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local-critter · 8 months

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Welcome again, and I was wondering if I could get a Hc for how you think the M6 would react to an Mc who has wings.

Winged MC

Asra

Upon your first meeting, he thought they were part of an elaborate costume since you met during a Masquerade

But when you continued to meet and they got to know you more they realized those wings were very real

He was so curious at first, but I think he’d be hesitant to ask many questions for fear of making you uncomfortable or scaring you off

They got used to them quickly and just accepted that your wings were a part of you like an arm or leg

When you both lived together, he learned how to move around them while working with you

Helping you clean and groom them was one of your favorite ways to bond

Post Plague, your wings were in poor condition, but Asra could no longer help you groom them; it would send you straight into a catatonic state, to relive such tender and intimate moments; you’d remember too much and you’d be in agony

He had to painstakingly teach you how to care for your wings, how to stretch them out and exercise them because like any muscle they could atrophy

After the whole mess with Lucio and The Devil was done, he was overjoyed to be able to care for your wings again

It always felt very intimate and after having to leave you so much, he was desperate to reform a bond with you as equals and not caretaker/patient

Prime time for cuddles, which they take full advantage of

Faust loves burrowing in the pile of old feathers

Julian

Had no clue while you were working under him in his clinic

They were hidden under the plague doctor uniform you had to wear to avoid getting sick

He most likely didn't find out, whether you hid them or not, until the end of the whole fiasco

Both of you were too busy trying to survive for him to notice and for you to notice he hadn't yet

As soon as he did notice, he was shocked

Bro was NOT expecting that

He kind of wants to study your anatomy but is nervous to ask, doesn’t want to sound weird or scare you off

Briefly gets flashbacks to Valdemar ‘studying’ the corpses during the height of the plague

He’s nervous around your wings because he doesn’t want to make you uncomfortable; he is as stiff as a board and tense whenever you stretch them out

He loves you too much to scare you off

Once you give him permission to touch them, he relaxes a lot more

He really likes to run his hands through the soft feathers at night when the day is done and he can just relax and spend time with his lover

Malak tries to groom you like you’re his kid

Nadia

She didn’t notice during your first meeting, she was exhausted and running on adrenaline when she just started banging on your door

The following day though, when you came to the Palace, she did realize and she was shocked; she’d never seen anyone like you before

First things first, she wanted to talk to you about your needs and how she could best accommodate you as your host

She’s very mindful of them and is as respectful as possible but she’s also so so curious and is practically begging (mentally) for permission to touch them

Every outfit she has made for you is made with your wings in mind

She admires them a lot, she thinks they’re beautiful

Whenever you two bathe together or whenever she has enough free time she sits down with you to groom them and make sure they’re nice and pampered

It’ll take her a while to muster up the courage to ask if you could maybe take her flying but if you say yes she’d be super giddy and excited

Chandra feels jealous for a few minutes before you get to know each other and then she loves you

Muriel

He didn’t know until the trip south; prior to that he’d do the bare minimum of checking in on you to appease Asra

He had no idea how to address them and just chose not to eventually

He did feel a sort of kinship with you because he was different and felt ostracized because of it and he saw how the people in your neighborhood avoided you

During the trip and training, if Morga made a negative comment he would glare at her until eventually he got used to your presence enough to actually speak up and tell her to leave you alone

He’s aware of them constantly, whenever he’s around you and he makes sure to never so much as brush against them

You worry he’s nervous around them or thinks they’re weird

In reality, he just wants to respect your boundaries and refuses to touch them until he’s given express permission

Once he is though, he caresses your soft feathers as gently as he can, utter adoration in his eyes

He just melts

His face cycles through a dozen different emotions once you ask for his help with grooming because, on one hand, he wants nothing more than to treat you like he wishes he’d been treated as a child, with love and care

He wants to treat you gently, to hold you and help you

But on the other hand, he’s so scared

His hands are covered in so much blood that he’s so scared of hurting such a delicate part of you

Once you convince him though, grooming becomes his favorite thing to do

The chickens have accepted you as one of your own, they swarm you on sight now

Portia

She was so excited when she first met you

She’d already heard from the Countess that you were a powerful magician, so she had high expectations for you

And then she met you and you had wings? She was over the moon

She immediately grabbed the nearest one and stretched it out a little to get a closer look at the feathers

Probably startled you a little ngl

You were not expecting that

You’d gotten a large variety of reactions to your wings but never one quite like hers

You probably took a step back and told her to give you your space because not many people are okay with a total stranger just grabbing them randomly

Over the course of your adventure though, you get more used to her and she gets more used to magic

Once you two start dating she likes to brag a little about how she’s with such a cool magician, she’s very proud of you and of all you’ve accomplished together

Portia definitely has a pretty thorough self-care routine and she makes sure you do too

She takes your grooming very seriously and takes time off whenever necessary to help you care for your wings

Pepi makes a pile of discarded feathers and likes to roll/nap in it

Lucio

They were practically the first thing he noticed about you

He was afraid at first that you were a demon he'd made a deal with and you'd come to collect

Once you'd bound his spirit to you though, he thought you were good

Your wings were one of the first things he touched as soon as he had a physical body again; they looked so soft

He thinks they’re badass

Loves bragging about them to whoever will give him the time of day

He wants to groom your wings with you so bad but he's terrified of hurting you with his metal arm

He pouts about it

He hates the cold so he cuddles up to you as much as he can the further south you go or the closer winter gets

The dogs love playing with your wings

If you stretch your wings out they both jump up to try and bite them

They typically succeed too

#the arcana headcanons #the arcana hc #gender neutral y/n #gender neutral reader #asra alzanar #julian devorak #nadia satrinava #portia devorak #lucio morgasson #muriel of the kokhuri #first prompt

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nectaric · 8 months

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zeus & his family

its been a long time since i’ve talked about this, and i don’t even know if i’ve talked about it on this blog - but the time has come to address zeus’ opinions on his family, and how i have always envisioned their relationships.

on his siblings:

hestia is one of the most important people in zeus’ life, and he looks up to her immensely. he is protective of her to an extreme degree, and relies on her a lot for guidance (particularly when it comes to his own emotions). there have been times where this relationship has bordered on a little unhealthy but i think zeus has come to have a much more equal and loving relationship with her.

hades is complicated. in their youth, zeus admired and loved him a lot. as they grew older, and became separated due to duty, zeus’ struggle with his own trauma became apparent. he developed a loathing for hades born not out of spite but out of jealousy. part of him was envious of hades, of how removed he was, how he did not have to deal with the struggles of olympus or the pain that came with it. zeus was damaged and he saw hades so in control of it all (whether or not that was actually true) and it soured their relationship a lot, at no fault of hades. in modern times, i imagine the two have managed to overcome some of their troubles, but its a work in progress and zeus wants to make amends, even if he has a hard time.

poseidon, also complicated, but for different reasons. obviously, there was tension between them on account of zeus’ early days where he struggled to be a fair king, abused some of his power, and was generally a menace. then there’s the coup, where whatever trust they still had in each other was completed shattered. their relationship remained incredibly rocky for a long time, cordial at best and argumentative at worst. but following the coup, and his torture at the hands of typhoeus, zeus makes a very big effort to change. and i think somewhere down the line, they begin to mend. zeus loves his brother, even if poseidon pisses him off immensely.

demeter is one of his best friends, very much so in the only i’m allowed to make them miserable kind of way. their parting after the birth of persephone was initiated by demeter despite zeus’ own wishes, and they became good friends. zeus did what he could to provide for persephone while keeping his distance, and so they are pretty close. i like to imagine that they have a very classic sibling relationship, full of roasts w/ love and bonding over their mutual dissatisfaction at their childhood.

on his wife:

zeus loves her. despite everything they have been through, that he’s done to her and had done to him, he worships the ground she walks on. his affairs were not born out of spite or falling out of love with her, but oftentimes out of necessity or his rather impressive wealth of emotion. i like to imagine that they have reached some level of understanding and that she loves him too.

on his mother:

not much to say here other than zeus is a huge momma’s boy.

on his children:

zeus is not a perfect father. he is extremely flawed. he struggled for a long time with trauma, and paranoia, and fear. it made him emotionally distant, sometimes cruel. but zeus really does love his children - and as with the rest of his family, he has fought very hard since he chose to reform to make things right with them. he has attempted to admit to his mistakes and make them right. he has attempted to reconcile damaged relationships. it varies, of course, from child to child. he has a stronger relationship with children like athena, hermes, artemis, dionysus, eileithyia, or hebe. he has a more difficult relationship with apollo, ares, hephaestus, eris, or enyo.

he does not expect forgiveness, but he is going to keep trying to earn it with each of them, even if he struggles and fails sometimes.

regarding pjo kids: zeus loves them. zeus mourned them, sincerely, was inconsolable for ages when he lost both of them. he does what he can to protect them while remaining distant, because he has learned the hard way that involvement of any kind makes things so much worse for them. but i sort of refuse to subscribe to the idea that zeus has, at any point, been disinterested in their well-being nor that he ever intentionally tries to harm them.

tl;dr: zeus loves his family. that has always been the case, that will always be the case. he is flawed and he struggles and he has not always shown his love. he has hurt the people he cares about. but he is trying, desperately so, and is on his journey to make amends.

#zeus.#headcanon.#save.#i just. have a lot of feelings

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captainqster · 2 months

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Dawntrail thoughts below. Major spoilers of course

I'll start off by saying that I enjoyed it. Some of the cutscenes were so fun and DT managed to make me cry at the end. The most important thing for me is that the story have an emotional impact on me and this one did. Not as much as SHB or even EW, but that's to be expected given they were the final two expansions in an ongoing story.

ANYWAY I don't intend to rant too much so I'll just make some key points about what I remember (which is never much, I have a terrible memory).

The environments! I'm not one to veer off course during msq to explore the scenery but this time I was doing that constantly. I was in HEAVEN in the desert areas especially, as I live in the Sonoran desert but Thanalan and Ahm Araeng never did much for me. Urqopacha was just beautiful, I could afk there all day. Solution 9 is even more incredible than I'd dared to hope. And Tuliyollal...my goodness.

The worldbuilding. I enjoyed the time spent fleshing out these cultures and the 'why and when' of some of their traditions. Cooking the...what was it called...was fun, I come from a Hispanic family and cooking massive batches of food together was always a big part of get togethers, especially around the holidays (I am made to suffer the tamale assembly line every year). So I liked when you were made to understand the people and why they do what they do and the impact it has on their community bonds.

The duties. Really liked those as well. Can I remember anything? No. Do I have a lingering feeling of "that was new" leftover? Yes.

The NPCs. New cast! Somehow I didn't anticipate the turnaround of both Zoraal Ja and Bakool Ja Ja, but I love a reformed cartoon bully and a Golden Child who crumples under the weight of expectation. Koana is incredible, I was iffy about him at first but you could hear the desperation in his voice when Wuk Lamat was kidnapped (fantastic job by the voice actor, sincerely) and from there I just continued to love him more.

For Wuk Lamat specifically she really grated on my nerves for the first few levels. I know the intention of her archetype/character growth, but it felt like some of her frequent complaining was played for comedy and it just fell flat for me. But the moment she said "hey I'm gonna turn around and be better" she really did do that. Asking to hold the WOL's hand and her little "um...do you want to explore with me?" AND WANTING THE WOL TO STAY IN TULIYOLLAL WITH HER god those just hit me right in the heart. She grew on me.

The final zone. I cried. I've seen some complaints about whiplash with the direction DT took from the first to second half, and I kind of get that, but for me it kept things a little fresher. I would have liked to see more payoff in Tural after all the time and energy you spent learning about the different cultures but it is what it is.

I love that SE decided that once you shut down a terminal you will lose the beauty of that area. It really made me hesitate and want to look around more, which just drove home the point of saying goodbye to the Endless. I was teary-eyed leading up to Cahciua's terminal especially. IDK I love my mom and it HURT SO BAD.

The cutscenes: Some of them were such a delight that I was in tears. I don't care if people found it cheesy, I LOVED the train bomb. At first I was disappointed that it wasn't going to be an interactive duty but watching G'raha Tia pull Alisaie back onto the platform just for the WOL to save them both? Jumping off the train? Everything my southwestern heart could want.

And the cowboys. The duels. The accents. I was in love.

Last thing I'll say is I've seen a lot of "do you need to be the hero?" questions/polls/etc. For me it's not about whether you're the hero, I just need to have that rapport with the NPCs and to feel present. So I appreciated the few times we got a bit of that.

Anyway I'm not gonna say anything negative because I just don't feel like it. There were a few things I would have liked to see done better, differently, whatever, but I'm satisfied enough. I'm really looking forward to what comes in the patches.

#ffxiv #dawntrail spoilers

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oh-star-how-the-mighty-fall · 1 year

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I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the drama with CNCO disbanding and the drama between Zabdiel and Richard. Of course, we don’t know the guys personally so this is all my own opinion:

I definitely don’t think Zabdiel had any bad intentions towards the other guys when resigning with WK (okay we don’t know for 100% sure that he resigned with them, but all arrows point to yes, based on Richard clearly being upset). I think WK told him what he wanted to hear and has promised him success and has already started enticing him with invitations to events and things. It seems that with the Talitha thing and now this, Zab seems to see the best in people and to believe them. I wouldn’t say he’s naive, but just maybe a bit too trusting? I think in both cases (Talitha and WK), they knew what they were doing/saying in order to keep Zab with them, and doing whatever they could to make sure that happens. I’m not making excuses for Zabdiel- I think Richard has every single right to be upset, and I agree with him. I would be upset too. To see your brother re-sign with a team that has done nothing to help you succeed? I wouldn’t be okay with it either. However Zab isn’t the kind of person to do things to spite others. I think he’s the victim here. He fell into their trap and I really really really hope he doesn’t get cast aside after the honeymoon period wears off and end up with a tanked career like Joel.

So I think the outcome of all this will be either 1.) WK will end up tanking his career and he will have to quit and find someone new (aka repeating CNCO’s mistake), 2.) they’ll make him super successful and he will have no reason to get back with the boys if the other 3 do want to, 3.) all four will have successful careers and none of them will want to reform CNCO (I guess this is the next best thing if they aren’t going to reunite), or 4.) they all will flop and we won’t get much from any of them (which is the absolute worst case scenario that I’m praying doesn’t happen), 5.) maybe they all will have a bit of success with solo stuff but ultimately realize (including Zab) that their true heart is being in a group and get back together, which is my personal preference. Or- maybe they could reunite as a group but also do a bit of solo work on the side at the same time, as many artists do (though I can’t see WK allowing Zab to do that).

One thing is certain though. And listen closely please:

We should do all we can to make sure the guys’ solo careers don’t flop! Whether you’re upset at Zab for sticking with WK or not, he still deserves success and so do all the other boys. They deserve to be paid fairly, to be promoted well, etc, and although we don’t have any control over that, we DO have control over the amount of streams they get and ticket sales if they do solo shows, etc. All the stuff we do have control over, I hope we show the boys that we still will support them wherever they end up!

The blame fully rests on their terrible management team for treating them SO badly that the guys felt that the only way to fix things is to break up, thus breaking apart that magic that they all have as a group. I just saw them perform live for the very first time last week and I knew they were talented from watching online performances, but this was a whole different level! Their harmonies were magical together and I will never forgive WK for ruining what they had. Especially now that they seem to be treating Zabdiel well, it’s so messed up because they HAVE to be fully aware that they’re not treating them all like that. The guys deserve SO much better. So no, I definitely do not think Zabdiel should have resigned with WK, but it’s likely that he did and we should still support him because he is incredibly talented and doesn’t deserve his career to flop. And I hope he and Richard heal their friendship and realize their bond is stronger than the drama.

Here are a few screen caps from their stories recently of them genuinely hugging/smiling at each other before one of their recent shows, which gives me hope that things will get better between them:

#CNCO #Zabdiel De Jesús #Richard Camacho #Christopher Vélez #Erick Brian Colón #CNCO breakup

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universitypenguin · 2 years

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Hiya! I love how good your writing is! I have a question but there’s no pressure to answer! First off, your work is amazing and it makes me excited to get a notification that you’ve posted again!!!

I was wondering how all the staff at the firm feel about Lloyd and Princess? Are they all like the staff in Beauty and the Beast and hoping for a happy ending? Or are they all just disturbed by the palpable sexual tension? I just gotta know the office gossip.

Lotsa love !!!

🥰🥰🥰

Summary: Perspectives on how all the major side characters in “The Princess and the Lawyer” view Lloyd and Princess’ relationship.

Word Count: 3,395

Author’s Note: The person who asked this probably thinks I’ve forgotten about it. That’s absolutely not true. As a matter of fact, I’ve thought a lot about this ask. It’s helped me dive into the backstory of my characters. It took me a month to reply because I was so determined to get the characters motivations and personalities just right. Thank you for such a wonderful ask!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Zach Hightower

Zach approves of Lloyd and Princess’ relationship.

He just has a few concerns about Lloyd’s emotional stability. He knows for a fact that Lloyd is reformed. That’s the original reason that he looked him up when he was released from prison - to check out his alleged ‘progress.’ Zach is an incredibly loyal person and he’s very patriotic. He was concerned that Lloyd was still dangerous, not just to others, but to the United States as a whole.

For his own peace of mind, he needed to know his alleged rehabilitation was genuine. When he discovered that post-prison Lloyd was a much different person they became close friends. However, Zach has seen the worst sides of Lloyd. Because he was the embedded intelligence officer on Zach’s team, he knows exactly what Hansen is capable of. He knows that Lloyd was bloodthirsty and ruthless. Having never felt that kind of craving for violence, he treated his then co-worker like a bomb that could go off at any moment. And he kept tabs on him. On some level he’ll always think of Lloyd as a wild card, even if he’s proven himself to be reformed.

In regards to Princess, Zach thinks of her like a younger sister. He worries about her tight bond with Lloyd. His mercurial, temperamental nature, balances nicely with Princess’ more level headed and sensitive personality. The issue is that if at some point, Lloyd does something unhinged, she’ll get hurt in the crossfire. Zach sees the potential in Princess. He’s worked to sharpen her interrogation skills and bring out her emotional intelligence. He admires her ability to empathize with a subject without losing focus on the objective of the interview.

So, while Zach approves of Lloyd and Princess, he’s uneasy as to whether Lloyd is healthy enough to be in a serious relationship.

Jake Jensen

Jake is oblivious. He’s noticed the chemistry between you and Lloyd, but it hasn’t exactly registered. When Zach and Landon made a bet as to whether Lloyd and Princess would get together this year, he took it as a joke. Amused by his lack of awareness, they don’t tell him differently. Because he’s attracted to Princess, a lot of things escape his notice about her and Lloyd.

Jake’s interest in her is based on her focus, her warmth, and sense of humor. In a word, his feelings towards her could be summed up as “admiration.” He wishes he could have her innate confidence, which is incredibly sexy. Meanwhile, Landon and Zach have known all along that Lloyd had the hots for Princess. They also know that Jake doesn’t stand a chance. Nor does he *really* want one. He clicks with her and enjoys her humor, but subconsciously, he knows they aren’t a good match.

Landon McAnnay

Landon is amused by the dynamic between Lloyd and Princess. He tries not to show how invested he is in their relationship, but it’s just so entertaining. It’s like having a soap opera playing in the background at work. You have to binge watch every episode. And because Zach is such a gossip, he never has to worry about being out of the loop.

A fun fact about Landon - he’s a romantic. He pretends to be a guy’s guy but deep down, he’s a sweetheart. His relationships have all been long term and serious. Having a good relationship with his partner is a top priority for him. Watching Lloyd and Princess, he sees that same longing for love and companionship in the ex-spy.

One day, not long after Princess started dating Aiden, he makes a bet with Zach. Over post-golf beers, they place odds that Princess and Lloyd will get together before Halloween. Further negotiations stipulate that he believes it will have to be Princess who initiates the change. His rationale is that Lloyd has less experience putting his heart out there and Princess is more likely to jump in headfirst.

As usual, he’s right. He just wishes he’d laid odds on them getting together before Labor Day. That would’ve netted him a fantastic profit. Truly a missed opportunity.

Andy Barber

Andy Barber is against their relationship.

He detests Lloyd’s arrogance and sneering attitude. Before Princess was in the picture, he and Lloyd couldn’t get along for five seconds, let alone several hours. Out of everyone at Bishop & Howard, Andy benefited the most from Princess taming the beast. That’s why he recognized the chemistry between them so quickly.

An important piece of data here is that Princess is the same age Jacob would’ve been if he hadn’t died in a car accident. That’s a huge reason Andy feels so strongly about her and Lloyd. Princess is too young for him. He’s a convicted kidnapper! He spent his first two years at the firm wearing an ankle bracelet! Andy hopes Princess realizes that she’s out of his league and doesn’t give him the time of day.

As a prosecutor and a defense attorney, Andy’s spent a lot of time with criminals. He knows how charming they can be and worries about his young colleague. He sees the hunger flash in Lloyd’s eyes at Princess’ casual touches. Worse, he notices that she’s frequently oblivious to the sexual tension Lloyd exudes in those moments. Then, after a few months, he realizes she’s every bit as interested in Lloyd as he is in her.

It’s like watching a tiger hunting a baby deer. The tiger gets closer, and closer, while the fawn doesn’t comprehend the danger it’s in.

He cares about Princess. He’s thankful for her ability to wrangle his temperamental colleague. In the months after joining the team, Princess put a stop to the worst of Lloyd’s behavior. Andy’s been a lawyer long enough to know how rare it is to find someone who can mediate well. It takes a certain kind of personality.

Six months later, Andy’s perspective shifts.

He starts to see Lloyd as less of a predator. You’ve trained Lloyd in the arts of empathy, tact, and persuasion. Andy can work with him, even when you’re not around. And to be fair, Lloyd is a genius. He’s able to discern the complexities of an argument that would take others weeks to unravel. It stings to admit it, but the rate of his clients being acquitted has increased significantly since Lloyd began assisting him with trial prep.

Without the disdain that used to blind him, Andy starts to see Lloyd differently. Less like a tiger, and more like a stray dog who wasn’t properly socialized as a puppy. With more patience than anyone he’s ever met, you manage to increase the number of people who accept Lloyd’s quirks. You create situations that put Lloyd in the best light. You highlight his strengths and cover up his weaknesses. In less than a year, you turn Lloyd from the pariah of the firm into the most sought after consultant in the company. He works with every department, from the patent office to family and estate law. Lloyd seems to have evolved; from a junkyard dog into a devoted protection animal who loves his mistress. He’s like an abused mutt who imprinted on the first person to show him kindness.

Andy makes a hobby of studying the dynamic between you and Lloyd. He can’t help it. You’re the quintessential odd couple. You’re sensitive. He’s cold-blooded. You’re calm, he’s chaotic. Your optimism counters Lloyd’s cynicism. You brush off negativity and can’t be bothered by the passive aggressive behavior of the people who remain set against Lloyd. He notices that the most. Several of your friends in the paralegal department still resent Lloyd for his previous behavior. You remain friends with them and chip away at the lingering animosity. Lloyd’s improved reputation acts like a positive feedback loop. He enjoys the praise and recognition. This realization helps Andy see a key feature in your relationship with Lloyd.

It’s not the praise and recognition of others that Lloyd enjoys. He has no interest in raising his coworkers' opinion of him. But he pants after your attention like a dog hoping for a treat. It’s difficult to identify, because Lloyd doesn’t just hide his emotions, he disguises them, and lies about them without qualm. But eventually, a pattern emerges.

What Andy sees, which no one else does, is that you created the pattern.

He finally figures out that you’ve trained Lloyd to respond to certain cues. You picked up on the words he uses to describe positive and negative situations. There are certain words that only come up when Lloyd is being an asshole. You gently reminded him of the potential consequences of his actions and temper his impulsive nature.

Lloyd would bristle and dig his heels in if anyone else tried to manage him in such a way. But when you express concern, show him patience, and provide encouragement… Lloyd turns into a different person. He doesn’t know it, but you’ve trained him like one of Pavlov’s dogs.

When Andy learns that you practically raised your four siblings, he understands. Having been a parent himself, and reading extensively on the subject, it’s obvious what you’re doing. You’ve created limits Lloyd actually listens to. Refusing a meeting with someone just because he finds them boring isn’t allowed. You’re in tune with Lloyd’s motivations and the feelings he tries to disguise and repress. You know him inside and out. Andy wonders how much data you’ve filed away in your brain about ways to push Lloyd’s buttons. You measure motivations, and ask questions to test your judgments. You listen. Because of it, Lloyd feels understood, and it makes him crave your presence and approval.

At the Christmas party that year, he watches you throw yourself into Lloyd’s arms and plaster yourself against him. What surprises him is that the man doesn’t take advantage. His hands don’t wander. He gets you a glass of water and collects your wrap from the coat check. Watching Lloyd carefully guide you over the icy steps of the venue as you leave together, it occurs to Andy that he much prefers this junkyard dog when his tamer is around. You’ve slipped a collar around Lloyd’s heart, and everyone is safer for it.

Maybe you could handle him… Maybe.

Clayton Bishop

Clayton saw the potential of a successful combination between you and Lloyd before you even met.

After a long career in law and politics he’d developed an instinct about people. Bishop is a bonafide extrovert who gets his energy from meeting new people and learning about them. Take Lloyd Hansen, for example. Once his most creative student, the former spy was becoming a bore. He was struggling under the pressure of too much therapy and too little enjoyment. The bright side was that Lloyd was finally sober. Bishop had hoped the sobriety would stick, and it had. The problem was that Lloyd had become more turbulent than ever. He was frustrated by the red tape he’d never learned to deal with, despite attending law school. Who could have imagined Lloyd was better on drugs than off them?

Bishop had always had an issue with drugs. They made a person easy to control and exploit. Lloyd’s drug problem was why he hadn’t recruited him to the firm after he graduated. The substances he abused ruined a person’s health and turned their brain into sludge. Lloyd’s brain must be remarkably resilient, given everything he’d poured into his system over the years.

It was a conundrum. He needed Lloyd sharp, but sober. He didn’t know how to soften his rough edges without him falling off the wagon. Therapy was necessary and it did appear to be working. Not fast enough for his coworkers’ job satisfaction to recover to pre-Lloyd levels, but he was slowly changing. Bishop could hardly reconcile the Lloyd Hansen he’d taught twenty years ago with the current version. The only similarity left was the intelligence, drive, and unfortunately, the abrasive, pushy attitude that so many people found off putting. He knew he had to come up with a solution to the friction between Lloyd and well… everyone else. If he couldn’t, this parole arrangement wouldn’t work out.

Then one day, the solution walked into his office.

Bishop ran a large internship program. He had a knack for identifying talent and enjoyed meeting new people. That meant recruiting the semester’s interns was one of his favorite projects. He cleared his afternoon schedule for an entire week, and did each interview himself. Recently, all of his interns seemed to have the personality of a boiled carrot. It was absolutely killing his vibe. He needed open minded people who had the right energy. Ones who were comfortable challenging him, but who respected the value of a harmonious workplace. Some of the applicants these days didn’t see the difference between compromising and forsaking their morals. No matter how small the issue, they were the first to stand on ceremony by holding their ground at any cost.

Then he met you. His first impression was that you were shy, but intelligent and motivated. He hired you on the spot. It took a few weeks before your true colors shone through. He took a liking to your lack of pretentiousness. He appreciated that on the occasions when you had something to say, you communicated it clearly and directly.

After the orientation, where all the interns cycled through the departments to learn the ropes, he arranged their placements. Bishop took a risk by placing you on the paralegal team. It was a test. Their group was notoriously cliquish and vengeful. He had a dozen resumes of good applicants for the open position in their department. However, he was afraid of putting someone into their complicated team dynamic and having them crushed.

At the moment, the paralegals were set on crushing Lloyd Hanson. Bishop couldn’t blame them. The man was making their lives hell. The paralegals called Lloyd demanding, unreasonable, and rude. He called them querulous, uncompromising, and surly. They were right. Everyone in the conflict had an accurate understanding of the problem, but they refused to compromise.

He had to be honest - it was fun to watch sparks fly as the immovable object struck an unstoppable force. But the stalemate was becoming a company-wide irritation. Placing you with the paralegals was an experiment. He’d noticed you liked to watch people interact and studied them. You took in their words, actions, body language, and motivations. You empathized with people once you understood them. Your capacity for empathy and compassion was highly unusual. Combined with a sense of humor that made you a pleasure to be around, you became quite popular amongst the paralegals.

Heaven knew, those women could be a tank of piranhas if you didn’t know how to fit into their group. He’d been bitten more than once. Bishop watched you smooth Savannah’s ruffled feathers over a brief Andy had returned with corrections. You organized a mail system to handle the annoying chore the paralegals always let pile up. You cheerfully went on coffee runs and scored an invite to join their lunchtime walking group. Within a matter of weeks you’d won over the whole team.

Bishop observed these events and realized that your style of diplomacy would go a long way towards helping Lloyd adjust to his new environment. He was trying to become more sensitive and insightful. The problem seemed to Bishop that Lloyd - as intelligent as he was - couldn’t learn something he’d never seen.

If he’d ever met a human who lacked love and understanding in his life, it was Lloyd Hansen. Bishop knew more about the man’s background than he let on. Not much shocked him anymore. But the horrors Lloyd Hansen had endured, many long before he reached adulthood, was almost unbelievable.

It was clear that Lloyd couldn’t grow emotionally if he didn’t have an example. As it was, Lloyd’s therapist was struggling to find ways to jumpstart the frozen parts of his brain. Everything was connected as it should be, but some areas had gone unused for so long they’d atrophied. Functional MRI scans proved that Lloyd had been nearly turned into a psychopath by his childhood trauma. He could recover. The motivation was there. His emotions, his sense of morality and justice, had expanded during his time in prison. Bishop was thrilled by Lloyd’s growth. However, he needed him to be creative and to stay sober. He kept shooting himself in the foot with petty dramas and ruthless snark. Lloyd had to learn to play nice in the sandbox if he wanted to stay at the firm.

I would rather feel compassion than know the meaning of it.

Those words of wisdom echoed in his head, as he turned the idea of putting you and Lloyd together over in his mind. You’d conquered the immovable objects. He was curious what you could do to the unstoppable force. Perhaps highlighting the talents of others was your skill, even more than empathy and diplomacy. With that in mind, Bishop decided the combination worth a try. He would put you and Lloyd together and see what happened. If his gut instinct was right, you might be just the person to save Lloyd from himself.

Jen Kyznic

Jen does not approve of Lloyd and Princess’ relationship.

Lloyd rubbed Jen wrong on his first week at the firm. Jen is aware Lloyd is a genius, a fantastic lawyer, and an even better investigator.

What she took issue with were his demands. Lloyd came in with a presumption of what the paralegals did and wasn’t bothered by little things, such as: what are they actually paid to do?

The paralegals at Bishop & Howard tied their bonus pay to their team’s productivity. Because they’re a well-oiled machine this works out perfectly. Jen is the longest serving member of the paralegal team and she’s a huge reason this arrangement came about. She wants the pay within her group of employees to be unbiased and justified. She put in the time to make sure the board of directors agreed to their demands and she’s very proud of that accomplishment.

What kills productivity? Long, exacting research on complex legal investigations. The tasks Lloyd requires are killing her system. Jen knows, down to the minute, how long the items on her to-do list take. She doesn’t tolerate interruptions. When Lloyd interrupts her carefully ordered routine, she’s infuriated. Her sense of fairness took a major hit at his refusal to fall in line with the way things worked in the firm.

All the other attorneys marched in lock step to her orders. They knew what she was capable of when someone pissed her off.

Because Bishop requested they try accommodating Lloyd, she took on the task. Her goal was to show him how the system worked. If he would break down his tasks into smaller items that each counted towards their productivity metrics there wouldn’t be such a conflict. However… Lloyd and Jen have very similar personalities. They’re determined, motivated, independent, and authoritative. Lloyd is a maverick. Jen is a grizzly bear. You can’t put two people who love to challenge each other into a room and expect good results. In the end, the situation blew up.

Lloyd knew what he expected and he wouldn’t tolerate anything less. Jen knew how her department operated, and she wouldn’t stand for anyone running roughshod over the structures she’d built.

It took Princess stepping up and helping Lloyd to resolve the conflict. Jen doesn’t know how she can handle being around such an arrogant loudmouth. She has no idea that Princess thinks she and Lloyd have nearly the same personality… because they do. Neither of them is accustomed to giving in.

Jen isn’t going to approve of anything this cocky usurper ex-con does. Ever. Particularly when it involves her friend. Lloyd’s groveling apology after their blow out fight (which Princess helped compose) went a long way towards de-escalating hostilities between them. However, because of their similarities, Jen and Lloyd will always find each other abrasive. Jen and Lloyd will never be friends. But there’s a good chance at some point in the future, they’ll develop a mutual respect for each other.

Right now, the best case scenario is for them to each unbend a little and let Princess mediate their arguments.

#the princess and the lawyer: ask #the princess & the lawyer #series: the princess & the lawyer #lloyd hansen fanfic #lloyd hansen fic #lloyd hansen imagine #Lloyd Hansen #lloyd hansen x you #lloyd hansen x y/n #lloyd hansen x fem!reader #lloyd hansen x female reader #lloyd hansen x princess #chris evans characters #lloyd hansen au #the gray man fanfic #the gray man fanfiction #chris evans characters au #no minors #minors dni

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torturedblue · 1 year

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Happy 1 year anniversary to the Rise Movie! I can’t believe it’s only been one…

But in honor of this historic day, I present… Things I would love to see in Rise season 3+:

Part 1 | Part 2

Some of these are kinda the obvious stuff but most are new ideas I really want to see

Neon Leon being leader obviously. What I really want to see is everyone's adjustment to that tho. The movie still gives me whiplash skipping over that since the series finale ends with his being named leader and then Leo still not even technically being the leader in the movie. (I know it was supposed to go down differently without that last line even happening and the whole co-leaders stuff but my brain still doesn’t adjust every time I watch the movie)

The second episode of that dentist guy who wanted Raph's snaggletooth. Apparently there was gonna be a Raph-Leo episode about it? It seems strange it wasn't going to be an episode with all of them trying to help, but honestly it would've been pretty cute to see Leo trying to protect and take care of Raph instead of Raph usually doing that for them. Maybe even some more of Leo doing more of the planning or them collaborating

Dr. Rude and whatever other personalities he Mikey came up with for himself. watch the video and tell me Dr Rude didn't derive from Dr. Delicate Touch 😂

Shelldon 3.0. give Donnie his baby boy back and make him officially part of the family

Piel and Hueso together again, we got two whole episodes but since they only made up at the end of the last one it'd be cool to see a third adventure of them doing something heroic as bros who get along again. And honestly after Leo helped get Hueso’s name cleared and helped him restore his relationship with his brother I want to see how their relationship would progress

Cassandra (& now Casey ofc) being part of the Hamato clan. But seriously all the post-movie fics got me thinking about how we were also robbed of her entire reformation arc and having her on their side would've been so kickass. Especially since she and Draxum kind of bonded and were a good team together. And the relationship she formed with Splinter is so wholesome

Draxum possibly eventually moving in (and making up for dropping Leo off a roof.) He would have such a different relationship with each of the boys I just want to see how he would go about trying to gradually earn their favor once he completely committed to being part of the whole family unit. Only to come to Leo last and have the most difficult time trying to figure out how to make him trust him after the Roof Incident

Big Mama’s ending. Considering we now have two former villains turned good, I'm wondering if they were still going that same route with Big Mama. It very much seemed that way but atp doing it for a third character seems so redundant, not to mention there's still not much reason to trust her by the end of the show since she double crossed them again. I'm still surprised by the fact that splinter is so hung up on her after all the trauma fr. At this point what might be more interesting, realistic and believable would be splinter's journey in trying to trust her again but eventually coming to realize she'll never change, because not everyone does

I did get a response on the Twitter Q&A about it which was really exciting, so seeing this scenario below play out and then leaving it up in the air for whether she eventually chooses good or evil would be awesome to watch

Finding out the real prophecy of the destruction of yokai kind. Draxum said it must've actually been shredder but Shredder wasn't after the yokai so I wonder if it was something else. That could definitely be an opportunity for bishop if they take the 2003 route with him

Them using each other's weapons/powers. We got a very brief glimpse of this in 2012 but otherwise it’s not something you see in Ninja Turtles. With Rise tho it would be even more so exciting to see them handle weapons other than their own. Donnie being a pyromaniac with Mikey’s kusari fundos (RIP bc I don’t think his nun chuks have that ability anymore?), Mikey being all stick happy with Donnie’s staff and just smacking villains left and right, Raph figuring out how to make portals and how to utilize them physics of them in battle, Leo making a huge projection of himself or a dozen clones with raph’s sais. That would a party of chaos

Also Raph dabbing just on principle he is literally the only turtle who hasn't done it, even Splinter got one in, let the man succumb to the cringe

I’m sure we might've seen a lot of this eventually since it was apparently supposed to have 7 seasons, so here’s hoping it’s a possibility somewhere in the future 🤞🏽

#manifesting rise season 3 #save rottmnt #rottmnt #save rise of the tmnt #rise tmnt #unpause rise of the tmnt #unpause rottmnt #rottmnt movie

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11quillen11 · 1 year

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About Family: The Unbreakable Bond

Okay so Family: The Unbreakable Bond is apparently getting a season 2. This does not make me super happy because I can’t help but feel like the fact that a second season was already planned is what fucked the first season up.

From episodes 5 to 11, the first season is really good. Sadly, that is only six episodes. The first four episodes are filled with irrelevant plotlines unrelated to the main conflict, and the last episode is disappointing because it does not tie up any loose end, delivers no emotional pay-off, and kills off a beloved character for no reason. Even if season 2 turns out great, the issue is that season 1 does not feel like a complete season of television.

If the introduction was only two episodes long, with the reveal of Yura’s identity happening at the end of episode 2, then surely, in the span of a standard 16 episodes, the season would have had time to conclude its most important storylines: (1) Cheon Ryun and Do Hoon taking down what is left of the Union and reforming the NIS, (2) Yu Ra and Do Hoon having an actual conversation about their pasts and the fact that they have been lying to each from the moment they met, (3) Tae Gu clearly telling Yu Ra that he did not kill her parents and helping her get her revenge so they can reconcile along the way.

What I think should have been cut to accommodate this: (1) the kids’ love story, (2) the grandpa’s love stories and the hints that he has super powers or whatever that was, (3) a lot of the scenes with the little brother and his pregnant wife. They should then be replaced by storylines that are tied to the main plot. Like, maybe the grandpa is an army veteran who was friends with one of the antagonists, maybe the brother getting involved with loan sharks ends up placing him in a dangerous position where his life is at risk and he is himself turning into a criminal, and Do Hoon and/or Yu Ra learn and don’t know how to best help him without putting him and themselves in danger, or maybe his storyline places him in a certain position vis-à-vis them that forces them to choose whether to cut him off to protect themselves and Minseo, or risk all of their lives for him. Minseo already has the whole plot with the uncle, who cares about her romance? Additionally, I think it would have been interesting if the family members learned the truth about Do Hoon and Yu Ra, so that they too can become a vessel to explore the theme: would they cut off Do Hoon and Yu Ra to protect themselves and their family?

The theme of the drama is very clear (they spell it out more than once): family matters more than anything. Despite this, there are too few instances where our protagonists, Do Hoon and Yu Ra are tested to prove that they indeed place family above all else. To fully explore the theme, it would have been interesting to see the characters be forced to define who they consider family, if all family is equal to them, and how far they are willing to go to protect their family. Would Yu Ra and Do Hoon sacrifice innocents for their family? Would they sacrifice one family member for another? Would they leave their family behind if they thought it was the only way to ensure their safety? The only time their belief is truly challenged is after they learn the truth about each other, but they both seem to make up their mind very quickly that they will choose to trust each other and remain together despite everything. Otherwise, the show only has them going around trying to protect their family from outside forces, something which should have been the focus of the last, say, four episodes of a 16 episodes season, after they’ve spent ten episodes of proper character exploration.

But hey, that’s just my opinion. Overall, I still enjoyed season 1, but it was definitely disappointing. Still, I have good hope that season 2 (if indeed there is a season 2) is going to be so good it will make up for the flaws of season 1.

#family the unbreakable bond #kdrama #my meta #jang nara #jang hyuk #it must be said that jang nara simply never disappoints #i love her so much

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memoriescut · 1 year

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i wanted to give this a proper title but really it's just an addendum to my pudding & sanji as frenemies propaganda lmao

i'm gonna skip the wci arc as i already talked about it, just as a general note in my canon pudding erases a whole lot memories of her from sanji's mind. while she's affectionate toward him, she has no romantic feelings. her crying in the hallway happens because by that point she's quite literally the only traitor left on the island - she can't escape because bm needs her for her powers but also knows the woman won't be so kind about the disrespect

technically they're still married. it doesn't matter as it's not like they'll get together at any point but since divorce as an institution doesn't exist, there is this loose end. pudding will never mention it as she believes it's not relevant to her life choices. doesn't want to be referred as vinsmoke or black leg for that matter, mention those names to her and she will stare blankly pretending not to know who that is. she will however take a page from sanji's book and give herself a brand new last name at some point after finding the one piece

i know fandom loves to pit women against each other but i think pudding would lowkey push nami into pursuing sanji eventually. in her mind they seem good for each other in a way that doesn't feel like trauma bonding, you know. as a matter of fact i think pudding and nami would be good friends and she'd be someone pud trusts during her time with the SH

pudding has the habit to be in places she shouldn't be, except that nothing of what she does is random and it's her fatal flaw. she crosses paths with the SH plenty of times after finding the one piece, mostly because they always get in trouble and she's traveling around following the voices. does she keep tabs on them? possibly. she considers them allies, so in most cases she will lend an helpful hand and then dip before they can get all mushy on her

on that note... i headcanon that while no romantic feelings are involved due to pudding making sure all those memories are cut and hidden away, throughout the years she and sanji meet up to have ONE (1) dinner to catch up and then everyone is on their own way. it probably happens once a year, they cook things, share and swap recipes, stuff like this. pudding will never talk too much about her business - she might be reformed but a part of her will always dabble in the darkness as it's part of the balance of all things. she will however give him leads about treasures she's heard of. [ when i think of them i imagine the song bells in santa fe, ngl ]

speaking of memories, pudding still has the film from sanji's memories. whether she gives it back or not eventually is up to plotting, but generally speaking i think she'd rather not for the fact that then they'd have to talk about... everything, which is not really something she wants to do. while she hasn't used memo memo on him since then, she can hear him loud and clear through her third eye powers and absolutely hates it. she probably told him too!

if wci / final arc pudding is more akin to alice in terms of character development, post op pudding is lowkey the cheshire cat. the more years pass the more different she looks. it's a good type of change even though it basically makes her look like an hermit most of the time. on a good day she might be sentimental enough to share some wisdom with him on whatever occasion they cross paths. she loves to speak to him in riddles just to mess around and that's really the only sign of her teen self left

post op pudding has a vivre card, and it looks like a queen of hearts card from any deck. she's given sanji a piece of it mostly because "you can never know" but also told him to not pester her, so you see where she stands. she is however always available through den den mushi for serious talks or mildly tough advices

at some point pudding has written a children's book called tales from the all blue which are basically a collection of stories she's heard from sea creatures. at the very first page there's a dedication that says may our dreams carry us throughout the darkest times. this is probably the most openly affectionate she's been toward him

#god fobid we give men credit for anything #really hoping oda doesn't go the predictable route bc i prefer my version better 😂#dev.

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silyabeeodess · 1 year

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I know there's a chance no one who follows me is a soap person, so this is just me venting: I've been stuck either watching The Young the Restless or listening to it from the other room because my family likes it despite it having some of the worst writing with the most hypocritical bunch of characters with the shortest memories I have ever seen in a series--oh but meanwhile, "CaRtOoNs AnD aNiMe ArE sO bAd AnD uNrEaLiStIc."

I wouldn't call this show for kiddies, if still for young adults, so on top of it being long, I'll keep things below the cut.

Case in point: They brought back a character named Diane some time ago, who faked her death and abandoned her kid for years (I wanna say about 20, but in hindsight it could be less: I'm not counting real-time, but whatever time in which the kids in the show do their crazy growth spurts) to escape a crime. Everyone's talking about "oh she's changed" and "she's so reformed," when her every action is like you're clearly watching someone poison your friend's drink and they keep taking shot after shot anyway no matter how many times you point it out. She's a snake, and either the writers are being extremely subtle with it or are giving her the Victoria treatment where she could skin puppies alive and somehow be viewed as a hero by everyone else.

So, what has she done? Well, how this starts off is her using Jack Abbott's (one of the male lead's) lost granddaughter as a pawn/bargaining chip in order to get him as an in-between to reconnect with her son, Kyle. In this first meeting, Jack is very much disgusted by the revelation of all this, but is eventually convinced--with the help of a friend/at the time love interest, Phyllis--to allow her to see Kyle... following some strict terms. (An important note for those who don't watch the show, Diane and Phyllis despise each other, so more on that throughout.) These terms are that she waits until they give Kyle the news and allow him to choose if he wants to see her or not. Now, let me back up a bit to something I caught that happened in their conversation. Already, Diane was being conniving, using the nostalgia of their former bond as a means of persuasion. She basically says, in not so direct terms, "Oh, Jack! Remember when you loved me, Jack? We had a baby together, Jack! Wasn't it so wonderful, Jack?" while this man was still coming to terms with the fact that this woman was still breathing.

And what does Diane do when she gets the ok? She immediately ignores the terms they agreed to, going to the city where they live, sneakily booking herself in Phyllis' hotel when she could've gone literally anywhere else, and later goes so far as to gate-crash a wedding. Her excuse? She was just so excited and so desperate.

All is forgiven.

Now, let me get to Diane and Phyllis again: They've been arch-enemies/rivals for Jack's affection for years. In other words, Phyllis hates this woman, is already suspicious, and can already see the red flags. Her only reason for saying Kyle should see Diane was for his sake--and she was very patient and reasonable in this decision, talking Jack down from refusing Diane completely. Is Phyllis a good person? No, nobody in this show is and she's had a history of stunts as a villainess character herself. However, she's mellowed out a lot over the years as well, with her crazy side only really coming back where her loved ones are concerned. She has to get in their business whether they want her to or not, because she has to protect them. If anyone is going to push her back toward that crazy side, it's Diane.

And Diane makes her presence known to Phyllis constantly, letting her know that she's not going anywhere, even gate-crashing another event. During one argument, Diane even hints to Phyllis that she's getting closer to Jack as much as she is Kyle--which of course pushes Phyllis overboard. This leads Phyillis to acting extremely territorial to the point of sleeping with Jack when they've, so to speak, barely rekindled the flames of their relationship that they've been walking around eggshells with for months if not longer because of how it all crashed and burned horribly in the past. Needless to say, Jack overhears Phyllis bragging to Diane about this development, considers himself used, and breaks up with her.

Only for Diane to snag him within pretty much weeks of this and Jack to let Diane do the exact same thing to Phyllis later down the line without so much as batting an eye.

Now, let me make this perfectly clear. I am not a shipper, and I especially do not ship anyone with Jack Abbott. Why? Because while the man has the heart of a teddy bear, he has the brain of toaster. I was fine when he and Phyllis were together, but I can honestly say I do not by any means want him with her now. They've played with same song and dance with another character named Sally Spectra: Phyllis constantly warns Jack that the girl he's "so in love with" is bad news; he vehemently denies and ignores every fact tossed in his face; Phyllis goes too far, but is ultimately right; and Jack ends up hurt and alone. Wash, rinse, repeat, only now the bar is raised to 11 because now everyone in his own family is warning him about Diane and, in turn, he's been threatening to kick them out of the family house for not accepting her as he has into their lives. If and/or when this whole mess blows up in his face, if he runs back to Phyllis as he did when he broke up with Sally, I want her to spit in his eye and walk away.

Since this is already going on too long, here's a bit of a recap of other stunts Diane's pulled:

When the fighting continues between her and Phyllis, to the point of their kids (also their bosses) getting involved and threatening to fire both of them if they keep at it, Diane confesses about the fighting, resulting in Phyllis getting fired while she keeps her job. For those who don't know, this is the equivalent of two people getting into a fist fight and one of them quickly calling the cops after it's over so the other gets arrested for assault even though the both of them were at fault.

Later, Phyllis finds out that Diane has been lying about her squeaky-clean reputation since faking her death (shocker) and, again going too far, calls the man she worked with (Jeremy Stark) into town to deal with her and reveal everything. Now, while Jeremy Stark is described as an extremely dangerous man by everyone in the cast and thus everyone turns on Phyllis for bringing him to town... He does nothing. At all. Except for saying some foreboding words while standing around. Menacingly.

At this point in the story to a little bit after it, at best, this is truly an ultimate case of all tell and no show... Ironically enough, much later down the line, the only person Stark comes to physically threaten is Phyllis herself.... before soon getting killed off as nothing more than a plot device.

Diane plays the victim and says that Stark tricked her into playing a part in his crimes... however, further scenes where she attempts to trick him prove that she was a willing participant. How? While dragging Jack into a crime across state lines as a means of framing Stark to get him out of town, she does her part to trick Stark by saying her being with Jack is all a ruse. Pay attention, because this act could only work either if she was always that way with Stark in the first place or if Stark was the dumbest man alive. And unfortunately, that position is still reserved for Jack Abbott.

Let's do a massive time-jump now to Phyllis joining hands with Stark and faking her own death as a means of framing Diane. (Both for revenge, but Phyllis also still wanting Diane out of town in general.) Now, most of the actions here I'll admit aren't so much on Diane as they are on the people still constantly defending her. When Phyllis tries to back out of the scheme not long after it's already in motion and is forced to go on the run or else get arrested for faking her death (and murdering Stark, granted, him threatening her for quitting heavily hints that it was self-defense)... Everyone calls Phyllis a hypocrite and demands she go to jail. Here's the thing though: If Phyllis a hypocrite for this, then so is Diane and everyone protecting her. And yet, Diane still walks free while everyone wants Phyllis' head. Moreover, at this point, Diane's "miraculous" return is widely known by the public because she and Jack revealed their relationship. No one tries to arrest her over how she faked her death though. Granted, I don't know how the statute of limitations works on a case like that, but I don't think it's something that would normally be given a pass. Diane didn't steal from a pawn shop: She fake her death and she framed someone else for it too.

Much of anything else I get into will involve other characters which I could also rant about, but I will add two more points. There's an earlier scene as well, when Diane is hiding from Stark and has a dream about getting married to Jack. She knows Phyllis' daughter, Summer, doesn't like or trust her, and yet fantasizes about Summer called her "mom." Now, that in itself wouldn't be so bad were it not for the fact that, during all of this, Summer has greatly shut Phyllis out of her life for the latter's actions. Because of this context, it all just seems delusional and creepy, like Summer is just another thing for Diane to take from Phyllis. Later on, when Phyllis reveals to Summer that she is alive after the other has been grieving and blaming Diane... Diane's idea of "forgiving Summer" isn't to pull her aside in what should be a private conversation, but to do it in front of the Abbott family in a very snide way. This comes off as her painting the scene as the "loving, forgiving mummy-in-law" vs. the "horrible, judging daughter just like her criminal mother." She's still being a snake and, of course, Jack is still blind to it.

Now, I understand that, during all of this, I'm probably coming across as very pro-Phyllis, so let me repeat: She's not a good person herself, she oversteps where she isn't wanted, and a lot of what has happened to her is her fault as a result. So, why am I defending her? Well, for one thing, despite her methods, it doesn't change the fact that she's right. Diane did come to town with the intention of pursuing Jack as much as connecting with her son. Diane was lying about her history and likely still is. Like I said earlier, it's Sally all over again, which leads to my second point: Yes, Phyllis is crazy, but I don't blame her for that, because the circumstances around her--especially for a personality like hers--would cause her to go crazy.

There's a Greek legend of a woman named Cassandra who was a prophetess that was cursed so that no one would believe her. That's Phyllis right now. No matter what advice she's given and points she's made, no one has listened--and, more specifically, Jack has never listened. She lost her relationship with him. She lost her connection with her kids. She gave up her hotel and was fired from her job by her own daughter. Her daughter then spent the Christmas holiday with her infantile hubby and witch mother-in-law. One of her best friends left town and another one of them has shown support for Diane, so she can't even really talk to the people she trusts most to sort out what she's going through. I don't like what Phyllis did by faking her death, but I can't blame her for losing it. At this point, just give the woman a therapist and a long vacation away from these people.

Anyway, I'm tired, rant over. Sorry about posting this here, but I don't have an account to the soap forums and really don't think I want one in the first place. I try to drown out this show with headphones as it is and only look at them for some kind of vindication to finally drop since it has been forced upon my consciousness.

#rant #young and the restless #soaps #soap opera #y&r

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killemwithkawaii · 2 years

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Hey Mitch, what made LSS essentially choose your S/I's over Ashley? I mean, aside from the fact that LSS and your character are soulmates?

What caused LSS to fall out of love with Ashley?

[CW: Unreality, general spoilers for the 'Meet the Fishers' AU]

Three main reasons L.S.S. chose to be with my s/is instead of Ash:

Sals feelings for Ashley in his original timeline were based on a love-at-first-sight teenage crush. It's clear that those feelings lingered throughout high school and that Sal and Ash became closer as the years went by, but it's up for debate as to whether Ash returned his romantic feelings or simply had a strong platonic bond with him. I think Sal still had some hope that they would get together during the first half of CH4, but still very much cherished his friendship with her and was okay if that was how their relationship would stay. After the murders and subsequent events in chapter 5, I don't think a romantic relationship would have been an realistic option for them because A. Ash had taken so long to accept the truth about what had happened, believing Sal was mentally ill and delusional until it was much too late to do anything to save him despite all the crazy shit she'd seen going on beforehand (which probably felt like a betrayal, even if Sal understood why she didn't believe his reasoning before proof was staring her in the face), and B. Sal was dead and could only interact with the original Ashley through a telepathic link and inhabiting her own arm. I could see him feeling uncomfortable with basically being a parasite in Ashs body and not really wanting to overstay his welcome any time he popped back into his original universe (not that it absolutely couldn't work! I've seen some very creative and cute AUs exploring that dynamic 👍)

Even if L.S.S. got the chance to get together with alternate versions of Ash, I think he'd feel strange about going through with it, given his current relationship with the original Ash. It might be different if she had died, but just imagine him popping back to the original timeline for a check-in and saying 'oh yeah btw Ash I totally dated and made sweet, sweet love with you in a different timeline just so you know.' It would probably be really awkward for both of them (if not a total violation of their friendship), and he'd probably feel even worse if he did that and kept it a secret, so he just doesn't.

On the flip side, Penpal!Mitch believed Sals story (which was somehow way more insane-sounding than the original) right off the bat, accepted him for everything he was (good and bad), and showed him kindness and mercy despite being a complete stranger to him at the time. It could easily be argued that she was just a gullible true-crime fanatic with a passion for prison reform that ended up biting off way more than she could chew, but it still really touched Sal for someone to believe him and be unafraid of him, even affectionate with him, while knowing all the horrible things he'd been forced to do. Plus, she showed up at the right time- L.S.S. was experiencing his first big immortal rut (feeling isolated, misunderstood, that he was a failure and that there wasn't really a point in doing all this) when he got her first letter, and it gave him something more to keep 'living' for (besides the endless search for the original Larry and trying to take down all the different versions of the D.O.G. he comes across while universe hopping. It's a pretty thankless, fruitless job- can you really blame him for picking up what he thinks will be a nice little side quest to lighten things up a bit..?).

#k.e.w.k. answers #meadow chan #Meet the Fishers #penpal!mitch #tw death #tw unreality #sorry steve #lime #tw body horror #absolutely no ill will to Ash x Sal peeps (I just want him for myself uwu)

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arawnsarmory · 1 year

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The following talks about Hal (Henry V)'s two father figures: Falstaff, and Henry IV and his relationship to them both.

Family is important throughout Henry IV. The motif of father and son is ever prevalent, whether that be in the relationship between Hal and Falstaff, or with the king. These two father figures represent two distinct parts of Hal’s life: his youth on the one hand, wherein he can enjoy himself alongside rogues and common folk; and his future on the other, where he will become king and be expected to rule as one.

First, Hal’s relationship with Falstaff is the relationship he always wished he had from Henry; one of warmth and laughter, not caught up in the orders of succession or statecraft. Their relationship is playful and light, yet there seems a real bond between the two. Even when saving Falstaff’s neck, he still manages a good joke in making the man lead a marching troop rather than one by horse. However, aside from his joking, Hal often seems more of the father figure; he calls out Falstaff on his tales, and also seems better able to realise that he will one day rise to the king’s office, leaving behind his life of leisure. They have a sort of game between them, ever running, where when caught in a lie, Falstaff must realize twist it again in his favor. Though he also fails to recognise sometimes when it is not a good time for such jests, revealing Hal’s imposing royal side. Falstaff, I don’t think, truly recognises that Hal is growing up, and must leave their ramshackle family bond for the mantle of royal heir and Prince of Whales.

Hal’s relationship with his father reflects the other side of this story. Originally, Hal is, in his father’s eyes a vagrant and a disgrace to his station. However, as Hal is distanced from his surrogate father, Falstaff, and all his carefree dealings, he gains back the trust of the king. Henry was terrified that he would lose both the crown, and a respectable heir, as Hotspur and his rebel allies stood to usurp the throne. However, Hal recognised that he would one day have to leave behind his revelries and take on the role of the king’s son, which he does to great effect. “I shall hereafter, my Thrice gracious Lord, be more myself” (III, ii, Line 92). With this statement, Hal doffs his life as a carefree youth, and begins truly his life as the Prince of Whales. Swearing to bring down Hotspur’s rebellion, Hal sets out to begin a new part of his life: one of leadership and responsibility. He proves himself in Henry’s eyes by vanquishing Hotspur, and leading the king’s forces to victory against his host.

The question of: “what makes a true king?” is a main focus of the history plays thus far. Bolingbroke proved that a king could be chosen well by the people, and one that was tyrannical could be just as easily taken down. However, I think that since Bolinbroke had not intended really to become king, he was regarded as lesser by the rebels. Hal, on the other hand seems to be what Bolingbroke was and more. Even at the play’s beginning, Hal has come to terms with the fact that he will be king, and therefore is many times better prepared than Bolingbroke ever was. “I know you all, and will awhile uphold The unyoked humour of your idleness: Yet herein will I imitate the sun, Who doth permit the base contagious clouds To smother up his beauty from the world, That, when he please again to be himself, Being wanted, he may be more wonder'd at, By breaking through the foul and ugly mists Of vapours that did seem to strangle him. If all the year were playing holidays, To sport would be as tedious as to work; But when they seldom come, they wish'd for come, And nothing pleaseth but rare accidents. So, when this loose behavior I throw off And pay the debt I never promised, By how much better than my word I am, By so much shall I falsify men's hopes; And like bright metal on a sullen ground, My reformation, glittering o'er my fault, Shall show more goodly and attract more eyes Than that which hath no foil to set it off. I'll so offend, to make offence a skill; Redeeming time when men think least I will” (I, ii, Line 190-212). He knows the people, and sees them for themselves, as he lived among them; a king though must also be serious when needed, another trait which Hal holds. He, as Henry’s son, sees that he will have to take up the throne sooner or later, and that while his revelry with the common people was fun while it lasted, he was born to rule.

#henry iv #henry v #falstaff #medieval #shakespeare

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