#too whacky by far

[micewithknives]

What's the coolest manuport you've ever found? Like one that made you be like "yknow what dead guy? You've got good taste, I'd've absolutely yoinked that in your place"

oooh honestly i reckon it was just this like... INSANELY round river pebble. Like the kind that sat really well in the hollow of your palm. And i was like Solid Choice™ my dude i do in fact approve of this one.

[little-miss-dilf-lover]

request by @brokeaesthetic decided this was probs the best way to go about it 💓

collection of small blurbs for tangerine: reader with fear of spiders, reader pranking him, reader asking what ifs

collection of small blurbs for pietro: reader joking about his hoe phase

— TANGERINE.

wc. 196

People are often one to laugh over your irrational, almost silly fears. In most cases you’re brave - hard as rocks, but the moment you see one of eight-legged insects scatter across your way, you’re out of there. It doesn’t matter how big or small they are, a spider is a spider and you don’t wanna see it.  You’d find yourself calling for your boyfriend, calling in your knight to catch it for you. You hated them, but you’d never kill them. It’s not their fault they’re scary. You’d almost always be out of the room, lingering in the hallway as Tangerine finds and catches the spider in a glass. You would talk to him through the door, pestering with questions - asking if he caught it yet.  He knew never to show you, to only tip the cup out of the window or door - or if it were a spider too large, he’d be keen to take it to the furthest point in the garden, making sure it couldn’t get back in.  Though, he does like it when you need him. He likes to feel needed, even if it’s just to collect a harmless tiny little thing.

wc. 240

Annoying Tangerine was fun, it was easy. Almost anything could piss him off, and often, it was hard not to piss him off. Anything could make him tick, it was just the matter of what way you were going to do it.  In the past, you’d choose to add salt to his tea instead of sugar, or draw on him during the night - often opting for a black, felt-tip goatee or penned, handlebar attachments to his moustache. Sometimes, if you really wanted to annoy him, you’d share how the bikini wax you got earlier that day was from a male cosmetologist. And he’d fall for it every time. But the one that would tick him off most, is when you spoke to him like you were a guy, hitting on him in the crudest ways you could think of.  If he were minding his business, eating a banana while doing work bits on his laptop, you’d always, always say, “what that mouth do, ma?” It was simple, but it never failed to crack you up. Another favourite of yours is to fake bang him when his back is to you, rubbing up on him from behind while you whisper some whacky obscenities.  He’d push you off, calling you a, “fucking freak.” But you wouldn’t let him get the last word because before you let go, you’d call him your good girl, slapping his ass as if to emasculate him further.

wc. 210

Sometimes at night, you’d struggle to sleep - many thoughts swirling your mind. The deep, existential ones were common, but you were far more acquainted with the pestering, silly ones. Random little what if’s popping up. Tangerine would be beside you in bed, settled and almost asleep when you break the silence, asking questions as if there were no filter. Anything ranging from, “Would we still date if we didn’t meet when we did?” or “What if there was a house fire. What would you save first? Like what object or thing would you save?” Often opting to the extremes, like, “If you woke up one day and I wasn’t here, what would you do?” or, “What if I suddenly went deaf and blind, what would you do?” To him, these were silly, pointless questions that are a result of no sleep - but he could always tell they’d mean something to you. Even if it was a stupid thought. So he’d scooch closer to hug you under the covers, soothing over your skin as he sleepily whispers to you - telling you those things will never happen, and that he’d love you no matter what happened to you. Always being sure to punctuate it with the emphasis that you need to rest.

PIETRO.

wc. 430

It was no secret Pietro had been around. His staggering charm and good looks coming to play when it came to bedding women. In other words, he used to be a whore. A few days ago, you and Pietro were in the discussion of what you both used to be like before meeting one another. You chatted and shared stories of your past lives, and upon hearing one of his encounters, you learnt something new about yourself - realising how quick you are to feel envy and jealousy. He shared how he used to have multiple hook ups a day, describing how he’d meet one in the noon, and then a couple girls together at nighttime. It was like he was finding humour in it, laughing about how much of a slut he was. But you were struggling to find anything funny about his stories and it actually pissed you off more than anything. Possessive and territorial - even though you didn’t know him those years ago. So to retaliate, you told him your exaggerated body count, sharing lies of how every day in the month of September, you slept with a new person - telling him in detail the encounters of these strangers. It was all lies, but it helped with the strikes of jealousy you were feeling.  And so today, he pulled you aside, a quizzical look on his face as approached the topic running rampant in his mind.  “You uh–” he starts, a small chuckle escaping as if to release the nerves. “The other day…” he prompts, waiting for you to give him something. “Yeah,” you nod, also waiting for him to give you something - you had no idea what he meant. He rubs the back of his neck like he was stalling, as if he was having a hard time getting the words out. “When we were sharing stories. Was yours true?” You laugh, caught by surprise. You wildly shake your head ‘no’, unable to stop yourself from the amusement. “God, no,” you pause. “Dude, you pissed me off so I lied.” He chuckles, mirroring you. “I pissed you off?” “Yes. So bad,” you hum, emphasising with a stern nod. “Talking about all those girls– you really bothered me, man.” “Aw,” he playfully coos, the sound almost like he was mocking you. “You got jealous?” he teases, a sly smile slapped across his face. “Shut up,” you fight off a grin, pushing him away when he tries to kiss you. “Get away. You probably have chlamydia.” “Yeah, I caught it from you after you slept with all those people.”

[msunitedstatesjames]

I just played the House of the Dead quest in Veilguard, and it might be my favorite quest in the game so far.

Everything about this quest was great.

The mood was perfect and distinct from other questlines. It was spooky, and gothic, and mysterious, and it was emotionally resonant too with Emmrich's obvious distress over the torment of the spirits. The envionment was such a classic haunted house, which some people might find overused, but I love a haunted house tale.

It was also one of the more substantial companion quests so far in the game. I love all the short and sweet quests we've had so far, but this one took over an hour to complete, had a number of challenging combat situations, had romance options if you're interested in romancing Emmrich, had an engaging mystery, and continued to build on the interesting lore behind the Mourn Watch. It also took you back into the Fade proper, a classic of Dragon Age, and I thought there were lots of entertaining and interesting companion comments/banter on top of it all.

If all that wasn't enough, it does what all the best companion quests in rpgs do, which is to get at the nature of what makes this character tick. I think Emmrich really shines every time you take him out, but this quest really helps to flesh his character out. If his compassion wasn't obvious enough by now, his desperation to find and help the trapped spirits makes that clear. I also just love when the worst thing he can manage to say about the "rogue necromancer" is that he'll have some stern words when you find them.

And then there's Hezenkoss. First of all, she immediately sets herself apart as a memorable villain. I can't even seem to remember the names of the gods we're supposed to be fighting, but this chick gets five minutes of screentime and her name is seared into my memory. She's got that classic, supervillain aura that I kind of miss from movies and tv when I was a kid. She has a very distinct look with her mad scientist glasses, her shining eyes, and her bizarrely cringey hand gestures/dance moves. I was grinning ear to ear the moment she came on screen.

On top of that, she's such a great foil to Emmrich. They come from the same background, they were friends, they even have some of the same desires, namely a desire not to join the dead. But while she chose to use the spirits to her advantage, regardless of the consequences, Emmrich has chosen to be kind, and to live with his natural fears, and to be a teacher. Although I have a feeling that will all be tested a little later on.

A little bit of a side note here, but I love what The Veilguard is doing for Necromancers. I've never once cared about Necromancers before. (Well, maybe once.) They are always portrayed as gloomy and sort of dully evil. Between Emmrich's kind and gentle demeanor and Hezenkoss's whackiness, I'm intrigued.

Anyway, all that to say whoever wrote this quest deserves a raise.

Edit: I almost forgot the hilarious moment you can get where Hezenkoss assumes Emmrich is the main character and calls Rook one of Emmrich's "hangers-on." And then when the battle starts Rook is so offended they feel the need to remind eveyone that they're not a hanger on.

[littlepikmins]

I saw a post online somewhere once that said something along the lines of "men think of fanfics in their head and then call it a theory," which actually does add up with a lot of media theory videos on YouTube 😅

And that is exactly what I think about Bernard's theories, they're like really good story ideas and he's out here thinking of whole plots to make an idea for a theory he has work somehow.

He definitely writes fanfiction.

And on that note, I think him wanting to be a chef fits very well with that creative side of him that comes up with all these ways things can connect to make an idea he has work.

I love to think Tim admires Bernard's creative thinking even if his ideas often seem completely out there - actually the fact that he does come up with whacky ideas that seem far fetched and tries to explain them probably impresses Tim sometimes, like how does Bernard even come up with these things.

Lastly, I want to include this panel because Bernard is just too cute here! He's out here living his goofy life being a silly guy who's gut sometimes tells him stuff like the sky is opaque and he just rolls with it.

[brucewaynehater101]

i want you to know that i scroll through your posts and interactions just to find all your fic recs and open new ao3 tabs.

your tim parenting Bruce au has destroyed me and I love it so much thank you for your service.

do you have any more particularly gut wrenching aus cooking up in your genius noggin?

Heeeey. How'd you know I had a new AU I haven't released yet?

But before we get into that, thank you for the compliments. Angst is my favorite flavor.

As far the AU, you know the saying, "You either die as a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain"?

I feel like that could fit Tim so well.

How I imagine the AU to start out would be Tim as Robin. He's in the batcave with Bruce as the man is showing him a particularly devastating case. Bruce, his mentor but not his father, turns to Tim with a grimmace.

"There's a reason we have a code, Tim."

They both glance at Jason's memorial and Bruce's hands start to shake.

"As much as we may want to give in to our desires and emotions, we can't stoop down to their level. There needs to be lines we won't cross, even for the greater good."

Azure eyes snap to arctic ones, begging for the younger to understand.

"We do this to protect others, even those who are twisted and foul. We aren't the judges or executioners."

Tim nods in agreement, and Bruce's shoulders lose a little of their tension. The older man pats the teen's shoulder in pride before his attention goes back to the murder case.

Tim, as Robin, had many interactions with Bruce that shaped who he was as a vigilante. How much force to apply when fighting, what lines to cross, and acceptable codes of conduct were taught to the kid in several instances. It didn't matter that Bruce himself had broken them or that, on very rare occasions, Dick also broke them. They were rules Tim was expected to follow, and they were reasonable lines. Of course, Tim did everything he could to meet those standards. He may have trained with Lady Shiva, and YJ may get into so whacky ordeals, but there's no excuse to go outside of those bounds.

It became difficult, though, when Jason beat Tim into the floor of Titan's Tower. When Jason, after hurting several family members, was welcomed back. It became a strain on Tim when Bruce enacted the 16th Birthday present fiasco or Tim found out about what the man had done to Dick (the bruise he left on Dick's face after Jason's passing). It was demanding to follow those rules when Damian came into the picture and when Dick handed him Robin.

When Tim found that painting of Bruce, when Dick and the JL turned their backs on him, when YJ wasn't there to support him, some part of Tim said "fuck it." Why should he follow standards he had to leash Bruce into obeying? The man wasn't even here anymore.

He still tried, but he gave less effort to it. He didn't want Bruce to find out when he returned after all.

But Tim? He never returned from that desert. As far as the Bats become aware after Tim sends them the data for Bruce and then blows up the bases, Tim died in the explosions he caused.

And the rest of the AU goes into Tim exploring how the guidelines Bruce gave him were bullshit, so he slowly starts to let more and more go until he has no moral bounds anymore. He's seen Bruce, Jason, Damian, Barbara, Alfred, and Dick all break one or more of these "rules" that were placed on Tim. So why should Tim go along with it?

What does it matter if he betrays, manipulates, tortures, and kills if it saves the most people? What does it matter if he commits suffering if he's helping people?

Until, one day, Bart and Kon are on the other side of the battlefield from Tim. While Bart is steadfast in defeating Tim (no matter how much it pains him), Kon is devastated that Tim never told him he was alive. He doesn't even care that Tim is a villain. If he had just asked, Kon would've joined him.

It's too late now. Bart needs Tim to stop, Tim can't let Kon join him, and Kon is torn between his duty and his friend.

So Tim does what he always does, he sacrifices himself. He allows them to take him into holding, executes his plan to murder all villains left, places restrictions on the JL (so they'll never hurt anyone the way they hurt Tim and abandoned his friends again), and then Tim disappears. Bart opposing Tim was the sign that Tim was in the wrong. He knows that. If he wasn't, Bart would've been on Tim's side no matter how morally grey he got.

Tim had crossed into the black.

He became what he always feared he might one day be.

[c10udy-d4yz]

Poor lad doesn't like it when people see him in such a sorry state... No worries though, the demonstration will be over in just a minute!

The definition of a "child" is very different between Cog Nation and Toontown.

To cogs, a "child" is just something that's owned and taught what it needs to know so it can inherit their parents' companies and vast amounts of wealth. Of course, you can't do this with an actual child, so most cogs are born (or in this case built) as adults. Up until recently, ownership of children was a privilege reserved for the very richest of cogs who could pay to dodge the draft, but now that the war's over and everyone has more time on their hands, more cogs have been partaking in the act of parenthood, even if they can't offer much in inheritance. Still though, most cogs opt for adult children because it costs far too much money to start with a child and then have to constantly upgrade its body to reflect different stages of life.

Toon children, on the other hand, are actual children. If you want your child drawn by a professional painter, it'll cost you quite the pretty penny, but since toon children can grow up on their own, the initial cost is really the only major one. Besides, what's the point of being a parent if you can't do fun things with your kids? I'm talking throwing the football around, going to the park, tax evasion- all that jazz. The way toons see it, children aren't just something you have just to have them, they're something that ought to be cherished, and you can't cherish the time you have with your kids if they're already looking to move out when they're born.

Like I said before, mixed couples can argue and compete over what kind of child they want, but non-mixed couples can still have children different from themselves. Cog couples might want toon children so they can add some silliness to their life, and toon couples might want cog children because they provide stability in such a crazy, whacky world. There's no wrong way to start a family, all that matters is everyone loves each other.

[thatmexisaurusrex]

You know why I know this isn't about a fucking ship war? Because most of the people I talk to are okay with all the ships. Because I've recently been trying to check on the people I know who are in this fandom, the people I feel like I can reach out to, and making sure they're okay. Because it's terrible out here. And people can hide behind the guise of ship war when it's a section of fuckers who want to make anyone who doesn't agree with them wholeheartedly miserable. I don't care if you hate a ship. I don't care if you hate a character. I do care about the homophobia and the bullshit that I've seen. I care about the MLM who don't feel safe here. And I care about enablers who hide behind fucking excuses instead of owning up to the parts they played in bringing the fandom to where we're at. I don't do fucking much here. I really don't. I send nice asks sometimes. I talk about a fic I'm going to write. I post about a fic I'm going to write. I will highlight the bullshit sometimes, but not because I've searched for it, but because it comes to my fucking door. It comes to my door when you call me a fag and worse. It comes to my fucking door when you send me an entire CSA fic in my inbox. It's not a ship war. It's people hiding behind the guise of a fucking ship war to avoid the repercussions of their actions. To make it an us vs them when most folks are normal people just trying to enjoy the flying bouncy castle emergency show. The pulling a tapeworm out of a butt show. The man loses the ability to control his arm and whacky hijinks ensue show. Fuck your ship war. I was not part of it. Fuck your harassment. I didn't deserve it. No one did. People need to fucking crack down on this behavior. It's been going too far for months.

[ghostfire]

I finished Veilguard about a day ago, and I have some *thoughts*. I'm coming at this as someone who first played Dragon Age: Origins in 2009 and has loved the series since then. I've got the novels, the artbooks, and I've got two nugs and a mabari plushie guarding my desk right now. It's safe to say that I am a long time fan. I did a full replay of Inquisition immediately before playing Veilguard, so I would have the comparison back to back instead of colored by a decade of shifting memories.

If parts of this are somewhat disorganized, I'll blame covid brain, and hope I at least mostly make sense. There are spoilers for the full game below the cut.

I'll start with some things that I genuinely enjoyed. The number of animals you can pet: A++, no notes. The voice acting, with a few exceptions that I think were simply due to working with the dialogue and timing the actors were given, was excellent. Gareth David-Lloyd (Solas) and Joseph Capp (Elgar'nan) both notably went above and beyond there. The majority of the environmental design - especially Arlathan and the Grand Necropolis - was solid. The stability of the game itself was perfect. In just over 100 hours of gameplay I experienced zero crashes, which is amazing in itself. Unfortunately, this is not a long list for a game of this magnitude.

About the gameplay - I didn't really see it as modernized, just changed. Every time an RPG franchise becomes more of an action RPG I'm saddened. It's not the play style I want. Not what I'm looking for. I think it was an okay example of the play style they went with, but I found myself completely neglecting certain aspects of it, and I think some of it might be that they would feel more natural played with a controller, while I use mouse and keyboard. If this were a different game, in a different series, I wouldn't be disappointed by the gameplay, however, so I guess I have to rate this as neutral.

The music, except for a few tracks that were more clearly playing into themes from previous games, felt somewhat more generic than I'm expecting from Dragon Age. Again, not bad, but still disappointing. Tracks like "Leaving Earth" from Mass Effect 3 or the Dragon Age: Origins theme will bring out the goosebumps and instantly plunge me back into memories with just a few notes. I don't think I got hit hard with that in Veilguard until the Solavellan ending began.

As for the character and creature style - even by the end of the game, I never got used to or liked it. The cartoon tinge to the characters that just doesn't fit Dragon Age world felt distinctly uncomfortable. The new darkspawn and most demon and spirit designs were awful in context and would have ben better in something from Blizzard.

The quality of the writing of various companions varied *wildly* - often toeing the line between character and caricature - just as often falling short as overreaching. One that fell especially flat when it could have been so interesting was the Lucanis/Spite duo. None of Spite's appearances had the emotional impact of Justice, crackling with power when confronted with injustice and becoming part of a greater whole with Anders, riding the line between Justice and Vengeance. While some of that could be put down to Spite simply being a less powerful demon than Vengeance, or Lucanis somehow having a better hold over a demon that was forced into him than Anders had with a spirit that he invited in willingly, neither of those explanations feels satisfying. Spite taking over Lucanis and sleepwalking to the Eluvian felt mildly irritating, not terribly alarming.

Picking still at the writing, I got the impression that this was a young adult game grafted on top of the bones of deep and dark and yawning lore. The out of place tone to the language chosen made some parts feel very "Guardians of the Galaxy" style whacky, with far too many modern colloquialisms. Characters don't have to be serious all the time, but whether they're acting funny or acting stern, the way they do it should fit the world and feel genuine.

Emmrich, whose whole story line is rooted in existential dread of mortality, did not seem like he was sacrificing anything to save Manfred in the way that he reacted. There should have been a real opportunity for him to break down, either in the moment as the decision is made, and an opportunity for Rook's decisions up to that point to influence him, or afterward, in private, and to need real comfort from his friend or partner.

No one should have ever described Veilguard as being Bioware's "most romantic" game. My experience with romance was, at best, "okay". Many of the "flirt" options felt like they were the only way to acknowledge that certain things were happening. Either choose the heart, or feel like you're ignoring something important. After flirting hard with Davrin, Bellara, and Emmrich, I chose Emmrich. His romance is supposedly one of best, but the romance specific scenes there were felt shallow and brief. I liked that characters got together as couples outside of Rook, but can see why people drawn to Lucanis or Neve are complaining.

Plenty has been said about whitewashing some of the darker and more uncomfortable aspects of the Dragon Age world, and I agree to varying levels. The Crows, for instance. I'm well aware of Zevran's efforts over the previous twenty or so years, and maybe this is the best of the houses, and you don't see much of other houses or fledglings, but *someone* on your team should express misgivings over working with brutal, child abusing assassins, even if Rook is unaware. There was plenty of opportunity for Lucanis (or Teia and Viago) to explain the change over time or between houses if asked. Not acknowledging this more obviously feels wrong.

Slavery in Tevinter - it's not true that it's completely glossed over - you see a few among the Venatori, and you rescue one in the Grand Necropolis, again brought in by the Venatori. But where the slavery common in Tevinter, practiced by citizens and normalized, could have been used as a parallel with the slavery perpetuated by the Evanuris, it was instead largely downplayed as an issue. The few lines talking about Dorian and Maevaris's failed political movement is such a tantalizing glimpse at acknowledging this tremendous injustice, but it's easily lost, and if you didn't already know the background, wouldn't have much of an impact.

Lords of Fortune - absolute shit. My Isabela ran away with artifact and learned nothing, but it's not like other past decisions you've made in the games made any difference either, so... The whole way it's presented reeks of out of place modern sensibilities. Could it have been explained in a different way somehow? Maybe. But still, shit.

Diving deeper still, the "Elven Gods" are cartoon villains with no subtlety. While some degree of this has been a common thing with Dragon Age villains, it's usually easy to see their side or at least how they got there. Corypheus wanted to raise himself to fill what he thought was an empty godhood and restore the "glory" of Tevinter. Meredith's experience with her mage sister lead her to see magic as a dangerous threat, justifying her cruel measures in the name of safety for all.

Ghilan'nain felt somewhat understandable because at least she was teetering on the edge of satisfying madness. She genuinely believed her creations and blighted nature were beautiful - so much so she altered herself accordingly.

Elgar'nan had real opportunity to be a deep complex villain, but instead he is wishy washy, confused, watered down. Where was his rage at modern peoples over the loss of his other fellow gods? He seemed to genuinely care about Ghilan'nain, but they aren't really mentioned, and it's not as if the passage of time soothed any of his other perceived slights. He could have been a persuasive Satan figure. The times he was in Rook's head were some of the most interesting in the game. Rook was becoming powerful, and that's one of the few things Elgar'nan respected, because that is an aspect of himself. More persuasively tempting Rook would have been nice. There should have been some way to give in, to fail. A chance to fall to corruption if you're not strong enough, maybe. A bad end if you've been an asshole, but you can't be an asshole because this is a young adult game.

As presented, Rook is the blandest hero in the Dragon Age series. Either that, or the most railroaded. Even though I came to like my Rook, a lot of that was pure, behind the scenes, headcanon character building. Often, all of the dialogue options felt the same - like I was being forced to play her one way. After a certain point, I had to imagine that she was lying her way through a number of scenes, because I had no options that felt even remotely close to what I was looking for. When pulled into the prison of regret, it was like the writers couldn't imagine a Rook who did not regret their part in the loss of their companions - who was proud of them for their sacrifice, and who, if they have rage and sorrow, direct it at the gods who caused the harm. This lack of agency was especially egregious when it came to Solas. I wanted the option to say I understood and agreed with a lot of what he did and wanted, even if I couldn't let him go all the way tear down Veil. Nearly every option came across as some degree of antagonistic. Once it came down to some of the endgame lines, talking directly to him, any amount of judgement on Rook's part felt wholly unearned and inappropriate for the way I was playing.

If I hadn't played the previous games for context, I don't think Veilguard would have given me a fraction of the perception I needed to see how things have changed, including the awful conditions of elves and mages, and despite directly seeing his memories, Solas would seem so much less sympathetic in his desire to fix his mistakes.

I could write this much again, just on Solas, but there was clearly a deep and compelling story there, a promise that was imprisoned just as surely as the character. It's painful to see hints of what could have been.

[the-s1lly-corner]

A bit of a specific idea, but I had a platonic idea for all of the characters in the Amazing Digital Circus—

Maybe all of them with a Wally Darling-like Reader? An example of such being Reader also speaking in a monotone voice that is both a little unsettling yet friendly at the same time, always making eye contact and never looking away, being able to eat things by blinking, being a lot more aware than they seem, greeting people individually anytime they enter a room, etc etc.

TADC cast x wally darling type! Reader !

Still stuck on mobile so this post may be a little short and whacky <\3 + I'll be relying on this ask for wallys personality since I cant open other tabs without risking deleting my progress on this <\3 + I've never touched welcome home 😭😭

CAINE:

Honestly, I don't know anything about welcome home as stated above, but I think Caine would have a lot of the same habits; namely the eye contact and I can also see him doing the blink eating...

The only difference is that hes way high energy

I think he would think that you're just a silly lil fella, an interesting little thang, wants to study you under a microscope..

Thinks its endearing how you greet everyone personally.. loves when you do it to him since it makes him feel special n appreciated

POMNI:

Overall pomni is going to need a lot of time to get used to the weirdness of the circus, and this applies to getting over the unnerving feeling she gets around you

Probably becomes speechless and does the face when you blink-eat

You know...

Just stares at where the food item once was... how did you do that...? What are you going to consume next? Why are you looking her in the eye like that?

..oh you're just telling her you enjoyed the snack you've brought

JAX:

As per usual I'm writing these all out of order, and I happen to be writing jax after I did zooble

I think jax wouldnt just think you're unsettling, I think he would think you're creepy

Now does he think you're a threat? Personally I don't think he would go as far as to classify you as such

Watches in horror as you blink and consume his sour gummy candies

Okay now this is war

You guys sometimes have unspoken staring contests, you usually tend to win them

Actually now that he thinks about it you dont seem to blink outside of eating...

RAGATHA:

"Oh, you're just a quirky lil fella!" Pretty much

Always thanks you when you greet her, she makes it a habit to greet you back when you enter a room

Tends to give you your favorite snacks, I think, but I think this can pass as a general hc rather than being specific to this post !

Little put off by the eye contact but does not turn away or show any discomfort; is able to push through it pretty well !

KINGER:

Okay so I know I mentioned some other characters being creeped out by the eye contact but I think kinger would be the most put off, asides gangle

But also I can totally see kinger having a staring problem; be it because hes lost in his thought and happens to be staring or some other thing

Accidental staring contests between you two/j

Feels like a real king when you personally greet him, probably bows a little and does a lil gesture with his hands before returning the greeting

Similar reaction as pomni when you blink-eat

Where did the food go??????

ZOOBLE:

I must admit, I think zooble would find you creepy, too <\3, or at least a little unsettling.. like sure they wont be mean to you unlike SOMEONE but they're a little put off by your odd behaviors

Though they would get accustomed to it in time, I think, especially since I have a whole "zooble ultimately doesnt care much about what's going as a means to cope w/ the digital circus as well as that just being their personality"

Does not like the eye contact, though; zooble seems like the type who wouldnt like eye contact... maybe I'm self projecting, though...

The eye contact definitely is what fed into the unsettling factor for them..

GANGLE:

The eye contact makes her so so nervous, she doesnt really have eyes the same way everyone else does but it still... makes her feel off

Similar to Caine she does feel nice when you greet her.. yes she knows out do it for everyone, but that doesnt dismiss the nice feeling she gets that someone is. Well being nice to her...

Shed like your voice, I think, oddly soothing and it's not too bold and out there.. not overwhelming, you know?

Not many ideas for gangle today <\3

[haddonfieldwhore]

wildest dreams - matthew tkachuk

matthew tkachuk x reader

summary: an unplanned/messy prequel to IMY,IS

warnings: angst, mention of injuries, language, matty is brokenhearted but so are you, timeline is a bit whacky pls ignore that </3

word count: 1.2k

matthew rolled over in bed, reaching for you next to him, only to find the space empty. the sheets were cold, giving reality to the fact that you hadn’t been there; not for months.

“haven’t done that in a while,” matthew grumbled to himself, shaking his head as he pulled the covers off his body, walking out of his room to get some water. he filled a glass from the kitchen sink and walked into the living room, sitting down on the couch and looking at his phone.

2 am. he ran a hand over his face, exhaustion making his body feel heavy, like he was wearing wet clothes. he flipped through his notifications quickly, none of them really interesting him, before he was staring at your instagram.

you hadn’t posted anything in months, not since before you left - and his heart yearned for any kind of activity, anything to let him know how you were doing. he dare not ask anyone if they had reached out to you or heard from you; that would make it seem like he still cared, and that was too difficult for him.

no, it was far easier for matthew to pretend like he was fine, to act like your relationship had never happened.

•

“baby, please,” he whispered.

“i can’t. i’m sorry, matty,” you said through tears as you paced around the kitchen of his apartment. “i can’t do the flying, the distance, all of it. it’s too much - i can’t watch you out there every night, knowing that people want to hurt you.”

“that comes with the job,” he sighed. this wasn’t the first time this had come up. matthew knew you struggled with the more dangerous aspects of the game, and found it hard to watch sometimes if he got hit hard. he knew the travel was hard for you as well, but he knew you tried your best to make it work.

“it comes with you pushing people’s buttons on purpose,” you argued, and he sighed. “you like to see how far you can push people and then they hit you back and i have to watch you get hurt and i can’t do it anymore. i know this isn’t fair, i knew what i was signing up for, but it’s too hard, matthew. i thought i could handle it, but i can’t,” you cried, and he reached for you instinctively, wanting to comfort you like he always did when you were upset, but for the first time, you pushed him away; and it killed him inside.

“please, don’t do what i think you’re about to do,” he shook his head.

“i’m sorry-“

“don’t be sorry. just don’t leave me,” he pleaded. “not because of this.”

“this,” you scoffed. “how would you feel if you had to watch me get hit all the time; knowing people want to see me get hurt?”

“it’s not like i’m going to war! it’s just a game,” he argued.

“it’s not just a game when you come home with a broken sternum, matthew! when i have to watch brady help you put on a fucking shirt!” you hadn’t meant to raise your voice, but you were overwhelmed with emotions, trying to make sense of the fact that you were choosing to leave the person you loved lost in the world, even as they begged you to stay.

he took a step closer to you, his hands resting on your waist, his face close to yours as he looked at you, pleading with his eyes for you not to break his heart.

“that was a freak thing-“

“it doesn’t matter - you’re not listening to me. i can’t live like this anymore - wondering every night when you go out there how many pieces you’re going to be in when you come back to me.”

“how many games have i played where nothing happened to me? hundreds? these things happen, baby. if i could promise you i would never get hurt i would but it doesn’t work like that.”

“i know you would, but that’s not enough for me,” you sniffled, turning away from him, slipping out of his grip.

“so what do you want, do you want me to quit playing hockey?”

“no,” you shook your head. “i love you matthew, but i know you love hockey more than anything. i couldn’t ask you to give it up.”

“so what, that’s it then? we’re done for good? you’re just going to throw away a year of our lives and pretend it never happened?”

“no- i don’t know if it’s for good, matthew. and i am going to spend every day wishing i was strong enough to be here for you; but i’m not right now, and i have to live with that.” the uncertainty in your words gave him a spark of hope that maybe it wasn’t goodbye forever, and he clung to it like a life raft.

“and i have to live without you,” he said dryly. “you’re not gonna change your mind, are you?” he asked, and with eyelashes heavy with tears, you shook your head.

“not right now,” you replied. “maybe one day i’ll figure out how to be okay with this, but i need time.”

•

time.

he had given you time, he thought as he remembered that day you left him; almost 4 months ago now.

not that he was counting.

while he thought it would make it easier, the worst part for matthew was that no one else knew what had happened between the two of you. the day after you left, it was like you had never existed, anyone who asked him where you were or what had happened was met with indifference: a shrug, a short ‘i don’t know what you’re talking about.’

it was a secret that hung over him like a stubborn cloud, the weight heavy on his shoulders and screamed ‘miserable’ to anyone who looked at him, even though he tried to put up a front, to act like he was perfectly fine.

you weren’t doing much better.

you thought putting distance between you and matthew would make things hurt less; but it didn’t. instead, all it got you was the added pain of not having him, of having to watch his games on tv all alone, knowing he wasn’t coming home to you after the final buzzer. you now had the added guilt of knowing that it it had been you that pushed him away, that you broke both your hearts and it still didn’t change anything.

your heart still pounded in your chest everytime he got in a fight, your breath still caught in your throat everytime he was checked into the boards. now without the relief of falling asleep in his arms, of holding him close and knowing that at least in that moment, he was safe.

it haunted you.

but you knew it wasn’t fair to crawl back and beg forgiveness when you had been the one who decided to leave.

and you couldn’t take that back.

•

“if i can’t change your mind, at least promise me something,” he requested, and you stopped, halfway out the door of his apartment.

“what is it?”

“don’t forget me,” he said, managing a crooked smile.

“matty…” your heart breaking into pieces.

“say you’ll remember me,” he pleaded.

“i couldn’t forget you if i tried,” you admitted, and even though he knew it would hurt, he hugged you goodbye, kissing the top of your head, before he watched you walk out the door.

❥ click here to read: i miss you, i’m sorry

disclaimer: all screenshots, events, and/or interactions depicted in this are a work of fiction. i have no association with any parties mentioned

[bethanydelleman]

Hi, you seem really knowledgable about Jane Austen theories, so I wonder if you know where this whacky theory I heard in 2021 comes from. I forgot who said it and I can't find it again.

The theory basically goes that every Jane Austen book is secretly about extramarital pregnancies. For example, the one in Emma would be that the Weston's baby is actually Jane Fairfax's, and that the only reason Jane came to town was to hide that fact.

Oh I think you stumbled across He Who Must Not Be Named Lest He Appear And Ruin Our Day (Arnie, for an indirect link, here he is on the First Impressions podcast). He's a Jane Austen tinfoil hat conspiracy theorist and his theories are fully bonkers.

Also, he seems to have trouble counting months because his timeline (as I remember it) would have Jane pregnant for far over nine months. If I recall correctly, his idea was that John Knightley (I know) got Jane pregnant, so she seduced Frank Churchill at Weymouth to pass the baby off as his, (this would occur in September) but then doesn't have the baby until July the next year, which is um... too many months! Especially if you consider she has to know she was pregnant, which before tests would take at least 2 months. (Mrs. Weston got pregnant in November, according to the calendar)

I don't usually dismiss people and their ideas out of hand, but just listen to that podcast if you don't believe me. The hosts are eating it right up but that man is fully off the deep end.

So yeah, you can feel free to throw that idea, and that Edward cutting up a scissor sheath is code for sexual assault, right out the window.

[msunitedstatesjames]

I just finished up most of Emmrich's companion quests and oh my god that was amazing. I chose the human ending, and I loved it. Once again, my favorite string of scenes yet in the game.

First of all, Emmrich's voice actor did amazing. Like, wow. We've heard Emmrich be the self assured academic, we've heard him be anxious, we've even heard him be angry, but we got whole new shades of Emmrich in the final Hezenkoss confrontation and Lich choice scenes. We got outrage, we got desperation, we got grief and pain. When Emmrich first tries to stop the lantern and realizes it could kill him, when he begs Manfred to come back as he goes after the lantern, when he begs him to come back again when he searches for his spirit, when he admits that he wouldn't trade Lichdom for having Manfred back, it's all so movingly acted. And you can't forget the "Magic, like you" joy. It can be easy for video games to make you feel excited or interested or generally just content, but feeling joy and grief are harder, and this string of quests pulled it off beautifully, largely because of the voice acting and also the character writing.

I found Emmrich's animation to be really good in these scenes as well. He does a lot of dramatic gesturing, and for whatever reason it just really worked for me. The way he gestures when pleading with Hezenkoss and admitting she was right was great. The hug when Manfred was back was adorable. The look on his face when he realizes he's talking about Manfred like a child was precious. But the one that really got me was when Manfred "dies," and Emmrich puts his hands over his face with that look of utter disbelief and horror. Seeing Emmrich look like that, when he's always so put together, really hits hard.

The little romance moments were great, too. Having Hezenkoss be so pissed off that Emmrich has a lover is gratifying. Rook getting called his "paramour" was amusing. Also, I have to give Hezenkoss some props for at least admitting she would have entombed Rook and Emmrich together when she killed them. That's really a pretty decent thing for a villain to promise, like, she didn't have to do that. It was nice to be able to stand up for Emmrich, too. And that you got to help him make his big decision. But of course the sprinkle on top of this delightful cake was getting to surprise Emmrich into realizing that you're parenting together. How many other Dragon Age couples get to parent together? Only a few that I can think of.

Emmrich's character growth was stunning too. He has to acknowledge that, at least in one way, Hezenkoss was better than him. He admits that he misses her friendship. He has to face down his greatest fear, death, more than once, and while doing so choose the lives of others above his own in a very real way. First he chooses to risk himself to save Hezenkoss's enemies, and Rook, and Nevarra City. Then, he literally chooses eventual death in order to save Manfred. He also realizes that he was stronger than he believed himself to be, both in magic and in courage. And in the end he can admit that though he has regrets, he knows he made the right choice. I haven't played or watched the other ending, but it feels right somehow for Emmrich to embrace his deep compassion this way.

As for Hezenkoss, there's a certain poetic justice to her being ended by a ragtag team of Emmrich's "ridiculous skeleton," Emmrich's lover, spirits she personally tormented, and her former friend turned foil, Emmrich the death fearing necromancer. I still love her as a whacky villain. Who knows what evils her escaped undead hand is getting up to now?

If I haven't blabbed enough about how amazing these quests were, they were also just the most exhilarating in the game for me so far. I think all of the reasons listed above just combined really well together to make this quest super suspenseful. I really cared about Emmrich as a character, so I really cared about his fate. Even though you logically knew he wouldn't die in this quest, it still felt very high stakes. There was exciting music, dozens of lives at stake including Emmrich and Manfred, and as I've mentioned before, top tier voice acting. I was gasping and kicking my feet in excitement at all the right moments. It strings you right along from suspense, to excitement, to dread, to shock, to triumph, to grief, to joy, to a pleasant contentment.

I couldn't stop playing this string of quests, which was extremely unfortunate for Bellara because right before this she told Rook they needed to go after her brother immediately, and then I instead forced her to tag along and help Rook defeat her boyfriend's rival.

Anyway, I'm still reeling from the excitement of it all. I hope the end of this game is really good because it's gonna be hard to live up to this bunch of quests.

(Sidenote: How horrified would the Southern Templars be to find out an extremely powerful death mage, his Spelblade Tevinter mage girlfriend, and their reanimated skeleton son (inhabited by a spirit of curiosity and gifted with death magic) are running around Thedas fighting gods?)

[hearthoof]

i used to think vegans were annoying but after coming to understand vegans and turning vegan myself, it's clear to see that most "annoying" vegans arent even annoying. theyre just saying the truth.

like yes, some vegans can go too far and say some whacky shit- but the majority of "annoying" vegans are just telling you how it is and asking why are there contradictions and double standards. you can find it annoying all you want but it doesnt make anything they say inherently wrong or not worth anyone elses time

[sometipsygnostalgic]

Bit of thought and discussion last night over what makes a competent, effective movie vs a deep or interesting movie with Star Wars as our target.

So to highlight it in the most obvious way: George Lucas's movies are complex with deep plots, but are not well-written and fun to watch. So the prequels gained this reputation for being a bit of a slog because no matter how much Lucas loved this story he crafted, the way it was presented was lacklustre.

Meanwhile Disney tries to make a "competent" and entertaining movie with every attempt. Every marvel movie... before Endgame... was very entertaining and well-directed, regardless of if there was anything worth thinking about later.

When it came to Star Wars, Disney really struggled with this.

The Force Awakens is definitely a competent movie that hits all the beats they wanted it to. It has those good Classic Star Wars feelings, weighty lightsaber combat, a core cast that you love watching interact, and an emotional centre. It does the job it's supposed to, perfectly, whereas not taking a SINGLE risk with the franchise. It desperately doesn't want to be associated with Lucas's "boring power bloaty" prequels.

Of course the film recieves criticism for this, because it's just copying A New Hope without adding any new dna to the franchise. Every critic can see what Disney was doing, making a nostalgic star wars theme park, and they say they want Disney to deliver in the next movie.

Then comes The Last Jedi, where Disney's lack of direction became incredibly obvious. Rian Johnson took the Force Awakens critique FAR TOO MUCH to heart and made The Last Jedi the complete opposite - Everything TFA did, TLJ did in the opposite way. So instead of being a hero in waiting, Luke Skywalker is disappointing to Rey, he's ran away and fallen into squalor and he immediately throws away the lightsaber that brought him to tears at the end of the first film. And instead of leaning on the new trio everyone was excited about, Johnson splits them up permanently, with no interaction at all in the movie.

The Last Jedi tries to make itself more interesting by forcing threads into places that do not fit. Luke Skywalker in the original trilogy isn't a messy dark character, he's a starry eyed optimist, but this movie takes the easiest and cheapest route possible to turn him into something he's not because the author wants a darker more questionable story and has only got this one film to make it that way. The movie also leans hard into everything Disney was trying to avoid with the first one, long boring segments of whacky hijinks.

As a result a lot of writers have respect for Johnson's attempts to diverge from Disney tradition of super safe movies, his attempts to add stuff to Star Wars and make a unique film, but it completely fails as a competent movie and it fails as a competent story because there are too many authors clearly fighting with each other.

Movie 3... I've not seen it. I do know a lot about it, and Abrams spends the whole thing once again undoing everything Johnson did and trying to return to a safe Star Wars. TOO safe. To the extent that the plot completely lacks any comprehension because it needs to warp the story so much to return to the beaten path.

Somehow, Palpatine returned!! What the fuck!!! And why was this revealed in Fortnite???

Why are they puppeting Carrie Fisher's corpse?

Rise of Skywalker is disney at its worst because they have gone from being super safe to trying to return something adventurous to the safe path, without any degree of originality or creativity. I don't think a single actual writer worked on that film. It was all just direction to make epic setpieces, the pursuit of a "competent and entertaining" film instead of the ninth part of a story.

They are also repeatedly having to do this with Marvel. They have the lost the ability to do their own stuff with Marvel and are following a variety of comic plots, because that's "safe", right? But no, the comic goes to all sorts of crazy places, which gets in the way of making a competent and cohesive film. So theyre trying to get rid of some of that complexity, enough to make the writing bad, but not enough for Marvel to become coherent because that would require actually creating new stories and not following the basic, highly profitable guidelines of Marvel comics.

[blindmagdalena]

This is going to sound whacky but I have a theory that milkshakes are going to have some significance this season. In the new trailer it has Homelander bringing someone a milkshake and as far as I know we don’t know who he’s giving it too but I have a feeling it’s for Ryan.

In season 2 when Ryan is out with Homelander he tells him to try the mocha noir shake and that it won’t be “lumpy like your mom’s”. This makes me think milkshakes will be a way that homelander is trying to connect with Ryan and work through the trauma of Becca’s death.

However, I could also reading to much into this and the milkshake could be for someone else entirely.

i agree that the milkshake is being offered to Ryan. i had totally forgotten that there was an allusion to the fact Becca used to make them for Ryan! i do hope that leads to a conversation about her and Ryan's grief.

imo it's more likely that Homelander is trying to bury Ryan's grief vs attempting to resolve it. saying, "Look, I can give you everything she did." which of course isn't the point. he can't. maybe Ryan liked the lumps in the milkshakes his mom made. store bought is never going to be the same as homemade. but Homelander has no basis to understand that. he's all about the flash of it all, giving Ryan phones and taking him to amusement parks and buying everything he can think to impress his kid.

and then (spoilers for s4 here!) you have Billy baking cookies with Ryan in contrast. maybe i'm reading too much into it, but there's definitely an interesting juxtaposition to pull there. (end spoilers)

i'm biased though because i strongly believe the two of them are going to be butting heads this season. i could be wrong! but to me the conflict feels necessary for both of their growth.

[eigosai]

"Indulge me, won't you?"

cookie run (kingdom) oc..... yeah..... existing partially because i wanted to make one and partially for yumeshipping endeavours.. haha....... heh

some funny lore shit below the cut

trying to write in the crk cookie desc style kind oflmao help

Courteous and polite, unsuspecting and gentle -- Sticky Toffee Cookie's exterior contradicts what one usually invisions of a Cookie Of Darkness. However, don't be fooled by this cookie's sweet exterior - he's not afraid to employ foul tactics when deemed fit!

Sticky Toffee Cookie is closely akin to that of a negotiator, a messenger - and thus, is used as such in his dealings with Dark Enchantress Cookie. His role as a 'professional smooth talker' overshadows the fact that Sticky Toffee Cookie used to be the (shortlived) ruler of a nation tucked away in the depths of Wholegrainia! Surprisingly, the cookie's feats know little bounds - from temporarily returning his calamity-torn country to peace, to overthrowing long-famed dictators. Looking at Sticky Toffee Cookie's achievements, it's difficult to fathom his downfall into treachery.

Ok i can't write more of this grammatically correct jargon it's FAR too late for that. uh plot twist bro was HUNGRY for that power. nothing he did was for the gain of his people! that temporary peace he brought upon the world was actually constructed by propaganda!!!!! before it got torn apart by war and beasts from the beyond again!!!! sticky toffee almost got crumbled in the consequent series of battles, essentially letting his nation to die completely because. erm. nobody was taking over allat. sometimes its just better to leave some things alone. this place was constantly in danger from dangerous creatures from outside its border & general whacky calamities that it was far safer for its entire population to find new homes in neighbouring cities. laying amongst the ruins of what he had willingly let die, sticky toffee was discovered by a travelling pomegranate cookie & co after receiving the news of the fall of his people. sensing that he had something to offer, they took him in. and now we're here. in an oc/self insert x affogato cookie yumeship. how canon time flies