#mutual devotion

[bpdohwhatajoy]

WHERE IS MY SWEEPING ROMANCE THAT’S LARGER THAN LIFE. WHERE IS MY MUTUAL OBSESSION. WHERE IS MY RECIPROCAL UNCONDITIONAL LOVE WHERE EVERY PART OF ME IS LOVED WHOLEHEARTEDLY. THE PARTS I TRY TO HIDE. THE PARTS I THINK ARE UGLY. THE PARTS I DIDNT EVEN KNOW EXISTED. WHERE I FEEL THEIR LOVE POURING FROM MY BELOVED WHICH ENCOMPASSES ME. WHERE IS MY ABSOLUTE DEVOTION. MY ENDURING LOVE THAT LASTS LONGER THAN IM ON THE PLANET.

#WHERE!!!!!!! #hopeless romantic #ryan.txt #bpd #borderline personality disorder #mutual obsession #mutual devotion #freeee meeee frommmm thissss worlddddd

[aha-my-villainous-thoughts]

sorry I am the way I am sometimes

For @nofeelingisfinall 💜

#boy (2010) #taika waititi #alamein #mutual pining #mutual devotion #for z #the biggest wettest eyes ever #the villain's art #illustration #boy #boy fanart #taika waititi fanart

[eye-scream-girls]

Happy birthday my one my beloved my wifey @sherlockig

You're such a light in this fandom, and I'm so blessed to count you as a friend 💜 hope you like this little portrait as a token of my devotion 😘

#she is the moment #sherlockig #mutual devotion #strawberry dress #digital art #portrait #the villain's art #femme #wlw love #wifey #god i love you #💜💜💜

[carryapartofmetoo]

If someone is willing to devote themselves to you, that's not something to be taken lightly. Don't say you're looking for your Gomez unless you're ready and joyfully able to be their Morticia. That energy needs to go both ways and it needs to be equal, otherwise all you're doing is using them and dressing it up in a romantic costume.

If you're fortunate enough to find the person who gives you that energy you crave, show them you're going to match it every step of the way.

#mutual devotion

[nerdyerror]

Obi Wan says that he no longer believes that Anakin can be saved but the MINUTE Anakin says “I made a mistake being evil :/” Obi Wan is right there to whisk him off to the force afterlife.

#obi wan and anakin #they love each other #obikin #but it doesnt have to be #mutual obsession #obiwan is devoted to him #anakin skywalker #darth vader #obi wan kenobi #star wars shitpost #star wars the return of the jedi

[ecoterrorist-katara]

Why I feel like Ka/taang is one-sided, despite textual evidence 

ATLA does try to convince us that Katara has romantic feelings for Aang. For example: she seems thoughtful when she realizes that Aang is a powerful bender; she’s offended that he didn’t want to kiss her in the Cave of Two Lovers; she gets jealous when Sokka says On Ji and Aang look good together.

So…what’s wrong with anti-Kataangers? Do we just lack media comprehension? 

To be clear, on their own, these gestures can indicate romantic interest. But at the same time, we have stuff like “Aang is a sweet little guy, like Momo.” We have her ambivalent facial expression after he kisses her before the eclipse, and her hedging during Ember Island Players, and her anger when he kisses her anyway. In the context of these conflicting cues, Katara’s possibly romantic reactions can absolutely be interpreted in a different way, because: 

Acknowledging a friend as a potential romantic interest is not the same as actually being romantically interested in them. (Imo this is something young women struggle with, due to a combination of romance-centrism and heteronormativity that make women feel like they should be in romantic relationships, and that boys and girls who share intimate and deep feelings for one another must be romantically into each other) 

Wanting someone to find you desirable is not the same as desiring that person. (Which is something a lot of women, especially young women, struggle with. Remember all the discourse around Cat Person back in 2017?) 

Being jealous when someone flirts with your friend is not the same as wanting to be with your friend. (Especially when you see your friends as family, or if you’re accustomed to a specific type of devotion from that friend. It is jealousy, and it is possessiveness, but it doesn’t always arise from romantic feelings) 

Growing up in a patriarchal society means that your desires are always filtered through what men want from you, sometimes in an abstract male gaze-y way, and sometimes in a very visceral and interpersonal way when a boy wants you specifically. And Katara’s reactions are just that — reactions. Reactions to what other people — including Aunt Wu, Sokka, Aang himself — have insinuated about her and Aang. She’s not really proactive in her interest in Aang: we don’t really see Aang, romantically, from Katara’s POV. Under the framework of “Katara is reacting to a romantic prospect she’s kind of uncertain about,” it is completely plausible — and indeed likely — that she would sometimes act in ways that indicate romantic interest, in addition to moments where she indicates the opposite. 

Ka/taang shippers often bring up other evidence, like Katara’s despair when Azula hits Aang with lightning, or how protective she is of him when Zuko joins the Gaang. The thing is, these pieces of evidence aren’t necessarily indicative of romantic love. The fact that Katara genuinely loves Aang makes the whole thing more complicated, not less, because — especially at that age, especially when Aang is twelve years old and grew up in a sex-segregated society of monks — it is really difficult to tell the difference between platonic love and romantic love. Their mutual devotion is layered and complex yet straightforward in its sincerity. What was not straightforward, until the last five minutes of the show, is whether this devotion on Katara’s end is romantic. The romantic arc for Katara and Aang is not really an arc, as Sneezy discusses in this classic ZK video. Katara actually becomes more conflicted over time and we never see an event that clarifies her feelings. She seems more interested in him in The Headband than on the Day of the Black Sun, and she has never been more hostile to his romantic overtures than in the penultimate episode. 

And in light of this, it’s pretty easy for fans to fill in the blanks with a different interpretation: maybe Katara’s weird expression after their kiss at the invasion means she didn’t enjoy it; maybe the kiss made her realize that she doesn’t actually feel that way about Aang; maybe against her will and her better judgement, she’s developing feelings for another person, a person who hurt her and whom she fervently tried to hate until he pulled off what is in my opinion the greatest grovel of all time in the form of a life-changing field trip. Maybe. Am I saying that Zutara has more romantic interactions than Ka/taang? Of course not. But ironically, the lack of romantic interactions means that it’s not inherently one-sided, the way Ka/taang became in the latter half of season 3.

I’m not arguing that Katara’s unequivocally not into Aang. Obviously the text declares that she is, because they get married and have kids. But I am saying that there’s a very good reason that so many people, especially women, see Katara’s interest in Aang as ambiguous. It’s not because we can’t pick up “subtle” hints of growing affection. It’s because we know not all affection is romantic, and it’s really easy for someone else’s insistent romantic intentions to muddle what you want.

P.S. I first started thinking about these topics (platonic vs romantic love, desiring someone vs wanting to be desired, etc) in the context of compulsory heterosexuality, a term describing how queer women contort themselves into relationships with men even if they’re not really into men. I saw a post a few days ago joking about why so many queer women seem to be into Zutara. I wonder if part of the reason is because as queer women, we are very sensitive to the ways in which we can talk ourselves into wanting things we don’t actually want, and Katara’s romantic interest in Aang can be easily seen that way. 

#Anti Kataang #Zutara #anti Bryke #Katara deserved better #From Bryke who offered her so little romantic agency #I actually think Aang and Katara’s mutual devotion is really compelling because the wires get crossed when you have such intense love #And navigating romantic vs platonic feelings can be very complicated and interesting #but no we did not get that bc I guess they just had to end with a romance however shoddily developed #my meta

[crushingcasanova]

There is no bigger form of romance than dedicating a blog to someone.

#casanova's posts #I keep seeing all my mutuals with their devoted blogs and it's cute and nostalgic sigh #yan blog #yancore #yanblr #yandere tendencies #soft yandere #love #yandere #irl yandere #yandere blog #irl yan #yandere girl #yandere things #yandere community #yandere thoughts #obslove #obsessed #obsessive love #actually obsessive #obsessive yandere #obsessive #obsessive thoughts #obsession #lovesick #lovesick core #possessive #obssesive #yandere gf #possesive love

[yumaisbored]

there’s something inherently pathetic about devoted love, but what’s so wonderful about tgcf is it presents this vulnerability as something beautiful rather than something to be ashamed of. like if you just objectively look at Hua Cheng’s statements about how the person he loves could throw his ashes aside and he wouldn’t care, that’s just objectively kind of pathetic (in the most literal sense of arousing pity due to vulnerability). to have that level of devotion and trust regardless of whether or not it is/will be reciprocated. the idea that the person you love might hurt you, might be cruel to you, might cast you aside, but that you’ll let them do what they will. and, Hua Cheng is actually open about his love and devotion, proud of it even. he doesn’t attempt to hide his devotion to Xie Lian (yeah he has brief moments of embarrassment, but he never pretends that he wouldn’t do literally anything for XL). and Hua Cheng is so incredibly powerful despite this vulnerability, despite his love, instead it even is a large part of what encouraged him to become stronger and better in the first place. like this kind of love isn’t even just the type of love where you’d die for your beloved, it’s the type of love where you’d happily hand over your weapon and let them kill you with it.

#xl absolutely deserves to be loved like this #yes i’m aware xl loves hc too and they’re mutually devoted to each other #but that’s not what i’m talking abt rn #hualian #hua cheng #san lang #xie lian #tgcf #tian guan ci fu #heaven official's blessing

[swaggypsyduck]

inspired by @seedlessmuffins and the 2023 monza gp

#smthn smthn desire as blood #smthn smthn devotion as devouring #ferrari as a means to an end #carlos sainz jr #charlos #charles leclerc #c2 #c square #1655 #cl16 #cs55 #web weaving #mutuals who dont like this ship look away

[zalrb]

#I'M ALL ABOUT THAT INTENSE MUTUAL DEVOTION #woo do hwan #lee sang yi #bloodhounds #kdrama

[see-arcane]

considering it was the late 1800s, do you think Seward and VH are oblivious to Jonathan's watchfulness because Stoker couldn't justify writing Jonathan implying that "vampirism and blasphemy are fine if it's for Mina, actually" beyond his initial declaration? We don't seem to get much more of it directly from Jonathan's entries either after that, just by implication.

I wouldn't be surprised if that was a factor.

Considering all the very potent metaphors at work in the premise of 'God has denied love and protection to my beloved over X Violation and/or X State of Being which is beyond their control, and I have decided our love is more holy than any decision of the Almighty, and I would rather be a monster with her than shun/destroy her As Is the Righteous Thing to Do,' Stoker was already dancing on the edge of acceptability with Jonathan making his secret vow even once.

But thankfully, that single vow--and the adamant refusal to even pretend to make a new 'Yes honey, I will absolutely vampire martyr-murder you like a good Christian boy! God says it's chill just like it was for Lucy and everyone else Dracula has snacked on for untold centuries! God's will be done!'--likely flew over a lot of heads back in the day (as it does now) and simply landed in a lot of hearts with the more obvious factor of...

"Oh. He is literally willing to brave Hell and eternal damnation as the conscripted undead, possibly even cutting down his stake-wielding friends, just to protect and be with his beloved? ...That's kind of hot."

Especially during a period when romance was basically just a bonus to tack on to the Job of Being Married. Jonathan Harker is proven multiple times to be the un-Victorian Victorian man, running from the Brides (mistress stand-ins), happily letting his wife take the lead and holding her up as his equal until he's peer pressured out of it (which leads to dangerous consequences! Social mores fucked everything up! And He Only Follows New Directions with Mina's Approval Going Forward!), and now here's this romantic motherfucker ready to skin Dracula and French kiss the Devil so long as it sees his beloved safe and un-slaughtered, even if she isn't ~perfect and saintly and non-monstrous~.

Girls gays and goths of 1897 were definitely fanning themselves at the next tea party book club once they reached October 3rd.

Even without the ell gee bee tee undertones to glean from Stoker's own romantic leanings, the idea of 'selfish' personal love, of a mere human being, getting held up as more important than God, someone worth Hell, was extremely spicy to depict during that period. If Stoker had had Jonathan repeating himself over and over regarding his secret plans, it would have started to sound a bit like writing a smitten Poe protagonist. Which would also be sexy! But it'd risk taking some of the heroic shine off of him towards the end.

Better to let it hang over the narrative's neck in silence like an axe waiting to fall.

Or a kukri.

#in all ways but physical I am sitting with my Dracula book club mutuals around the tea service in 1897 making Poignant Eye Contact #as we all talk about Jonathan Harker's spiciness the way Jack Seward talks about his iciness #'I love the plot' we say; daydreaming about a Beloved so devoted they'd do an anime transformation and slaughter our enemies for us #jonathan harker #dracula #re: dracula #dracula daily

[aha-my-villainous-thoughts]

Trying to post this on twitter and that shitty app won't let me. Anyway, this is me staring lovingly at my bae @sugashook for all of her sexy art I can plaster on all my belongings 💜💜💜

#sugashook #no one is doing it like sugashook is doing it #mutual devotion

[eye-scream-girls]

Tagged by @serious-goose - this was hard but also really cute!! No one judge my music tastes, I will cry.

Tagging @sherlockig @blakbonnet @bizarrelittlemew @mxmollusca @ourflagmeansgayrights @davidhole @caerbannogbunny @dickfuckk @as-a-creww @spookygayferret @sugashook @saltpepperbeard @myflagmeansace @vampirebutterflies @flightoftheconnie and anyone else who wants to join in 💜 I'm really bad at remembering urls properly so if I missed someone, sorry, I have face blindness for urls

#mutual pining #mutual devotion #tag game #music tastes

[iceunhie]

lord knows how much I love Wanderer Kunikuzushi Scaramouche Balladeer 6th of the eleven Harbingers Shouki no Kami the Prodigal the Everlasting Lord of Arcane Wisdom Hat Guy Eccentric Puppet Beautiful Puppet born with a face Fairer than any other Kuronoshi

I'm totally normal about him. uh huh.

*nods head furiously*

#mhie rambles #if any of my mutuals see this no u dont #guys im totally normal #totally didnt copypaste a pledge about him devoting my entire being towards him and write like 2 loveletters to him and brainrot about him #24/7 please thats fiddlesticks! i totally donr associate every little romantic song in my playlist with a prompt of a fic about him #totally. yeah. mhm. #scaramouche

[limonjarritos]

VINCE IS SO DOWN BAD FOR RODY OH MY GOD??? LITERALLY KILLS HIS EX GIRLFRIEND TO MAKE HIM HAPPY???? THEYVE KNOWN EACH OTHER LESS THAN A WEEK??????

LITERALLY LIKE- MY MAN FELL HARD AND INSANELY. LIKE WHO DOES THAT? I wouldn't have it any other way. Just the way that as soon as Rody came into his life he was like 'I need this man to be so whole-y mine.'

When I was playing the game my pet theory was that he fell for Rody's brand of love, for how he loved Manon (he did say that he spoke of Manon when they first met) and Rody's personality.

(read more because I am so annoying about this game vv)

Something something, how Rody loves so intensely to the detriment of himself (Manon told him to stop giving, to for once in his life realise that he needed to take care of him self and be stable. He can't just account for the other person's needs <- barely know her but I get why Rody was head over heels). How Rody's love is similar to his cooking, burning, burning himself, burning and oh so overwhelming. And I do think Vince wanted the feel of that burn for himself, wanted to feel the warmth and devotion of which he had been so devoid of. To understand what it was he was lacking. How love and cooking go hand in hand in the story, how Vince's dishes were devoid of love, how he can't taste. How Rody's love surely would be strong enough, would be the missing ingredient to allow him to finally taste something. (Also lack of taste going hand in hand with what looks like depression of some sort, or perhaps just apathy for life. How bland his own life may be. How such a love, such a person could perhaps bring some taste to his life.) Vince seems to have killed Manon as a form of trying to show Rody a similar type of love. Giving him something, giving him a meal made out of Rody's own love. A gift since he couldn't give his own brand of love in a way that matters, couldn't give it without showing his own brand of devotion. I do think he 100% had an underlying jealousy and hatred of Manon, how Rody was still stuck up on her. How she never once mentioned Rody when her and Vince dated (though outside of Vince's pov I'm pretty sure Manon was just doing the healthy normal thing by not mentioning an ex?? but Vince is soooo gone) which is obviously a sin (he doesn't seem to take kindly to people who are mean to Rody. Such as the article and Rody's old college classmate) and proof she wasn't deserving enough of Rody's love. But alas she was still a gift and show of love to Rody.

On the personality topic (thought I forgot about that did you?), Rody is such a brash and kind person. A perfect foil for Vincent's more stoic nature. Rody willing to try and befriend Vincent, running into the kitchen to talk to him. He showed a bit of said love to Vince by trying to befriend him and how could Vince not want more? (why wouldn't Vince try to reciprocate in his own way. Make him happy) I mean he seems pretty feared by his cooks, and the people at the party have mentioned that Vince is pretty ruthless, not at all a person many wish to get to know. But Rody is willing to, yet Vince wants his undivided attention...

Okay wow this has gone on way too long uhh I'm 100% open to further discussion especially if I forgot something! And I haven't really looked too much into the game past playing it, so any reveals the creator may have given I'm mostly unaware of and would love to be informed of more!

Anyways tiny Vincent attack!

#dead plate #long post #limon answers #sorry omg im so like mentally ill #i could go into symbolism more but my ass like- i realised i already wrote a nonsensical essay #something something. vince fell fast and hard and tried to cope in his own way #im so curious as to both of their backstories actually #only negative about the game is that they're french. losses here. but i forget like the whole time about their frenchness #i just woke up btw. so first thing on my mind today is them <3 #have i mentioned that vince is my favourite character. idk if thats obvious? #oh and also how cannibalism isnt actually inherent to vince's character like. idk something about that is so interesting.- #how he finds the concept of serving others to his customers vile and just randomly eating others distasteful. like do you guys understand. #the devotion #sorry guys this is cakeverse to me.... #thank you beloved mutual for allowing me to be ill about them #tw blood #limon.txt

[liquidstar]

This is such a tangent btw but on the topic of guilt tripping and reblogs... I remember a few years back there were some terrible fires in Greece (and again this year, entire island villages are gone now) and at that time I had family who were caught in them. I can't describe the desperation I felt with these horrible things happening to my family and loved ones in my country. And I remember being frustrated and desperate with how no one around me in America really seemed to give a shit. I remember blogging asking people to PLEASE care please share something please reblog this link for mutual aid please think about the stories and fires etc etc etc. And the thing is I was very much in a state of grief myself, maybe not every word or action was perfectly reasonable, because I don't realistically expect everyone everywhere to care about every tragedy in the world. You can't. Emotionally it's just not possible, especially with all the stuff going on in the states rn too. Yeah it's a lot. It's not like I blog about every tragedy that ever happens either. I understand.

HOWEVER what I also remember was at this time there were a couple mutuals very clearly making vagueposts along the lines of "remember not everyone has the energy to care about everything in the world uwu" while I was posting about family who died and family who were drifting in the ocean for hours as their homes and loved ones burned. Listen. You have to understand sometimes that when a person in grief and frustration with things going on in their countries and communities impacts them very personally beg you to care... It's coming from a place of needing to see that care in the world in general. They're not holding a gun to your head Specifically saying you have to reblog the posts, if you don't have the energy just ignore it.

You don't have to go out of your way saying "um actually I can't care about the horrible stuff you and your family and your country are experiencing rn. I'm too busy focusing on my own stuff so can you be quiet or more reasonable with your grief thanks." Like. Just keep it to yourself then??? Have some fucking sympathy for other people and understand that maybe it's not always logical. The same way you don't have the emotional energy to think about every tragedy in the world, people who've been impacted by them often don't have the emotional energy to handle that alone and may seek somekinda community or solidarity. Idk. It's not about forcing shit on you sometimes it's not about you

#part of me thinks the 'we don't have time to care about everything all the time' has set us back a bit because it gets used as an excuse #bc most of the time no one is like asking you to become a hardcore advocate for every cause ever they're just saying like #hey reblog this donation post. and like I'm going to be real how much possible emotional energy is that really taking from you #compared to the actual activism the statement was meant for and such. like come on #surely less than complaining about people having the gull to ask you to give a shit right? #you can still have sympathy for multiple things without necessarily devoting a lot of your energy to said things you know? #doesn't mean you have to surround yourself with them to become the perfect most progressive activist or whatever #but you can like. idk. express sympathy or condolences in passing every now and then. like people normally do. idk #instead of being like 'how dare you ask me to care! there's issues in my own country i have to blog about!' are you for fucking real #but yeah enough time has passed that i can think more rationally about this and now know that that was a careless response #exactly the type of people you were afraid of being the representatives of the worlds apathy in your greif etc #but there are also people who do care is the thing #and obviously for the record I'm not mutuals w the former anymore bc like Christ