I never really share anything personal on here because I'm a pretty private person, but there's something so profound about getting passed down my Grandpa's old camera collection.
Like what do you mean he took pictures of my Grandma with them 30+ years ago? That the A-1 Canon that's now in my room was the camera that took my parents' wedding photos? I stuck a roll of film into the same place he did? The thought of him loving photography as much as I do is the most tear-jerking emotion I've ever experienced even if we're not that close.
I just got the A-1 Canon working again after upwards of 20 years of being unused and sitting in a cupboard. Hearing the shutter go off as I took a picture of my dog was something special, and I don't even think I can describe it in a way that makes sense. It was like I was holding my own family history in my hands.
I was genuinely surprised it was in such good condition in the first place - I barely had to do anything other than look over it to make sure nothing was broken and mess with a few areas of concern. My grandpa kept his A-1 in immaculate condition despite his pretty bad health; the same with his other cameras as well.
As much as I want to keep them all in a glass case and have them stay perfect, I can't imagine not using them the same way he did. Of course, up until I have to retire them for my own kids to use one day in just as pristine a state.
266 notes
·
View notes
"Otousan?"
There's a tug on Yuichi's sleeve and he puts down the vegetables he just got done washing before turning his head to look over his shoulder.
"Oh, kitten, is something wrong?" he murmurs, brow furrowing at the sight of his daughter's concerned gaze. Hana is visiting him in the Hidden City and he's aware that something has been bothering her – he hasn't asked about it yet, hoping that she'd open up about her worries in her own time.
Maybe she's ready now.
"Not really, I just…" Hana stops, chewing on her lip before letting go of Yuichi's yukata and stepping closer to hug him from behind instead. Yuichi decides to halt his dinner preparations for the time being and leans into the embrace.
"...are you happy?"
Yuichi startles. He didn't expect to be asked that.
"I am. Is that what you've been worried about?"
The calico squeezes him tighter for a moment, then sighs.
"Have I been that obvious?"
Yuichi chuckles and rubs the back of his head against Hana's ear. "Nope, it's just impossible to hide anything from me."
Hana laughs. “Sure. Just like you noticed right away when your favourite kimono went missing, among other things.”
“Just so you know, I pretended not to notice, young lady. As a parent, some things are worth sacrificing. Like one’s dignity.”
“Yeah right,” Hana giggles but then quiets down before speaking again.
“Dad… Does he make you happy?”
“Leonardo? Oh, sweetie,” Yuichi murmurs and turns in Hana's arms to hold her instead, tucking her head under his chin.
“The happiest,” he sighs, smiling. “I'm so lucky. All these years of being single… he was well worth the wait.”
“He better be,” Hana mutters, “if he breaks your heart, I'm breaking his face.”
“Not his face!” Yuichi laughs. “Haven't you seen how handsome he is?”
“Oh, I'm aware.”
Yuichi can feel her grin against his neck and he holds his kitten tighter. He knows she's joking… kind of. He’s under no illusions about the seriousness of her threat and while a breakup doesn't seem likely, he feels sorry for his boyfriend.
If they ever get into an argument or Yuichi shows even the tiniest signs of upset because of his relationship and Hana gets a whiff of it, he knows that Leonardo will be in for a world of hurt – and not only because of Hana; he’s certain that all of his daughters would have a bone to pick with the slider, then. He might be a ninja but so are the girls and Yuichi wouldn’t wish their ire upon anyone… especially not the man he’s fallen in love with.
However, he thinks he’s very lucky to have such a protective family.
Hana sighs but the exhale sounds less tense than before and she buries her face into his chest. “I'm happy for you,” come the muffled words against his collar, and Yuichi feels emotional almost to the point of tears.
He’s so very lucky, indeed.
109 notes
·
View notes
pluvi begging you to expand on gojo not wanting what happened to his mother to happen to you 🙏
warnings: it’s all a dream so nothing is real aside from the flashback stuff but pregnancy as horror, (sewing) needles, implied gore/eye trauma, implied child harm (i don't.... wanna say abuse but whew it aint pretty), gojo is messed up yo!!! and its bc of his mama!!!
he dreams about her.
it’s an odd thing, really. gojo isn’t much of a dreamer—not much of a sleeper, all things considered, but it’s difficult not to give in when you drag him to bed and curl up in his arms. the soft rise and fall of your chest, the steady thump of your heart, the sound of your breath; it soothes him into slumber.
and he dreams about her. she was always young. he’s older now than she ever got to be. frail, thin; borderline skeletal, robes hanging from her body like webbing. she sits in a chair facing a window, swathed in moonlight, the silver of her embroidery needle glinting with each stab. her face is veiled. her stomach is swollen with child.
she doesn’t turn to him, but she beckons without noise. his feet take him easily to her, and he kneels at her side as she sets aside the embroidery hoop to let him place his head on her knees.
her hand is cold as it threads through his hair. it’s gentle, at first. then harsher a moment later. she grips firm, tugs him up by those electric white threads, stares down at him through all that elaborate lace.
he imagines she’s weeping beneath it. his mother never wept before him, but she was pretty in the aftermath, eyes puffy and pink and shining. they were a cold kind of loving when they regarded him. she must have been beautiful once, elegant and lithe and willowy, cruel like the heartless sea and sharp like a brilliant diamond, but whatever was there is long gone. he thinks all sons must empty their mothers, bleed them dry from within, because his was always a shell.
she trails her hand down the side of his face, and he turns into the palm and closes his eyes, and she is silent as she sets down her embroidery to lift her veil. she is silent and hollow and eidolic as her fingers brush down his jaw and tilt his head up to look at her.
but it’s your face that he sees when he opens his eyes.
it’s your hand against his cheek, your eyes pink and puffy and pretty, your stomach bulging by his own doing. it’s your fingers that pluck up the needle, still attached to a thread of brilliant cerulean, and raise it to his eye.
his mother never was able to pierce him with that needle. she stopped herself, each and every time, dropping it and tugging him close in shame. she never doted, never was kind, but she never did manage to harm him.
you do. he lets you. it’s only fair. whatever thing is in your stomach can’t be human—whether god or demon what does it matter, at the end of the day—and didn’t he put it in you himself? if his mother never got the satisfaction of spilling his blood, shouldn’t you?
but he wakes just as the tip pierces his iris, and you hold him in your lap, eyes wide with concern and not puffy from weeping, and you hold no child within you. your hands thread through his hair and they’re warm, your lips plush when you bend to press a kiss to his brow.
he turns inward to press his face into your (empty, blissfully vacant) abdomen. the wetness he leaves there, falling from his so very coveted eyes, is colorless.
he thinks it ought to be brilliant crimson.
239 notes
·
View notes
How to use tìftang (the apostrophe thing) when naming your Na'vi OC
The most important thing to note here is that tìftang is not decorative!! It’s not just there to make words/names look cool! It’s a consonant and represents an actual sound (specifically a “glottal stop”, aka that little catch in the back of your throat when you say “uh-oh”). Adding tìftang to your OC’s name will affect the pronunciation of said name.
When using tìftang in your OC’s name, you want to make sure it’s next to at least one vowel (a, ä, i, ì, e, u, o) or diphthong (ay, aw, ey, ew).
✅ Ka'ul
✅ Ka'nul
✅ Kat'ul
It CANNOT go between two consonants—this is a VERY common mistake!!
🚫 Kat'nul
This is not pronounceable! It’s like having a character whose name is meant to be pronounced “Bob” or “Jimmy” but for some reason spelling it “Bokb” or “Jimtmy”.
The reason for this is Na'vi syllable structure. Tìftang can start or end a syllable, but it cannot go in the middle of a syllable, because it cannot cluster with other consonants.
For practical examples of what that means, let’s look back at the previous examples:
Ka'ul can break down into either [ka'][ul] or [ka]['ul], so tìftang is either ends the first syllable, or begins second syllable.
Ka'nul breaks down into [ka'][nul]; tìftang ends the first syllable.
Kat'ul breaks down into [kat]['ul]; tìftang begins the second syllable.
So what about Kat'nul? There are a few ways to break it down, and none of them work. [kat'][nul] and [kat]['nul] are both invalid because, while the tìftang is at the end/beginning of the syllable like in the other examples, it’s clustering with t or n. Remember that tìftang cannot cluster with other consonants!
The other way to break it down—and probably the way most people unfamiliar with Na'vi would be thinking—would be [kat]'[nul], with the intended pronounced syllables just being “kat” and “nul” with the tìftang thrown in to look cool and alien. This doesn’t work because again, tìftang is not decorative! It is a letter with a sound (one that’s not even really physically possible to pronounce properly between a t and n even without the syllable rules), not a punctuation! Kat'nul-pronounced-Katnul the Na'vi is just Jimtmy-pronounced-Jimmy the human. Just spell it Katnul!
Speaking of clustering, here’s another mistake I see sometimes (though a little less commonly):
🚫 K'atnul
This is also not pronounceable, because while yes the tìftang is next to a vowel, within its syllable it’s clustering with k. Remember that tìftang can only begin or end a syllable; it can’t go in the middle of one like [k'at]!!
Now, here’s a quick thing to be aware of. Remember earlier on I mentioned that tìftang must go next to a vowel or diphthong? Let’s talk about diphthongs real quick:
A diphthong is what you get when two vowels merge into a single sound. Na'vi has four of them. They are written ay (a+i), aw (a+u), ey (e+i), and ew (e+u). That said, you could have a names like these:
✅ Kaw'nul
✅ Key'nul
…but not like these:
🚫 Kow'nul
🚫 Kuy'nul
Why does the first set work but not the second? Because in the first set, the w and y are not standalone consonants, but rather part of the aw and ey diphthongs. In the second set, however, ow and uy are not diphthongs, so the w and y are regular consonants, which means Kow'nul and Kuy'nul don’t work for the same reason as Kat'nul: tìftang cannot go between two consonants. (changing the spellings to Kou'nul and Kui'nul would work, however!)
tl;dr - to assess whether you are using tìftang correctly in your OC name, ask yourself three questions:
1.) Is it next to at least one vowel (a, ä, i, ì, e, u, o) or diphthong (ay, aw, ey, ew)?
✅ Ka'ul ✅ Ka'nul ✅ Kat'ul ✅ Kaw'nul
🚫 Kat'nul 🚫 Kow'nul
2.) Does it begin/end its syllable?
✅ [ka'][nul] ✅ [kat]['ul]
🚫 [k'a][nul]
3.) Is it clustering with other consonants?
🚫 [kat'][nul] 🚫 [k'at][nul]
If your answers are yes, yes, and no, in that order, then congrats!! You have used tìftang correctly!
If your answer is no to the first two or yes to the third, you can fix it one of three ways:
Move the tìftang to a valid position:
🚫 K'anul -> ✅ Ka'nul
Remove the tìftang completely:
🚫 Kat'nul -> ✅ Katnul
Add a vowel:
🚫 Kat'nul -> ✅ Kate'nul, ✅ Kat'enul
🚫 K'atnul -> ✅ Kì'atnul
🚫 Kow'nul -> ✅ Kowa'nul
Now go forth and tìftang responsibly! :D
89 notes
·
View notes