#and when you show interest in her culture she's genuinely excited to share it

[missjabez]

My barometer for friendship is whether or not a person will let me talk about ants to them. Ants are the best animals in the world. So, as the sane person I am, I decided to speculate whether or not BG3 characters would let me talk about ants.

1. Gale

He would not be interested in the ants themselves, however he would enjoy learning previously unknown facts. He'd be genuinely interested and thank me afterwards for teaching him something new.

2. Shadowheart

In the game she states she loves animals, however I get the vibe this mostly means larger animals. Especially in the state she's in for the majority of the game, before she leaves Shar, I do not think Shadowheart would listen to me talk about ants. She'd not see the point in talking about something so trivial.

3. Lae'zel

Her first response would be something along the lines of: "cht, we do not have ants on the astral plane, why should I care?"

But then I show her the resemblance between ant culture and githyanki culture and she'd be impressed how all ants are ferocious warriors, who also care about the collective and have a queen. She'd come to appreciate ants through my stories and be willing to listen.

4. Astarion

As much as Astarion is one of my favourite characters, there is not a chance he will listen to me talk about ants. He will tap out after the first 10 seconds because of boredom and he would not see the point. He likely thinks insects are pests.

5. Halsin

He would be pleasantly surprised I'm showing such interest in a small and heavily under appreciated animal. However, when he hears how at least part of my admiration comes from their talent in warfare, he is not so pleased anymore.

I think he'd listen to me out of politeness, but not enjoy ants in and of themselves.

6. Wyll

He wouldn't be interested in ants, however he is too polite to show this. He would let me talk about ants and thank me for sharing afterwards, but not because he is interested in what I'm saying and more because he thinks its good I am sharing something important with him.

7. Karlach

A difficult one. I think it can go either of two ways. Either I manage to catch her attention about the battle prowess of ants within the first 10 seconds of this conversation, and she'd get pretty excited about what I am telling her. Or I do not and she zones out after the first 30 seconds because she seems to have a short attention span.

I'd have to throw in the impressive stuff right at the start, while I personally save best for last.

8. Minthara

She is my favourite character, so at first I was a bit sad that she likely wouldn't listen to me talk about ants.

However, then I realised this is not true. In game she mentions showing interest and asking questions about githyanki culture to Lae'zel, because she admires certain qualities it has. I think when she learns about how ants have perfected the art of warfare, live in an exclusively matriarchal society, have managed to take over the entire world without anything in the way to stop them, she'd be equally impressed and eager to learn more.

Thats is guys, hope you enjoyed.

#minthara #wyll ravengard #astarion #gale of waterdeep #bg3 gale #shadowheart #lae'zel #halsin #bg3 #baldurs gate 3

[eorzeashan]

Hey! I saw a post where you said Eight and Koth dated. *shocked* So I was wondering if you could do a post on Eight's love life 👀

Looks like everyone's got similar questions on their minds. XD @magicallulu7 Koth's relationship will be in the middle if you want to skip to it, but I've decided to summarize a few more to answer the full question (excluding the more questionable villains with which he's had dalliances with this time since I feel they've gotten enough spotlight). Without further ado....

Eight's (Not-So) Complicated Love Life:

Shara Jenn/Watcher 2

Shara, Shara, Shara. What agent doesn't share some sort of relationship with her, working or otherwise? For Eight, she might've been his first bout of feelings--feelings that he never acted on or acknowledged deeply enough, but ones that did make both of them realize that he admired her. She would've called it a compromise of a good agent. He would've pretended not to hear her. The thrilling part was that he was never ashamed or unabashed about his affection, and would never forget to show it to her either, whether in the workplace or somewhere more intimate. One could call him attached, but she knew better. Someone like Eight could never hold such a weakness, or so she falsely assumed. Perhaps the truth of it was too bitter a pill to swallow.

Time and time again, he's come at her request or her aid without really examining why; all he knows is that she's someone he always wants to look out for, the same way he does the Minister. Her and Keeper were Intelligence to him, and Intelligence was his family. He sold his soul to Jadus to keep her safe, even when she saw it as a betrayal of what she'd fought for, and that was the turning point in their relationship. Though Eight's care for her is unconditional and deeply loyal, the things they've left unsaid between each other--and themselves-- have slowly fractured the relationship they once had.

2. Koth Vortena

Excitement and a whirlwind romance sum up these two. Freshly out of carbonite and curious about Zakuulan culture, Koth was a whole new world to Eight, and the gentle, roguish touch that he'd seemed to been sorely lacking his whole life. The Alliance brought them closer together on more than one occasion, but it was the introduction of Koth being....Koth, a new element in a sea of familiar faces, that pulled Eight into his arms. It was sweet, young, fresh, and wide open. Things that being an agent just didn't ever bring to the table. People like Koth weren't a dime a dozen, and even rarer did they ever cross Eight's path. One could call him a bit shallow for gaining interest purely out of the need to gather intel on Zakuul from their resident Zakuulan, but it was done with genuine, honest intent from Eight. The smooching and cute pet names were....an unintended consequence of that.

In some ways, they were both innocent and a bit naive in certain ways to one another. Eight with his eccentric and antisocial habits, and Koth with his lack of exposure to others from other worlds. The other was a big adventure to them, and it showed, with the two often sneaking out to eat Zakuulan night market foods without notifying Alliance personnel. Though an unlikely pair at first glance, Eight's quiet nature contrasted strongly with Koth's vibrancy, and it was as they say: opposites attract. Koth loved him for his strength and bravery among other "adorable" traits that Eight denied existed, and Eight adored Koth's warmth and adventurous, open nature that seemed like everything he wasn't.

Alas, the latter sentiment spelled misfortune for the lovers, as Eight's hands grew bloodier from the war with Zakuul and their relationship began to feel the strain of it. Eight's thoughts that Koth came from another world entirely--a normal life with light and love and honesty--began to weigh him down heavily the more the fighting progressed, as he'd done nothing but kill his people and escalate the violence in service of the Alliance. Eight would never deny that he was a weapon made to kill, and that the world he hailed from was one that Koth and their relationship could not survive. He feared that Koth would see his true colors as unbending, bloodied steel made to cut down enemies and allies alike, and that Koth would reject him in disgust, as the Alliance had begun to. Day by day, their relationship descended into cold silence, as Eight slowly shut him out.

Koth tried to understand, pleaded for him to stay, that they could work it out together if he only let him help him--but Eight was not ready, and his heart trembled at the thought of such vulnerability. They left with incensed words and half-assed goodbyes that only left Koth with confused thoughts and dark emotions.

That's not to say their breakup ended their friendship entirely. Koth, to this day, retains his affections for Eight and calls him those silly petnames, if just to see the smile on his face again. Not being together hardly stops them from sharing the same close touch they had when they were and the occasional lingering glances, but hey, Koth is confident he doesn't need to be kissing Eight to show how much he cares. Just the way the world works, as he might say.

3. Rass Ordo

The newest in the line of Eight's love interests is the stunning Mandalorian, Rass. In some ways, he reminds Eight of Koth--playful and witty, with the addition of being a strong warrior, something an Echani such as he is privy to. Strength of character and heart are big factors when it comes to Eight's attraction, and it's just a bonus that he's quite nice on the eyes as well. Their relationship is still in the early budding stages, but they've shared more than a few moments in the heat of battle--or as they call it, the Echani and Mando love language.

Rass is attentive and sweet. Eight doesn't feel as if he has to hide anything from him, and their similar cultures makes him feel at home when he's by his side. Strangely enough, he feels compelled to fire back when the other flirts, like they're in one big battle dance with one another. Only time will tell where it takes them, and whether they're more than bursts of adrenaline in each other's veins.

#swtor #oc: orradiz #shara jenn #koth vortena #rass ordo #i'm not tagging all these ships dshadkasj #ueh ueh ueh......(softly crying over koth/eight) #ask meme: answered

[adrianasunderworld]

Random random question of randomness for funsies:

What would a love triangle — actual or misunderstood (as in the guy who is actually crushing thinks there are vibes going on with his crush and the other guy, or at least he thinks the other guy is romantically interested, but there are neither vibes nor romantic interest) — between the following look like? And would the other guys actually be interested after all?

Floyd > Ariel < Kalim: Kalim has a lot of energy, like Ariel, and he too is fascinated by interesting things as well as excited to share elements of his culture to her. She is excited to take him on his offer to join him on a magic carpet ride. No one is sure how/when/why Floyd is there and squeezed himself between Ariel and Kalim, but the latter two don’t mind; the more the merrier!!

Vil > Snow White < Jade : Even as he continues to wear a polite smile while sparingly interacting with Snow White, the elder Leech brother is initially unsure if this girl is as genuinely naive and trusting as she acts or if she’s just plain stupid. After a few carefully executed accidental/coincidental encounters, he finds himself trying to figure out Snow White less and casually acting more as her bodyguard gentlemanly acquaintance who just so happened to suddenly appear behind any stalkers/passive-aggressive bullies she is unwittingly accumulating. While Vil does buy some products from Ashengrotto on occasion, he sees Jade as trustworthy as a sea snake. Why was this eel suddenly paying close attention to Snow White? Did Azul want something from her?? No??? Their summarized conversation: V: Why are you interested in Snow? J: May I ask why you care? V: You may not and I do NOT. J: Then it is of no concern to you. ^_^

Azul > Tiana < Trey: Baking Buddies!! Cue Azul trying not to sulk on the side as Trey and Tiana bond over exchanging recipes and learning each other’s baking/cooking tips.

Rook > Merida < Sebek: Sebek basically challenges Merida to random challenges, and cannot fathom why she is able to keep up with him despite being a human. Rook probably just is having fun watching and is cheering them both on (esp Merida) if not energetically participating.

Silver > Mulan < Epel : Epel and Mulan maybe both bond over others judging them for their appearance more-so than their abilities. Silver doesn’t care regardless if he can see or not; it’s Lilia’s hands poor Epel may catch if anything he does seems to “threaten” Lilia’s ship)

Jamil > Jasmine < Ruggie : idk maybe Ruggie made a snide comment about Jasmine’s cushy life as a princess who didn’t know about “real world” challenges but then gets cowed by her stern rebuttal while proceeding to educate him on exactly what a “cushy” life as a princess is actually like as well as what she understands about —and what she is currently doing about —real world challenges others face. And idk maybe Jamil is watching this exchange with heart eyes at Jasmine for being an absolute QUEEN and forgets to be jealous?

Leona > Belle < Malleus

AND

Malleus > Aurora < Leona

In both Leo’s and Mal’s case, it is obviously a misunderstanding to everyone but them for a little bit 😅 Basically they both happen to meet each other’s crushes, happened to have an engaging interaction, had some more, caught the other during these interactions with their crush (Malleus and Belle have a lot of conversations regarding books/maybe gargoyles; Leona and Aurora both quietly hang out taking peace in the silence and each of them taking turns watching over the other as they nap or they both nap), and both feel a bit threatened (Leona thinks Malleus is showing off his knowledge to Belle and is demonstrating how he’s her intellectual level, therefore implying that Leona isn’t and thus isn’t good enough for her; Malleus wonders if he is frightening to Aurora after all if she is comfortable enough with Leona to watch over and take occasional naps alongside him).

Kalim and Ariel are too oblivious to realize Floyd is jealous. Jamil is nervous and tries to explain this to Kalim, because it's obvious to literally everyone else but them. But Kalim is all, "Aw, no, we're all friends! We're having fun!" All the while Floyd is deliberately sitting between them or when he can't, has his arm over the back of Ariels seat or something in a protective manner. I think Floyd knows Kalim isn't interested and that i's all platonic with him, but it's more an instinctual thing and less to do with logic.

Meanwhile Jade kinda likes getting a rise out of Vil a bit. Jade got got close to Snow White purely out of curiosity. But Snow is sweet, she likes walking in the woods with him, even trying mushroom recipes with him. I feel like Snow would think mushroom decorated stuff was very cute and gift Jade stuff decorated like that. So after some time, Snow becomes part of Jades circle, and Jade looks after her, because she is that naïve and trusting and someone has to keep her out of too much trouble. Cue Vil who is not all that happy with this turn of events. Snow is hanging out with Jade more and more and likes talking about their hikes and cooking. Vil knows the Tweels, especially Jade, is shady, and doesn't want her hanging around him. and like you said, Jade just goes "It's none of your concern". Half because it's not his business, but also getting a rise out of the normally put together housewarden is entertaining.

Trey loved the beignets Tiana brought to the unbirthday party and offered one of his recipes as trade if he taught her how to make them. Tiana agrees and they keep having this back and forth recipe exchange where they show each other different recipes. All of their dormates and friends are very pleased at this delicious turn of events. Well everyone but Azul. Tiana and Trey get along extremely well and have gotten very close and are often seen together and Azul is pissed. He keeps trying to get to come hang out at Mostro Lounge or to check out their new kitchen equipment and even then Trey comes up, "Oh that would perfect for the pastry Trey wanted to try and make!" "I have to study with Trey, but i'll come by later." It is infuriating to Azul.

The thing about Rook and Silver is that I don't think either of them are really the jealous types. But everyone else will do it for them.

Vil: Doesn't bother you that Merida is spending awful lot of time with Sebek?

Rook: Not at all! I find their competitive comradery a wonderful thing!

Lilia: Mulan seems to have gotten awfully close to Epel recently. She hasn't come by for sparring as much as she used to.

Silver: Yeah, they took up boxing together, they're really enjoying it.

There is not a jealous bone in either of their bodies.

Jasmine, while she does not take shit from people and will defend herself as needed, also acknowledges the benefits and also downsides of her upbringing. Like she brings up at the start of the movie her frustration at the fact she has never done anything for herself or of her own choice. I think Ruggie would have similar appeal to her as Aladdin, someone who has had the opposite background but won't quite condemn her for it. I think he initially expected her to be like Leona or Kalim, someone spoiled that needs someone to do everything for them. Only to be pleasantly surprised that Jasmine is willing and wants to learn to do things herself. Like maybe she asks Ruggie to teach her how to mend clothes or something because Jamil and the other princesses are busy lately and she's getting frustrated with herself, and she just wants to fix her favorite pair of pants, dang it! So Ruggie helps her and explains it in a way she can understand she picks up quickly afterwards. Then they keep hanging out after that, and it turns into Jasmine asking Ruggie for help or excitedly showing him something she did that he taught her to, more and more than Jamil, and now Jamil is feeling her absence in the dorm. He even walked through the Scarabia mirror to see Jasmine scurrying over to the Savanclaw mirror with what looked to be a plate of home made doughnuts. He stopped her to say Hello and ask what she was up to, and she explained she made her first batch of doughnuts without any help and wanted Ruggie to be the first to taste them since he showed her how to make them, before saying bye and hurrying off through the mirror.

The whole Malleus-Belle-Aroura-Leona thing I like to think is going on at the exact same time. Belle and Aroura are great friends, they hang out all the time, so of course they interact with Leona and Malleus all the time. But never all four of them together. Aroura, compared to a lot of the other princesses, is very calm and has a pleasant voice, she's been singing as she walks through the botanical garden tending and collecting plants, and instead of finding the noise annoying, Leona finds it very soothing. Belle will sit and read to them and they will both pass tf out. Meanwhile Malleus enjoys Belles company as another friend. Aroura is his Child of Man, but Belle is definitely someone else he considers a dear friend. (Something Lilia is very happy about. His boy has friends!) I feel like they would info dump on each other about their specific interest. Like Belle will talk at length about whatever series she's reading and Malleus will go on about gargoyles and architecture, and then they go try ice cream flavors with Aroura later. But again, it's never all four of them together, they aren't some big happy group, their with Malleus or Leona, on their own or as a trio. So it never clicked to either guy that the girl they like is hanging out with the other, even though it makes perfect sense. Only for Leona to find Malleus and Belle looking over piles of boos on the history of gargoyles and and Malleus to go into the botanical garden to find Aroura happily chatting with Leona after they both woke up from a nap. Neither of the mare happy about it, but have no way of telling Belle and Aroura about it without sounding like an asshole.

#twisted wonderland #twisted princess au #malleus draconia #leona kingscholar #kalim al asim #floyd leech #jade leech #vil schoenheit #trey clover #azul ashengrotto #ruggie bucchi #jamil viper #epel felmier #twst silver #rook hunt #sebek zigvolt #lilia vanrouge

[tasteofgummies]

I'm kinda of new at this but here we go...

My pronouns are she/her but sometimes I use other pronouns. I'm 5,2 and an Aries sun while my moon sign is a pisces. I like ceramics/pottery and art I'm also very interested in history I like to learn lots about my culture and review artifacts from museums. I've never been in a relationship but I'd say I'm a clingy person and love to spoil them. I have a half and half personality depending on my mood for sometimes I'm an introvert and want to be left alone but on rare times I'm very extroverted and hyper

My ethnicity is Mexican, Native American, Japanese and Celtic

Thank you for your time ☺️❤️

I did this with 4taro and DIO (pt 3) in mind

Jotaro x you ✨

>He never payed much mind to ancient artifacts, anthropology isn't his forte

>Probably those are his genes telling him not to mess with things like a stone mask-

>But he has a special eye for details, move you teach him, he becomes really good at recognizing which ones are genuine, which ones are fake, or older, newer, you get the deal

>Loves to display your pottery works on his office

>He tried it, but he doesn't enjoy it that much

>But secretly likes doing that thing where he puts his hands above yours to create a clay pot

>He has a bit of trouble keeping up with your personality, specially the hyper part, but he can't be harsh on you, it's you after all

>Has his share of extroverts around, proving he's not as annoyed as he says he is (just a tsundere even in his older years smh)

>It's easier for him to understand you when you're on an introverted period, but he loves both sides of you

>He likes when you drag him out of your comfort zone and show him new things

>Would act indifferent to your affections, but he loves it so much

>He's so touch starved istg

>He's more of a giver in a relationship, so maybe at the beginning it would be difficult for him to let you spoil him, but with patience, he'll get used to and enjoy it

>He's also mixed (italian, british and japanese) so he's familiar with the experience

>He'd help you if you want to reconnect/learn more about your heritage

Dio x you ✨

>Would tease you about your love for ancient artifacts

>You sometimes remind him of Jonathan, you can hear him mumbling things like "not this again..."

>Would say he was there when a random piece of ancient art was on style to impress you and then immediately regret it when you know your stuff and call him out

>(I headcanon Dio lies about his age frequently to appear more powerful/wise since a victorian vampire is relatively "young")

>I believe Dio enjoys both sides of you equally, likes when you're extroverted and act excited, it's cute to see someone so... Alive

>And he also likes when you're introverted and prefer to be in the shadows, like him

>You're going to reign the new world by his side after all

>He likes to say things about "How his new lover is his to corrupt" to sound more sadistic/scary but he thinks is adorable that he's your first partner, it's like you were unknowingly waiting for your true love to arrive

>He would love to be spoiled by you

>And he would return it, giving you whatever your heart desires

>Is clingy too!! He would never admit it tho

#relationship headcanons 🌼 #jjba headcanons #jojo headcanons #jjba x reader #jjba #jotaro x reader #jotaro kujo #dio x reader #dio brando x reader

[scentedsstuff]

I saw that you read ‘We Hunt the Flame’ which is a series I really enjoyed, and I just wanted to know your favourite things about the duology

The real question is what didn't I love about it? The duology overall is easily a 5/5⭐️ duology as it ticked off so many boxes for me. When I first read the synopsis I was already hooked.

1) First of all, it was the dual POV, I looooovvvvee dual POV in a fantasy book because you get to see exactly what another character is thinking/feeling/seeing in any given circumstance without having to infer or interpret things seen from the main character's POV alone.

2) Then there's the fact that the 2 main characters we follow start out as enemies by circumstance, it's not due to anything personal, just by chance. Any enemies to lovers variation, be that enemies to friends to lovers or enemies to allies to lovers that I get, I appreciate A LOT.

3) Then there's the mystery behind it, by that I mean the fact that they both knew each other by reputation and not much else. Nasir only knew of the Hunter and Zafira of the Prince/Assassin of death. It made following the story so much more interesting, personally speaking, and especially in Zafira's case I was always so excited when it was revealed to others that the Hunter was actually the Huntress.

The theme of mystery follows into the plot itself, with why can Zafira alone always find her way out of the Arz? What happened to the 6 sisters? Who is the silver witch and what part does she have to play in all of this? What really happened to all the magic in the land? There was so much to keep you thinking besides just the main characters themselves.

4) The integration of the language into the book. This is easily one of my favorite aspects of the book. Arabic is such a beautiful language, and I loved the way it was introduced and woven into the story so seamlessly. Some fantasy books can have this almost dictionary-like way of introducing new words to readers but I felt in the duology it was done quite well. An example I can think of is;

This is a favorite example of mine, it's quick, it's funny and it tells me that Habibi = beloved / is a term of endearment.

Continuing on from that, so much of the culture was introduced to the reader in a way that made you feel less like you were looking from behind a glass in and more like you were being brought along into this new world and culture without feeling like you were being talked down to.

5) The found family! The Zumra was a part of the book that I did not expect to love as much as I did. I've read books where characters are given one book to form a group/found family and sometimes it works and other times it feels forced and/or falls flat. In this case however, it worked out well. It felt genuine and not at all rushed, they came together as naturally as any band of strangers stuck on a mysterious and dangerous island together would. There was bickering, fighting, a lot of suspicion (naturally) but along the way they found comfort in each other, and not in any loud or obvious ways but small yet kind. Not in displays of affections such as hugs, or any physical contact but in choosing to sit with one another whether it was for dinner or for a chat, choosing to share a meal and eventually parts of their lives with each other.

6) Altair. Yes, he gets to be a reason all on his own. I was so scared he would only ever serve as the comedic relief and not much else, how glad I was when he wasn't. His sense of humor is top tier in my opinion, I loved his addition to the Zumra and his relationship with Nasir over the course of the duology was one of my favorite things to watch develop.

7) The platonic love. It was also nice to read about friendships where they were just that......Friends and there was no need to read into it more than that. I loved how it showed that you can just love your friends so fiercely without it having to indicate any sort of romantic feelings such as with Zafira and Yasmine, Altair and Kifah, Zafira and Altair, Altair and Benjamin, Nasir and literally anyone from the Zumra (besides Zafira) bcoz he finally has friends now😅etc

8) Nasir and his whole arc of letting people into his life. Throughout the books, it was this gradual journey of him allowing himself to grow closer to others. Not just that, but seeing that he was worthy of these relationships, that he was wanted. For me, I especially loved this dynamic with Zafira because he was the one that sought her out, even when they were merely allies by circumstance. You could see it in the way he would approach her first and almost try and justify his actions at times, even questioning why he felt the need to do this (but I feel it's clear why). It's similar to why he keeps Altair around despite all the bickering and threatening words, because they don't speak to him or cower away from him as if he were some monster, they merely see him, just as he is.

9) Let's continue looking at this dynamic in the romance aswell because the romance was 👌🏾💗💯! For me, I read their relationship as one where they both chose the other. Now what I mean by that is, previously Nasir had been pursued by someone and the same goes for Zafira. In this instance however, they both choose the other (what i'm trying to say is that he wanted her first and vice versa for her, it was not that scenario of them realizing someone had feelings for them and then reciprocating after finding out).

This can be seen when Zafira breaks down (in WHTF) and in his quick need to comfort her one of his first thoughts is to be affectionate and to kiss her but immediately he is taken aback, saying to himself 'When had he ever wished to kiss anyone?' showing how in the past he was the one pursued and did not initiate, so to him, this feeling of wanting to be affectionate and taking the initiative to simply be with someone was new to him yet part of him still clearly wanted to try (with her). In Zafira's case, it was finally reciprocating feelings which she herself harbored. It was all very sweet but ofcourse filled with a lot of angst and TENSION.

10) Zafira💗. That's all the point I needed to make on her. Just her is enough.

That's just to name a few things I liked/loved. I'm really glad you enjoyed the series anon and thank you for giving me the chance to talk about it some more! Take care!

#i could probably list so much more #thats how much i loved this duology #asks #we hunt the flame #sands of arawiya

[wlwsuperheroine]

I just finished ms. marvel the show for the first time. so short answer is: wowwww but long answer is: it has some positives and negatives.

Let’s start with negatives.

Changing Kamala’s powers. I know kamala isn’t as popular as some long time heroes but embegging is her whole gimmick! It’s like if someone took Peter Parker and gave him the powers of a snail and was called snail-man. And her powers are so cool too. I was so excited to see CGI stretching and polymorphic powers, you can do the hands part via literally iPhone camera, how could the whole marvel budget didn’t cut it?? No we got to have… light, for some reason. I’m just scared that other adaptation are going to do the same like in some new comics or games or something, I really, really hope not

Misrepresentation. This one is debatable, because as Muslim, the bar we have for American shows to represent us isn’t even on the floor, it’s lower, so I was pleasantly surprised to find that they didn’t 100% mess it up. But still there are so many minor technicalities, that might seem minor for someone outside of the religion/culture but for those are part of it, it’s a really big deal. Like some scenes, doing wudu with nail polish on, posting in the masjid, a dad telling his son to stop praying, so many words used in the wrong context, the whole djinn concept just shows that there was no Muslim opinion taken into consideration during filming.

the so many love interests. Like, 3, seriously, one wasn’t enough?? There shouldn’t even be one, but I digress. And just all the scenes involving the romantic subtext of each one literally made my blood boil. Literally this whole point could summarised to just the boys, they were so unnecessary.

And now let’s get to the positives, because despite the points made previously, I really enjoyed this show.

The representation. As I said before, it’s perfect, but it’s not bad. Then again, the only thing we share is us being Muslim. I’m Arab where kamala is Pakistani and these things heavily affect how people practice Islam, and also I live in a Muslim, Arab country where almost everyone is Muslim where kamala live the US, a place where she’s a minority. So of course there will be differences between our experiences. But I love how many arabic phrases were spoken during the show, the Eid scene, the masjid scene, the whole wedding episode. It was all so good and nice and representative.

My favourite thing about the show honestly is how artistic and stylised it is. They weren’t very consistent with it, but it was still good. All the different fonts and styles for the ms marvel intro was so amazing, I want to screenshot every frame. The credits are so well done too. When they want to show how daydreamy kamala is and there’s doodles around and different pieces of media incorporated in that. It was all so creative. The intro captain america scene was one of my top 5, to be honest

I love the costume design, especially kamala’s. They were all so modest, obviously. But they also showed Kamala’s personality, through her drawing and patches and just the colours and everything. They were so many stars and bolts, It’s just so similar to how I dress.

The progression of her relationship with her mom. I genuinely think that there’s no greater or stronger or closer bond between two people in this whole wide world than between a mother and her eldest daughter, and this show is only one of the many many examples of that. And it’s so relatable and realistic, like her mom being overprotective and hovering because that’s the result of generational trauma and how her mom was too distant, and she was just doing her best and just wants the best for her daughter and Kamala is such a sweet girl. So many of their scene together made my heart melt.

Centralising not just family, but the matriarchs in the family was such a smart move. because mothers truly are the ones who make families and heritage and everything is always tied back to them. Something something the souls of mothers residing in their daughters. The whole partition train episode had me bawling my eyes out.

The rest is just some things I love about kamala generally in every adaptation/timeline/universe

I just really love how unapologetically nerdy and dorky kamala is. She’s such a fangirl, she loves comics and superheros (usually women) and of course captain marvel. And she engages in that, she draws and make projects and her whole room is decorated in what interests like her. I just really love people like that, both fictional and in real life. (I may be projecting but I feel like it’s giving adhd, like it’s giving hyperfixation.)

Showing the brown girl experience of idolising older white women and wishing that we could do everything they do, but still believing that we can’t because of a variety of reasons but then overcoming that and doing the things you wanna do your way anyway

Just how good kamala is. She’s so polite but still speaks her mind respectfully. She helps people all the time even when she doesn’t have to. she’s always so nice and sympathetic to everyone. And even though she can become a giant, that is her greatest strength because people always want to repay her goodness and they always want to help her back. And it’s just so heartwarming.

#ms marvel #ms. marvel #ms marvel series #ms marvel tv #kamala khan #mcu #marvel #captain marvel #ms marvel 2022 #review

[petalologist]

Hi, could you talk about some of your Scara/Ayaka thoughts? I love a rarepair and I'm so interested in this (genuine, positive)

hi there!! i would LOVE to! it's always so exciting to see people interested in my silly little ship :"") rambling incoming:

i started shipping them together around a year and half, two years ago? and i think it mainly stems from similar traits to kazuyaka or kazuscara. the kamisato clan also had involvement in the raiden gokaden incident which i feel is overlooked sometimes, but i think that lore angle can be interesting (i like kazuscarayaka with this in mind!)

for me though it's mostly the potential and the abundance of similarities they share, despite the glaring differences. you have no idea how excited i was when i saw that scara's specialty dish was gonna be chazuke (ayaka's favorite!) but generally they're also both tea lovers. they're both well versed in negotiation and politics, as well as weaponsmithing/weaponry! despite scara's past with the fatui and his time in other nations he's still very heavily tied to traditional inazuman/japanese culture/clothing/etc, which ayaka seems to represent greatly in modern inazuma. i feel like ayaka, being so greatly involved with the preservation of culture and tradition through her work in the yashiro commission, probably knows a great deal about old inazuma that scara has probably seen die off with the times? i think there's so fun potential there.

morally they're also interesting to me. like, ayaka did orchestrate for the traveler's involvement in going against the shogun the inazuma AQ, with the yashiro commission serving as a secret base of sorts, the shuumatsuban's existence in general, etc. all of that to me shows her as a very strong person who will do what is necessary for the livelihoods of her people, even if that's opposing the god she basically works for. aka scara's creator/mother. whether this is taken in the direction of potential angst or some slow-burn understanding between them, i think they just have a lot of connections that can be touched on in interesting ways!

also my indulgent brain likes to think that scara's blunt/abrasive aspects and ayaka's compassion could bounce well off each other. we know ayaka has a really bad habit of keeping her thoughts and feelings to herself, i think scara would bully (lovingly) her into speaking her mind more. also, with her ambitions of seeing more of the world and indulging more in normal little desires like eating new foods and seeing new things, his abundance of experience probably lends towards lots of good stories to share? i feel like ayaka's character story 5 fits how i see them: he'd care little for formality and see her simply as "ayaka," and the idea of them seeing genuine aspects of one another is very appealing to me, even if not always pleasant.

other little scryk things:

both of their boss ascension materials are from mechanical beings (PMA and aeonblight drake)

both have weapon-related talents (ayaka with weapon mats, scara with weapon costs)

both of their special items are toys (ayaka with her childhood temari, scara's doll)

if you got through all of this i hope you enjoyed!! thank you again for being curious! :")

#ask #this was so fun to see in my inbox i love love love talking about them

[pokemonislanderprincess]

Since this is some last few months of Ash in the anime, and possibly all his other companions, I wanna discuss my OTP as much as possible. Don’t know just brings all the nostalgia back. So we have had a lot of hints from Misty in OS that she liked Ash, but what do you think are some concrete hints from his side that he likes her back?

I've been feeling the exact same way, so I'm loving all the asks I've been getting over the past couple of days, especially the ones about Pokeshipping!

I think one of the most concrete hints, of course, were two of the most infamous episodes for Pokeshippers from the Orange Islands: the episodes with Danny and Rudy. Ash shows some pretty obvious jealousy in both of those episodes, and both of those characters actually notice it as well. The fact that Ash actively shows jealousy towards two other guys who show obvious interest in Misty is something we don't normally see from Ash, and honestly, it's something we never really see again, especially in terms of other female companions.

The last episode of the OS also has a lot of significance on Ash's side to me. Not only is the fact that his first meeting with Misty is being referenced and recreated in the upcoming mini series shows the impact it had on him, but he also mentions it himself in that finale episode by telling Misty he doesn't think the fact they met was a coincidence. That quote always touched me very deeply, because not only is Ash telling Misty how important their relationship is to him, but he actually disputes her initial claims that them meeting was just a coincidence. So obviously it's something that's crossed his mind before, and that he thinks he and Misty were meant to be in each other's lives.

I've also always taken the DP episode with Misty's lure as a big hint on Ash's side. He is so protective of that lure, and for what? When do we ever see Ash not willing to share with his friends? He's probably the most selfless character in the whole show. But as soon as Dawn asks to borrow it, Ash immediately gets defensive and says "no way." To me, that means the lure is something very special to him; so special that he's actually willing to put his foot down and refuse to lend it out. And let's not forget it's also been shown that Ash still carries around the handkerchief Misty gave him before they went their separate ways, which is considered a significant parting gift in Japanese culture. Ash obviously treasures the gifts Misty gives him and actively brings them with him wherever he goes, while other gifts from friends he just leaves on display in his bedroom.

More recent, but I also feel like the SM episodes had quite a bit of hints on Ash's side as well, particularly in the gym battle episode. Ash is super complimentary of Misty, talking about how strong of a gym leader she is, that she "might not look it, but she's tough," not to mention he insists on specifically battling Misty. That battle between the two of them also has to be one of the best Ash/Misty battles in the whole series. Ash always has fun battling, of course, but every time I watch that battle, I feel like there's a different energy to it. Like Ash is genuinely having so much fun battling her and coming up with strategies to combat hers that she says no one else has ever broken through. The chemistry in that battle was just so off the charts and you can literally feel Ash's excitement coming through the screen.

#There's probably more tbh but these are the ones that stand out most to me #Asks #Pokeshipping #OS #DP #SM

[h0wdyrobin]

I want to try out writing some book reviews so here I go!

Characters: 5/5

Plot: 5/5

World Building: 4/5

Overall Rating: 5/5

“Author of Empire of Sand and Realm of Ash Tasha Suri's The Jasmine Throne, beginning a new trilogy set in a world inspired by the history and epics of India, in which a captive princess and a maidservant in possession of forbidden magic become unlikely allies on a dark journey to save their empire from the princess's traitor brother.” - Goodreads

I’m sure it seems cheap to give a book a 5/5 rating, but I like to be liberal with my stars. This book is genuinely so amazing and I can’t recommend it enough (I’m going to keep this first part spoiler free, but I will go more in-depth later on, so beware if you have not read this book yet). Tasha Suri writes some of the most interesting and strong female characters that I have ever seen. Our two leads, Malini and Priya, are shown to be these very powerful and strong women who are also heavily flawed. I really appreciate the way she makes them flawed, everything about them feels natural and real. The world she creates is also incredibly detailed and interesting. There is a lot of political intrigue and religious conflict that I personally find to be very interesting. I won’t comment much on her representation of Indian culture or stories, since I have little knowledge on them, but in my opinion she does an excellent job of creating an interesting and vast world. The only complaint I could have is that it can be hard to remember the names or places since there are a lot of them, but that isn’t a specifically Jasmine Throne issue it’s present in almost all fantasy books. Overall, this novel is extremely well written, has good pacing, and great representation of a sapphic couple. If you aren’t hooked by just Malini and Priya’s relationship, the political conflicts surrounding them will surely get you. I would very much recommend it if you enjoyed Priory of the Orange Tree (which I will also be reviewing, hopefully).

Be warned!!! I am going to spoil things in this section, go read the book if you haven’t!

Now I, of course, must talk about the romance/bond between Malini and Priya because oh my god is it amazing. The slow progression of this love they have for each other is beautifully executed. Every small intimate moment feels monumental and earned, and by the end you can’t help but root for their relationship. At the end when they share their first kiss in the waterfall I was flailing with excitement. Suri does such an amazing job of making these complex and interesting female characters who are so much more than you expect. Malini is first talked about as a traitor, which can create this almost violent image of her, but when Priya first sees her she seems nearly pitiful. I sympathized with Malini’s pain but also saw the way she manipulated people to do what she wanted. I think the beauty in this manipulation is the fact she avoids using it on Priya. She could most likely use her silver tongue to get Priya to free her from prison, but she genuinely wants to gain Priya’s trust, which is just so romantic. And Priya is just amazing too, head strong and stubborn but not in an annoying way. I often see female characters who are written as stubborn but come off as arrogant and stupid. Priya is definitely stubborn, but in some ways it benefits her and helps her at times. Overall our main characters are just amazing in nearly every way. The side characters are not to be overlooked though. You have Bhumika, though she is pregnant she shows a considerable amount of strength and will. She is extremely dedicated to her community and literally kills her husband to get the Ahiranya temple back. She is the definition of girl boss lets be honest. Rao is also so great. I don’t have a ton to say about his character in this book because he doesn’t get a ton of chances to shine until the next one (I will also review that). But he is so endearing to me for whatever reason. He is so devoted to Malini, but in the most sweet and platonic way possible. It is so nice to see a true friendship between a male and female character that I know will never become a romance plot or anything. The conflicts outside of the romance are so interesting too. The way these different religions either work together or against each other for different reasons is very cool to me. I also love how she includes feminism and patriarchal ideas in it without it feeling out of place or forced. The patriarchal society that Malini and Priya live in feels realistic. The biggest issue I think I have is the lack of explanation for certain concepts especially for religious figures. I feel as if we got very little information about the Mothers of the Flame (I think that is Chandra’s religion?) or the Nameless Gods. You get quite a bit of information about the Yaksa and stuff, but I think a bit more explanation on these religious concepts could have helped me. Other than that this book is just so wonderful please go read it.

#book review #jasmine throne #the jasmine throne #the burning kingdoms #Tasha Suri #sapphic

[ear-worthy]

Immigrantly Media Presents Banterly Podcast Dissecting Gen Z Pop Culture

When people converse about starting a podcast, they usually begin with "who will be in the podcast." That decision takes up the bulk of their planning process. Others -- perhaps those with a more acute sense of a game plan -- decide to reverse engineer the process and begin with a clear definition of their audience. In effect, "Who the hell is going to listen to our podcast and listen to us talk?"

After listening to the premiere episode of Banterly, I strongly suspect that the producers and hosts clearly delineated their audience. That target audience is Gen-Z.

The creators of the award-winning podcast Immigrantly have launched a new show for an under-served market: Gen-Z listeners who want to hear complex and critical conversations about pop culture. 

Perhaps the folks at Immigrantly Media have inspected the data I've reviewed numerous times. That listener data from PodTrac and others reveals that podcast growth is strongest among Millennials and Gen-Z listeners. The weakest demographic for podcast listening is people over 65. Technology challenges and ingrained media habits limit podcasts among older listeners. The folks at Immigrantly Media note: "We know that Gen-Z podcast listeners are on the rise, but where can they get an analysis of the latest TikTok trends, contemporary films, and TV shows from people their own age? Enter Banterly." Hosted by Aditi Misra, a Gen-Z comedian, and Aidan Taylor, a recent journalism grad, these two "banter" about pop culture and media analysis from "an unfiltered and socially conscious Gen-Z perspective." Aditi Misra is a recent graduate from Barnard College, originally from Tampa, Florida. She does stand up around New York City and is part of a sketch group called Dem We Boys with her dearest friends (notably, the Boys). Her obsessions are lengthy, including John Mulaney, the NYC Ferry, and labor unions. Her biggest fear? Losing her Mort impression. And also bugs. Aidan Taylor is a journalism graduate from NYU, hailing from St. Louis, Missouri. When he’s not writing, sleeping, or eating, you can find him watching every single Real Housewives show (besides Jersey), or rewatching the best show of all time, Glee. While he’s not a huge movie buff, The Goonies, Pitch Perfect, and Shiva Baby are his top three (in no particular order). His favorite dessert is chocolate chip cookies. “Immigrantly’s focus on the importance of uplifting underrepresented voices inspired me to join their team as a co-host for Banterly,” said co-host Aditi Misra. “Our generation is constantly engaging with TV, movies, and trends, and we hope to do it in a way that brings diverse identities into the conversation. While I can’t wait to give my hot takes on these topics, I am mainly looking forward to what our listeners think. Banterly will ultimately be a two-way conversation, and I hope we all learn something new from it.” Co-host Aidan Taylor shares, “I was drawn to Banterly and Immigrantly Media because of their mission of telling stories from often silenced communities. This new podcast is an exciting way to engage with a younger generation, my generation, on pop-culture, something I have always been interested in, while also having those deep and important conversations tying back to our society as a whole. It’ll hopefully be a fun weekly escape for listeners from the craziness of the world, and they’ll end up laughing with us and maybe step away with a different perspective.”

I listened to the premiere episode that debuted on January 10th and genuinely enjoyed it. The co-hosts have solid chemistry, evident even after the first episode. Both hosts don't try to be funny, but instead allow the flow of conversation to dictate the humor. Their discussions on Taylor's Zillow Stalking, and Misra's ASMR dental devices are delightfully strange, yet so poignantly sincere. 

Their initial critique on the TV show Sex Education was comprehensive, incisive, yet casual and conversational.

The debut episode had superb sound design with simple yet effective intro music, rich, deeply resonant co-host voices and a clean sound throughout the episode. Banterly is brought to you by Immigrantly Media, creators of the Immigrantly podcast and Invisible Hate. Funding for Banterly is supported by American Public Media Group (APMG). 

 Finally, just because Banterly is designed for Gen-Z listeners, that doesn't preclude other generations dialing in. I'm a Baby Boomer and I thoroughly enjoyed it. We all benefit when we reach out to other generations, races, people with different lifestyles, and those with disagree with.

At the end of the episode, the co-hosts do the typical "we want your feedback and here's how to do it" speech. Then Taylor made me laugh when he admitted, "Yeah, I don't handle negative feedback well." 

Oh, the honesty. It's refreshing.

#podcast #podcasting #gen z experience #pop culture

[artistgoudeau]

Black/fem reader x Everyone “The Do-Over”

Reader is a huge Blerd (black nerd) that gets transported to Attack on Titan universe in the year 843. She “luckily” was coming home from vacation. Fell asleep on the plane and woke up outside the walls (with her bags to make life easier for y/n) Now reader is curvy and has a fat ass (I DO make the rules). This, plus her darker skin and fluffy hair, drives everyone crazy. Erwin, Levi, Miche, and Hange are all very close. Rumors go around about them fucking all the time. But no one could prove it. You didn’t even know if they liked each other. You could only guess. But Erwin is always so interested in talking with you. Clumsy man seems to always drop something on the floor for you to bend over and reach. Hange squeals everytime she sees you and is NOT shy about flirting with you. You’re so pretty and she genuinely is curious about you. She ends up brushing her hands in weird places but that’s just her being extra excited. Levi is canonically a virgin so you wouldn’t want to make him uncomfortable with your cleavage and fat thighs when it was hot and you had to train. But it seemed okay because everytime you looked his way, his eyes would travel up from your ass to your eyes and stay there. Miche was the most obvious. He liked to flirt and joke about what your babies would look like. How those kind of hips are rare and he would love to help you with extra training. He would sniff you often. Commenting on how your hair smelled so soothing. You catch the other three vets staring daggers at him if they happen to catch his flirting.

One day you overhear a conversation happening in the commander's office. Eavesdropping isn’t very nice.

Miche: good GOD I can’t take much more of this..

Levi: Are you some teenage idiot who can’t keep it in his pants? Y/n has probably had enough of the fucking flirting! You’re her superior! Act. Like. It.

Hange: Now WAIT A MINUTE! I know for a fact you’ve been beating off to her in the showers!

Levi: And just how THE HELL would you know that?

Erwin: Okay. Okay. Let’s not beat around the bush, y/n is very…ahem… attractive. But we can’t just all gang up on her with our feelings.

Miche: Why not?

Hange/Levi/Erwin: WHAT THE FUCK?!/ Hah?!EXCUSE ME!

Miche: whoa whoa whoa! I didn’t mean FORCE HER! I meant what if we all approached her in our own way and try to actually build bonds with her. She will feel left out if only one of us showed interest and the rest of us just ignore her trying to be nice. Besides, I don’t really want anyone else to have a chance to steal her. If we can learn to share we might be able to make this work.

Erwin: That is incredibly-

Before your commander could even finish his sentence you dropped your papers you were holding close to your chest as you leaned your ear to the door to listen. Up until that moment you had very sinful thoughts about most of the scouts. Muscles + being in an unfamiliar place with no one to relate to or really even looks like you = sad(horny) and desperately seeking an excuse to act out. It was juvenile, you knew. But you had been transported to an ENTIRELY fictional world where you knew everything about everyone and you were the ONLY brown skinned person in the walls! You had been stuck out in the wilderness when you were caught by none other than the Commander himself.

~Flashback~

You both stared at each other for what felt like hours. Him: looking at a woman with features he’s NEVER seen before. A person that only exists in the past and in his fathers stories about the world. You: completely stunned by the fact that one second you were at the airport on your way home from vacation, and now you are staring at a man (that you have definitely read questionable fanfiction of) staring at you. That would just be too good of a cosplay to have a giant naked man also running behind him to catch up to you two. Then you snapped out of it and called him by his name.

Y/n: ERWIN MOVE OUT OF THE WAY!

You were running towards him before you even registered what was happening. You ran to his horse's backside and stood at a decent distance before you smacked its ass and it ran like hell. Erwin seemed to be in a trace as his eyes followed your frame but his hearing stopped working. When his horse suddenly lurched forward he was nearly thrown off but had enough sense to right himself before turning to look back at you trying to run the titan in a different direction. What the fuck are you doing?

Y/n: oh fuck! I’m gonna die! I can’t believe this! I hope Erwin is okay! God if you’re there I need some fucking help!

God answered your prayers that day.

As if on cue (like it’s a tv show or something) the titan suddenly is struck from it’s nape and falls a few fucking feet from you!!! You didn’t even have to look up to know that it was Levi who came to the rescue. Not that you could, you were currently hyperventilating, sweating, and swearing.

Levi: hey! HEY! Look at me! Can you tell me your name? How did you get out here? Are you alone?

You had enough sense (and therapy) to try and focus on his words.

Y/n: my name is y/n. I don’t know. And I don’t know. I just woke up here.

Levi: outside the walls?

Y//n: looks like it.

Erwin finally speaks up after watching Levi save you then listening to Levi question you.

Erwin: How is that possible? There’s no one living beyond the walls and someone as unique as you would’ve been hard to miss inside the walls.

You look at Erwin and you can’t control the deviated look on your face. Both of them catch it but they don’t know what it means. You are crashing now from the rush of life saving adrenaline. You need to be quick and concise here and get your point across.

Y/n: I am not from this world. But everything you know about the Titans and this world has been a lie. *you look to Erwin and stare into his eyes* Your father was right, Erwin. And because he was so close to the truth the MPs killed him. And he WAS very close. I know the truth the king is hiding from you all and I want to make this right.

Erwin and Levi are stunned. The truth of everything?! Dropped seemingly from the sky!? This must be a trap! But Erwin's father being mentioned was entirely too specific.

Erwin: How do you know my father if you aren’t from this world? How do we know you aren’t a mad woman dressed so strangely and speaking in a dialect I can’t quite grasp. Even if you aren’t mad, how could we possibly know you are telling the truth.

You think for a moment then look to Levi

Y/n: Your name is Levi Ackerman. You were born from Kuschel Ackerman, who was a prostitute, so your father is unknown. She died while you were still young and you were raised by a man named Kenny. He taught you how to fight with a knife and then left you when you could defend yourself. You and you friends, Isa-

Levi: ENOUGH!

You flinch away but you understand. You just told a lot of his personal business right next to Erwin and you’re almost sure he didn’t know all of that. But accuracy was key here. You couldn’t be lying or crazy to recount his life in such detail. He and Erwin were stunned.

Erwin: I think it’s best if you come with us.

Y/n: please. I promise I just want to help humanity.

Levi: tch by spilling everyone’s personal information?

Y/n: no. Because I know everything that happens concerning the titans, humanity, and survey corps for the next 2000 years. And in the next five years, if we don’t change the future, humanity and the earth itself will be 80% decimated. The ground will be uninhabitable for hundreds of years. And even when humanity somehow survives. The land you all currently occupy. Your cultures. Your literature. Your pasts, presents, and futures will be completely eradicated by the outside world in the next 2000 years. Please believe me. I DON'T want this to happen and I’m sure you don’t either. What’s more, I can prove it.

Erwin: Show me.

Chapter end

Please leave comments and criticisms. I am just starting out writing fanfics and I want to make sure I’m doing something right lmao.

#erwin x black reader #erwin x reader #levi x black reader #levi x reader #miche x reader #miche x black reader #hange x reader #hange x black reader #aot x reader #aot x black reader #attack on titan

[mostlymash]

charles for the character thing

Yay! I'm so excited!

Charles, my absolute favorite character on MASH--let's go!

favorite thing about them:

I enjoy several things about his character--the way he sets himself apart from others in quite an aloof way, but there's so much hidden underneath that he does not dare express except in the rarest of occasions! I love that he enjoys music and is very cultured, no matter what he's put through. He's also such a perfectionist, striving to be the best at whatever he does. He has a wicked sense of humor and such an arrogant exterior, yet there is some deep-seated pain beneath that haughty surface that is always a treat for the show (and fanfic) to explore!

least favorite thing about them:

I think he was written a bit inconsistently at first, because he was seemingly brought in as a kind of second love interest for Margaret and it did not fit his later cultured, sophisticated aloof personality to flirt with a married woman and check out her hips/body, making very suggestive comments about breeding. He's faaaar too sophisticated to be openly flirtatious, save when he is drunk (the Donna storyline and even the Martine storyline are more believable versions of a Charles in love).

favorite line

"Whereas I have a father, you have a dad."

"...not even as an enemy" (and big rare toothy smile)

honestly, every time he talks, I love it. He could read the phone book and I'd love it.

brOTP

I enjoy Charles with just about anyone platonically, most specifically with Hawkeye (they just have this wonderful teasing relationship that is well-matched in intelligence and wit), BJ (they seem to have a truly mischievous undercurrent running through them that Hawkeye doesn't really share, and many of their pranks on the show were great!), Klinger (I love the meal that Klinger brought to him and wish that their relationship had always had that kindness), and even Margaret.

OTP

I used to have one, but now I have two: initially I enjoyed Charles/Margaret in a kind of tough love post-Korea slow burn type way, not necessarily happening during the duration of the war. He's wallowing in self-pity and guilt after the musicians were killed and she comes into town as a civilian nurse and sets him right. I enjoy that she is strong and can easily take him on to make him rethink what he's doing. I like the idea of Margaret helping Charles heal, while he serves as a man that, though he says and does the wrong thing very often, is reliable and honest at his core (unlike Frank, Donald, and Scully).

I also enjoyed Charles/Hawkeye because I think that their shared trauma of deaths in the family at a young age can be played out together, and Hawkeye is the perfect person to draw Charles out of his shell with the genuine concern and brazenness that Hawkeye has. I like imagining Hawkeye making Charles more open, more vulnerable and Charles being a source of calm for Hawkeye.

I also like Charles/Donna as a romantic pair, but because their relationship was so very short and never followed up on the show, it means that I have to rely more on fanfiction (and headcanons) for this pairing.

nOTP

I honestly don't know if Charles has been put with someone that I can't take. The only one that would be super jarring, I suppose, is Charles/Potter or Charles/Radar, because it just wouldn't make any sense to me. This also goes for Charles/Trapper and Charles/Frank.

random headcanon

Charles's ego (and perfectionism, to that end) is in fact a defense mechanism to hide his insecurities about failure as a surgeon, son, etc.

unpopular opinion

It seems like everyone on tumblr headcanons charles as either gay or ace and in doing so, willfully ignores that every canon relationship he had on the show was with a woman. I do get the asexual bent, I do. There could be an argument that he may be curious about men. But gay? I mean, yes, DOS (the actor) was gay, but in the 70s and 80s, there were less subcategories of sexualities in those days, and I would argue that the MASH writers meant for Charles (and BJ and Trapper and Radar and Margaret) to be straight. With Hawkeye, bi fits him just fine. I dunno, as a person who is mostly asexual and who has recently joined tumblr, I think that people on this site in general are uber-focused on sexuality/ships first and there is very little focus on anything else about the characters, and today's questionnaire is an absolutely refreshing departure from the constant thoughts that every same-sex touch or look is proof of love/lust but every canon MF relationship is comphet. *shrug*

song I associate with them

classical music, like Saint-Saens Organ Symphony, Frank Symphony in D Minor, Tchaikovsky whatever; whenever I write lots of Charles, I play classical music

favorite picture of them

#charles winchester iii #thanks for the ask!

[hyperbali]

Agatha Harkness Was Right, And Here’s Why

Alright. Finally had to sit down and write my way out of this quiet, internal temper tantrum, and a few people were interested in seeing what I had to say, so I present to you:

Agatha Harkness Was Right, And Here’s Why

Disclaimer: MASSIVE spoilers for the entirety of WandaVision, and I am not nice about it.

I’ll start off by saying that, for all its foibles, WandaVision was genuinely a good example of a property within the MCU/Disney umbrella that stepped out of the usual ‘good guys fight bad guys action extravaganza’ in a way that pushed the envelope. The pseudo-horror aspect of the first few episodes is something I would really love to see engaged with on a more thoughtful basis in future projects.

I would say that it proved to be more than a vehicle to promote toys, but… well…

Yeah. Anyway.

I’ll assume that you watched WandaVision if you’re reading this, but quick recap: In the aftermath of ‘the Blip,’ Wanda is left broken and alone with no one in her corner. Her biggest mentor willingly abandoned his team to get his own ‘happy’ ending (do not get me started on Steve, that’s a document in and of itself), her other biggest mentor is probably off enjoying his family while ignoring the incredibly racist killing spree he’s been on for the past five years, and her lover is dead. When she goes to claim the body, she’s told nuh-uh, that’s government property, please leave.

So she goes to a plot of land in the middle of some nowhere town in New Jersey, which Vision apparently bought despite the fact they were living a pretty decently comfortable life in Scotland, where she looks at the deed that Vision drew a heart on and wrote ‘To Grow Old In’. Very sweet. Kind of weird, considering nothing of this caliber had ever been suggested for either of their characters and they’d been actively running from specifically the U.S. authorities? But sweet.

She has a breakdown and, in her grief, contains the entire town of Westview and all 3,892 of the people in it in her own personal paradise, where nothing bad ever happens beyond sitcom hijinks, no one dies, and every problem is tied up and neatly dealt with by the end of an ‘episode’. Except we learn that this is only paradise to Wanda, who apparently shares the aspect of having to relate everything to her favourite pop culture with Tony, because everyone else in Westview is more or less being psychologically tortured by the incredible amount of pain she’s in, forced to be puppeted actors to make her happy.

Bear in mind, Westview might have been bigger at some point - we have no idea how many people survived the Blip, or how many have been brought back to life within the past few weeks of the current setting. Either way, this is a town that has already dealt with a lot of trauma being dragged into yet another awful, much more specific kind of emotional damage, thanks to ‘the heroes’. Nice.

Agatha Harkness, a witch who’s been up to who-knows-what in the 340 years since she drained the coven that tried to kill her for getting a little too ambitious into jerky, feels the massive expenditure of magical power and decides to investigate. All the while, she carefully uses her own magic to try and peek into Wanda’s psyche, her motivations, all while keeping up appearances and not letting slip that anything is amiss.

I’ll point out that she’s no saint here, either - she specifically keeps one Westview resident at her mercy, and knows what’s happening to the rest of them, but doesn’t attempt to stop it. I’ll chalk that up to her pragmatism; their ‘sacrifice’ was fine to her as long as she could figure out how Wanda could have done something so unheard of in terms of power.

What we come to learn over the course of the show is that, given everything that happened, Wanda didn’t mean to take over an entire town and tool it into her own personal slice of heaven. She very quickly became aware of it; we know that she knows it’s her own personal bubble as soon as episode three, when she’s confronting Monica about how the latter could possibly know about Ultron. Wanda is made further aware of how much damage this is inflicting on others in episode five, when Vision himself tells her that these people are scared. But still, she has everything handled! It’s okay! The outside world is worse, trust her!

Her handling of the question, ‘where are all the children of Westview,’ is one that bears some thinking - and, y’know, kind of more than a little concern. They’re allowed to walk around as part of the ‘Halloween special,’ but as Vision walks further and further out towards the edges of town where Wanda doesn’t have as much full control, people are just frozen in place, or conducting the same few seconds of action over and over. And fully aware of being trapped.

How are they being sustained? Eating, sleeping? If someone isn’t part of her storyline, is she just locking them down into a coma? What made Wanda decide that keeping the children ‘out of the way’ was somehow kinder than involving them, especially given her later argument that she’s been trying to keep the entire town safe and happy?

The fact of the matter is, she only actually starts to feel remorse for any of this after she’s confronted with the fact that, after weeks of being at her mercy, the townspeople of Westview would rather be dead than endure another moment of having to play nice for her enjoyment. She finally opens the ‘bubble’ to let them out - which leads to the ‘epic’ finale of three different entities trying to take down Wanda and her happy family: the S.W.O.R.D. military led by Hayward, the White Vision, and Agatha.

Winding back to how we got here: after Agatha uses her own trapped resident, Ralph Bohner (who, given his casting and the props in place during the last episode, I’m willing to bet is actually the missing witness protection person Jimmy was looking for) in an attempt to lure out Wanda’s reasoning - and fails - she’s pretty much done pretending. She tricks Wanda into her basement, nullifies her powers, and makes her face her own past to get to the truth of the matter.

Not going to lie, favourite moment of the show. Kathryn Hahn killed Agatha’s slightly-amused-slightly-irritated observations about Wanda’s coping mechanisms, and the whole arrangement was extremely meta. I would have paid real money dollars to see her do the same thing to the likes of Tony, Strange, and Loki. Hell, even just having her meet the rest of the Avengers? Augh. If wishes were fishes.

When Agatha comes to the conclusion that Wanda is the vaunted, nigh-indestructible force of nature that she’s literally spent her entire life reading about is the ultimate source of chaos magic and will likely bring about the end of the world, she’s pretty understandably taken aback. To that matter, the fact that Wanda… has very little control over any of it, and is using what she does understand to play housemaker? After how long Agatha has spent learning control, hiding in plain sight, just to be child’s play compared to what Wanda has at her fingertips? I’d be pretty pissed off, too!

The way that WandaVision handled both of the major ‘fights’ - Vision versus White Vision ending in philosophy, and Wanda ending up beating Agatha at her own game of deception - is excellent. A little grating that they had to go with the beat down angle before they got there, but this is MCU; punches and thrown cars had to get shoved in somewhere. And, given that this series very much played with the idea of grey morality, I was sort of hopeful that Agatha would end up in a not-quite stalemate arrangement with Wanda. She’s not as powerful as the Scarlet Witch, but she has the know-how that Wanda sorely lacks; in recompense for her own deeds, she would be able to teach what she knows while also kind of scheming on her own time.

Y’know, like what they did with rehabilitating Loki?

Except that Wanda, who has just gone through the entire rigamarole of coming to terms with the fact that she trapped thousands of people into a nightmare scenario against their will, rendering them helpless to her mercy… traps Agatha into a nightmare scenario against her will, rendering her helpless to Wanda’s mercy.

That moment actually shook me. Oh, my god. We’re supposed to still look at Wanda as a good guy after this?

This isn’t even covering the incredibly awful confrontation with her and Vision where she tries to gaslight him into believing that everything is A-OK, or the fact that the person she gets most violent with (apart from Agatha) is Monica Rambeau, a black woman who spends most of the show bending over backwards trying to say that what Wanda is doing is understandable, justified, and just needs a gentle touch to be dealt with.

That could be its own document, too - how Monica, much as she’s incredible and definitely looks to be a really exciting addition to the MCU roster, more or less gets used as the Good One to absolve and enable Wanda’s actions. One of her last lines to Wanda, after seeing how the people of Westview (rightfully) look at Wanda like she’s monstrous, is “they’ll never know what you sacrificed.”

Sacrificed what? The fake husband and fake kids she made out of her own compulsion to pretend that everything is okay? None of that would have existed if she’d been given the proper resources to actually cope with how much loss she’s had to deal with. None of that would have existed if she hadn’t caused this problem in the first place.

In the end, Wanda flies off in her fancy new gear before the FBI shows up, avoiding any real consequences to her actions - which has pretty much been the running theme of her character ever since she was introduced to the MCU in Age of Ultron. The worst kind of direct consequence she’s ever gotten was being grounded to her room for a while, then kept in the Raft for, like, maybe a day - and both times, she was broken out post-haste.

Meanwhile, she worsened the issues in Sokovia (which, I will say upfront, was Tony’s fault to begin with), unleashed the Hulk on Johannesburg, got a pretty significant amount of civilians killed as bystanders in Lagos (hey, how come Wanda keeps turning a lot of black people into casualties?), and stood back in Wakanda to let their people try to fight off Thanos from getting to Vision until it was clear that there was no other option than for her to get involved.

Great Power Comes With No Responsibility At All, Actually.

Wanda, in the several years she has maintained her identity as an Avenger, has proven time and time again that she takes on innumerable risks without any full understanding of what they mean, allows others to take on the brunt of the fallout for her, and looks sad until she’s forgiven and moves on to the next problem. She has no business casually throwing around the kind of power that being the Scarlet Witch entails, not until she’s actually made any kind of headway into making reparations for what she’s done and tried, really tried, to get a handle on what she’s capable of.

Which she’s apparently doing in the last post-credits scene, astral reading the literal Book of the Damned on her lonesome in the mountains, but… without anyone to guide her, or give her any kind of boundary?

[I ran out of images I could post, but you know exactly what image I am referring to here]

Agatha Harkness was right. And that should terrify everybody that has to deal with Wanda in the future.

(P.S. Do we know if she actually even killed that dog? We never see her holding anything but a blanket, and characters go in and out of that show all the time. Granted, she wasn’t great with the cicada-turned-bird... hmm.)

Additional Notes:

“Well, you’re a Tony Stan, of course you think Wanda’s a villain”

I like Tony because he’s such an awful mess, and the narrative isn’t exactly kind about telling him what a piece of shit he can be! He reaped a lot of problems, created practically half the villains in the MCU, and ended up dying a martyred hero. Thanks to being the tent pole by which this franchise hoisted itself into a cultural powerhouse, he will always be their golden savior. If you want to read about how he’s the true villain of this entire affair, feel free to look up any number of takedown pieces about him that are out there. He’s a dick. I will never “uwu sad baby who did nothing wrong ever 🥺” him the way people do about Wanda.

“Why are you so pressed about this”

Because something as good in concept as WandaVision could and should have been about anyone other than the whitewashed, antisemitic take on Wanda Maximoff that MCU brought upon us. They put crucifixes on her wall in Civil War, for fuck’s sake!

“Weren’t you mad about them not including Aaron Taylor-Johnson”

At this point, I am almost kind of relieved the real Pietro wasn’t resurrected for this, because god knows they probably would have killed him all over again just to inflict that much more pain on his sister.

“Anything else you’d like to tell us, turbo nerd”

This was literally itching at me all weekend to write, so it’s more or less just to get it off my chest. If you powered your way through it, uh… thanks? Sorry if I yucked your yums, but I tried to be as clear with the disclaimer as I could. 🤷‍♂️

#blah blah #long post #marvel #mcu #wandavision #wandavision spoilers #wandavision critical #anti wanda maximoff

[prose-for-hire]

Guardian of the lost soul

Pairing: Spike x reader

Request: if what the reader dress as an angel (kinda like Supernatural angels) and she finds the scoobies gang  in the haunted house with the costumes magically change them. (you know the episode ^-^)  only this time , Spike sees her wings and in angel terms that's a soulmate.

Requested by: @everlastingartist​

A/N: Kind of a soulmate au I think? I am not familiar with the Supernatural angels (yet - I plan on actually watching it soon) I did google them and I’m still none the wiser lol. So this is my own interpretation of what was requested! I chose a guardian angel, and twisted it in my own way. It is very made up but that’s what I’m here to do!

Also I mashed up two Halloween episodes together for this one but Spike doesn’t have a chip. Not even a soul. But he finds his soulmate.🖤🦇

You loved Halloween in Sunnydale, it never disappointed. The pumpkins were freshly carved, there was candy everywhere you turned and kids really did love dressing up and making a nuisance of themselves. Even when you were running for your life the mood always picked up somewhere after midnight. And hey, being friends with a very protective Slayer had its benefits.

You were basically skipping around the streets, you were excited about going to the haunted house. You had tried to convince Willow, along with buffy to take the ghost costume off but she flat out refused. Even when you begged all the way to the party. You wanted to get to the end so you could join the party with your friends and you waited briefly for everyone to show up so you could enter together. While you and Willow waited outside, a figure in a dark cloak pushed past you. There was something about them that you recognised but they muttered some insult at you for being in their way so you decided to just ignore them. Eventually, everyone arrived and you were able 

You had chosen to dress as an angel. A guardian angel. Not the stereotypical kind, one you had read of in some of Giles’ thick mythology books. You had been bored and the passages had been surprisingly interesting in an I’m-so-bored-I’d-read-the-back-of-a-cereal-packet kind of way. It spoke of the kinds of angels, of the truth about how they operate rather than those spoken of in popular culture. Some of your costume was white however as you wanted people to at least recognise what you had come as (although nobody except Willow had got it). 

You went through the various rooms together and had a laugh at some of the more ridiculous spooks in the house. There had been a slight tension a few words exchanged but mostly you were having a nice time. Everyone was squabbling over which way to go next and you had lost interest, managing to break away from the others.

As you did this, you saw the hooded figure again. You were sure you recognised the flashes you had seen of the person’s face. You left your friends for a moment to tap them on the shoulder and who should turn to face you but the big bad of the moment. Spike. You hadn’t faced him alone yet but he had always singled you out when you were with the others. The conversation always turned suggestive, which annoyed Buffy to no end and made you try to hide yourself when you were with the others.

You couldn’t lie and say you didn’t love the attention though. Hope that he would catch your eye. You longed for even a moment alone with him, although you were well aware of the danger. You couldn’t help like him but there was no way you would ever admit that to your friends. 

“What’re you doing here?” You asked, trying to suppress a smile.

“Thought I’d drop by… see what tasty… treats Halloween has to offer” He closed the space between you as his voice became a little huskier with every step. His hand was on the wall, palm flat against it. His arm blocking you in as he slowly scanned your body before returning to your face.

“What has the devil got in store for you this Halloween do you reckon pet?” He asked, the smirk audible in his voice, “Somethin’ naughty no doubt…” He added, biting his lip teasingly.

“I’m an angel. Always preferred them anyway” You shrugged. It had been a very low blow and when you saw his expression darkening into anger rather than lust, you backtracked – knowing better than to get him mad, “To the devil, I mean”

“Bollocks – where are the wings? The halo? And you’re not foolin’ anyone wearing that white-” he gestured wildly to the corresponding area where each item should have been with the hand that wasn’t leaning against the wall. You smiled, about to respond when someone interrupted.

“Spike!” Buffy shouted, having turned to find you in the haunted house. She was relieved to see you (as she had lost the others) but she was not pleased to see the vampire that still had you boxed in, pressed pretty close against you.

Buffy made light work of hauling him away and trying to throw him out of the house completely. She tried to find the front door but it had gone. You were now aware you were trapped inside this now truly haunted house. No, it was worse. It had turned into a murder house as half the student body upstairs had started to scare themselves to death almost before the real threat had.

Everyone was rushing past you and as Spike smelled fresh blood, he ran in the opposite direction to where the others were coming from, straight into the carnage. His stomach was rumbling and he was ready for a decent meal.

Everything was going on at once and you wanted it to slow down, or at least give you chance for a breather. There were too many threats at play tonight. As if the powers had requested it this way, a busy scene of threat and revelations for their own personal enjoyment. 

As you tried again and again to leave and to help find the others, things started to get worse. You had now lost Buffy and were trying to find her by (you guessed it) calling out her name which was the best way to attract anything other than good luck. You had to fight off some cobwebs and now, your own body it seemed. You were hurting, doubled over. Something was happening. You sunk to your knees, grimacing. Nothing was going your way. 

It was a strange night. The strangest Halloween you had experienced. The others were lost and at the same moment, Willow turned into a real ghost. Xander a real soldier and Buffy was now a genuine high society lady from the 1700s. It was spooky and not in a cute way.

You had managed to get to your feet, pulling on the cobwebs as they attacked your head again. As you looked down checking you had removed any stray webbing, you saw that you were glowing. Literally. You appeared human still - no wings or halos but there was a strange feeling that you had aged hundreds of years in just a few seconds. Not in appearance, that was still your skin and your face. But in knowledge. As if you had read every book known to man and then some. You felt powerful. Strange.

You walked around, able to know what was happening in every room. You managed to get places just by thinking about it. Able to protect people before they succumbed to the terrors the house had in store. You didn’t know how this was happening, but you knew better than to question it.

You had hope. You had a purpose and you were getting used to adapting to different people and their needs. That was until it came to something you needed. You turned and saw your friends through a two way mirror. They had all found each other but you couldn’t get to them. They were trying to remember who they were and come up with a plan. You started to panic, banging your fist on the mirror that you could see them through but they didn’t hear you. You hurriedly left through a side door to try and get to them seeing as your previous power wasn’t working. But you never made it to your friends. You had walked straight into someone. The one someone that you always managed to find, no matter what.

Spike had appeared. He seemed the same except... was that a heart beat? You frowned as he stepped towards you, the swagger still in tact.

 “You listened to me then, pet? About time” He muttered as you looked at him confused. You didn’t understand. You looked around for some kind of clue until he spoke again, “The wings. You put ‘em on. Knew it would complete the look… not that you need to be wearing any more clothin’ items” He added, the trademark smirk on his face as he almost prowled towards you further.

“I’m not wearing any wings…” You said slowly as he came to stand right in front of you, leaving not so much as room to breath between you. He frowned, and looked behind you before looking back into your eyes. He could see the wings as clear as anything. They had a large wingspan, it was kind of impossible to miss. He reached out the touch them and you felt his fingers. You frowned, checking behind you. There they were, bat-like rather than the feathered kind you had expected and almost translucent whilst appearing closer to your skin tone. He found them aesthetically very appealing. Almost as if it were a part of you. He just stared, almost in awe as he felt they were warm the texture as soft as your skin.

 It came to you suddenly. The folklore you had been researching. The mythology. The only one that may see the wings of the angel is their soulmate. Their one eternal love. It was said that every angel had a soulmate and that no matter how long they lived, they should find their soul no matter how seemingly impossible. No matter how many times they were lost, they would always be found. And you had found yours. Your love.

You and Spike had been less than useless during the fight to escape the haunted house and regain your own lives back. You were perfectly happy right here. Locked in each others gaze. A happiness neither of you had felt before until this moment. Until this revelation. You had been sharing. Talking so easily to one another. Him telling you stories of his past, and you surprising yourself with stories of your own. Ones that could match his. You felt an entrenched need to protect him. To hold you into him so that no harm could ever befall him. 

The chaos going on around you was now secondary to your story. You holed up in a room together, Spike never looking away from you. The guardian angel in you was screaming for you to help the others again, but your heart was set on him. On relearning of your love. You had faith in your friends abilities anyway.

He leaned in, his thumb trailing your face and lingering near your lips. He had thought about this for so long. His usual crude quips had been founded in truth. Forged to both show how he felt and camouflage them at the same time. He felt for you so deeply his soul had made an unwitting appearance back into his life. Whenever you were around his heart felt as if it may break free from his ribcage in the hopes of greeting yours.

You closed your eyes as he did, the build up to this kiss achingly slow. You could feel his breath on his face he was so close. His touch was warm and familiar, his lips made for yours. You could feel it. The anticipation almost became too much as he finally grazed your lips.

But, just as suddenly as it was cast, the spell broke. The feeling of danger returned to your gut as you were in Spike’s presence. Your kiss never deepening. Your stomach flipping as you snapped opened your eyes. Spike’s vampire instincts kicked back in and it was resoundingly telling him that he was hungry. Your scent was so enticing to him, his face changed of its own accord. His fangs so close to you but you knew he wouldn’t kill you. You knew it as if it were fact. As if it were gravity or the colour of the sky being blue. Spike loved you and wouldn’t harm you. They were each true sentences, you had never been so sure.

Buffy, however, now fresh from being bound in the sensibilities of a woman with no aspirations other than to be pretty was ready for a fight. She had fought to escape the haunted house and now she would fight the nearest big bad in sight. Spike. She wrenched him from your neck.

But when he drew back, he had the same look in his eye as he had only moments before. Your soulmate was still right here in front of you, there was nobody that could convince you otherwise. And believe me, Spike really tried since then.

Buffy and Spike traded blows. Neither became victorious, but you were able to leave the house and Giles had somehow managed to force Ethan Rayne into reversing the curse he had put on your costumes. 

After that long Halloween night, your mind barely stopped thinking about him. Sometimes you walked around after dark to see if he would come along and pretend to eat you as an excuse to just talk to you. He often wished to find an excuse to see you. Without knowing what it was, he felt it too. Deep within. Stronger since Halloween night. Sometimes he found himself standing around in places he knew you would frequent just so he could watch you. Catch a glimpse of you. Although, he had been doing this before Halloween as well.

You remembered so much more than that night, however. Memories that should have been long since buried of you and Spike finding each other over and over in other places and times still lingered as you wished his thumb still would along your jaw. You still remembered those memories and you wrote them all down before you could forget. They were like dreams, something you knew so well but struggled to recall in enough detail to satisfy.

You would forever carry a piece of his soul around with you now. That feeling just couldn’t go away, you wouldn’t let it. It was as if his soul were a locket hung around your neck. You would guard it with your life. Keep it close to your heart. 

He would come back to you, you were sure of it and you were happy to wait until that day came.

#A very Buffy halloween #Spike btvs #Spike x reader #Spike x you #Spike imagine #btvs #btvs x reader #btvs imagine #btvs x you #Buffy The Vampire Slayer #buffy the vampire slayer imagines #gender neutral #gender neutral reader #gender not mentioned #soulmate au #kind of #Halloween #halloween fic #Halloween request

[faithofgods]

hey!! i thought it was only fair i shoot you an ask gushing about your story, since it's pretty much all i think about these days! i absolutely adore your writing style, i love all the symbolism and the way you have us over analyzing every single thing; i've been having a lot of fun coming up with theories and sharing them with mutuals! you've created such a rich, interesting setting... i feel like i could get lost reading the lore for weeks. i also absolutely, deeply adore sol. i love all of their mannerisms and the subtle and not-so-subtle ways that they show how much they care for mc, i love the way they speak, i love how effortless yet so very complicated their relationship with mc is. i honestly can't say enough good things about sol, i can't remember the last time a character won me over so fast. and khiita! i'm dying to know more about her, about what we are, about what we /were/. she's such an intriguing character, and you describe her so beautifully—she's just one of those characters i feel i should pair with an mc that can make her smile and laugh as sincerely and often as possible. i'm honestly both super excited and a bit apprehensive about properly meeting flor & cían, because if the attachment i already feel for the other two is any indication, i don't think my little heart will be able to handle them 💘 (especially cían, considering he was the reason i started reading fog in the first place! i got him as my result in the ro quiz and i loved the description!)

aaanyway, before i get any more embarrassing, congrats on the wip, and thank you for sharing it with us 🥰 i'm very much looking forward to whatever comes next, and to finding out whatever came before!

Hello!! Thank you for taking the time to send this in! All of it is incredibly kind + sweet + I'm running out of ways to express just how much I deeply, truly appreciate getting messages like these, but believe me when I say they make my entire week!

It feels so genuinely unreal that not only would people talk about the game + the world with each other (because what!!!), but also that they love the characters as much as I do

I'm so bad about spoiling things, I know, but Sol is such a comfort character for me and I get so excited just talking about them and their quirks and motivations, about why they see things a certain way and how their history with not only MC but also their past has colored everything they do and changed how they view the world around them

And Khiita! I adore Khiita just as much. She has such a difficult fun personality and so many things from how she talks to the way she interacts with MC and the world in general are going to become so obvious in hindsight. She has such a fun personal history too, with the culture she's part of honestly having some of my favorite lore, and I'm so, so excited to start bringing that to light. And the smile thing! The wanting her to open up and be genuine about her feelings and reactions is very much the direction her romance takes, and in the spirit of fairness (since I spoil so much for Sol lol), her (future) relationship description looks a lot like this:

I'm equally excited over Flor and Cían! I've had these initial meetings / introductions with them planned for so long and to finally get to see them come about in the game is just! Indescribable emotions!

It's funny that you bring up the lore though, because I've actually been putting together a more detailed compendium of all the lore that's part of the world but won't come up in game, and thus won't make it into the codex! It goes into greater detail about things like naming conventions, the religions of the other countries, how time is tracked, even specific demonyms for the many areas of the world, and this makes me sound like such a dork lol!

But again, thank you so much!! For both playing the game and sending this, and a wider thank you to everyone that has supported it so far! Truly an incredible feeling every time, and I'll never be able to fully express the gratitude it fills me with !

#🤍 #answered #fog spoilers #world lore #for the pictures ! #when I say my heart soared seeing khiita mentioned 😭 #feeling very soft today :(

[luninosity]

Okay, some The Falcon and the Winter Soldier episode 1 thoughts! This one will be spoilery, so I’ll tag it and put it under a cut and all of that!

Thoughts not in any real order, just as I think of them, the morning after (we stayed up to watch at midnight, and then went to bed!):

-okay, action-y opening, I’m neutral about that

-on va voir! :D :D

-I like seeing Sam struggling with the idea of the shield and his heroic identity and what being Captain America means...would’ve liked to see him try it, once, before giving it up; I feel like he would try, because it’s what Steve asked of him (and there’s a difference between doing it for that reason and doing it because he chooses to, which would’ve been an interesting tension!)

-mmm, gorgeous museum exhibit shots, and such a good backdrop, thematically, for Sam and Rhodey discussing what it means to be Captain America (also: yay Rhodey!)

-spectacular Bucky nightmare scene, recapturing the menace of the Winter Soldier; oh, so many Bucky feels, and, oh, that moment of him waking up, sleeping on his floor...ow, my heart

-on a shallower note, I miss Seb’s longer hair; it was so distinctive as a look, versus all the short-haired clean-cut Marvel Men (but I also get why they’d have short-haired Bucky in this series: distinguishing then and now, visually and symbolically)

-Bucky’s therapist is genuinely terrible (like, wow) and I’m glad he got to call her out on it (also a good nod to the Winter Soldier having some knowledge of psychology/strategy)

-good to see a character (who very much needs it) getting therapy, on screen, though!

-also nice that we’ve established that Bucky’s been officially pardoned; good to know, and he deserves that recognition that he’s not at fault

-what’s with the weird super-close-up shots? Not that Sebastian isn’t pretty, but the camera’s basically sitting on his cheek. I’m not exactly complaining but it’s distracting me from the storytelling, mostly because I’m wondering who thought this was a good stylistic choice. Those’re some lovely Seb eyelashes, but, like...pull back. Pull that camera back. Back up. Space, please.

-ooh, competence porn! Yes please. (This goes for both Sam and Bucky.)

-Torres might be my new favorite. He’s adorable. Which means I fully expect something terrible to happen to him any second now.

-both Seb and Anthony are such good actors - they’re both so good at micro-expressions, emotion in the shift of eyes or a change in stance

-I love Sam’s sister Sarah!

-more specifically, I love that it’s obviously an affectionate relationship, but not necessarily an easy one, and she has more of an understanding of how the real non-superhero world works than he does, and she’ll tell him so - I’m liking the nuance and emotion here; it feels very real, and it’s not like Melodramatic Resentment for him being busy hero-ing, which they could’ve opted for; no, it’s a genuine sort of weariness and love

-why no video games, for the kids? are they being punished? weird anti-video-game prejudice? (as someone who grew up in a household that didn’t approve of video games, I was at a *distinct disadvantage* when everyone else had this cultural touchstone and I didn’t! and because their mom doesn’t give a reason or a time limit, this blanket ‘no’ line comes off as weirdly restrictive to me - I’d’ve gone with “...until you finish a chore or read a book or do x thing first” - and of course the kids don’t listen, because why would they? idk, probably overthinking this one, but I was also always that kid who needed reasons for things - I never responded well to “because I say so” or “that’s just how it is,” but if you told me why, then I’d totally listen! anyway, this one’s just a weird personal ?? in my head!)

-love love love the bank scene - the sheer awfulness of the juxtaposition of the hero and fanboy emotions, and the harsh reality of loans and denial and Sam’s realization that he can’t help, and also his sister’s body language all through this scene

-I have questions about how the world’s working here: like, I totally believe the banks, government, etc, would be dicks about *not* helping people! yes, agreed! but on the other hand, surely, surely, there must be some provision in place for people who got snapped. Especially now that some time has passed. Like...it’s too big a thing for there to not be some sort of policy or help. The “you’ve had no income for the last five years” line reads oddly to me as justification, because...well...he was snapped! so...of course not! but then again, of course banks would have a lack of compassion. I don’t know, maybe it’s just clunky dialogue, but I kind of want more explanation of this

-also nice that they’re addressing the concept that simply being a superhero doesn’t pay, and not everyone has Tony Stark money! (side question: does Bucky have money? I know we have fandom “canon” about this, but will the show and official canon address it?)

-please don’t let anything happen to Torres, I love him

-Bucky’s trying so hard, and it’s so heartbreaking! And, oh, Bucky...stepping in to defuse problems, wanting peace, trying to care for people...the core of his character, from protecting skinny!Steve to being a good sergeant to saving Steve in The Winter Soldier...okay, show, you’re winning me over. Partly that’s Sebastian’s acting; again, just phenomenal, nuanced and subtle and complex.

-Bucky versus Lucky Cat! I’m laughing but also ouch, the swinging arm reminder.

-I appreciate a Bucky Barnes who is genuinely a soft awkward old-man dork

-I also appreciate Bucky being sweet and old-fashioned and charming - the flowers! - he’s trying so hard. Oh, my heart. (On the other hand...is dating...really a good idea? Then again, he’s a polite awkward dork and couldn’t say no to being set up...)

-how can Sebastian put so much emotion into the simple act of closing and opening his eyes?!

-I do very much want to know where Steve is and if he’s alive

-also, both Sam and Bucky speaking multiple languages! again with the competence porn and also linguistic porn, mmm, yes

-not much known about the Bad Guys yet, but that’s okay; I’m good with spending 50 minutes on character development, yes, fine by me, show me more Bucky caring for people and Sam being Uncle Sam (heh), I live for this

-it’s an interesting choice of Bad Guys, because to some extent you can see why it sounds appealing: no flags, no borders, no countries, etc - I hope we also get some more exploration of this

-I’m glad Torres is okay but I fully expect him to be a sacrifice at some point

-US Agent time! Oh, Sam’s expression(s) - just perfect. Oh, Anthony Mackie’s just great here - every reaction, jaw-clench, his posture - so compelling.

-now go get your shield, Sam!

-how are we going to wrap this all up in 5 more episodes?! Sam and Bucky haven’t even shared screen time yet! and what about Zemo? and Sharon?

-ooh, pretty credits!

-okay, I’m actually really pleasantly surprised! I went in with low expectations because I really disliked all the trailers and all the bits of dialogue they were giving us, and now I’m...cautiously optimistic!

-I’m still worried that once we get Bucky and Sam together we’re going to devolve into that specific “someone thinks that two people insulting each other is the same as humor” type of writing (and I cannot begin to tell you how much I hate the “that girl kicked your ass!” line from the trailers)

-but this first episode is such a good character-driven exploration - unhurried, deep, thoughtful, grounded - that it’s giving me hope. I actively want to see the next episode, with some excitement, so that’s promising!

#the falcon and the winter soldier #tfatws #tfatws spoilers #spoilers #fatws spoilers #marvel #sam wilson #bucky barnes #sebastian stan #anthony mackie