#both of y'all can use this freely

[feral-aether]

Okay so, I went to see Sonic 3 with my girlfriend last night and today while working this idea popped into my head. What if agent Stone was basically a really wholesome and loving butler/maybe father figure for Shadow? That boi definitely needs some gentle domestic love after all the shit he's been through. Like, the idea is just so precious and I wanna see fanart of the concept so bad but my artistic ability is not nearly that good lol.

Also I don't have a drawing tablet-

Adorable fics with this idea however? Now that I can do :}

I have pens and paper. I have a laptop. Writing is one of my favourite things and this fluff is so in my wheelhouse lol

Sonic 3 is great, everyone should go see it. It's so good. Action comedy at it's best lol.

[glasvera]

...Shame on You

Loki x GN!Reader

Description: Sequel to Fool Me Once...

You've been sent on a covert mission to distract the God of Mischief himself long enough to foil his plans. Unfortunately, this task becomes much harder when your target proves incredibly disarming.

Warnings/Disclaimers: Brief mentions of alcohol consumption. Gender neutral reader, reader is an expert in covert operations and deception.

A/N: This series is hurting me in the best way. I hope y'all are happy.

Word Count: 1.2k

The days pass by, then weeks, and you continue your newfound duties as Loki’s personal guard and attendant. Each hour, you can almost feel the granules of sand slipping through the hourglass. The universe… no, all the universes combined, couldn’t last like this forever, even if the decline was a slow one. You knew that.

But… you have time.

You keep telling yourself that.

You have time…

…Time enough to brush your fingers through his hair once more, the comb you’d once dropped all but forgotten in favor of feeling those strands of black silk on your own skin. Time enough to let yourself laugh genuinely, freely, as the god of mischief regales you with tales of his childhood and misadventures and you both bask in the warmth of the noonday sun.

He told you he liked the pretty ones. Oh, he made sure you knew. Lingering glances, casual brushes of skin…

What you weren’t expecting… was that you’d begun to find yourself enjoying his company just as much.

He fed on this, of course. When you smiled, he mirrored you. When you laughed, he leaned in close to whisper the silliest of things, all to keep that wonderful sound pouring from your lips. Sometimes he would say the most blunt and brutal things about those he’d dealt with in the past, and you found yourself chuckling along even if it felt a bit cruel at times. There was an honesty to it. Like, out of all the people in the multiverse, you were the one he could open up to.

The one that saw him not as a god, but as Loki, the man.

One cool summer’s eve, when all the duties of the day were checked off of the list, he had stopped you before leaving.

“Darling,” he’d said, his hand taking you gently by the crook of your elbow, “stay with me for a while, wouldn’t you?” His emerald eyes glittered with melancholy, a loneliness that drew you in.

When you didn’t respond immediately, his fingertips slowly slid from your arm. It hurt you, just how immediately he looked completely rejected, like it was something he was used to. So you catch his armored hand in yours and turn to face him.

“I’d love to,” you finally replied, a ghost of a smile drawing upon your lips.

And of course, he smiled in turn. 

“Good,” he breathes, and his usual vigor returns. “I have a bottle I’ve been meaning to share, and the weather is quite lovely.”

He escorts you through the halls discreetly until you arrive at a secluded gondola in the gardens of Yggsgard. At least it looks entirely normal for you to accompany him; even if the two of you were seen, nothing would seem amiss. The moon casts its first silvery lights upon the verdant landscape, and you find yourself drawn to its beauty.

That’s good. It means you miss his somber gaze.

“The breeze is nice,” you comment idly as it tousles your hair and caresses your features. Loki may be the god of many things, but for once, he wishes wind were among his domains.

“It is…” he agrees quietly.

Master of deception as he is, Loki is quick to hide the underlying sadness in his features when you finally join him. Two ornate goblets rest, already prepared upon the gondola’s edge. Despite the overwhelming calmness that fills you, your instincts still take the lead, and you hesitate as Loki moves to cradle a cup in his hand. That draws a rumbling chortle from him.

“My dear, if you are truly that concerned, the bottle lies sealed at your feet. It is not even yet poured.” He’s clearly not even offended by your reluctance. Though, you surmise, his title likely garners the same reaction often.

Your tongue wets your bottom lip before you chew on it pensively. Feelings have never been an issue in your line of work; the separation has always been easy for you. So why is it that you feel a faint sense of shame when he glances at you apprehensively? When he waits so patiently yet impatiently for you to continue?

The bottle is sealed. You determine that much as soon as you procure it from underneath the railing.

“You planned this, your majesty?” you ask before freeing the cork from its glass prison. A sweet and floral scent graces your nostrils, and you close your eyes before inhaling deeply. Fine, indeed.

Delicate fingers clad in gold rest upon your own as he steadies your hand. You hadn’t even realized you were trembling. “Please,” he whispers. “In these moments, such formalities are unnecessary. You and I have come to a deeper understanding than that, I would hope.”

He was close. Close enough that you could feel the faint warmth emanating off his skin. He gives you a delicate smile as he returns your personal space, offering his cup to you. “Pour for me?”

What is happening to you?

“Y-Yes, my lor-,” you catch yourself suddenly and heave a sigh. “Yes, Loki.”

That delicate smile pulls further at the corner of his lips, and for a moment you admire the way his crow’s feet crinkle just so.

“It sounds lovely, you know,” he sighs wistfully as you begin to pour his glass. “My name upon your lips.”

Your face flushes then, and it takes all of your concentration to keep yourself from spilling what must be an expensive vintage. The sound of that golden liquid pouring forth, echoing in the metal confines of that gilded goblet, ground you somehow. It’s difficult to meet his gaze now. Despite that, you can feel the way he looks at you. And you can’t stop the way it makes your stomach churn.

“You flatter me once more,” you deflect with a huff of a laugh, directing the bottle to your own cup. Being able to fill your own glass certainly made you much more comfortable in some sense, but another, entirely different turmoil brews within you. At least the drink calms that, warming your tongue and soothing your soul.

Metal clatters softly as Loki begins to remove his gauntlets. His helmet follows soon after. And then you are graced with the softest of touches, with Loki’s fingertips dancing gingerly upon your cheek.

“Flattery is the weapon of cowards, my dear,” he mutters as he brings your faces closer together. A dryness parches your throat, and you feel a crease in your brow as it worries. “And I fear nothing.”

He closes the distance, and you close your eyes on instinct as the plush of his lips presses against your own. Softer than flower petals, yet firm in their intent. That churning feeling explodes into a kaleidoscope of butterflies.

Your chin is held gently between his thumb and forefinger when you part. Green irises, deep and rich as the leaves of the rose bushes all around you, reflect the silver of the moon and linger once more on your lips. You can only respond with a staggered breath once your eyes meet. He simply smiles, and this time it’s your turn to mirror the action, a dopey grin spreading on your face. It was that moment you knew you were in trouble.

It was that moment you knew you were falling in love.

[mirensiart]

Mixing two Fandoms but which link do you think would get along the best with Innes?

I'M LOSING MY MIND OVER THIS ASK ANON OOOUGH I actually did draw a lot of sketches to go with it but my yapping got so long I decided to upload those pics in a separate post tomorrow, so I can yap here freely lol

super long yapping incoming by the way lmao

Ok so, for my loz oomfs who aren't versed into fire emblem, innes is a semi plot relevant character from the game fire emblem: sacred stones for the gba

Innes is an overconfident, proud, blunt, brash, smart, perfectionist, super tsundere crown prince, he's known to be the best archer and tactician in the entire continent, and yet, no matter what he does, he is always compared and is always somehow second best to Ephraim, the prince from the neighboring kingdom

Which is why the headcanon that Innes' brash and egotistical/overconfident attitude is actually to mask his huge inferiority complex towards Ephraim makes sense to me lol also Innes has a one-sided rivalry with Ephraim, he is obsessed to show him he's the best prince, much to Eph's annoyance lol

This is him, i want y'all to look at how pretty he is, I would die for him, but i'd also put him in a blender and then analyze him under a microscope

ANYWAY now that the intro to my bestie (innes) is done, the Link I believe he'd get along with best is probably Wars lol

I was thinking that maybe he could get along with Legend but Innes would probably hate Legend, like Leg is too similar personality wise but lacks Innes' extreme overconfidence and bluntness and also, Innes would probably see himself too much in Legend and like, I don't think he'd be gentle, like "oh you are mean to mask ur emotional insecurities too?? I will be EXTRA MEAN back instead of bonding over it" kinda way lmao classic innes, which would make everything worse lmao anyway keep those two away

Now, for Wars, I can see it, but like, hear me out first

Innes means well, he is actually pretty soft under his thousand layers of pride and bluntness, but he has zero charisma, and thus interacting with the more soft/nice Links would result in disaster, in Innes' game the only people he has supports with are the ones who talk back to him and are mean to him back, I've always liked the idea that softness and niceness puts him off a lil bit, he feels more comfortable with people who can respond to his banter lol

Now, Innes actually really likes and respects a character named Gerik, who's the best mercenary in the continent and who's under Innes' command but speaks to him freely

Innes respects him and actually admires Gerik and seeks out advice to him, another one of innes' subordinates is Vanessa, and Innes also likes her cause despite Vanessa being under his command, she also speaks freely to him

I can see something like that happening with wars, like wars is an army captain, a tactician, a perfectionist and also uses his overconfidence and pride as a way to mask his trauma and imposter syndrome, like they're pretty similar with the big difference that wars has like extreme charisma while innes doesn't lmao also wars isn't blunt or brash, but he can banter and reply back

Which is why I feel they'd get along best, Innes is a prince, but his entire inferiority complex is cause a fellow prince, his equal, is better than him

Wars is an army captain and not royalty, even if Wars were to be better at stuff than Innes, I don't think Innes would like, see him as a threat to his abilities since Wars isn't royalty and thus isn't an equal to him lmao

Wars would know how to handle Innes since he knows his way around nobles and royalty, Innes would probably really like Wars' perfectionism and attention to detail and also his leadership skills

I can see them exchanging tactics and comparing strategies, they'd both probably geek out over it lol

I can see Innes being his blunt brash mean self towards wars a couple of times and wars not replying back cause like, Innes is a prince and Wars is just a captain, but I like to think wars probably replies back someday and throws some banter Innes' way and oh that's settles.it, he is now Innes' fave lmao

I feel like Innes could absolutely banter with legend too, but they'd be hurtful to each other, I can see innes having playful banter with wars though, like wars would know how to deal with blunt royalty he can play innes like a fiddle lmao

Also, I can see innes going into a long rant about his younger sister, tana, and wars relating and ranting about linkle back and yeah, wars is innes' fave alright lmao

Anyway, yeah... sorry for this super mega hyper long reply I am....very unwell for innes lmao

[iwoulddieforher]

I’m in LOVE with your Casey x Alex stories!

Who would you think gets jealous/possessive more? How do they handle it?

Are they protective of each other?

Thank you so much!! You all are so sweet and I love that y'all are doing asks now because I'm so talkative hahaha I love rambling like this <3

I think I indirectly answered this in a previous one so I'll add a little bit of a story element to this:

When Alex was a kid, she was an only child, and when her relatives gifted her things like expensive clothing she was taught meticulously to care for her possessions and also assert that they were her's- to write her full name and phone number on the tag, to embroider her last name on the inner hem on both the neckline and the sleeve. The things she feels are her's are very much her's, in a calm and composed way- her laptop is her's and no one may use it, her clothes are her's and she won't let anyone borrow them, Casey is her's and she entertains no arguments on that. She's never aggressively territorial, though, and it would absolutely never seem like she's struggling to assert claim over Casey.

She'd never dare objectify or diminish Casey as an individual by implying Alex 'owns' her in any way, but in the back of her skull it is etched in that Casey is her's to have and she enjoys that. She's possessive in the way that you can borrow her pen but she knows it's hers and she remembers it's hers and she will ask for her pen back. Casey is her's and she is a person who interacts with others freely, Alex would never dare to try to limit the scope of Casey's behavior, actions, or interactions, but there is a degree of some sort of dark thrill when Alex sees Casey with someone else and knows full well Casey's coming home with her tonight. Casey is somewhat aware of this, maybe not fully aware of how deep it goes, but she likes it. It's a turn on, the look in Alex's eyes when she's staring across the room, just oh-so-casually watching Casey talk to some male detective (not Stabler though because those two act like siblings, maybe Fin bc of Neal's hc that they've slept together before), like an adult version of a kid allowing you to inspect their plush toy but then taking it back and hugging it to their chest. They were never insecure about the fact it was theirs to have, not yours, but their attention never leaves it regardless, and they tuck it extra closely after just to assert to you it is theirs.

That's at work, though, if anyone tries to flirt with Casey outside of a professional environment Alex will most definitely clip the conversation short and steer her girl away. She knows Casey is attractive as hell so people are going to try to hit on her but it will absolutely not be entertained at all- not that Casey would ever entertain that kind of behavior, but Alex wouldn't even give her the opportunity to respond, not even to tell that person off. Alex enjoys this to some degree. She knows Casey would bristle and sneer at them that she was taken, but she'd much rather kiss her in front of whoever it was that was making advances.

Casey, on the other hand, grew up with many siblings, and the feeling of tussling to ensure something is her's is something she's well acquainted with. Scrambling against her siblings to get their parent's attention by any means necessary, trying to prove she's the one her teachers should be paying attention too in class- biting her lip when she watches her parents praise one of her older brothers when she knows she's accomplished something more dramatic, averting her gaze when her favorite teacher chooses to start conversation with a different student about their project when she wants to talk about her's. She can get jealous. She does get jealous, even though she doesn't like admitting that to herself. While Alex is very self-assured in her possessiveness, Casey is definitely not.

Similarly to Alex, though, she's very careful not to let her personal feelings ever bleed into their professional conduct at work, or ever pick arguments over something she deems as so juvenile (Alex notices, though, and it makes her mildly amused) but she does little things like staring harshly at someone talking to Alex when Casey wants Alex's attention to be on her instead, or doing something small but extra like making Alex's favorite dessert or finding something legal to help Alex with on cases after something that made her jealous occured so she can be praised after her jealousy has simmered a bit.

At some point Alex brings it up- maybe after Casey's being particularly sassy after Alex had a long conversation with one of Casey's collegues or something like that- and then raises an eyebrow, kissing her until it's very evident Casey in no way has to feel jealous over her attention, that any mind Alex pays to someone other than her is unimportant in to her and Alex is most definitely her's to the same degree that Casey is to Alex (even though Alex will never truly be able to understand the root of Casey's jealousy. They just had different upbringings, is all.) Alex takes extra note to praise Casey for things, then, and to do little things like angling her body to face Casey when they're both in a conversation that includes other people, or outright interjecting conversations she's having with someone else to greet/say goodbye to Casey is she was in the same room and just not participating in the same interaction. Although Casey is still embarrassed that she requires that kind of reassurance, it's really sexy to her that Alex adapted to it so easily.

They're both really protective over eachother. Lawyers are not above gossip but if Alex or Casey is even in the same building as them they know better than to badmouth anything either has done, lest they want the other to somehow suddenly materialize next to them and make some kind of snide comment that would make them feel very, very ashamed for ever thinking anything about the one they originally insulted. The squad knows better than to ever compare Alex to Casey or vice versa, even in the heat of an argument- Liv once made some offhand comment about wishing Alex was on rotation after Casey and her got into one of their usual spats and Alex gave her hell for it. Casey's not above punching a defense counselor who oversteps debate courtesy towards Alex- as soon as the trial is over, of course, she'd never risk a case like that. She'd hold it as a grudge until she could retaliate properly.

[watchingblsnowandforever]

Hello!!!

Welcome back! =D

Part 2

Warning: long, long post (also a part 2 but I think y'all are used to it by now-) 😊😅

MattMick!! Also, Beer looking between them like that and Q and Toey peeking from behind cracked me up hehe

Also, does that mean Beer is single? Wait, maybe he's aroace. That'd be really cool.

I did see some hints of a throuple of him and MattMick, but I'm happy with either option.

SO CUTE 🥺🫶🏼

Poor QToey 😭

Their romantic moment got rained on so hard-

Exhibit: Here you can see three males from the species Homo sexuals. Two of them are already mated, and the third is in the courting process. We think the other male is interested too.

Oh- But I thought- oh, this makes sense actually. So the others know. I mean not really surprising when you think about it, to be honest.

With his unprecedented levels of obliviousness? Yeah, no, I get where you're coming from, Chain.

That's your biggest concern about getting a penguin?? 😭😭

Why does Peem look like the exasperated mom friend of the group 😭

After all the tiny crumbs of the past *checks notes* 8262 eps, this is a lot of progress.

HANDS. (I will never stop screaming about hands.)

Cuteee

Peem, babe, he hardly ever goes to class anyways. He's too busy following you around like a puppy.

Me, who holds handholding above everything else (yes, even sex): *DEEP BREATHS THROUGH THE NOSE* I'm fine. *SMOKE COMING OUT OF EARS* Totally fine.

Nothing to say, just a really good shot. (Also, Phuwin's exasperated smile seemed too real and then I learned Pond improvised that scene and yeah, that explains it)

ChainPun: only two people with matching pillow cases

QToey: missing (me?) [Sorry I couldn't resist 😭]

TanFang: peacefully asleep

PhumPeem: chronic insomnia, aggravated by Tan's snores

Matt: cuddling Mick

Beer: dreaming of him and his friends and their boyfriends all graduating with good grades

ChainPun. <33

Let me wrap this moment in my memory forever. (I tried to adjust the lighting a bit but it didn't really work out 😭)

AJSSHUJKJ!!!!! THEY GIVE ME TWO MAKE OUT SESSIONS WITHIN THE SPAN OF LIKE 4 MINUTES AND EXPECT ME TO BE SANE ABOUT IT???

No.

Look, we all expected this. I even said on record I wouldn't survive. And all that mental Muay Thai still didn't prepare me for this.

Till now, I have watched 60 BLs, give or take, so I've seen a lot of NC scenes. Compared to some of them, this is very PG-13, but this one really got me, like very few sex scenes have managed to. The intimacy, the palpable love, want. It all came together so beautifully in this scene.

Them saying 'I love you' during sex is canon! Yay! I knew it in my guts (wrote a fic about it) but feels so good to be right in canon hehe.

"I love you too, now kiss me again."

HANDS!!!! (It's canon now, they hold hands during sex, and so I can freely write a fic about it. Not that something not being canon ever stopped me but yeah.)

Fang: my brother is in safe hands. 😌

Also, love how Peem didn't hesitate to at the chance to kick both brothers and make it a streak 😭👍🏼

Honestly though, this scene shows that Peem is going to go to very long lengths to make sure Phum is okay, even kicking his own brother (which assures me that Peem maybe wouldn't hesitate that much to sucker punch their dad either, which is important information to have for possible future fics.)

How can one man be so goddamn cute??

The whimpering puppy noises- 😭

Cakes are so hard to bake, for real. This one is so cute though 😭😭🫶🏼

Puppy Phum- honestly is anyone surprised? No? Thought so.

This smile-

It holds so much happiness and the brunt of so many years of trauma. It's so beautiful. I'm probably gonna rewatch the heck out of this scene.

I end Part 1 here, Part 2 will be out (hopefully) soon!

If you got this far, thank you so much for reading! 😊 (All mistakes are mine, but in my defense, I literally fell asleep while writing this.)

Here, have a pie (of your favourite flavour) 🥧

[askthekeiths]

Introductory Post

My name is Keith Howell, and I hail from Jade.

I was inspired by Prince Yves of Rhodolite to make a blog of my own. I thought it would help me better connect with both the people of Jade and commoners of any country.

Please feel free to ask me anything! I'll do my best to answer any of your questions. Although you may not have much to ask someone like me...

Still! I'd be honored if you showed any amount of interest! Especially in a weed like myself...

Um. I'd love to talk about the things you are interested in, no matter what they might be. So please don't be intimidated and just talk freely with me!

...

Did that guy forget to tell y'all the rules?

Fine. I'll do it then.

Guess I should start by introducin' myself, huh? The name's Keith.

The other guy forgot to tell ya somethin' real important. Ya gotta specify who you're talkin' to when you write us.

If ya don't, whoever gets to it first will answer it.

You can write to both of us at once, if ya want to. Just know it might take awhile before the other one gets around to answering it as well.

You can ask me anything you want too. I'll even answer stuff He's too prudish to, heh.

See ya in our inbox.

[smytherines]

Do y'all ever think about the part in A1P1 where Owen and Curt are about to do the handclasp thing and get interrupted by Barb? Because it's super interesting to me. It's one the few times when the choreography seems to break out from being non-diegetic (meant to represent something, not literally meant to be what is happening) to diegetic (something that is occurring within the story)

I can't get a clean shot of it, but it's very interesting that they're about to do the clasp, Curt gets a call, Owen waves his hand kinda annoyed at the interruption, and then Curt talks to Barb while Owen fights a guy on the catwalk.

The implication is that they weren't literally clasping arms, but the way the characters react tells us that the interruption was real. So now when I watch the show it's like... maybe they hadn't seen each other for awhile, and finally had a moment alone to just reunite, maybe a hug or a kiss or just an opportunity to freely talk to each other, and that's what Barb's call interrupts. Its kinda brilliant that these little moments are both obscured and accentuated by the choreography.

I do not know a goddamn thing about choreography, but the more I watch this show the more in awe I am of Lauren Lopez as a choreographer, because there is so much storytelling packed into the choreography of A1P1 especially. The first time you see it your brain can easily slip into "this is a stylized James Bond intro sequence," but on the rewatch it's like "oh, OH! This is kinda... intimate, isn't it?"

And Corey Lubowich deserves so much credit for directing the show just in general (Corey I love you), but especially for one of my absolute favorite parts- the hug. In the BTS stuff there's a scene of Corey, Joey, and Curt working out the hug choreography, with Corey talking about how it should be one fluid motion between the embrace and the action stance, which is just *chefs kiss* because it really does kinda fool you into thinking it's a stylistic choice instead of a storytelling choice on the first watch. (Plus it just looks cool as hell)

[alexxncl]

‼️NIGHTBRINGER LESSON 39 SPOILERS‼️

masterlist | all lessons | season 2 | lesson 38 | lesson 40

this was hilarious until i remember that satan is indeed the avatar of wrath and has destroyed the house of lamentations more tines than i can count on both hands. then it got slightly less hilarious, but it's still hilarious

ik we all joke about lucifer being satan's dad bc he technically is but this is PEAK father-son behavior 😭 satan throwing a temper tantrum, no pun intended, over not being able to adopt a cat is one of the funniest things ever actually

y'all know i love me some angst but dear GOD am i happy that we're getting something lighthearted after the emotional rollercoaster that was lesson 38

also we got our room back hehe 🫶🏽

aaaaand now they back to brothers

"nuh uh" "uh huh" DAMN just let him have the cat 😭

shithead lucifer my beloved 🫶🏽 and it's even more heartwarming bc we can see how much he's relaxed and recovered from the incident in cocytus. him smiling and laughing and joking with his brothers freely after the fear of losing them has finally been dissipated has to be a weight off of his shoulders, and a weight off of his brothers' shoulders, too. he's probably been less of himself since the fall, and this is probably more reminiscent of the lucifer from back in the celestial realm

i hc that mammon's familiars/crows just roam around the house freely, so this is even more frustrating for satan bc he's like "well if mammon can have pets, why can't i?"

oh baby :(((

just when i thought we'd gotten away from the angst, i was reminded that we are (i am) indeed on lesson 39 outta 40...ykw at least i was happy for a little bit

10/10 storytelling and writing. i love it when siblings ACTUALLY act like siblings, bc some media doesn't do sibling dynamics justice

granted, solomon isnt their sibling, but lucifer said it once AND doubled down bc he saw that it pissed satan off the first time. the older sibling in me smiled

ik i've said this before but...

lucifer says he hates when his brothers pester him like they don't get it from him 😭 oh no, if it isn't the consequences of your own actions!

now i feel like mammon might be onto something...what if he actually is stronger than lotan? but he doesn't want things to go past empty, playful threats bc hurting lotan would devastate levi, and he adores his little brother too much to do anything that irresponsible. more on this here

the brothers ever 🫶🏽 petty sibling dynamics always get me

satan reusing asmo's phrase after lucifer and solomon used it against him is peak comedy

ADHD TWINS

i can't do long, complicated shit for the life of me without getting sidetracked or overwhelmed

...unless it's these long ass posts

but that's different...kind of

so THAT'S why he was giggling and kicking his feet the whole time?? "hehehe" my ass you sly bitch

also, you can see the amount of pride lucifer feels towards satan just by the way he's acting throughout this entire lesson. he also knew wholeheartedly that satan would, one way or another, find a way to summon the white dragon. he egged satan on and teased him on purpose, which probably made his powers stronger. but i feel like the teasing also was a mask for encouragement

it was obviously still teasing at the heart, but there was a little more to it that reflected how proud lucifer is of his baby brother for coming into his own

also satan initiating the family picture at the end ??? I SOBBED

the lucifer from our timeline would NEVER allow a pet into the house. but the lucifer from our timeline also didn't get to heal the way this lucifer did, so now i'm kinda sad just thinking about that

maybe he thinks having a pet would mean that they're permanently staying in one place? and he still doesn't feel secure enough in his place in the devildom even after all the time he's spent there, even after making a home and a name for himself and his brothers. maybe he considered letting satan get a pet once mc came into the picture, and still toys with the idea, but keeps deciding against it for some internal reason that he won't address

MY WIFE MY BELOVED THE LOVE OF MY LIFE IS BACK

they really do invite any and everyone into the family. i love them so much it makes me insane

completely unrelated but i never realized that the kiss sounds are different for each brother ??? is thus just a nightbringer thing or am i just too far removed from the og game

[jheselbraum]

It's 2024 and some of y'all are still whining about Katara being "mean" to Zuko after he joined the party like he didn't directly betray her trust and almost caused her to waste the spirit water on him instead of saving it for Aang which-- while definitely not intentional on Zuko's part since 1) Zuko didn't know that Azula was going to shoot Aang with lightning and 2) He didn't offer or expect the spirit water to be able to heal his scar-- from Katara's perspective the last time she trusted Zuko the Avatar cycle almost fucking ended. Of fucking course it's going to take her the longest to trust him again, she's right! She was the first person to trust him, and he burned that bridge!

Everyone's field trips with Zuko make the most sense for both how they happen and when they happen. Toph trusts Zuko the quickest because she can literally tell when people are lying and is also good friends with Iroh, who's like, the number one "Zuko's not evil he's just in turmoil" guy. Aang trusts Zuko next because he's a fucking air nomad pacifist who is culturally predisposed to the virtue of forgiveness. Sokka trusts Zuko after an intense and prolonged mission to rescue some POWs because Sokka is a warrior at heart and while he like Toph sees the strategic value in Aang having a firebending teacher (eventually), he needs to know how Zuko behaves while on their side before he can trust him. Like-- the change in dynamic between the air temple, when Sokka and Zuko aren't on mission and Zuko is kind of the one "in charge," he has the information Sokka wants but Zuko is the one who hesitates to give it freely and Zuko is the one who dictates how Sokka leaves the temple for the boiling rock, to when they actually get there and Zuko follows Sokka's lead and Sokka is the one calling the shots and coming up with the plans really emphasizes how Zuko works in team setting when it counts.

And Katara's field trip with Zuko has to be her revenge quest, and how Zuko acts during that quest really tells us a lot about what Zuko wants personally from that field trip which is the same thing that he wanted from the others-- jack shit.

Zuko asks Sokka about his mother's death because he wants to better understand where Katara's coming from, and from where I'm standing it's pretty obvious that he only realizes "hey hang on my years at the Fire Nation School For Little Princes might come in handy actually" and tells Katara what he now knows about the raid and who did it.

And throughout the entire episode Zuko is 110% on board with whatever Katara wants to do with that information. If she'd said at the tent "Thanks but the only revenge I want is helping Aang defeat the firelord and ending the war" then he would've just been like "ok"

Zuko makes no judgement call on Katara's use of bloodbending and he makes no judgement call on Katara's decision to spare Yon Ra and every move he makes in that episode is Zuko saying "You're right, I fucked up, and I understand where you're coming from" every move he makes is in support of Katara, she is the one in control in the situation and I think that's why Zuko brushes off Aang's call to pacifism earlier in the episode, because pacifism isn't what Katara wants in that moment.

Like that whole sequence comes from such a genuine place of caring and support from Zuko for Katara and I think the interpretation that Katara is just being Mean to Zuko for No Good Reason really cheapens one of the best episodes in the series as well as the episodes leading up to it.

[fertilize-my-eggs]

He's watching you.

Sleep paralysis demon Shigaraki x fem reader noncon smut

A/N: so I made a poll for me to work on switch fanfic the hangover smut or the sleep paralysis demon shiggy and y'all wanted the demon shiggy so hope y'all enjoy this one. This one was based on doja cat demon, parts of it.

Warnings: noncon + dead doves do not eat + oral(female) + breed & knots + reader has a mental breakdown please read this with cautious + tomura being a scummy pervert dick. + pissing + multiple orgasms.

You're unable to move as you stare intensely at the creature that always watches you.

Even since you brought this big old house in the forest, your family has told you, are you insane? To that, you just love the quiet woods, how beautiful it is when it's changing colors from the warmth of autumn to the chilly cold winter.

The creature stares back at you, tilting his head to the side as you watch it in a crouch position on the roof of your bedroom.

You can't help but stare at the black horns sitting on his head with pure white locks, both his hands and feets were covered in black gradient.

His skin was pale but was scarred everywhere. It always makes you flustered that this thing was naked. It has his penis dangling freely as he shows his pointy fangs with a sinister smile.

You blink a few times to see the creature vanish.

Each night was the same thing, you were taking a nice warm bath, cleaning your body.

The soapy foam was covering your body, you sigh softly. This was clearing your mind and not thinking about that demon creature thing.

As you rub your shoulder feeling relaxed, a chill runs down your spine as you feel sharp pointy fingertips touch your scalp down to your back.

You quickly turn around seeing nothing, there was no one here.

" what the fuck… " you turn away feeling your heart pounding in your chest.

" fucking stop doing that. "You scream out, you know this creature was messing with you.

Silence fills the room, this thing can smell your fear and he can taste how delicious it is when you're shivering like a leaf.

You quickly get out and start to dry yourself off, you hear laughter echo out in the house.

It's mocking you, you gulp your saliva as you fear that it is real.

You leave the room back to your bedroom as you change into something comfy.

Maybe a good, nice sleep will help you out.

Wearing a cozy plain shirt and shorts was enough for you, you crawl in your blanket as you sigh softly.

You are slowly falling asleep.

.

.

.

Your nose scrunched up as you pant heavily, why is it feeling hot in this room.

You cry out, arching your back up as you grab what feels to be hair near your crotch.

You blink a few times as your eyes wide as you look down, the long white hair covers your whole body, your shorts go missing and you see it feasting.

His long tongue licks up your clit back to your entrance, you feel his fingers sliding inside faster.

 You're sobbing from this, you stare back at his intense crimson eyes staring back at you.

He groan as he has smirk on his wet lips, he lean back down, using his tongue to fuck your insides.

You grip the sheets and his white hair, grinding his face, you noticed how his tail wags side to side. It's long and has a pointy end at his tip.

His arms wrap around your thighs pulling you roughly towards him as he begins to devour your sweet juices.

You scream out as you rise up breathing heavily…. You put a hand on your chest as you begin to pant.

Was that a dream, it felt so realistic… the look and the way he… you look down to see you wearing your shorts but notice it has wet stains and the sheets as well.

You sigh as you get up to change the cover and take a quick shower.

This has to stop, why… Why did he pick me out of anyone.. why?

You keep questioning it and question this creature, it has to be something that is so… abnormal.

Maybe it's the house that holds this creature hostage, maybe it's a ghost of a person.

The old owner did mention someone living here before you.

You sigh heavily, maybe you will never find out.

You get out to dry yourself, as you are lost in thoughts.

There was a whisper. " I can hear you. "It was soft and raspy near your ear as you quickly looked around.

There was nothing, it's driving you insane.

The fingertips dance on your skin as you run away, breathing heavily.

" stop… just fucking stop.. " you whisper out, the room is empty but you know it's listing to you.

It's a cat and mouse game to him, he is playing with you both physically and mentally.

" please… leave me alone. " you crouch down as you begin to rock as tears slide down.

" What do you WANT from me?!? " you scream out, blinking away the tears as you hug yourself.

You look crazy sitting on the floor talking to nothing but you know this creature is messing with you.

You hiccup heavily as you quietly get up and lay back down. It's nothing… it's all in my imagination you thought.

Your tired mind tries to fight to stay awake as you hold your blanket close, cover your body as if you were a child with a big mad monster.

You blink again to see him back in the same position on the ceiling, he starts crawling towards the center as he stands upside down.

He looks so intimidating with his lean muscular body as you stare paralyzed in fear.

You blink again as he disappears and reappears above you on all fours as he licks his lips.

" Did you miss me? " you blink again as he vanishes in thin air, you are struggling to move.

" did you enjoy me eating you out darling~? " your eyes move down to the edge of the bed as his claw-like hands rise upward as he moves up. 

The deep purring and growls send goosebumps all over your body.

He crawled towards you with that same smile, those eyes.

" I know you were excited when I ate your tight little pussy ~. " he traced his fingertips on your skin.

" can't wait until you taste the real thing. " he cheeky wink at you as you finally spoke.

" w-what do you mean? " he tilted his head back as he let out a deep dry laugh.

" ohh sweetie~. " his hand caress your face tenderly as he lean in and whisper.

" you can't handle this cock." He nips your ears.

" You'll be so cock drunk by it, you'll be begging for more~." As he leans away watching your facial reaction to this, you gulp harder.

His hands slide down the curve of your body as he rips the shorts off.

You scream at him to stop, you're crying out.

He roughly pulls your shirt up to reveal your bare chest.

" No bra? I see~ " he lean to give soft kisses to your right breast as he pitches and pull the other.

" stop… stop!! It hurts. " You cry out, push his head away but his free hand quickly pins both your wrists above your head as you moan out.

He ignores your pleas as he bites harshly on your nipples, he takes his time to give hickeys to each one.

You will look beautiful wearing it, he licks his lips as he growls at you.

His tail taps the sheet excitedly, you know he is getting off on this.

His fingertips slide down to your core as he groans lowly.

" Your body is being honest to me, I know~ " he add three fingers inside of you as he's being careful, sliding in and out fast.

" I know baby… be patient 'kay? You'll get your reward soon~ " he pants heavily as he goes inhuman speed no human can beat this, it feels like a machine.

You arched your back upward as you watch him cooing at you sweetly.

Wetness sliding down fast as the loud slick echo in your ears.

Your orgasm hits you like a train, toes curl in, your body starts to twitch as your eyes roll back.

You look possessive in that state but to him, you look like godness fallen from the heavens taken by a disgusting pervert demon like himself.

You didn't have time to enjoy your high as he removed his fingers quickly, he grabbed your thigh, pulling it towards him.

He throws your leg over his shoulder as he grabs his hard cock and roughly shoves it insides. You scream in pain as he purr sweetly, the tails wrapped around your thigh as he grinds a bit.

Letting you get the feel of his size, he pulled out fully as he rammed inside fast.

You can't control your moan, it doesn't sound like you, it sounds more animalistic.

 

You can feel he has these weird bumps, more glans at the tips as he growls heavily.

He begins to scratch your skins leaving behind red marks, you feel a hard ball at his base every time he slams deep.

" yeah~!! Take that fucking cock, you slut! " he growls more, your sweat runs down your skin, reddish hue covers your skin.

" please.. no more I-.. " you cry out, you gripping his arms as he slamming your cervix each time he thrusts.

The tail removes itself as it moves to your waist area, pulling your body upwards as he grabs your thighs to meet his heavy thrusts.

He was right, you can't handle this, it's getting too much. You roll your eyes back as you begin to piss on the bed sheets and his crotch area.

He purrs at this as he licks his lips, he continues shoving his thick cock inside your tight hole.

" see that~ " you blink at him with a heavy eyelid, you feel exhausted from two orgasms.

His hands touch your chest as it follows your belly, your eyes open wide as he caresses the large bugle.

" That's me~.." he groans out as he looks down at where you're connected, his meaty cock sliding in and out your wet sloppy pussy as he growls.

" fuck~!! You were made for this.. auhhh you want my knot? " he leaned in as there was excitement in his eyes.

" I never knotted a human, I usually eat them… but-.. " you blinked a few times, what does he mean by that???

" you're too pretty to eat…. well your juicy pussy on other hand. " He giggles airy as he makes some sick joke, playing with your locks.

" fuck~! best thing I ever tasted shit-.. you like that didn't you? " he tilts his head as he begins to smirk wide.

" Are you enjoying this? You sicko~. " he bites your neck harshly as he grinds his hips slowly.

" you can't wait until I knotted you? Make you full with my demonic babies inside. " He has the biggest smile you've ever seen, it is unsettling.

He leans away as he pushes your thighs to your chest, you're a babbling mess. Grabbed his arms tight you couldn't think straight by his cock bullying your cervix.

" Do you want it? Do you want me to knot and breed you like cumdump whore that you are?" You nodded your head fast as you're agreeing with this, a dump goofy smile on your face.

" awww the little human can't think of anything, I knew you'd get cock drunk by me~ " he groaned softly as he tightened his grip.

He pulls his cock out fully as he slams back inside faster, his hips in a circular motion as he stares lustfully.

" Are you ready? Ahhh fuck~ it's coming pretty. " he carass your cheek lovely as he groan out.

You can feel it at your entrance, you keep nodding your head, drooling sliding down, you about to hit an intense orgasm.

He bites your other side of the neck, the one that hasn't been marked.

You scream out loud, your body intense, twitching all over. You can feel more piss sliding down your sheets heavily. You hear a loud plop sound locking you together, the growls echo in your ears, feeling his hot thick cum filling you up.

You whimper as you grip his hair, his pelvis grinds your entrance as he begins to slow down.

He pant softly as you scrunch your nose at the heavy musky smell in the room.

Everything feels hot, you feel more exhausted by this.

You blink your eyes at him as he curls up your chest, his tail wraps around your leg as your bodies get tangled.

Your breathing calms down as you pull him close.

Maybe this isn't a bad idea as others think.

Getting dick down by a demon sounds hot, it was intense as you thought. 

You pet his messy white hair as you look at him, he begins to nip on your chest as he begins to grab it softly.

You hope this lasts longer, you don't want this to end.

He pulls away as he smiles at you.

" It's time to wake up. "

You blink again to see it is the bright morning again as you breath heavy.

" no… wait I want you back.. " you look around to see the empty room, you tilt your head downward with sadness.

As you pout out in a quiet room, you feel the chills again as you know his presents are near.

You start to smile thinking maybe he'll come back to your dreams again. You bite your lip as you feel the fingertips run down your throat.

You try to get up only to realize you're unable too.

You realize there are marks all over your body as you bite your lip hard.

You sigh softly as you lay back and enjoy the sleepless that take hold.

[baldy-wan-kenobi]

The Knights of Svalbard, part I

Officially called the "Knights of the Order of the Svalbard Human Preservation Project", the Knights of Svalbard are perhaps the most influential group in the time of False Peace.

The project was founded by key UN members in the early days of the Long War when, realizing that the war wasn't going to end any time soon, and would in fact only grow more destructive, a group of scientists, engineers, and other academics began to create the most ambitious project in the history of mankind: nothing less than a complete archive of the sum knowledge of humanity, catalogued and saved for the future generations after the war had passed.

Once the Knights had completed their project, just short of a century into the Long War, they sealed themselves in their underground fortress, itself built on the same land as the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, as both were considered essential to the future of mankind. Additionally, the Knights saved DNA and tissue samples from every known species of animal currently extant on the earth, so that they could begin again once the fires of Armageddon had passed.

In the aftermath of the Final Armistice and the end of the Long War, the knights emerged from their citadel to find the world totally changed.

They quickly used their technological superiority to expand their sphere of influence to cover most of the Arctic circle, which became known as the Greater Svalbard Emergency Administration Zone.

From there, they reclaimed much Old World technology, and exist as the de-facto most technologically advanced group in the world, using almost exclusively Gen 1 and 3 Mechs, much rarer and harder to come by and maintain than the more common Gen 2s.

However, their goal is not conquest, and in fact have no expansionist designs.

They see themselves as the benevolent protectors of the now-fractured world, and seek to unite and help where they can.

They bring supplies, knowledge, and aid freely, though they are immensely cautious about meting out secrets of military hardware.

This keeps them in a position of power, and the city-states mostly equal, which allows the Knights to act as a sort of police force, threatening to cut ties and unleash wrath upon any City-state that dares openly war with another- this is largely what has lead to the sheer prominence of Tin Soldiers in this new era.

Their Mechs are notable for their shining, brushed-steel paneling and bright blue heads, a symbol of hope, enlightenment, and salvation for many across the world, and a symbol of fear and doom for tyrants and warmongers.

(I've also done a lot of worldbuilding about their culture and organizational structure, so if y'all would like to hear more about that lemme know)

[bakugoushotwife]

Headcanons for boyfriend Sasuke please ?

a/n: sure thing, we love feeding the sasuke girlies round these parts

tenderly and with all the love in my heart, sasuke is a horrible boyfriend if you're dating as teens

it's honestly hard to even imagine him as a boyfriend as a teen, so i won't linger here long

here's what i will say, if you manage to go official with him in his teen rogue nin years, you're either the baddest bitch on the planet or the most powerful person he's ever seen or both

assuming you're also some sort of rogue nin/akatsuki member you would help closely with his revenge tour and he would find it easier to talk to you than others

that being said he still doesn't talk very much, his emotions were hard to put into words

he can very rarely show you affection, but he doesn't allow anyone to disrespect you in any way n it's very easy for him to stand up for you to other akatsuki or anyone that feels so bold

and by affection i mean he occasionally holds your hand, and blushes violently every time i love this war criminal

he doesn't stop you from touching him though, he's just touch starved of course and doesn't rlly know how to touch you in a romantic but appropriate way

very defensive so you pretty much always have to agree w him or...nvm u saw how many times he tried to kill sakura

he does value your insight in planning though, let's you give opinions when his head is level

is surprised that anyone even wants to stick by him at all, much less in his crazee era!

but appreciates it by keeping you safe and training w you <3

listen to your favorite dress by lil peep i think that summarizes teen boyfriend sasuke

now young adult sasuke would be much easier to deal with, definitely not walking around on eggshells with him

he still is very awkward and unsure how to flirt or romance you

just like teen sasuke he blushes every time he holds your hand or gives you a sweet kiss

tells you about his brother more openly, a sign he's let you in

constantly asking the boyz for help with dates or gifts for you and always coming home with some goofy ass trinket that shikamaru jokingly told him to get or buying the ugliest dress in konoha because naruto said that hinata said that you would like it

a+ for effort though, king

eventually he just starts asking you for the things you like and you freely tell him all your favorite colors and patterns and scents, all the things you had your eye on or had thought were nice

the adorable thing about sasuke is he has a fantastic memory, so he's able to memorize all the things you told him and slowly acquire them for you

when y'all leave the leaf for his missions, he's protective as always, but trusts in your abilities

#travelgoals

exploring together is so fun because he really is so smart and knows all kinds of fun facts about the different villages and locations you visit

always reups on snacks at the big stops because he knows you'll get cranky

cute starwatching and picnic dates while hunting otsutsuki? yes!

picks flowers for you <3 crying

definitely lets you use the cloak as a blanket during the night

always pretends to be annoyed when you whine that you're still cold

cue the *sigh* into cuddles, like he isn't grinning to himself and super relieved and lucky to have you with him

can oddly write? like not sonnets or anything mf crazy but maybe a slight poem when his heart is just about to burst if he doesn't figure out how to put his love for you into words

doesn't give them to you though, too embarrassed

you find them anyway hehe

they're so sweet and well written that you're shocked but also melting at all of his comparisons of your beauty to the sun and the sound of your voice to music

you're touched

snatches said poems when he notices lol like you're not his partner?

you pout and thank him and he's a bit surprised that you like it but hey he'll give you whatever he writes now

he's so babygirl

your honor i know he's a terrorist but i love him

[merrilldidnothingwrong]

How the Companions Love

Greetings. I have returned, and I am inaugurating opening up asks to BG3 with a post about how the romance options love. Spoilers ahead. - Mod Alistair

Gale: Gale's love is bittersweet. He's loved before, and that love twisted in with his pride and desire for his lover's approval has ended with him here. With a bomb inside him, and getting a message from his once-lover that the only thing that will redeem him is sacrificing himself. He flirts and romances, but part of it is borne of him trying to recapture what he lost with his recklessness. Once he experienced magic with another, beheld the beauty of the world not alone, but side by side with the person who held his heart. Yet in a strange way, he's growing into a far greater love, whether Tav reciprocates his offer of romance, because he gains friendship where he once had none.

Astarion: Astarion loves cautiously. He shows lust easily enough, he's used to being seductive, making himself seem approachable and desirable. But love, emotional intimacy. He struggles, because it's a weakness, and he wants nothing more than to burn all weakness out so that he can never be enslaved again. Yet at the same time, the comfort of love calls to him, and carefully, fearfully, he reaches for it.

Wyll: Wyll loves hopefully. He flirts and acts like a suave hero, but at core, he hopes to find someone he can love who cares as deeply as he does. Who wants to help as much as he does. He tries to take charge and protect when he's unused to being among equals, and being cared for and protected in turn startles him. He hopes for love, but he doesn't expect to be loved back the way he loves.

Lae'zel: Lae'zel's love is uncertain. It's new ground to her, and she's already dealing with uncertainty as her world, both figuratively and literally, has been wrenched out from under her. Love is foreign to her, and she falls back on lust because it's what she knows. But slowly, she takes that step, revealing her emotional desires as she revealed her physical ones. And though she expresses it poorly, she grows to care for those around her, and to find love and kindness as she opens up, and learns more about the world she's in now.

Shadowheart: Shadowheart loves desperately. She yearns for it, and clings to it all the time, even when she feels she shouldn't. Her joy when she believes she's beloved by Shar burns bright. When she steps away from Shar, she falls back on the love and compassion she's experienced through her journey, building her foundation on it, where she once relied on Shar's teachings.

Karlach: Karlach loves passionately. She reaches for the first chance she's had to experience love, and she takes it. She fights to regain the ability to feel physical intimacy that was stolen from her, and drinks in the emotional intimacy she'd been missing for far too long. She relishes in compassion and love when she'd been unable to indulge in either for most of her life. Even when she makes peace with dying soon, because she never wishes to return to where she was enslaved, she devours as much love as she can, wishing to make up for the time she'd lost.

Halsin: Halsin loves freely. Both romantically and in general. He holds kindness, love, and joy close to his heart, and spreads them where he can. He seeks and offers freedom, and loves it for all it is. He's looked into the abyss, and chosen to turn around and embrace the world and people in it.

(I've got nothing for Minthara bc I play good characters. Add on if y'all want.)

Time and time again, the importance of love is repeated throughout Baldur's Gate 3. From the healthy to the toxic, we see love in numerous forms. And especially in our primary companions, we see this lesson over and over: when the world is beating you down, love will help you get back up. And though it's messy, and filled with arguments and disagreement, the group of people trying to find their freedom from a dark fate, and finding love and common ground together, is a deeply beautiful thing.

[scawykittycat]

Franco is NOT a victim.I think you all saw that one post. Franco is not a victim, no one forced him to murder those innocent women. He did it for his own pleasure. Yes, he had a bad childhood, but a character's bad past is used to explain why they're like that and not used as a justification for their actions.

This should be OBVIOUS.

Those women he killed were already struggling with life, they were sex workers who were looked down upon that time and still are. Defending Franco and saying that those women deserved it, or dismissing his actions just shows that you are misogynistic.

I don't care that it's fictional. You are misogynistic.

"All male characters are victims and all female characters are bitches" that's how you sound like. Franco was abused by MEN in his life, women did nothing to him, he chose to murder them."He didn't know any better!" He is not a LITTLE BABY! He is a grown ass man canonically in his late 20s. He is very aware of his actions and knows that it's wrong. I can't believe we have to have this discussion in 2024. Just because he's a fictional character doesn't mean you can freely support his actions, his actions are not fictional and they happened in real life A LOT.

Ooooh is this that harassment that one blog was talking about?

To be clear, I think Franco is both a victim of his circumstances and an abuser, you be both. He is a victim of his parents and circumstances as well as a misogynistic murderer. I get wanting to defend a character that you like, but you are allowed to like characters who are bad people! I can love Coyle for how fun of a character he is while also recognizing and acknowledging that he is a racist cop, a terrible man who murders his wives. You can like a character without having to defend their actions, I mean it's outlast for fucks sake they are going to be bad people! That's okay! I don't understand how people disagreeing is leading to the harassment, we're not in middle school. Some of y'all need to grow up.

Edit: I'm adding the comment I posted that I assume got me wrapped up in this shit

Franco can be a victim of his circumstances and still be an abuser. He keeps women locked in caged and hooks them to fucking milking devices against their will. He objectifies and fetishizes women and their bodies, he is a horrible person and a misogynist. You're allowed to like characters who are bad people, you're allowed to enjoy them as bad people. You don't have to defend a characters horrible actions to justify liking them.

[thegreenleavesofspringinsunlight]

When I say it is more effective to pray for someone than bludgeon them over the head with you are wrong what I mean is this:

Almost my entire life - perhaps not during my very early childhood, I don't remember; there was a catastrophe when I was twelve that changed everything - my mother has been in rebellion against God, if not full-on apostasy.

I grew up listening to her rail and scream at God, accuse Him. Listened to her say that she knew better than He did. Accuse Him of creating evil and being a cruel God. Just - all sorts of things. I remember perhaps twice that she ever apologized for anything when I was growing up, and one of those was with a caveat. She simply did not believe she was wrong about anything, ever.

Both of my sisters have told her to her face "You are not a Christian" and cut her off entirely. When I say that I am the only person left in the world who will speak with my mother outside of a business setting, I am not exaggerating in the slightest. (Save, perhaps, with the exception of my eldest son, who likes her visits quite a bit.)

I did not bite my tongue at all as a teenager. Since I have been an adult, most of my relationship with my mother has been biting my tongue. She is one of those people whom one wrong word will set off a chain reaction that there's no coming back from. So I stayed beside her and I bit my tongue and I prayed.

I prayed. I commended her into God's hands and acknowledged her glaringly obvious faults to Him and I prayed, I prayed for her. I pray for her now. Constantly, unceasingly, every minute I am awake, supplication for her, worded or wordless.

Y'all.

Another catastrophe has arisen. Any day now, she will be homeless, carless, old and feeble and struggling just to survive. And yet.

Of late, I stopped biting my tongue as much. I started urging her to pray. I know you don't feel like you can, I know you feel dirty, I know you're still in rebellion and feel abandoned. You need to pray. You need to pray. Just start. However. Just start praying. You need to pray.

She started praying. She spent days praying. She started reading her Bible and her devotionals. She told me she spent hours on the floor praying and sobbing until she felt empty.

She's begun filling up again. She's begun admitting culpabilities that I never thought to hear from her: culpabilities that I had long recognized and thought and disapproved of, but knew it would be worthless to say so. She admits them freely and openly. She has gone from permanent vituperation to peace. She has given up sins she has held close since before I was born.

She told me, today, about the devotional: the passage on the Good Shepherd leaving the 99 and going after the 1. And how, when He returned, He bid all His friends come and rejoice with Him.

Oh, I have been rejoicing. I have been rejoicing over her for these past couple weeks.

She is still terrified, and depressed. What is looming is terrible indeed. Neither of us is at all certain that she will survive until this time next year, but if she does not, I will have no fear: I will see her again, one day. I am certain of it.

So when I say it is better to pray for those who are astray than to belabor them with accusative "You are not a Christian", I mean it.

(And personally I think that someone with an unclear understanding of Jesus but who still acknowledges Him as the Way the Truth and the Life, is probably 'closer' to being a 'real Christian' than someone in full rebellion. But maybe that's just me.)

[dirtyoldmanhole]

in defense of revelation

most of y'all know me as a pre-tumblr tellius fan who recently got suckered into fates/(especially revelation) in the past year and how often i've repeatedly stated how very fucking glad i was not around for peak fates fan/hatedom. even living afar from the field in other fandoms for that brief 2015-2021 time period, fates discourse was... special, to say the least.

me being me, i do want to take a step back and consider in good faith... why?

why the outsized hatedom for rev especially?

every FE game has its warts with its strengths. and i feel like i'm in a unique position of seeing from a more macro/neutral standpoint having abruptly fallen in love with fates/rev when it's left in the dust for shinier games, and whose viewpoint was never really colored either which way while also living the historical context of the series. (shoot at one point i was a by-default fates hater/"pre-DS fe" snob; I freely admit to eating my own words).

the odd bit of it all is that revelation is by far my favorite of the routes. yes, gunter's outsized impact on the plot is a large part of it, but I actually think I would still like it over conquest/(certinally over birthright and a good 90% of FE games) even if another character had taken that role, as long as it was handled in a similarly complex way (anankos' cosmic horror shtick was fuckin' rad).

let's start with the common criticisms (a few picked from this halfway reasonable reddit thread that attempts something similar) and others gleaned elsewhere from the interwebs over the year.

the unit balancing

IMO this is the fairest criticism of the list; i can see why a bunch of underleveled units handed out slowly before the cast rolls into valla would be a legitimate annoyance to old hats and newcomers alike.

that said: something about gameplay with Fates that i think was brilliant is there's a massive intentional difference between royals and every other character. royals get special weapons, they're a class unto themselves literally and also in being able to solo entire swaths of levels. (birthright being a literal name of one of the routes, for pete's sake.) i've attempted both a rev run with royals and a rev run without royals (using gunter too lol) back to back and honestly the sheer difficulty spike is genuinely fascinating from a story perspective.

you feel how utterly powerless non-royals feel.

(also given people mostly emotionally got attached to the royals.... in the other two routes they were probably willing to wait a little longer for their blorbo to appear and assuaged by many cutscenes of them.)

also tangent, but gameplay wise: i also kind of want to push back at the redditor in the thread above who mentioned rev as a sandbox experience of Fates; I can see why they would say that as it's perceived as the neutral route, when personally it's better framed as the valla-specific route with a very tight cast focus (ie the characters that actually impact the plot); having almost the whole cast being playable was just a type of newgame+ bonus. like i wouldn't expect a nohrian character to get much limelight in birthright in favor of the hoshidans, so too would I not expect a non valla-related character to get as much focus and decent treatment in rev.

very petty add on: if i can make mister zero stats grandpa OHKO ryoma in rev on my second run, git gud shrub

the story

so here's the thing.

i'm objectively biased by being head over heels for gunter as a character and his outsized impact on lategame rev - but i don't think i'm wrong with saying that people were looking for the wrong thematic beats regarding revelation's story with how it was framed beyond itself.

if you focus on the adults - mikoto, arete, gunter, garon, and the unaffiliated characters that didn't get a chance to shine in the other two nation-specific routes (azura, lilith, anankos, corrin's backstory in the northern fortress) - revelation will blow your socks off with how nuanced and interwoven between the characters mentioned above the story is.

you just need to give it a fair chance.

gimmick maps

this is honestly where i laugh a little and simply gesture to three houses' objectively terrible same-y maps. TH had other strengths; its maps are not one of them. i'd rather take a memorable gimmick in a heartbeat than 4/5ths of a game i straight up do not remember the levels (a criticism that could also go for FE11/12/most of the series pre FE7).

the snow shoveling map in particular draws the most ire (fair lol), but let's take that map out, and.... honestly none of the others feel egregarious? FE's done 'only three characters deployed" before (the cave chapter which is pretty short and not too unbalanced). the moving platforms have been done in FE7. the traps in anankos' lair were honestly pretty fun for instilling more of the horror/claustrophobic vibe and didn't have total buzzkills like powerful ranged magic bosses to ruin your day (FE6/7/16 lookin' at you).

of fates' routes, conquest's maps age a little bit better by being generally emotionally married to the story beats more, but personally i find they're a little overtuned at times. honestly the worst i can say is that conquest's maps overshine the other two routes when the other two routes had pretty decent-to-good map design that age well by their own right.

the babyrealms

sure, and.............? honestly i feel like every FE game has its completely anime whack-ass mechanic from space.

the best part is the children mechanic in fates is completely optional and segregated from the story - if you hate it that much it doesn't even have to exist. god knows i wish the My Unit/time travel of Awakening onwards didn't exist, or the kids of FE13 didn't exist, or the whole "secret space technology" of FE16 didn't exist, or the toothpaste hair of Engage, or the fucking gameplay of FE4/6, and frankly the laguz can be a bit tough to swallow as an idea if you didn't grow up with the anime tropes of cat girls or shapeshifters at the time (and the anvilicious anti-racism themes) -- all of which are way more plot relevant to their respective games.

'just fighting zombies for the latter half'

ironically i'm usually the first person to absolutely despise the 'fighting non-characters/nameless zombies' trope. so i do sympathize.

one: honestly that critique isn't that much different than the FE-bog-standard 'fight twenty maps packed with samey soldiers of the Bad Evil Country' (FE9 with daein alas) - if anything, like FE8, zombies are a nice change of pace and rev even one-ups sacred stones by giving the possessed vallites an extra bit of fridge horror if you give one temporary shit about the vallites.

a better defense though, is much like how i think viewing Final Fantasy 7 as anything but a massive homage to sci-fi horror would be a miss to its story, visual, and emotional beats - i also think it'd be a miss to not recognize that revelation is the cosmic horror of fire emblem.

the slowly-revealed possession of someone very precious to corrin. the needless deaths of named cast members. anankos' entire freaking design. the last four-five chapters of fighting your own parents/parental figures who both plead with you to kill them while also trying to convince you to let them kill you, holy fuck. peak psychological horror here too, and i feel like fates is in a uniquely better position with its focus on incestual family dynamics to drive home the emotional impact to the player (if you've married some specific characters like azura and gunter) as well as pull from classic gothic horror - especially brilliant with the nohrian's constant linkage to vampires, another staple of gothic horror.

oh gunter, gunter gunter.

I can't get around this point since I have heard him specifically mentioned (lol) as a failing of revelation. oh zero stats granpda. what are we going to do with you.

(keep in mind i'm not going to be able to tackle all of these sub-points since this would literally be a 20k essay by itself which this blog kinda frankly covers in various degrees; this is a summary).

but let's start with the more objective bits.

ultimately, i ... think a lot of people were really skeeved the fuck out by gunter's possession plotline in the sense it was a huge bet that the series had never done. there were a handful of gunter fans from conquest who would normally be all over his expanded spotlight that fall into this bucket, in addition to the folks that just did not jive with his type of arc/character and who were never gonna like rev. (that's fine, y'all got two whole other games to play in).

giving its jeigan character actual teeth, actual cold-blooded motivations and hatreds and a betrayal that worked entirely at odds with the royal-simping game (and series) didn't help. he never apologized for it either.

giving its jeigan a spotlight role when youth is valorized, and old age demonized to a questionable degree didn't help. (ya notice the ages of all the heroes and villains? the really squicky visual character consistency of beauty equals goodness in anime / that FE is no better at?) his story almost lowkey requires a little maturity to get, higher than the average age of a fates player.

giving its jeigan a nuanced personality that could be caring and protective as much as deeply manipulative (even and especially to corrin) didn't help. locking behind half of their relationship to CQ supports and half his backstory/chats with the rest of the cast being unlocalized likewise didn't help.

giving its jeigan actual sexual menace didn't help. ( in an already sexually-charged game, there are a few very specific lategame possession scenes where that also bleeds over to his role, nevermind his CQ S-support. and crucially, when that slipping mask jarred directly against the father role that people project on him with corrin).

.... and all of those points is exactly why i think his arc is some of the most brilliant writing in the series.

Fates was especially good with taking tired tropes and twisting them just enough in a fucky/power-tilt-y way that it left the player off kilter while giving the games, ultimately, a bittersweet resolution.

some folks don't like that feeling; but i think it was an injection of real charisma and balls in a series that always draws from its specific time-period in history.

thank you for reading ~