#askitchy

[loominggaia]

I love how Itchy manages to fuck up everything he does, like even the simplest of tasks are too much for him to handle. But when it was time to aid Ginger during the birth of his daughter, he aces the job with flying colors. Even gets extra credit and saves the day!

If he was going to do just one thing right in his life, it may as well be that. lol

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[aquaticregicide-blog]

wwho are you

[plaguehere-blog]

sometimes you just gotta redraw good requests, like (x) in thigh highs

(also sort of a tribute to the best askitchy)

[loominggaia]

Also what if Itchy never met Ginger?

I think their futures would be rather bleak.

Itchy would be dead without Ginger to keep him out of trouble. Someone would have gotten sick of his shit and popped him a long time ago.

As for Ginger, she would have been carted off to Kelvingyard if Itchy hadn't been there to save her. She likely would have given birth there, and she and Tomato would've been separated eventually. Depending on who bought them, they could have ended up anywhere, but I doubt they would have seen eachother again.

That's a sad timeline!

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[loominggaia]

niittinaatti Ojio reminds me of Chujin from Undertale Yellow. Magic nonhuman scientists, ponytail and glasses, make robots, built a vending machine, kinda crazy wife, worried about their child who had something nasty happen to them Also Itchy reminds me a bit of Murdoc from Gorillaz because they're mean unhygienic perverts with big criminal records and play string instruments

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I'm familiar with Undertale, but I've never heard of this version or this character. I gave it a quick Google and wow, I'm actually shocked how similar Chujin and Ojio are!

It's hilarious that you mentioned Murdoc, because you aren't the first one to compare him to Itchy! Someone else made this comparison years ago and I think it's so funny. They look nothing alike, yet the vibes are apparently identical lmao

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[loominggaia]

razzek

If this doesn't end in 100% Itchy, those pollsters are lying. XD

niittinaatti

I'm gonna go with Morbus, putting your crush's wife in a coma and trying to persuade him into having her euthanized is pretty hard to forgive

kid-az

Boy do I regret not picking Morbus after remembering just what happened in Love Poison….. Skel is an ass but atleast he wouldn’t do THAT!

aveture

Ah I forgot about morbus and the love poison. Can I change my answer to that?

kid-az asked:

No joke I actually really loved Morbus as a character until Love Potion. After that all I want is for her cats to leave her and be adopted by better people and her being unable to find a cure for her outwards appearance being (Half) as nasty as she is on the inside.

-- -- --

These are all good points! I think in the name of fairness, we should have a break down of each candidate's most punch-worthy actions...

Itchy: "Allegedly" fucked a goat, burglarized homes, mugged people at knife-point, calls people slurs, assaulted an elderly person unprovoked, various peeping-tom behaviors, straight up murdered a dryad once, stole a horse from a soldier.

COUNTERPOINT: He has poor impulse control due to brain damage, some of these behaviors are not really his fault. Once he understands what he's done wrong, he usually feels bad and tries to make up for it. Usually. He's very capable of love and empathy for others, he just doesn't show it at the appropriate times.

Lukas: Murdered his own mother, is verbally and sometimes physically abusive to his crewmen, almost axe-murdered his best friend while drunk, victim-blamed a crewman who was sexually assaulted, tried to goad Zeffer into suicide and then hired an assassin to take him out when he refused.

COUNTERPOINT: Lukas acts the way he does due to immense trauma, and he's fully aware that his behavior is unacceptable. Recently in the series he has expressed remorse and taken steps to become a nicer, more empathetic person. He takes full responsibility for the pain he's caused others and doesn't make excuses for it. He is ashamed of his nasty behavior and is trying to understand why he acts the way he does, so that he doesn't keep repeating his mistakes.

Gwyneth: Cheats on, takes advantage of, and abuses her "husband" Brogan, extremely greedy and miserly, regularly insults people for no reason, flirts with married women and tries to break up marriages.

COUNTERPOINT: Gwyneth has endured the horrors of retail for decades. 'Nuff said. (Just kidding...In reality, she was kidnapped by slavers and quickly learned that the world is brutal and unforgiving, so she fears showing any sign of weakness or tenderness towards others. Bad experiences in her life have hardened her. She was probably aloof to begin with, but the experience of being kidnapped kind of "broke" her emotionally.)

Skel: Racist, misogynistic, classist, arguably transphobic, almost abandoned his crewman Jeimos in a hostile territory, verbally abusive to his crew and everyone around him, general asshole behavior.

COUNTERPOINT: Much of Skel's bigotry is hypocritical, and it's apparent by his contradictory thoughts and behaviors that he's quite mentally ill. His actions are much kinder than his words, and he performs these kind actions in secrecy, as if afraid to show any kind of "weakness" in front of others. Much of his hostile behavior is due to untreated mental problems.

Frederick: Literally stole candy from a baby, physically assaults people (including his own father) to get what he wants, acts arrogant and defiant, bullies others for fun.

COUNTERPOINT: Frederick is young and most of these behaviors are a result of bad parenting on his father's part. As he grew into his teens, Frederick started realizing this behavior wasn't getting him anywhere in life and promised to change. He has shown gradual positive changes ever since, though he does still slip back into his bullying ways from time to time.

Morbus: Neglected her son in favor of her career, abandoned her family, sold harmful drugs for decades, fetishizes and sexually harasses male satyrs, acts sexually aggressive towards Che, verbally abuses just about everyone, poisoned Philippa into a coma out of jealousy, forces her pets to live in her nasty hoard, generally snotty, selfish, and rude behavior.

COUNTERPOINT: I think it's obvious that Morbus is very, very mentally ill. This woman has been spiraling into Hell for over a century, completely untreated, and all the fumes from her alchemy career probably didn't help. I think some of her behavior is just due to her shitty upbringing, and she probably is a bit of a selfish bitch at her healthiest. But I also think her more extreme behaviors are the result of sickness and trauma that were left unchecked for way too long. To her credit--and this is a big deal imo--she does display some empathy and usually rights her wrongs eventually...granted, she'll reach the point of nearly killing someone before she does, but tends to shape up at the very last minute and save them from herself. She also apologizes for her actions once her conscience beats her over the head hard enough, showing that she's not a total psychopath. Morbus is undoubtedly a despicable individual, but it's hard to say how much of that behavior is really within her control. She gives the impression that she's been fighting a horde of personal demons all her life...and she's not winning.

With all that said, if you haven't voted yet, you still have 6 days to do so! ---> Poll Here <---

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[loominggaia]

Since Itchy has been around since Tomato has been born and has raised him his whole life, why doesn't Tomato consider him his father?

Good question! I forgot exactly what story it's in, but there's some dialogue between Ginger and Itchy that sort of explains this. Long story short, their relationship was more dysfunctional in the past, so they separated for long periods.

Ginger would kick Itchy out of the house for weeks or even months at a time due to his drinking/bad behavior. Eventually he'd get his act together and come back. But for most of Tomato's life, Itchy wasn't really a father-figure, he was more of a family friend who would randomly drift in and out of his world.

Due to the unstable nature of their relationship, Ginger always referred to Itchy as "Mr. Itchy" rather than "your dad" around Tomato, and Tomato picked up on this.

Itchy's behavior has gradually improved with age, and as it does, his relationship with Ginger becomes more stable. In recent years they spend more time together than apart. Still, Tomato doesn't consider him much of a father-figure. He does admire some things about Itchy, for better or worse, but doesn't feel comfortable calling him "dad" when he kept disappearing from the household for half his life.

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[loominggaia]

Every time I read a story I have a new ship lol. I finished Resistance is Futile and now I ship Tomato and Azadora. I wonder how would their parents react if they got together?

They are cuties! I'm not sure they're in the right age range to be dating eachother though. At this point in the series, Tomato is 13 and Azadora is 10. This gap won't matter when they're older, but right now they are in pretty different stages of life. Tomato is starting to deal with teenager problems and Azadora is still just a kid, they can't relate to eachother very much. I think they just play together because frankly, there aren't a lot of kids in the Hollow and they don't have much choice.

But let's say a few years pass. Azadora is 18 and Tomato is 21, and they've decided to date eachother. How would their parents react?

In short...not well. At least not at first.

Balthazaar just doesn't want his precious Dory dating anyone, period. He doesn't trust that any boy is good enough for her. He thinks they're all horny little scumbags who will only break her heart, or worse, trap her in a crummy marriage. He does want her to marry someday, but in reality, her suitors would have to move mountains to earn his approval.

Balthazaar likes Ginger and Tomato well enough (He hates Itchy, but so does everyone, so...) but the notion of a satyr boy dating his daughter would sting him. He wouldn't like it at all. He's a bit prejudiced and believes male satyrs are only after sex, that they're hopeless drunks who can't hold a job or be responsible. He doesn't dislike Tomato, but he doesn't want him as a son-in-law.

Itchy, meanwhile, is hootin' and hollerin' with pride because his son is dating a cute girl! A cute human girl! He believes all humans have lots of money, and because they don't face discrimination that satyrs do, life is always easy for them. He encourages Tomato to put a ring on that girl's finger as soon as possible so he can reap all those social benefits a human wife would give him.

Ginger is much more reluctant about this. She worries that because Azadora is human, this means she will never have grandchildren. She also worries that their species differences will cause drama in the relationship. But she likes Balthazaar and Azadora; they are her friends and she knows they're good people. Ultimately she just wants Tomato to be happy, so she gives her blessing, even if she's not 100% on board with the idea.

Cinnamon's just like, "You want to marry my brother? GROSS. He sucks lol"

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[loominggaia]

Speaking of everyone having the hots for Ginger, how is it that she's so monogomous despite being a satyr? It doesn't seem like more domestic satyrs are any less polygamous than their wild counterparts. Is this a reflection of her upbringing or is she just lucky in terms of being a satyr with less of a genetic wild streak? I feel like Itchy wouldn't care so much if she did sleep around more but the price her lovers would have to pay is Itchy being there and even if he's just watching that is probably too much for just about everyone XD

Good questions! I will say that while most satyrs are slaves to their lustful hormones, this doesn't apply to every single individual. Every satyr is unique in their own right, and some of them are more lustful than others. Just like anyone else, some satyrs are also able to control their impulses better than others. It is harder for them in general, but not impossible.

It's tempting to say that Ginger just isn't a very lusty satyr, but that actually isn't true. Throughout the series we see that she is, in fact, pretty horny a lot of the time (pun totally intended)...it's just that her horniness is directed towards Itchy specifically.

Yes, she feels attracted to other people too. Don't think she's not having impure thoughts about Olof, Javaan, Evan, or any of the other chadly men in her village, because she definitely is!

But her lust for those guys is only superficial. Meanwhile her lust for Itchy is stacked on top of her deep love for him, and a shallow attraction will never overpower her feelings for him, as we saw in "Coins for Clowns".

Monogamous satyrs like Itchy and Ginger are quite rare. But that's one of the reasons they're in Drifter's Hollow, living with all the other misfits who don't quite fit in with their kind.

Ginger is faithful to Itchy because she has strong impulse control and she was raised by an uncommonly "civilized" mother, who instilled different values in her than most satyrs have. She's only cheated on Itchy once, and it was a deliberate act to "get back at him" because she thought he cheated on her first. The whole thing turned out to be a misunderstanding, and she felt horrible, confessed, and apologized to him afterwards.

She has no plans to ever be unfaithful to him again, because she betrayed her own values and disappointed herself. She doesn't like the concept of polygamy due to the values her mother instilled in her.

Meanwhile, for all his faults, Itchy has never cheated on Ginger and I don't think he ever would. His faithfulness isn't necessarily built on personal values like hers, but on fear. He worked his ass off to get Ginger in his life and continues to work his ass off to keep her there. He's incredibly proud to be a married family man and subvert expectations for his species. The last thing he wants to do is screw it all up just for a dumb fling.

Itchy fucks up basically everything he does, but his relationship with Ginger is the one thing he takes very seriously and wouldn't dare compromise. His family is the only thing he cares about in his life, everything else can go to hell as far as he's concerned.

Unlike Ginger, the concept of polygamy doesn't offend Itchy's values. He's down to have a big crazy orgy whenever. But he doesn't, because he knows it goes against Ginger's values, and disappointing her would ruin his relationship. Cheating on her is not worth it to him, he enjoys what he has with her too much.

Basically what I'm saying is: if Ginger suddenly decided she was cool with an "open" relationship, Itchy would be cool with it too, because he's already cool with it. He just doesn't act on it out of respect for her.

As long as whatever they're doing is based on honesty and respect, they're both okay with it. Ginger fooling around with Javaan behind Itchy's back was not honest or respectful, that's the part that upsets him. He wasn't mad because she fucked another guy, he was mad because she didn't ask him beforehand if it was okay. Because god knows he would have said "yes" if she simply asked! Then again, it was her intention to disrespect him in that case, so...

Anyway, Itchy and Ginger are both pretty unique specimens of their species!

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[loominggaia]

why does this anon think that flora is the wine aunt to ginger and itchys kids?? are they right??

I think this Anon is correct!

Flora watches over all the kids in the Hollow and refuses to let anything bad happen to them. Other nymphs prefer to "let nature take its course", but Flora actually goes out of her way to protect them from harm.

She's a little less forgiving to the adults, but she loves the kids too much to let them get hurt. In "A Mage in the Making", Ginger leaves Cinnamon in the care of Mr. Ocean. Flora saw this and knew it could only end in disaster, so she kept an eye on the situation and found Cinnamon when Mr. Ocean inevitably lost her.

In "Sugar and Shine", Flora notices Itchy and Tomato foraging together in the forest. She knows Itchy's an irresponsible parent, so she kept an eye on them too, and helped them get some bird eggs for Ginger.

Unfortunately she couldn't protect Isaac when he was attacked by Red Orchid, but she did take revenge on Red Orchid in the end for hurting him.

In "Dirty Animal", it was shown that she frequently babysitted young Frederick while Olof was working.

I imagine she has also babysitted Tomato, Cinnamon, and Azadora on various occasions. Flora is just the right combination of sweet and powerful that makes parents trust her with their kids. She also has a mischievous streak, so I'm sure the kids love her too because she lets them get away with stuff that their parents don't.

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[loominggaia]

how would itchy react if ginger and flora had a one night stand?? ((from the other anon's ask))

Well, that depends...

If Ginger asked Itchy for permission beforehand, he'd be like "Damn that's hot, hell yeah, go for it".

But if she just did it without telling him, he'd feel really upset and betrayed.

As far as Itchy's concerned, it's only "cheating" if he doesn't know about it. He'd let Ginger boink basically whoever she wants, so long as she told him first.

I talked about their relationship dynamic more in this recent post, which presents a similar scenario.

Ginger actually did cheat on Itchy in the story "For Good Health" (with Javaan, not Flora), but I'm currently working on another story where we see the fallout from this! It should be done soon-ish.

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[loominggaia]

Did Itchy ever find out about Ginger's affair? Is that even a thing that would cause an issue in a satyr relationship?

This is such a timely question, because I was actually going to post a little story about this soon! I remember it was requested a while back and I have been picking at it ever since. The finished draft has been sitting around just waiting to be fleshed out.

The short answer is: yes, she did confess her infidelity to him. And yes, he was very upset by it. But he wasn't upset that she messed around with another dude, he was upset that she didn't ask him first. He would have totally granted her permission to see other guys if she just asked, but the dishonesty and disrespect of doing it behind his back really offended him.

I would say the vast majority of satyrs would not care about something like this. If their partner-of-the-week told them they fucked someone else, they'd just shrug it off. Their relationships are short-lived and shallow, there is little--if any--commitment or trust, just carnal desire.

But what Ginger and Itchy has is something deeper than that; they truly love one another. Their relationship is built on a solid foundation of commitment and trust. When those things are broken, it creates conflict and hard feelings between them.

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[loominggaia]

This is a bit of a weird question, but you said that Erasmos is distantly related to Itchy (I honestly don't wanna know on whose side lol) but how would Erasmos react to Itchy and Gingers life? Would he be jealous?

Basically everyone in Drifters Hollow be like:

Another glorious meme for the vault! Excellent!!

Erasmos is certainly related to Itchy! The relation is very distant though. Like, many, many generations have passed between them. The bloodline is faint, but it's there!

Erasmos would be so freaking salty if he met Itchy. He'd feel so burned that this dumpy, slobby old satyr somehow snagged himself a hot loving wife, a quaint little house, two nice kids, and genuine happiness.

He wouldn't understand how Itchy could have these things but he himself can't, and it would really piss him off. Erasmos puts so much stock into appearance, he can't understand the concept of falling in love with someone's personality. No one has ever loved him before, nor has he ever loved anyone else. He's only known sexual attraction, so he assumes that's all there is in life.

Itchy might be an ugly old slob, but he won Ginger's heart by demonstrating selflessness, loyalty, tenacity, and courage. Erasmos lacks these qualities. He has poor social skills because he thinks only of himself and his own needs. He never puts himself in another person's shoes, nor does he empathize with anyone, because he just doesn't care about how other people feel. He doesn't see the value in that, and doesn't understand that it's the main reason he's so lonely.

Erasmos lives entirely in his own miserable head and he's too afraid to step out of it. That's the true reason why no one wants to be around him. He can blame his deformed face all he wants, but in reality it's his horrendous vibes and shitty personality that keep people away.

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[loominggaia]

So Itchy and Ginger were sex workers at some point? Does this mean they could have more kids besides Tomato and Cinnamin?

Yes, both of them resorted to sex work when they were younger, but they likely didn't have other children from it. I'll explain why...

In Itchy's case: He was a broke, homeless alcoholic for 15 years. Prostitution was just one of the many ways he scrounged up booze money; he also mugged people, burglarized homes, gambled, pickpocketed, and busked for tips.

While he was younger and in better shape then, I wouldn't exactly call him "desirable"...he was smelly, dirty, visibly diseased, and constantly drunk. When I think about the type of people who bought his services, I don't think of young fertile women...I can only imagine very desperate men who were probably just as broke and nasty as he was, if not worse.

Long story short, Itchy was on the corner slinging handies to bums. There is no way anyone got pregnant from this...

Now, I will say that he probably did score with a woman once or twice in his younger years--not while prostituting, but while at satyr revels where everyone was blackout-wasted, including himself. There is a chance he has a kid or two out there as a result of this, but I doubt he even remembers what happened during these encounters, so it's not for sure. The only women who would have opened their legs for him had to be so plastered that they likely don't remember his face either. What I'm saying is, if he does have babymommas out there, they're not looking for him because they don't even know who they're looking for. He's not likely to ever meet these kids if they exist.

In Ginger's case: Unlike Itchy, Ginger was a "professional" sex worker, meaning she actually worked through a legal Folkvaran brothel. This meant she had access to free birth control items. Unfortunately the birth control was not 100% effective, and in one instance the odds were just not in her favor. She ended up pregnant anyway, and upon realizing this, she immediately quit the sex trade and tried to move on to a safer line of work. Tomato was her first and only child until she had Cinnamon later on.

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[loominggaia]

What are the main ideas of sugar and shine and dirty animal?

You mean like the themes of the stories? Both of these stories have a few different themes going on, but the main concept behind "Dirty Animal" was exploring how the path of someone's life can be decided from birth, and how hard it is to deviate from that path.

In this story, Itchy is born with so many disadvantages working against him, it's a wonder he even survived beyond infancy. His life goes in the direction you'd expect at first. He spends the first half of it struggling against discrimination, poverty, dysfunction, and his own disabilities. He never really stood a chance as a child, as the path to better opportunities was closed off to him.

Once he becomes an adult, he gains the freedom of choice. He doesn't realize this at first, believing he is trapped by poverty and discrimination and nothing he does can change that. But he gradually learns that he has more control over his life than he thinks he does, and it all starts with small, positive choices he makes throughout the course of the story.

Itchy chose to work part-time at the tavern. He chose to do charity work with the priestesses. He chose to rescue Ginger from the slavers. He chose to not take advantage of her, and instead escort her to Drifter's Hollow and get himself a job. These choices made Ginger fall in love with him, and he chose to be in a committed relationship with her and even raise a stepchild. He made small, positive decisions early on in the story that opened doors to bigger and bigger opportunities for him later in life.

So, even though he is a satyr and seems to have everything working against him, he was able to rise above his circumstances and make a decent life for himself. Not a perfect or glamorous life, but something he can take pride in. The type of life he never dreamed he could have because of his poor circumstances.

"Sugar and Shine" and "Coins for Clowns" are direct continuations of this concept. They just show how a disadvantaged satyr navigates through life in the World of Looming Gaia, and how he is not necessarily doomed to misery because of his circumstances.

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[loominggaia]

perhaps this is a redundant question, since itchy being a satyr is essential to his itchy-ness, but what kind of life would he have if he had been born a faun instead?

Man, that's hard to say. There are endless possibilities. I think being born in Taybiya kind of screws you for life no matter what species you are. No one goes to Taybiya on purpose...it's the kind of place you end up because shit has seriously gone wrong in your life.

But if Itchy's mother wasn't a satyr, maybe she wouldn't have ended up in a place like Taybiya. Being a faun, her parents wouldn't have abandoned her alone in the woods. She would have had a more stable, supportive upbringing. She wouldn't have been an aimless drunk, wouldn't have been raped by Savage, and therefore wouldn't have conceived Itchy to begin with.

If she did somehow conceive a faun version of him, she would have been able to raise him better. Probably wouldn't have been a teen mom, might have had a father in the picture, and wouldn't have been so preoccupied with her own addictions. No one wants to hire a satyr for any job, but fauns don't have this problem. Calamity would have been able to find employment and afford to meet Itchy's basic needs, which she couldn't do as a satyr.

Itchy would have so many more opportunities in life in this scenario, it would fundamentally change his character. He would be a whole different person with a whole different life.

The whole point of the story "Dirty Animal" was how the circumstances of one's birth can set the trajectory for their whole life, and one only has limited control over that trajectory. The rest is in the universe's hands.

In Itchy's case, simply being a satyr put him at a massive disadvantage that blocked a lot of opportunities for him. There were so many paths in life that he couldn't access just because of his species, but it also led him down a unique path that he would have never found otherwise, and he still got a happy ending--even if it wasn't the one he expected. So I guess it's all a matter of perspective.

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