#that it’s fine and even good and interesting for characters to do bad things

[a-bit-of-writing]

How They React to a Shy Reader {Karlach, Astarion & Gale}

This is a reader request featuring these three characters. As the title implies, this is my take how these three would react to a shy reader.

Karlach

When Karlach first meets you, you're quiet, hesitant, unsure where to place yourself in this loud, unpredictable world.

“Hey there, soldier! What’s your name? C’mon, don’t be shy – I don’t bite!”

You mumble your name. Eyes down. She immediately clocks you as someone who’s probably used to being overlooked or overwhelmed.

“Aw, you’re like a little mouse. It’s okay. No pressure! You can talk when you’re ready. I’ll just keep being loud over here until you feel like jumping in!”

She gives you space without leaving you behind. She never forces you to speak, but she makes it very clear you’re welcome.

Karlach’s energy is usually at a 10 but with you? She instinctively dials it back a little.

When the campfire is quiet, she’ll sit beside you without demanding conversation.

“Mind if I hang here? Silence isn’t so bad when you’ve got good company.”

When you flinch at loud arguments or step back from crowded fights, she notices and she subtly positions herself between you and the chaos.

“Hey, I got you. Just stick close to me, yeah? Nobody messes with my crew.”

The first time you voluntarily join a conversation? She beams like you’ve just pulled off a critical hit.

“Oh YEAH! Look who’s chiming in! Get in here!”

She fist bumps you. She ruffles your hair (if you let her). She absolutely makes a huge, joyful deal about it. Not to embarrass you, but because she’s genuinely proud of you.

She sees you becoming more comfortable over time – offering small jokes, shy smiles, maybe even light teasing – and every time, she meets you with big Karlach energy.

“Look at you, being all bold now! I knew you had it in ya!”

Anyone who tries to talk over you? Anyone who dismisses you? Oh, they won’t do it twice.

“Hey! They were talking. You got something to say? Say it to both of us.”

She is ferociously protective of your voice.

She encourages you to speak up but if you’re not ready, she has no problem speaking for you.

“They don’t wanna deal with your crap right now. Move along.”

Karlach knows you’re capable of more – even if you don’t believe it yet. She’ll nudge you toward the front when a situation’s safe, letting you try things first, but she never abandons you.

“Wanna take the lead on this one? I’m right behind you, promise.”

When you succeed? She celebrates like you just won a world championship.

“YES! Look at you GO! You’re a total badass, you know that?”

When you finally initiate a hug, Karlach absolutely freezes for a second, then scoops you up in the warmest, safest bear hug imaginable.

“Aw, come here! Took you long enough!”

“Sorry, sorry – am I crushing you? Nah, you’re fine. I could hold you like this all day.”

You: “I think I finally feel… like I belong here.”

Karlach: visibly choked up, voice softening

“Damn right you do. You’re one of us. You always were.”

“And anyone who says otherwise can go through me.”

Astarion 

When you first meet Astarion, you can barely meet his eyes, your words trailing off whenever he gets too close.

“Oh my. Are you… blushing? How deliciously precious.”

He thrives on your shyness. At first, it’s all a game to him – a new plaything, a puzzle to prod at.

“Do continue – your flustered silence is simply enchanting.”

But the more time he spends with you, the more he realizes:

You’re not just flustered. You’re genuinely shy. And yet… you keep coming back to him.

“So curious. You’re terrified of me, but you never run away.”

Astarion is used to people either fawning over him or shrinking away completely. You? You’re a strange mix of both – interested but hesitant.

He absolutely teases you:

“Careful, darling, you keep looking at me like that and I might start thinking you fancy me.”

“I do so love the sound of your stammering. Truly, it soothes me.”

But he’s shockingly attuned to your limits. He pushes, but never to the point of real discomfort.

When you genuinely freeze up? He pulls back immediately, voice softening.

“Oh now, I didn’t mean to scare you, little dove. Take your time. I can be… patient.”

The first time you make a teasing comment back?

He lights up like it’s his birthday.

“Oh! Oh, there you are! Well done, my sweet.”

He starts looking forward to your little victories:

The way you hold eye contact a little longer

The first time you initiate conversation

When you voluntarily sit beside him at camp

Each moment becomes a small treasure for him.

“I must say, watching you come out of your shell is my new favorite form of entertainment.”

But it’s not just entertainment anymore and that’s what rattles him.

Astarion insists he’s just enjoying the game.

But when someone else talks over you? When someone brushes you aside?

Oh, he immediately intervenes with a smile that doesn’t reach his eyes.

“How terribly rude. You’ll address them properly, or you won’t speak at all.”

When you wander too far from camp?

“Tch. Honestly, you’re lucky I was nearby. Do try not to get devoured, my sweet.”

When you freeze in battle?

“Stand behind me. Go on. I’ll handle this one.”

The more you open up, the more Astarion finds himself genuinely invested.

He’ll even let his guard down with you:

Casual touches linger a little longer.

His flirtations become less performative, more gently sincere.

He’s still dramatic, of course:

“Careful, darling. I might start thinking you’re actually fond of me.”

But there’s a softness in the way he says it now.

The first time you hold his gaze without flinching?

He raises an eyebrow.

“Oh? Staring now, are we? My, my. Who taught you such wickedness?”

You: nervous but determined “I guess I’m learning from the best.”

He falters. Just for a moment.

“Tch. Be careful, sweet thing. I might just make you my favorite.”

When you finally initiate contact

Maybe you gently touch his hand. Maybe you lean into his side at the campfire.

He stills – completely.

“Oh. Well… isn’t this lovely.”

“…I suppose I can tolerate this. For a little while longer.”

(He absolutely doesn’t move away.)

Gale

When you first meet Gale, you’re quiet, hesitant, almost visibly folding into yourself.

Gale notices immediately but he doesn’t comment on it. He simply adjusts, lowering his voice, softening his presence.

“Ah, no need to rush, my friend. I shall simply... enjoy the quiet until you’re ready to share more of yourself.”

He offers his hand to help you over rough paths. He gives you the first serving of camp stew. He never pushes.

His patience is genuine – it’s not a tactic. He simply likes your company, even in silence.

Gale has a natural tendency to explain, to elaborate, to narrate but with you?

He watches carefully to make sure you’re not getting overwhelmed.

“If I prattle on too much, you’ll tell me, won’t you? I’d hate to drown out that lovely quiet voice of yours.”

When you offer small contributions, soft jokes, or hesitant opinions, he listens as if you’ve just shared something extraordinary.

“Oh, what a marvelous point. You’re quite sharp, aren’t you?”

“I do hope you’ll share more of those thoughts with me.”

The first time you voluntarily engage in a lively discussion? He beams like you’ve just solved an ancient riddle.

“Oh, splendid! You’re joining in! I was beginning to worry you’d leave me to monologue all by myself.”

Every little step – whether it’s joining camp banter, cracking a small joke, or asking about magic – he celebrates with genuine warmth, but never in a way that draws too much attention to you.

He carefully avoids embarrassing you. His joy is for you to see, not for the crowd.

He finds your shyness endearing, but his curiosity grows the more you reveal.

“You hold back so much, yet what you do share… well, I find myself treasuring it.”

He loves the little things:

The way you fidget with your sleeves when nervous

The way your eyes light up when you do talk about something you love

The soft humor that peeks through when you’re comfortable

He might casually invite you to stargaze, to teach you simple spells, to offer safe spaces where you can open up at your own pace.

“I thought you might enjoy a quieter moment. The world does tend to be a bit… loud, doesn’t it?”

Gale never swoops in to speak for you but he notices when others try to talk over you.

He redirects conversations, clears space for you to speak, and offers gentle encouragement with small nods or phrases like:

“I believe our friend had something to say?”

“Go on, I’m listening.”

In battle, he always keeps an eye on you – positioning himself nearby, subtly adjusting the formation to ensure you’re safe.

“You’re quite capable, but humor me – I prefer to keep you in my line of sight.”

You: softly “Could you… maybe teach me that spell?”

Gale: visibly delighted

“Why, of course! Oh, this will be grand. We’ll make a proper magician of you yet.”

He immediately offers you the safest, most beautiful cantrip because he wants you to feel empowered, not overwhelmed.

You: shy but growing bolder “You do love hearing yourself talk, huh?”

Gale: mock scandalized

“What? Me? Perish the thought! I simply… appreciate a well-spun sentence.”

But oh, he is so proud of you for saying it. He practically radiates joy.

[raisedbythetv89]

the information I have amassed over the years of why bangel is the way it is is because first xander was going to be the love interest (ew) and angel was ambiguous but maybe going to be an actual angel but the network forced joss to make angel a vampire because they knew vampire romance would be very successful - joss being a narcissist exists in black and white - good people are good no matter their actions and bad people are bad no matter their actions so being forced to make angel a vampire when he was supposed to be a good guy made him big mad (he’s been quoted many times that he wanted demons and vampires to just be evil and ugly aka not desirable at all) but he’s like ugh fine whatever and thus the episode Angel is born and the whole “vampire with a soul” shit happens but it appears to be a one and done thing we’re into each other but this is a horrible idea so I’m going to stay away from you now.

End of season 1 setting up xander as the love interest with his threatening angel into helping him save buffy and the whole “I can’t do it I have no breath” which is so inaccurate I can’t even but basically like angel being a vampire can’t be what buffy needs, xander is who she needs to which the network was like ABSOLUTELY NOT this fucking obnoxious loser cannot be the love interest for buffy which is beyond hysterical that joss created buffy just to be able to force the popular girl to be with his self insert character and even in a universe he created he was still denied so now even more big mad because they’re pushing for angel to be the main love interest which is why there is such a stark tone shift between angel himself and bangel between seasons 1 & 2.

So bangel 2.0 he’s like FINE I will give you your vampire romance but it is going to be CREEPY AS HELL and I’m going to create the perfect metaphor for what it’s like to be a victim of an older man who manipulates you into giving him what he wants and then completely discarding you. Suddenly angel shows up in her room and follows her even more and is like “what are we, I miss you” when they both agreed they shouldn’t date yet now suddenly that is gone with zero discussion. The creepy age gap is brought up constantly - when angel is jealous of xander but dismisses buffy saying that by saying “xander is just a kid” and Buffy is literally like wait does that mean IM just a kid??? AND ANGEL LITERALLY RUNS AWAY INSTEAD OF ANSWERING and buffy herself says angel treats her like a child and then we see the HORROR SHOW flashbacks of angel seeing 15 year old sucking on a lollipop Buffy and crying in her bathroom and he’s all dirty and disgusting in the bushes like:

bangel was supposed to end with buffy getting to kill her abuser and send him to hell UNTIL I only have eyes for you and apparently david acting like a woman has joss being like “GET THIS MAN HIS OWN SHOW!!!!!!” so instead of angel staying dead/in hell where he belonged he had to be brought back and now we have bangel 3.0 for season 3

Suddenly they are tragic doomed soulmates??????????? Because now Angel can’t be Buffy’s creepy manipulative predatory abusive older boyfriend because now he’s a hero who is going to have his own show! So now bangel is all about abstinence and resisting temptation/everything that faith is that buffy lowkey was to a much lesser extent for the last two seasons and angel being this killing machine who is such an artist with how he tortures people and this awful beast who reallllyyyy wants buffy and wants to hurt people but he’s being soooooooo strong and resisting and isn’t he so amazing and strong for leaving buffy “for her own good” and let’s ignore it’s happening right as she’s turned 18 and about to graduate from high school and it happens IN A SEWER - and now we have the added lore drop in s3 that he fell in love with her at first sight at FIFTEEN

Joss was most involved in btvs writing during seasons 1-3 his focus was split after that but his writing has the worst “telling instead of showing” of the whole show and bangel is one of the worst instances of that so much of their relationship is rushed and completely unearned that anyone who isn’t a 13 year old with a massive crush on david and likely daddy issues watching it has the same response op has which is “is this supposed to be romantic???? THESE are soulmates????” He told the audience what was happening even if it went completely against what seasons of behavior established and there are many such instances.

He did a similar 180 with spuffy he hated spike hated spuffy so season 5 spike is suddenly way creepier than we have ever seen him be with the “buffy” mannequin, the shrine, the bot, all of crush etc because again he’s giving the network and audience what they want - vampire romance - but he’s trying to make it creepy and unenjoyable (he thought making spike a sad pathetic lover boy poet would make us like him less 💀 showing how much he DOES NOT understand the female gaze) but he didn’t understand what all of spike’s BEHAVIOR was telling us and didn’t understand we had no problem with the idea of our heroine with a soulless anti hero/morally grey vampire who is completely obsessed with her and so pathetically in love with her because spike has NEVER treated her like a child, has always respected her intelligence and skill and seen her as a worthy adversary who should be feared, their chemistry is insane and sarah and james are two of the best actors on the show and them together is MAGIC

Of course his cause wasn’t helped when they accelerated his redemption because of the “is btvs gonna end with season 5 and buffy dead” fake out he wanted to do because he’s always going to choose the most dramatic option vs the characters being grounded and authentic. But so we get season 6 and we’re supposed to be like oh this is soooo bad buffy is having soooo much crazy sex and neglecting dawn and her friends bad buffy! But instead we’re like omg poor buffy is in so much pain and spike is the only one who can help her and she hates herself for it ugh I wish she could just love him openly and get what she needs from him without shame or needing to hide it which is what leads to the ultimate retaliation aka seeing red because joss wanted spike to get a soul because joss accepted all the way back in season 2 that spike was too popular to be killed off and spuffy is INCREDIBLY popular so just like profiting off of david and abandoning his previous stance he does the same with spuffy - spike has a soul now so it’s ok! And suddenly joss is being quoted as “loving spuffy even if that’s not popular it can be just for him” pretending like it was all his idea and no one else saw the brilliance that is spuffy except him and we’re back to abstinence and spike having these uncontrollable killing sprees that only buffy can be trusted to put a stop to but thankfully even though joss reheated his bangel nachos for season 7 spuffy all the other FAR more talented writers had been COOKING in the kitchen for years so everything lands better because it’s all actually fucking EARNED and buffy taking care of spike isn’t the same as her taking care of angel because angel never stopped being her grooming, abuser, stalker but spike was always her shadow and a representation of her “otherness” so loving and caring for him showed how much she had learned to love and care for herself unapologetically even if everyone else went against her.

So VERY long story short bangel was never meant to be romantic it was firstly never meant to be and then it was supposed to be a creepy anti fairy tale “I kiss you you don’t wake up - when you kiss me I want to die” cautionary tale until season 3 when they started gaslighting the shit out of all of us and unfortunately the season 3 narrative is the one that was upheld about buffy and angel for the entire rest of the series and beyond and many fans still buy it to this day and get really really mad and defensive when you point out that it is NOTHING like what they think it is 💀😭

Dude, but like… Angel telling Buffy he fell in love with her when she had just turned 15? I mean, hello? Is this supposed to be romantic instead of, I don’t know… CREEP AS HELL?

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

If L*ona or J word were real would you date them?

chisbwkdkss While I do think that J word and L*ona match the type of guy I find attractive irl (you know 🙂‍↕️ intelligent, generally reliable, could bulli me into the dirt), I have a lot of some social anxiety around men, especially tall men 💦

I’m placing the rest of my reply under a cut, as I do talk about some personal things like my experiences with social anxiety + stalking (albeit nothing explicit). Please proceed with caution.

I had a bad experience with a tall guy that wouldn’t take “no” for an answer (I’m not going to elaborate further) and stalked me for almost 2 years. The rational part of me obviously knows that not ALL tall men are bad and not all average or short men are good, but unfortunately that particular memory is so strong that it’s the first thing my mind jumps to and acts on 🧍‍♂️

I can still function just fine, but I still get this creeping dread whenever a tall guy stands too close to me… It’s to the point where I feel unsafe if I’m sitting by myself at a restaurant and a waiter (who, by virtue of standing, is always looming over me) comes to take my order. I would rather inconvenience myself spending hours looking for an item instead of asking a tall masculine-presenting employee for help. I have to look slightly off to the side instead of making direct eye contact with tall men.

I can enjoy Jade and Leona in part because I never have to worry about them violating my boundaries. I can “turn them off” whenever I need to take a breather or to have time for only myself. I can imagine them to be however I want them to be, should I wish to. The power is always in my hands, and not theirs (since they’re fictional).

Regardless of whether I retain knowledge of who these characters are in the game or not, I think I’d still be pretty anxious about even approaching either of them for even like a 5 minute casual conversation. This isn’t me saying I think Leona or Jade would be creepers irl. It’s about their presence and how they present themselves, and how that sets off my fight or flight response. They’re like… giants with a certain aura about them?? I would feel so intimidated having them even LOOK at me.

Palms sweaty… heart palpitations… thoughts racing… looking for an excuse to bail as soon as I can 💦 I can’t imagine it ever escalating to the point of dating. And if for some reason THEY’RE the one(s) to initiate or to bring the idea up, I wouldn’t know how to react. It’s… really overwhelming (and it would bring up uncomfortable memories for me). I genuinely think I might have a(n) uncool/j breakdown on the spot 🧍‍♂️ which would suck because I hate it when others see me emotionally vulnerable OTL

Okay, Raven traumadump over/j

ANYWAY

The short answer to this question is I feel like I’d definitely be… curious??? Like the concept piques my interest. However, the hurdle becomes whether or not I’d have the courage to do/say anything about it, given my previous experiences 💀

[ideasihadbutdontlike]

“Unspoken” — Part III: Jealousy looks good on you

The conference room was a neutral sea of beige: beige walls, beige suits, beige coffee. You were regretting your choice to come instead of letting Bob handle it. But intel briefings were part of the job, and you were trying to be… professional.

Unfortunately, Liam from MI6 didn’t seem to care about professionalism.

“Sorry,” he said, brushing a little too close as you reached for coffee. “Didn’t see you there.”

You gave a tight smile. “No harm done.”

“You’re with the new team, right? The one with Barnes and Belova?”

You nodded slowly.

He leaned in, lowering his voice. “Bit of a dark crowd. You seem brighter. Refreshing, even.”

You took a small step back. “I’m right where I want to be.”

That should’ve been it. But then he added, “Maybe you could tell me more over dinner?”

You opened your mouth to answer, politely, but someone beat you to it.

Metal fingers closed around your coffee cup. The air behind you shifted.

“Coffee’s bad here anyway,” came a voice low and tight with edge.

You turned to find Bucky, standing too close, too still.

His eyes didn’t leave Liam.

“Mr. Barnes,” Liam said, blinking. “Didn’t see you there.”

Bucky didn’t blink. “Apparently, you don’t see much.”

You elbowed him lightly. “It’s fine. We were just—”

“We’re leaving,” he said simply, placing your coffee back in your hand, barely looking at you.

You didn’t argue, because his tone said not now. So you followed, confused… and maybe a little thrilled?

Back at HQ (justice for stark tower 😭)

By the time you got back, the others were sprawled across the lounge like it was a lazy Sunday.

Yelena had her boots on the coffee table, eating gummy bears with a smirk that already knew too much.

Alexei was upside-down in an armchair doing some kind of neck stretch.

Bob was floating three inches off the ground reading a dog-eared paperback.

John was polishing his shield like a man trying way too hard to stay out of drama.

Yelena spotted you first, and then Bucky trailing behind, jaw set tight.

“Well, well,” she said, loud enough to start trouble. “Did someone threaten the MI6 boy or did he just wet himself from the glare of doom?”

Alexei perked up. “You make face like that at me once. I throw soup at wall.”

Bob didn’t even look up from his book. “Barnes. Jealousy’s not subtle on you.”

Bucky scowled. “He was being disrespectful.”

“Really?” John chimed in with a dry grin. “Because it looked a lot like you wanted to throw him through a table.”

“I still might,” Bucky muttered.

You raised a brow, arms crossed. “So that’s what that was?”

Bucky didn’t look at you. “He was all over you.”

You walked toward him slowly, ignoring Yelena’s very obvious camera phone lift.

“You know I wasn’t interested, right?”

His shoulders tensed, then dropped.

“I know. Doesn’t mean I liked seeing someone act like they had a chance.”

You stopped in front of him. “You could’ve just said that.”

He met your eyes finally. “Didn’t know if I was allowed to.”

The softness in his voice hit you right in the ribs.

Behind you, Alexei whispered, “Ohhh noooo. He is soft again. I hate when he is soft.”

Bob floated lazily past, adding, “Let the man have feelings, Red Guardian. It’s character development.”

Yelena rolled a gummy bear between her fingers. “If this ends in a kiss, I’m charging for tickets.”

You leaned up on your toes and kissed Bucky’s cheek, soft, deliberate.

He caught your wrist gently before you stepped back.

Then he kissed you. Slow. Certain.

Alexei immediately covered his eyes. “They are doing the thing! In common area! Why always here?!”

John groaned. “I’m getting a beer.”

Yelena grinned. “I ship it. Officially.”

Bucky pulled back, forehead resting against yours, breathing a little shaky.

“I meant what I said,” he whispered. “You’re the only one I see.”

You smiled against his lips. “You’re not half bad at this whole relationship thing. And I think jealousy looks good on you.”

“Don’t tell anyone,” he murmured. “It’ll ruin my reputation.”

Behind you, Bob called, “Too late.”

[superfallingstars]

snape deserved everything he got and worse. he was an incel creep and james was ALWAYS the better person by far.

gonna say something real crazy here, buck wild, just balls to the wall insane – but what if they were both bad? what if it’s bad to join a fascist hate movement and be mean to children as a fully grown adult and teacher, but it’s also bad to bully someone and threaten to take off their underwear in front of a crowd? and it’s bad to try to manipulate a girl into going out with you by saying you’ll stop bullying her friend if she accepts? what if that part when james says he doesn’t like snape because of “the fact that he exists” is in there for a reason? i know this is a really bonkers take, just cuckoo crazypants, to imagine that two people can be bad at the same time. and it’s probably even crazier to suggest that it actually doesn’t even matter who is better than who, and that this whole argument is a pointless endeavor, and that trying to play judge jury and executioner with fictional characters is an unproductive and frankly dumb way to engage with media

[lemonduckisnowawake]

You know. Something I noticed about myself is that I enjoy learning to like something. In other words, sometimes I "force" myself to like something or sit through it until I start to actually genuinely enjoy the piece of media. Because, sometimes, it's less about "forcing" and really about training yourself to the direction and way you care about being. I care about seeing better females written in fiction, for example? Then I'll force myself to sit through a story that is well-done, even if it doesn't grip me immediately or even at all. And sometimes, it'll be something I enjoy fondly, sometimes it'll end up consuming my life and give me a new genre to suffer and die over, which is actually the worst. BUT THE POINT

[cheriafreya]

Amphoreus characters and how much I regret skipping each of them bc I'm bored this Sunday~

3.0 - Aglaea: regretted it quite a bit at first. Aglaea was the one character I wanted to pull for from the beginning, she was supposed to be my only Remebrance character until Fate but a lot of things happened and I ended up switching her for The Herta. The things that happened in question: she was an insanely premium, non-F2P friendly character, I did own Sunday for her but she would still need her E1 or LC to work the way she should and the relics I kept getting for her were absolute dogshit. Her element being lightning made her not the best choice either between her and Therta as I already own Acheron and she's miles better, then there's also the fact that I did not own a single Ice DPS. So yeah, I also had awesome relics to build Therta and she looked like she would last a lot more in meta, so the rest is history. I don't regret my decision at all now, as Therta has been carrying me all this time and she ended up being definitely the stronger one of the two.

3.1 - Tribbie: mmm lowkey? just a little bit but not much, she's super fun to play and gives very strong buffs, but I am not a fan of chibi characters and I'll always prefer using my precious Halovian Siblings over anyone. The bad thing about skipping Tribbie really is the fact that she's the most meta character right now for almost if not all the Amphoreus characters, but since I've skipped them all anyway it's not that big of a deal, like I don't feel like my account has been bricked or anything. She's powerful, but I'm fine skipping her.

3.1 - Mydei: yes lowkey too, same as Tribbie. I don't like the fact that his gameplay is Auto but he's super strong and I actually loved the character so it feels way more personal, having to let him go and all. Still, I'm not sure I would pull for him on a rerun...? maybe if he had been an Erudition character I would, but right now I'm full on copium waiting for Screwllum to eventually drop and take his place tbh. If I was able to let go of JY and IL every single time, I can live without Mydei too.

3.2 - Castorice: SORRY CASTORICE but... no, not really. I like her but I expected to like her more, her dragon is cool but the gameplay feels boring to me (unpopular opinion, I know), and at the end of the day I would only want her for her Global Passive and that's it. In fact I did pull for her just for that, and I lost the 50/50 to Seele which made me happier than getting her and that says a lot. I don't regret skipping her, but I might consider grabbing her on her rerun for that Passive, not gonna lie... it's too broken, man, I am not immune to having an advantage on my account.

3.2 - Anaxa: yes I regret it a lot actually, finally we get one character who I truly regret in this list. Loved the character and his mad scientist vibe, Stephen Fu killed it with his performance, he's fun to play and can implant all weaknesses which is crazy? works both as a Therta battery and as an Hypercarry, in which he's insanely strong like this character is ridiculous. So yeah, he's really cool and I'm really sad. Will grab him on his rerun if I can, for sure.

3.3 - Hyacine: she's so adorable and Fat Fuck is cute too, but no, I don't regret skipping her. She's made to be supporting very specific characters that I don't own anyway, so really it would be a luxury pull if anything. The only reason why I would pull for her is because my poor Gallagher can't do all the healing alone, but as long as this game doesn't demand 3 teams in end-game, I'm fine with it. If it comes to that, well... then we'll talk, but for now I'm not considering her at all.

3.3 Cipher: I don't regret skipping her either, looks like she'll just be another good option for Acheron / Ratio teams and I'm fine with the teammates I own now. Had she been a major upgrade for them then yeah I might have regretted it, but for what I've seen I can live without her. Also, I feel like I've already invested too much on these teams and I'm tired of doing it tbh, as much as I love them there's so much I can do. This is as far as I go.

____________________________________________________________________________

Okay that's it :3 now we're entering an era where I won't be skipping Amphoreus characters anymore as I'll be pulling for both Phainon and Cerydra! Finally, war is over... I can't wait to get them, skipping characters can be such a pain, especially since I was used to have so many from Penacony... I went from 100 to 0 and it's very, VERY boring. Just a little bit more of patience...

[wackywatchdotcom]

i need to know what pomni was like in the workplace.... we get a glimpse of it in ep 4 (that she mans the register.... which makes sense... bc she was an accountant. that shes pretty ok at handling customers and only got distracted when gummigoo got involved. she takes out the trash and closes for gangle) but even THEN she says herself that its not real, implying this is LESS investment than she wouldve had irl.... i wish i could know so bad os bad. i need to know how she interacted w coworkers. how did she handle breaks. how many jobs had she had before this and what were they . ifalls to my knees. i need to know this information its important to me that i know what shes like in super boring settings

[selfinflictedgunshotwound]

double, triple, quadrupling-down, even, on being a shauna shipman defender. the more evil she is in the show the happier i get idgaf that's my girl

[milfbrainrot]

admittedly we do not know anything abt most of the new characters yet and assuming she's not in LoL that includes Maddie but it is... a lil odd to see infantilization of her at this stage.

I get she seems like a ray of sunshine character so far but "girl has no idea what martial law means 💔" kind of jokes are making me think abt how if maddie IS just a naive enforcer thinking she's doing good for piltover, she'd still... know what martial law and fascism etc entail. She'd just think those things are Good and Just!

Idk not to take jokes too seriously but there's something interesting abt what makes a character complicit in horrors esp when they seem so nice, and I feel like that's kinda being brushed aside w the interpretations that she is just an oblivious kid... esp since those jokes are about the scene where she's supporting Cait's dictatorship promotion which is after she's literally been in Zaun with her gassing people lmao.

She knows what's going on. Her framing of it is just extremely biased. Maybe a bit naive of her if so, but not stupid yknow.

[thoughtpeek]

I'VE FINALLY FINISHED BROTHERSHIP IT WAS SOOOOO GOOD!!!!!!!

[ridiculouslyunintelligent]

hot take: the problem with doctor who is NOT that they brought billie piper back, it is NOT that ncuti left early, it is NOT that 15 never faced a dalek or a cyberman, and it is CERTAINLY NOT that it’s ’too woke’

the problem with doctor who is that they have forgotten how to engage an audience without utterly confusing them. if i were a writer, this is what i’d change:

1. i would lower the stakes

my biggest issue with dw in recent years is that the stakes are always SO high - it’s always ‘we need to sort this out or else the ENTIRE UNIVERSE WILL END. this rarely happened at the start of nuwho. of course, there were instances where galaxies and universes were at stake, but there were also plenty of instances where the doctor solves issues to A. save his own skin, B. save his friends, and C. to save smaller populations of people and/or generally do what is morally right.

prime example is in new earth. the world isn’t really at stake, he has a couple of objectives: get cassandra to piss off, free the test subjects, stop the infections from spreading. he doesn’t spend the hour worrying that if he doesn’t help then the world will end, he sees a problem that’s morally corrupt and he solves it for the sake of that group. the payoff is just as good, and actually IMPROVES the payoff for episodes where a bit more is at stake, like the poison sky, for example.

2. i would stop plots from spilling over across seasons

i’d like to remind everyone that, although there were things that kind of linked into each other and were mentioned again, generally for the first 4 seasons of (new) doctor who, an overarching issue was built up, climaxed, and resolved throughout a single season. for example: bad wolf in s1. this has gotten worse and worse over time but has honestly been a problem since rtd1 ended, and for some reason when he came back it got WORSE than it’s ever been!!! there’s just way too much overspill across seasons, things even span accross different doctors more recently which is just too much at times. when it’s little things it doesn’t matter, but it’s not. again, this has been an issue before this finale, but this finale is a good example since there were a hundred and one loose ends before he regenerated. when nuwho began, they literally stated each regen would be treated as a soft reboot and their neglect of that has been a downfall.

3. i’d make doctor who dirty and grungy again

it’s too clean futuristic ultra modern sci-fi these days. the tardis doesn’t look like he stole it. what happened to those fun tardis scenes where the entire thing would shake as it took off and landed? why is everything so light and clean? it should be dim and cozy and imperfect.

4. i’d make the companions’ family members more prominent and interesting characters again

doesn’t take much explaining, really. picture jackie tyler, now picture carla sunday. who has a stronger presence and personality in your head and why is it jackie tyler? (there’s bound to be someone who disagrees and that’s fine but i don’t rlly want to hear about it tbh)

5. i’d re-inject some british whimsy

please don’t mistake this as me saying doctor who ‘isn’t british’ or something weird and gammon-y like that, i love when dw explores different cultures, the story and the engine was one of my highlights last season, i just mean like - let him save the world with a jammy dodger again. let him be brought back to life by a good cup of tea. it makes it enjoyable.

there are lots of things, but those are my main ones.

EDIT: thank you to everyone who has weighed in on this - i’ve found it really interesting to see everyone’s perspectives on this because honestly i could talk for king and country about it, but also i just wanted to say that it makes me kind of sad that one of my only negative posts about doctor who is my most popular post :( if you’re reading this, it’s your sign to do something positive today, if i can help to make just one person’s day better then that’s a win to me :)

[bpdanakins]

the way some people take decisions made in rpgs too seriously... as if a decision made, in a roleplaying game, is indicative of who you are as a player, and not the character you are roleplaying, is just silly. and it's weird that only "bad" decisions are allowed if you're playing a dramatically evil character, otherwise you, yourself, are bad... it's just. it's silly!! it's a video game!! where u make characters with interesting stories and make decisions based on what they would do (aka... roleplaying) and not based on what you, the player, would choose.

your ocs don't have to be some sort of avatar of you if don't want them to be, so why are we attacking people for choices made in a video game?? and why are we attacking devs' writing as not being morally black and white when the point is to create complex stories and characters and have fun. it's fiction. you are not doing this irl. your characters can be a little whack and not be cartoonishly evil. your characters can be a little whack and still be morally good. your characters can be whatever and it doesn't make you the same as them because they're fictional characters.

[pukicho]

lets hear ur hottest take and see if you gain or lose followers. like SAW

I've got hot video game takes,

I don't think hades is even top 5 roguelikes. I actually think, as roguelikes go, it's really shallow and boring (as a pretty-looking game with sexy characters, it's fine)

I think using summons in Elden ring IS a bad thing, not because of some 'git gud' shit-ass mentality but because the bosses AI can't handle having two targets on screen at once so it becomes a lot easier, a lot less interesting and the experience feels less polished.

Ghost of Tsushima is just as boring as any Assassins creed game and idk why it gets a pass when it is practically built 1:1 to those games.

Spiderman 2 was boring as shit and I realize I am getting tired of these on-rails lame-o experiences. Also the writing was shit.

Mario rocks

Satisfactory is systematically worse than factorio in every conceivable way and the only upside it has is that it's 3d

Tears of the Kingdom was a big-ass letdown, how do you make a world so devoid of callbacks to the prior game?? No guardians, no mention of your past activities? did everyone get fucking amnesia? Also it's boring.

'You can pet the dog/cat' thing is fucking stupid, I don't give a god damn shit, make a good GAME first then make the animals pettable. Also don't give a game credit for adding an easy-ass feature, its like people who laugh when they hear the Wilhelm scream like they're in on something we're not, GROW UP.

[kaisaerinlover]

michael kaiser who is a terrible boyfriend but also perfect.

michael kaiser who braids ur hair for u before u sleep because u don’t want it to be too knotty (it’s done evilly to manipulate u)

michael kaiser who tucks u in and talks u to sleep if u ask for it because u always tell him his voice is nice (done evilly so that when ur asleep he can do evil things to u)

michael kaiser who brings u to every single one of his matches and lets the public know about ur relationship and growls at every other woman that might try and hit on him (done evilly to isolate u)

michael kaiser who gives u 50000 euros if u ask for 5 to buy something at the store (done evilly to make sure ur dependant on him)

michael kaiser who never lets u walk on the side of the pavement closest to the side of the road (done evilly because he wants to be the only one to hurt u)

michael kaiser who actually feels a semblance of pity and caring towards u after he hurts u, whether it’s punching, fucking, choking whatever the sick guy does to u and he actually bandages u up after and kisses u and tells u he’s sorry (done evilly so u can never quite escape him)

michael kaiser who tries to cook for u sometimes when he notices ur a little worn down, or sick, or hears u fawning over some stupid meal u saw on tiktok, and he’s not the best cook but when u dig into what he makes for u and smile up at him his heart grows a bit (it’s done evilly so u think it’s safe to eat his food for when he decides to poison it)

michael kaiser who indulges himself in all of ur random interests, learns all the sanrio characters, learns all the random video games u enjoyed playing in ur childhood; and he actually participates in playing them too (done evilly to make u trust him, the more he knows about u the better)

michael kaiser who feels bad when u cry, and wipes ur tears away, licks them up and pets ur head and affirms u that everything will be fine and u just have to tell him what’s bothering u and he’ll fix it for u no matter what it is (done evilly so u act vulnerable around him more often)

michael kaiser who actually attends therapy for u and tries to better himself and be a good boyfriend (he can’t even think of an excuse for this one anymore)

michael kaiser who realises that maybe he isn’t the evil subhuman he always thought he was and he actually might just love u. like a really pure tender love that he didn’t even think he would ever have the pleasure of feeling. when he looks at u he just feels warm inside, he doesn’t feel anything bad, unless u count the sickness that washes over him at his revelation that he really does love u.

kaiser who is conflicted, he doesn’t want u to leave, but maybe that shitty therapy has rubbed off on him; he doesn’t want to manipulate u really to make u stay. he just… he wants to confide in u and put his trust in u that u won’t leave him. he wears his heart on his sleeve around u and he trusts u.

michael kaiser who really has, mostly, changed. and he’s not even sure why. he feels disgusted at himself, but when he sees ur sleeping form next to him he knows it’s worth it. u don’t deserve a broken terrible boyfriend, u deserve someone nice. but he’s the only nice someone u deserve.

michael kaiser who just really adores u, and is so grateful that ur in his life. michael kaiser who lays awake in his bed full of ur blankets and plushies and just u in general. lays awake with u sleeping on his chest and sighs. he didn’t think he would ever be able to love, or be loved, but he gets the appeal now. he is so full of u and u are so full of him. love isn’t what his parents had, or even what he somehow twisted ness into feeling for him. love is… this. and the thing that scares him the most is that he wouldn’t change it for the world.

but the scariest part is when u stir from ur sleep and kiss him on the cheek and ask him what’s the matter, and he tells u nothing and kisses u back, the scariest thing is he wasn’t lying. everything dissipated when u gave him 3 seconds of ur attention. ur really the remedy to all of his problems. that’s scary, but not really, because his chest is less constricted and he’s falling asleep too after ur tender kiss to his cheek. actually, the future doesn’t scare him at all anymore, nothing is like before.

hi everyone :0

[luna-azzurra]

Writing a Morally gray character

Think about their backstory, what shaped them into who they are? What do they believe in? And, most importantly, what pushes them to get out of bed every morning and keep going? These characters aren’t simple good or bad. They’re caught in the middle, in that murky, complicated space between black and white. That’s where they get interesting because they’re constantly wrestling with themselves, trying to figure out the right choice, or if the “right” choice even exists for them.

You need to show this internal battle. Imagine your character being torn between what they believe is morally right and what they actually want. This is where the real drama comes in, it’s like watching them juggle their principles with their desires in real-time. They’ll mess up, and they’ll make decisions that are sometimes questionable, but that’s what makes them human and relatable. One way to really highlight their complexity is by putting them in situations where there’s no clear answer. You know, those moments in life where everything’s kind of a mess, and you’re stuck trying to figure out what the hell you’re supposed to do? Your character should face situations like that. These gray areas create tension because readers won’t know which direction the character will go, and honestly, your character might not know either.

And don’t forget, growth is a huge part of writing a morally gray character. People aren’t static, they change based on what happens to them, and your character should too. Maybe they start off with a strong sense of morality but, over time, that starts to shift. Or maybe they start with shaky ethics and slowly become a better person as they learn from their mistakes. Growth can also go the other way, they could spiral downward, giving in to darker impulses. Either way, they need to evolve, just like people do in real life. That’s what keeps the story fresh and unpredictable. The last thing you want is a character that stays the same the whole way through.

Also, please, no stereotypes. A morally gray character doesn’t have to be a brooding anti-hero with a tragic past (unless that’s your vibe, but even then, switch it up). Give them quirks that make them unique. Maybe they have unexpected motivations, like they’re doing something shady for a cause they genuinely believe in, or they’ve got a weird sense of humor that throws people off. Whatever it is, make sure they feel like an individual, not just a copy-paste character we’ve all seen a million times.

Even when your character makes decisions that aren’t exactly clean-cut or heroic, the reader still needs to understand why. Show their vulnerabilities, why they doubt themselves, why they hesitate, and why they ultimately make the choices they do. It’s all about making them relatable, even when they’re walking that fine line between right and wrong. People might not always agree with them, but they should at least be able to see where they’re coming from.

And remember, every choice your character makes should have consequences. They don’t exist in a bubble. Their decisions should ripple out and affect not only them but the people around them. Maybe they make a selfish decision, and it ends up hurting someone they care about, or they try to do the right thing, and it blows up in their face. One last thing, just because your character lives in that gray area doesn’t mean they don’t have any sense of right or wrong. They might have their own personal code they follow, even if it doesn’t line up with society’s morals. Maybe they justify their actions in a way that makes sense to them, even if other people wouldn’t agree. It’s all about exploring that space where they’re not totally good, but not totally bad either. That’s where things get really interesting.

Think about where your character is going. Is their journey going to push them to become a better version of themselves? Will they fall back into old patterns and never really change? Or will they stay stuck in that moral gray zone, constantly torn between doing what’s right and doing what feels right for them?