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nakunakunomi · 3 years

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Wootwoot! We made it you guys! May 4th is my one-year anniversary on Tumblr. With some ups and downs and over 300 requests written, I'm gonna go ahead and say it was a successful year!

Monday until next Sunday I will do another Mini HC event, like we did for valentine! Open for all my fandoms, with mystery prompts to choose from.

Until then, I wanted to do a sleepover event. Unlimited asks and interactions for the weekend cause I feel like I haven't talked to a lot of you in a long while!

You can send me any classic sleepover question

Kiss, marry, kill

Would you rather

Top 3/5/10...

Questions about me

Questions about my anime, writings...

Theories (keep em spoiler free though!)

For this event, I will engage in a little bit of selfship talk if anyone were to be interested. Ask me about my F/o's and tell me about yours! Dynamics, habits... anything!

Questions about OCs

If you need some inspiration, I have included a couple of lists below the cut with questions id be 100% okay with.

Also, if you just want to chat, tell me about your week, a funny thing that happened to you, or a fun fact (i love fun facts especially if it's creepy or an animal fact)... A N Y T H I N G is welcome! There is no limit to your asks, spam me if you want! ♡

Look forward to talking to you guys!

Ps, I'll tag these #1yearSleepover if you want to block something against spam

Questions for OCs - Specify which one! Taken from here

1. How many different places have they lived?

2. What is their dream vacation?

3. What is their favorite color?

4. What is their favorite book?

5. Have they ever cheated on anyone before?

6. Have they ever been cheated on?

7. How many partners have they had?

8. What is their favorite food?

9. Are they a liar? Are they good at lying?

10. Introvert or Extrovert?

11. Have they ever been arrested and why?

12. Who would they sacrifice their life for?

13. What are their spending habits?

14. Do they like hot or cold temperatures better?

15. Are they religious?

16. If they could describe themself in one sentence, what would they say?

17. Do they have any overused catchphrases?

18. What makes them laugh?

19. Have they ever lost anyone close to them? How did it affect them?

20. Do they have a fast reaction time, or slow?

21. How do they react to praise?

22. How do they react to criticism?

23. Are they indoorsy or outdoorsy?

24. What are their biggest pet peeves?

25. Do they have any type of handicaps? How do they manage them?

Other ask game - taken from here

1: when you have cereal, do you have more milk than cereal or more cereal than milk?

2: do you like the feeling of cold air on your cheeks on a wintery day?

3: what random objects do you use to bookmark your books?

4: how do you take your coffee/tea?

5: are you self-conscious of your smile?

6: do you keep plants?

7: do you name your plants?

8: what artistic medium do you use to express your feelings?

9: do you like singing/humming to yourself?

10: do you sleep on your back, side, or stomach?

11: what’s an inner joke you have with your friends?

12: what’s your favorite planet?

13: what’s something that made you smile today?

14: if you were to live with your best friend in an old flat in a big city, what would it look like?

15: go google a weird space fact and tell us what it is!

16: what’s your favorite pasta dish?

17: what color do you really want to dye your hair?

18: tell us about something dumb/funny you did that has since gone down in history between you and your friends and is always brought up.

19: do you keep a journal? what do you write/draw/ in it?

20: what’s your favorite eye color?

21: talk about your favorite bag, the one that’s been to hell and back with you and that you love to pieces.

22: are you a morning person?

23: what’s your favorite thing to do on lazy days where you have 0 obligations?

24: is there someone out there you would trust with every single one of your secrets?

25: what’s the weirdest place you’ve ever broken into?

26: what are the shoes you’ve had for forever and wear with every single outfit?

27: what’s your favorite bubblegum flavor?

28: sunrise or sunset?

29: what’s something really cute that one of your friends does and is totally endearing?

30: think of it: have you ever been truly scared?

31: what is your opinion of socks? do you like wearing weird socks? do you sleep with socks? do you confine yourself to white sock hell? really, just talk about socks.

32: tell us a story of something that happened to you after 3AM when you were with friends.

33: what’s your fave pastry?

34: tell us about the stuffed animal you kept as a kid. what is it called? what does it look like? do you still keep it?

35: do you like stationary and pretty pens and so on? do you use them often?

36: which band’s sound would fit your mood right now?

37: do you like keeping your room messy or clean?

38: tell us about your pet peeves!

39: what color do you wear the most?

40: think of a piece of jewelry you own: what’s it’s story? does it have any meaning to you?

41: what’s the last book you remember really, really loving?

42: do you have a favorite coffee shop? describe it!

43: who was the last person you gazed at the stars with?

44: when was the last time you remember feeling completely serene and at peace with everything?

45: do you trust your instincts a lot?

46: tell us the worst pun you can think of.

47: what food do you think should be banned from the universe?

48: what was your biggest fear as a kid? is it the same today?

49: do you like buying CDs and records? what was the last one you bought?

50: what’s an odd thing you collect?

51: think of a person. what song do you associate with them?

52: what are your favorite memes of the year so far?

53: have you ever watched the rocky horror picture show? heathers? beetlejuice? pulp fiction? what do you think of them?

54: who’s the last person you saw with a true look of sadness on their face?

55: what’s the most dramatic thing you’ve ever done to prove a point?

56: what are some things you find endearing in people?

57: go listen to bohemian rhapsody. how did it make you feel? did you dramatically reenact the lyrics?

58: who’s the wine mom and who’s the vodka aunt in your group of friends? why?

59: what’s your favorite myth?

60: do you like poetry? what are some of your faves?

61: what’s the stupidest gift you’ve ever given? the stupidest one you’ve ever received?

62: do you drink juice in the morning? which kind?

63: are you fussy about your books and music? do you keep them meticulously organized or kinda leave them be?

64: what color is the sky where you are right now?

65: is there anyone you haven’t seen in a long time who you’d love to hang out with?

66: what would your ideal flower crown look like?

67: how do gloomy days where the sky is dark and the world is misty make you feel?

68: what’s winter like where you live?

69: what are your favorite board games?

70: have you ever used a ouija board?

71: what’s your favorite kind of tea?

72: are you a person who needs to note everything down or else you’ll forget it?

73: what are some of your worst habits?

74: describe a good friend of yours without using their name or gendered pronouns.

75: tell us about your pets!

76: is there anything you should be doing right now but aren’t?

77: pink or yellow lemonade?

78: are you in the minion hateclub or fanclub?

79: what’s one of the cutest things someone has ever done for you?

80: what color are your bedroom walls? did you choose that color? if so, why?

81: describe one of your friend’s eyes using the most abstract imagery you can think of.

82: are/were you good in school?

83: what’s some of your favorite album art?

84: are you planning on getting tattoos? which ones?

85: do you read comics? what are your faves?

86: do you like concept albums? which ones?

87: what are some movies you think everyone should watch at least once in their lives?

88: are there any artistic movements you particularly enjoy?

89: are you close to your parents?

90: talk about your one of you favorite cities.

91: where do you plan on traveling this year?

92: are you a person who drowns their pasta in cheese or a person who barely sprinkles a pinch?

93: what’s the hairstyle you wear the most?

94: who was the last person you know to have a birthday?

95: what are your plans for this weekend?

96: do you install your computer updates really quickly or do you procrastinate on them a lot?

97: myer briggs type, zodiac sign, and hogwarts house?

98: when’s the last time you went hiking? did you enjoy it?

99: list some songs that resonate to your soul whenever you hear them.

100: if you were presented with two buttons, one that allows you to go 5 years into the past, the other 5 years into the future, which one would you press? why?

#sleepover #aksgames #1YearSleepover #scheduled post

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moos-cow · 4 years

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Soulmate Prompt #8 (See handwriting on arm)

Pairing: Luka Clemence / Reader Fandom: Ikemen Revolution Genre: Fluff Warning: Might make you hungry. Tiny spoilers on Luka's Route.

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1/2 cup milk

1 cup flour

Sometimes you'd find some odd scribbles written on your arm throughout the week. Scrubbing them off eventually became chore, so you decided to just leave them be. These writings weren't poems, drawings, nor accidental pen marks. They were ingredients and steps to what seemed like deconstructed recipes.

Fueled by your strong attraction to food, the strange writings that appeared intrigued you more than it should've frightened you. This resulted into your attempt to note them all down for your own consumption later, even if they were just as good as pieces to a complex puzzle you were never shown the full picture of.

Mille Feuille

Two words appeared on your arm this time. You searched for it on the net. It wasn't an ingredient, nor was it some part of a procedure. Rather, it was a mouthwatering pastry, often topped with berries-- though some shops would go the extra mile and even add pistachios. Unfortunately for you, they're not regularly available in restaurants, nor do they look easy to bake.

From then on, you vowed to yourself to order one, once you get the chance.

And you did. It wasn't in your hometown though, nor was it in its country of origin, France... But in the flipside of London, the world on the other side of the moon: Cradle, in the Land of Magic.

"THIS IS A-MAZING!!!" you squeal and close your eyes to further savor the sweet pastry that sat in your mouth. "Oh Fenrir, if you only knew how long I've been wanting to try a mille feuille!"

"I told ya this place was the best!" the Ace laughed at the pure genuine satisfaction that emanated from you as you ate the pastry. "Dontcha have these in the Land of Reason?"

"We do, but I rarely come across shops that have these." You say, sticking another slice into your mouth. "Ah- I wonder how they make these? Some shops back home said they even add pistachios."

"Hmm. I'm no pro in the kitchen, bud. Ask Luka! He knows how to make anything!" Fenrir flashes you the brightest of smiles before you continued on with your Taste of Cradle Tour.

Later that evening, you tried to approach the ever distant Jack to ask about the pastry. You rarely spoke to each other in the day, so helping him clean up in the kitchen seemed like the best place to start.

"Mille... Feuille...? Why that?" he asked. His face slightly contorted to that of disgust.

"It's a long story, but when Fenrir took me to this shop earlier that had that, I thought, maybe it'd be nice to learn how to make one, you know?" you rambled on in excitement, "Ah, but I don't want to impose... I mean, only if you're fine with it. If not, that's okay too."

With a sigh, Luka beamed a soft smile. "Alright." Despite the sickening memories he had with that dessert, he still decided to teach you how to make it. You loved his cooking, he thought. How could he say 'no' to a simple request?

You watched him grab a notebook from the countertop, flipping it open and flipping between sheets in search for a certain page. "There’s a clean apron behind the door." He spoke as his eyes quickly darted to the door then back to the notebook.

You quickly got the apron and tied your hair up to a neat ponytail. "Ready!" you chimed in from beside him, taking a peek into the writings he was studying. "Oh, that yours?"

He nodded and sheepishly answered, "It's uh-- actually a journal, but I write all my recipes here too."

"Your handwriting looks really familiar..." You drag your words out as your eyes lock into how the 'Mille Feuille' title was written. You fought the urge to flip through the pages yourself to see if any of the previous writings on your arm matched to the ones on his notebook.

"How so?" his gaze finally lifted from the text to meet yours. Amber eyes glinted with curiosity.

"It was from before, back home, I'd find these weird scribbles on my arm. I thought maybe I just kept on bumping into or leaning into some wet ink from a paper but, wow." You paused to point to the two words on the paper, "That handwriting looks almost exactly like yours. In fact, I wasn't aware of what a mille feuille was until I saw that written on my arm."

"Ah-!" Luka yelped in shock. "Wha- what else did you see?" he frantically asked, voice timid and embarrassed.

You cocked your head to the side in question, "Some parts of a recipe. Some ingredients, then some parts of a procedure. I wrote them down, just in case I had the time to make them. Why?"

Luka's face flushed cherry red, lips sealed to a line before puffing out a bated breath. He slightly shook his head and smiled back again, "I-It's nothing... Now, mille feuille? We need these ingredients--" he casually pointed back to the text in the notebook for reference "Why don't you get the dry ones, I'll get the wet ones?"

You, albeit slightly bothered by how he reacted, you pushed through with the private baking lesson with the Jack late in the evening. Happy and satisfied, not only by the output, but also by the amazing company. Luka seemingly made making the pastry easier than what you'd initially thought.

And he-- little did you know that his mind raced with countless images and scenarios of the possible future, and how lady destiny meant for you two to cross paths in oddest of ways. You might not be aware of it but, you were his soulmate after all.

And for that sweet pastry, he'd probably give it another chance now, knowing how much you enjoyed eating it and baking it with him.

Don't expect him to tell Jonah though.

I edited it just a bit. My sleepy ass accidentally deleted a paragraph last night. 😴😂

#ikemen kakumei #ikemen revolution #ikerev #ikerev luka #luka clemence #fenrir godspeed #ikerev fenrir #soulmate prompt

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ronnie-azumane · 3 years

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Kitten?

This is something I came up with at midnight while trying to complete my numerous missing assignments. I apologize in advance

Summary: Tsukishima Kei is a mod of a discord server And with his luck, he finds his first love on the server he runs. He falls head over heels, and vows to fulfill all her needs. However, not everything is what it seems.

Tsukishima was a simple man with simple likes. Granted, However, these likes weren’t as commonplace among his peers.

Sure, he moderated a Discord Server full of people of all ages. In said server, they would play games and talk about the various shows they watched together, some of which were considered children shows.

“Anyone catch the new episode of My Little Pony?” someone on the server would ask.

Tsukishima would bat in immediately, saying, “Remember the two-week spoiler warning, everything else must be covered and properly tagged.” He was the perfect mod, as he was both online all the time he didn’t have school or practice, as well as he was a stickler for the rules. Plus, he had only recently gained access to last week’s episode not long ago, therefore, he had not seen the new episode.

Another thing he liked to do on this server was talk to others on the voice call feature. He enjoyed talking to the many people who decided to join the server, even making a couple of friends, which he refused to believe for the longest time.

One of these many friends was a user that went by the name of gamergirl05. She was a peculiar person, only logging in late at night and logging out early in the morning, only to be away from her computer until late that night again.

She intrigued Tsukishima. Not only was she one of the only girls on the server, she always seemed to be on the voice chat. She never typed messages, never spoke, unless she was spoken to on the voice call.

Her voice was soft and breathy, with a medium pitch. Her profile picture was a white cartoon cat against a pastel pink background. Sometimes, when playing videogames, you could here her grunt in frustration every once in a while.

Tsukishima couldn’t help from gaining a crush.

She didn’t seem clingy, she seemed rather chill and independent, it was like God itself sent this woman into Tsukishima’s life.

She was perfect.

Tsukishima couldn’t help but get excited whenever he saw that she was online. He would always join the voice call whenever he saw she was online.

They would have meaningful conversation. Tsukishima would learn much about her. She was living in Tokyo. She was a year older than Tsukishima; a second year in high school. She had been playing videogames for as long as she could remember. She has an overactive imagination, pretending that she was getting chased by dragons and facing checkpoints every time she walked to school in the morning. She wasn’t popular, but had a couple of close knit friends.

The more they talked, the more Tsukishima fell head over heels. However, the more he started to fall for her, the more he realized that he didn’t know how to express himself in a positive way. He was known as a negative nelly most of his life, with his relationship with the fellow members of the Karasuno volleyball club solidifying that feeling of disgust he felt toward others. Ever with his best friend Yamaguchi he was unable to show positive feelings toward, even though he didn’t feel anything negative toward his best friend.

Unknowing what to do, he looked up online ‘how to show someone you like them,’ only to come up with a website offering a free test to those wondering what their love language was. perfect.

Tsukishima took the test, answering each question as truthfully as he could, even asking his mom what she thought of him for one of the questions.

After thirty minutes of reading, understanding, and clicking, Tsukishima gat the result he was looking for- his love language.

His love language was gift-giving.

He knew exactly what to do at that point.

Later that night, he stared at the voice call box, waiting for a certain someone to join the call. At 11:00pm on the dot, gamergirl05 joined the call. Tsukishima joined the call soon after.

“Um, hey, uh, how was your day?” Tsukishima asked her.

“My day? I guess it was okay,” she replied. Her voice was still light and breathy as usual. Not too high-pitched as to make Tsukishima believe that she was fake, and not to low to make her sound unattractive to him. The perfect voice for arguably the perfect human.

“Do you have Nitro by any chance?” Tsukishima asked her.

“No, I don’t see the benefit for paying for it myself,” she replied.

“If someone got it for you, would you use it?”

“Sure, I don’t see why not.”

“I-I Don’t mid gifting it to you, if you tell me your Venmo, Ill send the money right now!”

“Ok.”

She read off a couple of letters and numbers, spelling out her Venmo for him to gift money to. Tsukishima used his mom’s credit card to send her over $50, with the unspoken promise of paying her back one day, even though she didn’t even know her youngest son stole her card.

They talked the rest of the night, until Tsukishima had to go to bed.

XxX

Tsukishima didn’t let up on his gifts to gamergirl05, or Cat as she started referring herself to. Anything she mentioned offhandedly form a new skin to a longing for a fast food meal, Tsukishima sent her the appropriate funds needed to retrieve that item.

Each monetary gift he sent on Venmo was given a reply of the kissing face emoji.

Tsukishima was over the moon. Not only was he becoming better at volleyball every day after school, but he was also getting closer and closer to Cat. When he found out that he was going to Tokyo for a training camp, he excitedly went online that night to tell cat about how he was going to be in Tokyo and that maybe they could meet up.

“Sorry, but I have plans for that weekend,” Cat said. Tsukishima sighed, but figured as much. He was disappointed, but not surprised.

However, he picked himself up by the bootstraps and packed up his stuff to go to Tokyo for the training camp.

XxX

The weekend was tough. Karasuno faced loss after loss against the Tokyo powerhouse schools. However, the team had learned a lot about both themselves and their offensive and defensive power.

After a long weekend of training, all the guys were sore. All their muscles were aching and screaming, begging for some relief. The coaches complied, supplying all the players with all the watermelon they could eat.

All the players gathered into groups, talking within each other’s friend groups. Tsukishima kept his distance from the others, with Yamaguchi joining in with them. They talked about various topics here and there, but nothing too serious.

Tsukishima was starting to zone out, thinking about Cat, and what she may or may not be doing. He hated to admit it, but he was head over heels in love, even though he had never seen Cat in a picture, much less in person.

While Tsukishima was zoning out, thinking of his unofficial lover, Hinata, Kenma, and Lev gathered nearby, talking loudly about who knows what. Tsukishima wasn’t paying attention, until the topic of discord came up. All his focus then went into listening in on this conversation.

“So you guys are on discord? What servers are you guys in?” Hinata asked.

“Not too many, I bet Kenma’s on a couple though,” Lev replied, only for Kenma to grunt in reply.

“Oh really! What servers are you on, Kenma?”

“Ehh, just a couple here and there. I frequent a My Little Pony server because a mod there gives me money a lot.”

Tsukishima felt a shock run throughout his body. A My Little Pony server? Maybe he was on the same server as him. He would never bring it up, but he was glad to know someone on the server; talking to 12-year-olds all day did get old.

“Wait, someone pays you to be on a My Little Pony server?” Lev asked.

“No, I think he is somehow attracted to me, every time I mention something I want, he sends me money.” Kenma replied, taking a massive bite out of his watermelon slice.

‘That’s kind of odd, who would give money like that to a guy like Kenma?’ Tsukishima thought.

“How did you do that, Kenma? I could sure use the extra cash,” Hinata asked.

“Well, Kuroo taught me to raise my voice like this to sound like some kind of gamer girl,” Kenma explained in a girly voice. Not too high to sound fake, not too low to sound unattractive. Perfect.

Just like Cat.

‘This has to be a coincidence, there’s no way that Kenma and Cat are the same person’ Tsukishima desperately thought.

“Oh, do you guys want to be friends on Discord, so we can keep in contact?” Hinata asked.

“I guess. I’m gamergirl05#0000,” Kenma replied, essentially murdering Tsukishima with his response.

Tsukishima stood up from where he was sitting. Forgetting the fact that he was still supposed to be in a conversation with Yamaguchi, he left the area, trying to find a secluded area, eventually settling for a small ally in between two of the gyms.

Once making sure he couldn’t be seen, he let all his held-in emotions out. He screamed up to the sky as the threw his watermelon rind against the wall, watching it break into numerous pieces.

“My Heart!” he screamed out, “I loved her!” He sank to the ground and let the tears flow. As he wailed out in despair, he covered his face with one hand while knocking his fist against the grass with his other.

Yamaguchi, who saw this all go down, ran up to go comfort his best friend. He didn’t know what was going on, other than the fact that his best friend was a mess on the floor.

How was Tsukishima going to tell his mom, who was already suspicious of him stealing her credit cards, that the money wasn’t being spent on her future Daughter in law? How was he going to log back in on the server, knowing he was cat fished?

He didn’t know what tomorrow would bring. All he knew at that moment was the soft an warm hand of Yamaguchi softly rubbing his back in an attempt to calm him down.

#haikyuu!!#haikyuu fanfiction #haikyuu #tsukishima #tsukishima kei #hq #yamaguchi tadashi #yamaguchi #hinata shōyō #shoyo hinata #kenma #kenma kuzome #lev haiba #fanfiction #this fanfic is stupid af I'm sorry #discord #discord mod #discord kitten

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dobrienbabe · 5 years

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Remember Us || Stiles Stilinski

Pairing: Stiles Stilinski x pregnant!reader

Word Count: 2720

Summary: You are pregnant with Stiles child during season 6a. Enough said.

Warnings: 6a spoilers, teen pregnancy, pregnant in high school

Request: oh gosh I can’t believe i forgot! prompt 43 with Stiles Stilinski. i’m so sorry!

Prompt: 43. “Do you think it’s possible that I…might be… pregnant?”

Note: Thank You for requesting this! This is set season 6a. It was kinda a fun thing for me to write. I hope you like it and Thank you for re-requesting.

So this was supposed to be posted yesterday, But i wanted to add something more to it. I think it flows better now. I hope you like it.

This is obviously already been posted, but since I started my smaller blogs, I wanted all my work for each fandom in one place. Instead of just reblogging everything I figured that I would repost it.

Request/Taglist

Masterlist

“Stiles,” you called from your sleepy daze. You reached to the other side of the bed feeling around for your boyfriend. You found his clothed chest beside and he laced his fingers in yours pressing a kiss to your knuckles.

You had stayed over at his place the night before after some freak supernatural incident in the woods. Stiles and Scott came across a car that only held a little boy; his parents were missing without a trace of them anywhere beside a hole in the windshield. Stiles was freaking out really bad and had insisted that you come over and spend the night claiming he just needed to hold you.

You didn’t fight him. He was too worried. You just got in the car and drove over to his place after the meeting in the junkyard. He had gotten there first and greeted you with a warm hug before he dragged you to his room. The two of you had stayed up into the early hours of the morning just talking about your future and the rest of your senior year.

“Morning,” Stiles voice whispered sending chills up your spine. You opened your eyes to be greeted with the bright light coming through the blinds and Stiles’s sleepy gaze.

Your hand rested on his chest sliding closer to him.

“How did you sleep?” Stiles asked.

“Pretty good,” you said rubbing his clothes chest. “What about you?”

A lazy smile creeped its way onto Stiles face. He intertwined his fingers in yours. His other arm found its away around your waist pulling you closer to him. He pressed a quick peck to your lips.

“Better with you here,” he said. “Are you feeling well enough to eat? Do you want breakfast?”

You let a smile creep onto your face as well. You moved to snuggle your face into his neck. You weren’t really in the mood for food. Mornings were the worst and had been for about three weeks now. You had gone to the doctor questioning why only to find out that you were pregnant.

You told Stiles right away, and he was beyond happy. It wasn’t really the best time in either of your lives to have a baby, but that didn’t change the joy you felt over it.

You had told your parents and Noah. Neither Noah nor your parents were too excited about it, but they were still super supportive of the two of you. You hadn’t told your friends yet knowing how they would react, but you were planning to soon.

“I don’t think it’d be a good idea to eat,” you said stifling a laugh. “I don’t need to puke it back up in math.”

Stiles laughed and pressed a kiss to your temple before he got up out of bed. You watched as the half-asleep teen dragged his feet over to his dresser, and started to get ready for the day. You rolled onto your back as you starred up at the ceiling above you. The opening and closing of drawers was the only sound that you could here.

You sat up in bed and watched as Stiles changed his clothes. You crawled out of Stiles’s bed after he pulled on his jeans and walked over to him. You wrapped your arms around his waist as he pulled off his bed shirt.

You put your head on his shoulder. You could feel him smile as he rubbed the top of your arms.

“Babe, you need get ready,” he said. “We have to go to school soon.”

You just groaned and buried your face into his shoulder. His rough hands ran gently and soothingly over your arms. Stiles turned around to face you. Looking up at him, he placed a kiss sweetly on your lips and rubbed your arms.

“Okay, go so I can get dressed,” you said pushing him away. He let out a hearty chuckle before walking out closing the door behind him.

You stood off to the side watching as your boyfriend kept walking into Malia’s senior picture to add something more about his theories about last night. You couldn’t help but laugh at his always so enthusiastic behavior.

“You’d think he’d just realize to wait,” Scott said beside you.

“I don’t think he will ever realize,” you said shaking your head.

“I’m going to have to agree with Y/N on that one,” Lydia said just laughing with you as Stiles interrupted yet another take of the picture.

You just walked around to sit at a table. Lydia and Scott got books out of their bags right away and got to work as you just watched Stiles continue to get into Malia’s photo. You sat in between the banshee and the werewolf. Eventually, she gave up and came over to join the group.

“Why would I want to ruin your yearbook photo?” Stiles said trailing behind the were-coyote. Malia moved to sit on the table behind Lydia before she spoke again.

“Maybe because you haven’t signed up for your own photo yet?” Malia said like she just came up with the best explanation the world had to offer. You stood up from your seat to wrap your arm around your boyfriend’s waist. He rested his arm around your shoulder loosely as he pulled you closer to his side.

“Yes, he did,” you said nudging stiles. He dug around in his pocket looking for the small paper. He finally found it and pulled it out to show her. Stiles struggled to unfold the paper from it’s small square with one hand. He offered it to her.

“See,” he said not even looking at it. You caught a brief glance. It was completely blank. You furrowed your eyebrows. You sat there and filled out the paper with him.

“It’s blank,” Malia said glancing between you, Stiles and the paper. You turned to Lydia see she was still seemingly uninterestedly starring at her book.

“Or maybe you’re sublimating the stress of graduating by avoiding key milestones,” Scott said. The words coming from Scott’s mouth had caused even Lydia to turn to him shocked. You had been helping Scott with his school work, so it wasn’t really a surprise for you, but for everyone else it was life changing.

“Psych paper,” Scott said. Everyone just had a moment of realization. You patted Scott’s shoulder. A resounding Oh filled the air from your friends.

“Hey, the deputy searched the car,” Stiles said bringing the attention back to him. “No slugs, no exit holes. And the addresses Alex gave my dad, it’s an abandoned house.”

No one said anything. They all just stared at him. You weren’t sure where he was going with it either. You slipped out from under his arm to return to your spot on the bench.

“Come on!” Stiles was getting frustrated as he tried to make his point. “Missing parents, suspicious guy on horseback, magic bullet. Who’s comin’ with me?”

“I’ve got to retake my photos,” Malia said shaking her head.

“Yeah, not interested,” Lydia said causing you to laugh a little.

“I’m free,” you said waving at Stiles. He just frowned and shock his head as Scott spoke up next.

“I cannot miss any more class,” Scott said.

“Scott, Scott,” Stiles said looking at his best friend pleadingly.

“I missed 38 last semester,” Scott said. “And Lydia’s mom is the only reason I’m still in school. I can go after school.”

You looked at him with wide eyes. 38 was way more than you had thought. Everyone else shared the same look. Lydia almost had a smug look on her face in reference to her mother’s power at this school. You thought Scott’s proposal though was reasonable.

“You know what?” Stiles was frustrated at this point. “Forget it. I’ll take Liam.”

Stiles let out a deep sign. You stood up and pressed a sweet kiss to his lips. His shoulders relaxed. He put his arm around your waist again and turned to look for Liam. His gaze quickly found the young teen and he pursed his lips in disgust.

You looked over to see him making out with Hayden. You scrunched your nose up and you looked to your friends you were also staring at the young teens with a look og disgust.

“Yeah, I’m not taking Liam,” Stiles said.

“Mmhmm,” Scott said.

“Sorry babe,” you mumbled to him. You were willing to go, but Stiles was in no way planning on taking his pregnant girlfriend leaving him with no viable options until after school.

“hey can I get a candid?” the yearbook photographer asked.

“Uh, no,” Stiles said as Scott agreed and pulled Stiles to the bench. Stiles pulled you along with him landing in his lap.

You leaned into your boyfriend as his arms circled your waist.

“Okay fine,” Stiles started in a hush whisper to Scott. “If you can explain to me why this is blue, I’ll let it go.”

You turned to see the piece of glass that Stiles had taken from the broken windshield of the car last night. Stiles turned to the camera as you looked over Scott’s face as he analyzed the shard. You knew that look.

“Everyone smile,” the photographer said bringing your attention back to her. You smiled widely as she snapped a picture of the five of you.

Everything had been going just fine. The past month nothing had really happened. Everything had been complaining that something felt off, but there was no real indication that anything was different.

It was odd that you had gone so long without any sort of supernatural occurrence. You were trying to not let it bug you.

You walked down the school hallway to your locker at a leisurely pace. You weren’t feeling good as of late, but you were pushing through. You figured it was some sort of lingering stomach bug which was luckily calming down as of lately.

“Hey, Y/N,” Lydia called out to you. You turned to see her walking with Malia as you got to your locker.

“We were thinking,” Malia started excitedly.

“You haven’t been out on a date in a while,” Lydia said cutting off Malia’s suspenseful draw. “You need to get back out there.”

“Are you saying you are trying to set me up?” you said raising an eyebrow at the grinning teens in front of you.

“Exactly,” Malia said emphasizing by pointing at you aggressively. It looked out of place for the conversation, but you brushed it off as her social awkwardness.

“I was thinking Dave,” Lydia said. She had a wide smile on her face. You were gawked at the strawberry blonde girl. Malia took a moment and mirrored your look.

“Isn’t he with that Audrey girl?” Malia asked. Lydia didn’t seem phased a bit by mention of Dave’s girlfriend.

“Aubrey,” you said nodding. “They’ve been dating for four months.”

“Whatever, he’s still cute,” she said waving her hand in front of your face.

The bell rang alerting you that it was time for class. You were glad for the opportunity for escape.

“Remember we have a pack meeting at Scott’s house after school,” You said as you grabbed your math textbook out of your locker.

“Yeah, yeah,” Lydia said. Turning and walking away. “I’ll see you later.”

You closed your locker as Malia still watched you move around. There felt like something you needed to say to you, but you weren’t sure what it was.

“Bye,” you said without another word the both of you turned around and walked in opposite directions.

You stood in Scott’s room pacing back and forth practically making a rut in the carpet below your feet. Scott, Malia, and Lydia sat on your bed looking at you expectedly. You had called a pack meeting to talk to them, but you weren’t sure how to actually tell them what was going on.

You looked over to them. Malia seemed to be getting annoyed as you all just sat there, but Lydia was on her phone passing the time. Scott just kept looking at you trying to figure out what to say to make this better.

“So, I’ve been sick a lot lately,” you said nervously picking up your pace. Lydia set her phone down and diverted her attention to you.

“Is that why you always seem to smell like vomit in the mornings?” Malia asked with no shame. You looked down embarrassed. You loved the girl but you really wished she would understand why it was mean to be so blunt all the time.

“Yes, and I’ve been trying to come with all the possible things that could cause that,” you said looking into all your friends’ eyes as you spoke.

Scott nodded along while Lydia actually looked intrigued about where you were going with this. Malia looked more confused than anything else.

“Do you think it’s possible that I…might be… pregnant?” you said. You started playing with your fingers nervously. Scott looked more shocked than you had seen him in a long time, but Lydia seemed like she already knew.

“Okay, not to be completely oblivious or anything, but how would that work?” Malia said. “Last time I checked, you have to have sex to get pregnant, and honey I’m pretty sure you’re a virgin.”

Malia had a point. You couldn’t recall a single time in your life that you had had sex. Sure, you had kissed boys and gone on dates, but you had never taken it that far. You just had this feeling like something in your gut was telling you that you were pregnant.

“I know it sounds crazy,” you said looking at the baffled faces, “But I just feel like we need to check. I’ve been feeling like there’s something greater that’s off. I f I can prove this then maybe I’m right.”

You were practically pleading to your friends as they all looked at you like you were a complete lunatic. You looked to Scott. You knew he was feeling a little off to. You and him had had an conversation at length about it just yesterday.

“Come on, Scott. I know you feel it too,” there were tears budding at the corners of your eyes as you spoke. You just pleaded with him not breaking eye contact.

“Okay,” Scott said after a moment. “it wouldn’t hurt for you to take a test.”

You perked up at that. You made the three long strides across the room to your bag where you pulled out a pregnancy test you had purchased earlier that day.

“I guess it couldn’t hurt,” Lydia said skeptically.

“Okay, you realize how crazy this is, right?” Malia said. Lydia elbowed her in the side causing the girl to let out a small screech. “Fine whatever.”

“I’ll just got take this,” you said heading in the direction of the bathroom.

Sitting on the side of Scott’s tub you looked down at the picture of you with your three best friends. It felt like something was missing though. You turned the picture over in your hands and read the inscription on the back. ‘Remember Us’ is read in scribbled quick handwriting that you didn’t recognize, but it strangely brought comfort to your upset stomach.

The timer went off and Scott knocked on the door as he pushed it open enough to see you inside. He leaned on the door frame looking at you. He shared the same expression of scared that you did.

“Want me to be here while you check it?” Scott said. His eyes were soft as he looked you over.

“Please,” you said turning to collect the pregnancy test from beside you playing careful attention to not look at it. Scott sat down beside you and placed his large hand on your knee.

You took a deep breath as you looked to Scott. He was looking at your hand that was wrapped tightly around plastic device. Your fingers were turning white as you sat there not moving taking deep breaths to keep from hyperventilating.

“Ready?” he said. He squeezed your knee. You just nodded as you moved your hand to reveal the results.

Positive

“Now, we just have to figure out who the father is,” Scott said. Looking into your panicked eyes. Shit things just got more complicated.

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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Marvel’s WandaVision Glitches Spell Trouble for MCU Reality

https://ift.tt/2NuQZ4o

This article contains WandaVision spoilers.

We’re a third of the way through WandaVision and a lot of the show has been establishing the setting via era-spanning sitcom stories while occasionally taking a break to show cracks in the façade. Something is definitely wrong in Westview, but while we can see the errors like comparing two pages in Highlights, we don’t have the full picture yet.

There are many theories out there already. Some completely outlandish, others far less so. As we wait for the other six episodes to hit, I want to focus on the moments in the initial three where reality is questioned. The times when “the real world” starts to seep into the fiction within the fiction. What are these scenes and what do they really tell us?

I’m not going to include the opening credits or commercials. While there’s plenty to pick from those, neither one directly interacts with the narrative. It’s not like Vision looks around after an ad and goes, “What the hell was that?”

VISION AT WORK

Ignoring that Vision should be dead and that this superhero couple is living as 1950s sitcom newlyweds when it’s supposed to be 2023, the first moment that truly sticks out as odd is when Vision is at work. We see him blazing through his assignment at superhuman speed, but then he takes a second to ask what it is they actually do at this job.

Since we already know that there’s something “off” about the show, but nothing especially serious has happened yet, this bit is more humorous than anything. It’s a fictional character becoming just aware enough to point out how slapped together his reality is. While Vision does get a decent enough answer in the end, it’s weird that he only finds out about this after supposedly applying for the job and interviewing. Not to mention the fact that he’s already quite good at it.

Whatever is going on, Vision is just self-aware enough to be curious about the world’s nonsense, but he’s too much of a cog in the machine to go against the script just yet.

STOP IT!

Dinner is served! The first episode revolves around the tried-and-true sitcom trope of having the boss and his wife over for dinner and everything going wrong. Wanda uses her sorcery and cooking skills to serve “breakfast for dinner” and everything seems to be working out. That is, until Mrs. Hart starts asking about Vision and Wanda’s past.

The two seem to be at a loss, unable to recall anything about their relationship and why they moved to Westview. Mrs. Hart is forgiving about this, but Mr. Hart grows increasingly impatient. The first trailer for the series made it seem like he was just mad about their inability to remember, but the outburst in the episode itself feels like something more. After knowing what we know by the end of the third episode, Mr. Hart appears to be furious over the fact that they moved to Westview, turned the Harts and their neighbors into slaves to their story, and can’t even explain why they did it.

Whatever he’s trying to say, he chokes on his food and gradually collapses. Mrs. Hart playfully tells him to, “Stop it!” She keeps repeating this over and over again, like her dying husband is making them look bad. Soon enough, she starts looking in Wanda’s direction. She continues to laugh and repeat, “Stop it!” but she’s crying and directing her words towards Wanda.

WandaVision: How a Bottle of Wine Could be the Key to the Entire Marvel Series

By Gavin Jasper

WandaVision: The Sitcom Influences of Episodes 1 and 2

By Alec Bojalad

Wanda and Vision share an awkward stare before Wanda asks Vision to help Mr. Hart. Vision uses his phasing power to remove the food (using modern special effects instead of the ’50s-style effects from the intro) and Mr. Hart is saved.

In other words, shit just got real.

Only nobody brings it up. They go through the motions with the end of the dinner and the Harts go home. But while Wanda and Vision don’t go over what the hell just happened, they do pay lip service to their lack of coherent background and at least come up with a wedding anniversary to fill that gap.

Revisiting this moment, it’s like both of the Harts know that Wanda is in control of their reality and Mrs. Hart wants to stray from conflict. It isn’t until her husband is dying that she begs Wanda to spare him, feeling that the choking his her doing.

END BROADCAST

With the lovers happy and smiling at the fourth wall, the first episode ends and we slowly zoom away to see a full-color setup of somebody watching the show. Not counting a red light in the episode’s toaster commercial, this is the first time we see any color on this show. There’s a SWORD logo in there, letting us know the organization keeping tabs on what’s going on, but we’re left wondering what this even means.

That entire half-hour sitcom that we watched as an audience was also witnessed by this SWORD agent and possibly many others in that exact form, just without the Marvel Studios fanfare intro. How does that even work? After all, these stories aren’t told in real time…or are they?

WandaVision: What Is SWORD?

By Kirsten Howard

WandaVision: The Sitcom Influences of Episodes 1 and 2

By Alec Bojalad

The first episode appears to be roughly 12 hours condensed. The second one is probably in that ballpark. Does this mean that the exploits are magically edited into an abridged broadcast or are those events magically rushed into that time frame and then broadcast “live?”

Based on the relationship between the second and third episodes, I think we can at least establish that each consecutive episode takes place on a different consecutive day. With a definite Halloween episode on the way, I’m wondering if we’re getting multiple holidays that just happen to rush together.

THE TOY HELICOPTER

The opening of the second episode is about some loud noise disturbing Wanda and Vision, which is revealed as a tree hitting the window. Allegedly.

Early in the same episode, Wanda hears a loud noise and goes to investigate, finding a red and yellow toy helicopter in her bushes. At first, we’re more focused on the fact that it’s in color while the rest of the show is in black and white. Wanda looks around for where it might have come from, then gets distracted by Agnes.

At this point it seems like an actual helicopter did enter Westview and reality recreated it as a toy to fit in. Even then, it’s in color because at the same time, it doesn’t belong. This is presumably where Geraldine came from. In the initial viewing, we’re supposed to see this as Wanda trying to figure out this reality, when revisiting makes it look more like she’s investigating a disturbance in her peaceful world. Knowing what we know later, it’s definitely more sinister.

On the other hand, something swept under the rug in all of this is that Wanda does try to bring this up to Vision. When their magic show is just beginning, she’s about to tell him about the helicopter situation (as well as the Dottie/radio situation), but then he distracts her with his gum-based inebriation. If all of this is Wanda’s fault, why would she want to squeal to Vision?

DOTTIE AND THE RADIO

Wanda meets with the high-strung Dottie and their discussion suddenly gets a bit meta. Dottie talks about how she’s heard all kinds of things about Wanda and her husband. Wanda assures her that they mean no harm and Dottie doesn’t believe her. It’s an odd conversation.

They are interrupted by someone infiltrating the signal on the nearby radio, yelling, “Wanda, who’s doing this to you?” Dottie gets less vague about her suspicions and straight-up asks Wanda about who she is and what’s going on. Suddenly, the radio explodes, the glass in Dottie’s hand shatters, and Wanda is horrified to see blood on Dottie’s hand. Actual red blood!

WandaVision: Are the Neighbors Possible Marvel Villains?

By Jim Dandy

Marvel’s WandaVision: Who is Agnes?

By Jim Dandy

Dottie shrugs off the situation and goes to clean up by herself.

The mysterious question from the radio is a hopeful one. Wanda Maximoff is an Avenger. She’s done a lot of good and rather than damn her for what’s going on, the presumed SWORD agent (we’re guessing this is James Woo) wants to believe that someone more sinister is behind everything. Many would call that foolish. In retrospect this scene feels like Wanda is proving herself wrong by presumably destroying the radio with her own powers to keep her dream reality while inadvertently hurting an innocent person.

FOR THE CHILDREN

During Wanda’s meeting with the other housewives and several times during the magic show, someone mentions how it’s all, “For the children,” and the entire group would repeat it. Every time, they come off as a creepy cult. It’s especially off-putting when you notice that there are seemingly no kids whatsoever in Westview.

At the end of the day, Wanda turns out to be pregnant, seemingly from her pre-credits snuggle with Vision. It’s a magical reality and she’s a magical person so, sure, she’s able to get working sperm from a being whose insides are made up of cartoon gears. We already know that the world of WandaVision is unnatural.

Wanda definitely wants children, but the chanting from throughout the day (not to mention the occasional badgering in the first episode) is some other force at play. Somebody wants Wanda to want children. Someone is egging her on and she has no reason to resist.

WandaVision Episode 3 Theories Explained

By Kirsten Howard

WandaVision: What Wanda’s Kids Mean for the Future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe

By Gavin Jasper

Yes, it could just be her subconscious causing everyone to moan, “FOR THE CHILDREN,” but I don’t buy it. There are hints of another party being involved and whether it’s Mephisto, Nightmare, HYDRA, AIM, Swarm, Grim Reaper, High Evolutionary, or whoever…somebody wants our protagonists to spawn.

It’s not the most out-there theory. I mean, one of the biggest X-Men villains is Mr. Sinister and he spent years being obsessed with married couple Scott Summers and Jean Grey having at least one kid. Takes all kinds.

THE BEEKEEPER

At the time, the beekeeper seemed like the biggest twist due to its freaky nature and placement at the end of the second episode. Vision and Wanda’s happy moment is interrupted by a loud noise outside, Vision straight-up says “damn” out of frustration (saltier than what you would normally see on ’60s TV), and they investigate. What they find is a guy in a beekeeper outfit crawling out of the sewer and glancing at the couple.

Wanda refuses to accept whatever this means and we suddenly rewind back to the living room, where the beekeeper’s interruption no longer happens.

WandaVision: What is Going on With the Beekeeper?

By Mike Cecchini

Marvel’s WandaVision Episode 2: MCU Easter Eggs and Reference Guide

By Mike Cecchini and 2 others

The beekeeper was considered an ominous intruder and had people wondering if he was a reference to AIM’s comic book uniforms or the supervillain (and star of Broadway!) Swarm. He also has the SWORD logo on his back. At this point, I’m about ready to call him a red herring. Just a SWORD agent trying to infiltrate this reality and reality makes sense out of his hazmat suit appearance by turning him into a beekeeper.

The real story here is that we have the first definite moment of Wanda altering reality to get what she wants. Earlier scenes could be seen with different context, but she absolutely sees a threat to her happiness and removes it completely.

The interesting thing is that the SWORD agent trying to contact her STILL believes someone is doing this to her at the end of the episode.

NOW IN COLOR

Once the beekeeper is negated, Wanda and Vision share a tender moment and everything starts to turn to color. It’s a hard scene to explain because what does it even mean in the basic narrative? Their world is evolving? Their perception is evolving? It’s the only time they really acknowledge the altering timelines and it’s hard to make sense out of it.

On one level, I suppose it’s a defense mechanism for Wanda. If outside anomalies are taking the form of color in a world without color, then maybe make them no longer stick out.

HERB AND THE WALL

Early in the third episode, Vision sees his neighbor Herb cutting through a brick wall using nothing but electric shears. Not only should this be impossible, but Herb doesn’t even see it as that weird. This could be seen as a glitch in reality, but I feel like it’s Herb trying to communicate to Vision that something is wrong.

It almost works, too! Vision almost brings it up to Wanda before being distracted and it later sticks with him enough for the next big moment.

JUMP EDIT

Wanda talks up the basic plot of the show where they have to hide their powers and identities from their neighbors despite numerous close calls. Vision starts to note how there’s more to this. Things just aren’t adding up. The dinner with the Harts ended all weird and what he just saw with Herb makes no sense.

Vision outright states that something is wrong. Wanda looks worried about this for a moment before the feed glitches and backtracks to Vision agreeing with her and not getting sidetracked.

If anything, this is a sign that Wanda will never be truly happy, and things are going to end badly. We must accept that this version of Vision is probably her mental recreation. He’s the artificial version of an artificial man. Vision as Wanda knows him would question and reject all of this. All Wanda can do is knock him off course or even rewrite his personality here and there to make him more agreeable. This is going to come to a head sooner than later. Either the man she loves will have to confront her for real or the man she’s with will no longer resemble his true self.

FAILED VACATION

Dr. Nielsen starts the third episode with the claim that he and his wife are going to Bermuda. Later on, when Vision needs him to deliver the baby, it’s shown that Dr. Nielsen and his wife can’t get their car started and therefore can’t leave Westview. Nielsen helps Wanda give birth to the second twin and has a final moment with Vision outside.

In this moment, he admits that he probably isn’t going to go on vacation to Bermuda after all. He doesn’t give an actual reason or even note his car problems. He just points out that in small towns, it’s hard to escape.

That’s pretty straightforward. Nobody can leave Westview, even if there’s an in-story reason, as the town will find some reason to keep them there. It’s very much like Cabin in the Woods or the “24-Hour Diner” issue of Sandman.

NEIGHBORHOOD GOSSIP

Shortly after Dr. Nielsen leaves, Vision greets Agnes and Herb before noticing the two gossiping about Wanda’s pregnancy. Vision talks to them about the power outage and it’s notable that after Agnes makes a crack about her never-before-seen husband Ralph, we never hear the audience laughing. In fact, it’s the natural awkwardness of the conversation compared to the ’70s sitcom aesthetic that really drives home that something is wrong.

The two bring up Geraldine, at the time making us unsure if we should be scared for her or Wanda. Herb tries to explain why Geraldine is there. She’s there because he, Agnes, and all the others are…blank. He can’t finish his thoughts, despite trying several times over. Vision tries to interrogate him further, but finally an uncharacteristically serious Agnes turns to Herb, tells him to stop, and gives a very panicked shake of the head.

Afterwards, Agnes slips back into character and rides off on her bike while Herb seems a little more tired as he shrugs back into his sitcom personality.

We don’t know how much this will linger in Vision, especially with the way the “sitcom” aspect of the episode abruptly ends with no credits or freeze frame. He is being pushed further towards understanding the nature of his surroundings, as he might be the only thing capable of saving everyone.

GERALDINE KNOWS

The final moments of the third episode are the most chilling, where Wanda namedrops her doomed brother Pietro and Geraldine brings up that he died thanks to Ultron. Wanda confronts her over that line and seems to realize that Geraldine is an agent of SWORD. Wanda then wishes her away back to reality (sadly, not in a literal cornfield) and we see that SWORD is heavily monitoring some sort of static dome affecting the reality of Westview.

Movies

WandaVision Explained: Who is Geraldine?

By Jim Dandy

WandaVision: Will Pietro Maximoff Make an Appearance?

By Kirsten Howard

Ignoring her true identity, as it hasn’t been officially announced on the show as of yet, Geraldine’s attempts to infiltrate Westview have to be seen as admirable. Sitcoms of this style where the main couple has a sci-fi/fantasy secret tend to last long enough for one or two supporting characters to become aware of what’s going on to shake things up. Geraldine comes off as trying to play the game and situate herself as that kind of friend, always somewhat aware of what Wanda is capable of, but not overtly so. Not yet, at least. She is literally a self-insert character and she almost pulls it off.

Mentioning Ultron is her attempt to bring Wanda back down to earth. Wanda’s too far gone at this point for it to work, but at least she lets Geraldine live.

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OTHER TRAILER STUFF

Before we get to the fourth episode, it’s worth revisiting the show’s previous trailers. Most of them are made up of footage from the initial three episodes, some of which are edited to give a different vibe from what’s actually happening (ie. Geraldine stating she doesn’t know who she is). From new footage for later episodes, these moments stick out:

We see what might be Wanda seeing Vision for the first time post-death. He’s in black and white and is greeting her, which is something we didn’t see in the initial episodes. Expect a flashback.

That would probably tie into the surreal shots of Wanda confronting the Mind Stone itself, whatever that signifies.

Vision waking up Agnes as she’s sitting in her car on Halloween. He zaps her awake with a yellow light, suggesting his connection to the Mind Stone. Agnes points out that Vision is dead and wonders if she is too. She also asks if Vision is there to save them. This is worth revisiting as it means she doesn’t recall her moment with Herb and Vision in the third episode. Unless she’s up to something, that is.

Agnes also screws up one of her lines and offers to leave and come back so they can do the scene over again.

On Halloween, a woman is putting up decorations while crying, as if her movements are being forced. Vision notices this.

Wanda mentions that Westview is their home and Vision offers to fight for it. This definitely reads different after watching the episodes. In fact, I’m not even sure Vision is offering to fight on Wanda’s side. It’s just as possible that he’s challenging her.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go watch the “Legends” episodes of the Justice League cartoon and wait patiently for Friday to come.

The post Marvel’s WandaVision Glitches Spell Trouble for MCU Reality appeared first on Den of Geek.

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#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

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arimayusa · 7 years

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thoughts on the tokyo ghoul movie

so I saw it yesterday and woAH the movie was amazing, but I ended up knocking out before I finished typing up all my thoughts, but now that i'm done with all my work for today, it’s time to post my opinions about the live action tg movie!! :D

(this is really long and includes a bunch of spoilers about the movie so it will be under the cut)

Masataka Kubota is an awkward adorable dork, case closed & Hide was really well casted too!

his cheerfulness and loud attitude really emphasized how opposite and introverted Kaneki is in comparison

I was happy to see that Kaneki’s desk was littered with books (like a crap ton of books), basically mplying he was a literature major without actually stating so + showing his love for books

SEN TAKATSUKI!!!! (sadly she wasn’t there but at least her name was mentioned)

omg Kaneki had such a stupid grin after looking at his calendar marked with "date with Rize"

only noticed it cause I saw it at the TG cafe, but Kaneki had a picture of him and Hide in elementary school taped on the top of his desk

the whole date with Rize was super awkward (especially the pasta part lol) but I think it created a strange (in a good way) tone leading up to the surprise of Rize’s reveal

omg the actress who played Rize was so good too :0 like the the shift in the pitch of her voice from shy and cute to the deeper, sensual one like in the anime when she revealed that she was a ghoul was so gooood

pretty sure the two people I went with were weirded out by how much I was giggling as Kaneki got flung around like a ragdoll by Rize

I thought the funeral scene was a nice touch, showing how Kaneki's been alone for so long (except for Hide of course)

Hide's drawing of a ghoul from the manga was still included even though it didn’t happen in Anteiku in the beginning (instead it was by on Kaneki's Campus notebook which was also on display at the TG cafe)

when Kaneki hallucinates Rize in his room, her shadow was a centipede on the ceiling!!!

that was a neat reference thrown in for the fans since we don't make it to Aogiri arc in the movie

that was one of the many things that only manga readers would've understood (which made the movie even more fun for me since that means if was made with that intention and care)

askdflkef when Touka threw cake at Kaneki after getting pissed off I was just like "lmao he's gonna get you a cake for your wedding later you know"

once again, of course Nishiki was perfect casting

I laughed a little too hard when Kimi was embarrassed & Nishiki kept staring at her chest with a blank stare while Hide and Kaneki just kinda stood at the door to his room

the Kaneki licking Hide's face scene™ was so funny (there’s all the Hidekane we gonna get y’all)

one thing that was real cute (cause it happened several times throughout the movie) was Touka telling Kaneki that he was an idiot and to stop crying and after the 1st time (when he learned he could drink coffee), Touka started saying it in a teasing tone rather than an angry one

the scene where Mado and Amon were introduced was actually pretty intimidating, it was right after they killed Hinami’s dad and Mado had Amon smash the ghouls hands with a rock that got bloodier as he continued (luckily the hand was off screen) in order to open

Amon's actor whoo boy (even my mom thought he was hot lmao)

oh my the scene where Mado held up the donut and asked "can you fall in love with this,” Amon was just staring at the donut (but we all know he was nodding inside guys)

(ok now this is me writing the day after aka today and I'm already forgetting the order of certain scenes so this may be slightly out of order rip)

Yoriko was so cute!!!! her actress was really pretty I wish we saw more of her...

I thought the food scene was kinda awkward though since it's wasn't at their school, but it was funny when Kaneki asked to have some too and Touka wouldn't let him have any

I was trying to look for Touka's bunny charm but I didn't notice it!! I did see something on Yoriko's bag though???

the “shuu” kanji scene was done a little differently but I liked it more

lol Hinami first asked Touka how to read the kanji but she didn’t know (because Touka-chan is bad at Japanese) so Kaneki explained

then Touka was just like "haha yeah that's it" pretending that she had just forgotten and Hinami straight savage calls her out, saying that Touka didn't know in the first place

Kaneki and Hinami both giggled at Touka and ahhh it was so cute, they felt like a family

the process in which Amon, Mado, and Kusaba determined who Ryouko and Hinami were made A LOT more sense in the movie than the animeit showed almost the entire process of them finding evidence starting from simply a string of fabric left behind on Hinami’s father’s clothes

*winks aggressively at Ishida and the director for the graffiti of a scythe and XIII in the background*

Hajime made his cameo the same way he did in the manga (and BOY DID I WANNA SLAP HIM RIGHT THERE that kid has a shady look on his face already I stg)

oh yeah the kagune! I thought they looked pretty decent actually

I liked how the scales shimmered and stuff, but of course some scenes kinda looked too CGI-y (especially the fight with Nishiki)

#blessed that they included the "I would be sad if you died Touka-chan scene"

the training montage with Kaneki and Touka / Amon was so cooooool (ok stfu Alyssa you just loved it cause you got to see strong Touka & shirtless Amon)

omg Kaneki apologizing after landing a hit on Touka for the first time was adorable ok

Touka's overalls when they went to HySy were really cute. I want to draw it when the movie comes out online later

idk why but I kept laughing at the little wrist watch radios that Amon and Mado had on their arms to contact each other???? it was just really weird and funny to see for some odd reason

ohh ok probably one of my favorite scenes was when Kaneki just started fucking speeding towards Amon's car which caused him to jam the brakes (bc some random hooded dude is just sprinting towards you in the middle of the street what else would you do)

then Kaneki just freakin jumps on it all slow mo and flips it over because he's dramatic like that

idk if this was in the manga but Doujima rotated and grinded Kaneki's kagune during the fight (which made more sense then a lollipop that Amon just swings around)???

besides some of the awkward shots in the movie, my only other criticism was that some of the fight scenes were drawn out way too long

Amon and Kaneki's was ok for the most part, but Touka and Mado's fight felt REALLY drawn out. they kept just standing and talking a lot

I tried it on when I was at the cafe but seeing Kaneki wearing the mask during his fight was way cooler and the shot of him unzipping it was noice

when Kaneki started losing his sanity during the fight with Amon, Kubota had this really psychotic laugh that made me giggle a lot ahhh

yo guys there was a bloody tear from Kaneki's ghoul eye that dripped onto Amon's right eye (his future ghoul eye)... like much wow such foreshadowing director/ishida

near the end, Amon brings flowers to Mado’s grave, but sadly Akira doesn’t show up cryy

all in all I thought it was a very enjoyable, pretty accurate adaptation (definitely one of the best anime live actions & *cough* better than the anime)

I went with two people who knew very little about TG, except for it’s premise, and they thought the movie was really good themselves (although a little too much blood in one of their opinions). Throughout the movie there was a bunch of hidden stuff for fans & probably a bunch more symbolism that I missed so I can't wait to rewatch it in the future (I wish I could go see it again this week tbh) and find even more stuff!!

oh one more thing! the credits were really pretty with BANKA playing in the background and there was some cool art during the scroll

I got pictures of three of them: the Owl/Dog/Ape, Touka's kagune, and Hinami's kagune!

#tokyo ghoul #tg #tg movie #kaneki ken #kirishima touka #amon koutarou #i really recommend going to watch it if you have the chance!!!#it was sooooo good

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trulycertain · 7 years

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The Shield Raised Masterpost

May also be of interest: The Great Big Masterpost (everything I’ve ever written on Tumblr) The Armour masterpost (F!Amell/Alistair) The An Unquenchable Flame masterpost (F!Trevelyan/Cullen) The Knight Shop masterpost (multi-writer modern AU)

Shield Raised is a series of drabbles about my stoic, awkward Trevelyan, Gal, and his romance with Dorian. a.k.a., “A Marcher nearly-templar, a Tevinter altus, and a slow understanding.” The Inquisition-era ones (though not the pre- and post-game ones) are collected on AO3 here.

Pre-Inquisition

sans peur et sans reproche: Basically, Gal’s angsty backstory. Chantries, angry young men and controlling mothers.

Haven

Rejection: The Herald has barely spoken since he arrived. (Josephine, Gal and the beginning of a tentative friendship.)

Futures: Dorian thinks the supposed Herald of Andraste is rather… odd.

The Measure: Dorian, Gal and a slow understanding. Also Dorian working out. Because apparently that’s important?

Drinking with the Tevinter: The Inquisition isn’t happy having someone from the Imperium in its ranks. Gal feels rather differently.

Questions and Answers: Gal gets upset and a bit drunk and finally opens up about his past. That’s pretty much it.

pictures in the snow: The attack on Haven and Gal’s apparent death.

Skyhold

Crossing: Turns out Gal’s alive. Cue Skyhold, UST and a step forwards.

Mamihlapinatapei: Promptfic. Mamihlapinatapei - The look between two people in which each loves the other but is too afraid to make the first move.

Sweet Nothing: The companions attempt to be helpful because the UST is getting painful to watch. Gal and Dorian do not appreciate it, but it gives them food for thought.

Liminal: Dorian tries to deal with being chucked into the Fade, and then with his father, and lines are crossed. Angsty as hell, even by Shield Raised standards.

Out Of My Head: Post-Last Resort Of Good Men. Dorian gets drunk, tries not to snog Gal and is homesick.

Answers: In which they finally spit it out. Only took them 21k.

Rumours: A revised and improved rewrite of “Answers.” Blech, kissing.

Attachment: Some fluff, some angst, some snogging. In the aftermath of That Kiss, Gal and Dorian try to work out what this thing between them is.

Truths: Homesickness, making out, and Dorian playing the “what, of course I’m not falling for him, what do you mean I called him amatus, I don’t even know what that means” game.

Promises: “Wishing but wondering, wounded and wistful. What if he doesn’t want me after?” A seduction, and Dorian waiting to get his heart broken. As usual.

the light of day: In which all the companions have an opinion. Of course.

Chess: Gal gets trounced at chess by a twelve-year-old. Oh, and he and Irene talk about happiness.

Pretexts: SFW, despite subject matter. Gal attempts to find time to do some “paperwork.” Said paperwork has a moustache.

Gifts, and surprises: Two short drabbles for the prompts “Did you do this?” and “So uh. I noticed you’re kinda naked. Is that intentional, or… ?” Gal and Dorian attempt to be spontaneous, with varying levels of success.

Sers: SFW, but written for #sexlaughterhonesty Week and the theme “coitus interruptus”. In which a messenger is privy to too much.

A Request: Short snippet. Josephine and Gal, pre-Winter Palace.

Formality: Why they got scruffy!Gal at Halamshiral, despite Josephine’s wishes.

A letter found on the Inquisitor’s desk: For the Dragon Age 100 prompt “Family.” Gal and an old friend from the Chantry days.

The Golden Floor: Halamshiral fluff, and why dancing can sometimes be an act of bravery.

Kohl: The adventures of Gal and Dorian and their battles with eyeliner. Does a little bit of timeline-hopping.

Mornings: On waking up together and Gal’s ridiculously large bed.

Mutual Domesticity: “You didn’t think I lived in leathers, did you?”

Maps: Short promptfic for “kisses meant to distract the other person from whatever they were intently doing.“

Dignity: Very daft fluff. Gal’s battles with the Helm of the Inquisitor. And prima sandwicha.

Ironically, Zombie Spider: What it says on the tin. Dorian really, really needs to stop idle magic experiments.

For Now: The Arbour Wilds fallout, and the “I’m going back to Tevinter” conversation. Angst, 5.1k.

“So if Gal’s 'amatus’, what does he call you?” Very short headcanon drabble thing.

Post-game

A Problem: Spans from shortly after their meeting to post-game. About 7k. Dorian and his struggles with The Dreaded L Word.

The Hangover: The big “we survived” celebration. Gal finally gets truly, astonishingly drunk, and emotional honesty happens. Much to his horror. Also: sorbet.

Malapert: Promptfic. Malapert - Clever in manners of speech.

“I love you” - said loudly, so everyone can hear

The Trespasser hair: Short, silly headcanon drabble.

Trespasser

Worst Case Scenario: Angsty AU drabble where Trespasser was even more difficult for Gal and Dorian. I let these two be happy sometimes. I promise.

Green: How Trespasser actually went. Truthfully, it’s not much less angsty than the AU.

Post-Trespasser

on the turning away: Leaving, and coming back.

Depth Over Distance: Gal, Dorian and managing the long-distance thing. Partly epistolary. Also, the return of Erren.

The Trespasser hair, part two: Gal has opinions on long-haired Dorian.

“I love you” - said as a thank you

Pain: Gal gets another tattoo. Dorian has… thoughts on it. Written for a Dragon Age 100 Challenge prompt.

A Question: What it says on the tin.

AUs

it’s running you with red: A short, miserable red-templar!Gal drabble.

Birthright (AO3): Another of the not quite fairy tales: the Cinderella AU no-one asked for. In a world where things happened slightly differently, Dorian takes a masked ball as a chance to covertly investigate this Inquisition he’s heard so much about. It’s only one night. Not much can go wrong. Can it? (Spoiler: The answer is yes. Or it can go very, very right.)

“Omnia mutantur, nos et mutamur in illis.” (All things change, and we change with them.) For a prompt. In which a time travel experiment goes wrong and Dorian ends up meeting a very sad eighteen-year-old stuck-in-the-Chantry Gal.

Reprise: Or “the one where Gal freaks out and breaks up with Dorian in Trespasser because he is an idiot, and they have to sort things out nearly two years later.” Ten-parter (there is a lot of mess to sort out). Over at AO3 | On Tumblr: Part 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Angsty extra drabble | 9 | 10

That very silly modern AU where they met at Yvaine’s wedding

Antivan Brandy: “I’d make an excellent spy. Charming, handsome, perfect teeth and hair…”

july forever (AO3): These visiting Tevinters are going to be fundamental for trade. The Trevelyans' son is under no circumstances to do anything stupid or inappropriate to embarrass the family, like seducing any of their foreign guests. Unfortunately, said Tevinters' son has rather different ideas.The "angry young men have a doomed summer romance" AU.

The Knight Shop stuff (modern-ish fluff-ish AU)

Terms & Conditions - The problem with distinguished old houses is that they tend to fall down around your ears when ignored for a decade. Dorian needs a handyman (possibly a whole squad of them). Gal is... well, a one-man most-of-a-squad. Or a knight.

Revenge - Gal’s all pink round the edges due to the Shop’s newest customer. Time for Alistair to tease him relentlessly about it. “I didn’t know ‘seventeenth-century villain’ was your type, but whatever works for you…”

“The washing machine broke, I almost lost my keys, the car got dented, and a wasp got into the house and hijacked the bedroom for four days! Four. Days.” Promptfic. The Knight Shop AU I will someday write properly with these two.

A to B - That time Dorian ended up on the back of Gal’s bike. Yeah, really.

DELETED SCENES

The First Round - Very important shirtless *cough* plot.

Happiness - Gal, Irene and a game of chess

Graphic depictions of cuddling

If asked, “When did you first fall in love?” both Gal and Dorian will struggle to answer the question.

OUTTAKES

Tru and Gal get a pint together, part one

Tru and Gal get a pint together, part two

“Only one orgy?”

Very, very bad jokes

HEADCANONS/COMMENTARY

Gal headcanons and history

More headcanons/extra info on Gal

Why Gal is called Galahad

Half-asleep Gal

Haircanons - Gal’s “phases” after DAI

Ten questions for Gal

Pros and cons of dating Gal (what pros?)

Gal and romance

Gal vs. TVTropes

Gal/Dorian couple-y silliness

Gal, Dorian and the bedroom (not quite as unsafe for work as it sounds)

Erren headcanons and info

Dorian headcanons (very general, but might tell you a bit about how I write him)

Dorian totally had a punk phase (Knight Shop/modern AU, I guess?)

Shield Raised and horses

Chev Trev The Horse

#masterpost #my fic #shield raised #dorian x inquisitor #gal trevelyan #dorian pavus #dragon age inquisition #dragon age

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apostateangela · 5 years

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Well, isn’t that just Marvel-ous

I know I said at the end of my last post that there was more sex to come… and more of that particular story.

But I’m having to step back from it this week; just until I talk to my therapist.

Remember this part…?

I can’t tell you all the sex in my marriage happened because I wanted it.

I also can’t comfortably say it was forced upon me.

Let’s just say I don’t want to look at that part of my past yet.

Except, now I have to.

Something that has been happening since I began this endeavor is that as I articulate and create sentences on a page clarifying and identifying realities about my past it makes them more real and subsequently more startling and disturbing.

I wrote it.

And now I can’t help but look at it.

The truth seems to be that a large percentage of the sex in my marriage falls under the category of Forced Consent.

Which is, by definition, sexual assault.

And I don’t know what to do with that…

I promise I will circle back after I flesh some things out in therapy this coming week.

Instead I feel compelled to talk about something that isn’t on my chronological trajectory.

I’m being pulled off course by a very strong force.

Her name is Carol Susan Jane Danvers, also known as Captain Marvel.

Thursday night, when I went to the movie premiere of Captain Marvel, I had a very personal and emotional experience, and not the one I thought I would have.

I have been incredibly excited for this movie.

A badass female superhero who is also a soldier checks so many of my boxes.

I want to be a strong woman. I am looking for strong female role models in both life and fiction.

So this character has been someone I have started to become marginally obsessed with.

I even dressed up as her earth military persona for Halloween.

Sadly, the models of women that I HAVE had don’t always track with this kind of strength that I earnestly desire. So before I delve into my Captain Marvel deconstruction I’m going to add to the pictures of womanhood I have already shared.

Again, let’s start with the Church’s idea of what a woman should be:

I will remind you of a previous post discussing Eve and the concept of a ‘helpmeet’

(Is it good for (Wo)Man to be Alone?).

To add to those scriptures and that image, I’m going to draw your attention to various quotes said and written by men taken from within the structure of the Church, again from lds.org.

From the Church’s founder Joseph Smith:

“Let this Society (he is referencing the Relief Society, the LDS Church Women’s Organization) teach women how to behave towards their husbands, to treat them with mildness and affection. When a man is borne down with trouble, when he is perplexed with care and difficulty, if he can meet a smile instead of an argument or a murmur—if he can meet with mildness, it will calm down his soul and soothe his feelings; when the mind is going to despair, it needs a solace of affection and kindness” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 228).

Various leaders since Joseph Smith, but all within the late twentieth and twenty first centuries:

“It is divinely ordained what a woman should do, but a man must seek out his work. The divine work of women involves companionship, homemaking, and motherhood” (“In His Steps,” 64).

“Beware of the subtle ways Satan employs to take you from the plan of God [2 Nephi 9:13] and true happiness. One of Satan’s most effective approaches is to demean the role of wife and mother in the home” (Elder Richard G. Scott).

“There are voices in our midst which would attempt to convince you that these home-centered truths are not applicable to our present-day conditions. If you listen and heed, you will be lured away from your principal obligations.

“Beguiling voices in the world cry out for ‘alternative life-styles’ for women. They maintain that some women are better suited for careers than for marriage and motherhood.

“These individuals spread their discontent by the propaganda that there are more exciting and self-fulfilling roles for women than homemaking. Some even have been bold to suggest that the Church move away from the ‘Mormon woman stereotype’ of homemaking and rearing children. They also say it is wise to limit your family so you can have more time for personal goals and self-fulfillment” (“The Honored Place of Woman”).

Translation: Women have a very clear subservient role: that of mild smiling wife, homemaker, and mother.

It is Divinely appropriated, meaning that God has said this is what a woman should be.

If you deviate from this role it is suggested that you are following Satan.

My mother is this woman: a simple, faithful, subservient woman with incredible homemaking skills. I learned from her.

But it goes deeper than that; my grandmothers, aunts, great grandmothers, friends, and fellow sisters in the church all followed in the footsteps of Eve, holding themselves accountable to God and their husbands, fully dependant and creating beautiful homes while rearing well-behaved, righteous children.

I suppose I should take this opportunity to say that I do not regret my choice of motherhood.

I value my abilities to garden, sew, crochet, embroidery, preserve food, cook, and keep a clean house.

These are all good things. So is this picture of womanhood inherently problematic?

No. The problem lies in the message that THIS WOMAN is all you CAN or SHOULD be.

That someone else, a man or group of men specifically, knows what is best for you and only through him/them can you become the best woman you can become.

This was my culture.

Add to that my marriage to the unstable, narcissistic sociopath I’ve mentioned before, and you have a clear picture of the limitations and restrictions and sorrow that surrounded much of my life.

(Captain Marvel is on her way, wait for it)

One of the key tools a narcissist uses within their relationships is gaslighting.

From Psychology Today:

Gaslighting is a form of persistent manipulation and brainwashing that causes the victim to doubt her or himself, and ultimately lose her or his own sense of perception, identity, and self-worth. The term is derived from the 1944 film Gaslight, in which a husband tries to convince his wife that she’s insane by causing her to question herself and her reality.

There will be a seperate gaslighting post, but sufficeth to say that as “the gaslighter creates a negative narrative about the gaslightee (“There’s something wrong and inadequate about you”)” both my husband and the church as an organization created this narrative for and about me.

Back to Captain Marvel=Spoiler alert!

Captain Marvel is a story of a woman who finds herself with significant gaps in her memory, to the point that she doesn’t really know who she is. She is given significant training and instruction on who she should be and how she should act with a suitable noble cause attached. This indoctrination extends beyond military training as she has a device in her neck that limits her use of power and allows her to be directly brainwashed by an AI all powerful entity (something God-like) called The Supreme Intelligence. It is discovered as the movie progresses that her past has been taken away from her as well as her identity. She has been shattered like her dogtags, reduced to Vers, a small piece of who she was or could become. Her incredible power is muted and the gaslighting spins the lie that it is only through the Divine will of the all powerful Supreme Intelligence that supposedly gave it to her (with an alien blood transfusion) that she has any power whatsoever. This lie extends even further in that she must be taught to control this gifted power through the instruction of a male benefactor, Yon-Rogg. He says more than once that it is his job to help Vers become all that she can be through his instruction and the controlling of her emotions and there-by her power.

Are you seeing the parallels yet? (a prescriptive identity with a noble cause, power that is God’s and not yours, a culture outlining your worth and purpose, lies used to make you feel powerless, emotions being pitched as something bad and wrong).

Writing that summary paragraph makes me want to vomit. My stomach is literally clenching.

And this was true during the movie as well.

I spent much of the movie horrified for Carol Danvers and simultaneously myself.

Good Job Marvel and Disney, you always create this fucking hero’s journey where the protagonist had to struggle through incredible challenges and odds until they eventually prevail.

But truthfully, we see ourselves in this fiction because it is archetypal and resonates deep within us.

And like a true hero, Captain Marvel does discover who she is, unspins the lies, unleashes her own power and its potential, and kicks everyone’s ass that needs to be kicked.

The problem is, we can’t all be Captain Marvel… can we?

A wise man who went to the movie with me, whom I love and who knows my tragic story, said to me afterward as we were talking about my obvious emotional response to the movie and the existence of parallels, “See, your blog and Muay Thai are your superpowers.”

(yes, I’m in martial arts training. I’m sure I’ll write about that at some time in the future)

This should have made me feel good.

But it did not.

Compared to the atomic, otherworldly, titan-like power of Captain Marvel,

these small things felt like nothing.

I’m sorry, or I’m not sorry… I apologize too much….rather, I’m filled with sorrow that this is my take away.

But it is important for me to be honest here.

My experience watching this incredible movie was that of emotional horror.

I was sad for what had been done to Carol Danvers because I understood the scope of that.

I understand the feelings of confusion at having your identity stripped away and not knowing who you really are.

I understand how it feels to only have flashes of yourself somewhere in your heart and brain, but not being able to nail them down or see them clearly. And to have people around you tell you to ignore those things and then outline for you what you are supposed to be.

I understand what it feels like to be gaslighted by a culture, an organization, a God, and a man who was supposed to care for you, to the point that you completely buy the lie.

Even if the lie is about you.

I understand how it feels to be told you have no power. And if you ever did exhibit evidence of having any power, being told that it isn’t really yours, but something given to you by God and thereby only good for doing the things that God told you to.

I understand being told that my desires and emotions were wrong and that I needed to stamp them down and “control” them.

Watching this movie for the first time made me also understand that my story was not as far along as Carol’s.

I didn’t feel powerful.

I didn’t feel strong.

The good news is, I went and saw the movie again the next night.

So here is my addendum:

There are three lines that impacted me the most from both my viewings… (forgive me if they are not exactly accurate). As I heard these three lines again, the negative feelings I experienced after the first showing shifted.

First: At one point in the movie, after much of the lies are revealed and Carol discovers that even the war she’s been fighting is based on an ugly lie, her old friend Maria Rambeau says this to her,

“You are Carol Danvers. You are smart, funny, and a huge pain in the ass.”

Rambeau then expresses how Carol had supported her as a mother and a pilot as well as standing up for those who needed her--as a hero should.

This moment reminds me that when I can’t believe in myself

or doubt my strength, power, and validity because of my Mormon programming

and the gaslighting of my culture and my ex-husband,

there are those around me that believe me and know who I am.

I need to turn to them for their support and clarification.

When my kind, smart companion told me of my superpowers,

I needed to believe him

and take comfort that even if I don’t know, others do.

And they will help me with my truth based on evidence and experience instead of abstract rules and limiting parameters.

And he is right. This blog is my unfettered voice and Muay Thai is helping me create both mental and physical strength. Both allow me to fight for myself.

Second: One of the most powerful moments in the Captain Marvel movie is when Carol is being held by the AI and it tells her, “Without us, you’re only human.”

A montage of all the moments in Carol Danvers original life where she got knocked down in some way, but then got up flashes across the screen.

There is a clear moment of revelation for Captain Marvel.

And Carol Susan Jane Danvers replies, “You are right. I’m only human.”

After which, she breaks free of the not so powerful AI holding her.

This line is where it’s all at for me.

Because the images of Carol through different ages of her life, taking risks, and doing what she wants in spite of the people who tell her she can’t,

then falling, failing.

AND THEN, getting back up and trying again and again until she succeeds creates the message that... it is THIS behaviour that makes us remarkable HUMANS.

I am humbled to be able to tell you that THIS is also WHO I AM.

If I do anything of note, it is that I do not give up. I keep trying and I get up after I fall.

It is in this way that I am heroic.

It is in this way that I have risen from the rubble of my damaging paradigms.

It is in this way that I seek to find the new ways in which I will live my life.

I will continue to keep trying to find myself, and my truth.

I will not fall back into that which was created for me, but instead create a place and identity for myself.

Finally, there is the line that is sure to go down in the history of this movie as its most quotable line. Captain Marvel says,

“I’ve been fighting with one hand behind my back, but what happens when I am finally set free?”

This is both a rhetorical and a warning question.

Because as Carol Danvers removes the control device in her neck and both channels and releases all her power, she defeats those who have held her captive and steps into that place where she can and does realize her true potential.

Sure, she has some moments when she fumbles around a bit and has to feel things out, discovering what she can do as she experiments and fights her way free.

But eventually she FLYS, glowing in all her glory.

And the final message she leaves us with, is in her handling of Yon-Rogg when she, without hesitation shoots him and says, “I don’t have to prove anything to you.”

I agree Carol, I do not have to prove anything to those who held me captive in foolish dogma and lies.

But, I am not flying… yet.

I HAVE broken free of everything that was tying my figurative hands.

And while my wrists are still chafed and I am trying to rid myself of the psychological muscle memory, I believe I will only continue to heal and discover my power and its potential.

I must.

Because I will not stand for the alternative.

-Angela

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ozsaill · 6 years

Text

Guests on a boat: how our friends nailed it

“Guests, like fish, begin to smell after three days.” When Benjamin Franklin said this, he wasn’t thinking about fitting two families – a total of nine adult-sized humans – into a 47’ boat that technically sleeps six, for ten days. So why did things go so well when our friends visited Totem in Panama a few months ago? Partly because we already knew how well we clicked, individually and as a group. But also because the Waters family (or to fellow boaters, the Calypso family, because you are known by your boat name) groks sharing small spaces. They’ve cruised on a 28’ Bristol Channel Cutter. They GET it. (pictured above at a historic fort in Panama: our two families plus the crew of Utopia.)

Disclaimer: I’m not going to provide a packing list here. Yes, we do have a standard document for guests coming aboard Totem. It’s partly a checklist directing prospective guests as to how to pack what they’ll need, what to leave behind. It also previews what to anticipate about boat life for everyone to be comfortable on board. (Spoiler: never ever turn on the faucet unless you are using every drop that comes out! THE HORROR of water wasted stuns us all into speechlessness.) Because the packing directions vary based on where we are, what season it is, and what kind of sailing (or not sailing) is expected – the content is customized every time. As I edited our Totem Guest Prep file for the Waters family I kept cracking up while deleting whole sections about life aboard, because thanks to their prior years of experience living aboard and cruising there was very little orientation needed. So, sorry, no checklist: this is about how to be a good guest on a boat.

So, what makes a good guest on a boat?

Mindful of scarce resources

Utilities and the basics of everyday life readily taken for granted on shore (power, water, internet, the ability to refill the snack bin) are constrained resources on Totem. Space, too, is in limited supply. Constrained resources are a big deal on a boat and can be a big challenge for non-boaty visitors. Orientation to what we have (and what we don’t) is in an advance letter to help them prepare for those divergences from everyday life, like the Navy Shower.

I may have thwacked down a faucet turned on to full flow once, which frankly I have to do with my own teens too. But that’s about it. The Calypsos integrated easily because they had awareness, respect, and the needed dose of flexibility to keep things smooth.

Me, Karen (Utopia) and Nica (Calypso)… photobomb by Nica’s son Julian, Niall wondering what the heck we are doing…

Courier service!

Isn’t it amazing how you can have a need, order what you need online, and have it at your door in lickety-split time? I guess it is, but that’s NOT our reality! We may go (many) months. It’s one of the ways in which cruising is good for practicing gratitude and minimalism: when you have to wait six months for that Shiny Thing, you are either VERY appreciative of it when it arrives, or find it wasn’t necessary and skip ordering it altogether.

When visitors come aboard, the understood quid pro quo is that they’re bringing things for us. Possibly a lot of things. I’m pretty sure we told our crew Ty that it was one duffle bag for him, and one for the boat when he last flew to meet Totem in Namibia! Nica and family arrived four months since our last access to “stuff” and the shopping list included everything from quality sketch pads to books to shampoo (one lone bottle thwarted their goal of traveling all carry-on but they didn’t flinch).

Minimizing our cost

We live on a thin budget. When we invite guests, we take care of them, but that’s within the limits of our very frugal life. Gotta go somewhere? Hoofing it or public transport. Eating in a restaurant? An extravagance not to anticipate. We expect to take care of our guests, and we expect them to be OK with the way we live. If we make plans to do anything on shore, we assume we’re doing Dutch and everyone pays their way.

Nica and family went one better. We walked together to find a grocery store near where they met us in Puerto Lindo, Panama, that would cover us during their stay. It was a good leg stretch, with good company, and helping hands to carry provisions back to the boat – and, it turned out, a friend who didn’t let me pay for any of it. Chipping in to cover your part is welcome. Subsidizing the whole grocery stock-up is awesome! Later in San Blas it was lobster from passing dugouts, produce from a visiting boat. They didn’t just cover their share, they lightened the whole burden. This gets you invited back!

Nica in Totem’s cockpit, underway in Guna Yala

Remembering who is on holiday

Our visitors understood that while they’re on vacation, we’re not. (Because cruising looks good, but we still have things to keep up with: beyond everyday maintenance, Jamie’s advising customers about new sails, we have coaching clients to connect and respond to, etc.). Our choice of destination some days had to be Where The Cell Tower Was, not necessarily where the most awesome beach or snorkeling reef or interesting village was.

Nica, Jeremy and family didn’t expect us to be cruise directors with a planned social schedule. We definitely had a more relaxed everyday routine, which was great all around. Their presence ensured seeking out experiences we might have passed on were they not on board. And much of the time they’d figure out a bunch of their own entertainment, whether it was going for a swim, working out on the bow, or reading a book in the cockpit. They had some of their own keeping up to do as well: Nica filmed for her Tasty Thursday YouTube channel I got to peek over her shoulder to learn about the video editing process.

Bee takes time out to paint on Totem’s bow in Portobelo, Panama.

Getting involved

Being an active participant instead of a cockpit potato is a corollary of remembering we’re not on holiday. When there’s something to be done, good guests pitch in. The Waters family helped prepare meals. They did a lot of dishes. They kept our (snug) berth spaces tidy. We shared the everyday load more like one big family than two families stuffed together. When our neighbor had trouble with the watermaker on board, Jeremy went with Jamie to help troubleshoot. They hung swimsuits on the lifelines, kept shoes out of the way (who am I kidding that was easy, we barely wore shoes the whole 10 days!), and were always ready to lend a hand.

Jamie and Jeremy checking sail trim as we sail west from Guna Yala

Being flexible

Our cruising mentors would tell their hopeful visitors: “you can choose the date, or the place, but not both.” This actually isn’t too far from the truth, especially for any longer-range planning. We can hone in pretty well as a date approaches, but often it’s just hard to know where we can be: weather plays with our ability to control planning. Our mentors’ guide is a truism ameliorated with a mix of planning, flexibility, and the weather gods.

Nica and Jeremy’s ideal was to transit the Panama Canal on Totem, a preview for their intentions to bring Calypso through to the Pacific in the future. But as their arrival date approached, it was peak season at the canal and the lag to confirm a transit spot did not match well with the dates on their plane tickets.

We called them with our Iridium GO (yes, you can make calls with it) from a remote corner of San Blas with the news, and some options. They took it in stride, and plans were revised. They weren’t able to go through the canal, but we had a great time cruising around the idyllic San Blas islands instead.

Flexibility is an everyday need, too. Nica sent me a beautiful thank you note after they got back to Virginia. She felt what I did: that despite the fact we believed our odds were good, there was always some chance that packing us all in a small space for a week and a half would eventually create some strain…yet didn’t. She catches the vibe perfectly:

I keep trying to put a finger on what made it so incredible, and it comes back to a couple of things. First of all was the pace. The way we went through the week felt like just the way we like to cruise. Hang out a while, move on when we want to. No need to race somewhere else just because we’d already seen where we are. Need internet? Stay where we are an extra day or two. Want a better anchorage? Pick up and move. Want to see a village, or get onions, or get to access to town? Move. Check weather, make sure we’re not in for horrendousness, and go accordingly.

Kids… going accordingly, off a picture-postcard island in Guna Yala (San Blas)

Lasting reminders

The Calypso crew surprised us with some excellent treats, picked out with thoughtfulness and care for what our crew would appreciate. First, understand that outside North America, maple syrup might as well be liquid gold (I saw 250 ml in the grocery store here – a surprise itself – for $10. That’s not even one breakfast for this crew!). They know we love it and have Vermont hookups. They brought so much we have it in quantity that doesn’t require RATIONING! That’s been YEARS! And chocolate… oh, the chocolate. Many bags of chocolate chips. Nica, I confess to you here, I might have hidden some of the really good stuff for midnight treats while standing watch between Panama and Baja. We have one bag of chocolate chips left (with less than two weeks until haulout time, when the food stores must be depleted before we leave Totem). PERFECT.

We’ve lacked good music on board Totem for a while, and I might have complained about how Hamilton sounds through laptop speakers (not good). They brought (and left) and AWESOME bluetooth speaker which has been a great way to bring music and cockpit movie nights back to Totem. Just about every day I use or benefit from something that they brought and smile remembering their visit.

Totem + Calypso teens digging the April’s Maple… excellent Vermont maple syrup! Photo: Nica Waters

We hope the Calypso family comes back. But even more I think we hope they SAIL CALYPSO this way, and come share an anchorage with us. South Pacific plans may be brewing, and that’s all I’m going to say on that.

You can also read about the Calypso’s experience aboard Totem on Nica’s blog, Fit2Sail!

from Sailing Totem https://ift.tt/2sWE1yr via IFTTT

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rontweedie · 7 years

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The Castle of Otronto by Horace Walpole

After I finished "Wagner the Werewolf", since I was in a Gothic vein, and Karen had bought me a copy of "The Castle of Otronto", I decided I may as well read it. It's only 106 pages long. To be honest I was a little disappointed in "Wagner the Werewolf". He only changed into a werewolf three times in the book, which was 474 pages long, and when he did he just ran around like crazy all night like the Tasmanian Devil from the Warner Brothers cartoons. The beginning was OK, but it soon started to drag when he found himself stranded on an island in the Mediterranean. Because of the immense popularity of "Robinson Crusoe", in most 19th century works, if they were long enough, a few chapters where the characters find themselves stranded on an island almost seemed almost mandatory. I read "Robinson Crusoe" years ago and I remember it as being dreadfully boring. How could it be anything other? Do you think being stuck on some island out in the middle of nowhere is terribly exciting? It was no more exciting in "Wagner the Werewolf" even with all the giant snakes on the other side of the island. Giant snakes should present any imaginative writer with a wonderful opportunity, but, unfortunately Mr. George W M Reynolds just must not have felt equal to the challenge this time around. I find this odd because "Varney the Vampire" was a delightful book and I loved the character. He was a hideous and freaky looking vampire, nearly seven feet tall with a face like a rat, but oh so polite. Whenever his irate neighbors burst into his home to challenge him to a duel or insist he evacuate the premises and vacate the village he's always careful to offer them refreshments. If they refuse he asks them, "Are you quite sure? I have an extensive selection of tempting cordials to chose from!" Such impeccable manners. A true gentleman through and through. I absolutely loved it. I guess there's also the possibility that Wagner and Varney were the creations of two different authors since these Victorian potboilers were published in installments in cheap, rubbishy magazines that no respectable person would really want to be associated with. Many writers used pseudonym, and sometimes the same pseudonym could be used by more than one author. OK, back to, "The Castle of Otronto". To be honest I had a very hard time understanding the first few paragraphs. The syntax and manner of speech was initially very opaque to me. Of course it was written in 1764 so that may have something to do with it. Anyway I was able to make the adjustment and understand what I was reading quickly enough. The story didn't make much sense. It reminded me of a dream in a lot of places and I felt the story was overburdened with heavy and obscure symbolism. After I read it I did a little research and apparently creating impossible events and having his characters react to them naturally as if they were commonplace was one of the concepts he was exploring with this piece. Also, you may be interested to know, this is officially the first Gothic novel ever written, but since he admits Hamlet was his inspiration does that mean Shakespeare should be considered the first Gothic writer instead of Walpole? I think the definition of "Gothic" has either changed or enlarged during the past 250 years since this book was set in the 12th century and dealt with knights and castles. In fact, when it was first released the author told everyone it was just a translation he did of an old Italian work from the Middle Ages found in a private library on an ancient estate. He later confessed it was his own creation and the work received mixed criticism, some praising it while others dismissed it as romantic fluff. Walpole himself was obsessed with English Gothic architecture and began enlarging his Strawberry Hill farm Hearst Castle style trying to make it into a sort of castellino. Since he knew nothing about structural architecture his Gothic additions were basically decoration. At any rate it still stands and you can book tours by calling: +44 20 8744 1241. Although originally about knights, ghosts, castles and princesses in distress, most people these days, when they hear the term "Gothic" think of 19th century stories dealing with monsters like "Frankenstein" and "Dracula", maybe even "Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde". Most modern readers would feel cheated if they read a Gothic novel without a vampire in it or a monster chained in the cellar or dungeon. Maybe a few creatures of the night would have livened the story up a bit, but I appreciate this kind of literature so much that personally, I don't require the addition of monsters. If it's well written enough I enjoy seeing a story unfold in the chivalrous world when Europe was young and green, and observing plots and schemes enacted in the context of the ancient moral code. For instance I love Sir Walter Scott. OK, spoiler alert here in case any of you think you may ever want to read this in the future, I'm about to outline some of the plot: Manfred, the Lord of Otranto, was about to marry his son off to princess Isabella. Out of nowhere a giant helmet falls out of the sky and crushes his son, Conrad, the death(!). Of course everyone is totally freaked out by this, but, evidently Manfred is very single minded, he needs an heir to the property to continue his family name, so he goes up to Isabella and basically says, "Oh well, shit happens. He was a sickly little loser anyway. I'll just divorce my wife and marry you instead", which, I'm sure you will agree, is a most singular response to the situation. Isabella is mortified by his plan and, of course, runs away. Since it was a superstitious age some poor guy was accused of using sorcery to kill Conrad so they put him under the helmet. They don't provide him with any food because they assume that if he gets hungry he could just conjure up a snack for himself using the black arts. So, anyway, while the princess is frantically running through the castle to evade the crazed Manfred she runs into this guy who was imprisoned under the helmet, a peasant named Theodore, Some people thought he stepped out of a picture on the wall of the castle because he resembled it so much, but we are given to understand that the giant helmet damaged the castle wall and he was able to escape his makeshift prison and penetrate the castle through the rupture. Theodore opens a trap door in the floor that leads to the local church and the princess is able to escape, unfortunately the hatch slams shut after she descends and the noise attracts Manfred and his servants. They can't find the trap door but once they conclude Theodore aided the princess in her escape they take him prisoner with the intent of torturing him into revealing where she is. Manfred chooses friar Jerome to be his confessor, but we soon find, once they strip off Theodore's shirt in preparation to laying him on the rack, that a mark on his shoulder reveals that Theodore is friar Jerome's long lost son. I won't divulge anymore, but I trust I've given you a good idea of what the story is like. Like most literature the plot takes numerous twists and turns where secret relationships between the characters are revealed, unexpected events shatter well laid plans and, in the tradition of Shakespeare, nearly everyone dies or is killed by the end. Since the place is getting fixed up nice maybe I should make more of my book review videos. I must have read a room full of books since the last one I made. I guess it's getting time to make some more.

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