#so i don't know how well that would've worked

[pedropascallovebot]

Challenging

Luigi Mangione x reader

✧˖°.

a/n: i do my fanfic writing on ao3 now- including ceo killer smut, but i saw that blindfold video and i knew what i had to do and i knew the tumblr girlies were the crowd for this. i'm so sorry i don't know which depraved part of my brain this came from it just happened

cw: blindfolding, edging, author whipping her head back and forth as luigi and reader go back and forth on who the hell is the dom here

⋆˙⟡

It had started off as a joke, really.

Well, no- not a joke. When you quietly told your boyfriend you'd thought he looked "bite-able" in that blindfold, you had said so with a laugh to give yourself the excuse of being totally joking if he wasn't down to let you try the whole concept out in the privacy of his bedroom.

It normally would've been disappointing to leave your friend group's get-together so early- after all, you had movies and drinks planned, but wouldn't you know; an hour after your innocent comment in his ear, your neighbor coincidentally needed a ride to the hospital. Crazy how these things work out.

No, it was not disappointment you felt this time. An all too familiar sensation built between your thighs when his hand gripped the steering wheel, driving a little too fast back home.

You had almost asked your friend for the blindfold, but then you would of had to hear her ask why you'd need one when you were going to drop your neighbor off at the hospital, and you figured it'd be easier to just make do with something from your closet. Which you would- your brain was already brewing with ideas of different scraps of fabric you could use as a makeshift blindfold.

Back to your current predicament: soaking through your underwear, Luigi's fingers the star of the show you're playing in your mind as he drives you both home, and the bulge in his jeans.

"Tell me what's on your mind, love," he smirks, and then he's dragging his free hand that's not operating a moving vehicle up your thigh. Your breath hitches as he runs a thumb gently over the fabric covering your skin.

You stay silent, because if you speak you might just break immediately and beg for him to pull over and fuck you stupid on the side of the road.

He hmphs, delivering a firm smack to your thigh, and you let out a whimper at the stinging.

Luigi is normally a very safe driver, but it is nothing short of an absolute miracle that there were no cops out on the road to pull him over for a speeding ticket. It feels like you're parking and pulling out your apartment keys before the stinging sensation stops lingering.

You both say hello to your neighbor and his dog, about to go on a walk, and then shut the door.

"He looks remarkably well for someone needing to go the hospital," you joke, reaching your hands up to thread your fingers through Luigi's curls.

He leans into your touch, pinning you against the wall by the door in the process. This leads to your mouth being absolutely devoured by his own; your boyfriend is kissing you so desperately that when you pull away, a whine releasing from the back of his throat.

That blue checkered shirt, while fitting him exceptionally well, is unbuttoned and abandoned on the floor before you even drag him to the bed, wasting no time turning on any light except the bare minimum to see his shaking hands and achingly hard dick straining in his pants.

Pushing him down on the bed, you climb in on top of him, straddling his hips and shoving his shoulders down so his head meets the pillow. His arms go to find the hem of your own shirt, assisting you in pulling it off and then reaching to get the rest of your clothes off.

When the both of you are left in your underwear, your wetness is more prominent to Luigi, and he takes a breath, going to reach to help you out, but you're off his lap and hurrying to your closet.

"Baby," he mutters, his hand going to rest over his boxers.

Bingo. An old scarf- or, to better describe it, the idea of a scarf, because you had started crocheting it and then just never finished. However, it was perfect for the debauchery you had planned for you and your boyfriend.

"What's wrong?" you asked sweetly, stalking over to him and slowly climbing back on the bed to resume your position. "What can I do to help you out?"

You take his hand off his bulge, resting it on his side, and he shifts, his breath deepening.

"Need you so bad, please," he mutters. You drop the scarf while you place kisses down his jawline, eventually making your way to his ear.

"Lay back for me."

He obeys.

Luigi's eyes drop to the scarf, a smile building in the corners of his mouth makes you blush. There's no way you'll be able to keep your composure and not let him fuck your brains out, but you gotta keep it together long enough that you can get your boyfriend whining and moaning for your touch. You press another kiss to his lips, and tie the blindfold around his head, securing it in the back before ruffling his hair and grabbing his chin with your fingers.

"Not that you would know, but every single girl there was staring at you with that blindfold on," you remarked, your other hand running down his chest.

"Is someone j-" Luigi's voice falters when your fingers reach the waistband of his boxers, tracing over them.

"Hmm?"

You continue running your fingers over the skin, not bothering to take the fabric off until he can manage to form some words for you.

"If you were j- fuck- if you were jealous, you hid it very well," he says, hips raising so you can slide off his boxers.

Not jealous. Maybe a little annoyed, sure. But those girls were back there, and you were right here, with Luigi on your bed, your name falling from his lips, begging you to touch him.

"Or maybe that's why you were practically in my lap afterwards, huh?" he continues. "Wanting to show everyone there that I'm yours? Don't wanna share me?"

You're the one on top, you remind yourself so you don't melt in his hand and let him roll over to pin you down on the sheets. You look down at his dick, hard and standing at attention, waiting to be dipped into your warm, wet pussy.

Not yet. Not yet.

You move your mouth back down to his neck, right behind his ear, and bite down lightly.

Luigi gasps, but you quickly shush him and repeat the action on the other side of his face, a little harder this time.

"I told you I wanted to bite you," you admit, smirking when he throws his head back at the soothing kisses you leave over the teeth marks.

He twitches when your thumb finally runs over the tip, hands fidgeting at his sides. You watch his mouth open and close when you gather some of the precum, spreading it all over his length.

Breathtaking. He's truly the most beautiful man you've ever seen.

You feel more wetness gather between your thighs when you look at how hard he is, and how muscular his thighs are, and how you'd love to lower yourself on to him and take what you wanted. Instead, you wrap your fingers around him, pumping the length until his hands go to grab your waist.

You freeze, and Luigi whines again, bucking his hips up into your hand.

"Did I tell you that you could move, baby?" you scold him again, your free hand grabbing the nape of his neck, moving your lips closer to his. When he doesn't answer, you ask again.

"No- no, you didn't, fuck- baby, baby please keep going-"

Luigi's voice grows more desperate, filling you with a high that feels intoxicating. His precum soaks your fingers, his breath shaky- you want him so bad. Patience is becoming an unbelievably challenging attribute.

"Be a good boy and keep your hands to your side," you order.

He does. You watch the way his face contorts as you make him feel good, reveling in his moans. You continue stroking him until his whines get to a higher pitch, until he's involuntarily thrusting up into your hand.

You don't think you've ever been this wet.

When you know he's about to cum, you slowly pull your fingers away, licking all the precum off of them.

"No-" he protested, squirming and gripping the sheets so he doesn't reach and finish the job for you. "I was good- please- I wanna cum so bad, please."

You run your thumb over his cheek, tutting at the desperation in his voice.

"Maybe if you sit still, I'll think about it."

Maybe your newfound confidence is due to your own overwhelming urge to orgasm. Hearing him fall apart under you like this certainly helps as well. You adjust yourself in his lap, gripping his arms to support yourself in your quest to get a bit more comfortable, and then you pull of your own underwear.

However, you don't slide him inside you. Your own fingers go to run up and down your slit, and you sigh at how wet you are. It's incredibly tempting to use them to get yourself off, but knowing that Luigi's are right in front of you makes yours worthless by comparison. So you opt for grinding your pussy against his thigh, coating it in your slick.

You take a breath when you hit just the right spot, and you don't even say anything when your boyfriends hand shoots out to your waist to stabilize you and guide your body.

He whimpers when you grip his shoulders, quickening your pace as you use his thigh. Any other thought that wasn't about cumming like this was out the window, and it didn't help Luigi was coaxing it out of you, cursing and whimpering for him to let him help you out, for you to just take his blindfold off-

You snap back into reality before you finish, and with every single ounce of self-control you can muster, you pull yourself back.

Dipping your fingers into your pussy, you collect the wetness that's dripping out of you and bring it to Luigi's lips.

"Open," you command, and he eagerly takes your digits in his mouth, licking them clean and whimpering at how good you tasted.

It will be a cold day in hell before you forget that vision: him blindfolded, hand gripping your wrist and sucking on your fingers like it was candy.

You tug his hands back down to his side, ordering for him to keep them there, but he speaks up.

"Please, I need to feel you," he cries, squirming underneath.

You find a little bit of sympathy for him, because he asked so nicely.

So you only bring him to the edge one more time, as opposed to your original plan. He's trembling underneath you, whines and whimpers tumbling out of his mouth when you pull away again right before he cums, but you go back down again, this time with your mouth.

Luigi fucking sobs, hands pawing at the sheets and your hair and everywhere he can reach as you take all of him in, licking and bobbing your head up and down.

When he cums, it's everywhere. You think you have most of it in your mouth, swallowing it with the feeling of absolute ecstasy running through your body, but it's on his stomach, on yours, in your hair..

"You should see yourself, Lu," you tease, collecting the white off his chest and licking your fingers clean.

He doesn't respond for a minute, too out of breath. When he finally comes back around, he lets out a relieved sigh.

"Was the blindfold really that arousing?" he half-joked, rubbing his forehead and getting a little bit of cum on the edge of the scarf still tied around his eyes.

You shake your head yes, but then realize he still can't see you. When you go to answer him verbally, he starts again.

"Take it off me," he orders quietly, and you know you're about to get it.

When you finally let him have a look at you, he smirks.

"There you are."

He looks so angelic laying there, that you almost forget you haven't finished yet, and there's an ache between your legs that's begging to be quelled.

"Let's get this thing off you," he continues, taking the bra that you hadn't bothered to remove before and discarding it on the floor.

Luigi scoots you closer up his body, and you realize where he's going with this.

"Baby-" you plead, whimpering when his hands dig a little too hard into your hips. He smiles innocently up at you, the same kind of smile you gave him before blindfolding him and ruining his orgasms.

"M'just gonna make you feel good," he mumbles, and you gasp when he pulls you up onto his face. "Be a good girl for me."

[kazu-naito]

deep diving into the angel hierarchy of heaven's secret:

disclaimers: a) most of what i'm writing here are my own thoughts and theories; b) i'm not yet caught up with the abh january update, so if there is anything missing from there i'll add it later on

in the original duology we never got much information about how the angels hierarchy work in this universe and only knew a few names, however we did get the full picture in hsr and the order goes: seraphims > cherubs > thrones > supremacy > authority > beginning > archangels > angels

so far into the hs we've only met representatives of 3 of these 'classes' (aside from regular angels ofc) and i put one for each here:

(moreover, keep in mind these rankings are not exclusively set by birth, as we've seen rebecca climbing from the very bottom to the very top)

now it differs a bit from most of the christianity angel rankings, in which supremacy and beginning don't exist, no alternate names that i found had these names but i don't think it matters. in this context they would be replaced by dominions and principalities, respectively. still going by these, there's an omission of virtues but they do what they gotta do (or maybe they belong to that empty spot in the middle)

going back to heaven's secret, the only visible difference between angels of different spheres is that those of the first sphere have yellow/golden wings, whereas everyone else has common white/fair wings. a good example is fencio, who lost his throne status and therefore - the colour of his wings as well

i also don't think they would've shown us the full ranking if it wasn't gonna be explored more, after all we went years without it with no issues. and it was only the angel's that was revealed, not the demons' as well

from the new characters we only know of mikael's ranking so far - archangel. which tbf makes it a bit hard to guess everyone else but here are some theories:

possible spoilers for the january update

raphael: although he is not mikael's blood brother he could still also be an archangel. throughout the book we see he has a special connection to heaven and formidable power - he could be a regular angel with unusual abilities. i don't think he is higher ranking than mikael since he is his 'subordinate'

somnus/furius: higher ranking than mikael. i haven't seen the wings to put them amongst the actual big shots but if i had to guess i'd put them in the second sphere - they have enough power to be an archangel's superior but if they had actual power they'd be busy ruling heaven and not supervising earthly matters

anhea: regular angel. she has said it herself she fought the war against the mother of life on the outskirts while the big names were in the frontlines

cain: everything about him is a mystery ngl. if we are to believe pileon's words about him going against his own family, the type of power he possesses, the easy superiority in fights/energy/strength against other immortals - i would say he is in the very least an archangel. the recent confirmation that his family is indeed dead (and he was very very likely responsible) made me think he either got a lenient punishment (which wouldn't happen if he wasn't 'important') or he got a punishment similar to fencio's and lost his original ranking. or maybe he's just old idk

[celtrist]

Need to reblog this because all of these are excellent points. I didn't even THINK how many stories we missed until @mimblizzy said it. But MAN was that disappointing to realize. For me, it was from the perspective of visuals and visual storytelling. Hazbin having a rundown, old building for the hotel is what gave the premise of the show charm. Because it was an underdog story with so many things going against them. But now they have, in bible, the literal third strongest being in existence. Like the Vees are NOT a threat in the next season. I mean, they are, but by all accounts, they're a downgrade from the FIRST MAN. But that's a story not related to the building.

And while I don't have a huge issue with the hotel being rebuilt and all nice and perfect, it doesn't feel earned. If we had time with this old rundown building, and had those episodes of the crew dealing with the crappy things about it, the rebuilding would feel earned. But I would say unless you were one of the people who already knew Hazbin and were waiting for the amazon series, viewers didn't have a huge attachment to the building itself. They may have had an attachment to the CHARACTERS and THEIR reaction to the destruction of the hotel, but not the building itself. Which considering the show's name is "Hazbin HOTEL", the hotel IS something people should connect with. Sort of like "sure it's unsanitary and barely working, but it's cozy and familiar for us and OUR mess". But we never really saw the hotel non-functioning and are already getting a huge upgrade that wouldn't have those "underdog" vibes. And this would fit fine it it wasn't in THE FIRST SEASON they did this.

And that's to also add that Hazbin Hotel has a biiiit of an awkward thing that, by all accounts take all the scenes that happen in the hotel and they don't really NEED to happen in the hotel. It's very good to have characters interact with their environment in a story as it gives space and grounding. And it's what's normal for people, like think of in your home. You are interacting with your environment in your house all the time. And Hazbin Hotel didn't have moments in the hotel where characters interacted with the environment like that of a hotel. Niffty rolling on a trolley would've been a nice touch. Even the suggested episodes above make this point essentially and would've added to the connection between the residents and viewers to the hotel as well as giving the hotel a personality. When we got to "Dad Beat Dad", it was sorta like the hotel just SUDDENLY for that episode only decided to be a bit more rundown. But if we saw, hell, if we at least HEARD about the problems the hotel had before, the disarray of the building wouldn't feel so random and out of nowhere when we get to ep. 5. I know for me, it didn't initially feel as weird for the "rundown disarray" feel that Lucifer had towards the building and the building suddenly having issues like a chandelier falling because I KNEW that's what the hotel was supposed to be. I've known them since 2019, but for someone who wasn't as aware, it probably seemed a bit random. Then again, the show is kinda charismatic so it is sorta easy to miss glaring issues. With that said, it should be important to note too that I don't think the building was a hotel initially. If I remember right, it was just an old random building the Morningstars had. But that's something that would've been nice to know and learn about, maybe build some connection between Charlie and the building so viewers can feel that much more for her when the building is gone.

Sorry, that got more into a rant than I planned (as is usual for me with this series, I like it I swear). I just got bummed out with all the missed opportunities and how bad of a move the remodeling of the hotel is when it's only been season 1. Again, it's not earned. That's probably my biggest issue. Rebuilding the hotel wasn't earned as we didn't really ever see it "at its worst". We didn't see its problems. We didn't see how the residents really felt or connected with the building. We didn't get accustomed to the building and have a connection to it. And when the core premise surrounds this hotel, I feel like it should be important that we DO build that connection with a freaking building. But we didn't. We arguably don't even spend all that much time forming that connection with the building. It was just another piece of the environment, not something personal to the characters and in turn to the viewers.

The environments are super nice in this show, but having the interior of the hotel be more messy, maybe have a bit more of other resident's flare around (Like maybe Vaggie having a dummy in the main room or Angel leaving stuff around), I don't feel warm and cozy in seeing the ramshackle hotel. It feels to me empty. Which is upsetting since I feel like a more smaller vibe for the hotel would've been great to counter the clean, superficial vibes the VVV tower should give. Like the hotel isn't really great, even a health hazard, but it's home and has heart. Whereas the VVV tower has all the best things, nothing's rundown, but it's all superficial and empty feeling. But we didn't get that, the hotel is arguably just as empty feeling as the VVV tower, lacking a connection with the viewers as well as the characters.

But we didn't get that. The hotel just got an upgrade. That's it. It doesn't feel satisfying. It would've felt SO GOOD to see that upgrade when we were seeing the hotel broken down and a mess, but we didn't. It was relatively fine quite honestly aside from the bugs Niffty was chasing. And to be clear, I get they only had so much time. 20 mins and 8 episodes are not a lot. But this does not change that Hazbin is arguably a poorly written show, if not at least passable. It does not change that I full-heartedly believe they could've approached it and written it better. I understand that they wanted to get everything out because of the long wait and wanted to make sure they were able to get through everything within at least 2 seasons. Especially the long wait, I understand Spindle probably felt like they needed to bring in the angels, have a redemption, introduce Lucifer, and all that. I. Get. That. But I don't think they approached it well. I think, even if scarier for them, they should've been willing to be more risky. 8 Episodes isn't a lot for a plot-driven show, but it's adequate for a SLICE OF LIFE show. Which, was sort of the initial thought with what was originally planned (and sure, I still have issues that they wanted to introduce Lucifer early but whatever). Eight episodes of slice of life were what people thought it would be and good to introduce the characters, build their relationships with one another, and connect to the building with all of its faults. Then you can get into plot stuff in season 2. A rushed work to get everything on the plate is not as good, and won't be remembered/rewatched as much as taking the time to do these things. It would've been a big risk, but I would've preferred it rather than what we got. Especially since let's be honest, for the people who've been WAITING for this series? We were not all dying to know the plot with the angels. Like yes, we wanted it, but we were more interested to see the characters. How they interacted, relationships, personalities, stuff like that. I don't envy the tough position and understand it was the best they could do. And I get wanting to tell the story, I do. But Like Helluva, Hazbin detracted from the pilot's premise. Aaaand I'm gonna stop here because now I'm detracting from the point of my original post.

Again, sorry, ranting. It just frustrates me the more I realize things with how crappy that the hotel got revamped. Just- agh

Was looking at the hotel for a drawing and never realized the large degrade from the pilot design (on the left).

I think it was a good choice to simplify it down as the OG design was VERY complex compared to the new design (and some things like the carasoul up top didn't work well considering Alastor was moving his tower up to there). So while I like the pilot hotel more, 100% good move to change it to what we got.

HOWEVER, the pilot design gives that dingey, rundown feels SO MUCH better than the final design. I think background-wise the pilot is better in a lot of ways (like with colors, having them less saturated than the characters). But the hotel in the official series, especially the interior, didn't look as rundown and dingey as I think it was meant to.

You could argue "well Alastor could've spruced it up", but we see in the episode "Dad Beat Dad" a chandelier falling, cockroaches, and Lucifer clearly supposed to be unimpressed with the place. But the show had a very clean and nice looking hotel both interior and exterior. The pilot was good with it being dark and dirty feelings on both these ends. While the final design was super clean-looking but SUPPOSED to have a "roughness" to it, the pilot had a really nice exaggeration of its roughness that gave it a lot of character and made it more interesting. Between the two, I'm more interested in what's inside the pilot hotel than the final design. And it sorta sucks because season 1 ALREADY had the hotel rebuilt all nice and pretty (which like Lucifer showing up, SHOULD'VE been saved for a later season. I get why they did it, but I think the risk of not doing it in season 1 would've had a stronger payoff in the later seasons).

Again, I think it was obviously the right call not to make the hotel so complex for the show. However, there's a stronger mood and personality to the pilot hotel over the final one that feels like it wants to look super nice but it is supposed to be seen as rundown and needs to be fixed-up. And that sucks because I would've loved seeing the rundown place, but we really just got a nice-looking hotel that, in the universe, isn't supposed to be seen as "nice looking" or "clean" (and issues with the hotel concerning its structure and everything was ONLY brought up in "Dad Beat Dad". Little details like a character saying the plumbing was broken AGAIN or things breaking/falling in the background or something would've gone a long way).

It's just a bit of a bummer that the hotel really lost the mood and personality that it did have in the pilot when I really think they honestly could've kept those aspects without making it super complex. I don't dislike the final hotel design, but I don't like the lack of personality and mood it's SUPPOSED to have that the other design achieves.

[out-there-tmblr]

Young zaundads wip (25)

***

Vander has no way of telling the time but it feels like most of an hour goes by before the air around them stops being hazy with dust. There's an occasional noise as the rocks settle, like gravel crunching underfoot, but Vander hasn't heard yelling or pickaxes. Stuck in this small cavern, it's too easy to imagine there's no one out there at all.

Every so often, Silco will lift up one hand and click his fingers by each ear, brows pinched thoughtfully as he listens for the sound.

"Any change?"

Silco nods. "I can hear something. Better on my right side, but at least it's not permanent."

"No blood," Vander says and Silco raises an Eyebrow at him. He would've thought covering half a face with red cotton would reduce the expressiveness of anyone's face but Silco is still easy to read. "If your eardrums had burst, there would have been blood."

"Good to know." Silco pushes up to his feet and starts checking his pockets. "Empty your pockets. We need to know what supplies we have."

Between them, they have two water bottles, one broken gas mask (Vander must have fallen against it when the roof caved in), a paper bag of nuts, Silco's pocket knife and lighter. They have Vander's gauntlets and three explosive charges that were lying by the wall they were digging out.

Vander wishes he'd brought more to eat than just those nuts. "How long does it take to starve to death?"

"We won't starve," Silco says as if Vander's being silly about this. "We'll suffocate."

"What?"

"The Grey rises from the mines at night. If we're still here after midnight…" Silco trails off, lifting the lantern to take a closer look at the collapsed rock. "Think of it as a very motivating deadline."

Vander pulls on his gauntlets and goes to stand beside him. "Where do we start?" He asks enthusiastically.

Vander's less enthusiastic the second time their makeshift tunnel collapses under its own weight. It's only three paces deep but the stones around it are too unstable to hold the weight. They don't have anything to prop it up with or any way to support it. They ran back this time just as it started to go, but a fist-sized rock still landed on Vander's shoulder, leaving him sore and cranky. And he's hungry. It must be dinner time.

"So that's not going to work," Silco says, glaring at the rocks erasing their progress.

Vander drops the gauntlets, shaking the strain out of his arms. "So what can we do?"

"I still have the three charges. We could set them off, go out with a bang." It's a joke but it doesn't land well. Silco's too scared to make it funny.

"Come here," Vander says and pulls Silco into a hug. They're dusty and dirty, and Vander is sick of the fabric over his face. He pulls his kerchief off and then pulls Silco's off too, ignoring his squawk of complaint. He kisses Silco gently, no heat behind it, just the warm pleasure of lips to lips. "We'll wait for rescue. We can do that."

"If it's as unstable as that, they won't come this deep, not tonight."

"Then we'll try something else," Vander promises.

"Try what? We can't go back the way we came."

"Then we'll go deeper. We might find another way up. There are cracks and fissures all over here, we might find one that leads out."

"Or we might just die exhausted and trapped," Silco says, leaning his forehead on Vander's shoulder. Vander slides his hands under the hem of Silco's jacket and lets Silco take a moment.

It doesn't take long. "Okay, let's do this," Silco says, lifting his head up. "We're not giving up without a fight."

***

[patchworkcuddlebug]

Lunar Distance

It's distant, but it's her. That humming.

This one doesn't know why she always hums. It's a song from a movie she's shown this one, about a mother that turns children into dolls. It's considered a few reasons why. Maybe she's trying to call this one a child?

It's getting louder, closer. She's approaching the sun room. She's not trying to cause a reaction, she knows this one is in here, she must. She's tried that once before, getting its attention by surprise. She saw that this one couldn't be trusted to handle even a situation so simple as a greeting.

There's a resigned thankfulness in the one that it doesn't need to fear the surprise. To be reminded. but that just makes it wonder why a witch, the ultimate realization of arcane might, would bother. For all this one knows, she shadows it silently, only humming when she needs herself known. What could her motive be?

She's here.

It shouldn't wait for her to make herself known, good dolls are much more proactive. It sets its duster aside, careful not to bend the wires or fray the feathers, as it does a curtsy towards its Miss. "How may this one be useful to you, Miss?"

She doesn't seem surprised. This one has met expectations. "You've been doing a wonderful job around the manor, Luna." She speaks with the cadence of a mother to child. She wants to make especially sure this one understands every word, despite its evident lack of capability. "Would you like to join me for some tea? It's been a while since your last break."

This one freezes. It looks to the duster, then back to its witch.

This one can't accept. It can't rest, not now. She couldn't accept that. She must be testing this one's commitment, its performance and its dutiful nature. Of course, as it was only recently obtained, she must be evaluating it.

"This one is very complemented that you would offer, Miss. It would be an honour for a doll such as this one to spend time with you." As it bows, it hopes that the witch doesn't notice its grip tightening on its dress, a self-soothing weakness. Its words are practised and polite, but choppy and hesitant, despite its best efforts.

Please, please don't be mad.

"But this one would like to decline. It would be..." No, no, bad doll, focus on its words and don't stumble like that again. It's talking to a witch. "Um, this one would find it unbecoming to accept such a thing when it has not finished its work. This one has only just begun to-"

"Luna?" up like prey, staring down the barrel of a gun. What is that expression? It's a smile, but is it pitying? Malicious? Entertained by this one's failure? "Yes Miss." It took too long to answer.

The witch gave a light sigh. Why? Why? "Good dolls need their tea. I am telling you to take a break."

Oh. It failed again. This wasn't a test, and it simply chose to disobey a direct order.

"Yes Miss, of course Miss, this one is very sorry Miss." It curtsies again, speaking quickly. "Good dolls need to maintain optimal performance for their witch. This one is deeply sorry for neglecting its duties."

The witch has another look. The same look. She has to be planning something after that stunt. "You don't need to apologize that much. I just want to make sure you're taken care of."

"Yes Miss, thank you Miss." This one curtsies again. Is it doing enough to show its gratitude? It can't step out of line. Perhaps it's too much, and this one is annoying her.

"Come with me, I'll make the tea this time." The witch turns away, hesitating long enough to beckon the doll along. No, no, how dare this one even let her suggest that. It's the doll, it has to do the work, but it can't defy a witch, not again.

It hurries along, marching to match its witch's mellow pace. "Is... that a command, Miss? A good doll need to provide service to its witch, and this one needs to be a good doll." It speaks tersely.

"Yes, it is a command. Please, rest and reward yourself after a job well done."

It failed again. If it was a good doll, it would've been obedient on its own, without needing to burden her with the clarification. Surely now it's crossed a line.

Luna bows its head as much as it can while keeping pace. "Yes Miss, this doll is very thankful Miss."

. . . . .

Eyes forward, knees together, legs angles, ankles crossed, shoulders flat, back straight, hands on lap, polite smile.

The witch gently pours this one the first cup. Bad doll. Greedy, negligent of its duties, disrespectful of its witch's presence. "You can relax if you'd like to. I give you permission."

"Yes Miss, thank you Miss." it says reflexively. That could mean anything. This one can't, it shouldn't, good dolls are obedient and presentable and demure and docile and pretty. It wasn't before, but surely this one had to be a test. It's being tempted, to see if it would dare to step out of line. "This one is perfectly comfortable as it is, Miss."

She sighed again. It failed again. Again and again and again.

The witch leans forward, resting her hands together on the table. She's so tall, so confident, so much. She could kill this one in a thousand ways.

She's preparing for something. She has to be. Surely this is the moment where the anticipation breaks and this one is finally punished. She has yet to do anything punitive, so it has no idea what to expect. Perhaps it will be something as simple as being placed in the corner, forbidden from stillness, trapped in a painful awareness. That was a common punishment for new recruits, and perhaps Miss will look past its experience and treat-

"I'm worried about you, Luna."

It. Is a little caught off guard.

"I can't tell what you're thinking, but you always seem so... tense. You're never proud of yourself, you don't drink nearly enough tea, and you always look so scared whenever you see me."

This one made its witch worry. Another failure.

"I know it's a lot to ask you to trust me, especially after everything that happened with... your other witch." This one knows that look. That has to be pity. "So... all I can do is promise that I want nothing but the best for you. You deserve to be the happiest doll in the world, and I want to do whatever I can for you."

"This one trusts you, Miss." Clear, direct, serious. It doesn't waste time, but it remains respectful, as a witch deserves.

The witch seems... forlorn? Disappointed? She must be disappointed.

"...I believe you, Luna." Disappointment, clearly. She can't even bare to look at this one. After all the sadness and disappointment it's forced upon her, so much is to be expected. "Please, drink your tea. I don't want it to get cold."

"Yes Miss, thank you Miss, this one is very grateful Miss." This one takes only a second to look around for a napkin, in order to adhere to proper curtsy. Seeing that none are provided, it concludes that dolls are simply not expected to spill their tea, just as every other time with Miss. It grabs the teacup handle between its fingers as it brings the saucer up to chest height, lifting it and taking a gentle yet thankful sip. It uses its little finger, not outstretched uselessly, but instead to cushion the impact of the teacup with the saucer so it doesn't make such a bothersome noise. As perfect as it can manage.

...why does she still look so upset? This one did everything right that time, right? It spoke just as it is supposed to speak, acted just as it was supposed to act, and it still wasn't enough.

Is this one really that broken?

[i-liketoast]

Five's season four suit

I'm back with another analysis of one of Five's suits and this time we'll be looking at his season four one because again, I'm just a girl who likes suits and this was requested. Though I probably would've done this regardless if it was requested or not lmao.

Before I start there are some basic things that I want to mention. Once again, this is a three piece suit as it includes pants, a jacket and a waistcoat also by the single row of buttons down the jacket and waistcoat it's obvious it's single breasted. These are basic things that don't cost you to lose your sanity to figure out so let's get to those ones.

Starting off with his jacket. This was slightly harder to figure out then last time since a majority of the time Five wore a coat over the suit but I am so thankful for the deli with all the Fives and Grace's birthday. (rare moment I'm thankful for a six year olds birthday) In a certain reference I have you can see the jacket taper at his waist and pocket flaps which tells me it's a British cut suit. Once again I can't see a ticket pocket which in modern day you don't really see on British cut suits anyway so I'm not concerned about that. In terms of vents after rewinding the scene where they're eating in the first episode more times then I'd like to admit, I figured out it was a single vent. Overall it's the exact same as his suit jacket in season three, Five likes one kind of suit jacket and sticks with it apparently.

Next we have his waistcoat and this is where the deli scene and promotional material REALLY came in clutch. Things I want to note about waistcoats is that they're supposed to be form fitting but not tight and most have an adjustable strap in the back for a better fit. Sadly even though we did have the deli scene this was still super hard for me to figure out since, again, a majority of the time Five wore a coat. Still I got some information for y'all. In a screenshot of a promo vid I found on Pinterest you can see four buttons going down which isn't as funny as the five buttons but I'll take it. Now I'm not sure if the waistcoat is slim fit or a regular fit which for waistcoats are already quite slim so I'm going to say it's slim.

LASTLY THE BLOODY PANTS. If you've seen my other suit post you would know the pants were infuriating for me since I didn't have all that many scenes. But with a combination of promotional material and weirdly this season giving us more look at Five's legs (not in a weird way) this was kind of easy. If you look closely at his ankles you can see a considerably less amount of fabric bunching apposed to last season. Like I mentioned last time, this is called a break where the four types are full, half, quarter and no break. Here in season 4 there's still clearly a break in the pants but it's not as much and it's closer to that of a half break then a full break. Cut wise of the pants, I'll be honest, I'm not well versed in but since last time I've learnt of pleats in the pants which sit around the first two belt loops in the front. I'm quite sure there are non on Five's suit but honestly? cool thing I've since learnt.

Now that I'm done with the main points of the suit I also want to mention things like his tie, shirt and the wrist buttons since I forgot about them last time. Looking at his tie width and proportions in season 4 it's safe to assume that as apposed to last time where his tie was plain black and narrow width it's now a traditional width and has diagonal stripes though it's still black in colour. His collar, again, looks pretty much the same. A simple straight point button up (but button down) which with the tie now having a bit of a more complex pattern I think works great. Another thing I didn't mention last time was wrist buttons. Historically these were used to get the jacket on seeing as the wrist holes were smaller but nowadays are used to show how formal a suit is. The more buttons the more formal and our boy Five has four wrist buttons making it feel quite formal but the single vent I mentioned earlier brings down the formality a bit but which I think the contrast of that works GREAT.

Differences between the suit in season three and four are so small but if you love suits it honestly feels so obvious. The word count for this post is already so high so I'm just going to quickly name a few of the differences. In season three the waist coat had five buttons but in season four he had two, season three his tie was plain black and narrow but in season four it was black with stripes and was a traditional width, the break in his pants was decreased to a half break from a full break and for wrist buttons. Whilst in season four he has four buttons, I couldn't figure out how many he has in season three but I'm going to assume it's also four.

Like last time I also want to include some photo's I used in analysing, I used more along with skipping around season 4 (not properly re-watching) trying to find the jacket vents and waistcoat.

Lastly I want to say a HUGE thanks to two certain people from my last post. First @doktorfreud tysm for this request, I had a lot of fun looking back on my boy Five's suit and the differences between seasons three and four. To @donnalawliet I said I would tag you and I am, hope you enjoyed this analyses despite how it's so much more chaotic. Also to everyone that has interacted with my previous post, tysm, means so much to me since I wasn't sure anyone would even like these rants also the fact that four massive blogs liked my post feels surreal especially since two of them I personally love and follow.

Also something I sadly failed to mention in my last post that both in season 3 and 4 due to back then I didn't know as much about suits as I do now is that it's not just the waistcoat that's slim fit, it's the entire suit that is so to everyone, I apologise about that.

[ageofkarme]

Oh yeah! As a sculptor, Polaris probably knew better than Karme about the importance of choosing the right material. The witch's curious mind began spiraling about all the minerals he used in the mystery box to fix the statues of his boys. He wondered if Polaris could work with any of those and how many other types of crystals and stones he could make art out of.

He probably would've started asking questions about that too if he didn't get so flustered. Something about hearing that their date was meant to be no matter what made Karme feel like he never had before with a guy: secure. Even the way Polaris held his hand made Karme feel more grounded in this moment than he usually did with others. "I'm glad I get to be this version of myself with you on a date. Because this version of you is really really great, and this version of me likes him a lot and wants to know everything about him." His sentiment wasn't nearly as philosophical or romantic, but Karme was earnest in his fascination, which he knew was enough. That's why he felt good about himself around Polaris. The elvhen bard didn't seem to want or expect Karme to be anything but himself.

Confident was a good word to describe what he was feeling, but he still stammered out a few intelligible utterances. "A second date?" he practically whispers, his face flushing again. Sure he could hint at what he wanted, but the direct approach to his words had a way of making butterflies dance in his stomach. This was his chance though, a chance to be smooth and maybe, finally, seduce Polaris like the way he seemed to do without much effort. "Well we need to have one, don't we? I want to get better at flirting and you … well you…" Karme's voice dropped to a hush as if someone would overhear and judge Karme for saying something dirty. "…you haven't eaten me raw yet. So we need to have another. My treat. We could fly somewhere, or have a date among the stars. A date in the night sky is romantic, right?"

Karme didn't know how Polaris could be so bossy yet charming and still never make him feel judged. It was getting easier to push the voice of doubt about how real this date was away, but arriving at the studio made it significantly harder to ignore. "Your studio is close to the water?!" he exclaimed. Karme used to love the beaches of Genovia, so having to watch them get overrun by mechanical structures over time broke his heart. He got excited whenever he went to a place with a view and the windows here looked really big. "I do. I mean—" Karme looked at Polaris and started thinking about their previous conversation regarding this place. He cleared his throat as he felt a little hot under the collar. "—you have to show me your art. I want to see what you're capable of. Plus, wouldn't it be better if I already felt comfortable here when you sculpt me?"

It wasn't Polaris's first brush with the sort of energy that Karme was talking about, though the term witcher wasn't one that Polaris had heard until this age. They seemed widely hated and whispers of the process surrounding them were a far cry from what Polaris had previously understood. In Iskaldrik, children were tortured and those who survived had the great privilege of short lives spent being widely hated by the nation they served. "The right material for the right function." Polaris summarized Karme's statement, lacking in any fundamental surprise that Karme had

"In my experience, the Wheel doesn't want for anything, it's people who want. I think if we both wanted to, we'd have ended up on this date regardless, in the last turn or the next." Polaris believed that people were meant to find one another so long as they wished it to be true, when that ceased, so did whatever hand people took as fate.

"Is this... Are you asking me out on a second date? One kiss and look how bold you've gotten." Polaris all but tutted as he led the way, one foot in front of another while Karme vibrated beside him - completely energized in juxtaposition to Poalris's calm demeanor. "I'd like to see it firsthand, but I don't want to wait for it to become yours for our second date, so you'll have to fly me somewhere else."

When they came to a stop, it was in a high-windowed building facing the sea. There was no clear view of the Tower, or Potentia, just the open tides and everything that lay ahead. "This is it," Polaris stated evenly, "still want to see it firsthand?" He didn't wish to pressure Karme and the night hadn't been without its events.

[thistaleisabloodyone]

This took me several hours and I'm hoping to get video of them in indirect sunlight tomorrow, but my Invaderz nails - Likiya as the thumb, Takahide as index, YamaSho middle, Shohei ring finger and Kenta pinky. I can explain what I did and what polishes, if anyone wants. (and why, as best I can, as well)

[onesnoopyaday]

I AM AT MY LIMIT

Snoopy #90

30/12/2024

description under the cut

[description: a cartoon-style drawing of Snoopy's head. Snoopy is a white dog with black ears. His eyes are shut and his mouth is a horizontal line. There are two large blue teardrops, one under each eye. The text "I am at my limit" is handwritten across the top of the image.]

[dykedvonte]

Can you talk about trans!Curly a little bit more? I'm curios if you have any headcanons and the like

-💀

It's just such a thing in my mind because it adds a truthful sadness and differing aspect to mouthwashing.

If Curly was trans it adds the horror of the horribly selfish thought he could have easily been in Anya's situation. It could've been him but it wasn't and he so conflicted on the pit it put in his stomach that brings and the shameful relief it wasn't. In this scenario he is friends with Jimmy for a long time still. Jimmy likely knew him pretransition. Maybe he gave Curly weird looks then, maybe they never stopped after, maybe they seemed meaner. They are guys now, bros, both of them are. He doesn't really have to worry what those looks mean anymore, Jimmy just has that face with him sometimes. It's recontextualizing a lot of things for him that he was in denial about or too ashamed to admit. How naive he was being and how he let that get another person hurt.

Specifically with Anya, it's he knows the dread and fear she's feeling. He can understand it because he had to live with it for a good portion of his life, he knows it cause he still does, just in a slightly different way. It makes him think of all the times he's been alone with Jimmy, all the times he's been way more drunk off his ass and not remember the night, Jimmy was always with him the next day. Makes him think of the comments he would laugh off both because that's what guys do but because that part of being a girl says to laugh so Jimmy doesn't do something. It's the selfish realization that he was never safe and he's uncertain now too. Mad at himself for forgeting that feeling, espcially since for a long time he would've been considered the only woman on a crew (with all that implies) for a long time.

He should've taken those blinders off, step back into that position for just a moment and it's so much more painful that Anya likely came to him because he should've gotten it. Those thoughts don't leave his mind after the crash when he's in an even more vulnerable position than she was...

[totallynormalaboutclavislelouch]

This is an amazing point, but we know that the book is why Gilbert did what he did, as he explains this to Emma.

He also discovered this when he was a child. So we know that this book already has to exist. Also, Gilbert doesn't lie so we know this should be the truth.

Of course whether Lady Dompteur did this because of the book is a big question but don't forget how real Leon's room is stacked with books so it's still a big possibility. It wouldn't even have to be her who came up with it since there was various other people working on this, she wouldn't even have to know it's from a book. But that might be stretching it too far.

And also I don't think kid Gilbert could've stalked out Lady Dompteur's plan, it's a top tier secret that people literally died for so that it doesn't get out. Even tho, yes Obsidian knows all, and there could be amazingly planted spies, but let's say there weren't because I doubt the Emperor would've cared about something like that, knowing his nature.

To the book being a real life piece, I have no clue which book it refers to (but that's just my ignorance) But yes definitely.

So what I think is that Gilbert is definitely personally inspired by the book that he read.

And Lady Dompteur's plan. Well who knows right, either a servant told her about this story, or og Leon himself did since his room is also stacked with books and he was well educated or of course she could've read it somewhere herself, who knows. Or she could've just simply come up with it and this is all a coincidence.

And to Cybirds timey-wimey stuff...

I'm also wondering whether there will be something more about this in the Chevalier and Gilbert childhood event. (I don't play on jp server so idk) Because in the cg for that Gilbert already wears the eyepatch. Which is impossible in accordance to the beginning of Gilbert's route. But we don't know when exactly he read the book so yeah... (Tbh I don't remember whether it was before or after the Empress and Albert's death that Gilbert made this plan, tho probably after. But I think Gilbert wearing the eyepatch there is less of an inconsistentcy and more of a route spoiler protection.)

Guys are we ready to talk about how Roderic and Leon's lives are inspired by the same book that exists in the ikemen prince world.

[thatonegayship]

I loved the cowboy comic so much that I wrote a oneshot for it. https://archiveofourown.org/works/50934235 🥺 your art is BEYOND amazing, ty for the food

INCREDIBLE!!!!!

[agirlinthegalaxy]

It's been rolling around in my brain the last few days for some reason, but I still hate the family backstory reveals for Sophie and Eliot. I've seen some of the meta for it, but quite frankly, it still makes no sense. If it had been something actually thought of and intentional in the original, I think it could have been so fascinating. I mean, Sophie's willing abandonment of Astrid to contrast with Nate's loss of Sam or Eliot's adoption in contrast with Hardison's and Parker's? Could have been excellent! But they came out of nowhere in Redemption and don't work with these characters.

Sophie was still actively using the fucking alias that she met Astrid under! She met with someone from her past on the show! Like. Quite frankly, that one is unequivocally bullshit that they made up and threw in and pretended could fit with the established canon. (And I'm sorry, but the idea of Sophie abandoning Astrid and never telling Nate about her just... So much of Nate's trauma was rooted in the loss of Sam, and I think that introducing this element after he's gone and unable to respond to it taints Sophie and Nate's relationship in a way bc I'm not exactly sure how Nate would've responded to learning about this but I think that it's something he'd have needed to know. I don't know how to fully express my thoughts on that but yeah.)

As for Eliot, I don't like the adoption aspect literally at all. The way that he would interact with his family and the memory of his family would be different, and I think that it's flat out ridiculous to think that he'd have never mentioned it to the team in the original show, especially when dealing with the kid cases. (I also dislike the biracial adoption as its own element because if Eliot was actually raised by Black parents in the... idk what 80s/90s? That just. doesn't feel congruent with how they write Eliot interacting with PoC, not necessarily in a bad way, but babe, he's written like a white southern man raised in a specific kind of culture that does not jell with that. It also makes Eliot look... really bad that he was apparently raised with the knowledge of how fucked up the military was and his parents' history and made the choices that he did.) Like the show may not have explicitly stated it but the implication of that relationship was vastly fucking different throughout the original show.

Just. These were not backstories that were congruent with their depiction and characters in the original show, and they're also just moves that I don't particularly like or find interesting directions for those characters. There's also something to be said about how it was apparently unacceptable for a woman to not have kids or someone not reconciling with their biological family when that was something that the original show handled a lot better. Out of all the directions to take Sophie and Eliot's stories, that's just not really one that I think was a good idea.

[erospourfemme]

i'm a very don't tolerate bullshit kind of person and I respect and expect it so much when other people are real and straight up with me anyways whatever I say stems from my own thoughts and I cannot lie to you and tell you to do something I think is stupid if you ask for advice. anyways an acquaintance of mine who majored in English unless you want to work in primary school for a pay of barely 700 dollars complained how her parents want her to get a masters degree and she's thinking about getting one in marketing or something similar and then later on spreading into tech saying how she can work as a data analyst and I literally almost laughed out loud like it's absolutely insane how little university life prepares us for the future and how absolutely useless it is that you have university graduates here thinking they can work a job that requires a degree in either IT or economy as someone who read and talked about books for grades like please be so serious right now. I'm not upset with her for thinking this is possible just the general society for letting these young people down by telling them every career option is valid and it doesn't really matter what you study in university because it does

[bredforloyalty]

okay what i meant when i said that even the copious amounts of blood didn't satiate me in particular is that the dead wife/nemesis thing was never something i was eager to see explored, just because i think it's something a lot of male characters get? to go through? the ooh i'm so tortured someone took something from me and now i can't help but turn into a monster while i'm on this quest for revenge and being smothered by grief ough i might kill them even or others in gruesome ways and then realize i'm still just as empty

because, i think men often feel the role they must take on as a man or as a father (especially the latter) is a burden, a huge one, where they aren't allowed to sit back or let go or forgive to their own and everyone else's detriment.. and i understand why there is demand for the same type of stories or story elements or arcs, and why they work, and this same overall theme can be present in a story where it's dealt with in an interesting way or where there's love and care involved in the writing process and the characters don't feel like "man pain machine #48" and "generic sensitive character who will cradle mr. man pain's bloody face in their hands (when we want to end this arc and show how good and lovable he actually is)"....

idk i'm just saying it's not even a specific problem i have with male characters that avenge their families or seem like they're defined by anger or by a traumatic event, i do think it can be written lazily and that we've seen it so many times it's a bit worn-out now, but i wouldn't be quick to generalize. it's just that, since we've seen this before (and that's partly why they poked a bit of fun at themselves when in rickmurai jack, rick's dead wife backstory was revealed).. to me it's one of the least interesting aspects of rick? and yet it's clearly important to the writers and they felt they had to tackle this part of his character, really emphasize his unfinished business, or treat it like something that must have a conclusion

for me though, rick's brand of fucked up and evil wasn't compelling because something deeply fucked up happened to him and there's a lot to deal with there and that's cool, it was more compelling to me (iirc) Before knowing much about his past. tbh. i recognized him already, he felt real, his worst side was familiar because a man doesn't need a whole event to become controlling and cruel when dealing with his family... social norms and umm systems sort of already operate within the framework of the patriarchy, i think it's built into our collective ideas of society, concepts of gender and family and the rules those come with.. i liked that about rick, that why he was an asshole wasn't detailed, there was no easy explanation for the way that he was, he just was. and every time they chose to drive home that rick's defined by losing his original family to his own alternate self and that he was still chasing this one guy, it was like, well i thought there were so many other components as well to why he turned out to be who he is. i liked it more when it was mundane, because that's what i see around me, that abuse is rather mundane. and i'm much more interested in the harm he's directly inflicted on his current family and how his past might affect his current life, what might haunt him. so i guess i never wanted prime to be taken care of, each week i find myself thinking that i just want it to be rick and morty and their messed up little relationship up close and personal again

[ereborne]

Song of the Day: December 14

“He Set Her Off” by Emily Ann Roberts