But Anyway. These Are Mostly Pre Canon.

But anyway. These are mostly pre canon.

Marty and Jeff lived together from the late 50s until Marty got married, first in a small first floor place over a shop; when rent got steep they moved later to a top floor one-bed flat (I haven’t decided whereabouts yet). The second place was a bit of a shithole and was full of mice and draughts and mould and Jeannie always found it funny that for ages Marty wouldn’t invite her over or even tell her where he lived.

Jeff and Marty met through an ad in a paper where they were both looking for a flatmate. Marty was new to London and didn’t know anyone there; Jeff has lots of friends but wasn’t close enough to anyone/everyone he knew already had settled living arrangements.

Randall & Hopkirk: Private Investigators is the result of many long late night talks from the times they lived out of one room. It started as a running joke between the two of them, where they would pretend to deduce things about strangers and ‘investigate’ the weird comings and goings of their neighbours and occasionally each other, but it’s something Jeff used to want to do as a detective story obsessed kid and it was Jeff who first became serious about the joke.

The joke kind of died, sadly, as there’s nothing like the gruelling hard work of starting a small business and the constant threat of bankruptcy to dampen the humour in it. However, Jeff has done investigations into who is drinking all the tea and making them run out (It’s Marty) (It’s always Marty), and who is stealing cigarettes from him when he had them counted (it’s also Marty).

Their collective financial situation has never been great, but in the early days of the business it was positively dire. Often they couldn’t afford to keep the electricity on and when 1963 rolled on with the coldest winter for 200 years, things were pretty miserable for them.

Jeannie and Jenny are from the rural Lake District.

Jean is the elder by a little over a year.

Their family were upper middle class but the Second World War made things very different financially and growing up, Jeannie and Jenny never experienced the security their parents and grandparents had.

Jeannie has always struggled with undiagnosed dyslexia* but she still did better academically than Jenny did although Jenny was very successful in other ways - she has a good head for business and quickly made herself indispensable at a local business near where she grew up.

Jeannie moved to London for university. I haven’t decided if she completed her degree or what she was studying but I’ll ponder it.

Jeannie and Jenny were close as children but grew apart when they were sent to separate schools when they reached secondary school age. They don’t see each other very often since they live so far away but are trying to reconnect and regain their closeness.

Marty has anxiety (shocker) and OCD. He’s always been like this although it goes through cycles where sometimes it is better, sometimes worse. It was particularly bad he was a preteen, when he and Jeff first started the business, and about a year after he and Jeannie were married. It’s also pretty bad after his death lol but it does still fluctuate. Essentially it gets worse every time he has a lot to process and think about.

Jeff and Jean have both witnessed Marty having panic attacks, Jeannie much less than Jeff. This is mostly because Marty makes more of an effort to remove himself so that he won’t upset Jeannie. It’s silly that it’s this way around because Jeff is better at calming Marty down before panic has a chance to set in and Jeannie is better at calming him down during and afterwards so it’s silly that he should avoid her. But hey. Marty IS silly.

Sometimes Jeff and Jeannie tease Marty about his anxieties. Marty doesn’t mind this; even if they are making a little fun of him it reminds him to step back and check if he is being rational.

When he has it, Jeff is the most frivolous spender (of his own money, not the company’s. He’s not an asshole. And also he needs to pay Jeannie). It stresses Marty out to watch but Jeff is pretty certain it’s none of Marty’s business!

Marty and Jeannie met a long time ago but never stayed in touch. Years later, they ran into each other by chance at a party that Jeff was also at, which is when Jeff met Jeannie.

There was a bit of light competition between Marty and Jeff over Jeannie, but nothing serious and nothing like as devastating or threatening as Marty thinks.

Marty’s aunt Clara has been unofficially estranged from the family. Marty gets on with her fine, and has no idea. They briefly exchanged correspondence when he was in his teens. Her invitation to his wedding, however, went mysteriously missing, and neither Jeff nor Jeannie remembered her after Marty’s death.

Marty and Jeannie got married in September 1966 and it rained all day and everyone got soaked and they all had so much fun <3 Marty cried because he was so happy and Jenny gave him her handkerchief. He forgot he had it and gave it to Jeannie later to give to Jenny; Jeannie also forgot, and found it in a drawer some time after Marty died. She kept it for a bit longer but eventually sent it to Jenny.

Marty is from Liverpool (so it’s a cheap shot. I don’t care). Jeff is from London (……see above)

Marty does like the Beatles, a lot, although he keeps it p quiet. His favourite song of theirs is Any Time At All but it’s up against stiff competition. Jeff is less of a fan, partly because Jeff’s favourite song was Roll Over Beethoven and he heard the Beatles cover, didn’t enjoy it, and kind of wrote them off a bit because of it. He does eventually come around to their later work (Marty is smug about this) and he likes George Harrison’s solo stuff. He wishes he had the time and money to learn to play the sitar.

Jeff’s guitar was from his grandfather as a present

Marty’s family can be very intense and as a child Marty was often called on to mediate arguments between his parents. I think he has siblings but I need to consider this further.

I don’t know where I’m at with Jeff’s life before meeting Marty. We know that he was in the army, but in what capacity? I also think Jeff has a sister and she’s quite a bit older than him.

Jeff, Jeannie and Marty are All bisexual. Real bi trio

Jeff smokes weed, although less so than he used to. Sometimes he and Marty would smoke together but unfortunately weed makes Marty insane and terrible to be around so he stopped joining in. Jeff has also tripped on LSD a couple of times (it’s the 1960s, it’s London, Jeff hangs out in the right places for it. All the cool kids are doing it. Marty is NOT a cool kid, but he lives with Jeff so it’s by association. Jeff is also not really a cool kid but he can pass it off).

Marty is forbidden from LSD after the Incident. (It was fine. He locked himself in a bathroom for 6 hours. Jeff was worried. Marty had a fine time. The bathroom has never been so enthusiastically, yet haphazardly, cleaned, and also never so fascinating to look at.)

Marty and Jeannie are both stress-smokers. Marty is trying to cut down, but unfortunately he is always stressed.

Marty is the better fighter. When they got into scrapes while he was alive, Marty did most of any fighting that was required. He’s not amazing at it but he’s better than Jeff. He has a lot of pent up energy. On occasions where they’re both required to fight, Marty would occasionally have to come to Jeff’s aid. They both have very selective memories about this; Jeff thinks it was Marty who needed rescuing more, and Marty is under the impression that he’s a lot better at fighting than he really is.

Marty got his drivers license on the third go, and the mini Austin is his first car.

It's so weird talking to people who's view of "here's the way life is for everyone" is shattered as soon as they talk to someone with disabilities (physical, mental illness, any). Like you'll say you'll have a problem and instead of helping you they'll argue with you about how you're not actually facing that problem. Like,

Me: Hey, I'm really struggling to find a job and a part of it is my resume. I was depressed & psychotic during highschool so I didn't do anything to gain skills or achievements to put on my resume. I also don't have anyone to put as a reference. What can I do?

Them: You can add your skills, hobbies, clubs you're in, and different volunteer work you've done! You can also get your teacher as a reference.

Me: I already know what to put on a resume, my issue is that I don't have things that I can use. Also, I'm in my mid 20s so I don't know if I can put my highschool teacher as a reference.

Them: Well if you're a part of a church or an activity group, you could add that. Also, think of any projects you've worked on in the past.

Me: I already know you can put these things on a resume. I'm not looking for suggests of things I've already done, I'm looking for what I can do now if I haven't done anything.

Them: There's no way you didn't do anything during highschool?? What about some odd jobs you definitely did for extra money, like babysitting or mowing the lawn?

Me: I spent all of highschool either in modified classes or in bed doing nothing - not even hobbies, what about that do you not understand?

And then you talk to someone who's also disabled and they're like "Here's a bunch of jobs you can do from home that don't pay much but look good on a resume, here's some free online courses that also look good on a resume, here's how you can be making small amounts of money in the meantime, here's some things you can put besides a professional reference, and here are your rights if your future employer tries to take advantage of your disability - which you probably shouldn't tell them about unless you need accommodations."

And suddenly my will to continue trying returns!

My hot take right now is that Ace Combat isn’t and has never been a representation of real-world politics or history (except for Assault Horizon, but it was bad so who cares,) but instead is an exploration of politics and philosophical questions on the nature of war mixed with a deep fascination on machines that often verge on and act in a way that is completely fantastical. It tries to convey its lessons and its themes not through the events of the greater war, but through the interplay of characters swept up in the greater conflict, who are inevitably characters surrounding the principle protagonists and antagonists, all ace pilots.

What I’m saying is, Ace Combat is and always has been deeply political- and antiwar- but also loves the Really Cool Machines that do the war. Ace Combat is a mecha anime.

Ace Combat is Jet Plane Gundam, and is subject to the same misrepresentations as the latter.

WIP Wednesday 12/6/23

“You have an accent.”

Only when he’s drunk. Belkan wasn’t a popular accent to have outside of Belka, so he’s probably more cautious about it than he needs to be. He doesn’t care that Cipher knows. In fact, he’s glad. Despite their blood and reputation, they were kind. Better than the stuck up nobles masquerading as warriors.

Kind enough to help him out of his boots when his fingers lacked the coordination. Their hands were warm when they pulled his fumbling hands away from his scarf to undo the knot themself. Were it anyone else, he’d be offended. But they knew what that old piece of fabric meant to him. They wouldn’t rip it.

They leaned in close, letting him see all the curves and lines of their face. Their eyelashes fluttered over their crystalline eyes, focused intently on his neck. He’s smiling like an idiot, but he can’t help it. Cipher barely looks up, and rolls their eyes, but the slight tug of their lips is more than worth it.

“Ich liebe dich.”

He doesn’t know if they know what it means, but the slight moment of hesitation tells him. Despite their cold exterior, Cipher could be more emotive than he was.

“You are drunk.”

Both of those statements are correct.

Thinking about the Chantry and the Amaranthine Wardens being in a really tense ongoing standoff from either as soon as the Warden takes their post (if they're from a group the Chantry Does Not Approve Of) or from as soon as the Anders stuff really kicks off, right the way through to DAI and beyond.

I mean, the Warden might well hate the Chantry, especially if you're playing Surana/Amell (because Circles) or Mahariel (because Exalted March), but also just if they got on well with Anders and/or Justice. But the thing is that the Warden can't really openly act against the Chantry as a whole, because it's the dominant religion and has a habit of calling holy wars on anyone who tells it to piss off. Weisshaupt wouldn't help because Weisshaupt is run by jackasses, and while Alistair doesn't much care for the Chantry neither possible monarch would want to bring an Exalted March down on Ferelden by picking a fight. And Hero of Ferelden or no, the Warden's only got a handful of people who would absolutely join them in trying to kick the shit out of the Chantry, so actively going after them would end poorly. But on the flip side the Chantry can't openly target the Hero of Ferelden, because that would absolutely spark uprisings. The people of Ferelden adore their hero. Plus, the king of Orzammar owes the Warden his crown and the Chantry can't risk pissing off the dwarves and losing access to the lyrium supply. And one of their best friends is the Left Hand of the Divine and is terrifying. And another one of their best friends is the fucking Arishok, who probably wouldn't speed up the invasion plans to avenge his fallen kadan, but does the Chantry really want to risk that? Absolutely not, they aren't stupid. And if the Chantry openly fucked with their most visible and well-loved member without some serious provocation, the other Grey Wardens might actually step in. So the Chantry can't touch the Warden so long as the Warden doesn't give them incontrovertible evidence that they're actively plotting against the Chantry. So basically Amaranthine and the Chantry have spent the last decade totally deadlocked, because the Chantry can't do anything to the Warden without risking some serious, possibly devastating backlash and the Warden can't do anything to the Chantry without giving them an excuse to crush the Ferelden Wardens as they've undoubtedly wanted to do for years. They're basically just being nuisances to each other whenever possible because anything more could risk Consequences.

Absolutely obsessed with how INSANE of a character a warden by the time of awakening would be. Wakes up in the Architect's cell like ''don't worry everyone, this isn't the first time I've woken up half naked in a torture dungeon''. Gets trapped into the fade again, ''well at least no demon is trying to feed on our souls while we're here this time.'' ''Yes the deep roads suck but at least be glad you'll never have to know what a werewolf den smells like'' ''Nobles scheming up an ambush to assassinate me? Aww that's how I met my husband!'' When told that saving Amaranthine is a suicide mission they could honest to hell just laugh and say ''Really? And there isn't even an Archdemon!''