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#rambling thoughts sorry
frownyalfred · 2 months
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I 100% believe Lois Lane requested the presence of Bruce Wayne in her delivery room.
Nobody, not even the League, understood until it was time to give birth and Clark froze up at her bedside. Bruce was there to coach them both through it, as Clark’s friend and as Lois’ human reinforcements.
(Bruce flew to Metropolis in a helicopter when he got the news. He found Clark ashen and trembling at Lois’ side, eyes clenched shut as she screamed. He slid into place like he’d never been missing, talking Lois AND Clark through it like he delivered babies every day of the week)
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applestruda · 6 months
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*falls through the ceiling and comes crashing to the ground*
SECRET LIFER DESIGNS BUT THEY ALL HAVE PERSONALIZED LIKE, BOOK HOLSTERS FOR THEIR TASKS THAT THEY GET EACH SESSION
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fluentisonus · 3 months
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sorry i know i've complained about this a lot but if there was One thing i wish people on here would grasp wrt roman approaches to mythology. is the centuries and centuries of italian mythic tradition & transmission that existed here. like a lot of these myths were being told & transformed & developed local version before rome even existed. these guys were trading materials & traditions with the greeks since like the bronze age. a person in rome might of have heard a lot of these stories as a kid from their grandmother who heart it from her grandmother, who heard it from hers etc etc. they were living changing myths in italy! with their own variations even! so a roman author, while they DO extensively use greek literature, is nevertheless working off something that is a deeply embedded part of their culture too. to act like these ideas were just transplanted directly from 5th century athens to 1st century rome, and especially as if greece had the oral tradition while rome was purely literary, is silly
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lucabyte · 3 months
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isat doodles in the form of a silly-serious-silly sandwich
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jonnywaistcoat · 1 month
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When writing, did you ever suffer from a fear or underdelivering or misrepresenting a topic? If you did, how did you overcome it? I enjoy writing but rarely bring it to the public out of fear that I am either not doing good enough or badly portraying the themes or aspects of what I write.
Absolutely, and on the one hand it's a very healthy fear - it prompts you to do your research and be thoughtful in how you write. On the other hand you've just got to accept that occasionally it will happen. Inculturation is a hell of a thing, and leaves us all with a thousand kneejerk preconceptions and perceptions of the world, some benign and some downright awful. And sometimes they crop up no matter how thoughtful you try to be. And you gotta understand that when it happens and people call you on it, you just have to take your lumps and learn what you can from it.
It doesn't help, of course, that the words you write are only ever half of what your audience reads: five people reading the same book are reading five different books, each filtering the text through a lifetime of psychology and experience. And they will find themes and problems in there you never even considered, and they will also find resonances and beauty in your work that you could never have foreseen.
At the end of the day, writing stuff thats meaningful to you (hell, writing anything at all) is a messy, bruising business, and anybody who tells you there are simple solutions or clear rules to follow is either lying to you or to themselves.
But you can't let it paralyse you. Its like if you're playing football and you're worried about falling over. It's a reasonable fear and you should do your best to avoid it, but occasionally it's gonna happen, and unless you want to spend the whole game just standing still in a field, you've kinda just got to get on with it. Just try not to be one of those writers who's always taking dives and... screaming for the ref to get a free kick? Hm. That analogy may have gotten away from me. I don't actually know much about football.
Point is, I'm aware that this isn't the most reassuring writing advice I've ever given, but yeah, its a messy, scary business. Just do your best. Be thoughtful. Be kind. And always do your research.
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fictionadventurer · 9 months
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I have to talk about Chester Arthur. His story makes me go crazy. A mediocre president from the 1880s who's completely forgotten today has one of the best redemption stories I've ever heard and I need to make people understand just how cool his story is.
So, like, he starts out as this idealist, okay? He's the son of an abolitionist minister and becomes famous as a New York lawyer who defends the North's version of Rosa Parks whose story desegregates New York City's trolley system.
Then he starts getting pulled into politics and becomes one of the grimiest pieces of the political machine. He wants money, power, prestige, and he gets it. He becomes the right-hand man of Roscoe Conkling, the most feared political boss in the nation, a guy who will throw his weight around and do the most ruthless things imaginable to keep his friends in power and destroy his enemies.
Because Arthur's this guy's top lackey, he gets to be Controller of the Port of New York--the best-paying political appointment in the country, because that port brings in, like, 70% of the federal government's funds in tariffs. He gets a huge salary plus a percentage of all the fines they levy on lawbreakers, and because he's not afraid to make up infractions to fine people over, he is absolutely raking in the dough. Making the rough equivalent of $1.3 million a year--absolutely insane amounts of money for a government position. He's spending ridiculous sums on clothes, buying huge amounts of alcohol and cigars to share with people as part of his job recruiting supporters to the party, going out nearly every night to wine and dine people as part of his work in the political machine. He's living the high life. Even when President Hayes pulls him from his position on suspicions of fraud, he's still living a great life of wealth, power, and prestige.
Then in 1880, his beloved wife dies. While he's out of town working for a political campaign. And he can't get back in time to say goodbye before she dies. Because he's a guy who has big emotions, it absolutely tears him up inside, especially because Nell resented how much his political work kept him away from home. He has huge regrets, but he just moves in with Roscoe Conkling and keeps working for the political machine.
And then he gets a chance to be vice president. The Republican Party has nominated James Garfield, a dark horse candidate who wants to reform the spoils system that has given Conking his power and gave Arthur his position as Port Controller. Conkling is pissed, and he controls New York, and since the party's not going to win the election without New York, they think that appointing Conkling's top lackey as vice-president will pacify him.
They're wrong--Conkling orders Arthur to refuse--but Arthur thinks this sounds like a great opportunity. The only political position he's ever held is Port Controller--a job he wasn't elected to and that he was pulled from in disgrace. Vice President is way more than he could ever have hoped for. It's a position with a lot of political pull and zero actual responsibilities. He'll get to spend four years living in up in Washington high society. It's the perfect job! Of course he accepts, and Conkling comes around when he figures out that he can use this to his advantage.
When Garfield becomes president, Arthur does everything he can to undermine him. He uses every dirty political trick he can think of to block everything that Garfield wants to do. He refuses to let the Senate elect a president pro tempore so he can stay there and influence every bill that comes through. He all but openly boasts of buying votes in the election. He's so much Conkling's lackey that he may as well be the henchman of a cartoon supervillain. On Conkling's orders, he drags one of Garfield's Cabinet members out of bed in the middle of the night--while the guy is ill--to drag him to Conkling's house so he can be forced to resign. He's just absolutely a thorn in the president's side, a henchman doing everything he can to maintain the corrupt spoils system.
Then in July 1881, when Arthur's in New York helping Conkling's campaign, the president gets shot. By a guy who shouts, "Now Arthur will be president!" just after he fires the gun. Arthur has just spent the past four months fighting the president tooth and nail. Everyone thinks he's behind the assassination. There are lynch mobs looking to take out him and Conkling. The papers are tearing him apart.
Arthur is absolutely distraught. He rushes to Washington to speak with the president and assure him of his innocence, but the doctors won't let him in the room. He gets choked up when talking to the First Lady. Reporters find him weeping in his house in Washington. Once again, death has torn his world apart and he's not getting a chance to make amends.
Arthur goes to New York while the president is getting medical treatment, and he refuses to come to Washington and take charge because he doesn't dare to give the impression that he's looking to take over. No one wants Arthur to be president and he doesn't want to be president, and the possibility that this corrupt political lackey is about to ascend to the highest office in the land is absolutely terrifying to everyone.
Then in August, when it's becoming clear that the president is unlikely to recover, he gets a letter. From a 31-year-old invalid from New York named Julia Sand. A woman from a very politically-minded family who has been following Arthur's career for years. And she writes him this astounding letter that takes him to task for his corrupt, conniving ways, and the obsession with worldly power and prestige that has brought him wealth and fame at the cost of his own soul--and she tells him that he can do better. In the midst of a nationwide press that's tearing him apart, this one woman writes to tell him that she believes he has the capacity to be a good president and a good man if he changes his ways.
And then he does. After Garfield dies, people come to Arthur's house and find servants who tell them that Arthur is in his room weeping like a child (I told you he had big emotions), but he takes the oath of office and ascends to the presidency. And he becomes a completely different man. His first speech as president mentions that one of his top priorities is reforming the spoils system so that people will be appointed based on merit rather than getting appointed as political favors with each change in the administration. Even though this system made him president. When Conkling comes to Arthur's office telling him to appoint his people to important government positions, Arthur calls his demands outrageous, throws him out, and keeps Garfield's appointees in the positions. "He's not Chet Arthur anymore," one of his former political friends laments. "He's the president."
He loses all his former political friends. He's never trusted by the other side. Yet he sticks to his guns and continues to support spoils system reform. He prosecutes a postal service corruption case that everyone thought he would drop. He's the one who signs into law the first civil service reform bill, even though presidents have been trying to do this for more than ten years, and he's the person who's gained all his power through the spoils system. He immediately takes action to enforce this bill when he could have just dropped it. He becomes a champion of this issue even though it's the last thing anyone would have expected of him.
He oversees naval reform. He oversees a renovation of the White House. He still prefers the social duties of the presidency, but he's respectable in a way that no one expected. Possibly because Julia Sand keeps sending him letters of encouragement and advice over the next two years. But also because he's dying.
Not long after ascending to the presidency, he learns he's suffering from a terminal kidney disease. And he tells no one. He keeps going about his daily life, fulfilling his duties as president, and keeps his health problems hidden. Once again, death is upending his life, and this time it's his own death. He's lived a life he's ashamed of, and he doesn't have much time left to change. He enters the presidency as an example of the absolute worst of the political system, and leaves it as a respectable man.
He makes a token effort to seek re-election, but because of his health problems, he doesn't mind at all when someone else gets the nomination. He dies a couple of years after leaving office. The day before his death, he orders most of his papers burned, because he's ashamed of his old life--but among the things that are saved are the letters from Julia Sand, the woman who encouraged him to change his ways.
This is an astounding story full of so many twists and turns and dramatic moments. A man who falls from idealism into the worst kind of corruption and then claws his way back up to decency because of a series of devastating personal losses and unexpected opportunities to do more than he could have ever hoped to do. I just go crazy thinking about it and I need you all to understand just how amazing this story is.
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ao3commentoftheday · 1 month
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I’m thinking about perfectionism again, specifically with respect to how it can skew your opinion of success and failure.
There’s this concept that comes up a lot when you read about issues like perfectionism: all-or-nothing thinking. It’s a trap that’s easy to fall into.
If you’re a fic writer falling into this trap, you might feel like you’re an absolute failure if your fic isn’t a 100% accurate depiction of the scene you see in your head with flawless grammar and zero typos. That is a, quite literally, impossible standard to meet and as a result of never meeting it, you probably feel one or more of the following:
lack of motivation
certainty that there’s no point in even trying
self-hatred or some other form of intense dissatisfaction with yourself and/or your skills
This is a completely logical way to feel in that mindset, by the way. Your standard for success is so high that you’re constantly a failure. If your standard for success is impossible to meet, then there is no point in trying. If there’s no point in trying, how could you possibly feel motivated?
In order to move away from those feelings, you need to move away from that all-or-nothing, black & white mindset.
One way to do this is by figuring out a new standard for success that actually can be achieved. For example, give yourself permission to have occasional typos in your stories. Gaiman’s Law states that an author will always find a typo the first time they open their published book. If even Neil himself has resigned himself to this fate, then hopefully you can too. If you managed to write your story then that’s a success and finding a typo after you’re done doesn’t turn that success into a failure.
Another thing that’s helped me is to think of every failure or mistake or dissatisfying result as a learning opportunity. If I’m not able to do something now, that doesn’t mean I won’t be able to do it at some point in the future. I just need to keep trying. Practice makes better. Practice also helps you figure out the things that are easy for you and the bits that are hard and where you might need some help - either from a fellow fan or from another kind of resource.
I think part of the reason why people can get so anxious about their fanworks is because we care so much about them. We love the characters. We love the world. We want to do them justice in our writing, and we want other fans to love our creations too.
It’s important to remember that all of us love imperfect things all the time. It’s not perfection that makes a thing lovable. It’s the heart that’s put into it.
There’s a lot of fear behind perfectionism. Fear of being caught doing something wrong. Fear of being shamed for a mistake. Fear that imperfection makes us unworthy or unlovable. Fear that a single flaw will ruin an entire work. Fear of failure.
If you want to be able to move through that fear, you need to be able to reduce it somehow. The most effective way that I’ve found is to stop writing with the goal of posting something online. Write for the sake of writing, without the pressure of showing it to someone else. That might help you to get out a first draft (or second or third) without that worry about being judged and found wanting.
If you’re not ready for positive self-talk or reframing the internal narrative (I get it. Been there.) then allowing yourself to be less than perfect in a place where no one else can see you might be a good first step.
And just because I think it’s important that you hear it from time to time: you are a wonderful, creative, amazing human being - mistakes included.
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skybristle · 1 month
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azulsejos · 7 months
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s2 + golbetty centric episode prayer circle 🍎💝
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nagichi-boop · 1 year
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SHADOW IS WRITTEN SO WELL IN THE MURDER OF SONIC THE HEDGEHOG!!
First of all, just him showing up to Amy’s party is a step up from his recent “I will do everything myself, I hate everyone, imma fight you” attitude that we have seen. Secondly, and idk if it was intentional, but him attending shows he cares about Amy. He’s always had a special place for her after the events of SA2, so it’s nice to see him showing up for something that maybe isn’t his style for her sake. (Parties aren’t really his thing, after all.)
SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT
It’s also really sweet of him to go through so many lengths to try and get Amy’s present. I definitely don’t think he forgot to get her a present, he genuinely just didn’t seem to know that it was a social norm to bring presents to a birthday. If he really didn’t care, he either wouldn’t have gotten her anything or he would’ve given her a rushed gift. But no, he went through a lot of effort, basically foregoing the game, just to stall Amy so he could get her a present she would enjoy.
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And not just any present - he remembered her mentioning a specific band she liked and that she hadn’t seen them live. This not only suggests he listens to her and remembers what she tells him, but also implies that he has had multiple conversations with her. Clearly he must have also done some research too since he knew that the tickets were going live soon. He thought this through, even if it was a bit last minute, and did his best to get the tickets (even though he admits to not being the best with computers, which is also nice because usually Shadow just insists he’s the best at everything). I also think it was sweet that he didn’t heavily protest Amy’s suggestion to see the band together. He hesitated, but then yielded. This…for a character who recently has been written to be quite selfish.
He seemed upset that he couldn’t keep this a surprise, but he also didn’t become enraged or lash out at Tails and MC/Barry. In fact, he didn’t really lash out at anyone at any point which is refreshing, since in most Sonic media that’s his go-to emotion.
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Most of his expressions throughout the game are fairly gentle in fact. Sure, he doesn’t smile, but he also isn’t actively angry. And the one expression where he does seem a bit negative just seems like his resting expression, or at absolute worse just a little annoyed. He’s very mellow throughout the game and it’s refreshing.
Even after he has finished talking to Amy, Tails and MC/Barry, he offers to stay with them and help them with the investigation. Normally in Sonic media, Shadow has no interest in helping others and only really cooperates if there’s a mutual goal/interest. And even then, he tends try to do things on his own. But in this game? He actually cooperates, and what’s more, he goes out of his way to offer his help.
So far I’ve mostly talked about his attitude towards Amy. But what’s his attitude towards Sonic? People debate back and forth on whether Shadow hates Sonic and the recent games and media have made it seem like he does hate Sonic. But in this game? I wouldn’t say so. I mean, he’s literally hanging out with him and his friends and instead of having beef with Sonic, he just focused on making Amy happy. And even when the situation gets more dire and Sonic is found to be knocked out, he doesn’t make any snarky comments or anything. In fact, he actually helps to tend to Sonic’s condition, even if it was just checking his pulse. If he rly didn’t care, he would’ve left it to everyone else.
Man, I could talk for hours about Shadow in this game. I can’t believe this April Fools prank game is actually the best characterisation for Shadow we’ve had recently. He’s not overly aggressive, he isn’t selfish, he isn’t super edgy. He is still sorta cold, but he’s not rude or mean. He’s actually really kind (in his own way), putting his needs and desires on hold to make Amy’s birthday fun and to help everyone out. I seriously hope that Shadow is written more like this in the future and not like he has been. Maybe Sega wasn’t joking about taking on board the complaints of the fandom.
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frownyalfred · 1 month
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imagining a competition between Bruce and Clark where they try to see who can play dumb more convincingly and it’s just a masterclass in acting and posture without an obvious winner. one look at them as civilians and most would write them off as idiots. the people who do know them can’t bear to watch their routines in person because they’re too good, in a way that just wrong enough to make your teeth itch.
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I keep seeing posts asking Larian to add a hug option for that scene with Astarion. While I understand it, I completely disagree, and I hope it's never added in.
That scene isn't about Tav. That scene isn't about their relationship, romanced or not. It's solely about Astarion, and the beginning of his journey toward healing.
Sometimes I think about hugging and why we do it. I think a hug in that moment would be more about comforting ourselves through an uncomfortable moment, rather than actually offering any comfort to Astarion. I don't think he would have the capacity to fully take it in or accept it. The brain operates at such a primitive level when you're experiencing trauma. Therefore, it's best to hold back and let him be.
He needs to have that moment for himself, alone. To scream for the rage, the grief, the sadness, the terror, the pain. All of it, all 200 years of it. Long before he met Tav and the gang.
It's perfect as it is, and when he's ready he comes to you and thanks you. Perhaps a hug option at that point would be more appropriate? But again, I feel it really isn't necessary. It's already perfect.
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crowsgrudge · 7 months
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fionna's world being represented by a dandelion makes so much sense ... they're weeds. yet people make wishes through them, changing their whole meaning from something meant to be destroyed to something hopeful.
dandelions are also resilient and it makes sense that something associated with them would. you know. perservere despite the destruction caused by the scarab.
but ultimately i think what REALLY made me tear up over this is that dandelions are really boring plants. when you're a kid you blow on them and make your wish but they're not eyecatching or anything but still, fionna's final wish was for her old world to still exist as it was when she left it (> plain and simple. boring even).
like the moment she realized she would lose her friends, and that her friends might forget each other if the world got its magic back, she immediately decided she didn't want it and I think that ties back to the dandelion metaphor so well... like, do you really need magic to be real to find it everywhere? or can you turn something boring into something magical?
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space--potat0 · 10 months
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Because absolutely no one asked - some thoughts and favourite moments from The Trailer
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Henry's face in the paper - looks like he's just said "oh my fucking Christ" i.e. the first time Alex hears him swear!
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HENRY CALLED HIM SWEETHEART (sarcastic). LOOK HOW PROUD OF HIMSELF HE IS. meanwhile Alex is just looking at him like 'this better not awaken anything in me'
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Is that Shaan in the background??
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Henry's camera smile vs his genuine smile mY HEART
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Is this Henry's face after seeing Alex kiss Nora at midnight? My poor baby he looks so sad
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'it was at this moment he realised he fucked up'
And finally more happy!Henry because my anxious neurotic sweetheart deserves only soft kind things
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echotheghostyghost · 6 months
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character A, battered, bruised, and bloody, going "you should see the other guy" with a proud look on their face
character B, completely unharmed but visibly shaken and traumatized
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ywuji · 2 months
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BABE! wake up!! new yuuji character description dropped! (link incl. spoilers for shibuya arc events)
yuuji lives to fulfill his roles, and this doesn’t change when he becomes your boyfriend. (f!reader & nsfw under the cut!!!)
he’s the sweetest, you think. always updating you on what he’s doing. even though he goes to the heavens and back on days that he’s busy, he’ll always make time to send even a little ‘i miss u ;(((((😭😭🙁❤️’
when he’s finally free, it goes without saying that he tells you about everything that kept him away, even the tiny little things. one week in particular, this included a daily update on a tiny rash on the underside of his buttcheek.
he’s also never shy with his praise and words of reassurance. also with soft, gentle touches, and actions that let you know he cares. he loves you and he makes sure you know it.
it’s not just you he lets know either, it’s his friends, his “brothers”, his teachers, and maybe even random strangers he happens to meet during the day. he takes all the opportunities he can to bring you up in conversation.
”oh that’s my girlfriend’s favourite flavour too...!!”
“oh yeahh...!!! my girlfriend told me about that the other day,”
“oh sorry, i’m busy. ‘m seeing my girl later tonight n i wanna look nice for her so i’m getting ready. tomorrow...? noo, sorry. she’s staying the night tonight so we can spend tomorrow together. …next week? ahh i’m sorry, i—”
even when he’s out with other people, he’s got you on his mind, taking random pics and selfies of things he’s doing, sending them to you accompanied by silly little captions. ‘kugisaki doing choso’s makeup! they miss u baby!!”
very specific hc but also whenever he does a live on whatever app, he’s always talking about you to the people watching too.
“guys i just miss her so much :(“
‘ji i’m watching ??’
“hi, babe. yeah i know, but i still miss you ;(“
he’s the cutest!
nsfw under the cut!
naturally, this also translates to the bedroom.
as your boyfriend, his sole goal during sex is to satisfy you, and god does he do that and more. your moans, your sounds, your body. he loves it all and has to show you.
yuuji’s into overstim—for you and consequently himself too. he genuinely cannot get enough of you. he needs to give you all his big, heavy balls can give. whenever you have sex, it’s always at least two orgasms for you, though it’s usually more than that—you both 'have the time', he tells you. his fingers, his tongue, his cock, and toys even, he’ll use anything and everything to make sure you’re cumming.
“y’look so good, baby, feel so warm… mhm, can feel you squeezin’ on my fingers… so cute.”
“a-ah…! my pretty girl.. my pretty fucking girl.. please cum, baby… just one more... please…”
“please, baby, i love you, please, please, can i cum inside, baby? inside..? please?”
his fav position is missionary. the mere idea of you laying there, all pretty n spread out for him will never fail to get him hard. he loves it’s so easy for him to lean over you and shove his mouth onto yours, as he mercilessly fucks his hips into you. he’s gentle but unrelenting with it—he doesn’t mean to be this intense, genuinely, it just happens that way. he just loves your so pussy much.
being able to see your face is probably his favourite part of the position though, watching your changing expression as he switches from a fast to slow pace and back to fast is something he wishes he could witness time and time again, so he makes it happen time and time again. (highest sex drive in the franchise if i may say)
he loves going face to face with you when you’re both about to cum. it’s hard for him to not fall onto your face when his orgasm hits, he can’t help it when your pussy feels ‘too good’ clenching so tight on him like that. he makes sure it doesn’t happen though, he would never want to hurt you.
when you manage to pry yourselves off of each other, he’s quick to tend to you. moments ago he was making you shake and cry from pleasure, and now he’s stroking your hair, massaging your chest, and talking about some random food craving he’s getting.
his aftercare is so lovely n he’s goofy with it too. so many side pokes, and dick, and butt, and pussy jokes, but you don’t mind. it’s him and you love him.
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