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#they probably have a bunch of these from each nation
dragonbonez · 11 months
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And what’s the first thing I do after finishing finals? Indulge in a little meme redraw of my favorites. 💚💛
Honestly Aang is going to be right there with Toph for these mugshots. The guy went to prison and made friends with all the other prisoners like it was nothing! That and I’m sure whatever they did was probably Toph’s idea and worth it.
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Why Millennials aren’t leaving Tiktok
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I'm on tour with my new, nationally bestselling novel The Bezzle! Catch me TOMORROW NIGHT (Mar 22) in TORONTO, then SUNDAY (Mar 24) with LAURA POITRAS in NYC, then Anaheim, and more!
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The news that Gen Z users have abandoned Tiktok in such numbers that the median Tiktoker is a Millennial (or someone even older) prompted commentators to dunk on Tiktok as uncool by dint of having lost its youthful sheen:
https://www.garbageday.email/p/tiktok-millennials-turns
But "why are Gen Z kids leaving Tiktok?" is the wrong question. The right question is, why aren't Millennials leaving Tiktok? After all, we are living through the enshittocene, the great enshittening, in which every platform gets monotonically, irreversibly worse over time, and Tiktok is no exception:
https://pluralistic.net/2023/01/21/potemkin-ai/#hey-guys
To understand why older users are stuck to Tiktok, we need to start with why younger users relentlessly seek out new platforms. To some extent, it's just down to youth's appetite for novelty, but that's only part of the story. To really understand why people come to – and leave – platforms, you have to understand switching costs.
"Switching costs" is the economists' term for everything you have to give up when you change products or services. Switching from Ios to Android probably means giving up a bunch of your apps and purchased media. Switching from an airline where you're a high-status frequent flier to another carrier means giving up on free checked bags and early boarding.
In an open market, rivals have lots of ways to lower these switching costs (it's an open secret that you can call an airline and say, "Hi, I'm a 33rd Order Mason on American Airlines, will you make me a Triple Platinum Diamond Sky-Baron if I switch to Delta?"). Of course, big incumbents hate this, and do everything they can to increase their switching costs, finding ways to impose high switching costs that punish disloyal consumers who have the temerity to go elsewhere.
With social media, lock-in comes for free, thanks to the "collective action problem." Getting people to agree on a given course of action is hard, and as you add more people to the picture, the problem gets harder. It's hard enough to get half a dozen people in your group-chat to agree on where to go for dinner or what board-game to play. But once you're reliant on a social media service to stay in touch with friends, relatives around the world, customers, communities (say, rare disease support groups), and coordination (like organizing your kid's little league car-pool), the problem becomes nearly insoluble. Maybe you can convince your overseas relatives to switch to a Signal group, but can you do the same for your small business's customers, or your old high-school pals?
https://pluralistic.net/2022/10/29/how-to-leave-dying-social-media-platforms/
Taken together, switching costs and collective action problems make platforms "sticky," and sticky platforms inevitably enshittify.
Platforms, after all, generate value. They connect end-users with each other (say, little league parents) and they connect end-users to business customers (you and your small business's customers). That value needs to be parceled out among end users, business customers, and the platform's shareholders. A platform can make life better for business customers at its end users' expense by increasing the number of ads (hello, Youtube!), and it can make life better for its shareholders at its business customers' expense by decreasing the share of ad revenue given to publishers or performers (oh, hello again, Youtube!).
From a platform's perspective, the ideal state is one in which end users and business customers get no value from the platform, because it's all being captured by the platform's shareholders. But if Youtube interrupted every 30 seconds of video for ten minutes of ads and paid the video creators nothing, both users and creators would ditch the platform – and advertisers would follow:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dab8sKg8Ko8
So platforms seek an equilibrium: "what is the least value we apportion to end-users and business customers without triggering their departure?" Maybe that means giving more value to end-users (for example, keeping Uber fares low by suppressing wages), or to business-customers (crowding more ads into your social media feed).
Every business – including brick-and-mortar, non-digitized ones – wants to find some kind of equilibrium between the value going to its suppliers, its customers and its owners, but digital businesses have an advantage here: digital systems are flexible in ways that analog, hard-goods businesses are not. Digital businesses can alter pricing, payouts and other dynamics from moment to moment – second to second – and make a different offer to every supplier and customer. They have a bunch of knobs, and they can twiddle them at will:
https://pluralistic.net/2023/02/19/twiddler/
Well, not quite at will. Businesses face constraints on their twiddling. If they get too greedy, users or business customers might weigh the cost of staying against the switching costs and decide it's not worth it. But the more expensive – the more painful – a platform can make leaving, the more pain they can inflict on the people who stay.
In other words, there's two ways to keep a customer or supplier's business: you can make a better service so they won't want to leave, or you can make leaving the service so painful that they stay even if you mistreat them.
There's three ways a digital company can make things worse for their customers and users without losing their business.
First, they can eliminate competition (think of Mark Zuckerberg buying Instagram to recapture the users who'd fled Facebook to escape his poor management):
https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/03/big-tech-cant-stop-telling-on-itself/
Second, they can capture their regulators and avoid punishment for trampling their suppliers' or users' legal rights (think of how Amazon has raised the price of everything we buy, both on- and off Amazon, through its "most favored nation" deals):
https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/25/greedflation/#commissar-bezos
Third, they can use IP law to prevent competitors from modifying their services to claw back some of that value (think of how Apple used legal threats to block an Android version of Imessage, blocking Apple customers from having private conversations that included non-Apple customers:
https://pluralistic.net/2024/01/12/youre-holding-it-wrong/#if-dishwashers-were-iphones
Companies can't just use this tricks at will, of course. Antitrust laws can block companies from making anticompetitve acquisitions or mergers. Regulators can punish companies for cheating their customers, workers and users. Technologists can come up with clever ways of modding or reconfiguring existing services with "interoperable" add-ons that let users bargain for better treatment by refusing to accept worse:
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/07/adblocking-how-about-nah
Day in, day out, the decision-makers at tech companies test these constraints, twisting the knobs that shift value away from users to shareholders. Their bosses and boards motivate them with "KPIs" that dangle the promise of huge bonuses and promotions for any manager who successfully enshittifies part of the company's products:
https://pluralistic.net/2023/07/28/microincentives-and-enshittification/
Decades of pro-corporate, pro-monopoly policy has loosened those knobs. 40 years of lax antitrust meant that companies had a lot of leeway to buy or merge with rivals – that's changing today, but it's tough sledding:
https://pluralistic.net/2023/07/14/making-good-trouble/#the-peoples-champion
As sectors grew more concentrated, they found it easier to capture their regulators, so that they no longer fear punishment for price-gouging, spying, or wage-theft, so applying the same amount of torque to the "break the law" knob cranks it a lot further:
https://pluralistic.net/2022/06/05/regulatory-capture/
Once you've captured your regulators, you can aim them at your competitors. A monopoly-friendly policy environment has transformed IP law into a bully's charter, allowing powerful companies to strangle would-be competitors who dare to offer their customers tools to shield themselves from enshittification, like scrapers, ad-blockers and alternative clients. Big companies can crank the enshittification knob all the way over and know that smaller rivals knobs won't turn at all:
https://pluralistic.net/2022/10/20/benevolent-dictators/#felony-contempt-of-business-model
At one point, bosses faced one more constraint on knob-twiddling: their workforce. Many tech workers genuinely cared about their users' welfare, something bosses encouraged as a sneaky trick to get techies to put in long hours without exercising their leverage by quitting rather than destroying their lives to meet arbitrary deadlines. These workers would fearlessly slap their bosses' hands when they reached for the enshittification knob, threatening to quit rather than allowing the products they'd given so much for to be enshittified. Today, after hundreds of thousands of tech layoffs, tech workers are far less like to challenge their bosses' right to twiddle, and far more likely to get fired if they try:
https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/10/the-proletarianization-of-tech-workers/
All this means that tech bosses don't have to change their approach at all, and yet, their services will grow steadily worse. The boss who twiddles the enshittification knob in exactly the same way as he did a year or a decade ago will find it turning much further, because his customers are locked into his platform, his regulators won't protect them, the same regulators will stop his competitors' attempts at countertwiddling, and his workers fear losing their jobs too much to speak up for their users.
That's the contagion that produced the enshittocene: the forces that constrained companies (competition, regulation, self-help and labor – all melted away, allowing every company's MBA-poisoned knob-twiddling leaders to shamelessly caress their knobs with every hour that God sends:
https://pluralistic.net/2024/01/30/go-nuts-meine-kerle/#ich-bin-ein-bratapfel
Which is why people want to leave platforms. When a platform loses its users, those users have weighed the switching costs against the pain of staying and decided that it's better to bear those costs than to stay.
So why have Tiktok's younger users found the costs too high to bear, and why have their elders remained stuck to the platform?
For that, we have to look at the unique characteristics of young people – characteristics that transcend the lazy cliche that kids are easily bored, fickle novelty-seekers who hop from one service to another with unquenchable restlessness.
Whether or not kids are novelty-seekers, they are, fundamentally, a disfavored minority. They want to do things that the platforms don't want them to do – like converse without being overheard by authority figures, including their parents and their schools (also: cops and future employers, though kids may not be thinking about them as much).
In other words, kids pay intrinsically lower switching costs than adults, because a platform will always do less for them than it will for grownups. This is a characteristic kids share with other supposedly technophilic, novelty-seeking "early adopters," from sex-workers to terrorists, from sexual minorities to trolls, from political dissidents to fascists. For those groups, the cost of mastering a new technology and assembling a community around it is always more likely to be worth bearing than it would be for people who are well-served by existing tools:
https://pluralistic.net/2022/06/21/early-adopters/#sex-tech
Pornographers didn't jump on home video because of its superiority as a medium for capturing flesh-tones. Home video was a good porn medium because it was easier to discreetly get into the hands of porn consumers, who could, in turn, discreetly view it. The audience for porn in the privacy of your living room is larger than the audience for porn that you can only watch if you're willing to be seen marching into a dirty movie theater.
Every new technology is popularized by a mix of disfavored groups and neophiles, who normalize and refine it – and yes, infuse it with their countercultural coolth – until it becomes easy enough to use to become mainstream. As more normies drift into the new system, the switching costs associated with leaving the old system declines. It gets easier and easier to find the people and services you want in the new realm, and harder and harder to find them in the old one.
This is why tech platforms have historically experienced sudden collapse: the platform that gets more valuable and harder to leave as it accumulates users gets less valuable and easier to leave as users depart:
https://www.zephoria.org/thoughts/archives/2022/12/05/what-if-failure-is-the-plan.html
If you're a Gen Z kid on Tiktok, you experience the same enshittification as your Millennial elders. But you also experience an additional cost to staying: as late-arriving adult authority figures become more fluent in the platform, they are more able to observe your use of it, and punish you for conduct that you used to get away with.
And if you're a Millennial who isn't leaving Tiktok, it's not just that you experience the same enshittification as those departing Gen Z kids – you also face higher switching costs if you go. The older you get, the more complex your social connections grow. A Gen Z kid in middle school doesn't have to worry about losing touch with their high-school buddies if they switch platforms (they haven't gone to high school yet – and they see their middle school friends in person all the time, giving them a side-channel to share information about who's leaving Tiktok and where they're headed to next). Middle-schoolers don't have to worry about coordinating little league car-pools or losing access to a rare disease support group.
In other words: younger people leave old platforms earlier because they have more to gain by leaving; and older people leave old platforms later because they have more to lose by leaving.
This is why Facebook is filled with Boomers. Yes, their kids bolted for the exits to avoid having their parents (or grandparents) wading into their sexual, social and professional lives. But the reason the Boomers were late joining younger users' Facebook exodus – or the reason they never joined it – is that they stand to lose more by going. Facebook deliberately cultivated this dynamic, for example, by creating a photo hosting service designed to entice users into uploading their family photos while disguising how hard it would be to take those photos with them if they left:
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/08/facebooks-secret-war-switching-costs
The irony here is that tech has intrinsically low switching costs. All other things being equal, a new platform can always build a bridge to ease the passage of users from the old one. There's no (technical) reason that moving to Mastodon, or Bluesky, or any other platform should mean cutting ties with the people who stayed behind.
A combination of voluntary interoperability (where old platforms offer APIs to allow new services to connect with them), mandatory interop (where governments force tech companies to offer APIs) and adversarial interop (where new companies hack together their own API with reverse-engineering, scraping, bots, and other guerrilla tactics) would hypothetically allow users to hop between networks as easily as you change phone carriers:
https://pluralistic.net/2022/12/19/better-failure/#let-my-tweeters-go
Tech platforms tend to offer APIs when they're getting started (to ease the inward passage of new users) then shut them down after they attain dominance (locking the door behind those users). The EU is tinkering with mandatory APIs through the Digital Markets Act (though bafflingly, they're starting with encrypted messaging rather than social media). Restoring adversarial interoperability will require extensive legal reform, which is getting started through Right to Repair laws:
https://www.techdirt.com/2024/03/13/oregon-passes-right-to-repair-law-apple-lobbied-to-kill/
The people who are stranded on social media platforms shouldn't be mistaken for uncool, aging technophobes. They're not stubborn, they're stranded. Like the elders who can't afford to leave a dying town after the factory shuts down and the young people move away, these people are locked in. They need help evacuating – a place to go and a path to get there.
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Name your price for 18 of my DRM-free ebooks and support the Electronic Frontier Foundation with the Humble Cory Doctorow Bundle.
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If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
https://pluralistic.net/2024/03/21/involuntary-die-hards/#evacuate-the-platformsr
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mysticdarling · 1 year
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They accidentally hurt you during intimacy
Characters: venti, xiao, scaramouche (genshin Impact!)
Word count: 1.5k~
Warnings: n.sfw, smut, public sex (venti and xiao), established relationship, mention of tears, pain, rough. [NO MINORS]
(A/n) no pronouns used for reader, afab but mainly only ventis, I did proofread so I apologize if there are any mistakes. Btw I will probably be open to requests in a few weeks if you're interested! hope you pervs enjoy!~ ^^
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Venti
Venti is a very affectionate lover, he showed his love for you in many ways, writing hymns, taking you to the most beautiful places in Monstadt, or to everyone's dismay an overwhelming amount of PDA. So when your lovely bard asked you on a date to Windrise you should have known what the evening foretold. Venti being the Romantic he is, had a beautiful picnic setup under the tree, the crystal flies only adding to the site. Sure the evening did start with songs and maybe a few drinks but soon  you both had shed a few layers, and hands began to wonder. It was only natural for Venti to want to see more, he loved your body, every inch of it. You were flawless, perfect in his eyes and the god of freedom gave you no room to doubt that. Venti left no area untouched; he was mesmerized by his lover. "Windblume i want to see you on top of me" how could you ever refuse such a request his voice was tender but so very desperate for you.
So there you were displayed on top of him. Venti started with his fingers letting his slender digits explore your Folds loving the shutters and jerks when he touched sensitive areas. Soon Venti's  length hardened against you, his grin making it clear he was very much enjoying himself. When he did rip his fingers away from you, he made sure to look you right in the eyes as he licked off the remaining wetness from them. "Mm you taste so good my love! ehe" Venti had no shame he relished in making you embarrassed. After he finished licking off all of your essence, he placed his hands upon your hips lowering you down onto his cock. The most beautiful sounds and noises escaped you both in unison as he sank himself into you. Venti was addicted to the gummy walls that constricted around him, he bucked his hips up letting out the most emotion filled whines and whimpers.
Something that's not new to you is that Venti could change his form but what he seemed to have left out was, that also included parts of himself. 
Venti wanted to feel more he needed it, he pushed himself off of the ground arching to get himself deeper but even that seemed not enough. Your god of a boyfriend wanted to defile you, to reach every orifice your body accepted. First it was just one added inch, then two, just enough to barely notice the difference but, Venti became eager wanting to fill you up completely. "shh just a little more" He cooed, his voice like silk. With each Plunge  he grew more and more holding your hips still before eventually hitting your tight ring of muscle, prodding against it. With his length he only kept bearing himself, engrossed in you. Soon he found his partner wasn't riding him, but instead recoiling, the deep pressure becoming a bit too much for you. Venti is a gentle being and would never knowingly hurt you, his face filled with remorse as he returned to his normal size, sitting up and burying himself in your chest.
His arms embraced you "oh love I just wanted to make you feel good I should've been more careful..are you okay my windblume?" Venti held you, comforting the lingering effects, completely apologetic. Let's say the wind was especially soft for the rest of the evening.
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Xiao
 Dating the conquer of demons can be difficult especially since you travel to other nations and Xiao stays in Liyue.
When you did come visit him at Wangshu Inn you found yourself  pushed up in a corner by Xiao, your chest against the balcony wall. Rustling behind you, Xiao was bunching his pants down enough for his length to spring out of the clothing. " Y/n are you sure you're ok with this. I don't think I'll be able to hold back this time…" xiao waited for the reassurance to continue taking a second before removing the clothing covering your lowering half, guiding himself inside you. He couldn't wait anymore; he had to be deep in your warmth. He  let out a groan of pure bliss, his warm hungry breaths against your neck. "Ghm- i missed you… I missed how you feel around me. I hate when you leave Liyue, going places where I can't reach you." His movements started to become much more sharp slapping against the plush cheek of your ass.
Xiao made sure to tell Verr Goldet at the front desk not to disturb him tonight, even so he found himself having to put  his hand upon your mouth to keep all of Liyue from hearing how loud he made you. His cock was merciless, ramming into you so deep ripping the most vile moans from your throat. Your insides were tight around his length, sucking him back in with each movement. It became clear he was starting to lose control himself. His other hand, that wasn't clasped against your mouth, was placed upon your waist ripping the fabric of your clothes leaving scratches across the stretch of skin, his teeth buried into your shoulder. All of your whines and noises muffled by his hand, your body quivering under his grip yet it being the only thing keeping you still standing. Xiao let out groans and grunts from the sheer feeling, fucking into you as if he was a savage animal. The only thing snapping xiao out of his lustful trance was the feeling of your  tears soaking into his glove.  His hips ceased all movement, removing his hand realizing what he had done. He would have let you go completely if you wouldn't fall. "I'm sorry y/n I didn't mean to scare you, I don't know what came over me…" Xiao stammered. It was clear he just wanted to disappear after what he did, the guilt swallowing him whole. It would be your choice whether you want to stop or continue. He will respect it. Though after that night he'll probably wait for you to initiate from now on.
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Scaramoche
Scaramouche may be a puppet but with his past he knows what hurts and what doesn't with a human. He wouldn't hurt you with his body unless he wants to on purpose unlike the others, but instead with his words. Scaramouche took pride in making you fall apart under him. It was pretty obvious he was no gentle lover. He was greedy, he knew you were his but, he was also very much determined to let everyone else know that too. He fucked it right into your brain leaving traces of himself with each harsh movement to make sure you would remember. You were the one person he would not let betray him, he loved you, he would do anything to protect you. Even with his attitude he knew your body well. He knew what you could take and what you couldn't, too bad it's not the same with his mouth. It wasn't anything new that Scaramouche had a sharp tongue. Even though some of his actions could be tender and sweet, his words were far from that. " y/n look at me." he demands, staring down analyzing  every embarrassing way your body reacts to him. You couldn't even deny it he made you feel GOOD. " How dare you keep me waiting. What could be more important?" He sneered clearly wanting a reply. You could barely even think nonetheless speak, all you ended up getting out was  a pathetic excuse for words.
"Is that really all you can say? Pathetic….answer me!"His words grew a bit more harsh. Scara didn't understand why you weren't obeying, do you not think he's worth looking at? Did you favor someone else's looks  more?
"You should be thankful I even chose you to be mine. Hypatia was such a good follower" Once the words escaped his lips he knew he said something wrong. In seconds something shattered inside you, you completely fell out of your daze, Staring up at Scara before shoving the indigo eyed boy off of you. He stared with no emotion upon his face; he almost looked like a doll. He finally got your eyes on him but it wasn't the look he craved for. " i don't actually feel like that…i- i don't want her! i want you i don't know why i would even say that….nothing compares to you, you know that. You just weren't looking at me and I thought if I- '' His voice cracked, his eyebrows twitched, unable to put his words together. A flash of guilt grew across his face, tears swelling in his eyes. You were his one and only. You were his heart.  " Don't expect me to apologize'' Scaramouche scoffed, before falling to his knees hugging your waist the act soon fading. "please don't leave me…" he mattered, staring up at you.
Overall it's your choice if you're willing to forgive him. 
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elbiotipo · 10 months
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Quick worldbuilding hack, if you want to make a coherent political system for your fantasy world:
Basically, between the fall of Rome and early modern times, in Europe* most political organization wasn't actually kingdoms ruled by One True King like it's usual in fantasy, but something like this:
Feudalism: here, the center of power was not the nation (there was little concept of such thing) or the state, and not even the King, but the landowners (from kings to dukes to counts...) and their network of vassalages to each other. There were no "countries" but rather hereditary titles, and the people who held them. There was little of a true state besides what individual rulers did; they didn't even have formal armies as such, but rather the vassals who provided them, they and could have multiple allegiances. Examples are of course the Holy Roman Empire (neither holy, etc. etc.) France (note that the 100 Years War was a dispute about titles rather than France vs. England), Spain (actually a bunch of kingdoms and crowns rather than a country), etc...
"Empires": A state where a central goverment exerts power over other territories and peoples. These are rather familiar to us, because a formal state exists here, and the ruler is more powerful and often does have a standing arming and administration instead of relying on vassals. Here, there is a bureacracy and a claim to rule a territory, and while they might have vassals and prominent artistocratic families (everyone did) their administration was state-based, not allegiance based. The Roman Empire is the most imperial empire, as well as its cringefail successor the Byzantine Empire, but note that the great Islamic empires also had this kind of administration, with governors appointed and confirmed by the imperial court.
City-States: Basically a powerful city (though they were often the size of small towns, still, very rich) ruled by a local aristocracy, sometimes hereditary, sometimes elected from a few families or guilds, or a mix of both, and in some cases ruled by religious authorities. These could be independent or organized in alliances, but were often vassals of more powerful goverments such as above. Cities are in many way the building brick of larger states; of note, in the Ancient Mediterranean before Rome conquered it all, leagues of city-states were the main powers. Medieval and Early Modern independent city states were the Italian city states of course, and a famous league was the Hansa (many of its members themselves vassals of other powers)
Tribes and Clans: Every culture is different with this, but basically here the centre of power is the relationships between families and kinship. If this sounds familiar to Feudalism, you've been paying attention; Feudalism is what happened when the Roman empire and administration fell, and it was replaced by landowners and their ties of vassalage and allegiances.
Now, besides the history lesson, why is this important? Because there are reasons why rulers had their power, and you should know that.
A king never ruled alone. He was only the head of nobles tied by vassallage (feudalism), or the head of a inherited state bureaucracy and army ("empire"). If you killed the king, another one would rise from the prominent families. Often by bloody civil wars or conquest yes, but the system overall would stay. A king did not reign by its own power or virtue, but because the system itself supported him, and of course, he maintained the system.
A new king who wants to replace the bad old king (a common fantasy storyline) needs to also deal with the allegiances of all its vassals (who would probably rather kill him and take the throne themselves) or build a bureaucracy and an army, supremely expensive endeavors in those times, which took decades if not centuries to build. In fact, the Byzantines and the Arabs inherited most of their state aparatus, in one way or the other, from the Romans.
This is also why these systems lasted so long, too. The appearance of modern republics and other systems of goverment needed the coordination of people and revolutions that did not just kill the king, but also replace it with something else, and for that you need literacy, economic changes, an empowered populace... But that's for another time.
I hope this is fucking helpful because I don't want to spell allegiance ever again.
*I would love to do more about goverments outside Europe, especially Precolombine American ones like the redistrubitionist state-based economy of the Incas, or the Mesoamerican city-states. But that's for another time.
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nymphie66 · 6 months
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God Bless America pt 3
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Part One
Part Two
Description: Things are back on track between you and Ben, and you've found a sort of peace. Vought is determined to ruin that.
Author's note: This hyperfixation is really serving. This may be the last part of this mini-fic, as I've literally just been writing things as they've entered my mind and they just happen to be cohesive. But who knows! Uni starts up again imminently, hopefully I'll catch a break. Feel free to send in prompts or scenarios and I could probably bang something drabbley out. Also, thank you everyone for your support, I love each and every one of you motherfuckers.
Warnings: gore, darkfic -kinda, this came out slightly fluffy (don't know what happened there lol), mentions of pregnancy, mentions of sex, swearing, implied forced testing, cringey language
S/N : Supe Name
Suit: random office worker that I didn't bless with a name or description
---
You span in your desk chair in absolute boredom, hands on your swollen belly, the only modicum of joy you got was from the movements of your darling baby, only four more months to go now.
Which is why you were sat in said desk chair, in a Vought meeting room with a bunch of suits from HR and legal, negotiating over your maternity leave and, much to his horror, Ben's paternity leave.
He couldn't understand why he would have to take time off as well. As he put it "My part is done, I got my soldiers to your base, your turn to lead the charge." After saying such a thing he promptly had the nearest object in your vicinity thrown at him.
You tried to explain to him, that you would need help as the pregnancy progressed, that there could be complications leaving you bed-bound till it was time to push the little one out into the world, that you could even be hospitalised. You expected him to put his fingers in his ear and start singing the national anthem at you, desperate to drown you out, but what happened instead shocked you.
He stilled, and you could see the thoughts churning in his head, and gradually his brow furrowed and he turned away from you. You walked towards him, arms encircling his waist, face pressed against his back, the texture of his soft cotton jersey brushing against your cheek. You knew exactly what he was doing.
Ben cleared his throat and took a sharp inhale of breath. He couldn't show weakness in front of you, especially not now. It wasn't the manly- let alone fatherly- thing to do. But he felt that resolve weaken by the way you held him so tenderly, leaned into his back so softly. It reminded him of the earlier days in your relationship, when you trusted him so blindly, believed in him so faithfully.
He'd get home from work, usually in a pissy mood, ranting and raving about whatever fuckery his team had put him through. And you would be there, smile on your lips, eyes filled with joy just at the sight of him. You'd listen, never probe but when he was just winding himself up, you would circle your arms around his waist and press your face into his back, leaning on him for support. The action was simple but made him feel like he was your whole world, that he was all you needed, that he was enough.
Things were better now. Ben had followed your instruction to the morbid T, and in turn, you allowed his presence, tolerated it even, though you soon fell back into the trap of loving him wholeheartedly again. The way he doted on you, adored you, the way you were 'his girl' again.
It didn't mean that things were perfect - far from it. You still had the occasional shouting match that led to the replacement of many crushed/shattered mobile phones, and though you wouldn't admit it, your attachment to Ben had become positively possessive. If his gaze strayed from you for more than a minute, you could feel yourself freeze up, a blend of uncouth rage and desperation flooding you that was only sated when he looked back at you again. You were needy, and it was pathetic- to you, not to him, he found it hot as fuck and told you so.
Ben would press a hand to your lower back, hover smugly above your ear and whisper assurances to you, though they were less than PG. Often involving a detailed description of him fucking you in front of whoever you were jealous of. You blamed the pregnancy hormones, but every time he did it you wanted him to make good on his promises and you quickly escorted him to a (mostly) private section of wherever you were.
In fact, as you sat there, listening to the drone of legal and HR, you realised that you had been in this meeting room before. Though you could hardly blame yourself, you didn't really take in decor when you bent over the conference table, getting your brains fucked out. You cursed yourself for not making Ben read that pregnancy book earlier, ever since he found out making you cum was good for the baby, the man was on a mission - not that he wasn't before, but there was definitely an added level of determination that you appreciated.
"So it's agreed? S/N will start her maternity leave now and once she reaches her third trimester Soldier Boy will start his paternity leave." Your Vought legal representative consolidated. You tuned back into the conversation, hopeful that this meeting was finally coming to an end.
"Agreed, we have already arranged for the samples to be taken in the next half-hour if S/N is ready?" The other suit asked, casting you an expectant look. You froze, your hand gripping your bump and leaned forward, a panicked look directed to your rep, but before you could continue the suit continued. "May I remind S/N that it is in her signed contract that sample matter from a resulting pregnancy is legally Vought's to take. This includes amniotic fluid, blood and foetus tissue sample."
You felt your stomach lurch and you swallowed thickly, you didn't argue that it wasn't in your contract, it was exactly the type of sick and twisted clause Vought would stick in there.
"S/N?" Your legal rep asked, seemingly completely unbothered by what was going on. You didn't question if it was safe, nothing that Vought did was ever safe.
You surveyed the room, there was about eight people there, none of them particularly intimidating but that's not what you were worried about. They would have known you were going to show resistance and you now realised that the abundance of office workers was to merely lull you into a false sense of security. This meant one of three things. 1) There was a supe nearby ready to make you comply 2) One if not all of them had tranquillisers on them 3) all of the above.
Knowing Vought it was probably number three.
You could try and do a runner but you would get caught, you could try and fight them but that meant risking the baby. Whatever supe was going to show up would hardly care about your condition and who the fuck knew what Vought put in those tranquillisers.
Your eyes looked around the room, pretending to think about if you had any scheduled plans after this meeting. Your eyes settled on a wonky painting that had been hastily put back up- in fact, you had put that back up after it fell during your 'de-stressing session' with Ben.
Ben.
"Yes, I think that should be just fine." You smiled sweetly at them, "You wouldn't mind me calling my fiancé Be- Soldier Boy to let him know, would you? He likes to be included in anything related to the baby. Plus he would love to know that our little creation is helping advance the research at Vought. Anything for his country- you know him!"
You laughed and waved your hand, praying that they were convinced by your little show. They didn't know him, but it flew that Soldier Boy, the living and breathing embodiment of the good ol' red white and blue, would be behind such a thing. It was for his country after all.
"Great, that's just great. I'll call him now." You took the general shrugging from them as a go-ahead and quickly called Ben, mouthing 'busy man' to them with a big smile as it continued to ring, you were half afraid that he wasn't going to pick up until you heard his gruff voice on the end of the line.
"What baby? Can't even go to a meeting without-"
"-Ben, honey!" You smiled tensely as you cut him off his surely sordid sentence, and prayed that he could pick up on your forced cheeriness, from experience he should. Considering you only spoke in that tone to him when you were threatening to get rid of his baby or extreme violence. "I just wanted to let you know that Vought are going to collect some samples of our little star-spangled bugaboo. Amniotic fluid, blood, a bit of tissue matter, nothing our little super trooper can't handle, especially considering her old daddio! I was just hoping you would be able to join your darling doll at the doctor's, honeybuns."
You wanted to pull your own tongue out of your mouth, stuff it down your throat and throw it back up again.
"I will be right there."
And just like that the line dropped, you smiled, taking the phone away from your ear and holding it to your chest. You gave a thumbs up and chuckled nervously, "He's on his way!" You sat back down into your chair and exhaled, muttering the phrase to yourself again. "He's on his way.."
The time it took for Ben to get there was filled with awkward silence, interrupted only by the odd question from a curious suit about your pregnancy and the baby. Which was met with a vague and elusive answer. There was no way in hell you were going to give them any more information about it than what they already had.
Then finally, Ben appeared, bursting into the conference room decked out in his suit, hair dishevelled, panting ever so slightly, knuckles bruised. So you were right, there had been a supe nearby. He looked at you with a loving urgency and you stood up, one hand on your stomach as you nodded your head. You were okay, the both of you were, but more importantly, you were ready.
Ben landed the first hit and the HR manager's head rolled down the conference table like a bloody bowling ball. You struck next, your unhelpful rep ended up being useful for the first time in their life by acting as a human shield as you burst through their chest and clawed out the Head of Legal's throat. The others got out their tranqs - right again, but you unsheathed your forearm from your rep's chest and threw their body onto them, knocking them off their feet.
"Glad you got the message." You told him in relief as you crushed an approaching man's skull in your hand, blood decorating your face like gruesome confetti from a piñata. You quickly dropped him and continued walking towards your saviour.
"Well at first I thought you were trying something new-" Ben kicked another suit's chest in, smiling as he fell to the floor, there weren't many left now. "-but by daddio, I started to realise that something was wrong, darling doll and honeybuns was then just obvious"
"Oh so star-spangled-bugaboo and super trooper were fine, but you drew the line at daddio?" You laughed, hands on your hips as he finished the rest off. Happy that the threats had now been eliminated, Ben allowed himself to relax- slightly and turned to look at you.
You looked ravishing.
His little psycho.
Your hair was wild, no longer in the neat ponytail you had agonised over this morning. The blood that drenched your clothes hung to your curves perfectly, showed off your baby bump beautifully. The look light and love in your eyes? Intoxicating.
He quickly strove over and placed a firm hand on the back of your neck and pulled you closer to him. How could he have ever taken this- you- for granted. He would damn himself a hundred times and a hundred times more for it. You squeaked at the force behind his kiss but happily melted into it and for a brief moment you thought you were going to have reenact the last time the two of you had been there. If you ignored the background last time, you could ignore the blood, guts and gore that made it up now.
Unfortunately, Ben pulled away, pressing his forehead against your own. You whined and he smirked. "Sorry baby, but Butcher's waiting outside in the car, gotta get you and bugaboo out of here."
"That's not sticking!"
"It so is."
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fox-bright · 4 months
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OKAY SO I HAVE TO TALK ABOUT THE WHOLE SENDING CREMAINS TO THE MOON THING If you haven't heard about it, a bunch'a dead people (cremated) (just a teaspoon or less of each) are going to the Moon, where they will stay forever. They left this morning, riding up on a United Launch Alliance rocket for Peregine Mission One, technically out of Pittsburgh, PA but launched as usual from Florida. There are five NASA payloads on the mission, so Science is Happening. That’s cool, I’m all for it. But I, and it turns out the Navajo Nation, are not very cool with the Elysium and Celestis parts of the deal, which is sending a hundred something dead people’s remains up there. I’m against it because while I’m all for scattering cremains in nature—returning your carbon to the cycle—and I’m all for cemeteries and tombs, this won’t be either; there’s not any breaking down, there’s not any cycle, and there’s no hallowed ground. The Navajo Nation, in the letter they wrote to NASA in December, is against it because to them the Moon is sacred. You don’t just drop corpses on sacred things, basically. They weren’t asking to stop the mission, just to be consulted about how to handle it with grace; their request was denied. NASA couldn’t have done anything for them, anyway, because this isn’t a NASA mission even if they’re sending payloads up. So the Magical Flying Husband and I good-naturedly Got Into It on the topic, on Saturday, and we still don’t quite agree. To my mind, it’s gross and tacky to throw a Space Rubbermaid full’a cremains up there. There were already the remains of one single person on the moon, as Eugene Shoemaker’s ashes went up with the Lunar Prospector thirty-something years ago. He was a scientist who trained Apollo astronauts about what to expect when they reached the Moon; a geologist with his eyes on the stars. Having him up there doesn’t oog me out. Having a bunch of randos who only get to go there because their families have the money for it, that oogs me out. And then there’s just the pure metaphysical aspect; we put gates around our cemeteries for a reason. We make specific places out to be the resting places of the dead, so that we can say here are the dead and here the dead are not. Most of the religions or belief systems which have the dead remain in the home, on altars or in special (holy!) rooms within the building, also have requirements for attendance on those lost relatives. Incense, prayer, attention. You can’t do that if you lawn-dart Grandma onto the Moon. So throwing a bunch of bodies into a place where they will never degrade, without marking out land as “this specific place is where our dead go,” is either a hugely expensive method of littering, or it makes the whole Moon into a cemetery.
So the MFH and I have this discussion, back and forth, and then we realize we don’t really have any data. How many people are going up? Who are they? What’s the deal? So I looked it up. There are two companies sending cremains on this trip, Celestis and Elysium. Both of them have (frankly, tacky) websites selling you the ability to send Grandma to the Moon.
Celestis starts you at about three thousand US dollars to put some ashes onto a payload that goes up, and then comes down again; the equivalent of tying her to an Estes rocket that you launch from the park, only this is a proper spacegoing rocket that gets up there. She just doesn't get to take the whole ride.
Further Celestis packages allow you to put Grandma into orbit, send Grandma to the Moon, or send Grandma out into Deep Space.
(Reading that aloud is the point where the MFH's ears really quirked. It is very difficult and very expensive to get something properly into Deep Space. That offering is bullshit, and can't not be bullshit, and this is where the MFH decided probably this whole thing was more than a little scammy.)
The Orbit Grandma package is particularly romantic; the orbit she'll be put into is a degrading one, so that after some time spinning around our gorgeous blue marble, she'll reenter the atmosphere and become a visible shooting star.
(The MFH said "Is there going to be a big enough payload to be visible with the naked eye? What amount of matter is required for that?" and then we had to do Math about it. Of course, it's not just Grandma who would be on that bus, it's another hundred people or whatever; the image appears to show a hundred or more thimbles of cremains stored separately in basically a large cube container. So maybe the size of a soccer ball? I think it would be visible. It is, however, impossible to say "look there, and you'll see Grandma!" so while it would be visible to someone, it's not going to be something you can make sure to see.)
Elysium offers all the same packages, with slightly different names. But unlike Celestis, Elysium has a little row at the bottom of the page with photographs of previous launches. They've done this before, they're saying, and Grandma is safe with them.
So I looked up the launches, and found a Wikipedia page on them. And oh my god. That's where my ears quirked, and then I started cackling, and the whole slightly-fractious discussion with the MFH absolutely dissolved into macabre jokes.
Because, yeah, there have been two previous launches. One of them failed to reach orbit. A payload of Grandmas was put onto the next one, to make up for the failure.
The second launch, which was to be a Shooting Star trip for the god knows how many people that the first launch failed? That one made it to orbit! All good, right? Now Grandma can orbit for a while, and then immolate for a second time, this one much more spectacular and high-velocity than the first?
ABSOLUTELY not.
Because of licensing issues.
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(image: two columns of text describing Elysium launches: ORS-4 Elysium Star I, launched on a Super Strypi, was destined for reentry failed to reach orbit.
SSO-A Elysium STar II, launched on a Falcon 9, was destined for reentry and made orbit successfully. "Orbit was to decay in 2 years, but satellite was locked into the Lower Free-Flyer dispenser due to license timing issues." )
Grandma is stuck in the dispenser. Grandma's in a gacha-gacha that just spins around and around and around and around, never releasing its prize to her glorious conflagration.
Because of licensing issues.
I'm siding with the Navajo Nation with this one, either way, but I have to wonder if those folks are actually getting to the Moon as planned.
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Something I’ve been thinking about lot lately are movies that I would introduce to people who haven’t seen many (or any) movies from Classic Hollywood.  If a friend came to me and asked me to recommend old movies, what would I choose?
What do I consider Old Hollywood “gateway movies”?
*Originally was going to stick to movies made before 1960, but one 60′s movie could not be ignored.*
Roman Holiday
I’ve heard this referred to as a “reverse Cinderella story” and I think that’s a great description.  It’s about a woman who just wants to get away from her stressful life and have fun...even if for only one day.  It really has it all...it’s lighthearted, funny, romantic and bittersweet.  And while these are in no particular order, this would probably be the first movie I’d suggest to someone.
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On The Waterfront
To me, this works as a great introduction because it actually is a bit of a transition movie for Hollywood...and by that I’m referring to the acting style.  Nearly every actor in this movie came from The Actor’s Studio, bringing the more grounded, realistic approach to acting that modern audiences are used to (compared to the more presentational style of the 30′s and 40′s).  So, this movie is a great way to ease them into Old Hollywood.  And the story still feels relevant today...trying to find the courage to stand up to the big guy who has his foot on the back of everyone’s neck...and risk alienating your friends in the process.
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The Adventures of Robin Hood
Of course, I was going to recommend this one!  This movie is just...so much fun...even if a person is new to Classic Hollywood, they are guaranteed to find something they like about this one.  Even if it’s just the swordfights or the score...but honestly, everyone I’ve shown this to has really enjoyed it (even people who don’t like adventure movies).
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Casablanca
Yes, this seems like an obvious choice, since it’s one of the greatest movies ever made.  But there’s a reason for that.  The acting, directing and writing are iconic and you really can’t ask for more.  Plus, one of the main points of the story is about sticking it to the Nazi’s.  I think we can all (hopefully) agree that that’s a point in this movie’s favor.
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12 Angry Men
Another movie that still feels timeless and relevant even after all these years.  It discusses themes of class, parent/child relationships, justice, ignorance and so much more, you’d believe it was written today.  And the performances from every single actor in that room is outstanding...there are some scenes that are so electric as you feel the tension rising.
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How to Steal a Million
Another Audrey movie!  This is a perfect option is someone wants to watch a fun, fluffy comedy.  It’s light and relatively low-stakes...it almost feels like a send-up of heist movies, except they don’t wink at the camera.  It’s just that instead of stealing something because the fate of the nation depends on it, or to stick it to the man...Nicole just wants to steal back something she already owns.  And the way they go about it is absurdly hilarious.  The chemistry between our two leads helps a lot, as they are so much fun to watch.
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Summer Stock
If I was only going to recommend one musical from back then, I’d have to recommend Summer Stock!  Not just because it’s one of my favorites, but because I do think it’s a fairly good choice to ease someone into older musicals.  It’s not super elaborate and grand...no Busby Berkely musical numbers or elaborate sequences...just a bunch of people trying to put on a show.  And the love story between Joe and Jane feels so real and grounded...no love at first sight, no enemies to lovers...just two people who happen to be perfect for each other, and were lucky enough to meet.  This is Gene Kelly and Judy Garland at their best and I want other people to see it.
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Rear Window
And if they wanted to see a Hitchcock movie, but maybe aren’t super into horror...I think I’d start them off with Rear Window.  This isn’t a traditional scary movie...as with most Hitchcock movies, it’s all about the tension.  But it isn’t released with jump scare and music stingers.  And around the tension, you have this romantic drama between James Stewart and Grace Kelly, which is so fun to watch (and we can’t forget Thelma Ritter and her one-liners!)
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And once they become hooked, the next round of films I’d suggest would be: A Streetcar Named Desire, The Maltese Falcon, Psycho, The Philadelphia Story, The Heiress, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, and Meet Me in St. Louis.
Any that you would add?
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angelltheninth · 6 months
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Becoming Unbroken
Pairing: Korra x Asami Sato
Tags: smut, nsfw, sneaking away, grinding, against the wall sex, first time (for Korra), kissing, hickyes, old injuries acting up, mentioned half-paralysis, hurt/comfort
Word count: 1.4k
Ao3
A/N: I really hope that Korrasami- eh, Legend of Korra movie is still coming out because damn I need more of them.
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Thank Raava that Zhu Li's presidential announcement went by without a hitch. With tensions still brewing between the Spirit world and humans everyone could use a bit of downtime, and honestly Korra and Asami might have just gotten back from their vacation but they were already tired again. They managed to sneak away from the main party after some complimentary statements, allowing the two lovers some needed alone time.
“I need a vacation, another one.” Korra groaned as she stretched her arms above her head, groaning at the stretch of her muscles and not at all oblivious to the way Asami stared at them so openly.
“I don’t think we can do that so soon. But maybe next year. I could take you to the beach next time.” She said trying not to be too excited about the idea of seeing all of Korra’s muscles on full display, under the Sun, sweating… now she was sweating. Honestly dating Korra would be the death of Asami Sato for sure. “Or we could visit the Fire Nation for the festival. I haven’t been to a festival in a while.”
"Mmm, festivals sound like a good time. Honestly anything would be a good time with you Asami."
"Anything?" Asami smirked but Korra didn't quite catch it, only walked a bit more in front of her to have the space to gesture with her arms. Waterbenders.
"Yeah, we could go to the festival, the maybe Zaofu, see the Oasis again, then take a trip back to-" Asami's kiss interrupted her mid-talk but why would she complain. The worlds softest lips were on her own so Korra had to kiss back, she had to pull Asami into a hug and try not to notice how soft she was in other places. "Or we could... kiss... a lot... and... and... what was I talking about?"
How was it possible for the most powerful person in the world to be that cute?
"A vacation. But I think it can wait a bit." Asami leaned in close, catching Korra glancing back at her lips and the bit of red lipstick that smudged, "Right now I want to be in the moment with you." In the moment where Korra kissed her again, where Asami ran her hands up those muscular arms, smaller than before but Korra was slowly building her previous muscle mass up. Something that Asami appreciated a lot, especially because Korra could now lift her up so easily and spin her around at every reunion kiss.
Or she could pin her to the wall. That works too. With the party still in full swing neither needed to hold back the sounds they drew from each other. Korra’s hands ran over the soft, smooth material of Asami’s dress while she moved her head a tiny bit to deepen the kiss, the two drunk of each other rather then the drinks they had before. They still tasted of them though, so sweet.
“Can I get closer?” Korra asked with her eyes half-hooded her hands bunching up Asami’s red dress to reveal more of her soft, irresistible thighs.
“You don’t even have to ask me that.” How many times did Asami imagine, no dream of this exact thing, making out with Korra, cupping her strong jaw and feeling every warm breath the Avatar exhaled against her lips. “You can always touch me Korra.” She wanted to be touched by Korra for years. The amount of horny dreams she’s had was probably more then she had about any other person she was ever attracted to before. “Can I touch you too?”
"I'll go crazy if you don't." Korra responded with an equal if not grater amount of desire. The Avatar's lips attacked Asami's neck.
"You can leave marks." Attention was thrown Asami's way no matter where she went, it was her name, her reputation, her looks, her money, name it and she's experianced all those reasons for flirting. The cold stone of the building pressed against Asami's naked back, Korra's warm body to her front, warmer lips on her neck, gasping when Asami slipped her thigh between Korra's legs.
It wasn't hard to guess how much Korra wanted this by the way she now fully pressed Asami against the wall, hands on her girlfriend's hips, keeping her still as she kissed her neck, rolled her hips against that godly thigh. Asami could probably feel how wet she was, even through her clothes. It felt wonderful to feel that tingly sensation between her legs again. Korra wanted to chase it to the very end, encouraged by Asami's breathy moans in her ear.
"Fuck, I- Asami, I-" She moaned against Asami's neck, shivering when she felt the rough pads of Asami's fingers smoothing over her neck and face and pushing it back to make eye contact.
"It's okay Korra." Was it? To get off like this? Here and now? Yes, Asami wanted her to, Korra wanted to, she wanted to come, she wanted to feel pleasure again.
Pleasure that made her whole body shake against Asami's, it made her hips buck, her pants flood with wetness and her breath stop in her lungs. Then came the pain, shooting from her spine to her legs and making her stifle a cry, but just barely as she collapsed against Asami's body.
"I can't feel my legs." Korra still struggled to catch her breath when Asami wrapped her up in a hug.
"That good was it?" And she didn't even do that much. Korra was gonna lose her mind once Asami got serious.
"No. Well, it was but... I literally can't feel my legs." That was the moment every shred of joy or pleasure drained from Asami's face. She took in Korra's posture, cramped and defensive, clinging onto Asami's hips, her face hidden away in Asami's shoulder, her breathing fast and scared.
Asami looked around to see if there was anyone who could help them but the two were still completely alone, "I can go get help."
"Don't. Please just stay here, give me a minute." The last thing Asami wanted was to upset Korra more when she was already so vulnerable. "O-Okay. I think it's starting to come back. Damn it! I thought I could handle it now!"
"Handle what?"
"When... when I was recovering I couldn't feel anything past my hips. Except for pain." Korra confessed with only a bit of shame.
Asami took a few seconds to process that and connect it to what just happened, "Are you saying that was your first orgasm in three years?"
"Yeah. I tried but... it never worked. I didn't think I'd ever be able to... but now I did and I think the sudden shock might have been a little too much." Korra leaned back a little and massaged her legs, sighing in relief when she was able to feel every touch, "I need to get used to it again that's all. It took so long to get back into walking and bending again after all that. I'll be fine, my body just needs some time."
"And I'll be happy to help." Asami didn't mean for that to sound as seductive as it did but her whispering sure didn't help any. "Once you're okay with it I mean."
"Oh I'm sure you're very eager to help the Avatar, Miss Sato." Good to know Korra still had her humor. "I never thought this would happen from this. Bending yeah but... Spirits I'm a little embaressed now."
"Don't be." Asami pressed soft kiss on Korra's forehead and pulled the Avatar almost into her lap, "There's nothing shameful about healing. Even if you couldn't do that anymore I'd still love you. It's not all about sex Korra."
Korra's face burned once again but this time she didn't hide it away, "I know that. But I want to make up for those three years. Most of the time I... you know... I thought about you."
This was entirely new information to Asami. She grinned like an owlcat that caught a koi fish, "Yeah? I'd love to know what you thought about. If you tell me yours I'll tell you mine." It was a relief to hear that Asami thought about her too.
"Deal. But let's stay here for a bit more. Cuddling was also included." Korra snuggled up as close as she could, her head against Asami's chest, listening to her heartbeat. To think that she was so lucky to get to hear it for the rest of her life, no matter how long or short that may be.
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visorforavisor · 1 year
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as an Irish (we don’t call it “Gaelic”, ever) speaker and a Sunny fan, I thought it would be fun to do a bit of a post about the Irish-language scene in The Gang’s Still in Ireland, because it’s not a scene I see widely discussed but I adore it.
some background. I am not a native Gaeilgeoir (Irish speaker) — my first language is English — but I started learning it age five and have always had very high grades in it and a huge love for it. I was hugely excited about Charlie Kelly being able to read Irish in the previous episode, and even more so when he turned out to be able to speak it.
Colm Meaney, the actor who plays Shelley Kelly, grew up in Ireland and as such would have learned Irish throughout his time in school. (this has been required by law more or less since Irish independence, and it was already quite common before that. nowadays, you can get exemptions for things like dyslexia but otherwise you have to do it.) this is clear in his ease with the language. (I will do a post about where in Ireland Shelley lives at some point, because there aren’t many areas where Irish is the principal language, but that is for another day!) both the actor and the character have easy and good Irish.
Charlie Day, as an Italian-American, obviously does not actually speak the language and presumably learned the lines as a bunch of gibberish sounds. (nonetheless, some of his pronunciations do suggest he had the words written down non-phonetically too.) his delivery of the lines is god damn amazing. Charlie Kelly’s Irish is not remotely American-accented. if I heard someone speaking Irish like that, I’d assume they sounded Irish when speaking English. he doesn’t even sound neutral in Irish; he does actively have an accent (the word choices are more non-regional, not pointing to any of the three distinct dialects, but this makes sense as the same is true of Shelley’s Irish). his pronunciation is so on point and his accent is seriously just a delight to listen to. that’s serious effort to have been put in by an American in a show that routinely makes fun of Irish-Americans! I cannot stress enough how cool it is to see my national language like this and how good a job he does.
as a side note, Charlie Kelly finding Irish much easier to read than English makes total sense! he clearly has dyslexia, as well as intellectual disabilities and autism, so literacy being tricky is totally fair, but is probably being made worse in English by how much of a god damn ridiculous illogical irregular mess the language is. English has around two hundred irregular verbs, and that’s before we even begin to consider the irregularity of its spelling. Irish has eleven irregular verbs, multiple of which are only irregular in one tense. its spelling is entirely consistent and, once the rules are known, any word (pretty much) can be flawlessly pronounced from reading it or flawlessly spelled from hearing it. (I promise Irish names make sense. just not if you try to use English rules on them. the languages are very different!) Irish is one of the most regular languages out there.
so, I thought I’d go through the actual scene. I’m going to put each line, the direct translation, the subtitle provided, and a comment. hopefully this will be interesting to someone other than me!
·—·
“is mise do pheannchara, a Charlie.” (Shelley)
direct translation: “I’m your pen pal, Charlie.”
subtitle provided: “I’m your pen pal, Charlie.”
okay, so they translate “pen pal” two different ways in this scene. the first, used here, is “peannchara”. this is a compound word, much like all those long words you get in German. it’s a perfectly good choice given there is no one standard choice for translating that concept.
“tá brón orm, ach ní thuigim cad atá ráite agat. is féidir liom gibberish a léamh, ach ní féidir liom í a labhairt.” (Charlie)
direct translation: “I’m sorry, but I don’t understand what you’ve said. I’m able to read gibberish, but I’m not able to speak it.”
subtitle provided: “I’m sorry. I don’t understand what you just said. I read gibberish, but I don’t speak it.”
I would slightly disagree with the subtitles here. the “just” bit isn’t expressed at all. in fact, there is no Irish equivalent to that word, and we often just use the English one in the middle of an Irish sentence because of this. however, I expect that RCG (Rob McElhenney, Charlie Day, Glenn Howerton) wrote the subtitles and then handed them to an Irish translator, in which case the translator did a perfectly good job. a couple of notes about the use of “gibberish” here. I love it. firstly, we totally do drop English words into sentences like that. secondly, I really like the choice to use the feminine form of “it” here (that is, to make “gibberish” a feminine noun). all languages except English are feminine nouns in Irish as a rule, so it’s just a lovely detail calling back to the fact that Charlie thinks of it as the gibberish language. also, Charlie Day really does absolutely nail that voiceless velar fricative (the consonant sound in “ach”, as in Scottish “loch” or any number of German words), a sound even many natively English-speaking Irish people are lazy about. good on him.
“níl aon ciall le sin. sé á labhairt anois!” (Shelley)
direct translation: “there’s no sense to that. it’s being spoken now!”
subtitle provided: “that doesn’t make any sense. you’re speaking it now!”
I adore the phrasing of the first sentence here. thoroughly authentic. there are much more obvious ways to phrase it, but this is absolutely what a native speaker might go with. same goes for the second, actually. Colm Meaney says the second line in a sort of shortened way (same idea as how we might turn “do not” into “don’t”) so I’ve struggled slightly with how to directly translate it. interestingly, Shelley categorises “gibberish” as a masculine noun here, but this isn’t really wrong since it doesn’t have an official grammatical gender due to not being an actual Irish word. just a little odd. also, to fit better to the subtitle of the second sentence, I personally would’ve gone with “tá sé á labhairt agat anois” rather than “tá sé á labhairt anois” (the full version of what Shelley says), as this includes the information of by whom it is being spoken.
“’s é mo dheartháir mo chara pinn.” (Charlie)
direct translation: “it’s my brother that’s my pen pal.”
subtitle provided: “but my pen pal is my brother.”
firstly, to be clear, the nuance of the sentence structure here is not captured in either of the above translations because there simply is not an English equivalent to it. secondly, Charlie uses a contraction here by shortening “is é mo dheartháir mo chara pinn”. super cool. also, there’s that other translation of “pen pal”! this one is “cara pinn”, which uses the Irish genitive case (the word mutates instead of using an equivalent of the English word “of”; this case also exists in other languages including Swedish, German, Latin, and Greek). I like this translation very much too. both work! Charlie Day again delivers this line really nicely, even stressing the word for “brother” (and pronouncing its initial consonant mutation absolutely gorgeously)! I am truly very impressed.
“níl aon fhírinne le sin, a mhic. ’s é do chara pinn… d’athair.” (Shelley)
direct translation: “there’s no truth to that, son. it’s your pen pal who is… your father.”
subtitle given: “no son. your pen pal is your… father.”
so, I really disagree with the first sentence of the subtitles here. it works, but also misses a lot of the beautiful nuance that could have been got. I would have gone with “that’s not true, son” or, more likely, “that’s not right, son”. I also disagree with the placement of the ellipsis in the second sentence, as you see (and my frustrations in translating this sentence structure to English continue, as well). however I like the use of “a mhic” (“son”) here, very much. this is a mutated form of “mac”, meaning “son” (yes, as in all of those Irish surnames; they all just basically say who the person is the son of). it carries both meanings that exist in English: an actual son, but also the use of the word as an affectionate way to refer to any man younger than the (usually male) speaker. this is a really nice choice.
·—·
so, yeah! those are my thoughts. feel free to ask any questions you like. I love this scene so much. as well as the reasons above about how good the translation and delivery is, I also love two other main things about this.
firstly, the level of dignity given to the language. Sunny makes fun of Irish-Americans all the time, but doesn’t really do the same to Irish people from Ireland, which I like (I do also wanna talk about Mac and Charlie as members of the Irish diaspora because it is so so interesting, but that is for another day). Irish as a language is not often given dignity, especially in American or English media, so I really love that it isn’t the butt of the joke here.
secondly, that such a significant scene is delivered through this language. just wonderful. after fourteen and a half series, we finally discover the biological father, and the scene cannot be separated from this beautiful language. it just is so perfect.
RCG, and of course Charlie Day in particular, we Gaeilgeoirí (Irish speakers) thank you! our little language made it to the screens of so many people around the world.
I hope this was interesting haha.
·—·
edits: fixed some things I mistyped.
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Hello Lady Raven! How do you do? I hope you're having a good day.
I was looking stalking at your blog when I saw your post which contained a world map of the game. This made me really curious: what informations do we have about the countries, kingdoms and other lands that appear in the map? Specially the Land of Dawning, Sunshine Lands and Kingdom of Heroes. Does the world of Twist have other lands that do not appear in the map? Are the shaftlands some sort of Twist Europe (as in; a bunch of countries that signed a agreement to be sort of unified)? And what is that big empty land north of the shaftlands?
I'm really curious about the countries and their cultures in the Twist world, I feel like we don't really have a lot of info on them, and as someone that really loves geography and history, that makes me a bit sad 😂.
I hope you're healthy, thank you for your time!
Oh, the map from this post?
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Hello, hello!
Unfortunately, I don’t think I’m able to compile ALL lore we have on all available countries, cities, and towns into a single post (especially when there’s a lot of other questions that have also been posed + need answering in your ask). That’s way too large of a scope for a single post. I did compile lots of food/related lore here if you want to take a look, as I find the food and food customs in a region say a lot about its culture and history. (Plus, I’m just very interested in food!)
If you’re curious about each location, you can find the bulk of information yourself in related hometown events—however, tons of lore tidbits are also dropped in non-hometown events (ex: Floyd talks about land training camp in the second beans day event), voice lines (ex: Dorm Uniform Leona says that in his home land, scars are seen as signs of bravery), and vignettes (ex: In Jade’s School Uniform vignette, Kalim talks about how serving very sweet tea is a luxurious way to welcome guests to your home in the Scalding Sands). There’s lots out there if you’re willing to search for it!!
Please be aware that we haven’t visited most of the areas on the map, so we are still missing a lot of information on them. The Land of Dawning, Sunshine Lands, and the Kingdom of Heroes are particularly lacking in information. They’ve been mentioned offhandedly every so often. Platinum Jacket vignettes feature the boys visiting the National Museum of Art in the Land of Dawning, and there are sometimes bits of lore which mention these lands. The Mermaid Princess that strengthened the bond between merpeople and humans married a prince from the Sunshine Lands, I believe. In his Broomquet card, Idia says there is a place called “Hydra Valley” in the Kingdom of Heroes (which probably is a reference to the place Hercules defeated the hydra at). Finally, Crowley went with Idia’s parents to the Land of Dawning with to discuss important matters yet to be explained to us. The Land of Dawning is also referenced in a call for evacuation in book 7.
The map you see above is definitely incomplete. We don’t see several vital spots marked even though we’ve visited them: the City of Flowers/Fleur City, the Scalding Sands (and Silk City), Clock Town, Fairest City, the Land of Swords, Dawn City, and more. Heck, the continent that contains Briar Valley isn’t even labeled but somehow Briar Valley itself is. We cannot tell if this is even the entire world map or just a portion of it, since Lilia describes “a land to the east”/the Land of the Crimson Long, but the most eastward locations depicted seem to be the Queendom and the Afterglow Savanna. I definitely feel like there has to be more to it than what we currently see.
I would caution against saying that “[TWST location] = irl location” as even though there are oftentimes strong parallels or inspirations drawn between the two, they shouldn’t be conflated for one another. TWST often forms cultures of its own or borrows from many inspirations to create these places and to present them to us. Comparisons can be made, but let’s remain cautious to not veer too much into that since there’s no clear 1:1. For example, the Shaftlands could be interpreted as “twisted Europe”, but not really because the area often considered “twisted Britain” (which is a part of Europe) is seemingly separated and located on the other side of the map. And then you notice that this “twisted Britain” has a collection of islands that very much resembles irl Japan, an eastern country. So… in essence, sure, the City of Flowers/Fleur City resembles Paris, Fairest City feels very European and German, and Harveston is a blend of Nordic inspirations, but at the end of the day, they’re their own thing.
We don’t know what the land right above the Shaftlands is as of right now. For all we know, it could just be even more of the Shaftlands since the country seems to be a large expanse of land with variable weather depending on the region.
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mychlapci · 1 month
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From your post about tf humping random cars: now I’m imagining it as some National Geographic Channel documentary, like “and here the wild sportcar approaching an ambulance. See, you might think the size difference would discourage it, but the sportcar knows the ambulance’s strong body can carry big, healthy litters. Look, see how it’s pushing his bumper against the ambulance’s tailpipe? It’s making sure it’s primed for breeding…”
Man’s then, it’s all like, cars mounting each others, suspensions creaking and whining, tired squeaking and car alarms going crazy. At climax, sirens and clacson go off, scaring the whole neighborhood.
Also, funny idea, Drift being absolutely shocked when, finding himself stuck close to an incident, he can’t find Ratchet between the various ambulances, and he start talking with some random vehicle.
i absolutely had a cybertronian humping a car in root mode on my mind but this is somehow hotter. I like alt-mode sex.
Humans making a whole documentary on cybertronian mating behaviour bc they can and also if they didn't want them to, they shouldn't have been humping vehicles in car mode in the first place, lol. I'm imagining a bunch of camera-men staking out a hospital parking lot, waiting until a transformer shows up and starts to press their bumper against one of the ambulances, gently commenting how the cybertronian's probably too revved up to care, and is attempting to mate it regardless of whether or not it's sentient...
Two cybertronians getting really horny and they don't feel like transforming so they hump in car more... I frankly think we don't utilize sirens and car alarms and horns often enough in transformers porn, i feel like a cybertronian overloading so hard their siren/car horn/whatever goes off is so hot...
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beardedmrbean · 4 months
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I heard we are now at the cusp of chlamydia being untreatable via antibiotics, fun times
In United States, drug-resistant gonorrhea is a public health problem of national concern. But untreatable gonorrhea isn’t the only STD that has health officials worried.
Earlier this week, the World Health Organization released new treatment guidelines for three common sexually transmitted diseases — chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis— in response to increasing antibiotic resistance.
Gonorrhea has developed the strongest resistance to drugs, but the worries about untreatable syphilis and chlamydia come at a time when rates for the three STDs are rising rapidly in the U.S, especially among young people ages 20 to 24. According to data published by the CDC in 2014, the most recent year available: cases of chlamydia have increased 2.5 percent; gonorrhea 5.1 percent; and syphilis 15.1 percent. This is the first increase in the United States since 2006.
How worried should we be?
“STDs are hidden epidemics of enormous health and economic consequence in the United States,” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In the US, STDs are most frequent among college-age women, the highest prevalence being among women, ages 20 to 24.
According to the CDC, there are about 820,000 new gonorrhea infections each year in the United States. In fact, gonorrhea is the second most commonly reported infectious disease, after chlamydia.
In the past, gonorrhea was successful treated by several classes of antibiotics, including the ubiquitous penicillin. Over time, however, gonorrhea has developed resistance to many of them, and now, we are down to one recommended effective class of antibiotics to treat it.
The problem doesn’t end there. Gonorrhea is even starting to show decreased susceptibility to this “last line” treatment option. This makes this bacterium a multidrug-resistant organism, which are often called “superbugs”.
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As for chlamydia and syphilis, drug resistant strains have not become common in the US yet, but the WHO report warns that this is a growing problem in many parts of the world.
How can untreatable STDs be prevented?
Anyone who is sexually active can get an STD.
That said, STDs are preventable and there are steps you can take to keep yourself and your partner healthy. Remember that protecting your health is your responsibility:
Condoms: Use them correctly every time you have sex.
Have fewer partners: Ideally, agree to only have sex with one person who agrees to only have sex with you.
Talk with your partner: Talk with your sex partner about STDs and staying safe before having sex.
Get tested: Make sure you both get tested to know for sure that neither of you has an STD.
Get vaccinated: Safe and highly effective vaccines are available for two STDs: hepatitis B and HPV. HPV is in fact the most common STD. There are specific recommendations for routine and catch up vaccinations for these two STDs. ____________________
This is from 2016 and I cut a bunch out of the middle.
2nd bullet point there probably gonna make some people grumpy, something about suggesting monogamy makes people mad.
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crepe-of-wrath · 1 year
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Shameless Shouta Scarf Smut Saturday
fourth one in a row
warnings/tags: 18+; bondage; fem reader; praise kink; possessive power dynamics; vigilante Aizawa/eeeeeevil Hero Commission AU to set up the Daddyzawa vibes; people who exasperate each other-to-lovers; Author Reader just wants to be Aizawa's good girl is that really so much to ask?
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One month. The representative of the HPSC was on TV explaining that it had been one month since the vigilante Eraserhead had devastated the nation and attempted to undermine the harmony of society by abducting you, [Name], the popular and promising hope of the people and probable future No. 1 Hero.
"Hmmm," said Shouta, who was reclining on the couch behind you, hair tied up, wearing only some sweatpants slung rather low on his hips. "How wicked of me to do such a thing."
You giggled.
In reality, he had saved your life from a bunch of rather low-level villains who should have been easy work for the Hero Commission's new poster child.
But, as he had taken great pains to point out to you back then, it wasn't easy work for you because you didn't know what you were doing. In response, you had hurled at him all the nasty words the HPSC had taught you--bitter man, mediocrity, couldn't even keep a position teaching little kids, reduced to cheap vigilante work.
That had been when he made you the offer. "Show me you have the skills to escape from a 'bitter, mediocre vigilante' like me," he had said, "and I'll let you go and tell all your little friends in the press just how silly you made me look."
It turned out the only mediocre hero in his little hideaway was you. And boy, did Shouta love reminding you of it every single time he bound or tripped you with that goddamned scarf of his:
"Shouldn't you be able to escape, since you're the Future No. 1 Hero, sweetie?"
"Oh angel, what would all your fans say if they saw this?"
At first, you hated the derisive pet names and you hated how he would pick you up, pressing the scratchy fibers of the binding cloth into you, as though you were little more than a bundle to bring back into the house. And you could tell that he hated your lack of awareness and was exasperated at how you just expected everything to work out somehow.
But, slowly, things had started to change. You had become addicted to the white-hot lust that was triggered every single time those binding cloths wrapped around you, bringing you to the ground so that Shouta could loom over you, letting you take in his toned body before hoisting you over his shoulder and taking you back to your "captivity."
As for him, it was little things--your conversations now being punctuated with lots of shared dry humor, him suddenly developing a penchant for regular shirtlessness and wearing his hair the way you liked, the fact that he bough you small gifts and new clothes (skimpy to boot), his gestures like taking the time to make you nice tea--that spoke loudly indeed.
That's why your "escape" attempts had become increasingly laughable and now amounted to little more than "chase me, Shouta, and bind me and throw me over your shoulder and 'accidentally' touch me wherever you want while sternly lecturing me," and why his once derisive pet names of angel and sweetheart were now delivered in such a way that made your thighs slick and your brain fogged.
Although you clearly wanted to fuck one another to oblivion, the only accurate thing the HPSC had told you about Eraserhead was that he was desperate to be Not Like Other Heroes. Thus, there was a part of him that was angry with himself for falling under the spell of the shatteringly beautiful favorite of the loathsome Commission, just like so many other fools, and so, unfortunately for you both, he was fighting himself.
Fortunately, you knew how to read people and give them what they wanted without them even realizing what you were doing. It was the silver lining of your dysfunctional youth, what had allowed you to bewitch the HPSC and the public, and would soon--very soon if you had your way--allow you to complete the bewitchment of Shouta Aizawa himself.
You hadn't realized that this was the one-month anniversary of your disappearance--that was a lucky stroke. It would surely make him think about how awful you had been back then, which would only heighten how sweet you had become for him now. You had even chose to wear his most salacious gift to date, a deep purple tank and boy-short set. He hadn't been able to take his eyes off you, and the way he fondled the binding cloth he kept next to him signaled that he was very ready to chase you.
Since you were, after all, about giving people what they wanted, when his phone surprised you both by ringing, you bolted. You had already decided to put in a bit more effort this time, to really make him work for it and get his blood up. You weren't entirely hopeless--Shouta himself had said all you needed was actual proper teaching--and you did last a good ten minutes longer than usual before one of his deceptions worked and you felt the capture weapon encircle you from the ankles up.
You loved it. It was such a high when the binding cloth wrapped around you, gently squeezing your body, the pinch of the fibers stoking your desire. You made a good show of struggling, especially when Shouta finally walked up to where you lay and stood over your body, straddling you as you writhed.
He shook his head and tutted. "Captured again, angel. What a shame." He plucked you off the ground as though you were weightless, and put you over his shoulder.
You squirmed more than usual, trying to kick up, which had the unintended-but-not-really effect of pressing your breasts into his back. You wanted to claw down the expanse of his back so badly; you had vowed to yourself that this would be one of the first things you did once he finally, finally fucked you. With every kick and wriggle, you also tried to grind yourself into his shoulder. Shouta was no fool and knew what you were doing; he was responding to your wantonness with the occasional spank of your ass and stern commands to stop being so ridiculous.
You knew your scheme had been successful when, instead of taking you inside, he slid you off his shoulder and practically threw you against the exterior wall of the house. "You need to be taken care of," he growled low in your ear. You gently bucked your hips toward him as much as your bindings allowed and whimpered. As he responded with a firm and powerful thrust that made you cry out a little, and not just because you could feel him hardening, he continued. "Those people took advantage of you, threw you out there without any real training, and almost got you killed."
He took his hands off of you, balled them up into fists, and pressed them into the wall above your head. His breathing was heavy and his eyes were as desperate as you had ever seen them. He was so close to giving himself over to what he--and you--truly wanted, but something, whether stubbornness, shame, or some jumble of the two, was still stopping him. You could take it no longer; it was time to give him a little push.
You looked up at him, batted your pretty eyes, and then looked down like a good, shy girl would. "I know, Shouta," you said in your softest, sweetest voice. "I need someone to take care of me." You paused, darted your eyes up and down quickly, and hoped you were as blushing and docile as his heart's deepest desire. "I...I need you to take care of me, please."
His breath hitched. You were almost there. So close you could nearly taste him. "I will be so good for you, Shouta. Just for you, your own good girl, who is so grateful to you for protecting her."
It was at this moment that you both became aware that, because of the way your clothes had gotten caught up in the capture weapon, one of your shoulder straps was slipping. You tried to shimmy your shoulder a little bit. You didn't know if it helped, or if the universe and gravity were just on your side, but it tumbled off, leaving what you knew was a bare, soft, inviting expanse all for him.
That broke the dam. Shouta closed around you so tightly that, even if you hadn't been restrained, it would have been impossible to move. Little sparks moved through your body as first his hair and then his lips brushed against your bare shoulder.
"You're mine now," he said in a hot, clipped whisper between pressing kisses on your shoulder and neck. You couldn't stop your entire body from shuddering in pleasure at having won, and your head fell heavy into his shoulder. You pulled at the binding cloth and whined, hoping that he would release your arms and let you embrace him.
"Not yet," he whispered into your ear. "I still want to play. Don't you want to play...kitten?"
This time, instead of just shuddering from pleasure, you convulsed, and your legs gave way. Shouta scooped you up bridal-style, and your limp body melded into his own. He gently moved the hair away from your eyes as he looked at you in triumph and murmured, "Good girl" into your forehead as he placed a gentle kiss.
You gave him your softest smile as you nestled into the muscles of his chest, more than content to let him think he was the one who won today.
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wandasaura · 2 months
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hi aura! i think i have mega baby fever too honestly 🙁 like ik the convo abt them and babies and marriage has died down a little but i’m sparking it back up again
so ofc we know that wandanat is older than r so i feel they’re destined to have a friend who has a child already and basically said friend asks wandanat if they could babysit and despite their busy schedule wandanat says yes cuz i mean duhh and the baby like favors r for some reason and r just eats that up they’re attached to each other all day long but no one’s complaining
i feel r would’ve had one of those summer jobs to make some extra money before university and stuff and she was probably a babysitter which is why she’s practically a natural
r would def have the baby on her lap at her computer table “teaching” them how to do cs things but it obviously fails cuz baby probably just wants to play so r and baby go to the living room and like r does that thing where u hold the baby and guide them to walk
yeah like maybe the baby is on the brink of speaking and just babbles a bunch of words and r tries to teach baby how to say some names (including her own) and words and baby ends up saying some sort of mixture of rs name somehow and baby giggles a bunch and wandanat see this and it definitely just fuels their baby fever more
especially once r and baby are worn out from playing all day r feeds baby a bottle and they end up passing out on the couch and r is protective of the baby making sure they don’t fall or anything like either baby is surrounded by rs arm or maybe baby is on rs chest
wandanat just follow r and baby everywhere around the house snapping sooo many candid photos for the future
okay that’s the end of my baby rant but i just want one so so so bad or maybe just to babysit a relatives baby soon cuz they’re all so cute
- 🦕
it’s cannon that coulson and may are together and have a little one, and they ask wandanat to babysit on a whim when they’re both called into office for a national security threat. it’s an overnight assignment and while wanda and natasha have important office things to be doing, one of the main perks about running your own company is that you’re available to help your friends when they need it. the little bean is ten months old, an age r considers the sweet spot of babyhood. they’re not just a blob that screams for milk and sleeps, but they’re not entirely mobile yet and they’re cuddly. when she finds out that the baby will be joining them for a day, she goes into mother hen mode and starts frantically picking up the living room and kitchen, making sure all the remotes are places somewhere high and that nothing fragile or sharp is within reach. the baby isn’t walking yet, but she’s cruising all tables and couches so r takes no chances about what determined little hands can reach. the candles and glass decide pieces are all locked away in a closet upstairs, and she’s pleased to find that wanda and natasha have a couple baby toys stored in the garage from when morgan was little. she turns the living room into a playroom before wanda can even come back downstairs from taking a shower.
when phil and may drop the littlest coulson off, r hangs back, not wanting to overwhelm the baby whose already upset that her parents have left. she glides around the kitchen making a snack (overly smashed blueberries and strawberries sliced to small they’re practically inedible) but she will not risk a choking hazard, so natasha doesn’t comment on the fact that the baby can eat normal sized strawberry pieces. when she does come into the living room and sits down besides wanda, whose giving the pitiful little human a bottle, she smiles so softly as she glances down at the little angel dressed in a chaotic blend of colors. she has a sneaking suspicion coulson dressed the little one and they were in too much of a hurry for may to get her redressed. the baby looks up at her and it’s literally game over after that, she reaches a hand out to r, completely transfixed on her to the point where wanda pulls the bottle away in fear that she’ll start choking. r laughs when the baby practically launches itself at her, tiny hands clapping against her cheeks as the little one babbles. they’re inseparable after that. r has the baby either on her hip, cradled to her chest, or they’re both laying on their bellies on the floor of the living room. r makes colors seem like the most interesting thing ever. she’s holding up little plastic blocks and giving full monologues about the color and what else in the world is that color. she practically kills natasha when she gets to the green block and goes, “greens the best color in the world. your aunt wanda and aunt natasha have the brightest green eyes, and sometimes they look like soft blades of grass in early spring, but sometimes, when they get all mean and scary, they look like a forest in the middle of summer that’s three seconds away from being filled with fireflies.” and the baby just drinks up every little word that r says as she chews on her fist.
a couple hours into babysitting, both wanda and natasha have things to get done in the office, and the baby is meant to be napping so they see no problem with sneaking away for a couple of hours, but at the first pitiful whine that slips through the monitor, r is going and picking them up, bouncing around the nursery as she sings a soft song that’s in no way a lullaby, but the baby doesn’t know that. she decides against sleep, and takes the baby to her office where she tries to show them about coding, but tiny hands keep banging against her keyboard and while it’s adorable, she doesn’t want to have to get another one, so she brings the baby downstairs. they have a bottle and a cuddle on the couch, and when wandanat find her again, they’re both sound asleep with a cartoon muted in the background.
when coulson and may come back for their little one, wanda and natasha are quick to offer to babysit whenever it’s needed, eager to fill their camera rolls with more pictures of the two precious girls that have wormed a way into their hearts
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stonedporcupine · 8 days
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Past Due
💚 First Lin Beifong x reader fic y'all !!! 🧡
Slow burn! ❤️‍🔥
All reviews and comments are appreciated;
Will eventually add on Ao3;
Warnings: Violence, little blood.
Chapter 1 Ch 2 - p.1 Ch 2 - p.2 Ch 2 - p. 3 Ch 2 - Part 4
Y/N´s PoV
Ahhh, Republic City, first time I moved in here about 1 year ago I had a blast. I felt it was about time I got myself away from that hell hole I was supposed to call home…but we don’t talk about that. “Bills are catching up to me…and I´ve got nowhere to run.” I mumble beneath my breath, as I hold a bunch of letters on my hand. The large, thick, red letters with a prominent “Past Due” and “Final Demand” written on each one of them. I feel the unpleasant weight on the pit of my stomach and swallow dryly, shoving the letters aside with a loud exhale. Who knew it cost so much to make it to detective?! I mean, sure hands down it’s the fucking capital city of the United Republic Nations AND one of the largest and most modern cities in the world but Tui and La…ease on the prices!
I look up at the old clock, on the small entry hall of my apartment. “Fuck fuck, shit shit shit!!” I gasp, I am so going to be late to practice. I grab my black jacket, with the fire nation insignia on its back, and my dark matte helmet as I run out the door, down the old elevator, towards the garage. The loud and stressful squeaking of the elevator only heightens my already high cortisol levels. I swear to Raava, one day this shit is going to break down and take the building down with it! Once the old, loud, rusty metal doors of the elevator open I barge right out heading for my perfectly parked satocycle on its assigned place. A gift from Asami and Mr Sato for my hard work for the company. Shoving the helmet in my head, part of my dark messy curled hair hangs out on the bottom. I speed out of the garage, the bike taking off the ground slightly as I go over the bump on the entrance of the parking space, joining the satomobiles on the road with a loud squeak from the wheels of the bike, as I drift to the right.
I can´t be late again! Officer Wang will kill me and probably pull me out of the program, which is a big ass no no. I haven’t come this far just to fuck things up all over again.
Chief Beifong´s PoV
“Officer Song, didn´t I JUST tell you to take the route to Northern Avenue?!” I grumble between gritted teeth at the officer who´s driving. Guess I know who´s driving next time. I mean how much of an imbecile do you have to be to not follow simple orders?! Orders I JUST GAVE!!?? I look at the terrified officer, gripping the wheel of the satomobile as he mumbles and gags on his words. “I- uh- Ch-Chief I just I- I´m sorry I wasn´t paying attention.” He swallows. I remain unimpressed with the attempt of a shitty excuse that was made. “Well focus and listen. You´re not getting paid to sit around, mouth agape listening to the spirits.” I groan loudly at him.
Fear in his eyes officer Song nods his head up and down quickly and practically yells “Yes Chief!”. Just as I was about to tell him to tone it down the loud screech of wheels catches me off guard. Just as I look to my side, a black satocycle with a few red highlights speeds right past us. What the flame-o was that?! Swiftly making its way past traffic the motorcycle speeds away. “Officer Song, catch up to that satocycle, now!!” I practically scream at the officer as he presses the clutch, changes to 4th and speeds up.
Y/N´s PoV
Did I just fucking see what my eyes saw. Did I just speed through a police patrol satomobile?! The loud sirens catching up behind me answer my fears. Well, that´s it. I´m officially fucked. I´m done for life. I´m left with two choices, obey, pull over, pray it´s not the fucking Chief of Police, flirt my way out of this and definitely arrive late for class…or drop it, speed off like a demon, hopefully not get caught or die on the way and…still arrive a little late to class. I groan as my head drops in defeat.
I´m so done with my life.
I signal to the right as I slow down, pulling over. The blaring sirens emitting a last Woop before silencing, as the satomobile pulls right behind me. I turn the motor of the bike off, getting off and standing up, as I hear the doors of the car shutting behind me before a deep female voice sends a shiver down my spine. No, it can´t be. You can´t be serious right now. My eyes wide in fear as I slowly turn around to be met with the most beautiful yet lethal jade eyes I´d ever seen my entire life. Damn, hearing her voice back in headquarters from far away was already…something, but seeing her up close?! Not even The Avatar ,wherever they're at, can save me from this one. It´s the first time I get to see the Chief of Police personally. Sure I´m in the Detective´s Program but we rarely stay in the headquarters where she seemingly lives at. I am snapped back from my thoughts when her striking voice booms through my eardrums. Wait, was she talking? Shit I didn’t hear anything…
“I am talking to you. Take off your helmet, now! I asked you a question, better start speaking.” she says. I didn’t even realise my helmet was still on. I carefully take it off, still in shock at seeing THE Chief Lin Beifong in front of me. My messy, dark hair falls to my shoulders. The, once bright, blood red highlights shining on the sun. “I- uh” I try to speak but nothing comes out. My mouth feels dry, as I lick my lips. I look at the other officer behind her, he seems to be putting a strong façade, but I can see the nervousness behind his eyes. “Don’t stare at my officer! I asked you a question.”
Chief Beifong´s PoV
Oh for fuck sake, she´s slow…is she go- why is her hair painted? It´s not exactly unlikable. I think I´ve seen her, but I can´t recall where from. Why am I staring? WHY IS SHE STARING? “Don’t stare at my officer! I asked you a question.” Her mouth agape, my already visible frown deepens. She has three seconds to answer. 1…2..- “I- uh I´m sorry ma´am- uh Chief. Sorry, could you repeat the question? The uh…helmet was- I don’t think I heard.” I groan rather loudly as I exhale. I clench my jaw, as I breath in. “I asked. Do. You. Know how fast you were going?” I speak slowly and clearly as I cross my arms.
Y/N´s PoV
Spirits…and I thought I was stressed, this woman is going to explode! “I asked. Do. You. Know how fast you were going?” I hear her say loud and clear. So that´s the Beifong scowl people talk about. It´s cute. A little unnerving for those who can´t handle it. “Uh…not fast enough clearly!” I joke to get some tension off the air, but as I look at the Officer behind her, I only see his eyes widen beyond possible. I look back at the Chief and if looks could kill… “Is this a joke to you?! Is endangering other citizens lives a hobby for your entertainment? Clearly you seem to be asking for your license to be revoked.” Her stern voice makes straighten my back. It´s not that I´m afraid of her, but if I want my way out of this I might as well show some class. I clear my throat as I say “I apologize Chief, that was never my intention. I am pretty secure on my driving skills, and I am fully aware of the dangerous action I was doing. In my defence I am in a huge hurry. I´m in the Detective´s Program and I´m just trying to not get kicked out of there, this is my last chance…” I mumble that last part as I rub the back of my neck. Fuck it´s weird to be so verbally polite. I look back up at her to see what kind of reaction I got off of her only to be met with the exact same Beifong scowl as before. Well, that was worth shit. Her gaze is penetrating mine, almost as if she´s analysing me.
Chief Beifong´s PoV
That´s where I know her from. She´s in the Detective´s Program and sometimes wonders in the headquarters, she must be the firebender that Officer Wang told me. What was her name? Just as I am about to ask her, I am interrupted by the blaring sound coming off my radio. “Chief, come in. Over.” I groan in annoyance. Spirits, when do I ever catch a break? “I´m busy, what is it?” my stern and strong voice talks back to the radio. “Chief, we´ve got a Triple Threat Triad attack going on, over at the Eastern Market. We need your assistance. Over.” I look back at the young cadet with a scowl as she smiles back at me. Ugh, why is she smiling?
Y/N´s PoV
I just might make it out of here. I look at the Chief with a smile on my face as she stares back at me, the same Beifong scowl on her face but this time thicker, more prominent. I hear her exhale. “I catch you driving that thing over the speed one more time and I revoke your license and you better not drive it on my watch if you ever make it to detective, which hopefully, you won´t!” I hear her yell at me. Before I can even say anything back, she turns back around heading for the police satomobile. Well, isn´t she charming? Hot…and charming. “Song, move it! I drive.” I hear her yell at the officer. Poor guy, spirits. Though he is lucky he gets to be by her side. Hm, maybe I´ll be lucky enough for that once I´m a detective, which I want more than anything now that she seemed so annoyed by it. I smirk to myself as I think how it would be like to be next to this very angry yet stunning woman all day. Pushing her buttons does seem fun.
I put my helmet back on as I drive away towards the officers’ training site. I do my best to keep the speed on limit but as I look at the time on the satocycle I almost pass out. I am already 10 minutes late. FUCK. I groan loudly as I check my surroundings for any secret police satomobiles as I speed away. The faster I get there, the faster this is all over.
.- Later during practice -.
Y/N´s PoV
Fuck, I´m beat. Wang sure is getting his revenge for my late arrival. We are not many in the Detective´s Training Program and we´ll be even less given there are only two spots available. The majority of the class is all earthbenders, me being the only firebender. Which should make me feel perhaps uneasy or maybe a little scared, but honestly it just makes me feel like a total badass. I mean, hear me out, the only firebender in the troop and I get one of the Detective spots?! How crazy would that be? I´m quickly pulled from my thoughts when I hear that annoying voice once again. “So, Y/L/N, seems like you can give up already and give me my position as Detective.” The man says with a pleased smug on his face. “Why don’t you go bother someone else, Kang?” I groan annoyed as I take a sip from my water. “I´m just saying, as the only firebender you should at least make an effort to arrive in time don’t you think?” He scoffs loudly. I ignore his little stunts as I smirk to myself. “And you should make an effort on brushing your teeth. You got a little something there.” I scoff as I point to my own teeth with a disgusted face. I can visibly see him get red as a smirk makes its way on my lips.
“What´s going on over here? Y/L/N, Kang break is over. Get over here you two.” I hear Officer Wang´s voice yell from the other side of the field. Over? Spirits, I didn’t even have time to piss! I groan as I look at Kang´s smug little face. “Quit your whining and come prove your worth, princess.” I hear him chuckle. Did this cunt just call me, princess?! Now he better pray to Raava I won´t kill him. My blood boiling at the nickname I groan angrily. I have nothing to prove to you, cunt.
“Alright cadets, Y/L/N and Kang you two seemed to be having a nice chat back there. Get sparring, the others watch.” Wang´s voice echoes through the dusty field as I walk towards the centre, Kang right in front of me with that smug still plastered on his face. I scoff to myself.
I am going to wipe the fucking floor with you.
Once I see Officer Wang´s hand signal us to begin Kang wastes no time and throws a large piece of boulder at me, I swiftly avoid it, turning my body sideways and leaning slightly backwards. Just as quick as that boulder came at me I 360º my body, lowering myself to the dusty floor my right leg pushes forwards as a small wave of fire strikes all the dust away and forces Kang backwards. Before he can react, I get back up and briskly uppercut him in the jaw getting a loud grunt from him. How ´ s that for a princess? I don’t let my guard down knowing this isn´t over until Officer Wang decides. My arms close to my ribs and fists closed tightly near my face I watch Kang´s movements attentively, guessing his next move as he cracks his neck and smugly says “That all you got?” I roll my eyes as I stare at him through my eyebrows. Kang´s right leg rises and hits the ground, making it shake in an attempt to shake me off my feet. I use my fire propulsion to elevate myself from the ground slightly to lower the impact, flying over him and landing on the ground behind him. Before he has even time to acknowledge where I went, I lower kick his leg, spinning my body after the hit to gain power and land a higher kick to his arm which was protecting his ribs. I hear him grunt and groan in discomfort and anger as he throws a punch to my face. I quickly dodge downwards, pulling the same first move by pushing my leg outwards and kicking Kang´s body to the ground. He hits the ground with a loud thud, dust setting in the air around us, I look over at Office Wang to know if it was over yet, but Kang takes my short distraction as a chance. His body still on the floor, he raises his arm and the piece of boulder I was standing on goes flying with me in it. Throwing me through the air and across the field as I land on the ground, rolling over due to the speed I was thrown, getting a few scratches and dirt all over me. I breath loudly as the dust covers my sight, relying on my hearing I hear the rumbling sound of the earth beneath me as I look ahead and see a wave coming from the ground. I barely have time to react, my eyes widening, as I dodge to the right but not fast enough. My left shoulder caught on the edge of the rock-wave as I stumble backwards. I don’t fall, my feet sliding backwards with the dust as I grip my shoulder and wince in pain. Fuck! This bastard almost dislocated my shoulder. I sway my arms in the air and push them outwards as a thin wave of flames pushes the dust away, finally allowing me to see Kang. Does he ever stop smirking? I run towards him as he sends two fat boulders my way, I lower myself, dragging my body through the ground as I avoid the boulders. I get back up quickly and jump, using my fire propulsion to help me gain height. I see Kang´s eyes widen as I stretch my leg down, my foot coming at high speed in contact with his face. He barely has time to register what happened before his body jerks downwards with the force of the hit. Faceplanting on the floor with a loud thud and grunt he stays there, the dust on the ground escaping sideways from us. “Who´s the princess now Kang?” I whisper smugly on his ear as I stand up and hear Officer Wang´s annoyed voice “Alright that´s enough of it. Get here you two.” Is he mad that Kang didn’t beat my ass? Why is it that nobody wants me to succeed?! “You fucking bitch…” I hear Kang grunt between gritted teeth as he gets up. I smirk proudly to myself, “What´s wrong? Hurts much?”. I hear Kang scoff loudly, “Barely feel it.”, pfff yeah right.
We walk backwards towards Officer Wang and the rest of the trainees. “Alright, as you know our program is coming to an end. We have two detective positions open and there are ten of you. Being Detective is no easy job, that is why there is a final exam in five days. Me and Chief Beifong will be deciding on who gets the job positions and who goes out.” No. Fucking. Way. Now I know for sure I won´t make it to Detective! Beifong and I were already off to a bad start this morning! She said it herself; she doesn’t want me to make it to Detective! “…Final Exam will be set in two parts. In the morning you will have the written exam, to make sure you actually listened to what was taught these past few months, and, in the afternoon, it will be a competitive sparring. Just like Kang and Y/L/N did, except the first one to fall is automatically disqualified.” Written exam? What is this, fucking high school?! Ugh, I better not be paired with Kang. “That´s it for today cadets, see you tomorrow at 9am sharp.” Officer Wang glances at me sideways as I mouth a ´sorry` silently. “Y/L/N, hit the showers in the headquarters, your shoulder is bleeding.” Officer Wang says with a hint of despise on his tone. Spirits, sorry I´m not made of fucking metal. I didn’t even notice I was bleeding. I look at my shoulder and notice the few reddened scratches and a small trickle of blood coming out. I hear Kang snicker next to me. The fuck are you smirking about? “Your nose also looks like shit Kang, but I guess a shower can´t fix that for you.” I smirk as I grab my towel, shoving it over my shoulder and heading back inside the headquarters before he can say anything.
My body is covered in dust and sweat; my defined muscular arms filled with small little scratches from rolling on the ground. My once black tank top also covered in a light brownish dusty substance. Gosh do I need a shower…My body is killing me. I pass through the Officer I saw with the Chief in the morning. Shit, she´s probably close by. I rush my way to the showers as to avoid her. It´s not that I don’t want to see her. Spirits know how much I´d pay to see those penetrating jade eyes of hers. But I don’t want her to see me while I look like shit…and probably smell like one too.
Chief Beifong´s PoV
As I am filing down some more reports and going over them, I hear grunts and noises from outside. Annoyed at the disturbance I get up from my chair with a sigh as I look over the window. Must be Wang training the cadets. Seeing the training field, I stare at one of the male cadets throwing boulders and another one dodging them out. Trying to figure who the other one is, I squint my eyes. The amount of dust surrounding them makes it hard, but the worn-out red highlights and the distinctive fire coming from the body allows me to figure out who it is already. It´s that speeding satocycle cadet I caught this morning. I observe them as I see the male cadet shake the ground, a wave heading towards her. But there´s too much dust for her to see anything at all. Fuck even I am struggling to keep up with what is going on. She dodges it but seemingly not totally. “That’s a nasty hit…” I mumble to myself. But she does seem to handle it…quite nicely I must say. Spirits, I´m staring again. I shake my head and groan in annoyance but am quickly distracted by the fire coming off her feet. Fire propulsion, that’s useful. I stare as she lands a powerful hit on the male cadets’ face. That´s going to leave a mark. I guess…she´s not that…bad. Whatever. If she´s to make it to Detective she´s supposed to be, at least, useful. I turn away and decide to head downstairs to check how Song is getting along with the other files. He´s not in the Detective´s Program, but he has some…potential, I cannot deny that.
“Officer Song, how are those files coming along?” I see him tremble underneath his armour. “Uh- well, Chief. It seems that the Triple Threat Triads crimes are lowering in amount…” I scoff. Sure, but they are not getting any easier to deal with. Song continues talking but I barely catch what he is saying as I look over his shoulder and notice the firebender cadet. She´s all dirty. Bunch of scratches in her shoulder too…bummer. She can deal with it. I think to myself, but yet, I can´t seem to find an explanation as to why I feel so drawn towards her. I shake these thoughts away and refocus on Officer Song. “…So, I guess that is pretty good right, Chief?” What´s pretty good? Shit, I didn’t hear. “Uhm yes, yes, it is. Now, get back to work Officer.” I clear my throat as I make my way back to my office. Sitting down on my chair I exhale, looking up at the pile of files and papers to read and fill in. Spirits I´m exhausted. I get started against my will. It´s going to be a long night, I might as well get it over with. After some time of insufferable writing, scribbling, and scratching I hear a knock on the door. I look up from the papers as I catch a glimpse of the clock and then stare at the door. It´s 10pm who the fuck is still in here?
“Uh, Chief, can I come in?" Is that- What is she doing here?
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punkeccentricenigma · 7 months
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Hello, I saw your requests are open. So I decided to send something.
Could you write a few headcanons for the rise boys with a reader that’s from another country. And could you leave it open from where? And reader has a different native language, English would be their second language. It would be kinda funny if the turtles (or one of them) doesn’t realize reader is a foreigner at first.
I‘m not from the USA and would love to see something with a foreign reader.
Thank you and have a nice rest of your day. :3
Rise!Boys with Reader from different country
Relationship status: platonic/romantic
Reader prounouns: They/Them
TW: Some grammatical errors because english is not my first language.
Author's note: I apologize for the long wait for this order; a lot has happened in my life. Not only did many of my childhood idols turn out to be bad people, but also my mom told me to leave home after we argued, and I poured out all my grievances to her. So, well, soon I probably won't have a place to live because my savings are too small to even rent a room. Plus, my mom took away all my painkillers, and the migraines haven't disappeared, so I'm in pain all the time.
But on the bright side, with the help of my friend, I managed to create a CV, and tomorrow I'm going to submit it to a company where I can work :D Unfortunately, I'll have to wait over a month for the tests, but it will be the first step in overcoming my fear of people.
But anyway, thank you anon, have a nice day/night too!! :D
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Leonardo
◇Do I really have to state the obvious as if it weren't clear? Leo is a goof; not a single thought crossed his mind that you might be even more different than him.
◇Even if April dropped subtle hints about your nationality, it just didn't register. Comics with Jupiter Jim are too captivating for him to bother with trivial facts.
◇It only hit him when your phone rang during a shared skateboarding session. When you answered and started speaking in your language, the guy literally had a Pikachu's surprised face.
◇After that, brace yourself for a million questions from the curious turtle. You'll be happy to answer.
◇Leonardo has a knack for learning languages, even if it's just basic words.
◇Thanks to Sr Hueso in his life, he's picking up Spanish. So, what's stopping him from learning your language too?
◇Btw, praise him every time he says something right; he needs that.
◇He'll also be eager to learn about cultural differences between you two. You might not seem very different, but a deeper look might reveal significant distinctions.
◇Ohohoho! National costumes? He'd gladly try them on.
◇But expect him to tease you by intentionally mispronouncing a few words or judging you based on stereotypes about people from your country.
◇If it makes you cry or get angry, he'll make sure never to do it again.
◇He likes food from your country but more as an occasional thing. If he could, he'd probably just eat pizza all the time.
Raphael
◇Raph, despite not being as dumb as Leo, suspected from the start that something was up with you that you hadn't mentioned.
◇But it never occurred to him to ask.
◇He ultimately found out from his father. Indirect, but still.
Raphael sighed throatily, rummaging through his kitchen cabinets. Your ears lightly twitched at each muffled or not-so-muffled clatter of things in those cabinets.
"What are you looking for?" Their voice carried both curiosity and a hint of irritation as she added more pepperoni slices to the light pizza dough. The turtle sighed again, this time softer, closing another cabinet to look at Their.
"I can't find any cups or glasses anywhere," his gaze expressed annoyance. "Probably those idiots kept taking new dishes instead of washing theirs, and now they're hoarding a mountain of dirty ones like hamsters."
"You complain about them, but guess whose kitchen I found a bunch of dirty plates breeding a new species in?" Their laughter started to grate on his head, but despite his efforts, a smile appeared on his rough lips.
"That's different; I, um... I'm the oldest, I'm allowed!"
"Ohohoho! [Y.N], my dear!" Splinter entered the red kitchen excitedly, appearing right behind the teenager using his ninja skills. "Are you making your delicious [Most popular dish in your country] again? My mouth waters at the mere thought!"
"Er, what?" Raph had a slightly puzzled expression, hearing about such a dish for the first time. What is that even?
"Oh, unfortunately no, just regular pizza," [Y.N] replied with an apologetic look, placing the last slice of meat. "But don't worry, maybe I'll bring that tomorrow, sounds good?"
"Oh, yes, definitely!"
◇Shortly after that incident, he asked about that dish.
"Oh? That's one of the dishes from my country."
"From your country? I didn't think America had such food to offer."
"Raph, I'm not from America."
"... What?"
◇Less surprised than Leo, but still.
◇Since then, you've been explaining everything about yourself and your country to him.
◇The biggest fan of dishes from your country, especially the way you make them.
◇Raph has a simple mind, so it will take a long time before he grasps the basics of your language, but he remembers many words that he tries to use at the nearest opportunity.
◇He loves it when he says a word correctly, and you pat him on the head as a reward.
◇As for clothing... sorry, but he's too big for that.
◇BUT, you'll make him bracelets in the colors of the flag if he insists.
◇There won't be jokes about your origin; Raph is too respectful turtle for that.
Donatello
◇He's not dumb (usually), and I think he'll be the first to ask if there's anything you haven't told him.
◇Of course, what is life without a bit of fun? You denied it.
◇Thanks to that, it was a game of cat and mouse for two weeks.
◇Eventually, Donnie hacked into one of your social media accounts where you clearly stated which country you're from. If not, he just had to check the login history in different countries.
◇Of course, he got a smack on the back of the head.
(And it's very possible his brothers put him in isolation overnight, you know, that place when Splinter had a fever? Who knows.)
◇You think he won't quickly learn the basics of your language? Dude, he taught a squirrels sign language, what can't he do?
◇Thanks to that, you can talk about various topics that shouldn't be brought up around his family in your native language.
◇And as a fun fact, wanting to surprise him, you asked Shelldon to teach you binary code. The guy was amazed, and Leo wanted to perform exorcisms on you.
◇Maybe he's not as intrigued by your culture, but he wouldn't want to offend you, so if you start talking about it, he won't stop you.
◇On the other hand, he really appreciates national costumes, maybe even doing that scene with you like they were hypnotized? You won't have to ask him for long.
◇Not a big fan of your national dishes, maybe because of the consistency? Or the unusual taste?
◇He'll likely tease you about your origin, but they'll be harmless jokes.
Michelangelo
◇Silly kid. Just a silly kid.
◇Nah, kidding, it just never crossed his mind that his friend is from a different country.
◇And you found it amusing to some extent.
◇Eventually, you told him about it when he got fascinated by a painting from your country.
◇Surprised Pikachu face ver.2
◇Probably the most excited about learning your culture, even if he doesn't understand it and it differs significantly from what's prevalent in America.
◇If your country has an unusual drawing style, he'll beg you to try it together. How can you refuse such an angel? (Not really an angel, especially when Dr. Rude comes into play)
◇He'll be the first to want to try on national costumes, both male and female.
◇He'll also want to, this time by himself, cook some dishes from your country.
◇He burned the kitchen.
◇A total failure when it comes to learning languages, so either you give up on teaching him, or you'll need a lot of patience.
◇Relatively supportive turtle, but he won't be as mindful of your origin afterward; it'll be like it used to be with the extra toppings.
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