#It's choosing to save each other

[motherofmabari]

President Snow told Katniss to make the Districts believe the berries were an act of love, not of rebellion.

I think what he failed to understand is they were one and the same.

[sapphicstacks]

I think there is a lot to be said about Imogen trying so hard to meet Laudna where she is at emotionally post-resurrection.

It’s first obvious in the moment Pike doesn’t find Delilah’s spirit. Imogen is taken, for the briefest of moments, by joy because this is what the two of them have been working on for years together. From the very beginning, Imogen was in the conservatory looking up how to separate Laudna and Delilah. “We’re going to get her out of your head,” was Imogen’s reassuring promise to Laudna after the FCG fight. So, Imogen shows unabashed excitement for a split second.

However, Imogen also just made a new promise to Laudna. A promise that she will meet Laudna wherever she is and be there for her. So, Imogen uses her hands to cover her smile, steels herself, and matches Laudna. And we watch her do this over and over again that day in Whitestone. She takes every single cue from Laudna.

Laudna needs a hand to hold on to? Of course.

Laudna needs a promise that Whitestone is real? Imogen crosses her heart.

Laudna wants to touch the Sun Tree? Well, get up here.

Laudna is excited about a newly alive Pâté? Imogen has never giggled so openly.

Laudna can’t eat lobster? Luckily, potatoes are Imogen’s favorite food!

I can’t help but be impressed with Imogen in those moments. Imogen hasn’t had as many chances as Laudna to be the caretaker in their relationship but she will be damned before she neglects that duty now. She recognizes that Laudna will be in the place that Imogen was when they first met, and there is not a moment where Imogen doubts her ability to step up and be there for her. Imogen, in all of her self-doubt and anxiety, knows for a fact that she can keep that promise to Laudna. There is a confidence in Imogen’s love for Laudna that has never been more obvious.

[daylighteclipsed]

Y’all ever think about if Sora falls to darkness that inside his heart will look like the Destiny Islands falling again

[muninnhuginn]

The Anya-Twilight interaction in the middle of this chapter is pretty interesting.

The Anya side of this interaction seems clear enough in that she's trying to obfuscate when asked about her exposure to classical language. The fact we don't see her face as she claims she doesn't remember makes me think she very possibly *does*, but doesn't want to talk about it. And, of course, as I've seen pointed out already, her face when she's first asked is very reminiscent of how she looks in the recent 'Ania' short chapter. She has thoughts/feelings about her past and they've clearly affected her, but they're not for the audience to see yet.

However, the Twilight side of this? I'm a bit stunned at how obviously he does not want to be asking this question of Anya. We know he's considered there's some reason in her past for her knowledge of classical language. We know he's a chronic overthinker. Even last chapter, he was thinking of this, but didn't ask. Anya getting second place though basically removes any plausible deniability. If he doesn't ask now, he's neglecting his duty. But still, he has to work up to it, almost leaves the room before he decides to broach the topic, and when he does, he *mumbles* it. Twilight doesn't really *act* with Anya when it's just them. His mumbling is not an act; it's reluctance.

His reluctance to ask the question of Anya is, in some ways, more egregious than how easily he drops the topic once Anya claims she doesn't remember. Not pushing her further and bringing the topic up later is a valid tactic (and likely one we may see), but we can see that he knows there's more to it. Unlike the audience, he can see her face, after all. And for now, he's indicated he won't push further despite that knowledge. By choosing to back off and patting Anya instead, he's (in a very low-key way admittedly) prioritising Anya over the mission.

It's just so neat how this one interaction showcases so much about the both of them. It hammers in Anya's trauma about her past, without spelling it out in words, but at the same time, it shows how Twilight's approach to fatherhood vs his mission are coming increasingly into conflict. We've had something similar on a larger scale with the recent Yuri-mole arc, with his role as Yor's spouse vs the mission, but it's still playing out on a smaller scale in scenes like this. And it's fascinating how the mission isn't always the clear-cut winner anymore. Sure, early on, we had Twilight sabotaging the Eden entry interview, but that was a moment of passion inspired by his whole "not wanting children to cry" deal. In other words, fuelled by some of his own trauma. In the recent chapters though, he's had time to think and justify before he acts. But the pendulum is still swinging towards his family when given the chance.

[queencaramilflinda]

The real message of Lucy vs Buddy is that worshipping a divinity is about following the values that the god puts forth, not about preaching or praying or evangelizing.

When Buddy was offered to die a Helio worshipper or live with a different god, he chose to abandon the faith he claimed such devotion to. When Lucy was offered the same thing, she looked to her values as they related to her religion and decided that she would not add to the coldness of the world. Lucy, even in death, remains a light in the dark, the warm memory in the coldness of the ratgrinders. That’s true devotion. That’s the point of religion.

[aetheternity]

So you're telling me Aether left Paimon for Xiao twice now his most trusted companion:

During Perilous Trails when she was weak and exhausted: He then doesn't leave Xiao's side until Xiao falls asleep. And yet doesn't show the same concern for Itto who faints late on.

And

During the newest epilogue dinner for LR where it made even less sense for him to leave her seeing as she wanted to come with him anyway and him and Xiao weren't even talking about anything secretive.

And I'm still supposed to believe they're just friends?? 😒 Like Xiao gets all this special treatment from Aether when has he ever left Paimon in the past to talk to a companion outside of when said companion specifically asks for his individualized attention?

[justaz]

arthur (prince of camelot) still has to study under a tutor bc yknow uther wants him to be very intelligent before becoming king or something bc its super important idk idc anyways merlin is doing chores in his chambers while arthur is squinting at a book and merlin eventually caves and asks him what he’s reading and arthur gruffly explains that its a collection of stories from greece that make absolutely no sense so merlin asks him to read them outloud to him. arthur of course teases him and calls him an idiot and asks how he could possibly help but does as he’s asked and reads the stories to merlin as he does his chores. merlin (being crushed under the weight of destiny and tormented by the prophecies that kilgharrah spews) understands the stories almost immediately and gets all excited and starts rambling about them with arthur. arthur is glad to have someone who understands so he can give something that reflects a hint of understanding to his tutor who accepts it and moves onto the next unit of education.

the thing is, arthur finds more stories in camelot’s library and brings them up to his room to read them aloud to merlin under the guise of completing his studies but really he just wants to watch as merlin’s eyes gleam when he understands whats happening and listen to him ramble on and on about them bc he’s gay. the stories stick with merlin though and he realizes that they’re cautionary tales, that the heroes who were told too much of their future doomed themself to fulfill them - that them fighting the prophecies led to their completion. merlin takes it to heart and gives a big “fuck you” to kilgharrah before forging his own fate and helping morgana with her magic and handing out an olive branch to mordred and now everyone can live happily and peacefully in an albion teeming with magic.

[saraanzu]

it’s interesting how in the alternate sara minisode ending, her thought process isn’t really “if I loved joe more, I could’ve saved him”, the massacre ending she imagined with him is more focused on her guilt for killing everyone else rather than her guilt for not saving him. it’s “if I loved joe more, we would both end up with blood on our hands, that’s why I shouldn’t get too close to people.”

there’s no english translation of joe’s light novel sadly, but I remember reading a summary of it a while back, and joe actually has similar feelings about how escaping with sara would’ve been a bad choice. as he dies, he has a dream about what would happen: ryoko and all his friends would call him a murderer, he would become a cop so he could save people and make up for the people he killed, but the guilt would stay with him for the rest of his life. he hears sara crying, and his last thoughts are that he would do anything to make her stop.

both of them ultimately decide that the guilt of killing everyone else would not have been worth escaping together. they don’t want to be murderers, and they especially don’t want to make each other murderers.

[spacedlexi]

so often i see people try to downplay violet and minervas relationship like it wasnt Real enough or was some Inferior Romance that her relationship with clementine could Never compare to, and i find it so annoying and boring

she LOVED minerva!! and its okay that she did!! she was her first love!! childhood best friends turned girlfriends!! seeing her being so heartbroken and miserable about what happened to minnie, how deeply and desperately she missed her, hugging that bed frame so pathetically. but clementine makes her CARE again. makes her LOVE again. slowly violet becomes comfortable with the idea of opening her heart up to people again, after trying so hard not to because the pain of losing people she cared about was too much to bear (especially when she blamed herself for them being gone)

then she learns minnie didnt die. shes falling in love with clem while grappling with the fact that minnie might still be out there??

then she meets minnie in the woods. but minnie has changed just like she has. theyre both different people now. and slowly violet is forced to come to terms with the fact that the person she loved so deeply isnt that person anymore??

violet at the beginning mourning minerva and blaming herself, to shooting her to save clems life. she LOVED minerva once, but she doesnt like the person she is now. and shes not gonna let her hurt anyone else she cares about. shes done mourning her by the time they get to the bridge, only crying out for tenn

like idk i just find their relationship evolution to be so interesting and sad as shit. the fact that they once loved each other so much and it has now come to this?? but violet makes her choice and she Chooses clementine, because she admires and loves clementine, probably similar to the way she used to admire and love minerva if the way she talked about her is any indication

i just think "i never thought i would ever feel this way again" is way more interesting than "wow minnie Never made me feel like This"

[ryutarotakedown]

thinking about how in the beginning of both turnabout sisters and turnabout goodbyes, you can choose whether or not to defend maya and edgeworth. if you choose “no” the game pulls the whole “HA i would NEVER” on you, but it’s still an option in phoenix’s head

whereas when edgeworth confesses to killing his dad in the DL-6 incident, the game doesn’t give you that choice. you are just told that phoenix immediately goes to review the court record. because present-day edgeworth might be almost a stranger to phoenix, but nine-year-old edgeworth is who phoenix became a lawyer for, who he’s determined to save. because he might not have known about DL-6 even a week ago but this case is what he became a lawyer for.

there was never any other option.

[stone-stars]

i think just on a fundamental level stories that say “it might not be easy, but choosing to care and love and connect with people matters” are the ones that will always appeal to me

[fictionadventurer]

March is turning out to be the month where my monthly reading list is, by far, leading me to the best books. Just winner after winner. Books that I not only enjoy, but recognize as quality literature.

Part of this is because I stacked the list with Great Christian Writers I already know I like and who have large bodies of work to choose new books from, but for every book I happen to choose from these authors to be this good is pretty astounding.

And that's not even getting into how exploring the reading list leads me down rabbit holes that also lead me to great books. Like, I picked up my unread children's poetry anthology in the vague hope that there was a Chesterton poem inside that I could use to cheat on that list item. There wasn't one, but I dove into those poems and I've read 2/3 of the book now, and that led me to pick up some Christina Rossetti.

I feel so literary and I'm loving it.

[i-still-mask-because]

the reasons i still mask are numerous and interconnected:

because my grandmother is in hospice and i’ll be damned if i’m the one to kill her by getting her sick, i want her to live the rest of her life as healthy as she can be with cancer and dementia

because my mother works with covid+ patients every shift and i don’t want to spread a hospital-borne infection into the public, or get my mother sick and have her bring something into work or further disable her

because my city website lied about there being no covid+ patients in hospitals or ICUs, meaning that their statements about why they relax covid precautions cannot be trusted

to demonstrate to unmasked people around me that they can (and should) choose to resume masking at any point, though the sooner the better

because part of being queer for me is caring about others around me even when it goes against the status quo or “common sense”, knowing that the societal conventions of heterosexuality/cisgenderism/able-bodiedness do more harm than good

because i enjoy the fact that wearing a mask makes me look mysterious and frees me from having to care about controlling social cues for the bottom half of my face

😷

[rqg179]

zolf in rqg207 is so much. nearly crying on this coach over him turning around mid-battle ready to absolutely obliterate this thing, seeing hamid nearly dead on the floor, and stopping everything else he was doing because "absolutely not"

[kisaraslover]

yeah Kisara was a self-banished wanderer, guilt ridden and afraid of her dragon but also like. who made the dragon. lol. theres always ALWAYS this quiet rage and grief, which claws at her skin trying to escape, just barely kept down at any given moment, and when her loyalty, therefore the dragons loyalty is bound to Seto there is not only no guilt, she surrendered completely, theres also relief and satisfaction. is he her enabler or is she his enabler trick question the answer is yes both

[itspileofgoodthings]

The moment in Stardust when Tristan walks into the witch’s lair and Yvaine who thought he didn’t care about her at all lights up while still chained to the sacrificial table of death