#( i'm pretty excite to see what kind of dynamic they'll have

[sylleblosscm]

@poeticphoenix x

Normally routine service would require little more than a maintenance crew, and perhaps a guard to two to keep errant monsters away. At least, that is Luna's understanding. But the reactor that lays within her borders is a special case; one false move, one unfortunate accident could see the end of an already tenuous truce.

That, she supposes, is the reason for the SOLDIER. It is certainly no less than she'd do; and while she had been there to greet them at the border, she does not accompany the crew to their destination. Indeed, she has not visited that place since the day it took her mother from her. Still, she is surprised to see she is not the only one who remained at the manor. Monsters are hardly seen in these parts, but she cannot imagine he'd rather spend the coming hours here instead of accompanying his own.

Unless it is a trick. Or a ploy to spy on her. Or, like herself, he finds matters of proper reactor maintenance painfully dull. ❝May I assist you with something?❞ she inquires evenly, setting her pen down. She levels Genesis with an even stare. For all her dealings with Shinra's people, his ilk are the most unpredictable. Not disloyal to their company by any means, but apt to place their own ends above all else. She'd best stay wary. ❝As I said earlier: you are quite welcome here. Perhaps a tour of our gardens will help pass the time.❞

[limi-strology]

My astro observations:

I'm by no means an expert, this is based on my experience!

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☄. *. ⋆*·˚ Leo suns are pretty warm people. I mean it as in they make you feel welcome in a new place and try to help you socialize with their friends. Even though they are really popular and usually in the center, they'll talk to you, pay attention to how you're feeling and encourage you to talk more in the group! It may put you on the spot, but that's how they show they care. I find it really sweet, they just want to help you get out there and approach people. They're great friends, especially if you were around toxic people previously, these fellas will kinda heal you in a way ❤️‍🩹

☄. *. ⋆ Leo risings also have a confident vibe surrounding them. Even those who are more on the introverted side give off the impression that they are quite dynamic? Idk how to explain this, they just kind of stand out. I think it's more obvious when they're with their closest friends, they're usually the ones cracking jokes, being loud, taking up a more leader-like(?) role. Part time entertainers, part time hype people. You go guys, let's keep up the fun vibes in our friend groups ☀️

☄. *. ⋆ Libras are so charming for no reason?? Like, both personality and appearance wise, I'm amazed. I love how they always listen to both sides of the story and try to find solutions that are fair to everyone. They're generally sweet and angelic, they tend to forgive a lot (don't you think they'll forget it tho, they'll probably be more cautious around you afterwards) up until you hurt them deeply. After that, they get sarcastic and cold, you do not want to get on their bad side. Regarding their physical appearance, I've noticed a lot of them have full lips and freckles (or multiple beauty marks on their face). I'm getting a cute energy just by looking at them, I don't know why, I just found every Libra I've met so far adorable in a way. Sure, they're mostly described as handsome and beautiful (and they are, not gonna lie) but I'm just seeing an innocent? youthful and carefree image of them. Also they're kinda curvy? Even the more lean ones are a little thick in the booty or thighs. 🤭

☄. *. ⋆ I've noticed Scorpios suddenly becoming really soft and smiley around kids and pets. They'll start cooing and waving at the kids, might even talk or play with them (if they know them well). Similarly, they'll get excited at the sight of a puppy or a kitten and will probably pet them and give them snacks. And what amazes new even more is that kids and pets seem to like them back! I don't know what it is about Scorpios and their energy, but I've seen so many babies/toddlers staring and smiling at my Scorpio peers in fascination, and whenever we encounter stray animals they seem to gravitate towards them. It's really cute to see that, warms my heart a lot. Like, intimidating who? I'm only seeing cute happy people ☺️

☄. *. ⋆ Capricorn moons have a hard time opening up about things that bother them. Even if they feel the most comfortable with you, they'll most likely hide some things. They'll talk about it eventually, but they'll probably reveal small parts of it each time, kinda like building a puzzle but taking many breaks in between. Maybe they feel like they can be judged and/or mocked and want to see how others react first? I hope you guys are surrounded by sweet and accepting people that you can trust and share things that trouble you with them 🤍

☄. *. ⋆ I used to think Aries placements make you more hot-headed/aggressive, but the more people I've met, I've realised they're more on the ambitious side. Strong willed, they know exactly what they want. Sometimes their parents may pressure them into studying something they think is best for them during college, and the Aries person will probably do that, but then they'll do the thing that truly interests them. I noticed Aries suns are quite fit and enjoy any kind of exercise/sports, it just makes them feel good, while Aries risings are mostly attracted to athletic people, or are fascinated by people who go to the gym. They also have a fiery, self empowering aura going on and I love that for them 🔥

☄. *. ⋆ Scorpio venuses, wowww... Okay, first of all, your loyalty is so admirable. And the fact that you always try to find solutions and maintain peace in your relationships, especially the men with this placement, I'm impressed every time 👏 I'm getting Morticia Adams vibes, and by that I mean that I'm seeing elegance with dark themes. Also, in formal/party settings, guys look great in all black outfits and girls rock red lipstick. I know it sounds a bit generic, but it makes you stand out from the rest, even if everyone is dressed practically the same. It's like you're just in your element 🤌

☄. *. ⋆ My fellow sun square moon people, how are we feeling? Do you also have that mind vs heart battle on a weekly basis? Like being two different people at once, with one being more assertive and independent (Sun) and the other more sensitive and insecure (Moon). Your upbringing could be genuinely good, with no one really hurting you deeply, yet you still struggle with your emotions and might have low self confidence. Probably people pleasers, even if your mind is telling you to do your own thing instead, you will probably have a hard time saying no. And don't get me started on this whole conflict of what you want exactly. You finally start living on your own like you've always wanted and make time for yourself? Yeah, but why is no one here to pat you on the back and give you reassurance yet? Where's the support? Hate independence. You eventually surround yourself on the daily with people who actually care about you and show you the affection you deserve? Well, now it feels too stuffy in here, let's self isolate from all the people we love until we feel horrible again because of loneliness. Don't know how else to describe it than just 🙃.

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Thanks for reading! It's my first time making an observation post so I'm sorry if it's not that accurate, I'm basing this on people who are close to me and whose chart I've checked a few times.

Hope you have a nice day~

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

So the situation in Space Oddity is of course an ugly mess for Aro because of all the complicated relationship and situational dynamics at play. Judging from your other metas, it feels like Tom saying he doesn't want to turn is mostly out of concern for Lily's feelings (the rest being negative first impressions). So if it was him alone, I feel he'd eventually agree to join the Volturi (not as much instinctive repulsion to vampirism, doesn't believe a way home is possible, attachments are more easily manipulated by Chelsea when the people aren't physically there).

But how would Lily alone, Lily with Harry, or Tom and Lily without Harry play out in terms of how much luck Aro has in getting anyone to turn?

Space Oddity by me and @therealvinelle and The Man Who Would Be King by me and @therealvinelle

Does Tom Want to Be a Vampire?

I'm very curious what other metas you mean because the answer is no and pretty much for the reasons he outlined. If you're talking about the one where I said he would like to become a vampire, there's a few key differences there that we'll get into. He likes Lily and all, but if he really wanted to do something he wouldn't sugar coat it or lie about it either.

Honestly, no, he meant every word he said.

The difference between Tom here and Tom in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to London and How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bacchanals is a few key things. In the first, Tom's unbearably lonely and feels he's living a pointless life where he'll never amount to anything or do much of anything. Suddenly, a very exciting person is there with a mysterious mystery, to Tom the charm of being a vampire was having companionship and having an exciting new life. In Bacchanals it's similar in that while he has a good friend, he still feels his life is quite dull.

Tom in Space Oddity is much older, is convinced his life is great, and most importantly is already immortal. He doesn't have to achieve immortality and when the immortality being offer a) makes him an addict for blood in a way he'll never escape b) he gets the very fun offer of joining someone else's immortal army c) he will physically and mentally change as a person and you have Tom going very :/ even at the promise of more power (and that's very suspicious to him because what the fuck is that supposed to mean.)

Lily becoming a vampire is equally as bad for the same reasons. He'd lose control of his apprentice who would become an addict for human blood and would be inducted into someone else's undead army.

He ain't for it.

(I'm not saying it's not impossible he'd join if isolated, just Marcus and Chelsea would have their work cut out for them.)

Lily Alone

Lily alone is not for it but this is Voldemort 2: Electric Boogaloo, she has no idea how/if she can escape them and when she does try to run they find her very easily. Running more might just piss them off/make them decide she's not worth the risk so maybe better to just... try to strike some kind of a deal.

So we basically get what's been happening in the fic with the bonus of a) a lack of cover b) a lack of baby that prolongs how long they'll wait before turning her c) complete isolation again.

We see in the original fic Lily's relatively good at handling isolation/adversarial environments, she doesn't break with Tom or in Godric's Hollow for all things get very stressful, but here she also has someone who can a) manipulate how she feels about things b) if that doesn't work then there's the guy that sees every relationship she has and can act on that information.

It's not a good situation.

Lily with Harry

See above, but she has a little more time so Harry can grow to a point where he can be turned as well or Lily can let him live his life.

Tom and Lily without Harry

The fic except full throttle as Aro doesn't have to slow down for baby.

[marvel-starwarsfangirl]

Ep. 13 "Into the Breach" Review

This was another fantastic episode that packs so much into its 25 minute runtime. Seriously, the finale better be like an hour. I feel like there's so much we have to address, yet so little time. My faith in you doesn't waver Jennifer; you've guided us through thick and thin. I will say that Rampart is surprisingly a really fun character to revisit and I enjoy watching him interact with the Batch. This man doesn't learn, but he's funny now so I give him kudos for entertainment purposes. I loved the dark atmosphere as the finale draws nearer and near. This is the end of the Bad Batch. We know it and they know it.

As usual, spoilers below:

MAMA ECHO RETURNS!!! After so long, he graces us with his appearance and he serves. I loved everything from his action sequences to his sass. Watching him sneak around the Imperial ship, rolling off of crates and working his magic was awesome to watch. That's why he's the Arc Trooper. And boy was he funny too. If it were possible, Rampart would've definitely be set on fire. Between being told he was being demoted to being denied the title of "sir," Rampart was demolished by Echo. It's just so good to see Echo again. I love him so much for his kind heart, quips, and awesome action sequences. The writers delivered!

Rampart, Rampart, Rampart... what will we do with you? He certainly hasn't changed and probably never will. But honestly, I kinda hope he doesn't. Sometimes, people are just aholes who do the right things for the wrong reasons. Rampart provides an interesting moral perspective. And he's still hot. Seeing him cleaned up in the uniform didn't help either. I'm a simple woman guys. He's also hilarious and I love it. Rampart's ego is so big that he unintentionally comes across as whiny and comical. Going forward, I seriously wonder what they'll do with him because he's going to Tantiss. Will he get dropped off? Sell the Batch out? Die in the battle that is to come? Next week will tell. I'm glad he was brought back though. He did his job as a villain well. Now, we get to see him in different situations and it's fun.

Omega, my sweet bean, hang in there. This episode does so well in establishing just how much she's grown over the past few seasons. Omega's always been resourceful and clever. Seeing her scheme to escape the Vault was exciting. You can also see the influence her brothers, particularly Hunter, have had on her. Omega's become more confident and mature. She's a leader in every sense of the word. The other kids look to her for guidance as she plans an escape. I also want to give the other kids a huge hug; I can't imagine what it must be like for them. It's one of the darkest things we've ever seen in Star Wars. Also, Emerie and Scalder rivalry definitely is gonna end with Emerie's true motivations being discovered. Scalder's not gonna let her allow Omega to slip away.

And seeing the boys strip their armor of all their color... that was legitimately heartbreaking to watch. I see it as a symbol of finality. There is no going back once they get to Tantiss. Hunter's "negative" just cements that. The last 5 minutes of the episode were so tense as the boys hitched a ride. As a my discord friend put it, "all roads lead to Tantiss."

There were a lot of smaller moments I enjoyed too. Wrecker was pretty funny this episode. Crosshair and Hunter voicing their trust in Echo was sweet. It furthers just how much the Batch truly trust and know each other. It's that implicit trust that makes me love their dynamic so much.

Anyways, that's all for now. We're truly in the endgame guys. After so long, we've finally made it to Tantiss. All that's left is to get Omega, the children, and escape which is so much easier said than done. I'm so scared yet excited for what's to come. See y'all next week!

[shikisei]

based on your reactions to aa2, especially how you enjoy that the cases more relate to and help develop pre-existing characters, I’m INCREDIBLY excited to see you play aa3. it’s a fantastic game and I’m happy for you to experience it yknow!!!!!

i'm really excited too! i don't have any idea what to expect, so i'm kind of scared, but it seems like a lot of people are excited for me to play it, so i'm sure i'll have a good time!

aa2 very much had its good and bad moments; 2 really good cases kind of bracketing a pretty... lackluster one, and especially because it started off with a silly scenario for the tutorial case it had this down-up-down-up timeline to it in terms of how serious i took it. (not to say that in a bad way, i still had fun! ...mostly) however both 2-2 and 2-4, as well as That One Specific moment in 2-3 were very strong points and definitely gave me a lot to think about. overall, i had a really good experience.

like you said in the ask, i really noticed the character development in everyone since aa1, and that's one of my favorite things about this game. observing brand new dynamics between characters we just met and even characters we already knew created a really interesting and wonderful narrative. just as an example, my friends have already heard my rant about how the reason we were able to succeed the final trial of 2-4 was because edgeworth was the prosecutor; if it was anyone else, phoenix would not have been able to stall it long enough, i think. they've established that they worked well together in 1-3 and 1-5, but we don't know if it's possible again, because this time there was another new layer added to it that tested that dynamic, being that edgeworth was gone for a year and phoenix's resentment towards him for it. so having that test of separation and meeting again almost as strangers shakes their ability to work together at first, but they eventually still find that the trust they had in each other held strong and were able to re-establish that dynamic from the first game, but with... more. i have more thoughts on that and the whole case itself, but i dont want to talk too long because i have a lot, so i'll save it for another time...

i may have talked about it before, this series has a lot of emphasis on family and it's importance, how other people regard it, and how far they'll go for those they consider family, whether it's good or bad. it was very present in the first game, but the major cases of this game really emphasized that idea also. (morgan trying to project her desires through pearl, mimi using ini as an escape, acro trying to get revenge for his brother, franziska and edgeworth and how she views him as someone she has to chase after <- airport conversation made me cry and cry so much btw, and this one is kind of projecting but phoenix and pearl doing everything they can to save maya). it's really important and i think it's good.

the line between selfishness and self-preservation is a thin one to walk on.

i'm sorry for rambling. thank you for the ask. here's a sketch for you! we will start aa3 soon!

[lanaevyssmoved]

so i saw this fun post with "otp" questions and i really wanted to answer them for afhiri/gale and instead of asking people to send me asks.. i thought i would answer them all myself in a post :) lots of text under cut!!!!!!

What, specifically, was the catalyst for their physical attraction (if applicable) to the other character? In other words, what in particular had them like “Oh, they’re...hot...”

afhiri likes how confident and charming gale is, they really enjoy (and fall for) the bravado entirely. but it's the magic that afhiri really likes, how controlled it is, how powerful he is (while i'm aware he's nerfed beyond belief, afhiri has never seen stuff like this and it's very cool!), and is completely mesmerised when he casts magic- which is a massive ego boost for the wizard.... oh and he's pretty. obviously

for gale, he likes how afhiri navigates situations. they're very good at talking to people, easy to make friends, can shift into being a manipulative liar when the situation demands it, and then turns to look at him with a wide "i did it!" smile. but when someone needs help, when afhiri knows they can do something to help someone who isn't capable of helping themselves, they'll step in and do the right thing. this is attractive to gale!

Does this change over time? What things do they find “hot” about their partner after they’ve been together for some time, and have had more time to, well, notice and appreciate?

for afhiri it honestly doesn't really change. he just gets more and more powerful as they spend more time together, constantly growing in skill, and it never loses its charm. they just get more fascinated. admittedly afhiri doesn't need to see more to stay interested, but gale likes to provide more because seeing them get even more impressed by him is constantly stroking the ego

the loyalty afhiri showcases, the fact they are entirely, 100%, ride of die, they will do anything for him, if he were to say jump she would say how high. while he's aware of how self destructive this can be and he encourages afhiri to think for herself even in terms of her friends and loved ones, he can't help but be enamoured by this display of devotion and trust, because it's for everyone who shows her even the smallest of kindnesses

By contrast, what was the moment that first made their ~heart~ Soft for the other person? Not necessarily a conscious realization of “I love this person,” but a moment that had them like “Oh...I adore them...”

afhiri was slow on this, which requires some context for her as a character. they are incredibly naive in the ways of the heart, they never had friends growing up, they never experienced a first crush, they never had a doomed teenage relationship. they didn't understand love, romance, sexuality. it wasn't until the events of the game that they started to have these feelings, and needed help understanding them. afhiri's various love affairs (because she doesn't just get involved with gale!) help her understand. so it took afhiri a long time to even understand what 'i love you' is outside of a family dynamic. if you were to ask afhiri, she would say she adored gale from the moment she met him. but since you're asking me, it would be the act 3 boat scene, when she takes his hands in their own, and he looks at her with bright, gentle eyes. that was the moment afhiri realised she would burn the world for him if he asked

gales moment was during act 2, his romance scene. not the confession, but when he had conjured the illusion of his tower at waterdeep, afhiri looked around in wonder. she asked questions about various things, she pet his statues and asked if they had names, she could tell which were his favourite books from the state of them, something that surprised gale greatly. they cared so much, about all the little things, about all the things that make him who he is. they got especially excited about the piano, wanting to learn how to play, wanting to play alongside it for him. she asked desperately if she could perform for him while he read, but he had to encourage her along with a gentle hand in hers to come to the balcony. when they sat together and he looked at her, that was the moment. he was so in love

Does this change over time? What will always reliably make them melt with how much they adore the other character?

with afhiri it's just his gentle kindness. while her attraction comes from his displays of confidence and power and skill, who he is when all that is put aside and there's just gale in his goofy pjs with a soft smile on his face. the way he encourages her, reassures her, the way he makes her feel like a complete person. he's like a guide for her in many ways, a mentor even. while i understand that they do have a natural power imbalance, gale is aware of it too, but never once infantilises her, and reminds her of all the things she does and says that tell the word she is more than a naive, stupid girl who never got to be a person until tragedy struck. that will always make her melt. that he touches her, and is gentle

admittedly it's almost the same. but afhiri is loud, her voice booms and her hands grip so tight her claws dig into him, her sharp teeth shine as she yells to him with furrowed brows how much he is worth. that despite his folly, he is an incredible person who deserves everything. that she will provide everything if he asked. that mystra is stupid bitch who didn't know what she had, and that afhiri knows, afhiri knows what she has and won't ever let him forget that. he is all that's beautiful in this world. afhiri is a lovebomber btw but it never stops, every ounce of mortal love gale has been neglecting in his life poured into him and he's drowning and gasping for air but he doesn't let go. he wants to drown

How do they consciously realize that they like the other character? Does it take them a while?

afhiri kinda needs to be beaten over the head with it. it isn't until gale's silliness in act 2 about near death experiences and how he's horny to get afhiri to go "oh....... so they were right!" because afhiri was already involved with karlach and wyll at this point, and they'd sit up at night holding hands in a circle and they'd tell afhiri "gale likes you. and you like gale." and afhiri would ":)? does he? he is funny. he's my favourite clown." they're just a little silly. and of course they did like gale! he's very pretty

for gale it's quite literally when afhiri hits on him in the act 1 weave scene. afhiri is completely overcome by the intensity of the weave the feeling between them and pictures kissing gale. it just feels right, it just makes sense. that doesn't necessarily mean afhiri was thinking that before, or even after, they were entirely swept away. but that was the moment gale noticed afhiri in that light, and continued to think about it. nonstop

How do they react to the realization that they like the other character? Is it an “oh my god I’m never going to think about this again” thing, or are they pretty comfortable with it?

afhiri is chill. first and foremost. this is a chill clown. the realisation is.. chill, if nothing happens with it? also chill. this is a free spirit who goes with the flow no matter what. karlach and wyll come easy because they are more forward, open characters who make it happen and it flows naturally and easily. gale takes time because gale takes time. afhiri won't make something happen between themselves and another because platonic love is just as good and fulfilling. so, "oh this is nice" and that's about it UNLESS*

gale obsesses. if anything it's a nice distraction from the absolute doom cloud over him, never letting him a moments peace. but thinking about affection? about love? about sex? that's a distraction, and one hell of a distraction. can't do anything about it because everything they have to do is so much more important. i don't think gale would have ever acted on it over the course of the game (except maybe the immediate end) without the acceptance that he is about to die, and needs to do something now or it will never happen. the what if

Do they (or would they) pursue the other character’s affection, and if so, how? Do they tell the other character how they feel? Try to earn their admiration? Woo them with romantic gestures? Flirt with them, skillfully or otherwise?

*afhiri wouldn't unless it naturally came up, if the moment was correct and it just.... happened. much like the weave scene, if the weave didn't dissipate they probably would have tried to kiss gale. they don't change their behaviour with gale consciously, but the others do notice it, paying more attention to him, talking to him first, looking at him for affirmation and reassurance, using him as a moral compass more than she used to, asking him questions over and over an over abundance of curiousity in him, however this can also be attributed to hearing about his condition and relationship with mystra and feeling empathy for him and wanting him to feel wanted

while gale is a gesture man, and would absolutely seek to woo, he doesn't because of the distraction of all that's going on, until as mentioned before, he believes he is going to die. however he absolutely does flirt with afhiri by using a needless amount of magic when she's watching. casting spells just to impress her, upcasting for no reason beyond watching her eyes widen and that toothy grin appear in wonder, an expression he grows addicted to

What do they think about romantic love? Do they have baggage surrounding it? Do they idealize it? Is it an object of longing and wanting, or were they really not thinking about it until they started falling for the other character? What are their expectations like?

i keep lowkey answering stuff before i get to the question huh!

afhiri doesn't think about it at all, it isn't on their mind, and they have no concept of romantic love at all prior to experiencing it for the first time and being told why it's different. it is something they need explained

gale... hhahahah dkjsfdskfhsdkf do i even NEED TO. gale doesn't long for romantic love, but he certainly misses being loved. and it's worth afhiri that he feels true, mortal romantic love for the first time in his life, because i like to think before mystra he only had teen romance, childhood crushes, and then all was mystra, who gave him a love based on power and religious devotion, he worshipped and she gave him tastes of power beyond comprehension. it's with afhiri that he learns what romantic love really is. i think it's safe to say he didn't expect it to feel as good or taste as sweet as it does

What do they think about commitment? Is a long-term partnership the goal? Are they thinking about building a life with their partner, or are they focused on the present?

haha :) ok we're talking about my post-game 3 years later fic for a second bare with me and do not cancel me for enjoying toxic dynamics for a second ok. also this lowkey rewrites canon i know :) i dont care anyway

afhiri and gale are so long term they never want their relationship to end. ever. afhiri is going to outlive gale, and while this is something they are comfortably aware of to start, the more they love, the more they go through, it becomes daunting, especially for gale. he doesn't want afhiri to live without him, to experience life on her own again, to be without someone who will guide and teach her, who will be there to protect her from herself. gale tells them all of this, he holds their hands tight, stares right into their eyes with such intensely it feels like the sun. and afhiri who hadn't had these thoughts at all is suddenly overcome with grief, because gale is sad. they cannot truly comprehend this future, but they can see how much it means to gale. and that's all it takes. gale brings up immortality, talks her into it, which isn't hard because afhiri would say yes to anything gale says. and on his pursuit for immortality, comes divinity, comes ascension. what better way to live together, forever

What scares them about entering a relationship?

afhiri has absolutely zero fear whatsoever. what is there to fear? happiness? huh. don't get it!!!!!!!

i don't think gale fears entering a relationship so much as he fears everything around him, the tadpoles, the orb, the dead three, the elder brain like, there's so much going on and he thinks he's going to die, when he doesn't he still knows he could, same for afhiri, but that fear shouldn't stop anyone from being happy and in love

What fears, past traumas, etc. would be hardest for them to talk about with their partner?

afhiri got nothing. there is no trauma in this clown. there is no fear. there is nothing terrible and bad. one could say their childhood was traumatic in general and another character could be deeply changed by it, afhiri isn't traumatised. this is just a sweet clown who's ready to adore you. i can imagine afhiri like infodumps/loredumps about their own life in an autadhd tangent in the middle of a discussion . where did that come from. anyway and gales like ??? that sounds like a really tough childhood and afhiris like ?????????????? anyway

its actually so easy for gale to open up about the biggest things that have ever happened in his life, which is so funny because he says he's not told another living soul this stuff other than tara, but that goes to show how much he's neglecting his friendships and bonds because it takes you being generally nice and good for him to be like "ok time to trust them with everything!" i don't even think the depths of his relationship with mystra, like Actual Details would be hard to tell either. and afhiri is so open and honest i think it would be encouraging

How much independence do they prefer in a relationship—do they want to share their lives as much as possible with their partner, or do they prefer to mostly do their own thing and let their partner do their own thing?

afhiri is very independent which may be surprising. when gale proposes at the end of the game, afhiri says no, but does go to waterdeep with him because it sounds fun. even when there, afhiri is very slow to officially move in, spending a lot of time there but not quite settling in and making it her own in any way. afhiri also still travels a lot, and disappears for weeks at a time, very rarely months, because adventuring is fun!

this encourages gale to be the same way, going on his own little adventures. seeking hidden artefacts, tomes and magics he reads about, getting tara to sniff out hints of new adventures he could have. sometimes they go together, but more often than not they go on their own, then reunite back at waterdeep with tales to tell.

in my post-game 3 years later fic, afhiri actually proposes to gale, and is still not quite moved in. having never had independence in her life before the events of the game, it is hard to let go of. and gale would never force her to

but also they do miss each other when they're apart.. so its good for their relationship, when they come back together its fresh and exciting and theyre overflowing with love to share

What is their go-to for making a partner feel loved?

gale does acts of clownery for afhiri. dump jokes, crass comments, potty humour, putting on the clown outfit afhiri got for him and doing a little bit where no one could ever possibly walk in on them, afhiri sitting on the groud cross legged clapping away for him like he's a clown at a kids birthday party. literally just lowering himself to her level of comedy and buffoonery dfgl;dkgd

afhiri realises pretty quickly that gale responds best to being validated, having his wants accepted, being encouraged to seek his desires. having his ambitions affirmed and being told that wanting more isn't a bad thing and she will help him get more. that wanting to use his magic to show her beauty is a good thing and he shouldn't have to change. that everything that makes him who he is.. is good. there is nothing wrong with a wizard who uses his skills and his talents, and ever seeks more. if afhiri didn't like these things, why would she have fallen for him in the first place!!!!

What makes them feel loved? Would they build up the courage to ask for it?

since i'm answering for two characters the first part doesn't really make sense so i will only answer the second......

afhiri has no inhibition, if afhiri wants affection they would straight up bluntly ask for it

for gale...... i think he would learn that afhiri responds positively to being asked for love and would get comfortable doing it. it wouldn't come so naturally but seeing afhiri do it to him, gives him the confidence to do it to them, and their eager willingness to provide helps massively

Are they okay with public displays of affection? Do they like them?

i wouldn't say either of them are PDA people

afhiri doesn't act differently with any of their partners when they're adventuring/in public, they're always affection to even their friends so it doesn't feel any different for anyone. they're not going to hold hands, hug, say i love you, in front of anyone, nothing like that. just general attentiveness and soft words when they feel right

i think gale would find it immensely inappropriate to do anything PDA in public, and this is because of my own personal headcanons of his upbringing

When would they say “I love you?” Do they say it first? Do they say it often, or is it reserved for special moments?

gale says it first and they both say it very often, and it multiple ways. it is a well used phrase but it never loses it spark

If sex is something that would be part of a relationship for them, do both or either of them have prior experiences? If not, how do they feel about it?

afhiri's only experience is with karlach prior to gale dlfkgjdfgd i think it's pretty obvious afhiri had no sexual experience based on what i've said prior. and gale had a teen romance, and then mystra, so it's been quite a while for him. two inexperienced at bodily sex dummies

What does sex mean for them? Socially, religiously, what attitudes are they bringing with them? Do they want sexual experiences to occur within a certain “level” of relationship, or does that not really matter so much to them?

now headcanon time, gale is transmasc. gale doesn't have a penis, and has had top surgery. gale uses magic to create a penis when he wants to. afhiri is transfem nonbinary, and has a t-dick. gale also helps afhiri in dick related ways too. WOOHOO *EDIT: AFHIRI IS ALSO INTERSEX

sex for them is extremely trans in experience. the magic sex scene actually encouraged this headcanon for gale in me immensely, the lack of penis in the scene, the desire to experience non-bodily sex and show afhiri what it is like, i think they have more sex this way than bodily.

nothing about their sex life fits into a comfortable 'norm' for people. a lot of body worship is involved, a lot of affirmations, a lot of focusing on trans features and devoting to them. the love of the spirit and the love of the trans experience and the trans body. the love of what magic could do for trans people.

sex for them is acceptance in the purest of forms

in terms of of 'level', afhiri's level is probably 'friend' which is just about anyone whose nice to them so. yeah, but i think gale reserves such a thing as a declaration of love

How comfortable are they talking about, and openly communicating during, sex?

yes for both of them! neither of them are coy individuals and both are comfortable. afhiri might make a crass, immature joke though... when talking about sex and having sex

What would their partner do that would really turn them on, perhaps unintentionally?

uh feel like i made it clear with afhiri that Magic Do Be Doing This.

and gale.. well he kind of tells us in canon that you killing people is hot as hell so. make of that what you will

They accidentally hurt or upset their partner. What happened? How do they respond? What do they do to make their partner feel better?

afhiri upsets gale with her sheer stupidity all the time if i'm honest. he is very patient but they do be doing completely illogical things that are reckless and dangerous, they put themselves in harms way sometimes as a joke with no real understanding of the danger or the risk, afhiri gets scolded a lot and apologies extremely quickly. they don't mean to do things that upset gale, they just..... act. they don't think. there is no plan they just DO and then the consequences of their actions hit like a brick (gale is yelling and crossing his arms)

gale upsets afhiri with his lack of self worth. whenever gale talks in a way that sounds like he doesn't believe he deserves good and that he is good, this upsets afhiri immensely, to the point of tears sometimes. from the moment they met afhiri thought he was the most incredible and amazing person, and this person doesn't think highly of themselves? that's awful. beyond awful. gale pats their head and apologies for talking about himself poorly and it pretty much fixes everything immediately

They have an argument with their partner—what is it about? Do things stay respectful, or is there some shouting and accusing going on?

these two don't fight, they just don't. they don't have arguments, they talk things out. afhiri isn't someone who screams and yells and argues, they helped raise 5 of their 6 siblings, they know how to calmly talk things out and communicate. and without retaliation, gale quickly calms down from angry and frustrated to calmly talking with afhiri too. you cannot get a rise out of this clown

They have to apologize to their partner. Is this difficult for them? How do they approach it?

neither of them find accepting fault and needing to apologise difficult. afhiri is poor at wording apologies and giving detailed apologies, making point of what they did wrong, how they'll change, that stuff, but afhiri is very good at giving sincere "i'm sorry" apologies. gale is extremely good at those like 5 paragraph apologies with a whole ass graph and shit like this man is writing up an entirely new lifeplan around not making this mistake again kind of thing....... but again i don't really see them ever experiencing a situation where this would occur and need to happen. especially when they forgive each other so quickly and easily

How do they feel about the prospect of parenthood? Do they plan on it? How would they react if they suddenly found out they were going to be a parent?

they adopt shovel :)

(afhiri adopted shovel and gale was forced to be father)

What compromises are they making in their relationship?

gale is compromising having a normal, domestic life with someone who loves to read and is intelligent and studies magic and would join in with his experiments and his research.. he's compromising an equal.

afhiri isn't making any compromises, but genuinely recognises gale is. she's not sad about this or thinking gale might want someone else because afhiri would tell him to find another person to have that with and she would be cool with it, this baby can fit so many people in the polycule! but gale has never once implied he wants this and is just happy with her. it's enough, it works

What completely petty topic (music taste, favorite food) do they find themselves completely at odds with their partner about?

afhiri eats utter shit trash and has all her life, gale has a delicate palette of exquisite tastes. afhiri can't eat his food because it's too difficult and weird and gale would never even try eating what afhiri eats. the compromise is he makes two meals and she steals pieces of his to slowly build up her palette :)

How do their friends react to finding out they’re a couple? Do they have lots of mutual friends? Did their friends know, perhaps before they themselves did?

lmao the Squad is very "FINALLY!!!", and tara and gale's mother are very "FINALLY HE'S NOT DYING ALONE!!!!!" everyone is happy

and i did kind of already state that their friends did, in fact, know before they did fsdgfsdfs

Under what circumstances would they feel jealous?

afhiri might feel a speck of jealousy over gales good childhood and upbringing and love he's experienced but. it wouldn't last long and it would be like a twinge of jealousy. nothing important

gale would feel jealous over afhiri's affections for others and the easiness with which it comes, but it would go away with affirmations and reassurance from afhiri

Under what circumstances would they feel protective?

such a funny question like every situation they're in over the course of game? this is a couple who focus on protecting one another over themselves in the heat of combat! (stupid)

Would they get a pet? What kind? Who brings up the idea, and who takes a little longer to convince?

they literally have scratch :) and gale uses magic to make scratch immortal :) it wasn't either of their ideas they both thought of it :)

[twothpaste]

Paula for the ask game, if you'd like!

First impression:

wow they sure made the girl character a pink little damsel (despite her badass powers) and called it a day huh. ok

Impression now:

wow i can take the girl character and develop whatever i want about her and -- oh shit - oops - haha whoops - now she's my favorite

Favorite moment: Every time she uses PK Freeze. But really, I'm very sentimental about the brief period between Twoson and Threed where it's just Ness and Paula traveling together. Paula makes a friend she can be herself with. Ness makes a friend after braving the big scary world all by himself. They're probably a little awkward and uncertain of each other at first, but they quickly come to admire each others' strengths!! Combat feels so fresh and exciting once you finally have a party member! They both have to learn to work together with a fellow PSI user, and it's really sweet.

Idea for a story: I don't really have more Paula stories on the brain rn. Whatever I do next with Intermission AU though, I wanna develop her friendship with Claus some more… They're both book-smart and snarky, he's one of very few people who can keep up with her wit. She only knows the half of what he's been through, but she looks out for him on the downlow. Especially in light of his bad experiences with Porky (Paula helped Ness through his fallout with Porky too, she's kind of in a unique position to provide some levelheaded advice & support). And they've both got unresolved anger with their family members. Their playfully pretentious nerd banter might easily give way to some heartfelt & heavy discussions. I feel like one of these days I could cook up somethin interesting. Intermission Senior Year arc where Paula finally stands up to her megalomaniac mom, while Claus cheers from the sidewalk like "yeah paula, you tell her!! yolo, dude! i got your back!"

Unpopular opinion: A lot of fan content I see & read will either sideline her or just, not flesh her out very much beyond Yeah She Sure Is The Girl. :( Itoi left the EarthBound party members relatively underdeveloped on purpose, hoping players would fill in the blanks to their hearts' content. Paula can be anything or anyone, and can have really interesting dynamics with her other party members! I just think her potential is often underutilized.

Favorite relationship: She's Ness' best friend!! A smart pretty popular girl befriends a little fat boy with average grades n' no connections beyond his hometown! And against all expectations, it turns out they get along brilliantly! He helps her loosen up & let go of her perfectionism, she helps him overcome his insecurities & become a more confident person! Ness really really needed someone to trust as his friendship with Porky crumbled, and Paula was right there the whole time. I think they have lots of silly goofy fun together - they'll dance and do karaoke and take joke photos at national monuments. I have a funny little headcanon that they tried dating in high school, quickly realized they like just being friends much better, and went on as if nothing happened. And another, that they teach each other their PSI techniques. Healing doesn't come naturally to Paula, and offense doesn't come naturally to Ness, but they're patient and perseverant and they figure it out over time.

Favorite headcanon: My girl Paula is academia pilled to comedic degrees. She's obsessed with Virginia Woolf. She feels a spiritual kinship with The Queen's Gambit. She daydreams about being a college professor. When she watches movies she calls them "films," and you'd better believe she's taking notes.

[gffa]

Hey! Love your blog for the sw content but ngl you have me window shipping dickbabs more and more everyday. I’m not reeeeally a comics person unless it has quality online format but I have been known to enjoy cartoons. Do you have any show recs to get me into the batfam? Sorry if this has already been asked (and answered somewhere else). Thanks again for all your great content! Love your blog!

Hi! Thank you for the kind words and I'm glad to be helping to at least tempt you into this pit, and I wish I had better recs for you, but I've been turning this over in my head for the last couple of days and keep coming back to that I don't know that I would recommend most of the animated series or movies/TV series for DC. Even the best bets would be: - Young Justice 2010 cartoon, which is overall decent, but DickBabs doesn't happen until like season 3, I think? (And I think Dick dates Kory for awhile before that?) And they're a very minor part of the show, even the Batfam as a whole is only one aspect of the show, it's really a multi-fam kind of series. As long as you know that it will have some major differences in relationship and character dynamics (like Superboy in the show and Kon from the comics share certain aspects, but they are also vastly different and I'm not sure you'd recognize Kon as the same character), it's a fun show to watch overall! - Batman: The Animated Series 1992 + The New Batman Adventures 1997 was absolutely, incredibly groundbreaking at the time it came out, but that means it's 30 years old now and a lot of it is going to be incredibly dated compared to current stuff. I do still love it and the Dick/Babs episodes are TOP NOTCH (so much delicious yearning oh my god) and the flashback to when Dick was a kid are also great, but there's a LOT of basic cartoon action stuff that's not that exciting anymore and it might feel like a long haul. Cautiously recommended if you don't mind viewing it through an old-fashioned lens, don't mind that Dick tends to be more in his "angry teenage years" than his more settled 20s, and you're okay with zipping through any parts that bore you. - The Batman 2004 is another series that's pretty dated, but in a way I find deeply charming, because it really leaned into the gothic aesthetic and wasn't afraid to try some new things with the character designs. I usually suggest skipping forward to season 4 when Dick shows up (and I greatly enjoy his and Babs' dynamic, they're kids at the time, it's not a romance here, but it's not hard to see that one day they could grow up into the characters they'll be in other versions) but the whole show is just a good Batman cartoon! Honorable mentions: - Justice League: The Animated Series 2001 which I don't think Dick or Babs ever appeared in, but is still probably THE best DC animated series. It's not super complex, but what it did, it did very well, and is still pretty influential to this day. - If you don't mind reading an online comic, the Wayne Family Adventures webtoon is a very easy intro point, has very pretty art, and will get you reasonably familiar with the characters! (I sort of liken it to LEGO adaptations, it's meant to be light-hearted and occasionally genuinely touching, it focuses on extremes of the characters and memeable moments, rather than the more sharp-edged comics, but that makes it all the better for an entry point imo.) Beyond that, I can't really think of anything I would necessarily recommend to help get new fans into the Batfam characters (I wouldn't recommend the Harley Quinn show as a starting place for them, nor the Teen Titans cartoon, and I don't really personally care for any of the animated movies personally, other than maybe Super Sons, which was absolutely adorable and a great intro to Jon and Damian), because DC has a really weird track record on adapting them into non-comics mediums and I just enjoy the comics so much more. Though, if others have recs or would offer a rebuttal against some of the suggestions, feel free, because I would love to have easier ways into the comics

[adventuretolkienlover]

Hugo's Dynamics with the Tangled Gang

I noticed that a lot of people think Hugo would be at odds with the rest of the Tangled team. Or even straight up disliked by them! But I don't think that would be so. Now keep in mind, these are just my headcannons. But I think this is how it would be. Also, just as a heads up, I prefer Varian and Hugo as really good friends as opposed to lovers. So I'll be using that AU instead. (EDIT: Fixed some Grammer mistakes.)

Rapunzel:

At first, Hugo finds Rapunzel's enthusiasm a bit off setting. But there's one thing that starts the friendship. They are both outgoing. They both like trying new things! And soon they're trying all kinds of things together. New restaurant? They'll check it out! Some sort of new traveling show passing through? Sign them up! Alchemy Convention? Heck yes!

I like to think Rapunzel likes teaching people to paint. And one day, Hugo ducks into her painting class to evade a ticked off Eugene. (Guess who was snooping through his cosmetics again? Lol!) Rapunzel convinces him to stay and help him paint a simple painting of maybe flowers and or his mouse Olivia. Hugo doesn't think he has much artistic talent. But Raps thinks it's adorable! And after that, Raps will give him art tips and lessons every once in a while.

Rapunzel also help him learn how to relax. Hugo can be a bit uptight. And she shows him how's okay to slow down and enjoy life. After a life of being on the run, Hugo needs that. Things like nice rests from the lab in the castle gardens or even just spending time together with the family, (I.e Varian and the rest.) are all on the agenda.

OH! One more thing they have in common! Being manipulated by someone they considered a mother figure. Hugo had Donella and Raps had Mother Gothal!

Eugene:

They don't like each other at first. They're still sore at each other about an old job they did together. Spoiler alert. It didn't work out great.

They are super competitive about all sorts of things. Like, ALL sorts of stuff! Who's got the best sneaking skills. The best sword fighting skills. Who's got better hair.😂 A lot.

And they are definitely competitive when it comes to Varian. Both want big brother privileges! But they don't seem to understand Varian loves them both equally. Eventually they come to an understanding and agree to share big brother duties for Varian's sake.

Their competitiveness does settle down a bit after a while. Eugene realizes the Hugo is actually not that bad. And Hugo realizes that the past is past and Eugene is a different person now. They still have banter. But it's not really ill natured. Just regular dude trash talking.

Cass:

I'm going with a friend on this one. INSTANT FRIENDS! Why you may ask? Let me explain.

They both can give a hard time to people they dislike. And you KNOW they'd gang up on Eugene.🤣 Between Cass's "Fitzjerk" nick name for him and gosh knows what nick names and insults Hugo can come up with, Eugene's in for a ride!

Weapons. WEAPONS WEAPONS WEAPONS! Knives are their favorite. They regularly show off their knife collections to each other. Hugo got really excited to see Cass's. She's got some really high quality knives!

Conversations like this.👉 (Rapunzel: Cass. You cannot take a sword to a ball. Cass: If Hugo can take his knives, I can take my sword. Varian: What?! Hugo: *Grins and somehow pulls three knives out of his sleeves* Rapunzel: No. Definitely not. Hugo: We don't have any fun. Do we Cass?)

I'm pretty sure the two of them have rather controversial views on the royals. And sometimes Varian joins them.

Lance:

Again, INSTANT FRIENDS!

They have all sorts in common! Flamboyant? Check! Love to be fabulous? Check! Still slightly has thief instincts? Check! Love to preform? Check! Drama queens kings? Definitely a big checkaroonie!

Also, I like to think they both have some abandonment issues and are both looking for parental support. Both went almost their whole lives without a good family so... Yeah. Support buddies!

And I think Hugo is inspired by Lance adopting Angry and Catalina. Giving kids the best life possible to make up for the horrible one you had? Yes please! Hugo probably decides to adopt a few of his own someday. And speaking of Angry and Catalina...

Angry and Catalina:

I imagine that when I come to these two, Varian is Catalina's favorite and Hugo is Angry's favorite. And vise versa.

Not saying Hugo doesn't like Catalina. She's very sweet. But Hugo's very... LOUD. In his demeanor and general presence. And a bit brash sometimes.

Because of this though, I think Angry would latch on eventually. Maybe not right away. Because this is Angry after all. But soon enough.

So that's all I got for now! Feel free to reblog and add your thoughts onto this!

[mossfeathers]

Thanks again for responding and sharing. I'm glad these asks make you happy ^^

(You don't have to look further into Harvest Moon but If you do look for a lets play of sorts or something Harvest Moon DS/DS Cute & Harvest Moon Friends of Mineral Town/More Friends of Mineral Town (Gameboy) are the ones that from my knowledge look the most visually similar to Stardew Valley. But Harvest Moon Animal Parade takes place in a coastal/island-like town.)

The dynamics seem like they'll be really fun! It was also nice to hear the reasoning behind it all. You've put a lot of thought into how they interact. I'm excited for future scenarios ^^ I really enjoyed reading all of it. Also thanks for talking about them as siblings. You don't have to apologize for not answering tho, you can always not answer, I'll understand.

Addionally, I think it's really cool how the lionfish worked out ^^

Okay so for BigB's tail, I wanted to give proper ideas, I only came up with three sorta suggestions so I’ll also share my thought process a bit so that maybe that instead will help you further decide what you do or don’t want. So my first thought was a shark. I’m not entirely sure that’s, like, equivalent to Scar being a lionfish but I think that the reason I considered the idea is that sharks can be dangerous but, like, also they’re not as dangerous to humans as they're portrayed? Ya know what I mean, like I think it’s gotten better but like they were more feared than need be. Like I’m struggling with the words but do you get what I’m saying and the correlation? Idk. If not that's okay. I wasn’t really sure about sharks anyway. Next,

I searched for fish that burrowed. And I did this because I was thinking about why canary!BigB and rabbit!BigB exist and if I recall correctly him being in the mines/underground alot were overlapping points. (I woulda considered satyr!BigB but I know nothing about that. And thinking about it now dogs like to dig too and sometimes he’s got dog ears because double life so I think this is an okay hole I went down). I’m too indecisive and picky  and wasn't sure what kind of fish you'd like though so I only have three fish to present to you as options so hopefully if none of these strike a chord with you. This whole thing helps somehow:

1, The Bonnethead Shark. Yea I found a shark that burrows. So even though I wasn’t entirely sure about sharks and I gave up on finding small sharks, I thought I’d share this one. Besides sharks are cool even if many fear them & Jimmy & Grian come to think BigB's cool right? So maybe that lines up?

(Also did you know that sharks used to be called "sea dogs" and that there is a Dogfish Shark, I didn't do much research so I can't give it as a suggestion but I just looked it up while typing this so I thought I'd mention it.)

2, The Yellow Headed Jawfish, this fish was honestly just too pretty for me not to recommend. It’s got a bit of blue in its fins (and that’s really all I can give you on blue fish). Plus on a site that sells fish they were described as “playful and like to people watch” so I thought it might be fitting. Note though, if you look up this fish, you might come across images of it carrying lots of eggs in its mouth. That’s something they do, carry their eggs in their mouth. I did see a term for it but I forgot what it was. But if that’s gonna be too disturbing you might wanna be cautious(wasn't the first few images when I looked it up) or maybe not look it up just in case. But it is really pretty in my opinion if you do.

And lastly there's the Southern Stargazer. I guess it is considered an ugly fish so heads up on that? Personally, I do think looking at a close up of it's face while it's buried can be a bit spooky but also I think otherwise it's a bit fun to look at & its tail is neat. And it turns out they're also venomous, not enough to kill, but it's still painful, can cause swelling and induce shock. ("also" because Scar's a lionfish)

Speaking of, this fish is the closest one I found in terms of size to Lionfish not sure that matters to you but yea

I did attempt looking for, like, actually blue fish but like the Cichlid is a freshwater fish and Idk if it's a funny or cruel irony to suggest a damselfish when they are actually seen as food to lionfish if in a tank together. Especially when I don't know if it's true for all damselfish or just the yellow tailed ones. (Plus they don't do great in solitude which kept being a thing for blue fish but I think I mainly found, like, river fish.) But I guess this difficulty is probably part of the reason you said it didn't have to be a blue fish lol

Thanks for sharing what you do have so far for the side characters :3 Question: For the pub, does it include the arcade area and/or would the stage be in that general area?

Also it seems like a cool idea to include more creatures. Besides the spirits are there any you're thinking of but haven't decided who it could be? Or alternatively, any others you think you'd want to be something supernatural but haven't decided what yet?

And if it's not too much to ask, do you think that on an events timeline the potential Pearl arc would be closer to the beginning or further down the line.

And yea it's totally fine for you to leave it in the ask box, I'm glad you find it's something you'd want to look back at at all ^^ Thank you for your time and thanks again for sharing your thoughts/ideas.

anon i love you so much. genuinely you are the BEST. im so sorry for letting this rot in the inbox for so long, i both forgot about it and just didn't even know how to respond since this is so good (and also wanted to get some more polished drawings of all 3 possible fish, but my motivation just wasn't having it so just a couple doodles im sorry). genuinely so sorry about how long this took, time just got away from me.

I absolutely LOVE your idea for bigb as a shark, when I first read that I think I genuinely yelled out in excitement. You're a GENIUS. That's such a good idea, I really enjoy it and you got your point across well! I love canary/rabbit!bigb (my design for him is a bunny so this is RIGHT up my alley) and I love the idea of a burrowing fish and bonnethead shark is absolutely GENIUS. He was really fun to draw too!! Thank you SO much for the suggestion! I think I want a scaled fish design, though, but I still appreciate this one so much since it was SUCH an interesting idea. Sharks are sea puppies, dogs dig, rabbits also dig, so burrowing. Very logical line of thought from me.

Oh this guy is GORGEOUS!!!!! So pretty and so lovely. I think fish and the ocean is so cool so I thought the egg carrying is actually so fascinating so don't worry, both of the little warnings you gave about weird fish weren't necessary fish are awesome and cool forever. I don't know what to say, just a very pretty fish and fun to draw!!

The stargazer is SO HANDSOME!!! I can't believe its considered ugly :( I love that little connection to Scar's lionfish-ness, this is such a cool fish (the fins are gorgeous)

Thank you SO much for the fish suggestions! I really liked the yellow headed jawfish, the colors were just so gorgeous, so I think i'm gonna go with that one! Genuinely can't thank you enough for this, I was losing my mind over that.

Answering questions time! Here's a little doodle of what the saloon looks like! (names still pending but probably something moon or dogwarts related) Theres a kitchen and backstage area somewhere but that doesnt matter right now :)

Man, I had one draft of this response where I had everything written out for other creatures but my computer restarted and didn't save it but I will try my best to write it out again!

I like the idea of fae or some kind of land-based creature, but I feel like fae are a really complex species and just in general such a large world to also incorporate if I do go for any land-based creatures, so I don't think I will sadly. Trying to think about this in terms of how I would tell the story in an actual piece of writing instead of these posts of loads of exposition, yknow? So, final verdict, no cool land creatures (except maybe werewolf because i am a sucker for some rendog werewolf fun) . I love avian stuff though so a very high likelihood of birds coming into play in at least some form? Birds are just so cool to me. Also, there are probably gonna be a decent variety in sea creature species! Like there are sirens, standard merfolk, and selkies so far but if I can think of another type of sea creature then i'll probably add them in. On the topic of sea creatures, an updated list on all the merfolk! (also if you want to see some other hermit mermaids, or mermits, check out jalo-parker's art from the past few weeks! we thought up some fish designs just for his own use and they're really cute, and if some of the humans were mermaids they would 100% be those) Scar lionfish, Bigb yellowheaded jawfish, Bub whale shark, Cleo sea nettle jellyfish, Etho AND Bdubs selkies, Joe Hills leaf sheep nudibranch, and even though Martyn is a human if he was a mermaid he would be a mimic octopus! These aren't all of the merfolk, they're just the ones i've decided on and assigned a fish (or selkie) to :)

Also don't worry! I actually already have a barebones timeline for what I think is going to happen with the plot points I know so far! Jimmy and Grian move, hang out for like 4 days, then the whole siren plotline starts and ends, since everyone is now happy they have a good few months of just bonding with the merfolk and the townsfolk which I can't wait to think about more, then Pearl's whole arc starts! I think that's the natural progression of the plot as the stakes in Pearl's arc is the actual apocalypse bringing the end of the universe which is just a little bit more intense. I don't know a whole lot of the details about that quite yet though.

Thank you so much for the ask again! I genuinely can't apologize enough for how long this took to answer, and I hope it doesn't discourage you from sending another one in. I absolutely love seeing your opinions and ideas :) Thanks for listening to my rambling about my ideas again :D

[violet-prism-creatively]

good omens s2 episode reaction: 1

hi! i've been watching good omens season 2 with my family, one episode a day, and writing down my reactions. it occurred to me that it would be better to post the reactions individually rather than all in one post. so here's the first one, from a few days ago! spoilers for s2 e1, obviously, but not for any of the other episodes.

[the rest of my reactions: e2, e3, e4, e5, e6 - links will be added as i post them]

starmaker crowley!! he's so happy! seeing him get excited about the universe is so cool! the dynamic where he's annoyed about his work and creativity going to waste and wondering why the plan is like that, and aziraphale is enchanted by the stars but warns him not to ask questions, is exactly how i would have pictured it. the wings moving to express emotion is a nice touch. the sheltering wing same as eden!!!! when they met on the wall of eden, they didn't seem to know each other, so i would guess their memories were erased but the instinct to shelter the other beneath their wing remained, which is so sweet. i didn't get a good look at how crowley's eyes were when he was an angel, obviously not snakey yet. 

the next time we see crowley being on the bench with shax where he's asking what's the point of it all hits even harder in contrast to his pre-fall self. i wonder why he's so cynical and why he hasn't spent as much time with aziraphale! did something happen between them?? i hope future episodes explain. 

"you only call me when you're bored, you want to tell someone about the good thing you've done, or something's wrong" (paraphrased). why doesn't aziraphale call more often??!!? or maybe he does, but crowley is interpreting his attempts at reaching out as boredom and wanting to brag about good deeds. either way, it's sad that their dynamic is so different from the fluffy post-s1 that most fanfic imagined. 

lots of focus on maggie and nina. i like them, but i wonder whether they'll actually be relevant to the story. they're so aziraphale- and crowley-coded though! dark color scheme/light color scheme, cynical/sweet, old fashioned/modern. from maggie's lines about not drinking, i already relate to her, growing up sheltered and deciding i'm not interested in partying because it's not the kind of thing a good girl like me would do. nina already being in a relationship is an obstacle to her and maggie's romance, but it seems like her current relationship is unhealthy from the type of texts that were showing. interesting effect to have them written on pieces of paper that pop up. 

the special effects on beezlebub are wonderfully creepy, and so is beezlebub zirself. (is neil gaiman's post about beezlebub using ze/zir pronouns canon?) the threat of being erased from existence entirely is especially threatening to crowley and aziraphale because if they never existed, they never would have stopped the apocalypse. 

gabriel/jim is delightful! i had already seen a lot of his funny lines in trailers and sneak peeks, but my parents and i definitely laughed. a lot of the lines have great meme potential. 

there's a lot of potential for angst in crowley's reaction to gabriel: crowley recognizes that gabriel was abusive towards aziraphale, but aziraphale himself doesn't recognize that. i wonder if crowley remembers being an angel and whether he has history with gabriel. 

i didn't love the michael and uriel in heaven scenes. it's cool that there's an angel in a wheelchair though! 

we got the song good old fashioned lover boy! unfortunately, not in the sweet way that so many animatics use it. although it blasting while crowley speeds toward aziraphale's shop is pretty good. 

good on aziraphale for demanding a real apology! the song and dance are hilarious. i've already started learning the dance just for fun. 

they seem to have dropped the narrator, which i didn't notice at first because the dialogue was very good on its own. it was a fun convention, though. i wonder if any of the main characters from s1 like adam and anathema will be appearing. 

my overall rating: 8.5/10. i think it would be a higher rating if i hadn't seen so much of the episode through sneak peeks already. there's an intriguing mystery set up! the dynamic between aziraphale and crowley is tenser than i was expecting- i hope we get an explanation for why- but i guess we still need conflict between them. seeing them again is like reconnecting with an old friend!

✅ discussion in the replies and reblogs - yes please!

❌ spoilers for the rest of s2 - no!

[lionbearfox]

you should state your opinions about fontaine if you're awake! (i am looking intently)

OH MY GOD I WAS GONNA AFTER THE TRAILER BUT I FORGOT. OPINIONS INCOMING

(below the cut bc to nobody's surprise it got long as fuck)

first and foremost! focalors!! furina! she looks SO FUN. huuuuuge contrast to nahida of the previous arc but i'm into it! i love her irreverent attitude, not *really* taking justice seriously, probably mostly oblivious to the problems of the people... if sumeru writing quality holds that arc is gonna be DELICIOUS. so excited for this contrast! (that was set up LAST YEAR when neuvilette was nahida's drip quote talking about how serious she was comparion to a "certain someone" being prone to hysterics....)! and speaking of neuvilette! i'm pretty sure he's nonhuman, maybe an oceanid, and i REALLY want him to be an ally of the previous hydro archon who's trying to keep furina in check! i think that could be SUPER interesting.

other characters: did not give a single fuck about wriothesley until they gave him a fun potential dynamic with adorable sigewinne and now I Love Him (my weakness is dadguys lol), Did Not expect a third sibling for lyney+lynette but i love all three of them! lynette in particular seems like she'll hit all my buttons character-wise, so i'm super interested to see what she's like and how they're gonna play the fatui/(probably) house of hearth connection. im expecting gendou ringo 2: more exciting and i'm Very delighted about it, i loved that quest!! navia and chlorinde look super interesting as well - i'm REALLY hoping they add gun as a new weapon type that would be SO FUN and the schneznayan cast would super benefit from that in the future..

so far the plot looks super cool too! from what i can tell, there are some super interesting parallels being set up regarding illusion/truth (the magic show/the lie behind it, the spectacle of trial/the lack of justice resulting from it, the pure waters/the pollution corrupting it, the glamorous society/the suffering that lies beneath) and i LOVE Themes and Motifs so IM HYPED FOR THAT! hoping they knock it out of the park with the writing again!! designs all look super solid so far tho im kind of disappointed about some freminet concepts that did not last...

if i had to choose one thing im most excited for tho... there's rumors of a hexenzirkel character in fontaine and i'm a longtime hexenzirkel fan so i REALLY REALLY want that to be true i Love the hexenzirkel and they've been getting more story relevance recently so i think fontaine would be a great place for them to enter the main plot!!

gameplay-wise: obvi we'll have to wait for more info to come out, but looks super promising! super hyped about underwater exploration, the setting design leaks i've seen knock it out of the park as always, i'm sure they'll have some super fun world quests and puzzles for us to scratch our heads over - i've got 0 doubts it'll be fantastic in that design lol. will it top sumeru's rainforest in sheer fun? we'll see but i'm feeling optimistic! my only criticism is that it's right above the newest desert expansion and there's a giant hole in the map which Bothers Me but... historically we can expect 4 map expansions total in 4.x so i'm sure that will be temporary.... (i hope so at least!)

i definitely have more thoughts but this is all the big stuff i could think of... maybe i'll post a full analysis/crumbs i noticed of the teaser, but overall- SUPER excited, i think the story is heading in a good direction, and i'm ready for it to be 4.0 already!!!!

[fallowtail]

Am I a little sad about the end of the Ghosts' episode? A bit. I still think Hetty and Trevor have more in common than they realize. I am sorry if I am too hopelessly hopeful. Haha. They tried way too hard, way too fast. (pun kind of intended) I mean....maybe I can get behind the friends with benefits scenario for them...but I just see something there. I don't know. Just a bit sad...but definitely happy for their sex life. Haha! I think it made more zesty, that is for sure. 😆

Haha awww, yeah, I get it! Personally I'm super excited about the ending, because I didn't like how soon they came out to the house- the sneaking around was pretty much the only reason we were getting any steamy content, because it fell under "rule of funny", so hopefully we'll be getting to see some more of that soon...that ending kiss, holy MOLY <3 But as long as those two are fuckin', I'm happy LOL. I've basically been promised they won't split up for a while now and that's all I wanted!

BUT! I do think that this set up between them is not over yet- they're giving off the vibe of being the will-they-wont-they couple of the show, since we haven't had one yet! I think they'll still end up together- hopefully- but they're going to do it in their weird, Hetty and Trevor horny way, and not in the same way that the other couples are. It's gonna be super interesting for sure, and it makes their dynamic even more fun for me <3

What's really interesting here is that they clearly had a discussion, off camera, about wanting to go back to sneaking around, so at the very least these two are 100% on the same page about this, there's no hurt feelings, the fake arguing turned them on instead LMFAO, and them being in this dynamic means they're probably going to be safe in the background for a while...I think that they have more in common than they know, as well. I think that this issue between them could have been settled if they actually talked it out to come to a compromise, but these two have communication issues out the ass, Hetty especially, so they both decided to go the easy path and get themselves out of the public eye...I don't think dating publicly is something they're ready for just yet! Hetty is still struggling with her Rules Of Standard, of wanting to follow the Rules Of Social Functions, and Trevor was put off by not fitting into the conversation and then let Stephanie (and then Pete!!) get into his head...I think we'll see some more of this from them, for sure. They're not gonna just drop the plot, more is coming ; )

(Sorry, I actually had a lot of elaborate thoughts about this but I totally forgot all of them, my brain fog is awful today LOL, might tack onto this later)

[unofficial-book-of-quotes-tm]

Well then, that was Champion of Champions 1!

Now, as of writing this, I don't remember much from watching Champion of Champions 1 - and I'm pretty sure that's going to become a trend for the specials, which doesn't mean that they're bad, but as they're usually just one episode with comedians who often have been on a previous series (or people I'm completely unaware of), it tends to mush things together in my head. My three main take aways from Champion of Champions 1 are: 1. Bob losing 'cos he didn't really want to do CoC1, 2. Josh being incredibly exhausted when filming the VTs and probably a hair's width away from a total breakdown as he became a dad shortly beforehand and not getting a lot of sleep as a result, though still winning in the end, 3. the Greg and Alex bit about Josh's nub.

I do enjoy both episodes, however, I don't mind that they shortened it down to just 1 episode for specials in the future. The tasks are fun and because the competitors have all been on before, you kind of know what to expect from them and what approach they'll most likely choose. Josh's champion's outfit is a joy to behold and (as far as I remember) the most creative of the bunch. I felt really bad for him after the first VT, because you can tell he's utterly exhausted and trying so hard. And I was quite surprised at myself for finding Katherine Ryan entertaining and not insufferable (especially during the 'create a mess' task). Now, as there are fewer art-related tasks, Noel doesn't have much space to shine, though I think he does alright overall. Rob is still a man I can't figure out - and I don't know how he manages to get second place here as he seems to just wing it at every turn (as opposed to the others, I know). And Bob, well, you can tell he isn't in it to win and presumably just following his contractual obligation here, though he still manages to entertain.

So, yeah, overall nothing too exciting, but fun nevertheless. It was nice seeing the champions of the first 5 series again and have them compete against one another once more. I am aware that people are asking for a loser of losers, though, honestly, I'm not sure I want that (unless those people are 100% on board with the idea). One more thing: I wish the 'nub outtake' had made the final cut. I get why it got cut in the end, though I believe this is an excellent piece of the power dynamic between Greg and Alex.

Well, see you in series 6!

[emmym1]

My thoughts on... Captain Marvel 2019 (#22-26) "The New World"

So after reading 'Captain Marvel: The End', it's time to continue the 2019 Captain Marvel run! I've read 'Captain Marvel: The End' at the perfect time it seems as this next arc really expands on that story.

I was really excited to see them follow up on the events of 'Captain Marvel: The End', especially in such a crazy way. It was really nice to see all of those characters in the future back as they're all pretty unique. However the character that stood out the most of me in this was a new addition, Brigid. She's a really cool character and I love the mini character arc she went through. From not seeing herself as a hero (which unconciously made herself feel unworthy) to finally becomming worthy and the hero she was meant to be. This is pure speculation on my part but I like to think that her feelings of not seeing herself as a hero and as unworthy come from feeling that she could never live up to her dad. Because when she finally becomes worthy she talks about how she isn't her father and how she'll never be, but that she's Brigid and that's she's worthy. It's definetely a character that I would love to see be explored more in the future. Another thing that i really liked is how present Captain Marvel's reaction to the future mirrors that of her future version. It was cool to see the parallels between that. I do love these arcs where Carol gets trapped in a completely different enviroment and is forced to adapt. It really shows her skills as a hero in such a great way. The way she is able to adapt, strategize, form alliances and ultimately overcome whatever is thrown at her. It's so fun to read! Her transformation at the end after being powered up by Brigid was also incredibly cool, the design was so unique and looked so powerful. I was stunned when the I turned the page and they revealed her new powered up look. It feels like an early version of her permanent transformation in 'Captain Marvel: The End' in some ways. It also interestingly had some elements from her suit in the 'Last Avenger' arc. I also liked her dynamic with Emma Frost, they're a very fun duo to watch at times. I do am excited for the opportunities that could come out of this arc. Now that Carol knows about the end of the world and how it happens. Will she try to prevent it? And can she? I really wonder if that's where this run will be heading. Slowly building up to the moment that destroyed earth and how she'll try to prevent it. I definitely do get a feeling that's what they're setting up to be the finale of this run. So i'm curious to see if I'll be right about that. I would love to see it happen because it would give 'Captain Marvel: The End' even more meaning. I love that they made that comic play such an importance in this arc and run. It's really cool to see it tie in so perfectly despite it being a standalone story that isn't attached to anything. It's also super clever and if it does end up playing an even more important role it's going to be awesome to see. It's also going to be interesting to see what they'll do with Ove, now that he's in the present. I hope that they'll follow up on that as they never really followed up on the Nuclear Man & Som storyline (maybe they still will who knows!). Funnily enough I feel like those two arcs have a lot in common in terms of story. I also wanted to point is that I love the small costume redesigns all of Carol's friends got. They look really cool and Hazmat new suit in particular really stood out to me. I will say it is kind of funny how the star on Captain Marvel's costume seems to get bigger with each arc. Finally the Carol & Rhodey breakup was pretty interesting to me and I get where Carol is coming from. Seeing the future and realizing that you aren't meant for each other must really hurt, especially when you meet his future daughter. And I totally get that Carol doesn't want to stand in the way of that daughter being born. At the same I understand Rhodey being upset over Carol throwing away their relationship over a potential future that might not exist. It's a pretty complex issue to break up over so I wonder how they'll handle Carol & Rhodey dealing with it. As both of them seem to be in a pretty rough spot at the end of this arc.

This was a pretty fun arc and I love how it tied in so well to 'Captain Marvel: The End'! It was great to see all the characters from that comic back while introducing amazing new ones like Brigid. She definitely was the standout character for me in this. I absolutely love this run's ability to create new characters that are instantly interesting and makes you want to learn more about them. Enchantress in this was also really interesting and I loved her struggle with both loving and fearing her son, it was really interesting to see her struggle with supporting her son in what he wanted but still doing it because she loves him as a mother. All in all this arc had a lot of amazing moments in it and all the characters in it were great (despite it sometimes being hard to keep track of everyone). I am really excited to see what they'll do now that Carol has learned about what the future has in store and now that Ove is in the present!

[fizzingwizard]

Now let's talk about something else...

I wanted to post about this earlier this week but was too tired. New sims pack incoming woohoo.

This one I didn't think I'd be excited about, but now I kind of am. Here's why: They are adding updates which look like they'll make interactions between sims, especially family members, more interesting! Some of these are gonna be base game updates, but it sounded like a couple are part of the new pack? Which I don't really get, I feel like all of this should be a base game update... and maybe I'm misinformed and it is, but anyway we'll see.

First is they're giving us family dynamics! You can assign different members different relationships: supportive, close, difficult, etc. There are a few options which seem pretty well-rounded. Now the question is how much, if at all, these dynamics will actually affect gameplay. Many previous similar changes didn't result in much change because emotions and other buff override them. Lifestyles does seem to have an impact, and I sort of like them, but I struggle with keeping them. Every single sim ends up a "homebody" or whatever that lifestyle is called because it's so annoying to leave the household lot often enough lol. And it's also difficult to make any sim a loner because the bar for being a "people sim" is so low lmao.

My concern with the family dynamic is that it will only have an impact when sims are set as "difficult." Negative emotions make everything difficult in sims. And although some simmers complain there's not enough drama... tbh I find drama in the sims so boring. Because yeah, all it does is make them not want to do anything. They're in a bad mood so they won't do their hobbies etc. You have to do ridiculous things to make them happy again, like play hours of video games or look at a funny painting several times... It's better than it was at release, but I still don't really enjoy it when my sims are in a bad mood...

This one though I find even more promising than the dynamic. I was thinking it's too bad the family dynamic thing can't be rolled out for all sims even outside of the household, but this "Sims characteristics" sort of does that. I love love love that my sims won't just be instant BFFs with literally everyone. I'm looking forward to making sims who are difficult to befriend and sims who just don't like people hahahaha. Still not too sure how this will really appear in gameplay... but at least it will affect their relationship bars and compatibility.

Kind of similarly, these new preferences for conversation topics I think are really cool. I like that Deep Conversation won't work on everyone, and especially that some people will dislike arguments and complaints! I feel like this will make sim traits more interesting. I'm not sure if, for example, having a preference for "Compliments" means you like to give compliments or you like to receive them, or both. We'll have to see. But I think it sounds cool, especially since the majority of sim interaction is them talking to each other.

Lastly, the infants update!

I wasn't so excited about infants because I didn't really get how they'd be different from toddlers. I'm still not TOTALLY sold... it still feels like just extending the toddler phase, which, despite being a pre-K teacher, I try to age my sims out of as fast as possible lol. Honestly I would have liked a more robust Child experience better (although I think I heard that's getting updated as well - one example is skills gained in childhood not totally disappearing in adulthood, yes!! - so here's hoping).

But I do think the new infant stage sounds like it's gonna be adorable. I love the temperament settings. They really do reflect what I see as a pre-K teacher - and I was especially happy to see "calm"! Because I do have kids I have described as "calm" but usually that's lumped in with something like "sunny." All calm kids are not super cheerful ones! I have a kid right not, actually, who I have known since we was barely over a year old. My nickname for him back then was "calm boy" because he liked to observe everything - not in a cautious way, just in a "enjoying watching" way - and he never ever cried. He didn't laugh much either back then. He was a little expressionless. But then we had a big school event, and for the first time I heard him cry! The big change was too much and he just had to let it out! Ironically he was the only kid that day who cried hahaha. Anyway now he is two, he laughs and smiles all the time, still cries only rarely, and is much more active. But still, overall, so calm! He talks even to teachers in such a gentle voice and is gentle with other kids. He's very agreeable. It will be interesting to see how he grows over the next year. But yeah, even now I wouldn't describe him as "sunny." He's just a cool, collected kid!

And of course I know tons of wigglers, and cautious kids, and sensitive ones too. I waffled over "intense," which I expect was picked instead of "difficult, challenging, wild." It's hard to find a word without negative connotations for kids who have an abundance of energy and a strong will. I might have preferred "strong-willed" to "intense," but I'm not sure everyone would agree. Now what I'm wondering if anything from infant temperaments will carry over to later in life. They don't always, of course, but they often do. I don't know if there's a way to work that in or if it's just too complex for a life-sim game. But I guess I would like it if sims who are sunny as infants get the cheerful trait or something... but not at the expense of getting to pick traits myself, that is.

Although I did also hear that there will be some unlockable additional traits added! Like you can earn the neat trait by cleaning all the time and stuff. I think that's good and also means you might as well avoid traits that are easy to add through behavior later on when you pick sims in Create-a-Sim. There are also a bunch of additional traits you can get win with points which have been in the game since the beginning, as well as traits you earn through different accomplishments. I have a few sims I really love playing because they're so bulked out with a lot of traits. But until now it has been difficult to get more traits. Actually, there are some traits I have wanted but haven't been able to get because the method to get them is bugged! So I'm very pro-easier additional traits. They make more interesting sims. I remember back when the base game came out and we found out we got only three traits and only two for younger sims. "That won't be interesting!" we said and were told the emotions system will make them interesting, lol. I don't know hate the emotions system - I'd miss it if it went away, I think. But I do dislike how it became the EVERYTHING in sims 4. That did make the game pretty boring, tbh.

The changes made later didn't really affect it because the emotions are so strong. But they've been rebalancing things and adding new things and now it's possible to have some real fun with sims if you put some work into them. I'm really happy about that. I do just wish they would focus on fixing broken or bad gameplay too, though. I'm still sour about Wedding Stories, and I think High School Life was a miss too that focused way too much on being trendy and the silly idea of sims having all the options of an iphone. But Cottage Living and Werewolves were very good imo, and I also still love Island Living pretty much solely because it lets us build lots over water lol. Now and then Sims does things which really impress me and kind of make up for all the disappointments. Fingers crossed...