#To keep the heart healthy

[butterflysonnets]

yes i'm rooting for m*leven breakup because byler is neat but mostly? i'm rooting for m*leven breakup for the sake of el and mike.

to me, their romance was always a puppy love born out of a combination of social pressures, naïve curiosity, and a lack of true understanding regarding intimacy and romantic love and what it really is. it was real in that they do truly, deeply care about each other and they are close friends, maybe even shared an attraction, but a maturing romance is so much more than that. they've grown up and out of being boyfriend/girlfriend, and that's okay! i think television/film needs to show more often that most of us don't have definite "soulmates" or first childhood loves that we spend our whole lives with. it doesn't mean these relationships meant nothing and didn't impact us, it just means they've run their course and that something else is in the cards, and this is part of life!

i've always felt el was at her best and most confident self when broken up with mike, discovering who she was and what she liked alongside another girl her age instead of just relying on mike for mentorship on how to live in the real world. she deserves more of an opportunity to find herself, her autonomy, and her independence, and to love who she is, and she's made it clear she's felt insecure in the relationship with mike because she isn't being loved and understood the way she wants, needs, and deserves from someone who is her partner.

also, it's okay if mike doesn't love her in "the way he should". he is not obligated to love her romantically and stay in a relationship with her just because she's a girl, because she "needed someone", or because he cares about her a lot. he shouldn't be pressured into a romance if it's not truly coming from his heart. he deserves freedom to find out and honour who he is, too, instead of just staying in his non-functional first relationship — one he got into as a child, essentially — and defining himself that way because it's what's expected when a boy and a girl are close. he loves her in some way, yes, but it's okay if he doesn't feel comfortable or secure being her boyfriend anymore, for whatever reason that is. he's felt insecure too, and that's valid and it matters.

they are their own people and are steadily growing and changing every day. they need time to figure out who those people are, and it's become clear (at least in my opinion) that those people aren't meant to be a couple at this stage.

they deserve freedom. they deserve to grow up and be authentic to themselves and not feel like they need to lie for the sake of a relationship. they deserve to move on from this version of their relationship that isn't making them happy and rekindle the best part of their bond: their strong, beautiful friendship. they don't have to be a couple if it doesn't make them stronger and better and happier people.

i think it would be healthy and wonderful for a show, especially one consumed frequently by young adults, to show a relationship starting, progressing, and ending on good terms in this way. sometimes things don't work out, and that is okay.

[usefulquotes7]

Take care not to invest all of your strength and energy on keeping up appearances or disguising your insecurities when what's really essential to projecting a secure, confident presence is developing a healthy self-esteem and a kind and courageous heart. Beau Taplin

[desultory-novice]

I think it'd be kinda interesting if Marx, after becoming part God-Clock, is unable to rest. After all, if a part of the Nova lives on in him, it'd surely be running to try do repairs or archive data, and this would mean Marx has developed long term insomnia. The reason this is bad is due to Marx being a Noddy, a group known entirely for sleeping. Imagine trying to get immense power, having a battle you lose in a way you can never truly understand, then lose the activity you love most as a part of you isn't really You anymore.

No wonder Marx went crazy.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH (/POS)

>DESS.EXE HAS STOPPED FUNCTIONING

[team7-headquarter]

I need a fanfic where Obito marries Rin and Sasuke and Naruto get together, so Kakashi and Sakura start platonically living together.

It's mostly a character study??? Maybe?? On how Kakashi already devoted himself to protecting her if Sasuke and Naruto weren't around, on how they are so similar, how it feels to be left behind even if your team doesn't realize it.

If you think about it?

Well, imagine Sakura and Kakashi both fell for an Uchiha and had a jinchuriki be in love with them, only for the Uchiha to be interested only in your jinchuriki friend. Soon they get together and you start to feel like you're in the middle of something you are not part of. You still know they love you a lot, but it's not like you can erase the romance you were waiting for from your dreams.

And then you can add the fact that Gai and Rock Lee are kinda obsessed (in the good sense!) with Sakura and Kakashi. Neither Sakura nor Kakashi find them annoying, since Rock Lee and Gai were a source of strength when their team couldn't be there for them. Gai and Lee are their inspiration in so many senses. It's just another relationship they share, weirdly, funnily.

Of course they have their unique bonds, like the one Sakura shares with Ino, or the one Kakashi has with Tenzo. It doesn't mean that the themes are not shared: You see, Tenzo's wood release and Ino's whole deal with flowers are all about bloom and growth. Tenzo is that solid surface Kakashi can rely on when he feels he can't keep standing, the scarecrow that needs something to keep him upright. Ino is that force urging Sakura to open up to the world, to stop hiding who Sakura is for the sake of others; Ino is the gardener and Sakura is the flower.

There's the issue with their parents, who were not bad people, but who weren't there for Kakashi and Sakura while they grew up. Even when they love their parents, there's a void there, a tension, some distance that resonates and makes the absence loud and clear. Who Kakashi and Sakura are is not a product of some parenting: it's personal effort and being obstinate to no end.

Kakashi and Sakura greatly value each other. The proof is in the way they refuse to let each other carry alone their burdens. It's never as clear as it is when Sasuke is involved: in the Land of Iron, they tried to kill Sasuke to take the burden of killing a friend from Naruto's shoulders, but also because Kakashi didn't want that for Sakura either and she didn't want Kakashi to deal with it alone. Later, in the fight with Kaguya, Sasuke compares Kakashi to Sakura in how useless they were because they were mere humans in a fight with (basically) some goddess.

Kakashi and Sakura both suffer for not being able to free their teammates from the hurt. There's no doubt they would if they could. Not being strong enough, not being fast or skilled enough, being "useless" is their greatest nightmare. There isn't a day that Kakashi and Sakura don't hate their own weaknesses, there's not a night that they don't hate themselves for not being able to do more.

I don't know... It'd be interesting to study Kakashi in a more romantic light while Sakura is able to have more of a platonic centric growth. It would be entertaining, at least. What if Kakashi finally confesses out loud that he was in love, but he can only do it because he knows Sakura might be the only other person alive who understands what it is like to love an Uchiha? What if it is Kakashi who helps Sakura realize how many friends are there for her? How she can find fulfilment outside of the promises and dreams that are no more?

I also like a lot to see serious platonic relationships with age gaps, where the adult doesn't take any advantage given the difference in their experience and shows they can learn from the younger one.

A relationship that can't be described with nuclear family roles (father & daughter), the type where hierarchical roles are part of the drama because they see each other as equals, but even then they can't shake their responsibilities for the sake of their bond (Kakashi forced to send Sakura on a dangerous mission because he's the Hokage and she's a kunoichi, or Kakashi very openly refusing to use his status as her former sensei to force her to do something she doesn't want to do).

They are friends, just not the typical one... They're two different types of mirrors, reflecting broken images. And if they find in each other a bit of all the things they've lost and missed and they have hoped for, not enough to replace the originals but enough to lessen the hurt? Then, it's only natural they find easy companionship in each other.

[lornasaurusrex]

I miss you Lorna… this is such a mess

This is an old message and I had several other similar messages, but I miss you guys and hope you’re all doing well!! I’m sorry to see nothing has improved.

I saw I was kindly mentioned by @awesomefringey and some other commenters the other day, so just wanted to log in and say hello and log back out for a few more months. 💕

Sending so so much love to all of you. Take care of yourselves and each other, please.

The video is still on YT.

[t-u-i-t-c]

make me choose

ryo ogami or tetsuo daishinji → ryo ogami

[fluffypotatey]

Skill issue maybe. But kindness certainly didn't help the prosecuted for the rest of the show.

Maybe a balance is needed between me being proactive and merlin being kind, bc merlin sure needed a bit of the former (this is really more of a complaint for the showrunners rather than merlin. I read so many fics of merlin being proactive and helping magic that canon is slap in the face with his passivity and class traitorness)

yeah Merlin’s approach to certain issues definitely show the writers’/showrunners’ hands than his actual character (where he is pretty outspoken in these topics) but there’s also the nuance of keeping his magic secret and yada yada

but also, one of the reasons we like Merlin is because of his goodness and open-mind. there is a reason he is a foil to Morgana, who was proactive in magic users rights, had an identity crisis of her own, and descended into villain-hood. there is a reason why his struggle between his duty as Emrys and Destiny is so compelling and how it slowly become his struggle between Destiny and Arthur

are there moments where i wish Merlin did certain actions differently? 100% yes i do (2x08 for example and his relationship with Morgana) and i know a lot of the time these narrative choices were made in order to keep Merlin in his 5 season struggle of ideologies by the showrunners themselves which just hurt his character in the long run (similar to how they revert Arthur’s character back to his s1 caricature sometimes 🙄) bc if he progressed too “quickly” then it could lead to a different outcome than they wanted at the end of the show

but i digress

[aleksanderscult]

So far, I’ve asked these questions to a couple of other creators whose takes on the Darkling I admire. One responded by saying they don’t think about characters in terms of ideal romantic matches but rather as tools serving the story’s themes. They believe the “perfect” partner for the Darkling depends on the narrative, with Alina working well as his foil in the current story.

That said, I’d love to hear your perspective, since I really enjoy your insights on him.

1. How would you envision the ideal love interest for the Darkling/Aleksander/Kirigan (excluding Alina, Zoya in the show, and any existing female characters)?Like what specific traits, both physical and personality-wise, would capture Aleksander’s deep interest?

2. Do you think this character would need to be Grisha, a specific type of Grisha even or could they be Otkazat’sya?

3. Beyond power, what qualities would truly attract Aleksander to someone?

4. Would this person challenge his darker tendencies, or would they complement them? Or maybe be in the middle of?

5. How might this relationship impact his character arc? Would it push him toward redemption, further darkness, or something more complex?

6. Could a relationship like this change the dynamics of his leadership and his goals for Ravka?

Thank you !

Hmm... Let's see...

1) About the physical part, I don't believe Aleksander has a specific type about this. But what I think captures his attention is intelligence and bravery. People that have brains.

(Having some cool powers wouldn't hurt too)

I have also talked about what, in my opinion, his ideal partner would be here

2) Ideally, he wants a partner that will stay with him forever so yeah a Grisha one. And a powerful one too (since only the powerful and rare ones live very long lives).

3) You know the interesting thing here is that there is a difference between what we want and what we need.

Aleksander wants a soldier at his side, someone he could rule together and live together, someone that is politically savy, determined and mature.

But what he needs is someone that will remind him what it's like to be human again. To be tolerant, to be reminded of the cost of human life, to feel what it's like to really live. And a person that would remind those things to him would attract him. He would be terrified at the beginning because he kept his humanity buried for so long but if he has feelings for that person then there is hope for him to open up little by little but never entirely.

4) Ideally, that person would complement his own but he needs someone that will lessen his darkness with her own light but never completely put it out. Because a ruler needs to be strict and harsh. But he also needs to be kind and understanding. A balance between those two, that's what he needs.

5 & 6) Not redemption, no. The Darkling would never regret what he did. But just like I said before, maybe become more mindful about what his actions bring to the lives of others (both to the otkazat'sya and the Grisha). To remember that kindness is a strength not a weakness. But that can take years. He has spent so long becoming like this that breaking such patterns is very hard.

[lloydfrontera]

'live up to your name' au where og knight of blood and iron javier gets "killed" in the middle of the plot but instead of dying he's transported to modern south korea, waking up in a random alleyway with no injuries whatsoever. and because he's a protagonist no matter what universe he is in, despite being deeply disoriented and confused when he sees a group of thugs harassing a guy he steps in and chases them off with no problem and barely any mention of cutting off limbs. and then after making sure the guy is okay he very sheepishly asks him if he could please help him because he was lost and had no idea of where he was or how he got there

and kim suho who just saw a gorgeous but obviously foreign stranger in awesome cosplay chase off his would be muggers with what looked like a real ass sword and is currently high and smitten in "oh thank god i didn't get my week's work salary stolen" endorphins and is about to have the weirdest week of his life innocently says "yes of course"

[opens-up-4-nobody]

...

[werewolf-kat]

Going to keep an eye on things while on a newly prescribed medicine for my heart, but occasionally I've been feeling like crying from joy/relief. I didn't know it was possible to live with little to zero chest pain and other issues on a daily basis.

I started feeling its improvements on day 2, and then all day yesterday has been like a literal weight off my chest. Slept a bit for the night, woke up around 4am and I'm just... Breathing so comfortably. I feel relaxed. That feeling of pressure in my chest is hardly there anymore.

This cardiologist said I'd notice changes after just a day or two if it helps. And it's happening!!

Guess it's very much confirming I've had pericarditis for who-knows-how-long. Could've been overlooked since having my cardiac ablation in 2019. Been so freaking rough living with this stuff. All my symptoms were assumed to be part of my WPW Syndrome ('cause the ablation didn't get all of the accessory pathways.) This sort of inflammation can be caused by heart procedures though. -sigh- Why didn't anyone watch out for that or suspect it earlier?

I'll be having a new echo done in a month or two (forgot which appointment date it is among other tests coming up). Crossing my fingers I don't have the pericardia effusion there anymore too if the pericarditis is getting tackled by this new med! 🤞

[bagelarts]

i love normal men

[mossbabie]

🚰

[growingwithem]

Love can be seen in many ways, and one of them is when these two look and smile at each other...

[yakultii]

it's better to be hot than cold 🤔

AGREE !!

this is evident by my electricity bill this month

[t-ierrahumeda]

I can proudly say I did cardio 3 times this week...I've been neglecting my health for months and this is a huge improvement. I do end up dead after 30 minutes but it's a start. I'll lower it down to 2 a week and start strength training starting next week 💪