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ellemj · 5 months

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Needs & Wants - Sex Pollen Trope Pt. 10 (FINAL PART)

Bucky Barnes x Reader

*Read parts 1-9 first for the full effect!*

Summary: Everything is out in the open between you and Bucky now, but there are two rules for your new secret relationship.

Warnings: unprotected sex, teasing, possessive!Bucky (hehehe), maybe fluff (?), profanity, use of y/n, MINORS DNI, 18+!!!

Feel free to comment and let me know if this requires any other warnings.

Word Count: 2.2k

Author's Note: We've finally reached the end. I think I'll miss this version of Bucky and reader but I'm pretty excited about the work that I'm planning on putting out here next. Hopefully everyone's okay with the conclusion of this, I didn't want to have anyone riding off into the sunset or anything, but I also didn't want to have a horribly sad ending, so this felt right. You guys should totally let me know in the comments what kind of things you'd like to see from me soon! I don't know if I'll take specific requests anytime soon, but I'd love to at least find out what might get you all excited. Thanks for the umpteenth time to @littlemiss-yeehaw for being the best cheerleader and warnings-writer out there. She also draws some unbelievable shots of Bucky based on scenes in these fics.

In the shower, on the hotel bed, in the chair by the window, hell, even on the floor when the two of you rolled off of the bed in the heat of the moment. You’d successfully christened every surface of your hotel room before the clock ever struck midnight. You hadn’t meant to go at it like horny teenagers who found themselves home alone for the first time, but that’s what happened. It’s like you were both thinking about how this may not continue once you get back to the compound tomorrow morning, so you fit as much as you could all in one night.

Now, you’re laying side by side in bed. Your most recent tryst involved you on your hands and knees with Bucky doing all of the right things behind you, and it thoroughly winded you both. You listen as your collective breaths fill the air, the two of you each coming down from your post-orgasmic highs.

“Do you think Dr. Raynor will figure this out?” You ask softly, raising a hand and wiping a bit of sweat from your brow. Bucky laughs and turns his head to look at you. He still can’t get past how pretty you look after doing such dirty, animalistic things with him. Even without the super soldier serum decreasing his refractory period to mere minutes, he thinks he’d be recovered and ready for round five just from looking at you like this.

“That’s what you’re thinking about right now?”

“It’s on my mind, yeah.” You admit. You’re probably more worried about it than you should be, but deep down, Bucky’s worried too.

“So, how do you want to handle it?” Bucky asks, fully rolling onto his side to face you.

“Maybe we just wait and see what she has to say after observing tonight’s mission and then go from there. I don’t want to say anything first and give her anything to use against us.” He’s listening to your words, honestly, he is. He doesn’t think he could ever miss a word you say. But he can’t stop himself from reaching over and running his fingertips along your flushed cheek. You turn to look at him and he lets his fingers ghost over your lips and down the column of your throat until he reaches the notch between your collarbones. His eyes linger there for a moment. Something’s missing.

“You never gave me my dog tags back.” He whispers. You’re not wearing them, and neither is he. So, where are they?

“Yeah, I wasn’t sure when to give them back.”

“Bullshit, you wanted to keep them.” Bucky teases. You push his hand away from your neck at the accusation, but can’t stop the smile that’s creeping over your features. Fuck, he’s so into you. He closes the distance between the two of you and places his body carefully over yours under the covers, leaning down and pressing a gentle kiss to your lips. Even just kissing you sets off fireworks inside of him.

“They’re sitting on my nightstand, back in the compound.” You tell him, hoping it doesn’t make you sound too obsessed. You had planned to give them back all week, but avoiding him made that a little difficult, so instead you left them sitting beside your bed. It was sort of comforting to see his name every night before you fell asleep, and every morning when you woke up.

“Keep them.” He insists, pressing another kiss to your soft, soft lips. You get lost in the moment, focusing on the feeling of his tongue working against yours, his scent enveloping you in the most consuming way, and his weight keeping you pinned to the mattress. You could stay like this forever.

This, of course, is when Bucky’s phone would ring. He groans in annoyance as he breaks the kiss and touches his forehead to yours, looking down into your eyes.

“Tell me not to answer it.” He pleads. You purse your lips, knowing it’s probably someone from the team calling with some kind of update or new order. Bucky groans again before rolling off of you and snatching his phone off of the bedside table. He answers it and puts it on speaker, confirming that it’s someone from the team.

“Hey, sorry to call so late. The threat has been neutralized so you guys can head back now and get some sleep, we’ll debrief in the morning.” Sam sounds tired but calm, so it must have been more of a nuisance situation than a major threat. Bucky closes his eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose with his vibranium hand.

“Sounds good, we’ll be back soon.” He grumbles. You can tell he’s annoyed that you won’t be staying the night here. When he hangs up the call, he lets out a deep sigh before sitting up on the side of the bed, with the covers gathering around his waist. Without thinking, you crawl up behind him and wrap your arms around his torso, hugging him from behind. He stiffens as if he didn’t expect your touch, but that just makes you lean into him more, resting your chin on his shoulder. You feel him slowly relax and having that effect on him warms you to the center of your being

“We’re going to go home, get some rest, and debrief in the morning like this was any other mission.” You say, attempting to be reassuring.

“That’s what you want? To pretend like this was any other mission?” He questions, running his hands over where your arms are wrapped around his abs.

“I didn’t mean it like that, I just meant we don’t have to run in and tell everyone that something might be going on between us.”

“Might?” He chuckles. You feel his abs shake beneath your hands as the melodious sound leaves his lips. You never heard him laugh much before, and you didn’t expect to like it as much as you do.

“Hey, I told you that I fell for you, and you said fuck, I’m cumming. How am I supposed to know you feel the same way?” You tease, letting go of him and laying back on the bed, drawing the covers up over your naked body. He turns a bit to face you and starts pulling the covers away from you slowly.

“Y/n…” He says your name with so much genuine feeling that it sends tingles throughout your body. Has he always said your name like that and you just never noticed before? Yes. “I made you wear my dog tags while I fucked you.” What the hell does that have to do with what you just said? He can see the confusion on your face and it brings a smile to his. He slides back under the covers next to you and begins peppering kisses across your shoulder and collarbone.

“Bucky…” Fuck, if you start saying his name again there’s no way either of you will make it back to the compound tonight. He quickly makes his way up to your face, attaching his lips to yours for a moment and then tugging on your bottom lip with his teeth as he pulls away. It’s the nicest way anyone has ever shut you up.

“I wanted to be able to pretend like you were mine. I fell way before you did.” He whispers against your lips. Holy shit. He feels the same way. Bucky Barnes feels the same way about you as you feel about him.

You know that you have orders to head back to the compound, and neither of you are the type to disobey orders from above, but how are you supposed to pack up and head out after finding out that you have feelings for each other? You can’t stand the thought of traveling back to the compound tonight knowing that you’ll have to put on a show and pretend like nothing happened here. So, why not delay a bit and take what you want one more time?

That very rational thinking is what inspires you to slide your hand between the two of you and wrap your fist around Bucky’s already-hardening cock. He sucks in a breath at the feeling of your small, soft hand wrapping tightly around him, and he wonders how he went so long without having you this way. You’ve been right across the hall from him all of this time. You’ve been going on missions with him for the last two months, giving each other shit nearly every waking moment, and completely missing what had been there the whole time. Love. He won’t say it out loud yet, he doesn’t want to scare you off, but that’s what it is. He’s sure of it. He loves you. He may not say it but he can damn well express it.

That’s how Bucky finds himself, for the fifth time tonight, guiding the tip of his cock inside of your perfect cunt. He’s done this enough times now that he knows as soon as he bottoms out inside of you, you’ll tense up and scrunch your eyes closed, trying your hardest to adjust to his size. He watches as you do just that, and then he feels your entire body relax beneath him and he knows you’re ready. He pulls one of your legs up and over his hip as he begins fucking you into the mattress. When your eyes flutter open to meet his, he has to go completely still inside you so he won’t cum right then and there. You laugh to yourself. You know what eye contact does to him and you love it.

“What’s the matter, James? Keep going.” You taunt, wiggling your hips and forcing his cock to slide into you another inch. He’s only halfway inside of you. He breathes out a slow, calming breath before leaning down and nuzzling his face into your neck, letting his cock sink into you slower than it ever has before.

“You like rushing me, don’t you?” He asks, giving your cunt gentle thrusts. A soft hum leaves your lips at the pleasure that’s beginning to build in your lower stomach. You’re so focused on the feeling that you don’t even acknowledge his question. “Don’t rush me tonight.” He buries himself to the hilt before stilling once more, drawing a whine from your lips. “We’re making love, not fucking, sweetheart.”

---

A few hours later that same morning, a very uneventful debrief took place in the conference room at the compound. You and Bucky turned in your mission reports, leaving out the details of what happened in the hotel room, and then you were dismissed to have a few hours of freedom before having to meet with Dr. Raynor.

Everyone probably assumed that the two of you went off to your respective rooms upstairs, but it took little convincing to get Bucky to sneak over into yours. When he stepped inside and shut the door behind him, the first thing he noticed was his dog tags, right where you said they were.

You kick your shoes off by the door and walk over to sit on one of the small gray chairs that you have off to the side of the room, feeling surprisingly nervous that Bucky Barnes is seeing your room for the first time. Nervous. After everything the two of you have done this week? You’re ridiculous. You watch him as he crosses the room and scoops the dog tags off of your nightstand. He stares at them in his palm for a moment, and for a second you worry that he might pocket them. However, when he turns to you with a soft smile and a mischievous glint in his eye, your fears are assuaged.

“Do you have any rules? For this thing that we’ve got going on?” Bucky asks, taking the free chair across from you and setting the dog tags flat on the coffee table that separates the two of you. You tilt your head to the side, studying him closely. You see what he’s doing. The first night, while under the influence of that chemical, you gave him one rule: no kissing. He returned with his own rule: wear his dog tags while he fucks you.

“I have one. We keep this a secret, just between us, for as long as we can.” You respond, letting your eyes trail over his physique. He’s sitting in your chair the same way he sat in the chair in the hotel room last night. The man knows how to demand attention without saying a damn word. You watch as his licks his bottom lip and then leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees and clasping his hands together in front of him.

“Fine. It’s a secret.” He agrees, his gaze briefly lingering on your neck. “But I have one rule too.” He reaches out with his flesh hand and begins sliding the dog tags across the table toward you. “You’ll never take these off again.”

BONUS CHAPTER

TAG LIST:

@sarcastickiddo @donttalktosposts @marygoddessofmischief @its-daydreamer23 @lightsonnoonehome @gyokujyn @kandis-mom @millercontracting @alicia-bman @sdddoobydoobydoo @a-rotten-chicken-nugget @buckysbvtch3 @browneyedgirl22 @charmedbysarge @i-dont-know-how-to-words @maraaaamartinnnn @hensawweston @traderjoesmints @fictionallyunavailable4ever @black-cat-2 @just-act-natural @phoenixstark1708 @ladyvenera @walkingwithoutreason @bubblevicioussss @larajadeschmidt13 @thealloveru2 @crist1216 @joannaromanoff @jenniferpendragon @i-will-always-kneel-for-smut @justafangirl1 @sydneylaufeyson22 @khambot @yourmidnightlover @claireelizabeth85 @multifandom-girlie @keyrani @hhiggs @bambamwolf87 @mrsjoequinn @inappropriate-shell @abitofblues @takeyour-pants-off @buckysbaby-doll @buckbuckybuckaroo @yourkenoughyk @kingfleury @cresendolls @missadored @ssugar-momma @fandomsfeminismandme

#bucky barnes #bucky barnes fic #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes fanfiction #marvel #mcu #the winter soldier #winter soldier #bucky barnes x you #bucky barnes smut

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thankskenpenders · 4 months

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Happy new year, everyone! Welcome to 2024, the year that will mark the 10th anniversary of Thanks Ken Penders. I'd like to go over my plans for the blog for this year.

First of all: in the very near future, I'll have a post with my thoughts on Sonic Dream Team, and I'm sure I'll write one last Sonic Prime review once the final episodes drop on the 11th. I've also been sitting on an unfinished piece about the Sonic LEGO sets. I wanted this to be longer and more detailed piece that not only reviewed the sets but also went into the weird disconnect between homogenized image of Sonic the Brand and the actual fiction it's based off of, but it'll probably end up getting cut down a lot just so I can put something out. Let's just say I did a fun little thing with one of the sets.

Second: yes, I would like to return to regular TKP updates this year. As I've said many times, I wanted to do this in 2023, but I've been suffering from creative burnout after finishing SLARPG and have generally been unable to focus on any of my creative goals this past year. I'm hoping that this year will be better and I'll be able to get back into the swing of covering Archie Sonic issues. Even doing one issue every week or so would be vastly preferable to continuing the hiatus. I'm still only halfway done!! But aside from burnout, my other main hurdle is that I need to reread my own archive to refresh myself on all these things after nearly three years away. This will take some time.

The thing is, though, this year I'll have an extra incentive to go back through my previous writing and brush up on all things Archie Sonic. Because you see...

I've decided that I want to make a video essay about Penders. The comics, the copyright battle, The Lara-Su Chronicles, everything.

The why

I've thought about doing this before, but I never committed to the idea. I was too busy with gamedev, or I thought it'd end up being too long, or I figured that there were already enough videos on the subject, or I just lacked confidence in my ability to put together a video essay. So I told myself it wasn't meant to be, and let the multiple YouTubers who have cited me as a source on their own Penders videos fill that void.

Recently, though, a few things have happened that have convinced me it might be time. For one, YouTube video essays/media retrospectives/etc. are just getting longer and longer. When Quinton Reviews is out here doing 21 hours of videos on Sam & Cat, a subpar Nick sitcom that only lasted one season, I don't feel so crazy for wanting to make a video about several hundred comic books and two lawsuits that'd be at least an hour or two long lmao. Admittedly, I've also been self-conscious about doing a long video essay like this as a trans woman who has yet to do any vocal training. But these days I feel like I see a lot more transfem YouTubers who have done little to no vocal training, and that's given me more confidence on that front.

But the big one was Hbomberguy's recent plagiarism video. As I sat there watching it, I kept thinking about the time I found a CBR article that was just a crude 800 word summary of my two previous articles on Penders, published by a CBR writer who's put out over 4000 articles since 2019. If I've already been plagiarized before, and my writing is so frequently passed around as a go-to source on Archie Sonic drama, then I wouldn't be shocked if there were YouTubers out there straight up just plagiarizing me. I don't watch other peoples' videos on Archie Sonic, so I'd never know! So if people are just gonna paraphrase me when covering these topics anyway, why not take matters into my own hands and make what I would consider to be the definitive video on the subject? If hacks like James Somerton and iilluminaughtii can churn out these shitty video essays and people will still watch them, surely it can't be that impossible to make my own, right? (And also, uh, Hbomb literally told me I should make the video lol. If you're reading this, thanks for the encouragement.)

The what, how, and when

So here's the plan.

Part of this video essay will be an adaptation of my Medium article on the recurring themes of Ken's Archie Sonic run, with its content touched up and expanded upon. There were a few things I skimmed over in the article because I didn't want it to get too long, but again, people are out here watching ten hour videos about bad Nickelodeon sitcoms now. I can get away with elaborating a little more. I can add a few paragraphs talking about the Chaos Knuckles arc, or throw in a little more historical context I've discovered in the years since.

After covering the comics, the back half(-ish?) of the video will be dedicated to the copyright battles and their ensuing controversies, trying to give an accurate picture of what actually went down, the sheer scale of how bad Archie fucked up, and what our takeaways should be. This will have some similarities to my New York Magazine article on the subject, but I'll be rewriting it from scratch. I REALLY had to keep things short for that article because I was already way over the expected word count, and my tone was a little more straight-laced than normal because I was trying to keep things Professional. I can riff more and insert more of my own opinions this time, like I normally would.

I'll inevitably have to touch on some of Ken's Bad Tweets when discussing things that have happened after the lawsuits, but I don't want the video to just devolve into a list of times people got mad at him on Twitter, so I'm gonna try to keep that to a minimum in favor of focusing on his actual work. Things like the Scourge the Speed Demon incident and his continued statements on certain characters' copyright statuses probably warrant mentioning, though. And finally, assuming that the book really does come out this summer, I would like the grand finale of the video to be about those first couple chapters of The Lara-Su Chronicles.

I don't currently know when this video will get done, but it'll probably be in the back half of the year, especially with me waiting for the book to either drop or get delayed yet again. But I've actually already started writing a bit of the script, and will keep chipping away at it for a while.

So, uh, yeah, look forward to that? Wish me luck?

#tkp post

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paused-waterfall · 3 months

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Little Details of Feather Preening

I love reading fics in which a character with feathers gets help preening them from another character. I think part of it is because it explores the alienness of the winged/feathered character in a grounded, tactile way, while also exploring the dynamic between two characters. It's worldbuilding and character development all rolled into one! But another huge reason why I like it is just cause my parakeet sometimes lets me help with her feathers, and it's the best experience ever omfg.

I figured, for the sake of fic writers who don't have access to the cutest most patient bird in the world (and for me, who feels like rambling) I'd vomit out a ton of little details of what it's like to help a bird preen, and how it might translate to characters with both human and bird features:

(Note, this isn't exactly researched. My sample size is literally one bird and some casual reading about other species (sounds like crow feathers work similarly to parakeets, for instance: https://urbannature.blog/2022/09/23/the-unbearable-itchiness-of-moulting/). Please take this as an account of what preening a bird is like, and not as advice for things to do to a real bird.)

The exact term for preening something other than oneself is "allopreening". It's a social behavior and not all species do it. But if you're writing about a bird-human hybrid, ehhh humans have grooming instincts to add to the mix, so IMO the species of bird shouldn't hold you back!

Allopreening is most needed on areas the bird can't access themself. Wings and tails are mostly accessible-- the long feathers can be gently bent into reach. The back of the head/neck is the most prime location for allopreening. A humanoid trying to preen on their own would probably try to use a mirror to see what they're doing, and seriously tire out their arms reaching back there to do such finicky work.

Birds are pretty good at spinning their heads to see and work on anything below their necks, but an avian-ish character without that range of motion might need more help on the base of their wings, shoulders, and back.

My bird gets pissed when I so much as touch any feathers that are critical to flight (the longest wing and tail feathers). Care for those feathers is super important, and trusting someone else with that task would be a huge deal!

To request a preening, my bird angles her head at me, shakes it, and gently poofs up her feathers. If it's going well, she'll stay poofed up and maybe close her eyes.

A completed preening session always ends with feathers being shaken out.

Molting!

Often, the first sign of an impending molt is a fluffy down feather floating in the air. These feathers will cling to anything they touch.

The start of molting involves a lot of old feathers falling out, and some chill allopreening can be involved in this. Just lightly ruffling their feathers can help dislodge ones that are ready to go.

After getting rid of the old feathers, pin feathers start to grow in. They start out covered in a waxy sheath and with a blood supply running through them. While the blood supply is there, these are also called blood feathers, and damaging them can cause a lot of bleeding.

Pin/blood feathers are very sensitive. A wrong move can cause them to poke into the skin. Add this to the general vulnerability of not being at peak flight ability and the body's exhaustion at having to produce the feathers, and you've got an irritable and skittish bird. This is all a whole lot like a feathery version of a period.

Allopreening pin feathers is a lot more delicate than helping dislodge old ones. There's a careful art involved in telling which ones are ready to have their sheaths removed. Learning this art as a non-feather-haver involved, for me, a lot of sudden nipping from an unsatisfied customer. These days, I can tell I'm working on the wrong feather if my bird tenses up or glares at me.

Removing the sheath from a feather is SO SATISFYING. You take a dull-colored, irritating pin, and gently unwrap it to reveal a soft, beautiful new feather. Any time I see my bird all disheveled by pin feathers, it takes serious willpower to resist pestering her to let me fix them.

Non-molt preening!

Fully grown feathers also need daily upkeep

Birds secrete oils that they spread over their feathers with their beaks. A bird-person or their allopreening partner might choose to work other oils into the feathers, similar to how we use skincare products.

Feathers lost outside of the molting cycle can start regrowing immediately. However, a partially damaged feather will not regrow until it is removed or falls out during a molt.

Clipped wings are essentially damaged feathers-- an intelligent bird-person might be inclined to rip these out so that new, full feathers will be faster to grow... but, that would mean going without the partial feathers, and the gliding/slight lift they allow. That's a pretty big risk!

Hope someone gets some use out of this :) Happy bird-fic'ing!

#birds #qsmp #<-- this is definitely inspired by all the fics about the qsmp birdfolk #birb talk #⏸️

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unpretty · 1 month

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waiting patiently for the info post/referral link about ynab because uh, the credit card situation is a skotch uncomfortable, you can tell i've been doing "just a lil' treat for morale" since 2016.

i had to wait until my free trial was over to get a referral link (no infinite free trial for me, alas)

here's my You Need A Budget referral link! you get a free month, i get a free month. if you decide you like it the cheapest option is the $99 annual plan but if you don't have a hundred bucks to spend on on a website that tells you to spend less fucking money they also have $15 a month. i guess ideally if the $15 a month plan digs you out of your hole well enough you can save up for the annual. it also comes with a family plan built-in, so in theory you can split the cost between six people if you all need some fucking help. in my case i'm sharing my household budget with my spouse, but i'm also sharing the plan with my mom and my sister who both have their own budgets that they don't share with me. i come from a long proud line of women juggling which utility is about to be shut off.

NOTE: if you are straight-up not making enough fucking money, ynab won't do shit. this is only helpful if you should be making enough money but money is cursed and you can't stop spending it because money is fake. no amount of budgeting the amount you spend on hot drinks will dig you out of poverty and anyone who says otherwise is full of shit. spam your resume to higher paying jobs and hope you get lucky enough to need ynab someday.

YNAB EXPLANATION: it's very similar to envelope-based budgeting, which is the kind where you set cash aside in labeled envelopes and whenever you need to spend money on different things it comes out of the envelopes. except it's 2024 and i don't use fucking cash. so with ynab i assign money into categories and then when it's time to spend money i check the app and see how much money i have in my energy drinks and vapes budget.

except i spent my first month frantically rearranging money into different categories to try and cover what i'd already spent despite not having the money for it, and also it took forever to figure out how it handles credit cards.

anyway. i'm not there yet. i'm working on it. i'm still riding the float on my credit cards and i need to stop doing that because it's bad actually. i recommend watching youtube tutorials about ynab because it can be really confusing at first and that makes it easy to give up. but even though i'm not there yet, i'm already doing better than i was a month ago and progress is progress.

#original #affiliate links jsyk #my credit card situation is... still not great #but it's way better than it was when i realized i'd been having An Episode lmao

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theauthorsenpaisan · 4 months

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Levi Ackerman Headcannons - Part 2

A/N: I posted Part 1 of Levi's Headcannons back in February and I may or may not have forgotten about them :) BUT ANYWAYS! Here are some more fluffy headcannons of our precious darling Levi <3

Pairing: Levi Ackerman x fem!reader

Theme: Fluff

Warnings: None! [Probably just a few mentions of his past]

☕︎ That cold, aloof exterior is only a mindless act he puts up for everyone else but you can clearly see right through his silly little façade.

☕︎ Levi thinks he's all high and mighty around you. He thinks he's all "Captain Ackerman" however, it only takes just one single touch of your skin to break down those walls. At that point he's Captain Mush

☕︎ All it takes is just one single soft touch of yours. That's it. He's ascended to heaven and back. This man will be down on his hands and knees whether you asked him or not.

☕︎ My man is touch starved so please please please touch him. I think I forgot to mention last time that he is a huge physical touch person. He may never say it outright but his actions are quite clear to pinpoint.

☕︎ There would be days where he wants nothing but your touch. He doesn't care what color, how bruised, freckled, scratched, wounded, scarred. When he fell in love with you, he fell in love with everything about you. Imperfections and all.

☕︎ When I mean he likes physical touch, I should also emphasize that you're only allowed to do that. If anyone else were to touch him unsolicited, their hand would be broken. Worse if he has on his ODM gear. [Ngl, if the last thing my hand touches was Levi's undercut I'd be happy]

☕︎ Levi almost never sleeps. It's been a problem for him ever since he was a kid in the underground. Considering his early life, who wouldn't have sleep troubles? But after he met you, things starts getting better for him in that sector.

☕︎ The first couple times you and Levi slept in the same bed together, he admired the way you looked asleep. He was in complete awe of how peacefully you slept in such a cruel world. Eventually, something about your sleeping presence produced melatonin for him. Poor baby started getting all drowsy and started falling asleep on himself.

☕︎ You noticed his resting figure the next morning and cover him with the sheets and kissed him on his cheek. It came full circle as you now admired how he slept. His chubby cheeks smushed against the flush pillow as his hands were huddled close to his chest. [I should do a short one-shot based on this]

☕︎ It doesn't go unnoticed to you at how Levi looks at you in awe. You always sneakily catch him from the corner of your eye. You could be doing something random like wiping the windows and he would look at you as if you provided the sun with light.

☕︎ This is because Levi still can't get over how lucky he is. All his life he was never sure if he'd have a future. He wasn't sure if he'd ever be able to fall in love or start a family and now, look at where he was. In his home office with you helping him clean his office together.

☕︎ He's just so helplessly in love with you it's like he's a schoolboy having a crush on you, dreaming you were his, except the best part is, he already has you.

☕︎ Levi's aura just radiates black cat energy.

☕︎ You can't tell me that Levi isn't a cat man. It's pretty clear! It just looks like his past like was a cat or something. And he 101% prefers cats over dogs.

☕︎ Speaking of which, when he comes home from the market just don't be surprised when he walks in with a stray baby calico in his arms. He will get emotionally attached to her so please do not even think about telling him no :(

☕︎ He names the cat after something that has emotional ties to him. He names her Yaomi. Which means 'lost soul' in Japanese. He names her this because of his love for his fallen loved ones. In his mind, he feels closer to them when she's with him because it's like they're soul is within her.

☕︎ Speaking of which. Whenever Levi is alone, he looks up at the sky and speaks to himself. Well not just himself but to Farlan and Isabel. He tells them that he hopes one day they could meet you and how much he loves you. He misses them greatly and if the only way he can feel connected is by speaking to himself up to the sky, then so be it. Extra brownie points if he has Yaomi with him.

☕︎ You know Levi so well that you're able to tell what his body language is telling you. He isn't always the most communicative partner so after years of putting up with him, you've come to notice his reactions and behaviors of certain things and people.

☕︎ For example, when Levi is in a crowded public setting for an extensive period of time, let's say pass a two hours, he'll do this thing where he holds on to your shirt/dress as you walk. He also doesn't look forward, he just looks down.

☕︎ You've noticed this too many times to count so you always know how to handle the situation perfectly.

☕︎ This is another reason why Levi wants to be with you. You understand him so well. More than anyone ever has. You know when he needs space for himself, you know when he needs tea at what time of day, you know when he needs help with something. Your chemistry just goes hand-in-hand with each other.

☕︎ Levi can't wait for the treachery of the world to be over with so he could have a proper and safer life with you. Because if anything happens to you, he doesn't know what he'd do with himself.

☕︎ Bonus HC: Levi sleeps with socks on :)

A/N: Tysm for reading and I apologize if some of you were waiting for Part 2. I get busy very often and sometimes I forget 😭 Hope you have a great rest of you day/night! 🌹🍁

#attack on titan #shingeki no kyojin #levi headcanons #levi x reader #levi ackerman #levi fluff #levi ackerman x reader

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rainyfirecollection · 6 days

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I posted this theory over on reddit, but I figured I'd stop being a tag-lurker over here as well.

Per Bud Cubby at his first introduction, halflings in Solace are a "model minority" who nonetheless often have problems with the police and are stereotyped as thieves.

We are later given additional context from Gorthalax in Season 1 Episode 9 that "Solace used to be a human country. Well, actually, originally it was a halfling country, but then humans came in and conquered it, but then it became Solace."

My theory is that Kipperlilly is pissed about being a member of a colonized capital-R dnd Race, expected to fit a jolly friendly halfling trope and go along to get along as a model minority.

According to this theory, Riz triggers Kipperlilly's rage both for and at him, because he reminds her of herself, and she sees herself in situations that he gets in. Halflings and goblins are both small races stereotyped as thieving and untrustworthy. When Riz is called The Ball and he laughs it off, she sees the ways that she might be minimized and dismissed as a halfling, and the expectation for her to laugh it off.

She could be angry for him, for people treating him that way, and also angry at him, for not being angry himself.

Look at how Kipperlilly's dad is described:

"Polite... eager... perky... tryhard." (by the guy who has met him) "Desperate." (by the BKs who have not, but I found it evocative)

If someone makes a halfling joke, he might be the kind of man who would laugh. If someone is uncomfortable giving their keys to a "sneaky" halfling realtor, he might pretend not to notice. If Kipperlilly grew up watching this and being told that's the only way she's allowed to react, I imagine she might have quite some big feelings about it.

Kipperlilly's energy is the very picture of "I've been raised to think I have to be perfect, I can't leave anything open for anyone to find a problem with, I have to do everything right and cover all of my bases." The very picture, in fact, of a model minority.

It also makes sense in this character study that she would find satisfaction in winning against the spirit of the rules. She's been raised to be a careful rule-follower - but she's not happy about it.

This theory gives a personal connection to Ankarna, as a god who lost ground to Sol, whose followers also colonized Solace. A shared unfairness.

It connects with commiseration ("you get it, you understand studying hard, you and I have to do that") towards Riz, as well as particular disdain towards Kristen, the chosen of Helio.

Finally, whatever Kipperlilly's anger issues are about, she has been extensively interacting with Jawbone about it, and he keeps defending her and saying she's not a bad kid. As well as comparing her to Riz himself.

Jawbone is very understanding and broadminded, but I think he might be talking about her a little bit differently if she was "a nepo baby, pissed at not receiving even greater unfair advantages" or "mad at Riz for not being romantically interested in her." He definitely wouldn't be suggesting to Riz that they have a lot in common in the second case. I imagine he'd be more like, "yeah I get it and you should keep your distance, even though I as a guidance counselor and adult don't write her off."

If it's about legitimate unfairness that she experiences (even if she's misdirecting it at the Bad Kids), it makes a lot more sense and that's something Jawbone as a werewolf could really get.

Reasons I think this theory would be good if true:

Number one, not specific to this theory, but I really appreciate that Brennan has continually been taking Kipperlilly and her anger seriously so far.

I'm chill if she's turned full villain for it. I'm chill if it's made her open to exploitation as a flunky by villainous adults. But I do really hope that there's no twist to make her come off as shallow, flimsy and ridiculous for it. That's the more traditional way to treat a teen girl's anger, especially if there's additional reasons that society has for delegitimizing her. I think it would be a missed opportunity.

Number two, I think this theory would continue in the pattern this season of "other people pointing out problems that you might not necessarily see." Porter and Gorgug. Kristen and Tracker. Mazey and Fabian (Fabian definitely was aware, but he was still mostly ignoring the issue and Mazey brought the loneliness into the light). Riz already has Sklonda doing this, but why not dos. (Important to note that the people providing this commentary are not always 100% correct, but are instead shown as having their own biases. Riz might still be like nah I'm solid on who I am and my friends and I do in fact like being called The Ball and there's not a single issue with it.)

Number three, I think it also really helps the story that Ally is telling about Kristen's flaws this season. "I'm angry because I see myself in this person's situation and he's reacting in a way that I dont like or can't access - my anger at my own situation is being projected at him" isn't very far from "it pisses me off that she exists without the struggles that I have - my feelings about my own situation are being projected onto her." Which is what Ally said was Kristen's feeling toward Kipperlilly upon meeting her.

This whole thing also helps underline what's so misguided about Kristen's reaction there. Just because someone doesn't have your exact struggles, doesn't mean that they don't have any intense struggles that disrupt their lives of their own.

Why this theory probably isn't true:

I haven't thought of anything that directly contradicts it / makes it impossible. However I do think there's a missing evidence problem. If this was the motivation, it seems likely that Brennan would have found a moment this season to remind them of the history of colonization. It could have been dropped in with Kristen's storyline as a reminder of how Sol's and Helio's followers have sucked before, and not even stood out as a Clue.

However, it seems likely at this point that "Ragh spoke to Jace before he was infected" is gonna turn out to be an important Clue that would've been helpful for them to remember, and he hasn't been making sure to remind them about that past information. It definitely seems like they all brushed up hard on everything before starting this season, so that might give him the pass that it's on the players to remember these loredrops.

Regardless, I had fun thinking about it and combing through the transcripts to find that Gorthalax quote, and that's what counts.

Final unrelated note that doesn't deserve its own post:

I've been finding it immensely heartwarming how Jawbone talks about Kipperlilly, and how Henry talks about Ruben. I'm being healed.

#fantasy high #fantasy high junior year #fhjy spoilers #kipperlilly copperkettle #riz gukgak

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tfemteach · 26 days

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hey pirate show friends! in honor of my boat graduation and because I'm procrastinating my work I thought I'd make a post about some super basic sail mechanics/terminology for all your writing-about-ships needs. this just covers the very broad strokes that you'd need to convincingly talk about what's happening on a ship while there's other stuff going on, or to insert some ship-based drama. I'm not an expert and I'm only practically familiar with one tallship that's much later in period than the Revenge. but here are some things I did not know before sail training that I think could be helpful or provide some fun jumping off points for writing! this is super long but I am super procrastinating. hopefully it's helpful to someone. if not, I at least wasted a fun hour thinking about things that aren't my day job.

1. what are the basic types of sails?

for a square-rigged ship like the Revenge, you will have both "square sails" and "fore-and-aft sails." square sails are set perpendicular to the masts and, obviously, are roughly square. they are "bent onto" (meaning connected to) the "yards," which are the horizontal pieces of wood that cross the mast. fore-and-aft sails are set going, well, fore and aft, meaning they follow the line of the ship. these can include staysails (triangular sails bent onto the "stays," or wires that support the masts, and therefore run down the middle of the ship), jibs (also triangular and bent onto stays or wires, but going out along the jibboom and bowsprit, which are the spars that extend forward of the ship's bow), spankers (a large trapezoidal-ish fore-and-aft sail bent onto booms (basically like a fore-and-aft yard) off the mizzen mast, which is towards the stern of the boat, and acts as a wind rudder), and more. some older ships also had spritsails, which were small square sails bent onto yards that hang off the bowsprit. they look very silly in my opinion but to each their own. these aren't all the kinds of sails but they'll cover your basics.

ships can also have any number of sails. full size square-rigged ships can have as few as two or as many as five square sails on each mast. the lowest and largest sail can be called either the mainsail or the course, and are further specified by saying which mast it's on (i.e., the fore course, main course, or mizzen course). going upwards and assuming a five-sail mast, you've next got the lower topsail, upper topsail, topgallant (pronounced t'gallant), and royal. the staysails are named for the mast they connect to. so the most forward might be the "fore topmast staysail," indicating a sail that is connected to the upper part of the foremast.

2. how are sails controlled?

the vast majority of sail control actually comes from the deck and does not require having people aloft, or in the rigging (I'll address the reasons to have people aloft in the next section).

each sail has a number of "lines" (ropes) connected to it at different points that control whether the sail is "set" (fully extended) or "doused" (pulled up towards the yard). more lines are connected to the yards and control how the sail is oriented. the yards can be pulled back and forth, some of them can be pulled up and down, and their angle relative to the horizon can also be adjusted. the square sails on a mast all work together as they are stacked on top of each other and often have interconnected rigging. the lines all come down to the deck and are "belayed" (a figure-eight shaped way of wrapping the rope) around a "pin." the pins may be on a rail that wraps around the ship (the "pinrail"), on a rail that makes a square shape around a mast (a "fiferail"), or on a metal band wrapped around a mast (a "spider rail.") (there are other rails also, especially on the headdeck, which is the most forward, and the quarterdeck, which is the most aft. don't worry about it.)

some things you might do with sails from deck:

set sails (pulling the foot of the sail all the way to the next lowest yard so that it is fully extended and can fill with wind)

douse sails (pulling the foot of the sail up to its yard so that it is no longer catching as much wind. you can leave the sail doused if you might need to set it again, or you can send people aloft to furl it if you do not need it or are in conditions where it is dangerous to have a loose sail)

conduct manuevers, i.e. turn the ship

the three basic manuevers are tacking, wearing, and boxhauling, but all of them are just ways to turn the ship and change course. you can look up the particulars of these manuevers if you're interested, but I think the most important part from a writing perspective is knowing the initial commands. there are a whole series of commands for each of these manuevers but the opening ones you might most need are:

for a tack, the captain or conn (person in charge of issuing manuevering orders), first calls "ready about!" one of the other orders that might be dramatic to have in a writing situation is "helms a'lee," which occurs after ready about and prompts the person at the helm to turn it.

for a wear (the most common and least work-intensive way to turn most large tallships, though it loses you more ground), the order is "prepare to wear ship!"

for a boxhaul (essentially a three-point turn for when you do not have a lot of space to manuever), the order is "stand by to boxhaul!"

you can also stop the ship by "heaving to" (past tense: "hove to"), where you rotate the yards in opposition to each other so that the sails form a right angle with each other, which loses you all of your wind power.

these might change by period or tradition, but are the most common I'm aware of.

the commands for setting and dousing sails are pretty straightforward- you're just going to say "on the [fore/main/mizzen], set/douse your [sail]!" someone lower in the chain of command might also say "hands to the [sail] gear." whatever needs to get done is then accomplished by hauling on, easing (letting go slowly and under control) or casting off the relevant lines.

4. so what do people do aloft?

going up into the rigging is referred to as "laying aloft." you do this by climbing the "shrouds," which are those things you always see people in Boat Media climbing on-- they look like big nets or ladders that extend from the rails of the ship up to the masts. the shrouds may go to "cranelines" (small footropes that allow you to access the middle of a mast between yards, which is often where staysails are stowed), to platforms/crow's nests, or to "footropes," which are strung under each yard. there is also the "headrig," which is a system of footropes and stays that form what looks like a net under and around the jibboom and bowsprit and allow those areas to be accessed. all of these need to be tarred and otherwise repaired, and if a line parts (breaks) a new one needs to be rigged. masts may also need to be tarred or painted and other hardware might need to be repaired, checked, or replaced, such as "blocks" (pulleys that help lines move), shackles, and hooks. you might also need to bend on sails, or even replace entire masts if you're doing heavy repairs in port. people doing these jobs might carry tools or materials tied off in canvas buckets, or ride on a "bosun's chair," which is a wooden swing that can be tied to a gantline and used to lift a person up into the rigging or down over the side of the ship (like stede during the lighthouse fuckery or lucius when he's supposed to clean barnacles).

for non-maintenance related activities, the only things that really need to be done aloft are loosing and furling the sails.

square sails are kept, when idle, rolled and tied to their yards (furled). fore and aft sails are also furled, which depending on the sail may also mean tying it to a mast, or it may mean bundling it down against a stay or spar.

before a ship gets underway, the sails therefore need to be loosed (untied). a captain might not order all sails to be loosed at once when first starting out. if there's heavy winds, you might only need a few sails to get the speed you're going for. in light winds, you might need all of them. the order of loosing on a ship with five square sails per mast is typically: lower topsail, upper topsail, t'gallant, royal, course. but this is ultimately up to the captain's discretion. the courses have a lot of power and you might not need or want that much power when the winds are high.

to loose a sail, sailors are ordered to lay aloft, where they range out along the yard of the sail they're loosing. they stand on the footropes and hold onto a metal rail called the "jackstay." on each side of the yard, there are 3-5 "gaskets" holding the sail tied to the yard. these are loosed as sailors lay out along the yard (the knot is called a butterfly and can be pulled out in one easy motion). then each person stops at their gasket and "gasket coils" it, which coils the gasket up nicely so that it sits right at the yard and doesn't flap around the sail. gasket coils can also be undone easily by flipping one part of the coil over and then just letting the rest fall. the sail can then be set from deck.

you might need to "sea stow" a sail if you have to furl them very hastily, for example if a storm is coming. in this case you'd lay aloft, loose a couple of gasket coils, and spiral them widely inboard (towards the mast) and tie them off. the goal is not to look pretty, just to be fast. the sail will be doused from deck, and the hardest part of this is gathering up the sail the rest of the way so that it can be tied down. you lean your hips against the yard, reach over, and gather up chunks of the sail, tucking them under your belly until you have all of it, and then tie your gaskets. it's hard to do because you are not working together as closely or as carefully in a sea stow situation, and also potentially because the conditions are garbage.

sails ideally are stored in a "harbor furl," particularly, as the name implies, in harbor, where you are not likely to quickly need them loose again, and you have the time to put them away nicely. also, ship people judge each other if these don't look nice. this is a much more synchronized manuever. the sail is doused from deck, then sailors lay aloft in the same way as they did for loosing. here, the people with the hardest jobs are the ones up first, who go out to the farthest points of the yard (the "yardarm"). everyone begins to gather up the sail in the same manner as a sea stow, leaning over the yard and tucking folds of the sail under your stomach. the people at the yardarm are also dealing with the blocks and gear at the lower outside corners ("clews") of the sails. their job is more technically complicated and so they control the rhythm of everyone's gathering. once the sail has been folded and furled nicely with the "sun skin" facing out (protecting the rest of the sail from the elements), the person on the weather (side the wind is coming from) yardarm calls, in rhythm, "roll-ing home," or something similar, which prompts everyone to roll the sail up on top of the yard in unison. then each person wraps their gasket around the sail and yard, ties it off, and heads back down. again, that command might vary by period and tradition.

5. what are some things I could throw in my story for drama?

here are just a few:

a line could part! this is actually not uncommon on buntlines, which are one of the lines that help set and douse sails. when one of these parts and there's any amount of wind, the whole ship is going to know about it very fast because the sail, out of control, will start to "flog." this means it flops around in the wind and makes a very ominous sound (like a huge towel being snapped). to fix it, crew needs to lay aloft immediately and sea stow the sail so the bosun or other skilled crewmember can rig a new buntline.

a note about lines parting: manila lines do not have the "snapback" effect that modern synthetic lines do. this means they part more easily, but also more safely. they also get VERY swollen and spongy when it's wet, because they absorb water, and may even start to unlay (where the strands start to untwist themselves). so they can be also very annoying to handle when wet.

you might have to execute a manuever while people are still aloft! this is not uncommon, particularly for people aloft performing routine maintenance, but not ideal in bad conditions, particularly if people are out on the yards. because manuevers involve the yards being pulled back and forth and therefore rotating on the mast, it can be pretty harrowing to ride one through a manuever (or fun, depending on what kind of person you are). there are also pinch points between the yards and the mast that anyone on the mast or shrouds needs to steer clear of so they don't get crushed by a moving yard. "avast!" is a real command used when there needs to be an immediate all-stop due to a safety issue.

you might have to sea stow in really heavy conditions! if you've seen the episode of black sails where flint sails the Walrus directly into a storm, you know how difficult this is. when a sail is full of wind, it's very hard to pull it up by hand, even when doused. dousing only pulls the sail about 3/4s of the way up to the yard, and a doused sail can still catch wind. in truly heavy winds it can be almost impossible to stow.

in high seas, the ship could roll so badly that people on the yardarms get dunked in the ocean! this has also happened on black sails, I think in that same episode. this has never happened to me but I think if it ever did I would just rather fall off in the ocean than get swung back up again, thanks (<-guy who is afraid of heights). this is not a death sentence though, sailors can and have held on enough that they get swung back up and can safely get down. if conditions are bad enough that this happens and you do lose grip and end up in the ocean, it's probably going to be pretty difficult to impossible to get rescued, at least in the 1700s.

someone inexperienced might belay a line that needs to be cast off in order for a manuever to work, or vice versa. this could be an easy fix or it could cause a very dangerous situation. if you lose control of one of the halyards that lifts the yards, for example, that's potentially tons of uncontrolled load that could fall and break any number of things on its way. or if a line is made fast when it needs to be loosed, you could have yards raised crookedly and/or lines breaking as the strain becomes too much.

rope burn! the lines on a ship are often controlling a lot of load and power. if you allow the rope to slip through your hands instead of moving hand-over-hand, or if you just lose control of it, you can get rope burn that can be pretty severe. it's a wound that almost looks like a burn from fire would, especially while healing.

#our flag means death

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so-i-did-this-thing · 1 year

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Hey! A trans minor here. I want to ask how should I proceed as a trans minor in Florida? I can’t move and my mother doesn’t take me being trans seriously. She says she supportive but I don’t think she is. I’m worried about all these bills coming into place and how they will affect me. I’m a FTgender fluid. Do you have any advice? Also, I play the flute :) it’s nice to see trans instrument players

Ayyy, trans orchestra forming!

So, I won't insult your intelligence by pretending things aren't about to get bad. But maybe I can help you understand the risks and how to keep yourself safe and sane.

An assumption: I don't know if you want to pursue physical transition and that is a convo 100% between you, your mom, and your healthcare providers, so I'm providing it as a neutral option for information purposes.

Also: The bills I mentioned have not passed yet, but they are sitting on the governor's desk. He will most likely sign them, meaning they'll take effect July 1, 2023.

Staying with your family

SB254 is the bill that affects you the most. It's the "kidnapping" bill. Yeah. :/

I don't know what your family situation is like, but if you have family members who oppose your mother's even lukewarm support, that could be enough for the state to remove you from her custody and turn you over to them. It would be up to you and your mom to figure out how to avoid/appease these family members so they don't think you are "at risk" of physical transition.

Gender-affirming care

SB254 also completely locks you out of puberty blockers, HRT, and surgery (the latter 2 in the past are sometimes pursued by older youth with parental consent) in this state. If you want to pursue any of this care, talk with your mother about getting it in another state. You will have to physically travel, because telemed for gender affirming care is also being banned due to new consent form requirements.

Once you are 18, you can pursue physical transition, if that's something you're interested in, but be aware that there are soon going to be so many obstacles to adult care, that it might as well be a transition ban for everyone. But if you're close to 18 and think HRT is for you, review the map for informed consent care. But be prepared for a long search and your insurance not covering things.

That said, if you need a therapist now, I think you may still be good here. Be very careful that you don't end up with someone who wants to use conversion therapy tactics -- these are typically going to be religious-based providers. Talking with other trans kids in your town might help you find a good provider.

Remember, if you don't like a therapist, you can stop going to them; shop around for one that makes you feel safe and makes you feel like they help you with the stress in your life.

Bathroom ban

HB 1521 does a few things:

Bans multi-stall gender neutral bathrooms (single stall is fine)

Requires schools to have bathroom policies

Empowers cis people to confront trans folks in a govt owned/leased bathroom/changing room and force them to leave, otherwise they are subject to a fine and/or jail

This is effectively a bounty bill. Examples of bathrooms where this bill will apply include schools, airports, stadiums, courthouses, etc. It isn't every public bathroom, but it is a lot.

People who are gender nonconforming or are being stalked/harassed by cis folks who know their trans status are most at risk here.

It is up to you how much you want to weigh your self-expression against your physical safety.

As a minor, you don't have a lot of rights, so I advise you choose your battles carefully and always have trusted adults to have your back. Being FTGenderfluid, a lot of how you dress might fly under the radar, but I'd avoid being too heavily masc for now.

Keeping safe & sane

Unfortunately, a lot of support you'd normally find at school is going to be unavailable from now on. But some ways to lessen your stress:

Get a job (if you are old enough). I know, I know, but money makes a lot of life easier, from buying little treats now to stockpiling for things you may want once you turn 18.

Be honest with the reality that you might have to be in the closet a lot, and brainstorm safe outlets for your gender expression. I know at your age, I dressed how I wanted at home and used roleplaying games to explore and express my gender.

Hang out with queer youth, especially in person. You might have a local organization that has events and support groups. It helps a lot to share your feelings with other kids going through the same.

Start following trans political commentators. Erin is a good follow on Substack - she makes it easy to understand all the legal stuff going on.

Consume happy queer stories, by queer authors. It will help counter all the doom scolling. I've been watching Dead End: Paranormal Park (it is a comic and a show), which features a trans masc protagonist.

Cultivate your relationship with your mom. Gently, but firmly set boundaries with her if she gives you guff for, I dunno, wearing boys jeans or whatever. But also be aware she probably has a lot of misinformation about trans people, so you will need to gently pick that apart and see how you can educate her. Trusted adults she also trusts can also help you here.

Build your network. The friends your age you make today could be roommates or coworkers tomorrow. Be social, it will also be good for your mental health.

Be kind to yourself. Things look bleak, but there are states in the US that are actually strengthening trans rights. There continue to be options, you just might need to spend time and resources achieving them.

I hope that helps, and a big hug from a trans adult who grew up in the closet. <3

#trans stuff #anon #transgender

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ch0wen · 1 year

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Could you please do a Tangerine x reader (who's his gf) where the two go out on a date and she gets catcalled by some men... so, what do you think Tan's reaction to his girlfriend being catcalled would be?🤔

Request: Catcalling - Tangerine x Fem!reader

warnings: mention of sexual content if you blink really fast

In the reflection of the restaurant's window, Tangerine smoothes out the misplaced hairs in his mustache. Unexpectedly, the sounds of bustling chatter abruptly cut off as fast as it broke out. This gave a sign that someone has also exited the building. Approaching footsteps indicate that a person is joining him outside. At this unspoken but designated smoker's corner.

He assesses the figure behind him through the reflection. Taking note that it was a balding man who was fumbling through his pockets for a lighter with a cigarette dangling from his lips.

Tangerine gives himself a final once-over before grabbing for his own lighter.

“Here, mate," with a thrust out of his hand to the other man. The recipient had already turned around when Tangerine spoke up. He let out a grateful hum while he lit his cigarette before returning it with a mumble of 'thanks.'

They both say nothing more. Breathing in their respective fumes. Watching their smoke mingle and then fade as one into the air.

Baldy has the bright idea to break the shared silence.

“Hey wait. You’re the one that walked in with the red dress. Jesus,” he dragged out. “What’s in that dress is a damn looker. You are lucky, brother.”

Tangerine gives a firm nod with a tight-lipped smile. He can agree that the new dress hugs you in all the right places. But he’s not keen on this sleazy man tossing out creepy compliments about you.

“I am certainly lucky. Speaking of, I should probably get back to her then.”

Without another word, he’s stubbing his cigarette off on a lamppost and striding back in to find your table.

“Have I told you yet that you look beautiful tonight?”

A genuinely warm smile graced his normally frowning lips as he gazes at you. You couldn't help but smile in return, as you grab for his hand once he was settled in his seat.

“Only eight times. Not as many as I was hoping for. But numbers one through three were during that quickie in the bathroom, so I’m not really complaining.”

He gently squeezes your hand as you share a laugh.

You both share a few fleeting minutes of flirtatious smiles and whispered compliments before the mood shifts for the evening.

Baldy breezes by your table. Tangerine immediately notices the way his eyes scan over your toned, bare legs as he passes. And much to his dismay, the man joins a woman seated at another table within earshot.

Your moments of romance proceed to be followed by scenarios that make Tangerine apprehensive.

Baldy's wife, based on the pathetically sized ring on her left finger, smooches his cheek while making her way to the washrooms. The movement had Tangerine lose focus on your story for a beat. He tunes in to the activity since it's in his line of vision.

Baldy's eyes are lovingly following his wife's trail but then stop short on you. A look that was once filled with admiration for his wife now reflects nothing but hunger. He'd devour you if he could.

"You have an amazing pair of legs, honey. What I'd do to know how they'd feel wrapped around my head." He says over his beer glass before taking a swig.

He looks to Tangerine next. A chuckle playing in the crinkling of his eyes. Indicating that he thought that comment would get you hot and bothered, while your man would just sit there and wholeheartedly agree with this stranger. He continues,

"You really won the damn jackpot."

Baldy really cannot read the room or the grimace on your face. His idea of cat-calling has you shifting in your seat to try to cover up. Preventing him from stealing another look. Your obvious discomfort paired with Baldy's ignorance has Tangerine fuming.

In a blink, he is scuffing his chair back. Approaching the half-unoccupied table. His hand landing on Baldy’s shoulder with his back to you. He bends forward with a lowly murmur in his ear.

“As I said. I undoubtedly agree that she’s lovely. Nevertheless, I don’t appreciate you speaking about her like she’s an object. She doesn't find your remarks complimentary, brother."

Tangerine gives him a harsh squeeze then yanks the chair opposite him to sit down.

“To be frank, if I hear you say one more thing about her, I will gouge your eyes out and fix them to this fucking table with a fork.”

He playfully acts like he is deeply considering another idea before fixing him with a glare. His hand grips a fork. That is the only physical sign of his rising anger.

“Or I can take one of your slimy eyes into the kitchen, have the chef À la mode that shit, and serve it on a God damn platter to the lovely woman you’re dining with. And when she requests for the chef to come out and tell her his secret, I don’t think she’ll enjoy finding out that her main course was her husband’s eyeball. And it would be all because you can’t enjoy what’s right in front of you. Instead, you have been eating up my partner with your looks."

As he sat back in the chair, a grin spreads across his face. Giving Baldy an eerie juxtaposition to his threatening words.

"If you disrespect me or her again by talking like that. I'll break you. Are we understood?"

Baldy is the color of the cheap pearls which draped his wife's wrinkly neck. Tangerine takes his silence as a confirmation. Harshly patting his cheek before sauntering back over to your table.

You have a fixed scowl on your face while Tangerine bears a shit-eating grin. Knowing he stirred up trouble with you by terrorizing a stranger. You couldn't help but overhear the entire exchange.

Tangerine was not worried about dealing with your irritation. Not only does he believe his reaction to the catcalling was justified and that angry sex is arguably the best version of sex.

But tonight has confirmed that he can be very persuasive. He’ll be sure to ask for your forgiveness between your legs.

#requests #asks #tangerine x reader #tangerine x fem!reader #bullet train 2022 #bullet train #aaron taylor johnson

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featherlikescartoons · 1 year

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A brief-ish Analysis on the most important scene in For the Future lore: The Collector's Story

I needed a place to ramble, so here we go

To start off with, the cover of the actual book is much simpler and more childish than the symbol we've seen in the past:

So this book was probably made for this Collector specifically, or any young Collector to learn about their species. I'd also like to comment on the fact that while the book may look impossibly long, the stone pages coupled with the large font greatly shorten it. This doesn't mean it's not long, just not as long as it first appears.

This isn't important, just thought I'd point it out.

Moving on:

The contents of the book

This scene confirms something very important, there were other Collectors

and from the looks of it, they weren't very nice. More on that in a moment

The people depicted here are probably the ancestors of the Titan Trappers, seeming to worship the Collectors. But considering the Collector's tendency to wipe out anyone in their path, this isn't surprising. They seem to gain followers through fear, the type of fear they twist into awe and worship.

I find this especially interesting because Belos gained followers in a similar manner, fear turned to worship. First of all, I'd like to acknowledge they are still very different. Belos's rise to power came about through manipulation and making everyone believe he could lead them to a better future, while the Collectors probably scared everyone into submission with the idea they could take down any who go against them in an instant.

But while their origins are different, they grow into something very similar. By season 1 and 2, Belos was forcefully gripping at control and using his powerful position to either capture any who rebel, and to invoke worship in the rest. Maybe I'm reading too far into it, I don't know.

Additionally, each group were trying to destroy an opposing species. Belos with witches and The Collectors with Titans

Long story short, The Collectors inspired fear and turned it into worship. Belos did something kind of similar. Also, Boscha and Kikimora also established a tyranny in this episode. Just some food for thought

Back to the book, the section that the Collector crossed out hold some heavy implications.

("But should they meddle in our affairs, we'll clean the planet and scorch the air")

Not just the ones who opposed them, the planet itself.

The Boiling Isles would be an empty mass of boiling sea if it weren't for the titan's carcasses. Without them, there would be nothing there. What if this is because the Collectors reset the planet, burning away anything that once rose above the sea and raising the ocean's temperature to boiling levels in the fire.

Or at least that's my interpretation

So, based on the information we have, the Collectors may or may not have had the power to wipe out an entire planet. Yet, they seem to have been completely wiped out alongside the titans, except for just one of their young.

We know a titan was the one that sealed away our Collector, so we can assume that it was an evenly matched battle, the two species wiping each other out. (King and our Collector probably can't reproduce, so their as good as extinct)

Okay, at this point, we've figured out a rough theory on the Collector's history, but how does our Collector play into this?

It's made very clear that our Collector isn't fond of his predecessors. He's a kid with a lot of power and was probably bored by the other's ideas of doom and gloom and the tendency to destroy anything interesting.

So our Collector decided to start doing things his own way. It's clear he didn't decide to step away from the old ways out of sympathy, rather, it was because he's a bored, lonely kid who wants to do interesting stuff like play and make friends.

Does he have any role in the destruction of his species? We don't know. Personally, I think he was placed in the mirror when he was really young, leaving him with nothing but vague memories and a book to get to know his predecessors by.

I believe this because it would parallel him more with King, both of them not being able to remember their species.

I think if the Collector learned to listen to king, they could form a really nice, genuine friendship

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atiny-for-life · 5 months

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Ateez's Full Storyline Explained - Part 19

Masterlist

미친 폼 (Crazy Form) (Z-World)

Before we begin, I'd like to say that I'm writing under the assumption that Ateez are taking a backseat this comeback while the Black Pirates are leading the fight in the streets. This is based on the group's comments prior to the album's release, as well as last album's diary entries which left Ateez in a precarious situation that doesn't align with the happenings in this MV.

We open at night time on a shot of the Black Pirates (in marching-band-esque outfits reminiscent of Wonderland) and their fellow Revolutionists crouching in line in front of a structure which looks like two roofs lined up side by side where the dip between the two cradles the city skyline illuminated by a crescent moon (reminder that the nature of the Cromer‘s powers are affected by the moon cycles).

Keep in mind that Crescent Part 2 can be found on this album while the first part can be found on TREASURE EP.3 : One To All which includes 'Illusion' and 'Wave' - two songs heavily leaning into the concept of dreams and traveling into them by utilizing the Cromer‘s powers. This also aligns with the Alice in Wonderland themed promotions.

Regarding the latter: throughout the MV, you will see colors blur and get splotchy every now and again, indicating this is likely to be a dream transmitted to the citizens to fire them up for the upcoming main event of the revolution. This would also further support my assumption that we only get to see the Black Pirates here as they're the ones visiting others' dreams, not Ateez who seem to be unable to control this power fully and usually just end up in a shared dream among themselves.

Back to the MV: the captain begins to strut down the center aisle between the crouched rows like the runway model he is as he's instructing them to 'Get up'.

Once he's reached the front, everyone breaks formation and jumps right into the performance. The lyrics here already inform us of their intent - follow along, join us, put yourself first and stick it to the authorities.

Side-note: it was bugging me that I couldn't figure out what 9024 could mean so I dug a little and found an explanation by Reddit user " rowtyde37" who explains: "It's actually 90-2-4. So, it is the drums but they are telling you out the gate it's 90 beats per min, 2 quarter (4) notes (beats) each bar. Just a heads up on the drums coming to invade your space."

We cut to Yunho in comfy clothes and a headband back in the bunker who's sitting at a large table covered in blueprints as he activates a palm-sized Iron Man arc reactor looking thing that turns out to be a hologram projector.

Blue tinted holograms of the pirate ship's main mast, buildings, and pieces of teach are floating around him as he flips through them.

Throughout this scene, we regularly cut to Yunho dancing with four fellow revolutionists in a round underground space lined with doors (because he's the main dancer and he deserves this).

We cut to Mingi in a fully black getup with hat inside what looks to be a surveillance room situated in one of the rooftop-like buildings we saw at the start of the video.

His performance there is interspliced with clips of him outside in a suit as he's getting into a car and speeding through the city full of neon signs.

This maniac races into a black alley where he crashes his car straight through the wall of a small unassuming building which turns out to be a casino.

His idgaf attitude takes him straight to the bar where he pours himself a cocktail glass of milk which the bartender doesn't seem to mind.

Once his glass has been emptied, he opens the small metal suitcase near his elbow which contains another of the hologram projectors. I've rewatched the scene frame-by-frame and it seems the case was already there when he arrived so I'll assume the bartender is providing it to aid in the revolution.

This belief is reinforced when we get a shot of Mingi's empty glass filled with a stack of olives impaled by a black cocktail flag sporting the red encircled A representing both Ateez and Anarchy throughout this era.

Moving on to Wooyoung who's joining Yunho in the bunker, though in his own corner where he's surrounded by pieces of tech and holograms. He's wearing an oversized plaid shirt, glasses so large they're reminiscent of safety goggles, and black and silver gloves.

And honestly, I don't know how tech-savvy this little gremlin actually is since he's currently hammering a long-ass nail into the metal hull of some piece of equipment prior to chucking said hammer across the room with what seems to be a pout.

Said hammer shoots by behind Yunho, who's sitting several feet away, before it slams into something off screen and sets off a shower of sparks.

Yunho gapes at him for a sec before he throws up his arms ("The fuck, man?"), to which Wooyoung looks unfazed and points at him ("You asked me to toss it over, why're you mad?") followed by a half eyeroll and look away ("You're overreacting.").

Just then, a warning pops up on Yunho's holo-screen which causes Wooyoung to jog over as well.

We cut to a poker table where a game is in full swing and one of the player's is Jongho dressed up in a simple black suit. We're inside the casino Mingi literally drove into earlier.

The other two players seems to be some high-ranking officials in the military or police force, at least that's what I generally assume every time I see older men in uniform in anything. (In the Making Film, they simply call them "high officials from the Z-World")

Jongho proceeds to hold up the ace of Anarchy which causes one of the uniformed men to pull a gun on him under the table - an action both Jongho and Mingi are clearly aware of since Mingi steps up beside Jongho right away.

Without missing a beat, Jongho snatches up the gun hidden in the waistband of Mingi's pants and points it straight at his opponents. He doesn't hesitate to pull the trigger.

Cut to Seonghwa set up right outside the heavily fenced off 'Area 08'. He's performing on a makeshift stage right by the gate, surrounded by warning signs telling people to stay away. The building behind the fence is covered in banners sporting the Black Pirates' Z-logo we've last scene in 'Bouncy'.

His audience is made up of fellow revolutionists donning all black robes while he himself is dressed in a flowy white shirt, silver jewelry and a black corset with matching pants. It's clear who's not afraid to be recognized by anyone who could be spying.

The next scene reveals that San and Yeosang are also joining him for this performance, though the scene is interspliced with fleeting clips of all of a larger number of Black Pirates performing together in a back alley lined with shuttered store fronts and neon signs.

It seems to be San, Yeosang, Hongjoong, Wooyoung and Seonghwa who we'll see again a coupla scenes later in the same room Yunho danced in earlier.

Cut to Yeosang and Hongjoong in yet another alley during daylight hours. They brought spraypaints and a skateboard.

It's quickly made evident why they chose to go out during the day for once - they plan to appear on the news.

As Hongjoong reaches the line "Crazy boys are getting crazier", the video takes on a familiar news channel framing. The classic globe logo in the bottom left corner runs through several random letter combinations (the channel has no clear name) until it transforms into the two words "Breaking News".

A recorded feed from the casino's surveillance camera pops up in the top left corner - the scene with Jongho and Mingi played out just last night.

Simultaneously, the news ticker at the bottom of the screen informs us that "The Black Pirates break into the Lounge".

Shout out to Hongjoong's black fingernail. (Join the Polished Man Campaign here)

After all the ruckus Hongjoong has already caused, he somehow manages to twirl in a circle as he shoots bullets from his finger gun into the air.

The power of his imagination is truly something to behold. However, it's far more likely that this is just another indicator that we're not in a regular world but rather a dream transmitted to the locals to fire them up for the upcoming revolution.

Either way, Hongjoong's goofy bout of wackiness alerts the authorities who begin to chase him down the alley which only seems to get him more motivated to dive deeper into a pool of mischief.

He hops onto a car surrounded by armed cops and begins to wiggle his hips to provoke them further. What a legend.

Cut to him spray painting a white line across a wall covered in their own revolution flyers before passing Yeosang who ends up with a white streak straight across his black jacket.

He throws up his hands as he looks after his captain ("Why would you-?")

While once again fleeing from the authorities, Hongjoong nearly collides with a black car which sped up to him. The scene transforms into a comic book panel (this is not the real world).

He rolls across the hood and lands on the other side, only to lean over the hood with a smirk. Another comic panel forms.

Cut to a maniacally laughing Seonghwa getting dragged along by his own audience.

This is closely followed by San showing us his signature peace/middle finger - the return of these gloves is unexpected but welcome, especially in such a idgaf, I'll do what I want MV.

Between group performance clips, we return to Wooyoung in the bunker where he's looking at a hologram of their pirate ship which we'll see again shortly. It has been missed.

We also get to see Yeosang spraypaint "Be Free" onto a shutter door (which joins a marker written 'We Know', referencing the first track on the album).

A scene later, we see the full picture - three shutters, all covered in their signature Z and those two red words: Be Free. The message that connects all versions of Ateez across the multitude of realities.

We return to Jongho in the casino who just fired off three rounds in quick succession while Mingi stands by to watch their maknae go rogue. He must be proud.

One of the bullets swishes past a sprinkler, setting it off, while another pieces the wall and destroys the TV in the neighboring room just as an Android Guardian was seen on screen. It's very symbolic.

Our Haribo walks off with a satisfied lil smirk as the sprinklers gently drizzle him.

Between further performance clips, we return to Hongjoong who's being pushed onto the hood of a car by the cops who'd been hounding him.

He manages to free an arm and affixes a gadget that looks like another holo-projector onto the side of the vehicle which proceeds to eject a beam of light.

The activation signals Wooyoung in the bunker who looks up through a hologram circle. A pulse of light washes across the entire city, dousing it in darkness as a familiar pirate ship appears in the sky like a literal glowing ghost ship; it’s the hologram Wooyoung and Yunho had been working on this entire time.

The moon now appears full as the Black Pirates laugh and celebrate, smirking up to the sky, performing across locations, drinking in the casino/bar which leads me to reasonably believe they really did complete the mission between the two moon cycles but the way they went about it was different from the wackiness that took place in the dream world.

We end with them back at the double-roof structure before the screen cuts to black.

A beat later, a shattered glowing Cromer appears on screen.

From it rises a bluebird, the one we've last seen in Halazia. It's holding a red pulsating object in its beak as it rises up to the night sky where a red full moon has risen.

Maybe next album, we'll see the Halazia version of Ateez again. Who knows.

#ateez #ateez lore #hongjoong #seonghwa #yunho #yeosang #san #mingi #wooyoung #jongho #crazy form mv #the world ep fin - will

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catcas22 · 1 year

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The Truth about Saint Trina

I can’t take credit for much more than stringing all this together. I’ve heard bits and pieces of this theory suggested by others but this is my attempt to create a coherent narrative.

So we can establish that Miquella never grew to adulthood, having his development stunted by some kind of curse. This hardly even needs to be said, but I’ll cite my sources just because.

Remembrance of the Rot Goddess

Miquella and Malenia are both the children of a single god. As such they are both Empyreans, but suffered afflictions from birth. One was cursed with eternal childhood, and the other harbored rot within.

We can also establish with reasonable certainty that it is common for Misbegotten to seek treatment for their condition from Perfumers. We find a bunch of Misbegotten and Perfumers hanging out together along the main road in the ash-covered section of Leyndell. We also have the description of Perfumer Tricia.

Perfumer Tricia Ashes Description

Tricia was once known as a healer who dedicated her efforts to treating Misbegotten, Omen, and all those seen as impure.

When her efforts failed, she was their companion as they died, watching over them to ensure that they could pass peacefully, free of pain.

Trina’s Lily Description

A symbol of faith in St. Trina. Dulls the senses, preventing agitation.

Seems like an herb that calms the senses and eases pain would be helpful for a Perfumer attempting to ease the suffering of the Misbegotten, yes?

Hewg is a Misbegotten. Based off of the location of his hammer in the overworld, we can establish that Hewg lived in Leyndell at some point. Given the way the Golden Order is, he probably wasn’t there of his own free will.

We also know that Hewg once knew a spirit tuner who he feels deeply indebted to.

Hewg Dialogue

When asked about Roderika

"The girl you brought here... She's crestfallen, and can scarcely swing a blade, but she has a gift for spirit tuning. I saw another one like her, long ago. Their eyes share the same hue.”

After speaking to Roderika again

“I spoke with the girl. She has a gift for spirit tuning. So I told her everything I know. I'm indebted to a spirit tuner I met long ago. It was all I could do to honor her.”

I’ve heard some people suggest that Marika is the aforementioned spirit tuner. But... Come on. Hewg says that Roderika reminds him of the spirit tuner. Love her or hate her, the only thing Marika has in common with Roderika is her hair color.

Looking at it from Hewg’s perspective, he is clearly terrified of Marika, while his feelings toward Roderika (and possibly the other spirit tuner?) are more protective in nature.

Now, basically everything we know about Saint Trina comes from two item descriptions.

Sword of Saint Trina Description

St. Trina is an enigmatic figure. Some say she is a comely young girl, others are sure he is a boy. The only certainty is that their appearance was as sudden as their disappearance.

St. Trina’s Torch Description

Candle-stand torch that burns with a light-purple flame. The carvings depict St. Trina, but in adult form, somewhat unnervingly.

So we can establish that Trina is a person of ambiguous gender, feminine-looking but could also be a young boy. They weren’t around for very long. And the image of them depicted as an adult seems unnatural and unnerving.

One more thing -- Ranni comes to check out the Player character in Limgrave because she heard that Torrent was in the area.

Ranni Dialogue

“I'd heard tell of a Tarnished hurtling about atop a spectral steed. And upon looking into the matter, the talk, I surmise, is of thee.”

“I was entrusted this, for thee. By Torrent's former master. 'Tis a bell for calling forth spirits.”

Torrent’s former master was a spirit tuner.

Putting it all together:

As a young prince in Leyndell, Miquella sees the suffering of the Misbegotten and wishes to use his skills as a healer to help them. Marika, Radagon, or both tell him that treating Misbegotten is beneath his station and would be an embarrassment to the royal family. He either talks them into letting him go out incognito, or just straight-up sneaks out in disguise.

Under the guise of St. Trina, a humble Perfumer, Miquella does his best to ease the suffering of the Misbegotten. Specifically, he uses the soporific lilies that he originally developed to help soothe Malenia’s Rot-induced nightmares. During this period, Miquella/Trina treats Hewg, a smith “employed” by the Roundtable Hold. Hewg never learns “Trina’s” true identity, but remembers “her” kindness all the same.

Miquella eventually makes a clean break with the Golden Order and leaves to establish the Haligtree. He now no longer needs to hide his humanitarian work, so the St. Trina disguise becomes redundant, accounting for St. Trina’s sudden disappearance.

Some time later, Miquella is kidnapped by Mohg and disappears from the Lands Between. No one seems to have any idea what happened to him. When his half-sister Ranni hears that his spectral steed has been spotted in Limgrave, of course she zooms over to check out the rumor -- for a moment, she likely believed that her long-lost little brother, one of the few remaining members of her family that isn’t either dead, insane, or trying to kill her, had finally resurfaced.

Enter Shadow of the Erdtree, where someone who looks an awful lot like Miquella seems to be riding Torrent through the dream/spirit realm.

#elden ring #elden ring theory #miquella the unalloyed #st trina

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vaimetanyx · 11 months

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I wanted rain so I decided to make god cry

Either you love or hate these things, I have had no other reaction

(Full process under the cut)

[Skull pauldron] [Belt] [Greaves] [Toga + sash] [Wig + Laurels] [Armbands] [Flaming feet] [Satyr Sack] [Stygius v1] [Stygius v2] [Nectar]

These things are terrible and were terrible to make but are actually quite comfy to wear!

I started off with some yellow toe socks, and some cheap insoles. The black ones were used as a draft, before I cut out a white pair and painted them yellow. Then I sewed the insoles into position, trying to stick to areas that would later be covered by the actual show sole so they wouldn't be noticed. There was no way to do with without wearing the socks, which turned out to be the case with several stops of this process.

Next was cutting and shaping the show soles! These were from $4 slip on flats, since I wanted a sturdy sole without being too thick. To get the rough size and shape of my feet on the sole I did paint my foot and just stick it on there, before realising I'd made a mistake and having to hop one legged through my house to wash my foot off in the laundry sink. But! It did give me a good base to work off, so I was able to cut out the right shape and then bevel the edges for a more natural look.

I should have bought white shoes. Or done more research about how paints react to whatever rubber mix these shoe soles are made of. Because painting these yellow was so incredibly painful because they kept getting slightly sticky even if the coats dried properly. It was also quite difficult to get them to stick to the material of the socks since hot glue doesn't like a lot of rubber/plastics if it's sticking to something else, and contact adhesive doesn't like most materials. So I had to use epoxy resin to try and connect these two together since it was the strongest thing I had, and boy was it painful trying to figure out the right amount so it wouldn't all squeeze out the sides and ruin the whole shoesock. Overall terrible experience, -1/10, but they ended up on the feet and painted yellow which was the goal.

Then I got to paint my legs orange along with the socks in order to get that on-fire look. it wasn't the most even gradient due to some of the angles I had to work at while wearing them, but thankfully not too noticeable.

And with that, they were done, and ready to horrify everyone I come across! The greaves have worn some of the orange paint off the socks after my first con, but thankfully that's not noticeable if I place the socks and greaves in the same position each time I wear the outfit.

Terrible

#my cosplay #cosplay process #hades game #zagreus cosplay #con rules say you have to wear shoes. I could have gone the easy way and bought yellow thongs and painted my feet #but I refuse to do that I ain't having my toes out at a con #I AM AUSTRALIAN BY THONGS I MEAN FLIP FLOPS OR WHATEVER YOU CALL THEM IN YOUR REGION #but yeah I like to cause psychological damage to my friends with my toe socks #by making toe shoes I can afflict that same damage onto everyone at the con #and still follow con rules

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greenhorn-art · 7 months

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Prince of Shadows, Lord of Thieves by alkat

Fandom: The King's Avatar | 全职高手

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Category: Gen

Words: 1 929

Once upon a time, their exploits were immortalized by artists and writers across the tapestry of history. Once upon a time, they were worshipped as gods and reviled as demons. None of that stopped the Met from stealing all their shit.

About the Book

FONTS: Alegreya [Google Fonts], Lato [Google Fonts]

IMAGES: all art made by myself @greenhorn-art for this fic

MATERIALS: regular ol' printer paper (8.5"x11", 20lb, 96 bright); ~2-2.5mm binder's board; Neenah cardstock (8.5"x11", 65lb, bright white); Cialux bookcloth (black); waxed linen thread (30/3 size, white); wheat paste (1:4 flour:water); paste wax (from a friend, unknown ingredients&quantities, some kind of wax and turpentine/mineral spirits)

PROGRAMS USED: Affinity Publisher 2; Affinity Designer 2; Bookbinder JS | Renegade's Community Imposer (settings: Quarto, snug against binding edge, custom signatures of 2, 1, 2 sheets).

Text & QR codes printed with colour laser printer (duplex, flip long edge), images printed with inkjet printer. QR codes generated with LibreOffice Writer, snipped, saved, and inserted where needed.

BINDING: quarto (quarter-letter) size, sewn board binding with french link stitch and breakaway spine.

So this one all started because the visual of HST's outfit was so fun that I was possessed by a visceral need to draw it. Inspiration slapped me across my mind's eye, and much like a medieval knight being slapped in the face by a glove (which didn't actually happen, that's a myth that sprung from the throwing down of a gauntlet. but that's beside the point), I felt bound to take up the challenge. Which lead me to draw a few more, and then I ended up binding the whole thing.

(Also, I find it really amusing that the famous Terracotta Warriors were just storage for YXs stuff. And the gang going 'shopping' at various exhibits for gifts for friends/family,, like that sure is SOME window shopping! I can hear it now: 'Oooh I'll take one one those SMASH, and that SHATTER, and throw in some of those CRASH, they're going to love these! 😇'. All in all, it was a fun little read, and fun little project! :D)

About the Art

Because this was initially a one-off drawing I tried a new art style (and struggled to at least not stray too far for the rest). It was fun and helped me think more about shape and visual focus, instead of being caught up in the details.

The crow (based off of image ID: 4039963 from Rawpixel) and the red umbrella on the front cover were filled curves made with the pen tool. The illustrations' poses were based off of a combination of images found on Google and photos taken by myself.

Pinterest is awful for sources, but it would have been handy to pin the references I'd googled. Only remembered to save the one of a man sitting at a desk. (I deliberately searched for someone sitting with bad posture because YX is described as being "slumped" over the desk. I figure that since "the laws of physics held no meaning to ["cursed souls eschewed by the natural order"]", they'd also be immune to mundane things like discomfort from sitting hunched over for too long. Back pain images were a gold mine! All I had to do was choose one with lighting that would give me a silhouette.)

The Myriad Manifestations Umbrellas and illustrations were drawn in Procreate.

I opted for a more plain umbrella design because it's not (presumably) a fantastical weapon in this story. Though the initial version did have YX cradling the donghua!MMU.

For the scene breaks I inserted the images, pinned them inline as character, and adjusted height and baseline in the pinning menu to fit.

The author wrote one scene break differently than the others, using multiple empty paragraphs instead of just one. Following suit, I used a different image for that particular break. I wanted to reference vampires somewhere, so for that break I made two bloody spots resembling bite marks. The blood spots were made with a group of shapes in Designer.

On cover design:

Because the MMU is what sparks the whole heist, I wanted it on the front cover.

Earlier iterations involved a full cover spread with a man's shadow standing before a shattered glass case, with a plaque mounted on the wall to the left providing information. The plaque was formatted like a museum label and had the author, date published, title, event collection, and story description. I'd also added a QR code to it. Ultimately, I abandoned the concept because it was difficult to decipher what is was when only looking a one cover at a time.

My second idea for the cover would have been a bookcloth-only cover with a cut-out of the MMU on the front, acting like a window showing off an image of the MMU on paper below it. (Inspired by the work of a number of folks over on Renegade's Discord. Here's a few examples gleaned from a quick search: szynkaaa's lung cutouts, some of EHyde's books, and the front cover of Spock's massive all-in-one TGCF). As fun as that would have been to try out, I felt it didn't quite suit the style of the art so I nixed that too.

Eventually I landed on the back cover design with the Met exhibition webpage. At last, I felt that the back & white and simple-shapes-background went with the artwork. The webpage viewed on the phone is based off of the Met's actual website. I took a snip/screenshot of the Met's logo from the banner at the top, then looked at their exhibitions' pages and eyeballed it to create my own. (Threw in the QR because I wanted the easy access to the fic online on the back cover). I chose to use a phone screen rather than I computer monitor because it worked better composition-wise. And besides, while YX may be allergic to owning a phone, SMC is not. I imagine that she saw the news while on her phone then messaged him.

The front cover came together after that. An umbrella for the MMU, and a pop of red. One of YX's messenger crows. A black shape in the background similar to the back cover's, sort of creating a spotlight over the umbrella and placing the rest of the cover in shadow.

Trying New Things: Applying a protective finish to printed covers

Over on the Renegade Bindery Discord, folks have spoken about using a beeswax & turpentine/mineral spirits 50-50 mix to seal printed covers (thank you Kate). According to my dad that's just a paste wax, so he threw 3 different ones at me and said 'have at it'.

I tested them out using the same paper and inkjet I'll use for the cover. I was looking at 1) whether the paste wax affected the paper colour or print quality, and 2) the finish. After applying one coat each and buffing them out I had my winner. Then I applied & buffed two more coats to it and tested 3) water resistance by dripping tea on it. The liquid beaded up and wiped away without staining -- good, three coats will work nicely.

(Test results: Mystery paste wax from a friend wins.

The commercial SC Johnson Paste Wax Original formula (intended for woodworking) has a nice dry shiny finish, but coloured the paper slightly brown -> disqualified

My dad's homemade stuff has a nice shiny/satin finish and didn't change paper's colour, but it felt slightly tacky even after buffing it -- maybe I didn't buff it enough?

The gifted paste wax has a matte finish, didn't change paper's colour (in the image below this one has 3 coats. The paper is now slightly off-white, but still acceptable), and while not as dry-to-touch as the Johnson it was not as tacky as the other homemade stuff.)

When I print out my quarto covers, I print front and back covers side-by-side on the same page*, with some guides to ensure I'm cutting and gluing in the correct place. (The guides mark the boundaries of the covers and start of the turn-ins, and stop at the edge of where I cut. Before cutting I flip it over to mark the guides [see marks indicated in image below] on the wrong side and connect them so I can see where to glue/place book. Then flip it back over to cut, right side up.)

*I'm being economical here at the cost of possible warping damage. This layout means that I'm only using one sheet of paper, but the grain is running in the wrong direction (across the book instead of preferred head-to-tail/top-bottom). This could cause warping issues, but I'm OK with that. I'm hoping that by just gluing at the edges, instead of pasting down the whole thing, warping will be minimized. (I use wrong-grain endpapers most of the time with larger books anyways).

I applied the paste wax before cutting out the covers, working carefully to avoid accidentally creasing/bending the paper (which happened twice, but it was minimal and I hardly notice it). Doing so before cutting ensured that the cover material was completely covered. Even the turn-ins -- something I later came to regret. After all, wax is used specifically so that things don't stick to it. It made it rather difficult to drum on the endpapers because I was trying to glue something down onto a waxy surface. It all worked out in the end -- perhaps due to the fact that there were multiple layers of wheat paste which could adhere to each other, followed by being squashed in a press.

#Prince of Shadows Lord of Thieves #alkat #fanfiction #bookbinding #my art #the king's avatar #qzgs #tka

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