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#why are these two so immensely tragic
tagasaing · 1 month
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i have to get this out of the way, re: dungeon meshi discussions
major spoilers ahead, obviously.
you know for a series that focuses so much on platonic and familial relationships it’s weird that dungeon meshi has attracted so much useless ship wars though. the most important driving force in the story is two sibling relationships (laios’s search for falin, thistle’s search for delgal) and one of the central themes is how loving others way too much can lead to your downfall (thistle’s desperate attempt to keep his loved ones leads to his mental state deteriorating so much he starts torturing people he claims to protect, marcille’s fear of losing her friends leads to her being easily manipulated by the main antagonist)
even with regards to falin. thistle wants to bring the ‘brother’ he raised back at all costs, he saw a young human woman as nothing more than a dragon, his tool. marcille wants to bring falin back at all costs, she didn’t care about the repercussions of using monster meat instead of animal meat even though she was an expert at ancient magic and should know why it’s such a dangerous practice.
each and every single one of the major characters has some form of tragedy with their family one way or another: the toudens, marcille and her dad. chilchuck and his wife. senshi’s entire backstory. izutsumi’s hidden desire for a mother. namari’s father. shuro and his family. kabru and his mother(both tallman and elf). mithrun and his brother. thistle and the melinis.
even some of the minor characters: flamela and her dead twin sister. the twins and the floke couple. kuro being the closest mickbell has to a family. etc etc
as someone who has reread this manga several times by now, i wonder if people just… read it once as fast as they could and act like they’re some sort of authority on fan discussion. i’ve seen people brag about reading the entire thing in one sitting as if it’s something to be proud of. this manga isn’t meant to be read that fast, that’s how you get people claiming that laios doesn’t reaaally love falin as much as marcille does.
to these people, laios just gets in the way, as if it wasn’t his idea to go down the dungeon in the first place, it wasn’t him who said his pain doesn’t matter because falin suffered more than him, it wasn’t him who felt immense guilt for leaving falin behind, it wasn’t him who found her skull, it wasn’t him who killed her to save her from her chimera form. i feel like people forget about the ‘too’ part when marcille said “i miss falin too”
marcille knows how much falin and laios love each other. that’s why she asked him if she’s allowed to resurrect her and didn’t act on her own. that’s why when both times a shapeshifting monster copied marcille to trick laios, it was what she looked like at the time she was reviving falin.
as someone who DOES ship farcille, none of the romance is canon. this isn’t meant to be anti-farcille. one of the post-canon comics is about falin gently turning down shuro because she wants to travel the world, “you can’t tie a dragon down” after all. she wants to travel the world and find herself because she doesn’t know who she is outside of marcille and laios. even marcille, who was hoping she’d reject him, tears up because of how beautiful and tragic it was.
there are a lot of ship teases because what author doesn’t like a good ship tease. but to say that dungeon meshi is a romantic love more than it is a story about family(both real and found) is a great misinterpretation of the text.
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burstfoot · 5 months
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Your name is Kristen Wright. You’re barely 10. You’re at the outdoor funeral for your parents, a pair of genius scientists that Terra will never see again. You’ve spent the last two weeks giving false smiles to women and men who pretend to grieve them while spending every moment they think you’re not looking lauding them for their ‘foolishness’ and ‘hubris’. Sitting amongst a crowd of these intellectuals, your feel nothing looking at their crocodile tears, knowing they’re just happy there’s less competition for next year’s grants. Your new guardian grabs onto your hand in an attempt to grant you a modicum of comfort. You stare blankly at the sky above.
You’ve never felt so alone. You don’t think this feeling will ever go away.
Your name is Joyce Moore. You can hardly communicate anymore. Your best friend killed herself trying to replicate the experiment that gave you permanent brain damage. Every scientist at Rhine Lab now treats you like a child at best, and an animal at worst. Your parents have not come to see you. None of your colleagues seem to understand that you are still you, with a sense of humour, good taste in TV shows, and fucking feelings, god damn it.
You’ve never felt so alone. You don’t think this feeling will ever go away.
Your name is Ferdinand Clooney. You’ve lost everything you’ve ever worked for in a futile grab for power. The department of defense has you by the dick after saving you from a group of Pioneers who (justifiably) nearly beat you half to death. It’s playing fiddle to their whims or the rest of your life in prison - or, most realistically, a tragic accident report. Your aspirations aren’t within your reach anymore, and you know that it’s your fault. You will never be Kristen Wright, and it’s eating you alive.
You’ve never felt so alone. You don’t think this feeling will ever go away.
Your name is Parvis Ahrens. You’re not that old. You’re only 58. But you’re losing your mind. Every day, a little more slips away. You rely more and more on encyclopedic entries for information you took immense pride in knowing from your heart. You’ve spent the last few years focused on the pursuit of progress of all else. As part of this, you manipulated your star pupil in an attempt to permanently get her under your wing, outside of the influence of the Defense Director, a weak-hearted woman everyone else seems to think is cold as ice. She has years of life to change Columbian science. You don’t.
You’ve never felt so alone. You don’t think this feeling will ever go away.
Your name is Jara B. Wilson. You feel like you don’t see the girl who lived for you with so long in Kristen anymore. You’re a washed-up movie star, working for her cause above all else. Do you have anything that you’re working for for yourself anymore? She’ll be gone soon. You know that.
She hasn’t even left yet, and you’ve never felt so alone. You don’t think this feeling will ever go away once she leaves.
Your name is Nasti Londrey. Your people have never had a home. They might never have a home.
You’ve always felt alone. You will always be alone. That’s fine.
Your name is Justin Fitzroy Jr. Your dad died a week ago, and the cure has just been found for the hereditary illness that threatens to cut your lifespan in half. It was found by accident.
The sword of Damacles no longer hangs above your neck. Why then, do you still feel so alone?
Your name is Loken Williams. You reach out to a girl you tortured, who you know can’t remember what you did to her, because you’re going to die soon, and you need someone to remember what you did with your life.
Even if she kills you, at least you won’t die alone.
Your name is Trevor Friston. It’s been thousands of years down here. You just want to see your daughter again, and it will be another thousand until you do.
You’re very familiar with the loneliness that wraps around every single nanometer of your circuit board.
Your name is Dorothy Franks. Your whole family was killed in a Catastrophe. Your name is Elena Urbica. Your whole family, besides your twin sister, has disowned you. Your drive yourself head-first into the sciences to distract yourself from the loneliness.
Your name is Ho’olheyak. Centuries of ancestral memories swarm around your mind. Because of this, your lifespan was cut to a fraction of the life you should be living. You are obsessed with the history of your people, and you resent them from tearing your life away from you. You tear over books and tomes of history to find all means of unspeakable knowledge, hoping that somewhere in there you’ll find something that you can connect to.
You don’t even know you’re lonely.
Your name is Muelsyse.
You saw the writing on the wall. Saria and Kristen just had a massive fight. You’ve been drifting apart since college, but the only two people who you’ve felt a real connection to on all of Terra will hardly speak to each other anymore. Do you try and mend what happened between them? Can you? You don’t know what to do besides take all means to protect yourself in the fallout. You wish you weren’t so paranoid, so self-centered, that all you know how to do is ensure your own safety.
Is there anything on Terra for you besides loneliness?
Your name is Ifrit. It’s cold, and quiet, and you’re pretty sure you’ve killed everyone around you. Your eyes are blurred, you hands are shaky, and shards of black crystal stick out all over your body. Before you pass out, you think one thing:
Hell, you might be alone, but at least those bastard whitecoats got what was coming to them.
Your name is Olivia Silence. You pull yourself out of the rubble in a destroyed laboratory, where you see Saria looming over Ifrit, beaten half-to-death. You beat yourself up for thinking you could trust her - that she was there to protect Ifrit, and you. You can’t trust anyone in Columbia. You run to embrace Ifrit with your entire body, to protect her from the cold eyes of Saria standing above her. You look back at her with nothing but fear in your eyes.
You’ve never felt so alone. You have to get Ifrit out of Rhine.
Your name is Saria. You’re barely 8 years old. You went your father in tears, as a group of bullies came after you and destroyed your toy car. He tells you to stop crying. You’re not accomplishing anything by throwing a fit in front of him. He tells you to fight back - take responsibility for your weakness.
You’ve never felt so alone.
You won’t ever be this weak again.
Staring up at the sky, looking up as Kristen’s ark sends her out through the hole she tore in the false sky, you know that you were foolish to believe you could bypass your own weakness through sheer will.
And you’ll be lonely for the rest of your life without her.
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whalesforhands · 9 months
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MY GOD YOUR GETO X READER X GOJI FICS SCRATCH AN ITCH IN MY BRAIN AND THE SHOKO CRUSH ADDITION?!?!? ABSOLUTELY DIVINE I TELL YOU!!!! Part 3 had me hurting ngl like ouch man but it inspired some angst *rubs hands evilly* what if one day after a tough mission reader is just feeling super down and tired and weak and is abt to cry and runs into Gojo and Geto who (not knowing any better) start teasing her abt her abilities and cursed technique etc not knowing her mental state and she just snaps and starts crying and yelling at them abt if all they think of her is a joke then they should just leave her alone instead of messing around with her feelings and runs off. Shoko is the one to find her and comforts her while Gojo and Geto are left gobsmacked and stricken with guilt. I’ll let you imagine how they realize what idiots they are and try to fix their huge screwup. Also I’m so glad you’re writing for Geto x reader x Gojo there’s hardly any fics on here with that pairing and not smut (not that I don’t love that too but I want PAIN and DRAMA and SHENANIGANS) and your fics give me just that so ty
anon i’m going to cry i finally got another ask. i thought ppl hated me bro. ur so cute for such a detailed and compliment filled ask, anon
i write 2 gs x reader bcs it never feels right knowing that they are without each other. i need them to be happy 😭😭
anyways, eat up
dread creeps around the corner (gojo x reader x geto, shoko x reader)
warnings: angst to fluff, y’all making me consider quitting smut writing to become a full time PG writer cause these are way more fun
You think the weariness of life is catching up to you.
Your body felt heavy, your feet dragging as your back was hunched over. Your staff strapped to your back as your eyesight started to blur.
Your backpack seems even heavier today too. You were sure you packed light.
Another mission, another near-miss. How many times would you be able to just make it out with your life? How many times until your luck finally ran out?
Why weren’t you improving? Why weren’t your techniques breaking past their limit quicker? What are you doing wrong?
Why are you so weak?
Perhaps you just aren’t cut out for savi- No.
You shake your head, trying to rid yourself of those thoughts as you sense the familiar energy begin to surround you.
“Little Miss Barrierrrrrr!” An arm latched itself onto your shoulders as weight suddenly pressed itself down onto you, the sudden pressure causing you to stumble backwards, only for the arm to support you and keep you upright on your feet.
“How was your mission?” Gojo’s loud voice rang throughout your ears, it’s sheer volume grating and painful. His hand going round to the strap of your backpack, tugging it off of you and onto his own shoulder.
The other presence flanked your side, before you felt the weight of your staff disappear from your back, leaving you empty handed as the two sorcerers smiled down at you.
You took a breath in.
“It… It was-“ Horrible. Tragic. You survived by the skin of your teeth once again. You struggled to find the strength to describe it in more detail.
“Fine.”
Gojo grins as you felt Geto’s hand pat your head.
“Sounds like code for, ‘You struggled!’” He laughs, patting your back. “My Six Eyes tell me your cursed energy barely improved after that mission too. Should I ask Yaga to assign you harder ones? Maybe with us?”
Your body stills. It… Barely improved? You gave that mission your best shot.
You heard Suguru laugh as he smacked Satoru’s arm, ridding his arm off your shoulder as he replaced it with his own.
“It’s alright,” Suguru began. “Don’t listen to him. Improving takes time anyway.”
Takes… Time? How hypocritical does he have to be to tell you that? He, along with the gifted Gojo Satoru, had immense cursed energy from the beginning. Their talent innate, their improvement expedited with little to no training.
Self-sufficient, talented, never having to try too hard to far surpass the standards of average. Exceptional. Things that you never were, never will be.
Frustration had built up, your emotions starting to light aflame. With desperation, with aggravation. Why did it always feel like they looked down upon you?
“Helloooo? Earth to Miss Protection? Ya there?” Gojo waved his hand in front of your face.
Seeing no response, he reached a hand out to caress your cheek.
“Gosh, if you’re going to be so distracted, I might just ki-“
You slap his hand away before he could touch you. Eyes alight with anger, you looked straight at him, throwing Geto’s arm off your shoulders.
“If you think I’m so weak, then just leave me alone!”
The air grew tense. Your tears were beginning to well up.
“I- I know I’m weak, okay?! You don’t have to rub it in all the time! B-but I’ve tried! I’ve tried too hard for you to tell me that I’m not doing enough!” The dam broke, your cheeks streaked with your tears as your stutters caused you to grow embarrassed.
Why can’t you even express your anger more courageously?
You turned tailed and ran away. Your sobs making themselves more apparent the more you ran, the more your legs burned.
You were such an embarrassment.
Settling by a creek, your legs bundled up to your chest as you cried into your knees. You don’t know how long you’ve been here crying your stress out. Your eyes were puffy, stress not leaving your body as you sat still, listening to the gentle pitter patter of the rain beginning to fall upon you.
Can the day really not get any worse?
You wanted to laugh at yourself as you felt the rain begin to drench your uniform. It was your last clean one. You need to do the laundry again soon.
As the rain poured down on you, it suddenly stopped. A shadow had overcome your figure, providing you shelter.
Cigarette smoke and a hint of a citrusy fragrance.
Shoko.
“I thought I’d find you here.”
You stay silent. You didn’t expect to be found. Nor did you even feel like talking right now. You bury your face deeper into your folded arms, trying to hide. You don’t want to be seen as weak by Shoko.
It stays that way for a moment. Silent, besides the gentle patter of the rain.
“It’s not,” She began. “It’s not weak to cry when you’re sad. Not in front of me.” Assurance. She was comforting you.
You felt her settle next to you, getting her skirt wet.
She gently adjusted your head to rest on her shoulder.
“Cry all you want. I’ll be here.”
And you did. Sobbing, fingers digging into her uniform as your tears and snot mixed into her clothing.
You didn’t notice her other shoulder getting wet with rain as she held the umbrella up over the both of you.
——
You were holding her arm with both of your own as she walked you back to the dorms.
You were ready to take a shower, collapse onto your bed and cry even more. Too much stress has built up.
What you didn’t expect was to see the duo settled on your carpeted floor.
They scrambled up to their feet almost instantaneously.
You sniffled, your eyes red and weary as you held Shoko’s arm tighter.
Geto spoke first, a hand of his outstretched to touch you before he willed it back to his side. “I- We’re very sorry. It wasn’t our intention to hurt you.”
He never wanted to make you feel inferior.
Gojo’s eyes were downcast, sight seemingly stuck to the floor before he raised his gaze to be directly looking at you.
“You’re not weak. You just need more training.”
Geto elbowed his side as you heard Shoko sighed exasperatedly beside you.
“Ow!” The white haired sorcerer exclaimed. “Oh, and uh, I- I’m sorry… Too.” He rubbed at his torso where Suguru had landed his hit.
“Hopeless…” You heard her murmur. Strangely, you didn’t feel taken aback by Gojo’s seemingly insincere apology.
You found it funny. You giggled, desperately trying to not let them see as a hand came up to slap itself over your mouth, your eyes beginning to light up with joy.
“It’s-“ You tried to speak through your silent laughter. “It’s- Okay.” Getting ahold of yourself, you remove your hand.
“I forgive you.” You smiled.
“We bought you pizza as an apology by the way.”
“You’ll join us, right?”
masterlist
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Geto, Gojo and Shoko thought your laughter was cute, especially after seeing how hard you cried.
Surprisingly, Geto and Gojo were fighting over who was to pay for the pizzas. They both wanted to pay for you. Shoko watched, amused by their fighting as she paid for it at the counter whilst they were too busy wrestling.
You never thought you’d get so hungry after crying so hard. You ate nearly half of the whole damn thing before Geto went to order some more.
Gojo thought it was adorable how you were stuffing your cheeks like a pig.
Shoko licked some sauce off your face as you were eating, you blushed so hard and told her she’d make an amazing wife.
“Just because of some sauce?!?! I can do that too-!”
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furicookiebndz · 2 months
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Lucifer x !FemReader : My old friend
Hello everyone, it is my first time writing this, i hope it will be good enough, have fun! This fan art isn't mine. Full credits to the amazingly talented artist/creator.
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It has been thousands of years since evil began.
Lucifer, whose pride blinded him, attempted to dethrone the creator, only to ultimately fail and be banished from Paradise.
Lilith, who refused to submit to Adam, in turn fled from this magical place, but which hides many facades.
Yet few people know that with them, a third person flew out of Paradise. And even rarer are people who know the cause, 3 to be precise.
However, behind this unusual act lie very dark secrets, seen as…
-Can you stop, Vag'? You're giving me a headache.
The young woman turned her head towards the source of this execrable voice, a spider who was visibly lying carefree on the sofa, arms behind her head, a bored expression on her face.
Refraining from answering him, she continued:
Tragic, some thought it was another rebellious woman, others a fallen angel because of a serious crime, but that wasn't logical, what's worse than to confront the creator?"
-That doesn't help all of us, the young woman noted, running her hand through her hair, frustrated.
-It would be beneficial to have her on our side, especially if she has such a significant influence on the world of the living and beyond, Charlie concluded thoughtfully.
-But she hid from the world, living as a hermit. Many think it's a myth, but given what's been happening lately, I believe it's much more present than sinners think.
Vaggie rubbed her temples, trying to come up with an idea.
-Who the hell are you talking about? I hate it when you pretend to be Sherlock and leave me like the old cookie in the back of the cupboard.
-Are you interested in what we do? retorted Vaggie sarcastically
-No, more about why you were busting my balls, joked Angel.
-You don't even have one, asshole, mumbled quietly Husk, taking a sip of his cheap booze.
-Want to check~? It is free for you kitty cat.
-Not even for a thousand balls, growled quietly Husk, who was beginning to lose his patient.
-Ouuh finally a price there is progress, Daddy, the spider sent him a kiss
Alastor, who was reading a book by the fireplace, decided to speak
-Charlie, Darling, you seem concerned about this person Let me see…
He seemed surprised for a moment, before smiling more, if possible.
-My my, what a terrible coincidence. The person you are looking for is one of the most sought after. Didn't Lucifer tell you about Lady (Y/N)?
-Um… We're not exactly talking about all that-
“Daddy issues,” Husk muttered.
Alastor continued:
-As reported in this document, she flew away shortly after your parents. She was a person living in Heaven, she was not human, but not an angel entirely though, she had two pairs of wings, although she is the appearance of a mortal, yet she had her own power, not to be underestimated. She embodied humor, justice and determination. In short, all these things that are way too boring-
-Cut it short, Alastor, Vaggie said, snapping her fingers.
-But when Lucifer challenged God, she did not follow him, not because she had to beat him, but because he knew just as well as she did that what he was doing was wrong. For the first time in her life she felt an immense disappointment in the love he had once inspired in her, and the semblance of a relationship that was perhaps tending to end disappeared with the appearance of the first demon, your father, Charlie.
However, you are aware that shortly after the creation of Lilith, she quickly became friends with your mother, and when she flew away from Paradise, and she learned the cause, she entered in a black anger, so black that Gabriel had difficulty in containing it, Until then, she had always been obedient, never contesting the decisions, which were of infallible Justice, but this departure had torn away part of her herself. She confronted the lord, she tried to rally the others to her cause, but nothing changed. Disappointed, she left that place, and no one ever saw her again.
There was a heavy silence for a moment, before Angel said:
-So…Is she still a virgin?
Vaggie rolled her eyes before Charlie had an idea:
I'm sure she's not that far away. Maybe I should ask my father to contact her again. She must care about him, at least I hope so, and if I convince her, Gabriel won't be able to object!
Vaggie refrained from adding a comment, she knew it was too good to be able to do it, but in front of her girlfriend's adorable face, she couldn't refuse anything.
______________________________________________________________
-No, Lucifer said firmly, before Charlie could even finish his idea.
-But dad-
-End of discussion, I don't want to hear anything, he turned around and mechanically squeezed the rubber duck in his hand, like an anti-stress ball.
Lucifer seemed elsewhere, deep in thought. His friend, his old friend…
.
.
.
“Luciferrrrr!” A burst of joy appeared as she walked towards him, a smile on her lips, a book in her hands.
Lucifer as usual had a lyre in his hands. He looked up at Y/N and smiled.
One discussion led to another, he shared his ideas about the mortal world, while she agreed with some and shared her opinion on others. They would sometimes just stay silent, or she would read aloud from a book, and he would then accompany her with his lyre.
Such a beautiful memory…
.
.
.
Why Lucifer?! Why did you do this?
This same friend was there with her eyes filled with tears, disappointed in him.
Lucifer looked down. One mistake, just one mistake, had caused him to lose those he considered family, and his closest friend.
He wanted to tell her that it was just a misunderstanding, that it was for the best, but the damage was already done.
He took Lilith's hand and without a word, left for their new home.
The young woman, in tears, could only watch them leave, the man she loved and her friend, without being able to do anything, because her principles prevented her. Gabriel placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, and said nothing. If she knew, he couldn't imagine how she would have reacted
.
.
.
-Dad?
Lucifer seemed to come out of his thoughts and focused on a family portrait. Lilith was already gone, after their separation he only had his daughter left, and after a second of thought he sighed and said:
-I'll see what I can do…
-It's true? Oh thank you Dad, thank you thank you thank you!, cried Charlie enthusiastically.
She took him in her arms, and Lucifer said to himself that finally, if having a hug from his daughter meant having to seek the 7 rings of Hell and even the beyond, he would do it without complaining.
Now all that remained was to find it, the most complicated part…
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Lucifer, Charlie and the hotel members thought for several days, using all their knowledge and powers to find her. If she was neither in Hell, nor in Heaven, or even in the mortal world, she must be between the latter options-
Lucifer suddenly had an idea, remembering a conversation they had shared long ago, and he cast an incantation, which opened a portal to a world- no, a unique place, so messy and blurry, and yet so… familiar, as if he were…
“In the middle of a dream,” Charlie whispered softly. The rest of the team followed her, looking around curiously. Lucifer asked himself so many questions, was it a place where souls rested between life and death? He did not know it. After all, the soul left the body for a while when it slept, that would explain the place.
-Who are you? I sense human souls, but something else…
They saw several women advancing, of great beauty, similar to fairies, but armed, ready to defend themselves, if it was not for another who stopped them by raising her hand, she advanced slowly, and Lucifer recognized her completely. right now.
-(Y/N)..Lucifer seemed upset to see her, and tried to pull himself together by talking to himself. "Ok, Ok. It's going to be okay buddy, you can do it, you can do it", When he met her gaze, he lost all his courage and hid behind Charlie.
-Dad!
-What? I-I'm just covering your back Charlie.
-At least what I thought of you is true, you're just a sissy Lucifer, Alastor sneered.
You looked at him for a moment, the man you had loved for thousands of years, it was..strange. You didn't know whether you should greet him or hit him.
-Lucifer, what is the honor of this visit worth to me? In 10,000 years you have never had the decency to come visit me.
Sarcasm. Something unusual about you, he couldn't help but admire you. Your two pairs of wings were now grey, but your eyes were still this soft (e/c) shade, but now full of resentment, and perhaps.. mockery?
-And you, you must be his daughter, mhh?
You moved closer to her and observed her suspiciously, while she was sweating profusely, and Vaggie seemed on the edge on attacking you, and to her surprise, you smiled widely and took her in your arms, with surprising strength.
-My lord you are his carbon copy, so pretty~, you squish her cheek cheeks and gush about her, while she laughs awkwardly.
Everyone was stunned by how fast the tension dissipates, and the women behind you giggle, seemingly aware by how fast your emotions tend to change. Lucifer smiles, maybe he still had a chance..
-But you seem so polite, unlike some, you cast a dark look at Lucifer, and greeted the others with a sympathetic and curious look, their offering to sit down for a while to talk.
...maybe not finally.
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-If I understood everything, you created a hotel to rehabilitate sinners… and are trying to convince Heaven, is that right?
She nodded and Lucifer tried to add something, but you stopped him:
-I don't speak with traitors and liars, especially if they forget to send me a life message for eons.
Lucifer doesn't say anything wanting to make anything worse. He knew he was wrong, and sighed heavily.
(Y/N)-1 Lucifer-0.
-Damn, this girl is awesome, Angel whispered excitedly.
Vaggie continued:
-Lady (Y/N), you still have decent relationship with heaven.Could you try talking to some highers-up about it? Like Gabrie-
-No, this thing is no longer part of my circle of close friends, I can still try to talk about it again with Sera and Emily, but I can't do anything with the other weirdo.
Charlie felt hopeless, and she took your hands and looked at you with a miserable expression.
-I beg you, you must speak to him, my people are dying every year at the hands of the exorcists, and I-I cannot stand by and do nothing. Can you try..?
At his beaten puppy look, you widened your eyes, it was exactly-
Please don't tell them where I was, Lucifer pleaded with adorable eyes. You sighed but smiled, nodding your head.
-Well, i will. But I'm not promising anything though-
-Thank you thank you thank you, she hugged you, and you hugged her back with a smile.
Lucifer felt his heart beat faster, these two women who are precious to him have finally met, and got along better than he expected.
Now all he had to do was sort out one last problem.
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Explanations were made. You listened patiently, and after a while you answered:
-Why Lucifer, didn't you tell me before? I-I thought I was your friend.
Lucifer held her gaze, and for the first time in millennia he took his courage in both hands and took hers:
-I didn't want to see your disappointed look, I know I made a mistake, but I only thought about doing the right thing. And I-
-You got scared?
He nodded, and you sighed:
-I don't blame you, at least not anymore.
He raised his eyes, feeling a bit of hope, and feeling Charlie's encouraging look, he continued:
-So, can we try again? I mean our relationship- Well our friendship!
He blushed slightly and you chuckled softly:
-Yes, always Lucifer.
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rosie-kairi · 6 months
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I don't think I've ever really spoken in depth about how much I love Lauriam as a character, which is honestly a crime because out of all the Union Leaders I'd probably have to crown him as my number one favorite.
I love Lauriam not only as a character (pink, sibling plotline) but also as an example of how much prequels can recontextualize an entire character. While Ventus is also an example of this, I think we all knew that he probably had some sort of messed up past that landed him in the clutches of Old Man Xehanort. Marluxia, on the other hand, had absolute zero background to infer from his screentime. He was the villain, you're not really meant to think too hard about him and how he became who he is because he sucks and you hate him.
I don't think there were many people chomping at the bit wanting to get info about his past. Like, it would've been cool to get, but I don't think a background for Marluxia was necessary for the story at that point in time. His role was to establish the organization as a threat to Sora and the other guardians, and that was pretty much the extent of it.
And then Union X happened, and Lauriam entered stage right into a tragedy where his fate was already sealed. You look at Lauriam with his polite little smiles and cute little chibi animations and immediately think "what is this man up to" because you are already primed to distrust him on principle due to COM. Did not help his case that he was introduced in the cutscene immediately following the death of Strelitzia, painting a huge target on his back. Fandom reaction was hostile towards him before he was even fully on screen. Occam's Razor, the most obvious answer is the correct one. Lauriam is the obvious suspect because of his actions in the future, so he must be the killer. Literally him just existing in a scene caused more ire to build against him.
But then the Shift Pride cutscene happened. Then it was revealed that Lauriam and Strelitzia -the girl who so many thought he killed- were siblings, and that he was quite worried for her wellbeing, actually.
Every cutscene a clearer picture of who Lauriam is a person was painted, and soon you stopped looking at him with distrust, and it's replaced with the question of "What happened to you?". What happened that caused Lauriam, someone who has been shown to care deeply and immensely about the people he loves, someone who is willing to do anything for those people, become Marluxia? It became increasingly obvious that they were incredibly different people, even though Marluxia came from Lauriam.
And this isn't to say that there was no connection between the two. Lauriam seemed to be incredibly self-confident in his abilities, enough to be pretty steadfast in his resolve to square up with goddamn Maleficent of all people (even if he did get his ass kicked). There's also his very intense anger, as seen in the cutscene where Ventus confesses to being the reason why Strelitzia "vanished", as well as a bit in the scene where he's at Ventus's bedside.
This is all to say that Lauriam was not a necessary addition to the khux cast, he very well could've been swapped with a random new character and the plot probably would've worked fine, all things considered. But because it's Lauriam -the somebody of a character that has already been established to be a prick- it gives his whole plotline a hell of a lot more punch. If it was a new character, people probably wouldn't have been as distrusting of him right of the bat, the sibling plotline would be sweet, but because it's Lauriam and we know how he ends up in the future, it becomes a hell of a lot more tragic. How did the change happen? He's tragic because we know that whatever he does will lead to the outcome of him losing his heart and falling to darkness, something that is essentially the exact antithesis of the keyblade wielder mission statement.
Lauriam is someone who was made to struggle against the destiny that was written out for him with a neat pen and ink, and someone who was doomed to fail in every regard. He could not save his sister, he could not defeat Maleficent, he could not help Ventus, he could not keep his memories when thrown into the future. He couldn't do anything about it.
I realize this is all rounding back around to "the inherent tragedy of prequels" but it's true.
...and yeah that's basically it. I have a lot more thoughts about this guy but I feel like if I write anymore I'm just gonna sound completely incomprehensible bc I'm very tired. Thanks for reading, and don't forget to sparkle on
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borzoilover69 · 1 year
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Something that gets me everytime I think about the harlenglishes is how incredibly harsh they are on themselves, incredibly self critical. The simple fact that the majority of the fandom writes them off as silly little guys does a number on me.  I want you to take a look at these two pieces of text. Both of them are from where Jade and Jake are having a moment, and using proxies to voice their thoughts. Notice how they react to themself being upset. ( Jade is herself, Dirk is Jakes apparition of Dirk, aka BGD ) 
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Jade and Jake put others over themselves and think they’re seeing the bigger picture when they’re not. They’re incredibly isolated kids trying to appear relatively normal. They’re incredibly judgmental, and therefore feel judged, and put up massive barriers and walls to hide it all from their friends and subsequently first time readers because they never directly mention or call attention to it!  They break down incredibly messily because they bottle it all up to deal with in private later!
Jake is so incredibly hard on himself, and so is Jade. They grit their teeth and smile because they feel incredibly selfish for having messy feeling moments. And the thing is, they can be incredibly selfish! They are looking out constantly for what’s best for everyone, and sometimes it’s not what the others think!  That’s what’s so tragic, is because when they do break down so messily, they beat themselves up for it. Look here: 
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These are both screenshots of them telling, no, demanding that they toughen up and do what “needs to be done”. But finding themself unable to because they’re so overcome with emotion. It’s especially interesting in Jakes case because he uses his best friend as a proxy to do a mental fucking cartwheel and hype himself up but also to cut through his bullcrap with the one friend that he believes saw him truly, that he believed understood himself, which is why in part BGD is so uncomfy for him! Because it’s just the uncomfortable truths or thoughts he wouldn’t admit to himself in his own skin! Jake is a master of deception, and this is just one of his outlets!
I’m never getting over how terrible BGD was to Jake while he was breaking down, or how Jade yelled and screamed at herself when she was reincarnated as a sprite. A lot of people use BGD as a merit to point out that DirkJake is abusive, since he’s one of the splinters we see Jake actively talk to, but what they don’t get is that BGD is just Jake thinking to himself “What would Dirk think? What would Dirk say?” and believing it so truly that it can on instance become realities! Dirk isn’t really like this, he may be a bit clingy, but Jake acknowledges that in conversation with Roxy, and is moreso concerned rather than upset about it. In the prison cell with BGD, it’s just Jake berating himself under the guise of what his best friend on what he SHOULD do, versus what he wants to do. Because Jake questions himself constantly. 
Jake very much relies on social awareness even though he can be pretty bad at it. So if he believes his friends have an image of him, he will be daunted by how to live up to it, and if he believes his friends hate him, his thoughts and BGD will reflect that. Hes essentially created a remote echo chamber to amplify his own thoughts, sometimes for better, sometimes for worse. 
The harlenglishes just can’t cope with knowing. They minimise their messy and not proper emotions to try and be the bigger person and do what’s right, even if it’s incredibly unhealthy, and it just ends up in a big knot of feeling incredibly overcome by emotions, and also incredibly frustrated they can’t live up to their own expectations and thus looping to fueling hte emotions. Jake is incredibly self aware and immensely critical for just being a kid. Jade is incredibly self aware and is hard on herself ever since her grandfather died and I think Jake was too in a way.
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loudmound · 1 month
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hi. welcome to my mary shepherd-sunderland post.
what will follow is who i think she is as a character, what she means to the narrative of sh2, and why people should think and talk about her more bcs me and the 4 other mary fans are dying out here.
DISCLAIMER BEFORE WE BEGIN: a lot of this post will be enmeshed with interpretation and headcanon that draws from me analyzing the text of sh2. this is My Post about mary. stormy mary post. please understand this.
the foundation of mary's character is an exceptionally strong one, and for someone like me, i enjoy making inferences about her person before the illness, during the illness, and near the end. the personality she has in sh2 is flexible enough to allow what i imagine her to have been like in my mind's eye.
i do not want this post to be read as the Definitive Canonical Interpretation of mary. i am just doing my best to inform my analysis of mary with the text as well as building from that set foundation given to us as the audience.
with that out of the way, please enjoy.
PART ONE: MARY AS A CONCEPT
what exists of mary is filtered through the lens of memory before the cumulative letter in the respective endings we receive it. throughout sh2, her status and state of being is re-contextualized as her husband moves closer and closer to the truth of the matter. she is an individual wrapped in idealistic fantasy that is slowly and surely stripped away the longer the game goes along, and the more we actualize her as the person she once was.
this element of conceptualization and fantasy is a through-line in sh2's narrative. mary is everywhere james looks in his version of the town. she's in the rot and rust on the walls, she's in the monsters he fights and runs from, she's in the places he goes, her face and voice is maria's, and she even has some of her memories and personality traits. it is truly understated how much mary just... IS in sh2, in spite of her not being physically present.
there's also this dichotomy i've been thinking about in the inability for mary and james to exist outside of one another, thematically speaking. for fundamentally being two different people, they are inextricably tied to one another in a really unfortunate and tragic way. james grafts himself to mary's memory before her sickness and slowly begins to resent the woman she's become out of anything but her own volition, and mary grafts herself to james because... she has to.
she's sick, she's dying, she's largely bedridden and in constant pain. she cannot rely on herself anymore; she has to rely on the people around her to take care of her, and when she inevitably goes home to live out whatever time she has left... it's james she has to rely on. and while i think james finds immense comfort and pleasure in living in the past they had while refuting the present, mary is thoroughly imbedded in the present and resents the past by means of something that she can no longer have. neither of them can, but i've always interpreted mary to be a very pragmatic and proactive individual.
she discusses in her letter how pathetic and ugly she feels, how she waits in her cocoon of pain and loneliness that's been grafted onto her unwillingly while she waits for james to visit her, and it's clear to me that she is the kind of individual that puts so much emphasis on being a useful and beautiful woman. that is what gives her worth as a human being within the society in which she lives (late 80s usa in my opinion). canonically, she is a housewife, and while that certainly coheres, i'm of the belief that she was a woman who worked outside the home as well, but also someone who did not do enough unpacking to really get away from gendered roles expected of her.
i really do believe that she feels she failed james spectacularly as a partner, but also as a wife; therein, as a person in his life. both of them dealt with their own baggage regarding gendered expectations, but mary in particular's is incredibly potent and crushing if you actualize her as someone who, in turn, wanted to be the perfect wife to james. kind, patient, nurturing, submissive, etc.
of course, as we all know, the perfect wife/woman/whatever you want it to be, is an unattainable concept, because how can anybody human like mary exist within such ridiculous, reductive parameters?
PART TWO: MARY AS A PERSON
so, in that case, who was mary, then? who was she, if not this idealized vision of a wife long lost?
as i've alluded to before, i envision her as a very pragmatic and proactive person; in the video tape of her, she seems very playful and outgoing, but also contemplative, appreciative, and straightforward. i've always seen her as a very different person from james in regards to how she navigates through life.
she's comparatively much more outward and readily emotional, but seems to retain a level of quiet interiority that meshes very well with james' very inward attitude. a very typical "bubbly wife and stoic husband" sort of situation on the surface, but i've always thought that mary greatly appreciated having james as an emotional anchor of sorts; somebody who can soothe the more keyed-up aspects of her personality, given how quiet and easygoing he is.
given how she mentions how angry she was all the time at the advent of learning of her incumbent death, i view her as somebody who really does not like being out of control of her own life. she has an idea of how she wants things to be and she wants them done the way she has already since chosen. (do not interrupt her routines. she will get very irritated.) she's very particular, and i think she's had to learn how not to just take the reigns from somebody else if she perceives them to be going about something "incorrectly" because this particular flaw has led to some arguments/falling-outs with loved ones in the past.
in that particular vein, holy fuck is this woman a fixer. she needs to fix everything she possibly can. the sink's busted? don't worry, she's had a lifetime of fixing shitty plumbing in her childhood home because nobody else bothered. need a couple more bucks for gas? don't worry, she always keeps a few extra dollars on her because she knows what it's like to be a few short and not have anyone else to turn to that you can trust.
you've been deeply traumatized and scarred by your adverse childhood experiences and it's left you with maladaptive and dysfunctional coping mechanisms? don't worry, she'll be there for you, in sickness and in health.
to me, mary's the kind of person that likes seeing the fruits of her labor, too. she takes great pride in being as self-sufficient at she has been, and does very much enjoy sharing that with others as much as she can. genuinely, i think she's very giving and compassionate, but jesus, when it came to james when he was struggling (before she got sick), it certainly got a bit dire. using your wife for free emotional labor is one thing, but when that wife welcomes it for a while because she has a pervasive desire to fix everything, including you? yeah.
also, of course, mary felt a pertinent obligation to doing such, being The Wife and all, but she's also a human person and got exhausted dealing with the amount of baggage her husband had, and their relationship got pretty rocky because of james' unwillingness to seek professional help (stemming from trauma with the laughable us-healthcare system) and mary's unwillingness to recant over and over again what she has in her toolbox.
which is where silent hill comes in. a belated honeymoon of sorts, mary and james take a trip to take their mind off the doom-inspiring monotony that is domestic life, and it's great!
until it isn't.
PART THREE: TERMINAL ILLNESS
so, the nature of mary's illness has never been clearly stated canonically, but we know that it gave her a persistent cough, rendered her bedbound, made her hair fall out, and made lumps grow all over her skin. i'm of the belief that she had hansen's disease, but cancer is also incredibly plausible too.
hansen's disease is one of those things that can lie dormant for years, and it can sometimes take a decade for symptoms to surface, so i don't think it was really a matter of mary catching anything from silent hill, per se. (i do think toluca lake has just the most godawful brain-eating bacteria in it but that's aside the point.) it's definitely a curable disease, but perhaps the strain mary had was a particularly severe variant. point being, however, is that this thing ruined her inside and out.
in the beginning stages, (year 1 or so) i do think she was pretty touchy, emotionally speaking. she tries to keep up appearances as much as she can and is able to, but it's clear that something has shifted for the worst. she's much more somber in the moments of quiet. her contemplative nature turns to brooding. she smiles, still, but her smiles are undoubtedly laced with a wry, bitter sadness.
she's now toiling with thoughts of dying as a way out, too. it'd be easier if they'd just kill me, she laments at one point. simultaneously at the crux of wanting freedom from one's pain in death but terrified of said death as being eternal, too.
it's something you can't ever undo.
now... i'd say a pretty controversial aspect of mary's character during this period of time is whether or not she was abusive towards james during her illness. cases have been made, it's a fairly ambiguous situation as presented in-game, but i think mary's anger that she expressed was quiet, overall. she tried to keep it quiet, at least, and when she did lash out, it was almost always in part due to her newfound level of self-loathing. when she's yelling at james in that hallway, she's yelling at herself more than she is at him.
she's no longer a person, to herself and to others around her that treat her like a dying animal than the woman that she is; the woman that she used to be. i'd be livid if i were her, too!
she also mentions in her letter that she "struck out at everyone she loved most." i have very strong reason to believe that she loved laura, and that unfortunately, she too was caught in the crossfire of mary's mood swings/outbursts. i also think that the guilt mary expresses when we're listening to the hallway conversation is genuine; i don't think her outburst and subsequent apology was a manipulation tactic to make james feel bad.
i think she's genuinely suffering. she doesn't know what to do with these compounding negative feelings. she has nowhere to put them. james comes in at a bad time and becomes the target. after the damage has been done, she realizes this and crumbles immediately. she's hurt james. she needs to do damage control however she can.
of course, none of this is to say that women can't ever be abusive/abusers and we can have conversations about the nuances of that all day, but... it's disquieting to me to see a consistent reading of a terminally ill female character's torment and anger be read as "abusive" to further exonerate the male character's deed of murdering her. like, i think we should consider that for a bit. i think we can hold that mary's behavior was not the best, but james' wasn't, either.
mary waited for him, but he never comes. he stays away, festering in his own grief, mourning her before she's even passed. i see james' aversion to seeing her in large part as a trauma response due to past abuse while growing up; when she shouts at him like that, it drags all of those ugly feelings and memories up.
it's a relationship i see as something that was mutually declining. it was something that was left to die. much like mary was, in a lot of ways.
mary was terrified that james hated her. that she disgusted him with her appearance, that he pitied her for being ill and effectively useless to him. that was something plaintively out of her control, being in the hospital. james could've ripped the bandage off and braved seeing her. he could've talked to her. he could've rekindled what was deteriorating. but he didn't.
again, mary's proactive nature of yearning for james, wanting to see him, wanting to talk to him and talk about them and what to do when the time comes. she wants to figure this out as best she can.
but james doesn't, and he still never comes.
mary poured everything left in her that she could muster in that letter. she profusely apologized for everything, for things that weren't even her fault to begin with. she told james that she loved him in that letter, because she couldn't say it to him to his face any longer. she didn't know if she would have any time left to do such.
but she does. and however long later, he kills her.
mary isn't a perfect victim, nobody that's a victim in sh2 is supposed to be. but she is still an individual that deserves compassion nonetheless, and i think the game does its due diligence in getting that across.
PART FOUR: MARIA
i think have to at least touch upon maria a bit if you're writing a post about mary. i think that's just the way it is.
maria, as we know, is a manifestation created by silent hill as a means to confront/interrogate/"punish" james by emulating mary but with very... choice character design changes.
she's clad in leopard print and a cropped red blouse. she's a dancer at heaven's night. she has bleach blonde hair with the roots peeking in. her face is all done up. she still extroverted, but far more provocative and alluring. she's a fantasy; something unattainable.
but she could be yours in whatever way you want her to be!
maria is utterly fascinating as an interrogation of james' character, but also as a reflection of mary, too. in born from a wish, she expresses her fear of pain and death, of being alone in town with no one else around, while also toiling with suicidal ideation. (sound familiar?) she seeks out companionship in whatever form it takes, and jumps on it when she does find it in ernest.
how much of mary is maria has always been up for debate and forever will be, but i think a lot of mary lives within her. the obvious, being the memories that she has of laura and the video tape left in the lakeview hotel, her hot and cold behavior with james, but also in the existential misery she feels in born from a wish. that desire to die to escape the pain of feeling alone, but also wanting to be with somebody else more than anything, and how death would undoubtedly take that away.
i also think her dyed hair isn't even hers; mary had that haircut and dye job when she first met james at that house party all those years ago.
i think maria's standing as a sentient individual is true, but in the sense that she is the combination of both mary and james' baggage made sentient. she never truly existed for herself, as her own person. she'll always have a little bit of someone else in her, someone she doesn't even really know, and that's... utterly tragic.
i think she realized this too when she points that gun to her head. but she chose james anyways out of that same desire for companionship. maybe she could be his new mary. maybe she could be better than mary. it's truly all so fuck.
PART FIVE: CONCLUSION
mary is the reason why sh2 happens for james. full stop. you cannot have sh2 without mary. there is a foundation laid for you to examine and explore. she is as infinitely fascinating as james is, if not more so. join me.
this post is sprawling and probably a bit confused at times because i wrote it on a whim, but i HOPE that i was able to get across the larger ideas of why i love mary as a character and who she could've been before her illness and death. i didn't touch upon everything i possibly could (mary and laura's relationship deserves its own post, i think), but this post is already long enough. i'll edit it in the future, undoubtedly.
thank you so much for reading all the way. listen to her final letter and cry with me.
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Trimax Thoughts Vol. 4 Pt. 3
Alright. Bit of a heavier one for tonight. I want to talk Vash's relation to his own feelings of anger and how these tie into his suicidal thoughts, because it's tragically fascinating and I still can't really make heads or tails out of it - specifically in that I don't think anyone is a reliable narrator in this situation so I'm left a little lost as to who to believe.
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(ID: A screenshot of four panels from Chapter 7 of Volume 4 of Trigun Maximum. A conversation between Hoppered and Vash takes place, in which Hoppered says "I bet you want to kill me too, right? Of course you do... You want to tear me limb from limb." A somewhat grainy image of Rem, smile visible but eyes hidden, is shown, before Vash replies, his eyes narrowed, "Yeah... I do..." End ID.)
Warning! I am going to be discussing Vash's no good, very bad mental health. It's nothing worse than what is obvious from a read of the manga but if you're not in the headspace for it, you might want to skip this one. I had a bit of trouble writing it, if I'm being honest.
Volume 4 basically solidified what had kept cropping up all throughout the manga - Vash is keeping himself going only through his goal of "settling the score" with Knives. On the next page, Vash says the following:
"That's why... you can go right ahead and kill me. But... before I give you that chance... before I let you bind me in chains, lock me up, and torture me to death... I will send Knives to hell!"
Yikes buddy. This has been a running bit of characterization all throughout the manga - Vash survives because he has to. He takes small moments of joy where he can, tries to smile even when he's not feeling it, looks on the bright side even when things seem hopeless, because that's the only way he can survive to do what he has to. <- There's nothing especially wrong with this. This is a coping mechanism and as far as his coping mechanisms go, it's not so bad at all. It's actually pretty good, all things considered.
Problem is, he also has to embody the ideal he strives for - that no one needs to die, that he will never kill. And herein lies the issue, because Vash already feels like a monster because of July. Any deviation from the peace loving pacifist image he tries so hard to maintain brings Vash's self-loathing to the surface.
Ex. Vash sees the moon his angel arm blew a hole in and goes from denying culpability for the destruction of July to hardly resisting and calling himself a murderer.
Ex. Vash expresses that he holds murderous sentiment towards Hoppered. He sees this as a justifiable reason for Hoppered to kill him.
Even the thought that he has or could still deviate from his promise made in Rem's memory causes him immense amounts of shame. Vash does not want to harm people. Is it out of love? Is it out of guilt? I think at this point, there's no separating them. Vash doesn't kill out of a mix of these two emotions that are so intertwined in his core they have become inextricable.
The thing is... Vash's driving emotion appears to actually be anger, specifically, anger against Knives. He wants to "settle the score", which is a pretty retributive mentality for someone trying to embody pacifism. In fact, that kind of motivation strongly clashes with that image in a way that imo cannot coexist. It's reasonable in his mind to take that stance against Knives, who is not one of the humans Rem died to save, but against humans, it's unacceptable. So, Vash represses his anger constantly.
A great example of this is watching the contrast between Vash fighting Leonof and Wolfwood fighting Ninelives. Wolfwood fights with his emotions on visceral display; he is loud and cocky and desperate and violent. Vash, on the flip side, is almost dangerously quiet and composed, to the point Wolfwood seems a bit disturbed by it - but it's all repression. He needs to stay focused, his motions are calculated to reduce harm even against the puppets, he's eerily silent and his facial expressions are controlled and muted for the most part; all methods that Vash uses to stay in control (<- this is important!).
Here's the thing. I don't know that I necessarily, fully believe that Vash wants to kill Hoppered. I don't know that I trust anyone's narration in this scene - first of all, Hoppered is mad projecting his animosity onto Vash because he needs to secure the image of Vash as unrepentant destroyer of July; if Vash isn't the demon he believes him to be, his quest for revenge was for nothing (well, sort of. Vash obviously did destroy the city, but the intent was not there - and the latter seems to be what Hoppered is banking his hatred on). Hoppered earlier accused Vash of enjoying the fight... which is pretty clearly not true, so that it was Hoppered who prompted Vash's admittance above is a little suspect. Second, we've seen what Vash looks like when actually violently angry.
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(ID: Two separate images screenshotted from the Trigun manga. The first shows Vash raising his gun at a recently reborn Knives, angrily shouting the other's name. The second shows Vash having jammed the barrel of his gun into Monev's eye, clearly close to pulling the trigger. End ID.)
To me, I see little indication in the build up to this of Vash legitimately wanting to kill Hoppered. He had no desire to kill Rai-Dei after all, and that was after he knew the GHG were targeting Home. Hoppered is probably the most sympathetic of the GHG. Vash is also in a self-destructive mindset in this scene, having just called himself a murderer after seeing the damage done to the moon again.
Is he agreeing with Hoppered's projection because he wants Hoppered to continue to hate him enough to punish him for the deaths of all those people? (The image of Rem then becomes symbolic of his having already failed to uphold her sacrifice.) Or should I be taking his words at face value and he really does want to kill Hoppered? (In this case, the image of Rem is out of guilt for voicing something aloud that goes against his image of her.) Is it possible that a combination of his self-loathing in this scene and fear of himself has him agreeing with Hoppered out of resignation that despite his best efforts, he is doomed to destroy? (Like in fifth moon's "we were no good from the start". The image of Rem is thus the image of someone genuinely good and kind to him, an image he feels he cannot embody no matter how hard he tries.)
I find it very ambiguous honestly. Any interpretation is compelling from a character sense. Perhaps they all hold merit to some degree.
Regardless of how you interpret the line though, Vash is obviously angry, and for good reason - Hoppered, Midvalley and Zazie have taken Meryl. He's also likely afraid for her too - dude did jump out a window for like no practical purpose whatsoever before Zazie even finished talking. Like that's really sweet buddy but you accomplished absolutely nothing of use lol. Anyways. The point is, even if Vash was angry enough to want to kill Hoppered (and it would be for this reason, since nothing else would really warrant that), then that still wouldn't make Vash secretly evil and awful - first off, having a thought does not mean you will actually act on it, and second, what's the thing we keep getting shown and told, again and again?
Anyone will pick up a gun when their loved ones are threatened.
It's very natural to feel animosity for a person who may have harmed someone we care about. In that sense, Vash is behaving very human.
However, there's an extra layer here that complicates things. Vash has never been shy about his anger, but I think there is a bit of a progression of Vash kind of... tamping down on it faster, reeling it back in a little sooner after an initial flare of rage. ...Ever since Fifth Moon, actually. We also know that he has a strict training regimen, he does not miss a target, even blindfolded - Vash clearly maintains strong control over himself, all to mitigate the potential damage he could cause.
But then there's his Plant abilities. The angel arm. Something destructive he clearly does not understand, and has little if any control over (never mind that control was literally wrenched away from him but whatever). I don't think it's a stretch to say Vash is terrified of losing control.
Any human can feel hatred and anger and potentially cause moderate amounts of harm and damage, but these are likely to be targeted and can be more easily contained. Vash feels hatred and anger and has the capacity to level a city and blow a hole in a celestial body in the blink of an eye, and there is nothing anyone can do about it. That must be terrifying.
Because, see, the no-killing thing is out of respect for Rem, but Vash also strongly wants to, needs to believe that non-violent solutions are possible, that people are good, that anyone can change. Vash, out of some combination of love and guilt, does not actually want to harm anyone, but Vash is also a living gun just under the surface of his iron self-control. And being reminded of that deeply fucks him up, to the point he believes he is a danger by nature, incapable of living up to the standard of kindness he wants to put into the world, so even just the thought of wanting to inflict harm on another is enough to send him spiraling - because what if that is the point he loses his control? "I should never have been born" indeed...
It's interesting to me that Vash should call Wolfwood out on his lack of hope in a future for the world, when he so clearly has little if any hope in a future for himself. He allots himself no place in the world. Maybe you should allow yourself to heal a little, buddy. You have some people pretty close by who, in spite of it all, like you quite a lot...
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Do you ever think about how poetic the scene of Gojo being sealed in Shibuya is? I'm not just talking in terms of the love of his life being his downfall and the utter tragedy of their story. I'm talking about how poetic it was for Gojo himself, for the "honored one" who was basically considered a mortal god and treated as such, to be defeated in the most human of ways.
Let me explain. Again, this isn't just about the Gojo's love for Geto being his Achilles heel. Something that Jujutsu Kaisen encapsulates time and time again through various characters is the juxtaposition of power in humanity- infinitely capable in some ways and still tragically helpless in others. It's why the idea of "Sorcerers die alone and with many regrets" is such a recurring thing brought. Many of them are considerably powerful and have done almost miraculous things, but in the face of their own death or the loss of their friends or the regrets that pile up in their lives, they are powerless. In a lot of ways, that is what it means to be human, powerful and powerless all at once.
And that is what Gojo demonstrates at Shibuya. He truly proved he was, inarguably, the strongest sorcerer in centuries as he took on three special grade curses and a death painting, fought two of them hand to hand, and killed one of them by crushing it to a wall. He then demonstrated immense control and strategism by holding a domain for 0.2 seconds and then wiping out more than a thousand curses in under five minutes. He single-handedly prevented a complete massacre of humans in the area. It feels like he's proven, shown us, that he is the god everyone thinks of him as.
And then he sees the only man who didn't treat him like a god. The only one who had seen him as human and, in some ways, made him human. The one he thought he'd killed a year ago. He sees him and he freezes. At the site of his greatest demonstration of power, his Achilles heel stands exposed.
And in that minute of shock, guilt, memory, horror, and longing, he falls. So powerful he seemed invincible, yet rendered powerless in that moment. Gojo Satoru, the honored one, the mortal god, the strongest sorcerer, creates the deepest truest representation of humanity in that moment. Not just in our vulnerability to love, but in how we are, within ourselves, both the indestructible and the defeated.
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shannonsketches · 5 months
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I think I’ve realized why I loved the OOT/TP/WW Triforce Trio setup of Spirit Successor Hero, Bloodline Heroine, Same Ganon.
There’s something very fun and quietly tragic for me about having three distinct experiences of what’s going on in the same story:
One character who doesn’t know anything about what’s happening, but can’t get out of it
One character who may or may not be informed, but is held responsible regardless
One character who was there and remembers, but he’s alone in knowing
They’re all trapped in distinct ways: The innocent, the ancestor, and the scorned. And it’s not because one was born good and one was born evil and one of them is caught in the fray. It’s because once upon a time the scorned was like the others — an innocent, an ancestor — in a position of immense pressure, and his solution punished them all.
Every time he fails he gets farther away from his reasons, so every time he comes back he comes back worse and angrier and even more isolated, and the only two people left that he has any connection to at all have no idea who he is outside of folklore.
And it’s this continuous, bittersweet reunion of ghosts, but only one of them ever knows the house is haunted, and he’s too angry, and they’re too young, to find the answer.
So they kill him, and he fails once more, only to have return, and force them all to be aggressors, and punish them again. Over and over.
And I’m sad Nintendo doesn’t do something with the grief of it all.
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16-jarrah · 2 months
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mentioning LOST's church ending got me riled up about the racism in LOST again lol. i obviously am aware that some actors just did not return to production for possibly other reasons, but also especially in the case of harrold perrineau (michael dawson) he felt like his character (and walt, his son) was treated like shit by the writing. and he was absolutely right. i've already made posts about this (will try to dig them up later), but michael was treated absolutely bullshit and unfairly wrt the story. michael betrayed them and killed two people, yes, but what did he do it for but to protect his son? he felt like nobody gave enough fucks about walt and there was some truth to that claim. his whole character arc is about being a dad to walt and their improving relationship over the course of being stuck on the island, so of course he would do that. it just makes sense.
which is why i don't think it's all that fair to punish him for it immensely in the narrative. harrold perrineau said it himself that he didn't want michael and walt to be another case of the absent black father stereotype [citation needed, i'll look for it but he said it in an interview] yet that's what he ended up being anyway. after his and walt's escape from the island, apparently walt cast him away because he doesn't agree with what his father did—which i actually think its interesting to explore: walt disagreeing with michael's actions and trying to grapple with it, but i don't think separating him from his dad was the best writing choice to make. walt is being punished for caring about his son by making his son be the one to cast him away. you can argue it's supposed to be tragic, michael is supposed to be a tragic character, but with the context surrounding michael's character? there's better ways to make his character be tragic than this.
which brings me to his next punishment. i was happy to see michael again on the kahana (just happy to see him in general), but it didn't last long when he gets killed, sacrificing himself to prevent/prolong the kahana's explosion from happening. (put a 📌 on this bc it's similar to how sayid dies and we'll come back to that later.) michael dies here and walt doesn't know about this. and then michael joins as part of the whispers, his soul trapped on the island (presumably forever) and that's why he's not in the church ending.
i'm gonna be frank. michael being trapped on the island because of his guilt or remorse or perhaps repenting for his sins is just bullshit to me. a lot of characters seen in the flash sideways and in the church ending are characters who've done "bad things". it's bullshit to have michael be the only one doomed to pay for his misdeeds forever. his misdeeds for... killing two people. not that killing two people is Nothing, but moreso if you examine the circumstances it's hardly anything to be damned eternally for.
remember the 📌 we had wrt sayid and michael? both of them died trying to prevent an explosion from reaching everybody else. which makes this more egregious imo. i can say 1000 things about sayid's arc (points to url), but this is about michael and not him, so i'll just focus on this: sayid was grappling with "being a bad person" for torturing and killing so many people. he worked as an assassin for ben. and yet, somehow, you're telling me sayid is not being damned eternally for his misdeeds but michael is? if you don't see the BS in that i don't know what to tell you.
i'm also aware why some characters don't appear any more re:conflicts with their actors (or just availabilities or other reasons for declining to come back), but even then arguably any conflicts with harrold perrineau stemmed from a justified place because of how michael was treated.
i think mr eko had a more dignified arc (he's one of my fav characters, thematically speaking) and honestly he had some of the rawest shit i've ever heard:
I ask for no forgiveness father for I have not sinned, I have only done what I needed to do to survive. A small boy once asked me if I was a bad man, if I could answer him now I would tell him, that when I was a young boy I killed a man to save my brothers life. I am not sorry for this, I am proud of this. I did not ask for the life that I was given but it was given none the less, and with it I did my best.
but despite this it doesn't change the fact that his absence in the church ending is very noticeable. he had meaningful connections with charlie, with locke, and interestingly like michael he kind of parallels sayid but this time thematically through their arcs. sayid is constantly burdened with feeling like he's a bad person and resigning to it as some sort of self-fulfilled prophecy, but mr eko is very firm about how he sees himself as not necessarily a bad man, just a man whose hands were forced because of the cards he was dealt. i wish we could have seen a more direct parallel between them, because it would've been interesting. back to the main point: i think it's such a missed opportunity for mr eko to not be here. especially since even after his death, hurley was able to communicate with his ghost, showing that he still had connections with his fellow losties even long after his death.
ana lucia being "not ready to move on" is interesting. but ultimately you can't help but raise a few eyebrows at it anyway. you can argue that, unlike mr eko she died an unresolved death, but most of the LOST characters died with an unresolved death. (she was killed early.) that's the whole point of the sideways segments. so what makes ana lucia so different from the others? yeah she killed shannon, but that was completely a freak accident. her people (the tailies) were being picked off one by one by the other so she was understandably on edge. she was kind of a hated character but i think a lot of it is just racism and misogyny combined tbh. (LOST is...notorious for a lot of misogynistic character writing decisions.) ana lucia was just as complex and morally "ambiguous" as the rest of them. i find the decision to make her corrupt in the sideways segments interesting (negative). cz like, there was never any indication she was like this in real life. what does that corruption symbolize? because obviously that corruption is a key to why she "can't move on yet". what exactly is she supposed to be repenting for? they hinted at a possible direction her arc is going towards before killing her off, ie. her ultimately choosing not to kill "henry gale" because she no longer wants blood on her hands. again, in a way, she's just like sayid! someone who decided they'd turn away from ceaseless violence. only right afterwards she got killed. so what does she need repenting for so much that she's left out of the church ending? much to think about.
i don't really know how to conclude this post. but my main point is that the lack of these characters during the church ending is and has racist implications. (again, i understand the casting issues, but it's still a writing decision you can critique as a viewer at the end of the day). i'll try to find the old posts i made last year abt michael and mr eko and their parallels to sayid and link them here (and self reblog).
edit: go read/look up "burn it down". it details a lot of the behind the scenes mistreatment of the staff (including racism and sexism), including actors and writers. the quote from an interview from harold perrineau that i mentioned was also linked in a reblog. (post link)
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aphroditesmoon · 1 year
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hello dear! i love your works so much and just have seen you write for wednesday?? (shame on me) if it's ok with you, can you please write hcs about xavier x jealous!reader? like she has a crush on him but thinks he's head over heels with wednesday so distance herself and become kinda passive-aggressive? i can see hurt/comfort and fluff but absolutely up to you! thank u in advance! take care!
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how to get out of love
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xavier thorpe x reader
warnings: angst, dumbass xavier
a/n: hello lovely, I know you asked for hcs but I overworked myself🫶 for all the early requests w similar tropes, I'm sorry I took so long!
part two
°°°
If there was one thing you lacked that Wednesday Addams doesn't, it's the absence of a heart.
And your heart has been beating for the tortured artist since you've crossed paths.
He wasn't like all the other incels that made you uncomfortable or the bullies who made you cry, no.
He was just a gentle awkward and talented soul. That was why you liked him, one thing you two seemed to have in common is that you both feel immensely.
Yet these days it seemed he's been having less time to notice your lack of enthusiasm, not when he's busy trying to get new girl Wednesday Addams, resident sociopath, to notice him.
It's a lost cause! She doesn't want to be loved by him, you did, why couldn't he see that?
You were sure one of these days she'd end up giving him a piece of her mind, and you look forward to that day.
What you didn't expect, was her asking him to Rave'n Dance.
He seemed so happy you had to compose yourself from breaking down. "I thought we were going together?" You ask, attempting to sound nonchalant.
Either it worked or he was oblivious. "Yeah I know that, but c'mon, I've been waiting for ages for this chance-"
"oh yes her loyal dog at her beck and call." You mumbled, loud enough to reach his ears.
His words halted and he stares at you baffled.
"I've liked her for so long, you can't really expect me to bail this for you? How can you be so selfish?" Your eyes widen as he snaps at you.
"Selfish? I'm saying this because I care about you! Xavier, if she really liked you, she wouldn't wait this long to show it, she's been treating you like shit and you just take it."
He rolls his eyes and reach for his jacket to leave your dorm. "You know, you and Bianca would make really good friends, both so desperately insecure and manipulative."
You lose your voice as you watch him slam the door in your face.
The words doesn't sound like his, something so cruel could never come out of your sweet boy, and yet it did.
You breath out a sigh and feel your cheeks wet as tears fall down. If he wanted to get screwed over by her, then he can go ahead and take his chance.
°°°
Your play was to be held tonight, the tickets all have been sold and costumes been made, yet you still couldn't get in the right headspace.
Perhaps this deep melancholic sadness you're drowning in could help you embody Ophelia better, she was quite a tragic character.
You found yourself imagining your Xavier digging your grave and crying over your dead body as Hamlet did, would he come to regret his rejection of you when it's too late, as the prince did?
You shook your head and waved off your wild fantasies, life was anything but a Shakespeare play, thankfully.
And he had made his choice clear.
The play had been going well so far. Too well for your liking.
And as if the universe has been reading your mind, your Hamlet, Ajax, has accidentally stoned himself, forgetting the mirror in the props.
Laughter spread through the audience. At least they found it funny.
You stood in the middle dumbly, not sure how to continue. Your eyes glare at the vampires in their guards costumes.
"We need a replacement." You hissed, nearing them slowly.
"Is this a prologue or a the posy of a ring?" His voice booms through the stage.
He was wearing Ajax's costume, and if you weren't still upset with him, you'd say he looks exactly the part.
Besides the obvious tremble in his voice as he forces himself to read through Ajax's lines.
You had no idea who had voted for Xavier as replacement, you were sure that all the characters should have replacement actors, yet you could not find Ajax's.
He coughed a bit and you broke your trance, slightly shaking your head.
" 'Tis brief, my lord." You speak, moving into the arranged seats on stage for the scene.
He stares at you for a minute and you found yourself mouthing the lines at him as he immediately repeats it.
"-As woman's love." It might be a trick of light, as you notice how his eyes bore deeply into yours when he spoke the words.
°°°
The play had not gone too smoothly, Xavier proving that he wasn't exactly the best ik acting and theatres, and of course he could barely remember any of the lines, none his faults. The chaos that ensued however only made the crowd merrier, enjoying the random interruptions and the funny awkward moments on stage.
You smiled and shyly took some of the bouquets thrown for you before running backstage.
Your body was tired of the long standings and the heavily designed dress. You strip it off immediately and wrap yourself in your robe before sitting down to remove your makeup.
You breath hitches as you hear a knock on your door, having a feeling that you knew who it was.
You begrudgingly open the door and Xavier's face appears in front of you.
"Can I come in?"
"No."
He pursed his lips and stared at you with pleading eyes.
You sighed loudly and moved aside as he enters.
"Whatever it is, be quick, I'm dying to get to bed." You rushed him.
He nods and inhales before starting.
"You were right-" You scoffed and roll your eyes.
"Wow, barely a day and she's already left you?" You mock him and feel a sense of guilt slithering in as he turns to look down, avoiding your eyes.
"She never liked me, she thought I was the hyde, she was trying to frame me or something."
You frowned and all insults leave your mind. "She thought you, were the Hyde?" He nods and you huffed, baffled.
"That just proves she never really knew you then." You decided.
He looks back at you and steps closer to your standing build.
"No, she doesn't. Only you ever do."
Your eyes soften at his words but the constant reminder of his words and how easily he was willing to replace you still burned at the back of your mind.
"And yet I still wasn't enough." You mumbled clear enough for him to hear.
"You are enough -" He interjects and you cut him off. "Just not for you then?"
He turns silent and you watch him struggle to form words.
"If she had wanted to be with you, for real, you wouldn't be here would you?" Your voice meek as you ask.
Your eyes starts to water as you watch him stand quietly, looking down at the floor.
"I'm a fucking idiot." He whispers.
Tears fall down your face and you chest heaved loudly as you lose control and starts sobbing.
"I have always been here all along, through everything- Me! Not her, not Bianca, why don't you ever see me? I have always loved you for you!" His eyes widen you revel in his guilt stricken face.
"I- I'm sorry, I didn't see you before, but i see you now-"
He startles and move towards you but your hands raise to push him away.
"No, I don't want you anywhere near me, get out."
"[name]-"
"You've said enough Xavier, I'm nothing but a second choice to you, I see that now, and I refuse to be your little pastime lapdog while you dream of someone else when you're with me."
He stares at you mouth agape and you roared at him; "I said, leave!"
Your voice makes him flinch and he rushes out the door, hands shaking as you notice his own bleary eyes.
Tonight you were his Ophelia, and like Hamlet, he was too late.
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thelunarfairy · 4 months
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A long analysis about the Yugi twins
How should I start? Maybe in a more objective way, or perhaps with a "once upon a time"
No? haha I imagined.
How could I start with "once upon a time" when there is no fairy tale in this story? Maybe it's more like the Grimm brothers' tales.
The story of two twin brothers that culminated in a mysterious family tragedy, how should we tell this story?
How about we start with brotherly love?
Oh yes, that's a good start.
The melancholic, brotherly love of the Yugi twins. Ah… the love of identical twins, more intense than the love of ordinary brothers, there is a connection, a bond, being born together and sharing the best and worst moments of life, discovering the world little by little, each in their own way . .
Their love transcends and surpasses death.
A beautiful story, isn't it?
But why do most beautiful stories tend to be so sad? A 4-year-old child who gives up his own life because his older twin brother will no longer be by his side in the future.
A younger brother who feels rejected, unloved and who strives to his own limits to win the love of his older brother, come on, see him fill his room with toys, books about stars, what else Amane likes ?
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He wanted to do something for him, to give Amane a kind of genuine happiness, even with such simple and small gestures. For a four-year-old boy, giving someone his favorite things would make him happy, wouldn't it?
He gave everything to Amane, including the health he wanted so much.
And in exchange for that, he gained solitude.
The first shock was born here, the disappearance, the despair, the sadness, the melancholy. How many times can you imagine little Amane leaning against the window looking up at the sky, hoping and wishing that his brother would miraculously appear to him?
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Amane's desire that brought his own pain.
How did he react to Tsukasa's return? Did he cry with happiness? Did he pretend he was strong enough to not let the tears fall in front of him?
Are you listening? Yes, the sound of silence, we still don't have an answer.
There is the first great brotherly love here, a younger brother who fears the death of the older one, who did everything to make his days happier, who found a way to save his brother… And the firstborn, the one who just wanted to be healthy like his twin, he suffered the sudden and inexplicable absence of the youngest.
What were the consequences of this? Insecurity? Lack? possessiveness? Want to be in control? Did Tsukasa's disappearance change Amane?
What has changed at Amane?
What kind of love did he feel after Tsukasa's return? What happened in the interim between childhood and pre-adolescence that culminated in such a tragic end?
All we have are symbols, metaphors, flashbacks. The flowers that surround them in moments of tension or reunion, the camellias, which represent love itself.
We could list its colors, but only one interests us, red. The color that reflects on Hanako's clothes, which represents him as a whole. The red camellia, the one that represents love, passion…. Passion?
They appear between Hanako and Tsukasa, in the same intensity as they appear between Hanako and Nene.
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What do they have in common?
Love… but what kind of love?
The human being is a handmade work, as complex as all the stars that mysteriously float in a dark immensity. How many ways could a human being love?
The flowers represent passionate love, romantic love, the love that Amane feels for Nene, but then, why do they appear to Tsukasa? Why is Tsukasa sometimes represented by Sakura flowers, those that show femininity and fragility?
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How would Tsukasa fit in here? Freud could help us with this, he, with all his wisdom and experience, showed us a new concept of unacceptable love, the tragedy of Oedipus, the boy who, as a child, had loving and hostile desires towards his mother.
The boy who would kill his father and marry his own mother. Oh, another tragic story involving forbidden love, sound familiar?
What kind of love did Amane sow and allow to grow? What was Tsukasa to him? And what does Amane represent to Tsukasa?
"Oedipus complex: The Oedipus Complex is a phenomenon described by psychoanalyst Freud to designate a time in child development in which the child develops loving feelings for the parent or family member."
I could spend hours explaining the concept, but I believe you already understand perfectly where I'm going. We are on the fine line between brotherly love and romantic love, what separates them in the case of twins?
That's the right question.
At what point was Amane's love sown? There are no answers, just clues. The suggestive touches, the strangely romantic and sometimes ambiguous displays of affection, the light touch on the older brother's lips
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A warm hug enveloping him between his legs.
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An almost reunion kiss
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The older brother on top of the younger one, while he places one of his hands on Amane's arm and gently touches his lips with the other, as if waiting for him to come closer.
Amane's squinty eyes looking shyly at the camera "there's someone watching us"
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What would you understand if I used a random couple's name during these times? Isn't this an intimate and intense moment between a couple?
We could perfectly confuse the type of love that exists between them… romantic love, brotherly love… love… obsessive…
Ah… one of the evils of the world, obsessive love, a complete and dangerously alarming package. It is a love that transforms people, making them obsessed, controlling, selfish, inconsequential, disrespectful, jealous, and invasive (with unfounded distrust and suspicion).
I'll ask once again, does it remind you of anyone?
Can you see in those golden eyes a love that shines through your whole healthy way of being? No? This does not exist in the universe that hovers in Amane's head and heart.
What is his is HIS. There is no second option, there is no other alternative, it is his, it is for him, it is all related only to him. Nene is his, Tsukasa too. And if both of them are about to get out of his control, he traps them, like birds that have just lost their wings.
It's a selfish love… It's a jealousy so painful that he cries to the point of almost getting sick. The terror of loss, he hates losing. How did Hanako shock people by crying inconsolably after her little brother kissed the girl he likes?
Would he cry the same way if it was someone else who had kissed Nene? Would he have cried like that if Akane had kissed Nene on the day of the elevator?
Hmm….it's not just about her….
Why did Hanako start showing more love for Tsukasa when he kissed her? Hanako found the two of them falling to the bottom of the abyss of number one's boundary, and he went to Tsukasa.
He wasn't looking at Nene, he wasn't talking to her, he was talking to Tsukasa. He looked him in the eyes without trembling, without hesitating, without yelling
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He placed him between his arms and later wrapped them between his neck. He saved them both equally.
And even though he showed irritation, he denied being angry, was he just jealous of Nene? If he was jealous, if he was suspicious, why would he throw Nene to Tsukasa? Why would he scream his name with so much concern?
Why was he so embarrassed when Tsukasa found out that he wants to do perverted things? Embarrassed to the point of turning red all over, including his hands, embarrassed to the point of almost crying, can we see a tear falling here?
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Yes, he was more embarrassed here than when Nene kissed him on the cheek….
The chaotic energy that emanates from these two, uncontrollable, one is calm and the other is storm, the Yin and Yang, the sun and the moon. Come, allow me to show you Tsukasa once again being represented in a feminine way, when he becomes the moon of Amane.
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Yes, the moon, the one that represents yin, femininity, the opposite of the sun, the masculine, virility, masculinity. Ah, the moon, the one that Amane loves, the one that Amane dreams of finding every day, touching it, making it his own.
Why would Tsukasa be her representation?
Many say that it's because Tsukasa is Amane's treasure, the one who made him give up on his own dreams, the moon is Amane's unattainable hope of freeing himself from the ropes, the ties that don't allow him to float so far.
The moon is the light in the middle of the darkness that he seeks so much.
Who is Amane looking for so much?
Tsukasa?
It's convenient that he's the moon, she represents the unattainable, the love of an older brother that can't be completely true because he knows it's an equally… unattainable love…
The love locked away in the chest, the love that made Tsukasa become a prisoner. Amane loves him, but he can't express it, he can't admit it, he can't be honest, but he doesn't want to let him go, he doesn't want to let him go again, Tsukasa's love is his.
He trapped Tsukasa himself in a cage that has no doors… But can Tsukasa create a passage?
On the other hand, we see the youngest, the boy who shows his emotions without regret, without being ashamed, he just loves, Tsukasa is a simple boy.
But he loves it too much. Permissive and loyal love, let Amane decide, let Amane tell me. I sacrificed myself for him, but it wasn't enough, I want to understand him.
Why? Do you want to fix things? Want to do better?
The silence echoing everywhere denounces this boy's motivations, the permissive love, so altruistic to the point that he still misses the brother who would kill him in the future, perhaps Tsukasa could even justify Amane's reasons for killing him.
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It's a strong love, but it's not unconditional.
Amane tied Tsukasa to him, the boy didn't have the opportunity to truly die. He has lived in eternal purgatory since he was four years old, and from the beginning it was always for him, it was always for Amane…
Tsukasa befriended death, and made it a great friend.
He never had a "rest in peace" it was always a "see you soon". He didn't go anywhere, he remained in purgatory alone for years on end
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And when he returned to live next to his much-loved older brother, he deluded himself into believing he had achieved freedom, when in fact he was thrown straight into limbo. .
He was lonelier than before.
Limbo only had memories, darkness and silence… The walls revealed his presence, the hands marked with a certain constancy, with a certain insistence, were marks that Tsukasa left before finding a way out.
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The only thing that could be heard was Tsukasa's voice echoing between the walls
"Amane" - he called on Hanako's boundary.
The walls were discreet, Amane didn't hear him
No one listened to Tsukasa.
It will be?
"I'm not going anywhere" - said Amane, forgetting to complete his own sentence - "Neither is Tsukasa."
Tsukasa's loneliness screams intensely but no one hears, no one sees… No one listens to Tsukasa
But no one listens to Amane either… equally lonely, sitting on top of an old toilet while waiting to be called by someone, while waiting to be heard again.
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He can break free, Tsukasa can't.
Ah, obsessive love…. it has those things. Amane feels remorse for everything, but his mouth stops, it shakes to the point where he can't speak, he may lose his tongue but he won't ask for forgiveness.
It will be? Ah, my mistake, he will, at the right time.
Love is slowly awakening… Amane had locked him away together with Tsukasa, but now that he is free, love is blooming again…
Hanako had abandoned a love that he couldn't deal with, but that was embedded in his chest, there is nothing he could do that could get that love out of there, it was just dormant…
He was?
Or has Amane been suffocating him all these years?
A tiring love… for both of them… so the Yugi twins' great dilemma was born, to stay or not to stay?
Tsukasa didn't leave because he was selfish, he went to give Amane everything he wanted, he exchanged his own life for his. We can imagine little Amane's pain when he no longer finds his little brother anywhere, even searching among his favorite toys, even calling him over and over again.
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Tsukasa didn't respond.
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When he returned home, something awakened in Amane, the intense and dark fear of losing, how could he deal with it? His naivety was broken at the age of four when he suddenly lost the one he loved… but, that person came back…
He won't let him go anymore.
Tsukasa wants to go, he wants to give Amane wings to make his dreams come true, but Amane chose to cut them off, he doesn't want to fly anymore, he wants to stay next to the person he loves.
The dilemma that culminated in a tragedy
We could paraphrase Shakespeare, when the famous tragedy born of his genius thoughts told us "to be or not to be, that is the question" to suit the Yugi twins, we would say
"To stay or not to stay, that is the question"
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Tsukasa was often stabbed by Amane's silence, the intense attempts to make Amane talk about how he felt, made Tsukasa tired, he wanted to hear, he wanted to see…
It was a tiring love….
What did Tsukasa become when he allowed his chest to fill with the purest supernatural darkness? What did he become when he went there? And who was he when he returned?
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Was Amane's love able to overcome the inevitable loss of his four-year-old brother? Tsukasa who returned was not the same, the old Tsukasa died. What kind of relationship did they have when Tsukasa became an otherworldly being?
He who carries death with him.
When Amane allowed Hanako to be born, was he still Amane?
Yeah, he's back, can you hear it? The silence of a non-existent answer.
Supernaturals are not human, and do not relate as such.
To repeat, supernaturals are not human.
How do they love?
It is a mysteriously hostile and unpredictable love, the love that reflects the intensity of the deepest desire, to devour, to desire…
The twins love like humans, but have similar desires as supernaturals. Devour or be devoured. Ah, the explicitly sexual connation in the context, having someone in possession of you, desiring it with all the intensity that you carry in your chest, making it his, uniquely yours.
The misunderstood and illusory love of Hakubo and Sumire, the girl who is geniusly in love, who created castles in her own mind to suppress the pain of living in reality. Being loved by at least someone is a comfort that eases the pain of loneliness.
The years that escaped time separated them, but the resolution came, even after a long wait, Hakubo returned. He took her as his wife, he asked to take her… and she allowed him. The consummation, the blood on the floor showing the painfully unforgiving love they had to submit to.
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An Oni who pretends not to see, and a Kannagi who asks for help without speaking. A disagreement that ended in consummation.
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How do they compare to twins? Love misunderstood and unresolved… a love that will end in consummation…
It will be?
We see it again, yes, the fine line between sibling love and romantic love.
Taking Tsukasa as his, devouring him, consuming him, as a last gesture of true love.
But would Hanako devour him?
Does Amane love Tsukasa the same way he loves Nene? Does Tsukasa love Amane the same way Nene loves him?
Is it as heavy and difficult to love Amane as it appears to be?
This is the lock, full of clear and objective questions, but the same question screams with all its force at all times:
What kind of love is that?
We still haven't found the key that will unlock the truth, the answer to that question…
We remain trapped in a bird cage, waiting for Amane to arrive with his golden key, only he can bring the truth, the big problem is
When will he come?
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Important observations:
The post is an analysis, it has nothing related to my personal preferences, I don't ship the twins and my intention is not to encourage behavior similar to theirs, again, it's just an analysis based on their behavior. Don't take what I say here too seriously, these findings could be completely wrong, so it's just an analysis.
I carried out this larger analysis due to the number of requests to create new posts or complement existing ones about the twins.
There is more content about them on my blog, if you are curious, just go to the pinned comment and look at the index, there are the main posts.
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notyourmajesty · 8 months
Text
Henry's Dog David, and How RWRB (the Book and the Movie) Explore the Meaning of His Name.
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(GIF by @andysapril)
CW: Mentions of deaths, murder attempts, mostly from Bible verses.
An Easter Egg from the book that the film managed to incorporate in an entirely different context.
Henry naming his dog David is one of the things Alex comments on both in the film and the book. He finds the name particularly odd for a pet, and when Henry tells him later that the inspiration was David Bowie, Alex remarks that he could have just used the surname instead.
This is basically just me overthinking the way the book and the film added "David and Jonathan" to two totally different scenes haha.
David Bowie
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There has been a lot of debate over Bowie's sexuality since the 70s, and possibly conflicting statements from Bowie himself over the decades, but he did leave quite an impact on queer people in his time (ref: this article). Henry both in the book and in the film has often turned to literature and art for inspiration, and solace, when it came to exploring his own identity as a gay man. All kinds of historical queer identities - both debated and confirmed - show up in the tapestry of people and ideas that have influenced Henry's own thoughts and ideas (Alex's too). So it definitely makes sense that he would name his beloved pet dog after one of those inspirations.
(notably, during Henry's dramatic entrance when Alex comes down to the UK for damage control, the song playing is Bowie's "Up the Hill Backwards". You also see him choose a Queen song for karaoke, which makes me want to really headcanon him as a 70s prog rock fan 😄)
David and Jonathan
In the book, Alex goes over the details of Henry's fact sheet with Nora and his sister June. When he mentions the name of Henry's dog, he claims his dislike for the name is because it sounds more like a "tax attorney" than a beloved pet (Ch 2).
In the film, it's his SS detail Amy who quizzes him. She responds to his quip about Henry's choice of name for a pet by telling him what she's named her own dog. It's a tiny, fun detail with no lasting importance in the film, but I feel it does work within the larger framework of how the film incorporates queer readings and figures too.
I see this as a reference to a popular reading of the Hebrew/Biblical story of David and Jonathan from the 2 books of Samuel. David was a shepherd anointed by the prophet Samuel (through orders from God), to succeed King Saul, and Jonathan was Saul's son who was extremely devoted to David and even saved him from his father's wrath. They were known to have made a covenant to each other soon after they met, and the first Book of Samuel gives us a picture of an immensely close bond between the two:
After David had finished talking with Saul, Jonathan became one in spirit with David, and he loved him as himself. From that day Saul kept David with him and did not let him return home to his family. And Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself. Jonathan took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his tunic, and even his sword, his bow and his belt. (1 Samuel 18, 1-4)
Interpretations of their relationship have ranged from close friendship to a romantic relationship, and there have been many, many queer readings on this pair.
In Casey McQuiston's RWRB too, Alex references both a saying from the Book of Proverbs (24:13), and the story of David and Jonathan in the same paragraph. This is in Ch 10, when Henry takes Alex to the V&A museum. This particular sequence is in the inner chamber of the museum, shortly after the couple dance to Elton John's "Your Song".
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He compares himself and Henry to "a lost David and Jonathan", and it's pretty obvious why when you think of their devotion, and the tragic end of the relationship of the latter. Like Jonathan, Henry is a prince utterly devoted to one man, and sure that his family too will be against their bond. Like David, Alex is an outsider who the royal family may view as a threat to their stability, and therefore must be kept away. David's love for Jonathan is immense: he makes the covenant with Saul's son soon after they meet, and when he mourns Jonathan's death, he says "Thy love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women." (2 Samuel 1:26).
This amazing post from @elipheleh explores this metaphor more in detail (as well as St. Chiara, and a quote from Oscar Wilde, who is referenced both in the book and the film as a writer Henry is fond of). It also speaks about the verse from the Book of Proverbs that Alex remembers, partly in Spanish, partly in English - Eat honey, my son, for it is good; honey from the comb is sweet to your taste. (Proverbs 24:13-14)
(Jonathan in 1 Samuel also has his own reference to honey - there is a story that chronicles a tense moment between Jonathan and his father, King Saul, due to Jonathan eating wild honey on a day when the troops were bound by an oath to fast (he had not heard the oath himself). He almost faces death by Saul's hand for breaking the oath the latter had made, but is saved by the other people in the troops. (1 Samuel 14: 24-46). I've seen different ways of this passage being interpreted - as either Jonathan being judged for disobeying an oath even though he was not around when it was announced, or Saul being viewed as foolish for making such an oath in the first place. The main point is, Saul is ready to kill his son for breaching a certain protocol, and it is the people who save Jonathan.
Similarly IMO, Henry is prepared to live his whole life in the closet viewing his sexuality as something that would bring shame to his family, but eventually recognizes that he has support. Both within his family (in the form of his mother Catherine and his sister Bea), and in the public eye)
At this point in their lives, Alex and Henry see very little hope that things will get better soon enough for them to unite. It is more than likely that - in their minds - this one romantic visit will be their last for a long, long time. Of course David and Jonathan - who parted ways in the hope of being reunited after the battle with Jonathan's father, and whose friendship/love met a tragic end - would be considered a fitting parallel for the situation Alex and Henry find themselves in.
The book has the space and scope to explore many, many images and symbols that could fit Alex and Henry. Whether it's in the letters they send each other, the references Alex learns more about as he figures out his sexuality. The book can - at the V&A museum - describe the statues the two men linger at in loving detail, making us more aware how poignant their temporary separation will be and how bittersweet this last dance is.
The movie's focus is different - the V&A scene is a (presumably) final, deeply intimate moment that lets Alex see for real the weight of his role in Henry's environment, and how little he expects to see his dreams come true. It also lets Henry see how determined Alex is to make his every dream a reality.
Most moments of highlighting queer literature or history are pocketed away in smaller sequences in the film, as small references and Easter eggs (eg. the books they recommend each other), as the film focuses more on the relationship and it's effects both on the men and the world around them. The V&A is more a visual backdrop for that bittersweet last moment where the two can find equal ground and truly understand each other. I think mentioning the names of the statues would take away from that.
The movie didn't need to include David and Jonathan. Why is why I'm truly, truly grateful that they still did. Even as a tiny, cute Easter egg that is supposed to be banter about weirdly specific pet-naming protocol 💖
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dailydegurechaff · 3 months
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fav light novel only characters? like not animated or drawn in the manga yet
So this has been in my inbox for a couple months now and I think I can finally confidently answer it bc I have a couple of characters who I wanna talk about.
Spoiler warning: Due to this ask being related to characters only seen in the light novel there’s going to be spoilers under the read more! I talk about content as far ahead as novel 11. I think we’re safe on stuff from 12 tho!
If you want a no-spoiler summary: Colonel Calandro (not depicted here), Counselor Conrad, and Major Joachim
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OK SO,
I think the main two that I like the most and are LN-Only so far are Colonel Calandro from Ildoa, who is the observer that ends up attached to the Salamander/Lergen Kampfgruppe on the eastern front and Counselor Conrad, the imperial diplomat that Lergen talks with a lot.
In Calandro’s case, he’s introduced I believe as early as book 6, so I think he’s probably the one of my favorites who is most likely to be in season 2, so I hope Studio Nut does well by him with a good design. In the sketches above, I decided against trying to make a design for him because 1) I got no ideas man and 2) I think (hope) he might show up in the anime soon so I’d like to hold off on drawing him until there’s an official one.
Anyway, a lot of his scenes are great when he’s attached to the Kampfgruppe. If I recall correctly, there’s this scene in one of the books (Book 7?) where he’s talking to Tanya as she’s making preparations to bombard what is obviously a church and he’s like “What are you doing? Isn’t that a war crime?” And Tanya just goes “No, no, it’s fine. They’re not openly displaying anywhere that this is a building used for religious purposes and even if they were, the other side hasn’t signed that treaty so it’s not like we have to adhere to it if they won’t.”
It’s such a funny scene. Tanya’s like, “Oh he’s concerned that we’re committing a crime. I should assuage him by telling him not to worry, we’ve managed to legally justify it.” And instead of any relief he’s just like “Oh my god what the fuck is wrong with them? Why would they ever think to circumvent treaties like this?”
They're funny as hell together and Tanya’s constant griping that she has to babysit him is so good, I hope we get to see it.
Also also a good scene with him is from the end of LN11 where Lergen calls him in the middle of the night, demanding to speak to him because it’s of vital importance. That ensuing conversation where Lergen’s basically like “I can’t say who’s calling, but you recognize me from the sound of my voice, right? Something’s going to happen. I’m really sorry, I can’t say anything more. Please just remember that I called, okay?” I’m so sorry… but it’s giving ‘Tragic Lovers Doomed To Breakup By Circumstances They Can’t Control’ vibes.
It is now my firmly set headcanon that Lergen and Calandro were lovers throughout and in spite of the war and when the time came for Lergen to choose whether to betray Calandro or his country, he chose to betray Calandro, something he feels immensely guilty about. I know it isn’t what Carlo Zen was trying to convey at ALL, but unfortunately that’s what I got from it. Thank you for coming to my TedTalk, moving on.
I guess next up is Counselor Conrad, the Empire’s diplomat who we first meet in LN10 I think? If we don’t get any content of him, I’ll literally cry. Depending on how far season 2 gets us in the story, we may not end up seeing Conrad and that’s so sad to me. There is a scene from LN10 that I absolutely need adapted into the anime. It’s like 160ish pages in. It’s that scene where Tanya, Lergen, and Conrad are talking with each other and Conrad turns to Lergen and gestures at Tanya and says “How did you raise this?” and Tanya’s like “????”
There is another scene where Lergen describes Conrad as handsome, and because of these two scenes, the delusional headcanon has sprung up that these two eventually end up in a relationship and Tanya is their daughter. I’ve mentioned it in another post. A friend of mine actually talks about Conrad (& Lergen and Tanya) in more detail in her post here. And hey, while I’m recommending posts about Conrad, look at all of these too okay?
Conrad actually has an official design in the novel artworks, so I based my above sketch around that. Here are the few canon images we have of him. Interestingly, in the text he's described as having blue eyes at some point, but the colored version we have has them as brown. These drawings come from Books 10 & 11 I believe?
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Ok, last one, for minor characters, there’s Major Joachim who we meet around the end of LN11, who becomes Lergen’s subordinate. I think the best way to describe him is that he’s kind of a boyfailure in the way that Grantz is (that is to say before Grantz got some character development and became somewhat competent). He’s a cutie, I do hope we get some scenes of him.
I did actually do a little sketch of Joachim as we saw above. That one for some reason just came to me very easily, unlike Calandro. Here was my prelim sketch idea:
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And I think that’s about it for now. If you note that all of these characters are in some way related to Lergen, um… Well, I can’t help myself really. We know by now he’s one of my favorites so I like characters associated with him too.
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nightofnyx8 · 6 months
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Does spy x family/ twiyor give you fma/ royai vibes? I don't know if my brain is just addled by royai fic love, but they feel similar somehow.
Maybe it's the tragedy of war in both stories, the forbidden love (that's bound to happen between twiyor and if it doesnt I'll be mad) between two people with blood on their hands.
I've seen hilarious (sad) comparisons between Nina and Anya of cute girl and big white dog, but that's not really what gives me the vibes.
I'm now diving into the manga but I saw some spoilers for Twilight's rough past that made me go 'oh shit... things can get dark'.
I just want someone who's better at analyzing things and studying characters (love ALL your fics btw) to tell me if I'm out of my mind or point out what I'm missing.
*takes a huge breath*
OKAY SO LIKE I was totally against watching Spy x Family at first because it was "mainstream" (it was a very stressful semester of college in my defense) until I saw this fanart by @mochidoodle, twiyor paralleling that royai moment in fma. From that point on, I was a goner. So while I do mostly write twiyor fics at the moment, my love for them is largely colored by my love for royai.
First up, Loid and Roy. On the surface, very different people. One overthinks everything and plans to the tiniest detail, while the other lives off of 99% pure impulse. Loid is a very serious and private person by nature, and while Roy definitely has his solemn moments, it's kind of his whole game to act like the immature colonel playboy of the military before he brings down the entire government with his real motive ("surprise, bitches!"). The main difference I'd say is that Roy knows what he wants, and has a very clear goal how to get there. Loid doesn't. He's still torn between his mission and his family, and doesn't even know who he really is. Like we don't even know his real name lol.
Yor and Riza are also very different. Riza is the voice of reason with Roy (and he definitely needs it). Her personality is actually more aligned with Loid's in that way--quiet, serious, and reserved. Both are them are very good shots. However, she and Yor both don't very highly of themselves at all. Both of them are very compassionate and kind in their own way, and both of them have a soft spot for children. However, Riza's overwhelming guilt comes from her choices in the Ishvalan War, whereas I think Yor almost...intentionally blocks out the brutality of what she has to do to keep her brother alive.
Which brings me to the topic of war in both series (spoiler alert).
Both FMA and Spy x Family are very antiwar. Neither of them glorifies warfare. Casualties and consequences are not treated lightly. Progranda plays a huge role. Both series are trying to prevent another war from happening. For the sake of the argument, I'm going to refer to Yor as a soldier as well as Loid because she is still putting her life on the line for her country (she even says her job is comparable to that of a soldier in the manga). The biggest difference is that Roy and Riza chose to do the things they did in Ishval. Loid and Yor did as well, however it was more their circumstances that pushed them into that decision. Loid lost his mother as a child and crawled around in the streets for years before finally joining the military, only to lose everyone he ever cared about. Yor did it because it was only way to save her brother from literally starving to death. The war between Ostania and Westalis forced literal children to become soldiers (and that's kind of Endo's shtick--what war does to children). Roy and Riza...I mean, there's a reason why their fate is so tragic. They literally committed genocide. Yes, their reasonings are far more complex than this little lecture has room for, but it sufficeth to say that their burden is immensely heavy (I'm not even going to get into how Riza's burnt tattoo fits into the tragedy of their relationship and their choices because it's going to make me cry). But that is FMA's whole thing: Choice. What makes us root for Roy and Riza despite everything? Because despite impossible odds, they are working for a future where something like the Ishvalan War will never happen again, even if they end up being sentenced to death along the way.
Now going back to Spy x Family, the plot doesn't center around a global scale like FMA does. Yes, the tension between the East and West is a huge part of it, but most of the story is centered around one little family. It's important to remember that FMA isn't royai's story--it's Ed and Al's. Roy and Riza's character arcs are mostly complete even by the beginning of the manga. Loid and Yor's and Anya's are not.
But you really did hit the mark when you said royai colors our love for twiyor because both couples are two people who care very deeply for one another but can never be together. Roy and Riza can never get married due to military regulations. And the fake marriage between Loid and Yor will end once Operation Strix is finished (or so Loid thinks). But it's not really the mission or the military that's keeping them apart. One of my favorite royai authors @lantur wrote such an amazing royai fic outlining the fact that Riza being Roy's subordinate isn't actually the thing keeping them apart. Those two have such a painful, shared history. (I mean, he literally burnt the tattoo off her back after using the knowledge of it to commit genocide, for which Riza feels partly responsible). And yet they are fiercely loyal to each other. They don't need to kiss or fuck to know how much these two love each other. (On screen I mean...you cannot tell me they didn't at least have one night together).
With Loid and Yor, it's not nearly as heavy. But Loid (or rather, Twilight) does carry the weight of the world on his shoulders. He feels it's his sole responsibility to bring about a world full of peace, and he will not deviate from that mission. But of course he's getting more attached (who wouldn't) and he's eventually going to have to choose between his forged little family and the rest of the world. To most, maybe that's a simple decision. But you have to remember that Twilight is one who is going to have to change the most out of the Forgers. His decision to love them changes everything. It actually brings up an interesting point if royai did have a child. Would they still choose to put themselves on trial if it meant the possibility of leaving their child an orphan?
Spy x Family is about, well, families. The strength that comes from when broken people decide to heal each other and create a future for their child that's bright and safe and warm. And that directly parallels with FMA because it doesn't always have to be blood-related families, but the bonds you choose to forge (pun intended). And though I hope for royai to have a nice, quiet life in the country somewhere, laughing and growing old together, it's left ambiguous for a reason. Twiyor on the other hand, well let's just say that my heart keeps telling me that their happy ending is coming, but they're going to have to go through a lot of pain and angst and denial of feelings to get there. It's a comedy, so I expect Endo will get them together eventually, it's the when that's the mystery.
So I guess to wrap up this very lengthy answer, while royai and twiyor are different on the surface, they are similar at their core. Fighting for a better world, creating their own families along the way, and sharing little moments of devotion through their daily lives. Because though the series is nowhere near being done, you know Loid would look at Yor like she's the moon and the stars once he finally realizes he loves her.
Thanks for letting me rant about something I feel very passionate about, and I'll probably add to it if I think of more reasons lol. I'm glad you enjoy my fics, that's very sweet of you to say! Have a wonderful weekend! <3
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