#id rather watch game of thrones

[two-calicos-in-a-trenchcoat]

Im being forced to watch mbti shit

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[foundtherightwords]

Fallen Empires - Chapter 6

Pairing: Geta x OFC

Summary: Having done the unthinkable to secure his throne, Emperor Geta rules with ruthlessness and paranoia. Now, after escaping an assassination attempt, a badly injured Geta is saved by Daphne, a young widow, who takes him back to her remote village without knowing his true identity. As Daphne nurses the former emperor back to health, attraction blooms between them, and Geta discovers a soft side he didn't know he possessed. But can their love survive his thirst for revenge and his desire to reclaim power?

Chapter warnings: none (just a brief mention of arousal... things are heating up between Daphne and Geta!)

Chapter word count: 3.6k

Prologue + Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3 - Chapter 4 - Chapter 5

Chapter 6

It was almost the ides of June. The weather grew unbearably hot. Geta had toured extensively in the Eastern provinces, but it had always been in the comfort of an imperial convoy, with litters and tents for stops along the way and marble palaces to rest in once he reached his destination. Even when marching with the army, he'd never had to deal with such blistering heat. The elevation of the hill did little to help. The sun beat down so relentlessly that the rocky ground became quite literally baked and remained warm even long after the sun had set.

Due to the heat, Daphne now did all her work at dawn and in the evening, when the heat was more tolerable. During the day, she retreated inside the hut, where the mud-brick walls provided some relief. This meant she was a constant presence around Geta these days, and he was rather uneasy about it. Why he should feel uneasy about her, he didn't know. He no longer suspected her of duplicity and betrayal. If anything, he'd grown to trust her. Yet her presence put him on edge, and he found himself watching her while she moved about the hut, working on her potions and poultices or practicing her lettering. She had made some labels for the garden by scratching plant names on thin, flat pieces of pine board, and was now working on the labels for her medicine by stitching letters onto long ribbons to be wrapped around the jars.

When he offered to teach her to read and write, he'd only wanted something to occupy his mind, something to divert him from the tiring thought of retribution and punishment. To his surprise, he had rather enjoyed it, perhaps because it was the only time he could tell her what to do. He had enjoyed teaching her to play draughts as well, even though she was annoyingly good at it. In the army, the soldiers would sometimes challenge each other or place bets on games of draughts, to make them more exciting. Daphne could've cleaned out any of them.

He told himself he enjoyed her company simply because it was the only company to be had for miles around, other than the goats and the donkey. It was true that she was nothing special. She was only a peasant woman, with simple thoughts and simple feelings. And she wasn't even attractive. Her chin was too pointy, her nose too long, her mouth too large. Her figure—what he could see of it, swathed in layers of voluminous linen to combat against the sun—was too thin, all sharp bones and hard muscles developed from her trek up and down the hill, with none of the soft curves Roman women often boasted about. Only those green eyes promised some beauty, but they were so frank, so displeasing in their open stare that Geta sometimes had to turn away from them, afraid they could see to his very core and lay bare all the lies and the guilt, wriggling there like maggots.

The only time her eyes had looked at him with some softness was after the encounter with that odious father of hers, and even then it had only been briefly.

Perhaps that was why he enjoyed teaching her. She wasn't looking at him then. Instead, he could watch her frowning in concentration under the lamplight, her long lashes lowering as she bent over the wax tablet. He didn't have to worry about catching her eyes.

Damnation. For someone who didn't like her eyes, he certainly spent a lot of time thinking about them.

But what else was there to think about? Thinking about his would-be assassin and the conspirators got him nowhere, and thinking about Rome and the constant grumbling of the Senate only exhausted him. Even the possibility of conquering Parthia no longer held much appeal. He might have managed to sack Arbela, but the Parthians had proved to be formidable adversaries, and in his current state, he could never face them. He'd never realized before how tiring and tired it all was, this constant warring and conquest and ruling. So he turned away from them and thought of something else, something more pleasant.

One morning, he was up before his usual time. He went outside, intending to make the best of the cooler air by putting in some hours of sparring at the pine grove, when he spied movements in the garden. It was very early—only a border of pale pink snaked along the horizon, while the sky and the rest of the world were still covered in a bluish-gray veil, and some remnant of the night air was still lingering amongst the stones, not yet melted away under the sun—too early for anyone else to be about. His hand immediately went to the hilt of the dagger that had never left his side, a reminder of how close he'd come to death. He crept around the side of the hut to come up to the garden from the back, so whoever was there would not see him.

It was a woman, dressed in a short saffron tunic. She was moving between the garden rows, shaking the branches of the olive trees above them. Dewdrops fell from the branches, glittering around her like diamonds, splashing on the plants below. At the end of a row, she turned around and saw him.

"Kalimera," she said, using the usual Greek morning greeting. "You're up early."'

It was Daphne. She must have gotten up before him, and he hadn't noticed her empty cot in the front room when he went out.

For a moment, he stood transfixed. It was Daphne and yet not Daphne. Without her usual stole and mantle, she was no longer the dour woman always hurrying from one place to another, worry permanently etched on her brow. Standing before him was a fresh-faced girl, skin rosy and eyes sparkling in the light of the breaking dawn, disarmingly, magically smiling.

"So are you," he said, once he'd found his voice again. "What are you doing?"

"Watering the garden. Out here we have to make use of every bit of moisture we can get." She shook another olive tree as she spoke, and ducked away from the ensuing sprinkle.

"Why don't you just let the dew fall on its own?"

"No, it'll disappear when the sun rises. You must catch it at the right time, when the air is warm enough for the dewdrops to form, but not too warm that they melt away." She glanced at him. "Want to help?"

Geta was no gardener, but he had to admit this was rather sensible. He shrugged, put the dagger back into its sheath, and joined Daphne. Grabbing hold of one of the olive trees, he gave it a vigorous shake, bringing down a shower of not just dewdrops but old leaves and dead branches as well. Daphne laughed.

"Not so hard," she admonished. "Stay away from the branch, or all of the dew will fall on you and none on the garden. And shake it gently, like shaking ripe fruits from a tree." She gave the tree a firm but quick shake. Geta, who had never shaken ripe fruits from any tree, followed suit. "That's the way."

Nodding in approval, Daphne plucked the leaves out of his curls and brushed the dew from his forehead, her gesture natural as if she wasn't even thinking about it. Only when her fingers grazed his skin and their eyes met that she seemed to realize what she was doing. She dropped her hand and turned away, coloring slightly.

As they went down the garden path side by side, working together in silence, Geta kept glancing at Daphne. Something about her was different. It wasn't just because she had left off her usual covering and was showing a body that was unexpectedly lithe and elegant, with long, slender limbs and rounded shoulders. It wasn't just because her hair had caught on a branch and come loose from its usual tight knot, and was now framing her face like a soft cloud. It wasn't just because she, too, was stealing glances at him, her eyes no longer staring and critical, but with a curiosity that matched his own, and a gentleness that made him think of peaceful green hills and calming rivers again. It wasn't just because the rising sun was making her skin glow, reminding him of the rosy-fingered Aurora in her robe of saffron, hastening from the streams of Okeanos to bring light to mortals and immortals, just like Homer had written.

Confound the woman. Why did she always turn him into a bloody poet?

It wasn't because of any of those things, or perhaps it was because of all of them. He'd thought her just a simple peasant woman, but perhaps there was something confounding in her after all. She was like these rocky hills where she grew up, harsh and forbidding at first glance, but soft and nurturing to those who knew what to search for and where to look.

He didn't get any sparring done that morning, but he didn't mind.

The heat continued relentlessly and showed no sign of letting up. One evening, Geta could take it no more and went into the garden, intending to have a swim in the cistern.

"Where are you going?" Daphne asked, looking up from the wax tablet.

He told her. She looked appalled.

"You can't!" she exclaimed. "We must save the water for cooking and drinking. Not to mention that your lungs cannot stand being in such cold, they may get inflamed again—"

"Fine, fine," he said impatiently. He'd learned that when Daphne put her healer's voice on, it was best not to argue with her. "I only want a bath, is that too much to ask?" Daphne had never given him more than a basin of water, which sufficed for washing but not enough to cool him down in this infernal heat. He didn't know how Daphne could stand it. Even in her layers and layers of linen, she always appeared cool and fresh.

Now she got to her feet. "All right, I suppose you can have a bath. But inside, mind."

She dragged into the hut a wooden washtub, just large enough for a grown man to sit in, and set it by the fire, where the embers were still glowing weakly after cooking their supper. Geta expected her to fill the tub and was greatly disappointed when she only set down two buckets.

"That's all?" he said glumly.

"You have to get used to it. We're on the edge of a desert, you know," said Daphne sternly, as she set a pot of water on the fire and added a handful of dried herb to it. The water boiled, and the herb gave off a pleasant scent, so clean and fresh that it seemed to chase the heat away despite the boiling pot. With a start, Geta recognized it as the scent he'd always smelled on Daphne.

"What's that?" he asked.

"Soapwort," said Daphne, pouring the fragrant concoction into one of the buckets, and the water immediately started to froth. "We have no bath oils here, so this is what we use for washing." She put down a washcloth and a towel on a stool next to the tub. "Right. That's everything you need. I'll just be outside if you want anything." She picked up her wax tablet and a lamp and went out, tactfully closing the door behind her.

Geta had bathed this way while on active campaign with the army, so despite his grumbling, he managed to acquit himself quite well. Sitting in the tub, he used a dipper to pour the soapwort water over his body then scrubbed himself with the washcloth as best he could. There wasn't nearly as much water as he'd like, but it felt good to get thoroughly clean for the first time in months. As he lifted his arm to reach behind his back, however, a groan escaped him. The wound on his shoulder was still sore, the skin and muscles stiffened despite his exercising, and he couldn't reach far enough behind him to scrub his own back.

After a few tries and grumbles of frustration, he gave up and called out for Daphne.

She came in at once. "What do you need?"

"My back—I can't reach—" he mumbled, awkwardly covering himself with the towel. It was ridiculous. He'd never had any qualms about appearing naked in front of others—indeed, in his youth in Rome, he had attended many feasts and orgies where nudity was the accepted uniform—so why was he suddenly uncomfortable about being unclothed in front of this woman?

Daphne seemed to have noticed his discomfort. "Don't worry," she said, chuckling. "It's nothing that I haven't seen. Who do you think washed you while you were delirious with fever?" Her lighthearted tone did nothing to set him at ease.

She took the washcloth he put on the edge of the tub and started scrubbing his back in vigorous, practiced movements. No maidenly blushing, no modest lowering of the eye. At such a complete lack of bashfulness, Geta's own embarrassment subsided.

"You're probably used to a more civilized form of bathing than this, I imagine," she said.

Geta thought of the bathhouses of Rome with their many rooms and pools of various temperatures, with their masseuses and strigil-wielding slaves. One of those had been built in his name just shortly before he left for the East. They had their uses, but like most things in Rome, they were also temples to hedonism and excesses, where people came to do much more than just bathing. He wouldn't exactly call them civilized.

"I'm in the army," now he said with a shrug. "We're lucky if we get to bathe at all."

"Where were you before Parthia?" Daphne asked. Then she quickly added, "I didn't mean to pry. You don't have to tell me."

"It's all right." He was sick of keeping secrets. "I was in Germania. And Caledonia before that."

The washcloth stopped moving on his back. "You were in Caledonia?" Daphne asked, her voice hushed.

��He cursed under his breath. She probably had an acquaintance in the army. A brother, a sweetheart, or a husband? But if she did, it would have been—what, eight, ten years ago? Her acquaintance would likely have been in the auxiliaries, one of the troops offered up by King Abgar VIII to prove his loyalty to Rome, back when Osroene still had some form of independence and was not yet a province.

To confirm his suspicion, Daphne continued, "Do you know anyone from the auxiliary forces there at all?"

"No, not really," replied Geta. It was the truth. His father had dragged him and his brother to Caledonia to take them away from the decadence of Rome, in the hope of mending their dissolute ways and teaching them how to rule. It hadn't worked. Even when Geta became sole Emperor, though he tried to mingle with the troops and marched and ate and fought with them, he could never be one of them. The soldiers always viewed him with a certain suspicion, more fear than respect. He didn't mind, as long as they didn't question his authority. And that was with the legions. The provincial auxiliaries were essentially strangers to him.

"Why do you ask?" now he said to Daphne.

"My husband," she replied in an expressionless voice.

Her husband? Geta thought of the tunics he'd been wearing, of her strange behavior the day he first got out of bed. That explained it. He found himself wondering what the man had been like. Must have been a good one, since Daphne obviously still mourned him.

The thought of mourning reminded Geta of his predicament. Who would mourn him? Had they given him up for dead and mourned already? Had he been replaced? No, he couldn't believe that. At least his mother would never, not until she saw his body with her own eyes. Unless the army informed her of his disappearance, she may believe that he was still Edessa. He hoped it was true. Knowing his mother, she would've torn the Earth apart searching for him if she'd known. Macrinus must be keeping the truth from her. He felt the old anger flaring up again. What in Hades was Macrinus doing, sitting about twiddling his thumbs? Why hadn't they found him by now?

"He was killed in Caledonia, eight years ago," Daphne continued in that same flat tone, though he thought he could detect a trembling touch in it, like she was trying not to cry. "Or so I was told."

"We lost a lot of men in Caledonia," he said, as if that could be any comfort. The Caledonian campaign had been a success at first, but then the barbarian tribes, with their primitive but devastating tactics, had driven the Roman force behind Hadrian's Walls. Then his father had died in Eboracum, and Geta had no longer seen a point in pursuing the tribes. He'd had more pressing matters, such as his brother's presence and growing ambition like a thorn in his side. He'd hurried back to Rome to secure his power, leaving the Caledonians to their cold and misty land, thinking nothing about the lives that had been wasted in a campaign that led nowhere.

"I never find out what happened to him," Daphne said. She began scrubbing again, so hard it almost hurt him, but he made no sound. "Just a message saying he was killed. I don't even know when he was killed, or how long that message took to reach me. That's why I asked. I was hoping you could tell me something. Anything."

He didn't turn around, but he could hear the grief, despair, and resignation in her voice, and feel a strange little twinge in his heart. When his father decided to lift the ban on marriage for soldiers, Geta had gone along with it, believing it would raise morale and make them more popular with the army. But now, listening to Daphne, he was no longer so certain. Let the men have their fun with the camp followers and the local women of the garrison towns, but allow them to marry and leave behind wives to grieve and wonder for the rest of their lives like this? It was cruel.

Daphne dropped her hand on the edge of the tub. It looked small, vulnerable, like the wing of a wounded bird, so unlike the strong, capable hands he was used to. Without thinking, he reached out and placed his hand on top, his fingers fitting perfectly in the dips between hers.

She took in a small, sharp breath. Her hand flexed gently under his, as if she was trying to feel its grasp more thoroughly. Before he could stop himself, he was caressing her hand, running his fingertips over her knuckles. Something smooth—her forehead, or perhaps her cheek—came to rest on his bare back, and a slow, shuddering breath, like a quiet, choked-back sob, escaped her lips, blowing hot against his skin.

His heart thumped. She had never sat so close to him, had never touched him in any way other than medically; yet here she was, practically embracing him, her hand in his, her face pressed into his back, her hair tickling his shoulder blades, and that earthy, enchanting fragrant was everywhere, until he didn't know if it was coming from him or her or the very air around them.

One thing he did know: he was becoming aroused. And it wasn't the purely physical type of arousal he usually got upon waking up in the morning. He was aroused by her.

Even though she was behind and could not see him, he froze, not daring to move a muscle lest the traitorous towel chose that moment to shift and reveal his condition to her.

Hades. What was the matter with him? He, who used to think nothing about pulling a serving girl out of a banquet and having his way with her in the anteroom before sauntering back in time for the second course, he who had had camp followers fighting for a place in his tent at night while on campaign, was now blushing and squirming in the presence of a woman, like a boy still wearing a bulla around his neck!

Daphne seemed to have noticed his tension, for she lifted her head from his back—much to his regret—and leaned down. "Is everything all right?" she asked with professional concern. "The water's not too cold for you, is it?"

Her mouth was right by his ear, close enough to touch. Hades. This was more than a man could endure.

"Everything's fine," he said, snatching the washcloth from her. "I can manage now."

She sat back, clearly put out by his brusque tone, but when he started scrubbing his chest with rather too much force than necessary, she only said, "Careful, or you may tear your wounds open again," in the same wry tone she often used with him, and went out again, taking along the pot of leftover soapwort.

A bulla is an amulet worn by Ancient Roman boys before they came of age.

Soldiers in Ancient Rome were forbidden to marry while on active duty (though this didn't apply to centurions and higher-ups), but Severus Septimius did lift that ban in 197.

Taglist: @sheneedsrocknroll92, @justnobodynothingmore, @barcelonaloverf1life, @myotakureprieve, @flawssy-227, @itsrainingbisexualfrogs (if you want to be tagged or removed, let me know!)

[obscurecharactershowdown]

Semi-Finals

[image ID: the first image is of Stag Malinay, a young man with auburn hair and yellow-orange eyes. he's wearing a black shirt, black pants, and black, lace up knee high boots with belt straps. he's sitting on a red and gold throne. beside him is written his name, "Stag Malinay." the second image is of Granger, a girl with green eyes and short, wavy or curly black hair. in her hair is a red hat or ribbon. she's wearing a black turtleneck sweater, blue overalls, and a green coat. end ID]

Stag Malinay

Very self confident, bisexual manwhore with a troubled background he doesn't like to talk about. Said past is the cause of all his anger issues which he regularly takes out on the MC, initially. They become friends later, so it's okay. Also, he has a Tumblr account! @stagmalinay, run by me, the author. Can't really get more obscure than only selling a few copies of my entire book so far. [additional propaganda 1] [additional propaganda 2] [additional propaganda 3] [additional propaganda 4] [additional propaganda 5] [additional propaganda 6] [additional propaganda 7] [additional propaganda 8] [additional propaganda 9][additional propaganda 10] [additional propaganda 11] [additional propaganda 12]

Granger

so granger is the main character of the indie game "NeverHome" Chapter one, which is only $1 on Steam, is called NeverHome: Hall of Apathy. if ur a fan of young protags being put in RPG maker horror games, then this is the game for you!! so granger is just that… she wakes up to find herself in a strange, hostile world. she, along with the friends she makes, must solve the various puzzles before them while creatures are out to kill them… and along the way they can uncover the secrets of these never ending halls… her dynamics with the cast is also super fun… each character gets their moment or moments with granger. and what's so cute is that there's unique art for each pair that highlights the fact you cant get through these halls alone!! she also has her own theme song!! here!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_vwtmIj5cw it's called cyclical tragedy AND HERE IS AN ANALYSIS OF THE THEME!! MUSIC THEORY!!! written by my good friend @HIEMIOLA "cyclical tragedy" embodies the protagonist, granger, through the music theory behind the track and ties itself back into the main track as well. to begin with an overview of the track, the key is D minor and hte time signature is 3/4. the piece begins with a broken minor third starting from the tonic. that is, it begins on the main note and moves along the main chord, D to F. the next set of notes are C to E, which is shifted down a step. the phrase repeats again, this time D to F, then G to E, which is an inverse movement from the original sequence. even in this first part, we could tell that the protagonist begins from square 1 with a simple pattern, then tries it again when it works. however, the inverse breaks that expectation of repetition, thus showing the diverse variations of solutions she comes up with using just the tools she has (the two notes moving in thirds). just like the game, she is given a handful of objects as well as a knife to defend herself and solve the mysteries of the world she exists in. with her creative uses of the items given to her, she continues on her way through the plot. we will keep moving. the melody begins. true to the title of the track, the melody cycles around the same beginning note, D, that she always returns to at her square 1. this is a nod to the save states she is allowed to keep to make sure that we the players don't lose the game, but it also references the health bar that appears as a circle around her avatar. the melody, mapped out, is also moving in an up-down wave movement across the sheet music. granger is creative with the knife she has and the quest items she obtains throughout the story, but she is not entirely reckless. rather, she knows when it is time to return to the safe rooms to rest. to time her returns requires skill because she must run to cover without being caught by varying her path so the enemies don't corner her as she tries to return to the room. most of the time, she is successful, shown through the consistent return to the beginning note. let's keep going. i would like to turn your attention to the main theme briefly. in the bass notes, you can hear arpeggios and outlined chords. this makes up the bulk of the accompaniment in the main game theme. [mod note: the rest of the essay, and some more propaganda, is continued under a cut because tumblr will not process more text than this in an indent. sorry to split it up, please continue below for the rest of the essay and additional propaganda!]

the third variation of granger's theme also has arpeggiated chords in the accompaniment while the melody features broken chords. at this stage, the pattern switches to eigth notes instead of the quarter notes at first. with greater movement and heightened senses, she runs throughout world and befriends other people, thus interacting further with the environment. while she isn't exactly someone we would call open, she is respectful to the people she first meets and has no problems with asking them for help when she needs it. because of her openness to working together, she speeds up her progress by asking for aid at obstacles that would be too difficult for her to overcome on her own, such as asking a teammate to break things, move things, or reach into smaller holes. fusing the main theme elements with her own theme marks this step as the inciting incident that sets her on the path to escape from this world. we'll continue.

continuing the same part, we hear some secondary fifths. i'm not entirely sure if this is what you call it, but it is a nod to the parallel key, D major. depending on what theory class you take, this could also be considered the other half of the key. i dont know how else to describe it, but i digress. these are glimpses to different dialogue options she could take, glimpses to a different key or a different ending. because this game only has one chapter ending so far, we are unsure of what other paths granger will end up in; we only know that there are certainly other endings she will experience, only to begin the cycle again when the save state is loaded for players to reach another ending. both A major and G major are chords that signify different choices that may lead her elsewhere only for her to return back to the tonic or main note, D. despite this, she keeps going, as will we.

at the midpoint of the track, we see a quick shift in patterns. instead of upward leaps in the notes, the melody falls in stepwise motion. true to the plot, this is another turning point of the game when she is forced to make a choice: continue or stop. after facing the spoiler event, her once determined personality is challenged as she struggles to keep herself and her team together. despite being the headstrong protagonist who spearheaded solutions, even now she finds herself doubting and taking smaller steps, smaller risks.

even after all of this, she rises to the challenge as the melody returns to its beginning sequence. true to a protagonist she gets up again despite the events that transpired and keeps her team moving in their lowest points. the thirds return as she finds more objects to solve more puzzles to open more rooms to save more friends. this repeating part of the track only solidifies her resolve as the piece ends with a broken chord in the main key, her key, of D minor. despite everything that transpired, she stayed true to herself."

the game is also so, so charming with the art, music, and story made by the same person… its so clearly loved and full of passion!! i love listening to the game's ost on occassion!! since it's all on youtube!

ok one last thing thing!! on may 8th, the game hit 100 downloads (on both steam and itch.io). you can see the creator of the game celebrate that with this lovely drawing of granger: https://twitter.com/NeverHome_Game/status/1655761270694633472

so at most, only a bit over 100 people have played the game… id like to say that makes it obscure!!

anyways granger and neverhome!! we love to see our protagonists put in horrific situations and isn't she super cute with a lil bow on her head? she is my daughter…

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[the-hufflepuffle]

God of War as Quotes from my DnD Group Pt. 2

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Modi: swing swang

Magni: that's what balls do

Thrud: that's why there's a sack to contain them

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Baldur: yes daddy heimdal

Heimdal: can we not?

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Baldur: this mental illness was a gift from my mother!

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Thor: it's like the holiest place kn camp and it's like "time to watch incest (House of the Dragon)"

Heimdal: you are making it very hard to be cooperative...

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Atreus: you know I love you right?

Thrud: I'm glad your dog died.

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Kratos: I've killed you before and I'll kill you again

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Atreus: thank you Musepel (Czech), you beautiful language, you make me want to kill myself

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Freyr: alright! Let's go, getting jobs done! We're the do it siblings!

Freya: Freyr...we watched game of thrones. Id really rather we **not** be the do it siblings.

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Odin: I'm about to start a war that'll fix the economy

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Sindri: Resume the position

Atreus: isn't it "assume" the position?

Sindri: no because I'm already in the position: PAIN

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Baldur: * Draws Thor giving “decent” shoulders in his style*

Thor: What the Hell?!?

Baldur: Ok you draw me!

Thor: * Shows him cup hand *

Baldur: * Removes cup and reveals extremely sweaty hand *

Thor: * Immediately grabs Baldur’s arm *

Baldur: * Screams *

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Freyr: ya like jazz?

Odin: no you mongral

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Heimdal: what the fuck Thor you can't be negative Jew, what do you do take other people's foreskin?

Baldur: Thor...where's my foreskin...

Sif: Sometimes I don't like being friends with you people

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[navree]

God that Cleopatra show is so fucking stupid. And the fact their saying its a documentary! Wtf

I haven't watched it and I have no desire to because it's everything I've been railing against for years (she's part of the ptolemaic dynasty! they're literally known for having a christmas wreath for a family tree! she's the culmination of like three hundred years of white macedonians fucking their siblings and their kids over and over again! this woman could be played by kristen stewart and it would be accurate casting!) and I would just get mad. The attempts to try and paint this as in any way historically accurate are especially galling, considering the legacy of the Ptolemies. They came down from Macedonia and literally conquered Egypt for themselves, refused to engage with the culture or the language or the people in any meaningful way until Cleopatra, who then proceeded to miscalculate so spectacularly that she ended up being the catalyst for Egypt becoming a colony for the next two thousand years. The Ptolemies were a bunch of white partiers high flying their way through Egypt and not caring about maintaining the country in any meaningful way and were directly responsible for its waning power in the Mediterranean (Auletes literally needed to beg for Rome's intervention to get his throne back, my God the Ptolemies were pathetic), and to try and heap all that fail-legacy on the idea that Cleopatra was "culturally black" (literally what the fuck does that mean) is honestly a bit insulting. Talk about Cleopatra if you want, but just admit that it's because she's just Egypt's most famous white lady and stop trying to justify it with some idea that she was actually even remotely ethnically Egyptian at all when she certainly wasn't and it's incredibly provable.

And I honestly want Hollywood and the entertainment industry to ask themselves: why do they keep wanting to tell Cleopatra's story? What's the point? Every time anyone tries, it's always framed around two things: her relationship with Julius Caesar and the tumult of that time period, or her relationship with Mark Antony and the tumult of that time period. And in both cases, Egypt and Cleopatra are on the periphery of that story, with the core drama centered around the Romans and their dynamics (Caesar and the Ides and Brutus and Cassius, or Antony and Octavian and the last war of the Republic). That's where the meat is, and Cleopatra's function is to just be a love interest and then die. There's a reason why I vastly prefer reading about Actium in an Antony or Octavian biography, rather than a Cleopatra one; they're the ones with the biggest stakes in the game and whose decisions are shaping the outcome. Octavian didn't even care about Cleopatra, not really, he wanted Egypt for the money but his primarily goal was to get Antony out of the way and assume sole power for himself. There are stories that can center Cleopatra, but those mostly involve her early reign, like her and her father's flight to Rome or her succession issues with her siblings, and we really don't see a lot of media that wants to engage with that at all. So pop culture is focused on Cleopatra as a side character, and I think it's incredibly telling that even then, they still took the white lady and ran with her the most when they refuse to do anything actually interesting, as opposed to looking at stories about actual Egyptians.

There are so many interesting Egyptian figures I wish were getting more press, Egyptians who were actually, you know, ethnically Egyptian. I'm incredibly partial to the late Eighteenth Dynasty and early Nineteeneth Dynasty myself (I have a fondness for the Amarna period in particular) and I would kill to see anything from that, or about Hatshepsut, and I'll even allow for a skipping of Tutankhamun given how done to death he's been. These people all have incredibly fascinating stories where they're, you know, the central figures, where they affect the world and where their actions have weight and consequences. Tell those stories, adapt that history, rather than trying to shove some ridiculous narrative that a woman who owned slaves and who is, I'm sorry, most famous for fucking up, is actually peak representation for your modern American understanding of race and ethnicity. I'd kill for more documentaries about Ancient Egypt and some of these royals, give me them and enough with fucking Cleopatra.

[swaggypsyduck]

i feel like you like reading books 📚

I DO!!! i looooooooove reading books. which is funny bc i have dyslexia. but that never stopped me lololol.

im also a very fast reader especially if im hooked. ill finish 100k+ word books and fanfics in a day. like ill go on tiktok for 20mins get bored and go read. i read when i eat, before i sleep, in study breaks, on transit (even tho it makes me sick), on road trips (even tho that also makes me sick), and i buy a special book before i go on any plane and i always finish the book on the flight. if i find a movie or show is from a book id rather read the book bc then i can control the pace in my head (exceptions being game of thrones bc i watched the show w my friends but asoiaf is amazing). ill read anything too: novels, novellas, short stories, comics, manga, manhua, webtoons, and anything in between.

[femgirlfriend]

straight girls will talk to you about the most traumatizing relationships you've ever heard that they experienced unprompted like it's nothing and i don't know how to tell them i genuinely don't want to know because it will keep me up at night id rather them tell me something else. they think it's hot gossip everyone wants to know i think it's an episode of game of thrones i didn't click to watch

[limerenticallyclowningmiced]

id rather have someone tape my eyes so i can never blink and force me to watch the entire series of Game of Thrones without any breaks than to feel jealousy again

[agatharioscoven]

This. This is exactly what I meant with my original post!

It's so amazing that people now have this media they can look at to help them understand themselves.

I look back at the media I had and wish I had something like this.

I had Buffy, which was great till Tara was killed by a stray bullet.

I had Imagine Me and You, which yes ends happy, but the struggle to accept who one of them is was very real and hard to watch when I was younger.

I had Grey's which constantly screws over their lesbian rep, even carrying over into Station 19.

I had Glee, which was just a whole other bag of worms that no one wants to unpack.

I had The 100, which did exactly what Buffy did and killed a lesbian off with a stray bullet after spending the night with her girlfriend.

Willow is so different an amazing because Jade and Kit know who they are. They know they love the other the only thing stopping them in the beginning is the roles they have to play and probably the idea of 'id rather have her in my life as a friend, than lose her'

No one questions them.

No one tells them they can't love each other.

Kit and Jade are comfortable with who they are and it's refreshing to see that.

It's refreshing to see them both admit they love each other and neither of them end up dead.

As much as I wish so hard I had this rep when I was 10, 13, 15, I am so so grateful that kids get this rep now.

I'm so glad that they can look at the show and connect with these characters and see that it's not bad or wrong to feel how they feel.

I hope beyond anything we get a season 2, because this kinda rep is so needed, and yes the rep is getting better but for kids like me that prefer the fantasy, it seems it's all very Game of Thrones still.

It's still seen as wrong and bad in fantasy for the most part.

Willow is a step in the right direction and I hope we can make enough noise about it that Disney can't say there was no interest for a show with a story like Kit and Jade.

Because they is interest!

I wish I had Kit Tanthalos as a child. I wish I could have sat on the sofa with my mum and dad and watched as a Disney princess was the one doing the rescuing.

I wish we could have watched together as Kit and Jade navigated their relationship from best friends in love with each other but scared to say anything, to admitting to each other how they feel.

I wish we could have seen people notice the relationship between Kit and Jade without telling either of them that it was wrong, or not allowed.

Boorman clocks that there’s something going on in episode one, and all he does is give a little smile, raises an eyebrow and nods towards Jade and Kit sleeping close to each other, he never says that its wrong or that it wouldn’t ever work.

Elora give’s Kit advice on what to say to Jade, she calls Kit out on how she’s behaving, because everyone can see that there is something to Jade and Kit, but again, Elora never says its wrong, she encourages Kit to be brave, to talk to Jade about how she feels.

Willow calls Jade out on the real reason she’s willing to throw herself off a cliff. It’s not for Tir Asleen or Sorsha, it’s because she loves Kit, and she protects Kit. He says it with a smile on his face, and yeah Jade looks embarrassed to be called out on her feelings at first, but knowing there’s no negative impact coming, she embraces it.

So yeah, I wish I had Kit Tanthalos as a child. Because I could have seen myself on my screen so much sooner than I did.

Any media I had as a child that showed love between two women, was either in the light of its wrong and they had to hide who they were, or one or both of them ended up being killed in the end.

I am so so happy right now that little kids can watch Willow (2022) and see themselves on the screen, in a positive light as well.

Thank you for giving us Kit Tanthalos, and Jade Claymore, and letting them be in love and it not be shown as something they have to hide from anyone.

[silmarilsarentnutritious]

If Winds of Winter ever does come out it better go in a totally different direction from all this bcs it just turned into sequence after sequence and episode after episode of ‘dear god please don’t give in to the temptation to ruin this perfectly good character’ ‘oh welp fuck. they did it anyways. cool’

[awlwren-writes]

CorNyx kiss #23 if you're up for it pls

Three months later...

Sorry for the delay. I hope you like it!

Nyx dared a quick glance at his watch in the relatively empty corridor he was speed walking through right now. If Cor was exactly where he should be, Nyx just might have enough time to catch him before he had to head back for the final briefing before the Glaive shipped out. If he hadn’t decided to take lunch with the King or step in to watch the new recruits or any of the myriad things he liked to do to keep his restlessness assuaged when he’d been trapped in the Citadel too long. Nyx hadn’t thought he’d have enough time to swing by and had told Cor not to expect him for lunch last night, so Cor would have no reason to stay in his office today, and though Nyx had tried to text him that he’d managed to wiggle some time free, his texts hadn’t gotten any replies just yet.

He slowed down to dodge a group of bureaucrats who were embroiled in some sort of urgent discussion and hardly even noticed the near miss. He checked his watch again and sped back up as soon as they turned the corridor. Burn the Citadel and its winding, echoing corridors anyway. Fill them with lava, even – maybe that might make them someplace he could run without everyone hearing it and going into a panic, which he’d then have to answer for and would take up even more of his time!

Maybe he could run into Dustin or Monica or someone else likely to know where Cor was and willing to tell him without too much maneuvering or bribery or prying and save him some time searching if Cor wasn’t in his office after all. It was a slim hope, unfortunately, only slightly more plausible than finding Cor the first place he looked. That was the problem with this route – it was the fastest from the entrance nearest the Perry, but it meant he was coming up the back way, which meant fewer friendlies who were high enough up to know that he could ask.

Letting himself into the officers’ floor of the Crownsguard central command required an ID badge, a code, and a scan, but thankfully, as a somewhat informal liaison between the Glaive and Guard, Nyx had access to those. The lieutenant who should have been managing the desk was turned around listening to some sort of report over their radio – probably a report on one of the events going on in the city today during Bahamut’s Games rather than anything official, if Nyx’s experience with this desk held true – so Nyx signed in and moved on without grabbing their attention like he technically should have. If they got chewed out for it, it was their own fault, and he didn’t have time to waste on it. It’s not like they were likely to know much more about Cor’s current location than Nyx did, after all.

The offices were buzzing with conversation, but Nyx didn’t see anyone he knew to ask. Someone brushed by him in a hurry, shrugging into their uniform jacket as they headed in the direction of the situation room and the exit closer to the Throne room. Neither option meant good things.

Nyx squinted after them, but didn’t have time to figure that out. It would be a good place to check next if he didn’t find Cor in his office, perhaps, but he didn’t have time to go to the Throne Room and back, and his clearance might not get him into the situation room if there was something actually developing. Hopefully Cor would be gathering information and putting it together in his office if he was going to be leading a briefing, if Nyx could catch him in time.

Nyx waded across an increasing flurry of activity, which all seemed to be heading in the same direction as Guard who nearly ran him over. It didn’t slow him down as much as he feared, though; the closer Nyx got to Cor’s office, the more people stood aside to let him pass by, which he acknowledged with quick nods of thanks. He hadn’t realized that many people here knew him, but it made a sort of sense that the ones physically closest to Cor were the ones who saw him most often and were the ones most likely to care about Cor’s wellbeing enough to help Nyx hurry. It was an unanticipated kindness. Nyx tried to catch names or at least ranks so he could commend them to Cor later, or do something nice to thank them himself.

Still, he could feel the clock ticking in the back of his brain, reminding him he had to make his way back through all this chaos when he left, which would cut into his time even more. He realized he’d almost started running as he turned the last corner before Cor’s office, so he forced himself to slow down.

Despite his stress, he couldn’t help but grin when he saw his goal in sight. Cor’s door was ajar, which meant he had either caught him in time, or Cor had been in such a rush he had somehow forgotten to secure his office. Or someone was taking advantage of the chaos to do some snooping, but Nyx knew where he’d place his money. Looks like his trip hadn’t been for nothing, at least.

Hope hastened his final steps, and he pushed open the door with a tentative smile. Sure enough, Cor was standing over his desk, staring down at a handful of reports like he could force them to make sense, his own jacket slung over his shoulders in preparation to leave. Nyx had caught him just in time.

It was amazing how much good actually seeing Cor did for him. Relief cut the tension in his shoulders, silencing even his mental count-down for now. Cor waved him in without even looking up, and an edge of mischief crept into Nyx’s smile. He had earned this treat, by the six and stars. He walked softly but steadily around the side of Cor’s desk, on his left side to preserve just a little bit of more cover, moving confidently enough Cor didn’t register anything about his path as odd until Nyx was most of the way around the desk.

By the time he did and glanced up, leaning back to get space to draw his sword if needed, Nyx’s momentum had brough him close enough he could grab Cor’s hands before he actually summoned anything and use that grip to lean forward and peck Cor on the lips. “I’m so glad I managed to catch you,” he grinned as he settled back on his heels, tightening his grip on Cor’s hands to emphasize the pun of “caught” before he released them. “I was able to squeeze a few extra minutes free after all and so I thought I’d s—”

He was cut off from the rest of his explanation by Cor fisting his hands in the shoulders of Nyx’s uniform jacket and staring at him, eyes just the slightest bit wider than usual, which might as well have been his jaw on the floor for Cor. “Nyx?” he asked, voice small and soft in contrast to the way his eyes were burning into Nyx.

Before Nyx could answer, he was being hauled in to an aggressive kiss, one of Cor’s hands dropping down to his waist to pull him as close as physically possible, the other coming up to grab the back of his head. Nyx barely registered the pain from the way Cor’s carelessly strong grip pulled on his hair, too swept away with the desperation in Cor’s kiss.

Nyx was panting for breath by the time Cor broke away, his own breath shaky and wet as he did his level best to kiss every square inch of Nyx’s face, which didn’t help either of their breathing situations. The emotion in each brief touch was enough to make Nyx feel like he was about to lose his feet, never mind his breath.

When he’d finally gotten enough oxygen to his brain to be able to think again and not just react, he soothed Cor with a hand along his cheek, pushing him back slightly so that they had room to talk. “It’s just a two-week rotation, Cor, it’s not that bad,” he murmured, not quite sure where this all was coming from.

Cor shook his head, words too much and too little for him at this point, and he dove back in to bury his head in Nyx’s shoulder, clutching him even closer. Nyx rode it out, purposefully not thinking about how late this was going to make him and how much trouble he was going to be in this whole deployment as a result; some things were worth a little extra KP and the worst shifts, even if his squad wouldn’t agree. Cor’s very uncharacteristic behavior had very firmly reordered Nyx’s priorities, and they could deal with it.

He stroked his hand along Cor’s back, the other playing with his short hair as he rocked them both slightly back and forth. His jacket was too thick and too well-warded, physically and magically, for him to be able to feel if Cor was actually crying or just trying to get his breathing under control, so he ignored that, too, focusing on what he could do and glaring at the door as if his magic could somehow close it from across the room. No one needed to be privy to this moment of weakness. No one.

Not that Nyx considered it weakness. But Cor would, at least here. And even if Cor had instinctively hidden himself in the shoulder further away from the door, where Nyx’s head blocked him a little, that didn’t do much to conceal that Cor was having some sort of emotional outburst, which would rock some of his subordinate’s minds if they could see. And so they shouldn’t.

But because it was Cor, and this was still the office, he didn’t take as long as Nyx would expect him to regain his composure, certainly not long enough if he were actually working through things and not just stuffing them down to deal with never. He took a deep breath, deliberate breath as a signal that he was switching modes, that this moment was over. Nyx wanted to stop him, make him sit a little longer and actually deal with this because clearly there was a larger issue here, but he respected that this was work and Cor needed some boundaries. And it wasn’t like Nyx would be here to help him process things the next few nights, either, if they did end up digging some up some ashes.

“What’s going on?” he asked, unable to let it completely go, as Cor rolled his shoulders back and took back some of his weight, hands flexing once before releasing their death grips as well. Cor didn’t answer him verbally, just brushed a kiss to the side of his neck, then another under his ear, then a final one on his cheekbone as he slowly straightened up. He spent another moment just looking at Nyx, emotions too complex for Nyx to start to sort out shadowing his eyes and face, before leaning forward and giving one more lingering kiss to Nyx’s forehead and finally stepping away.

Cor grabbed a print-out from his desk and shoved it into his hands, but found his words fast enough Nyx didn’t get to see much more than the picture of the Perry, covered in smoke, with official-looking people swarming all around. “Some idiot drove a car loaded with explosives down into the ramp to the garage. Idiot managed to swerve into a pylon and ended up doing more damage to the façade than anything actually structural, but he managed to catch a lot of the glaives who were leaving to grab lunch, and…” He trailed off as his words ran out again, the professional tone choked off at the end.

He didn’t need to finish, anyway; Nyx could connect the dots. He pulled Cor into a desperate hug of his own, then shoved himself back. They didn’t have time to indulge like this. “Let’s get those scourge-sons,” he hissed, meeting Cor’s own stare evenly.

Cor smirked back, no mirth in the expression as he settled into work mode. “Let’s.”

[the-fiction-witch]

Playing with your hair

REAL LIFE

COUPLE TBS X READER

RATING SMUT

I sat on the sofa flicking though the channels on the tv, the blanket around me tightly, our cat cosmos sat on the other half of the sofa, I picked up my big polar bear mug having the last few sweet drops of my cup of tea. The warm log burner flickering at my feet, the sky darkening outside. I wanted another cup but I glanced to the clock on the wall above the dinning table, Thomas will be home soon so I won't bother to make another cup Thomas will want a coffee or a tea when he gets home and he'll likely be home soon he was only going on a photoshoot today. 

I heard the sounds of his motorbike revving down the street, Cosmos jumped off the sofa and headed towards his usual perk on the windowsill looking out to the driveway watching for then Thomas' bike would return to the drive way, I heard the noise much longer and it suddenly stopped I smiled holding my mug closer as I heard the door open and cosmos started meowing "Y/n?" He called 

"Hi Thomas" I called back "Coffee?" 

"Ohh you are an angel" He smiled "Yes please"

"Coming right up" I smiled getting up and going to the kitchen while he got all his gear off in the hall "How was the shoot?" I asked 

"Alright, got some nice shots and such." he shrugs "How was your day angel?"

"I watched a whole game of thrones season"

"Awww, we both had a good day" 

"Yeah we did, Cosmos is still pissed at you by the way"

"You where the one that made me take him"

"Yes because I'm here all day and you go places, so if he's mad at you it's easier to deal with then him being mad at me"

"I know, I'm sorry cosmos. Mummy made me take you to the vet. I didn't want to mummy made me do it"

"Nope he's still pissed at you" I giggled 

"Just mad I'm the one who took him"

"And because you have what he doesn't"

"That's a good point" He says leaning on the kitchen door and I had a little bit of a heart attack "what?"

"What... what has happened to your hair?"

"Ohh they curled it for the shoot"

"Hu...."

"Is it okay? or do you want me to go wash my hair and put it back to normal?"

"No, I like it. You look cute" I smiled giving his cheek a kiss and handing him his coffee 

"Aww thank you angel" He smiled giving my lips a little kiss "what do i look like?"

"Like a pixie"

".... thanks?"

"I like pixies" 

"You are so mean to me sometimes" he sighed heading back to the living room with his coffee

"What! I like pixies!" I smiled 

"That doesn't mean you should call your boyfriend one" He sighed

"Would you rather I called you sexy?" I giggled following him and cuddling him from behind 

"I would" he smirked "Id rather you call me sexy all the time?"

"You are sexy all the time"

"Aww thank you angel, so do you like my hair?"

"Very much," I smiled tugging them along to the staircase and up to our bedroom, he smirked excitedly as I pushed him in our bed and then went around to my side and climbed in "movie time" I giggled

"Ooh... I thought we where gonna, have fun?"

"Maybe later' I smiled

"Alright angel, movie time" he smiled tucking the covers around us both and getting cosy cuddled up together as we picked a movie out on netflix, I smiled nuzzling into Thomas' chest as usual he smiled holding me close to him often giving my head kisses. I moved my hand up to his neck which didn't even attract his attention and as I did I moved my hand to gently play with the little locks on the edge of his hair, playing with the spring of his curls giggling all the while, "what are you up to?" He laughs noticing my giggles

"Playing with your hair"

He shot me a questionable look before he sighed and moved to lay on his back but still see the tv, with his head in my lap "go nuts"

"Yay! Thank you Thomas" I giggled sitting and winding my fingers around his curls, gently playing with his hair as we watched the movie cosmos wondered in and sat on the window sill a while later, until Thomas spoke up

"Oww" he complained as I had clearly moved to hard or something

"Sorry Thomas"

"Am I to take it you like my hair like this?"

"It's fun, and new"

"Is it now? Maybe... It's my turn for a little fun" he smirked giving my thighs some kisses

"Oh? What sort of fun?"

"You'll find out angel" he smirked moving to kneel infront of me giving my lips a gentle kiss, I happily kissed back my hands instantly migrating back to playing with his hair as we passionately kissed, he pulled back and bit his lip a little before moving the covers away from me, he knelt down and yanked me down the bed so my head was on the pillow making me giggle like crazy as he now sat between my legs he smirked at me as he began pressing kisses up my legs I giggled Innocently the higher he got till he moved my dress and began kissing my panties "this sort of fun what you want?" He asked

"Yes please"

"Alright angel" he winked pulling my panties off my legs with his teeth he pushed my thighs apart and moved close he attacked my clit with kisses and licks, making sure to kiss every inch that he could of me, he focused his attention in my clit, licking, kissing and sucking, as he pushed his two long fingers inside me gently and slowly finger fucking me in time with his kisses I gasped and groaned feeling the bubbles of pleasure it caused me, holding his hair and twisting my fingers around the curls like a 80's movie girl would around a phone cord playing with his hair all the time he kissed me, often tugging on it when I wanted him to go faster or slower, I knew I was getting close and so did he so he became more mercilous I tugged his hair often to make him slow but he ignored me, I tightened my thighs around his head and pulled his hair hard as I hit my orgasum, he smirked against me and let me ride it out before he sat up and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand "happy angel?"

"Very happy" I smirked grabbing his shirt and flipping us over so he laid on the bed he smirked immediately picking up in what I was doing to him, I undid his jeans and Agressively pulled them off his legs along with his boxers revealing his hard six inch cock, his hand went to the draw but I stopped him "not tonight" I smiled making him look very excited, as I moved over him and slowly slipped down till he was as deep inside me as possible

"Ughh fuck angel!" He groans twitching and grinding as he got settled "you hardly ever let me go raw, somebody must really like my hair" he smirked trying to kiss me but I pushed him back resting my hand on his stomach and bouncing moving my hips so he moved from just the very tip to his base over and over he held my neck pulling my head to rest on his, the other on my butt. I went quickly already feeling how close he was "fuck angel! I love when you ride me y/n!" He groans lost in his own world a little I smirked and pulled his head to nuzzle with my breasts which me was very happy to do so, and it let me play around with his hair some more until he moved up hard and grabbed my hips finishing as deep inside me as possible slightly leaving a hiki in my breasts where he didn't wanna moan "... I love you angel"

"Love you too Thomas" I giggled letting him pull out and we both collapsed on our own sides of the bed just as we did I heard a pop up on the tv netflix was asking if we where still watching

"Ohh fuck off netflix we were busy" he smirked turning the tv off "so? I take it you like when I curl my hair then?"

"Very much" i giggled nuzzling into his chest

"Good, because it takes an hour and a curling iron"

"..... Well that can fuck off." I said back

[calangkoh]

and im done. up next conqueror of shamballa!

okay honest opinions about this ending. i like that its imperfect. but i still wish it were happier. i get the feeling if they didnt have cos they would have ended this differently, because this ending seems to specifically set up the movie. but the movie is another work, even if its the real ending, and im here to talk about the series. so on its own, disregarding the movie, i think this ending is. ok. i dont think its BAD, but a deeply unsatisfying one that works for its themes and tone. its imperfect and bittersweet. i like that. id keep that. it implies theyll find a way back to each other one day, even if we have no idea how. but id still change it if i could because even if an unsatisfying ending is poetic (because Tragedies exist, where unhappy endings are poignant and meaningful) in relation to the series’ core themes, its still unsatisfying. the ending of cos is satisfying enough, because the brothers are together, but still rather sad.

but heres the thing. mangahood exists. metatextually, this ending is great (and that way i wouldnt say is a definitive way to judge a series, just a way to enhance what already exists within the worlds own universe). because theres a certain level of poetic justice and karma to have an AU that has a tragic ending with characters who suffered so much and didn’t get what they deserved in the end, and then the other work that was released after give you the same characters and give them everything the deserved. 

contrary to how much i try to judge the two series based on their own merits and not in comparison to one another, both fma 03 and fmab feel like two incomplete works that need each other to exist. an example i can think of to explain what i mean is how the two legend of zelda games, phantom hourglass and spirit tracks, are two similar games that seem to both be a half of a whole game, as youtuber King K describes. he says he cant judge them individually because it does them a disservice, as they both feel like incomplete works without the other. this applies even more appropriately to the fma series, because they are both adaptations of the same story and same world and characters. they both do something differently and they do that thing very well on their own. but to fully appreciate either, you need to watch both. because one will deliver something the other didnt. im sure there are people who will disagree with me, because a lot of people have said 03 isnt worth watching and fmab is definitive and all you need. i strongly disagree, of course. but my point is that the ending of 03 is infinitely better when you consider that the writers (which included arakawa’s own input) intended a totally different ending than the one arakawa had told them of in her manga, to specifically make their own story that felt different from fmab when they ultimately go on to make it. they did it on purpose with the manga and brotherhood’s ending in mind. so that people will be hungry for more and be satisfied and surprised by mangahood’s ending. so that brotherhood feels like a do over, a second life where everything works out better, where the universe is kinder and more ordered, for the characters we fell in love with in 03. 

anyway, the ending of 03 is not my ideal. but it works in its story, and i appreciate a special kind of beauty in it. and the ending of 03 could definitely be more structured. i wont deny the common criticisms that 03′s ending feels jumbled. even if it makes sense and has a powerful message after you take the time unjumbling it, it doesnt mean its not jumbled. and i really only feel its in the last couple episodes. i think everything the series set out to do was done great, and they just were so ambitious that the ending was TOO ambitious for them to tell cohesively. and thats okay, ultimately. the series is still good. its still amazing! if most people say “that series was so good, i just didnt like the ending (and likely prefer fmab as a result)” which from what ive seen and heard, is the most common opinion. and if the ending really is the only major complaint, i dont think that makes the whole work bad. tons of works have bad endings, and sometimes they break the series (like game of thrones, from what ive heard). but a “bad ending” doesnt define the whole series imo unless it truly retroactively destroys all it built up and stood for (like how i met your mother, in some sense to me). but 03 doest do that. its ending still adheres to its core themes and goals from the start. therefore, just because the ending isnt a crowd pleaser, even just because its a tad confusing, doesnt mean its bad.

that all being said. fma 03 is fantastic. i love this show. i think its one of the best and deserves to be praised as much as brotherhood. i give this show a 9.5/10 (-.5 points for the jumbled ending and some strange fillers cough episode 4 cough and other weird episodes) and my ratings dont really have any real rhyme or reason, so that doesnt REALLY mean anything other than “this show is good”

so yeah. this has been fun. thank you all who interacted with my liveblog! ill liveblog cos but idk if ill have a lot to say about it. and then ill liveblog brotherhood (in small doses, since i dont wanna take away from this being an 03 appreciation blog)!

[lgbtpolitics]

The way in which "not like the other girls" has been twisted against the girls who say something like that is especially insidious when you realise that, whilst misogyny and gender roles play a part in this, actually a huge amount of teenagers, boys and girls alike, go through a phase of thinking they are very special and unique.

Imo this is due in part to the way social norms are imposed to a very high level when you're a teen, and in part due to the fact that human consciousness and the infinity of this is actually quite hard to grasp even as an adult so it leads young kids to believe they are somehow cleverer than most with deeper thoughts etc.

Boys say stupid shit too like "Oh boys my age are all playing fortnite but I'm different because I play *ever so slightly different video game*" and I say fortnite specifically because as it became popular I specifically remember there being a huge amount of people desperate to declare how much they personally hated fortnite, same with game of thrones and star wars etc but when boys do it, its met with a bit of eye roll at most from adults (and a lot of adults actually participate in it tbh), whereas when a girl says "I'm not like other girls id rather watch glee than the x factor" suddenly she is single handedly responsible for upholding misogyny.

Like I'm not saying young girls don't enforce gender roles, or misogyny, or that you can't pull a teenager on insinuating all girls are vapid or whatever but when there is such an intense focus on young girls thinking they're dead special despite the fact that boys do it too, that's a problem.

[thebibliosphere]

Hey you said youve watched the Witcher right? I want to watch it, but im a sex-repulsed ace and if theres a lot of sex scenes id love to know in advance so i can decide if its worth it or not.

There are sex scenes, but not as many as say, Game of Thrones, and certainly not as explicit. They often either fade to black or pan away, sometimes to rather goofy and (seemingly intentional) comedic value.

I think it would be more accurate to say there’s gratuitous nudity in the show, particularly regarding Yen. But I seem to recall most of the sex scenes start out with some heavy kissing then either cut away or fade to the next scene. I could be wrong though so someone correct me if I am. 

I’ll put some of the scenes under a cut in case you (or anyone else) wants to read about them and prepare for them. If I had access to my Netflix right now I’d try and find you time stamps for skipping, but alas, ETD is using my account in the other room. Needless to say, spoilers!

There’s an intimate scene with Yen and someone else near the start. I don’t consider it too explicit, but some people might. It’s very slow and sensual and we don’t see any genitals (and never really do iirc, tits and bums yes, but no frontal shots)

There’s a scene where Geralt is shown talking to a sex worker in bed, but we don’t see anything beyond some brief nudity and her trying to figure out all his scars.

Lots of Henry Cavil sitting in bathtubs looking steamy. Literally, those baths look amazing and I am jealous.

There’s a magical floating orgy scene, that is clearly meant to be irresistible, and Geralt just walks through it like “hi, immune to magic, what's up, so my friend is dying and I need a mage, can you maybe stop the orgy for a bit and heal him y/n?”

And the first time Yen and Geralt get together it’s just kind of, weirdly funny and frantic and the camera spends a lot of time panned away to catch the comedic reaction of others who are both relieved these assholes aren’t dead, but also really guys, really...

Tbh there’s a scene with Yen that’s not at all sexual, but it fucked me up because she’s basically getting a magical hysterectomy and they don’t hold back on showing you the procedure. Like I’d yeet my uterus without a second thought if I could but oooh boy, was not prepared to see that.

[bitchynaruto]

what’s one particular fanbase/creator/media that you have grown ridiculously wary about after being involved with it? like stupidly ridiculous? cus... a bitch can’t lie, this looming threat of a game of thrones prequel is taking me back to 2014 when i woke up daily just to lament and shake with anger over both grrm’s writing and his fans. it’s loser behavior i know but for the next couple of years i avoided everything i could about that franchise & i’ve accepted i cannot escape it anymore 🗿

OOOO THIS IS A FUN QUESTION! honestly, game of thrones is a good pick. for me it’d have to be anything created by disney, but specifically under the star wars name. i cannot tell you how enamored and in love with star wars ive been since i was a kid, and literally the sequel trilogy, while i was super excited for in ep. 7, is the worst thing ever. worse than the prequels imo. anything disney has made for star wars is lukewarm at best, disregarding the mandalorian and rogue one and star wars rebels, or just hot shit at best (sequel trilogy, han solo movie). its sad but the content pre disney, while not the most cohesive bc the starwars lucasfilms era of the expanded universe was huge and not always stellar, felt like it was star wars. idk. its sad

on a more general note, f*ndom in general is just something ive become ridiculously wary with as a whole. ao3 is a garbage site, but the site with the most traction. a lot of f*ndom praises white cishet voices over lgbt poc, and you can tell by the works that are popular mostly being racist, abusive, toxic, or downright illegal. i dont casually scroll through ao3—i only read fics that are recommended to me by people i trust because you never know what youre clicking on, even with the supposed ‘warnings’. if there was another website that had such a good formatting for fic while still having morals and boundaries, i would move to that website. altho tbh, once im finished with fuck konoha series, i probably wont be focusing on producing fanfic anymore and just focus on my original works.

also to add on for the general stuff, anything netflix produces i am like.. just not that interested anymore. id rather rewatch completed shows i love than start something new in case i get invested in it and it gets cancelled. video games, as a whole, are something im wary about too because of companys releasing unfinished games with the promise of updates or dlc to fill in the world. ive only played like 3 new games counting from 2019-2021 (animal crossing, star wars: fallen order, the outer worlds—which i still havent finished but havent had time to play) while replaying all my old games i still have saved. hollywood movies feel so dry to me rn bc theyre all the same, like i feel like ive watched these movies before, these characters, etc.

this makes me sound super picky but , like, i am! i only have limited amounts of time when not at school, work, or doing household chores/responsibilities and its like.. theres just not a lot of good media rn that im seeing that catches my attention the way it used to like 3-5 years ago. idk if its adhd, the stress of the pandemic, therapy teaching me not to distract myself with engorging on media, or the fact im getting older or what but like.... theres just not a lot of stuff out rn that im willing to put in my time for and its kind of a bummer