yes i'm rooting for m*leven breakup because byler is neat but mostly? i'm rooting for m*leven breakup for the sake of el and mike.
to me, their romance was always a puppy love born out of a combination of social pressures, naïve curiosity, and a lack of true understanding regarding intimacy and romantic love and what it really is. it was real in that they do truly, deeply care about each other and they are close friends, maybe even shared an attraction, but a maturing romance is so much more than that. they've grown up and out of being boyfriend/girlfriend, and that's okay! i think television/film needs to show more often that most of us don't have definite "soulmates" or first childhood loves that we spend our whole lives with. it doesn't mean these relationships meant nothing and didn't impact us, it just means they've run their course and that something else is in the cards, and this is part of life!
i've always felt el was at her best and most confident self when broken up with mike, discovering who she was and what she liked alongside another girl her age instead of just relying on mike for mentorship on how to live in the real world. she deserves more of an opportunity to find herself, her autonomy, and her independence, and to love who she is, and she's made it clear she's felt insecure in the relationship with mike because she isn't being loved and understood the way she wants, needs, and deserves from someone who is her partner.
also, it's okay if mike doesn't love her in "the way he should". he is not obligated to love her romantically and stay in a relationship with her just because she's a girl, because she "needed someone", or because he cares about her a lot. he shouldn't be pressured into a romance if it's not truly coming from his heart. he deserves freedom to find out and honour who he is, too, instead of just staying in his non-functional first relationship — one he got into as a child, essentially — and defining himself that way because it's what's expected when a boy and a girl are close. he loves her in some way, yes, but it's okay if he doesn't feel comfortable or secure being her boyfriend anymore, for whatever reason that is. he's felt insecure too, and that's valid and it matters.
they are their own people and are steadily growing and changing every day. they need time to figure out who those people are, and it's become clear (at least in my opinion) that those people aren't meant to be a couple at this stage.
they deserve freedom. they deserve to grow up and be authentic to themselves and not feel like they need to lie for the sake of a relationship. they deserve to move on from this version of their relationship that isn't making them happy and rekindle the best part of their bond: their strong, beautiful friendship. they don't have to be a couple if it doesn't make them stronger and better and happier people.
i think it would be healthy and wonderful for a show, especially one consumed frequently by young adults, to show a relationship starting, progressing, and ending on good terms in this way. sometimes things don't work out, and that is okay.
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"i feel like im already mourning the loss of my daughter" is haunting me ngl
bro cannot stop thinking about the inevitability of his daughter being dead
before he was convinced every relationship but his and sunny's would end in misery but now it's entered his mind that theirs could too
and he already has a habit of trying to make his worst fears come to life so he can stop waiting for them
he has never been able to stop goading people into hurting him and now he's found the people who can hurt him the worst
and he can't stop himself from picturing it
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After the events of Alabasta and Crocodile’s basement wife is left all by herself. Maybe know what knows about you whereabouts and you have to break out on your own, but the best case scenario is that the marines find you.
With Crocodile in Impel Down you’re able to slowly regain your freedom and humanity. It’s a difficult process but you’re able to get your life back together…
…Unnnnnntill Crocodile is freed from Impel Down and his first order of business is looking for his basement wife
Knowing the marine they probably ship you off to Impel Down as well because they'll frame you as a co-conspirator gdhjsa
You know, that makes me think of that SBS question Oda got in regards to Crocodile immediately donning fancy clothes after getting out of his cell, I think I posted about it here (x)
Cigar? Check. Gaudy shirt and vest combo? Check. Fur coat? Yes, all there. Now where is my wet rag of a wife, I need her to complete the outfit...
And really, you can SEE it in his face during the Marineford arc. That man doesn't want to be there, he wants to go home. Just look:
That pouty little face... Someone get him his soggy little chew toy or else...
All jokes aside, how much time passes between Alabasta and Marineford? A couple of weeks at best? I don't think the Marine will just let you wander freely, I think they'd keep you for some valuable intel at the very least (and if not for that, then to keep things under wraps). You poor thing, you've barely learned to tolerate strange men ducking into your room without flinching, have barely started to sleep again until the sailors around you are suddenly bustling about, preparing for something big - the Summit War comes and goes and to your horror, the very man you have just been freed from is at large again. Oh, you know he's coming. The people around you know it, too. Cry if you have to, it's not gonna keep him away.
No matter how much seastone they put on the doors, windows, walls, no matter how many people keep an eye on you - it's just a matter of time until you wake up to that familiar feeling of sharp metal right underneath your chin, to that smell of cigar smoke you've come to loathe so much. He'll be above you, clicking his tongue in the dark while he tries to get a look at you. Did they change your hair?, he'll ask instead of greeting you and you can tell that the thought makes him seethe. To think that one of these incompetent little fools had the brilliant idea to try to make you a little less recognizable in case you could slip away... Laughable and infuriating at the same time.
But it's alright, he's here and he'll never let you go again (but you already know that, he sees it in the way you shake and pout - to think he ever found that annoying, now it's a sight for sore eyes). He'll start something new, he's crafty like that. And you'll never want for anything.
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