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writingwithcolor · 9 months

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Characters reconnecting with their ancestral cultures in an interplanetary setting

@pixiedustandpetrichor asked:

Hi! I am writing a novel with three main female characters in an interplanetary setting. They grow up as orphans in an Irish-coded country and as children are mostly exposed to solely that culture, but they leave after becoming adults. Character A is Tuareg-coded, B Mongolian-coded, and C is Germanic-coded. It isn’t central to the story, but I would like them to get in touch with/learn more about their ancestral cultures, especially in terms of religion. A does this by actually visiting the planet her parents came from, but B and C do not. What can I do to depict their relationships with said cultures and their journey to reconnect with them? Would it be realistic for each of them to have different mixed feelings about participating in these cultures and for them to retain some sense of belonging to the culture they grew up in as well? Thank you for your time.

Hello, asker! WWC doesn’t have Tuareg or Mongol mods at the moment, so we're not able to speak to the specifics of cultural and religious reconnection for these particular groups. Still, I want to take this opportunity to provide some general context and elements to consider when writing Tuareg-coded characters, or other characters from groups that have experienced colonization in the real world. My fellow mods will then share thoughts about cultural reconnection in general and with respect to Germanic heritage in particular.

Drawing inspiration from groups that have experienced colonization

As you’re probably aware, the Tuareg are an ethnic group indigenous to North Africa. As with many indigenous groups, they have experienced colonization multiple times over the course of their history. Colonization often leads to the loss or erasure of certain aspects of culture as the colonized people are pressured to conform to the culture of the dominant group. In many cases, it’s near impossible to say what the ancestral culture of a colonized group was prior to colonization.

When coding a fictional culture based on a group that was colonized in the real world, it's important to ask questions about:

Which aspects of culture you're portraying

Where these aspects come from

Whether you're ready to tackle their implications for the world you're building

It’s not necessarily wrong to use elements of coding that draw from cultural aspects influenced by colonization. As I said, it can be very difficult, even impossible, to portray a “pure” culture as it would have been had colonization not occurred–because we simply can’t know what that alternate history would look like, and because so much has been lost or intentionally suppressed that the gaps in our knowledge are too wide to breach. But it’s important to be aware of where these cultural elements are coming from.

Where is your coding coming from and what are the implications?

For example, while the Tuareg today are majoritarily Muslim, this was not the case prior to the Arab conquest of North Africa. Some elements of Tuareg culture today, such as tea ceremonies, are derived from the influence of Arab and Muslim culture and likely did not exist prior to the 20th century. As you’re developing the culture of the Tuareg-coded group in your fictional setting, you have to decide whether to include these elements. There is no right answer–it will depend on what you’re trying to do and why.

Is your setting in our far future, in which case we can assume your Tuareg-coded group is distantly related to today’s Tuareg?

In that case, they will probably have kept many cultural aspects their ancestors acquired through their interactions with other cultures around them–including cultural groups that colonized them. They may–let’s build hopeful worlds!–have reclaimed aspects of their ancestral culture they’d been forced to abandon due to colonization. They may also have acquired new aspects of culture over time. This can be very fun to explore if you have the time and space to do so.

I would recommend speaking with Tuareg people to get a better grasp of how they see their culture evolving over the next however many centuries or millennia, what they wish to see and what seems realistic to them.

Alternatively, maybe your setting is a secondary world unrelated to ours and you only want to draw inspiration from the real-world Tuareg, not represent them exactly. In that case, you need to decide which period of history you’re drawing from, as Tuareg culture is different today from what it was 50 years ago, and different still from 200 years ago or 1000 years ago. You’ll need to research the historical period you’re choosing in order to figure out what was happening at that time and what the cultural influences were. If it’s pre-colonial, you’ll probably want to avoid including cultural elements influenced by colonization from groups that arrived later on.

Finally, if the time period you’re drawing from is post-colonial:

Are you planning to account for the effects of colonization on Tuareg culture?

Will you have an in-world equivalent for the colonization that occurred in real life?

For example, will the Tuareg-coded characters in your world be from a nomadic culture that was forced to become sedentary over the years and lost much of their traditions due to colonial pressure to conform?

Where did this pressure come from in your world–is it different from what happened in ours? If so, how different? And what are the consequences?

Writing about colonization can be quite the baggage to bring into a fictional setting. I’m not saying it can’t be done, but it will certainly require sensitivity and care in portraying it.

In summary: think it through

I’m not saying all this to discourage you, but to point out some of the considerations at play when drawing inspiration from a real-life culture that has experienced colonization. Similar challenges arise for coding based on any other indigenous group in the world.

My advice to you, then, is to first sit down and decide where and when in history your coding is coming from, and what you’re trying to achieve with it. This will help you figure out:

which elements of contemporary Tuareg culture are pertinent to include

How much your coding will be influenced by the Tuareg’s real-life history

To what extent that will inform the rest of the world you’re creating

This, in turn, may help in deciding how to portray your character’s reconnection journey.

Again, I am not Tuareg and this is by no means meant to be an exhaustive list of considerations for writing Tuareg-coded characters, only a few places to start.

If any Tuareg or Amazigh readers would like to chime in with suggestions of their own, please do. As always, please make sure your comments adhere to the WWC code of conduct.

- Niki

Pulling from diaspora and TRA narratives of cultural reconnection

Marika here: This ask plotline could also pull directly from diaspora and TRA narratives of cultural reconnection. Many diaspora and TRA cultural reconnection stories are, in effect, about navigating the difficult process of resuscitating, or renewing ties to culture using limited resources in environments that often lack necessary cultural infrastructure or scaffolding.

See this question here to the Japanese team for suggestions of how to handle such a storyline in a similar sci-fi setting.

More reading: Japanese-coded girl from future

-Marika

Reconnecting with German heritage

Hi, it’s Shira. I’m not sure whether German-Jewish counts as Germanic for the purposes of your post but since German Jews were more assimilated than other Ashkies, Germanness does feel real and relevant to my life (especially because my father worked there for approximately the last decade of his life.) NOTE: when I see “Germanic” vs German I think of cultures from 1500 years ago, not 100-200 years ago, so I can’t help you there, but I’d be surprised as a reader if a character focused on that for reconnection to the exclusion of the 19th century etc.

People in the United States specifically, reconnecting with German heritage, often lean into Bayerischer/Bavarian kitsch, I’ve noticed. Personally, though, what I find most relevant is:

1. The food (although I’ve come to learn that what I grew up eating was closer to veal/chicken scallopini than actual schnitzel because it was drenched in lemon, but I do like the other foods like the potato salad and sweet and sour red cabbage etc.) Your character could try making one of these “ancestral” foods as a way to reconnect?

2. The classical music, because I’m a second generation professional musician – if character C plays an instrument, leaning into that might be meaningful (Beethoven, Bach, Brahms, Mendelssohn, Clara Schumann and her husband Robert, etc.)

3. The nature, especially specifics that I enjoyed during my time there – personally, I loved the bright pink flowers all over the chestnut trees, but there are a lot of choices especially because of the Alps. If C is an artist maybe they can sketch something Germany-related from old photographs they found on the Space Internet?

I think it is VERY realistic for the characters to remain connected to the culture in which they were raised, by the way, whether or not they have positive feelings about it. Culture isn’t an inherited trait. Sure, if they want to completely walk away, they can, but I bet there are still ways it will creep back in without them realizing it simply because it’s really hard to have universal knowledge of the origins of all our quirks. Plus, not everyone feels alienated from their raised-culture just because they’re genetically something else.

P.S. There is also Oktoberfest, which I don’t really get into but is a thing, and beer, which is another point of German cultural pride.

German gentiles, weigh in – y’all have your own stuff, I know! OH YEAH so for German Christians, Christmas “markets” are a whole thing. That’s worth looking up.

–S

What do you mean by Germanic?

Hello it’s Sci! I had to study German history for my historical fantasy novel set in the late 18th century Holy Roman Empire. I am not sure what is meant by Germanic as that can encompass a variety of things.

Germanic people: from the Classical Period of Roman Empire and early Middle Ages. Similar to Mod Shira, I unfortunately can’t help very much here.

The Germanosphere: regions that spoke German, which includes modern day Germany, Austria/Hungary, Switzerland, Lichtenstein, Belgium, and Luxembourg. I generally define this as the regions captured in the Hapsburg Empire along with Switzerland usually encompassing “Central Europe.”

Modern German national identity (i.e. German): post Napoleon and the Congress of Vienna (> 1815) only including the territory of modern day Germany.*

I ask this because modern German national identity is surprisingly recent since Germany only popped up in 1871 under Otto von Bismarck. Previously, Germany was divided into smaller states and city states as a very decentralized region under the German Confederation and before that, the Holy Roman Empire. Depending on the era, you can see different conflicts and divides. During the early days of the Protestant Reformation started by Martin Luther, the northern and southern German territories generally split along Protestant-Catholic lines. The 18th century saw Austria and Prussia as the foci of global power who warred against each other even though both were part of the Holy Roman Empire.

Other states and city-states like Baden-Wurttemberg or Saxony sometimes had power but it was typically more localized compared to Austria. Post-WW2, you saw the split of Germany into West Germany run under capitalism and East Germany run under communism as a satellite Soviet state leading to more modern cultural divides. Due to heavy decentralization historically, each region had its own character with religious and cultural divides.

Assuming that the Germanic character is not from the classical period or early Middle Ages but not from the 19th century either, you can include your character reconnecting to classical folklore like that of Krampus (if they’re Christian), German literature and music like the works of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe or Mozart, or German philosophy like Immanuel Kant.

*A major wrinkle: German royals and nobility married into other states and nations frequently with Britain and Russia being notable examples. In Britain, the House of Hanover took over after the Stuart House died without clear direct heirs. When Queen Victoria married the German prince Albert, they celebrated Christmas with a tree and brought the German tradition of a Christmas tree to Britain and the British Empire. Only during World War I did the royal family’s house of Hanover name change from House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha to the more “English-sounding” Windsor. As a result, the German cultural influence may be even more widespread than we think.

However, without more specific descriptors of what Germanic means in the context of your story, it can be difficult to determine which aspects of German culture your character could reconnect to.

-Mod Sci

#culture #cultural disconnect #cultural reconnect #race coding #ethnic coding #German #Mongol #Tuareg #setting #science fiction #Jewish #Colonialism #History #North Africa #Arab #Muslim #history

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kulapti · 1 year

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Aug 2023, bookbinding of The Silent Isle Imbowers by Tharkuun.

I’m sooo so so pleased to finally share this! I have been actively working on this for many months and waited until Tharkuun received her copy before posting so the final result would be a surprise.

-----------About this bookbinding under the cut

This binding has been one of the more elaborate pieces I have attempted so far. This has been my first binding where I (1) made three copies of a piece at once, (2) used a modified a historical illustration, (3) collaborated directly with another artist on the decorative elements, (4) finished matching art for the cover and title page, and (5) layered paint and heat-transfer vinyl for the covers. These are also (6) the first non-tiny books I have made with this style of hinge and cover attachment.

Pretty much immediately after I first read this story I felt I had to make myself a copy of this. I had a strong mental image of a vintage-looking cover for a fairy tale, with a deceptively simple design of flowers on the cover, probably with fancy metallic accents, the kind of thing you’d find in an interesting used bookstore with no summary, no text on the back, no dust jacket, just the flowers and maybe a title. I’m going to make a separate post about making this cover design a reality because oh man has it been a journey lol! I designed and drew the digital art for the cover (digital because of the cut and application method), as well as the corresponding title page illustration (pencil and dip pen, scanned, title added digitally).

When I asked Tharkuun about it she was excited to suggest I get in touch with quillingwords, who generously agreed to collaborate with me! Among her talents quilling writes calligraphy, and hand wrote both the book title and chapter headers for me to incorporate into my plans. Check OUT those chapter headers! So fancy! A font could never!! Quilling has also been very encouraging and let me yell about this project in dms for months so the final result could be a surprise for Tharkuun. Thank u so much quillingwords, your calligraphy adds invaluable amounts of swag to this project.

I was going to do some kinda neat font for the chapter headers, but quilling’s work is too cool for that and I decided to use a modified piece of a historical illustration instead. The illustration also happens to be cool as heck: I was browsing the Artstor database (an academic quality resource available for free via Jstor, my beloved) and found E. N. Neureuther's 1836 gorgeous etching for etching of the fairy tale Briar Rose, an illustration made for a printing of a Brothers Grimm recorded German fairy tale with Sleeping Beauty elements. Much to my delight this illustration not only matches the general look I wanted but is actually relevant to the story, itself a Sleeping Beauty spinoff.

Slightly less stylistically consistent are the endpapers, which are prints of two different paintings by Arnold Böcklin: Isle of the Dead (1883) in the front and Isle of Life (1888). The first painting had occurred to me as an excellent visual to go with the story, and Tharkuun and I discussed this and agreed that pairing it with the related later, more optimistic piece was too thematically appropriate to resist.

I had fun and learned a lot making these books and I am very pleased with the result!!

Materials: Archival bookboard, cardstock, cotton cheesecloth mull, archival PVA glue, linen thread coated in beeswax, paper cord, red cotton embroidery floss. Blue cotton backed with archival paper, acrylic paint, machine cut black and gold heat-transfer vinyl. Laser printed text and illustrations. Metallic scrapbooking paper.

#artists on tumblr #bookbinding #ficbinding #fanbinding #dreamling #my art #here there be fandom #the sandman #the silent isle imbowers #tharkuun #described #id in alt text #pls imagine me screaming continuously about this project for oh idk 4 or 5 months? oh I can make shiny books??#im not allowed to @ people in this post apparently #links and fic rec in reblog #laying on the floor I found a few missing words I must have deleted on accident while fixing formatting #poppies (Papaver somniferum) and mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris)#tailfeather binding

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justkending · 4 months

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Mr. & Mrs. Hunt (Chapter 4/7)

Mini-Series Summary: Two of the most stubborn people in the group partnered together for an undercover mission are also the two people with the most hatred for each other, so what could go wrong? Or is it, what COULDN’T go wrong?…

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Avenger Reader

Word Count: 3900+

A/N Note: Only a few more chapters to go (I think, but we're both lost on how long this series will be.) Thank you guys for reading and as always, thank you for the love and support!

____________

Chapter 4:

Y/N's POV

It wasn’t him. It was 100% me. I did this to myself. I built a wall so quickly around him because I didn’t want to like the man behind my misery.

My teammates knew enough about my backstory to think they had an idea of my reason for joining SHIELD: helping the little guy because, at one point, you were the little guy—the manipulated guy—the one who no one saved, so you had to save yourself—and now anyone else who can’t do it for themselves.

Yet, there were so many other things I kept for myself, and things files couldn’t tell you. No files existed of them, and I’m glad because I didn’t want the pity.

James Buchanan Barnes was the reason behind my abuse. Not personally, but my abuser was obsessed with his accomplishments under the German and Russian terrorist organizations and wanted to make a female, more skilled, discrete, and sleeker version of the Winter Soldier.

Who fucking didn’t, right? God, every goddamn evil bastard on this godforsaken shit show of a planet wants to remake something that was a once in a lifetime kind of thing and crack more than a few eggs to get to that point. Selfish asshole…

Being constantly compared to him and then beaten for not hitting the unreachable mark of the man I was ‘of no comparison to’ after years of trying to hit that standard, and then being asked to be on a team with him? A lot of emotions hit me like a train when I got that news.

Will I amount to being the trained spy and agent I am for Shield with him by my side? Will he make me look like a completely pointless addition to the team? After five years of already working with the Avengers and then learning who the Winter Solider was? Steve’s best friend and probably the only person he could relate to in their journey? All the way to having to work with him… The change-up was instantaneous, where I would have begged for baby steps.

Then again, when has the world made it easy for me?

So yes. I was an ass and kept him further than arm's length away to stay safe from learning that he was a good guy when I wasn’t ready to like him yet. I had a lot of trauma I never thought I’d have to work through with the infamous man himself, and that irritation and annoyance just continued when he finally matched my energy, and we never strayed from that relationship until… now.

And here he was, genuinely asking what HE did wrong when I was the reason for our enemies’ plot line.

“Bucky, I don’t think I can talk about this right now,” I breathed out slowly, feeling the tears prick in my eyes.

It had been a minute since I cried and felt this vulnerable, and I couldn’t seem to stop it. I think subconsciously, I didn’t want to stop it, but my mind was begging my body to hold out until he was out of the room.

“Y/N, if I did something to you, I didn’t realize-”

“You wouldn’t have known,” I whisper, not trusting my voice to stay steady, but also not wanting to put anymore of the blame on him from here on out.

He wasn’t a bad guy.

He had proved himself time and time again to be a really good guy. Even when he broke and decided he hated me back, he still had his moments when he put it aside and showed chivalry. I admired him for it even when I ignored the admiration.

Makes it hard to fully hate a guy who made sure ladies weren’t opening any doors for themselves. Or a man who remembered Morgan’s birthday and bought her an ice cream cake before stealing Steve’s shield to sled down a hill her dad told her not to. Or a man you treat like absolute shit 99% of the time, and he still checks on you when you have nightmares, and he grabs water and an ice pack and helps you even out your breathing before waiting for you to go back to sleep.

I didn’t ask him for the help, and he never mentioned the handful of times he fell into the routine of soothing me back to sleep. Never brought it up, never made me feel like I owed him, and never hinted at remembering such kindness.

But now?

“You wouldn’t have known why it started this way to begin with. And you likely won’t,” I sigh, breathing in through my nose and out through my mouth before turning around; a lot more put together, even if it was just a mask I had learned to put on most of my life.

“I don’t understand,” Bucky furrowed his eyebrows at my disposition.

“I don’t expect you to, but maybe we should go to sleep and talk about it later. It’s getting late, and you have to go to your ‘job’ tomorrow,” I say with hand quotes. “We have to keep the ruse going.”

“A few hours of sleep doesn’t affect me,” Bucky shook his head, and I could see him itching to put his hands back on me, but he held back. “Please. I need to know what the hell I did.”

“Again, Bucky,” I say sternly this time, all emotion I’m struggling to keep at bay shoved down. “You are not at fault, and tomorrow I’ll talk to you, but for now, I need to sleep on it.”

He read my face for lies, and I kept it neutral. I wasn’t going to break here. Now was not the time. I needed space to think about how I was going to approach this after so long of avoiding it and being put on the spot wasn’t going to work for me.

“Ok,” he said, softer than I think I ever heard him talk. His eyes were soft and sensitive, and I didn’t know how I felt about it…

He turned and walked out of my room, gently shutting the door behind him and turning off the overhead light he had originally flashed on.

I didn’t instantly head straight to bed. I stared at the doorway in the dark, seeing the faint silhouette of the barrier between us. He was still on the other side, and I could hear his heart rate higher than normal.

This was affecting him more than I thought it would. Why was he so worried about what I thought of him? He didn’t seem bothered by my disinterest in the past. Or at least I didn’t figure he did.

____________________

When I woke up, Bucky was already gone. His truck, normally in the driveway, was missing, and I knew he had taken off for our mission report.

Thankful, I took the time to make my coffee, sit on the front porch, and watch the neighborhood take on its morning routine.

People were on runs with their family dogs, moms were doing their morning walks with strollers, some neighbors were out already tending to their gardens, and everything suburban seemed to be on track.

Towards the end of my cup, I notice Ms. Bauer coming back from her jog she must have taken earlier than the others.

“Oh, hello, neighbor!” she shouted when she spotted me, uniformly checking our house like her head was on a swivel if she heard a pen drop in it.

Still in her jog, she sashayed over to my lawn, and I mumbled, “Here we go,” smiling at her as she followed the sidewalk to our steps.

“How are you doing today, Bethanne?” I grin standing from my patio chair and going down the steps to meet her at the bottom of the flight. “Is there a run club I didn’t know about? You’re the 10th person I’ve seen getting a head start on their steps for the day.”

She laughed and waved a hand at me before taking an earbud out, pausing her music on her watch, and placing her hands on her hips as she looked up at me.

“There is actually a mommy and me walking club on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Depending on the weather, of course, but who knows,” she grinned up at me. “Maybe you can be joining it sooner than you thought.”

“Maybe not as soon as you think,” I laughed, holding my mug tighter with both hands so I wouldn’t strangle her instead and leaning on the banister. “We wanted at least a year in the house by ourselves before we add another set of feet to the chaos,” I scrunch my nose and add, “but I’m excited for the day Beau and I have a mini-version of us running around here.”

“Speaking of Beau,” she grins, looking to the driveway. “Where is he today? He’s usually home with you most of the time, right?”

“Oh, it was time for him to get back to work. He took off for a few weeks to get moved in and spend time with me before we had to get back to the real world,” I answer as planned.

“That’s right. I think I remember you guys talking about that at the first block party,” she nodded, watching me carefully for slip-ups. “Can you believe it’s only been two weeks of you guys here? I feel like you two have been a part of the community for at least a year.”

“You’re sweet,” I gush convincingly and look out to the neighborhood for effect. “You guys have really taken us in as your family, and you don’t know how much I appreciate it. We appreciate it,” I correct and look off in the distance like I’m thinking of my sweet, doting husband when, in reality, I was thinking of the day this mission was over and I could carry on with my normal life. “I don’t think I’ve mentioned this. Beau isn’t one to really talk about it, but his family life wasn’t the best. They’ve practically been strangers since he turned 18.”

“Oh, is that so?” she inched up, feeding on the new (fake) information.

I nod. “When we started dating, my family took him in as his own- well, I only had my dad around for most of my life, but they got along really well. He passed three years ago,” I give a tight-lipped look as I look down at my feet in sadness. “They developed a bond, which wasn’t hard considering who my dad was. He was the best, though we might be biased in thinking that. Taught Beau how to do a lot of things dads are supposed to teach their sons. Well,” I sniffle for added effect. “Anyway, we’re kinda on our own now. No extended family we’re close with, and with my dad’s passing, it’s really just us. So when I say we’re grateful for y’all’s hospitality, I mean it.”

She seemed to buy it, as much as an undercover convict could, and smiled kindly up at me before placing a hand on my arm.

“Of course, sweetheart. We’re just lucky you two are some of the good ones. You’d be surprised who’s come in and hasn’t made the cut. Lawns in disarray, unfriendly attitudes, and you know the list,” she winks and rolls her shoulders back before stretching in her spot. “Speaking of being lovely neighbors, how would you and Beau feel about a dinner at our house? Reggie and I have been talking about having you over for quite some time now, and I think we can finally host.” Before I could ask, she stopped me and explained. “Kitchen renovation. It was and still is a pain in my ass, but it should be doable for a small dinner.”

“That sounds lovely,” I beam as much as I could act. It was the perfect next step, and the bait had been taken, but a part of me wanted to settle things with Bucky in our personal dispute before we put on our masks for the two main perpetrators. “Let me check with him and see what his schedule will look like now. He’s getting some new orders today, and some things are changing in the company. We’ll know more tonight. But we will for sure make it work.”

___________

After Bethanne told me some useless neighborhood gossip, she excused herself, and I went back inside to get ready for the day and consider how I would approach Bucky on our issue.

I knew it was time to be truthful, even if I dreaded it. Bucky had proven time and time again that he wasn’t the enemy, and I needed to deal with my issues. I was tired of wasting energy on hatred and anger, and these last two weeks proved that Bucky wasn’t the one who should have been receiving the blunt force end of my trauma.

I had until four in the evening to come up with an idea of how I wanted to go about it, but I had stress cleaned instead and couldn’t come up with a non-terrifying way to approach this life-changing conversation.

Finally, I found it best we get dinner in the town over (as not to have any peaking eyes or eavesdropping ears as we dive into my life story I hadn’t indulged to near anyone before), and I would talk to Bucky there. However, plans changed when Bucky came home.

From my spot in the kitchen, I heard him shout in his domesticated voice across the street, “No, that sounds perfect! We’d love to!” The door opened just as he finished his sentence, and his voice became clearer.

I moved around the island and slowly walked toward the door to get a view of who he was talking to, and I noticed Bethanne at her mailbox waving to Bucky.

I furrowed my eyebrows at the obvious commitment he put us in, and after he waved back, he shut the door behind him, looking at me, and dropped the act quickly.

“What did you just agree to?” I asked, nodding my head behind him.

He looked me up and down, and I almost forgot I had picked a new, semi-fancier sundress for our “surprise anniversary dinner” (at least the front I was trying to put on for getting out of town without too much suspicion).

(Make whatever color you please or change it in your mind if you want! I'm choosing to pick it as a darker red.)

“You look nice,” he says as his eyes trail back up to my own, and I swear I see him take a gulp.

“What did you agree to?” I asked again, focused more on what he had decided for us regarding Bethanne.

His previous shocked face faded away, and he rolled his eyes slightly before throwing his work bag to the side.

“Bethanne invited us to dinner. I said yes because we need to build a relationship with them,” he replied stoically, as if my question was dumb and pointless.

I just stared at him and let my “personal vendetta” look rest on my face. He studied me and had the decency to shrink ever so slightly.

“What?”

“What happened to discussing things first?” I said in an eerily calm voice.

“I didn’t think accepting dinner at a home we’ve been trying to get inside of for the last two weeks is something we’d have to discuss.” And now he straightens up, throwing his empty arms to the side.

A few seconds later, I yelled, “You dipshit!” in a muffled grunt, keeping my voice down as much as I could handle and balling my fists in anger.

His eyebrows shoot up and he huffs with his chest puffed out as he marches to me. I see the intent in his eyes, and I start walking away towards the opposite room closest, needing a minute not to lose my shit, and if I have to look into his stupid azure eyes like he wants to read everything passing through my mind, I’ll break.

“Don’t walk away from me,” he growls, and I shoot him a look over my shoulder as I shift my pace and head down the hallway to the bedrooms. “Y/N, stop being a stubborn ass and-”

“Unless you want a heel thrown at your head, and you’re welcome for being civil about this, I suggest you leave me alone,” I shout behind me, turn sharply to the left, and go to my room.

“I don’t even know what THIS is! You looked at me like you wanted to kill me when I walked in, and I haven’t even talked to you today besides updates about work,” he said just as I slammed the door in his face. “Oh, real mature. Shut the door like an adolescent. Wait, I forgot. You are one…” He mumbles the last part and I hear him lean on the door.

Instantly, I whip the door open, and he doesn’t have time to predict his next move. He falls flat on his back on the wood floors of my room, only padded by a thin oriental rug I made Tony buy me.

He’s winded from the fall and clutches his chest as I bend down next to him and say, “I said. Leave. Me. The. Fuck. Alone.” I stare at him for a second, solidifying my threat. I stand to walk out and only give him a glance as I pass the doorway.

_____________

Bucky’s POV:

I left her the fuck alone.

I may have been royally pissed (that is a blatant ass understatement), but something about the look in Y/N’s eyes told me not to push unless I wanted to wake up with my head no longer attached to my body.

I was too scared to leave her room in fear I’d run into her when she wasn’t ready and risk taking the chances of the guillotine earlier, so I sat on her bed and tried to rack my brain to where I slipped up to cause whatever the hell I walked in to…

I knew almost instantly and realized what a stupid, simple mistake it was. Bethanne asking me to dinner set her off, I knew. But her comment about talking with each other before making decisions told me my mistake.

Something happened I didn’t know of, and I may have just fucked whatever it was up. As for what it is? No goddamn clue. But using context clues and just basic reading of the body language, Y/N had already made a plan, and I threw it out the window, likely.

I heard footsteps before I could think further, and Y/N appeared in the doorway, taking a deep breath. She would have convinced me she was going to be civil if it wasn’t for her history, but I was excited to see which lane she chose.

“One thing before I bite my tongue,” she says in almost a whisper, like she’s trying to keep her frustrations at bay. “You make me want to shave my head like Britney Spears in 2007 75% of the time. This moment was almost a tipping point for that kind of outcome..” She lets out a long breath like she passed the test of keeping it together.

Surprisingly a lot more tame than I was expecting.

“Glad you got that out of your system. Now, please tell me what the hell happened?” I asked, keeping my guard up in case she resorted to her typical insults and fury.

“Oh, now you want to communicate,” she mocks and walks to the bed, harshly sitting next to me but leaving a copious amount of space between us.

I let it slide because I know she’s fighting bigger demons, like the urge to insult me, until I personally dig my own grave and say goodbye to my cruel reality.

“Bethanne was goading us,” she answers, thankfully getting right to the point. “Something about her proposition seemed off, and I wanted to clear some things up with you before we jumped on the offer.”

I nodded my head, seeing that my instantaneous reply wasn’t thought out. That was on me, yes, but she also reacted extremely dramatically, expressing an odd feeling about the interaction instead of hard proof.

“What did she ask, and what was off about it?” I question, trying to stay mission based because something seemed off still.

“It wasn’t what it was but how she was asking. Something in her tone and the way she was looking at our house and me. Like she was trying to take in detail after detail up close. Checking for cracks in the foundation,” she answers and turns to me just slightly. “She also said her kitchen was under renovation, and something felt off about it.”

“The vibes about our neighbor getting a kitchen renovation made you knock the wind out of me when you opened your door?” I said before I could think, but I didn’t budge, my furrowed eyebrows aimed at her.

She matches my glare and turns her body fully to me.

“It seemed like an excuse,” she answers slowly.

“To what? Host a dinner? That’s kind of the opposite effect. Who would want to host a dinner when you have kitchen renovations? It means they trust us if they’re willing to let us see a house that’s not perfect like the front they put on.”

‘That’s what you get from it, but I think they just planted a little seed of their own.”

“What do you even mean?”

“Kitchen Reno? That’s an excuse to say, ‘Oh, Charlotte, I can’t cook the chicken pot pie I was going to make for you two because our new oven hasn’t been delivered and installed yet. You know? Because we have the kitchen under renovation? I completely forgot,’” She acted in a convincing Bethanne impersonation and then quickly turned back to serious.

“You got that from a kitchen reno comment?” I deadpanned after a minute.

“I got that from understanding women masterminds who know how to manipulate a situation. I am that woman, so I think I can read them pretty well,” she says confidently back.

Touché.

“And what if you’re wrong?” Her bitchface grew at my question.

“First off, I’m not. Second off, even if I was wrong, we are supposed to consult each other about accepting invitations into the house of our suspect enemies,” she ran a hand through her hair, which I notice now looks styled differently. Did she curl it or have it blown out? And yes, I know what a blowout is. I have women friends and coworkers.

Yeah… I was in the wrong here, and that’s on me. I wasn’t thinking. I also had a long day snooping around for more information about this whole operation, but it isn’t necessarily an excuse… It’s not like I haven’t worked on a case like this in the past. I mean, minus being fictitiously married to a coworker.

“I’m sorry,” I say, and she gives me a weird look. “What?”

“I wasn’t expecting an apology,” she says, standing slowly and straightening her dress.

“I know when to accept I made a mistake,” I shrug and stand as well.

She studies my face like there's a retort that’s going to follow, but I just stare at her silently, communicating that I’m set on my apology.

“Ok…” she drags out, watching me as she steps toward the door. “Well, I guess we need to get ready for tonight. Considering we have dinner. With our neighbors. And we need to set up bugs if possible.”

“Guess so,” I nod, crossing my arms.

She stops suddenly and looks at me with a look of realization. “You’re in my room.” She steps to the side, leaving room for me to leave, and avoids eye contact.

She’s still acting weird, but I need to change and get my head in the game for tonight, so I walk out with a subtle head nod as I leave.

Marvel Tags:

@thejourneyneverendsx @death-unbecomes-you @mythos-writes @srrymydood @xa-dia @redhairedfeistynerd @morganclaire4 @connie326 @captain-asguard @mollygetssherlockcoffee @teenagedreams-bucky @shower-me-with-roses @livstilinski @basicallylool @starryeyeseunbyul

My Lovelies Forever:

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Bucky Barnes Tags:

@chloe-skywalker @charmedbysarge @jbarness @bellamy-barnes @katiaw2 @aikeia @stopjustlovethemcu @enchantedbarnes

Mr. & Mrs. Hunt Series:

@jackiehollanderr @mrs-bucky-barnes-73 @theroyalmanatee @wintrsoldrluvr @alexakeyloveloki @learisa @bxckybxrnes24 @lillianacristina @selella @heletsmelovehim

#bucky barnes x avenger reader insert #bucky barnes x reader insert #bucky barnes mini series #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes x avenger reader #justkending #marvel #marvel mini series #bucky barnes #Bucky Barnes

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the-froschamethyst4 · 1 year

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The King Has Returned

𖤐Pairing: King! König x Queen! Reader

𖤐Pronouns: She/Her

𖤐Warnings: Smut, body worshiping, P in V, kissing, making out, language, fantasy, return from war, badly translated German, mentions of blood and violence

Storytelling while also making love? Why not?

AN: Yes, King König in case you don’t know German König translates to King, so yeah…King King, but Y/n will call him King anyway, therefore König is hardly mentioned

König had came back from a 4 year war and all he wants to do is be with his wife Queen Y/n, who has been taking care of the kingdom before he came home

König was flabbergasted when he saw the changes of the Kingdom and loved seeing his wife come out of her comfort zone

And now he finally gets to be with her for the rest of his life with no problems

——————

———————

The Kingdom was quiet, and it was bright outside, the Kingdom's Queen took care of them for the 4 years her husband the King was gone at War.

The Kingdom was beautiful, King was new to when it came to learning about his Kingdom, his father barely gave him anything to learn from.

Since König was only 6 when he was crowned King and his father died. So, it was hard for König and when he met Y/n it became even more of a struggle because now he had a wife and her needs to worry about.

But Y/n can take care of herself, she is the daughter of a General and was taught how to defend herself and protect herself as well. And once König left for war, she took care of everything, something King would be very proud of.

"Queen Y/n, the baker has made some more bread and sweets for you and your husband," the Squire for King came around the corner of the Throne room to Y/n going through different fabrics for her new dress.

"Yes, no, no, no, maybe, oh Sean, yes thank you, you can give it to the housemaids, and they'll place them out for us." She smiles.

"Of course, you heard her."

"That one, it's prefect," she smiles and got off her Throne, she thought about walking around town, she patted off the dirt on her dress and walked through the gate.

König had left 2 knights with his love Roach and Horangi. She left the castle and headed into town, where she was immediately greeted by villagers. They gave her things and asked her when their King is coming back? Of course, she doesn't know...she just hopes soon.

She walked through the town with her usual sweet smile and heard some chatting from villagers, she turned and saw them running to the edge of the village.

"Your highness, whatever it is it's not safe," Roach said.

"It's okay, Roach, let's...just go look..."

"Fine but King is going to have my head."

"No, he won't," she smiles as they were able to get the front and saw dust being flung up in the distance, Roach and Horangi stood in front of her as they looked at the distance and saw a black horse and an Army behind the horse and man on the horse, the clothing looked familiar.

"He's back," Y/n and Roach said at the same time.

"THE KING HAS RETURNED!!" Roach yelled, getting the attention of the guy who's supposed to blow the horn to alert the Kingdom.

"King," Y/n mumbled. The horse stopped before getting to the villages edge.

"I'm home..." King smiled as the villagers cheered.

The villagers ran to the Army and King cheering for them. King looked around for his wife, he saw Roach and Horangi standing in front of a Black Smith and saw his small wife standing between them.

He moved his horse to them and saw his wife's happy face. He stopped the horse and helped her get on the back of him.

"Head back to the castle, I have things I need to discuss with everyone."

"Yes sir," Roach said.

King moved the horse and headed to the stables; Y/n looked up at him and kissed the back of his neck.

"I've missed you," she mumbled.

"I've missed you too," he said, grabbing her hand and bring the back of it to his mouth.

"Can you...tell me about your journey?" She asked him.

"I'll tell you once we're at the castle," he said as he stopped his horse, and he got off first and helped Y/n off next. He took his horse to its normal spot and gave him hay and water.

"Come on, honig (honey)." He said, grabbing her hand and taking her inside the castle. He opened the door for her and picked her up bridal style, spinning around and Y/n laughing as it was amazing to have her husband back home.

"Good evening, King," The maids and butlers yelled.

"Good evening," he said back. He looked down at her and smiled at her before kissing her soft lips and taking her upstairs to their shared bedroom.

He placed her on the big King-sized bed and placed his hands on both sides of her as she sat on the bed.

"Nun...was soll ich zuerst mit dir machen? (Now...what should I do with your first), since I'm back?" He asks, she just giggled at him and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Make love to me as you tell me about your adventures."

"Done deal to me," he smirks. He gets on his knees and pushes the bottom of her dress up exposing her smooth knees. He grabbed her panties and pulled them off her. He got back up to her face and kissed her lips again.

His hands went around her back and unbuttoned her dress and pulled it off her slowly. He exposed her full naked body; he licked his bottom lip and kissed her again.

"Holy fuck, I've missed you; I've missed your weich (soft) body, your looks, your persönlichkeit (personality), I've just missed you so, so, much," he smirks before kissing her lips again.

"I think *smooch* you've missed *smooch* me more than I *smooch* missed you," she smirks in between kisses.

"Ist das offensichtlich? (is that obvious)" he said.

He started to move down her lips to her to her chest. Her hands ran through his soft hair and slightly moaned. His hands went up her side and back down to squeeze her ass.

"Gott, ich will dich nie wieder verlassen (God, I don't want to leave you ever again)." He said, while looking up at Y/n. She just giggles and cupped his face.

He got back up on his feet and started to remove his gear, she watched him remove everything and smiled when she saw how much his body became toned over the 4 years he was gone.

"Like what you see honig?"

"Yes sir," she smiles at him. He removed everything, he was naked and on full display for Y/n. He bent back down on his knees; he pushed her legs open having her clit on display for him.

"Heilige Scheiße (holy shit) now I've definitely missed this," he smirks before leaning forward and licking her up between her folds and earning a moan from her.

"Ahh! K-King," she moans grabbing a handful of his hair. His hands roamed all over her body. Squeezing her hips, butt and a bit of her back.

She let out a soft moan and looked down at him, his face berried in her clit. He licked up and down and pushed his tongue, she squeezed around his tongue.

"AH!" He moans, he pulls his tongue out and barely touched his tongue making sure 'it was still there'.

"Jeez honig."

"Tut mir leid (sorry)," she apologizes.

"Tue nicht (don't) that was fucking hot," he said crawling on top of her and started to kiss her lips again.

"Now...my adventure."

"I-I almost forgot," she giggles at him forgetting she had asked about his adventure.

He aligned himself at her entrance and pushed himself inside of her. She gripped the bedsheets under her, but King wanted her to hold onto him instead.

"After I left the...we camped in the forest..." he watched her head go back as she was enjoying the pleasure. "We camped there for probably six weeks...then...we left and...went to the Ghost Kingdom...King Ghost who is a loner by the way..." King laughed and Y/n just giggled at him.

"That's a little mean."

"But it's true...no wife...no one...he's alone...but likes it that way...we stayed in the Kingdom for a year trying....trying..." he couldn't think Y/n's moans were driving him insane, he loved hearing those moans.

"Jeez it's hard to focus with you moaning."

"S-Sorry..." He just shakes his head.

"Don't apologize to me honig...when you moan it's hot, sexy and I've wanted this for a long time..."

"D-Did you think a-about me w-when you were g-gone?"

"Of course, I did," he rested his forehead on hers as he started to move fast and then heard a breathy moan from her.

"Ahhh~ Oh m-my-AHH!" She moans. She gripped his bicep almost for dear life.

"It's been a w-while...I'm a-a little rusty...am I...doing okay?"

"Y-Yes," she moans.

"But anyways...we s-stayed at Ghost K-Kingdom we fought up t-to maybe...f-forty different creatures...ogres, cyclops, t-trolls..." he rested his forehead on hers again. "W-We then moved onto a-a Kingdom in the W-West and stayed there for a few m-months before finally...getting...to...battle-ahhh~!" Both King and Y/n moaned at the same time and came on each other.

König and Y/n fell on the bed and looked at each other laughing it was a while since they've made love to each other.

"I'll have the maids start a bath for us and...we can finish up in there." He smirks.

----------

König pounded more into Y/n's pussy, he was telling her about when he first went to the Lake of Secrets and loved how it shined under the moonlight and sunlight.

"I-It reminded me s-so much of y-your eyes sparkled within the moonlight a-and sunlight."

"Ahhh! m-mein König (My King)." She moans, the water splashed around them, and some escaped onto the title flooring.

"W-What did y-you tell it?" She asks, while looking over her shoulder and stared at him.

"I didn't tell it anything...I-I'm not telling a-a lake some secret t-that's mine and y-your business."

"O-Ours?"

"Yes...because w-what's mine is yours," he kissed her neck, she felt herself about to cum again.

----------

König and Y/n laid on their King-sized bed and she snuggled up to his side, she ran her fingers through his chest hair and looked up to him, his eyes were closed sure, but she knew he was still awake.

"King?"

"Ja meine Königin? (Yes, my Queen)?"

"Have you ever thought about having...ein baby (a baby)?"

"A baby?" His eyes slowly opened.

"Yeah...I'm just asking...I'm not trying to imply anything..."

"I mean...I've thought about it while I was gone but never...thought about it in a while..." he said, looking at her.

"Just think about it...a baby...a little us running around the castle, I just like it...I've thought about before you came home...I just didn't know when you'd come home so we could talk about it..." She sat up and looked at him.

"Well, I'm here now...so...we can try if that's what you want."

"I'm only bring it up to mainly think when you're gone...I won't be lonely, I'll have mini us run around the castle."

"Ich verstehe es, meine Königin (I get it my queen). I mean, I am completely okay with it..."

"Good," she got on top of King and started to kiss his lips and he smirked into the kiss, hands roaming her body once more.

"Oh meine Königin, du bist die einzige Person für mich (Oh my queen, you're the only person for me)."

"Ich bin froh, mein König (I'm glad my King)."

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feathered-mushrooms · 1 month

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Can we talk about the X-men comic “Magneto Testament”?

I had read this early on in my comic journey and I remembered my love and adoration for the story. I decided to pick it up again and I hits just as hard as when I first read it.

The story itself is Magneto’s origin story, and you can tell the writers took care and did research, both within comics and the real world history of the holocaust to weave together this backstory. In fact the comic does not just end with the story being rapped up, but is followed up with additional comics about real people, specifically the story of Dina Gottliebova, as well as the in-depth page by page breakdown of the authors choices and links/book list of everything they researched for the story and everything they think we should read as well.

You can tell that Greg Pak, the writer, and Carmine Di Giandomenico, the artist, truly care for the story they are telling and truly care for the recognition and remembrance of these events. And they do it with some of the most haunting visuals and situations. At multiple points while reading I had to take a break and return to the story due to just how heavy it could be.

Additionally they made the amazing choice to actually have Erik be virtually powerless during the story. They hint to his mutation multiple times but he has not fully manifested. Leading to another layer of tragedy regarding the fact that a lot of the situations he gets into, could have ended a lot better if he was aware of his mutation.

They also make the choice to show the evolution of the nazi power in Germany and the story often takes breaks to show time has passed, while filling in the reader in on the historical events that happen during the time switch. It really doesn’t feel like a superhero comic book but more of an educational graphic novel.

Lastly while the story obviously focuses on Erik, who’s birth name is Max, we learn more about his family and Magda, characters that are often glanced over in comics. And Pak does a really good job with this. While Max’s mom Edie, and sister, Ruth, get little time on the page, we learn of the interesting dynamic between Jackob, Max’s dad, and Erich, Max’s uncle(heavily implied to be Max’s inspiration for his later name). Jackob fought in World War 1 and believes in the good in the world, he believes things can’t truly get bad and that people will listen to the good in their hearts, best seen when he expects a man he saved in the war to help him out. Erich on the other hand can see that Germany is crumbling. It doesn’t help that he is public humiliated and beaten after sleeping with a German woman, but throughout the book he is seen to be the most likely to bend the rules, he becomes a smuggler and does other such things to keep his family alive.

Sitting here and writing this it almost feels like an early version of Erik and Charles, but nonetheless it becomes evident where Erik got his inspiration from.

On the topic of Magda, I just want to know more about her now. She’s introduced as this girl who Erik has a crush on, and that’s that. But she becomes his reason to live, and proves herself to be capable of doing what she needs to to survive, including laying among dead bodies. Honestly I know we are a Cherik nation but it makes sense why she was his first love and mother to their children.

Overall it is an amazing comic and I believe some of the most important and stunning stuff that Marvel has made. Please check it out if you can.

#erik lensherr #magneto #max eisenhardt #marvel #x men #magda maximoff #holocaust

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k1tty-wh1te · 14 days

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my stanley parable cassette tape arrived today!!! I haven't been able to listen to it yet, but the box design is really cool!

the cover it comes with is what you'd see in like an old office supply store, and for some reason the back panel has small text in German. I'm not 100% sure what it says, and it's pretty scratched up (on purpose?)

then the cover you can switch it to is stanley parable themed:

SIDE A:

Begin your journey to enhanced office productivity with the CopyConductor 980 TX. This section walks you through a straightforward setup, from unboxing to the first copy, ensuring a quick start. Learn essential setup steps. paper loading, and initial adjustments for optimal performance.

SIDE B:

Master the art of efficient copying and maintain your machine with ease. Discover key features for perfect copies, including size selection and contrast adjustments, alongside essential maintenance tips. Learn to troubleshoot, perform routine care, and replace toner to keep your CopyConductor 980 TX running smoothly.

#the stanley parable #tsp stanley #tsp narrator #stanley parable #cassette

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subsystems · 4 months

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hope sending ask is ok rn, i have hard time looking resource. looking for book how to co-exist with independent dissociative parts (have system but not feel safe in saying DID yet). cannot do therapist addressing parts yet but want to cope in daily life. hope can help. or others comment/reblog and give. thank you 🍀

This ask was sent a while ago, I hope you're doing okay now anon. You say you can't talk to a therapist yet but I hope you have someone else in your life who is supportive and you can talk to about these things! You shouldn't have to face this alone.

Even though you don't have therapeutic support, it's still possible to build up communication and cooperation with your parts. I reblog a lot of tips and resources to my coping tag if you want to check that out. Here are some other resources that you might find helpful:

DID/OSDD Self-help Masterlist There are so many resources here, categorized by different topics. You'll find stuff here for both survivors and loved ones, and you don't need to have DID/OSDD to use them!

Beauty After Bruises Blog You'll find so many articles here on coping with daily life as a dissociative survivor. I love how they're written, they feel very approachable and almost calming to read.

Dissociative Living Admittedly, I haven't read many of these articles but the few I've seen have been good. I think their writing is very approachable for people who are new to all of this.

DIS-SOS Lots of advice and informative articles on living with DID here -- in both English and German! I've found some really interesting and unique coping tips here, I definitely recommend it. It's actually because of this blog that I discovered one of my favorite methods of system communication.

CTAD Clinic Youtube Channel A channel run by the director of this clinic which specializes in dissociation and trauma. I've watched probably all of his videos -- they're very good! Lots of the videos provide tools and self-help tips on coping with dissociation & dissociative parts!

Carolyn Spring's Blog You'll find amazing articles here about trauma and dissociation, but do be aware that the author is both a professional and a survivor with DID herself. She isn't afraid to talk about her lived experience, shining a light on the reality of trauma and dissociation which can be confronting but oh-so empowering to read.

System Speak Podcast A podcast run by a DID system. She talks about her own healing journey as well as interviews professionals and dives into the psychology behind trauma and dissociation. Personally, I think the website is a bit hard to navigate but every podcast I've listened to has been extremely informative and relatable!

Self-help books can also be extremely useful if you don't have access to a therapist. You can find a bunch of free downloads here! I would recommend starting with "Got Parts? An Insider's Guide to Managing Life Successfully with Dissociative Identity Disorder" by ATW. Personally, I think this is the best book to start with. It's a bit old and there are some outdated ideas in it, but I think it's a very gentle entry into learning system communication and coping with DID if you have never worked with a therapist.

Some other resources that might be useful:

Strategies for coping with distressing voices

FREE 100 page e-book for trauma survivors

Talk/vent to listeners on this non-crisis support chat line

Apply for a grant to receive financial help or a therapy box -> (Also learn about the Therapy Box Project! If anyone is able to donate, please do!)

- Sunflower

#actuallydid #actuallyosdd #actuallytraumagenic #actuallydissociative #dissociation #complex trauma #resources #DID support #sunflower answers #once again i apologize for how long it takes me to reply to asks

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aotearoa20 · 4 months

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The coach lurched, nearly throwing her from her seat as she cursed. The journey through the pass was never a comfortable one, especially on today of all days, but this was getting ridiculous. The driver was racing down the winter roads as though the devil himself were behind them and for what purpose?

They ran too swiftly through another rut and she pitched violently into one of the passengers unfortunate enough to be crammed next to her.

“Does he mean to drive us off the mountain?” she grumbled, straightening the creases of her dress in vain.

“It is for the Englishman.” came the hushed reply and she scowled as she glanced up at him.

Tall and wiry, and sitting so stiff he appeared even more so, she'd noticed the foreigner but had paid him little that mind. Perhaps she'd hoped idly that he might be good for conversation, he seemed kind about the eyes and smiled readily, especially when night fell and they all wanted a distraction from the dark.

“Does his have an engagment in the north worth double all our necks,” she scoffed as she spoke but the man beside her frowned.

“He sent for him”

“He?”

He shuddered, “Him in the Pass.”

Ana scoffed. No one lived in the Pass. Further up on the frontier or around here to the west of it. But no one within it. None would be so foolish to set roots there and risk contending with…

Her hands went suddenly cold as she turned the little posy between her fingers. A gift from her husband for safe travels. It likely would do little if any true trouble came but such gifts were given to comfort the giver anyway.

“Surely not…” she murmured

But the man nodded gravely, “We are stopping at the end of the Brogo Pass. The driver hopes to get there early and take off before he arrives.”

Ana did not like the sound of that at all. To be sure, she pitied the young man who sat apparently as good as dead across from her by the window, but there was no use risking all their necks for a stranger.

“Does he know where he is going?” she murmured softly to herself.

She turned to him again. He had that odd detachment, the few Englishmen she’d ever come, across seemed to share; though it had none of the usual haughtiness. And in his defense they were all staring at him as one does a ghost.

His fingers were whiteknuckled where he gripped brown notebook in his hands but his face was soft in awe. He was looking adamantly out the window with such wonder that Ana leaned forward to see just what caught his attention. But there was nothing of note. Rivers and strips of forest and the mountains bracketing the sky…

“No Mountains -” she asked before wariness or common sense could stop her. The stranger turned to her curious and despite the twist in her stomach she powered on with the little german she knew “In England? There are no mountains?”

His eyes brightened in understanding and he replied in a quick stream of words, a jumble of german and english that she didn't even bother trying to decipher. Instead she waited for his voice to peter of and raised an eyebrow. He laughed rather sheepish, scratching the back of his neck. He had a nice laugh, damn him, and she felt her heart warm to him against her will.

“Not like these,” he said more simply, or something along those lines. Ana couldn't imagine a place where the mountians did hold up the sky at some point or another. But she tried and when she looked out again supposed they would be rather grand to a stranger. A soft smile crept upon her face.

“My name is Jonathan - ”

“No.No.” And she shook her head firmly even as his face fell. She didn’t know if it was bad luck to learn the name of a walking dead man but she didn't want to regardless. It was like naming the Easter lamb, it did no one any good.

Still she could not help pointing out the great peaks of God's Seat. It was a sight to behold even in her lofty opinion. A darker part of her mind was pleased that the man could see such beauty on today. She hoped it might bring him comfort in whatever the morning might bring for him.

If he made it so far.

The sun set behind the hills and on the travelled. Around her some of the others still talked and debated the Englishmans arrival and purpose and plans. She did her best to ignore them, not wanting to linger on the poor boy's fate. As the coachman lit his lamps however they began to pester her. What little German she was still more than the rest of them combined. Ask what he’s doing. What brings a foreigner into the lions den? Ask, girl ask. What sort of person leaves his homeland to break bread with a monster? So if only to shut them up she did.

The answer it turned out was hard to come by. Speaking in a language foreign to both parties brings a sort of camaraderie in its inevitable failings but doesnt make reaching the goal any easier.

“Business,” she said at last and though she could barely believe it he nodded.

“House business.” he agreed far more satisfied woth their sucess.

She nodded also and kept nodding trying the her head arlund the utter absurdity of it. Lord Almighty. She stood, pushing her head out the window and shouted above the howling wind.

“Faster, driver! Faster - the Englishman walks to his death for fucking real eastate.”

The others inside began shouting also, urging him forward as they all but flew across the thorugh the opening of the Pass. All the while the young man sat, clutching his notebook. He seemed very slight among the excited voices in the half standing crowd.

“Is all well?” he asked, looking at her, his voice barely reaching over the racket.

She bit her lip and looked away. He knows. Ah, he knows in all the worst ways. Like one who realises they are not alone in the dark. But what light can she shed? And what good was in knowing of the beast in the room when one sits defenseless and trapped. She does not even know the word for ‘vampire’ in his tongue.

Suddenly - selfishly - she leaned forward again and pressed the posy of wild rose and garlic into his hands. Deaf to his protest she sat back and prayed. Others went forward after her. Passing on their own tokens and blessings for the road.

“Cannot be too careful, especially on a night like tonight.” her husband had said to her.

She rested her head in her hands, heedless to the rocking of the coach. St Michael guard him. St Jude aid him. Ah St George arent the people of England under your keeping. Intercede for him as I do. Watch over him, he knows not where he is going.

And then all at once the coach stopped. She hadn't even noticed they'd reached the end of the valley. Now she scoured the dark trees around them for any creature lurking under the boughs. Cicacda screamed into the night, branches whispered and very far in the distance a wolf howled but other than that nothing. The young man, Jonathan, reaches for his watch but someone puts a hand over his.

Finally the coachman calls down, “There is no carriage here. The Herr is not expected after all. He will now come on to Bukovina, and return to-morrow or the next day; better the next day.”

She might have laughed at the disappointment on his face. She very nearly leant forward. Very nearly took his hand offered him a place in her mother-in-law’s home. There was space in the loft after all and she knew in spite of her illness and all their warnings she will have been making a small feast upon their arrival. The words were on the tip of her tongue.

Then the horses startled.

Ana had never seen the Demon of the Pass. This was her husband's home she did not usually venture this far fron Bistritz. As the calrche drew up beside, she was not excatly sure it was Him. She crossed herself, drawing back as far into the coach as she could all the same. When the coachman's bright eyes fell upon them she did not care who he was at all, just that he stayed far away from them.

When he questions the coachmen she feared he might fall upon them all there and then. She could run, all the way to Bukovina if she had to but in the dark they stood no chance.

‘The dead travel fast,’ says someone beside her and as the demon's attention falls back upin then she wants to cut his tongue out. His teeth flash in the lamp light and she stifled a scream.

She could not look at him. She could not do it and ended up staring baleful at the Englishman as his bags were taken from the coach. Now it was he who avoided their pointed stares. When he moved to get up she thought of grabbing him.

Can he not see? Does he not understand? He reaches out and takes the hand of corpse. For the first time the barest hint of apprehension crossed his face. What she would do to leap forward and spirit them all way from this place and unto the morning. It was a mere fancy of course. There was nothing on earth that could get her to move from the shadowy corner where she sat.

And then he was gone.

The driver watched until the lights of the caleche winked out into the night and with a heavy sigh urged the horses forward. The rest of the journey was silent and somber.

You do not know him, she tells her tears. There is no reason to weep. She took a shuddering breath and wiped her eyes. Except that she did. His name was Jonathan. May God have mercy on his soul.

#dracula daily #re dracula #my writing #may 5th #my good friend jonathan harker #jonathan harker #dracula

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lingthusiasm · 5 days

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Lingthusiasm Episode 96: Welcome back aboard the metaphor train!

We're taking you on a journey to new linguistic destinations, so come along for the ride and don't forget to hold on!

In this episode, your hosts Lauren Gawne and Gretchen McCulloch get enthusiastic about metaphors! It's easy to think of literary comparisons like "my love is like a red, red rose" but metaphors are also far more common and almost unnoticed in regular conversation as well. For example, English speakers often talk about ideas as a journey (the metaphor train) or as if they're visual - clear or murky or heavy or maybe fuzzy, but not as fluffy or feathery or metallic or polka-dotted, but other languages can use different metaphors. We also talk about the process of metaphor design, and how metaphors can help us understand - or misunderstand - abstract concepts like electricity or language learning.

Note that this episode originally aired as Bonus 30: Welcome aboard the metaphor train! We've added a few new things about metaphors and an updated announcements section to the top. We're excited to share one of our favourite bonus episodes from Patreon with a broader audience, while at the same time giving everyone who works on the show a bit of a break.

Click here for a link to this episode in your podcast player of choice or read the transcript here.

Announcements:

In this month’s bonus episode we get Tom Scott's Language Files team together on one call for the first and last time! We talk with host/writer Tom Scott, as well as researcher/writer Molly Ruhl and animator Will Marler, about their roles putting the videos togehter, Gretchen's role in the brainstorming and fact-checking process, and what it's like working on a big, multi-faceted project like the Language Files videos.

Join us on Patreon now to get access to this and 90+ other bonus episodes. You’ll also get access to the Lingthusiasm Discord server where you can chat with other language nerds.

Here are the links mentioned in the episode:

Original 'Welcome aboard the metaphor train!' episode on Patreon

Because Internet

Metaphor - etymology (Wikipedia)

Conceptual metaphors

Gentner, D. (1983). Flowing waters or teeming crowds: Mental models of electricity. In D. Gentner, & A. L. Stevens (Eds.), Mental Models (pp. 99-129). Hillsdale, New Jersey: Erlbaum. (Gentner and Gentner 1983, 2014 reprint)

German 'wichtig'

Michael Erard's metaphor for language learning

FrameWorks Institute

Malaphors

Cakewalk

After recording this episode we researched more about cakewalks, which turned out to have their origin in 19th Century dance events held by African Americans. This article by Nicole Emmanuel goes into more on the history of cakewalk.

You can listen to this episode via Lingthusiasm.com, Soundcloud, RSS, Apple Podcasts/iTunes, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also download an mp3 via the Soundcloud page for offline listening.

To receive an email whenever a new episode drops, sign up for the Lingthusiasm mailing list.

You can help keep Lingthusiasm ad-free, get access to bonus content, and more perks by supporting us on Patreon.

Lingthusiasm is on Bluesky, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Mastodon, and Tumblr. Email us at contact [at] lingthusiasm [dot] com

Gretchen is on Bluesky as @GretchenMcC and blogs at All Things Linguistic.

Lauren is on Bluesky as @superlinguo and blogs at Superlinguo.

Lingthusiasm is created by Gretchen McCulloch and Lauren Gawne. Our senior producer is Claire Gawne, our production editor is Sarah Dopierala, our production assistant is Martha Tsutsui Billins, and our editorial assistant is Jon Kruk. Our music is ‘Ancient City’ by The Triangles.This episode of Lingthusiasm is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike license (CC 4.0 BY-NC-SA).

#linguistics #lingthusiasm #language #podcast #episodes #podcasts #episode 96 #metaphors #malaphors #semantics #bonus upgrade #SoundCloud

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edenfenixblogs · 7 months

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Hello, as a non-Jewish person I have read Night because of your posts. I am not very good at articulating my thoughts, and if anything I say brings up questions for you I will try and answer them. The beginning where there is a sense of hope, is so awful because it just constantly gets worse and worse. The worsening of the regulations while the people of his village tell themselves that it is not too bad, but it is terrible, right from the first limitation, and even before it, all the events that led to it.“German laborers were going to work. They would stop and look at us with no surprise” (100), “And the spectators observed those emancipated creatures ready to kill for a piece of bread”(101). This dehumanization, I wonder how did the German citizens live with it? This sentiment continues on to this day, and yet it is dismissed so easily. “I was sixteen” His relationship with his religion is hurt so much, this general feeling of hopelessness that other people around him also feel, “Just like Rabbi Eliahu’s son, I had not passed the test”. He feels such guilt, he tries so hard to help his father, even as he is starving himself.

While I read this book, sometimes I thought that whatever is happening in this book was not that bad. Sometimes they would get a thicker soup and that would make him happy. How awful is that? For this to be normal for him. For this to not be unusual to me. In the stories of the Holocaust that I have learned, these things are not unfamiliar, the starvation, the apathy of other civilians, the death marches. His story has been categorized in my mind as another set of terrible things that were done to a Jewish person during the Holocaust. His story, every single atrocity that was done to him, I can not imagine properly, yet I only feel an undefinable upset over what happened to him. I think there is something wrong with that? I have very recently discovered that I am, in fact, antisemitic, from your posts and someone else that also realized their antisemitism (which you pointed out), and am trying to outgrow it. I am concerned that my reaction to this book is greatly affected by antisemitism. I can’t tell, am I telling myself that his suffering was ok? Am I? In the book, there are often mentions of Jewish culture that I do not know of. For example, “Shavuot” and the New Year being in summertime. I understand that these are google-able questions, but I was wondering if you have resources for a general introduction into Jewish culture and history? I hope by learning more I can dismantle my antisemitism. If you know a better way to do so, I would appreciate if you could let me know! Thank you for the recommendation to read Night, I will read All But My Life next. I am sorry if my concern over my antisemitism reads as shallow, I do not know how else to express it.

Friend, I am SO PROUD OF YOU and SO GRATEFUL FOR YOU!!!!!

I have said repeatedly that all journeys begin somewhere. More people are antisemitic than are not antisemitic, because that’s how systemic oppression works. You have been taught to hate me.

I thank you for seeing our shared humanity and working to unlearn the harmful things you know.

1. How did the Germans live with the dehumanization? The same way people are living with the dehumanization of Jews now. German antisemitism was deeply tied to antisemitic concepts and tropes that long predated Hitler. These tropes and conspiracy theories had been floating around Europe for a very long time. Furthermore, they have never gone away. All the old tropes and conspiracy theories are resurfacing in the internet age, because the Holocaust only temporarily shamed antisemites, but not enough significant cultural shifts occurred to stop it from rising again.

2. “…sometimes I thought that whatever was happening was not that bad…” I think I see what you are saying. I don’t know your age or where you are from, so I’m not sure if you’ve ever dealt with these kinds of feelings before, let alone how to articulate them — or how to do so in English. But you seem to be horrified by what is happening but you also seem to feel guilt that you find moments of relief in the horrible times as well. I don’t think that makes you a bad person. I just think that makes you a person. The human mind is not built to comprehend trauma on the scale seen during The Holocaust. It instinctively tries to find moments of reprieve that prove things aren’t that bad. And, to be fair, Judaism applauds this. It is a very Jewish idea that we should always look for moments of joy even when our hearts are steeped in misery. Because life is joy. And it is sometimes impossible to wrap our minds around how joyless life can be, and often was for Jews during this time. But your instinct to recognize the impulse to say “well, this day/moment/experience wasn’t so bad” and correct yourself to say, “actually this is a horrific terrible thing that just wasn’t as bad as that other horrific terrible thing that just happened” instead is a good instinct. One of the reasons the Holocaust occurred was because both Jews and non-Jews gave in to this instinct to minimize suffering. Jews minimized our own suffering and clung to hope until it was too late too late to fight back successfully. From the moment we were told to register on lists and wear stars and get on trains, we all should have fought. We should have fought louder and more to condemn Hitler while he was on the rise and to shame those who would vote for him. But ultimately, we were still outnumbered terribly and nothing we did could have stopped the horrors that followed if non-Jews didn’t support us. Non-Jews, of course, bare the true guilt and responsibility for the Holocaust. They refused to question their own hatred. They turned a blind eye to the rising antisemitism. They abandoned their friends in need. They complied with hostile forces who threatened them in order to betray the Jews around them.

Your job as a non-Jew is to never repeat those mistakes. Never let an instance of antisemitism go unremarked on. Ever. And learn what antisemitism looks like. Refuse to ever let it exist or ignored in your presence.

Everyone likes to pretend they would do this, but very few ever do. The reality is that some people hate Jews so much, they will stop being your friend for defending us. And to be a good person, you have to be willing to let those people leave your life if they are unwilling to let go of their hate and learn to do better. The reality is that, at some point, you may very well be asked to choose to reject a friend for the sake of the safety of Jews you have never and will never meet. The good news is that this is not the case the majority of the time!

Most people want to consider themselves good people. And most people want the approval of their peer groups.

Your job is to steer the attitude of your peer group away from antisemitic thinking and toward peace and deconstruction of hateful systemic antisemitism—rather than allowing your peer group to steer you toward the comforting familiarity of Jew-hatred.

3. “…I have recently discovered that I am antisemitic…” I forgive you. As I said, most people are. I draw a distinction between someone who is antisemitic and someone who is an antisemite. You have harmful and negative opinions about Jews because of the systemic bigotry you have been surrounded by your whole life. But this hatred has not become your identity. You recognize this hatred as a part of you that must be discarded. Antisemitism is something you have, not something you are. And you are doing the right things to make sure you stop being antisemitic. This, to me, means you are not an antisemite. If you give up and stop caring about Jews and unlearning these harmful thought patterns, that would make you an antisemite. Because that would mean you are comfortable folding the antisemitism you possess into your identity and sense of self. It seems to me you do not wish to do this. And that means you’re growing and changing for the better. And that is beautiful.

4. “I am concerned that my reaction to this book is affected by antisemitism.” Yeah it probably is. But so is most people’s reaction to this book. That’s the point. Your being willing to confront that is what is important. It is about looking at the places where you lose empathy for Jews, asking yourself why, and then fixing the reason you find.

5. “Am I telling myself his suffering was ok?” I think you’re doing the opposite. I think you’re re-sensitizing yourself to something you were de-sensitized to. That is difficult and admirable.

6. Regarding Jewish culture:

6.a. “Shavuot” is a Jewish holiday. It is the anniversary of the day G-d gave the Torah to the Israelites. In general, a good way to familiarize yourself with stuff like this is to look for resources about Jewish holidays and what they mean. Hebcal offers short summaries of each Jewish holiday that you can import into your phone calendar and learn about as they happen. Wikipedia has a page about Jewish holidays that you can explore. So does the Jewish Virtual Library.

6.b. Jewish culture is vast and impossible to summarize simply. I would recommend starting with the Wikipedia Page on Jewish Culture and exploring whatever seems interesting to you. You’ll never learn it all and that’s ok! I’ve never met a Jew who knows it all either! We have so many subcultures all over the world shaped by unique experiences in diaspora. The most important thing to take away is that no matter how far apart we are or how differently we practice, we are all one people whose goal is to love our fellow humans and do our best to make the world a better place. This is called Tikkun Olam, which means repairing the world. This in itself is a huge concept. But it all relates to making the world better for one another.

I think you are doing a beautiful and amazing thing. And you, by choosing to remove hate from your mind and your actions, are actively making the world a better place. You are repairing some of the damage done by systemic antisemitism.

You are doing Tikkun Olam. And that, in every possible situation, is the best thing you can ever do. Thank you, @JellyMarbles

#goyische support #Tikkun Olam #antisemitism #unlearning antisemitism #deconstruction #deconstructing antisemitism #Holocaust TW #Shoah TW #The Holocaust #elie wiesel #Gerda Weissman Klein #Night #All But My Life

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nrdmssgs · 1 year

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Best part of his life

Masterlist Angst Pairing: König X afab reader TW: No mentions of death, but this all is an allusion. AN: Sorry, guys, I know, you come here for comfort. I'll be back with it in some time, promise.

The best days of his life started with a mission. It was a huge success: he and his team were so effective, they managed to end a whole operation a week earlier than it was originally planned. König was proud of his men and happy to return home, return to her so soon.

He can barely restrain himself from calling her - he doesn't want to spoil the surprise. A bouquet of fresh cut flowers is lying on the seat next to him. König touches tender petals and smiles, remembering her soft lips. The lips, that he hasn't ever kissed yet, but this time he sure will - now that she confessed her feelings before his deployment - he is not afraid, that they are on the different pages.

König never noticed, how close to the KorTac base she lived. Previously, the journey from the base seemed endlessly long, but now he only managed to get on the train and barely look around - and it was already time for him to get off. For the first time, he isn't bothered by a crowded station, noisy streets and cars leaving little to no space on the sidewalks. All that matters now is his destination and fresh flowers with drops of morning dew on green leaves.

He doesn't have to knock on her door, as someone left it open. König slips into the hallway just before the front door slams shut by the wind.

"Schatzt?" He calls her, and, not receiving any answer, searches for her in every room.

He's already starting to worry when he finally gets to the kitchen. She sits at the table, staring straight ahead. Large tears roll down her cheeks.

"My love, what's wrong?" He lets go of the bouquet and rushes towards her. She doesn’t answer him - she just exhales and her whole body shakes with a strangled sob.

König takes her hands and kisses them. Once, then again and again... Then he turns his gaze to the table. In front of her lies an opened envelope from the KorTac.

"Verdamte Idioten, diese Mistkerle hätten mir diesen Brief schicken sollen, wahrscheinlich ist es nur eine Gehaltsabrechnung für das Finanzamt!*" Konig notices, he is shouting. She was always afraid, when someone raised a voice in her presence. But now, she doesn't flinch or cover her ears. She sits absolutely still, looking down.

"Oh no-no-no, I'm so sorry, Schatzi! I didn't mean to scare you, my poor little love. Here, look at me, I'm smiling, I'm happy, no drama here, I promise." She doesn't react to his words, so he continues to cover her hands in kisses, hugs her tightly, strokes her hair. In a desperate attempt to distract her, König cups her face and gives her a long and incredibly soft kiss on the lips. When he realizes what he just did, his heart skips a beat. He shuts his eyes for a long moment, too afraid to see fear and anger in her face. But when he finally looks back at her - she looks calm.

"I'm sorry, I didn't want our first kiss to be this... out of blue, I guess." He presses his forehead to hers. "Its just... I've been dreaming about it since you sent me that message with confession. I was daydreaming to come back home and do it. I had this crush on you for god knows how long, but hadn't the guts to make the first move... A-a-a-and, I'm talking too much, yeah?"

He laughs, brings her closer and hides her subtle figure in a tight embrace. Peppering her face with kisses, he mumbles, "Don't worry, my love, I'll never leave you from now on. No more letters from KorTac - I won't come back to them. From now on, I'm yours. Only yours."

If anyone asked him - König won't be able to say, how did he grow so bold with physical touches suddenly. Must it's her charm, or he just never was so desperately in love before.

Every next day of his life is better than the last one. They walk together, he helps her learn German, tells her stories from his childhood, reads her his favorite books, or just lays his head on her lap, as she is watching TV, sitting on the sofa.

König couldn't ask for a better life. He is so happy with it - he is even ok with her crying sometimes and never setting her kitchen table for them two. He genuinely understands, how overwhelming this love can feel - König himself is ready to burst into happy tears every other minute, he sees her. So there is no big problem in him to drop whatever he is currently doing and rush to her when he hears sobs. And when he sees only one set of tableware ready... Who is he to judge - König lived alone for so long, he would probably do the same automatically. So he just chuckles, takes out another plate and sits near her.

At first, he hesitates to sleep in her bed. "It's ok, I'll spend this night on the couch," says he, watching, as she goes to a bathroom before going to sleep. But one night he wakes up from whispers from her bedroom.

"I'm so cold without you, König... So cold."

He gets up from the sofa, hesitantly approaches her bed, and freezes. No, he's not going to lunge at her the minute she lets him get closer. But he still remembers how scared she was when they first met. He obviously seemed too dangerous, too big, too strong. Now König is ready to do anything just to prove to her that he needs all this strength, all his skills in order to protect her. For her, he is absolutely harmless.

"Why aren't you here, under this blanket..."

"I... I didn't know, you... needed me." Suddenly his mouth goes dry. He carefully climbs under her blanket, presses against her back, and drowns in the sweet scent of her hair.

"I love you." He brushes hair from her face.

"You will never be alone. Never be cold again, I promise." His lips brush against the back of her neck.

"I won't ever hurt you, love." He holds her in the most tender and warm embrace and watches as she slowly falls asleep. König is happy that her body is no more as tense as it was every time, he stepped too close. He is so happy that he does not even notice how the morning comes.

For breakfast, she again sets the table only for herself. But this doesn't upset him. Nothing will ever upset him.

Verdamte Idioten, diese Mistkerle hätten mir diesen Brief schicken sollen, wahrscheinlich ist es nur eine Gehaltsabrechnung für das Finanzamt!* - Damn idiots, those bastards should have sent this letter to me, it's probably just a payslip for the tax office!*

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askthekoopsandjr · 14 days

Text

Ludwig von Koopa (Head)canons

Cunning, conniving, and classy; this is the surface level of the pompous prodigy we all know and love... or hate. Here's everything you need to know about him to familiarize yourself with my story.

G͟e͟n͟e͟r͟a͟l͟ I͟n͟f͟o͟r͟m͟a͟t͟i͟o͟n͟

18 years old.

- Very important to note: Dragon Koopas do not age the same as humans. It is unknown how they age in equivalence to humans, but the adult age for dragon koopas is their early 30's. Dragon koopas can live for several centuries. The maximum years of life is unknown.

Transgender man, he/him. Gay, asexual, and amicusromantic.

-Transitioned after his 13th birthday. Chose the name Ludwig, loving the high end and fancy sound of it.

Is autistic and completely deaf. Uses hearing aids designed by Iggy to hear.

Ludwig has always been attracted to men, but after transitioning he went through a short period of "now being attracted to girls", because everyone has to be straight, right? Lmao it took a conversation with Kamek to clear that up.

- (P.S. Everyone in my story is asexual because "it"™ doesn't exist haha)

Eldest of the 7 koopalings

- All are biological siblings, born to the late Morton Koopa Sr. and Adaeh Koopa

Self proclaimed leader of the Koopalings. His siblings do not agree with this notion, reminding him that they're a team.

Adopted by Bowser, along with his siblings, at 12 years old

It is unkown exactly how his parents died, but he vividly remembers that fateful day.

- He has uncomplicated PTSD formed from this event. He doesn't currently receive therapy (yet)

Here's the whole story about that:

All creatures in the Mario world... the Underground whatever it's called have all the races/ethnicities of humans. Ludwig and his siblings are German and British from their father, and South African from their Mother.

C͟h͟a͟r͟a͟c͟t͟e͟r͟

Of course, Ludwig is a lil bitch at heart. He's snooty, snarky, sarcastic, stubborn, bossy and arrogant... You get it. Buuuuut! He's not completely terrible and unpleasant. He has a certain persona he puts on when in the face of the general public. He's the GREAT and POWERFUL Ludwig von Koopa, he has a reputation to uphold! However; those who get the rare chance to know him outside of work and royalties will notice he's actually much more lively. He's witty, likes to make bad puns, and LOOOOVES to gossip for hours (whether good or bad) on end.

He usually favors the sound of his own voice, but he's a good listener at times, too!

As you might already know, Ludwig is a total drama queen and lives for theatrics. This means he will show off at any given chance, and act super extra. Think of Rarity from MLP having one of her "moments".

As he stated in Bowser Jr.'s Journey, he never backs down from a fight or challenge. This is driven by his insatiable need to prove himself and pride.

He used to beat himself up pretty bad when losing a fight or challenge, but has gotten a lot better at accepting defeat or trying not to be too upset about it. Take his loss to Mario in Color Splash as an example of him humbling himself and accepting defeat- but also take his loss to Waluigi in the 2020 Olympic Games as how he can still get upset.

He knows he can't be the very best at everything... but that doesn't mean he can't be in the top 5, y'know? So even if he is humbled after losing and embarassing himself, that only means he'll work twice as hard to perfect his skills for next time. I'll get you next time, He-Man...

Speaking of perfection, Ludwig is very knowledgeable and has seemingly endless talents. He can play over 200 instruments, excels in acting, is a surprisingly good singer and painter, and is very well educated in general studies. While wanting to be the very best certainly plays a part in why he's so ambitious, the main reason is because he simply loves learning and doing.

- He owns Ludwig Painting as seen in Mario Kart. His company is in charge of giving each kart their exterior paint job.

Time for a secret... Ludwig has always been an eager student, but has intensified to who is today because of the loss of his parents. Being the oldest, he believed it was his sole responsibility to care for his siblings. He would not allow the destruction and death from before to ever happen again. Once being taken in by Bowser, he quickly introduced himself to the luxurious resources around him to begin a journey of scholarship that still continues to this day.

Kamek was the one who gave the 7 of them their wands. This was not the first time Ludwig was introduced to magic, however. His mother was a sort of "earthy" witch, knowing how to mix up various potions and natural remedies, which she taught Ludwig. To hold a staff of power capable of virtually anything he could dream of, Ludwig chose magic to be his "major". Kamek would personally teach Ludwig magic beyond what he would teach his siblings, since Ludwig was the one who insisted so badly.

- Ludwig might have the strongest magic of his siblings, but don't let that trick you into thinking he's the strongest of them all. Usually, his showboating leads to his downfall.

As his siblings grew older (and with the help of Kamek to talk some sense into him), Ludwig stopped thinking it was his sole responsibility to take care of them. They didn't really want/need that kind of help from him anymore, and it was a bit frustrating to get that through his head.

Beneath those tough scales, Ludwig really does have a heart. He can be kind, and he likes to show affection. It's actually a lot easier to get along with him than it seems, so long as you have patience and don't let his self-absorption bother you too much.

Speaking of affection, he's not ashamed or afraid to let others know that he cares for them. It won't really show when he's engaged in battle, but find him in the castle on an eventless day and you'd see him acting like a normal big brother.

You'd think he'd want to be ruler of the Dark Lands, but that's not actually the case. He deeply cares for Jr. and knows he has great potential- hence why he's always trying to teach and point him in the right direction.

- Let's talk more on what Ludwig likes to do for himself: -

Ludwig takes excellent care of himself. He has an intricate routine for keeping himself radiant every single day (like scale exfoliation, etc). Every night, he puts his hair in curlers and wears a purple silk bonnet. He loves feeling physically fulfilled and looking his best.

His hair is his greatest pride. It's thick, reverently fluffy and voluminous. It's beauty brings him great happiness.

- His hair is naturally curly. It gets that shape from the curls. If you ran your fingers through it, you could feel the texture.

He is more than happy to tell you all about hair care and give you a few tips

He loves frills, hence why he wears that jabot all the time.

He loves to paint outside in the sun. He isn't too good at drawing, so he usually paints scenery and other things that require abstract shapes. He never sketches on the canvas prior to the paint.

This is so obvious, but it should be said anyway; music is his driving force and passion. He only has 5 officially published original works, but has so, so many more unpublished. He creates at a rather fast pace, so he decides to hold back on releasing them until he "feels" it's the right time. He has published many covers of existing songs, though.

- It was his dad that taught him how to play music and his mom who taught him how to sing. The first instrument he ever played was the piano, hence why it's his favorite.

Ludwig experiments with his music. Yes, classical is his favorite and what he's best at, but his passion is music as a whole. He's even dipped his feet in some alternative genres! It's death metal, heavy metal and the stuff Larry listens to (hyperpop, gabba, speedcore etc) that he can't stand.

- Since meeting Suzuka, he's been trying to be more accepting of the rock genres that he loves. He won't want to listen to it, but will support Suzie's decisions and even help him write his music sometimes (as long as it's not the "heavy" parts)

Before meeting Suzie, Ludwig didn't write much poetry, but as it turns out, he's fairly good at it! He and Suzie like to leave suprise love poems lying around for the other to find.

- He may have or may not have left ominous riddle poems lying around to mess with his siblings...

Ludwig is a pretty good cook and baker. He doesn't normally make the meals, since Bowser has employees for that; but if the chefs were ever unavailable, he wouldn't be lost. He likes to joke that he could easily replace the chefs based on his experience of making food for all his siblings. He usually says that to the head chef, because it amuses him to get under their skin.

- The head chef usually gets pissed at this joke, attempting to throw spices and utensils at Ludwig to get him out of the kitchen.

Ludwig loves the theater. He will go to every new show in any kingdom, even if it's in the Mushroom Kingdom. He knows that Mario will be breathing down his neck, but he likes to annoy him and act like he's never done any wrong and act offended at Mario's accusations that he would try to sabotage the show.

- Lemmy usually tags along, as he loves theater too.

Quality time is a must for Ludwig. He likes to hang out with his siblings individually, then all together. As much as he would like to have one-on-one time with Jr., it nearly never happens because the heir is preoccupied with his dad, Kamek, school, and learning to be a prince. He did at least get to teach him to dance once, though. (end credits of Bowser Jr.'s Journey)

- Quality time with Suzie is a whole 'nother story. The two don't spend much time apart.

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Ludwig loves all of his siblings equally. The ones he loves are the most important thing in the world to him. His deepest fear is losing his loved ones.

With Iggy: Ludwig often gets annoyed by Iggy's lack of seriousness and class, but that doesn't mean he doesn't enjoy Iggy's company. They both share the insatiable hunger for knowledge, love of science and robotics. They get along very well because guess what? They're both cuckoo insane! I honestly think Lud is crazier than Iggy! Iggy knows how to make Ludwig laugh, no matter what kind of day he's had. Iggy is also a very touch affectionate koopa, so she'll often do this thing where he'll just stand behind Ludwig and rest her head on top of Lud's hair because it's funny. Iggy also manages to steal a hug at least once a day. And often pranks Ludwig with a joke very often. Hey Ludwig wanna get up dog what's up dog not much what's up with you

With Morton: Ludwig almost never gets mad or annoyed with Morton on his own. Morton likes to talk a lot when spoken to and is a very good listener, so Ludwig enjoys having long conversations with him. Ludwig likes to bake with Morton as well, since they both share the interest. He tried to teach Morton how to cook once, but never again after his hair was almost burned off. The two also share an interest in music, so Ludwig will use Morton as a critique when writing new pieces. Ludwig is also more than glad to serve as a listener to Morton when he wants to speak, and serve as feedback for Morton's very long fictional stories.

With Roy: Ludwig is very patient with Roy's short temper and aggressive nature- maybe because he simply doesn't want to get his ass kicked, or maybe he's just used to it by now. He's not often prone to being hit by Roy, given that he would get him back with a nasty magic trick. Roy usually picks on Ludwig verbally (the usual insults you hear about him. It's pretty funny). Regardless, he does not look down on Roy. When you're not looking, he'll smile at Roy's wisecracks and silly nature. Ever since Roy has taken his studies more seriously, Ludwig listens to him more often and ask for his opinion when on missions. Roy will actually ask Ludwig for homework help more often than you'd think. Ludwig is always more than willing, as teaching others is actually something Ludwig loves to do. Ludwig wishes he could show Roy a bit of affection, but we all know Roy's not a fan of that.

With Wendy: Ludwig and Wendy are the young and cunty Statlor and Waldorf. They have mad gossip and drama to share at all times, and confide in each other with their deepest secrets. Wendy actually transitioned shortly after Ludwig, which was the start of the closeness they still share today. They love giving each other make-overs and shopping together. Ludwig enjoys asking Wendy to put on a magic ring show for him, as he doesn't know how to use magical objects very well, such as her bracelets. He loves how graceful yet powerful she is. He considers asking Kamek to teach him how to do something like that at times. Ludwig is the one who taught Wendy how to style hair, despite having none of her own, so that he could ask her to do his. He secretly enjoys when others play with his hair, but trusts very few to actually touch it.

With Lemmy: Ludwig will act like he doesn't care for Lemmy's silly theatrics and clowny behavior, but actually very much enjoys it. He loves Lemmy's individuality and how he brings it forth to the spotlight wherever he is. As I mentioned before, Ludwig brings Lemmy along whenever he goes to the theater. Both enjoy sharing artistic ideas and even collaborating, whether it be on a stage-play or a painting. Ludwig wouldn't admit to this, but he is secretly awed by Lemmy's natural emotional maturity. He often thinks about asking Lemmy for advice or just having him as someone to talk to about his anxieties and fears, but never does because Lemmy is still rather young. He imagines confiding in his younger brother about these things one day, when he's older. (Here's another secret... Ludwig actually likes the circus.)

With Larry: Larry is the one Ludwig parents the most. Outside of missions for Bowser, Ludwig keeps a careful eye on his youngest sibling. That's a lot harder said than done, though; Larry is a hyper-energetic kid who's always wanting to do his own thing. Ludwig is constantly trying to teach Larry everything he can learn- which he's done a pretty good job with!- but keeps pushing Larry to do more and more, which frustrates and confuses the youngest. Ludwig just wants to ensure the youngest has everything he could ever need in life, but he comes off as though he's not proud of him sometimes. That is 100% not the case, but Ludwig is letting his fears and anxiety get the best of him. They do get along well, though. Larry enjoys playing with Ludwig, and typically succeeds in bringing out the elder's inner child. They have that special big-bro-little-bro bond.

💜 With Suzuka: Suzuka is Ludwig's one and only. He knew there was something special about him from the first time they met. They've been going steady for almost a year, and their love for one another just keeps growing. Ludwig will spend every second of his time with Suzie if he can help it. The two often indulge and collaborate on musical works and teach each other new things. Both koopas are well associated with the other's family, and frequent activities with them (such as dinner, helping out with chores, etc). Ludwig is usually the first to initiate physical affection, but both equally enjoy cuddling with each other at any time.

- Lore time... From the second time they met, he was drawn in even further after working together to help Iggy's stupid newest invention from destroying the jungle world (it's a long story). Suzie was smart, sweet and so unintentionally charismatic that Ludwig knew he had to forge a formal friendship with him. He thought it would be smooth sailing from there... But there was actually a small bump in the road. Ludwig was horrified that Suzie's favorite genre of music was metal (More specifically j-metal but to Ludwig it's all the same)! This actually upset Ludwig for a while, and he was not shy to share his opinions with Suzie. Suzie just went :3. He respected Ludwig's opinion, and it's not like he was unfamiliar with hatred towards rock genres as it was lol. Like the drama queen he is, Ludwig tried to distance himself, but Suzie just kept coming around... And played some classical on the piano to get him to come around. Which totally worked. And wooed Luddy for the first time. So Ludwig decided he would try to grow as a person (or Koopa??) for Suzie. He was way too special to ditch over something silly. The months would pass, the feelings would grow, and we end up at Christmas. With the holiday spirit in the air, Ludwig finds he can't keep it a secret anymore and confesses to Suzie. The two have been going steady ever since!

F͟u͟n͟ F͟a͟c͟t͟s͟

Ludwig is a big foodie, with a heavy preference for sweets. He would autistically explain to you the history behind a dish and how it should be made/served

He went completely deaf at some point when he was 14. No one is sure how or why. He used typical hearing aids for a while, until Iggy devised his own pair that Ludwig could wear 24/7 without causing discomfort. They are charged by geothermal energy. If Ludwig happens upon a place where the heat from the Earth cannot easily reach up to the surface (for example somewhere very cold), the hearing aids will go into manual charge mode and have 24 hours of battery.

While Ludwig didn't had a partner before Suzuka, he did go on some dates in the past. Maybe 5 or 6? [I'm undecided lmao] They were all boys of higher class or with some title to their name from neighboring kingdoms, with the exception of one who was a Koopa troop guard in training. Ludwig doesn't really talk to them anymore, but would say hello if running into them.

His tail will wag when he's feeling affection for someone. Hugging a sibling? Little tail wags. Snuggling Suzie? Big tail wags. You get it

Is a total romantic. Will do the corniest things but look good doing it because of his talents in music and acting. He enjoys showing pda, usually through hand holding or keeping his partner close to his side at all times.

His favorite play is probably The Phantom of the Opera

He resonates with victorian goth

Claims to be ruthless, but has anyone actually ever seen him display such intense behavior that went beyond words?

- Even so, he does get a bit cuckoo at times. It may be a result of neurosis.

He actually doesn't use hairspray or gel

Of the siblings with hair, he's been able to teach Larry and Lemmy how to do theirs

He's fairly easy to annoy. It makes for fun pranks and jokes to pull on him

As stated in Bowser Jr.'s Journey, he's quite good at lying, deceiving, and negotiating. You may wanna be cautious around him.

It's really not that hard to make friends with Ludwig. It's just very dependent on the circumstances under which you meet.

#koopalings #super mario bros #nintendo #super mario #ask blog #ludwig von koopa #sort of ask related #headcanons post #may be updated in the future

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