#reason number two is i like the organization aspect | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

fallingdownhell · 1 year

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https://at.tumblr.com/fallingdownhell/sumeru-men-when-your-sisterbest-friend-tries-to/nwf4h3unm1ah

Could I request this ⬆️ but with Ayato, Kaeya, Diluc, Childe, Zhongli? Also, reader actually steps up and nearly goes apeshit with the "friend".

No angst, please!

Alright, alright, I heard you loud and clear. I'm trying my best for readers part, but I can't promise anything.

Also, this escalated quite a bit... hope none of you mind the length of this thing. I just don't know how to keep things short and simple

Characters included: Ayato, Kaeya, Diluc, Childe, Zhongli

Content: Gender neutral reader; she/her pronouns for your best friend; she tries to convince them to dump reader; some cursing; slightly suggestive on Ayato's part; not proof read yet!

Word count: 7.9k words

As always, thank you for requesting and hope you enjoy!

Ayato

I feel like Ayato is a man who would get into a relationship for one of two reasons

Number one would be it being a political type of thing, where the relationship and potential marriage would greatly benefit the Yashiro commission

Or he would not even consider the commission and just date you purely because he fell instantly in love with you and really just wants to court you

but regardless of what the reason might be, he would be loyal to you under any circumstances

he knows that there are many people out there who want to be on his good side, some of them even after his wealth and status

and yet, he would fight off anyone who would dare court him while being in a relationship with you

in that aspect, he learned a great deal from Thoma, so you better be grateful to him

It was a typical slow, mentally draining day for Ayato as the Yashiro commissioner yet again. Many people come to him with their problems, expecting him to magically have the solutions for them at the ready. It's not like he is some kind of know-it-all magician, capable of solving every little issue in this world. Yet people obviously believe him to be exactly that.

Honestly, it's exhausting most of the time. It was quite common for him to work late into the night, like it happened today again. When he finally leaned back a bit to stretch his sore back, he heard a soft knock on his office door. Knowing who would await him at the other side, he mumbled a soft "come in".

You slid the door open, revealing the form of your boyfriend to you. Instantly noticing his tired expression, you went to his side, gently holding his face in your hands.

"You have been working too much", you say after a long while of each of you staring into the others eyes.

You hear a low chuckle from him as he closes his eyes, and leans more into your touch. Having yearned for it the entire day and now finally being able to enjoy it again was one of the best feelings in the world to Ayato.

"You're right, my dear. As you are so often. How about we retreat for today?"

You were inclined to accept his offer, but just as you were about to do so, you remembered one other crucial detail.

"We can, after you eat something. You haven't done that today, have you?"

And as if to betray him, his stomach made a low rumbling sound just as Ayato was about to tell you a little white lie, that it wasn't so bad. Instead, he looked away from you as you giggled at the perfect timing.

"See? Now, you clean up here while I go and get you some light snack. Let's meet in our room, okay?"

He agrees and you gave him a quick kiss to the tip of his nose as a parting gift, before you made your way out of the room, silently, as to not disturb the other servants and residents from their slumber.

Ayato looks after you and as you're out the door, begins to make quick work of his tasks. It's not much to do anyways. Just pack away his writing utensils, stack and organize a few stray documents that he will worry about the next day.

While in the middle of doing this, he heard a soft knock on the door again. Ayato wonderd to himself why you would need to knock when you agreed to meet back at your room. And also, you two should be the only ones awake at this hour anyways.

Still, he answeres the knock with a simple "Yes?". Instead of an answer, the door to his office slid open again, but this time revealing a different figure to him.

He recognized her, a servant of the Yashiro Commission and also a dear friend to you. Though, he did wonder why she was awake at this hour as well.

"Do you need something?", he asked her as she just stood there, not saying a word.

"I... saw that the light was still on and just wanted to check on you, Lord Kamisato. It's getting quite late. Are you alright?"

"I see. I appreciate your concern, but I am quite alright. I'll be retiring for the night shortly."

After he said that, her eyes seemed to light up, but she quickly tried to hide it.

"O-oh, is that so?", she quielty mumbled as she took a few steps into the room, towards Ayato. He eyed her suspiciously, but refrained from saying or doing anything. She stopped in her tracks when she was standing only a few inches away from him.

"Do you want me to keep you company for the night?", she whispered, trying to sound seductive while she put one of her hands on Ayato's chest and looked up at him through her lashes.

In response to that, Ayato quickly snatched her wrist, holding her in a tight grip. Although, she seemed to interpret that gesture the wrong way, as a smile krept up her lips.

"Oh? That eager, Lord Kamisato?"

"You do know that I have a spouse, right?", he said firmly, still holding her wrist tightly.

"Oh please. As if someone as boring as (name) could ever please a man like you. You can admit it, you know. I can see that they are not enough for you. You can have so much more fun with me.", she purred at him, now putting her other hand on his chest.

It made Ayato want to throw up. Every fiber of his body was repulsed by this woman, her words and her actions. He just wanted to deal with this situation as quickly as possible, to get away from her and return to the comfort of your arms. He didn't care if he came across as rude, he did not care for her feelings. After all, she did just insult you in front of him, and he would not stand for that.

So, Ayato finally let go of her hand and took a step back to gain some distance between them. However, that didn't seem to appease her, as she was quick to follow him, that wicked smile still present on her lips. In that case, he had to resort to words as his weapon of choice against this woman.

"Stop this nonsense right now. I have no idea where you got the impression that I am the slightest bit interested in you, but that assumption is just wrong. Plus, I am not the type of man to just go behind my partners back like that."

"Aww, come on. Don't be such a killjoy. Plus, they don't have to know. I won't say anything if you don't~"

"Well, I already know. How about that?", you suddenly chime in, both Ayato and the woman jumping a bit at the sudden sound of your voice behind them. You were leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed in front of you and a dark expression on your face, directed at the person you thought to be a friend of yours.

"I was wondering what took you so long, dear. If I had known you were trying to fend off some filthy pest, I would have come to your rescue sooner.", you continued as neither of them said anything at your entrance. Your words and expression briefly becoming warmer as they were directed towards your lover, but quickly turning dark again when you turned back to the woman in front of you.

You waited a few more seconds, waiting for her to come up with some kind of excuse or something, but nothing came. So, you sighed, pushing yourself off the doorframe and slowly approaching the two of them.

"Glad that I finally got to see your true character. I always thought something was off about you, but still, I never would have taken you for one of those people." Your tone was low and dark, as you came to a halt in front of her.

"Now, you better screw off before I loose the last bit of my temper. And you better never approach any of us again, you hear me, bitch?"

You spat the last few words at her and she quickly ran out of the room, leaving you and Ayato behind. You looked after her for a few more seconds, before a deep sigh finally left your lungs and you turned around to your boyfriend, who was looking at you with a smirk on his lips.

"What?"

"Oh nothing... But, I have to admit, you're cute when you're jealous, (name)."

"Pffft, please. Me? Jealous? Of her? When I'm the one already dating you and having you all to myself?", you laughed, slowly beginning to relax again.

And Ayato still smirked as he began to lean down towards you. "True, I do belong to you. But maybe, it's time you lay claim on me again for everyone else to see as well.", he mumbled before he pulled you into a passionate kiss, a promise for the night in front of you..

Kaeya

Kaeya is a flirt, you and everyone else is very much aware of that fact

though when in a relationship, he would tone down that side of his personality. It's not completely gone, but compared to before it's like you're looking at an entirely different person

but you don't dislike this teasing and flirty side of him. It's part of his charm after all. So long as it's always directed at you and no one else..

Most people would believe Kaeya is more the type to play around than to actually bind himself to another. They also don't believe him to be a loyal person

Well, those people couldn't be farther from the truth. Because of his past, Kaeya is afraid of letting people close to him again. So if you were to manage to do just that and gain his trust.. you best believe that he will never let you go again, no matter what might be thrown his way

The music that was playing in the background of the tavern was as loud as usual. Kaeya was used to it at this point, the comfort of the Angel's Share being as trusted of a companion as the sword by his side.

It was a routine by now that he would swing by the tavern after his duties as a knight had been dealt with for the day. Usually, he would sit at the counter with either Venti or Rosaria to keep him company, sometimes even both at the same time. Those instances were always sure to escalate, so he was kinda glad it didn't happen too often.

Today however, neither of his usual companions were available, so he was doomed to sit at the counter all by himself. But that was quite alright, since he didn't plan on drinking that much anyways. After all, he was merely here to pass time waiting on you to finish your work, so he could take you on the date he promised to take you on today after you both were free.

But since he was done much sooner than you were, he had some time to kill, and the tavern was the first thing that came to his mind. So, he went to your place of work, to let you know that he would meet you there once you were done.

As Kaeya downed his second drink of the evening, he pointed for Charles, the barkeeper, to get him another one, while listening to the music some bard was playing. He was standing next to the entrance and Kaeya had to admit, that his music was rather good. It was a cheery, easygoing melody that went well with the laughter all across the tavern.

It seemed to be one of the bussier nights for the staff of the Angel's Share, seeing as the tavern was packed full of people, some of them already quite intoxicated even though it was still a fairly early evening.

Still, the loud atmosphere was relaxing to Kaeya and he only stopped looking around himself when his next drink was handed to him. Thanking Charles with a nod, Kaeya grabbed the mug and downed a few more sips, when he suddenly got a well-known feeling..

The feeling of being watched.

He tried scanning around the interior of the tavern again without looking conspicuous, but couldn't detect anyone who seemed to be watchful of him.

When the feeling subsided again, Kaeya also began to relax again. He hadn't realized how on edge he became just from that, so he let out a deep exhale. It did make him feel a bit better, but only for a few seconds, before he felt a presence now occupying the free stool next to him.

He turned his head towards that person, cautious of he he might find, when he recognized the figure to be your best friend.

Now, normally, any other person would relax upon seeing a familiar face, but not Kaeya. Not in this situation.

He always had a suspicion, that she was into him. She never made any advances towards him, but that could have been because you were always there with him. Kaeya had never been alone with her until now. And with the way she was eyeing him up and down while smirking at him, he was inclined to think that his suspicion was, indeed, correct.

"Well, would you look at that. What's the cavalry captain of the knights doing here, in this tavern, all by himself?", she began to speak. It was easy for Kaeya to detect the slight slur in her voice, indicating that she already had quite a few drinks already.

Still, he decided to play nice with her and entertain the both of them for the time being. Maybe some company wouldn't be so bad and he did still harber some hope that his assumption could be wrong after all.

"Enjoying a drink, obviously. What else would one be doing at a tavern?", he answered, the usual polite smile returning to his face. To everyone else, it might come across as sincere, but you now know that there was a difference. For a real, sincere smile coming from Kaeya was quite a rarity. But, the woman across him didn't know that, so she happily induldged in the conversation.

"Obviously, I know that. But, why all alone? I never see you without a certain someone accompanying you." Her words carried a distinct amount of poison in them when mentioning you. It didn't sit right with Kaeya at all.

"Oh, I'm actually waiting on them to finish their work. I promised them a date so that't where I'm taking them."

At the mention, her smile dropped and the look on her face changed to an annoyed one. "Seriously? God, Kaeya! When are you finally gonna dump her?!", she snapped at him, standing up from her stool so she could stand in front of him, mere inches away from him.

"Excuse me?", was all Kaeya was able to say, trying to lean back as much as possible to create space between them, but she didn't care for that. Instead, she got even closer, dangerously so, and Kaeya was beyond uncomfortable with the situation.

"You heard me. I wanted you since I first laid my eyes on you, but you never acknowledged me. And as soon as (name) comes along, you're all over them and completely ignore me!

I hate them so much! When are you finally gonna realize that I would be so much better for you? Just dump their lazy ass, they're never gonna be something big anyway. Come to my side, Kaeya!" As she said all that, she simultaneously began to claw on his clothes. Kaeya tried to push her away, but it seems that people were right when they said that drunk people seem to gain some kind of unexplainable strength.

"Are you out of your mind? NO! Now get off of me!", he yelled instead, still trying to get himself free. But she ignored it, instead reaching behind his neck and pushing his head down, trying to force a kiss onto him.

"AHH!", she yelled not even a second later, both in surprise and pain as her head got pulled back by her hair suddenly. She managed to pull herself free and both her and Kaeya were surprised to see you standing there, now putting yourself between the woman and your boyfriend. A furious look on your face, you seemed like you were about to loose your temper.

"He already said no, you bitch. You're really going so far as to assault someone because you don't get it your way? That's a new low, even for you." Your voice was ice cold and Kaeya shivered a bit from it, but he also had to admit that he did like this protective side of you. It was something he didn't get to see very often.

"I was just trying to safe him from your pityful grasp. He deserves someone better!"

"You mean, someone better like you? Come on, don't make me laugh. Who in their right mind would want a dirty street rat like you?", you lauged at her as she looked at you with shock. "Now fuck off before I completely loose myself."

That last sentence from you came out completely serious and cold, both her and Kaeya knew that you would not hesitate another second to fight her off if you had to. With one last, longing look at the man behind you, she grabbed her stuff and ran out the tavern door, leaving the two of you behind.

You let out a loud sigh as she was finally gone, turning around to Kaeya. "Are you okay?", you asked him, worry now written all over your face.

He smirked a bit, slipping out of his stool so he now stood in front of you, leaning down so he could put a hand to your cheek. "I am.", he whispered, leaning down to plant a soft kiss to your forehead. "Thanks for fending her off. That was really sexy."

You rolled your eyes at that, but didn't say anything against it. Instead, you pulled Kaeya in for a soft, sweet kiss. Both of you smiled before you finally made your way out of the tavern and to where Kaeya promised to take you.

Diluc

Oh boy.. I really love Diluc, but let's be honest here.. he has a lot of issues, that would directly pass over to the relationship, if he ever were to enter one

abandonment issues, trust issues, self worth.. Diluc has a lot of struggles

he makes sure to let you know beforehand, so you can back out of it if it's too much for you to handle. He won't go into any details, but he gets his point across

Now, if you decide to stay with him and help him work through all this, he would be head over heels in love with you. For someone to know everything about him, including his bad sides, and still deciding to stay with him?

He honestly never thought this would happen to him. Which is why he's all the more glad that you stayed and proved him wrong

It was the late afternoon and Diluc was still in the process of getting himself ready and presentable.

Today was the day of your one year anniversary and he had promised to take you on a cute little stargazing picnic. He had been looking forward to this day the entire week, trying to finish as much of his work as early as possible, so that nothing would come in the way today.

He checked his outfit over one more time in the mirror, looking for any holes or other form of dirt, but couldn't find anything. Then, he moved on to his hair, trying to tie it into a high ponytail. He knew that you loved it when he wore his hair like that, and he didn't mind it either way, so why not.

After all, Diluc wanted to spoil you today. Although technically this day is for the both of you, he just couldn't help but want to make it all about you. Because, after all, you were the one who chose to stay with him. To love him and show him that it was okay for him to love you as well.

It took some time, and he is still nowhere near a perfect partner for you, but he is trying. And you always tell him that him trying is more than enough for you and that you couldn't and would never ask anything more than that from him.

Diluc was so glad that you stumbled your way into his life. It may sound cliché, but he truly has no idea where he would be in life if you weren't there by his side to help guide him in the right direction.

Dare he even say, it was also thanks to you and your effort, that he is now slowly starting to reconcile with Kaeya. Their relationship was still rocky after years and years of miscommunication and suppressed feelings, but it was slowly starting to pick up and move into a... better direction, for lack of a better word.

He had so much to thank you for, and he swore to pay you back for it every day of his life that he got to spend with you. You would forever be the best thing to happen in his life, and he didn't care how down bad that sounded.

As he was finally done with preparations, and giving himself one last glance through the mirror, a soft knock on the door brought him out of his head and back into reality. Confusion written over his face even more, as Adelinde opened the door and walked a few steps into the room.

"My apologies, Master Diluc, but it would seem that you have a visitor. I informed her of the bad timing and to come back another time, but she insisted. I directed her towards your study room, she is waiting for you in there.", she informed him, her head lightly bowed down.

"Thank you, Adelinde. I will deal with them shortly.", Diluc answered, though obviously annoyed at the situation.

Why today? And why now?

All he wanted was for you and him to spend a nice evening together. And now someone wasn't even going to allow him that? Not if he had a say in it. He would just go in there and deal with the visitor swiftly, then make his way to Mondstadt, where he promised to pick you up.

Once he made sure that he was presentable so he wouldn't have to return to his room again, he went out and closed the door behind him. He walked quickly, having a goal already in his mind, so he wanted this situation to be over as soon as possible.

He gave to quick knocks to the door of his study room, to inform the person inside of his arrival, before opening the door and stepping inside.

Upon his entry, a woman who until now had been sitting in one of the comfortable armchairs stood up, facing his way. It took Diluc a moment, but he soon recognized the figure as a close friend of yours. He saw her from time to time, but he never had much to do with her, they never had an extended talk or conversation, so Diluc had no idea why she was here now and what she could want from him.

"You came..", she said, like she couldn't actually believe it.

"It would be quite rude of me to just leave a guest and not greet them, wouldn't it? So, please, state your business with me. And, not to sound rude, but please make it quick. I have somewhere important to be in a bit."

"That's why I'm here..", she mumbled quietly.

"What was that?"

"Nothing!", she exclaimed, a little startled. Trying to mask her nervousness with a chuckle, she began to play with her hair while looking everywhere else but at the man standing in front of her.

A good minute passed without her saying anything else and Diluc was growing more and more annoyed with her. Was she just here to waste his time?

"Look, if you have nothing to discuss with me, then-!"

"No! I- I mean, I do have something to discuss. I just.. don't know where to start..", she got quiet near the end again, making it hard for Diluc to understand her, but he did.

"If this will require more time, I have to ask you to move it to another day. I really don't have the time right now.", Diluc simply replied, already kind of mad at her that he wasted more time here than he had to. He turned around and was about to leave, when the woman behind him spoke up again.

"I like you!", she yelled, which caused Diluc to halt in his steps and turn to look at her, a bewildered look on his face.

"What did you say?"

"I like you, Diluc. I have for a long time. But I never had the courage to tell you and then (name) got in the picture. Honestly, I hated them the moment you and them got together.

They took you from me! It should be me by your side, not them! I deserve you so much more than some pesky lowlife like them!", she still yelled, but was now slowly moving towards Diluc.

The man, still surprised by what was happening right now, didn't move away, and she apparently took that as a sign to continue on her little rant.

"I know you think that you love them, but trust me, you don't. You may feel like that now, but I am the one meant for you. I can make you so much happier than you could ever think. Just give me a chance, Diluc.", she pleaded as she arrived in front of him.

She extended an arm, about to lay her hand on his shoulder, when he suddenly caught her wrist mid air. His grip was tight, and the look he threw at her full of disgust. She flinched a bit as she saw that, but still tried to stand her ground.

"Listen closely", Diluc said, his tone hard and cold, as he looked into her eyes, unforgiving. "(Name) will forever be the only one for me. No one else could ever hope to come close to what they mean to me. Especially not you. The fact that you came here, to berate and talk bad about someone who thinks of you as their friend, trying to steal their lover away. And for what? Some silly illusion you created in your head?

My top priority will always be (name). No one will ever come inbetween me and them, no matter what you might say or come up with."

He quickly let go of her wrist now, like her skin was suddenly made out of some kind of acid and it burned him on the touch. The look of disgust still evident on Diluc's face, as he took a step back towards the door.

"Now, please excuse me but I have a date to go on with my lovely parnter. And just to be perfectly clear, I would advise you to stay away from them and me from now on. And if I were to catch wind of you putting out rumors about them, I will not hesitate to act against you."

With that being his parting words, Diluc left the study room and made his way down to the main hall, where Adelinde was waiting down by the stairs.

"Please escort our guest out of the mansion as soon as possible. And make sure to let the other staff know that she is not welcome back here anymore.", Diluc informed Adelinde, who bowed her head in understanding.

"As you wish, Master Diluc. I wish you a pleasant night.", she said, before making her way up the stairs.

After that, Diluc left the mansion and made his way back to the city of Mondstadt. He appreciated the walk, as he was able to clear his head a bit before he would see you again, which was just what he needed after that encounter.

Once he arrived and saw you waiting for him by the fountain, all the negative emotions within him washed away again, his heart feeling at peace.

He greeted you with a soft kiss, which you reciprocated. He took you with him to Windrise, where the two of you would have your picnic. On the way there, he told you all about what had happened just about a few hours prior to your reunion.

It was fair to say that you considered the friendship with her to be over and you thanked Diluc over and over again for defending you, while also apologizing to him that he had to deal with that in the first place. But not to worry, because you made it more than up with the cuddles he got from you afterwards.

Childe

Childe is a family person through and through

Like, they have the final say wether his relationship whit you would last or not. Not in the sense of approval, more like if you get along with his parents and siblings

If they like you and you also get along with them well, he would be over the moon

also has a pretty high rank thanks to his position as a fatui harbinger, so people know not to mess with either of you, unless they want to be punished

Childe, I think, is actually one of the most loyal Genshin boys

He would stop at absolutely nothing to ensure your safety and to make you feel loved. The only way he would allow this relationship to end, is if either one of you would be to fall out of love with the other. But, at least for his part, that probably won't ever happen

Since his return to Snezshnaya a few days ago, Childe has been stuck in his office at the fatui headquarters. It was required of him to finalize his reports on his latest missions, which meant for him to sit in his office the entire day, write paper after paper, then return home in the evening, only to resume the process the next day.

It has been tiring for him. He never would have thought that dealing with paperwork could be this tiring. No wonder the higher ranking harbingers all have some kind of sectretary who do that work for them.

In fact, Childe has been so tired out from writing these reports, that he didn't get any proper training in these days. Instead, he always returned right back home to your side, almost always falling on top of you on the couch. If it weren't for you keeping him somewhat coherent, he would instantly pass out on the couch, not to be woken up until the next morning. You gently kept him awake long enough for him to take a shower and eat dinner with you, before you both went to bed together, where Childe hugged you even closer to him.

It has become some kind of new routine at this point and although you didn't mind it all that much, you clearly saw how exhausted your boyfriend was from all this. Even more so since he wasn't able to pursue his usual stress relief with the training.

You could clearly see how tired he still was, sitting next to you eating his breakfast, his eyes looking almost blank and lifeless. It made your heart ache at the sight.

"So.. do you know how much longer it'll take until you've finished all the reports?", you cautiously asked, not wanting to stress him out even more in the early morning hours.

"At least a few more days..", Childe quietly answered, the weariness clearly evident.

You thought about what you could do to make him feel a little better, at least, when an idea sparked in your head.

"Well, I can't really help you with your work, but, if you want to, I could bring you lunch today. Your mom taught me how to make your favourite."

At that, his eyes visibly brightened up as he looked at you. "Really? When did that happen?"

"While you were out on your mission in Liyue. I had some time on my hand and I thought it would be a nice surprise but I didn't get around to making it yet.", you answered, glad that such a simple thing was able to cheer your boyfriend right back up.

He got up and engulfed you in a big hug, placing little kisses all over your face. "Thank you, (name). I love you so much."

You giggled as you guys spend the rest of your morning together before it was time for Childe to leave again.

...

His mood this day was by far better than the days before, and his underlings had no idea wether that was a good thing or if their impending doom was approaching them.

But as more hours went by and nothing drastic had happened yet, they decided that it had to be something good.

Childe was constantly humming in his office, the writing part was getting much easier now that he got a hang of it. The occaissonal troop came into his office every now and then, awaiting for new orders from him.

He dealt with them every time before resuming his reports until one particular group came to him. He knew one of the members better than the others, namely because it just so happened that she was a friend of yours, who joined the ranks of the fatui a few weeks ago.

She got assigned under Childe, but they haven't really been working together yet, as shortly after he was sent out to his mission on Liyue, which took him a few weeks to finally complete. And since then, he had been locked up here.

Anyway, back to the present. The leader of that small group gave a quick report to Childe, informing him of their accomplishments. The harbinger only nodded, listening to them.

"Alright, sounds good. For now, I want you guys to go to the training grounds. Improve on your strenghts and get rid of your weaknesses. This will be your task for the following week. After that time, you will face me in battle again, to assess your progress.

That would be all.", he said to dismiss them. They all hurriedly made their way out of the room, except for one member of the group. The woman stood still in front of Childe, and it took him a moment to realize that she was still standing there.

"Hmm? Was there something else you needed?"

"Well.. I have a bit of a personal question, if you would allow it, Lord Harbinger.", she answered respectfully, bowing her head at him a bit.

Childe thought it over for a second, but didn't think anything bad of her request, so he allowed her to ask her question.

"Thank you. It's about (name)", she said and the mention of your name both set him on edge and also brought a small smile to his face. You just had that effect on him every time, even after months of dating already.

"What is it that you see in them? Why are you with them? I just don't understand it."

"What about it don't you understand?", Childe asked, bewildered as he sensed the obvious hostility she seemed to harbour when talking about you.

"I mean, they're just so boring and bland. I don't get what you see in them. Surely they can't be enough to satisfy you. You could have anyone else, you have so many better options. Why them?"

After her little rant was over, Childe stood up from his place behind his desk, walked around in front of it, and leaned against the table, crossing his arms in front of him.

"And let me guess.. you think you would be better suited for me than them, am I right?"

She nodded as she took a step forward, towards him, but one ice cold glare from Childe let her freeze in place. But she got her composure back quickly, returning his gaze.

"I do.", she stated, holding her chin up high, trying to look more confident than she currently felt.

Childe continued to look at her a few more seconds, before averting his eyes and sighing in disappointment.

"I think I've heard enough. Just so you know, you could never be enough for me. (Name) is more than enough, they are the perfect match for me. And I'm most definitely not about to give up on that for some random chick that decides to throw herself at me.

Anything you want to add, (name)?"

The last sentence was said a bit louder by Childe, knowing that you had been standing outside the door and listening in on the conversation. Upon mentioning you, you entered the room and by the surprised look on the womans face, she didn't realize that you were actually present.

"Not really, I think you already made yourself perfectly clear.", you said, your look at her as cold as Childe's was.

"We're over. Can't believe I ever was friends with someone like you.", was the only thing you felt like adding to the situation, before the woman ran out of the room without another word, feeling utterly humiliated.

You and Childe both looked after her, before looking at each other. Then you guys burst out into laughter at how ridiculous this entire situation was.

After you had calmed down again, you guys shared the food that you made for him in his office, you sitting on his lap since he wouldn't allow you to sit anywhere else. It was safe to say that Childe acted a bit more clingy with you for the next few days.

Zhongli

It has been quite some time since Zhongli's last relationship and even though he has an understanding of the principles, the more intimate details of it are kind of lost on him

have some patience with him and teach him the ropes of it again and you will be rewarded with one of the most loving and caring partners one could ever wish for

he also tends to be a little bit on the jealous side, but he means no harm in it. He knows you're more than capable of standing up for yourself, but he can't help it. He is your partner after all, it's only natural he wants to protect you

Also a very loyal man. If he chooses a partner, he stays with them through all the good and bad times until the bitter end. Whatever form that end will take..

Zhongli let out a heavy sigh as he was finally done with his work for the day. Who knew that the work of a consultant could be this demanding?

Hu Tao had him staying late for the past two weeks, since, as she said, work had been piling up and she needed all the help she could get.

While you were understanding of the situation, not minding him coming home later to help out his boss, Zhongli did mind it very much.

Because now, work kept getting in the way of his quality time with you. While he was stuck here, he could be home with you, snuggling up on the couch, or out on a date with you.

Come to think of it, it had been quite some time since you two last went on one. Perhaps he should take you out to Wanwen Bookhouse again, with a nice dinner afterwards at Liuli Pavilion. That sounded like a good idea.

Still thinking about this, and possible other locations where he could take you to, he continued to tidy up his workplace, so that he could finally leave as soon as he was done with that.

Hu Tao had already left earlier today, claiming she would be gone for some type of commission and left him the keys to lock the place up after he was done for the day.

Once he was done cleaning up, he went outside and locked the door, putting the keys into his pocket to keep them safe. He would return them to Hu Tao again once his well deserved weekend would be over. Oh, how he longed to spend those blessed days enveloped in your arms, hoping you would never let go of him again.

Gazing up at the sky, he noticed that it was still quite early. He still did some overtime, but he did get off earlier today than the days prior. So, Zhongli decided on the spot to surprise you with some of your favourite food.

He went over to Wanmin Restaurant, which coincidentaly was also on the way to your shared house, to pick up something to eat for the both of you.

Upon approaching the vendor, Chef Mao immediatly recogniced the man.

"Ah, Mister Zhongli! Good evening! The usual?", he asked in a cheery tone, to which Zhongli agreed to.

While waiting for his food to be done, he took place on one of the stools outside the building, looking around the streets. It wasn't quite as busy as it was during the day, but there were still fairly many people out and about, doing their business.

"Hey! Zhongli!", a voice greeted behind him, so the man turned around to see a dear friend of yours approaching him and taking place next to him on an empty stool.

Zhongli gave her a gentle smile, not minding her presence at all. Maybe some company would be good for the time he had to keep waiting for the food to be done.

"Good evening. What brings you here on this fine day?", he asks her, trying to engage in some small talk with her.

"Oh, nothing much. I was just out for a walk when I saw you sitting here all alone.", she smiled, leaning a bit closer to him. Zhongli noticed this, but didn't think anything of it, which is also why he didn't say anything about it.

"Ah, yes. I am merely waiting for it to be done cooking, so that I can surprise (name) with it at home. I have been working late for the past two weeks so I hope she will accept this small piece of apology."

Upon mentioning your name, he noticed how her expression turned a bit sour, but it was gone so quickly the next second that he thought he just imagined it.

"Is that so..", she mused, seeming to be lost deep in thought.

After that, the conversation died out and a sort of uncomfortable silence fell between Zhongli and your friend. Not knowing what to best do in this kind of situation, he just remained silent, still patiently waiting.

A few more minutes passed and finally, Chef Mao came to Zhongli again, this time with two containers of food in his hands.

"Here you go. Sorry it took so long, busy day today."

"Not a problem.", Zhongli reassured him as he handed the man his money. He was about to say his goodbyes to your friend, when she suddenly grabbed him by the arm.

"Wait!", she said, suddenly having a form of urgency to her voice that made him halt.

"Yes? What is it?"

"I... I want you to break up with (name)!", she exclaimed, shocking Zhongli with her words. Why would he say such a thing.

The confusion obviously written all over his face, the woman sighed as she got even closer to him.

"I am in love with you, Zhongli. And I want to be with you. I don't care if I start out as just a side chick for you, so long as you break up with them and choose me in the long run.

Trust me, you'll see for yourself just how inferior (name) is to me in every aspect of life. Bet they aren't even any good in bed. I know you're not satisfied with them, so why not enjoy yourself with a little fun on the side?"

Zhongli couldn't believe what he was hearing. He knew how much you trusted her, so for her to betray that trust you put in her so easily, it made his heart ache for you. But it also made him furious. How dare she talk about you like that in front of him? You were everything to him, and you were definitely more than enough.

Anger slowly krept its way up inside him, being more and more evident in the way his gaze turned cold and his hands tightly gripped the containers he was holding.

But before he could let his anger out on that woman, he heard an all too familiar voice call his name. "Zhongli!"

There you were standind, a few feet away from them and slowly walking over to your boyfriend.

"Hey (name)!", the woman cheerfully said, putting on a seemingly perfect act in front of you, being all nice and friendly again, like she wasn't just trying to steal Zhongli away from you.

"What a surprise to see you here. We were just talking about-!"

"About how you want to be the side piece of my boyfriend? Yeah, I heard that.", you said in a very matter-of-fact way, it caught her completely off guard.

"Huh?", was all she was able to get out, a look of bewilderment present on her face. You, however, have heard enough and you were done with her.

So, you only rolled your eyes at her, before lowering your voice, trying to sound as intimidating as you could. "Listen here, you bitch. He is taken. You had all the time and chances before I met him, and now, he is mine.

So back the fuck off before I go off on your fake ass face."

Panic now written all over her face, she took a few steps back. "You wouldn't.. You're crazy!"

"Oh, but I would.", you growled, taking a step forward, which finally caused her to turn around and run away from the two of you.

Relieved, you let out a sigh and turned around to your boyfriend, who had witnessed the entire scene.

"Sorry you had to deal with that.", you apologized sheepishly, gaze now turned to the ground.

"Don't apologize, my dear. After all, I should be the one apologizing to you, since you just lost a friend because of me. But, I do want to say, I hope you know that I would never choose someone else over you."

"I know that.", you nodded as you looked up at him, offering him a warm and loving smile. Ahh, how he had missed that smile the entire day. He just had to lean down and give you a soft kiss, which you very gladly reciprocated.

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pathos-logical · 2 years

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How to Keep Doing Descriptions (from someone who does a fuckton)

Plain text: How to Keep Doing Descriptions (from someone who does a fuckton)

This is a list aimed mostly at helping people who already write IDs; for guides at learning how to do them yourself, check my accessibility and image description tags! I write this with close to two years of experience with IDs and chronic pain :)

Get used to writing some IDs by using both your phone and your computer, if you can! I find it easier to type long-form on my laptop, so I set up videos and long comics on my phone, which I then prop up against my laptop screen so I can easily reference the post without constantly scrolling or turning my head

I will never stop plugging onlineocr.net. I use it to ID everything from six-word tags to screenshots of long posts to even comic dialogue! On that last note, convertcase.net can convert text between all-caps, lowercase, sentence case, and title case, which is super helpful

Limit the number of drafts/posts-to-be-described you save. No, seriously. I never go above 10 undescribed drafts on any of my four blogs. It doesn’t have to be that low, but this has done wonders (italics: wonders) for my productivity and willingness to write IDs. If I ever get above that limit, even if it’s two or three more, I immediately either describe the lowest-effort post or purge some, and if I can't do that then I stop saving things to drafts no matter what. No exceptions! Sticking to this will make your life so much easier and less stressful

My pinned post has a link to a community doc of meme description templates!

Ask! For! Help! Please welcome to the stage the People’s Accessibility Server! It’s full of lovely people and organized into channels where you can request/volunteer descriptions and ask/answer questions

I make great use of voice-to-text and glide typing on my phone to save my hands some effort!

Something is always better than nothing!!! A short two-sentence or one-sentence ID is better than no ID at all. Take it easy :)

If you feel guilty about being unable to reblog amazing but undescribed art, try getting into the habit of replying to OP’s post to let them know you liked it! This makes me feel less pressured to ID absolutely everything I see

This is a sillier one, but I tag posts I describe as "described" and "described by me." When saving to drafts, I never preemptively tag with "described by me," since for some reason that always makes me feel extra pressure and extra stress. Consider doing something similar for yourself if that applies!

I frequently find myself looking at pieces of art which feel like they need to be considered for a bit before I can write an ID for them, and those usually get thrown into drafts, where the dread for writing a comprehensive ID just builds. Don’t do that! Instead, try just staying in the reblog field for a bit and focus on the most relevant aspects of the piece. Marinate on them for a little; don’t rush, but don’t spend more than a handful of seconds either. I find after that the art becomes way easier to describe than it initially seemed!

On that note, look for shortcuts that make IDs less taxing for you to do! For example, I only ever describe clothes in art if they're relevant to the piece; not doing that every time saves a lot of time and energy for me personally

Building off of that, consider excusing yourself from a particular kind of ID if you want to. Give yourself a free pass for 4chan posts, or fanart by an artist who does really good but really complex comics, whatever. Let it be someone else's responsibility and feel twice as proud about the work that you can now allot more energy to!

As always, make an effort to find and follow fellow describers! It’s always encouraging to get described posts on your dash, and I find that sometimes I'm happier to ID an undescribed post when the person who put it on my dash is a friend who tagged it with "no ID"

TL;DR: To make ID-writing less stressful and more low-effort, use different devices and software like onlineocr.net and voice-to-text, limit the amount of work you expect yourself to do, and reach out to artists and other describers!

#i have no idea if there's a real audience for this post but this is a genuine list of things i do to help myself out #i hope it can help someone else out too <3 #accessibility #image descriptions #my posts #kay talks #long post #this has been in my drafts for so long i'm exiling it because i can't stand wondering if it's coherent any longer

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antianakin · 3 months

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It’s me again. If you could rewrite the sequels what would you change?

A lot.

Honestly, I feel like my ideal premise for a sequel trilogy would've been some sort-of combo of Lucas's concept for it and what we got in TFA.

Lucas's concept focused in on the OT trio again which I think would've been a mistake for a number of reasons, and I prefer that TFA chose to set it 30 years beyond the OT and gave us a new trio.

Lucas's concept had Maul and his crime organizations as the main villain which I would've particularly hated, and I do prefer the idea of the dregs of the Empire trying to rise again. There's merit both directions I think, continuing to have a Sith character for the symbolism of it really works for me, but I would've HATED for it to be Maul and I don't feel like the crime organizations were ever enough of a real threat to make them a viable issue for an entire trilogy. I also think there's merit to using a "newer" enemy instead of just bringing in the Empire yet again under a different name (except that Maul and his crime orgs aren't actually new). The dregs of the Empire attempting to come together and recreate what was lost has a lot of impact and feels more like a substantial threat, though, since we know what the Empire was capable of before and it's not hard to throw in a new Darksider to make them more threatening. It feels like it continues the more political aspects of the prior two trilogies to have it keep being the Empire in some form (the PT had what the Empire used to be, the OT had the Empire in truth, and the ST in canon ended up what the Empire became). So I'm mostly open to the options here in terms of what the actual major threat is, I think that having a Sith is necessary, keeping in the theme of the Empire is nice, but I could understand bringing in a newer enemy to show the new Republic having to come together against their first real threat without it feeling repetitive.

But the biggest thing for me that I like about Lucas's concept is that it focused on REBUILDING, both the Republic and the Jedi. The whole trilogy was about taking them from where they were at the end of ROTJ and showing how they were able to build something out of the ashes of the Empire. How do the New Republic and Luke's Jedi come together once more after decades of war and devastation? How are they able to rise up and face the darkness when it comes for them again? It creates a really nice resolution to the story we've gotten so far, where the PT shows how the Republic fell and the Empire came to be, the OT shows how the Empire fell, and then the ST could've shown how the Republic rose again. I think immediately destroying the New Republic and the Jedi in order to put the world back into the place it was during the OT was an ENORMOUS mistake. It's the one major grievance I have against TFA's narrative and the one place that I think the accusation that it was trying to recreate ANH too much actually holds weight. For me, the hopeful ending of TROS doesn't hit very well because now we have to contend with the fact that ROTJ had one too and it didn't last and it all got taken away, so what faith should I have that this time it'll somehow work out differently? We thought the Sith were gone last time, too, we thought Luke and Leia would help rebuild the New Republic and the Jedi last time, too, so what makes this happy ending different from the last one?

So if I were to do a complete overhaul of the entire Sequel Trilogy, that's what I'd do. I'd still set it 30 years post-ROTJ, I'd still bring in a new ensemble cast, but I'd focus on how the New Republic and Luke's Jedi were able to rebuild in that time and how they now have to withstand this new threat, whether it's something akin to the First Order or a completely new kind of enemy. It can be a STRUGGLE, they can have LOSSES, but I think eliminating the entire New Republic and Luke's Jedi in order to just focus on a new "resistance" makes no sense. I want to see this community LEARN FROM THEIR MISTAKES and actually figure out how to fight TOGETHER again, I want to see this world evolve from the one we already know so that they can face a similar enemy or an enemy of similar strength to the one faced in the PT and, this time, they will defeat it because the New Republic stood WITH the Jedi and didn't give in to selfishness and fear and corruption. I like the characters they introduced well enough, I think they're cool and interesting, and I really like the subverted expectations with characters like Finn and Kylo and how those were being set up in TFA, so I'd keep that, too, and maybe just adjust as needed for the slightly changed narrative.

If I had to keep TFA mostly as is and just make tweaks to try to "fix" the rest of the trilogy more to my personal liking, there's probably plenty I COULD make. I'd probably make it so that the destruction of the Hosnian Prime planets didn't completely eradicate the ENTIRE Republic somehow, like maybe some Senators just... weren't there that day or the planets represented in the New Republic still have planetary leaders who come together for some kind of summit to try to throw together a new temporary government really quickly. It's still a massive blow to the New Republic and the resistance maybe has to step up a little in light of that, but it's not left COMPLETELY on its own with no one to ask for help. I'd also have had Luke's Jedi not ACTUALLY be completely killed off, I'd have had him hiding on Ahch-To because that's where he's chosen to hide the survivors he was able to help escape from Kylo's massacre, students he's been continuing to train and teach in the safety of this island no one knows how to find and who are ready and willing to leave their shelter to help the resistance if only Luke could let go of his fears enough to agree to it. I'd even have Leia sort-of AWARE that this is why he's left, why he isn't helping them, even if she doesn't know where he's gone. So even though TFA implies that the New Republic and Luke's Jedi are all gone all over again, you can STILL FIX THAT MISTAKE.

And there's the usual stuff that most people talk about. I'd eliminate Reylo as a thing, obviously, I'd focus in more on Finnrey since they're clearly set up as co-leads and like two halves of one hero and all of that. I wouldn't sideline Finn as a character, I'd make sure his storylines about being Force sensitive and inciting a stormtrooper rebellion got their due in the second film. I'd have made Poe more of an actual second in command to Leia in the second film rather than tossing in Holdo as this unnecessary conflict, so that Poe's growth into a general in the final film actually makes sense. I don't think I'd have set the second film literally like IMMEDIATELY after the first one with no time for the characters to have grown in-between and make it so the timeline is insanely short which means the characters have no time to grow DURING the story either. Either the film needed to do a time jump of sorts to allow for the characters to have grown in-between, or the film itself needed to span across more like months rather than days. I'd have left Kylo as an actual evil character, no emphasis on weird sympathy stuff in the second film, no redemption, I'd have continued what was set up in TFA where he is explicitly NOT going to make a better choice, he's NOT going to be saved by familial love, etc etc. I'd have done something, ANYTHING with Snoke to make him more interesting and not killed him off in the second film. I wouldn't have brought back Palpatine (although connecting Snoke TO Palpatine isn't terrible, even if I would not personally have gone for the clone idea). I wouldn't have made Luke jaded and bitter to the point that he thinks the Jedi should all die, I think that this was out of character for Luke and pulls focus from Rey herself. I'd have done SOMETHING with Rey's parentage to follow-up on what was set up in TFA, made it SOMETHING important and relevant that gets revealed earlier on in the second film so she has time to react to that and grow from it (it didn't HAVE to be Luke's daughter or Palpatine or Obi-Wan or whatever, just... SOMETHING relevant to make the mystery worthwhile).

From a structural standpoint, I'd have hired ONE DIRECTOR to be in charge of the WHOLE TRILOGY and come up with an overall direction and vision for all three films, figure out the answers to the mysteries BEFORE STARTING FILMING so that they can be adequately set up and followed up on as the films progress. Is this a lot of work for one person to do? Yes. Is it still completely and entirely necessary? 1000% yes. This trilogy suffers from a lack of anyone knowing where this story was even HEADING, what the major character beats were going to be, what the major STORY beats were going to be, etc. And also I think the studio should've butted the FUCK OUT and not stepped in to try to make this trilogy somehow palatable to the greatest number of fans possible. I'd prefer a trilogy that had a clear and coherent story that I didn't personally like or agree with than a trilogy that ended up a paint by numbers bullet point sheet lacking in any kind of impact or emotions.

#star wars #sequel trilogy #anti reylo #reylo critical

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lucascsinclairs · 1 year

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I got an ask about my gif making process, and my reply started getting way too long so I figured I'd make an updated gif tutorial/a rundown of what my giffing process looks like today. I hope this is helpful!

The anon mentioned how they really want to start making gif posts but they don't know how to, and I really was in that same spot three years ago, seeing all the pretty gifs people were making and wanting to do the same thing but just not knowing how.

I taught myself to make gifs from many different tutorials I found on here, and now years later my method is a mix-match of all of them. In this post I’ll go through my personal process but first I will link some great resource blogs that have more in-depth tutorials and resources on all different aspects of gif-making.

Both @usergif and @completeresources have great organized tutorial pages that I check all the time for different techniques. They’re so helpful! For beginners I’d recommend *these * *tutorials* for example.

For a walkthrough of my giffing process, keep reading!

First steps

Alright, let's start with the basics: I make my gifs on Photoshop and I currently have the 2023 version, so keep that in mind when looking at the screenshots I included, since there can me small differences between versions.

There are really two main ways to start out the giffing process on Photoshop. You can take consequent screenshots of the scene you want to gif and then use ‘Scripts’ and ‘Load Files into Stack’ to load them into Photoshop. I used to use this method before, and my previous giffing tutorial explains all the steps for it, as do the gif tutorials I linked.

But these days I use the other method, which involves making a shorter clip of the scene you want to gif and then using 'File' > ‘Import’ > ‘Video Frames to Layers’ to import the clip into Photoshop.

The difference between the two methods isn’t really that big, just up to personal preference and what fits your workflow best. I think the reason why I switched over was just cause I found it annoying dealing with all the screenshots.

My current process starts with opening a clip I want to gif with ‘Video Frames to Layers’. In the window that opens, I use the little arrows to select the exact shot I want to use. Here it's good to include a couple frames from before and after the exact shot you want to gif. That way you can make sure to get the whole shot included.

When the frames load up, this is what my set up view looks like. It might look different depending on the version of Photoshop, and also depending on your personal customizations, but this is what my workspace looks like. In order to get this view, make sure you have 'Timeline' selected from the 'Window' menu from the top bar.

Real quick to help make the tutorial more clear even if you’re not that familiar with Photoshop yet, the three main views I’ll be talking about are the frames, the layers and then the adjustments. Frames are the little film-reel-looking horizontal row on the bottom, and the layers are the vertical stacked row on the right. I have the adjustments on the right above the layers.

To start off, we’ll be working with frames. Since I selected some extra buffer frames from the clip in the import phase, now I'll first delete those frames that I don’t need by selecting a frame and then clicking the little trash can icon under the row of frames. When you are left with the shots you want to use, go to the menu of the three little lines on the top right of the frames view and pick ‘Select All Frames’.

Now that they’re all selected, you can set the frame delay. This basically just means how “quick” your gif will be. There are different preferences to this, but generally you’d want to pick a delay from 0.05 to maybe 0.1 for really short gifs that you need to be slower. My go-to is a frame delay of 0.07.

Whichever number you go with, you’ll chance it by clicking the tiny downward arrow on one of the frames (with all the frames selected). From the window, pick ‘Other’ and then type in your number.

Resizing and cropping

After this it’s time to resize and crop your gif. Here there are again some different methods you can use, in my previous tutorial I used the Crop tool and then resized the image. But these days I do this in a different way. Again, what way you use is all up to preference.

So what I do is make sure that all the frames are selected, and then from the menu I pick ‘Copy Frames’. After copying the frames, I make a whole new file from ‘File’ and ‘New’. This will be the canvas where I’ll make the final product of the gif, making it the exact size I want the gif to be. I prefer this method because with it you can alter the cropped area easier to see what looks best. Also this way if you’ve initially loaded a lot of unnecessary frames that you deleted previously, this way only the layers that are left transfer over and it’s less bloated in the layers panel.

In the "New Document' window pick your gif size (keep in mind the Tumblr dimensions of 540 pixels wide for big, all-across gifs, and 268 pixels wide for side-by-side gifs). With today’s gif I went with the dimensions of 540x450.

When the new file opens up, select ‘Create Video Timeline’, then from the bottom left corner click ‘Convert to Frame Animation’ and then from the three-line menu select ‘Paste Frames’. After your frames load in, you can delete the first blank frame.

Now you will resize and crop your gif. Make sure to select all frames again and then press CTRL/Command + T to activate the Transform tool. Use the guide lines that appeared to drag and resize the gif to fit your canvas. Play the gif by clicking the play button under the frame row to test how it moves within the canvas and move it around until it looks right. You can also go and change the canvas size from ‘Image’ and ‘Canvas Size’ if you want to.

At this point my gif looks like this:

When you’re happy with the cropping, it’s time to start adjusting the gif!

Lighting

For coloring and lighting the gif, we’ll move over to the right to the Layers panel. Make sure you have the top layer selected. We will be using Adjustment Layers to change the appearance of the gif, and they will change the layers below them, so this way we make sure the changes apply to all layers.

There really are so many ways you can edit and adjust your gifs, these are just the methods I use the most. So, open up the Adjustments view and let’s get started!

(side note: Lighting dark scenes is a whole different topic, so for this basic tutorial I picked a well-lit shot so we won’t have to worry about all of that when lighting it.)

I usually start with the Curves layer. Pick the bottom eyedropper tool on the left, with the white tip. With this, click on the brightest part of the gif to set the white point. This is especially useful with gifs that have some kind of a color tint (for example the green hue in the Hawkins Lab flashback scenes). By picking the white point, it will adjust not only the lighting but also the hues of the gif.

After picking the initial white point, you can go in and adjust. From the RGB dropdown menu, pick the individual color channel (Red, Green, Blue) and drag and adjust the curve until the colors and lighting look good to you. Here again, it’s all up to your personal preference. I personally prefer coloring that is more on the warmer side, so in this phase I usually strengthen the reds in the gif and tone down the greens. Remember, this is just the first phase of coloring, it doesn’t have to look perfect right away.

Next, go back to Adjustments and make another Curves layer on top of the first one. This time pick the top eyedropper tool with the black tip. Then click on the darkest part of the gif to set the black point. I don’t always do this, especially with dark scenes, but in neutral lighting like this, it can help with the contrast and make the coloring more vivid. Here you can once again adjust the RGB curves individually until you’re happy with the result. Oh but don’t think we’re done with the Curves layers just yet! After the white point and black point layers, I usually open a third Curves adjustment layer for lighting the gif. Here I usually stick to the overall curve, not going into the individual color channel ones. I drag and adjust the curve to make the lighting of the gif look good. And here’s what my gif looks like with all the Curves layers:

The brightness is starting to look pretty good now, but I’ll just add a couple more adjustment layers that I usually use. Again, this is just my process, all the layers aren't always essential and their usefulness really varies depending on the specific shot you’re working with. My advice, especially when starting out with adjustment layers, is to try out different adjustments to see what they do and how they make the gif look. If it looks bad, no worries, just CTRL/Command+Z it away!

So at this point I usually apply a Levels layer to brighten a little and then to deepen the shadows a bit to up the contrast. Then a Brightness/Contrast layer and maybe an Exposure layer to help do the same thing. I find that by using the different tools and making small adjustments in each one, it makes the lighting look nice. After these layers, here’s what the gif looks like:

Coloring

Now it’s time for the actual coloring! My favorite part! There are a billion different ways to color a gif and a billion different styles to go for. Here I’ll be doing a pretty neutral, natural coloring, but I also love my exaggerated, color-themed sets. Let me know if you’d like to hear my tips for those in another post!

With my workflow, I usually begin coloring with a Selective Color adjustment layer. And on there, I tend to always go straight for the Yellow view. There my go-to is to drag down the Cyan slider, since like I mentioned, I usually go for a warm-toned look. Here again my advice is to just mess around with the different sliders, see what they do, test them out to find a coloring you like. You can do the same thing with the Hue and Saturation layer, picking different colors in the gif and adjusting them to how you want them to look. The shot we’re working with doesn’t need a ton of color manipulation, so I won’t be doing too much with these layers, but they allow you to make some really cool colorful stuff!

The Color Balance adjustment is up next, and it’s great at unifying the colors and also making the color shades look nicer after lighting. Especially with dark gifs, brightening a scene can make the darks look a bit muddy, so editing the Shadows of Color Balance can help with that.

And lastly when I’m done with all the coloring layers, I apply a Vibrance layer on top, usually to up the Vibrance and Saturation, since I love my bright saturated colors. This shot is pretty bright on its own so I won’t have to tweak it a lot.

Once I’ve got all the adjustment layers in place, I’ll usually group all of them together. You can do this by selecting all the adjustment layers and then pressing CTRL/Command+G to put them into a group folder. I like to have it organized like that and it also makes it easier to look between the original gif and the adjusted one by toggling the little eye icon on the left of the folder. This way you can check if there’s something you still want to change, or if you want to tone down some adjustments. With today’s gif I went and lightened the shadows a little. But after that I was happy with the coloring, and the gif looked like this:

Sharpening

It’s almost time to export the final product! But before that I'll sharpen the gif. I know many people like to sharpen their gifs before coloring them, that’s a pretty common way to do it. This is just the order I learned to do this in. I think it’s fun to sharpen last so that it’s kind of like a final polish to the gif!

To prep the gif for sharpening, go to the bottom left of the frames and select ‘Convert to video timeline’. Now go back to the right and select all the layers in the layers view, the adjustment layers and all. Then with all of them selected, right-click to open a menu and from it, pick ‘Convert to Smart Object’. Now your layers are all in one object.

From the top row menu, pick ‘Filter’ then ‘Sharpen’ and ‘Smart Sharpen’. In the window that opens, pick these settings:

Then repeat the same thing, with the Smart Object still selected but now apply these settings:

(I have made these steps into an action, so I can do it with a simple click)

Exporting

With the sharpening done, our gif is ready!

To export it, go to ‘File’ and ‘Export’ and ‘Save for Web (Legacy).

A window opens up showing you the export settings. The first thing I do in this window is check the size of the gif, which can be found in the bottom left under the preview image. The Tumblr gif size limit is 10MB, so you need to stay below that. If the gif is bigger, I go back and make it shorter by deleting frames from the start or end of the gif. There are other ways to reduce the file size, but this is usually what I do. With today’s gif the size is around 5MB so we’re all good!

If you want to preview the gif in a moving form, click ‘Preview’ from under the file size, and it will open in your browser.

On the right of the preview image in the Export window you can see a bunch of different settings. In the screenshot you can see the settings I use, you can test them out and then tweak them to your liking. I usually keep them the same, though sometimes if there’s some pixelation in areas of the gif I test switching out ‘Adaptive’ to ‘Selective’ or ‘Diffusion’ to ‘Pattern’. But these are the settings I use in 99% of my gifs, and what I have found give the nicest end result for me.

When you’re all set with the settings you can save your gif into its folder and then you’re all done!

So there we have it! A basic rundown of my giffing process. I tried to keep it as clear and informative as possible, but I know I can get rambly so I hope this was helpful! For more details and tips, please refer to the tutorials I linked. There really are so many useful tutorials on here to learn from.

Lastly I'll add that making gifs is a creative art form and a skill like any other. You aren't going to be perfect at it on your first try, it takes practice and trial and error. When I look back on my first gifs I can see a hundred things that I would fix now that I have more experience. And the same will for sure be the case if I look at my current posts a couple years from now.

Figuring things out, learning what you like to gif and developing your style is what I find the most fun about the whole gif making process. I've been making them for three years now and I can say that I've developed a style that feels my own. And I swear, every time I see someone leave a tag to my post saying that they like my coloring and the style of my gifs, it always makes me so happy.

If you're thinking of starting to make gifs, I say go for it, give it a go, and have fun with it! 💛

#kaisa talks #tutorial #gif tutorial #gif resources #answered #this turned into a mile-long post #but i hope it can be helpful!#long post

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amethystfairy1 · 6 months

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Worldbuildy questions! Hip-hip-hooray!

silver-sunray asked: are hybrid/mutant traits the same across a whole species, or different from individual to individual? Like, Etho has paw pads on his hands and fur up to his elbows, but would all fox hybrids have those specific traits? Or would you see some with, say, fur up to their shoulders, or human hands but fox legs, or something else?

This is a great question! It would depend on the subspecies we’re talking about, but most of the differences are pretty minor, and they don’t necessarily follow typical familial traits. Biggest example is that Pearl and Grian are twins, and while their features are very similar, Pearl has black wings, while Grian’s are macaw-banded. And Jimmy, who is their cousin, only has one set of tiny wings on his head, while Pearl and Grian both have two sets. But aside from minor coloration/number things, they are the same. Same can be said for Etho, like you asked! Any other fox hybrids would have the exact same set-up, paw pads on the hands, fur up to the elbows, and fluffy ears and a tail, but the coloration might be different person-to-person.

Tango is unique in this aspect because his subspecies traits, that is, his blaze-rods, are fewer than average. Tango has three blaze-rods, but as we will soon learn, and this doesn’t really spoil anything major since we’ve already heard about it from him in ‘Everything and More’ in snippets, most blaze-borns have anywhere between six and ten. So Tango is operating at less than half. Pair that with his weak glamor, something you are born with that’s essentially a genetic roulette wheel, and that, among some other reasons we will learn of as we carry on, is why he was rejected by his pyre as a kid.

Also! I answered this in a comment I think it was on ‘Butterfly Fall’ but I’ll put it here as well! If mismatched hybrids/mutants had kids, for example if Joel and Lizzie in this AU were to ever have a child, that child would be either a butterfly hybrid OR a cat hybrid. They wouldn’t be a mixture of the two. And if it were possible for any of our human/under-city folk pairs to have children (which is it not but for the sake of this post) the kid would be a hybrid/mutant 100%. They would not just be a normal human. If we will ever actually see anyone who is the result of mixed human/hybrid and mutant ancestry I’m not entirely sure, this is just me spitballing for fun! But hopefully you enjoyed it! ☺️

TL:DR: Hybrid/mutant traits are almost completely consistent across the species, save for small variations in color/number and such!

Fics mentioned in this post ⬇️

#fanfic #ao3 fanfic #hermitcraft #hermitshipping #traffic smp #trafficshipping #life series #empires smp #smallishbeans #ldshadowlady #tangotek #through the sky blue cracks #worldbuilding #ramblings

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omorimodreverie · 9 months

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August Development Update

Overview

August started out similarly to the last couple months, with progress being on the slow side and contributions being made in base asset development. However, progress began ramping up towards the end of the month, and we’re now at a place where we’re making some decent progress towards a test build. We’re only just beginning, of course; and it’ll still take a lot of time before anything is ready for the playtesters. But still, progress is progress.

This month is an important milestone in that we finally started to implement the assets we have into the RPGMV engine. At this point in time, we now have the beginnings of a playable city in the works, and we hope to refine it into a state where we can give you some sneak peeks sometime soon. All I can say for now is that I’m personally very excited with how the city looks, even now at this primitive stage: I can’t wait for you all to see it.

Progress

As mentioned previously, the most noteworthy progress made in August was that our base assets are being implemented into RPGmaker. However, this in no way means that other areas of development weren’t touched upon: in fact, quite the opposite. Everything we’ve worked on during the past month includes, but is not limited to:

With a few exceptions, maps for the city that will be shown in chapter 3 has been implemented into RPGmaker

Basic map events have been put in place that allow map movement, door accessibility, functioning stairs and elevators, etc

A number of cutscenes, as well as NPCs, have been mostly implemented into the game and fleshed out

A number of additional pixel artwork for NPCs and map objects were completed and added into spritesheets

Organization for various songs and the music department in general has seen significant progress

Progress was made on the writing for cutscenes and various flavor text/NPC dialogue

The game files in general were reorganized, as well as optimized

What’s In Plan For The City

Going into development for chapter 3, a very important and rather difficult challenge was posed to us in the form of the chapter’s playable area, the real world city. Of the two areas we worked on so far, Fallen World was based off of a preexisting area in the base game, and therefore much easier to develop; and the Neural Network, while original, was still a part of dreamworld, allowing us to conceptualize much of it based on our major interpretations of headspace.

The city is different in that this is a place entirely separate from Sunny’s imagination or even Faraway Town. This means that we have virtually nothing from the base game to draw inspiration from, and have to build it from the ground up almost completely by ourselves. This is partially the reason why chapter 3 is taking so long to complete: from a development perspective, we’re having to blaze our own trails. For a team of voluntary, part-time, amateurs, this has proven to be somewhat of a hurdle.

Our main goal with the city was to make an area that felt ‘dynamic’: basically, for it to feel like a real city. Faraway Town in base OMORI is a tiny suburban community: to that end, the buildings are sparse and short, with identical houses lining the streets. Combined with a general lack of large-scale activity and mostly static NPCs, it gives off an atmosphere of relative sleepiness, an aura of quiet. We wanted our city to provide a sharp contrast to Faraway in this aspect: we wanted it to be rambunctious, packed, and bustling.

Creating a ‘Dynamic’ City

So what makes a city ‘dynamic’? During the course of the last few months, we’ve been able to come up with a map of the city that’s filled with tall buildings tightly nestled together, in the backdrop of a tightly urbanized network of uniformly gray streets and sidewalks. All this combines to create an impression of crowdedness: however, it still falls short of being ‘dynamic’. That’s because the map itself is one half of a whole, the other half being the map’s inhabitants, NPCs.

Even with the most packed and busy city of all time, it doesn’t exhibit any life until actual people are living in it. And this is our real challenge surrounding the creation of this city: to populate the map we have with NPCs that can successfully convey the impression of bustling, busy and lively city people. There’s a few methods we can use to achieve this, such as:

Power in numbers: simply have many, many NPCs in the city

Passage of time: as the time of day changes, have NPCs move from place to place, with different NPCs being present at different times and etc

Literal movement: have NPCs literally move around, such as walking through the streets, wander through a shop, etc

While all three methods are important, and they’ll all be used for the creation of chapter 3, the third and last method of allowing NPCs to literally move around is arguably the most important. This is because NPCs moving around with the player are the most visually distinct: a room where everyone but the player stands around doing nothing is static as soon as the player stops moving, but a room where an NPC goes around doing something always has something going on, looking much more lively.

Take a look at this shot of the cafe, for instance. The player is mostly standing still, but two NPCs (the brunette waitress and the blonde waiter) are constantly in action: cleaning tables, washing dishes, entering and exiting doors, etc. This, combined with the map of the cafe itself and the patron NPCs sitting on the chairs, is what creates a ‘dynamic’ atmosphere.

While we’re just getting started with the NPCs, we want to eventually finish the entire map out that radiates the feeling of being ‘dynamic’, as described above. We’ll be putting up periodic updates on how we’re doing on that front with the dev updates in the future, so please stay tuned.

End of Summer Break?

It’s September now, and everyone’s summer breaks have mostly come to a close. For our team, this year’s summer break period was characterized by a time of generally slow progress. Now that it’s over, things have indeed started to speed up: while early August still had little activity, things gradually picked up as the month progressed. The last week of the month marked the zenith of this growth, with considerable progress being made in all sectors.

Still, it would be rather naive to think that this fast progress will continue on for the rest of the semester. Midterms are still very much a thing, and right now is just a short period between summer break and exam period. Still, we want to use the opportunity we have right now as efficiently as possible.

September looks to be a promising month in terms of progress. We won’t take that for granted, though. We’ll see you next month, with hopefully lots of news. Thanks for reading this far, and thanks as always for your interest in Reverie!

#omori #omori mod #mod #omorimodreverie #reverie #omori reverie #devlog

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ruiniel · 1 year

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Another Way - X

Summary: what if someone in the 21st century stumbled upon this stranger during a turbulent storm, narrowly avoiding running them over, and what’s more they can’t understand a word coming out of their mouth.

Pairing: Alucard x Reader

Rating: Mature / 18+ only

Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Explicit Language, References to Depression, First Meetings, character-meets-world, Near Death Experiences, References to loss, Grief/Mourning, Fantasy, POV Second Person, Language Barrier, Violence, Portal Fantasy, Isekai, Slow burn, References to Canon, Rewriting show canon, Because why not, POV Alucard, Assault, Mild Gore, More tags to be added

Also on ao3

AN:

When Adrian speaks here, we assume it's in his native language for now, even if the words are in English.

Reminder this is an M-rated fic. This chapter contains depictions of violence and abuse. Heed the latest tags.

Commissioner Arvan Trent sighs, removes his glasses and rubs his face vigorously with his palms before looking back at the photographs spread over his desk.

He’s seen many things in his twenty-year-long career of service. Many appalling, despicable things; he’s seen and experienced the full breadth of human cruelty and debasement, the lengths the mind can go to, stretched beyond sense, trampling on reason. He’s thrown more assholes behind bars than he can remember and how he wishes he could forget it all, sometimes. Wipe the slate clean, and move away. Unfortunately for him, this is his calling and always has been.

“But this takes the fucking cake…” Arvan mumbles to himself, one large square hand paging through the visual documentation of the crime scenes in the Black Hill area.

Two victims. So far. No connection to each other based on identification and initial background checks. Both ravaged beyond recognition, and even his stomach turned at the sight of dribbling innards carelessly spread around one of the bodies, like some grotesque wreath of pungent, rotting flowers.

The one aspect both crimes had in common? The cruelty of the disembowelment and the same signature injuries which likely led to a fast, brutal death. For the life of him, he can’t attribute what he’s looking at to any living man or beast that he knows of.

Motive? None that can be identified, or none that makes sense, as of yet. The victims were at a considerable distance from one another. There were no manner of weapons found, no inconsistencies or any details to suggest a staging of the scene, either.

“Commissioner?”

“Hari,” Arvan greets, nose still in the papers as the door to his office opens, then closes behind the young detective.

A folder is placed on his desk. “The coroner’s report,” the new arrival says.

“Thanks, Hari,” Arvan reaches for the contents and begins to page through.

“Hari.”

“Yes, commissioner?”

“I know they’re not prone to error, but the time of death of each victim seems awfully close to one another.”

“I asked the same—but this is what they came back with.”

“In that case, the only thing I can think of is that we’re talking two or more maniacs in cahoots because there’s no way one person can travel that distance and murder two people so fast by mauling.” He reads. “Cause of death of our victim number one, found on the side of the road: trauma from multiple fractures and vital organ punctures. Not a revelation, but good to know.”

“... there’s something else,” Hari says as Arvan turns the page.

“Of course, there is,” the commissioner mumbles, eyes skimming over each report; a dull headache intensifies. No indications of sexual assault, toxicology report came back negative for both victims. He reads on. “... the blood has been near completely drained from the body, likely in a matter of seconds.” He looks up at the detective. “It makes no fucking sense… it almost seems…”

“Random?” Hari supplies helpfully, pouring himself a cup of precinct coffee.

Arvan falls back in his chair with another deep, tired sigh. “Not only that, but I’ve got our esteemed state officials halfway up my ass already about this. They don’t want to instill a panic or even a whiff of a potential serial killer on the loose to the public, not with the damn elections on the horizon.”

Hari snorts, one familiar with the politics behind all such matters.

“... and I’ve got not one, but potentially multiple incredibly savage perpetrators out there, and as a starting point…”

“Well, here’s where I have some good news, Commissioner.”

Arvan blinks. “Don’t keep me twisting my knickers here in suspense Hari, you’re always enjoying it too much. Spill it.”

“There’s exhibit A,” Hari raises a transparent evidence bag containing what appears to be a small, round object of a yellow sheen.

“That looks like a coat button, Hari.”

“Precisely.”

“You have a coat button for me as a starting point.”

“Many have started on less,” Hari arches a rich brown eyebrow, tilting his chin upward.

If Hari weren’t one of his best, Arvan would have long lost his patience by now. Instead, he groans. “That’s true.” He taps a finger against his desk. “...and?”

“And, there’s something peculiar about this particular button. It’s gilded, you see. With gold.”

Arvan whistles. “Fine, you got me. Where was it found?”

“Not far from the roadside murder site.”

“Very good. Run the works on it.”

“In addition to this,” Hari continues, “we’ve checked on all the cabins in Black Hill. As you know, the forest is a popular retreat area.”

Arvan straightens in his chair. “Was there anyone in, during the time the murders were committed?”

Hari nods. “The investigation out on the field is still in progress, but so far we know of a few, as the road tracks also proved.”

“Well, Hari, forgive my tired snappishness. Call me grateful,” Arvan grumbles, paging through another forensic report. “Let’s get a hold of the owners, bring them in. The sooner we get through a first round of questioning, the better.”

The lights are much too bright; a white, perfunctory light that has him blinking rapidly and makes his eyes water.

He’s standing here, alone, doing his best to block the noise rising around him like a murder of restless crows: the sounds from the outside, of the rapidly moving vehicles, as you’d called them. The chatter of the people all about him, but worst of all: the high-frequency noise that surrounds him, which seems to be everywhere though others have no issue with it, one he must constantly bar from his consciousness just so he can think.

Adrian takes in his surroundings, garnering the details of this place. He sees many people—some appearing lost, others resigned; he sees the mark of years and hardship on one face, the signs of rage or hunger on another.

Why would you bring him here? Is this some sort of refuge, a retreat for the dispossessed? All he has are assumptions and fragments of memories.

At first, he recalled nothing more than rage and grief, the world spinning, and then: your face. He only knows one fact with absolute, desperate certainty: he does not belong here.

If only he could remember where he ought to be. He plays with the rings on his hand—one, larger than the other, spins easily on his finger.

Adrian remembers the year stamped on the calendar in your dwelling, and though what he’s seen so far makes sense that it would be so, he still wallows in disbelief.

He cannot blame you, for wanting to be rid of one such as he—your kindness he will not forget, though the sudden manner of your decision did affect him, giving rise to a familiar feeling: that of being shunned for being… for being who he is.

He clenches his fist to his chest, golden brows frowning as he tries, again and again, to remember. He reminisces on one recent night in that forest, though how he cannot tell: wet earth beneath his feet; brambles hissing and scratching at his body; the howling of a wolf, all lost in a nether of thought, and it is as if a dark veil has been cast over his mind.

“Watch it, boy!” an old man bumps into him just then, and he loses his balance—

You are much too troublesome for your worth!

A voice, a similar growl, arising from that same nether. It makes his head hurt, the sensation close to bursting his brain. He sways to one side.

“Excuse me, sir?”

Through a haze, Adrian sees a woman standing before him, holding papers.

“We have some more forms we’ll need you to fill in,” she follows, and Adrian merely stares. He cannot comprehend her words though he tries, he tries but does not yet have a grasp of the full breadth of the language English has become.

“Sir,” she insists, “...are you unwell? Should I call a medical professional?”

The high-frequency racket around him increases, and Adrian turns sharply away, one pale hand finding purchase against a wall. Unable to stay here a moment longer, he casts not a look back at the woman and her repeated questions, not minding her calling after him; all he sees is the door, the door to the outside.

The way is shut.

“... Who are you?” he growls at himself once he's out on the sidewalk, shaking his head, taking a ragged intake of filthy air: it appears technological advancements have done no favors to the natural world humans used to inhabit, for there is scarcely any sign of it, here. Instead, electricity runs their lives now, by all accounts, from what he’s seen.

He wades through the throng of strangely clad people, directionless, craving solitude to try, as countless times before, to recollect; to find those traces of himself that are missing, leaving him incomplete; his garments are not of this era, neither is he. There is something awful coming, something he must fight against, something he must return to.

When he’d fended off your attackers that night in the alley, one piece of this dreadful joke of a puzzle had fallen into place—his reflexes came naturally under threat, and so did his strength and agility. Their display, however, despite having done something he deemed necessary at that moment, seemed to affect you more than you were willing to admit. It showed in your eyes, your entire bearing: a new wariness of him, which likely contributed to your decision of abandoning him in that… that…

Adrian shakes his head.

Adrian. That is my name.

He stares at the cars speeding past, and the gray-tinted skies of evening.

I am… I am a soldier. I should not be here.

Rain falls, drenching his coat and hair.

I know not where to go.

“What do you mean, gone?” you ask the shelter employee, the agenda under your arm.

“You are asking about the tall young man you’ve brought in, wearing the long black coat? He simply walked out of here. He ignored any attempts to finish up his submission. He… didn’t look so good, if I’m being honest.”

Great. “...and you just let him— ugh,” you close your eyes, “Thank you. Do you… know how long ago he left? Or in which direction?”

The woman thinks as your guilt mounts. “... about twenty or thirty-odd minutes ago? I followed him outside, but nothing I said reached him. It was as though he couldn’t hear me. He took a right from here.”

You nod, and not wasting any time, run outside and start the car.

Why are you doing this? He’s not your problem, you repeat, but still, you gaze left and right, searching, hoping you’ll spot him, at least to know he’s all right.

You’re worrying over a potential murderer.

You don’t know that. You’d given in to your natural fear of the unknown, and hell knows that nowadays, it’s more than justified.

Still. Something about him doesn’t strike you as one who would intend to maliciously hurt others, or take pleasure in doing so. And his confusion, his distress, had been nothing if not authentic through all the time you’d spent with him.

First things first— find him. And then, you’ll see.

“Come oon… come on.” Adrian is surely hard to miss in a crowd; and he can’t have gone that far, right?

He walks the empty streets, sees warm, rising steam from apertures placed in the ground here and there. This area of dwellings seems more decrepit than others, but somewhere, there surely must be a place for him, at least until he resolves to remember.

There are rows of women to one side of the street, dressed in garments he can only describe as provocative; they stare languorously at him, inviting him with their eyes, but neither approach.

Adrian walks ahead, his tall figure drenched in red and green neon lights. He hears, then sees a struggle: what appears to be a frail person, trying to escape the grasp of one that strikes her repeatedly, even as she cries and kneels, her arms crossed above her head.

Frowning, Adrian draws near; a part of him is disgusted, for she is significantly smaller than her assailant; another part cannot stay away, and with the high-pitched noises ringing in his ears he walks faster, crying out towards the scene.

“... the fuck do you want? Stay out of this,” the man spits as the woman tries to crawl away from him, but he drags her back.

Without a word, Adrian rushes forward, reaches and grasps his arm; twists, and through the screaming that ensues, he hears another burst of long, deafening sounds.

Palms to his ears, he falls to his knees as a white vehicle with shifting blue and red lights stops not too far from the scene, and barely he catches sight of the woman fleeing one direction, while her attacker flails, wailing and choking and nursing his broken arm.

“What do we have here…” a man and a woman emerge from the vehicle, dressed in something resembling a uniform.

“I ain’t done nothing, officer, I swear, this guy jumped me and broke my arm, oh god…”

Adrian rises, shaking and confused by the strong, blinding lights.

“I want you to go down on your knees, turn around, put your hands behind your head, and interlock your fingers,” the man orders.

Whatever is happening, Adrian can surmise it will not go in his favor. He waits.

“Hey,” the man repeats, both he and the woman reaching and pointing an object at him; a weapon, he assumes. “I repeat, get down on your knees, put your hands behind your head, and interlock your fingers!” he speaks, louder this time. They carefully approach as Adrian takes slow steps back. If these are the equivalent of a city guard, the last he wants is to be apprehended by them.

He must escape. He must—

A sharp, deafening shriek. The feeling of dispersing into nothingness, and finding himself on the hard concrete ground. His arms tremble as he props them against the sidewalk, his chest heaving, and the air will not reach. He cannot move; it’s as though he’s used his entire energy, all his strength. He looks upward, and in a stupor, sees legs rushing toward him.

“Adrian, are you all right? Are you hurt?”

He knows that voice. He sees…

You. Here?

“...What are you doing here?” he asks weakly in his own tongue, slow to rise and making his way ahead; there is no sign of the red and blue lights or the city guard, but they are surely not far behind.

“I don’t know what you’re saying, but come on, I’m with the car,” you walk alongside him for a few moments, then turn away.

He hurries on shaking legs, heedless of your words. He cannot look at you.

“Adrian—” you rush back to the car and soon you're there again, driving alongside him. “What happened? You look awful. Get inside, I can drive you back to my place so you can rest.”

“Whatever you are saying is lost on me, as you know,” Adrian mutters. “But I will be your burden of pity no longer,” he murmurs, carrying on as you continue to drive by his side.

“... You sound upset. I get it. But please, don't be stubborn about this.” A sigh. “I’m… I’m sorry, all right?”

He senses the frustration in your voice. When he senses the plea, he finally looks your way.

“I’m sorry for ditching you there,” you say, “I shouldn’t have dumped you somewhere, just like that. I was… I got scared, I… I have your agenda, look, see?” you wave the book Adrian used to write on.

He feels somewhat thankful for it.

This back-and-forth goes on, for about two blocks. You seem to be relentless in your pursuit, and he is tiring.

“...please, will you just get inside the car?” you ask again, and whatever he hears in your voice, along with the sheer exhaustion in his limbs, permeating his heart, pushes him to capitulation.

Adrian stops in his tracks and turns towards the car; gazing long at the opening door, then at you, and the honest relief on your face.

Part I - Part II - Part III - Part IV - Part V - Part VI - Part VII - Part VIII - Part IX - Part XI

Taglist: @hornyf0ckers @drag0n-mistr3ss @pencildrawer12

Want to be added to the taglist for updates? Let me know.

MASTERLIST: CASTLEVANIA SERIES x READER

More of my work is on AO3 [many stories not on tumblr]

BLOG MASTERPOST (all you need to know)

Likes/comments/reblogs always and forever appreciated

#alucard castlevania x reader #alucard x reader #adrian tepes x reader #alucard x you #adrian tepes x you #castlevania x reader #castlevania imagine #x reader #reuploading part X because of finger-malfunction #sorry for the new @ peeps on the taglist #ruiniel:fanfiction #another way

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junipershouse · 10 months

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up-to-date atilposting ft. human person (6 foot tall)

atil are an astral-naturalized species of highly complex and specialized soft-body creatures. their bodies are slimy and slightly squishy, with a variable number of long tendrils used for manipulation. atil bodies typically consist of a large bulbous "head" topped by a pair of softish "horns". this bulb contains a large airsac used for speech (which is done by creating differing whistling noises through the hole on their "necks" and "stem" which contain various manipulatable flaps). atil intake water through their skin to survive.

below the head, the atil's "chest" contains both their brain-analogue organ which connects their nervous system, their "will-type", and connectors to their red external sensory organs which largely process a wide array of waves and materials. below this is the atil digestive tract - they eat through a large hole on their "foot". atil are omnivorous and have an incredibly slow metabolic system. therefore, they don't need to eat much.

when an atil eats something, they are able to store structural knowledge about that something in a small organ located alongside their digestive tract. once stored, this knowledge can be acted on by the brain and the "will-type" organ to gradually shift the external apperance of an atil to be more like that something they ate. they do this by contracting and expanding "setting" their soft body into a specific shape. however, atil are unable to change their internal structure or their coloration. their body is dense and strongly muscular, able to absorb strong forces with minimal damage. however, generations experiencing weak gravity in space has led to them strugging in environments with higher gravity. if they can, they prefer to live underwater when living in terrestrial environments, as the density of the water supports their body.

there are two distinct variations of atil - the self-cloning atilsabhut and the tiny parasitic atilp'sa. i will post about atilsabhut and atilp'sa later.

atil society is generally individualistic, and most atilsabhut spend much of their lives alone or in tiny groups. the only real matrix of structural order recognized by atil is the authority of the family group and the chaos of the so-called "reputation market". atil social currency is defined by the ownership and aquirement of luxury novelty products and services. the most common status symbol among atil is the domestication and breeding of "pets". atil colonize planets for this, which has led to them being generally disliked by many others in the astral politics community, especially by the ICDCI which is anticolonial by design. there are also anticolonial atil who work to dismantle this aspect of their society.

atil families consist of a large group of genetically-identical but physically distinct atil budded from the previous generation by self-replication. for this reason, each family has specific skin markings unique to them. a unique behavior of atil is their ability to perform a "reversal molt". this is a term used to describe a long and painstaking process where an atil flips their outer skin layer inside out, displaying themselves paletteswapped. this process is done to help clean the skin of scars and discoloration.

the symbol at the bottom is ICDCI processing. rowny is our friend who is here to help everyone understand the scale of atil.

#atil tag #xenobiology #speculative biology #sci fi #alien biology #alien species #their society sucks... they're like bottom right on the political compass #despite being solitary... they have a very strong cuteness reaction #if they knew about humans theyd think they were cute #i need to finish the post about the icdci. i need to draw a good drawing for it

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beet1031 · 21 days

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Endangering UNH’s Students: a Critique of PSC and NHYM

(Side note: I'm posting this because it's easier than making a whole website for one post)

Let’s get something out of the way very quickly; I am pro-Palestine. Not only do I want this horrible, awful genocide in Gaza to end, but I want Palestine to be freed from Israel’s tyrannical rule. So I’m not writing this critique because I disagree with either of these organizations politically. Actually, in terms of core values we agree on many levels. The reason I’m writing this is because I take issue with how the University of New Hampshire branches of the Palestinian Solidarity Coalition (PSC) and New Hampshire Youth Movement (NHYM) have been conducting themselves recently. To be honest, I’ve felt this way for quite some time now. But since no one was getting hurt, up until this point I’ve kept my opinions to myself. This, however, has changed. Now, thirteen people have been brutalized and arrested by the police. Eleven of those people were students at UNH. So suffice to say, it’s time to speak out. When it comes to their political campaigns, the PSC and NHYM have a huge issue with jumping the gun and antagonizing others. This issue has exacerbated itself to the point where now people are getting hurt. In order to understand the full extent of this issue, we need to go back to April of 2023.

NHYM and PACS:

On April 26 2023, NHYM held a protest on Thompson Hall lawn. Their protest was against UNH’s Psychological and Counseling Services (PACS) department, whom they believed were ignoring the needs of students. And the visual aspects of their protest made quite a strong statement; the group made a wooden coffin, surrounded by signs talking about the number of students on campus who had taken their own lives over the past year. During this protest, they held a mock ‘funeral’ to honor the lives of those who’d passed as well as make a statement against PACS.

At first, I was all for this. Hearing how many people had died, how few counselors there were, and all the other tidbits of information filled me with determination. I wanted to help, I wanted things to change. I went and helped them make a few posters, and got to know a lot of the people in this group. Most of them were students, and I must admit they were all wonderful people. At the time I just assumed that their protest was against PACS, even though I didn’t know all the details of what exactly was going on. So I didn’t think to question their methods. Then about a day or two after the protest took place, I realized that I wasn’t actually sure what NHYM was trying to do. So I asked a friend in the organization, “Hey, why exactly are you guys campaigning against PACS?” and his answer astonished me: “No, we’re not trying to go against PACS, we’re trying to work with them to inspire change”.

Wait… what? If their goal was to work with PACS, then why antagonize them? Surely if the goal was diplomacy, then bringing a giant coffin and a bunch of posters saying “how many more students have to die” to PACS’ front lawn would be the opposite of helpful. And given the fact that the school tried to have the protest shut down, I think it’s safe to say the administrators of UNH did feel quite agitated. When you look at the policies NHYM was trying to change, it’s not like any of them were openly malevolent. If anything, most of the policies just made it clear that PACS was a severely underfunded department without the means to be as diligent as their students needed. With that in mind, it’s hard to think the organization would be opposed to hearing out students who have serious concerns about them. So again, why antagonize them? And why go after PACS, when the issues you’re addressing are actually the fault of whoever makes their budget?

Not wanting to be one who complains without understanding the full story, I went to the next NHYM meeting to get their take on these questions. And to be honest, I was not comforted by their answers. First, I asked if the organization had done anything to try and reach out to the school before protesting. Their answer was nondescript, but I was able to get some information. They said that they had in fact emailed back and forth with PACS a few times, but had been told that there probably wasn’t enough money to implement the changes NHYM was looking for. The leaders of NHYM said that there was no hostility, nor an immediate shutdown of their concerns. Just mild dissent, and maybe a touch of disinterest. Sure, it’s not the greatest response in the world. But it’s hard to justify trying to turn the entire school against PACS based on that communication alone. Diplomacy takes time, but it goes a whole lot faster if the people you’re working with actually like you.

Although this anecdote is not directly related to the May 1st protests, it does highlight the main issue that I believe is present in both NHYM and the PSC. The UNH branches of both organizations prefer to put diplomacy to the side for the sake of garnering attention and ‘making a statement’. And while power in numbers is a powerful tool when used correctly, there’s more to politics than just theatrics. As far as I know, after the initial demonstration NHYM did meet with PACS in person to discuss changing their program. And the good news is, the two groups were actually able to make some progress towards helping UNH students. So my question is, what was stopping NHYM from just doing that in the first place?

May 1st:

My critiques of the PSC and how they handled the protest on May 1st aren’t as harsh as the previous section, since they tried at least a little bit to protect students. But in my opinion, there were still a few things they could have done better. Now, let me make something clear: what happened on May 1st was still entirely the police’s fault. There was no reason for them to be as aggressive as they were, and the way they treated students was completely unacceptable. That being said, it’s the responsibility of whoever’s hosting a protest to minimize the risk of that protest going wrong. And the PSC did very little to try and prevent the thirteen arrests that took place.

Right now, the PSC is using the brutalization of students by police to fuel their political campaign even further. And of course, what happened during the encampment protest was awful. But there’s one piece of information the PSC is hiding from the public- they knew the police were going to show up. In his official statement about the event, President Jimmy Dean wrote “those guidelines, as well as repeated requests and warnings from university staff and police, were blatantly ignored”. What he’s referring to here is the fact that the school warned the PSC that doing an encampment would lead to police shutting down the protest. In the past, the PSC has always had to get a permit to do their usual protests. And while they did have a permit to be on Thompson Hall lawn from 5-7pm, they did not have a permit to be there past 7pm. In their press statement the PSC cites the fact that the UNH code of conduct doesn’t have any rules against setting up tents on campus, but that doesn’t change the fact that they knew the potential risks of their protest long before the event.

There was absolutely no mention of potential police involvement in their advertisements for the protests. It is unclear whether the event had designated marshalls or professional peacekeepers who may have been able to deescalate the situation. During most protests, both of these people are usually marked in some sort of easily identifiable manner, such as reflective jackets. In the PSC’s defense, they did hold an optional teach-in about police safety before the encampment. But in a situation where you know the police will eventually come, why let this class be optional? Plus as mentioned before, it is unclear whether or not this professional was still around by the time the police showed up. Overall, given the gravity of the situation the PSC did very little to try and protect UNH’s students. They ignored the warnings of the administration, they withheld vital information from the public, and they did not organize well enough to minimize risk during their event.

Conclusion:

As I mentioned before, I’ve met a lot of the people on campus who work for the PSC and NHYM. I’ve participated in multiple of their events. I was even at the protest on May 1st. Everyone working for these organizations are very nice, very motivated people, and the last thing I want is for any of them to think that I take issue with them personally. Nor do I want to cause drama, so if anyone reading this knows people in either organization, please do not treat them any differently than you normally would. The only reason I’m writing this is because I know the PSC will continue to hold protests, at least until the genocide in Gaza is over. And I want people to know the potential risks of going to these protests, since the organizations hosting them seem to be ignoring them.

Here’s the thing; these oversights I’ve mentioned do not come from a place of malevolence. Students on campus are angry, and want to fix all the issues going on right now. Not only on campus, but in the world as a whole. I’ve absolutely been there before. But unfortunately, sometimes you have to be willing to work with the people you want change from, instead of against them. This is something that is not represented in either the PSC’s or NHYM’s actions. And if they continue to carry on as they are, I’m afraid about whether or not more people will get hurt. If you’re a student at UNH, please take this into consideration. Whether or not you agree with me, I hope you’ll at least think about what I’ve said.

#university of new hampshire #university #nhym #psc #critique #college

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abybweisse · 8 months

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Is there anything to hold back undertaker from using more than one corpse in a bizarre doll's creation?

Because i saw the debates for this new chapter and the possibility of kelvin being the currently unknown BD, and while i think he kind of could be, i don't think he is phisically capable of being a useful servant.also he seemed kind of on the shorter side.but if i'm not misremembering, the guy that deliverd the news to RCiel was sort of tall?so i thought maybe he is a chimera of kelvin and joker.or joker's body with kelvins cinematic records?but i personally think Layla/Al was shown for that purpose and covers the mental aspects of a corpse running on two peoples cinematic records(if thats the actual deal with her of course, and it wasn't a mental condition she had always had)so the remaining servant covers the body horror aspect and physical limitations...but honestly could be both, a phiycall and mental combination

Bizarre doll experiments

Ok, so there are a lot of things to go over here. I'm going to number them.

1. Can Undertaker use more than one corpse in a bizarre doll? I suppose he probably can, if, say... the main body was missing limbs, organs, etc that could be harvested from another corpse. This could even go as far as what Angela Blanc does in s1 to Vincent and Rachel. But only if the body parts don't reject each other. Since Yana-san is sticking to the idea of blood groups (ignoring Rh factor), compatibility matters in the Kuroverse. If Polaris were Joker, for example, he could have arms and hands from another body. However, I believe that Polaris is not Joker.

2. There are readers who think Kelvin might be a bizarre doll. There are so many reasons why this would make no sense. Not only does his body type not match any of the lords of the stars, but neither does his personality/cinematic records -- ok, actually I'm gonna backtrack on that part a bit later in this post. The goals that make up the "episodes" for these bizarre dolls don't match anything that Baron Kelvin would care about... except perhaps one.... Though he doesn't see himself as a butler or other servant, so he definitely wouldn't say the things that Polaris says.

3. What if Polaris is a combo of Kelvin and Joker? Makes even less sense than Kelvin being a Bizarre Doll by himself. Joker would need arms/hands, but they definitely don't look like Kelvin's, either. And neither one of them speaks like Polaris or self-refers as a butler like Polaris does. Also, what about loyalty to real Ciel and about not wanting to lose his master again? That's why I think Polaris is someone who was already loyal to the Phantomhive family, like a former butler.

4. What is Layla/Al's situation? There seem to be two major possibilities here, and I'm not sure which one I ascribe to... or should ascribe to. I do think Layla might be Baron Heathfield's dead daughter, which would explain how Undertaker got hold of this particular body when he did and why he decided to make an advanced bizarre doll from her; Heathfield might have paid for it in some way, like it was part of their original agreement when Heathfield's manor became a blood collection facility.

But Al? Either Al was already there before Layla died... or Al was added in an experiment by Undertaker. Since I think this is two parts to a mind -- two personalities -- and not a matter of mind and soul or two souls, I lean towards the idea she already had a split personality. I don't think Layla/Al currently has a soul. I think the reason the Collie kids are boys dressed as girls is specifically to match their "aptitude" to a person who dresses as a girl but has a split personality that's half girlish and half masculine. In ch204, the staff ladies even talk about matching not just their bodies to the stars but also their souls. They seem to be trying to make Oliver and the other Collies act as if they have split personalities; maybe this could potentially cause a rift in one of their souls... making that one the best candidate for Layla/Al. This sounds a bit cracky, I know, but it's the best-fitting scenario I can think of at the moment.

Even crackier: We don't know Baron Kelvin's first name, do we? I sure hope it's not Al. He'd enjoy having part of his mind (some episodes, perhaps) in the body of a pretty "doll" like Layla, wouldn't he? I mean, it's kind of what he wanted to begin with:

So, if Layla/Al turns out to be a mind experiment... and if Kelvin is in any way incorporated into a lord of the stars, then this could be how.... 🤯 I can definitely imagine him making wounded veterans oink and squeal like pigs. I can also imagine him wanting to be beautiful... but not really caring which bow Layla wears in her hair; like, such decisions might get tiresome for him, ya know? The biggest aspect in favor of Al being part of Baron Kelvin's mind? Undertaker would likely get a kick out of fulfilling Kelvin's wishes in such a freakish manner.

However, there are things about Al's behavior that don't quite match what we know of Kelvin's personality. 🤷🏻‍♀️ I hope we get a break-away chapter or scene showing Othello in his lab and examining Layla/Al's brain. That might be the best way to get answers on her situation, since it seems unlikely our earl is ever going to meet her and get an explanation about her from Undertaker.

5. If we have one star lord with split or combined mentality, do we also get one that's a physical split/combination? Not necessarily, though it's definitely been touched on by what Angela does not just to Vincent and Rachel's bodies but also to Victoria and Albert's bodies in s1.

I originally started answering parts of this ask before ch203 and ch204, but it sat in draft so long that now I can add this: We don't need to combine bodies of our earl's former adversaries (like Joker or Kelvin) when we can combine the star lords with body parts from orphans. Honestly, if/when our earl finds this out, he'll be way more disgusted by Undertaker using innocent children as parts (like the circus doc essentially did) than if Joker and/or Kelvin got recycled into some monstrosity. Either way, he'd see fit to have all the star lords destroyed, but there's more emotional damage to him for destroying bodies that are partly made of innocent children. I don't think he'd feel quite as bad having some Kelvin/Joker abomination stomped or ripped apart.

So... now I say: Yes, there is a physical combination in the works for the star lords, and it might have already begun. Probably for each of them, to some extent. Not with Joker or Kelvin (or Madam Red, etc.) but with these kids from the orphanage.

We still don't know what F. O. L. stands for. Could be as basic as "Full of Life". I still think it might be as simple as "For Our Lords".

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toiletpotato · 11 months

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I think one of the things that bugs me about Duolingo's redesign is how similar it feels to school now.

Previously we were able to hop around subjects and do that as we please, but now it is a linear path organized into sections and units and lessons, just like the way a lot of languages are taught in schools- something it seemed Duolingo wanted to differentiate itself from.

Getting rid of the forums/locking them was also a strange move, as with the general move of the internet having things be behind walls (either of a discord or now private reddit page).

From a pedagogical perspective I suppose I can see the reasoning behind making the tree more linear as there are some things that ought to be taught before other topics- you wouldn't learn the subjunctive before you learned how verbs work, for example. However, especially regarding the asynchronous/self-study nature of Duolingo when combined with the gamificafion aspect, I think that it hinders it. With the old design, you could pick whichever topic you had unlocked that interested you, but now it forces learners into this predetermined path. So, if someone is not jiving with a topic, then it may ultimately be antithetical and cause them to not learn that day or lose their streak. This is especially prevalent with the hearts design because it can be rather disheartening to try and try again only to have to wait a set number of hours on a topic you just want to power through.

The streak of it all also is not helpful from a casual language learning perspective due to the incessant notifications- it becomes less about learning a language and more about pleasing the bird- much like perfect attendance in schools. A student should not feel pressured to put their health (mental/physical) at risk as then their learning will falter! You cannot learn effectively if your other essential needs are not met (shout out to Maslow's hierarchy).

It would be interesting to see Duolingo move to a week-based streak/attendance model, or reward the learner/user for what they have done, rather than what they haven't (ex. You did two lessons/practiced twice this week- that's awesome!). If they really must maintain the streak aspect, consider making it biweekly- so long as the user does something in a two week period, they are rewarded.

Now, would this potentially affect their learning statistics about how x number of hours = x semesters in university? Maybe! But learning isn't a race. You never finish learning. I started learning Spanish over seven years ago and I am not done. However, this race to fluency is a larger issue with how language learning is marketed (ex become fluent in Spanish in x number of days!) that is honestly unfair to the brand new learner. Fluency exists in levels, but this isn't an easy thing to "market" since most folks want an end all be all, they don't really like ambiguity.

This isn't to try to turn anyone away from language learning- it started as me making a fuss about Duolingo being strange and ended up... well this. Please learn a new language- for fun! You can learn it casually, picking up a few survival phrases (which are GREAT), try and read your favorite book, or watch a TV show!!

Language is all around us, it is ever changing and wonderful, and I think it is really neat.

#when did this post get so long #adventures in language learning: pedagogy #adventures in pedagogy: languages

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excessive-vampires · 4 months

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Here is me giving you permission to go ham and infodump about you dwd characters:

What is the one thing about that series that you've wanted to go feral over, but didn't for whatever reason? What is that Thing that you were hoping readers would go feral over with you?

Also, if the post is not long enough, or if you can't answer the above questions for whatever reason, then what is one random little fact about each character, that has no significance in the story, but it exists for them anyway?

- @writinggremlin

OH HELL YES I AM IN YOUR DEBT

I'm really really hoping people are interested in the lore I came up with for demons, bc it's basically my ideal portrayal of creatures that make deals for souls.

Okay so I don't get a chance in the book to actually go into as much detail about how demons actually work as I'd like, and part of that is because I want Riley to be in the dark about certain things until the sequel, but most of it was just to not get too infodumpy.

To start with, the most relevant thing to the story is that any spirit (demon or angel) can only possess someone if their body is offered up as part of a deal. This means possession is usually the result of a deal with a selfless motivation and the way deals work means those deals are usually handled by angels. Possession deals are extremely uncommon, especially permanent possession deals, but even among that small number the least of them go to demons of avarice. Avi may very well be the first demon of avarice to get a body to possess.

The advantages of possession for a spirit are that it allows them to experience all five senses without expending the mana it would usually take to manifest them in their true form. Because spirits are not native to this plane of existence it takes effort for them to perceive it. It also takes mana for a spirit to change certain aspects of their appearance. For example, demons of wrath look like fire and ash, so if they want a color scheme other than reds and grays they have to put effort and energy into it. No matter what though, a spirit's eyes will always softly glow a certain color, even while possessing a human body.

Spirits get mana from the souls they acquire in deals. When a deal is complete, usually upon the death of the human involved, the spirit will take the soul and assimilate it into their essence, basically plugging it in like a battery. This is the only circumstance in which a soul will remain on the physical plane of existence after death. No true ghosts and no resurrections. Once you're gone you're gone.

Another thing I'm hoping readers will be excited about is the fact that every chapter title is a quote from the chapter and the context for chapter 16's title will take two weeks to be revealed but when it is... I want people to cry over it, it's the proudest I've ever been about something in my work.

Fun fact about each character!

Riley is tall and still kind of looks like a gangly teenager even though they're 28.

Sil comes from a long line of Bureau employees and fells a lot of pressure to live up to their legacy even though as the youngest team leader in the Bureau she's already surpassed it.

Mike first joined the Bureau to make sure they were chill and not the "kill all monsters" type of organization, then he got caught up in helping people no one else could and never quit.

Avi learned most of what they knew about humanity before meeting Cee by watching sitcoms and soap operas.

Cee's parents heavily restricted her diet when she was growing up, but her younger sister got to eat whatever she wanted.

#dwd #riley #sil #mike #avi #cee

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heartless-aro · 1 year

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Heyo, i'm part of a queer organization irl. I'm trying to lead us to focus more on aromanticism, since even a lot of queer people know very little about it. I have two questions. Number One is about the term loveless, since I've seen it used (and explained) quite frequently but still don't understand it. I don't get it of it's an actual description of not wanting love of any kind or more of a hyperbole, a stance taken against the common practice of only talking about love in a romantic context. And also i wanted to know if you have any more general suggestions

Ok, so I’m actually gonna start with general suggestions since I know I’m going to ramble a lot about lovelessness when I get to that part (given how I am as a person).

Since aromanticism isn’t as well known as most other identities, it would probably be difficult to set up events or groups for aromantic people, so I’m going to assume that your main goal, at least to start with, is probably going to be providing information and resources, and I’m gonna do my best to give advice based on that.

So, first and foremost, I would recommend being very clear about the fact that you can be aromantic even if you are allosexual. Alloaros are a much more significant portion of the aromantic community than people tend to realize. I’ve been meaning to make a post about some research papers I’ve read that give a bit of insight into the exact statistics, but what’s important to know is that, based off what little research exists, it is likely although aromantic people are more likely to be asexual than alloromantic people, most aromantics are still allosexual, not asexual. There’s probably a lot of people who are aromantic and just don’t realize it, because unfortunately with the amount of alloaro erasure in our community, many allosexual people don’t realize that identifying as aromantic is even an option for them.

Also, this is a bit specific, but I would recommend that when providing resources on aromanticism, you also provide a bit of info on aro rings (i.e., what they are/how to wear one), since many aromantics have never met another aro irl and would likely benefit from having a way to find and connect with other aros.

AUREA’s website (aromanticism.org) has a lot of great resources too, so I would definitely suggest checking those out and maybe directing people to AUREA’s website for further information about aromanticism.

These are all somewhat simplistic suggestions since I’m not really an expert on organizing and I don’t know what sort of goals and resources you’re working with, but if you want to discuss further, feel free to dm/message me and I’ll help as best as I can (for real I have nothing better to do lol) ♠︎.

Lovelessness

Ok so now for your first question about whether the term “loveless” is literal or hyperbolic…the short answer is…yes. Yes it is. As for the long answer…

There are a number of reasons why someone might identify as loveless aromantic. For some people, their identity as loveless may be related to some intrinsic aspect of themselves while others may adopt the term for ideological reasons (i.e., as a political identity of sorts).

AUREA defines a loveless aromantic as “a person on the aromantic spectrum who feels disconnected from the concept of love, does not experience love, or rejects the idea of personally experiencing love” and clarifies that “loveless aros may experience other attractions, but do not equate these attractions to love.” This is a good start to understanding what loveless aromanticism is, but I’m going to try to discuss this in a bit more depth (at least, to the best of my ability).

At its core, lovelessness is simply the rejection of love as a descriptor for oneself and for one’s experiences — nothing more, nothing less. It only starts to become more complicated when you start delving into why someone might decide love is not a useful or applicable term for their experiences.

The most straightforward and obvious reason is that some people simply don’t feel anything that they can identify as love. This may be the case for people who lack the desire or ability to form close emotional bonds with others; this could be due to a personality disorder like szpd, aspd, npd, or ocpd, due to emotional detachment related to ptsd, due to negative symptoms of schizophrenia, and so on. Similarly, someone who struggles to identify their emotions may not know whether or not they feel love.

Some may also consider “love” to be inapplicable to themselves because love is often so loosely and inconsistently defined as to seem nonsensical or meaningless to them. After all, how can romance, friendship, family bonds, passion for hobbies, and general enjoyment of life all be categorized as forms of “love” when each one of these is a fundamentally different experience?

The word love can refer to a lot of things, but romantic love is, for better or for worse, central to its basic definition. So much of our society’s concept of love is characterized by traits associated with romantic love, with all other forms of love being treated as secondary at best. Although we can stretch the definition so the word love can be more broadly applied, that doesn’t change the fact that, unless we completely rethink how we conceptualize love (as many lovequeer aros do), love as a social construct is inextricably tied to romance.

People are quick to label virtually any positive human experience as love, and in doing so without actually deconstructing what love means, they implicitly draw a connection between romantic love and those other positive human experiences. Yet is my “love” of music really the same emotion as someone else’s love for their spouse? Or do we only call them both love because — with romantic love being seen as the pinnacle of human emotion — we have become convinced that the only way the enjoyment of music could be anywhere near as valuable an experience as romantic love is if the enjoyment of music is in and of itself a form of love? By calling labeling any and all sources of joy as forms of love without considering whether they actually meet the definition of the term, we risk elevating the pedestal upon which society places romantic love, to our own detriment.

So, part of why someone might identify as loveless is because, in rejecting the idea that our experiences should be labeled as love, we are seeking to challenge the notion that the value of our experiences lies in their similarities to romance. In doing so while continuing to assert that our experiences are equal in value to the experience of romantic love, we seek to combat the idea that romantic love is above all other things.

Furthermore, there are also many people who identify as loveless due to having had “love” weaponized against them in the past. When people say that love makes us human, some of them may mean love in that broad sense that includes platonic affection, familial bonds, care towards pets, passion for hobbies, and so on. But for most people, the first type of love that comes to mind is always going to be romantic love, and for many, love and romance are inherently synonymous.

Although attempts to expand the definition of love are valuable, many aromantics (like myself) are uncomfortable with labeling any of their feelings as love. Furthermore, many neurodivergent aros, autistic aros in particular, have the love they do experience delegitimized by others because they cannot express love in the way people expected them to. (This is something that K.A. Cook explains in much greater detail in hir essay where ze first coined the term loveless aromantic. I plan on posting a link to this essay in a separate post in a bit. I highly recommend reading over it if you have the time).

After a lifetime of being excluded from the category of “people who love,” many aromantics don’t want to be told that we’re allowed to “join the club” now. There are people who will never consider our experiences to be the same as “real love,” and those who do will often consider us only as an afterthought. When people reinforce the idea that “love makes us human” or that “love is the meaning of life,” they may be including things like platonic love in their definition of love, but at the end of the day, not everyone will interpret their statements that way, and so their statements will still contribute to the dehumanization of aromantic people. Thus, it is not enough to be placated by the notion that love can include us too; at best, this is an empty platitude, and at worst, it serves to silence us on the matter of our own dehumanization. We need to dismantle the notion that love is intrinsic to humanity and happiness. In rejecting inclusion into the category of “people who feel love,” loveless aros make it impossible to ignore how equating love with humanity and happiness dehumanizes us and devalues our lives.

Anyways, this is based pretty heavily on my own thoughts and experiences and it’s probably not super organized but I hope that it helps.

So uhh,

tldr; loveless can be a descriptor for someone who doesn’t want love in any form, or it can be used as a hyperbole to express a stance against equating love and romance, or some combination of the two.

#aro #aromantic #loveless aro #ask #i definitely rambled a lot bc i’m living that adhd life but i hope this is at least semi comprehensible #long post

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lucllle · 2 years

Text

Chief Alchemist

You had traveled to Dragonspine to work under Albedo as an assistant, since his official assistant was not available at the moment. You were already confident in your abilities when it came to alchemy, but decided that it would be beneficial twork under the Chief Alchemist of the Knights of Favonius. You were still amazed at the fact that Albedo had given you the opportunity to work with him, but you definitely weren’t gonna sit on your ass the entire time, that’s for sure.

You knew dragonspine was gonna be cold, but you didn’t realize just how cold. Luckily, you had brought your own homemade potions that were specifically made to warm the human body. That way, your outfit didn’t need to be covered up by a huge fur coat. You still had one in your suitcase, though, just in case. You used your map to guide you, making sure to be quick on your feet so as to not attract attention from monsters. Soon enough, you were close enough to see his camp, quickening your pace.

Once you were finally at the site, you couldn’t help but stare in amazement. There were bits of research everywhere around you, valuable information there at your disposal. Albedo was writing things down on his clipboard before turning to look at you.

“ Oh, you’ve arrived. You’re dressed rather lighty. Would you like a fur coat? “ He put the clipboard down on the table he was close to.

“ No, that won’t be necessary. I brought my own potions to help with the cold. “

“ Potions? Do you specialize in them? “ His eyes widened curiously. You felt that if he were a dog or cat of somesort, his tail and ears would have perked up.

“ Yeah, I’ve been studying it ever since I had the resources. Where can I put my things? “

“ That very dedication must’ve been what brought us together today, then. You can put your things inside of my tent, it isn’t very far from here. You’ll be staying there with me for the next few days. “

You nodded, placing your suitcase near a chalkboard. “ I’ll leave my things here for right now then. I’ve heard your research has recently been revolving around ways to affect the human body, yes? “

“ Yes, I’ll inform you about what I need you to do. Are there any tools here you aren’t familiar with? “ He gestured to a small table on wheels with various tools, but you were familiar with them.

“ I can’t say I’ve used everything here before, but I know all their uses. I hope that won’t be any trouble for you. “ He adjusted his gloves, grabbing his clipboard and pencil.

“ Don’t worry, it won’t be much of a problem. I’ll bring you up to speed; I’ve been studying the human genitalia, both male and female. This experiment is mostly for monetary purposes, since I’m cooperating with an organization that deals with escorts legally. In short, I’m making both lubricant and potions designed to make humans sensitive to sexual pleasure and more aroused. “ He stared down at his clipboard, then back up at you. “ I believe that your knowledge of potions and how they’re capable of affecting the human body will be of use for this experiment. “

You were taken aback at first, especially since this was the last thing you had expected the experiment to be about. “ Hm… Well, I think it shouldn’t be very hard. “ You walked up to the chalkboard, where Albedo had sketched out a male and female body, including the reproductive organs. You didn’t plan on doing this sort of thing when you got here, but you figured you could learn a thing or two. “ For the sensitivity aspect, I think we should study the most sensitive parts of the genitalia… And how we can replicate that sensitivity for the rest of the genital. “ You turned back to look at him. “ Judging by the fact that you aren’t writing anything, you’ve come to this conclusion already. Have you looked into the matter? “

“ Yes, I have. I didn’t pursue it for very long, though. Since the reason for the clitoris and head of the penis’ sensitivity is because of the number of nerve endings it has, we can’t replicate that through lubricant or potions at all. What we can do, however, is study what sensations the human body is specifically sensitive to, like the cold. “

“ I assumed that’d be the case. For lubricant, I feel as if something that is hot or cold will be sufficient depending on what the user prefers. We could harvest whopperflowers and manipulate it as an ingredient so it won’t be too hot or cold as to harm the user, but instead to make them sensitive to the foreign sensation. I know of a few people who have farms specifically made to attract these creatures so that they can not only be harvested, but also reproduced, along with other monsters. “

“ Hm… yes, this does sound favorable. I actually have the remains of a cryo whopperflower stored away somewhere. We could use that for the test runs. “

“ Alright then. How would we change those parts to control the intensity, though? Perhaps some numbing medication mixed in could work, no? “

“ We’ll have to be cautious about the amount we add. Temperature does indeed have an affect on the male genitalia, I’ve run multiple experiments to test that theory. I’ll need to find a female subject to test as well, though. “ He tapped his pencil onto his clipboard. “ Perhaps the Adventurer’s Guild could arrange that for me. “

“ That won’t be necessary. I’d be willing to test out your theory during my stay here. I feel that I could explain symptoms in a way you could understand as well. “ You looked at the chalkboard, then back at him. “ I have numbing medication in my case. One type is oral, the other would be applied to a wound in case of emergency. “

“ There’s no need for that, I have some stored away. I wouldn’t want you to use your personal items for this, anyway. You said you were willing to test it out, yeah? “ He put his clipboard and pencil aside again.

“ Yes, you just need to tell me when. “

“ Would… right now be suitable? I came up with a lubricant an hour or two before you got here. It worked well on me, but my female counterpart is not only away, but probably wouldn’t be willing to be experimented on under any circumstances, so I wasn’t sure how it’d affect the female body. “ He walked over to one of his shelves, taking a labeled bottle that had a container similar to that of a shampoo bottle.

You knew that he worked fast, but you never suspected that he’d be this quick with his work.

“ Of course I can test it. Not here, though… Isn’t there somewhere a little less, how do I put it… Open? “

“ Would the tent be sufficient? I imagine that’s also one of the only places in Dragonspine where one could properly pleasure themselves. I prepared accordingly. “

“ Yeah, the tent is just fine… I’m assuming you’ll have to be present. “ Your cheeks flushed at the idea of Albedo watching you while you played with yourself.

“ Naturally. Not only to record symptoms, but also to be there if anything wrong occurs. That isn’t very likely, though. Don’t worry too much about it. Come, I’ll take you to the tent. “

You nodded, grabbing your things and following after Albedo. He made sure to take a few sheets of paper to jot down the results.

—-----------------------------------

It didn’t take too long to get to the tent. It was nearby, just as Albedo had told you. You walked in, surprised to see how nice it was inside. There was a bed and a couch inside, as well as a drawer and carpet among many other things. You imagined this is where Albedo slept, since most things seemed untouched. You put your suitcase down while Albedo turned to look at you.

“ Please make yourself at home. I need you to be comfortable for the best results, afterall. “ He smiled at you, sitting down on the couch.

“ Hm… I feel like the bed would be most comfortable for me. Is that okay? “

“ Of course. “ He watched you closely as you walked over to the bed, but stopped in front of it.

“ That… means you’ll be watching me the entire time, doesn’t it? “

“ Not unless it affects your performance negatively. If you’d like, I could turn around and rely on audible cues, but it might make the results a bit more… unreliable, per say. “

“ It’s okay, I wouldn’t want to slow down the process. “ You began undressing, but paused when Albedo started walking over. He handed you the lubricant.

“ You’re allowed to back out of this at any time, please don’t force yourself. “ You gave him a reassuring smile before he handed you the lubricant. “ Here you go. I’ll try not to get in the way. “

You placed the lubricant onto the night stand beside the bed before you continued undressing. You heard the bedsheets move while Albedo sat down. He needed to observe you closely, after all. You stayed with your back turned to him, starting by taking your shirt off teasingly slowly. You didn’t know why, but you didn’t want to be the only one getting aroused during this experiment. You let your shirt fall to the ground, then slid your thumb underneath the hem of your pants, pulling them down to the floor and stepping out of them. You reached behind your back to unclasp your bra, letting the straps fall down your shoulders before letting it fall to the ground. You slowly pulled down your panties, your face flushing a little. You couldn’t tell how Albedo was reacting to all of this, but your heart still skipped a beat with excitement at the thought that he was watching your every move.

You turned around and reached for the lubricant before sitting down on the bed near the headboard, while Albedo was resting against the footboard. You spread your legs completely, making sure he could see everything.

“ You need a view of everything, right? Does this work? “

“ Yes, that works just fine. I’m glad to see you’re taking your time. If you require my assistance, simply call out my name. “ You couldn’t help but smile at his statement, but you had to keep your eyes on the prize.

You reached your hand down, sliding one of your fingers between your folds to reach your clit. You started off with small, quick circles. Your breathing started to fasten, but you weren’t exactly close yet. You planned on applying the lubricant once you were actually going to put your fingers inside, but you wanted to get in the mood first. It was growing increasingly difficult, though. You couldn’t help but notice his blue eyes as they stared at your figure, carefully examining every aspect of your actions and body.

The two of you made eye contact, but you quickly closed your eyes instead to play it off. You couldn’t help but imagine what it was like to feel his skin against yours. What would it feel like to have him above you, while he “assisted” you? Would he stare at you the same way? You opened your eyes again, grabbing the bottle of lubricant. You spread your lips before pouring it on your arousal, shivering at the harsh coldness. You put the bottle aside and reached back down, spreading the lube around your pussy evenly. You had never felt so sensitive to your own touch before, and while you touched yourself the only thing in your mind was Albedo. You felt so lewd about it, but you couldn’t help but wonder how exactly he tried the lubricant out himself.

You put a finger inside you, covering your mouth to muffle your moans. Your eyes blurred for a moment, but when you regained focus, Albedo was right beside you.

“ Please don’t hold back your voice, Y/N. My data won’t be accurate if you do so. “

You looked up at him while he reached out to move your hand. “ Oh, please don’t let me interrupt you. “ You could feel your face flush while you continued to finger yourself, slightly closing your thighs. Your eyes widened when you felt Albedo caress your thigh before pulling it toward him, spreading your thighs apart.

“ Remember, I need to see all of you, okay? “ You couldn’t help but let out a quiet moan when you felt his touch. He patted your head, caressing the side of your cheek. “ Good job, you’re doing great. “

Somehow, you mindlessly moaned out for Albedo, and didn’t even realize it until you saw him lean close to you.

“ Yes? Do you need my help? “ You shivered as you felt his hand trace down your back.

“ I-... I want you to hold me, please… “ He seemed surprised at this, but he didn’t hesitate. He scooted you forward by the small of your back before sitting behind you. He pulled you closer, making you sit between his legs. He wrapped his arms around your waist, resting his chin in the crook of your neck.

“ Is this sufficient? “ You simply laid back against his chest, obeying his orders from before and continuing to finger yourself. You felt his hand trace down your stomach, which he rubbed ever so lovingly.

“ Hm… are you sure there aren’t any other ways to help you? “ He rested his hand on your folds, smiling against the flesh of your neck. You took your other hand to lay on top of his, applying some pressure to push his fingers between your folds. He didn’t move his fingers, though, and simply watched you closely.

“ Stop teasing me, ‘bedo… “ You rolled back your head to look at him, to which he smiled at you.

“ I’m not teasing. If you want me to do something to you, I’ll need you to tell me what to do to you… Where to touch, how to touch you… I’m no magician, I can’t tell what’s on your mind. “

“ Just… Touch me damn it. I’m- I’m yours. Do what you want. “

“ Okay, I’ll be gentle with you. I have birth control in the lab, you’ll have to take some later. “ He kissed your neck, and soon began rubbing his fingers against your clit. He seemed dissatisfied, though, and pulled away from you, which earned him a whimper. He took off his gloves, putting them on the nightstand. He wrapped his left arm around your waist, using his right arm to touch your clit again. He made small, slow circles. It almost felt sensual. He soon pulled away from you again to stand up on the floor. He started undressing at a similar pace you had before.

“ You know, it’s funny that you said I was teasing you. Especially considering the fact that you were trying to strip tease me earlier. “ He turned around so his back was facing you, looking over his shoulder. “ Like this, yeah? I won’t lie, though, I enjoyed watching you. I think I’ll enjoy being up close and personal more, though. “ He finally got his pants and boxers off and turned to look at you, finally naked. He crawled onto the bed, pulling you closer to him by your thighs. He pushed you onto your side, which confused you.

“ Your thighs… put them together tightly, okay? “

“ Mm… okay? “ You obeyed, putting your thighs together tightly. Albedo grabbed the bottle of lube, pouring some onto his cock. He shivered, letting out a shaky breath while he started to jerk himself off to spread it. Once he thought he had spread it enough, he scooted closer to you on the bed. He lifted your leg, pulling you closer to sandwich his cock between your thighs. He held you in pace while he began pulling back, then thrusting. You occasionally let out quiet moans when you felt his length rub against your clit. Albedo reached down to grasp the bedsheets on either side of your head, leaning down to kiss your collarbone. Instead, he bit down when he felt your hand reach down to caress his tip when it went past your thighs.

“ Your body is so soft and plush, I can’t wait to be inside of you. “ Your face went red at this, your thighs squeezing together. He began quickening his thrusts, sucking on your neck while doing so. He quickly turned you over to lay on your back, spreading your legs. He sat up and watched you carefully while he jerked himself off, letting out a hitched moan and cumming on your stomach. You wiped some of it off your stomach, licking it off your fingers while you made eye contact with Albedo. He turned red, his length still hard.

“ I suppose… This is a more efficient way to test how well the lubricant works. “ He spread the lube against your arousal with his tip, making sure it was evenly coated. He saw the excitement in your face and pulled away.

“ Hey! That isn’t- That isn’t fair. “ You frowned at him, but he simply smiled at you before laying on his stomach, his head between your thighs.

“ I thought it’d be better if you came before I put it in… I’d like to see how you taste, too. “ He moved his arms, locking them around your thighs. He dragged you closer to him, which surprised you.

“ ‘Bedo… I’m starting to think this is more than something just for the project. “ You decided to tease him a little, sliding your hand between his locks. He kissed your clit, making you both jump and moan in surprise. He held you in place, though.

“ Oh, don’t be too much of a downer… Judging by just how wet you are, you don’t mind that this isn’t entirely for research, hm?” You sighed, simply looking around the room out of embarrassment. He wasn’t wrong whatsoever- You were enjoying every bit of this.

You squirmed when you felt him sucking on your clit directly, but he simply gripped your thighs and held you in place. He kissed your clit before pulling his face away, looking up at you.

“ Stop squirming or I won’t touch you at all… “ He leaned toward your inner thigh, littering kisses and hickeys on them. “ And that wouldn’t be very pleasurable for either of us, now would it? “

“ ‘M sorry… “ You caught your breath, reaching out to touch his hair again. He leaned against your touch, and then turned to kiss your hand. “ It’s okay. Just be good for me, alright? “

“ I’ll be good, I swear. Just… touch me, please. “ You heard Albedo let out a soft laugh before he kissed your clit somewhat sensually. He let go of your legs, one of his hands moving to put two of his fingers inside you. You let out a sigh of relief, glad that he was finally touching you. He put his other arm under you, his hand spread across the small of your back.

He looked up at you, most likely to make sure you were okay, then started moving his fingers in and out of you at a slow, steady pace. You let out occasional moans, but you were mostly breathing heavily. You felt Albedo curl his fingers, hitting just the right spot. You wrapped your legs around his neck so that you wouldn’t squirm very much, but it was getting increasingly difficult. Then, it happened. You screamed out for Albedo as he started thrusting his fingers into you at a brutal pace, nibbling on your clit. You pulled on his hair, which made you surprised to hear him moan at this. He reached out to your other hand, continuing his abuse of your pussy. You could hear your wetness combined with the lube slapping against the rest of his hands and your folds.

“ How lewd… You’re sopping wet. I can’t imagine the state you’ll be in when I… nevermind, you’ll find out soon enough. “ He cut himself off, making you curious about what he planned on saying. You didn’t have much time to think about it though, especially when you felt him set a faster pace. You reached to grab his wrist, but he swatted your hand away. He lapped at and sucked your clit again, making you cry out his name.

“ Albedo, Albedo- wait- I’m gonna cum- “ Albedo didn’t show any mercy, continuing to attack your clit. You arched your back, pulling on his hair. He stared up at your face while he continued to finger you, even going out of his way to hit your g-spot after you came.

“ Ah, wait- waitwaitwait- Please, Albedo- “ Your body stayed tense. You didn’t get the opportunity to come down from your high, especially when he continued to finger you mercilessly. It didn’t take very long for you to cum all over again. You let out a small sob of pleasure. You’ve overstimulated yourself on your own before, but your heightened sensitivity along with Albedo’s touch was a completely different experience. He pulled away from you, sitting up while he hooked your legs around his waist.

“ Hm… It really does seem as if the lube makes you more sensitive. Or perhaps you’re just a little bit of a slut. That’s alright, though… I don’t mind. “ Your face went red at his statement. You felt humiliated, but part of that was what turned you on.

“ I’m… I’m not a slut. If I’m a slut, you’re a fuckboy. “ Albedo’s eyes widened for a moment. He stared down at you, but he soon laughed.

“ Don’t worry. I’ll make sure that I’ll live up to your expectations. “ Albedo grabbed his length, positioning the tip at your entrance before pushing himself inside of you. He leaned down toward you, placing his hands on either side of your head, smirking down at you when he noticed the pleasure in your expression. He started with slow, hard thrusts that pushed you into the bed every time he bottomed out inside of you. You hadn’t been expecting it to feel like this, but you weren’t gonna complain. “ I’ll make you my slut. I want to be the only one to see you in such a vulgar state. “ You just nodded, as if agreeing to his proposal. He soon started to speed up, letting out moans and whimpers himself. You clawed at his back restlessly, arching your back slightly. In response, Albedo angled himself so that he’d hit as deep as possible, then held you in place while he hammered into you. He brought one of his hands to your lower stomach, using his thumb to caress your clit. You were getting so close, and Albedo showed no signs of stopping again.

“ Albedo- I’m… I’m close- “ Albedo brought his face away from your neck, licking and kissing your body until he got to one of your nipplies. He promptly proceeded to ravage your boob, licking and biting your nipple. Eventually, the pleasure was too much for you, and you were brought to your peak again. Albedo didn’t stop, though. Instead, he lifted his head to look at you when you sobbed out that “it was too much”. He paused, which confused you.

“ Wait, no, no- I didn’t want you to stop… “ You wrapped your arms around his neck, kissing his cheeks, almost as if to make amends. He let out a sigh of relief.

“ Just hang in there until I finish, okay? Be good for me. I know you can take it. “ He kissed you before pulling away to suck on your breast again, then started thrusting. His pace began slow and gentle, but it escalated back to the pace he had before. Your walls clenched around him, making him moan whenever you did so. He bit down onto your nipple, speeding up the pace of his thrusts before being completely still inside of you. He let out an unruly, long moan while he finally reached his release balls deep inside of you. Your thighs trembled and your back arched even more, your eyes rolling to the back of your head. He eventually let go of you, letting you fall onto the bed. He pulled out of you, watching his cum seep out of your hole when you clenched around nothing. You tried to desperately catch your breath, trying to relax. Something about this view just turned Albedo on, and you were surprised to see him jerking off his semi-hard cock to get it to full length again.

“ Wait- “

“ You’re so good for me, Y/N. You can take more, right? “ He caressed your inner thighs, making you shiver while he glared down at you. “ Tell me you can take more of me. “

“ I-... I can take more of you, Albedo. I promise… I promise I’ll be good, ‘kay? “ He smiled at this, hooking his hands under your legs and bringing them to your chest. He leaned onto your legs, making you bend awkwardly. You weren’t sure why he seemed to like this pose- Not until he thrusted inside of you, that is. Both you and him noticed just how deep inside of you he could get in this position, which was a pleasant surprise for Albedo.

“ Hold onto your legs with your arms. Keep them in place for me, hm? “ You didn’t hesitate to obey, hooking your own hands under your legs to bring them closer to your body while he let go of them. You let your lower legs rest on his shoulders, looking at Albedo while he placed his hands at either side of your head. “ Good… You’re so good for me, Y/N. I’ll make sure you get your reward. “ Your head was fuzzy with pleasure, but you were still able to make out his praise. He started thrusting into you slowly, seeming to show you at least some sort of mercy. He stared down at you, smiling while he leaned down to kiss you. You didn’t resist at all, but you did bite down onto his lower lip when he suddenly went back to his monstrous pace all over again. You could tell that it was gonna be a few more rounds before he cut you some slack, especially when he came inside you and pulled out just to move you onto your stomach. You let out a weak moan when he pushed himself inside you again, his throbbing girth being ever so unforgiving.

#genshin smut #genshin impact #albedo #albedo smut #afab reader #gender neutral pronouns #gender neutral reader #genshin impact smut

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