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Pronouns and gendered words

Hello! Just a bit of a heads up for every writer out there:

If you're writing dialogue in a romance language (specially spanish or italian), be careful with the gendered words! I know there are barely those in English, but here's a few examples so you get what I mean:

•Friend≠amigo. Amigo -> boy friend Amiga -> girl friend. Friend is gender neutral, but there is no equivalent in Spanish.

•Pretty≈bonita. It can be, but bonita describes something considered femenine (a plant, a house, the living room, etc.). It can also mean bonito, which has more of a masculine meaning (the sea, the sky, the grass, etc.). Pretty is gn, but it isn't in Spanish.

•Mouse ≈ topo. Mouse can be topo in italian, but it can also be rat. Different genders, possible same word.

•Kid ≠ bambino. It's more like: little boy -> bambino Little girl -> bambina. Something similar happens in Spanish:

•Child≠niña/niño. Again, child is gender neutral, but there is no gender neutral equivalent in Spanish.

There is also, officially, no such thing as they in Spanish. The literal translation would be ellos, but it specifically addresses a group of people and cannot be taken otherwise. So, what to do? People who identify as non binary in Spanish usually use gendered words with an e. Bonite, niñe, hermose, etc. It depends on each individual, but that is the widely accepted way of addressing a person. They is often translated to elle (a new word, if you see it a certain way) in Spanish, but again, it depends on each person.

I decided to make this post because I've read a few fics (both reader inserts and other types) that have characters with neutral pronouns but end up being referred to in a gendered way when another character speaks to them in a different language. I know it isn't your intention, it’s difficult to figure out when it’s not your native language. Still, I hope this helps a little bit, we should all be careful and do an effort to respect people's pronouns in all languages!

Feel free to message me if you want/need help :)

im not defending myself against a vampire. suck away gorgeous

blue secondo 🦋

𝑪𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝑺𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒐 [𝑴𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒍𝒆𝒓𝒈𝒚 𝒑𝒕.2]

𝑪𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝑺𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒐, 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒆 𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒂𝒍𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒚𝒍𝒆 𝒂𝒕 𝒏𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕, 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒅𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒕𝒖𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒅𝒊𝒐. 𝑯𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒔𝒌𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒑𝒕𝒐𝒓, 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒍𝒂𝒚 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒏𝒖𝒅𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒈𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒔. 𝑺𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒐 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒂𝒔𝒌 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒇𝒂𝒗𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝑺𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑺𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒐𝒅𝒆𝒍 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒉𝒊𝒎, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔 𝒐𝒓 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒅𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒄𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒆𝒙𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒚. 𝑯𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑴𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒅𝒎𝒊𝒓𝒆. 𝑾𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒂𝒔 𝒑ø𝒓𝒏́𝒂𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒑𝒉𝒊𝒄, 𝑺𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒐 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒔 𝒑𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒖𝒏𝒂𝒅𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒚. 𝑰𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒍𝒚 𝒂 𝒈𝒊𝒇𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒄𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒖𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒃𝒐𝒅𝒚.

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inspired by my fucking cat (who id die for). let me present this thought to you all. dewdrop constantly standing. RIGHT. BEHIND. everyone and when they step back/turn around they always step on him/run into him and HES always the victim. he’s always SO offended that the others step on him like they should really watch where they’re going he can’t believe he has to put up with this

80s/70s Secondo but ....

He has Rosie Vela's hair.

(If this is sending a second (haha) time, I'm so sorry. It said the first one was a "Error! Try again." Sorry for spamming twice.)

I’m seeing the vision and you’re correct. I’ve always thought of Secondo of having long (and nice, obsessively taken care of) hair in his youth.

You’ve also tapped my rarely spoken “Secondo is a natural ginger” HC. Don’t tell me about genetics because I don’t care. That handful of pictures where his eyebrows aren’t painted can’t lie.

how much filth is too much filth for a 10k word chapter? asking for a friend 👀

Smudged Mirrors

|| Tl;dr Morning routine softness with Secondo. :) This is just an older work from my ao3 that I thought I would bring over here!

There are many terrible things in this world. The shrill blare of an alarm clock ripping you from your dreams among the worst offenders. Waking to find that the bed has already gone empty and cold, another. The entire room felt quiet and solemn as if it too was mourning the absence of your beloved. The thick blankets quickly grew too cold to be comfortable any longer and remnants of sleep still clung to your senses as you slowly sat up with a renewed dedication to seek out a new source of warmth.

The scent of spiced soap and a lingering mist from the shower wafted through the partially open bathroom door, a testament to Secondo’s stubborn refusal to sleep in on nearly any day. It was a gentle reminder of the countless mornings when you had woken up together, the sound of falling water mingling with laughter and shared tenderness.

After attempting to gather your thoughts, you swung your legs over the side of the bed and made your way towards the bathroom, the rhythmic sound of falling water growing louder with each step. The antique wooden wardrobe looked untouched as you passed by it. You paused to pull out Secondo’s Papal robes and the cassock he often preferred to wear underneath before folding them neatly on the bed and continuing on. Upon pushing the door open, you were met with the sight of steam billowing around the room, cloaking the space in a misty haze.

“I may be aging but I’m not deaf yet. I can still hear your attempts to sneak up on me, amore mio.” Even with his back turned towards you, you could hear the smirk in his voice despite his stern tone. Water droplets still dribbled over his skin as he moved while the steam swirled around him, seemingly dancing in tune with a silent melody.

“I would’ve thought all those concerts would’ve done you in.”

Secondo paid no mind to your witty comment, instead continuing on as if he hadn’t been interrupted at all.

“Were you sleeping well? You didn’t budge when I got up.”

“I was. That is until I was left alone in the arctic cold of silk sheets.” Your retort came with maybe a little more sass than necessary as you lifted yourself to sit on the counter.

Secondo hummed softly, the deep rumble building in his chest as he leaned over to thread his fingers through your messy bed head.

“Hmmm. I suspect you’ll survive, you appear plenty lively to me.” His words were muffled against your hair as he pressed a kiss on the top of your head. For once you decided to remain quiet when you felt him smile against you.

After a few silent minutes, Secondo pulled away to return to his routine and you quickly grew bored. You twisted around, leaning in closer to the water covered mirror and reached a hand out to draw a shape against its reflective surface. Only after you had placed your initials next to a small heart were you interrupted.

“Those stay there, you know. Smudges, after the fog is gone.” He grumbled softly before swiping a razor against his cheek once more. His eyes only flickered to you before refocusing on the task of shaving. The dedication to precision and attention to detail were always present, even in the simplest of moments. A roll of your eyes was the only reaction you gave in to. Secondo had always been much more of a perfectionist, although it was admittedly respectable.

Pulling back from the mirror, you gracefully slipped off your perch on the counter and moved closer to him, pressing a kiss against each freshly shaven cheek. The morning routine had become a dance between the two of you, a choreography of sweet gestures and affectionate exchanges.

“Are you absolutely sure you need to go to work? And so early?” It was the same familiar question you asked him at least once a week, and that tiny sliver of hope in your voice that the ever so serious older man would take off work remained every time.

“Si, I am entirely sure. Has my answer ever changed?” Secondo’s unfaltering response only prompts you to lean back against his shoulder and clasp your hands to your chest, feigning being fatally wounded. There is a sigh at your dramatics, a kiss pressed against your temple before being waved off once more.

“You have your own work to attend to, piantagrane. Go.” You finally accepted being shooed off after a few more lingering kisses, good byes murmured softly in each other's ears before leaving the former Papa be to finish getting ready for the day yourself.

By the time you had returned to the bathroom with the intention of using up all the remaining hot water for yourself, Secondo was gone from the room. As to be expected, but still disappointing. While setting your own towels down atop the granite counter, you couldn’t help but to glance back at the small smears you had earlier left along the surface of the mirror. Papa was right, the fog had dissipated and left behind streaks of smudging. Except now it was impossible to ignore the small, cursive initials ‘S.E’ that had appeared opposite of your own.

:)

I love that he would be a earth ghoul and a gargoyle as a monster. It might just be me but gargoyles are very earth-y, you know? Created out of stone and such. Does Secondo being a gargoyle have something to do with the symbolization that they're creatures from hell and part human and part monster or they're symbolization of "guardianship" and to ward off evil spirits?

I definitely think of it as both! They’re an all around really perfect creature counter part to him, imo. Ties elemental connections, spiritual symbolism, and personality traits all together and it can’t get much better than that.

There’s also an old “origin” story of gargoyles, I believe it came from early Christianity, of a Saint attacking the gargoyle of a cloister. Upon resisting capture, the Saint poised its head on the outside wall of their church to make an example of their prowess and to ward off spirits from the building.

I think it makes for an interesting parallel to the common HC that the Ministry demoted and made an example of the previous Papas, both tearing down figures of their own faith to illustrate a point. Gargoyles are thought to have been modeled after Pagan symbols and used to entice (or scare) them into converting to Catholicism via familiarity meanwhile the Papas lead a project to recruit a larger following while imitating Christian symbolism.

Thinking about Secondo having a corruption kink but its not necessarily all sex related. Like I know that's what it's primarily about, but hear me out.

He introduces you to all the facets of pleasure, not just sex— though he thoroughly enjoys indulging in that one with you every chance he gets.

But letting you take a drag of his cigarette, or showing you how to shotgun, drinking in the smoke from your sweet lips. Watching you get high and floaty, content as you drift in his arms.

Driving you on his motorcycle at insane speeds, loving the way your arms fit around his waist, how you feel pressed flush against his backside. Watching the neon lights of the city flash by in a blink.

Loves getting you tipsy drunk, watching you giggle and get frisky. Your first time skinny dipping with the moonlight framing your almost nude body against the reflection of the lake.