#they make themselves into soulmates

[zmediaoutlet]

Hi, would you be willing to talk a bit about what you mean by Dean "looking at Sam like he looks at those random men"?

hey bud -- sorry this is days later, I've been busy -- and it turns out this is in response to the tags on this post: https://zmediaoutlet.tumblr.com/post/719589059524280320/acecroft-oh-thats-right-i-forgot -- and I guess specifically the... 6th gif.

Sam's acting pretty s4 right here and it's Not Good Times for the Winchester brothers. Dean doesn't trust Sam and Sam doesn't trust himself, to be frank, although he's also deeply resentful of the fact that Dean doesn't trust him even if he knows intellectually -- blah blah. It's a whole delicious tangle, it's what makes s4 and 5 fucking superb. In the context of this particular episode they're being more aggressive and tense because of War, but all those things are simmering under the surface anyway (what always makes the Hard Truths episodes so great), and in that face there's just this little moment where...

Dean does this thing when there's a man/monster in front of him who's going to hurt him. He's not even necessarily afraid -- it's more that he's realized that pain is coming and he goes through this rapid-fire emotional calculation: shock and then understanding and then he... lifts his chin in this particular way, this way that says, yeah? Go ahead. I don't respect you and I don't give a fuck. Often with a smirk. Can't let the bad guy win.

This expression isn't all the way to that but it's... real close. Sam who has just done the absolute worst thing (regardless of his complicated intentions) and might at any second step onto the path to do more and then he shoves Dean out of misplaced aggression and Dean thinks -- what? Is Sam gonna take a swing, next? (Is it going to be the scene in the hotel room where Sam nearly killed him, all over again?) Sam protests that he would never but of course they both know that's not true, and Dean goes... maybe not all the way to his facing-a-monster glass but to some kind of opaque unwanting metal.

It's why the last bit of the tags are about how great it is that they break up after this ep (even if it only lasts a few weeks). This Sam and this Dean are Not communicating, not with all that still churning in them like ground glass. Christ, it's amazing that they manage to actually like each other after all this. Soulmate shit, man.

[starry-bi-sky]

*stares at disciple SQQ falling into the abyss au*

oh you are so "SY-is-SJ" coded. You are so "fell into the abyss and suddenly remembered that oh i've been Shen Jiu this whole time, not just Shen Yuan. we are one and the same". you are so 'crumbling under the weight of the system and being in the abyss and the despair of never really being free and having suffered in both lives' built. you are so 'scrambling to come to terms with your existence and battling with which life is really yours, only to realize that they both are'. You are primed for going off the rails.

I'm so normal about this guys. i promise.

[fullmetal-angelgrace]

man.... poor cressida, eloise totally ditched her in her time of need :( and then her life went to shit

i was hoping for a good outcome for her story, but the writers really just shoved her back into the mean girl role to move the plot along :/

i really liked her speech to colin about how different they are because her family doesn't support her, cuz the bridgerton's make bad choices all the time that cause society to look down on them, but they always bounce back (and don't start shipping off children to the country to avoid further ridicule)

i really liked how they had all the featherington's reconcile and explicitly try to be more supportive of each other, like a whole women supporting women storyline, but then the writers fucked over cressida so horribly 😭

[thermodynamic-comedian]

i am actually so insane about arkayne in a way i have never been insane about jonelias in and i don't know why. i don't know why

[laniidae-passerine]

I simply do not trust anyone who hates one of the main four vampires. not “I prefer these two over these two” but hitting you with “actually the others secretly hate him and don’t want to make out with him and wish he’d go away” sorry but no. they’re a package deal. “they can’t do polyamory” man they can’t do monogamy! not expecting them to negotiate or have reasonable boundaries but listen they are all drinking each other’s blood. they are all fucking in all possible variations at some point. cherish them all or don’t even bother.

[pois0ntree]

So, I feel like regardless of how you view astrology, it's still just an incredibly intriguing psuedoscience in general when it comes to interpreting human nature. And I got curious about Johnny and V's signs and their compatability, and too much of it is just TOO ON THE FUCKIN' NOSE. So, here's some of my favorite quotes from the articles I found about it:

For reference- V's canon B-day is October 12th making them a Libra. And Johnnycakes' canon B-day is November 16th making him a Scorpio. (pfffttt so perfect, really)

"With a Libra-Scorpio relationship, watch out for an increased sense of codependency."

"Both Scorpio and Libra act as mirrors for each other."

"Libras are free-spirits who do not like to be chained to anything or anybody, including their partners, so when Scorpios try to control them, things can quickly go awry."

"For Libra, a Scorpio can be quite useful as they provide useful insights into the process of tackling a problem through their systematic approach. However, they can be equally annoying due to their outbursts of emotions which are challenging for a Libra to deal with."

"Libras would need to be careful not to overgive for the sake of keeping the peace, while Scorpios would need to identify when they need to pull back and spend time alone."

It's all so perfect because it reiterates how these two are the epitome of an "opposites attract" or "yin/yang" type of relationship that can be very challenging but also work so extremely well for both partners because their conflicting traits balance each other out; they keep the other's overbearing personality traits in check while also just bringing out the best in one another. V's Libra nature of being very loyal, giving, peace-keeping, and free-spirited conflicts heavily with Johnny's tendency to be very rebellious, selfish, provocative, and opinionated/set in his ways. And their situation w/ the Relic just CATAPULTS the effects of their conflicting yet complimentary dynamic. V's inherent selflessness eventually rubs off on Johnny and teaches him to care more about the people closest to him rather than only caring about his revolutionist ideals in a rather obsessive way. In other words, V grounds Johnny and brings out his humanity, which even HE thought was long gone by the time he died. And on the other hand, Johnny's brash confidence teaches V to be a little more selfish when necessary and fight for themself for a change rather than typically putting other's needs above their own; he shows V the importance of taking action, of always fighting for what you believe in, and never losing sight of who you are.

Their relationship starts off with their personalities and values in complete war with each other's, but in time, they being to embrace their differences and evolve into better versions of themselves by the end because of their profound influence on each other.

Throughout their journey together, Johnny can't help but reflect on his poor choices and empathize more with the people that matter most to him, all because this little merc that now knows him better than anybody still willingly chooses to help him try and make amends with his past despite all of his flaws and mistakes.

Even at the expense of losing themself faster in the process, V still chooses to embrace Johnny and give him a second chance because that's the kind of person they are. And because Johnny also comes to know V better than anybody, he decides to follow in their suit and do whatever he can to prevent V from destroying themself just for him. He gives the merc his dog tags as a promise that it'll be his life for theirs, and by the end, V is faced with an impossible decision to have to make:

give in to their own inherent nature and sacrifice themself for the rockerboy parasite that they've grown to love and now can't imagine having to say goodbye to, or embrace the side of Johnny that urges V to LIVE and never stop fighting- to not let anyone else change who they are, ever again.

[hadesknockedupintheunderworld]

Sorry but like

I think it needs to be said at this point

[deus-and-the-machina]

Frothing at the mouth what do you MEAN pearl gave Scott a life in ll for their alliance to be sealed oh myg od THAT MAKES EVERYTHING SO MUCH WORSE AND SO MUCH BETTER

[phoenixcatch7]

The problem I'm having with one of my stories is that it is compelling - but not clicking.

It's a sephiroth gets reincarnated into mdzs. Straightforward. I've got several branching paths: lwj, jc, nmj (my personal fave) and the jade twins (one mind in two bodies). All five of them have great potential, but for some reason my heart is set on sephiroth!lwj, because the aesthetic is sublime.

But! It's! Not! Working!

My main problems are a) despite similar surfaces, sephiroth has fundamentally different morals and life experiences to lwj and lwjs morals are a huge part of his and wwx's stories. B) I can't NOT have wangxian. I don't ship often at all, but when I do I'm pretty set on it lol. I don't want to deny soulmates. Unfortunately I HATE writing romance. C) I do not think sephiroth should be in any sort of romantic relationship at all nor can I see him wanting one. I've read tons of fics where he is in relationships (healthy or otherwise) and they're amazing, yes, but... Under my pen it's just not in the cards. And I do feel pairing him with wwx would just amplify wwx's worst traits, which is the opposite of what lwj does for him.

Everything's in conflict, but the lure of sephiroths second childhood in strict gusu and his complicated feelings about it, wwx being a perfect mix of all his important people with a spine of steel and righteousness that they all lost as everything fell apart, the relationship between sephiroth and his new mother, and how he'd inexplicably lose her too, the white on white aesthetic, the older identical brother, the cruel angels aesthetic with the benevolent demon, the angst of wwx's defection and death, his relationship with qi as a planet's overflowing life force, the tragedy of the mourning angel, monster x monster.... It calls to me.

But there's also the way wwx becoming a demonic cultivator was so vital to winning the war, and the way that affected things, gave him a legitimacy. Involve the silver soldier, and well. Everything else becomes a little extraneous lol. And sephiroth himself is such a big mover and shaker, I don't know what I could do to manage that without wiping out 80% of the remaining jianghu after the burial mounds siege with sephiroth appointing himself king lmao. He's not the kind of person to make small ripples, you know?

And I'd love a twin jades au to sort of turn the chaos inwards a bit (nmj and jgy would be Excellent foils) but again, I can't separate wangxian and imagining scenes feels a bit too close to incest for my tastes, even when it's ONE PERSON in identical bodies!

It's frustrating, wanting to write a non romance fic set in a love story lol. I just. I hate writing romance. But wangxian just don't want to be parted.

But the image of lwj in the xuanwu cave secretly covering a feverish wwx with his wing, only to notice a handful of white feathers pushing through the black as he unknowingly becomes a better person through showing care for other people, shaking his own deep belief that he is a horrible irredeemable creature incapable of love. Caught in an act of love. Hnggh.

Any ideas?!

[the-uncanny-dag]

"It's not that we refuse to be literate, it's just that The Government made schools different in different districts, and our teachers are bad at their jobs, and we're really tired and sad and all of us have undiagnosed ADHD and autism" oh my god you people can't do anything

[teleportationmagic]

The interesting question with platonic soulmate aus is that there's the everpresent question of why these people are soulmates that doesn't (need to) really exist in it's romantic counterpart, because romance carries the weight and structure that it does (i.e start dating because this one person is universally picked for you).

But there are so many different kinds of platonic relationships in terms of power dynamics and types of commitment and even how long two parties might want to know one another - why should some of these be sectioned off from the other? Why is someone's mentor their soulmate, but not their mother, why their brother but not their sister, why their rival but not their best friend? What even is a soulmate in this context - a person to challenge you? a person to comfort you? a person to spend the rest of your life with? or just cosmic coincidence? And whatever you choose as an author, what does that in turn reflect?

[inthesecretgardens]

whenever I see people say Matty was her twin flame 😒

[snekdood]

still looking through old art and im writhing with disgust at the fact that i tried to make taos nose smaller to make him look more like my abuser for them 🤢🤢🤢

[asneakyfox]

if you interpreted a post starting "i wish people could hc fictional characters as demi without" as meaning "i wish people wouldn't hc fictional characters as demi" i'm afraid we are in a category 5 piss on the poor scenario

personally i kind of wish people could just hc fictional characters as demi without talking about it in a way that implies they think demisexual love is somehow purer than the baser form of love experienced by allosexuals who are still capable of experiencing attraction to people other than their true love. for several reasons, one of which is that's a weirdly fetishizing and insulting way to think about the whole concept of demisexuality

[mischievous-thunder]

From merely existing in two separate universes all the while trying their hardest every single day to mend the broken pieces of themselves

to finding someone who's willing to sacrifice himself to make sure the other person gets all the love and happiness of the world, to finding someone to go home to, to finally having the family of their dreams materialised, Wade and Logan's paths merged into one. It's but a new beginning.

Nothing really clicked prior to them meeting each other because their soulmates didn't even exist in their respective universes. Everything starts falling into place when their fate brings them together. They are each other's anchor beings.

[lieblogger]

jaime and traci not knowing each other in every universe is very important to me