#I still love him very much and think he made mostly correct choices

[faithfulpuppy]

The book hits so different from the show in terms of Wuxian's guilt/responsibility for everything that went wrong. After only having watched the show I was so fierce about him carrying guilt that should never have been his, but now having read the book I get that he's a lot more morally grey since he didn't get the out of someone else controlling his puppets. And that's good but also a very painful adjustment in my perception of him as a character.

[mbep]

DAV Solavellan ending musings

This is too long to post on Twitter so it's going here, on the blog I haven't touched in years, because I have to scream into the void. I can't possibly compete with the hardcore Solavellans who have been following this saga for a long time (I only got into DA last year by playing DAI and the DLCs) so this isn't a comprehensive or deep analysis by any means, but I love them all the same.

I got into DA because the Twitter algorithm put Solavellans on my timeline and I am eternally grateful for that. I already knew all the story beats (and the big reveal that he's Fen'harel) before playing DAI and I enjoyed catching the moments where he's obviously hiding something. The scene in Crestwood and the parting in Trespasser still made me emotional, even knowing what was coming.

The final scene in DAV was short, but no less meaningful. I think that was mostly to avoid creating such a big gulf between romanced and non-romanced Inquisitors and I'm glad Bioware didn't create that inequality, on behalf of the non-Solasmancers.

The first thing I will say is that Gareth David-Lloyd does a phenomenal job with the acting. They've been great since DAI, and they're a big reason why Solas is such a charming, nuanced and compelling character. The whispered "vhenan", the strained "Mythal", the sobbing, how quiet "ar ghilas vir banal" is… They deserve at least an award (all of them in fact) for that.

The animation is amazing too: how Solas doubles over when Mythal finally acknowledges how she set him on this path and shares the blame, his wet eyes and facial expressions looking at the Inquisitor… The thing I love most is him not looking back when leaving, and her putting her hand on his shoulder as they enter the Fade. Very Orpheus and Eurydice, but he does what Orpheus could not: he does not look back. He trusts that she is there and if she is not and has a sudden change of heart and leaves him, he will not blame her. But she is there, and lays a guiding hand on his shoulder; "Ma ghilana, vhenan", as the Inquisitor tells him in Trespasser.

There are a lot of Trespasser parallels and a lot of people more knowledgeable that I have analysed them, but I love how much this scene is a response to that. So here's my two cents: "I walk the din'anshiral. There is only death on this journey." = "I am here, walking the dinan'shiral with you." Weirdly they spell "din'anshiral" differently in the subtitles LOL I personally think the Trespasser spelling is correct. This is the line that hits hardest, in my opinion. She says this the first time they see each other again, when they don't even know they are leaving together. She means that all this time, the years apart, she has walked with him. She has not stopped searching for him, trying to find a way to change his heart (as the epilogue of Trespasser says). All this time he thought he was alone, she was there with him: both have been feeling the pain of their separation, the burden that his duty to Mythal has put on each of them (him having to fix their mistakes and her trying to change his mind), the regret they both have that things might have gone differently.

"Var lath vir suledin." "I wish it could, vhenan." = "There is no fate but the love we share." The translation from elven is very sweet, but a very interesting choice. In elven she actually says "Banal nadas. Ar lath ma, vhenan." Two sentences that Solas says in DAI: "Banal nadas." / "Nothing is known for certain." Said by Solas to the nightmare demon in the Fade when it taunts him by saying "Your pride is responsible for everything that has gone wrong; you will die alone." The same quest reveals that Solas's greatest fear is dying alone. She reminds him of what he said then, that the nightmare demon is wrong: he is not alone, he can change that fate. "Ar lath ma, vhenan." Solas's confession of love to the Inquisitor. I don't think she ever actually tells him she loves him in DAI. Eight-ish years later, she says it back to him, proving that their love did indeed find a way to endure.

"I cannot bear to think of you alone." = "But you do not have to go alone." He is once again leaving to right a wrong. In Trespasser, he was leaving to do what he thought was best, what he wanted to do to fix his mistakes. Here, he is leaving to seek atonement, to soothe hurts not with violence, but repentance. And she once again offers to go with him. (I personally didn't choose this dialogue option in Trespasser because I don't think my Inquisitor agreed with what he wanted to do, but it's a very sweet line nonetheless) This time, with all that has changed, he is more open to letting her go with him, but he still cautions her: "Where I am going is terrible." I love the translation of her reply: "It won't be terrible if you're with me," because the order of the pronouns is interesting to me. Not sure if it's intentional, but I feel like I would have said "It won't be terrible if I'm with you." It's very subtle, but I think there is a difference: "if I'm with you" puts a lot of emphasis on the Inquisitor, i.e. "I make things better"; "if you're with me" means the same thing but it's humbler, less prideful, i.e. "I will be there for you to make things better".

The parallels in animation are also great. The way he turns when she speaks as he's leaving, the bow when he says "ir abelas, vhenan"… THE KISS. God, the way they hold hands like they do in Trespasser is insane.

The music in this scene is the best in the game, and it's a crime that it's not on the official soundtrack. Not just the atonement music, but the way it shifts into "Lost Elf Theme" from Trespasser once the Inquisitor steps forward gives this scene the emotional weight the music in DAV honestly doesn't have. The music is a big part of why I cried watching this.

Side notes:

-My Inquisitor looks nothing like she did in DAI LOL Hey, I was already hours into CC, it frustrated me that the presets were so different from DAI and I did not have the patience to tweak everything. Also I'm horrible at distinguishing faces. She still looks pretty so I guess she got a glow up during their time apart LOL Vivienne and Leliana took her to get a makeover in Val Royeaux.

-The DAV soundtrack honestly isn't bad. I enjoy quite a few tracks on it; "Where the Dead Must Go" and "Not the Chosen One" are among my favorites. The main theme isn't compelling though, and "The Dread Wolf" track would have made a better main theme (it's the best track on the album). The OST lends the atmosphere that music is supposed to, but it doesn't have the character on its own that the music in DAI does (thank you, Trevor Morris). I could be anywhere in the world doing anything and if I heard the DAI main theme I would lose my mind. "Lost Elf Theme" always makes me so emotional; it's a plea, a feeling of hopefulness and being resigned to one's fate at the same time.

[teaandblades]

Behind The Mask | 17

⤷ Summary: A young woman enters college desperate to escape the shadows of her past and find her worth. But the loneliness follows—until two mysterious professors, Erwin Smith and Levi Ackerman, begin to unravel the mask she wears. One sees her potential. The other sees her cracks. Both awaken something she thought was long gone. But whether they’ll help her heal—or break her further—remains to be seen.

⤷ Word Count: 2400 Words

⤷ Pairing: Levi Ackerman x Erwin Smith x Reader

⤷ Warning: This story contains mature themes including smut, emotional trauma, self-worth struggles, student-professor dynamics, and psychological tension. Reader discretion is advised.

°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･°

Chapter Seventeen - Morning Light, Quiet Storms

Y/N woke with sunlight stretching across her bare legs, tangled in the soft sheets of the bed — her body aching in the best way, her heart bruised but beating.

For the first time in what felt like days, there was peace.

No whispers. No slaps. No shame.

Just warmth.

And two men who had, in very different ways, pulled her back from the edge.

She blinked slowly, rolling onto her side. Levi was still asleep, his back to her, the muscles of his shoulders tight even in rest. He looked… softer in sleep. Human. Less like the cold, distant professor everyone whispered about, and more like the man who had held her when she sobbed into his chest.

Behind her, she felt another body shift — Erwin.

His arm slid across her waist with quiet ease, pulling her against him. His chest was warm, bare, and steady against her spine. She could feel his breathing, slow and intentional.

“You’re awake,” he murmured, lips brushing her ear.

Y/N nodded. “Didn’t sleep much.”

“Nightmares?”

“Not exactly,” she said, voice hoarse. “Just... thinking.”

Erwin kissed the top of her shoulder. “Don’t let them live rent-free in your head. They don’t deserve it.”

She swallowed the lump in her throat. “It’s not just them. It’s me. I let all of this happen. I should’ve said no. I should’ve stopped—”

Levi rolled over then, eyes half-lidded, voice gravelly. “No, you shouldn’t have.”

His gaze pinned her to the sheets. “Don’t rewrite the past just because the world’s too fucking small to understand it.”

Y/N blinked at him, surprised.

Levi reached out, his fingers brushing her cheek. “You didn’t make a mistake. You made a choice.”

Erwin leaned in behind her, voice low. “And we made one too.”

The kitchen in Erwin’s apartment was too clean — sterile, even. But now, with Levi shirtless at the counter scrambling eggs and Erwin brewing coffee, it almost felt like a real home.

Y/N sat on the barstool in Levi’s oversized shirt, legs bare, hair still wild.

She felt… grounded. A little sore. A little uncertain.

But loved.

Erwin set a steaming mug in front of her and kissed the top of her head before settling beside her. Levi didn’t speak much — but when he handed her a plate of eggs and toast, his hand brushed hers in a way that said I see you.

They ate mostly in silence until Y/N finally broke it.

“What happens now?”

Erwin met her gaze. “With us?”

“With… everything.”

Levi exhaled, leaning against the counter. “There’s a hearing scheduled. Not officially about you. But they’re sniffing around. Looking for something to blame.”

“Me,” she said quietly.

“No,” Erwin corrected. “They’re blaming us. You’re just the excuse.”

Y/N’s heart twisted. “I don’t want you to lose everything. Either of you.”

Levi stared at her like she’d grown another head. “We made our decisions, Y/N. We knew the risks. You’re not something we tripped over. You’re the reason.”

Erwin reached out, brushing her hair behind her ear. “This isn’t something we regret.”

Y/N’s eyes welled up. “But what if it’s not real? What if it’s just sex and adrenaline and—”

Levi crossed the space in two steps, gripping the edge of the stool between her knees.

“You think this is just sex?”

She looked up at him.

He leaned down, pressing his forehead against hers. “I’ve never wanted to protect anyone like I want to protect you.”

“And I’ve never risked my career for someone I didn’t love,” Erwin added, his voice quiet behind her.

Y/N’s breath caught.

Love.

They hadn’t said it before.

And now it hung in the air like a confession too big to take back.

Levi leaned in and kissed her. Not with heat. Not with hunger.

But like he needed her mouth to breathe.

Erwin joined them, sliding his arm around her waist and pulling her gently against his chest. His lips brushed the side of her neck, and she shivered — not from lust, but from the way it made her feel wanted.

Cherished.

The three of them stood there in the middle of Erwin’s apartment — wrapped around each other in silence, not rushing, not hiding.

Y/N reached out and tugged Levi’s hand into hers. He let her, thumb brushing circles over her palm.

“Can we stay like this?” she whispered.

“For as long as we’re allowed,” Erwin murmured.

Levi’s mouth twitched at the corner. “And when we’re not… we fight.”

Just as Levi was reaching for another kiss, a hard knock rang out from the front door.

Three quick pounds.

Y/N froze.

Erwin stepped away, already grabbing a clean button-up. “Stay here,” he said.

Levi moved to the window, peeking between the blinds.

His jaw clenched. “It’s one of the admin staff. From the disciplinary committee.”

Erwin’s face darkened, but he nodded. “I’ll handle it.”

He left, pulling the door closed behind him.

Y/N looked at Levi.

“What if this is it?” she whispered.

Levi crossed back to her, cupping her face. “Then we walk through it together. No hiding.”

[dokidokitsuna]

im really endeared by your concepts for re_rise, i was unsatisfied by return of the mammilians and you’ve put together a really sound story! about to say what i’ve taken from it, so sorry if there’s some innacuracy…

my favorite part off the bat is switching the splatoon for deep cut. imo they’ve been the unquestionable good guys for way too long. plus accidentally working against an oblivious/aimless squidbeak splatoon who’s goal is just to get their gramps back, when youve been investigating grizzco and alterna all game is just a refreshing and well contrasting take on a story. it feels like acknowledgment for the previous campaigns story flaws (being it’s in-general non seriousness!!!)

i always felt deep cut always had the potential to be a bunch of very cool and laid back mentors. they just seemed experienced in what they do, and working alongside them sounds VERY cool for a 14 or so year old cephalokid. (additionally, thered be a break in formula by not making the new kid an agent, rather a personal member of deep cuts heist squad. WAY cooler!!!) always felt their dialogue and personalities are pretty exaggerated when they’re on-air, so seeing what they’re like without an audience sounds more than interesting. if that’s the route you go, itd be another way to set them apart from the previous idol bands, who are always their authentic entertainer-type selves when cameras are on. in that case, what would they be like? what things would they feel like talking about? how different would they really act? all things you can answer if you want. but that was my love letter! thanks for writing up such cool concepts, and making such amazing designs. i even made little analyses on them for the color choice… this is long enough already though. tldr thank you!!! 🩷

Okay so first: thanks so much for this; I love it when people analyze my work (you gotta explain the color choice thing to me sometime, because that has me really curious) ^^

So I totally agree with you about the idea of the player character not being an agent for once…even though I still technically call them Neo/New Agent 3. ^^; I just couldn’t think of my own thing to call them; I feel like such a huge break away from the series’ convention is something that should be determined by the canon…and probably will be soon if my predictions about Splatoon 4 turn out to be correct. ;)

I guess it would be cute if Deep Cut gave them a funky nickname instead, like ‘Shark-bait’ or something. Although that would work better if they all had nicknames for each other; like true alter-egos for their bandit work…I would like that~.

Anyway, as for the main question: tbh I didn’t really put much thought into how Deep Cut’s personalities might change…but that’s mostly because I felt a ton of added depth would be inevitable, by the simple act of elevating them from roadblocks to actual characters you can interact with. ^^; So this is basically what I would do:

-Shiver kinda has a ‘2 Cool 4 Skool’ girlboss thing going on (I think?? Tbh for a series as campy as Splatoon, her characterization is really weak…) so I think her alter-ego should have a more grounded, ‘wise mentor’ persona. Like, she can still trash-talk you and keep that ruthless attitude that she has, but here we’d supplement that with real teaching moments and positive affirmation to show why people should really be drawn to her.

-Meanwhile, Frye has this hyper-cute yet ‘rough-and-tumble’ personality, so I think her alter-ego should be more laid-back and relaxed. This way she can keep her positive demeanor; she’ll just express it in a different way, maybe showing the audience more of her mature and sensitive side.��

-Last but not least, Big Man is characterized as a typical airhead, with hints of a responsible ‘parent friend’ (eugh) underneath…so I would let him be more serious as a bandit, maybe even a little edgy. Of course, seeing as he’s a giant manta ray with an (owo) face, ‘edgy’ is probably still gonna come off as comedic for him, but I think that’s fine as long as he has actual moments of gravity to ground them. I want him to feel like a real ‘senpai’ for the player character, not just a funny mascot…y’know, occasionally commanding the respect that you’d think a ‘parent friend’ would have.

[arhapsodyofwords]

About the "two" Claudias

I was watching a yt video where the creator was asking questions about plot holes in season 2 of Interview With the Vampire. One of the "plot holes" in question being Claudia's inconsistent characterization between seasons 1 and 2 (having nothing to do with the actress change, but instead inconsistencies in the writing). The major difference being that Claudia was a ruthless and conniving vampire at the end of season 1, but cowed and vulnerable in season 2.

I don't completely agree with the premise that Claudia's characterization is inconsistent, I think a lot of the changes were natural responses to the trauma she experienced at the end of the first season, as well as the trauma she endured in Europe during the war. I don't deny that the difference can be a little jarring especially when binge-watching the show, and it got me started down the path of trying to figure out why she changed like this. (This is all just my interpretation by the way!)

Someone commented that maybe Claudia was inconsistent because memories are inconsistent, and I like this idea. I think Louis' memories of Claudia while narrating the planning and death of Lestat could have been influenced by Louis' feelings about the whole situation. Louis deeply loved Claudia, but I do think that he had some resentments towards her specifically because of Lestat's "murder," resentments that he pushed deep down. The feelings did bubble up though; like when he put his hands on her for the first and only time when she tried burning Lestat's body, or when he had Dreamstat call Claudia a mistake. Even when he yells at her about choosing the coven over him, a blow he would've felt after following Claudia to Europe and then realizing he wasn't companion enough for her ("sit in your choices, sister!" projection much?). I'm not trying to take Claudia's rapaciousness (in a good way) away from her, but it's possible that Louis described her being as predatory as he did because of this subconscious resentment.

Mostly though, I think that Claudia is depressed and lost in season 2 because she started to realize that Lestat was probably right. Claudia and Louis spent miserable years during the war not being able to find any other vampires except for Daciana, who immediately immolated herself, leaving Claudia devastated. When Lestat told Claudia and Louis about Magnus throwing himself into the fire, Claudia refused to believe him (s1, ep6). Watching Daciana do the same thing probably had Claudia remembering what Lestat said; if he wasn't lying about Magnus then maybe he wasn't lying about European vampires rejecting her.

She was happy when she found the coven in Paris, but then was immediately hurt by them too, literally the moment she joined them. Making her play a child night after night, being referred to as a bird. Possibly recalling what Lestat said about the European vampires viciousness? Lestat: "If you find them [other vampires], which you won't, they would shred you to strips, because you are built like a bird..." (s1, ep5) Santiago: "You'll be their little birdy for the next 50 years." (s2, ep3)

Lestat was correct about Europe and it's vampires and I think this shook her.

Claudia was also very hurt and angry at Louis too. Louis chose Lestat over her again, because by not burning Lestat's body, Louis left open the possibility that Lestat could take his revenge on her. She was stuck in Europe with the man who betrayed her and she had no choice but to stay with him because she still loved him, she just knew that he would never put her first. I think that Claudia also picked up on Louis' resentment towards her, at least in his extreme grief for Lestat, and this would have made her feel terrible. This is why she was so desperate to join and stay in the coven despite their abuse.

In short, Claudia's confidence was completely destroyed by Louis' betrayal, her inability to find community for a decade after leaving New Orleans, and by realizing that her evil Dad was kind of right.

(and this is why finding Madeleine was the best thing that happened to Claudia but well...)

[bardan-jusik]

I love how much you love kal 🩷 I am not his biggest fan bc I detest how traviss' misogyny seems to come out mostly thru him as opposed to other characters, especially through the way he treated etain but your take about flaws being an integral part of what makes a person themself is CHEF'S KISS 🤌

omg thank you so much 🥰 i can, have, and will talk about him for hours, i will write a thesis statement, i will make a powerpoint, i will wax poetic about the themes of repcomm and how much they mean to me interminably

goddd please don't take this as me trying to change your mind or arguing with you or anything, i totally understand that the books were written in like 2004 and kt has had some. unfortunate. blog posts ect ect

i am also never trying to bash etain in any way to defend my favoritest blorbo kal skirata, i definitely think that her character arc was poorly handled and the narrative itself was unkind to her. i don't blame any of the characters for that and i choose to believe the best of her as a character despite the narrative fucking her over deeply

i just don't think kal reads as misogynistic

even narratively with many of the female characters beginning to do traditional 'women's work' like cooking ect, the characters treat laseema's ability to run a kitchen for several dozen people as a hugely valuable skill, and most of those women with like, the exception of rav, are not trained as fighters, and it would be hugely irresponsible for the soldier characters to be like 'hey do you wanna come on this mission even though you have no idea how to do black ops shit so that i don't look like im being discriminatory'

that rant aside, and LET US NOT FORGET BESANY MOTHERFUCKIN 'STARTED AN ARMED SIEGE IN A HOSPITAL' WENNEN

here is my take on how kal treated etain and her pregnancy announcement

-nobody ever mentions the Check Incident when they talk about this. etain did something that greatly upset ordo, and although she was right and her actions saved besany's life, one of the points of repcomm is that no matter how morally correct or justified your action was, the consequences of it don't go away. and then instead of trying to solve it directly with ordo (which is fair because ordo is scary as fuck and also violently angry with her about it, and kal is pretty approachable) she talks to kal about it instead. he was pretty unhappy about that, and to him that looks like her not really treating ordo as a man and an equal

-after the initial blowup, kal isn't unkind to her. i believe the next time they actually see each other in person was on dorumaa when she was having complications, and he was concerned and was nice to her despite how messy the last time they saw each other was. etain was anxious he would still be mad at her, but he wasn't

-yes, he is angry with her at first. he blows up. he's an angry person, that's a very, very core trait of his- he perceived one of his sons being taken advantage of, if he didn't get angry about that he wouldn't be kal skirata

-i hate to bring this up but it is canonical that etain intended to become pregnant, on purpose, while suggesting to darman that she wasn't going to get pregnant. and i choose to believe that that's kt fucking her over narratively. but she did do something without even talking to darman about it at all, and then just like with checking ordo, went to kal about it instead expecting him to be able to fix the problem

-and he did. sure, he made demands, he didn't leave her much choice at all, he threatened her. but he did give her what she asked for. her intention was to give darman a mandalorian son, and kal did what he felt he needed to do to make sure darman's son was raised as a mandalorian

honestly my ideal fix-it for that scenario is actually kal going one step FARTHER and forcing etain to resign from her rank, and possibly the order if she has to. you chose to be a mother. you can't also be a general. for both your safety, and the safety of the baby, you cannot HAVE A PREGNANT WOMAN ACTIVELY PARTICIPATING IN A WAR JESUS CHRIST (yes he thought qiilura should be as safe as possible but STILL)

and just like with etain and ordo, no matter how justified your action was, you still have to face the consequences. and kal does when darman punches his lights out about it lol

also #ETAINLIVES. in anything i ever write or draw or have headcanons about lol. 501st is a whump fic with interesting character information to me, basically. last couple chapters of order 66 on ain't canon. not in my heart.

[sosoribro]

hey hey shut up im not done being cringe about rouxls yet. stage whatever: BIG LORE HEADCANON

ITS UNDER THE CUT CUZ ITS KINDA LONG AND YAPPY

so basically what if he is kinda just

a guy

who isnt very logically smart

but is still just a guy

right so

what if he only became the duke of puzzles because king just saw the fanciest guy there and assumed he would do a good job

and you see what if rouxls desperately wants as much power as possible because he is horribly afraid of stepping out of line BECAUSE OF king's takeover and thats why he wants to be correct and right all the time which we know because hes always switiching sides

so what im saying is rouxls was just some fancy moderately-powerful guy in the castle until king took the whole place over and threw him in charge of puzzles and ROUXLS SAID NOTHING HE DID NOT CLARIFY THAT HE WAS NOT A GOOD PICK AT ALL, AND THAT WAS BECAUSE HE WAS SCARED TO DISAGREE WITH THE KING BUT ALSO BECAUSE HE LOVES HAVING POWER BECAUSE THAT MEANS HE CAN............ look look im gonna say it im gonna say it MAKE HIS OWN RULES. ROUXLS IF YOU WILL. BECAUSE THAT IS HIS WHOLE THING AS WE KNOW.

so lets recap again

rouxls is a guy

rouxls gets thrown into a higher position of power despite being a horrible choice for it

rouxls says nothing because king scary and power good

rouxls is also nervous all the time wait what?

allow me to elaborate

i think that deep down, WAY WAY WAY DEEP DOWN, rouxls is genuinely likeable

hes just trying very VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY HARD to appear confident and powerful.

see what if before the king got goofy and blah blah blah took over

what if rouxls was just like

very socially awkward (but he lowkey still is)

like he was respected he was fancy he probably played croquet or something he looked after his worm terrarium which he definitely has you cant lie to me

he wasnt dumb he was just not really good at talking to people and also not very logically smart

his intelligence simply resided elsewhere like insects and maybe fancy dancing i dunno i havent asked him

essentially his excessive pride is just to over-compensate for the fact that hes nervous all the time

he doesn't want to display any signs of said nervousness because he feels that if he does, it'll cost him his status and respect

so now another recap

rouxls is secretly (we can all tell actually) a nervous wreck who is scared of stepping out of line and who deep down just wants to ballroom dance and play croquet and maybe teach lancer how to play the piano wait whaaaat????

let's talk lancer.

we know that rouxls genuinely cares for lancer because he asks how he is even when hes still trying to hate the party.

BUUUUT LETS MAKE THIS EVEN CUTER OR SADDER I CANT TELL

rouxls knows how absolutely terrifying the king is and so he kind of always worried about lancer. but when the king began to neglect his son that really made it clear that the kid needed better care.

by now, rouxls was used to acting all high-and-mighty, but at some point he decided to drop the act just a little bit to check on lancer who was probably sat by himself looking a bit sad

and yeah he finds lancer annoying quite a bit of the time but he knows he needs looking after

and often he may genuinely enjoy himself when hes playing with him because he can forget about having to appear smart and powerful

he's still annoyed about the whole "lesser dad" thing tho and the splat noises

now i know what you're thinking "but what about the accent"

who knows, maybe its his real accent, maybe it isnt

but i do think it would be funny if he's been saying "-eth" so much he sometimes accidentally uses the "th" sound instead of the "s" sound e.g "lanther- i I MEAN LANCER"

basically hes slowly giving himself a lisp

now all that is well and good but of course it is mostly just headcanons.

he could just be

well

stupid

and thats funny

but this? its lore

let me cooketh

[shanaraharlyah]

DATV ask game if you are willing to share <3 For Saro: 6, 27, 18 For Hellendil: 3,14, 19 +30 haha

Thank you so much for sending these @valyrra! 😘💕 Sorry it took so long to finish, but there is quite a bit. Putting it mostly under a cut for possible spoilers. Ask game is here if anyone wants to send more!

Sarovanya

6. Favorite/Least favorite NPC

Antoine and Evka are probably Sarovanya's favorite people. Friends and fellow Grey Wardens who've always accepted him even with all his flaws. He looks at what they have with admiration. Definitely gets some couples goals from them.

Saro's least favorite person is easily the First Warden. He feels he was 100% correct in his decision to disobey orders for a better strategy that saved an entire town and will not apologize for it. He wanted so bad to punch this man in the face, but stayed his hand because he was taught better.

18. Is Rook more diplomatic, humorous or harsh? A mix of all three?

Sarovanya is definitely a mix. It really depends on the person he's dealing with and the situation. Diplomacy is usually his first choice, though he can also be pretty straight forward at times. He's got a bit of a problem with authority sometimes and that leads to mockery or heavy-handedness on occasion. He also likes being the center of attention and he'll use humor if it will get him there.

27. Is there a song you associate with your Rook / their romance with a companion?

Took some time to think about this one because while I usually have music in mind for characters and ships, I hadn't yet for for these two.

I've associated Don't Let Him Go by REO Speedwagon with Sarovanya and his OTP, and it sort of still applies. He's still the same person but he doesn't butt heads with Harding the way he does with Tarwen in his OU. In fact some of the things that exasperated Tarwen are things that made Harding fall for him. But, he still gets a shut up from her now and again.

Love Will Keep You Up All Night by Backstreet Boys inspired a whole scene in his OU, but definitely still applies here in a different way. While there he's had trouble even telling Tarwen he's in love with her and getting her to reciprocate in the 100+ years they've known each other (that's a lot of potential sleepless nights), here he literally can't touch Harding once they've established their intentions on account of the activated lyrium in her veins. As if Warden nightmares aren't enough, he also spends many sleepless nights just thinking about Harding and what it would be like to finally get to be with her, kiss, hold hands, etc. He even spends nights just sitting with her so he can be there if she has a nightmare.

I've also been associating Gotta Be Somebody by Nickelback with them (why's it always Nickelback and Dragon Age?). I wouldn't say Saro went into this looking for/expecting to find love but for sure the attraction was there since he met her. That attraction only grew as he got to know her better and became quite strong as they began living together at the lighthouse. As always, he's very bad at showing/telling people how he feels about them, but Harding notices. He's been fulfilling what she needs in a relationship with his encouragement and willingness to always be there, even before they talk about it.

Hellendil

3. Favorite/Least favorite banter

I'll be honest, I haven't clocked anything as good as DAO/Awakenings/DAI banter in this game yet. I kind of like this one between Neve and Davrin.

14. Favorite/Least favorite faction

He's a veil jumper so he definitely has an affinity towards them. It fits him well with his tendency towards research and learning, particularly about the history of his people since so much had been lost to the ages. Other than them, it is the Shadow Dragons. He admires their fight to end slavery in Tevinter and enact real change.

His least favorite is the Lord's of Fortune. He doesn't trust the claim that they're not selling culturally important artifacts to earn their fortunes. He's a veil jumper and has spent his life uncovering secrets lost to history and working with dangerous artifacts. The idea that there are people out there looting these sorts of places and artifacts for profit does not sit well with him.

19. Who did you romance? Would you romance more than one?

This is definitely a work in progress right now, so we'll see how it pans out in the end (what I think and what he ends up doing are sometimes different things). But, I definitely see him being drawn to Lucanis. The danger and uncertainty of a "mage killer"/ man possessed, who also has a softer side is right up his alley. However his choice to fight the dragon in Minrathous cut this option short and will lead to some self loathing/angst until he comes to terms with it. (Boy hates making decisions for just these kinds of reasons, but this is the decisions with consequences game series so...) This is likely going to see him pursuing Neve or Bellara.

Bellara would be so cute with him. The two of them could encourage one another on their research and it would allow both of them to continue doing what they love together.

But I see him being drawn in more by Neve's personality. He also has a great admiration of the Shadow Dragons cause so I see him working more closely with them in the future and bringing the two closer.

Honestly he's one to kind of experiment, so he's likely to kiss more than one of them before he commits, but once he does, there will be no one else.

30. Favorite/Funniest/Most Cursed screenshot

Favorite - Probably this one. Saro just looks soo good. ��️

Funniest - How could I not pick silly griffon times

Cursed - Uh, Neve, are you trying to get baby boy stabbed?

Or else early game Hel before I managed a better/more correct face morph for him.

[hazelcephalopod]

Alright so here’s some of my criticisms of Mid-Century Modern, the new sitcom.

A fairly average sitcom, more cursing than usual, and most of the main characters are older gay men.

So I’ve got criticisms, but I should add I also really like the show despite its flaws.

We’ll start with the very minor: They are all very stereotypically gay.

- Bunny is an older Jewish rich man whose mother lives with him. He owns a big company which runs bra stores. Least lucky in love, at least he’s said to be, asked the other two to move in after the death of his friend.

- Arthur is an older articulate black man originally from New Orleans, purposefully lost his accent to be taken serious in the fashion world, when he wrote articles. Is down on his luck due to personality conflicts, as he is very closed off due to the struggles he’s faced. The smartest of the three imho, and also willing to play dirty. We’ll get to that last part. Also… doesn’t get a romantic interest at all in the show as the other two do. There is that to note.

- Jerry very attractive, not so older -but roughly middle aged- man, has all the luck in the hook up/dating scene, is lacking in the intellectual capacity; also a flight attendant. Used to be Mormon, married to a woman, and had a daughter. She outed him to their church, and ruined his relationship with their daughter -by just not letting it happen. He is also one of the nicest, kindest people in the world.

All lean not all feminine, but also not very masculine/macho. All in the same range of gay, by which I mean. Affluent, modern, conformist to mainstream culture as much as their range of gay can be. Imho? It might have been nice to see less stereotypical gay characters, but also it’s a sitcom and sitcoms in general have specific character archetypes which are uncommonly broken.

Moderate criticisms now.

Tbh, it’s mostly the Mormonism. I have never been Mormon. I know a tiny bit about Mormons. I am almost certain whoever made this show knows far less about Mormons than me. For instance-

- Why is Mason wearing his temple garments to pick up men? Plenty of Mormons don’t, for various reasons and with various excuses.

- no one ever says Heavenly Father. Not once. They should.

- Nor is the Priesthood ever mentioned. I’m a little more lenient on that one still worth adding.

- This is a question. Were those Mormon hymns they were singing? Plz tell me someone.

- Finally, the big one. The doozy of a “did y’all do any research about Mormons?” So, Mason shows up having left his bride at the later/wedding -those are importantly different in this case. I’m going to do the tbf first, maybe he came directly from the secular ceremony. That’s possible. I mean he was apparently hiding in his churches bathroom. And… correct me if I’m wrong I do not think that’s where Mormons hold their secular weddings but maybe I’m wrong or it’s a just Mason’s church thing. Or something. Anyway, this man shows up in a periwinkle blue Las Vegas wedding suit. Um. You can’t wear that to the m real Mormon wedding ceremony -the temple sealing. Anyway, the whole thing was just. Off to me. Thoughts appreciated. Tell me how I’m right or wrong.

More major criticism.

- Needs improvement in matters of race. I don’t actually have the bandwidth or I feel experiance to get into this. Honestly it’s a handful or jokes. Some little bits of plot, and vibes. One that stood out to me. Why couldn’t Jerry have been worried about falling in love with Arthur? But of course could fall in love with Bunny? I’m sure this wasn’t a malicious choice but it certainly … fails to counter some racism. And also, Arthur doesn’t get a romantic interest -ok, tbf he does get hit up by the young man at Fistirs but, isn’t interested himself. And that’s about as much as I’ve got. I think and hope they improve on this matter. It’s really cool seeing an older black gay man be part of a sitcom, and also. I really like Arthur as a character, I hope he gets more in general. (Tbc he’s does still get his share of storylines and moments, but I can always wish for more and for better).

Next. The Congresswoman episode “Love Thy Neighbor”. If you made it this far good job, there is more and it’s… it’s the tea as I’ve heard people say but also rathe long feel free to hope off.

I’m putting it under the line. It’s too much. I also have an ending on a good note after that section. It’s under +++.

At the end I also give it a grade. So, there’s that to look forward too…

Now that one is a doozy. I… this one episode is the one that had me worried on matters of, biphobia, transphobia etc. Just little pieces of it, that also get a strong needs improvement in the end from me. There is a balance here, these are all the older men they are, and I’d be ok if they have imperfect opinions and biases. I’m just not sure where theirs begin and the show runners end. So, I’d like to see more diversity. More challenges to various biases the characters might have. Even if it’s a sitcom, and needs… some… degree -I guess!?- to be appealing to the CisStraights(tm) it can still do more imo.

Lets start with he small stuff the joke is that Bunny and Jerry are politically ignorant, and Jerry is too nice. Arthur is politically aware but all of this is left very nebulous, removed, strangely so. Later Arthur is too distracted by her tiny job -or so it seems- go bring up any legitimate issues. The only saving graces, late into the epsiode it’s revealed she’s supporting a gay discrimination bill. Everyone tried to convince her nicely not to bc they are people too, and they’ve become… closer. All this culminated in the end reveal which is that Arthur blackmailed her to withdraw support and vote against the bill, on that part they get an A+ from me.

Overall… B- for the epsiode. Here’s more reasons why- (potential SA warning, skill to +++ if you don’t want to read that)

- They, maybe(?) narrowly avoid a… man gets raped by a woman joke? I say “maybe narrowly”, bc both were pretty drunk when they had sex… but I still have concerns who was more coherent. This also just leads to Jerry having a crisis about his sexuality -not resolved- that feeds into most of the biphobia and transphobia of the episode. Again, I don’t think it was resolved. The only reason it was there is bc that’s the blackmail material -which there are somehow photos of apparently. So they need to make it clear it happened md keep bringing it up. That lowered the grade the most. Now Jerry bemoans “what did I consent to” which I assume was some person pointed out that rape jokes aren’t funny and so, need that consent button pushed. Sure.

- also she for sure pushes past Jerry’s boundaries. He doesn’t like her hitting on him and points out he’s gay and she says “isn’t that just a word?” and keeps hitting on him. She also has a phone full of dick pics -from congressmen- she shared with random people she just met. That… that doesn’t seem like super consensual. She is portrayed as evil at least. So. Yup. That’s that episode.

+++

Uh. Well I want to leave on a positive note.

Overall I liked the show. Shows all have their stinker episodes. There’s a lot of potential here I think and it’s just mostly a nice fun little show to watch. I hope there is more to come. There’s a lot of heart and lot of joy. Everyone seems to be having a good time portraying their characters. All around I give it an A- for its freshman season.

[sennerixx]

𝗠𝘆 𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗔𝗹𝗹𝘂𝗿𝗮.

I've not watched all eight seasons in a while so I'm going off on what I can remember from the top of my head so I could get parts wrong. Please feel free to share your own views in the comments.

Now, I know the fandom mainly hates Allura (from what I've seen anyway) primarily because she seems bratty, self-absorbed, or "used Lance as a rebound" not to mention she had been completely discrimtive towards Keith after finding out he was half-Galra for at least two episodes.

I agree half and half with this statement, I'll explain both views.

The reason I agree is that Allura had been bratty, self-absorbed, or used Lance as a rebound because you can use the excuse that she is young, and no way should have been given the power and leadership she was given. She wasn't mature enough for it. It's like asking an eighteen-year-old to run for a country.

While I understand her character gradually developed and she became more and more mature, it was still forced upon her way to early. In the early episodes, she seemed very bratty and demanding of the paladins to form Voltron, who not to mention had just left their home planet, their lives, in a giant robotic lion, met aliens, and fought against an entire evil force and were only sixteen to eighteen? While they managed to form Voltron, I felt that Allura was pressuring them far too hard.

And when Keith, to what we can assume as we never saw it, let team Voltron know he was half Galra, not only did she struggle to meet his eyes but continued to appraise Hunk while ignoring Keith's efforts on the mission following. I can understand most of her entire race was wiped out because of the Galra but it was like Keith had been the one to slay his father or thousands of people.

With Lance, she knew Lance loved him from early on, it was pretty obvious yet continued to drag it out and then suddenly decided she loved him right after being with Lotor? to me, it really seems like she was just a rebound while Lance loved her with everything he had and that she just took advantage of that factor.

However, I also see her as a good character with decent character development. Overtime, we can see how she gradually develops into a powerful, strong character.

For example, when she began to pilot the Blue Lion she unlocked new abilities that Lance hadn't been able to, or how she gradually warmed up to Keith and accepted him, I believe she apologized for her behavior towards Keith too. And when the castle was corrupted, despite being early on, she made the first step to fight against the illusions and made the correct choice to delete her father's AI.

The first time they went to the Blamera, she risked herself to revive the planet and save it from further harm, another good intention. While Allura seems to be misguided sometimes, she mostly does have good intentions for the universe.

Overall, I think her character wasn't bad or completely shit but I do think she could've handled certain aspects of situations a lot better than she had and I love her character design just not so much her personality.

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

I have seen the opinion that Mai symbolically means the wrong choice that Zuko made by joining Azula, and the comfort that this "wrong" life can give him (ordering servants, eating pies, not fighting FN imperialism). When Zuko chooses to redeem himself and join the avatar, he becomes a new person and must give up this comfort and Mai as part of this "old life and wrong choice". In addition, his relationship with Mai took place when he was "not himself", when he was trying to become what his father wanted him to be, respectively, Mai did not see his real at that moment. What can you say about it?

Let's get the easy one out of the way: the moment in which Zuko explicitly referred to him as him being Ozai's ideal son, but not being himself, was during the war meeting he in which he did not speak out against his horrible plan to burn the Earth Kingdom down. THAT was the moment in which he felt he was pretending to be something he wasn't, not every scene he spent in the Fire Nation.

And, to make the point even clearer, who was the person he immediately expressed this conflict to after feeling pressured into not being himself? MAI! She was his comfort, his safe-place, the person he didn't have to put on a mask for - HOW can anyone look at that scene and think this means "She doesn't know the real Zuko?" when he is literally proving that he feels fully comfortable being himself in front of her?

As for her supposedly representing the "wrong" choice just because she happened to be in the Fire Nation during his temporary refusal to redeem himself - Zuko was still obsessed with honor after his redemption, still wanted to go back to the Fire Nation, was still very loyal to his nation (he literally said he was trying to SAVE his country, not turning his back on it), and he even ends up becoming Fire Lord even though that was also what was going to happen eventually had he chosen to just let his father take over the world. Why is his relationship with Mai the ONLY THING that needs to be framed as "the wrong choice" when nearly everything else about his life post redemption was EXACTLY like it would have been if he had not changed sides?

Why is Mai considered a factor in this "Temptation That Makes You Evil VS Good, Moral, Correct Choice" dilema, when the two characters that were constantly shown as Zuko's shoulder devil and shoulder angel - or rather, the blue dragon and the red dragon - were Azula and Iroh? (*repeats to self* must not turn this into a zucest post, must not turn this into a zucest p-AZULA REPRESENTS TEMPTATION IN HIS HEAD, OH MY G-)

*clears throat* Sorry, about that.

Even then, Iroh WAS making a big mistake by ignoring Zuko's feelings on the matter of just staying in Ba Sing Se forever (he explictly asks Iroh if he has not considered that the wants more in life than just a job and appartment), and AT NO POINT had the option to join forces with the Avatar ever been discussed - and honestly I doubt Zuko would have ever accepted it at the point in the story, regardless of Azula giving him the choice to come home.

And yes, she gave him a CHOICE, and that's why Zuko's arc worked. He spent weeks allowed to have the life he had always wanted, and he would have been able to keep it... as long as he chose to let innocent people die. He was tempted, but in the end did the right thing, and because of the weeks he spent in the Fire Nation, we SEE everything he is giving up on, because before that we had only seen the bad moments, like his abuse at the hands of his father, not him being a beloved prince, having a (mostly) okay relationship with Azula, no longer having to resort to desperate measures to not starve, having the comfort of knowing he'd always have a roof over his head - and yes, being happy and in love with a girl that was a lot like him.

The point of showing us how much he is sacrificing is not to say "Zuko will be better off without those things", but rather to make us cheer for him when he manages to get it all back against all odds, this time with a clear conscience.

Also, let's pretend Mai WAS the person representing "bad choice, bad idea, bad girlfriend" like Zutarians claim - HOW does that immediately translate to "Katara is the right choice" when her love interest is someone else AND she was in no way a factor in Zuko's decision to leave the Fire Nation? Who is to say some other girl wouldn't be "the one"? Why is Katara seen as the ONLY option even though they've barely interacted at that point, and EVERY SINGLE TIME it ended badly?

Zutarians can claim care about Zuko's arc and to be the ''feminist" shippers until they're blue in the face, the absurd takes they come up with for the sole reason of pitting two female characters against each other, with one being almost completely demonized FOR NO REASON, and the other being seen as perfect because of what she supposedly can offer to a guy and not because of her actual personality, just reeks of misogyny.

[td-frog]

thoughts on dcas e7:

tom+jake+aiden

god this season is doing such a good job with jake. after last episode it'd make so much sense for him to just be jealous and upset, but instead he's genuinely trying to communicate. and literally saying "you always wanted me to do this, so i'm trying, please talk to me" is like. really good.

idk for sure but it does feel like tom's lying about the boyfriend. at the very least, not giving any more information (valid choice if it's true given they're on tv and that ruined his life in s1) makes it seem like he's lying, which sucks for jake because at this point he is doing everything right.

not really surprised that aiden's mad at jake about it given he and tom are friends and he and jake don't know each other, but it is a little disappointing given how clearly (to the audience) jake is Trying His Best

also i do kind of love that this very much could have been the end of it if it weren't for ellie intentionally fucking it up.

villains alliance

i fully forgot that alec didn't know about the letters. of course he didn't, he would absolutely have taken it seriously because he's the only person in the alliance trying to make it work. i do think it's funny that he and riya had a conversation about it without even checking if anyone was listening tho.

gabby finding out was inevitable, ever since the "ellie would've told me line" but i do feel bad for her. i'm worried this is going to backfire on tess tho, since she offered to talk to ellie first. their relationship is really sweet and it makes sense for the game to mess it up, but yeah :(

magenta team

prediction from last time: "if it's magenta team it's probably fiore, which makes me think it won't be magenta team." well i was half right!

i love fiore so much and i'm sad to see her go, but honestly i really really love what they're doing with jake here.

like the theme of his character is Trust Issues, and in s1 that was a lot more lashing out at people over tiny slights which was not the most likable trait. but now he's learned that that's not healthy and is trying to correct it, but the core issue is still there. the fear and worry at being hurt or abandoned hasn't gone away, he's just not externalizing it as much.

like i genuinely don't think ashley is wrong for hanging out with ally, not eliminating ally, not picking up on the severity of jake's anxieties, etc. in fact i think kicking ally out would've made it worse, bc what he needs more than immediate reassurance that he's her ultimate bestie is to build up resistance to the fear of abandonment- being able to experience the worry and have it turn out okay without needing ashley to do something dramatic will help demonstrate that it doesn't have to be as big of a deal as his relationship trauma is telling him.

but also i get it. and i'm not worried about ashley turning on him, but i do think he's not going to handle it well bc he needs to be liked so bad and is not having a good time.

other thoughts

yellow team took more of a backseat this episode (besides the villains alliance thing, but that was a bit more ellie focused), but yul continues to be the world's shittiest boyfriend. grett has grown so so much since s1 and it's gonna hurt so bad when this gets exposed i know it :(

#trevek confirmed ig, still kind of largely ignoring it for personal reasons.

predictions

cyan team should be high focus next episode, mainly bc of the villains thing. i think it's likely ellie will react badly to being confronted about it, and i can see it causing team tension esp with gabby. if they end up having elimination i don't really see ellie surviving at this point? mostly because tom and aiden are already biased against her and while i can see gabby sticking with her i don't think she could convince tess.

i don't think magenta will be up for elimination again, mainly because i think their current drama needs some time to marinate. ashley won't turn on jake unless he gives her a Really Good reason, and i don't see that happening in a single episode. and if they take ally out that kills the tension of jake not knowing how it'll go. so that (along with them having the smallest team) has me leaning against them.

if it's yellow, it's probably yul. riya and alec have not been subtle about their dislike, and there's no longer a non-villain option. i guess if grett hasn't figured out his act by then it could be a tie (in which case i think yulgrett would vote for riya, and yul would win the tiebreaker for narrative purposes (it not making sense for him to go home before being exposed to grett)), but it could go differently. i think it's more likely to be cyan tho.

i should note i have no idea when to expect the merge. it feels too soon right now though.

also! i don't really think tess is in danger (although as team mediator and the tiebreaker between gabellie and tomaiden, she is the obvious candidate for getting out via trickery), but i do think she might be out soon- mainly, i'm expecting ally to be the one from her trio that lasts the longest, and i'm really interested to see how she reacts to tess elimination vs hunter. i also think it'd be interesting if tess gets out before they get much of a chance to catch up, and how that would affect things. anyways not likely to be next episode but i can maybe see that coming up at some point.

also also! i will very much enjoy seeing alec's response to fiore's elimination :3c (not that there will be one, of course, because he does not care :3c)

[wonderinc-sonic]

helloo!!! your team dark fics are so so good and mean so much to me!! your characterization of shadow is really meaningful and important to me specifically, i especially love your variety of pronouns it's so awesome! and in the fic where they're teasing omega about his name, i think there's a part where shadow has a compulsion to finish a line of numbers after being interrupted. i'm ocd and this part made me so crazy and happy!!! especially brcsuse it's really similar to one of my own compulsions! i was just wondering, if you would like to, if you could share or elaborate on any more hcs when it comes to shadow and ocd or pronouns or anhthing you'd like! thank you, love your work!! :D

Oh my gosh thank you so much! It's really appreciated, I'm so pleased that you enjoyed them and thank you so much for taking the time to let me know! ❤️❤️❤️

Putting in a read more for scrollers 🙏

Shadow + Obsessive Compulsions

I started exploring compulsions and OCD tendencies more specifically with characters when I was diagnosed with OCD for the second time. (NB: I no longer think I would qualify for a diagnosis as I am, because I manage much better and also am in a less distressing home. I would say I still have tendencies, but do not claim a diagnosis)

I think Shadow as a character in canon shows some of the risk factors for developing compulsive tendencies: he is very fixated on wrongdoing and punishing that as well as perfectionism. Although 'Destroying Earth and Everything On It' is not a common symptom of OCD (lol), I do think that his black and white morality which is informed by trauma could very easily be turned against himself, especially when he comes to the conclusion that what he was doing was wrong.

He also has extremely high expectations of himself, so I could see him becomingnfixated on repeating actions to a point of overexertion and obsession to make them perfect. He has a hard time forgiving himself for not achieving to his own standards, which is something that can make a person become obsessed with their ways of doing things.

I haven't dug that deeply into all of these things specifically, because I don't like to write characters with a specific diagnosis/ neurotype in mind. But I do like to give him some of the traits I experience and experienced within my OCD. I have always had an issue with repeatedly saying sentences under my breath after I said them (I mostly resist it but the instinct is there always) and have a hard time sometimes with both not being able to finish words and also not being able to do anything else until I manage to get the words out. I also have a lot of organising and correcting calming behaviours, and cyclical thinking. I try to present these with Shadow, because I think they fit well and make sense for the character - plus it's always advised to write what you know!

Shadow + Gender

I believe Shadow is a character with quite a unique relationship to gender, and this is fun to explore. My favourite mental playground has Shadow eventually becoming a trans and using she/they pronouns, but after some 10-15 years of slowly getting comfortable with the ideas. However, a la ShtH05, I think there's a lot of ways Shadow could go with gender, including rejecting traditionally gendered pronouns overall. I think the character works for all of these, and I enjoy the subtle differences in writing Shadows with different pronouns, implying different experiences and examinations of the world, with overall similar experiences. Even when I write Shadow with he/him pronouns, I usually have a measure in my mind of how gendered this particular presentation of Shadow is, and most are somewhere on the neutral aspect. I'm pleased at least some people like this! I know that my differing pronoun choices can alienate some readers. Hell, it does confuse me at times, like now when I'm writing 4/7 of my Team Dark fics at the same time, which use different pronouns across them!

Ahh sorry that got long! I do think a fair bit about these choices, so I'm over the moon when someone notices and even better likes them!

[daresplaining]

Your thoughts on She-Hulk ep 8?

I loved pretty much everything!

Yes, so, I was finally able to watch the rest of She-Hulk (I lost access to Disney+ partway through, so it took some finagling) and I do have thoughts! First, as I've mentioned previously, I loved the show overall; I thought it stayed very true to the spirit of the She-Hulk runs I have read (though to be clear, I'm not a Shulkie completist), was really funny (the knockoff "Avongers" merch in that one episode got me. I was on the floor), delivered some sharp commentary on the rampant misogyny in fan spaces and towards media with female leads (often drawing from actual online responses to the show by Comicsgate-types, which was genius), and poked fun at superhero tropes in a way that felt-- again-- true to the character and also mostly in a spirit of love, which is very important. I wanted to start with this because one of the things that kind of drove me nuts while the show was airing was seeing people prioritize the various cameos over the actual fact that freaking Jen Walters, She-Hulk herself, had a TV show, and I loved that she actually broke the fourth wall to call people out on this at one point.

(I'm glad this screenshot now exists in the world, and I'm worried that I might have to pull it out again when Echo's show airs. But hopefully not...)

But the cameos were fun, and felt correct for a show dealing with superhero law and tropes-- you do need a whole bunch of superheroes and villains around for that sort of thing, and I like that they went for an eclectic mix of big names and more obscure characters. Anyone who follows my Iron Fist blog might have seen me freaking out about the surprise appearance of El Aguila, one of my favorite side characters from Power Man and Iron Fist volume 1 (more freaking out will be forthcoming; I'm going to write a post about him when I have two seconds to spare). His MCU counterpart was kind of a parody version of the character, but that was true for many of the D-listers in the show, and I'd never expected to get El Aguila in anything, so I was still pretty dang thrilled. He even had his mutant powers! Amazing! We got MCU El Aguila before, like, MCU Scott Summers.

He also appeared alongside Man-Bull, who is a wonderfully weird Daredevil villain who I also never expected to see adapted. The decision to use El Aguila rather than the more obvious Matador was a little surprising (though I didn't mind at all), but a friend told me that she thought she had heard that they weren't allowed to use the Matador...which is intriguing... Hopefully it's because he's going to be the Big Bad in Daredevil season 4. One thing I was fairly disappointed by was the fact that we didn't get an appearance from Trish Walker, whose modern-day comics counterpart Patsy Walker/Hellcat is very close friends with Jen. However, considering MCU Trish's current situation, I can see why they made that choice. Tonally, this wasn't the right place to continue her story. Fingers crossed, though, for future interactions. Someone needs to get her out of prison!

But anyway, on to the main focus of this post-- this guy:

They definitely made this Leap-Frog hype-up ad as a joke, because hahaha, who gets excited about Leap-Frog, right? Joke's on them: I get excited about Leap-Frog. I was losing my tiny Silver-Age-Daredevil-fan mind that entire night, even knowing that it would be a while before I'd actually be able to watch the episode. Do you know how amazing it is that we got Leap-Frog in this thing? Leap-Frog in a largely comics-accurate costume? Leap-Frog who was allowed to be Silver Age goofy? Leap-Frog with a CATCHPHRASE? (I'm largely allergic to MCU things being imported into the comics-- if I have to open a Daredevil issue and read "the Devil's of Hell's Kitchen" with my own two eyes ever again, it's going to be my supervillain origin), but if 616 Leap-Frog were to start saying "ribbit and rip it", it wouldn't bother me. In all honesty, I didn't think he quite lived up to the hype. He was essentially a different character, and wasn't tremendously Leap-Frog-y when you got right down to it. But seeing him bouncing around in that green rubber costume still filled me with joy, and gave me hope that this might open the door for other such characters. Other fun, wacky, classic Silver Age villains who are long (emphasis on long) overdue an MCU debut. Stilt-Man. I'm talking about Stilt-Man.

In any case, I hope that anyone who might not have checked out She-Hulk yet will give it a try. It's a fun ride.

Psyche. Okay, yes, I'm also going to talk about Daredevil.

To be brief: I really, really liked this cameo. My interest in MCU Daredevil pretty much died in 2018 with the Big Cancellation, and as many bolts of lightning as I shoot through it (or...Hand ninja I sacrifice for it? I guess that's more on-theme), I haven't managed to revive it yet. It was fun while it lasted, but it's not a version of the character that really appeals to me much in isolation, and at the end of the day, I'm a Daredevil fan because I like the comics.

I also have the same issues with Charlie Cox playing Matt Murdock that I think a lot of people have, though that's not something I really feel I need to go into in this post. On the most superficial and shallow level possible (sorry), he just doesn't look like Matt to me, which is something I was able to overcome in the Netflix shows because when you're watching something for thirteen hours straight, eventually your brain adapts. But getting this brief cameo after having not seen him for four years, it was extra jarring, and it actually threw me out of the story a few times. He walked into the courtroom in that one scene and said he was Matt Murdock, and I'm afraid my immediate reaction was, "Pfff, what? No, you're not." (Also...his American accent has not really improved, which was just something I'd assumed he would have been working on.)

But my longstanding quibbles about casting aside (and to be clear, I love that people like the asker above like him in the role! I think for many people who got into DD through the MCU, he is their Matt Murdock, and I fully respect that), this is the live action Daredevil content that I've been waiting for ever since it became clear that the Netflix show was wedded to its dark, tortured version of the character and would not be touching on many of the other attributes that make Matt interesting to me. If this had come out at least five years ago, I would have gone completely bonkers over it-- and even now, I had a thoroughly great time watching this cameo. I had hoped, but I'd never, ever imagined that we'd actually get the yellow suit--especially after the Netflix show picked the practical-but-boring Man Without Fear/"Trial of the Incredible Hulk" outfit as his origin costume. And you know what? It looked pretty good.

For a "grounded" live action take, I think they did a decent job of translating the feel of the yellow costume while being shackled to a certain expected MCU DD aesthetic as established by the Netflix show's version of the red suit. I particularly liked that...that...

No, I'm sorry. I can't do this. Let me just...

Okay, THERE we go.

As I was saying, I thought they did a solid job referencing this most classic of DD costumes, and I would love to see him wear it in more than just this cameo.

And with the yellow suit came-- my god-- the quippy, swashbuckly Matt I have been longing for. The fight with Leapfrog was fun! The banter with Jen was great! I don't know what else to say! Swashbuckly Matt = Happy Daresplaining. What a relief to finally see that side of his personality make an appearance in this universe, and from an in-character perspective, to see him finally finding that confidence and joy in his adventuring. I hope that the Daredevil show (if it ever actually happens at this rate...) pulls from this; that we didn't just get a lighthearted Matt because She-Hulk was a comedy show.

And the romance was a surprise, but I didn't mind it. It was handled with humor, and it's not a relationship that exists in the comics so it was a fun new concept to play around with. Plus, both 616 Jen and Matt are characters with pretty hefty love lives, so it fits. And even more to the point, as the third asker above mentions, it took a baffling 40 YEARS for Marvel's two most prominent superhero lawyers to even interact, finally facing off for the first time in Soule's She-Hulk run, so I cherish every new scene they have together in any medium because they're great together. I was a little--"worried" is too strong a word, but maybe "cautious"--about how this would be handled from Matt's end, since he's really not a one-night-stand kind of guy. He falls in love easily and dates a lot, but it's dating. He gets attached to people. He clings. But this ended up seeming like maybe not a one-night-stand after all. The last episode seemed to imply that they were still together, so...is this going to be a thing? Are MCU Jen and Matt a couple now? Anyway, it was fun to have a bit of the soap opera-flavored drama of 616 Matt's love life filter into the MCU, because it really didn't come up much in the Netflix show.

In any case, to make a long and much-delayed post short, while MCU Daredevil will have to work very hard to re-earn my interest, I did enjoy this, and loved She-Hulk. I highly recommend it if you're looking for a show that's an all-around good time.

[ladyinbooks]

Lysander and Hiraeth get muddles more as time goes on, and yet were they ever so much different from the start.

What a lovely additional chapters. You make me cry every time I read more of this and I am reminded how much each chapter end leaves me craving more answers I have not received.

I think, in a perfect universe, Retjva would leave with Hiraeth, Aubrey would allow it, and they'd live happily ever after, away from that mess of a monarch.

But we can't have nice things because Damas of the past or present is constantly mucking about.

But I'm protecting Hiraeth, Lys, and 'Vja from Damas. >:(

The way he dismisses the pain his friend felt for his own conclusions as if he could never be wrong, reminds me of near the end of Icarus Burning and Deneira explaining her reasoning for her bullshit.

Like yeah, he might have made the right choices and been correct, but also he hurt his friend and could do with, idk, owning up to maybe, making a mistake there. Harrumph I say.

This does make me interested in that one AU where Lys is in jail because it makes me wonder if 'Vja is clueless there too, and whether or not he would be angry at Aubrey then as well.

Lovely chapters. I'm near tears.

Also heavily side eying Aubrey on the whole "you never loved me, you were married" spiel when that event happened in his home where clearly Lysander was ready to pounce and barely held back. Either this man is the smartest man alive and dump when it comes to love, or he knew and he was trying to get Hiraeth manageable. Either way, biting him. I'd lose that fight because he's a dragon, but I'm still biting him.

I'm so happy you talk about this @drake-the-incubus (thank you!) ❤️ I very much agree with you: they started off as two distinct people, but I think they're slowly coming back together again (not, I suspect, that Hiraeth entirely realises it yet). It's one of those things of 'is he returning to who he was, or is he something new?' that I'm prodding around with this fic, thematically!

LOL! I did smile when I saw your version of a happy ending! I don't disagree: Hiraeth and Retvja deserve some peace and quiet! (The question is: would either of them be able to actually walk away and leave Aubrey? Hmm... I think if he upset them both badly enough, they could - as long as they had each other.)

I hereby name you Head of the 'Vja and Hiraeth Defence League! (I know you will do an amazing job! Please feel free to bite Aubrey. ❤️😉)

Oh, oh!!!! I'm so happy you talk about Deneira vibes here, because yes. Absolutely, completely, yes. We are essentially seeing something similar, but from a different angle. Aubrey is doing what he thinks is right. Aubrey is trying his best and attempting to protect people. But Aubrey is also not stopping to consider that perhaps he doesn't know best, and should be including other people in decisions if it's going to mess with their lives. I think he knows he hurt Retvja - I think he knew he was going to from the start - but I completely agree with you: he still thinks it's justified. He is, to be fair, balancing the fate of a world(s) (and more political shenanigans that we haven't seen yet) alongside the personal, but he is very, very bad at the personal. (And yes, I completely agree - maybe a, you know, actual apology might flipping help!!!!)

Oooh! I can talk (a little) about the AU: no, Retvja doesn't know everything there either, but he does know more. (Let's just say this is an AU where Aubrey has one massive headache less to deal with, and in some ways is even worse because of it, but does at least trust Retvja with most of his plans this time.)

Oh nooo! No tears! It will (mostly) get better, I promise! 🤗

I will defend Aubrey a little here (whilst dodging spoilers): he's very, very smart in some ways, and very, very stupid in others. I think he's genuinely convinced himself that Lysander is not interested in him 'like that', and the one time he considered it, he shut himself down so hard that he bounced off to the opposite end of the universe over it.

(But bite him! Bite him! He freaking deserves it! 🤣🤣🤣)

[mdhwrites]

If Marcy met Andrias again in the timeskip, how do you think their interaction would go?

Honestly, that's very much so a dealer's choice sort of thing. That's not even a bad thing. Part of why I think the Amphibia fandom has felt like it's stayed alive better post its finale than TOH's, especially without resorting to mostly writing about OCs in one way or another, is that the cast is dynamic enough by the end for a plethora of options. Sasha will always have her manipulative lessons of old but how does that mix with her as a therapist? Does she fear them? Use them when not on the job? How do those experiences dictate how she helps her clients? Or maybe even use those manipulative tactics on her clients to force them into corners that require them to be honest with themselves in order to grow. And those are only all of the positive sides of ONE element of Sasha growing into a more mature version of herself.

Marcy is similar, despite how little we get of her in the show. She already had so much promise and such complicated feelings about relationships that it's a good question how she sees others now. Is she happy about her community around her webcomic, freely interacting with them and sharing their love? Does she think they see her as a commodity and lives in fear of the day she presents an idea they dislike and they vanish? Much like she probably feared her friends would do if she ever pushed too hard with her interests? Or does she keep them at arm's length, just focusing on the creation of her comic and interacting with her community as she needs to but keeping them out of her mind mostly?

And this is all preamble to the point that how she reunites with Andrias is kind of dealer's choice. Not just with Marcy but also with Andrias. After all, while he obviously should feel guilty and remorseful, those are painful emotions that manifest in a lot of different ways. Does he try to seek forgiveness from her? Does he believe forgiveness is possible? Does he avoid her, even if assured that she holds no ill will towards him, because he believes himself to truly hurt Marcy too much? After all, what he did was reprehensible and he knew how terrible it was the entire time. Not only that but time obviously eroded Andrias to the point where much of the evil he'd committed was almost easy for him. If not as simple as breathing at times. Do you ever trust yourself with that again, let alone if Marcy IS willing to forgive?

(Petty sidenote: THAT is how you write a character who has the right to believe they shouldn't get involved no matter what. By having them have actively chosen wrong in the past and done so all too easily and so they don't know if they can trust themselves. That they themselves don't know if they won't fall into temptation again because they have shown themselves to be weak before.)

And again: IF Marcy is willing to forgive. Marcy never went through the same arcs that Anne and Sasha did. While she has a kind enough heart to be forgiving by her base nature, she might not be willing to do so for this. That might even be what Andrias would prefer. He practically comforted himself through believing Lief had given up on him after all because it made his evil easier to do. If Marcy hates him, his self imposed exile and hermitage that the end hints he's gone on to do will feel all the more justified and correct to him.

Or maybe they're not on the same wavelength and Marcy is furious at him and that catches him off guard. That Marcy has grown up so independent and better equipped to defend herself makes her all the angrier at him when he was still expecting young Master Marcy who might accept his apology and want to hear about what he's learned in her absence. Maybe she is willing to forgive him but he actually gets enraged at that? Instead of avoiding her, in fact playing the bad guy briefly again to explicitly see about trying to make the lesson he thinks she should have learned stick. That not everyone can be good. Let alone him.

The way Amphibia ends is ripe with questions like this that a series post time skip could easily draw upon. Hell, if they were okay with retconning the ending, we only see Amphibia couple years after the events of the show, not the full ten so we could pull in the girls as older teenagers or just barely 18 for a second visit. It would still be different than the full ten years version of them and seeing them inbetween their fully mature adult counterparts and them at 13 trying to handle what the lessons they learned mean for themselves could be neat.

I do want to make something clear though: I consider all this open space, all this stuff they could do in the future a STRENGTH of the ending. The ending itself is still very powerful and great for the series itself and I wouldn't want them to have tried to touch on these complexities and muddy the water or the like. Not only that but having these questions less highlights flaws with the ending and more to me highlights the strength of the character writing. That we can ask such large questions about how a scene like that would go down, the fact that a definitive answer is close to impossible without more details on the older selves, is GREAT for fanfic writers, comic creators, etc.

It also will continue to make my eye twitch since even with me wanting to do monster themed stories for Amphibia and knowing all this potential space exists, my brain STILL won't let me just dive in. *sigh*

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I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

A Twitter you can follow too

And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.