#no casual interests we hyperfixate like men

[monochrome-stars]

his ass is NOT listening

i swear siffrin is curing my artblock. theyre so easy to draw its insane

[izukutsuki]

literally ive been like this for a week straight

[capswarmedals]

BBC GHOSTS: DEEP DIVE

"You're a bloody fool, James!" - Ben Willbond, Inside Ghosts: A Christmas Gift.

CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR CHRISTMAS EPISODE AND SEASON 5. BE WARNED.

Okay, just before we start, I WILL be referring to BOTH James and The Captain. Wait and see, your poor little dumplings.

We all know The Captain. Brave, stern, always has a stiff upper lip and of course, most obviously, he's an ABBA loving star. Joking (not really though)!! The most obvious part is that he is gay, but he hides it deep down inside himself. You'd have to kill him to find out or well, you know what I mean (/ref). That part deep down inside himself is James. James. The real person, the person under the mask, the villain, the mastermind of it all. Except that... James isn't really anything like The Captain. James is not brave, not stern, never has a stiff upper lift, but he's still an ABBA fan and gay. Incredibly, incredibly gay.

We know that he had a very, VERY strong crush on Havers (Anthony as I will be referring to) as evident in the Cricket Report in the Button House Archives and in Redding Weddy/Carpe Diem. Throughout the series, we see James fall for men. Mike ("Yes, he'd make a very fine soldier."), Adam, the director ("Yes, though I might just... Check."), Pat (even though it's not as obvious, but it's certainly there).

Many people, including myself, head canon James/The Captain to be autistic, and I can very much add some reason and proof to these reasons.

1. A very strict routine. This man will NOT let go of routine, and it is clear in 4x02 (Speak As Ye Chooses) where he states: "It's all very well saying 'At ease', but what do you do for the rest of the day?" and visible expression of shock and anger to finding out that a club was cancelled. As we come to the end of episode, where we see the man casually without his jacket on, he says "We've got forever" before immediately re-settling himself into his strict routine when being reminded of Film Club. But of course, this could be either that James is attracted to Captain America or is just reminded of his strict routine. This links into another point about change. In 3x05 (Something To Share?), this silly man agrees with Pat about how it is frightfully important to have an extremely strict routine. DON'T get me started on his almost coming out. (I will talk about this.)

2. Hyperfixations. This man has a hyperfixation/special interest in tanks, birds and basically anything remotely military related. He made a club solely dedicated FOR birds. He values his hyperfixations over secrets ("This is outrageous, I'll simply have to tell Fanny-" "No more war documentaries, then." "Your secret is safe with me, she'll have to kill me first- Well- You know what I mean."). 1x02, watching Hitler's Secret Superweapons "It's Christmas! I mean, it's Christmas Morning!" and when Mike turns it off... "What the bally heck do you think you are doing? Where the bally hell are the tanks?" "If you were dead, I would thrash your bottom, sir!". As like other autistic people, such as myself, taking away our hyperfixations isn't a good thing. We don't like that.

3. Masking/easily overwhelmed. (Basically what this deep dive is about). James is the true individual. The Captain is his mask, his shell. And he's been living in it for far too long now. He does not like change, and hates loud noises. This is clear when a club is cancelled in 4x02, and when he realizes the Queen's speech is televised in 2x07. He stress stims by using his swagger stick (Or Anthony's) and twirling it around in his fingers, he bounces a lot, he hums a lot, and whenever he matches about the place, he swings his arms depending on what arm the swagger stick is under (usually the right), and yes, I know that military marching is very exaggerating on the arms, but STILL, it's an output of energy that he does CONSTANTLY. I don't think I've seen anybody talk about the fact he hums. He does it SO MUCH.

4. Tone. Because of his ridiculous amount of gayness inside of him, this man cannot always understand straight jokes. 5x04, where they play Blankety Blank and he does not understand the word "saucy" (I mean, it is late 20th century/early 21st century slang...) and does not approve of the meaning. He gets jokes late, but that's alright because I do too.

ANYWAYS. Back to his pining.

In the first GIF, you see James check Adam out. This also happens in another scene with the quote "Do you find yourself to be distracted?" where he takes the moment to check Adam out yet again. In this second GIF, you see James slightly creep out when he realizes that he's openly saying he'll miss a man, with that look down, almost ashamed of himself.

But why does he fall for these men of order? Because it reminds him of Anthony, not because they're bossing everyone about - it's as if they're doing the bossing about for him, so he can relax and be himself. During Redding Weddy, we see Anthony order the unit around whilst James is looking outside the window (suppressing stims, but bouncing slightly on his feet) trying to spot Germans. I could see why James fell for Anthony. Despite everyone else, Anthony does not see these stims as annoying or his remarks to be unfunny. We see him SMILE when James makes a joke.

As we know, their love for each other was mutual.

He knew.

Anthony smiles after saying "James" and saying "I know". Why? He knew he was dying, he knew that James loved him, he knew why James was here. He wanted to be by James' side as he died to comfort him. To just be together, maybe once. Maybe twice. We don't know if they've held hands, kissed, but still. This is a very significant moment.

Additionally, Anthony's knowledge of James' intense crush is during their talk in James' office in Redding Weddy as it starts to reach a conclusion. Anthony subtly hints to the fact that if James should say anything, the moment is now ("Well, if that's all?").

He raises his eyebrow slightly, communicating to James that he is eager to hear what he really says, and that it's okay to be them because they're alone together. But no. The Captain completely hides James away. Anthony understands, he always has. The Captain probably hid James away because of Anthony's reaction to "I shall miss you, Havers." (his smile drops).

But... "I say, Havers?"

The way Anthony turns around. SO QUICK.

His smile. It's so ridiculously warm. But he knows because he saw that hesitancy, he saw James' sad expression. James is bally well sad that Anthony is leaving!!

Masking is clearly shown in this conversation. The Captain is preventing James from speaking the truth. And just like how he buried the limpet mine, he too, buried his feelings. And it became a ticking time bomb to Carpe Diem, where that emotional bomb finally explodes.

He leaves it to the last second. Literally. Let me show you proof.

Ben is absolutely AMAZING at micro-expressions, one of the many reasons I love to delve into The Captain so much. Carpe Diem (5x05) is an excellent example of some of the best James scenes.

Right here, what I am personally reading is that James is attempting to unmask, or is in the process of doing so. He deciding whether he should tell his story or not. This frame is important as it comes just after the quote "When I died, I never got to be surrounded by the people I loved." Blatant foreshadowing here because well, it shows that James loved Anthony and still does, despite it being 83 years since Anthony left of that year, he still holds him very dear to his heart. Of course, he has Anthony's swagger stick, which I love because he's always been there with James to help him out through moments. I love that and I love everything about that. How I ADORE Simon Hynd's directing here of the camera position, openly hinting to the fact that James died with Anthony next to him. God, everyone in that show is a mastermind!!

I also think that he is remembering here. Perhaps remembering the good memories? That Sunday afternoon stroll, or that certain Cricket Report? He's trying desperately to remember Anthony so he doesn't forget him when he moves on. For all he knows, he doesn't even know if Anthony thinks of him. All he knows is that he knew, and is most probably dead. He doesn't know what's beyond the veil. He doesn't know if he'll see Anthony. It's worth it.

This "desperate searching" facial expression is the same as the expression he had when glancing at the gate a few scenes prior to this, eyebrows furrowed and mouths slightly agape. It cuts to the gate, where we know, that in Redding Weddy, Havers walked out of. Anthony. Yet again, he's remembering him. James is obsessed with the memory of Anthony, the good times they had yet the good times they never were really good as laws about homosexuality were extremely strict. You could even say he is clingy.

Another thing is that, The Captain is one of the most favourite characters and people have been demanding to see how he died for ages! Why is it near the end of the last season? Well. I may have an idea to why it is in the last season.

James leaves things until the last second, he leaves the real explanation to things until it's too late. I saw someone on tiktok quote that James is as pretty as poppies because his love sprouts up in the wrong times and wrong places, which I think is amazing. I personally believe that his death was purposely the last one because you needed to see that he's more than just a stern WW2 CO with no feelings. He's an anxious man who's terrified of the real world so decides to seclude himself in a time and place where he was loved. World War 2. 1940. When Anthony loved him. We needed to see this inner secluded character within him to make the death sadder, which is what Ben likes, the silly man.

This also explains why he says "Is it? Is it, Alison?" during Redding Weddy because, well, with his mindset and attitude, he doesn't believe the war is over. He wasn't very good at keeping a unit of alive people under control, but perhaps he could try at keeping a whole bunch of dead people under control to keep himself busy from accepting the fact that Anthony is gone and he should emotionally move on.

In 4x04 (Gone Gone), the episode where Mary moves on, we see that James' coping mechanism is to keep himself busy. Keep himself busy so he doesn't have to focus on his feelings, but when he's given the time to pause and process it... He completely breaks down. Imagine that with Anthony when he left for North Africa.

But why does he like Pat?

Well. It isn't canon. But, the most recent Christmas special definitely hints at it. Pat introduced James to the amazing thing of baby talking, attempting to teach him just as Mia is put to bed. But once again The Captain's hard shell is back again and gives him a monotone voice and tone, rather making him seem like a robot. But at the end of the episode. He learned, and the glance he takes towards Pat is "Did I do it?" and Pat gives him a warm smile and a subtle nod. HUSBANDS I TELL YOU!

The Woodworm Men (3x03): Pat outbests The Captain with camping, yet they are still both very keen. The Captain trudged back though!! In this episode, James is awarded the teamwork badge from Pat, and when you see the scene, you can tell that he is smitten and in love. Because, now rewatching that scene with the context of his death, he must've been the happiest he had been in a while to achieve and properly earn a badge. James, I think, personally likes Pat because he still has all the leading roles (being a scout leader) and that reminds him a lot of Anthony hence why we see them working together in a lot of episodes (2x06, 2x02, etc). It all leads back to Anthony. Who knows what would've happened if they didn't meet.

I also think that Getting Out (1x06) is a good episode that represents self growth as well as debating with the issue of being mocked, as James is mocked in the episode.

This is him overhearing the conversation. Confusion. Anger. This episode is where James learns that not everybody will adapt themselves for him, not everybody will accept the way he acts. It's pretty clear that he cannot control this mindset he has, it was probably drilled into him, the poor soul. The way he brings himself back into the group is through a secret weapon (Kitty, because she's the most likeable and their relationship is mwah).

This episode is also important because of the scene in the library with James and Kitty.

"What matters more? Keeping Alison here, or letting her be happy?"

Now imagine that question but Anthony. James has sacrificed his life and soul towards Anthony, and even has a piece of him with him. This man is obsessed with Anthony. Crazily in love. He can't control his feelings for people. It just... Happens.

After Carpe Diem, it took me only a fraction of a second to see how comfortable he was. He was free to love who he wanted! I was stimming so crazily when the last scene of Season 5 (disregarding the Christmas special) was him being gay. Fanny comforted him after he came out, and every one supported him. He feels safe now.

The mirror and the draw in the intro.

Personally, I believe that the mirror represents the fact that his medals are the right way, meaning that the man in the mirror is The Captain and the man looking at his reflection is James. He's looking what he could've been. A hero. Yet now that he's come to terms with himself, James knows that he can be himself now. Free of judgement. Free of secluding himself away. I believe that the drawer represents him ever searching for more memories to grasp onto, more things about Anthony to remember. I also think it represents the fact that there is something inside of him that is worth looking for, and that thing deserves to be looked for and looked after. The draw is pulled out as far as it can go, so this could point to the fact that there is something buried within the house that needs to be found and given back to him. Could be the limpet mine. Or perhaps that William letter truly was a love letter.

OVERALL:

James is a different man to The Captain. The Captain is merely a costume or a nickname James wears knowing full well of the man he is underneath those perceived images of him. James is a coward. James is obsessed with Anthony. His heart has bled so much he has to rely on the small amount of attention from someone so he can carve it out and then offer it to those people who attention has been wasted on him. Ben is an amazing actor and writer who threads things together so subtly and sneakily it's insane. James won't let go of the military mindset, just incase he meets Anthony when he moves on. He thinks that no one will fall in love with the present him so he tries his best to act like his old self. Ben is right. You certainly are a fool, James. But oh, how I love your character.

[incorrect-fh-quotes]

Riz: No casual interests, we hyperfixate like men.

[crescentpaws]

hellooo all

little introduction post:

- i’m max 🔥

- i’ve been obsessed with kotlc for years now unfortunately (no casual interests we hyperfixate like men). have only really been involved with the fandom on instagram until now though

- my favorite kotlc character is fintan. if you follow me on ig you already know this because he is literally all i talk about. kotlc instagram’s #1 fintan stan. so yeah you will definitely be seeing him a lot. i’m so mentally ill about this fictional asshole. i have more headcanons than shannon messenger does.

- also just gonna get this out there i think keefe is overrated. so don’t expect me to draw him often (sorry </3)

- second fav character is marella! we love our pyrokinetics

- i’m mostly a digital artist (though i do my sketches on paper usually), but i do traditional art occasionally too!

- i’m gonna be posting just my kotlc art on here! if you’re interested in seeing other art that’s not just exclusively kotlc, follow my instagram! > crescentpaws :3 i’m also more active on there

(ps the “paws” in my username is because i used to only draw animal art on my instagram account back in the day whgshsh. but i’m not changing it bc i’m attached to it)

- pls don’t trace or repost any of my art! (reblogs are fine ofc) you can use my stuff for pfps, edits, etc but make sure you give credit!

- you’re welcome to send in drawing requests, but there’s no guarantee that i’ll get to it

- spam liking/reblogging is totally chill

-☆-

pokémon side blog: @sunsteel-strike

little nightmares side blog: @tiny-flickers

ao3: here

(^^ by @sunflowers-and-scales and @the-way-astray)

[xthescarletbitch]

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾ masterlist ☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

18+, mdni

hola! welcome to my hellhole of a blog where i post about multiple fandoms. as my bio says, i enjoy sharing my unhinged thoughts and game captures.

i’m also always down for some new mutuals/friends if we share the same interests. ♡

current hyperfixation(s): dbh, horizon, and bg3

now, to start off (subject to change):

this blog is not for minors. if i suspect you're a minor, i will hit that block button. please respect my wishes.

this goes without saying, but i’ll say it anyway. no racists, terfs, bigots, etc. fuck all the way off.

i am a lesbian, so i write (and post) for wlw/nblw and not for men. i may use gendered language in my writing, too.

my content will most likely be labelled as mature, so you need to have that enabled to see my writing… i do work with smut.

my work may or may not be proofread. as for my captures, they may or may not be edited. i generally just post them as is.

my use of spanglish, lowercase letters, and casual grammar is on purpose. i like it.

wanna request some writing? ven aquí.

thank you for reading. ♡

✦ individual fandom masterlists ✦

arcane

assassin's creed

baldur's gate 3

cyberpunk 2077

detroit: become human

far cry 6

horizon

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[strawberry-spectre]

Spelldon is literally 'no casual interests we hyperfixate like men'

[bigbywlf]

in a moment of weakness i made a fuckin Death Note blog shshusus anyways its •@rueryuzakii

[jinlian]

if you think i’m bad over like month-old content just wait for the movie 

[gvlangyu]

ur daily reminder that i love every single yuri on ice character and i would die for them

[monochrome-stars]

im so normal about the thunder saga im so normal about the thunder saga im so normal about the thunder saga (<- person who has been doing nothing but counting down the days up to the release and looping all the epic songs. please go listen to it the music absolutely slaps)

im gonna ramble about it because i need to get thoughts out of my head in order to sleep.

i actually liked the remakes of the troy and cyclops saga! they were different and there were some things i found a little bit iffy personally, but that doesnt mean theyre bad! at all i actually thought they were really well done. i still like the originals but i think thats also because its what im used to. there were certain things i like better than the other for either one but each version is very good

AND SCYLLA. ough her vocals were absolutely wild i love the growl sounds she did. that was badass and i know ive seen some snippets of that one but the full thing was even better

AND THE WAY EURYLOCHUS AND ODYSSEUS MIRRORED EACH OTHER AND BROUGHT BACK THE JUST A MAN PART AND REMEMBER THEM AND LUCK RUNS OUT AND FULL SPEED AHEAD AND . AUGH. i knew they were going to brawl because ive seen the demo for mutiny but wow. the raw emotion in their voices throughout the entire saga. they pulled it off wonderfully

great job to jorge and the cast and the animation and production teams and everyone who made this possible!! im going to sleep now you can find me looping the entirety of epic for the next couple of weeks ok goodnight.

[glimmerbolan]

I'm an always sunny blog now bye

[biancathecrossbow]

I love your OFMD takes so much. Can you expand on this show being about toxic masculinity?

Sure! Youre gonna wish you hadnt asked me though because unfortunately this is a big interest of mine. I am *checks notes* one month from finishing my degree with an emphasis on gender socialization, and I work in the field of gender based violence so I LOVE to talk about toxic masculinity.

I was kinda worried going into this show because it has a distinct lack of women characters. And dont get me wrong, I think they can and will add more but I think this cast works well in the theme of this show for this season. This show is kind of a big alegory for gender norms!

Let me preface by saying that not all masculinity = toxic masculinity. Which is a major point of this show as well. We tend to use 4 indicators for toxic masculinity when we study it;

1) the normalization of casual violence

2) the repression of emotions and communication about emotions, and channeling negative emotions into anger instead (this typically stems from the idea that emotions = weak)

3) the glorification of "success", wealth, and power as the core reason you exist as a man

4) a hyperfixation on (hetero) sex as a status indicator (this one isnt very prevalant in this show so I wont touch on it much here)

The first and second episodes set the tone perfectly. Stede is a character who is not masculine AT ALL, its litterally the first thing we learn about him as well as the fact hes kind of insecure about it. Despite that, it is NEVER Stedes goal to embody traditional masculinity. He wants to be braver and more competent, sure, but he still values kindness, education, and open communication, and by the end of episode 2 has decided he is going to define masculinity (his pirate identity) for himself. The scene where Nigel describes bullying Stede as a fun little joke shows off why perfectly. Stede has been isolated by the expectation of the masculine, and he isnt interested in being isolated any more.

This is a key value that Stede holds, and it comes up multiple times. Another place I like to see this value in action is episode 8. Calico Jack is a caricature of what toxic masculinity is. I didnt notice until my 2nd watch through, but before Jack accidentally kills Karl, he injures and mocks multiple members of Stedes crew, consistently playing it off as a joke. Sound familiar? Theres a sense of peer pressure that comes with toxic masculinity, because men typically reinforce it among each other. Jack obviously influences Ed, but to some extent both of them are also influencing Stedes crew. At some point you can tell the crew is just NOT into this vibe any more but they keep hanging out because Blackbeard is there and they idoloze him. And in an amazing moment of character development, Stede is not willing to put up with it. At some point he goes no, we arent doing this. And not just to Jack either, hes pretty done with Ed acting that way as well.

On the subject of Stedes crew, they really show off the fluid nature of the masculine and feminine. While they start off seeming hyper masculine and semi-violent, they all break down into more realistic existances of both pretty quickly. They like dressing up, interior design, and they like sewing! But they still like blowing shit up and being rowdy boys. You see this best with how the crew interacts with Izzy, so Ill touch on him next.

While Jack is a caricature of toxic masculinity, Izzy is more the embodiment of it. You get soft character moments for EVERYONE in this show, even Ivan and Fang have tender moments where they cry. Except for Izzy (dont worry though, I have a feeling we will). And Izzy isnt just masculine, hes aggressive and hostile towards femininity. He loathes Stede and Lucius more than any other characters, and they have the most feminine demeanors of the entire cast. He has visceral reactions of disgust to open communication, and open displays of affection. Hes very locked up in his own personal idea of masculinity, which is unfortunately based heavily on the influence of Blackbeard. But masculinity doesnt serve Izzy here. He takes nothing but L's from the first moment we meet him, and the crew of the Revenge doesnt really respect him because they are learning from Stede that masculinity isnt everything, and Izzy is a repressed little freak.

So now we have our spectrum and extreme sides covered, we can talk about Edward because really, this aspect of the plot is his alone to experience this season.

Edward sways back and forth so much in this show that it is JARRING. He clearly has very little sense of self, especially now that he has spent a career of piracy being whatever everyone expects him to be. Edward is a different person depending on who is currently observing him. Alone with Izzy but kind of in general, he is domineering and vaguely crazy. Theatrical and braggy, yes, but still the scariest person in the room most of the time.

Alone with Stede, we realize that Edward is also smart as fuck, he can read and write and play the piano for Gods sake. He loves the things everyone else has hated about Stede up til now; his clothes, his eccentricity, even his library. We realize pretty quick that THIS is who Edward really is, he just cant shake the shadow of his guilt or his anger issues or his feelings of incomptence. (In short, he cant shake his toxic masculinity.)

Again we see the influence of pressure both on an individual peer level and on a societal one. Ed talks a big game, but he bends to what Izzy says because he cant take people seeing him as weak. He hates his life, he doesnt even really seem to like his crew, but its all he has ever really had and he cant figure out how to let it go. Even after Izzy gets thrown off the ship, Ed cant stop being a dick and he doesnt even realize hes doing it until Lucius points it out to him.

But he starts to change! At first its treated like a passing curiosity for the aristocrat life, but that curiosity is something Ed has always had. In the moonlight scene, Ed realizes that someone is finally seeing him for who he really is; soft and insecure, and that they still like him anyway. The bathtub scene we see Ed accept that he does have fears and he does regret the violent things he has done. Eds anger issues start to dissipate almost immediately after episode five.

But the pressure persists. I love the scene where Izzy challenges Stede to a duel, and Ed is clearly very afraid for Stedes life and he could certainly intervene, but instead he cowers and cant even watch. The audience once again gets to him. He cant intervene because again, he doesnt want to be accused of having a weakness in his feelings for Stede. Compare this though to episode 9 where, in front of God and Izzy and everybody, Ed interneves in the most dramatic way to save Stedes life and he doesnt care who sees. Why the change?

The episode with Calico Jack is simply SO GOOD for Eds arc. I mentioned it in the other post, but the scene where he tells Stede "but this IS who I am", and Stede looks skeptical, is pretty much a spot on analysis of him over the course of this whole show. Also, I really like Jacks line; "what kind of pirates have friends?" Its well considered that toxic maxculinity makes manhood very emotionally isolating, and men struggle to have deep friendships as a result.

Put simply, Ed changed because he realizes he can not have both. He can not have Stede and also hold on to Blackbeard, to being angry and apathetic towards death while he represses his emotions via substance abuse and casual violence. While some of these men are learning to definine their masculinity themselves, Edward has to learn to not let it define him, period.

It is vital to his story to understand that Edward had an abusive childhood. Though we dont see very much of it, its really guiding his behavior. He doesnt have the tools to understand other ways of being. Kids who grow up in abusive households become desperate for gaining control any way they can. He doesnt know how else to act, but he wants to. And he begins to.

So I also think its nice that after the breakup, Ed doesnt immediately revert back to his old ways. He has changed as a person, maybe because of Stede initially but now he knows he has to do it for himself. He lets himself feel grief. He opens up to Lucius and the rest of the crew. He indulges in things that make him feel genuinely better; eating sweet treats and crying and writing sad songs. And its probably a lot harder to do that than it would be to give in to rage.

Then here comes the hypermasculine devil on his shoulder to push him back in the other direction. Izzy points at all these healthy coping skills and calls them a weakness, says DEATH is better than being weak. And Edward reverts back to being a scared and helpless kid, unable to stop the pain of except through more violence. And Edward is still in so much pain, still so heartbroken, he would do anything to get control back and to stop feeling weak. So he does. Because its easier, and its what he knows. And because he now associates these good things with Stede.

I just think its a neat way to tell a story. In this same vein, I also kinda dont think that Ed really wants to leave piracy and run away with Stede. We see in other shows how characters use physically running away to mentally run away from difficult feelings. I think Ed cant imagine staying a pirate and staying with Stede, because then be would have to make sense of these two worlds and two identities and find a middle ground which he doesnt think is possible for him. Theres a reason he only truly breathes and slows down when hes on land and far from everyone else with Stede. He is still very concerned about how others are going to view him.

Obviously this isnt the ONLY theme of the show, but I think its a really important one AND I think we will keep seeing gender broken down like this. We have a lot of media that redefines what it means to be a woman (because women have had the shit ass end of history and they of course deserve narratives deconstructing the bullshit) and I think this show will touch on that as well. Its just very refreshing to see a show approach how MEN experience the patriarchy in a way that is so accessible and funny. Because the nature of toxic masculinity is that it DOESNT serve men, but we dont talk about that enough. Men benefit from the patriarchy in an overarching way, but they suffer in interpersonal relationships and I do think its time we show that head on.

Excited for what this show will do next. I hope Izzy gets a chance to self reflect a bit and chill the fuck out.

[bubonickitten]

You know it just seems like the direction that Bioware is taking wrt Dragon Age is them watering down the narrative and darker themes and basically sanitizing it to draw the normies and casual players in. They're more focused on 'grey morality' to the detriment of the plot consistency and characters. Inquisition has very little replay value for me and Im fairly sure DA4 will be the same. It'll look pretty, but it'll be empty and your choices won't have any meaning or consequences.

100%. Quite honestly I have no plans of playing DA4 as of right now. DA:I was just... such a profound disappointment for me, and it really destroyed any interest I had in the story going forward. Still love DA:O and DA2 (though anyone who followed me in my DA hyperfixation days knows that I have serious criticisms of some of the choices the writers made, esp in DA2), but DA:I took everything I didn't like about the writing in DA2 and amplified it times a billion.

Anyway, I won't buy DA4 on release day, and unless reviews say that it's addressed and improved on all the bullshit that DA:I pulled, I probably won't bother playing it at all.

ETA: Wanna showcase this comment bc I agree with it:

@niffty24

I totally skimmed over the implications of the normies/casual players comment in favor of jumping in to rant about DA. Saw the word 'sanitizing' and assumed we were referring to the way Bioware (like you said) glosses over oppression dynamics, forces gray morality, etc. so players don't have to think too deeply about real-world parallels.

But 'normies'/casual gamers is the wrong description for that sort of thing, and there's nothing wrong with devs trying to appeal to casual gamers. If anything, it's important, esp re: accessibility -- e.g. ideally there should be difficulty level adjustments etc. so that more people can enjoy a game. And a lot of times the implication when someone refers to normies/casual is "casual games, simulators, etc. aren't REAL games," which is... just gatekeeping nonsense. Not everything has to be Dark Souls levels of difficulty to count as a "real" game.

And I'll go out on a limb and say that Bioware (and other big devs) care less about, like... appealing to casual gamers and accommodating for accessibility than they do about making a profit. So it's not casual gamers they're trying to appeal to -- it's, like you said, men, white people, abled people, etc., particularly that loud demographic of gamers who like to cry "social justice warriors"/"forced diversity" at anything that resembles social commentary or, like... anyone trying to engage in meta-analysis about a game. (Because apparently video games are art but not the kind we're allowed to critique, lmao.)

[pensbridgrton]

I find it very interesting how everyone either like or doesn’t care about the men interested in the Bridgerton woman or who they might be interested in (Dorset or Theo respectively ). But when it’s a real issue when it comes to the woman, Bridgerton men are involved with(siena or Marina). Of course I understand it’s because it messes with the narrative of reforming the rake. If Marina and Siena were interested in the Bridgerton boys but they showed no interest back, they would get much less hate. Like the way people hyperfixate on these two on Twitter is just sad. Sometimes this fandom is too much.

(cont.) Part 2: what I meant to say is what they hate about these two characters isn’t that they liked the Bridgerton boys. But that the Bridgerton boys liked them back instead of treating them as disposable. It’s every fandom.

--

Yep, still applies here on people calling Edwina a brat. Luckily, that's less fandom and more casual viewers. While I do see people not liking Theo, it's much less intense than anything Marina or Siena got; but I also wonder if it's because the show tends to write ALL their characters are more unlikeable... but we tend to notice it more in the female characters than male ones. But I dunno, this is an old ask, sorry I'm just getting to it.

[boop-le-snoot]

skin starving

tony stark x f!reader fluff. no warnings, just a few f-bombs. touch starved tony’s third person pov. words: 2,5k. no beta because i just really needed to get this off my chest.

recommended music to go with the story: two feet - 'love is a bitch' & 'quick musical doodles'. Or any lo-fi hip-hop radio really.

It started as an itch. At first, a small but bothersome thing, that kept him up at night, steering the already unreasonable hours of wakefulness into dangerous territory. The cold of his bed was unappealing and more often than not, he’d started passing out on the flat surfaces nearest to him: workshop, lab, common room couch, the lazy boy in Bruce’s apartment.

The team noticed, of course, they weren’t blind. They all had been on edge the first few months after Pepper left him. They expected him to act out, lock himself up in his lab or go back to his old habits of boozing and bringing home a different girl every night. And he had tried that, once or twice, but airheaded twenty-somethings weren’t appealing anymore. Most of the time their ass kissing and blatantly flattery annoyed him further into self-loathing abyss. He simply couldn’t step up to be the kind of man they described him to be - it seemed as if every woman on planet Earth had a whole list of expectations he specifically could not meet.

With Thor off planet, not one remaining person on the team was particularly touchy-feely. And that was the thing with Tony Stark: as an engineer, as a mechanic, he made his way through the world hands-first, every approach he had was hands-on. During late nights and early mornings, he laid in bed, sleepless and dreamless, desperately refusing to admit his own touch starvation.

Whenever Rogers threw an arm around his shoulders during a particularly successful team bonding activity, it took every ounce of willpower Tony had to not lean into it and purr like a cat. He hadn’t truly forgiven Steve for his cold, cruel words of criticism shortly after Pepper’s departing. He wasn’t going to chummy up to a man who thought him selfish, opportunistic and self-absorbed.

Tony became irritable and withdrawn. He simultaneously craved and avoided even the casual, friendlier attention his teammates gave him on a daily basis. His usual snark became that much more biting, having caused several people to storm out of team meetings.

On a cold autumn morning, Tony had found his way at the tower’s Starbucks on the employee floor. He had squeezed a generous five hours of restless sleep and he was sick of the plain black coffee in his kitchen. A spontaneous desire for something sweet and creamy and caffeinated led him to the place in line at the cafeteria, only a few early birds ahead of him.

Tony’s brain was hazy as it had been past few weeks, dull from the lack of rest and the hyperfixation of his own skin feeling alien to him. For once, he wasn’t typing away on his StarkPhone as he usually did to avoid being bothered; Tony stared straight ahead, unseeing, nothing but white noise in his usually racing brain.

Two women stood in front of him and he couldn’t help but overhear a part of their conversation.

“… Are you really horny or just lonely or touch-starved, though? I mean, Tinder? It’s not really your style.��

“Eh, I dunno. Probably the second but it’s not like men go on Tinder to find a cuddle buddy.”

“Well, maybe? I’ve heard about arrangements like that.”

“No offense, babe, but it’s probably kids in their early twenties. Those gen-z’s, babe, are weird. I’m not really up to date on all of that.”

The topic of the conversation was what piqued Tony’s interest; the world liked rubbing salt into his wounds and hysterically laugh at his misfortune. Bleary-eyed, he briefly scanned the two women: both appeared to be interns or junior techs in his company, evident by the purple employee badges hanging from their bags.

“So what are you going to do?” One woman asked the other as their turn to order took Tony one step closer to obtaining his desired caffeine.

“Unless someone normal magically appears with an offer of no-strings-attached, good ole’ snuggle fest, I guess I’m getting dicked down on Saturday,” The other replied with a teasing tone. The lack of excitement in the last part of the sentence was obvious.

“Gross,” The first one shook her head and hurriedly rattled off her order to the barista who looked about as disgruntled as Tony felt.

Hours and three coffees later, Tony’s overactive brain was still stuck on that woman from the cafeteria. Her back, her purse stuffed full of colorful manila folders, her neatly gathered hair - Tony Stark had nearly perfect memory and he remembered every single detail despite his brain fog. Objectively, she was attractive, no more no less than a different dozen of women he’d seen at any point in his life before. So why was he hung up on her?

It didn’t take him a long time to find her file, faster than he’d liked to admit. Manually sorting through hundreds of interns, lab technicians and various second-tier employees wasn’t exactly considered productive but with Pepper and her nagging out of the picture, Tony could afford to slack off a little bit.

So he found her name and her e-mail address, skimmed over her performance report with satisfaction, finding her to be a busy bee in the 90-th percentile. Her superiors considered her trustworthy, hard-working and communicative, all good traits.

Pepper’s absence meant he’d have no one to cover his ass should he get slapped with a harassment suit; however, he was the Tony Stark after all. He had more money that he’d cared to count and an army of lawyers at his disposal 24/7.

Amidst the jumbled mess of wires, circuit boards, tablets, empty coffee cups and the occasional piece of paper, Tony typed up an e-mail to the woman sharing his… Condition.

“I heard you and your friend talking at Starbucks. I could use a cuddle buddy. Wine and Netflix at my place? What’s your takeout preference?”

No. That came off way too creepy, like he was some kind of a dirty eavesdropper.

He contemplated some more, typing up and erasing multiple e-mails with various proposals: his penthouse, her place, a three Michelin star restaurant, a walk in the park. Almost all of it screamed ‘date’, like he’d drag her off to bed the very moment an opportunity wouldn’t present itself. It wasn’t so: Tony Stark, the playboy genius, had his dick firmly tucked into his pants. The thought of fucking her crossed his mind only briefly, quickly being chased away by the thought of her fingers running through his hair. Her warm, soft body in his arms. Just laying on his couch, eyes closed, reveling in each other’s arms.

Tony hit send on the least obnoxious option. He baited his breath, clicking his fingers in anticipation as the message showed itself to having been delivered.

“Mary, is this you trying to be funny? Stark is going to fire you if he finds out you’re impersonating him to stop your friend from going on a questionable date. Grow up.” Came the very prompt reply, ending with a short string of angry emojis. Tony could totally trust a person who used emojis unironically and generously.

“For the record, I wouldn’t be mad if somebody pretended to be me for the sake of saving their cute friend from a creep. The problem would be making it look credible.” Tony typed up the answer without thinking, quickly snapping a picture of himself holding the Starbucks cup with his name written on it, throwing his usual sloppy peace sign. He attached it to the email and hit send.

“WTF” Came the reply not a minute afterwards. He let it sink in, giving the woman some time to gather her wits. She did not disappoint. “Okay, even if we pretend this is real - which I doubt - what’s in it for you? If you heard our conversation, you surely know my stance on the matter.”

“I’m always glad to prove you wrong. I’m a genius - comes with the territory.” Tony simply couldn’t resist adding a generous dose of snark. “You’re welcome to meet me after clocking out. Use the private elevator, my AI will beam you up.”

The reply took a considerably long amount of time, seeing as previously, she typed back rather quickly. “Please don’t be a creepy rapist, Scotty. Fingers crossed.” Tony managed to almost break his stylus twice. His hands shook, and he had to tell himself to breathe - still, he laughed at the clever way she replied.

Several more hours later, during which Tony had nearly paced a hole through various floors on the residential side of the tower, he took a quick shower, dressed in a flattering but comfortable designer sweatpants and polo combo and made himself at home on the obscenely large living room sofa on his own, private penthouse floor.

He was up and running towards the elevator when Friday’s voice notified him of the woman entering the elevator on the employee floor. Tony tousled his hair, adjusted his glasses, fiddled with the drawstring of his pants.

The woman was wearing casual office wear, pants and a loose blouse, a lab coat loosely draped over her arm and her purse hanging off the shoulder on a thin strap. Her hair was loose now, a little frizzy as if she continuously ran her hands through it. Tony quietly rejoiced at not being the only nervous one.

Clever eyes scanned the room with unhurried interest before finally landing on him. “Not too shabby, if I say so myself,” The corners of her mouth tilted in an attempt at a smile, it was obvious she was studying him.

“Thanks, I try my best,” Tony smirked. Humble he was not. “So, how do you want to do this?”

“I see a comfortable couch,” She looked to be grateful for being given the opportunity to lead this interaction. “Let’s park our behinds on it, bicker for ten minutes about a movie choice and settle on one none of us really like. Then we can tell each other our no-no zones and, well, yeah,” She started out confidently. Probably practiced in the elevator. But towards the end, her shyness took over.

For Tony, it was kind of cute. A nice change from suck-ups that flocked him at every social gathering in hopes of getting something out of him. The woman that had tossed her bag carelessly on the far end of the couch and untucked her blouse looked and felt like the exact opposite of those people. She looked willing to give.

Tony sat next to her, keeping a couple of inches of free space between them. “Food preferences? Food allergies?” He asked, tapping the food delivery application.

“Nope, and I will eat just about anything.” He felt more than saw her side-eyeing him. Both of them were jittery. So uncharacteristic for Tony, to be blushing and stammering like a high school boy. Sex was easy, but intimacy? Complex. It was addictive and eventually, painful.

Movie decisions were surprisingly easy and she said so. They settled on a Tarantino classic, an old flick neither of them had watched in a long time. As the discussion progressed, Tony used his wits to find out more about her without making it seem like an interrogation. He had run a background check on the woman and her family but those only went that far, besides, it was a great opportunity to practice the tips Natasha had shared with him at one point or another. Being friends with spies had it’s perks.

They ate their food until their bellies were full. A comfortable, relaxing stupor, being warm from the inside out.

Tony noticed when the woman spoke, she spoke with her hands. She had caught herself grasping his forearm multiple times when they’d got more passionate about their discussion. And what Tony loved the most was that she refused to apologize. He saw a kindred soul in the woman; quiet until something struck her fancy. Then, she became a whirlwind of ideas and opinions.

In no time, it became a natural action to extend his arm and wrap it around her shoulders, reclining backwards. There was little grace in laying belly-up like a dead fish but the woman didn’t seem to mind. Watching him out of the corner of her eye, she laid down sideways, throwing a leg over one of his own.

Her palm traced the outline of his arc reactor when something on the screen caught her in a moment of intense interest. Tony preferred to avoid the cursed thing - scars around it definitely did not do any favour to his aging, marked body - but he found himself exhaling the tension when it was obvious the woman really did not care. An occasional quiet hum of satisfaction was the only noise that came from her: he noticed the sound escaped her lips every time his thumb began fiddling with the sleeve of her blouse and rubbed against her arm.

He was quite content. It was warm, he was surrounded by so much warmth.

The hug was mutual when she left home, both of them comfortable with the gesture for people who had met in a rather unconventional way.

She started coming over a couple of times a week, a quiet evening of the best takeout in NYC and (mostly) interesting movies. A solace, always a single e-mail away.

Tony saw her in the cafeteria once or twice; he appreciated the brief, tiny secretive grin she gave him out of her friend’s eyesight. She never approached him. He was grateful for that. He didn’t want to deal with all the drama and all the fuss surrounding incidents between him and his employees. It was nobody’s business what any of them did after clocking out - and him and his cuddle buddy, they weren’t even fucking, for Thor’s sake.

Maybe they would get there someday. Or maybe they won’t. It was only now for Tony. The rare free Saturday night he had, he truly took a vacation from all the bullshit and lured her in with promises of very expensive wine, her favourite New York style pizza and the willingness to entertain watching a few of those funny YouTube videos she liked.

They did watch them and Tony didn’t mind. He stepped over the irrational fear and the initial discomfort and curled up around her, hiding his face in the soft cotton of her worn hoodie, his own breath tickling his face in warm puffs. The hand running through his hair was tender like it never was with Pepper - his ex was far too preoccupied to baby her grown-up boyfriend. But the woman moulded to his body like an extension of himself was happy to do so. Tony’s hair was longer now and it glided perfectly along the woman’s palms.

His heart was steady, thumping in his ears, overshadowing the noises coming from the TV. He exhaled and felt her other hand begin tracing circles on his back, as if she saw the stress and the bitterness leave his body with every caress, every brush of their bodies. Maybe she did?

He held onto her, held her back like she’d held him. Safekeeping the warmth inside of him. Guarding his peace.