#bc it works without extra knowledge of these characters

[vaugarde]

hm... i can make original universe versions of my pmd ocs if i want... what is stopping me

[ganondoodle]

Oh man I saw your totk issues post and I agree 100%!! Those are all things that have really bothered me about playing totk, and things that made playing it not nearly as fun (the dungeons, the shrines, the building, etc).

Especially the map!! When I tell you I was so disappointed by the maps on totk, I was hoping for something new! It really just feels like a modded botw, not an official sequel.

I was wondering what your thoughts are on the concept of “what if they had sent link to the past instead”? So the surface map would feature huge differences in the land forms and buildings that exist, and we’d get to see more ganon whenever he visits Hyrule, or go out to the desert to see Gerudo town, etc.

If they really wanted no sheika tech, they could also just have it being newly built? And you could introduce the new characters and such, etc etc.

(I also think the past champions are such a missed opportunity? If botw is about grief and loneliness, and finding hope in the hopeless, and Totk is about coming together despite that, it could have been really interesting if Link had gone to the past! They could have used the past setting as an eerie reminder to what Link and Zelda had lost when the Calamity struck!)

THAT BEING SAID: I’m not as familiar with the legend of Zelda lore, and haven’t played totk very much! I wanted to know your thoughts on this because you seem to have a lot of story and game mechanic knowledge that could explain why this could be a bad/good idea!

(Plus, your discussions are always super interesting to read, as is your custom totk lore, so I’d love to know what you think🩷)

I’m sorry if you’ve already answered an ask like this! If that’s the case, feel free to point that out and I’ll go through your ask tag if you have one:) I hope you have a great day!⭐️

Hi!

im glad you enjoy my rants, i often feel like im being overly mean but tbh were else could i just rant as much as my heart desires without getting spammed by annoying people (certainly not on twitter lol)

i have talked alot, and i mean ALOT, about totk and my issues with it, both lore and gameplay wise, i dont claim to be an expert on any, though i am an old zelda fan and aspiring gamedev, i really only talk about what i feel about it, what i think about it, and by all means im biased as hell xD

if you dont know yet, the "ganondoodles rants" tag is where all my rants go, so if you are interested in reading more on my totk thoughts thats the way to search (given tumblrs search in blog works ..)

and to answers your question, i have touched on it briefly, sending link back in time before the shiekah tech existed would have been an easy way to excuse how they jsut got .. rid of it, bc they didnt, it literally didnt exist yet- and for reusing the map- though that argument falls a little flat bc ... they coud have already done that in present totk, like i brought up in one of said rants, things like flooding gerudo desert, collapsing death mountain, drying out zoras domain etc, and changing the location of the main populations would have already done alot without having to redo the map in its entirety;

the little changes to map itself really wouldnt that big of a deal if they didnt also send you to the EXACT same locations AND repeat the SAME LOCATIONS AGAIN but in the underground, like thats a fact i have talked about multiple times bc its so illogical in every way, anywhere theres a settlement on the surface theres a bigger mine below, its so stupid, the shrines conenct to a lightroot, the same, again, you dont need to explore bc theres nothing TO explore (its also extra weird bc theres one below taburasa (tarrey town) which .... link literally build with dumsda (hudson) a few years ago .. unless that got retconned too idk wth do i know anymore honestly- AND it makes the sonau extra weird bc why the hell do they have a bigass mine under every settlement ESPECIALLY UNDER GERUDO TOWN like, that just adds to my suspicions towards them)

anyway, link to the past was the point and yes, it could have solved a few issues (mainly shiekah tech and the whole "story" taking place AGAIN in the past completely disconnected from you the player) i personally am not so much a fan of it, but that mostly comes down to me just not liking time travel, i dont like going back in time, i want to play and do things in the here and now, i want to repair the damages of the calamity, find out its origins, maybe fix that too, i love to learn about past stuff too, but that more in text, no literal flashback (unless done well), i want to connect to the past but it also holds alot of mystery that maybe shouldnt be touched upon, some mysteries and unkowns are much more interesting when left as such, i want to THINK about things and come to conclusions that are logical and makes sense in hindsight even if it wasnt clear at the start, i dont want information and what to think about it told to my face over and over like im stupid

after botw i really didnt care much about the past, maybe about the acient hero who alot of people specualted to be of gerudo origin due to its red hair- which also got a monkeys paw curled bc in totk they do sth with but its so stupid and insulting that i do not accept it as canon, say what they want, there are no dog people anywhere in the past nor present botw/totk wtf is that i hate it- and its not even .. why is that the reward for that, it has literally NOTHING TO DO WITH TOTK ITSELF I COULD YELLLL AAAARGH

main point is that really, i wanted to explore the past .. in the present, i hoped to find broken old shiekah structures, old labs and maybe some left over damage and records from when the old king persecuted the shiekah for their tech, i wanted to know where the ancient energy the shiekah used was coming from, what the boss arena in the middle of hyrule castle really was- so many things just discarded and acted like they never happened or mattered; i dont want to travel into the past, i want to discover whats left of it, piece it together, discover dark secrets you can ask no one about bc all that knew about it are long gone- thats what intrigued me about botw, it felt like there was so much left to discover only for totk to throw it all away and just do its own thing .. but not commit to that hard enough either so its neither its own thing nor a sequel-

.. that wasnt really what you wanted to know was it? xD sorry i tend to ramble on if someone seems to give me permission to

to sum it up, i think it COULD work, sending link to the past instead, if done well, but so could canon totk have been, it could have been done well but wasnt for reasons i dont know and tbh even fear bc i worry its sets a dark future ahead of zelda; i personalyl am just not a fan of time travel so i dont have that much to say to it :O

[satosktty]

satoru balancing both yin and yang is so dear to me.. people try to put him to one or the other side but he works as both; too much yin or yang creates imbalance and while satoru is definitely a character with imbalance in his life; I feel like this symbolism is the perfect balance of himself ?

darkness; satoru becoming a monster for his students, for the hopes of a better life in the jujutsu system for them, he goes against the original plan, his reasoning of even teaching in the first place ( finding strong students to overturn the systems themselves ) for these kids safety — abandoning one goal that shaped him so greatly, the very reason he got to meet the children he dearly protected

- along with it is limitless; it's dark, a void of space filled with knowledge beyond human comprehension

passive; the textbook definition for passive is to not take action and let things happen to them; satoru doesn't argue about them using his body ( if ) he werre to die — even though he was confident he would win. he selfishly was willing to give his body; resign himself to a similar fate of kenjaku's victims and of his best friend to aid his students. his soul could've fought back as geto's did, but he did not.

soft; from his teenage years satoru has grown more mature; his coping mechanism also works as a method to uplift the nature of his students; shown with how silly he acted with yuji and nobora in season one, how he cheerful he looked finding out him and yuta were relatives in jjk0 ( notably after yuta had to fight geto and give rika's soul up. ) and even letting yuji pat his back when he was off to fight sukuna ( it brightened him up just as much as it did yuji ); people tend to mistake softness for calmness or silence but the gentleness satoru shows his students emotions trumps the 'standardized' practices of soft

"Yang creates the air, while Yin creates the senses, which belong to the physical body. When the physical body dies, the spirit is restored to the air, its natural environment. The spirit receives its nourishment through the air, and the body receives its nourishment through the senses."

six eyes is the natural sixth sense gojo and presents as yin — working as an extrasensory perception for himself. it is his his extra sense; his body has moulded before birth to accommodate said power via his blue eyes. infinity is yang; the air / space around him which works as a force to keep people out. satoru post-hidden inventory receives the most comfort with his infinity on, and through his comfort he is able to focus his other abilities.

light; as darkness satoru is light; it goes hand in hand with his softness; he is a natural light to his students and rather they realize it or not he subconsciously uplifts their spirits with his own positive attitudes; bright shiny personalities tend to relate to the sun

active; his passivity with his students and loved ones does not extend to everyone. he is willing to fight in cases that call for it; he was willing to take down geto even though the man used to be a close person to him, due to his obligations and the fact the man was going to kill his students; he was ready to kill jogo without second thoughts ( twice ) and his willingness for action and his ( most likely unknown ) enjoyment of jujutsu and the act of fighting directly opposes his nature with his loved ones and i think it's a large reason why he can have such a vast amount of male and women fans

guidance; doesn't have to be explained how he has dedicated himself to teaching to garner a group of kids to rival/be on par with/surpass his own power regardless of the trauma that has weighed on his life since he was their age??

tldr; yin and yang are both in need of one another and I think people forget that in yin there is yang and in yang there is yin.. and also this is basically just me talking about satoru being both 'fem and masc' because I love him ( fem leaning bc he's literally i. )

[watermelinoe]

don't say that i want to read your isekai opinions

i feel like i am being buttered up here but i will allow it bc i do love talking abt isekai hehe ( •̀ ω •́ )✧

so for context what made me think more abt isekai as a genre was finishing the main story chapters of saving my sweetheart, which i think is really strong for the first two thirds and then loses it in the last third for reasons i will explain shortly

and i've had this issue w other isekai/regression manhwa (i pr much lump these together under the isekai umbrella even though it is not technically the same thing) where things are just too easy, one that comes to mind off the top of my head is i shall master this family, which has great art and i like that it's less focused on romance but i ended up getting bored bc the protagonist just. never loses. she can always use her past life experience to perfectly predict what will happen and completely curbstomp whoever her opponent is.

"but isn't that the appeal of an isekai??" you may ask and you would be INCORRECT, yes the wish fulfillment element of isekai is about getting a do-over, but more than that my favorite thing abt the genre is how it plays with expectations and the idea of fate/any kind of higher power that decides how things are "supposed" to be. and oftentimes this force is an active character and antagonist. i've seen several manhwa now where the characters essentially have to beat "god" in order to get their happy ending. there are no predestined endings and true love is the love you make with the person you choose, not someone who is chosen for you. soulmates are made, not created. these are all themes that are extremely important to me and why i think isekai as a genre works so well. i'm someone who LOVES tropes - as tv tropes always says, Tropes Aren't Bad. isekai plays with tropes like i used to play with my dinosaur toys. it's supposed to be self-aware, it's supposed to subvert expectations, it's supposed to be fun and genre savvy and meta. it's really a treat for people who care a lot about the mechanics of storytelling.

the working isekai formula relies on establishing the wish being fulfilled - why is this person being reincarnated? and the answer to that question generally determines how the story first plays out, which is typically one of two ways, where the female lead either has to claw her way up through obstacle after obstacle, or the female lead is immediately welcomed and loved in her new life (but often there is still some underlying conflict that keeps her from being at ease and embracing Happily Ever After, such as her knowledge of what's "destined" to happen in the future). the latter is more of a hurt/comfort trope usually following a depressing first life. in either case, at the beginning the female lead can rely on her insider knowledge to score some wins early on, but the essential key is that there comes a point where her past knowledge means nothing anymore because the story has changed too much. and usually there will be an additional twist as well. this is to keep things from being too easy for the female lead, because even in a revenge story, it's not actually satisfying to watch someone win over and over with no meaningful conflicts. the archvillain's daughter-in-law also has a female lead who seemingly never misses, but the difference is that she thinks her father-in-law is planning to kill her so his son can remarry the royal princess (divorce is illegal), and honestly at this point in the story without spoiling anything that still seems like a reasonable fear. so the story isn't boring because you have this conflict of interests, she's attached to her new family but also knows she needs to be dead for her father-in-law to accomplish his overall goal. i shall master this family doesn't seem to have that extra layer, everything just goes her way.

saving my sweetheart does a great job with challenging the female lead for the first ~90 or so chapters and then in the last third, i swear literally every single obstacle is squashed before you can even start to worry about it. including the main looming death flag introduced at the very beginning of the story. it just no longer matters at a certain point. and obviously as readers we know that these types of stories will work out in the end, but for some reason this story decided that the characters should know that, too. in the third act. they literally solve things by showing multiple characters the future. sorry but if the main characters already know it's going to be okay... why am i here exactly lol it was like the story said yeah yeah you know what it's gonna be like huh??? what a baffling choice

and it's dangerously easy for stories that use gods as major players to eliminate any real challenge for the main characters because they literally have the power of god and anime on their side. there has to be some excuse why whatever divine power can't just stomp the bad guys with a giant foot monty python style. it's also just.... less satisfying for a story to have the Ultimate Objective Good on the side of the main characters. Good is often Boring. i liked how flirting with the villain's dad portrayed its god as more human and flawed, like a greek god.

what really left a bad taste in my mouth by the end of saving my sweetheart was that fate was never against them in the first place, it was the villain who upset the balance, and the two Good gods just give the main characters the answers because fuck it, you all know how it's gonna turn out anyway, who are we kidding. there's an especially laughable moment at the end and this will be a spoiler, but when a major character has to go to the land of the dead at the end to persuade another character to come back to life, this character worries bc in the happy future he originally saw, he wasn't in it. and for a split second you think there's going to be a nice message because the major character says smth like "i can't guarantee the future but i know we would be less happy without you in it" BUT THEN the goddess literally just fucking SHOWS the dead guy the future with him in it to prove it will all be fine and i am still not over it because WHAT WAS THE POINT THEN, what was the point of any of it, no one had to be uncertain for a single fuckin second because yknow power of god and anime

and i feel like an insane person bc everyone else was just like "this felt kinda rushed" but i had this whole rant built up inside me lmao i am aware i'm too into this genre but i think there's interesting parallels you can make here to like, christian media and why it's boring...

[langernameohnebedeutung]

I'm not trying to start on you, but the only one of the 'creepy guy' characters I'm familiar with is the Big Bang Theory guy, and he's only presented as non-threatening because of the historical emasculation of Jewish men. It's his perceived femininity that allows him to be gross without repercussion, not the privilege of his masculinity. (Once again, I'm not trying to start an argument, sorry if it seems that way)

No, that is probably a fair point that I didn't think of!

As a gentile + with a lot of specific cultural barriers when it comes to portrayals of Jewish people, I will not and I CAN not make a determined statement on this simply bc it's not something I'm very knowledgeable in regards to. (In fact, I only learnt that this was actually a stereotype about Jewish men a few months ago in a post about how parodies of Ben Shapiro often invoke this narrative.) So this is especially hard for me to have an educated opinion or valuable take on bc my memory of watching that show in my teens is very blurry and I never watched it with that stereotype in mind to look out for and analyse the show in regards to.

Though (leaning very far out of the window just from what I remember on the show and my framework for how stereotypes work) it also feels like a bit of a chicken-egg question that I really cannot answer:

Is the character presented that way BECAUSE he's Jewish (a lot of aspects of the way Howard was written, like other running jokes about his mother or his allergies, definitely feel like they're coming from that point: They decided to 1) write a Jewish character AND then 2) wrote a bunch of antisemitic jokes to go with that)

OR was the jumping-off point that they were making a show about a group of male characters who fail to live up to standards of masculinity - and BECAUSE of this historical and cultural portrayal of Jewish men, they felt like it would be funny to make one of them Jewish (and to be clear, I don't think it's necessarily or even just likely just either of these options, they probably both play into different aspects of the development of this character, - and quite frankly, I doubt the jumping-off point was/is a particularly relevant question in comparison to the general impact of doing this in a show that is/was as successful as the big bang theory.)

It is definitely a very different portrayal from the way e.g. How I Met Your Mother portrayed (and excused) the actions of Barney Stinson. Because one of them works, as you say, through emasculation - "if you're not a real man, you're not a real threat to women, so it's funny and we should feel sorry for these guys secretly filming hot women in their own house" (e.g. Penny's Evul boyfriends, the foils to Leonard's Nice Guy, being portrayed as very masculine and actually threatening).

Meanwhile, How I Met Your Mother didn't work that way - Barney Stinson was definitely portrayed as Cool and his predatory behaviours were not just as excused as him being harmless, it was glorified as him having "game" or "flirting strategies" and irl, men actually felt inspired by him and while stuff like the Play Book were partially tongue-in-cheek, the idea was that "it's okay because it works and is funny and the women who fall for it probably have it coming BECAUSE they fall for it and Barney is considered hot and masculine - so women are probably into it." For example, when I graduated, my year literally had a How I Met Your Mother motto and like...half the guys in my year would try to emulate Barney Stinson and quote him and quote the Bro Code or other stuff from the show and misogynistic stuff he said. And while people also loved to quote Sheldon back then, it came from a different place and not so much one of admiration.

Though, I feel compelled to point out that on the "how does this portrayal treat women" bottom line, we always end up at "it's okay to treat women badly to get what you want"

Also, an extra note for context, I would also point towards the '90s and the 2000s generally having a very different attitude regarding what media at the time considered funny and what was considered predatory - they were at a very specific point in tv and movie history in terms of a) what they could portray and talk about and b) the public conversations at the time on matters like consent and dating and sex.

Like, at this point we can almost speak from the "historical context" because mindset changed so much since then - you see this on a lot of shows, e.g. if you follow me, I'm rewatching House right now and it's very prominent there and while I never watched Friends, I know there is a lot of discourse happening there and I remember watching Buffy being genuinely surprised when in one episodes, they called out a group of nerds (!) for being insane fucking predators.

And that's not even just something to do with men and women and gender but just generally, a lot of things that we talk about today and that we make progress talking about in terms of consent and sexual autonomy were really not something that was part of the major discourse - and this was actually why I considered the addition that "women in the 2000s cartoons (!) acted creepy in a way men couldn't so it's all a different-sides-of-the-same-medal kinda thing!" rather disingenuous:

Because...men in 2000s films and shows definitely got away with acting like fucking creeps - and women too - and that didn't take "privilege of masculinity" or anything, it just took it being the 2000s. (Privilege of masculinity was the insane degree to which characters like Barney Stinson were idolised for this)

[thechargrey]

Let's talk boxes in honor of next ep and things I want to see!!

But more importantly let's also talk triangles bc as we know god dropped a box and it split in two and that's how we got triangles!

The triangle is the strongest shape. Any weight placed on them is evenly distributed on all sides. You can't have a wobbly stool or table if it has 3 legs. So we need to be thinking about all of our 3 legged stools.

The coaches Roy/Ted/Beard: they cover each others flaws. Roy has the most experience with football, beard has the most knowledge of strategy, and Ted has the most knowledge of coaching. This episode we're gonna see them start really working together. Up to this point this season we've seen Roy and Beard at the whiteboard, but without Ted it's lead them to failure. Not anymore!

Diamond dogs Beard/Ted/Higgins: it would be a weird episode to finally pull Roy or Trent into the fold, but a great episode to have some good diamond dog screen time!

Three aces Jamie/Dani/...and Colin?: from two aces to three, I want to see an opportunity for Colin to finally shine as he's more comfy in being seen. But any other player suddenly working as ace would also be a great opportunity to showcase in this episode.

Friendship power Roy/Jamie/Keeley: A trio I'd love to see working together at last. Keeley's moved on and Roy/Jamie are finally friends and this could mean that these three actually have a chance to be bffs finally. (And even if you want the ship, them being friends first is still really good/important)

Pub friends Baz/Paul/Jeremy: a great opportunity to explore the dynamic between our pub friends again, and to find out what was going on with that 4th friend/romantic interest Baz tried to pull unto the fold.

But there's more bc we also have love triangles that might start popping up this episode: Roy/Keeley/Jamie, Jack/Keeley/Roy or Jamie, Rebecca/Boatguy/Ted, Ted/Trent/Rebecca (okay maybe a little wishful thinking on this one), Ted/Beard/Jane (at least in Jane's mind) but you get the picture. Any number of love triangles could be explored.

Onto boxes!

Thinking outside the box: obviously this is going to be a big part of this episode, it's even in the description. We're gonna see the new triangle strategy operating in which each player gets supported by two others and it's gonna cause everyone to change the way they're thinking about football.

Other characters may have to implement extra creativity as well, perhaps Keeley will have to dive into some new strategies for making her company successful. We know Sam will be doing something simialar with his restaurant since that's in the description.

The box as tradition: boxes are big symbols of keeping traditions the same. So with the triangle being important leading into this episode, this episode may also be about challenging/breaking traditions. Some traditions to pay attention to:

Pink boxes of biscuits: both bc this is a literal box, but also bc it's a tradition for Ted to bring these to Rebecca every morning. Will we see this suddenly change somehow? Will Ted forget to bring them, or perhaps he begins to bring them to others as well?

Believe sign: is this the episode in which all the teammates make new believe signs as a new tradition, to represent the type of belief they need?

Diamond Dogs: diamonds are also box shaped, and the diamond dogs are a tradition since Ted began, perhaps we see this tradition change somehow...

Other boxes to look out for might be moving boxes (I hope not!), if Ted starts trying to move back to Kansas or at least thinks about it. But also press boxes or private boxes at the games. And of course the gender/sexuality boxes with which society places all of us.

[rodolfoparras]

It's so nice to hear that you're feeling better and meds have been working properly! That's great news <3

Also yes I so agree that Price would be into My strange addiction and that he'd randomly drop strange stories and facts. And that feels like such dad/old man thing to do as well.

As for my oc, I don't mind sharing because I love him. Ok slight oversharing moment but I had childhood very similar to Ghost's (and he is my favourite actually but you wouldn't know it because of how much I talk about Price) and I wanted to incorporate that into my oc's story and add some extra angst just cause I love angst. Also I have no knowledge of like actually military stuff so 😭

Short summary: He ran ran away from his abusive home and ended up trapped in a gang. His older brother risked everything to save him and get him out of the gang and he ended up discharged. Ace (that's his callsign) ends up joining military to honour his brother's wish and because he feels guilty for robbing his brother of his dream.

He's absolutely little shit who doesn't listen to anyone and refuses to acknowledge his trauma and him Ghost meet and they end up bonding about going through very similar things. Ace mostly does undercover missions and during one, Ghost ends up saving his life after which Ace gets very attached to him.

Him and Ghost have this will they won't they thing going on and they are very similar as people which makes it very difficult to discuss their feelings. Plus Ace uses his work as coping mechanism and constantly pretending to be someone else and going undercover is his way of running away from his feelings. And he has really bad depersonalisation (among other things) because of it.

Oh and he's covered in tattoos because he was goth before going into military (he still kind of is) but also because he uses them to cover up scars left from abuse and sh.

That's was a long ramble I'm sorry, I'm a writer and literature student so being asked to talk about my writing gets me so excited

-🔮

Thank you sm sugar! I’m just happy I can write and talk and think about price without feeling like shit 😭

First of all I love love love the depth around Ace’s background(badass name by the way) and I can totally see ghost as someone compatible with him, i genuinely think ghost needs someone who he can open up about his trauma without freaking the person out I love soap but I think someone like ace would be a very good support system also I kind of love that it’s a will they won’t they thing and that he’s running away from his feelings by going undercover bc imagine ghost being out and about trying to find ace and ace is pretending to be someone else, and ghost doesn’t seem to recognize him so they flirt back and forth and ace is mad bc it doesn’t seem like ghost is recognizing him and on top of that ghost is flirting with someone else (well technically it’s ace but u get the point djdj) and when they’re alone ghost acknowledges that it’s ace either by whispering in his ear before a kiss or something similar 🏃🏻‍♂️

And no don’t apologize sugar!! I loved listening to it your character seems very very very cool I genuinely loved listening to his background, his and ghost’s relationship and the work he does in the army 🫶🏻

[myersesque]

here's some questions spam!

what do you think is the best joke in tgwdlm? which nightmare time episode is the strongest? would you vibe with any of the lords in black? opinion on webby? favorite character introduced in black friday? some people have said that the youtube version of nerdy prudes must die gets fanservice-y with its hatchetverse references - what're your thoughts? which hatchetverse couple is the most transgender in your eyes?

here ends the question spam

YEAAAA QUESTION SPAM I LOVE QUESTION SPAM!!! my laptop is currently updating and therefore i feel no shame doing this instead of my dissertation LET'S GOOO

best joke in tgwdlm? - augh, a hard one. idk if it's the BEST but i always lose it at the hivemind breaking out of unison and having to stop and find their notes/re-harmonise after not your seed (i've been there... SO many times)

strongest nightmare time episode - ok this is the part where i admit i am VERY behind on nightmare time and have only seen a few in random orders - my favourite of the ones i've seen is abstinence camp, though. i think it's a rlly strong, relatively self-contained story, and ofc i'm always down for a friday the 13th parody lmao. boy jerry and girl jeri are my little freaks and i love them (and ofc peter and steph my beloveds)

vibing with the lords in black? - i love all of them an unreasonable amount and would LOVE to hang out, honestly. i never stop singing so pokey would probably be fun company, and wiggly won my heart immediately since i LOVE possessed/evil toys (if the url wasn't a dead giveaway for that) and green is one of my fav colours. but honestly any of them!!! they're deliciously evil and i would love to chill (and then regret it when i inevitably face their torment BUT THAT'S A PROBLEM FOR FUTURE ME!)

opinion on webby - i haven't seen a ton of her but i think she's really cool, both conceptually and in the execution i have seen! i love how the visions she gives hannah are contextualised and start making sense slowly as you work through the show (which it took me AGES to figure out, admittedly, because i'm either eerily good or absolutely terrible at recalling dialogue, and fsr her prophecies always fell through my brain like a sieve)

favourite character introduced in black friday - i'm disqualifying wiggly bc we've established i love him already - honestly, it's a tie between linda monroe (one word: MOTHER) and ethan green (aka the sweetest motherfucker in hatchetfield, holy shit). i find both of their characters super compelling and also i'm very bisexual about both of them so !!!

were the npmd hatchetverse references fanservicey? - i mean... yeah? i don't super mind though, fanservice isn't inherently a bad thing. i do wish there was some way to watch a pro shot of the show as it was on stage instead (i Lost My Mind when i found out the gerald part was originally my favourite little freak boy jerry), but i've heard through the grapevine that there's apparently a way to get your hands on a digital ticket recording as a bonus feature or smthn similar, which is good enough for me. so whilst i do think they came on a little strong in some sections (particularly hatchet town), overall i didn't mind - the smaller call-backs don't really harm the show at all if you don't get them (e.g. richie's joke abt peter looking like the homeless guy downtown is still a funny jab without the knowledge of who exactly that homeless guy is and how he's related to peter) and for fans who have been waiting for years, it's an extra little reward. i've seen some people be incentivised to watch the previous shows so they'd understand the audience's reaction to certain lines, too, so there's that. tl;dr it is a LITTLE much sometimes but i don't personally mind it and thought they were all fun

most transgender hatchetfield couple - oh you are SPEAKING MY LANGUAGE, i LOVE transgenderifying characters. i think lautski (peter/steph) feel very explicitly-queer gen z t4t, if that makes any sense, but i wouldn't be me if i didn't at least mention my quietly-queer first loves paulkins (paul/emma). they're like the chill trans elders (as in the community title, not in reference to their age lmao they're like 30) to lautski's spitfire trans youth. if that makes literally ANY sense

my laptop has great timing and has now finished updating (!!!) so i must return to the trenches of university coursework but this was VERY fun thank u

[wishblown]

The narrative that unfolds over the next five chapters is about the dead, but of course all stories about the dead are really about the living.

— Erin-Marie Legacey; Making Space for the Dead

January Reads!

On Women by Susan Sontag — 4/5: really solid collection of essays, definitely worth getting your hands on; especially to have them all in one place and to be able to draw connections. Sontag’s first essay of this particular collection (The Double Standard of Aging) is probably my favourite and the perfect opener; so concise, doesn’t sugarcoat, quintessential Sontag. The Salmagundi Interview was super interesting to read as well, as were her responses to other feminist critics/writers of the time. Even when I find myself disagreeing with Sontag, there’s still something gained from being able follow along her argument.

Making Space for the Dead by Erin-Marie Legacey — 4.75/5: I got this from the library after the author was a guest on a podcast I listen to and the way she talked about her work and this book in particular just fascinated me — the book did not disappoint! fantastic read if you’re at all interested in urban burial culture (in France) particularly around the time of the French Revolution. not much prior knowledge necessary as (historical) context is mostly given and explained. the way Legacey takes you through time is so interesting, sometimes funny (bc it’s about people), pretty gory at times, and oftentimes even touching. so glad I read this! even helped me learn more about (post-)Revolutionary France

War of the Foxes by Richard Siken — 5/5: have read this collection so many times at this point, I always take it with me when I move somewhere even when it’s only a temporary home just to have it by my side (and for poetry/life emergencies). still as important to me as it was when I first read it as a teenager, I’m just discovering new parts, patterns, meanings, familiarities.

Crush by Richard Siken — 5/5: what’s there left to say. same as above. an essential. a need.

Kindred by Octavia E. Butler — 5/5: read this together with a friend as part of our long-distance book club as we’d both been meaning to get into Butler’s work for some time now. it’s also so fun to read something at the same time as them and hear their thoughts on what we’ve been reading, especially when it’s a complex novel such as Kindred. what made this extra fun was that the edition I got from the library had discussion questions for classrooms at the end so we actually ended up kinda going through those as well. (my friend’s a literature grad and super smart and well read so it’s always so enlightening to hear their thoughts). this has been a long tangent about the tiniest book club. Kindred is a masterpiece! Butler’s voice is so different to a lot of other writers I’ve read, less descriptive, ‘poetic’ writing, more matter of fact, telling you how it is, which results in removing some of the barriers between narrator and reader especially in intense scenes. She does this without ever losing the reader though, you’re still right there, just without the ‘flowery’ language and the separation that metaphors can create bc Butler simply has no need for them and kinda also does not allow you to flee into ‘prettier’ words (hopefully that makes sense; Butler’s writing was just so distinct to me). And her characters! The nuance and depth she creates, for some in just a few short scenes. As someone who’s read a fair amount of scifi and time travel literature I’ve also really liked how it was done here, how the time travel was instrumentalised. Incredible work, I’m so glad I finally got around to reading it.

Pick Me Girls by Sophie Passmann — 4.5/5: not quite a memoir but not a book that tries to speak for everyone either (which is one of the issues some took with it I think). Passmann goes over her own history as a ‘pick me’ and analyses the phenomenon through her personal experiences and a feminist lense. some of the conclusions she comes to are interesting and I liked that she was critical with her own past actions whilst recognising the circumstances that led to her behaviour and that it’s ok to know and do better now. it’s a call for women to perhaps dare to be pick mes in the way that they should allow themselves to pick themselves and be loud and how it’s okay to try to be unique (if you’re not simply trying to separate yourself from other women for the sake of it) if that’s what it takes to free yourself from the need to please others. it’s not a bad read at all if you’re aware that the author isn’t trying to speak for everyone.

[ichorblossoms]

@sweettteeth SORRY ABOUT THAT DIDI ILYYYY

What’s the maximum amount of time your character can sit still with nothing to do?

yarrow: not long at All. grimm's nickname "honeybee" is well earned (he has adhd)

grimm: grimm can easily sit still for awhile, but i don't think they ever sit still and do nothing. it's always Observing, partially out of mistrust for nearly everything and partially bc a lot of its hired work involves scoping places out and gathering information so that part of its brain is always on

How easy is it to earn their trust?

yarrow: it depends on what point in the story you meet them, but overall it's not too difficult. he's been burned by plenty of people by the end of the story, but he's always willing to give strangers the benefit of doubt, especially if they're kind. his clinic door is open to everyone, but there's a shotgun next to it

grimm: it takes several months for them to let yarrow hug them and over a year of living together to trust yarrow with the knowledge that they're a humod (in-universe name for animal-hybrid humans, also called humutts, subject to change), which is astounding given grimm has extra teeth in their mouth and a small tail and they share living quarters. shortly after that ordeal grimm gets run out of town and uses that as an excuse to fuck off and not see yarrow for five years bc the idea of being more than slightly vulnerable with anyone scared them shitless. they eventually make their way back to town (and yarrow) and even then it takes a Minute for them to fully drop their guard around yarrow.

which is all to say: unless you're yarrow (and also later their adopted daughter lucy), you won't have their trust (and for good reason, nasty past and all that)

How easy is it to earn their mistrust?

yarrow: it depends on who they're dealing with. if it's an average person, they're pretty trusting; if it's some company bigwig in town yarrow's going in to that encounter expecting to deal with some slimy bastard

grimm: you already have it.

What animal do they fear most?

yarrow: haven't thought about this much, i'm not sure they fear them the most, but yarrow has a healthy respect for horses. that's probably bc the carnivorous thracian breed (horse-dog hybrids) is pretty prominent in this universe

grimm: this is not set in stone, but rabbits. it's not a paralyzing fear so much as a disgust, a creeping dread that reminds them of a past they spent at the end of someone else's leash

How do they speak? Is what they say usually thought of on the spot, or do they rehearse it in their mind first?

if i had voiceclaims for either of them i would share them but i unfortunately don't

yarrow: lowish voice with varying levels of western accent depending on who he's talking to. tends to talk fast and will occasionally say odd things but most people brush it off bc he's polite

grimm: low, rumbly voice with a typical western cowboyish accent, doesn't move their lips when they speak much to hide their extra teeth. grimm isn't social, but is actually well-versed in talking to people and can have an entire conversation without giving someone any information about themself. socially skilled but uses that to get out of talking to people

and for meee :3c

Why are you excited about this character?

they both just !!!! have me in this chokehold!!!! a person who has experienced so little kindness meeting someone who is so willing to give it just because and not knowing what to do with the fact that after so long you're human and Feel Things so you run away for five years but you come back because the guilt is eating at you (for once)! meanwhile the person you left behind gave up on waiting bc they've never been anyone's choice and will make themself useful in other ways to distract themself from that hole inside them, but then you come back and then they don't know what to do with the fact they're actually wanted! and you're happy together for a year before they're ripped away from you because of your past so you hunt them down to bring them back and when you do they're irreversibly changed! and that change haunts you because it's your fault but they're actually so excited to be part bee monster now? not to mention the fact that you love like a dog and will gladly hand over your leash to their caring hands because you know they'll fix you up when you get hurt. and then you two decide to blow up some of the people responsible for this and adopt a Weird Little Girl along the way.

also i just think people with fucked up monster/animal characteristics are fun tee hee <3

[godmademewithoutarms]

what's tlc? :)

Omg my beloved friend Strawberry I am so glad u asked ☆(ゝω·)v

Read more in place because uh. I wrote a bit much an don't want to take up everyone's dash. Anyways, under the cut is my definition of what tlc is + some other tidbits.

TLC, abbreviation of 'The Lunar Chronicles', is a book series that was published from 2012 to 2015 (so like, 10 year's old) created by Marissa Meyer, one of my favorite authors. She just happens to be the author that restarted my love of reading.

The wikipedia definition of tlc (because I am lazy and have no idea how to properly summarize the novels without infodumping and spoiling it all) says 'Set in a futuristic world inhabited by various species and creatures, tensions are rising between Earth and its former colony Luna, while both attempt to manage an ongoing pandemic.'

The four books names correlate with the names of 4 of the main characters (Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, and Winter, in chronological order). There are also two extra books (Fairest book 3.5, and Stars Above book 5) but that's besides the pointm Cinder is our main main character, and each book mostly focuses and properly introduces us to the girl on the title while still managing to keep with with our other characters.

It has a loveable cast, space, war, politics (I mean I guess??), romance, friendship, no love triangles, royalty, etc etc. However the title of science fiction and the science of the book (aka how living on Luna and all of that works) has been questioned by my slightly upset former science teacher who is in my book group. Because I convinced the teacher running the group to let the group read tlc, which I was joking about because she hated tlc but that's a story for a different ask lmao.

Anyways personally, my favorite characters just so happen to be Jacin and Winter, which is funny because 13-14 yr old me hated Jacin during my first read. I don't even remember why, however Winter has always been my favorite (again, a story for different ask) (I could just rant and rant about what I love about these books).

I mentioned that Craig and Tweek kinda remind me of them, but they have some similarities that just clicked in my little au conjuring brain. Tweek reminds me of Winter in the way of how they're both kinda weird, Tweek is more erratic and panicky whereas Winter is more floaty and whimsical. However some of the things Winter says does remind me of things Tweek would say, maybe this one is just me though.

As for Craig, he gives me Jacin vibes. They both got that stoic, asshole-ish who's only softer around their lover vibe. That's mainly why I made the post.

That being said that was just a silly thought I had, idk if it'd turn into an actual au that'd be wild and tedious lmao. It's a nice thought tho. Anyways if u like multiple part romance filled fantasy books based off fairytales (with a bit not properly thought out science fiction according to my science teacher) than I suggest reading it. I should mention that tlc was the first thing MM every published (to my knowledge).

If u would like to read one of her books bc her writing is blatantly clear in all of her books (/posi) but tlc seems too much to tackle, she has two standalones, a trilogy, a duology, and one of those books w/ multiple authors. I do believe one standalone is getting another book but idk if it's a second part or just in the same universe.

[adragonsfriend]

I’m going to go off about this because it’s one of the things that has most deeply complicated my relationship to fandom over the years.

I am often disappointed/horrified by the section of fandom that looks at characters who go though some something bad and decides that they have to have gone though the worst possible version of the bad thing every time, every day, every second of their existence was suffering.

Don’t get me wrong—there are absolutely situations like that, and they can exist in fiction—

But when that’s the only reaction, and when it deliberately ignores cannon evidence* to imagine a character as just a bucket of angst and nothing else, it ignores a lot of complexity and implicitly supposes that whatever trauma/abuse/etcetera happened in canon wasn’t “bad enough” to justify either the the character’s reaction to it, or the audience’s potential sympathy for the character.

*I’d like to note the caveat that often people write, especially fanfic, projecting situations they actually experience onto characters as a way of processing or having characters who are like them. This is incredibly valid, and the fics I’m addressing are ones that specifically do not give me that impression.

Whether it’s just gratuitous angst and violence for no reason, or a conscious idea of “well if they’d just suffered more obviously then I could understand—”

The way this manifests with Anakin is typically either supposing that when he was enslaved he was constantly like, physically on the edge of death from beatings or starvation (as though simply the knowledge of the chips and the psychological impact of slavery we are shown in the movies isn’t “bad enough” to impact him for the rest of his life). Or it happens by adding physical or sexual abuse to Palpatine’s grooming (as though isolating Anakin from everyone who loves him and his own values isn’t “bad enough” to be considered a serious form of abuse).

These depictions can and—because they are stories real people have—should be done well. But adding things like that has to also mean committing as a writer to making it a real focus of the story, and including a lot of complexity and deep understanding of the suffering involved. Just adding extra as a cherry on top doesn’t work.

On a writing level, it typically leads to character bashing because author and readers are forced by an overly simple narrative to see one character as a paragon of suffering and everyone else as both evil and stupid (I’m looking at Star Wars, marvel, Harry Potter, lucifer, and so on).

On a real level, it invalidates people’s actual suffering by implying that it isn’t bad enough to evoke sympathy or to have a lifelong impact. It’s all the toxic positivity of “oh well you could’ve been hurt worse so does what you actually went through even matter? Just get over it,” but delivered implicitly in a nice little box labeled “fandom.”

Also, looking at the figures typically granted what I will call “paragon of suffering” status, it’s almost always conventionally attractive cis white men, (Anakin, Obi-Wan, and to go outside of SW, Tony Stark, Loki, Lucifer, basically if there’s a fandom you can name the character) indicating that this pattern is acting according to our larger societies racial and gender biases (bc of course) and not according to actual demographics or even cannon evidence.

What makes adding gratuitous abuse/trauma/violence without complexity an attractive idea for people who have not actually gone through it…well I’m not fully sure, but it’s a voyer’s interest (and not in the fun way), it’s not helpful or educational, and unfortunately, it works to draw people in. It worked on me all the time in middle school, it worked on me last year in my first few months of being in the SW fandom.

It’s possible I’m just uniquely fucked up, but I doubt it.

I think maybe it’s sating the urge that brought audiences to the Colosseum and filled the stands of the Boonta Eve Classic. Admittedly, writing fucked up things is much better than watching bloodsports, but it’s still that same urge to witness suffering without experiencing it oneself.

If I were feeling poetic—and when am I not—I would look at that desire for suffering not our own, that schadenfreude, and I would call it the dark side.

Tldr; what OP said: comparing characters trauma to others or to themself is useless and leads to bad outcomes

"Obi-Wan suffered more than Anakin"

self-righteous bitch with an ego only recognizes the suffering of people who cope in socially acceptable ways

"Anakin suffered more than Obi-Wan"

morally questionable bitch with low self esteem trying to bring other people down a few pegs to make themselves feel better

"Suffering isn't a contest. It is impossible to compare Obi-Wan's and Anakin's suffering."

The only acceptable statement.

"I agreed with the previous statement purely in order to get people's attention for when I immediately make it into a contest again."

the worst kind of bitch there is 🖕

[bumblingbabooshka]

And I don’t want your pity - I just want somebody near me.

[lucllle]

could i request hcs for somno with Zhongli and Albedo (sep) please?

Ty in advance

OMG yes hi hello !! this took forever but hopefully they came out alright :))

DISCLAIMER: consent is clarified in both of these !!

generel cw: somnophilia, dub con(?)

Albedo cw: consensual drugging, bondage, somno, dub con

zhongli cw: hinted corruption kink, somno, dub con

characters: Zhongli, Albedo x fem!reader (separate)

Zhongli

hcs!

He isn't very likely to wake you up first of all...

Probably would need lots of convincing to be on the receiving end out of embarrassment but would enjoy nonetheless

Honestly you'll wake up feeling really tired bc he goes on for HOURSS

Will obviously clean you up when he's done!! He'll wake you up w/ breakfast and a massage to soothe you

Once you've reassured him enough, he'll literally wear himself out whether or not you wake up

If you do wake up he'll slow down and soothe you for a bit so you don't panic &lt;3

Will finish inside every single time,, why would he waste any of it in the first place?

one shot!

Zhongli liked to think he was a refined gentlemen. Always polite and considerate, especially to his lover. Needless to say, he'd hate to do anything selfish that only satisfied him, right?

He was taken aback when you first suggested the idea to him. I mean, he'd never thought about taking you in your sleep before to your knowledge.

He asked you at least once a day if you were still sure about your suggestion, especially since he had stamina that always blew you away. After about a week or so, the questioning stopped. You were a bit disappointed, thinking that he might've just not been into it. That was fine with you, though.

While you didn't insist on it, you and Zhongli discussed that unless you took your statement back, he had your consent. Therefore, your offer always stood in case he were to decide he wanted to take you up on it.

-----------------

" I'm sorry dear, but I'll arrive late tonight. Please don't stay up waiting for me, alright? I know how you tend to be. "

Zhongli reassured you it'd be alright to go to sleep without him before he left for work, and you took his advice.

You made sure to take a warm bath before going to bed, using his favorite scented soap and shampoo. You were sure he'd give you lots of praises for it, especially since you decided to put on his favorite nightgown too.

It was a simple white colored gown with lace, you weren't sure why he liked it so much. Nevertheless, it was comfortable and made you feel good.

You went to bed, being none the wiser of what was bound to happen.

Zhongli gently knocked on the bedroom door, and he slowly opened it when he got no response.

" Sweetheart, I'm- oh... " His volume fell to a whisper when he saw you asleep on the bed, gently smiling. He shed his extra layers, stripping down to his undergarments before sitting at the edge of the bed. He looked down at you fondly before laying down beside you.

He wrapped his arms around your waist, putting your head to his chest. He took note of your pleasant scent, then looked down at you closely. He could feel his face flush when he saw you in his favorite nightgown.

Zhongli favored this gown in particular because of its simplicity, as well as the way the color white made you look so angelic. On a more sexual note, it turned him on because of the thought that he was somehow ruining your purity. He never expressed this thought with you, though. At least not the specifics.

He thought back to the past two weeks, where he made sure you were positive about your 'suggestion'.

He swallowed before letting one of his hands travel downward, gripping onto the fat of your ass while his other hand gripped the back of your head gently.

He was hesitant, but it turned him on more than he thought it would. Before he knew it, he was on top of you with your legs over his thighs. He rubbed at your clit ever so slowly, caressing the side of your thigh with his free hand.

Zhongli watched your face carefully while his hand travelled lower, prodding two of his fingers into you. He pushed them in carefully, making sure that you didn't stir too much.

He looked down at his slick covered fingers, then back at your cunt. The thought that you were so aroused because of him, even while asleep, turned him on incredibly.

He leaned down, his chest pressing onto yours while he kissed your forehead. He backed away for a moment, taking off his boxers and taking his girth in his hand.

He stroked himself to full length, pulling your nightgown midway up your stomach while staring down at you.

He held his breath while positioning his tip at your entrance, spreading your folds with it. He inhaled sharply before pushing into you, going slowly as to not wake you up.

His thighs tensed up as soon as he bottomed out, eyebrows furrowing while he held still for a few moments.

Zhongli gripped your thighs tightly, beginning to slowly thrust in and out. He breathed in and out shakily, trying his best to not wake you. You seemed so peaceful like this, yet he was a flustered mess above you without your knowledge.

Zhongli leaned in close, hiding his face in the crook of your neck while grinding against you. It was so sensual, which had him weak in the knees.

He started to leave a trail of kisses down your neck, occasionally biting down gently. He savored the moment for a few minutes before flipping you over onto your stomach carefully. He pushed himself back in almost immediately, yearning for more of your warmth.

He pressed his knees onto the bed at the sides of your legs, fisting the sheets beside your head. He bit onto his lip, starting a slow yet firm pace.

He cursed under his breath, the sound of skin slapping against skin making you stir in your sleep. He didn't care much for you waking up at this point, but he would prefer not waking you up.

Zhongli pressed his head in the crook of your neck, wrapping his arms around your torso. He pulled you close, slightly lifting you off the bed. He sped up, gripping onto one of your breasts.

It didn't take very long for him to get close to his release. He sucked in his breath, speeding up his pace.

He finished inside you with a shaky breath, riding out his orgasm with slow, gentle thrusts.

He pulled out, flipping you onto your back again. He was still hard, but there was no reason to limit himself to one round, is there?

Albedo

hcs!

Albedo has always given off switch vibes to me so he wouldn't mind you being the one doing things to him <33

He's very kinky so literally almost anything is on the table as long as it isn't too gross

He loves tying you up so he has rope especially for that, but he likes being restrained too sometimes !!

Normally tries not to be too noisy in bed but if he's the bottom and being overstimulated....

slight humiliation kink? i imagine he'd get embarrassed if he's restrained but that'd turn him on more

He doesn't care much about whether he wakes you up or not, I feel like he'd be more curious of how much he could do to you without waking you up more than anything

When he's on the receiving end he still could care less on whether or not he wakes up during it

one shot!

Albedo brought it up to you during an open discussion, and the two of you concluded that either one of you could do whatever you desired to each other, whenever.

Your sexual life with Albedo was definitely... intense, to say the least.

Both of you were open to having sex while under the influence, or (consensually) drugged. The two of you were very open in your relationship, so there wasn't much that was off limits between the two of you.

-------------

You slipped a sleeping pill into Albedo's coffee, making sure it dissolved before serving it to him with a knowing smile.

" Here you go. Are you going to finish this experiment soon? "

" Not yet. I still have to plan a model out. Oh, thank you. "

He smiled when he took note of the coffee, taking it into his hands and sipping at it.

" 'Bedo, can't you come to bed soon? At least until I fall asleep. "

Albedo turned to you, letting out a small sigh before downing the rest of his coffee.

" Alright. I suppose it wouldn't hurt. "

-------------

Just as you had planned, he started to doze off a bit in your arms. You ran your fingers through his hair, occasionally kissing his face. It wasn't long before he melted completely, succumbing to slumber.

You smiled to yourself, slithering your way out of his grasp before stepping away from the bed entirely. You went to the drawer where Albedo stored the rope the two of you used from time to time, bringing it into the bedroom.

You contemplated how to tie him up while undressing him, but you soon just settled on tying his hands to the headboard, and his feet to the end of the bed. This way, he was spread out and vulnerable to you.

You took his soft member in your hands, starting to stroke it gently. You knew he'd wake up during soon, since normal medicine didn't work too well on him. That was fine with you, though. You could work fast.

When Albedo was on top, he normally didn't let you see how much you affected him, but you knew better than to doubt it. Even when asleep, he got hard a little too easily.

You thumbed at the tip, spreading his precum all over the top of his shaft. Then, you wrapped the rest of your fingers around it, using a little bit of your own spit for lubrication. Moving your hand up and down slowly, you admired the little noises that he emitted in his sleep.

You lapped at Albedo's tip, feeling his thighs tense up under your grip. You always admired their milkiness, and now you got to mark them up however you pleased.

You dragged your tongue along his shaft, feeling him shudder under your touch with a sigh. You looked up at him, watching his eyebrows furrow. It wouldn't be long now until he woke up.

You sat up on the bed, hovering above his length. You saw him open his eyes before dropping down onto him, smiling at the grunt he let out.

Albedo's eyes darted around the room, then at you. He attempted to move his hand, probably to touch you, but he discovered the restraints instead.

" Hah... What've you done while I was asleep?

You brought a finger to his mouth, shushing him with a smile.

" Quiet down. I'll make you feel good. "

Albedo opened his mouth to speak, but he instead let out a moan when you lifted yourself and dropped back down on his cock.

You left a trail of kisses along his jaw, smiling when you felt him turn his head. You backed away to see him biting his lip, holding back his voice.

" 'Bedo, let me hear that pretty little voice of yours. Come on, tell me how good you're feeling. "

Albedo stared at you, furrowing his eyebrows. You placed a thumb into his mouth, forcing it open before you started riding him.

You couldn't help but let out an amused smile when he clenched his fists, pulling against his restraints occasionally. He always loved touching you, so you knew he was getting frustrated. He spoke as soon as you took the thumb out his mouth.

" Please... " He tried to grind himself into you, and you let him do that much. You could tell he was getting closer, so you stopped.

" Please what? "

He practically glared at you, his face flushed. He turned his head away from you, cursing under his breath while trying to move inside you. The ropes didn't allow for much movement, though.

" That's alright if you don't want to talk. "

While this could sound endearing to most, both of you knew that there was something behind those words.

You slowly started up again, trailing your hand to his adam's apple. You felt it bob under your hand whenever he swallowed, which you loved the feeling of.

Albedo suddenly started to tense up, pulling at his restraints frantically. He breathed heavily, letting out small whimpers.

Eventually, he arched his back and froze up, finishing inside of you. You held him close while he calmed down, feeling his chest rise repeatedly.

You started up again, much to Albedo' dismay. He squirmed in place, letting out shaky breaths.

" Hah... wait, wait- I just- "

You could practically hear the panic in his voice when he heard you laugh a bit at his reaction. You sat up, pulling yourself away from him with a smile.

" You're getting so worked up, though. It'd be a shame to stop only because you came one time, right? "

He swallowed nervously, staring at you. Both of you knew it'd be a long night.

[cakeandpi]

there’re some songs - popular songs - that i’ve only known as vague mumbling sounds that, when i come back to listen to them years later, i realize there are actually words, like it wasn’t some weird in-joke among people that this ‘vague mumble song’ became popular because everyone else could understand the words, but between me and my hearing and the singer’s awful enunciation, “take these chances” became “da de dan ses”

this might explain part of why i prefer subs and why i have a tendency to rewatch and rewatch and rewatch the same ten seconds trying to hear just wtf was said when there’s not subtitles

[reiayanamiisbestgirl]

She specializes in prosthetics and battlefield medicine. Her name is Natalia and her segment designation is Xi. 

Im still working out her goals. My current ideas are that she wants to study teyvat through the lense of the limits of humanity. I need to fully figure out what exactly Natalia is studying in teyvat that involves basically turning people into cyborgs. Sure, being influenced by dottore would have her want to make people as strong as gods, but does she want to twist people like balloon animals into all sorts of horrifying shapes using prosthetics and cybernetic technology to see what can be unlocked? Is that the limits of humanity she’s after? Would there be something in irminsul her prosthetics technology could affect? Are cyborgs unable to reenter the leylines if they’ve forsaken their humanity? What constitutes as humanity? Is she putting souls in prosthetics to enhance the abilities of Fatui soldiers? I have so many questions and ideas ha ha

She also wants to leave the laboratory to be able to do this but as she makes prosthetic organs for dottore, she has to be on standby. She also wants to be seen as a good scientist by dottore, she def has those gifted kid vibes, so that she’ll be granted more privileges like being able to leave the lab. But she gets the authority to conduct her experiments by being in dottore’s back pocket. She also worries about not making progress to her goals of studying teyvat fast enough, and worries that if she falls behind on scientific progress dottore will get rid of her for being useless. Anyway yeah she has a lot of internal conflict. Potential for a character arc of her regaining everything she needs for her experiments but without the help of the Fatui if she decides to run away, but who’d want to run away from the Fatui am I right?  

she thinks discussing emotions is showing weakness and thinks therapy is a scam. She prioritizes her work in gathering knowledge through science as more important than anything else in her life. She also tries to make logical decisions about 95% of the time but there are moments when she’ll act impulsively in terms of personality she is rather obsessed with her work, but she’s also quite petty and a little haughty about being a “true scholar”. She has reverence for science, and scoffs at others who don’t. She also has a mental hierarchy, and that determines if she’ll accept or reject criticism from someone. 

Her voice sounds like a mix between cold and calculating and a little, I don’t know how to describe this, sultry? Something like Kafka from HSR. She is a certified yapper, she may be quiet and focused on her work but get her talking about her studies and she will not shut up. She’s 37 years old and 6’ tall but wears 3” heels. I’m slowly filling out a large questionnaire of character creation questions for her.

If she was playable she’d be an aggressive claymore dendro healer that heals based on edmg. The amount of healing done would equal 110% of the edmg. I’m still figuring out what her skills would do, obviously she’d need an infusion thing to make the healing work. And she’d heal when dendro edmg is done even by other teammates who are infused by her dendro.

Oh and she obviously needs a boss fight because ofc so I’m not sure about the monologue or phase one but phase two would have her in a crow themed battle suit where her extra arms would be strapped into crow themed wings. And how she’d get into this mech suit would be that she would stumble backwards into it and have it activate on impact, or something else I haven’t decided. Her boss theme would have kind of a mechanical vibe like uh coordinate shift by ferry, but obviously would have the Latin chanting and fatui letimotif.

oki now time for fun trivia!

her favorite color is dark purple, but she can’t don herself in it like she should bc she’s a dottore segment and I doubt those are given much individuality so she steals the dark purple coats from Dottore’s funder Pantalone and tailors them to fit herself.

her favorite foods are warm soup and halva

she absolutely hates her fellow segment webttore. Hates his guts. It’s like she’s GLaDOS and he’s Wheatley. The reason why she hates him is that he’s very chaotic and she tries to understand why but he knows she’s trying to understand him so he does things that mess up her data points and she just gets so mad about it that she tries to maim him quite often.

Her birthday is January 5th

she’s a lesbian and her type is robotic ladies who also do science. But she’s so bad at expressing her feelings.

she has no issue with gossiping

she likes shiny objects like any good crow does please put one of those shiny “you did good” stickers on her lab reports she needs it

so uh i saw you liked my natalia doodles do you want to know literally everything i have about her?

... yes

yes i would :D