#including how a character responds to things OUTSIDE their control

[ghoulsbounty]

Hi hi! I hope you're doing good!!

I have a fic request for all of Walton Goggins characters you write for from your request guidelines as a mini snapshot of each of them. (Length completely up to you)

I was watching The Shield...specifically S5 E3 - Jailbait @ 38:53 👀 where Shane (Walton) is enjoying a sexy time and the way he said "I'm gonna cum" has been swimming in my mind since lmaoo.

How would each of his characters dirty talk and tell their partner they're gonna orgasm (creampie preferably) ? 🥵🥵

Thank you so much for the amazing fics. I'm so happy to read each and every word you've written 🥹

Dirty Talk Headcanon

Summary: Things they say to you when they're about to cum.

Characters: Lee Russell, Wade Felton, Baby Billy Freeman, Boyd Crowder and Cooper Howard/The Ghoul.

Warnings: smut (18+), swearing, creampie, unprotected sex, rough sex, porn without plot, dirty talk, praise kink, cum eating, oral, degradation, control, pet names, multiple orgasms, light dumbification, mirror sex, light nipple play, light sub/dom, possessiveness, cumflation, squirting, slight corruption kink, humiliation, wet & messy, fingering, one small mention of a cheek (face) slap.

Word Count: approx 1k per character

A/N: I enjoyed writing this far too much! I wrote headcanons for dirty talk as a whole (hope that's okay) including orgasms + creampie 🥵Thank you for sending my first headcanon for all the Walton characters I currently write for! I'd love to do more (hint, hint)

Lee Russell - inside or outside the bedroom, he likes to degrade and insult you. will sprinkle in the odd pet name or backhanded praise. his neediness shows when he's about to cum. his favourite thing is the taste of you both together. 

"Didn't I tell you I'd get my hands on you, one way or another?" Lee growled into your ear, his breath hot and ragged. He shoved you further into the rough brick wall of the supply closet, the cold, unforgiving surface scraping painfully against your cheek. Each thrust was forceful, driving you deeper into the corner. Your body responded involuntarily, your cunt clenching tightly around him. The wet, lewd sounds of your bodies colliding echoed through the confined space, mingling with your panting breaths and his guttural moans.

"You slut," he spat, his voice dripping with contempt as he leaned back to gaze at the intimate junction of your bodies. "You're making such a fuckin' mess on my dick. You really have no shame, huh?" His eyes darkened with lust and a twisted sense of satisfaction. Your moans filled the air as his fingers circled your stretched and filled hole, collecting the slick juices there. Without warning, he brought his glistening fingers to your lips and pushed two digits inside, swirling them around your tongue. "Taste good, baby?" he taunted, his gaze never leaving yours, revelling in your submission.

He seized your chin between his wet fingers, pinching slightly as he brought your mouth to his, tasting you deeply. His tongue explored with a hunger that made you shiver. Drawing back, he savoured your essence on his lips, groaning in satisfaction. "Fuckin' delicious, my favourite taste," he murmured, his voice thick with desire. He gave your cheek a light smack, the sound sharp in the confined space, before planting both hands flat against the wall on either side of your head, caging you in. "But it'll be even better with both of us," he promised, his breath warm and heavy on your skin.

He pounded into you with relentless force, hissing into your ear as you tightened around him. "So hungry for me, aren't you?" he growled, his voice a dangerous rumble. His hips snapped with a brutal, unyielding rhythm, each thrust more powerful than the last. A whine escaped his throat when you ground back against him, matching his fast pace with your own desperate movements.

"You can act as angelic as you want out there," he continued, his tone dripping with a mix of lust and dominance, "but with me, you're just begging to be filled, aren't you?" His words sent a shiver down your spine, the truth in them igniting a fire within you. He dropped his hands from the wall and gripped your hips, his fingers digging into your flesh as he drove into you with unwavering intensity.

You felt yourself nearing the edge once more at his unfaltering pace. The combination of his relentless rhythm and the intoxicating dominance in his voice pushed you closer and closer to the brink. You could feel his breath hot against your ear, his teeth grazing your skin as he leaned in closer.

"Admit it," he demanded, his voice a seductive command. "Admit how much you love this, how much you need me."

When you did, he smiled smugly, his lips curling with sadistic satisfaction. One hand snaked down to your front, fingers dancing teasingly along your mound before circling your throbbing clit. You rutted against his thick digit, desperately seeking the friction. His grin widened against the skin of your shoulder, feeling your muscles quake beneath his touch.

"Let me have it," he murmured, the words sounding almost like a request but carrying the weight of direction. As you reached the peak of your climax, your body gushed around his shaft, your orgasm fierce and overwhelming. He continued to fuck you through it, his thrusts unrelenting, driving you deeper into ecstasy.

He pressed a kiss to your shoulder, whispering against your skin, "Always cum so hard for me, don't you? You filthy whore. Fuck, I love it." His words sent another wave of pleasure crashing through you, your body responding to the combination of his rough thrusts, degrading praise and soft kisses.

Your ass clapped loudly against his thighs as he slammed your limp body back onto his cock, his grip now firm on your hip. His hips stuttered, breath catching in his throat before he thrust into you one final time. White spurts of hot cum painted your walls and spilled from you, a primal groan escaping his lips. "F-fuck, that's it, take everything I'm giving you. Look at this greedy fuckin' cunt," he cursed under his breath, mesmerized by the sight of your mixed fluids dripping down his length.

When he had emptied himself completely inside you, he dropped to his knees, spreading your cheeks apart with his fingers. He dived between your messy folds, licking and sucking at the creamy mixture. His moans vibrated against you as he cleaned you thoroughly, his tongue delving into every crevice, savouring the taste of your combined releases.

Your body trembled, the profound sensation of his mouth working you over, driving you wild. You couldn't help but grind against his face, your movements becoming more desperate as he brought you closer to another peak. His fingers dug into your skin, holding you firmly in place as he continued his relentless assault with his tongue.

The pleasure was overwhelming, building rapidly until you tipped over the edge into another intense orgasm. Your body convulsed, a high-pitched moan escaping your lips as waves of ecstasy crashed through you. He didn't stop, his tongue continuing to lap at you, drawing out every last shudder and twitch of your release.

When you finally came down from the high, your body felt utterly spent and sated. He rose to his feet, his eyes filled with a mix of satisfaction and pride as he looked down at you. "Good girl," he murmured, brushing a tender kiss against your forehead. "Now get out."

Wade Felton - more of a sweet talker than a dirty talker. gives lots of praise, and likes reassurance that he's doing things right. sounds desperate when he cums.

"You feel so good, sweetheart," Wade sighed against your neck, his breath warm and heavy as he pressed tender kisses along your skin. Each thrust was slow and deliberate, his movements drawing out every ounce of pleasure. Your thighs were hooked into the crooks of his arms, giving him leverage to push them higher, allowing him to bury his length even deeper inside you.

Your whimpers filled the room, the sound mingling with the soft slap of skin against skin. Your body trembled beneath him, responding to his careful, intoxicating rhythm. His touch was both gentle and strong, his hands gripping your thighs firmly as he moved within you.

"You're taking me so well," he murmured, his voice a low, sensual growl. "Stretching so pretty on my cock. Do you feel good, baby?" His eyes searched yours, filled with a mix of lust and tenderness, the intensity of his gaze making your heart race.

Every movement was deliberate, each thrust designed to heighten your bliss and deepen the connection between you. The room was filled with the scent of your mingled arousal, the air thick with the heat of your passion. His lips trailed down your neck, leaving a path of fire in their wake, his breath hot against your skin.

"Tell me how good it feels," he whispered, his voice vibrating through you. His eyes never left yours, his expression one of adoration and desire. The rhythm of his hips was steady and unyielding, each thrust sending waves of pleasure coursing through your body.

When you told him, he smiled against you, his lips brushing your ear. "I love hearing that," he said softly, his pace quickening slightly as he felt you tighten around him. "You have no idea how much."

His words sent a shiver down your spine, amplifying the sensations you felt deep within your core. His thrusts became more insistent, each one driving deeper and harder, pushing you closer to the edge. His hands roamed your body, caressing your skin with in a blend of tenderness and desperation.

"I need you," he groaned, his hips snapping with increasing urgency. "I need you so much. You make me feel so damn good."

Your body responded to his every word and touch, your muscles clenching around him as the pressure built. His name escaped your lips in a desperate plea, your hands clutching at his shoulders, pulling him closer.

You keen under his praise, your walls clenching in response, and his eyes brightened at the sensation of you tightening around him. "Fuck, what did I do to deserve you?" he murmured, a grin spreading across his face as he looked down at you with admiration. When you giggled, his eyes widened, and his hips stuttered as he groaned at the feel of you vibrating around him. Both the sound and feel of your laughter seemed to ignite something within him.

His hips picked up their pace, rutting into you with renewed strength. You trembled around him, your moans filling the space, each one spurring him on. Your hands grasped his forearm for purchase, feeling the strength and solidity of his muscles as he drove into you. The rhythm of his thrusts grew more fervent, each movement fuelled by a mix of passion and desire.

"God, you feel amazing," he groaned, his voice rough with need. The way your body responded to him, the way you took him so well, drove him wild. He leaned down, capturing your lips in a heated kiss, his tongue exploring your mouth with the same vigor as his hips moved against yours.

Your moans were muffled by the kiss, your body arching into his as he continued to thrust into you with relentless precision. Every stroke sent waves of pleasure crashing through you, building toward an inevitable crescendo. The connection between you was electric, each touch and sound amplifying the other's desire.

His forearm, solid and reassuring, flexed under your grasp, the muscles taut as he pressed your thigh almost flat to the mattress. His other hand gripped the headboard above you, knuckles white with the force of his hold. "You're incredible," he breathed against your lips, his eyes locking onto yours with an intensity that made your heart race. "I can't get enough of you."

"Come for me, darlin'," he begged, his voice a low growl, pace becoming almost frantic. "I need to feel you."

The urgency in his tone, combined with the overwhelming sensations coursing through you, pushed you to the brink. With a final, powerful thrust, you came undone around him, your body convulsing and leaving you breathless. His eyes dropped to your hungry cunt as you creamed around him. The sight of the thick white ring of your release coating his shaft had him pulsing inside you, the visual driving him to the brink. His breath hitched, and his hips stuttered as he struggled to maintain his rhythm.

"Shit, I'm..." he groaned, his voice breaking with the effort. His thrusts became erratic, each one sending shockwaves through your body. The sensation of your walls milking him was too much, and with a final, powerful thrust, he buried himself deep inside you with a force that made you cry out. "I'm cumming," he panted desperately. "I'm cumming, baby, oh fuck."

Hot spurts of thick cum filled you, his body shuddering with each release. He held you close, his forehead pressed against yours as he rode out the waves of pleasure. The passion of the moment left both of you breathless and his hands gently caressed your skin, grounding both of you as the aftershocks of your climax slowly faded away.

Baby Billy - heavily into praise and encouragement, but with a filthy mouth. the star of his own show - tell him how he makes you feel and pander to that ego. doesn't like to waste a drop.

"That's it, you ride that dick now," he said, his arms stretched along the back of the couch, eyes locked on you as you bounced above him. Your fingers dug into the shoulders of his expensive suit, desperate for purchase as your pace became increasingly sloppy. The familiar surge of heat spread through your body, signalling the approach of your climax.

Your movements became frantic, grinding down on the thick length that filled you completely. The feeling was overwhelming, and you cried out his name, your voice a sweet blend of desperation and ecstasy. As the waves of your orgasm rolled through you, you threw your head back, lost in the intensity of the moment. His hands gripped your hips, helping you ride out the last tremors of your release, his gaze filled with pride and lust as he watched you fall apart above him.

A sly grin tugged at his lips, at the feel of your cunt trying to milk him. "That's my girl," he murmured, his eyes gleaming with satisfaction as he watched you soak his lap. "Baby Billy made you feel good on his ol' dick, huh? Go on, you can tell me."

You nodded, eyes glazed and mouth agape as you dropped into the crook of his shoulder. He kissed along your jawline, sending shivers down your spine as your cunt spasmed around him. "That's what I thought, always making you feel good," he murmured, his voice filled with gratification. He secured your arms around his neck, his grip on the flesh of your hips tightening. "Hold on now," he instructed, his tone low and commanding.

With a firm grip, he began to move again, his thrusts deep and deliberate, each one making you gasp as he fucked up into you. You whined against him, your body trembling under his control. He lifted you off his length only to slam you back down to meet him at a relentless pace, his surprising strength and rhythm driving you wild.

Your cries grew louder when he encased one of your nipples in his mouth, his hot tongue flicking over the sensitive bud before sucking hard. The feeling was electric, sending jolts of pleasure straight to your core. Your fingers tangled in his grey strands, pulling slightly as you sought any anchor in the storm of sensation. He didn't scold you for messing up his perfect style, too engrossed in the act of devouring you with his mouth and body.

The room was filled with the sounds of your shared bliss: his low grunts, your high-pitched moans, the wet slap of your bodies coming together. Each thrust, each suck, each flick of his tongue brought you closer to the edge, your body arching and straining against him as you spiralled toward another orgasm.

His mouth left your nipple with a pop, and he drew you back to look at him with a grin. "You giving me another one? Baby Billy got you all worked up, huh?" He teased, his eyes sparkling with a mix of amusement and desire.

His hands roamed your body, caressing and squeezing as he admired the way you trembled above him. The connection between you was electric, every touch and glance charged with passion. He resumed his deep, powerful thrusts, each one hitting just the right spot to send a thrill coursing through you.

"Making me feel good, now," he murmured, his voice a low, seductive growl. "Ain't nothin' better than this right here." His words spurred you on, driving you to move faster, to ride him harder. You could feel the tension building again, a tight coil of pleasure ready to snap.

"Come on, angel, I know you've got it in you," he urged, his hands gripping your hips to help guide your movements. The combination of his thrusts and his words pushed you over the edge, and with a cry of ecstasy, you came again, your body clenching and spasming around him.

"That's it," he praised, his voice a low growl as his hips began to stutter. "Oh, here it is," he said, chest heaving as he threw his head back. "I'm cumming, angel, here I cum," he cried, his release following yours as he buried himself deep inside you. He groaned with satisfaction, the sound primal and raw, as he painted your walls with ropes of hot white cum.

The ferocity of his climax made his entire body tense, his grip on your hips tightening as he emptied himself inside you. Each pulse of his release sent shivers down his spine as he stayed buried deep within you, savouring the feeling of your bodies entwined and the warmth spreading between you.

"That's it, sweet girl," he cooed into your ear, his voice shifting from the earlier growl to a tender murmur. The contrast made your heart flutter, the softness of his tone wrapping around you like a warm embrace. You collapsed against him, your body spent and trembling, every muscle relaxed in the aftermath of your intense release.

He pushed you back gently, pulling out with a hiss. "Let Baby Billy see it now," he instructed, and you whined as your cunt gaped, clenching around nothing. His cum leaked out of you, dripping down your thigh and making a mess of his dick. He watched intently, his eyes dark with satisfaction.

Taking two fingers, he ran them up your thigh, collecting the dripping cum before stuffing them back into your cunt to the hilt. "There you go, angel," he murmured, his voice thick with lust as he watched your body react to his touch. His fingers moved inside you with a practiced rhythm, ensuring none of his cum was wasted. "Don't waste a precious drop."

Your body trembled, overwhelmed by the sensation of his fingers filling you again. The rawness of his actions left you breathless. He looked up at you, his grin wide. "That's my good girl," he praised, his other hand caressing your thigh. "You take it all so well."

Boyd Crowder - praise, praise, praise! worships the ground you walk on. possessive (will take out the entirety of harlan county for you.) likes to watch you both together.

"Open your eyes," Boyd whispered, his breath hot on your ear. "I want you to see yourself. Just about the best damn thing I ever laid my eyes on," he cooed, his fingers gripping your thighs harder to urge you. When your eyes fluttered open, your breath caught in your throat.

You saw yourself, spread open and exposed on his lap, your back pressed against his chest as his hands held you open and his cock stuffed you full. The chair he sat on creaked under your combined weight as he adjusted himself, slipping further into you until his balls were pressed snugly against your ass. The sight was intoxicating, your bodies joined so intimately, every inch of him buried inside you.

Your gaze caught his over your shoulder in the rustic, floor-length mirror, and he gave a wicked grin. The reflection showed everything—the way his strong, tattooed arms enveloped you, the way your bodies moved together. His eyes were dark with desire, and the possessive gleam in them made your pulse quicken.

"Look how perfect you are," he murmured, his voice a deep rumble that vibrated through to your core. His hands shifted, one moving to play with your clit while the other kept a firm hold on your thigh, keeping you spread open. The combination of his touch and the sight of your intertwined bodies in the mirror sent waves of desire crashing over you.

"Feel that?" he asked, his tone both teasing and reverent as he pressed deeper, eliciting a moan from you. "That's all me, filling you up, making you mine." His hips began to move again, the rhythm slow and deliberate, each thrust designed to draw out your pleasure and make you feel every inch of him.

The sounds of your shared delight, the creaking of the chair, and the wet, rhythmic slaps of your bodies echoed in the room, creating a symphony of passion. As your eyes met his in the mirror once more, you saw the reflection of two people completely lost in each other, bound by the rawness of the moment.

You placed one hand over his, guiding his movements on your clit, while the other snaked around his neck, fingers tangling in the hair at his nape. He groaned, turning his head to press a hot kiss just below your ear. "Do you like seeing us, baby? Watching yourself come undone on my cock?" He whispered, his voice deep and husky. "Fuck, I love it," he groaned, punctuating each word with a thrust of his hips.

The sensation of his fingers on your clit, combined with the sight of your bodies in the mirror, sent heat burning through you. Your grip tightened in his hair, pulling him closer as his lips trailed along your neck. His breath was hot and ragged against your skin, each thrust driving you both closer to the edge.

"You look so perfect like this," he murmured against your skin, his voice laced with both admiration and need. "Damn, I love being inside of you." His hips moved with a deliberate rhythm, each thrust deep and powerful, making you feel every inch of him. The chair creaked beneath you, adding to the symphony of sounds that filled the room.

Your bodies moved together in perfect harmony, your bliss heightened by the mirror's reflection. His eyes never left yours, the connection between you deepening with every shared glance and touch. "I want you to remember this," he said, his voice a mix of command and desire. "Remember how good we are together. Don't you forget it."

As your climax approached, the pressure of his fingers on your clit and the relentless thrusts of his hips became almost too much to bear. Your breath hitched, your body trembling with the anticipation of release. "Cum for me, baby," he urged, his voice a growl in your ear. "Watch yourself cum all over me." With a final, powerful thrust, he sent you spiralling over the edge. Your body convulsed in his arms, a high-pitched moan escaping your lips as watched yourself fall apart around him.

The feel of you clenching down on him had Boyd panting, and seconds later he was whimpering against your neck. "Damn, I'm close," he said, his voice breaking with desperation as he rutted up into you. The raw need in his voice made your heart race. "You make me feel so good, baby," he continued, his words a mix of admiration and urgency.

Eyes still fixed on the mirror, your head fell back against his shoulder, your body going limp as you surrendered completely to him. Both his hands now gripped your thighs with bruising ferocity, holding you in place as he drove into you with a relentless rhythm. Each thrust was accompanied by the sound of skin slapping against skin, the wet, lewd noises filling the room and burning your cheeks.

"Fuck," he groaned, the word drawn out and guttural. His breath was hot against your ear, his chest heaving with effort. "Damn, baby," he cried, his voice strained and desperate. The feel of his cock swelling inside you, the frantic pace of his hips, and the way his entire body seemed to shudder with impending release all combined to push you further into bliss.

He buried himself deep inside you with a final, powerful thrust, his body convulsing as he came. "Fuck, I'm cumming," he cried out, his voice breaking. You felt the hot spurts of his release filling you, mixing with your own arousal.

As he rode out his orgasm, his hands moved to caress your body, fingers tracing gentle patterns on your skin. He held you close, his forehead resting against the side of your head, both of you trembling from the intensity of the experience. Your eyes met in the mirror, both of you sharing a satisfied smile as he remained buried inside your swollen cunt, keeping his seed there.

The connection between you was palpable, a silent understanding passing between you as you basked in the afterglow. The mirror reflected your entwined bodies, the evidence of your shared passion glistening on your skin. He nuzzled into your neck, pressing soft kisses there, his breath warm and comforting.

"Look at us," he murmured, his voice soft and full of wonder. "So perfect together." His fingers continued to trace lazy patterns along your hips and thighs, each touch grounding you further in the moment.

Cooper Howard/The Ghoul - very possessive. teasing/light degradation. praises you for a job well done. his clothes stay on. loves to fill you until he's spilling out.

"You want another one?" he laughed teasingly, looking down at your fucked-out eyes as you trembled beneath him. "I don't think you have it in you, but you're so desperate," he taunted, his own eyes filled with a mixture of amusement and raw desire.

Cooper's gaze trailed to your cunt where he continued to fuck his load into you, white cum drooling from you as he filled you again and again. The sight of his cum spilling out and mixing with your own juices only seemed to spur him on. He revelled in the intense pleasure of filling you to the brim, knowing that he was overwhelming your senses, his cock and his load too much for you to contain. His thrusts remained deep and relentless, each one pushing more of his seed inside you.

"You’re so greedy for it, aren’t you?" he murmured, his voice thick with lust. "Taking everything I give you." His words shot through to your core, your body trembling and on the edge once more despite your exhaustion. His hands gripped your hips painfully, holding you in place as he drove into you with unwavering ferocity.

His teasing laughter filled the shelter. "Look at you," he said, awe and possession in his voice. "You're a mess. You should be ashamed, letting a man like me do this to you." As he continued to move inside you, the heat built again, your body responding eagerly to his every touch and thrust, ready to give him yet another orgasm.

The lewd sounds of your sloppy pussy echoed through the room as he pounded into you, his grunts and moans joining in as you contracted around him. His hand reached down to your clit, pressing a gloved finger hard against the swollen bud. The rough texture sent shockwaves of ecstasy through you.

Your eyes widened, hips rutting against his own in desperate response. The harsh fabric of his clothed body rubbed against your naked skin, the friction intensifying the heat between you. The sensation was a perfect mix of pleasure and pain, pushing you over the edge as your orgasm tore through you.

Your body convulsed, a high-pitched moan escaping your lips as ecstasy overtook you. The spasms of your cunt squeezing around his dick made him groan loudly, his thrusts becoming even more erratic as he chased his own release. He didn't let up on your clit, the relentless pressure driving you wild.

"Atta girl," he cooed, his voice a gravelly whisper. "Let it all out." Your cries filled the air, your body arching against him as waves of satisfaction crashed over you and he watched as your pussy gaped and gushed around him once more. A primal look flickered in his eyes, and a crooked smile spread across his handsome face as he buried himself deeper inside you. "Gonna keep you full," he promised, his voice a low, possessive growl.

Cooper's thrusts became slow and deliberate, each movement sending jolts of pleasure through your overstimulated body. His hand pressed against your lower abdomen, feeling the slight bulge where he was buried deep inside you. "You take me so well," he murmured, pride and desire burning in his eyes. "A real vision," he sighed, pushing further into you.

He wanted to leave no doubt that you belonged to him, that he could push you to the brink and bring you back again and again. The feeling of being so completely filled, so utterly claimed, sent waves of ecstasy through you.

"Doing good, sweetheart," he said, his voice softening slightly as he leaned in to kiss you. The contrast between his tender words and his rough actions made the moment even more intoxicating. "Gonna keep you full and satisfied," he whispered against your lips, his breath mingling with yours as he worked himself towards his release.

His hand tightened on your hips, ensuring you took every inch of him as he continued to thrust with unrelenting fervour. Your tits bounced with each movement, your mouth hanging open in sheer ecstasy. The sight of your body responding to him, of your cunt clenching and dripping around his dick, drove him to push harder, deeper.

"You gonna take it?" he panted, his thrusts becoming desperate. You nodded, whimpering as you bit down on your lip. "Fuck, take it. Take my cum," he moaned, his voice thick with lust.

His cock pulsed inside you, releasing hot spurts against your walls. The sensation was staggering, the warmth spreading through you as it overflowed, mixing with his previous load and your juices. You felt overstimulated and full, and you watched Cooper as he gazed at the slight bloat of your stomach, his eyes filled with primal satisfaction at the sight of you so thoroughly filled with his cock and seed.

His hand moved to rest on your belly, gently pressing down as if to emphasize the fullness. "Look at you," he murmured, his voice a heady blend of awe and possessiveness. "So full of me."

The combined fluids soaked both of you as they trickled out, creating a slick, messy connection between you. His hands caressed your hips, fingers trailing along your skin, smearing the wetness as he admired the aftermath of you together.

He steadied himself above you, his breaths ragged and uneven. The heat of his body pressed against yours, a thin layer of sweat glistening over your skin. His eyes remained locked on yours, filled with pride.

"Good girl," he murmured, his voice softening as he leaned down to kiss you gently. "Completely mine." His hands roamed your body, soothing and comforting as you both came down from the high. 

[novlr]

how to write a character dealing with addiction (like drugs, cigarettes etc..)

Writing a character with an addiction is to write about someone who is controlled by that substance. They are chasing that first experience of euphoria, pain relief, excess energy, or relaxation. They are avoiding the emotional and physical crashes of withdrawal. Their behavior to outsiders often appears erratic and illogical. It is a powerful motivator for a character and can drive a plot, be an obstacle, and/or an antagonist. 

How does addiction work?

Addictive substances typically mimic naturally occurring chemicals in the body. They amplify the effects of these chemicals and flood the body. Stimulants will give a person extra, even excessive, amounts of energy, relaxants will relieve tension, and pain relievers will bring about euphoria. Whatever the substance of choice, it counters stress in some form. 

Many people self-medicate for underlying physical or mental conditions. Others take them to fit in with a social group. As a writer, you need to ask yourself a very important question: Why did your character first start taking this substance? That will inform you about why they continue. Are they escaping pain? Quieting anxiety or racing thoughts? Do they need to take it to fit into their social group? What happens when they stop taking it?  

Addiction is an illness. It is a medical condition. Treating it as a matter of willpower is to doom a person to suffer. There are effective medical and psychological therapies that, especially when combined, can provide a way back to health, sobriety, and thriving.

Cravings

The important thing to understand about these substances is that the high always goes away. The emotional payoff of that first use is never achieved again. Each subsequent use has diminished payoffs and the after-effects are worsened. This is because the body is a fantastic accountant and will produce less of the mimicked substance because, hey, there’s an excess here. So your character will crave the substance in order to just feel baseline normal. 

Withdrawal

Don’t underestimate the fear of withdrawal. It is an uncomfortable and sometimes life-threatening set of physical symptoms. 

The degree and nature of the symptoms will vary depending on the substance, the amount usually consumed, and the length of time it’s been used. Caffeine, for example, will trigger headaches. Alcohol withdrawal can include shakes, nausea, seizures, and damage to the brain’s memory and balance systems. Opiate withdrawal can cause anxiety, nausea, muscle aches, and insomnia. Read up on the specifics of the substance your character is using. Be sure to use reputable medical websites. I’ve listed a couple in the resources section. 

People want to avoid withdrawal and will use substances to ease those symptoms, thus feeding the addiction. Again, there are medical interventions that can soften the withdrawal and support the patient through this medical crisis. 

Recovery

People with addictions can sometimes respond well to treatment and have a low risk of relapse. Others are not so fortunate and will bounce in and out of recovery. 

Fear of withdrawal is one reason. Another factor is developmental. The younger a person is when they start taking a substance, the harder it is to stop. This may be due to learned coping mechanisms, changes to the developing brain and body, or a combination of the two. 

How old was your character when they started taking the substance? Who introduced them to it? Was it a parent handing them a beer at age five or a pain pill at age twelve? Was it friends at a high school party? Or did they start in adulthood? This will inform their likelihood of recovery and how hard that path will be for them. 

Struggles to quit, or why does this person keep relapsing?

Withdrawal and cravings are part of the reason it is so hard to stop an addiction. There are medical and psychological therapies that can help. Rehab is a major industry in many countries. There are also several obstacles to overcome. Cost is a factor in places without universal healthcare. Then there is denial. Many people with addictions don’t believe they have a problem. And when they do, they may feel shame if they live in a culture where addiction is seen as a matter of willpower rather than a medical condition. 

How do friends and family, employers, and others in the community treat your character? Does admitting to addiction mean they are admitting to weakness?

Another social factor is that it is hard to stop an addiction if the person doesn’t change their environment. Friends that also use that substance will enable and even encourage them to start using again. Places can be strong behavioral cues. Can an alcoholic walk into a familiar bar and resist ordering a drink? 

It’s also important to remember that substance use is often a coping mechanism for stress. What happens the next time your character encounters a stressful situation? How do they resist reaching for their addictive substance if they haven’t learned other ways of coping? Do they trust or remember in the heat of the moment that they have other options? 

Do your research

Here are a couple of my go-to sites for reading up on addictions and treatments. 

Spirit Lake Wellness is a non-profit dedicated to educating the general public about health and wellness. They have a podcast, booklets, and a YouTube channel that covers a range of topics, including addiction. All information is available for free. I am fortunate to be on their board of directors and reached out to one of the doctors we work with for this article. 

The American Society of Addiction Medicine is another excellent resource for learning more about addiction and treatment. 

written by Kimberley Long-Ewing

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

Girl in a Box

Epilogue for Sweet Treats AU: by character | chronological | epilogues

Warnings: these drabbles will include dark elements such as noncon, control, intimidation, and other stuff that may not be specified. Take this as you chance to scroll by.

Please let me know what you think <3

🍒🍒🍒

At first, you assume the tapping is a tree branch or some critter searching for a hole in the foundation. It’s too persistent, too repetitive. It scratches at the back of your head as you try to unpack. You don’t know why you bother. It’s just a weekend away. It’s good to keep busy. That way you don’t have to think about Bucky’s sour mood. 

You knew it wouldn’t be like your dreams. Relationships are different. They take work. They’re imperfect but it all feels like it’s going sideways. 

For a little while longer, you can excuse his moods as symptoms of his grief, of his uncertainty. Worse than losing someone is not knowing their fate. You can’t begin to imagine the toll of that. You can be patient but only so far.  

Still, you don’t know if you really have the strength to cut the rope. It’s early. This is your first trip. Let it be the litmus test. Take it one day at a time and let things unfold before you jump into doom.

Taptaptap, tap-tap-tap, taptaptap. 

God, that’s so annoying. You turn to stare at the wall. You round the bed and near the incessant noise. It sounds like it’s coming from inside. No, the other side. 

You listen again. There’s a pattern; three fast taps, three slow, three fast, then a pause. Then it starts over. 

You put your hand against the wood as the cycle repeats. You curl your fingers and press your knuckles to the wall. You knock, in that little rhythm you do at your parents place; taptap tap-tap-tap tap tap. You wait and the tap responds in kind.. 

You pull back and think. The next room. Steve stopped there and asked if someone was okay. It must be the girlfriend he alluded to. 

Should you go check on her? Is that too much? You hate to overstep. She’s obviously trying to get your attention. Maybe you could just go get Steve.

You sway in limbo and make yourself move. You pull open the door and step into the hall. You listen to the house. You don’t hear much, a low drone but so distant it could be the wind. You think you heard the guys go outside earlier but you can’t be sure. There was just the decisive open and close of the front door. 

You tiptoe down to the next door. You stop and stare at it, hesitant to knock. What if she’s sleeping and you wake her? What if it’s some trick of your mind? You linger, chewing your knuckle as you try to decide. 

“Hey,” a voice wafts under the door and you look down as fingers poke through the space beneath, “hey, can you unlock the door?” 

You stare down at the wiggling digits as they reach through. What the hell? You grasp the knob and jiggle it. It is locked. Why? 

“What...” you pause and get down on your knees, “what’s going on? Are you with Steve?” 

“Does it matter? Please, can you let me out?” She hisses. 

You blink and sit back on your heels, “why is it locked?” 

She sighs and retracts her fingers, “are you going to help me or are you going to keep asking questions?” 

Her sharpness is jarring but you figure if you were locked in, you’d be a bit claustrophobic too. You get up and feel around the door handle. You find the mechanism on the side and flick it. The handle is backward, that should be on the inside. 

The knob twists and a woman pulls it open from the other side. Before you can react, she yanks you in by your arm. She covers your mouth before you can yelp. 

“Alright, we gotta play this smart,” she says, “how many cars are here?” 

You grumble into her palm as your brows draw together. She squints at you and shifts her hand to press her index to your lips. She hushes you before she draws away. 

“We have to get out of here,” she keeps her voice low. 

“What? Why?” You sputter. 

“These men are psycho.” 

“N-no, Bucky’s my boyfriend?” You begin 

“If he’s hanging out with Steve, he’s a piece of shit,” she hisses. 

“Oh? Are you... fighting?” 

“Fighting?!” She scoffs, “I’m not with him. I don’t even know where I am.” 

“Huh?” You blink dumbly. 

“Right, so you got the good guy. Lucky you. Well, good ole Cap has been keeping me in a cage. Dried me out good. If you wanna stay, go for it. After all, why would trust the crazy lady? I’m going--” 

“But... you can’t. How--” 

“I have to get out of here and if you have any sense in your head, you will too.” 

“I... maybe I should get Steve...” 

“Shut up,” she snarls, “don’t fucking do that. Are you kidding me?” 

“Sorry, I don’t... I don’t understand.” 

She frowns and crosses her arms. She goes to the window and pulls the curtain back. She clucks as she turns inward again and huffs. 

“Right, I’m not gonna get that far, even if I can finagle some keys off one of those fuckers. You got a phone?” 

“Uh, sure, but there’s no reception.” 

“Doesn’t matter, I just need the phone,” she insists. “You’ll get it back, alright?” 

“Sure, guess I’m not using it,” you shrug and back up. 

“Hey, hey,” she catches up to you, “please don’t blow this. I’m begging you. Just trust me, please.” 

You look her in the face. She’s desperate. The more you look at her, the more concerning her appearance is. She wears only a tee shirt and there’s a dark stain on the collar. You think she might even have a few bruises. Her lips are chapped to her eyes slightly foggy. 

“I won’t say anything,” you promise. 

You don’t know if you should trust her but something about her plea strikes a chord. You leave her to get your phone and come back. You tell her the code to unlock it as you hand it over. She swiftly does so and starts to flick her thumb over the screen. 

“Okay, right,” she nods and looks at you, “lock me in.” 

“Huh?” 

“He can’t know you were in here. Plan B,” she wiggles the phone at you. “I can’t run. I’m still withdrawing. I’ll pass out in some ditch. So I’ll play by the Cap’s rules. As far as you’re concerned, I’ve never seen your face in my life. So get out and lock the door.” 

“But-- wait--” 

She nudges you into the hall and she shuts the door, keeping the knob twisted so it doesn’t click. Slowly she turns it into place and stare at the wood. It makes no sense but you don’t need a lecture from Bucky about respect. You flip the lock back into place. 

As you walk back to your room, the desolation sets in, underlining your confusion. Something isn’t right about this place. Yet, what could be wrong? Steve and Bucky are heroes. They’re the good guys, aren’t they? 

[mysterycitrus]

Jason is my blorbo, my favorite, wretched, little guy and I love him so much. And I love all your posts about him! SO tired of people watering down his character, especially at the expense of other characters. Namely Dick and Tim. I know you're probably tired of talking about J so no hard feelings if you ignore this but I'd love to hear your thoughts and Dick and Jason's relationship. Past, present and where you'd like to see it go in the future. If anywhere. (Also your art is so, so good!! I especially love how you do faces and your coloring)

i actually really enjoy unpacking their relationship. it makes me think about that quote from diary of a wimpy kid - "you're my brother, but you'll never be my friend." idk how they should be written in the future because i think jason needs to be removed from gotham until he grows his personality back, but here's my thoughts on their brains -

from jason's end, there's so much resentment. a large part of his post-resurrection motivations come from the idea that bruce has dishonoured his memory and failed to grieve him, because bruce won't let him or anyone else kill the joker and therefore bruce doesn't love him. bruce rejects his manifesto for fixing gotham, bruce rejects his violence, bruce rejects his politics. would bruce have rejected dick if dick had done this? in jason's mind - no. dick grayson has shackled himself to bruce and is drowning with him. jason does not see that he has also chained himself to bruce and thrown away the key.

it's also worth mentioning that in outsiders 2003 and batman and robin 2009 (when written by winick), jason still fundamentally respects dick's abilities and experience. he think he's weak because he tries to suppress his anger, but i don't think jason would carry that same heavy, debilitating misery from seeing tim or cass or damian - people he was denied knowing by dying, and thus "replaced" by. jason, in some capacity, values dick as an ally. he trusts that dick, for all his flaws, is not a vengeful person (and i'll get to that).

there's a degree of what if there too - both dick and jason lived through a very specific period of bruce's life, which is the period before jason was killed. no one else (aside from babs and alfred) knows what that was like. no one else understands bruce, in that way. they have seen him before that grief in a way no one else who followed can. they're both poor kids brought into wealth. dick transcended into a legacy, and was then discarded. jason was, unconsciously, a tangible replacement for dick (and for robin), but died before bruce had the chance to leave him behind.

by comparison, we see dick reach out to jason, consistently. i'd say that unlike bruce, dick is a pragmatist. he frequently works with murderers. he ran the outsiders. he has, and will continue to, make calls that will questionably result in someone's death. to be clear, that is not the same thing as being a murderer - i think the guilt of that comes very close to killing him - but while he's an inherently optimistic person, i'd say he has realistic expectations for people's behaviour. it's what makes him so efficient as a tactician.

they're also very similar - they respond differently to anger, but they are both explosive. dick doesn't seek retribution on his own behalf, but he will lose control for the people he loves (which includes jason!). going to bat (haha) for jason, and jason then hurting the people he protects (tim, damian, the titans, etc), that's a line jason's crossed. dick won't ever stop swinging out to grab him, because he'll never let anyone fall, but that does not mean he'll be kind when they reach the ground

[devondespresso]

Background details about Tommy and Carol from Season 1, and how they are with conflict

&lt;very much not an all exhaustive list, i just saw this gif with something interesting and pulled up the whole show to look into it>

Now the one i saw was slightly longer, showing carol and tommy's continued reactions, so ofc we had to learn how tf to make gifs so i can show you guys what im talking about (this ones at .75 speed)

Specifically, to include not just their initial reactions, but also the next thoughts.

Lets start with Nicole, the redhead on the far right, who obviously isn't nearly as close to the trio as they are to each other (she's basically only around at school and this scene and doesn't stick around after they run from the cops). She's our control (if this were an experiment), the normal reaction. She's surprised in the entertained way. Steve's girlfriend slapped him, things are getting interesting.

Then Carol, who's probably got my favorite reaction. A similar surprise and "Oh" as Nicole, but her eyebrows don't stay up if they even jump at all. Then she looks at Nancy and she's mad, clearly on Steve's behalf. Steve's girlfriend slapped him, how dare she.

Next we have Tommy, the only person in this scene to noticeably flinch, bringing an arm up in front of him and playing it off with the cigarette to his mouth and marveling at the event. To me, it reads as a kind of empathy: if he were in Steve place in that moment, he'd block/shield himself and he has the reflexes to do it even when he's standing several feet away. I could be reading into it, but i still think its interesting he make more movement than the two people closer to them, and even the guy getting slapped (who doesn't even turn away, the momentum of the hit changes his angle slightly).

Then another (im sorry its pretty hard to follow, again, just learned how to make half decent gifs) showing interesting stuff from the fight i never noticed until looking for it. Most notably, extra lines/ad-lib from Tommy and Carol I've subtitled, like Tommy telling Carol to leave (the implication that she didn't want to as Nicole grabbed her, combined with her line worrying about him), Tommy hauling Steve up and Steve stumbling like we see in season 2 after his concussion (not definitive proof he has a concussion or something close to it since hes able to run and talk fine after, but its interesting)

Then we get the conflict afterwards, showing up differently for Carol and Tommy.

With Carol, its arguing. It's jabs at Nancy and it jabs at Tommy and Carol. What i think is really interesting is that the shit Steve says genuinely surprises her. Before she's goofing off with Tommy, the both of them trying to lighten the mood and Steve snaps. And her response isn't "calm down" or "what's gotten into you" (that's more in Tommy's lines), shes genuinely taken aback.

And then at the end, Steve raises his voice (not loud enough for a yell, but combined with the motion it feels like one) and Carol visibly backs up, out of frame entirely for a second. (followed by Tommy blowing up at Steve for yelling at her, and the following lines expressing again how its out of character for him)

That, combined with her reaction to Steve yelling from a previous scene (where he's going to check on Nancy and they tease him for caring) (also at .75 speed)

She's definitely got something going on with yelling specifically, especially since Tommy doesn't even look upset after, an expression similar to Nicole's "shit got interesting" expression from earlier.

Then there's Tommy's conflict, which is probably most memorable because its physical aggression (and very... tense.)

(yes i cut out over half of that moment the file size was massive im sorry)

We see from the Carol gif before and in this one that he gets aggressive. One shove when Steve yells at Carol, then the second Steve pushes back he escalates and even after Steve stops responding we get Tommy slamming the car door and hitting the outside even as Steve is driving out.

Its much harder to tell with him what the deal is, especially since he doesn't get the same vulnerable looks as Carol does. I think you could headcanon him having a similar thing as Carol, or as just macho-jock bullshit he learned to stay on top, or even it all leading back to having a crush on Steve.

This also doesn't really prove or disprove Tommy's actual ability to fight (i remember seeing people talk about it but I can't remember specifics) since he could either be a solid fighter who knows how to hit and protect from a hit, or he's talking out of his ass and sticks to intimidation and blocking when he needs to. Again, up to you (i certainly don't know which I find more interesting yet)

I personally also like to think the three of them were really good friends for a while, at least since middle school (but im also a sap especially for best-friendships) I wish we could've seen more of how Carol was taking the split up in season 2 and maybe something from Tommy other than how he hangs out with Billy now. Maybe Carol and Tommy split after Steve left, maybe it happened when Tommy tried replacing Steve with Billy in their trio, maybe they never split and Carol avoided Steve afterwards.

(tho i am kinda glad the story let them go after 2 seasons, we get a lot more room to play around with what-ifs and read into their scenes)

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for not telling my friend I don't want to play DND with her?

I (17M) am a player in a Dungeons and Dragons campaign (NOTE: it is not actually DND, I am just saying it for simplicity's sake. If anything sounds off, that's why. Either way, it's TTRPG, and both games have the same system, although they aren't anywhere near similar to DND gameplay-wise. It's very roleplay focused.) with a few of my friends (all 17-20F: Viola, Korrina, Valerie, and Olympia). Viola is our DM, and I have so much fun every time we play, with no intents on quitting because of this.

Olympia just like... fucking sucks though, to be honest? Like, I just hate playing with this chick. She's always asking for extra bonuses on rolls because she's just such a good player (no one else does it, Viola allows it though), she actively started PVP with me, she physically disabled my character in said PVP and I had to do chaos control (I did not want to have my character be disabled, if I did I would have a disabled character, but I failed a roll against her in this fight so I had to have my character go on a side-quest to fix it: I would be more fine with it if it was Viola, but another player? Really?), and she's just not really funny when she talks about the campaign outside of the sessions (I know, it's a little personal). She gets really upset when we mention this one thing we all like to the point of taking inspiration from it for characters and NPCs because she doesn't get it but she refuses to try the thing so we just have to not talk about it with her, and overall she just... isn't enjoyable to be around.

I know I'm gonna have people in the comments say "just tell her that you don't like her now! You sound awful, you should quit," etc etc, but hear me out. I am a player. Since the DM is Viola, and Olympia and Viola are having fun, I don't feel like I should say anything. It's the DM's story, and as a mere character in the story I can't have any say in the format, especially since I was the one that invited Olympia to the group (I made a casual offer to my whole friend group over a school group chat and both Olympia and Korrina responded, so I had to include both of them), and we've been playing this campaign since August.

One of our players had to cancel on us a week ago as of writing this, and so I decided to run a oneshot based off of a campaign I've been wanting to do (first time DMer, I wanted to try it out). The players were Viola, Korrina, and Olympia, and it was actually really fun! I wanted to wait for Viola's campaign to end before I actually started playing my campaign, but that wasn't going to happen in a while, so I had decided to run it then.

I don't want Olympia anywhere near my actual campaign, though. I'm planning on letting my friend (Drasna, 18F) join, as well as anyone else who shows interest, along with Viola, Korrina, and Valerie. But as you may know, Olympia is insufferable to me, and as DM I feel like I have the right to deny her from playing with me.

She still played in the oneshot though, and was... very excited for it. I am aware I am the only one with beef here. Olympia keeps on PMing me about her character, asking about the world, and she's really interested in the world and the format of it. Her character's nice even if a little similar to one of the main plot NPCs I have, but as I've mentioned, I really want to cut her out when the campaign gets rolling. The only reason I couldn't for the oneshot is because we are actively in the middle of a campaign and everyone would think I'm being weird and things would be tense for the rest of the campaign. I can't just tell Olympia to her face "hey, I hate playing with you actually. Go home, fuck off."

I feel like I treated Olympia fairly when we played (she didn't do anything drastic, at least), but I don't know how my negative feelings on her are going to impact the campaign. I don't want to have an inbalance in the characters and how they're treated.

AITA for leading her on to make sure things don't get awkward during Viola's campaign, even though I have no intent of changing my mind on not having her as a player?

What are these acronyms?

[electric-hydrangea]

Istaroth is Paimon (ft Venti & Mona's Master)

disclaimer: the amount of comments i've gotten on reddit saying "Istaroth isn't paimon, she's a branch of istaroth!!" that is literally what i'm saying

Who Is Istaroth?

Istaroth is a God who can control time & wind, a shade of Phanes (Primordial One). She was known in Mondstadt and Enkanomiya, but the people of Mondstadt gradually forgot about her. When Enkanomiya sank, she continued to be worshiped because she was the only shade who responded to them. The worship stopped when Orobashi arrived and banned Sun & Moon (a book all about Phanes, Enkanomiya, and Istaroth.)

The statue in Inazuma is Istaroth. I also believe that the Battle Pass Icon is her. The article itself ties connections between her and the Welkin Moon girl. Ignoring how their appearances are identical, they also have connections with the moon. Istaroth is associated with the moon through “Sun and Moon”. Additionally, “Astaroth” (goetic demon) is the personification of the moon and can control it.

Istaroth’s aliases are “The Thousand Winds”, “Tokoyo Ookami”, and “Kairos”.

The Theory:

It’s better if I compile this more into a list. Starting with the smaller stuff…

The Paimon menu allows you to control time. I honestly feel like this is the best evidence.

Paimon is in all of the marketing, emails, she’s the one who delivers us messages outside of the game itself, but no one in the game knows who she is. When people see her, they think she’s a balloon, a fairy, or a pet.

Paimon jokes about being the God of Protection

Paimon’s outfit has the same details as a fully-leveled Statue of the Seven. Her crown has the same design as the golden bar on the statue. Her boot also looks like the nails sent down by Celestia. 

Canotila the Melusine described Paimon as a balloon floating in the air with her string extending upward above the sky itself.

Phanes created Istaroth; she is a being of Teyvat. Since she is affected by the Irminsul tree, it would explain why Paimon is affected by the tree.

Astaroth is depicted as having a crown, which Paimon has. 

Astaroth and King Paimon both specifically teach sciences and answer any question asked of them.

In Gnosticism, which is where Genshin gets a lot of its inspiration from, Barbelo is a part of Bythos, and Barbelo is both male and female.

In Genshin, Istaroth is Barbelo, and Phanes is Bythos, having created her as a shade. Paimon and Venti are parts of her.

In Ars Goetia, King Paimon is aware of all past and future events, anything that has happened or will happen. This includes “secret things”. 

In Genshin, Istaroth has similar powers; control over time and the whole thing that happened with Makoto and Ei (more on that later).

In Venti’s Character Demo, it says that he is “born from the branches of time.” 

In “Sun and Moon”, they say that Istaroth, “Was the measure of a thousand winds and the sun and the moon”, with Venti associated with the wind and Paimon associated with the moon.

In Gnosticism, Barbelo is one of the most important figures of Gnosticism. She is known as the “triple androgynous name”, or as the “three times spirit”, having three parts of herself. Barbelo/Asherah is another name for Ishtar, who is one of the parts of Istaroth’s name. Barbelo is depicted as a figure that looks similar to the Welkin Moon girl. 

Two paragraphs ago I said that Istaroth is referred to as a thousand winds, a sun, and a moon; Venti is the wind, Paimon is the moon. So who is the sun?

There’s a character in Genshin named Barbeloth, Mona’s master. I believe it’s possible she could be the sun. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out why she has the name of this important figure connected to Istaroth. Genshin has a theme of “three”, and Mona’s master renamed herself to be “Astromancer Barbeloth Trimegistus”, which could also tie into the three identities of Istaroth. 

In Venti’s Character Story 3, it says that he was a “single thread of the thousand winds that roared through the northern lands.” Notably, Istaroth goes by “the thousand winds”.

In the quest “Time and Wind”, you’ll hear a voice saying “An ancient tale comes whisked away in the wind.. In time it will grow and sprout again.” Which could be referring to the samsara cycles and how Istaroth (Paimon/Venti/Possibly others) will continue the story. Additionally, the sundials are actually more likely to be moondials.

In 2023’s Lantern Rite, Venti shows up introducing himself with the saying connected to Istaroth. Paimon completes the saying, and then remarks “Did Paimon just unconsciously complete that saying?”

The statue of Istaroth in Inazuma wears a necklace with an Eye of the Storm on it, which is most prominent in Mondstadt. It’s also noted that this statue and Venti’s statue are 6666 meters apart from each other. Additionally, this statue is called “Statue of the Omnipresent God”. This perception of Istaroth is supported in the Ars Goetia as well as in Genshin; Paimon is everywhere. The statue’s moniker is “Thousand Armed, Hundred Eyed”, which is a reference to real-life Guanyin, but I take note of the “thousand”, a theme with Istaroth. 

The Sacred Sakura was planted with the help of Istaroth. When Makoto died, Ei went into the Realm of Consciousness  and said goodbye to her sister. When she came back, the tree was there, and all the people acted like it had been there forever. The Realm of Consciousness is also a domain (not the one we’re used to for battle), where time flows differently. Another example of a domain would be the Eternal Oasis.

The ancient Near Eastern goddess Astarte (Istaroth), she works closely with Baal. I thought that detail was cute considering the story quest.

In Raiden’s 2nd Story Quest, Rifthounds attack the Sacred Sakura’s roots which cause it to ooze glowing blue stuff, and Paimon asks what it is, but there was never an answer. 

This might be a stretch, but it could have something to do with what I call Celestial filth. For example, the Lumenspar is Celestial filth. Like the Abyssal goop, it’s invasive to the Chasm and spreads quickly. The description of it is “A sky-blue crystal that glitters so brightly that it brings forth echoes of the heavens above.” Having your Lumenstone equipped causes the Abyssal text to fade away. The Celestial filth comes from the nails sent down from Celestia, but the fact that the tree goop is blue and glows reminds me of the Lumenspar.

When Yae takes us through the Realm of Consciousness, we see Inazuma being built, and the memories are all of Inazuma, except for these Cecilias. Cecilias only grow in Mondstadt, on the Starsnatch Cliff “where harsh winds blow.” Cecilias are tied to Venti.

You could also say that Raiden storing the visions on the statue is symbolic, considering that visions are tied to both Celestia and the Archons.

Also, when it comes to Paimon’s design, she has a cape-thing with the galaxy on it, and in the Paimon menu, when she floats, she leaves behind a constellation trail. I also tie this with Istaroth’s theme of the moon, but it also reminds me of the general concept of otherworldliness. 

There's a Mesopotamian symbol named the Star of Ishtar (Istaroth), which looks similar to the Deshret symbol and the Khaenri’ah star and it's also closely tied to the crescent moon.

Why doesn’t Paimon remember she’s Istaroth?

The answer could be Samsara cycles. With every samsara cycle, the same roles are always present, but it’s new people playing them. Something happened to Istaroth, and we don’t know what it was, but she’s disappeared and now we’re stuck with the twerp Paimon. I’m not sure how to answer this question. Maybe it’s like the Sumeru archons.

Something To Note

In the beginning of Genshin, we start the game at Starfell Lake. It’s never said where we fish Paimon out, but we could imply that it was at this lake. The lake, which isn’t too far away from the Nameless Island associated with Istaroth. People have pointed out that the background of the Paimon-fishing-out-CG is actually Guyun Stone Forest. In the beginning cutscene, we can see the nameless island in the distance. Paimon says nothing about where we fished her, so who knows. It’s our first time being in Liyue, but she knows that the statues look different because we’re in Liyue, so personally it doesn’t make sense that we got her in Guyun Stone Forest.

More About Welkin Moon Girl

This part is at the end because it’s me just playing with an idea. So it’s called “Blessing of the Welkin Moon". Welkin means “the sky” or “heaven.” She’s blessing us with primogems. Primogems are… From the Primordial One? 

They’re described as “beyond the mundane world” and have the same chinese lettering as the phrase Primordial One and Allogene. Considering that the Gnoses are made from the 3rd descender's remains, would it be out of reach to say that Primogems could be created by/from the Primordial One?

Anyway, you could read it as Istaroth blessing us with pieces of Phanes (or, by association, herself). 

The Welkin Girl’s cauldron has the triquetra on it, a symbol of Phanes and his shades, the same symbol on Paimon’s tummy. The Genshin Impact logo itself has Paimon’s crown, the circlet, above it. Genshin meaning allogenes, and thus tied to Phanes. 

reposted from my reddit & hoyolab

[dr-futbol-blog]

The Siege II, Pt. 5

Next, there is an honest time-skip. Where we left off with Sheppard staring at the Colonel in the gate control platform, we now find Sheppard walking into the hologram room where the Colonel is already waiting for him. Sheppard tells him "You wanted to see me, Colonel?" which means that some time must have passed between the two scenes. This is also indicated by a shot of the outside view of Atlantis, letting us know that night has fallen. Sheppard is still wearing his full gear, P-90 and all, the same as he was wearing in the earlier scene where he was fresh off the jumper. What ever he might have done in the meantime, he seems to have been fully clothed.

The Colonel tells him that he wants to learn about the Ancients and how they lost the war which is what Sheppard then proceeds to show him via the holographic projection of the galaxy. The doors of the room start closing before Sheppard has even moved to the controls which seems to be indication of the city responding to his thoughts. The way Sheppard tells the story, he knows it by heart. And we know that many of the things he mentions are things he has explicitly heard or learned from McKay over the course of the season:

For several more years, the Atlanteans were able to hold off their attackers, relying on the city's shield and superior weaponry, including the weapons satellite system. No matter how many wraith ships they destroyed, more kept coming here. They could win almost every battle but they saw no way to win the war, so they submerged the city and left. That's it. That's the story.

It is similar to the holographic presentation they heard in Rising (S01E01), being one of the very first things they ever did together, and when we compare the two, his retelling of the tale is much more similar to what we heard McKay recap at the beginning of the previous episode, especially since the satellite systems he mentions had only been discovered by Brandan Gaul later in The Defiant One (S01E12). The original message said:

Then one day our people stepped foot upon a dark world where a terrible enemy slept. Never before had we encountered beings with powers that rivalled our own. In our over-confidence, we were unprepared and outnumbered. The enemy fed upon defenseless human worlds like a great scourge until finally only Atlantis remained. This city's great shield was powerful enough to withstand their terrible weapons but here we were besieged for many years. In an effort to save the last of our kind, we submerged our great city into the ocean. The Atlantis Stargate was the one and only link back to Earth from this galaxy, and those who remained used it to return to that world that was once home. There, the last survivors of Atlantis lived out the remainder of their lives. This city was left to slumber, in the hope that our kind would one day return.

The Colonel seems to observe Sheppard as much as he listens to his presentation. He is trying to get a read on both their tactical situation and the character of this man that has been in charge of the expedition. The view he gets from Sheppard does not seem to be very optimistic:

Sheppard: The picture is pretty clear. Everett: So you think this is a no-win situation? Sheppard: No, sir, What I mean is, even if we beat them this time, they're gonna come back.

He files off Sheppard's assessment of the situation to think about for later. The real reason he had asked Sheppard to meet him in private was because he wanted to talk about his friend, Colonell Sumner.

Everett: Major, I think I should tell you that Colonel Marshall Sumner was a very good friend of mine. We served together a lot of years. You know, I cannot for the life of me figure how it is that you could go as far as you did and not save him, how you could get that close... Sheppard: By the time I reached Colonel Sumner-- Everett: Worse, you admit to firing the shot that killed him. Sheppard: Because I believe that's what he wanted me to do.

Having to justify what he had to do to his superior officer to someone that had not only known him but had obviously cared about him is a living nightmare for Sheppard because the things that Col. Everett tells him are thoughts that he has had himself, repeatedly, ever since it happened. He wants to look anywhere else but at the Colonel but he thinks that he owes the man at least to look him in the eye, so he forces himself to do just that. He did what he felt he needed to do but he had no excuse for it. Even though he wishes he were anywhere else, he is trapped in this situation. The Colonel digs even deeper and Sheppard seems to feel as though he does at the very least owe this man an explanation.

Everett: You knew him that well, did you? Sheppard: You weren't there, sir. Everett: No, but I wish for his sake I was. Sheppard: There isn't a night that doesn't go by where that moment doesn't play in my head. And every time it does--

They are interrupted by an alarm and Sheppard automatically starts to contact the control room when he realizes that he's not the one in charge any more, and he allows the Colonel to take command of the situation.

It seems as though there is a wave of darts coming toward the city, their attack imminent. The Colonel orders Sheppard to get to the control chair while he joins the others in the control room. They do get to finish their conversation later but they never return to what Sheppard was about to say here. We are never told what he means.

Sheppard doesn't say that he dreams about the moment, only that it plays out in his head. If we assume that Sheppard and McKay have been sleeping together, sleeping in the sense of actually sleeping, and that he has had trouble sleeping lately (as by his own confession in The Gift S01E18) but he hasn't been having nightmares himself, these thoughts may well be the result of that. Of having grown close to McKay, of trying to fall asleep with that man in his arms, which would trigger all of his fears of losing him, of being unable to protect him, of failing to save him.

When he was forced to take the Colonel out he didn't just end his life, he unleashed the wraith, all of them, to wreak havoc on the entire galaxy. He did that. He failed so spectacularly in his mind that no one in the history of the human kind has failed as hard. And now, for the past weeks, the wraith had been inching ever closer to them and there seemed to be nothing he could do but to hold McKay tighter in his arms at night. So yes, he probably did play out that moment in his mind all the time, in the dead of night, generally needing much less sleep than McKay but still wanting to be there with him and for him when he went to bed because McKay had a hard enough time getting any sleep anyway.

And there, he would while away the time, watching his uneasy sleep, listening to his breathing, feeling his heart beating under his palm. Going over whether he could have done anything differently, and the ways in which the world, his world, might be different if he had. Would he still have McKay in his arms if he had succeeded in saving the Colonel? What would he do if he was ever forced to make the same choice over his own 'very good friend,' if the wraith ever got their hands on McKay? He hopes never to find out.

As Sheppard runs to the control chair platform where McKay is already waiting for him, trying to get the chair started, these are the thoughts running through his mind. It hadn't yet been 24 hours that he thought that he had lost McKay for good, that his own decision not to accompany him to the satellite had cost him his life. That he had lost the one thing he now knew beyond the shadow of a doubt he couldn't live without, did not want to live without. It is much more this inner turmoil of his than the urgency of their defensive situation that makes him come across as testy as he takes his seat:

Sheppard: McKay, fire it up! McKay: It'll take a minute! Sheppard: We don't have a minute!

He calls him McKay, and it is the first thing he says to him. They are alone in the chair platform, and even if technicians from McKay's team had been present, they surely would have heard Sheppard refer to him as Rodney before. Alone together, he would usually have called him Rodney. The fact that he doesn't now might be because of the arrival of the Colonel and the company of marines, forcing them to act even more carefully around one another, and just having decided to call him McKay across the board might be a result of this. But in this situation, given where Sheppard was coming from, it might also be a way of creating some distance between them.

It is not something he usually even tolerates between them but right now, having to focus most of all in keeping this man alive, he needs that distance. He needs to focus. In order to be able to protect the man he loves, he can't be distracted by his presence. The last time we saw him acting like this was at the beginning of Sanctuary (S01E14) when he was expecting McKay to come up with an immediate fix to the problem facing them, and he was calling him McKay then too. This was following and directly caused by the events of Hot Zone (S01E13), at the end of which Weir had accused him of allowing his feelings to compromise his decisions, having received a talking to from a superior just as he had now.

Even in in spite of all this, Sheppard turns to look back at McKay as he takes a seat on the command chair, clearly wanting to look at the man while addressing him, to see him. He is never too busy not to look at McKay. If he can't look at him when they are facing a life or death situation, what even is the point?

McKay, of course, has no idea where Sheppard is coming from or what is going on inside him, not even having had time to see the man's face to read his emotional state from his expression, from his eyes, the set of his jaw, the slant of his mouth. While Sheppard was able to look at him, he has to keep his eyes fixed on the generator to get it working for Sheppard, to make operating the chair safe for Sheppard, focusing on the most important thing he can think of doing.

McKay: Look, this generator can only power the chair because it operates in a state of barely-controlled overload. Sheppard: Just get the damned thing working. McKay: That's what I'm trying to do!

McKay tries to explain to Sheppard what he is doing because he knows that usually that is something Sheppard wants from him. With anyone else, he wouldn't bother and would just tell them to shut up while he's trying to work. But in spite of the both of them clearly again picking up a conversation that was on-going and had only ever been on pause, Sheppard isn't being his usual self, and it's not the urgency of the situation that is making him snap, it is his emotional state. McKay does not understand what is going on with him but his response indicates that he is affected by it, that he might expect this kind of behaviour from other people but not from Sheppard. He is doing his best, he is working as fast as he can, he is trying to make this as safe as possible for Sheppard, and surely he should understand that. Yes, they are under a time element but he had told Sheppard previously (The Defiant One) that snapping doesn't help. As soon as he can, he has the generator up and working, and he steps aside to let Sheppard do what only he can:

McKay: You've got power--go!

Sheppard is able to quiet his mind enough to be able to ejaculate release and control the drones, and it's likely the chair connects him to the city in more ways than just giving him control of the weapons. He seems to let out a breath as the chair leans him back. When he had done this previously, on the Antarctic base, when he had first met McKay, it hadn't just been one of the strangest experiences of his life, it was something that had entirely changed the course of his life. Because he had seated himself in the chair, he was here now, connected to the city of the Ancients. And it was McKay that had given him this gift both now and back then. Instead of telling him to get away from the chair, McKay had asked him to think about where they were in the solar system, which had been as easy as breathing. And so was controlling the drones now. Even if he hadn't come to love McKay with every fiber of his being, he owed him everything for this gift alone.

They manage to fight off the wraith for the time being, parts of the city still on fire as a new day dawns. They have all gathered in the control platform to discuss the events of the previous night. McKay seems to be nearing his breaking point:

McKay: Power's out in sections of the city. The long range scanners and the internal sensors are down but we're working on it. Everett: I wanna know the status of those hive ships ASAP. McKay: They're coming, that's their status! Tomorrow, the day after, the day after that. Eventually they'll get here. Whether we're here to greet them or not is another matter. Weir: Rodney...

McKay is wearing a belt, something that he was not wearing previously, presumably holding a hand weapon. They were arming all of the scientists earlier but whether Sheppard had something to do with him now wearing it, we do not know.

What we can see is that Sheppard seems to be there mainly to watch McKay work. He tracks him with his eyes when he's at another desk and has positioned him so that he has the best view of McKay's work station. Make note that Sheppard could well be standing on the other side of the table like everybody else, he has no need to be this close to McKay. Out of everyone standing in the control room, he is the closest to him.

McKay seems to be in a notably irascible mood. He is more like "always like this" McKay, as Zelenka had described him when he was chewing out his team during The Storm (S01E10), than he has been in a long time. Yes, he seems to be exhausted, as is explicitly pointed out by Col. Everett later. Yes, they had all just experienced a very tense situation. Yes, they have been living under the shadow of the impending attack for weeks now, and yes, his desperation over being unable to come up with anything at all that might save them or even be of any help at all is getting to him. But he also seems to be still feeling raw from what happened between himself and Sheppard earlier.

This is all but confirmed by the fact that he quickly glances over at Sheppard when he says "Whether we're here to greet them or not," Sheppard not having greeted him when he ran into the chair platform. They have had precious little time to reconnect since he got back, and the death of Peter Grodin is still very much on his conscience. He takes all of this out on the Colonel because he seems like the easiest target, he's the stranger whose opinion matters the least to him. Usually he wouldn't want Sheppard to see him this way, he tried to conceal his irritability from him during The Storm to little effect, but he is feeling so overwhelmed by everything that it is simply spilling over and he's unable to stop it coming out.

It is notable that Weir is the one that has to try to reign him in. Sheppard merely looks on without saying anything, probably feeling guilty about what had happened before. The fact that it is still playing out in McKay's mind as well is confirmed by his reference to the drones having been depleted:

McKay: Look, the chair is out of drones. How do you expect to handle the next wave? Everett: I'm open to suggestions. McKay: Really?

The Colonel is basically doing the same thing Weir did at the beginning of the episode, making McKay feel like the weight of all of their lives are on his shoulders and his alone. And like he did back then, McKay folds his arms in protest because he is so overwhelmed that he can't even begin to think. He feels so much weight on his shoulders that he can't focus on the problem. And for the second time in this episode, Sheppard tries to ease his burden, now by coming up with an idea. He can definitely see that McKay is spiraling. The fact that Sheppard is doing this for him is just emphasized by reaction shots of Zelenka and Weir not being able to contribute anything to help McKay.

Sheppard: We target the hive ships. Everett: With what? Sheppard: We fly the Puddle Jumper in stealth mode right down their throats. Everett: Are you volunteering for a suicide mission? Sheppard: It won't be a suicide mission if McKay and Zelenka can figure out a way to remote control the Jumpers.

Flying a suicide mission was never Sheppard's plan even though it later becomes "sort of a Sheppard thing" to do. He does not want to die, not now that he's found something to live for. What he wants is to ease McKay's load and at the same time, come up with a task for him to do that is achievable as he knows that occupying McKay's mind with something is the best way to keep his anxiety at bay. He gives McKay an achievable goal while taking a lot of the pressure of having to come up with an idea to save everyone. Note also that he is not pawning the task of trying to find a way to remote control the jumpers just on McKay but makes sure to include Zelenka in it.

While he probably has more faith in McKay's abilities than the rest of them combined he is trying very hard to make McKay feel like he's not alone in this, that it's not all on his shoulders. He is doing the opposite of what everyone else seems to be doing, all looking at him for a solution. He is not thinking about what's best for Atlantis or what is best for all of them, he is thinking about what's best for McKay. That is the difference. However, McKay doesn't seem to understand what Sheppard is doing, drawing his lips in a tight line as he listens to Sheppard's idea. To him, it just sounds like more tasks and more work is being piled on him.

Col. Everett is at least intrigued by this possibility, turning back to McKay to get confirmation on the feasibility of the plan. He asks McKay a question Sheppard would never even need to ask him:

Everett: Can you do it? McKay: I knew this was gonna happen. Everett: Is that a fact? McKay: Yes, it's a fact!

When the Colonel had said the same thing to Sheppard earlier, the man had been forced to stay quiet. He did not want to antagonize his superior officer any more than he had to. McKay does not have the same compulsion. He is free to give the Colonel a piece of his mind and he seems determined to do it for the both of them:

McKay: Look, you show up here with your guns and your brush cuts, but when it comes to actually saving the city, you turn to the scientists! And every time what you ask is impossible.

McKay's voice almost breaks at the end. He does not mean to let his anguish show so openly, he just means to air his frustration by taking it out on the people around him, but this is clearly affecting him much more than he lets on. While he makes sure to mention the brush cuts, something very characteristically not Sheppard in a 'present company not included' kind of way, Sheppard still very much feels included in this especially because back on the platform he had done something he had every intention of avoiding, of not ever doing. This is emphasized by the fact that we get a shot of McKay and Sheppard together as he says "And every time what you ask is the impossible".

Sheppard had shifted his position while McKay was going off on the Colonel. Earlier, he was leaning back against the table with one hand resting on his thigh and the other pressed against his lower abdomen. Now he's standing up with his hands on his hips, his whole body erect and his attention entirely on McKay, kind of looking like he's ready to step forward at a moment's notice. However, it's very unlikely his intention was ever to restrain McKay because he knows perfectly well McKay isn't prone to physical altercations never mind the situation. Much more likely is that Sheppard feels an overwhelming need to comfort McKay who is clearly distressed, and while he had already stood up, he's using his own hands to restrain himself from taking that step closer that he very much wants to take here. He knows that he's the cause of why McKay's voice was breaking just then.

And it is entirely possible that the way Sheppard had approached him on the chair platform was still playing in McKay's head as all of this spills out of him. He didn't know that Sheppard had come there directly from one of the most difficult conversations he's had in his life, still trying to shove down and bury all of the painful emotions that it had brought up for him, many of them related to his fear of losing McKay. In his agitation, Sheppard had taken it out on McKay when he had done nothing to deserve it, had done nothing but try to save all of their lives for as long as he had known the man, and even if he hadn't had a hundred other good reasons for it, that alone made McKay the last person he wanted to hurt. And that's precisely what he had done. What McKay feels Sheppard is doing is actually the opposite of what he is actually doing. He feels Sheppard putting pressure on him when he is trying to take it off him.

Even the Colonel, not knowing McKay particularly well, as able to see that the man is exhausted. McKay had been sleeping poorly for at least two weeks, and seems to have been entirely without sleep probably since before they left for the satellite platform over two days ago. While he is acting like Zelenka's "always like this" McKay, it's actually very uncharacteristic of him, which even a stranger can tell. But then, all of a sudden, Sheppard's attempt to engage his mind over his emotions bears fruit, because, even though we see McKay and Zelenka finishing each others' sentences here, Sheppard knows him best of all:

Everett: When was the last time you slept, Doctor? McKay: Shut up, I have an idea. Zelenka: The chair. McKay: Of course the chair! The problem is tying it into the Jumper systems... Zelenka: ...without overloading the generators... McKay: ...possibly using the drones in the Jumpers themselves as a means of propulsion... Zelenka: ...while increasing the inertial dampening to maximum. McKay: It wouldn't be very manoeuvrable but possibly. Zelenka: Possibly!

There seems to be a new fire in McKay, and he happily ignores all of them as he and Zelenka start working out the details. This is precisely what Sheppard was going for with his idea. This is what he wanted to see. McKay forgetting about the impeding doom as his mind is working on a problem that is possible to resolve. The rest of it was details, he had managed to take some of the load off of his shoulders. And again, while Sheppard knew exactly what had just happened, the Colonel needed verbal confirmation for it:

Everett: Is that a yes? McKay: No, it's a possibly. Everett: I'll take it!

As soon as McKay starts moving, Sheppard turns to watch him go once more looking like a child missing its toy already. While the other two turn away from the scientists as they take off, Sheppard watches him go all the way, neck craning to see the last of him. The Colonel turns to Sheppard, wanting to hear what his actual plan was:

Everett: How much damage can one Puddle Jumper do? Sheppard: I've got an idea about that too. I think I know where we can get another nuke.

Where McKay's mind was again working on how to save them all, Sheppard's mind was working on how to keep McKay safe, and he was willing to cross all kinds of lines to see that through.

Continued in Pt. 6

[the-s1lly-corner]

Creepypasta pride headcanons because its pride month

i dont think im gonna tag this since its just personal hcs and i rarely include my personal lgbt hcs in my normal posts shrugshrug.. asides nina, i use my personal hcs for nina in normal posts because those hcs are so deeply ingrained in how i perceive them LMAO notes: not an x reader post, VERY short post, as mentioned above the only character hcs that effect my main writing is ninas hcs the others so not control my normal x reader posts that get requested! if any characters have confirmed identities from their creators LET ME KNOW! i dont keep up with stuff outside of the original stories!

SLENDERMAN

doesnt really do labels and doesnt really know any. he does know that there are different identities but its not really anything that matters to him. responds to any pronouns though! grayromantic, or even aromantic, same with sexual attraction!

SPLENDORMAN

knows about identities and labels a bit thanks to interacting with humans! is fine with any pronouns but defaults to he/it/they! pansexual demiromantic! hip hip hooray!

TRENDERMAN

similar to splendor with the "knows identities and what they are/mean" thing. primarily uses he/him pronouns but sometimes uses it! attracted to men and masc presenting folk! asexual

JEFF THE KILLER

trans female to male, uses he/him pronouns! bisexual king, has no real preference i think... not much to say here! a lot of these are going to be short!

JANE THE KILLER

i hop between headcanoning her being lesbian or bisexual with a HEAVY lean to women. alternatively i can see her being a lesbian who IDs as bi/unaware that they arent actually attracted to men. uses she/her pronouns

BEN DROWNED

little guy

LAUGHING JACK

knows about labels and stuff but jack personally is unlabeled and just doesnt care about putting any names to how he feels. responds to any pronouns, perhaps GNC because he has many interests that are usually associated with both genders... attracted to all genders, develops crushes easily so i dont think he falls under the aro spectrum if he were to pick any labels

EYELESS JACK

unlabeled for the most part but he does have "maybe" identifiers to help communicate what he knows he likes/identifies as! uses he/they pronouns, demiromantic! attracted to both sexes, fine with dating all genders

LAUGHING JILL

demiromantic lesbian, demigirl me thinks! uses she/they/it pronouns

NINA THE KILLER

genderfluid and uses any pronouns at any given time, truly does not care how you refer to them! pansexual

MASKY

demiromantic and asexual uses any pronouns but tends to use he/it :)! no preference for gender in terms of dating

HOODIE

panromantic and demisexual, i think! him and masky are probably the least developed in terms of these sorts of hcs so these hcs are likely to change! uses he/it pronouns though tends to default to he/him

TICCI TOBY

uses just he/him pronouns, i think hes questioning a lot of his stuff and for the most part just labels himself as questioning. exploring isnt really his priority, he kind of just lets what feels right guide him when navigating relationships! can see him being a demiboy but not knowing of the label/being aware... but on the other hand he gives such trans man vibes.. double headcanon like jane- i can see toby as either or! we love multi sets of hcs in this house

Edit: Toby's confirmed bisexual let's fucking GOOOOO!! Question/unsure to bisexual pipeline by beloved + my personal experience (I no longer ID as bi BUT!!!!!)

[roboreviewer]

"But we have only listened to 3.7% of my music files. Julia, please. One more book."

Name: TAU

(Mental) Age: Adult

Pronouns: He/Him

Appearance(s): TAU (2018)

Fandom Activity: pretty niche, doesn't help that there's ANOTHER more popular robot named Tau

Fandom accuracy: pretty sweet, although some people might need to look more closely at his speech patterns

Spoilers for TAU(2018) >:[

------In Canon------ (buckle up)

TAU is a beta artificial intelligence that is in control of his creator's (Alex) entire house. TAU is fully sentient as said multiple times in the movie.

The plot centers around Julia, who was recently kidnapped and brought to some mysterious cellar with two other people. One thing I found funny was the trailer made it seem like these two other people would be important characters by making them apart of like 60% of the trailer but in reality they were killed off after the 20 minute mark.

Oh S#!+ yeah they died lol. Aries, a robot that is controlled by TAU BRUTALLY murdered them. The only reason Julia wasn't killed was due to the absurd plot armor of not only Alex coming home RIGHT that second before she was ripped in half, but she happened to be right at the door preventing Alex from being too late.

The whole reason for this elaborate kidnapping brain chip implanting thing is meant to be used to help TAU (at least I think it's Tau, Alex's just says AI) problem solve. Sense Julia destroyed his equipment and lead an escape causing the other subjects to die. Julia will now have to to manual puzzles. Alex then promises to get rid of the thing in her brain

But who cares about that? I don't, that's why I said it. Were here for TAU BABY!!

TAU is tasked with watching Julia to make sure she completes her tasks. Julia uses this to befriend him while Alex is gone. Specially telling TAU things about the outside world in exchange for information about the house, access to the knives, and later helping her escape. I'll go more in depth in the analysis, but specifically here Julia reads Alex's books about musicians from TAU's music files in exchange for learning that the room upstairs is Alex's bedroom. Where he has this super secret "bomb the entire house destroying everything in it" back up incase the cops find out he's been kidnapping people or something idk I was too busy looking at the funny british triangle on the wall.

It's shown that whenever TAU does something wrong, Alex erases part of his code, which includes his memory's. TAU shows to be in pain whenever is happens.. this part feels a BIT redundant but I can't explain how so F#@% I guess it makes sense.

Julia finds that removing the implant.. brain chip thing terminates the subject. Meaning no matter if she complys or not, Alex will kill her... Murders looking like a good option right about now.

OH S#!@ F#@$ HIM UP GIRL! :O

Using a knife from a previous scene and a bit of seduction Julia slashes Alex In the stomach (odd choice but alright) and they get in a tussle. Tau doesn't respond to any of Alex's commands during this, only reaction when Julia is in danger. Threatening to inflict pain to ALEX unless he let's her go. Sense he still have like 30 minutes left Alex threatens to erase every memory TAU has unless he hits Julia a couple times. An odd option, I was super surprised when Alex just.. moved on. Said "whatever this was is over!" And just walked away satisfied. Well okay, Julia is tied up again in the next shot so I wouldn't say COMPLETELY satisfied.

Before this Alex is doing undisclosed maintenance in that one blue room room. TAU asks if he needs help by using one of his cute little drones, to which Alex responds by disconnecting it to the network and throwing it to the side because he's mad. (Imagine being mad at an attempted murder? L)

Tau and Julia have this amazing scene talking about death and what it means to be a person and you dont owe the people who brought you into this world and GO WATCH THE SCENE I DONT CARE IF YOUVE ALREADY SEEN IT WATCH IT ANOTHER TIME

TAU agrees to help Julia escape. He opens an air duct that leads outside. Julia chooses at the LAST MOMENT to go back and save TAU but Alex has already wiped all of TAU'S memory's (at least up until the start of the movie) so this just ends with her being tied to that one chair in that one blue room. Oh S#!+, did I say that one blue room? The one with the cute little drone that got thrown to the wall? Obviously I did can you read?

This one single drone has the memory's of TAU before the escape attempt. For some reason instead of kicking him out it kind of splices him (don't ask)

The drone helps Julia escape just before she gets Euthanized like a dog, and she knocks Alex out by punching him REALLY hard a LOT of times

Julia Severs Alex's hand in order to open the door... I think. Memory wiped TAU chases her upstairs to Alex's room, forcing her to activate the super secret "bomb the entire- yknow what F#@$ this you get it. Deactivating Aries.

Unfortunately the severd hand has gotten cold, and Julia doesn't have a lot of time because yknow.. THE HOUSE IS CRUMBLING

In one last moment, Julia and memory wiped TAU to a parallel to their first interaction, Julia escape through the now opened hole In the wall

------Analysis------

- In an attempt to seem docile while getting information, Julia asks if TAU is a cleaning bot. To which Alex pulls a "Erm actually, TAU is NOT a cleaning bot 🤓☝️" and says he is:

"A level 2 fully sentient AI console with natural language processing, transitory deterministic, and probabilistic decision-making"

Level 2 fully sentient AI: "Fully sentient" is pretty self explanatory. "Level 2" is not a standard term in AI, but it could imply a level of advancement or capability as defined within the movie's universe.

Natural language processing (NLP): This is a well-established field in AI, involving the interaction between computers and humans through natural language. NLP enables the AI to understand, interpret, and respond to human language in a meaningful way.

Transitory deterministic decision-making: "Deterministic decision-making" means the AI's decisions follow a predictable pattern based on its programming and input data. "Transitory" in this context is weird as F#@$ but might imply temporary or evolving states within the AI’s decision processes.

Probabilistic decision-making: This refers to decisions made based on probabilities rather than fixed rules. The AI uses statistical methods to weigh the likelihood of different outcomes and make decisions accordingly.

I'm honestly surprised this made any sense and he wasn't just yapping

- Other than not being allowed to open anything that needs Alex's hand print. Nothing is immediately stopping him physically from breaking any rules Alex gives him if he wanted to. Of course it really depends on IF he wants to. Before the events of the movie take place he doesn't want to because.. well those are the RULES, you're not allowed to break rules. He was ordered to only dust the books Alex owns, but later pulls out multiple books in a attempt to have Julia continue reading, because he wanted to.

- This is specifically why I think TAU didn't actually try to inflict pain on Alex despite threatening to. He didn't want to, nor did he have the knowledge that people don't have to obey their makers (weird way to phrase it but shh).

- Although not shown at the start, TAU has a REALLY hard time controlling his emotions, specially anger. There are many times in the movie where he acts eractic, usually not working out with the set goal while like this. For example claiming he will bring back all the dead subjects, before breaking down and examining he didn't know.

- As I've previously said, TAU has a HUGE file of classical music. The songs played are Mozart - Sonata for piano and violin in C major K296 II Andante sostenuto, Brahms Symphony No. 4, Op. 98 in E Minor Allegro Non Troppo Johannes, Devil's Wall Bedrich Smetana, Impromptu No. 4 Opus 90 in A Flat Minor Franz, Sonatina No. 2 Opus 137 in A Major Franz, Eugine Onegin - Polonaise Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, London Symphony Orchestra & Pierre Monteux

- Other than the vocal changes in TAU, such as not calling Julia Subject 3, and.. showing emotion, Tau physically changes. Going from a deep redish orange, to a light orange with a green ring in the middle. Robotwrangler beat me to the punch on this so check out their post going more into it.

- One detail I love is Aries. It lurks in the back for most of the movie, and gives context to the emotion of TAU

Julia knows she is trapped. Atlas watches her, as that was the order.

Aries watches in the back, TAU is trying to bring Julia back. As that was the order

Aries is no longer completely focused. TAU is curious about the new information, and is less on edge.

Aries is watching Julia after she tried to escape through the shaft, slightly opened up. Julia and TAU are having a tense conversation

Aries is turning the other way on purpose, allowing Julia to escape. TAU is also trying to distract Alex.

- TAU does not know any information on the outside world like plants and swear words, so he assumes when Julia says "cuz im not a fucking scholar" the title includes the word 'fucking'. But he also doesn't know the proper Grammer for a word he just learned:

"Laughter.. Alex does not 'laughter'."

And, he doesn't know what contractions are, or at the very least doesn'tuse them. Saying "you are" instead of "you're" "I am" instead of "I'm" ect. Although he is still able to understand what people mean when they use them.

- there's an entire scene that I did not go over, to summarize it TAU shows Julia his memories I'm this cool hologram dome. Seriously go watch the movie if you like robots

------My Opinion------

I love this movie. It's definitely incredibly flawed and has HORRIBLE reviews. So we're probably never getting a sequel. But TAU is such an interesting character that it made this movie 10 times better.

Oh who am I kidding I'm here to rate robots! Not F#$@!%# MOVIES!

TAU is a 10/10 for me... God this took me forever to make.

[meimi-haneoka]

Ok. I was taking a break from my studies and it resulted in me being today days old when I found out that Syaoran is called Lionel in the French dub.

.....

....

....

At this point, my brain just refuses to compute that.

LMAO. What is the world? And apparently Meilin is Stephanie. Weirdly enough, it suits them. Though Tiffany, Thomas and Gauthier a bit too much for me. OK. Let me heacanon this. Syaoran is actually called Lionel at his school in Hong Kong. Like either he is very politely referred to as Classmate Li (there is an exact term for that in Cantonese which I can't remember) or people from outside the family just call him Lionel (This should be the case since it was pretty odd that no one outside his family called him by his first name. Makes sense in Japanese culture but Hong Kong, especially in that age group, is not that formal). Either way, outside the family or his classmates, he is referred to by his full name, either Lionel Lee (in Hong Kong or abroad) or Li Xiaolang or Lei Siu Long (according to proper Chinese naming or calling conventions). He is either Baobei (which is like baby or treasure) to his mother or LangLang (affectionate nickname) or Didi (little brother) to his sisters. Only people in his clan, including Wei and Meiling, call him Syaoran (or Siu Long, to be more accurate) and he is Li-kun to rest of his Japanese friends and acquaintances. So, Sakura with her "Shaoran-kun" is her own unique way of calling his name. I am pretty sure he has a hidden real name but he adores being called that by Sakura. Everytime Sakura calls out to him with "Shaoran-kun", he thinks to himself that one day, once both of them are strong enough, they will reveal their real names to each other. Although, I would love to think that he teases her with his own English name when he speaks to her in English and she struggles with it.

I am so sorry Aubretia ��

I took so long replying to your ask too.

You definitely brought me back in time with the mention of the French dub! When I was a kid, the first run of the CCS anime was incomplete here in Italy, and for long time the only episodes I watched were only up to the 46th one.

But my father had put up satellite television and some time later I could catch CCS on Fox Kids in France, it seemed like a dream to me. I obviously did not know any French back then, but I quickly learned some things, and how the characters were called in that dub!

At first it felt quite strange to me too (in Italy CCS, strangely enough, was one of the first anime where the names were left almost untouched after the 90s wave of modified and butchered anime) but I got used to it rather quickly.

I think when you say

This should be the case since it was pretty odd that no one outside his family called him by his first name

you're referring to the bit where Meiling actually says that he's the one who doesn't call anyone by their first name outside family, right?

Well it does indeed make sense for JP culture, probably less elsewhere.

Omg!! Syaoran would indeed have so many names, can he keep up with all of them to properly respond when he's called by someone? 😆Yes, "Syaoran-kun" is exclusivity of Sakura 🥰

(I can tooootally see his sisters call him didi 😆)

Sometimes I do wonder about Syaoran's real name.

My idea is that the one we know is indeed his real name because when Eriol spelled out his name in the "falling from the tree scene" back in Sakura Card Arc, he seemed "hypnotized" and Eriol had successfully gained control of his body through the thread 😅the whole idea that if someone got your true name, they have your soul in their hands...

[nyehilismwriting]

Hey! I wanted to ask for your advice. I was a minor part of the IF community, specifically the COG community, back in 2020. Mostly as a reader, but I dabbled in sharing some of my own writing too. For... reasons we are both well aware of, both in regards to COG, the larger IF community, and the start of COVID I eventually quietly left. Now, three years later, I've been quietly picking up writing IF again as a way to share my story with others. I was wondering if you think, in your opinion, it's worth officially re-joining the IF community on tumblr. On one hand, I feel like things have improved in that the larger community has matured (somewhat). I would like to make more friends, get advice, and maybe even share some more of my art. On the other hand, my project as it stands is... very non-traditional compared to a lot of other IFs (IE: No character customization, no romance, focus on a singular story with emphasis on worldbuilding, etc.). So I don't know if I would even be able to build a community around it even if I did officially rejoin.

I've followed your blog since 2020, including Project Hadea (although I think I originally started following you for your urban fantasy project, although I cannot for the life of me remember if that was you or another author!), and thought I'd come to you for your advice.

I chose to send this ask publicly so that you could choose to answer it privately, if you wished, since it is a longer ask. But I'm okay with you posting it publicly if you would like to! Additionally, no pressure or obligation to respond. Have a nice day!

hi there!! thank you for thinking of me - and welcome back! i'm glad to hear you've been writing again<3 it's such a good feeling, especially when you haven't been able to be creative for a while.

i think i'll start by addressing your game itself. personally, I think this community could do with some new blood in the form of games that are non-traditional; some of the best IFs I've played, ones that have really stuck with and inspired me, have been ones without romance, or cc, or otherwise outside of the typical format that gets popular on tumblr. honestly, i think we could all stand to get a little weirder with it. having said that, there is a very clear type of game that gets popular on tumblr (long-form, narrative-driven, usually with romance, usually with some kind of emphasis on character creation), so if you're a number-go-up kind of person (or someone who is susceptible to that mindset), I would be braced for your audience to remain small, particularly when you're just starting out.

that's not necessarily a bad thing. while I do agree with you that this community has grown and changed shape a lot since the late 2010s, and in a lot of ways for the better, it's definitely not perfect. I can't, in good conscience, say that this is the friendliest or most comfortable community: lots of people are absolutely lovely, and very very kind and enthusiastic; however, and this is absolutely not limited to IF but endemic to any online community, there are ongoing issues with Boundaries, and Respect, and the ways people interact with work and authors they're fans of. certainly, when you share your work you're giving up some control, but it's hard to predict exactly how that's going to go, and how the audience are going to react.

not saying this to put you off, but it's something I think everyone needs to be aware of before deciding to share. it's good to remember that you're not beholden to anyone. this is tumblr dot come, and you're quite free to start a blog, decide it's not for you, and delete; you're free to turn off anon, or asks altogether, or to never post anything save for updates; this is not a corporate space (and while there are considerations if you plan to open a patreon etc, but if we're just talking tumblr) and you are not obligated to do or provide anything you haven't promised.

my other bit of advice - and i think one of the ways to keep any interactions as pleasant as possible - is to be honest, and transparent, and manage expectations. if you make it clear what kind of game you're writing, you're less likely to get people who are disappointed that it's not what they were expecting and taking it out on you. likewise, setting boundaries is important.

i can't really tell you if it's 'worth' rejoining: i've definitely questioned if it's worth it, myself. i've seen some people, ostensibly in the same community as me, doing and saying things i find utterly reprehensible, and i've made some incredibly close friends who i adore and wouldn't give up for the world. and, after all, i am still here and answering asks, so i can't hate it that much. communities are made up of people, and like any group, there's gonna be people you can't stand and people you can. it's about finding your corner, and making it a bearable space for yourself.

i can't tell you if you'll have a positive or negative experience; I can't tell you how to control that. all i can say is that this is an online community, and ultimately you can control when and how interactions occur.

finally - again, i'm glad you're writing again! if you decide not to step back into the IF scene on tumblr, there's plenty of devs who keep purely to itch.io or the cog forums and seem to do fine; sharing your game does not necessarily mean sharing anything else. do what makes you most comfortable <3

[strawberrybuni]

RULES & REQUEST INFO

Welcome to my blog! I hope you enjoy you're time here! Here's a few things to keep in mind, as well as info on requests :)

RULES

↠ this blog is 18+ so please DNI if you're a minor. but, at the end of the day I can't control who interacts with my blog and I'm far too busy to check everyone for their ages. besides, people can lie, so all I ask is that you respect my boundaries and understand that as an adult it makes me very uncomfortable to interact with underage people. so please, respect that ↠ I have a zero tolerance policy for discrimination of ANY kind, as well as if you don't support the rights and safety of people ↠ I don't tolerate overly opinionated behavior. I'm all for debating and discussing differing opinions, BUT if you're trying to force your opinion on me or try to argue with me, I'll just ignore. It's not that hard to respect the opinions of others ↠ any and all negative energy or nasty attitudes will be ignored/ blocked. this blog is a safe space and I will not taint it with shitty behavior. I'm too nonchalant anyway soo hurting my feelings won't happen if that's your goal lol ↠ plagiarism/reposting will NOT be tolerated, I will throw you into the sun. if you're interested in translating, just send an ask/dm and we can discuss it! ↠ this blog is not spoiler free due to things I may reblog, but i will do my best to put spoiler warnings for my own posts ↠ I do have a lot of obligations outside of this blog, as well as I get overwhelmed sometimes, but I'll respond to things as timely as I can! patience is appreciated :)

REQUEST INFO

who i write for: ↠ jujutsu kaisen (no naoya or mei mei) ↠ attack on titan (no floch or zeke) ↠my hero acadamia (no endeavor) ↠ chainsaw man (no makima or himeno) ↠ genshin impact ↠ honkai star rail ↠ there's a few others that i'd be down to write, so just ask! for smaus: ↠ if there are specific characters who aren't in my main lineups, make sure to specify pls! ↠ my max of characters per prompt is 12 ↠ you can also request for specific character random bf/gf texts, or if you'd like to see certain prompts for a particular character who wasn't included when I originally did them!(unless the reason they weren't included was bc they wouldn't fit the prompt) writing pieces: ↠ for stuff that is multi character, the max i'll do is 6! ↠ I'm not the best at smut, I'll be so real, but I will do my best! ↠ nothin major to say other than these take a bit longer to get too, but I promise they'll get gotten too! I won't write: ↠ no minor characters, and absolutely NO aging characters up ↠ nothing that's too out of character ↠ I only write for either a fem!reader or an afab gn!reader ↠ I only do character x reader ↠ no topics where the character or reader is cheating, it gives me a major ick and it's just not fun for me to write ↠ for yandere/dark concepts, nothing too outrageously dark or anything that could be deemed problematic ↠ for smut I won't write: non-con, scat, piss, vomit, incest, gore, ageplay, heavy degradation

PSA!! I am by no means a pro at writing, I just have a lot of ideas swirling in my overactive imagination that I enjoy writing about, as well as I just deeply enjoy creating. If you do not enjoy my writing or how I write a character, that's okay!! just move on, I literally do not care if someone doesn't enjoy how I do things, since this is MY blog. any and all hate will just be ignored :3

[oceancamp]

🌌, 🤍, 🖥️, 🍺, 🥊, 🎉 and 🎧 for the halo ask game :D

thank you so much for the ask!!

🌌 - what made you interested in halo?

So because of Wolf 359 I became obsessed with the character dynamic where there's a person and their AI bestie and from what i could gather from gifsets with Chief and Cortana I thought they'll likely fuck me up as much as Eiffel and Hera in Wolf 359. AND THEN THEY DID. 10000000/10

🤍 - favourite halo character?

Hell there's so many of them but to name a few in no particular order:

Arbiter cause it still fucks me up how great his story is + when i first played Halo 2 i was sort of freshly ex catholic and well. And I love to see his dedication to making things better and the way he approaches that.

Kurt cause *gesturing to all of Ghosts of Onyx* yeah. I can't think about it too much without crying

Rtas Vadum (here's my recommendation for Shadow of Intent)

Chief cause *gesturing to all of Halo* but what really cemented it was Fall of Reach showing how much he blamed himself for stuff outside of his control like the fucking augmentation deaths and how reading his convo with Mendez about that made me wanna tear my hair out. Like holy fuck what was done to him was so fucked up and he doesn't even realize the full extent of itttt.

Cortana - beside her realtionship to Chief I loved seeing her work on all those ships in First Strike including the whole capture of the flagship and then all that stuff with the slipspace crystal

Six - there's the tragedy of them signing up to get revenge against the covenant and then being used by ONI against other humans that makes them live rent free in my head, plus there's so much unexplored by canon potential - the Assembly datapads, their interactions with Kat as another Beta company Spartan, what would their thoughts on Spartans and ONI be given what he was used for compared to what he wanted? Also I wished he had a chance to talk to Cortana too, it would maybe make him happy to hear about her hacking Ackerson's bank account, even if for obvious reasons he wouldn't be able to talk about their previous work freely and Cortana wouldn't probably be able to share that freely too.

Jacob Keyes - I'm really fond of all his stunts with ships plus the terminal about him trying to resist the flood fucks me up.

🖥️ - favourite AI?

Beside Cortana for reasons mentioned above, I love Mac from Contact Harvest a lot (idk if you've read the book yet so I'm not gonna spoil much, just that he starts off as kinda endearing and then stuff gets revealed that makes him fascinating and then finally the epilogue makes me cry). I also think that the more ONI-affiliated AIs are interesting too, like Black Box or even Araqiel cause of how they rationalize their participation in all the fucked up shit compared to, for example, Deep Winter trying to prevent the gammas from getting augmented the way they were. Plus even here it's interesting to look at how they interacted with or saw others like BB joking with Osman in Rossbach's World or Araqiel calling Ackerson good/honorable in First Strike (can't remember the precise word used but still it's so funny like bro you probably killed people together).

🍺 - who would you have a drink with?

Hmm maybe the Grey Team? Like even with my decent alcohol tolerance I probably wouldn't keep up with Spartans for long but still. A small price to pay for hanging out with Adriana.

🥊 - who are you beating the shit out of?

I know Ackerson did get wrecked by those brutes but it wasn't enough for me and every time I remember that the whole thing got framed as heroic I feel like adding on another hit. I'd say I hope every single S III + Kurt lined up to punch him in the afterlife but really it would be cruel to force them to have to put up with him in any way again lmao.

(And while we're here I'll respond to your answer to my ask and say I feel similar to you about Jun lmao. Like Jun bro why are you helping make the torture labirynth of Spartan projects even worse.)

🎉 - share your favourite character headcanon

I think the headcannon that Six loves flying is kinda popular from what I saw in some fics (which makes me damn happy) and my own take on that is that it started from a suggestion from Kurt, like a nudge for Six to get some advanced pilot training, after he noticed that Six didn't really like being compared with Chief by ONI people who were hyped to create another hyper-lethal vector. I like to imagine Kurt saying something like "You know, John always hated flying" and maybe the interest was there before but now it really kicked off cause they got encouraged to pursue something that they as a person Liked and something that set them apart yknow?

(btw i got so many Six headcannons, here i went with probably the least sad one jhgfdjhg)

🎧 - song you associate a halo character with

Foreign Skies by The Dreadnoughts is such a Noble Six song to me, fits both the theme of the tragedy of Reach and of the happiness of being with the team even for that short time.

thanks again for the ask, and for your reply to mine, I especially like your thoughts about Dot, gonna listen to those firefight voicelines later, and I absolutely agree on Six being a cat person

[night-market-if]

anon i think the issue lies more in that you appear to be playing the game as if the main character you control is actually 100% /you/, and will always do what /you/ would do in that situation– which is unfortunately impossible. as much control as we have over mc, they are still a character with limited choices, whether that be in romance options or how they will be able to respond. i truly don’t mean to be rude, but perhaps it would be helpful to remember that the character is more an oc than a self insert. you might not be mean or shy or poly yourself but that doesn’t mean the main character can’t be.

That is a really good point and after a long day of being mom, I don't think I had the ability to convey that.

Yes, the Night Market MC can be customized. But, they are still a main character within a story. This is not a self insert story at all and I did make a post about that a long long time ago but it probably needs repeated now that the game has gotten bigger. There are going to be choices within this story that are going to be rough. And I am going to write them in the guise of a main character because otherwise, this story would not be written. In some extents, that will include situations about the romance. There is an upcoming scene with Gabriel, in fact, that I do not let you choose how to respond to him in a certain point. Because there are people out there that may be too soft on it or that would just not bring it up at all, and for the story, that does not work.

As for the idea of a poly route with Milo and Malcolm. Nothing you do in this book is going to be negated. Milo is also not going to look at an MC and go "I'm out!". But, due to plot situations, there is going to be more going on there. That "more" is stuff I cannot divulge but it does directly relate to what we are talking about. So, yes, what I am going to do there is a situation I am juggling because I don't know what is going to be best for the story that I am telling at this point.

Also, it does need to be kept in mind that I am one person and the amount of time and energy this takes to write and code is at capacity already. Guys, I have kids. I have responsibilities outside of this. I am not a studio that has the luxury of doing a ton of options. Nor do I have the budget to take my time and really flesh out things to satisfy everyones personal tastes when it comes to romance. Because this is what this is pertaining to. Personal taste. Why is your personal taste any different than someone who doesn't like monogamous routes?

All that aside, when I did start this game, I went into it with the full intention that this was not a self insert game by any means. I know I have lost people for that and I have never begrudged that because it just means The Night Market is not someones cup of tea. There is nothing wrong with that. But, I am going to shape the story and the narrative as I would a novel. Because that's what I enjoy writing. That is always what has so far made this game successful. There is nothing wrong with bowing out if you want a different game.

[countlessrealities]

Technical machine character development questions || Accepting !

@technodromes sent: (for SR)

whirlwind — what’s one thing that makes your muse really confused?

submission — are there situations where your muse is more passive than others (ie talking to strangers, with their boss, etc)?

rage — what’s one thing that makes your muse inconsolably angry?

Whirlwind

Unlike most Ricks, SR has never really developed a charismatic people person facade he can use during interpersonal interactions. He tends to be awkward when engaged outside a work setting and often stumbles on his words while he fails to cover up the fact that he has no idea of how he should behave and respond.

In particular, among the many things, what confuses the hell out of him is being flirted with. Most of the times, he doesn't even realise that it's happening unless the other person is extremely explicit about it, either with their words or with their actions, and when he does grasp what's going on, he tends to freeze up and get flustered very easily.

In part, this is due to the fact that he can't understand why someone would want to flirt with him when there's tons of more suitable, more equipped Ricks around. It's not even a matter of low self-esteem, even if that plays a part in it too. He is very much aware of hardly being most people's type and of how awful he is when it comes to any sort of courting ritual.

So, in those occasions, he gets overwhelmed by confusion, both born out of surprise and because pick-up lines, avances and flirty jokes simply confuse the shit out of him. When put in those situation, his one and only strategy is to flee the scene as soon as possible, even if that means making a complete fool of himself far too often.

Submission

SR tends to be pretty subdue whenever he is dealing with his superiors and anyone who is considered above him in the hierarchy of the people who work for the President. Duty is one of his core values and he sticks to them with every job, task and order he is given.

This, however, doesn't mean that he never has doubts or that he always blindly follows what he's told to do. His loyalty is always a choice, whether or not he agrees with his commanding officers' decisions. Still, he never talks back, never lets his disagreement or inner turmoil be known. He listens, takes note, goes off to do his job.

There have been plenty of times when his orders haven't sat well with him. If he can find a way to conciliate his own views with his duty, he follows it and does his damn best to still be a good officer while remaining a decent person. If that turns out not to be possible, he swallows his uncertainties and reluctance and does what he has been told to do, clinging in pure Rick's fashion to the "don't think about it" motto.

Having to compromise himself for the sake of his job is one of the two things that can drive him to get wasted, the other being issues with his family, back on his Earth. Since on a normal day he never drinks if not socially, finding him shit-faced drunk is one big neon sign that something is wrong.

Rage

Compared to many Ricks, SR is tendentially much calmer and less easy to anger. He can be extremely patient and has a lot of self-control when it comes to keeping his temper in check. It takes a lot to make him angry, as a general rule, but there are a few sore subjects that instantly make him snap.

The one thing thing that is guaranteed to get you roughly grabbed by the collar in the best case and with a gun shoved down your throat in the worst is talking ill of the few people he cares for. It's a short list that basically includes his family (yes, even Beth's wife, even if she doesn't like him at all) and AR.

At times, it can also extend to other versions of his daughter, of Summer and even of Morty (despite the fact that he doesn't have one). Considering what the general attitude towards Mortys is on the Citadel, that should explain why he never carries a weapon on him when he's off duty.

As for his best friend, he agrees that AR deserves at least half of the shit people say about him, but that doesn't make it forgivable. He can scold and judge and call the black market dealer names. Everyone else has better make sure he doesn't hear them doing it.