#I'M YODELLING

[yunnierights]

KICKING MYSELF IN THE SHINS WHAT THE FRIKKITY FRACKLE

mind over matter | s.mg

Pairing: best friend!mingi x reader Genre: [+18] smut w/o plot Warnings: jussss smut, enjoy a/n: first fic on this blog yay

the two things you can be sure in life is that 1. you will die and 2. you've never wanted to suck a dick so bad.

I mean, you always knew that your best friend was hot — you had eyes, for god's sake! — but holy shit.

it started when you ran out of cat food. you were an attentive cat owner, don't get me wrong, but at the same time, you had the worst week for your mental state. exams after exams, studying 'till the library basically had to kick you out and group projects with lazy people... so that's how it ended up with your cat screaming at the top of their lungs and waking you up from your power nap.

mingi happened to be around because, guess what, you also forgot about your plans to watch that new anime that he rambled all about for the past month, and truly, you wanted to be able to enjoy some quality time with him, but you fell asleep as quick as his cursor pressed play on the screen, the warmth that irradiated from both inside his hoodie that you were wearing to where your head laid on his shoulder was too cozy.

so when you got up to feed the cat, your heart dropped, and you saw the grocery list accumulating dust on top of the counter, the 'cat food' underlined three times. you looked outside the windows of your small apartment and saw that the simple drizzle from before now turned into a full on storm, and all you could do was lean onto the counter and bawl your eyes out.

mingi was startled but tried to comfort you somehow, not really sure of what he could do to help, and as you tried to tell him between hiccups and tears, he quickly grabbed his jacket and told you that he would be right back.

twenty minutes later, a full-on drenched mingi stood on the doorstep, chest heaving as he took off his shoes and the same jacket, now in a darker tone from the wetness. you stared back from your couch, as you were curled into the throw blankets, eyes widened.

you almost forgot about the cat food.

in your defense, it should be illegal the way his white tee clung to his abs so sinfully highlighting each of his muscles. and when he rose his arms to take off his cap and ran his fingers between wet strands of hair that framed his cheekbones, your eyes fixated on the way his sweats clung onto dear life to his v-line.

holy fuck. jesus christ. oh my god. whatever divinity that was out there.

"you okay?" he asked, as if he was expecting your answer and you shook your head, trying to escape the trance you found yourself in.

"what? why?"

"i asked if i could use your shower" he placed the single bag with the cat food on the counter as he tried not to wet your floor.

you can use me, for sure; you thought to yourself.

"yeah, yeah, go ahead" you nodded and he took his shirt off on the way to the bathroom.

you quickly jumped from the couch to feed the cat — since that was the prime reason for all the ruckus. as you put the blocks of minced meat on the food bowl, you caught yourself fantasizing about it again.

how good he should be looking, as droplets of rain still lingered on his skin as he took of the sweatpants slowly, leaving only the boxers that perfectly held his firm thighs and secured his—

meow, you looked down, to find that a block of meat fell beside the bowl and you took a deep breath. control yourself.

you blamed the ovulation. or maybe the fact that you haven't been sexually active in a while. or that movie that had hot scenes with your favorite actor... gosh you were a horny mess.

but your life has basically been all about your studies lately, and the stress was clouding your reasoning, making you feel like impulsive decisions were now worth a lot, and that's how you found yourself standing outside your bathroom door, idly looking at it with your hand raised, on the way to give it a knock.

the thing is, the moment you found the courage to do it, the door opened from the inside, and only mingi's torso popped out, in the middle of calling your name, but now confused that you were on the other side.

all that led to the both of you sitting on the edge of your bed, with him only wearing a towel around his hips, not staring at each other as the silence overcame the storm from outside.

"so... you want to suck my dick...?" he simply repeated your words from minutes ago.

it would be comical if it wasn't so tragic.

"yes."

"are you feeling okay?" he asked.

"yes."

"'then... how should we do it?"

you took another sharp breath, your lungs almost failing you as your mind tried to disassociate from your body. leaving the bed to kneel in front of him, you kept your eyes focused on his face, his lips parted as his eyes were half-lidded. from all the years you'd known him, you knew that he was probably overthinking it and trying to figure out what was happening. but neither you could tell.

your fingers slid to the towel and as you were going to take it off, his hand flew to yours, holding it softly. he pulled you towards him in a swift movement and placed his palm on your cheek, nose now brushing against yours. soon after, you felt the plumpness of his lips onto yours.

"wait" he leaned back cautiously, as though any minor movement would startle you like a scared kitten. his eyes overthinking each and every detail. "I want to kiss you first."

and as if you were waiting for that to snap, you grabbed his neck and pulled his face lower so you could slide your tongue into his mouth. his big hands fell to your hips and grabbed firmly, decided not to let you run away.

you kinda wondered before how good of a kisser mingi was, your friends joked around saying that it must be good since he has fat lips, but you usually kept those thoughts at bay, not really wanting to dive into your hidden desires. it wasn't like you, to explore and try new things. you became friends a long time ago, and when he earned that title, you felt like it would be too messy to see him as anything else.

but you weren't dumb, of course you'd noticed how a blush crept to his cheeks whenever you grabbed one of his hoodies, or how he would stutter when others teased him about you. he wasn't good at hiding things, and you weren't good at ignoring them.

one of his hands snuck to your neck and the pulled you closer, his breathing growing heavier to the point that you could hear a faint groan from his throat.

shit, you moaned.

he let go of your face and you leaned back, a little ashamed of the noise that escaped you, but mingi didn't seem to mind, in fact, his cheeks could be mistaken to a tomato. he shifted in his place and you noticed the tent in his pants. oh.

placing a final kiss on his cheek, you maintained eye contact as you lowered yourself to your knees, hands falling to his covered member, feeling the warmth through the towel and earning a sharp gasp from him. licking your lips, you only broke the intense stare to undo the lousy knot, uncovering his lower body.

oh. OH.

how did he hide that monstrous thing all along?

"uh... pants, I guess..." he said almost in a whisper, and then you realized that you were thinking out loud.

"shit, I mean, it's not a bad thing" you placed your hand at the base of his cock, wrapping your palm around it and the boy hissed. "I just... didn't expect that."

"so you thought about it before?" touché. you deflected by giving him a slow tug.

before he could say anything else, you lowered your head and wrapped your lips around him.

"fffuck-" he let out, throwing his head back.

you started bobbing your head at a slower pace, quickening each time he groaned, and listened to his raspy moans as if they were songs hidden in heaven. his hand ran through your hair, pulling at the strands just light enough to make you whine, the vibrations helping into the pleasure.

"please—" he pled, eyes fixated on you and wet hair sticking to his face. he couldn't look any better, you noted.

mingi stared right into your soul with deep, dark eyes. his nose was flaring up and trying to keep up with the sharp breaths that left his parted mouth. it was as if he belonged in that position, and you wished that you had midas touch to keep him like that forever.

"so pretty" you said more to yourself than to him, and one of your fingers snuck into his mouth, and he wrapped those plump lips around it to suck.

feeling his tongue under your skin made shivers run down your spine, and even though you tried to take in more, he pulled you towards him once more, now landing you onto his lap. mind you, his naked lap. your pajama shorts did nothing to the mixture of pre-cum and saliva that rubbed under fabric. you hoped he couldn't feel the wetness that was forming between your legs.

kissing you again, you wondered how your teeth were not clashing at all from the desperation that exuded from both parts. you wanted him as much as he ever had wanted you, and it didn't seem like a real experience. the euphoria that overtook you made you feel almost dizzy from all the exchange in pheromones and fluids, holy fuck, you wanted to stay like that forever.

while he kissed you, mingi's hand went to the bottom of your shorts, holding you so you wouldn't fall as he took them off, leaving you in his hoodie and panties. you didn't remember what kind of underwear you wore, but you hoped to whatever god that was out there that it was something without a hole or anything.

without taking the panties off, he slid them to the side and ran both his middle and ring fingers along your folds, the new feeling making you jump a little, and he giggled. the motherfucker giggled.

"jeez... can't wait to be inside you" he said against your lips, hissing as you gave him an experimental roll of your hips.

holding your panties to the side, he grabbed his cock and aligned himself to your folds, placing the tip inside and a loud whimper fell from your mouth. you knew that it would take more effort to get him inside, he was the biggest you've ever been with, and mingi also seemed to notice that, so he touched you as if you were made of glass.

the warmth of his hot member now sheathing inside your pussy felt like too much, and the room felt foggy, just as your breaths. he kissed the side of your neck, licking up to your ear and groaning ever so slightly, as if he had noticed how much you reacted to those sounds, using them now against you.

the moment you reached the bottom, you felt as if your internal organs would combust. his dick felt like too much and too good, you drank from the sensations and the tingles that your body left each time he moved an inch, clenching around him. you reached your hands to the hem of the hoodie you were wearing, but his hand left your lower back to stop yours.

"leave it on" he looked up at your face with puppy eyes. "I want to fuck you in my clothes."

OH. FUCK.

you moaned into his mouth and slowly started to move your hips. you could've cum just from his words, but you tried your best to concentrate in making him feel good.

"you feel so good around me" he whined, a short moan leaving his lips to meet yours again.

you didn't know how you looked at that moment, probably a mess. from taking in all the sensations, his huge cock and the way he looked like a whiny mess under you... you felt powerful, and he was letting you use him to your wishes.

"please, please" he whined even more, probably taking notes that you got off from that.

"what is it, big boy?" as soon as the words fell from your mouth, you questioned yourself. is this really me?

"let me fuck you right" his hips shot up, taking you by surprise with a gasp and he bit your collarbone. "I wanna be good for you- wanna make you feel good."

"use me however you want" you said in a desperate tone. not even minding how it looked to him, you truly wanted everything from him.

with one arm sneaking around your back and the other on your neck, he moved you further into the bed, now on top of you. he didn't say anything else, only left a small kiss on the corner of your mouth and gave you a slow thrust.

the most high pitched moan fell from your lips, and you didn't care to be embarrassed. not when he was pleading for you, having your body wrapped so deliciously around him, the same as his.

you could write paragraphs and paragraphs about the way he looked; the occasional lightnings shining against his wet skin, highlighting each of his curves and muscles while his hair fell above his forehead, now a mess from the way you rushed your fingers between strands.

mingi kept rolling his hips against yours, and words kept falling randomly from your mouth, meddling with moans and sobs, you felt so cockdrunk that even the slightest stimulation coming from him could make you shed tears. felt so fucking good that got you questioning every life choice you've ever made to this point, as if everything was a part of god's plan for you to end up right under your best friend, as his touches made love to your limbs.

"hm-ugh- feels so fucking- oh my god" you kept going on and on, not even sure yourself what you were saying, but mingi wasn't falling behind.

the knot had already taken place on your lower body, each of his thrusts feeling more intense than the other. you could tell he was getting closer from the way his teeth were nipping on your neck and his thrust were growing sloppier.

"please-ah!-please, let me cum inside you" he left your neck to look at you, and you felt the knot tightening and your legs starting to tremble. "let me fill you nice and full- please"

"yes, I want all of you" you almost screamed when he took that as confirmation to grab your back and glue his chest to yours, sharpening his thrusts.

it finally snapped and you felt like you couldn't breathe anymore. he held you so close as if he could melt into your skin and become one, and with a final thrust, he whined and groaned and screamed and did everything so involuntarily, almost animalistic, and your mind was too dazed to even comprehend anything else besides the way that your pussy gripped him so tight, keeping his hot seed inside you. you didn't want to let it go.

you were still spasming from your orgasm when he let go of your body and snapped your legs apart, taking place in between them, nuzzling his nose onto your pubic bone and feasting. his tongue lapped each of yours and his juices without mind, sucking, kissing, moaning, grunting, only to prolong the way your climax came down; you screamed so hard that your lungs burned.

falling limp on the bed covers, he let go, going back on top of you with the support of his arms and knees, face leveled to yours when he placed an innocent kiss on the tip of your nose and another one to your forehead.

"did it help you de-stress?" he joked and you placed one of your arms onto your eyes.

scoffing, you shook your head. "holy shit, I'm in love with you."

he gave you a slight push and rolled to his side, still staring at you with a darker flush across his chest and neck.

"well, I'm yours" he said and you licked your lips, sneaking a glance from under your arm.

"yeah, you better be."

[milkywayes]

(his spurs are caught on each other. he'll never be able to get up)

[scum-belina]

Not sorry for this but anti-beetlebabes folks have the most rancid sanctimonious cauldron of hags vibes around

[northstarscowboyhat]

I know its a small detail, but I ADORE how Starlo has the four leaf clover patches on his poncho & it makes me want to sob so much because I find it sweet how much he loves/cares about his kid 😭😭🌵💫

Thank you! I adore small details like that, and I don't think I've seen anyone point this out before! (Or maybe they did and I missed it, that's also entirely possible LOL)

But yes, one of my favorite details I added to my older Starlo + Ceroba designs is the clover patches on their poncho + kimono respectively. They can't really be open about the fact that they have a kid outside of the trusted circle in the Dunes, so they wanted something to show that they love Clover and very much consider them family. I'd say it was probably Starlo's idea! He loves his kid so much.

[herblay]

Every Track in Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess and which BNHA character it is about.

Yeah that's right I did a bad one about Charli XCX songs and I'm here with ANOTHER atrocity but this time I'm desecrating Chappell Roan our lord and savior I'm sorry. It's out of love. But also a hot mess. And I'm drinking wine alone because I wasted a Sunday night on a first date and I did NOT jive with the gal (she kept talking about her ex help meeeeeeee). Just to #setthescene

Femininomenon: Uraraka Ochako. WHY CAN'T ANY MAN? I love lesbians man. I love lesbians so much. And Ochako you're my favorite as of yet undetermined wuh luh wuh. Love women who like women. And like. Yes. Also again Uraraka is THE Femininomenon. We need her.

Red Wine Supernova: Kirishima Eijirou. I just think he would be on this song. Also his hair! And the vibes! The cool roommates! Didn't quite think it through! I just think he fits! Honorary lesbian! I adopt him into lesbianism!

After Midnight: Shinsou Hitoshi. I also can't explain this one besides "I love a little drama/Let's start a bar fight" being very MonoShin coded and I think Shinsou would be more lighthearted about that. And the spoken part is very command. I like this for him. And it fits the vibes of those two. I love them.

Coffee: Sir Nighteye. He's singing about All Might. I'm crying. Me too bestie! I'm unwell! I love my divorced fathers!

Casual: THEEEE Dabi Hawks anthem and I will not hear otherwise! We kiss I have anger issues! Knee deep in the passenger seat! I love this song it goes so fucking hard and so do they! They are not telling their friends all the details! It's embarrassing and they cannot help themselves!

Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl: Asui Tsuyu. WE DON'T DESERVE HER! She is my goat! And everyone was hyper mega bummer and did not treat her as she deserved that one time (I'm still mad about how they hurt my girl's feelings at Kamino Ward). I love her, they should all get on her level! (But also I know) (I KNOW) (Present Mic sings this to Aizawa all the time when he's feeling like messing with him) (I support him)

HOT TO GO!: Jirou. Sung to Momo. And it's adorable. It's wonderful. It's perfect. They are all lesbians because I SAID SO damnit. STAND AND CLAP NOW TOUCH YOUR TOES! (The really sick part of me said hot to go is about Dabi but that's just a mean joke how could I ever make it oh wait I just did)

My Kink Is Karma: Todoroki Shouto. Given how he is about his dad! I support a petty queen and Shouto is nothing but a petty queen and this song is about PETTY QUEEN RIGHTS. No need to be hateful in ur fake Gucci sweater because Shouto is doing all the hating in his REAL one u posers.

Picture You: Bakugou Katsuki late late in the narrative about Midoriya Izuku. Because like come on now. Come on now. "It's ritualistic" "I need you around" "Am I in the frame from your point of view?" like COME ON this is about THEM this is FOR BAKUGOU about his DEKU. I'm still wrecked from them. Horikoshi please.

Kaleidoscope: Midoriya Inko. I love her. She deserves better. And the absence of her man, the way she loves Izuku unconditionally no matter what on any terms he wants. Yes Kaleidoscope is a romantic song to an extent but the parental version of it or even just the abstraction of love in general. It's beautiful and unconditional and not always perfect but it's always there and that's what matters. Anyway. I ugly cry to this song. My best friend played it for me on a uke and sang it the other day and I was an ugly wreck. And I am a wreck for Inko because she's such a good and honest person and genuinely does her best for her son. Wow. I'm sniffly.

Pink Pony Club: This is obviously Izuku Midoriya. About quirks ofc, but like the kind of joyous wide eyed earnestness of it all. It's so him. It's so fucking Deku it is perfect. Keep on dancing baby. Have your fun. The joy of it all, the self acceptance, the finding a place of belonging. It's HIM. A year to cause a scene? YES BABY.

Naked In Manhattan: Momo Yaoyorozu. I struggled for this one babes! I did! HOWEVER I do think my sheltered girlie deserves a song about self discovery and fun and GIRLS. I am always on this shit. I will do this for my girlies. They're all lesbians u can't take this from me. The other fun option is David Shield with All Might in their #collegehomosexualrevelries aka when All Might was in the states. I love them. They're a great fling.

California: Shigaraki Tomura. Or Yoichi. Or really any of the OFA holders about their predecessors. Just that hope to get their dreams only to have themselves fail to reach them and it hurts even if it's through no fault of their own. Man. I want them to be happy dawg. But mostly Shigaraki because. Yes. Him and the LOV. Man. "I miss the seasons in Missouri/My dying town/Thought I'd be cool in California/I'd make you proud/To think I almost had it going/I let you down"

Guilty Pleasure: The later, better, more fun DabiHawks song. "I want this like a cigarette" SO TRUE. I love those two lmao they're one of my favorite relationship dynamics. "Some good girls do bad things too" okay girlies you can dream. I love them. They're so fun. Also you can't tell me Hawks wouldn't absolutely go ham on the yodels during karaoke.

ANYWAY TY FOR COMING TO MY TED TALK IT BANGS IT GOES SO HARD I LOVE THIS ALBUM I HOPE ALL OF U ARE YODELING. Please listen to this whole album. Man. I love this album. It goes so fucking hard. It's a pop banger.

[nonbinaryspy]

Meta: Elincia's Trolley Problems

Elincia's arc comes into sharpest relief when you consider both PoR and RD together. From living a sheltered life as a secret princess, to watching her parents get killed as her country is invaded, to eventually rising to the challenge of her unexpected role as queen, she has to deal with important decisions at every turn. Every action she takes is out of love for Crimea's people and a desire to secure them safe and happy lives. But what happens when she has to choose between the life of a loved one and the future of the overall populace? Both PoR and RD test this with narrative beats that form a perfect mirror, ultimately reflecting Elincia's development.

Path of Radiance

Throughout PoR, Elincia has been separated from her usual support network, particularly her retainers. After returning to Crimea, she finally finds them—however, in chapter 24, before she is able to reunite with Geoffrey, he is left behind to fend off Daein troupes so that Elincia can escape. Elincia is naturally horrified.

Bastian: Geoffrey's acting as a decoy. You must continue on this road to the southwest. Lucia: So the enemy's found us, eh? Lucia: Nothing to do about it but change course. I'll lead you to another hiding place. Elincia: Wh-what are you saying, Lucia? We must help Geoffrey! Bastian? Lucia: Luck was not with us, Princess. We have no choice. We'll have to abandon our companions in Castle Delbray. Elincia: No!! We will not!! Geoffrey and the others have survived so much already... I will not abandon them! Lucia: Princess, please understand. If we could do so without danger to you, we would gladly risk our lives to go back. Elincia: We cannot do this! Please, Lucia! We must go to the castle! ...Bastian! You must not do this thing! Bastian: Geoffrey is a knight. In the name of our friend's honor, Princess, you must escape. Elincia: No... No! They've survived this long! They're alive! NO!!!

When Ike gives her the chance to instead save Geoffrey, she affirms that this is what she wants.

Elincia: Yes. I don't want... I don't want anyone else to be sacrificed.

Lucia and Bastian respect her wishes and agree to help Geoffrey, at which point she is able to get her feelings across.

Elincia: Because the two of you think to put me above all else, you say you will sacrifice your lives for me. Yet... Even if I'm able to borrow of Ike's strength and win back Crimea... If the cost of that victory is the lives of the two of you, I shall never smile again. And joy? Never again would that emotion fill my heart...

Elincia is a leader, but she's also a person—one who never asked for this role. Until recently, she has not had to make decisions that would affect the future of a whole country, as opposed to only living within her personal sphere. In fact, the main political decision made re: her life—the decision to keep her birth secret—was made for her. She has already lost her parents and, as far as she knows, her beloved uncle.

Since then, her choices have all been for the sake of Crimea. In reality, she has had little choice in how to go about that goal, considering she has been fleeing for her life while at the whims of Begnion politics. Being able to return to Crimea and reunite with her retainers is the first time she has been running toward, rather than away, from something, and still part of that goal is being held from her reach. Nothing will stop her from working hard for Crimea, but individual losses will still give her permanent grief. So here, she finally takes a stand against the choices other people try to make for her, and insists on protecting her loved ones and regaining some of what she lost.

What happens next depends on the player, but considering her retainers are alive in RD, the duology's canon here is that they all survive this fight. Due to Elincia getting her feelings across, her loved ones are saved, and the campaign continues.

After this experience, the cost of individual lives in war is hammered home, and Elincia decides it's not enough to order others to keep her retainers safe. Regaining her inherited pegasus and sword, she takes to the field despite the mixed feelings of her retainers.

Elincia: Even though I'm dressed like this, I have no experience, and do not expect to fight as well as the rest of you. But…this constant waiting behind and doing nothing…it sets my heart beating with such unease I fear it may burst. Even if I cannot fight, I could use a staff to heal the wounded. If I could save just one soldier, it would mean so much to me.

This quote shows her resolve and compassion, but it also shows that she still lacks experience and confidence, especially when it comes to conflict. Despite being trained in swordplay, she instead emphasizes her ability to heal, and sets a fairly low bar for what her contribution will mean. Although, given that this plot demonstrates the importance of saving an individual life, maybe I shouldn't call it a low bar. Either way, at this point, there is still plenty of room for her to grow and change, and RD will challenge her to due so.

Radiant Dawn

Part two of Radiant Dawn focuses on Ludveck attempting to usurp Elincia's throne by stirring up reactionary attitudes toward her policies, specifically with regards to her alliance with Gallia, to threaten civil war and pressure her into giving up her throne. Because she fears the conflict that could come out of taking direct action against a noble, and because his followers are also citizens of Crimea for whom she feels responsible, she approaches the situation carefully. Ludveck takes advantage of this hesitance to eventually kidnap Lucia.

Once again, one of the Delbray siblings is in peril, and this time, as Crimea's queen, Elincia does not need to convince anyone to save her. Instead, she takes to the field herself. As with PoR, she had not immediately done so—in this case, because of the delicacy the situation called for. But with Lucia's life at risk and Ludveck's forces at Elincia's door, she decides the time for delicacy is past.

Elincia: “Lucia… Lucia, I’m sorry. Somehow, I promise you… I will save you!” ... Elincia: “…Very well. I must prepare as well. I had hoped this day would never come… Amiti, the treasured blade of House Crimea, will awaken from its long slumber.”

Unlike in PoR, rather than focusing on her healing ability, she mentions Amiti. She no longer needs to make disclaimers or doubt the importance of her role commanding the field. The wording of "I had hoped this day would never come" and "awaken from its long slumber" emphasize that she has already been through the horrors of war once, and never wanted to again. She despises violence, but she is resigned to doing what she must.

Despite holding out against Ludveck's forces and throwing him in the dungeon, she is not able to do anything about his trump card. With Lucia as hostage, he tries to use her life as a bargaining chip for his release, as well as the country. After the incident in PoR, where her retainers saw their own lives as disposable, she convinced them to realize how valuable they were to her. So with the Delbray siblings' situations reversed, Geoffrey now asks Elincia to save Lucia.

Geoffrey: “…Your Majesty, you can’t… You have to let me do something about this.” Elincia: “…” Geoffrey: “Lucia would willingly die fighting for her country, I know… But you have to help her, Elincia. If you were in her position, she would surely do the same. Please, just give the word.”

Again, Elincia is at the point where she is taking action herself instead of entreating others. Rather than order him to do anything, Elincia visits Ludveck in what is one of the most defining scenes of her arc. The non-extended version is below as I think it gets the point across quite well, but there are more dialogue beats in the extended version.

Ludveck: “Queen Elincia, you’re so naive. Cold and callous decisions are sometimes required of a nation’s ruler. …I was testing you. We all wanted to know if our queen would have the power to stop a civil war.” Ludveck: “But, no, you were too hesitant and too concerned about harming the people… Now look what has happened. The rule of Crimea cannot be kept in your hands! Please, Your Majesty! You must abdicate and cede the crown to me!” Ludveck: “And considering Lady Lucia’s life is on the line, you haven’t much choice. Now, let’s have you free me from this prison cell, and then we can discuss any further details…” Elincia: “I don’t think so.” Ludveck: “What?! Are you truly willing to sacrifice Lady Lucia?!” Elincia: “…Lord Ludveck, all your dissatisfaction and misgivings about me are well founded. However, do you realize how many lives you’ve simply thrown away?! Strength without compassion does not a ruler make. You care nothing for the people, sir. You cloak your desire to rule with pretty speeches, but it is petty avarice nonetheless!” Ludveck: “…So this is how it shall be? Very well… But Lady Lucia cannot be spared without my order.” Elincia: “Allowing you to plant the seeds of rebellion and play havoc with the lives of my people is a failure for which I must answer. But I will see Crimea through this trial. I will give my people the future they deserve, no matter the cost.”

Ludveck patronizes Elincia for her compassion while pretending he has the citizens' best interests at heart, but Elincia doesn't bow to his demands. She maintains her compassion along with her resolve. However, no matter how caring someone is, the fact of the matter is that decisions that help even a great deal of people still come with consequences. Elincia realizes this, and is prepared to make that sacrifice while taking responsibility—even though, as she said in PoR, she "shall never smile again."

In the beginning of PoR, Elincia lost almost everything in one fell swoop. When she was finally reunited with her retainers, the thought of sacrificing even one of them was unbearable, even if it could potentially have derailed her goal to retake her country from an invading tyrant. Now, though, she is in a position of greater power, and she is fully aware of the responsibility that comes with it. Compared to PoR, where she was so often at the mercy of others, the only thing tying her hands now is the threat to Lucia. Of course, Lucia is immensely important to her, but after spending three years working to rebuild Crimea, nothing can convince her to let it again fall to ruin under another power-hungry leader.

Thankfully, Lucia's life and Elincia's smiles are saved, thanks to Bastian secretly calling in the Greil Mercenaries. Despite her resolve, Elincia's conflicting priorities are still apparent, as in the extended version (translation on Serenes Forest provided below) she expresses wonder at her decision. As for her retainers, though their feelings on how she should handle such situations have shifted over time, they don't begrudge her decision.

Elincia: “…When Lucia was captured… It was as if I lost my other half. Even now, seeing her by my side, I feel so strange… Wondering how, at that time, I could make the decision to abandon her…” Lucia: “Lady Elincia…” Elincia: “Still… If the same scenario occurred… I believe I would make the same decision. Lucia’s life is important, but it’s not on the same scale as protecting the country. As the Queen of Crimea, I must accomplish my duty to the country foremost.” Lucia: “Of course. Seeing Lady Elincia being able to make this decision, it truly makes me happy. As if I would hate you.” Geoffrey: “My thoughts exactly.” Elincia: “Lucia, Geoffrey… I value your lives more than even my own. But it’s my duty to protect this country, even if that means losing you. I’ve learned a lot from all of this. I hope to keep them out of harm’s way, and I’ll never make the same mistakes again.”

By the end of this section, the bulk of Elincia's arc is complete. She has decided what matters to her and what she will do as queen when put into high-pressure situations. She resolves the situation by deciding to be openly harsh in punishing Ludveck's followers despite the fact that it will gain ire toward her, as refusing to do so before gave him the opening he needed. She has decided to be uncompromising in the face of reactionary politics. Not everyone in Crimea will agree with her decisions, but those closest to her will never waver in their loyalty, to the extent that they are both willing to live and die for her. It's no wonder that, as her epilogue says, "Her reign was remembered as a golden age."

Conclusion

Because I touched on the topic of Elincia's agency and how she maneuvers within the limits of it, I want to give a brief shout-out to her actions in part three. She is Gallia's ally and does not want any more bloodshed in her lands. However, due to Begnion exercising its imperial power, she cannot fully stop its army from entering her lands in pursuit of the laguz alliance. The action she ultimately takes, dropping her weapon in between the opposing armies and essentially daring them to murder a queen of a country with whom they're both allied, all without betraying her own nonviolent ideals, is an unparalleled power move.

Getting back to Elincia's trolley problems, what I find interesting is that though Elincia's decisions are different in PoR and RD, neither game condemns her for her choices. She cares for both the mass of strangers that comprise her kingdom and the loved ones who she's spent her life beside. Her situation in each game is different, so she handles each situation differently in ways that make sense given her roles, pressures, and motivations.

FE in general, and Tellius in particular, asks the characters and players to care about the fates of individual lives as well as whole worlds. Both PoR and RD present the question of what someone would or should do when these personal and political goals conflict, without giving one black-and-white answer. Elincia's arc is just one impactful example of this.

As for me, I'm not gonna lie—though Elincia doesn't have the option to reset the game whenever someone dies, I probably always will.

[ragsandrascals]

I know the folk song Coyote is about them literally poisoning coyotes but that doesn't mean I can't read it as a eulogy for all the animals that have been killed and will be killed in the name of human expansion- it doesn't mean I can't read the song as men making the world so uninhabitable that not even the coyote, (a creature known for living under adverse conditions and eating scraps) can survive

[constantvariations]

Watching Seven Brides for Seven Brothers since childhood is kind of a trip

When you're a kid, you don't know enough about the overarching societal structure to understand the themes or messages. You just feel sorry for Millie for being around a bunch of mean, scary men and then you cheer when they start cleaning up their act for her

When you get a little older, you realize "hey, this is actually kinda fucked up" and become uncomfortable with the premise. The kidnapping aspect eclipses everything else and you wonder why you used to like it

Then, you watch it again. You pay more attention and realize the narrative is on Millie's side from the beginning. It sympathizes with her position and the story bows to her will the moment she puts her foot down. She uses her authority over the household to help both the family she married into and the women they kidnap. All the brothers learn their lesson the hard way - which they admit they fucking earned the ire of the women and the townsfolk

Yes, it's a product of its time, and if it happened in real life it'd be a much different tune, but considering the circumstances, it's a damn fine movie

Also, the dancing scene is the funnest to ever exist i don't make the rules

[meiloorunsmoothie]

me casually looking at my spotify "top tracks this month"

yeah that tracks

heh—no surprise there (except maybe that it's not number one)

WHA-i didn't listen to it that much, did i???

[davy-zeppeli]

Mike Nesmith Side Profile Appreciation Post

[blapis-blazuli]

So we know that Slim's hypnotic yodeling powers work on cattle but not humans, so what would it do to a minotaur? Would they be immune to his hypnosis and just be in awe of his voice? I know it wouldn't ever happen within that movie's universe, but it could happen outside of them like in a House of Mouse setting or something. Disney could answer that if they weren't cowards who refuse to acknowledge he exists (outside of rarely rereleasing his song), and thus far I don't think anyone's wondered about that within fandom spaces either.

[vroombeams]

amazing oscarmark fic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1 ive been well fed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! do you have any tips on writing and getting work done? ive been in SUCH a fanfic writing burnout and i've been wanting to start with rpf writing but im SO scared to get any inaccuracies etc etc. your stuff is super inspiring and you're literally carrying oscarmark rn and ill be joining the train soon bc we need more commitment to this pairing.

hope your summer went well:) -that one oscarmark anon thats cheering you on always

AH THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! so glad you've enjoyed your meal :')!!

tips-wise!! burnout fuckin stinks but it's important i think to let your brain chill when it happens. like if you're sitting there staring at a doc and no words are coming out or feeling good/right and all you feel is Miserable it's massively important to take a step back from it. it's so hard to have a healthy relationship with fandom creation. but remember we are here to have FUN this is a hobby, we're not getting paid, we're not on a time crunch and we don't have deadlines we are just simply mashing the blorbos together and GOING!

i think it's also hugely beneficial to consume as much non-fandom content as possible? watch a series or a movie play a video game read BOOKS i can not overemphasize the importance of putting words in your eyes!!

re: inaccuracies!! again this is fandom, so trying not to take it super seriously is helpful. but as far as accuracy goes, all you can do is focus on your own perception of the characters? everyone's going to have a different opinion on how each character should be handled and more often than not those opinions won't all 100% line up, so really just find what feels right to you!! watch interviews, read other fic of the characters that you want to write, figure out what bits of them feel Correct to you and incorporate it!!

on the productivity front i do want to note that like. i personally have popped out a pretty large amount of fic lately, which is an exception and not a rule. i'm not always going to be hammering out minifics, i will definitely dip in and out of inspiration and burnout myself. i want to make sure that what i've been doing isn't setting any sort of standard? everyone works at their own pace and sometimes you'll have a rocket-boost of inspo and sometimes you won't and both of those things are okay!!

tl;dr, try not to take it too seriously, remember to take breaks, eat a balanced media diet, remember to have FUN!!

i hope that some of this is at least a little bit helpful!! thank you for asking and thank you for cheering and i'm looking forward to having more little freaks in the oscarmark tag :]

[saraminia]

MUNA for Harper's Bazaar Australia by Isaac Schneider (April 2023)

[altschmerzes]

🌹something from the same story? Pretty please wirh a cherry on top? (i just binge read it for like the fourth time)

of course!!! thank you so much <3 i can't believe you've been through it that many times!! that's completely wild to me, i'm so flattered :')

this is from the next chapter:

“So, how’s he doing?” Sarah asks. Roy would like to be pleased that they’ve moved onto something more pertinent, but he has barely more enthusiasm for the idea of discussing Jamie’s emotional state than he has for the topic of his own. “He’s alright.” Pausing, Roy considers the packet of flat egg noodles he’s pulled over onto the cutting board. He stares at them and chews on the inside of his cheek. “I mean, no, actually, he’s not fucking alright, that was a stupid thing to say, but he’s…” Figuring out how to sum up what Jamie is at the moment is a tall order. “He’s doing as well as he probably can be right now, after all that, but he needs- Just be careful with him, okay?” Sarah doesn’t make fun of the instruction, though she’d have been well within her rights to do so. She just nods. Roy can see her studying his face out of the corner of his eye. “If it’s too much, we’ll stop,” she says. “He’ll be alright. I’m not gonna hurt him.” It’s the kind of reassurance that Roy shouldn’t need. He should know better than to be worried about whether Jamie would be safe with Sarah of all people, especially after having watched her treat his injuries that first night, and on a practical level, he’s not. That’s not a real concern, he’s not actually worried that Sarah would hurt Jamie - probably not even by accident, because she’s good, and she’s careful, and she’s an experienced and highly competent emergency doctor. Even so, there’s that panicky little part of Roy that’s been kicking up a fuss all day, the one that had berated him the entire time Jamie had been in Crimm’s office for not following him up there. It’s still telling him he should’ve done something different then, and needs to be on high alert now, and this is one way to placate it. Having someone around that knows Roy well enough to know that and handle it without drawing it out is a blessing. He thanks Sarah in a distracted, somewhat grumpy mumble and she takes his shoulder, squeezing it hard. Roy reaches up on impulse and puts his hand over hers, leaving it there for a moment and squeezing back before letting go.

[northstarscowboyhat]

I swear I'm cooking. And by cooking, I mean putting Clover in situations

[yellowlaboratory]

Wait wait wait her LITTLE SMILE RIGHT BEFORE THEIR LIPS TOUCH DO THEY WANT ME TO CEASE TO EXIST OMG Bailey and Rudy I just love you

always gonna be a little upset about the lack of lighting but even in the dark you can tell the change in their expressions, particularly Kiara's and it's so AKJDHALKDJHASLKD she's so smiley!!!!

LOOK AT THEM that moment of hesitation when they both realize they're actually going for it i'm gonna pass out