#which speaks a lot about modern fantasy

[elbiotipo]

Tolkien wrote "half-elf" a couple times, and D&D was like "y'all mind if I bring back the sistema de castas"

#cosas mias #and when Tolkien wrote elves and half-elves while he was still as racist as one could expect from an Englishman born in South Africa #he was implying more of a connection to something supernatural (elves are more akin to what we could call 'fae') #it was D&D that turned them into full Races and Species with numerical stats in the style of XIX century anthropology #which speaks a lot about modern fantasy #fantasy #worldbuilding

[theprissythumbelina]

So you want to write about horses.

Part 2 now out!

Or you're writing and horses show up. Or its a pre-industrial fantasy and your characters have to get somewhere. Or you have a faint idea of your MC's love interest showing up on a white stallion.

Whatever the cause, you're writing, and a horse appears. But you know nothing about horses. I can help.

This is a horse. Horses come in many sizes.

^ Big Jake, a Belgian Draft horse, and a roughly 5 foot woman for scale.

1 hand = 4 inches = 10.16 cm

Once a horse is smaller than about 14.2hh, it is generally considered a pony. In the modern day, ponies are not considered suitable for adult riders due to weight and height issues. Some pony breeds, such as Welsh, Fjords, ect. are known for being sturdy, and can more easily carry adult sized humans. Miniature horses should never be ridden by adults.

^The only suitable 'riding' a miniature horse should do

The above graphic mentions that horses are measured from the top of the withers, not the top of the head. But, what are withers?

The withers are where the horse's shoulders meet the spine, and the neck becomes the back. Withers are incredibly important for saddle placement, as a badly placed saddle in this area can prevent a horse from moving its legs properly, cause a large amount of pain, and even damage a horse's spine. Speaking of spines, this is a horse skeleton, with the withers pointed out.

Horses have four legs. Horses cannot have any fewer than four legs. They are obligate quadrupeds. This is, in part, due to their weight, as well as the construction of their legs and hooves. This is to say, that while cats, dogs, and other animals can be amputees, a horse, short of some incredible magic solution, cannot. Even a broken leg bone will cause a huge amount of problems, as all of the weight that leg would usually hold must be shifted to the other feet, and this causes a condition called laminitis, where the tissue that holds together the hoof and the toe bone becomes inflamed, and begins to separate. Once this happens, the hoof tissue dies from lack of blood, and the bone begins to rotate. This is extremely painful for the horse, and so often the best solution for a horse with a broken leg is to be spared that pain. Famous American racehorse Barbaro experienced a complex broken bone, which began to heal fine, but complications from laminitis in two of his other legs caused him to be put down. This is why media will almost always show a horse with a broken or injured leg being 'taken care of'.

^Barbaro, in his prime. Even the best veterinary medicine couldn't save him.

Now, racehorses like Barbaro are moving at the fastest speed and the fastest gait of the horse, the gallop. The patterns that horses move their feet are referred to as gaits, with most horses having four, with some breeds having five or more.

The first gait and the slowest is the walk. In the walk, all four feet move independently, which leads it to be called a four-beat gait, as the footfalls make a sort of drumbeat on the ground.

The next gait is the trot, a two beat gait with diagonal pairs of legs moving together.

^Diagonal pairs marked in red and blue

The trot is a very bouncy experience for the rider, and can be uncomfortable. Some riders will rise and fall with a pair of diagonal legs, called a posting trot, some will stand in their stirrups, called a two-point or jump position, and some will sit the trot, which requires a lot of core strength (seriously, if you want a strong core, screw the gym)

The third gait is the canter, a three-beat gait with a single diagonal pair. This gait is ridden sitting, and feels a lot like going over waves on a jetski. There is a rise, a scoop, and a fall feeling. The canter is also called a lope in Western riding, they are the same gait.

^diagonal pair marked in red

A gallop is sometimes considered a variation on canter, as it is similar save for the legs actually moving in a four-beat pattern. As you can see with the image of Barbaro, all four of his feet are moving in different patterns, at different times, even though the gallop is really a four beat version of the canter. Riders in the gallop rise off the horse's back into a raised position, which allows the horse to use the full length of its spine and musculature to get as much reach and speed as possible. It feels like riding on top of a train barreling down the tracks, at least until your horse takes an unexpected turn and the ground is suddenly the only thing you're riding.

^ I've been there. The trick is to push away and hit the ground rolling, it hurts less that way. And don't land on your head.

That's all for this post. I'll have more when I feel like it, and send me questions if you want to know more about specific things or need a writing question answered

Reblogs welcome and encouraged

@jacqueswriteblrlibrary for wider reach

#writing #writing horses #writer advice #how to write #writing advice #writing help #writeblr #creative writing #writers on tumblr #writeblr community #writers #writerscommunity #horses #basic horse things

[lilyginnyblackv2]

I think a lot of Buddy Daddies fans will be interested in this article by Unseen Japan entitled:  How discriminatory comments by Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio's secretary may lead to actual reform on LGBTQ+ issues in Japan.

Here is an excerpt from the article (with text provided underneath):

Text: Just days after Prime Minister Kishida minced words on legalizing same-sex marriage, his secretary Arai Masayoshi made things worse. Speaking to reporters off the record, Arai expressed his distaste for sexual minorities, saying, “I don’t want them living next to me either. ”Arai’s comments very much made it on the record. The ensuing backlash led to Kishida summarily sacking him. Arai’s blatant discrimination prompted politicians and activists to decry his comments and reignited discussions on the government’s failure to protect sexual minorities.

(Bold done by me for emphasis and to highlight what Arai said, specifically.)

There are also a lot of quotes by politicians in the article as well. One, Koizumi Shinjiro, makes this comment:

Text: Looking at the news reports on these statements, once again I feel that the government’s efforts to tackle the declining birth rate on a different dimension will never come to fruition if their policy is based on denying diverse values and ways of life [3].

It should be noted that many of the politicians, activists, and every day people in Japan do not agree with these sentiments and actually support same-sex marriage rights. Unseen Japan made a Twitter post about this, which I will link below.

Text:  A new telephone poll by Kyodo News says that, in the wake of discriminatory comments against LGBTQ people by PM Kishida’s (former) secretary, a full 64% of people in Japan support same sex marriage rights. Only 24.9% oppose.

And the wild thing is that Buddy Daddies is airing right now, right when it seems like issues regarding same-sex marriage, discrimination, and general rights are all starting to reach a boiling point in Japan. We have this show airing about two hitmen living together and raising a child together. IN MODERN DAY 2023 JAPAN.

That’s the big thing. They aren’t raising a kid together in a made up fantasy land or in a sci-fi future world or in a city based off of NYC. Kazuki and Rei are raising Miri in modern day, 2023, Japan. 

When Kazuki and Rei are at Miri’s daycare, listening to her speech with all the other parents (moms, really) like this:

They are going to be perceived as a same-sex couple. When the government official was looking over their paper work like this:

He was perceiving them as a same-sex couple. 

We know that one of the theme’s of the series is “two people of the same sex raising a child together.” That was a modern day theme that they wanted to explore. And they are exploring it so mundanely. Like, there are some ridiculous aspects to the series, but those aspects aren’t connected to them being two guys raising a child. The ridiculous stuff usually stems from the conflicting aspects of their job and caring for Miri + their general personalities.

Instead, we are getting a story that is normalizing the concept of a same-sex couple (as society would perceive them) raising a kid together. Right when there is a shitstorm going on in the Japanese government around discriminatory statements about sexual minorities by the PM, the PM’s secretary, and other politicians in PM’s political party in the past (like back in 2018).

This is kinda revolutionary by not being revolutionary at all, and just presenting everything in a realistic and normal way (in regards to the more SOL aspects, anyway). And that, in the current Japanese social and political climate surrounding LGBT+ based issues, makes it a very queer series. Even if the creators weren’t intending on that. 

And now, I am done finishing on this topic (at least for now), lol.

#Buddy Daddies #KazuRei #Kazuki Kurusu #Rei Suwa #same-sex marriage in Japan #Japanese government and politics #Japanese society #Japanese LGBT issues #LGBT #queer #queer media #long post #image heavy post

[onyourhyuck]

Animal Instinct. | NCT SERIES

Title: PROLOGUE ‘Sour Grapes.’

— Prologue: “They don’t speak to people unless they want one thing from them. And they pick their prey very carefully. They don’t go for everyone.”

— Summary: You are a marine biologist. You should be able to understand animals and their way of living. When you encounter a new society in a bar under the name ‘Sour Grapes’ you find yourself in a troubling situation with seven different men. Seven different animals.

— Genre: Smut with plot. Minors dni. Fantasy with modern timeline. Female!reader. Secondary genders (but with animals) dreamies are complete red flags. Dub-con. Everything is very dark romance related. Nothing here is for the weak. Everything is just pure filth. It gets progressively worse and worse. Multiple orgasms. Overstimulation. Pet names such as ‘my pretty who’re’ or ‘princess’ — minor hair pulling, blowjob male receiving. Fingering (female receiving) and sex tape mentioned. Breeding kink is a common theme here. Possessiveness.

— Notes:

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

There was a new bar that took everyone’s attention and money away. Your friends have been nonstop talking about this new secret bar that is hidden away from everyone by a password. You wonder what the big deal was about it. It just sounded like a stupid bar to you. Apparently only ‘special’ guests could enter this bar. Your friend, Ningning has claimed that she knows what the password to the bar is, and that she will need to take a friend with her.

Which explains why you’re in Ningning’s car with the most absolute deadpanned expression when you see this empty isolating road ahead and the parking lot you’re now at.

You let out a sigh. “Ningning no offence but bars are meant to be welcoming. This looks like a horror movie in front of me.” The building that stood out to the both of you was looking bleak and dark from the darkness sorrowing it. You have a bad stomachache from all of this.

Your friend turns to you with a begging expression to make you come with her, because let’s be honest, Ningning wouldn’t want to go alone to this bar that no one has heard about. “Y/n please just trust me. The guy I was supposed to meet up with told me the password to this bar. I cant go along without you.”

“You can’t or you won’t?” You remark back furrowing your eyebrows in annoyance. You eventually gave in after five seconds of whining from Ningning because you can’t stand this at all.

Scowling out of the car with your friend you follow her inside with the least enthusiasm for partying tonight as well. Unlike Ningning you actually don’t have this much free time.

“If I see something weird I’m getting out of here and calling the police, Ning.” You tell her, your voice coming out more sternly.

But she was your friend and you love her. You can’t just leave her to go to this weird scam-looking bar alone. Good knows what could’ve happened to her if you didn’t come with her.

Ningning gave you a small smile. “Yeah! Deal.”

The building looked like it was probably abandoned for many years. The entrance itself gave you spooky vibes and you hated it. The girl in front of you was the first one to approach the singular bookshelf on the wall guided against the wall. Your eyes stare blankly at the set up.

You saw your friend touching every book on the shelf and you let out a sigh and a laugh at the same time. This was ridiculous.

“Don’t tell me you’re looking for a secret book-lever?” You mumble behind Ningning who gave a very optimistic smile. “Yeah. The guy said the passcode will work if we find the book that is the right one.”

You sigh. “This is a lot of effort to go through just to drink and find yourself a fling isn’t it?” You had a point. There was definitely something going around here that you’re missing. Maybe some information that your friend wasn’t telling you?

Few seconds later Ningning found the reddish book on the bookshelf stand that had peeked out and she pulled it out, only to find it reattach and the whole bookshelf moving to the left. Revealing a secret door. Your eyes widen at Ningning; because for a moment or two you’ve been doubting this whole bookshelf thing. Ningning gave you a proud-eating smirk which made you automatically scowl and roll your eyes. You walk ahead and Ningning followed behind you. The dark corridor welcomed both of you and the sound of bar music came in louder and louder. The more you both walked you’d see two patrolling bar security guards at the door.

Your feet tried to past them but they shoulders block. One gruff man gave you an intimidating look. “Password.” He said to you.

Ningning pulls you back a little. She knows you’d probably start an argument with someone tonight, you’re kind of like a magnet for starting fights.

“Green tea.” She said to the guards. You stare in disbelief when the two guards let Ningning and you pass through once the secret password was said.

You see, you don’t understand humans. But you understand animals on many levels. Humans are just something too complex for you to figure out. Ningning here was very confusing. She wasn’t telling you anything about this place.

But you had to admit. The bar looks expensive. Luxurious even. There was something so lush about this bar you couldn’t put your tongue on it. Everyone seems like they are a movie star. Or perhaps singers even.

Pushing through the crowd. Ningning instantly ordered a drink at the bar. The handsome man with a pale thinly skin and alerting brown alluring eyes pulled you closer. The bar owner tending to the drinks had really beautiful thick hair. There was a mixture of proud and sweetness about this guy. He looks like he has this whole place together.

“Two martini’s please.” Ningning told. Jaehyun gave her a glance and a single nod with a charming smirk. He turned around making the two drinks for you and Ningning.

You whisper to your friend. “This whole place is weird vibes Ning. What’s so special about this place?” You don’t understand why she was so eager to come here.

Your friend gave you a sympathetic response but she didn’t seem to find this all so suspicious like you. Sometimes you analyse things too much for her own liking. “I just heard it amongst people at my workplace. So I wanted to try it out.” Ningning said with a shrug.

The two glasses were plopped down and your head turns to the martini then to the guy with a small glance you take the martini to sip.

Your friend’s answer was so vague to be honest. So much effort just to find out about this bar?

Reaching for your phone you wanted to check if anyone has been texting you. To your answer you find out the signal here was completely nonexistent and crap. You grumble and Ningning saw you struggling. She furrows her eyebrows when you curse.

“Does this bar have no wifi signal or what?” You said with your tone of voice becoming frustrated. You put your phone down when Jaehyun reached over. “Actually phones aren’t allowed in this bar, miss.” He explained, even though his handsome face was definitely a distraction from how annoying this rule was.

“What? No phone. Isn’t that a bit weird and suspicious.” You grumble not understanding what kind of a rule was this?

Ningning switched glances between Jaehyun and you. You were watching him with a double sided glare like you were a mirror reflecting how much you hated this rule so much.

Jaehyun smirks and pulls back. “At Sour Grape’s whatever happens stays here. Therefore no phones. Just enjoy your night.” He reassures.

It sounds like everyone had something to hide what was was it?

Deciding to let your eyes wonder around the whole bar to check out what could take your interest; you found your eyes gravitating to a specific table of seven guys seated like they own the whole place. Crouching between girls. You find yourself wondering what the whole deal was with them.

You turn to the bar owner, Jaehyun was cleaning a few glasses with a cloth. He wore this white top with a black vest over and a tie neatly over it. The hair was slick back too.

“What are those guys all doing? They look like they own the whole damn place.”

Jaehyun laughs at your words. “Because they do. They are my main clients who make this whole bar popular.”

You furrow your eyebrows turning back to watching the group of men seating down. They all had a specialised accessory with an animal of their choice. You don’t understand why. But all you could see was that it somehow matches their appearance.

He leans close now, he decided to give you a little introduction to who runs this whole place like it is their kingdom.

“Let me explain to you who they are.” He softly said and you nodded watching the group.

“That man is Mark Lee.” Jaehyun said it with some pride when the name comes out of his mouth. As if he was some sort of king. “He is what you call a womaniser I believe. No intentions of settling down. However he is loaded with money.”

A blonde guy sitting in the middle with his legs spread while a woman was on his lap in the middle, his hand sneaking around the waist to pull the beautiful woman closer. His eyes felt deadly and sharp. You feel like nearly as a prey would when watching this encounter. On his right hand was a shiny silver ring on his middle finger — with a tiger face shaped on it. Engraved.

Your eyes move to the right. Jaehyun saw you checking out the guy next to Mark now.

Next to the man was a sickly pale man. He looks as cold as ice to you; it shouldn’t be possible to look this pale without looking like the clouds in the sky itself. However his facial expressions were the least exciting. He looks like he did not have intentions of getting woman. A necklace was hanging around his neck in shape of a wolf.

“That is Lee Jeno.” He said to you with a smirk. “This guy is probably the least you likely will ever meet. Jeno is a tough one to grasp. He’s very loyal to Mark and his friends. He doesn’t even show slightest interest in women.”

You roll your eyes. “Why is that? Is he scared of women?”

Jaehyun grinned shrugging. “Pack law maybe?”

Furrowing your eyebrows at the comment you tried to not think much of this. Perhaps it was a metaphor but you can’t really put your finger on why he said something like that.

Your attitude towards the group was getting more and more conflicting. You wanted to know more about the rest of them.

“Who is the guy standing up over there?” You try to point your eyes at the man standing up next to the couch that all the other men were sitting together. Jaehyun looks over there.

“Zhong Chenle, he is a reliable guy with source of information from everywhere.” Jaehyun smirks at you and you raise your eyebrows scoffing.

“Why?” You question. Jaehyun responded with an obvious tone. “Because he’s rich. They all are.”

Chenle wore the most expensive clothing you’d have to be honest. He wore and extended his beauty with all his money he could afford it with. But what caught your eye at the end was this hanging shark tooth down his ears.

Sudden arm around Chenle was wrapped by a much larger and bigger man in height with pale skin and black hair. Darkly covered clothes and makeup on his face. A choker was around the guy’s neck with a spider in the middle showing off.

“And that guy with Chenle?” You grumble staring the taller boy down.

Jaehyun puts the drinking glass down, lifting up his head over the bar. “Park Jisung. Chenle’s best friend; he’s also deadly. I don’t think you should go near him unless you want him to completely destroy you.”

“You make it sound like he’s a killer.” You roll your eyes not taking whatever he said about Jisung or the others too seriously.

Jaehyun scoffs. “You never know.” He points out and then leans over pointing over to three other guys that were speaking together as they sat down at the table table with the others.

“Those three are always together.” He explained to you and your head turns to analyse the other three people.

Sun kissed man with brunette hair and beautiful brown eyes with black moles; wearing a bear shaped pendant down his neck while discussing something with his two friends. Lee Haechan.

In the middle a smaller frame but a sheepish man with beautiful hair and fox-like eyes made you look twice. He looks unreal if anything. With a lip piercing on the bottom lip, you swore you saw a fox tail on the lip piercing detail. Huang Renjun.

And then a man with a bracelet on his wrist, he looked to be the most troublesome and quiet person in the group. The snake bracelet on his arm intrigued you nonetheless. Na Jaemin.

They all wore animal charms which looked silly but at the same time you wonder if it meant something more?

“Why do they all wear those jewellery? I don’t understand why they have all those animals on them.”

Jaehyun wasn’t aware if you knew why this bar was such a high secrecy but he leans down and now got a real serious one on one with you. “Can you keep a secret?” He asked as his face told you that he was being serious.

The information he’s about to tell you will change your entire life forever.

“Yeah.” You slant back watching Jaehyun sit up with a grin at your response.

“Everyone in this bar knows this but you.” Jaehyun smartly points out. “What do they know?” You became wary of what this was all about. Suddenly your stomachache was back again as if it was a warning from whatever you were about to find out.

Jaehyun trails with a devilish look. “The reason Sour Grape’s is such a secret place to enter is because everyone in this place has evolved from different species of animals.”

“For example, most people like you who evolve from monkeys exist in this world. But there are people who evolved from others.”

He whispers back pulling away to show you his arm bracelet with horses on it. You raise your eyes from Jaehyun’s wrist and back to his face in disbelief. This wasn’t making enough sense to you.

“So you’re telling me you and the other guys came from animals that weren’t monkeys? What kind of logic is that.” You grumble feeling that maybe you’re drunk and he was fooling around with you.

Jaehyun gave you a light shrug with his shoulders. “You said you can keep a secret. You can’t tell this to anyone.”

“Hyung pass me a bottle. You know what I want the usual.” A dark deep and striking tone alerts me from behind as if I’ve never heard any footsteps coming from behind me. The tall domineering man next to my shoulder peeking down at the bar. He saw my intense gaze fixated on him. Mark turns around watching my look with a bit of haste. “And you are miss? Do I have something on my face?”

You could practically pass out from the way he is watching you like you are just some thing, a bug that could be squished by the size of his palm. “No…I…”

The bottle being placed down made you flinched. Somehow all the things Jaehyun said to you now makes sense. Mark had a look of a tiger behind his eyes. He wasn’t no cub. He was a fully grown animal in a human body. It made you scared to even look the other way.

Watching him leave with the bottle in hand. Jaehyun knew by your expression that you finally found some truth to his story.

You look down at your hands. “How do i get to speak to him?”

You hate to admit it but you want to meet them all. You want to analyse them; to get to know them. Somehow deep inside you’re willing to even try and befriend them.

Jaehyun gave you a laugh. “They don’t speak to people unless they want one thing from them. And they pick their prey very carefully. They don’t go for everyone.” You grumble at the bar owner. “Okay what’s that?”

An obvious tone was spoken again. “To sleep with you, nothing else.”

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

@onyourhyuck please refer from translating copyrighting and plagiarising my work thank you. Reblog this fic and follow me for more it helps a girl out!

#nct fanfiction #nct smut #nct x reader #nct u scenarios #nct hard hours #nct series #nct fic #nct recs #nct scenarios #nct imagines #nct dream smut #nct fanfic #nct u x reader #nct u moodboard #nct u imagines #nct u reactions #nct masterlist #nct 127 smut #nct dream hard hours #nct dream hard thoughts #nct dream imagines #nct dream angst #nct dream fic #nct fics #nct fics recs #nct dream fluff #nct dream fanfic #nct 127 hard hours #haechan smut #haechan hard hours

[choccy-milky]

Status update on the dark relic nsfw comic please ma'am 🙏 my family is dying

ITS DONE!! 🎉🎉🎉🎉...well, the DRAWING part is as of yesterday BAHAHA. now im just adding all the dialogue/speech bubbles/sfx, SO ITS DEFINITELY GONNA BE SOON!! DEFS BY THIS WEEKEND!! ive just been very nitpicky on the font which i cant decide on LMAO and im also nitpicky abt other final touches LOL. i didnt wanna show anymore cuz ive already shown so much but HERES THE FINAL SNEAK PEEK

and speaking of fonts, i normally use handwriting by jeremy paz!

oh man its so random, but i either use the name lumi or clora for everything whenever i play rpgs (baldurs gate 3, dragon age, you name it) and clora originated from rune factory 4 LOL. theres a character named 'clorica' and i really liked that name, it sounds so elegant and fantasy ish, so i eventually just shortened it to clora bahaha. now its my go-to. i like how simple it is but it also sounds unique and works in modern AND fantasy settings, imo

my first and ONLY playthrough was as clora! i originally did try to make myself at the start, but i have short brown hair and straight across bangs, and they didnt have a style that felt 'me', so i went with just making a ravenclaw that i liked, and then gave her my go-to name of clora HAHA. and yea, i built up her and sebs relationship in my head as i was playing, especially with all the running around the castle i did. i just liked to imagine her constantly out of breath and flushed and seb just watching like ....🧍girl chill...

AND SPEAKING OF MY DARK RELIC COMIC/SMUT, my biggest advice for writing smut id say is to have a reasoning behind it, i guess? i focus a lot on their headspace/WHY they're fucking at that moment when i write it LOL instead of just the movements/sex for the sake of sex. in your case, the sexual tension leading up to the first time gives you SO much to work with, since you can just be in his head with how much hes looking forward to it, how much hes savouring it, how he's also nervous but enjoying it and trusting the other person, etc. the thoughts are hotter than the actual deed a lot of the times (which is why when clora and seb did it for the first time it ended up being like, 15k words of just foreplay and build up from sebs perspective LMAOO) so yeah id just try to focus on their emotions and desires if you can! and a lot of the times with consent stuff it CAN feel forced, and you dont even really need your characters to talk about that stuff verbally, at least not too much. you can do it in body language, or just something as simple as 'ill stop if you want'. it doesnt have to be a long therapist-like conversation about consent, which CAN tend to sound a little awkward and unrealistic (esp in the heat of the moment), if thats the problem you're having. HOPE I COULD HELP

also i love this for you and for me. YES GO ON AND MAKE A BUNCH OF CLORA CLONES, I COMMAND IT👉👉👉

and last but not least the most important question. honestly i like plain sweets a lot with no icing/filling. im a slut for shortbread cookies and also just plain glazed donuts. and also custard/portugese/egg tarts, which i also forced clora to like in my fic HAHA. IF YOU HAVENT HAD THEM YOU HAVE TO, THEYRE SO GOOD😩😩💖💖

#ask #also the uncensored ver of the dark relic comic is gonna be on twitter but its gonna be slightly censored on poipiku #cuz of japanese laws i have to censor some parts of seb and cloras bits LMAO #though ive seen other western artists use poipiku and not bother with the censoring so maybe i wont?? idk if i wanna risk it tho LOL. #im just still confused on what parts even need censoring #the censor bar placements always just seem so useless imo LMAO #but ya ill probs censor it to be safe since i uploaded uncensored smut before on pixiv and it got taken down immediately oop #SO YEAH. FOR NO BLACK BAR CENSORED VERSION YOULL NEED TO GET A TWITTER IM SORRY

[alpaca-clouds]

What even makes a story Solarpunk?

I thought to myself that given the fact I am gonna review a few more Solarpunk short stories and given that there is some interest in me talking about Solarpunk media, it would make sense for me to talk a bit about what - to me - makes a story Solarpunk.

As I have established before: I can think of quite a few stories that are not technically Solarpunk, but feel very Solarpunk.

To make it simply: I think there is two aspects to Solarpunk in storytelling. One of them is themes, the other is the worldbuilding. And yes, I think a story can be kinda Solarpunk just based on the themes, even if it just takes place in a normal fantasy setting, a historical setting or just in the modern world.

Solarpunk Themes

I talked about it last week how Dungeon Meshi feels quite Solarpunk to me. And the reason for this is the themes it deals with. Because those themes are absolutely there.

Themes I would consider to be Solarpunk:

Community/Found Family

Mutual Aid

Environmentalism in some way

General Living in Harmony with Nature/Respecting Nature

Respecting Indigenous ways of life

Decolonialisation

Marginalized people banding together

I do not think that a single one of those themes is making a story Solarpunk, but when several of them come together.

I also talked about how the movie Misaki no Mayoiga, which takes place after the Tohoku earthquake, feels very, very Solarpunk, even though it takes place in 2011. Because it just features so many of those themes. Big theming around community and found family. Big use of mutual aid. Living in harmony with nature specifically according to old Shinto traditions.

And that just makes the movie feel so very Solarpunk.

Solarpunk in Worldbuilding

Then there is obviously the way that a story can be set in a Solarpunk setting. Which probably is some sort of science fiction setting (though I do argue that it could also be fantasy) that features certain aspects.

Energy in this setting is probably generated by some sustainable source (maybe solar, hydro, wind, maybe some other source)

There are efforts being done that the world is being rewilded in some way

Sustainable living is a big theme in the world

The society in the world is more accepting and integrated than it is right now

There might be some sort of decolonization efforts going on

There might be some development towards (or already archived) anarchism

The world at large does at least make efforts to move past capitalism (because really, everything else is not archivable under capitalism)

While I would argue the world can be in different stages when it comes to the different points, I do think that to really get Solarpunk each of the points has to be addressed in some way or form.

Though it is to me also very speaking, that a lot of folks really do not seem to be able to imagine a post-capitalist world...

What I am trying to say

I do think that a piece of media can absolutely qualify as "kinda solarpunk" if it just uses those themes above. And yes, this also means that a lot more media can be considered Solarpunk in terms of themes, than by fitting the Solarpunk worldbuilding so far.

I would love to see more Solarpunk worldbuilding, though. :)

#solarpunk #lunarpunk #solarpunk media #science fiction #scifi #clifi #climate fiction #media #media criticism #media analysis #dungeon meshi #Misaki no Mayoiga

[allyriadayne]

will someone explain to me what the deal is with asoiaf lore? i'll see someone talking about something and it will come from martin responding to a fan letter from the 90s? and this is canon?? like who found and compilates all of the stuff he has said besides released books and interviews i guess. i've never been a fan of a series like this, is this common?

this has me genuinely in tears sorry 😭😭😭

okay serious now. i genuinely don't know if this is normal or expected in fantasy book series, at least i don't think it's that common in modern fantasy where the fashion has gone other ways from the expansive sword & sorcery type from the 20th century. i could not tell you if other fantasy authors are as involved as grrm is because i haven't been involved with any other fandom like this either (maybe lotr fans can say something different), but considering the years between publications (let this one be the last 🤞), the massive fanbase and fame of the source material, i think it's normal that his interviews, comments, and fanmail has been archived in the internet.

strictly speaking, everything outside asoiaf (books 1-5), fire and blood, and the dunk & egg books is not considered canon. BUT if the info comes from people like elio and linda like twoiaf book, or like the calendars, cookbooks, official art etc it's considered semi-canonical, just like anything grrm says /outside/ of the books. famous example, it's like when jk rowling said dumbledore was gay /after/ the books were done. it's semi canonical bc it comes from the author themselves, it doesn't affect the main body of work so it can be taken or discarded.

the thing is, martin has done A LOT of interviews and answered A LOT of fanmail and worked closely in answering doubts from the westeros dot org site for their rpg games set in westeros (girl, the dream) during the more than 30 years since the publication of agot. all this is considered semi canon and this archive is called "so spake martin" (SSM), which i think was started by elio & linda in the 90s and it's still collecting info. if you go to the awoiaf wiki, esp in the main series characters you'll see this citation (from tyrion's page):

most will be things like "martin has said tyrion has similarities to richard iii" (i mean duh) but other will be really neat like saying tyrion has been trained in arms, which while not something new (he does fight more or less ably during the blackwater battle) it's interesting to point out when it's a detail that may be lost in the series. it goes from character trivia to how casterly rock is different from the show. most fans take what he says seriously but i know there are people that only consider what's in the book and that's it, which is fine. in any case, most of these is used to enrich theories or character analysis, it's why you will see trivia from a fanmail from 1996 or whatever. i myself haven't read SSM completely one by one but i do like to peruse the wiki often, even if it's not complete.

i've seen a few blogs on here who also "collect" grrm's words like nobodysuspectsthebutterfly's "so spake martin" tag (mostly analysis but really interesting read if u don't want to go thru the westeros org page) or georgescitadel that has specific info about characters or themes in asoiaf.

#ask #Anonymous #im currently reading og fantasy like the fafhrd and grey mouser books and all that. not lotr......i could not get into it #so i cannot say if it's different in other fanbases #if anyone has other things to add abt the subject you are most than welcome #hope i answered some of anons doubts

[demi-shoggoth]

2024 Reading Log, pt 2

006. Gardening Can Be Murder by Marta McDowell. I honestly thought that this book was going to be about something else. With the subtitle “how poisonous plants, sinister shovels and grim gardens have inspired mystery writers”, I thought it was going to be about, you know, that. True crime themed to gardens, discussions of poisonous plants, that sort of thing. The book is actually about the mystery books that have gardening as a theme. And while the author’s dedication to not spoiling anything (seriously, anything, even 150 year old stories like The Moonstone or “Rappacini’s Daughter”) is admirable in its own way, this leaves the book feeling like endless buildup without any payoff. Big fans of murder mysteries might enjoy this—especially the last chapter, which interviews writers about their gardens—but I found it more boring than anything else, and finished it only because it was very short.

007. Antimony, Gold and Jupiter’s Wolf by Peter Wothers. This book is about how the elements got their names, and most of it deals with the early modern period, as alchemy transitioned to chemistry and then into the 19th century, when chemistry was a real science, but things like atomic theory were not yet understood. The book goes into fascinating detail, and has a lot of quotes from primary sources, as scientists then were just like scientists now, that is, opinionated and bickering with each other over their preferred explanations. And names! Many of the splits between elements and their symbols (like Na for sodium) are due to compromise attempts to appease two different factions with their preferred names. A book covering arcane minutia of history always has the risk of feeling like a slog, but this is a fast and fun read.

008. Doctor Dhrolin’s Dictionary of Dinosaurs by Nathan T Barling and Michael O’Sullivan, illustrations by Mark P Witton. This book is an odd concept, but one that I was immediately on board with—a D&D book written by paleontologists with the intention of bringing accurate and interesting stats for prehistoric reptiles to the game. The fact that it’s mostly illustrated by Mark Witton definitely clinched my backing that Kickstarter. And this book is a lot of fun. So much so, that I read it all in a single sitting. I don’t know how accurate the stats are (like, a Hatzegopteryx has a higher CR than titanosaurs or T. rexes), but they seem like they’d be fun in play, and the writing does a good job of combining fantasy fun with actual education. Even for someone not running a 5e game, the stuff on how to run animals as not killing machines, and the mutation tables, could be useful. There are multiple types of playable dinosaurs, all of which seem like they’d work well at the table and avoid typical stereotypes, and a lot of in-jokes and pop culture references (like the cursed staff of unspared expense, which looks like Hammond’s cane in the Jurassic Park movie).

009. Romaine Wasn’t Built in a Day by Judith Tschann. I’m a sucker for books about etymology. And this one, on food etymology, is a pretty breezy read. I had fun with it, and it even busted some misconceptions that I had, etymologically speaking. Like, there’s no evidence that “bloody” as an explicative originated from “God’s blood”? Wild. Etymology books tend to be written in a sort of stream-of-consciousness style, where talking about one word may lead down a garden path to the next one. The book also has a couple of little matching quizzes, which is something I haven’t seen in a book since like the 90s.

010. The Lives of Octopuses and their Relatives by Danna Staaf. I was previously a little disappointed in The Lives of Beetles, another book in this series, but I knew I liked Staaf, who wrote the excellent book Squid Empire about cephalopod evolution and paleontology. I’m pleased to report that this book is also excellent. Staaf takes the “lives” part seriously, and the book is arranged by ecology, looking at different marine habitats, the challenges that they pose to living things, and the cephalopods that live there. Cuttlefish get slightly short shrift in this book compared to squids and octopuses, but that’s about the biggest complaint I had. I like how the species profiles cover more obscure taxa, and information about the best studied (like Pacific giant octopus and Humboldt squid) is kept to the chapters.

#reading log #marine biology #cephalopods #etymology #food history #tabletop rpgs #dinosaurs #D&D 5e #chemistry #periodic table #history of science #mystery #horticulture

[theold-ultraviolence]

Do you have any nsfw modern!aemond headcanons? 🫣

FRIEND, LISTEN, I know I've had this ask gathering dust in my inbox for so long but when I thought about it, I realized coming up with these was way more difficult than I thought. Aemond's kind of an enigma in this arena because he doesn't strike me as a kinky guy, but not a prude either, though my self-indulgent ass wants to give him some sort of kink, but what!???? Finally I decided to try to crack the code

Ok, because he grew up with AEGON jacking off out in the open and being extra loud with 0 regard to Aemond's room being right next door and the walls being paper thin, and having lots of girls over whom Aegon can't ever remember the names of, Aemond's just overall more low-key about sex in general.

Not that he doesn't like it, or wants it. He's just extra private.

He masturbates constantly but I can't pinpoint what he would get off to? What would his fantasies be? he'd probably be very zen about the whole thing, and instead of having a fantasy running in his head, his mind would go blank and he'd just focus on the sensations all over his body. Focusing instead of playing a game with himself, see for how long he can edge himself to have intense orgasms every time, each one better than the last.

And I feel like he's not interested in one-night stands at all or casual sex in general.

The act is extremely intimate and requires a lot of trust in the person, and Aemond's had a hard time all his life being comfortable in his skin because of his eye. Yes he's grown to be super confident as a young adult, but still. He has people fawning over him but he honestly does not notice and it would take a lot to let someone in.

When he DOES find the one, holy fuck.

He discovers a lot about himself. Finds out just how desperate he can be for his partner. Not in a subby way, more like, this constant need to be with them and to give them pleasure.

He'd be very methodical and determinded to find every lasting spot that makes their partner weak at the knees; he'd wanna know just how to twist his tongue or how hard to bite, how to curl his fingers and what pace to set to have his partner screaming his name and fisting the sheets.

He wants you to cum at least six times in one session.

And because of this, I feel like he'd have a preference for giving oral sex to someone. He's so used to himself, he wants to know all about what makes the other person feel good.

And he's casually dominant. Once he's learned it all, he knows how to handle (or manhandle) your body around, knows how hard to grip your hips or with which tone to speak (whisper, groan) to have you unwinding beneath him.

And he's not one for PDA but he'll always have his arm around you in public; hands tightly locked together because he needs everyone to see that you're his and no one elses.

Also he's kind of a contradiction, because he wouldn't like public sex, as in, with ACTUAL public around, but if you're parked in his car, somewhere in a seculded area, he's totally down for car sex. If you're out hiking, he's 100% down for a quickie right there in the woods. If the beach is totally desserted he'll be teasing you with a hand underneath your swimsuit as you lay on your beach towels under an umbrella.

He's a total giver, but he melts when someone goes down on him.

Especially if they go slow, nibbling and licking his ears and neck, whispering how much you want him; he loves to feel your body on top of his, caress your curves and feel your hips swaying as you rock your hips on his clothed cock.

When you take him in your mouth, it's a whole experience for him. He's so sensitive, and the novelty of feeling your warm tongue swirling around his head, sucking him off so sweetly, it never goes away.

As far as kinks go, his itty bitty exhibitionist kink would be the only thing that comes to mind. He'd be a pretty vanilla guy but that doesn't mean he wouldn't be intense and extremely passionate. He'll go as rough or slow as you want, last for as many rounds as he can because he's got godly stamina. This is when all of the exercise that he does pays off.

He does love to see you all bent and twisting around like a pretzel, but he's a sucker for missionary because he loves to see you and be able to kiss you.

#aemond targaryen #modern!aemond #aemond targaryen hcs #aemond targaryen headcanons #aemond targaryen smut #hotd #house of the dragon #ewan mitchell #my writing

[asksythe]

MXTX Interview with Risa Wataya for Subaru Magazine P.7

Which creative works influence you: 

Risa: Please tell us which creative works influence you. 

Moxiang: Professor Jin Yong's wuxia novels (*)! Professor Jin Yong is my number one teacher in the craft of writing. His skill in crafting wuxia stories, his artistic palate, the sheer intellectual depth and philosophical complexity of his stories and characters. Professor Jin Yong's wuxia novels have a profound and immeasurable influence on all modern Asian creative professionals. 

(*: the legendary late professor Jin Yong. He's not as well-known in English-speaking spheres due to the complexity of his works being very difficult to translate to languages outside of the Sino-Tibetan language family. But in Asia, he's a literature titan. He's comparable to Tolkien in that he laid the foundation and codified the tropes of wuxia as a modern genre (alongside Gu Long and Liang Yusheng) and brought about the first and subsequent wuxia waves, and that there's also university courses and entire research field on Jin-Yong-ology. However, he's a much more prolific writer, having produced 15 wuxia series, among which 14 are of comparable length or longer than the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit combined. 

It would be no lie to say there's not a single creative professional in Asia that is not influenced by Jin Yong in some way, shape, or form. 

One of Jin Yong's trademarks is the overwhelming, often obsessive, sometimes destructive love that his characters exhibit. There's not one work of his that is not threaded through with larger-than-life romance, not just among the protagonists, but also among the villain characters. The trend of modern Chinese literature, especially wuxia and xianxia, to portray larger-than-life romance can be traced directly to Jin Yong's influence. 

Interestingly, he's also credited as having accidentally created the proto icon of danmei as a genre. 

I'm sorry. I'm so excited I want to cry. Professor Jin Yong is also my first teacher in the craft of writing. It turns out we all step in the footsteps of the giant, huh, Moxiang?) 

I also watch a lot of 90s Hongkong movies. Do you know "Shaolin Soccer'?  

Risa: I do know! 

Moxiang: Stephen Chow's comedy movies, Tsui Hark's wuxia, and fantasy horror movies. Lam Ching-ying's walking corpse movies. I love all of these. 

Risa: That's closer to jiangshi (*) than modern zombies.

(*: a type of Chinese walking corpse. The name literally translates to stiff corpse. Jiangshi is typically translated into Chinese hopping vampire in English due to their similarity to Western vampires. They are the dead that comes back to life. They suck yang energy from living people. They fear the smell of garlic. Etc... Jiangshi has real-life basis in an extinct profession in China: the corpse walker, i.e., people who made a living out of 'walking' corpses back to their home provinces in times of war and chaos. Corpse walkers are mentioned in Liao Yiwu's historical book 'The Corpse Walker') 

Moxiang: That's right. That's right. A hopping jiangshi. I watch a lot of such movies. Some movies are from before I was born, such as 'A Chinese Ghost Story' and 'Sword Man' (*). I have watched them more than ten times! If I meet someone who has never watched those movies before, I will enthusiastically drag them along while saying, "Let's watch them together!" My novel bears obvious and immense influence from these movies... For example, the funny scenes in my story are very close to the atmosphere of comedy scenes from Hongkong cinema. Or the walking corpses in my story. My inspiration came from these undead corpses. In the novel, I mentioned using glutinous rice as a cure for corpse powder. This knowledge came from the movie "Professor Jiangshi" (named 'Mr. Vampire' in English in the Wikipedia).

(*: Both of these movies are Tsui Hark's movies and are counted among the top 100 best movies of Asian cinema. They are known for their fantasy elements, eroticism, and homoeroticism. These movies came from a time where Asian cinema was pushing boundaries left, right, and center. Swordsman and its spin-off were adapted from Professor Jin Yong's The Smiling Proud Wander. The very same work in which he accidentally created the proto-icon of danmei. I wrote an essay about this as part of danmei history last year. I will make a separate post after this.)

Risa: To be honest, when I reached the part where glutinous rice was used to cure corpse powder in 'Mo Dao Zu Shi,' I was moved.

Moxiang: Ah? A Japanese author saw the glutinous rice scene in my novel and linked it to jiangshi movies... That is so surprising! 

Risa: When I was young, I watched a lot of jiangshi movies. I love them! 

Moxiang: I feel increasingly close to Ms. Risa now. As for other foreign literature, Emily Bronte's 'Wuthering Heights' greatly influences me. When I read it during elementary school, I was shaking from excitement. Perhaps because of the influence of Wuthering Heights, that whenever I see complex, intertwining love-hate situations, I feel such joy and nostalgia in my heart. 

There's also my favorite childhood mangaka Rumiko Takahashi! This kind of light-hearted, rowdy atmosphere where characters argue and rib each other is so cute! I especially like 'Ranma 1/2'. I think it's the best comedy manga. Other than that, 'Inuyasha' can only be described by the word romantic. Romantic! To this day, Kikyo is still a goddess in my heart. 

Risa: Although 'Ranma 1/2' is a work that features China in it, what do Chinese people think about it? 

Moxiang: The first thought that comes to my head is 'charming!' After that is probably fond familiarity. This work (Ranma 1/2) features many Chinese elements. I feel that the distance between our hearts is lessened.   

To be Continued (The next part will be the last) 

Translator: Sythe / NPD Khanh    

#mxtx #mdzs #Interview #Translation #jin yong #tsui hark #rumiko takahashi

[fanhackers]

Honoring Our Foresmutters: Joanna Russ

Inspired to post today by the recent New York Times article on Joanna Russ, “Joanna Russ Showed Us the Future: Female, Queer but Far From Perfect,” which promotes an exciting new collection of her work by the Library of America.  Joanna Russ was a fan and a fanfiction writer well as, arguably, the literal founder of the field of fan studies. While Russ has been referenced or namechecked many times in the Fanhackers blog over the years (here and here, for example), I don’t think we’ve ever specifically shouted out her field-founding 1985 essay “Pornography By Women For Women, With Love.”  (Is there an important fan studies essay before this one? Perhaps Ien Ang’s 1985 work on Dallas fans? Janice Radway’s 1984 Reading the Romance? Lamb and Veith? Lichtenberg, Marshak, and Winstons’s 1975 landmark Star Trek Lives? Maybe that one. But Russ is pretty much the first to document and defend modern slash fandom as we know it (which is one of the reasons the NYT article links to the Archive of Our Own.)   

Russ says a lot of things in this essay about Star Trek slash, what it is and how it works, and how slash serves as a sexual fantasy for women. (She also says some pretty fascinating things about not just female rape fantasy, but also about male rape fantasy: there’s a lot of sympathy here for men’s sexual fantasy and empathy for the way men are thwarted under patriarchy as well.)  But I think my favorite thing in the essay is the way Russ is willing to own her feels:

I hope I haven't offended anyone by calling K/S "sexual fantasy." If it weren't, I wouldn't pay any attention to it. I love the stuff, I love the way it turns me on, and I love its attempt to establish a very radical androgyny in its characters. So many feminist creations of Amazons and Goddess-worshippers and so on simply don't work-most are very thin–but K/S works, if you know and like Star Trek, and (as I mentioned) it is the only sexual fantasy by women for women that's produced without the control or interposition of censorship by commercial booksellers or the interposition of political intent by writers or editors. It's also a labor of love for the women involved, since it is (and must be, because of the possibility of lawsuit) non-profit. I find it raw, blatantly female, and very valuable and exciting.

She ends the essay preparing to go back to the story she is writing!

And now, if you will excuse me, I must go back to my ancient Vulcan castle with the carved bedposts where I have left my two characters, Guess Who and Guess Which, in a very dramatic and painful situation. In fact, I left Spock preparing to beat Kirk, whom he has bought as a slave in an alternate universe in which violent Vulcan (Spock's planet) never reformed. Of course the point of the whole scene is that Spock can't bear to do any such thing because he is madly in love with Kirk. So he smites his forehead with his hand (or some similar gesture) and rushes out to agonize. Meanwhile Kirk (who's of course in love with Spock) agonizes too, but in the opposite direction, so to speak.  They will do this for a long as I can contrive, and then they will make great music together, also as long as I can stretch the scene out. Yum. And so on.

That “Yum,” in print, in 1985, is everything! 

–Francesca Coppa, Fanhackers volunteer

#author: francescacoppa #Joanna Russ #foresmutters #fan studies #fanhackers #quotes

[sihtricfedaraaahvicius]

Hey, you just posted my request about Reader from the future and medieval Sihtric. And let me tell you, girl, you've exceeded all my expectations. I can't wait for the next part! I'm smitten haha. Love all the changes and touches you added. I have no words but Thank you.

I love how you wrote me this message just in time so I can use it to post the next part. Thank you for your kind words! I once again hope you will enjoy this one until I have the next part ready to publish ;)

Warnings: a little suggestive again, not much else.

Pairing: Sihtric x modern!you (f)

Summary: part two of this request. You try to accept your new reality and Sihtric was always closer than you thought.

Word count: 3k

Note: /

Taglist: @clairacassidy @finanmoghra @uunotheangel @hb8301 @bathedinheat @neonhairspray @anaeve @bubblyabs @travelingmypassion @sylas-the-grim @heimtathurs @bubbles-for-all-of-us @valeskafics

Chapter 2.

'Burn the place.'

*******************

Sihtric had taken you to meet and speak with his lord, Uhtred. Turned out the man really was a Lord, and you had to say you were a little disappointed that your sex dungeon fantasy would not become a reality.

Lord Uhtred was joined by an Irish man called Finan and a monk called Osferth, but the Irish man said the monk's name was 'baby monk'.

After hours of conversation you eventually all agreed and believed that, somehow, you had travelled back in time. You told them what year you came from, to which everyone was a little superstitious of and spooked at for a while, as they had just dealt with some woman called Skade, something to do with a curse, you couldn't remember what exactly they had said, except that Finan said you looked better than the previous witch. It took you a while to convince them that you had no bad intentions and were just as confused as they were.

You made it clear that you really didn't want to be there, and all you wanted was to just go back home as soon as possible. And unbeknownst to you, those words had smashed Sihtric's heart into smithereens. 

Uhtred told you that he had no idea how to bring you back, if that was even possible, but regardless, he said you could stay in Coccham, and you were offered to help the Lady Gisela, Uhtred's wife, who had recently given birth and could use extra help around the house. You felt like you were to become a slave or something, but you had nowhere to go, so you reluctantly agreed before you stormed off.

*****************

Sihtric had followed you quickly, and found you hidden away, curled up in his cloak, next to a small enclosure that held a few sheep and he sat down next to you. He was quietly fidgeting with his rings, looking down at his feet as you wiped your last tears away after the heavy conversation.

'You really wish to leave, my lady?' he asked eventually, his voice soft and hurt.

'I don't belong here, Sihtric,' you shrugged, 'of course I want to go back home.'

He was silent again for a while.

'Is it better where you come from?'

'I wouldn't say it's better,' you scoffed, 'the world is still a shit show in 2023.'

You looked at Sihtric and found him frowning at you with a slight smile.

'A… shit show, lady?' he chuckled.

'Yeah,' you smiled, knowing he probably hadn't heard that term before, 'it means that… there is still a lot of chaos.'

'I understand now,' he said, and his heart was beating with such force upon seeing your smile, he thought he wouldn't live to see another day.

'I'm not saying that it's bad to be here,' you continued, 'but I have nothing here, and no one, really. No home, no friends, no money, I don't even have decent clothes,' you buried your face in your hands out of frustration.

'I- I can,' Sihtric stammered, 'I wish to look after you, lady. I can take care of you.'

'Take care of me?' you frowned, 'I don't need to be taken care of, Sihtric,' you said harshly as you got up. You took off his cloak and threw it into his lap before you walked away, leaving Sihtric behind, completely bewildered for a moment.

Finan had watched the event unfold from a distance and walked over to Sihtric as you walked away. Finan whistled softly as he nudged Sihtric's shoulder with his knee.

'Ye kept all that hidden from us under yer cloak?' the Irish man grinned as he watched you walk away, all fishnet tights and ripped dress.

'Don't even think about it,' Sihtric huffed as he got up, running after you like a little puppy.

You felt a little offended. Back home, you had built a successful jewellery business all by yourself, you didn't need anyone to take care of you, as if you were some helpless little thing. You murmured to yourself while you had no idea where you were walking to, and you glanced over your shoulder when you heard someone rapidly approach. You rolled your eyes at the sight of Sihtric. Yes, he was adorable and meant well, but you were simply overwhelmed by everything. You didn't want to answer any more questions.

'Lady,' Sihtric called behind you, 'lady, wait.' You stopped and turned to him.

'Sihtric, please, I-'

'You shouldn't be out here dressed like that,' Sihtric said shyly, pushing his cloak in your hands again, 'other men,' he hesitated, 'they will look.'

You frowned, 'Yeah, that's another thing men still do in my day. So?' You held his cloak and you fought the urge, but you were freezing, so you quickly hid underneath the warm fur again as he spoke to you.

'I- I don't want them to look at you, lady, not the way I know they will.'

'Isn't it the same way you look at me?' you raised an eyebrow and crossed your arms, which he couldn't even see, as the cloak was way too big for you, covering you entirely, neck to toes.

'Maybe,' Sihtric mumbled, 'but… but I found you. I saw you first, lady,' he showed his adorable smile again.

Found you first? What did that mean? Did he think you belong to him now? Was finding a woman in the woods the medieval olympics and they get to keep you as a price? Was he claiming you? You surely weren't going to be claimed by anyone. You gave him a mean look, but your body betrayed you when you felt yourself blush lightly at his words. He was right in a way, he had found you, and he had been helping you, and… he was still so damn cute.

'You don't want them to see me?' you questioned him again.

'No, lady, not like that,' he said shyly again and looked down at his feet.

You decided to taunt him, probably your coping mechanism coming out, by sticking out your fishnet covered leg from underneath his cloak, 'You mean… you don't want any other man to see this?' you fluttered your eyelashes as you slowly pulled the cloak higher up your thigh. 

Sihtric's eyes grew wide upon seeing your uncovered leg and he swallowed hard as his cheeks coloured. That boy definitely had a leg kink, you chuckled lightly to yourself.

'Or... do you not want to see this?' smiled playfully, pretending to drop the cloak back over your leg, but you stopped your movement when Sihtric began to speak.

'No, I- I do, I… I mean, no, I-' Sihtric couldn't bring out much more, his mind was simply clouded with all the things he'd do for you, just so you'd allow him to kiss your legs up and down completely. Gods, he was desperate for your legs.

'So you are allowed to see it, but no one else is? I understand now,' you grinned and fully covered yourself again. 

Sihtric shifted uncomfortably and couldn't look you in the eyes right now. And as he looked down at his feet again, he told you it's best to go to the Lady Gisela, she will have clean and warm clothes for you. He pointed you in the right direction before he shuffled away, awkwardly wishing you a good day and apologising if he had offended you today.

****************

Lady Gisela was pleasantly kind. Uhtred had informed her about you already and she never questioned you or your appearance, instead, she immediately gave you a few of her own dresses you could keep. You cleaned yourself up while a servant made you some food. You had to laugh when you remembered that the food you were given, bread, cheese and some wine, was considered peasant food in your day, while you actually loved it. You felt a little better after everything and enjoyed Gisela's company. 

You asked her where you were supposed to stay, and she told you that Uhtred already arranged a small but cosy house for you to stay at. It was across the town, and as it was already dark out, Gisela asked Clapa to walk you to your new home. Clapa was a huge man of little words, but friendly nonetheless.

After a short walk you found your house. And it was small, yes, but it had a bed, buckets to get water to wash yourself with, a table, some chairs, a little kitchen with a cooking pot and a bunch of furs in front of the fire pit. A fire pit! What a luxury. You didn't even have a fire pit back home, which you always wanted. 

The place had everything you needed, and for a moment you felt like you were on holiday. But that feeling quickly faded when you instinctively reached for your backpocket, which Gisela's dress obviously didn't have, to find your phone, which you also didn't have. 

And you hated to admit it, but you cried yourself to sleep that night, feeling scared, lost, confused and very lonely. And you secretly wished that Sihtric, the sweet boy he was, had been by your side at that moment.

***************

You woke up at the crack of fucking dawn when a rooster woke up the entire Burh. You had no idea what time it was, as clocks weren't a thing and neither were phones. You sighed when you realised it wasn't all a dream and you were still stuck in Coccham. But you decided to try and make the best of it. You got up and picked one of Gisela's pretty dresses to wear.

You wanted to wash your face before you went over to Gisela, to assist her with her newborn. When you looked outside, it seemed as if it was still freezing and you remembered you still had Sihtric's cloak, which you wrapped yourself in before you grabbed the large bucket and went to find a water source. 

As you closed your front door and turned to walk away you immediately saw Sihtric. A sudden adrenaline rushed through your body and you felt flustered. He was still cute this early in the morning, whereas you probably looked like a goblin. Nevertheless, Sihtric's face lit up as soon as he saw you.

'Lady,' he smiled widely as he came over, 'you live there?'

'Eh, yeah, I suppose I do now,' you chuckled, awkwardly carrying the large bucket with you, 'why?'

'I- I live here,' the boy pointed to the house behind him, which was, of course, right across from yours. You could literally look into each other's windows if you pulled away the fabrics that made for curtains.

'Oh,' you said, not unpleasantly surprised, 'well, that's… close.'

'I know,' Sihtric smiled, 'so, i-if you ever need anything-'

'I'll know where to find you, yes,' you smiled back, 'thank you.'

'How did you sleep?'

'I slept… a little.'

'It's something,' he said, 'do you need help with that?' Sihtric pointed at the empty bucket.

'I just wanted to get some water, is there a well somewhere?'

'There is,' Sihtric said, 'but it's frozen.'

'Oh.'

'You'll have to go to the river.'

'How far is the river?'

'The whole journey? Half a day's walk.'

'What?'

'Half a day-'

'Yeah, I heard you,' you said, stunned, 'I don't have time for that. Gisela expects me soon.'

'I still have some water left,' Sihtric said quickly, 'you can use what I have, I will take my horse and fetch more water later. For you as well, if you wish?'

'Are you sure?'

'Of course, lady.' And his sweet smile appeared again before he disappeared inside his house. 

You waited, a little flustered still, until he soon came back out and handed you the bucket with clean water. Your fingers brushed against his as you took the bucket out of his hands, and for a moment you feared you'd spill the water all over your dress, but luckily, you managed to compose yourself in time. You thanked him and made your way inside, fixing yourself up as best as you could before you went to the Lady Gisela.

****************

Your day with Gisela was nice but quite uneventful. You helped her with the baby, not that you had any experience, but the Lady didn't seem to notice that and gladly handed you the little child as she took care of her own tasks. You were basically a medieval babysitter. And before you left, Gisela told you to have dinner with her and Uhtred. You had pleasant conversations with them, especially with Gisela, who was not very focused on the fact you came from the future. She just wanted to get to know you, as a person, and she didn't seem to judge. You felt Gisela was a very free spirited woman, which surprised you, seeing the year you were in. 

After dinner, Uhtred gave you one coin of silver, which you thanked him for, having no idea what to do with it.

By the time you went home it was dark once again, so Clapa escorted you back. It was winter, so the light made place for darkness rather early, but you still had no idea what time it was and it felt incredibly disorientating. It made you dizzy when you thought about it for too long.

You shivered at the harsh winter cold and you suddenly felt bad about still having Sihtric's cloak, he must be cold too and you didn't know if he had a spare. When you arrived at your house, you saw there was a faint glow shining through Sihtric's curtains, and you decided to return his cloak once Clapa couldn't see you anymore.

Your 2023 brain made you search for a doorbell, but when you remembered that those things didn't exist, you knocked. After a few long seconds Sihtric opened the door, surprised but happy to see you. You told him you felt bad about his cloak and handed it back to him, which he initially didn't want to accept, but you simply insisted. He then told you he had fetched you water, and the bucket was next to your door, it would be frozen now so he told you to bring it inside and place it near the fire pit. You thank him for his advice and you felt yourself smile as you walked into your own home.

After a few hours of warming yourself near the fire, you went to bed. Only to be awoken at some point by a weird scratching sound. You thought you had imagined it and tried to fall back asleep, until the sound occurred again, louder this time. You jumped up and lit a few candles as fast as you could. You really wished you had a flashlight right now, but alas. You took the one candle and followed the scratching sound. It led you to your little kitchen, under the kitchen to be more specific, and suddenly you laid eyes upon a huge, round, brown rat. And the scream that left your mouth was demonic. You almost dropped the candle as you ran over to your bed. You jumped up on it, panicked, not knowing how to rid your home of that creature. Until you remembered Sihtric. He lived across and had told you that if you needed anything… and you needed something now. In all your panic you didn't even get properly dressed and you ran outside in your halloween dress, which you used to sleep in now, and you rapidly knocked on his door.

It took a moment before Sihtric opened the door, and when he did, you were greeted by his sleepy face, his messy hair along with his shirtless and very muscular torso. And it may have been winter, but your body temperature went up to the Bahamas summer heat at the sight of him.

'Lady?' his voice was raspy from sleep, which did not help you cool off.

'There- t- there is a- a,' you stammered, 'a rat! In my home! There is a rat!'

'A rat?' Sihtric asked, a little confused.

'I need you to get rid of it!'

'What?'

'Sihtric, please! I am terrified. It needs to leave!'

Sihtric blinked rapidly a few times and groaned lightly, 'y-yeah, okay. I, uh, let me grab my boots.'

It wasn't much later until you followed closely behind Sihtric as he inspected your house, holding a candle. Luckily, he saw the rat too, and agreed it was a large one. As he was about to try and chase it away, you suddenly saw another rat appear, to which you screamed and clung onto Sihtric's broad shoulders, which he didn't seem to mind much.

'Oh, god! Another one!' you cried. Sihtric couldn't help but chuckle at your fear, and he made it worse by saying you probably have a nest in your home somewhere.

'Burn the place.'

'What?'

'Burn it!' you said, 'all of it! The whole house!'

'Lady,' Sihtric smiled, 'you can't just burn your house because of some rats.'

'I am not staying here! I- I am leaving.'

'Where to?' he frowned, clearly amused.

'I-,' you paused, 'I don't know. To Gisela!'

'They don't have room for another person after their newborn,' Sihtric smiled.

'Oh, god! I don't know, I just have to go!' you exclaimed and ran out the door.

Sihtric was quick to follow and grabbed your hand, pulling you back towards him with a little force, causing your hands to settle on his bare chest. And what a feeling that was.

'Listen, little goddess,' Sihtric spoke softly, and your insides completely melted, 'calm down,' he hushed you as his hands settled on your upper arms, 'I guess, if you want… you can sleep over at my place for the night. Tomorrow, when there's more light, I will rid your home of the rats. Okay?'

'O-okay,' you mumbled. 

You just wanted to get away from the nasty creatures, you had no intention of staying over with him, but you didn't mind it at all. That is also why you were a little disappointed when you realised Sihtric would not sleep in his bed with you. He was to sleep on the floor, while you took his bed. You thought it was sweet, and not the kind of behaviour you were used to by men. And for a moment you thought maybe living here wasn't that bad afterall. Except, you really wouldn't have minded if he had tried to fuck you that night. But he didn't, causing you to lie awake for hours, a little frustrated.

The next morning when that damn rooster woke you up again, you noticed Sihtric was gone. And as you peeked through his curtains, you saw he was in your home, getting rid of the rats. And when he returned to you, he confirmed there had been a nest living under your kitchen, but he also reassured you that they were all gone now, to which you joked that he should add a few new lines onto his fingers, which he thought was funny, and made him adore you even more.

You thanked him with a quick kiss on his cheek before you ran off to the Lady Gisela. You didn't want to be late. And you left Sihtric behind with red cheeks, trembling hands and a huge smile on his face.

#sihtric x reader #sihtric x you #the last kingdom fic #sihtric fic #sihtric kjartansson #the last kingdom #sihtric #tlk

[maybege]

Mug vs Choker

Summary: Paz and you get comfortable in your new arrangement.

Pairing: roommate!Paz Vizsla x fem!Reader

Wordcount: 3.0k | Rating: E (18+ only!)

Warnings: Modern AU, Free Use Arrangement AU, Roommate AU, explicit sexual content, unprotected sex, (un)requited pining, dom!Paz, sub!Reader, cream pie, size kink, lil bit of cockwarming, some dirty talk

Happy Tuesday everyone! I hope you are having an amazing start into the new week. I had a little inspo for Paz again and channelled it into a new part for the adventures with roommate!Paz, which I hope you will thoroughly enjoy. If you have any suggestions on what scenarios you would like to see with this pairing, please let me know – this AU really is like playing in a sandbox for me. Please let me know what you think in a reblog or a comment!

masterlist | crossposted on AO3

Sometimes you wondered where the hell you had gotten the audacity from. Like that time in primary school when you had asked the big kids if you could play ball with them. Or that time in college when you decided to switch majors at the last possible moment and finally ended up with something that really brought you joy. Or when you agreed to meet Din’s friend when you desperately needed a roommate and a place to live.

And not to forget that time when you asked said roommate for a free-use arrangement.

Paz Vizsla was … He was big. Now you knew it was true in every sense of the word but it still felt not enough to truly capture the physicality with which he was present. Broad shoulders, tall frame, muscled forearms that starred in your dreams more often than you wanted to admit. And paired with the cocky confidence he exuded, Paz Vizsla was like a dream come true. He was a burly man, almost too broad for the door frame and too tall anyway and he was intimidating with his forearms full of tattoos and his hands weary from work and the little scar on his eyebrow.

You never considered yourself brave and didn’t even consider yourself adventurous. When you thought about your unfulfilled desires it was always in the safety of your locked bedroom. But fantasizing about something and actually doing it were two completely different things and you knew that. And to be fair, you’d never met a man you felt like you could live those fantasies out with. It took a whole lot of trust that you just never found yourself placing in any of your dates and boyfriends.

Until Din introduced you to his colleague and friend and apartment-hunting potential roommate for you. Paz Vizsla.

You’d wanted to declare Din insane if he thought you’d move in with a man like that. He looked like he could snap an adult like a twig. But then he started speaking and his voice was a deep rumble and he was funny, making little quips and jokes and you noticed how his shoulder hunched, how he tried to appear smaller than he was in that little coffee shop on the corner where you had first met.

Since then, he had been a recurring figure in your wettest dreams.

Living with him for two years, you knew his presence alone made your brain feel like scrambled eggs. You got brave, around him, brave enough to tease him and flirt with him and ask him about relationships – all under the guise of friendship. It would be the closest you could ever get to him, you had argued, since he so clearly did not think of you in that way.

Which, as it turns out, was the wrong idea because not even a week ago had he fucked you into the couch so good, you got wet at just the thought of it. And now you were in a freaking free-use arrangement? With Paz fucking Vizsla?

“I could get used to that sight.”

You startled, turning around in the hallway, your hair still dripping wet from your shower, in nothing but your underwear. You had taken to wearing less and less clothing around the apartment. Both because it was kind of exciting to see Paz’s reactions and because it was even more exciting to have him touch you as a result of it.

Paz closed the door behind him and shrugged out of his jacket. He did not take his eyes off you and you felt goosebumps rise on your skin.

“Hi,” you breathed, your heart already racing in your chest, “How – How was your day?”

“Shit,” he replied, taking a few slow steps towards you. Your eyes ran over his form, his broad shoulders, his thick arms, his strong hands that you wanted to feel on you. “Doesn’t matter now, though,” he continued slowly, “Because I feel like it is about to get a whole lot better.”

“Yeah?” you smiled, taking a few steps back, towards your bedroom.

The grin that spread on his face brightened your entire day. “Yeah,” he rumbled, lengthening his steps until he was right in front of you, “Much better, actually.”

His body was warm as were his hands when they landed on your hips, guiding you back and back and through the open door until the back of your knees hit your mattress. You let yourself fall back and Paz followed, his lips landing on yours in the most electric kiss.

Kissing Paz was fun, it was passionate, and it made your entire body tingle. Dreks’ kisses had never been like that, and, for that matter, no one’s kisses had ever made you feel this way. Cherished. Wanted. Desired.

“Want you to ride me,” he whispered against your mouth, “See your tits bounce in that pretty lace.”

His hands ran over your sides, rough fingertips digging into the flesh of your thighs, angling your knees up around his hips. “You want that, love? You want to be filled by me?”

You nodded eagerly, turning with him so you could straddle him. The pressure against your core made your pussy throb and the lace sticky with your juices. You could feel him already hard underneath you, his jeans rubbing against you in the best way.

The urge to feel him inside you made your hands tremble and the excitement that you were so close to Paz Vizsla did not help you with your struggle to focus. But Paz did not mind, it seemed. Instead, he merely chuckled when you continued to struggle with his belt buckle and lifted his hips.

“Let me help,” he said, his big fingers deftly working and you swallowed heavily when he freed his cock, shimmying his jeans down his legs as far as they would go.

He did not lose any time before his hand landed on your hip, his thumb brushing the lace of your panties aside and seeking your clit. You shuddered on top of him, the stimulation making you even wetter.

“You got any lube?” he asked, his voice even lower than before, “You know how big I am, sweetheart, don’t want to hurt you.”

“Uh, yeah,” you nodded in confusion, pointedly looking at your nightstand, and watched as Paz reached with his other arm that wasn’t busy making your pussy throb to the nightstand and got that small bottle of lube that you kept in there.

Dreks had always scoffed at your desire to use lube and only after your ultimatum that no lube would result in no sex, had he agreed to use it. Though you did not mention it now, you just wanted to enjoy Paz. Paz who had thought of the lube himself and who seemed to have no trouble knowing how much would be needed to cover his cock and who was careful to look out for any discomfort on your face from the temperature difference.

“You look gorgeous,” he whispered, mouthing at your jaw as he worked a finger inside you, the lube made things much easier, though you were sure you had never been wetter either, “Love that colour on you.”

“I know,” you replied between heavy breaths, working your hips against him, “Blue is your favourite colour.”

“You wearing it only for me then?” he teased you, his teeth nipping at your bottom lip before his thumb brushed over the lace covering your nipple, teasing until it hardened under his ministrations, “My pretty roommate is making herself all dolled up only so I can fuck her properly?”

“Paz,” you gasped, a little flustered at his choice of words but there was no denying the way you clenched around him at his words.

“I know, love,” he murmured, his lips forming that cocky grin that let you know that he knew exactly what you were thinking, “You are not used to getting properly fucked, not used to someone who knows how to work his cock inside you. But I am here now, okay?” you nodded, “I am here and I am going to take care of you, sweetheart, just sit down on my cock, yeah?”

You watched in fascination as he pumped his cock a few times, coating it in lube. “You know I am big,” he stated and you could not take your eyes off the sheer size of him. You knew he would fit. He had fit before and he could fit again.

That did not make the prospect any less daunting though.

He held his shaft up for you, his other hand still on your hip when you rose up on your knees. For a moment you considered you getting your panties off first, making it less of a hassle, but then you felt his tip brush through your folds and over your clit and you decided it wasn’t that urgent anyway.

Everything in you screamed to have him again and when the tip of him caught on your entrance, you could another rush of wetness in your core.

“Go on,” he instructed you, “Sit on my cock like a good girl.”

“Shit,” you cursed, your thighs trembling as you slowly took him in, “Paz, I – I think I –“

“What is it?” he asked you, his voice strained too, “You can’t be cockdumb yet, sweetheart, you barely have the tip.”

“You are so big,” you gasped, sinking down a little more and trying to remember to breathe. He stretched your walls so deliciously it made you want to sit down on him completely but you also knew your body enough to know you needed to be patient and to wait and to – your walls fluttered again when you took another inch, “Shit, I feel so – it’s so –“

“So what?” he asked again, his hands squeezing you tightly, “Fuck – talk to me, love. Tell me what you feel.”

“I feel so full,” you breathed, throwing your head back in an effort to make it feel like he wasn’t filling you up to your throat.

Paz chuckled, the knowing undertone making you even wetter, “Imagine how much fuller you will feel when I come inside this little pussy,” he mused, his thumb landing on your clit again and you could not hold back the half-moan half-gasp when he started to circle it again, his hips shifting the tiniest bit. Still, it was enough to make your body feel like he had moved mountains.

You sat down on him completely, the weight finally off your legs though they still trembled from the pleasure that you felt.

“Good girl,” he praised you, looking up at you with dark eyes, “Now let me see those tits bounce.”

He landed a slap on your ass made you yelp and sit up straighter, your walls betraying your arousal by pulsing around him. The dark-haired man smiled, folding his free arm underneath his head, looking like relaxation personified.

Putting your hands on his chest, you leaned a little forward, trying to get the leverage and support you needed. Being on top was not your favourite position, you always felt a little off, a little uncomfortable, a little too pressured, before.

But Paz, even with him fully in his dom persona and the pointed non-effort he put in, made you feel safe. Even with his eyes on you, with his thumb lazily rubbing over your clit, spreading the wetness, you did not feel like you had to perform for him. You felt like you really go at your own pace.

And you did.

Your hips moved slowly as you took care to give yourself enough time to get used to his girth. The first few thrusts started out shallow before you gained the confidence. Before you knew it, you had gotten faster and Paz had adjusted his movements accordingly, expertly working your clit like he knew what you needed. The way you tilted your hips had him hitting a spot that made you see stars, that made it difficult to control your movements but you wanted – needed – him to get to that spot again and again and again until –

“Fuck,” you breathed, tightening your grip on his shoulders, “Paz, please!”

“Come for me,” he encouraged you and started to bounce you on his cock like you weighed nothing, ensuring that you hit that spot, “Come for me, pretty girl, let me see how beautiful your pussy looks clenching around me. I wanna start off my weekend by feeling you come around me, by filling you up. You can be good for me, can you not, hm?”

You whined, the words getting stuck in your throat at how good it all felt.

“Can you be good for me?” he asked again, his tone carefully balanced between absolute sweetness and condescending and you loved it.

As soon as your orgasm hit you, you could not hold yourself up anymore and instead sank down on him completely, leaning against his chest while your body felt like it was floating above the roofs of the city.

Paz, though, kept fucking up into you. His arms wrapped around your back, one hand on your ass while he chased his own high. His deep grunts and moans in your ears only helped to prolong the feelings of pure ecstasy in your veins.

He let out a loud groan, his cock buried as deep as it could go and you shivered when you felt him come inside you. “Fuck, you feel so good,” he grunted, his cock still pulsing inside you, “Stars, you are a dream come true, sweetheart.”

You ignored the flutter in your chest at his compliment and instead kissed his jaw. “That was perfect,” you nodded in agreement, your face still buried in his neck as you tried to come down from your high. If you calmed down your breathing enough, you could hear his heartbeat in his chest and there was something about this proximity that made your brain all foggy.

Weird, how strictly platonic feelings could do that to a person.

“I promised Din we would come over for potluck tonight,” you finally found your voice, “That was what I was getting ready for.”

“Oh shit, I am sorry,” Paz sat up, carefully taking you with him. He shifted inside you and you winced at the sudden movement. You could feel your combined juices trickling somewhere between your thighs and you were sure there was a total mess on your sheets. “And then I barged in and ruined you getting ready.”

“Didn’t say that it bothered me, though,” you reminded him with a gentle smile. Sitting so close to Paz you could see how the sunlight from the window made the speckles in his brown eyes shine brighter. He was so beautiful, you could not stop the way your finger ran over his eyebrows down to his cheek and jaw.

The look in his eyes was incredibly soft – you would have used the word tender – and when he tilted his face to press a kiss to your fingertip, you knew you were done for.

“Still, maybe we should agree on a sign or something,” he suggested, “To show that you are ready for … To show that you are open to advances. Otherwise, I get hard just at the thought of coming home to you.”

You could not help yourself.

“That doesn’t sound like a problem to me,” you admitted, shuffling closer so you could kiss him again.

“It’s not?” he sounded surprised, pulling away from your face until he could see you shake your head.

“It really isn’t,” you murmured, “Though I agree, it might be a bit more practical than just ravishing me as soon as you get home.”

His chest rumbled with laughter against yours until he kissed you again. You knew you would have to be careful with his stubble or else the beard burn on your chin would betray you to your friends. But when he ran his tongue over your bottom lip or grabbed your chin ever so slightly to keep control of the kiss, it was harder and harder to pull away from him.

After an eternity that still was not enough for you, Paz pulled away from your lips, trailing kisses down your neck. “How about a mug?”

It took you a second to understand what he meant.

“Have you watched too much New Girl lately?” you snorted but your grin fell when you saw the confusion in his eyes, “Remind me to make you watch that show,” you said instead, “It’s a classic.”

“Sure thing, sweetheart,” he smiled, his fingers drifting to the necklace that was hanging around your throat.

Which gave you the best ideas you ever had.

“What if it’s something I’m wearing?” your hand landed on his on the necklace, “Like if I have my necklace on, then I’m open to – to well, to you. And if I don’t then it’s just … like always.”

“But you can take off the necklace any time,” Paz insisted, “Or use your safe word – or –“

“It’s okay,” you assured him, your lips quirking up in a smile when you remembered the hour-long conversation you had with him about safe words and boundaries and things both of you wanted to try, “Paz, I trust you and I think you seriously underestimate how … how attracted I am to you.”

You shifted nervously, too shy to meet his eyes.

But his fingers under your chin made you look at him again and the sheer vulnerability you found there made your heart clench.

“You really are needy, huh?” he half-joked, his voice getting a little too rough but your eyes fluttered and you swore he could hear your breathing catch. He grinned, “Maybe this free-use thing isn’t as complicated as I thought,” his hand squeezed the soft flesh of your ass, “Maybe you really are just a needy little thing for me.”

You squirmed at his words. “Paz, don’t tease,” you pouted and he chuckled, pressing the lightest kiss on your lips, “I am not teasing,” he assured you, his thumbs rubbing circles into your skin, “And I could go for a shower before we leave for Din’s, what about you?”

You ended up being an hour late for Din’s potluck.

#paz vizsla x reader #smut #maybege writes #paz vizsla x fem!reader #roommate!paz vibes

[prettyboyeddiemunson]

eddie munson touching himself headcanons:

18+ ONLY. minors do not interact.

-he loves to jerk off in the shower. in fact, he thinks it’s a lot easier to clean up there, and he doesn’t have to worry about “load socks” just lying around

-speaking of, that’s what he uses to jerk off into when he’s in his room, looking at dirty pictures or reading filthy comics. he has so many of them just all over, and he once bought a whole new pack to wear because he couldn’t find the ones he came in. he’s gross

-loves fleshlights, but doesn’t use them often. sometimes he loves how they feel, but other times, he’s content just using socks or a towel, something like that

-he’ll absolutely pull over and jerk off if he’s horny enough & is in a safe area. there have been many messes made in that van because of it, so maybe don’t touch the steering wheel or radio without wiping it down first

-he’ll taste himself, he doesn’t care. catch him licking his hand clean when he’s finished, if he cums all over it, or gathering it off his stomach to suck off of his fingers

-he prefers to jerk off completely naked, but special cases (in his van, in the school bathroom, backstage at the hideout, basically any public space) call for him to remain at least partly dressed

-is a fan of making himself cum in his pants. he thinks the friction feels kinda good, and he achieves this by rutting against something or just palming himself over his jeans

-as he is when he’s in bed with someone, he’s very vocal & interactive when he touches himself. grabs at his own throat if he’s in a subby mood, talks dirty to himself as if he’s talking to someone else, tweaks his own nipples, has a big fantasy playing in his mind. he also throws his head back against the pillows, his full lips open as he moans, dark hair a sweaty, sticking mess to his face, his nipples hard, his cock oozing precum, balls heavy & aching with the strong need to cum. he’s gonna be moaning your name A LOT, too; let’s face it, you’re his number one fantasy, and no comic book girls or magazine models could ever get him going the way you do. after he meets you, he no longer needs those materials to get off

-speaking of getting off, he cums A LOT. like I’m not kidding when I say he makes a huge mess, which is why he prefers jerking it in the shower or into a sock. less mess, less stress!

-he also absolutely fucks himself against his mattress or a pillow, too. sometimes the friction of the fabric is just so delicious to him, and it can get him off pretty quickly

-subby!eddie? fucking himself on a toy with one hand and jerking off with the other? it’s more likely than you think! i don’t see him as being subby very often, but when he is? damn

-he loves to touch himself in front of you. he especially loves it if you touch yourself with him, because he can’t get enough of watching your hands work, of your face contorted in ecstasy, watching your chest heave, hearing your moans & his name, or just admiring how you’re reacting to his own show for you. he can’t get enough of the way you look & sound as you cum, and he wants to hear it over & over & over again

-jerks off over your mouth and face as you go down on him. nothing gets him off harder than seeing you stick your tongue out, ready to gather any traces of cum that he’s going to give you

-also loves jerking off over your ass and chest. he will take polaroids of the mess he makes all over you for his own little pervy collection

-jerks off into one pair of your panties while sniffing another. also loves to cum in your bras or other lingerie, if you wear those

-going the modern!eddie route here: he sends you snaps of himself jerking off after you start dating, let’s you see & hear how riled up you’ve got him after a steamy texting session. he loves to see & hear you do the same in return—but ONLY if you’re comfortable with that. he will never, ever force or pressure you, ever. he also sends photos of his cum-soaked stomach and/or hand, and probably captions it something like “look what you do to me, baby.” usually, though, he loves sending you videos of the actual climax itself

#eddie munson #eddie munson headcanons #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x fem reader #eddie munson x y/n #eddie munson x you #eddie munson imagine

[talenlee]

Goblin, Vandal, Sugg

Every word you’ve ever used comes from somewhere. The structures you use to discuss ideas is informed by ideas that came before it. I’m not getting all Sapir-Worf about this (and if you don’t know what that is, you don’t have to know because it’s probably not true), but rather wanting to draw your attention to the way the world you live in is in part defined by the words you use. If you’re an English speaker, there are ways you describe food that are a byproduct of French invasion centuries ago. Words like ‘technocrat’ and ‘hyperspecialised’ are constructions that borrow from how intellectuals used to use Latin. Your swear words are almost all from the poor working class, and used to describe sex, god, or excrement, and that’s not how all swear words work in all cultures!

Your world shapes your language.

In any given fantasy setting you work on, you don’t usually have the same linguistic history to justify why the people there talk like we talk now. In fact, to be completely fair, they probably don’t talk like us at all: you have fantasy languages, across fantasy constructions. Any given phrase a character in your world says is probably not using the exact same words as we are and we’re all working with a sort of fictionalised fantasy that makes the concepts reasonably translate across.

There’s a whole treatise then about how we handle Native American names and loanwords that we italicise like etouffee.

Point is that you have words, in your world, and you can attach stories to them. You’ve probably seen me talk about Orcs and how they relate to language and stereotypes, along in my long post on the word ‘Orc’. Here’s another set of examples I like for my world of Cobrin’Seil, as they pertain to the best little evolved raccoons, the Goblins.

The word ‘Goblin’

In Cobrin’Seil, most people speak two languages. Most people who speak only one language speak Common, and Common is full of loanwords from other languages. ‘Orc’ and ‘Beast’ are well known loanwords. There is a word that has risen in prominence throughout all the common-speaking countries in less than seventy years, and the word it displaced is still even in functional and legal use.

The word is both new and old; new to common, but an old word to the language it’s from. This word is Goblin.

Goblins are by no means new. They’re one of the three great old cultures of the world, a social symbiote culture that pretty much exists in any given settlement of any size. It’s usually seen as a sign of health that a community can sustain Goblins — in the same way that communities that lack pets are probably culturally alienated from all the cultures that do keep pets — and if you encounter an enclave that lacks goblins, it’s often because that enclave is specifically for a purpose and has done proactive things to drive out Goblin presence. Goblins are a culture that’s as old as Orcs, older than Ogres and even most of what you’d consider modern-day Elves.

But the word Goblin was not a word in common language and descriptors that was used in dictionaries and education and technical words, until what are known as the Peoples Reform. Not People’s Reforms – but the legal system of the Eresh Protectorate (which tends to set precedents most of the rest of the world follows) formalised the idea of Peoples. For most cultures, this didn’t make a lot of changes, but it did peel out of the laws one of the largest and long-standing carve-outs for Goblins that eroded the idea of their own cultural identity and heritage. The word Goblin is encoded as the term Goblins use to describe Goblins.

Linguistically, Goblin is a funny word. It’s an omniterm; without modification, it serves as noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, adverb and preposition and it does so in entirely intelligible ways to those contextually familiar. The sentence ‘Goblin goblin goblin goblin goblin’ is a meaningful sentence describing a party taking care of a third party because they see the commonality they have with one another. Good luck making that make sense in a sent letter though.

Goblin is possessive; in a lot of ways it can be translated to the common term ‘us,’ with some wiggle room. It’s also a comical non-answer; guards asking a Goblin ‘what are you doing?’ will often get the answer ‘goblin,’ which in this case means something like ‘being myself and doing what I should be doing,’ which is an answer but it is also unhelpful, and you have to understand how goblins communicate to get a handle on what that might mean. Goblin language is simple but contextual and it tends to highlight that goblins are extremely prosocial. Goblin language makes very little sense without the context of who is talking and about what.

There’s a real truth to the fact that many Goblins who have taken to theatre or art will write dialogue in Goblin but stage directions in Common.

But the word is new, legally, but the people aren’t. What was the change? Well, prior to the Peoples Reforms, the term the human kingdoms used for the people known as Goblins was the term Vandal.

The Word ‘Vandal’

You can’t kidnap a Goblin.

Legally, I mean.

This isn’t because Goblins were protected under the law, no no, the laws were way too racist for that. The crime was that, wherever you transported the Goblins to, the people didn’t want Goblins there, so you were committing a crime by inflicting Goblins on them. Basically, it was considered a crime to take a Goblin from one place to another, because the place the Goblin arrived didn’t necessarily consent to the presence of a Goblin.

The term for transporting a Goblin was based on an archaic term for Goblins that operated on the assumptions that Goblins were just a problem and a pest brought into any space. They were known as Vandals, a term hypothetically meaning all nonhuman troublesome cultures including Gnolls and Bugbears, because if those people arrived in a place, they’d wreck things. Funnily enough, Gnolls and Bugbears got removed from this term over time because they would usually, if it rose to legal levels, be committing much more dire crimes, and also, guards didn’t like just bullying them at random, since they were very big and tough people by comparison to the much smaller Goblin. Over time, ‘Vandal’ came to mean ‘Goblins, and behaving like a Goblin,’ and that association meant the legal term got ensnared around it. Ultimately, dropping Goblins off in a space that did not want them was the act of Vandalism. Vandal then, was a term used to not to refer to the Goblins themselves; much funnier, instead, it was the legal term for a person who committed the crime of nonconsensual transporting of Goblins.

During the Peoples Reforms, since this law already existed, the crime of Transporting A Goblin Nonconsensually remained on the books, but Kidnapping, as defined under laws, had its historical Goblin Carve-Out. Nowadays, kidnapping a Goblin is typically treated as Vandalism (Kidnapping), because tidying up old and technically incorrect laws is a lot of a pain in the butt. This even applies when the Goblins are lawyers, who as it turns out, delight in getting non-Goblins in trouble for ‘Vandalism,’ which is a catch-all term under Eresh law for ‘general goblin-like behaviour.’ And we’ll talk more about what makes something Goblin-like in the context of Cobrin’Seil another time.

The word ‘Sugg’

But there is a word, ambiguous in meaning and origin that exists in common, that most people know and that word is ‘sugg.’ It seems to indicate a sort of laziness, a restful state. If you see a Goblin curled up on a pile of playing cards, ears out, eyes closed, you might say ‘can’t use those cards, there’s a goblin sugging on it.’ Or ‘sorry man, I’m pretty sugg.’ The word is extremely ambiguous but it has a thread throughout it of being:

Indulgently lazy

Very relaxed

Overwhelming and absolute

The thing is, nobody’s too sure what it means, and when you ask people who would know, they tell you to ask a Goblin. Goblins, after all, are where the word comes from. In fact, if you ask the right goblins in the right trail you’ll find that while Goblins use the word ‘sugg’ in the same way, they think it comes from Common. Why?

Because Goblins got the word from this thing they found in established human communities. There’d be a nice small dark box, full of paper that you could just curl up in and nest in, and on the outside of the box, there’d be a notice: SUGGEST IN BOX. So they assume the Goblin who enjoys that box the most must surely be their sugg-est Goblin. Which meant paying attention to how they all sugg, and from there, the neologism was born.

Now, non-Goblins and Goblins alike use ‘sugg’, each convinced they got it from the other.

Check it out on PRESS.exe to see it with images and links!

#Cobrin'Seil #goblinposting #Goblins #World Building #Games #Making #Media

[orlissa]

How Not to Commit a Crime Against Historical Fashion–A Basic Guide for Writers

I have been reading a lot (mostly YA) (pseudo)historical (fantasy) novels (and let’s not even get started on what’s going on TV), and I’m stunned and horrified by the complete lack of basic understanding of historical fashion most authors display (not you, Rebecca Ross, darling, you didn’t do anything wrong). So here is a little guide from a miffed little gremlin who knows just a tad bit more about what people wore in the ye olden days than the average person (really, I’m no expert), so YOU don’t commit these heinous crimes:

First and foremost, and I cannot stress this enough: clothing and fashion don’t exist in vacuum. They are intrinsically tied to culture, climate, and, maybe most importantly, technology.

For the most of history (and I’m primarily talking about Western history here, sorry), people wore a simple base layer under their clothing: chemises, shifts, undershirts, underpants, drawers, combinations. Women and men! These had a very important function: they protected the actual outer layers from sweat, and protected the skin from chafing (e.g. from a corset). In the time and day when you didn’t have sewing and washing machines, outer clothes were relatively super expensive, while doing laundry was an actual nightmare. You didn’t want to wash you gowns much, because it was hard on your hands and on the fabric as well. So instead you wore a chemise–made of, most likely, some inexpensive, white material, in an easy-to-sew shape–, and changed and washed that chemise frequently. So as long as your worldbuilding doesn’t include (basically) fast fashion and washing machines (washing spells?), you really, really wanna have your characters to wear an undershirt/chemise.

You also have to think about colors. Chemical dying had a great advancement in the 1860s, which brought on a plethora of new and bright shades that actually lasted. Women’s clothing thus became extra and blindingly colorful, while men’s clothing went… black. As before these chemical dies black dye was hard to make and it also faded fast. (So yeah, your medieval bad guy is actually not that likely to wear black.) Purple is extra tricky, as it was traditionally made from a little creature called the purple dye murex, and making such dye was a lot of work and thus super expensive–so for the longest time only the wealthiest wore purple: senators, cardinals, kings…

(I just read a scene today where in the late 1800s Sicily a male character exchanged a leather shirt for a black (linen?) one at the town market, which he put right on the skin. I was understandably upset and manifested the author stepping on a piece of Lego.)

Climate really determines what people wear: think not only about the temperatures, but what raw materials are available at the climate. (Like, can they wear silk? Are there silk worms in this world? If yes, where? How can the characters have access to it?) Also, do not be daunted by the layers and think that your characters would be sweating buckets in the summer: we are talking about natural materials here which breathe.

Also, I’m not happy to rain on your parade, but generally speaking your (pseudo)historical character wouldn’t be showing too much skin in public. They don’t have sun screen, so they’d be protecting their skin from the sun by covering up–no short sleeves and super low necklines for you! However, evening attire can be more daring (short sleeves! Uncovered shoulders! Décolletage!)

I’ve said this before, but it bears repeating: before the… say second third of the 19th century, you don’t have corsets. You have stays, that give the body a conical shape. Then at the turn of the 18th-19th centuries you have transitional stays, which might be closer to modern bras/bralettes than you’d think. The point of these is to push the boobs up (since the gown is loose around the stomach, there is no point in trying to shape the silhouette there). Then you have corsets. You cannot tightlace (drastically shrink the waist) until the mid-19th century, when metal eyelets in corsets are introduced (and so they can take more tension). Still, it was more like an exception than a rule.

“Whalebone” is not actual bone. It’s baleen, those thingies in the whales’ mouth they use to filter their food from the water. Baleen is made of keratin, the same substance that makes up your fingernails, making them flexible.

Also, it’s just my general advice: try not to conceptualize corsets as bras, but as shoes: they need to be broken in, but once they are molded to your body, they are rather comfortable.

Clothes also play a cultural function–they have a meaning, a function. E.g. the point of panniers (those wide hip-thingies in 18th century gowns) and crinolines was that the women who wore them took up a lot of physical space. Women might not really had much say in everyday life, but they used fashion to show that they are there (men hated it, btw).

General silhouette guide to the 19th century, very roughly:

1800-1820s: Regency (brr, I’m gonna say it… Bridgerton). Boobs up, waistline right under the boobs, skirt is light and loose, with not much volume (will end up looking like a nightgown if the costume designer is not careful enough)

1820s-1830s: waistlines are going down (but still kinda up), skirts are getting fuller, sleeves puffier

1840s-1860s: waistline down to the natural waist, skirts are getting really full with huge crinolines, sleeves slim down, pagoda sleeves (getting wider down from the elbow) later down the road

1870s: First bustle period. Skirts get flat in the front and the sides, stick out in the back.

Turn of the 1870s-1880s: Natural form era. The bustle shrinks.

1880s: Second bustle period. The bustle comes back, gets even bigger.

1890s: Skirts become more A-lined, sleeves get puffed up (till they are ridiculous), chest shaped like a dove’s

#historical fashion #fashion history #writing advice