#It doesn’t really bother me unless it’s very obvious/regionally specific

[bouwrites]

Fire Emblem: Nationality Adjectives

Okay, okay, so, I really should have done this before getting 50 chapters into a massive 3H fic, but instead I just did what felt right and struggled around ever using an adjective for Brigid people/things because, uh... I couldn’t figure it out. Hence doing the work now.

Anyway, quick preamble for clarity’s sake, nationality adjectives are just the adjectives used to refer to something or someone from a certain place. Id est, French is to France, Japanese is to Japan, or even more broadly, European is to Europe.

For use in fanfic, I’m attempting, mostly by looking at official real-world nationality adjectives (in my language, ofc) to figure out the correct* form the adjective (and noun!) would take for regions within the world of Fire Emblem: Three Houses.

*By correct, I mean the options that don’t sound horrible.

Please add your two cents, if you have any. Please. I’m actually begging. Anyway, under the read more because idk how long this is going to get.

Let’s start with the obvious. Some are canon within the game’s world, and thus whether real-world conventions apply or not doesn’t matter. So here’s the small list of Location : Adjective : Noun* in canon that I can come up with off the top of my head.

*A missing noun denotes that the noun is the same as the adjective.

Note: When I say “in canon” I mean it’s used to refer to at least one of the adjective/noun. With one exception, I don’t believe many will argue that they make sense as both, so I simply treat them as both. (Mostly because I can’t be bothered to comb through the entire game’s script picking out where what is used as nouns or adjectives.)

Abyss : Abyssian Adrestia : Adrestian Agartha : Agarthan Almyra : Almyran Dagda : Dagdan (also the name of their language) Duscur : ??? : Duscur Nabatea : Nabatean

Duscur, the only “non-standard” one, can also probably be used as the adjective, but all canon instances I managed to find in Dedue’s support logs were used as the noun. I would be happy to use Duscur as an adjective, and thus won’t explore it here, but I’m fully ready to accept arguments against it.

In a similar vein, but not quite as versatile as proper nationality adjectives, both the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus and the Leicester Alliance, to my memory, exclusively use “Kingdom” and “Alliance” in sentences where the possessive is necessary. (i.e. Fhirdiad, the Kingdom capital)

Now, let’s try to make some proper adjectives for both Faerghus and Leicester, as well as Brigid, Albinea, Morfis, Sreng, and Fódlan.

Note: If any of those locations have canon adjectives/nouns, please let me know! Also if I’m missing any locations.

(I know small-scale locations like cities/territories within each state also don’t have adjectives, but no one canonically seems to be very patriotic on that scale and identify with the broader term instead, so I’m not concerned with those. Feel free to add them if you want, though!)

The only super obvious one is Albinea : Albinean, and I’m pretty confident that no one will contest that even without diving in to real-world examples to compare what form the adjective should take.

From there, we’ll start with the most relevant and go outwards. Starting with Fódlan.

Note: I’m using this resource for the right adjectives/nouns for nationalities, so if I make a sweeping statement like “no country” or something of the like, what I’m referring to is specifically what is contained within that list.

Fódlan:

In-game, Dedue actually says, “...because I was unfamiliar with Fódlan speech.” Which surprisingly doesn’t tell us the name of Fódlan’s language, but rather says that “Fódlan” is the (or a) canon adjective.

That gives us Fódlan : Fódlan : ??? (Fódlan? In the same form as Duscur, perhaps.)

That said, I just... don’t really prefer it. So I’m looking for alternatives. My preferred form? Iceland. Iceland : Icelandic : Icelander, giving us Fódlan : Fódlandic : Fódlander. Now, Fódlan obviously doesn’t end with a “-d” but also, while many countries/regions end with “-an” none end with “-lan” and I, personally, just like the sound of Fódlander, even as the adjective. In fact, within my own in-progress fic right now, I currently have it as simply Fódlan : Fódlander, with no difference between the adj. and noun.

Looking at examples with “-an” endings to their region, we have Iran : Iranian, Japan : Japanese, or Pakistan : Pakistani to give us either Fódlanian, Fódlanese, or Fódlani. I’ve seen the latter two in fics before, but of the set prefer Fódlani myself.

And just for fun, most “-land” regions actually don’t use the “-lander” ending. Iceland is special that way, presumably because they didn’t want to call themselves Ices. Instead, it’s in the form of Poland : Polish : Pole, which, if we apply to Fódlan, would give us Fódlan : Fódlish : Fód which I would never dream of actually using, but does make me laugh.

Conclusion: This section is just my personal best options, in no particular order, laid out in a less cluttered format.

Fódlan : Fódlani Fódlan : Fódlandic : Fódlander Fódlan : Fódlander (No real-world basis, I just like it this way.)

Faerghus:

To my knowledge, the only countries that end in “-s” at all are Belarus and Honduras, so let’s just use those, and throw in Paris for fun. This will be shorter because we just don’t have much to work with, and I think the “best” form is a lot easier to agree on, anyway.

So, first option, Belarus : Belarusian which gives us Faerghus : Farghusian. Which works. There’s nothing wrong with it. But I’m not a big fan just because I prefer the next option so much more.

Interestingly, this is one I’ve seen in fanfic before, so it’s something currently in use by the community, at least to some extent. That is, Honduras : Honduran giving us Faerghus : Faerghan. Something about Faerghan just sounds right to my (American) ear, and again, I’ve seen it used in fanfic before. Honestly, it sounds so right that I’m not entirely convinced it’s not actual canon, but I also can’t recall it actually being used in canon, so... eh.

Conclusion: Just use Faerghus : Faerghan, it’s not that hard a conclusion to reach tbh. Unless you just like something else, I guess.

Leicester:

This is a problem for the simple fact that while there is an actual county in Britain called Leicestershire (and one called Gloucestershire), unless the British are a lot different from us Americans and they aren’t putting this information online, no one actually identifies anything by county.

Combined with the fact that the only countries that end in “-r” are Equador, El Salvador, and Madagascar, and I’m pretty sure any accurate comparison would need at least the “-ter” ending, this is going to be mostly just making up what feels right to me.

But for science, let’s go ahead and use those three for their conventions anyway, shall we?

Equador : Equadorian would give us Leicester : Leicesterian. Then we have El Salvador : Salvadoran to give us the slightly sillier Leicesteran. (I cannot not hear Listerine, lol.)

Alternatively, and this is a bold move, we could use Madagascar : Madagasy, which I frankly do not even know how to translate to Leicester because that form just doesn’t work with anything lacking the “-scar” ending, and I’m trying to compare them based on the “-r” alone. Still, I suppose with some finagling we can come to Leicester : Leicesy, or somewhat more sensibly Leicesty which is... surprisingly not horrible, but a zesty choice nonetheless.

On a more serious note, I’ve been using Leicester : Leicester : Leicesterman/woman because it’s just about the only thing I’ve thought of that doesn’t sound remarkably silly.

Conclusion: Use Leicester : Leicester : Leicesterman/woman.

(Or, if you want to meme the Golden Deer, Leicester : Leicesty. I am not recommending this.)

Brigid:

Ah, the reason I’m doing this work in the first place. I really should have done this before the Brigid arc in my fic but alas, here we are, doing this while I’m literally on the last chapter of it.

Anyway, since this list I have of real-world nationalities only has a single country ending in “-d” that doesn’t end in “-land” we’re going to just have to work with what we have.

The one example I have to work with? Chad. That gives us Chad : Chadian applied to Brigid is Brigid : Brigidian.

Which feels like something I’ve seen in fic before, but I can’t say with certainty. Now that I’m looking at that in the face, though, I want to posit for review the alternative Brigid : Brigidan, mostly just because that “-idi-” feels weird to me.

(Now I feel kind of silly. It’s really quite simple, isn’t it? I spent so long trying to figure this one out, positive that I’d find a better option, but... nah. Brigidan works, I think. Ironically, when I was looking through earlier chapters in my draft, I noticed that I had actually already used Brigidan in my story, despite me going so far out of my way to avoid using an adjective at all in my Brigid arc because I straight up forgot. F me, I guess.)

Conclusion: Use Brigid : Brigidan or Brigid : Brigidian, depending on your feelings about the letter I.

Sreng:

Another odd one, because there’s no good comparison, even in the vaguest sense. So, instead of doing comparisons to real places this time, I’m just going to throw a few of the common endings at it and see what sticks.

Sreng : Srengan/Srengian - Gives me fantasy name vibes, which I guess it is, but not location name vibes, and certainly not location adjective vibes, if that makes any sort of sense.

Sreng : Srengish : Sren??? - This is clearly reaching. And no, I will not even entertain Sren(g)man/woman.

Sreng : Srengi - I feel like I’ve seen this in fic before but cannot say for sure. Point being, though, it feels like something that reasonable people would say with their mouths, so it gets a full 5 stars from me.

Conclusion: Sreng : Srengi is the only viable option. Fight me.

Morfis:

Because Morfis doesn’t appear in my own fic, I have given this zero thought ahead of time. Also, I was 100% convinced - like, turned on my Switch and checked the actual game to be sure - that Morfis was spelled Morphis. Nope, it’s an f. Anyway, let’s gooo!

I guess the logical starting point would be the same place we went with Faerghus, with either Morfis : Morfisian or Morfis : Morfan but unlike Faerghus, Morfis actually already has that “I” there, so I think the alternative Morfian sounds a bit better.

Plus, Professor Byleth has already fished up half the pond’s population. We don’t need more fin.

Conclusion: Fish are friends. Morfis : Morfian

[icharchivist]

The organization around this quarantine thing is such a disaster tbh. 

About two weeks ago, two of our teachers were the ones who were especially worried. 

There was the first case of covid19 in the nearby high school, and our uni, being a linguistic one in a region nearby the Italian border, has a lot of connection with centric pandemic regions in Italy, before they even shut down themselves.

Two of our teachers were concerned bc, as we just came home from holidays, a lot of people connected to the Italian branch came back to the uni as well, and nothing was really done about it. 

One of my teacher was especially mad bc there was no soap in the bathrooms of the uni for a week at that time. She told us then that she will no longer note our presences for classes (mandatory esp for those with scholarships), and encouraged us if we were scared, knew we would be weak to the virus (asthma and such), or if we knew people who were, to not go to school anymore. Told us specifically to take pictures of the soapless bathroom so if the administration bothered us, we’d send them picture going “you’re endangering us”

I’m asthmatic. I have a lot of breathing problems in general, due to a nose malformation that makes it hard to breath and flow normally. and i have allergies. Hell my seasonal illness involves coughing, headaches, nothing flowing from the nose, and lung pains, feeling tired, all those stuff. I can’t even bring up how paranoid i am. Latest cycle of said sickness kicked in with a fever which worried my mom and I had to go see a doctor in urgence a couple of days ago. I’m fine. But i feel extremely paranoid. (and it’s not like France is getting us tested wth bloodtest or something - hospitals are overbooked with the pandemy so they only take in people with very urgent symptoms. Even if you get the virus unless you’re going very bad you’re encouraged to stay at home. There’s probably a lot of cases that we don’t know of because of that.)

But anyway school still didn’t stop back then, two weeks ago. We had two teachers who took the time to sit us down and discuss it with us. How the uni was not prepared to handle it. How they both thought the uni should have closed by now, that they’re discussing it, but they don’t want to yet. 

For two weeks all we got as info was that everything was fine. Only need to clean your hands and cough in your arms. But we also had massive announcement just 5 days ago about how it was not even thought of to close schools. To close places with high work going. That we can’t let it stop us and all.

Last Wednesday, there were still clear announcement that there will be no stopping schools or work or anything. Last Friday, we were issued with a message announcing the massive closing of every schools and we were encouraged to stay at home.

Our uni, is, of course, not prepared for it. We got a few homeworks or class by mails with clear messages from our teachers telling us they’re not prepared and we will need to improvise - us students involved. Our exams, that were to happen in April, will be pushed back to May or June. For now.

On Saturday, they encouraged us to still go vote for the Mayor Elections on Sunday. Obviously, more than half of the population didn’t show up. But we were encouraged to do it still.

On Saturday, we were told to no longer go in groups in places. Something that is obvious of course, but a couple of days ago was not even issued. People stayed up late, disregarded the announcement. In the same breath we were told to not go out anywhere with many people, but to go out to do the election on Sunday still.

Mid Sunday, i get a mail from my uni residence saying that people living in those are encouraged to leave their room, whenever definitly or temporary to return to their family during the shut down of the schools.

I didn’t want to, considering my relationships with my family, but this was getting scary. We were still /encouraged/ but not obligated yet. 

I had seen my mom on the Saturday for the doctor so we discussed the possibility, and while not obligated yet, i was a bit scared. I ended up askign my mom to come pick me up. I couldn’t move out *everything* obviously, but i took already 7 bags with me. My mom originally wanted to help me move out on Monday, but the announce scared me enough i wanted to get it done then immediatly.

Sunday evening, they announce they’re going to restrict moving around. Every shops would close. My mom works in administration soe she had to go work monday still. 

Monday my mom’s employer basically tells her to take “holidays” so she doesn’t have to pay her, all while planning to pass all the mails and phonecalls to the agency to my mom’s phone. She’s sent home on Monday.

Monday evening we got the announcement from the gov that we were in complete lockdown. No longer allowed out without a permit. Only allowed to be out for reasons like grocery shopping, going to the pharmacy or doctor, or if you have jobs that are obligated for the good functionment of the country and crisis. (although they did issue you’re allowed to take your dog out but not for long)

We have to go on the gov’s website to ask for a permit. Like Italy i’ve heard. 

We also have a curfew, no longer allowed out until a certain hour.

So now, today, Tuesday, the whole thing is in place. I’ve heard policemen in my street earlier today ask for people’s permit for being out. 

And my uni residence just sent us a mail saying they no longer even tolerate people being inside the residence for the quarantine. We are obligated to move out ASAP, to a family member or such, or leave definitly.  Today, while the gov has issued you can no longer be out without a permit you printed - while, also, we don’t have printers in our residences. 

I feel glad i followed my gut feeling on Sunday to move out bc i have no idea how i could have asked help to move out today with those measures in place.

What i’m trying to get accross is how quickly those measures were taken in the past few days while it’s been a few weeks we’ve been many to worry enough to think dispositions should have been taken earlier. We’ve been thinking about it for weeks at the uni, but suddenly in less than 5 days we went from “we’re not changing a thing” to “quarantine yourself at your parents’s”.

Not to mention our President doing lots of lectures about how we’re At War, A Health War Sure, But At War And We Have To Consider It As Such. Obviously extremely reassuring to hear while you hear about the amount of death and sickness on TV.

Not like the sickness is any better either. I have a friend who’s a nurse in a part of France that is badly affected. Cases with young people starts to degenerate very quickly, even if they had no prior reasons for it to happen. 

We discovered ibuprophen worsen the virus and it brought people who would have no prior situation into critical states to be taken care of.

/young people with no prior situations/, which i think is important to mention since so many people are brushing off the virus in a “it only affect the elderly or people with weak immune system”, as if this wasn’t reason enough to worry, as if we don’t all know multiple people like that around us, as if the 14days incubation period wasn’t terrifying, as if even if we get minor symptoms we don’t get to spread around a sickness that can be deadly for people with a weaker immune system. Well, if it’s so bad to understand the issue yet, i guess thus “young people with no prior situation get into critical situation” should be a wake up call. We don’t know that virus. It’s frightening. 

People get recontaminated too. Which means we don’t get an immunity from healing. We can catch it again. Who knows how that may even go.

My friend, the nurse, says people keep stealing their equipment. They’re shortstaffed, short in materials, they can barely handle the crisis, not helped by the fact it’s been years that the gov keeps cutting health center’s ressources down. We’re not prepared for  a pandemic that way.

Like... I read everyone talk about the panic buyer making it much more of a problem than it is. And while it’s true, it’s overshadowing that this is a Bad Situation, that we know nothing of that virus and it’s scary, and that the gov’s quarantine had been rushed into so much no one knows how to organize themselves around it. 

For now it’s planned for 15 days. god knows how long it will take.

I, asthmatic currently sick with issues breathing, am stuck back with my mom who smokes all the time at home. Both quarantined. I feel lowkey cursed tbh. For years i tried to escape my family, dealing with all the issues that goes with it, and when i finally manage to do so, i get two lawsuits up my ass bc my dad is a douche and then my residence closes up bc of a massive sickness forcing me to go back to my mom’s. 

I don’t know how to focus on my classes bc the organization is chaotic. I’m scared hearing the news. I have trouble breathing all day and while i know it’s nothing, i remain anxious. I don’t know how long i’m gonna stand my mom. Internet gets slower bc of the influx of people locked home to work. 

i don’t care much for being quarantined itself, i can spend days in my home without problems. I don’t like being stuck with my mom and i just don’t like how we’ve been pushed into it in a complete lack of preparation for it. 

I miss my home. 

And it’s just France. Italy and Spain have been in those situations for a while too. 

In a way that makes me even more angry that they didn’t take precaution before while the Italian gov had been warning us for weeks to be careful and take stuff into account before it’s too late. And we still waited, and we still rushed, and now we will blame everyone who is not understanding how thhe gov went from “it’s only a little flu don’t worry, keep going with your life just wash your hands” to “how irresponsable are you not to be in quarantine” in two days. You wonder then why people are panic buying, it’s not like the gov did any work to be crystal clear about the situation. You wonder people are being careless, a couple of days ago they were still told they had no reason to worry and to look down on those who panics.

EDIT: and lmao, i have been saying those stuff for weeks, for about two weeks i say it should have been taken into account, and my mom was pro-keeping-the-mayor-election-going (bc she wuld perhaps get a job out of it) and i told her then i thought it was a very bad idea to keep them going. My mom tried to convince me about how noooo, it was fiiine, we had to have those municipals anyway, “if people can go grocery shopping they can go vote” as our prime minister said, which i found horrifying (buying good is vital, electing a mayor can wait). And my mom kept insisting that it was important. And now, everyone says it was a bad idea to carry them on. Our own election house didn’t take any health precaution. Even my mom is saying “it was a bad idea.” Call me Cassandra bc i Keep Telling Them This Is Gonna Happen and no one ever listen to me and Too Bad. Ffs.

This is a mess of a situation. It’s making me extra anxious. 

But well that’s how it is now I guess. Sighs.

[theliberaltony]

via Politics – FiveThirtyEight

Welcome to FiveThirtyEight’s weekly politics chat. The transcript below has been lightly edited.

sarahf (Sarah Frostenson, politics editor): Last week, U.S. officials announced that President Trump had authorized a drone strike that killed one of Iran’s most powerful military leaders, Qassem Soleimani. The move took many by surprise, including some within Trump’s own administration, and now the U.S. is bracing for retaliation from Iran and an escalation of conflict in the region. More than 3,000 U.S. soldiers have already been deployed. And early Wednesday, Iran launched more than a dozen ballistic missiles targeting two U.S. military bases in Iraq.

Let’s first unpack what we understand Trump’s Iran strategy to be and the risks and challenges there. (How does it play with Republicans? His base? Can we expect this to be a unifying moment where Americans “rally around the flag” and his approval rating goes up?) Then, let’s turn to how this conflict could potentially change the dynamics of the Democratic primary.

OK, Trump’s Iran strategy. What do we know at this point?

perry (Perry Bacon Jr., senior writer): In terms of Trump’s Iran POLICY strategy, I’m not sure how much we know. We know his administration feels like it needs to get tough with Iran. And we know that any action by the Iranians in retaliation is likely to get a very aggressive response from the United States. (See Trump’s remark about identifying 52 sites in Iran to attack, including some of cultural significance.)

So his political strategy seems to imply that anyone who disagrees with killing Soleimani doesn’t care about defending U.S. troops and interests, which is not unlike how the Bush administration defended their policies in the Middle East in the early 2000s.

clare.malone (Clare Malone, senior political writer): Trump’s Iran strategy is also one that is largely tinged by domestic politics. What I mean by that is that Trump made a really drastic decision when he decided to green-light Soleimani’s assassination, something Democratic and Republican presidents had chosen not to do for years. And if you go to the reasoning of “why?” I think you come out with the educated guess that Trump wanted to look decisive in the face of a real threat from an enemy. But the decision was a pretty extreme one that doesn’t necessarily have the interests of the stability of the region at its heart. It might have the interests of regime change at heart, but that is, of course, a controversial point of action, one that more hawkish Republicans (a la former National Security Advisor John Bolton) have tended to favor.

sarahf: And at this point, how have Republicans responded? Republicans in Congress largely seem to support Trump’s decision, right?

clare.malone: Well, even some Never Trumpers like it! It’s the return of the neo-conservative (early aughts, much?)

nrakich (Nathaniel Rakich, elections analyst): According to a HuffPost/YouGov poll conducted immediately after the attack, 84 percent of Republicans approved of the airstrike. Of course, 84 percent of Republicans would probably agree with anything Trump does — and on foreign policy especially, the political science literature argues that people form their opinions based on elite cues (specifically, the elites they already are inclined or disinclined to like).

clare.malone: But I think one thing that will probably bother Democrats and Republicans alike is the outpouring of nationalism and grief for Soleimani this week in Iran. That’s perhaps something the Trump administration didn’t anticipate.

sarahf: It is interesting, too, when you consider how much Trump criticized the Iraq War, even going as far as to attack George W. Bush during the 2016 campaign, and how he promised to prevent the U.S. from getting further entangled in conflicts abroad. And when you look at some of the Republicans who make up his base, there is evidence that these voters are a bit less hawkish or more isolationist than other Republicans. A Pew Research Center poll conducted during the 2016 Republican primary found, for instance, that Trump supporters were more likely than other GOP voters to say that “the U.S. does too much to solve world problems.” So that does make me wonder how this recent military action reconciles with his base. Do we have a sense yet of just how supportive the broader American public would be of a war with Iran?

clare.malone: I think this is the most interesting question at hand. I’m not sure that the “rally around the flag” effect that we’ve seen with actions like, say, invading Iraq in 2003, will hold in our age of extreme partisanship.

nrakich: Yeah, Sarah, there is a tension there. Some political science research has also found that the American public knows more about foreign policy, and holds more consistent (if broad) views on it, than it typically gets credit for. But I personally tend toward the hypothesis that voters will change their views on foreign policy to match the politicians they support on domestic issues.

clare.malone: You’re already seeing the partisan dividing lines; all the Democratic presidential candidates condemning the attacks; Republicans calling Democrats unpatriotic, a la former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley:

“The only ones mourning the loss of Soleimani are our Democrat leadership and Democrat Presidential candidates.” pic.twitter.com/IZJJqpxkBE

— Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) January 7, 2020

sarahf: This chart is from a story that our colleague Dhrumil Mehta wrote in September, but what stood out to me was that Americans seem more willing to support military action in Iran than anywhere else.

This is especially true if Iran’s nuclear capabilities are perceived as a threat. According to a Chicago Council on Global Affairs survey conducted in June, 70 percent of respondents, including 82 percent of Republicans and 66 percent of Democrats, said they support sending U.S. troops to Iran to stop them from obtaining nuclear weapons.

nrakich: Yeah, Sarah, a lot of the polling we have on Iran is based on the premise of stopping Iran’s nuclear program, which wasn’t the reasoning behind the Soleimani attack. So we need more polling to really understand where Americans stand, as polling on Iran is somewhat difficult to interpret.

For example, in July, Gallup found that only 18 percent of Americans wanted to take military action against Iran, and 78 percent preferred diplomatic efforts. But 42 percent of that latter group said that the U.S. should take military action if diplomatic efforts fail.

perry: “War with Iran” tends to imply the deployment of tens of thousands of U.S. troops and a declaration of war from Congress. And if that is actually proposed, I think it will be fairly unpopular — regardless of whatever the polls say right now. The Trump administration is even saying this attack will not lead to a full-blown war (they may be wrong, but it still speaks to what they perceive as the political realities).

We know Americans don’t want another protracted conflict in the Middle East. Unless there is an attack on American soil by Iran — then the dynamics are different.

clare.malone: Yeah, I’m with Perry. The last two decades of American political life have been dominated by foreign intervention. Of course, the Quds force that Soleimani ran specializes in supporting more agile attacks on countries, aka terrorist attacks. And if a terrorist attack were to happen, especially on American soil, that could really shake up an election.

You’ve only got to look back at the 2016 primary to see an example of that. After the San Bernardino attack, Trump called for his “Muslim ban,” and I think more people may have found that palatable in part because there had just been an ISIS-inspired massacre in California. People are more likely to want punitive action when they are frightened and angry.

nrakich: I will be interested to see, though, if people (voters, the media, politicians — especially those who oppose Trump) start off skeptical of the administration’s intel on Iran and its decision to attack. It would make for quite a contrast with the Bush administration’s line about weapons of mass destruction, which the public initially accepted as a good reason to go to war in Iraq. This time around, though, Democrats don’t appear to be giving the Trump administration the benefit of the doubt on its assertion that attacks from Iran were “imminent.”

sarahf: So it sounds as if Trump’s calculus for handling the situation with Iran is that there has to be a perceived threat to the U.S. Otherwise, he risks entangling the U.S. in another drawn-out conflict in the Middle East, which, as Perry said, probably doesn’t have that much built-in support. Does that seem accurate? And if there is indeed evidence of a real threat, does that do well for him politically?

clare.malone: Sure, fear is the great motivator. But I also think that if it’s too obvious that they’re coming up with retroactive reasoning for an attack, that won’t pass the smell test with voters.

The interesting thing with Trump is that he hasn’t faced a whole lot of external crisis situations; often he is the maker of his own crisis.

perry: Trump can do a lot in Iran — as long as it’s not a “war” with the deployment of lots of U.S. troops.

sarahf: And considering Trump is not highly rated on his ability to respond in an international crisis to begin with, the situation in Iran could have a large upside for him, if it’s handled well.

perry: I don’t think there is an upside here for him. I tend to think that Fox News’s Tucker Carlson (who has been critical of the attack on Soleimani) is right. In my view, Trump won GOP voters in the primary and swing voters in the general who were wary of Bush-style Republicanism, which, of course, is tied to the Iraq War. Trump is better off talking about the economy.

Although, perhaps there is less downside for him focusing on Iran, as opposed to issues like repealing Obamacare or tweeting mean things about members of Congress.

sarahf: That’s interesting, Perry. It just seems like a step so extreme that one would think Trump has a greater Iran strategy at play. Although, there has been speculation that this might be a diversion to everything happening with impeachment. Which, whoa, if true. But let’s say this situation with Iran does continue to dominate headlines — how does this shake up the 2020 primary? As we’ve noted, Democratic candidates have been universally critical of Trump’s decision, so far. Does that change? Or what kind of positioning do we expect to see from the candidates? Does anyone aside from Biden, given his experience as Obama’s VP, stand to benefit?

clare.malone: I mean, I think Pete Buttigieg is trying to use this new dynamic as a way to play up his military service. But I’m not sure that’s going to track with voters, who still know he’s relatively inexperienced, compared to the rest of the top of the field. Bernie Sanders is certainly seeing his opening to point out that Biden was a proponent of the Iraq invasion in the early 2000s:

Presidential candidate @BernieSanders hammers Joe Biden for his Iraq War, NAFTA votes.

“I just don’t think that that kind of record is going to bring forth the kind energy we need to defeat Trump.” pic.twitter.com/3JIIVCNE48

— Anderson Cooper 360° (@AC360) January 7, 2020

perry: So on the Democratic side, this is interesting. Many of the debates and the broader discussion of the primary are framed around, “Do you prioritize bold change or winning the election?” And that framing helps Biden. I’m not sure what the Medicare for All equivalent (bold policy that can be painted as electorally risky) is for Iran. The issue just doesn’t have the same dynamics. So this could be an issue where the non-Biden candidates can make arguments without being trapped in a dilemma over how their stances poll.

Sanders has really leaned into this issue by connecting it to his broader opposition to the Iraq War, as well as his view that the U.S. should be less eager to intervene abroad. Biden, by contrast, has struggled to reconcile his vote in support of the Iraq War. A voter in Iowa asked him about it on Saturday — and he said he opposed the war from the beginning, which is not accurate.

clare.malone: Yeah, that was a weird moment.

perry: So because the foreign policy lines are less clear, I think it’s an opportunity for the non-Biden candidates to challenge him in a fresh way. And it’s harder to imagine that Biden’s Iraq vote won’t come up in next week’s debate.

clare.malone: I think that there is definitely potential upside for Sanders: He can point out that he’s principled and anti-war, which the progressive base will like, but he has also pointed out that his policy stance of getting out of the Middle East is exactly what Trump promised. So, in some ways, he’s trying to showcase what he thinks is his general election advantage: a different kind of (populist or outsider) appeal to Trump voters.

nrakich: Yeah, I wonder how big of a role Biden’s Iraq vote will play. I feel like other candidates are seizing on it out of necessity — since otherwise, foreign policy is an issue where voters give Biden a big advantage:

Biden has maintained a large lead in primary polling on the best candidate to handle foreign policy (48% to 14% Bernie):https://t.co/o9lGd8jiGe It has not been the most important issue for many Dem voters thus far, but foreign policy crisis could increase its salience pic.twitter.com/ez90wUwil8

— Matt Grossmann (@MattGrossmann) January 3, 2020

perry: Whatever the electoral effects, I also basically agree with what Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said yesterday. This conversation around Iran solidifies the idea that she (and Sanders) would be in a different party than Biden if we had a multi-party system. Biden and Sanders have really different perspectives on foreign policy — with the latter perhaps being the most serious anti-war presidential candidate in decades.

clare.malone: Yeah, and the fact that it’s not entirely crazy that a major party candidate could have an anti-war stance says a lot about how conflicts in the Middle East have shaped the American psyche over the past couple of decades.

sarahf: Is this what the conversation will center on among Democrats next Tuesday during the debate, Perry? If the conversation has less to do with Trump’s actions and more about Sanders’s anti-war stance in comparison to Biden, I wonder how that plays with voters.

perry: Voters don’t really know much about policy, and generally, the differences between candidates in the same party are hard for them to understand. That said, someone will be declared to have “won” the debate on Tuesday — and that kind of coverage can matter. The press is already covering Sanders like he’s surging. So a debate in which Iraq comes up a fair amount is one that may play to Sanders’s advantage. And it may be a disadvantage for Biden — especially if he gets flustered and is unable to just concede that he voted for the Iraq War.

But if the moderators and/or Biden turn the Iran questions into basically, “Do you trust Trump on foreign policy?” then yes, that’s less useful for other candidates.

sarahf:

At this point, it seems as if Americans’ feelings around heightened escalation with Iran are a bit of a black box. They’re unsure whether they approve of the drone strike. And their opinions on whether to intervene in Iran are largely tied to whether they perceive Iran as a nuclear threat, although that may change if Iran continues to be hostile to the U.S. So what will you be looking for as an indication that the situation with Iran has escalated to the point that it could have a real effect in 2020?

clare.malone: I think a lot of public opinion depends on how Iran chooses to respond to the assassination. There are many potential unknowns for how they’ll continue to retaliate, but definitely a few ways that would anger the American public enough to shuffle some dynamics in the presidential campaign.

nrakich: I think whether this stays in the news for a while or whether other stories (e.g., impeachment) overtake it will be something to watch — as will be whether the Democratic candidates continue to draw a sharp contrast with Trump on the issue. According to political science research, those are two of the rare circumstances when foreign policy actually matters in elections. And obviously, I’ll be watching for any changes in Trump’s approval rating, too.

[pokemoneverlastingorchard]

New list of Pokemon

I’m just going to make another post and delete the old one. This one will be more in depth with what Pokemon are planned to be in the game. Will be adding to this as it grows.

I revamped every cut Pokemon from Spaceworld ‘97 to use in this game. I had to sort of guess what kind of stats they would have based on their looks. (Unless they’re an evolution or pre-evolution. Those are pretty easy for me to guess.) Most of the Pokemon from the Demo will retain their original name, unless I change my mind. Some though I just wanted to use different names for them for... Some reason.

Some of these will probably have minor changes to them in the future. (Specifically the outlines of some of them... Okay maybe almost all of them.)

I don’t know if I’m going to bother revamping any of the cut Pokemon from Red and Green. Mostly since I would have to trace over the art from the book first, and some of them are cut off. They’re also in black and white so it would be hard to tell what’s supposed to be what.

I also recorded myself making the sprites! (Just in case I lost them just like I lost a lot of the faces.)

Starters

Well, technically Tauros will be your starter. (And your bike.) But you get to pick from one of these three anyway,

Kurusu, Akua and Akueria, the water starter line.

Honoguma, Borubeea and Dainabea, the fire starter line

Happa, Hanamogura, and Tilian Meganium, the grass starter line. The difference between these and the regular Chikorita line (besides the elephant in the room) is that Meganium is going to have a Dragon typing as it’s second type! I may even just let all three of them be part dragon. Doubtful, but if I feel like Grass/Dragon Meganium isn’t enough to make it as appealing as the other two starters, I just might. For now though I did add “poison” to Hanamogura.

I didn’t make them any bigger because for some reason they just appear so much bigger than the other two lines in the post. It was kind of an eyesore.

Cut Evolutions

These were cut from Pokemon Gold for some reason. I’m bringing them back.

Buddmitto. (Maybe just “Budmitt” in the final.) A second evolution for Weepinbell if a Poison Stone is used. This Pokemon favors Special Attack over Attack and can learn more Special Grass moves than Physical.

Madamu, the evolution for Farfetch’d. It doesn’t really make sense for this Pokemon to have been cut. Farfetch’d was important to the story at one point of the second gen games. This would’ve been a perfect introduction to “old Pokemon having new evolutions” but nooo~!

Quiddlefish... Okay so my husband took one look at it when I was working on revamping it and said “It’s a Quiddlefish!” so... Yeah. I removed the lightning bolt that was on it’s head because there was literally no reason for it to be there.

Removed Baby Pokemon

So far these all evolve just by leveling up, since in the demo Leveling by Happiness wasn’t a thing.

Koonya, baby Meowth

Mikon, baby Vulpix

Monja, baby Tangela

Pudi, baby Growlithe. I decided to call his species “gud boi.”

Para, baby Paras. This design actually raises some questions.

Peticorn. (Petite unicorn... Despite not being a unicorn.) Baby Ponyta.

Dododo, baby Doduo... Yeah, I know. 3-2-3 doesn’t make any sense. I kind of want to give it a Pokedex entry that has two of the babies consuming one somehow, and then that one coming back for revenge in Dodrio. I... I don’t fucking know.

Betobebe, baby Grimer. Look at it! It’s so cute!

I may have baby Goldeen in the game too. I revamped the sprite and even made interesting boy/girl variants, but err... There doesn’t seem to be a way to have that separation yet.

Completely Cut Pokemon

Rinrin and Bellune, dark type cats

Bomushika, fire/water type seal

Manboo, Ikari and Grotesu, water into water/steel... I don’t understand either.

Norowara and Kyonpan, ghost types. What’s interesting about Norowara is that it apparently evolves at level 1 in the demo, which is literally impossible, so I’m making it evolve at level 2. At the start it will only know Confuse Ray and Curse, and only have 1 HP with Wonder Guard. Once evolved it will have a normal HP stat. It could be good for a “bomb,” meaning that it could sacrifice itself by using Curse on a particularly hard to beat Pokemon, but that does mean that it won’t gain any EXP.

Kotora and Raitora, thunder cats

And Gorotora. I found out recently that a third evolution was planned for gen 1 before it was dropped even sooner than Kotora and Raitora. I wouldn’t have bothered except I was commissioned to do a saber tooth Pokemon anyway, so I figured that I might as well. This one will probably be evolved using a Thunder Stone.

Urufuman and Warwolf, ice type... The concept of these two confuses the hell out of me, but those claws look like the claws of Weavile so I’m just going to say that these are a Sneasel and a Weavile who couldn’t develop feet claws so they murdered an innocent Pokemon to make them look intimidating. That Pokemon doesn’t exist but maybe I’ll make it exist someday I dunno. (Or maybe I’ll make the Pokemon they killed look like existing Pokemon, like Arcanine.)

...How did the suit evolve with them? Why would an Ice Pokemon need a coat?

Cloyster... Again. Water/Psychic type. Evolves from Shellder with a Slowpoke’s tail. (As gruesome of a mental image that is.) I may change the name of this one because it will be mostly different from the original Cloyster... Just not into “Turbann.” (I’ll come up with something else, maybe.)

Noxeon, poison type. (May change the name later.) This one wasn’t technically cut. Umbreon was originally going to be a Poison type but they switched it to Dark to show off the new type. I decided that if I was going to make this, I would use Umbreon as a base. (It’s a different Umbreon sprite than the one in the game.) I may make the ears blend in like the tail later. I don’t know how Eevee would evolve into this yet.

This one isn’t actually going to be in this build, which is why it’s all blurred out. But it is a Pokemon that was cut! I would give a hint to it’s role in my game, but that would probably be giving it away.

Pokemon made up my me, my husband or other

Eeveeon, evolved from leveling up to... 32? I dunno. This is the conversation exactly:

Husband: “Eevee needs a normal type evolution that’s just a fluffier version of it!”

Me: “So... A brown Flareon?”

Huband: “Yes!”

Vespitos (Vespa/custos, or the Latin word for “guard”)

I wanted to make a male evolution for Combee and this is what I came up with on the spot. It’s weaker than Vespiquen (With around 380 total base stats) but can still hold it’s own. You can evolve Combee into it at level 18 instead of 21 and it focuses more on attack than on defense.

Deloris, grass/ghost type. When I saw it, my immediate thoughts were “I need to make this NOW!” I don’t know if I’ll “make” a Fizzbitch move. (I would just be replacing the name of one move to “Fizzbitch.” Probably one of the legendary exclusive moves from a legendary Pokemon that’s not going to be in the game. Hell, I’ll probably turn Deloris into a Legendary!)

I have no idea if I want other 4Chan Pokemon in the game. Possibly not, considering that this one has an official canon mystery behind it that we still don’t have the answer to, but the others have been solved... Maybe Tentaquil.

Alternative Luvdisc colors! So some context: I made some very boring hearts (and “friendship circles) to show how much a person likes you. I decided to change it to Luvdiscs, but then I got an idea for a festival where you can catch these alternative Luvdisc (and OG) and if you catch all of them, you can get something cute for your house!

Also the “Friendship circles” are now Pokeballs.

(Other) Tilian Pokemon

Somebody who goes by Obermarschall on Reddit commissioned me to make a bunch of Pokemon, including some Delta/Alolan Pokemon. I can’t really see a use for some of them but I can see a use for most of them... And use them I shall!

Fairy Stantler, based on Disney’s version of Bambi. Obermarschall is going to be using a version that’s more orange in color so this version may only appear in my game!

Ice/Grass Eggxecute and Eggxegutor. They’re pine cones. I love these ideas. Though again the Eggxegutor that Obermarschall’s going to have different legs. I just prefer this one over the one they’re going to be using.

Ice Numel and Camerupt. The Numel is so fucking CUTE!

Dark/Normal Snubbel and Granbull.

Water Shuckle. Look at him. Look at him and BOW DOWN!

He’s so cute! I love him!

Maybe

Animon, depending on what Meltan or whatever it’s called turns out to be like in battle. I would have to make this a pretty special Pokemon to make people bother to evolve Ditto, which will be pretty hard to do if it’s only going to be able to transform.

Meltitan (yes I am calling it that) kinda destroyed any connection to Animon it may have had. Dammit.

They’re ground Growlithe and Arcanine based on dingos. I love them, but I realized that I would have to make Pudi part ground type too, and I don’t want to do that. Not in this game at least. Maybe I can make them part of... I dunno. Some other region, and you can trade for these two plus ground Pudi.

Ground type Ponyta and Rapidash... Only they’re zebras. They’re “maybes” for the same reason.

In the game Obermarschall’s making, they’ll be fighting/ground... I don’t know how to make it obvious that they’re part fighting so I just opted for using those poses.

[sachiro]

The Many Faces of Victor Nikiforov - Episode 5

This episode actually had a lot more of Victor than you’d initially think and he seems to go through quite a range of emotions during just this competition. Let’s take a peek at what’s going on and why he fluctuates as much as he does!

So what I’ll actually start with commenting on with this first gif is Victor’s coaching. None of the other coaches at the competition are wearing anything more than semi-formal wear but Victor breaks out the entire three-piece suit. Why? Does he feel the need to impress Yuuri or the press? No, I think it’s more about his How to Coach 101 point of reference – Yakov. A lot of his habits can be traced back to him – his gruff way of giving feedback, his no-nonsense approach to learning, and even his dress. All of this makes sense considering his longest-term coach has been Yakov (with an obvious touch of Lilia, though she made her mark more on his skating and mannerisms). It also makes sense that he would test run his serious competition coaching as soon as possible – in this case, at Regionals.

For this second gif, I’d like to talk a bit about Victor’s expectations. He starts off overly excited, everything he says and does is overflowing with joy. However, that only lasts until Yuuri takes to the ice for his warm-up (and blows Victor’s enthusiasm off entirely), which causes Victor to start realizing that it isn’t going to be as simple or straightforward as he thought. Perhaps he thought that it could be like he’s seen from others – that he’d give Yuuri a quick pep-talk, Yuuri would get fired up, and then he’d go out and skate with minimal errors through the power of motivation… or something like that. That quite obviously doesn’t happen because Yuuri gets stuck in his own head so deep that he ignores everything else around him until he’s forced to pay attention. So Victor is immediately shown that coaching in reality is not going to be like when they’re in private or how it’s worked for him as a skater and he’s going to need to adjust his expectations to suit it.

This back hug… there’s a lot I could say about it but I’ll actually start with the buildup to it. I felt like I understood immediately what Victor was feeling when he was being grumpy and then ordered Yuuri to turn around, only to hug him. Which, when said out loud brings to light that the emotional tone doesn’t really match up. But I think it shows that Victor’s brain is working; he’s trying to find the best way to shake Yuuri out of his nerves. He knows that hugging has seemed to help before, and so does surprising him. So why not combine both, along with some advice whispered in his ear in an attempt to ground him? And it does work, for the first half anyway (Victor isn’t a cure-all, Yuuri does have his own things he needs to work through to relax more). As for why Victor tells Yuuri to turn around while being so grumpy and then sends the opposite message by hugging Yuuri and telling him to seduce Victor, I feel says that Victor feels frustrated that he can’t seem to get Yuuri to understand what he’s trying to tell him non-verbally. He wants Yuuri to turn around and is annoyed that Yuuri isn’t just doing it without being told – which is obviously an irrational wish because Yuuri can’t read his mind – but that doesn’t stop him from being frustrated anyway and turning it into an order. Along with Victor feeling ignored when Yuuri brushed him off earlier, this hug arguably isn’t only for Yuuri as well.

For this fourth gif, I’d like to focus on what Victor says. In this clip, he says “skate like you’re trying to seduce me” which tells us a few things. Firstly, it tells us that Victor is aware of who Yuuri is skating that particular program for. Secondly, it shows that Victor is aware of Yuuri’s reciprocated romantic and/or sexual interest. And thirdly, it shows us that Yuuri and Victor have talked about Yuuri’s interpretation of the Eros story in words. So any thought that Victor doesn’t know Yuuri is interested by this point in the series is disproven with this simple line, as well as the idea that Yuuri and Victor don’t talk about the meanings behind Yuuri’s individual programs. So by that, we can imply that everything we as viewers know about the meanings behind the programs, unless told otherwise in-show, both Yuuri and Victor know as well.

This fifth gif actually strikes me as particularly interesting because of Victor’s expression of displeasure. The clip before where he’s lecturing Yuuri shows him with a cutesy smile but then we get this next one with a more serious expression. I think that it’s not just Victor emulating Yakov’s coaching style, but that he really is unimpressed by Yuuri’s performance. Overall, it wasn’t a bad skate – he did get a score that would place him in the top 10 in the world – but Victor is aware of what potential Yuuri has and he was genuinely unhappy that Yuuri didn’t seem to get close to grasping that considering there was nothing around to really bother him or shake his confidence. Victor really is invested in Yuuri, and he’s aware of what things Yuuri can achieve when he actually applies himself and performs his best and Victor is invested in getting that best result.

For next one, we see Victor jumping in front of Yuuri/answering questions in front of the cameras for him again. This is actually something that started in episode 3, when he put his arm around Yuuri on the podium. Victor has gotten the impression that any time Yuuri is nervous in front of the camera, he can/needs to jump in and help. In a sense, this shows that Victor doesn’t really trust Yuuri to handle himself in front of the media. I’ve talked about it at length here before so I’ll spare the repetition but we can really see that Victor can get extra protective of Yuuri when he feels like anything is even slightly starting to go downhill.

I absolutely adore the intimacy shown in this seventh gif. The way that Yuuri sits back and lets Victor take care of him, the way that Victor is checking the small things like his hair being in place or his lips being chapped, and the way that there’s no actual pep talk between the two of them tell us that they’re absolutely on the same wavelength – a complete 180 from how they were the day before during the short programs.

Ahh, the Makkachin tissue box. This entire episode, Victor can hardly be spotted without it. Even when he’s upset the day before, he slams the skate guards down and walks off with it still in hand (though logically it’s Yuuri that would need it the most). But even more interesting than his attachment to it as an object, is the fact that he quite often uses it as a shield. He hides behind it, or uses it to talk, or says that it’s the one sending a message often enough that it makes me wonder if this is how he comforts himself when at competitions (as in, he looks at the box and sees Makkachin cheering him on or that the box is a stand-in for her and not just a cute tissue container). If something works to comfort the self, people tend to try it as the first thing they do when trying to comfort others. The concept of the box being a comfort for Victor can also be applied to how he hides behind the box, using it as a way to comfort himself (as well as Yuuri). Interestingly, he may use it as a wall a lot in this episode, yet it seems to lose that particular use past this particular competition.

“Oh, it’s me!” This clip sticks out to me as having 2 very obvious implications. The first meaning is the literal one that Victor states in his monologue, that he’s wondering where Yuuri gets his rebelliousness from in regards to not listening to his coach and trusting his own instincts first and foremost (which, interestingly, is a departure from how he was pre-Victor – but that’s a topic for another time).  The second comes from the message Yuuri’s program and final pose send, that his program (and thus his skating in its entirety) is a dedication to Victor. Put these two together, and you get a more overarching meaning to Yuuri’s program and the fact that he insists on taking the reins with it – that everything all come back to Victor. “Oh, it’s me!” indeed!

And for this last gif, I just love his shocked face. I think what’s shocked him the most is that he’s hearing Yuuri say things that would otherwise be left for more private settings – not just in regards to the romantic implications (Victor being the first person he wants to bond himself to) but also the fact that he’s admitting publicly that he struggled on his way to seeing and accepting the love around him (a topic that before now was only talked about at the beach with the specific mention that Yuuri hid it from other people in an attempt to not appear “weak”). Yuuri put a lot out there in this press conference so it makes sense that Victor would be so surprised by it and then not be able to process all of it fast enough to be able to form a response appropriate enough for in front of Yuuri’s family and friends better than commenting on his clothes!

As you can see, Victor experiences quite the range of emotions and reactions to things this episode! There ended up being a lot more of him here than I initially expected going in but I hope everyone has enjoyed this short journey with me! See you all next week when we finally get to go international!

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [Duetto]

Bonus because if this isn’t the most relatable gif then I don’t know what is:

[crimsondomingo]

I'm so glad someone asked about sex in fics and that you feel comfortable talking about it. I have no experience either and I've always shied away from writing smut because I feel like I couldn't do it justice. Would you mind talking a bit about what you think is a good way to, I don't know, structure a smut scene or things that are important to think of? I know it's different for everyone but I'd guess there's also general things to look out for?

I completely understand what you mean and I would love to offer some insight. 

I felt the same way initially about writing smut, and very slowly worked my way up to writing more when I was writing as someone who didn’t yet have practical experience myself. And then I was always second guessing whether I was doing things ‘right’. It of course helps to read a lot, get a general idea of how these scenes work from other people who write it well. 

Honestly, porn can be useful too, because if you have zero experience or knowledge, you at least get a better sense of what is/goes where at any given time and how things progress. Though take that with a grain of salt, because porn isn’t realistic usually. And damn can it stretch things out sometimes. 

So let’s start with timing. Real sex can go long or is sometimes over much faster than any porno would show you. I like to play with timing in fics, because real life depends on a lot of factors. 

For example, if a man hasn’t had sex or jerked off in a few days, when he does, he’s going to finish pretty fast usually from being pent up. But that doesn’t mean he couldn't be raring to go another round right after. If he did go into a round two, it would normally take him longer to finish this time because he just had. So timing is something to consider - how long are they going to last before they come. 

Two people don’t always come at the same time either, in fact they rarely do, though we tend to have things happen close together in fics because we want to maintain interest with the readers and not drag things on. That’s fine. But coming at the exact same time is often unrealistic. 

As for structure overall, it’s really all about the foreplay to make a smut scene good, in my opinion, the tease, more than get person A’s X into B’s Y. Focus on kissing and touching and holding each other, depending on the tone. 

Personally, my neck is very sensitive, and my ears. There are obvious places to tease, like nipples, nether regions (but specifically clitoris for women, prostate for men), touching with fingers or going down on each other, etc. to prolong the finale of sex. Let it happen naturally how someone might get caught up in the other person’s body, caught up in the moment, and eventually it builds so much that they have to move on to the main event, and you can move on to prep. 

I’m assuming you’re asking more on the M/M side, since that’s my specialty. M/F can be much easier. There is no prep needed usually, because most of the time, with enough foreplay, a woman will be so wet, it’s just an easy slide home. Anal is different, because there’s less natural lubrication and less stretch and give without assistance. So always take a little prep time when writing that. 

Now that being said, if this is an M/M couple who regularly has anal sex, prep time can be shorter. If someone’s body is used to it, we have muscle memory and can be ready with just a few simple stretches. But if it’s been a while, or this is a first time and the person doesn’t tend to use toys on themselves, or hasn’t had another partner recently, it’ll take several minutes of careful stretching and slowly increasing size - one finger, two. three if someone’s fingers are smaller. Maybe a toy before the main event if the person is very large. 

I also find smut is easier to read and write in 3rd person limited POV, so it’s one person’s perspective, though which person doesn’t matter. I just find it easier to keep track of who’s doing what. But that’s personal preference. 

And that’s the other thing, pay attention to position, what’s where, how feasible it would be for someone to reach something from whatever position they’re in. Sometimes, I honestly get up from writing and mime what I’m trying to do, get on the floor, try to reach or position myself imagining another person with me and whether something is possible. Sometimes I even grab Mr. Crimson for assistance in doing this. It’s very helpful if you’re having trouble imagining something. 

Also, if you aren’t a little hot and bothered while writing your smut, other people won’t get worked up reading it either, and honestly, they should if you do it right. ;-)

And then there’s the cardinal rule. Never, ever use the word penis. Or vagina for that matter, or those types of words that would have made us giggle in health class. Coz ya know what? We still internally giggle and/or get taken out of a scene when we come across those words. I personally prefer to avoid using certain body part words at all unless necessary. 

“He reached between his legs and wrapped his fingers tight.” 

vs

“He reached for his cock.” 

Both are fine, but there’s something to be said about implying instead of bluntly stating sometimes. 

These are the things springing to mind for me anyway, though it is very situational, like you said, different for each scene or couple. 

So I’ll put it out to the world at large for anyone to add to this as a way to help educate younger writers, especially those unfamiliar with sexual activity on a personal level. It’s good to have these conversations without thinking there’s any taboo to talking sex. 

[nordic-the-dm]

WBJ Day 3: People and Races

I like to make my world accessible to everyone, which is partly why I have so many different continents to keep in your mind. 

The races of Rhuin are those that can be found as the playable races in dungeons and dragons 5e, including all of the races that have been added through the expansion books.

There are, however, some specific features that are unique to Rhuin, as well as 3 more races I’ve homebrewed, which I’ll briefly go through before getting to the nitty gritty of race trait differences and prejudices.

 The three unique races are: gargoyle, unicorn, and centaur. (And as a DM note, if you’re interested in playing any of these, just give me a ping and I can send you the race sheets. Also, let me know how it goes, because I haven’t really gotten to test these out yet. . . .)

Gargoyle

Gargoyles were creatures created originally to protect the castles and towers of warlocks. In the millennia since their creation, they have evolved to form their own society and break the chains of servitude. They still retain their core values of clan life and their duty to protect and will often pledge loyalty to a lord for their clan to protect his land. Gargoyles don’t often become adventurers; their ties to their clan are too strong to leave. But if a gargoyle loses his clan through battle or through banishment, he will become an artisan or an adventurer since his skills are often suited only to those two professions.  

Unicorn

Unicorns are mysterious, generally mysterious creatures that tend to keep to themselves, but they will occasionally become adventurers or feel the need to explore the world. Their horns are coveted as rare ingredients for potions and offerings in magical rituals, so they are often hunted for them, which is part of the reason they have become so secretive. They have a strong bond with the land and dwell within forests. Unicorns are usually white, naive, and good intentioned, but they can become corrupted into black unicorns, who are interested in self preservation, revenge, riches, or domination. Black unicorns become adventurers more often than white. 

Centaur

Centuars are herd creatures, generally. They live in nomadic societies and will often only join large adventuring parties to keep that feeling of having a herd, even if they have left their herd voluntarily. They are happiest out in the plains, but have adapted to life in the cities as well, for they are valued for their effective military systems. Their herd mentality allows them to bond with their squads and follow coordinated orders effectively. They’re also fierce warriors and can be very valuable on a battlefield.

Now, onto the other stuff. I think it’s interesting to think about different racial appearances and how they would all interact, including how prejudices work, but I know that freaks some people out, so I’ll put it under the cut. Plus, this post got a little bit suuuuuper long on me . . . . 

As far as traits go, appearances of many of the races will vary depending on which Shard an individual is born and raised on and where his ancestors are from. I based my decision on this because in the real world, our skin tone and some degree of our bone structure is based a lot on ancestry life style and geographic location. So, a Dragonborn from Selkhet will have thicker, bonier scales with a duller sheen to protect and deflect the harsh desert conditions like sand and sun, while a Dragonborn from Manaroa will have thinner, brighter scales to reflect its dangerous nature, and again, a Dragonborn from Eurus having thicker limbs and more flexible scales to handle travelling through the more mountainous regions. 

The Dragonborn are just an obvious example, but the more humanoid races will have similar effects, with their skin pigments differing depending on place of origin and ancestry. While this doesn’t often result in conflicts between peoples alone, there are some deep rooted prejudices in some societies that lead to tension between races and even those of the same race with different appearances. Below the cut, I’ll go through some of those tensions and prejudices, though it isn’t a comprehensive list. So, idk, skip it if it bothers you.

Due to an ancient war with the Infernals of the Abyss and the Nine Hells, there are many who view all tieflings with suspicion, especially on Eurus and Selkhet. Tielfings, however, due to their brighter colors and exotic horns and tails are actually held with high regard in Manaroa, so a tiefling coming from Manaroa to Eurus will often be surprised by the amount of hostility the people have toward the race. 

Dragonborn from Eurus look down on Dragonborn from Manaroa as being lazy and mostly for show instead of hearty enough to be worth anything. Many races from Eurus regard their ability to survive harsh conditions as their best trait and any member of any race that doesn’t put a high standard on that is weak and beneath them in some ways. Unless they’re magic users, but that’s an entirely different post. 

Drow are often viewed with disdain and mistrust on all the continents. They’re in charge of all the Assassin Guild activity and many still live apart from the other races in the Underdark, so seeing one above ground is generally assumed to mean that the Drow is up to something shady. While the Drow in Agreste have moved their civilization above ground and have made efforts to integrate, progress has been slow. 

A final example of tension is in Selkhet. The people who live in the cities of Selkhet generally see the nomadic tribes as theives and charlatans and many cities won’t let caravans into the city walls, only allowing certified agents inside to do business. Since many of the nomadic tribes are made mostly of tabaxi, there is a general idea that tabaxi are thieves and untrustworthy, which often ends with tabaxi from other Shards being treated as though they had committed a crime withough proof. 

ALL THAT BEING SAID, there is a huge amount of movement of peoples between Shards and those of different ancestry can be found all over the place, especially in the Infinity River port cities, which have become a huge hub of people, ideas, and things. These cities especially have more of an ancient Roman attitude that everyone is a citizen of that city and that you have to find your place on your own after that. And there are so many more things I could say on that front, but this post is already way too long, so I’ll leave it here.  

Disclaimer: I don’t want to encourage any players to be horrible to any other players, but I do think that there is a realistic notion in racial and societal tension, even in a fantasy land. After all, with a huge hodge podge of cultures and biases, there will be some conflicts. If not, wars could never be fought because there would be no “us versus them” mentality. 

[for-the-haunted-mist-i-ride]

Fate, a common commodity  (Semi-Completed Roleplay between Krobelus and Abaddon)

for-the-haunted-mist-i-ride:

Abaddon was sitting in meditation beside one of the smaller waterfalls of the region, its white waters flowing alongside the rock on which Abaddon sat, the grey stone dark around the edges but relatively dry upon its head. As the roar of the waterfall carried on, Abaddon continued in silent meditation, it was one of his favourite spots, it was serene, quaint and familiar; perfect for meditation. Its location had another advantage, few would ever disturb him as he drank deep of the mists.

suchbeautyindeath:

Krobelus, recently back from beyond the veil had decided to familiarize herself with the area. Most of her memories of specific locations outside the battlefield were hazy. The Ancients always forced the very vivid memories of their field in her mind no matter how long she had been gone. As she floated along, an ethereal wispy green mist in the shape of what looked like a partial human floated next to her, wailing softly in unintelligible speak. Were anyone to come along, it would seem like the Prophet was talking to herself but if one were to listen close enough, they could hear the haunting wail of the desperate spirit.

"Shh shh shh, darling, I know. He will come for you soon, worry not… Non, I can not… Mm.. I suppose, come into me child. I will carry you with me until zee next time I go to ‘im. Rest easy, mon ami.”

Reaching out to the spirit, she wrapped her large, glowing hand around the ethereal being and absorbed it into herself. All this went on as she continued on her stroll and it wasn’t until the spirit had tucked it’s way into her being did she notice the other nearby. “Avernus? Oh, do forgive me if I ‘ave disturbed you, dear.”

for-the-haunted-mist-i-ride:

Abaddon’s eyes opened from the abyss of his veil, his munious eyes piercings through like stars in the night. He had felt the Prophet approach, conversing with another spirit, not that it mattered, such lost souls were aplenty upon these battlefields.

"My Lady Krobelus, no, do not worry, I was only in light meditation." He remarked simply, standing firmly from the waterfall, striding slowly from its cascading torrent the Lord nodded to the Prophet, her eternal form troubling him not at all.

"It is a pleasure to see you again my Lady, how do you fare this day"

suchbeautyindeath:

Glad to hear she hadn’t disturbed the Lord, Krobelus smiled and nodded. Her gaze shifted to the waterfall as he stood. Drowning was one of her favorite ways to go. Unintentionally, she let out a rather sad yet dreamy sounding sigh causing green mist to flow from her lips.

One he stood before her, and gave his proper greeting, she turned her attention back to him and smiled rather sweetly. “A pleasure indeed, mon cher. I am as well as can be expected I suppose. You know ‘ow it iz.” She waved a hand dismissively. “Comme ci, comme ça. And you, dear? Zee Font still treating you well, I presume?”

for-the-haunted-mist-i-ride:

Abaddon chuckled at the Prophets words, “you’re quite right Lady Krobelus, I do know how it is” he chuckled knowingly, the Font ever thundering in his mind. Noting the Prophets sigh even as he chuckled himself Abaddon turned and looked over his shoulder to see the falling cascade of water, did the prophet love the water so much? no… it was what the water could offer, such was her way.

"The Font treats me as well as everything else in this world" the Lord explained, raising a hand and twisting the mist that sprawled from his palm with practiced ease. "It has given us plenty, and we have plenty to give unto it. But tell me prophet, any plans while you’re back? I sense that you will not be attempting another departure for quite some time, planning to catch up on what you have missed, it has been an….. active few moons." The Lord confessed.  

suchbeautyindeath:

Krobelus smiled watching the mist swirl around his palm. So many mysteries hidden within that small bit of mist, so very curious. “Mm, non, no plans in particular. I make petty attempts to depart often, but only to ease zee anxiety. If I stay in zhis realm for too long, it makes me uncomfortable. I will not attempt to leave permanently until zee Ancients permit it. Which doesn’t really make zhings easier, but I digress, forgive me.” She looked off to the side, an obvious shyness showing on her expression.

"I ‘ave seen many interesting zhings. A war within a war, love and lose, life and death. I’m almost sad I missed it all." She laughed a bit at her own sarcasm. Looking back to the Lord, she smiled softly and reached forward, stroking a hand along his arm. "Unless you wish to go back to your meditation, would it be alright if I kept you company for a while? I’d love to ‘ear about all zhis excitement."

for-the-haunted-mist-i-ride:

The Lord raised the arm that the Prophet had stroked, though her touch was not unwelcome,it was unexpected and certainly something the Lord was unused to. Turning the motion into a wave of dismissal the Lord laughed, “there is nothing to forgive Prophet, we all be one embroiled in the turnings of fate and life, it is a condition of all those that live… and exist” he added potently.

Stepping to the side of the Prophet and Nodding to her the Lord began to walk towards the forest, “I can meditate another time, I would be honoured to keep you company Lady Krobelus.

suchbeautyindeath:

As the Lord stepped to the side of her, she smiled up to him, happy he agreed to spend this evening with her. Even as she hovered off the ground, he was still a tad bit taller than she was, but she didn’t mind at all. After properly wrapping her arm around his and they began on their stroll, Krobelus let out a content sigh.

"So tell me, my Lord, you said things ‘ave been quite active as of late? Surely you’ve not been involved in too much of zhis mess?"

for-the-haunted-mist-i-ride:

As they strode along the decayed and winding path, Abaddon’s armoured boots echoing of the ground somewhat, the pair must of been a sight indeed, a man of mist and armour, the other a spectre of beauty.

In truth he didn’t know what to think of the Prophet, she was a spectre, so desperate for death that it seemed foreign of her to live or have ever lived. And for Avernus such a concept was truly strange,his mind was always filled with life and love and death, it appeared the Prophets was only filled with death. Despite this though, Abaddon could not deny it was nice to speak to someone who was outside of recent events, and it wasn’t an issue that she was beautiful as well.

"I am unfortunately in the middle of it all Krobelus" the Lord smirked finally, his voice echoing outwards. "The House of Avernus has changed sides in the conflict of the Silencers, it is llno longer toed to Ostarion." The Lord continued simply.

suchbeautyindeath:

As the couple walked along, Krobelus seemed to be taking in the sights, but she was really taking note of the spirits around the area. A fair few here for some reason. They hadn’t all died here. Looking closely at each of them, listening to their soft wails, most of them had been following her for quite some time. And just when she thought she would have a nice quiet evening with another…

Trying her best to ignore the constant wailing, Krobelus hovered a bit closer to the lord and smiled when she had heard he changed sides — even giggled a bit. “Did you switch sides just to be with zee winners, or did you want to be away from Ostarion zhat badly?” She teased, not even realizing she just told him the outcome of the war and the final end of this long conflict. Things like that just slipped out sometimes.

for-the-haunted-mist-i-ride:

The Lord gave a smirk as the prophet spoke, the Font had hinted at such an outcome but had chosen not to give finer details of the conflict. “I changed sides because it was the right thing to do for my people Krobelus. I have wanted to break the allegiance for a while; but I digress.”

Turning down another long eroded path the Lord of Avernus watched as the prophet spoke in hushed whispers, “got company have you Prophet?” the Lord mused, noticing the spirits split attention.

suchbeautyindeath: 

Having been attempting to shoo another bothersome soul, being caught out caused the Prophet to look away, embarrassed. “Always. Forgive me. Zhey see me as a sort of vessel and like to cling.” A wave of her hand and the green mist that had been following dispersed with a sickening cry. She grimaced slightly, but tried not to show it.

“Whether it be lost souls or bats, I’m never really alone.” Just as she spoke of them, a pair of dark winged creatures fluttered over, one landing on her right shoulder. The other missed and ended up latching onto the Lord. It slipped and fumbled on the smooth armor until it’s little feet found something to grab onto to keep from falling. Once settled, it squeaked.

“Cosmo.” She said with a giggle and shook her head. “So social, zhat one.” Upon hearing his name, the little bat squeaked again. “Mm. Anyway, your people. Yes. Things should be safer once allied up with zee Radiant properly, but I can not tell you for sure. Events involving zee Ancients directly are cloudy for me.”

for-the-haunted-mist-i-ride:

"It is the way of this war Krobelus, even we cannot be sure of its outcomes, life and death, Victory or defeat? They are beyond our sight it is true. So, we must make do as best we can" he smirked beneath his helm.

Turning to the bat the Lord of Avernus smiled and raised a single metalic finger to the bat, “Cosmo, you’re a brave one indeed, if only people had the same courage as you, to face the unknown.”

"Does the company ever bother you?" The Lord wondered aloud, his finger stroking the Cosmo gently.

suchbeautyindeath:

The Prophet smiled watching her little one, so content with the attention. How he was always so comfortable with strangers, she never understood. She was glad the Lord didn’t mind her companions company.

His question caused her to hum in thought before answering. “If I let it, yes. Zhey plead and tell me zheir life stories and want me to deliver a message to a loved one, or ‘elp zhem pass on or even bring zhem back to life. I can not grant zheir wishes.” She sounded apologetic as if her words were directed at someone in that moment.

Another wave of the hand and she shook her head. “I do my best to ignore zhem. On occasion, zhey make for good company, nice long talks, stories and such, but most often it’s just begging.” Glancing back over to the Lord, the little bat was still just as content, nuzzling against the finger petting his head.

for-the-haunted-mist-i-ride:

Smiling at the bat for a moment the Lord quickly turned his attention back to the Prophet, at the poor bats expense. “Most remarkable people carry heavy burdens upon their shoulders” the lord remarked solemnly, reacting to the prophets description of her regular companions. in trust he could relate to such a curse, the constant hum and wail of the Font was forever eternal in his ears, a silent storm that deafened all who heard it.

He smirked as he thought on Krobelus words, the small bat wiggling upon his armour, “What is the most exciting story you have ever heard from one of your companions?” the Lord inquired, smiling beneath his helm.

suchbeautyindeath:

The Prophet laughed a bit in thought at his question. “Exciting?. Oh zhere are are so many! Stories of grand adventures, epic wars and battles. I am afraid zhey all usually end in death which always seems to turn zee conversation rather dark.” Being the Death Prophet always made things turn dark. She was used to it at this point but didn’t want to “scare him off” in any way. “No matter how exciting, it is always so tragic, yet so beautiful.”

Lifting her hand, she gently wrapped her claws around the little bats body and moved him to her own shoulder. He squeaked in protest but once he was on her he quickly crawled his way up on top of her head and nuzzled into her flowing hair. She laughed a bit but let him do as he pleased.

“I remember a man, a grand general of a great army in a far off land leading ‘is men into battle to defend ‘is country. He was one of the last standing on the field of corpses, arrows stuck out of him in several places, sword wounds and all, yet he kept on. Once ‘is entire army was wiped out, he drove back the remaining few of the opposing side, saving his ‘omeland. He died but zee country thrived and built a grand statue in ‘is honor that still stands today from what I’m aware. He was so proud. His wife and child had been casualties. I took ‘im to zhem once he was ready. Seeing zhem reunite nearly drove me to tears. He told me he did it all for zhem. He kept fighting for zhem.”

for-the-haunted-mist-i-ride:

Abaddon listened with a mixture of joy and sadness as the tale was weaved by the spectre’s lips. It was a story he had not expected, one that actually bore fruit. Nodding as Krobelus finished the tale Abaddon could not help but smile beneath his obsidian helm. “Thank you, my lady Krobelus” he proclaimed with a bow, “That was a wonderful tale indeed! you should considering making a show out of it all, I can see it now, Krobelus gathering the other hero’s together for a story” he chuckled playfully.

“Do you ever record these stories Krobelus?” Abaddon inquired, still smiling at his own joke. Despite his smile however, Abaddon could not help but feel solace for the general, he had died for his nation, his house. It was a feat Abaddon could understand.