#yes i realize that fans of any given thing can be annoying

[bogunicorn]

love opening up tumblr for the first time in a hot minute and immediately seeing bg3 disk horse posts

it's been TWO GODDAMN MONTHS, oh my god i hate it, i hate all of you. fandom was a mistake, i should just try to never like anything. i didn't even get to exist in a fandom space that wasn't passively shitting on me for more than two months.

[lizdive]

Er father figure Ratio with child reader that is like huohuo! Idk what else to explain but i hope ya get it😞 (PLEASE PLATONIC)

You got it anon 🫡 thank you for requesting and if you’re unsatisfied just tell me !! <33

notes 𐙚 gender-neutral reader — "you" used to refer to reader ,, reader is a child ,, reader is based off of "huohuo" from honkai star rail (duh) ,, platonic relationships ,, i’m not sure if that blue flame thing is called phase flame but that what i’ll call it ,, mister tail exists here for reader ,, not proofread ignore typos

⭑ Despite having the ability to exorcise spirits, the phase flame absolutely terrified you as you ran through the halls of herta’s space station, the living thing of blue flames rushing after you as Mr. Tail yelled at you to do something — anything.

⭑ You ended up bumping into VERITAS, falling back onto your butt. The professor was obviously less than pleased as he looked down at you, but he blinked once he noticed you didn’t seem to be a researcher or anything. He, of course, spotted the phase flame rushing after you at full speed and realized what was happening.

⭑ Even after he contained the creature you still kept close to him as if he was your human shield.

⭑ You did apologize, of course, and introduce yourself. VERITAS wasn’t too harsh on you since you were still only a child and children weren’t really the brightest stars naturally so he knew you wouldn’t be Einstein smart.

⭑ VERITAS tried to get you to leave him alone multiple times but somehow you both end up bumping into each other again so he’s begrudgingly accepted the fact that you are stuck with him.

⭑ He’s intrigued by Mr. Tail. When you tell him the story and how you could’ve been harmed if any other approach was taken, he does feel a bit bad. But also a bit unamused because of your past dumbness to interact with a literal FLAME.

⭑ Gets along with Mr. Tail but also doesn’t?? They have their moments. Whenever you’re in lectures with him, seated in the corner just doing your thing whether it be creating talismans or doing some activities and assignments he’s given you, Mr. Tail will sometimes be up there with VERITAS and his students cry x10 more because they can both be pretty mean..

⭑ VERITAS doesn’t blame you for being scared of spirits and other things, but he’s also kind of confused at the lengths of your fear because it’s kind of your job / occupation to get rid of them.

⭑ If you tell him you want to resign but you’re too scared, he’ll encourage you and help you build the confidence to quit. However if he noticed it’s affecting your health negatively (ex: heart health because of the constant scares) he will force you to quit. Job be damned, especially because you’re still very young.

⭑ If it’s because of money or something, he has enough and more to spend on the two (three?) of you.

⭑ People making fun of you? Not anymore. Whenever VERITAS hears someone call you 'the possessed demoness' he gets annoyed. Yes, Mr. Tail possess you sometimes however it’s only to keep you safe. He even encourages Mr. Tail to do so to keep you dafe during those situations because he knows how petrified you get.

⭑ He doesn’t hide his distain for the nickname and any other mean names people may call you. He will literally give a physical reaction with his expression and tell them to hold their tongue and learn some respect.

⭑ Knowing how timid, shy, and just sensitive overall you can be, he’ll try to tone down his behavior for you so you don’t get scared of him. That’s the last thing he wants — he doesn’t want it at all, actually.

⭑ VERITAS will help you build up your courage if you wish. He… isn’t a big fan of Mr. Tail’s methods but he also knows that for some they’re effective. Exposure isn’t necessarily bad but he thinks you should start off slow with smaller things.

⭑ You’ll probably know every kind of spirit there is to know about because of VERITAS and how to deal with them. Not even just spirits, bro will teach you about other creatures, too.

⭑ And at the end of the day, scared or brave, VERITAS doesn’t mind if you hide behind him and let him take care of you and the situation,,

[kravchikfreak]

I'm sorry if this ask is coming out of nowhere, but I have been looking for posts that talk about how S2 has declined in quality and there have been virtually NONE. Even tags like 'arcane critical' or 'anti arcane' don't show up even though I know there are posts that are tagged with them. I'm losing my mind. Has nobody else noticed this downgrade? The ideas could have been good, but they were not executed well and the whole thing reads like they wrote it really quickly without any real editing and then rushed to get it out. It feels hollow, like we're seeing a botched or unfinished version of what it was supposed to be. What kind of random ass shit is it that an enforcer comes up to Vi and says, "cait said good things about you," and Vi is just like wow you're right, I'm sold! Even though she already knows Cait has a high opinion of her and that wasn't the issue in the first place! Also who was that random homeless man? Why am I supposed to care about these people? Fans get defensive about the pacing and argue that s1 did a lot in a minimal amount of time too, but I don't think they realize that pacing has to do with making something feel organic. Vi's heel turn into becoming an enforcer was not organic. Viktor's two second goodbye was not organic. Both of these things could have made sense if they'd given these moments even just a little more effort or care. There were so many unnecessary scenes that could have been cut out to give more time to things that desperately needed it (like caitlyn's sad wordless montage about her mom. Why did it drag out so long? Her grief is apparent in every other scene. We did not need an entire abstract slideshow of her making various sad expressions.) There's also the animation. The animation is leagues above a regularly animated show, but if you look closely it is actually not as good as s1. There is less detail, the lighting of the background doesn't always match the characters, and there are moments where the lips don't always sync with their voices. These are minor things that I wouldn't usually care about, but for a multi-million dollar show like Arcane? Riot games recently laid off a whole slew of its creative team, too, and I wonder if they've been making similar cuts before that. It would certainly explain the drop in quality. I wouldn't put it past corporate greed to nerf one of the most groundbreaking animated shows in modern media if they thought they could profit more by cutting corners.

I'm sorry to ramble in your inbox as a random stranger, but it boggles my mind that there are so few people mentioning s2's flaws (not including rage bait, which is annoying because it only delegitamizes real criticisms and discussions.) I feel like I'm screaming in the void like is nobody else seeing this shit??

well hello there! first of all, "arcane critical" is what i was looking for when i was writing that post. gonna put it in tags now before i forget

secondly, i love asks! so no need to apologize. thirdly it's a bummer you went under anonym, i don't believe you get notifs for your anonymous asks, so unless you actually hang out on my blog regularly there's a chance you won't see me appreciating your thoughts and agreeing with you (expect for the animation part, cause for me it was great, i have no questions on that regard. but for each their own. i'm a big fun of the dragon prince first season's animation and still sad they get rid of their 13fps style, so...)

anyway, i got bored at the beginning of my rumbling that time and didn't get into some deep analysis but yes, the first season also had events to go fast and forward, but at the same time they made sense. it wasn't rush or dragged, every scene had a meaning and weight

YES to the burial scene. like i get it, it was drawn pretty and it was sad and grey for cait but my god how many hours can we watch vi going away from 317 different angles? i was actually shocked to see her at cait's, cause after 10 minutes of her hiding in the crowd and leaving before cait saw her i was legit sure the show tried to tell us they broke up for now and won't see each other for a while

and it all feels so odd, as if on the one hand writers had too little allowed episodes to work with their ideas, like they came up with all these important story points but had no more screen time to add actual story development between the points, cause the season is like 10 episodes too short to fit a full coherent story. but on the other hand they have too much unused screen time, like they wrote only 5 episodes but they had to make 9 so now we will just fill the equivalent of 4 episodes of free time with mute repetitive long scenes

who the fuck is that mute lizard cop? is he actually mute? or there were no budget on one more voice actor? what's his problem? why he always looks like he's mad at everyone? should i even care he's always displeased? does he even matter? if no, why he has so much screen time and close-up shots? if yes, why he has no meaning or story or character or name? i swear to god, in the first season that one future-junkie dude had more of a meaning and weight in his two minutes scene than these lizard cop and the new jinx's sister during two episodes

and it all would've been fine, really, if it was the first season, or one of these already bad shows that you don't really expect much of. but arcane was a masterpiece, and also we've been waiting for it for three years. so it's the feeling that we know how GOOD it can be, and the feeling that it just chose not to

w....wait... what if they also tried to do great? and failed to do good in the process

or maybe, as you said, just some internal kitchen shit. i never actually follow media creation stuff and staff so maybe that's just it. still not make it all better for me as a viewer who was too excited to learn at 1 am that the act dropped and stayed up until 7am to make sure to watch it before getting to sleep

HEY THANK YOU for giving me opportunity to rumble about it again

[teddypickerry]

CHARACTERS I THINK WOULD BE 100x BETTER WITH JESS THAN RORY EVER WAS.

before the literati army comes for me, i don’t dislike them with passion like those fuckass dean fans. when i watch the show i enjoy them the most by far. i enjoy any scene jess is in. however, when i step back, yeah there was no way in hell they were gonna work out in the long run. the writers wouldn’t let that happen, nor should it have. they’re cute; but i’d prefer better for both of them in their own ways.

aka team rory gets therapy, jess gets bitches.

oo. serena van der woodsen (i know, i know. just stick with me!!!)

just hear me out for two seconds. do i think they’d last a lifetime? no, no the fuck i don’t. would they be fun to watch? oh, hell yeah. jess thinks she’s what she is, an annoying girl raised by a billionaire. but she somehow woos him with her long legs and careless attitude. do they break up after she graduates and does nothing with her life while he’s busting his ass off to make a couple hundred a week? um, yeah. but that’s probably already their third breakup because lily hated him at first (hiiii lorelai), blair was a bitch to him, chuck set him up, and gossip girl made a blast about his past. side note: what would jess’s gossip girl name be? i’m leaning toward a catcher in the rye reference. and would he probably be better fit for blair? mmm, yeah. but would that happen, mmm no. but that’s for another time.

oo. spencer hastings (here’s where we’re getting into it)

spencer is one of the few characters that challenges jess’s family dynamic. yeah, he dated his now step-cousin but her sister made out with her half-sister’s half-brother who share a dad that she technically shares sooooo. not to mention her mom’s not even her mom and she has an evil twin sister. so crazy family dynamic no one else understands? yeah they got that covered. i like to call spencer the better rory on speed. because well… spencer was on speed. she definitely fits the academic type who can not only match but challenge his literary references. she just gets it without trying and she’d sure as hell hold a grudge against liz. they’re both strong as hell but they need someone to lean on, they are kids.

oo. marissa cooper (you knew it was coming)

i don’t need to remind you guys of my absolute devotion toward this crossover ship. but hey i’m doing it anyways. let’s make a list, shall we? psycho mom who never took accountability for her actions and *borderline* abused them? check. dad who left? check. running off ‘cause life sucks x2? checcckkkkk. i mean the list could go on and on. my punk loving babies who mentioned the same book and bands, awwwww. i think the great thing about them is they both need to be protected whether they realize it or not. i think they’d be one of those couples that can speak with one look - no words necessary. she glances at him once and he’s holding onto her for dear life. have i imagined their entire relationship in my head? yes, yes i have. is that fic coming? it was supposed to but i suck. anyways, these two were doomed from their start. they really weren’t given a fair chance. but they got past it (or at least they were both *going* to). le sigh.

oo. literally anyone.

<3

[ingravinoveritas]

After seeing all those stories of Georgia going shopping with David (I'm honestly surprised that David knows how to drive, I don't know why), I think David is fed up with so much video.

@electronic-chocolate @victorianlonging Okay, so...I have indeed seen all of the stories that are referenced here, and I think a couple of things can be true at the same time. But let's first get the visual up for anyone who hasn't seen it (all in one video, for ease of viewing):

The first thought that I had is how reminiscent this was of what we've seen recently, with Georgia filming David when he seemingly really doesn't want to be filmed (such as at that festival last month).

What also came to mind is something I think at least several of us thought of (if my DMs are any indication), which is that David is clearly, visibly annoyed. There's no real way to not notice it, with him looking incredulous in the car (though I did laugh when he said "I'm not dressed for this," given how adorable he looked without even realizing it), and then when she sets the tone by immediately using the word "content." There's no question that that's what the objective of this was: To have content of/with David that Georgia could post to garner attention.

Once they're in the store, we see him balling up the shopping bags in his hands, which to me came across as a sign of anxiety. And given how non-confrontational we know David is, it's almost amazing to hear him respond to Georgia's "Say hi!" with an immediate "Nope." And the whole thing sort of becomes what you might call a self-narrating zoo exhibit (or "self-paparazzi," as I recently heard someone aptly describe it) where David is literally just trying to shop for groceries while Georgia is sticking a camera in his face.

We also notice that at one point, David is recognized by some fans and stops to take a picture with them, which when you think about it is likely a regular occurrence, since he has one of the most famous faces in the country. But because that is the case, you'd also think he would feel a sense of relief when those interactions are over and he no longer has to be "on"...until he goes back to Georgia and she is filming him. And as good-natured as David is, there's no doubt that it must get a little tiring after a while.

All that said--and in the interest of providing a balanced perspective--it is possible that David was playing things up, to an extent, and perhaps even exaggerating some of the annoyance that we saw. And there was something else about this that stood out to me, and that deserves discussion: His shoes...

Yes, David was wearing gay pride Doc Martens. GAY PRIDE BOOTS, ladies and gentlemen and those of other gender persuasions. And when we realize this is the case, everything about this vlog/series of stories starts to gets very interesting. Because while the shoes were by no means the focal point of the Insta stories, Georgia had to know that David's eagle-eyed fans would clock them right away. And clock them they did (and I also noticed this pair of Pride-themed Doc Martens, and would not be at all surprised to learn that David owns a pair of those as well).

Leaving aside the fact that no straight man on this Earth--no matter how strong an ally--would wear those boots (I mean...come on), I almost saw this as a callback/follow up to Georgia's story from a few months ago where she appeared to use "their" pronouns when talking about David (rather than he/him). Much discussion was had at the time of this being a way to "test the waters" for David to start being more open about his sexuality/identity, and this almost feels like a continuation of that.

Having heard from queer followers of mine who are not fully out to their families/friends, it seems that it is not uncommon for folks in that position to wear things to drop little "hints" around people they are not ready to disclose to yet. And when you think about the number of "hints" from the last few months--the nonbinary pin, the pronoun Insta story, David getting emotional talking about Pride Month on that podcast, and now these new Insta stories wearing those boots--it makes you wonder if it's all building toward something.

Whatever the case may be, it's still difficult to overlook how uncomfortable David looked at times in those videos today--even if he was playing things up. For my part, I would genuinely rather never have Georgia post anything about David again than see him in her posts knowing that he is uncomfortable with it. I also agree that her hunger for content seems to be increasing, but I would also like to hope that if David did seriously ask Georgia to stop filming--for any reasons--that she would do so.

So I suppose we'll have to see what (if anything) this all leads to, and what will happen if/when she films him again. Happy as always to hear others' thoughts in the comments...

[kaithonks]

So I’ve had some Thoughts about Jason Todd’s Robin

I guess you could say I’m still a little peeved about Robin lives, but it made me remember a story from a Class I took. I had the pleasure of getting to take a Comics and Graphic Narrative Class for my degree. The professor had a mind set to the class, in that he was not trying to show why comics are an art form, but how. Which meant we didn’t read Maus or Watchman, but we did read Heroes in Crisis. I do have thoughts about that, but that’s for another time. Any way, in class when we talk about Heroes in Crisis, Jason got briefly mentioned, with that someone mentioned his vote. And someone mention it was a landslide vote. I, of course, corrected that it was a very narrow margin of only 72 with some rumors of tampering. Which is about where I stopped myself, because it was getting too far from the original discussion. So I tried to circle the conversation back around, explain that,

“Yeah, I get a little carried away when Jason Todd comes up.”

The guy sitting next to me decided this was the time to say,

“No one cared about Jason Todd until he was the Red Hood.”

I realized now this was in jest, but my gut reaction was to tell him (a little louder than I meant) to “eat shit.”

I do regret saying that despite the laughs I got, and I did apologize to the class, though they told it was ok because “I was standing on business.” (The guy I told to 'eat shit' didn’t speak to me again till a like a month later, though)

So what’s my point with this funny little story? Well, I know I am coming from a biased perspective, but I still believe that there is some strong disregard for Jason’s Robin run, even among his fans.

He was only around for about 5 years, first appearing in 1983 and then ending with his death in 1988. Which is very short compared to Dick’s 40 plus year run as Robin, so really he wasn’t given time to be fleshed out in the same way. Some of Jason’s complaints at the time could have just been solved with time and not being written by someone who hated him, but that’s a recurring problem, it seems. Anyway, his death is a pretty pivotal moment in not only Batman's history but in comic history, so that can make his short run seem less important than how it ended. And what also doesn’t help is the almost instant back tracking on what Jason’s Robin run was really like.

So putting the Robins into boxes of happy, angry, smart, and girl is really regressive (Yes I'm looking at you Heroes in Crisis) as they are all their own characters beyond this very simple traits. They even overlap in places. And I’m saying this because I don’t think any one Robin was ‘the angry one.’ I think most of them as hurt kids who were using the identity of Robin to bring some light and levity, whether it being to themselves or to Batman. Or in a meta sense, that Robin is there for younger readers to relate to and bring a lighter tone to the story. And well in the 80s where Jason’s ran started comics were starting towards the darker gritty tone. I recommend people read “The Lives and Death of Robin: An Oral History of A DEATH IN THE FAMILY” By Joe Grunenwald to see a lot of the attitudes not only towards Jason, but Batman at the time. Jason came at a time when things were changing and well there wasn’t a desire on the editorial part to make Jason’s Robin work with what they want, because there was in incompatibility of what Robin was with the tone they wanted. And for all they claim that people hated Jason’s Robin, again the vote margin was very slim. And the published letters to the editor after, showed that kids of the time still claimed Jason as their Robin and were upset by his death. Beyond that, the Reddit thread r/comicbook had someone ask people about what they called for with Jason’s vote. There is quite a handful of people who admitted they didn’t think it would happen, so that's why they voted for his death. And of course there is a pretty vocal group saying they thought he was annoying, but in that they were also people who already loved Dick Grayson. He was their Robin. But as stated earlier, there are still those where Jason was their Robin, which is also in that thread.

Bringing it back, people definitely still cared about Jason when he was Robin. And even so many years later, I cared about Jason’s Robin. Jason’s post crisis Robin story is probably even more relatable today, with the growing of people barely able to scrape by.

Now many people point to The Diplomat's Son as a story where Jason’s character was whiny, and showed that “he’d eventually betray Batman”. But Jason through that story is trying to defend a woman who was sexually assaulted and was upset the man was going to get away. It’s always this I think of when people complain to me about Robin’s run. It also reminds me of in Under the Red Hood when Jason kills Captain Nazi. In my mind, it’s hard to frame these things as bad. Extreme? Yes, absolutely. But it speaks more to a character who was constantly failed, and faith in the system was broken. So the only way he saw to really help was to take it upon himself and make it permanent. Which when you consider Jason is only about 19-20 in Under the Red Hood. That’s heavy. But it’s only so heavy with the comparative of Jason’s Robin not completely having that faith broken and him having hope. If Jason’s Robin was also so extreme and angry, it makes the impact of Under the Red Hood, becomes almost nonexistence. It doesn’t mean anything if this is where Jason has always been, so neatly putting Jason as “always the angry Robin” and “always destined to betray Bruce’s morals” hurts his character.

Sometimes I feel that the people around Jason’s origins sort of stumbled into making a compelling character that wasn’t necessarily for them and don’t understand that, specially the way they talk about “my Batman”. They weren't the kids at the time of Jason’s Robin (maybe weren't really planing for young readers) and did a lot of blame shifting around Jason’s death. Which is strange to say the least, and this is where the back tracking on his run really starts. He didn't die because he just ignored Batman, but because he wanted to save his mother, who lied to him about the Joker. Still, they said after the fact, that “he didn't listen.” That isn't really what happened, it's an over simplification that's detrimental to their own story.

Now, a whole another conversation could be made about comic demographics and who Jason is for, past and present. But that’s getting a little too far from my point, that I feel to this day it's ignore that people did truly care about Jason’s Robin. People still do. Without Jason’s Robin, we wouldn’t have Tim’s Robin, or Steph’s or Damian’s. Jason is still an important character with in Batman, as Red Hood and as Robin. You can’t claim to love any later Robin run without paying respect to the fact Dick set it up, Robin, and Jason was his first successor. His death does overshadow a lot, even if it wasn’t permanent. And you can’t say you like the Red Hood without respect Jason’s time as Robin and how he’s changed. So Yeah. Jason Todd, Robin, is influential and shouldn’t be so easily dismissed.

[thotsforvillainrights]

I know you don’t like writing for muscular but I am a really muscular fan and nobody writes anything for him, I’m tired of reading the same stories

If you don’t mind asking, can I get Muscular with a S/O that think he’s cheating or he thinks think the S/O is cheating?

(I may not like him, but I live to serve the small community of Muscular simps. So I'm grateful for the ask!)

~Muscular accuses S/O of Cheating~

headcanon|scenario|imagine|match-up|drabble

-He may be pretty rough but you never really had to worry about that as much as the others would assume you did. He's always had a thing for teasing you when you two got together. It's only later down the line that he starts to realize he doesn't know his own strength. You pretty much taught him little by little to be more careful with not just you but with other people, other beings and things around him. Since then you've noticed a change in him from the way he playfully punches your arm to the way he closes the car door. He hasn't exactly given up on his tough or violent nature but he's certainly more aware of himself when it comes to you.

-Another thing is his anger. He's not very quick to anger but rather annoy I would think. He can't really dish out what he gives so all day he might get on your nerves but when you do it too much, he finds himself groaning in annoyance and trying to distance himself for a bit so he doesn't fuss at you. He's still him through and through but again, as previously mentioned, he's more aware of himself.

-The biggest issue in the relationship would be how jealous he can get with the people around you. He knows it's foolish but in the back of his mind, he thinks everyone is out to get you and he hates the idea of that. How dare the worker at the drive-thru put extra sauce in your bag. How fucking dare the mailman lingers for a few minutes over just to chat it up with you. Who does he think he is??? The coworker that texts you outside of office hours about non work related things. Muscular doesn't even real like any of the other league members spending too much time around you when he thinks about it...especially not Dabi.

-You're kind and patient with him when you see fit. You reassure him he has nothing to worry about. You love him and (depending on the reader) you'll show him in many different ways~ Still, he always finds himself struggling with his damn jealously. it all seems to boil over when you are caught in the back room with Shigaraki chatting quietly about something. Secrets? Holding secrets from him with his own leader nonetheless??? Oh he's pissed so you know you'll hear about this when you get home. For a while he's been suspecting something on the foul involving you and Shigaraki. The two of you have been chatting it up more lately and he didn't like it one bit. It's not like you ever shared anything in common with each other to begin with! This all seemed to come out of nowhere. He didn't even waste time to bring up the shared texts. He knows it's been you chatting it up with him late at night.

-He's failed to see what you were doing. Completely failed to see you'd begged Tomura for help to surprise him for your anniversary. Tomura didn't want to get involved in anything romantic like that, but agreed finally to help you. You were trying to cook up a plan to have Shigaraki distract Muscular long enough for you to set up decorations and wrap his gifts. Muscular had gotten the wrong idea completely.

-He always controlled his anger around you as best he could and even now when he was having a meltdown he still managed to grip at his fists tightly and not let them fly into the wall like he wanted to. just because he made sure not to physically scare you doesn't mean he didn't have any effect on you verbally. When he noticed your tears was when he finally came back to reality. Had he...had he said something so horrible that he didn't even realize it?

-Yes...he did.

-Guilt wasn't something he felt had any control over him but surprisingly he learned it did. This was especially true when he felt his chest swell with guilt as you sobbed/explained the situation to him. He yelled at you. He said terrible things to you and scared you when all you were trying to do was something nice for him. You even showed him the texts between you and Shigaraki as proof of your plans/actions. That guilt was eating him alive right on the spot and he STILL couldn't find the words to apologize. He hated sleeping on the couch that night. He hated even worse hearing your silently sob yourself to sleep in the next room. He would've forced his way into the locked room had he not decided to let you recover to yourself. He deserved to feel like shit. The next morning he was up bright and early (very rare for him). The first thing he did was show his humility and apologized (also very rare for him). The next thing he did was spent the next few days trying to patch things up just in time for your anniversary.

-It's odd just how crazy love can make even the most hard formed men. He swore he'd try to get that jealousy in line because the idea of losing you hurt him more than anything else he could ever think of.

[mayhaps-a-blog]

Rewatching Fullmetal Alchemist (2003), I may have been too harsh on the ending - I definitely prefer Brotherhood, but the 2003 canon definitely has its charms. Definitely a mixed bag, as most shows are, really!

My pros and cons list got long, but here:

The good: Dante is a fascinating villain, and a neat character! Her attempts to vaguely justify her actions while clearly having completely lost touch with humanity were interesting to watch, and her interactions with the homunculi were great!

I also liked the homunculi - I think I prefer Envy from Brotherhood, but Lust and Sloth's struggle with their memories and yearning for a life that was never theirs added an interesting dimension to their characters. Wrath is an incredibly tragic character and watching him scream for his mother, any mother, only to be faced with abuse is heartbreaking.

Rose's story is likewise more extensive and tragic than in Brotherhood. "More extensively tragic" is true of a lot of 2003.

The themes of the cost of human transmutation are much more focused - human transmutation, its causes and its consequences, are the main theme of the story rather than a means to a different end (I could go on... but I already made a post about that). The show also deals a lot with child abandonment, and abuse - with Wrath as the scared, angry child who is drawn into a dangerous group through his desire for a mother, Envy as wrathful to the point of hating everyone, and Ed starting down Envy's path, but veering into something closer to acceptance, if not forgiveness. Al is the one with forgiveness. We see the why, we see the how - and for Nina of course, and Selim too. And that lends some interesting depth to the story.

The actual ending isn't as terrible as I remember thinking it - I liked Mustang's epilogue, but I wish they'd left Ed's ending ambiguous. But I like it when shows leave the future somewhat mysterious :)

The bad: I am still not a fan of the WW1 plot. It feels unnecessary, and I can think of a lot more interesting answers for "what's behind the gate" than a sudden surprise isekai story. Frankly, I don't even want an answer to what's beyond the gate; like God, death, and souls, that's the big mystery none of us should or could ever know, and any attempted answer in media ends up mundane and boring compared to the grand mystery. And the excuse of the deaths in our world somehow echoing back through time to fuel alchemy just raises more questions than it answers. The whole idea raises more questions than it answers, which is not what I look for in a show finale! Speculating over what comes next is one thing, having to scratch your head to figure out how the universe works when it's stated and supposed to follow clearly defined rules is just annoying.

Another answer that brings up more questions is Hohenheim. His backstory with Dante is fascinating - and almost completely unexplored. The fact that he is a mass-murderer, multiple times over (he changes bodies at least twice, the original switch and into his current body, and given Dante's original appearance the bodies do still age - he'd need a few to manage 400 years!) is never fully addressed other than "well he's not doing it again so it's fine I guess." But really, when exactly did he realize murder is bad, actually? (Yes, even if it's "witches and plague victims", like, seriously?) It apparently took 400 years - was it meeting Trisha, or something before then? Did he wake up one day and realize his marriage sucked and decide to hit the bricks? Was it some kind of immortal's mid-fourth-life crisis? Can we really ignore all the murder just because he's nice now??

Finally, the ending does feel a little rushed compared to Brotherhood, probably because of the fewer episodes (while close in overall length, 2003 spends 25 episodes on the content that Brotherhood covers in 10). A few plot points feel forced or unrealistically rushed - why would Russell and Fletcher's father have been shown the underground city? Dante has her own house to teach alchemy in! And Mustang's rebellion felt like it was really forced through for the plot - he could at least have leveraged the soldiers' experiences in Ishbal, etc. instead of demanding they commit mutiny with no evidence. I'd expect them to mutiny against him! But that's stuff a few more episodes may have fixed.

In summary...

FMA (2003): Excellent characters, excellent characterization, I wholeheartedly love episodes 1-25 (except maybe Barry's introduction, that aged horribly if it was ever decent at all), the time we get to spend with Hughes and Mustang's team and all the little mini arcs is great! I like that they brought in some of the earlier characters to work with, I like the way they took their themes and (most) story arcs. Would recommend watching, preferably before Brotherhood.

Brotherhood: Definitely the stronger plot to me. I like Father as a villain and prefer Hohenheim's backstory here; I definitely prefer the whole deal and ambiguity with Truth and the gate to the surprise!isekai in 2003. Brings in some absolutely fantastic characters and the buildup to the finale feels less rushed - more things feel realistic and well-thought out, like Mustang's rebellion, with the extra time to let characters get their chess pieces into place.

Overall, I still prefer Brotherhood - but 2003 has grown on me with this rewatch! I'd definitely still suggest watching it before Brotherhood, and will add at least episodes 1-25 to my regular rewatch list. If I can still find them. Plus Mustang's team's episodes. As far as I'm concerned, those are all totally canon to all versions of the story!

[yall-hate-kids-tourney]

Loser Round 6: Maria Ushiromiya (Umineko: When They Cry) vs. Ken Amada (Persona 3)

Propaganda below the cut:

Maria Ushiromiya (9):

She's really obsessed with occult and witch stuff and acts inappropriately when her family gets murdered because she was told by the culprit that everyone was going to the Golden Land (a super special witch afterlife where you get whatever you want). She also has meltdowns like any autistic child. Because of this, some Umineko fans say that she deserves to get abused by her mother.

----

People really do be saying that this literal nine year old who's been abused and neglected by her mom for her whole life is evil

----

Some people in the Umineko fandom have decided that she's annoying because she's a 9 year old with autism. Personally I think she's based. She has a hard life but still tries her hardest to see the goodness in everything. She's kind, even feeling sorry for a wilting flower and hoping it'll get better. She's a very smart young girl who just isn't given the proper love a child needs from their parents to thrive. She deserved SO, SO much better than the cards life dealt her. I mustn't talk too much else I'll get emotional but Maria is peak.Best autistic witch girl.

Ken Amada (11):

y'all are all for "murder and revenge plots" until is a 10 y/o boy who watched his mother die and started to become conflicted after realizing his moms killer is a secretly kind traumatized teenager to the point where the 10 y/o boy attempts to kill himself by giving himself up to assassins.

bro he's 10.

----

ken amada is such an interesting character with the unfortunate circumstances of having little screentime and atlus deciding to ruin his reputation forever by giving him a romance choice in the fem protag route. ken is a child who lost his mother at NINE. nobody ever believed him when he said that she was murdered, and that he saw who killed her. hes miserable, and all everyone around him does is give him sympathy while hes suffering and was forced to grow up before even going into middle school. hes angry and determined to get revenge on the person who killed his mother, and he doesnt even see the own value in living anymore beyond getting that revenge. hes more mature than most of his peers, and is desperate to be seen as an adult.but at the same time, he is still a child who likes superhero shows.

----

OH GOD WHERE DO I START

First there's the normal "The fandom hates kids" complaints of "He's so whiny" "he's so annoying" "oh my god kid just SHUT UP" y'know, the typical fandom stuff that makes you wonder if these people have ever talked to a child in their life

Second, there's (spoilers)...

October 4th, and the ENTIRE FANDOM is calling this kid a murderer.

For context, the moment in question doesn't necessarily paint him in the best light but its still understandable. Your team is going on a mission while Ken and another character named Shinjiro are away. In an alleyway, they have a talk where it is revealed that on that night a year priar to the game, Kens mom was killed in that allleyway by Shinjiro's Persona (Which, by the Rules of the Game Lore, basically means By Shinjiro). Ken tried to tell the authorities, the authorities didn't believe him because Magic Reasons and the death was ruled an accident.

Of course Ken is Fucking Pissed and wants revenge

However, because of Talk, he ACTIVELY CALMS DOWN, and realises "Hey, I probably shouldn't kill someone. Despite them, y'know, killing my mom"

HOWEVER REVOLVER JESUS COMES IN AND RUINS EVERYTHING BY SHOOTING SHINJIRO. AND LIKE, IF YOU PLAY P3P YOU CAN /AVOID THE DEATH THING/

AND EVERYONE BLAMES /KEN/. AND ONLY KEN.

And third (yes, there's a THIRD) IS THE FUCKING FEMC ROMANCE THING. WHICH JUST...SHOULDN'T HAVE EXISTED IN THE FIRST PLACE. BUT NOW HE'S "SHOTA BAIT" BECAUSE WE HAVE TO BLAME THE CHILD FOR THE AUTHORITY FIGURE COMING ONTO THEM 😒

[lightbluetown]

happy new years eve everyone! here's an overly-personal post of me reflecting on 2023 ✨

have i ever told you guys that i had no idea ofmd was a queer show when i first started watching it? i really didn't know the first thing about it-- i'd never even seen a picture of stede in my life. it took me almost three weeks to veeery gradually get through the first three episodes. i enjoyed them, but only felt like tuning in during dinner on weekends. i've been around fandom spheres for twelve years but i've never been part of a big fandom myself (or of any fandom that wasn't related to video games or, well, anime). certainly didn't think that would change anytime soon. yet suddenly, a mere three weeks before the start of season 2, i heard the words "you wear fine things well" and all the circuits in my brain were reset

2023 had definitely been a suboptimal year for me until then-- devastating natural disasters, personal losses, deep political problems, the uszh. not to mention the terrible injustices and wars happening around the world. i tend to protect myself from negative thoughts and fear by letting hyperfixations consume me (as i'm sure many people can relate) and boy did ofmd do the job! especially with the excitement of s2... i didn't even realize when october came to an end, it just flew by! i excitedly watched every episode as soon as they came out, made some silly posts on this blog that i'd randomly decided to make... yes, the fandom has its fair share of problems, and i see annoying takes in my twitter fyp basically every day, but eh, i've seen (and been in) worse communities. my experience has been lovely! i love all the beautiful fan art, gifsets and meta posts here. people are so passionate, which only makes my passion grow stronger. i really appreciate it.

unsurprisingly, i've consumed basically everything you can possibly consume that features rhys/the new zealand gang (i've become a diehard fotc fan too). sorry for the sudden dark turn but a really close friend of mine tragically passed away the day after my birthday in november. i don't think i would've moved on with my life if it wasn't for the very welcome distraction provided by these series. especially ofmd of course

ofmd isn't just a silly fun comedy show, it isn't just a love story, at least not to me. it's the story of a man who's spent his life feeling lost, left out, left behind, unwanted, unloved, unneeded. a middle-aged gay man stuck in aristocracy who, for some reason, i can deeply relate to as a young queer person stuck in the middle east. it's the story of people like me freely and unapologetically being themselves, fighting to live their lives filled with joy and love, even in less-than-ideal conditions. it's given me a lot of strength and hope when i needed it. i would've had a much worse memory of 2023 in my mind if it hadn't been for ofmd

so yeah. 2023? not a huge fan! glad it's over! but i'm really glad ofmd was part of it!! i'll remember the past four months fondly, i'll keep loving the series for many months to come and i'll hopefully enjoy a third season with other fans. i'm excited! i hope 2024 will be better for everyone

thank you all!!

[quincyhorst]

Misc Trivia: Julio Del Bosque

(Original info post here)

When it comes to family, he has a younger sister, named Mirta, which has followed him into Liocott. She often comes to visit, but she isn't interested on the team her brother coaches. At least she'll gladly offer to be an entretainer at any party RM might plan together.

As Julio is very openly proud of Spanish traditions, he'll gladly support anything related to them that his boys partake in.

He's quite extravagant when it comes to trainings, every choice of him bringing a side of controversy yet with the excuse of all being "for a greater good".

Para cualquier hispanohablante leyendo esto, básicamente es el Mark/Endou de Rangugamer pero cuarentón, alcohólico y en vez de camiones usa toros (?)

His most known one is the use of animals, unfortunately :( Using a bull(fighting bull) to train had been one of his plans for a long time, but given the circumstances (And the actual age of his boys) he had to be conformed with a younger calf. Nonetheless the animal became key to train, both on the home matches in the Euro League and also during the qualifiers. Well, sort of. With the presence of the Toro Blanco, Julio had to rely on the poor animal less and less. And qualifying to Liocott pretty much forced him to toss the idea away. The spanish press might be willing to defend his ass, but not the international one...

A replacement he found was on the spanish area itself at least, in the form of a robo-bull used on the tiny bullring. His original (german) owner seemed surprisingly eager to lend it, however...

Regarding other Euro B coaches: With zero experience on previous german coaches and barely any info about the current Gretchen, for a long time Julio relied on what came on his mind when reading her title "The Witch of Walpurgis". But when getting to see her appearance on TV and realize how beautiful she was... Yeah, a new reason to qualify for Liocott. Unfortunately for him once they actually met he was found with the reality that it wasn't meant to be. He was pretty stubborn, he did all he could to impress her, but... By the time her team had defeated his, he knew it was all over. A shame...

That being said, he IS familiar with François, the french coach, given he enjoys watching the french adult league every so often. When they first met on the Euroleague Julio was slightly nervous, but he still tried to appear cool and make a first impression. "Hey, Mr. Fransuá, a please to meet ya! I'm a big fan!" Though, the french man replied to him with the driest "Thanks" ever, at least on his POV.

Overall their relationship is also a formal rivarly, although Julio does deep down see François as nothing more than a "soccer nerd". "He might know all about the ball, but he'd NEVER know the field as close as I! ~"

For the most part, he's chill. Very chill. At least until someone mentions the name Pepe. That one thing alone is able to make his own blood boil and lose his temper. His resentment towards Banderas is enough to have followed him into adulthood, it seems... Alcohol is the only thing that can help him calm down.

Yes, he's the one that designed the emblem AND who chose the name of 'Red Matador'. And he's NOT changing anything, no matter how annoying both the animalists and the Toro Blanco act.

Btw, I'd like to develop a bit more Julio and Davi(d)'s relationship. Back on his club days he was pretty chill, but the whole Aliea deal and the Community Cup saw a huge change on him, making Davi more exigent and demanding of his teammates' skills; sometimes even more than the laid-back Julio. This led to many fights that only the old man was able to stop.

When choosing RM's lineup, Julio put more emphasis on being diverse with his selection than depending too much on the winning teams of Navarre and Madrid. This is why he went too straightforward, choosing the best of both (Querardo, Samuel, and Davi respectively) and focusing on the best player of the other teams, even those who didn't go too far on the cup. Other times he chose based on their potential alone, such as Federico or Donato (OC, the original 12 of RM). Sometimes it worked (former), but at times his judgement became incorrent (latter, poor Dona).

If Davi struggled a lot to understand Julio's choices, then the rest of Gran Madrid were infiurated, not being able to understand why he would reduce the Madrid pool to just one player. In Julio's argument, he admits that despite the winning capacities of Madrid locally, having won for so long had gotten the player's skills too comfortable, which led to their defeat at the hands of fresh talent (Navarre). Although truth be told... The less Madrid players on the team, the less fights there would be; that was also his mindset when choosing.

Julio's original plan on the FFI was to experiment a bit with his picks, and if things failed, he was willing to kick anyone and bring the Navarre/Madrid players in (Something that almost happened after the USA defeat). However, by the time Julio was willing to start off clean for the FFI, his attachment to the RM players had gotten so big, he decided to give them one last chance.

[laiwalane]

hey, could you please write something with sally mckenna and the countess?🤍

i really love them, their biggest fan for like three years but there are almost no fics with them and i really liked your fandom list and writing style (?) so, wanted to ask for smth like fluff or smut, but not too short if it’s okay💅🏻

oh yea.

Phantom Passion

pairing: Sally McKenna x The countess

warnings: idk just sex

tags: light dom/sub, gentle sex, first time, soft talk

_______________________________________

The flickering candlelight illuminates Elizabeth's room in warm orange tones, casting shadows on the pale skin of Her Majesty the Countess. Her eyes are partially closed, and her lips sigh as soon as Sally breaks away from their kiss. Beautiful.

Being with Elizabeth in any romantic capacity is still something Sally can hardly believe. For Sally, Elizabeth is perfection, something so precious that she certainly shouldn't be allowed to touch her. And yet it is there. Elizabeth chose her, although it would have been enough for Sally just to be in Elizabeth's life. She would never have expected that these desires would come to this.

–Relax.– Sally whispers, running her fingers over Elizabeth's shoulder. They pull back the bra strap, leaving room for Sally's lips to touch the skin.

–Let me help you relax when you've finally given yourself a minute.

Elizabeth grins, no doubt fully understanding what Sally means; that the Countess runs a hotel day in and day out, being an immortal vampire, where it seems none of the staff can last a minute without her sensitive guidance, that such moments of escape from reality happen so rarely. No wonder Sally is so grateful for these moments. For such a limited time that can be devoted to her. Her. her Countess.

And yet Sally blinks, puzzled and immediately worried, when Elizabeth's hand falls on her arm, gently pulls her back.

– Countess?

- Just a minute. – Elizabeth doesn't seem annoyed or angry - just curious, all her movements resemble a white cat.

Until now, she had refrained from their intimacy, returning the bra strap to her shoulder and wiping her lips.

– Before we continue, I have to mention something.

Sally has to hold back her laughter. Believe me, Elizabeth will say this in the same tone as at a military meeting.

- Yes?

She didn't expect a sigh in response to this.

– That's exactly what I wanted to mention. Listen, Sally.

Elizabeth's usually stern voice softens at the end of her words, and she reaches out to take McKenna's hand.

– I don't want to complain about what we are... We've been close until now. You were just a wonderful partner, with whom I never even hoped to experience something like this...

the praise makes Sally tremble inside.

–Anything for you, Love– flashes through her head at the speed of light, but she doesn't dare interrupt her train of thought.

–That's what's bothering me, Sally.– she says, as if reading a ghost's mind.

Sally stops smiling and, in turn, a smile appears on the Countess's face. She runs her thumb over Sally's arm.

– Don't worry about it. The only thing that's starting to bother me is that you never think about yourself when it comes to us being together. I'm flattered that you're putting me in priority, but that's not what I want, you know?

Sally goes to deny it, ready for her usual chatter. She's here for Elizabeth's pleasure. Whatever she wanted, she would get, and it was Sally's duty to take responsibility and ensure that the Countess enjoyed herself in any way. Isn't this the ideal love in her understanding?

But she hesitates. Elizabeth's knowing look is too sincere for Sally to ignore, and, unwittingly, the fantasies that come to Sally when she is alone flash through her mind. She feels warmth begin to flow to her face.

–I guess that means I'm right.

Sally bites her lip.

–I shouldn't lie to you, honey. But you're the only one who matters, at least for now. After I saved you, I realized that I couldn't let you go anymore. And I'm being more honest with you now than ever.

– I know that, Sally. Her voice gets firmer, and Sally stops, looking down. There's something about that voice that touches her. She wants her cheeks to stay just warm, not burning.

– I understand how you feel about all this, but I don't want our relationship to be so one-sided.

For a moment, Sally is about to object, but the moment she looks back at Elizabeth's face, she stops. She knows her well enough to know when she's serious, and McKenna has little opportunity to try to change her mind. Not that she really wanted to. In any case, Elizabeth's conclusions are more than understandable to her.

– All right.– Sally says.

–Then please, Sally. I would like you to talk to me about what could improve this for you.

Sally looks down again. Her heart is pounding louder. He purses his lips nervously. She would like to say that she does not need to ask for anything, but that would be a lie, and her fear of disappointing the Countess with her desires does not outweigh the terrifying thought of lying to her.

– I want to emphasize that I liked those few times when we were already close, and I would not take anything away from it. In other words, having sex with you is just something

She's breathing raggedly. She's still looking down when Elizabeth's free hand strokes Sally's shoulder and cheek.

Sally's lips tighten. Her fingers touch the back of the hand touching her, and that's enough to make her speak.

– Iwant you to touch me.– Sally says, and her voice sounds like thunder in the silence.

Elizabeth smiles. Her thumb strokes Sally's lower lip, which spreads them apart. She's waiting for a kiss. Elizabeth's hands stroke Sally's neck and shoulders, pressing down on them to put her back on the bed. To her surprise, Sally just blinks at Elizabeth with her hands on either side of her.

– There is only one thing I need from you in return– Elizabeth bends down, and Sally longingly waits for what she will say, barely able to take her eyes off the countess, but fascinated by the clarity of her shoulders, arms, and stomach.

– Don't worry and don't think that you need to take control into your own hands. I'd really like to see how you behave when you comply.

Sally nods instantly.

A smile before Elizabeth tears the gap between their lips. Sally's eyes close with a buzz. Her mouth opens slightly, welcoming the touch of the Countess's tongue on her own, she shifts slightly on the bed.

Unable to move, and not needing to, he moans in a kiss when Elizabeth's knee slides between her legs and presses against her crotch.

Biting Sally's lip, Elizabeth changes course, instead wrapping one arm around the ghost's wrists and letting her now free hand wander. Sally lifts herself up to help her slide under her back, undoing the clasp of her bra; after a few seconds, Elizabeth drops it, and Sally's breasts remain in place. The Countess, of course, had seen her naked before. However, when she raises her arms above her head and gives Elizabeth such freedom of movement, she has never felt so vulnerable, and Sally's chest rises from breathing.

She slides her fingers up the center of Sally's torso, causing a slight tremor. They slide over McKenna's chest, experiencing her light caress on the nipple. In response, Sally's teeth grab her lower lip, her body twists slightly under the hand holding her wrists, and the corner of Elizabeth's lips curves. Sally didn't expect to like it so much. Perhaps she had spent less time in reality than she had imagined, and was too caught up in her own ideas of what was best for Elizabeth.

Elizabeth's hand reaches out further, wraps around her breast and gently squeezes, pinching the nipple with two fingers. Sally is sobbing. This sound is reserved only for those cases when she is alone, touching herself, imagining that she is in the power of Elizabeth, and she tilts her head to one side with her eyes closed.

– No need to be embarrassed, Sally

Elizabeth bends over, her breath at Sally's ear makes her shudder.

–Although I admit you look amazing.

She kisses the bare neck of Sally's turned head. They deepen as they descend, tasting the biting of the skin; Sally gasps.

Sally bites her lip. Would she dare to say the words that are on her mind?

— me... I don't mind if you leave footprints. She smiles.

Elizabeth's kisses lead her to the hollow at Sally's collarbone, where she sucks on the skin.

– I've been thinking about you a lot already -oh! – She is interrupted by her own moan as Elizabeth's mouth moves further without warning, her tongue moving up to Sally's nipple.

– Yes, that's it... –Making another, much more breathless moan, Sally's back arches and only brings herself even closer to her mouth sucking on a nipple. Her other breast still remains in Elizabeth's attentive hand, continuing to tease.

Sally tries to speak, to say something encouraging, but she never realized how much she can take her breath away.

Elizabeth's mouth is gorgeous. And her fingers, too, all the way down to the almost sly smile on Sally's chest, as if she admires every reaction Makenna has to her.

Her breathing becomes heavy as soon as Elizabeth's mouth leaves her chest. No matter now, Elizabeth's hand slides down Sally's body, following her waist to her hips. She is slow and teasing, her gaze penetrating Sally, forcing her to wait, squirm, while she anticipates where this hand will go.

– You're so beautiful. –The compliment makes Sally flinch.

– You look great as it is. I'm struggling to understand why you were so hesitant to tell me what you really wanted.

Sally is silent on this, fascinated by the process.

Elizabeth grins. Her hand slides over the red lace of Sally's underwear, her fingers dancing on the way to her lips under the material.

Fingers slide up, pressing on Sally's clitoris; she whimpers.

Elizabeth smiles as she watches Sally choke on the ongoing teasing, Sally watches her partner's face from under half-closed eyelids.

– How ready are you to do this?

– Anything. –Sally's blush deepens at how quickly she answered.

–Maybe we should slow down the first time– Elizabeth teases.

She presses harder, swallowing the excited twitching of Sallm's legs in response.

–Although I could do without both hands to really take advantage of you offering yourself to me. –Wouldn't it be too much of a request to tie your wrists?

Sally shakes her head—in fact, she would beg for it immediately—but first she has to check.

– No, I think you'll be fine. Aren't you?. –

– God, you're still asking, just do it. – Sally replies.

Elizabeth smiles with delight, which Sally doesn't often see from her

– You can wait for me right here.

The hand between Sally's legs retracts; she nods, holding her hands above her head, even when Elizabeth releases her. She hasn't had any doubts for a long time.

Moreover, she is delighted.

To make up for the lack of rope, Elizabeth takes her tie.

Sally can't help but run her tongue around her lips. The soft skin on her hands, the confident expression on her face - Sally's thoughts go beyond tying, and it should be noticeable, because Elizabeth blushes, although she also smiles.

– I should have guessed that you like specificity in sex. Just like me in other things.

Sally nods, feeling herself blush. She watches as Elizabeth comes closer, wrapping the tie around her hands.

– This is not the best option. Elizabeth says. –But I don't expect you to try to escape no matter what.

–I wish I could run away. – the ghost laughs.

Elizabeth's smile returns. She strokes Sally's now bound hands, slowly assessing her body. Over her breasts, down her stomach, her thighs are caressed and finally Elizabeth takes hold of Sally's underwear belt. Sally inhales sharply-nervously, but excitedly-as Elizabeth pulls her panties off her hips and throws them aside.

–It's beautiful. – she says, perhaps more to herself than to Sally.

She steps back to admire the view in front of her. Hungry eyes meet Sally's gaze, she reaches behind her back to take off her bra.

–You're perfect like this. – To think I could have gotten this sooner.

Sally's already ragged breathing becomes sharper as she examines the figure in front of her. Her small but strong figure, lust in her eyes; Sally's ready requests for touch are stopped only by Elizabeth diving in for the same. She bends over Sally again, caressing every inch of skin she can find.

They're kissing. Insatiable, their moans merge together, Elizabeth squeezes both of Sally's breasts before, still kissing Sally, she strokes Sally's body and spreads her thighs.

– Mm—

Sally's forehead wrinkles during the kiss, she shudders in despair, gasps when the kiss is interrupted.

– Oh one thing first, Elizabeth

– Yes?

– I hope you didn't forget the lubricant?

Knowing that Elizabeth will only tell her to calm down again, she stops herself from further ranting, explaining that this has nothing to do with a lack of arousal.

Elizabeth looks at her pointedly, takes a glass box of oil from their personal belongings and places it on the edge of the bed, as if to show her that everything is under control, returning with a caress to Sally's open thighs.

Elizabeth settles in front, putting her hands under Sally's legs to separate them. Her hand is on Sally's pelvis, and Elizabeth's exhale touches the ghost's crotch.

She's shaking.

Moving lower, the lips kiss the inside of Sally's thighs. They're slow. Loving. And yet it's agony, the more they step on Sally's hips, the more her body begs them to move on. Elizabeth's tongue runs over Sally's lips, stopping right at her clitoris. Her body shudders. Almost trembling with anticipation alone. The tongue makes teasing circles before licking the clitoris with a wide movement. Sally moans hoarsely, throwing her head back, and realizing that she cannot pull Elizabeth's head closer, instead clenches her bound hands into weakened fists and swings her hips forward.

– Oh, my love

Sally lets out a groan. He is able to control this as long as the tongue continues to work its way around her, right up until it touches the tip of her clitoris, and the licking ends with the tip of Elizabeth's tongue. Strong sparks of pleasure make Sally's back arch.

– Aah, oh—oh-oh-oh... this...”

We've been dragging our feet for a long time.I won't torture you this time. – Maybe Elizabeth is saying this in a joking way, and maybe not.

The tongue moves to a wider licking, allowing Sally to sigh and her body to relax a little. She's breathing. Inhale, exhale, getting comfortable and closing your eyes to enjoy the pleasure. Elizabeth's attentive eyes watch her movements, how her body relaxes before forcing her tongue to move faster. Another sharp kiss. Sally throws her head back with a groan as Elizabeth's lips wrap around her clitoris, gently sucking on it.

Her legs wrap around Elizabeth's toned back to catch on to something, anything.

Even the lightest fingertips make her shudder. A light, dancing touch on her thighs, Elizabeth stroking her skin. It's electrifying.

Elizabeth's kisses on Sally's clitoris, her eyes fixed on Sally—just one look could make her melt into a puddle. Lustful, loving and impatient.

– I really like just listening to your voice and moans.

Sally's lips tighten in one of those moans when Elizabeth's tongue returns to her sweet spot. Nodding, Sally lowers her head on her raised hand, swaying her hips and involuntarily pressing against the Countess's mouth. Part of her desire is for her hands to be untied to keep a beautiful woman sucking on her clitoris. The rest of her, a much greater part, succeeds in letting go of control and putting herself at Elizabeth's mercy. Who better to take care of her?

Elizabeth proves it. She reaches for the bottle of lube she brought earlier, but not without lifting her mouth to meet Sally's gaze

Elizabeth's gaze is too sincere for Sally to ignore, and unwittingly, the fantasies that come to Sally when she is alone flash through her mind. She feels her face starting to warm up.

Sally bites her lip.

You can't beat around the bush with Elizabeth, and maybe that's one of the things Sally loves about her the most.

– We'll try a little bit and we can stop whenever you want.

Elizabeth smiles. She starts to lubricate her finger.

–You could have mentioned it once or twice.– she teases.

The smile on Sally's face softens. She watches Elizabeth's finger approach, calming her nerves. Elizabeth's free hand reaches for Sally's face, cupping her cheek.

She's ready. This is indicated by her nod, and she inhales deeply as part of Elizabeth's finger slides into her. It's slow and careful. It's like Sally has never had sexual partners at all and this is her first time.

– Relax.

The movements of Elizabeth's tongue and finger are simultaneously stunning. Sally's legs and thighs tremble from the onslaught of pleasure, shaking from head to toe. Her hips are getting heavier, her breathing is getting faster—it's almost enough to make her dizzy.

However, by the time she's practically choking on pleasure, she's overwhelmed with embarrassment as she reaches the limit, barely able to handle so many things at once.

–Uh, Elizabeth, I think...Ngh, wait a minute.

And Elizabeth does it quickly, her finger slips out of Sally, and her mouth ends with a final kiss on Sally's clitoris. She looks at her questioningly

– All this is cool, of course. But you pulled that damn tie too tight. My hands went numb. Untie me. – Makenna commands.

Elizabeth reaches over Sally's head to untie her tie, stroking the place where the skin came into contact with the fabric. All this time, Sally is trying to catch her breath.

– You don't think anything like that, I'm thrilled about it, honestly, but I want to focus on you in the end.

– In any case, this is my miscalculation. Elizabeth says, her arms wrapping around Sally's body, pulling her into an embrace. A hand strokes Sally's head, followed by a kiss.

– I take it I should continue?

Sally nods. It doesn't take her long to relax. burrowing into her shoulder with a grateful grunt. Her heart calms down, and soon all she can wonder is why she became so sensitive in the first place.

Sally is now lying completely free, Elizabeth's fingers and tongue continue their actions. But soon it becomes not enough for her, and by the small hints that her body is able to show, she asks for more. Elizabeth understands, she always understands and adds a second finger.

Sally moans long. Her hips swing up and down, she is already close, but she tries to stretch her pleasure as long as possible. Elizabeth's movements become faster and eventually Sally reaches her peak, making a hoarse pornographic moan.

– This..It was fucking awesome, the ghost says, trying to catch his breath.

– I know. – the Countess says.

It was also exhausting. She lies down next to Sally and hugs her.

– I think we need to take a shower.

– Wait at least five minutes, darling. Elizabeth grins.

– Only next time. The Countess purrs. – You'll be on top

____________________________________

Hope you liked it, dear requestor

[nicohischier]

get to know me

tagged by: @hischiersjohnston thank you bestie

didn't tag anyone* due to my chronic fear of being annoying but pls snoop all you like

do you make your bed? no, i'm simply way too lazy in the morning to make my bed.

favourite number? 8! i was born on 8/8 so i guess the number just stuck out to me lol

what’s your job? i'm currently in that super fun period of being recently graduated with no prospects, no experience, and no network. also a lot of anxiety. i'm working on it.

if you could go back to school, would you? yeah. i still might go back in a few years to do education or something.

can you parallel park? once upon a time i could, but now i don't drive (classic lack of car woes) so i'm pretty comfortable in saying i can't parallel park anymore.

do you think aliens are real? yes, absolutely. i'm not saying i believe that there's a whole civilized society hanging out a few billion light years away, but the category of aliens extends into every living life form, no matter how insentient or microscopic. the universe is simply too vast for me to even entertain the idea that earth is the only planet or other celestial body capable of sustaining plant life or single cell organism or whatnot.

can you drive a manual car? no! tbh at this point it's been so long since i've drove period, that idk if i'm even allowed to say i can drive an automatic lmao

guilty pleasure? i cannot deny that i have spent money on genshin to get characters/weapons and while i fully acknowledge that i've given into the gacha trap, i spend responsibly and never in excess. it's a game i genuinely love and i do believe that adults are free to spend their money wherever they wish. some people buy cigarettes, i buy little anime characters.

tattoos? world's saddest no. i would like to get some tho, i'm just generally the type of person who gets super invested in something for a while and then drops it after a while, which includes tattoo ideas. right now i'm flirting with the cassiopeia constellation (name of my favourite kpop groups fandom), "we don't need the memories" which is a team motto from haikyuu, line art of a cat because i'm a cat person, and some others with personal significance. and some more fandom ones. but fandom ones are finicky so. shrug.

favourite colour? i do dearly love the colour red. also a big fan of taupe, which is. probably the most boring answer i could give. "oh yeah my favourite colour? beige." god.

favourite type of music? to the surprise of hopefully none of you, i'm a kpop fan. i also really love whatever genre of music guys like alexander stewart and lewis capaldi make.

do you like puzzles? yes so much! i got so into a puzzle the other day that i was up until 5am doing it like i fr just didn't notice how long i was doing it 😭

any phobias? i used to have such a bad fear of spiders. now it's just big ones that freak me out or ones that are on me. i'm working on getting over it though. bugs in general make me feel a bit sick to me stomach tho i won't lie.

favourite childhood sport? i used to be a gymnastics kid lol. was super into pro gymnasts for a little bit, but generally it was a sport i preferred actually doing.

do you talk to yourself? yes and it's so embarrassing because i fucking do it in public without realizing. one day i was in the bookstore talking myself through choosing a book to buy when someone turned the corner and was like "oh! it's just you!". that was almost my 13th reason i am so fucking serious.

tea or coffee? tea if it's hot, coffee if it's cold.

first thing you wanted to be when growing up? wanted to be a vet soooo bad. then i grew up and realized how scary chemistry and biology are and figured maybe i would leave that to the science brained people 😭

what movies do you adore? well my letterboxd top movies are inception, les miserables, the outsiders, and the old guard which is. sorta accurate. the first three are definitely true. i could slot miracle (2004), brokeback mountain, legally blonde, kingsman, etc. into my fave movies list over TOG if i'm being honest but. yknow how it is.

tagging: @sportsnet tyler do this or else.

[psychewritesbs]

Right.

So... apparently there’s fans who believe that Athrun loved Lacus and that is why the memes about Kira stealing girlfriends exist. But I must admit I never got the impression that Athrun ever saw his engagement to Lacus as anything more than a political alliance that was in everybody’s best interest.

And watching GS again I have to say I am doubling down on my headcanon because... well...

Their dynamic is so...

Basically Athrun is so not emotionally available to Lacus... like at all. 

It’s so Scorpio of him to put up emotional barriers any time she tries to get close. Like in the screencap above where he actually refuses her touch and walks away from her.

And I get the sense that in the early episodes of GS Athrun didn’t understand what it meant for him to want to open up to someone and to actually want to be  present in a dynamic with someone. 

His dynamic with Lacus was something that was an expectation set by others after all. So there’s an element of forced interaction between the two of them.

Yes, there’s all the haros he’s given her, so there is definitely a sense of Athrun expressing something about his inner self through the creation of objects that he then gives her. 

It’s just that given the current state of their interactions early on in GS + the fact that their engagement is very likely the result of a desirable political alliance because of their respective fathers, there’s an element of “doing what a good fiancé would do.”

I’ll not deny that he very likely cares for Lacus. I think it’s completely undeniable actually--the haros being evidence of it.

It’s just that in a situation such as theirs where they are initially forced to interact with one another because they are to be married someday, I imagine both Athrun and Lacus came into this engagement thinking “ok this is who I am supposed to marry” instead of “ok this is who I want to marry.”

And so the basis for their dynamic is this forced interaction that they both have to make work because other people have told them it needs to work. Both Athrun and Lacus then brought their own personalities into the dynamic in an attempt to meet this external expectation.

I also have to say that as a fellow water sign, I can’t imagine that Athrun found it satisfying to not feel an emotional resonance to Lacus. I say that because if he felt that emotional resonance, his attitude towards her would be different.

Instead, he appears to be annoyed by her...

Hell, he didn't even seem to want to go on a rescue mission to find her when she disappeared and was picked up by the Archangel.

And even if the marriage wasn’t arranged by their parents (I don’t remember honestly) and Athrun and Lacus are childhood friends and he proposed to her...

He’s kind of a cranky and mean fiancé to her if I’m honest...

I love Athrun but that was a dick thing to say, Lacus was worried about him and he turns his back on her and gives her a nasty answer. 

It doesn’t surprise me that Lacus ended with Kira because, unlike Athrun, Kira was able to meet her emotionally where she was at.

So I think that’s why later on in the story Athrun says that Lacus is his ex-fiancé because he was an idiot. He simply had not realized what he wanted because he was doing what was expected of him.

Living to fulfill other’s expectations without looking into one’s heart is always a recipe for disaster and unhappiness.

I think this is my third time watching GS (I swear just how I only read Soul Eater for Soul and Maka, I only watch GS for Athrun and for asucaga) and it’s really cool to be able to discern Athrun’s character arc at its early stages because part of his growth revolves around overcoming his daddy issues so that he can open up emotionally.

Ah, of course, I have to say that this ramble is inspired and influenced by this fantastic analysis that I found on the topic by someone else who agrees that Athrun cared for Lacus but didn’t love her in the romantic sense.

I have to admit that seeing how Athrun behaves with Lacus and comparing that to how he behaves with Cagalli is a dead giveaway of the state of his relationship with Lacus.

Anyways. 

Is there anyone out there in this fandom that still nerds out about this stuff?!!!!!!!!!

[thirdeyeblue]

Don’t mean to be intrusive but why do you engage with tenrose and rose haters?? All these tenm/rtha fans that you’ve been reblogging slander Ten, Rose and their relationship. And they pretend to support 9/Rose to not look so bad, but it’s sheer hypocrisy, they are straight up Rose antis in disguise and you can tell that because they always say they love “s1 Rose specifically” (which usually it’s said by people who hate Rose but don’t want to look bad, so they come up with that ‘I used to love Rose in s1 but she became so selfish, annoying and awful in s2’), then they call tenrose ‘shallow’ and ‘forced’, ‘downgrade from Nine/Rose’, ‘irritating’ etc. It’s also not rare to see them mocking Tentoo by calling him “a clone”, and dishing TentooRose. Don’t mind you liking the ship, but its fanbase don’t deserve our attention.

First of all, I apologize for the lengthy thought vomit in advance — I just woke up!

To be 100% honest with you, I’m such a casual Tumblr user that I’m a bit of a sweet summer child, here. 98% of my fandom engagement happens on Discord. 😅 I have occasional days that I might scroll for 15-20 minutes, but it’s usually more like a few minutes, if at all. This website stresses me out, makes me insecure, etc.

My point is: I don’t actually know any of the assorted tumblr beefs floating around, and I don’t really care. I try to avoid “anti discourse” like the plague if I do (see above: stresses me out)— So if I’ve been reblogging haters, it’s gone right over my head, because I just don’t think about it. It’s one of those “if I don’t see it, then whatever” things. I’d rather just be kind to everyone unless I’m given a reason not to (e.g. someone being a piece of shit to one of my friends)(which I probably wouldn’t have seen anyway).

Also… I’m not the most prolific person or anything. I don’t have a lot of followers, I came to game late, etc, so I didn’t necessarily think anyone cared one way or another what I was posting? For real, I feel a bit invisible on Tumblr most of the time 😂 I didn’t realize anyone would look twice at me reblogging something from an apparent “hater” when they can obviously look at my page and figure out what I’m really about. I’ve got a petition to bring back Tentoo, FFS, obviously I don’t deliberately subscribe to any anti-TenRose nonsense.

I’ve been told by a friend (one who is far more enmeshed in Tumblr than I am) that most T/M shippers hate Rose. So inherently, yes, I’m aware of that much — and realize that if I get one of the “based on your likes!” posts from someone who is clearly out there shipping that pairing specifically, they probably don’t care for my actual OTP… But if I’m reblogging something by one of these people with these blissful blinders on, I’d much rather look at it like “perhaps they’ll realize not all T/R girls are bad, and they’ll be nicer to them” as opposed to “I’m engaging with haters”.

Anyway — apologies if I upset you by supporting these people who’ve bummed you to anyone else out 💖 That wasn’t my intention, all I ever wanna do is spread love.

PS: The whole T/M subject is already a hairy one for me, because I didn’t even ship them at all (and I mean at all) until I was well into writing a fic about them. It just sort of happened organically/accidentally, and then I was like “Shit.” That being said, if you see my posts, you can probably tell that I’m extremely selective about what T/M stuff I do share here. I try not to reblog anything too shippy of them, because I do know my audience, even if it’s not a huge audience. My focus was always more “don’t reblog super romantic shit”, not “don’t reblog that user specifically”. If that makes sense. 😅

[margridarnauds]

20, 21, & 25?

20. part of canon you found tedious or boring

In BG3, it really is not controversial to say that Act 3 drags, but...it does. So many quests that I never intend to do again, so many artificially difficult boss battles, so many *fucking githyanki EVERYWHERE* ALL SAYING THINGS LIKE "IN VLAAKITH'S NAME" like shut UP, all building up to you grinding up the last few levels that you need to FINALLY. FINALLY. Get into the endgame. From the point I killed Orin onward, the game ran smoothly, for a very intense five hour or so finale, between killing Orin, destroying the Steel Watch, killing Gortash, and then going into the confrontation with the Elder Brain.

But getting up to that point...

Oh, boy.

FUCK the Cazador boss fight in particular. And the Viconia one. Fuck them, fuck them, fuck them.

21. part of canon you think is overhyped

I am once again on my hands and knees begging the BG3 fandom to remember that @_starion is not the main character of the game. There are many other Origin Characters in BG3 who are not @_starion. They are very good. Their stories touch on similar themes around bodily autonomy and abuse, he is *not* the only one. People are allowed to like him, they're allowed to see themselves in him, but you'd think he was the ONLY ONE when....no. (Also he is SO whittled down from his canon characterization -- like he was an actual cunt to my first Tav.)

25. common fandom complaint that you're sick of hearing

Honestly, at this point, I see more people complaining about Ascended! @_starion fans than actual fans and it feels quite performative at this point. I don't know what the situation is like on Twitter or Tiktok -- I don't particularly *care* to find out, especially since he's probably....my least favorite of the Origin Characters, not my least favorite companion in general. And there's this slight air of sexism about the whole thing given that it's always "those stupid women don't know what they're doing/they're romanticizing vampires/they're sexualizing the poor 200 year old baby", like. Bruh. *Bruh*. If you don't play your cards right during that final confrontation, he will *leave your party if you don't ascend him*. I've considered doing it with a Tav that ascends him out of love, wanting to give him what he wants, only to realize they've created a monster, because THAT'S narratively compelling to me.

...I don't know, part of the joy of RPGs for me is that every player character is different. My first Tav had a very different relationship with him (worsties) than my second Tav (who is banging him) and my third Tav (who is platonic besties with him since she's a lesbian and considers him #OneOfTheGirls). I don't like applying a broad "if you do this, you are MORALLY WRONG" or "If you do this, you don't understand the character", since the character reactivity can be insane. In three main runs of BG3, each of my PCs had different dynamics with each of the companions because of the decisions they made and the conversations they had. I've unfollowed long-term mutuals over @_starion discourse because I just. Did not enjoy it. He's not a real sexual abuse survivor, he is pixels, and the way we react to him...it can be telling, yes, but any time you have a character who appeals to so many people with varying types of traumas, it's bound to get very heated, and a lot of people get hurt, and I'm not interested in seeing that.

...so I stay in Devil Daddy Land. Yaaaaaayyyyyy.

Since I've been very harsh on @_starion, I also see a lot of G@le fans say that he isn't REALLY mansplaining, if you think he's mansplaining or you think he's annoying, you're ableist and...with respect to my fellow autistic people in fandom, who see themselves in him.....I can both sympathize with him and ALSO remind them, very gently, that autistic men can be sexist. And it can remind autistic women who have had to smile through the sexism in favor of solidarity of real experiences they've had. I don't HATE him, I like him, I hated sacrificing him in my first run, I think the creators HAVE done him wrong, one day I do want to do a run romancing him....but I will say, as an autistic woman (?) in academia, that he does kind of remind me of sexist male colleagues I've had and the way that they tend to be catered to and respected and the way that they tend to put themselves over their female autistic colleagues. I'm not saying that the CHARACTER is sexist or that if you LIKE HIM you're sexist -- he has a LOT of really, really attractive qualities, but I'm saying that people also aren't inherently WRONG to interpret it as mansplaining, either. Again, player reactivity. For me, he is always one step away from telling me "now, are you SURE about that?" when I talk about a topic that I've spent the last year working on.

(Also a lot of G@le VS @_starion discourse boils down to "Why are people focusing on this white dude when they could be focusing on MY white dude?" Which is rich coming from the Raphael fan, I know, but I'm not trying to guilt or shame people into liking my meow meow...and in fact prefer the small group we have.)