No But I'm Obsessed With This Exchange Actually

So far, the piece I'm proudest of making 😌❤ I just HAD to draw them almost kissing

The thing is that Loid thinks of himself as a completely average normal person, which means whenever Yor has anything in common with him hes like "excellent, we are so good at being normal. I picked the perfect wife, she even knows about poisons"

Illustration by Tatsuya Endo

may i offer: bisexual loid forger.

you cannot tell me that this man hasn't had to mingle with men on missions and realize that oh no... they're hot.

“he’s quite a looker, him.” franky says over a glass of wine. he and twilight are watching nightfall attempt to seduce a westalis veteran in a gala.

franky isn’t wrong. the man is incredibly fit, years of military training not lost on his physique. he’s wearing a form-fitting suit that was clearly tailored to highlight his, um. assets, so to speak. twilight gulps.

from where they’re standing, he can hear the smooth baritone voice of the man above all the chatter of the hall, laughing lightly at nightfall’s quips.

from time to time, his eyes flit to twilight for a quick second, and twilight’s heart races.

he convinces himself that it’s from worry that the man will pick up on the intelligence eyes on him. yeah. definitely not from the way he seems more keen to talk to twilight than the attractive woman in front of him.

“bet he pulls all the ladies.” twilight hears franky say, oblivious to the growing tension beside him. he grunts in response.

marcus belante. thirty five. 203 lbs. 6’3. served in the westalis military for ten years.

when he reviewed his info sheet, twilight remembered something about marcus that wasn’t on it, something he learned when he was serving in the military himself.

he allegedly had a love affair with his commander, who eventually died in the war.

“i bet he does.” twilight takes a swig of his own wine.

nightfall eventually comes back, obscuring franky and twilight’s view of marcus, looking dejected.

“so? anything?” franky asks.

nightfall grunts, and twilight sneaks a glance behind her. he tries not to react when he sees marcus’ eyes on him, almost predatory.

“why do you look like you just got rejected?” franky teases. “i was,” nightfall rolls her eyes, “apparently i’m not exactly marcus’ type.”

she turns to twilight, who’s still trapped in a silent, heated exchange with the man.

a sharp elbow to his ribs breaks the trance twilight is in. “what?” he grits through clenched teeth, rubbing the tender spot on his side. “i said, i’m not his type.”

franky hums. “what now, then? is there another way we can—“ “i’ll go."

franky and nightfall look at twilight in surpise. he shouldn’t have offered himself so quickly, but what’s done is done.

it’s for the mission, after all.

he slicks his hair back and flags down another waiter. nightfall and franky say nothing as they watch twilight’s wine glass get filled to the brim.

“i’ll see you later.” twilight nods to his colleagues and walks toward marcus, who straightens up with a smirk.

The Broken Ring : This Marriage Will Fail Anyway - By Chokam (8/10)

There is an extremely high potential for madness here. Both potential fiances have complex and strange feelings for the bride they want, but do they even want her? Or do they just want the bride with the best blood? Sometimes it is hard to tell. There is alot of cheating in this. Alot. In this setting cheating when you're married is extremely common. Who will get that ideal bride in the end? It's a mystery because love, in this setting, is selfish. Neither of the potential grooms are saints.

Ines chose a boy named Carcel when she was six. She rejected the chance to become imperial princess to have him. Everyone thinks she is a plain, overly mature girl. She always dresses entirely in black.

The sudden proposal horrified Carcel. He thought lady Ines would marry the Crown Prince, like everyone else. The prince even tried to change her mind, because their marriage would benefit him. She rejects him over and over again, and then seventeen years pass. Ines destroyed Carcel's life. The prince is his cousin, and now they don't get along, because his handsome face stole the best imperial bride. Carcel is very bitter towards Ines, but he never ignores her letters. He lives knowing that he has unconditional love, and he realizes how precious that is.

He fools around with flirtatious women for fun, but he plans to be respectful when he marries. Ines started to become colder, and busier, when he became a teenager. They both come from high ranking families with a lot of responsibilities. Ines has a very strict personality, so she barely visits him. Letters are not enough. He will never admit it, but he is lonely. He cheats on her because she has been witholding the affection she promised him when they got engaged. He joined the Navy, and stalled their marriage for a few years, because he was so frustrated with her coldness. He relies on her letters for comfort, but less and less of those come. The women he's sleeping with have started insulting his fiance, but they cannot change his mind. When Ines becomes his wife he plans to be loyal to her.

He has insane fantasies about his reserved bride. He thinks she will adore him just as much as he adores her when they start living together. This is lunacy. Ines does not smile much, and she wears nothing but black all year. The Duke indulges her, because she is his only daughter. He lets her pursue her hobbies and he doesn't expect her to fool around at tea parties. Carcel feels the same way. Ines does not need to put on a show for him. When they marry, and finally become more affectionate, he will be satisfied. He only expects her to give him more of her time.

He's twenty three, and his career in the Navy has brought his family honor. He has never once threatened to divorce Ines. Even after her letters stopped. Now that he's back on land he's ready to set a wedding date, and recapture that first love feeling with his cold bride. Ines has an extremely high pedigree. He blames her indifference on that. The Duke has spoiled her since her birth, so now Ines believes she doesn't have to please her husband. Ines is sort of right. Carcel is a hopeless fool. When they meet after a long time his lewd fantasies get more extreme. Ines is the only woman he has ever imagined having children with. He's excited to sign the papers, even though he won't admit it out loud.

Ines crushes him with freezing cold rejection. She says she knows about his affairs, and she doesn't care. She just needed a good husband that would not get in her way. She wants to them to lead separate lives after they tie the knot. Carcels odd fantasies get even sicker. He has always been wildly attracted to Ines. He thinks she has a secret harem of lovers that she intends to enjoy without facing any consequences. When Carcel cheated on Ines they were still not married. He was sneaking around out of loneliness, and he secretly wanted her attention. His most deranged fantasy involves a crying Ines, who is heartbroken about his affairs, and passionate make up sex.

None of his fantasies come true. Ines leaves him in shambles, and they only go out on dates for appearances. Carcel cannot divorce her. He doesn't want to, and he's in denial. Ines chose him all those years ago. Why is she tormenting him like this? He doesn't understand. He tries to sleep with another woman, but he can't get erect. When those women lavish compliments on him they remind him of his true self. In his fantasies he pampers Ines and showers her with compliments. So when other women flirt with him he's too embarrassed about his real desires to get hard.

He tells her everything. He gets way too intense about it. Ines is very unpopular, and she's twenty three now. She's stuck with him. She will not be able to run from him and find another husband. He tells her he won't get a mistress, and he won't allow her to have any lovers. He starts talking about their children that don't exist yet, and he tells her not to underestimate him.

Why is Ines so weird and cold? Well, this isn't her first life. She's trying to survive. She keeps dying, because the prince is crazy and abusive. She married Prince Oscar in her very first life. Everyone envied her. She wore fine clothes and she starved herself to make her body look more glamourous. She had anorexia, and the imperial family separated her from her family. She steadily grew more depressed, and she had four miscarriages.

Then, she saw the truth. After two years the prince was already bored with her. Her miscarriages happened because he contacted every kind of venereal disease. He also raped her often when he was pregnant, and the handsome prince loves very rough sex. She killed herself in front of him, because that was the only way she could get revenge.

She didn't expect to wake up again, and now she doesn't believe in love. The first version of Ines adored the prince, and Carcel is a scoundrel too. His obsession with her is very sexual, but it is rooted in his first love. Will he be able to convince her, even though he had a bunch of affairs out of spite? Will he be able to protect her from the prince, who doesn't respect women, or Ines's decision to marry someone else? I honestly don't know.

The biggest problem with this is the sexism, but there's no magic and I like that. It's a regular reincarnation story, and Ines could actually die if she makes the wrong choice again.

I love this scene 🥺

I will now post some incorrect quotes that I believe are basically Griffith and Arian's dynamic 😌❤

Arian: What if the 'g' in 'gif' is silent?

Griffith: Go the fuck to sleep

Arian: What gif I don't want to?

Griffith: Fuck You

Arian: I can explain.

Griffith: Can you?

Arian: If you give me thirty seconds to think of a lie.

Arian: Fuck.

Griffith: We've got to work on your cursing.

Arian: Why? I'm pretty good at cursing already.

Arian: I've already sent good vibes your way… they’re coming. There’s nothing you can do to stop them.

Griffith: This is the most threatening way I’ve ever been cheered up.

Arian: Don’t worry, I have a few knives up my sleeve.

Griffith: I think you mean cards.

Arian, pulling knives out of their sleeves: No, I do not.

Arian: *Kicks the door down looking panicked*

Griffith: What did you do?

Arian: Nobody died.

Griffith: WHAT KIND OF ANSWER IS THAT?!

Arian: Bad things keep happening to me, like I have bad luck or something.

Griffith: Arian, you don't have bad luck. The reason bad things happen to you is because you're a dumbass.

This last one especially eschews their dynamic, I think:

Arian: You saved me. I owe you my life.

Griffith: No thanks. I’ve seen it and I’m not very impressed.

The fact that they're enemies makes the small possibility of a romance between Arian and Griffith so angst-filled.

I can think of a few ways it could end:

- She kills him

-He kills her

OR, for a more optimistic yet highly unlikely scenario, he joins her side and helps her defeat Balor. But again, this is highly unlikely.

I'm afraid of it being a tragic romance if they do end up having feelings for each other. But I think it makes a potential relationship between them all the more flavorful: because angst is like garlic. Sure, the fic/food will be fine without it, but with it there will be added depth to its flavor. And you can never go wrong with too much garlic.

The buildup of their feelings in terms of their conflict against each other's side and inevitable confrontation would be so good, omfg. It's scary and exciting.

I am currently at both 8 and 9 with Crystal Dragon and Griffian lol

The 9 levels of rarepair hell

1) The rarepair has some potential shippers and off-hand discussions mentioning it, but zero actual content.

2) The rarepair has some lovely shippers and a decent amount of content. It's all in a language you can't read.

3) The fandom looks to have been friendly and receptive to all kinds of ships, but it is now inactive and you are stuck reading the same dozen rarepair fics, wishing you had been born ten years earlier.

4) Several cool shippers have created content for the rarepair, but all of it unfortunately contains stuff that really squicks you out.

5) One or two talented shippers create stellar content: you oh-so-slowly savour each new creation they post, all the while fearing that it might be the last if they move on to different interests.

6) The fandom is dead. Not a single fic or mention of the rarepair ever existed.

7) The fandom is active, but tiny and very close-knit. None of the fans look to be at all open to even considering the rarepair.

8) The fandom is non-existant. The original content itself is obscure. The rarepair is but an unobtainable dream.

9) The rarepair has content. It is all made by yourself.