Tumgik
#ooh well though
forgiven-disobedience · 3 months
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Not me out here being a hopeless romantic thinking you’ve got eyes for me and only me🫣💕
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catliker49 · 3 months
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Lalalala!!!
AAAHHH I am going insane! I have been finding it So difficult to think of things to draw so I may not post as much!! I apologise!
The outfit in this was based off of an Animal Crossing outfit Clown had posted for Wally a little while ago! I messed around with it a Little bit, haha!
I am still working on a style I like also! So expect a lot of changes!
Oooh... I have been thinking of drawing Eddie and Frank together at some point though! I also would really like to make a mini.. storybook type panel.. thingy mabobby.. I'm sure someone understands what I mean!!
I might post some sketches of what I do!!
Thank you so so much for the continuing support!! It really does make me Happy seeing tags people put on their reblogs!! AAH! I am so so Happy!! Thank you thank you thank you!!
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justacrazylilguy · 4 months
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To The Metal Gear Fandom
Okay so silly question but i see a lot of yall on here and you say all the homoerotic stuff in mgs is canon right? Especially otasune, bbkaz, bosselot. Not to sound like a hater but the first game came out in 1998. You know what age hideo Kojima was back then? 36 with a wife and kids. So what's his real purpose for making a whole game series about a buncha gay guys? That's what leads me to believe it's unintentional but idk. If he said why then lmk cause I dont get why he would? I've been thinking about this a lot recently because I've been seeing a lot of people saying it's deliberate. Anyone can answer btw my askbox is open because i Need an explanation. More in tags cause im insane.
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ghosts-cyphera · 7 months
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I’m super duper behind with replying to my asks and messages! so sorry about that, darlings. I think for tomorrow I’ll try to be online just a tiny bit less, but I’ll be back on saturday the latest and will try to get back to you all then.
remember to take care of yourself, to drink your water and eat your snacks, and to show yourself the kindness that you show others. you’re deserving of all the love that you put out there. 💗
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springlock-suits · 8 months
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Um. *twirls my hair* For this day I wanted to draw Funtime Foxy and or Ballora as real/showbiz inspired animatronics but then I realized I didn't. Want to. And might not have the time to depending on how the inspiration hits and if I'm going to add Baby to be a proper ladies night. So. I wrote a fic one-shot 👉👈
Bear in mind, I am an artist first. And failed English class on multiple occasions. So have fun with this I guess
Fnaf-tober | Day 4: Ladies Night
Fnaf-tober by miiilowo
Content: Willry if you squint, mostly in the form of Henry's thoughts. Gender.
This is about 1000 words, so one of my more lengthy fics, if not the new record holder
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Henry reread the design notes in front of him again. He scratched his beard a bit in concentration. The ginger man was currently looking over William's work on some circus themed animatronics, they were only concepts right now, silly little doodles made by a man who happened to enjoy the aesthetic clowns and the like. However... he couldn't help but notice a small, inconcensistent detail. Had William made a mistake? Maybe he should call him to make sure he's reading this right.
No... he can't do that.
Henry sighed and took a sip of the tea on his desk, perfectly sweet, though unfortunately has long since become room temperature. Henry huffed a laugh as he took another sip, William always called Henry's tea "hummingbird nectar". Always scrunching his nose in that cute way of his when he saw Henry drinking a cup of a sugary concoction. Henry shook his head, focus, what was he doing again? He looked back down, right, William's notes. Calling him. Can't do that. Henry sighed again, William had taken a break from work this week to take care of his kids while Bella was away on a camping trip with her girl friends. William would be back for work this Friday, and correcting a detail on some concept work truly wasn't that important. Especially since the "funtimes" won't see the light of days for years, if ever.
Henry nibbled on his pen, and looked up at the time. 1pm. Would William be busy? Michael was at school, but little Evan and Elizabeth were home. Maybe they were taking an after lunch nap at this very moment and William was just as bored as he was and wanted to talk about his animatronics some more. Henry rapidly tapped his pen on the desk, thinking. Charlotte was still at school. His little Button had mentioned recently that she wanted to see Uncle Will and her siblings again. He remembered how he tried once to explain to her that William is not her uncle, and even if he was his children wouldn't be considered her siblings, she just puffed up and crossed her arms, stating that she obviously knew that, but she had adopted them, so they're family now. William had laughed and ruffled her hair, saying he couldn't argue with that logic, and Charlie had absolutely beamed at that. Henry smiled at the memory.
He shook his head, getting distracted again, what was he...? Henry jolts up when he remembers. Right, of course, Charlie wanted a play date. He should call William to ask him about it. And if the conversation happens to steer towards other things, well, that'd be convenient, just some light chatter between friends. Henry holds the phone to his ear, having quickly dialed the number.
Ringing...
"Hello?" comes the sweet sound of William's voice. Henry realizes that he's been silent on the phone to the point of becoming uncomfortable. "William! I ah, hope I'm not being a bother right now- I was just uh wondering if you were free at some point this week. And your kids. For a play date. Charlotte wants a playdate." Henry quickly rambles out, embarrassed. William chuckles on the other end of the line, and Henry hears the faint whispering of Elizabeth, excited at the thought of playdate. "You're not bothering me Henry, Evan just went to bed, and Lizzie here is practicing her makeup skills on me. Of course they can have a playdate later, how does after school sound? Or after Charlie finishes with her homework I suppose."
Henry doesn't even take a moment to think, "Yes yes that's perfect, my little Button will be excited to hear the news." Henry paused. "Practicing her makeup skill on you?" William chuckled, and Elizabeth seemingly shoved her face right in front of the phone as she now loudly spoke. "I'm making Daddy pretty! We're having uh,, um,,, a." The toddler struggled to remember a word. "A LADIES NIGHT!!" she shouted triumphantly, proud of herself. William quietly told her not to be so loud, as she might wake Evan or hurt poor Uncle Henry's ears. Henry hummed. "You and William and having a ladies night Lizzie?" Elizabeth nodded, and then gave a quick "Yeah!" when she remembered Henry couldn't see her. "Me and Daddy are having a ladies night, because we're the only ones in the house right now other than Evan and Evan is sleeping." She shushed the phone for emphasis. "And we're both ladies so we're having a ladies night!"
"I see," replied Henry, not seeing. "That reminds me of something actually, could you hand the phone back to your father, dear?" Elizabeth nods and William gently takes the offered phone from her, and watches as she quickly becomes distracted with rummaging in her mother's makeup kit again. William smiles as he puts the phone back up to his ear. "Was there something else you needed Henry?"
Henry quickly shuffles through William's notes again. "Oh yes, um, I was just looking through your notes and wondering about... the funtime fox character? It looks like you switch between using he or she for. uh... the fox.".William hums, "Did I? I suppose I didn't notice." he chuckles. Henry nods, "Right then, so I was just wondering what you meant to use for the character, so I can correct it." William smiles, "There's no need for that Henry, he and she both sound correct to me for the fox. He is above all else a performer after all, I imagine she simply finds it easier to use whatever fits best at the moment, and whatever fits best for the performance." Henry paused for a moment. "Like... your Springbonnie?" William beamed, "Yes yes like Springbonnie! Though not exactly, Springbonnie entirely doesn't care for such things." William paused, "Say I've been thinking of a new funtime character too! A fox like the other one, their name is Lolbit... "
Henry smiled as he listened to William ramble on about his latest idea, he ended the call quite some time later when Charlotte excitedly bounced up to him after getting off the school bus, talking about how she finished her homework while on the bus and proudly displaying her work. She was, as expected, very excited to visit Uncle Will's house when he told her about the playdate.
When they arrived. Henry couldn't help but notice that William had yet to wash off the makeup his daughter had put on him.
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jesterwaves · 8 months
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Assets for my CPUK web shrine. these are quite old now...
i made a little post about it if you want to check it out!
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rotisseries · 9 months
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I'm so unbelievably susceptible to the famous secret relationship trope it's unreal actually
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softquietsteadylove · 5 months
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Hey i know you already make a Thenamesh hunger games au and i just can't keep my mind of it specially now, Can we ask for a part 2 of it maybe when they already in the battle field.
Ikaris was not invincible. None of them were. Thena said so herself.
Gil stared him down, his chest heaving from running through this bizarre fabrication of a tropical jungle. He needed fresh water - any water - and fast. And now he was facing down by far the deadliest tribute in here.
Well, maybe the second deadliest.
"Oi," Ikaris tipped his chin at him, "tadpole."
Gil almost rolled his eyes before he remembered his order to never take his eyes off the enemy. He gulped. Ikaris was not invincible. Ikaris had a terrible temper.
"You volunteered, right?--for your nerd brother," Ikaris grinned at him, completely menacing. He certainly had the handsomeness and charm of a Capitol trained career tribute. "Y'know my bitch companion volunteered for her brother, too. She's the reason I'm in here."
Ikaris had a terrible temper. He was easily baited. Gil gulped, "I-I thought you careers all wanted the chance to fight in the Games."
"Yeah but not 'cause blondie got me stuck here."
Thena was right, Ikaris would kill anyone, and she was top of his list.
Gil kept his weight on his feet light. He wasn't as agile as Thena, but he knew he was definitely stronger than Ikaris. Ikaris had showy muscles for a specific strength, but Gil was certain he could out strong-arm him. It was the murdering that Ikaris would have the upper hand in.
"I've seen 'er talk to you," Ikaris continued. "You know where she is?"
Gil's blood chilled. That was why Ikaris hadn't launched a spear right through his heart on sight. He was hunting for Thena - his biggest competition - first. "No."
"What'd she promise you?" Gil didn't like the smirk on his face. "A li'l, uh, fun, eh?"
Gil's stomach twisted.
"You help me find her," Ikaris fixed his cold blue eyes on him, "I'll let you make good on that promise."
"I know she'd launch herself out of the arena before she would let you touch her."
Ikaris had a terrible temper, and the effect was obvious and immediate. He snarled, baring his teeth.
Taunt him, tease him, anything necessary, Gil heard in Thena's voice. He glared at him more, "that what pisses you off the most? That Thena doesn't care for your Golden Boy act? That she's the only girl in the world who doesn't want a damn thing to do with you?!"
"Shut your filthy mouth, you loach!"
Gil gripped Ikaris' arms as he charged in at him. Thena was right about his technique being simple and sloppy, too. He used brute strength, but he didn't have skill like she had. Gil had sparred with her a few times during assessments; Ikaris was nothing in comparison. Heavier, but nothing.
In retrospect, it was probably Thena doing him a favor and letting him show off his strength, even then. She had a weird way of looking out for him, and he only hoped he would get to pay it back somehow.
Gil twisted Ikaris' arm around, wrenching his wrist the wrong way and stealing his spear for himself. This would help him fish if there was any water to be found at all in this hell.
"Coward!" Ikaris roared at him as he scrambled to pursue him, injured or not.
Gil kept running. He didn't want to kill anyone in here. Not even Ikaris.
"Get back here!"
Gil squeezed his eyes shut. Ikaris was faster than he was. He sprinted harder, but he had been running this whole time. He didn't have the stamina of someone who had trained for this their whole life.
"Open your eyes!"
Gil skidded to a stop, slipping slightly on the jungle floor. He twisted to look behind him, vines and leaves in his way. He saw a flash of gold, and Ikaris a few paces behind him. Then Ikaris had a knife in his shoulder. Two--three knives driven into Ikaris' already injured side threw him to the ground.
"Move!" Thena turned, screaming at him over the drum of blood in his ears. She reached out, gripping the shoulder of his sparkly uniform suit and dragging him with her. "Come on!"
Gil let her basically drag him with her. He looked at her hand. She had her knives, a blade of any kind being her signature weapon of choice.
"Gil!" she barked at him, pulling him behind a tree and shaking him. "Look at me!"
He blinked, trying to make sense of what he was seeing. He had been fighting Ikaris. But now he was looking at Thena, with her blonde hair in a tight braid, her pretty green eyes, her pale skin. He was in the jungle, with Thena.
"Gilgamesh," she shook him again. This was why Kingo told him that Thena had so much skill; she didn't have the personality for tribute gifts. She was beautiful, though. "Gilgamesh, look at me and listen."
"I am listening."
"Where are you?"
"The Capitol," he repeated dumbly, just staring at her. But the edges of his vision were coming back, slowly. "The Games--the dome."
"Where is your home?"
"District 4." Home, in his little shack he shared with Phastos, Dad buried on the island and barely scraping by, just the two of them.
"Who are you here for?"
"My brother." Phastos wasn't a Fighter. He was a Thinker--he was gentle hearted, and kind, and he wouldn't have survived in here. Phastos had someone who loved him. Phastos had found love, somehow, in a world like this--a love that was already hard enough. "I'm here for my brother."
"Good." She nodded sharply, slapping him on the arm. She had a sparkly jumpsuit on too, but hers looked better than the rest, Gil thought. She gripped the two - mismatched - knives in her hands. "Let's go."
"Thena," he blinked.
"Here." She said it softer, pulling out a tiny canister from the side pocket on her leg. "It's not much, but there was some rain dripping off the tip of the cornucopia."
Gil gulped down what little water it was. She was right it wasn't much, but by all the districts it was more than he'd had, and he needed it.
"We have to keep moving."
Gil swiped at his chin and licked his lips, eager for every little drop. He looked at Thena's back as she started walking ahead of him, head twitching every which way to keep a lookout for them. "Please tell me you had some of that too."
Thena didn't even look over her shoulder at him. "Have you found any food?"
That was a no. Gil huffed, gripping the spear he had gotten from Ikaris. "I was looking for water. Even if there are weeds at the bottom, I can make us something edible."
That did get her attention. She nodded, saving her words and moving along.
"You're here for Druig," Gil said, and finally got to see some sort of human reaction from her. "That's what you keep telling yourself, right?"
Thena pushed some foliage out of their way, seeming to head in a very determined direction. "Might help keep you sane."
Gil understood that well. He cleared his throat, making sure not to trip on any roots or get caught on any vines. "Phastos...he's really nice. He's funny, too. He's not that strong a swimmer, but he, uh, he like--he invents stuff? Like h-he made a contraption that helps us get the nets in faster. Like an engine that makes the arm on the boat into a fishing rod reel."
Thena paused, holding a leaf up for him to follow. She was smiling. "He sounds like a good kid, Gil."
He smiled at her too, holding up the leaf for himself. She was shorter now that he was closer to her. "What's your brother like?"
Thena waited, really seeming like she was debating answering him at all. But she sliced through a vine in front of them and sighed. "Druig is four years younger than me. He shouldn't have been in the draw to begin with, he was just born early."
He was born early, and already as young as he could be to be in the draw--no wonder she had volunteered for him without hesitation.
"We have no one else," she said more quietly, looking around again. "I made Ajak promise me that if I died, that she would make sure he was taken care of."
"I'm sure he will be," Gil said quickly. They were pretty hollow words. But he meant them all the same. She looked at him just the way he would expect, too. But he smiled, "if he's as smart as you say he is, right?"
That seemed to surprise her. She smiled again, that pretty one that made her a crowd favourite. She smiled with her teeth; he thought it was cute. "Smarter."
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mobbothetrue · 6 months
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Spotify prompt! Knuckles and tails, an 19 :)
Oh hoho! You managed to land FightSong by EVE (<- YouTube link), a song that by all rights shoulda been #2 (<- I refuse to pay Spotify money).
Hmm…. It’s been a while since I’ve done anything with Super Sonic Speed, but I always did intend to write follow-ups…
.•.•.•.
The city is unbelievably loud. They’re in what Sonic had called a shopping district, and it’s apparently very popular. Knuckles would kind of like to go home, a lot, actually, but Tails is flirting from one shop to another and he doesn’t have it in him to shut the kid down. Sonic is somewhere on the periphery of their little group— he and Tails had bonded, thick as thieves, and Knuckles— well, he tolerated the guy.
Tails gasps like he’s seeing the sun rise for the first time, excited enough that he’s lifting off the ground. Knuckles ambles over, grabs him by the ankle, and pulls him back down. He’s looking at some sort of… thing. Knuckles can’t make heads or tails of it, but it’s definitely saying something to Tails.
Hmm. He is, at least, familiar with the idea of shops. Chao liked to set them up, sometimes, selling fruit or handmade crafts for rings, but Knuckles has no idea if their idea of currency and everyone else’s aligns. Would the shopkeep accept a fruit? Most chao did. It isn’t like rings are a problem, so…
Knuckles turns, seeking out Sonic in the crowd. There he is— stiff as anything, glancing frantically back and forth between Knuckles and some other hedgehog, a pink one. One of his friends, maybe? They look irritated, maybe not. Knuckles steps away from Tails, invites himself into their conversation.
“and you just RAN OFF—“ the hedgehog is shouting. Sonic cracks his mouth open, a faint wheeze escaping.
“Hey,” Knuckles says.
“—do you have ANY IDEA how WORRIED I was—“
This looks like a battle Sonic is better off fighting on his own. Still, Knuckles needs his question answered. “Hey,” he repeats, slightly louder.
“—I mean, I knew you were alright because my cards said so, but—“
“Hey Knuckles,” Sonic manages to crack out, “this is Amy.”
Amy tilts her head at him, and then gives him a sharp, discerning once-over. “Are you one of his other friends?” She asks.
“Yeah, sure,” Knuckles says, and then “do rings work as currency down here?”
She blinks at him, as if this is a weird thing to ask. “Yes?” She says.
“Okay,” Knuckles says, nodding, “try not to scare him too bad.”
Any lingering confusion evaporates, and she whirls around to find Sonic trying to sneak away. “AGAIN!” she shouts, full of conviction, and Knuckles makes his way back to where he left Tails. He isn’t pressed up against the glass anymore, so Knuckles steps into the store. Yeah, there he is. Hovering— literally— over the same display.
Knuckles takes a moment to properly observe, rooting around for the terms Tails would use, in an attempt to ensure he gets the right thing. There’s a looping track, and a few other gadgets on the sides. A switch, one of them looks like, and some barricade, and a few blinking lights. On the track itself is a… sideways cylinder, set on wheels, connected to a few boxes, puffing out smoke— or steam, maybe. Tails is absorbed enough in watching it chug along that he doesn’t even realize Knuckles is standing right next to him. Knuckles’ll just have to make sure he comes up for air, occasionally.
He casts about the rest of the store, vaguely lost. There are a lot of displays, and a lot of colourful boxes. Knuckles picks up one, flips it over, and realizes swiftly he is out of his depth. He brings the box over to Tails, handing it to him. Tails holds onto it for a full few seconds, watching with bated breath as the cylinder switches tracks, before he looks down. His fur all along his spine puffs up, and he turns to look at Knuckles so fast he has to wonder if Sonic hasn’t started to rub off on him in more ways than one. That’s the right box, for sure.
“Really?” Tails asks, voice breathy with excitement, and Knuckles ruffles his fur instinctually.
“‘Course.”
Maybe the shopping district isn’t that bad.
#eggthew#prompt fill#askbox#uhhh so. I kind of barely followed fightsong at all I CAN EXPLAIN#went off the visuals instead of the lyrics. two people running around in city. ooh I could do knuckles protecting tails from Eggman in some#kind of egg city! ah hang on there’s the eggperial city arc in idw and I haven’t read that yet. so I’m not confident in portraying it. hmmm#I could do a Different egg city… man Knuckles and Tails. what a great pair. I really enjoyed writing them in super sonic speed. hey! I could#do super sonic speed’s Knuckles’s first time in a city! maybe he gets kind of freaked out? escape from the city haha#well tails would be familiar with cities. and sonic would be there ofc but I’ll shuffle him off to the side so he doesn’t hog the spotlight#I could do tails looking at a shop! yeah! and knuckles needs to ask how currency works but sonic is… busy? hmm. oh! a city!!!! amy lives in#a city!! she runs into sonic! which keeps him from coming back over with knuckles. I always did mean to write her reunion with sonic.#that’ll be nice to do. alright. perfect. it’s all working out. get to the final few lines. think ‘hey how did I end up with this anyway.’#pulse of adrenaline as my brain goes OH YEAH FIGHTSONG. ach.#I’m happy w this though :)#knuckles: I Tolerate sonic. at best.#sonic: hey I am in a vaguely uncomfortable situation#knuckles *rolling up metaphorical sleeves*: do I need to kick ass#Amy making a mental note: sonic apparently befriending a space alien okay okay cool#they meet up for ice cream. knuckles is inflicted with curse of immediate brainfreeze. tails is So Excited about his new model train set#within a week he mods it to A) be strong enough to pull the Master Emerald and B) be armed.
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sealer-of-wenkamui · 5 months
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I’ve started to read the part of Abe no Seimei Monogatari about Douman and it lead me to realize the English translation of Heian-kyo omitted an important name for no real reason?
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It’s not just “a sage”, he specifies the sage “Houdou” (法道仙人). Which is important because in Abe no Seimei Monogatari, Douman is a descendant of Ashiya Kiyofuto, who met and studied under Houdou and wrote down his teachings in a book which Douman mastered in secret. (After which he lies and claims he’s a disciple of Houdou)
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I’m reading a translation into modern Japanese which also includes a ton of annotations, this is the one about Houdou, which even mentions him being from Tianzhu (=India)’s Vulture Peak. (天竺の霊鷲山)
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musicalsiphonophore · 4 months
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my uterus hates me so much this month. my period is literally twice as heavy as it usually is on day 2. like wtf
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r3m-ster · 6 months
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hi guys can i try something
can y’all call me sasha for a bit i just wanna see how i feel about it
(if we’re friends and therefore you are going to be referring to me i have more info in the tags if you’d like to read more)
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the legends of localization book has reawakened my love for the nuances of translation and now i REALLY wanna take all the undertale dialogue and narration and translate it into french. for funsies
#i know i know french bad and all that. fair. but also: it's the only other language i know and am good enough at to feasibly do something#like this#dr could be fun too. i've got some ideas knocking around for that as well#the intricacies between characters of which would call frisk tu right off the bat and which would use vous#and the point in the game at which the latter characters would switch to vous.#mettaton's dialogue wouldn't be fun though. there are VERY few gender neutral terms of endearment#that serve as a good stand-in for 'darling' in french#very few gender-neutral terms in french at all honestly. but that's beside the point#maybe since french people are accustomed to a certain amount of english in their media#for example 'battle time' and 'game is over' in off and the like#i could just keep darling in places. it might be easier to have him use gendered terms of endearment#for people other than frisk. i'm thinking 'ma belle' for alphys. just affectionately. my grade 5 french teacher#who was from france#used to call me and the other girls in our class that affectionately#i mean. i wasn't a girl really. but you get it#ooh and i wonder what pronouns napstablook should use. i know there are community-made#nonbinary pronouns in french#such as ol and iel#they seem like an ol to me#i know many nby people aren't happy about iel since it's a mashup of il and elle#and therefore still built around a binary#and i totally get that but i don't think they're useless or actively harmful as pronouns! i'm sure there are some who like them and use#them#seam seems like an iel to me tbh#anyways this has been my short ramble about how i would go about localizing undertale into french. thank you very much for listening. bows
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chloelouygo · 24 days
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Trying hard in therapy so I can fix myself to make my therapist proud 🫡
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rinsvg · 5 months
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I’m officially 18 cheers to a new year of life 🥳❤️.
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nehswritesstuffs · 5 months
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For the "500 words or less" director's cut prompt, which I missed because of the holiday: this 409-word bit of TTOU chapter 31 that surprisingly does not include Nicola, as much as I love her, but does include my favorite confused and well-meaning alien blorbo.
“Walsh’s sister is in government and her brother-in-law was private-sector for a long time,” Fajr explained from the front passenger seat. Gordon was driving, leaving her free to talk without the fear of distraction. “I don’t remember precisely what either did, since I’m not well-versed in those parts of Human society, but it’s been able to help them afford this neighborhood without an issue.” “No one needs to be that well-versed in Human society,” Malcolm assured her. “Her sister’s probably a high-ranked civil servant, impossible to get rid of no matter the government, and he’s probably some energy-sector or banking fuck. I met so many back in my former life that they all blended together after a while. You don’t need to worry about them.” “I might, but that would all depend on what happens during the debriefing.” The satnav instructed Gordon to turn and he did so, pulling into the drive of a house more grand than what was likely all four of their salaries put together. Once the car was parked, they got out and went to the front door as a group, where they were greeted by Walsh herself. “Thank you for coming on such short notice,” she said, ushering them in. Looking over her shoulder, she then shouted into the house, “They’re here, Nick! Four of them!” An unintelligible shout answered her and Walsh brought the guests into an elaborate sitting room, where tea was already laid out. “Sorry about the pretenses, Kate. Nick’s place isn’t exactly what most people would call humble.” “You’ve been able to recoup here—that’s what counts,” Kate replied. “Oh, you remember Fajr Bismuth? She’s now our Head of Security and Surveillance.” “I thought Frank still had a few years left on his contract,” Walsh said, pouring tea. “What’d you do to convince him to step down?” “He didn’t,” Fajr said. She tried to keep eye contact with Walsh, but couldn’t. “Frank Hughes was one of the first people the insurgents killed upon capturing Mainframe UK. I… I couldn’t save him.” “You saved others though, from what I’ve heard, and we can’t fault you for doing all you could,” Walsh said. “He’d be proud to know you’re his successor.” “You think so?” Gordon asked, relief in his voice. “There are some people who are upset that it’s not me.” “Do you want the position?” Walsh asked. “Not yet; eventually, but Fajr was next in line.” “Then let it be Ms. Bismuth.”
AAAHHHHH YEAH THIS BIT more about this bit under the cut.
Have a fic excerpt you want me to break down? Go ahead and let me know!
Okay, so, this bit! I wanted to keep the possibility of Nicola and Walsh being not-related while also teasing it for as long as possible, which brings us to Bismuth being the one who is giving the infodump. If Malcolm did any sort of looking-into Walsh's sister's background then he'd know instantly what was going on, but for now it's just this posh as fuck neighborhood with Walsh going "yeah sorry my sister's place is kinda extra".
'Cause here's the thing: Nicola Murray is rich. She and her husband both have high-paying jobs, can send multiple children to private school, and she seems to have just the right amount of reality disconnect in relation to others while still caring about people to insinuate that she's always been on the wealthier end of things. Shit, it's implied that her husband makes enough that she doesn't have to work, but does anyhow for both self-fulfillment and because she loves helping people. It also wouldn't surprise me if she and/or Mr. Nicola came from money to start, since this is also the UK we're talking about. So yeah. Posh as fuck.
And then Walsh is there! Doing some more misdirection bc Beck and Nick being nicknames for ladies in male-dominated jobs isn't anything, nooooo. I found it really important to me that we expressly lay out Walsh and Gordon's acceptance of Bismuth as the successor to the Security Head's role for a lot of reasons. Here's what we know of Fajr Bismuth thus far:
She is a Zygon.
Her grasp on Human culture is... strained at best.
They just are recovering from the Zygon Insurgency, where Bonnie and Company murdered a bunch of UNIT people including the man Fajr is replacing. The amount of symbolism there is intentional.
She is supposed to be the new Head of Security. So, being in charge of preventing something like that happening again. Everything depends on her loyalty to the Tripartite, which is not exactly something in good standing at that moment.
Her name is awesome but it's also very specifically non-English. It's a feminine Arabic name that means "dawn, beginning", and is a time for observant Muslims to pray during the morning twilight (fajr and four other daily prayers are part of the Five Pillars/Ten Practices of the Religion in Sunni/Shia Islam). Her having a name that can be a Briton's, but is not considered British is symbolic of her status as someone who is stuck between worlds and cultures as someone who might actually be named Fajr would. It is just as intentional. Bismuth just was also an element near [Themba] Astatine on the periodic table that I thought sounded cool with Fajr, since I like giving Zygons elemental names.
So now you've got all of that, and we're in this posh as fuck house, having a conversation with someone who very well could lobby to scuttle the concept of Bismuth having such an amount of power, especially with the resistance that has been seen within the other Departmental Heads. Like, if anyone can make or break this position for Bismuth from within Mainframe UK, it's Walsh. It was her command that was obliterated. She's the one with potentially the biggest stake in that game when it comes to whether another Human heads Security or a member of the extraterrestrial species that caused the entire mess to begin with... and... she... just... accepts once she has all the pieces she needs. You have to remember that Walsh is on a mental sabbatical--once things were over she had a fucking breakdown. Her approval means a lot.
...and Gordon's a good boy he's not gonna fuck this up for Bismuth he knows better than that.
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