#what happens when you fight for change and it never ends
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can we get Toji reacting to reader's pregnancy
Pairing: Toji Fushiguro x f!Reader
Warnings: Pure Fluff
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Ever since finding out that you’re eating for two, you’ve found yourself distressed. Not because this isn’t something that you were planning– Well partially because of that, but mainly because you don’t know what your boyfriend thinks of having more kids. You don’t have the heart to tell him that you’re expecting.
You don’t know how you’ve never had this conversation before, especially since you’ve started to talk about getting married. You know that he has a teenager, and probably he’s done with that part of his life. You also know that you’d be delighted to have kids, but if Toji wouldn’t want to have a child, you’re okay with that too. Your pregnancy changes everything though.
“Aren’t you two here early?” You ask, staring at the front door as Megumi and Toji walk in. Toji has a frown in his face while Megumi walks ahead, not a care in the world. You notice a stain on his school uniform and you tell him, “Put it in the washer, I’ll take care of it, Megs.”
“No, he can deal with the consequences of his actions in his little vacation.” Toji quickly speaks up, making you cock an eyebrow. You look back and forth between Toji and Megumi, hoping someone is going to fill you in. “Go to your room, Megumi. I can’t stand to look at your face anymore.”
“What happened?” You direct your attention to your husband since Megumi listens to his father and goes to his room. Toji sighs, walking over to you and pressing a kiss on your forehead. “Don’t tell me he–”
“Got into a fight. Got called in the middle of work to deal with his ass– Hey, at least he won.” Toji can’t help but chuckle because even though he’s mad, part of him still feels oddly proud. His kid is somewhat of a troublemaker, but hey, at least the kid can fight. He says something that makes the thoughts of worry that you pushed to the back of your mind, come back and even stronger. “Just glad I don’t have to deal with this much longer.”
“Right.” You awkwardly laugh. You follow Toji to your living room, and take a seat beside him on your couch. It’s nothing out of the ordinary, you do this all the time, but Toji immediately knows that something is off. Your face wastes no time in telling on you.
“You okay? You look a little off.” Toji comments, throwing his arm over you and bringing you closer to him. You’re a little far today when you’re usually all over him. The man loves his personal space, but not when it comes to you.
“Weird day… Weird week.” You mutter the last part, but Toji hears it loud and clear. He kisses the top of your head before asking,
“You know you can tell me anything, right?” He proceeds to kiss the top of your head, and you bite down your lip. You have to tell him eventually, and you know that maybe this isn’t the right time to tell him, but he senses something is up.
“What do you think about having kids with me?” You speak a little fast, and if he wasn’t listening closely, he would have to ask you to repeat yourself. Toji takes a moment to think about it, acting perplexed. His silence is killing you and just when you’re about to repeat the question, he speaks up.
“Is this about the pregnancy test I found in the bathroom?” Toji mentions, and your eyes go wide. He’s known? He’s known all this time? He ends up kissing the tip of your nose before pecking your lips, “I’m happy with anything as long as I get to do it with you.”
“What about the comment that you made–” You begin and he interrupts you.
“Was about Megumi, I’m making sure this one isn’t a troublemaker.” Toji clarifies as his hand goes to your lower abdomen. “I’m excited about this. I was wondering how long it’d take you to share.”
“Next time, speak up, I was scaring myself to death.” You lightly slap his chest, and he chuckles. You’re glaring at him, while he smirks at you. “You’re in so much trouble right now. Why didn’t you tell me immediately?”
“Where’s the fun in that?”
#toji x y/n#toji zenin#toji fushiguro x reader#jjk#jujutsu kaisen#jujutsu kaisen x reader#toji fushiguro#daddy toji#fushiguro toji#jujutsu kaisen toji#jujutsu toji#jjk toji#toji x reader#toji x you#dilf toji#toji fushiguro x you#toji fluff#toji imagine#toji fushiguro fluff#fushiguro toji x reader
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𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐬𝐬 | 18+
Summary: You have been planning to steal some information from the Avengers compound. You successfully break in but what happens when the one person you never wanted to see again ends up catching you?
Characters: Natasha Romanoff x Fem!Reader, Steve Rogers, Tony Stark
Warnings: Torture, fighting, reader gets caught and tied up, heavy make-outs, slight flirting, some oral (Nat receiving), reader leaves Nat high and dry, villain fem!reader (Reader and Nat hate fuck whenever they catch each other guys)
This was not my best work, actually kinda bad and not proofread so forgive mistakes and like forgive me if it's bad I just had this idea weeks ago and decided to actually write it at 3 AM
Minors DNI
It was only a matter of time before you could escape. Sneaking into the Avengers compound was hard, it took weeks of planning and landing a job as a maid.
Stark was always hiring and it was just perfect when you got a call back that you had been selected for the job. Of course, this job came with risks to your plan. If you were suspected at all by any of the avengers you'd be finished. Which is exactly why you had a disguise.
Shape shifting was your specialty. It had just happened oneday, you woke up with powers of some sorts. You had no idea how to control them or how you even got them.
You were hoping this hard drive you were planning to take had the answers to some of your problems. You could only change your appearance, make others see you differently.
The only person you had to avoid at all costs was Natasha. She knew things about you that you hadn't told anyone else. You and her had a long history, one that you prefer not to think about. You had fought her previously, working with Loki. That went down hill fast and you managed to stay low since then.
Now you were definitely going to set off their radars. You have a plan though, you always have a plan.
"Can you get the lab too while you are at it?" Tony asks me as I mop the floor. I look up and nod, giving him a shy smile. He walks away, his phone in his hand.
Perfect excuse to be in his lab. You walk towards the lab, your heart racing. It was time, finally. You felt relieved, it was finally going to be over and you'd never have to see the avengers ever again.
"You are not authorized to enter this area." The voice startles you slightly. J.A.R.V.I.S was a pain to deal with.
"Mr. Stark asked me to mop the lab," You tell him. You hear nothing or a minute before the card scanner beeps with a green light and the doors click. That was surprisingly..easy?
This was too easy, you hesitate for a moment. You glance around the lab before your eyes land on a hard drive. It's the hard drive. No way Tony would just leave this out conveniently, not when he knew there was a chance it would be stolen by anyone.
But it's right there, and you don't think you have another chance. So you slowly walk up to the table, pretending to mop and swiping the drive off the table.
It swiftly makes the journey to your pocket and you walk out of the lab, leaving the mop on the floor. You have no idea how you can get out without at least being detected.
Stark was far from stupid, but your powers deceived him enough. Now all you had to do was fake an emergency and leave. You pick up the phone, pretending to get a call and panicking.
You find Steve in the living room, cleaning his shield off. "Can you please tell Mr. Stark I have to leave? There's a family emergency!" You spit out before he can really react. You are in the elevator as he says he will.
Something about the way he looked at you was confusing. He didn't even ask if everything was alright like you thought he would. If Steve was one thing, he was compassionate.
You knew they knew about your plans, or at least that you were there to steal the drive. As if on cue, the elevator doors open and Natasha is staring right at your face.
"Hello милый," her voice is sweet, just like how it used to be. You stand there for a moment, drinking in her features. You had spent the past weeks avoiding her and you never got the chance to really see her.
"Natasha, any chance you can let me go?" You say, one hand on the back of your neck as you laugh awkwardly. She tilts her head and raises an eyebrow. So it's a no.
Her fist raises to your face and you block it, swiping your leg under hers. She falls back and manages to flip onto her feet. You land a punch to her face, which angers her.
She kicks your stomach, causing you to stumble back. Before you can even think, she punches your face. You can feel the blood gushing out of your nose. You wipe it away with your hand while Natasha stands in front of you. She's focused on your face and movements.
You could tell she was analyzing you. You both hadn't fought each other in a while and it was obvious you were holding back. You couldn't get yourself to hurt her.
Natasha runs past you, jumping up off the wall and wrapping her legs around your neck. You pin her arms back and lean down, flipping her over in front of you. She breaks free from your grasp and jumps, spinning and kicking you directly in the face.
You fall over and close your eyes, consciousness barely hanging on. Natasha is a damn good fighter and you could admit it. Natasha hovers over you, pulling the drive out of your pocket.
"Some things don't change," She says just before you black out.
When you finally wake up, pain surges through your body. The familiar metallic taste of blood in your mouth reminds you of what happened.
You move to pull your hands free but it seems they cuffed you with some heavy metal cuffs. They definitely seem to be stopping your powers from being used. You are in a bedroom, which seems to be weird for the team as they have their own interrogation room and cells.
A figure comes into view and you know it's Natasha. "It's funny, you always end up in front of me bound by something," She chuckles. I sigh and close my eyes, the headache pounding in my head is not helping the pain.
"If you are going to kill me, just do it."
Natasha pulls her knife out, pushing the tip under my chin and lifting my head. "Aw, you wound me, baby."
"Don't call me that," You spit, clenching your jaw. You and Natasha always had a love-hate relationship. You were a villain and her job was to kill them.
"Tell me why you need the drive and maybe we can have a little fun," She whispers in your ear. You decide to play along, long enough for her to get you out of these cuffs.
"If I tell you, will you take these cuffs off?" You ask, giving her a defeated look.
"Yes."
"They paid me to take it, said there are plans on it they need. I didn't get any other information. I just know that they can kill me easily." Natasha sits on the chair across from you, spinning her knife in her hand.
"Who?"
"I have no idea. Some alien guy, he's weird looking," You tell her. You try to steady your heartbeat and avoid actions that will tell her you are lying.
Natasha seems to like this answer because she gets up and walks behind you. A moment later, the cuffs are no longer clasped on your hands.
You feel Natasha's hands on your shoulders, gliding down your arms. You almost shiver at her touch. You don't want to play into this, but she has given you no choice.
There's a smile on her face when you spin around, your hands on her waist. Your lips meet hers and the kiss is almost electric. Her lips are soft and you taste the cherry lipgloss.
She pushes you onto the bed but you flip over and get on top of her, unzipping her suit. Her belt is thrown onto the floor, not before you take something out of it.
"Fuck, I need you so bad," You whisper against the skin of her neck. You kiss down it, your warm lips sending shivers down her spine.
Her hands roam your body, pulling up your shirt. You stop her before she can fully take it off. "No, let me take care of your first, baby."
She pulls you into a kiss before you descend down her body, leaving trails of kisses. You pull the rest of the suit down to her ankles, kissing up her thigh.
You reach her lips, kissing them before spreading her legs and pushing your face close. Your tongue glides over her clit, circling it. Natasha moans, lifting her hips up and throwing her head back.
You wanted so badly to finish what you started, but you needed the drive and Natasha wasn't going to distract you again.
So you pull away, crawling on top of her and grabbing her face to kiss her. You carefully place a tazer disk on her nack and get off her before activating it.
Natasha gasps and falls unconscious from the tazer and you cover her up with a blanket. This was payback for the last time she caught you. This was your thing, always leaving the other wanting more. It kept up the attraction.
This time you may have gone too far, but your life depended on getting this drive and you didn't care what you did to get it.
You won this time.
#natasha romanoff#steve rogers#tony stark#natasha x reader#angst#x reader#viixenvi#natasha romanoff smut#natasha x you#black widow x reader#smut#kinda angsty#nat and reader have a complicated past#some smut
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Platonic Dan Heng, Welt, & Gallagher with a teen!reader that’s like Homura Akemi (From Puella Magi) but like they have a boss fight where reader is similar to Homulily (aka Homura’s witch form). Maybe after they’re defeated or when fighting them!
♡´･ᴗ･`♡
I absolutely love Homura, so I got really excited seeing this request, Anon!! I hope you'll like this!!<33
Content: Kind of spoilers for Homura's abilities as a witch?, vague descriptions of her abilities/appearance, angst, hurt/no comfort, blood, reader used to be under their care in some way, bossfight against reader, reader turns evil for unknown reasons, reader dies in two of them
Reader has no set pronouns!!
((Not proofread))
》GALLAGHER
Gallagher didn't know how it all turned out this way, and yet, he perhaps should've seen it coming too. He usually did. Now, standing before your twisted and near unrecognizable form, he found himself hesitating to protect the very place he was created to watch over all those years ago by Mkihail. But perhaps the old man should've also just taught him how to deal with the heartbreak he experienced at the realisation that he now had to fight you. The very kid he took under his wing.
Gallagher wasn't the type to plead and complain, however. He flicked his lighter open, deciding that things would come the way they should and needed to. What was another loss in the end? You were in pain under all the layers of hate you had become, a twisted witch as you called yourself. Someone who had to get rid of the rats that plagued the world cleanse it from the evil. Unaware that you had become the very thing you hated. He pitied you, deciding it was best to end it here by his own hands before someone else did.
You raised your arms in anticipation, your voice screeching in need for battle, and he simply chuckled. You were never the type for theatrics before you turned into this... but things have changed. He decided to play along with you one more time, as he summoned a Meme, unaffected by what may happen as he was assured he'd win. Even if it meant losing you.
》WELT YANG
This isn't the first nor the last time he had to fight against someone he cared for, and yet something about it still hurt him deeply. He thought that switching worlds would save him from that heartbreaking fate, yet you proved him wrong. You were a child that was taken in and raised by the express, a young teen that deserved to live a bright life despite never having gotten as far due to the consequences of your own actions. You turned into a witch, a grotesque monster that rivaled the strength of what he had seen in honkai abominations, and yet he still couldn't find it in his to hate you. Even if you attempted to end him through your own hate as well.
The fight was still unfair, however, as despite most of his Herrscher abilities being sealed, he still was able to beat you with the small fraction he still had. You were too young to control your abilities properly, too confused and disoriented with the sudden surge of power and strength beyond your own means, until it ultimately ended you. He simply stood over you as he watched you fade away into the morning sun, your body retaining it's original form, yet even then, did he not call onto the Astral Express. They didn't need to see you like this. They didn't need to try and save someone they couldn't.
And so as you took your last breaths, your hand weakly reached up to turn back time once more, yet he stopped you by placing his hand on yours and shaking his head silently. He figured you out at last. You couldn't help but smile for the first time at that bitterly, as you finally allowed yourself to rest with a final sigh in defeat.
》DAN HENG
Dan Heng knew things were getting bad when you forced him to take on his true form to deflect a near devastating attack from you. He had to stop you, save you. But he was running out of options, and you were relentless. You didn't give him a moments rest. You didn't let him think or regroup. You didn't let him call for help from your other companions. He couldn't do anything but dodged anything you threw at him seconds before it hit him, yet his heart couldn't allow him to attack you back.
His mind ran rampant with memories of you two watching over the Databank as he taught you everything he knew. You were like a younger sibling to him, a part of the family he was able to build when the Astral Express became his home all those years ago. And now it was all coming to an end right before his very eyes, when you began charging up an ability he knew would end him and perhaps even more if he didn't stop it.
He scared himself with the thought that ending your young life would be a form of mercy. He felt disgusted at his own thoughts, wondering if he had even learned anything at all from his rebirth, and yet he still pierced your witch form's heart with a swipe of his hand, knowing you couldn't survive it. But it was alright, as a part of him died with you too.
Okay, so this one was lowkey sad to write... but I enjoy the angst, so I hope this was fine for you, Anon, and thank you again for the great request!!<33
#honkai star rail#honkai star rail fanfic#honkai star rail x reader#honkai star rail x you#hsr x reader#hsr#hsr dan heng#hsr dan heng x reader#hsr welt#hsr welt x reader#hsr gallagher#hsr gallagher x reader#welt x reader#welt yang x reader#gallagher x reader#Gallagher#dan heng x reader#Dan Heng
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man i saw this and i was gonna write a whole post abt how maybe the problem for these ppl isn’t that ed wasn’t punished enough (even tho that’s what they say) maybe it’s that it’s a poorly-executed redemption arc but they don’t know how to verbalize that.
and that would actually make sense bc ed doesn’t have a redemption arc in s2. bc the show does not think ed needs redeeming. even at his worst and most harmful to the people around him the show is deeply sympathetic towards him and gives us sooooo much screentime dedicated to showing us that everything ed does he only does bc he’s hurting. which doesn’t excuse any of what he does but it does shift the narrative framing away from an actual redemption arc, where a character needs to like, learn why the things they did were bad and try to make amends. but ed never needed to learn anything, he knew his actions were unacceptable and that’s why he did them. he was trying to be the most horrific monster he could be in hopes that someone would get sick of him and kill him.
so then i went looking for an old post i wrote abt redemption arcs to talk abt why ed’s s2 arc probably reads like a poorly-written redemption arc for ppl who are expecting an actual redemption arc and. i change my mind actually. because “is this character willing to accept that their behavior is harmful, to make amends for their past behavior if at all possible, and to try and become a better person?” yeah we see ed do all of that tho.
Accept Their Behavior Is Harmful: i mean aside from the fact that ed knew this the whole time, we also see ed talking to fang about how guilty he feels for how he treated the crew. but like this isn’t zuko slowly unlearning an entire lifetime of fire nation propaganda, ed doesn’t need a season(s)-long arc abt this. He Already Knows
Make Amends For Their Past Behavior: like literally the whole thing with getting pushed off the ship!! wearing a sack and a collar at the crew’s behest!! he’s very much trying to make amends!!!!!
Try To Become A Better Person: there’s a lot i could talk abt here but just on a surface level, he’s trying to quit his job where he attacks and steals from random innocent ppl for a living. like objectively that job does not make you a good person. and also that job makes him miserable and when his mental health is in the shitter sometimes he hurts other ppl in his efforts to hurt himself so like!!! he is very much trying to not be the kind of person who forces crew members to fight to the death anymore!!!!
so yeah, thinking this was abt a “poorly-written redemption arc” was giving these ppl too much benefit of the doubt lol they just want to see ed grovel and suffer for an entire season, which was never going to happen lmao. the show thought izzy had more to apologize for than ed and that’s why ed’s apology was one sentence and izzy’s apology was a whole speech on his deathbed. the show thought izzy needed more punishment for his actions than ed did and that’s we see izzy get put through the physical ringer in the beginning of s2 and ed getting beat to death by the crew happens off-screen. ppl can argue all they want abt how ed did so much worse than izzy but at the end of the day the show disagrees with those takes and that’s why it treats these characters the way it does. die mad about it.
#txt#meta#ofmd meta#edward teach#ed teach#edward teach born on a beach#izzy hands#izzy critical#link#s2e01#s2e02#s2e05#s2e06#s2e08#if this post is in the izcourse tag no it isnt u just dont know how to use tumblr
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I spend three hours wandering around the estate looking for Goose. I've checked every front garden, every hedge and flower bed and under every car, looked inside bins and up trees by the time I'm forced to contend with the fact that I haven't confronted the railroad tracks yet. I don't. I never pluck up the courage.
I can’t fathom it, being the one to find him there, sweet Goose with his little kitten paws and soft pewter fur. This thought that I hadn’t even considered until Michelle spat it at me is tormenting me now as I forlornly wander the evening streets, calling out the name that I’m not even sure he knows to answer to yet.
I stumble upon Jen in a little park we used to drink in when we were fourteen. She’s been out looking too, evidently, but has had enough and is sitting on the ground gazing out over the last russet streaks of sunset over Dublin Bay.
“Have you given up?” I ask her. Her eyes are clouded with sadness
“I have a feeling he’s gone, Jude,” she says. I feel a lump forming in my throat. “He mightn’t be. He might come back, you know, cats are known to show up after being away for days, weeks, months even,” this is the sort of bargaining a person who refuses to accept the obvious truth gets too involved with, and the kind I’ve been doing with myself the whole afternoon, thinking that maybe if I imagine Goose’s return with enough conviction I will magic him home again, but Jen, for once does not match my idealism.
“He probably doesn’t know where his home is yet, he’s too new.”
“Yeah,” I shift some loose gravel with the toe of my shoe. “Jen, I feel so awful.”
“I know,” she says, and holds her arms out to me to pull me to the ground and wrap them around me, “It isn’t your fault, it could have happened to any of us.”
“I ruined the entire day with my stupidity.”
“Shh, stop,” gently fingers stroke my hair at the nape of my neck, “you just made a mistake, it’s human.”
“Did I ruin your date?”
She pauses, “It’s okay, I don’t think she realised it was a date, and it's probably for the best.”
The wind rustles through the trees around the park, and I feel chilled with the knowledge that change is coming. The school year is ending soon and now the future lies unavoidably ahead of me, a path completely untrodden.
“You’ll find someone else to take to the debs,” I tell Jen, peering at the side of her face as her short crop of chestnut hair is backlit by the sunset. “You should have been the first person to get a date anyway.”
She gives me a half smile, unconvinced, “there are like, four lesbians in our year including me.”
“Out lesbians,” I point out, “You never know.”
“When I go to college it will be better,” she says firmly, “school is just destined to be shit, romantically, I mean.”
“In all ways, I think.”
She just laughs.
“This stuff is bullshit anyway.”
“What is? Love?”
I rub my arms where goosebumps are rising with the cold. I should have worn a jumper. “Yeah, you’re not missing out on much.”
A silence follows, one that feels deliberate, but I venture into it anyway, “Michelle and I had a bad fight earlier.”
“I heard.”
“Us shouting?”
“Mm.”
“Sorry.” I wipe my nose which is running from the cold with the back of my arm. “It was terrible, we both said awful things.”
She just circles her hand on my knee in a vague gesture of comfort.
“Sometimes it feels like she’s trying to hurt me, you know what I mean? It’s like she has all of this bad stuff stored up that she wants to, like, unleash. It’s so vicious. It seems like she really wants to dig her nails in and leave a mark on me, and then I get so defensive, like, because talking it out doesn’t work, I have to shout, and I have to be horrible too so that she’ll even react to me.”
“We all say things we regret when we’re upset.”
“Yeah, but it’s so destructive. I come away from it all feeling like shit. Like, this isn't who I am, I’m not a person who fights. At least I don’t want to be. I don’t want to be up there saying these things to her, but I can’t stand there and let her say them to me either.”
“Yeah.”
“And I worry a lot about what things are going to look like after this year is over, like, with college and stuff,” even mentioning it makes my stomach feel tight, “like, um, how she wants us to live together and all.”
“And you’re nervous about that?”
I sigh, “Well, I don’t know, it makes sense to do it, right? She thought we could get a little place near NCAD, and we’ve been looking at houses online, and… I don’t know. The idea of being around her all of the time, like, twenty-four-seven, sharing a bed, eating every meal together, walking to college, it makes me feel claustrophobic, and then I worry that if I feel that way now, how am I going to feel when I’m actually doing it? Surely it’s not supposed to feel so terrible, right?” I prompt her when she doesn’t respond, “Jen? What do you think?”
She pauses for a long moment, toying with the aglets on the end of her boot laces. “I think that you’re asking me for an opinion I’m not prepared to give you.”
“...right.”
“We agreed, I agreed with you both that I’d never talk to one about the other. It’s not fair on me and I don’t want to feel stuck in the middle of it.”
“But-”
“You’re both nice people and I love you both so much, but when you are together you are absolutely horrible. That’s all I want to say.”
I don't know how to respond to that, so I don't, I just sit in bad feelings and wish for the millionth time that my brain was normal enough to make good choices on its own and not beg them from other people.
I sniff again, though this time I’m not sure if it’s just because of the cold. “So, um, the acceptance deadline for those other colleges is coming up.”
“The foreign ones?”
“Yeah.”
“Are you still going to turn them down?”
“I promised Michelle that I would.”
Jen’s shoulders slump, all of her does, like someone has let the air out of her, but she just says, “Alright.”
I feel the teeth of my genuine desperation for her opinion, her approval gnawing at me. I just want the sage words of advice she’s withholding from me, “Is it a mistake? Like, if I reject their offers? Would that be the stupidest thing I ever did?”
“I don’t know.”
“I worked hard, you know? I really put everything I had into those applications, I gave them the best that I had and they loved it, they said really nice things about me in the letters, and sometimes, like, I think I’ll die, or something, if I don’t leave Dublin. But then there’s Michelle,” I fist the front of my hair in my hand, “and the things at home, and I don’t know what the right thing is, whether it’s hurting myself or hurting everyone else…”
“Jude,” Jen suddenly grabs hold of my face and forces me to look into her eyes, “you have to do what feels right, okay? I’m not going to tell you what to do. Like, just… you need to fucking search within or whatever.”
“Uh huh. What does that entail?”
“I dunno!” She lets me go and stands up, brushing dirt from the back of her jeans, “C’mon, it’s cold, we should go home.”
“Uh, I was kind of hoping you’d be able to solve me, actually.”
“No, this time you can solve yourself. C’mon, up!” She presents her hand to me and I let her haul me onto my feet.
“Ugh, Jen,” I say, feeling myself sinking back into a melancholy hole again, but she links my arms and brusquely walks me toward the playground gates with all the pep of a middle aged Sunday morning power walker. “You know what? I think we could both do with something nice to make us feel better.”
“What do you mean ‘something nice’?
“Like, I dunno, an ice cream or something.”
“What time is it? It must be after nine.”
“Yeah, so? I was thinking of that place with all the weird flavours, do you remember that?”
“Yeah, but it’s all the way in town. Effort.”
“You can drive, can’t you?”
“You want me to drive? Jen I hate driving.”
“I think you’ll do it for me.”
“Why’d you think that?”
She eyes me sideways, “After what you put me through today, hm?”
“That's manipulation.”
“No, it's payback.”
“Fine. I’ll go get the car.”
“Really?”
“Yes! Come on, before I change my mind.”
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#lucky boy 2010#love the golden hour lighting here i gotta say#sunblind u did it again#san sequoia is also just gorge#even tho it's not my fave world it's got that perfect leafy suburban vibe i want#tw: pet loss#tw: pet death#tw: violence mention
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The show made such a big deal about Ladybug leaving Paris for a week-end in Hack-San without informing Cat Noir beforehand and yet it never said anything about Cat Noir never telling Ladybug that he's gonna leave Paris for a week-end in Backwarder ... or that he's supposed to leave Paris for a few weeks in the S4 finale ... or that he's supposed to move out of Paris permanently in S5. The hypocrisy seems palpable.
In my opinion, it's actually not hypocrisy. At least, it's not hypocrisy in the grand scheme of things. When you look at the series as a whole, it turns out that this is just another case of inconsistent writing because the show does punish Chat Noir for leaving without warning Ladybug, but only when the plot needs to punish him. Let's go over the facts in chronological order!
In the Shanghai special, Ladybug and Chat Noir both leave Paris without warning each other or Master Fu and it's not just fine, it's the right move as they're magically where they need to be for the fight of the day. Neither one of them gets mad at the other for their actions. The issue isn't even brought up.
In Backwarder, Chat Noir leaves Paris without warning Ladybug and it's treated as a non-issue.
In Startrain, Ladybug and Chat Noir both leave Paris without warning each other, but Marinette visits Fu first and gets the horse miraculous so that she's okay to leave. When she learns that Chat Noir left without warning her, she doesn't seem even remotely phased.
In the New York special, Chat Noir leaves Paris without warning Ladybug. This is Very Bad as Paris was left undefended and he knew that was going to be the case. This is a fair critique at face value, but Ladybug is the guardian at this point and has instant access to the horse miraculous, thereby negating the issue, a fact that is never discussed. Fun fact: this is the only instance in the entire series where one of them bothers to tell the other when they're leaving Paris.
In Hack-San, Ladybug leaves Paris without warning Chat Noir and it understandably causes tension, but Chat Noir ends the episode absolving her of any guilt even though she could have transformed and left him a message to warn him that she's assigned a temp hero her Miraculous. A thing we know they can do since this season literally starts with Ladybug playing messages from Chat Noir on her bug phone. She's also the guardian at this point, so she could have taken the horse with her and teleported back or even just taken the horse in case Alya ran into trouble. (Do you see how the lack of consistency just builds and builds the more they ignore established logic?)
The last few episodes of season five see Chat Noir fully aware that he's being shipped off to London and then actually getting shipped off to London, a change that he never informs Ladybug of even though she will now be truly alone. The show never addresses this and treats it as a non issue.
As far as I can recall, those are all of the instances where this issue could have potentially come up along with the various ways the writing handled the issue. As you can see, both Ladybug and Chat Noir behave recklessly when it comes to leaving Paris. They pretty much never let each other know when it's happening, but whether or not that's a bad thing is entirely dependent on what plot the writers want to tell. So hypocrisy on the writer's part, sure, but I'm not gonna give Chat Noir that label when Ladybug is arguably equally deserving.
This isn't as egregious as lore inconsistencies like the way split up amoks and akumas work, but it's still a very clear case of establishing rules and then ignoring them because the writers do what they want! Who needs narrative consistency and good world building?
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This was on a reblog of a fic concept someone added one of my posts but I decided it was risking backlash against the person, and also it ended up half vent post, so just tucking it into its own little post here instead.
I'm glad you're enjoying this, but... Okay, actually, I'm really sorry but this goes against what I was thinking with this post in a lot of ways. I know you didn't intend any malice, but I just. I cannot not talk about this right now. I need people to know to just... not do this to my posts. Because it keeps happening.
I do know which "the younger person should be the sugar daddy, like they made an app or something" post you're thinking about, and i'ts a good post, but that is 100% an Obikin plot. Cody is not a guy to make a super successful app. That is an Anakin thing. In that respect, this is an Obikin fic in Cod*Wan clothing.
I mean, I've talked about wanting people to do more Obikin plots in Cod*Wan, but that's about exploring the age difference and power dynamics, not Cody Is A Tech Whiz.
A billion is too much. The only, only ethical ways to get to billionaire status are 'lottery' and 'relative I never heard of just died and left me everything.' In both cases, the only ethical way to proceed is to invest enough to live off of comfortably, and donate the rest. If an app makes that much money? The app is screwing someone over.
I also cannot imagine Obi-Wan in the financial industries sector unless he absolutely loathes his job or is an auditor who delights in making Rich People's Lives Miserable. Better option would be that Obi-Wan is the president of a charity that Cody partners with, like the CEO of a Free Housing For The Homeless initiative or a big name lawyer in an activist lobby for environmentalism or something. This might just be my "I am a business major who hates the business major norms" and look at financial services industry types with uhhhh distaste. If he's a financial advisor, it is for a nonprofit. At most, he is part of a company that specializes in helping rich people funnel their money into charitable ventures.
This also just doesn't fight my envisioning of either Obi-Wan or Cody.
I do need to throw in that my first thought reading this was my Codakin version where Cody wins the lottery and Anakin is the sugar baby. It's not that similar, but the vibes were there (for me).
Finally, it's just... the point of this post is that I find it frustrating when people make Cody the same age because I find it disingenuous to flatten the power dynamic. Some people do it fine, are multi-shippers who are as honest about Cod*Wan as they are with something like Obikin. If they have one fic where Cod*Wan are the same age with no power diff, and another where the power dynamic is flipped, and a third where the power dynamic is as in canon and just explored as necessary, that's fine.
But with the number of Cod*wan (and Barr*ssoka, which is full on NOTP for me as a direct result of this behavior, despite having a canon age diff of 4yrs) folk that have talked shit to and about me and mine for doing something similar with ships like Rexsoka or Obikin... The amount of shit I've had to deal with for shipping Rexsoka for adjusting ages in a modern AU, coming from people who do the same thing with Cod*Wan, is the driving force of this post. It's basically this: If I don't get to change the ages a bit to make things palatable, then neither does anyone else.
This is not just about the age difference. It's about looking at canon and going 'if you guys are going to give me shit for my ship, then play it straight on your end. What does it look like when you're honest about the power dynamic?
There is a reason my first suggestion is Cody having a crush on his boss.
The intent was always that Obi-Wan is the sugar daddy, because Obi-Wan is the General. Because Obi-Wan is the one with power. Because Obi-Wan is the one with control.
Because this post was about "if I don't get to change my ships to make them less problematic, then neither does anyone else."
Also because I just find a lot of Cod*Wan fics to be OOC, and not in the fun way.
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Ji Ho is back from his first Therapy Game session and couldn't be happier! And Saiwa is relieved they have him back in one piece. He was so worried and felt so bad Ji Ho, their most fragile, had to have his therapy before him, their oldest and leader.
Ji Ho: "Don't worry. It was amazing! Tiny Can did an amazing job, you really should try."
Saiwa drew in a deep breath: "Ok, I will go next then."
They went over to the living room their office. There are a few things to consider. First that their avatars obviously have a life of their own when they are not logged in.
Jack saw Ji Ho as NPC Princess watching his fight at the Arena. So it's possible that they have encounters and experiences they aren't aware of because they are not logged in. Best they prepare to act unsuspicious when they are confronted with their avatar's actions ingame.
And then Ji Ho had to tell them that it's the best for all of them when they don't share everything that happens ingame. So the therapy of the others doesn't get spoiled/contaminated.
(Jack and the Queen, for example. It's probably better for him he doesn't know that the Queen and Greg are together ingame too. The Queen wanted it to be a secret anyway and maybe it's an important experience for Jack to try to woo the Queen.)
But he also talked about his positive experiences and everything that was safe to mention. And they all agreed to make it a habit to take their time to follow their hobbies at least once a week.
Mood at dinner was subdued.
Seems they don't take these news well. Jack wanted to know everything about his Queen and Vlad thinks Ji Ho and Caleb did ineffable things together and Ji Ho keeps it from him because he doesn't want to hurt him...
After dinner, Jack and Ji Ho went to the beach to relieve Jack's pain and Saiwa soaked Vlad in the hot tub to relieve his stress.
But Vlad was inconsolable. He knows it's just a game and that it's necessary for Ji Ho's healing and that they finally can be together when this is over and Ji Ho found his buried feelings.
Saiwa: "Vlad, I know it's hard but try to hang on. Just for a little longer, hm? It will be worth it in the end. Don't let Ji Ho see you like this. He might stop his therapy and that would be a loss for all of us. We can already see the silver lining on the horizon."
Vlad: "Fine! I already went through hell and back for him. I can do this!"
Saiwa: "That's my boy."
Nothing is easy in this world - or the others...
But at least they are very beautiful worlds.
Jack: "Ah I can't wait to go back ingame. I miss Lou. And the Queen! Oh, have to make a plan what to say when I see her again! It's so amazing that I can be a totally other me ingame. I'm not damaged there, I'm a highly regarded fighter. And she doesn't know me as an abandoned pup. I'm a grown, strong, handsome wolf. I think I really stand a chance with her!"
Poor Ji Ho! This is harder than he expected ö.Ö'
He tries to change the subject and told Jack that he really thinks this therapy game could be a great step forward for all of them. And no matter what happens ingame with Caleb, he's glad that Vlad encouraged him to go for it so he can heal. And how happy he is that he has the Bond with Vlad. No matter what happens, the Bond will keep them together. And how that gives him the strength to keep on going.
They talked about how different their experiences with a fated/bonded relationship are.
Ji Ho feels secure to be bonded to Vlad even though they barely talk to each other or spend time together. And even though Ji Ho is not able to love Vlad yet. He never felt stability in his whole life and he cherishes Vlad's constant presence and love over the Bond.
Whereas Jack never felt his fated bond between Kiyoshi and him. He is still highly attracted to him (and he hates himself for his weakness!) and he did love Kiyoshi a lot. But that bolt in the chest that should have hit him - nope - never happened.
Jack: "Well that's over now. Kiyoshi became a diety and I don't think dieties have fated mates. And I don't want to relive this madness ever again. I'm glad I'm finally crawling out of this bottomless pit."
Then it was time for Vlad to go back home to care for Jeb and Kiyoshi.
And to charge the Bond...
Vlad: "Jack, wait..."
Vlad can't be alone with Ji Ho right now. Not when when he's so upset.
Jack sighed. It's about time for their next date, so they can get more comfortable around each other.
Vlad is having a hard time charging the Bond and letting Ji Ho touch him. Who knows what he did with Caleb. And even tough Saiwa told him to not bother Ji Ho with his jealousy, he just couldn't help it...
Last Winter Solstice, Ji Ho even agreed to bond with Caleb!
Well, he did not really have a choice because Vlad had been lost with Jeb in the Otherworld and wasn't able to protect Ji Ho, but Vlad knows how crazy they all are about Caleb!
Omg Vlad!
Saiwa: "They are driving me crazy."
Jack: "Well, we all act stupid at times, don't we?"
Saiwa sighed: "I guess that's what we do... Oh my, I can't wait to see what Tiny Can has planned for me. Let's hope it helps. It's about time we go back home."
Jack: "It will help. Look how well Ji Ho and I already do."
And eventually Ji Ho calmed Vlad through the Bond so they could charge...
Vlad feels so stupid and he tries to apologize over the Bond and to reassure Ji Ho that he really means it when he told him that he will endure everything so Ji Ho can heal. And Ji Ho hugged him a bit tighter. He already knows that.
We will overcome this too, the Bond said.
The Therapy Game Master Post with the sessions and places so far is -> here
From the Beginning ~ Underwater Love ~ Latest
Current Chapter:
🕹️ 'The One' from the beginning ▶️ here
📚 Previous Chapters:
Chapters: 1-6 ~ 7-12 ~ 13-16 ~ 17-22 ~ 23-28
#therapy game#underwater love#the game#kiyoshi ito#the white lily#woo ji ho#vlad tepesz#charging the bond#jack callahan#giga byte#vladimir tepesz#show us your sims#tomarang#sims#sims 4 story#simlit#simblr#sims 4#ts4#tellusyourstories#showusyourstories#sims 4 vanilla#sims 4 for rent#koh sahpa#saiwa
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man the thing that always gets me the most about transformers is when they know each other by name. Like,, sure it hurts when they do because they knew each other pre war. But really when it's like,,, knowing someone by name because you've fought each other so many times in so many battles all during the same unending war that you know this person. Like, sometimes it's even more than just knowing their name sometimes you know this person. The characters that have playful relationships with each other that met for the first time on the battlefield. That are actively trying to kill each other, but will be sad about it and miss them when the other is gone. The ones that bond in unlikely situations just to go back to fighting as soon as the dust settles. Sometimes it's even at a time where the war has lost its point or contradicts what they were even fighting for in the first place. Where they're literally doomed to fight into extinction or.. stop. But they don't stop. Like, idk... The autobots and decepticons pretty much always end up fighting for an amount of time so large it's literally inconceivable. And at the end there's often so few of them left, and they mostly all know each other intimately and by name and like,,,
Idk this is really rambly and I'm having a bit of trouble articulating but sometimes I really stop and think about how many of them know each other specifically through fighting and it gets to me a little bit
#kalla's ramblin#like#the tragedy of cybertronians always runs so deep#like idk it's hard to articulate#it just plays over and over in my mind like 'they know each other. they met during the war and they know each other'#maccadam#like even when they're fighting for nothing#their world is ending#they're going extinct#they hate so much and they're making friends and they hate their friends but they love their friends#they get stuck in a cave and team up and joke and get really close and help each other get out before parting ways#they meet on the battlefield cybertron is dead cybertronians are dying#they share a sad smile as they kill each other in the name of something that doesn't exist anymore#they KNOW each other#I don't--#aaa transformers is so sad man like#what happens when you fight for change and it never ends#what happens when you fight so long the thing you were fighting for doesn't exist#what happens when your war outlasts civilizations and sees the birth and death of planets and you were there from the start#what happens when your war outlasts the cause but you keep fighting because if you stop now what's the point#and almost all of them are doing this#when they hate each other for nothing but they know they hate each other#they hate each other to the point of ending their entire existence but then they don't even hate each other#idk like#'they know each other' means more than what I'm saying but I don't know HOW to say what I'm saying#they hate each other and they love each other and they know each other#dear god#a point when 'kalla's ramblin' really really means what it says hhhhhhhhh
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My thing is that I just do not trust a single person who was involved in the show. It just seems like a lot of PR to fix their image and foster sympathy/goodwill/interest.
#i haven't seen compelling evidence that anybody actually tried to fight for canon (and reciprocated) destiel#just admissions that they played into the subtext#(which we already knew - that's why spn's been considered a prime example of queerbaiting since like 2011)#and non-committal statements about the pairing being compelling#edlund seemed to specifically say he wasn't censored/forced to rework due to the gay#yeah misha said the cw's homophobic and suggested the network was the barrier#but at least half of what comes out of misha's mouth is bullshit#like he also said they tried to pay him to stay bisexual#and as a result there's now a bunch of support being tossed out to the writers and some fans are talking about them like they're heroes#who valliantly fought against a homophobic network and were totally going to make dean and cas a couple#but were foiled by said network which is why the show ended with the gays being buried yet again#you see in the secret unreleased version...#and if we just let jensen make another season he won't let us down because of xyz vague statements#nevermind that he made a new show where cas was also never mentioned - cw censorship#nevermind the straightwashed version of soldier boy he's playing - that's kripke's fault#nevermind the statements he's made in the past about destiel and dean's sexuality - he's changed his mind#you can tell because he's said it's okay for fans to have their own interpretations about the series#idk maybe i'm too cynical and i'm being unfair#there's just too much vagueness from pretty much everybody for me to put faith in their intentions#especially if they are seriously considering attempting to revive the series - this sort of thing is great for drumming up interest#the writers being censored by homophobic execs is a familiar narrative ofc - but i don't see anything solid to suggest this is what happened#and it's not like there weren't queer relationships on tv when spn was airing - the show ended in 2020#it isn't even like there weren't queer relationships shown on the cw during spn's run - there were more than a few#i just have so many questions#spn#destiel
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hi ♡ i guess i'm back? 🥹
here's a little life update! i think you guys deserve it after my absence that lasted longer than even i expected it to last ;( i am very sorry about that. i miss everyone here and bangtan so much, you have no idea. the reason for all that is that for the past months i have been going through a lot of things and changes in my life. there were good and bad things happening, time flies extra fast, days melt into one and i didn't even notice the past half a year pass. although i think my absence was unavoidable in these circumstances i just thought that you guys deserve to know what's been up with me for the past months haha i have received a lot messages and reminders that people remember about me and that they miss me and i just want to send all of you my biggest apologies for leaving you for so long with no response, as well as all my love and gratitude! 🥺 i think i've been always fairly transparent on here so if anyone wanted to know more I'll leave some more details in the tags but basically I just hope that soon i will be able to become more active again and respond to messages ❤️❤️❤️ i hope everyone is doing great 🥰
#honestly... it was yoongi's comeback that made it happen. that made me have motivation to come back. i didnt expect it but here we are LOL#because for the past months i have been struggling a lot and i almost lost all the connections with my friends family and bangtan#i lost all my feelings and thoughts#i didnt miss anyone i didnt want to do anything i didnt want to be anywhere. i was completely submerged into my own head#i still am. it didnt exactly get better but.. its just yoongis impact jasbhdjdjd he made me remeber a lot#in october last year i developed a very agressive eating disorder and its gotten a lot worse at the begging of this year#and it has taken everything from me. it sucked me dry and still continues to do so. it made my mental health so much worse on every level#but im still here and thats what matters in the end right ❤️#from the good things - after long unfortunate and very stressful job hunting i finally got a stable job 🥰 and i continue my uni so far#that's why i was absent here most of the time. i decided to focus on my life and on trying to change something and to fight a little more#after jin's enlistment announcement... it was a wake up call for me#and maybe soon i will be back on track but im taking things slow. especially that its not easy for me at all#but i just wanted you to know that theres been a lot happening here so ❤️ im not just getting bored of tumblr and bts haha#i never stopped following the fandom i never turned off my notifications from media i never stopped looking up what they're up to each day#i just didnt have time and motivation to be active. because of my health i wanted to be quiet and away from eveyone and everything :/#even from my comfort people and activities#that sounds sad but. it's alright so please don't worry about me ❤️ I'm holding on just fine. got used to some things ❤️ trying to heal#so yeah i think thats that haha i think its enough and all basically#it may seem like very little but my life has always been very slow when it comes to big actions haha#anyway. love you all so much ❤️ thank you for not forgetting about me ❤️#soon i will try to answer some mesdages from my inbox. please wait for me just a little bit more ❤️ im very overworked right now#but im so sorry that you have to wait so long ❤️
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yeah, yeah, eli and demetri are cute, but miguel and eli? they own my heart now and forever. out of all the bonds that eli could ever have and i want to see more on screen, in order it goes: eli/miguel, eli/sam, eli/robby, and eli/tory. i said what i said.
#out of character. ⁽ edie ⁾#don't get me wrong#eli and dem are incredible and they had a beautiful friendship but the show refuses to acknowledge that dem genuinely never accepted#that eli was growing and changing and tried to pull the hawk persona from him without a care of why it had happened or what it meant to eli#he looked down on him for it and it's why hawk turned all the affection he had into active hatred#and eli was horrible to him and you don't just move past that and go back to how things were. eli and dem are so so different now#and they need to fix so much between them. they can and they will but it's also okay to not go back to how things were#they outgrew each other and that's okay. it's valid and it happens and they can still be close without going in circles#eli and miguel's friendship is so important to me because they grew together and miguel actually saw eli for who he was#miguel was the only one who could see his friend even when he took the rage and anger and need for control too far#he knew eli didn't stop being eli just because he was putting up this front and diving head first into it#also the fact that sam and eli have so much in common yet have always been on opposing ends and a balance to each other? makes me feral#i need more of them because i know they can be such a good team and it warmed my heart to see them root for each other#sam and eli are so passionate and have the capability of being so raw and real and their fighting styles are the most balanced tbh#they've been everywhere all at once and i need them to be a duo and fighting together because everything they hated each other for was a#doing of their trauma and their fears and everyone else tbh. sam and eli don't really know each other at all#and they have so much to unpack and see in each other because i do think that they have a lot in common and balance each other#eli and robby whew so much to unpack there too and i just need them to not gloss over what happened between them#and same with eli and tory because at some point they were all they had in ck when everything changed#and hawk was loyal to her and cared for her and he was displaced and it sent him deeper down#anyway justice for eli and actually seeing ties that matter without him just being shoved into an old friendship
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August… time to get spooky.
#dadbots.txt#this has been in my draft for... almost a month. Yikes.#I’ve been dissociating hella hard these past months or something. swear I don’t remember time moving this fast. maybe it’s just me tbh.#idk what to say about July other than… boring? not much happened and I don’t really remember it if I’m honest. just. mm. shrugs.#best way to describe it LOL#been sleeping a LOT lately and I think it’s fatigue again. was it like anything before? no. not at that rate (yet) but just.#where you wanna sleep and sleep and sleep type of fatigue. you never feel rested and just gotta sleep it off kinda.#just one of those moments yknow.#it sucks. all I’m doing is letting the days pass me by and ‘missing out’ on living life when I could be enjoying it. but I lost interest -#- in doing so for months - years now due to personal health matters. And whaddya know - it came back again. after months of healing.#I'm pretty pissed as it does feel like a slap in the face. but you win some - you lose some. Gonna try and fight through it.#I wrote something at the beginning of august but that got deleted. Had a breakdown and thought huh. what a great way to start the month -#and now it's almost september. Just like that. What a month it's been. Stuck on what else to say but that really.#don't want to keep talking about depressing stuff as that's what i used to do and realized hey. maybe you should stop doing that so often#and not use it so casually in humor and/or stuff. Even though I reblog vents here n' all. but yknow.#maybe it is hypocritical. but that's not the point. Just want to reflect and see if i've changed since coming back to the web after a year.#not like it's going bad. just wished this year was a bit more optimistic. Last year was rough & i'm afraid this year will be another repeat#though I did come out to a family member this month and that was like a punch to the gut. Considering my status with them and all.#won't get into that. for now let's just say i'm not too close with them. An impulsive choice on my end but hey. it went well.#and that's what matters tbh. My younger self would've thought i was actually insane. like to even DO that? really?#shocking. I'm still not over that moment. Probably one of my biggest achievements this year.#I'll update this if anything else comes to mind. none of this make sense and that's ok. clearing my mind right now.#let's see what september has in store for me. Hopefully it'll get better as things slow down w/ winter on its way.#hope y'all enjoyed your summer. 🖤🤘🏽
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As someone who follows your blog and admires your meta to the bone and also advocates the tchyrt nobody-gets-left-behind trio friendship together together agenda til my dying day, i honestly am looking forward to reading your reaction once the full final chapter is released 🥲🥲🥲🥲😭😭😭
It’s going to be a while before proper translations are out, but I think my main mindset with regards to the trio is this: I believe what Suetsugu has endeavored to do throughout the entire narrative is build a friendship between three people that can stand the tests of time, or distance, or rivalry, or whatever else obstacle can possibly come their way. In that sense, the ending is unexpected for me in the way it’s executed, but ultimately I believe it’s emblematic of the themes I always felt were most important for Suetsugu to espouse. From the beginning, she’s repeatedly emphasized, As long as we have karuta we'll see each other again, won't we? As long as we keep playing, we'll see each other again. To me, what’s being perceived by some readers as a devaluation of the trio’s friendship is in fact a testament to it. They’re by this point in time so completely secure in their relationships with each other that nothing can cow them or break them apart. The distance is no longer an intimidating obstacle to overcome—it’s a fact of life, but a bearable one, because karuta ultimately acts as their lifeline to each other. Regardless of whatever they’re doing in their individual lives, they will always come back to each other because karuta will bring them back together. That prior experience of urgency and desperation and dread is no longer there; they’re completely at peace with each other because they’re at peace with themselves. Solo matches are team matches, team matches are solo matches. You have to be able to trust the people around you to fight their own battles so you can fight your own battles, and vice versa. Suetsugu has done a really masterful job of building up this self-sufficiency and endurance in each of her characters while nonetheless maintaining a message that people need people in order to survive. It’s clear that she values community, but she also understands that it’s important to be sure of ourselves because that’s when we can be most appreciative of the community that exists around us and supports us. The fact that there’s still physical distance between the trio in the conclusion doesn’t at all feel like a source of concern to me. I was initially in the camp of readers who wanted for all three characters to go to college in Tokyo and be best friends forever who hung out every other day, utterly inseparable, but in retrospect, I think this ending is far more realistic and cathartic because it acknowledges the presence of distance but doesn’t bow down to it as an overseer. You can continue to maintain deep, important relationships with people even while you’re each leading your own lives that contain an entire world within them separate of those relationships. The relationships aren’t less important for that fact nor are they suddenly fragile.
Even the final conversation between the trio with regards to the romantic conclusion feels emblematic of that to me. The trio of old may have been threatened to break apart because of those warring emotions, but the trio of present is secure and liberated of antagonism so that they may fully, wholeheartedly enjoy the present. I don’t think it’s supposed to be a bad thing that Arata expresses he wants to be with Chihaya when he’s older. I don’t think it’s a bad thing that Taichi is with Chihaya after having come to terms with his own demons. I don’t think it’s a bad thing that this is how Chihaya feels now, but how she feels could also change. Youth comes many times. You can experience it many, many times, so make sure you work hard each of those times, okay? This is where each of them are at now. They’re comfortable with that. They’re young adults moving into a new world of trials and tribulations. They don’t have to dread the future the way they may have in years past. They can look to it with hope and comfort that the present shifts and changes, but so long as we put our best foot forward, it’s worth it to experience it to the fullest. Our experiences are not lesser for when we experience them—what’s important is how we experience them. Youth is impermanent, but it’s also beautiful, and we can value that. That’s what makes the ending really special to me.
#chihayafuru#ayase chihaya#mashima taichi#wataya arata#taichihayarata#*meta#like i think as a whole the ending really cements for me that suetsugu isn’t concerned with establishing endgames#she’s concerned with telling a story about life and how it always moves forward#and we can either fight it or we can move with it as one#you never know what will happen tomorrow. you never know whether things will stay the same or whether they’ll change#but as long as you have just one thing to which you tie your faith you can move forward in earnest#for the trio that’s karuta#as long as they have karuta they can overcome anything#like i think it’s a true mark of adulthood. to be able to have faith in each other and move separately#bc they know they’re not really separate. they’re together in heart#and the romantic ending is really really clever to me like#i think it’s perfectly emblematic of her philosophy that you can’t know who you’ll be with for the rest of your life#when you’re that young. you can’t! but it doesn’t have to be a cause for worry it’s just a fact of life#chy could stay with tc for the rest of her life. chy could break up with him and date art. chy could date someone else! we don’t know#that last conversation is just so comically perfect to me for that#we don’t know what will happen in the future and we don’t need to know#we can appreciate this moment and this place for what it is and that’s beautiful
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i never get satisfaction out of winning. i dont like making other people feel lesser than. the short lived pride i have in myself for being so good at whatever doesnt matter to me when i look over at someone whos bummed about not winning. its such an unnecessary way to stroke my own ego.
I especially hate it when my lifes on the line, that its either win or die, and even the people who want me dead I dont like feeling "better than". none of it had to come to this. but what am i supposed to do when its someone else starting shit and I have no choice? am I just supposed to let myself die bc letting someone else feel like shit, someone i hate even, still doesnt feel good? It's a choice I dont want to make, but theres nothing else I can do.
#i dont even like seeing it this way but this is the way they've set it up and how they see it.#its not like im gonna be happy exactly when ppl find out im right. ill be happy that ppl finally realize im telling the truth#but im not gonna be happy about what happens to my abuser after.#they're just gonna go through the same shit I did and probably end up homeless or some shit#and they'll never be given the ability or chance to change and grow bc ppl online dont allow that grace 1#but 2 bc our countries system doesnt give a fuck about poor ppl let alone homeless ppl.#and if everyone who likes them decided they hate them now bc they finally see who they are-#theyre basically just gonna be left to die. and I hate that. I hate the type of people who let that shit happen bc they hate whoever.#its sadistic and evil honestly. and I think a lot of ppl on here are just that. I hate to feel that way but dawg how tf else am I supposed#to feel when its clear plenty of yall get off on ppls suffering#my abuser knows all this which is why they fight so hard to maintain their image.#the problem is theyre just surrounding themselves with the wrong ppl who would drop them even at the slightest disagreement or whatever#i dont even think they've realized how shaky of ground they've built themselves up on#like. do you want ppl to love you for who you are or who you pretend to be?#bc I promise there will still be ppl who love you in spite of everything. even if most ppl dropped you.#human cruelty knows no bounds but so does human empathy.
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Controversial opinion among Dune book fans maybe, but I loved the changes they made to Chani's character. Making her a fedaykin who is already an experienced fighter before Paul arrives was a brilliant choice. Dune Part Two is a war movie, and this puts her at the center of the action, side by side with Paul, and gives her a much more active role than she has in the book.
We got a hint of where things were going in the beginning of Dune Part One. The first thing we ever know about movie Chani is that she's a fighter. She serves as a voice for the Fremen, telling us the story of their struggle from her point of view. I wrote here about the difference this change makes compared to other adaptations of Dune, what a perspective shift it is to have the world of Arrakis introduced not by an outsider, describing it as a dangerous but valuable colonial prize, but by one of its native inhabitants, who tells us before all else that it's beautiful, her home that she's fighting to liberate. I am so, so glad that the second movie followed up on this characterization.
I never found Chani and Paul's love story in the book particularly convincing, because why would this woman, who already has a prominent and respected place in Fremen society, even give the time of day to her deposed would-be colonizer, let alone fall in love and have children with him? Without a compelling reason for Chani to love Paul, she ends up feeling like a prize to be won, and "indigenous culture personified as a woman to be wooed (or conquered) by the colonizing man" is a trope we've seen and don't need to repeat.
But as soon as you tell me it's a barricade romance I get it. Cool cool cool, I know exactly what this relationship is now and it makes sense. Movie Chani doesn't respect or even particularly like Paul when she first meets him, and she doesn't think he's the fulfillment of any prophecy. She comes to respect him, and eventually love him, through his actions. He's brave--sometimes recklessly so. He fights well. He's willing to stick his neck out on the front lines with the other Fremen fighters. He can (after a little help) hack surviving in the harsh desert environment. He's not too proud to learn from others. He seems to genuinely want to be her equal in a common political struggle. All these qualities make sense as things she values.
Fighting side by side as equals is just about the only way I can see movie Chani falling for Paul. And it fits perfectly with the film's pattern of reversals that Paul's capacity for violence would initially be one of the things Chani likes about him, only for her to be repelled later when she sees what he becomes.
And as for Paul, well, he's had people deferring to him his entire life. Someone who doesn't take any shit from him is probably refreshing. He seems to like people (Duncan, Gurney) who challenge him and engage in a little friendly teasing--and aren't afraid to go a few rounds in the sparring ring.
It's easy to speedrun a romance when you're spending all your time together in mortal danger fighting for a shared political cause. Especially if you then start winning in a war your people have been fighting for decades. Are you kidding me? That is the perfect environment for intense battle camaraderie to turn into romantic love, and lust.
It makes sense that this version of Chani never believes Paul is any kind of messiah. Of course a character like movie Chani wouldn't believe in or trust some outside savior to liberate them. She's been working to liberate her own people for years. The more Paul invokes the messianic myth, the more he starts sounding once again like someone who plans to rule over them, and the more uncomfortable Chani becomes. In this way she becomes a foil to Jessica, the two of them representing the choices Paul is pulled between. It's a great way of externalizing the political and philosophical debates that often happen within characters' heads in the book.
And of course this version of Chani would leave Paul at the end of the film. It's not just the personal, emotional betrayal--although that stings. What common cause does she have with someone who just declared himself emperor and is sending her own people off in a war of conquest against others? Given the important role she plays in Dune Messiah, I am super curious to see how they get her back into the story, but girl was so valid for being willing to just gtfo. Given that she has the last shot of the whole movie, I'm sure she'll be back somehow, and I can't wait to see what they do with her character in any future installments.
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