#Or have like some kind of social link equivalent I just want to talk to the same character over and over

[elisedonut]

I've been playing the ootp game on ps3 (because Colin's in it) and really out of the hp games I've played so far its the one the feels closest to what I would actually want from an hp game

it emulates pretty well too

Like I like that there's a giant list of da members you have to find and talk to just wish we could talk to them more ngl

[life-despair-and-monsters-blog]

Kinktober Day 23 & 26: "Bondage/Restraints" & "Voyeurism/Exhibitionism" - For OTP: "Femme Fatale and the Apex" (Sonya x Jennifer)

Tagged by @socially-awkward-skeleton @imogenkol and @josephseedismyfather

Tagging @adelaidedrubman @spookyrares @derelictheretic @inafieldofdaisies @noodlecupcakes @direwombat @voidika @cassietrn @aceghosts @icecutioner @shallow-gravy @strangefable @statichvm @cloudofbutterflies92 @carlosoliveiraa @wrathfulrook @ladyoriza @la-grosse-patate @thewanderer-000 @omen-speaker @alypink @shellibisshe @josephslittledeputy @skoll-sun-eater @g0dspeeed @afarcryfrommymain @strafethesesinners @turbo-virgins and @florbelles + anyone else who want to join.

Prompt based on this kinktober post made by fellow mutual @starsandskies. While the main Kink of this post is "Bondage/Restraints" & some "Voyeurism/Exhibitionism", there's also some minor inclusions of "Dirty Talk", "Orgasm Control", "Praise Kink", "Knife Play" and "Dom/Sub dynamic". I would have put down "Naked-Clothed" but the "clothed" person in question is an almost 10-foot tall cyborg beastie (with a human's brain) whose only covering is metal welded into the flesh so... SHRUG!

Anyway, SimpleGenius here from my Life, Despair & Monsters Blog. Just making my first contribution to Kinktober. I'm not really an excessive smut writer, though with that being said, I have written it on occasion, just never posting it (...until now). This is a oneshot devoted to Sonya and Jennifer just being their kinky selves.

From the mature tag and the title you can probably already guess that this oneshot (which will also be uploaded onto my AO3 as well) contains explicitly sexual content meant for 18+ users only. Minors Do Not Interact!

Here's some more warnings to scare off any stowaways.

CW: Explicit BDSM, Teasing/edging, stripping, (tail???) knife play, the equivalent of thigh riding for these two (but on Sonya's tail), naked female with not kind of non-naked female (there's like barbie physiques/anatomy involved with Sonya), and minor mention of a blood kink (unsurprisingly Jennifer's kind of a freak too). Basically monster-fucking (maybe robot-fucking? Or would it be cyborg-monster fucking???). A mix between praise and degradation kinks. Sexual fantasies. Really freaky behavior coming from these two. But very enthusiastic consent! Also vulgar language. And whatever else there is.

I’ve tried my best to research the sex aspect of it all, and even if I don’t believe it’s all accurate I think I did good with what I could find.

TW: Slight mentions of referenced murder and maybe cannibalism (Sonya's got a human brain inside a very non-human body so I don't know what lines that crosses). And minor implications of a toxic dynamic. They're both possessive people who suck so bad.

With that out of the way, I hope you do enjoy what I've written below the cut. This will officially be my first smut that I've publicly published. I'll be sure to reblog this post with the link to the one that'll be posted on my AO3. Also I'll be publishing another Kinktober Oneshot shortly after this one from my @the-silver-chronicles blog, about the main couple of that series, Silva and Faith. So don't be alarmed by a random ping from an icon you may or may not recognize.

Title: The Tails That Bind

Series: Life, Despair & Monsters (Love Death + Robots)

Character/s: Sonya/Sonnie | The Apex/Khanivore (re-interpreted canon character with OC qualities), Jennifer, Dicko (referenced in passing) and Sir Enigma Malvolio (referenced OC).

Words: 5,635

She heard her before she saw her; the click-clack of heels on marble closing in to their quarters.

Sonya remained where she was though; hanging from the ceiling in the expansive space that was refurbished to specifically accommodate her massive form, the high walls adorned with deep claw marks and scrapes she entrenched her talons and tail spikes into. Certainly, better than the restrictive pod or the dirty paddocks.

In contrast to her usual straightforwardness, when it came to dealing with her "mistress" of all people, Sonya made an effort in entertaining her more dramatic flairs.

If only to piss off the shrewd woman.

The door opened with such force that when Sonya peeked through her only optic, shutters uncoiling from her lens, to witness the blonde slam the door shut with a ferocity that immediately turned her on.

Someone's already pissy today, Sonya noted as she continued to observe with growing interest.

Jennifer turned around, short blonde hair barely touching her shoulders, noticeably a little frazzled with a few more wild strands curling out than usual. Her yellow rose still managed to survive staying pinned in her hair in spite of the fact Jennifer looked on the verge of ripping her hair out.

Her brows were furrowed, her face was scrunched in anger and a lovely snarl adorned her lips. Blue eyes darted to her white laced gloves, ripping them off as she mumbled curses under her breath. Sonya's optic lingered on the curves of her body, covered only by the golden dress Jennifer preferred to wear.

Sonya preferred when she didn't wear anything. Ogling Jennifer had been the closest her human brain could get to experiencing arousal within a body that wasn't designed to feel it. She had to get creative and tamper with many of the strange machinations and codes Malvolio left in her cursed Beastie body to at least have her body acknowledge the feelings.

In spite of this, she was still so far from reaching her goal of actually feeling the satisfactory conclusion of pleasure.

"-that old fuck!" Sonya was brought back to reality by the enraged outburst from Jennifer.

"Which old fuck are you referring to this time?" Sonya spoke in a voice more mature and sophisticated than her original gruff and accented voice, the crackling of the speaker embedded in her throat alerting Jennifer to the other presence in the room.

Jennifer's alarmed blue eyes pointedly gazed up to meet her gleaming red optic. However, she relaxed once she saw it was just Sonya, who uncoiled herself to lower her body, but refrained from leaving the ceiling just yet.

"It's one of Dicko's closer business partners," Jennifer told the Apex, kneeling down to take off her heels, "And I thought you were down in your workshop."

That doesn't narrow it down to who it is at all, Sonya wanted to retort, but chose to respond with, "I was, but it's so hot down there that I decided to seek out the coolest room I knew of."

"The wonders of an air con," Jennifer remarked, moving over to her vanity desk to set down her yellow rose from her hair.

Sonya rolled her optic at the snide comment, and returned her attention back to the source of Jennifer's sour mood, "Which one of Dicko's partners had it been? Ross or Carmen?"

"Ross. Carmen took a vacation, lucky bastard," Jennifer grumbled about the latter, though the former's name was spoken with disgust, "He was countering every proposition I made. Questioning my ability as a successor to Dicko's business. And attempting to belittle me in front of every one of those weak and cowardly geezers. The absolute gall!"

Sonya lowered herself above the bed, talons underneath her jaw as she watched her mistress rage. If she could, she'd be squeezing her thighs together to add a little friction. Unfortunately, her body wasn't included with genitals, and rubbing her thighs together in this body would just be pointless, so she could only visualize the image to force herself from screaming internally.

"The fucker was also leering at me. Almost all of them were," Jennifer continued, sitting down onto the foot of her massive mattress with a huff.

"I don't blame them," Sonya replied, extending her neck so her head was close above Jennifer, "Your body is desirable. You're probably the only woman in their life they can jack off to. I know that's what I'd be doing."

Jennifer abruptly turned with a face full of red; not blushing red, but pissed off red.

"Oh, fuck you," she replied, standing up to move away from Sonya and the bed.

"You'd have to beg me for that," Sonya said in a sing-song rhythm, chortling.

Jennfier crossed her arms as she stewed in her anger more, "This is serious. I know they're conspiring against me. Honestly, I wish I could have them all dead by tomorrow morning."

Sonya piqued at that, red optic widening with optimism.

"You know, if Ross is being so bothersome," she spoke up, her next words a suggestion, "I could eat him for you."

Jennifer turned to look at the beastie, opened her mouth to chide her, but closed it as she considered the idea, a smile crossing her lips, until a frown swiftly replaced it, and she shook her head.

"While I certainly wouldn't be against the idea," she told the Apex with sincere consideration, she rebuked the idea, "I can't just make an example out of him. At least not right now. I require his cooperation to gain access to his assets, and if I killed him now, it'd harm my reputation and standing with the other partners. And without them, we won't have a chance of finding Malvolio."

The very name of that... thing made Sonya's entire nervous system shudder, the dark thoughts resurfacing. She let them fester at the edge of her mind, before dispelling them back to the pits. She'll let them re-emerge once they found the creature; let him face the result of his violation towards her body.

Jennifer huffed out a sigh, which returned Sonya's attention back to her even as she went to make her leave, "I need to let off some steam."

Sonya tilted her head as she watched Jennifer pause just a step away from the door. The woman's blue eyes glanced back to the beastie, gaze following the Apex's elongated muscled arms, thick metal-plated tails, their twitching rattles near the piercing pincers and closed sharp jaw.

She bit her bottom lip, her hands slid down to her hips as she slowly strutted back over to Sonya.

"You know," Jennifer said as she reached the bed, "I just remembered how I never thanked you for stopping that assassin. And a good beast like you deserves a fitting reward for protecting her mistress so well."

Sonya cocked her head, red optic narrowing down at Jennifer. Sonya remembered the incident clearly; there had been a scorned bidder who lost because of Dicko's fateful mistake of convincing them to bet a lot of money against Malvolio. He managed to slip past Jennifer's guards and got too close for Sonya's liking.

Luckily, the Apex was on Jennifer's patrol guard, and she had spotted the glint of the knife before it had even left its sheath. Fittingly, she gave the man the same end she gave Dicko when saving her mistress; a biting introduction to her maw.

But that had been several weeks ago.

"Is that so?" Sonya inquired, wishing she had a brow to raise.

Jennifer only nodded, wetting her petite lips. She slid two fingers on both hands underneath her dress' loose straps, letting them fall limply down her arms to expose more skin. She reached behind her back, tugging the zip down behind her dress so she could loosen her front, exposing a small amount of cleavage to the Apex.

Sonya was surprised of her own self-control when her lens zoomed in on the skin, how calm and collected she managed to breathe. She restrained herself though; she had too much pride in herself to lay down and roll over like a dog.

No, she had a better idea.

"Oh, don't bullshit me with your "reasoning" darling, you just want me to fuck your brains out until you forget your own name and can't remember your troubles in the morning," Sonya retorts, her talons touching the ground as she leans over the bed, bringing her head closer to Jennifer's face.

There was no fear in her mistress' eyes, only a waiting expectation and a carnality that involuntarily made the Apex shake in excitement. Sonya continued, "If you think you can flatter me into getting between your legs, then I encourage you to resume because it is working."

Jennifer grinned in triumph as she proceeded to pull her zipper down further, but halted when Sonya added, "However, as I said before, it'll require you to beg."

Jennifer scoffed and shook her head, "I'm not doing that. You fuck me, or you don't. Your choice."

Despite her confidence, Sonya saw through her act and huffed out a disappointed steam of air as she started retracting backwards, "Oh well, I guess I won't-"

With her bluff blown, Jennifer's eyes widened as she reached forward for the Apex's face, pleading, "Wait! Fuck, fine, please fuck me. Please plow my pussy with your long, flexible and magnificent tongue until my mind goes blank. Make me scream your name each time you make me cum. I'll do anything you want, Sonya."

Sonya wished she could grin just as badly as she wished she could get wet right now.

She decided to put an end to her mistress' misery.

"Since you begged so desperately for it, I guess I have no choice but to fuck your brains out," Sonya concurred, and hummed, "But I'm curious... you'll do anything I want?"

Jennifer paused, narrowed her eyes in challenge, and responded, "Yes. I'll... try whatever you want, as long as I get fucked in the end. Sound like a fair exchange?"

Sonya nodded and tapped a talon on her chin in thought. There weren't much things her body could be used for during sex that wouldn't be detrimental to Jennifer's health, with exception to her tongue and the rattles under her curved blades that tipped her tails.

Although, she recalled the night she and Jennifer had met and began their cooperation, specifically to the moment where the Apex had Jennifer restrained with her tails, That has been something I've wanted to do again.

Gaining an idea, she replied, "You know, I've been wanting to try some bondage on you."

Jennifer's face scrunched in confusion until Sonya's tails disconnected from the walls and awaited by the Apex's sides. There were three in total, all tipped with dagger like pincers, and two rattles that resided near the curve of the blade, which she's been allowed to use like a vibrator before.

Jennifer once again bit her bottom lip while she thought of those around her body.

"I have no complaints," she tells the beastie, though frowns at the state of the bed, "Though I'm not getting naked until the bed's cleared of your mess."

Sonya knelt up so she could get a better look at the bed. Her optic immediately spotted the dust and chips of the ceiling that managed to fall down.

Without much patience, Sonya took the solution of using her tails to tip the bed to the side and shake off all the unwanted variables, before setting it back down normally.

"That better?" she asked.

Jennifer looked at the newest state of her large bed, which now lacked the pillows and blankets that were unceremoniously tossed off. Though seeing that the silk sheets remained on, all Jennifer responded with was a calm yet exasperated, "Sure."

Sonya positioned herself closer to the wall of the bed's frame, knelt down so she wouldn't cover most of the bed's space when her head laid down, while also keeping her tails free and ready.

Jennifer crawled onto the bed, swaying her body seductively while she made her way over to the Apex's head, which allowed the straps of her golden dress to loosen further down, just above her elbows. The front of her dress barely hung close to her chest, and Sonya swore she felt her brain overheat when her optic focused on the view of more of Jennifer's cleavage barely hidden by the loose clothes.

Jennifer got close enough to the Apex's face just to lean upwards until she sat at her bare heels, one hand going behind to zip her dress down the rest of the way, while the other kept the front of her dress from falling down. Sonya slightly tilted her head up so her optic could capture everything.

"I know how excited you've been for this," Jennifer purred as she gazed into the red hue of Sonya's optic, "I know you've been craving to see these again."

She pulled one strap down all the way, and then freed her arm of the other, before grabbing her the front of her dress and pulling the golden gown down, slightly jiggling free her petite perky tits. Sonya shook with a passionate eagerness at the visual image, just about all her mind could express through the body without pouncing onto Jennifer to forgo the bondage altogether.

She wanted to restrain herself, to prolong this just long enough to enjoy the experience and ensure she actually succeeds in listening to Jennifer's only demand.

"I know you've missed them," Jennifer swayed her chest, catching the Apex full attention. She grabbed hold of her breasts, massaging and giving her tits a pleasing yet playful squeeze as Sonya observed, winding herself up while putting on a show for her beastie. She gasped as she flicked her nipples, gently twisting them between her fingers as the tingling sensations caused her thighs to rub together.

She was enjoying herself now, and from how she looked at Sonya's quivering form, she knew the Apex enjoyed this show as well.

Jennifer stood up, dragging her hands over her breasts as she brought them across the skin of her body, the ticklish senses stirring a heat to coil within her. She performed a sensual dance in view of Sonya's optic, bringing her hands down to her hips where her dress hung closely, thumbs digging under the gown's hem, teasingly dragging it below her pelvis.

She spun around in her erotic sway, much to Sonya's surprise, but leaned down as she dragged the rest of her dress over her sexy ass, nothing worn underneath. She let the golden gown fall the rest of the way and glanced back at Sonya's now widened optic. With a pleased smirk, Jennifer gave herself a resounding smack against one of the cheeks.

Sonya's talons scraped against the marble floor. She clenched her jaw as she clutched hold over her fraying self-control, deciding that Jennifer's teasing needed to end here.

Thankfully, it was just about time Jennifer finished her little striptease for Sonya, and her blonde mistress knelt on her heels, dainty hands grabbing hold one of the alien protrusions coming out the Apex's head and underneath the narrow chin of her sharp jaw respectively, intentionally pressing her petite breasts against the optic as she leaned her head down to a small slit beside Sonya's frame to sultrily whisper in her audio receptors.

"What now, Sonnie?"

The lustful softness of her nickname snapped Sonya out of her patient observations, and she lifted her head up out of Jennifer's hold so her red optic could meet her mistress' blue eyes below.

"Now, I'll require you to turn around," Sonya instructed, her tails moving closer to the bed, "Make sure your arms are crossed behind you, and legs spread apart."

Jennifer turned around as instructed; not without doing a little show of shaking her ass temptingly as she settled into the position. Sonya was fueled with even more excitement of the opportunity of returning some teasing of her own.

Jennifer crossed her arms behind her, and Sonya immediately coiled her middle tail around the smaller woman's waist which then extended to her dainty hands, earning a surprise yelp from her mistress as her arms were secured tightly.

"Do you trust me?" Sonya let the question out softly at the shell of Jennifer's ear, her middle tail's blade carefully and gently stroking its cool steel-like tip down the human's back. The bladed pincer soon curved to brush one of mistress' lower cheeks, sensing her body clench at the sensual contact on instinct while the other tails began to coil under and around her thighs, "To release your doubts? To let go of all your inhibitions?"

With me, Sonya left unsaid. She shunned the thought... the very emotion infecting it, aside to the corners of her mind. No need to mix feelings with pleasure. Especially when she was nothing more than a thing to Jennifer...

As both tails snaked up from Jennifer's thighs to her upper body, the left pincer delicately scraped along her stomach while the right began to curl around her right breast with the blade leaving a ghost of a kiss to her jaw in passing.

Jennifer gasped out a light moan when her middle tail began to rub against her wet cunt, in a back and forth motion, ensuring the blade's sharpness did not touch the soft flesh. Soon the sleek metal was glistened with her slickness.

"Fuck, yes," Jennifer answered approvingly, rocking her wet cunt in unison of the tail. She bit her bottom lip to suppress another moan as the left and right tipped tails coiled around her tits, the appendages lightly playing with her breasts with deliberate twists and squeezes, the blades lightly kissing along the sensitive flesh.

Sonya focused on the priority of not piercing the skin with her tipped blades. She teased the flesh with an expertise akin to a surgeon, with her only intent of not cutting in and letting Jennifer bleed.

God forbid Jennifer cums early to the sight of her own blood because Sonya got sloppy. The Apex wanted to prolong this for her own sense of pleasure as well.

Soon her tails lifted up Jennifer, much to the smaller woman's surprise. Sonya raised her above the beastie's head, claws brought on to the bed in case the Apex had to catch her.

Slowly, she rotated Jennifer upside-down so her optic could get a better look at her reactions. To her delight, Jennifer squirmed in her grip, like last time. Unlike last time, the cause of her squirming came from the vibrating rattles that grazed closer to her swelling clit, the tipped blade positioned to poke above her trimmed blonde pubic hair.

Jennifer whined when the rattles on the left and right tails began to move, flicking her erect nipples between the vibrating pair on both coiled tails. She tried to arch her back into the vibrating sensations, as well as attempted to widen her legs so the rattles on the middle tail would have more space, but Sonya kept her restrained in position, brushing the rattles to her wet puffy pussy but never staying for long. She was completely at Sonya's mercy.

Much to the younger woman's growing frustration. A frustration that transitioned into a filthy, primal need.

Sonya was enticed by the desperate whines that escaped Jennifer's mouth, her red optic hungrily filling it's view of her elevated bare body; held up by her, restrained by her, receiving and being denied pleasure from her.

She focused on the blonde's gaping pouts, faint blush forming across her face, her blonde hair flowing downwards. Sonya's tongue flicked within her closed maw at the sight of sweat beginning to break from her mistress' body, who uselessly rutted her hips in the air to reach the teasing rattles, how pronounced her small breasts were from their bound state and the slick juices surrounding her pussy.

Sonya's entire system felt a fluctuation of pleasure within herself from the visual stimuli. It wouldn't be enough to ever reach a satisfying conclusion, though it was fun, nonetheless. When her audio receptors picked up pleading mewls coming from Jennifer, Sonya knew it was nearly time to settle her part of this exchange.

"What was that?" Sonya playfully inquired, listening to the words being interrupted by soft gasps whenever her rattles vibrated too close to her sensitive cunt and swollen clit, "I can't hear what you’re trying to say over such lewd sounds darling. Could you perhaps speak up?”

Through shaky breaths, Jennifer swallowed her murmured pleas and choked out a strained, "Sonya... I don't know how much longer I can do this. I want to cum. Please, it's unbearable, let me cum already. Stop teasing and fuck me!"

Sonya ate up her begging cries; she could see a glimpse of forming tears at her eyes. She briefly wondered if she should just wait long enough for her mistress to start crying, so she could bring out her tongue and lap up the falling tears. She hadn't kissed the woman's face with her tongue in a while, it could be a nice change of pace to show she cared-

As quickly as that idea came, Sonya dismissed the thought with a visceral fear? rejection. If she did that, then she wouldn't stop at the tasteful tears; she'd continue stroking her tongue along Jennifer's sweaty and salty unmarked flesh, until she got down to between her thighs and fed on the fluids there.

She could make Jennifer cry from pleasure then, sure; but she didn't want to use her tongue to have the woman undone, she wanted her mistress gushing from her very touch.

Sonya refocused on Jennifer once more, her helpless form cursing underneath her breath as her breasts were continuously played with while her pussy received nothing but teasing touches that edged her on but denied her true release.

Sonya hummed, feigning pondering in thought, as she took a sweet moment to bask in the wanton whimpers that were caused by her.

"How badly do you want this?" Sonya asked her, bringing her red optic to Jennifer's pleading blue eyes, "How desperate are you to want to be undone by a terrible beast like me? Say it..."

Those two husky, imploring, eager words made Jennifer shiver, feeling hotter. Through the haze, she rasped out with a sense of urgent need she's never spoken in before, "I can think of no one else who can satisfy me like you..."

Though caught off-guard, Sonya was not unsatisfied with the answer. She absorbed those words into the very core of her mind, sparking a renewed sense of determination.

"Well then," the beastie said, Jennifer's words lingering on the precipices of her audio receptors, feeling her "heart" pump faster, "I think you've endured enough teasing. You deserve this for being such a good, patient girl."

Jennifer shrieked in surprise when the vibrating rattles were buried against her slick folds and sensitive clit. However, when the initial shock wore off, it was replaced with an alluring moan, followed by a symphony of gasps, the short bursts of pleased shouts, and the sweet curses that she managed through her panting. She closed her eyes and started to arch her back again, and this time Sonya adjusted her tails grip to accommodate Jennifer's position.

It wouldn't be long until she was finished. Though Sonya decided to speed up the process by taking advantage of one of Jennifer's weaknesses; her voice.

"You should see yourself," Sonya husked out, her voice thick with lust, "How fucking enrapturing you are right now. Above here, bound by me, fucked by me, you look like a goddess. Oh, your little noises make it so tempting to ravish your flesh and pussy so I can make you scream louder."

Jennifer failed to suppress the whiny, pathetic whimper with a tender lip bite, and Sonya snickered at the reaction.

"Oh, but it's true," Sonya responded, the quills along her back standing up, elated by such noises as she continued, "Though I never realized how restraining you like this could bring out even more beautiful noises from you. I could just have you like this whenever you're being so bratty. Rip that dress off. Bind your limbs. Tease your wet cunt, edging it as you rut like a bitch in heat chasing after that final release. But it'll never come. More accurately, you'll never cum."

The image of Jennifer on her knees in this bedroom, writhing in the restraints of Sonya's tail, desperately begging her to end the torment, brought a familiar sense of sadism into her system. However, she did feel an odd sensation of heat rise in her body.

She returned back to the assignment at hand, the heat radiating at the back of her mind as she hummed and said, "Oh can you envision it, Jennifer? How much of a writhing, filthy mess you'd be? You'd be left unsatisfied, without release. Not unless you crawled onto your knees and begged so pitifully. Maybe alone. Maybe not. But tell me, if you were to do that, should I give in and fuck you like I do now?"

A resounding and gasping "YES" was Jennifer's response as her hips jutted at the rattles faster. So close now...

"Such an enthusiastic answer. You must be so close now," Sonya noted, not noticing her own jaw gaping open as her red optic recorded Jennifer's unravelling, "You've taken me so well this far. Letting me taste you, ruin you. So strong and resilient. With the most perfect body just for me. You do these filthy activities so impressively, as a naughty girl like you should. Oh, I love the way your flesh bruises and reddens and scars from me. I love the taste of your tears, of your sweat and of your juices. And I love how loud I make you scream and cry and moan. Especially when the only word coming out of your mouth is my name. Makes me fantasize doing it all in front of everyone. What say you? Perhaps on a live hologram broadcast during a Beastie tournament? In the storage unit for all the passing guards and personnel to listen to? Or maybe in a meeting with those morons who dare to ogle you-?"

Sonya was interrupted by an abrupt and approving moan, which slipped into a pleased humming smile from Jennifer.

"Oh? You like that idea? Is that what you want?" Sonya inquired with an endeared curiosity, surprised by the quick nod that followed, "Does it turn you on? At the thought of me fucking you in front of those leering senile men? My, my. What a dirty little slut you are, wanting to be humiliated by me so desperately that you would want those old fucks to see how good I make you feel. Or perhaps it because you want to show them that you're mine. For me, and me alone. No one else. Maybe in one of your next meetings, I'll accompany you. And whenever you go to speak, I'll be behind you, my long, flexible and magnificent tongue lapping at the nape of your neck, nibbling at the flesh with teasing little bites, my claws digging at your glimmering dress. One tail snaking under your skirt. Maybe I'll leave small cuts in passing, letting that lovely crimson run down those fine legs of yours. But once that tail reaches its destination, I'll let the vibrations tease your wet cunt until your legs begin to wobble."

"I'll tear open the front of your dress, let those ravishing tits of yours breathe within a room where they've been dreamed about for so long, except the only one having any fun with them there will be me," Sonya had a tail squeeze promisingly around one of Jennifer's tits as emphasis, "I'll have another tail play with one while my tongue lavishes the other. Don't worry, I'll have my last tail free to ensure none of them stop us, and no one leaves, bound by their pathetic fear. I'll rip your dress off, exposing your body to them all, let them see how dripping fucking wet you are for me, and I'll pick you up, bring you to the table, splayed out like a feast ready to be dined. But only for one though."

She pressed her closed jaw to whisper, "None of them will touch you. We'll show them how well you take me. How beautiful you sing my name. How much you enjoy being fucked dirty by me, and how good of a naughty girl you are to me. Show them you find more pleasure whoring yourself to a beastie than being touched by any of their limp dicks. Reveal your deadliness to them, unleash your claws and mark my metal with your scratches as I leave my own marks along your beautiful body. I bet their hearts would give out at the sight. I don't think their weak pride could take it. The fact you'd cum to a- disgu- terrible monst- beast like me, wouldn't you agree, my sexy- gorgeous- beautif- fucking - goddes- belov- m-!"

Everything was so unbearably hot. Her mind seemed to be on some kind of fritz, just like her voice box. Diagnostics on the system returned with nothing of issue, nor of any errors.

And yet Sonya felt so unbelievably strained from the task at hand. As if exhaustion of all things was overcoming her body as she continued to bring Jennifer closer to her release.

And her voice box. She didn't understand what was wrong with it. It bugged out, replacing words she wanted to say with those she'd never in her life say to Jennifer. But most importantly...

Was that my voice? Not her current voice, the one she was forced to adopt, but the one that Malvolio stole from her.

It didn't matter much, focusing on it was too much of a strain while she was fucking Jennifer at the same time. She refocused her efforts in bringing her mistress over the edge.

Luckily, she didn't have to wait long.

Her words, in combination to the unrelenting rattles fucking her pussy and fondling her breasts, had culminated in Jennifer arching her back more while screaming out Sonya's name, accompanied by the gushing squirts onto the Apex's tail.

Witnessing the result, Sonya swiftly stopped the rattles and brought Jennifer down to the bed safely. She managed to lay the woman down onto her front before her usually durable limbs failed her. She caught herself from laying on top of Jennifer, and carefully positioned herself to lay down by Jennifer's left.

Both beastie and mistress heaved for air, the activity exhausting for both parties involved, much to Sonya's bafflement.

They laid beside each other, just for the moment, to catch their breath.

Jennifer opened her blue eyes to just gaze at the Apex, eyes taking in Sonya's strangely exhausted form. She brushed a strand of her now messy and sweaty blonde hair aside, let out a little laugh, and said, "That was... amazing."

Sonya grunted in agreement, unable to currently verbalize. She did use enough strength to bring the tipped middle tail to her view, the rattles and the curved blade under it glimmering in Jennifer's juices, not dissimilar to the woman's dress.

She opened her jaw to bring her tongue out, cleaning up the slick fluids. She rumbled approvingly at the sweetly sour taste.

Her audio receptors picked up on the soft sound of a slick pussy being gently stroked. Sonya looked over to see Jennifer still staring at her but with a newfound hunger. Sonya noticed that her ass was slightly bent up, with one of her hands massaging her cunt.

"You look so hot when you do that," she husked out, and Sonya felt her exhaustion dissipate when Jennifer asked, "Do you want to put that tongue to better use?"

Sonya tilted her head, her lens focusing on Jennifer's face, "Round two? Now?"

"Don't you remember what we agreed on? "Until my mind goes blank", "until I forget my own name" and "can't remember my troubles in the morning"," Jennifer recalled, and in that sultry mocking tone of hers, "Or are you tapping out after round one?"

A new edge burned within Sonya, and she leaned up, looking down at Jennifer's nude body, asking, "Is that a challenge?"

Jennifer though playfully shrugged, spreading her legs wider as she continued stroking herself with hushed breathy moans.

Sonya took the opportunity to place her right hand over on the other side of Jennifer, until she was above the woman. She retracted until she was staring at both her mistress' sexy ass and her glistened pussy.

Blue eyes glanced to Sonya's observing form, and removed her slick-covered hand, caressing it on one of her ass cheeks before giving it a smack to entice the beastie, as she returned her hand to under her chin.

Sonya let out an amused chuckle as she took out her tongue. However, she pressed it from her mistress' tail bone all the way up her spine, the heat and wetness of the elongated and rough bio-mechanical muscle causing Jennifer to gasp and shiver from its texture.

Sonya lowered herself so she was right on top of her mistress, her gaping jaw releasing a soft exhale of hot steam brush at the woman's ear.

"You're not going to make it to any meetings tomorrow," Sonya informed her mistress.

Jennifer only smirked at her words, not returning a reply as she got comfortable. The beastie retracted back to where her mistress needed her the most.

Though unnecessary, Sonya couldn't help but lick around her mouth as she prepared to satiate her hunger, as well as Jennifer's.

[A/n] And from there on, Jennifer decided bondage was an excellent excuse to get out of a meeting she didn't want to attend the next day.

I wanna say that I may have gone a bit overboard, but overboard is just in-character for them (at least in my series).

[ryin-silverfish]

I feel most modern adaptations don't capture Erlang Shen's wild side. In a way that's fair. He's been a very mainstream and high-ranked god for so long that to use modern lingo, he can be comfortably labeled as an "establishment sell-out". So many people have an image of him as a pure law-and-order guy, for better and for worse. I'm not going to talk about the "official" Daoist identities for him because they do their best to make him seem respectable by linking him with official sponsored waterworks projects or other forms of government-condoned activity -- I just want to talk about the folk perception, because that's the guy everyone except Daoist fundamentalists are worshiping. In early myths and myth-derived entertainment, especially stories about his youth, Erlang is very wild and rebellious. He spends all day hunting with his hound and hawk and laughs away the idea of taking orders from Heaven. He was fostered or at least aided by his aunt, Queen Mother of the West, giving him essentially a protector as he ran roughshod around China, splitting mountains to save his mother and sealing suns under mountains he carried over his shoulders. His retinue consisted of "exotic" foreigners -- golden-headed slaves Guo Yaji and Sayikun who held his blade and cared for his hound. His foot soldiers were 草头神/Wild Gods. He led the Chinese equivalent of the Wild Hunt, flushing demons out of mountains. His name was mentioned alongside the God of Death 阎罗 and the Lord of Ages 太岁 in Water Margin as a fierce god suitable for an outlaw to imitate. All in all, he reads like an upper class delinquent, someone both inside and outside of the established social order. Most modern portrayals of Erlang don't have this ambiguity.

Ohhh, I happened to read a Chinese paper that talked about the exact thing...well, maybe not the exact thing, but it is about the remaking of Erlang's image in Yuan-Ming era operas and vernacular novels!

Erlang in Pre-Song era sources, when he was not yet Li Bing's son and just an ambiguous mix of Li Bing, Lord of Sichuan + God of Guankou, was not very humanized. Like, sure, he was a regional guardian and a slayer of dragon, but there were pretty much no description of his looks or personality.

When Zhao Erlang first appeared, his image shifted into that of a martial general, but everyone's favorite "Handsome Second Lad" was mostly a creation of Yuan-Ming Zaju plays and novels.

And the paper compared and contrast the Erlang of Zaju plays and novels: in the former ones, exemplified by plays like "Erlang Drunkenly Shot the Demon-locking Mirror", he was kind of a hothead, and prone to impulsive decisions.

In JTTW and FSYY, however, he was a lot more calm, humble, and cunning, though JTTW paid homage to his pride and "rebellious hermit god" status more than FSYY, in which Yang Jian is a lot more quiet, polite and strategically-minded.

The paper argues that the Yuan-Ming plays and novels signified the shift of Erlang's image from a purely martial general to the "Confucian General" (儒将) archetype, someone who possessed both scholarly and martial virtues.

Similarly, this shift also made him a lot more closely connected with the imperial court, both celestial and mortal, and played up his loyalty + filial piety.

Now that I finished info-dumping about this really neat paper: yep, I'm not the biggest fan of "Erlang as the upholder of Celestial Justice" either, even though his more "lawful" portrayals had some basis in Qing novels like 八仙得道传 as well as Liaozhai (the short story, Xi Fangping, has him acting as a Baogong-like figure to this guy who had been wronged by corrupt Underworld officials.)

What I feel like modern adaptations + perceptions tend to overlook, however, is his "Regional Guardian" status. Someone intimately connected to the land and people of Sichuan, whether it is the wilderness of its mountains, or the irrigation projects that tamed the rivers, or the opera plays and fine wines of the Country of Heaven——天府之国.

Like, in JTTW, when SWK impersonated him and sat inside his temples, he received your average prayers for blessings and fortunes, but also requests as mundane as asking for a son or a cure to their sickness.

(While I was watching JTTW '86 adaptation of that scene on Bilibili——which was amazing and hilarious, people were like "This is what Erlang does all day?" and jokingly calling him "Erlang Community Clinic" in the scrolling comments.)

To me, he is a guy who may be too prideful for the heavens, but never considers himself too good for mortals. A true son of Shu who'd find the choice laughably easy, if he was ever asked to pick between "Upholder of Heavenly Laws" and "Lord of Sichuan".

Which is why portrayals of him as this Blood Knight-esque "Hound of Heaven" irk me, a lot.

[practically-an-x-man]

Sorry my brain is still so frazzled, and I'm bad at coming up with asks on a good day. :D

For TST, can I get a director's commentary on a recent work? I always love those!

Thanks!!!

Thank you!! I think I'll go with that new Nikoletta/Abner AU fic I posted yesterday, Southern Hospitality :D

Talk Shop Tuesday

____

So everyone was a little weird around here. But the new guy took it to a whole different level.

This is one of those things where... idk, I can't say I struggle writing it, but it's definitely a challenge. Abner is weird. He just is. And a lot of his relationship with Nikoletta, both in canon and in this AU, isn't about the fact that she doesn't think he's weird, but that she doesn't care.

And I think, on that note, one of the tenets of their relationship both in canon and in the AU is that they don't have this immediate attraction. She thinks he's a little weird, he thinks she's kind of icy and intimidating, and there are biases and walls that they're still in the process of breaking down even as their relationship progresses. Before their relationship is even really built out of affection and trust, it's built out of loneliness, but in the end that leads to a deeper connection and trust because they made the conscious decision to work for it.

At this point, Nikoletta was tempted just to let it go. She wasn't exactly a social butterfly either, and as far as she was concerned she only needed to know her neighbors well enough to knock on their doors if there was a tenement fire.

This is one of those moments where I'm trying to link the AU with canon. Nikoletta may not be in Belle Reve here, but she's still a bit of a loner who doesn't believe in expending her social energy on things that aren't worth it. She'll be polite enough, but once she decides it's not worth it, she's done.

Long story short, she needs a reason to interact with him at this point, since she'd past the point of just being friendly for the sake of being friendly.

The door opened a crack. Through the gap, Nikoletta saw the faint glow of multicolored light illuminating the dark apartment beyond. Her first thought was of those flashy computer setups with the RGB lights - but if he had one of those, he certainly wouldn't be living in a place like this. She wasn't quite sure what to make of it.

I'm not sure why I chose to have this all occur when Abner's dealing with a dot flare. I think it boils down to two things: one, I think the vague body-horror of seeing bits and pieces of it here but then having him appear completely normal when they meet face to face adds an interesting touch to this piece, and two, I feel like it's more meaningful to Abner that she'd still offer to have him over even after witnessing something clearly strange and even a little unpleasant. It goes back to that first point - their relationship isn't built off an immediate attraction, it's a conscious choice to built that trust, and it starts with moments like this.

"Wait here." His voice was soft and somehow gentle, even as the door shut forcefully in front of her.

This is really what endeared me to Abner as a character from the very beginning. His power is destructive, he behaves oddly and is used as the butt of the joke by the rest of the team, but he's really very gentle. There are really only two moments in the movie where we see him genuinely get angry - once a brief flash of annoyance when Peacemaker is shoving him and badgering him about his condition, and later after Milton is killed and the others hardly seem to care. And once you get past some of those off-putting moments, he really is a sweetheart!

And of course, by extension, his being gentle (despite the pain he's in, despite being isolated, despite being surrounded by metahumans who want to push him around) is what endears him to Nikoletta as well. It's more obvious in the main story, since Belle Reve is such a hostile environment that he really stands out, but this moment here is really the AU equivalent to that. He's clearly dealing with something, he's clearly in pain, but he still helps her when he could easily just close the door on her.

Twenty minutes later, she found herself back in front of his door.

And here's Nikoletta's response to that, of course. This is the equivalent to their early interactions in Belle Reve in the main timeline - she saves him from the other inmate attacking him, he brings her coffee after she has a nightmare, slowly they start to connect through those little moments like that. It's again that slow build of trust, the daring to reach out even when it's not easy for either of them, and the connection that comes from those moments.

"You want to invite me over?" It was the most she'd ever heard him say at once. His voice still held the same gentle hesitance, like he was shocked she would even speak to him.

Poor guy's just not used to being included, invited, thought about, anything like that. His story really breaks my heart in that way, but I think it also makes moments like these a lot richer.

She'd extended the offer mostly as a courtesy - this was the South, offering to share a meal was hardly any more uncommon than saying "bless you" after a sneeze - but had never really expected him to agree.

Okay, yeah, a bit of hyperbole here, but sharing food is still a big thing here! I mean, I can't count the amount of times one of my theatre castmates has been like "I'm taking coffee orders, let me know what you want!" or brought in snacks for our tech rehearsals (to be fair, I'm included in this crowd, my dad and I brought cookies on our first tech day for Pippin) or offered to bring in pizza or sandwiches so everyone can eat during our two-show days.

Idk where I'm going with this, I just love the theme of sharing food as an act of love/connection.

Being face-to-face with whatever those pustules and tumors were? But she'd spent plenty of time around metahumans, she'd certainly seen worse. She couldn't say she was delighted by the thought of it, but neither was she disgusted.

That's the other thing I see a lot in Abner fics: romanticizing the dots and how they manifest. And like... if that's your thing, cool, and there's nothing wrong with that, but I think it's just as fair to say "this is understandably a little gross, a little unpleasant to look at, and you don't have to romanticize it to love and respect your partner. It can be gross and you can love them anyway."

I feel like I'm not articulating that thought very well, but like... if your partner has IBS, you can love them very much and still want to leave the room when they're having a flareup just because it's a little gross. If your partner has cystic acne, you're not obligated to find their acne beautiful and you're not a bad person if you don't, you just need to respect your partner and not reduce them to their condition. Human bodies are gross. There's going to be something here or there that just grosses you out, and that's not a moral failing, it's an impulse and you can't control it. You don't have to romanticize every little thing about your partner in order for it to be a healthy relationship.

So yeah. It weirds Nikoletta out a little bit. She's not used to it, she doesn't know what it is, and it's not exactly pleasant to look at. And that's okay, because she doesn't let it overwhelm her opinion of him.

He was… kind of cute. In an awkward, kicked-puppy sort of way.

Okay, yeah, Abner used those ten minutes to purge the dots and clean himself up a little. I was tempted to go the other way with it, and I think there would've been a lot of merit to the "more than meets the eye approach" where Nikoletta is put face-to-face with those visual biases she might have, but I went with this for three main reasons:

Abner as a character would probably want to purge the dots and make himself "presentable", if only because his mother's drilled it into his head that he needs to hide his condition in order to be respected and cared for. Sad reason, but it's the most logical action for him

As I mentioned before, I love the vague body-horror of Nikoletta catching glimpses in his apartment but then Abner appearing completely ordinary when they finally meet face-to-face

I just really liked the whole "Oh man I don't even know this guy, he was nice but that was a little freaky and I'm wondering if I made a mistake and- hey hang on he's kind of cute" thought process, I thought it was cute

This is getting long so I'm going to leave it here, there's not a whole lot I wanted to say about the last bit of the scene except that I was trying to be faithful to how they're both fundamentally very awkward people who are trying their best and how that carries over in their relationship regardless of what stage they're in, and I really had fun writing this piece.

Thanks for the ask!!

[iviarellereads]

The Dragon Reborn, Chapter 48 - Following the Craft

(THIS PROJECT IS SPOILER FREE! No spoilers past the chapter you click on. Curious what I'm doing here? Read this post! For the link index and a primer on The Wheel of Time, read this one! Like what you see? Send me a Ko-Fi.)

(Avendesora leaf icon) In which sometimes your special interest is your ta'veren power.

PERSPECTIVE: Egg and Nyn have been seasick the whole trip. Egg wears the snake ring and the stone ring on a cord around her neck, wanting both to be close. She's had more dreams, some vague like just the Seanchan existing, but others include:(1)

A Whitecloak putting Master Luhhan in the middle of a huge, toothed trap for bait

Perrin with a falcon on his shoulder

Perrin choosing between his axe and a blacksmith's hammer

Mat dicing with the Dark One and shouting, "I am coming!"—and she thinks he's shouting that to her

Rand sneaking through darkness toward Callandor, followed by six men and five women, including a man with eyes of flame who wanted Rand desperately

Rand in a dry, dusty chamber with small creatures settling on to his skin

Rand confronting a horde of Seanchan

Rand confronting her and she has a Seanchan woman with her

The ship docks, and she could almost kiss the sturdy dock. The Stone of Tear, the great fortress, is visible even from here. Elayne comes up behind her and says it was woven with the Power, long ago, a lost art.

Egg isn't eager to ride, fearing the motion of a horse might be too close to the corkscrew motion of the ship that made her so sick, but they have little choice. Egg wonders aloud how they're going to find the people they seek, and Elayne suggests a thief-taker, like Hurin.(2) Egg says alright then, they find a room at an inn and ask the innkeeper to find them a thief-taker. Nyn says no, not an inn, Liandrin will be watching them all after leaving all those clues,(3) but she'll know what she's looking for when she sees it.

As they search, Egg sees that many of the people are wearing wooden platform shoes, to keep their feet out of the ever-present mud. She's wondering what kind of shop would sell those, when Nyn finds what she sought: a local Wisdom, or equivalent.

They knock, and the woman, Mother Guenna, asks which of them needs her. Nyn says she needs something for her stomach, and MG invites them in. Nyn takes the tea she makes, and they start testing each other's knowledge of herblore. Eventually, there's a camaraderie among the whole group, and MG says she's enjoying their company, most people ask for something to soothe troubled dreams lately. Her given name is Ailhuin, and they must come visit her again if they're staying in Tear. Nyn asks if instead they could rent a room from her.

Ailhuin says if she lets them stay, there'll be no talk of paying, but first they have to tell her why they're in Tear. Nyn says some people stole something from them, all those who could otherwise have come were killed, and they seek justice. After a little more discussion, Ailhuin says they'll stay, and she knows a thief-taker, the most dangerous man she knows in fact, and he's happy to work for those of any social class, for what they can afford.

After Ailhuin goes to fetch this Juilin Sandar, Egg tells Nyn she's learning to manipulate as well as Moiraine.(4) El slaps her, saying she goes too far. None of them likes what they're doing, but it has to be done. Egg rubs her cheek and thinks it does have to be done, but she still doesn't have to like it.

=====

(1) A lot of them are phrased as questions, and it's worth reviewing that paragraph and asking yourself the questions Egg's asking. I won't say that all the dreams in the series are clear setup/reminders of ongoing arcs and things we haven't seen lately or anything, some never come up again, or are so vaguely described that the fandom can't agree on a solid interpretation. But, RJ doesn't repeat these motifs for no reason, and he doesn't have characters ask themselves questions for nothing. (2) So we said goodbye to Hurin… but we're bringing back another character in damn near the same slot in the party. Sure. This feels more and more like a D&D campaign where someone got busy and had to leave. (3) Ah, but did she and the others leave those clues, or was it Lanfear? I suppose either way, someone will be watching for them. (4) I wouldn't go so far as Elayne does here and slap her, but Egg's chafing at Nynaeve no longer being her superior but still acting like it IS going a bit far.

[siryouarebeingmocked]

I love how your "proof" is people's summaries of Project 2025, and not any actual primary evidence. In fact, the second link had to reference The New Republic's own "summary" of what Project 2025 supposedly really meant.

The first two links are, frankly, blatantly left-wing partisan. The first one is by an orgs which claims to be non-partisan, but is allegedly center-left. Strong ties to the Dems. The last point in the first one endorses DEI inititates.

Not a good choice to persuade an apparent right-winger like OP. Or even just someone skeptical of left-wing hysteria.

Also, literally none of those actually say Trump is responsible for - or endorses - the Project. It's all The Heritage Foundation. The best the BBC does is say Trump has spouted some similar ideas. Nonspecified. Plus the claims that some of his former officials were involved

This is the exact sort of fearmongering OP was complaining about.

Also, y'all cried wolf for five years, and attacked conservatives personally. Many on the left straight up said they were Nazis, or equivalent.

Why should the opposition believe your claims, and why do you think it's their job to back up your arguments?

>also?? are we seriously pretending that the way he packed the supreme court hasnt directly lead to several social issues in Biden's run?

Nobody's "pretending", they simply disagree with you.

And the "social issues" you're vaguely handwaving at include SCOTUS saying that Roe V Wade is not constitutional. Which is correct. The closest I've seen anyone come is claiming that it's "involuntary servitude", which is a ludicrous argument on its face, IMO.

At best, "we don't have any legal basis for authority on this matter", coming from powerful, unelected federal officials appointed for life, is kind of the exact opposite of fascism.

I've also seen people on the left say the Dems should've actually made a real federal law protecting abortion, instead of using it to fearmonger.

I don't see much talk by the left about what, specifically, they want to do to protect abortion rights.

Again, Brett Kavanaugh ended up on SCOTUS after the Dems tried to nail him for an alleged but unprovable sexual assault. He was bought to tears describing how his family got harassed, IIRC.

If he's biased against the left, what exactly did y'all expect to happen?

"If Trump is elected he's going to murder all the gays and trans and blacks and hispanics and institute a Christofascist theocracy and lock everyone up in cages and end marriage and kill anyone who voted against him!!!!"

Wow. That sounds horrible. How did you ever survive his first term?

[skeptiquewrites]

Hi! Just wanted to ask your experience starting as a fanfic author. Did you just start writing and publishing write away, or did you have to advertise and share on tumblr and sms to get a reach? P.S - love your work!

Thank you, that's kind. I'm going to try to answer this as honestly as possible.

First off, I did write in other fandoms before, very inconsistently. This is only important because I want to say I failed to have much in the way of friends before, also on tumblr. Other fics also taught me I am Very Bad with WIPs and should not do them because it makes me feel like I am constantly disappointing someone and having the anxiety equivalent of the sword of Damocles hanging over my head made me write even less.

But then March 2020 rolled around and I was looking through my WIPs and fell back in love with a Drarry fic I had started years before. I finished it before publishing on AO3 and I already had a small group of friends from another internet community who were delightful. They edited, they cheerled, they commented. I still am very grateful to them for being supportive. I didn't make this tumblr or start joining Discords until June 2020ish. I don't have other fandom social media.

I do what I saw other authors were doing like share fics with a banner, and add drarry tags and post links when I finish something. I participated in drabble challenges, microfics, and fests. More than anything I tried exploring what kind of writer I wanted to be, what I enjoyed, and who I could share it with. I obviously really wanted (and still want) people to read my fic and I posted it in Discords rec channels despite being embarrassed about it. That made some people read it. I wanted people to magically find my fic and like it, though. I really don't want to diminish that, because I am not above seeking validation. But I was also starting off lonely in lockdown, working a lot, reading a lot of fic, and wanting to talk Drarry/HP with other people. My ideal really was that I would have people to talk to. Most of that came with time. And I think it is important to separate the idea of having friends and sharing from the idea of "reach" or "advertising". The first is much easier for me to do than the second, which includes a lot of things I have basically no control over. Not everyone who reads my fics likes them. And because I like writing different types of fics, not everyone who likes one fic will like all of them. I still can't always predict what people will respond to.

Some people do none of the things I've described above and have a wonderful active community around them. Some people do all that and more and are still searching for their people. There's nothing wrong with that. You have to figure out what's going to keep you creative and thriving and happy. I try to keep the non-writing to stuff I enjoy about being in community. There's no sense in making it another chore. Hope that helps.

[reanimatedcourier]

How to Write Indigenous Characters Without Looking like a Jackass:

Update as of December 26th, 2020: I have added a couple new sections about naming and legal terms, as well as a bit of reading on the Cherokee Princess phenomenon.

Boozhoo (hello) Fallout fandom! I'm a card-carrying Anishinaabe delivering this rough guide about writing Indigenous characters because wow, do I see a lot of shit.

Let's get something out of the way first: Fallout's portrayal of Indigenous people is racist. From a vague definition of "tribal" to the claims of them being "savage" and "uncivilized" mirror real-world stereotypes used to dehumanize us. Fallout New Vegas' narrated intro has Ron Perlman saying Mr. House "rehabilitated" tribals to create New Vegas' Three Families. You know. Rehabilitate. As if we are animals. Top it off with an erasure of Indigenous people in the American Southwest and no real tribe names, and you've got some pretty shitty representation. The absence of Native American as a race option in the GECK isn't too great, given that two Native characters are marked "Caucasian" despite being brown. Butch Deloria is a pretty well-known example of this effect. (Addendum: Indigenous people can have any mix of dominant and recessive traits, as well as present different phenotypes. What bothers me is it doesn't accommodate us or mixed people, which is another post entirely.)

As a precautionary warning: this post and the sources linked will discuss racism and genocide. There will also be discussion of multiple kinds of abuse.

Now, your best approach will be to pick a nation or tribe and research them. However, what follows will be general references.

Terms that may come up in your research include Aboriginal/Native Canadian, American Indian/Native American, Inuit, Métis, and Mestizo. The latter two refer to cultural groups created after the discovery of the so-called New World. (Addendum made September 5th, 2020: Mestizo has negative connotations and originally meant "half breed" so stick with referring to your mixed Latine and Indigenous characters as mixed Indigenous or simply by the name of their people [Maya, Nahua].)

As a note, not every mixed person is Métis or Mestizo. If you are, say, Serbian and Anishinaabe, you would be mixed, but not Métis (the big M is important here, as it refers to a specific culture). Even the most liberal definition caps off at French and British ancestry alongside Indigenous (some say Scottish and English). Mestizo works the same, since it refers to descendants of Spanish conquistadors/settlers and Indigenous people.

Trouble figuring out whose land is where? No problem, check out this map.

Drawing

Don't draw us with red skin. It's offensive and stereotypical.

Tutorial for Native Skintones

Tutorial for Mixed Native Skintones

Why Many Natives Have Long Hair (this would technically fit better under another category, but give your Native men long hair!)

If You're Including Traditional Wear, Research! It's Out There

Languages

Remember, there are a variety of languages spoken by Indigenous people today. No two tribes will speak the same language, though there are some that are close and may have loan words from each other (Cree and Anishinaabemowin come to mind). Make sure your Diné (you may know them as Navajo) character doesn't start dropping Cree words.

Here's a Site With a Map and Voice Clips

Here's an Extensive List of Amerindian Languages

Keep in mind there are some sounds that have no direct English equivalents. But while we're at it, remember a lot of us speak English, French, Spanish, or Portuguese. The languages of the countries that colonized us.

Words in Amerindian languages tend to be longer than English ones and are in the format of prefix + verb + suffix to get concepts across. Gaawiin miskwaasinoon is a complete sentence in Anishinaabemowin, for example (it is not red).

Names

Surprisingly, we don't have names like Passing Dawn or Two-Bears-High-Fiving in real life. A lot of us have, for lack of better phrasing, white people names. We may have family traditions of passing a name down from generation to generation (I am the fourth person in my maternal line to have my middle name), but not everyone is going to do that. If you do opt for a name from a specific tribe, make sure you haven't chosen a last name from another tribe.

Baby name sites aren't reliable, because most of the names on there will be made up by people who aren't Indigenous. That site does list some notable exceptions and debunks misconceptions.

Here's a list of last names from the American census.

Indian Names

You may also hear "spirit names" because that's what they are for. You know the sort of mystical nature-related name getting slapped on an Indigenous character? Let's dive into that for a moment.

The concept of a spirit name seems to have gotten mistranslated at some point in time. It is the name Creator calls you throughout all your time both here and in the spirit world. These names are given (note the word usage) to you in a ceremony performed by an elder. This is not done lightly.

A lot of imitations of this end up sounding strange because they don't follow traditional guidelines. (I realize this has spread out of the original circle, but Fallout fans may recall other characters in Honest Hearts and mods that do this. They have really weird and racist results.)

If you're not Indigenous: don't try this. You will be wrong.

Legal Terms

Now, sometimes the legal term (or terms) for a tribe may not be what they refer to themselves as. A really great example of this would be the Oceti Sakowin and "Sioux". How did that happen, you might be wondering. Smoky Mountain News has an article about this word and others, including the history of these terms.

For the most accurate information, you are best off having your character refer to themselves by the name their nation uses outside of legislation. A band name would be pretty good for this (Oglala Lakota, for example). I personally refer to myself by my band.

Cowboys

And something the Fallout New Vegas fans might be interested in, cowboys! Here's a link to a post with several books about Black and Indigenous cowboys in the Wild West.

Representation: Stereotypes and Critical Thought

Now, you'll need to think critically about why you want to write your Indigenous character a certain way. Here is a comprehensive post about stereotypes versus nuance.

Familiarize yourself with tropes. The Magical Indian is a pretty prominent one, with lots of shaman-type characters in movies and television shows. This post touches on its sister tropes (The Magical Asian and The Magical Negro), but is primarily about the latter.

Say you want to write an Indigenous woman. Awesome! Characters I love to see. Just make sure you're aware of the stereotypes surrounding her and other Women of Color.

Word to the wise: do not make your Indigenous character an alcoholic. "What, so they can't even drink?" You might be asking. That is not what I'm saying. There is a pervasive stereotype about Drunk Indians, painting a reaction to trauma as an inherent genetic failing, as stated in this piece about Indigenous social worker Jessica Elm's research. The same goes for drugs. Ellen Deloria is an example of this stereotype.

Familiarize yourself with and avoid the Noble Savage trope. This was used to dehumanize us and paint us as "childlike" for the sake of a plot device. It unfortunately persists today.

Casinos are one of the few ways for tribes to make money so they can build homes and maintain roads. However, some are planning on diversifying into other business ventures.

There's a stereotype where we all live off government handouts. Buddy, some of these long-term boil water advisories have been in place for over twenty years. The funding allocated to us as a percentage is 0.39%: less than half a percent to fight the coronavirus. They don't give us money.

"But what about people claiming to be descended from a Cherokee princess?" Cherokee don't and never had anything resembling princesses. White southerners made that up prior to the Civil War. As the article mentions, they fancied themselves "defending their lands as the Indians did".

Also, don't make your Indigenous character a cannibal. Cannibalism is a serious taboo in a lot of our cultures, particularly northern ones.

Our lands are not cursed. We don't have a litany of curses to cast on white people in found footage films. Seriously. We have better things to be doing. Why on earth would our ancestors be haunting you when they could be with their families? Very egotistical assumption.

Indigenous Ties and Blood Quantum

Blood quantum is a colonial system that was initially designed to "breed out the Indian" in people. To dilute our bloodlines until we assimilated properly into white society. NPR has an article on it here.

However, this isn't how a vast majority of us define our identities. What makes us Indigenous is our connections (or reconnection) to our families, tribes, bands, clans, and communities.

Blood quantum has also historically been used to exclude Black Natives from tribal enrollment, given that it was first based on appearance. So, if you looked Black and not the image of "Indian" the white census taker had in his brain, you were excluded and so were your descendants.

Here are two tumblrs that talk about Black Indigenous issues and their perspectives. They also talk about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people of Australia.

However, if you aren't Indigenous, don't bring up blood quantum. Don't. This is an issue you should not be speaking about.

Cherokee Princess Myth

"Princess" was not a real position in any tribe. The European idea of monarchy did not suddenly manifest somewhere else. The closest probable approximation may have been the daughter of a chief or other politically prominent person. But princess? No.

Here is an article talking about possible origins of this myth. Several things are of note here: women from other tribes may have bee shoved under this label and the idea of a "Cherokee Princess" had been brought up to explain the sudden appearance of a brown-skinned (read: half Black) family member.

For a somewhat more in depth discussion of why, specifically, this myth gets touted around so often, Timeline has this piece.

Religion

Our religions are closed. We are not going to tell you how we worship. Mostly because every little bit we choose to share gets appropriated. Smudging is the most recent example. If you aren't Indigenous, that's smoke cleansing. Smudging is done in a specific way with ceremonies and prayers.

Now, a lot of us were forcibly converted. Every residential school was run by Christians. So plenty of us are Catholic, Baptist, Anglican, Lutheran, etc. Catholicism in Latin America also has influence from the Indigenous religions in that region.

Having your Indigenous character pray or carry rosaries wouldn't be a bad thing, if that religion was important to them. Even if they are atheist, if they lived outside of a reserve or other Indigenous communities, they might have Christian influences due to its domination of the Western world.

Settler Colonialism and the White Savior Trope

Now we've come to our most painful section yet. Fallout unintentionally has an excellent agent of settler-colonialism, in particular the Western Christian European variety, in Caesar's Legion and Joshua Graham.

(Addendum: Honest Hearts is extremely offensive in its portrayal of Indigenous people, and egregiously shows a white man needing to "civilize" tribals and having to teach them basic skills. These skills include cooking, finding safe water, and defending themselves from other tribes.)

Before we dive in, here is a post explaining the concept of cultural Christianity, if you are unfamiliar with it.

We also need to familiarize ourselves with The White Man's Burden. While the poem was written regarding the American-Philippine war, it still captures the attitudes toward Indigenous folks all over the world at the time.

As this article in Teen Vogue points out, white people like to believe they need to save People of Color. You don't need to. People of Color can save themselves.

Now, cultural Christianity isn't alone on this side of the pond. Writer Teju Cole authored a piece on the White Savior Industrial Complex to describe mission trips undertaken by white missionaries to Africa to feed their egos.

Colonialism has always been about the acquisition of wealth. To share a quote from this paper about the ongoing genocide of Indigenous peoples: "Negatively, [settler colonialism] strives for the dissolution of native societies. Positively, it erects a new colonial society on the expropriated land base—as I put it, settler colonizers come to stay: invasion is a structure not an event. In its positive aspect, elimination is an organizing principal of settler-colonial society rather than a one-off (and superseded) occurrence. The positive outcomes of the logic of elimination can include officially encouraged miscegenation, the breaking-down of native title into alienable individual freeholds, native citizenship, child abduction, religious conversion, resocialization in total institutions such as missions or boarding schools, and a whole range of cognate biocultural assimilations. All these strategies, including frontier homicide, are characteristic of settler colonialism. Some of them are more controversial in genocide studies than others." (Positive, here, is referring to "benefits" for the colonizers. Indigenous people don't consider colonization beneficial.)

An example of a non-benefit, the Church Rock disaster had Diné children playing in radioactive water so the company involved could avoid bad publicity.

Moving on, don't sterilize your Indigenous people. Sterilization, particularly when it is done without consent, has long been used as a tool by the white system to prevent "undesirables" (read, People of Color and disabled people) from having children. Somehow, as of 2018, it wasn't officially considered a crime.

The goal of colonization was to eliminate us entirely. Millions died because of exposure to European diseases. Settlers used to and still do separate our children from us for reasons so small as having a dirty dish in the sink. You read that right, a single dirty dish in your kitchen sink was enough to get your children taken and adopted out to white families. This information was told to me by an Indigenous social work student whose name I will keep anonymous.

It wasn't until recently they made amendments to the Indian Act that wouldn't automatically render Indigenous women non-status if they married someone not Indigenous. It also took much too long for Indigenous families to take priority in child placement over white ones. Canada used to adopt Indigenous out to white American families. The source for that statement is further down, but adoption has been used as a tool to destroy cultures.

I am also begging you to cast aside whatever colonialist systems have told you about us. We are alive. People with a past, not people of the past, which was wonderfully said here by Frank Waln.

Topics to Avoid if You Aren't Indigenous

Child Separation. Just don't. We deserve to remain with our families and our communities. Let us stay together and be happy that way.

Assimilation schools. Do not bring up a tool for cultural genocide that has left lasting trauma in our communities.

W/ndigos. I don't care that they're in Fallout 76. They shouldn't be. Besides, you never get them right anyway.

Sk/nwalkers. Absolutely do not. Diné stories are not your playthings either.

I've already talked about drugs and alcohol. Do your research with compassion and empathy in mind. Indigenous people have a lot of pain and generational trauma. You will need to be extremely careful having your Indigenous characters use drugs and alcohol. If your character can be reduced to their (possible) substance abuse issues, you need to step back and rework it. As mentioned in Jessica Elm's research, remember that it isn't inherent to us.

For our final note: remember that we're complex, autonomous human beings. Don't use our deaths to further the stories of your white characters. Don't reduce us to some childlike thing that needs to be raised and civilized by white characters. We interact with society a little differently than you do, but we interact nonetheless.

Meegwetch (thank you) for reading! Remember to do your research and portray us well, but also back off when you are told by an Indigenous person.

This may be updated in the future, it depends on what information I come across or, if other Indigenous people are so inclined, what is added to this post.

[absolutebl]

Hi!

Recently,...during Mew's birthday, Chinese fans literally showered him with gifts, to the extent of giving him "Gold Bars". Now,..this literally was a jaw dropping moment for me. Because,...BL as an industry literally exploded during the time of the pandemic, and I believe, the success of "TharnType", and "2gether" can be very much attributed to the pandemic, because almost the whole world was in a lockdown. And prior to the pandemic,...whatever fan-service would happen, it was to a great extent simple, and relatable. But now,...international fans shower so much of gifts on the stars that it's just beyond anyone's imagination. At least for those fans that are genuine and hard-working. Because it's not a question of whether fans can afford or not, it's a question of spending your hard-earned money on an already well-established, and filthy rich celebrity.

The same happened with Ohm Pawat's birthday celebration too,...where a fan gifted him an Air-con because he jokingly tweeted something like his AC being too old and not working properly.

What is your opinion on such kind of gift showering by uber-rich fans, given that these actors are already minting tons of money not just by doing BLs, but through brand endorsements, variety shows, top-spender events, etc,...etc,...etc???

And,...

How far do you think the whole Fan-service events would change post the pandemic?

xoxo

Arjuna

Celebrity Tribute 

Oh man this kinda thing makes me so uncomfortable.

First it should be said that most of the Thai BL actors actually don't seem to make much money. The major ones with endorsement deals excepted, of course. 

But putting that aside, celebrity tribute is something I'm unfortunately all too familiar with.

From the fan side 

I get the instinct. 

Fans want to give back to someone who brought them pleasure. They want to be remembered and mean something significant to the object of their admiration. Sometimes, they want to share a thing they love and display their knowledge: 

“I know you like coffee, this is MY favorite coffee. I want you to like it too, so that we like the same thing. Now we have a connection.” 

This is the same psychological need for direct social linking to authority/admiration figures (we are learning) that drives sasang behavior. 

“I WANT TO BE REMEMBERED. I WANT TO BE SEEN AND NOTICED.” 

Perhaps with Bl actors there's even some sexual fantasy guilt going on...

Oh noes, I'm having impure thoughts, must gift aircon!

Personally? It makes me VERY uncomfortable.

What is your opinion on such kind of gift showering by uber-rich fans, given that these actors are already minting tons of money not just by doing BLs, but through brand endorsements, variety shows, top-spender events, etc,...etc,...etc??? 

From the celebrity side? I’m sorry but 9/10 they really don’t want it. 

TRIBUTE

Most of them get very careful about not mentioning the things they love/want/need by name to avoid unwanted gifts. 

Amusing aside, an ex (and still dear friend) of mine and a rather big name writer is always joking about the fact that they should write more about how great BMWs are, just to see what happens. 

But honestly? If they’re traveling, the celebrity has to figure out how to transport their loot home. It’s probubly not to their taste. If it’s handmade or crafted they feel guilty getting rid of it. If it’s food related they’re probubly on a diet or it’s too dangerous and risky to ingest. 

It’s a waste of money. 

A wealthy fan is far better off supporting a celebrity by buying the brand that celebrity is endorsing, then saying how much they love that thing (whatever it is) and tagging both the brand and the celebrity in a post. That’s social proof for everyone concerned. It’s the equivalent of leaving a great review for a book or movie. 

ASIDE: if you are a fan of a creator, shill their shit. Like that artist? Talk about how great they are. Share their site/books/photos/music (appropriately attributed and tagged, of course). Buy prints, gift their books, support them by supporting their work. Most purchases of goods are still driven by word of mouth. 

VIP EVENTS 

Top spender (VIP) fan events, those are probubly better for everyone concerned. I don’t mind them. It’s like, I don’t know, those weird fundraiser dinners politicians have. Probubly really awkward, but these are actors and extraverts, they should handle mini performances okay. 

It’s literally the uber fan paying for access (paying for the celebrity’s time) and that’s a value for value proposition. I wouldn’t want to attend one. But then I dread the idea of attending concerts of bands I LOVE. There’s actually no celebrity in the world I would pay to access. Period. 

But I don’t really object to these. I think of them as a little like very small conferences or conventions (built on the same model). 

VARIETY SHOWS 

Variety shows are for publicity. They’re just another kind of press junket. 

I don’t like it when they force BL actors to do stupid games that tease homoerotic contact and come off as lascivious and predatory. They make everyone concerned (including me) uncomfortable. And with most of the pairs you can tell by the body language they find it unpleasant. 

I don’t watch them if I can avoid it. 

You want to know what I really want instead of celebrity tribute?

I want every major celebrity to have a short list of charities that they endorse. And if a wealthy fan wants to make a gift to that charity in that celebrity’s name, that’s what they can do. 

If they want extra credit and attention for it, they can bring a certificate or something to be signed at VIP events. If the celebrity is moved but the amount or something, they could do a shout out in their next Live. 

You want to support BL? 

Join the streaming platforms that host the shows. Pay to play. LEGALLY. (If you have to pick one, GaGaOOLaLa is objectively and politics wise, the best. It’s queer. It’s based out of Taiwan.) 

Pay subscribe to those BL YouTube channels (like Strongberry) who offer VIP content. 

Back BL projects that are trying to get off the ground via kickstarter or gofundme or otherwise. 

Tip or pay the subbers who are working to translate forgotten or lesser known BLs that gets no attention any other way. 

Buy/support the original content that you want to see adapted (or has been adapted). By that I mean the yaoi mangas/manwha, webtoons, and y-novels. The studios need stuff to work from, the best BLs are always adaptations. We MUST support the writers, they are the beginning. 

Don’t have any money to burn? 

Subscribe to the BL YouTube channels that offer content. SUBSCRIBE TO THEM. Press the fucking button. What else are you doing with your life? 

Follow the production side: if they are on social media follow the producers, writers, and directors. Tell them how much you love and appreciate them. Give them your support. Comment on their IG posts. Retweet their thoughts. They are the ones that really need it. Trust me. 

Talk about the shows you love and spread the word to anyone who might be intersted. Explain WHY you love them. Learn to identify that why in yourself so you can articulate it better and suck in more fans. 

(source)

[gothicprep]

it's been many hours since i watched this video – link if you want some context – and it's still pricking at me a little. not because i think it's not written particularly well (it's not) or that i think the video essayist's reading of lacan is dubious (it is), it's just that we have profound philosophical disagreements in terms of our self-concept.

i'm going to ask you for your patience, because i promise i'm going somewhere with this.

i was talking to an ex-mormon about reddit (BEAR WITH ME) once, and he was talking to me about the ex-mormon community on the site being cathartic for him when he left the lds. in his own personal case, it went as well as it realistically could. his parents were shocked and upset at first, but they eventually came around and he's still in contact with them. he lost long-held friendships, but not all of them. and in the time between him admitting he was leaving the church and the people around him calming down, there was a lot of uncertainty. so the ex-mormon sub was a lifeline for him. eventually he didn't need it anymore and stopped participating. he observed that the veteran users were the ones who were hit the hardest by lds shunning practices and were never really able to recover from that, socially or emotionally.

there's a lot of overlap between what he's talking about here and conflicting ideas about what being in the lgbt tent means.

if i had to write down a list of what the most important contextual details of my vantage point are, i think my sexual orientation would be hovering around 15th-20th on it. so when i see things emphasizing the queer community (which is a nebulous concept at best) and define the experience in a way that's intended as a deliberate disruption of norms, it's kind of confusing. but that's for a reason – i'm the lucky ex-mormon, they're the ones who lost all their friends. the one who lost all their friends is going to be the loudest in ruminating about it. the one who didn't doesn't feel as though they have anything of value to add to the conversation, like they'd be the equivalent of a grandma who's been married for 70 years that gives dogshit relationship advice like "make every day count :)"

i can't help but think the imbalance in dialogue here is a bit misleading.

um, anyway, call me old fashioned, but i do like that "gay" is synonymous with happy. i like how baker's colors on the pride flag symbolize aspects of a good, fulfilling life. because that's really what it's all about – the opportunity for this. and a stupid little life simulation game where everyone is bisexual and homophobia doesn't exist implants a nice little message in your head, even if you don't know what to do with it yet. one that tells you that you'll be alright.

also the video didn't tell me whether the sims made me gay or not, so i wasted my fucking time.

I’m taking a break from my obligations and watching a video essay called “did the sims make you gay?” which should theoretically be right up my alley, given the lifelong sims fan and gay married aspects of my biographical information. but it’s not very good unfortunately. it’s definitely coming by it from a philosophical interpretation of “what does it mean to be gay/queer” that I don’t emotionally identify with very much.

I’m open to hearing that angle, but what really doesn’t help is that the guy presenting this just… isn’t very funny. his jokes just don’t land at all. makes me sort of wish I went the “smoke some weed and fuck up your productivity for the next 4 hours” direction of mental break

[multi-lefaiye]

cudaas lore: guardians and wildlings

okay so i’m making a powerpoint going over cudaas and its worldbuilding and characters but i want to share some of it in more depth. specifically, i wanna ramble about guardians and wildlings.

there is no Official CUDAAS Taglist™ (at least, not at this point), but uhhh some of y’all showed interest so I will tag a couple of people perhabs,,, since y’all showed interest: @chaotic-queer-disaster @dr-runs-with-scissors @jezifster @skitzo-kero @emotionalsupportpuma @albatris (if you don’t want me to tag you in things relating to this going forward please let me know!!!! and if you want to be added to the unofficial taglist please let me know!)

so this story started with the premise of “what if angels and demons kissed and unionized” but instead of using Biblical angels and demons i was like. what if i made my own lore. so that’s how this started. not to say there’s no similarities, but i wanted to try and make my own!!!

gonna put the more detailed rambling under the cut in case this gets a little long asdfjkl;

fair content warning: this is gonna be talking a lot about fictional religious stuff! if that isn’t your cup of tea please tread lightly!

okay so i did post the Creation Myth as the people in this world, perigea, understand it over here: [link] but there are things that myth doesn’t go over and some things that aren’t quite accurate to how things actually work. if you don’t want to read that, though, i’ll give a basic run-down here.

so the equivalents for angels in this universe are called guardians, but they are not meant to be creatures of “good” or otherwise have any specific moral alignment. in fact, guardians can be super fucked up and nasty! the thing guardians were created to do was enforce order. the gods created guardians to prevent perigea from falling into chaos.

there are exactly 1000 guardians in existence, and every time a guardian dies or falls (we’ll get there) a new one is created in their place. each of the five gods who created guardians (the sixth one did not create any) made 200, and each created a different ‘type’ of guardian.

for example, the goddess of the oceans, the old woman of the sea, created guardians that look a lot like merfolk! she also created a group of absolutely massive guardians known as leviathans, who are so large that only a few of them can exist at a time. the most powerful of these leviathans is named persephone, and they’re a minor character in CUDAAS!!!

the guardians that the story focuses on were created by the god of the land, the mountain king! these guardians look the most like traditional/common depictions of angels: humanoids with feathered wings. however, they can get funky! all guardians, on some level, can shapeshift, and many of them choose to make their appearances a little fucky.

regardless of the kind of guardian, they tend to form tight-knit social groups with strict hierarchies known as flocks. each flock has around 40 or so guardians, and one guardian is appointed the leader by the god who created them. flocks exist to essentially keep guardians on task and in check. some function more like family units, but most of them are more just like. groups of coworkers.

anyway, so! falling. a guardian can go through a process known as Falling! this process is incredibly painful and traumatic for the most part, as it involves them being stripped of their power and status, as well as any physical identifies that make them a guardian. some guardians will choose to do this themself, buuut most of the time it happens when a guardian REALLY pisses off the gods and is punished.

how does a guardian piss off the gods? it really depends, but most of the time it happens when they go against their stated purpose. guardians are created not to be individuals, but instead to be part of a collective whole and support the gods in their goals and power. if a guardian becomes too individualistic, too outspoken, or too sympathetic towards wildlings... they usually get the boot.

a guardian that has fallen still retains some of their power, but this varies on a case by case basis. generally, they can still shapeshift to an extent and have extended lifespans, but they are no longer as powerful or immortal anymore. falling cannot be reversed, either--once it happens, it’s permanent.

now, let’s talk about wildlings, the equivalent of demons.

whenever a guardian is created, a being known as a wildling is created as a byproduct. wildlings are not intentionally created by the gods, but they are a response from the universe itself to the existence of guardians. a being of pure order cannot exist without upsetting the careful balance between order and chaos, and so the universe responds by spontaneously creating a being of pure chaos.

wildlings are not inherently evil, just like guardians are not inherently good. in fact, many wildlings are actually very kind--they just tend less towards hierarchy and order and more towards chaos. wildlings don’t exist to tempt mortals towards chaos or into making bad choices--they exist just to keep the balance and prevent things from becoming so orderly that they become stagnant. a little chaos is necessary for the universe to keep going.

unlike guardians, wildlings aren’t really divided into specific categories based on physical characteristics. this is primarily because they’re much more proficient shapeshifters than guardians are, so many of them change their appearances on a whim. aside from appearing mostly humanoid, they don’t have much that makes them easy to spot at a glance.

wildlings are repelled by strict order and hierarchies, but they do tend to form close-knot groups known as packs. packs of wildlings function very much like found families, as wildlings intensely crave companionship. they very rarely have one specific leader, but occasionally one will take the role and act as a parental figure to the rest. wildling packs can be any size.

now, if wildlings are created as a byproduct of guardians, does this mean wildlings can fall as well? yes, actually!

falling for a wildling is far less traumatic than it is for guardians, but it still is a painful and terrible experience. wildlings, like guardians, can willingly relinquish their magic, or they can have it stripped from them by a being more powerful than them. or, more commonly, a wildling will fall when a guardian falls, regardless of the reason.

a fallen wildling loses much of their magic, just like a guardian does, but they retain more of their original magic than a guardian would in the same situation.

now, how do wildlings and guardians interact? this actually depends! under the mountain king, guardians are expected to hunt wildlings and fight them constantly, essentially upholding a balance between chaos and order through violence. guardians and wildlings, according to the mountain king, are meant to be natural enemies.

however, the other gods have different views! for example, the old woman of the sea allows her guardians to work alongside wildlings to keep peace in the oceans. she recognizes that both are important to upholding the balance, and she encourages them to work together to fulfill this purpose.

okay, i know this is very long, but i want to share a couple extra bits of worldbuilding/facts relating to guardians and wildlings:

- all guardians and wildlings are effectively agender, though that may not be the term they use! they may have different relationships with gender and use different pronouns, but none of them experiences gender in the way a human in our world might.

- there is a stereotype, even among guardians, that a smaller guardian is weaker due to not being strong enough to manifest a larger physical form. this is false, though--because alekto, one of the protags of CUDAAS, is a very small guardian but also a VERY powerful one.

- a guardian cannot become a wildling or vice-versa, as though are completely different beings.

- wildlings typically do not give themselves wings, regardless of the region where they live. a wildling with wings is considered very strange to the others of their kind.

- this is more of a personal design choice for me when i draw them and not a hard and fast rule, but wildlings are usually made of lighter, warmer colors, while guardians are darker, cooler colors. i should specify that this does not apply to skin colors--guardians and wildlings both have skin colors and features similar to humans for the most part, but guardians often look Cooler where wildlings are Warm.

[ms-demeanor]

Stressed Computer Anon:

Hi friend!

You’ve actually given me the idea for a very helpful book I want to write but it’s pretty clear you’re not going to be okay waiting that long so here’s a very, very basic primer for people in similar situations

SO YOU THINK YOU’RE BEING CYBERSTALKED

If you’re worried about being tracked online by people who have somehow accessed your computer or phone and/or you’re worried about your computer being taken over FEAR NOT! This is VERY fixable!

So the thing is the only way that people can track you like this is by having some kind of network access to your devices. I can’t track your cellphone if it isn’t connected to the cell network (at least not without a pretty serious amount of legwork and a warrant) and I can’t track your computer if it’s not connected to the internet.

The absolute easiest, fastest, most guaranteed way to fix this problem is by disconnecting all your devices. I know that doesn’t seem great because what’s the point of having the devices if they’re not going to be connected, but don’t worry you’ll get this settled and get back online eventually.

What you are going to do FIRST is get on a device that you’ve never used before, get on a computer or phone network you’ve never used before, and you’re going to change your passwords. While you’re at it you may want to get yourself set up with a password manager. Here’s a step by step of the ideal way this would work:

Go to someplace with public-ish computers where you can use the computers for a while (school or public library works well)

Open up a private session of whatever browser is installed on that computer

Create a protonmail email account

Log in to each of your online accounts, change the recovery email to the protonmail account, and reset the passwords

(do the rest of the stuff that i’m going to tell you about)

Install a password manager AFTER you’ve sanitized your network and change all your passwords AGAIN using the password manager generated passwords.

Once you have reset all your passwords (steps 1-3) it is time to sanitize your network and your extant devices.

Start by doing a backup of your phone and your computer. This is a FILE BACKUP ONLY, you DO NOT want to restore from backup.

Make sure you’ve got the manufacturer installation discs and activation keys for any software that you have on your computer (or the online equivalent - you don’t use a disc to install MS office these days, you use a Microsoft account and you should have already changed your password for that) because you are going to have to REINSTALL your computer. This means you ALSO need an installation disc for your operating system.

Connect to your router and change the password, select the most secure security settings you router allows.

Reinstall your operating system on your computer and factory reset your phone (make sure you’ve written down all your contacts and saved all the files on your computer or phone to an external device because you will lose them with the reset/reinstall).

(Windows, Mac, Android, iOS)

Make sure that the only things you plug into your computer are things you’ve purchased - remove all wireless dongles for mice or keyboards, make sure the chargers for your phones are all ones that you’ve purchased and not any that were given to you, and only plug stuff back in if you’re 100% sure you know what it goes to.

AFTER REINSTALL/RESET TURN OFF ALL THE WEIRD WIRELESS CONNECTIONS YOUR PHONE AND COMPUTER MAKE. Turn off bluetooth, turn off network discoverability, turn off anything that lets shit talk to your computer or phone.

(This will break/disable things like smart speakers, activity trackers, and a bunch of other IoT tech. If you’re paranoid enough to be doing all of this stuff you should NOT be using those things anyway)

Once you’ve reinstalled your OS on your computer go online and set yourself up with a VPN. If you are feeling EXCEPTIONALLY paranoid you can do this using a mobile hotspot instead of your internet connection. Also if you are feeling exceptionally paranoid you can encrypt your devices.

Now that your traffic is encrypted go back into your router settings and reset your password again. You may want to consider purchasing a better/more secure router or one that has an included VPN (from that list I like the Synology router).

Since at this point your computer should be pretty much completely taken care of you can follow the steps in my other post on the issue to secure your phone.

At this point if you connect to the internet through a secured router and a vpn, and if you are using a VPN on the phone and don’t have any weird mystery apps installed and have shut down app permissions, and if you’re doing all of that carefully and well and you’ve changed all your passwords a couple times, nobody should reasonably be able to snoop your traffic.

That isn’t to say I’d consider this setup safe to plot against the government or anything or to prevent a subpoena to your wireless provider if someone filed one, but for the average weirdo on the internet who wants to creep on your traffic you’ve pretty much locked them out.

After that be careful about what you post online (because a SHOCKING amount of what people think has come from someone spying on their network is actually just stuff that’s reasonably extrapolated from your socials) and if someone approaches you in person about your online activities don’t be alone with that person and publicly challenge them about what they’re saying (maybe take a video of them and post that online). Also do not allow other people physical access to your phone, computer, or router.

Based on the descriptions you’ve given me in your asks it seems reasonably possible that you’re experiencing some upsetting coincidences and that nothing is happening, but there’s also a possibility that someone is remotely accessing your computer. If so, doing everything that I’ve described will close off their access.

If you continue to have these upsetting experiences after going through all of these steps I’d say to have a conversation with a reasonable friend and get a reality check. Unfortunately people are often very scared of computers and because they don’t understand them sometimes innocuous things can be upsetting.

There have been several people who have visited our hacker meetups over the years to beg us to stop the hackers attacking them when there is nobody attacking them or they’ve got things set up in such a way that it would be impossible to do what they think is happening. Fixating on the belief that you’re being attacked and tracked can be very upsetting and can make you more likely to misinterpret nonthreatening happenstance as a cohesive and intentional plan.

I’m not saying that’s what’s happening to you, your circumstance is in a gray area where I don’t want to tell you that someone is watching you and you should be paranoid because that’s not what it sounds like, but the things you’re describing reasonably COULD be because of intruders on your computer so there’s no harm in hardening your network. HOWEVER if you DO harden your network and that doesn’t make you feel any better it’s time to ask for some assistance from people in your life.

IN GENERAL to avoid having people remotely access your computer you should:

Make sure that you are very cautious about what programs you install

Do not open unexpected email attachments and do not click on mystery links

Use unique passwords across your accounts

Do not allow people physical access to your devices

Use encryption on your web traffic through a VPN or a secured router

Do not grant people permission to access your computer or allow people to talk you through the process of setting up access for them (so if someone calls from “microsoft” and says they need access to your computer to fix it just hang up)

Use a strong antivirus program

And in general if you think that something FUCKING WEIRD is going on with your computer you should

document every instance of it being fucking weird

take a photo or video of the fucking weird thing on your phone

think about what someone has to gain by accessing your system

think about the ways that someone could plausibly access your system

check in with someone who knows more about computers than you do (like me - this is the right thing to do! and similarly the people who come to the hacker meetups are doing the right thing! But it’s important to listen to these folks and learn from the conversation instead of dismissing the information they give you - that “what do they gain” question applies here too. I have nothing to gain by misleading you, so it’s very unlikely that I’m lying to you)

And in your life in general:

If you’re scared about something you should ask questions and learn more. Everything is much less scary when you know how to fix it or are able to identify the source of a problem. This is true for computers, it’s true for auto repair, it’s true for plumbing.

So I’m really glad you asked, and good luck. I hope this helps.

[sunset-peril]

Aw, thanks

Okay good :)

Honestly, I think the reason I dislike Cece as much as I do (definitely not a hate, just a dislike) is because my sister has a lot of Cece-ness to her and that kind of personality is tiring to me, hehe. The last thing I expected on May 12, 2023 was to find my sister. Love her though.

The mushrooms have grown on me, I'll admit, but I do wish it did have that subtlety to it. Or at least that it got toned down at the end of the questline (because I remember that the big mushroom lights were basically the Zelda equivalent of out-of-code for being in a residential zone like that, and nothing happened with that detail. Oh well. Me and my details)

Then again, I hyper-developed on Hateno Village. Despite how much they added, there just can't be enough detail in Hateno Village for me unless I put it in myself (and if I could... whoo that'd be one lengthy extra set of questlines and dialogue choices)

I found the ending a little underwhelming. Loremaster me kinda wanted to see the mantle get handed off to Link since all the Sage questlines have such heavily succession vibes, but I also can see clearly how that would be very difficult to do. Could at least have given the player recurring quests so they always have something to do though. (This is mainly regarding to the way I had Hateno's social structures working, so this may not have even been on Nintendo's table)

I expected that they would probably wind up working together in some capacity, but I did want Reede to explicitly retain his status as leader (or, again, 'crown' Link). Yeah, definitely something tourist-y for Cece. I know in the first game, the Gerudo talked about how it was hard for them to get to the dye shop. They could've done something like that with Cece?

Or, spinning this in the HFS direction like always, Cece could have been named a diplomat to work on fashion-related trade deals between the Gerudo, Wolfbred, and even others. Perhaps even helped to reopen clothing stores that had been shuttered pre-BOTW (like the one in the Domain... does Tarry Town have a clothes shop?)

Again, none of it probably practical for a game, just my writer brain rambling.

YES

PUMPKINS

THE PUMPKINS ARE SO COOL (I spend many rupees on the pumpkins)

The pumpkin protecting quest was actually when I decided to add "arthritis(?)" to Link' list of issues in HFS, because I could not get the guy to swing his sword at a decent speed when I was trying to beat those Stals.

I booted up my copy of Breath of the Wild to wander around for an hour (since I actually finished my homework before 9pm)

And of course, being who I am, I was immediately slapped with a BotW-era HFS story about the first time Link enters Hateno Village.

Because I don't know if I ever mentioned: Reede and his family (Clavia and Karin) are the descendants of Link's sister, which makes them descendants of Link himself. They call him Grandpa/Grandpaw post-BotW once they learn who he is. (Zelda is just "Miss Zelda", so they're literally "Miss Zelda and Grandpaw"... but I digress)

ANYWAY

Karin, obviously quite young at this time (and probably not understanding the concept of a "lifespan"), recognizes Link from her great-grandmother's pre-Calamity photos and rushes to tell her mom and dad that Grandpa's finally returned home.

Of course, Reede (not having met Link) dismisses the idea like we all would. After all, Grandpa died 100 years ago. It's just a traveler.

But Karin's torn between the photos and Link. She knows that she knows him, even if her father doesn't believe her.

And then Reede meets Link.

And the seeds his daughter planted in his brain nearly consume him. There's no way that's him, but how could it not be?

[entity9silvergen]

Oriented Aroace Information Page

This is a page I wrote on the subreddit r/orientedaroace. It has undergone some edits. This post is an FAQ that explains what it means to be oriented aroace, angled aroace, electio aroace, different types of attraction, and more. If you think any information here needs to be edited, feel free to let me know.

What is oriented aroace?

An oriented aroace is an aromantic asexual (aroace) person who experiences a different form of attraction that is neither romantic nor sexual, but is significant enough to warrant a place alongside their aroace orientation. This means an aroace person uses a sexuality label such as gay, lesbian, uranic, or pan alongside the label aroace to explain their sexuality.

What is angled aroace?

Oriented aroace is not the same as angled aroace. Oriented aroace refers to "vanilla" aromantic asexuals who do not experience sexual or romantic attraction in any way while angled aroace refers to aroaces who can experience sexual or romantic attraction at times, such as demisexuals/romantics or greyasexuals/romantics. However, we as a community don't care about the distinction much. The creator of the term Oriented Aroace was a bit of a gatekeeper so we're trying to break down those barriers and make the oriented aroace community inclusive to whoever feels like they belong here. Many of us interpret the term oriented aroace as a broader term and angled aroace as a more specific term. We just want people to find a label and community they are comfortable with.

What is electio aroace?

An electio aroace is an aromantic asexual who does not experience tertiary attraction. But, some electio aroaces still use labels such as lesbian electio aroace or bi electioaroace to indicate which gender(s) they seek relationships with, if they want a relationship that is.

What labels are okay to use alongside the term oriented aroace?

Almost any label used to describe sexuality can be used alongside the term oriented aroace. Here is a list of examples with their definitions.

Labels on the A-Spectrum such as fraysexual or demiromantic cannot be used since those words would take the place of aro or ace. This means fray-oriented aroace, for example, is not a label. Using micolabels such as aegosexual/ romantic or apothisexal/ romantic are still considered "vanilla" asexual and aromantic so people who use those labels would still be considered oriented aroace but those labels are not considered an orientation, meaning something such as aego-oriented aroace is not a label.

Labels describing gender identity such as transgender or non-binary also cannot be used alongside oriented aroace because oriented aroace describes who you are attracted to, not who you are. Sexuality and gender are two separate parts of identity. If you are attracted to, for example, non-binary people, you can use a label such as cetero-oriented aroace. If you are an oriented aroace non-binary person, you could say, for example, you are an oriented aroace enby. Remember: sexuality labels are adjectives (with rare exceptions) while gender identity labels are nouns.

What are the different kinds of attraction?

Tertiary Attraction is an umbrella term made by the aro community used to describe nonsexual non-romantic attraction. Some types of tertiary attraction include the following:

Aesthetic Attraction is form physical attraction to appearance or the way someone looks

Alterous Attraction is a form of emotional attraction that is not romantic in nature

Amical Attraction is best described as a best friends relationship or similar to siblinghood that often is similar to or overlaps with queerplatonic feelings, involves nonsexual touching, and is valued more than other relationships

Cedural Attraction is a type of attraction that stems from the need to be protected or understood

Familial Attraction is a type of attraction based on a desire for emotional closeness with a person in the same way a person is bonded with their family

Intellectual Attraction is a type of attraction based on the desire to form an intellectual bond with someone

Platonic Attraction is a type of attraction describing the desire to form a close friendship with someone specific

Presential Attraction is a type of attraction based on the desire to know someone through their presence rather than by intimacy or touch

Queerplatonic Attraction (see Queerplatonic relationships below)

Sensual Attraction describes attraction to another person involving the senses, usually touch. Usually describes interest in nonsexual attraction such as cuddling or kissing but also includes non-tactile ways such as attraction to voices

Social Attraction is based on a desire to form social relationships or socialize with a particular person

Tutelary Attraction revolves around the desire to protect or care for a specific person

What if I don't experience these kinds of attraction?

Just like how not everyone experiences sexual and romantic attraction, not everyone experiences the types of attraction listed above. For example, a person who doesn't experience sensual attraction can be asensual or nonsensual. If someone does experience these kinds of attraction, that is considered allo and they would be called something such as alloplatonic or allosensual. And as stated above, electio aroace is a label you can use if it feels right.

What is a [insert type of attraction] crush called?

A squish is the a-spec equivalent of a crush, meaning a crush without the desire for a romantic or sexual relationship. There are also more specific words used for specific kinds of attraction such as the following: an amical crush is called a shush or thresh, a presential crush is called a swoon, a sensual crush is called a swoon, a social crush is called a rush, an alterous crush is called a mesh or a hush, and a tutelary crush is called a mush. Most specific words are rarely used and generally just called squishes.

Can aroaces still be in relationships?

Yes, they can. Many aromantics and asexuals are in Queerplatonic Relationships, also known as quasiplatonic relationships or queerplatonic partnerships. There is no set way to be in a QPR and anyone can be in one regardless of gender or sexuality. They can be monogamous or polyamorous, live together or not, be married or unmarried, have children or not. There is no set in stone way to be in a QPR but they are often characterized by close friendship and physical affection.

Where can I talk to other oriented aroaces?

Here is a permanent link to the oriented aroace subreddit's original discord.

[vinceaddams]

obvs feel free to keep this private, but I got recommended the UFH channel by a friend of mine, haven't gotten around to watching anything from it. I trust your judgement on the content, but my friend considers it her main resource 🙃 of course, since you only watched a few videos you might not be able to answer this, but was there any specific really bad/unacademic approaches I should keep my eye out for that my friend might have adopted? we work on a historical festival together so im concern

(I was going to answer this privately but then it got really long and turned into a post I want to post.)

Oh dear! Well, It appears that the lady behind that channel only cares about the 20th century, so maaybe she’s got good stuff on the 20th century at least? I don’t know, but the 2 videos that I saw were so incredibly awful that I’m highly suspicious of all her stuff. 

The first bad thing about her channel is that her videos all have a one or two sentence caption and nothing else. (I clicked on a few more just to check) No sources listed, no links of any kind except to her merch store. I don’t recall her mentioning any particular sources for any of the things she said in the videos either, she just declared them very matter of factly. 

Good historians cite sources! Bernadette Banners’ video on the history of PPE has so many source links she ran out of room in the description box and had to put the rest of them on a page on her website.  (Oh poo, now I feel a bit bad because I love Karolina Zebrowska but she really needs to do better with leaving source links. But she does talk about doing research, talk in a more nuanced way, and doesn’t present herself as an expert or academic, unlike the UFH lady.)

Good historians also embrace nuance, and aren’t afraid to say “I don’t know” or “I was wrong”. Presenting things in a “this person did this one big thing, and then this happened, and that caused this” kind of way isn’t good because history is more like “all these things happened and as far as we can tell it appears to have influenced this, which was also connected to this other stuff that we don’t know all that much about”. History is foggy and complicated, no matter how much the general public wants it to be simple.

Her description of herself also seems a bit... misleading? In her about page on youtube it says “Amanda Hallay, a college professor specializing in fashion, costume, and cultural history.” but if you look at the CV linked on her website the only degrees she has are in creative writing and art history. I’m not saying a person can’t be really knowledgable about something without a degree, but her whole online presence is about being a “professor” who teaches this stuff so I find it weird.

And if the 1850′s-60s video is anything to go by, she presents things in a shockingly unprofessional way. She starts off by saying she thinks these fashions are ugly and ridiculous and that she has some “theories of her own” on them. @marzipanandminutiae has a post with a lot more about what was wrong with that video, and a few others I haven’t seen. She claims that hoop skirts were oppressive cages when in reality they were a liberating garment that allowed women to achieve full skirts without the heavy layered petticoats they wore previously. 

She posts a photo of a naked lady and says “Now lets start with a beautiful naked lady and cover her up with ugly and unflattering clothes. Now this sexy naked lady isn’t so sexy” I wish I was making this up but that’s almost word for word what she said. Along with a whole lot of untrue or exaggerated stuff about Victorian modesty. She says dresses with layered flounces were called “pagoda dresses”, which isn’t a term that anyone has ever used for those dresses. She says this is cut down from a longer video she uses for teaching class, and I find the thought of this being presented in a classroom quite appalling.

After spending about 95% of the video talking about womens fashion in an extremely condescending and disdainful tone of voice, she posts what appear to be the 5 biggest and most extreme examples of 19th century moustaches she could find, presenting them as if they were what every man looked like.

This part really grinds my gears, because she says “I haven’t said anything about menswear because there’s really not much to say.” She posts photos of suits from 5 different decades and says they’re basically all the same, and also basically the same as a modern suit. Excuse you, there is A LOT of difference between menswear of the 1850′s and the 1890′s. Yes the changes over the decades are more subtle, and the colours are often more subdued than in centuries past, but it is absolutely not (as she claims) “the century when men stopped doing fashion”.   I personally am not hugely interested in 19th century mens fashion, and can tentatively date things in the first few decades but after the middle of the century I can’t. But people who are interested and who study that era can tell the decades apart. Because they’re different. And there is SO MUCH to talk about! Suits for different levels of formality, accessories, waistcoats, sportswear, sleepwear, knitwear, swimsuits, loungewear, underwear, etc. are all extremely different from their modern equivalents. 

It’s perfectly fine to only study womens fashion if that’s what you’re interested in, but it is not okay to then declare that the history of mens fashion is worthless and nonexistent. Simply not being interested in a thing is no excuse for publicly shitting all over it. (I’ve seen people do this more than once. We already have so few men who do historical fashion stuff! Stop putting off newcomers who might be interested!!)

The fact that her online presence is so closed off is also highly unusual. Comments are turned off for her videos, and the only social media link she has is to a private facebook group. (There is also a link to a fb page, but it appears to have been deleted.) Turning off comments is of course the personal choice of the one posting the videos, but the fashion history side of youtube usually tends towards pretty decent comment threads, and people often have nice little discussions and learn stuff in them. Here it looks like she doesn’t want discussion, doesn’t want to be contradicted or asked for sources, doesn’t want to learn new things.

I had never even heard of this channel until I saw @marzipanandminutiae mention it, nor have I ever heard any of the many historical costumers/youtubers I follow mention it, yet somehow it has 55k followers? I don’t know the demographics that watch it (especially not with the comments turned off!) but I’d wager that videos like the 1850′s-60′s one I suffered through are mainly watched by people who like hearing things trash talked, rather than people who actually want to learn about fashion history. The same sort of people who loved that Beau Brummell twitter thread, which was also full of lies and unsourced garbage. People like to believe the past was way worse and grosser than it was because it makes them feel like we’re smarter and better now.

Lastly, the whole premise of the channel is just bad. Calling any one thing “The Ultimate Fashion History” is a bad idea. Her channel trailer says “Youtube’s number one channel for original fashion history content” “we’ve got it all, fifty thousand years of fashion history”. You can’t have one channel that’s the ultimate resource for ALL of fashion history! It’s a huge, HUGE subject, and even if she did do actual good research she’d barely be able to scratch the surface of fifty thousand years. That’s like saying one channel is the ultimate source for all of science, or all of music, or all of cooking. No one thing can come close to covering all of it. I will deign to admit that she’s at least right to call it “original”, because she has some very original lies I haven’t found anywhere else. 

Most people who study fashion history/historical sewing have one or several eras they like best and find most interesting, perhaps with occasional jaunts into other eras. This way we can focus and get a much better understanding of the eras that we find most interesting, rather than just a vague notion of everything. 

For example: I’m most interested in 18th century menswear, and so far have mainly researched and sewn 1785-95 stuff, and more recently some 1730′s. I usually focus on fashionable civilian clothing, so I don’t know as much about working class clothes, and next to nothing about military and other occupational dress. Even with this narrow area of interest, which I’ve been obsessed with for many years, I still have so much to learn! I could never make anything claiming to be the ultimate source for 18th century menswear, because I’m just one person focusing on some aspects, and there are other people out there who research other aspects of it and their work is just as important. It’s all so big and so much, even if you narrow it down to one era.

Amanda Hallay is basically holding up a bucket of saltwater and calling it the ocean.

I haven’t watched any of her 20th century videos, so maybe they’re better than the older ones I watched. I don’t know. (But even if they’re actually good they still don’t have source links.) Edit: okay, nope, turns out they’re just as bad! They appear to make up the vast majority of her videos, so if she’s most interested in the 20th century then maybe she should just... make her channel more clearly 20th century focused instead of trying to paint it as a channel for all eras?

TL;DR, the main bad things about that channel are:

Lying and making ridiculous claims, not citing ANY sources. Spouting easily debunked myths.

Stating things matter of factly without any nuance, even though history is foggy and complicated.

Being extremely judgemental about historical fashions and talking about how much she hates them and thinks they’re ugly, which really isn’t appropriate for a fashion history teacher. You can hear the disgust in her voice and it’s awful and I hate it.

Comments turned off on all her videos, leaving no way to communicate or have public discussions. Unknowing viewers are left to accept her statements as fact without any outside opinions.

Claiming one channel is the ultimate channel for an incalculably enormous subject. Says it covers 50,000 years of fashion history when it’s mostly just the 20th century.

I would like to add that I am not what I would consider an expert either, and have no formal education in fashion history beyond the one college class that was part of my 2 year sewing course. I have learned mainly from books and the internet, and as I said earlier I still have a huge amount to learn. I’m sure a more knowledgable historian could put things better than I have. 

But I’m confident in stating that primary sources are needed to back up a claim! Sometimes even widely accepted beliefs turn out to be entirely unfounded myths, like that one about doctors using vibrators to treat “hysteria”. Total nonsense someone made up in 1999.

Wow this post got way longer than intended. Anyways, yes, I do not like condescending slideshow lady.

[faakeid]

fab nygmobblepot moments that remind you of kd uwu

OMGGGG AHDAHDUIADHAD

I want to use this moment to be sorry to everyone that follows me but keeps seeing my blog full of Nygmobs/Smaylor instead of kaisoo. I usually don’t get attached to otps like this and it happened in an unexpected way for me. But it’s here and I need to compensate for all the years I didn’t watch Gotham and had no idea about Nygmobs spamming everyone and making my heart warm.

But in general, nygmobblepot isn’t a vision of ideal relationship. Both Edward and Oswald (their surnames Cobblepot and Nygma were the ones who originated this name) are stupid and do stupid shit to each other during most of the series. So, a lot of moments related with the actors counterpart (Robin is the actor who plays Oswald and Cory who plays Ed) reminds me of kaisoo more. But a warning here! Although they have a HUGE chemistry on and off screen, they’re mostly friends. Robin is married for almost ten years so it doesn’t mean their closeness is romantic or sexual. But still, some details remind me of kd.

Similarities with nygmobs:

Height difference: it applies to Smaylor as well because it’s their height but it’s really visible in the series. Cory is a bit taller than JI I think and Robin is like 1.65 but KS is not that taller (I can’t believe he’s 1.73 at all, sorry). But, again, this factor is evident during the series and in some moments and it’s cute.

(the way he moves his feet to reach Ed’s head ;_;)

(when they hug, Oswald barely reaches his shoulders [their hugs are the equivalent to kisses in Gotham])

the closest gif I could find where we can see kd’s height difference without me stealing other people’s gifs.

Penguin reference? That’s pretty obvious. Of course I didn’t start shipping nygmobs because one of them is small and has the Penguin nickname but it made so much easier for me to read some of their fics with kd as characters because they fit the profile so much! And also, I believe KD would totally fit the “murder husbands” couple if someone did a fanfic where they just kill everyone. The closest I remember of a fanfic with this criteria is Juice Pouche where Kyungsoo is a vampire and he protects Jongin and Jongin is kind of badass as well. But the kd fandom needs more fics like this. There’s also “(Before the night is over) come see me” where KS is also a vampire and JI a young werewolf but it focuses more on their relationship than a murder husbands idea Gotham shows so well. 

How they met: Gotham’s history has a lot of differences if you compare with other universes, so keep that in mind. In Gotham, Ed works with GCPD but doesn’t feel like himself with the good side. Oswald is the character that spices things up and is a rage of death and destruction and manipulation. But Oswald is infatuated with Jim Gordon (so isn’t the first time it’s implied Penguin is gay) but he goes to the police department to see him. Ed sees him and wants to talk to him no matter the cost. And he does that... And things don’t end that friendly for him because Oswald thinks he’s a weirdo and asks him to fuck off, basically. It reminded me of kd’s first meeting where KS was the one admiring JI all along but JI get frightned. But, during their second meeting, they bond and become friends. For Nygmobs it takes more time for their second meeting but they end up developing and being in good terms :’)

Their personas, sort of: Ed is the tall one, younger and logic. Oswald is the oldest, smaller and that thinks with his heart. I love how JI could show the more logic side of himself during the last few years and, again, while reading Nygmobs fics using kd names, it was easy to fit the profile for me (that was during the time I wasn’t too deep into nygmobs and I didn’t knok them that well. KS looks cold and deatached and that’s why many people got impressed when he said, during Knowing Bros that he would choose love over friendship. He doesn’t play the part but, considering all the context, it fits him pretty well and reading this description of Oswald made me so familiar because it fits KD well. Ofc I don’t know their private lives and whatever but it’s just the impression I had as a viewer and random person;

Drama issue: when I say drama here, it’s related with how people percieve the two OTPs and how different people visualize LGBT relationship in media. Nygmobblepot had a lot of drama involved because they’re the fucking Riddler and Penguin, two of the most famous Batman villains. People saw them in different sorts of media before and others idolize those characters because of videogames and comics. So, when Oswald mentioned expressedly that he was in love with Edward, it caused an uproar in the fandom. People accused the producers and Robin of messing with the comic canon because the fucking Penguin became gay??? Robin was outspoken about the homophobia behind those statements since he’s a gay man himself but yeah, the drama existed. Part of the people invovled with the series rooted for Nygmobblepot, including some writers and the actors (Cory was the one with ambiguous messages about the nature of their relationship but it’s not even close what happened with other series like Supergirl, Supernatural and Sherlock). But it was aired by FOX, a right wing channel and, as you may imagine, they didn’t become canon per se. Actually, after Oswald said he was in love with Ed and planned on confessing to him, the writers presented a clone of Ed’s ex girlfriend with no explanation and purpose, only to separate them for most part of the series future. After that, some people seemed to have FORGOTTEN Oswald was once in love with Edward, rationalizing many things that are hard to explain with a “bro explanation”, they had a scene where the characters would have evolved even more but it was CUTTED and CHANGED and execs added the sentence “we’re brothers” to make EXPLICIT that Nygmobblepot’s relationship wouldn’t be interpreted as a romance at the end of the series (but, honestly, the actors went for the romance path anyway, the deleted scenes and the final episode can’t convince me otherwise).

What’s related with KD, may you ask? I think you’re familiar with all the drama KD faced since 2016 and how many stuff exploded during that time. How many parts are involved into creating a certain image and shifting it to be appealing and “friendly” is similar with what happens with idols. It’s no secret now about many scandals of bullying and other issues that are considered problematic and how they need to be pushed under the rug for companies so idols can make money and be profitable. Especially for male idols, it’s important that they are viewed as desirable and an object of the fans affections. That’s why he needs to be handsome and kind and look like a person that doesn’t exist. If an idol is openly gay, this person isn’t viewed by the major public with the same interest because they can’t fit the fantasy. That’s why scandals involving idols being gay need to be forgotten and deleted from people’s minds, otherwise that celebrity is ostracized. Although we tend to see the Ocident as “progressive”, there’s similar things happening in that industry. If a celebrity is openly LGBT, they don’t receive certain roles or opportunities because of it. There’s still a huge stigma that needs to be broken and we, as a society, are so far way from it. But recognizing those differences exist it’s a step forward.

Similarities with Smaylor

For me, one of the reasons Nygmobblepot works so well is because of the actors. They portrait a good chemistry because of their friendship off screen and some non verbal signs they display around each other are amazing. Those are things that remind me more of KD as we see them in a lot of moments. So, I wanted space to show those comparisons below:

Mutual admiration: it’s something both Smaylor and KD display a LOT and is extrememly outspoken. I really love watching their old interviews because the affection and admiration is so genuine it makes me drawn to them despite not being romantically involved.

(full gifset)

(there are more moments than these but I don’t want to steal gifs and there’s not much on the gif research and that sucks. Same with KD’s).

Stares and touches: Robin was the responsible for the deep stares and Cory for the random touches. There’s so many gifs of it that is hilarious. It’s like JI divided himself in two cells because we know he’s more known for both >.<

(Cory was touching Robin all the way during this interview rip)

(the gifset!!!)

You’re pretty moment: Robin, like KS, is the one that mentions about Cory/JI’s physical attributes. They have a moment pretty similar and, for KD its famous among shippers:

(gif link)

(actually, Robin called Cory dashingly handsome but its okay)

Cory lost it

There’s another series of gifsets with Robin calling Cory handsome LMAOO

:))))

Synchronization: for specialists in body language, it’s a factor that shows two people are close. That’s because of the mirror neurons we have that makes us copy movements, actions or words that someone we have empathy/we are close with do or say. Both kd and smaylor do this and it’s really soft.

(one of the classics)

(classic 2)

whole gifset (i love this interview so much)

(gif)

The fact the actors came up with their OTP names: people tend to forget that KD’s real otp name (according with Jongin) is dika. Cory also came up with Nygmobblepot name and Smaylor too <3

So, meanwhile Nygmobs has thropies that work a lot with KD AUs, Smaylor has healthy dynamics seen in public appearances KD made. Like I said above, there’s a huge polemic about shipping Smaylor romantically because Robin is married. On social media, is visible he loves his husband and it’s pretty cute to see. Cory himself mentioned that their relationship was sort of a platonic friendship (whatever that means) but it’s really genuine in terms of affections and display of admiration, something KD has as well.

Probably someone will question that it may changed the way I see KD or if now I ship them as bros. Nothing about that changed. With KD, although there are some similar details, there are internal AND external factors that made me support them in a romantic perspective in the first place. And it didn’t change. 

But both of them (Nygmobs too) make me feel that I’m testimoning something genuine, which is really hard in both kpop and media universes. In one side, we have a LOT of fanservice. And, in the other, it’s mostly a work interaction with lots of queerbating. Yes, Gotham has queerbating aspects in it but it’s not full of queerbating, if it makes sense. The message the actors and some writers wanted to convey are there and really display a romantic direction with character evolution and growth. And, considering the way media is nowadays, it’s nice to see.