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desultory-novice · 2 years

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What are your thoughts on Adeleine?

003 - Adeleine

...!!! That feeling when you were secretly waiting for this character ask and it finally shows up in your inbox...!

Frankly, I don't know how you can be an artist (or a novice artist, in my case) in the Kirby fandom and not be completely in love with Adeleine! (...And Drawcia and her sisters and even Paint Roller, to varying degrees.) She comes to Popstar to study art! That's what all of us who are drawing Kirby right now are doing!

Whenever we pick up a pencil or stylus to draw "Kirby," we're mentally boarding a ship to Popstar and studying it for its beauty, mystery, adventure, love, bold and soft colors, interesting inhabitants, and sometimes for its dangerous and darkside for artistic inspiration!!

Adeleine is so wonderful! I feel like we're kind of blessed to have a character like her, to be honest! Even without her bonus role as an emotional vessel for the rest of us players/watchers/fans, she's just a great character. The way she runs off to various planets in 64 to investigate old ruins and puzzles even before Kirby and Ribbon can catch up?! I just want to point out how amazing that is for a female character of that era! (Has it been said before that Kirby has some real solid female characters? Because it does!)

(And that's not even getting into the many wholesome/kickass non-binary reps! Including our very own titular protagonist! :hugs Kirby plush:)

Brought this up in the Dedede ask, but while Adeleine is like Dedede's little sister-figure, I personally see Adeleine as being a big sister to most of the rest of the cast around her. She may not know everything there is to know, but she's got an excellent head on her shoulders, an inquisitive mind, and a lot of common sense!

...Wellllll okay, when you destroy enough of her art, she does get angry enough to try and fight you despite having 1 HP...and not knowing the first thing about fighting...but she's under duress! Mostly, she knows enough to feed people when they're hungry, and that's very important!

In that sense, it's hard to pin down a "favorite relationship" for her because it's hard to imagine any character she wouldn't be just wonderful with! I think it's fair to say she loves everything about Dream Land! Though doubtlessly there are SOME things that confuse her or that she hasn't QUITE adopted to - ie, sharing food...

--- Adeleine = Ado?? --- Tbh, when I first got back into Kirby (mostly via a lot of digging on the wiki for things I'd passively noticed while playing the games but hadn't paid that much attention to) it seemed obvious to me that Adeleine was Ado! I mean, the game had limited room for displaying English text, and the names "Adeleine" and "Ado" both start WITH "Ado" when written in Japanese. In fact, I was downright boggled that this was even a question! But...it was weird that the official Dedede Dictionary didn't use any artwork of Ado on their Adeleine entry...

Over time, I came around to the idea that Adeleine doesn't HAVE to be Ado. And there's so much interesting stuff going on in the world of Kirby that there should be room for alternate interpretations!

Is Ado Adeleine's mirror world counterpart?? (Maybe SHE fell through the Mirror Dimension and Adeleine popped out?!) Or is Adeleine Ado's parallel? Maybe they were actually twin sisters who came to Popstar?! An idea I personally like to explain the discrepancy is that time passes unusually on Popstar and Ado was maybe Adeleine's mother or grandmother!

On that note, perhaps "King Dedede" is actually a dynasty of penguin rulers who all take the same name?! That could explain why his design changes radically from game to game too! (And why he had lightning powers that one time! Maybe that was something only King Dedede I had!) And so, King Dedede the XXI (of Forgotten Lands) just happens to resemble his ancestor, King Dedede the IX (Of 64 fame) more than the rest of his line...

Those numbers are incredibly rough, btw. Don't take them seriously.

Also, it’s still altogether possible Ado just decided to start pinning her bangs up under her beret and use her full name around the Dream Landers the more she stayed there. (Maybe she went by Ado in the beginning because -they- all had short/simple names and she felt it was easier?)

...Also, here! A quick Adeleine doodle I was working on this morning while thinking about this ask. Couldn’t talk about our resident artist without pulling out my stylus after all! (...However, I didn't look at any references - bad Dess! - when drawing this, which is why I gave her an extra button. Oops.)

-- Adeleine the Human -- I don't ship Adeleine with anyone because, unlike the majority of Kirby characters who are either non-humanoid aliens with a wide berth of potential/implied mental and physical ages, Adeleine is human and she looks to me all of 14 at best. I could have bought Ado as 16 or older because of the long, lanky body her sprite has, but Adeleine is still very baby-faced!

...Also...almost everyone she interacts with are non-humanoid aliens?? That or weirdly evolved animal offshoots. The girl gets embarrassed just sharing food-kisses with Kirby and the others! Give her a break!

(I might draw her as friends with that cat-eared witch you get the cleaning ability from some point down the line though, because that is a completely ADORABLE enemy and has appeared in both games she’s been in.)

Now, outside the realm of shipping, I think a grown-up Adeleine is an incredibly cool idea!! And I would love to see how a youth spent on the literal and physical "Dream Land" that is Popstar would affect her as an adult!

I saw someone on Twitter talk about a desire for more creative designs for adult Adeleine than just "Adeleine but sexy" (I'm paraphrasing here, but that was my takeaway) and while I haven't encountered many examples of either, I too would be interested in seeing more "real world college art major" depictions of Adeleine! (Err, I mean...Earth is kind of a wreck (?) and we have NO idea what the evasive human civilization is up to right now in the Kirby-verse, so "college" is more there for artistic inspiration than a likely actuality, but you know...!)

Now, for all the mysteries of Earth and humanity, I personally don't need HAL Labs to spell out Adeleine's (back)story. The one thing I -don't- want, though, is for Adeleine to ever be permanently shelved or de-canonized...That's maybe why I got a little tetchy around the increasing speculation that “Humans = Ancients (Halcandrans)” (...true or not) because to me, it's getting a little close to cutting out any room for someone like Adeleine to exist in Kirby.

...It's also why I get annoyed when she gets left out of the novels! Do they not want her in there because they have to explain just what a "human girl" is and the answer would absolutely destroy canon?? On the other hand, she's in the Itsudemo Kirby books with decent frequency and that makes me happy!

Mild spoilers, but just like Forgotten Land gave us a much better idea of why characters like Daroach exist in Kirby, it would be nice to see it used as a vehicle to give us a better idea of why Adeleine does too!

To end on a fun note, artist Bendedede on Twitter drew this one pic of Adeleine and the crew that called to mind a Christopher Robin/Winnie the Pooh type situation where she lived in the real world and the Dream Land crew were kind of her imaginary friends (rather, I can't say for sure that was what the picture was about - this was only my take solely based on looking at it) and it is one of the most enchanting concepts I have ever encountered in a Kirby AU!

#Kirby #Adeleine #Dess Text Post #Ask Game #...I totally forgot to tag this with anything #Dess Art Post #Dess Answers Questions

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wisconsin2002 · 2 years

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You know the older I get the more I realise that cartoon communities and fandoms nowadays are really impatient and can't let a story roll out... Or.. They want so much obvious information spoon fed to them.

I've noticed it a bit with Amphibia fandom and I've noticed a lot aswell in TOH fandom aswell.

With Amphibia it's been.. People saying that Anne has just completely forgot and doesn't care about her friends and barely even thinking about them.

The constant nights that Anne spent on her laptop, looking for quite literally impossible and almost non existent information that the human world doesn't know about.. Trying her hardest to bring her friends back home and writing letters to her friends families during the holidays...

ITS RIGHT THERE! Anne has shown she cares so many times its actually mind boggling to me that this hot take even exists at all.

The one hot take I do understand is the one with people saying That Sasha doesn't seem to show that much care for what happened to Marcy. That one for sure should have been discussed more and maybe it will who knows. But Sasha was a big part of both Marcy and Annes life and it feels like we've just seen what Anne meant to her for the most part. I hope we can see more of a balance with the trio and their past and how that connects with them now.. Other than.. "SaShA tOxIc MEaNie BuLy Bad."

Ahhhh.. Now Owl house..oh boy

Okay.. Hot take analysis number 1

Vee

We dont know Jack shit about her and the fandom already hates her cause she didn't live up to their evil Luz headcanon and expectation.

At the end of the day. Yeah.. I guess you can say that the writting got slopy there a bit and was dissapointing..

But I mean you can also say that yall had mountain high expectations from a show that was told time and time again...was cut short and had many writing problems and production problems along the way because of COVID delays aswell.

I mean if you didn't see the plot holes coming idk what to tell you man. Feels bad dude.. Have a cookie🍪

I for one adore Vee and I think she's great but I also do feel a bit suspicious cause it all just seems so easy and knowing Owl house's mysterious nature in the show...Vee could maybe possibly be.. a Trap.

Analysis number 2

Amity and Willow

Some people say that the whole reason Willow and Amity's bond hasn't gotten stronger is because of Lumity.

Now I can't say I've seen this often but I have seen it enough times to be like

Wtf.. No seriously like what the actual fuck?

I thought it was obvious since Understanding Willow that Willow is giving not only herself but also Amity time and space to grow past what they went through or atleast time to where they feel comfortable enough to talk about what they went through together in the future with a healthier mindset and growth. I thought it was obvious that while Willow still has not warmed up to Amity enough to go back to the way things used to be... They respect and understand eachothers past struggles that lead up to those unfortunate events... But I guess it wasn't to some people... Why?..

People want shit spoon fed to them!

Well if you want spoon fed info.. Dana Terrace herself was actually asked about Amity and Willow already becoming friends in the future seasons.. My memory is a bit foggy but I think she said something around the lines of Willow had been through a lot and so has Amity and they both need time to just figure themselves out right now before any of that can happen.

Now my memory is a bit foggy so take what I'm saying there with a grain of salt.. Altho I for sure do remember Dana talking about where Amity and Willows relationship goes from here.

Also I will agree that Willow is a gem that no doubt deserves so much more screen time. 👏

Analysis number 3

Lumity and chemistry

I dont see this often at all cause lumity is such a beloved ship by many including myself💜

But some people.. NOT ALL.. But some say they have very little to no chemistry...

Let me tell ya something buddy.

If these two.. Can dance for 1 minute and that being the only piece of chemistry they have.. Can manage to make the shipper twerk their asses and make piles on top of piles of Artwork and fanfics off of that singular dance to the point in time it completely overshadows the actual Canon relationship in the show...

And this Rated PG stalker can be considered a good love interest.

Than these little cuties are fine💜

I won't lie. It's not a perfect relationship. There are flaws for sure. What relationship doesn't have flaws?

But the woman broke her damn leg for Luz and literally jumps into danger for her with no hesitation whatsoever. They get a pass.

No to mention that they bring out the best in eachother. Amity Was a forced self a centered Bully whom was about to let Luz get dissected and gutted like a fish.. And lost touch of everything that once made her happy to give herself this fake persona of a rich entitled bitch All to fit into the family name of the Blight family tree. And Luz Is a wild extroverted nerd that never really saw the complicated side when it came to her choice of choosing the path to become a witch.

Both on different paths... And both having obstacles keeping them in that path with choices to make and not exactly knowing how and where to take things anymore.

That's why I love it. Lumity was a great solution to both of their cries for help. Because now they have eachother in their lives to help eachother out with any issues that come their way. They both no longer feel like they only have one choice to make and one path to follow.

So..

In terms of Lumity having no chemistry...

Well I think I typed enough of an essay🤣.. Just thought I'd talk about some hot takes that had me pretty confused.. But they are opinions at the end of the day so I'm not really here to change anyone's mind... In fact I do understand where people come from with some of their takes.. I'm just here to inform in a way I guess or talk about something that's been on my mind as well.

#the owl house #lumity #amphibia #sashanarcy

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sunshineseung · 3 years

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Journal Part 6 // Jeongin

🍄 | genre: smut ☁️ | pairing: Yang Jeongin x female!reader 🌿 | wc: 6.8k 🌸 | includes: milf!reader x babysitter!college student!jeongin, “mommy/ma’am”, pretty vanilla sex actually, oral (receiving & giving), doggy style, creampie/unprotected sex, [spoilers from here on] ... okay, changbin x reader, oral (receiving), nonconsensual exhisibionism /voyeurism (jeongin spies on y/n without her knowing), start of a threesome, slight cucking? jeongin watches again but this time it’s known

🌊 | One | Two | Three | Four | Five | Six | Finale |

“You guys have been in relationships before, right?” Jeongin was way too nervous about this considering he was just talking to his friends over Discord. “Can I ask something?”

“Sure, knock yourself out.” Hyunjin sounded so cool over his mic despite being way too interested in the youngest’s love life. Jeongin has been obviously lovesick for the past several weeks, and despite vaguely mentioning this mystery girl he was with, he’d never actually dropped too much information about her… or in this case, you. “We’re all ears.”

“How do I get a girl to like me back?” Jeongin’s slight pout could practically be heard through the call. The other boys go quiet trying to think of a proper response.

“Have you tried talking to her?” Jisung speaks first, asking an all-too essential question. Jeongin briefly explains the situation as vaguely as possible, leaving out the whole ‘mother-of-two’ thing. The other four older boys listen intently, mentally planning how they’re going to get their youngest friend laid.

“Just tell her how you really feel, bro!” Felix’s smile could be heard through the call, his usual happy energy lifting the mood of everyone listening. “You have nothing to lose!”

“Well, you have a lot to lose, but it’ll be worth a shot,” Seungmin says, sighing out of boredom. “If she already sort of likes you, then you just have to make her stay.”

“Make her stay?” Jeongin pauses to think, “what do you mean?”

“If you really want this girl, then you have to give her a reason to want to be with you for more than just sex or whatever. She has to enjoy your company. Don’t be afraid to show your flaws, either. Just be endearing, although you’re already good at that.”

“Thanks Seungmin! I’ll try that!”

“Or do what Hyunjin did and knock her up,” Jisung laughs, his chair squeaking loud enough to be picked up by the microphone. Everyone else joins Jisung in laughter except Hyunjin, who’s about to drive over to Jisung’s house and beat the shit out of him for bringing that up.

“I’m gonna kick your ass, Jisung!”

“You and what army?”

“I’ll help you kick his ass,” Seungmin says as he laughs with an exhale through his nose. Following Seungmin, Jeongin also agrees to beat up Jisung with his friends.

“Fuck you guys,” Jisung laughs, the rather serious conversation turning into the boys having a laughing fit. “But for real, Jeongin, I think Seungmin’s right. Just get her to stay.”

“Alright, I’ll try my best.” Jeongin’s smile on his face is light, but he’s truly thankful for his friends at this moment. Despite all the teasing, he really loves his hyungs. “Is there anything else I can do?”

“Girls love when you buy them things. Get her flowers or something,” Hyunjin says, sounding confident as ever. “My girlfriend always loves it when I buy her gifts.”

“Flowers? Girls actually like flowers? I thought that was a joke…” Jeongin feels like he’s been fooled his entire life. He has so much to learn!

“Hyunjin usually gets his girl plan B-“ and with that, Hyunjin muted Jisung in the Discord voice chat. Before Jisung notices he’s been muted, Jeongin thanks the boys and leaves, ready to go out and get some flowers in the morning.

🍓🍰🐤🍀💐🍯

Jeongin stands at your doorstep, checking his shirt for stains one last time before knocking on your door. He hears you mumble something on the other side as he’s about to sweat through his shirt. When you swing open the door, Jeongin looks cute as a button in a pink button-up short sleeve shirt and jeans. In his hands is a small bouquet of yellow tulips. His smile makes your heart warm as you invite him inside.

“These are for you, Y/n! I thought I’d get you something nice on your day off.” He sounded too chipper to be okay. You’ve never seen Jeongin beaming like this, especially before you’ve done anything to him. He hands you the tulips and watches you put them in a vase as he takes a seat on a stool at your kitchen island. “Do you like them?”

“I love them, baby. Thank you so much.” You brush his hair back and kiss his forehead, bringing him into a big hug. As you let go, you run your hand down his arm and sit in the stool next to his. “The girls are in school right now. Why’d you come over?”

“I just wanted to hang out,” he says with a smile.

“I’m 30 years old, Jeongin. I don’t ‘hang out’.” You laugh at him a bit, seeing a pout form on his lips. “But I’ll hang out with you if you really want.”

“Great! I mean…” Jeongin struggles to start a conversation. “What have you been doing today?”

“I got the girls ready and drove them to preschool, then I cleaned a bit. Really I’ve just been watching TV.” Jeongin nods as you speak, paying attention to every word. “What about you? I assume you woke up at noon.”

“Not true!” He whines, “11 o’clock, actually.”

“Ah, how brave.” You chuckle at your own joke. “You look so cute in that shirt, you know?”

“Oh- thank you, m-... Y/n.” He almost let his kink slip by calling you mommy, but he quickly fixes his mistake. His face gets bright red from your complements, his heart fluttering in the process. “You look nice as well!”

Unlike Jeongin, you didn’t get dressed up for this surprise visit. Your hair was a mess, and you wore no bra, only a loose tee shirt you got from a concert when you were a teenager. The shorts you wore were stained with bleach. You looked like a damn mess in every sense of the word. The fact that Jeongin could find beauty in any of that was mind boggling.

“You want a drink, honey? I got water and little boxes of apple juice.” As tempting as the apple juice was, Jeongin settles for water. As you get the drinks, Jeongin takes out his phone to text his friends.

🍓🍀🍯.

The Boys 🥶

Jeongin: I’m blowing it.

Hyunjin: wtf did you mean? You got her flowers! Did you compliment her?

Jeongin: yeah I told her she looked nice but now she looks bored!!! :((((

Jisung: slap her ass

Seungmin: Please don’t do that.

Hyunjin: are you sitting on a couch?

Jeongin: what? no? are we supposed to be?

Hyunjin: so you can put your arm around her!

Jeongin: ohhhh okay

Felix: just be nice to her! no girl can resist your charms!

Jisung: make her food!

Seungmin: Listen to what she has to say. Make sure it’s not all about you.

Jeongin: shut up she’s coming back

Hyunjin: don’t blow this young my padawan

Jisung: young what?

Hyunjin: nevermind ㅜㅜ

🍓🍀🍯.

“Let’s go sit on the couch!” Jeongin hops out of his stool as you hand him his water, already walking towards your living room. Shrugging, you follow him and lounge back where this whole relationship started.

“So, how are your classes going?” You turn slightly to face him, watching him calculate his next move.

“They’re alright, but you’ve heard enough about me. I want to know more about you.” His voice lowers on the second sentence as he leans forward and puts his arm around your shoulders. Your reaction could almost be classified as a cringe, getting flashbacks to every time Minho would do that to you when you first started dating. “Sorry, was that too slimy?”

“Yes, very slimy.” You laugh at how Jeongin described his move, him leaning away from you back to his corner of the sofa. “What do you want to know about me, love?”

“Well,” if he’s being totally honest, Jeongin didn’t expect to get this far, “what’s your… favorite color?”

You roll your eyes, “really?”

“Yes, really.”

“My favorite color is blue, Jeongin.” He nods as if it was an incredibly interesting and complex story, which makes him look like such a clown, but you don’t have the balls to say that to his face. “Are you sure you came over here just to hang out?”

“What do you mean?” Of course he knows what you mean. Your entire relationship was based off of sex. How could he not know?

“Don’t act naive, baby boy. You know exactly what I mean.” You straddle his lap in an instant, kissing him on the lips like you’ve wanted to since he walked in the door.

He pushes you away by your chest, his breaths already heavy from the most minimal action. “I really want to fuck you, I do, but I… I don’t want it like this.”

You pause before quickly hopping off his lap just as quick as you hopped on. “What do you want then, Jeongin?”

“Can we have sex without all the… stuff?” Jeongin looks like he could cry at any moment, not out of sadness, but just from the anxiety rattling through him. “No power dynamics or kinks. Just… sex.”

“Just sex?” You smile at how cute he sounded when he said that. “Anything you want, sweetheart.”

“Thank you… you can get back on my lap now.” You both giggle as you climb back on his lap, the constant movements making you feel older than you really are from your muscles getting sore too soon. His lips soon meet yours again, and his hands are on your waist, hesitantly moving up and down your sides.

You grind down onto him, feeling his cock harden underneath of you. As you press your hips down harder, his hands squeeze your skin and he whimpers on your mouth. You smile against his lips, excited for what’s to come.

His lips kiss down from your mouth to your neck, licking and nipping at the skin. You hiss as he bites down on a particularly sensitive area, a bruise surely being left in his wake. Your hands go into his hair as his hands grip your hips, pulling you down onto his bulge.

“Let me undress you, babe.” You tap his back with one hand and let him lean up from your neck, laying back into the couch for you to unbutton his shirt and reveal his toned chest. His physique never failed to amaze you. “Fuck, you’re so sexy.”

“I could say the same about you.” His eyes are glued to your tits, him licking his lips as you push his shirt off of his shoulders and eventually off of his body. Just as he’s about to take your shirt off, his phone rings from his back pocket. “I should answer that.”

“Go ahead.” You grind slightly onto him as he looks at the phone screen. You assume it’s one of his friends from school considering the emojis following the contact name.

“Hey Hyunjin! Can I call y- yeah, it’s going great, can I call- oh my god, we can talk later, bye!” He hangs up and tosses his phone to the coffee table. “Sorry, he wanted to know how my date was going.”

“Oh, so this was a date the whole time? Well you should have said so!” You kiss his cheek and lower to your knees, your hands resting on his upper thighs. “I would have started sucking you off a long time ago.”

Jeongin bites his lip as you unzip his pants and pull them down his legs, his cock hard under his tight briefs. Your hand runs across his erection, teasing him just enough to make him whine. He scoots up to the edge of the couch and lifts his hips so you can pull his underwear off, finally revealing his perfect cock.

“Relax, babe. You look so tense.” You look up at Jeongin, making eye contact as he perks up at your words. He leans back into the couch again, putting his hands at his sides as raising his hips to your face, urging you to take care of him. You harshly spit into your hand and wrap it around his shaft, stroking him just around the tip. In an instant, Jeongin throws his head back and lets you take him.

As much as you want to praise him for being such a good boy right now, you take your time and silence yourself with his cock in your mouth. Your tongue runs over his slit before your lips wrap around him, your head bobbing in sync with your hand’s strokes. Jeongin is absolutely blissed out above you, feeling like all of his troubles are melting away.

“I- I don’t want to cum just yet.” Jeongin digs his nails into the fabric of the cushion beneath him. “I want to eat you out.”

You pull your mouth off of his cock with a ‘pop’ before standing up, Jeongin’s eyes opening just in time to see you toss your shirt off, soon followed by the dropping of your pants and underwear. You stood in front of him, naked, your figure being figuratively eaten up by his eyes.

“Can we go into your room?” Jeongin stands up with you and takes your hand in his, waiting for you to give the okay. Of course, you nod and allow him to lead you to your own bedroom in a bizarre twist. “Lay back on the bed, babe.”

Hearing Jeongin call you babe is just the cherry on top of this odd situation.

Nevertheless, you follow his orders for once and lay on your bed, spreading your legs as he pins you beneath him, his cock dangling hard against your core. His hands grope your tits and pinch your nipples as he makes out with you, getting his saliva all around your mouth.

This feels like a different Jeongin, or at least, certainly not one you’ve met before. He’s more mature, taking action, directing you! As much as you love being his mommy, you also adore this side of him more than you were expecting.

In a hurry, he moves his body down the bed and wraps his arms around your thighs, kissing your clit before sucking on the bundle of nerves. Your back arches fast, toes curling as one hand leaves your thigh and goes to your dripping cunt. He inserts two fingers inside you, pumping them and curling them at a slow pace. His tongue makes circles around your clit. You arch your back as he quickened his pace on both his fingers and his tongue. Looking down at Jeongin, his eyes are dark, looking off into the void as he focuses on only the actions of his mouth and hands.

“Feel so good, baby~” You whine, one of your hands going down to his hair while your other plays with your hardened nipples. Jeongin hums in response, the vibrations from his voice giving the slightest extra stimulation to your cunt. “Keep going, please.”

The ‘please’ leaves your lips so naturally, and yet Jeongin is still caught off guard from hearing you so whiny, begging for him. Now he’s determined to make you cum, not that he wasn’t already.

Your toes curl and a moan slips from your lips as he sucks harshy on your clit, his tongue flicking against your bud in his mouth. His fingers still, curving up into your g-spot. Your own mind is begging you to cum if not for yourself then for Jeongin. You feel so close, yet your body refuses to release.

You look down one more time, making direct eye contact with the boy. He’s been watching your face since you arched your back, patiently waiting and watching to see if you cum. He looks so painfully sexy with his head between your legs, your thighs pressed against the side of his head and his fingers are fucking your pussy and his teeth brush against your clit. That visual is all you needed.

After what felt like eternity for Jeongin, your pussy tightened and your head was thrown back. Senseless and thoughtless moans of your lover’s name escaped your throat as you covered Jeongin’s fingers in your creamy release. He slowed down his movements enough to help you still ride out your high without being overstimulated too quickly. As you get your mind back, he pulls his face away, coming back up your body to hover over you with his arms at your sides.

“Let me fuck you from behind.” Jeongin’s tone is hot. That’s the only way you can describe it. It’s a total 180 from the little boy who begged for you to let him cum not too long ago. “Get on your hands and knees for me, Y/n.”

You eagerly nod at his command, giving him time to get off of you while you turn around and stick your ass up. Jeongin takes a minute to marvel at your ass before joining you back on the bed, his cock hard sitting on your ass as he watches you lean down into the pillows, holding one close to your face.

“Fuck,” Jeongin says under his breath, simply running his hands over your ass. You shake your ass a bit, urging him to finally fill your cunt with his cock. Getting the hint, he lines his tip with your dripping cunt and pushes himself in slowly, allowing you to adjust to every inch as if you haven’t literally pushed out two kids.

“You feel so good, Jeongin~” Hearing you moan makes him moan as embarrassing as that sounds. You fit around his cock so well, taking him easily while still being tight. His hold on your hips moves up to your waist, his arms wrapping around you and his chest hitting your back. He feels so pathetic again, losing his grip on reality as he fucks your pussy.

“You take me so well,” don’t fucking say it, “mommy.” Damn it.

You bite your lip when you hear him say that special word, tightening around him as his thrusts get faster. He starts getting whiny, impatient, back to the Jeongin you’ve known.

“Babe, cum inside me.” You start talking to get him back out of his head, trying to catch him before he slips into subspace. He kisses your back before leaning up again, his hands back on your hips, pulling you against his cock. “Please cum inside me.”

“A-alright, Y/n. Anything for you!” He huffs and puffs, groaning and moaning, trying to desperately reach his high for his own sake. You clench your muscles around his cock, sucking him in and forcing his thrusts to become deep and slow. He starts to twitch, groaning your name until he finally butters, his cock shooting its load inside you. “Oh my god… fuck. So good.”

He stops, slowly slipping his cock out of you as his cum drips down your pussy lips to the bed. Jeongin stares at the mess he made, disappointed in himself that he couldn’t make you cum on his cock again. He sighs and falls next to you on the bed, and you lower your ass and turn your body over to cuddle on his chest.

“You did so well, baby. You really know how to please a lady, you know?” Your fingers trace vague shapes around his chest, your eyes gazing up into his. He looks exhausted from all the hard work he just did, but at least it paid off. “We should shower now.”

Jeongin groans as if he’s annoyed, pushing his hair back off of his sweaty forehead. “I need to sleep right now.”

“That’s fine, honey. I’m gonna shower then pick up the girls. You rest.” You get up and kiss his forehead before walking into your bathroom.

When he hears your shower start, Jeongin sneaks out into the living room to grab his phone from his pocket so he could text his friends with a little update.

🍓🍀🍯.

The Boys 🥶

Hyunjin: jeongin’s getting his dick sucked

Jisung: ooooo

Felix: i’m jealous

Hyunjin: Jeonginnie update us when you get back!!! 💋

Hyunjin: damn he’s getting his shit ROCKED

Seungmin: Shut up omg

Felix: god I wish that we me

Jisung: ew

Jeongin: you guys are gross

Hyunjin: THE KING IS BACK

Jisung: you didn’t knock her up, did you?

Jisung: I hope you didn’t pull a Hyunjin

Jisung: please don’t remove me from the chat

Hyunjin: you’re on thin fucking ice young man

Jisung: we’re literally the same age

Hyunjin: okay young man

Hyunjin: anyway…

Hyunjin: how was it Jeongin? You’re finally not a virgin anymore!

Jeongin: I’ve fucked this girl before I just don’t think she wants to date me. I thought I said that before.

Jisung: oh shit

Hyunjin: YOU LEFT OUT THAT VERY CRUCIAL DETAIL MR YANG JEONGIN!

Jeongin: Oh my bad

Hyunjin: MY BOY IS ALL GROWN UP 😭😭😭

Seungmin: They grow up so fast. 😢

Felix: did you just… leave her?

Jeongin: No way! She’s showering right now. I’m just tired.

Jeongin: I think I fucked it up

Jisung: I mean you fucked her up… but if you two fucked at all I think she’s fine

Jeongin: but I tried to be more serious and mature and I wasn’t! I still make it… weird

Seungmin: Please don’t go into details. I just ate.

Jisung: please go into details. i’m horny.

Felix: ew!!!!

Jeongin: What do I do now? I’m just at her house for the rest of the day I guess.

Hyunjin: don’t you have to babysit for your neighbor tonight?

Hyunjin: secure the bag little man!!!

Jeongin: first of all, little man?

Jeongin: second of all… I should go now lol BYEEEE

Hyunjin: Weird time to exit but okay

Felix: Maybe he’s fucking his neighbor lmao

Hyunjin: No way! Jeongin has game but not enough to pull a milf

Jeongin: lol

🍓🍀🍯.

You get dressed in your bedroom before walking out to the living room to find Jeongin mindlessly scrolling through his phone. Kids these days.

“I thought you were tired?” Jeongin just laughs without responding. You get your keys by the door and start to head out. “You better be dressed by the time I come back with the girls! 15 minutes!”

“Yes ma’am!” Although he says it jokingly, it sounds like something he’d say to you regularly in another setting. You say goodbye before getting in your car and driving off to pick up your two lovely daughters.

When you come back with your kids, Jeongin is most importantly cleaned up and fully clothed, but also ready to watch them as you go to work. Unfortunately for him, you had to be kept overtime, so he was going to be at your house longer than expected. The day with the girls flies by, but after he puts them to sleep, Jeongin becomes bored out of his mind.

In true Jeongin fashion, he pulls out his journal and a pencil, ready to write whatever comes to mind. For the first time in forever, though, he can’t come up with anything. He knows what he wants to do with you, but he can’t bring himself to write it. It feels too... real.

He reads back on what he’s written in the past, sighing as he realizes that his fantasies have either been fulfilled or painfully unrealistic. Jeongin really thought there was more to his journal, but the repetition of his imagination becomes evident after the third time he reads about how he wants to be spanked.

Putting his Journal back in his bag, he leans back on the couch. He didn’t even get hard from reading his journal entries! Either his dick is broken or he no longer needs his journal, which sounds ridiculous, even to him, but after thinking for a moment alone, he starts to believe with you in his life, Jeongin doesn’t need to write what he fantasizes about; he just needs you.

After watching your kids for you as you work overtime, Jeongin is way too tired to not sleep in his own bed. You kiss him goodbye after you check on your kids, sending him off with a warm feeling in his heart.

🍓🍰🐤🍀💐🍯

You started working in this office early last year, and since you started working here, there was one man that would always come over to your desk to chat with you. Obviously, it was always friendly, mature banter with no hidden meaning or ulterior motive. You two were simply coworkers and nothing more.

That was until he asked you on a date. He was never flirty until he asked you out, so it kind of came out of left field. Still, he’s hot, you can’t deny that. You’d be a fool to say no to his offer. You planned it for a Saturday night when both of you were free, and Jeongin was happy to watch your kids for a “business meeting”.

You didn’t have the heart to tell him that it was a date. Being a teenage boy, you were certain he would lash out and get mad at you for being an adult. And you didn’t want to break his heart. Although you’re going to be holding it off, you have to tell him eventually that you were seeing other people, and you know that. At least for now, for your sake and his sake, this is a secret you keep to yourself.

After saying goodbye to your daughters and Jeongin, you head out to your date’s car parked right out front. He’s standing at the passenger side door holding it open to you. He takes your hand to help you step into his SUV.

“You look absolutely lovely, Y/n.” His suit hugged his chest and arms perfectly, and you almost felt underdressed even in your evening cocktail dress that you felt made you look old.

“Thank you, Changbin. You look amazing yourself.” You laugh to each other, chatting back and forth about work and life as he drives you to the restaurant. The entire ride there, his hand is playfully resting on your thigh. While the tension is low, you can still feel it. You haven’t done anything sexual with Jeongin for a few days, so this will be refreshing for sure.

Changbin leads you into the restaurant, a reserved table waiting for you two as you walk in. The food is expensive, just as you expected, but he’s happy to pay. You forgot what it was like to be taken care of by a man considering the only two people you’ve been with in the past few years have been your shitty ex-husband and a college boy.

“So, is there someone watching your daughters right now? I assume you didn’t just leave them home alone,” Changbin asks before taking a bite of his food.

“Yeah! My neighbor’s son watches them at night. I’m usually at my second job at this time, but I called off today.” He nods with a mouth full of food. “He’s in college right now but he finds the time. I pay him too, of course.”

“You let a college boy watch your kids?” Changbin laughs in his chest. “I wouldn’t trust any teenage boy within 20 yards of my son. You must trust him.”

“He’s a sweet kid. He wouldn’t do anything to harm my girls, I’m sure.” You both go silent as you continue eating. “So, how’s your son?”

“My boy’s doing great! Middle school is a lot harder than elementary school, but he’s tough just like his daddy.” Again, you share a laugh with Changbin, the atmosphere sweet and sentimental as you discuss your children. “He’s home alone right now.”

When the waiter comes back to your table to give you the bill, Changbin sticks to his word and pays for the meal and the wine. He politely asks to go back to your house and stay a little longer, which is leading to exactly what you think it is. The tension rises when you get into his car and he keeps his hand on your thigh again, this time higher, closer to your hips.

“We can have a few more drinks at my place. Just let me tell my babysitter to go home early. I’m sure he won’t mind.”

🍓🍰🐤🍀💐🍯

Jeongin’s phone rings loudly from the living room as he lays in your bed, distracted with his thoughts. He’s been so high strung the past few days, but he hasn’t been able to tell you. He strokes himself slowly, almost teasing himself as he grunts and hops out of your bed to answer his phone who he’s happy to see is you!

“Hey Jeongin! You can go home early! I’ll be home in a few minutes, but you can leave now.” Your voice sounded so bright and pretty, and he was still dazed from his session that you interrupted. When he actually understands what you said, he’s beyond confused.

“Are you sure? You don’t want to come home and… help me?” Your face heats up when you hear his voice turn weak at the end. Half of you wants to get fucked by Changbin, but the other half of you wants to fuck Jeongin. “I’m sorry for breaking rules mommy, but I’m so hard. I need you.” You can hear his pout through the phone. Thank God you didn’t have this call on speaker.

“I’ll see you tomorrow. Bye Jeongin!” You hang up before he can say anything back so you don’t cause any worry from Changbin. Opening your messenger app, you hurriedly text Jeongin.

🍓🍀🍯.

Y/n 💗: I need you to go home now. I’ll be there in a minute. Don’t worry about the girls. They’ll be fine as long as they’re asleep.

Yang Jeongin: but I need you mommy! I haven’t been your little boy in so long :(

Y/n 💗: For God’s sake just go home.

Yang Jeongin: and what if I don’t?

Y/n 💗: This isn’t the time to be a brat.

Yang Jeongin: Fine. see you tomorrow.

Y/n 💗: Thank you. Bye!

🍓🍀🍯.

No way in hell was Jeongin going home that easily. When he sees a car pull into your driveway which he assumes is yours, he runs to your room and hides in the closet hoping you’ll look for him so he can jump out and surprise you. He’s only wearing his tight boxer-briefs, his body shaking in excitement as he hears your front door open and close.

It’s not your voice he hears, though. It’s another man’s.

“You look so fucking sexy, Y/n. C'mere and kiss me, baby.” Obeying your date, you wrap your hands around his neck and meet his lips with yours, a messy, wet kiss making you both feel euphoric. His hands grope your ass and pull you close to him, his cock hardening against you. “I’ve been wanting this for so long.”

“We need to be quiet. My kids are sleeping.” Your hands go over his chest, unbuttoning his white dress shirt as he shakes off his suit jacket. You rest your hands on his pecs and kiss him, your tongue swiping across his bottom lip. He held you so close, so tenderly. This is what you’ve been missing.

Jeongin brings his knees up to his chest, shaking with nerves and emotion rather than excitement. He should have listened to you, but now he has to hear you with another man. This is hell. Although it is tempted, he can’t just sneak out of your bedroom window. He needs an entire secret-agent-level escape plan, or at this point, divine intervention would be nice too.

“Jump up, babe.” Changbin taps your thigh for you to jump into his arms, your legs wrapping around his waist as your arms are around his neck. “Bedroom?”

“Second door on the left.” You pull him into another kiss as he carefully carries you to your bedroom and lowers you onto the bed gently. Changbin cages you under him with his arms at your sides and your legs spread around his thighs. He grinds against your cunt, your dress riding up to reveal a thin thong being the only thing covering your pussy.

“Can I take your dress off?” He kisses on your neck as you run your hands down his gorgeous arms.

“Only if you take your shirt off.” He sighs with a smile and sits up, revealing his entire torso for you to see after slowly unbuttoning the rest of his shirt. You can’t help but ogle at the sight before you. “God damn, Changbin.”

“Now let me slip this little dress off of you, doll.” He bites his lip as he takes a hold of the straps of your dress and pulls them down, eventually slipping your dress off of your body. His eyes scan your body, taking in every curve of your figure. His bulge in his pants only gets bigger. “Oh my god, you’re a fucking dream.”

You raise your back to get your hands around yourself, unhooking your bra and tossing it to the side. Changbin only watches as you lay back, giving him an open invitation to play with your tits, which he graciously accepts. His lips wrap around your left nipple, while his hand plays with your right breast. With his right hand busy on your chest, his left hand ghosts over your covered cunt before rubbing you from over your underwear.

Your closet door isn’t very practical as a door. There are little slots across the door so air can vent into the closet. In this case, those little slots give Jeongin a perfect view of the buff, older man pinning you down to your bed. As much as his heart aches to see you like this, his cock is unmistakably hard. One of his hands teases his dick from over his underwear while his other hand wipes away a tear he didn’t even notice fell.

Changbin kisses down from your nipple to the hem of your panties, his hands taking a hold of the fabric at your hips and sliding it down so he can finally taste you. He licks his lips before licking up your cunt, one strong lick to get you ready before his tongue makes circles around your clit, and occasionally his lips wrap around the bud to suck gently. Your legs wrap around his head as you watch him take his time, something your previous partners were never good at doing, even if they tried.

“Fuck, Changbin~ so good.” You can’t help but moan out from his mouth taking complete control of your thoughts. Your hips buck up into his face as he devours you. Looking down at him, he looks so driven by lust and need. This is exactly where you were hoping this night was leading to.

Changbin’s tongue laps at your folds as he grips your thighs tighter, going in harder than before. It feels like heaven between your legs, and you can’t help but raise your hips off the bed and buck into his face. He laughs against your heat, sending vibrations through your spine. He loves your reactions so much that he can’t help but laugh at how pathetic you are rutting against his face.

“Mmm, mommy…” Jeongin whines, holding his hand over his mouth to muffle his irrepressible moans. Unfortunately for him, he’s louder than he thinks. “Ah, Y/n.”

Changbin’s ears perk up. His mouth leaves you for a moment. He’s perched between your legs like a dog that just heard a car door from outside. “What was that?”

Fuck, fuck, fuck. Jeongin’s hand stops jerking himself as his heart falls through his chest. He goes bug eyed as the realization hits him that he might have been too loud.

“What was what?” You breath fast as you come back to your senses, being totally out of it just a second ago for apparent reasons. “Was it my daughters?!”

“I swear I heard something…” Changbin stares at the closet, unknowingly making eye contact with Jeongin as he looks through a slot in the door. Jeongin rustles around to feel for a blanket or something to hide him, but that only makes more noise. “Wait here.”

You sigh, frustrated from the sudden mood ruining sound that your one night stand claims to have heard. Changbin goes up to the closet and puts his ear against the door before sliding it open to reveal a half naked college boy covering himself with an old winter coat.

“Who the fuck-”

“Hi, I was just leaving…”

“Jeongin?! Yang Jeongin?! Is that you?!” You were prepared to cover yourself with the blanket, but since it’s him there’s no need for that now. You get off the bed, knees only a little wobbly, and walk over to him, pushing Changbin out of the way in the process. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing spying on me like this?”

Changbin steps back and looks over the scene. He doesn’t understand why you didn’t cover up in front of this boy, but he’s too startled to ask any questions, not to mention the visible rage on your face scaring him.

“I was going to surprise you, Y/n.” Jeongin’s voice is more of a croak, his voice hoarse and squeaky from embarrassment.

“I told you to go the fuck home. Why didn’t you listen to me?” Your speech gets louder and louder, practically being a shout at this point. You’re too angry to care if the girls hear. You soundproofed that room to high heaven; if your daughters heard, you’d be more than shocked.

“I… needed you?” Before you can even yell again, Changbin steps in and pushes you back from the boy. You got so in your head that you accidentally managed to get in his face as if you were going to throw hands. “I’m sorry, I should go now.”

“Changbin,” you look back at the older man, “would you mind if we added a third?”

Both of the men look at you, their faces reading nothing but confusion. You sigh at their dazed expressions and pull the jacket away from Jeongin, leaving him exposed aside from his underwear. Noticing he’s still hard, you can’t help but laugh.

“Look at the poor boy, Bin! He wants to play, doesn’t he?” Despite clearly talking down to Jeongin, he nods like the needy little puppy he is. Changbin looks at you, looks at Jeongin, looks at you, looks at your tits, looks at Jeongin’s bulge, and finally looks back at you… This will be the end of him if he says yes.

But he can’t possibly turn down this golden opportunity.

“He does look like he needs some assistance, doesn’t he?” Changbin’s devilish smirk returns to his face, a look you’ve only seen during the car ride to your house. Changbin sizes up the younger boy, unsure of what he wants to do first with this fresh piece of meat. “Have you ever been in a threesome before… what’s his name?”

“Jeongin.”

“Jeongin?”

“Well, no, but I’m trying to be…” Jeongin trails off, remembering his effort to be more vanilla and domestic to impress you. Then for a moment he thinks to himself, if being vanilla made her hook up with another guy, maybe she wants… her prince back. As absurd as this sounded to Jeongin, his knees were weak and his dick was hard. Turning down a threesome with two doms would be a clear mistake, and if he does this, then he can brag to his friends that he had a threesome, sparing the gruesome details of the power dynamics of course. “Excuse me sir, what’s your name?”

“You can keep calling me sir, that’s fine.” Changbin didn’t care what Jeongin called him, he only wanted to please you with the help of a little servant. “Y/n, go lay on the bed. I wasn’t done between your legs.”

“Yes, sir.”

Jeongin’s never seen you be submissive, so he’s surely in for a treat.

“Baby boy, why don’t you sit on that chair and watch how a mature man eats out a woman.” You wink to Jeongin as you get situated on the bed. Ever obedient, Jeongin goes to the cushioned chair in the corner of your room and slides his underwear down his legs, ready to finally be able to see your body tonight in all its glory, although another man between your legs sent shivers down his spine, he can’t deny that he likes seeing you in such a blissed out state like you make him.

“So you’re calling me sir now too, huh?” Changbin lays between your legs, ready to continue where he left off. One of his fingers rakes through your cunt, collecting the wetness he left before plunging into your sensitive hole. “Be a good girl and keep those legs spread for me, okay?”

“Don’t get overzealous, Changbin.” You laugh and throw your head back into the pillows, finally relaxing into the touch of your new lover. “We still have a little boy who wants to be fucked, doesn’t he?” Jeongin nods from the corner of the room, palming his freed cock, only allowing the slightest bit of friction to please him.

This was going to be a long night.

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#kpopcatalog #stray kids smut #skz smut #kpop smut #yang jeongin smut #jeongin smut #i.n smut

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cf8wrk4u-us · 2 years

Note

Team Prime reacting to some anime shows Miko brought. What would their fav anime shows would be?

Anime and cartoons are a pretty strange concept for Cybertronians. Like they have holographic animation dedicated for educational or instructional videos. But animations made just for fun? That follow a storyline like in databases? All revolving around fictional characters?

Yeah, they don't really understand it. But they do like some of the stuff that Miko shows them, even getting really into some series.

I can see Optimus really liking anime with great story lines, psychological themes, complex characters, and maybe even historically influenced. I can see him liking anime like Code Geass or Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood because, despite their fantastical elements he finds the series interesting for their themes about war, the complexity morality of revenge, and the journey to strive for peace. He would also like Arslan Senki for its more historical setting.

But he also likes slice of life anime that has a slow pace and great story lines. Such as Natsume Book of Friends, with themes of spirituality and nature or Bakuman about the creative drive of individuals.

But he'll watch parts of an anime if a character vibes with him, like All-Might from My Hero Academia

Ratchet doesn't really like anime at first, he finds it really annoying how disproportionate the animation is to an actual humans anatomy but he's found a few within a genre he liked. He's a bot who likes more psychological thrillers were characters will have to think a lot through their situations, like Death Note or Monster. He can really relate with the struggle of Dr. Tenma, both as doctors who swore an oath to do no harm but now must take of arms in order to stop a malevolent forces. He's also a real fan of mysteries as well so he's hooked on Case Closed. Though he finds the since behind the damaging process impossible. He also likes watching Cells At Work when he's in the mood for something educational but light hearted. He's curious about human biology and this seems like a good way to touch on the subject.

Arcee is a fan of anime with a lot of martial arts and blade work. That why she likes anime such as Ruroni Kenshin, Demon Slayer, Assassination Classroom, and Dororo. She also likes anime with strong female protagonist like in Yona of the Dawn, Karakuri Circus, and Inuyasha.

Bumblebee and Smokescreen are real Shonen fanatics and love shows like One Piece, Black Clover, One Punch Man. Smokescreen loves My Hero Academia, especially as someone whoes striving to be a hero himself. He can see a lot of himself in Izuku, even if it's a bit of a stretch that he and Optimus have the same relationship as All-Might and Izuku. They also like sports anime, especially ones with a lot of team camaraderie. Like Haikyu, Kuroko Basketball, and Yowamushi Pedal.

Bulkhead likes all things fighting and battle. So count him in on watching shows like Dragon Ball and Hunter X Hunter with epic tournament arches. He also likes anime featuring giant robots, so count him in on some Gundam and Gurren Lagenn! With him and Miko even reenacting some scenes.

But not that he would admit it but he also likes cooking anime. The quite kind, like Cooking Papa, Isekai Izakaya "Nobu", or Restaurant To Another World. While Cybertronians have different types of energon and oil to eat, it still boggles him that human could have such a variety of nutrients at there disposal. And can prepare it so artfully. This anime makes him feel cozy.

Wheeljack has a similar taste of anime to Bulkhead but he likes his more fighting base, especially with real muscly humans. When it comes down to it human only really have their bodies to rely on when all else fails so he can appreciate a human who show to take such care in their proto form. That's why he likes shows like Baki or Megalo Box. He also enjoys shows with a lot of bloody fights like Akami Ga Kill.

Ultra Magnus is pretty picky with his anime, his taste align a lot with Optimus and Ratchets but he finds himself really enjoying really dark psychological anime with a lot of action like Psycho Pass. But he also likes shows featuring really clever characters like in Lupin the Third or The Great Pretender. Not that he approves of thiefs and swindlers bit he can appreciate those who come up with clever plans.

So that's it, are any of these your favorites?

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thetypedwriter · 3 years

Text

Gideon the Ninth Book Review

Gideon the Ninth Book Review by Tamsyn Muir

It would be only a slight hyperbole to say that a million people have either recommended this book to me or have told me to read it. I’ve heard for years now that this book is incredible and extremely well written and beloved by many. So, if that’s the case why did I wait so long to read it?

I don’t have a good answer. Sometimes a book is on your radar, but either the time isn’t right, other books take priority, or in my case, it’s adult fiction and I held slight trepidation that I wouldn’t love it as much as everyone else in the world seemed to.

Thank goodness, that didn’t end up being the case and I’ll get into why in a moment.

First, Gideon the Ninth has the most amazing descriptive sentence belonging on any front cover of any book ever.

I shall put it here for prosperity and awe: “Lesbian necromancers explore a haunted gothic palace in space!” -Charles Stross.

Now, I don’t know who you are Mr. Stross, but that has to be the best sentence written in the English language since its conception. If that isn’t enough intrigue for you to crack open the novel then I truly don’t know what is or what it would take.

That being said, Mr. Stross wasn’t entirely accurate, but that’ll be clear soon enough.

The novel surrounds our main protagonist, Gideon Nav, or, known as Gideon the Ninth, the primary cavalier to the Ninth House necromancer. Essentially, this world takes place in a different solar system with its own sun star known as Dominicus as well as nine planets also known as the Nine Houses.

Each House has a specific specialty for what is known for, and as summarized helpfully, but also overwhelmingly, at the beginning of the novel, the Ninth House is also known as the keepers of the Locked Tomb, House of the Sewn Tongue, and home to the Black Vestals.

This meant nothing to me at the beginning and quite truthfully, I still struggled to remember throughout the novel who belonged to the Third House, or the Fifth and what that quite meant, as once again, each House has a reputation and expected skill set that precedes them.

Not to say that it was poorly written because it wasn’t. Muir just has a lot of characters with specific titles and while she actually does quite a good job of categorizing them and helpfully reminding you who is who, I still struggled with just the sheer amount of information and people.

Normally, this would be a massive criticism, like it was with the cast of characters in Lore but in this case it’s not Muir’s fault. She’s giving me all the information necessary to understand. It was just my brain that struggled trying to recognize and categorize everyone. If anything, I’m excited to re-read Gideon the Ninth and have it sink in like a second skin eventually.

Having this large cast of characters, the book revolves around each of the Nine Houses (except for the First House) sending their best necromancer, a wielder of both thanergy (death energy) and thalergy (life energy) in the form of a House Adept, someone who is able to wield this kind of energy either in bone magic, flesh magic, or spirit magic.

In accompaniment, each Necromancer Adept has a primary Cavalier, a trained fighter that is both protector, companion, and often, necessary energy suppliers to their Adept in both horrendous and acceptable ways.

The goal of these pairs, having been sent to the First planet, is to become a Lyctor, an immortal servant to the Undying Emperor. The catch is that once the Necromancers and their Cavaliers arrive on the First, the shuttle departs and they are trapped in an abandoned, dilapidated, once-regal and great mansion that boasts hundreds of floors, secret doors, and mystery upon mystery.

Each pair expects a streamlined process to Lyctorhood once they arrive, a methodical procedure, perhaps some training, and ultimately a test. What they don’t expect is a mellow man by the name of Teacher that claims to know nothing about the process himself, but is the overseer of the First.

What follows is a mind-boggling search to become a Lyctor and unravel the mysteries of the haunted palace. What the pairs don’t expect is the death of their own, gruesome murders at the hand of someone in their very own positions and an evil danger beyond any of their imagination lurking in the mansion.

This novel was a great concoction of mystery, action, interpersonal relationships, character growth, dazzling descriptions, and world building.

The world of Dominicus and the Nine Houses is expansive and rich, something that I haven’t been able to sink my teeth into, and not for lack of trying, but because it is so deep and so layered that I simply need to take several bites to get it all down.

The mystery is fulfilling and strangely, to me at least, reminiscent of a game called Danganronpa. If you know what that is, and even if you don’t, it centers around the idea of a murder mystery, but where the killer is one of your own and the mystery is trying to figure out not ony the who, but the why of what they are doing, amongst a slew of other deadly riddles.

Gideon the Ninth is the same. As people continue to get picked off and brutally murdered, as a reader you find yourself trying to puzzle out not only who, but why someone would commit such atrocities and the motivation behind it.

The plot itself of Gideon the Ninth was extremely satisfying and alluring. There were times where I personally found that novel bogged down with excessive description, but it was usually broken up with Gideon’s personal brand of crass humor, a very much needed breather with the expansive exposition, that, while extremely well done, well researched, and well written, did get a tad boring from time to time for me personally, even if it allowed for clear imagery as well as adding to already well formed world building.

In addition to the plot, all of the characters were well done and as fleshed out as they could be considering the amount of characters involved. First, even though this is set in a fantasy sci-fi setting, each of the characters seemed realistic and like they could potentially be real people.

A large criticism of books I often have, especially in YA, is that the characters often come across like caricatures, and not real flesh and blood humans with both positive and negative qualities.

Each character, some developed more than others, have both flaws and strengths, even the main characters, which I highly appreciated. Not only does it make the story more real and palatable, but it also is just more interesting to read about as it’s actually based in humanity and the nature of human beings rather than some perfect carbon copy of one.

Gideon as a narrator was hilarious. She was often crass, blunt, horny, humorous and ignorant. But on the other hand, she was also an extremely talented fighter, actually very sweet deep down, forgiving, and loving.

This mix in a main character was a welcome one in addition to making Gideon feel like a real person, despite all the bone magic and necromancy, and often her thought process and dialogue made me laugh out loud.

Another main character, Harrowhark Nonagesimus (What a name!) is Gideon’s Necromancer and main companion. She’s bitter, rude, spiteful, and ruthless. She’s also hardworking, intelligent, and stubborn.

If you’re catching the pattern here, Muir isn’t just writing archetypes and passing them off as characters. She’s writing complex and nuanced personalities that are intriguing and interesting and well developed.

I could get into the other plethora of characters like Camila, Dulcinea, Palamedes, Magnus, Judith and so on, but this review would be a thousand pages long so I’ll just settle for saying that every character was well done and lovingly crafted and not one of them, even the annoying ones, were characters that I hated.

One important thing to note was Muir’s writing itself. It was incredible. Such descriptions! Such characterization! Such detail! Such vocabulary! I was supremely impressed with her writing as a whole and often found myself having to look up words that I had never heard of in my life (always a welcome change of pace). I was blown away by her sheet talent and creativity.

The last two things I have to note might get me in trouble.

One, the ending for me was...bittersweet. For fear of spoiling someone, I won’t get into details, but I found it both lacking and simultaneously making absolute sense. I wanted both more and yet, found that everything was just enough. It’s hard to put into words, but if you know, you know.

I do have a slightly sinking feeling though that the ending twist will somehow be undone in the sequel. I don’t know if this is true (although I will eventually find out), and I can’t decide if I’m going to be happy or dismayed by it.

Such conflicting feelings are in of itself homage to Muir’s skill as a writer and the complexities of her tale.

Lastly, the one aspect that might get me into the stickiest of predicaments: Harrowhark’s and Gideon’s relationship. I don’t know if I like it or not. On the one hand, I absolutely love it. It's a hate-to-love slow burn, which really is the only way an OTP makes its way into my heart. I love that they’re so different and yet so compatible, one flesh and one blood and all that other nonsense.

They see each other as equals, as adversaries, and I adore that dynamic in any pairing. I also love the F/F representation of some badass women and that they’re not traditionally attractive and beautiful.

One of my favorite lines came from the end of the book where Gideon describes Harrowhark’s face as, “bitter” and “hateful”. I just love when characters aren’t conventionally gorgeous and yet beautiful in the eyes of the beholder and all that jazz.

Now. Onto the problems.

Harrowhark’s and Gideon’s relationship is kinda...toxic? It grows into something less so, but it definitely starts off that way. I really hate imbalances of power of any kind and Harrowhark definitely has power over Gideon, power that she creully abuses. I asked myself: if Harrowhark was a man and treated Gideon so abysmally for years, and then Gideon eventually forgave him and loved him despite everything, would I think differently?

And the answer is yes, yes I would.

Is that fair? Probably not. But I can’t help but think how the dynamics change with the two of them being women, and how in my opinion, I think more is forgiven of Harrowhark because of it, even when it’s not deserved.

Now, Harrowhark is a complex character and has traumas of her own, but I just can’t help but think of all the things she did to Gideon and the things she took away from her and forced her to do and then think of them together and it’s...not great.

Overall, my feelings on their relationship are complicated (which is a repeated pattern when it comes to Muir’s writing) and I don’t mind that it’s complicated, it makes it interesting, but I also would be bereft to mention it here. I look forward to seeing how it develops and if my feelings change and grow on the matter as well.

In total, Gideon the Ninth is a fantastic read. It has everything you want inlaid with characters who not only push the plot along, but incentivize you to read more. It has complicated issues and complicated characters, but that means it’s nuanced and complex and juicy enough to bite into.

Don’t do what I did and wait years for this novel. If you need a good read, you don’t need to look any further and then let yourself be swept along for the necromantic ride.

Recommendation: “Lesbian necromancers explore a haunted gothic palace in space!” -Charles Stross. I mean. Come on people, what more can you ask for?

Score: 8/10

#gideon the 9th #gideon the ninth #tamsyn muir #harrowhark nonagesimus #adult fiction #book blog #book review #Book Recommendations #book rec #favorite books #LGBTQ fiction #lgbtqbook #F/F books #F/F romance #8/10

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sulphuryasecretcloset · 3 years

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The Art of Flirting

Corin doesn't really know how to flirt. He knows the technical term, that some are very good at it, but he's never had the skill. Usually others had approached him, not the other way around. Until now Corin has never found anyone interesting enough to make him want to put in the effort.

So now he's in a relationship (which is still mind-boggling to him) and Corin has no idea how to flirt with his partner.

This becomes painfully apparent to him one day as he's lounging in a chair in one of the common rooms with Leave-it and Zev'sonya at opposite sides of the newly acquired sofa, each with a datapad in their hands. Clearly Zev'sonya is in an exceptionally good mood as there is no trace of the usual frown on her face and at one point, she actually reaches over and lightly prods at the blond's thigh with the tip of her boot.

When Leave-it glances up from his screen and over at her, she quickly acts like she had never moved at all and stares intently at her own screen. Leave-it watches her for a few seconds, curious, but eventually returns to stare at his datapad.

She does it again. He looks up faster. She acts innocent even quicker.

The concept of a playful Zev'sonya is as unsettling to Leave-it as it is to Corin and the blond seems hesitant to push his luck and slowly turns his attention back to the screen yet again.

Corin lifts his eyebrows when he sees Zev'sonya grinning when her prodding Leave-it gets no reaction so she starts sliding her foot up and down his thigh.

In a flash, Leave-it grabs her ankle, holds her leg there, before looking over at her with an increasingly confident look on his face. “You want something from me?”

Zev'sonya doesn't flinch, merely tilts her head and maintains both eye-contact and her scary smile. “I don't know.” She pulls her leg free with a sharp movement, but there is no anger or disapproval in her face, just a challenge. “Can you deliver?”

Corin is wondering if he can sneak out of the room without them noticing him, it is pretty clear they've forgotten all about his presence and this is getting awkward, but then Leave-it reaches out to grab Zev'sonya and she jumps up on her feet to dodge him.

She tries to make a run for the door, but Leave-it is incredibly fast. He vaults himself over the back of the sofa, gets between her and the exit, and hoists her over his shoulder while she makes an almost ladylike squeak of surprise.

Corin expects her to get angry, maybe even lash out, but to his surprise she just cackles and lets him carry her out of the room. Huh. Okay. Flirting, such a weird mystery to him.

And same goes when Raga joins him and Paz during a morning work-out and just hovers for a while before she ends up sparring with her riduur.

Paz is trying to show Corin some of the tricks he's been trying to teach him, but Raga doesn't really cooperate and at one point she even flips Paz over her hip and slams his back against the floor.

Wide-eyed, Corin takes a step forward to ask if he's okay and offer him a hand up, but then Paz sweeps out his leg and sends Raga tumbling to the floor next to him. This is bound to end in a fight, right? Corin feels his stomach tighten anxiously and he's looking for some way to defuse the situation when he hears both Mandalorians, just lying on the floor, break out into a shared laugh.

Paz gets up, offers Raga a hand, which she takes, and pulls her up on her feet. She uses her grip on his hand to shove him against the wall, hard enough so it echoes through the room, and their armor clink as she pins him there with her own body.

Corin glances around, a little awkwardly, getting the feeling that this isn't the angry kind of fighting, and considers just trying to sneak his way out of the room.

Raga says something in Mando'a that Corin doesn't understand. His brain translates it into 'one more', which doesn't make sense, so he must have gotten some words mixed up.

“Corin.” Paz rumbles, not turning his t-visor away from Raga.

Corin straightens his spine. “Yes, sir?”

“Get out.”

“Yes, sir.” He doesn't hesitate to obey. But as Corin flees, he is yet again reminded how terrible he is at flirting. He had no idea that was going on in that training room. He needs to get better at this flirting thing. For Din.

That very evening Corin ends up having to take a shower after the little bean spits all over his shirt after trying a new orange and purple fruit that he clearly did not like. That is when Corin discovers how he'd managed to throw that stained shirt on top of his night shirt. Great. Here he is worried about his flirting skills when he's a mess with no clean shirts. That means laundry tomorrow.

Pulling on his loose sleeping pants, he needs to get new ones as these keep sliding down his hips, Corin towels his hair dry for a little while before entering the bed room. He can go one night without a shirt, the air is warm and Din will be there if he needs extra warmth.

Speaking of which, Din is lying on the bed, sans armor, and his t-visor turns to lock on Corin when he steps into the room.

“Everything go okay?” Corin asks as he draws his hands through his semi-wet hair, knowing the child is just a couple of doors away with Mose and Junior and yet can't prevent himself from asking.

Din nods, but doesn't speak. Strange.

Now worried about Din, Corin walks over and sits down next to him on the edge of the bed. “You okay?”

Din nods again. But he seems tense?

Corin places a reassuring hand on Din's thigh, giving it a gentle squeeze. “You sure, ner kar'ta?”

This time, Din's nod is barely visible.

Corin gently runs his hand over the soft fabric across the tense muscle there. He's not entirely convinced, Din seems too tense for everything to be okay, but he doesn't seem angry or scared so it can't be too serious. Which means he will just have to wait for Din to tell him in his own time. Corin trusts him.

Getting up, Corin walks over to crawl into bed from the other side and settles next to Din, who exhales a long, very slow and controlled breath.

So, yeah, flirting... Maybe Corin can ask Leave-it for some advice? Or Kiergan? Surely someone in this castle can help him tease Din a little?

#the mandalorian his son and the storm trooper #Din Djarin #Corin the storm trooper #Corin Valentis #Leave-it #Zev'sonya #Zev-it #Raga Saxon #Paz Vizla #Raz #King Oblivious #the one-shots start coming and they don't stop coming

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newtedison · 3 years

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my thoughts on the crank palace

i touched about this a bit on twitter (@newtedison_) but i figured i would Try and touch on my points more here (spoilers obv) again, its sort of lengthy

1. im gonna start with talking about the ending because i need to get it out of the way. either i havent read the books in a while and i forgot some canon (which could very well be true, i literally forgot that Bliss was a thing) or this ending makes no sense and is (somehow) setting up for a tdc sequel? so first off, newt was shot in the Head with a Bullet and somehow didnt immediately die? i know that that can happen in real life but it just seems so unlikely that not only would he not die, but he would survive long enough for someone from WCKD to transport him back to their labs and try to revive him. and who the fuck was he talking to? did thomas get newt’s journal at some point and i just dont remember? like i said, either im forgetting stuff or this ending doesnt make sense and is setting up a sequel which...i’ll get to later

2. why was this written? like, what was the point? i understand that this wasnt going to be all sunshine and rainbows but i feel like i was reading torture porn. like, literally all that happens is newt gets tortured (which is described in detail) by WCKD soldiers, has bouts of insane-fueled rage where he KILLS MULTIPLE PEOPLE, and then he dies. ??? what did this contribute to the canon? what was this trying to accomplish? truthfully, i never really wanted a newt-POV...well, anything except for maybe those little nuggets he wrote some time ago. but even if i HAD wanted a newt-POV novella, this is not what i would have wanted. he KNOWS that newt is almost universally the most loved character in this franchise. you can tell because he constantly uses him as a way to get fans in his good graces again. so why on earth would he take that character that so many people love and write a novella where its torture porn and a descent into madness before death? i am not interested in that At All. i’ve read fics (and even written a drabble) where newt is a Crank, and those were more respectful and easier to read than tcp. the parts where newt is having bouts of the Flare were literally exhausting to read; it was described in such vivid and torturous detail that it made me sick reading it. and it didnt help that newt is a character i care a lot about. i didn’t need to know what becoming a Crank felt like. the way it was described in the other books (and even the movies) told me everything i needed to know. the way thomas and everyone found newt at the crank palace in tdc and hes described as obviously not well, but not knowing what exactly happened to him...thats good enough on its own. the mystery of what exactly newt had to endure is part of what gives his journey more emotional depth. not everything needs to be written out and explained. not every gap needs to be filled in.

3. me saying “the characterization felt off” is going to make some people roll their eyes because ‘duh, sami, the characterization will be off because he’s going insane’ to which i say...exactly. we weren’t really reading a newt-POV novella, were we? even if he isn’t past the Gone in the beginning, hes clearly not the same person we knew him as. the whole novella felt like an uncanny valley situation; i knew i was supposed to be reading about newt, but it felt like i was reading about someone else who looked like him. and that is part of what made this such a disconnect and made me lose interest at parts. not only that, but the world building and lore is inconsistent. newt makes a comment about how it used to rain in the glade, and apparently (as ive been told) that is simply not true. keisha having somehow working cell phone that magically connects her to her family also doesnt make sense. how would they have each others’ numbers? what are the odds that they BOTH found working cell phones in an apocalypse? i get that its a novella but you cant just throw something that crazy in there as a plot convenience. actually work on your plot and world building in a cohesive way, please. and another thing that doesnt make sense...

4. ...is newt finding out that sonya is his sister. if there was anything i would have wanted from a newt-pov novella, it would have been this. him finding out that not only is sonya his sister, but he already knows her post-WCKD. something that would have made this novella actually captivating, contributing something worthwhile to the canon that i would actually want to read, is if newt found out while in the crank palace that sonya was his sister; the Flare would remove that part of the Slice in his brain, and he would realize it was her. then, knowing that he couldnt go past the Gone before seeing her, he would try to find a way to get back to her. he could learn this after thomas and everyone originally see him, so it could match up with the canon. and then, by the time 250 comes along, hes lost all hope of that actually happening, and lashes out to thomas in a fit of rage. the journey of him trying to find his ACTUAL sister would have meant more to me than the story of keisha and dante. trust me, i love a found family trope as much as the next girl. but this series is FULL of the found family trope. it pretty much is the backbone of the franchise. so to see a blood family dynamic would have been a refreshing change of pace that i actually would have been interested in reading. also, the way that newt DOES find out about sonya is...underwhelming. he just randomly says “you remind me of my sister, sonya” to keisha in the WCKD truck. first of all, sonya is not the name you would actually know her by. you would know her by her birth name (which is lizzy? elizabeth?). second, why does he act like he didnt already meet her in the series? when the WCKD doctor tells him sonya is his sister and is alive, hes so surprised. wouldn’t he have known that already? why is there not more emphasis on the fact he already met her? that would have been a really interesting dynamic to explore, and im sad they didnt

5. the pacing and dialogue of tcp is so dragged out. i remember specifically there was a section where newt goes to talk to keisha after she starts abandoning dante, and i swear to god there was a page and a half of text before anything ACTUALLY happened or anyone ACTUALLY said anything. dashner described a launcher at one point as “the energy dependent electric firing projectile device.” that’s SIX words to describe a stun gun. a fucking stun gun! we know what it is! why did you have to use six words??? it just felt like everything was dragged and stretched to the longest it could possibly be and it added to the exhaustion i felt while reading it

6. okay i cant end it without talking about newtmas. its very obvious by now that newtmas is a VERY large part of this fanbase. its clearly the most popular ship and what keeps a lot of people interested in this series. even the marketing team for the MOVIES used newtmas as a advertising tactic (i.e.; using thomas and newt standing face to face as a thumbnail for the trailer, emphasizing newtmas based questions in interviews, even making a fucking facebook memories video for them. yes that last one is real). not only does dashner use newt as a way to lure fans in; he also uses newtmas. the parts that were sprinkled into this were so obvious that it didnt feel authentic. i cant speak for the original trilogy; i dont know the culture around ships back then, and i dont know how much it influenced his writing at the time. but the scenes in those books felt more genuine than tcp. by genuine i mean; he wrote scenes without a relationship in mind, but the chemistry had noticeable subtext that, while unintentional, was largely agreed upon by the larger audience. the parts of newtmas he added into tcp felt artificial and forced, likely as a way for people to take snippets of and use as a free marketing tool for him. one example you might have already seen; “he had already gotten used to his post-thomas, post-WCKD life.” the fact that dashner SPECIFICALLY used the phrase “post-thomas” rather than “post-his friends” or something similar shows that he is using newtmas as a hook on purpose. not only that, but to make newt’s last thoughts as he died “tommy. tommy will understand...” is...wow. first of all, i never wanted to know what newt’s dying thoughts were, but thanks, i guess? and second, when we all initially thought newt died underneath thomas with a gun to his head, i was pretty much inferred that newts last thoughts would probably be about thomas; they would sort of have to be, given the circumstances. so adding that in gives me the same feeling that “i’m coming for you, newt” at the end of the fever code gave me. not as offensive, but written very much on purpose. and the ending is implying that there will somehow be a sequel where thomas gets newt’s journal from...someone. at this point, i can only think that this sequel will retroactively make newtmas canon somehow. now that newt has been confirmed as gay, it could happen. which brings me to my last point...

7. hearing dashner confirm newt is gay was already mind-boggling before. now that i’ve read the crank palace...im angry. im very angry. i think its safe to say that newt is the character that suffers the most in this series. you can argue with me but hes definitely high on the list, if not #1. so; you take this character. you give him a horribly sad arc in the original trilogy, then decide to expand upon it and tell us, your largely QUEER fanbase, exactly how painful and torturous his last days were, in detail. and then you tell us he’s gay. something that is never mentioned in the canon, only in an offhanded reply to a tweet of someone calling you out. on a base level, i can understand why people would be happy. representation (i guess), seeing themselves in the character, having their headcanons be confirmed. great. but what i see is you telling your largely queer fanbase “hey, you see the only confirmed gay character? im going to literally write torture porn about him before killing him off and offer it to you like im providing a service to your community.” how fucked up is that? “hey, kids, if youre gay, you WILL be violently tortured and become violent and a danger to the ones you love. then you will die and your love will never be reciprocated.” what a message! and if he DOES end up retroactively making newtmas “canon” in some weird sequel...i will start foaming at the mouth. THIS is an example of how not all queer representation is good or genuine.

i’ve definitely forgotten some points but this is long enough already. let me know if you agree or if theres anything else you want to add! im interested in what you guys think

(8. I JUST REMEMBERED!!! if WCKD needed to study newt so bad bc sonya is his sister and is immune while he isnt, why did they let him run around the crank palace in the first place??? you cant test his vitals or anything you’re literally just watching him. what is the point????)

#my fingers hurt from typing lol #the crank palace #the maze runner #newt #newtmas #anyway...

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orsuliya · 3 years

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Many are saying, that there is no passion betweenAwu and XQ. That from the beginning they both behave like old couple that have been together for 50 years. Calm, respect and domestic bliss. No craziness, no passionate words and deeds, no nothing. And I feel so sad that their crazy passionate all consuming love is not obvious to everybody. I've been married for 12 years now and my hubby still treats me like I'm made of glass. There is no craziness, but the calm I feel in mt heart... It is invaluable. For me their love is the perfect one. And I honestly haven't seen anything so perfect on the screen before.

Many need to check their glasses prescriptions, because that passion is right there and small it ain’t, that’s for sure. I thumb my nose, oh ye doubting Thomases, at this alleged lack of passionate words or deeds. Don’t know about you, good people, but for me the Re-do Wedding itself maxes out the scale; as far as grand gestures go that one is just perfect: very grand indeed, utterly shameless, more than a little schmoopy and, at the end of the day, surprisingly useful. Do I even need to comment on all those timely rescues? For all that Awu is not exactly a damsel in distress, she sure has been a subject of a lot of those. I hear that dramatic rescues are supposed to rate among the most romantic things a male lead can do, was my info faulty...? And it’s not like that’s one-sided since Awu runs into danger without hesitation, declaring that should anything happen to her husband or father, Song Huaien will need to carry her own cold, stiff body back home. As far as passionate romantic declarations go...!

Also, let be me disgustingly prosaic for a moment: for all that nobody gets naked onscreen (well, other that Mi’er), it is rather obvious that Awu and Xiao Qi get it on. A lot. In probably rather adventurous ways. I mean, they see absolutely no problem with promising each other various... things. While in public. In the middle of the Imperial Palace. Where anybody can hear them - and they probably do! - but is there even a hint of genuine, non-playful bashfulness to be found in their demeanor? The answer is a big, fat NO.

At the end of the day, their relationship - as is yours, you Unbelievably Lucky Nonnie - is the eternal fire of the hearth and the steady heartbeat of the home. A love like that doesn’t throw us at the mercy of waves and storms, but anchors us to home, wherever that home might be. For all the things simple and domestic to withstand the withering effects of time and everyday adversities, there must be a great burning love hidden in that hearth; hidden does not mean non-existent, but rather treasured and carefully guarded.

Okay, that is getting a tad too sentimental even for me, back to more prosaic considerations! The reason why this particular drama doesn’t seem to resonate with a good portion of younger audiences is rather simple. Bloody Mouse from Hell. Okay, not only Disney, western pop-culture as a whole. See, we’ve been taught that all conflicts and sweeping declarations of passion come before the marriage or even before the first grand kiss. After that there’s only the Happily Ever After, a concept as mind-boggling as it is suspicious. Yes, I know that Disney has been stepping away from their straighforward romance formula recently, but I am a true millenial, I have a constitutonal right to point some very pointy fingers at dear old Walt. All the work gets done before the final declaration of feelings and it’s smooth sailing from then on. Any male who makes an effort is guaranteed to be rewarded with a female; the only healthy exception being Gaston, who, when you think about it, is the scariest villain of them all (and there is good reason for that). Moms die in mysterious ways and females supporting females is a thing that happens from time to time... but is by no means guaranteed. Oh, and if you are not a walking talking perfection with one, maximum two funny quirks, there’s no place for you among the heroines. Those are the lessons I learned in my childhood. Didn’t stick, let me tell you. Wait a bloody moment, Zitan totally watched himself some Disney!

Now, let’s look at what happens in a considerable portion of mainstream adult programming. What happens is that if a couple gets together in the first season finale (which is early all the same), there is little chance of them being left to simply... be, unless they get relegated to background characters. Happily Ever Afters are booooring. Fine, I say, maybe they are. You need CONFLICT. And that’s fair! But there is no reason why you can’t spice things up using external factors; have this couple form a united front against a common danger and there’s your conflict! Yeah, no. Internal conflict and especially romantic one is much easier and cheaper. I am not saying it’s all bad - couples naturally go through such obstacles - but there comes a point where you have to ask this question: why the hell are they still together when they would never be able to trust each other again? Forgiveness only stretches so far and does not mean a totally blank slate. This is not, by any means, an invitation to start fridging female characters! I see what you’re doing, you bastards!

Thankfully things are changing. Not always and not always in the right direction. Disney in particular is doing something... weird with its main canon or was Mulan a one-off hiccup of terrifying proportions? Female-empowering that wreck was certainly not. Unless they meant Special Females, who are not like Other Females... okay, not the point right now.

The point is that Awu and Xiao Qi are married by episode 8 and in love by episode 14. Which is right where the end of the first season would be. And then... nothing. They are in love and form a rock-solid front against external enemies. The only real change in their relationship is that they grow stronger, first individually and then together.

It gets worse! We, the viewers, get a metric tonne of false leads of the kind, which we have been taught will inevitably lead to at least four episodes of conflict. So where are our four episodes of dealing with Xiao Qi’s household and uppity maids? Do as Wangfei says, that’s what we get. Where’s Xiao Qi’s burning jealousy over Zitan? I would prefer you not to go, but do as you wish, that’s the extent of it. By all known rules, he should start looking at Awu with suspicion once he guesses that Song Huaien is infatuated with her or at least take Huaien to task. There’s... absolutely nothing? This whole affair with Screecher? What do you mean you can simply ask your husband what happened and then trust his answer?! That’s not how it works! Get thee away to Turnip’s house for a couple of episodes at the least! And don’t even start me on the great performance of the Yuzhang Acting Company! There is a reason why people were loathe to recognize it as a performance and nothing but!

The Rebel Princess keeps purposefully missing those obvious cues for conflict and thus the viewer, used to much, much higher emotional amplitudes, simply nods off on this relationship. But that’s not on the drama, that’s on our erstwhile trainers.

#ask and answer #the rebel princess #okay sorry for the rant #and the preaching #but I simply had to #and don't ever start me on Mulan live-action Disney thingy UGH

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rachelbethhines · 4 years

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Tangled Salt Marathon - Short Cuts

So the reviews for Rapunzel’s Return are taking longer then expected and due to real life complications I’ve now fallen behind in my intended schedule. So in order to catch up, I’ll be doing a series of rapid-fire mini reviews of all the official shorts that the series released in addition to the usual reviews.

Summary: Ten shorts were released throughout the three seasons of the show detailing Rapunzel’s misadventures in Corona.

Check Mate

Pascal tries to get Max to play chess with him, but the horse is too busy with guard duty to play. Pascal’s antics wind up causing a fire and Max must save him.

This short, plus the later Unicorn-y short, and the episode Pascal’s Story pretty much confirms that chess is pascal’s favorite game. Shame that’s the only idiosyncrasy that the series gives besides being the conscious of the group that sometimes gives the other characters guilty looks.

I said it before and I’ll say again, the animal sidekicks in the franchise don’t have enough personality to carry whole episodes by themselves, but shorts like this are ok and where things like this should have stayed.

Prison Bake

Attila recounts how he used his baking skills to break his fellow pub thugs out of prison back before they met Rapunzel.

This just raises so many questions. Why were they arrested? What was their punishment besides jail? Why weren’t they just re-arrested later after escaping? If they were all wanted criminals before meeting Raps then why did they try to call the guards during the movie to collect the reward money on Eugene’s head? Do we really think “crack-down on crime” Frederic would pardon them before Rapunzel’s return? How do we know they weren’t just framed given how shitty Corona’s legal system is?

Like I just need a tiny bit more context show. Two to three minutes isn’t really long enough to set up conflicts. These shorts should have been more like five or six minutes really.

Also Ludwig the Castle Cook is also just wasted. They built a model for him and hired a VA and everything and all he does is appear in this one short and nothing else. Like I think he makes a non-speaking cameo in The Alchemist Returns or something, but that’s it. It’s a clear mismanagement of resources.

Make Me Smile

Rapunzel tries unsuccessfully to make Old Lady Crowley smile, but it’s not until she holds an honest conversation with the woman does she find a solution.

This is best short out of the bunch, and not just cause it stars the great Pat Carol either.

This is how Rapunzel should have been handled in the main series proper. Which is why I screen-grabbed this whole convo. It’s perfect.

Rapunzel spent 18 years lock in a tower. Of course she doesn’t understand different perspectives from her own cause her development has been stunted. She’s compassionate but lacks empathy. So she has a hard time connecting with others, but once she slows down an actually takes the time to listen to people she is capable of learning.

We needed more of this; just on a larger scale. Have Raps make mistakes, have people be annoyed with her or right angry when she messes up, and then have her learn.

Why the series thought it was a good idea to have everyone kiss her royal arse instead while she dug in her heels and consendinly took charge of everything even while still screwing up, I’ll never know.

Hare Peace

Feldspar asks Rapunzel to take care of his “precious”. Rapunzel thinks he means a pet rabbit, and is run ragged trying to keep up with it, but it turns out he was talking about his prized cabbage instead.

These shorts overall work a lot better than the main show. They know what they are and don’t try to be anything else. Therefore they deliver what is promised competently. They’re nothing amazing nor groundbreaking and in truth I wouldn’t want a whole series of them, but I get the feeling this is what the head executives at Disney were expecting when they signed off on the show and not whatever mess the main series turned out to be.

Night Bite

Rapunzel, Eugene, and the animals are out camping for the night and Max gets irritated by all the bugs.

What doesn’t work so well is the placement of some of the shorts. This particular short aired during season two and indeed that would make sense given that they are camping out here. Which why would they do that if they were still in Corona...

Yet some of the later shorts, which also aired during season two, clearly do take place in Corona debunking that theory. Just some context would be nice show, that’s all.

Also this short is meh.. not bad, not, good, just there.

Hiccup Fever

Rapunzel gets the hiccups and everyone in Corona seems to have advice on how to get rid of them, but only Eugene has the solution.

I’d argue that this is the funniest of the shorts. I legit laughed out loud at some points which is rare.

However it does sadly prove on thing.

Rapunzel was always a shit girlfriend, even before season three.

Being a douche to your boyfriend isn’t funny show.

Snowball

Rapunzel and Pascal plan to have some fun in the snow and things go awry.

So where and when is this exactly?

Unlike the other shorts, the context and setting for this one is paramount to whether or not Rapunzel is a simply lazy or a an outright dick.

For you see, Rapunzel had never been outside in the show before Queen for a Day. Ergo, this can only take place during the latter half of season one or during season two.

Now season two makes a lot of sense. They’re at some cabin in the woods that was never mentioned are seen on screen before and this did air during season two anyways. If that is the case then Raps just avoiding her planned road trip like always.

However, the last short and the next two also aired during season two and all of those do take place in Corona during season one and even the wiki states that they were all meant to take place during season one in original concept.

Yet if that is the case then Rapunzel is ignoring Varian right now and playing around in the thing that almost killed him...

Oh and that still doesn’t explain where this cabin is. Is it the mountain retreat that the King and Queen were going to spend their anniversary at?

What’s really mind boggling though is that they made this short in order to reuse the character models from Queen for a Day in order to save money, but then went and built this whole set that’s never seen outside of this short.

Like seriously who was on charge of the budget decisions in the series?

Hairdon't

Rapunzel offers to cut Eugene’s hair but then messes it up. She spends all day trying to stop Eugene from seeing his new do, but turns out the hairstyle becomes a hit with the Corona townspeople.

Rapunzel seriously lucked out here and it borderlines on the main series style levels of BS. She asks Eugene not to get upset before he sees what she’s done and, guess what, he is rightly upset.

Honestly the series needed to let Eugene get angry at Rapunzel for stuff. That’s what happens in relationships, you will make your partner mad at times and that’s ok. It’s all about how both of you handle that.

We never get to see how Eugene and Rapunzel would handle a real ordinary conflict and not just magic/ex girlfriend shenanigans that don't end with them putting off talking about it.

Even their best episodes in season two still are over conflicts that don’t have any immediate impact on their lives and are mostly hypotheticals to them, like kids or how other people should approach dating. And of course by season three Eugene is just reduced to a doormat.

Unicorn-y

Rapunzel tries to help Vladimir find his missing prized unicorn figurine in this spoof of old detective movies. Turns out Max and Pascal had found it and were using it to play chess.

Ok, first off, Eugene has the patience of a saint and deserves so much better than Raps and her bullcrap here. Same goes for Lance who is tied up as well during this scene.

But also this is another short that needed to be more than three mins long. The “mystery” is over before it even starts and the film noir parody only barely has time register in the viewer’s mind and then it’s over with.

Shorty’s Theme Song Takeover!

The last of the shorts aired after the show had ended as part of the Disney Channel’s on going promotional gimmick “Theme Song Takeover!”

Shorty finds Rapunzel’s journal and sings his own version of the show’s theme song, “Wind in my Beard”.

It’s ok.

All of Disney’s animated shows for the 2019/2020 line up has done one and some are funnier than than this and others not so. The Shorty one is pretty middle ground but what makes it work is that Rapunzel is completely oblivious to what’s going on and only Shorty, always the anomaly of the series, can perceive the fourth wall. Thus proving he was never really human.

As for placement, we know it’s season three cause of Rapunzel’s dress and they’re mostly likely inside the Snuggly Duckling right now. So just slot it in wherever you see fit.

Conclusion

That’s it for the shorts. The rest of Rapunzel’s Return should be up later this week and then hopefully I’ll be all caught up in time to cover the next episode next week.

#tangled #tangled the series #rapunzles tangled adventure #short cuts #anti-rapunzel #anti-tangled

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sakuratragedy · 3 years

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Emperor’s Consort | Chapter 1

Fandom: Genshin Impact Pairing: Zhongli / Childe, #Zhongchi Tags: R18, A/B/O Dynamics, Royalty AU Summary: aka "Emperor's consort doesn't know the difference between being a concubine and being a consort" Tsaritsa wants her child to have a good life after serving her on the battlefield for so long, so she makes a deal with an old friend. In exchange for her military might, he will marry her son. Childe who has no formal omega training has to do his best to cover up the fact he has no idea what he's doing. Do your best to be a good omega Childe!

“If we are the last two left, I’ll give up and let you be the Tsar.”

“‘That is only if we are the last two standing. We need to think of who to take down first.”

She had her back against the wall, listening to her brothers through the slightly open door as they sharpened their weapons while whispering quietly amongst themselves. The sound of blade being polished against whetstone echoed through the room.

“Yelena’s strike is the fiercest. She should be dealt with first.” she hears her brothers when the blade lifts from the stone before another sharp sound is heard.

The succession rites to become the next Tsar hosted by her father started tomorrow. The Tsar was an old and terrible tyrant, taking eight wives and will be making his children slaughter each other for the sake of tradition. She hated him and his rancid smell, the same stench he used to command his court by exerting his alpha pheromones and bringing them to their knees. She especially hated when he would use her mother as a means to torment her. She would feel the spikes of rage and the flash of red in her vision when he would threaten to humiliate her mother in front of the court to get her to do what he wanted.

The succession rite was a chance to change all that. She could fix decades of ugly rituals, dismantle the corruption and burn it to the ground, raising a new court from its ashes. She'll get rid of the corruption with her own two hands.

If she survives the succession rite as the true heir.

First, she had to survive the night. She moved away from the wall, making sure her footsteps were light so her brothers would not hear her.

The dawn came quickly with few casualties. Two of her eight siblings were missing during the morning ceremony. It was right to assume her other siblings had started early by eliminating some competition before the rites. They were surrounded by spectators from the court, their mothers cry and sob as their children were cut down and their father, watching them with a smirk on his face.

She was fast, she had to be to survive the slaughter. While her brothers and sisters were stronger, she was swift to cut deep and fast at their necks before avoiding the rest of the fight.

As she held her dagger to her dear older brother’s neck, his words echoed through her ears.

“Yelena’s strike is the fiercest.”

She hesitated for a split second when he smiled at her and closed his eyes, giving up the fight and giving in to his death.

“I’ll give up and let you be the Tsar.”

Perhaps he knew that she was there that night. She frowned. She swore for her brothers and for her mother that this ugly methods of succession would die along with them. She landed a swift killing strike to make his death painless before a booming laughter filled the court. Yelena got off her brother's corpse and turned to face her father behind her.

“Who would have thought.” she turned to her father, who had a smirk on his face, overlooking his five dead children and his sole heir bathed in the blood of her beloved.

“My littlest won the succession rites all on her own. It is as true as the court says,” her scowl deepens at his show of pride. “You do have my good traits.”

That night she killed the tyrant that was her father.

It had been 40 years since she was 15 and living the nightmares of her succession rites. The ghosts follow her as she burns away the old world for her new one. One where her children do not have to cry from the heartache of losing their families. For 40 years, she had destroyed her fathers empire and built it back up with her own hands the way that she desired. Everyone in Snezhnaya are her children, as long as they were born in this frosty land of ice and snow they would be cared for by her.

Her children always did say that she loved too much. She loved too hard and that made her soft.

She had never been married, but she had adopted 11 children from different family situations to be her official princes and princesses, her Harbingers as they liked to call themselves when they assisted her in her endeavours. The fights are long and tiresome but after 40 years of fighting for her ideal world she can finally rest peacefully with her family.

Unfortunately, she had spent the last 40 years hardening her 11 children for battlefields and life in shadows, so suddenly wanting to have a loving relationship with her children was less than fruitful. Especially with her older children, which was understandable since Pedrelino and Dottore had been with her longest and since they were young she hadn’t been treating them like children. They were forced to oversee missions from the shadows, travelling Teyvat for her and lengthy battles away from home, so she understands when they couldn’t receive her motherly love very well.

Her younger children however were very welcoming to her attempts at affection.

She sat on her throne, she watched her only daughter approach her along with two fatui skirmishers by her side.

“Your majesty.” La Signora did a low curtsy before her. She nodded and the two skirmishers dismissed themselves, leaving her and her daughter alone together.

“Signora. How was your trip to Mondstadt? I trust you had a wonderful time.”

“It was alright.” she glanced over to the side, making a face the Tsaritsa couldn’t really read, but she could guess that it was distaste. The reason for the distaste was unknown, but according to the intel that reached her ears before Signora did, it could have something to do with that mysterious traveller and that omega bard she had encountered in Mondstadt as she was leaving.

“I’m glad you’re home.” she started before hesitating, clearing her throat behind her fist before shyly admitting. “I’ve missed you.”

“I missed you too.” Signora responds shyly, her neck and ears flushing red clearly unused to the outright affection. The red flush made Signora look like a young maiden in the moment, you could have forgotten that she was one of the Tsaritsa’s coldest killers. The Tsaritsa smiled behind her hand at how cute her daughter could look before she decided to move on to other matters.

“Signora, an old friend of mine would like support from our military might regarding a ghost from his past.” she started with a serious voice as she leaned into her throne. Signora’s expression changed immediately to her usual stoic expression as she listened to her mother speak.

“Don’t support him.” she says sternly without hesitation. She understands why her daughter feels that way. A foreigner having control over their old and great military might unsupervised would be an unwise decision for both Snezhnaya and her old friend. While the Tsaritsa knows that her fatui agents have good independent action and work in a team, sending them to a foreign land two weeks away from Snezhnaya without supervision for a friend could turn dangerous.

“He is a dear friend and I owe him a favour.” she continues. “When Pedrelino was very young and I was rebuilding Snezhnaya, he lent me a hand in terms of investigation of the court. I feel the need to return the favour.”

Signora still looked against the action, but Yelena was determined to convince her daughter.

“We both know how I feel for those who have ghosts.”

“Your majesty, I’m stepping out of line when I say this but you love too hard and too deeply. It is my job to make sure you don’t get hurt and by making such a bold decision to send our agents for this person... It is just unreasonable, especially if they are unsupervised.” Signora has her hand on her hips as she borderline lectures the Tsaritsa.

“We could send a Harbinger if supervision is your concern?” Tsaritsa says as she avoids her gaze. She knows her daughter is glaring at her. She hears Signora give in by her sigh and her fingers rubbing at her temple.

“Who is your friend? Let me get Dottore to run a background- ”

“He is the emperor from Liyue.”

“Tartaglia spent a year in Liyue, didn’t he?�� Signora said as she thought out loud. Perhaps they could send a portion of their military might if it is under the supervision of their youngest Harbinger.

Then again… it is Tartaglia they’re talking about.

“Yes. Tartaglia is familiar with foreign languages to a certain degree as well, is he not? Perhaps we could send him as a consort?”

“Mother.”

“Yes?”

“Did you say consort.”

“Yes.”

A long silence filled the throne room.

“Your majesty.” she let out another heavy sigh. “Harbingers are not marriageable. Especially Tartaglia.” Signora knows her mother is a kind hearted woman, but attempting to marry off Tartaglia as a favour to the Liyue emperor was mind boggling. Surely, Tartaglia was the only omega of their siblings, but he was still a Harbinger. A nasty, cold hearted killer with blood on his hands.

Not to mention his pheromones that smelled too strong of withered roses, a result from years on the battlefield fighting through his heats by literally fighting enemies, muddying his scent by surrounding himself with bloodshed. No high class alpha let alone an emperor would be in their right mind to want to mate with him.

“Do not say that Signora.” Signora’s posture straightened at the appearance of her stern voice, perhaps automatically out of fear or respect, or something between those lines. Regardless her daughter had reverted back to actively listening rather than roasting her brother.

“Tartaglia has worked hard for years for this country. Nevertheless, he is an omega forced to live like an alpha for years on the battlefield for me. Snezhnaya is entering an era of peace, I would like him to start living like his age.” Signora still looked against the suggestion of sending Tartaglia to be married. She understands that perhaps it would be troublesome for her as well, since they were close in age and she would essentially be losing her closest sibling.

“I think this would be good for him.”

“Mother… Tartaglia has no formal omega training for a supposedly ‘high class omega’, considering he’s a prince. If the emperor takes a whiff of his scent, he’d be sent back in a crate to Snezhnaya like an animal.”

“There’s no harm in letting Tartaglia try his chances. If he turns out to be the emperor's concubine, it would not be too bad, would it?” she says softly. She watches as Signora’s expression softens as well at her tone.

“Alright. I’ll let Tartaglia know and make the preparations.”

“Thank you Signora.”

“Childe! Be reasonable!” Signora yells as she chases her half naked brother through the palace gardens, passing by agents and maids who were forced to avert their gaze in fear of being beheaded for looking at the prince half decent.

“Advert your eyes!” Signora points at the oncoming squadron who were heading in their direction. Their faces turn to all different directions to avoid seeing the prince and princess racing each other through the palace grounds.

“Childe!” she lets out a shrill scream as she continues to chase him.

“No! I’ll never marry! You can’t make me!” he jumps over mother’s marble fence and lands behind an unfortunate fatui agent, making him jump from the scare. It doesn’t phase Childe and he continues running. Signora looked down from where Childe jumped and looked at the heels she was wearing ‘ah… my 500 thousand mora heels...’ and decided against it.

“Don’t treat me like a fucking omega!” he sneers at her. She rolls her eyes. In her vision Childe is nothing more like a hissing kitten.

“News flash genius, you are an omega.” Signora managed to catch up to him and successfully cornered him in his room after a long chase outdoors that lasted approximately two hours and forty five minutes, not that she was counting to spite him later. Her angry pheromones leak and overpower Childe, bringing him to his knees. If he were in his prime state, he would be able to resist her pheromones without flinching, but this version of Childe had taken a short break from the battlefield and has started to enjoy living the life of a spoiled prince.

“I’ll make him kick me out in a week if you keep this up.” Childe gasps with his mouth before pinching his nose, trying not to breathe in too much of her scent.

Signora rolls her eyes at how dramatic her younger sibling is being. In a palace full of boys and her being the sole princess, she lives in a house of stubborn alphas. Somehow, Childe being the only non-alpha had caught their terrible personality traits.

“Get up off the floor we have to start going through basic training now.”

- “Ow!” Childe whines when Signora pushes the dildo into him. His ankle rested on one of her shoulders as she stood at the end of the bed, monitoring how much slick he produced.

“Come on, you’ve got to be better at producing slick than this .” she says with a mixture of disappointment and irritation. Firstly, she had to chase her brother through the gardens and now she was in charge of his training?

Well, she did promise the Tsaritsa that she would handle it. But it doesn’t mean she couldn’t complain about it.

“It’s not my fault. You don’t turn me on.” Childe mutters into his pillow below his head, crossing his arms across his torso. Signora smiles, irritated before pushing the dildo further in harder than she should have. He flinches violently before sitting up.

“Ow!”

“The Tsaritsa wants you to go to Liyue and play nice with the emperor, and you know that whatever mom says goes.” Signora ignores the high pitched whine that Childe makes when she gently pushes the dildo further into his cunt.

“Mom just wants to marry me off to some old geezer. Isn’t the emperor supposed to be a 40 year old man.”

“Don’t call her mom. Refer to her as ‘her majesty’.” “You literally just called her mom.”

Childe feels a knot form on the base of the dildo, expanding uncomfortably against him while hitting all the wrong places that made him uncomfortable. One particularly hard thrust caused him to flinch violently again, arching up against the bed in discomfort.

“Ow, ow, ow! ” He complains as Signora finishes pushing the knot into him.

“You’re such a crybaby. How are you going to withstand those dreadfully long hours of mating when you can’t even handle a fake knot.” she pushes his ankle off her shoulder and they fall limp onto the bed below them. She throws her hair behind her shoulder before moving across the room and sitting on the sofa in his room, lying herself across it as if she’s done some terribly hard task. Childe sits up to look at her, irritated at how dramatic she looks.

“Mom should have gotten you a proper trainer years ago rather than this ridiculous last minute coaching.”

“News flash genius .” Childe bites back at her. “I was away on the battlefield ever since her majesty adopted me as a Harbinger? How long has that been, hmm?” he taps his chin, ignoring the shiver that ran down his spine from feeling so much of the knot against him.

“One? Two? Three years?”

“So you’ve been away for six years. Big deal. All of us travel around for her majesty’s missions.”

“None of you alphas need whatever this ‘formal omega training’ is.” he makes air quotations with his fingers. “Cause none of you are omegas.” he glares at her. He knows she can feel the glare, but it's making him angry how easily she ignores him in favour of closing her eyes and sinking her head into the plush pillow on the sofa.

“Most high ranking omegas from across Teyvat go through formal omega training. It teaches you the basics from how to control your pheromones to the importance of heats and proper mating rituals.”

“I’m not most high ranking omegas, if you haven’t noticed.”

“You’re right.” Childe feels some sort of pride with being agreed with.

“You smell like smelly roses and you’re not soft or cute at all.” He made an unhappy noise at his sister. How typical of her, unable to compliment him at any time. He feels the knot soften inside of him and thinks that it was the perfect opportunity to work the dildo out of him before aiming for his sister's head. The dildo misses Signora by two inches before falling on the other side of the couch.

“Tartaglia!” the shrill scream echoed throughout the palace.

- The day he was sent away, the Tsaritsa and Signora stood out at the front gates to bid Childe goodbye. He kisses her majesty’s knuckles before meeting her eyes.

“I promise I’ll do well.”

The Tsaritsa smiles at him, gentle and motherly while a step further behind her Signora is glaring at him with all her might. The wind blows harshly, little flakes of snow sticking to Childe’s red hair. He smiles mimicking the gentle one she gave him.

“I know you will. Even if he does not choose you to be his mate, as long as you are happy,” she hesitates and bites her lip. She knows that she would be lying if she continued. “I will be happy.” she finishes.

In her heart she is hoping that it does not come down to that and that her old friend would treat her son right, but the possibilities are endless when it comes to Zhongli. If he was similar to her image of him when they were younger, he would still be an unpredictable enigma, coming and doing as he pleases like an outdoor cat. Then again, Tartaglia was a hurricane in a human shaped shell, with the ability to sweep everything in his path off their feet, dragging the air from their lungs with the chaos he’s capable of leaving in his wake.

“Even if you come home, I’ll take you with open arms.” she says softly, unsure if he heard her over the harsh blowing of the Snezhnaya wind. He turns back to look at his mother (and his sister who caught his eye, and looked away) and the palace he could be leaving for the rest of his life before he boards his carriage that would take him to the docks to board his ship to Liyue, this time with no predicted date of his return.

If he would even return. He was unsure.

The carriage left the front gates of the palace, but the Tsaritsa continued to watch until it was out of their sight.

“I wonder if it was a good idea to send Tartaglia.” she puts a gloved hand to her mouth and another on her stomach. “He has no formal omega training. I’m afraid if he were to lose out to any other potential omega the emperor had his eye on.”

‘I literally told you that.’ Signora thinks, but she gives her mother a sympathetic look and places a hand over her shoulder, pulling the Tsaritsa close to her body. Tsaritsa’s eyes widen in surprise as she feels herself being pulled closer to her daughter's body. Signora is taller than her and blankets herself over her mother, sharing their warmth. While she’s proud that her daughter isn’t as afraid of her as she was years ago, she’s still worried about Tartaglia.

“You worry too much, your majesty. He will be fine.” Signora says as she brings a gloved hand to the Tsaritsa’s back and strokes fondly, comforting her.

#zhongli #childe #zhongchi #genshin impact tsaritsa #genshin impact childe #genshin impact zhongli #genshin impact la signora

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