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#who up thinking about geothermal escapism ....
ladders101 · 4 months
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gay rep is like “kyaaaaaah!!! i like a boy but… i’m a boy >////<?!?!” meanwhile queerbait will be “it’s not a game for me troy. i’m seeing real lava because you’re leaving. it’s embarrassing and i don’t want to be crazy, but i am crazy so… i made a game that made you and everyone else see what i see. i don’t want it to be there either, i swear. i want you to be able to leave, but i don’t think the lava goes away until you stop leaving”
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sweaty-confetti · 1 month
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who up thinking about geothermal escapism (i feel physically ill)
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bluesadansey · 2 months
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for the ask grid, an array of community pairings: jeff/britta, jeff/abed, troy/abed, annie/britta, britta/frankie, annie/abed
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Jeffbritta — I really like them they compel me quite a bit! I thought about putting them higher but because part of their whole thing is that they’re the normie toxic hets who are so basic in concept that they work all the way around to be subversive and fun I thought this ranking made sense for them. Also it’s true that the first time I was watching Comm it took me awhile to warm to them but eventually did and then on my second watch through I got real attached. Hand in unloveable hand core. Trobed — they’re great they compel me Geothermal Escapism makes me cry so much. I don’t think I have anything really insightful to add they’re the moment. Abedison — in a lot of ways this is my favorite community dynamic… they are my two favorite characters so that’s part of it. I love them romantically or platonically or queer-platonically, they’re two bisexuals in love they’re lesbian bi solidarity they’re a yuri couple nonbinary Abed rights they’re in a qpr with Troy they’re in a polyamorous relationship with Troy they’re in a fake relationship to cover up identity fraud one if them (could be either) committee and/or a murder one of them (Annie) committed, they’re neurotic freaks who understand each other best and they’re worsties. I did write multiple romantic Annie/Abed fics during quarantine with an account that’s now orphaned. My feelings on them as a ship are less cut and dry than on Trobed and Jeffbritta though hence placements.
Jabed — I also go back and forth on platonic/romantic with them but either way am compelled, a fascinating dynamic and foil ship, the most important relationship of the show in some ways. Critical Film Studies is usually the episode that puts me in a shippy mood where they’re concerned because there are Vibes present in that one.
Brittannie — the thing with them is I find them compelling but mostly from an Annie perspective because I very much read her as having feelings for Britta at points in the show and am interested in what it means for her, I’m less interested in seeing them together romantically in most scenarios except for the Brittannie Carmilla au I wrote one time, that was compelling to Me. Also I do flip flop on how I feel about them if you’d asked me when I first got into community I would have been more enthusiastic and maybe I’ll change my mind again next rewatch.
Frankie x Britta — I remember being into them but I don’t remember the justification much but.. it’s a good dynamic cute first date idea surprise a girl in her car and bond over nihilism in a round about way. There is a balancing effect there.
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quillsink · 2 years
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concept for the community movie. it’s 2023 and the movie has finally been released and you sit down to watch it excited for what you’re about to see excited for new content about the characters. and then you realise something strange, you realise you’ve seen this situation before.
you recognise the troy you see on screen but it isn’t the troy you know and love. it’s troy fresh out of high school, troy with his hypermasculine demeanour, troy with his riverdale high letter jacket, troy with his class ring, troy with the cocky smile and faked overconfidence that never suited him. 
and you recognise the classroom—spanish 101, season 1 of community, you see britta lend abed a pencil, and hear her say she thinks she’s gonna flunk tomorrows test so she’s sorry if that makes her seem cold. and you see abed, a little less confident a little less grown up. you see him overhear a shallow, cocky statement from troy and watch him tilt his head to the side and look at troy curiously.
and soon, the movie the progresses, and you realise, this is the side of the show we never saw. this is troy and abed, their stories, their story, them meeting each other for the first time. their awkward first meeting at the fro-yo place unremembered as they get to know each other, as abed’s unashamed expression of himself confuses a hiding, pretending troy. 
and we see all the things we never get to see. we see their first meeting. we see the first time they held hands. we see the messy parts, we see the crying the messy gulping choking sobs the horrible ways in which both of them were hurt the wonderful ways in which they help each other heal. we see them decide to move in together, we see the part where they move in together. we see them living together, no annie yet, just the two of them, just a quiet smile at breakfast and a “hey, abed? i had a nightmare, can i…come down there?”
it’s a mix of things, an outsider’s view to a day from britta’s perspective as she fumbles with a stolen camera to segments from abed’s films where he and troy broke character to simply gaze at each other for a moment to outtakes from the dean’s commerical to security camera footage. threads woven together to tell a story we all knew was there from the start.
we see troy’s careful realisation, we see abed help him through it, we see the two come out to each other. we see what really went down in the 24-hour weird down in the dreamatorium before shirley’s wedding. we see the secret feelings underlying the pillows and blankets war, we see the hate concealing something much deeper they’re both trying to hide, we see a sequel that’s not just the friendship hats but a painful conversation that ends in forgiveness because it’s them, of course it will. 
and when the yam was killed. well. the tension had to be relieved somehow, didn’t it? and when abed and troy switched in good cop bad cop—well, that wasn’t the only thing they switched in.
we see the awkward, clunky relationship of obligatory heterosexuality between troy and britta, we see their attraction build and culminate in an unsatisfactory manner, we see abed observe jealously from the sidelines and try to be happy. we see a confession he makes quietly to the camera when troy’s not home.
we see a tearful conversation before troy left for ac repair school, without the rest of the study group, just them. we see the pain his leaving caused the both of them we see the blinding joy at his return and a conversation the two of them never tell anyone else about. 
we see a conversation following heroic origins where troy remembers everything, suddenly, and in an apology to abed vows to leave who he used to be behind forever, he’s himself now. everyone else can suck it, he’s not pretending one bit anymore.
we see troy leave. we see the pain in both of their eyes, we see geothermal escapism all over again, but we see another conversation between troy and abed, between the end of the game and the cloning and their final goodbyes. 
the years fly by, and we see see abed’s grief that tears him apart but he keeps going because he’s got his friends he’s still got himself and troy will come back. because eventually, it all will. and we see his disappointment and sorrow as more leave and soon, he can tell the shows coming to an end. because the cast is falling apart, the narrators lost interest, the narrative is repeating itself. 
we see abed check the tracker each day. we see his shaking hands as he drops the phone when he hears about troy’s kidnapping, see his choked sob of relief when he sees the good news troy’s alive and well. 
we see him go to LA, see him become known in the film industry, see his life flourish as he grows into himself, still in touch with the study group, builds a life for himself, amazing and happy, but there’s a hollow place in his soul.
as time moves forward, we cut between confessions to a camera, the audio terrible as both whisper, trying not to be heard by roommates or. well. levar burton. they miss each other, they’ve found a life for themselves but now they know what they tried so hard not to feel. they’re whole on their own, they can live apart, but. they don’t want to.
and then, we cut to another scene. a shaky, vertical camera, we see a video of the study group at a dock, see britta’s finger covering part of the camera. we see jeff condescendingly explain to her how to switch the camera and she does, swearing at him, and we see abed standing apart from the rest, staring at the sea.
annie squeals, and there’s the childish tycoon coming into sight, and soon, it’s docking, and we’ve switched mediums now, abed thinks, because he thought the show ended years ago but this can only be the ending of a movie—it can only be that, he thinks, as he and troy see each other in the flesh for the first time, and the music swells in the background, and the camera follows troy hurrying down the ladder and runs toward abed, who’s standing completely still, overwhelmed by troy right in front of him after years of blurry pixelated occasional calls and the odd text or letter. 
as the song reaches its climax, the two move towards each other and kiss, and then cut to a terrible quality recording of the kiss on britta’s phone with her cheering and annie squealing in the background, and jeff’s sarcastic comment on britta’s shitty phone ends the movie as the credits roll.
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Hi! I'm @coffeewritesfiction and I'm gonna take you up on that "tell me about your WIP" thing you mentioned in your intro. Welcome back btw! Good to have you here.
Okay so, my story is called Black Velvet It's mostly on my sideblog runner-owen rather than my main blog because... I don't remember why I did that honestly. Anyway! It's a queer gothic fantasy story, set in a Victorian inspired world of eternal night, with a trans man protagonist. His name is Owen Rosedown, and he's a member of the Theria Runners' Society, a guild of detectives for hire. He works with the Knight Hunters, who protect the city from danger (or are supposed to at least). He was hired by Lord Aurum Vim-Calyx, the current leader of the Knight Hunters, to help deal with the looming threat of evil vampires, specifically Aurum's arch enemy, the vampire god known only as the Scarred Man.
So in Black Velvet, Owen and Aurum go on a mission to retrieve a journal supposedly owned by a vampire tactician who lived in Black Velvet Castle centuries ago. However, when things go wrong, Owen is given the blame and ordered by Aurum to stay at Black Velvet until he finds the other journals. This is believed to be an impossible task, one given to Owen out of Aurum's anger. However, after a powerful storm breaks, the Scarred Man and his allies take over the castle, intending to kidnap all the humans to the vampire territories, including Owen. Especially Owen, who the Scarred Man has always desired . Now it's a race against time for Owen to find a way to defeat the vampires and escape before the storm ends. And the key to their escape is in the journals of the Tactician...
I hope I didn't bore you with that 😅 I probably should've asked first before I dumped all this on you. You can delete this if you aren't interested in it, I understand! But if you are interested I'd love to hear what you think based just on this so far. ☺️ - Coffee
You totally didn't bore me!!! Thank you so much for sharing!!!!
Okay omg where to start. WORLD BUILDING! I'm so interested in a world of eternal night. How does that affect the flora and fauna of the world? Are there different animals/plants than in real life? Would that mess with the food production? Are humans constantly Vitamin D deficient or did they evolve past that? If there's no day, what regulates temperature? Is the sun still there, but hidden, is there magic afoot, geothermal energy, something else?
You say Owen works with the Theria Runner's Society and the Knight Hunters. Do these organizations have connections beyond Owen? Do they normally work together, or is there a rivalry between the "protectors" of the city and the detectives for hire?
What kind of crimes does Owen usually investigate? Theft? Homicide? Terrorism? Domestic violence? Stalking? Etc. etc.? How do you write "deal with the threat of vampires" into a contract? Is Owen the only one Aurum hired? If so, why Owen, when there's a whole guild of detectives?
WHICH BRINGS ME TO - the Scarred Man apparently wants Owen specifically?? I'm so intrigued by that. What's special about Owen? What is he hiding?!!
You say the Scarred Man and allies take over the castle - does this mean that, despite it originally being a vampire castle (I think? a vampire tactician lived there), it has since been taken over by humans? or did the vampires leave and humans just squat? How many other people were there besides Owen when the vampires invaded? Was there a society living there, with families? If so, would Owen feel beholded to protect those families/help the others escape the vampires, or is he more concerned with his own mission? Both options would make interesting characters!
Okay "vampire tactician." What does that entail? What did they conceive tactics for? War? Invasion? Politics? Magic? How could the answers inside help reckon with current-day vampires? Does the Scarred Man still use those tactics?
AHHHH I'm so interested!! Please tag me in anything you post about this!!
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deepinmummymatters · 8 months
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5 Experts Who Could Significantly Lower Your Energy Bills
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When energy costs are on the rise, you want to make a priority of finding ways to save money on your energy bills. With more and more homeowners at risk of energy poverty throughout the winter, there is no excuse to delay the process of making your home more energy efficient.  While many people focus on traditional methods, such as turning off lights and adjusting thermostats, experts in various fields can offer specialized solutions to help you cut down your energy consumption once and for all. That being said, traditional methods can also work to reduce the impact of your energy bills. However, the effect is minimal. Here is how to make substantial energy savings to significantly lower your energy bills.  Enhancing your roof efficiency Unsplash - CC0 License A professional roofing contractor may not be the first professional that comes to mind when thinking about energy savings, but a well-maintained roof can play a crucial role in reducing your energy costs.  Indeed, up to 30% of your heated air could escape through the roof in winter. This means that you could cut your bills by 30% with the services of a certified roofer who can repair leaks and gaps in your roof structure.  Optimizing your electrical systems Modern homes are filled with electrical appliances and devices, and an electrician’s expertise can ensure that your electrical systems are running efficiently. Over time, wiring can deteriorate, which can cause energy leakage and even safety hazards. An electrician can identify and repair these issues, preventing unnecessary energy consumption in the process.  Additionally, they can suggest upgrades, such as energy-efficient lighting and smart home systems that would also allow you to monitor and control your energy usage closely.  Improving your insulation Unsplash - CC0 License An insulation expert specialized in creating a well-insulated building, which will become central to maintaining consistent indoor temperatures throughout the year. Typically, older properties can suffer from poor insulation or damaged insulating solutions, which means that the heated air is likely to escape through the walls, basement, and attic. Similarly, in summer, these areas are more likely to feel warm to the touch and let the hot outdoor air seep in.  You may want to arrange for an insulation audit with a specialist who can help improve your property.  Maximizing airfloor with interior decor An often overlooked aspect of energy efficiency is the arrangement of furniture and decor within your home. An interior decorator can help you create a layout that maximizes natural airfloor inside your rooms. For example, strategically placing furniture and ensuring that air vents are unobstructed can enhance the air circulation inside your home, both for heating and air conditioning. You end up using less energy to regulate your indoor temperatures.  Transitioning to sustainable solutions The shift towards renewable sources is gaining momentum, and a green energy advisor can guide you through this situation. They can help evaluate your current energy usage patterns and suggest alternatives, such as solar panels or geothermal heating systems. These solutions harness clean and sustainable energy, which reduces your dependence on traditional energy sources and creates long-term savings.  When it comes to cutting down on your energy bills, a proactive approach involving a diverse range of experts can yield impressive results. Forget about thermostat adjustments, and consider how professional roofers, electricians, or even decorators can make your energy bills cheaper! Read the full article
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wrenchgrape14 · 2 years
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Diy Ideas for a good Energy Efficient Home
Many people think of whirlpool tubs and artist kitchens when they consider a home improvement plan, but there's increasing interest inside energy efficiency as an attractive feature in a home. With gas and even electricity prices going up and green concerns now high about many people's plan, energy efficiency could increase the selling selling price of a home. Improving a home's energy efficiency doesn't invariably mean investing within a high priced solar electric power system. A few simple changes and advancements can result within far better use associated with gas and electrical power, and lower monthly bills. Unlike a few home improvement tasks, making better usage of energy is some thing you can develop over time. The using home improvements may bring substantial savings over a year. Plug leaks in addition to improve insulation.
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Creator Reforged: Building God Chapter 2
A/N: So much for that “shorter posts“ thing. And sorry for the wait. I’m more of an... irregular poster. You’ll see why I wanted to push to finish the chapter where I did.
Word count: 2505
Warnings: dead bodies (dismembered, not too graphic, I think); potential panic attack (didn’t plan it as such, but I might as well tag it just to be on the safe side)
Masterpost
Intro Prev
To 3a To 3b
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Dragonspine was inhospitable at the best of times, but this had been of little concern to Albedo. With the right preparations, he had found living on the mountain’s lower slopes comfortable for long periods of time and its upper slopes tolerable for shorter stretches. The howling winds and bitter cold could be kept at bay as his studies about the truth of the Creator’s world continued apace, and the simplicity of keeping materials or experiments below freezing was quite welcome.
When that earthquake struck, however, the mountain proved its danger anew.
He was in the upper station at the time, and was blessed enough to escape it with his research notes and necessities before it was buried and crushed under a wave of thundering snow. With a newfound respect for Dragonspine, he began his retreat to the safer and still standing lower station only to notice the developing problems with the sky.
Albedo doubted that he could complete the trip between the two stations any faster than on that day.
And now, here he was, however many days later, pacing around and for the fifth time that day, reviewing what little notes and theories he had. These occurrences were obviously unprecedented, and no book he had read remarked on anything similar to this. He remembered tales of the Archons making their displeasure plain to their inhabitants, but none had been able to tear at the sky like that. Perhaps it was their Creator? Doubtful. He had subscribed to the ‘watchmaker model’, that the Creator set everything in its place, then stepped back to let Teyvat play out. Why punish Their creation now?
Albedo sighed, leaning back onto his desk. Then what was going on? Was there some mechanism he had overlooked? Had someone broken some artifact, and now the world was paying the price? Would he ever know the true cause? Could he even begin to be able to comprehend the answer?
Perhaps there was something he wasn’t looking closely enough at, some inference he had yet to make. The instruments that he left running at this location noted a lowered air pressure, reduced geothermal and geological activity after the earthquake, and lowered temperatures. He could trace the source of the earthquake to being somewhere underneath Dragonspine, which was an oddity- the mountain was a rather geologically idle location, and the absence of aftershocks made him think this was anything but natural.
His thoughts were pulled from his work by the sound of his front door opening followed by the sound of someone stumbling through. He turned to see who his visitor was and saw a familiar aqua coat carrying a large bundle as they shut the door behind themselves. It wasn’t the proper season to use a coat as heavy as they were using, but the howling winds and fiercer temperatures necessitated them. A moment later, he pulled down his hood to reveal his identity.
Kaeya slumped back against the wall, catching his breath. “Is the stress catching up with me, Albedo, or was the climb up here more difficult than I remember it being?”
“Don’t blame yourself, Kaeya. The air has been thinner than normal as of late, but I doubt recent circumstances have given you the proper time to rest.” He looked the captain over, eyeing the heavily bundled object that was fastened around him. “To what do I owe the pleasure? I wasn’t expecting visitors and I certainly wasn’t expecting a package.”
“Straight to the point as usual,” Kaeya chuckled. “Fine.” He started loosening the straps that held the bundle to him. “The Knights of Favonius have been trying to get to the bottom of…” he gestured vaguely outside, “that, and things haven’t been easy. We’ve been running around, trying to follow up on leads and hitting only dead ends. One of them had Jean sending Diluc to Rominten.”
“Mm. I could have made the trip, I suppose. I should have reported to the Knights, but I figured there was little I could do to help. What did Diluc find, down in Rominten?”
Kaeya set the bundle down on the nearby cluttered desk. “Nothing.”
“I suppose you did say it was a dead--”
“Albedo. There was nothing. The village was empty.” Kaeya’s voice faltered. “Everyone was gone.”
“Oh.” Albedo paused, setting the situation sink in. “I suppose that will make supply runs harder until I can find a new location.”
“No! You don’t get it!” Anger traced Kaeya’s eye and desperation began to bubble up from beneath. “An entire village is just gone now, its inhabitants wiped off the map! How long is it until we see another village disappear? How long until it reaches Mondstadt City?! How long do we have until the Creator themself wipes us off this forsaken--”
“Kaeya!” Albedo grabbed the delusional man by his shoulders, wrenching him back to reality. “Get a grip, wallowing in defeatism will get us absolutely nowhere! There’s got to be some way out of this, or they wouldn’t have sent you all this way here, nor would you have even thought of climbing all this way.” Albedo stepped back and took a breath. “In case you need some help moving forward again, I’m sure you had a reason to bring this,” he gestured to the bundle, “to my attention.”
Kaeya took a moment to recollect himself. “R-right. I was going to show you what Diluc found down in Rominten.” He undid the knots tying the bundle closed, uncoiling them and pulling the layers away. “We weren’t sure ourselves what to make of it. He said he found it wrapped up next to another corpse that was actively being picked apart.”
“So it’s been a while. No scent of decay, which considering how warm you’ve kept it is intriguing.”
“We haven’t been trying to keep it warm. It just… stays warm. And that’s not the strangest thing about it. Feel over the heart.”
Albedo complied, expecting to feel some kind of lump or broken rib, but found to his surprise a strong but slow beat from beneath the skin. He stood there for a few seconds, taking the situation in as he felt it ceaselessly beat on. “And this has been going ever since Diluc found it?”
Kaeya briefly nodded. “We haven’t noticed it stopping yet.”
Albedo turned back to the half-corpse, looking it over. “I hope you don’t mind if I ask you to leave this with me. I could run a few tests on it, see what it can teach me. Do you have any other pertinent information to tell me?”
“We’ve sent Diluc back to that region to see if he can find any further leads. Maybe a witness? A survivor from Rominten?” Kaeya shrugged. “The rest of this body?”
Albedo nodded, humming in thought. “Has word been sent to Liyue? They may be busy with their own issues, but a lead is a lead and they might have something to offer. Maybe they actually have something about this whole mess figured out.”
“Haven’t, but we could. I’ll suggest that to Jean when I return. Not sure what to expect of them, though.”
“Hard to tell what they’ll do. It’s a coin flip between the highest stations spending a week arguing back and forth, and them rashly making an ill-thought-out decision.”
Kaeya rolled his eye. “At least I can rest easy knowing Mondstadt is not suffering alone. I should head back soon to see what else they need me to do; unless you have anything you’d like me to deliver?”
“You don’t need to leave immediately.” Albedo gestured towards the fireplace. “Warm yourself up first and tell me of the other happenings in Mondstadt.”
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Albedo sighed as he set his notes aside for the sixth time that day. It was no use; he had scoured them all for any sign of a pattern and still came up empty-handed. Continuously reviewing old information was never going to lead to a discovery, he knew that, but he didn’t have anything else to continue with, anything more to follow up on.
He sighed as he stood up and paced around his cabin. Would cleaning up the running experiments calm his mind? He had set a number of them to run while he would have been away, but now they were just… running, collecting data. A geological sensor gathered seismological data from deep beneath Teyvat, a loose screw quietly buzzing with the vibrations. An expensive-looking mechanism recorded temperature and air pressure, which were both noticeably outside of their normal ranges. A few other experiments silently ran, awaiting the hour they could finally bear their results.
Albedo’s gaze turned towards the newest addition to his present concerns. Laid out on a hastily-cleared section of table was the torso Kaeya had dropped off an hour or so prior, still awaiting its turn to be examined and studied. As familiar as he was about human anatomy, formerly alive matter, and the not-quite-normal, it still seemed to fill the room with a disquieting air.
He pushed his qualms aside. Perhaps this undecaying body could unlock the answer he’d been searching for. Maybe it would just be a distraction to calm his mind down so he could better refocus efforts on more pressing matters.
Albedo set a hand over the heart like Kaeya had pushed him to not so long ago- the pulse was likely the best place to start his investigation. He wondered if there were any alchemical source for the continuous heating of the body, but finding the proper method could take ages. No, better to focus on the heart for now. First thing to do would be to see if the method of preservation was internal or external. He turned and sifted through his supplies, pulling out different reagents and preparing them.
The experiment was simple: the final reaction of the reagents would produce a sharp shock, which would be directed by the wires though the torso’s heart. If he could confirm that the heart stopped, a second batch of the reagents should shock the heart back into activity. Simple defibrillation and cardioversion.
Albedo ensured that everything was in place, re-checking that he had the proper ratios, that the wires were set and safely insulated, and most importantly, that his pen and paper were at hand to record his findings. With everything prepared, he began the experiment.
Kneading the final putty-like reagents together sent a mild shock through his hands, but a sizable one through the torso, enough to make its arms lurch, then fall back down. Albedo leaned in and checked over the heart as he began counting the seconds.
Pulse: confirmed stopped.
He kept a hand over the heart, readying the second shock and verifying the heart stayed still as he waited for the seconds to tick by. After ten seconds had passed, he quickly kneaded the second charge together then checked the torso again.
Pulse: confirmed restarted.
It was faint for the first few pulses, but he felt it quickly regain its earlier vigor. He turned to his pen and paper, noting the results down and hurriedly forming conclusions.
External defibrillation and cardioversion successful. Disproves external timing force, at least for short term. Next steps- re-examine theoretical sources of bradycardia? Determine if long-term arrest produces–
Albedo’s handwriting slowed, then stopped. Something was amiss in his cabin. He slowly scanned his surroundings, trying to figure out what had caught his attention. No one had entered, his messy entryway was undisturbed, no books had fallen over, his projects were still running properly…
His gaze landed on the geological sensor. Why had that screw stopped buzzing? Deep down, some part of him whispered that something was deeply wrong. He rose and approached the sensor, appraising it and its output.
The recent results were… astonishing. The machine had been measuring absolutely zero geological activity for some time now. Zero! By now, it should be almost–
The needle lurched back to life, scratching its activity onto the paper below. The screw began buzzing against the metal anew, filling the room with its noise.
Ten seconds.
Albedo’s mouth went dry. No. …No, it couldn’t be.
A body, continuing to struggle on past the point of death.
Albedo remembered reading the stories of the Archons all but sealing away their foes, who knew no defeat, whose bodies, even dismembered, convulsed and struggled against the tides of death.
Teyvat itself reacting to the body.
This was unprecedented. Sure, he had read about the Adepti in the south who claimed to resonate with their domains, and it was claimed that the Archons themselves resonated with the land itself, but the sheer isolation Dragonspine afforded meant that his machines were picking up on vibrations all across Teyvat.
So either every Archon had suddenly been silenced or stilled for those ten seconds, or…
No.
Some say that our Creator has not simply created the land, but rather IS the land.
No.
Their breath is the winds that blow. The lifeblood, the seas and oceans.
No.
Their heart,
No.
The very pulse of the land.
Albedo begged the pieces to stop fitting together, he pleaded that his mind was misunderstanding the facts. But slowly, agonizingly, the truth laid itself bare in front of him.
The Creator Themself had entered Teyvat.
The Creator Themself had been struck down by its inhabitants and torn into pieces, one of which sat mere meters away from him.
And Albedo had, briefly, stopped the very heart of the Creator and the entire world.
The shock bled into every corner of his body. He felt himself sink to his knees, then slump down to the floor.
How could this be possible? How could their Creator trust them so openly, so transparently, and infinitely kindly as to lay Themself bare to the world, only for its inhabitants to so callously strike Them down? The earthquakes, the sundered sky, it was all retribution that they deserved to receive! How little they deserved, how much they demanded! Without their Creator, was not Teyvat itself doomed to destruction?
And this… the world they found themselves in now, being stared at by that pale reflection of the sun, languishing under a starless sky. Wasn’t this what they deserved? But…
None could deny that they were receiving their punishment, but… Albedo paused. Were things really as hopeless as they seemed? Sure, the world was an echo of what it once was, but… it still continued. Everyone’s lives, though thrown into disarray, were still progressing. Was this…
Was this Them giving the people a chance to redeem themselves?
Albedo slowly stood. That heart still kept beating, all these days later. Their implacable creator kept clinging to life, pushing the demise of the world another day, another hour, another second further down the line.
A conviction cemented itself within Albedo. His Creator had been betrayed and torn apart, but still saw some glimmer of redemption within them, still offered some sort of penitence. He knew what he must do.
Albedo was going to stitch his God back together.
---
To 3a To 3b
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dump-troy-marry-me · 3 years
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thinking today about how Troy's arc with growing up and becoming his own man is so intrinsically linked with his repression of himself. how usually when a character has an arc about becoming a man it involves cutting away anything too childish or fun or feminine to create a hypermasculine caricature of the character, but Troy's arc directly inverts that
when we meet Troy, he's already hypermasculine and so repressed it's painful to watch, and as the show progresses he becomes more and more comfortable with himself and who he is.
maturing, for Troy, doesn't follow the standard "growing up and cutting parts of himself away." instead, it means accepting who he is and not hiding from it. accepting that it doesn't matter what everyone else thinks of him.
when you look back at pilot!Troy it's so, so obvious that that Troy would never pretend to be a clone to help Abed, and rather would actively make fun of him for using it as a coping mechanism. this is true for a couple of reasons: pilot!Troy would be way too scared of being percieved as gay to be that close with another man, and he would be too scared of being a nerd because that's not masculine enough to maintain his facade.
but by the time we get to Geothermal Escapism, Troy has already matured past the point of needing external validation for everything he does. he's finally his own man in the sense that he's a man for himself, as opposed to performing masculinity to be a man for everyone else around him.
so many of his milestones in maturing center around learning that he doesn't have to keep up this hypermasculine persona to do so.
1x11 has him losing matches to Abed and ultimately coming to the conclusion that he doesn't have to be the strongest and most athletic person around to be a man. he's still a man in his right even if he loses a few arm wrestling matches.
in both 1x14 and 1x16, he ultimately decides that the most masculine thing he can do is something that he deems feminine, with 1x14 having him feel ashamed at the beginning of the episode about something that he very much enjoys bc its too "feminine and vulnerable."
2x03 feels a bit different, but i still think it deserves a place here, because this is seemingly the first time Troy has had to deal with death, and its almost impossible to imagine pilot!Troy openly crying in front of anyone, but he does here. it's a marker of far he's come.
3x04 has Troy moving into his first apartment, and he's doing it with Abed. who is arguably the biggest catalyst in his arc with becoming comfortable with himself. on top of that, there's his conversation with Britta about how he admires and wants to emulate the qualities he sees in Jeff, but Britta reminds him that he doesnt "have to be like [Jeff] to be a man."
the entire 3x12 to 3x14 arc shows both Troy and Abed maturing and learning to deal with adult problems in their relationship, but coming to the conclusion that they don't have to lose their immaturity to be mature about their issues. they can deal with serious problems through less than serious means and it doesn't take away from the fact that they're adults.
which, of course, brings us back to Geothermal Escapism. Troy has learned by now that he's an adult and man in his own right no matter what anyone else thinks of him.
his maturity is inherently tied to his sense of self; the more he accepts himself and the parts of him that are a bit immature and feminine, the more he can grow and mature.
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ibelongtowrath · 3 years
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Hot Springs - Lucifer x Reader
Warnings // 18+/NSFW, praise in the form of “good girl,” oral sex, female reader Word count: 2.6k
Happy hot springs theme day 💦 Here’s another Lucifer piece about getting eaten out at the hot springs because horny writing brain go brrrr. I hope you enjoy. I am also terrible at coming up with titles
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I can’t sleep.
You groan inwardly and sigh, turning your body to stare at the ceiling, your eyes practically glazing over. To your left, Mammon snores loudly; a sound akin to a chainsaw, and something you didn’t even think he was capable of.
“Ya gotta sleep next to me, MC! If any of my brothers even try to touch a hair on your head, I’ll kill ‘em.”
“Fine, fine,” you agreed hurriedly, already pulling the blanket over your head, gripped with exhaustion. “Goodnight, Mammon.”
I should have brought fucking ear plugs.
You roll over to your right side, where Levi sleeps peacefully, clutching his Ruri-chan body pillow close to his chest. You’re pretty sure you can hear him mumbling her name every so often, and your eyes squeeze shut in frustration, knowing that the likelihood of actually achieving a deep, restful sleep is growing lower by the second as you inhale deeply.
With a groan, you rise, feet padding softly across the smooth, wooden floor. Perhaps a soak in the onsen would make you drowsy and relaxed enough to actually be able to sleep through all the surrounding noise. Grabbing a towel and pausing briefly before leaving the room, you look down at yourself. A minuscule, though beautifully ornate silk robe barely covers your naked body; although it was customary to enter the hot spring completely nude, you couldn’t help but feel extremely self-conscious. Thankfully, Diavolo had rented out the entire place for the night, so no other beings were there, save for the demon brothers.
And, thankfully, everyone else was still asleep. As much as you love the demon brothers, sometimes it felt amazing to have a few waking moments to yourself, and the idea of spending that alone time in a steamy, relaxing hot spring? Bliss.
Carefully opening the sliding doors leading to the spring, careful to not wake anyone, you step out into the onsen. Steam rises steadily from the hot water, caressing your face as a slight breeze carries wisps of it towards you. The tension already begins to loosen from your neck and shoulders, taking in the sights of the artfully-placed rocks and trees around you. Slowly, you walk towards the stone steps leading into the water and dip your feet in, testing the temperature. Perfect.
You look back over your shoulder for a brief moment before you begin to untie your robe and open the front. Despite the warmth radiating from the water, a shiver passes through your body at the sudden exposure to the still slightly cool night air. You shrug the robe the rest of the way off, folding it carefully and setting it on a nearby bench, along with the towel.
Knowing it is customary to be clean before entering the spring, you wash off at the bathing station situated near the sliding doors, careful to remove any traces of soap before finally stepping into the hot spring. A deep, satisfied sigh escapes you as your body submerges beneath the warm, tranquil waters. Steam rises up towards you and your eyes close as you sit, tipping your head back to rest against the side of the spring. Your face turns up to the perpetually night sky of the Devildom, the light of the moon illuminating everything around you in an almost ethereal glow; stars, scattered across the sky, glitter like moon dust, looking almost as if they’re sparkling.
“Are my brothers causing mischief, my dear MC?”
The voice rings out, disturbing your fleeting serenity as you startle with a gasp. Your eyes open quickly and you look around in a panic for the source of the mysterious voice before your gaze settles on the demon standing at the edge of the spring, wrapped in a short, blue robe.
“L-Lucifer?” you manage to gasp in surprise. “I thought you were asleep. What are you-”
“I should be asking you the same question, my dear. Shouldn’t you be getting some rest?” Lucifer retorts. He can sense your shock, and he smirks inwardly, keeping his expression neutral.
“I couldn’t sleep,” you mumble. “Mammon snores like a chainsaw, Levi was having dreams about doing who knows what to his body pillow, and I just...wanted to relax…”
“An excellent place you’ve chosen to come to do so, then. Although we are in the Devildom, Lord Diavolo had to have an onsen of our own developed after experiencing a traditional one in your world, in Japan. The waters here are not geothermal as they naturally are in Japanese onsens; however, magic can replace virtually anything we are unable to replicate. The effects are still much the same, as evidenced by your relaxed state before I, unfortunately, disturbed you.”
The smirk tugs Lucifer’s lips upwards, though he quickly replaces it with a chuckle and a cordial smile, his eyes closing briefly before they open again, setting his intense crimson gaze upon you. Realizing you are fully naked beneath the steaming water, the blood rushing to your face and making the temperature of the water seem almost chilly in comparison to the heat in your cheeks. Thankfully, the water is opaque, masking your nudity, though you can’t help but squeeze your legs together and crossing your arms over your chest in a feeble attempt to mask the fact.
Lucifer chuckles softly once more, moving to loosen the strings of his robe.
“Would you mind if I join you, MC? It seems I am in need of some relaxation as well,” he asks, his voice a low timbre, as though teasing in its slight lilt. “Though it is not customary for men and women to bathe together in Japanese hot springs, we do not typically adhere to that rule here. Of course, I will respect your wishes if you decline and wish to bathe privately.”
“N-no, it’s fine,” you stutter in response. “Feel free.”
“As you wish, then.”
Your eyes widen, gaze transfixed as Lucifer finally loosens the knot holding his robe together in the front. The silken, azure fabric hangs loosely on either side, and the prideful demon smirks once more, noting your enraptured attention. Teasingly, he slides the robe off his well-defined shoulders, pausing to tilt his head and flash you a knowing smile.
“Enjoying the view?” he purrs.
With a loud cough and a swallow, you turn your head to gaze directly in front of you, studying the intricate shrubbery and not dignify his remark with a response. 
Don’t look, don’t you dare look. 
The heat rushes back to your cheeks and you force yourself to tilt your head back, only relaxing when you hear Lucifer step into the spring. Bringing your head back forward, you see him seated across from you in the steaming waters, a wolfish grin on your face.
“I should come here more often,” Lucifer remarks casually. “It is absolutely lovely not to have someone getting into trouble and disturbing my peace and quiet.”
He’s naked under the water. Naked. I wonder what he- 
You feel your body tense at the intrusive thought and are unable to stop yourself from groaning softly, clapping a hand over your mouth as you realize you’ve completely given yourself away. Lucifer’s grin deepens, and he leans forward as those beautiful, deep garnet eyes bore into yours.
“You look a bit tense there, my dear,” he coos. “I can offer a shoulder massage if you’d like.”
“Oh, u-um… that would be nice,” you admit.
“Come a bit closer then, my dear. I may be a strong demon, but even I cannot stretch my body that far,” he teases.
Nodding slowly, you rise ever so slightly, keeping your arms tightly crossed in front of your chest and careful not to expose any more of your body from beneath the opaque water. Up close, you realize Lucifer is even more handsome, and you can feel your heart pounding beneath your rib cage, thump, thump, thump. You turn around, back facing him, grateful for the sounds of the small stream of water flowing steadily in a fountain by the spring masking the sound of your heartbeat, loud enough that surely he would be able to hear.
He brings his hands to your shoulders, moving closer. At the touch of his hands and the feel of his proximity, you start. Chuckling, Lucifer begins to knead the tense muscles with careful motions, using his thumbs to work out the tight knots he can feel beneath your skin.
“Uncross your arms for me, my dear,” he instructs. “You are carrying so much tension, and I cannot help you properly when you are not relaxed.”
With a sigh, you drop your arms to your sides, resting them in your lap. Lucifer’s touch is relaxing, satisfying, and you can feel the tension begin to melt from your shoulders as he continues to work the tender muscles. Blissfully, your head drops back, hair fanning out in the water as a soft groan, almost like a moan falls from your lips. The demon smirks as he continues his ministrations, moving even closer to you, though you barely notice the heat of his body nearly right against yours, your eyes closed in peaceful relaxation.
“That’s a good girl, stay just like that…,” he instructs.
Lucifer’s praise causes your heart to race even faster, your eyes opening as you feel your thighs pressing together. He notes your reaction, leaning forward to press a soft kiss into the delicate skin at the junction of your neck and shoulder. You shudder in pleasure, letting out a definite moan this time, finding yourself leaning back against him, your back nearly pressed to his chest. Grinning against your skin, he nibbles gently at first before biting down a bit firmer, his hands continuing their work on your shoulders.
“Such a good girl…”
Lucifer’s hands move from your shoulders to trace a path down the generous curve of your waist, his mouth finding purchase on your now relaxed shoulder as he presses another kiss there. One hand reaches up to thread his fingers into your hair lightly, tugging your head to the side before crashing his lips against yours in a feverish kiss, much like the water and the skin of your bodies. The kiss is deep, intimate; it speaks a thousand words full of want, of need, of dark desire without a single utterance. Your tongues dance with one another as soft gasps of pleasant surprise and arousal escape you and him, your thighs squeezing together under the water, now wet in more ways than simply being submerged beneath it.
Biting your lip and pulling away from the kiss, Lucifer’s hand moves to your bare breast, groping it lightly before rolling your nipple between his thumb and index finger, savoring your sweet moans. His cock twitches, already hard and pressing against your back. Grinning, he tugs at your hair again, tilting your head back until you look up at him; eyes half-lidded, nearly glazed over and blown-out with lust.
“Naughty, naughty girl,” Lucifer teases. “I offer you a relaxing massage, and you turn it into anything but. I suppose I’ll have to find another way to ease the tension in your body. Especially-”
He pauses, moving his hands to caress the soft, fleshy skin of your inner thighs, briefly teasing a few fingers between your legs before pulling them away, relishing your lewd gasps.
“-right here. Yes, it seems you are very much still tense. My, my, we certainly will have to remedy that, won’t we, my naughty girl?”
“Y-yes,” you whimper, pressing your back harder against him. 
Suddenly, you are teeming with need, nearly keening at the thought of having Lucifer between your legs. In one swift movement, he picks you up, quickly turning you around to lift you out of the water and set you on the side of the hot spring. Feeling the sudden difference in temperature, you shudder. Droplets of water glisten in the shining moonlight as they travel down your body. He grins at your shudder as he begins laying you back gently and spreading your legs, pressing a kiss to your inner thigh before biting down into the skin, pausing briefly to admire the indentation of his teeth that will surely welt and leave a mark behind later.
“Don’t worry, pet. I’ll be sure to warm you up,” Lucifer says, biting down once more. “Now, lay back and relax for me.”
Obeying his command, you lay your back flat against the cool stone, your heart continuing to thump like someone is revving an engine. Lucifer teases a few fingers between your legs, his thumb circling your swollen clit, eliciting a loud, lewd cry as he does so. Pressing a kiss to your pelvic bone, he gently sucks the skin into his mouth and biting into the skin there, intent on leaving more marks. He moves to the other side, repeating his actions before lowering himself down between your legs to your wet, dripping core, practically quivering in anticipation. He smiles before his tongue darts out, licking a stripe up your core until he reaches your clit, swirling it tantalizingly slow around the sensitive bundle of nerves. Lucifer’s lips close around it, sucking. Your back arches, reaching your hands forward to weave your fingers into his hair. Bucking your hips against his face, he smirks, moaning into your skin and continuing to suck on your clit, alternating between stimulating it with his tongue and lightly grazing his teeth across it.
“Good girl, so good for me,” Lucifer moans. “You taste so fucking sweet, pet.”
Sliding two fingers inside you, he curls and pumps them skillfully to press against your sweet spot. A louder, more high-pitched moan falls from your lips, taking his name with it as it echoes across the otherwise serene tranquility of the onsen.
“L-Lucifer- ah, it feels so good-”
Frantic with desire, you begin to roll your hips rhythmically towards his face, increasing the pressure of his tongue and fingers. Lucifer slides a third finger into you, desperately savoring the delicious sounds of your desperation as he, too, can’t stop himself from moaning into your skin. He laps at your sweet essence, eager to taste all of you, to wet his cock between your tight, warm walls and help ease his own tension between his hips, a fire stirring in his belly.
“Lucifer!” Crying out his name in a wanton gasp, you begin to feel yourself tighten around his fingers. “Lucifer, I-I’m going to cum-”
“Good girl,” Lucifer groans. “Cum hard for me, princess.”
His praise pushes you over the edge, immense pleasure washing over your body in waves as you writhe against the stone, arching your back. Your body jerks forward, slightly, and your lips part to scream in pleasure, his name falling from your lips over and over, growing in volume and pitch with every syllable. Grinning, Lucifer slowly slides his fingers out of you, pressing a kiss to your clit as he pulls back. You whimper at the loss of his fingers, aching for the sensation of him filling you once more. He reaches for your arm to slowly pull you up to a sitting position.
“Now…”
Standing from the water and moving his hands to your hips, he lifts you up to pull you close to him, hips perched on the edge of the spring against the rock. Your bare chests press together as he lifts your legs, resting them against his shoulders. He slides his cock into you with ease, and he groans, tipping his head back briefly at the feeling of your wet, warm heat gripping him so tightly. You moan, fingers curling against the wet stone beneath you as you finally gain the much-need stretch of his cock buried between your legs.
“I believe I have some tension of my own that needs to be worked out.”
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slutabed · 3 years
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Trobed or Jabed? (If you had to pick)
I was going to say hands down easy Trobed no contest but Jabed has really been tugging at my heartstrings ever since I got into them as a pairing. (maybe it’s partially bc i’m just a contrarian hipster who likes rare pairs and unpopular things) BUT I am very big on twins and doppelgängers and doubles in literature, that’s always been one of my areas of focus in all my research and writings so the fact that Jeff sees Abed as both Self and Other makes them a super compelling pairing to me.  and yeah i KNOW that sounded pretentious im sorry i just really love the way they parallel and mirror each other and how Jeff kind of equally loves and resents Abed for embodying so much of what Jeff hates about himself but embracing it, and doing so loudly and on purpose and with abandon. 
But. Trobed is just. OOF. I’ve written a ton of posts about like the meta of their relationship and the nuances but it’s honestly just such a good pairing because they’re so different, and so it’s not quite the self and other the way it is for Jabed, but it’s not opposites attract, either. It really reminds me of The Origin of Love from Hedwig and the Angry Inch where the line is basically saying you looked familiar and I couldn’t recognize you, but I thought you might be the one I was split apart from and destined to find again because “I could swear by your expression that the pain down in your soul was the same as the one down in mine.” Both Troy and Abed go through life before Greendale so lonely, for such different reasons, and neither are really taken seriously when they arrive on campus, but they find each other and just blend so beautifully into this inseparable duo. And Troy guides Abed through the social norms that may be a little lost on Abed, but Abed helps Troy see that it’s okay to be himself. And to start off their friendship singing “Somewhere Out There” together, only to have Troy have to leave Abed behind to sail around the world, is the most tragic and poetically beautiful love story I’ve ever heard of in my life. Sometimes I just Think about it and I have to take a moment because how could you even plan a love story so beautiful, and this once wasn’t even meant to happen this way. 
And it’s just fun! I know I write a ton of angst because I <3 geothermal escapism and suffering but they are just!!!! They have so much fun together!!! They love each other and make blanket forts together!!! They watch movies and dress up and reenact them!!!! They create worlds inside the Dreamatorium together!!! They hold hands as early as season one!!!! They rap and dance and do weird shit together and wrap each other in tin foil to film movie homages and wear matching Halloween costumes and remember the anniversaries of the days they watched movies together and they make wishes together in the fountain. 
And Abed is there for Troy, when he needs to make a decision or needs to do something difficult. And Abed’s world absolutely shatters not once, but twice, when Troy has to leave him, because that’s just how much he loves him. He’s willing to tear the school upside down and hide in the air vents forever if it means keeping his best friend by his side a little bit longer. And then after Troy leaves he’s got lines like “I haven’t exactly been a whirlwind of entertainment since Troy left” and looks Like That when Frankie asks what was so special about Troy. And he has lines about letting things go free and learning to let go and “it needs to be okay for it to get on a boat with LeVar Burton and never come back, because eventually, it all will.”
Okay you literally asked me a question that could have had a one word response but basically while Jabed means so much to me and I really love the pairing, Trobed is my true lov 4ever and it’s just such a special thing this show created accidentally but also by incredible beautiful happenstance <3
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clonetrobed · 2 years
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thoughts about abed + annie as a romantic pairing? do you think they’re better as platonic friends or do you see the appeal of them being romantic?
i never really know how to phrase my thoughts on this, it's kind of like.....i could see the appeal of them as a romantic pairing, IF troy was never in the picture (and if i wasn't so emotionally attached to lesbiannie hc, but that's a different story). when it comes to troy and abed, to me, their relationship is so special and irreplaceable that pairings like abed/annie that might normally appeal to me come up sort of lackluster by comparison. that being said, they're by far one of my favorite platonic pairings in the show, especially post-geothermal escapism, i think they get a lot closer. i especially love the episode where they try to find a new roommate because i think the writers accidentally made it so clear that troy was like a brother to annie (who wants her bio brother to be their new roommate) and a love interest to abed (who wants his new girlfriend to be their new roommate), but the end result is them sort of acknowledging that they're both coping and they become stronger friends as a result. by the end of the show, their bond really screams brother/sister to me more than anything else but like, that's just me. i do think it's valid that people ship them romantically, it just isn't for me personally.
send sleepover asks
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cowardnthief · 3 years
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Hi!!!! I'm on the autism spectrum too and i really want to know your special interests, please infodumb me 'cause i love reading about other special interests!!!!
alright so if anyone following me doesn’t know what my (current) special interest is.........community. it’s community
community is a sitcom that ran from 2009-2015 and made 110 episodes. it’s set in a community college in colorado and is basically about 7 wildly different people thrown together by circumstance. i love it because it’s incredibly creative, intricate and original. my favourite thing about it is the genre shift/spoof episodes, where the whole show entirely changes the vibe and does a spin on a genre or a specific movie/tv show.
some of my favourite spoofs that i can think of are the paintball-themed episodes, where they spoof post-apocalyptic sci-fi (modern warfare), spaghetti westerns (for a fistful of paintballs), star wars (for a few paintballs more) and spy movies (but we don’t talk about the s4-6 ones), the law and order spoof (basic lupine urology), the claymation episode (abed’s uncontrollable christmas), the glee episode (regional holiday music), the steampunk episode (geothermal escapism, made me Crye), the mafia spoof episode (contemporary american poultry), the space race episode (basic rocket science), the horror movie episode (doesn’t completely count though--the s3 one, horror fiction in seven spooky steps), and the OTHER horror movie episode which definitely counts: epidemiology from s2, the whole superhero school air conditioning repair arc, the videogame episode (digital estate planning), the zodiac spoof (basic intergluteal numismatics) and. well fuck i think i just said all of them. OH AND THE CIVIL WAR DOCUMENTARY EPISODE (PILLOWS AND BLANKETS) HOW THE FUCK DID THEY DO THAT SO WELL
anyway
the main characters consist of abed nadir, a half-palestinian half-polish autistic nerd with a huge pop-culture obsession (honestly very accurate depiction of special interests); annie edison, an uptight, sweet but competitive overachiever who had a nervous breakdown in high school and ended up at greendale; troy barnes, previously a Very Heterosexual Male TM Jock turned sweet, over-emotional dork; shirley bennett, an often manipulative and slightly bigoted christian woman (god that sounded so mean i swear i don’t hate shirley. i mean i do a little bit but); britta perry, an Activist TM who’s often pretty performative, has a lot of self-esteem issues; jeff winger, the Leader and Protagonist of the group, a kind of lazy reluctant dad of his found family and an egotistical ex-lawyer; and pierce hawthorne, bigoted literal human trashbag. can die.
the dean and chang are two other characters who i could also talk about heaps but i realise i’ve literally only done the outline of my community description and it’s already way too many words, so. thank you so much for asking sajkdhsakdjh
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felassan · 4 years
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The Hero’s Journey to the West
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This post is a mix of meta, speculation/conjecture and headcanon.
I don’t think the Hero of Ferelden is ever coming back as a PC or NPC beyond mentions/rumors and Codex entries/letters, but their quest to find a cure for the Calling fascinates me. It always makes me think about the Chinese novel by Wu Cheng’en. 
We know that they came back from their trip. We don’t know if they succeeded or not, but since the romanced Leliana epilogues are fairly happy in tone, I don’t think it’s unreasonable to headcanon that they did - at least, in terms of ridding themselves of the Taint. I feel like whether they succeeded in finding a way to allow all Wardens to escape the Calling would be something up in the air, like, kept-back at the moment by the devs; because surely such a revelation would rocket through the Warden order and in a future title might be heard about or alluded to in-game, crop up in a Codex somewhere, color our future interactions with Warden characters on the Wardens’ end, or potentially influence future storybeats relating to the Wardens. (It would be a rather major thing.) In dialogue Morrigan says that if the HoF is successful, it will mean a long life for him/her/them, and perhaps even a long life for all Wardens.
On the ‘when’: Although the Hero was gone by the time Divine Justinia died (per romanced Leliana dialogue), they didn’t leave straightaway after the events of Awakening and Witch Hunt (Heroes who fathered Kieran had not yet met their son at the time of WH), since in DA2 Hawke meets King Alistair and Queen Warden was home at court, and in DAI romanced Morrigan says her partner helped raise Kieran for a time before events transpired to take him elsewhere (which is a reference to his journey).
On the ‘who’: In the ancient novel Journey to the West, the monk Tang Sanzang has powerful disciples who help and protect him on his journey: Sha Wujing, Zhu Bajie and Sun Wukong. In my head there’s a fun parallel here to DA’s four-man parties, and how the HoF is accompanied by - for example - Ariane, Finn and Dog during the episodic DLCs like Witch Hunt. This is purely headcanon, but I always liked to think that some of the Awakening companions that we never heard from again (so not Anders, Justice or Nate) and who in some epilogues mysteriously disappear, accompanied them on the quest for the cure; Velanna, Sigrun, possibly Oghren. (And Dog, of course - Dog in my head never left the Hero’s side after DAO, the notion presented in the games that he sometimes did is odd to me. Why would he, lol?) These characters could easily have a vested interest in wanting to rid themselves of the Taint. And obviously Zevran went with them, if romanced.
There’s plenty of material on which to base speculation about how a cure for the Calling might come about or be obtained, what the cure might involve. You have the case of Fiona, there’s Avernus’ research, there are instances where the Taint was drawn out of living things as with Isseya’s clutch of griffon eggs, the Architect doesn’t appear to be subject to the Call of the old gods and freed some darkspawn from it too, etc. I’m more interested atm in where the HoF went.
Leliana tells us the Warden went "far to the west, to lands that have never known the Blight”. Their search took them out of the area in which Corypheus was operating, and thus beyond the reach of the false Calling that affected other Wardens. During the timespan of base-game DAI, they were still in geographical regions which were reachable in such a way as to allow messages from Leliana’s agents to get to them after Leliana/Morrigan/etc gives the Inquisitor the means to contact them, and for letters from the Hero to be sent back in return. (That could be something essentially handwaved on the part of the devs in order to allow for the mechanic of hearing from the HoF in DAI, though.) Here I’m always reminded of the men of the Night’s Watch taking caged ravens with them in their expeditions beyond the Wall, so that the birds can carry messages back to the manned outposts. I look at the map of Thedas and wonder. Where might they have gone? Where was the western-most outpost of the Inquisition?
West of Ferelden takes you into Orlais, where the effects of Corypheus’ operations were felt. The Hero might naturally have taken the Imperial Highway and passed through settlements like Halamshiral, Lydes, Verchiel, Montsimmard and Val Firmin en-route. Such a route makes logical sense both in terms of convenient travels and the fact that in a war table mission, Leliana’s agents report “scattered references of [the Hero] passing through the area” (said area is not specified, but it makes sense that the Hero would have at times passed through inhabited places, since at times they were sighted). It should be noted however that when this war table mission is undertaken, the card ends up ‘played’ on the western shores of Lake Calenhad. Still, unless you took ship through the Waking Sea, most likely any journey west from Ferelden would have passed through or near that part of the country anyways, due to the sheer size of the lake, the highway following its banks and the fact that Gherlen’s Pass is the only safe route through which to cross the Frostback Mountains, at least in terms of year-round travel.
Anyway, in the western reaches of Orlais is the Western Approach. The Approach was the site of a major battle during the Second Blight - its desolate sands and barren badlands are definitely not lands which “have never known Blight”. And we know from a war table mission that the mines and tunnels of the Gamordan Peaks are infested with darkspawn, that the large darkspawn host that appeared at Val Gamord came from the mountains. Here is where it gets interesting. Were the environs of the Sulfur Lakes, Malcellin Geysers and the Sea of Ash always this way, as in this is the naturally-occurring geological/geothermal profile of the area (volcanic), or are they so wretched because like the nearby Western Approach, the land was corrupted beyond recovery during a Blight? I imagine that the Hero would have largely avoided these areas and the Approach due to this (inhospitable travelling terrain + Blight-touched/probably Blight-touched), and instead at this point struck out more north-westerly for a time.
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Doing so would bring someone through or around the Nahashin Marshes. Above we can see the location of Serault in relation to the Approach and the Marshes. There is a crossing point in the Nahashin Marshes used by a merchant in The Last Court, who travelled from Val Chevin through Montfort and Ghislain, before going across the Marshes to get to Serault. Given this and the fact that they’d likely be steering away from the Approach, I can see the Hero following the Highway all the way to Ghislain and then crossing the Marshes on their way to Serault, obviously without going to Val Chevin, which would amount to backtracking.
What then of Serault, the mysterious marquisate located in the far west of Orlais? It’s Orlais’ western-most holding, and per a Codex entry as far west as one can still call civilized. I certainly headcanon that the Hero passed through here before forging further into wilds and lands unknown - here Serault Town has a Tolkienesque “The Last Homely House” feel to it, perched on the edge of it all:
This is the edge of the world. Beyond Serault Town is the Last River, and beyond the river, villages, charcoal-burners, the wilderness.
Per war table missions, Inquisition agents also travel to Serault during the time-frame of base-game DAI - here we have what is likely to be one of or the last place[s] where the Hero could have picked up messages from the Inquisition before ‘jumping off’ into the unknown. Laysh is another possibility, route-dependent (see below).
Serault is a strange place, where “unlikely” things happen. Perchance, was there useful knowledge to be found here? Morrigan herself dwelt here for a time, researching at the Glassworks and working to repair an eluvian. It’s implied she does this regardless of whether the Marquis allows her to or not. Notably, it is Morrigan “who found the lead[s] the Hero now follows in the western lands”. This was probably the “gift” Morrigan gives the Hero in Witch Hunt. She leaves them the stolen Dalish book Ariane was seeking to get back, and "something [else that the Hero] will find of great interest”. (She doesn’t give the something-else gift if he goes with her, but if he goes with her she’d just tell him in-person about what she’d found, so it stacks regardless). That said, when it’s a romanced Warden Alistair worldstate it sounds like he and the Hero found the lead on their own. I enjoy the leads being Morrigan’s gift though as an idea, and as a way of filling in what the heck the gift was.
Courtier’s children in Serault play at “Wardens and Darkspawn”, implying that Serault has either once been touched by Blight or else that tales of Blight and darkspawn and Warden heroics have reached the settlement. “Roads under the earth” (how very Deep Road-esque) are implied to stretch from Seraultine lands to an emergence somewhere in the Vimmark Mountains, there’s a bereskarn in the nearby woods and at one point the Marquis imagines the “tang of Blights” when a bitter wind blows from the north. I therefore find it unlikely that Seraultine surrounds have never been touched by Blight. Suspect the Hero ventured farther still, through the Applewoods - both the tamer Greenwood and the sinister Deepwoods, into the depths of the Tirashan. I’m obsessed with the Tirashan and its enigmatic denizens. What things they must know... mysterious, forgotten things. Are these elves ancient elves? To whom are they calling? These elves seem to guard their lands very fiercely, so it’s not a crazy idea that if the Hero entered the Tirashan they encountered some. Would an elven Hero have had a smoother initial interaction with them? It’s also not a crazy idea that the Tirashan elves might have knowledge that would have proven useful in the Hero’s quest, given the hints that they call to powers we possibly haven’t yet encountered. Their red vallaslin and apparent propensity for sacrificing people make me think of blood magic, and blood magic has practical uses in combatting Taint (Isseya’s spell on the griffon eggs, Avernus the blood mage, the Dark Ritual which was blood magic-based and ultimately caused the removal of Taint from Urthemiel’s soul, etc).
Say the Hero journeyed farther still. Over/through or under the southern Hunterhorn mountains to the forest or continuing forest on the other side (see the map of Thedas with expanded edges given to us in TN), which is inhabited by who knows what. Here the “Beyond Thedas” sections in WoT are of interest:
For many ages, the world that lies beyond Thedas has been largely unknown to us. Rumors and legends exist, tales of hardy sea captains crossing the ocean in search of treasure or ill-fated forays into the wilds, but they have always been buried under hearsay. Any serious attempts at exploration have been foiled by either the devastation of the Blights or the discouragement of waters plagued by both pirates and Qunari dreadnoughts.
The Hero surely would have researched such scattered references to the ill-fated forays, and sifted through hearsay, as 'homework’ before setting off on their trip. Going deep into the wild western wood is tantalizing in a frontier kind of way, but we can’t ignore the following entry in WoT, which I think was included in this manner for a reason.
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Say instead the Hero travelled through the Hunterhorns and the Anderfels, maybe with a detour to nearby Weisshaupt to report in, confer with the First Warden and check the archives in its extensive library in case anything in there could prove useful in their quest, much like the recruit Valya did during her own investigation. The Anderfels are super Blight-blasted, so they would not have stopped there. In terms of travels in this area, I think it’s likely they would have joined a caravan being led by the Green Men order through the Wandering Hills to the distant port of Laysh.
The Voshai are yet another mysterious, unknown culture, and have materials and items that are completely unknown in Thedas proper among their wares. They come from a far-flung place and seem to Know Things. The status of dwarves in their society and their interest in lyrium is interesting, given the link both dwarves and lyrium have to underground places and the Blight. Can the reports of the recent return of the Voshai vessels to Thedas be a coincidence? I don’t think so, in the context of things discussed in this post. What powers and potentials are to be found among the wares of the Voshai that these Tevinter merchants were so keen to mount several expeditions into the wild unknown in search of them, even after several voyages never returned? I think the Hero probably took ship at Laysh (either they managed to secure passage on a docked Voshai ship, or there was an expedition vessel the Hero chartered), and went across the Volca Sea to the lands of the Voshai. Here they could have found a cure, and then a Voshai ship to then take them back to the known Thedosian continent.
A final few notes: You have to wonder, the lands which are untouched by Blight, why is that? Is it environmental - natural barriers or environmental conditions inhospitable to darkspawn? Is it magical protection? Are there limits to the darkspawn/Blight’s realm of influence, and if so, why, and how do these limits work? Does the fabled cataclysm in the lands of the Voshai have anything to do with a Blight (you could definitely describe a Blight as a cataclysm, for one thing)? And why on the new map with expanded edges from TN, along all the borders/expanded space, despite the fact that in WoT the “Beyond Thedas” stuff discusses all directions - why on the TN map is there only one place at the edges with an arrow pointing off into the unknown realms? Granted, it’s not the west Tirashan nor is it the north-westerly Volca Sea, but it is notable and worth mentioning. What lies south-west in the Sundered Sea, and why is it marked like this?
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hurricanerin · 4 years
Text
I’ll Never Tell Ch. 5: Insecure
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Pairing: Loki/OFC
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Smut, non-con, power imbalance, violence, breeding, forced orgasms.
Chapter specific TW: Two geese meet their gruesome end.
Chapter summary: That time by the sea.
Notes: The geothermal pool concept is all @nildesperanddum​ and used with her blessing.  Check out her brilliant Jotun!Loki fic called Reigning in Hel.  It’s one of my all time favorites.
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Staring out over the arctic sea, Petra sighed as she waited to be set free.  Ever since their arrival to Utgard she had been cooped up in Loki’s quarters and was going stir crazy.  Today she’d been promised not only freedom from Loki’s rooms, but an outing.  
From the window she watched a giant albatross dive repeatedly, resurfacing each time with a beak full of fish.  The raging waves that crashed against the mountainous cliffs made her shift uncomfortably, despite the distance.  Prior to being dumped on Jötunheim, she’d never seen a the sea.  Svartalfheim had oceans, of course, but she’d never been to the coast.  
Petra jerked out of her thoughts when a raspy voice called from the doorway.
“Lady, are you ready?”
The Jötnar struggled to pronounce ‘P’s’.  ‘Lady’ was easier to say than ‘Petra,’ and most of those in service to Loki defaulted to the easier moniker.  With a wary glance at the tumultuous water, she hauled her cloak around her shoulders.   “Coming!”
Stuffing her bare feet into clunky fur-lined boots, the elf trudged from her personal room in Loki’s chambers towards the hollering voice.
 A flock of Jötnar women from the hunting camp, accompanied by Loki’s lead advisor, Marit, herded Petra from the castle down near the harbor, steering her on foot as they wandered into the city market.  The staggering space was packed with bodies and goods.  Stalls crammed with tools, clothing and animals spattered the rocky seashore, creating thin alleys for customers to walk through.  The group waded into the chaos, the sounds of bartering and interaction prompting Petra to uncomfortably cross her arms.  The livelihood of the market outweighed that of the hunting camp.  The shouts and calls of these giants were spirited compared to the quiet environment of the base where she first encountered the Jötnar.
As they neared the shore and the outskirts of the market, cluttered with fishermen and women tethering their boats and gutting their catch on the docks, Petra wrinkled her nose.
“What’s that stench?”.  
Marit squinted at the elf, sniffing the air.  “Oh, that?  It’s fish and saltwater, Lady.  You’ve never smelled it before?”
Petra made a face, “Never.  It’s awful.”
Marit shrugged a shoulder, “You get used to it.”
The Dökkálfr grimaced with a nod, making a mental note to avoid touching anything that came from the sea.  
The noise faded as they drew near the coastline, the shouts and chatter dissipating into the air and Petra’s muscles unclenched, her arms dropping loosely to her sides as she relaxed.
The women surrounding her stayed occupied.  One traded sea glass for a loaf of bread while Marit haggled with a shop owner over two enormous snow geese.  Purchase made, the advisor shoved the birds at a spluttering Petra as she stalked off to another stall stocked with nets and hooks. She returned a moment later with a box the size of her hand.
“My mate, he fishes,” she explained, holding up the container.
Wrestling with the poultry, Petra managed a nod, trotting to keep up with Marit as she bustled off to the next shop along the shore.
 By the time they made their way back to the inland market, word that the Dark Elf had come out of concealment had spread.  Conversations halted mid-sentence as Petra’s group passed, both speakers rendered speechless by the exotic foreigner.  Her white hair and dark blue-gray skin stuck out against the purer indigo flesh of the giants.
The shift of attention was palpable, leaving Petra feeling horribly vulnerable.  She clutched the geese to her chest as each pair of red eyes locked onto her.  
Recovering from their initial shock, most villagers leaned in to whisper in a frenzy.  Some looked on in curiosity, others glared, but Petra heard a few utterances of the word ‘hore’ which she assumed had the same meaning as it did in the common language.  It appeared as though she had a reputation already.  
As hostility escalated, Petra stepped closer to Marit, who was busy staring down some especially aggressive townspeople.  Petra’s gaze kept flitting to either side of the alleys, afraid of launched rotten food or worse coming her way.  Her companions stayed close, their hands wrapped around the axes and daggers on their belts in warning to those they passed.
The warmth of the birds under her arms was grounding as they walked into the village, her steps as quick as her clumsy boots allowed. Petra jerked when a cool hand grasped her upper arm, sighing in relief to find Marit close to her side.
“We’re almost to town.  Just a little while longer,” she reassured the elf.
Pursing her lips, Petra mumbled something affirming and hustled to keep up with the group.
The other women returned to their respective homes with their purchases as Marit led Petra to her personal dwelling.  Without a word Marit plucked one white goose from the other woman’s arms and snapped it’s neck.
Petra cried out at the woman’s brutality.  She staggered backwards.  “You killed it!”   She held the other honking bird to her chest.
Marit blinked.  “Of course I killed it.  It’s dinner. Give me the other.”
Stunned, the elf took another step back, shaking her head.
Fingers still wrapped around the dead goose’s neck, Marit planted her fists on her hips and exhaled, eyes narrowed.  “Fine.  Jens is not going to like you if his lunch is mostly broth tomorrow.”
With a sigh of defeat, Petra cradled the living bird, idly stroking the feathers of its wing.  She thrust it toward Marit, scowling and clapping her hands over her ears to escape the crunching sound as Marit wrung it’s neck.  Stomach rolling, she let her hands drop to her sides after the bird went limp.
Marit slung each lifeless bird over her shoulder.
“I will pluck them.  I’ll go outside for your sake.  I’m being very hospitable, I’ll have you know.”  
Marit nodded at the dwindling flames illuminating a small fireplace near the center of the house.  “Tend to the fire, then fetch a pot of snow to melt for tonight’s drinking water.  I’ll be back soon.”
The Jötunn brusquely vacated the home, leaving Petra alone and slightly flustered.  
“Norns,” she grumbled, ambling to the fireplace and plopping a few logs on top of the smoldering embers.  Despite not knowing what she was doing, she prodded at the fire with a stoker as she’d seen others do, emitting a contented hum at the heat radiating from the pit.
Fire roaring, Petra stood on her tiptoes to unhook a large pot dangling from a hanging rack.  There were only two to choose from, and she grabbed the larger.  The Jötnar lived simpler than the Dökkálfar.  It was nice, in a way.  Fewer trivial possessions, less desire for elaborate organizational schemes and displays.  There were no servants scurrying about, at least not in town, making beds with obnoxiously ornate frames and clanging pots and pans together as they worked.  Petra wasn’t used to labor like this, if one could consider it that, but found she didn’t mind.  
Spotting a nearby snowbank, she lugged the pot over and scooped handfuls of snow into it until her hands were numb.  Hauling it back inside was a much more physical endeavor, but she managed.  
When Marit returned, Petra averted her gaze, mindful of the featherless creatures swinging from her arms.  Slinging the two birds onto the kitchen table, Marit set about gathering ingredients.  From small potted plants she cut herbs and gathered onions from a basket near the wash basin.  Dropping the vegetables in front of Petra along with a knife, Marit continued shuffling about.
“Chop those,” she called from the fireplace.
Petra stared with wide eyes at the food in front of her. “How do you have fresh vegetables?”
“We grow them.”
Petra frowned, shaking her head.  “I mean how… where did you grow them?  Isn’t the ground frozen?”
Marit scoffed and motioned with her fire poker through the window.  “Of course the ground is frozen.  Dum jente,” she grunted, turning back to the flames.
Still confounded, Petra started cutting the herbs.  “The elements should kill anything that attempted to take root.  You have potted herbs, but no garden in here.  And where did you get soil?”
“There are geothermal pools that heat the earth to appropriate farming temperatures. They’re near the cirque opposite of the way you arrived.  I’ll show you soon.  We’ll need more supplies.”
Petra blinked.  Marit said things so plainly she felt dumb for even asking.  Of course there was arable land.  Of course they farmed.  What else would their animals eat?  How else would they survive?
Marit interrupted Petra’s thoughts by waggling a spoon in her direction.
“Boil the snow, Lady.”
The lines on Petra’s face relaxed as she grew distracted. The elf poked at the melting snow, stirring idly as her mind returned to her experience near the shore.
“Why was everyone so angry at me today?  Everyone in the market?”
Marit didn’t look up from her work at the table, but she did stop fussing with the geese to wipe her hands.  “Because you’re not Jötnar, yet you have value to the king,”  The giant shrugged a shoulder and rubbed her brow with a forearm.  “Loki is a good, but aloof and distant ruler.  They’re envious that a foreigner has his attention.”
“I-I’m not sure I’d say I’m of value to him.  I might hold some mild importance in regards to a strategic plan, but not value.”
Marit glanced up, raising a brow critically.  “Here, that’s the definition of having value.”
Petra muttered under her breath about value being something typically demonstrated through appreciation before moving on.  “The hunting camp wasn’t like this.  People—Well, I’m not sure they liked me, but they tolerated me.”
“I don’t think all Jötnar hate you.  Just the villagers.”
Sagging, Petra grimaced as Marit began cutting the meat into pieces. “Why am I so offensive to those in town but acceptable to the hunters?”
“The people…,” Marit motioned with her knife at the village through the window, “They have known the struggle of hunger and infertility.  But they don’t search for a solution.  They want things the way they’ve always been, Frost Giant mated with Frost Giant.  A pure race.”
The advisor sighed, tilting her head as she collected the bits of goose.  “The hunters, they understand functionality, ingenuity.  Not hunting isn’t an option.  If one method fails, you try another.  It’s that simple.”
“So I’m just another way to behead a bilgesnipe,” Petra muttered.
“Well, yes, I suppose.”
Petra’s gut twisted as Marit reminded her of just how disposable she was.  She was a vessel to these people, and nothing more.
“Fetch the other pot,” Marit ordered, nodding at the other hanging from the ceiling.
It took Petra several tries to unhook it from where it hung, but she lugged it over to Marit who deposited the goose meant to let it sear.
“Vegetables and herbs,” pointed Marit.
Automatically Petra fetched and dumped the chopped pieces in with the meat.
“Now water.”
With an exasperated sigh, Petra spooned several ladles of the clean water into the smaller pot.  
“We’ll eat well tonight.  It’s not always that way, but things are good.  The animals are fat and stores full.”
Well, at least something was going right.
“Help me clean up,” Marit said, tossing a rag at Petra.  She caught it clumsily, barely managing to wrangle it before wiping off the table. Jötnar manners certainly differed from Dökkálfar.  Dinner with Marit and her mate would be interesting.
Later that evening, Petra found Loki lounging in his quarters with a book.  He looked up when she entered, blinked, then his eyes returned to the page.
“Marit said she fed you,” he said.
Still growing accustomed to abrupt Jötnar manner of conversation, Petra was caught mildly off-guard.  “Um, yes.  She did. We made stew.”
When he remained silent, she started towards her portion of Loki’s rooms.  They consisted of a small chamber with a simple bed and dresser.  Before she took three steps, Loki called out.
"I’m not finished.  Come here.”
Dropping the sack filled with a little pouch full of Jötnar coins and a few shells she’d found along the beach, she warily retraced her steps.
“Take off your cloak.”
           She lacked the energy and motivation to argue. Petra tugged her cloak off her shoulders, pausing to hang it on a hook near the doorway.  She could feel Loki’s eyes on her, and waited several beats before turning around.  As she’d predicted, he was staring at her.  
           “You need to eat more.  You’re scrawny,” he mused.  He rested his chin on his fist.  “I wonder if you really are fit to carry my child?”
           Taken aback, Petra raised her chin and widened her stance.  She needed to remain important.  Her life depended on it.  “I can do it.”
           Loki smirked, which only served to irritate her. “Let me see you.”
           “I-What?  I’m standing in front of you.”
           “Take off your clothes.”
           After a split second of hesitation, she complied. His being bossy when it came to sex wasn’t new.  Muttering to herself, Petra quickly shucked off her dress and boots, standing with her back to Loki.  She plodded to the bed with her arms wrapped across her chest, waiting for him to follow. Glancing over her shoulder, her cheeks glowed as she saw him lazily untether his trousers and wrap his fist around his waking cock.  He cleared his throat and she realized she’d been staring.  Embarrassed, she lifted a leg to climb onto the high mattress, eager to put distance between them, when he interrupted her.
           “Stop.”
           “What?”
           “Face me.”
           Her stomach fluttered as she rotated so her side faced Loki.  Crossing one leg over the other, she hugged her chest.  His eyes, usually narrowed in a frown or glare, were relaxed as he studied her.  Petra squirmed as they roamed over her body.  The king had never looked so appraisingly at her.  He’d only spent a moment evaluating her body their first time and she shifted uneasily, looking at the floor.
           “No.  Face me.”
           The sharpness of his voice left no room for argument.  Clutching her chest, Petra swiveled until she was thoroughly in view.  Loki traced his lower lip with his index finger, humming as his eyes studied her dainty feet, moving up her calves and thighs until her crossed legs halted his examination.
           “Stand up straight.”
           She grimaced.
           “This isn’t… Are we not having sex?”
           Loki tapped his lip as his brow arched.  “Stand up straight, Petra.”
           Pursing her lips, she slowly parted her crossed thighs a fraction.
           “Do as I say or I’ll position you myself.”
           Her chest tightened as her blush worsened, spreading from her cheeks down her chest.  Arms flopping to her sides in defeat, she clenched her fists as she stood normally. “Is this what you want?  To assess my body like I’m an animal?”
           The corner of his mouth quirked as he rose and casually stalked forward.  She froze as he neared, gaze flitting to the ground.
           “Look at me.”  His voice was ice.
           Gaze blurred with teary uncertainty, she obeyed. He smiled, a cruel expression that only served to unsettle her further.
“I want to see your shame, skapning.”
           Staring at him while he appraised her was worse than being called out for being half human in front of the Dökkálfar court.  She felt lower than a whore.   At least most whores were purebred.  The sexual aspect of his examination was utterly humiliating.  Was she worthy of carrying his child?  Did he find anything about her remotely arousing? His eyes bored into her, coaxing goosebumps to break out across her skin.
           “What do you want?” she sighed.
           “I told you,” he murmured, the corners of his mouth still turned up.  “To see your shame.”
           Fingers trailing down her neck, Loki stopped over her fluttering pulse.
           “Do you think yourself… pretty?  Your face?  Your body?”
           Her stomach dropped.  She knew she wasn’t attractive by Jötnar standards.  She was too little, too frail.  Her hair and skin were the wrong shades and her height was pathetic.  Throat growing tight, she shook her head, eyes on her feet.
           The king tutted her.  “Look.  At. Me.  I’ll not ask again.”
           Eyes stinging with tears, she glared up at him.
           “Ah, there’s that fire.”  Loki traced her clavicle.  “Never lose that, Petra,” he murmured.
           Fighting the urge to swat his hands away, she remained silent.  Her cheeks continued to burn with shame as his eyes roamed.  She desperately wanted to retreat to her room.  It was enough to know he didn’t find her attractive, but she felt utterly repulsive under his current scrutiny.  She wanted to disappear.
           Inspection complete, Loki pointed to the bed. Without a word, she followed the silent command and crawled onto the mattress, propping herself up on all fours.
           Loki ran his hand along the length of her spine. “As appealing as you look this way, I’m going to have you in another manner.”
           Before she could ask what he meant, he flipped her onto her back.  She yelped, slamming her legs shut and crossing an arm over her heaving chest as they came face to face.
           “This-this isn’t how we do this,” she stuttered.
           “We do this however I want and tonight I want to see your face.  Unless, of course, you’d rather sit in my lap?  We both know how that turned out last time.”
           A shiver crawled up her spine as she relaxed, her thighs spreading a few inches and her arm falling to the bed.  Gravity tilted her face to the side and she stared at the wall.  Loki briefly ignored her passivity in favor of running his fingers over the delicate skin of her inner thighs.
           “I’ve only ever done this with my mate.”
           She started sitting up in alarm.  He was mated?  With another woman?  When a horrified expression crossed her face, he laughed.  “Calm, skapning.  She’s been gone for many years.”
           Her tensed body relaxed with an uncertain sigh. She couldn’t compete with another Jötunn woman for his attentions.  Replaying his words in her head, she frowned.
           “You’ve only done what with your mate?”
           Loki ignored her in lieu of wetting two fingers with his tongue and slipping them inside her.  Petra’s hips arched off the bed and she cried out in surprise.  He grinned down at her, using the broad palm of his free hand to pin her hips to the bed.  Heart pounding, she struggled.  The way he looked at her was terrifying.  He was feeding off her expressions and reactions, which she couldn’t hide as his began thrusting his fingers.  The position was far too vulnerable.  That he could see her face made her wildly uncomfortable.
           “This isn’t what I agreed to!”
           “Relax.  You’ll only be able to think for another minute or so.”
           Sputtering, she angrily smacked the mattress and laid back, staring at the vaulted ceiling.  
           Loki withdrew his fingers and issued a smart slap to her pussy.
           “What part of ‘look at me’ is difficult for you to understand?”
           Face threatening to crumple, she bit down on her cheek and lowered her eyes to meet his.  He stared at her intently, watching every twinge of her brow and twitch of her lips.  It was enough to be exposed like this, but to know he didn’t find her attractive was simply humiliating.  She felt like a disappointing specimen.
           “That’s better.”  
He withdrew his finger and took his cock in his hand, giving it a few pumps.  When she realized he intended to fuck her while on her back, Petra whimpered.  What had she done to warrant this kind of punishment?  She’d had sex like this before, but with meaningless partners that were likely picturing someone else as they fucked her.  Loki was not picturing someone else.  He was looking at her too hard, his gaze patronizing.
“Little skapning,” he sighed.
Glancing down, he ran the head of his length between her folds, stopping at her clit to rub against it.  The slippery precome and the pressure of his cock felt more heavenly than she’d like to admit, so she bit her cheek until it bled to keep from making noise.  She refused to validate him while he demeaned her.  
His voice startled her out of her thoughts.
“You’re just a little lost Dökkálfr without me, aren’t you? I give you purpose.  Carrying my child is an honor.  Do you know how many Jötnar women would quite literally kill to be in your position?”
Forcing herself to go numb in an attempt to survive whatever verbal assault he was conducting, she shook her head.
“Many,” he answered his own question
“Good for you.”
A laugh rumbled in his chest and he shook his head.
“Good for you, rather.”  He eased himself inside, groaning as her tight walls clutched his length.
Petra inhaled sharply, cursing under her breath.  He wasn’t finished belittling her yet.  He had to knock her down even further, forcing pleasure on her.  Her pussy throbbed around him making him hiss as he slid against her walls.  Lazily he began pumping.  
           “The night you arrived, I would’ve turned you away without a second thought,” he grunted.  “I wouldn’t have felt guilt.  But you were stubborn and feisty and I wanted to have you.  So I made you mine.”
           Petra pushed off the bed as best she could, brows raised in surprise.
           “What?”
           “Centuries ago I inhabited Asgard.  Traditional beauty isn’t lost on me.  You may not be a warrior, but you’re certainly a woman.”
           Spluttering, Petra shook her head.  “I thought you found me repulsive—!”
           With a sharp thrust, Loki knocked the air from her lungs.
           “Quiet, skapning.  We’re not having a conversation.  I’m merely enlightening you.”
           Gasping for breath, she grunted as he hit that spot that made her see stars, damning her body for falling victim to him with such ease.  She kept her mouth shut, grinding her teeth in an effort to limit the noises insisting on flowing from her mouth.
           No longer interested in words, Loki began jerking his hips in earnest.  Each time his cock passed through her entrance forced her a step closer to an orgasm. Since his proclamation that she only come with his permission, she’d managed to succeed so far.  But, something about the debasing tone he’d taken with her was causing an unseemly reaction.  He’d been speaking of her as if she were an object.  His object.  As if she belonged to him, which should have upset her, but the idea that she had enough value that he desired her made her cunt pulse.  Though in that moment she very much tried to hate him, the idea sparked heat low in her belly.  
           The prospect of carrying his child did make her feel important.  It was an honor.  He was a powerful man that people feared and revered.  It was impossible not to be attracted to that.  And the fact that he didn’t find her displeasing was slightly overwhelming.  
           A brisk snap of the hips knocked her out of her thoughts, prompting a moan.
“Do you like knowing you please me?  More than another woman has pleased me in centuries?”
It was hard to ignore him with their eyes locked, but she managed.  With a growl, Loki gripped her waist and slammed their hips together.  “Do you?”
Crying out in pleasured pain, she managed a nod.
“Good.”
With that, he pulled back, almost leaving her cunt, before plummeting into her pussy once again.  She screamed as his pubic bone ground harshly against her clit, making her walls flutter.
Her eyes had rolled back and it took a moment for her vision to return and when it did, he was smiling at her again.
“You’re easy to please.  I do appreciate that, you know.”
His thrusts resumed, the sound of skin on skin echoing in his chambers.  The slick of her pussy aided his rapid pumping, which sent them both closer and closer to completion.  Petra began to whimper, biting her tongue in an attempt to distract from the fire blooming in her belly.  Just as she was about to struggle away from him, he spoke.
“Come, skapning.”
With a wail she lost all sense of being for several moments, floating blissfully in pleasured nothingness as her walls contracted around his cock.  With a low growl his hips jackhammered against hers, likely leaving bruises for her to find tomorrow.  He erupted inside her, his come flooding her insides and leaking out as he continued to fuck her.
Both panting, Loki took a moment to gather himself before pulling out.  Without a second look at his bedmate he stretched, his back cracking as he sighed contentedly.  He disappeared to the bathroom for a moment to clean up and don trousers, then strode back to his chair, picked up his book and resumed reading while Petra caught her breath on the bed.  She wasn’t sure what she’d done wrong to make him leave like that.  Shaking her head in disbelief, she ignored the mess between her legs and rolled over and tried to sleep.
@the-kinky-friend​ @monarchofallisurvey​ @averyrogers83​ @smollest-soybean​ @alexakeyloveloki​ @cassiopeya81​ @vintage-lovers-world​ @jeremyrennermakesmesmile​ @imnotrevealingmyname​ @false-octopus​ @tinyfirestudentpurse​
thanks to @writeyourmindaway​ for the divider 💖
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freakkduo · 4 years
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Ever wanted to watch geothermal escapism for the first time again? Now you can live vicariously through me.
My first-time reaction to geothermal escapism (but already knowing the main plot points of the episode):
Immediately noticed Abed wasn't with the group
Abed already sitting on the counter in preparation for the yet-to-announced game is such a smart detail. But Abed sitting on the counter because the lava isn't a game at all is a heartbreaking realization.
Different color filter = concept episode is *chef's kiss*
The locker boys i'm cackling
Troy and Abed's entrance? Gay rights 🏳️‍🌈
Shirley's Island as a concept is so good. The board with "the fallen" organized by religious affiliation. The story telling with magnitude on the percussion. The butter defense mechanism. I am in awe.
Oh...when Abed repeats "last day"....yeah..
Okay I could talk for a long time about the WORLD BUILDING that took place in this episode. The god Troy mentioned in passing means they've developed an entire mythology. "The Orb" is a mysterious object rumoured to be hidden on Shirley's Island. "Chair walkers." The developed travel and fighting techniques. I could go on. But the fact that they did this in less than 21 minutes is fucking genius. The ability of this show to tell fast-paced, yet fleshed-out, satisfying stories is part of what makes this show so special.
Ngl Britta's pretty hot in this ep. Ngl everyone's pretty hot in this ep.
Britta and Jeff's banter is superb as always. They're my "if I had to pick a het couple"
When Troy and Abed appeared in the bubble I said "this is excellent" out loud
"sorry that our butts are touching" more like the writers saying "haha no homo please believe us 🥺"
Do I even need to tell u how I felt watching the scene in the basement. You know what they said. You know I cried.
Danny Pudi's acting is so damn good here. I mean his face and his VOICE when Abed tells Troy about the lava - I have never heard nor seen so much emotion from Abed and it hurts. Where's the emmy award.
Troy seeing the lava for just a moment, because Troy's the only one who's ever been able to see what Abed sees.
I fyickn hate Hickey so much that comment about Abed and knowing what happens two episodes later fuck you go to hell
Britta realizing immediately just how serious this is for Abed when Troy tells her the lava is real and how she messed up trying to force Abed into different coping mechanisms and shoving Hickey off the bookshelf and finally trying to understand how Abed works and use his method of coping with the world...I appreciated that.
I can't tell if Troy's desperate "i'm not leaving anymore" is real or a lie to save Abed. I don't know which is worse.
I loved that Clone Abed refered to Original Abed's "wild emotionality." Because he's never been the robot or a computer that people who don't know him think he is. He is emotional. He's the emotional core of the group. And I like that we get that insight into Abed's emotions and how he perceives them.
I'm sorry but didn't that hurt when Troy fell..??
All of Troy's goodbye's were perfect. "You're the best and I love you" "I got to live with you" "you're becoming much cooler than me" "you're the badass" just tears. Just utter weeping.
But Troy and Abed's goodbye. You don't need me to analyze this for you. You already know.
Troy's confidence upon seeing Levar again :) :) I love Troy loving himself. And it's like, Troy is already his own man, he just needed this to prove it to himself. And now he's beginning to own and love who he is - who he has been all along.
Okay I said I wouldn't go into specifics of their goodbye but look at both of them staring at each other as Troy leaves and tell me that's not true love
Troy in the end tag 💛💛💛
This was a brilliant episode, and such a lovely way to celebrate Troy and Abed's relationship and send Troy off on his journey to find himself. Having seen this episode definitely makes all those reunion fics and headcannons much more special.
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