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romanofftherealest · 10 days ago

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Rumpelstiltskin

Summary: Due to your carelessness, one of your bestfriend's favorite plant got perished but that one small action of yours became a chaos in an instant. You found yourself causing even more problems along the way, including summoning a wrong entity that will bind you into a consuming contract.

Pairings: Demon Natasha Romanoff x Summoner Female Reader

Word count: 3.1k

Tags | Warnings: +18 smut, fluff (kinda), top!Natasha, virgin bottom!reader, cunnilingus (r receiving)

Author's Note: Scheduled repost

⧗

You were lounging on your couch, your small form a tiny fitting. You absentmindedly swiped your hand across the coffee table, knocking over a potted plant in the process. The ceramic pot shattered on the floor, dirt spilling everywhere as the plant lay broken and lifeless.

The plant was one of Wanda's favorites. You knew how much she cared for each of her plants, treating them like precious children—well your best friend loved her plants more than you. So you immediately sprang into action, frantically gathering the broken pieces of the plant and trying to scoop up the spilled dirt. You panicked, knocking over a nearby vase in the process, causing it to shatter on the floor as well.

The room was now a mess, with shattered ceramic, spilled dirt, and broken plant parts scattered everywhere. Your panicked attempts to clean up the mess only made it worse, causing you to knock over a lamp and send books tumbling to the floor.

"Dammit, dammit, dammit!"

You let out a heavy sigh as you looked around at the remaining mess. You knew you couldn't afford to leave anything undone, not with Wanda's keen eye for detail. So you started to clean the broken lamps, put the books back in place, but you have no idea how to replace her favorite plant! Her children!

"She'll know, won't she?" you shakingly muttered to yourself, running a dirty hand through your disheveled hair. You looked around at the mess, knowing you still have a night ahead of you before Wanda comes back.

You whined softly to yourself as you vacuumed the rug, your imagination running wild with scenarios of Wanda's anger. "She's probably going to kill me...or worse, sacrifice me to have her plants back!" you dramatically collapsed onto the couch, clutching a throw pillow to your chest. You stopped your tantrum. Suddenly, an idea struck you with the earlier words that came out of your mouth. You bolted upright on the couch, your eyes wide with realization.

"Sacrifice...summon…" you whispered to yourself. An evil grin spread across your face as you formulated a plan.

You rushed to the bookshelf, pulling out a dusty, ancient tome from the section Wanda had labeled Cursed Spells & Failed Experiments, you had a vague recollection of them attempting a summoning spell from this book before, with comical results.

You flipped through the brittle pages, your eyes scanning for the summoning incantation. You paused, remembering your previous attempt—Wanda had mispronounced a keyword, causing a burst of colorful smoke and a very confused parrot to appear instead of an entity you two intended to summon before you two bursted out laughing.

The spell was there, marked with a crude drawing of a demon and a large X through it. You snorted, remembering how Wanda had insisted that the X meant "extra powerful" rather than "do not attempt." You cleared your throat, trying to ignore the strange feeling brewing in your stomach, you're not gonna summon a demon right now, instead an entity that can revitalized Wanda's plant, some creature of sort.

You laid out the required component; a candle, a small dagger, and what the book vaguely referred to as the essence of the earth.

Taking a deep breath, you began to recite the incantation, your voice low and gravelly. The ancient words felt foreign on your tongue, but you pressed on, determined to see this through.

"Spiritus sylvarum…" (Spirit of the Woods)

The very fabric of Wanda's home began to tremble and shake. Pictures rattled on the walls, and the furniture groaned as if the house itself was protesting the unnatural summoning.

"Exumbrae ad me…" (Shadows to me)

You didn't stop, eager to complete the ritual. Your voice grew stronger, more confident, as you spat out the final words.

"Revigorare plantae et herbae, in nomine terrae monstrum, oh no wait, matris—wait what?" (Revitalize plants and herbs, in the name of a mother monster, earth)

The darkness in the room grew denser and more intense.

A wrong slip of word left your lips, a shockwave of dark energy exploded outward. The refrigerator rattled violently, and the fluorescent lights flickered ominously. You expected to see an ethereal nature spirit materialize before you. Instead, a tall, imposing figure emerged from the shadows, her eyes glinting with malice and amusement.

The figure solidified, revealing the demon in all her terrifying glory. Her skin was pale as bone, her features sharp and angular. Her auburn hair braided and she was clad in black armor that seemed to absorb the light. Her gaze fell upon you, her expression one of utter disdain.

Her gaze returned to you, her eyes roaming hungrily over your form. Her crimson gaze was like a physical caress, tracing the curve of your neck, the swell of your breasts, the length of your legs. Her lips peeled back from his teeth in a predatory grin.

She is hungry.

Her gaze never left yours as she crossed her arms over her chest, affecting an air of nonchalance despite the hunger burning within her.

"Why am I being summoned upon, princess?"

You backed away involuntarily, your breath hitching in your throat. Her presence was overwhelming, her power pressing against you like a physical weight. You stammered, struggling to find your voice.

"I-I... I summoned you because... because…"

Your words tumbled out in a rushed, panicked mess.

"Ididntsummonademon!"

Tears streamed down your cheeks as you begged, your voice thick with desperation. You weren't sure if you were more afraid of her terrifying presence or Wanda's wrath if she found out you'd tampered with her precious plants.

"Why am I being summoned upon?" she repeated again, much firmer and scary this time.

"Pleasefixmyfriendsplant!"

She watched you with a cruel smirk, clearly enjoying your distress. She took another step forward, closing the distance between you.

"Aww, is the little mortal upset about a silly plant?" she taunted, her voice dripping with mock sympathy.

Her laughter echoed through the room, cold and mirthless. "You expect me, a mighty demon, to fix a mere plant?" she threw her head back, laughing harder at the absurdity of it all.

"Stupid, stupid humans," she muttered, shaking her head. "Risking their lives for something so trivial." She reached out, her long, pale fingers caressing your cheek, tracing the path of your tears.

"How adorable."

Her laughter subsided, her gaze once again turning hungry as she took in your terrified state. Your fear was intoxicating, feeding her hunger and satisfying her more than any pleas for help ever could.

"Oh, princess, you don't know how much your fear pleases me," she purred. She leaned in closer, her breath hot against your ear. "You know what else would please me?" She whispered, her voice a dark, seductive purr. "If you'd make a bargain with me. Anything, in exchange for fixing that pitiful plant."

Her eyes glinted with eager anticipation as you nodded dumbly, your fear clouding your judgment. "Excellent," she hissed, her voice barely containing her glee. "A contract, at last! I've been so hungry for one."

"Hm, I do what you ask of me," she recited, her voice a dark rumble. "And in return, you give me something you own. Something precious to you." She paused, a wicked smile spreading across her face. She licked her lips, barely concealing her excitement as you nodded eagerly, surrendering yourself to the contract without a second thought. Your desperate obedience only fueled her hunger.

"Now let me see the thing that's worth risking your soul for."

You turned around, pointing a shaking finger at the pathetic plant sitting on the table. Its once-vibrant leaves were now shriveled and brown, the pot cracked, and the soil dry and lifeless.

"Magical, but finicky little things, aren't they?" she observed, circling the withered plant like a predator. "Out of the soil for too long, and they'll perish in an instant."

In a blink of an eye, the plant burst back to life, its vibrant green leaves unfurling as if they'd never wilted. She sneered, satisfied with her handiwork. She snapped her fingers, and Wanda's living room indeed, her entire house—was restored to pristine condition.

"There," you stared in disbelief, your mouth agape. That freaking quick?! "And I've done more than you asked of me," she purred, stepping closer. "I expect the same eagerness from you, princess." Her fingers brushed your chin, tilting your face up.

Your hand flew immediately to your neck, fumbling with the delicate chain until you pulled out an old, intricately carved locket. Tears welled in your eyes as you clutched it to your chest. "This...this is from my grandmother. She gave it to me before she passed away because it will protect me."

Her green orb eyes narrowed as she listened, a flicker of interest sparking in their depths. She stepped closer, looming over you. "Your grandmother's necklace, you say? How...sentimental." Her voice was a low purr, tinged with dark amusement.

The demon's gaze softened almost imperceptibly. She saw the pain and longing in your eyes, the struggle between your attachment to the heirloom and your desperate desire to have your friend's plants restored.

"And how was this trinket supposed to protect you?" her voice was gentler, curious. You took a deep, shuddering breath, your eyes shimmering with unshed tears.

"My noo—my grandmother was a wise woman," you said, your voice thick with emotion. "She told me that as long as I wore it, I'd always have her love with me. That it would shield me from darkness." You looked up at her, tears spilling down your cheeks.

She listened intently, studying your face as you spoke. A flicker of something almost like sympathy crossed her features before being quickly masked. She turned the delicate necklace over in her hands, examining it closely.

"Your noona...she's found peace, princess. A paradise beyond the reach of this world's sorrows."

You stared at her, shocked. Your jaw hung open, and your eyes widened. You had grown accustomed to her cold indifference and mockery. But this...this was something else entirely. A demon, an ice-cold demon, was comforting you? The king of hell might need some reevaluation with his armies.

She uncurled her fist, revealing the unscathed necklace. To your surprise, she stepped closer, her chilling presence enveloping you. Gently, she lifted the necklace, her fingers brushing against your skin as she secured it around your neck once more. She lingered for just a moment, her hot breath ghosting over your skin as she fastened the clasp with a soft click.

"There," she said, her voice back to its usual detached tone. "Now, keep that... memento of your grandmother's love. I want something else in return." Her gaze sharpened, refocusing on you. "Something...that you possess," she finished, her eyes gleaming with an unreadable emotion. "A promise, perhaps. Or maybe a secret." She stepped closer, her voice lowering to a conspiratorial whisper.

"I-I'm...I'm still pure," you stammered, your cheeks flaming red as you confessed. It was the truth and a secret that not even your best friend knows. And why in hell did you even say that?

Her eyebrows shot up, surprise flashing across her face before her expression returned to its usual unreadable mask. "Interesting," she murmured, leaning even closer. "So, all this time, you've been untouched." She reached out, her cold fingers gently tilting your chin up, forcing you to meet her gaze once more. "And why is that, little one? Why have you kept yourself...pure?" her voice was barely a whisper, her breath chill against your lips. "Is it because you're waiting for someone special?" she finished, her eyes searching yours with an intensity that made your heart race. "Or perhaps," her other hand came up to rest on your waist, her touch searing even through your clothes. "You simply haven't found anyone worthy of claiming your innocence yet?"

Her words hung in the air, heavy with unspoken implications. You felt like she was peeling back layers of your soul, exposing your deepest fears and desires. Her hand on your waist tightened ever so slightly, and you found yourself leaning into her touch without even realizing it.

"Tell me, little one, have you ever toyed with your own innocence? Caressed your own flesh? Discover the secrets of your own body?" her words were like velvet-covered steel, coercive and alluring, drawing out the truth you'd never spoken aloud before.

You turned your face away from her but her green orbs seemed to glow brighter. She leaned in closer, her gaze boring into yours, and suddenly, you felt a strange, invasive pressure against your mind. She was looking into your thoughts, seeing the truth laid bare.

She saw...everything.

She saw the night you'd snuck into your room, fingers trembling as you'd reached under your shirt to touch your small, untouched breasts. He saw your frustrated attempts to relieve the ache between your legs, your fingers fumbling and ineffective as you'd struggled to find any sort of release. Her lips curled into a wicked smirk as she withdrew from your mind, leaving you feeling violated and exposed. She brought her hand up to your face, her thumb brushing over your lower lip. "Oh, you poor, frustrated little thing," she purred, her voice dripping with mock sympathy. "All that fire, all that need, and nowhere for it to go. You'd touch yourself, so curious, so eager to learn... but your inexperienced fingers could never quite bring you the relief you craved, could they?"

Your reaction was immediate and visceral. Your breath hitched in your throat, and your heart skipped a beat as she spoke about your deepest secret.

"I will take your secret…and so is your purity."

Her eyes flashed with a predatory gleam as she sensed your hesitation and the war raging within you—the desire to submit to her dark temptations battling against your ingrained purity. She pressed her advantage, her hand sliding up your side to cup your breast through your shirt.

Shame and disgust at allowing a demon such intimate access warred with the undeniable pleasure of her touch. You felt pathetic, weak, as if you were betraying everything you stood for.

You shivered at the touch, your breath growing shallow as the cool air hit your bare chest. She leaned down and whispered, "No one will ever care for you like I will, my precious little human." Her eyes gleamed with dark triumph as she finished unbuttoning your shirt. She pushed it off your shoulders, letting it fall to the floor. "That's right, my sweet. You're mine now, bound to me by contract until the day you die." She traced patterns on your chest, her fingers dipping down to your belly, then lower, to the tie of your pants. "What a delectable prize you are."

With a sudden, brutal move, she pushed your legs apart and shoved you back onto the couch, pinning your shoulders to the cushions. Before you could even catch your breath, she was kneeling between your spread bare thighs, her face mere inches from your dripping pussy.

"Look at you," she hissed, "So open, so ready. You may have sold your soul, but your body was made for me."

She lowered her head, her cold tongue flicking out to lap at your heated flesh. You gasped, your hips bucking forward, only to be held down by her strong hands.

Your fingers dug into the flesh of your thighs as you gripped them tightly, torn between the urge to push her away and the insidious pull to spread wider and invite more of her touch. You had, after all, sold your soul to her, hadn't you?

You bit your lip to stifle a moan as her cool, silken demon tongue delved into your wet folds. She licked up your juices, then pushed the tip of her tongue deep inside you, fucking you with it as she sucked hard on your clit. Your moans grew louder, more desperate, as she ate you out with a fervor that left you breathless. The sensation of her cold, demonic tongue inside you was unlike anything you'd ever experienced, and you found yourself pushing back against it, desperate for more.

"Oh God!"

"Even God won't help you right now princess…"

Your back arched, your body tension as an overwhelming wave of sensation crashed over you. You screamed, your voice hoarse with passion, as you convulsed against her mouth. She drank you down, her hands tightening on your hips to hold you in place as she continued to lap at your over-sensitive flesh.

She crawled up your body, she kissed and licked her way up your body, she left a trail of dark marks - hickeys and bite marks that would serve as her claim on you. She suckled at the sensitive skin of your inner thighs, your lower belly, the undersides of your breasts. As she marked you, the dark bruises and hickeys seemed to glow with a faint, eerie light. The marks pulsed softly, as if infused with demonic energy. She claimed you as hers, marking you in a way that would be visible to all, a testament to her ownership.

"Mine."

She slipped off you, her eyes never leaving yours. "I want you ready for me, always," she said, her voice low and commanding. "When I come around, hungry...I expect you to be prepared. Understand?" she leaned down, her voice a silken growl against your ear.

"What's your name?" you asked, still weak from the pleasure.

"You'll never know." She said, her voice dripping with mocking sweetness.

In a blink of an eye she vanished, leaving behind an icy chill and an empty room. One moment she was there, her presence overwhelming, the next—nothing. No trace she'd ever been there, except for the glowing marks of ownership on your body.

You quickly gathered your scattered clothes, dressing hurriedly as you dashed out of the room. The cool air against your skin did little to soothe the heat that still coursed through your veins. You could feel the dampness between your thighs, a constant reminder of what had just happened.

Kneeling before the ancient book you had used for the ritual, you frantically flipped through the yellowed pages, your hands shaking. You scanned the text, your heart pounding in your chest.

"I have to break the contract…" you muttered, tears forming in your eyes as it darted back and forth, desperately searching for an answer.

Your breath hitched in your throat as you read the words, the implications washing over you.

"The contract can only be severed by a single path, when the summoner grasps the true name of the demon being they've bound, and utters it forthwith."

"You'll never know."

#natasha romanoff #natasha romanoff x reader #natasha romanoff x female reader #black widow #black widow x reader #black widow x female reader

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jjwolves · 1 month ago

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What do you think ena or her coworkers would think of a reader being really strong? like, theyve defeated bosses or boss like entitys before?

TEST YOUR MIGHT ════ ⋆★⋆ ═════

What: 5 Headcanons of The Hub Coworkers & A Very Strong Reader

Who: ENA the Worker, Froggy, Coral Glasses and Dratula from ENA Dream BBQ

How Much: ~900 Words, ~4 Mins

Credits: Image Banner -> JoelG, Divider -> @animatedglittergraphics-n-more

Warnings: None

You’re a bit of a powerhouse. You can do incredible things that others usually aren’t capable of—tying blood rivers into knots, sidestepping acid rain before you get burned and chopping through titanium gumball machines with your hands. During your interview, Froggy briefs you on your work target: the Boss. It seems the goal of today is to aim for the gut. You say OK, no problem. Point the way and pay me. Froggy seems taken aback. “Well, you’re definitely confident! But it’s no easy task. Listen, listen, it’s good to be eager, but the Boss is really strong!” You shrug. The Boss sounds about as strong as an Archon or Hypervisor. Different names, same things. Froggy is baffled, before relenting and saying that he “needs to make a phone call”. He walks in circles and pretends to deliberate before hiring you on the spot.

It’s not long before your other coworkers pick up on your abilities, even if you try to keep them on the down-low. At one point, you and ENA were sent out on a mission to retrieve coordinates, wandering through a gloomy city made out of churches leaking black water into the streets. ENA attempts to flick an ancient lever which should open the old steel gates you need to pass. They don’t budge. “Stupid lever, work already! I’ll eat your cogs, under-manufactured trash!” You nudge ENA inside and punch a hole through the gate, tearing it open into an improvised entrance. “Oh my! You’re quite the economic superpower. Thank you for the assistance, brave beast!” ENA seems a little wiry standing next to you, but later on, when she unsheathes her fan and slices a clock spirit into ribbons, you see a warrior. Like you.

You hadn’t known that Dratula was on your side as an informant. The pointy ears and claws made him seem monstrous—maybe he was sent by the Boss! You kicked into action when you saw him tell Coral Glasses something pretty incriminating: “I AM DRATULA! I AM THE BOSS!” Immediately, you were on him, grabbing his ears so you could fold him into a square like laundry. “NO! I AM DRATULA! UNHAND ME! YOU’RE GOINK TO HURT MY SECRETS!” There wasn’t much the supposed vampire could do besides use his face to note down an expression of surprise. Coral Glasses shied away from the bloody spectacle which was about to unfold in order to shake Froggy’s arm and hope that he would do something. Froggy stared on before remembering that he needed his sole source of intel alive. “Hey, hey, wait up! Leave him alone for now. We can get back to this once we find the Boss!”

Coral Glasses takes diligent notes of all of the ways you could help defeat the boss. She asks, you answer—it’s like a second interview. A few forms are printed out of her head and she begins diligently recording your answers in the spaces. “Could you aim for the gut with a cannon, perhaps?” Yes, you could do that. “How good are you in foot to mouth combat?” You were decent at it. Fortunately. Or unfortunately. Finally, she nervously peeks out over the top of the forms for her final question. “Would you win?” You hesitate before answering. Probably. She gives a neutral hum and goes to sort the paperwork somewhere. ENA spins over to you in a swivel chair, doing her best ‘color tornado’ impression. “How about terminating the boss by throwing paperclips at him? We have a surplus.” They’d have to be pretty sharp paperclips. “Maybe we could use a deluxe one!” What, like a giant one? Seems impractical to you. “Well then YOU come up with an office weapon, smartass!” You already did. You hand her two letter openers chained together like nunchucks and she’s already appraising them like you just handed her a bargain. You call it a chain letter. “I like the way you think! Positively barbaric! You’re hired!” You were already hired, but you graciously accept.

One night (or however time worked here) you and your coworkers all went out for drinks. And by drinks, of course, they meant bottles full of artifacting snowflakes bouncing around the inside like TV screensavers. It wasn’t long before ENA was drunkenly alternating between slurring buzzwords and yelling at the bartender, who kept a straight face (which wasn’t very difficult, as he was a faceless egg who had yet to hatch). Coral Glasses was breathless, laughing at everything like she had heard the joke that clowns hear from angels upon achieving holy initiation. You were still drinking and yet to be affected. The Receptionist was complaining that the cheap swill was freezing up her beautiful joints. Froggy was feeling the effects a bit, it seemed, but he was holding up OK, all things considered. “To the muscle of the group,” he said, to which monochrome sleeves, red mitten-hands and costumed arms raised unsteady winter glasses to the new hire. Everyone took another swig. A little later, Froggy scooched over to you and admitted something. “Hey. I just wanted to thank you. Everyone’s seemed a little grave looking towards our main mission. But I feel like they’ve been a lot more at ease with you around. Me included. So, thanks for all the help.” You patted him on the back. Your work was never done, but you were glad to help in the end. These people were worth it.

#ena #ena dream bbq #dream bbq ena #froggy #ena x reader #dratula #ena fandom #x reader #reader insert #imagine blog #imagines #writeblogging #writers on tumblr #writeblr #ena headcanon #ena dream bbq x reader

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ill-kidnap-all-the-stars · 3 months ago

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Zuko

[ image description: a digital drawing of Zuko from Avatar the Last Airbender drawing in my style. He is a light-skinned man standing in ¾ view and looking at a fire in his hand. His right eye is gold, but his left is heavily scarred and closed. His black hair is held up in a top knot with the flame-shaped Fire Lord Crown. He is wearing a gold-trimmed red inner robe, with a brown outer robe. It has gold embroidery of Chinese dragons on the shoulders, and a peacock feather motif on the hem of the robes. He is standing in front of a brown Fire Nation symbol ]

prints ✨ commissions

📣 If your Zuko isn't half blind, I don't want him 📣

I feel like some Fire Nation outfits are bright and red, but Zuko's are always in some way darker. Let's not unpick the symbolism there :/ as always, influences and inspiration under the cut, with the reminder that these originally came from Instagram slides I made, so they're missing a lot of extra context and nuance - also that I don't speak a lick of Chinese (any flavour of it) but I tried my best with the characters:

A Bit of Background:

The Fire Nation is visually and geographically inspired by volcanic islands such as Iceland, Hawaii and Polynesian islands, while the culture of the Fire Nation is primarily inspired by East, South and Southeast Asia, as well as sun-worshipping cultures (such as the Ancient Egyptians and Mesoamericans). For example:

the Confucian concept of ‘filial piety’ (孝顺 or ‘xiao shun’) is central to the Fire Nation too;

the agni kai is a form of honour duel commonly seen in warrior societies of South Asia, and literally translates as ‘Duel of Fire’ or ‘Fire Quarrel’;

the Fire Nation propaganda justifying the war is reminiscent of the Japanese Empire during the Second World War;

the architecture draws on that of Ancient Egypt, different Chinese dynasties, and historic Southeast Asian kingdoms;

the food typically resembles the Sichuan food, particularly in the spiciness and quantities of meat.

Fire Nation Clothing:

The clothing of the Fire Nation draws from many East and Southeast Asian clothing. For example, the armour the military wears has influences from traditional Thai armour, the shoulder pieces the Royal Family wears come from Burmese court wear, the school uniforms are inspired by traditional Thai clothing, and the Royal Family's top knot appear to come from Qin Dynasty China.

The Royal Court are often seen wearing changshan, a traditional clothing of the Han Chinese, although that is not the only influence. For example, Azula's skirt comes from the wraparound trousers worn in Laos, Cambodia and Thailand, while Ty Lee and Toph's jewellery comes from the Thai mongkut.

My Design:

Zuko's wardrobe is one of (if not) the most varied, diverse and expensive of any character is the show. For example, his Ember Island clothing is very Thai-inspired, his Blue Spirit mask is based of a Chinese Nuo mask, his armour and hair in season one come from Thailand, and his dual swords come from Chinese niuweidao swords (牛尾刀). And that's not even mentioning the can of worms that is season two. But, since I'm drawing outfits for a ball in Republic City, I decided to draw inspiration from his looks in season three of ATLA and ATLOK.

I decided to go for the traditional daopao (道袍) robe, which usually had white or plain facings, but I decided to make them gold because Fire Nation. I put peacock feathers on Zuko's clothing because they symbolise the sun and virtue in Chinese clothing. I also decided to draw dragons on his outer robe. The dragons in ATLA are a combination of Western and Chinese dragons. Visually, they are very inspired by Chinese dragons, although they have four toes, which is more common with Korean and Vietnamese dragons, and they retain a connection to the Emperor. However, the presence of wings and their association with fire comes from Western dragons.

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atlaculture · 6 months ago

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Hello!! Firstly, I love your blog, thank you so much for providing such useful and interesting information! Secondly, how was pirate culture in the Qing dynasty? Especially in regards to their clothes. I'd like to make an Earth Kingdom pirate oc, so I've been taking some inspiration from Jiang from the comics and Ching Shih, a famous pirate, but I'd love to see any information you could provide about this topic! Thank you!

What a neat question! The pirate culture during the Qing Dynasty was really interesting. Since I know I have a lot of historical fashion fans follow this blog, I'll show you the inspiration board I created first and then try to connect it to the Avatar world. If you're interested in the history of Qing era pirates or the greater context behind my clothing recommendations, you can click on the "Keep Reading" line.

So what might the pirates of the Qing Dynasty have worn?

Since Qing Dynasty pirates spent most of their time in the South China Sea and docked along the China-Vietnam borderlands--- both the Qing Dynasty and the Tây Sơn Dynasty had employed these pirates at different points in time--- they were likely a mix of Chinese and Vietnamese culturally, if not ethnically. Their clothing would reflect this, as well as incorporating fabrics and cuts that would be suitable for a tropical climate. In general, their wardrobe would be very Southeast Asian in style.

Since you seem to be designing a female OC, I figured I'd make a collage of clothing and accessories that a Qing Dynasty lady pirate might have.

Headwear

Khăn lươn (Vietnamese Women's Headwrap) - Used to keep hair neat and out of the way. It's like a halfway point between a turban and a hairband.

Khăn mỏ quạ (Vietnamese Women's Headscarf) - A bandana that Vietnamese women would wear over their Khăn lươn to shield their hair from the sun. It literally means "Crow's Beak Scarf", because the bandana forms a triangle shape at the front.

Mũ chữ Đinh (Vietnamese Military Officer's Hat) - Many Qing Dynasty pirates would offer their services to the Tây Sơn Dynasty (Vietnamese) navy. I can imagine some pirates wearing these hats as a spoil of war.

Nón lá (Asian Conical Hat) - A traditional hat that is commonly worn in Asia by any profession that labors outside. It's probably the hat most associated with East and Southeast Asia.

Đinh Tự (Vietnamese Women's Hat) - A giant, wide-brimmed hat made from dried palm leaves--- it's basically an Asian conical hat on steroids. Whereas the nón lá is relatively gender-neutral, the dinh tự is considered a feminine hat.

Tops

Yếm / Dudou (Vietnamese/Chinese Halter Top) - Fun Fact: Its original purpose was to keep the belly warm, as the stomach is the sea of chi!

Áo gấm (Vietnamese Tunic) - A thin overcoat worn over the yếm. It's often fastened with a sash.

Áo bà ba (Vietnamese Folk Shirt) - A lightweight shirt with slits on the side.

Suoyi (Chinese Folk Raincoat) - A cloak made out of local materials such as palm leaves and grass. It was also worn by laborers in Vietnam, Japan, and Korea.

Bottoms

Kangkeng Le (Thai Fisherman Pants) - They're from Thailand, but I've seen them worn in other parts of Southeast Asia.

Váy (Vietnamese Skirt)

Miscellaneous Speculation

Kiềng (Vietnamese Gold Necklace) - Traditionally, gold or silver Vietnamese/Chinese necklaces were solid rings of metal, rather than being composed of small chain links like European necklaces. I imagine a powerful Asian pirate queen would wear at least three kiềng necklaces.

Tattoos - Since Confucian cultures traditionally considered body modification (including cutting your own hair) to be a sign of rebellion and criminality, tattoos would be the perfect status symbol for an Asian pirate! For a uniquely Vietnamese look, you could try incorporating ancient Vietnamese (Dong Son style) patterns to your design. Alternatively, they could have "protection charm" tattoos on their body, to ensure that the spirits watch over them while at sea or during battle.

Cormorants (Fishing Birds) - Historically, the fishermen of China and Vietnam have trained these species of bird to catch fish for them. I think it would be really cool if your pirate OC had some bird companions.

Weapons

Going to lean into the Vietnamese influence for the weapons as well. Most Vietnamese weapons were heavily inspired by Chinese weapons, but with uniquely Vietnamese touches. Generally, these weapons tended to have more tapered blades, metal engravings with floral patterns, and rattan-corded grips with smaller guards compared to their Chinese counterparts.

Dadao/Trường đao (Chinese/Vietnamese Machetes)

Jian/Kiem (Chinese/Vietnamese Doubled-Edged Swords)

Changdao/Guőm truòng (Chinese/Vietnamese Two-Handed Swords) - Fun fact: These swords were really popular with Chinese and Japanese pirates during the Ming Dynasty, as well.

Niuweidao - I don't think there's a Vietnamese version of Oxtail Sabers. Anyways, I've discussed Zuko's trademark swords at length elsewhere. They're civilian weapons that look very pirate-y to me.

Who would the Earth Kingdom pirates be? How would they make a living?

It has been shown that their is a Vietnam analog in the EK, as I've posted about before. The Swampbenders have some Vietnamese inspiration, as well. So the main base operations for EK pirates might have been that EK village that Zuko and Iroh begged in. Maybe the jerk that Zuko stole the swords from was a pirate.

Considering that Froggy Swamp denizens and other Water Tribers would probably be marginalized by EK society, I think their would be good reason for them to become pirates. Especially since waterbending would obviously be a very useful skill to have at sea. Also, since the Northern Water Tribe is shown to be a bit sexist, I could see the surprisingly not-as-sexist world of EK piracy being especially appealing to the ladies of the NWT. As far as EK natives go, farmers and fishermen who've been displaced by the Fire Nation would probably also turn to piracy. Similarly, jaded or corrupt Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation naval officers might switch to piracy, as well. What drives a person to piracy would definitely inform their clothing choices and weaponry.

Like the real-life pirates of the Qing Dynasty, Earth Kingdom pirates likely have no real national loyalties. If you paid them enough, they'd be willing to fight for either the Fire Nation or the Earth Kingdom. You also have to pay them off to cross their territory unscathed. Pirates raid merchant and military ships alike. For refugees who could afford it, they likely paid pirates to smuggle them into Ba Sing Se. Pirates probably also smuggled goods between nations, as well as drugs.

I also think Earth Kingdom pirates would worship water-related spirits, like Yue (+ the Ocean Spirit) or the Painted Lady. Perhaps they'd lay out offerings to spirit alters they'd have onboard or even "feed" the offerings to the seas themselves.

The Greater Context of Chinese Qing Dynasty Piracy

Who were the pirates of the Qing Dynasty?

The pirates of Qing Dynasty were predominantly made up of former farmers and fishermen. During this period, population growth in China lead to land shortages and many farmers lost their land either from being unable to keep up with rising taxes or outright theft from corrupt officials. Fishermen turned to piracy when fishing could no longer guarantee their survival, especially with European pirates and colonial ships invading their waters. In general, extreme poverty drove people to piracy.

Also, Chinese pirates were surprisingly more accepting of female leadership than men from more "respectable" parts of society. This is due to the fishermen roots of many pirates. Traditionally, when a fisherman died, his wife was expected to take over his boat and crew. Also, the two most prominent patron Chinese gods of seafarers are goddesses, Guanyin and Mazu.

What did these pirates do?

Qing Dynasty pirates were a unique fusion of bandit, mercenary, and drug smuggler. Obviously, if you planned on sailing through pirate-infested waters, you had better pay off the pirates to be left unscathed. Otherwise, your ship was getting plundered.

Qing pirates also offered up their talent for violence to the highest bidder during times of war. In the 18th century, Imperial Vietnam would frequently hire and train up Southern Chinese pirates to assist their fleets during naval battles. Those who earned merit during these conflicts would even be granted official military titles. In 1857, the Chinese government would even employ these same South Sea pirates to take down the Portuguese pirates terrorizing their waters.

Finally, as Qing Dynasty piracy reached its epoch at the same time as the First Opium War, Chinese pirates participated in a lot of drug smuggling. As pirates have no loyalty, they had no issue serving as middle-men in the profitable European drug trade.

Where were these pirates found?

The South China Sea was the stomping ground for Qing-era pirates, particularly the Gulf of Tonkin. In terms of ports and towns, they tended to spend a lot of time in the border areas where China met Vietnam. Remember that these pirates offered their services to both Imperial Vietnam and Imperial China, so they didn't exactly have national loyalties.

#atla #avatar the last airbender #avatar #atlaculture #earth kingdom #vietnam #cultural fashion #cultural weapons #I went a bit overboard with this post #no pun intended #I'm just really into the idea of incorporating more Southeast Asian cultures into the ATLAverse #I also just think outlaws are kind of neat #replies

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bynineb · 9 months ago

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my favorite & least favorite Pokemon from each generation!

GEN 1

FAVE: VENONAT

my lovely buggy boy! this is partly for nostalgic reasons as my very first slot car i built with my father was called VENOM, and had a little Venonat figurine perched on top. but the design is also precious, a Kuriboh style fuzzball gnat in a whimsical purple. also when it runs it hops!!! like a bunny!!!

Runner Ups: Nidorino, Poliwhirl, Porygon, Charizard, Haunter

LEAST FAVE: GOLDUCK

a wet fart of an evolution that loses all of psyduck's walleyed charm and replaces it with... nothing. it has no identity. even its pokedex entries are lame - it can swim fast and that's it. usually the simpler gen 1 pokemon still appeal to me just due to sugimori's art style, but no such luck for the duck.

that being said, i don't completely hate it. it just needs more to latch onto design-wise

Runner Ups: Rapidash, Hypno

(the rest is under the cut!)

GEN 2

FAVE: FLAAFFY

once my all-time favorite pokemon, although that has since been ceded to Venonat, i adore Flaaffy to bits. it has that perfect amount of cuteness and patheticness that endears me to some of my favorite designs, said patheticness owing to its stubby arms, mangy coat, watery eyes, and peculiar bowed stance when it stands up. i love the striped horns and tail, the colors are very pleasant, and the wool gives it a je ne sais quoi that the otherwise similar Ampharos lacks, almost like a wooly muffler and hat. (not knockin Ampharos btw, love it too). there's a reason Fynn took so much inspiration from this fluffy fellow!

(also, the rental Flaaffy in Pokemon Stadium 2 had Thunder Punch and Fire Punch. considering the sorry state of rental movesets in that game, and my lack of an N64 link cable, Flaaffy carrying me through those fights may have helped cement our bond!)

Runner Ups: Skiploom, Dunsparce, Forretress, Unown, Magcargo

LEAST FAVE: TYROGUE

not only does it not really resemble the hitmons - maybe hitmonchan? - it's just not a flattering design. the bandages and ear guards give it some definition and trainee-like character, at least, but the colors are gross, and frankly it just looks too much like a human being. in general i dislike pokemon that too closely resemble humans and Tyrogue is one of the biggest offenders. even its name is dumb! it's not roguish at all! what a hitmonchump

(also the beta version was so much better imo. linked art by @racieb)

Runner Ups: Qwilfish, Smoochum, Noctowl

GEN 3

FAVE: DUSKULL

aww duskull... what a charmingly spooky spirit. the single red eye behind the skull mask is a killer design motif and i love its fishlike phantom body, arms tucked behind its back in eternal contemplation. so halloweeny!

Runner Ups: Trapinch, Lunatone, Illumise, Shedinja, Tropius

LEAST FAVE: DELCATTY

it lacks in personality, and i don't think the color scheme looks good. its head shape also freaks me out the longer i look at it... but i do like that its neck resembling a pincushion, that's clever

Runner Ups: Castform

GEN 4

FAVE: REGIGIGAS

hey look, it's game freak's favorite whipping boy! i'm a sucker for hulking construct-type designs and regigigas is such a thoroughly excellent example of one. the black runes and mossy accessories give it a feeling of ancient, unknown significance. unlike a lot of gen 4 legendaries, it doesn't feel overly busy but still feels complex enough to have that "legendary" impact

Runner Ups: Giratina, Carnivine, Torterra, Bastiodon, Gliscor, Drapion

LEAST FAVE: AMBIPOM

i have to say gen 4's designs usually feel distinct, particularly the new evolutions for older pokemon, which go out of their way to differentiate themselves from their previous form, for better or worse. not so for Ambipom, though!- which is just Aipom but worse in every single way. its once nimble fingers reduced to swollen udders, its cheeky grin slackened into a vacant smile and marred with an unpleasantly singular nostril, that dreadful haircut, and even the introduction of elbows to its vestigial arms that further emphasize the seeming impracticality of those wretched bulbous tail hands. and maybe even worse, it doesn't evolve the base concept in any way, aside from doubling the number of party balloons that limply float behind it, possibly the least interesting iteration on the existing concept

nothing unique to it is good or interesting, and that to me is way worse than a design that tries something new and fails

in terms of what i like about it... i guess it does seem like a pretty friendly guy. maybe he does tricks at parties. and it's nice that they can hold hands with one another in a group

Runner Ups: Gallade, Lopunny, Magmortar, Glaceon,

GEN 5

FAVE: HAXORUS

god if this thing isn't cool! the exquisite color palette, the subtle contours of its armor, the bloodred axe-tusks... elegant simplicity in a terrifyingly brutal beast. it feels out of time, jurassic yet medieval...

Runner Ups: Roggenrola, Heatmor, Scolipede, Cofagrigus, Mienshao

LEAST FAVE: GURDURR

there are very few pokemon that make me feel disgusted by looking at them, but here's one of them. its creepy lumpy head and bulging veins make me deeply uncomfortable. i must give credit for the base concept of a clown-ogre-construction-worker... that's ambitious, at least, and i think it pays off pretty well in Conkeldurr.

Runner Ups: the monkeys, the genies, & the musketeers... the fillerest of filler

GEN 6

FAVE: GOURGEIST

SUCH a fun design. it blends a candle and a jack-o-lantern into its own original creature with a very unique shape, and what a cutie at that! it coming in multiple sizes like a real pumpkin would just seals the deal. another perfectly halloweeny 'mon, it and Duskull would be best friends

Runner Ups: Avalugg, Barbaracle, Clawitzer, Espurr, Trevenant

LEAST FAVE: VOLCANION

one of the pokemon i forget about the most, and i am never happy to remember it. what a waste of the first fire/water type! its face looks constipated, its colors are lame, and it doesn't do jack-all with the concept besides the most obvious "it can shoot out steam." at the very least, though, i can say it has a unique silhouette. i think the design has potential, it's just that a lot of the particulars are very clunky and lame

(also, give me the fireball seal from the beta game freak!!)

Runner Ups: Hoopa, Braixen

GEN 7

FAVE: CHARJABUG

BEEP BEEP!!! oh how i adore this little battery buggy. i didn't think much of it back when it was first revealed, but as soon as i heard its cry i immediately fell in love. it really is unique, too - no other pokemon has this shape. even cooler it has a support-based playstyle unique from its evolution based around its Battery ability, improving its allies' damage passively. thanks charjabug : )

Runner Ups: Type: Null, Celesteela, Bruxish, Stakataka, Melmetal

LEAST FAVE: LYCANROC-DAY

i don't particularly dislike Lycanroc really (Alola's designs are bangers), but the rock typing is so thoroughly phoned in. and if you get rid of that you're just left with a wolf, an animal i don't care about. midnight form is fun though!

Runner Ups: Passimian, Toucannon

GEN 8

FAVE: SNEASLER

this pick is probably not too popular, but i can't help but love Sneasler because it looks so much like what i would doodle in my high school notebooks, monster people with huge claws and wicked eyes. it's a cringe OC and that's badass. it carrying you around in a basket is also just precious...

special mention also to legends arceus for making the diamond/pearl legendaries look way cooler. to me, anyway, i just think they're so much more fun in this surreal state

Runner Ups: Carkol, Cursola, Falinks, Ursaluna, Hatterene, Toxtricity

LEAST FAVE: CINDERACE

i generally don't care for the set of designs made for sword and shield. (my favorite gen 8 mon isn't even from sword/shield!!) it feels like over half of the dex is either a guy with a job, or tries way too hard to be "memetic" and funny. cinderace falls into the former camp, an uncannily humanoid and unnatural design. i also don't like the colors used... that being said, it's going for a very different aesthetic than what i prefer, so i can imagine some people loving this design just as much as I dislike it.

i think the idea of kicking a pebble that becomes a blazing fireball is rad though, and Court Change is a sick move

Runner Ups: Boltund, Eiscue, Kubfu, Coalossal, Skwovet, Greedent

GEN 9

FAVE: GLIMMORA

this perfect angel was one of the most unexpected delights of my scarlet playthrough. i love how otherworldly and surreal it is, its beautiful flower-like blooming petals that conceal its deadly poisonous nature, and its barreleye-fish-like-eyes that are at once adorable and haunting. it's amazing that we're 1000 designs in and game freak's artists are still able to create wholly new feeling concepts that are this cool...

Runner Ups: Slither Wing, Espathra, Houndstone, Ogerpon

LEAST FAVE: RELLOR

WHY DO YOU HAVE THE FACE OF A HUMAN, RELLOR?! WHY!?! i am begging gamefreak to stop giving so many pokemon mustaches and beards. i also don't like the weirdly smooth dunkin-donuts-lookin' dung ball and how none of its colors match the bug's colors... that being said, it does at least have personality, i can't deny that...

Runner Ups: Iron Jugulis, Frigibax, Iron Crown

well that was cathartic! to end on a positive note, i must say that I think Pokemon's overall design track record is very good. most designs have a likeable quality to them, and so many are bursting with creativity and charm. honestly even the ones i just criticized are probably some people's favorites, and they're not wrong to think so. thanks for reading!

#pokemon #venonat #flaaffy #duskull #regigigas #haxorus #gourgeist #charjabug #sneasler #text post #glimmora

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muntitled · 1 year ago

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𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐞 | 𝐊.𝐒.

Kim Seungmin x Fem!Reader

♡ Follow Kim Seungmin as he embarks on slaying the demon that plagues you monthly. (Aka he takes care of you on your period)

♡ Cw: Established Relationship, Domestic Fluff, Care, Suggestive Content, Soft Dom Minnie, slightly implied chubby reader, humour, mentions of nausea, Possessiveness

♡ He's successfully wrecked Bang Chan as my top bias

He could tell, from the moment he stepped over the wooden threshold, when your frustrated groans drifted through the air, that he had just walked into something akin to a battle zone on the Northern front. Seungmin clenches his eyes shut, feeling his own exhaustion double at the sound of your incessant moaning and groaning.

His large hand drifts over the contours of his bareface and for a no more than 40 seconds, Seungmin just stands there.

His back hits the framed wall depicting you and Seungmin (in much happier spirits) on your various ‘baecations’ all around the globe.

Seungmin turns to examine these pictures as he kicks his Nike sneakers off and he shakes his head.

You look so carefree in the picture. Your head is thrown back in a luscious guffaw aimed at the sky and Seungmin, in the very same picture is caught, quite embarrassingly so, with his head gazing down at you with a kind of admiration ancient Greeks held for the deities they worshipped.

That same mouth of yours had been painted with a lip combo that Seungmin had spent the entire evening trying to kiss off. He kissed you and kissed you and never grew tired. You both look so full of life. So attractive. So infuriatingly Instagram-y.

“야, Kim Seungmin! I swear to God if you're standing at the door, holding my period pills hostage, I will fucking end you!”

The juxtaposition was almost laughable. Seungmin couldn't help the slightly humorously exhale that left his lips as he gathered what little sensibilities he had left to face you and your particular dragon that he had to conquer when it was that time of the month.

When his sock-clad feet glide into the living room he finds you laid on the floor in foetal position (unsurprising) with your hands clutched around your stomach, while you groan thunderously into the air.

“Why do you always resort to using my government name when you're having cramps,” your ‘supposed boyfriend’ says in a manner that is so infuriatingly nonchalant, it has your eye twitching from your position on the persian rug.

“I'm dying, and that's the first thing you have to say to me?” Instead of responding to what was admittedly an over exaggeration used to thaw away at your boyfriend's unnaturally cold heart, Seungmin instead places the groceries on the counter.

“It's almost as if-” you watch as he works in the kitchen ceremoniously connected to the living area. “You always think you’re dying and then, miraculously, make it through another month. Its almost as if this is… temporary? Dunno though, I'm not an expert.” he resorts to sarcasm while your stomach turns in nausea

“Haters!” You affirm through clenched teeth while cradling your body from side to side, “I'm surrounded by my haters and they're closing in….”

“The only thing that's ‘closing in’ is your bedtime.” Seungmin swipes his fringe to the side as he watches you from behind the counter but it only bounces right back into his eyes, “Did you brush your teeth”

“Did you brush yours,”

“There's only one of us slinking on the floor like Satan,”

“Mean to me-” you whimper through quivering lips, “You're so mean to me!”

“I'm not mean when I'm trying to get you to go brush your teeth,” you hear the sound of the water spout running before soft muted footsteps approach you. Sensing Seungmin’s shadow now casted over your serpentine form which did in fact resemble Satan in the garden of Eden, you keep your eyes shut and your bottom lip jutted out as if thoroughly,and completely angry with him.

“Drink your pills, Bubs-”

“Don't tell me what to-”

“Drink it.”

There were many things you could get away with being in a relationship with one-such Kim Seungmin. He practically radiated boyfriend energy which made walking out in public with a complete nightmare because there is a special detector stationed in every girl, letting them know they were in the radius of a particularly special boy. He knew of your aversion to outsiders perceiving him, “you want me to wear a paper bag?” Seungmin had been completely unimpressed when you brought up the topic at the kbbq restaurant in the sunny recesses of Gyeongsang Province. “You're too hot,” you'd said, “And kind and delightful and it pisses me off,”

he had cracked a smile and showed up to your apartment the very next day quite literally wearing a cardboard paper bag. He had holes for eyes and the rest of him was otherwise normal. “Let's go”

And you had fricken gone, because when Seungmin puts base in his voice, like he’s doing right now while he had a glass of water hanging above your head, there was nothing left to do except comply.

You grumble as you lift yourself up from off the floor and your eyes are hardened balls of cement when you grab the water and the pills.

“You complain about cramps but never actually want to drink the pills I bring,” Seungmin murmurs with his hands on his hips. You watch him in his billowy white shirt and his sweatpants and you can feel your anger beginning to slip away.

Chugging down your water, you place the glass on the coffee table before you begin to grumble, “Instead of medicating me all the time it wouldn't hurt to- I dunno- hold me-” the second those words leave your mouth Seungmin pulls you into his arms with a deep and heavy eye roll as the both of you fall backwards into the couch. “That was my second order of business, Babe.” He nuzzles his nose into tje side of your face and his hands pull yoir thigh pver his mich smaller one

“Unhand me, Demon!”

“Now I know you didn't eat because you never eat when you're like this,” your stomach, despite turning in nausea also manages to descend into a pit of butterflies, “But I'm going to make you a smoothie and you'll drink at least 2 gulps. Maybe even 3.”

You try to wrangle out of his grip but he keeps you there, “And you still haven't brushed your teeth, so you're doing that after the smoothie” Seungmin whispers, nearly causing an anyureseum as a places a delicate kiss to ypur cheek, as his hand comes up the back of your head, patting your hair down in intervals.

“Are you my dad?” You whisper, despite your eyes flitting shut. Your cramps, you're noticing, have already begun to ease up and Seungmin snickers as he watches the peace take over your countenance.

He leaves one more delicate kiss to your forehead before snickering, “don't piss me off” he says, tapping the skin of your thigh, “God, I love when you're like this,” you're unaware of the intensity with which Seungmin is looking down at you. “You like when I'm dying of pain?” You ask craning your neck back to haze into the vaguely serious face taking over your boufriend's features. While you examine the roundness of his cheeks and the contours of his visage, Seungmin's eyes are trained on you too. They're intense, dark holes of perpetual lust as his hand begins to rub up and down your thigh. “I like when you let me take care of you?” He whispers before lightly pushing his lips against yours. It begins as a whisper of a kiss, almost hy as the tips of your lips brush together. Seungmin sticks his tongue out, lapping shyly at your bottom lip.

You groan underneath him, only prompting him to shift until he's hovering over you, kissing you deeply.

“I need-” you try to move away but his lips chase yours, “I need to eat, remember-”

“Didn't say anything about me eating you-”

The lightening that slices down your spine is so vicious and so sudden and by the time you're pushing Seungmin off of you, you realize your cramps have completely dissipated.

“Make me a smoothie, and then we'll talk.”

#kim seungmin #kim seungmin x reader #seungmin #seungmin fluff #kim seungmim #seunghan x reader #seungmin smut #skz #skz x reader #skz x you #stray kids #stray kids x you #stray kids x reader #stray kids fanfic #stray kids smut #seungmin fanfic #stray kids x black!reader #seungmin x black reader

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baphometsss · 5 months ago

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my childfreeness is projecting again so here, have some of my childfree headcanons

Solas is sterile because he's old as fuck and his balls just don't make baby batter like they used to (Trick lk confirmed this teehee 🩷)

Did they ever work though?? I mean he literally just manifested as a fully grown man like all the ancient elves did. Iirc that's why modern elves don't have DNA. We never seem to find out when they started having babies naturally so it's possible he was always sterile (kind of like in TRC when Ronan pulls people out of his dreams and they don't even have internal organs)

Taleani Lavellan has always liked spirits and animals more than people because they're kind of uncomfortable around kids and people in general so not breeding is a very natural choice for them

Not to say they don't care about them at all bc she had a duty as her clan's midwife and helped all the new mothers out etc but she just doesn't have a clue how to talk to kids and has no desire to learn

Solas also doesn't know wtf to do around kids and either ignores them or talks to them like they're fully grown adults while they stare back at him blankly

He also canonically doesn't like loud noises and bollocks Blackwall for training the kids right outside his room in DAI

"Not now kitten Daddy's lamenting his war crimes and I have to talk him down again"--Lavellan probably

Being childfree makes them focus on each other a whole lot more. Makes me think about that old photo of some soldier returning from war to meet his kid for the first time ever and just shoving it under his arm upside down so he can kiss his wife. That would be Solas as a dad

Seriously they would have 0 time for that kid while the other was present . Tough luck kiddo your mother's wearing a low cut top today and her titties look divine. Go play in the Fade and don't come back for at least a couple of hours

Straight up Gomez and Morticia Addams if the kids weren't there

Absolutely fucking awful parents . No time to be normal when there are blighted titans to deal with

Also they can explore the Fade much further and learn so much more without having to get a spirit babysitter in

They can nerd out over all the new discoveries they make and do all the dangerous experiments they like without having to worry about the safety of a person with no sense of danger

They can have impromptu shags on the kitchen table and not worry about getting walked in on and scarring that kid mentally with their outrageous sex life

When they're stressed from a hard day of titan soothing and they just want to relax and talk they don't have to fight the bedtime battle or deal with whatever stinky mess the kid made

Lavellan doesn't have to worry about losing her teeth, or becoming incontinent, or having any of the myriad health issues that arise from pregnancy and childbirth with limited resources to do anything about it

Solas can teach Lavellan how to take a big wolf form like him once he binds her to his life force so they can live forever and it won't endanger the kid

Taleani doesn't give a shit about having a legacy but who needs one anyway if you live forever?

No kids stuff littering the house means more space for books and dangerous artefacts and frescoes that won't get ruined by sticky hands

No arguments about how to best raise a child. Just arguments about philosophy and war crimes

No kids mean they can sleep all they want and have epic dream escapades without interruptions

Just. No kids in the Fade prison allowed. Or the Fade. Or within a 500 mile radius of Solas and Lavellan. Seriously who the hell thought that was a good idea in the first place

#solavellan #solas #lavellan #I said f them kids it's all about romance and nothing else

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talkingaboutwhatiwant · 6 months ago

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Got any cool Nevermore theories?

Using this question as an excuse to continue theorizing/mindless babbling.

"you'll be bones by sunrise" is a yummy little quote from our favorite apathetic bird. While for quite a while I was under the impression that Lenore wouldn't get her specter until the end of the series, but unless the entirety of S2 will consist of the one night, she might get it earlier. I have a hard time believing that the raven will be proven wrong in some capacity, so I see this as us being told that Lenore will get her specter, perhaps the raven's quote directly telling us she'll be a skeleton of some sort.

The passage to the land of the living. I'm not entirely sure why the gang can't just use their spectres to make the journey, maybe they can and they haven't thought about it (especially considering our heroine hasn't gotten hers yet) but nevertheless it seems like a good plot point and the rational way to get to the end.

I also wonder if any students have "recharged" enough to use their spectres, and if that'd help then against the wild hunt. Annabelle is shown in the finale very much so I'm danger, and Lenore wasn't exactly in a position to swoop in and save her.

The Curse

I've seen a lot of people theorizing that the stag is Leo, more specifically his spectre, so most of this ramble is going to be based on that idea. First off, if the stag is Leo's spectre, he likely has to constantly be in that form to keep from being eaten (to go with my assumption that spectres can't be eaten by the creatures running about) so ... how? The deans vaguely put out this idea that they and Nevermore as an academy are the ones that give the students the ability to "unlock" their spectres, but I don't support this idea. It's possible that the academy actually dampens the abilities of spectres, explaining how Theo could retain his for so long. The raven says something about the passage into new life being safe in the past, but also correlating to the creatures starving now, which seems to contradict as we don't know what the creatures eat, besides half-dead humans. Somehow the academy ruined the ecosystem, but only left predators? I don't know. I like to assume that the ecosystem involved the creatures feeding off of the traveling spirits, but not the ones who developed their spectres. The orbs present at the beginning of the series can't ALL be from Nevermore mishaps of past, right? Perhaps the reason Leo even is living as a spectre is he found out something about the deans and fled, perhaps growing enough strength with his spectre to retain it long enough to learn "the good old fashioned way" if you will, how to permanently retain it.

Another Leo theory is that he won the new life (as the deans said he was at the top of his class), and came back as one of these creatures. We're under the impression with the "second chance at life" statement that it means picking up where they left off in a Ride The Cyclone-esque way, but I don't like that idea so I'm choosing not to believe it. Besides my hate for the trope, the history of the dead traveling to the land of the living implies a reincarnation system, otherwise there'd be centuries of immortals to speak of. Perhaps Leo won the second chance, and had the rotten enough luck (perhaps from the "curse" that I don't really believe in but that's a different rant) to come back as one of these nightmarish creatures.

Annabelle and her spectre!!

I have a LOT of feelings about Annabelle and her spectre, so I'm going to try my best to make this readable.

First off, I don't believe that one can have a fake spectre, and while Annabelle had a memory planted that caused her to get hers, there must be enough truth to it. The deans are powerful, but I see spectres as an ancient mechanism, older than the Raven, (Supporting my theory that spirits used to develop their spectres on their own) and impossible to fake. Annabelle was killed before she was to be wed (the only way a lady in white can be) maybe she and Lenore got found out and were killed together, or something happened and they made a suicide pact of sorts (this one I'm not super fond of, but it makes some sense to me so I'm putting it in). It's also possible that in her spectral form, she has a deeper understanding, whether a subconscious thought, feeling, or something else entirely. Her and Lenore's situation is so unique and complex that many things are possible here, we just don't know.

It's important to note that these are loose theories without research, just my mind making connections for entertainment. Let me know if y'all agree, disagree, or have something to add on! Thanks for reading this far

#annabel lee nevermore #lenore nevermore #nevermore #nevermore webtoon #nevermore webcomic

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fanaroff · 1 year ago

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Above the Nasty Burger Ch. 1

Ao3 Link Here Next Ch. >>

“So… you don’t know your Obsession?” Ember looked understandably confused. Maybe a little weirded out. Danny laughed. It was a small, self deprecating laugh, but a laugh none-the-less.

“What we thought was it turned out to just be a hero-complex and the offshoot of my wanting to protect my family.” He glanced at where Ember sat beside him on the roof of the Nasty Burger. “That and you all kind of invaded my Haunt.”

Ember gaped at him. “That’s why you were so aggressive?!”

“Hey! I wasn’t aggressive! I just had family to protect and new instincts.” Danny was only mock offended.

“Baby Pop, you were aggressive. For a new ghost, you were aggressive.”

“Well, that’s the other thing. I’m not a full ghost. Not completely. I didn’t immediately seek out my Obsession. I didn’t try to create a Lair in the Zone. I didn’t seek out ectoplasm the way you all did when you changed.” He pulled his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them.

“I knew there was something weird with me from the beginning, kind of. But considering my experiences, I didn’t know what to classify as ‘normal.’ When Sam, Tucker, and I first learned about Obsessions, we thought that maybe I was a protective spirit or something that just kind of tied itself to Amity Park.”

“You are a protective spirit. But…?”

Danny uncurled and leaned back on his hands, eyes trailing up to the sky, seeking out the constellations he knows are there but are covered by the light pollution from the city.

“But there were times where things happened that totally should have set me off if that was my Obsession.” He looked at Ember. “That time that you controlled me to ‘fall in love with Sam’ and I got my heart broken? She was in danger the whole time. Especially when she was about to fall off of the building and me in that hypnosis state just made it worse. If my Obsession was protection, that shouldn’t have worked. ”

Ember made a drawn out ‘o’ with her mouth. “Oooooh…. That… that makes much more sense Baby Pop. We all thought something similar was your Obsession too, so I was actually kind of freaking out inside when it did work. I had actually been planning to do what I did to you to Tucker as a distraction but he wasn’t there.”

Danny snorted into his hand. “Oh Ancients! I’m imagining Tucker just drooling after Sam and her planting a boot in his face!”

“From what I’ve seen, she’d probably have done worse.” Ember grinned.

“Very true actually! She probably would have broken his PDA and then booted him in the face!”

The two ghosts shared a laugh before lapsing into a not-quite comfortable silence.

“I do want to say sorry, again.” Ember started hesitantly a few beats in. “We just kept pushing at you out of curiosity when we found out you were out here. It wasn’t obvious that you were a halfa at first. Most new ghosts still look pretty human when they form and then slowly start to come into themselves . We were very confused when you never did. Then we starting getting into what I at least know now was your Haunt and getting into your territory and things just started to escalate.”

Danny scratched the back of his head sheepishly and waved out to a passing child on the sidewalk who was pointing him out to their parent.

“Yeaaaaah, I know now that not all of you were intending harm. I dunno, I guess I just kind of reacted? So, sorry for that too on my end.”

“Nah, don’t be sorry for protecting your Haunt. It’s something that you were supposed to do. It just wasn’t something we expected. Then we assumed your Obsession kept you tied to the human world. Then we found out that you were a halfa. Then it made things more interesting. And now we come to find out that was all just naturally you?” Ember let out a loud and short laugh.

“Gosh, Baby Pop! We were amazed! And still are! To think you’ve done all that you have before you even found your Obsession! And to top it off, you’re in line for the throne and you still haven’t even come into your full power!”

Danny groaned at this and ran his hands through his bangs. “Please don’t remind me! Clockwork and Frostbite have been teaching me everything that I have been missing this whole time and on top of learning basic knowledge about the Zone that everyone instinctually already seems to know, I have to learn to do something that I never wanted to do in the first place!” He threw his hands into the air and let himself fall backwards to lay on the roof.

Ember was silent beside him as stared at the sky.

“I’m still so confused about a lot, Ember. I don’t even really know exactly what I’m doing. I have to be King only because I somehow won a battle by the skin of my teeth. One that I really, really should have fully died in. And to top it off…”

“-And to top it off, you need to be fully dead to claim the throne.”

“Even though I don’t want to.”

“Even though you don’t want to.” Ember confirmed. “That’s gotta be scary, man.”

“Terrifying.”

“I bet.”

“I mean… I’ve already died once-“

“Half-died really, but it counts.”

“-and I have to die again ! Then the big question is, how and when? Because the portal definitely tried its best but apparently not hard enough. Twice, now that I think about it.”

Ember raised an eyebrow as she leaned over to look down at him. “Twice?”

“I’ll tell you that story at another time, but it has to do with Desiree.”

“Ah. Carry on with your moping then.”

“I’m not moping!”

“Certainly looks like it.”

Danny huffed out a breath that blew his bangs out of his face. “Whatever. Anyways, I’m scared about what will happen when I’m dead dead and more than just dead inside. There’s also a lot of other things I’m scared about that has to do with it too, but I think actually having to find my Obsession is another part of it.” He sat up to look Ember in the eye.

“Clockwork said that whatever my Obsession turns out to be, the Zone will shape itself to it whenever I finally take the throne.”

Ember was silent a moment, processing this.

“Welll…” she started slowly. “I don’t think that is something you will need to worry about. If it was something dangerous, then Clockwork would have already seen to you never taking the throne or getting into a situation where you somehow won the throne, right?”

Danny shuddered as this sparked the memory of Dan. He was surely glad that guy was never the Ghost King. He shuddered again. That would have turned out very badly for everyone.

“You’re a good person, Danny. All of us can see that. I doubt your Obsession would be anything but good for the Zone.”

“It’s more than that, I think. I don’t know exactly how to put it into words.” He sighed and took a breath. “Frostbite has a theory that Clockwork neither confirms nor denies. And it’s the denying part that gets me because if it wasn’t true, he would have said outright.” Danny opened his mouth and stopped, unsure how to proceed.

“It still boggles me that you’ve somehow ended up with two of the most powerful ghosts as your mentors.” Ember remarked. Danny shot her a wry smile before frowning again.

“Frostbite thinks that the Zone made me.”

“What!? What does that mean?”

“It means that he thinks that when the portal in my parents’ basement opened up with me in it, the Zone kind of… chose me to be its new core. That it gave me my powers and didn’t let me fully die for this reason. Because it made me compatible with the Zone in a way that many other Kings weren’t.”

Ember let out a loud groan. “And Clockwork didn’t deny this?”

“Nope.” Danny popped the ‘p.’

“Uuuuuugh, what is your life, Baby Pop?”

“My half-life.” Danny corrected as he sat back up. He received a painful punch in the shoulder for his pun.

“Okay, so, yeah. I see now why you needed to get that all of your chest. How long have you known?”

He shrugged. “About four months now.” That earned him another punch in the shoulder. “I know I know! I shouldn’t have hidden it as long as I did! But I didn’t know what else to do!! And then we were chatting and I just sort of spilled it all out to you and now here we are!”

“I still don’t know why you told me over your human friends.”

A shrug was Ember’s only answer this time.

Ember sighed. “We’ll, I guess the next step would be for you to actually figure out your Obsession and then talk to Clockwork about what needs to be done or how things will go. But you’ve got to remember that all of us are with you every step of the way now. I care, Baby Pop. And I know that dying is a terrifying feeling. I can’t imagine going through it twice.”

“I just feel like a dead guy walking.”

“Danny, you are a dead guy walking.”

“Haha, very funny.”

“Thanks, I thought it was.”

“Seriously, though. I don’t really know how to process all of this still. It’s just so much and there’s still going to be more .”

Ember gave him a pat on the back. “Don’t think too many steps ahead. Think with the information you know now and stick to it until you have more. You can’t plan the next step if you don’t know what it is. You’re just gonna drive yourself insane that way. “

“Who’s to say I already haven’t?”

“Valid. You are actually pretty insane.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“Good.”

There were a few beats of silence before Ember stood up and started to float several feet in the air. “Welp, I’ve got some gossip to go spread around the Zone about your previous aggression”

Danny didn’t protest at this but he did give her a surly frown.

“I know it’s a sensitive topic and all, but if you need help figuring out how to find your Obsession, I don’t mind hanging around sometime to help out. Your human friends may not be able to understand it completely, but I will. Besides, if you do find it, you’ll probably need another ghost to snap you out of Obsession Trance. It’s always wild the first time.”

Danny smiled, thankful for the offer. “Thanks, Ember. I’ll be sure to find you when I’m ready then.”

It only took a flick of his hand and a bit of focusing, but with that simple movement he used his power to create a portal just big enough for Ember to pop through. She waved a thanks and vanished into the swirling green.

After he let it close, Danny looked down at his own hands with a sigh. While Ember may have understood the ghost side of things, she didn’t seem to get why he hadn’t told his friends and family. How was he supposed to tell them that some day soon he would be gone and to a place they would no longer be able to reach him until they themselves died?

The one thing he didn’t tell Ember was the one thing that worried him the most. Because when he takes the throne, all ghosts would be called back to the Zone, and then all holes and portals in the Infinite Realms would close and there would be no way back. Next Ch. >>

>>I finally decided to start moving some of my works onto here and interacting in some of the fandoms I most enjoy. It's been a little while. I'll be posting chapters, blurbos, fanart, and designs from my own fics, so keep an eye out for those if you're interested. I love discussing these things, so feel free to reach out at any time! I have a lot of Thoughts on the Danny Phantom lore and an absolute love of the Ghost King!Danny trope. I do want to preface, Ember and Danny are not going to be a couple. This is a purely platonic focus and giving Danny an emotional support that he needs outside of the expectations of Sam, Tucker, and Jazz. Someone inhuman needs someone inhuman.

#danny phantom #ember mclain #fanfic #danny phantom fanfiction #skripsy fics #dp fanfic #dp prompt #ghost king danny

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queenbol-of-baldurs-gate · 7 months ago

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Dragon Age: The Veilguard Ending Theory

MAJOR SPOILERS BELOW. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK. ALSO PRETTY LONG.

So, as I was showering this morning I came to a sudden realisation through my DATV daydreaming.

It's pretty obvious going by the hidden ending slides that something or someone has been manipulating events through history that weren't the Evanuris. They sound evil, look evil, very mysterious and spooky.

And I think most people can connect the dots that we have already been warned about them in DAI and in Veilguard with the little message in the Minrathous printing house, about those strange chalk markings and about a "storm" approaching from across the northern sea, as well as infiltrators tracking the progress over the major protagonists over the last 20 years (and a hidden figure in the future?):

Plus Rook has seemingly been interacting with these hidden entities every time they upgrade the Lighthouse's core with the spinning rings, whispering to them all ominous like and foreboding.

So, this 'storm' has been manipulating and waiting and letting things percolate in Thedas for a very very long time, and it's only when Solas is sealed into the Fade, with all the other Evanuris dead, that they are finally ready to move.

And so it occured to me, just how long have these mysterious entities been waiting? Since the fall of the elven empire? Since the rise of the elven gods?

Or since the fall of the Titans?

But then I got really thinking and the biggest question that came to me as I was rinsing out my hair; what on earth convinced a spirit to take physical form, and become the first elf? The first evanuris?

Spirits, by Solas' own words, are driven by a purpose, by emotion, by what inspires them (do not get me started on who the spirits got the emotions they embodied from in the first place)- so what in the hell could've been so compelling that it drove a spirit, who are also famously very content on being spirits, to take lyrium from the ground and create a body like that? How did it know to do it? Why would it choose lyrium in particular, when this was a world that was filled to the brim with magic?

I think someone told them to do it.

So, my theory is that these mysterious entities, the Storm coming across the northern sea (where the qunari ran from), haven't just been manipulating recent events in Thedas. I think they have been orchestrating things from the very beginning. Before the first elf, when Titans roamed the continent, maybe even the planet, freely; from the rise of the spirits-turned-elves, their war, and their inevitable downfall of their empire. I think these things needed the Titans to fall, then they needed the elves they uplifted to fall as well. I think the creation of the Veil put a wedge in those plans, as well as the continued lives of the Evanuris that powered the Veil as well as Solas'. So they needed them to die too, as well as these pesky little humans that suddenly popped up and started taking up space. But the Veil was strong, and Solas had hid his resting place well, and the humans propogated like fuckin bunnies.

So you bide your time, and you nudge and pull at events to your liking, until the Evanuris die off one by one, and the Veil gets weaker and weaker, and the Blights kill off more and more of the mortals above and below the surface.

And then the protagonists show up. They all each kill a major, ancient demon. They all dig up and find ancient evils and secrets and artifacts. They each influence history in uncountable ways. One stops a world ending Blight in a year. One holds together a literally cursed city, built on top of a damn blood ritual sigil, for a decade. One seals a massive tear in the Fade, stopping a cataclysmic event. And one kills two gods and imprisons a third, holding back the end of the world for a third time.

So enough is enough. They'll just have to come over the sea, and handle it themselves.

#dragon age #dragon age the veilguard #veilguard spoilers #datv spoilers #my ramblings #once this question came into my head it wouldn't fuckin leave #so i had to get it out there #i am gnawing at the bars of my enclosure

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littlest-w01f · 10 months ago

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In the Shadows

Azriel x Dancer!OC (Mohini)

AZRIEL MASTERLIST

MAIN MASTERLIST

Summary: He's watching her, and has been since he first came to Dawn Court for business, the ethereal dancer that struck in the hearts of not only her people but all of Prythian with every performance

Cw: Stalker!Az

part one - part two

The halls of the most popular Dawn Theatre were bustling with the audience, fae of all kinds trying to get inside, it had been a week of busy days for the theatre, everyone wanting a glimpse of the ethereal beauty that was Mohini, the dancer who's portraits had been handing all over the court, even fae from other Courts were present, not wanting a miss a chance to see her dance. Among the crowd, was Thesan, the High Lord of Dawn, with him stood Aizen, his lover, and the High Lord and Lady of Night, Rhysand and Feyre, with their little Heir, Nyx.

As the doors finally opened, the crowd surged forward, their excitement palpable as they rushed into the grand auditorium. The air was thick with anticipation, each fae eager to lay eyes upon the enchanting Mohini, whose talent had captured the hearts of so many. While Thesan and Aizen led their guests to one of the private boxes on top of the audience.

The theatre's opulent interior gleamed under the soft glow of luminescent orbs suspended from the vaulted ceiling. Velvet curtains in rich jewel tones framed the stage, while ornate golden railings encircled the seating areas. A hush fell over the audience as they took their places, the whispers dying down like embers smothered by ash.

As the lights dimmed and the last fae found their seats, a profound silence enveloped the grand auditorium. The only sound was the faint rustling of silken gowns and the soft hum of anticipation building in the chests of the assembled fae. On the stage, a solitary figure emerged from the shadows, her presence commanding attention without uttering a word.

Mohini, the dancer extraordinaire, stood poised at centre stage. Her form was a vision of elegance, clad in a gown of iridescent blues, pinks and greens. Delicate tendrils of silver embroidery danced across the fabric, catching the light and weaving an ethereal aura around her. Her raven hair cascaded down her back in a glossy braid, adorned with gold, a few loose strands framing her heart-shaped face.

"By the stars," Feyre breathed, her eyes wide with awe as she gazed upon the mesmerizing sight before them, despite the background dancers, Mohini held everyone's focus. Beside Feyre, Rhysand nodded approvingly, talking with his mate in their heads, his hand resting on the small of her back. Little Nyx craned his neck, his eyes shining with childlike wonder at the magnificent display unfolding onstage.

Thesan smiled enigmatically, his gaze never leaving Mohini's form. "There are rumors that she possesses magic beyond our comprehension, a gift granted by the Mother herself with how enchanting her display is." His fingers curled imperceptibly around Aizen's own.

Mohini moved with grace, each step, each breath was measured to perfection, her heavy gown moving in sync, she had her feet in a wrap, to make sure they wouldn't swell with all the dancing she did. Each subtle shift of her weight, each delicate arch of her foot, spoke volumes about the mastery of her artistry. The intricate choreography wove through tales both ancient and modern, each tale told through the language of dance.

The rhythm of the music dictated the tempo of her performance, yet there was something more - a pulse of energy that seemed to emanate from within her. It was as though she were a vessel for the very essence of dance itself, channeling the spirits of those who came before her and giving voice to the hopes and dreams of those watching.

With every movement, Mohini seemed to defy gravity itself. Her steps were precise and deliberate, yet there was an underlying rhythm that spoke of ancient dances performed beneath the faerie lights. The delicate fabric of her gown flowed around her like liquid light, accentuating the curves of her body without ever being overtly revealing.

She began to spin, her arms extended outward like wings, her head tilted back in silent prayer to whatever deity had gifted her with such extraordinary grace. Each revolution brought a new pattern to life within the folds of her dress, the intricate embroidery shimmering like a constellation against the black velvet backdrop of the stage.

Then, suddenly, the tempo quickened, and the rhythm of the music became more complex. Mohini responded in kind, her steps now intricate and precise, each footfall a delicate dance of power and precision. Her dress swayed and fluttered, mirroring the fluidity of her movements. As the performance progressed, Mohini introduced new elements - spins, leaps, twirls - each more breathtaking than the last. The crowd watched, enraptured, their breaths caught in their throats.

A low murmur rippled through the audience as they watched her, spellbound by her artistry. Even those who'd seen her perform countless times before found themselves captivated anew by the sheer mastery of her craft.

Each partner she danced with, felt the same electrifying thrill course through them, as if they were the sole object of her affection, as if the current male she was dancing with, the two of them were the only people that existed, her eyes still always seeming to look past them, as if lost in another world entirely. Her movements were a whirlwind of energy and emotion, yet there was something distant about her, almost untouchable.

As the music reached its crescendo, Mohini's movements became more frenetic, her body a blur of color and motion. She leapt and twirled, her feet barely seeming to touch the ground as she traversed the stage with breathtaking agility. The audience held their collective breath, scarcely daring to blink lest they miss a single moment of her sublime performance.

Suddenly, Mohini froze mid-leap, her body arched in a pose that defied fae physiology. For a single, agonizing heartbeat, she felt suspended in the air, her gown billowing out around her like a light halo. Then, with a graceful flick of her wrists, she descended back to the lands, straightening back up. The auditorium erupted into thunderous applause, fae rising to their feet as they cheered and whistled their appreciation.

Mohini stood, her chest heaving with heavy breaths, she then took a deep bow. As Mohini bowed deeply, acknowledging the overwhelming ovation, even from her dancers, the applause only intensified. Flowers showered down from the balconies above, petals drifting gently onto the stage like confetti. As the ovation died down, she made her way backstage with a poise that suggested she was used to such adulation.

When she reached back, she looked curiously at the bouquet of Night Blooms, and a note in the flowers, it wasn't special to find flowers or gifts from her admirers, but most people didn't sneak into her private rooms in the theaters to send these gifts.

With a puzzled expression, Mohini unfolded the note and read its contents. The handwriting was neat and elegant, but the words were cryptic, causing a frown to crease her brow.

"Your dance tonight was exquisite, sweet thing"

The sender remained anonymous, which wasn't unusual, nevertheless, something about this particular message stirred a sense of unease within her. It was far too personal, too intimate for someone she hadn't met.

Mohini frowned slightly as she read the note again, a strange mix of flattery and unease swirling within her. It was unusual for someone to slip past her guards undetected, let alone gain access to her private chambers. She glanced around warily, half-expecting some mysterious figure to materialize from the shadows. She was sure her mind was just playing tricks on her when she noted something move in the darkness.

She didn't have time to ponder over the secret note as she was supposed to be outside, taking the people who took time out of their day to see her. Her fans awaited, eager for a glimpse of the legendary dancer. With a deep breath, she composed herself and stepped back out onto the stage, a warm smile on her lips.

As she descended the stairs, a sea of faces turned towards her, eyes shining with admiration and gratitude. Mohini waved graciously, her hands fluttering like butterflies as she acknowledged the enthusiastic crowd. She paused to engage with her public.

Mohini's radiant smile and effortless charm worked their usual magic on the audience, many of whom had traveled great distances simply to catch a glimpse of her. She signed scrolls and parchments, and accepted tokens of appreciation with gracious humility. Despite the weariness etched on her features, her spirit remained bright and unflagging, a true testament to her dedication to her craft and her people.

She had met the High Lords and Lady as well as the little heir they had brought, she didn't mention the flowers but the Night Blooms made sense from the Lord and Lady of Night, even if it was weird either of them would call her "sweet thing". She was respectful throughout the meeting as Thesan, her High Lord kept reminding her there was no need for strict formalities.

As the evening drew to a close, Mohini bid farewell to her fans with heartfelt thanks, promising to return soon with more performances to delight and inspire them. With a final wave, she retreated to her private quarters, her mind already turning to the next show, the next challenge. But first, she would need to unravel the mystery of the cryptic note, and perhaps, uncover the identity of the elusive admirer who had managed to breach her defences so effortlessly.

Azriel Shadowsinger watched intently as Mohini removed her elaborate jewellery piece by piece, placing them carefully on a silver tray. Her fingers were nimble and practised, betraying years of experience handling precious stones and delicate ornaments. Next came the intricate hairpins, each one seemingly more beautiful than the last, until her dark tresses fell freely around her shoulders, cascading down to her waist.

For a fleeting moment, he allowed himself to imagine what it might feel like to run his fingers through those locks, to explore the gentle contours of her body with his hands.

Finally, she approached a large mirror, peeling off layer after layer of makeup, revealing the natural beauty beneath. There was an intimacy to the act that was both fascinating and strangely arousing to watch. Azriel found himself transfixed, unable to tear his gaze away from the captivating image before him.

He had followed his High Lord and Lady to Dawn, not because he didn't trust Thesan's genuine offer to his High Lady who had wanted to watch Mohini after she had heard of her from someone in the Rainbow but rather because he had seen her before, he was drawn to her, unable to keep the thought of her away from him.

Azriel silently watched her step behind a dressing screen to remove her clothing, her silhouette was shadowed against the white screen, giving him a straight view of her curves.

Azriel watched as her form from behind the dressing screen, her skin glowing under the soft moonlight streaming through the window. He could make out the curve of her hips, the swell of her breasts, the smooth expanse of her stomach. His pulse quickened as he imagined the warmth of her skin, the softness of her flesh. He knew he should turn away, that he had no right to invade her privacy in this manner, but he was helpless to resist the allure of the vision before him.

His heart pounded in his chest as he watched her, mesmerized by the sight of her naked form bathed in the ethereal glow of the moonlight, his shadows were all over the room, just as crazed as him. He swallowed hard, his throat dry as he stared at her, drinking in every detail. He could see the rise and fall of her chest, the gentle sway of her hips, the soft curve of her thighs. His arousal grew with each passing second, fueled by the forbidden nature of his actions.

She slipped on a pair of casual clothes, reaching her dresser to pack some of her important things up, he watched her eyes go over the flowers he had gotten her. Azriel's breath hitched as he saw her eyes linger on the flowers, his heart pounding in his chest. He wondered what she was thinking, whether she suspected anything, or if she was oblivious to his presence. He watched her closely, his gaze never leaving her, fascinated by her every movement. He couldn't help but admire her grace, her elegance, her sheer beauty.

His heart and shadows all almost sang as she picked the flowers up to take them with her. Azriel felt a surge of excitement coursing through his veins as he watched her pick up the flowers. His heart hammered against his ribs, echoing the rhythm of his pulse. He wanted to reach out, to touch her, to hold her, but he held back, knowing that now was not the time, not the place. Instead, he remained hidden in the shadows, watching her with a hunger that bordered on obsession.

For now, he would simply follow her home, to keep her safe through her journey of course, a few weeks ago, he had seen a few drunken males trying to follow her home, he could hear what they were whispering to each other about her, the things they wanted to do to her, and he had felt anger burning in him way hotter than any he had ever felt, and he for a moment had thought of digging truth-teller so far up their spine no amount of medicine or magic would make their legs work again. Instead of that, he had done the more sensible thing, he had left them bloody and beaten on the side of the street.

Azriel felt a rush of protective instinct flood through him as he recalled the incident with the drunken males. The thought of anyone harming her filled him with a primal rage, making him yearn to assert his dominance, to claim her as his own.

As Mohini made her way through the winding streets of Dawn, Azriel melted into the shadows, his form becoming one with the darkness itself. He moved silently, his footsteps barely audible even to his own ears, always staying just out of sight yet close enough to intervene if needed. His keen senses were attuned to every sound, every movement, alert for any signs of danger.

The night air was cool against his skin, carrying with it the distant sounds of revelry and the sweet scent of night-blooming flowers. Above, the stars glittered like diamonds strewn across a velvet sky, casting a faint luminescence over the city below. Yet, none of these details captured Azriel's attention as much as the female walking ahead of him did.

{General Taglist- @nox-ceur @lilah-asteria @paleidiot @dee-writes-smut @adalia-jaycee @anarchiii @alwayshave-faith @minnieoo}

{Azriel Taglist- @fxckmiup @annamariereads16 @saltedcoffeescotch @satorusemepls @fieldofdaisiies}

#acotar #acotar series #acosf #acomaf #acowar #my oc #azriel acomaf #azriel #azriel shadowsinger #azriel fluff #azriel smut #azriel fanfic #azriel x oc #acotar fanfiction #azriel acotar #azriel x reader #azriel's shadows #azriel spymaster #dawn court

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mrhaitch · 6 months ago

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Harry Potter and the Language of Power

[Someone asked so you're all in danger.]

“It matters what matters we use to think other matters with; it matters what stories we tell to tell other stories with; it matters what knots knot knots, what thoughts think thoughts, what descriptions describe descriptions, what ties tie ties. It matters what stories make worlds, what worlds make stories.” - Donna J. Haraway

As you can guess I've got some thoughts about Harry Potter, and this largely going to be a brief discussion about magical systems within fantasy, and how they can be viewed through a political lens. Are we ready? Not yet you're not.

Below is a video of M Nourbese Phillips giving a reading of her poem "Discourse on the Logic of Language". It's about seven minutes long and it's a poem I used to teach, and in fact a lot of what I'm going to say comes from one particular class I taught about a year and a half ago. Go ahead and watch it, I'll wait.

youtube

Amazing, right?

The central idea of that poem is that language can shape and determine our social realities. The loss of a language can further a community's alienation, feelings of 'separateness' and even dehumanize them. Or, to play on that Haraway quote at the top there, it matters what languages we use to communicate. It also matters, within fantasy, who has magic, and who doesn't - how magic is taught, passed down, enhanced, developed, used, and activated.

Fantasy and magic go hand in hand, with the latter being a staple of the former - you might almost be tempted to call it a cliche, but it's as essential to the functioning of a fantasy narrative as the presence of electricity to science fiction. It is often the very thing that makes the world turn, and can often be used - sometimes deliberately - to articulate an idea of who has power, or even who should have power.

Just touching on the broad strokes, magic is frequently viewed in an academic context and taught much like any other form of knowledge - at school - with practitioners assuming the guise of academics. In other narratives characters arrive at magical prowess by making pacts, deals, and agreements with entities whose own power arises from their connection to or part of the supernatural order of the world (gods, spirits, fairies, etc.). Now I hope I'm not stepping on anyone's toes when I say that pre-1990 these magic practitioners who typically white cishet men of a typically European persuasion - with the notable exception of Le Guin's Earthsea books, although the protagonists ethnicity rarely survives the adaptation process. There's been a distinct shift in recent years, most noticeably since NK Jemisin's Inheritance Trilogy which laid the connections between magic and power bare, by building a world where magic rests entirely in the hands of a single royal family who participated in the enslaving and slaughter of the gods.

With me so far? God, I hope so.

So let's talk about Harry Potter, a series increasingly maligned for its tone deaf portrayal of race, and its author's increasingly unhinged behaviour - which I won't touch on, others have done a far better job. Instead let's look at the magic.

It's all fairly straightforward: you have a magic tree branch that's bonded to you, prescribed movements of the hand and wrist, and then there's the magic words - which are Latin. Latin holds an interesting place in the western world, both politically and culturally, seeing as its native culture more or less fell apart just under a thousand years ago but has persisted as the lingua franca of power in Europe, especially in Britain. We can largely thank the Catholic Church for that, but a considerable hat-tip to Petrarch and the renaissance for its later revival - particularly the reintroduction of Ancient Greek and Latin to secular political life. Its grammatical rules were later deliberately applied to English in the 16th century, in an effort to centralise the language and diminish and discard regional dialect.

Latin also holds a distinct place in British political life - as it is largely the domain of the upper classes, outside of the medical and legal professions, being taught in only the most exclusive of public schools. Since 1900 there have been 25 Prime Ministers, of which 6 attended Eton college, with a further 11 attending some form of privately funded highschool and 14 receiving their degrees at Oxford. That's not even touching the slew of ministers and members of parliament who have passed through similar institutions of which there are many. Latin and Ancient Greek have been a central part of the public schooling system in Britain since their inception, partially due to its prevalence prior to mass-printing and the push towards using the languages people actually speak for the written word (a decision which, in the early days, could attract a heavy amount of censure, if not execution). It's persistence into our current age, and the exclusive nature of the schools that still teach it, has earned it the reputation of being the language of the ruling classes in Britain.

Using it as a magical language brings some interesting, if not concerning, connotations. I will be charitable and assume this wasn't intentional, but taken in the broader context of wizarding society as a whole and it's relationship with the larger world it contributes to a reading of Harry Potter through the lens of social and political class.

We have a small, naturally gifted, separate society housed within our own who are privy to the innermost workings and closely guarded secrets of our world. They possess godlike powers capable of altering the physical makeup and laws of our world to suit their whims, and they use Latin to do so. There's also evidence, in the later books, of a relationship between their government and ours - where the Ministry of Magic assume the role of shadowy advisors or, even, puppeteers. While this isn't explicitly stated in the books, it's a small stretch of the imagination to believe that in a partnership whichever member can kill the other with a word is steering the ship.

What this all amounts to, in my mind, is a restating of class divisions within the UK. There's no critical element, no serious engagement, let alone metamorphosis - this is a direct transplant informed by an author's preconceived notions about how the world does and, potentially, should work.

Much of this has been coloured and affected by my interpretation of Rowling's politics, and I make no excuses for that.

Does this answer your question?

#Youtube #mr.haitch #mrhaitch #mr haitch #mrhaitch answers you too #mrhaitch lectures you #mrhaitch does a rant #i actually really enjoyed the books but holy shit do some elements horrify me #harry potter

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kaen-ace-of-diamonds · 6 months ago

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Christmas Horror Kids Tournament

Because this isn't the Hunger Games, the kids are in competition but not in direct opposition to each other. Basically: there's some big monster/villain threatening their holiday, which of these main characters is not just surviving but is coming out on top the fastest?

Propaganda for each contender (and spoilers for all movies mentioned) under the cut:

Pietari: fears neither God nor death nor army of feral elves. good at keeping calm under pressure and making plans on the fly. carries a gun around the whole movie but never actually uses it, so not sure how well he could shoot. his actor was 11 when the movie came out but I think he's supposed to be a few years younger?

Luke: horrific demon child, zero moral limits so long as he gets what he wants, -5000/10 would not recommend babysitting. extremely good planner, but vulnerable to overlooking small details that ruin him. about 12: very smart but fairly immature for his age. has to be reminded not to kill his competition this time.

Thomas: literally just wanted to stay home and play trains with his grandpa, but now he's got to defend them both from a killer Santa. models himself after action movie heroes and is so good at Home Alone-ing his house that his director tried to sue for plagiarism. about 10-11 years old?

Anna: would be better with her friends to help her, but is pretty damn capable of making it in the zombie apocalypse on her own. not sure exactly how old she's supposed to be, since I'm not clear on how the New Zealand school system works, but she's an older teenager.

Billy: definitely has his wits closer about him than his dad does, that's for fucking sure. does get tricked into creating gremlins, but you know what, who would have expected them to have fucked with his clock? successfully takes on and kills an army of gremlins, albeit with help. probably the oldest competitor here since he's out of high school (?)

Max: definitely willing to go to bat for the Christmas spirit, and to put his own life on the line to protect his family, but is pretty severely lacking in strength or savvy. is good at dodging an army of killer toys, but might not do so well without a bunch of relatives around to also be targets. like Pietari, his actor was 12 but I think he's supposed to be a bit younger.

Trudy: ngl, might be a little weak in solo competition, since she's maybe 7-8 years old and so relies a lot on Santa the one-man army. but she's clever, has exactly zero fear of hardened criminals with machine guns, and is very good at turning Home Alone traps exactly as deadly as they should be.

Winnie: the most Final Girl (TM) out of all the competitors imho. learns very quickly how to improvise and use whatever's handy as a weapon, and while she's also best with a partner to distract an opponent, can handle herself very competently in a physical fight. about 17?

Samantha and Clara: actually, fuck Billy, does Clara even count as a kid at all, being an ancient demon in the form of a child? has telekinetic powers and is good at Breaking Speeches, but is bound by being sealed in the school and unable to kill her enemies herself. Samantha is a pretty normal middle schooler (?), but also has the guts to go face a cult of killers with an axe when she could have run away and saved herself, so don't count her out.

Kevin: is Home Alone a horror movie? no. could I possibly exclude the king, the champion, the future Jigsaw apprentice? also no. smart and absolutely cold-blooded when he needs to be, he's excellent at fending enemies off from a distance, but it's game over for him if he's actually caught.

#it's the season for christmas horror so i've been thinking #christmas #horror #better watch out #rare exports #dial code santa claus #anna and the apocalypse #gremlins #krampus #violent night #it's a wonderful knife #the sacrifice game #home alone #kaen asks

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leasthaunted · 24 days ago

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Episode 133: The Amazing Randi

Happy Pride! To celebrate we are going to discuss the magical and fabulous life of James Randi. One of the greatest magicians of the twentieth century, and a skeptical investigator without equal. From precocious beginnings in Canada, to the television screen, he battled misinformation and scammer "hoo-ha peddlers". And along the way he will test the boundaries of what it takes to bring honesty to a world of lies. So grab a few spoons, some strong rope, and your skepticals. Things are about to become AMAZING!

As always, please come join the episode discussion on the Least Haunted Discord!

Enjoy the images and videos below!

James Randi (born Randall James Hamilton Zwinge; August 7, 1928) Seen here at age 26 breaking Houdini's record on time spent in a submerged coffin.

Performing as The Amazing Randi, he specialized in escapism, that is, he would escape from things.

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Uri Geller, (born 20 December 1946) an Israeli "Psychic" and master of "psychokinesis" who claimed he could bend and break metal with his mind. His preferred medium was spoons. He fooled researchers at Stanford University with his tricks, namely the bending of spoons, and gained minor celebrity.

The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson was one of the most important shows in American pop culture for decades. In 1972, Carson arranged to have Uri Geller on as a guest. Unbeknownst to Geller, was that Carson was good friends with James Randi, and called him up for advice before the show...

Using tips the James Randi gave, Johnny was able to prevent Uri Geller from displaying any form of psychic powers. This would lead to a lifelong nemesis battle between Geller and Randi.

For his next trick, Randi teamed up with two young and very talented men who were very skilled self taught spoon benders and magicians. This was Project Alpha, where Randi would place his two ringers in the center of a 4 year experiment into Psychical Phenomena at the McDonnell Laboratory for Psychical Research (Mac Lab).

For nearly four years, with his secret coaching, the duo of Steve Shaw, and Mike Edwards, fooled scientists in a laboratory type setting. This was easy to achieve, as Randi had tried to warn the Mac Lab in advance and gave them a list of 11 things that could be done to prevent magicians from falsifying psychic powers. None of which were vigorously implemented by the lab. The whole ruse was revealed in a televised press conference. Project Alpha led to much criticism of Randi and his methods, with debate of how ethical the ruse was. Randi maintained that the deception was for the greater good, and justifiable.

Cody even learned spoon bending!

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Peter Popoff, a televangelist and faith healer was James Randi's next target.

With the help of Steve Shaw (from Project Alpha) and a retired cop, Randi was able to figure out that Popoff was using an ear piece and radio to receive information about people in the audience that they themselves had provided in prayer cards.

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As part of the scam, Popoff encouraged people to throw away life saving medications and instead give him money to be cured. After Randi exposed Popoff (with help from Johnny Carson again), Popoff briefly went bankrupt. But he would claw his way back to the top and continue to scam millions of dollars for decades through infomercials where he sold "Miracle Spring Water" from Chernobyl.

For his next trick, Randi would set out to perpetrate a hoax that could help disprove so called, "Channelers." Channelers claimed that they were being possessed by ancient human spirits tens of thousands of years old. So, Randi created "Carlos". Carlos was an ancient spirit who possessed the body of 19 year old José Alvarez.

Using Peter Popoff's radio trick, Randi fed lines and information to "Carlos" The hoax was created with the help of 60 Minutes Australia, and Randi and Alvarez went to Australia on a media tour with Carlos before revealing the whole scam on Australian TV.

In reality, Carlos was José Alvarez, a Puerto Rican artist, and James Randi's romantic partner. The two met at the Library in 1986, when Alvarez was 18, and Randi was nearing 60. Randi hid the fact publicly that he was gay until 2010 at the age of 81. He and José married in 2014.

However there was one thing, José was not really José. His real name was Davy, and he came from Venezuela. He had fled his home country for fear of his life due to his homosexuality, and had assumed the identity of José Alvarez. When this came to light in 2013, he was arrested and spent nine months in jail. He pled guilty, and was sentenced to "Time Served", 150 hours of community service, probation, house arrest, and a fine. He was also ineligible for legal citizenship.

The two stayed together until Randi's death at age 92 in 2020.

James Radni was an original founding member of CSI, The Committee for Skeptical Inquiry.

As well as a founder of CSI's affiliated magazine, Skeptical Inquirer.

He also founded The James Randi Educational Foundation, which promotes skeptical inquiry, scientific literacy, and science education. The JREF also famously offered the "James Randi $1million Prize" to anyone who could prove psychic abilities in a laboratory environment and to terms agreed upon by both parties. The Prize was never won, and the challenge was eventually retired with the prize money being donated to various charities and organizations.

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