#he's not sacrificing himself

[celluloidbroomcloset]

"Stede wanted to be a pirate and now he's not going to be one, which is bad."

Did he really want to be a pirate? Stede wanted to be a storybook pirate; he wanted to be the pirate in his games and his imagination, who had swashbuckling adventures. The entire first season deals with him learning what piracy really is. He sees what it has done to Ed, quite literally history's greatest pirate, within the first half hour of their meeting. Most of the fun he has, has nothing to do with actual piracy - it's playing games with his crew, going on treasure hunts with Ed, putting on plays. He likes making up plans, but he doesn't like actual piracy. When he accidentally kills a man, it horrifies him and haunts him, and continues to until the end of the season. He goes to therapy about it.

Into Season 2, the entire point of Stede's piracy is still not piracy. It's to get back to Ed. Stede's fantasy in the beginning is about being the storybook pirate who defeats the villain and runs across the beach to his one true love, who isn't mad at him and never was. It's a fairytale. And even there, reality is creeping in - dream-Izzy tells him, "I didn't make you leave him. You did that yourself." The reality is that Ed has gone into a suicidal spiral, and Stede finds him mostly dead.

The one time that Stede becomes a "real pirate" in the real world, it goes to his head, but it's not even because of his love of piracy. It's because he's suddenly popular. People are buying him drinks and clapping him on the back. No one's calling him "Steve." No one's making fun of him. And still, the only thing he wants to do when he does something cool is go tell Ed about it.

And even then...it's hollow. Everyone around him are sycophants. Ed has left him. His crew are suddenly leaving him. It all ends with him getting his ass kicked by a real pirate. He didn't even like doing the thing that made him popular; he kills Ned Low and runs off to hide. The whole sequence at Jackie'z is a mirror of the sequence at the pub when he goes home - everyone thinks he's cool, but for none of the reasons that are authentic to who he is or what he really wants.

Stede wanted a family who loved him. He wanted friends who liked him for him. He wanted someone to play with. He wanted to marry for love. And he has all those things at the end.

He's not a pirate. He's not having second thoughts.

I'm not sure why this is hard to see.

#ofmd #ofmd season 2 #stede bonnet #our flag means death #ofmd meta #gif #i've seen this take so many times and i don't get why some folks insist on it #stede knows what he wants and it's his home with ed #that's it #that's the show #he's not giving anything up #he's not sacrificing himself #he's getting everything #i mean i guess you don't have to like that the pirate show is concluding that the main characters don't really want to be pirates #but it's kinda hard-baked into the narrative from the start #i'd love to see a season 3 but i also understand the fear that it would yank them away from their happy ending #they really do deserve to just stop #make a season 3 entirely about jeff's inn by the sea

[twinstxrs]

idk if this is accurate but i’ve felt like in previous seasons riz & gorgug have been one of the inter-bad kids dynamics we’ve seen the least of & this season has been so great in that aspect. gorgug having helped make some of riz’s magic gear. riz helping gorgug with his studies. the shared birthday party. gorgug’s gift to riz being something he himself made to protect riz. riz’s gift to gorgug being something he illegally grabbed to protect gorgug. gorgug who utilizes rage to put his body on the line for his friends & riz who will take deep levels of mental stress for his friends. even though it was within the context of a joke, riz calling gorgug an “absolute sweetie.” like yea they might not be in a band together or both part of a presidential campaign team or owlbears teammates, but they’d go to war for each other, because they’re best friends.

#riz gukgak #gorgug thistlespring #fantasy high #dimension 20 #fantasy high junior year #fhjy #fhjy spoilers #these kids are all so self-sacrificing but i do think riz gorgug are the most clear (& juxtaposed) self-sacrificers #riz will mentally tear himself to pieces and get lost in cases and take on ungodly levels of stress for those he loves #gorgug will use himself as a human shield. he will take hit after hit if it means his friends are okay. #and they’d both do the other thing too. riz would let himself get hit for gorgug. gorgug would pull all nighters & take stress for riz. #even if mechanically they can’t or it wouldn’t make sense. they would if they could. #also #the starstruck barry mechanic of being a guard is so gorgug. it’s soooo gorgug like that’s literally him #anyways love this tall green guy & this short green guy so much #especially because gorgug is tall & considered intimidating but protective in a deeply kind way #while riz is short & underestimated but protective in a deeply vicious way (affectionate) #i hope this makes sense but i think riz is primarily ‘i would kill for you’ & gorgug is primarily ‘i would die for you’ maybe #this does not mean gorgug would not kill for riz or riz would not die for gorgug. they both would. #but those are the primary ways their love manifests due to the nature of their strengths/personalities. To Me #idk this is all just me saying stuff when i should be sleeping 😭 #sorry if i missed a riz gorgug moment in the main post btw i’m tired

[emilyrox]

Charlie: Just be yourself.

Sir Pentious: 'Be myself'? Charlie, I have one day to win Cherri Bomb over. How long did it take before you guys started liking me?

Angel Dust: Couple weeks.

Husk: Six months.

Alastor: Jury’s still out.

Sir Pentious: See, Charlie?

Sir Pentious: 'Be myself'. What kind of garbage advice is that?

#little did he know that he would win her in the end #and then die sacrificing himself #a true legend #hazbin hotel #sir pentious #charlie morningstar #angel dust #husk #alastor #cherri bomb #cherrisnake #hazbin hotel incorrect quotes #source: scatterpatter's incorrect quotes generator

[villainsandvictimsalliance]

A reminder that Spinner canonically compares himself to Dabi and feels inferior to the rest of the League of Villains.

Part of the reason he allowed AFO to manipulate him is because he wanted to be reliable, as in he wanted to be stronger to be of use to Tomura. So again, he's canonically kinda jealous not only of Dabi's quirk, but of him as a person.

#as much as I'd like to joke about how Spinner is sooo gay for Tomura please acknowledge that this is a critical point in Spinner's character #him feeling unworthy or inferior comes from the discrimination he has faced all his life #he doesn't value himself like he should #and since Tomura is the person who has showed him the most that he matters exactly like he is #Spinner ended up sacrificing everything to save the one friend that has offered to destroy the world for him #AFO did all of that deliberately to break Spinner btw #He saw Spinner's loyalty to Tomura and used it against them #AFO can't allow someone who loves Tomura to be whole and safe #he's like a bad kid with a toy #bnha #mha #my hero academia #boku no hero academia #league of villains #lov #mha spoilers #bnha spoilers #spinner #shuichi iguchi #dabi #touya todoroki #toya todoroki

[sakuraluck]

this moment will never fail to make me feral bc he gave up!!! till, the boy who rebels even when all it does is get him hurt, the one who burns as brightly as the stars in the sky, the flame that lasted for almost two decades finally gave up!!! he snuffed out!! he closed him eyes and stopped fighting!! do you understand how devastating that is??

especially to ivan who idolizes and adores him for it?? who has only ever known till for his never-ending love and will that never falters? to see the man he loves broken down like this—a hurt that extends far beyond that of the physical body but to his soul— must’ve been terrible

and you can see it

ivan’s crumpling too. his mental state is on the verge of snapping too. his shoulders are dropped and his eyes are bloodshot.

till’s given up and ivan can see it and as his hands tighten around the other’s neck, a voice whispers what if you don’t let go?

because that’s what till wants right? he isn’t going to win against luka like this. he wants to die and no matter what ivan does, it’s not going to change that. so why not kill him?

that way they can die together.

wouldn’t that be wonderful?

ivan has always had a great potential for darkness and he holds it back most of the time, rarely ever letting it come to the surface. it wouldn’t be far off to assume this was one of those moments, where emotions are high and last minute regrets and wishes are surging forth—it isn’t far off to think there was a small part of him that was seriously contemplating throwing away his decision to sacrifice himself alone.

but then he gets shot in the chest, through the lungs, and the pain snaps him out of it. because this is it. this is the end. and he remembers why he’s doing this.

he remembers his desire to save till despite how foolish as it may be, how hypocritical it may be. the light reappears in his eyes and it’s ivan in love again. it’s ivan swelling with pure love, looking at till for last time.

it’s ivan doing the one thing he’s never been able to do:

it’s ivan letting go

#fuck the image limit #ivantill #alien stage #alien stage till #alien stage ivan #i think rather than the act of sacrificing himself its the acting of letting go of till that’s the most selfless thing ivan has ever done #i have more thoughts on this but more on that later #tl;dr ivan loves him so so much!!! #i don’t think he went into this thinking he’ll kill till but the thought definitely briefly crossed his mind #but love wins<3 doomed yaoi 4ever<3

[ningadudexx]

.

Sir if you are not going to buy anything then please leave

#monkie kid #lego monkie kid #lego #lmk #sun wukong #monkey king #macaque #liu er mihou #six eared macaque #lmk macaque #lmk sun wukong #lmk monkey king #this is based off the idea that sun wukong sleep fights!! #i think after all his years of fighting that he would fight in his sleep #my bubbie says that i used to kick her off the bed during sleepovers when i was little #maybe improjecting HAHAH #none of the other monkeys will sleep with him #lest they be kicked #macaque has sacrificed himself #silly #awesome sauce #sleepy...

[girl-archie]

#was going to do different characters in each one but everytime i was just like oh that's archie. so archie..wow archie core #he did hallucinate beating himself to death with a bat. he is hot. he is gay. #he has been sacrificed many times and would definitely volunteer to be eaten so everyone survives. he needs to be medicated. #and of course he was a missing person on a milk carton <3 #riverdale archie you gave us everything

[percabetn]

PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS | S01E05

“This isn’t the arch, Seaweed Brain, you’re not pushing me into the stairwell again.”

#pjoedit #pjo #percabeth #pjo tv show #percy jackson #annabeth chase #pjo series #gifset #mine #he keeps sacrificing himself for her safety someone hold me back #queued #100

[mxtxfanatic]

Random Thought #34: If Madam Yu really had cut off Wei Wuxian's sword hand in order to appease Wang Lingjiao before the Jiang Clan was wiped out, then Jiang Cheng truly and honestly would have been fucked cause no way in hell would Wei Wuxian give up his core after that. He was already thinking of his hand in terms of debt ("if it's in exchange for the peace of the sect..." —exr), and to take away his sword hand is to cripple his ability to cultivate, which he considers a debt he owes to the Jiang for teaching him, to begin with. The scores would have been cleared, then, so any other ask (like, say, protecting the only surviving heir with his life) would be considered extraneous. Wei Wuxian would still do it because it was the right thing to do at the time with the knowledge that he had, but once Jiang Cheng lost his core? That's a wrap!

#random reading thoughts #mdzs #contrary to popular fanon #wwx is NOT self-sacrificing #just because his morals mean he will put himself in the line of fire to do what is right #does not mean he will go above and beyond just to make someone feel better #about a situation he neither caused nor could have reasonably prevented #jc's core loss falls into the latter event not the former #he only gave up his core in canon because of debt not out of affection #taking his hand would fulfill the debt in the same way sacrificing his core did

[britcision]

Hey by the way if anyone tries to deny Kabru is a judgy bitch I’ll send you the panels of him calling everyone worthless

Respect his duality he’s a good boy who genuinely wants the best for everyone but also thinks he has to do everything himself despite being the Least Qualified Ever because no one else lives up to his standards

He doesn’t even want to look at monsters but oh well every single other person is a piece of shit let’s go get my friends killed over and over again

He’s interesting BECAUSE he’s not one dimensional Good Pure Boy all the time, he’s a judgy manipulative little shit who will eat monsters if it gets him towards his goals, which are “nobody should be killed by monsters actually” and “i want to know what the fuck is going on”

He coulda had ONE honest conversation with Laios and known literally everything about him, Laios has never met a filter

But Kabru was raised for a good chunk of his life (6-18) by Milsiril, and for all he believes elves can never understand short lived people… he picked up the whole “I must be secretive and always conceal my own motivations”

He only breaks under literally the most intense high pressure situation he’s likely to see in his life, which along with being the potential goddamn apocalypse is also a rehashing of All Of His Personal Trauma oh and also Every Suspicion He Ever Had About This One Guy

He’s not more honest because he’s an honest person, he’s more honest because he forgot how sentences work when he finally caught Laios and doesn’t have the bandwidth to play the constant 4D chess in his head that underpins his EVERY INTERACTION WITH EVERYONE EVER until Marcille takes the lion

Kabru’s a pretty good person, with extremely good motivations and goals.

He’s a manipulative son of a bitch who will do anything, anywhere, anytime, to meet those goals, and spends a solid chunk of his time and energy on reading people so he can be someone they like… regardless of his own feelings.

He’s the living The Good Of The Many Outweigh The Needs Of The Few, and solidly puts himself in with “the few” by doing shit he hates because he thinks it’ll help.

Isn’t that more interesting than “oh he would never manipulate anyone, he’s so nice and good all the time”?

#kabru dungeon meshi #delicious in dungeon #dungeon meshi #this was supposed to be short but i am buzzing so #dungeon meshi spoilers #delicious in dungeon spoilers #also tbh why kabumisu has me by the throat #kabru’s sacrificed himself on the altar of his goals for so ling #long even #becoming everything for everyone so they like him and don’t get in his way #he Needs to get back in touch with himself #and stop becoming whoever his latest target will like #and mithrun could not give less of a fuck who kabru is if he tried #which is why kabru can finally drop the act and just be himself while they’re alone in the dungeon #he’s not trying to read and anticipate mithrun half as much as he does laios and That Is Actually So Much Better For His Mental Health #like yes boy give up on trying to please people #it’s a fucking endless pit get you a man who doesn’t give a shit and will tell you not to too #and then even when kabru stopped trying to be someone mithrun would like #that sneaky fuck won mithrun over anyway and THAT is why they are OTP shit

[lotus-pear]

guys idk about you but i am NOT ready to delve into uncharted waters as we move into new content with bsd in the upcoming chapter.

this new chapter could include anywhere from ada reunion and a return back to yokohama OR to a new horrible twist after fyodor’s death, ensuring that if he lost then dazai would too. taking dazai down with him.

not to mention if we return back to yokohama that’s a whole other gut wrenching story as one ada member is selected to go to the port mafia. i am not ready to see the futile and tragic looks on the other agency members as they grit their teeth and watch one of their own step into the world of darkness. the tragedy of letting someone go after they have all reconciled. being separated again, but for good this time

#AND AND HOLD ON……….IF ITS DAZAI OR YOSANO???? #DAZAI MIGHT JUST GO TO SAVE YOSANO. #NOTICE HOW HES BECOMING MORE SELF SACRIFICAL AND READY TO DIE FOR THE ADA?? ESP DURING MEURSAULT #MORI KEPT DAZAI’S EXECUTIVE SEAT OPEN. HE HAS BEEN KEEPING IT OPEN SINCE DAZAI WAS EIGHTEEN AND FLED THE MAFIA #guys if dazai is the one chosen to go back to the pm do you fucking realize that i will kill myself #his whole redemption arc….EVERYTHING he has done up until now to wrench himself free of the shadows of his past that still cling to him… #….ITS ALL GOING TO BE FOR NOTHING. IT IS HIS WORST POSSIBLE OUTCOME. HIS DETHRONING. HIS FALL. #im going to be sick im not fucjing ready im not ready for this I CANT DO THIS #bungou stray dogs #bsd

[hipstersoulgushers-art]

A petty and malicious sacrifice

#rvb #felix mcscouty #isaac gates #my art #red vs blue #hipstersoulgushers art #i was thinking about felix’s sacreligous nature and how hes named after a sacrifice and also the thing locus sacrificed to redeem himself #and all the questions of if that was necessary and how felix rejected any chance to change #punching a wall rn #cw: gore #? kind of

[x-gon-give-it]

Headcanon, theory, prediction, whatever you want to call it,

but I think the reason that the universe Miquel hijacked collapsed, and not Miles, despite them both being “anomalies” is because Miquel was trying to change someone else’s story, as opposed to Miles who inspires other people to change their own stories.

Like, Miquel tried to force himself into a universe that wasn’t his. He took the place of his counterpart and pretended to be him, he was playing a part that wasn’t meant for him, he was changing a story that wasn’t his. And the universe rejected that.

Whereas Miles inspires people to change their own stories. His universe didn’t collapse because that’s HIS universe. It’s HIS story to tell, and sure the plot changed along the way, but he’s still telling it.

The same with 42-Miles. His story was drastically changed because he wasn’t bitten by that spider, but his universe isn’t collapsing because he’s the one still telling the story. He’s still shaping his own future.

And like how Miles inspired Peter B to have Mayday at all. Without Miles, Peter wouldn’t have gone back to his and he wouldn’t have had Mayday. But his universe isn’t collapsing because that’s a decision PETER made. No one forced him to make up with MJ and have Mayday. But Miles gave him faith and inspired him to go back and give life another try. (Don’t even get me started how Peter would have literally DIED if not for Miles. He was going to stay in Miles dimension. He was fully ready to deteriorate. He literally would have died if not for Miles saying “NO BITCH YOU GOTTA GO HOME” much less inspiring him to have Mayday, I’m just saying I’m just saying.)

And the thing is I don’t think Miquel realizes that. He’s so caught up in his grief and anger that he’s completely consumed with following canon and my never disrupting ANYTHING. He doesn’t realize that that universe collapsed because he tried to change someone ELSES story. He tried to become someone else to live their story. He didn’t try to make his own and that’s not how it works.

Idk just thinking thots tonight, And ATSV is always at the top of my brain

#i May just being delusional and rambling #but idk #it makes sense to me #im excited to see how the third movie ends #the conclusión #I WANT ANSWERS DAMMIT #gimme gimme gimme #also I think we collectively brushed over the fact real quick that Peter would have literally DIED if not for Miles #like i jusr think about that sometimes #Peter was in such a low place that he was okay with sacrificing himself in Miles’ universe #sacrificing himself to an INCREDIBLY painful death #but Miles saved him and inspired him to keep living and now he has a beautiful daughter and a beautiful wife #and he couldn’t have a better life if he tried #all thanks to that amazing kid who made him feel alive again #im deep in the feels tonight fam #i don’t know what else to say #peter parker #spider-man #miles Morales #miguel o'hara #Spider-Man 2099 #ATSV #ITSV #atsv spoilers

[grozen]

Wyrmrest

#“turned into a dead god” this and “sacrificed himself” that #shut the fuck up he went to dragon heaven #art #fanart #fan art #martin septim #oblivion #tesblr #tes #elder scrolls #the elder scrolls #infecting tes tags with my art like some sort of virus #akatosh #auriel #dragon #painting #drawing #digital

[doomingthenarrative]

all the baldur’s gate 3 companion storylines. is just loving someone enough to break them free from the cycle. understanding that what they think they want isn’t good for them. valuing their character more than their power.

#minthara literally says ‘shadowheart becoming a dark justiciar would be good for us but bad for her’ #if you choose not to ascend astarion he thanks you for saving him from the same hunger for power that trapped cazador #lae’zel realizes that she was raised to die and bring her queen to higher power #karlach has a fuckign. bomb in her chest. and she wants to die with it #wyll is constantly sacrificing himself for the good of the city and his father #and gale only wants the power to become a god so that he may never be hurt by one again #‘did you love me enough to save me from myself’core fr #i feel so bad for all of them #idk im just Thinking #baldur's gate 3 #saiph speaks #bg3