#he has demonstrated he can play cold personalities

[alohawhore]

probably an unpopular take but if there were ever to be a live action series/movie/whatever, misha collins would make a great malavai quinn

[felassan]

Cliff notes on the new info on Dragon Age: The Veilguard in today’s issue of Game Informer (magazine hub link):

Edit/update: I tidied up this post. ^^

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In CC you can customize things like shoulder width, chest size, glute size, hip width, how bloodshot your eyes are, nose crookedness, and more

There are hundreds of sliders for body proportions

CC detail: “Features like skin hue, tone, melanin”

There is nudity in DA:TV, “which I learned firsthand while customizing my Rook” in CC

Rook’s backstory also affects “reputation standing”, along with the other previously-known things like in-game dialogue etc

Lords of Fortune are pirate-themed, “piratic”

Rook ascends because of competency, not because of a magical McGuffin, contrasting with the 'destiny-has-chosen you’ angle DA:I has for the Inquisitor

Rook is here because they chose to be, “and that speaks to the kind of character that we’ve built. Someone needs to stop this, and Rook says, ‘I guess that’s me'”

The 4 voices we can choose for Rook each have a pitch shifter in CC

The game starts inside the bar (as previously detailed in other coverage)

In some dialogue wheels there is a “romantically inclined ‘emotional’ response” option. These are the replies that will build relationships with characters, romantic and platonic alike, but you can ignore them if you want to. Giving a companion the cold shoulder might nudge them into another companion’s embrace however

Bellara’s surname is Lutara

In the streets of Minrathous (in the opening segment of the game), there is a wide, winding pathway with a pub which has a dozen NPCs in it (is this The Swan tavern?)

The devs used the DA:TV CC to make each in-world NPC, except for specific characters like companions

There is smart use of verticality, scaling and wayfinding in the gameplay

If you play as e.g. a qunari Rook, the camera adjusts to ensure larger characters like them loom over those below. The camera also adjusts appropriately for dwarves to demonstrate their smaller stature

Neve Gallus is described as being capable

The Venatori Cultists we fight in the opening segment of the game are seizing the chaos caused by the demons unleashed by Solas’ ritual to try and take the opportunity to take over the city

As you traverse deeper and deeper into Solas’ hideout, more of his murals appear on the walls, and things 'get more elven'. Rhodes says “this is because you’re symbolically going back in time, as Minrathous is a city built by mages on the bones of what was originally the home of the elves”

At the heart of Solas’ hideout is his personal eluvian

Demons are fully redesigned in this game, on their original premise as creatures of feeling that live and die off the emotions around them. “As such, they are just a floating nervous system, pushed into this world from the Fade, rapidly assembled into bodies out of whatever scraps they find”

In the opening, we stop Solas’ ritual and save the world. “For now” anyways. Rook passes out moments later and wakes up in a dream-like landscape to the voice of Solas. He explains that a few drops of Rook’s blood interacted with the ritual, connecting them to the Fade forever. (I guess this is why they said in the Discord Q&A on June 14th that Rook has good reasons to want to avoid blood magic)

He also says that he was attempting to move Elgar’nan and Ghilan’nain (confirming who the two Evil Gods are) to a new prison, because the one he had previously constructed was failing. Unfortunately, Solas is trapped in the Fade by our doing, and the two gods are now free. “It’s up to Rook to stop them”, thus setting the stage for our adventure

Rook wakes up after this with Harding and Neve “in the lair of the Dread Wolf himself”, a special magical realm in the Fade called The Lighthouse. It’s a towering structure centered amongst various floating islands. This is where the team bonds, grows, and prepares for its adventures. It becomes more functional and homier as you do. “Already, though, it’s a beautifully distraught headquarters for the Veilguard, although they aren’t quite referring to themselves as that just yet”.

Because it was Solas’ home base, it's gaudy, with his fresco murals adorning various walls, greenery hanging from above, and hues of purple and touches of gold everywhere. Since it’s in the Fade, which is a realm of dreams that responds to your world state and emotion, the Lighthouse “reflects the chaos and disrepair of the Thedas you were in moments ago”

Clock symbols over dialogue icons signal optional dialogue options

At this point you can head over to Neve, engage in dialogue, and try and flirt with her

There is a dining hall in the Lighthouse. A plate, cutlery and a drinking chalice are at the end of a massive table. Matt Rhodes says that this is a funny and sad look at Solas’ isolated existence, and an example of the detail BioWare’s art team has put into DA:TV. “It’s like when you go to a friend’s house and see their bedroom for the first time; you get to learn more about them”

There is also a library, which is the central area of the The Lighthouse. It’s here that the party will often regroup and prepare for what’s next

The team decides that it must reach the ritual site back in Arlathan Forest. Corinne Busche said that the writer was "missing unique dialogue options here because I’m qunari; an elf would have more to say about the Fade due to their connection to it. The same goes for my backstory earlier in Minrathous. If I had picked the Shadow Dragons background, Neve would have recognized me immediately, with unique dialogue”

The team decide their next move. They go to Solas’ eluvian and back through to the ritual site in Arlathan Forest. However, it’s not fully functional without Solas, and while it returns them to the Forest, it’s not exactly where they want to go. Then a demon-infested suit of mechanized armor known as a Sentinel attacks them, and two NPCs appear to save you: the Veil Jumpers Strife and Irelin. Harding recognizes them, which you would expect if you read the comic Dragon Age: The Missing. They are experts in ancient elven magic. A cutscene ensues and we learn that Strife and Irelin need help finding Bellara Lutara. This cutscene is long and has multiple dialogue options.

“There’s a heavy emphasis on storytelling and dialogue, and it feels deep and meaty, like a good fantasy novel. BioWare doesn’t shy away from minutes-long cutscenes”

For Rook, this story is about what does it mean to be a leader? We define their leadership style with our choices. “From the sound of it, my team will react to my chosen leadership style in how my relationships play out.” This is demonstrated within the game’s dialogue and a special relationship meter on each character’s companion screen

Bellara is deep within Arlathan Forest, and following the events of the prologue, something is up here. Three rings of massive rocks fly through the air, protecting what appears to be a central fortress. Demon Sentinels plague the surrounding lands.

In gameplay/combat, players complete every swing in real time. Special care was taken in development for animation swing-through and cancelling. We can dash, parry, charge moves, and a completely revamped healing system that allows us to use potions at our discretion by hitting right on the d-pad. You can combo attacks and even ‘bookmark’ combos with a quick dash, which means that you can pause a combo’s status with a dash to safety and continue the rest of the combo afterward

Abilities can be used to customize your kit. They can be used on the fly as long as you account for cooldowns

When you pause and pull up the ability Wheel, it highlights you and your companions’ skills. There you can choose abilities, queue them, target specific enemies, and strategize with synergies and combos

Each character plays the same in that you execute light and heavy attacks with the same buttons, use abilities with the same buttons, and interact with the combo wheel in the same way, regardless of which class you select

Sword and shield warriors can hip-fire or aim their shield and throw it like Captain America

Warriors can parry incoming attacks which can stagger enemies. Rogues have a larger parry window. The mage the writer played couldn’t parry at all. Instead they throw up a shield that blocks incoming attacks automatically, so long as you have the mana to maintain it

On the start/pause screen: it has the map, journal, character sheets, skill tree, and a library for lore information. You can use it to cross-compare equipment and equip new gear for Rook and their companions, build weapon loadouts for quick change-ups mid-combat, and customize you and your party’s abilities and builds via an easy-to-understand skill tree. There aren’t in-depth minutiae, just "real numbers". For example, an unlocked trait might increase damage by 25 percent against armor, but that’s as in-depth as the numbers get. Passive abilities unlock jump attacks and guarantee critical hit opportunities, while abilities add moves like a Wall of Fire to your arsenal if you’re a mage. As you spec out this skill tree, which is 100 percent bespoke to each class, you’ll work closer to unlocking a spec, complete with a unique ultimate ability

“Sentinels and legions of darkspawn”

Combat is flashy and quick, with different types of health bars. Greenish-blue represents a barrier, which is taken down most effectively with ranged attacks

The game is gorgeous, with sprinkles, droplets, and splashes of magic in each attack a mage unleashes

The game looks amazing on consoles both in fidelity and performance modes

The mission to find Bellara is called “In Entropy’s Grasp”. You find her. She is the first companion you recruit (as Neve auto-joins). If your background is Veil Jumper, you get unique dialogue here with Bellara. She explains that everyone there is all trapped in a Veil Bubble, and there’s no way out once you pass through it. Despite the dire situation, she is bubbly, witty, and charming. She is spunky and effervescent

Companions are the faces of their factions, and in this case with Bellara, their entire area of the world. She is our window into Arlathan Forest. She is described as a sweetheart and a nerd for ancient elven artifacts, which is why she’s dressed more like an academic than a combatant. Her special arm gauntlet is useful both for tinkering with her environment and taking down enemies. While Neve uses ice magic and can slow time with a special ability, Bellara specializes in electricity, and she can also use magic to heal you. Her electric magic is effective against Sentinels. “However, without Bellara, we could also equip a rune that converts my ice magic, for a brief duration, into electricity to counter the Sentinels”

If you don’t direct your companions in combat, they are fully independent and will attack on their own

You progress at this point through the Forest, encountering more and more darkspawn. Bellara says that they have never been this far before because the underground Deep Roads, which they usually escape from, aren’t nearby. However, with “blighted” (BLIGHTED!) elven gods roaming the world, and thanks to the Blight’s radiation-like spread, it’s a much bigger threat in DA:TV than any prior DA game

The Forest has elven ruins, dense greenery and disgusting Blight tentacles and pustules

The style of the game is more high fantasy than anything in the series thus far and almost reminiscent of the whimsy of Fable. Matt Rhodes says that this is the result of the game’s newfound dose of magic: “The use of magic has been an evolution as the series has gone on. It’s something we’ve been planning for a while because Solas has been planning all this for a while. In the past, you could hint at cooler magical things in the corner because you couldn’t actually go there, but now we actually can, and it’s fun to showcase that.” The Forest’s whimsy will starkly contrast to the game’s other areas. The devs promise some grim locations and even grimmer story moments because, without that contrast, everything falls flat. Corinne says it’s like a “thread of optimism” pulled through otherworldly chaos ravaging Thedas. At this point in the game, Bellara’s personality is that thread

We can advance our bonds with our companions on their own personal quests and by including them in our party on main quests. Every Relationship Level you rank up, shown on their character sheet, nets you a skill point to spend on them. “The choices you make, what you say to companions, how you help them, and more all matter to their development as characters and party members”. Each companion has access to 5 abilities.

Each companion has issues, problems, and personal quests to complete. “Bellara has her own story arc that runs parallel to and informs the story path you’re on” (They’ve said that all of the companions have this too in previous promo material)

You progress deeper into the forest and Bellara spots a floating fortress and thinks that the artifact needed to destroy the Veil Bubble is in there. To reach it, we must remove the floating rock rings, and Bellara’s unique ability, Tinker, can do just that by interacting with a piece of ancient elven technology nearby. Rook can acquire abilities like Tinker later to complete such tasks in instances where Bellara, for example, isn’t in the party

Bellara has to activate three of these in the Forest to reach the castle. Each one you activate brings forth a bunch of Sentinels, demons, and darkspawn to defeat

You can create Arcane Bombs on enemies. It does high damage after being hit by a heavy attack

It sounds like mage characters can charge heavy attacks on their magical staffs. “then switch to magical daggers in a second loadout accessed with a quick tap of down on the d-pad to unleash some quick attacks”

Some enemies are “Frenzied”, meaning that they hit harder, move faster, and have more health

After a few more combat sections, including against a Frenzied sentinel, we reach the center of the temple. In there is an artifact called the Nadas Dirthalen. Bellara knows that this means “the inevitability of knowledge”. Before we can progress, a darkspawn ogre boss attacks, hitting hard with unblockable, red-coded attacks and a massive shield that you need to take down first. It is weak to fire

After defeating it (it’s a climactic arena fight), Bellara uses a special crystal to power the artifact and remove it from the pedestal, which destroys the Veil Bubble. Then, the Nadas Dirthalen comes alive as an Archive Spirit, but because the crystal used to power it breaks, we learn little about this spirit before it disappears. Bellara thinks that she can fix it (fixing broken stuff is her thing), so the group heads back to the Veil Jumper camp. The writer’s demo then ended.

The design of the game is not open world. The devs describe it as a “hub-and-spoke” design where the needs of the story are served by the level design. A version of DA:I’s Crossroads return (the network of teleporting eluvians) and this is how players will traverse across northern Thedas. “Instead of a connected open world, players will travel from eluvian to eluvian to different stretches of this part of the continent”. e.g. Minrathous, tropical beaches, Arlathan Forest, “to grim and gothic areas and elsewhere”. Some of these areas are large and full of secrets and treasures. Others are smaller and more focused on linear storytelling. Arlathan Forest is an example of this, but it still has optional paths and offshoots to explore for loot, healing potion refreshes, and other things.

Each location has a minimap, though linear levels like In Entropy’s Grasp won’t have the 'fog of war' that disappears as you explore like in some of the game’s bigger locations

The game has the largest number of diverse biomes in DA history

The Thedas of DA:TV “lives in the uncertainty”. “the mystery of its narrative”, “the implications of its lore”

The writer is surprised by BioWare’s command over the notoriously difficult Frostbite engine, and by how much narrative thought the dev team poured into these characters, even for BioWare.

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[source: the Game Informer pages from Issue 367 - the cover story from June 18th (link), two]

[rottenpumpkin13]

Hi i really liked your genesis headcanons can you do relationship headcanons for seph and ang, thanks btw

Not sure if you came from that post, but I made one for Genesis a while ago in case you want to read it! Here's the link.

Dating Sephiroth

• Completely inexperienced in relationships and romantic feelings in general, initially suppresses his own emotions out of habit, but eventually caves for his person. He treats dating like research at first, reading extensively and trying to understand the "proper protocols" for courting someone (he's so sweet)

• Takes time to open up due to his isolated upbringing, but when he does, he forms an intense, almost obsessive attachment to his partner (i n t e n s e)

• Struggles to express emotions verbally but shows his love through unwavering loyalty and dedication. Will move mountains for his partner if needed. His partner is sick? There goes Sephiroth concocting medicine from scratch bc he doesn't trust Shinra. Partner is hungry? Sephiroth in the kitchen trying his best to make them their favorite food before giving up and ordering out. Partner is cold? There goes Sephiroth's coat and his partner's personal space because now they're bundled in his leather while being squished by a giant kitty.

• Very touch-starved but doesn't know how to initiate physical affection in the beginning. Melts completely when his partner casually touches him or plays with his hair. When he and his partner grow comfortable with each other, Sephiroth absolutely will drape himself over them like a cat, ask for cuddles, and use them as a human plushie.

• Protective to an extreme degree. Has to consciously work on not shadowing his partner everywhere or eliminating perceived threats before they even manifest….like the mailman. Experiences jealousy intensely but internalizes it rather than acting out. Needs frequent reassurance that his partner won't abandon him ;-;

• During fights, he tends to shut down emotionally, not knowing how to handle conflict in relationships. He needs a patient partner willing to help him work through his feelings and to be there to hug and tell him he's still loved.

• Cherishes quiet domestic moments he never had before; simple things like sharing meals or reading together mean the world to him.

• Extremely observant of his partner's needs and preferences. Will remember every little detail about them and use that knowledge to make them happy. That candy their partner mentioned liking in passing? There's now boxes of it in their pantry and Sephiroth bought a monthly subscription to it.

Dating Angeal

• Takes relationships seriously, okay? The man dates for marriage and a life partner, not for a casual fling. And he believes in building a foundation of trust, respect, and understanding before pursuing anything romantic.

• Very traditional in his approach to courting and is a complete gentleman. Will absolutely ask for permission to court his partner properly and plans thoughtful, wholesome dates like picnics, hiking, or cooking together.

• Shows his love through acts of service and protection. Will make sure his partner is well-fed, safe, and cared for. Grows herbs and vegetables specifically for cooking their favorite meals and/or making healthy versions of their favorite junk food. Food is his love language, and there's nothing that makes him happier than cooking for his partner.

• Tender and gentle in private, to an extreme degree. Babies the hell out of his partner and loves quiet moments where he can hold them, talk to them, and care for them.

• Gets adorably flustered by open displays of affection but secretly loves when his partner is demonstrative with their love. Will turn bright red if they so much as hold his hand in public. Yet he casually wraps his arms around their waist when they're out to send a message to the world lol.

• Very protective but not possessive. He trusts his partner completely and respects their independence. His protectiveness comes from a place of genuine care rather than jealousy. But that's not to say Angeal won't break someone's teeth in for trying to get with his partner.

• He's the voice of reason during arguments who tries to resolve things calmly through communication.

[mychlapci]

Ooooh, Pharma suffering through one too many unsatisfied heats alone on Delphi, all cold and swollen. Sure he can deal with it manually but it’s never quite as satisfying as a person. 

He can’t ask First Aid or Ambulon either. He is not going to be that kind of creepy surgeon who pressures his staff. Though the thought of it may lead to some fantasies about Ratchet walking in on him and pressuring him into it and Pharma may get a little lost in the sauce at the thought of Ratchet bending him over and assisting poor little nurse Pharma with it. He is pining and shaking through overload any time he plays old recordings of Ratchet’s voice, but even that stops being satisfying the longer time passes with no call or even email from him.

This eventually evolves into him just ignoring it by force stopping the cycle as long as possible, especially when the added stress of Tarn’s deal happens. All this escalates into Pharma being stuck on Luna-1 post-being tortured for months with experiments, having just rebuilt himself from scratch after being disintegrated on and off until Tyrest got it right. Now he’s playing up his mad doctor side which gets him left pretty much alone by everyone. 

So he’s alone in his lab when his heat protocols start activating and he can’t stop it so he’s shaky collapsed gasping next to his notes, trying to think through the fever on how he can force stop with tools and force himself to crawl over. His panel snaps open because he’s so swollen and exhausted and he starts giggle-crying because of course this happens too. What’s next the Cons walking in on it? Clearly the universe hates him.

Then, to his horror, the door does open but it’s Star Saber which is a relief because he’s basically sexless and so repressed he’ll be too put off to try anything. Obviously. Pharma dealt with plenty of people like that before. They loved making comments at him after all for being a jet in medicine. He snarls at him trying to pull as much dignity as possible to help him up so he could resolve the issue and get back to the work.

Star Saber is strangely quiet and obedient, easily picking Pharma up and carrying him to his bed without any hesitation, grabbing some coolant, and only stopping when ordered to bring him a box and he looks inside it to see the contents.

Instead of bringing Pharma his toys though, he settles on the bed between Pharma’s legs and grabs them both in his hands, saying that imitations are not needed and are against Primus’s vision. Pharma starts giggling again because of course, why wouldn’t this happen now right when he thought he was going to get off easy. Star Saber’s face mask retracts and he goes face first into the valve before Pharma can react. Pharma didn’t realize that the Circle of Light worships the fighter-creator aspect of Primus and is, in fact, a sex cult. And Star Saber is a very devoted worshiper. 

Something he is happily demonstrating by pressing himself as close as he can and licking and sucking and lathing every swollen nod he can touch. Pharma whites out through the first of many overloads. Two more riding Star Saber’s face, the last of which had Pharma’s legs wrapped so tightly around his helm he thought he heard something crack while he rocked into Star Saber’s tongue grinding his outside node on the other’s nose. Then he got flipped over and wings nibbled and worshiped as fingers as large as some spikes dove inside him and found his lubrication glands to milk them so thoroughly the pleasure went into pain only to circle back. Only when Star Saber had managed to get the worst of the edge off leaving Pharma pliant, plush, and them both soaked did his spike come into play delightfully stretching with ridges and biolight that were designed to press against inside nodes and line up charge outputs.

They both don’t leave until the swelling has gone down enough for the entrance of the gestation tank to become visible again and Pharma is very thoroughly satisfied in every way possible. Including ones he didn’t think of resulting directly in two little carry ons now that Star Saber is smug in a very self-righteous way about.

Pharma finally gets a satisfied heat but the pay off is Star Saber basically attached to him and more than willing to “top him off” any time the bump stops being visible despite Pharma’s repeated corrections that no sex throughout carrying is not actually required for health. But at least this crazy mech he’s stuck with this time mainly wants to give him the best overloads he’s ever had, tell him what a gift he is, and is willing to listen to him ramble happily about the miracle cures he’s making. No torture this time. Unless you count the occasional edging. 

(Pharma can have a “nice” thing for once.)

AEHRGG... Pharma pussy indulgence...

[anncanta]

Love, empathy, and Hollywood: no romance in ‘The Rings of Power’

It's amazing how The Rings of Power writers have a moral compass in place, and how, to make the story more ‘Hollywood’ than it already is, many viewers (mostly from the Tolkien fandom) see it as a love story between Sauron and Galadriel.

From the beginning, we are shown that there is no love between them. Neither the kind that arises from sympathy and common interests nor the kind that is born from a common occupation or from the fever connected with the circumstances in which the heroes find themselves – a battle, the need to save themselves, a pursuit – nor from hatred.

Galadriel and Sauron are not friends, not usual enemies, not comrades. Yes, there is a glimmer of friendship between them when they go to fight for the southern lands, but on Sauron's part it is nothing more than part of the image of Halbrand – either a trickster, or a criminal suffering from a difficult past, or a king.

Sauron uses all three of these images at once, because he does not understand elves and men, and does not know which of the images will work. Therefore, he alternates them and keeps everything ready. But none of them is a true reflection of his feelings – it is a mask, a garment that he wears to make it easier to gain trust, charm, and seduce.

Later it will become clear that Halbrand is his unloved image. He is too open, familiar, simple. Too romantic. In the finale of the second season, showing Galadriel Halbrand in armor, Sauron mocks this image.

Halbrand from his illusion is beautiful. Breathtaking. But on the other hand – too beautiful, too refined, too romantic.

Sauron seems to say to Galadriel: look, for your sake, I am even ready to portray this brat. Sauron himself is closer to the image of Annatar – grandiose and demonstratively merciful. But here's the thing.

Galadriel doesn't fully believe any of these images. If she did, she wouldn't seek information about the king of the southern lands. She suspects that he plays with her. When she and Halbrand sit alone in the forest, she feels for a moment how it could be, but not how it is. By the way, not only because deep down she doesn't trust Halbrand, but also because she knows something that Sauron cannot know – because he does not understand the elves and their feelings. Galadriel cannot fall in love now, because she is burned out from within. Her pursuit of Sauron is partly an attempt to sweep out all the ashes and cinders of old pain and past battles. But Sauron is a narcissist and a psychopath. Narcissists and psychopaths perceive any weakness as an opportunity, and any kind look as admiration and love. Therefore, he is probably sure that Galadriel will still be with him in the end.

That's why her refusal in the finale comes as such a shock to him. How so? He did everything right. He thought it all through. He gave her everything she wanted. He doesn't even take the ring away, he asks for it. What else does she need?

Charlie Vickers plays him amazingly. And you can tell he's playing what's written. A cold, inhumanly scary, alien demon.

The show's writers deliberately spent half of the first episode of the second season showing what he is. What he's become. What he's made of himself. I remember being so shocked by it that I even forgot the second half of the episode. I rewatched it as if it were brand new for me.

Sauron, ‘getting into’ the image of Halbrand, learns human facial expressions. For half of the episode, his face is completely motionless. And not ‘frozen’ motionless, like a person who has withdrawn into themselves or does not experience strong emotions, but like a dead one. I don't know how Charlie Vickers did it. Dead bodies not only have no facial expressions – they have no faces. The face of a dead person is a set of features, like separate pieces of paper folded together. Sauron looks exactly like this at first. And only later, after spending some time among people, he adopts their habits, gestures, and facial expressions. And among the elves, even this turns out to be unnecessary – it is enough to walk beautifully, smile and look condescendingly.

There is no feeling between Galadriel and Sauron because Sauron has nothing with which to feel. He has no emotional empathy, so he does not understand what Galadriel feels. That is why he shows her Finrod at the end of the first season. It is unthinkable, unbearable cruelty. He does not even understand it. And he cannot imagine that the woman to whom he offered the crown and the whole world to its knees would refuse him. Because he has no intellectual empathy either, and he does not understand that different creatures need different things.

What I like about the Galadriel and Sauron storyline is that the authors show it in different ways and from different points of view – it's impossible. It may look like falling in love, Sauron may act like a handsome prince, but it will never work. And Sauron knows it – that's why he hits her with the crown at the end.

And paradoxically, it finally sobers her up. Galadriel is completely different in the finale. With his hit, Sauron knocked out of her the last of her pain, anger, self-pity, and darkness. He didn't want to, but he knocked it out. And now she sees the light as never before.

Isn't this a victory of love?

[leonw4nter]

hii could you do some re2r leon hcs abt him dating a figure skater? love your fics smm <33

RE2R!Leon Headcanons on dating a figure skater!

RE2R!Leon x GN!FigureSkater!Reader (Also my first request ever!! Thanks anon &lt;33)

RE2R!Leon who would drive you to and from practice everyday if he was free. He also offered to massage your sore arms and legs at the end of a strenuous practice, making sure you also ate well in order to restore your energy.

RE2R!Leon who is the resident figure skating expert in the Raccoon City precinct, knowledgeable on the jumps, scoring systems, the best brands of figure skating outfits to buy from, etc. He knows all these because you explain the mechanics of your sport to him any chance you get– laying in bed at night, mid-chew of your food, when he’s driving and you suddenly remembered that you haven’t said anything in a long time today.

RE2R!Leon who would make sure to attend all of your performances, near or far. He’s willing to call in sick just to watch your performance, if the station isn’t super busy. If the station really needs him, he’ll try to catch your performance on the box TV in the break room. 

RE2R!Leon who saved up before spending the first six months of his salary to get you new skates since your old ones were barely hanging on for dear life yet you insisted they still worked just fine. The skating apparel store personnel also gave him care instructions, him taking out a notepad and jotting down care instructions. Like the thoughtful boyfriend he is, he also picked up some grease for the blades and leather conditioner.

RE2R!Leon who would be the loudest person in the whole arena, the staffers and the people reminding him many times to keep the hollering down and he apologizes, even if he’s bound to do it again.

RE2R!Leon who always comes running to you with flowers in one hand, arms wide open to engulf you in a warm hug. He’s practically sobbing because he’s so damn proud of you, his camcorder full of shaky footage of you skating and him yelling. He’s got another camera in the pocket of his jacket, this time full of photos of you (some of the pictures blurry).

RE2R!Leon who nearly masters the art of styling your hair; name it and he’ll do it near perfectly (there’s always room for improvement and new ways to style your hair). Same goes for your makeup; he used to confuse concealer and foundation and now he knows which is which. He remembers the amount you use on your face and what brushes or sponges are used for each product. Sometimes, he even offers to get your brushes and sponges cleaned.

RE2R!Leon who flails his arms and tries not to fall on his ass on the cold ice when you took him out for an ice skating date. You suggested that he use the walkers that the establishment offered for newbies but he turned it down, saying he can just hold on to the side or hold on to you. After you taught, explained, and demonstrated all the moves you do for skating, he’s highly impressed and in awe especially now that he’s seeing the mechanisms up close.

RE2R!Leon who brags about his award-winning partner to the other officers in the station, showing the multitude of pictures he has of your awards. He might even show videos of your routines too, the officers complaining of slight motion sickness or not understanding anything because the footage is so shaky.

RE2R!Leon who will absolutely scream “that’s my girl/boyfriend right there!” or “see that person over there? The one in maroon! I’m their boyfriend!” to no one in particular while the people around him could care less.

RE2R!Leon who hypes you up before it’s time for him to go to the stands and for you to go in the holding area for the contestants, giving you kisses and playing upbeat music on the drive to the venue. He’s giving you so much hugs and words of encouragement, you feel your confidence spike.

RE2R!Leon who ran from the stands and tackled you, crying, when you were hailed as one of the winners. You were both in tears, laughing and smiling broadly but you swear that he cried harder than you did.

RE2R!Leon who will still come running to you with arms wide open to engulf you in a bone-crushing hug, flowers in one hand even if you didn’t place on the podium. At the end of the day, you did your best and he’s the proudest boyfriend ever. In his eyes, you’re the best skater there is and will still celebrate you no matter what.

RE2R!Leon who will listen to the song you finally found for your routine, his lovely partner seeking double approval for their music choice. That song would end up stuck in his mind for a week, even if it’s not his usual taste. While sitting in his patrol car or filing reports back, he’d randomly start humming “Hopelessly Devoted to You” or “Take My Breath Away” and giggle to himself because he remembers seeing you glide on the ice so gracefully. 

RE2R!Leon who doesn’t mind being the guy that people ask to hold their cameras so they can take a picture with you. He’s just some dude and you’re there, the topic of a nine year-old’s female sports icon essay for a subject at school.

RE2R!Leon who felt guilty when you had to pull out of a competition that takes place a state away from where Raccoon City is, flight tickets and hotel accommodation fees above what you two normally earn. He didn’t like seeing you dejected, a little farther from reaching the Olympic dream you want to achieve and sulking in your room. He promised to work harder and saved more money so he’d be able to support you financially in your dreams.

RE2R!Leon who will blast a Spice Girls or Madonna song and dance to it, making himself look stupid in front of you just to make you smile for even a little bit. Would do anything to help you get over a bad day. He’d suggest you doing his makeup to test out how a makeup look you’ve been eyeing might look; the powder is making his nose slightly itchy but he tries not to flinch so he won’t smudge the eyeliner you’re doing on him while you’re sitting on his lap, his hands resting on your waist or the small of your back.

RE2R!Leon who is your number one fan! Aside from whatever encouragement he’s showering you when you’re competing, he’s truly doing everything and more just so he can help you reach your dreams. On days that are either boring, best, or the worst, he will be there for you no matter what. He truly believes that you’re perfectly capable of being on your own but he’s thankful that you’re letting him into your life. He’s not the richest man in the world nor does he have a fat bank account but he’s doing everything in order to be able to provide for you, a small smidge of what he is willing to do for you.

NOTE - I finally finished 1/3 requests in my inbox, YEAHHH!!! I started on this one yesterday before I fell asleep, finished the rest of it while at school, and finished making the post just now :)) I've been gone for a while bc school and I'll probably be gone again for quite some time bc work is starting to pour in some more. I got a perfect score on a math drill today so I'm pretty happy about that, my (richer) classmates also organized a prom kinda thing bc we didn't get to have prom so I'm excited about that one :)) Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this headcanon and again, big BIG thank you to anon for sending this request in!!!! I hope I managed to live up to your expectations :))) I <33333 UUUUU!!!!!!!

The hanging star divider is made by @benkeibear , the images are colored by me (sourced from Pinterest).

[eileennatural]

i am once again thinking about killua and nanika

like I can't stop thinking about how much they are the same. Like nanika really kind of mirrors killua's emotional/personal arc throughout the series. thinking about the traits they share like...

pre-canon, both killua and nanika are tools. people (their family) are cruel to them, and they are made to enact cruelty onto others. the only difference is that killua can be controlled while nanika can't be. killua 'earns' his 'freedom' by virtue of him being much easier to manage/manipulate. nanika, on the other hand, cannot be managed so she and alluka are shut away permanently.

killua and nanika are largely beholden to the will of others -- for killua, its through illumi's needle as well as years of isolation, conditioning, and abuse by his family, and for nanika its in her nature.

but when they find someone who treats them like kids, or friends rather than monsters or a means to an end, when they're not being made to hurt others, killua and nanika both give freely and ask for very little in return.

killua, over and over, makes gon's 'wishes' come true, even if its at cost to himself. gon, kurapika, and leorio all pass the hunter exam because killua breaks a rule, ensuring the victory of everyone else there. he takes gon to heavens arena so he can train to beat hisoka, he agrees to help kurapika fight the phantom troupe because gon wants to help kurapika, he helps gon win greed island, and he gives everything to help gon beat the chimera ants. and all killua asks in return is that he be allowed to stay by gon's side. gon very rarely verbally asks or demands anything of killua (which some people portray as a sign of his selfishness, or that he takes for granted that killua will do whatever he wants, but i digress) but killua gives regardless because what gon has given to killua means so much to him --freedom, his friendship, his company, his trust, and his open and verbal affection.

nanika, in turn, fulfills all of killua's wishes and asks only for his love in return -- that he hug her, pat her head, and tell her she's good. She never makes cruel demands after killua's wishes because he never makes self-interested wishes, he never makes her hurt anyone for him. even as a child, he treated nanika like just another little sister, asking her to play with him and to fulfill the kinds of wishes she likes to do, such as healing people/animals.

killua (for most of the series) and nanika don't really have concrete goals or objectives of their own beyond securing love and affection by being useful to their favorite person (codependency twins !)

of course, killua and nanika are both eventually betrayed and incredibly hurt by their person, because that's just how codependent relationships play out, especially among people as young and emotionally immature and traumatized as gon, killua, and nanika are.

all of this culminates in maybe my favorite scene of the series, where killua realizes that he's hurt nanika in a similar way that gon have very recently hurt him, and also that by shutting nanika away, he's really just repeating their parents' abuse of her. so he doesn't just apologize, but he demonstrates that he knows why what he did is wrong, and why he did it, and promises never to do it again.

i only wish we cold have seen gon's apology :/

[chronicbeans]

Wally Darling with a Villain Reader (part 2)

I saw some people request this so here you go! OwO

TW: Kidnapping, Possessive and Obsessive Behavior, Unwanted Hugs/Cuddles

🍎 You have been sitting in the basement for a long time, now. Well, at least you THINK it has been a long time. It is pitch black, besides the candles, which only light a small portion of the basement. Wally said that, for whatever reason, electricity doesn't work in Home's basement. He also said that, since the candles use flames, it would warm you up more than electric lights, anyways.

🍎 Either way, it is dreadfully cold. You are wrapped up in a million blankets, with pillows surrounding you to work as a mattress or sorts, yet you are still cold and uncomfortable. Is this your punishment for annoying people? You really don't know. Wally hasn't explained anything to you, yet.

🍎 Speak of the Devil and he shall appear. Look who's walking down the stairs to see you! It's Wally Darling, the star of the show! You don't even try to run anymore, because he always closes the basement door too quickly to give you a chance. Once that door closes, it is always pitch black, again. Not only that, but you are also pretty sure Home is working alongside him. Once, when you said something bad about Wally keeping you locked up, a pipe above you began leaking in response, some weird, black substance staining your blanket.

🍎 Wally walks over you, with you only being able to see him again once he is right in front of you. His grin is as merry as ever and his eyes still holding that unnerving look as when he first brought you here. He pulls up a pillow, sitting cross legged on it as he speaks, his voice holding his signature monotone "Isn't this so fun? I get to see you everyday, you get to sit back and relax in here. I also get to watch how our neighbors are reacting to you disappearing! How exciting!"

🍎"Wally... this isn't fun. Please, let me go! I don't know what I did to make you so upset, but-!" He shushes you, placing a finger to your lips to keep you quiet. "You did... nothing. Nothing to upset me." You can tell it's a lie everytime he says it. His smile always grows a bit darker when he does, almost like he is straining to keep it together. However, he then pulls away, continuing "Why is it fun when you whisk me away, but not the other way around? That doesn't sound very fair, neighbor. I am having fun. Home is having fun, too! Are you still cold? Do you need more blankets?"

🍎 You don't answer his question, instead asking "Is... is anybody even looking for me? Do they care?" He pauses, seemingly thinking. He then shakes his head "No. I don't think they are... Let me tell you a secret, little villain." He crawls over, grabbing a hold of your upper arms, saying "Don't let Home know this, okay?" You weakly nod, at this point just wanting him to get away from you as soon as possible. You aren't going to lie... As much as you like to seem brave, Wally looks a bit frightening in the glow of candle lights.

🍎 He leans close to your ear, whispering "I don't think our neighbors have even noticed you are gone, yet... it is kind of like... you never existed." Your heart sinks. You watch as he pulls away, still holding your arms as he says "I'll be here, though! We can play games. I can show you how to draw. I can give you some paper to write on. The others don't matter, right? You'll be safe and happy here, I promise. A good neighbor never breaks a promise. Pinky swear!" He grabs your hand, linking your pinky to his in a forced promise. "I can even keep you warm and safe, here. If the blankets don't work, I'll come down every hour to give you a long, warm hug!"

🍎 As if to demonstrate, he wraps his arm around you tightly, burying his face in the crook of your neck. To be fair, he is surprisingly warm, but it is still extremely uncomfortable. You have made it very clear to him, numerous times, that you like to have personal space. Usually whenever you took him to the forest, you just grabbed his hand and dragged him there, then sat next to him on a log with a foot between you two. Meanwhile, he grabbed you from behind like some horror movie villain, dragged you into his basement, and now won't stop finding excuses to hug you close.

🍎"Get off of me... I'll be fine on my own. These blankets are cozy enough." They really aren't. You just want him off of you. "Nope! You are my captive, now! You gotta do as I say, and I want hugs! Just a few more minutes." Your eyes widen. That is a very... uncharacteristic thing for Wally to say. Then again, he has been acting strange ever since he took you here... but he usually still listens to you when you say to let go.

🍎 You get an explanation once he says "I love playing villain! I can see why you like it, now. You get to be mean and not listen to people. While you like to break things, say mean things, and trip people... I like to keep you here and cuddle you for as long as I want! After all, from how you spoke to me during the times you took me away, you seem like you really need them. If you won't accept them or ask for them yourself, I'm going to make you. Nobody else is willing to give you them, after all, because you are MY villain."

🍎 He finally pulls away, causing you to instinctively scoot away from him. "You are crazy. Like... There is something WRONG with you. Why won't you just let me go home? Even if people do start looking for me, nobody is going to even THINK to look inside your house! Much less your basement, which people don't know about! What even is this place? It's so dark. It seems to go on forever..."

🍎 Wally lets out a small "humph" noise, tilting his head "That's just another little insult, isn't it? Kind of like you saying my paintings look bad. I'm not crazy! If I am, I'm crazy for you! I don't seem to act like this around anyone else and you won't leave my head. As for this place... I honestly don't know. It came with Home. I haven't seen all of it." There is a muffled knock from upstairs, followed by an equally muffled "Wally! I gotta delivery for ya!"

🍎"Oh! My paints must have arrived! I'm working on a gift for you! How about you just get some sleep, okay? Oh, and don't try screaming. I've found that nobody can hear anything from down here, for some reason... I really picked the jackpot with this hiding place!" He then hurries upstairs, leaving you in the darkness, once again.

[seriousfic]

I think it's fair to say that by the finale, No Time To Die is a complete mess. To wit:

It makes no sense why MI-6 would send two OO agents (one retired) to storm an enemy compound and not the Royal Marines.

Safin has no plan.

Bond's death is confusingly overwrought and silly. Is he really mortally wounded? Is he committing suicide because of the nanobots; he's not even going to try to find a workaround? Does he have no choice but to sacrifice himself? Why is it so important that the naval bombardment happens right now? They're the British Navy--they can't just seize these cargo ships full of bioweapons that everyone's so scared of?

That one scientist declaring he hates black people and then getting killed in cold blood by a black government agent who yells "It's time to die!" is almost schizophrenically dumb--as we all know, civil rights don't apply to bad people--but, you know, pick your battles)

Here are my fixes.

Bond and Nomi aren't the only attackers, they're just sneaking in to lower the defenses from the inside so the Royal Marines can get in and take on Safin's private army. They did this all the time back in the day--including in On Her Majesty's Secret Service, which NTTD hugely references--so I see no reason why Eon can't mount a large-scale battle sequence today.

Safin's plan--as he, of course, explains to Bond--is that he blames pretty much the entire world for collaborating with and enabling Blofeld. Either by being outright under his influence, as is the case with the national leaders and wealthy who were part of Spectre--or by being even average citizens who tolerated corrupt governments and the One Percent. His plan was to demonstrate the efficiency of Hercules on Spectre and then kick off a biological arms race among world governments as everyone scrambles for either Hercules or a counter for Hercules. This will kill millions as Hercules is used, then retaliated against, ad nauseum. It's inevitable. Even now, Nomi is no doubt under orders from M to secure Hercules for further development by the British government. "The bigger picture," Bond mutters, remembering Le Chiffre telling him that he could get away with torturing and killing him.

Bond realizes Safin is right--and kills him, natch--and decides he can't allow ANYONE to take possession of Hercules. It is simply too dangerous a weapon for even his own government to have. He sets the base to self-destruct and defends the control room from the Royal Marines who are now trying to take him out to stop the countdown. Would it be too cynical to give him a 'old versus young' showdown with Nomi? Personally, I think it'd be a better final fight than Bond taking on one tiny nerd, but what do I know? At any rate, M orders the Marines to pull out at the last minute and Bond is presumed killed in the blast, which irrevocably destroys Hercules and all knowledge of how to recreate it.

M is, naturally, pissed about Bond's last act of defiance, but still toasts him and respectfully declares 'Well-played, 007.' We'll leave it ambiguous as to whether Bond actually died or if he survives to reunite with Madelaine, now having completely severed himself from MI-6.

[ladyrijus]

Lately, I have been thinking about Kotake and Koume, and, out of interest, have read through a lot of interesting takes on their involvement in Ganondorf's upbringing during Ocarina of Time. However, I've noticed that some of these discussions tend to depict them as emotionally distant, exploitative, manipulative, and even borderline cruel.

Which, granted, isn't entirely out of line for their characters. What other personality traits could we expect out of witches who brainwashed their people into doing the bidding of their king, who were born nearly 400 years before the events of Ocarina of Time and therefore hold a vastly different worldview than the rest of their tribe?

But as always, I like to carry a bit of sensible skepticism when it comes to the narrative that is being pushed in the game. And I find it almost imperative to do so for Ocarina of Time, given that it is played through the eyes of Link, a child soldier who fails to question the orders that he believes he is meant to follow, and the kingdom of Hyrule, which had recently come out as the victor and dominant power after a "civil" war.

The question still remains, however. What, in Ocarina of Time, would "redeem" Twinrova? Where can we see evidence of their "goodness"?

In my opinion? Their powers.

Their powers, I argue, were not chosen randomly by the creators of Ocarina of Time. It was absolutely intentional to show their association with the Gerudo Tribe and more importantly, the Gerudo Valley/Desert. Just think about it, the climate there is scorching hot during the day, yet biting cold during the night.

Wouldn't you, with powers of ice, try to cool down your people after they return from a tiring yet successful hunt?

Wouldn't you, with powers of fire, try to warm your people up when there is not enough hides and furs to pass around?

And given that no one (aside from maybe Ganondorf) has these powers, it is safe to assume that the Gerudo regarded Twinrova as blessed beings; divine guardians sent by the Goddess of the Sands as a reward for their endurance in such harsh climates.

Again, this isn't to condone their actions that take place during the game. We see they are more than happy to kill in the name of their king, willing to coerce others into killing by ways of dark magic.

However, we should also acknowledge the fact that we're encouraged to see just that: two antagonistic witches who revel in brainwashing, killing, cheating death, and being unapologetically evil.

Boring. If we wanted absolutely evil, death seeking creatures, we can look to literally any other magical creature in Ocarina of Time.

Rather, it's important that Twinrova are humans (or humanoid, though either way their sentience still stands), as it forces players to 1) look at the bigger picture and question why the twins behave the way they do and 2) recognize that they have motives that go beyond simply helping a king assert control over an entire world.

Perhaps, Twinrova might have been prolonging their lives to look out for their people, as they had no one with magical affinity to mentor until Ganondorf had demonstrated his own prowess in the mystical arts.

Perhaps, over the centuries, they realized the chiefs and chieftesses before Ganondorf were not cutthroat enough like their Hylian counterparts to fend off territorial expansion/colonization.

Perhaps, after seeing their era of prosperity being snatched away from them, they grew hateful of the kingdom that lives in splendor, and wanted to see it burn and freeze the way they do.

Perhaps, after seeing the complacency of the new generation, how some of their best warriors seek out lovers in that damned Castle Town, they realized this boy was their only hope of restoring their honor and dignity.

[qdbs-writes]

May I please request headcanons for Erron, Hanzo, Liu Kang, and Kung Lao being snowed in during a dangerous blizzard with their female S/O and having to deal with various issues like rolling blackouts, freezing pipes, etc?

MK Lads x Fem!S/O React To Being Snowed In By A Dangerous Blizzard

Erron Black

Prepare to hear complaints that it's well under 0 celsius and that Erron is freezing his nuts off.

Refuses to let you shovel the snow "'Cause it's a man's job!" but mumbles frustratedly the entire time he does it, sliding and slipping about haphazardly.

Absolutely has like a month's worth of emergency provisions in the basement, so at the end of a long day of sub-par snow shoveling, he'll kick up his feet and dig into a heated can of beans.

Hanzo Hasashi (Scorpion)

Well, the good news is that you won't have to worry much about staying warm, Hanzo will rotate around the house, using his demon flames to insulate the rooms.

Will warm up the toilet seat for you when you complain about it being almost too cold to use.

He will learn to carefully balance his new role as your personal heater whilst also being a fire hazard. You'll have him just standing in the middle of the room while ignited so you can be toasty while napping.

Liu Kang

Out of everyone, he would do the best in a blackout, Kang has never relied on electricity or wifi to be entertained.

So long as the house isn't falling apart around you, Kang will help distract you with crafts and board games, you know, to stave off the inevitable cabin fever.

Thanks to the blizzard, Kang can now make good on his promise to teach you how to play mahjong just like his grandmother! (Grandma Liu took no fucking prisoners while playing mahjong).

Kung Lao

Will see the snow piling up outside and will smugly be like "Ha! Good thing we're inside where it's nice and warm!". Karma will demonstrate its impeccable sense of timing when the power goes out seconds later.

For the love of the Elder Gods do not let Lao touch anything, he will somehow make it worse.

Tried to break the ice in a frozen pipe by hitting it with a wrench, succeeding only in bursting the pipe and flooding a portion of the house with icy cold water.

[redpenship]

i was going to write a post about how eggman's threat to blow up the earth in sa2 was non-credible, then came to the opposite conclusion when i recalled how he had previously demonstrated that he wasnt concerned with personal survival when he tried to murder-suicide himself and station square with a nuclear weapon in sa1.

if youre in a conflict that risks annihilation (think cold war MAD principles), the primary method of coercion is to intentionally create a slightly unstable situation that is out of your hands. for example, you could use a trip-wire tactic that automatically launches WMDs (e.g. nuclear weapons) if the enemy does the same. this leaves no room for human sympathies to get in the way--your enemy knows you will not second-guess yourself and they will face annihilation if they attack you. eggman effectively did the same thing by using a 24 hr countdown, although iirc he had intended to fire the eclipse cannon himself.

his primary strategy behind his threat with the eclipse cannon was to take advantage of the rationality of irrationality principle: basically, he had already shown the world through attempting to nuke station square that the only acceptable option for him was victory. he was an irrational, unstable actor who created an intolerable situation for world leaders. intolerable situations that threaten annihilation for one party are the perfect conditions for demanding major concessions--such as control of the planet.

the last credible part of his threat was to put the fate of the planet in the hands of the world governments. we can compare this to the game "chicken", wherein two individuals driving a car towards each other have the option to swerve or keep going. whether or not you choose to swerve or keep going is dependent on your perception of the other player--so, what you think they are going to do. if you think they're going to keep going, then you will swerve, and vice versa. eggman is playing a game of chicken where the world government believes he has disabled the air bags, sawed off his seat belt, and thrown the steering wheel out the window--his decision to keep going is guaranteed. it's up to them whether they want to swerve or not. and in this game, since they are concerned with their own survival, they would probably choose to swerve.

tldr eggmans threat to blow up the earth was actually credible because he had previously established that he wasnt concerned with his own survival

[saintsenara]

Molly/Snape/Arthur? The Weasley kids+Harry figured the first Weasley family Christmas since Fred died would be a bit uncomfortable and emotionally fraught… and they were right, they just never could have imagined the exact reason

thank you very much for the ask, @silentgirlspeaksout!

i entirely back the idea of shipping snape with both molly and arthur individually, and so i think that - unusually for the throuples i deal with in this series - this is actually going to be a non-toxic triad...

one of the things which i think is really undervalued by the fandom is how the domestic role both molly and arthur [molly especially] play within the order is absolutely central to the order's ability to do its job. this is the case for molly's domestic labour - the resistance needs people who can cook and clean just as much as it needs people who can fight - but it's also the case for the emotional support both molly and arthur are shown in canon to provide for order members [especially tonks and lupin in half-blood prince].

snape existing outside of these experiences - refusing to engage with the order as a community by not eating or socialising with them - is a metaphor for the isolation his role as a spy brings [as well as a way of keeping the reader guessing about where his loyalties actually lie...].

but i think it's entirely plausible - especially given both molly and arthur's canonical willingness to take in waifs and strays - that both weasleys attempted a lot during order of the phoenix to get him to join them for meals and chat.

and i also think that one of the most profound examples of love - one which the series, which prioritises love-as-suffering and love-as-sacrifice [which snape's silent work in lily's memory encapsulates], hugely underappreciates - is love-as-comfort. i think you could do a lot with snape - a bitter, lonely, cold, hungry man - being cajoled by the twin forces of molly's nagging and arthur's affability into staying for a bit of rhubarb crumble, and this single act sparking something genuinely compelling between them...

[after all, as those of us in both snapemort and snumbledore nation know... he definitely has a weakness for being told what to do...]

because snape must respect molly and arthur - at least as much as he ever respects anyone. he doesn't insult them [at least in harry's hearing], arthur's mere presence in the room is enough to stop him and sirius fighting in order of the phoenix, and - of course - he puts himself in genuine danger [since voldemort doesn't strike me as the sort of person who'd think it was automatically fine for snape to have cut off one of his fellow death eaters' hands - even if it was "an accident"] to try and save george's life.

and so i also think you could do something really interesting with this triad post-war.

both molly and arthur - who, after all, stays in post at the ministry after voldemort's takeover until april 1998 - are well-placed to appreciate what snape had to go through as a spy. they are also - especially following fred's death - well-placed to appreciate how utterly grief changes your life, how you would do anything to soothe the pain of your grief, and how some of the things which help distract you are duty and fear - which means that, without the immediate need to keep going which war brings, your grief crashes down all the harder.

i'm always struck by sirius’ statement in order of the phoenix that arthur is a man who understands that “there are things worth dying for” in war. but i think that [very much unlike sirius...] arthur also demonstrates throughout canon that he understands the flip-side of this - that there are things worth living for, but that it's often harder to live for something than to die for it.

a snape who’s miraculously survived nagini’s bite [something else he and arthur have in common!], who finds himself unmoored in a world in which he’s just… free is a trope i adore. and i am very much invested in the idea that his extremely complicated journey towards being able to carry his grief without buckling under the weight would mesh very nice with molly and arthur's own, by providing an outlet for molly's canonical interest in caring for people and arthur's canonical interest in fixing things which allowed them to feel like they were doing something which made not just falling to pieces worth it.

[bobauthorman]

RWBY "Red" Trailer: A Review

I wanted to do an in-depth analysis on the video that first got the RWBY ball rolling. I am referring, of course, to the "Red" trailer, that first premiered at the end of the Red vs Blue Season 10 credits.

I say I 'wanted' to do an in-depth analysis, but considering the video content, that's hard to do. There is virtually nothing to really derive from this display. It's pure aesthetics, no plot or characterization. I've read that according to Monty Oum, it's not so much a look at Ruby Rose (Who isn't even named here) as it is a demonstration of her weapon, Crescent Rose. Everything else about RWBY, Remnant, or the story that will be told, is naught but a distant gleam in one animator and his friends' eyes.

We start out at night, amidst a full moon, as a little red hooded girl stands before a grave at the edge of a cliff. the skies are clear, but there is a light snow falling. I must once again state that the World of Remnant as we'll come to know does not exist at this point. We get more about what to expect from the song that plays in the background than anything shown in the trailer. And what's more, in hindsight, the song isn't so much about the Red character as much it's about the other girls, White, Black, Yellow (Later named Weiss, Blake, Yang).

"Red like roses fills my dreams and brings me to the place you rest"

Fitting words for a scene set at a gravestone. Could these lyrics refer to 'Red' being a dreamer? Or does she only exist in someone's dreams? Were she in the last thoughts of whomever the grave is for? It should be noted that when Monty Oum created the video, he gave no thought to what the grave was about, apparently putting it for the look of things.

(Taken from RTX 2016 Panel)

MONTY: (About who the grave is for) I don't know. We just thought it would be cool.

JEFF WILLIAMS: What if it is her mother?

"White is cold and always yearning, burdened by a royal test"

Red now walks through the woods, and the camera works puts emphasis on the snowy weather. "White is cold". Is this referring to White's physical state? Is she in need of warmth? Or perhaps it means her disposition. Or perhaps it means she has ice/cold related powers. As the White trailer show, all may be the truth.

"Black the beast descends from shadows"

Unsurprisingly, these ominous lyrics herald monsters that surround our little Red. (See what I did there). At a first glance, you would think that the character Black has some connection to the monsters. But this is misleading. Black in fact refers to Blake's initial dour and withdrawn personality, and her eventually developing expression. But 'Descends'...has Black been uplifted, or placed on a pedestal?

"Yellow beauty burns gold"

Here, as the monsters strike and Red vanishes, we see her true, uncloaked self, with the moon acting as a natural spotlight. The moonlight provides the 'yellow' and we see Red's cute face thus showing her 'beauty.' That Red is first shown during the 'Yellow' lyric may be a hint towards that she and the future character Yellow. The lyrics effectively spell out Yellow's outer character.

Then, we get to the action. Red first uses the gun portion of her weapon, shooting each monster with ease. Then, she unveils her scythe, showing that she can go for close-combat as well. There's not much to say after that, but I should bring up the faint smile Red makes before lopping on monster's head off. This tells us one thing;

This is a girl who does not shy away from battle.

[catboymettaton]

hell is the Kroger produce aisle

2k words, rated G, inspired by a post from @kiyomitakada

L goes grocery shopping alone for the first time and immediately gets overwhelmed. Light, a sympathetic employee, helps him out. Can be read as platonic or romantic

read on ao3 or below

-

L shuts his eyes and hopes that when he opens them, everything will go back to how it’s supposed to be.

He’s been doing so well. It’s been four days since Watari left and in that time he has taken three showers, eaten nine meals, and left his house twice. He even managed to take the bus all the way here! The city bus, with all its noises and rude people.

He’s been doing a good job of being independent. He’s been doing a good job of demonstrating that he’ll one day be able to move out on his own.

But the bus was so loud, and he forgot sunglasses (he forgot the sun exists, honestly), and the inside of Kroger is so, so bright, and it’s playing music that chafes at his ears, and his mask isn’t doing enough to block the smells and what it is doing is blowing his own hot breath back at him, and people keep bumping into him with their carts.

Dimly, he realizes this is his fault, for standing in the middle of the aisle. But he can’t figure out how to proceed. He is locked here, in front of the apples that should be strawberries.

Watari was nervous about leaving him, even though it was just for a week. L insisted he could handle it, as long as they worked together to prepare. This included Watari drawing up a detailed map of Kroger, so that L would know exactly where to find anything he needed.

(The downside of strawberries is that they go bad so fast. Watari picked up enough of everything else to last him the whole week, but his strawberries would inevitably betray him within four days.)

(The upside of strawberries is that they are fresh and juicy and delicious.)

So here he is, stranded in the center of the produce aisle, as children screech around him and the pop singer keeps crooning about how much she loves or doesn’t love this new man, and his breath is tickling his nose, and the fluorescent lights bear down on him and this really shouldn’t bother him because he spends all his days with computers he’s used to bright lights in his eyes but somehow this is different, and no matter how long he stares the honey crisps refuse to morph into anything else.

Maybe he should just go home now. Maybe he should admit he failed and go home without his precious fresh strawberries and defrost the frozen strawberries he keeps in case of emergency but he saves them for emergencies because they’re never as good as the real thing, they always heat up either too cold or too hot and the texture isn’t right and they don’t have the leaves attached and the taste is all wrong. The last time he had to eat them was during a snowstorm that left ice on the streets so bad that even Watari couldn’t bear the drive, and then Watari was there to help him deal with the wrong texture and stop him from slipping away into one of his states where the numbers swim before his eyes and his tongue grows thick in his mouth and something under his skin screams at him to please just let it out.

The something under his skin is here now, calling to him from his wrists and his calves and the back of his neck, and he won’t let it out, he won’t let it out here in front of everyone, he’s twenty-four years old for god’s sake, he can handle buying groceries like a normal person!

But what he needs is strawberries, and they aren’t here. They just aren’t here.

He can feel the top of his mask growing damp, which means his eyeliner must be ruined, and he isn’t sure how well the filter stands up to moisture so he needs to get himself together and find the damn strawberries which have to be around here somewhere, right? But when he looks up he sees a blurry rainbow of colors all melting together, and he can’t parse where one aisle stops and another starts.

“Excuse me, could I help you find anything today?”

It’s the first voice he’s heard directed at him in four days. It’s chipper and polished and carries no sense of authenticity.

He turns and finds his eyes locked onto a stranger’s, warm and brown and framed with beautiful eyelashes and honey-brown bangs. His mouth is hidden behind a blue mask that matches his Kroger apron, but L can see his smile scrunching up his eyes.

L opens his mouth, but finds words have left him. Surely this man can help him find the strawberries, but only if he can ask for it. And try as he might, he just can’t seem to ask for it.

The man glances over his shoulder. L notices his name tag says Light. And like a sunbeam breaking through storm clouds, he seems to have appeared here specifically to save L from himself and his wretched brain.

“Hey,” Light says, and suddenly his voice is softer, no longer so upbeat. “Hey, how about we step outside for a moment?”

So L follows this stranger out to the sidewalk, and Light leads him to a corner tucked away from the road. He can still hear the roar of cars, but the music is gone, and the crying children, and the light is just normal sun, and he tears off his mask to feel a breeze on his face and he breathes deeply as his ears scream in relief.

He realizes he’s rocking back and forth. He tries to stop that. He already looks like a freak, he doesn’t need to make it worse.

“Are you feeling better now?”

L finds the channel between mind and mouth is still malfunctioning. He nods, tentatively.

“I know it can be a lot in there. I get it.” L looks over at him. He seemed so calm inside, and he works there, so he must be there all the time.

Light seems to read his thoughts. “It gets easier with practice. And these help, too.” He brushes his hair away from his ear and L sees the glint of an earplug within.

L feels woefully unprepared. With his usual isolated existence, he can keep his environment at precisely the volume he desires. But if he truly wants to be able to live on his own, he’ll have to venture into spaces outside of his control.

“So what are you looking for today? I can help you find whatever you need.” A bit of the polish is back, a little bit of a wall going back up between them.

L reaches into his pocket and draws out Watari’s carefully drawn map. He points at the section marked “Strawberries.”

Light’s eyes widen in understanding. “Oh, I see! We just rearranged the produce yesterday, to switch the apples and the strawberries. Sorry for the confusion!”

L nods in thanks.

“So what else is on your list?”

It’s just strawberries. Nothing else. L is now extremely aware that normal adults do not go to the store for three pounds of strawberries and nothing else. Should he ask for milk or something too?

He doesn’t like milk.

Light notices his waffling - he’s perceptive, isn’t he? “Is it just strawberries?”

L nods.

“Oh, that’ll be super easy! Here, I can show you exactly where they are!”

He moves to head back towards the entrance and L hesitates. He’s feeling a lot better now, but he’s worried that if he heads back inside, he’ll just lock up right away again. His powers of speech still elude him.

Light notices he isn’t following, and stops. He looks into L’s eyes, then down at his teeth nibbling his lips. If he was at home, he’d be chewing his nails, but after the bus trip he’ll be dirty till he takes a good hot shower.

“You know what?” Light’s voice has lost its edge again. “If it’s just strawberries, what if I grab them for you? How many do you need?”

L holds up three fingers.

“Three… pounds?”

L nods.

“Okay! I’ll try to pick the ripest ones. Do you have cash?”

He shakes his head.

“Venmo?”

He nods.

“Wait here and I’ll be right back!”

L watches him go then allows his body to begin rocking back and forth again. There’s no one here to see. He feels his heart rate finally falling to normal, his shoulders dropping, his tongue untangling itself.

True to his word, Light is back quickly, strawberry cases in tow.

“Thank you,” L manages.

Light almost manages to hide his surprise. His eyes crinkle up in a smile again. “Of course! And by the way, we offer grocery pickup and delivery, if that would be easy for you in the future.”

“Really?” L should have thought to check the website himself, rather than relying on Watari and his fifty year old methods.

“Yes, it’s very convenient! You pick your items online and then you can come get them here, or we can take them directly to your house.”

Directly to his house…

L nods. “Thank you, that sounds very useful.” He tucks the strawberries into his tote bag and inspects the receipt. “May I repay you now?”

Light pulls up a QR code. It brings L to his profile, with a photo of Light smiling brightly. His surname is Yagami. L sends the money over, with a 25% tip for excellent service.

“I’m glad I could help you out today!”

“Thank you again. Sorry for interrupting your day.”

“No need to apologize - helping customers is my job, after all.”

L shuffles his feet awkwardly. He needs to go home and leave Light to return to work , which he’s nearly certain does not typically include personal shopping for pathetic autistic men hopelessly dependent on their grandfathers.

But he likes Light. It’s rare for him to find someone easy to talk with; he’s content to spend most of his days speaking to Watari and no one else.

And he’s nervous for the bus ride back. It’ll be loud again, and people will bump into him, and his mask will tickle his nose and yank at his ears, which is still better than getting sick but unpleasant all the same.

Light, it seems, is not in a rush to get back inside either. “Is there anything else I can help you with?”

L shakes his head. “I should get going.”

“Are you sure? You look like you have something on your mind. ”

L swallows. “I’m nervous about the bus. It’s going to be loud.”

Light nods. “Wait right here.”

He’s back in less than a minute with a pair of headphones cradled in his arms, black with red details. L stares at them. Is Light really entrusting him, a total stranger, with something so valuable?

“You can borrow these for the ride. But… you should give me your number so we can find a time for you to get them back.”

L is speechless again, but now it has nothing to do with his environment. He nods, and fumbles to pull his phone out again, self conscious of the way he grips it by the corners.

“What’s your name, by the way?”

“Ryuzaki,” L lies. He doesn’t know why. But he can’t take it back, so he watches Light type the false name above his number. He adds a strawberry emoji at the end.

“Have a safe ride back, Ryuzaki. Let me know when you get home, okay?”

L nods again, still stunned. He’s never had someone to text when he gets home before, since Watari always knows.

He heads to the bus stop, slipping the headphones on over his mask. The pressure of the ear cups is comforting and almost makes him forget about the straps digging into his ears. They’re playing a soft static that blocks out the rush of the world around him, giving him a personal bubble of quiet amid the bustle of the city.

When he makes it back home, he snaps a picture of himself biting into a strawberry, just for Light. It’s perfectly ripe and sweet and fresh and everything he’s been hoping for.

He fires off a text to Watari:

Kroger went great, no issues. Also, I made a new friend.

[kijosakka]

Thoughts. okay so the total drama drama drama drama island special is interesting mainly bc of team e-scope but im going to take a moment here to ramble about his dynamic with other people here,,

(oh and i didn't have anywhere really to slot it into the other post or segue into it here but dodgebrawl as a Moment demonstrates how [this AU] noah can play the social game, just in a very very different way than how it's normally seen.

he knows what he's doing is going to bother his team and incentivize them to vote, i'd say in this au he even plays up the cockiness and makes veiled personal slights against specific people

(mainly those who would be annoyed enough to vote him off, see: heather, justin, leshawna, cody/trent to some extent if he said smth about gwen? < and gwen herself in that scenario. and to another extent beth, since hes playing up his outright mean traits, which would make lindsay vote with her. i dont think he would do anything specific to/with owen or izzy, since he may see izzy as too volatile and owen too genuine)

in the opposite way of whats expected, sure, but it is a social play. he can pick apart what these people are and what they show and push at it to achieve his own ends (and maybe its even some sort of way for him to regain control in this fundamentally uncontrollable situation he's found himself in; he can be the punishment in foucalt's imagining, to a much smaller degree))

so his teammates,,, do not like him tbh. his flagrant display during dodgeball and everyone being pissed at him after the fact is true in this AU, just coming with different motivations. even after the fact when the frustration of everyone fizzles out, hes still majorly offputting because of his detachedness, and deliberately makes his shown traits very unpalatable to experience in person combined with that.

the only two exceptions are izzy and owen respectively: owens mostly coming from a place of genuineness and im going to say while he wouldnt be able to verbalize it, in some manner owen would clock noahs behavior as a defense mechanism. maybe in the sense of 'hes just scared to open up to people!!' or something similar, but he definitely has a lot more faith that noah really isnt that cold and flat.

[*]izzy feels much the same -- except maybe it comes off more to her as strategic. izzy can act, and might recognize that in noah. if you wanted to you could write this in as to why she was eager to swap teams in the first episode, but it wouldnt change that he does get eliminated and thats all she sees of him until the special -- which, her intrigue in his lacking and the fact that it apparently wasnt strategic to get him further in the game, could help explain why she picks him in the team-up.

[*i have soooo much to say about izzy in this au actually. but ill save it for a diff post]

and speaking of the team-up: team e-scope!!!! :0

my au my rules eva and izzy became really good friends on the playa; izzy isn't afraid of eva (and curbing her anger before it reaches a boiling point) and eva is physically adept enough to restrain izzy from Shenanigans that might be a little Much. but eva doesnt really?? know anything about noah?? but izzy insists on teaming with him for the special (and unbeknownst to her noah wasnt even planning to participate initially) so he must be some level of Not Too Bad if izzy wants anything to do with him that doesnt seem to be related to tormenting the guy

and she thinks hes Fine. apathetic and detached and unpalatable (but then again, everyone in their little trio really is to some degree), but can kind of understand izzys intrigue: hes still A Guy, hes just hidden behind 20 layers of non-substance that are so offputting from the first meeting it makes people steer clear of him.

now with tddddi comes two other pertinent details: the justin line, and the Thing With Duncan.

i personally thing noahs 'he's the anti-me' line is really funny in the context of canon but if you squint it kinda works here? wherein justin is non-speaking yet flaunts himself to be the center of attention and clearly shows intent and capacity to scheme (underdeveloped or no, see: awakeathon), whereas noah speaks a lot yet lets himself fade into the background, showing vague hints of the capacity to scheme but no intention or palpable ambition behind it.

^ am i reaching? maybe. the other option here is noah somehow has seen him in-person before on a modeling or red carpet kind of gig and dislikes him on principle because of it/its a jab at it (smth smth they are both opposite ends of the same industry? justin is the face of it in a manner where noah stays behind the scenes and out of sight)

and the thing with duncan,, hear me out here okay noah does his whole song and dance, goes up to him and patronizes him, and duncan retaliates. however, he curses like a sailor and in noah's head has ruined the footage, therefore instead of further retaliating and potentially invoking actual physical harm he just. doesnt react. at all. duncan looks up at him and hes just dead-eyed staring down at him -- and then he leaves.

^ the scene has been ruined, and everyone else is doing so much that theres no reason to play it up any more. duncan and him arent plot important like how heather and lindsay were, theres no reason for the crew to painstakingly edit his swearing out. they just wont let it reach the final cut. duncan is understandably very confused by this, but at that point noah was already gone to find eva and izzy again (< this is when the cast having a running bet that noahs and android becomes Not a Joke)

but life goes on!!! and in the worlds worst comedy of errors (for noah), izzy ends up dragging him along into the lake, thereby leaving him as a confirmed member of the next season.

^ noah is so angry at this. popping blood vessels. he argues with chris endlessly, straight frothing at the mouth at only having two days of real reprieve before he has to deal with the Same Shit again. and chris gets this, to some degree, but also knows that if theres no explanation for noahs non-appearance to hand the producers, theyll be pissed (since all things considered, noahs pretty damn popular among the fans)

luckily for him, courtney just filed a lawsuit against the show!! and since chris is busy running said show, the producers do not want to deal with it and are willing to hand off the case to anyone else -- hence, chris officially signs noah on as his PA, and noah takes over the court settlements and whatnot.

< though i do imagine the producers would see it as a 'get out of the show' scheme, and thereby push way harder for his involvement in WT as a result

but noah does get a break!!! for now, at least.