#gender-neutral language

[moonfishlagoon]

Venetian language & gender-neutrality

Vèneto! Known colloquially as “dialect,” (e.g., “speaking dialect”) Venetian is nevertheless a distinct language still spoken in the Venetan region of Italy. My current writing project takes me to the centro storico of Venice in CE 2080. The centro storico is the historic center - where you think of when you think of Venice. Tourists, canals, etc.; the mainland being terreferma.

At this point in my worldbuilding, a third neutral gender is widely accepted across large swaths of the world. So, how to reconcile this with the distinctly gendered grammar of Vèneto while still being respectful of a language that is not my own?

The first question: are there resources discussing this online? No, of course not! That would be too easy! (if you have these resources, please send them to me posthaste.) A series of Reddit posts in my new favorite subreddits, r/linguistics, r/Veneto, and r/Venezia, have clued me in to the fact that:

Venetian speakers are largely conceptualized as elderly and rural, thus:

Presumably aren’t thinking about gender neutrality, and moreover:

Aren’t posting about it online if they are

This is clearly a biased and seemingly-ignorant point of view. Yet if there are Venetian-speakers out there talking about this, I’m probably largely out of the loop because, most significantly of all factors, I don’t speak Vèneto. Crushing.

Investigation in this direction thus stymied, I turned instead to Italian, which has in recent times been investigating that curious beast known as neutering your language.

Surprising no one, most of the English-language writing on this topic is horribly bigoted! Much bemoaning of the dissolution of the integrity of the Italian language. Sound familiar?

I gleaned enough from these rantings to understand that Italians are playing with a lot of gender-neutral options. I’ll use the word “tutti” (“all”) as an example. If you’re familiar with gender neutral efforts in Spanish, these will likely strike you as familiar. Our options, among others, are:

Just using the masculine - tutti

An asterix - tutt*

Leaving off the ending - tutt

A ‘u’ - tuttu

An at sign - tutt@

A schwa - tuttə

For even more, see Italian linguist Vera Gheno’s breakdown on Facebook. (And wow, I just found a bibliography about the schwa on her FB page, time for another deep dive ...)

Only one of the above options seems useable to me in a narrative context, and that’s the schwa. It’s easy on the eyes, it looks basically like a letter, and it makes a comprehensible and distinct noise. Furthermore, gendering in Vèneto and Italian seems to work in similar ways, so I feel fairly confident that I can apply the schwa to Venetian endings as I would Italian ones and not be making a mockery of myself. (Fairly confident, I said!)

Authorial side-bar - using the schwa will also signal to readers that I am doing something different with language; likely even those unfamiliar with Venetian and Italian.

Next question: what about singular nouns??? All the examples I’ve found with the schwa are for plural nouns, and googling (or duck-duck-go-ing) is getting me nowhere. After about half an hour of wishing I could just go to Venice, I found a Reddit thread that linked to a marvelous article:

Linguaggio inclusivo in italiano: guida pratica per chi scrive per lavoro (e non) by Ruben Vitiello

With some help from Firefox’s Simple Translate extension, I dove into this lovely, thorough, and most importantly not bigoted guide on the schwa. Not only does it talk about the schwa, but it has fantastic background on choosing ungendered language, speaking about trans people, and the history of gender neutral endings in Italian. This article is a goldmine.

It also contained one parenthetical that made all the research worth it: “sua forma semplificata (un solo simbolo sia per singolare che plurale)”.

“Its simplified form (only one symbol for both singular and plural)”.

That’s all I needed to know! The schwa is used for singular and plural endings. Ruben Vitiello, I owe you my life.

With hours of research under my belt, I now feel fairly confident in my choice to use the schwa for a hypothetical future Venetian that exists in a world which recognizes a third neutral gender.

If anyone reading this wants to share their thoughts, please feel free! If you speak Venetian, I’m actually begging you to chime in!

And now, on to the next research hole ... Adìo!

Further resources:

Lingua Veneta (dictionary)

Glosbe (dictionary)

Non-binary in Italian: Queering the Italian Language (article)

Gender neutral language (nonbinary wiki page)

Schwa (ə) and Inclusive Language, a Conversation Among Colleagues (article)

[polishhandplates]

1-5 Translation Notes | HANDPLATES

Polish is a very gendered language. You add specific gendered additions no matter in which person you’re speaking. If you’re talking about someone or something, you specify their pronouns. So this is a bit of a problem with frisk. They’re non binary. They use they/them. In polish we have two ways to describe gender neutrality. They’re both uncommon, because, well, Poland isn’t the most accepting of places. Anyways. The two ways are: Talking about frisk as if they’re two people. This is the more accepted way, since it sounds like old polish, in which you very often used plural pronouns for one person. Sadly, those pronouns can’t really be properly used in the first person, unless the person wants to sound like they have DiD. The second way is less accepted, and sounds foreign because of how little it’s used. But most non binary people, along with myself kind of, prefer that way of speaking. It basically means using the natural pronouns, which is cool, we have that. Sadly, they have an „OM” sound instead of a softer „AM” or „EM” so it stands out in day to day speech. I opted for this way of doing so, since it would be more fun and specifically point out them being non binary. Especially since frisk is a child, and child is one of those few gender neutral words even in polish, so even if someone wanted to be mad, they wouldn't be able to. *which isn’t always the case, mind you, since words in polish are very often gendered like for example, person, is feminine * During hole punching the only thing I’d want to mention is that I forgot one line, at first. The „It’s only five seconds”. I only found the mistake after showing it to a friend of mine and counting the paragraphs ^^””

In polish, it’s not all that common to call anyone ”Doctor” or "Professor" even if that’s who they are/their title. More common is calling them sir/mr or ma’am/miss. This fun little thing stems from back in time, Medival times, i think.  Basically, the nobles decided that, yes, they were descendants of some great warriors, so they’re all lords/sirs. They started to call themselves Sir/Ma'am etc all the time. they didn't stop, so it continued into today's speech. For example. English: Mr president! What do you think about your campaign? Polish: Panie prezydencie! Co pan myśli o Paniskiej Kampanii? Translated (literally): Mr president? What do you*Mr think about your*Mr Campain? So that’s…fun. And it’s the reason why the first time alphys calls Gaster „Mr Gaster” and only later switches to „Doctor Gaster”. Because calling someone Mr in polish feels more...respectful? Than calling them doctor. Since the Mr is directly addressing someone as your superior, your elder. and it just makes sense that alphys would make a "Mistake" like this. Another thing about alphys is that she often uses „umm”. In polish, we would more often say „eeee” „Yyyyyy” „Mmmmmm” or just straight up „Emmmm” since that’s just how we speak. In the fourth one, I had some issues because of the scientific language that didn’t translate well. But that’s honestly not that interesting. The fifth one also wasn’t all that interesting in terms of the translations.

[razornevermore]

Remember these terms for professions to help encourage gender neutral language!

[itgetsbetterproject]

FREE downloadable guide to nonbinary language in Spanish - spread the word! 💛🤍💜🖤

How do we take a traditionally gendered language like Spanish and adapt it to be more gender inclusive?

Language is a powerful tool - this new EduGuide is amplifying non-binary voices, dismantling stigmas, and teaching us how to take a traditionally gendered language and adapt it to be more inclusive.

Our pals at It Gets Better Mexico collaborated with Homosensual to address this crucial issue within the language — download their guide for FREE and share it around to friends, family, your school, and your community: itgetsbetter.org/blog/spanish-eduguide-for-the-inclusion-of-nonbinary-people

Education like this helps create a space where every identity is seen and celebrated!

---------

El lenguaje es una herramienta poderosa - esta nueva EduGuide amplifica las voces no binaries, desmantela los estigmas y nos enseña cómo tomar un lenguaje tradicionalmente basado en género y adaptarlo para que sea más inclusivo.

Nuestres amigis de It Gets Better México colaboraron con Homosensual para abordar este tema crucial dentro del idioma — descarga tú guía GRATIS y compártala con amigues, familiares, tú escuela y tú comunidad para participar en estas importantes conversations: itgetsbetter.org/blog/spanish-eduguide-for-the-inclusion-of-nonbinary-people

¡Una educación como esta ayuda a crear un espacio donde se ve y se celebra cada identidad!

[that-puppy-trainer]

corruption brain go brrrr

someone new to sex not knowing how to touch themselves, unsure of themselves and worried they are doing it wrong, almost to scared to submit to anyone for fear of disappointing their partner. I coo at them, assure them that I'll take care of them perfectly if they just trust me and allow themselves to feel the sensations, blindfold them and get them just high enough that they can't get caught in their head while I explore their body.

I slowly find the perfect way to push all their buttons, slowly making them gasp. As goosebumps start to rise on their skin I press my warm body against theirs, feeling them try to press in closer against their restraints. They soak through their underwear so easily for me, and their shaky breaths are just begging for me to show them just how good sex can feel.

[mockerycrow]

Love your works! May I please get a "don't worry, i'm not going anywhere." with Ghost? Take your time, I love what you write!

400 Follower Celebration

—“Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere.”— With Ghost

Summary: You’re apart of the 141 and Ghost recently had a near-death experience. You’ve been plagued with nightmares about the situation, but you try to hide it from him, feeling selfish about your night terrors. One night, you’re thoroughly convinced Ghost had actually died.

A/N: THANK YOUUU I KEEP BLUSHING ILY AND TYSM FOR 500 FOLLOWERS

[WARNINGS: vomit, detailed nightmares, panic attack, gore, fake-death, angst, hurt/comfort.]

It was always the same nightmare. It was a repeat of that one mission months ago—nearly a year ago by now, where you and your team went to grab some important intel about a new uprising cartel that was showing some dangerous potential. It was a large compound, four floors including the basement, wide rooms with many blind-spots. Using your rifle equipped with a heat signature sensor, you swept room to room, leading your team through the building, putting anyone down who dared fired a bullet at you or your team.

You turn that familiar corner and your heart sinks. You’ve tried many times to change the course of this dream, but no matter how frantically you try to scream about what is waiting on the other side of that door, your mouth refuses to work until Ghost rumbles out, “I’ll take point.” You try to fight every muscle in your body to stop this, but it’s like the dream freezes until you continue down the.. “right path”. Quite literally is a living fucking hell for you, and there’s absolutely nothing you can do to stop it except do what it wants you to do.

“Roger.” You mutter, backing up behind Ghost instead of staying in front of him and leading him the others. The others are always blank faced soldiers in this nightmare, but you know who is who. You pat his shoulder, aimming over him as you walk down the hall close together, hugging the wall. You’ve been through this so many times, you know to eye the floor and you watch the moment happen—Ghost steps on a pressure plate and—BOOM.

You’re always forced to watch it in slow motion; the wall being blown open right next to Ghost, watching the debris scatter everywhere, scraping yourself up as well as Ghost. He raises his arm to shield his face from whatever is happening, unable to process in time that a man wielding a sharp combat knife is pulling his arm back and comes down with it.

You watch the way the knife so easily slides into his rib cage, and it’s almost like you could hear it penetrating his lung like it did—but this time, the man rips the knife out and does it again and again and again—this has never happened before—Ghost’s falling to the ground, his blood splattering everywhere, fuck, it’s like the guy is trying to gut him—but you can’t move. You have to sit there and watch this man. plunge a knife in and out of Ghost’s chest until he finally decides to stab him deep and yank downwards, spilling his intestines and stomach—yet, his lifeless eyes keep eye contact the entire time.

Your eyes fly open, dizzy from your heart pounding and unable to focus, you throw the blanket off of you and you make your way out of whatever room you’re in—you’re too freaked out to know. Your chest aches and feels like there’s a hundred tons sitting on your rib cage, restricting your breathing. You keep walking until you bump into something and you manage to focus enough to notice it’s the bathroom door. Your hand shakily grabs the doorknob and opens it, and you already feel the vomit traveling up your throat.

You end up bent over the open toilet, body heaving with every exile of the contents of your stomach, which by this time of night is mostly just bile. Your head is spinning and your hands keep shaking and by this point, you really don’t care how clean this bathroom is. You lean your elbows on the toilet rim and hold your head in your hands, trying your best to stifle a sob, even though all you can smell and feel is his blood on your fingertips. Your tears drip down your cheeks and collect at your chin before dripping off.

You keep one arm on the toilet seat to keep your head propped up and the other goes around your stomach, which is twisting painfully inside of your gut, ripping another sob from you. You gag into the toilet, but you’ve already thrown everything you had inside. Your throat and nose burns from the stomach acid, but it doesn’t compare to the emotional pain of losing Ghost. You just stood there and watched him get gutted—why do you deserve to grieve when you could have prevented it in the first place? Someone killed the Ghost, and you let it fucking happen.

A large hand sprawls across the flat of your back which is accompanied by a low, gritty voice. Whoever it is says something, but you don’t quite hear them. It’s probably Price, trying to comfort you, trying to say there’s one thing you could’ve done to stop it, but you know there was something you could do, anything you could’ve done.

Price calls your name and you go to shove him away, but his hands wrap around your wrists, and the voice is more insistent. You choke on a sob and shake your head, struggling against him until you hear it—his voice. “Fuck, [Name], can you hear me?” Ghost’s voice. It’s his voice.

No. Your mind is playing tricks on you and you won’t fall for it, you won’t let yourself go through this horrendous grief for a second time. You try to curl up into a ball, wanting to grab at your hair or your clothes, just anything but be here. “Look at me.” His hands grab your face and force your face to look at him and..

It’s him. It’s Ghost.

All of your noises stop for a moment as you stare with wide eyes that are full of unfallen tears, eyes full of grief, all for him. Ghost stares back at you with uncharacteristically wide eyes, and you can see the way his hands are slightly trembling—he’s worried about you. Ghost’s eyebrows furrow when he sees your expression of anguish. “Hey—hey, what happened?” Ghost’s voice is so quiet, like he’s afraid you’ll break if he speaks any louder. Your hands come up to his mask and touch it and you burst into a harsh sob again, throwing your arms around him.

Usually, Ghost would hesitate. He would be reluctant to reciprocate such personal touch, such desperation, but he pulls you close into his arms without a second thought. Your hands grab his shirt and you breakdown into his chest, wetting the fabric with your tears. His heart slipped a beat because he’s never seen you like this—has never seen you break down this horribly.

He’d be here when you were ready to talk about it, but for now he’ll stay to hold you until your shoulders stop shaking. Ghost moves to sit on his bottom and you whimper in fear, like he’ll leave. “Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere.”

[thatdeadaquarius]

sagau with the language barrier issue except... the creator is sick and tired of trying to ask for things so they do everything themself.

and it gives their followers mass anxiety bc they can't even ask what you're doing... bc they know they won't understand anything...

SUCH A GENIUS NARVI 10/10 GOOD WORK SORRY IM SUPER LATE BUT THIS IS *chefs kiss*

Like, that's literally how I feel like I first played Genshin LMAO

Also this has a cont. Part 2 at the bottom bc tumblr fucking hates me UPDATE I FIXED IT THANK FUCK

Paimon was like "and then we go to Mondstadt- ! NO, not Wolvendom, to Mondstadt! NOT THE THOUSAND WIND TEMPLE WITH ENEMIES OUT OF UR LEAGUE, ENTER MONDSTADT FOR THE FIRST TIME BEFORE U EXPLORE THE REST OF THE MAP!! >:("

SO MANY IDEAS YET SO LITTLE WRITING SKILL GUYS HELP-

Also warning this is ROUGH in terms of spelling and editing and im so sorry abt that! I have my art show today so you're welcome to come back if you want to see it a little more readable tomorrow lmao

Edit Update 4/6/23:

Revised and fixed all the bad spelling and grammar (hopefully) so make sure to give another read if you havent read the cleaned up version lol

I dont have a beta reader so its just me trying my best ok-

Everything was like kinda chaos tbh at first

WOW- MY FIRST 1,000+ NOTES POST??!?! U GUYS, WHAT ARE R YOU DOIN??!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!! IM GLAD U GUYS ENJOYED IT SM!! Also look out for more encoded stuff in the future since i mentioned wanting to continue stuff like this + ARG stuff :) <3

Edit 9/7/23: 2,000+ NOTES?? THANK YOU???

Like u wake up under the Irminsul, and u think ur hallucinating a goddamn gacha game for like a solid 5 minutes, or ur lucid dreaming, 

but once u actually took what felt like hours to process that u might actually be in fucking Genshin Impact-

Nahida came running from, somewhere?? Its kinda just very floaty dreamy in here so, unclear, she’s beaming with a giddy little smile (💘)

It’s… so much more than what her game model could manage.

I mean, you knew that, of course you did, but- to see the tiny goddess smiling in person, her cute chubby arms waving in the air, her cheeks all plump with baby fat from her excited smile, pretty green eyes that sparkle only in the way excited toddlers do-

It was just…wow. 🥺

You can’t help it, her sheer carefree excitement, exactly like a child but you know that she must be really overwhelmed with joy if shes letting herself act like that so blatantly, you feel ur muscles tug gently into a smile, you try to muffle it but ur happiness leaks out anyway

She's panting as she stumbles on short chubby legs to reach you.

After just staring at you with those big green clover eyes for a few seconds, she physically shakes her head to knock herself out of it,

Nahida places her hand over her heart, and bows elegantly, going back to looking at you with a small but bright smile, her voice is kind of quiet, muffled in a soft way, much like her game depiction,

“Hzozn! R'ev yvvm dzrgrmt gl nvvg blf! R wrwm'g gsrmp blf dlfow wvhxvmw fmgro R dzh zg ovzhg z uvd gslfhzmw bvzih low!” *

…Nahida begins to look a little concerned… her eyes get impossibly bigger.

…Oh no.

♧

Nahida had apparently quickly spread the news that you can’t understand them, but luckily it seems like all the characters still know you!

Alhaitham is pretty much a constant by your side, you knew he was vaguely studying linguistics in the akademiya… but that knowledge still didn’t prepare you to be intensely stared at with his diamond pupils for hours. 💀

Then he’d tap your shoulder or something, and you quickly picked up that he wanted you to just try and say something.

Then he would scribble for hours.

Turns out they can understand you about as much as you understand Teyvat language (s? You can’t even tell if there are multiple languages, that’s how unrecognizable this language is, damn)

The more extroverted or friendly people, like Venti, Yoimiya, Kazuha, Jean, Noelle, Amber, Xingqiu, Hu Tao, Zhongli, Ganyu, Barbara, Beidou, Collei, Ayaka, Gorou, Nilou

At least attempt to talk to you, and try very hard to watch what you gesture with your hands or body language

They're pretty much ready to play charades at all times for you lol

Interestingly enough, they only ever understood you when you typed in the chat (with other ppl)

But even then not immediately, 

Sumeru scholars basically had to make a whole new department (regardless of how much you play with others) to decipher your ancient language (to them) like those old clay tablets with cuneiform we’re still translating?

Like that, your words appear in elemental magic heavy places (so like that abyss lang. It’ll appear on walls or structures, so like Andrius’ stone colosseum? in Wolvendom gained some of your chat replies inscribed and glowing a rainbow of colors on the top edges of the walls)

Much like the abyss language you see throughout genshin, most Teyvat scholars (across nations/internationally) agreed your language is the oldest form of language known!

It’s like modern languages having roots in older ones, like English with Latin, greek, or German roots, or Sanskrit and the Prakrit for Hindi language today

…so of course no one really speaks the root languages anymore, because they’re so old, so those ancestors who spoke those languages would have little to no understanding of their modern counterparts…

◇

Occasionally if you turned your mic on for whatever reason there would be a gentle whisper on the winds in Mondstadt of your voice,

or your laugh in the waves washing ashore in Inazuma and Fontaine,

your startled noises or screams from battling bosses mixed with the landslides in the mountains of Liyue

So they know what you sound like, but that doesn’t mean they understood your language :/

Nahida had been hoping that you’re actual physical form being here would help improve the language barrier

But unfortunately, those things remained the same, but at least you were physically here to talk to now and give more content for the scholars to study rather than them having to make do with your snippets of language from chats

…so needless to say, it took you a long time to realize they viewed you as a god of sorts.

You kind of knew something was up when at least two allogenes were by your sides at all times, or eremites would replace them if they really couldn’t stick around

You figured they knew you weren’t nearly as combatant-ready as they were at all times, hell you obviously didn’t have a vision hanging off you somewhere, and you only really had a knife strapped to a belt, courtesy of the Thirty Corps

You are still kind of convinced that the people of Teyvat, or Sumeru at least, are just pretty polite (and in the allogenes case, very kind or friendly, even people like Alhaitham or Cyno, resting bitch faces they have, seem to soften a little when they’re walking around with you… maybe you’re just imagining it…)

And as much as you would love to wait until they understand you to do something more fun, as you can see the frustration on Tighnari’s face (and his ears try to flatten back hehe) as he looked like he was debating heatedly with some of the Sumeru sages who insist you stay in the city

…so why not go?

It’s not like they’re going to get it anytime soon, and it’s still too frustrating for yourself to charade things or draw things for them because you can’t even hear their guesses 💀

You can totally handle being like the traveler too, 

You still have access to your inventory afterall! Plus, lucky for you, you still find a pass for the Serenitea Pot in your little pocket dimension!

So now you have somewhere to sleep at night, and while most of your stuff went to the traveler’s pack, the things like Primogems

(which.. Okay now you really want primogems bc theyre so pretty and shiny irl)✨️

And other high-level things, or just objects of no use for the traveler (so basically all your hoarded level up stuff and infinite amount of weapons lol) came along with you

So you did have to wander the first week or so around the city and even commission the Adventurer’s Guild to grab you food supplies to cook with

Filling up, along with a few big waterskins, you’re off!

...and everyone collectively has a heart attack!

◇

When you show up in Ghandaraville essentially all “✨️💖☺️✨️” on Tighnari’s doorstep-

He chokes on the tea he’d been sipping on before he opened the door lol

He looks a little frazzled so you try to just gesture with “calm yourself small animal” energy with your hands

“Tivzgvhg Oliw! R'n- R- sld wrw blf-?! Mvevinrmw, xlnv rm, xlnv rm, ivhg! ...R mvvw gl hvmw z nroorlm ovggvih mld gl ylgs gsv vmgriv xrgb lu Hfnvif, gsv Zxgrmt Tizmw Hztv, zmw gsv Nzgiz nlhg orpvob…” he began out looking at you and talking and gesturing to his small dining table (the game sucks, his house looks great and has lots of cool rooms filled with interesting plants… oooo…so pretty...) 

But then he kinda just devolved into rambling, no need to understand, you can read the vibes and just know that's what he's doing lol

Collei eventually ducks in, and she looks a little panicked?

She’s quickly followed by Cyno, pushing past her to call out into the house,

His voice seems hard and stressed, looking at Tighnari, “Grtsmzir, szev blf hvvm gsv Tivzgvhg Oliw zmbdsviv, gsvb dviv hvvm xlnrmt gl Tszmwziezeroov ozhg-” 

Cyno stops and blinks.

Collei’s mouth is slightly dropped open, she also just, blinks.

You blink. 

Tighnari blinks tiredly, he looks like he’d rather be done for the day, you think.

The doctor sighs, and moves his head to nod towards the other dining seats.

◇

Sumeru foods are so much better looking in real life, and they’re so good too, your practically bloated by the end of dinner, 

As a thank you, bc u cant say it obv, you just gesture for Tighnari to stay sitting, and he gives you a raised eyebrow and a suspicious ear twitch

But stays still, and you reach out to finally hit the eight-pointed star hovering over his, and all playable characters chests at all times.

Like you suspected, it brings up a holographic character menu, but rather than his full model, it kind of hovers in front of Tighnari’s face, replacing his old 3D model self with framing the real thing for a portrait just in front of his face

The poor Denro user nearly jumps a foot out of his chair as he looks in shock at your screen, you do the same “chillll boy” gesture with your hands and press his shoulders for a second to remind him to not run off or panic

Cyno and Collei had done the dishes and put up leftovers, and are now standing behind Tighnari, watching with equally wide eyes,

“...Dszg ziv gsvb wlrmt gl blf?

Cyno’s voice is even deeper and quieter than usual, you feel goosebumps run up your spine

“Ziv blf tvggrmt yovhhvw, Nzhgvi Grtsmzir?!” Collei’s sweet voice is also hushed like she’s witnessing something sacred, Tighnari gently shakes his head negatively in response, his shoulders shrugging,

“Nzbyv? R uvvo... z orggov hgilmtvi, zmw nb Erhrlm rh zxgrmt fk zh dvoo…”

Though he’s replying, Tighnari’s eyes haven’t once left your ancient magic? technology device? hovering in front of him,

and as he crosses his arms and squints to try and look closer at everything floating in front of him, you can see the childlike gleam of awe in his green eyes, (so cute) in fact, now that you glance up and look, both Collei and Cyno have the same quietly excited and fascinated sparkle in their eyes too

With a displeased sneer, you chuck his old level one bow into the material grinding spots, hope he wasn’t attached to that…

Oh well, he’ll like the new one better, afterall, with no characters, all your best weapons and artifacts are ready to use!

With a small smile of reassurance, you finally finish gearing Tighnari up, tap a miniature version of that 8-point star in the corner like an “X” button, and it retreats like a classic TV set📺 turning off into his chest, he startles but then carefully stands

You decide to just start making decisions bc its worked out so far ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

And grab his hand and haul him out into the forest, Collei letting out a surprised squeak, her and Cyno hurrying after

You reach the nearest clearing, and gesture at Tighnari like a bow and arrow firing, he gets it, and your glad he already trusts you, because he doesn’t take long to summon his bow

He takes aim at a smaller tree about two cars length away

You can feel them all holding their breathe, as Tighnari charges it with Dendro, the arrowhead glowing, (it looks so cool and badass irl god you feel envious even tho ur already here-)

The ranger lets it fly, it streaks neon green, whistling through the air, it hits the tree-

and it fucking explodes.

Vines and leaves and the trees roots all rapidly swell like theyre filled with water, like it literally got hit by a superhero with plant powers, which, not that far off actually.

The green floating Dendro seeds make a ring around the tree its so full of elemental energy-

You give a wild grin, you still got it, hell yeah. >:)

Your grin widens as you look over at Tighnari, Collei, and Cyno

Cyno has a smirk lighting up his face, eyes eager, Collei’s jaw has dropped and she’s just frozen staring as the tree finally settles from the burst of the dendro powered arrow

…Tighnari has lowered his bow, and his mouth is only slightly open, his ears perked straight up into the air, shaking with excitement? Happiness? Interest? You don’t know how peopl-animal-hybrid ears work,

and you STILL cant talk to any of them to ask what they thought, so looks will have to do >:/

Tighnari is the first to move, his head snapping over to look at you, the brightest, kinda feral tbh, smile taking over his face-

“Blf pmld, dv xzm'g fmwvihgzmw blf, zmw blf fh, bvg R xzm'g dzrg gl hvv dszg rm gsv dliow blf'iv tlrmt gl wl mvcg. Blf'iv znzarmt."

… and you just 🙂? Cool!

And give a thumbs up👍LMAO

☆

Bonus:

Alhaitham was literally running around Sumeru City trying to find you when you left, tho you did try and leave a translatable-in-3-to-5-business days-note, he didn’t have time to translate that because you were gone.

Or worse, lost in the city, and he would never forgive himself if he lost you, esp as Acting Grand Sage-

Kaveh got a letter a day and a half later from Tighnari letting them know you were having a sleepover in Ghandarvaville lol

Kaveh also had to hunt down Alhaitham to give him said news, then force his roommate to go sit or lay down for the rest of the day to recover lmao

(Haitham honestly kinda freaked Kaveh out bc he’s never seen him that... desperate, it was like seeing a statue emote lol)

♡

ARE YOU KIDDING WE ALMOST HIT LIMIT AGAIN?!

Bro has anyone else had this problem???

I literally had to switch from PC to mobile and copy and paste it there to get all my shit in and tumblr not throw a hissy fit???!!!

FUCKING TUMBLR- SUCK MY BIG FAT- 👹👹 UGH

ANYWAYYYY SO I FINALLY CAVED 

And started doing ciphers for when you dont get teyvat’s language! I meant to do something fun like this for awhile but I wasn’t sure if that would be kind of annoying, but if you’re interested in learning what they actually say (which the whole point of this is that dw it doesnt rlly matter lol) here’s a hint:

*hint = Atbash

:> good luck!

Wish me luck on my art exhibition today!! Then I’ll be homefreeeee 😭

Safe Travels,

💀♒

♡ the beloveds ♡

@karmawonders / @0rah-s / @randomnatics / @glxssynarvi / @nexylaza / @genshin-impacts-me / @wholesomey-artist

[opultea]

Abnormal Love Languages

Genshin men with weird ways of expressing their love for you - Gender Neutral Reader (No Pronouns) - SFW - Romantic - Fluff/Crack

ft. Alhaitham, Wanderer, Heizou, Tighnari, Dottore

Alhaitham

The Scribe of the Akademiya, a renowned scholar, and a totally awkward boyfriend

So what does this intelligent, well-known, socially unaware man do when he wants to show you he loves you?

Infodumping

Knows a lot and makes sure you know it too

If he fell in love with you that means he respects your intelligence and curiosity enough to find interest in your company

So whenever he's on the couch with a new book on Theoretical Quantum Mechanics, he will be reciting the facts to you as if he's doing an oral presentation

Alhatiham keeps one of those big rolly whiteboards in his house (usually used to lecture Kaveh) and you know that when he pulls it out then it is officially date night

He pours you both a glass of wine for a nice candlelit dinner, but then you ask him about his new book and suddenly it's a romantic candlelit lecture

Lucky you find his intelligence attractive ;)))

If you ever need gift ideas for him just get a pack of multicoloured whiteboard markers, he always needs new ones

Even though you might end up regretting enabling his little habit

Wanderer

Traumatised Tsundere (TM)

Has never wanted anything more than to be loved the way he observed in humans, but has always believed he could never be loved in any way. It has only been proven to him that it isn't possible

So he protects himself from rejection by teasing and swatting you away, almost trying to make you hate him so he can at least expect what reactions to get from you

He views it as safe, he knows how humans are when they are angry and hateful, he's experienced it firsthand, so he knows what will come of it

Even though he's secretly saddened by feeling like he has to hurt you

So when you respond to him bonking your head with laughter and a smile brighter than he's seen on anyone in his direct presence before, it startles him

When he pushes your face away with his hand and you retaliate by latching onto his arm he freezes (Wanderer.exe has stopped working)

Calls you stupid and insults your survival instincts

"Honestly, if a complete stranger were to push you away like this, would you still clutch their arm like a lost puppy? How absurd, you obviously couldn't survive without me protecting you, since you evidently can't tell good intentions from bad ones,"

Then you pout and tell him that of course you don't do this with other people, you do it because it's him!

He stops working again

Shoves you to the ground to avoid you seeing how red his face is

Heizou

Riddles and puzzles/tries to quiz you by making you help him solve a case

Brings you to crime scenes even though you are not a detective and definitely aren't allowed to be there just so he can test your skills

"So, what can you gather from this crime scene? This case isn't particularly difficult, so I have no doubt you'll be chasing down the perp in no time,"

Honestly your whole relationship is like an escape room

You want to get into your house but forgot your key? Well knock in morse code and maybe Heizou will let you in

You want to have a nice lunch date with your boyfriend? Well you best be prepared for an intense game of shogi while you eat

You want Heizou to pass you a pen? Well first you must answer these questions three!

But seriously, he makes it fun for you and makes sure to let you know that it’s his way of telling you how much he respects you and he values your input and intelligence

Tighnari

As an Amurta scholar and a forest watcher who has seen way too many cases of mushroom-based food poisoning, Tighnari has learnt to be prepared to dish out medical treatment

So if you cough even once, or sneeze in his presence, Tighnari will begin an impromptu check-up to ensure you're still feeling your best

You try telling him you're fine, people sneeze all the time without being sick, but he just scolds you even more for thinking you could get away without him making sure you're alright

"Don't be so proud, you idiot. What am I going to do with you if you go and get sick?"

Tighnari would hate if you fell ill under his careful watch, but if you do get sick or injure yourself, prepare for a two hour lecture and a bowl of fresh creamy mushroom stew to help you get back into tiptop shape

He's usually incredibly busy with his forest watcher duties, but will somehow almost never leave your side if he's tending to you

When you aren't sick, he makes sure you're eating well, going so far as to prepare your meals or make a nutrition table based on the vitamins he thinks you need more of

Always reminds you to drink water and take any medication you need, your health is his top priority

Dottore

Psychopath (Endearing)

Takes x-rays of you just to admire your lovely bone structure and hangs them up around your shared bedroom as if they're regular date pictures

He loves to have you sit in his lap as he caresses your body and coos at your flesh, whispering sweet nothings in his suavest voice about your organs, and telling you what a strong heart you must have because he can feel it through your shirt

Unwinding with Dottore almost always goes this way, with you getting a shower of what you're pretty sure are compliments about your internal systems and physical attributes

He once shocked you with a mini electric buzzer just to see your central nervous system go off. You were naturally quite annoyed about it but he just shrugged it off, claiming that he just loved to see your body at work, although he never did it again

His doctor brain never turns off, so be prepared to have his fingers in your mouth as he goes on about what wonderful teeth you have

It certainly makes you feel... special

You should feel special, he definitely doesn't do this with anyone else

Dottore is so enchanted by your being that he grows human organs in his lab that are exactly the size and shape of yours, saying it's so you can see for yourself just how beautiful you are

[kjscottwrites]

I was inspired by @jezifster's recent question about non-gendered royal titles, and I put together this graphic to serve as a jumping off point for people writing monarchies in SFF !

Obviously this non-exhaustive list contains mainly western titles, all in English. Feel free add any on additional gender neutral terminologies that you can think of, including those from different languages and cultures!

A small addition: I'm not a linguist or historian and put this list together based on some quick googling! While you're free to flex the usage and meanings of these words however you choose, researching the real-world context of each term before using them in your own writing is a best practice.

[prokopetz]

Using "comrade" in a gendered way.

[moonfishlagoon]

Types of responses to my various Reddit inquiries about whether the schwa is being used as a gender-netural ending in Venetian/Veneto:

It’s not even being used in Italian (blatantly false)

Only old rural conservatives speak Venetian (blatantly bigoted)

Why would a “““regional language”““ have linguistic innovation ??? (see above)

Actually level-headed, nuanced responses (in the minority)

[thee-horny-thicky]

Shut Up and Sleep

Bakugou Katsuki was good at many things. Staying up late, however, wasn’t one of them. The man is a morning bird that raises with the sun, and once it went down, so did he. He struggled to stay up past 9 pm, and if he was awake when the clock struck ten, he was miserable.

So, when you and he were holed up at his agency until midnight, tackling the pile of paperwork he’d been neglecting, the formidable hero resembled a walking corpse by the time y’all left.

“Watch it, babe,” you chided as you placed a hand on Katsuki’s shoulder, trying to prevent him from walking into another light post.

A nasty bump was already forming from his run-in with the first one, and you had to bite the inside of your cheeks to stop yourself from laughing at your grumpy lover. Luckily, his head was extra hard, so you didn’t have to worry about him being concussed.

He sidled a glare at you, though he let your hand linger on his muscular shoulder. “I’m fine.”

You snorted, mentally cheering when your luxury apartment building came into view. “Could’ve fooled me.”

Your boyfriend grumbled something under his breath. You didn’t bother deciphering it, instead focusing on keeping him awake as you rode up the elevator. You discovered long ago that standing up wouldn’t deter him from falling asleep. No, the man was like a horse, possessing the ability to sleep in any position when tired enough.

You were thankful that neither of you was scheduled to patrol that day, as office attire is far easier to remove than hero gear, a fact Katsuki quickly took advantage of. The moment you two crossed the threshold of the bedroom, his clothes were coming off. You admired his athletic physique as you undressed, your boyfriend’s form the result of years of hard work. Scars littered his well-built body, evidence of all the battles he’d survived. 

  “Where are you going?” Katsuki questioned with a frown as he settled on the bed, a pair of boxers being the only thing preserving his modesty.

“I have to brush my teeth,” you answered as you picked up the discarded clothing, intending to throw them in the bathroom’s hamper.

He made a sound of protest and reached toward you, the childish gesture making you smile. “Do it in the morning. I wanna sleep.”

“Then sleep,” you said with a giggle.

He was especially needy when he was tired. You found such a big, strong hero becoming a whiny mess adorable, all because he wanted to cuddle as he drifted off.  

“Not without you,” he complained.

With speed his tired body shouldn’t possess, he hopped out of the bed and advanced toward you, throwing you over his shoulder once you were in arm’s reach. You gasped as he effortlessly lifted you, the clothes in your clutch falling back to the floor.

“Katsuki,” you squealed as he carried you to the bed, flailing your legs in a futile attempt to be released. “Put me down!”

“No,” he said as settled onto the mattress.

He kept his arms around you and positioned the two of you to his liking, only satisfied when his hard chest pressed against your back.

“Katsuki, I need to brush my teeth,” you reminded him as his breathing began to even off. “My breath stinks.”

“That’s why you’re facing away, idiot,” he mumbled, the exhaustion in his voice persuading you to give in.

“Whatever,” you huffed as you shifted closer, letting your eyes flutter shut. “Just don’t complain when my morning breath is extra brutal.”

“Shut up and sleep.”

[beatificwrites]

—you suck off sub!mike in his office ★

pairing: sub!mike schmidt x reader

content: porn w/o a plot, smut, no use of y/n, reader has grippable hair, oral male!receiving

“What’re you doing??” his brows furrowed at the feeling of your hand sliding into his inner thigh.

“Don’t mind me.” the corner of your lip curved up and your hand remained in place.

Mike’s doe eyes waltzed aimlessly around the TV monitor as he flicked through the noisy cameras. He was already tired of this stupid job.

Your fingers could not help themselves as they crept closer and closer to your boyfriend’s crotch. Once they had reached jackpot, your hand began to gently rub against his bulge.

A restrained moan slipped out from his mouth, “babe, not here. Not here…” he groaned as you gave him a soft squeeze.

“Pffffft!” you scoffed. “Nobody’s watching.” you proceeded to slowly fondle with his ever-growing bulge.

“Please, I can’t loose this job.” he begged as he clamped his hands on the arms of the chair, knuckles turning ivory white.

“Gosh, you’ve always been super sensitive.” you rolled your eyes and copped a light feel of his sack before unzipping his jeans.

You bit your lips unconsciously at the sight of his precum already seeping through his briefs. Your hand practically led itself up and down his hidden cock.

“Don’t tell me you’re gonna cream yourself already.” you snickered.

Mike frantically shook his head, but his flushed cheeks gave himself away.

“You need to relax, baby.”

You dropped to your knees and spread his legs further apart for better room. Your hand returned to gently rubbing against his shaft and your ears peaked up at the sound of him steadily sucking in the air through his teeth.

He began to feel your delicate kisses sprinkle all over his dick. He had no option, but to clench his fist to hold back from spilling all of himself too soon for your liking.

His huge eyes watched every move you made, anticipating the next. Ready to get high off of whatever treat you were about to give him.

You admired from below as the man above was spiraling out of control by the second. You had not even put him in your mouth and he was already about to come undone.

“I can’t relax like this-oh god!” he immediately threw his head back as he felt himself spring free and your hand gripping his length. Your touch was enough to send him to the stars.

You took a moment to ogle at his massiveness. You figured it shape-shifts and adjusts to it whatever state its in because your brain still couldn’t comprehend how such a thing could be supported by him all day long.

“Fuck..” he breathed out once your wet lips wrapped around his cock. He laid further back on the office chair and pulled his hoodie and shirt up just a bit.

Your tongue swirled around his tip, before you took it back out and lazily slipped your tongue up and down his length. You took your sweet time coating him in your slobber, testing his patience; your fave thing to do.

You rubbed his thickness with one hand and rested the other on his stomach, particularly his happy trail.

His mumbled curses came to an abrupt stop as soon as you started bobbing your head. With his mouth agape he threw his head back and you sucked as tenderly as you possibly could.

He reached out to guide your head, placing his coarse fingers through your hair. The urge to shove and move you, so you could suck at the pace he wanted you to, was strong. However, he knew he better.

You relinquished his cock for a moment. “grab as much as you want, sweetheart.” you breathed out.

His eyes widened a little, not expecting that from you. You gave a faint smile, deciding he could have his way with you for once.

He clasped a chunk of your hair not a millisecond later; not roughly, yet not gently either.

You hollowed your cheeks and blew twice as hard. “Jesus Christ!” he whined, through gritted teeth, as he pushed you further down. He was seconds away from spilling all of his load into your mouth.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck..I can’t hold it anymore!” he wailed.

His eyes rolled far back as he felt the intense wave of pleasure wash over his body. His cum spat out non-stop and you graciously took every drop he had to offer. The amount was too much to bare and it would drizzle down the corner of your lips.

You licked the salty stickiness from your bottom lip. Mike marveled, in his disheveled state, at the scene below him. You looked so beautiful right now despite the fact that you had just sucked him off.

You sprung off your knees and shared the taste with him.

“How you like that?” you titled your head as you rasped out.

“mehhh.” he answered with lidded eyes.

You giggled, “you’re so cute.”

───────── ☆

© beatificwrites

[kortsitron]

Both Hearts Pumping

✮ PARING Mauga Malosi × Gender Neutral! Reader 

✮ WARNINGS/TAGS smut, overstimulation, blowjob (Mauga receiving), hand job (Mauga receiving), cursing, size kink

✮ SUMMARY You heard he has two hearts and it made you wonder… How much those two hearts could take?

✮ A/N I won’t explain myself, enjoy xD

It all started with a question that seemed rather innocent.

“Is it true that you have two hearts?”

The question was so innocent, Mauga did not pick up the malicious intention behind it. He thought you were curious. After all – it’s not like you meet someone like him everyday.

He confirmed with a grin that almost never left his face. You knew that grin way too well. And you already knew that you would wipe it off his face soon.

And that's how he ended up in your room, sitting on your bed, groaning and moaning as you made him cum for the fourth time. His thick and warm cum was on your already sticky hands once more, while you bit your lip, looking at Mauga like he was a treasure you couldn't believe you possessed.

His breathing was fast and uneven, his large hands gripping on the mattress. His eyes opened when he heard a chuckle that escaped those pretty lips of yours. His eyes darted to you, he studied your face for a moment, excitement rising in his stomach.

“Someone's enjoying themselves.” His usual grin made a way to his lip, revealing his sharp canines. You had to remind him who's in charge just in case he was about to think otherwise. You squeezed his cock gently, making Mauga groan. You felt his large cock twitch in your hands, begging for more.

“Doll, come on…” He hissed, throwing his head back. You snorted, your thumb brushed against his sensitive tip. He hissed, unintentionally spreading his legs. 

The beating of his two hearts was ringing his head. He couldn’t focus. It was too much, but he knew you wouldn’t stop there. And it excited him even more.

Then he felt it. Your mouth wrapped around his tip. He gasped. “Fuck, [name]!” The words came out louder than he intended.

You couldn’t take him all in his mouth, you knew it and he did too. So you used your sticky hand to stroke him, playing with his balls once in a while to keep it interesting. You knew exactly how to make him go crazy.

His large hand was buried into your hair, his legs shook. You never saw him like that before, being at someone’s mercy. He always seemed like the guy who liked to be on top, being the one to tease, milking the orgasms from you.

And yet, there he was – letting you do what you wanted. Begging you to not stop, as your tongue teased his tip and your hands gripped his balls.

“Don’t stop, damn it! Don’t you even think about it!” His voice was hoarse as his hand gripped your hair tightly. You shivered, his voice was already making you lose your mind.

He was close. So close.

Suddenly, you felt his grip tighten, pushing you onto his dick, making you take more of him. You gagged, before he came inside your mouth. He instantly let go of you, watching you push yourself away from him. 

The loud gasp was heard from you. He smirked, when he saw his seed on your lips. His thumb brushed against your lower lip, collecting the liquid.

“Don’t make it go to waste, sweetheart.” His voice was low as he murmured, he pushed his thumb inside your mouth. The way you looked up at him while sucking on his thumb, it all made him excited all over again.

It was gonna be a long night, he knew it, but he didn’t mind at all. You could make him cum all night, making sure everyone in Talon would hear his moans and growls. But as long as you were the one pushing him over the edge, he wouldn’t mind.