#I disagree with some of the other examples of the kids immediately knowing something is a trap but THIS ISNT ONE OF THEM. | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

kira-quartz · 1 year

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7, 19 and 30 for carryshipping? 💖

OTP Questions

*distant squeeing*

CARRYSHIPPING LET’S GOOO

Thank you! 😁😁

7: Which one constantly wears the other’s clothes?

Well, they all borrow things from each other, but Joey definitely does it the most. He’ll casually steal pretty much any item of clothing Tristan leaves lying around, and sometimes when he wakes up in the morning and his brain hasn’t quite activated yet, he’ll just grab something and not even notice whose it is at first. Tristan pretends to be mildly annoyed, but he doesn’t actually mind.

Speaking of Tristan, he’ll sometimes wear one of Joey’s t-shirts if he doesn’t plan to leave the house that day. They more or less fit, since Joey usually buys a size or two larger than he needs - partly because it’s comfortable, partly because when he was younger (this is all post-canon), he needed to make sure any new clothes he bought would last a few years before he outgrew them, and it just stuck.

And Ryo, as the smallest of the three, has no shortage of big, comfy jackets and hoodies to borrow in colder weather. That green hoodie Tristan wears in a few S2/S4 episodes is a favourite of his.

19: How good would your OTP/3 be at parenting?

Hmm. 🤔 Pretty good, I think. All three of them have parental issues of some kind - Ryo with his distant father* (which wasn’t really his fault, but it still hurt), Tristan with his stern one, and Joey with his whole situation - so they’d make a conscious effort to do better with their kids.

*I HC that he survived the Ring incident, because look what happened to the last cornflake who tried it on.

(More below the cut - I really had to think about this one, so it might be messy, sorry. ^^;)

Joey would be kind of anxious at first - making a mistake in a Duel is one thing, but this is a small human he’s dealing with - but while might not always know exactly what to do, he has a pretty good idea of what not to do, and he slowly gets the hang of it. He’d join in with their games whenever he gets the chance, take their feelings seriously and be open about how much he loves them and how proud he is of them. Even with the effort he’ll have put into learning to control himself, he might still occasionally say things without thinking, but will always, always make sure to clear things up and apologise when he needs to.

(Oh, and I forgot to mention the dad jokes. So many dad jokes.)

After spending most of his childhood taking care of himself and most of his immediate family, he wouldn’t want to give the kids too many responsibilities too early. He wouldn’t even make a big deal about chores getting done (that’s Tristan’s department), at least until someone, for example, nearly breaks their neck tripping over a toy or something that was left lying around. He would want them to make an effort at school, but he wouldn’t punish them for not doing well, especially considering how much he used to struggle with his schoolwork.

Tristan would have the firmest approach to parenting, but still a bit more relaxed than his own parents. He’s still on okay terms with them (especially his mum), so he’d at least take their advice into consideration. This means he and Joey might disagree on the best course of action when a problem comes up, but they’d do their best to work something out; in another room, if they have to, often with Ryo offering his opinion too, since all three of them would have promised not to fight in front of the kids (Joey’s idea). But it does NOT mean he wouldn’t get all emotional over certain milestones - I mean, we saw him crying at his high school graduation, imagine him at theirs. 🥹

He still remembers how his parents used to act towards Joey years ago - admittedly, he was a pretty bad influence back then, but he had his reasons - so while he’d naturally be protective of his kids (sometimes slightly overprotective), he wouldn’t be as quick to judge any friends they invite over in case they’re in a similar situation, and if that does turn out to be the case, he, Joey and Ryo will let them come over whenever they need to, giving them a safe place to go and three more adults they can trust.

He’d *want* to encourage them to follow their dreams instead of trying to pressure them into a specific career like his dad did. Some choices might put that to the test, but he’d still try to support them as long as they’ve thought about it properly - if they made any big impulsive decisions that they could theoretically act on in the near future, he’d intervene.

Ryo would be so gentle and patient with the kids, rarely (if ever) raising his voice towards them unless it’s absolutely necessary. Not wanting them to feel neglected like he did, he’d give them heaps of attention, to the point where Joey and Tristan would occasionally need to reassure him that it’s okay to make time for himself sometimes. He gets better about this over time, though, and he’ll understand if they want to be left alone for a while. I think he’s a pretty understanding cornflake in general. ^-^

I can see him wanting to shelter them a little bit too much as they get older, partly as an extension of his unfortunate habit of not telling people things to keep them from worrying, and partly out of fear of losing anyone else; BUT I can also see him wanting them to be prepared in case something actually does happen, and explaining difficult topics to them in a really sensitive way. I’ll have to think about it. 🤔

He’d look forward to seeing his kids discover who they are, and it’d be important to him that they don’t feel pressured to hide or change their interests and values as long as they’re not hurting anyone.

As for 30, I said I couldn’t really answer that one (too much research involved, ^^;), so you can pick another one if you want. I think Tristan would take the most photos though, mostly because Sim!Tristan somehow ended up with the highest photography skill. XD

Sorry for the wait! My dad gave me his old computer for Simming (it has four times as much memory, and it’s worked wonders for my loading times, not to mention how smoothly it actually runs! 😁), so I’ve been redownloading all my CC, since I heard that you can’t transfer mod files directly from a Mac to a PC without corruption. Now I’m just checking for stuff I’ve missed (as far as I know, none of my YGO Sims made it to the new computer with all their CC except Valon, XD), and I’m pretty sure I’ve got most of the important stuff, so my game’s pretty much ready to play. :D

Thanks again for asking!

#yugioh #carryshipping #ryo bakura #joey wheeler #tristan taylor #ygo #ryou bakura #katsuya jonouchi #hiroto honda #protectshipping #buddyshipping #puffshipping #ask memes #replies

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opinated-user · 2 years

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Now that I think about it what's hilariously crazy is the fact Lily hates Hunter but considers Zuko a good character. Don't get me wrong when all is said and done Zuko is technically better due to the sheer amount of screentime he got but what's crazy that Lily fails to realize is between Hunter and Zuko, Hunter has more reason to be doing the bad shit he does than Zuko does. As great of a character as Zuko is he literally had a wise mentor giving him advice, saw first hand the damage the fire nation was doing, even as a kid disagreed with their practices and since he's banished if he really wanted to he could've tried to start over anytime. The point is Zuko's perception was warped but there was still enough for him to see the fire nation was in the wrong at any time and again had a wise mentor giving him advice the whole time. Hunter on the other hand like everyone else on the boiling Isles is just raised from the start to believe this is the way the world is with no reason to believe otherwise until he learns the truth and that truth was buried by Belos to the point Hunter wouldn't have even known the horrific details if Luz hadn't bumped into him. The point is I don't care which one people like more, they are both good characters. The problem with Lily however is the weird "angsty boy helping a fascist is taking too long to figure it out" attitude while praising Zuko when between the two of them Hunter has more reason to be blind to Belos true horrific nature than Zuko does for the fire nation. Hell according to Lily's attitude Zuko should've figured it all out the moment Ozai burned his sons face. Meanwhile Belos IS abusive to Hunter but Belos is careful to know when and when not to strike and to show some level of kindness in order to manipulate Hunter into believing he's truly a loving caring uncle that "only strikes because you did something wrong" when most people know a real loving guardian would never strike or threaten to strike as a form of punishment.

Hell according to Lily's attitude Zuko should've figured it all out the moment Ozai burned his sons face

another example of LO believing that victims of abuse should recognize it immediately, get away from it and dennounce it as quickly as possible or else they're lazy complacent martyrs who must enjoy the suffering. zuko was also raised believing not only on his father, but also on the "glory of the fire nation", just like Hunter grew up believing that the way of Belos was ultimately what was keeping everyone safe and things in order. they're were both children raised by fascist father figures and literally had no contact with anyone from the outside until their worlds fell appart in front of their eyes, seeing the "glory/order" for what it really was. when they finally started breaking away from that mindset it wasn't just accept they were abused (already a hard thing to do), but that the worldview that they believed in all their life was wrong and they were mere instruments of not just an awful man but an awful system that never caused anything else but pain and suffering for the rest of the world. considering how difficult is for full grown adults to unlearn so many things taught by society, then it's no surprising that two teens won't have an easier time either.

#lily orchard

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angeltreasure · 1 year

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Cecilia here, got a bit of a of a funk going on lately. I'm exhausted as of late no matter how I sleep, I've been able to follow my Lent fasting/abstaining but I'm getting irritable, joints and back aching from my job, choir practice didn't go well tonight and someone was making jokes about me singing badly when they were the one talking and thus I couldn't hear my section, weird distractions during Mass the other day where I kept getting intrusive thoughts about if my brother and his gf had a kid I'd adopt it since I'm sure they'd have an abortion otherwise, and my period hasn't come yet (It's late by like half a week) I don't know if Satan's trying to mess with my vocation searching or if I'm doing something wrong or if I'm just not handling this Lent well, but I just feel like I'm in a bit of a haze this whole week. I know I'm making good progress cause I'm doing what I can and praying about it, but at the same time it feels like roadblocks are getting in the way and I'm not sure if it'd be God Satan or just myself. Sorry if I'm rambling or infodumping, it's just been rough as of late. Pray for me please. Hope you're doing well and God Bless.

I know exactly what you mean. When I feel stressed, no matter how much sleep I get I can feel exhausted and painful. Then my insomnia kicks in with racing thoughts and restlessness. Our minds as humans have a tendency to be very vivid especially as problem solvers. It may explain the intrusive thoughts to some degree, but with practice you can immediately switch the thought you don’t want, to something good and true. Satan freely walks this earth as it’s prince and as the former most powerful angel he was very smart so he knows just what little words to say that can upset you and even horrible intrusive thoughts that we would never want to imagine. Some here may disagree with me, but the spiritual battle is real no matter what vocation we are in and that’s a fact. The closer we grow towards God, the more the enemy attacks. We can fight the battle in our mind as well as with prayer and fasting (I always picture the Eucharist Adoration monstrance and host close up). Although it is of course not good to obsess over every intrusive thought, gently observe now and then the content. God can reveal things to us in our thoughts too. He can reveal something that will happen and even let you read the heart of a person. It may be a good to look into pro life resources and how your state or country does for adoption, that way if that scenario does happen, you will at least be bit informed. “Pray, hope, and don’t worry.”- my favorite by St. Padre Pio. There will be good days and bad. Take each day as a little baby step. Sometimes the bad days we have are teaching moments we can look back on and improve ourselves from like oh okay I’m not going to do that next time or, I felt better when I did this instead of that. Offer up any worry you have to God as part of your Lenten penance. I will pray for you! No worries this is what I’m here for. Thank you may God bless you as well. Remember thar onI’m going to teach you what my priest said at the last mass.

When you have negative intrusive thoughts about yourself or a situation, pray for example: “In the name of Jesus, I reject the idea that I am not worthy as a singer…” immediately after, pray: “In the name of Jesus, I claim the fact that I am beloved child of God and that my gift from God to sing helps bring people closer to Him.”

#asks #Cecilia

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funkymbtifiction · 2 years

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I feel like I’m always in this wave of self doubt when it comes to my type. Because usually when I’m overthinking, I’m overthinking my type. Like ever since I was an early teen, I’ve been doubting it because I wanted to figure out who I authentically am. And I still want to know. Like I’ve read this blog before and I feel like I use the functions in these ways. Fe: I feel like I can have the tendency to push my values onto others at times when I disagree with them, and try and change their mind. It’s mainly because I don’t want them doing this thing/saying this thing because it’s wrong and I think it’s wrong. I also feel like I have the tendency to have an us mindset. Like I’ll be like, “we should do this” or “we should all this together” or “what do y’all wanna do next?” Like I feel like I think in terms of more “we” than “me”. Fi: I feel like I have values when they’re stepped on, which is weird because I don’t know who I am. Like for example, my friend and I are vastly different when it comes to values. I ask her an opinion on something, which is something I’ll feel strongly on, but her response is usually “idk” or it’s whatever. Like to me, I don’t understand, because I’m never really like that unless I’m with family(bc I’m usually not myself around them). But with everyone else, I’m usually expressing my opinions, maybe to the point of pushing them onto others. Se: I feel like for Se, I want to do things, you know, but I mean, I don’t actually do them. Sometimes, it depends. Like I want to go out and experience things, but I usually don’t initiate. Or I’ll fantasize things, but won’t act. Usually cuz I’m lazy or don’t feel like it. But the Se in me is also when I don’t get things quickly, like taekwondo for example, if I mess something up, I feel like a failure and want to quit immediately. Or I remember when I was younger, I couldn’t get the hang of sewing quickly like the other kids and some were younger than me. I felt devastated and I didn’t join back until a month later because I felt embarrassed and didn’t want to go back because that’s how bad I felt. I feel like positively tho, my Se manifests in me doing stuff on a spur. I have a tendency to not think things through, but it also isn’t terrible, like I wanted to go vegetarian one day and the the next day, I dropped meat cold turkey for a whole year. I hate when people say they wanna do something but then they don’t. And that’s kinda contradictory with what I wrote earlier but like bear with me. Si: I don’t know much about this function. Being honest here, I don’t know much to write. If anything. Te: I don’t feel like I have much Te. Because I’m not the queen of productivity. I can get into bursts at times, but I’m not really productive. Ti: Again, I can’t relate much to this function. Not sure what to put here either. Ni: I feel like I can relate with the meaning aspect, because I do wonder about meaning of things at times. But that’s really it; I don’t really like to overthink the future. I don’t mind thinking about it and fantasizing and stuff, but yeah. Ne: This function is like very weird to me. Cuz I’ll type myself as a sensor but sometimes idk. Like cuz I’ll be out and having a good time, but my mind is also wandering, like I’m not 100% in the moment; I’m thinking of other things too. I feel like it comes into play when I can compare random things together (like a chef messing up in a cooking show to me making a mistake in class) or I can have a barrage of ideas (cuz usually people compliment on my creativity; also ik Se can be creative too) I also remember reading about how you said Ne fantasizes but then is let down by reality, which I could imagine for me. Because I’ve always imagined though in the future, I’d be out exploring and stuff, feeling the air, being happy, etc. but I feel like it’s just also not so easy like that.

There's SO MUCH 6w7 in what you wrote, it's drowning out all else. Self-doubt, second-guessing, wanting to change people's minds and have them agree with you, focusing on right/wrong and wanting others to go along with it, assertive opinions but also polling people to see what they want to do, constantly thinking / thinking about what is coming next, imagining exploring but not getting around to it, having 7 wing frustration with reality vs. imagination.

I would assume, beyond that, ISFP. You don't seem to be an intuitive, although you haven't studied the functions enough yet to really know what they are / what they do, so you should keep reading. You seem more Fi than Fe (Fe is about more than agreement or persuading others to go along with you; it's a state of mind that prioritizes other people's emotions in decision making, and you said nothing about that which means it's not your natural focus), and said you prefer not to over-analyze the future, which rules out high Ne.

#question #mbti #enneagram #enneagram 6

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mirkwoodmunson · 2 years

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Why do you like Karen in stranger things? She literally creeps on a 17/18 year old. She doesn't even really care about her kids either.

fair question! i’m not very eloquent when it comes to putting my thoughts into words but i’ll do my best here

with your first point, yeah, you can argue with billy she and the other women at the pool maybe overstep some bounds with their ogling as he is much younger than them — to be frank it’s the norm in a lot of situations (take fandom space for example). not excusing it but, y’know. people look at things they think are pretty. she gives into his heavy flirting and agrees (at first) to meet up with him. and again, yes it’s weird with the age difference; however billy is 18 in season 3; not to be that person but it’s not illegal. i wouldn’t quite call her actions ‘creeping’ though, if anything billy is pretty intense in coming on to her and is the one who invites her to the motel which she later realizes is wrong and backs out of because she can’t do that to her family, which leads to your next point.

i honestly completely disagree that she doesn’t care about her kids, because it’s shown in every interaction she has with them that she loves them very dearly. kids are kids and they’re hard to connect with but she makes every effort to do so even when hers push her away. and when they do realize they need her she is always there to comfort them.

season one, when nancy comes home from sleeping with steve, she pushes karen away but karen doesn’t reprimand her for it; she’s just worried about her daughter. then when nancy becomes really worried about what happened to barb she goes to karen. when mike is coming up with a plan on how to help el after they bring her back to his place, his first thought is his mom, ‘she’ll know what to do.’ he knows she’d be the kind of person to immediately come in and try to help eleven. when mike comes home after they pull ‘will’ from the water, she’s the first one up from the table because she knows something’s wrong, and when he reaches out to her she just wordlessly comforts him. when he’s scared about her being upset that he’s stayed home from school she urges him not to worry, she knows he’s dealing with a lot. when joyce is going through it, karen almost seems to be the only one that bothers checking in on her, brings her food, sits with her and talks with her.

my goodness, boop, this exchange alone with nancy in season 3;

“It's not easy out there, Nance.”

“I know.”

“People are always saying you can't, that you shouldn't. That you're not... smart enough, not good enough. This world, it... it beats you up again and again until eventually, I... Most people, they just... they just stop trying. But you're not like that. You're a fighter. You always have been. I honestly don't know where you get it from.”

“Dad.”

“I think you were swapped in the hospital, to tell you the truth.”

“No. I get it from you, Mom. I get it from you.”

“Well, wherever you get it from, I'm proud of you.”

“Proud of me for getting fired?”

“That you stood up for yourself. That you stood up to those... shitheads.”

“Mom!”

“Yes, those shitheads. And if you believe in this story... Look at me, Nancy. Finish it. Then go sell it to The Indianapolis Star or whatever and... I mean, can you imagine their faces when they read a story about their own town in a big paper like that? That would be... pretty amazing. So, why not?”

“Why not?”

“Finish it.”

does that sound like something a mother who doesn’t care about her kids would say?

and in season 4 where literally the majority of the parents are doubting their own childrens’ morality — she steps forward and defends them, demands to know where they are and what’s going on.

karen wheeler is an unhappy woman. she’s unhappy in her marriage, she’s unhappy with the small box she’s tried to fit herself into but by god does she love her children, she finds happiness in watching them grow and change — and she learns from them too. she changes through the seasons to become who she wants and needs to be, and who her children need her to be. we learn from nancy that her mom married young to a much older man, had kids young. karen never got to be what she wanted, only what others wanted her to be. but she’s learning now. she has faults but jesus who doesn’t?

setting aside how much she loves her kids, she loves everyone?? for another example, i mentioned joyce, but in s4 when the party starts coming up from the basement after saving max she comments how she thinks it’s so sweet everyone is sticking together over their break. she loves seeing that the younger kids are hanging out with nancy again and vice versa, loves that they all camped out together in her basement, that they’re all coming up together to have breakfast — and she wants to provide for them! she wants dustin to have his fill because let’s face it she’s probably his 2nd or 3rd mom at this point (mrs. sinclair we love you too i wish we saw her more).

idk man i lost my train of thought a bunch in there but suffice it to say — karen wheeler is a wonderful, multi-faceted character. she reminds me of my own mom in some ways. she has faults, but i don’t think she’s done anything outright horrible to negate all of that.

thank you for sending this beep i appreciate the chance to go off abt karen! i’m sure someone has put it more eloquently than i have. i really do love her, i think she’s a great character and ted fucking sucks.

#karen wheeler #stranger things #💌

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glorioustidalwavedefendor · 7 months

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someone disagreed with me and then deleted the comment ... but since I alredy crafted an answer ...

The courting rituals of pigeons (…) tend to repeat the same patterns

I have to say that a limited vocabulary will not keep you from making your wishes known if people are willing to listen …

youtube

Doesn‘t mean you‘ll get what you want … but not because no one knows … Dream big you little feather ball, one day you‘ll get what you want … XD

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/style/wp/2018/07/23/feature/the-crane-who-fell-in-love-with-a-human/

the social hierarchies of other primates tend to repeat the same patterns. Their rules are unspoken because they don't need to discuss the exact details of their own specific, unique situations.

O contrair my friend

They are very much not unspoken, they are very much learned

O.K. fine they don‘t teach it with words, but they do have to teach their kids

I still remember this lecture on … neurology? The professors speciality was primates, baboons to be exact. And he used them as examples

One examples was where this tiny little baboon toddler, was starting to crawl towards that other little baboon toddler and her mom immediately pulled her back.

Because, no, not that one, you do not speak to that one unless spoken to, that is the daughter of the alpha

Or have you ever seen a calve play with a kid (as in Baby goat)?

How the kid will run full force at the calve (because bumping heads is fun for kids) and then stop an inch before the calve and so so gently bump it‘s head n to the calve?

And the calve bumps back. Despite the fact that for a calve that is not really play behavior?

Trust me, there was some negotiation going down before that.

Yes animals don't speak, but they do communicate rather complex ideas via body language …

Or how a cat can get a whole household of grown ups to go to bed at 9 o‘clock in the evening, through suborn negotiation …

It‘s not just stubborn mechanical repetition

working/living together in an infinitely complex world needs communication … because no amount of rigorous weeding via evolution not taking prisoners will prepare a bee for a screw cap …

youtube

Show me a chimpanzee riding another chimpanzee like a dressage horse.

I will not even attempt that XD

because:

a) not sure where to get that, google will not even show you dolphin nipples …

b) not sure what counts as „riding like a dressage horse“ in your book. Like is it only proof if they wear tiny little harnesses? Then I will definitely not be able to provide XD

c) relatively sure now that I think about it that you can see something like that behind a paywall …

d) also even if I did find something it would 1) ruin my search history and 2) I couldn‘t post it because tumblr is very boring about certain things …

But I do know that Bonobos understand enough about reproduction to have more queer then straight sex, to minimize offspring … not out of the question that they also have kinks …

#Youtube

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lonely-lost-soul · 3 years

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Poff Poff

(Platonic C!Schlatt x Niece Reader)

Request 7: Can I request an Uncle Jschlatt and Niece reader? (Platonic ye) maybe Jschlatt could be out taking his niece to a late-night convenience store so they could late-night snack because both he and his niece had a bad day?

Requested by: Anonymous

AU where Puffy is Schlatt’s sister :)

~~~

Schlatt had, had a rough day, to say the least. He once again almost got banned for another scheme gone wrong. His election plans were set in motion but due to the statistics, it looked like he was losing and he was pissed off beyond belief. He had no plans for the rest of the day, all he wanted to do was relax with a drink and a cigarette, maybe watch a movie, just something to help him through the rest of this shitty ass day.

So, When Puffy had shown up on his doorstep and dropped you off to watch you while she went out his immediate response was no. He already smells like cigarette smoke and whiskey he shouldn’t be anywhere near a child. But one harsh glare from his sister made him shut his trap, he looked down at you and you looked just as unhappy to be there.

“Mom do I have to stay here, I’m old enough to stay on my own. Or even with Dream?” The angsty teen groaned tilting her head to the side, her little horns hitting her on the shoulder. Puffy let out a pinched huff pressing her fingers to her nose,

“You know Dreams out with George and Sapnap, plus you’re still too young to be left alone. So you’re staying with Uncle Schlatt until I get back from my date with Niki.”

“But-”

“Hush no butts. Now you.” She pointed a finger at Schlatt, “no smoking or drinking in front of my little Poff got it?” Schlatt rolled his eyes snarling over at his sister,

“Have a little faith in me, sis.” She shot him a look, and he wilted a little bit,

“Be good.”

“I will.” You groaned,

“Not talking to you.”

“I will.” The goat-man grumbled under his breath, finally seeming satisfied his sister departed leaving her equally hotheaded daughter by his side. “So...you smoke?”

“No Uncle Schlatt I don’t smoke,” You sighed a frown on your face usually that comment got a least a snort.

Oh no, not teenage angst.

You walked past him into his humble abode and plopped down on his couch, it also smelled like smoke, “How’s Quackity?”

“You mean Flatty Patty?” He smirked plopping down beside you scratching at his ear absentmindedly. You snickered, there it was,

“No I don’t, you know he hates when you call him that.” You nudged him gently, Schlatt ruffled your hair minding your horns. You huffed at him moving to fix your tousled hair,

“Alright, kid you got me. Now, what’s up with you?”

“Nothings wrong.” You muttered crossing your arms over your chest defensively, he shrugged his shoulders not bothering to push you. “Okay fine!” You blurted throwing your hands in the air, the man raised an eyebrow.

“I didn’t say anything-”

“It’s just Dream’s not been home lately and Mom’s not taking it well. Instead of trying to watch out for him n’ shit, she’s going on dates with Niki.” You groaned falling back against the couch, “When he does come home it’s just for food and to pet, his cat then leave. He barely even says hi to us anymore...we used to be so close. Now he just doesn’t care.” Your face fell and he frowned, Schlatt winced a little he was never known to be very good with comforting people let alone comforting women. He placed a hand on your shoulder and squeezed,

“He’ll come around kid, family’s, family you know?” He watched you shrug sadly and he rubbed his chin with his other hand.

He needed another cigarette right now.

You looked up at him and saw him tense, “You can smoke I don’t care.” You gave a little shrug, “either way I’m leaving here smelling like smoke Mom won’t be able to tell the difference.”

“Heh.” He chuckled roughly rubbing the back of his neck, “thank’s kid, I owe you one.” You nodded and watched as Schlatt pulled out his package of cigarettes and frowned seeing it was empty, “Ah fuck me.”

“You out?”

“Yeah. Would you be opposed to a quick drugstore run?” You shrugged your shoulders, indifferent.

“Sure could be fun. Could I get a snack?”

“You could get whatever you want, not payin’ for it.” You snorted loudly covering your mouth to hide your snort. “What? If you can steal it you can get whatever you want.”

“I’m not stealing anything Uncle Schlatt, that’s wrong.”

“Ugh. What’s my goody-two-shoes sister been teaching you?” His nose scrunched up in displeasure. “As long as you don’t get caught anything is legal kid. Stick with me and you’ll learn way more tips than that. I'm a professional.”

“Right cause doing that hasn’t gotten banned before.” You smirked and he glared at you pulling on your horn. The movement caused you to yelp in pain. “Joke! I was joking! Ow!” He muttered a ‘you better be’ before standing up from his couch. You followed him from the couch as he made his way to the door, he held it open for you and you snickered “What a gentlemen.”

“Don’t slander my name like that again.” He scoffed, “Follow me, don’t wander off.” Schlatt commanded as you followed him down to the nearest convenience store, “Go get something you like.” He shooed you off and requested the pack of cigarettes he needed making small talk with the store clerk while you wandered around. “Hurry up kid or you get nothing!”

“I’m coming!” You yelled back in your arms was a pack of sour patch watermelons, a chocolate bar, and some chips, “I got you chips.” Schlatt tried to bite back a smile but it came through anyway and it only made you smile in tandem. He paid for your goodies and you both headed out to go sit outside on a nearby bench. As you sat down you turned to stare at him dead in the eyes, he felt a little unsettled and watched as you slowly pulled out a little bag of popcorn. “I stole it.”

“Holy fuck kid you did it!” He burst into laughter ruffling your hair once again, “I’m proud of you.” You beamed brightly sitting up straighter on the bench, you opened the bag and popped a piece into your mouth. Schlatt reached forward and stole a handful from you, you ripped the bag away defensively and he snickered.

“Soo…” You trailed off softly and he raised an eyebrow at you, “You seemed to have a bad day too. You wanna talk about it?” His eyes widened in surprise, he didn’t take you to be so observant, then again you were Puffy’s child.

“Alright Poff,” he clicked his tongue distastefully and began to recount his woes to his child niece. Halfway through he pulled out a freshly bought cigarette and stuck it between his teeth. He pulled out a lighter flicking it a few times before lighting the cancer stick in his mouth and taking a long drag. You nodded your head in response and seemed to be listening intently to him, as he talked he felt his facade crumbling. The goat man slumped across the bench and was openly ranting to you at this point. “So yeah, that’s how my days going. Guess we both are doing pretty shitily huh?” You pursed your lips,

“Why don’t you ask Quackity to combine both of your votes the day of the election?” He looked at you with a raised eyebrow, you flushed nervously under his stern gaze. “Then you can be the President and he can be your Vice President or something...that way you both win in a way, ya know?”

“Kid…” Schlatt murmured thoughtfully rubbing his chin, “you’re a genius!” He wrapped you up in a hug, “this kid! I love ya! You’re too smart for your good!” You beamed letting out a happy laugh in response, “I’m contacting him immediately. Wilbur and Tommy don’t stand a fucking chance against me now.”

“I’m glad I can make you happy.” You snuggled into his arms but recoiled a little bit at the overwhelming scent of fresh smoke on his clothes, “you deserve it.” Schlatt felt his heart shutter a little at the inclination that he deserves to be happy, he was about to respond with a joke but you started talking again. “You’re a good guy Uncle. You don’t let people see it often but you’re an okay dude,” he watched you fiddle with your fingers as his eyebrows furrowed. He chuckled a little,

“Most people would disagree with you kid.”

“Well most people don’t know like mom and I do,” You pointed out, “Plus if you weren’t a nice guy you wouldn’t have tried to cheer me up.”

“I needed smokes.” He pointed out motioning to the stick in his mouth and you frowned a little.

Good, things were getting too mushy for his liking.

He was about to smirk in triumph but you turned towards him a determined look on your face. “My point still stands, for example, if you weren’t that great of a guy you wouldn’t have watched me today. You would’ve shut the door in Puffy’s face or you wouldn’t have listened and tried to comfort me. Therefore, my point still stands,” You shoved your finger in his face and he grumbled in displeasure. You smirked instead of him, getting the signature family smirk on your face it only made him frown deeper.

“Alright fine, but you tell anyone I’m slightly nice you’re cut off.”

“Cut off from what? You’re inheritance? You’re broke as shit.”

“You’re way too much like your mother.”

“Aw, you think so?” You flushed fondly, “Thanks!” You chirped proudly, puffing out your chest a little bit. He scoffed tugging on your horns once more and smirked as you yelped, “Would you stop doing that!”

“Nah I don’t think I will. Especially because I know it’s bothering you.”

“Asshole.”

“That’s more like it.”

You leaned back against the back of the bench with a loud groan throwing some popcorn at him. He snickered loudly, watching you closely all in all Schlatt did enjoy today. He kissed his teeth a little, you were way smarter than everyone seemingly gave you credit for, especially Dream. When Schlatt wins this election maybe he’d give you a position in his cabinet. He thinks you would like that, finally being able to show people who’s boss and what you’re capable of, yeah that’s what he’ll do. Reluctantly Schlatt pulled you close so your head rested against his shoulder, you smiled up at him softly, all in all, it was a good end to his day.

#c!schlatt x reader #platonic schlatt x reader #Platonic Schlatt x niece reader #c!jschlatt x reader #platonic jschlatt x reader #dreamsmp x you #dreamsmp x reader #mcyt x reader #mcyt x you #platonic x reader #platonic relationships #platonic mcyt x reader #minecraft fanfiction #minecraft x reader #minecraft x you #x reader #x you #x y/n

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hopefullystillatheatrestudent · 3 years

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i'm so excited about you taking asks again ahhhh okay so. if you'd absolutely had to choose. what would be your top 5 cockles moments, and why? thank you ily <3

here’s the thing: there are so many routes i could go down with this, because cockles moments come in all shapes and sizes and formats. these include moments from their panels, their bloopers, the footage we get when they don’t even know they’re being recorded, stories being passed down from photo ops & autographs(one of my personal favorite ways to get cockles, tbh, because they’re all insane), and social media(tweets to each other, instagram posts & comments, etc.).

SO! since many a list like this has already been made, and i want to stand out from the crowd, what i’m gonna do is definitively give the number one spot to each of these five categories.(i might even throw in honourable mentions because they’re so despicably in love that they warrant that. i really put my whole pussy into this, guys, i hope you’re happy.)

disclaimer: these are my own personal opinions. but that also means i’m right. so. enjoy.

number one: top cockles panel moment

so we’re starting off with a bang, because how do you even BEGIN to rank what atrocities jensen and misha commit at jibcon. every single one they’ve had is damning in it’s own right, for different reasons.

however, considering just how much unabashed fuckery they’ve given us to sift through, it’s a good thing i do have a personal favorite despite it all. it’s heartwarming, the sweetest thing i’ve ever seen, AND it’s jarringly cinematic - mainly because it has a whole ass arc to it that was years in the making. it might even be surprising to some people, but my favorite cockles panel moment, and what i consider the one that encompasses their entire gut-wrenching journey from 2008-2013 in the most sweepingly romantic gesture possible, is this one.

i want this burned into my retinas. i am not even joking. when i'm through with my explanation, let me convince you why this is thee most romantic cockles moment of all time.

first, some history: people call this the resume off, but many seem to forget the botched attempt at a resume off a year prior. and yes, you guessed it: it's during their break up. it's a juicy time period for a reason, guys. it came across as exceedingly one-sided and VERY awkward. let me refresh your memory as to just how bad it was, and just how hard jensen was trying and ultimately failing at winning misha over: the funniest part of the whole resume off in 2013??? every joke/bit had literally already been made/done. they were just going through the motions again, but the difference THIS time...is that misha reciprocated jensen's energy. it. is. fascinating. i want to get into it more detail in another post, and i'll link it here when i'm done, but the main takeaway, i think, and the main difference that showcases how much they've grown in a year, is that in jib 3, misha flat out refused to do an accent, and this time around, he indulges jensen for literal minutes. when i tell you they're crazy, they're crazy. i can't wait to actually dive into it later.

ANYWAY, the resume off culminates in this moment here. and, like, a million things happen in this gifset. actually, more like a million and one. the music starts playingneediremindyouthatthesongissingingintherain(h e l p), misha starts dancing, jensen 'perpetually fake grumpy' ackles lets misha think he's not going to join, misha sits down defeated, but no!!! that was jensen's plan all along(look at his stupid fucking smirk) and he offers his arm to his dance partner who immediately grins like a fool, jensen then leads misha into their kick step, they perfectly synchronise and let loose, and are then very clearly having the time of their lives, hanging off of each other with joy and ease. from their expressions alone i can tell that this moment is so. so. so. so! much more than what initially meets the eye. i mean-misha is fighting back the biggest smile i've ever seen. to me, it reads like jensen is offering something to misha, something that misha kind of gave up on expecting, and him offering his arm like that is like, a surprise to him in the best possible way(and it's so not platonic, let me just say that.) as soon as jensen did that, it ushered in a new era of cockles. this panel is jensen and misha's favourite for a reason, and i think this moment is the biggest clue as to why.

whew!!! ok. that took a lot out of me and that was only point one. moving on,

number two: top cockles blooper moment

cockles bloopers hold an extremely special place in my heart, because it shows just how fucking disastrous jensen and misha are. they are so goddamn infatuated with each other that they HOLD UP PRODUCTION ALL THE TIME TO FLIRT WITH EACH OTHER(???). let me repeat. let it sink in. jensen ackles; arguably one of the most professional actors on that show who puts everything he has into each scene, with mountains and mountains of notes to prove it: would rather hold up production to flirt with misha collins. this sounds fake. it's not. he does it. all. the. time. and here's the thing guys!!! i'm gonna let you in on a secret!!! misha loves it. he loveesssss it. on top of that-misha collins: overlooked because he's pranked and people assume he's unprofessional as well, but his only pranks are in retaliation/off-set, and he rarely if EVER causes problems if he can help it....lets himself get carried away when it comes to jensen making kissy faces at him!!! are you actually kidding me!!! i mean. misha. it's just a face. you've seen it a million times. i don't buy that it triggers something in you that strongly....you like it, and you like jensen's reaction. you can't fool me!!! lisa berry's face in that one gifset shows just how fed up the crew is with their gross, coupley boyfriend antics.

i could pull up so many examples. sooooooo many. but my favourite was sealed since the moment i saw it.

i actually already wrote an analysis on it but i can't find it :(((( which SUCKS because i really unpacked the whole thing. i'll try to summarise.

basically, a backstory is part of this too!!! jensen and misha both had a really really hard time with this scene(because it's explicitly romantic there i said it), they sat down for hours and poured over their scripts together, they were super super nervous going into filming, both of them, jensen especially, were super hard on themselves for their performances not being true to their characters but they both complimented the other's work(boyfriend moments fr). so, yeah. they weren't confident going into shooting. and how do they get themselves to feel better???? by cuddling each other, apparently.

a lot. a LOT. happens in this specific blooper. to the point that i saw it years before i knew about cockles and it raised all sorts of flags for me.

1) stop pulling my face towards your crotch(as a thinly veiled request that misha would, in fact, move jensen's face towards his crotch, considering it was jensen moving himself there in the first place. also, why so comfy down there guys???) 2) you're my baby daddy i know(in the most intimate voice i've ever heard please) 3) i know, i know, i love you too i didn't say i love you i know but you wanted to say it etc. misha's right, of course. that's what jensen meant.

it just reeks of comfort, familiarity and intimacy between the two, and it's a moment that is extremely sweet and silly at the same time. they're so <3

number three: top cockles found footage moment

WONDERFUL category. truly the culmination of the cockles experience. many people have said that shipping cockles doesn't work because 'they're just onstage you dummies!! they're playing it up for the audience!!!' here's the thing, love. i could not disagree with you more. once you climb your way up the cockles ladder, you soon learn that they are, in fact, playing their dynamic DOWN, not up. they really are just Like That™, and they could not care less about the paying audience, if we're being honest, considering how much time they take to giggle with each other and refuse to let the audience in on the joke. and i love them for it <3

anyway, my point is that this category is for all you naysayers out there, all you 'jensen and misha's relationship is just for show and is real life queerbaiting'(?????lordhelp???) oh yeah? ok, explain this.

he. he. he calls jensen sweetheart. literally enough said. there's nothing to really add here, except, misha and jared then immediately engage in damage control. jared's method is distraction and misha's is retconning('get out of the car, dude') this was what got me to buy into the cockles dumpster for GOOD good. you don't call your buddy sweetheart accidentally and sound so completely earnest while doing it! especially not when that buddy is jensen ackles!!! you think he would let any of his friends call him that? do you?

one more thing; if it was a slip of the tongue, little mouth thing or whatever, you think jared wouldn't have jumped on it immediately??? i can hear it now. 'did you just call him SWEETHEART???' yeah. that's what i thought. you know why he didn't? because it was too revealing.

number four: top cockles autograph moment

i mean, i think we all know what it's gonna be, and if you don't, well, do i have the piece de cockles resistance that is gonna send you over the edge.

if you haven't heard of this story by now, as a cockles, truther, i'm gonna go ahead and get you to read it, because there is no possible heterosexual explanation for any of it, and you're fooling yourself if you think otherwise.

spoiler alert: it's the story where phones weren't allowed in an auto session, jensen nuzzles himself in misha's hair, leans his full body weight onto him, holds his hand, etc. etc. i'm imploding just repeating this back, actually. also, just, the sheer amount of stories from photo ops where they tackle hug each other or slap each other's asses or sing romantic songs to each other or almost kiss is, frankly, a lot. if i could wish for anything, it would be to witness them in person.

and finally,

number five: top cockles social media moment

this one is super difficult, because there's obviously a lot to choose from. but you know what? full send, i'm going with this one:

i just. what to say about this. how often do misha and jensen watch sunsets together for it to qualify as ‘always’ ??? why are sunsets synonymous with their relationship??? that’s like??? a very romantic thing????? ‘this guy’??? the fact that it’s a CANDID??? i don’t know guys.

that could have been better but i am TIRED so. there you go rose ily

#cockles #cockles ask #liz answers #i really just. spend hours. writing about misha and his boyfriend.#why. why do i. do that #long post for ts

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lostinthewiind · 3 years

Text

Piss Off Your Parents - Part 4

Ukai Keishin - Haikyuu

Synopsis: freshly turned 18, you want to prove to your parents that you aren’t a child for them to push around anymore. First, get a job at the local corner store. Second, use the store owner’s 26-year-old son with piercings and a cigarette addiction to piss your parents off. Third, accidentally fall in love.

Rating: Mature

Warnings: mentions sexual experiences of reader before she was of age, discussion about sex lives, flirting, touching

Song → 18 by Anarbor

Previous →Part 3

Next →Part 5

Head resting in your hand and elbow resting on the counter, you huffed, still not used to the heat that accumulated in the store throughout the day and praying for just one customer to walk through the door so you could experience a refreshing blast of evening air. You supposed you could go outside yourself to cool off a little, like Keishin had previously suggested in lieu of sticking your head in one of the fridges, but being the only person at the store currently, you felt a little bad about leaving the building, even if it was just to step out front.

You were still trying your best to put on a good impression for Mrs. Sakanoshita—despite the rough first impression you had made on her son—and you knew the family store was precious, so you decided to suck it up for the remainder of your shift.

Without much to do, since you had completed your chores early, you remained seated at the front counter, bored out of your mind. That was, until your prayers were answered and you heard the front doors slide open.

“Hello!” you greeted happily, ready to welcome a customer. Your radiant excitement faded when you noticed it was just Keishin, however, and went back to slumping on the counter. “Oh, it’s just you.”

“Wow, those rapid mood changes must be why we’ve been so busy lately,” Keishin shot back at you, a cigarette hanging from his mouth like usual. “Will the girl behind the counter smile or frown at you? Maybe it’ll be both. Oh, how exciting!”

“Can it, dye job,” you grumbled.

Keishin feigned hurt, his hand resting over his chest dramatically as he pretended to have been shot. “Words hurt, you know. You’ve hurt me.”

“That doesn’t matter,” you told him, lazily gesturing around the empty store. “What does matter is that we’ve been dead for hours and I’m bored.”

Keishin poked his bottom lip out and faked a pout. “Awh, poor baby. Is getting paid to sit there and do nothing hard work? You must be exhausted. Poor thing.”

“I don’t get paid nearly enough to put up with you.” You reached across the counter to lightly smack his shoulder but he jumped out of the way just in time. “Seriously though, stay and entertain me for a while.”

“If you’re that bored, why don’t you dust the vents or something?”

You laid your head down on the counter and exhaled slowly for effect. “You know I aim to please but that sounds like hell. Can’t you just talk to me for like ten minutes? Tell me about your day or something.”

Keishin threw his head back and groaned loudly. “But I’m too hungry to think about anything other than food right now.”

“I’m hungry too but you don’t see me complaining about it.”

“No, you’re just complaining about everything else.” He leaned against the other side of the counter, his tongue flicking against the tip of his cigarette as he thought. “Actually, I’ve got a better idea.”

You glanced up at him, waiting for him to elaborate. “I doubt it but proceed.”

Done with your constant back talk, which was extremely common between the two of you ever since you had worked out your differences and agreed to the deal he had suggested, he took a drag of his cigarette and blew the smoke directly into your face. “Just shut up and listen, will you?”

You coughed when you accidentally inhaled the second-hand smoke. “If I get cancer and die, I’m haunting you.”

“Go ahead.” He didn’t pay any attention to the words leaving your mouth as he headed into the back room and shut off the store lights. Then, with his own set of keys in hand, he headed back toward the front of the store. “Come on.” He looked back at you expectantly when you didn’t immediately follow.

Confused, you slowly stepped around from the back of the counter. “Where are we going?”

“We’re closing up early and going to get something to eat.”

You narrowed your eyes at him, half of you wondering if this was some sort of employee test to see how responsible you were. “Are we allowed to do that?”

“I am, you aren’t,” Keishin said, beckoning you over to him. “But let’s just keep this between you and I, yeah? What my mom doesn’t know won’t hurt her. Besides, it’s slow anyway.”

Taking off your white apron and grabbing your things, you reluctantly followed the older man out of the store and watched as he locked up behind the two of you. Anxiously, you shifted your weight from foot to foot. “Are you sure I won’t get in trouble for this?”

“I promise I won’t tell on you,” Keishin assured you as he stuffed the keys back into his pocket and dropped his cigarette bud to the ground before crushing it with his foot. “Let’s go. I’m starving.”

Falling into pace beside Keishin as the two of you set off down the sidewalk, you following his lead, you weren’t sure exactly sure what to say or even if you should say something. Never before had you and Keishin existed outside of the store together and it felt a little awkward.

“So . . . is this like a date or something?” You regretted the words as soon as they left your mouth. What you had meant to come across as a casual inquiry ended up sounding more like a desperate girl clarifying what she meant to the boy she liked. You sounded like a child.

The corners of Keishin’s mouth curled upward and he shrugged. “Call it whatever you want.” He really didn’t seem to care one way or another. “Although, I’d be a horrible boyfriend if I didn’t take you out at least once . . . fake or not.”

You nearly choked on your spit at the use of the word ‘boyfriend’. Even though you had been pretending to date him for the purposes of changing your parents’ ideals for the past few weeks, you were still caught off guard every time Keishin referred to himself as your boyfriend—even though he was usually doing it to mock you.

“Yeah, just awful,” you agreed halfheartedly. “Where are we going anyway?”

“This little place that I like,” he said, his answer extremely vague until he continued. “Best ramen I’ve ever had.”

After a few more minutes of walking, the two of you arrived at the place Keishin was talking about and he ordered two take-out bowls and paid for them both, insisting that you should try his regular order since you had never been there before. Not wanting to disagree because he was footing the bill, you let him do what he wanted and tailed him out to a picnic table outside like an obedient puppy.

“It’s much too hot to eat inside,” Keishin reasoned as he plopped down on the opposite side of the picnic table from you. “Plus, it’s nice outside. Might as well enjoy the weather while it lasts, right?”

“Right.” You nodded.

While Keishin dug right into his meal, you sat still, hands in your lap, and watched him. One thing you had quickly come to realize was that Keishin was the perfect specimen for people watching, and not just because he was relatively easy on the eyes. He was an interesting person; for example, how he tucked half-smoked cigarettes behind his ear to smoke later or how he always wore a headband to keep his hair out of his face but vehemently refused to just cut his damn hair.

Even though you bugged him about cutting his hair all the time, you secretly hoped he would continue to stand his ground and refuse because you wanted to see what he looked like with his hair down. You also wanted to run your hands through his hair—it looked soft and fluffy—but that was besides the point.

“Hey, it’s gonna get cold,” Keishin snapped you out of your thoughts, his mouth half full of ramen as he jabbed his chopsticks in your direction. “Don’t tell me you don’t like ramen. You should have said something before I ordered for both of us.”

Snapping out of your daze, you picked up your chopsticks and shook your head. “No, I like ramen.” You took a bite to prove your point. “Sorry, I was just lost in thought.”

Keishin waited for you to eat a little more before digging for your consensus. “Good, right?”

“Yeah, really good,” you agreed. “I always walk past this place but I’ve never gone inside.”

“I was the same way. It doesn’t really catch your eye, so unless you’re looking for it, it’s easy to miss,” he said. “Then one day my grandpa took me here for my birthday and I’ve been coming ever since.”

You snickered. “Popular date spot then?”

Keishin cocked a brow. “What?”

“I mean, if you come here a lot, I’m sure it’s a go-to for dates,” you continued. “It even comes with a wholesome story about how your grandpa introduced you to it. Ultimate chick magnet.”

Keishin just rolled his eyes at you. “You know, contrary to popular belief, most girls don’t like it when you take them out to eat cheap ramen on a picnic table that’s falling apart.”

You chuckled. “I wasn’t going to say anything about the table, but I’m pretty sure I have at least ten splinters in my ass by now.”

“Yeah, this thing is torture. So eat fast and then we’ll move to the park across the street or something.”

Shoveling the rest of your food into your mouth, you ate fast while Keishin stared you down, every second that passed introducing your butt to a new world of pain. As soon as you were done, Keishin took both of your take-out bowls and tossed them into a nearby trashcan.

“Well, sucks for all those other girls then, because that ramen really is amazing,” you said when Keishin returned, the two of you crossing the street and heading into the park.

“Told you.” Keishin smiled. “I’m glad you liked it.”

Once in the park, which was empty considering it was dark out and most kids were in bed by then, the two of you picked a nearby bench that wasn’t splintering and took a seat.

Drawing your knees up to your chest, you wrapped your arms around your legs and sighed. “Thanks for dinner.”

“Yeah, no problem.” He let his head fall back and looked up at the night sky. “Damn, I could really go for an ice cold beer right now.”

“Well, we could start heading back now if you want,” you suggested. “The beers at the store are extra chilly since I didn’t stick my head in the fridges to cool off today, despite how sweltering it was.”

Keishin laughed. “Well, thank you for that,” he drew in a deep breath and relaxed into the bench, deciding whether to get up or not. “Let’s stay here for a while longer though.”

“Okay.”

Silence fell over the two of you as you stared up at the sky and listened to the sounds of Miyagi in the evening. You tried to remember the last time you had gone out like this—just going wherever you wanted and doing whatever you wanted. You couldn’t recall the last time . . . or even if there was a last time.

Tilting your head to look at Keishin, you smiled at the sight of him sitting with his eyes closed, arms crossed behind his head and head lolled back. He looked happy, almost as peaceful as he did when he was sleeping.

“Hey,” you whispered.

Keishin cracked an eye open to look at you. “Hmm?”

“Thanks for tonight.” You breathed in the scent of the night air and a feeling of content washed over you. “As you’ve probably already figured out, I don’t really have any friends. I don’t get to go out like this very often . . . or ever, really.”

“You don’t need to thank me. It’s what boyfriends are for, right?”

You giggled. “Well, considering you’re not my real boyfriend, I think a ‘thank you’ is in order.”

“Well, you’re welcome,” he caved. “Speaking of fake boyfriends, how’s it going with your parents?”

You let out a frustrated moan. “Oh, about as well as expected. When I mentioned I was seeing someone they bombarded me with a million questions, none of which were answered to their satisfaction.”

Keishin cringed. “So I’m that bad, huh?”

You scoffed. “If you think that’s bad, you should have seen their faces when I showed them a photo of you.”

Keishin let out a laugh. “Don’t tell me they weren’t fans of the piercings?”

“Oh, they weren’t fans of anything,” you said. “I think the only positive thing they could say about you was that you had a pulse . . . no offense.”

“Eh, no worries. At least they didn’t call me a burnout . . . then I would have started crying.”

“Hey!” You smacked at his shoulder again, managing to hit your target this time. “I said I was sorry.”

“Sorry doesn’t pay for my therapy.”

“Yeah, well, if you need therapy I doubt I’m the biggest reason.”

“You really are so cruel to me. Do your parents know you facilitate abusive relationships?”

You closed your eyes and shook your head. “That insinuates I’ve had past relationships, or any real ones.”

Keishin craned his neck to look at you, eyes wide. “Wait, you’ve never been in a relationship before? Like never?”

“Nope. I don’t even have any friends, so what makes you think anyone wants to date the boring girl with the crazy parents?”

Keishin looked at you like you were some wounded animal he had just found on the side of the road. You could see in his eyes he was slowly coming to terms with just how isolating your life was. You could tell he felt bad, but the last thing you wanted was his sympathy.

“Hey, don’t look at me like that,” you told him. “I’m not completely pathetic, okay? I still went through my experimental phase like most teenagers do. I just had to be very sneaky about it.”

“Sneaky?”

“You know, back of a car, other people’s houses when their parents were gone. As far as my parents know, I’m untainted . . . a precious, naive virgin. I’m just not very experienced.”

“I can imagine.” Keishin was a little thrown by the direction the conversation had taken, but you were both adults and he would be lying if he said he wasn’t a little curious, so he just rolled with it. “High school boys aren’t exactly known for being great in bed.”

The two of you let out a shared laugh at that. “You got that right,” you agreed.

“So, wait, no relationships but you’ve had sex? So you’ve never been with someone you have a genuine connection with?”

You eyed Keishin, perplexed by the sudden sincerity in his words. “You didn’t peg me as someone who cares about that kind of stuff.”

“I mean, I’ve had my fair share of one night stands, sure, but I’m not completely heartless,” he said, the eye contact he was using while he spoke sending a chill down your spine. “It’s completely different when it’s someone you care about. The experience is something everyone should have at least once in their lives.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever had a genuine connection with anyone before,” you confessed, unsure why you were spilling some of your deepest secrets in public, on a park bench, to a man you had only known for a couple of months. “It’s kind of hard when everyone is held at an arm’s length away.”

Without warning, Keishin shifted closer to you and placed his hand on your face, the pad of his thumb ghosting over your bottom lip. “I . . . I don’t know what to say,” he breathed.

“It’s not sad, not for me at least. You can’t miss something you’ve never had,” you spoke softly, worried you might scare him away if your voice was too loud or if you made any sudden movements. “No best friends, no boyfriends. Just me, my parents, and everyone else.”

Keishin looked like he wanted to say something; in fact, he looked like he wanted to say a lot of things, but despite this, he remained silent. Maybe he was worried about offending you, or maybe he was finally understanding just how different you were from other people. Maybe he didn’t like different.

“But now there’s you.” You flashed a small smile, hoping to draw him out of whatever mess was going on inside of his head. “I’ve never met someone like you before.”

“Someone like me?” he finally spoke.

You nodded as you placed your hand over the one he was resting on your cheek and held it. “I’m not your responsibility and yet you’re going out of your way to help me. Not to mention I don’t even deserve your help. You are the first truly selflessly kind person I’ve ever met. Thank you.”

“What if I’m not as kind as you think I am?” His hands found their way to your waist and he pulled you into his lap so you were straddling him. “What will you do then?”

“That depends on what you’re planning on doing.”

Hands running up your sides, Keishin dug his finger tips into your skin as you lowered your head toward his, mouths inches apart. “What if I took you home, laid you down, and took care of you like a boyfriend should?” You could feel his hot breath on your face as he spoke. “What if I took advantage of your lack of experience?”

“I would say thank you,” you said, inching closer. Before your lips met, however, you stopped yourself. “But I promised not to fall in love, and I think it would be awfully hard to keep my promise if you did that.” With that, you planted your hands on his shoulders and pushed yourself away from him before he could make a decision he would later regret.

Standing up, you collected yourself and drew in a deep breath. As soon as you had detached yourself from Keishin, you could see the fog that had been clouding his judgement dissipating as he came back to his senses.

“I should probably head home now.” You decided, not wanting to ruin the first actual friendship you had by doing something stupid and selfish.

“Yeah.” Keishin nodded, slowly standing up as well. It was clear he was slightly embarrassed by his actions, but you also noticed the glint in his eyes that gave away the part of him that still wanted to take you home with him.

Trying to immediately leave what had just happened in the past, you smiled and turned to start heading home, opting to take the longer way so you wouldn’t have to take the same route as Keishin. “Good night, Keishin.”

“Good night, Y/N.” You heard him call after you, but you didn’t look back at him. Instead, you kept walking, hoping the time apart would serve as a reset on your relationship and put things back to how they had been before that night.

A few weeks ago, you would have jumped at the chance Keishin had dangled in front of your face just now. But since then, you had realized he was more important to you than someone you could just throw away with a one night stand. And since there was no way the two of you could actually be together, this was the only option if you didn’t want to lose him.

If only someone had warned you that genuine connections were this complicated.

#haikyuu #haikyuu!!#lostinthewiind #piss off your parents #ukai #ukai keishin #ukai keishin x reader #keishin #mature #haikyuu smut #x reader #reader insert #reader imagine #part 4 #song fic

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bookwyrminspiration · 2 years

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Her teachers and classmates didn't like her very much (which I think is unrealistic but that's another rant

I saw this in one of your posts, and I wanted to know what you meant by it? I think I could understand her classmates disliking her, or at the very least avoiding her, but I guess it makes sense that the teachers would probably be at least fond of her.

Okay okay okay so!! I have thoughts on this--and these are all my personal opinions/critiques of the situation, so you are fully welcome to disagree with me entirely this is just me!! that being said kinda ranty post ahead so here's your warning if you don't want to read that!

Her being disliked is set up almost immediately with, "[Her classmates] weren't exactly fans of their resident child prodigy" (pg 5, book one). But I find it incredibly hard to believe that Sophie, a high school senior going to a typical school as far as we know, would be hated by everyone. Going with a typical high school, she probably has like seven different classes and a few hundred people in her grade (senior). If my numbers are off it's because I don't go to a typical high school and am basing this off what I loosely know about my partner's high school.

But either way, you're (general you, not you specifically nonsie) telling me that out of the 100+ people Sophie sees on a regular basis and goes to school with, all of them hate her? None of them like her even a little bit? And on top of that, her teachers as well? Maybe Mr. Sweeney was just a bad teacher, but we certainly didn't see any other comparisons where she had a nice one. I find it incredibly hard to believe that all of Sophie's classmates and teacher's disliked her. This is a 12 year old amongst 18 year olds who is clearly uncomfortable and anxious and doesn't want to draw attention to herself, and you're telling me not a single person in that school empathized with her?

here's the fun thing about humans: they've got empathy built in. And if they don't have it preprogrammed, they notice it's what other people do and find ways to connect to achieve similar results (meaning you can be kind and caring without being empathetic). Humans are naturally inclined to group together. They find people like them and form groups. When we see people not caring for each other or people in need we tend to think something's wrong with them. Like Singer's pond example: if a child fell into a pond and starting drowning and a witness didn't do anything and yet was fully capable of helping without loosing something of equal or greater value, we would think they were wrong! that the correct and natural response was to help! that's an extreme but take that general idea and apply it to Sophie ehre

It think that if in the real world Sophie, a 12 year old among 17-18 year olds, would be cared for and looked after by at least a few if not the majority of her peers. Some of them could be bullies, yes. I'm not saying everyone has to love her, but I think at the very least there'd be a few students who were nice and looked out for her because that is a child. People aren't inherently mean and awful. If they weren't friends with here they'd be nice to her and try to make her feel comfortable and welcome because she's so out of place.

As someone who has been in classes with people older than me, ranging from a grade above to entire adults with kids while I was 14, people were not mean! yes, not all of those situations were high school and some adults might be more mature, but also! There were 17-18 year olds! Also in that class! And you know how me and the other 14 year old were treated? Same as everyone else.

People don't automatically hate the kids who are ahead. At most they just...ignore them. And not because they don't like them but because they have no reason to interact and are focusing on their own work. A 12 year old high school senior may be unusual, and they might be disappointed that they don't get the benefit of curved grading, but I don't think they'd dislike her as intensely and Shannon seems to be making them. Sophie might not fit in with them but that doesn't mean they'd all hate her.

And the thing with the teachers?? I have yet to meet a teacher who sees a super smart student and hates them for it. I think Mr. Sweeney was an outlier. Teachers with kids younger than they usually teach are so nice! They like it when you succeed and hope you'll do great things! The vast majority of them are nice to kids like Sophie and encourage them. And you're telling me that all of Sophie's teachers were rude and unlikeable? It's never stated that they were all awful but we only ever see Mr. Sweeney as an example. I just don't believe that all 7 of Sophie's teachers were jealous that she was smarter than them.

Based on my own experiences as the resident star student at every school/class I've been in, everyone hating her just doesn't feel realistic. Some people aren't going to like her, yes. There are going to be students upset they aren't at the top or that she busts the curve. But all her classmates and teachers adamantly disliking her? Sorry, but I don't believe it.

I think a few students would instead look out for her, be nice and ask how she's doing. And if they don't, then they'd be friendly with her and amicable. Those that don't interact with her would stay concentrated to their own friend groups and work, not silently judging a smart 12 year old. Humans care for each other.

And I think her teachers would be doting and look out for her and recognize how out of place she seems and try to make sure she's alright. They'd want her to do well and be happy to be part of her education and help her.

I just!! ahgaue!! Instead of being the hated social outcast for being smart, she'd at most be the social recluse who just doesn't talk to people but who everybody knows. They'd be friendly with her in passing and leave her to her own devices.

Maybe I've just had really good experiences but I simply don't think that an entire senior class would dislike her.

#if you cannot tell this has been bugging me for a while #and again!! all my own opinions based on my own experiences #so you are welcome to disagree with me #but I find it unrealistic #same as the 'he didn't seem to realize that unless the dinosaurs came to life and started eating people. no one cared'#which is /another/ whole rant I have stored up that I typed out in the tags before realizing it should probably be it's own post #so if you're interested in that I've got thoughts on that too #you know for only being like 5 pages long there are so many things that rub me the wrong way #like wow I am so upset considering it is so insiginficant in the grand scheme of the story #*insignificant #ouaoegoaerg #i am. thoughts #people aren't cruel!! teenagers aren't cruel!#i can say that as a teenager who spends time around other teenagers in school!!#we had a student who skipped a grade (haven't seen her since before covid so. no clue if she still goes here)#which isn't the same as six but she was treated the same as everyone else #humanity is /nice/ shannon #people care for each other #it is a thing #they are not naturally awful and full of hate and self-centered. they /care/. humanity is about cooperation and community #it's survivial #arhgfa #kotlc #keeper of the lost cities #sophie foster #quil's queries #nonsie #kotlc worldbuilding

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i-cant-sing · 3 years

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Hi can i ask for some yandere light yagami? If thats ok?

Yandere Light Yagami Pt 1

Pt 2 here!

I still love this man even though he treated my queen Misa horribly😔 Anyways, hope you enjoy it!

Check out my MASTERLIST for more!

Yandere Light Yagami:

You were his classmate in highschool. You caught his eye because even though you never payed attention to class, you still managed to get a decent grade. Somehow, he knew that you weren't actually trying, that you didn't really care about school. You always knew the answers, but you just didn't care enough to get ahead of everyone else. He thinks that you're almost, almost as smart as him.

The few times that he did talk to you, you always had this look in your eyes like you knew what he was actually thinking about. Like you could read him like an open book. Fortunately for Light, he possessed that skill as well.

Light had thought of courting you, but you gave clear hints that you weren't interested in him. Shocking, really. He was content with just following you discreetly for now. Or at least until his crush on you diminishes.

Light's obsession started when he found out that you shared the same, unconventional opinions on different topics as him. For example, you both agreed on how corrupt and incompetent the justice system is.

Naturally, he tried to get your opinion on Kira. His plan was that once you expressed your gratitude and adoration for Kira, he would reveal that he was Kira and show you the Death Note, and then you would fall in love with him and you both would rule the world together!

But he was shocked when he found out how you disagreed with Kira's principles, how you disagreed with him. "I agree that the world would be a better place without criminals, Light. But who is he or she to decide who is evil and who isn't? There needs to be a proper system for judging people. Who's to say he wouldn't hurt people just because of personal feuds and grudges? And who's to say Kira isn't a criminal too? Plus isn't it just cowardly that he wants to play God but isn't even willing to show himself?"

No matter how much Light would try to convince you otherwise, you wouldn't change your mind. Instead, you became cautious of Light. Why was he so insistent on changing your mind about Kira? He usually doesn't care what other people think. He wasn't involved in those murd- no, Light wouldn't do that.

Light and you had partnered up for a project and you guys decided to do it at his place. You found it strange how his mind was elsewhere; usually he would be quite invested in schoolwork and you would occasionally catch him staring at you, but he looked distracted that day. "Hey could you get the textbook from my desk?" He asked you. You got up to get the book when you noticed a dark black book underneath it. You picked it up and saw the words "Death Note" on it. "Light whats thi-" you turned around to ask him but the words died in your throat when you saw...a creature behind him?

"What's wrong?" Light asked in faux care and if you weren't so shocked by that thing behind him, you would've called him out on it. "Light. There's- there's something behind you."you said in a quiet voice. Without even looking up from his books, he replied to you "oh yeah. That's Ryuk". "What?" This time, Light turned to you and pointed towards the Death Note. "Light. What's going on?" You were getting disturbed by his calm demeanour. "You're smart. Why don't you figure it out? I'll give you a hint. He's a Shinagami" Light pointed towards that thing behind him, who waved at you. Wait. Shinagami? Slowly, you connected the dots. You opened the Death Note to confirm your suspicions. Kira. Light is Kira. "But how?"you asked Light. Finally, he started explaining everything. From how he found the book, how he uses it, the rules, everything.

Light was so sure you'd run away from him, you know, like a normal person. Instead, you tried to convince him to stop using it, that its not too late. That his heart is in the right place but his way is wrong, that his morals are wrong. That he is wrong. When you saw that your words aren't getting a positive reaction, you knew it was time to leave. But before you could take another step, Light lunged towards you and got you in a choke hold. You were unconscious before you could realise that this was all part of Light's plan.

When you wake up, you found yourself in a strange room, limbs all bound to each other. Just as you were about to call for help, Light came in. "You wouldn't try to run away if I were to untie you?" You shook your head no. As soon as he untied you, you went to punch him but he immediately caught your wrist in one hand and grabbed your throat with the other, before slamming you against the wall. "Now, now. Hear what I have to say or-" " Or what? You're gonna kill me? Torture me? I don't care!"you replied as best as you could with his deadly strong grip on your throat. He chuckled before leaning into the crook of your neck. "Why would I do that?" He kissed your neck, continuing "I wouldn't hurt you, ever. No. But if you do continue to be on bad behaviour, I don't know what would happen to your family. Or your neighbour's daughter that you play with. Or the homeless man that you give your lunch to on your way home." You instantly stopped your struggling. By now, you understood that Light doesn't make empty threats. "You've been following me? Light, please. Let me go. What do you even want from me?"you asked him. He chuckled, brushing a few strands of your hair out of your eyes. "You. I want you. I want your heart, body, mind and soul. I want your utter and complete devotion. I want you to want me." He turned you around and moved you towards the mirror in the room. Your back against his chest as he forced you to look in the mirror. "Don't you see how perfect we are for each other? You'll tell me who to punish and I'll be the one who carries out the deed. You said it yourself; that there needs to be a proper system for this. We are the system, (Y/n). You're perfect for this, for me. Plus, wouldn't it be better if you chose who should be executed? I don't think you'd like to know whose name I would write in that book, should you refuse." Light's eyes glowed in the dimly lit room, the threat clear.

Your eyes widened. He's gone truly crazy.

He turned you around so you were facing him. Light smiled at you. He cupped your face in his hand, rubbing the pad of his thumb over your cheek. "I know you don't like me right now. But you'll see that I'm right. We belong with each other. And together, we can make the world a better place for our kids." With that, he smashed his lips to yours.

Hope yall liked this! Let me know if I should do a part 2. Also, anonymous asks are now open! All thanks to one lovely person whose request I'll work on soon!

Requests are open! :)

#yandere light yagami #yandere kira #yandere death note #light yagami x reader #death note x reader #death note #light yagami

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my-mt-heart · 2 years

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Everyone worries about Caryl but is anyone wondering how will they make Daryl leave Grimes children behind for the spin-off? I mean, Angela makes sure to show as his attachment to the kids and one would think that if he were to leave them at one point than they would put children under the care of someone else in CW. There was a moment when I thought Rosita would be that person by it's still Daryl who is their guardian. So, my worry is how they gonna write Daryl and without making him OOC by leaving those kids?

I don't see Rick or Michonne coming back, but I also don't see Daryl leaving Judith as I see him carrying for her deeply

I know they foreshadowed his leaving by telling Judith he would not be there always but how are they gonna do this? It drives me crazy when I think about it and it's the second thing after rushing Caryl I fear. I would hate to see a moment close to the one with Michonne leaving her kids. That was a major OOC and I don't know if I stand another.

Of course, the kids may die but would Kang kill them?

I've talked about this a bunch already, so apologies if I come off a little exasperated. I don't mean to. The very first thing you have to bear in mind is that neither Michonne nor Daryl leaving Judith and RJ are purely creative decisions. Bottom line, Michonne left because Danai wanted off the show. Daryl is leaving because he and Carol have a spinoff, and if that was already being planned before the Danai/Michonne issue cropped up, then that means Daryl was never intended to become the kids' primary caregiver in the first place. But when actors' wishes and business deals get in the way, all the writers can do is try to write around them, and often times the execution does get a little messy. It's not an ideal situation, and some suspension of disbelief may be required.

Now all that being said, I *strongly* disagree with the notion that Michonne and Daryl are acting OOC. On the contrary, I think wanting to find the love of her life she thought was dead for 6+ years is the most natural thing in the world, and yet we still saw her struggle with the decision. Why? Because of the kids. She didn't want to leave them and she probably wouldn't have except that Judith, the kid she feared would suffer in her absence, gave Michonne her blessing. Not only that, she said that the whisperers had been taken care of, which meant Michonne had no reason to think they were in immediate danger. Didn't Michonne also say something like "be good for Uncle Daryl" or something like that? I can't remember, but the point is, she had people she could trust to watch her kids while she was gone.

Speaking of Daryl, when at any point in the series has he ever implied he wanted to be a dad/caregiver? Give me one example. As far as I know, one doesn't exist. Yes, he feels like it's his duty to look after his brother's kids, yes he loves those kids wholeheartedly, but fatherhood and domesticity are not things Daryl Dixon wants for himself. This is what we've been seeing play out for his character since S10, a journey to self-discovery that will ultimately lead him to peace, freedom, and happiness in the form of being out on the open road with Carol. You're absolutely right that Daryl wouldn't just leave the kids high and dry. That would be very OOC indeed, but that's not what's happening, hence his conversation with Judith in 10x15, where it's emphasized she has tons of family. But more importantly, though it remains to be seen, I suspect that Judith is going to give Daryl (and Carol) her blessing to eliminate any guilt just like she did for Michonne. Judith and every other character for that matter know that Daryl and Carol have done everything in their power to make other people happy, and it's about damn time they start to think about their own happiness.

The kids aren't going to die because they're just not. I mean, I could go into a long explanation, but I feel like I've made this long enough so I won't.

#caryl #caryl spinoff #caryl positivity #twd #twd season 11 #twd speculation

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raayllum · 3 years

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What are some examples for you that, in your opinion, are the reasons Rayllum is a healthy romance while Catradora is not?

(This is not a ship hate ask question, I'm just curious since I've seen a few comparisons and I'd like to know more)

Short answer? Everything.

Long answer? Under the cut so people have an easy time scrolling past it if they want, since this isn’t quite my usual content.

And special note to CA shippers: this probably isn’t a post you’re going to enjoy, nor is my mind really open to being changed if you disagree. This is my own personal discussion and opinion, not a debate, and it holds as much or as little weight to you as you want it to. Please choose accordingly whether you want to read something that may be upsetting or if it’s better to just scroll by. Do what’s best for you.

TW: discussions of emotional & physical abuse

Okay? Okay.

Let’s get into it.

Now, to get the obvious out of the way:

1) Rayllum and C*tradora do have some similarities. Rayla and Adora both have swords and immediately switch sides when they realize their original side was wrong and decide to fight for peace; Rayla and Catra can both lash out when others are trying to get them to open up; Callum and Catra both have issues with insecurities / feeling inferior. The shows also touch on similar themes such as choosing your own destiny, breaking the cycle, overcoming negative parts of your upbringing (for Rayla in particular) and more. Largely due to Shera’s ending, I don’t think it handled any of these themes particularly well, unfortunately, but I will be keeping this specifically centred on the relationships out of preference and because this meta is already long enough.

2) Children can indeed abuse other children, the same way that children can bully/torment other children. Adora and Catra had a “golden child — scapegoat” dynamic with Shadow Weaver as their “shared parental” figure (a very common dynamic for siblings). Someone can be an abuse victim and also be an abuser. Mental health and abuse are explanations, not excuses.

3) No, Catra’s abusive behaviour towards Adora cannot be explained away under the guise of “friends to enemies to lovers.” Mostly because that would mean they’re both equally enemies to one another over the course of the show, like Catra doesn’t always hit Adora where it hurts 100 times harder. Nor can the 4+ seasons worth of harm all just all be magically swept under the rug by one apology and a season where Catra treats Adora the way Bow and Glimmer have been for the entire show. Beyond the really awful stuff — physically attacking and injuring Adora (in ways Adora never returns the same way, ie. scarring her), attacking and kidnapping her friends, electrocuting Adora (s4), trying to kill Adora, tasing her, drugging Adora to use her as a weapon (remember “White Out”?) — there are also far worse emotionally abusive behaviour underneath it all. Guilt tripping, blaming Adora for everything, consistently lashing out, being angry whenever Adora does something good for herself that doesn’t also benefit Catra, wanting to isolate her, not being emotionally supportive, etc. But I’ll get more into that later. Funnily enough, the fact that an abuser was abused doesn’t tend to actually matter to their victim.

The crucial thing about Catra’s character and her relationship with Adora is that — rather than seeing Adora leaving the Horde as a moral/ethical thing (of which Catra the war criminal just doesn’t care as she becomes Hordak’s right hand woman) or even as Adora leaving an environment Catra knows is shitty (“They’ve been messing with our heads since we were kids”) — she sees it as Adora “leaving” her. She sees it as Adora choosing other people over her. And that’s been something Catra has seen as unacceptable ever since they were children, pushing/punching/scarring Adora on the face and making her cry when Adora is friendly with Lonnie and tries to convince Catra they can all be friends. It’s why she’s so angry about Adora “abandoning” her to be best friends with Bow and Glimmer, and the idea of Adora making the right choice in leaving an abusive environment and not her specifically never even crosses her mind.

The fundamental flaw in their relationship is that Catra never actually lets go of the belief that Adora abandoned her, or that Adora’s actions against her (y’know, when Catra was literally helping the Horde conquer the world and is the aggressor in every fight scene between them) were ever Justified.

[From the finale episode] C: So please, just this once — stay!

[The multiple and repeated times Adora tried to convince Catra to come with her and even said “I’m sorry for leaving” and “I won’t leave you behind again” and “Please stay, I need you”? Completely chucked in the bin, thanks for nothing - cause yeah, Catra, that certainly never stopped you from scarring or hitting Adora at any point in your life]

While watching S5 and the series through the first time I enjoyed their relationship and even shipped it (the turn around came two weeks later as the more I thought about their relationship, the less I liked it / more deeply uncomfortable I became with it), but one moment rubbed me the wrong way even the first way through it. In the penultimate episode — “Failsafe” as I’m counting the finale as one joint episode — Adora has taken the Failsafe to save Etheria. Delivering it to the Heart may kill her. However, as She Ra, she is literally the only person on the planet — which is about to end! — who can take it and not automatically die. Adora has also, already, taken the Failsafe. It can’t be removed.

C: Why do you always have to sacrifice everything for everyone else? Why are you like this? When do you get to choose? What do you want, Adora?

So despite being literally the Stupidest time Catra could have this concern — again, Adora has already taken the Failsafe, she can’t remove it, the whole world will end if someone doesn’t, and Adora is the only person on the planet where taking the Failsafe isn’t an automatic suicide mission — let’s focus on what happens afterwards, because That is what rubbed me the wrong way.

Adora has made a choice, but it doesn’t align with what Catra wants. So in the penultimate episode, and we’re supposed to believe Catra deeply loves Adora, Adora clearly states what she wants. She is scared of dying and of failing the world, she knows she’s put herself greatly at risk, and she understandably asks Catra — someone who is supposed to love her — for some goddamn emotional support.

A: Catra, please, stay. I need you.

And what does Catra do? She abandons Adora and basically says she’s a liar: “No, you don’t. You never have.” And she leaves Adora, sobbing alone in the woods, with the entire weight of the world on Adora’s shoulders. We later get more of an explanation as to why Catra left, as she states, “Adora chose Shadow Weaver, okay? Not me. Adora doesn’t want me! Not like I want her.” Catra sees Adora choosing the well being of everyone on the planet and her takeaway is, yet again, Adora choosing people over her, somehow. Even worse, part of Catra’s justification is that Adora, apparently, doesn’t romantically want her back.

Just to recap: it is the penultimate episode, the apparent girl you have “always love(d)” is about to possibly sacrifice herself and die, and asks you for emotional support. And then you abandon her because she doesn’t want other people to die and because she might not return your feelings. Are. You. Shitting. Me.

But put a pin in that, cause we’re gonna come back to it later.

But you know what, why is Adora like that? Why does she always feel like she has to protect and save everyone else, even at detriment to herself? What could have possibly made her feel like a failure at protecting her friends? Who could have blamed her for all these problems that aren’t actually hers to fix, but it feels like they are? Gee, I wonder...

C: As long as we have this sword, we have the power to make her go berserk. We can turn the Rebellion's own hero against them. That's good. [to Adora, smugly] I wonder which of your friends I'll have you annihilate first [...] Are you kidding? I've got control of Adora. I am not giving that up.

A: [quietly, seriously] You wanna know the worst that could happen? Fine. I'm the heaviest hitter, so Catra will separate me right away. Trap me, take my sword, do something so I'm helpless when she turns on you. She knows everything about me, exactly what I'll do, exactly how to take me out. [...] Catra will make me watch all of it before she finishes me off, and then everyone is gone, and the Horde wins the war, and Etheria crumbles, and it's all my fault! [knocks all the figures off the table]

C: It's always the same with you, Adora. “I have to do this. Oh, we have to do that.” Let's be honest, all of this is your fault. If you hadn't gotten captured, your sword wouldn't have opened the portal. If you hadn't gotten the sword and been the world's worst She-Ra, none of this would've happened. Admit it, Adora, the world would still be standing if you had never come through that portal in the first place. You made me this. You took everything from me. You broke the world, and it is all your fault.

A: Why are you doing this [attacking me]? C: Because you left me! (early s1)

C: Where's Adora? G: She...She left us. She's headed to the Heart on her own. C: Of course she's gone! That's what she does, isn't it? (finale s5)

Because there’s nothing more romantic than basically telling someone you’ve “always” loved that the world would be a better place if they’d never been born, right? To the point where Catra basically becomes a trigger in Adora’s mind of how her dominos will fall and culminate in her losing everything she loves. To the point that Catra still acts like it’s Adora’s fault for taking the Failsafe. To the point that Catra’s ‘love’ for Adora reads almost entirely as completely selfish at basically every turn for the majority of the show.

Another moment that rang very hollow very quickly was the fight between chipped!Catra (aka brainwashed) and Adora in s5. Adora has come to rescue her after Catra made one (1) apology and sent Glimmer safely to Adora, doing one (1) good thing after season upon season of terrible thing. The show frames their face off as this big tragic fight — as most brainwashing plots tend to. The whole point of a brainwashing plotline, usually, is to have someone hurt someone they never would ordinarily. Except there is basically nothing that happens in the brainwashing fight in terms of physical harm that Catra hasn’t willingly inflicted on Adora in the past (the last time they saw each other in person, Adora was being electrocuted by ‘Catra’ — another character in disguise, but Catra gave the order for it and saw it happen, so).

[Screencaps from s5 and s1 respectively, of Catra clawing at Adora’s back; in the lower picture, she breaks through cloth and rips through skin]

Horde Prime is seen as the ultimate evil in the series because he brainwashes people and sets them on their loved ones as well as being an abuser. And Catra does the exact same thing to Adora earlier on in the show (remember that “annihilate your friends” comment?) — and even if you aren’t willing to admit that Catra abused Adora, the show makes it explicitly clear she manipulated Entrapta and flat out abused Scorpia. But Catra is redeemable because...? (Don’t even get me started on the fact that Catra is responsible for the death of Glimmer’s mother, which is a massive deal in season four, and it’s never even mentioned, once, in season five, and Catra never has to face consequences for any of it.)

That being said, I’m actually not opposed to Catra being redeemed, nor was I ever, and I always thought she’d end up with Adora. But the path they took to get there, the utter lack and regard for Adora’s feelings, are incredibly bad and very transparent. The show and showrunners tried to patch this up with statements like, “Catra knew when she left Adora to die — after Adora had saved her life and was begging for help — that Adora would survive the fall from this cliff.” Which is all well and dandy for Catra’s characterization, but does absolutely nothing to address the trauma, or at the very least negative emotions, that Adora would have from that experience.

That, combined with other prominent facets of emotional abuse in romantic relationships being

The abuser is angry with the victim for prioritizing other things (people, needs, career) over them = a lot of what I’ve pointed out above

The abuser gaslights the victim, saying the victim is to blame for their abhorrent actions (self explanatory)

The abuser seeks to isolate the victim = even Catra as a child not wanting Adora to have any other friends but her that was present at least until s5

The abuser will guilt trip and take out their rage on the victim for “leaving” them

The victim convincing themselves that if they just try hard enough, they can “fix” the abuser with their love, perpetuating the cyclical belief that the victim is really to blame for the abuse, etc. = “You’ve never given up on anything, not even on me” and again, fairly self explanatory

Which is too bad, because as a concept, C*tradora is great. Childhood best friends, raised together (take out some of the consistent resentment Catra harboured for the only person she claimed to love), pushed to be on opposite sides of a war (in which almost any chance — except for maybe two — that Catra has to ruin Adora’s life or hurt her, she takes). Then they end the war, hurray, and live happily ever after!

Anyway, now onto something far happier for me, at least, which is Rayllum.

Ah, Rayllum. A barely enemies to friends to best friends and lovers. Let’s revisit those brief similarities with C*tradora, shall we?

Rayla and Adora immediately defect and swords are involved. They have to turn against someone they love (Runaan, Catra) in order to do so. Rayla ends up aligning herself with Callum (and Ezran) as an ally rather than an antagonist. Even in the brief period she is an antagonist, Rayla quite frankly isn’t aggressive. She’s threatening, sure, and chases Callum down with swords — it’s scary, I won’t deny that — but she also immediately starts stalling.

Then, when Rayla actually does threaten him, she apologizes: “I’m sorry. I have to do this. I don’t want to, but I have to.” And she lets Callum stall her further in their ethical debate, and after he’s lied to her about his identity and run away again, and when the actual Prince Ezran has been revealed. So despite being enemies, either of them actually hurting each other willingly? Completely out of the question, except for one (1) kick Rayla gives him in 1x02.

You also have Rayla’s similarity with Catra in terms of lashing out when someone tries to get them to open up. The difference is that Catra lashes out at Adora usually because of some negative emotional response ‘Adora’ has drawn out of her. For example, feeling rejected and abandoned because Adora was friendly with one of the other cadets.

Yes, Catra is an abused child and it feels like Adora is all she has in the world, but that doesn’t make that okay or healthy. Catra very clearly wants to keep Adora to herself and rejects any other possible friendships either of them could have. And Adora is also an abused child. Catra pushes Adora, makes her scream and cry, scars her across the face, all for Adora being friendly with another kid their age and coming to see if Catra is okay.

In contrast, Rayla tends to lash out because she’s crumbling under the weight of her own failures. Callum is not connected to why she’s actually lashing out at all. This is how Rayla responds when Callum tries to be there for her after she’s discovered the death of her father figure and has been banished from her village, just like her biological parents were, all of them branded as cowards (which is the worst thing someone in her society can be).

Callum isn’t injured, he’s not crying. He isn’t made to feel responsible for any of Rayla’s emotional turmoil; if anything it’s the opposite, as she places it wholly on herself and her own feelings of inadequacy. Rayla then opens up, processes her anger and grief, Callum is able to successfully cheer her up, and the next time they’re in a similar situation of emotional turmoil, she’s grown greatly. The scene above is also generally considered (and seen, in show) as Rayla’s lowest moment in many ways. Whereas for Catra, it seems like it could honestly fit right in with being a semi weekly experience. Again, I think the screencaps 90% speak for themselves, but this was just for clarity’s sake.

Then you have Callum and Catra. Both have struggles with feeling inferior. But Catra has a tendency to blame other people around her for everything (“You made me this. You took everything from me” and “Some people have a bad day. I’ve had a bad life”) Callum sees the fault line being in himself.

The only time he ever blames Rayla for anything is in 1x06 about rushing them and causing him to forget some of their supplies — a minor thing that she then just teases him over and something he apologizes for later — and for dropping the egg of the Dragon Prince as a spur of the moment reaction. Which he then almost says was his fault later on in the season.

This is especially important, because both Rayla and Adora deeply struggle with a fear of failure and many of their actions are defined by their self sacrificial streak. But Callum never blames Rayla for things, even when he would be justified in doing so, and Catra routinely harps on Adora’s biggest insecurity as a way to cut her open when Catra isn’t blaming her outright for things. Remember that pin we put in, earlier? We’re bringing it back now.

Because Rayllum also has a fight in their penultimate episode about one of them being self sacrificial and the other disagreeing. And it goes completely differently than the one C*tradora had in a few key ways.

1) Callum does not abandon Rayla for wanting to sacrifice herself. He does the opposite, elongating the conversation and trying to get through to her that this may not be the best thing.

2) It is never, ever, Callum’s concern that Rayla is “choosing something” over him. It does not occur to him, he does not bring it up, his relationship to her — and by this point they’re actually in a romantic relationship — is seen as completely irrelevant to her levels of agency.

R: This all happened because my parents ran away, so I have to stay and protect the [sleeping] Dragon Queen. [...] C: Really? So, that’s it? Just… goodbye? You’re going to stay here and die out of pride? Oh? You have a nicer word for it? Honour? Redemption? It’s just pride! [...] Don’t let your parents’ mistakes drag you down. I know you feel guilty, but you’re not thinking straight! Rayla, you have to let it go!

3) Later after their argument, he calmly approaches her and provides a solution that places the full agency back in her hands. Rayla then resolves to include him in the decision making process.

Again, there are similarities: “Then you don’t know me at all. You never did.” and “No, you don’t [need me]. You never have.” But again, Rayla is the one who walks away from her and Callum’s argument, which is about her risking her life. Adora and Catra’s argument is at first primarily about Catra abandoning Adora in her greatest hour of need without saying goodbye (which Catra never apologizes for or even seems ashamed of) and then Catra switches gears and makes it about Adora. She says that Adora should care about her own needs, but when Adora expresses those needs, Catra ignores them.

The one time that Adora ever thinks Catra has come back for her, she’s surprised.

On the multiple occasions Callum goes back for Rayla (or she, him), she’s almost never surprised.

Which is really just reflective, honestly, of the fact that the vow Catra makes to Adora in the finale is basically the promise/offer Rayla makes to Callum... three episodes into the whole series, the first night they met each other.

Another direct comparison is the early conversations between each pair that we’re privy to. The conversation enclosed below (the bolding are my personal additions, not to indicate actual emphasis)

C: No way. You've been promoted? A: Well, kind of. I mean, yeah, I guess. Heh. But it's not a big deal. C: Are you kidding? That is awesome. We're gonna see the world and conquer it. Adora, I need to blow something up. A: Umm.. C: What? A: Shadow Weaver says you're not coming. C: What? My time was just as good as yours today. What is her problem with me? A: I mean, you are kind of disrespectful. C: Why should I respect her? She's just bitter that she doesn't have any real power that doesn't come from Hordak and everyone knows it. I guess it sure must be easy being a people pleaser like you. A: I am not a pe-- Catra, wait. [Sighs] Look, I'm sorry. I didn't even think you wanted to be a Force Captain. C: I don't. Here, take your stupid badge. A: Come on, Catra. This is what I have been working for my entire life. I was hoping you could be, I don't know, happy for me. C: Ugh, whatever. It's not like I even care. I just wanna get out of this dump at some point before I die of boredom.

Let’s look over that conversation in more detail, shall we? This is supposedly when Catra and Adora were best friends and happy. This is the “positive” background given that “justifies” Adora’s continued investment in Catra even as she does more and more terrible things. But what actually happens? Adora reveals she’s been promoted. Catra immediately makes it about them as a unit / about herself; no congratulations or anything. Catra then insults Adora for no reason other than her own bitterness and resentment (which is ironic given her comment about Shadow Weaver). Adora apologizes for being promoted and not being able to magically read Catra’s mind. Catra insults Adora’s promotion and when Adora asks if Catra can be happy for her, because “this is what [she’s] been working for [her] entire life” Catra just completely dismisses her and makes it all about herself. Again.

Below, I’m going to show one of the early disagreements between Callum and Rayla in 1x04 (roughly two days into them knowing each other). Callum said that she (as an elf) was a bloodthirsty monster in an attempt to protect her, although it still hurt Rayla. He’s relieved that they’ve made it out okay, but Rayla quick makes her displeasure known:

C: Ah, it worked. I can’t believe it. R: I can’t believe that you’re such a jerk. C: What? What’s wrong? R: You called me a bloodthirsty monster. You have no idea how that feels. C: But I don’t actually believe any of that, I was just trying to scare her. I thought she’d back down. R: Oh that went well. They tried to kill me! C: I’m sorry. That’s not what I meant to happen. R: Well it did.

Rayla insults him directly for something he’s done (not a decision someone else — Shadow Weaver — has made). She’s open and honest about her feelings. Callum clarifies his own — he doesn’t see her as a monster at all — but he can recognize that even though none if it was intentional, he messed up and hurt her and put her at risk, so he apologizes. And then never does it again, worrying about her being around other humans more than Rayla does throughout the rest of the seasons (1x07, 2x04, 3x08).

Another notable difference in terms of just overall health is that unlike Catra and Adora, where Catra often slacks off in training and is then angry about being held back and Adora has actually put in all the work to earn her own accomplishments in the Horde... Rayla has something Callum desperately wants — a connection to an arcanum to do magic — that Rayla was born with and does not care about at all, and Callum never, even for a moment, resents her for it. Ever.

C: I will learn magic. It’s who I am. // When I could do magic, I finally felt like myself. I’m just trying to find my way back.

Other Important differences:

Even when Callum and Rayla are angry or upset with each other, they never use it as an excuse to mistreat each other and they never take out their anger on each other — nor are they ever angry at each other for someone else’s words or actions. Callum is upset when he finds out Rayla knew about his father being gone and that she didn’t tell him right away, but all he says is this.

Even when Rayla is mad at him for doing Dark Magic, she still worries about him, makes sure he gets out safely, lays him down gently, and tends to him while he’s sick.

Another thing I love about Rayllum — and this is my aro-specness coming out — is the irrelevance of romantic feelings. Callum likes Claudia at first in 2x02 and Rayla doesn’t like watching them flirt, but she’s never possessively jealous whatsoever or angry at Callum for pursuing something else he wants. Callum also chooses to trust Rayla over Claudia in the end. Then in 3x04, when Callum has a big speech building Rayla up after her breakdown scene, (and he does know he has feelings for her at that point), Rayla kisses him. He fumbles through explaining he wasn’t saying all of those nice things about her just so she would kiss him. Rayla is embarrassed — and covers some of it up with anger — and views it as a rejection (she also saves his life and accepts his help like, three minutes later). But even when Callum is awkward about it the next day, Rayla sets it aside and puts his comfort ahead of her own hurt feelings or awkwardness, so that he can have an easier time of things.

Other comparisons:

A: Did you have to make [Catra] so mean? LH: The simulation is designed for total accuracy. Is the one you call Catra not mean? A: No. She is.

C: You never did have much faith in me. A: Can you blame me?

“Romantic” dancing versus two friends actually having a good time together

Before jumping off a cliff to follow/rescue their partner, Adora and Catra’s last interaction was Catra apologizing over a commlink and sending Glimmer to her. Before that, their last interaction was Catra brutally electrocuting her.

A: Can we skip the speech? I’m done playing your games, Catra. Too many people got hurt when you set off that portal [ie. Catra purposefully trying to end the world so Adora couldn’t ‘win’ and save it]. I hope it was worth it. Because I won’t let you hurt my friends or anyone else ever again.

When Callum leaps after Rayla, their last two previous interactions were both Rayla comforting him, taking his hand and silently asking him to be in the present with her, rather than consumed with worry in his head.

Other Notes:

1) I have no idea what Catra and Adora admire/like about each other.

The closest I’ve got is “Hey, you were great out there” from Adora to Catra about her fighting skills when they were kids, and “You’ve never listened to anyone in your life, are you really going to start now?” (from Adora) and “You’ve never given up on anyone in your life, not even me” (from Catra). Even in seasons one and two for Rayllum, it is abundantly clear what they admire about each other.

C: I don’t get it, Rayla. Why are you so worried about a dragon that just set fire to a town? R: I’ve been thinking about something someone once told me. About how when one person hurts another, then that person hurts them back, it becomes a cycle that never ends. C: Who told you that? R: You did. C: Oh. R: But Callum, to break that cycle someone has to take a stand when no one else will [...] Protecting that dragon doesn’t just feel like the right thing to do, it feels like the right thing for me to do. It’s where I’m meant to be.

Don’t even get me started on season three (“He’s noble and true” “Rayla, you’re the most amazing person I’ve ever met,” “He’s smart and kind and brave and he’s—” “I’ve seen you get knocked down so many times and every single time you get up again. That’s real strength,” “I don’t think I can do it without him,” “Rayla is selfless, strong, and caring”).

2) This isn’t relevant to the discussion, but someone pointed it out once that when Shadow Weaver sacrifices herself so both of her adoptive daughters can get away, she erects a boundary to keep the monster out. Is there any particular reason she couldn’t have sealed all three of them behind the boundary and just closed the monster off in the other room? Genuinely asking.

3) Because it can be / apparently needs to be said, TDP is nice because Rayla is allowed to form healthy meaningful relationships with other characters, like Ezran, that exist completely separately from her relationship with Callum. Whereas Catra arguably gets Glimmer and all they do, more or less, is talk about Adora (again, Scorpia and Entrapta don’t count because those are abusive, unhealthy relationships).

Glimmer: Wait, are you—are you saving me? C: Not you. Adora.

4) For TDP, they take the character with massive fears of failure and pair her with someone who continually builds her up and says that things aren’t her fault and speaks up when she’s being treated unfairly (without treating her like shit for seasons beforehand). They take the character with inferiority issues and instead of giving them resentment, makes him deeply admire his love interest while she also validates the fuck out of him. Don’t get me wrong, Callum can be insensitive and Rayla can be snarky, but they give as good as they get (an equal standing sorely missing in C*tradora in every season, whether it’s causing physical pain to each other or Adora doing way more emotional support for Catra — the person who has caused her the most emotional distress in the whole series — than the other way around). But Callum and Rayla never belittle each other. Ever. Much less in the season where they get together.

I genuinely don’t know why SPOP thought pairing up a character with deep seated inferiority issues with the person they’ve continually resented, and the character with deep seated fears of failure with the person who has continually blamed them for everything, was a good idea. Especially when, as the screencaps and quotes show, almost none of that has changed in season five. All that’s really changed in season five is that Catra has stopped attacking Adora and started helping her, doing things Adora’s friends had been doing for ages without, again, treating her like shit.

Callum and Rayla meet on a mission of convenience and chance, and although imperfect, they always choose to care about each other. Catra and Adora, meanwhile, are bound together by who and where they raised — things they never ever had a choice in, which is interesting for a series that strives against the idea of destiny so heavily.

5) Catra resents Adora for being a hero to everyone but her (ie. not focusing solely on protecting/saving Catra) and Callum admires Rayla for being a hero to everyone but him. Catra then tries to destroy Adora’s sense of self and wellbeing any chance she gets up until s5, but even then still resents her even when Adora is showing concern for her. It never, ever occurs to Catra until the season finale that Adora is someone who needs to — in the most literal sense of the word — be saved. Meanwhile, Callum knows this even before Rayla does. He knows she’s a hero, and he knows that sometimes, she’s the one who needs to be saved.

[Screencaps from 1x05 and 1x06 respectively]

[Followed by screencaps from 3x01, 3x05, and 3x09 respectively.]

Concluding Thoughts

As a queer afab, I find She-Ra’s portrayal of abuse in all of Catra’s relationships (the Horde trio — and even within that group, the treatment Kyle consistently receives — Scorpia, Entrapta) worrying, her “big epic romance” with Adora as “true love” most of all. Emotional abuse isn’t cute and passable just because it’s gay, with domestic partner abuse already not talked about in queer relationships, and something this messy and unhealthy being marketed in a show for small children who still like talking horses. I understand the appeal of the show and the ship — I was similarly drawn to it, for a while, for its “complexity” and “layers” — but that’s true too, of the emotionally abusive relationships I’ve been a victim of; I didn’t see them as abuse, either, until I was out or on my way.

Nor have I ever said in fiction that healthy relationships are the be all end all. People like the twisted shit. I ship some things purely for the fictional, non canon dysfunction of it all, and it’s really fun.

But, one of my favourite things about Rayllum is that they’re healthy, and supportive, and work through their problems with generally good communication. They both have trauma and issues, but they never act like those things are excuses in regards to how they treat each other (or even explanations) and you can actually buy that they’re best friends by choice.

And, in my humble opinion, are far healthier than C*tradora in every way imaginable — but that’s not exactly a hard bar to meet when the bar itself is Healthy Relationship.

#darkwolfgoddess #rayllum #spop critical #anti catradora #tw abuse #again this is just my opinion #nobody has to agree nobody has to debate #just scroll on by and don't click on it if it's not your thing #requests #analysis series #analysis #this was a Long Boi #now to finally purge everything shera related from my mind #i'm free

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demonslayedher · 3 years

Text

Tanjiro Is Not Hot Stuff

and this is a good thing

It's easy to dismiss Tanjiro as overpowered, but in this post I'd like to disagree. For all his ability, Tanjiro is still a scrappy fighter, and his abilities have concrete reasons within the context of his shounen manga universe. Furthermore, despite Tanjiro's unique connection to the legendary Yoriichi, Gotouge continually drives home that he is just one character among many united in a common goal to eliminate all evil demons.

That phrase, 悪鬼滅殺, being the backbone of the Demon Slayer Corp, is engraved into each of the Pillars' swords. On that note, I'd like to first address that this may not be Yoriichi's sword. EDIT: On further reflection, because the color of the sword is only dyed once and being held by another swordsman doesn't change it, I've recounted on this theory and feel pretty certain it's Yoriichi's. But it was fun to consider other possibilities, and I'm going to italicize everything that I now consider an incorrect theory.

It's praised for it's Warring States/Sengoku era craftsmanship. This was a time with the swordsmen were first learning the Breath techniques (despite the Corp already having been around for centuries already). It’s also praised for its use of the singular "eliminate" idea encapsulated in the lone 滅 character. Haganezuka himself states that the person who wielded this sword must had been extraordinarily skilled. It's implied that, since Yoriichi also used a black blade (when it wasn’t red), and since this was inside the Yoriichi Zero Type battle doll, it must had been Yoriiichi's sword and therefore well suited to Tanjiro’s Hinokami Kagura techniques which he focuses on for the remainder of his battles.

However, let's think backwards a moment. This sword was produced in a time when Yoriichi, as an outright genius, had profound influence on the Demon Slayer Corp. Although everyone tried, no one could quite pick up his Sun Breathing, but they took the parts that worked for them and the Flame, Thunder, Wind, Water, and Rock techniques took form. We know that since the quality of demon slayers decreased after this generation (my guess is this is due to the mark killing them all off and therefore the lack of a mark in following generations made them seem less skilled over all).

It's unlikely that Yoriichi, the Sun Breath user himself, would have had any use for this training doll; instead it must had been used by one of those early Breath creators trying desperately to match Yoriichi's skill, and probably using a sword that was modeled with the ideal Sun Breath in mind, and not yet taken shape to suit the Breath that user would later polish. It was perhaps after further definition of their new techniques that they left the old sword behind.

Two more reasons I don't believe this is Yoriichi's sword: Yoriichi, a genius who probably didn't allow his sword to break with improper technique, was still using a sword with a single 滅 inscription when he faced Kokushibo in his old age, and we only see him use a sword with a hilt guard of this shape.

So then who used one with this shape?

We don’t quite see if any of the other Sengoku era swords are likewise inscribed with 滅 (and the lack of the swordsmith’s name implies that this was the swordsmith’s creative choice), but we do get a peek at a few other swords. None of them have a hilt guard quite the same, but this is as similar as it gets:

The character whom we see using a sword like this has hair in a black ponytail. It’s a little different from the Water Breath user who makes a few appearances, but not that different, and we never see what blade the Water Breath user is wielding.

I theorize that Tanjiro inherited an early Water Breath user's sword, which made it extra suitable for his techniques. Despite the differences between Hinokami Kagura and Water Breathing being stark enough that switching takes a huge physical toll on Tanjiro, I believe that Water Breathing will always have an influence on his performance of Hinokami Kagura, or at least draws out the aspects from which Water Breathing was based.

That brings me to another thought: Tanjiro’s seemingly overpowered ability to pick up other people's techniques, like the Thunder Breathing speed he heard about from Zenitsu. With Sun Breathing being the root of all other Breath techniques, Tanjiro has grown up already practicing the formative basis of all the other techniques, including Thunder Breathing. His speed (no pun intended) in adopting new techniques does feel more than a little overpowered, but Tanjiro has long shown a history of adopting new techniques and strategies in the middle of a fight. It's also a characteristic of Tanjiro to be constantly analyzing his fighting style and battle experiences even in his sleep, so that shows it's the result of his hardworking, eldest son personality to rely more on perseverance and practice than on natural ability.

That being said, the family history under the influence of tending fire does seem to give Tanjiro some innate suitability for Sun Breathing techniques, as implied by other characters like Haganezuka pointing out his red eyes and Shinjuro noticing Tanjiro's supposed mark right away and immediately interpreting this as an unfair amount of talent. Bring a humble charcoal farmer as opposed to a hardened swordsman may be what gave Sumiyoshi the ability to grasp the essence of Sun Breathing so thoroughly and efficiently (though we know Yoriichi taught his technique to others whom Kokushibo later eliminated, we don’t know if they could perform it as accurately, especially since the rest of the swordsman had so much difficulty with it). This point was so important that Gotouge even considered including charcoal references or the name of the fire god Kagutsuchi (commonly associated with hearths and purification) in the title of the series (see more about that here.)

But, get this, Tanjiro was not originally meant to be the main character. According to an interview in the first official fanbook with the first editor, Katayama, the following exchange took place after reviewing Gotouge’s sketches for a manga idea, “Kisatsu no Nagare,” in which the main character, Nagare, is a quiet, stoic type with fake limbs in place of ones he lost in the Final Selection (he feels a lot like Giyuu, in my opinion):

What changed it from “Kisatsu no Nagare” to “Kimetsu no Yaiba”:

(Continued from criticism of Nagare being a difficult character to build a series around:)

“...after determining that with these small changes we still wouldn’t be able to change the impact much, we threw around the idea of changing the protagonist. Since [Gotouge-]Sensei hadn’t yet moved to Tokyo from the countryside, I asked one day on the phone, “Is there any other character besides Nagare (in the world of “Kisatsu no Nagare”) that’s may a little more cheerful and normal?”

Sensei answered, “There is, but I don’t know if he’s interesting or not.” When I asked, “What sort of character is he?” the response was, “He’s a boy who sells charcoal, and his little sister got turned into a demon, so he enters the Demon Slayer Corp to try to turn her back.” And I thought, that’s it, that’s THE protagonist, and said, “Let’s go with that! A normal kid is good!”

I think we can all agree that Tanjiro’s oldest son personality is a big part of what makes him stick out as a protagonist. But, for as hard as he works and strongly as he feels, he is constantly aware of everyone else’s efforts and wishes, and he states over and over throughout the series that even if he should die in pursuit of his goals, someone else in the organization is absolutely certain to accomplish them in his place. We see the same sentiment among other characters who meet their doom, even powerful characters like Pillars, so it really drives home that this series is about the Demon Slayer Corp more than it is about any single child who has lost his family to demons. It’s for reasons like this that I really, really appreciate how the fanbooks, in how they present basic info, refer to Tanjiro like he’s just one example of a Corp swordsman; he’s not even worth introducing right away. It’s because of this focus on on everyone’s collective efforts that even if Tanjiro as the protagonist, I think it totally could have fit the story to have him die like implied in chapter 200, or proven right about his faith in everyone and be killed when he’s a demon.

Finally, a Taisho Secret around chapter 193 specifies that although Tanjiro has made a significant amount of progress in Hinokami Kagura, he's still not such Hot Stuff. If you break it into three levels, being able to go through the motions of something, then being able to refine and adapt it, and then being able to perform something in a way that maximizing its potential is all different. Even deep in the battle again Muzan, Tanjiro is only right about at the beginning points of being able to refine and adapt his techniques.

So there you have it, Tanjiro is special, especially for his naturally positive, hardworking, and empathetic personality. But, he's no Pillar (yet), nor is his will and experience worth any more or less than all the other Demon Slayers, swordsmiths, Kakushi, wisteria house owners, crows, Ubuyashiki Clan members, and all the other supporters across centuries of history working toward one common goal, one eternal feeling: eliminate all evil demons.

#Kimetsu no Yaiba #Demon Slayer #KnY fandom theories and meta #kamado tanjirou #kamado tanjiro

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