#what we know about his relationship with his wife is extremely limited

[earl-grey-love]

Obscure Howie detail I noticed recently was that in S2 or 3, there's a scene where he pretends to be an asshole to cover for someone else. After hearing Kim go on an emotional explaination about why his decision* is wrong, Howie says "Duly noted." as a way to immediately shut it down. This whole play out is him imitating meanness (He revokes it not even a minute later).

Now skip to S6 when he tries to explain the shitty situation he's in to his wife and how he's trying to handle it, trying to reconnect with her emotionally at the same time, all she says in response is "Duly noted."

This has some interesting implications, does it not?

*It wasn't his decision, it was someone else's but he was taking the rap for it.

[marvelsmylife]

Soul(Mates) Chapter One

Pairing: Ex!Steve Rogers x OC(Poppy), (eventually) Azriel x OC(Poppy) 

Plot: after a night of celebration the subject of soulmates came up and with Poppy’s permission Strange decided to see if he can track down her soulmate.

A/n I’m sorry Azriel isn’t in this chapter. He’s going to make a brief appearance in chapter two but has a major part in chapter three.

Soul(Mates) Masterlist

Growing up all everyone would talk about was the name of their soulmate that was written in gold on their right arm. They would talk about what they thought their soulmate would look like and how much they wanted to meet them already.

Unfortunately for Poppy, she was born without a name on said arm, and she wondered if she was destined to be alone. Her parents did their best to reassure her that her soulmate was out there, but hearing her peers tell her that she was going to die alone was taking a toll on her.

By the time she was thirty, she had accepted that she might never actually get a soulmate. Of course, she knew she could date someone who hadn’t met their soulmate yet, but seeing their soulmate's name in gold reminded her that their soulmate was out there waiting for them.

Because of that, Poppy decided to date men who’s soulmate had passed away. Of course, that dating pool was extremely limited, especially if she wanted to date someone around her age. That’s why she felt extremely lucky when Steve Rogers came into her life and changed her life forever.

When they first got together, Steve informed her that he wanted something serious. He told her about his past and that he was ready to settle down. Poppy wanted to ask about his soulmate when he beat her to the punch, “She passed away a few years ago.”

Looking at his wrist, Poppy noticed Peggy’s name was in black ink, indicating that they had already passed. “I’m so sorry Steve,” Poppy managed to get out without crying for him.

“It’s ok,” Steve replied, “I was fortunate that I spent a few years with her before I had to go under. I got to see her briefly before she passed a few years before we met”.

Poppy felt her heart break for Steve because she could tell he felt sad for not spending enough time with his soulmate. “I know we’re not soulmates, so we won’t have that deep bond that soulmates have, but I promise to be by your side for as long as you want me,” Poppy promised as she wiped away the tears that were starting to slip from Steve’s eyes.

Unfortunately, Poppy’s world came crumbling down one night when Steve confessed that he had cheated on her with Sharon, his soulmate's grandniece. He said it only happened once, but to Poppy once was enough. She kicked him out of her room, and he had to move out of the compound because Tony and the others on the team sided with her.

They only started rebuilding their relationship with Steve a few months before the events with Thanos. Poppy told them while she still refused to speak with Steve, she would never prohibit them from rebuilding their friendship with Steve.

The only member of the team that refuses to rebuild his friendship with Steve is Poppy’s father, Thor. He, along with his wife Rebecca refused to be around Steve and would leave whenever he would enter a room they were in. They refused to play nice with the man who broke their daughter's heart.

They, of course, had to put their differences aside when Thanos arrived on Earth and teamed up to defeat not only him but also his allies. By the end, Thor and Rebecca agreed to be at least civil with Steve but still opted to stay far away from their old friend.

Because of that, Tony thought it would be ok if he invited everyone to Bruce and Natasha’s engagement party. While it was awkward at the beginning, everyone lightened up once they noticed how bubbly and carefree Poppy was acting the entire night. It let them know that she truly was over the breakup and was back to her confident self.

The only person who was not having a good time was Steve. He was in the corner sulking as he watched Poppy flirt with every available man who was at the party. He felt his heart break as he watched the men flirting back. Steve knew he had no right to be jealous; he was the one who cheated on her and briefly left to go back in time to be with Peggy. 

Steve only lasted three months with Peggy before he decided to go back to the present. He realized he was romanticizing someone he only knew a few years, and yes, while they were soulmates, they had nothing in common.

When he came back to the present a few months ago, he noticed Poppy was happier, and while she didn’t look at him like he was a piece of shit, she also didn’t acknowledge his existence. 

Steve would try anything to get Poppy’s attention, from sending her flowers daily, to buying her breakfast every morning. Unfortunately for Steve, Poppy would just donate the flowers he would send to children’s hospitals around the area and would give the breakfast to Sam or Bucky. She knew they would appreciate the free meal while openly talking shit about the man who paid for the meal. 

Steve wanted to be mad at Sam and Bucky for forming a close friendship with Poppy while he was gone, but Clint had to remind him that he chose to leave without telling anyone. So now he was watching not only his ex-girlfriend flirting with other men, but he was also watching his best friends playing wingmen for her.

Steve counted down the minutes until the party ended so he could leave for his room. Unfortunately for him, Tony announced they were having an after-party. At said after-party, Stephen had let it slip that he had been working on a spell to find someone’s soulmate. He was complaining that he didn’t know anyone who didn’t have a soulmate. That’s when Tony chimed in that Poppy didn’t have a soulmate and caused everyone to look over at her. Poppy’s usual confident self began to feel uncomfortable with the idea and began to protest.

“Come on Pop, aren’t you a little curious to know if you have a soulmate?” Tony asked and caused a few nods from her friends.

Before she could even think, Poppy blurted out, “Ok.”

Everyone but Steve sent Poppy a small smile as she got up and extended her hand so Stephen could get a drop of her blood for the spell.

After a few minutes of nothing happening, Poppy let out a shaky breath, “See, no soulmate.”

Just as Poppy was making her way back to her seat by Wanda, everyone’s eyes went wide as a portal appeared behind her. “What are you guys-”

Poppy stopped when she noticed what they were looking at. Just then, a tall, tan man with pointed ears and violet eyes, just like her mom's, walked through the portal and caused the team to go into defense mode.

“Who are you, and why did you create a portal in the middle of my home,” the mystery man asked before his eyes landed on Rebecca, “It can’t be. Rebecca, is that really you.”

Poppy looked over at her mother, whose color had drained from her face, and held Thor’s hand as tightly as she could, “Rhysand, I can explain.”

“Please do,” Rhysand crossed his arms and glared at Rebecca, “Baby sister.”

@cleverzonkwombatsludge @quinxxs @stained-glass-eyes0708 @dustyinkpages @kemillyfreitas@lees-chaotic-brain @blackgirlmagicforever 

[hot-astrology]

Counterparts

𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐬/𝐛𝐨𝐲𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝 (𝐋𝐮𝐬𝐭&𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠) 𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐮𝐬/𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝

𝐉𝐮𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫/𝐡𝐮𝐬𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐝 (𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 & 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐫𝐞) 𝐦𝐨𝐨𝐧/𝐰𝐢𝐟𝐞

(𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬.)

In astrology, Jupiter is known to show the husband in a woman's chart, and The Moon is the wife in a man's chart. When we look at the planets Mars & and Venus, they represent a shorter-term relationship. But of course, they are still important within compatibility & attraction within synastry. It's important to have a mixture of both in synastry.

Not only that, but Moon & Jupiter are extremely compatible. After all, the sign cancer is ruled by the moon where Jupiter is exalted.

All four energies come from a place of expansion, trust, crave and desire. Each planet plays a significant role in our lives. Mars is represented by aggression, desire, passion, action, sex drive, assertiveness, and so much more. Similar to mars, the planet venus carries sex too, but less of the aggressions, and an abundance of lustful energy, seductiveness, appealing aesthetics, beauty, crave, and the over-indulgence aspect. Now, Jupiter is your guru, confidence, faith, wisdom, growth, expansion, etc.

This luminary is soft and has a more elegant nature. This is the moon. The moon bestows authenticity, care, warmth, love, memory, trust, nurturing, and moods. Now that you understand the basic archetype of each planet, I can further elaborate on how these planets play a role in each of our relationships and evolution.

We all go through relationships and dysfunctional situationships. Where the girl chases the bad boy (Mars) and wants his energies and wants to be around his excitement and thrill. Same for a boy who

after that beautiful girl(venus) who also makes his hormones rage and cant stop thinking about her. Same as when the woman matures and becomes more a lady and understands her female (moon)and nuturing sides and can provide that warmth and emotional connection to her spose to be that wife on his arm. When the man evolves into his full beliefs, recognition, knowledge of being a real man (jupiter) and a provider not only financially but also educationally, wisdom, direction, commitment and understanding his place in this world as being a strong confident husband.

Mars's energy is untouched by so much passion and chemistry. No wonder why a girl would chase and want to be in his presence. He is the one who would see you standing there and approach you with his ego and try to win you over with his pure strength, antics, and boastful gestures. Seeing him pull up in his new red camera while doing 60mph down your street whose speed limit is 25mph but don't give a fuck attitude. Blowing the horn loud to wake everyone up, when you get to the car not opening your door. Shit, you will have a good ass time tho, take you to all the spots, and holes in the walls and you would be on ya toes not knowing what to expect but you love it. When you have something smart to say he would correct you on the spot and you would look at him in confusion because you never had anyone put you in your place and correct you have you going within to see if were you wrong or not. But he will always protect you and you will feel secure always with him. I would have probably hit ya kitty cat by now and have you lost in the sauce and your mind blown? You would grow so attached to him, calling all day and texting him and just reminiscing the times he beat your walls out in the backseat of his car. Could still feel his D up in your guts. Even tho passion was good, you both had times when you were down in out and not feeling each other and didn't know how to merge your energies (mars & venus conjunction can be good but at times conjunction can play out in all 4 aspects, conjunction, trine, sextile, and a square which could make difficult if not worked with.) So you both could have arguments, disagreements, DV, and insecurities. So you both could face breakups and rekindles, which creates make-up sex etc. When you are not with each other, it feels like you are lost. Even though the relationship gets bad and old or outdated, you still want the formality and comfortability of that person's neglectful security. The passion, sex, drama, possessiveness, lust, and past life karma are so intoxicating that you would rather get wombs, heartache, pain, and chaos before letting them go. Venus brings so much to this dynamic that it's crazy and not right. Her sexuality and charm let Mars be in control, but at the same time, she has his D in a chokehold with her charisma, charm, allure, smell, beauty, and knowledge of what Mars wants and desires. But she gets her mind fucked so much since she can be dingy as well since the venus follows wants and Needs as well always looking for that next sexual high or dopamine pleasure to relax her stimulus. Her presence invites his full throttle to be more impulsive and demanding since Venus doesn't know her worth or her boundaries. So she is taken advantage of and led to a stray. Until both understand that this is just a cycle of like and a great experience, no one is wrong or right just two different energies trying to merge without early education on how to merge each other's energies into one to be a true full power dynamic.

When a man meets the love of his life, he is hit with a force that impacts his whole existence and shakes his whole world up. Then his (jupiter) spirit wakes up, and this transformation matures his thinking, outlook, representation, focus on life, and why he is here to build his own family from the ground up. He further understands his mishaps and lack of back in his past when he was living wild, free, and not caring about anyone's feelings, emotions, and meaning in life. Knowledge is instilled into his brain, wisdom is consumed into his soul, and love is brought to him from understanding how to receive love just as much as giving it. When the woman understands her values, secret possessions, blessed intuitions, and love that keeps pouring, she will evolve into that warm nurturing (moon). She looks at life differently with more delicacy and soft touch, only inviting good energy into her realm, chosey, and picky to whom she gives her magical energies. The glow from her will be so illuminating, and nothing can contrast her shine or beliefs. She will want to nurture, feed, learn, and support her husband and youth as well as empower her spirituality and whole existence. When Jupiter and the Moon are living in their true essence with a full understanding of one another, life will flow so gracefully. We all know there isn't any perfection in this realm when Jupiter understands compromise now and his wisdom to know when to and not to. Times Jupiter has to take the situation and make something from it and lead like the leader he is meant to be and guide his moon to safety, a better life, and protection. The moon understands his power, leadership, and ego that rises from time to time and supports his thoughts and ideas. She is there for all his ideas and thoughts she will consume them, nurture them, and help manifest them into reality. At times, the moon can see things and feel things that Jupiter's boastful self can't see from a distance, and she will warm him or dangers to come his way or their way. She loves and supports his every action without a single doubt. The passion is so strong that you can feel their force when they are together like a fireball. Lovemaking is so desirable and uncontrollable that they both have deep meaning when their bodies connect. Jupiter understands how to satisfy his moon, and the moon understands how to seductively pleasure her Jupiter. Once this power knowledge is intertwined, their connection is unbreakable and keeps getting more and more powerful. They can look back in the past and understand where they came from and respect each other's past and don't use it against them. They are each other's rock, each other's pillar, each other's mirror to still correct each other when wrong and just don't agree. The knowledge of Jupiter keeps gaining over time, so his passion for understanding his warm moon traits and dislikes helps him be a better husband and friend to his moon. Also, the moon's memory and understanding get more secure, so she knows how he feels, wants, and needs without a word spoken. This amazing dynamic is one of the 7 wonders of the world.

Life is to be experienced, not to be postponed, we all have these characteristics inside of us. Just come out in different times and ways. Experience everything you can, you want to have passion if you don't change it, you want to gain knowledge if don't do it, you can't be loved if you run from it, you want to know what you like if you don't try it.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐋𝐢𝐬𝐭

𝐏𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬

𝑶𝒖𝒓 𝑷𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒔: 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐳 𝐕𝐞𝐧𝐮𝐳 || 𝐌𝐨𝐨𝐧 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐢

[quotergirl19]

I’m a firm believer that sometimes when you’re in a relationship you don’t see it for what it is, and that applies to any type of relationship, familial, romantic or platonic.

Sometimes friendship grows toxic or one-sided, your family treats you like a child even when you’re a matured adult, or a casual acquaintance evolves into something deeper and turns romantic. But something has to happen to make one or both parties step back, reassess it and come back with new perspectives.

This absolutely applies to Colin and Penelope They’ve been in each other’s lives for so long that in many ways they still see each other exactly the way they did when they first met as kids.

Their relationship began for Colin with Penelope being his sister’s friend who became such a fixture in the Bridgerton household that he began to see her like another sibling or cousin, she has been in his life forever as an honorary Bridgerton.

For Penelope, Colin has always been confident, outgoing and kind. He’s the only boy she has felt comfortable around because she’s shy and her interactions with men have been extremely limited. We never see her speak directly to her own father, just as she warms to her cousin Jack but she discovers he’s untrustworthy and gentlemen at parties don’t even acknowledge her.

The only male who has consistently been in her life and proven to be kind to her or paid her any positive attention is Colin. Of course she has always adored him, he’s practically the only man in the world who has ever acknowledged or been good to her.

But hearing what Colin said and realizing that he isn’t perfect, forces Pen to take him off the pedestal she’s always had him on and consider what will become of her if she continues to exist in her fantasy that Colin will miraculously love and choose her as his wife. She knows she has to meet more men and she’s going to focus on stepping out of her comfort zone (in the shadows) and into the light.

We know Colin & Pen have grown closer since writing to each other because that’s how their friendship actually developed. Prior to that Eloise had claimed Penelope and she and Colin were far less familiar, it’s clear in how once Polin are more friendly, Eloise keeps interrupting their conversations and claiming Penelope to herself.

It’s important to note that Penelope basically bestowed upon Colin all the positive attributes of the men of fantasy, possibly from romantic novels and books she’s read and maybe that’s why Portia told her to stop reading because it would confuse her thoughts. Because Colin was still very much just a young boy in season 1 and hadn’t actually cultivated in himself what Penelope sees in him. She saw his potential and not who he truly was but we come to find out that her image of him is what he aspires to be.

That’s why Colin mentioned how Penelope’s letters encouraged him, that’s why he’s different with her in season 2. Penelope’s letters were likely full of positivity, she built up his confidence so he could be the man she sees when she looks at him.

Keep in mind Colin is young and desperately wants to be a man with purpose, the sort of man his father was (but his father died when Colin was like 11 so he doesn’t know how to become the man he wishes he was. So Colin has been doing his best to get by on flirting and charm but he wants to be taken seriously now.

So while on his travels, away from his family and his mother, relying on himself and free to act as an adult for the first time, he chose adventures and trying new things and spends time thinking about who he is. Cue Penelope’s letters and positive image of him as a brave, heroic, capable gentleman.

We know that when he left town he was broken hearted and his confidence had taken a major hit. Penelope’s letters were vital in getting him through something difficult that was also humiliating. It’s begun to dawn on him that she isn’t just his sisters friend, she is someone who genuinely cares about him, understands, respects and appreciates him for all the things that other people might mock, overlook or take for granted. That is why she’s special to him. It’s the same reason he’s been special to her, she thinks he sees her, and to an extent he does. But the way he sees her has not changed enough by season 2 which is why he has her in the friend zone box.

Penelope taking herself out of his life by ignoring his letters and/or distancing herself from Colin to focus on her own future is the closest thing that she as a young woman, can get to Colin’s travels because it’s her way of getting to know herself so she can become the woman she aspires to be.

This is Penelope’s time for self reflection and figuring out what she really wants and needs which is going to change everything because she has been surrounded by a lot of negativity. Sisters who pick on her for having bad skin or being chubby, a mother who’s constantly silencing her and hasn’t put any effort into helping her attract suitors.

Taking action that will change her life for the better is an extremely important step for Pen. But old habits are hard to break and she’s made herself small and quiet for so long she is bound to struggle with confidence. So where she helped Colin through letters because her writing is the way she expresses herself best (and the only way most people actually seem listen to her), Colin will help her in person once he’s had enough time and distance to realize how much he wants and needs her in his life.

Once Penelope finally embraces the confident woman she has become deep down (the one who comes out in her writing), more and more people will take notice of how remarkable she is. Because at her best Pen is kind, funny, loyal, and she protects the people she cares about.

Colin is going to be smitten once the more matured, confident man he has become over the last several months finally meets the mature, confident, emboldened woman Penelope has become. And these two newer versions of Penelope and Colin are perfect for each other.

[patrickjanebrain]

Red Hot: The Slow Slow Burn of Jane and Lisbon (Walter Mashburn Edition)

I just finished re-watching Red Hot (3x07), and I have some thoughts about Lisbon and her aborted love affair with Walter Mashburn.

I admit that I didn't like it that [spoiler] Lisbon had a one-night stand with Mashburn. I enjoy the character. Mashburn was entertaining, charming, and likable in a whimsical sort of ruthless way, and Currie Graham had great chemistry with both Simon Baker and Robin Tunney. It would have been interesting if he had made more appearances on the show. But I felt it was out of character for Lisbon to just take him for a quick spin and then never see him again. And obviously he's a horrible romantic bet. The writers make that clear when they introduce him.

And then I realized that's the point.

During the 7 seasons of The Mentalist, in the course of their investigations, Lisbon and Jane meet hundreds of people, and Walter Mashburn is quite unique among them. He and Jane hit it off right away, despite the fact that Jane suspects him of being a possible murderer. Mashburn immediately understands exactly who Jane is ("You're a psychic, aren't you?").

He succinctly sums up Jane's entire raison d'etre the second time they meet.

Walter Mashburn: Oh, I know you're a charlatan as I said. You lost your wife and kid to a serial killer, your fault you think. And now you're on this hopeless quest for redemption. Battling evil and injustice, right?

Patrick Jane: Close enough.

Walter Mashburn: You play mind games with people. You size up their weaknesses, and then you give them the rope to hang themselves.

Patrick Jane: Oh, you make it sound so cool.

Mashburn happily goes along with all of Jane's schemes because he's essentially bored being the smartest, most danger-seeing, risk-taking person in the room all of the time. He enjoys new experiences.

Mashburn also has a thing for revenge. When we meet him a second time it's because he's in the process of destroying an old enemy, Yuri Bajoran. He's maneuvered a hostile buyout of his business, Yuri's "baby," because Yuri once stole the woman he loved away from Mashburn.

Playful. Ruthless. Brilliant. Charming. Hedonistic. Risk taking.

You get where I'm going here. He's Patrick Jane. Minus the trauma.

Mashburn is what Jane was trying to become before his wife and child were murdered. He was chasing fame and fortune. He was ignoring his wife's desire to live a straight life because he was having too much fun indulging himself.

And then, because of Jane's arrogance and carelessness, Red John deliberately targeted Angela and Charlotte for destruction, and Jane had to do a massive internal restructuring of his priorities.

When we first meet Jane, he's still playful, charming, ruthless, brilliant, and risk taking. But now he has a mission, and that suicide mission for revenge takes precedence over ever other thing. He's no longer self indulgent. He's sublimated his hedonistic urges, including his sexuality, to give himself greater focus. The only thing that matters is hunting down and killing Red John.

Then he meets Teresa Lisbon.

Lisbon is a soulmate. She has survived her own crucible of trauma, and she has a critical understanding of (and empathy for) broken, hurting men. She understands that Jane is off-limits romantically. He's shut down. He may flirt and charm out of habit or need, but the part of him that could give something to a relationship is no longer operational. There is an attraction between them, but it's impossible.

That impossibility is the reason they allow themselves to get so close and eventually care so deeply for each other.

Because Teresa is extremely skittish. She's a bolter. She left Chicago because she felt tied down taking care of her father and brothers. She abandoned her fiance when things got too serious between them. She's afraid of commitment. To her commitment feels like slavery, and she doesn't want that. She's afraid of that.

But that doesn't mean that she's not attracted to Mashburn. She has a type: she likes charming, ruthless bad boys who don't follow the rules. She knows they're bad for her, but she can't help it. That's her thing.

When she meets Walter, he immediately tells her he's attracted to her and available.

He asks her out. He says he'll fly his plane to Sacramento to see her. Jane finds all of this amusing. He agrees with Mashburn's assessment of Lisbon's appeal and compliments him on his style. And later he tells Lisbon that she should have taken him up on his offer, that a little empty glamour would be good for her.

When you realize that Mashburn is a stand-in for Jane, the whole thing is quite funny, really. Lisbon being attracted to Jane. Jane telling Lisbon that he'd be good for her, loosen her up a little.

When they meet again in Red Hot, Lisbon does take Mashburn up on his offer. She enjoys herself, and then like the skittish filly she is, she never sees him again. It's too much. Too tempting, too out of character for the person she wants to be. And Mashburn could overpower her emotionally. She doesn't want that.

The trauma, their mutual trauma, is what Jane and Lisbon share and bond over. It's what keeps them apart, and what eventually, after that slow, slow burn, brings them together. The attraction was always there. It's takes time to build that complete understanding and utter trust, and it never would have happened if Jane had been available to begin with.

@tmsource @robntunney @tresalisbon

[yamcha-thelonewolf]

What do you want Yamcha’s role in future works to be?

Nothing extremely relevant, really. Not because I don't desire it, but because the current path taken by Dragon Ball can never bring him to prominence as it once did. So, Yamcha has always been a supporting character, and not just in battle. This is enough to accept that his role in the whole story is simply and genuinely to be there. That would be something, and in fact in DBS we have seen a few appearances from him. Better than not seeing him, I guess, although I would have avoided some gratuitous humiliation. Yet any Dragon Ball fan knows that, fool or not, Yamcha cannot be missed. He was one of the first characters to come alongside Goku in his adventures, that friend we could all use, the one who with a dumb laugh gets us out of a bad mood when maybe he is down on his luck even more than we are. That's the point. Yamcha is a hidden character, there is a song by Toru Furuya that tells us about him in a different light, and I think this aspect is the most characteristic and fascinating element of the former bandit. Sadly by now the world knows him as the idiot of the team, the loser, the clown whose antics occasionally dampen the tension of the plot, but he is not just that. Well, basically this is what I would like. A little more respect. I don't demand that he be given an entire chapter in which he finally makes his point (although I wouldn't mind that!), but at least that he be returned to his own identity, the one that was perhaps naively given to him at the origin of Dragon Ball and that made him one of the most interesting and intriguing characters. Unfortunately, his characterization has been lost over time. Yamcha, like so many others, has been outclassed by other priorities, and that's "okay". The only thing I wish is that he would be recognized a little more, and I wish that in those little appearances he now makes he might say or do something intelligent, something useful, just as he used to do once between jokes. I mean, Yamcha was a living encyclopedia. He knew everything about everyone, he was an adept connoisseur of the martial arts, and that hinted at how captivated he was by them. There are so many signs to prove it, such as when in the filler he was quivering to punch during the baseball game or, more recently, when he helped out in the Moro arc. I simply wish he would also continue his training, perhaps with Tien, or Gohan and Piccoro, and above all believe in himself more since it seems that others don't do it as much. What Yamcha has always needed was recognition, and I'm sorry to notice how few times someone laid his hand on his shoulder to tell him he's a great guy.

From Dragon Ball FighterZ.

He is not like Tenshinhan who, despite the knowledge of his own inferiority, still manages to train and surpass himself. Yamcha is much more human: he has his own limitations, his weaknesses, his uncertainties, his sense of failure that does not keep him going. Nor is he like Krillin, who has managed to find a wife stronger than him who can spur him on and keep him active in training. For example, it would also be great if he perfected his style, deepening his wolf side or even better inventing a new technique, even more beautiful than the Spirit Ball. Well, anyway, if Yamcha cannot be made a better fighter, at the very least I would like to see him fulfill his wish: marrying a woman (or an alien) who does not make him feel wrong or inferior, but on the contrary can motivate him and chart a path for him that he has somewhat lost [I think I should also talk about Vidro, but not here]. Anyway, I know that love relationships are not the focal point of Dragon Ball, but it is also true that it was often, if not always, love that moved the characters. So why not please the one character who has officially declared over and over again that he only wants to fall in love and get married? It is sadly ironic as well as unfair. In conclusion, I think that giving him someone to love is the best gift that can be given to Yamcha. Yeah, even more than superhuman strength and satisfaction in battle. Then he would finally be a complete character and he might even go out of the picture... but at that point I'm sure many would miss him. Me for sure.

Just... Give this poor lone wolf a reason to not feel lonely anymore.

thanks for asking! 💕

[johnwickb1tsch]

Rambling time again because-✨ late night thoughts ✨

So with each new chapter of bittersweet, (and the tex+john collab, which I could also ramble on for hours probably 😂) it's becoming more and more clear that John and the reader's relationship is currently like a stretched out elastic band. They're both very clear on what they want, they're both very stubborn about it, and aside from little sweet moments - or not so sweet moments 😏- here and there, they're basically getting pushed to the limits of their patience and sanity.

And it especially struck me with John, because let's be honest- The man is terrified of letting us go, letting our leash go in a metaphorical sense, in terms of something getting our of his control. It makes absolute sense with the life he lived, and especially with the amount of people he lost, Helen being the most relevant. Despite working for Ruska Roma and serving the Director during his early life, John has been in control for the most of his existence. He usually stays very cool and controlled from an outsider's view, but someone like Winston can easily see through him, and knows that he's anything but. He's calm, sure, but he's also impatient when it comes to things, hotheaded even if you look at the second movie - or any of them really - and what he did to Santino (who fucking deserved it, and I wanted to tap-dance on his corpse 😂). He's stubborn as a mule, and most importantly, he's not afraid to break the rules. Ever. Due to his skills, there really isn't many people who could hold his responsible if he does happen to break the rules either, and this also plays hand in hand with the fact that he was born and raised a morally dark/grey character. While all of this helps him a lot because he's practically unstoppable if he puts his mind to something, it also means that he is irrational, maybe even slightly delusional.

Have I mentioned that he's also very emotionally driven??? Look at him during the first 2 movies. The man went fucking bat-shit-crazy after people NOT disturbed him, but disrespected his late wife's memory, and pretty much ripped everything away from him that still tied him to Helen, - aside from their memories and his feelings - the very person who prompted this emotionally driven action from him to actually get out out of the life he once lived.

So now.. We have this extremely stubborn, and also extremely emotionally attached person, who lost pretty much everyone close to him, and is in fact very much so aware that his reputation means a death-sentence to pretty much anyone who interacts with him, INCLUDING little ol' us. So on a basic level, he is rightfully cautious and terrified, because people will not stop to consider whether they're bringing an innocent into this or not, they just want leverage over him.

This, combined with the fact that we, the reader, are also extremely stubborn (too), with a great amount of self-respect, an incredible display of self-esteem, and a set of although grey, but also pretty strict moral code, - where the lines do blur here and there depending on who does what, and why they do it - which he LOVES, however it also means that we're unpredictable. Attracted to him? Sure. Emotionally attached to him? Absolutely. But we're a strong individual and a free spirit, and that definitely made him doubt whether we would stay with him early on, (jealous!John intensifies 🤤) and is in fact actively making his paranoid that if he slips up, let's his defenses down, or maybe even becomes more lenient, we might be able to just slip out of his grasp, not that he'd ever allow it of course.

Buuuuuuuuuut- All of this is playing against him, against both of us really. While we might be able to get some kind of leverage over him the more he reveals, and the more time we spend learning the game, if there is to be a genuine relationship in the future like he wants there to be, like both of us want there to be really, he's doing this the wrong way, because he's basically trying to force it on us, and cage a free bird, thus the elastic band being stretched. And as we know, you can stretch an elastic band quite far, maybe even past it's limits sometimes, but at the end of the day, it will rip and it will snap back three times as hard, which is what I imagine will happen. Maybe not today, or not even tomorrow, but there is a limit to everything, including the patience of both characters, not to mention that John is already showing the signs of being tired with our constant stubbornness, (latest chapter 🤤) and if say.. He were to snap instead of us, it may very well snap us out of our helpless emotional state, in case he maybe were to overstep a line that he definitely shouldn't have.

Same goes for the reader. Poor girl is extremely strong, so, so strong, with an incredible sense of self-worth but there is a limit to that as well. She still hasn't quite processed that her family and friends practically abandoned her, and it's not like John's back and forth, their little cat and mouse games, or being punished for not behaving a certain way - which makes John an absolute hypocrite because unless he wants to change our personality completely, he should not be punishing us for showing signs of what he fell in love with, of who he fell in love with in the first place - are helping.. So honestly- I await whatever you have in store for us because it is going to be WILD.

Spooooky! LOL once again I have to ask if you've been rummaging in my WIP??? 😂 You make so many excellent points!

Especially that John's excessive enemies would definitely fuel his paranoia for keeping this girl under lock and key, after EVERYTHING he's lost. 🎡🏹 It's like it's just not enough to be John Fucking Wick. These idiots keep testing him, even though they should absolutely fucking know he's going to kill them all in the end. BUT that doesn't help you if you're the collateral damage...

AND he IS such a hypocrite because of course he fell in love with her for her independent nature, but he wants to be the one to bring her to heel, for his own peace of mind? I think she's into it to a point because she's never really met anyone who could do it (and still retain her love). It's new and mysterious but once the shine wears off and she gets her feet (because shit what are we on? Like day 2? 3? He's going to find out how stubborn she can really be. You're right, something's going to snap.

[markantonys]

The focus on Rand's relationship with Tam is something I'm really missing from the show and it makes me sad. Granted we can't see inside Rand's head so we can't see how he feels about being adopted or even his father's sword being melted (though the second one still has time to be addressed, too much going on in the finale). The most important thing though is we get the emotional payoff of Tam saving Rand from himself and that moment when Rand breaks down crying and hugs Tam in ToM. I just hope they'll be able to pull it off cause we didn't get enough screentime with Rand and Tam imo to show how much Tam means to Rand. Tam does have a big role in Battle of the Two Rivers though so maybe these things can be fleshed out in s3

i got pretty much this same ask a couple weeks ago, so most of my thoughts are there and i only have 1 new thing to add:

parent-child is a type of relationship that audiences will instinctively understand the depth & weight of without needing to be shown abundant screentime of the characters interacting or talking/thinking about each other. (similar to spousal relationships - one reason why they went with perrin killing an invented wife over master luhhan is that for a marital relationship, the audience won't require extended scenes establishing the relationship in order to feel the weight of the death.)

what i mean by this is: parent-child relationships being a shortcut to natural emotional connection from the audience + audience spending time with both characters apart from each other and getting to know them + maybe a few lines here and there about how they miss each other = still emotional as all hell to see them reunite towards the end of the show, after everything rand's been through. they don't need to spend much time at all on this relationship prior to that reunion moment in order for that moment to hit.

also, it bears repeating from my first post: the show has extremely limited time at its disposal compared to the books, so it has to be strategic in selecting which relationships to focus on and which to leave in the background. and since choices have to be made, then rand's relationships with his fellow emond's fielders are far more important to the overall story than his relationship with tam. they just are. that isn't to say his relationship with tam will never be touched on again ever just because it wasn't in season 2, but it will never be as important as the EF5 relationships and that is the right call.

[whinlatter]

Heyyy just wanted to know your opinion on this coz I feel your analysis of Hinny is the best one I've ever read. Do u feel if one of them dies at some point, the other would move on and go out with other people? Or do you think they would feel like they're replacing the other and might not commit to someone else ever?

Anon, are you determined to prise that Friday feeling out of my hands by making me think about Harry and Ginny’s deaths ☹️

…jk you know I live for this 🤸🏻‍♀️ thank you so much anon! (important to say that so much of my Hinny analysis comes thinking about and benefiting from other people’s writing and work, so definitely want to acknowledge that)

Honestly I think… no, not after what they went through in the war. There are a few reasons:

- I think that, given the intensity of what Harry and Ginny went through to get to each other after DH, and how close they know they both came to losing the other person, neither person would want to seek out happiness in another long-term romantic relationship. From Ginny’s perspective, one of the things I thought a lot about when writing this meta on the significance of their kiss in DH, is that I think Ginny starts to brace herself to grieve Harry beginning in summer 1997. She does a lot of the work of having to imagine her life without him, as a very young person. Then he does come back. I think we can’t underestimate how much that extreme experience would shape her sense that Harry is it, for her. From Harry’s perspective, he spends all of DH thinking of her as his singular source of comfort and respite from the enormity of his situation. I think once you’ve died thinking of a person, you’d struggle to ever be able to go on a date with someone new. (Imagine explaining that over appetisers. Imagine getting into that over some calamari.)

- I also think they’d struggle to trust new people who don’t share their life experiences. Love is contextual, and our life experiences shape the people we are, and the people we look for. Had the war not happened, maybe Harry and Ginny would be more open to bringing new people into their lives who have different childhoods and life experiences to theirs. But the war did happen, and I think that would drastically limit the number of people both Harry and Gin can relate to and be open with. I suspect Harry and Ginny would spend most of their time in an already insular group of family, ex Order people and the DA who were in the trenches together, so to speak.

- Both have some sense of belief in a form of life after death. (This is most obvious in Harry’s case, given what he goes through in the Forest and after, but see meta above on Ginny, death and the veil). I do think this is quite particular to them as characters, but I think their mutual belief in some kind of afterlife would shape their willingness to entertain building new romantic relationships in this life. They would be holding hope for a reunion, in some way. Both are, by the end the series, two people who are bereaved. They both know that you can’t replace people you’ve lost, and I don’t think their particular ways of coping with loss would lead them to try and fill the void left by the death of the love of their life with a new long-term relationship.

- They have kids very young, and both would struggle with the idea of introducing a new parental figure to their children. Again, I think this is very particular to these two characters, but I think their instinctive protectiveness and tendency towards familial insularity would mean they wouldn’t be looking to bring someone new in to their children’s lives.

- At heart… both are certified lover boys/girls™️. Ginny Weasley is ride or die; Harry Potter is the wife guy of wife guys. These kids are saps (and I say this as a committed sap). I think it would be a bit of a joke among their mates, like how boringly and singularly all for each other Harry and Ginny are. I think it would be widely acknowledged in their circle of friends that Harry and Ginny are not swapping anyone else in if the other kicks the bucket.

[secretmellowblog]

I feel like the scene where Valjean has dinner with Bishop Myriel and his sister has so many echoes of Valjean’s broken relationship with his own sister? It's like Myriel and Baptistine are who Valjean and Jeanne might have been, if they’d had wealth and privilege.

Both Myriel and Valjean’s families were scattered— the Myriels by the French Revolution, the Valjeans by illness/poverty. But after everything fell apart the brother and sister stuck together. They took care of each other. They stayed by each other even in the midst of poverty (although yeah it is important to note that the Myriel household’s poverty is voluntary, and is extremely different from the actual poverty of the Valjean household.) 

  It feels like a commentary on the way the revolutions/Napoleonic wars/upheaval of the past decades affected different classes very differently. You have the Myriel family representing the trauma of the aristocrats, and then the Valjean family representing the trauma of the peasants. 

Both Valjean and Myriel were also in a situation where they lost contact with their family for a while and had to survive by laboring– Valjean during his imprisonment, Myriel during the Revolution. Valjean's family was broken in 1795, Myriel's in 1793.  “Our family was ruined….In ‘93 one had no relatives,” Myriel says to Valjean about his experience. “One had only one’s arms.” He’s trying to reach out to Valjean by implying that he understands something of what he's going through— that the pain aristocrats like him experienced during the revolution has something in common with the pain that peasants like Valjean have experienced as a result of poverty. Myriel’s also been separated from his family, he’s also been exiled from the places where he used to live, and he’s also been forced to labor in order to survive. And If he survived it then there’s hope for Valjean too. 

But because Myriel is an aristocrat and Valjean is a peasant, Myriel’s situation was and is radically different, less painful, and less dire. And Myriel seems to understand that, but it’s still… well, it’s still a thing!  I don’t think Myriel is doing anything “wrong” here, but there are clearly limits to how much he actually understands. He talks about how he had “no relatives” during the Revolution, but a moment before he was talking with his sister about their many many relatives. He talks about laboring and having nothing but his arms— but he’s never been in the galleys; has he really experienced that? Like yes, Myriel’s family has been through terrible trauma. Myriel’s wife died in exile, for reasons we never learn, and his family was scattered/broken in a way that utterly changed him as a person.  But he doesn’t know what it actually means to lose everyone. He doesn’t know what it means to lose everything. Myriel might have felt like he did at one point, but he doesn’t. 

Because Myriel’s sister is still here.

1.2.4 is written from Baptistine’s point of view. She happily describes her brother to one of her friends, and seems content to be living with him. 

But Valjean’s sister is gone. She might be dead, or might as well be dead— he will never see her again. 

I don’t think Myriel is doing anything wrong here at all. He’s being a perfect kind host. He’s doing all he can to help Valjean without being condescending or preachy. He’s talking to him as a friend, and trying to help Valjean talk about his own past without shame by revealing some of the struggles he’s been through. But at the same time…when Valjean says he has nothing, it doesn’t mean “he’s lost a lot” it means he has nothing. When Valjean says he has no family, it doesn’t mean “he has some distant cousins he rarely talks to” it means that literally everyone he has ever loved is dead or gone forever.  

Myriel’s aristocratic family may have lost a lot in the Revolution, but it's not even comparable to what Valjean’s family has lost as a result of poverty and prison. 

Myriel’s original plan was to give Valjean a good night’s sleep and breakfast, then send him on his way to Pontarlier and hope he’ll get hired to work with the cheesemakers there. And that was a great plan! It was probably the best thing he could do in that situation. But like…would the people of Pontarlier have been any less bigoted towards Valjean than the people of Digne? Valjean probably doesn’t have hope that will happen. Again, I think Myriel was doing everything “right”-- it’s just that he’s only one person and doing everything he could might not have been enough. It’s like that earlier scene where the Bishop helped the man who was on Death Row. The Bishop thinks the Death Penalty is a moral evil, but he doesn’t have the power to get rid of it or even the power to rescue someone from it. He does all that he can to help the man on death row, by comforting him…. but it isn’t enough. And Myriel's aware that it isn't enough, that there are limits to how much he can help.

 In 1.2.4 Baptistine praises her brother for treating Valjean as an equal. At the same time, in her own narration, she portrays Valjean in the same pitying kinda-condescending way that she praises her brother for avoiding. 

Valjean spent nineteen years in prison because he was trying to help his sister and his sister’s children.

Myriel calls Valjean his “brother.” Myriel’s sister seems amazed that Myriel treats Valjean as his equal; it’s as if she doesn’t think that anyone could have ever genuinely treated Valjean as their brother.

[p4latinus]

good morning, aviators! | jjk x top gun au [part 1]

characters: gojo satoru, fushiguro toji

genre: fluff, modern au, headcanons, short fic 

tw: sfw, non-implied nsfw, potentially suggestive with toji, established relationship with gojo, flirting with toji, mentions of toji’s late wife

synopsis: your favourite jjk men as top gun pilots! this includes gojo satoru and fushiguro toji! part 2 will be coming soon (featuring nanami kento & geto suguru).

GOJO “INFINITY” SATORU

definitely the top of class and would be extremely cocky about it. his reputation is well-received yet raises skepticism because of his unorthodox flying techniques. his strength is not limited to his piloting skills - but his ability to make decisions in a split second. GOJO’S creativity in formations and strategies to finish missions are infinite. he is resourceful, cunning and intuitive.

SATORU is second to none and reserves his competitive nature for happy hours at bars. definitely the best top gun instructor anyone could ask for. he is willing to push all his students above and beyond their limits, moulding them into the finest fighter pilots across the world. he empathises well with loss and grief, so he is quick to be there for each and every single one of his mourning students.

but what would INFINITY do with you? he would sneak you into smaller scale planes and take you around for the prettiest sights. mountains curving their ends into a pristine lake. the sun rising with clouds, tangerine and orchid skies, peeling into the horizon with an aubade of birds. everything you’ve known about the earth dissolved with the thunderous speed of the plane.

if it weren’t for the laughter and teasing by INFINITY, you wouldn’t have realised the plane landed, swiftly parking along the runway. time is endless with SATORU. his slips a hand around your waist, gazing at your soft smile. “wanna do that again?” he whispers into your ear.

“INFINITY.” a voice bellowed, “you disobeyed a direct order to retreat to base.”

“my students were in danger, sir!” GOJO replied sharply. he tipped his chin higher. despite his nonchalant demeanour, a bead of sweat trickled down his forehead. his headband was soon drenched by the humidity and stress.

the commander wiped a napkin along his brow before raising from his chair. his wrinkled hands tucked behind his back. he cleared his throat once more, “captain, remind me again, why are you still flying for squad TOKYO if you cannot obey orders? why did you go after the boys when i specifically said not to?”

“because it would take you 5 business days to send backup.”

“i am asking you a rhetorical question, GOJO.” commander masamichi spoke sternly. he was quick to dismiss the pilot after another mouthful round of bickering and redundant lectures. knowing GOJO, everything was about to exit his head the moment he left the commander’s office. all he wanted to do was take you to the beach, bury his face into your neck, sway gently with you and the sea breeze.

the ride home was strenuously long. his mind wandered between the cacophonous alarms and alerts. the way his students’ voices were inaudible and static. the panic in megumi’s pleas and yuuji’s desperation.

“don’t give up ‘gumi. don’t release. keep hold. keep hold!” yuuji ordered, clutching tightly onto the eject cables, waiting for his partner’s signal. “sir, permission to eject, i repeat, permission to eject- we can’t- we can’t- i can’t- handle it.” it was unlike megumi to panic.

GOJO understood the responsibility of keeping a comrade alive. he understood how conflicting it was to receive or follow orders in a dire situation such as this.

“you are reaching mach 3, INFINITY. retreat to base, now!” masamichi ordered through the intercom. the commander shot an assertive look at shoko ieiri who quickly surveyed the radius for GOJO’s escape. “you are outnumbered and blazing, INFINITY. leave them now!” masamichi reinforced.

GOJO knew this jet was only capable of mach 2.5 however, he was a limitless pilot.

INFINITY stood firm to rescue his students. no matter if it costed his own life.

his students were hitting 4000 altitude in seconds. 2 enemy fighter planes tailed them. a solitaire F-15 spiralling out of control. flashes of light and blasts ricocheted like fireworks. black smoke and clouds. explosions and vibrations. everything was a blur. he did everything he could to save the boys. after all, it was what he promised. to ensure the boys returned home to their families. to never apologise and explain himself to families ever again.

with quick flicks of his thumb, GOJO switched between missiles to guns. he fired with insane precision despite being clouded by smoke. “you are weak.” he uttered to himself, as the plane pushed to mach 3.1. then 3.2. and then 3.3. GOJO zipped by the clouded ash and fire, peering through his dusted windows for any signal.

2 parachutes were released and rippling along the ocean. neon green smoke diffused and surrounded the boys as they waved their arms for safety. GOJO sighed relief and circled around the boys, waiting for the quickest rescue helicopter.

GOJO arrived to the doorstep of your shared home and was quickly welcomed by your tight embrace. you heard about his irrational (yet moral decision) to rescue the boys, who were now recovering. your eyes strolled through his appearance. his hair was plastered by sweat and dirt. he gently held your gaze before you led him into the spacious home.

“why did you do it, baby?” you placed an ice pack onto his head. “you know you can’t risk your life trying to save everyone, GOJO.” he held onto your hands, pressing his lips onto them. he sighed into your palms, indulging in the warmth he craved for.

“i promised SHADE that i would save his son no matter what. itadori’s old man counted on him too. you knew what this would have costed, y/n. i will never leave my students behind.”

“i know, baby. you are INFINITY. your love for them is limitless.”

FUSHIGURO “SHADE” TOJI

reckless. so damn reckless. but with his skills as a pilot? he could pull off near-death and almost-impossible stunts in the heat of battle. SHADE has pissed off the commander so many times with his disastrous training sessions or toying with the landing zones. he takes his time to piss off the commander, knowing specifically that he would never lose his position as a fighter pilot.

the commander is reluctant to sack SHADE because of his amazing aviation skills. FUSHIGURO is one of the best pilots, and especially coming from the zenin aerospace family lineage, he is bound to know a few tricks that are exclusive to his family. such as well-controlled, plane recovery techniques. FUSHIGURO has successfully reached the most number of body counts and successful missions through his aerial-combat expertise.

probably the most annoying but irresistible fighter pilot at the bar. he is quick to flash a few winks, put a tab under his name - whatever it takes to steal glances from you. he is *that* pilot to raise a glass at the sight of you, and sweep you into his arm. in fact, he looks forward to happy hours because he knows exactly where you’d be. in front of the counter, with your sea-salt hair tousled back, after a long day at the beach. he would admire your tanned/freckled skin, breathe your scent and indulge in your smiles.

little did he know that his perfect y/n was posted at the kyoto base to report on promotional content for the air force. if only he had a little less tequila and upheld his gentleman persona, he would’ve known that you were the top journalist in japan, hired by the commander himself.

the pilots stood tall and attentively. they faced their commander who stood before them. your footsteps clapped along the concrete floor. the room was awfully stuffy. it was no surprised that the lecture room reeked of sweat, cigarettes and musk. the familiar, scar-faced man’s lips curved into a seductive smile at the sight of you.

the lecture went by quickly. unfortunately, you could barely grasp onto the logistics - the new planes, the new weaponry, everything was going by too fast. undoubtedly, the pilots wouldn’t have an issue catching up. all the language and terms used were probably second nature to them. thankfully, you recorded the lecture so you could replay it as reference for your article.

“well, i wasn’t expecting to see you here.” SHADE grinned, folding his arms in front of his chest. you marvelled at the sight of his generously sculpted muscles and felt your face flush. you turned away and cleared your throat.

“well, you never asked what i do for a living.” you retorted, smirking and curling your lips into a teasing smile. SHADE tilted his head back and chuckled to himself.

“that’s my mistake, darling. so, what exactly do you do?”

“you’re interviewing me now?” you squinted playfully at him.

FUSHIGURO reached for a metal chair that was clearly too small for his large build. with the chair’s back facing you, TOJI rested on it, leaning forward. his stare carried intent - but you couldn’t decipher what he truly wanted. “don’t tease me, sweetheart, i asked you a question.”

the closeness between the both of you felt too intimate. you couldn’t help but notice his dog-tag necklace that wrote, “for megumi and tsumiki”. curiosity gnawed but you knew better than to ask an acquaintance about those names.

“i am a journalist for the kaisen times. i’m here to write about the best fighter pilots - that is, of course, if you do well for your next assessment.” you spoke, while scribbling some notes into your agenda. you’re due for 3 articles in 4 days - but time was against you. inevitably, the pilots were all phenomenal but you had to choose 1 to focus on. perhaps, it would be wise to interview FUSHIGURO TOJI.

“so, have you decided on who you will interview?” he pried, eying your messy handwriting.

“only the best, of course.”

“and who would that be?” you felt his gaze shift between you and the other pilots.

“i don’t know. i guess i’ll come up with my own rules and requirements. it’s an assessment after all.”

“give me some pointers, sweetheart.”

“well, i do like making things much harder for exceptional pilots.”

you rose from your seat and gathered your belongings. TOJI swept his hands under your bag strap and carried your documents. “allow me, sweetheart.” he smiled, lugging the deadweight over his shoulder. you rebutted and tried to take your belongings back, but he swatted your hand away and insisted that you followed him.

he brought you to the aviator’s lounge - exclusively accessible for the top fighter pilots. TOJI had his own desk with photo frames of a young boy and girl. SHADE’s name card rested on his desk, which read out, “ZENIN TOJI”. you brushed your fingers along the engraved name before drifting to the photo frames.

“those are my two rascals. my boy is a pilot. just like his old man.” he announced. his heart burst with pride as he eyed his photographed children. “my girl is a nurse. caring as ever. just like her late mom.”

late mom?

that explained why SHADE wasn’t wearing a wedding ring. you wouldn’t have guessed that he was in a relationship based on his flirtatious nature. you couldn’t find the right words but to apologetically express your sympathy. TOJI being himself, waved it off nonchalantly. he rearranged your documents and bag, saying that it was an ‘army perk’ to be as organised as he was. you couldn’t help but to smile to himself.

“so SHADE, how did you get your call sign?” your eyes flickered between the numerous medals, certificates and trophies. he was definitely an esteemed pilot with a long history.

“because i used to be in shady businesses. i got into the air force because i took down 3 marines in a bar fight. they were armed, but i got to them first.”

“so that’s how you got your scar?”

“that’s right, sweetheart.” he winked and patted his lap. “so, let me tell you a story. ask whatever you want.”

his callused hands reached for a grey device. it wasn’t long until you realised that he pressed the red button on your recorder.

[lake-archive]

A Mother Changes

CATZ Discography

Fandom: Hypnosis Mic

Characters: Ann Wolff (OC), Original Female Character, Original Male Character

Synposis: Having a mother who is a loyal follower of the Party Of Words can be a pain… And yet, Ann’s mother had not always been like this. It was a sudden change, to say the least. A little too sudden in fact…

Tags: Family Dram, Dysfunctional Family, Family Issues, Past Relationship(s), Past, Trust Issues, Pre-The Dirty Dawg Era (Hypnosis Mic), Backstory, Original Character(s), Major Original Character(s), Minor Original Character(s), POV Original Character, Original Character-centric, Canon Universe, Pre-Canon, Canon Era POV Third Person, POV Third Person Limited

Words: 1,715

AO3 Link

It had all started that day, a bit before the H Age had taken effect. Ann recalls that day better than any other, sometimes it is haunting them in their dreams. Though at the time they thought nothing of it. Their mother always had different views and was outspoken about the state women find themselves in. It had never been to the extreme it was ever since shortly after the H Age had started. In fact, back then she was more an avid supporter and mesmerized by Tohoten’s appearance on television. That was the day the change would kick in… 

The family of three sat at the table, eating dinner as usual. Ann was still in highschool back then and their father was still within the house as well. They had turned on a political debate, given both of the parents were heavily into politics, though their father especially. And yet, it was their mother who spoke up shortly after the debate had been over, with an unusual shine in her eyes. 

“Finally! Someone who I can stand behind! It was about time!” She exclaimed happily, somewhat eager in fact. “She is saying the things I have been saying all this time!”

Both Ann and their father had been surprised by this reaction, not having expected anything like this. But they were not complaining, not necessarily. It was great to see her this eager in fact and they both understood fully. “Sure, everyone talks about how ‘women are equal to men’ but seeing society as a whole… In fact, I earn way less than my male co–workers and I do the same thing! Need I say more!?” 

“No, not at all…” Ann threw in, though a bit more quiet, mostly because they knew what their mother said next.

“Oh don’t sound like that dear! It affects you too, doesn’t it? You have to give double your effort to one day match this!”

“Yeah yeah, you’ve been saying this all the time. I get it.” They countered with a sigh, then stuffing their mouth with some rice from their own bowl. “I’m fine though, don’t worry about it.”

“Hey, Mom’s just worried about your future.” Their Dad responded, though sounding calm of course. And there was nothing off with this at the time, he had no reason to be on alert. “And so am I. So just keep doing your best.”

And all they could do was nod. After all, this was the truth. Regardless if things would change or not, it was important to get a proper education. Especially if they want to follow through with their own dreams. 

“That aside, I am more than eager for the change! This Tohoten seems like a woman who can follow through with her promises!” Their mother continued, clearly mesmerized at this point, sounding like an admirer in fact. “I also think we women need to have as much of a say as men!”

“Hey, am I like this towards the both of you?” Their father asked, though sounding rather light-hearted about it than anything. He knew how his wife meant it and yet it had caught her somewhat off guard, looking at her husband with somewhat of an embarrassment. A near chuckle had escaped Ann’s own lips in fact. 

“Ah– No dear. I didn’t mean that every man is like this. You know that I’m more than aware!”

“Hey, I know. Just messing with you dear.”

“Hah… Please don’t… You know what I’m trying to say…”

“Of course I am. And I don’t disagree with you on that.”

Yeah, none of the two would. There was truth to those words, certainly. And it sounded like a noble goal at the time — Make the voices of women heard, make them speak louder. They face difficulties and Tohoten sounded like she wanted to change that at the time. a first step towards equality. And back then Ann believed what this was: A cry for equality, its first step in fact. No one could say anything against that and wouldn’t. Of course not! There was literally no reason to! 

“Say, would you two mind if I joined this Party Of Words?” Their mother suddenly brought up, making the other two look yet again. “I’m sick of just talking and preaching myself.”

“Join the party?” Ann repeated after having swallowed the rice in their mouth, looking at the face their mother had at the time. She seemed ecstatic, truly happy and more than eager to make a change. She wanted this more than anything and saw it as a chance to finally stand up to her beliefs. After all, what can a no name do? She had been the regular salary woman at the time, the average office worker. She had no chance even if she tried, outside of the small changes at the workplace she helped to achieve. But not to make a big difference. Now though? This may be her opportunity to get her word out there, with others who share this belief, having people to stand behind…  

“Hey, you’re not a kid. I’d say go for it. If it makes you happy.” Their father responded, being encouraging even.

“But it would be an opposing party to the one you are—”

“That’s alright. We both have our beliefs. Really, go for it. We will support you all the way. Right, Ann?”

They nodded. “Yeah.” Despite the softness at the time they meant it. If that was what their mother wanted to do, there were no objections from the entire family. 

If they had known what this would result in, they might have never agreed. Both them and their father. Sure, it took a while yet it had taken shape shortly after they had graduated highschool… 

One day when Ann returned home from a part time job they took at the time, merely to pass the time before university started, they were greeted with their father right on the streets, two bags in hand and one on his back. Given his age it was far from healthy for him to carry all of this himself so they rushed over, worried… Shortly after hearing the following: “And don’t show your face here ever again you pig!” 

It had them in disbelief for a moment, it was their mother’s voice. This was not normal, far from it, and nothing had indicated this. It was a clear 180, so sudden that anyone would be in shock to be honest. 

That was even more reason to rush over, then asking nearly panicked: “Dad!? What’s going on!? Did you do something!? What–”

“Ann, calm down and take a deep breath. Everything will be fine.” He interrupted them, grabbing them by their shoulders. “Your… mother will explain. I have to go.”

“Eh? Mom? Why? What’s happening? Can’t you two talk it out or—”

“I’m afraid not. Your Mom is set on this. I… am moving out.”

“Moving out!? Wha—”

“Ann! Get inside here! Stop wasting time talking to him!” They were interrupted by their mother who had opened the door yet again it seemed, her voice awfully loud and strict in fact. It made anyone almost tremble and it was hard to refuse. She had never been like this unless truly upset. Sometimes she was when it came to her kid’s cleaning habits but… With the man of the family? 

They did not respond at first, only looking up at their father, the shock in their eyes. “D… Did Mom throw you out?”

A moment of silence, he did not respond, at least not verbally. All they got was a nod in response before he let go of their shoulders, passing by them. “I have to go. Please, don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.”

“Wha— Wait Dad, you can’t just—”

“Ann! I told you to get here! Now! We need to have a talk!”

Mom… She was ignoring this! At this very moment, she was just ignoring this fact and did not pay attention to her own husband! That alone was infuriating, making them turn for a moment to their mother and starting to yell right back: “We!? I think you need to have a talk with—!”

“Please, just go talk to your mother. Worry about your future, not mine. I will find a way.” These had been the last words they would hear of their father for some time, silencing Ann on the spot and making them stand there in disbelief. In their head they were screaming, this wasn’t happening. This shit… How? What was going on!? It was confusing and… Infuriating. Ever since back then, the party— No, they couldn’t shove the blame onto the party just yet. Even if it had been suspicious, it was not enough to blame them at that moment… 

Things had moved fast and the rest was history by then. Their mother forced Ann to quit their job and join the Party Of Words, essentially the Chuohku. Why? 

‘Your future is not at some market and putting things onto a shelf! Your future is with the party! If you want to make something out of yourself you will join, climb the ranks and become a full fledged member of the Party Of Words! Do you understand!?’

It was a lot to take in and yet at the time Ann was afraid to say no. Their mother had changed ever since, now insisting on them joining. It would only benefit them in their dreams, talent would only get them so far, and they could pay off their tuition on their own. Or it would get sponsored in some way, two birds with one stone! And at the time the offer sounded appealing, very in fact. But it would not last for long, obviously not. Because once getting an idea of the corrupt ways the Chuohku had, performing the same acts they had criticized if not worse, it was not an environment Ann felt comfortable in. It felt weird… Something they just couldn’t support. And yet their mother had ordered for them to stay with the party, whether they liked it or not… They felt stuck, at least for some time.

If it had not been for the Party Of Words, perhaps their family would still be the same… 

[lady-fey]

Whenever I make a post about a technique that you can use to diversify your writing, I usually keep it pretty surface level. Describe the technique, give an example or two, and then leave it up to you to decide whether or not you want to use it in your own writing. However, my post on using relationship descriptors instead of pronouns generated some comments along the lines of “just use names” so I wanted to take a step back and explain why relationship descriptors work whereas things like “my blue eyed sibling” don’t.

To start, let me show you that this isn’t a “me” thing.

Prue Ramsay, leaning on her father's arm, was given in marriage. What, people said, could have been more fitting? -Virginia Wolf To The Lighthouse

When Jane and Elizabeth were alone, the former, who had been cautious in her praise of Mr. Bingley before, expressed to her sister how very much she admired him. -Jane Austin Pride and Prejudice

Frances pulled his hair heartily, and then went and seated herself on her husband’s knee -Emily Bronte Wuthering Heights

“Of course it wouldn’t,” agreed Tom. She turned to her husband. “As if it mattered to you,” she said - F. Scott Fitzgerald The Great Gatsby

I didn’t have these quotes at the ready. I just pulled up some famous works of literature and searched for relationships that I remembered being in the text, knowing that I’d find examples of relationship descriptors among the lauded pages of the classics.

How did I know that?

Because relationship descriptors are an extremely common way to refer to people even in non-literary conversations. For example, my boss is married and mentions his wife with relative frequency. However, I don’t think that I heard her name until I’d been working there for well over half a year. He just always called her “my wife”.

My wife and I went out for dinner last week.

My wife and I are hosting Thanksgiving.

And so on.

This is a thing that we do without thinking about it, in part because we don’t assume that everyone will remember our loved ones' names. Unless someone knows my brother personally, I’m probably just going to call him “my brother” when talking about him because that makes communication far more easy than expecting every person I know to remember my brother’s name.

We also do it because that’s just how we think of people. I’ve been known to say, “Did you call your brother?” when talking to my significant other. I could have used this individual’s name, but I’m looking at my SO, thinking of things in context of him, and just default to “your brother”.

Because this is a thing that we naturally do, it doesn’t feel odd when we see it in text. We barely even register it. It's really no different than using a person's name.

The same cannot be said for physical descriptors like “the blond” or “the older man”. We don’t typically use those in normal conversation. That doesn’t mean that physical descriptors should never be used, though. Even the greats used them:

I should think this a gull, but that the white-bearded fellow speaks it: knavery cannot, sure, hide himself in such reverence. -Shakespeare Much Ado About Nothing

They just limited their use to discussions of total strangers or times when character A didn't yet know/had forgotten character B's name.

So, yeah, don’t be afraid to use relationship descriptors. If they sound natural in the line, then they likely are. There are definitely times when I use one and then replace it because I think it sounds awkward, but the same can be said of names! That’s actually when I tend to pull in a relationship descriptor. I read through a passage and think, “I use names too much here, it sounds off” and then I replace one instance of a name with a “his sister”, “her wife”, etc. and that usually fixes it.

[an-angels-fury]

It's so annoying when some of us, who dislike the TCW's take on Anidala, criticize Anakin's characterization in the series for turning him in this toxic, overly jealous and possessive guy towards his wife in a unnecessary attempt of Darth Vader forshadowing / making him more 'masculine' and complain about how all of this contradicted the way their relationship was previously developed in the Prequels, are called out by other fans for "not being true at all" because, according to them, the series episodes (like the ones from the Clovis Arc), were created just to affirm what was already shown of Anakin's behavior in the movies and they always use the Mustafar scene in Revenge of the Sith to prove their point.

And I hate seeing other comparing those scenes because it doesn't make any sense! The Anakin we saw in Mustafar is not the real Anakin. That was Anakin at his worst. That was a corrupted, manipulated, sleep-deprived and paranoid Anakin who was very high on the dark side and totally out of his mind. That was an Anakin who attacked his own wife, the only person who he still trusted, in a moment of blind rage because he believed she and his best friend were creating a plot behind his back to kill him (which not only wasn't true as his reaction was TOTALLY 100% UNJUSTIFIABLE and I want to make this point very clear). That Anakin was the result from years of fighting constantly in a war as a general at such young age, grooming, trauma and emotional and psychological abuse.

I'm not excusing Anakin's atrocities, nor trying to convince he wasn't capable of commiting unspeakable acts of violence. But I feel some people need to understand the circunstances of such extreme behavior. Yes, before becoming Darth Vader, Anakin already could easily lose the control of his emotions and turn into a killing machine as a consequence, but this used to happen only when he was put in situations of great stress and pressure and after being pushed to the limit (just take the Tusken massacre after being haunted by visions of his mother suffering and screaming in pain and later her death caused by a whole month of torture in the hands of her captors as an example).

Also, can this Anakin assaulted Padme in Mustafar because he thought she was cheating on him with Obi-Wan bullshit just be set on fire and die in a hole, for the Force's sake, PLEASE?! 🙄 (Yeah I know it was part of the original script at first, but it wasn't included in the final cut so I don't give a damn...).

[innerangeltoadlover]

20. My sisters husbands personality was like a limp handshake and he was incapable of making the effort in any conversation with any of us however we were not aware until after the Court Case that my sister was so low that our family was used as a scapegoat in order to claim victimhood and allow her husband to play male chauvinist - a position that he aspired to. When the babies arrived he preferred to live in virtual reality than stoop so low as to change a nappy - the computer sat in pride of place in the kitchen covered in so much grime that on the one occasion I used it I realised that this was one of those games couples play when the husband does none of the mundane tasks of the household ie nappy changing and the wife decides to never clean his computer and the husband is so entitled that it becomes a germ factory - of course this stuff happens when you refer to your husband as a genius. Of course when they got married my brother believed she was no longer our problem - little did we know how much this couple needed us because the substance of their marriage was so flimsy. Time and time again my sister needed to visit her frustrations on my mother and the rest of us and we welcomed her back every time. Neither herself nor her husband would have the guts to question the substance of their own relationship but many employees who take management positions like to blame others for their poor behaviour. I would often exclaim that my sister treated us like office underlings - yuck. This kind of behaviour is difficult to understand when unconditional support for her was part of our family’s vision.

I was extremely naive in believing my psychiatrist had any interest in looking after my interests but there was no way that I believed that any psychiatrist could actively lie to a patient ( it is my perception which means it isn’t really a lie - fark! ) I have never really thought that liking or disliking a patient would affect treatment but I’m afraid that all that makes us human is part of the ‘science’. As with all human interactions we unconsciously help those who are like ourselves and limit the help we give to those we dislike. For anyone with a mental illness however aversion is extremely costly and can put us at great risk. To illustrate the type of person my psychiatrist was protecting I will recount a certain incident which illustrates the true nature of what we had to deal with. I was sitting on the couch at one of my sister’s horror bbq’s and I noticed my father was missing. A while later he came through the door with an upset look on his face and I asked him where he’d been - he shrugged it off. On the way home I asked him what happened, he told me that my brother in law had walked off on him mid conversation. He was visibly upset. The next time I saw my sister at a family gathering I told her what her husband had done to her father. She answered that the conversation probably wasn’t up to her husband’s standard. Kinda makes me want to spew

Whilst my father was dying my sister came up with another hare brained idea of my parents selling their house and moving closer to her. She put considerable pressure on them and this lasted for several weeks. My father finally became sick and tired of her constant illogical whining and suggested that she should sell her own home and move closer to us. My sister was , as usual, furious at this very sensible suggestion and did not ring her dying father for about a month- just a total fuckwit. My father was dying from metastatic bone cancer which is one of the most excruciating pain a person can experience. My sister is a nurse and knew of my father’s grave condition - this is another example of the kind of time wasting cruelty she inflicted on her family. Instead of filling her phone calls to her parents with good experiences and making their twilight years more joyous- it was just this kind of rubbish.

[grewlikefancyflowers]

Hi,

Its me again.

I dont know if you have talked about this. But can you please explain the relation between the lan parents, the phoenix mountain kiss and LWJ telling LXC about "he wants to take a person to gusu". I have seen a lot of metas in fandom putting emphasis of LWJs loss of control on QHJ and about how he is not trying to become his father. The novel doesnt give us any evidence if QHJ forced madam lan in doing things nor do i think LWJ is someone who would have judged his father or mother's relationship with the limited information, so him thinking/fearing that he is "following his fathers footsteps" feels ooc to me.

Hello,

I'd say I both agree and disagree with what you say, in the sense that it is my opinion that LWJ was fearful of going down his father's path, but I do also think that fandom often portrays this in a way that seems OOC to me.

I think a problem that often comes up is that people in fandom like to fill in the gaps of the Lan parents' backstory, and have LWJ consider this version of the story they've invented to be the truth. Whereas in the novel I'd say it's important that LWJ knows nothing other than the bare minimum facts, as this is what fuels his conflict and uncertainty about it, and his conflict and uncertainty about his relationship with WWX too (in his first life).

This is all we're told about the Lan parents (sorry for the super long excerpt).

'Lan XiChen continued, “However, the woman did not care for him as much. In addition, she killed one of my father’s teachers. [...] “Why?!”

Lan XiChen, “I do not know. But, I assume that it was something along the lines of ‘grievances’.” [...] “And then,” Lan XiChen explained, “When my father heard of this, of course he was in much pain. But, no matter how he struggled, he still took the woman to his sect in secrecy. Ignoring the objections from his clan, he knelt with her for the Heavens and the Earth without making a sound and told everyone in the clan that she would be his wife for the rest of his life, that whoever wanted to harm her would have to pass through him first.” [...] “After the ceremony was completed, my father found a house and locked my mother inside. He found another house and locked himself inside. It was called secluded meditation, but it was in truth to repent.”

He paused before speaking again, “Young Master Wei, can you understand why he did such a thing?”

Wei WuXian answered after a moment of silence, “He could neither forgive the one who killed his teacher nor watch the death of the woman who he loved. He could only marry her to protect her life and force himself not to see her.”

Lan XiChen, “Do you think that this was right?”

Wei WuXian, “I don’t know.”

Lan XiChen looked somewhat lost, “Then, what do you think would be right?”

Wei WuXian, “I don’t know.”

The recurring theme throughout this whole scene is that both LXC and WWX don't know, they don't know the full facts of what happened, why Lan-furen killed that teacher, they don't know if it was right, they don't know what they would do in this situation, or what a solution would be. And we don't know if Lan-furen willingly went along with the plan so her life would be spared, or if she was forced. Even QHJ doesn't feel his actions were right, because he also locked himself up to repent.

The conflicts at the heart of wangxian's relationship in WWX's first life bares a lot of resemblance to LWJ's parents — LWJ has feelings for WWX, they appear to be unrequited. LWJ thinks WWX is at risk of harm, so LWJ wants to hide him away and keep him safe. But the only way to do so would be to keep him effectively imprisoned, because WWX would never stay voluntarily.

There is plenty of textual evidence that LWJ is fearful (sometimes to an extreme degree) of violating WWX's consent, but I think the primary cause of this fear is actually because of what happened on Phoenix Mountain, not because of his father. (Maaaaybe some of LWJ's conflict is also fuelled by his kinks, but most of the textual evidence comes after the Phoenix Mountain kiss, so I think that's the main factor. Also I just can't stand the LWJ angsting about his kinks trope lol)

Prior to that kiss, there are times when LWJ is actually very inconsiderate of WWX's autonomy, prime example being their confrontation post-burial mound when he simply decides WWX should come to Gusu with him, and grabs at him and fights him without even giving an explanation. When he does give one, its phrased as a command, not a suggestion. In my opinion, it's in this scene that LWJ makes the connection between his father's situation and his own, when WWX makes the assumption that LWJ intends to punish him with seclusion. From the moment WWX said that, LWJ doesn't speak & seems unable to defend his actions, then he leaves. I think it's also relevant that the Wen clan had attacked the Cloud Recesses, supposedly due to QHJ having committed some wrongdoing. Obviously this is just an excuse the Wen clan fabricated, as per their usual modus operandi, but considering this & QHJ's recent death, it's likely that his father, and thoughts of his moral failings, were weighing on LWJ's mind quite heavily at this point in the novel.

I spoke in depth about how the events on phoenix mountain prompted the 'but he is not willing' conversation with LXC in this post so I won't go into again here. In summary, it's because LWJ is confronted with his own fallibility, so he doubts himself and his intentions towards WWX.

While I don't think LWJ after the Phoenix Mountain kiss is thinking anything like 'oh no, I've violated the consent of the person I love, just like my father, an evil man!' as you sometimes see in fandom portrayals, I do think he cannot help but wonder. And because his situation and his father's situation have these similarities, I think he cannot help but compare himself to his father. Especially because he made WWX think he wants to imprison him. But rather than making assumptions about things he doesn't know, the uncertainty is what causes LWJ's internal conflict. For someone like LWJ, who generally places a lot of value of rules, precedent and tradition, the lack of clear answers about what he is supposed to do in this situation is a turmoil that he, at this point is his life, isn't well-equipped to handle.

LWJ's solution is to maintain the distance between him & WWX, to not push into in his affairs, even to take an injured WWX back to the burial mound just because he insisted, in his anguish, that LWJ get lost. But then, WWX dies thinking there is no one left in the world who cares for him.