#kinda like Marius honestly

[faerywhimsy]

No seriously, saying “uhm, actually” to a teacher feels like a very Marius thing to do.

OMG it totally does.

"Uhm, actually, did you know...?"

It's 2 hours after the lecture, and the teacher is standing in front of an incredibly polite, well dressed student of about forty. 'Student' seems the wrong word because, in the last 120 minutes, Marius (the teacher had been counting and, oh yes, Marius de Romanus first properly introduced himself) has given him a monologue beyond the abilities of Hamlet, detailing each and every point on Roman history and culture he just incorrectly instructed his students on.

No amount of pointedly looking down at his watch seemed to be getting the message across that the teacher hadn't actually signed on to be the student of his own class tonight. Maybe, just maybe, he has somewhere else to be.

Meanwhile, Daniel and Armand are sitting not too far from here, well within earshot, alternately cackling at and mooning over their old, steady Roman.

"Thank you for your time. I hope to see some adjustments made in your syllabus when I attend again next week."

[luna-the-cretar]

I really wanna write a Jericho and Lethica oneshot—and I’m going to—but I have come to the realization that Jericho’s dialogue is going to give me a lot of issues for the same reason Gricko’s dialogue gives me issues.

I know the accent. I know the voice. I can hear it loud and clear in my head. The issue is that I just. DONT KNOW HOW TO FUCKING TYPE OUT HIS ACCENT.

I mean, Gawrsh is easy enough—thanks to Dreamlight Valley and typing out Goofy’s accent—but how the fuck am I supposed to type out Pertty? Like that? Or like Perty? Neither of them look right.

[plsleafmelon]

THE NEW PV FOR TOT GOT ME AJDUIDJWKSJSJSNA WHAT THE FUCK WHY IS ROSA SO PRETTY WHY IS SHE SO PRETTY OH MY GOD ROSA MARRY ME

[theoxenfree]

OF FLESH SIN

vampire priest x reader | 2.6k | 18+

you're the child of a monastery groundskeeper and come to find out that one of the senior clergy, father marius, was brutally maimed in his chambers overnight. you're approached by the monastery's new recruit: father shaw; who claims he had witnessed the scene of the crime and invites you to his chambers to tell the tale.

warnings; dark content bc of descriptions of gore and violence towards the end, obsessive behaviors, theological themes, probs inaccurate representation of monastery life lmao, outdated + deragatory mention of psychiatric care to fit the narrative, very brief mention of animal death, classism (mc getting shit on for being poor and coming from an "uneducated" family), kinda honestly cheesy if you think about it, roughly proofread, vampires are monsters y'all—that's the only way I write them

shouldn't have to say it, but: none of this is indicative of my personal viewpoints. it's just fiction, folks.

second prompt fulfilled for my lil' october writing project! this won the second poll! please reblog + leave feedback to be kind and help a sister out 🥹💕

Father Marius died in quite some awful way last night, as reported to you by the nuns hanging fresh washed garments on the clothesline in the waning, purpling daylight.

“A look of horror! Utter terror! So frightened that his jaw had become dislocated in forever a scream,” shivered one young nun, Lucy; recently a convert from the slums. “I, well, I didn't see it myself. Neither did the rest of us, actually. They say it was that new Father Shaw who found him at dawn.”

You had been raking gravel out of the yard, tiny stones kicked off of the path into the kempt lawn by prancing horses and wagon wheels, when Lucy and the other nun, Esme, had caught your attention with their hard, dense gossip. They regarded your approach with less caution than they would have had with their other sisters, as gossip was deemed inappropriate, a violation, a flickering serpent’s tongue carrying covert temptations leading to luscious sins and debauchery.

They saw you—poor, morose, the groundskeeper's only child and reminder of loveless trysts—and thought nothing of snaking you into their prattle. You were not the sort to divulge anyone's secrets without gain, without reward, and you knew that the nuns kept nothing to their names once they took their vows and donned their habits.

“Father Shaw,” you continued the discussion with some intrigue, mostly from the fact that he was very new, very young, and modestly handsome, “why was he awake so early? Why was he in Father Marius’ chambers? Curious to me.”

Neither of them gave much caution to your questions, shrugging as if to dismiss your ambivalence and accusatory tone. You were bold in the way that the faithless and lost always tended to be: asking senseless things, always concerned with the wrongdoings of others, always suspicious, always inquiring—forever inquiring.

“Oh, my, you're so defensive,” Esme fanned a yellow bedspread out with an oncoming breeze, catching the wind beneath the fabric so it billowed and rippled midair. “If that’s how you're going to be, then: why does your father stumble around the yard at night with a lantern, swinging around a pistol like a madman? Won't he hurt someone?”

Because he's a godless, superstitious drunk. Perhaps, even, a bit disturbed in his mind, but you couldn't bear to think that way, that he might be the type to need his head locked in a metal cage, gagged, arms bound, and padlocked in some damp, distant corner of an asylum.

“He's a good man,” you relented, taking your hands from the top of the smoothed out, worn handle of the rake and resumed your task. The gravel made an awful, grinding sound as the teeth of the rake collected pieces of stone and led it back to the rest. “He's served this monastery well. I don't mean offense about Father Shaw, I'm simply curious about what transpired is all.”

“No offense taken,” came a voice from behind, startling both the twittering nuns and yourself at the same time. They saw it to be Father Shaw standing there, hands cuffed behind his back with a particularly demure disposition, hiked their skirts and whisked themselves away back inside. “Ah, am I really such a frightful figure? I couldn't really find an opening during your conversation to invite myself in. I apologize.”

You were of a similar fretful nature, quickening your clawing and the reach of the rake. “Nay, Father. I think it's simply because you're a strange man to them still. A handsome face, a warm voice, mysterious; give them time, they'll come around.”

“Have you?” Father Shaw asked, taking measured strides in a half-circle around to your front. He concentrated on where the teeth of your instrument struck next, tips temporarily wedged into the soft dirt before being ripped up with chunks of earth and gray gravel. “It wouldn't do for me if you… were still ill at ease with me as well. I consider you my one, true friend in this place.”

Your father held a certain destestation towards Father Shaw that you'd never witnessed before, saying nothing else than that something was terribly wrong with him and not to place yourself in a position to be alone with him. This you attributed to his unsoundness, but it was always the sudden flicker a sharp breath against candlelight—a jarring shift in his demeanor when he spoke about the Father, neurotic and prone to throwing things about the cottage interior, that caused you to pay some mind to what he told you.

“And, you're a great friend of mine as well,” you hoped you sounded coherent and paced your words evenly enough. “I'm sorry if you thought I was accusing you of something, sir. I really meant nothing to it.”

Father Shaw’s lips sprawled tight and pale into a fond smile, never showing his teeth, though the imprint of them seemed massive and the skin of his lips startlingly thin across them. “I know. You have nothing to fear. My feelings were not affected. If you'd like, come to my chambers later, we may pray together first, and I'll tell you everything you wish to know about what I saw to sate your curiosity.”

“That seems improper, sir.” You said.

“How so?”

“Inviting someone to your chambers at night seems an unbecoming venture for a pious man of status, such as yourself,” you continued, now standing upright beside your rake, “if any of the sisters were to witness it, worse another priest, aren't you afraid you'd be horribly chastised? Even worse, excommunicated altogether?”

Although Father Shaw’s dark eyes reflected no light, holding such demanding depth to them that it was hard to keep your bearings whenever you realized you'd been staring, his entire face was alight in amusement.

“Wherever did you learn to speak like that?” he asked candidly, still glowing despite his pallor. “Forgive me when I say, but your father is not an educated man. I mean no offense, please don't look at me in such a way. You are so well spoken, I only wish to know more about you.”

“I've lived here my entire life,” you told him. “The nuns taught me how to read.”

He looked impressed. “You can read?”

“I can!” From a near distance, you could make out your father’s haddard form, bent sideways on a walking cane and limping towards the pair of you. You looked up at the priest’s smooth face. “It'd be best for you to leave before my father can speak to you. He isn't the kindest soul after a long day.

Father Shaw didn't react with any semblance of worry, but agreed that there were other things needing to be done and began away. Just as he passed you on his way towards the monastery, he let his hand rest atop of your shoulder and leaned you towards him to whisper in your ear: “come to me tonight. I'll be waiting for you.”

There was something so luxurious and cooling about his voice; fine silks sitting in the shade during autumn gliding across your bare skin, wrapping your neck, your chest, your nether parts. His voice was a fine, chilly mist after the first rains in spring which felt refreshing and new after a glacial winter, yet still had capacity to soak you to the bone. It was a nighttime breeze caressing your cheek, sweeping through the hairs of your scalp, making your skin burst all over with bumps.

“I don't like the way he looks at you,” said your father with a mouthful of porridge you'd seasoned with herbs of the season. It was wonderfully fragrant and warm during nights that were still a bit too uncomfortable to sip anything cold. “He looks at you like you're a slab of meat! Some prize after a hunt. I don't like him, love. Not one bit. You'd do well to stay to mind yourself and do your chores and nothing else, y’hear?”

After dinner, you cleaned up, swept the floors with hard bristles, and snuffed all the lights except for the fireplace where your father sat in his old chair, fiddling with his favorite pistol.

“It's time for bed, old man.” You watched him fit a couple of small bullets into the loading chamber. They glinted against the orange flames. “Goodness. What have you gotten this time? Something new?”

“Aye!” he grinned, nearly toothless and in a sickly sort of way. “Went to market the other day while the nuns bullied you and picked out some fine bullets from the silversmith,” he cracked the two halves of the pistol shut. “Better to be prepared.”

You waited until sometime later once he was finally asleep, possibly after midnight, before leaving the humble cottage sitting on the fringes of the massive monastery yard and rushing across the grounds to get inside.

Once, they'd kept a guard dog on the property, one of those meaner breeds that were used for gambling, but the poor thing wound up shot dead in the middle of the night by a traveling friar who'd come to seek refuge at the monastery. The sisters, and yourself, were horribly distraught by the entire ordeal and all vetoed the consideration of bringing another dog here.

Since then, it was no task for you (or anyone else) to get inside the building and shuffle along the shadows through the corridors. At night, the place stirred with patient insects, feral rodents large and small in the pantry, and hungry owls tamely whining from the rafters when something startled them away from their hunt of vermin.

Your feet were a light sound on the masonry below, padded by thin leather soles which alerted you to your enthusiasm as the thwap thwap thwap became louder, aggressive as you closed in on a wall and turned down another hallway for a sturdy wood door at the end of it.

As your knuckles rapped, hoping the sound wouldn't disturb the animals’ nighttime caroling, a swift darkness moved across the floor from behind the door, briefly blocking out the soft light seeping out from underneath.

The next moment, you were being pulled inside and sat at a small table tucked to the side of Father Shaw’s rather generous room. It was a simple space, sparsely furnished for the barest of comforts—only for what was needed to live—but what had been made for him was of exquisite craftsmanship, some made of teakwood, which Shaw assured you was remarkably durable and highly resistant to rotting.

“It's wonderful for boats,” he said, pouring a light amber colored brew from a metal kettle he'd heated a short while ago. “It’s good for all elements, really. Exceptional longevity. I've heard it has become a popular option in the city for burying the deceased.”

“Will Father Marius be buried in a teakwood coffin, then?” you asked, sipping politely from the cup even though you had no appetite for it. You already felt ill at ease enough having disobeyed your father by sneaking into a priest's personal chambers at night. The things the sisters would say about you—

“He will be entombed underneath the monastery with the rest who have served here and passed. I believe that is all stone down there, my dear.” Father Shaw smiled tepidly, kettle aside, no tea of his own. “But, I know that your curiosity led you here to me with questions, yes? About the state I found Father Marius in, yes?”

You tried to disguise your intrigue by drinking more of the tea, of whatever it was he had given you, and listened to the sounds of your fingertips sticking to the porcelain from sweat and steam.

“If you wouldn't mind sharing…”

“I wouldn't!” he leaned on his arms on the table, closer towards you as though with a secret. “As I've said, you are truly the only soul here who I can confide in. You are not a sheep. And you do not fear sin as the rest do. So, you can ask me anything and I'll tell you everything.”

“Tell me about Father Marius, then.”

Father Shaw reached across the table for one of your hands; his far larger, fingers much longer and colder than your own and held it as he recounted the event.

“Dreadful sight, it was. It was, oh, perhaps sometime after three o'clock when I heard a massive racket. A struggle. When I knocked, all of the noise subsided at once and there was complete stillness. Silence, my dear, silence so deep, dark, and damning that I knew something awful had happened.

“I didn't knock again, I was too afraid to! But, Father Marius was getting on in age, so I couldn't just stand by, either. I kicked the door in—just once was all it took—and I rushed inside to see the room was a complete mess. A fight had clearly taken place, and the walls—oh, the walls—”

His remorse was carefully placed, stiff, and uncertain and he couldn't be seen in the vastness of his black gaze. You were moved by the vulnerability he was trying to show you, going as far to abandon your drink to place your warm hand on top of his.

“The walls, my dear, were a mess of blood. Something vicious and awful had happened in that room. But, then, I found Father Marius lying there on the ground next to a broken window. I think he'd tried to throw himself through it. His face was shredded to pieces, his eyes gouged. When I got closer, I noticed that his tongue had been severed from his head!”

You were holding Father Shaw’s hands in a bloodless grip, face ashen, teeth chattering behind your lips. “What on earth! That is not only horror, but cruelty!”

“Oh, my love, it gets worse!” Father Shaw held you mesmerized in his gaze, the conviction and anguish with which he told his story. “Closer still, Father Marius’ face was locked in one of pure terror, I've—I’ve never seen a human react in quite a way such as that before, to fear. The man unhinged his own jaw in a hideous scream, and it seemed to me he was skeletal. By that, it's like he was, well, quite dry.

“So, I crouched down so much lower and inspected him all over. Do you want to know what I found?”

“Yes.” You spoke breathlessly.

Father Shaw had moved out of his seat and was on one knee in front of you, both of his frigid hands on your face to smooth across your cheeks, pushing away pieces of hair obscuring some part of you he'd wanted to see.

“My love, I saw marks in his neck. Two, beautifully, wonderfully symmetrical marks that were far too clean to be of any animal that we know of. The bite was clean, it was patient and cunning. And the fangs that had sunk into his tender flesh had drained him of blood, of the very essence that kept his heart beating until the very last.”

“Sir—” your stomach plummeted, falling forever, when he smiled, teeth longer than any humans should be shown through to you. He wouldn't let you go when you went to move out of his hands, away from him. “Father Shaw, please—”

“I wish you could have seen it, my love. It was a breathtaking sight and I long for someone else to admire the beauty of my work alongside me.”

It was unthinkable that a vampire could walk on these holy grounds and in the bright of day, yet Father Shaw had for countless days. Evil held you sweetly by the cheek and in your hair, kissed you with a corpse’s cold lips, and laved the skin of your skin with a long, serpentine tongue.

“O’, my merciful lord…”

Father Shaw bent your head back with a fistful of hair and spoke from your throat:

“There is no God, only me. Come into the endless night with me, my love.”

[hotvintagepoll]

Marius Goring (A Matter of Life and Death)—as a murdered french aristocrat doing business for heaven in A Matter of Life and Death, he’s channeling Lestat if Lestat were dressed entirely in party city bargain bin items, played by Lumiere from beauty and the beast, and drenched in cheese. Goring could not have done a worse job and I love him for it.

Dwight Frye (Dracula, Frankenstein)—he's my babygirl please please please please please i want to baby bird feed him flies and spiders and pick him up and make glitter edits of him and give him gross forehead kisses like he's my cat. in dracula he was so incredibly creepy that he was typecast as madmen for the rest of his life and he fucking hated it but by god if he didn't do a fantastic job. he steals the show every time he's up on screen just because he's so fucking deranged. i need him

This is round 2 of the contest. All other polls in this bracket can be found here. If you're confused on what a scrungle is, or any of the rules of the contest, click here.

[additional submitted propaganda + scrungly videos under the cut]

Marius Goring:

Dwight Frye:

He absolutely owns the entirety of Dracula (1931). Compared to the novel, his part is massively expanded and it's clear why. He's magnetically unhinged and his facial expressions are pure scrungle. And in Frankenstein, he begins the archetype of Frankenstein's assistant even if the character's name there is Fritz. He'd still go on to play other scrungly guys in later Frankenstein movies. But he's kinda the archetypal and progenitor of the scrungly lil guy. The scrungliest guy ever to scrungle. He's pretty much the blueprint for every mad scientist's assistant, and he's the best part of every movie he's in. He manages to make you feel sorry for the creepy little dudes, even when he's eating spiders and crawling across the floor. [editor's note: content warning for the "hunchback" stereotype and "madness" in the clips below]the "Rats" soliloquy:

I saw him in Dracula and frankly he has me bewitched. I could watch him do his silly routine forever. The gay tension with Bela Lugosi onscreen was frankly unparalleled. Kirk and Spock levels. I am chewing on the furniture

Played the weirdo little guy in Dracula AND the weirdo little guy in Frankenstein in the same year. Iconic.

The scrungles to end all scrungles! There's a reason why this man codified the manic vampire's familiar and the hunchbacked lab assistant for generations, because by God can this man be feral and scrungly: Whether he's soliloquizing about rats as Renfield, scurrying around Frankenstein's lab like a spider as Fritz, or skulking around dark alleys (and scaring the hell out of little baby me) waiting for a fresh heart to steal as Karl, if you want a scrungly little man for your classic film, Dwight Frye is your man. He has the range to play varying kinds of scrungle, with his wide eyes, his manic smiles, his soft, breathy voice, he is truly an undisputed scrungle master.

I honestly think it would be a crime to ignore Dwight Frye's scrungle factor. He played two of the prototypical creepy little henchman as Dracula's lackey Renfield and Dr. Frankenstein's hunchback servant Fritz, and I believe that his excellence in these roles absolutely shaped the future character tropes of the "Igor" type as much as Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff shaped the future understanding of Dracula and Frankenstein's monster. He's got it all from the looks, to the manic energy, to the crazed laugh, I'm telling you right now that I think he could win the entire tournament.

[phi8]

Recently rewatched Gravity Falls with its resurgence online, and I was itching to give my take on an older Mabel with an absolute unit of a Waddles (who is a regular farm pig after all). To go along with this, I also wrote some fanfic: a letter from Dipper to Mabel, about his return to Gravity Falls years after the show. Read it on AO3 or below!

Dear Mabel,

I hope everything is going well back home!  I miss you already, but it’s so good to be back in Gravity Falls too. A  lot has changed since our summer here.

The first week of my internship at McGucket Labs has been amazing. McGucket has really transformed Northwest Manor into a fantastic campus (though he still insists everyone call it “the Hootenanny Hut”)! There are so many  brilliant scientists and engineers here, and most of them have a refreshingly open mind about the nature and use of all the weirdness you can find in Gravity Falls. My experience with all that stuff is already paying off big time. Yesterday some PHD dude asked for my opinion on practical applications of necromancy (I told him it was a bad idea)!

Candy says hi by the way! It’s funny, for me this internship is all the way across the country, but for her it’s practically in her back yard, even though we both got that scholarship. Also, she tells me Grenda is more or less officially part of the Austrian aristocracy at this point? Apparently she and that Marius duke guy got engaged, did you hear about that?? Turns out I’m completely out of the loop with your friend group.

Candy and I have been hanging out with, of all people, Pacifica and Gideon. Can you believe it? Pacifica works at Corduroy Lumber these days. Probably in some misguided sense to get back to her roots, but I think it’s doing her some actual good. Working with her hands has been teaching her valuable life lessons I guess. It makes it a bit weird if Wendy also comes hang out, because she’s technically Pacifica’s boss – but you know Wendy’s cool about that.

Gideon is still running the Tent of Telepathy, so, not all winners. But he’s turned into a more lovable kind of swindler I think, like a younger Stan. He’s honestly kinda funny now (except that he’s taller than me). Wendy also told me he has a thing for Pacifica, and once she did, I couldn’t unsee it. He’s all over her! Pacifica hasn’t noticed, even though they spend a lot of time together. Or maybe she just hasn’t deigned it with a reaction... Either way, both of them are a ball to go for a drink with, whoda thunk.

You also have a lot of hugs from Soos, Melody and the baby (Stan Jr is sooo cute). (Yes, I asked. Melody promised to make you godmother of the hypothetical next child. You owe me.) The Shack is as charmingly ramshackle as it was back when we were here, but Soos finally got the old man stink out. I’m staying in Grunkle Ford’s old secret office because our room was converted to baby chamber. I still haven’t gotten the Bill murals completely off the walls and I have no natural light down here, but I spend most of my time at Northwest Manor the Hootenanny Hut anyway.

Or in the woods! Being back here really was a good move for my Youtube channel, there’s so much more supernatural stuff here than in California, and people are loving it. (I saw you liked my last video, thanks!) I’m currently tracking down what I think is the actual Gobblewonker. I analyzed some detritus samples from the lake, and there were feces from a large reptile present. From what we know, none of the dinosaurs in the mine were aquatic, so my current hypothesis is that it’s an unrelated creature. Especially since, according to my research, the Gobblewonker story dates back at least a century. I also gotta show Ford some of my findings. You know they’ve come across some aquatic monsters in the Bermuda Triangle. (Have you also been getting his mails with scans of the fourth journal? Truly fascinating stuff.) Either way, I’ll keep you posted, and you’ll be able to watch the result online.

Give my love to mom and dad, and Waddles a tummy rub! Awkward sibling sign off, Dipper

PS. Along with the photo’s in the envelope is that stuff you wanted. Be safe with it! There’s a reason it’s illegal in the parts of the forest controlled by the gnomes. But also have fun, I have it on very good authority it’s the good stuff.

[ex-jock-enthusiast]

End of Year Wrap-up: the Quietest 10

Last day of 2024! And whilst the world at large kinda. Fucking burned this year, we at least had some fun here. As always, thank you all so, so much for being a part of our little community: it really does mean the world to me <3.

(Also I can't believe there are 3100 of you now holy fuck)

Seeing as this is the blog's second year, and the chances of me randomly deactivating again have declined steadily, I thought it would be fun to start a little end of year tradition. My original plan was to do a more conventional Wrapped - a compilation of my top posts - but I've realised: y'all already know my top posts, since they're probably the reason you're here. Hell, Tumblr keeps a running list of them at the top of my page. So, in the spirit of 2024 perhaps not being. The best of years. I'm gonna flip it on its head and shine a light on some of my less popular posts, from both this year and 2023. Some of these are admittedly flops that deserved to flop, but others are honestly among my faves, and I'd love to give them a second chance :D

NUMBER 10: Shamila Wijewickrama (448 notes)

NUMBER 9: Kitzmanned (427 notes)

NUMBER 8: Bulkingcub (295 notes)

NUMBER 7: Marius 'Evander' Mitrache (268 notes)

NUMBER 6: Namdoogj (198 Notes)

NUMBER 5: Dusty_f (184 notes)

NUMBER 4: Brennan Lee Mulligan (117 notes)

NUMBER 3: Russell Crowe (101 notes)

NUMBER 2: Jake Gyllenhaal (50 notes)

NUMBER 1: Big_hasanguler (46 notes)

I might do some more lists tonight/tomorrow :D

Again, thank you all so, so much for two amazing years, and I can't wait for 2025. Stay safe, have fun, and happy gaining <3

[cbrownjc]

So about that Justin Kirk spoiler:

So yeah, there is a spoiler out there about whom Kirk is playing. And I have some thoughts about it that I just want to say, even if the rumor ends up not being true. But I'm going to put this all under a spoiler cut just in case.

So word on Twitter is that he's playing Raglan James. And honestly, yeah I can see that. In fact, thinking about it last night as well as today, it actually works better than when I thought and was so sure he was playing Marius.

And you know, he still might be. But there was a good argument about why pull the same hidden vampire identity plot two seasons in a row? I personally thought it would be fine, seeing as Marius would regularly do such a thing in the books, and so it would make sense that he taught his fledgling Armand to do so.

But there is an even bigger method to the idea of introducing a character like Raglan James this early if that is who he IS playing. And that is to get people ready for the body-switching plot of Tale of the Body Thief.

Rolin Jones already spoke about how tricky and goofy body-switching stories can be. So the show starting to plan that out way in advance isn't unbelievable IMO.

And I also am getting a sneaking suspicion that the body thief plot is not going to be played out how we've all assumed it would be if the show did it.

I and @nalyra-dreaming have both noted that Raglan James' original body was not a brown man, but that of a white man. James stole a brown Southeast Asian man's body to then switch with Lestat. A body that David then later ended up in permanently.

And well, I kinda think the show is going to want to avoid the racist implications of all of that. Three white men switching around, and trading back and forth, a brown man's body? If the show did go there they would very much do a commentary about it I'm sure. However, at the end of the day, the story would still end up with a white man occupying the stolen body of a brown man and keeping it for himself.

So really, what would all and any commentary about it be saying after it was done? Many book readers already don't like David's character. And I just don't see them doing such a thing with Daniel's character either.

And the easiest way to still do the body thief plot but avoid all of that? Is to just cut that part out. And have James only make one switch . . . and that is switching with Lestat while James is still in his original body.

And I suspect that's what we're going to get if Kirk really is going to be playing Raglan James. And why the rumors regarding him are that he's only going to be reoccurring in Seasons 4 and 5, not become a main cast member.

When they do the body switch, Kirk is going to be playing Lestat. And Sam will be playing Raglan James. But first, the show is going to get people familiar with Raglan James' character and the Talamasca starting this season, and probably in Season 4 as well. (With Season 5 being when the body-thief plot finally plays out . . . meaning yeah, we really might get the QotD/Akasha stuff in Season 4!)

"But what about Daniel?" I know some people are thinking. Well, I have an idea/theory about that too. But I'm not confident in saying anything about it yet. But yes, I do think Daniel speaking with Raglan James is significant. And a lot of people have already thought/predicted that Daniel would get David's body swap plot.

I just don't think this is all going to end with Daniel's character being played by Justin Kirk.

And that is all I feel confident in saying about it right now.

[valkyrayn]

i need marius making love to his short wife 😞😞 like less than 5’5 kinda short because him being 6’2 is TALL

sorry this took so long! this has been in the drafts for so long and i got too busy to finish it so before i forget about it, i'm just gonna post it. the size difference kink i have bcus of this man istg makes me FERAL

tags: marius x afab!reader, marius calls you babe, baby, little, size difference, dirty talk, praise kink, implied creampie, blowjob, pussy eating, standing 69, foreplay only

------

“So how do you guys…you know…”

“Fuck?” You reply casually. 

Kiki smacks her hand over her mouth and slaps your arm with the other. Everyone’s eyes widen at your casual and obscene reply. Truth is, you’ve been asked the same question more times than you could count and at this point, you’re past being shy and cute about it. 

Marius would be proud of you. 

Apparently people just can’t wrap their heads around the fact that two people with extreme height differences can have sex normally like any other people. Honestly, you can’t blame them because you had the same thought the first time too. 

Small and petite, at 5’1 standing in front of your 6’2 husband—you can barely reach his lips even when you stand on your tiptoes. Marius has to bend down to meet you halfway every time, or he just ends up lifting you up in his arms and kissing you that way. He prefers the latter because it doesn’t cause him neck pain. 

When it comes to sex however, he uses your size difference to his full advantage. Every time, without fail, you will be lifted and tossed around like a rag doll. 

It always starts off sweet; with you standing between his legs as he sits on the edge of the bed. He’ll gently caress the side of your body as he kisses you sweetly until he starts coaxing your mouth open by pushing his tongue between your lips. You moan breathlessly against his mouth, your fingers gripping his hair tighter as you struggle to hold yourself steady. 

A startled ‘oh’ leaves your lips when you feel his fingers rubbing against your clothed sex, which is embarrassingly soaked through with your juices. 

“Were you waiting for me the whole day, my sweet, beautiful wife?” He asks as he starts leaving kisses down your neck. You press your lips together when he pushes his fingers against the fabric of your panties, dipping into your hole just slightly to tease and drive you crazy. With how small you are, even his fingers feel big inside you. “Mmmh…Please…” You beg, desperate to feel more. 

“Please what, my love?” He starts sucking onto your skin, leaving his marks and licking them to help soothe the sting. “Does my baby want me to eat her wet little pussy? Hmm?” He coos, pulling your panties aside and then begins to rub his fingers against your wet folds, leaving you frustrated at the lack of penetration.

“Is my pretty little wife desperate to have her cunt filled with my cock” 

Legs trembling at his ministrations, you bury your head in the crook of his neck, whimpering against his skin when he finally pushes his fingers inside your hole and proceeds to pump in and out at a tantalising pace. “You’re drenched, babe. Are you that excited to have me inside you?” He pushes in deeper, hooking his fingers up making you jerk against him. 

“Mmmh…fuck babe. I can’t wait to stretch this little pussy. You want that, don’t you?” Marius grabs your small hand and places it against his balls, hanging heavily behind his loose grey sweatpants. You instinctively start fondling it gently, making him hiss. 

“I’ll unload every single drop…until you’re leaking for days. Fuck, you make me so…nnghh.” He groans, his own words arousing him to the point of insanity and now all he wants is to fuck you. Marius hooks his arms on the underside of your thighs and throws them over his shoulders before standing up to his full height. 

“So I’m guessing, you’ll have to lie there on the bed as he goes down on you—if he even does,” one of the girls laughs and exchanges glances with the others as if in agreement. You simply smile and nod. 

You yelp and grip onto his hair for balance, looking down at him as he pulls your panties aside and immediately latches onto your pussy. “Fuck…oh my god!” You scream as his tongue begins to circle around your clit, your grip tightening around his hair as he starts eating your pussy standing up. 

“Marius—! Mmmnngghh…so good. Yes…oh yes just like that…” It turns him on to hear you moan his name like that, making his cock twitch behind his pants. With one hand behind you to hold you steady, he reaches down with the other to pull his cock out of his pants and desperately starts stroking himself. 

Big, hard and leaking, he smears his precum around the tip with his thumb, steadily pumping his fist around his shaft, groaning against your pussy from sheer pleasure. Steadying yourself on his shoulders, you finally release your grip to pull your tank top over your head so you can start playing with your bare tits, nipples hardening from arousal and the cold night air blowing in through the windows. 

“Is 69 even possible for you guys? Cus’, you probably can’t reach him. Oh sweets, you’re such a small little thing aren’t you,” they laugh again. You respond with a small chuckle before taking a sip of your wine. 

Unbothered, you lift your head and make eye contact with your husband from across the garden who’s smiling back at you. It’s not hard to spot him, he’s the tallest compared to the other men in the group. He winks at you and brings his attention back to them, even though he’d much rather be with you at the moment.

“We do 69 all the time…”

“Sure you do, Karin.”

“I’m sorry?”

“I said, how exciting.”

Marius holds onto you and flips you upside down, giving you access to his cock while he continues to eat you out. He’s able to plunge his tongue even deeper inside you at that angle and it sends you spiralling towards your climax almost immediately. You wrap your small fingers around his cock and start taking him inside your mouth. “Yes baby, suck my cock please…Your mouth feels so good around me.” He moans filthy praises against your pussy, relishing the sensation of his hard cock inside the hot caverns of your mouth. He starts rutting his hips against you gently until he feels the tip reach the back of your throat.

You moan around his cock and feel yourself coming, sending a gush of your release out of you that it starts dripping down his chin and onto his shirt. His tongue continues to pump in and out of you to prolong your orgasm while you’re struggling to hold yourself together and trying to blow him at the same time. 

Marius loves the way your thighs tremble against his ears when you cum. He loves reducing you to a weak trembling mess from his mouth alone and he surely can’t wait to have you writhing under him when he starts fucking you into the mattress. 

“Gonna fuck your mouth the way you deserve, baby girl,’ he says and lifts you up before tossing you onto the bed, with your head hanging at the edge of the mattress. He looks down at you as he pulls his shirt off and tosses his sweatpants aside before stripping you naked. You stare in awe at his heaving chest, his beautiful athletic body, dripping with sweat and your release.

Pressing his thumb against your chin, he coaxes your mouth open before dipping his finger past your lips. “Good girl…fuck you’re such a horny little slut aren’t you?” His words are obscene, making your cunt throb. He knows how much you love being called his little slut. 

Only because you are—taking his cock in your mouth like a champ while his hands roam across your body to play with your tits and cunt, still sensitive from your previous orgasm. He fucks your mouth like he would your pussy, knowing just how hard you his petite little queen can take it. 

“The same way like everyone else…” You trail off, a dreamy smile creeping its way onto your face, leaving them to their own imagination. 

[gh0stseeker]

Yap session number two because I have a lot of thoughts!!! Minor spoilers for EoM backstories

First off, I think there's many ways that EoM characters could be different sins but the main one I think about is Farryn being lust. I can't remember Farryn's backstory THAT much honestly since it's been so long but I feel like nobody expected that(Or at least I didn't) with Marius existing and his backstory. Farryn never did anything lustful(Might've had sex actually idk?) if I remember correctly, she just loved a woman that was taken away from her. Again, there's many different directions we could've taken with her and the others. Farryn could've been gluttony with her blight consuming all or she could've been wrath and enraged that her love was taken away from her. I think Farryn being wrath and going against what she was taught is kinda badass.

Another thing about Farryn's goal was that she wanted to bring Gwynna(Gwenna? Idk) back from the dead WHICH I think Yorgrim would not like(Not sure if he reacted any way in canon don't come after me) with his letting the dead rest beliefs. I don't think they interacted much but having this sort of tension between the two would've been cool.

Anyways, as much as I forget about Farryn, she's a cool character and nobody makes doomed yuri like Kelsey. If I got anything mixed up or wrong cause I haven't rewatched EoM and never will, no I didn't.

[actualbird]

HI, I'M A BIT (very) LATE TO THE PARTY... but i just got through main story 11.1 and 11.2 WOOO!!!

and i'm not sure what is it about this case that got me so much more paranoid than the other cases, maybe it's the creepy note in the satchel, or how the culprit wasn't obvious at all (at least to me, i didn't want to doubt to sweet old lady).

which brings me to my next point: something about having the sweet old lady be the culprit is deeply unsettling to me... cause she's not like ava kendriks or like... the other culprits we've come across... (wow could someone make a recap of the whole of main story cause i'm forgetting) who you think like "oh they're kinda fucked up in the first place so it makes sense". but why it's unsettling to me is because, the thought that even a sweet looking senile old woman is capable of crime, if the right buttons are pushed... and she did it not only once, BUT TWICE. idk if you've watched bong joon-ho's "mother", but she reminded me of the mother from that movie, who is willing to do anything for her son, whether that may be good or bad, even killing someone herself when she finds out that the truth that her son was a murderer. like, if the circumstances were met, people are capable and are willing to do... wrong.

that said, THIS TRULY WAS A VYN EPISODE... IT OPENED MY MIND. I'M SORRY I'VE BEEN SLEEPING ON YOU VYN!!! like vyn during these two chapters... really intrigued me. when he shot himself with the air gun and knowingly drank the poisoned tea (GOD DOES ANYONE IN THIS HOUSEHOLD HAVE ANY SENSE OF SELF-PRESERVATION. MY GIRL ROSA WOULD BE STRESSED AF). but it's the way he heavily relies on himself, even to his own detriment, that really intrigues me. even when rosa was there, i feel like he isn't even able to let himself fully rely on her either, but he'd rather put himself in harms way to get the results he wants (which i can name TWO BOYS WITH THE SAME LACK OF SELF PRESERVATION, i'm looking at you luke and marius). but the difference between luke and marius' "self-sacrificial"-ness to vyn's is that, vyn fully knows the consequences and is in control of the situation. it's like he has weighed options and run the calculation in his head, and STILL goes for it even if it runs the risk of hurting himself. he's just as reckless, or even more so, than marius and luke if i may argue. and another point to add is, while luke's and marius' "self-sacrificing" nature comes from viewing themselves as "lesser" than the other (eg. luke viewing himself less than rosa, and marius viewing himself less than giann) vyn's "self-sacrificing" act comes from pride and his inability to rely on others (in other words he views himself better than others)

i've also been thinking about how vyn still choose to drank the poisoned tea. like i know it was to pin point jill meadows as the culprit, bUT SURELY, THERE HAS TO BE ANOTHER WAY OF GOING ABOUT THIS, ISN'T THERE??? VYN RICHTER, THE WAY YOUR MIND WORKS........... ahem, anyways, other than what i have mentioned before, i'd like to think that the reason why he did all that for jill meadows, letting her into his house and even drinking the tea, that i think somewhere deep inside, he still wishes to be proven wrong, he still had the tiniest bit of hope that jill was good. honestly maybe i'm reading into this bit too much, but my reasoning for this is that, as you have seen, vyn is also capable of good, even in his little tsundere ways. he doesn't want to admit it, (caUSE HE'S SHY-//HIT) but his kindness is shown in the way he treats albie(the homeless man), and how he leaves his car keys for rosa. ANYWAYS, it wouldn't be so much of a stretch to think that vyn is a believer of "second chances" considering how he wanted to escape from his family, and i think his occupation as a psychiatrist kinda solidifies that theme as well.

the highlight of this chapter to me, was the confrontation between rosa and vyn, when vyn said something along the lines of "please trust me, even in this moment, please trust me," HURT ME SO BAD. (ESPECIALLY WITH THE WHOLE TEAM DISTRUSTING EACH OTHER, WHERE'S MY FOUND FAMILY HUU) it's the first for me to see vyn... this vulnerable, like how his heart is spilling out in this very moment right here. in which i also kind of find him hypocritical in this moment, but in a good way! vyn "distrustful and skeptical of others, extremely hesitant to ask for help" richter wants to be a reliable and trustworthy person. WHICH MAKES SENSE, being trusted by someone means that you hold some power against them. and trusting someone would mean that you'd have to open up and be vulnerable in front of them! so of course vyn would rather be trusted rather than trusting!!! GOD VYN RICHTER THE MAN YOU ARE.

anyways, yes this ended up being a vyn richter appreciation post. please excuse any inaccuracies in my knowledge of vyn-ology (sorry phd vyn-ology experts) your asks has just become a deposit for my rambles, I HOPE YOU DON'T MIND. I WILL NOW NINJA JUTSU MYSELF INTO THIN AIR. FWOOSH!!!!

WAHHH HI CHIKA and congrats on finishing main story 11!!!

this is such an interesting ask because i totes agree with your thoughts/feelings about the case itself. i too was HEAVILY unsettled by the case for those reasons you pointed out, but also because the victim was a child. if im remembering correctly, this is the first case we've had where it was a kid who died, our youngest casualty to the nxx cases thus far. the culprit being the old lady was also something that i didnt want to suspect. it's not that i hadnt suspected her, it was that i didnt want to entertain the fact that it couldve been her, like how you said it. in her intro scenes, i deeply felt for her and the story also makes you want to be on her side. shes sweet, shes polite, she struggles with tasks and has nobody else in this world. in a way, she was the perfect culprit because the emotional effect she has on the readers at first glance makes you not want her to be the one responsible, even when the evidence begins to point in her direction. it's been a while since i myself completed main story 11, but i couldve sworn that vyn himself said something along these lines too, that emotions can cloud one's judgement into disregarding the truth that starts to come out. while i havent watched the movie you mentioned, i totally agree like. she was such a good culprit because of how it was framed. it makes you think that overall, she wasnt a "bad" person, but one pushed to act. but at the end of the day she killed a kid, man. even if she supposedly didnt intend to and just wanted to "scare" her. just.....what a damn good case. i was really gripped by this one

now, onto your thoughts about vyn. i was FASCINATED by him in this chapter. everything im about to say onwards about vyn should be taken with a GREAT HEAP OF SALT, as the saying goes, because up til now, vyn is the nxx boy who i have the most trouble grasping which is wholly probably because ive read the least cards of him (in comparison to the amount of cards ive read for the other boys) but ksjbfljlfdsd ive pLAYED HIS PERSONAL STORIES COMPLETELY AT LEAST and you articulate well just why hes so fascinating to me in this chapter.

i like what you said "vyn's "self-sacrificing" act comes from pride and his inability to rely on others (in other words he views himself better than others)" but also i think theres another facet to it. i do think it partly comes from pride, but i also think it partly comes from fear. see, what i understand about vyn from previous stories ive read from him, particularly from his pre-anniv personal story 3 (iirc) is how he fears and hates being seen as anything other than perfect, or as someone who has flaws. it's not because he wants to be seen as better than everyone, it's that he cant handle being seen as lesser. he hates to be pitied. that being said, i ABSOLUTELY agree with your judgement of him sometimes....testing the goodness of people. something clear to me in the stories of his that ive experienced is that, if theres one thing that always surprises him, it's people's capacity to be good. it's what constantly takes him off guard with mc, it's why he didnt expect to fall in love with first sight at her. given his background and backstory (and uh, in this main story chapter in particular, given his family members lol) he just....operates under the vague notion that people will not be good. or that theyll fail it. and sometimes he tests whether or not that will happen, because one of vyn's constant questions that he asks in his actions, especially towards mc, is whether or not mc will trust him.

(sidenote: one of vyn's lines when you play old maid with him is something along the lines of "im glad to have won your trust" when you pick the card he tells you to pick and you win as a result. again, this act of testing another person's good will in his character, testing their trust. i think trust is a very key theme in vyn's character as a whole)

vyn's moments of vulnerability in this chapter was also SOOOOOOO YUMMY TO MEEEEE because if theres another thing i think about vyn, it's that he loathes being out of control. he likes being the expert strategist, he likes being able to sway the odds in his favor no matter what the situation is, in his personal story theres even an instance where he was behind the scenes orchestrating several events unbeknownst to mc. he likes being in control and so vulnerability is such a nightmare for him. personally, the highlight of this chapter to me was when vyn already got poisoned and mc was trying to help him throw up the poison, because even WHEN POISONED he was hesitant to have her see him like this. it's good whump, your honor. and also it's good writing.

anyhoo, thank you for this ask!!! i am NOT a vyn-ology expert, quite the opposite, but i do adore when he takes the front row seat in main stories because it's always a treat to see

[nalyra-dreaming]

Hi! I’ve never read the books, but I lurk on your account I lot (I love reading your thoughts 🩵🩵). I was wondering if you could simplify the Loustat/Armand thing for me?? Does Armand hate Lestat because he loves him and it’s unreciprocated???

Hey there!

Glad you like!

Sooooooooooooo. In order to answer that I need to give you some background info (real quick^^):

Armand encountered Lestat when he was just turned. He ... kinda "imprinted" on him, because Lestat reminded him of Marius, his maker. He desperately wanted Lestat (there is more to that, but), and in an effort to "get" him, he spell-bound him and bit him, in the books the equivalent of vampiric rape, as you may know. Lestat, fresh out of trauma of his own turning, fought Armand off and almost beat him to a pulp, but Lestat takes pity on him eventually and takes him to Gabrielle, and they talk. Armand wants to go with Lestat and Gabrielle (already forsaking his coven in that moment) but Lestat and Gabrielle reject him, and offer him the theater instead. This shapes their relationship.

I wouldn't say their love is unreciprocated. But since Armand went about it the way he did the mutual attraction (that is very much there in the books) never really came to pass. And, of course, there is a lot of history between them later on. Armand's treatment of Nicolas, and Louis. And his hands in Claudia's death. Armand's way of handling things, which does not always sit well with Lestat.

They have a kinda love-hate relationship with a lot of bitching, sniping and longing. They love each other (and since Armand comes to love Louis Armand is one of the few Lestat trusts with Louis (later on)) and yet they tend to hurt each other. Armand told Lestat to come back if he needed help, but when he does (and only wants help and not Armand) he tortures him and eventually throws him off a tower. They indulge each other, and Armand is one of the few who is allowed to drink from Lestat while Lestat is in his coma. They lash out at each other when in pain, too, there is a very interesting part in the last books that I would love to see in the show. (I hope we get there).

There is mutual respect, but due to their beginnings there is also always a certain distance between them, a certain aggravation, that never gets fully bridged.

Soooo.

It's complicated :) I hope I could simplify it a little bit. Please don't hesitate to ask if you would like to know more!

Also, as a note: I am really, utterly, soooo much looking forward to see this mess on screen. Honestly, that we will get to see part of it in s2 already?! A dream come true 🥹 (And I anticipate them to go full mess on the relationships, so I do look forward to it all^^).

[desertfangs]

I NEED YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE ARMAND/DANIEL BREAK UP SCENE IN TVA PLS

Not gonna lie, I would’ve loved for a more polished version of this to have made it into the book, the potential is there IMO as well as all the elements that make Devil’s Minion such an explosive, intense, compelling ship. The fighting, the yearning, the weird sexual analogies (this one didn’t quite land but it kinda always goes back to sex with them, doesn’t it?), the kissing in between hurtful statements. Daniel using INSECT parts for his models, Pandora trying to make him pay attention to Armand, Armand being sad and kissing Daniel while trying to fix things, but Daniel being too far gone at the time to even register the impact of his words. I NEED MORE.

Anon, I have so many thoughts, my brain is spinning.

I'm not sure I'd want this in the book or not, it's so hard to say now. I was absolutely baffled by Daniel's lack of inclusion in TVA when it came out, and and then suddenly he's there in B&G mad and being cared for by Marius, and I had to do a lot of mental gymnastics to figure out how I thought he got from A to B. I eventually decided him thinking Armand was dead drove him mad, which made the most sense to me. That is clearly is not what Anne had pictured, but at this point I'm honestly pretty happy with that conclusion instead.

I'm trying to imagine how it would have felt if this was included in TVA. What else does that change? Is Armand still bitter and angry? Is he more regretful? Does this mean we get any of his POV of the Devil's Minion years, including their break up? (Because that is the piece I feel is most missing from that book and what I deeply wanted from it in addition to filling in Armand's background.)

The idea that Armand abandoned the island to mortal hands--a reference to him selling it, I guess--would absolutely break Daniel apart. It does feel very much like something he would be devastated by but I don't feel we're given enough on this one page to really understand what happened. Armand left the others? That doesn't gel with anything I've ever thought. Armand always struck me as the one who was holding things together and was then heartbroken when everyone else left. So I'd need a more context into Anne's idea of how things played out there.

That said, there are pieces I like!

I love the idea of Pandora and Marius looking after Daniel together and Pandora trying to get his attention.

"I have no maker!" I mean, if Daniel and Armand had a vicious fight and Armand all about renounced him and left him wandering to the point where the loneliness and devastation of it drove him mad, then this is absolutely something I can see him saying. The way he talks about how Armand doesn't make others so clearly he has no maker is so full of bitterness and resentment I would love to see a fic unpacking that (Someone should write it! Maybe several someones!)

Daniel building his worlds with found objects and weird shit is amazing. Like it's so deeply unhinged that I can't help but applaud the creativity. I honestly wish I'd known about this months ago because I can totally see this happening as Daniel sinks into madness and I would have loved to have added a scene to my fic about that where Daniel is building a little town on the floor of some seedy motel with bugs and matchbooks and rubber bands or something. It's delightfully freaking weird and I dig it.

I love Armand asking after Daniel, which is another thing I think was sorely missing from TVA. The fact that he doesn't seem to care where he is just explained by his assumption Daniel hates him, but it still feels exceptionally weird to me that Armand wouldn't even ask, particularly after he almost died, and he doesn't know if Daniel may have tried to follow suit? This whole big thing just happened and Lestat is catatonic on the floor, I'd be accounting for my loved ones, no matter how we left things.

Armand losing all his anger and bitterness (does he have that in this version? He must have some, right?) when he sees Daniel in a bad state, clearly struggling, and offering him comfort is so precious. But also can we talk about "I didn't mean to abandon you..." ????? Armand ABANDONED Daniel in this version??? I just... that's so wild, I have so many questions. And then he kisses him??? That is precious. Look, I have wanted an Armand and Daniel interaction during his madness since we learned Daniel was in Marius' basement playing with model trains in Blood and Gold. And I think I would have been okay with this if we got some satisfying resolution between them afterward - we can have this hurt, but we need some comfort to end it on, you know? And I don't think that would have happened. I think Armand would have left defeated and we'd have been stuck with that in our heads for decades until PL came out and we get one freaking line about them hunting together, so.

I think I am glad this version did not make it into TVA, but I would also love to read a dozen fics that try to make sense of all this because there are some delicious tidbits I think talented fic writers could explore and really work into something great.

[jewishvitya]

Reading the Vampire Chronicles books again is so funny. I forgot how much the first and second books, first Louis's POV and then Lestat's, read so differently. It kinda feels like between books she went "what do you mean you don't love my asshole Lestat as much as I do? Fine, I'll retcon him into being less of an asshole and pretend it's all just Louis being biased." It's not that I completely believe Louis, but honestly, I can't believe Lestat's POV at all.

And, I mean, she obviously adores Lestat. Like, later iirc not only does Marius seem to love him out of nowhere, she has the original vampire, the oldest and most powerful of them, fall in love with him for absolutely no reason at all. She has him... bite Jesus and drink his blood? Or was that Armand, and then Lestat bit him? I don't know what the fuck happened there, I don't remember much from that part, I just know Lestat got Jesus blood.

Lestat is her special boy, he just gets to be an asshole and everyone falls in love with him.

[ad-hawkeye]

You came up on my recommended feed at the perfect time bc I have Artem brainrot rn AND YOUR ANALYZATION OF ARTEM’S CARDS ARE FANTASTIC! I’m one of the few players that avoids most CN server spoilers, and I’ve been abstaining from pulling most cards so I can pull for 3rd anni(which now I’m kinda questioning if I should LOL), so I missed out on a TON of content for all of the male leads. BUT, from the very few cards I had pulled this past yr, I did notice an odd shift in Artem’s personality. Although, I wasn’t too sure if it was just me being dumb or if it was a real thing that was happening. And after reading some of your posts I kinda want to re-read Artem’s Second Anni Card again bc I was so excited for the artwork from that event, that I didn’t pay much attention to the story LOL However, now that I’ve seen what you’ve said and what many other Artem fans have said, I’m sure my feelings weren’t wrong. And now I’m sad 😢

Artem was my favorite bc his relationship with Rosa felt the healthiest and was built on respecting each other’s boundaries, learning how to set boundaries, and working as a team, while also having a more traditional framework of a male leadership role(which I’m extremely fond of). Artem never restricted Rosa from spreading her wings as his work partner or as his life partner, he simply asked if he could come along beside her where ever she wanted to go. AND LIKE HIS ORIGINAL PERSONAL STORY IS A PERFECT EXAMPLE OF THIS BEHAVIOR! Rosa makes a reckless decision to go get evidence, without Artem, for a the domestic violence case they were working on and almost gets hurt in the process. After that, Artem scolds Rosa for being reckless and for not taking better care of herself. And Rosa doesn’t take it lying down either! They equally argue and get their grievances out in the open, feel bad about later, and apologize. (THE COMMUNICATION IS SO REAL 😩) FURTHERMORE! This incident leads them to learning and understanding how differently they work as lawyers. Artem learns that Rosa is a lot more personal with her clients and handles her cases with an empathetic approach, while he works more pragmatically, so through this case they learn to work to each other’s strengths as partners, covering for what the other person lacks. And the chapters this incident took place in solidified my growing love for Artem bc unlike Luke or Vyn(I’m not sure about Marius bc admittedly I haven’t read his original personal story 😅), Artem doesn’t hinder Rosa by being overprotective like Luke or push her beyond her capacities like Vyn tried to do in his original personal story. Artem allows a natural course of growth to occur in Rosa, while being a hedge of protection for Rosa BUT ONLY when she seems to REALLY need it, and the same can be said for Rosa towards Artem.

Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk, sorry for ranting 😅

WAHHH YOU'RE TOO KIND!! ;_; thank you so much for the sweet words, it really means a lot!!! i'm so so happy you enjoyed my ranting and raving, honestly having a community of super awesome people to talk about this with has been such a comfort and ive made some awesome friends from my time here, even if we don't chat as much anymore!

and omg, do NOT ever feel bad for ranting in my inbox!!!! i've been ranting about tot in the main tag for two years at this point and i will Always be thrilled to read delightfully written meta such as yours!!!!!

i have to say, i entirely agree with all of this. and i mean ALL OF IT. his personal stories 2, 3, and 4 are my absolute favorites of his and gosh that's like. prime artem to me, i think. your ask reminded me of some meta i read such a long while ago about his second personal story (link can be found here, it's SUCH a good read)

i think a huge issue is that artem originally always felt like the antithesis to your typical daddy dom boss character. when you start playing tot, appearances wise, he looks and even comes across as one. but these initial appearances are quickly shattered.

he is absolutely inexperienced with interpersonal relationships. he fumbles the bag CONSTANTLY with rosa. he's terrible at holding conversation, he's constantly apologizing for being boring. he needs his own fucking boss to wingman (haha. wing) for him. he blushes if mc looks at him the wrong way. he's kinda strange. but he's earnest and genuine. he respects rosa's boundaries. he makes mistakes, but learns from them. he gives rosa time to think over her feelings for him so she can still say no to him if she changes her mind.

it's the contrast between this and his initial appearance that makes him interesting. what is extremely bizarre with artem's recent writing is it feels like someone who only read artem's introduction scene got some vague pointers and was like oh. your typical daddy dom boss guy. okay yeah i can write this. and then they did. which . defeats the whole entire point of what made artem compelling in the first place. he was compelling BECAUSE he subverted this trope. by just making him play the trope straight, you remove any and all intrigue from his character.

by not building off of older cards, you abandon all of the plot lines he had set up. they undid any angst in his stories. they dropped his issues with his parents. they downplayed neils impact on his life. he doesn't even grieve for him anymore. he doesnt even think about him most of the time. what happened to entwined fate? praying for neil's safety? what about neil being his father figure? neil potentially betraying the nxx? are we just going to ignore that now so we can watch artem be an insane freak who just apparently woke up with the skills of a sex god, forgot all of the lessons he learned, and doesnt care about consent anymore?

god, now IM ranting.... regardless. youre so right. i hear artem's newest cards are good so im praying those rumors are true : ((

EDIT: SORRY I MEANT TO TALK ABOUT HIS THIRD ANNIVERSARY CARD!!! it's not as bad as his second anniversary card. i know the bar is in hell but it's something. it's pretty contrived in the grand scheme of things (like why are they moving into a house...?) and has some weird moments, but is ultimately not as bad as it could have been in the slightest. i'd say its biggest crime is being boring as sin. holy fuck. i put that shit on 2x speed and i still found myself wanting to fast forward. like nothing happens at all???? it's so bizarre HAHA

[saym0-0]

oh my god. oh my GOD mechs esmp crossover. this is for SUCH a niche audience the esmp fandom is dead i dont care mechs esmp crossover

LISTEN TO ME okay ill have to add a sci-fi element to my established esmp world i am OKAY with this, grimlands are already victorian steampunk its not that big a stretch to add space travel, especially in the place of dimension travel.

okay so in my esmp lore the emperors are blessed by the gods with conditional immortality and flight, they know a new ruler has been born by if they're born with wings. i bet though i could twist that into the king cole/olympians idea of trading their citizen's lives for immortality. although it is kinda reversed? (mechs immortals tend to stop aging but can be killed, emperors still age and can die of old age, but cant be killed). hmm i mean theres definite differences between king cole and the olympians so maybe its just another variation, or something closer to the mechs themselves? though that ones less likely

honestly there literally is an esmp1 musical so i reckon its interesting enough to attract the mechs

but lets be honest with ourselves here, the only reason im doing this is so i have an excuse to draw grimlands!marius lmao

i think raph would be interested in it too though, with how they're so much more reliant on technical advancement than magical.

ivy would love the rivendell library, and crystal cliffs

hmmm jonny might have fun between mythland and the cod empire,,,

hmmmm brian would maybe like to hang out with shrub in the undergrove? he does like his garden,, maybe the overgrown with katherine too,, or gilded helianthia!

hrm,, i keep wanting to put people in the grimlands but i know thats only because its my favourite so therefore the most developed and also the most similar in vibe to the mechs

with that said though, tim really would have fun there,, like hes the gunpowder guy!! fwhip is the gunpowder guy!! they both r in charge of weapons!! guns, crossbows, same difference really

oough back to raph i think she and fwhip would bond over making their own wings,, fwhip made his to prove that he is fit to rule after gem fucked off to wizard school and raph,, uh actually i never found out raphs backstory beyond the fact im like 78% sure she made her and marius' mechanisms,, although that could be widely accepted fanon who knows not me

i think marius would also enjoy mezelea

but OH MY GOD TOY SOLDIER IN MEZELEA,,, i cant believe i almost forgot it,, i think it would immediately blend in with the clones and pretend to be one right up until they leave the planet, and have the time of its life the whole time,,

i dont know where ashes would go either.. i cant just say grimlands again because theres like four of them there already but,, the explosions!!

maybe mythland, or rivendell, those both seem like they'd appreciate a good mob boss taking over the place tbh

i think brian would get along with pix also

okay this isnt mechs but the fandom is a circle so if theres actually any fans of both out there reading this post, has anyone else noticed just how similar pix and jon's (tma) voices are?? genuinely when i started listening to the podcast i had to double check the va wasnt pix (and imagine my confusion when they share the same name too..)

anyways if anyone wants to scream about this with me please do, or if you want to know more about my esmp expanded universe feel free to do that too! in asks replies or reblogs idm