, but this truly wasn’t the case. the streamer in previous context had shared a DM she received from an l&ds player telling her that she should be raped and that she couldn’t be because she’s too fat and ugly (i’m paraphrasing here obviously). how disgusting of a person can you be that you send literal threats to a creator because they like a character in a dumbass romance game?

. . .

i’ll split this conversation into a few sections before sharing my personal opinion on why i think this community has become so toxic (from my own personal experience of being in fandoms).

i. the racism/colourism

i can’t necessarily speak on this directly because i’m white and any character self-insert or otherwise i’ve made is pale, so i’ll go just over this briefly and allow for people to speak up about their own experiences if they want.

but a lot of this game primarily involves and focuses on a primarily white MC, which sure, in retrospect that’s fine or whatever—but when a game literally preaches about it’s inclusivity while only ever promoting the game with a white character, i find that it connotes something just the slightest bit disturbing. you can claim that it’s because it’s a chinese game all you like, but i think it’s pretty dumb to also forget that this game is still intended for a global audience. i know most people probably do not care, but i just think it’s way too normalised to preach inclusion for a cash grab and then never bother to care about said inclusivity.

ii. fatphobia/misogyny

while not blatant, especially on tumblr, but this fandom is just so incredibly predatory towards any woman that doesn’t fit traditional stereotypes and conventional looks. heavens above forbid you draw your character with actual meat on her bones, or give her a smaller chest or whatever—because then you’re just a nasty fat pig who deserves the worst.

saying this to a random drawing is one thing, but to an actual human being? thats another, and i find it shameful that as a community we don’t even bother acknowledging just how easily this gets swept under the rug. you have gotten too comfortable saying things to a screen that you would never dare say to someone’s face.

now, the misogyny in the fandom primarily comes from so many women relying on these character’s to dull their insecurities where they will proceed to harass and bully other players for liking the same character as them, OR showing particular favouritism to one of the love interests.

too many of l&ds players have an extremely dangerous parasocial relationship with both the company and the character. infold does not care about women; it saw an untapped market and gambled with it and found success and now uses it to feed their pockets (the same way the kpop industry does mind you). these characters aren’t real—i am a FIRM believer that fiction does affect reality, and if you don’t believe that then i seriously have to question how you comprehend that statement. i’m saying that to reiterate that this parasocial relationship has been fed by insecure, sad and lonely women who use fiction as escapism. that is not inherently bad—but it becomes a problem when that’s your only source of comfort or motivation.

the reason i am focusing so much on this parasocial aspect is BECAUSE l&ds is an otome, BECAUSE it has a large fanbase and BECAUSE with any otome game, it mostly attracts lonely women—lonely women, who, end up becoming so heavily attached to these characters they can’t even seperate fiction from reality anymore. i’m emphasising it because it’s such a larger scale issue with women and it’s absolutely harmful when left unchecked.

iii. homophobia

listen, when your target demographic is straight women and you push out queer people (gay or sapphic), you are isolating such a core demographic in any fandom that it automatically becomes hostile, because now there’s this very specific precedent set that queer people should NOT interact with this game (which then breeds this inner homophobia)—and once again, the amount of times i’ve seen women straight up tell male players to just “go find another game”, “they wouldn’t like you”, “it’s for women” or just a straight up slur lol is appalling. what’s the issue with a random gay dude wanting rafayel?

^ i also partially think that plays into the parasocial aspect. some of these women genuinely cannot fathom the idea of “their boys” being attracted to anyone that isn’t a pasty, skinny ass woman because they genuinely view their relationship as real. calm down. i promise the world will not end.

please for the love of god do NOT misinterpret this as me saying that female-only spaces especially in games are unnecessary. i speak as a lesbian woman, i’m basically a misandrist at this point—there is absolutely a need for games that centre women, but the way the fandom treats women who don’t align with them? that’s an issue that is far too normalised.

i’ve seen a few people in the fandom say that their incessant need to push male players out of the fandom comes from the fact the story centres womanhood—which, sure…i guess?? but in my heart of hearts if you think infold’s presentation of womanhood isn’t purely halfassed and done for monetary, you’d be purposefully ignorant.

to add onto that last point, i really don’t think half of the fandom cares or even acknowledges the womanhood aspect of the game because that’s not the core concept being advertised and or emphasised neither by the game or fandom. fandom especially, because how can a story be about womanhood when it doesn’t include the lives of sapphic women? no i’m not saying tara and mc need to kiss to validate any potential bisexual players lol (i would love it tho honestly), but what i am saying is that you cannot ignore the existence of queer people because you want your personal heteronormative comfort.

you are entitled to a female-centred game, but not entitled for everyone to interact and enjoy it in the same exact way as you do.

what i personally think? it comes down to demographics.

large fanbases suck in general because obviously there’s a much larger audience that attracts all scopes of people—but it’s also rather undeniable that the most reactive and aggressive tend to be fandoms where the large majority of people are either men or women. which is a pretty unpopular opinion i feel like, but it’s one i can’t help but throw out there. obviously queer people can suck too and it’s usually a mixed bag, but like. come on. why do you think COD players are such dickhead losers?

tldr: play baldur’s gate 3

[vampireistic]

[vampireistic]

Newlywed Solomon HCs

Solomon x GN! reader

Summary: Things Solomon does now that he's officially married to you.

AN: Hi all! I'm trying to get myself out of a writing funk (my event requesters, I'm so sorry, I'm trying ☹️). Since the new app won't have the side characters until later, I decided to just make some headcanons for Solomon so my brain could un-mushify itself. Nightbringer was but a mere taste of what married life with Solomon could be like and I need more, lol.

Warnings: Reader refers to Solomon as "my love," lengthy (I got carried away), other than that, it's all fluff!

Newlywed Solomon who wakes you up in the morning with soft whispers of love in your ear. “I’m so lucky to wake up next to you. You have no idea how much I love you.” He holds you close, legs tangled, happily sharing his warmth with you as he presses soft kisses around your face, occasionally nuzzling his nose against your neck.

Newlywed Solomon who brings you coffee in bed. He knows how you like it and makes sure every measurement of milk, sugar, or creamer is perfect. It’s bitter… almost sour, despite the effort he puts in, but you’ve learned to hold your grimace as he sips his own beside you peacefully, his off hand thumbing over your knuckles.

Newlywed Solomon who sends little texts throughout the day if you’re apart. He wants to know if you’re thinking about him like he is of you. Expect anything from a meme he found, a gif of a cat, an emoji, or even a photo of himself showing what he’s up to. If you send a photo of yourself back, be prepared to have him spam you with heart reactions and words of love. He’s happy to know you’re safe and having a good day.

Newlywed Solomon who tries to keep up with housecleaning. He’s not particularly good at it, but he’s learning as he goes. You’ll find the bed sheets freshly washed and on the bed, though the fitted sheet is clinging to the corners of the mattress by a prayer. Sometimes one of his shirts ends up folded and tucked away amongst yours (you think this is on purpose so you’d see it and wear it). A lot of it he does with magic, but your kisses of encouragement make him want to do better each time without the added help.

Newlywed Solomon who mentions extending the family… in the form of cats. Easily agreeing, you both end up walking through a shelter with the hopes of rescuing a kitty in need. He stops in front of a cage with a pair of siblings inside, and after reading about how they’ve spent their lives in the shelter, he turns to you with misty eyes and a hopeful smile. That night, you bring home two kitties that are already spoiled by Solomon in the form of a large cat tower, a fluffy bed, and a bag full of toys, treats, and pretty collars.

Newlywed Solomon who loves matching with you. Matching robes hung side by side on the wall, matching mugs sitting patiently in the cabinet to be used, even matching toothbrushes that sit on either side of the bathroom sink. He’s even imbued your wedding rings with magic to connect your hearts so that every time you touch the banding, a soft pulse of the other’s heartbeat can be felt.

Newlywed Solomon who’s only allowed to watch as you prepare meals. He’ll quickly set the table before rushing over to hold you from behind. It’s the only way to keep himself from assisting, and besides, any moment holding you is a good moment. His help in the kitchen is in the form of grocery shopping, though he tends to get a little sidetracked from the list you wrote and you end up with a fully stocked inventory and random ingredients you have no idea what to do with.

Newlywed Solomon who’s devoted to your care when you’re under the weather. If you’re physically sick, he’s constantly checking your temperature, feeding you soup (that you requested he order), as well as offering some spells to cure/comfort whatever ails you. If you’re struggling mentally, he’s doing whatever he can to support you. Whether you need to be held as you cry into his shoulder or ask for a cup of tea and some space as you sort yourself out before confiding in him, consider it done. Your well-being is the most important thing to him.

Newlywed Solomon who loves spending quality time with you. Your legs rest on his lap as you sit opposite of him on the couch, watching something on TV, while he reads a book and strokes your calf mindlessly. He’s easily distracted, studying how you bite the inside of your cheek when you’re invested, the steady rise and fall of your chest, your little reactions to a sudden twist in the show. He loves how expressive you are in these calmer moments. You’re way more interesting than a thousand words on a page.

Newlywed Solomon who watches in awe as you get ready for the day. Laying against the headboard, his eyes trail along your scantly clad body while you sift through outfits. There is no lust in his eyes, just admiration for the person you are. He loves everything about you and he loves that you trust him to see you like this. He’s vocal when you ask for his opinion, but never cruel or hurtful as there’s never anything negative to say. To him, you look wonderful in any style and he hopes you’re able to see yourself the way he sees you.

Newlywed Solomon who lets himself get dragged off to bed when he stays up too late. Even when his eyes sting and neck aches, he finds it difficult to pull away from his work and finish it the next day. So, when the bed feels too big and cold, and you come looking for him, he’s grateful. Cuddled close in the bed after you generously cover him up more than yourself, fingers card through his hair, coaxing him to sleep easily. Through a crack in his droopy lids, the last thing he sees is you, smiling softly as you whisper words of love to him. “Get some sleep, my love. I’ll be here when you wake up, just like always.”

[vampireistic]

Unspoken history

[vampireistic]

happy pride month

[vampireistic]

Which Obey Me! Characters can say the "bad word for gay"

(+ the side characters and side trio)

Lucifer: No. He will not say it. It is too far below his vocabulary.

Mammon: Would say it to his brothers.

Leviathan: It doesn't matter if he can or can't. He's calling everyone in the online lobby the word if his team sucks.

Satan: Only calls Lucifer the word. Was given the pass by Asmodeus.

Asmodeus: Invented the word. He calls himself the word every morning when he looks in the mirror. "Hey, you gorgeous fa-"

Beelzebub: No. He would never.

Belphegor: Is 100% calling Lucifer the word. It doesn't matter if he can or can't say it. He would anyway.

Lord Diavolo: No. He would never.

Barbatos: He only calls Solomon the word. Nobody else. Only Solomon.

Simeon: No. He would never.

Luke: Mammon taught him to say it. Simeon heard him and stopped him before he could say it anymore.

Solomon: Asmodeus gave him the pass.

Raphael: This is far below his vocabulary.

Thirteen: Hello? Is the sky blue? Of course, this absolute QUEEN can say it. Have you seen her hair???

Mephistopheles: No.

[vampireistic]

aglaea articulates all the qualities of family and friendship beautifully. mother to cipher, sister to anaxagoras, mentor and teacher to phainon—she believes in people when no one, not even themselves, believe in them. she has lost so much of her humanity and yet it still remains in her as an innate love letter within her bones: she dies a human, for a human cause, with the last human want to say goodbye to her companions yet finding herself unable to, a human struggle.

aglaea was basically a mother to all (and a vicious traitor to the council of elders)—beauty incarnate in not just her garments, but her deep love for humanity. she put all her trust in her student phainon, was willing to push aside her differences with anaxa, give the trailblazer a role in the prophecy despite initial suspicion, she did and sacrificed EVERYTHING for okhema.

tldr: aglaea mothered so hard this update

[vampireistic]

religious trauma meets athiest yaoi

[vampireistic]

🦋𝘚𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘋𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 🦋

Castorice キャストリス

[vampireistic]

Hi there! Regarding your post on Natlan’s designs (Excellent post, by the way), I think Ifa’s a cowboy because most people in his tribe takes influences from Vanqueros AKA indigenous cowboys, which does fit Natlan’s influences from Mexico/Native America

Now why they gave the Mexican/Native American character a Yoruba name is something entirely else, but Genshin’s always been notoriously bad at keeping cultures consistent within the same character…

thank you for sharing! honestly if they made that clearer in game and design i would’ve loved it and been more pleased but yeah…hyv is not very good at cultures outside of their east asia triad.

[vampireistic]

colourism aside, natlan’s designs just suck. (character design overview)

───────────────

as stated, even if we ignore the blatant racism in the designs, fundamentally—they are still absolute trash. i’m by no means a master character design, it’s just a nice side hobby to get my creative brain flowing, but i think that goes to show just how poor the intent behind these characters is.

warnings: long post, i’m not a professional character designer, i may get things incorrect about certain cultures, you are allowed to like these characters!! idgaf!!

to preface, i also have a problem with most designs in genshin ESPECIALLY inazuma and sumeru, but natlan’s designs are just so horrid it genuinely pissed me off.

overall, natlan’s designs aren’t at all up to the quality standard of any other nation. using the excuse that it’s because they have a different culture/style isn’t valid when you look at fontaine/liyue designs (places with two succinctly different cultures, but stunning overall designs). most of these characters are boring: no creativity, colours that clash with the skin tone, lack of depth and actual intent/personality—it, ironically, has no character. the entire purpose of character’s design is to ‘show don’t tell’. scars tell a story, colours used are imbued with symbols, shape of silhouette can tell a personality—and even something as simple as a glimmer in the eyes is a super common trope to show if a character is unstable. natlan designs lack all of it.

the reason i put emphasis on the name origins of these characters is because: A. natlan (like most nations) doesn’t have one specific point of reference, with every character being an amalgamation of different countries and cultures so it’d be unfair of me to generalise, B. hyv uses real life culture in designs, if they didn’t, the characters in liyue would NOT have any cn hairpins, qipaos, symbols, talismans (same with inazuma and kimonos), these choices ARE relevant in game and real life and are used to inspire design concepts.

we’ll start with the least egregious ones down to the ones i want to shred.

KACHINA

THE POSITIVE:

- her character is based off an american pika and i can definitely see it in the design just from the ears and the cute chubby face + large eyes (makes her look more docile and cute).

- kachina’s name is derived from puebloans (native americans in the southwestern united states). from my research, kachina’s design has at least faint resemblance to the typical clothing attire used by puebloans (the array of patterns and symbols prevalent throughout her design).

- it may not be 1:1, but to me, that’s a sign of good character design. when referencing a culture, specifically in a game like genshin where these cultures are meant to be “inspiration” and not replicas (which is a whole other technical debate), using elements from a culture’s fashion as the foundation and then building on it with your own ideas is generally, a positive.

- i really like her silhouette, it’s not too clunky or plain, and generally i can get some pretty good hints as to the basis of her character. the over-exaggerated big gloves are a huge part of her character due to her tribe (they’re kinda at the centre of her design, showing how it’s a significant part of her). the symmetry in her outline may represent her stubbornness or cleanliness, while the little hints of asymmetry on places like her knees/arms can reflect her youth and child-like nature: thus painting a character that may be striving to be more mature than she actually is.

- the colour dynamics are also very cohesive and representative of her tribe. in design we use the 60-30-10 rule (which can change depending on amount of colours used), where your main colour needs to be dominant, while the third must be an accent colour. i think this is done quite well with kachina, the main colour is the deep brown and orange, with accents of green and even smaller accents of blue. something i really liked was how well these colours were balanced with this rule while keeping the aesthetic of the patterns.

THE NEGATIVE:

- i don’t have too many complains about her, she is a four star and they tend to be much plainier than five stars and i am very conscious of that in my critiques—one big one is just that i wish they attempted to interpret more elements from the indigenous culture to her design.

IFA

THE POSITIVES:

- immediately what stood out to me without even having to read about his character were the scar on his forearm and the label pinned on his white coat. IMMEDIATELY my brain went: some sort of doctor, probably a vet.

- his silhouette is quite clean and gives a good enough idea of his character: someone who seems confident but isn’t arrogant or loud, perhaps even polite.

- the back patterns and materials on his trenchcoat/cape thing are a good reference to his clan especially with the feathery appearance—it’s not too obvious, perhaps indicating he prefers working as an individual rather than a group.

- his colour scheme is balanced and the tones used can be commonly found in the natlan environments, could be an indicator of his strong connection to nature.

THE NEGATIVES:

- ifa’s name has origins in the religion of the yoruba people (of west africa). in the yoruba pantheon, ifá, also known as orunmila, is the god of wisdom, knowledge, and divination, and is considered the messenger between the human world and the divine realm. now our ifa uh…yeah he doesn’t really have any resemblance to the yoruba culture, like at all LMAO—really wish they added at least SOMETHING (at the least, accessories / more clear patterns).

- i don’t like the fact they made him a cowboy. it’s really strange and out of character (/out of the design concept that they were clearly going for) and also completely out of sorts with the entire design of natlan. seriously, what kinda fucking relevance do cowboys have in this nation?? i don’t know if hyv just thinks anything with the word american must = cowboys or if they ran out of design choices for him but it’s bizarre.

MUALANI

THE POSITIVES:

- her design uses a little of bubbly shapes! she has no hard straight edges or lines, everything is very curved and fun—a usual indicator of a character that’s light-hearted, comedic and jubilant. not only that, but a lot of the carved areas in her clothing have shapes resembling fish which all rolls back to her tribe.

- from her namesake, mualani’s name has origins in hawaii, but her specific origins can be traced to indigenous polynesians. their cultures are very varied and unique, but if we were to take pieces from their fashion, i’d say the closest we can get to a direct reference is mualani’s skirt (patterns and colour reminiscent of lavalavac or pa'u skirts)

THE NEGATIVES:

- i really wish they added more elements from polynesian culture to her design (i feel like this is a phrase i’ll be repeating consistently LMAO), but even something as simple as adding recoloured hibiscus flowers to keep in with her colour scheme but accentuate the culture would’ve made a big difference.

- now i did imply that i wouldn’t talk about race and focus on designs, but in this case, her skin is genuinely one of the biggest factors pulling back her entire concept. she SHOULD be so much more tan. not even due to the fact polynesians aren’t THAT pale, but because of her markings. they are extremely awkward with her skin tone because they barely stand out almost like they’re implying she’s ashamed of them—which is not at all mualani’s personality!! she has so much pride and joy for her tribe it’s extremely weird for her markings to be so far in the background.

KINICH

THE POSITIVES:

- kinich’s name refers to the maya sun god and assumes to mean sun-eyed, so i’ll give them credit: he has gorgeous yellow eyes reminiscent of sunlight. his design consists of a lot of jagged patterns, which i think nicely correlates to typical mayan styles while remaining pretty succinct to kinich’s tribe. his necklace piece vaguely resembles common jewellery for warriors/kings (particularly nice homage to his name as it’s typically associated with gods).

- this one’s a positive and a negative but his colour palette is very coherent and follows the typical design structure…but it’s also extremely boring. i’m not saying every character need to have a distinctly different colour scheme and style but it has to be at least different enough where me colour picking won’t result in the exact same colours (…he’s literally a xiao redesign).

THE NEGATIVES:

- his shape language is slightly awkward. while there’s a lot of hard, sharp edges to show how he’s tough or has a callous exterior, the silhouette of his character is too soft and bubbly at the bottom. maybe it’s intentional to show how he doesn’t care how he’s perceived, but it’s still inconsistent with the rest of the design.

- once again; this is both a negative and positive, but his retro-gamer style pisses me off at face value. on the surface, it lacks relevance in his character. he’s not a gamer, he has no elements in his personality to indicate he’s a gamer (if anything, he has the exact opposing qualities, he’s not competitive, he’s not mean or gruff etc), it’s odd. BUT, i have read some people relate these retro patterns to mayan mosaics and architecture, and when i did further research i think it was actually absolutely excellent symbolism. super subtle (maybe a little TOO subtle, and should’ve been used more consistently throughout all designs) but super interesting.

IANSAN

THE POSITIVES:

- from my research, iansan’s name relates to both the yoruba religion and candomblé, she’s a blend of brazilian and nigerian influence. i think the closest reference in her design is her necklace that is reminiscent of indigenous brazilian necklaces + the use of feathers in her design are a subtle homage to brazilian culture.

- iansan’s design has a coherent and clear colour scheme, the brightest being the dominant colour and then little sprays of a contrasting purple/indigo (with the smallest speckles of green).

- i love the consistent asymmetry, the white skull atop her head balances with the white armour piece on her knee which directly contrasts the plainness on her right leg, it adds interest in her general shape while maintaining structural balance.

THE NEGATIVES:

- her design doesn’t really have intent. it’s like they created a design for an initial scrapped concept of natlan and forgot they needed to give her a personality. i don’t think anyone would’ve known she was a trainer without searching it up / being told. maybe aside from the bandana and her crop top, there’s nothing telling in her design that gives her character.

- another main issue; her character design doesn’t give you a good of what she’s like or who she is, at a surface level it’s quite pretty and matches the aesthetic of natlan, but it doesn’t give enough depth to iansan as an individual.

- overall silhouette is also pretty unimpressive, i understand she’s a four star but she should have at least more idiosyncrasies within her design, or even exaggerated features to make her design stand out.

CITLALI

THE POSITIVES:

- “citlali” is derived from the nahuatl (aztec) word for “star”. i can see that in her design she does have at least a few aztec influences from the two braided front locks, and a more modern spin on a female cueitl, i also like the little sash holding the skirt, its very clunky but i think it looks great with how minimal and tight the top of her design looks.

- her colour scheme is great and i adore it, it follows the traditional design rule and maintains a normal balance BUT i really would’ve loved for a bit more detail of either dark blue or yellow to contrast and break from all the pink-purple hues.

- everything in her shape language screams “leave me alone”, it’s all very jagged, consisting of a lot of triangles (typically used with villains but in this case i think it’s a reference to her sharp intellect or energy, perfect for a shaman).

- positive and negative; i like the asymmetry at the bottom with her left leg being shown and then her right hip having a slight cut in the fabric however it was a super unnecessary choice that i just damn well know was chosen for nefarious reasons (i’ve played these games before hyv.)

THE NEGATIVES:

- she is straight up just another version of a lolibait tsundere. i’m sorry it’s hard to keep personal bias out of this but COME ON?! she’s supposedly a “granny”, meanwhile she has a shorter female model, looks childish and has no elements in her character to help infer she has lived a long time. it’s lazy design with a really intriguing concept. once again, no character. with a name that holds so much power and weight, i would expect so much more. she deserved to be a five star (and a revamp of her personality). nothing in her character screams shaman!! maybe the accessories at the top of her head?? but everything else is super plain, like a background character that got too much attention in the writing.

- her silhouette is extremely rigid, and again, this can be a design choice in some cases, could reflect in this case how she’s closed off from people, but even so, there should be more exaggeration or emphasis in her design to make this choice seem more intentional or at least interesting, because right now, she’s just a box with scribbles on it for detail.

XILONEN

THE POSITIVES

- i found a great reddit post of someone fully going over the influences in xilonen’s design that was absolutely great from a cultural perspective! it fully divulges the aztec and mayan mythology and culture embedded in her design.

- i like the shape language used, all the harsh triangular cuts presenting someone who’s quick, strategic, to the point—with all of that broken up by the sudden fluffiness of her coat, maybe indicating she’s not as harsh as she may first appear.

THE NEGATIVES:

- now while i don’t want to discredit all the wonderful subtle details in her design as referenced in the thread…xilonen’s design as a whole is extremely low effort. if you told me she was a four star, i would honestly believe you.

- look me in the eyes and tell me that without the story you could have guessed that’s she supposed to be a blacksmith, because you can’t. i’m not saying every character needs to have their career/job at the centre of their design…but when it’s not even vaguely hinted at, it’s extremely disappointing.

- her design and job gave the perfect opportunity to add cool and intriguing metallic details or even burns to her skin, i understand she’s also meant to be “laidback” but “laidback” doesn’t mean the design has to be sloppy, the half-off jacket was already enough of a clue that she’s relaxed.

- the belt especially is disappointing because it’s such an easy design fix; she likes details but doesn’t care about other’s opinion, this could’ve been the perfect placement to add little details in the metal to things she’s interested in (skating/dj shit whatever).

- the asymmetry also fails in this design, the unnecessary cut in her way too tight and tiny shorts clashes with the fact the large chunk of hair is also laid on the side (another easy fix…switch one of the two around!!). the design is very unbalanced in its proportions, i don’t understand why one arm is smooth and sleek while the other is clunky and jewelled.

- PLEASE. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD. SOMEONE GIVE HER PANTS.

MAVUIKA

THE POSITIVES:

- her name is a reference to the māori fire deity. she’s the pyro archon. uhm yeah.

- her hair is a cool sun shape i guess and uh…she’s got…some patterns that look like the sun and shit.

THE NEGATIVES:

- i genuinely think hoyoverse rewrote the entire story, lore and concept of natlan 3 days before the release because there’s no way that they thought this was a plausible design for the archon of WAR. first off, her motorcycle chick aesthetic. nonsensical, doesn’t fit in with the lore of the game, nor even the shown transportation methods in natlan. if the pyro archon is just a normal person or whatever, we should be seeing motorbikes more commonly. i just know she fucking stinks too, latex in the heat of natlan? musty as hell.

- there’s utterly no interest in her silhouette or shapes…and that’s not even more exaggerating. the most interest in her design is how her sleeves puff out at the ends and the tech accessories she has attached to her boots. i hate the fact her zipper goes all the way down to her kitty. there ain’t no need for that. not only is it a dumbass design choice aesthetically, functionally that shit must hurt.

- while the colours are cohesive and follow the general rule, they are super uninteresting with the secondary and tertiary tones used in a way that doesn’t enhance the design, it feels more like a colouring book than detail.

- absolutely no part of her design would tell you that she holds the authority over a nation known for its history of war and freedom. not even a battle scar to present her fighting abilities, no special markings or tattoos—things which are VERY common symbolisms in māori culture!! this could’ve easily been enhanced just by adding archon specific elements in her tattoos. you don’t even have to dial back the fanservice if you’re that desperate, let a little cleavage out and draw a whole map of markings!! just do something!!!

CHASCA

THE POSITIVES:

- there’s feathers in her design and she’s from the flower-feather clan, i guess that’s a decent enough recall to her tribe.

- i like the symmetry in her design from the hat and the back of her tattered cape it’s cohesive, and all the small details from the accessories and metals is actually quite catching to look at, i sincerely wished this was repeated in the entire outfit.

THE NEGATIVES:

- i don’t understand why she’s some sort of elf. has this ever even been established as a proper race?? why are there elves in this nation?? does it have any relevance to her character?? or her abilities and knowledge?

- the colours are actually hideous even with the 60/30/10 rule. every hue is super desaturated and dull your eyes don’t actually know what you’re supposed to focus on so instead your attention is cast to the random fucking leg that’s just fully bare and out compared to her weird latex legging. this isn’t even good symmetry wise because… this naked/latex portion is repeated in the top half of her outfit with the arms. it’s all extremely awkward and misplaced like they had several references and just drew over all of them.

- the top is decent but super bare and dull, there’s practically no interest in the shape or material, it all feels like the default filter on dress to impress or gacha life.

- back on the symmetry, all her design weight is fixed on the left side of the design (right, if you’re imagining it as the picture above), there’s no interest in the silhouette, it’s very unimpressive and insignificant to the point where the only sole point of interest in her design is the hat because of its exaggerated appearance from the rest of the flatness.

- can you tell that despite being named after an incan goddess, her design has absolutely no bearing fashion resemblance to the amerindians? who would’ve guessed!

ORORON

THE POSITIVES:

- FINALLY!! A CHARACTER WITH VISUAL MARKINGS AND TATTOOS!!! who knew it would take this long (hint it was me)

- his entire silhouette is outline with sharp, jagged edges, reflecting a harsh demeanour, especially the back cape(?) thing which has no curve, just a sharp point—an image of someone cutthroat and dangerous. with the way he has his hoodie up it can be assumed he wishes to remain mysterious or secretive.

- colour scheme is cohesive but once again, incredibly boring and unimaginative. they finally learnt that the other side of the colour wheel exists but then lost all their design abilities in the process.

THE NEGATIVES:

- his overall silhouette outline is hideous. there’s no break in the design everything just goes down in a harsh fat rectangle. it’s way too top heavy with no accessories or anything significant at the bottom to balance all the clutter from the scarf hoodie thing.

- i don’t even think i need to mention how poor it is to butcher the name of a yoruba god and make him a furry of all things—think that more or less speaks for itself.

- no part of his design gives the impression of someone who would “tend to vegetables” and i know that sounds dumb, but what i mean is that they clearly stuck with one concept (making him some tough emo copy paste) without thinking of the whole other archetype they intended to add: someone who’s lighthearted and gentle. you can absolutely have both in a design, i’m not saying tough people are incapable of gentleness, but there’s nothing in his design to make you stop and consider that he isn’t a gruff asshole.

- ripped jeans. right. let’s ignore the beaming temperature in natlan for now—who in the design department sat down and thought, “yeah dude this is absolutely fire!!! 🔥🔥🔥”. he looks like the gacha demon alpha wolf hybrid oc i made when i was 13.

VARESA

THE POSITIVES:

- her design’s colour palette is digestible.

THE NEGATIVES:

- apparently she’s meant to be based off luchadora wrestlers but don’t piss me off. the only singular element that vaguely resembles the attire in the wrestling style is the top and just maybe the accessories on her skirt.

- someone save me who the fuck decided to give this girl temu leg warmers. LEG WARMERS. IN THE NATION OF FIRE AND WAR? characters who fight and are killers or whatever have every right to be cute and aesthetic or whatever, like bitch i love mizuki kaminade!! but this girl ain’t her.

- she has such potential but instead of going fully down the cool wrestler route and giving her these muscles and sick details and patterns…we get horny incel slop where people think her having thicker thighs and big boobs means she’s chubby.

- also?? 😭 CHUBBY? ya’ll gotta be ragebaiting because there’s no way i’m seeing people call this a revolutionary moment. she is the same size as every other godforsaken female character in game, her thighs are just bigger. that’s pure fetish content (i’ve already seen the weird milking jokes about her let’s be real, they knew what they were doing).

- the design is very 2020 gacha oc coded.

- the design is both asymmetrical and symmetrical which sometimes can look good but realistically, with the way it’s done here she just looks like someone’s first attempt at profesional design (you are failing).

- this was the perfect opportunity to give her some sort of cow print markings, but no, boring white slop. they’re happy giving her random kawaii bandaids though! >//<

- her silhouette is both cluttered and plain, all the little baubles hanging off her distract you but then when you try and look deeper at the actual outfit you find nothing but ugly egg-white coloured ariana grande sleeves and the shortest miniskirt known to man. it’s a mess, and not even a satisfying one to look at.

- there are absolutely no creative liberties taken with her as a cow either i’m convinced they just looked up the most popular cow ocs (or borderline hentai) and decided to mash it together with a sprinkle of sugar before serving us absolute bollocks. the only way they could save this character is by giving her the most fucking manly voice known to man then i’d change my entire mind. for now she’s a low tier hentai caricature for the dweebs.