#any messages or lessons are just a side-effect | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

ganondoodle · 13 days

Note

Will Zelda abolish the monarchy in your TotK rewrite?

she will not turn to the camera and say "i am abolishing monarchy" (since that needs to be said these days ..) but in a way its kinda meant to be like .. the opposite of the canon totk messaging?

like, fictional monarchy in itself isnt like the root of all evil, its the ideology that goes with it? i like fictional monarchy stuff and other races got them too so i wouldnt say its a clear -this is bad- thing

i do want to turn the whole idea of "hyrules royalty and its ruling is always good and just and anyone against it is automatically labeled as evil" upside down .. or more like, let it go further, rauru in the rewrite is .. similar to the canon one, thats kinda the point, hes the good and just king that wants to unite all nations in peace and wants to get rid of any "evil" be it monsters or someone threatening his 'peace'

but then you think about it, his idea of 'peace' is very specific, not everyone might want to be under his control, not everyone might have joined willingly and just bc theres someone opposing him does not have to mean they are some evil demon, all this talk might have been deliberate manipulation of history, he says hes invited a nation to join under his rule? he makes it sound like it was a nice offering like bringing a piece of cake to a neighbour, but it could be anything, he has those magical nuclear power pebbles, multiple, even just having them has an effect on others, he can say he would only use them for good, but that can be a lie, and more importantly, you dont know what his idea of 'good' is he can say he would never use it to hurt people, but what if he declares others to not BE people in his eyes he wants to bring about a world of light with no shadow to be found, rebuild a glorious kingdom of the past, there will be no shadow to hide in, there will be no place he is not, as he is the light, the king of light, and he knows whats best for all in his eternal, holy kingdom of light

.. most of this isnt even non-canon, it just gets presented as he says it, a one note fact, and you are supposed to agree- so really im just rewriting that part to be more overtly how it felt like to ME, and turnign the second half into opposing that bc hey, this might not be cool actually

im really jsut cranking raurus actions and ideals up just a tiny bit, and show more directly that its the behavoir of an imperialist king of all

so really its more like .. teaching her the lesson of how easy it is to fall into that line of thinking, how you need to consider .. maybe blindly following old traditions isnt always good, consider other perspectives, be careful bc she could have gone into that direction too (like she literally does in the canon totk end ..) and in a way she already has, but afterwards (in the rewrite) she can work against that, she could be rauru and has to decide and work against it

i know that isnt a clear answer, this whole idea is a little hmm to me bc TO ME canon totk already reads like that, and i want to work against it, bc in canon it goes unchallenged, and alot of people ... alot of people..., just go along with it seemingly not even beign able to see how its all suspicious-

in the end, i want it to be a careful but hopeful vibe of, zelda as a scientist, a historian, interested in alot of fields, being able to change something, a shift in perspective, like lady eboshi in princess monokoe saying at the end that they will start anew, now building good town- its not garanteed, zelda is still in a position of power, but she doesnt have to rebuild it like it was, people might still refer to her as princess and have high respect for her, but after being so deceived by rauru, being on the opposing side to almost the exact idea they once had, it has humbled them and can pave the way for a better future

ganondorfs spirit at the end moving on after finally being able to take out rauru, even if it meant to help out those hed see as being in the prime spot to become jsut like rauru, over the course of the second half all of them learning of each other, now more confident these younglings of a world thats long changed and not his anymore being able to build something better, and years after the ordeal theres news of a male gerudo having been born

(i know that idea goes agaisnt what made up his character for alot of the other games (though rewrite totk gan is still a different one from the old games), like his eternal problem of not being able to move on and refusing to die, and im sure theres lots of not the bestest thigns in my writing of it all too, but so far, its what i have been imagining, and unfortnately i am a sucker for those types of cliché endings-

it doesnt have to mean the next games would be going up against the gods or soemthing, though i do like that, but i felt like its a nice end for botws world, and much less uncomfortable than the canon totk end, theres no refounding of the kingdom, no swears of fealty, just young people working to rebuild the world into something better after it was almost wiped out, the kingdom already fell in botw, and the world kept on turning, i see no reason why it shouldnt be able to keep doing it)

#ganondoodles answers #zelda #ganondoodles rewrites totk #i am so good at giving clear answers to simple questions you guys

75 notes · View notes

pattypanini · 2 months

Text

Lay All Your Love On Me

Chapter 11- Forever and Always

Josh Kiszka x Reader

Word Count: 4.6k

TAGLIST

AN: Hi everyone! Here is the eleventh chapter of Lay All Your Love On Me from me and @mar-rein12! We are veryyyyyy sorry with the late chapter. The first 8 chapters we had prepared for a while but the last 3 have been made throughout the week whenever we had free time which is like never when your college students. But we're excited for you guys to read this, its a crazy one but we have good stuff for the future! We tried to play around with time skips and stuff, so if its confusing let us know so we can fix it for the future. So enjoy the eleventh chapter, Forever and Always

Warnings: 18+, SMUT, penetrative sex, fingering, butt stuff..., cursing, angst, slut shaming, fighting, fluff (comment if I missed any!)

Josh’s POV

You are currently sitting in your musical theater composition seminar and couldn’t focus on anything. You were still thinking about your night with y/n a couple days ago. You haven’t been able to stop thinking about her. You needed her badly. You sit on your computer and attempt to take notes on the class but instead find your way onto a flower website.

Maybe, I should order a bouquet for her, to surprise her.

You scroll through the website completely disregarding your professor's lesson. You find a bouquet filled with pastel colored tulips. You remember her mentioning she had liked them before. As you look at the price, realizing it is only $70, you add it to your cart.

You pay $10 for express delivery, in order to get it to her by the end of the day. You love doing nice things for her and you know this will make her so happy. You attach a message to it, signing it off with Love, Josh.

You click the place order button and let out a deep breath. Love Josh. You were feeling pretty bold for that one. You do love her though, or at least you feel like you could love her. She is everything and more that you look for in a woman. She is confident, hard-working, funny, and so incredibly beautiful inside and out.

You continue daydreaming about her until your professor decides to end class a little early. As you walk to your next class you feel a buzz come from your pocket.

3:12pm y/n: I don’t know if you have class rn, but if you don’t you should come back over to the dorm. I have the place to myself and I miss you.

3:13pm Josh: No class at all, I’ll be over.

You would do anything to be able to see her, no matter what it takes. You quickly make your way over to her dorm, walking a little faster than you’d like to admit. But she just has that effect on you. Once you make your way up, you knock on the door. The door swings open, almost as if she was waiting for you.

‘Hi Joshy, I missed you.” She embraces you, wrapping her arms around your neck. You look down at her noticing she is dressed in only a thin, black satin robe.

“I missed you too. What are you up to?”

“I was actually about to hop in the shower!” She giggles, turning around to walk towards the bathroom. You just stand there not really knowing what to do with yourself. She halts her steps to whip around, facing you again. “You coming or not?”

You immediately walk over to her discarding your shoes and shirt along with your backpack at the front door. Once you make it to the bathroom you kick off your pants and under garments, being left completely exposed to y/n. The only sound that could be heard was the hot water hitting against the shower floor. She slowly unties her robe, letting it fall to the floor. It feels like something out of a movie.

Your eyes scan over every inch of her body. All the curves, dips, and perfections about her.

“You’re so fucking sexy y/n.” Your hands connect to her sides, pulling her closer. “I need you, and your body so bad. Can I make you feel good princess, please?” She looks up to you with her doe eyes.

She sultrily struts over to the glass door of the shower, placing her hand on the handle. “You want me so bad? Well, then, you gotta come get me.” She pulls the door open to step inside, you run over to quickly step in from behind her. She tilts her head back and lets the hot water saturate her hair, and smudge her makeup. The way her mascara melted under her eyes turned you on way too much. You wanted so badly to push her down to the ground and make her suck you off but you wanted to make this about her.

You immediately push her up against the wall. Your bare chest flush with hers, with your hands placed on either side of her head.“You just can’t control yourself can you?” She teases you, attempting to push her hips up into yours, under the stream of warm water.

“Honestly, It’s hard for me to control myself around you, you’re so fucking perfect. Always making me want to fuck the shit out of you, like the dirty little girl I know you are.” You take your knee and place it in between her thighs, giving her the most perfect amount of stimulation on her clit.

Her head flies back smacking against the shower wall with a sharp moan, far too turned on to feel the pain of it. Your lips connect with her in a passionate kiss. You gently slip your tongue past her lips, her gladly accepting it. You continue just like that for a few minutes until she pulls away. “Mmm… Josh…”

“What baby? Is something wrong?” You give her a concerned expression, eyes slightly widened.

“No, nothing is wrong. I just need you to fuck me, hard. Right here. I can’t wait any longer” She begs, connecting your lips again with a quick kiss.

You pull away this time, “Yeah? You want me to fuck you hard, right here?” You take your hand, lifting her chin up to look at you. She gives you a little nod, but that was not good enough for you. “Words, mama. Tell me exactly what it is that you want.”

“Holy shit, Josh. I’m so fucking wet for you. Feel it.” She takes your hand in hers, moving it to rest in between her legs. You drag your pointer and middle finger up her slit, collecting her slick on your fingers. You audibly moan at the sight before you, she looks too fucking good, its criminal.

“Goddamn, yeah…you’re fucking soaked. Turn the fuck around, now.” You command her. She obeys, turning her body around to face the wall. Your hand finds its way to her back, pressing her up against the wall fully. You lean down to whisper in her ear, “Now mama, tell me what you want me to do to you.”

You can feel her squirm under you, practically begging you to touch her. She turns her head to the side, “I want your fat cock inside of me Joshy. Fuck me so hard I can’t fucking walk. I wanna feel you fill me up.” She places her left leg up onto one of the low shelves, to steady herself and to make herself more accessible to you.

You stroke your cock a couple times before lining yourself up with her entrance. You take your time sliding in, to allow her to adjust to your length. She lets out a deep sigh once you’re fully seated inside of her. “You been thinking about this mama? Because I sure have. You’re a fucking angel, got me wrapped so fucking tight around your pretty little finger.” You don’t move your hips, just yet, your cock only resting inside her.

“I’ve been thinking about this, Josh. You have no idea. Give it to me, please. I can’t take it anymore.” There's no way you can give into her that easily. You gather her hair pulling it all over to one shoulder, giving her a sweet, little kiss on her back.

“And why should I give it to you sweetheart? You think you earned it?” You question her, biting down onto her tender skin, making her wince.

“I know I earned it Joshy, I’ve been such a good girl for you. You think I just invited you over here to be nice? I know what I want Josh, and I want you to fuck me. So give that to me or leave.” She says with a smirk, knowing how much she can control you.

You don’t mean that mama, you know you love me.” Oh shit.

“Do I now Joshy? I could say the same about you.” She smiles pulling you into a kiss. “Now, I said I need you to fuck me or leave, so which is it going to be?” You bring your cock to her entrance, teasing the outside while bringing it up and down her slit. After perfectly lining her up, you grab her hips and slam her back onto your cock.

She lets out a loud moan and clutches onto the wall in front of her. You know she can take it by now, so you don’t slow your pace. You continue pulling her back onto you but you feel her push back harder onto you, knowing she wants it deeper.

“Harder Josh please, it's not enough.” Not enough? You weren’t insecure about your size or anything but you wanted to give her more. You disregard the shower you were meant to be taking and turn off the water. Throwing the door open you pick her up and carry her to her bedroom, throwing her on the bed paying no mind to her wet body. Her soaked hair leaves a wet mark around her head, on the comforter.

You bring her legs up to your shoulders, letting them drape over like a backpack. You line yourself up and begin abusing her pussy. Your hands squeeze tightly around her ankles, guaranteeing marks the next day. You slam in and out of her without any thoughts in your mind other than the sounds of your skin slapping against hers.

“Is this enough for you now, slut? You’ve been such a spoiled little brat, a quick little fuck in the shower wouldn’t be enough for you huh? You need to be fucked hard like the whore you are.” You continue on with hard, deep strokes to her aching cunt. She was wrapping around you so perfectly and so wet, allowing you to easily slide in and out.

She was so relaxed that her body was just so free and loose. All her perfect little holes were opened up to you and you couldn’t help but wonder what other holes you could fill. You flip her onto all fours, pressing her face down into the mattress. You grab her hips, beginning your harsh pace again. Your hands make their way down her ass and one hand stops right at her asshole. You take your thumb and lightly press it on the outside, not allowing it to enter. You begin to hear quiet moans coming from her mouth that were different from the ones from before. These ones were softer and hungry for more, not the loud, pornographic ones you always hear.

“Do you like that y/n, does that feel so good?” Slowly making circles on the outside of it.

“It feels so good, please put it in Josh.” She begs.

“What a dirty girl, needing all your holes filled. Practically begging me to put a finger in her ass”

“I am begging, so do it before I do it myself.” Her hand begins to reach around and moves your hand. Before she can do it, you swat her hand away. You take your pointer finger and shove it in her mouth, wetting it for her. You slowly slide it in, not knowing if it was something she had done before.

“Please, tell me if it hurts or you want me to stop mama.” You begin to gently pump your finger in and out, in time with your thrusts. She shoves her face deeper into the bed, muffling her moans.

“It doesn’t hurt, I need more Josh, add another.” What is this girl on?

You pull the finger out, not wanting to shove it in her mouth again you end up spitting directly on her asshole, and start massaging the two fingers into her. You make the final push, both fingers plunging inside of her. You slowly increase your speed back up to what it was before, slowing down your thrusts upon noticing her fullness.

“Fuck, Josh. Oh God.” Her body starts to squirm underneath you. You can tell she's getting close.

“Mama, you’re so goddamn dirty, holy shit. Wish you could see yourself right now, all fucked out and on display for me. I have you so filled right now. I wish I could fill you up in all your holes.”

She only responds with a sharp moan. That causes you to speed up your thrusts again, the hand that wasn’t in her ass grips tightly onto her hip. You rip your fingers out of her, giving her a harsh smack on the ass. She yelps, beginning to grip harder onto the comforter.

“I’m gonna cum, fuck.” She whimpers on, her eyes half lidded. You continue on with your pace, doing all you could to push her over the edge.

“Do it. Wanna feel your pussy squeeze around my fat cock. I’m so fucking close too.” Her moans heighten, making you thrust harder and faster despite your movements getting sloppy.

Her body begins to shake, as curses and moans fly out of her mouth left and right. You feel a tight squeeze around your cock before you feel a new type of wetness splash onto your lower abs. A feeling you know all too well. The feeling of her squirt against your abs sends you over the edge, filling her up with your cum. You pant and slowly pull out of her, laying down in the bed next to her.

She looks over at you, eyes wide and out of breath,” ya know…I’ve never done that before.”

You turn your head over to look at her, “clearly you were enjoying it.” You smirk at her.

“Oh trust me I was. Makes me want to invest in some butt plugs or something.” She says as you begin rolling off the bed.

You stand in front of her with your arms stretched out, offering her your hand. She allows you to take her hand, pulling her up off the bed.

“How about we try again with a shower?” She giggles at your statement and nods her head.

You both begin walking over to the bathroom, to hop in the shower yet again.

—

Jakes POV

You sit on the couch waiting for Josh to get back from class. Usually you guys would go to the gym after your Wednesday classes, but he was late. You scroll on your phone trying to waste time until you come across a funny video of a cat barking.

You save the video to your favorites on Instagram to show Josh later. A few videos later the front door rattles and in comes Josh with wet hair and a huge grin on his face. What's his deal?

You give him a questioning look, “You look like you just got laid brother.” You joke with him.

Josh chuckles at you, “I was just in class.”

You could tell when your twin was lying, “Reallyyy… why’s your hair wet then?” You raise an eyebrow at him in challenge.

“I had to use the eye wash station in chemistry today.”

“You don’t take chemistry dumbass, if you're gonna lie come up with a better excuse.”

“Fuck… you caught me.” So, he finally decides to be honest with you.

“So where were you then?” You’re determined to get the answer out of him.

“I was over at y/n’s.” He says nonchalantly, dropping his bag on the floor and flopping down onto the couch. “Are we still going to the gym?”

“I mean I was planning on it, hence why I waited for you but you were late.” You look at your phone seeing that he's an hour late and now it would be cutting into band practice if you went now. “I can’t go anymore, I'm gonna be late for the band.”

Josh doesn’t even seem to care, he's just sitting there on his phone laughing at whatever video he’s watching. What a dick.

“Oh my god you gotta see this Jake.” He’s still chuckling as he turns his phone around to show you a video of the local bar and this crazy guy freaking out and jumping behind the bar.

You couldn’t help but laugh at the video despite being upset with Josh. “You're not gonna believe it. I literally saw him one time when I was there and he was being really weird and was doing the worm. I took a video I think let me see…”

You scroll through your camera roll, Josh expectantly looking over your shoulder. You scroll up to a few weeks ago in your camera roll. You scan your eyes around where you think it would be and click on it showing Josh. You begin laughing but don’t hear much coming from your twin. You look over to see a confused and disgusted look on his face.

“Jake…” you hear him say.

You turn to look at him, your smile fading and confusion written all over your face. “What?”

“What was that picture next to it?” he spat at you, anger filling his voice.

You swipe out of the video and look at what is next to it.

No. fucking. way.

Y/n’s nudes from weeks back were sitting in your camera roll. But there is no way he would know that they are hers. “I don’t really remember, it might be this girl from my class. We’re talking right now I guess.” Shitty lie.

“Girl from your class? Really, because that looks a lot like y/n.” He says pointing at your phone, eyebrows furrowing and free hand clenched into a fist.

“How can you be so sure, the girl's face isn’t even in the picture, bud.”

Josh stares into your soul, your eyes battling for dominance. You knew this wasn’t going to end well for anyone's case.

—

Y/n's POV

You're woken up from your pre-study nap to a loud knock on the door. You knew Char would be getting home late but normally when she forgets her keys she calls you. You quickly hop out of bed to answer the door. When you take a peek outside the door you see…Josh.

“Josh? What are you doing here, did you forget something?” Your eyes scan over the room to see if anything was left.

He darts in the door, without invitation, and makes his way to the couch and takes a seat. “Were you talking to anyone while we were?”

“Not romantically… I mean I was only talking to you. I pretty much cut off any prior things with everyone.”

“Did you start new ones?” He says clasping his hands together, squeezing them.

“No- Josh what is this about? If you're gonna say something just fucking say it.”

“Okay fine. How long have you been fucking my brother?” Your eyes widen, that’s the last thing you expected to come out of his mouth.

“What the fuck are you talking about?! I’ve never even talked to him.” You try your best to defend yourself, but you don’t think it’s working too well.

“So you’ve texted him, is that what you're saying? I mean surely talking in person wasn’t enough so you also had to text when he wasn’t around. Squirt? Does that ring a bell y/n? Or the nudes you sent to his phone?”

“Josh, I don't send that kind of stuff anymore. Not to anyone. Plus I never sent them with my face ever!”

“Yeah true but it’s pretty fucking easy to notice you with that fucking initial necklace you always wear.” He says pointing at it.

“You can’t prove anything, you asshole.” You didn’t feel like dealing with this shit right now.

“Really, wanna hear everything that Jake just told me?” You give him a certain look to just shut his mouth.

—

2 hours before

Josh’s POV

“How can you be so sure, the girl's face isn’t even in the picture, bud.” Jake proclaims.

“That necklace that ‘girl’ is wearing is the same one y/n never takes off because her dad gave it to her. The little freckle on her neck, her hair draping over the shoulders, who is it then Jake? I know her and her body, that's y/n.” You snap back at him, seeing right through his little lie.

“Like I said, it might be a girl from my class. It might also be some random girl I don’t remember?”

“Then why would it be on your phone if you don’t remember? Open your messages now.” You’re seething. If you could see yourself right now, your face would most likely be bright red.

“I don’t have to do shit Josh. Damn. You’re fucking crazy.”

“No go ahead and just swipe through, if I don’t see her name then fine.”

Jake sighs, pulling open his messages and slowly goes through showing that he had nothing to hide while you quickly look at the previews of the messages. Nothing crazy until you see

2:14am Jake: I know he’s asleep. Come to the bathroom now.

With that you grab Jake’s phone and run to the nearest room. You slam the door shut, locking it quickly.

“JOSH STOP, YOU HAVE NO RIGHT DOING THAT!” Jake screams muffle from behind the door.

You take a deep sigh, knowing that you don’t want to see what's in those messages, but the pounding on the door tells you that your suspicions are correct.

After clicking on the messages, you’re met with weeks of conversations between Jake and y/n.

9:45pm y/n: What am I wearing tonight hottie?

9:46pm Jake: Didn’t expect to be hearing from you, I missed you.

9:56pm Jake: I told you I’ve had my eye on you for a while now.

11:16pm Jake: I miss you too sexy, and your body. I wish I could be with you, taking that slutty little outfit off. Who picked that out again?😏

11:17pm Jake: Of course, sexy girl. Show me what's mine.

11:18pm y/n: Who said I was yours?

11:18pm Jake: Is anyone else getting these pics?

11:18pm y/n: No

11:19pm Jake: Then they’re mine, along with your body, all mine.

Holy shit. This has been happening underneath your nose the entire time. You trusted y/n, and even worse, you trusted your brother. You took out your phone and took pictures of some of the messages. You knew you needed to confront y/n and you knew you weren’t going to give her any time to come up with a story. You take Jake’s phone and hide it deep in your closet knowing he’ll never find it. You didn’t want him to give y/n any warning about what was going to happen.

You yank open the door making your way to the door while Jake hollers his apologies behind you. You completely ignore him, slipping out the door.

—

Present Time

Y/n’s POV

You couldn’t deny the truth. He had evidence and there was no way of getting out of it.

“Josh, we weren't together. I- I can explain.” You grab onto his arm trying your very best to fool him. He forcefully rips his arm out of your grip.

“So what was that then, huh. You can’t expect to act that way with me and not make me think it's something more than friends, because it wasn’t no matter what you say, and you know that.” His finger digs deeply into your chest, discomfort rising within you from his jab. You back away from his harsh touch.

“It was more than friends, I thought it was friends with benefits.” You feel tears beginning to form in your eyes, your lips quivering as you attempt to speak.

“Holy fuck y/n. You’re so fucking stupid. We said that because we were horny for each other, but I thought after making the connection it was something more. I should have known it from the beginning.” You see tears start filling his eyes, a wash of anger flashes across his face. He lets completely loose on you.

“You’ve always been a slut and I should have recognized that you wouldn’t be able to keep it in your pants for just one person, but hey go for my brother I guess. Was it convenient to just go to one bed and then hop into another only 5 feet apart? Probably the most efficient you’ve ever been, huh?”

“You’re such a fucking asshole.” The tears are flowing down your cheeks now, sob after sob racking through your body. The thing was… he was right. You are everything he says you are.

“I’m the asshole? Wow, y/n, real classy. Just admit it. Admit you fucked Jake. Then we can go back to the way things were before this goddamn musical.”

“I don’t want to go back to the way things were before the musical. I made some mistakes and I'm sorry. But I just want everything to be how it has been.”

“Oh yeah? When you were sleeping with both me and my brother? Fuck that. I don’t want anything to do with you, y/n.”

“Did you even think about why I was getting with him in the first place? You selfish piece of shit, and for me to think you changed your ways.” There is no way he’s placing all the blame on you.

“MY WAYS?! You're the one who hasn’t ‘changed their ways’ but please enlighten me as to why you would have to fuck me and my brother at the same time.” He says, crossing his arms across his chest.

“You have always been a fucking dick to me, and you know it. Jake treated me right from the beginning and made me feel wanted. I had to beg for your attention and for you to be kind to me. When you finally started to act the way a ‘boyfriend’ should act is when I cut it off with Jake.” You’re screaming in his face, begging him to hear you out, to understand. You stand there completely helpless in the middle of your living room, crying.

"Damn it y/n I love you. I always have, I wanted to treat you that way but I didn't want to scare you off." His hands rubbing his face.

"Well you didn't do a great job showing it." You say in a snarking tone.

Josh walks up to you, incredibly close, his face right in front of yours. “You are a bitch.” You’re done with his shit, you forcefully shove him backwards and off of you.

The room gets quiet, only being able to hear the heavy breathing of both of you bouncing off the walls.

“Josh… please. I don’t want this to end.” You can hardly make out his body now standing in the doorway, through your tears.

“I want that too… but I don’t know what else to do. This,” he motions between the two of you, ”is fucked.” You collapse on the floor, curling up into a ball, and just can’t stop your weeping. “I’ll text you tomorrow y/n, I need to clear my head after tonight.” The last thing you hear from him is the door slamming.

After what feels like hours of laying on the floor weeping, you hear knocking at the door.

Josh?

You pick yourself off the ground hurrying your way to the door. Maybe he wanted to talk it out more, figure something out.

When you get to the door you're met with no one. You look at your surroundings and notice a large bouquet of flowers sitting on the ground. You bring them in, hoping maybe they were from your dad who occasionally sends you flowers as a little gift.

You set them on the counter and open the card. Your eyes scan the words, causing you to fall to your knees. What have I done? This is your fault. You are a slut. You don’t deserve anyone.

Thankful for you, forever and always. Love Josh.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Taglist:

@demonrat444 @gvfstuddedmajesty @jordie-gvf @jazzyfigz @slut4lando @gvfmarge @peaceloveunitygvf @jjwasneverhere @areuirish @mar-rein12 @woyayaofdreams @freyjalw @musicspeaks @jennabobenasblog @do-it-jakey-baby @dannys-dream @its-interesting-van-kleep @josh-iamyour-mama

#greta van fic #greta van fleet fan fiction #greta van smut #gvf fic #gvf smut #gvf #josh gvf #josh kiskza fanfic #josh kiskza smut #josh kiszka #jake kiszka x reader #jake gvf #jake kiszka #jake kiszka fanfic #jake kiszka smut

51 notes · View notes

sykestarot · 4 months

Text

who are your guides?

1-2-3 (left to right)

I DO NOT OWN THESE IMAGES

hi guys welcome to this weeks reading! I started this reading last week and the energy just didn't feel right but here it is! I'm working on a website so I can schedule personal readings as well! If anyone has any tips for that I'd love to hear it feel free to dm me :). Anyways I hope you enjoy these messages they were all so very sweet!

Pile 1

“there will be mountains you won't move still, i’ll always be there for you” (The Hermit; queen of wands; 5 of wands reversed; 2 of wands; 6 of cups; knight of pentacles) Hi pile one! For you guys I feel like one of your guides is a familial figure, like a grandparent or maybe someone apart of your chosen family. I feel like you might’ve lost this person pretty recently. For some there is female energy and for others there male energy. I’d say for the female energies this would’ve been a firecracker of a person. They were probably always full of life and adventure and they want to guide you to be in that power as well. For the male energy I feel as though they were steady as a beating drum. A very reliable person in life and probably gave the best advice. This guide is here to help you with staying grounded. For some of you you could have both of them simultaneously, however i feel for most of you you have one or the other. But i must point out that this could’ve been a power couple if they were together in life lol. But I see that those with the feminine energy might be on the shyer side of things, and your guide would love to show you how it feels to fully step into your dark feminine energy. For those with the masculine energy this guide wants to continue to give you advice and wishes you would speak to them more. I also feel like some of you might come from a religious background and maybe feel like believing in guides could insight some shame for you. Your guides want you to know that shaming yourself for a belief will only hinder the progress that you’ve made and don’t be too hard on yourself. I see that these guides have so much unconditional love for you and when you feel most alone I promise you are not. Animal Spirits: Snake + Hawk Signs: canned pumpkin; all spice?; Pocahontas; racoons; pacific northwest; rivers; wood cabins; pine scent; Massachusetts; boats; church; white buildings; cold water; winter; snow; willow trees; vivid dreams; 555

Pile 2

“is there something supernatural fucking with you?” (2 of pentacles; knight of cups; Temperance; 4 of pentacles; 6 of cups; 2 of wands) Hi Pile 2 welcome and thanks for reading! I will say that your guide is a very funny one. I feel like this pile has one pretty good overarching energy. I don’t feel like this is someone you’ve known in this life but maybe a few lifetimes ago. I also feel like you are a very self aware reader or are at least in contact with your guides in some way whether you are conscious of it or not. This guide had lots of fun picking a song, and in turn I feel like was messing around with me. I get the energy of a guide who volunteered to be yours because they loved you so much in the last life. I also feel like you guys go around very uptight and stressed about most things in life, and I feel like their energy is supposed to help you loosen up. Like maybe your lesson in life is to find the joy in being alive instead of being super goal oriented or materially focused. I feel like this is the type of guide where you’d be painting something and then all of the sudden magically all the paint spills, or when you go to get some out you get way too much. Like this guide is trying to really show you that mistakes are just happy accidents. I feel like you guys suffer from catastrophic thinking. It’s like a domino effect for you and sometimes this guide will put things in your way so that you fail and have some realization that it wasn’t the end of the world and that there are other ways to get to the same outcome. I also see that this guide loves see you smile and will give you small rewards in the day. For ecample you might walk home from work and a cute neighborhood cat might say hi to you everyday. Or you get your order payed for by the person in front of you. This guide really does care for you and wants you to know that they’re always there for you and you can relax a bit, not everything is the end of the world. “Please do your breathing exercises!” Animal Spirits: Beaver + Eagle Signs: pranks; giggles; unnatural coincidences; kitties; empty streets; crisp air; chain link fences; playgrounds; small town; ambition; hikes; 11:11; painting; Bob Ross; bird chirps

Pile 3

“if I had the chance to relive those days I’d take it” (4 of swords; The Hanged Man; 2 of pentacles; Temperance; 9 of wands; 2 of swords) Hi pile 3! So for you guys it’s a little different than the other piles, I feel like this might not be a guide but a pet that’s passed on. Whether it was recently or a long time ago I feel like this was a kitty that had some health issues. I feel like you had to make a hard decision on whether or not to put them down and maybe you still carry that guilt with you. This little guy definitely doesn’t want you to hold onto that and they believe that they lived the best life with you truly. You took care of them and loved them so much. I keep hearing you loved me so much you let me go. They don’t harbor any resentment or harsh feelings for you on the other side. I even hear that they’d love to come back and be another pet of yours. Maybe you’re not ready for that just yet and that’s why they haven’t but they want you to know that they forgive you for the choice you made and they understand it. They want you to forgive yourself as well. I keep hearing them say I was really sick. They are so grateful of the life they lived with you truly. I see that maybe you were afraid to talk to them after they crossed the rainbow bridge because you felt like they wouldn’t want to hear from you. Trust me they very much do! They miss you so much and I feel like they always hang around in your energy and they love being close to you. Like I feel like they love to sit on your chest or your back. They never left you, not for a moment. They just want you to feel at peace and be happy. They still keep a very close and watchful eye on you, always wanting to protect you. I don’t know if maybe you’ve been having dreams of them or feeling them where they used to cuddle you. They want you to know that you were the thing that mattered most to them and still are and they hate seeing you continue to carry the weight of that decision after all this time. They think you are the most perfect human. “Please don’t beat yourself up!” Animal Spirits: Dove + Cat Signs: little league; tv static; gamecube; leapfrog; big windows, rays of sunlight; leaves blowing in the wind; green; chemtrails; airplanes; 90’s; reincarnation; green eyes

68 notes · View notes

coven-of-genesis · 1 year

Text

Candle Magick - What different types of candle wax mean

Link to candle magick - what different types of candle flames mean

Link to candle magick - what different types of candle smoke mean

No wax drips - Candle burns with no wax drips.

This is a sign of a well-conceived and properly executed spell. (It is also, I must say, the sign of a well-positioned and correctly-sized wick.) Your spell will go exactly as you have written and expressed it. The candle magick gods have no lessons for you today.

Quick burn - Candle melts quickly into a puddle of wax.

A candle that is not properly contained or leveled will often develop a hole in the side, causing melted wax to drip out quickly and shortening the life of the candle. “Spending” a candle quickly is not necessarily a bad sign—it can mean that there is passionate, accelerated energy behind your spell.

A pile of wax drippings is always an invitation to ceromancy (divination by wax). Examine the hardened wax with an open mind, seeing if any shapes or message emerge. There is a whole collection of folklore about what the various shapes mean…or you can just use your intuition.

Candle crater - Burning candle forms a crater in the center, leaving wax on the sides.

This is most common with large pillars and container candles, but it can also happen with votives and other candle shapes. The melted wax is centered closely around the wick, leaving tall walls of wax on the sides.

Nobody likes it when a candle burns incompletely, and it’s not a good sign in magick, either. It usually means that your will is too weak to cast an effective spell at this time. Or that the spell’s energies have been blocked from reaching their intended target.

Wax drips on one side only.

Something is out of balance. Expect an incomplete result. Some say that drips on the left (in relation to the magick worker) represent an emotional or psychic imbalance, while drips on the right mean your thoughts and beliefs are getting in the way of the spell.

Black pieces appear in melted wax.

Sometimes, little bits of burnt wick will break off and sink in the melted wax. ("Candle crud" is the scientific term.) Debris in the wax signifies unintended consequences or work that will need to be done after the spell is complete. Guilt, broken hearts, karmic baggage, new hassles, and so on. Usually it's not super-serious—but not fun, either. Proceed with the working, but be ready to do some clean-up afterwards.

Soot collects on the candle container.

It is rare for a tall jar candle to burn without any soot appearing on the candle. Magick workers read the amount and location of the soot to gather information about the success or failure of the working.

Black soot is generally taken to be a sign of negative energy or interference within a spell working. If it appears only at the top of the jar, the opposition has most likely been overcome. If it covers the entire surface of the container, it means that the working has been thwarted and may need to be repeated.

White soot is a far rarer occurrence, and is said to represent spiritual communication and assistance.

A candle explodes, or a container breaks, or some other dramatic candle mishap.

A dramatic ending to your candle-burning ritual means the spellwork has been vetoed by a greater power. Cleanse yourself and your ritual space, and abandon the working until you have more information.

#candle magic #grimoire #book of shadows #white witch #witchblr #witchcore #witchcraft #witchlife #beginner witch #witch tips

331 notes · View notes

thekingofwinterblog · 7 months

Text

Hell If I Care! - Soul Eater's Original Message

One of the way i find both of the endings of Soul Eater facinating, is how they overlap in so many ways.

This is not surprising, given the fact that Ōkubo Atsushi had his hand in both of them, and so he effectively got to do a doo over when he himself had free reigns for the Manga, withouth having to worry about episode limits... Unfortunatly in many ways, He learned the wrong lessons from the mixed reaction the original anime ending got when first released.

Asura was innitially heavily critiqued by fans for how he was defeated, so Okubo made sure to mix his stupidly high powerlevel with pretty much being completely unflappable, when the entire point of his character was that for all his power, he was a massive coward.

Thus removing that genuine fear removed pretty much everything that made him stand out from other uber powerfull Shonen villains.

The lesson Okubo should have taken from this, was to make sure to emphasise the fact that just like Kid, Asura was a living embodiment of a very volatile force, and just like his brother could he brought to his knees with incorrect symmetry, Asura could and were in the end, defeated by his own opposite, bravery.

Instead we got the sealed moon. Yay.

There were a lot of bad lessons learned from the anime reception, and in many points the result was to rewrite the overall plans, rather than refining them now that he knew what did, and didnt work.

One of those things that was very obviously changed, that stuck out to me, is something Crona says at the end of the manga as justification for resorting to sealing Asura away, rather than fighting.

This is beat for beat the exact same thing Asura said at the end of the anime as he was going through his mental breakdown.

Ultimately, the Thing that turned Asura into the person he was, was the certainty that nothing was absolute in the world. There was no guarantees that he would be safe, and would remain safe. That madness would always exist, and with it, the knowledge that he would have to face it for the rest of his life.

That is what drove him to madness, and here at the end, He is screaming this line of thoughts to Maka.

Even if she defeats him, the madness of the world that made him wont go away, sooner or later there will rise another Kishin up to take his place, a successor(Any potential demon egg that is allowed to reach its full potential), a junior(kid falling to madness like Asura did), a newcomer(really anyone could do it with the right set of circumstances), or a hidden number 2(Asura doesnt have one, but the point here is that maka cannot for absolute certain refute that he might in this moment) or really whatever else will pop up to replace him.

That is the ultimate point of Soul Eater's villains.

There will always be darkness, always be madness, so long as humanity exists, something, somewhere, will always pop up as the next great evil.

In asura's case, that is specifically a new incarnation of the madness of fear, but it goes for anything really. If Soul Eater shows anything, its that evil didnt begin with asura, and it wont stop with him either.

So with that in mind, what is Maka's response?

Hell if I care!

This is the moment Soul Eater was building towards as it's climax, both the anime and manga. The culmination of the entire story, and it's themes is encapsulated in this moment.

Madness and Bravery are two sides of the same coin, but they are not opposites.

Fear and Bravery is.

The World is Terrifying, and anything can happen to you. You can die tomorrow, and you WILL die at some point. Everyone you know will die. Horrible, murderous people exists, and will be replaced by other, horrible, murderous people.

If you have a lover, they might break up with you tomorrow, or they might cheat on you. Your parents might break up. Your brother might turn out to be a deranged killer. you could be an orphan. Your Dad could be actively dying. Your mother might abandon you on the street. You might simply draw the genetic lottery and be doomed to subpar talent and always remain second rate in doing what you love. Dictators exists, and will continue to exist somewhere in the world. And there is nothing you can do about any of it.

This is truth. It is true for countless people around the world, and will remain so for as long as humanity exists.

It is fully logical to fear it.

Soul Eater's message is not to deny this truth, but instead say that it doesnt matter. Everything horrible can happen yes, but by that same token, EVERYTHING that makes life worth living is full of risks.

Loving someone means exposing your heart to betrayal, but it also means opening it up for warmth that can only be found in companionship, be that of a lover, a friend, family, or a even a pet.

only by taking risks, and falling on your face, will you ever be able to grow, while those who run away will never grow at all, and remain stagnant, or even atrophate.

Great things in life, only comes by being willing to take risks, take chances, and confront the fact that the world is terrifying head on.

The future is terrifying, but so what?

If you want to live a life worth living, you have to be willing to face the risks of life head on.

It's a great message, even if the anime could have handled it better. It's a shame though that the manga ultimately abandoned it.

#soul eater #maka albarn #asura #meta #episode 51 #chapter 112

43 notes · View notes

awhoreintheory · 1 year

Text

Done with no redemption

Lance heard him before he saw Keith, not because he was loud or anything, but because Lance was expecting him. His footsteps have always been annoyingly light like a ninja. Lance tensed, a sour frown taking over his previously good mood.��

“Lance, I—” Lance rolled his eyes, turning around with the fakest smile in his arsenal.

“You what, Keith?” Lance asked pleasantly, cocking his head to the side. Keith paused for another moment, his eyes awkwardly averted to the ground as he fidgeted.

“I ran away from you.” Keith sighed, hands dropping and finally looking Lance in the eyes. Lance felt it wasn’t adequately remorseful enough.

“I’ve had a lot of time to think about it, and, yeah. You were right.”

“You were right.” That single sentence seemed to just echo in Lance’s brain. Because— because his Keith didn’t just come out and admit something like that. Ever. You had to fight him tooth and nail for a half confession. (And Lance had evidence. He had to throw down with Keith just to get an answer to Lance’s real life, actual, love confession. Stubborn prick.) To say Lance was too shocked to speak would be an understatement. The shock gave way to an odd mix of amusement and seething hot anger.

“I was just running because I was afraid to face my feelings— actually, no. I was afraid of you.” Keith gnawed on his lip, thinking his words through. (Good, he’s learned his damn lesson about that.) “Because I tell you things I can’t even tell myself. Around you? My… walls are about as effective as paper is to fire.”

“Is that so?” Lance hummed, turning around and going back to folding his laundry. “Glad you’ve had some time for self discovery in the past 11 months that you’ve ghosted the team.” —and me, went unsaid, but the message was just as clear as though he had.

“I’m proud— really! Congratulations, dude!” Lance's grin only got bigger, throwing one of Keith’s t-shirts at him. He caught it and unfolded it with a hurt expression.

“Lance, please—” Keith’s eyebrows creased, like they always do when he’s hurt or confused.

“Don’t “Lance, please” me, Kogane. It’s not like you ever listened to a single please from me. In fact, I don’t even think it ever even made you pause.” Lance calmly stated, wrapping up doing his laundry and storing it in Red. On the trip back to Earth with minimal supplies, Lance barely had any supplies— no moisturizer or anything! But he was making do in these trifling times.

Keith was silent for a long moment as Lance continued cleaning up his Lion, throwing trash away and clearing out things he didn’t need as though Keith weren’t there in the first place.

“...Is this not fixable?” It was a quiet, feeble question.

“It was.” Was Lance’s simple response. It ignited a hope in Keith, but left him feeling uneasy.

“..Was?”

Lance straightened up, standing chest to chest with Keith, leaning in as though he were whispering a secret. “”I just don’t want to be stuck here for eternity with Lance.””

“From— from the game show? Seriously?” Keith asked incredulously, eyebrows now furrowing in anger and confusion.

“Hmmm…” Lance tapped his finger to his chin contemplating. “Yep! From the game show. You and the team made it quite clear how you felt about me, ya’know?”

Lance spun on his heel, plopping down and grabbing his armor to polish. “So, on that note; I need you to be civil until I leave the team.”

“Leave the team?”

“Yes, that’s what I just said.”

“You can’t just— you can’t just leave, Lance! What about Voltron? What about us?” Keith’s temper was steadily rising, stomping towards Lance before he stopped and recollected himself.

“One, yes, I can. Why would I stay somewhere I’m clearly not welcomed or appreciated? I’m going home after this shit-show. Two, there's six paladins, Keith. Simple math, even I can do it. Since, ya’know, I’m too stupid and should just leave something that complex to Pidge. Shiro can take Black back, you never wanted the position anyway, right?” Lance’s sugary sweet words were practically dripping in anger, Lance’s grin starting to annoy Keith. He knew just how hard he was hitting, and if he was honest? Lance was amused.

“Of course we want you here! And— and, um…” Keith’s shoulders slumped, he was too flustered! He couldn’t think of an argument, yeah. He just didn’t see this coming— Lance was just confused! Keith reached for Lance’s wrist, brows furrowed and eyes oddly wet.

“You can’t leave us, please. We need you.”

“Well I don’t.” Lance yanked his wrist back with a disgusted turn of the lips.

“Now get out of my lion.”

343 notes · View notes

tmntkiseki · 2 months

Text

Originally, I wasn't going to go public about this...

But I realized something yesterday: Suffering in silence is stupid. While it is true that there are a lot of horrible people on the internet, there are also a lot of incredibly kind people--people who may be complete strangers to you, but are more than willing to reach out a helping hand if you let them know that something is wrong, and I'm tired of pretending that everything is fine around here when it's not. So here we are.

The short version is this: Ever since I disabled anonymous asks back on the 6th of this month, I've been repeatedly stalked and harassed by an individual I've taken to calling Troll-san. Why Troll-san? Because I'm an older internet user, I've been active online since the mid-2000s, and that's what they are: a troll, and they've gone through so many URLs at this point that I have nothing better to call them.

Troll-san primarily harasses me through my ask box, but they've occasionally attempted to do what they've been doing through reblogs on my posts as well. I will give them credit where it's due because they've been incredibly persistent; every time I block one of their URLs, they proceed to delete and then remake it in order to circumvent the block feature and continue sending me more hateful messages. This also has the side effect of making reporting their behavior incredibly difficult, and that's assuming that Tumblr staff decides to even try doing something about this. (And I do not trust Tumblr staff at all.)

This is one of the only asks I made an effort to take a screencap of, sent not too long after I made my post on Friday regarding my recent ER visit, and let it be said that this is FAR from the worst message they've sent me. (They have, in fact, sent a couple of asks telling me to kill myself.)

So, at this point in their little harassment campaign, I can confirm a few key details about Troll-san.

This is indeed over the fact I disabled anonymous asks. I'm not particularly special for disabling them since so many Tumblr users do it, but presumably the reason Troll-san is so wound up over it is that if they're having a bad day and feel like being a dick someone (me), they can no longer send rude asks and avoid the consequences for it by using the anon feature. (In fact, that's the entire reason why so many Tumblr users disabled anons in the first place! Because people were abusing them to be assholes!)

I am definitely not their first victim. I did some digging around yesterday and can confirm that there is at least one other user who has also been harassed by Troll-san, and there are likely more people who may have/are dealing with the same person.

Even though Troll-san has been constantly deleting and remaking their URLs in order to bypass the block feature and continue their harassment, I am about 99% positive that their primary URL is grandangelkitty. It's one of the only URLs that they haven't deleted and remade at some point, and the other user who was harassed confirmed it was one of the URLs that they had to block. Whether it'll still exist by the time anyone reads this, I don't know, but I figured it was worth mentioning.

I realize that by acknowledging what's going on, I am potentially inviting yet more harassment and allowing this situation to drag out even longer than it needs to, but A) cyberbulling is never okay, and knowing I'm not the first person to be harassed by this particular individual makes me more angry than knowing I have to put up with it at all and B) I've never been afraid of Troll-san. They lost all my respect when they ignored my first block and I had pretty much lost my ability to take them seriously by the time they remade their URL for the fourth time. I just wish they'd learn their damn lesson already that no means no and that being horrible to strangers online is going to result in them making enemies rather than any friends.

I did finally reach out to a couple people online regarding this ongoing fiasco and while I won't be naming anyone specific; thank you all so, so much for your kindness and support. I was originally quite content to try and deal with this problem on my own, but I find so much comfort and renewed energy in knowing that I'm no longer alone and that there are people who do have my back. I'm not at all weak for having to ask for help; in fact, I'm all the stronger for it.

I am hoping that by finally acknowledging what I've had to endure for the last week that not only will I be helping to protect more users from this person, but that they'll finally get the message that this kind of behavior is not tolerated in this community. For anyone who has read this far, please, stay safe and I hope you have a good day!

P.S.

#star's turtle talk

19 notes · View notes

dreaminginthedeepsouth · 4 months

Text

Lovely NY Times Opinion Piece posted a few hours ago about Joni's Grammy performance last night. Full text below.

JONI MITCHELL, ORACLE - Peter Catapano

Joni Mitchell’s performance of “Both Sides Now” at the Grammys on Sunday night was no mere comeback party for an aging icon. Mitchell, now 80, has spent nearly a decade recovering from the effects of a brain aneurysm she suffered in 2015, which left her unable to speak or walk. Over the course of her recovery, Mitchell retaught herself how to play music and sing again, as though from scratch. She is not the artist she once was. And that was the point.

Mitchell looked like a beret-clad queen or an oracle. Seated in a comfy chair and lit by fake candlelight, she sang, banging her cane (scepter) for emphasis as though issuing proclamations. Her voice was no longer that of a songbird; it is slower and a register lower. But the sense of mastery was still there, with a few jazz moments of syncopated phrasing that showed not slowness but a control of the song’s meaning and cadences.

To me, it was Sinatra, Tony Bennett and Johnny Cash territory. It was not young, but it was beautiful.

Notably, the lyrics of “Both Sides Now” had taken on a deeper meaning.

I’ve looked at life from both sides now From win and lose and still somehow It’s life’s illusions I recall I really don’t know life at all

Susan Sontag, in her 1978 essay “Illness as Metaphor,” wrote of the two sides that must be relevant in Mitchell’s life right now.

“Everyone who is born holds dual citizenship, in the kingdom of the well and in the kingdom of the sick,” Sontag wrote. Seen through this lens, Mitchell is reporting back from the latter kingdom majestically, with more gravitas, spirit and human dignity than ever.

Or she may just be letting us know that there really aren’t two kingdoms at all. Only one.

Mitchell is beloved today for her lyrical honesty, her ingenious musical sophistication and her persistent refusal to heed the messages that would have kept her on the sidelines - "Girls can’t be rock stars. Don’t show your feelings. When you become ill or age or lose your ability to speak and walk, you should go off somewhere and hide."

She is not having any of that, which is a lesson for those of us who must confront illness, disability and mortality. Joni Mitchell’s radical vulnerability and refusal to hide has always been her greatest strength. She’s still got it.

#Joni Mitchell #music #songs #songwriters #Both Sides Now

23 notes · View notes

grinnoire · 1 year

Text

Zak Was Supposed To Die For Real -- Theory

I have this conspiracy theory that, maybe in the first draft, Zak was actually supposed to die in the finale, and the funeral that the show ends on would be his funeral. This gets really deep into the show’s themes and symbolism, and picks apart the plot points in the rushed season 2. Thoughts as follows:

I’m gonna start with the fact that it’s really weird that our protagonist doesn’t have any speaking lines in the funeral scene - not even one. This show was so meticulously written up until that point that I really feel like they wouldn’t accidentally forget to write Zak lines - the original version of this scene, Zak couldn’t talk, because he was dead.

Now, that’s just kind of a weird little observation. More importantly, it makes a lot of narrative and thematic sense for him to have died for real, but the weird pacing of the last 3 episodes really serves to obfuscate it. Here’s the lead-up to Zak’s death in abstract - forget for a moment the weird pacing of the season, and imagine these plot beats with enough time to breathe:

Zak strikes a deal with Argost, which he KNOWS is a bad idea, to learn more about his powers, in exchange for Argost having access to him.

What Zak (12 year old boy) doesn’t realize is that what Argost really wants to do is isolate Zak from his family/support network and render him vulnerable and dependent on Argost. “Into the Mouth of Darkness” makes this really explicit - the “lesson” Argost “teaches” Zak is that Zak is a monster who’s betraying his family. On the other hand, Argost effects this “kindly uncle” act around Zak, including showing up for his birthday and giving him a “birthday gift” - the neural parasite. He is EXPLICITLY eroding Zak's trust and reliance on his own family, while building it towards himself - gaslight gatekeep girlbossing, if you will.

On the flip side, Zak is trying to beat Argost at his own game, by sending Doyle to do recon on Argost, trying to find some weakness to exploit or some dark history to use against him. This search winds up seemingly worthless - the investigation pretty much uncovers that Argost has always been a scheming, conniving, evil little bastard, and really only serves to piss Doyle and Drew the hell off when they realize that Argost killed their parents. Put a pin in this one, it’s really important.

There’s a constant tension in the narrative centered around Zak being Kur. Zak IS Kur. They are not separate entities. There is no way to destroy the Kur part without taking Zak with it because they are the same guy. There is a constant struggle here, which is said explicitly in “The Unblinking Eye,” “they can tell us what we are... but they can’t tell us what we have to be.”

The problem is... “what we are” looks increasingly inescapable - Zak’s powers are getting stronger and getting evil-er; he starts the season injuring his parents, and by the end of it, he nearly gets his friends all killed, and he absolutely has the power to cause an apocalypse if he wants to. It’s starting to seem more and more like the talking Lemurian altar in “Shadows of Lemuria” was right - “no creature can defy its nature.” Like it or not, Zak IS basically a walking apocalypse, and the more he interacts with the world, the more he’s confronted by this fact - everyone is scared of him, everyone either wants him dead or wants him collared, and he hurts people just by being around them because he’s dangerous. Even if these messages get refuted somewhat by the end of the episodes - the jadugar in “Legion of Garuda” doesn’t succeed in killing Zak, but wants Zak dead. Zak himself nearly gives up on being good because Tsul’Kalu, who is very much a Good Guy, wants Zak dead. Like, it’s bad for this little boy.

As the situation grows more and more unsalvageable, all characters involved become more and more driven by ego and pride. Argost and the nagas are there from the very beginning, their main motivation being egomania and species supremacy, respectively, but the Scientists take progressively more extreme stances (they go from “we chose this option BECAUSE IT WON’T HURT ZAK, we don’t want to hurt Zak,” to “Noted. I’ll let my feelings know they should be hurt”), AND the Saturdays becoming increasingly hostile to outside groups (we start the show at “we need to defeat Argost for the good of humanity” to “we need to beat the shit out of everyone who tries to hurt our son” to “we need to kill Argost for revenge because he killed our goddamn parents”).

Zak is desperately trying to be the voice of reason - the voice of what he was taught. It’s very consistent in this series that Zak’s family sometimes loses their way - Doyle wouldn’t have joined the family, due to his own trust issues and Doc and Drew’s wariness, if Zak hadn’t insisted that ohana means family and family means no one gets left behind or forgotten. In season 2, Zak’s the one who has to beg his parents to go out and help cryptids, when they’re willing to go full defense mode and hide Zak away. And that’s the same even leading up to the finale - with Doyle and Drew completely losing their shit trying to revenge-kill Argost, and Doc honestly kind of complicit because he has his own very personal beef, Zak is the one begging them not to.

So where we are at right now is that, thematically, the root cause of all the major problems in the show is ego. It’s pride, selfishness, and the callousness that results. Revenge, proving that you’re right, ambition and greed. The problem is that everyone is so up their own personal asses that they’ve lost sight of the actual good or harm they’re causing.

I want to mention that this is a very Hindu theme in a show with a shitton of Hindu symbolism. Kur itself is regularly identified with the Hindu god Shiva (you can read more about that here), and the Nagas speak Hindi/the Legion of Garuda is based on a Hindu legend, so it is by no means a stretch to bring a Hindu reading into the show.

To quote this website:

The Self is universal, eternal, one and without divisions. The expansive or exalted feeling that “I am everything” and “I am all,” this does not constitute egoism. However, the feeling that “I am so and so,” or “I have this and that,” constitute egoism or ahamkar. When the universal Self is covered with the impurities of delusion and ignorance, it develops this limited view of itself as a separate entity, which we recognize as ego.

Thus, the ego is the feeling of separateness, the sense of duality, or the idea of being distinct and different from others. It is the false perception of oneself as a separate being or a limited being. Egoism creates the limitations of space and time in which we become stuck.

Bringing this back to the show - as everyone’s motivations become more and more selfish and egoistic, and you could argue even Zak attempting to prove that he’s “this or that” counts, we have a culmination of this conflict in Weird World, where Drew actually succumbs to her desire for revenge and attempts to attack Argost and the Nagas, an act which ends with her disarmed and her own blade pointed at her.

(Drew’s blade, by the way, is specifically the khadga wielded by the bodhisattva Manjushri, which represents wisdom that cuts through duality and ignorance.)

What happens next is a major turning point in the narrative, and the rushed timing of season 2 didn’t do it justice. Van Rook sacrifices himself to save Drew, the only thing he liked “almost as much” as money. While this initially seems like shock value, people dying in a kid’s show, it’s much more than that. Van Rook’s death is the most major example of that which defies ego - selflessness.

We’ve seen smaller examples of this kind of selflessness throughout the series. Francis letting Zak go, or Wadi and Ulraj promising to stay by his side no matter what - but all of those have been salve on a wound. Their sentiments don’t fix anything or save anybody. But this, here? Van Rook sacrificing himself? That saved mom’s life.

The next thing that happens in the story is that Zak runs off to take Argost’s deal for a one on one confrontation. The pacing of the show makes it difficult to tell, but the way his dialogue is written, I’m firmly convinced that Zak went into that basement knowing that Argost was planning to kill him. He faintly jokes on the way down about them fighting “Kur versus Kur... or... anti-Kur... whatever.” But remember “Kur Rising” - “The jokes help me cope.” Let’s go back to our pin, the one on Doyle’s seemingly fruitless search for Argost’s weakness. This, here? This is the payoff for that.

You see, all that Doyle’s investigation turned up was that Argost has always been a selfish, egomaniacal, greedy, ambitious little bastard. And that’s his weakness. That’s what Zak takes away from Van Rook’s sacrifice. Let me transcribe his final words here:

I don’t need your mercy, Argost. I finally know how to end this -- all of it. Your whole life, all you’ve known is taking, and stealing, and grabbing for power. You’ll never understand what Van Rook did. Giving it all up to save the people you love. [...] Oh yeah, and you never were a very good scientist. You know why the world went crazy every time Zak Monday and I got too close? Matter and anti-matter don’t play well together. Have fun learning that lesson.

The final lines especially drive home to me that Zak knew what Argost was planning. Maybe not specifically how it turned out, but that Argost would try to steal his powers. Why? Because, according to Doyle’s investigation, that’s all that Argost has ever known. Greed, selfishness, and ego. Argost would not be able to resist a chance to steal Zak’s powers. He’d be blinded to the fact that this will destroy him. Zak went into that basement knowing he was going to die to the Flute of Gilgamesh.

Now, let’s go back to our website on Hinduism:

In our eagerness to be something, have something and find security, we build walls around ourselves and become prisoners of our own actions, losing sight of our innate ability to radiate the light of God and His unconditional love. We cease to see the divinity in ourselves as well as in ours. [...] The secret regarding unconditional love is that it manifests in you when your self-love becomes universal love. For that you have to see your inner Self everywhere and everything in your inner Self.

[...] A tree does not choose whom to give its fruit. It is we who build a fence around it. A well does not choose whom to give water. A river does not choose whose boat it will carry. A flower does not choose to whom it will spread its fragrance. The sun and moon do not choose to whom to radiate their warmth and light.

God's unconditional love manifests when we silence our desires and suspend our judgment. Both are difficult to practice. When they are absent, God's love manifests itself. It is in the silent heart of an ascetic yogi (muni) the spring of unconditional love wells up.

Zak is the one who begs his mother and uncle not to go down the path of vengeance, an entirely selfish pursuit. Zak is the one who forgives his uncle and reminds his family that they should love each other without judgment. And Zak is the one who has always reminded his parents that their job is to help the creatures of this earth. Argost, the embodiment of ego, would never be able to understand compassion, altruism, or sacrifice. That’s what Zak defeats him with.

There is also something to be said here that Zak’s powers - Kur’s powers - the part of the show most heavily associated with Hinduism - is to connect with cryptids. The universal, eternal, one-without-divisions Hindu concept of Self is precisely what Kur’s powers echo. Kur is this oneness, this universality.

To those of us with ego, to those of us with desires and attachments, it is a malignant and seemingly evil force. Kur, the destroyer. Kur, which destroys ego. Kur, a universal and eternal consciousness that grinds our pretensions of uniqueness or separateness to dust. And that is the state Zak attains with his sacrifice - he suffers an ego death, but his love remains. What his sacrifice means is an end to vengeance, an end to animosity, an end to the struggle for identity, in lieu of something beautiful. That makes this ending a resolution of the tension between “what we are” and “what we choose to be.”

He destroys Argost, the show’s greatest representation of ego, ego which causes all the problems, with the sacrifice of his own ego, fulfilling his duty as Kur. He cannot defy his nature, but he is also who he chooses to be - because he is everything, and everything is within him. That is the true nature of the Hindu concept of Self when the ego has been silenced.

And so we reach the funeral again, in this hypothetical where Zak stays dead. I want to focus here on the last words in the show:

Two is plenty.

This is already incredibly powerful when said by Doyle to Van Rook, a man who made a massive impact on his life, a man that he hated, but who lifted him out of poverty and inadvertently reunited him with his family. But imagine if he says this to Zak.

His relationship with Zak throughout the show is more than just uncle and nephew; it’s mentor and mentee. He occupies the same space in Zak’s life that Van Rook had in his own. Now, not only is he echoing Van Rook’s words from the very first episode - Van Rook who is also dead - but he is now the mentor, saying these words to his mentee, whom he will never finish training.

I think they’re more powerful then. It’s a final acknowledgement of the lessons that Zak and Van Rook taught them. Forgive, love each other, be one with everything and have everything within yourself. On top of that, with Zak specifically, it’s a way to mourn a relationship that will never see its proper conclusion.

And then I think the network took one look at this and went “you cannot, and I cannot stress this enough, cannot kill off the child protagonist of your children’s cartoon.”

#the secret saturdays #death ///////#zak saturday #leonidas van rook #v v argost #vincent vladislav argost #THE SHOW IS THAT DEEP #IT IS THAT DEEP #LOTS OF SHOWS ARE NOT THAT DEEP BUT THIS ONE IS

125 notes · View notes

oceanspray5 · 2 years

Text

Honestly the one character on Miraculous that won't ever be redeemed for me (villains aside) is Fu. Like I'm sorry but his purposful exclusion of Chat weakened Chat and Ladybug as a team to the point that even after becoming the Guardian, despite having a dependable partner, Ladybug feels the need to shoulder all her burdens alone.

I want Marinette to have a grounding significant moment where she realizes and vocalizes that Fu was WRONG to seperate her and Chat the way he did. He was wrong to single her out for more responsibility yet maintain she and Chat were equal using words but not in actions. I want her to come to grips with the fact that he is the most at fault for her struggles and Chat's struggles too.

Here's the thing: when you have a kids show and want to teach them good lessons, when said kids show wants to depict partnership and team work, you have to show what it truly means. Ladybug and Chat Noir, Marinette and Adrien, they're not just depicted as friends and teammates but romantic interests as well. And for all three of those categories it is SO. IMPORTANT. to realize that you are not alone. The other person is there to help you. That you need to willingly give up some independence to become one part of a larger whole. That is what real partnership is. That's what is necessary.

When you have an alleged all-knowing wise character like Fu showing otherwise, saying that one person (the girl especially in this case) is meant to shoulder her burden alone and not share what she must with Her Person (because that's what Chat is) you're teaching them to internalize independence above all. In a partnership, its important to forgo some of that independence willingly so you can allow the other person in. It goes both ways. They fill in your cracks and help you when you need it because you trust them to.

Fu isolating Marinette and Adrien, having one keep secrets and the other confined to his own, its basically the worst possible message you can send about partnership to young girls. Its a negative side effect to white feminism in fact. To believe that you need to be self-reliant at all times in order to be considered strong. Women and young girls need to learn that dependency on another person, on a man, is not a bad thing when you have a reliable partner. And given Astruc's views on feminism I'm not surprised this is the message he's been sending for the past 5 seasons at this point.

I only just began to tune back in for Season 5 but I realized the reason I left can be blamed entirely on Fu being a detriment to the entire story and it's ripple effect to the larger plot.

That being said, i HOPE the direction the show is going in now is that partnership means to work together and not alone. You can argue that Chat and Ladybug already work together. But the thing is they still have important secrets from each other. They trust each other but are being held back. When you're in a real partnership, you share the ugly difficult parts too and then where needed, Your Person steps in to help. Adrien needs to do that for Marinette and Marinette needs to do that for Adrien and that can only ever happen if Fu's methods are openly opposed by the show as Wrong and Detrimental to the heroes and their teamwork.

Marinette and Adrien are getting closer in S5. The sides of the love square are slowly moving towards merging but atp that isn't enough for me. I need the show to openly have Marinette realizing Fu did her dirty (whether he knew better or not is irrelevant) and that she needs to define her partnership and her guardianship by her own rules. The show has spent so long enforcing seperation as a plot point that is necessary that it needs to just as strongly and directly oppose it as the solution to the conflicts occurring to have any real value.

#miraculous ladybug #ml #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste #chat noir #ladybug #the miraculous adventures of ladybug and chat noir #marichat #adrienette #ladrien #ladynoir #ml love square #master fu #sorry for the random rant #i just had a realization and it made me angry enough to need to type this out

123 notes · View notes

lookinghalfacorpse · 2 years

Text

in the wild all lessons last - au/bonus????

@chrysalizzm got me thinking about the butterfly chat headcanon and “in the wild all lessons last” happening in the same verse with this awesome drabble they wrote and honestly the imagery was impeccable. so here’s more of that.

takes place very early on in the itwall story.

read the full fic here , info and trigger warnings here

The steam rising from the soup bowl seemed especially thick in the chill cabin air. It was a bitter cold night, and Philza was starting to wish he put on a pair of socks underneath the slippers he slid himself into earlier. At least the soup offered some warmth– he held it carefully in one hand while the other turned the doorknob to the guest room.

Dream had only been with them for three nights. Full meals still upset his stomach, so Phil was careful to make sure that he had a number of smaller meals throughout his day. No more than five hours passed without some kind of food, which unfortunately meant waking him in the night. Phil might not be so strict about it if the boy wasn’t so thin; he heard of strong-willed men dropping dead from the effects of starvation long after they were eating normally, and he wasn’t willing to take any risks. Plus, eating and then heading right back to sleep afterwards should be a good way to put weight back on.

So, mindful of the noises he made as he shuffled around, Phil entered the darkness of Dream’s room and lit some candles.

Orange light blossomed around the space. Dream was sound asleep in the center of his bed, his head lolled gently to the side and his features relaxed. His hands, free of the trembling that infected his waking hours, rested atop Em as she lay on his chest.

Phil nearly jumped when he saw the fluttering.

A blue butterfly rested on the wall directly above Dream’s head, its wings flapping slightly and catching the candlelight. Another was on Em’s paw, its legs shifting through her fur. Phil approached slowly as he placed the soup bowl on the nightstand, careful not to startle one that was perched there. Thankfully, it was calm and still. Phil wondered, for a moment, if they remembered him– Dream’s chat was an alluring and stealthy ally in past battles, and Phil enjoyed talking with them and trying to interpret their unique body language.

What he interpreted now was a message of overall calm, and maybe even relief. He had no clue how these delicate little insects made their way to the cottage on such a cold night, but it might’ve been quite the journey.

Phil lowered himself onto the edge of the mattress. Dream offered no response– he was deep in sleep and completely still. Free of nightmares, hopefully. Phil offered a finger to a butterfly on the wall, and it crawled onto him. Its little feet tickled his skin as it traveled around, investigating his pointer, and then his middle finger.

“Dream,” Phil said quietly. He hasn’t quite mastered the art of waking Dream without scaring him, so he tried to speak as gently as possible. “I brought soup for you. And you have company.”

Again, no response. Nothing besides the same soft, steady breathing as before. The candlelight illuminated many of Dream’s most lovely features– his eyelashes seemed gold-dipped– but it also highlighted the ridges of his scars and the hollows of his cheeks. No child should be so thin. Still worried about startling him, Phil gingerly ran his fingertips across Dream’s cheekbones and then all the way down to his jaw. “Dream,” he said again, a little louder, “Look who came to see you.”

Dream’s breath halted and then sighed, his shoulders tightening for a moment. When his eyes finally opened, he briefly made eye contact with Philza and flinched, gasping.

“You’re alright, mate, it’s just me.” He redirected the hand he had on Dream’s face to the boy’s shoulder. “Well, I guess it’s not just me. Look, mate.”

Dream’s eyes fell to the butterfly that was grasping Phil’s fingers. He seemed awake in an instant, his expression bursting with energy as he scrambled into a sitting position, crumbling his pillow behind him. “Wha– How?!”

“I’m not sure, honestly. They were here when I walked in.” Phil replied, “It’s a bit cold for them to be traveling, isn’t it?”

The butterflies gathered around them, landing in Dream’s hair and atop Philza’s shoulders. There were only about 10 of them, but that alone was vastly more than Phil would expect to make it through such a great distance on a winter’s night. Seeing them flock around Dream was a bit of a relief, though– he looked more like the young man he once knew, who had hundreds of them at his beck and call.

“It is,” Dream agreed. He lifted a hand and a butterfly landed obediently on his fingertips. He watched it, his eyes alight and shining with tears.

“Hm. Well, to make it so far, they must be stubborn little creatures. Much like yourself.”

(Phil was right. Dream had no less bullheadedness in the face of the cold– he ran into the forest with all the strength he could gather after spending so much energy dodging Sapnap’s blows, and his butterflies followed close behind him. They landed on his back, on his arms, on Em’s shoulders as she ran alongside him. And when he collapsed, they gathered there, intermixing with the snowflakes and looking so ethereal and surreal as his vision faded.)

#this is your fault chrys #in the wild all lessons last #itwall #killing butterflies #drabbles #my fic #itwall extra scenes #...gonna hide this in the tags for the observant folks but uh #all the talk about immortality from both cdream AND cphil has got me Thinkin lately #i don't wanna promise an itwall sequel per se...#BUT #i'm not ready to let go of the nonexistent duo that is cdream and cphil #so uh look forward to that i guess???

107 notes · View notes