"It's impossible for a piece of media to have a perfect, thematically flawless ending."

Arcane:

today in more zolu thoughts: yet another thing I find fascinating about zoro and luffy's relationship, which I believe the LA managed to capture pretty well despite the differences between it and the og source material, is that while zoro's capacity for loyalty and devotion where luffy's concerned are insane (the all-encompassing, heartfelt, lay down my life and dreams for you, follow you until death or the very end of everything kind of crazy), they're not entirely unconditional per se. the condition here being that he has to measure up to zoro's standards - that luffy has to prove himself a man worthy of following.

there are plenty examples of this in the manga, but I'll stick to where it and opla intersect. so manga!zoro pretty much stands firm with this condition when he agrees to follow luffy, warning him about not getting in the way of zoro's dream right away. opla zoro is a lot more reluctant to join in comparison, and he just seemingly goes along with the whole thing in a more "might as well" manner; even so, there's these few subtle moments where you can see him being struck awe by luffy's faith in himself/his dream (the dinner at kaya's) and showing exactly why he's a "different" kind of pirate (ie freeing the folks from orange town).

still, the most pivotal moment is zoro's fight with mihawk in both cases. this is where luffy has to really prove himself to zoro, for the first time. because talk of dreams and promises and not hindering them is nice and all, but can luffy really stand by what he says when push comes to shove? when the life of someone he cares about is on the line? and man. the answer is yes.

in the manga, by stopping johnny and yosaku from intervening and refusing to do so himself as well, even though he was deeply upset by zoro getting hurt, luffy proved he wouldn't go back on his word nor betray zoro's trust and the faith he had placed in him. in a similar fashion, opla luffy letting zoro go ahead with the duel despite his own apprehension/doubts and nami questioning both of their choices, is what finally led to zoro recognizing him as his captain out loud and accepting his role as a first mate.

I just think it's interesting that these two kind of make each other walk on a tightrope. only the world's greatest swordsman can stand by the pirate king's side. the pirate king can have the world's greatest swordsman by his side, if he proves himself worthy of it. but the best part? for me, it's that zoro and luffy are able to challenge one another this way (or set the bar that high) because they absolutely believe the other can rise up to it and beyond.

Does anyone else think about DILF!Stiles and high school senior/college student!Derek who’s friends with Stiles’ son Eli and goes to his house for whatever reason and just. Falls madly in lust with Eli’s hot dad. And Stiles being all friendly at first until he realizes he’s starting to really like Derek so he tries to put some distance between them, because this is Eli’s friend, he could literally be his son and Stiles won’t be that dad. Only Derek is also kind of falling in love with Stiles and he doesn’t know what to do because it’s one thing to think your friend’s dad is hot and another one altogether to actually want to hold his hand and go on dates with him. And they’re both really torn over it, wanting to be closer and thinking the other one doesn’t reciprocate, not to mention what Eli would think. Only Eli definitely knows and it’s shaking his head at their dumbassery.

Or is it just me?

how it started:

one ren peeing twaddle conversation later:

eaouuugh

I wholeheartedly (want to) believe that had niles and CC not been interrupted during their famous couch kiss, they would have had couch sex.

you are right and you should say it

nothing else explains how CC clearly leans into him even more right before the door opens or how they still held onto each other once they realized they had an audience OR how Niles blows her a kiss (!!!!) right before she leaves and how CC shivers (!!!!!!!!)

There was something so heartbreaking about how scared of being alone Basim was when he realized he would never see Nehal again. She might not have been real, but she was real to him and to me 😔. There was terror in his voice when he asked if he would be alone. Nehal was his best friend, his past and present. She was his constant companion throughout his childhood, a time when he probably felt very alone. His father is dead and he has to find a way to survive. He is alone. No parents, no brothers, no one. Yet there was Nehal. The one who he could always find. The one who kept him company. The one who kept him grounded and focused on important things. It was her face he saw when he awoke from his nightmares. It was her who comforted him and tried to help him get rid of them. It was her who appeared when he felt alone or conflicted. She was there when he needed her the most. At Alamut, he was never really alone. He was surrounded by people who encouraged him and cared about him. But when he left, she was there for him. They may have drifted apart, but you can't deny that they still loved each other (platonically). They had differing opinions and motivations, but they would still find peace in each other's presence. Their friendship was one of devotion and care for one another. There was never any fear that Nehal would abandon Basim. She always told him that she would never leave him and stay by his side forever. No matter where he was, he knew Nehal was out there. He knew she would be back in Anbar. She was his home, everything familiar to him. The part of him he could never leave behind. The part of him that would haunt him if he had not gone searching.

Now, he will never see her again. He will never talk to her again. He will never joke with her again. He will never hug her again. He will never rest knowing she would be there to wake him if he had a nightmare again. He will never hear the words he so desperately needs again. He will never be able to return to Anbar and find the house inhabited by a familiar face again. She is gone, and he will be alone. Not even a mentor to guide him. With Nehal's "death," Basim also died. He is now Loki, with all of his rage.

While Nehal was the manifestation of Loki and her appearance was concurrent with Basim's nightmares and him getting closer to the truth, that isn't how he saw it !! He associated her with comfort and home !! He never pieced it together. Why would he? His feelings were real and genuine. They were the truest besties ever

🌧️🫧💭

i am not immune to making ocs specifically to annoy the shit out of canon characters

they put crack cocaine in that first phase childe boss music

ok but imagine. lime goes up against the witch king and he fails!!! for one of the first times in his life he fails at something!!!!! but then mochi is able to defeat the witch king and for a sec lime is relieved and he’s so proud of her. he loves her so much. but then he sees a bright light and mochi falls. hes panicking slightly and calls her name quietly then louder as he runs over. the whole battlefield is so quiet bc everyone is like “was that…? did she —“ and once lime reaches her he pulls her body into his lap and takes one look at her face and just SCREAMS. the girl he loves is gone. her eyes are vacant. maybe if he were a little bit stronger he could’ve at the very least helped her defeat him. maybe land the final blow so she’d still be alive and she’d be smiling at him. maybe he’d get to tell her he loved her. but he has to settle for sobbing those words into her hair as he holds her to his chest — to feel her warmth one final time before its gone for good.

btw can totally imagine lime looking up and seeing sulluvan looming over him and lime has a full meltdown saying he won’t let him take mochi

PAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

especially since that was the optimum plan.....let lime or taffy kill the witch king so they dont have to worry about if the wrath of the stars is even real or not

imagine if no one even realizes or registers what happened until they hear lime screaming and THEN it starts to settle in that oh god, please no, not mochi, are you fucking kidding me.,..

and as for sulluvan.......100% lime would lash out at him. get the fuck away from her. but i think the way sulluvan operates is a bit two-fold in the sense that he has a presence in the land of the living and the land of the dead at the same time. so yes hes standing near them, watching lime sob and cry and scream and beg over mochis corpse, but he is ALSO in the land of the dead watching mochi (or her soul anyway) doubled over and crying, not ready to face him, and not ready to leave yet,..

sulluvan calls out to her spirit and she says she knows. she knows she has to go. and asks him just give her a few moments before she has to leave

(anyway all that to say that lime couldnt stop sulluvan from taking her soul if he tried. its already happening)

Is it normal to feel angry when the people around you fall in love? Like, I love my friends and I’m happy and proud that their crushes worked out and they have partners, and it’s not like they’re leaving me behind at all, but I’m angry for some reason?

Maybe it’s because they have something I literally can’t have? I’m ok with not having a romantic partner ever, but maybe less ok than I thought?

trying to feel happy in life but I have a father

you need to listen to me. i promise that i will never leave you.

this letter is an order for you. i hope you respect my decision.

someone has to leave first. this is a very old story.

never let me go, ep 5 / ep 9

"Right, my friend," he said, "quite right! Better he not know as yet; perhaps he shall never know. I pray so; but if it be needed, then he shall know all."

I never really noticed this line last year, but. Well, there you have it honestly. I think, in amidst all the logical reasons van Helsing doesn't tell Jack about vampires... this is his primary thought process. There's more to this dialogue of course, which deals with those with greater knowledge/expertise/an outside view not explaining their reasoning, and obviously the whole corn speech... and those are an influence too. But I think his main reason is right here in these first lines. More emotional than logical, though containing elements of both.

Sure, his explanation is far-fetched. Maybe he even worries a little about Jack or Arthur or Mrs. Westenra refusing to let him see Lucy if they knew what he's thinking. I've never really put stock in van Helsing being afraid Jack would try to have him locked up for multiple reasons (ranging from their relationship to that not really being Jack's job). But there could still potentially be consequences with them doubting him and not following his directions.

He wants Jack to come to the conclusion on his own, so it'll be an easier sell. He wants to confirm his own thoughts first, and then once those are confirmed... well. As long as the job gets done (Lucy is protected) why does he need to burden them with the knowledge? It's as true for Jack and even Lucy herself knowing about vampires, as it is true for Arthur knowing about Lucy getting worse today. Van Helsing tells himself that when the situation is truly dire, when it's truly necessary, then he will tell them. But until then... they can't really do anything more than they already are, and he doesn't want them to have to face more pain.

And once he starts thinking that way, it becomes easy to tell himself "it's not necessary yet." He acts like he will tell him soon enough today, but as time passes he keeps backing off. So long as Jack is willing to follow his instructions about the flowers, or about watching her at night - and he is, even without explanation! - then he doesn't really need to know, does he? If he figures it out on his own, that's fine, but van Helsing doesn't have to tell him when it won't change anything but just add more distress, right?

Arthur managed to circumvent all this today by being so good at seeing through people pretending things are okay/reading between the lines. He forces the issue by showing up in person, and van Helsing is thus convinced to tell him in order to enlist his help. But imagine if he didn't do that. Would van Helsing have told him? Probably, if it looked like the transfusion from Jack wasn't taking. But if it was... well, I could see him changing his mind and deciding not to scare him by revealing that they ever had to perform a transfusion in the first place. After all, it turned out fine, and telling him would only make him worry more without changing the situation.

It's the same thing with Lucy. No need to tell her what they had to do to save her life. Even though van Helsing tells Arthur that he will inform Lucy about what's happened: "I shall tell her all when she is well; she shall love you none the less for what you have done." He never actually does this I think (please do correct me if I'm wrong). And it can be justified again as - oh, she's not well yet, not well enough at any rate. Besides, the procedure is complete and there's no need to worry her over the risk when it's all done anyway. If there were a situation where she had to know, of course he'd tell her, but she doesn't need to know and so he won't.

And so the time keeps getting pushed off and he keeps not telling, and their ignorance of the full extent of the situation becomes dangerous. And still, the motivation is protective and loving.

STG I'll expand on this sometime but I actually do find Raiden's story the scariest of the MGS lot. (Venom's is next-and that tracks because they have similarities)