#i love that language and the way i speak doesn't need to be coherent or make sense to anyone. its not a requirement of language

[fearcicada]

Was trying to write down my reasons for why I see certain tma characters as aromantic (AGAIN) and a lot of it is still always so related to the energy I get from them being disconnected from humanity. Like being aromantic and not experiencing love does not make you inhuman and love is not an inherent part of the human experience but it's like. U know how people shouldn't make all aro characters robots/uncaring/unfeeling etc but at the same time any time u see an uncaring/unfeeling/robot character u still wanna be like yes I'm making them aro.! Its the same thing here like you will never understand our warrior's bond (me and all the TMA avatars)

[to-be-a-dreamer]

I talked about this in the tags of a reblog but I need to expand on this because my brain is vibrating and it's all Hank Freaking Green's fault. This will not be coherent at all just roll with it.

I don't know if it was on purpose or not but the scene where The Fix and Pasha were flirting by exchanging fun facts did so so much for the Fix's character in my mind because like. Pasha is the only character we've seen who had a positive response to the Fix's fun facts right off the bat. (Presumably the orphans at the Home for Wayward Interests had positive responses but I'm specifically talking about on-screen reactions.)

The targets that the Fix talks to are so terrified by his facts that they just disintegrate on the spot. The DA is mildly annoyed at best by them. Even the other Prefrontal PIs are freaked out or confused by them at first. It takes a couple episodes for them to come around to his fun facts, especially after "half the bones in your body" one. It takes them some time to realize that that's just how The Fix communicates his thoughts and ideas. He uses his fun facts as a way to connect and bond with friends just as much as he uses them to intimidate his targets.

But Pasha is the first person we see and, presumably, one of the only people in The Fix's life to hear one of his facts and not only immediately accept and understand it to be a method of conversation, but to also respond with a fact of their own and have an entire conversation with The Fix in the way he feels most comfortable.

We've seen so many times that The Fix goes out of his way to try and appear less threatening or even avoid people altogether because he knows most people are scared of him because of his appearance. It takes him so long to convince the other Prefontal PIs that he's really not going to hurt Conrad (compare how quickly Dan is a part of the group and how his motives are never questioned despite how vocal he is about hating Conrad and being all too eager to turn him over to the police and/or have him murdered to how long it takes The Fix) and he doesn't even seem hurt by the idea that all these people think he would murder a child when he's clearly a very kind and loving person, especially to children.

He's just. Come to terms with the fact that everyone's first impression of him will be this big intimidating presence who enjoys hurting people. But he's not. He's just passionate about his job, like everyone else in the city. It just happens to be that his job is to keep Elias focused, which means letting go of the butterfly tails. When he's tasked with eliminating someone who doesn't seem like they need to be eliminated, he immediately stops and questions the case. As far as I can tell, he doesn't like to kill people, he doesn't do it for fun. He does it because that's his job, literally the only thing he was made to do. But he's come to accept that most people will always be afraid of him because of that job.

And then he meets Pasha, who immediately accepts his form of communication without question or confusion. Who isn't afraid or intimidated by him. Who isn't just entertaining his fun facts but is actively engaging and returning with her own. She is the first person (who isn't a child, who is the Fix's peer) that The Fix could talk to without having to explain himself. The first person who wasn't afraid or confused or annoyed by the way he expresses himself.

Like. I dunno I imagine it would almost be like moving to a foreign country as a child and not being able to speak in your native language because every time you do people are suspicious of you or annoyed that you aren't speaking the local language or just plain don't understand you, even if they're trying to be kind about it. And it's harder to explain yourself and express your thoughts in this new language but you learn and you adapt because it's the only way to survive. Then you meet someone who speaks your language. Someone who allows you to speak freely and for the first time you can actually express yourself fully and easily. And they're speaking back to you in the language you think in and for once you don't have to translate everything before you say it out loud and after you hear it. I think that would feel so freeing.

So yeah, I'm guessing that scene was supposed to be a silly goofy one-off gag that's just funny and cute but it genuinely means so much to me. Truly I don't get people who say The Fix isn't as deep or interesting as the other characters he is FACINATING to me and this isn't even touching on his relationship with Conrad or what he might be feeling after learning Ichabod was Pasha's brother. (If it gets revealed that Ichabod was one of The Fix's first hits I will lose it.)

Thank you for coming to my late-night nonsense ramblings I hope I was mildly entertaining

[lakesbian]

💝 for Rachel (for the ask meme)

💝 A headcanon about their love language

yeah these are def just shaping up to be analysis of canon vs. headcanons for most of 'em because we already have interesting canon answers for a lot of these questions but that's ok because that's fun too. this is gonna be a bit messy bc i'm real tired but anyway:

the long and short of it is that she's a dog. she loves like a dog. and i love how that behavior interacts w/ the specific way taylor is fucked up. it is So meaningful and compelling. taylor is for the most part absolutely incapable of admitting or even noticing when something has hurt her, let alone reaching out for support. she's very similar to brian in the sense that people verbally acknowledging that she's upset (generally synonymous with 'weak' in her mind) is intolerable to her, because ignoring and repressing that emotion is critical to her ability to force herself to stay standing & push herself thru the agony to achieve what she wants to achieve. there's this moment during the echidna fight where she sees wards verbally checking in w/ each other and she thinks that she's glad that her team would never ask if she's okay because she wouldn't be able to stop from breaking down if they did.

and the thing abt rachel's love language is that she's Direct About Everything All Of The Time Forever because she doesn't know how not to be. but it's not in a "asking if someone is okay" way, because even that is a level of indirectness, of giving someone the option to say "yes" and reject comfort! she instead directly notices when taylor isn't okay, and moves straight to offering comfort without forcing taylor to experience the weakness of admitting that she needs it. she's not great with words--she frequently feels frustrated by not knowing how to communicate what she wants to communicate--so instead she shows love through simple, blatant acts of physical affection, devotion, and trust. she's the equivalent of a big ole dog that just silently huffs and climbs into your lap when you're sad, and you can't do a damn thing about it because you're getting cuddled now and that's just how it is. she doesn't force taylor to acknowledge the situation to her, she simply notices when taylor needs a hand to hold and very firmly grabs taylor's hand. she's silently, unobtrusively understanding. she sees things as they are, and responds not with social niceties, but with firm and direct kindness. if you start crying while she's sitting next to you, she won't make a big deal out of it, she'll just keep sitting next to you. and that's exactly what taylor needs--affection and comfort sans expectations for her to have any sort of coherent explanation or conduct.

the devotion & trust is also Sooo. auugh. ough. when taylor turns herself into the PRT and she's unquestionably faithful that taylor has a plan, regards everyone else like they're idiots for having even the slightest sliver of doubt in her. during gold morning, when she willingly steps into taylor's field of control, saying that taylor is smart & to let her do what she needs to do. there's this moment during the behemoth fight that i think a lot about where rachel says "you have a plan" in response to taylor, y'know, having a plan, and taylor sort of confusedly reads it as smug & then satisfied without really grasping why. and the reason why is that rachel has put up with so much social bullshit she doesn't understand--the way the undersiders interact w/ her, coil, the prt--and taylor, without fail, has made things make sense. she's the only undersider to successfully speak to rachel on terms she fully understands, the one to kill coil, the one who soundly trounces the heroes every time. whenever things are confusing or scary or nonsensical, taylor, smart and strong taylor, fixes them with her plans. the earth is cracking and coming apart around them, because There's A Fucking Kaiju, but it's okay, because taylor is there, and rachel knows taylor will always make sure things turn out alright. genuinely doglike levels of unquestionable devotion, where there are ways she understands taylor more intimately than anyone else on the planet, and there are ways she can never understand taylor, but she still unquestionably trusts her enough to place her life in her hands. taylor even remarks that rachel trusts her too much when she steps into her radius during gold morning--and the reason that rachel trusts her too much is because she trusts like a dog trusts their person. i've seen ppl say that taylor is rachel's dog, but no, rachel is 100% taylor's dog. she loves that girl like a dog would. it rocks. autism forever.

[my-rose-tinted-glasses]

Rose Recaps Rose Tinted Glasses It's been three months since I made a post thanking this community for being a place for me to share my love of BL.

And since then, every day I feel a little bit more comfortable here.

This place is so special to me for so many reasons and the fact that I found it is a small miracle. I was talking with my friend Neely about something BL related and they told me that they think I'm doing much better since I came here. So thanks again.

I was never a part of any online fandom. And before BL I never really felt like I was missing something. Maybe because I always found someone irl that I could freak out about whatever I was watching I never really felt the need to go look.

And the people here are exceptionally kind. Before, I made a point to never engage much online, except for certain support groups, because of the hate that sometimes exists in certain spaces. So I was very much surprised by the kind humans that exist in this bl fandom in this corner of the internet.

Also. There is some serious brilliant people here. Look giffing is not easy, it takes a long time, sometimes you spend so much time with a set only to hate it by the end and never posting it. And sometimes you post something and you're really proud and crickets. And sometimes you post it just so it doesn't go to waste and all of a sudden it explodes. It's all part of the magic.

I keep my sets pretty simple so I'm in awe of how some people make these beautiful art pieces with layers and colouring and typography. It's incredible and I applaud your creativity and patience.

Speaking of brilliance, I'm constantly in awe of the meta writers. That shit is not easy.

It takes way longer than we think, to make it neat and readable, adding gifs or shots to illustrated a point, sometimes wasting so much time finding the gif you want in the mess that is the gif search (I understand it now, cause yesterday I was on the hunt and it would've been quicker to make the damn gifs), and reviewing it before posting, changing it in the process, sometimes leaving it in drafts because the idea is not completed. I'm tired just thinking about this. I'm not able to do that. Sure I can talk for hours about this stuff but actually organize my ideas into a coherent point of view and writing it down. Nope. Not me. So bravo meta writers. I applaud you.

And of course all the people that share the stuff that really matters. Like the colours, the wardrobe, the places we see, the news about what's coming, language nuances, pictures of the pretty people in sometimes ridiculous or beautiful outfits, sometimes the pretty people before shirts were invented, and some of the funniest commentary I ever encountered.

I don't wanna single people out by tagging them because truly there are way too many. So I just want to thank some people that helped me navigate this place and made this time so enjoyable. First and foremost. @twig-tea You were the first person I talked to here and you were so kind and patient with me and my awkwardness and lack of knowledge of how this place works. She also writes great meta and is brilliant and everyone should be following her. @lurkingshan because of the Sahara-Sensei post that you tagged me in and made me feel so seen. @pharawee because IFYLITA just wouldn't have been the same without your sets. @respectthepetty because she helped get the colour coded subs right and she appreciates the bokeh in all its glory. @itsallaboutbl for screaming with me in portuguese. @mikuni14 Because she's been so incredible kind to me. @iguessitsjustme because of many reasons. And If I ever reblogged anything from you, consider yourself tagged in this post. All of you are amazing. And finally...

@blmpff for a lot but mostly for the most unexpected and incredible moment I experienced in this short time. The day that a bird took over my dash. Khun Feathers was such a treat and this masterpiece was the highlight of the day.

image by @blmpff It's been a wonderful year and I look forward to see what happens tomorrow. Wishing you all a happy new year!💜

[if-loki-was-a-fox]

I just randomly found ur blog and am now OBSESSED with the whole avian!mumbo concept

…….tell me everything there needs to be known abt it please I want to draw little bird boy (even tho my main way of doodlin mumbo is vampire but I WANT BIRD)

(apologies for the ramble I live laugh love moustache man)

(here's the previous avian!mumbo post for anyone curious)

It has taken me far too long to get the chance to respond to this ask and I have been so impatient because adjsaklfhaskghjd someone actually saw and enjoyed my unedited babbling about avian!mumbo :')

anyways I think I already said most of what I have coherent ideas on, and the rest is just nebulous vibes and happiness and fluff and hurt/comfort potential, but! I can share doodles and also reiterate/expand upon stuff I have already said

(putting it below a cut so I can make it soso long)

WING FLAPPIES!! I feel like this would definitely be something he'd appreciate about having wings, because I feel like it would be a more satisfying expression of emotion than like. stomping or bouncing or whatever. He would also totally struggle to control his avian body language, you can read his wings/ears/tail like a book, he's so unused to paying attention to and stifling his bird gestures. (Grian finds this beyond hilarious especially, because he can read Mumbo even better than everyone else being another avian)

His wings are red and black, though I haven't entirely decided if I'm gonna switch which goes where to make it match Grian's wings better. Since Grian is a Scarlet Macaw, Mumbo really ought to be too, but that would look just. so goofy. with his color scheme

AND SPEAKING OF LOOKING GOOFY- his wings look so silly for the first couple weeks. Until the feathers grow in properly, they're just kind of gradually more fluffy. raw chicken. wings. stuck to his back. because that's what baby parrots look like apparently! And then also pin feathers, before finally being pretty feathery bird wings

He also just accidentally passively collects the other members of Boatem's clothes. Grian does this too, but intentionally. Mumbo just does it without realizing and then gets confused about it because he doesn't understand the whole nesting thing, so someone else has to explain it to him

Oh and Mumbo tries to just go about his life without any changes or accommodations for his wings at first, because he doesn't want to ruin his clothes or generally have to change his routines. Grian and the others do not put up with this and persuade him to take proper care of the wings instead (<- this is a constant uphill battle for months)

On a more overarching note, Mumbo initially Does Not Like the wings, because they're just tiny and kind of ugly things that get in the way of his elytra and make him have to get all his shirts edited and they don't really do anything but cause him problems. Then once the wings start getting feathers and stuff and they have to start making preparations for learning to fly, it kind of becomes a bit of a bonding thing that brings Boatem together, with Mumbo starting to get used to them and accept them, and everyone else being able to help out with their care some (preening, stretches and exercises...).

Ultimately (probably sometime around HC 9), Mumbo ends up quite loving his wings in the long run. Once they're fully grown they're actually pretty impressive (since he's so tall they end up being a fair bit larger than Grian's, much to his annoyance) and Mumbo ends up putting a fair bit of effort into their upkeep and keeping them all nice looking (at least, when he's not too busy with other projects). He does still find a bunch of the other avian traits a little embarrassing (nesting, chirping, dietary restrictions, wings giving away his thoughts...) but he gets used to them.

[cherubchoirs]

Kinda morbid, what would happen if Gabriel actually did try to get rid of his tail in his breakdown…

(see this!)

mentions of body image issues, depersonalization, and self harm //

he does at least speak it, if not actually move to attempt it - the tail is more than just itself, though it is a noxious entity to him when it grows from a body he's having an increasingly difficult time understanding as his own. however, its presence is compounded by how it represents the end of his tragedy as until that point, the trauma was still unfolding and putting a moratorium on his grief over the death of the archangel. now the storm ends, his mind no longer caught up in surviving or simply reacting, instead having to see the destruction and count it, hold in his hands the very little he has left - with the tail his halo finally falls, the glory that marked him to other angels as a face does. he is now unrecognizable, a nameless demon to all the citizens in heaven that had once adored him. and it breaks him. it feels in that moment like there is nothing left of gabriel, like he inhabits someone else, and the unspeakable grief of it overtakes him, washes him in an anger similar to the one he felt when the light was first ripped out of him. he feels trapped in a husk, cold, empty, in pain, everything diametrically opposed to his exalted existence as an angel. and the tail represents all of it, it is the monument of his loss.

for some minutes there are no words he can find, but when he finally tries to speak, tries to express anything to v1 beside him (it is waiting silently, seeing gabriel on the same edge he was in heresy), he only chokes on the heavenly tongue he defaults to in distress. and that opens a torrent, weaving the language of hell into the extremes only it can express in anger, in hatred, in disgust and despair and deepest lament. v1 listens, as it always has, knowing how much gabriel needs this sort of outlet (words help him, even if nothing he says is of substance or coherent), but it begins to see the depth of his suffering. he had been just barely tolerating all of this, hands white-knuckled and digging in, but now they've let go, damaged so badly they have no strength left. and that agony culminates into turning his pain entirely onto this tail, to curse it, reject it, to say it isn't him, none of this is him, and he doesn't give a shit if he has to hack it off. he just needs it gone, and v1 fully understands that he wants to control and conceal each of these new traits no matter the personal cost. the others had just been easier. it has to stop him as he pulls out one of his broken swords although it's not easy, engaging in a bloody fight that sees gabriel pushing himself far beyond his limits before v1 is able to get him to stop effectively. he wants this body punished, he wants it to crack and bleed and fail for what it's done to an archangel, to one of god's perfect creations. and v1 knows this. it gives him a battle, doing more damage than it would like given his headspace, but eventually, when he's exhausted himself enough, it just holds him. as tight as it can it wraps itself around him, not willing to fight him anymore even if he tries to keep going, even as his demands turn into pleas. it makes him let go of those swords, the ones that have been burning his hands more and more lately, the ones that are far less interested in v1 than burying into that tail.

and i think this is where it speaks with him, when he's calm enough again for it to get anything through to him. he can cut off that tail, but it changes nothing, hurting himself won't bring him forgiveness he doesn't even need. it never would. he doesn't deserve this anguish, his body doesn't deserve it either, and it is not god's to dictate - he is making himself, his free thought and autonomy led him to this body and all the new ways it's grown. and v1 loves it. it knows gabriel doesn't, it can see how disconnected he is from it but it asks him, vocally, to be with it. to let that tail exist with him and see if it doesn't become a part of him. and i think through this, gabriel begins to understand how ingrained heavenly beauty is in him, how strict "perfection" was and to be anything less was to be carnal, to be evil. yet he is at peace with what he did, he considers it the moral choice even if angels had to die by his hand - and perhaps v1 is right. perhaps after all this, he's still searching for divine forgiveness as though he didn't already decide what was right and god himself couldn't change his mind. and cutting off his tail would be to cut off all of that, to reject himself and what he chose even if he wouldn't change it. to bend to god's will still.

(as an aside, if gabriel had succeeded, i see two options: the tail simply regrows, now a permanent part of himself that he isn't allowed to deny. alternatively, the wound would never heal and he would again be left in perpetual pain for doing so. he does do a bit of damage to it at times, but v1 is always there to patch him up, caring gently for each wound in a way that's rare for its destructive hands. in fact, it takes a similar amount of care as it does when touching his wings now, and it makes a clear effort to show each new trait its affection after this. it's hard for gabriel to accept at first, but it does help bridge the deep gap between himself and his new body)

[iridescentis]

VIOLETTA EP5 WOOOO

i love the theme song so much

i love the way ludmila calls tómas 'tom' in a british accent im not sure why she does but it's very funny

ewww gregorio you don't just take someone's glasses off and keep them wtf man

bro broke her heart already and they haven't even spoken longer than 5 minutes get your head out of your ass tómas

i love the dynamic with jade and mati (i think that's his name? that's what she said at least) they are so chaotic

what is león wearing

oh wonderful another boy saving violetta we really need that but also THAT'S HOW YOU LEAVE SOMEONE AFTER HELPING THEM, THAT WAS SWEET!

sir i dont think you can just expel someone because you want to

jade is so much fun

violetta i love you but what the fuck was that dramatic ass run upstairs honey

SHE HAS A POINT if she told him what happened she'd be grounded or something

fran you are embarrassing yourself

my loves <333 they can do no wrong i adore them

oh nooo the second embarrassment is killing me tómas what are you doing???

STOP CUTTING HER OFF what do you mean 'you speak the same language' YOU THINK HER NAME IS OLGA AND THAT SHE WORKS THERE YOU ARE SPEAKING YOUR OWN LANGUAGE SIR

IM SORRY GREGORIO THROWING A TANTRUM IS SO FUNNY sir as i said previously you need wine and a bath hun

okay...so león is planning to steal violetta from tómas who doesn't even have her in the first place do any of these kids have coherent thoughts

awh i could cry over angie and vilu they are the sweetest

pablo if you are in love with angie please say it now i would like to plan your future for you <3333 THE WAY HE LOOKS AT HER

why does everyone think it is the end of the world for violetta to like a boy like this is really not a big thing

angie... this is not an endearing moment he is a bad father please run I REPEAT THIS IS NOT ENDEARING HE IS A BAD FATHER

girl...honey... stalking is not the key to a boyfriend

SIR ARE YOU IN LOVE WITH MY WIFE??? FUCK OFF THAT IS MY WIFE

YOU CAN'T HUNT YOUR DAUGHTER'S 'BOYFRIEND' THAT'S NOT HOW LIFE WORKS

i love the mixed song

LET HER LIVE LIKE SHE SAID MAN WHY IS SHE BEING IMPRISONED

pablo needs a raise for dealing with all of this

YES ANGIE TELL HIM

OH??? ARE WE FINALLY GOING TO THE SCHOOL?? please for fuck sake it's been five episodes can we please go to the school violetta

ALRIGHTY THAT'S IT :D

[mjjune]

Hi buddy! Its Athena, I'm sending this out to all my mutuals - what got you into writing, what inspires you, who inspires you and what music inspires you to write? what do you love about writing?

Hello new mutual!!

Oh man, I don't know what got me into writing other than it's just how my brain works, and even before I could physically write, I think I just knew that I needed a lot of words, and stories, to get the ideas across the way that they needed to. I think that's really what I love most about writing, is that it seems to be the best way for me to communicate and get the ideas I'm exploring across to others in a way that's actually coherent. Speaking just doesn't work for me. Writing does. And finally having others see and understand these ideas the way I understand them is why I write.

My friends inspire me, my favorite authors inspire me, other languages inspire me, my favorite music inspires me! Writers here on writeblr inspire me <3

[borom1r]

ace attorney asks!! (I'm sorry you're having a night,, I hope it doesn't stay that way ❤❤) ummm I would actually love to hear if you have any side/case-specific characters you're fond of and why!! & if you'd like smth more specific, I would love to hear abt either maya + miles bestie-isms or maybe how you think franziska & phoenix's relationship is after he and miles are officially together!!!

I feel like this is sooo obvious but Jake Marshal!! also Ron and Dessie DeLite!

idk that I have a lot of specific Thoughts abt them but they were all rlly standout characters to me

I also enjoyed Hugh and Robin, actually— Robin is so transfem to me. in my heart of hearts she’s trans 💞

there r honestly so many characters I wld love to see Come Back who like, obviously Won’t but still. Godot I am biting u soso much. this is not coherent im sorry but I would rlly truly genuinely love a prequel focusing on Mia n Diego like pleeeeeeease!!! PLEASE!!!!!!! give Mia her own game for realsies it’s what she deserves 😩

+ like OUGH. Maya Miles bestie hours.. I think, particularly early on wrt him n Phoenix reconnecting, he can be.. not more GENUINE per se, but he certainly puts less pressure on himself to try and hit some like. ideal the way he does w Phoenix. and not even necessarily consciously, but like, Maya doesn’t have this idealized childhood savior version of him propped up in her head.

and this is like, Me Projecting bc hey I can do that :3 but I’ve started trying 2 like. give myself more space to actually BE nonverbal when im overstimulated instead of forcing myself to maintain verbal communication— and I think Maya knows sign language from her childhood with Mia (Mia figuring out quickly that it was a good way for them to communicate if/when Maya went non-verbal— and Mia probably being the only person she felt comfortable signing with bc, well, she’s so bubbly and outgoing and really, she can’t POSSIBLY be non-verbal, they all know the moment she TRIES she’ll be talking their ears off!! So Maya forces herself to talk around the adults and signed with Mia).

and her recognizing overstimulation in Miles before he’s even really giving himself the space to recognize it himself— coming over to annoy him because he NEVER visits Phoenix and she gets it but she MISSES him and… stopping when she sees the way his shoulders hunch and his fingers clench around his pen and he’s staring pointedly at the papers on his desk because he’s been TRYING to focus, trying to force himself to function like a NORMAL adult (except not really; he’s aiming for Von Karma standards whether he wants to admit it or not and that’s not exactly normal). Maya gently tapping the desk to get him to look and signing, and the mixture of relief and sheer confusion when he realizes she’s providing accommodations he’d never admit to needing while also having absolutely no idea what she just said.

That first evening passes with Maya signing while speaking softly, and Miles writing his responses on a spare notepad, but slowly he learns more and more from her until he’s practically fluent too— they can spend a whole evening conversing about the chaos of the legal world and the equally chaotic reworks to Steel Samurai lore without ever saying a word out loud, and those are moments Miles always treasures

(and, when Phoenix stops him one night when he’s particularly overstimulated, clumsily signing “it’s okay, Maya’s teaching me” Miles feels so grateful to know her that he could, possibly, cry. He admits to nothing, but he does text her that she’s his favorite person in the world. She quickly responds “we both know that’s actually Nick, but ily2 ^u^” and it’s definitely one of those moments where it hits him that he Has A Family Now, For The First Time In Years)

ALSO Maya feels very much like the kind of person to say “I love you” very liberally. Especially because of how young she lost Mia + feeling like she didn’t let her sister know enough, even if her feelings are complicated. so I’m sure you can imagine the sort of (very hushed) gossip that goes around whenever people catch Maya leaving (Miles giving her a one armed hug and unable to stop himself from smiling a little even as he TRIES to glower intimidatingly at his subordinates while Maya exclaims “okay BYE Mr. Edgeworth LOVE YOU!! Good luck in court, you better come to game night!!!”)

(he does, of course, come to game night)

(Maya has definitely channeled a spirit to win at LEAST twice and they have yet to decide if it counts as cheating or not since technically it’s not looking up an answer!! but also it is kinda looking up an answer.)

+ lastly ok I’ve probs talked abt this before but I do like the idea that they maintain the sort of silly rivalry they start with but more in a “if you turn my brother into even MORE of a fool you WILL face my wrath, Phoenix Wright” “pffft yeah right, Maya will never let you live it down if you break out the whip at dinner on Saturday” “…I will exact my revenge in other, more subtle ways.”

She sends him a Top Ten Scariest Things Caught On Camera compilation at three in the morning one night (thank you different time zones, she loves being in a different time zone) and he texts back “I hate you >:(“ but they are both laughing. There’s no one he would trust to take care of Maya more than her and there’s no one she would trust to care for Miles more than him.

Also I’ve DEF talked abt it from Phoenix’s POV (texting her at night to confirm Maya’s safe when he has nightmares about her being kidnapped/in danger) but Franziska ABSOLUTELY texts him every now and then like “Miles is there?” and Phoenix knows she would never outright admit to either him or Miles how much Miles’ “death” affected her. Asking if he’s there (safe, nearby, a phone call away) is as close they’ll get — Phoenix always responds as soon as he can (“yep, we’re making dinner!” or “he’s at his office, I’ll see him in forty minutes for lunch” or “he and Maya have a coffee date, you can double check with her but I wouldn’t wanna interrupt their Steel Samurai gossip session”)

She doesn’t always respond, but Phoenix gets it, and he’s always happy to let her know— he’s okay just getting a one-word (or sometimes one letter, if it’s super late for her) response about Maya, but he knows she needs more detail to put her mind at ease (Evidence is key, after all; you can’t build a perfect case without all the information) and he’s happy to provide

They definitely all have dinner together once a week (either just the four of them out at a restaurant, or their entire “family” at one of their houses— Miles and Phoenix, Trucy, Maya and Franziska, Klavier and Apollo, Pearl, Kay, Emma, Athena and Juniper, Simon if he’s feeling up to group interactions, Gumshoe and Maggie if they’re in town, even Larry sometimes). It gets hectic and usually they only get EVERYONE together for holidays, but all of them spent so long with nothing, losing everyone they loved, that having such an ABUNDANCE of connection really is something for them to revel in.

[f-o-x-t-r-o-t]

Steph/Jay/Rose thoughts include: Rose and Steph on either side of Jason taking turns edging him through the night while pawing and sucking at his chest with whoever gets him to cum gets to pick the strap for tonight.

Rose ordering the two of them to only speak in one specific language through the night and if they break that then they don't get to cum.

Steph having Jason deepthroat her more normal-shaped dildos to lube it up and then kinda tying it up like a gag and going down on Rose while he watches with his mouth occupied. Taking it out of his mouth after the two get at least 3 orgasms from each other and it's just covered in his saliva, praising him for keeping it in so long while he gasps for air.

Jay and Steph getting teased and edged by Rose for literal days on end, there are no breaks or safe times, they wanna get themselves off so badly but she hasn't given them permission yet so they just keep waiting and waiting, and when she finally gives them permission the two just straight up tackle her onto the floor.

OH! These are all so hot!

Jason's contacts are acting up one day and they find out Jason needs and owns glasses so they come to a logical conclusion and fuck him in them. They keep slipping off from sweat, the lens are fogging up from the heat of his body, and there's tons of condensation build-up. One of them keeps trying to straighten them out but the glasses immediately start skewing and bouncing again from the other's thrusts. Jason has to read an entire chapter of his current book out loud and he's not allowed to cum until he completes the chapter. Every time he messes up a word or stutters, he has to start the chapter over. Let's just say it takes a while for him to get off that day.

I think Steph deserves to be bratty. She's patronizing when she doms, but when subbing, she loves to be difficult. Steph gets into this mixed dom/sub headspace when Rose is domming her but Jason's the one pleasuring her. So Jason's fucking her being the delightful service top he is, crying and losing it over how good it feels and Steph is telling him what a good boy he's being. But she's constantly mouthing off to Rose who orchestrated this whole position. So Rose has Jason stop and pull out then flips Steph over and spanks her because "Your disobedience leads to both of you being punished."

Rose has an insatiable libido, it comes with the accelerated healing territory. So she's always dtf, but sometimes she really likes edging her subs on and won't let them touch her. This in turn acts as a form of edging to herself which works Rose up even more. As a way to raise the stakes, she'll take one of their dildos and fuck herself with it in front of Jay+Steph. She'll never admit that they feel better than the dildo [they know ;)] but the sounds of their whines and pleas do help her get off even stronger.

Rose wrapping a hand around one of their necks and kissing them softly while they grind against her thigh

Steph or Rose pulling Jason down to sit on their lap, but he doesn't sit all the way/relax because he's afraid of being too heavy and hurting them. They roll their eyes and yank him so he's cradled or straddling them and give him kisses. Then they have him ride their thigh because even though Jason has the thighs to end all thighs, Rose and Steph aren't slacking on leg day. He's hiding his face in their shoulder or neck while moaning mindlessly.

Steph, who just absolutely loves having her hair pulled and emits the most erotic moans when anyone does

Steph, who loves to talk during sex, and Jason, who's just downright noisy (but not actually...ya know, coherent) having Rose strap them to ball gags as punishment. Or Rose saying they have to be completely quiet during sex or they aren't allowed to cum.

Rose is away on a mission and calling them. Her guiding Jason through touching himself & how he needs to cum. Steph shadowing to make sure he's following orders and rules to a T. Jason being jealous because Steph has free range to touch herself whenever, but Jason can only cum when both of them are there to guide.

when they're all worn out from a long, brutal mission, the sex is soft and loving. Holding hands and soft caress as a way to apologize for the rest of the world. Rose, usually a strict dom who likes to have her rules followed, melting to absolute putty, the softest dom ever, when she recognizes what her partners need.

[bruciemilf]

,,,, russian bruce wayne

Russian Bruce Wayne

RUSSIAN BRUCE WAYNE -

Listen. Listen. Not fully compacted into something coherent, but I'll do my best, because this idea has been haunting me, -

SO he's russian on his mother's side!! Martha Wayne immigrated in America when she was a teenager, nothing to her name but hope in her chest and her mother's pearl necklace in her pocket

She always got ugly looks for speaking in her native language and her accent. Slowly, it melted into something perfectly English, but she still spoke Russian at home and especially to Bruce

Little Bruce loved Baba Yaga as a kid and dressed like her for Halloween every single year; Nobody really understood it, but a glare from Alfred was enough to fill a bag full of candy

Martha and Bruce would talk shit in front of Thomas' faux philanthropist friends, but they were on wildly different spectrums

Martha, whispering: You see that man, Brucie? He sold his soul to greed. He's a worm of a human and his morals are rotten. That's why his eyes are dead

Bruce: haha, he's balding at 25

Martha, Alfred, and Bruce cooking beef stroganoff, syriniki, borscht, and Bruce's absolute favorite- pirozhki.

Martha also played the piano and LOVED Swan Lake so, so much. It was the one song that calmed Bruce during night terrors.

When he reaches eight, it all stops.

He eventually reconnects with his Russian roots in his 20s, when he's in college and his literature teacher shares a DISRESPECTFULLY incorrect opinion about one of Dostoevsky's works.

His teacher scoffed, " Well. Didn't know we had a Russian citizen here. "

" Not a citizen, but I AM a Russian descendent. My mother was an immigrant. That's kind of how America was formed. It's a pretty significant thing that happened."

Imagine you're a Gotham criminal and Batman starts muttering things about you in Russian. Somehow that's even more intimidating than anything he does.

" I can't believe they're more afraid of someone who doesn't speak English than a guy who beats up people dressed as a bat."

Alfred hums, sloooowly pulling away the vodka cereal Bruce made. " I can't imagine why. You're the poster child for mental health, sir."

" Not funny, papachka"

" For you."

When Dick is brought into the nest, Bruce struggles a bit with showing his affections; He only has money to offer, but Dick is happily uninterested in that, and seeks Bruce out instead.

BRUCE ABSOLUTELY SPENDS AN ENTIRE NIGHT TRYING TO PERFECT HIS MOTHER'S BAKLAVA FOR DICK!!

yes he's supposed to be on patrol. No, he doesn't care, Jim. It's all worth it when Dick takes a single bite and he has stars in his eyes and vines his little but strong arms around him, " this is PERFECT! Thank you so much, dad"

Air freezes in his blood, " ... Of course, ptichka."

He absolutely uses russian proverbs all the time (mostly when his children need to be reprimanded and reminded that making jokes is illegal when they're on duty)

JASON AND BRUCE FIGHTING OVER TRANSLATIONS AND CONTEXT IN ENGLISH ADAPTATIONS OF SLAVIC LITERATURE!

" PAPI, THAT'S NOT WHAT THEY MEANT TO SAY!"

" MISKHA I'M SO GRATEFUL YOUR GRANDMA ISN'T HERE, BECAUSE SHE'D DIE AGAIN IF SHE HEARD YOU SAY THAT!"

Damian 100000% prides himself on knowing russian and communicating with Bruce the smoothest.

It becomes a competition soon enough. Bruce is SO tired but the way they butcher words is funny, so he just pretends they're right.

The League finds out when Bruce snaps and calls Hal Cyka in a low, angry mutter while stomping away from his stupidity. " ... Bless you? What did he call me?"

Diana, struggling so hard not to laugh. " He said you were a genius."

" Huh. Had no idea he was French."

Meanwhile Clark is losing HIS shit because wow, Bruce's russian might be the hottest thing he ever heard. Please, this dork would absolutely try to learn Russian and talk to Bruce more.

He's absolutely horrible with it but Bruce is just very excited. He definetly chuckles (which. Wow. Clark couldn't even make him GRIN 3 weeks ago) " You just asked me if I sleep with my dentist."

" ...Oh. I...Was trying to ask you for drinks. You can kill me right now. Please?"

" Maybe another time, solnyshko. Take me for a drink first."

Clark inhales. " oKaY thank yoU."

[softguarnere]

hey there! It's the local Joe Toye admirer here hehe

first of all — thank you so much for your writings! they're awesome and bring me lots of happiness, and you nail the character's personalities pretty well ❤️

so I was thinking, could you write some headcannons of our mostly badass, but this time soft Toye falling for badass fem!reader?

Thank you in advance 🙏

When You Talk To An Officer

Joe Toye x reader

A/N: Anon that is so sweet💖🥺Thank you so much, that really made my day!! I usually try to work on requests in the order that I get them, but I had just watched a badass Speirs clip that came up on my feed when I got this one, and immediately took inspiration from that to write this. I didn't feel like I could organize this into headcanons coherently, so I hope you're cool with a whole fic! (This is written about the show's fictional depiction of the men. Absolutely no disrespect to the real life veterans!)

Warnings: Mild language, alcohol, a fight, sexism

"Oh-ho!" The sound of Guarnere's glass slamming onto the table punctuates whatever point he's gearing up to make as he fixes his friend with a mischievous smile. "So you are in love with (Y/N)!"

Joe's head snaps back towards his friends. "What?"

Guarnere's smile is so broad that he can hardly speak. "No one talks about someone like that unless they're in love with them."

"And he does talk about (Y/N) a lot," Perconte points out.

"All because I said that I wondered where she was?" Joe asks. He glances around the pub, packed full of paratroopers, and spots (Y/N) sitting at a booth in the corner with some of the other female paratroopers. She's his friend, and he knows that sometimes she takes flak for being a woman; it's not unusual for him to wonder if she's okay . . . Is it?

"It's not just that," Guarnere insists. "We all like her. I mean, she's great, and most of the men have had a little crush on her at some point. But we're in England, running wild on passes, and you can't stop looking at her. Admit it --" He leans across the table to emphasize his point. "--you've got the hots for (Y/N)!"

Joe has liked girls before. He's dated girls before, back in high school, before the war. If he were in love, he's pretty sure he would know it.

(Y/N) doesn't make him feel at all like he's felt about girls in the past. As a teenager, he would crack jokes and make smooth comments to get the attention of girls that he liked. He'd go on runs past their house, offer to help carry their books -- things that would impress them. But he doesn't feel the need to do any of that with (Y/N). She's not the kind who needs impressing. (If anything, he's too busy being impressed by her to worry about impressing her.) She's not like those other girls, who seem dull and bland in comparison. When she walks into a room, it's like the colors are siphoned away from everything except her, making her vibrant and impossible to miss. The way that he thinks about her is different from how he's thought about other girls.

And he's thought about her, sure -- he wonders if she's okay when they're in combat; thinks about how her hair looks pretty when she gets to wear it down instead of pulled back and tucked under her helmet; how soft it would probably be if he ran his hands through it; wondered how her smaller hand would fit into his bigger one if they held hands . . .

The realization hits him like a punch in the gut.

"Holy shit," he realizes aloud. "I think I might be in love with her."

Luz raises his eyebrows as he laughs into his drink. "And you're the last one to know!"

In his shocked state, he's only vaguely aware of his friends thumping him on the back, smiling, some money exchanging hands between Luz and Perconte. They're all celebrating his realization while he stares into his drink, wondering where to go from here. It's not like he can ask her out. They're friends. They're in the middle of a war. And she's just been promoted.

Before he can say anything else, silence falls across the pub, all heads snapping to a corner on the other side of the room, near the bar, where a voice he would recognize anywhere has grabbed everyone's attention.

"What did you just say to me?" (Y/N)'s voice stirs the tension in the pub as everyone stares between her and a man that Joe only vaguely recognizes. In a second, all the Easy Company men in the pub are on their feet and moving closer, ready to defend one of their own without hesitation.

"I Company son-of-a-bitch," Joe hears someone from Easy whisper as they move in.

The man at the table rolls his eyes and nods to (Y/N), who's flanked by some other female paratroopers from other companies. "I said that it's bad enough that you're takin' our jobs as soldiers, and that it's a real shame to see you all takin' our beer."

"We have just as much of a right to be in the service and the bar as you."

Behind the bar, the pub's owner is looking worried. Paratroopers have gained a reputation for causing trouble while out on passes, and this man has obviously heard a few of them.

"Hey, now," he pipes up. "Don't go getting rowdy. Everyone was having a pleasant time."

(Y/N) presses her lips together in a polite, but forced, smile. "Don't worry, sir. I won't let any of my men get out of hand."

The man from I Company snorts. "Oh yeah. Your men. Forgot they put you in charge. Look good for the history books, I suppose."

"For the record, I earned these wings, just like I earned my position as Lieutenant. I worked hard for what I have."

Being a female paratrooper is controversial, and a lot of the men have made it known that they don't approve of their comrades. Rumors about other women have made the rounds and then fizzled out, but (Y/N) is different. Something about her has always commanded respect, even when she was new to Toccoa. And when she was promoted to Lieutenant, the rumor mill kicked into overtime as angry men spat venom behind her back. At this point, the only other person with a reputation like that proceeding them and a trail of rumors following them is Speirs.

"Worked hard?" The I Company man raises an eyebrow. "Not what I've heard. You probably became an officer through . . . less conventional methods."

Joe would have cracked by now -- he feels like he is; he wants to deck this guy, but everyone in Easy knows that (Y/N) is perfectly capable of fighting her own battles, and they won't step in unless she needs it. Instead, his hands clench into fists by his side. His chest hurts, listening to this guy and not being able to help defend her.

"Private, if you're referring to the sexist rumors and comments people enjoy making about me, then I can assure you that there are better uses of your time than filling your head with that garbage." She looks him up and down. "Maybe you ought to work on paying closer attention to such details in yourself -- particularly your uniform. You are aware that your jump wings are pinned upside down?"

Snickers pass through the crowd as the man looks down and blushes, realizing that she's right. The sound only makes his face redden more deeply as anger chases embarrassment. He should just take the loss and get over it, but he can't let it go.

"Thanks, Doll," he says. "I appreciate it."

Joe steps forward, but Luz grabs his arm. Wait.

(Y/N) face turns to stone. "What did you say to me?"

"I said thanks, Doll."

It's happens so fast that if he hadn't been standing so close, Joe probably would have missed it. (Y/N) turns her head slightly, like she's about to say something to one of the girls beside her, and Joe can see a smirk on her face that would give Liebgott -- smirk and sass extraordinaire -- a run for his money. Then suddenly her hand is pulled back past her shoulder, and then arching down, straight towards the I Company man's face. The pop! that echoes through the bar as she slaps him is the only sound for a second, and then as everyone collectively realizes what has just happened, it's followed by shocked gasps and a few cheers from E Company.

My God, Joe thinks, impressed.

She takes a step towards the man and silence falls once again. "When you address your female officers, you will say 'Ma'am'."

He clutches his jaw where she's just hit him. It's turning red. He glares at her, and then acts like he's going to stand up and walk away. But (Y/N) grabs him by the tie and forces him back down into his seat.

"Let me hear you say it."

"Yes . . ." he says, his voice sounding very small, like he would rather be anywhere else. Tension hangs heavy as everyone watches him force out, "Ma'am."

She nods. "Good." Then she steps back, takes some money from her uniform pocket, and tosses it onto the bar, towards the pub owner. "That should cover it." She turns to go, but stops when she sees everyone standing still, continuing to watch her. She nods again, this time at the onlookers. "If anyone else has any issues with me or my rank, voice them now."

No one speaks.

"Well in that case, good night to you all."

When she's gone, noise fills the pub all at once as everyone repeats what they just witnessed. Other companies are awash with excitement, not even caring when the pub owner demands that everyone settles their tabs and go before anything else can happen.

"Damn," Joe breathes. He's seen you in combat and in training, he's been worried for you before, but he's never seen you go up against someone that way before. Once again, you've impressed him. It stirs a strange mixture of pride and concern in his chest.

"Well," Luz says, draining what's left in his cup. "Should we try our luck elsewhere?"

His friends try to remember other pubs nearby, puzzle out what might still be open, but Joe feels removed from it. He takes out some money and tosses it onto the table, with a vague, "I'll pay you back if that's not enough" as he makes his way to the door.

He's not sure where he's going. Back to where he's quartered, probably. He could stay with his friends, but something about tonight has drained him. Whatever tender feelings that she inspires to stoke the flames in his heart have causes it to feel heavy on her behalf, even if she did handle the situation better than any of the other officers would have. Yet at the same time, there was a kind of thrill to watching her in action.

Ahead of him on the street, through the darkness, he makes out a familiar shape.

"Lieutenant!" he calls out.

He watches her stop, turn stiffly, and then immediately relax when she recognizes who's coming towards her.

"Joe." She sounds relieved to see a friend.

"Are you okay?" He asks. (Another thing about (Y/N) that's different, he realizes -- he's never been so concerned for a girl before.)

She tries to brush it off. "Oh, that? I'm fine. Just another day in the life of a female officer."

"No, really, (Y/N)."

Her expression softens, and he feels like he's just watched a knight removing her armor. There's not shield for her vulnerability now. "I will be."

The way she says it makes him want to hug her, to go fight that guy, to do anything to make it better. And he could, because they're friends, and that's what friends do -- but would someone as capable of handling herself want him to do that?

"I appreciate you checking on me," she says quietly, offering him a smile. "Glad to know you didn't forget about me once I got promoted."

"Yeah, well," he teases. "You're still the same old (Y/N)." (But different, somehow, now that he's beginning to decipher these emotions she causes him to feel.)

She hugs him, and Joe feels like he's just gotten something that he didn't know he was waiting for. And then all too soon, the embrace ends, and she smiles at him again as she gives him a silly solute and says, "Bright and early, trooper! That's an order!" in a poor imitation of Major Horton before she heads down the street.

"Yes, Ma'am!" he calls after her, the distance between them tugging on his heartstrings.

When she's out of sight, he has to lean against the wall of a building and take a minute to breathe and get his wits about him. He's Joe Freakin' Toye. So why is he so out of it? So off his game?

That's when he knows that his friends are right; he's fallen for her -- hard.

[pumpkinpaix]

hello there, hope you're having a nice day <3

so i've been reading a lot of fics lately, uk for sanity's sake, and i've noticed that in most of them, lwj doesn't use contractions (eg., says do not instead of don't)?? and i think he doesn't in the novel either but i don't remember lol so i can't be sure but anyway that made me curious - does chinese have contractions as well? does he not use it bc it's informal?

hello there! I’m doing all right, i started to answer this ask while waiting for a jingyeast loaf to come out of the oven 😊 many thanks to @bookofstars for helping me look over/edit/correct this post!! :D

anyways! the answer to your questions are complicated (of course it is when is anything simple with me), so let’s see if I can break it down--you’re asking a) whether chinese has contractions, b) if it does, how does they change the tone of the sentence--is it similar to english or no?, and c) how does this all end up with lan wangji pretty much never using contractions in english fic/translation?

I’m gonna start by talking about how formality is (generally) expressed in each language, and hopefully, by the end of this post, all the questions will have been answered in one way or another. so: chinese and english express variations in formality/register differently, oftentimes in ways that run contrary to one another. I am, as always, neither a linguist nor an expert in chinese and english uhhh sociological grammar? for lack of a better word. I’m speaking from my own experience and knowledge :D

so with a character like lan wangji, it makes perfect sense in english to write his dialogue without contractions, as contractions are considered informal or colloquial. I don’t know if this has changed in recent years, but I was always taught in school to never use contractions in my academic papers.

However! not using contractions necessarily extends the length of the sentence: “do not” takes longer to say than “don’t”, “cannot” is longer than “can’t” etc. in english, formality is often correlated with sentence length: the longest way you can say something ends up sounding the most formal. for a very simplified example, take this progression from least formal to absurdly formal:

whatcha doin’?

what’re you doing?

what are you doing? [standard colloquial]

may I ask what you are doing?

might I inquire as to what you are doing?

excuse me, but might I inquire as to what you are doing?

pardon my intrusion, but might I inquire as to what you are doing?

please pardon my intrusion, but might inquire as to the nature of your current actions?

this is obviously a somewhat overwrought example, but you get the point. oftentimes, the longer, more complex, more indirect sentence constructions indicate a greater formality, often because there is a simultaneous decreasing of certainty. downplaying the speaker’s certainty can show deference (or weakness) in english, while certainty tends to show authority/confidence (or aggression/rudeness).

different words also carry different implications of formality—in the example, I switched “excuse me” to “pardon me” during one of the step ups. pardon (to me at least) feels like a more formal word than “excuse”. Similarly, “inquire” is more formal than “ask” etc. I suspect that at least some of what makes one word seem more formal than one of its synonyms has to do with etymology. many of english’s most formal/academic words come from latin (which also tends to have longer words generally!), while our personal/colloquial words tend to have germanic origins (inquire [latin] vs ask [germanic]).

you’ll also notice that changing a more direct sentence structure (“may I ask what”) to a more indirect one (“might I inquire as to”) also jumps a register. a lot of english is like this — you can complicate simple direct sentences by switching the way you use the verbs/how many auxiliaries you use etc.

THE POINT IS: with regards to english, more formal sentence structures are often (not always) longer and more indirect than informal ones. this leads us to a problem with a character like lan wangji.

lan wangji is canonically very taciturn. if he can express his meaning in two words rather than three, then he will. and chinese allows for this—in extreme ways. if you haven’t already read @hunxi-guilai’s post on linguistic register (in CQL only, but it’s applicable across the board), I would start there because haha! I certainly do Not have a degree in Classical Chinese lit and she does a great job. :D

you can see from the examples that hunxi chose that often, longer sentences tend to be more informal in chinese (not always, which I’ll circle back to at the end lol). Colloquial chinese makes use of helping particles to indicate tone and meaning, as is shown in wei wuxian’s dialogue. and, as hunxi explained, those particles are largely absent from lan wangji’s speech pattern. chinese isn’t built of “words” in the way English is—each character is less a word and more a morpheme—and the language allows for a lot of information to be encoded in one character. a single character can often stand for a phrase within a sentence without sacrificing either meaning or formality. lan wangji makes ample use of this in order to express himself in the fewest syllables possible.

so this obviously leads to an incongruity when trying to translate his dialogue or capture his voice in English: shorter sentences are usually more direct by nature, and directness/certainty is often construed as rudeness -- but it might seem strange to see lan wangji’s dialogue full of longer sentences while the narration explicitly says that he uses very short sentences. so what happens is that many english fic writers extrapolated this into creating an english speech pattern for lan wangji that reads oddly. they’ll have lan wangji speak in grammatically incoherent fragments that distill his intended thought because they’re trying to recreate his succinctness. unfortunately, English doesn’t have as much freedom as Chinese does in this way, and it results in lan wangji sounding as if he has some kind of linguistic impediment and/or as if he’s being unspeakably rude in certain situations. In reality, lan wangji’s speech is perfectly polite for a young member of the gentry (though he’s still terribly rude in other ways lol). he speaks in full, and honestly, quite eloquent sentences.

hunxi’s post already has a lot of examples, but I figure I’ll do one as well focused on the specifics of this post.

I’m going to use this exchange from chapter 63 between the twin jades because I think it’s a pretty simple way to illustrate what I’m talking about:

蓝曦臣道：“你亲眼所见？”

蓝忘机道：“他亲眼所见。”

蓝曦臣道：“你相信他？”

蓝忘机道：“信。”

[...] 蓝曦臣道：“那么金光瑶呢？”

蓝忘机道：“不可信。”

my translation:

Lan Xichen said, “You saw it with your own eyes?”

Lan Wangji said, “He saw it with his own eyes.”

Lan Xichen said, “You believe him?”

Lan Wangji said, “I believe him.”

[...] Lan Xichen said, “Then what about Jin Guangyao?”

Lan Wangji said, “He cannot be believed.”

you can see how much longer the (pretty literal) english translations are! every single line of dialogue is expanded because things that can be omitted in chinese cannot be omitted in english without losing grammatical coherency. i‘ll break a few of them down:

Lan Xichen’s first line:

你 (you) 亲眼 (with one’s own eyes) 所 (literary auxiliary) 见 (met/saw)？

idk but i love this line a lot lmao. it just has such an elegant feel to me, probably because I am an uncultured rube. anyways, you see here that he expressed his full thought in five characters.

if I were to rewrite this sentence into something much less formal/much more modern, I might have it become something like this:

你是自己看见的吗？

你 (you) 是 (to be) 自己 (oneself) 看见 (see) 的 (auxiliary) 吗 (interrogative particle)？

i suspect that this construction might even be somewhat childish? I’ve replaced every single formal part of the sentence with a more colloquial one. instead of 亲眼 i’ve used 自己, instead of 所见 i’ve used 看见的 and then also added an interrogative particle at the end for good measure (吗). To translate this, I would probably go with “Did you see it yourself?”

contained in this is also an example of how one character can represent a whole concept that can also be represented with two characters: 见 vs 看见. in this example, both mean “to see”. we’ll see it again in the next example as well:

in response to lan xichen’s, “you believe him?” --> 你 (you) 相信 (believe) 他 (him)? lan wangji answers with, “信” (believe).

chinese does not do yes or no questions in the same way that english does. there is no catch-all for yes or no, though there are general affirmative (是／有) and negative (不／没) characters. there are other affirmative/negative characters, but these are the ones that I believe are the most common and also the ones that you may see in response to yes or no questions on their own. (don’t quote me on that lol)

regardless, the way you respond to a yes or no question is often by repeating the verb phrase either in affirmative or negative. so here, when lan xichen asks if lan wangji believes wei wuxian, lan wangji responds “believe”. once again, you can see that one character can stand in for a concept that may also be expressed in two characters: 信 takes the place of 相信. lan wangji could have responded with “相信” just as well, but, true to his character, he didn’t because he didn’t need to. this is still a complete sentence. lan wangji has discarded the subject (I), the object (him), and also half the verb (相), and lost no meaning whatsoever. you can’t do this in english!

and onto the last exchange:

lan xichen: 那么 (then) 金光瑶 (jin guangyao) 呢 (what about)？

lan wangji: 不可 (cannot) 信 (believe)

you can actually see the contrast between the two brothers’ speech patterns even in this. lan xichen’s question is not quite as pared down as it could be. if it were wangji’s line instead, I would expect it to read simply “金光瑶呢？” which would just be “what about jin guangyao?” 那么 isn’t necessary to convey the core thought -- it’s just as how “then what about” is different than “what about”, but “then” is not necessary to the central question. if we wanted to keep the “then” aspect, you could still cut out 么 and it would be the same meaning as well.

a FINAL example of how something can be cut down just because I think examples are helpful:

“I don’t know” is usually given as 我不知道. (this is what nie huaisang says lol) It contains subject (我) and full verb (知道). you can pare this straight down to just 不知 and it would mean the same thing in the correct context. i think most of the characters do this at least once? it sounds more literary -- i don’t know that i would ever use it in everyday speech, but the fact remains that it’s a possibility. both could be translated as “I do not know” and it would be accurate.

ANYWAYS, getting all the way back to one of your original questions: does chinese have contractions? and the answer is like... kind of...?? but not really. there’s certainly slang/dialect variants that can be used in ways that are reminiscent of english contractions. the example I’m thinking of is the character 啥 (sha2) which can be used as slang in place of 什么 (shen2 me). (which means “what”)

so for a standard sentence of, 你在做什么? (what are you doing), you could shorten down to just 做啥? and the second construction is less formal than the first, but they mean the same thing.

other slang i can think of off the top of my head: 干嘛 (gan4 ma2) is also informal slang for “what are you doing”. and i think this is a regional thing, but you can also use 搞 (gao3) and 整 (zheng3) to mean “do” as well.

so in the same way that you can replace 什么 with 啥, you can replace 做 as well to get constructions like 搞啥 (gao3 sha2) and 整啥 (zheng3 sha2).

these are all different ways to say “what are you doing” lmao, and in this case, shorter is not, in fact, more formal.

woo! we made it to the end! I hope it was informative and helpful to you anon. :D

this is where I would normally throw my ko-fi, but instead, I’m actually going to link you to this fundraising post for an old fandom friend of mine. her house burned down mid-september and they could still use help if anyone can spare it! if this post would have moved you to buy me a ko-fi, please send that money to her family instead. :) rbs are also appreciated on the post itself. (* ´▽` *)

anyways, here’s the loaf jingyeast made :3 it was very tasty.

[yourfellowmutereader]

Hi there Al, may I get some general dating headcanons of your favourites Danganronpa characters?

General dating headcanons!

Characters: Mukuro Ikusaba, Hajime Hinata. Mentions of: Non-despair Junko Enoshima, Chiaki Nanami. Reader: G/N, mute. A/N: Sure thing, Al! Ok, just kidding. Just me messing around in my own inbox. Also... kinda OOC because I don't know what's canon and what's not anymore. Currently listening to: Hey Kids by Molina.

Mukuro Ikusaba, the Ultimate Soldier, seemed like a cold and reserved person to you the first time you saw her, walking alongside her sister like a bodyguard of some kind.

That didn't change much even after you started dating: always on guard, making sure nothing happens to you when you're together, even if you two are alone.

There are, however, some times when she gets easily flustered, in contrast to that serious personality of her. A blush always appears on her cheeks when you take her hand or kiss her out of nowhere. She tries her best to cover her face with one of her hands afterwards, too stunned to speak coherently.

She's not the best with verbal or physical affection due to her lack of experience, but she truly tries her best.

For some reason, she likes to call you 'puppy'. You always thought it was ironic: a cold-blooded mercenary from Fenrir calling her beloved one 'puppy'.

She's so, so touch starved. When you two are cuddling, she tends to be the big spoon. She has the need to watch over you, so she holds you tightly, making sure she doesn't let you go.

She does the same when you're sleeping together, holding you and keeping you as close as possible. When you wake up and try to leave... you can't. Not because you don't want to, but because she holds you closer when you try to move, even if she's asleep.

One day, she asked you if you could teach her sign language. She thought it would be easier for you if she could understand it instead of making you write down when you wanted to say something.

To your surprise, she learned extremely fast, mostly because she already knew many signs.

She never uses it herself, but there may be times where she signs 'I love you'. You had to admit it: it always makes you blush.

She enjoys the silence in your quiet conversations, only broken by her soft voice. Sometimes, you think it's impossible for someone like her to have a sister as loud as Junko.

Talking about Junko, Mukuro already introduced you to her. Not because she wanted to, but because the Ultimate Fashionista did nothing but insist once she found out her sister had a partner.

"Sooo, is this the person you were talking about, Mukuro? The one you're dating?" Junko said when she saw you, analyzing you without even trying to hide it. "What was their name again?"

"Why don't you ask them yourself?" was Mukuro's answer. "If they want me to tell you something, they'll tell me."

Mukuro's always like that when it comes to you talking to other people. She doesn't want to make you feel as if you couldn't communicate with others by yourself, so she doesn't interfere unless you ask her to.

She takes a notepad and something to write every time she goes somewhere with you, in case you forget yours. She knows that will most likely not happen, but she likes to be prepared.

"I... I love you, [s/o]. I've never felt this way for someone else before. So please... don't leave my side, all right?"

Just like Mukuro, Hajime doesn't have much experience when it comes to love, so he's kind of confused when he finds himself trying to spend more time with you, blushing and stuttering whenever you're together. He didn't understand why, or better said, he didn't want to admit he was slowly getting feelings for you.

It was Chiaki the one who told him it would be better to confess his feelings than to bottle them up forever.

It should be mentioned that Hajime hadn't told anyone about his crush for you. Chiaki simply knew it all along only by seeing you how nervous he was around you.

As your boyfriend, he tries his best to make sure you're always okay, caring for you and taking you to dates when he has the chance. He tries way too hard. Hajime doesn't want to let you down, as he has felt useless his whole life. He doesn't want you to see him as a useless, talentless person as well.

One day, you hugged him from behind while he was studying, showing him what you had writen on your notepad.

'Hajime, please... don't be so hard on yourself. You may not be an ultimate, but none of them can compare in any way to the person I fell in love with. Don't forget it, okay?'

When he turned back, he saw you signing something. He didn't know sign language, but he could tell what it meant just by looking at your face.

[I love you.]

Since that day, Hajime started to act more like himself and less like the perfect boyfriend prototype.

He's not a big fan of PDA, but he won't complain if you hold his hand while you're walking together.

He likes to call you babe or honey, but nothing too cheesy. At least, not in public.

Even though he doesn't understand sign language, he knows some easy signs you showed to him so you didn't have to wriye everything down. Things such as good morning, thank you, please and sorry, but also I love you, since you used that one pretty often when you were with him.

He drinks a lot of coffee. If you sleep together, you'll probably find a cup of coffee ready for you when you wake up.

The dates he plans are always simple. His favorite place to take you is the park during sunset; calm and peaceful, perfect to enjoy each other's company just the way he wants.

When you're cuddling, he prefers to be the big spoon, even though he will always let you choose. He loves to hold you close as he softly plays with your hair in silence; it gives him a sense of security and helps him calm down.

Sometimes he'll even take your hand and start tracing letters with his finger. At first you thought they were just random letters, but after paying attention, you realized he was spelling actual words such as 'love' or 'sweetheart'.

Expect to receive way more kisses and hugs if you are alone, even if they're quick or small.

"I used to think that having a talent would make me happy, but now... I realized that the only thing I need to be happy is you. Thank you, [s/o]."

[piraticoctopus]

The ADHD has been in full effect this week, and I typed over 2000 words of incomplete and barely coherent Hollow Knight thoughts because I needed to see them written out, so this is my attempt to curate what I wrote. Obviously these are my personal interpretations, so here’s my hot and (possibly) Problematic™️ takes about the Pale Beings. Heavy spoilers ahead (no shit).

Alright, main points summarized:

If we judge morality from a human perspective, the Pale King (PK) gets too much shit while the White Lady (WL) doesn't get enough

WL has no parenting genes because she's a plant. I'm not convinced she feels any attachment to her children other than "yeah I made that"

The simple fact that these characters are not humans, and understanding the nature of what they actually are, makes most arguments against their actions dependent on whether or not the vessels have emotions. In other words, they’re only bad because we as an audience ascribe human-like feelings to the vessels (which is a fascinating topic to dive into on its own, but that would constitute its own entire post, so for now I will just say that I think they can/do have feelings, at the very least to some extent. I think they probably start out more or less “empty” and can develop things from there through exposure and influence).

PK may have caused problems for everyone not by being a bad dad, but by not being bad enough

I just really really love how many ways there are to interpret things with the way the lore is presented. You can go with “PK’s a piece of shit, utter fucking horrible person, never actually cared about his favorite kid and saw them as an object, accidentally made them think he was their dad and gave them feelings, locked them away for eternity with no remorse, and when his kingdom started to fall apart instead of going down with the ship he noped off to the dream realm with his whole palace and hid behind personal guards and walls and walls of buzz saws like the cowardly little bitch he is.” You can beat his corpse off the throne and immediately sit your ass down instead to assert dominance.

And if you don’t dig for more, I feel like that’s where the story leads you. This is all well and good. It’s kinda what I was leaning toward initially, and it makes for some absolutely top-tier jokes and content which I have thoroughly enjoyed.

But this room. This room right here haunts me. It’s obviously a nursery, in the area just before you reach the throne room. (Also note that's a major key version of the shade music.) I think the wiki calls it the White Lady’s room. Which idk, it very well could be, but that feels off to me.

First, I don’t think she’d even fit in the room. And second and more significantly, she very much talks about the Vessels as objects and appears completely detached from the protagonist as she talks to them, even emotionally detached from the Pure Vessel themself, whom she presumably had a part in raising. I mean, her chill attitude toward it all is why I wasn’t 100% convinced I was reading it right (that she really was their mom) when I first spoke with her (that, and because a lot of this game’s dialogue I’ve had to read through more than once to fully comprehend, because the language is funny and my brain is dumb). Because surely if she was speaking to one of her few surviving children she’d have a different reaction, right? Is it a mental defense to distance herself so she doesn’t get attached? Or does she really feel nothing for them?

She mentions feeling “some affection” toward Hornet, which is interesting, as it suggests they actually interacted at some points, and also makes it more jarring that she never says anything similar about her own children. The Pure Vessel is a broken, “tarnished” object that needs to be replaced, and she has no issue with another one of her children replacing it. Compare this to how she speaks about the Pale King (“my beloved Wyrm”), who she does indeed seem to care about.

But really, the Vessels aren’t her “children”. They’re just her “spawn”, as she calls them. But perhaps it isn’t fair to consider that a fault on her part, because she’s a plant creature. And I don’t know about you, but I can’t think of any plants that exhibit parental care of any kind, unless you get extremely generous with how you define it. She likes making babies, not caring for them. And if you’re a species that makes thousands of babies, it makes sense not to be attached to them all, since statistically, most are gonna die before they get very far. And I can’t see PK convincing her to go through with the Vessel project if she was distraught by merely the thought of it (and she says “there is some shame I feel for my part in the deed”. Some? Some???). I guess what I’m getting at is that there’s no evidence she formed a bond with the Pure Vessel, and that there’s also no particular reason to assume she would have or should have.

The vessels clearly don’t require any parental care to survive, since the protagonist is still going, and by my interpretation the White Lady certainly wouldn’t give any to them, which is interesting, because the Pale King is the one people generally seem to throw the most shit at in regards to being a terrible parent. Which, sure, by human standards? Jesus Christ, the guy’s a trainwreck.

But when you consider the nursery, plus the idea that the White Lady talks about the Pure Vessel not as her child but as an object, which to me drives home her complete lack of maternal anything, the implications are just...

PK had 10,000 kids, was only allowed to keep one, wasn't supposed to treat it like his child but clearly at the very least he wanted to, the kid got attached to him and he was still supposed to be distant so he wouldn't ruin the whole plan and make all that sacrifice for nothing. Puts him in a weird dilemma of having to intentionally be a bad dad to be a good ruler. Probably at some point there were doubts about whether the kid was actually "pure" or "hollow" but he saw no choice but to go along with it anyway, and then the time comes and they contain the Radiance and get sealed in a vault. It would already suck to put your (supposedly only remaining (legitimate)) kid in a box never to see them again, but to do so and then the infection starts up again, confirming the concerns that yes, it was “impure”, it did have feelings because it saw you as a parent, and there's absolutely nothing to be done about it now that they’re locked away by themself? Man, I'd crawl off and erase myself from the physical realm, burying all my shame and regret behind merciless platforming challenges only a very specific type of person would ever be able to access, and hide my deepest, most painful secrets in its darkest reaches before resigning myself to die there, too. He locked himself away knowing that everything he tried to do was ultimately useless, him caring may have been what caused the plan to fall apart, and in the end, he’s a failure as both a ruler and a father.

I can just picture PK trying to figure out a way to deal with the Radiance using Void and realizing that void can mold itself to whatever shell it’s put in. But the void creatures he’s made aren’t strong enough for that. It’s gotta have more physical integrity, be something with an actual body. But also, void kills living creatures from too much exposure, and whatever creature it is can’t have its own pre-existing thoughts or will, and he couldn’t just ask his own subjects to volunteer themselves for something that experimental, especially if they’re the ones he’s trying to protect. And just the potential horror of that gradual realization of what does start out with no thoughts or will and has a shell that can be hollowed out and inhabited by void and could be trained to be strong enough to contain the Radiance, something they can get as many as they need to get one that works. 

Imagine him having to pitch that to the tree wife. Like “Okay, hear me out, I don’t like this idea but I don’t know what else to do anymore. We’ve gotta put our unborn children in the Abyss to be consumed by the Void so they’ll hatch as empty Vessels and hopefully one of them will be strong enough to make it to the top, and we can use that one to stop the Radiance.” And she’s just like “Alright, then let’s get to it.”

FUCK, dude.

[ambivalence-and-torpor]

🌠🔥❤️🎨📏🍼🙊☀️💤👁 for STRIIGGAAAAAAAAAAAA my beloved

Oh uhm... ehehe... beloved... ehehe... she's blushing...

🌠 SHOOTING STAR - if they could make any wish with no repercussions, what wish would they make?

Striga wants nothing more than her old family to be back together and happy. Though not in the way they used to be together! She wants her dad to be alive again. She wants everybody to get along, while also living their best lives... She wants Stryxe and Kazuki to be back together again, living happy lives away from the stress of everything else. She wants Kyuuga to be well, safe and happy and to do the things he enjoys, find his calling and follow it. She wants a happy family for her own home and she wants the occasional family get togethers where everybody talks about how things have been, exchanging pleasantries and unpleasantries alike. Maybe they can even bring over new friends and family while everybody is sharing food and just being happy to see each other again, and afterwards they return to their own lives... What Striga wants is so simple and sweet... yet so impossible to attain at this point...

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🔥 FIRE - do they have any self destructive tendencies? what habits do they have that hinder them from becoming their best self?

Striga can get a little one track minded at times. Usually happens when the Rainbowdrinker blood starts boiling, almost like taking over any coherent thought she should be having. It's quite different to how Stryxe experiences it, almost like an all consuming rage, an all consuming hunger, ready to devour whatever comes close enough, ready to jump into any fight no matter how unwinnable. She loses sight of the things that are truly important and sight of self preservation in those moments. Though thankfully she's very aware of this side of hers, so she usually self isolates before it gets that far... usually...

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❤️ RED HEART - their love language(s)?

Acts of service, quality time, gift giving, Striga just likes to be gentle and kind with just about anybody. And while he enjoys getting all of those things himself, I think words of affirmation are what touches him most deeply.

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🎨 PALETTE - can they draw? what do they like to draw?

Good lord, Striga hasn't drawn since he was a lil kid and the things he used to draw were those cute kid like family drawings with Stryxe, Kazuki, Kyuuga, Noxtus and himself as pretty bad but very heartfelt stick figures. They used to hang on the fridge before Striga started feeling too embarrassed. Stryxe has since put them somewhere safe. If Striga would see them these days, he'd probably start crying...

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📏 RULER - is your oc well educated? where did they get their learning from?

I wouldn't say Striga is well educated in a sense of regular school, but she's well versed in many things! She has skills for homesteading, farming, construction, sewing, gardening, cooking and baking, food preservation, hunting, animal husbandry, wiggler care and of course druidic stuff! Most of this she learned from her Pa, Stryxe, though she's since surpassed the old man in skills and knowledge.

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🍼 BABY BOTTLE - what are their thoughts on children?

Striga loves kids! He's got an adopted wiggler as of now! Though he'd love to have multiple life partners and maybe his own wigglers at some point? Though he'd also be super happy to foster more wigglers. It's a bit of a long term dream of his to have a big ass family.

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🙊 SPEAK-NO-EVIL - what is something your oc will refuse to stay quiet about?

Seeing other people being hurt. Striga just can't help himself! He's a bit of a worrywart sometimes and just wants to heal people up when he sees them being injured, bleeding, etc. He doesn't like forcing others into it, but he just can't stop himself, he just... he wants people to be safe and healthy for the most part.

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☀️ SUN - are they a morning person? what is the first thing they do in the morning?

Yep! Striga doesn't mind waking up whenever. She doesn't seem to need all that much sleep to begin with, though first thing she tends to do is check on Revenn, see how he's doing, and then look at the chores for the day.

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💤 SLEEPING - do they fall asleep easily? what helps them sleep?

Striga doesn't fall asleep easily when she's not already tired to begin with. So anything that tires her out basically makes her fall asleep more easily.

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👁️ EYE - what colour are their eyes? do people notice their eyes? is there anything special about them (shows emotion easily, literally magical…)?

The color is a pretty piercing shade of a bright almost neon jade while the sclera is almost black. Striga somewhat inherited the eye color from her dad, Kazuki.

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Send me some Emojis from this Ask Game <3