lzlilo

[lzlilo]

Chapters: 19/19 Fandom: Bridgerton (TV), Bridgerton Series - Julia Quinn Rating: Explicit Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Colin Bridgerton/Penelope Featherington, Colin Bridgerton & Penelope Featherington Characters: Colin Bridgerton, Penelope Featherington, Portia Featherington, Violet Bridgerton, Eloise Bridgerton, Anthony Bridgerton, Kate Sheffield | Kate Sharma, Edwina Sheffield | Edwina Sharma, Mary Sheffield | Mary Sharma, Benedict Bridgerton, Gregory Bridgerton, Hyacinth Bridgerton, Prudence Featherington, Agatha Danbury, Will Mondrich, Philippa Featherington Additional Tags: Regency, Learning to be friends again, boat travel, Angst, NOT a S3 prediction fic, Only One Bed, Marriage, Colin Knows, Polin HEA, Slow Burn, All narrators are unreliable, Colin loves to go through Pen’s window, A Bit of Fluff, Bidirectional Hurt/Comfort, Post-Season 2, Mild Blood, Virgin Colin Bridgerton, Demisexual Colin Bridgerton, Masturbation, sleepy groping, Mutual Pining, only one horse, Smut, Vaginal Fingering, Blow Jobs, Ocean Sex, Requited Unrequited Love, Requited Love, Love Confessions, Fluff and Mush, Defilement of a Broom Closet, Chair Sex, Eloise is stubborn but we still love her, mentions of vomit, Pregnancy, pregnancy-related weight gain, Forced Marriage, Marriage of Convenience, Childbirth, Table Sex, Fluff, Domesticity, The HEA has arrived and i want to cry Summary:

Pen and Colin get their happily ever after.

[lzlilo]

Codywan, Codywan everywhere and in all universes

The ship dynamic of "I love you but I will always choose the world over you. I love you but my conscience binds me to the greater good in a way I can never escape. I love you but I would sacrifice you to save the world if I had to, even though it would kill me and I would never forgive myself. I love you and a part of me wishes that I could be the kind of person who would sacrifice everything for you. But I'm not, and I never will be, and if you're going to love me I need you to understand that."

#IT MAKES ME INSANE #codywan is my life #commander cody #codywan #obi wan kenobi #star wars #the clone wars

[lzlilo]

🥺🥹🧡

My one word:

selfless

"Maybe the Council could send someone else," Cody suggests quietly, his dark eyes concerned, "You're barely recovered from your last solo mission, and we have a campaign to plan. Surely it would be reasonable to ask." 

"I asked," Obi-Wan says, "There is no one else." 

Obi-Wan watches Cody accept it, sees his expression go troubled and resigned as he nods. Obi-Wan is needed, with urgency. Lives hang in the balance. Cody understands duty, above all things. 

He really is, Obi-Wan reflects, a good man. A good man who loves him. Obi-Wan feels it like a knife in his gut. He has a bad feeling about this mission, and any words of comfort or farewell he might have to offer feel woefully inadequate when he can feel the way Cody's tender devotion shines steady and bright and precious and rare.

Still, Cody is going to let him go.

"Look after the men while I'm gone, Commander," Obi-Wan says finally, "And be safe."

Be safe, be safe. It beats in his chest like a prayer.

"I will," Cody says with a fond half-smile, but his eyes are sad. "Keep yourself alive, for me."

Obi-Wan wants to go to him again. He wants to kiss the corners of his eyes where he tucks his sadness, and run his fingers through his short curls, and feed him honeyed bread from his own hands. He wants to fold himself up into the steady light of this man's heart, and be held there. He wants to stay. He wants to love him the way he deserves. 

But he is a Jedi. And there is no one else.

He walks out the door. He knows he takes Cody's whole heart with him.

#bc that text post reminded me ansnsjsb #THE SHIP DYNAMIC THAT MAKES ME INSANE #codywan is my life #codywan #commander cody #obi wan kenobi #The clone wars

[lzlilo]

obi-wan's been told that his commander has a cool demeanor and a good head for strategy. he's the best of his batch. he's the perfect second-in-command for the high general, and obi-wan is genuinely trying to find a way to describe him using the terminology he's been given without making him sound like the most boring man alive

then obi-wan MEETS his commander and this is his face when three minutes into their first engagement cody full body tackles a droid twice his size:

[lzlilo]

the betrayal i feel when i read a whole codywan fic and they make cody's character revolve around worrying for obi-wan

[lzlilo]

CHAPTERS 1-6^^^

UPDATE ALERT

FREEDOM FIGHTER

Chapter Seven:

The Jedi taught that where there was passion, there must be serenity; where there was ignorance, knowledge; where emotion, peace.

It was often misconstrued that to achieve the latter, the former must be eradicated. It could not be true, for peace was not the rejection of emotion; peace was achieved by accepting life, not denying the experience in full.

The Sith also had a mantra, one that spoke of power and freedom, placing the individual at the centre of the universe; it was ironic, then, that they who spoke of broken chains would use the Force to shackle them upon others.

Content Warnings: in the notes

[lzlilo]

Tobirama being a kid magnet forreal, Every time he is in the academy children will always jump on him and gave him a hug and Tobirama just let him. Everytime he visits at a clan compound, the children are jumping on him and being clingy while the adults are in a heart attack. He even visited the Uchiha compound once and he was swarmed by hyperactive Uchiha children asking him to show them Science and he can’t say no to children. That is his weakness. Madara is confused.

You know those people who you can just TELL are good with kids? I knew someone who, no matter where they went, they ALWAYS had cats appearing. Like they moved into a new house? Next morning three cats were sat on their bedroom windowsill, I couldn't believe it.

Tobirama doesn't LOOK, to other adults, like he's good with kids but kids absolutely flock to him the way cats do to my friend.

He literally cannot go anywhere without three or more children making a beeline - "no, no, no that's THE WHITE DEMON, what are you-" ..... "Oh." - for him.

Maybe it's the calm but strangely magnetic vibe, like kids magnetized to a pissed off looking cat.

Maybe it's the fur collar they desperately want to touch.

Meanwhile, Madara makes babies cry - which makes him embarrassed and huffy - and kids get shy and hide from Hashirama - which makes him wail, which makes it worse lmao

#tobirama kid-catnip #this is the best thing ever #tobirama #i love it #madara uchiha #naruto

[lzlilo]

people telling you they reread your fic is the biggest compliment you could ever receive. there are thousands of stories out there begging to be found, to be explored, but your story meant so much to someone that they came back to it eagerly, they went over every word again. to love is to return and loving a fic is rereading it. thank you to all readers and rereaders <3333

#🧡🧡🧡

[lzlilo]

While on another quest for a college recommendation letter (something he really shouldn’t need by this point) Percy gets punted back to the past, right at the beginning of the Trojan war.

So imagine your a mid level commander praying for the loyalty of your men, who are getting pretty pissed just waiting around on a beach. When suddenly some guy appears in-front of you in a flash of light… Naturally you would assume he is a God, here to answer your prayer! He even gives you tips on how to insure your men stay loyal! Clearly this as of yet unknown God deserves your worship! But who is he?

Meanwhile Percy hasn’t even released he’s in the past yet, he just thinks this guy is some demigod leading his first quest! So obviously he gives him tips! Oh and he wants Percy’s name? Well it’s been a while since anybody didn’t recognise him on site, but he’s not gonna knock that!

So he introduces himself, completely unaware he’s just kicked off his own cult among the Greek soldiers. After all given their situation, a God of loyalty would be pretty popular! Poor Percy who’s mortality was already hanging by a thread, ascends from all the prayers.

After following his new friend back to his camp, Percy eventually realises where, and more importantly when, he is. Yet in typical Percy fashion, he doesn’t realise he’s now a God. Instead he wonders through the camp helping where he can, all while dodging the attention of the Kings who command this army, he doesn’t wanna mess with history to much you know!

And yet now Odysseus and the rest are all searching for this godling in their camp, each eager to claim his patronage for their own, who wouldn’t want the God of loyalty on their side? Unfortunately for them a certain sea God, who at this point still supports the Trojan’s, finally senses Percy’s presence and is quick to grab his new baby from the mortal camp.

#prayer circle PRAYER CIRCLE #percy jackson #percy jackon and the olympians #camp halfblood

[lzlilo]

ways connor is a dog:

has to be held back from running into traffic

will try to run into traffic anyways

owo whats this???? -licks-

obedient

“are you eating? what are you eating?” and then invades your personal space

disobedient

chasing! fetching! running around!

master of psychological manipulation

master of being psychologically manipulated

capable of lethal intelligence, but also, dumb as bricks

ARE YOU ASLEEP. WAKE UP NOW.

“im here to complete a MISSION. is that a fish”

nosy bitch

loyal even when the loyalty is undeserved

[lzlilo]

Hannibal Lecter and Will Graham

"The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. Resist it, and your soul grows sick with longing for the things it has forbidden to itself, with desire for what its monstrous laws have made monstrous and unlawful."

—Oscar Wilde 『The Picture of Dorian Gray』

[lzlilo]

You know what? Fuck that.

Marshal Commander Fox is entirely unhinged. Batshit crazy. He hides it extremely well under a rock solid mask of professionalism but the second he is out of sight he will be doing something illegal.

If questioned Fox will simply say “Government property can’t break the law” or It’s not murder if I’m not a person”

He commits treason daily and has definitely murdered people.

He faked Fives’ death and regrets it because he and Dogma are too chaotic together. He fakes so many deaths. He got his grubby little hands on an entire squad of commandos somehow.

This headcanon is the ‘prove me wrong’ kind of canon compliant and I will not take criticism.

#commander fox #cc 1010 #coruscant guard #corrie stuff #tcw #headcanons #My New headcanon #i love this #corrie shenanigans

[lzlilo]

Happy STS! What is the best novel you've ever read? What did you like about it, from a storytelling perspective? Has it influenced or informed your own approach?

Hello!! Thank you for asking!!💜

I think that from a purely enjoyment and also a writing perspective, it is actually kind of a dual set of novels that were written by the author Sheryln Kenyon. They are about one of her main characters and his twin: Acheron & Styxx. Each one was told from the perspective of the main character, but in some cases there was a retelling of the same event. And it gave the perfect example of how perspective is everything.

Both Acheron and Styxx were extablished characters in her Dark Hunters romance series that you THOUGHT you knew. Seeing the size of Acheron alone told me that I had no idea what I was getting myself into. It was...intense. Going all the way back to ancient Greece, the life of both men was told from birth onward from Acheron's point of view.

There was nothing soft or warm about the first 3/4 of this book. There are parts I still cannot read again. It was intense and painful to read in parts, my heart breaking for a fictional character. Sherilyn drew the reader in and immersed them in the historical world of ancient Greece and Atlantis. Then coming to the present wasn't much easier. None of the characters were flat, nothing happened for no reason. This was a book that at the end, my heart ached. There was no resolution to the pain really, just open wounds that would have to heal over time and memories of a dark and painful past that haunted an immortal god.

Then a few years later came Styxx. And I seriously thought after reading his brother's book I was ready for it. I can safely say that I think most Dark Hunter's fans were not fans of Styxx, but there was something about Acheron's book that told me there was more that we were going to learn. I was right. If Acheron's was painful Styxx's book was almost eviscerating. So much is learned and even years later it is still hard to describe how well Sherilyn crafted the book. I cannot read it again. Parts, yes, but so much of it was so well done in making the reader experience Styxx's pain and bringing you into his world and experiences....I have never cried so hard reading a book. Sherilyn showed me what "bleed it onto the page" meant. The "show don't tell" became real. I have read a ton of book, I inhale them, but there was something about the brutality described in those books that spoke to something in me. Maybe it was her style, but she did not have to be disgustingly graphic or gory to make me ache for the characters, to be angry for them, and at the end to almost feel numb that the emotions were over. When I write a scene that I want to evoke feelings, I try to go back and think on how Sherilyn crafted her scenes. Not to duplicate her work, but to see how she did it, then learn from her. We have a lot of similar themes in our writing and while I have taken inspiration from her in that way, most of all she taught me how to be a better writer in those two novels.

Besides emotions, she showed he how perspective can change everything. Remember she's telling the story of TWINS in these two books. Not that Acheron's story was completely self serving, but when it came to seeing Styxx's side of things, it became clear there was a lot that Acheron did not know or understand. Things he did not remember because of what was done to him as a young boy, things that were not the fault of either boy. I think that is what made Styxx's book harder to read. In some cases you knew what was coming, but then you saw that it wasn't what you thought at all. So in some cases it was an indictment of the reader a bit, because we all were a bit jaded against Styxx. A great reminder of unreliable narrator and one perspective not being reality at all times. It again helped me to grow as a writer to see it so beautifully laid out in the juxtaposition of the two brothers.

I hope that all made sense. Thank you again for asking <3

#Required reading #Literary recommendation #styxx #sherilyn kenyon #from the author goddess #dark hunters #acheron #books #inspirational novels #writing lessons #i love this

[lzlilo]

No no not thinking about Trunks time traveling to the early days of the Frieza Force/when Planet Vegeta was destroyed and seeing first-hand what Vegeta had to live through as a child, then afterwards, when he sees present Vegeta again, Trunks hugs his father and tells him he loves him nope not thinking about that

#the constant mockery/degrading and belittling.. the constant need to be on guard.. no wonder vegeta is always wound tight #hes learned it from a young age surrounded by those that will pick apart any sign of weakness like vultures on someone yet dead #dbz vegeta #prince vegeta #vegeta dbs #dbz

[lzlilo]

Like Frieza and Vegeta’s relationship was absolutely abusive and exploitative from start to finish but I think people write it wrong. Well not wrong, just in a way that I personally believe removes the deeper horror in favor of an easy depiction of what a relationship like that looks like. He’s not getting strung up and whipped or locked in a cell to cry, he’s getting his chin scratched by a person who uprooted him from everything he had ever known on a whim and destroyed the culture upon which he founded his most nascent sense of identity. And that person is only keeping him alive because despite it all, he’s useful, and kind of cute, especially now that all the other Saiyans are dead. Vegeta’s a small child being made to commit atrocities for profit an amusing little novelty, still using the honorifics & regurgitating the legends of a planet that’s been obliterated. DBS is not a perfect sequel by any means but it did this part so, so well. “All hail Vegeta, prince of no one.” “I always thought you shined the brightest when you were serving as my pet.”

Sickening, yes? And the intimacy is the worst part, the realization that Frieza seems to favor him; seems to like him. Who knows, maybe Vegeta reminded him of himself at some ancient, half-forgotten stage of life. King Cold did drop him like a hot potato as soon as he was proven weaker than Trunks. Maybe that’s the whole reason he made King Vegeta give up his kid in the first place. Frieza’s relationship with his father is shallow and dependent entirely on his value as a soldier, the underlying cruelty of which they’ve both silently agreed to use superfluous affection to cover up? Fine. He’s gonna make the Saiyan king give up his own militarized child prince. He’s gonna strip away the cultural justifications for what he’s doing to his son by making him treat it like the cold, spineless profiteering that it always was. He’s gonna rub it in.

But hey, he’s not mad at the kid. It was his dad who got too big for the barrel. Vegeta is still serving his purpose, Vegeta is still being good. Why wouldn’t Frieza treat him in accordance with his “station,” even after it’s been rendered an empty title because of him. All he has to do is keep spinning the wheel on the Cold Empire, vomiting out violence into the endless vacuum of space & never getting too uppity about his dead father or dead planet or about the fact that, even when reduced to the most baseline level of childish narcissism, the state which this arrangement has emotionally stunted him into maintaining well into adulthood, he never actually wanted any of this. He didn’t want to leave Planet Vegeta! He didn’t want to grow up surrounded by strangers! He didn’t want to have no claim over anything he ever achieved! He wanted to work for himself! It wasn’t his choice!!! For all of Vegeta’s dickswinging and hierarchy and “pride,” he is so, so helpless, “like a tiny insect glowing in a jar,” as Frieza so helpfully summarized for us. Overcorrection layered on overcorrection layered on overcorrection layered on desperate, screeching fear and sadness and shame. Blow up a planet. Nuke a city. Wipe out a village. Fix It Again, Tony.

And that viciously indulgent cruelty that Vegeta used to comfort himself as he grew into a man is only emphasized by how blasé Frieza appears to be about the whole thing. He’s calm. He’s secure. He spends half the arc sitting down, just watching. He’s what Vegeta was in the first part of the Saiyan saga, and he slowly turns into what Vegeta slowly turned into in the second part of the Saiyan saga. An addled, wounded, unthinking mess, trying to put their self image back together as someone else’s superior ability causes it to crumble. Frieza was scared of the super saiyan. Under all that collected ambivalence, that whole time, he was scared.

Vegeta is Frieza’s heir. As gross as that incongruent, unwanted warmth is to witness, Frieza succeeded in establishing influence over & connection between himself and the child he orphaned. And the process of healing from that relationship involves Vegeta going back to square one and having to acquiesce to another foreign, combat oriented culture populated by vaguely hostile strangers. He gets new clothes. He gets a new place to train. He gets new tasks to perform. He gets called cute.

Like. It’s not physical torture, at least not as we usually imagine it. It’s this slow poisoning of a person’s ability to trust and connect with others, a process which is gussied up by regular assertions of fondness, so casual & consistent that you have to actively remind yourself that the guy who’s doing it sees Vegeta as a literal subhuman, and is only being good to him the way you’d be good to a valued piece of property. He tortured him to death, but he still thinks he was a good pet. Vegeta’s life was Frieza’s to end, but his feats of wanton destruction were also his to be proud of.

That’s the whole reason why Vegeta’s character development was slow, ugly and recidivist. Because it was his knowledge of how to grow, of how to exist any other way, that Frieza intentionally eroded for his own selfish, petty gain. And for a relationship between a man with a monkey tail and his pink-skinned alien overlord, the most uncomfortable part about the dynamic is that it’s realistic. Common, even.

#dbz #dbz vegeta #Vegeta #dragon ball

[lzlilo]

Parenting styles in Dragon Ball Z (and Super)

You know, to me, the interesting thing about this scene (and the one where they could to the aforementioned park) isn't the fact that Vegeta keeps his promise.

It's the fact that he uses positive reinforcement to motivate Trunks.

Do you think Vegeta was ever rewarded for landing a good hit? Definitely not. It was expected of him.

As an expert in children's development, I find it fascinating to look at this example of Vegeta parenting Trunks and what it says about his parenting style. I've seen headcanons that go from calling 'Dadgeta' authoritarian to neglectful, but I disagree.

In the following, I will briefly describe the four styles of parenting with focus on the authoritarian and the authoritative styles. I'll also compare them to how DBZ parents appear to raise their children, but mainly focus on Vegeta.

Authoritarian:

This is the old school parenting method where restrictions and punishments go hand in hand. The parents expect the children to obey rules without a clear explanation as to why and corporal punishment is used when the children overstep.

Unsurprisingly, it seems like a lot of people believe this is how Vegeta raises his children (If he is even involved; I'll address this later on.) It was likely how he was raised.

However, the only parent we actually see using this style is Chichi. She's not entirely unreasonable, but we do see her expect things from Gohan without explanations and she has a lot of restrictions set up. This might have something to do with Goku's parenting style, but more on that later.

Piccolo also uses authoritarianism with Gohan, but he isn't trying to parent him, just train him.

What's really interesting is that children raised in a household practicing authoritarianism tend to hold a lot of anger inside. They also have low self-efficacy and high self blame. Remind you of someone?

Indulgent

Here we see nurturing, accepting parents who don't have behavioral expectations of their children. They are responsive to the children's needs and wishes, but do not expect them to be the same toward other people. The parents want to be the child's friend rather than a demanding parent.

Children of indulgent parents tend to grow up without a sense of others' boundaries and generally have less discipline than their peers. They lack impulse control and are often irresponsible.

In DBZ we do see signs of this parenting style, but only limited. It's not commonly used in Asia and therefore, Toriyama didn't add it. In GT it's obvious that both Trunks and Bulla seem have been parenting this way by Bulma. It's also why many doubt that Vegeta has been much involved.

It's also easy to argue that Goku parents this way, although it's up for discussion.

Neglectful

Although many think that the indulgent parenting style have created a generation of undisciplined young people, the neglectful parenting style has actually had a greater effect.

The parents are either more interested in themselves and their own goals than their children's. (Although sometimes it's because the parents struggle with stress or depression) Children of these parents are usually lonely and melancholic, often have very low self esteem and are needy after affection and approval. This leads them to be easily manipulated and they are at a higher risk to end up in abusive relationships.

I think many of the Vegeta antis and those claiming Goku is a bad parent would place the two Saiyans here.

However, Goku is clearly involved in Gohan's upbringing, albeit choosing a more casual approach than Chichi, and returns after being dead for seven years, ready to be involved with Goten (and Gohan if he wants it). The reason that Goku mainly focuses on training isn't just because it's his own interest. It's what he knows for sure how to do.

Most importantly: it was how Goku was raised himself. First by Grandpa Gohan and later from his other father figure, Master Roshi. It isn't just in his blood; it's in his upbringing.

And then there's Vegeta’s parenting style which was my main focus for this post. It got a little out of control, but we have finally arrived at the last parenting style:

Authoritative

This is the most modern parenting style, even though it isn't really new. It's been used for years in well functioning familes. This type of parent is both demanding and nurturing, being present and engaged in their children's lives. They explain things to their children, teach them how to regulate their feelings and therefore expect a mature behavior from them.

Children of authoritative parents tend to be more successful in their adult lives, capable of discipline and well-liked. Because they aren't constantly being restricted, they naturally develope autonomy within set boundaries and learn to respect others, regardless of authority.

So, what does this have to do with Vegeta and Trunks?

As I mentioned in the beginning, in the scene in the Gravity Chamber, Vegeta uses positive reinforcement to motive Trunks. Positive reinforcement has proven to be a healthy way to motivate children (and animals) and is a part of the authoritative style. By using it, Vegeta provides Trunks with rules that foster motivation and discipline in the child. The fact that Vegeta knows about the amusement and can use it as an incentive also shows that he is involved enough to know what may get Trunks to do his best.

But the most important thing we see is that Vegeta upholds his promise, despite hating every second of it. It shows that he respects Trunks' efforts and achievement. By honoring his word, he also teaches Trunks to do the same.

Of course, this is a small scene and we don't know how Vegeta behaves otherwise in regards to Trunks. But it's safe to say that Vegeta does take his son's wishes into account and uses it to encourage him to move beyond his limits.

I admit that I'm not a fan of GT and don't consider it canon, especially because of Toriyama's lack of involvement. So, while I dislike many aspects of DBS, I do think it's the best representation of the characters.

In Super, both Goten and Trunks are well adjusted boys who both have discipline and test the boundaries of their autonomy. They act like boys their age, albeit with incredibly strength, and it goes to show that their parents have raised them well.

Of course, it's also important to remember that both DBZ and DBS (and even GT) are a product of their time and the parenting styles reflect that. DBZ is from the 80's where the authoritarian (Chichi) and indulgent (Goku) styles were the most common. GT is from the 90's where the media started to focus on indulgent and neglectful parents - even though it wasn't a new thing - and it's shown that Trunks, Bulla and Goten have grown up as spoiled and undisciplined. DBS shows that the parents in the show have become authoritative and their children's behavior reflects that.

It's clear that the parents are doing their best and that the fathers have become more involved nowadays than before. This is the case in modern parenting as well.

Anyway, this is the end of my long rant. I think, as both an expert in children's development and as a parent myself, it's interesting to look into the relationships between the characters, especially the father-son interactions which are explored the most. There's no doubt that Toriyama knew the importance of being a father and wanted to portray it, mainly in Goku and Gohan's relationship.

I don't think Toriyama saw Goku nor Vegeta as bad fathers, but he knew that everyone has different strengths, even in parenthood.

#dbz #Vegeta #Goku #parents #parenting styles

[lzlilo]

"So essentially what Star Wars to me was, a boy who is stuck at home and dreams of joining a war. And so it's like, let's tell a story of a girl who is stuck in a war and dreams of going home. It was like a mirror." - Gareth Edwards, 2023