#I'M ALLOWED TO PUT ITALIAN IN HERE!!!

[mrs-luigi-vargas]

fighting last minute cringe to get this fic up lmao

[meangirls-imagines]

Leap of Faith

Description: Part 2 to "Best Friends?" The roommates call an audible when they see how much the aftermath of the Incident™️ is affecting both girls. Help comes in the form of the Murray family.

WARNINGS: buckle up, this is a 2.4k word RIDE, realizations of love, reader being sad, sports injury (reader breaks her ankle), first kisses.

a month.

that's how long it had been since what leighton had deemed "d-day".

this was the longest she had ever gone without talking to y/n and leighton was hurting. she broke things off with alicia after the incident happened. it wasn't pretty. 

hurtful things were said, alicia flipped a coffee table and had to be escorted out of the dorm building by jackson, who kimberly luckily had at the ready when things turned south.

her roommates could see this was taking a toll on the blonde, the trio trying their best to keep leighton's spirits up. whitney was really the only one who got to see how it was affecting both girls. 

y/n, in whitney's opinion, was doing worse than leighton was. whitney rarely saw the girl outside of practice and the one class they had together. she had heard through the grapevine that y/n hadn't slept in days, maybe weeks. all she had been doing was going to class, practice and the gym.

had she tried to talk to y/n? yes. but to no avail. the girl had brushed her off every single attempt. whitney had no idea what to do. she talked to bela and kimberly and they formed a plan.

they were going to get the girls together.

leighton was pleasantly surprised when she saw her dad and nico sitting outside her dorm on a bench, seemingly waiting for her. she walked up to them and immediately was pulled into a hug by nico.

"leighton! there's my beautiful sister." the blonde was confused but hugged her brother back. once he released her, her dad pulled her into his arms. "hi guys. not that i'm not happy to see you, but what are you doing here?" the two shared a secret look with each other. "we wanted to visit and say hi. your mom is here too, but she went to talk to the kappa president about something."

the blonde looked suspicious but shrugged it off. the two men kept talking as they guided leighton to their suv that was parked near by, planning on taking her to lunch. the blonde allowed them to, finally relaxing for the first time in weeks. 

y/n shot another ball into the back of the net at full force. practice had ended over an hour ago and she was still kicking penalty shots, trying to get her frustration out. her body was exhausted and threatened to shut down at any moment, but y/n stayed fueled with energy drinks. she had jogged after the ball she had been practicing with when a voice yelled out.

"i knew you'd be here." 

y/n froze. she hadn't heard that voice in a while. she slowly turned to see a woman taking off a pair of designer sunglasses, staring into y/n's soul.

there she stood, in all her glory. mimi murray. y/n audibly gulped at the woman staring at her. she slowly walked towards the woman, kinda like a scared puppy. the woman looked at y/n and cupped her cheeks. "have you been sleeping? eating?" y/n opened her mouth to answer when mimi put her hand up to stop her. 

"no. you don't need to answer, i already know. grab your stuff. we have plans." y/n nodded and quickly grabbed her stuff, not wanting to disappoint the woman more than she probably had.

with leighton, nico, and henry, the trio were out eating at an italian restaurant half an hour away from campus. the two men noticed how quiet leighton had gotten, asking her if everything was okay. she spilled everything to them, the men looking at her sadly. "leighton, i'm gonna be honest with you, i'm surprised it took you this long to catch on."

leighton looked at her dad surprised. "what do you mean?" her dad sighed. "i had a feeling a while ago that she had feelings for you. and then the feeling was confirmed last year. remember when that alex guy came to our house to ask you to prom?" leighton frowned. "yeah?"

y/n and leighton were hanging out in the living room of the murray household. since it was the spring, soccer season had taken over most of y/n's schedule, leaving her barely any room to hang out with the blonde. so, every rare weekend that y/n had off, she spent at leighton's house. 

as the two sat on the couch cuddling and watching a movie, the doorbell rang. thinking it was one of nico's friends, the girls ignored it. until leighton's dad came in. "hey leight, there's someone here for you." confused, the two girls got up, walking to the front door where alex hightower stood at leighton's door with a huge sign and a bag of leighton's favorite treats. the sign read "it would be a treat if you went to prom with me". y/n's heart dropped to her stomach as leighton smiled at the boy, accepting his invite. 

she was hoping to gather enough courage to ask leighton if she just wanted to go together as friends. she visibly deflated as leighton spoke excitedly with alex about prom plans. henry was standing off to the side watching it all unfold. he saw how y/n reacted to the proposal and his heart broke a little bit. 

alex eventually left as leighton dragged y/n up to her room to have the girl help her plan her dress. henry saw as y/n plastered on a fake smile and allowed the girl to drag her up the stairs. 

when he woke up the next morning, y/n had already left. a few weeks later, as leighton danced with her date and scanned the room looking for y/n, her heart breaking when she didn't see her anywhere. y/n sat at home alone, looking on instagram and seeing how happy leighton looked. in that moment, y/n made sure that leighton kept that happiness with her, no matter how much it hurt her.

leighton's heart broke at the revelation. she had no idea she was the reason y/n didn't go to prom. it broke even more when she thought of y/n wanting to ask her to prom. she definitely would've had the perfect prom with y/n. nico and henry looked at leighton. nico spoke up. "leighton, y/n has been in love with you since you guys met. she has dedicated this friendship to making you happy, even though it kills her. and i think you love her too."

leighton was crying at this point. henry scooting closer to her and pulling his daughter into his side. "leighton, honey. you wanna know what i think you should do?" the blonde sniffled and nodded. "take the leap. go after her. you two are made for each other. you need each other more than you know. take the first step and get your girl." leighton sniffled and nodded. 

they paid for lunch and headed back to campus. on the drive back, ideas ran through leighton's head on how she could take the leap. a light bulb went off in her head and she smiled. 

she knew exactly what to do.

with mimi and y/n, the older woman took the girl to the best spa in town. after she had received a mysterious phone call from leighton's roommate, she listened as the girl told her what happened between y/n and her daughter and how y/n wasn't taking care of herself. her protective mom side came out and she cancelled any meetings she had for the rest of the day and headed to essex. 

now, the two sat in the steam room together, fresh out of their swedish massage sessions. mimi decided to break the ice first. "so, what happened between you and leighton?" y/n froze again. "we had a fight last month. i haven't talked to her since." mimi nodded. "did this fight have to do with the fact that you're in love with my daughter?"

y/n's head whipped around to look at the older woman nervously. "w-what?" mimi looked at the girl smirking. "i know more than you think. i also know that my daughter is also in love with you." y/n's jaw dropped. "no she doesn't. she's dating someone else." mimi shook her head. "nope. she called me the night you guys had the fight and told me that she broke up with that anna girl." 

y/n chuckled. "you mean alicia?" mimi waved the girl off. "same thing. she told me that the breakup didn't go well with alicia." y/n's heart dropped to her stomach at the thought of what might've happened. she shook her head. "so what if she broke up with her? she's not in love with me." mimi sighed. "yes she is. don't you remember what happened a couple of years ago?"

leighton murray was NOT a school spirit person. 

except when it came to y/n. 

when it came to y/n, leighton and her parents would be in the front row of the stands. leighton would be draped in whatever jersey y/n wasn't wearing, her soccer letterman, and the blonde would even go the extra mile and paint her face in school colors. she loved watching y/n play soccer. especially when y/n got extra sweaty. (leighton would daydream about other instances where y/n would be sweaty but she would never admit that.) 

this certain game, spence was playing their cross town rivals, st. john academy. the game was intense, both teams receiving multiple cards before halftime. y/n was getting pushed around and tackled more than usual and every time she hit the ground, leighton would lose a little off her life.

it all culminated in the 40th minute of the game. y/n was sprinting down the field with the ball at her feet, no defenders in front of her, ready to put spence in the lead. a defender from st. john had caught up to her and slid into a dirty tackle. y/n was blindsided as the defender's cleat came in at full speed and force to y/n's ankle.

there was a pop, a scream, and a thud as y/n fell in a heap to the ground, not before bouncing her head off the field. leighton couldn't breathe. she squeezed nico's hand extremely tight as the boy tried to calm her down. the second the ref waved her hand for the medics, leighton was out of her seat, sprinting to the field. 

coach smith met her at the sideline and ran over to y/n with her. the girl was writhing in pain on the ground, tears streaming from her face. the medics began prepping her ankle to transport her to the hospital. leighton kneeled next to her head. "y/n. hey, you're gonna be okay. i promise." the blonde took y/n's hand, squeezing it gently to let her know she was there. y/n squeezed back as her head pounded and her ankle throbbed. 

the medics eventually moved her to the ambulance where leighton demanded to ride with them, texting her parents to meet them at the hospital.

leighton never left y/n's side during her recovery. so when senior year rolled around, leighton was where she always was, front row, letterman on, watching her best friend take the field for the last time in her high school career. 

y/n was pulled out of the vivid flashback by mimi. "i knew leighton was in love with you when that happened. she was glued to your side that whole year you recovered. she had multiple guys ask her out on dates and she always shot them down. she always drove you to physical therapy. i knew then that if leighton, who refused to go near one of us when we're sick, was doing all of this for you being hurt, she loved you." 

y/n's heart raced. maybe mimi was right. but, had she ruined it with the fight they had last month? mimi noticed the hesitation on her face and stood. y/n looked at her confused. "where are you going?" mimi turned and smiled at the girl. "i'm taking you back to campus to get your girl."

y/n walked back to her dorm, more relaxed than when she left that morning. maybe she would sleep on it and make a decision from there. she pulled her keys out to unlock the door, eagerly wanting to get into bed. when she opened the door, the sight before her took her breath away.

leighton had crafted a blanket fort in the common room of y/n's dorm, fairy lights and all. y/n could see that leighton had gotten her favorite takeout, including dessert, she had a bottle of wine (that she convinced her dad to buy), and her laptop had disney plus queued up with the movie they always watched together, cinderella.

y/n looked at the blonde, who stood nervously by the couch. she was wearing one of y/n's soccer hoodies and some sweatpants. y/n had never seen her look more beautiful than she did in that moment. leighton smiled shyly at her. "hi. i know you're probably still mad at me but i've missed you and i couldn't stay away from you any longer so i did all this so hopefully you would forgive me? it's totally cool if you don't-"

y/n strode across the room and pulled leighton into her arms. she was taller than the blonde so she buried her face in leighton's hair. the blonde relaxed into y/n's arms, tucking her face in the crook of her neck. "i missed you too bubbles." leighton smiled at the nickname. they pulled away from the hug as leighton looked up at y/n. 

in a last second idea, leighton leaned up and kissed y/n, catching the girl off guard. y/n quickly relaxed into the kiss, sparks flying behind her eyes. the two kissed for a few minutes and pulled away. 

"i love you. i think i always have but i was too scared to admit it. but i've always had this weird feeling when i'm with you. i can't explain it, but i know it's a good feeling. and it's a feeling i don't want to ever lose. i wanna be yours, y/n. forever, if you'll have me."

y/n smiled wide and pulled leighton in for another kiss, this one more passionate than the last. "you have no idea how long i've waited to hear those words, bubbles." leighton smiled at the girl. "well, buttercup, get ready to hear them forever." the two kissed again, their passion slowly bleeding into the night.

the couple could never figure out what came over leighton's family to show up that day. 

they would find out years later.

in a speech, surrounded by their friends and loved ones.

with matching rings on their left hands.

[lazycats-stuff]

Remember when u wrote batbro who's Australian? Now u HAVE TO do Italian! This time with Italian toddler batbro, please little Italian people with their small hand gestures are so funny and so fricking adorable to me I'm tearing up just thinking about it

Yeah, Italians are funny and adorable, but I think it would work better if it's a teen instead of a toddler, so I have to modify that part, I just think it would fit better. Also, 1.3k, thank you guys and yes, I know this is a little bit short, but I do want to get this out for you guys. Also, Italians are my neighboring country lol, so if any Italians are reading this, hi!

Summary: (Y/N) is Italian. The family can't deal with him.

Warnings:

Bruce, yet again, found out he had another biological child. Another son. Bruce loved his sons, but he could get a daughter for once. Someone who was less chaotic to a certain degree. Turns out, when Bruce had a one night stand with an Italian model, she got pregnant and she didn't say anything to Bruce about his son for 13 years.

Bruce found out when she was put in jail. Bruce didn't know what happened, but he was more numb from the news that he has another son. Not to mention, man with a heavy Italian accent calling him in the middle of the night telling him about his son and Bruce having to call his lawyers...

The amount of paperwork that it took for Bruce to bring (Y/N) to America is nuts. Sure, you have to make sure that both governments know where the child is. The amount of connections Bruce had to pull just to get (Y/N) to the USA is actually insane. Thankfully, (Y/N) would soon get his citizenship and he would be able to keep his Italian citizenship.

Thankfully, both the US and Italy allow people to have multiple citizenships so (Y/N) could go back to Italy without any problems. Bruce and the others need to get visas. (Y/N) laughed at them when he heard that.

But hey, when they go to Italy, they will have a translator. And it's incredible to listen to (Y/N) not knowing English really. They weren't mocking him by any means, but they were crying of laughter a few times when there was some English problems.

But there were another things they didn't know about Italians. For example, (Y/N) was touchy in conversations. And he was closer to them, more in their space. None of them minded them, it was actually nice how closer he was to them because Americans prefer to keep their distance it seems.

And a thing that seemed like are they European or gay thing is the fact they have their little pecks on the cheek. It wasn't anything intimate by any means and it's a way to say hi to guests. Men do it as well so it wasn't gay per say... But then again... Bruce knew that Italy had a different way than Americans.

And by God, (Y/N) had so many cultural shocks. So many. The sizes of food in America... And (Y/N) will forever fight the notion that pineapple belongs on the pizza. He shall defend his Italian heritage and cuisine.

Also, while on the topic of the sizes, everything in America is huge. Cars, buildings... (Y/N) thought that in a way it lacked warmth. And (Y/N) didn't even want to think about the prices of medication and healthcare here. He knows that Bruce is rich, but still... My God.

Another thing was the fact that kind of annoyed Bruce and Alfred was the amount of espressos that (Y/N) can drink in a day. Tim loved him a lot for it, but Bruce and Alfred weren't so happy. So many espressos wasn't really helpful. But hey.

But one iconic thing that can make you tell who is an actual Italian or not, is the famous hand gesture. They still remember the time when (Y/N) was talking on the phone with a family member who lives in Italy and it seemed that the entire family was on the other side of the phone.

He was talking fast, phone on his ear while he was going to the kitchen to drink some water and get some snacks. They all watched in silence as (Y/N) talked loudly, even as he was opening the fridge for some snacks.

And that's when they saw it. The famous hand gesture, in between some passionate talk about something and yelling over the phone. He seemed annoyed, but there was a smile on the teen's face as he was talking.

Once he was finished, he joined his family at the table. Jason has decided to learn Italian. Bruce has silently agreed. Damian was already prepared to learn. Basically, the entire family has decided to learn Italian and help (Y/N) with English in return.

Another thing that made adapting to the American culture more difficult was the fact that talking and kind of interrupt one you are talking too. In Italy, that is not really considered rude since they are passionate about talking and just overall talking over.

In America, that is considered rude. He didn't like it that much, but understood. People won't like him that much and he would be considered a rude person if he interrupts other people. His family understood that it's not easy, but hey. You adapt to the culture and move on.

But still, it hurt a little bit.

And (Y/N) never understood one thing as well. Something called Italian Americans. He couldn't comprehend calling yourself Italian American, but you don't speak Italian and you are not connected to the culture of your other part. It was weird to him. No hate towards them, but to him it was weird. How can you call yourself a person who belongs to a certain culture if you don't know it?

But hey, no hate. As long as they don't insult Italy and the Italian culture, no hate.

And one more thing that no one prepares you for is the fact that you miss your home country. Despite Alfred doing the best Italian dishes known to men, but it just didn't taste the same. It didn't have that taste of Italy. Yes, it sounds weird, but it's true. Italy is one hell of a country with a rich history.

Oh the nostalgia is a worst feeling ever. Sure, it makes you feel happy and remember the great times you had., but sad at the same time. Bruce saw it, he wasn't blind.

He was sad for his son. So what does Bruce do? Summer holidays are approaching and Bruce had one great idea for everyone. 2 weeks in Italy, all paid for. He just needed to tell (Y/N) when and where they will be going.

And Bruce told him a few moments later, (Y/N) screamed from happiness and jumped into Bruce's arms, hugging him like a koala bear.

" Grazie Bruce! " (Y/N) screamed. Bruce didn't mind the use of his first name because (Y/N) was still getting used to the fact that he has a dad.

" Ti amo Bruce. " (Y/N) said as he stood back down at the floor. Bruce smile widely as he knew exactly what first two words meant.

" Love you too son. "

(Y/N) let out a woo as he went back to his room. Oh he will stuff himself with all of the Italian food he can eat and find. And he will go to Rome and the Vatican. No one is going to stop him. And not to mention, he will have to visit his family. They would never forgive him by any means and you don't want to piss off an Italian family.

[rs-hawk]

Kinda gross you're sexualizing your culture. Literally playing into colonist fantasies about the "sexy savage Indian"

I have been trying to find a way to respond to this because I think this brings up the debate of cultural appreciation versus cultural appropriation. This is my personal take, and if any other Indigenous people disagree with me, that is their opinion, and they are right to have it.

Here's the thing, you're talking about my culture. My heritage. My ancestorial beliefs. I have talked a few times about how growing up I didn't have much positive representation for that part of myself, and how hard it was for me. That is a large part of why I write about Indigenous coded characters or about Indigenous creatures. Before I began writing my own stories, I had never read a single romance novel with any Indigenous main character (if you know any, definitely let me know!), aside from Cowboys and Indians novels, which for me is not included in "positive representation" (but if other Indigenous people want to, that is up to them).

If you were to bring this up about say the Straggele, I would understand more because just because I have studied folklore and culture from around the world, doesn't make it mine. If someone who was Swiss reached out to me and said something, I could understand where that came from. However, allowing parts of my history to influence my writing, getting to create characters that I see myself in, reading more into the history of my nations and our cousin and sister nations, amongst so many other things, is not sexualizing my culture. I am not appropriating myself or playing into stereotypes by writing what makes me happy.

I also want to add that the colonist fantasy includes a lot of racist stereotypes, which I don't put in my writing. There are no Indigenous women who use their body to get what they want or trick European men into helping them. There are no damsels in distress Indigenous women who just blink their big brown eyes and sling their braids over their shoulders as they ask for help. They're not naked and flaunting themselves or anything like that. Also, how are any of my characters "savages"? All of my stories are written in roughly this day and age aside from an ongoing commission.

It is not playing into colonist fantasies to write about Indigenous people. It is not playing into colonist fantasies for me to want to write about creatures from my own culture. Just like it would not be playing into colonist fantasies to sexualize a Kelpie as I'm also mixed with Celtic, or a Babau as I'm also mixed with Italian.

I am allowed to celebrate and use aspects of my culture and history, any and all of it from any part of my culture from any part of my family.

[martassimsbookcc]

Hello guys! First of all happy new year ! Hope you had a great time out there :) 🎆

Today I'm writing this to explain why decimation of Sims 4 meshes is paramount while converting stuff. You know me, I don't like to make statements as english isn't my first language and I find it difficult sometimes to actually write things down - even in italian I struggle sometimes lol. BUT I think this would be useful to all the cc converters and creators out there. So please, take this as an advice, for the sake of our oldie and beloved Sims 3.

Little backstory: I was casually browsing tumblr the other day and stumbled across a beautiful food set converted from Sims 4 - which I immediately saw was high quality. Just for curiosity I downloaded it, checked the polycount of a random object (if you're new here it's the total number of polygons found in a three-dimensional model) and it had way too many polys: 28k vertices - 34k faces + 4096x4096 textures.

Sims 3 is quite an old game now. Every player had experienced lag and glitches at some point so it's very, very important to make the stuff you create/convert from other games suitable for it! Here comes to the rescue a super useful tool in blender called decimation. It basically "allows you to reduce the vertex/face count of a mesh with minimal shape changes", as said on blender website. In just 2 minutes and with not so much effort I was able to reduce those polygons down to 8,4k vertices - 7,4k faces. Do you see any difference? I don't honestly.

Optimization is the key. Converting from sims 4 is not just taking the mesh and textures and putting them all in Sims 3. I wish it was tho!

You're free to put whatever you want in your game but you have to think about the game performance as well. There are people who still play the game and as an ex player I got really upset when I had laggy gaming sessions.

Having said that, here's a tut about blender and the decimation tool, done by @simaddix and which I think covers every important aspect of that useful tool.

If you read this all, thank you! Now I can go back to convert new stuff :D

-Marta

[suugarbabe]

OMG congrats for 1k!!!!💚

Since you said would like Enzo requests, and your celebration seems very cute, a Enzo x Nott!Reader with the prompt of Soulmate aus?

Maybe Reader is Theo's younger sister and goes to another school, and knows/has heard of Enzo through Theo, and somehow they become pen-pals? Just writing letters to eachother, very sweet and friendly.

Then Theo invites his slytherin friends home, Enzo and Reader meet and they realize they are soulmates? With a sprinkle of overprotective older brother Theo.🤭💚

I really do love Lorenzo, please guys send me more Enzo recs i need them biblically

Enzo would have met you during summer holiday going into his fifth year, you in your fourth. You were instantly smitten (how could you not be). Being a Nott, you had your boldness to you as well, so you wrote him first.

When the owl dropped the first letter down in front of Enzo, Theo originally thought it was for him, given it was your owl. However, when he saw Lorenzo Berkshire in your loopy handwriting he instantly became angry; over protective.

"Why in the bloody hell did you just get a letter from my sister?" Theo threw the letter at Enzo, who's cheeks instantly flushed, "I-I don't know..." Which was the truth, he had no idea. He made the choice to not open it there, despite Theo's demands that he do.

Enzo instead opened it after everyone else had went to sleep. You were straightforward, flirty, telling Enzo how smart you thought he was, how kind his eyes were, how attractive you found him and how sad you were that you wouldn't be able to see him again until next summer.

He wrote you back, telling you of your beauty, admiring your wit and admitting that he was slightly afraid of Theo given the look he had received when your letter arrived.

But it went on like this, back and forth for weeks on end, Enzo even learning a little Italian to put it in his letters to impress you (and it did). And you found yourself growing fonder and fonder with each letter exchanged.

When Christmas holiday came around, Theo barged in your room, "My friends are coming next week and staying through New Years. Stay away from Enzo."

You scoffed, "Excuse me?"

"You heard me, I know you're his little bloody pen pal or whatever you two call it. He's not allowed in your room and you two are not allowed alone together."

You couldn't help but roll your eyes, "Who do you think you are? My father?"

It was Theo's turn to scoff, "Please, you're lucky it's me and not Papà."

You knew he was right, but you were just as stubborn as him, "I'm not making any promises." Theo stalked out of your room after that.

When the boys arrived, you appeased Theo and kept your distance. For as long as you could, anyway. Enzo had thought maybe he had done something wrong, written something that had upset you in his last letter before he arrived.

So when New Years Eve arrived and he felt himself being pulled from the hall into a room he was sure it was Theo about to beat the shite out of him.

When his back was pushed against the wall and he saw your face instead, he instantly let out a deep sigh, "Merlin's sake, love, I thought you were your brother."

You faked offense, "You expected Theo to bring you in to his room and snog you?"

"No! Wait, what did you say?" Enzo's face went through a few emotions. First shock, then his cheeks flushed and he couldn't help but stutter.

"I said," you took a step closer to him, "I pulled you in here with maybe not the most innocent of intentions."

You wrapped your arms around Enzo's neck, his hands finding solace on your hips nearly on instinct. You stood on your tip toes, lacing your fingers at the base of Enzo's neck and pulling him down slightly.

He responded without hesitation, his lips finding yours like a magnet. You knew in that moment that this one kiss wasn't going to be enough. His lips were too soft, fit yours too perfectly. He hands felt too good on your body and they barely strayed far from your hips.

When you finally pulled back Enzo was chasing your lips, successfully landing one, two, three more pecks on your lips before finally allowing you to speak.

"You should get back," he was saddened by your words, but nodded in understanding. "I know, but right now I feel like I would be okay with Theo being mad at me."

You giggled, thumb lightly tracing his cheek, "Well you know which room is mine, now you can come back after he falls asleep." Enzo held your face in both of his hands, placing one last long, hard kiss to your lips which you took as an acceptance to your plan before leaving you in your room alone, thoughts of later that night dancing in your head.

[copperbadge]

Amateur Translation Programs

So I had a lot of imaginative and informative responses to my post about looking for an amateur translation program -- something where I could load in a foreign language and it would insert a box where I could add a translation every-other-line. The idea was that this way I could practice translation with more advanced texts, and texts I chose, and thus move away from Duolingo, which at this point is good for drilling and daily practice but not for more advanced learning.

I didn't find precisely what was needed but I did get some inspiration for further explanation, and I also learned that adding the term "glossing" (thank you @thewalrus-said) into my searches helped a great deal in terms of weeding out programs that were either "Let this AI translate for you" or just endless promotional links for Babbel and Duolingo and such. I thought I'd collect up the suggestions and post them here; at the end I'm including my best swing at designing what I wanted, and why it doesn't work yet.

Suggestion one, from many people, was various ways to generate a page that is simply fixed Italian text with space underneath each line to add in a translation. This is pretty simple as a process and there are sites that will do it for you, such as this one that @ame-kage suggested. However, most of these don't allow for movement in the Italian text, and many produce a PDF which you would need to print out in order to write on unless you're willing to open it in Acrobat (and deal with Acrobat). A good solution for some but not what I'm looking for purely because I'm trying to make this super frictionless so that (knowing myself as I do) I will actually do it.

I did find this version interesting, suggested by @drivemetogeek: Have one word doc saved as your "template" doc and set the line spacing as 2.0 or higher. Select your text from source and paste it into the template doc as text-only. Ctrl a, ctrl c to select all and copy, then open a new document and "paste special" as picture. Right click and set the "wrap text" as behind text. Now you have a document where you can, basically, type over the existing text because it's the background of the page. This seems like the most frictionless version, because you could set up a bunch of them ahead of time. If you wanted to move between desktop and mobile, however, you'd need to ensure that the pasted image was fairly narrow so that you don't have to sideways-scroll.

Relatedly, people suggested generating a document that is simply the Italian text with empty space beneath it for typing in of the translation. This can be done either semi-automated, using a macro or a language like Python, or find-and-replace on, say, the stops at the ends of sentences. It basically outputs the same as above but with a more digitally accessible format, without any more effort than above. If you were to do this in Google Sheets you could also fix the column width so that it didn't do anything weird when you opened it on your phone. But it is still very friction-y, and does not allow for easy shifting of the Italian as needed. There's high probability of the translation breaking weirdly across the page. Still a top option in terms of simplicity and access.

@smokeandholograms suggested another variation illustrated here where essentially you're converting the text to a series of tables, with each paragraph a row, and an empty cell next to it for the translation. I might play around more with this one eventually, since I think I could possibly make it a three-column and put the Italian in one, the translation in the next, and the auto-translate to let me know where I might be slipping in the third. (Not that I trust auto-translate but comparing a hand translation to an auto translation can be useful in terms of working out when I've messed up the way a tense or mood is read. I tend to read indirect verbs as automatically imperative because I'm a weirdo.)

@wynjara linked to an add-in for Word specifically designed for translators, known as TransTools; this appears to employ a macro to do the same thing, though it does have a format where you can place the translation next to each sentence directly rather than in a separate cell. The full suite of tools is only $45 which is reasonable for my budget, but for what I need I think I could also just create the macro.

Using LaTeX as a tool specially designed for glossing was an option on offer, but I don't know enough about LaTeX to figure out the pros of this one, which is in itself the major con -- there's a learning curve that I think varies widely by person but for me is unfortunately a wall. It came out of a discussion on Reddit about trying to find something like what I want; also in that discussion is a link to a code generator that allows you to…do something…to the initial language, but it's not entirely clear to me (I'm sure it's clear to people who understand coding) what you would then do with it that would allow it to be output in the way I'm hoping for. Like, I could turn a paragraph of text into HTML, I understand that far, but any Italian I find is already on a website.

Moving more into apps that might work, Redditors on the LaTeX discussion suggested SIL Fieldworks, which is a professional language tech tool. Fieldworks isn't a program I'd previously encountered but much as with the ones I had, it looks like the learning curve is fairly steep and it is definitely overkill generally for what I need, though it might also harbor within it the thing I want. It is free, so I may download and play around with it.

@brightwanderer suggested using note-taking or "whiteboard" apps such as Freeform or Nebo; these are generally a kind of "infinite canvas" in which you can drop objects, text boxes, or handwriting. I don't know that Freeform would be measurably different to just using Word and a macro, since I'd still have to input/format all the text and then be stuck with the same "fixed text" setup -- and it's also iOS only -- but for some folks it might be more helpful. Nebo is a similar infinite-canvas with unfortunately the same issues, though on the plus it's available for Android, which is where most of my mobile property resides.

@bloodbright suggested that I was looking for a CAT tool, a professional translation tool mainly used by translators working in the field. This was a concept I'd encountered, but I hadn't found a good starting place. They suggested Smartcat and OmegaT. Smartcat bills itself as an AI translation platform and is HARD pushing the "don't translate it yourself, hire a translator or let AI do it" angle, so it's difficult to tell what it offers in terms of actual tools for translators, and it's also cagey about pricing, so I can't really evaluate it. OmegaT is free and gives off big "some weirdo homebrewed this in their basement" vibe (which I am here for) but I also recognized it from screengrabs that were the reason I veered away from professional-grade software: it looked too complex. Realistically, the major downside of OmegaT is that I don't think I can put it on my phone. One thing I did find interesting is that once you translate a portion of the text, the original language goes away, though I assume you can turn that off if needed. I do kind of like that because it means my distractable brain is looking at Less Stuff.

So where did I end up?

Well, it looked like I was going to have to try a homebrew myself. I had the idea of trying some of the initial suggestions but in reverse -- designing a document where every other line was a single-cell table fixed to the page. You could paste in the Italian, which would wrap around the cells, and then enter the English in the cells.

You can fix a table in place in Google Docs -- you click on the table, then under Table > Style select Wrap Text, Both Sides, and Fix On Page. Getting the whole page set up is a little labor intensive but once you did that, you could just save it as a template and make a duplicate of it each time. And this actually works….on desktop.

Unfortunately, if you open it in the mobile Docs app, the app can't handle the fixed tables and automatically moves them all to after the text that's been pasted in. I tried redesigning it so that it's a table within a table -- one for the Italian, then within that a series of them for the English -- but when you nest a table in Google Docs, it doesn't let you fix the second table in place. And you are also still dealing with the wrap issue, although you can resize the page and add a large right-hand margin as a kludge of a fix for that.

You can build this same kind of document in Word, so I tried building one in Word and then uploading it to Drive, but when you open the Word file in Docs (or in Microsoft Word for Android), it still strips the fixed positioning -- there's just some functionality missing from both apps that doesn't allow them to handle fixed-position tables.

So, the design is sound, just not the final execution. If I could program an app, I could probably remedy the issues with it -- it's simply a series of text boxes nested inside one another with different formatting. I would imagine that's relatively basic to set up, although given that neither Docs nor Word can handle fixed tables in mobile, perhaps I've stumbled on a much bigger problem that everyone is ignoring because nobody actually needs or wants fixed tables in mobile. :D

Experimentation is ongoing, anyway. I might simply have to resign myself to the fact that my translation study is going to have to be in front of a computer, which might be for the best anyway when I inevitably want to compare my translation to an auto-translate to see where I might have read something wrong.

[from-the-clouds]

giving kendall roy a blowjob pls

i have a fic about this here buuuttt i've been so down bad for ken lately and am embarrassed to say i literally dropped all my WIPs to also write this. inspired by this gif from @technicolourtelevision. also please follow my succ sideblog if u are a kendall girlie like myself @kendollroyco!

warnings: smut under the cut (18+ only, oral sex m receiving, degradation, dom!kendall - sorry but i want him to be mean to me) not proofread, and potentially just bad -- i wrote this in like a 30 minute fugue state.

first off, where you do this is kind of important because there are sooooo many good opportunities. maybe you work for him and he's making you suck him off under your desk, his hand down the front of your blouse. you have to go to the bathroom after to clean yourself up because your mascara is smudged and he's ruined your hair. or maybe you're on your knees for him in the back of a car, and he's refusing to roll up the partition. the straps of the gown you've got on are falling off your shoulders, and you're worried about getting caught but he's shoving your head down and he's whispering shit like 'but you're taking it anyways, aren't you?' and you can't help but moan as he shifts his hips so you take him even deeper.

but REALLY what i think about is like, in the most recent episode when he talks about not sleeping well. you're his girlfriend who lives with him, but you hardly see him. and one night when he comes home late you can just tell he's tense, like, ready to snap at anyone who gets in his way. you're curled up wearing one of his old harvard sweatshirts maybe watching tv or looking at your phone and he looks so fucking good in one of those suits that fits him like a glove.

when you ask him how he's doing, he's short and snippy. 'fine.'

'you stressed or something?' you ask, rather than start an argument.

'fuckin', uh, i don't know, what does it look like?'

you're sort of taken aback by how rude his response it, standing over you with his hands on his hips. 'don't tell me you waited up this late for me....' he's trying to chastise you, but you can see right through him.

'you're working too much' you sit up.

'uh-huh, right. i don't want to hear your shit right now, i'm fuckin' exhausted-' and he's trying to be mean, to push you away.

'i bet. all you do is toss and turn at night,' you agree.

you reach out, hook your fingers around the cool silver of his belt buckle and yank. he steps forward, even if his eyebrows are still pinched together, his lips curled down into a frown.

'i could give you something that might help.'

by the time you've pulled his briefs down to his ankles, his face has neutralized, even though his hands are still on his hips. you drop to your knees, ignoring the chill of the italian marble. he smiles a little, then, puts a hand on top of your head.

you don't go slow, you don't want to, and he doesn't let you. he pulls your hair and jerks his hips into your mouth. you take him all, using your hands to spread the slick from gagging on him several times around. of course, he talks you through it, tells you exactly what to do and how he wants it in that deep, raspy voice, which only gets deeper when he's turned on.

'god, you're such a fucking slut.'

and you don't care about looking pretty while you blow him. no, you might normally try to be cute about it, but when he's mean it only makes you more feral. you choke and gasp until tears run from the corner of your eyes and you're drooling, straddling his foot and grinding yourself against his black prada oxford's.

you whine and mewl around him, mouth so full the noises are unintelligible. 'you're so pathetic,' he groans, looking down at you, and you can tell he's getting close because his voice doesn't have the same conviction as before. 'that's it, atta girl, just take it.'

the more you allow yourself to get into it, the more turned on you get. the more turned on you are, the more desperate and filthy you want to feel. it just keeps building, compounding. until you take him just a little too far and retch. 'easy, easy.' kendall pulls back, his voice stern.

glancing up, he almost looks concerned. he scolds you. 'control yourself.'

you're pissed that it nearly sobers you up. 'shhh,' you hiss, swat his hand away from where it's landed on your cheek.

'okay, fine, if you fuckin' want it that bad.' his fingers fist the back of your head again.

immediately, you wrap your lips back around his cock. you use both hands to jerk him while you suck on his tip, bobbing your head and humming around him.

he gets quiet, and that's your cue. he's not great at using his words when he's about to come, but it's a good indication to keep up the rhythm you've built and not stop under any circumstances.

'uh-huh, that's-fuck!' ken makes sure he's buried in the back of your throat when he comes, hard, his hips stilling their movements, but he keeps your head in place with both his hands until he's sure you've swallowed everything he has to give you.

at some point, you pull away and slump against the back of the couch. your eyes are watering, your face feels impossibly hot, and your jaw aches. it's hard to see straight, so you cover your eyes with your hand.

'jesus,' kendall mutters your name.

you peek at him between your fingers to see him squat down. now he's on the same level as you. he moves your hand away from your face, a look of genuine curiosity etched in his features. you'd never blown him like that before. 'where'd that come from, sweetheart?'

'it's dumb,' you shake your head, a little embarrassed. 'i listened to this podcast...'

the corners of his eyes crinkle as he smiles, hand under your chin so you are forced to look at him. 'uh-huh?' he asks. 'at home all day fuckin' uh....taking notes on how to give me good head?'

'shut up,' you go to smack his head away, feeling a new warmth rise to your cheeks, but he grabs your wrist and hauls you against his chest, nose poking into your hair, lips on your cheek.

'is there, uh, anything else they had to say on there i might be interested in learning about?'

'potentially,' you answer. 'if you have all night...'

he laughs, a comforting rumble right into your ear. 'i do.'

[cowboycakes]

P and Q with Johnny and Gyro? 👀

DIRTY JOHNNY AND GYRO HEADCANONS.

✰ sextapes, nudes and bedroom volume

MINORS DNI (18+) warnings: includes a gyjo scenario. modern au. sending nudes & sexting. sextapes. mentions of masturbation. praise. voice kink stuff? light exhibitionism. wc: ~500 dirty a-z headcanon list (requests closed!)

P - Photography (are cameras allowed in the bedroom? do they send nudes? do they ask for nudes? would they ever record themselves having sex / being caught up in a sexual act?) 

JOHNNY:

he's too timid to send anything other than a tasteful booty pic or a mirror pic showing off his v-line with the top of his dick barely peeking out of his boxers. he might put on a lacy thong and send you a taste of it if you're lucky.

GYRO:

sends you pictures of his dick. all. the. time. he knows it's long and pretty. sometimes he'll just send you a picture of it while he's hard and laying in bed. or he'll send one of his veiny hand gripping his cock (because he knows his hands are hot, too.) or a full-body nude. or he may send a fap vid wit the sound on. no shame.

GYJO:

J & G send nudes to one another when they miss each other </3 just imagine johnny in public opening an unsuspecting snap from gyro and finding out the hard way that it wasn't just an unsuspecting snap at all. he'd rush to hide his phone screen and get all flushed and embarrassed, then he'd need to hurry to find somewhere more private to relieve himself. gyro would be shameless about getting nudes from johnny. he'd set that shit as his home screen lmao. as far as recordings go, gyro would try to convince johnny to make a sextape with him. johnny'd be a brat about it at first n make fun of gyro for even asking, but the idea would eventually grow to turn him on with some gentle persuasion from gyro."you're gonna look so pretty on camera, johnny. why don't we try it out just once, huh?"

Q - Quiet please (what’s the volume like in the bedroom? are they quiet? do they scream? do they like a loud partner? do they prefer if their partner is more soft spoken?)

JOHNNY:

super vocal. it's not necessarily on purpose, but he just can't hold it in :( he'll give you all kinds of little whimpers, whines, moans, and sobs. he'll mutter gibberish and stutter over his words when it all becomes too much. every sound he makes is gorgeous, though.

GYRO:

he's loud about praising you n he needs to let you know how good you feel. lets out a lot of low moans and grunts while he thrusts into you, getting louder as he fucks you harder. also, i wrote about it here but he slips into italian when he's about to cum <3

© cowboycakes.

note: thank you for the ask, anon. i'm so glad you wanted me to do these for them separately AND together. writing this was a treat. i know this took awhile so thank you for your patience.

[cooloddball]

hihi it's me again. the anon who agreed with you with who fell first and who fell harder haha, maybe i should make a name for myself

i've just been reading some textposts and i started thinking about the different ways lestappen shows affection with each other and whatnot. now i'm here in your inbox bc i really have no idea where to put this out lmao. because it really is just so them when it comes to displaying emotion so i guess buckle up and drive with me

as we all witnessed, especially more recently, max is definitively the initiator. the one who loves with everything he has. the one that feels things deeply and has nowhere to put it but in the world itseld. the one who constantly reaches out and finds charles and just corners him to talk to, to say congratulations, to just maxplain without care. bright eyes and a brighter smile, he just always finds charles to talk about anything. it's ridiculous, honestly. prime example, the entirety of the monaco 2024 gp weekend. max has been doing nothing but drop really obvious hints that the only one he'd love to hear on the top step is the italian national anthem? yes, this could be due to max liking ferrari as his only opponent on the field, but it's just so clear which of the two drivers he favours more heavily. yes, max likes carlos. yes, max and carlos have a history. but has max ever constantly walked up to him and squeeze the back of his neck twice to grab his attention and sidle off with a smile? no? don't think so. the fact he does it with consistency too — max constantly grabs charles' attention this way around monaco too, back in 2022 as well. (and i believe bahrain 2022 too? istg max) and here in monaco, the year 2024, he does it twice, once to congratulate him on pole with a run-and-gun tactic, literally being on charles' left only to clasp hands on charles' right bc max was just zooming across the media pen — the other is when the glorious lestappen hug happens (talking about this hug deserves another post in its own right). max just goes for it because it's easy, natural, and just right. as if it makes sense to gravitate towards your rival, as if it always has and always will be the same.

max is definitely more physical, literally talks with his hands i getchu, when it comes to interactions. the constant handholding (what is the sportsman clasp or dap if not a way to hold the hands of your rivals), the touches, the way max holds him on top of the podium, fingers curled around red waists, pressing light, pressing hard, enough to make an impression, enough to make it last (podium waist holding also deserves its own post good lord)... it just adds up

charles is definitely more discreet as mentioned before. he's more coy about it, too. teasing. likes to bully others with love. when charles gave max the secret santa gift and dedicated it to his biggest fan and when i tell you he ain't wrong — have you seen max's reaction? all he does is grin and laugh about, doesn't even deny it. just says, "oh that's a nice one" as if he likes playing the f1 games like come on. he was so smiley and giggly and it's so obvious. like they share the same sense of humour for sure, to be able to have a laugh about the absurdity of being gifted an f1 game while you are a driver while your rival's face is plastered all over it, but the fact that max just accepts the title of biggest fan? c'mon. charles knows how to play around with people and it's so evident in how max reacts afterwards,, i know charles is charming but. please standup max i beg.

charles clearly allows max to do whatever he wants with him, being a willing recipient to all the maxplaining. i don't quite remember which gp this is, maybe jeddah? where the commentators willing pointed out that they just immediately go into debrief soon as qualifying or the race is over? yeah. that. charles just lets him do that, he has to like going over their stuff together to the point where the commentators are just casually pointing it out like they're teasing them. like honestly they love yapping to each other and it's why we got the terms maxplaining and leclerifying in the first place. and to learn that it's been a thing they've been doing since they were kids?? las vegas 2023 you were too good to me ily

charles loves in the quiet moments, in the way he watches them with grace and adoration, loving everything they do because it will always be their traits to love. whenever someone is at the center of attention, it's the gentle smiles, a soft curl upwards — how his eyes crinkle around the edges, how green his eyes shine, how every second he stares is worth its time in gold; charles just loves to observe and have quality time together, only ever being physical when his friends and loved ones crop up. and i dare say max is finally beginning to be on the list where charles can be easygoing around him even outside the paddock

this is such a mess. im not sorry. i still have more thoughts, more details. im going to scream

my love, my darling, my precious do you know how much i love you sharing your thoughts with me? honestly this ask is chef’s kiss 😘 and i wish i could pin it on the wall or something.

it’s true max is not shy to show affection and proclaim it while charles loves in the quiet moments. you have their dynamic down to a science. no, i’m not biased because we share the same sentiments

please share your thoughts on the hug and the chaist grabbing and how max pulls Charles closer to him (never does it with anyone else) and then gently pats him before they part ways like 🧐 …

[crooked-jes]

wip wednesday :)

thanks for tagging me, @urmomsonfire!!!! <3<3<3

here's a little snippet from my fake relationship fic. it's long as hell (sorry) but it's my beloved excerpt and i'm sticking a big "made with love" sign onto it. enjoy!

Bradley takes the initiative of cleaning after breakfast while Hangman is scrolling through his phone, still at the dining table. He washes all the dishes and wipes the counter clean, and then the still unpacked tote bag catches his attention, so he steals a quick glance inside. There are some basic ingredients in the bag and Bradley can’t help his curiosity, so he asks,  “What are you gonna cook?” “Pasta,” Hangman answers, and when Bradley turns around, he’s still looking at his phone. “There’s no pasta in the bag, though. Aaand,” he prolongs the vowel and hesitates for a second, “I might’ve forgotten to restock,” Bradley finishes, a little embarrassed, and scratches the back of his head. Hangman’s eyes shoot up in his direction. “I’m not serving my Italian family store-bought pasta.” Bradley blinks.  “So what, you’re gonna make it from scratch?” “Yes?” Hangman says like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. They both stare at each other like the other one has lost his mind before Bradley finally raises a brow and cracks a smile. “Nat is never gonna believe it,” he says before grabbing his phone from where it's lying next to the coffee machine and opening the message box. That seems to spur Hangman into action because he suddenly stands up, the chair legs scratching on the wooden floor, and he’s at Bradley’s side in the blink of an eye. “You’re not texting Phoenix about this, you dick,” he grumbles and tries to take the phone out of Bradley’s hands, but Bradley puts it out of Hangman’s reach. “Oh, I’m totally texting Phoenix about it,” Bradley says and extends his arms even farther, trying to type while also holding his phone up. He’s halfway through the message when he feels a punch right to his gut, fairly light but strong enough to make him wince and bend in half, and soon the phone is out of his hands and Bradley pouts, though he’s not really upset about the loss. “You’re a buzzkill, Hangman.” “Jake.” “What?” Bradley furrows his brows, confused. “Jake. You weren’t gonna call me by my callsign in front of my mother, were you, Bradley?” He quirks a brow. There's a ghost of an amused smile on his lips, and Bradley blinks. “No? Of course I wasn’t.” He tries to sound convincing, but Hangman—Jake doesn’t seem to buy it, his eyes all-knowing. It’s not like Bradley has never thought of Jake as Jake. There was a time in the past when he’d let himself do that, back when Jake wasn’t Hangman yet and Bradley wasn’t Rooster, back when their egos hadn’t yet led them to rivalry so big that any kind of truce or friendship was out of the question. It all changed after the mission, but… it was just easier this way—calling him Hangman. It put some distance between them, allowed Bradley to breathe. Helped him not to feel like he was so close to the flame that he could get burnt at any second if he let his focus slip. So “Hangman” it was. Until now, apparently. Jake clears his throat. His voice is confident and steady when he speaks, but his gaze is fixed on the counter before him, not meeting Bradley’s. Instead, they are trained on the bag handles he's fiddling with. “Want me to teach you?” It’s an olive branch, one of the many they have offered each other in recent months. Bradley takes it without hesitation. “Sure.”

i'm tagging @whistler-king, @acetonitril, @cottagecori, @jaggedstartalk, @karlmschwartz, @hangmanbradshaw, @indybob, @icezansky and everyone who wants to join <3 go wild with it

[emeritus-fuckers]

I've been debating sharing this, but my pup was diagnosed with cancer on Halloween and put to sleep on the seventh of Dec. I was wondering if you could do a piece with the Papa's/ghouls offering support for their darling?

So sorry for your loss, hope this helps a little x - Nyx

I feel your pain, dude. Lost my cat to cancer and cried hysterically for two days. Take your time to heal. I'm here for ya. - Nosferatu

Ghost characters comforting their s/o after the loss of a pet

Includes: Primo, Secondo. Terzo (drabble), Copia, Old Nihil, Swiss (drabble), Sodo, Mountain and Cumulus.

Primo

He just knows something is wrong before you even get a chance to tell him.

You get home and are instantly greeted by the calming smell of incense mixed in with tea. You smile to yourself when you see the steaming teapot on the table, two cups out beside it.

Primo is sat on the sofa and pats the spot next to him. His expression is one of total understanding. He waits until you are settled before he pours the tea. "You can talk to me caro, whatever you need." He wraps a blanket round you and softly kisses your forehead.

He lets you talk for as long as you need, offering reassurances where he can. You talk about all your happy memories and he also allows you to cry. Holding you close to him. There is something so comofrting about him that it's okay you can let it all out.

That night he holds you close to him and tells you stories about his day in the garden to take your mind off things. His voice is calming and you drift into a peaceful sleep. These tales often involvle the antics of the Ghouls or Terzo sneaking in to try and steal some roses for his latest lover. (Terzo only needs to ask Primo but apparently trying to sneak past his brother is more fun).

Secondo

He takes you into his arms as soon as he sees you. He know something is wrong.

He immediately takes you into his arms and just lets you cry, muttering soft Italians against your head and rocking back and forth softly.

Gently leads you to the bedroom and put's on your favorite movie or show, and just holds you. Making sure you're okay, or as okay as you could be.

Will let you scream or hit his chest, or will hold you so tight that your spine pops.

Makes homemade ice creams and treats, and pulls you closer, even if you cannot get closer. He just wants you to be okay. He hates seeing you cry.

Will get you a hyper realistic plushie of your pet, and makes sure that it's in your arms for the entire time.

Terzo

Terzo greeted you as you walked into his office with a warm smile and affectionate kiss to the cheek. Though when he noticed you seemed upset, they held your jaw tenderly.

“Cara Mia…what’s troubling you so?”

They hold you as long as you need while you talk, rubbing your back and kissing your forehead tenderly. Drying your tears and listening to fond memories of your pup. Sad that you lost such an important companion.

“I am very sorry you lost such an important friend amore. We will make a little remembrance altar when you are up to it. Give such a loyal friend a proper service.”

Once you feel a bit better, he’ll guide you to the bath. Filling it with your favourite scent of bubble bath and lighting your favourite candles. Helping wash your hair and relax you after the stressful day.

Once back in the bed, they’ll give you a massage and let you choose how you both spend the rest of the evening. Holding you close the entire time unless you need anything. Then he’ll spring up and hurry to get it.

You deserve the world, he will strive to give a small part of it to you during this hard time.

Copia

Copia himself is just comforting, you want nothing more than to get home and fall into his arms. You race through the corridors before finally burting into his rooms. He is straight over to you. "Amore, what is wrong, please tell me sì?" When you tell him he pulls you into a tight hug "I am so sorry, but Papa is here for you okay?"

He himself isn't really sure what he can do to help, he wants to help so badly but he is afraid he will do the wrong thing. So he does what used to cheer him up and make him feel safe.

He sits you down and brings you a hot chocolate before sitting next to you and just holding you. The rats also sense something is wrong and they curl up around you two. Some on your lap, your shoulders and one even attempts to sit on your head. Copia catches him when he falls with a squeak, and finally you smile a little.

You can just feel the love from all of them, you are wanted here and you belong. You don't have to pretend to be okay you can just be.

Copia offers to stay up as late as you need, or you can just sleep now in his arms if you want. If you are staying up he'll get his film collection out and put whatever you want on. He'll make popcorn, from scratch. It's literally the most amazing thing you've ever tasted and he can make whatever flavour you want, tonight it's your favourite.

Old Nihil

As oblivious as he often is, he notices you being upset. And he is not fond of that. His sweet darling upset? Absolutely not.

He wants to see you happy! He wants to see you smile!

So he asks you what happened, offering you a shoulder to cry on.

This man has really nice arms, he's gonna hold you in them as love as you need, listening to you weep, rant or even scream if you need.

He doesn't offer solutions, because it doesn't seem like that's what you need at the moment.

Offers you his oxygen machine if you lose breath for whatever reason.

Tries cheering you up with your favorite movie or a private saxophone concert.

Or you can just nap together. Whatever you want.

After you take some time to heal, he might offer to get you a new puppy.

He's gonna be there for you and do the best he can, even at his age.

Swiss

You come home and slowly open the door, Swiss jumps up from the sofa. "Hello my beloved agent of chaos." He can't help but smile at the sight of you, his tail swishing. But then his expression turns more srious, concerned. "what's wrong?" he asks as he runs over to you and picks you up bridal style.

His embrace immediatly makes you feel safe and loved. As you tell him what had happpened, he says softly "Oh...I see, I am so sorry my love." While he tries to think of a solution, he just wants to see you happy again.

Xey carries you through to the bedroom and lays you on the bed. Then xey lies next to you and cuddles you. Xey'll hold you for as long as you need, every now and then xey offers you his vape. The smell of watermelon filling the room, settling over you like a warm comforting blanket.

His first idea is to try and distract you. Xey tell daft jokes and tries to make you smile. But you need so he lies back down holding you and listens, for as long as you need. He does his best to get you to focus on all the happy memories you have with your pup.

His cuddles are just perfect, the most comforting and loving cuddles ever. Xey also kisses you all over, anything it can to help. Once you've cheered up a little he'll start telling dumb jokes or making a fool out of himself just to see you smile. But if that doesn't help just let him know what you need and he will do it.

Sodo

His first reaction is to nuzzle you.

He just sorta lays on top of you for a while and waits for you to speak.

He doesn't want to pressure you, so he just lays there, letting you enjoy your favorite heated blanket.

You open up eventually, telling him about everything that happened.

He offers to let you do absolutely anything you want to his hair.

He pretty much agrees to become your doll for the evening, letting you dress him up, mess with his hair, do his make-up, everything.

You end up having a sleepover, watching shitty horror flicks and eating ice cream together in comfy pjs.

And your warm twink cuddling your worries away.

Somehow you end up with a small hell hound a few weeks later.

Mountain

He refuses to let you go.

Keeps you in his arms and is holding you the entire time, mumbling about how he's here for you.

Wont let you be alone for even one moment, hugging you tight the entire time. Will make you snacks and bake for you.

Offers to braid or brush your hair, and invites you into the garden and green house.

Shitty romance movies and matching pj's.

All the pasrreys you could ever want, and all the forehead kisses. You can cry, scream, or just sit there. Whatever makes you happy.

You end up with a hyper realistic painting of your pet.

Cumulus

She keeps you in her arms the entire time, hugging you tightly.

Sings you lullabies or just hums to help you feel better.

She wants everything to be better for you, no matter what.

She just loves you a lot. And she remembers how happy your pet made you.

Offers to get you a plushie of said pet. Or a tattoo, if you're up for it.

She lets you talk about all the happy moments with your pet. All the cute things.

You're free to use her as a pillow.

She makes you an album with your pet's pictures, with a picture of a new pet on the last page.

"I thought you'd feel good with a new tiny friend."

~

Primo, Copia and Swiss written by Nyx.

Secondo and Mountain written by Zenith/Jasper.

Terzo written by Death.

Old Nihil, Sodo and Cumulus written by Nosferatu.

Taglist: @charlie-is-a-menace @copias-fluffy-asscheeks @randodummy @tuttifuckinfruttifriday @calliedion-dungeon @randominstake @callmeicaro @nuntia @dio-niisio @mamacarlyle @firefirevampire @mybotanicaldemise @emo-mess @natoncesaid @sirlsplayland @ouijaboardemo @lightbluuestars @igodownjustlikeholymary @thatoddboy @strawberriiblossoms @dark-angel-is-back @choco-meow69 @mybotanicaldemise @bloodmoon-bites

[bellof]

In the Italian spring of 1979, Ayrton wrote a letter to his former kart trainer and great friend, Lucio Pascual Gascón, known as "Tchê". In it, the teenage Ayrton shows his gratitude to his friend and his obsession with the technical details of the vehicle he drove. Ayrton was preparing himself for his second world kart championship, which he considered the most important moment of his life. In the letter to Tchê, Ayrton also refers to his great rival at the time, the englishman Terry Fullerton.

Translation of the letter:

Milan, September 16, 1979. My great friend Tchê,

As you see, time flies and I've been here for over half a month now with incredible anxiety because the most important moment of my life is approaching and you know how important it is.

You're someone who has an incredible responsibility in my life because while my father got me into the karting world, it was you who really put me on the right path, who taught me almost everything I know, who helped me and was there for me in every moment, the person who got me where I am and is most responsible for my successes. I can't express how grateful I am to you, but the truth is, you've earned a great affection and fondness from me because you're an extraordinary person to whom I'm very attached. You can believe in all of this because it's the most sincere thing I have to tell you, "espanholo".

Things are really heating up here because Fullerton is being very arrogant, and both Angelo and Aquilles are about to explode with the englishman, all because I've integrated very well with the Italians, and naturally, the englishman is biting himself with jealousy, but everything is fine with me.

[The brothers Angelo and Achille Parrilla were the owners of the Parrilla team, which manufactured the karts raced by Senna and Fullerton]

After tomorrow (18), we will depart by plane for Estoril, Portugal, but the training sessions will only be on Tuesday and Wednesday, with the schedule and layout of everything being identical to last year. To give you a good idea of everything, just remember how it was all last year, as they practically copied the regulations from last year.

I attended three training sessions in Parma because the engines had a terrible problem with the rings, which were consuming themselves, and everything ended up being resolved by changing the crankshaft balancing, that is, aluminum was replaced by nylon like the Parilla from the past and also lightened that very strong connecting rod that you know. With this, the vibration of the engines decreased significantly and the problem of engine vibration was solved.

As for tires, some sets of special tires arrived from Bridgestone for each heat; regarding the chassis, it is the same model as last year with a few changes in the caster and wheelbase of 1m5cm, as Estoril seems to be very fast and, considering that the tires allow an even higher speed, it becomes necessary to increase the wheelbase. We are just a little confused with carburetors because that swiss who manufactures them is making a big mystery to sell us a few carburetors, which are of vital importance (you know well and I don't need to explain).

Well, I hope there have been news in the newspapers, try to buy O Estado de S. Paulo, as I am providing direct news by phone to this newspaper.

Hugs,

Ayrton.

Note: The photo and the following letter from Ayrton have no connection.

[unnervinglyferal]

List of European countries and why I hate them, in alphabetical order:

Albania - I've never heard fucking anything about the people here, do you people even do anything save for having beef with everyone else in the Balkans. Fuck you.

Andorra - I don't think this place is even a real country. It's like the size of my dick. Fuck you.

Austria - You know what you did. Fuck you.

Belarus - Sucking Russia's dick just for the novelty of getting to be featured in their ongoing cringe compilation. An utter embarrassment. Fuck you.

Belgium - If there's two things I hate, it's colonialist brutality and the fucking smurfs. Fuck you.

Bosnia and Herzegovina - Despite all the rest of their shitshow, at least the rest of the Balkans can at least agree whether they're one country or two countries. Make up your minds. Fuck you.

Bulgaria - The best thing you've got going on is the yoghurt and even that isn't as good as the greek ones. Fuck you.

Croatia - Out of all the countries in Europe whose existence I had literally forgot about, this is the oldest and the largest. How do you trace your history back to the fucking antiquity and only barely seem to exist at all? Fuck you.

Cyprus - I actually had to google to check that Cyprus isn't just a part of Greece, but apparently you gained independence from the UK in 1960? How the fuck are you in Europe and get colonized by Europe. Fuck you.

Czech Republic - Your main export is utterly unpronounceable last names. There's a reason why you can't shouldn't be allowed to put five consonants in a row. Fuck you.

Denmark - Annoyingly smug golden retriever-ass mushy-faced fucks. If I pressed my open palm into a dane's face, it would ooze through my fingers because these mushy fucks don't have bones.

Estonia - The bitter, prettier and smarter sister to Finland who is passive-aggressively better at everything but still doesn't get the same attention. Finns show up to your shores to raid the booze stores, vomit on everything, and leave, and you just let them. Fuck you.

Finland - An entire nation of spoiled ivory tower whiners who just will not understand how good they have it. The entire country would die out by mass suicide if things ever got half as bad as they are in the rest of the world. Fuck you.

France - The only reason why the french aren't known as an equal mass of colonialist brutes as the brits are is the language barrier. They're just as stupid but you'll never know what they're thinking because they consider learning another language to be beneath them. Fuck you.

Georgia - The americans stole your name and put it on a state and you just fucking let them. Now we have to hear about their utter lack of understanding of geography every single time some shit happens at your borders. Fuck you.

Germany - I'm jewish. And looking at your involvement in Israel, I'm starting to think you people don't really even care that much whose side you're on, if there's a genocide happening anywhere, you just like to be included. Fuck you.

Greece - You have like 4000 years of recorded history verifying that you've spent that entire time thinking you're smarter and prettier than anyone else in the whole world. You specifically invented the word hubris to describe yourselves. Fuck you.

Hungary - I'm pretty sure that you guys are the reason why people think all of Europe is a backwards shithole. Fuck you.

Iceland - The only reason you people can dedicate all of your time in inbreeding ponies and people is because your climate is so miserable that nobody wants to move there. Fuck you.

Ireland - Your climate is just as wet and miserable as Iceland, but you still got colonized by the english. Fuck you.

Italy - I've never met an italian who was capable of doing anything in a punctual and organized way. Imagining a whole country being run by italians seems impossible. Like having 15 cats successfully operating a tank. Fuck you.

Kosovo - What the fuck even is the Balkans. You guys don't even have your own language. Fuck you.

Latvia - Like Estonia without any of the good parts. Fuck you.

Liechtenstein - This isn't even a real country, this is just the quarantine containment where Switzerland ships the people who are too annoying for Switzerland. Fuck you.

Lithuania - The most boring of the Baltics. Fuck you.

Luxembourg - There is no way this place is fucking real. The fuck do you mean your citizens are called luxembourgers. The fuck do you mean your official language is luxembourgish. What the fuck is any of this. Fuck you.

Malta - Same thing as Liechtenstein, but for all surrounding countries around the Mediterranean sea. Fuck you.

Moldova - How and why is there a tiny-ass country the size of my dick on the border of the Balkans. How does this exist. Fuck you.

Monaco - This isn't a real country, it's a french ploy for tax evasion. Fuck you.

Montenegro - Oh won't you look at that, another teeny tiny Balkan country. Montenegrin is the stupidest name I've ever heard for a language, that sounds like a comedy bit. Fuck you.

Netherlands - Fuck your weed and fuck your bicycles. Fuck you.

North Macedonia - This also feels like a country they just made up just to make the list of European countries longer. Fuck you.

Norway - Fuck your oil and fuck you.

Poland - Your main export is far right politics and porn-addicted communist furry femboys. Fuck you.

Portugal - Spain but a little bit to the left. The only way to tell the spanish and the portugese apart is by whether they get mad when you call them spanish. Fuck you.

Romania - Get your fucking shit together. Fuck you.

Russia - Fuck you.

San Marino - Italy has two stupid little city-states as pets. This one is the one I hate less because it only contains tax evaders.

Serbia - The only thing I know about Serbia is A Serbian Film. Fuck that film and fuck you for making me remember it.

Slovakia - The wettest, saddest slavs of all the slavs of Europe. Fuck you.

Slovenia - Slovene is the second-stupidest name I've ever heard for a language. Fuck you.

Spain - I have no idea how the fuck a people who are as disorganized as italians managed to also be as competent as france and britain at colonialism. Fuck you.

Sweden - As smug and mushy as danes and as inbred as icelanders. Fuck you.

Switzerland - You know what you did. And continue doing. Fuck you.

Ukraine - You wouldn't be in this fucking situation if you hadn't trusted Soviet Union's pinky promise to never invade. A russian's promise is not worth the oxygen it wastes. You guys are cool but nonetheless, fuck you.

United Kingdom - Fuck you smug bastards for everything.

Vatican City - Italy has two stupid little city-states as pets. This one is the one I hate more because it contains the pope. Fuck you.

[copperbadge]

Okay but can the royal family be called to serve jury duty?

We were talking about this in comments briefly! I've been thinking about it since.

I think the discussion is predicated on the idea that Askazer-Shivadlakia even has trial by jury. France apparently only has jury trial for felony level crimes, while Italy doesn't use juries at all (they have a council of judges). Askazer-Shivadlakia has a number of cultures tugging on it, but given they speak English due to an occupation, probably they have a jury trial format of some kind. Perhaps with only five or nine jurors (Italian Judges Style) instead of twelve. In any case, let's assume they do.

Alanna and Jerry aren't elected or immediate family, they have paid staff positions -- although this made me think that Michaelis and Miranda offered Alanna the title of "princess" as a teen, because of her close relationship to them and lack of parents, although she probably didn't really need it, given her grandparents. Anyway, let's also put Jes in this category of "not royal", because they hold no official title or staff position but have a clear association. Michaelis and Noah are Royals but Michaelis is retired and Noah is appointed, so they have similar status to staff. Eddie, too, is "royal but not elected" and his main function is paid staff much like Al and Jerry. So really it's just Gregory who might legally be exempt. In the US, at least, elected officials at the federal level are. So let's presume that getting elected to king exempts you from jury service until you leave office.

Michaelis, Eddie, and Noah (once he turns eighteen) could be summoned to appear, but would immediately be disqualified from criminal cases because they're affiliated with the Crown and could be argued to have an unconscious bias. What we were discussing in comments was in part my thought that Michaelis, who became king (and thus disqualified) very young and ruled most of his life, would be rather excited for a novel civil service experience, and disappointed when he was dismissed.

I think pretty much any of the royal family except Gregory would be qualified to serve, and allowed to in a civil case (Jerry, Alanna, and Jes would also be fine in a criminal case). Jerry and Al are famous-ish as the local nobility, Jes is a famous journalist, and Michaelis, Noah, and Eddie are royals, but I did a bit of research and I guess celebrities aren't given any kind of special exemption usually. And it's canonical that the Shivadh find celebrities amusing at best, so I doubt their presence on a jury would even be particularly disruptive. So yeah, I could see the royal family serving jury duty.

But my brain is a bit sidelong, so while it would be entertaining to write that story, I was thinking more about...hearings, court protocols, the hierarchical structure of the courtroom, and the weird way in which everyone in a court is pushed into a very specific role. I'll probably write more about that in a general sense later, but where it took me was the idea that Gregory, as a king who has a parliament he has to obey but also certain specific unilateral power, might hold something like a quarterly "King's Boon" session ala the Big Block Of Cheese Day from the West Wing.

Some period of time, every few months, he basically holds open office and meets with people who are struggling to get heard in other ways -- people who want to suggest new laws, or want state funding for something, or need help untangling some bureaucratic issue. One person might have an idea for a law but not the legal training to write it up; Gregory might put them in touch with Palace legal, who can help them draft it for presentation to Parliament. Someone else might be having trouble with some kind of bank issue, Gregory can call up the bank and be like "Hey I'm the king and I'm here with one of your clients, let's get this solved before I audit you." When the recording studio collapses at the start of Infinite Jes and Michaelis says "I'm going to have a word with the government about building inspections", if he wasn't the former king he might take that kind of issue to the King's Boon. Two ordinary people who are arguing about some issue but don't want to take it to the courts might ask Gregory to decide the matter for them. Could be who owns the tree in their mutual front yard, could be some kind of philosophical argument they've got a bet about and they're willing to let Gregory rule on it (this is also very Talmudic, the idea of finding a Sage to figure your shit out for you).

And the nice thing is, much like in the West Wing, this is something Royals and palace staff would participate in -- so when Michaelis was king, he and Miranda would both participate (as would Eitan, as Well Connected Nobility); eventually Gregory as prince and then crown prince would participate as part of his training. It's basically "you, too, have a friend in high places" week in the Palace.

So you've got, say, King's Boon Week, where you get a number, show up on your appointed day, and hang out in the ballroom, which has been converted to a waiting room with nice chairs and snacks (presumably people who can't make it in person can get a Zoom call set up). You wait to be called, and you might meet with Gregory, but you also might meet with Eddie, Michaelis, Alanna, or Jerry. Noah would also participate but for a few years he'd be sitting in with Michaelis as training. Eddie would sit in with Gregory for a year or so after officially becoming King Consort, until he had a more thorough grasp of things. I have a feeling Jes would spend the time circulating and interviewing people for a quarterly podcast. :D

That just seems like a cool thing that is possible to achieve given the size and informality of the country, and would make I think potentially a more interesting story.

I mean. Just imagine. You're having trouble getting the permits all in order for the nightclub you want to open, and you're hoping to get Lady Alanna because you know she's got every bureaucratic "in" it's possible to have. But you groan a bit because you draw Duke Gerald, who...sure he's nice, but you've heard he's a daft scatterbrain. But then you meet with him and he goes through your business plan and is like "This is really solid. Let me make a call," and while you're gaping at him he calls a friend in Legal, gets your paperwork in order, phones a guy he knows who has a vacant building that you can lease on the cheap for the first year or two, and then looks you dead in the eye and says, "Do you need investors? I'd take a thirty percent stake in this," and you wander back into the waiting room, dazed, to inform your business partner that you've struck a deal for each of you to sell 15% of the nightclub to His Grace the Duke of Shivadlakia.

Now THAT'S a fun story. :D

(Eddie is like "Just herd anyone who wants to open a restaurant into my office," and the quality of the food in Fons-Askaz, already pretty good, shoots up a notch that year.)

[fimproda]

Elucien Week 2024 - Day 7: Tension/Healing

Read Splendor Solis on AO3

You little foxes at @elucienweekofficial knew exactly what you were doing when you chose to celebrate Elucien in the summer. And in the same week as my birthday, no less.

It seems fit, then, that I was able to overcome my almost one-year-long slump by writing an Elucien OS set in the Day Court.

For anyone who should stumble upon this post before reading Splendor Solis, stop now and open AO3, then come back here; I'll include a link in the end notes.

To those of you who have already read it, please hit the button that will show you the entire post and let me yap a little about what this story means and how it relates to Under the Stars.

First things first: the title. Splendor Solis literally means "The Splendor of the Sun" and refers to an omonymous alchemical text from the 16th century. I found out about it when I was researching the title of my upcoming Elucien longfic, which I eventually named Sol niger, "black sun". Since Splendor Solis is an illuminated manuscript, there's a handy little image of the black sun that suits this whole vibe just fine:

And also, you know, Day Court = sun. It's as simple as that.

Another Latin name in the story is Stella Maris, which is an epithet attributed to the Virgin Mary and means "Star of the Sea", referring to Her protection over fisherman and sailors.

(I'm pretty sure the church near the beach I'm writing this post from is dedicated to Maria Stella Maris, but I'm too lazy to check.)

In my fanon, Stella Maris is the name of the High Lord's palace in the capital of the Day Court. More on this in Sol niger — which, to be honest, could be said about the whole story.

Speaking of which, the reason why Lucien and Elain have a dog named Astra (derived from aster, "star" in Ancient Greek) will also be explained in Sol niger, as well as why Elain and Lucien had to go to the Day Court and how Eris finally came to be High Lord of Autumn.

Laoise — an Irish name pronounced "Lee-sha" — is, of course, the Lady of the Autumn Court. I chose Irish names for every unnamed Vanserra, since the Autumn Court is Irish/English-coded in my mind. Don't ask me why.

Splendor Solis is set, more or less, a decade after the events narrated in Sol niger. This timeline has allowed me to write about Elain and Lucien as an established couple, who have already overcome any and all major obstacles in their relationship and have, in one word, healed. Therefore, I think it's a fitting story for Day 7 of Elucien Week, even if it's more an introspective/worldbuilding piece more than something centered on Elucien themselves.

I put together every post I made about Sol niger under this link, if you're curious and would like to know more; I already had many occasion to talk about the Mediterranean elements (especially Italian, since I'm Italian myself) I decided to include in the story and use as basis for my worldbuilding.

Thank you so much for reading thus far! I'd love to hear your thoughts about all this 🥰