#and it was actually about death😑 | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

tojirings · 2 months

Text

to yield

pairing: toji x reader

wordcount: 5k

glimpse: toji's the world-class fighter who trains in your best friend's gym, and you're the all-rounder employee who has a crush on him.

alternatively, mma!toji wants you to stop pining for him, and you finally listen.

[ angst + fluff, So Much Yearning, unrequited love (but only initial!! 😑😑), toji's almost always a little mean whenever he turns u down, nosy as FAWKKK bff satoru, the L word, mentions of mma-related injuries, jealousy, eventual redemption ]

To yearn for Toji is light work.

Pining after him is as easy as making up workout trivia just to get a reaction from him that isn’t a neutral quirk of his lips or a dismissive tilt of his head. You’re pretty sure you’re going overboard with said lies (the proof being you having to approach Toji without Satoru in earshot just so the latter wouldn’t burst out laughing), but Toji doesn’t seem to think so.

He’s either very clueless and actually believes you, or he’s just tolerant of your “fact” of the day despite being annoyed to death with you.

“Now where the hell did you hear that?” he narrows his eyes at you, the ghost of an amused smirk lingering in his lips the longer you look at him in anticipation for his reaction.

“Just… somewhere! I heard it’s verified information,” you smile, nodding your head to delay the incoming wave of embarrassment that you have for yourself.

“Oh, okay,” Toji parts his lips, nodding tersely. “A reputable news site really said that my grip strength is stronger than a shark’s?”

“Mhmm. You’re the strongest, I bet,” you squeak, the tremble of your hands behind your back coming to a halt when Toji has to excuse himself because Satoru hollered at him from the other side of the gym.

You’re not ready at all to confess to Toji.

Every week, from Monday to Saturday, Toji comes into your best friend’s gym with a scowl on his face as if Satoru personally provoked him one way or another (read: he did), within the window of 9 to 10 AM. Only his left hand would be occupied by his gym bag, which he leaves to you for safekeeping at the front desk instead of the locker room, because Toji would rather punch himself in the gut than to deal with overeager fanboys asking him about his fights.

Additionally, every week from Monday to Saturday, you come to the gym at 7 AM sharp, partially to clock in — but mostly to walk to the expensive coffee shop down the block to buy Toji his drink from your own pocket. Between 9 to 10 AM, Toji saunters into the gym and gives you his bag, to which you take with open arms.

Also, every week, from Monday to Saturday, you make sure that you're Toji’s first interaction of the day.

The routine you have with him (and not the other way around because he’s definitely not as involved with you than you are with him) starts with you giving him a wildcard drink that the barista recommended, then Toji either scrunching his nose in disgust or him humming in something a little bit more pleasant than disgust, then him later thanking you before giving you his standard response.

“You don’t have to do this, Y/N,” he’d say, his brows soft yet scrunched in the middle. (In other words: I don’t like you back so you don’t have to do this for me at all.)

“But I want to,” you’d reply, your smile small yet unperturbed. (In other words: I like you and I want to do this for you regardless, but a large part of me hopes that you’ll like me back.)

It’s no secret that you have a crush on Toji– not at all. Practically everyone in the gym knows how head-over-heels you are for him, and maybe even more than the fighter in question.

Satoru knows it, and he groans to no end whenever you pine for Toji like a little puppy. With each interaction you have with Toji that’s more desperate and maybe even a little more pathetic from your end than usual, Satoru wastes no time before offering to set you up with one of his friends, to which you always deny.

Shiu knows it too, and he tries to bring you up during sparring sessions with Toji that come after seeing your more helpless flirting attempts with the latter. Shiu’s actively trying to help you, Toji, and himself in the process because he can’t tell just how much secondhand embarrassment he can take before exploding.

The occasional opponents for practice matches know it. The night janitor knows it. God, even the delivery guy who’s only seen you ask Toji if he wanted water once knows it too.

Toji doesn’t like you, and while you know that fact wholeheartedly, you’ve come to realize that taking care of him in your own way is what completes your day even without getting anything in return. You know you’re bound to be sick of the one-sided yearning anyway, but while you’re not sick of fawning over Toji, you want to make the most of it.

You want to make the most of it until defeat sinks in.

Toji does not care for you — or atleast that’s what he tells everyone.

“I don’t have a crush on her. Never did,” Toji would say to Shiu every time they sparred, his words automatically flowing as soon as he sees the slightest hint of a smirk on his handler’s face. Shiu would always wave him away as usual (and that earns him an ungloved and unrestricted punch on the shoulder out of the ring), and it only makes Toji pout because even his friend doesn’t believe him.

“I don’t like girls who are so obvious,” he would mutter under his breath whenever Satoru nudges him to say thank you when you hold out a clean towel for him even if he didn’t ask. Toji appreciates the cold, fragrant, and personally-delivered-by-you towel anyway, but not enough to smack Satoru on the face with it.

“I don’t know why you’d think that,” Toji, without fail, would reply to anyone in the gym who mistakes him as your boyfriend. He’s gotten shameless with it to the point that he doesn’t mind if you hear it, but also without fail, he feels a little guilty every time.

Toji shouldn’t exactly feel guilty for not liking you back because he doesn’t owe it to you in the first place — or atleast that’s how he reasons with himself.

“I’m gonna stop liking him in a week, Toru. I swear. Cold turkey and everything.”

“Yup. Sure you will, sport,” Satoru snorts at your drunken admission, kicking your knee lightly to stop you from your sulking.

He feels a little responsible for your feelings towards Toji because if only he didn’t introduce you to him, none of this would’ve happened in the first place.

You would’ve still been his sole accountant for his gym who only dropped in every once in awhile to help manage the place whenever it was short-staffed and not this; not the multi-tasking beast that you are who’s not only his accountant, but this cheery and energized all-rounder gym employee you he didn’t ask you to be.

“No, no. I’m serious this time,” you mutter, your cheek squished to the table so you can limit yourself from saying anything else that could explain to Satoru why you were hellbent in accepting his offer to drink tonight. “I feel like a fool running after Toji.”

“I mean, I wouldn’t exactly use the word-…”

“I know you think it.”

“Fine. I do think it, but you know I mean well!” Satoru surrenders, ruffling your hair as he takes note of keeping the windows down and driving as slowly as he legally could when he takes you home tonight. “You just aren’t Toji’s type, but that’s not a bad thing, y’know?

There’s so much more on your mind, but you’re not in the mood to think of Toji any longer because the moment you do, you’ll succumb to him again.

You want to surrender, completely and irrevocably this time, but not without the final push so you could say that you did everything and you’ll have no regrets if Toji turns you down again — or rather, when Toji turns you down again.

“If it doesn’t work out,” you hiccup, burying your face to the bulk of Satoru’s sweater so you could smell the scent of clean laundry on him instead of imagining that you’re smelling Toji’s perfume out of nowhere in the packed club. “Go set me up with your friend.”

( ♡ )

Toji’s a little perplexed to see you at the front desk this morning.

After all, it was only last night when he saw you at the club, looking completely spent with your head buried in Satoru’s shoulder. Toji had only nodded to him when their eyes locked, mouthing that he’s with his friends so he can’t hang back with him, and Satoru let him go without any annoying remarks because he just gestures to your sleeping figure wordlessly.

Weirdly enough, Toji didn’t get to enjoy himself last night because his eyes kept wandering to your booth.

What’s even weirder now is that not only did you come to work looking fully recovered, but Toji also hangs back for a fraction of a minute right after giving you his duffel bag.

“Hey,” he greets, smiling tightly as he tries to figure out internally on why his feet wouldn’t move at all.

“Hi, Toji,” you reply back, staying still on your seat as you try to make conversation with him, but oddly enough, no ridiculous trivia could come out of your lips.

All it takes is Satoru whistling from the breakroom for you to snap into your senses, and for Toji to realize what was missing.

You have no drink for him today.

He’s not that bothered because that means he’s not subjected to whatever overly sweet or bitter monstrosity you give him, and that could only mean that he’ll be able to skip giving you his signature rejection.

It’s a good thing for you to start giving up on him, he convinces himself.

Toji tolerates you in a way that’s unbeknownst even to you, because in the first place, you’ve convinced yourself that the crush you have on the MMA fighter isn’t that serious.

Swiping your employee card to get him a free energy drink isn’t that serious in your own perspective, but when you overheard the conversation awhile ago between Toji and Shiu (with the latter convincing him that free energy drinks equated to a marriage proposal), you started doing it for everyone. You swipe your card over and over even for the fighters you barely know, but oddly enough, Toji’s eyes twitch whenever he sees his favorite grape-flavored drink in everyone’s hands.

Offering the Bluetooth connection code to Toji for him to play whatever he wants to on the speakers may be a little serious, but you convince yourself that it really isn’t when you accidentally eavesdrop on Satoru telling him that you totally have it out for him. What you do for Toji, you start to do for everyone; it’s telling with the way your speakers announce whose phone it’s connected to every thirty minutes, but not so much telling as to why Toji’s going extra hard sparring with his handler.

Toji does not care for you — or atleast that’s what you’ve convinced yourself.

Denying his fondness for you has almost been as easy as you tamping down your adoration for him, so much so that when a new guy at the gym randomly comes up to Toji and mentions your name, he responds automatically.

“We’re not together. Go ask…” her out — that’s what Toji’s supposed to say. “I don’t know, actually. I heard she’s taken, I think,” he rectifies himself, exiting the conversation before he could be bombarded with yet another question that revolved around you.

Or another question that would only make him realize that you having eyes for only him doesn’t equate to other people backing off from that mere fact alone.

Toji doesn’t like you, but oddly enough, the fact doesn’t bother you as much lately.

( ♡ )

You’re on your last leg of pining for Toji.

The shame of it all is finally getting to you, seeping into your deepest crevices that had thought for the longest time that you had a fighting chance with him. You don’t exactly regret yearning for Toji because after all, it had been in your own accord, no matter the risks you’ve already taken.

Maybe, just maybe, you could only go up from here.

Maybe, because you and Toji hadn’t been friends to begin with when you pursued him, but on the other hand, it could be your ultimate downfall because perhaps right after he turns you down this time, you won’t be able to come back to anything.

There’s no foundation built between the two of you for you to fall back on, and while that’s surely devastating for you, it would only be a walk in the park for Toji.

You’re risking it all, even if you’re just as sure that nothing will come out of this, because you know you won’t come out unscathed — when Toji finally lets you down this time, harshly like you don’t mean anything to him, you’ll know then that you did everything in your power before you gave up on him.

The omamori in your hands that you’ve planned giving to him is your only salvation, because you get to grip it and remind yourself in real time that Toji’s seething at you.

He’s been stressed since the early morning fighting with his manager who had considered fixing up a match, and despite having resolved it with Choso already even before you came into his eyesight, Toji can’t shake off the anger from his body.

You’re the first person who comes into his space and into his mind, and you’re probably the last for the day (and maybe for an unforeseen amount of time) with the way he snaps at you.

“Y/N, can you just-“ Toji sharply inhales, clenching his jaw so tightly just so he can’t make his voice any louder. “Can you just please fucking stop?”

The omamori that you’re gripping tightly in your hands, the same one that you’ve gotten for blessings and protection for his fight in a month’s time, reminds you that Toji doesn’t want anything to do with you.

“I bet you’re a nice girl and all but I just don’t want you, okay?” he nods breathlessly as if asking you for confirmation. “I don’t like you like that.”

After a year and then some of yearning for Toji, you finally yield.

( ♡ )

You don’t come in for work.

Your absence is easily noticed because by this hour, you should’ve been glued to your seat by the front desk, ready to stash Toji’s gym bag under your desk.

He freezes by the entrance, brows knitted in confusion to see that your spot’s empty. He and his bag have been spoiled by you to the point that Toji feels uncharacteristically displaced when he walks past your desk, with his bag and without his drink.

“Huh,” Toji mutters to himself, strolling as casually as he could to the breakroom. He’s already had breakfast and he’ll be willing to have another one if it means lingering around you today, but to his surprise (and his surprise only), you aren’t there. “That’s weird.”

Toji jolts in place when he senses an agitating presence behind him that does little to conceal his proximity behind him, fists immediately clenching when he sees Satoru lean on the wall next to him.

“Jeez. I wonder who could’ve possibly said what to Y/N that made her call in sick today,” he enunciates slowly, enough for the sarcasm to steep in and his words to absorb into Toji’s thick skull.

“What are you-…” Toji interrupts himself when he finally gets what Satoru’s pertaining to, the skip of his chest being telling about the guilt that’s been stewing at the back of his head since last night.

“You weren’t exactly discreet about it, idiot. We were in the breakroom,” Satoru rolls his eyes, standing to his full height when he sees Toji falter. “Even Shiu heard you and he has the most effective noise-cancelling headphones known to man.”

Right on cue, Shiu comes out leisurely out of the room he had been peeking at two seconds ago. It takes only a second for him to register that Toji’s outside for whatever reason (he knows exactly why) before whistling in response, the shit-eating grin on his face apparent for Toji to remember.

“Woof,” he chuckles. “Don’t go biting my head now. I bet you’re a nice guy and all.”

It’s a build-up of things since this morning, and perhaps even from last night if he counts the immediate tinge of regret that stings him when he’s seethed his rejection at you, that truly throws Toji off his game.

Maybe it’s Satoru’s repeated teasing throughout the day and his targeted material of asking whether Toji was hungry or not, right within the timeframe wherein you usually ask him if he wants to join you for a meal.

Maybe it’s Shiu’s incessant mentioning of your name throughout his workout and the convenient reminder that Toji’s working out harder than he usually does, yet there’s no cold towel waiting for him.

But really, whatever it is that just adds up to the already excessive noise in Toji’s head concerning you, he knows now more than ever that absence your absence is noticeable.

His opponent for today’s practice match knows it. The day janitor knows it. Even the delivery guy who’s only been here twice knows it.

Toji simmers in guilt except he doesn’t want to admit it just yet, full well knowing that he would have texted you an apology — if only he had your number.

( ♡ )

You come back after three days.

After a year and some months’ worth of excessive reminders from Satoru, you finally take into realization that you don’t have to go to work in-person as often as you do.

You didn’t know that all it would take for you to slow down and take your much-needed break is Toji by some way (read: rejecting you so harshly that you had been mute on your way home), and you haven’t predicted at all that there’ll be a day wherein you come to work not to pursue him.

Toji immediately notices your presence because even if you were no longer perched by the front desk, it was apparent that you’re already back judging by the way everyone– and literally everyone— in the gym seemed to look at ease somehow.

You’re at the other side of the gym with the light equipment that Toji barely frequents, and it’s the way you stand and smile that makes him pause.

It’s also the way that you smile at Choso that makes Toji announce his presence loudly.

“Let me help you there, buddy,” he claps behind the guy he recognizes as one of his fans (in all fairness, Yuuji isn’t as annoying as all the others who only come here just to get a glimpse of him), startling his already trembling figure.

Toji, without any hesitation yet a lot of frustration, easily grabs the heavy barbell mid-air that Yuuji’s struggling with before dropping it to the ground as roughly as he could.

It’s too light for him. Too easy, even.

What’s heavier for Toji at the moment is the realization that you’ve given up on him and he has no one to blame but his emotional constipation, and maybe Choso who had pissed him off prior to his tantrum at you.

You did look at Toji and the mini scene he had created, but you immediately avert your eyes as soon as he fixates on yours.

He feels untethered this way, and if the lump on his throat is omniscient of the guilt that he’s feeling yet he’s unable to put into words, Toji wants you to notice him again, tirelessly and shamelessly like you did before.

He’s not in his usual zone, so much so that he barely makes any banter with Shiu who had been talking his ear off in letting Satoru have a go at him.

Toji’s too far out of his concentration, so much so that he agrees to spar with Satoru.

He’s been pestering him for the longest time to get in the ring with him and Toji had always declined, even if he knows that your friend could take him on to some degree. He’s turned him down again and again for even just a light sparring session, especially when you were around, because he knows that he’s your friend.

He wouldn’t want to hurt Satoru if it hurts you, except now, the difference is that the latter really wants to hurt him and the former is out of his game to the point that he’ll resort to anything just to get your attention.

Toji lands a punch so hard that Satoru audibly croaks, holding his stomach even with the padding on. You’ve always been (read: used to be) the biggest fan of Toji even in practice matches, but now, instead of cheering for him, your eyebrows knit in worry instead–

Except your concern isn’t for him.

“Satoru? You okay?” you immediately come to his side by the ring, eyes inspecting him from head to toe.

Before he could even say that he is and that he’ll get back at Toji with twice the power, Toji pipes in from behind your friend, raising a gloved hand sheepishly.

“I’m not.”

Toji shamelessly declares his apparent hurt, making everyone nearby audibly gawk at him for his audacity. You only blink at him in the surprise, trying your earnest to see on what part and capacity could Satoru, a non-professional, has possibly injured him.

“H-he punched me by the ear,” he stutters, the lie catching onto his teeth on the way out. The embarrassment of him making up an unbelievable lie is yet to hit, but Toji wouldn’t mind either way.

“What?! I barely even hit you in the face!” Satoru reacts, his face indescribable with the way he swats Toji on the arm in disbelief.

You snort at the scene in amusement, yet your eyes stay fixated on your friend.

“Yeah, yeah. I believe you, Toru.”

( ♡ )

True to his word, Satoru sets you up with his friend.

It was amusing, if not mildly infuriating with regards to the universe’s fate for your heart, to learn that Suguru’s the owner of the upscale café you’ve been buying Toji’s drinks from for six out of seven days a week.

It’s actually amusing to the point that you immediately smile whenever Satoru brings up Suguru, even for no particular reason, because if only time and luck had been at your side, you would’ve met him earlier and spared yourself the heartbreak from Toji.

You know to yourself, even in the deepest pits of your stomach that would like to argue otherwise, that you would’ve like Toji regardless even if you met Suguru earlier — what irks you about the whole thing is that fate is twisted.

You’re at standstill with the guy who checks all your boxes and actually likes you back unlike Toji, except this time, you’re content at staying in whatever playful relationship that you and Suguru are in now.

It’s not a mess per se, but it’s a playful blunder between the two of you wherein you flirt and like each other’s presence, except you’re not in a relationship at all because neither of you are in a rush.

Oddly enough, having each other while not exactly owning the other at same time is enjoyable for the both of you.

For not atleast, you and Suguru are simply fated to be a pair of flirty friends that enjoy each other’s company without having to come home at the end of the night. He has his reservations while you have yours too, but they didn’t mean anything when the other just needs another shoulder present.

Your reservations don’t matter at the moment when there’s an inner turmoil that roots from the base of your chest, simply because Satoru had made the offhand comment that Toji kept asking him about you while you weren’t around.

Your reservations don’t matter at the moment when Suguru comes at the perfect time because he’s not as familiar as the best friend you grew up with, nor is he as fond as the man you’ve spent the better part of a year crushing on and are now wanting to move on from.

“Who’s that?” Toji snaps to no one in particular, the scowl on his face off-putting and intriguing enough for Satoru to notice. He follows Toji’s line of sight, a sly smirk already building up on his face at the prospect of teasing him, even if he knows your real score with Suguru.

“Oh, that’s Suguru. He’s my friend.”

“Didn’t he use to be that defending champion or something?” Toji murmurs, crossing his arms. He vaguely recalls how he once read an article detailing the young player retiring early so he could live a normal life, hearing the name Geto every once in awhile. “Why’s he here?”

“Didn’t you say you never keep tabs on other players?” Satoru snickers, the teasing smirk apparent on his face because of Toji’s sheer bitterness. “Also, it’s my gym. He’s not allowed around here or something?”

“Whatever. Don’t care,” Toji grumbles. “I could take him in a fight. I’d probably destroy him.”

Toji feels unwell, not because he spent a solid ten minutes arguing with a defensive Satoru that keeps insisting his best friend could totally defeat him in a fight, but because throughout that time, not once did you stop smiling at whatever Suguru has to say to you.

Your eyes are practically gleaming and although he loves the sight, there’s this ache that blooms in his chest and spreads all the way to the base of his spine knowing that it’s what you had looked like in front of him for the longest time.

“I bought lunch.”

Toji approaches you as soon as Suguru goes to the bathroom, his smile gentle and hesitant.

It’s a first for you because you usually treat him. At the start, it was you treating everyone in order not to be transparent with your crush, but there’d been a couple obvious times in which you only exerted efforts for Toji and only him.

Toji doesn’t bother with an excuse of treating everyone or that he had bought too many; he just wants to have lunch with you. “Want some?”

“No, but thank you,” you answer lowly, the shake of your head barely noticeable because you don’t want to look him in the eye.

Toji’s more confused than he is deterred, the bag in his hands suddenly weighing a ton. “But you haven’t left your desk so that means you haven’t eaten yet,” he points out. “Do you not like this type of food? If not, I could just run to the-…”

“There you are!”

Suguru comes back, and just like that, the crumbs of attention you were giving him had been cleaned up entirely.

“Let’s go, let’s go, let’s gooo, doll. I wanna beat everyone else to the limited specials,” Suguru ignores his obvious beating presence and practically drags you out from your chair (even though you needed little convincing), the hold he has on your wrist making Toji see red briefly.

Toji’s jaw clenches, unconsciously stepping out of the gym not long since you and Suguru rushed out, his sharp eyes following you until you both turn the corner.

It’s the same shop he got your food from.

( ♡ )

Toji can’t put a finger to what he’s feeling.

He feels different; the bad and dull kind of different that makes him listless and anxious no matter how much he tries to tire himself out.

He’ll subject himself to an agonizing workout with no breaks in between, but after that, he could only think about the way your bottom lip trembled at his words.

He’ll put himself through one practice match after another without any proper training, and even if Toji wins as he always does, he could only think about how he’s lost all of your affection that he had unconsciously looked forward to the entire time.

Toji finds himself lingering around you and he doesn't know if he could just continue hovering and hovering in this way; in a way that's unlike yours because you were unafraid to stand so close to him, talk to him whenever you please, and trail around him like a lost puppy in the past.

He’s upset and he doesn’t even know why he allows himself to feel that way, when for the longest time, he had convinced himself that he didn’t give you any hope so he had no reason to feel guilty about turning you down; so that he had no problem ignoring you while dealing with his constipation of not apologizing.

Toji’s upset, except he’s too self-aware to the point that it’s only his spite that keeps him awake with regret; he did give you hope.

He didlinger around you and accept whatever you had to give him despite his lips making out the sentiment that he can never return them.

He did feel guilty at the prospect of turning you down right from the start because if that wasn’t the case, then you would have long given up on him.

He did feel guilty about rejecting you, especially considering the fact that he wasn’t wholeheartedly sure whenever he refused your love — he still does.

“Toji?” you call out, the sound of your voice immediately startling him with the lights already dim in the breakroom. Toji only frequented the breakroom whenever you were there, and the odd, if not ironic, turn of events makes him smile humorlessly. “Are you drunk? Do you need me to call Satoru?” you ask with genuine concern, tilting your head as you try to assess his figure. “Do you want to go home?”

“Nah,” he shakes his head softly. “It’s jus’ to take the edge off. Probably easier to get a horse drunk than to get metipsy.”

You give a small smile at that, the tremble of your hands barely noticeable with the way Toji’s even more nervous than you at the realization that the two of you are alone with each other.

You’re only here because you forgot your laptop, and Toji’s only here because he doesn’t know what to make of himself because you’ve detached yourself from his routine— from his life, it seems like.

Toji looks down on his full glass, swirling it by his knee. There’s an unspeakable sorrow to his face with something about it resembling you, or atleast the resignation you felt every time Toji turned you down less than gently.

“Why don’t you like me anymore?”

Your eyes widen at the question, the words left in the tip of your tongue drying out the longer that Toji looked at you this way — like he’s stooped down to the level you used to be in, his eyes tired and glassy.

“Why don’t you like me anymore?” he repeats, mistaking the shock on your face for confusion. “If I… i-if I pretend to be drunk and ask you out, will you say yes?” Toji murmurs, using the back of his hand to clumsily get rid of the wetness that had unknowingly formed at the corners of his eyes. “Would that make you go back to liking me again?”

359 notes · View notes

zibiscusloon · 1 year

Text

Feeling sappy today for no in particular reasons and I wanted to make one of these for the hell of it so feel free to use if you’d like! ^^

(When asking please be specific on the ship!)

~OC / Self-Insert x Canon Ask Game~

🤝: How did they meet in the first place? What was there first impression of each other?

🫶: Who ended up falling first? Which of them actually realized that they’d fallen in love first?

🦀: How did they handle realizing they were in love? Embarrassed? Nervous? Mad?

🫣: Who stumbled the most with their feelings around the other? How much did the other person notice?

🦅: How good are their friends at being wingmen? Do they even help at all or just sit back watching the pining with a bag of popcorn?

💕: Who confessed first and how? Did it go as planned or did shenanigans ensue?

🦋: How long did it take them to get out of the awkward early relationship stage? Have they gotten more confident around each other?

❤️‍🔥: Who tends to take the lead with showing affection?

💔: Do they have any previous relationship experience from past partners? How does it reflect on how they handle their current one?

😑: How easily do they get jealous and how do they handle it?

🐱: Do they have pet names for each other, if so what are they? How does their partner feel about their pet name?

🌙: Who has to force the other into having healthy sleeping habits? How well does that go for em?

🗣️: Who’s the one that will ramble on about their highly specific interest while the other just sits back and nods along?

🐕: Do they have any pets together? If one of them had a pet from before their relationship how well does the pet get along with their partner? Do they have the pets approval or does said pet sit in between them and their partner any time they try to make a move?

✏️: How canon compliant are you with them? Do you stick pretty close or just have fun cause it’s your ship so no one can tell you what to do other wise?

💀: If the canon character is canonically dead, how did your OC handle their death? (Or did you completely omit their death cause fuck canon?)

💧: How well do they comfort each other when they’re upset?

🧸: Would they want to have kids together? If so what are their kid(s) like? How are they as parents?

👁️: What exactly do they want with their future with each other? Is that something they think of often or do they just stay in the moment?

🕊️: Give just a general domestic tidbit for em (things they like about each other, routines, habits, and just overall sweet stuff)

Edit: as a result of the blocking spree I had to go on I would like to state for the record pr*shippers this is not for you!!!

#my blog #oc #ask game #oc ask game #oc x canon #self ship #self shipping #self insert #s/i x canon #s/i x f/o #just wanted to try this out ^^#having lotta oc x canon thoughts right now so I wanna ramble and hear others ramble

1K notes · View notes

horrorstolemyheart · 5 months

Text

The Lost Boys + Severen With A Socially Anxious Reader

Note: This was a request from @slasher-male-wife. (I will link the original ask here) Thank you so much for this request! I can't apologize enough for taking over a freaking year to post... I kinda fell off the face of the earth for a while (mental health reasons) but I hope you see this and enjoy it though! I intended for this to be out waaayyy sooner, I'm so so sorry for an absurdly long wait 😑.... (also I hope this title is fine and I think I say this every time, but I hope the boys personalities seem pretty fitting and also that I title this as a socially anxious reader...)

Pairing(s): The Lost Boys x reader, Severen x reader

Warning(s): None except for one mention of weed and maybe a curse word or two. If I missed any please feel free to let me know!

David (TLB)

Your initial shyness is actually what drew him to you. It intrigued him. He wanted to break that shell you hid inside and obviously what was inside was an exceptionally attractive person.

It's no lie the moment he first saw you he thought you were incredibly attractive, and of course that meant he had to have you.

He can be a giant asshole, but David never puts you down for being awkward or feeling anxious. You make him soft in that sense.

However, that isn’t to say he hasn’t ever hit a nerve with you. He wants to support you, but he isn’t exactly the best at it. So there have been a few times where he’ll simply tell you to just ‘act like yourself’ in public.

Oh, how you wish it was that easy.

He doesn’t really understand the whole social anxiety thing. But of course, this is from someone who doesn’t give a single fuck what people think of him.

There’s also a possessive part of him, you’re like a little gem to him that only he gets to see. Only he gets to see the real you and that’s only reserved for him. It’s kind of an ego boost for him. And perhaps not the healthiest view in the world.

David does grow soft around you (whether he'll admit it or not, he isn't as subtle as he thinks he is about it) and will feel a little bad if he sees you try to talk to someone and you end up stuttering or stumbling over words though.

He loves to see your lively side. Taking you on bike rides, whooping and hollering along the way with the other boys and he is so very glad to call you his.

Dwayne (TLB)

Dwanye thinks the shy side of you is pretty adorable.

He’s very understanding of your emotions (probably the most understanding of the boys) and unlike David is very good at discussing them.

When he notices you start to stumble over words or zone out in public, he’ll often grab your hand or wrap an arm around you and pull you close as an attempt to reassure you and help you feel more at ease.

Very protective bf.

Very willing to help you overcome the anxiety.

But as much as he wants to see you act the same way in public as you do around him, he’s never going to push you into a situation that would overwhelm you.

You were super intimidated by Dwayne when you first met him. And also incredibly attracted to him.

It took some time for him to get you comfortable around him, he was so gentle with you, and it took you aback to see his wild side as Dwayne has the capacity to be so incredibly calm and on the other side, he can be completely rowdy and wild.

Paul (TLB)

Let's just get this out of the way, Paul’s solution to your shyness and awkwardness?

WEED.

He’s a big believer in the power of the bud. However, if this isn’t something you choose to partake in or feel comfortable doing, he won’t force you. If you do great!

Oh, he may whine a bit and try to convince you it’ll help, but he’ll back off if you insist.

Otherwise, Paul is probably about the best person to be around next to Dwayne. His presence alone is almost like a security blanket. You feel more at ease with him at your side.

Paul loves you to death, and he wishes you would act the way you do when it’s just the two of you, but he understands it isn’t that simple, so he won’t force you to do anything you don’t want to.

He knows people would love the smart, silly, lovable you that you are in private and he’s more than willing to help you reach that goal.

So he LOVES to dote on you and brag about you to just about everybody he passes by, talking you up is like a hobby for him.

It took him a minute to understand why you act this way, but he latched on pretty quickly.

Marko (TLB) (of course the only gif I found that fit good was one without Marko :I)

Marko likes to poke some fun at you for acting all shy, remarking that you aren’t that way around him.

He also finds it entertaining to embarrass you the slightest bit in public.

It makes you upset with your boyfriend when he does this, even if it isn't out of malice.

He seems to think if he can get a rise out of you in public that it might help you forget the stiff feeling and anxiety. that you'll realize that you're ok and no one probably even cares as much as you think they might.

In reality when you have gone off on him and someone glances over you feel like you want to crawl into a hole even more than you did before.

Marko gets frustrated. Why can’t you just be you with everyone else? Especially when you act perfectly normal around him.

That's one thing he'll never fully quite grasp the concept of your stiffness around strangers. He's quite capable of coming around after he's gotten over himself, but out of all the boys he seems to struggle the most with this.

He isn't beyond being encouraging, but it's a vicious cycle you have to contend with. You often have to sit him down to explain how he can best help you to be more comfortable and why you have such a hard time in public. After which he settles down and can focus on just being there for you.

Severen

Shy? Never heard of her.

This man is your complete opposite. Well, at least the opposite of what you project to the public.

An outsider would suspect you two to be the least likely pair in the world.

Severen thinks the shyness is very amusing and innocent and yes, he will tease the shit out of you for it. He almost feeds off of it.

Seriousness is very seldom part of this man’s outlook on life.

Don’t be deceived, he isn’t unsympathetic to your anxiousness. But he wants you to partake in all the wild and crazy with him.

He is quite content that he gets to know the real you though. Even if the rest of the world doesn’t get to see it.

“C’mon, sugar, you don’t act like this when it’s just the two of us…”

But because he loves you, he tries to show you there’s no reason to sit back and watch from the side lines.

He will drag you out onto the rowdy dance floor of a hole in the wall bar when he sees you sitting there, eyes as big as saucers.

Over time you will probably overcome some of the awkwardness simply by being exposed to everything that’s the opposite of that.

#My writing #The Lost Boys #The Lost Boys x reader #Near Dark #Severen x reader

197 notes · View notes

sokkastyles · 4 months

Note

That the Katara detractors keep up this insistence on being seemingly hard of hearing regarding The Southern Raiders is a continual annoyance, sweet Christ in heaven. What she said was that Sokka didn't love Kya the way she did... that that was in response to *Sokka* saying that, “Aang might be right”... that she need *forgive* the man who M U R D E R E R E D T H E I R M O T H E R, who burned her to death, whose actions had it so an 8 year old Katara walked in on the sight of her mother’s charred corpse and so smelt her burnt flesh. 😑 That Sokka seemingly has no real desire on his part to go and confront their mother's murderer, to Katara I'm sure might take to be an insult to Kya's memory, it's not just that but for Sokka to suggest that Katara's wanting to do so might very well be w r o n g. T_T So yeah, she lashed out, I should damn well hope she did, like, you expect anything else?!

Do you know what also gets me about it? All the memes that act like Katara brings up her trauma unprompted at every opportunity (she doesn't) and then when someone says something insensitive to her about her trauma and how she should deal with it, she should just keep silent.

And even if you don't think Sokka was being insensitive, Aang was, and Sokka acting like Aang was being rational when he was actually being very dismissive and flippant is something Katara should rightfully be angry about.

Also, the way Sokka frames it isn't helpful and is entirely about himself, not about what Katara is feeling. Even the "she was my mother, too..." comes across as an attempt to invalidate how Katara feels the same way Aang says "how do you think I felt when I lost Appa/my people." They make it about themselves and their loss rather than empathizing and then act like their feelings give them authority over how Katara should feel. And she's right to be upset about that.

#katara #the southern raiders

126 notes · View notes

whateverisbeautiful · 1 month

Text

♥️Reveling in Richonne - TOWL

#26: The Crazy (1.03)

gif cred: @nerd4music

So there was no doubt in my mind what I’d label the final post of episode 3. It had to be called ‘The Crazy’ because…Pearl lost her damn mind aiming a gun at Michonne. Like is she insane? 🤨

Lol, no but for real this is called ‘The Crazy’ because my sweet sweet Richonne are a couple that can always match each other's shine, match each other's freak, and especially match each other's crazy.

And their crazy was on full display in the final moments of this thrill of an episode 👌🏽...

But first, we do actually have to talk about Pearl being crazy enough to consider taking out Michonne in cold blood. 😑

After Richonne miraculously doesn’t get caught hungrily making out behind a thin tree they return to take down walkers like only Richonne can. We love to see it. 😊 But Pearl apparently hates to see it. 😬

gif cred: @coolpartytimefan

She watches as Rick and Michonne kill these walkers and starts really paying attention to Michonne taking out walkers and being the A Pearl pretends to be.

Pearl appears consumed with what I interpreted as a feeling of being threatened by Michonne, not because Pearl wants Rick, but rather because Michonne is a natural leader who clearly has an influence on people like Sergeant Major Grimes and she’s terrified that somehow Michonne being a clear A will have major ramifications on herself - both as a solider who argued for her and personally considering Dana’s effect on Pearl’s one family member Rick.

So Pearl raises her gun at Michonne and even starts to pull the trigger which was Pearl's certified death sentence. Seeing this, I was like welp this scene is a spoiler now lol. I knew Pearl wasn't gonna make it out of TOWL alive because again, anyone who threatens Michonne swiftly ends up in the afterlife.

gif cred: @coolpartytimefan

Luckily, Rick notices Pearl aiming a gun at his wife and none of what Pearl thinks she’s about to do is ever happening on Rick’s watch so without question he grabs a walker and gets in front of her gun to shield Michonne. How sweet. 🥰

gif cred: @coolpartytimefan

Rick reminds Pearl of why they’re out here when he yells they have 10 delts left and Pearl snaps back to reality to finish the job. I'll say it over an over again - I love that Rick takes his role as Michonne’s protector so seriously. He never hesitates to literally put his life on the line for her.

gif cred: @coolpartytimefan

So then it’s nighttime as the soldiers are packing up and Rick and Michonne share a quick little look before he walks in the opposite direction as Pearl approaches to reprimand him.

Pearl says, “She broke protocol which made you break protocol” And Pearl, babe, he’d do it again. Cuz that 'she' Pearl's talking about is Rick's longtime leader so of course he followed Michonne and broke protocol with her.

Also, I was like Pearl the task wasn’t gonna get done if they followed your lead so...🤷🏽‍♀️. Rick responds by saying, “She needed help. You needed help.” And Pearl most certainly did. She seems to have forgotten that.

Pearl is still ticked off as she says there needs to be order and again emphasizes, “She went rogue and you followed, how many others are gonna do that?” I admit I liked seeing someone be so shook over the influence Michonne has lol. 🤭

gif cred: @coolpartytimefan

Pearl says, “I trusted her, I put my neck out for her. For you. I regret it.” I like how Rick replies by saying, “Don’t.” cuz he’s like 'you have regrets? well, how about don't have regrets' lol.

Then Rick, who has had to be an actor all episode with Pearl, is ready to dish out more lies to protect Michonne when he says, “That’s why I did what I did. Listen, maybe it was too early for her. I’ll send her back, give her more time at the Harvest Point.”

Pearl is done defending Dana as she sternly says, “Yeah, for now. We need to take care of this - us.” And hearing that made me feel like Pearl in the first episode of TOWL cuz I was looking at her like “uh, uh don’t say ‘us’, Thorne.” Cuz they’re not an ‘us’, plain and simple.

Pearl is in her hater energy telling Rick to take Michonne back cuz she doesn’t want to see her again. And Pearl, that's because you know deep down if Michonne does show you up again...

Pearl also says she’ll give Rick a pass this time since he did help majorly. Then Pearl reveals that Beale wants to brief Rick and that he’s moving up which is news to Rick, especially after Beale had previously said he still doesn’t know if he trusts him earlier in this ep. Pearl says, “Rick, you better understand.” before walking away. And Rick seems shaken by all this.

I think for Rick there’s this sense of one; knowing he has to get his wife out of here by any means necessary and he can’t rely on Pearl at all anymore since she’s done with Dana. And also two; for years, Rick's been told that his life’s purpose should be changing the CRM from the inside, and learning he’s moving up could present an opportunity to do so. But also getting the briefing could be something that just further enslaves him as it seems to have changed and enslaved Pearl to the CRM now, even if she doesn't view it like that.

So then, if this day wasn’t stressful enough, Rick is walking and sees the Garbage Queen walking around. 😒

Watching it back it made me laugh because Rick sees Jadis first and he has a stank face but isn’t intending to talk to her. He was just gonna walk on by with an expression like 'look what the trash brought in.' But then Jadis speaks to him saying she’s headquartered here now so she’ll be around often. Again, just more bad news for Rick. 😩

And then like I said before, Jadis will combust if she doesn’t harass somebody every two seconds so she tries it once again when she attempts flirtation and touches Rick saying, “You should come take a look at my quarters.” 🤢 I love the way Rick pulls away in absolute disgust at the mere notion of what Jadis is implying. Like he’s wholly offended by the offer and so am I.

I appreciate how Rick, like Michonne, never even considered anyone else neither sexually or romantically. It’s true to their characters to stay so loyally in love with each other even after being apart longer than they were together. Again, you don’t move on from a love like theirs.

I just know when Rick first got to the CRM he wanted to take a page from Toy Story and have Michonne’s name written on the bottom of his tattered cowboy boot just to make it clear who he belongs to lol. No other woman stood a chance at being with him, especially not that serpent Jadis.

That’s why every time Rick gets to kiss Michonne and hold her and be tenderly held by her after they reunited it makes my heart happy because he’s getting to experience and express this love with the only woman on the planet he wants to experience and express this love with.

And when Jadis comes on to Rick and he pulls away that was a ‘heifer, I’m a married man’ pull away. Like I know the direct quote from his mind was ‘Even tho I’m about to try and break things off with my wife, I’m still an eternally married man because I’m trying to get Michonne to leave me but I’m still not leaving her ever.’

gif cred@andy-clutterbuck

As Rick looks at Jadis with loathing in his eyes, she says, “Beautiful view of the cascades,” somehow not picking up on the fact that Rick has gone several years without his wife and still never once looked her way.

And then Jadis just casually looks right over at Michonne almost tickled by this whole situation as she says, “She hasn’t seen me.” The audacity of this woman to be coming on to Rick at all, but especially when she knows his wife was right there. Jadis has been irking my spirit since 2017 y’all, for real. 😪

And she irks me even more when Michonne looks over and sees Jadis for the first time, leading the snake to just smugly be like, “Oh. There it is. She saw me.” She’s getting off on this stuff and it’s annoying. 🙄

And it’s in this moment where you see Rick have a system shutdown experience. 😞 Like there’s just one too many threats pointed his wife’s way and he can’t take it anymore.

Rick is a man whose heart lives outside of his chest because his heart is his family. You can’t truly debilitate him until you come for them. And so when his wife’s life was threatened like eight different times in the span of a few hours you see him just be overcome with overwhelm at the danger his wife is in.

Like y'all, he’s just a boy in love with a girl whose life is at risk at every turn and that’s intolerable to him since he feels made to protect her. And he wants Michonne safe by any means necessary cuz for Rick, something bad happening to her is 1000x worse than anything they could do to him. Plus, he knows if anything happens to Michonne he won't ever bounce back from that loss.

gif cred: @nat111love

So with Pearl no longer helping them, Jadis' insufferable self, and even Beale noting Michonne among thousands…it’s too much for a man who feels wholly devoted to keeping Michonne out of harm's way and who quite literally needs her to live in order for him to live at all. So we see Rick snap, ready to do anything to get Michonne out of here asap. Including breaking her heart. 😓

Rick sees Michonne seeing Jadis and immediately walks to her, not wanting this to escalate between the two ladies. But then things escalate between him and Michonne because he grabs Michonne’s arm and pulls her to the side...even tho not far enough to the side if you ask me lol. I was like surely a soldier is going to be able to look over and be like 'Why are Grimes and Consignee Bethune arguing like a married couple over there? 🧐'

As Rick grabs Michonne, who is clearly taken by surprise and understandably confused as to what the heck Jadis is doing here, Rick just says, “It doesn’t matter.” But I was like Rick, what? 🤔 It matters a ton because it’s Jadis's threats that are why Rick switched up on thinking they could escape together in the first place and it would be very helpful for Michonne to know the role Jadis plays in all this.

gif cred: @nat111love

Michonne says a bewildered, “Jadis?” And she has every right to want answers and be perplexed seeing her. Like there’s clearly a story here that Rick hasn’t mentioned to her yet. Also, I like how, despite last knowing her as 'Anne', when Michonne sees Jadis with the CRM she calls her 'Jadis' because she’s like 'I know this can’t be the reformed version of that heifer, this has got to be the snake Judas version.'

Since Rick has become quite one-track-minded in trying to get Michonne home, he doesn’t seem to get why explaining Jadis' involvement would be a big missing piece in helping Michonne understand what the heck is going on. So he more sternly tells her, “It doesn’t matter!” And I notice once Michonne realizes the testy energy Rick has that's when she yanks her arm from out of his grasp.

And then y’all, this next part is where we get introduced to a new character. 😪👌🏽

See, the Rick we know and love is called The Brave Man. But this new guy at the end of episode three, who happens to look a lot like the Brave Man, is actually a character I like to call The Bold As Hell Talking To His Wife Like That Man.

And The Bold As Hell Talking To His Wife Like That Man, or TBAHTTHWLT Man for short lol, says, “You’re going back to base right now then I’m getting you the hell out of here”

gif cred: @nat111love

And can I just say, I usually pause the scenes throughout to write out my thoughts but the way he’s behaving in this particular scene had me so heated I had to just stop and let the scene play while I stared silently like…🤨😒.

And Rick continues to be TBAHTTHWLT Man when he angrily tells Michonne he’s getting her out of here even if he has to knock her out and put her on the boat himself which…not knock her out??? 🤨 This healthy relationship only gets one knockout and Michonne already cashed in on it when she knocked Rick out in season 5 so...no more of that. That's not how these two knock each other out anymore, okay?😇

gif cred: @chonesmint

And also nawt him doing a little firm hand movement for emphasis. 🙃 He lost his mind.

gif cred: @nat111love

Michonne is listening to this with her eyes wide in utter shock that her man is speaking to her like this. Plus, he's the one who told her multiple times that they'd get away together and now he’s on ten acting like she’s crazy for thinking they were ever going to go home together.

Rick really was putting her on a roller coaster since she’s been in the CRM. One minute they’re breathlessly making out with all the passion in the world and the next he’s telling her “I belong here, you don’t, and you will never change that.”

It’s sad that he’s convinced himself he belongs here. He knows strong people don’t belong here but he’s convinced himself he’s not strong anymore. 😢 When he decided to die he felt he died a failure and he’s lost his confidence that he can be more than that.

gif cred: @nat111love

Saying 'you will never change that' is also wild because Michonne can always change Rick’s mind. He’s been aware of that since years ago, like when he told Michonne she could’ve talked him out of his hidden guns ploy in ASZ in season 5.

Also, this tone he's using...I hadn’t heard Rick speak to Michonne in this tone since the season 3 “we patch you up and then you’re gone” days. And just like that line in season 3, Rick does not truly mean the things he's saying here in TOWL episode 3 either.

Then TBAHTTHWLT Man wants to get extra hurtful when he tries to announce the end of Richonne, saying, “It’s over. Everything we had is broken. You hear me?”

gif cred: @nat111love

Ok first; it was bad enough hearing him say that but then the truculent 'you hear me?' on top of it…TBAHTTHWLT Man and I had beef in this scene, I must say.

But also I’m a big fan of paying attention to wording. And the wording here is very telling. Notice, he doesn’t say we’re over. But it’s over.

'We’re over' would feel a lot more break-up-y but 'it’s over 'feels like saying whatever hope we had of being together is over more than saying there’s nothing between us. After all those kisses he knows that lie would never be bought. So he says 'it’s over.'

gif cred: @nat111love

And then saying 'everything we had is broken,' still leaves room for the fact that something outside of themselves broke what they had.

Still, hearing 'everything we had is broken; is just such a crushing thing to hear tho. 🥺

Like fortunately Rick is not nearly as good of an actor as Andrew Lincoln and so you know right here and now that he doesn’t mean any of this and it’s a bold-faced lie, but still that it was said at all is painful. Especially when you see Michonne’s face reacting to these hurtful untruths. 😞

gif cred: @nat111love

She’s been through hell trying to save Rick and now he’s being so uncharacteristically cold to her and becoming the biggest obstacle to her mission of saving him and getting them home to their kids.

But I love it when you see the subtle shift in her expression. Like at first as she’s listening to Rick essentially try to break up with her (which is just crazy to even type out) she seems really flabbergasted and hurt and also like she can sense an underlying subtext to what’s going on. Like she looks concerned not for her but for him. He’s clearly reacting from a place of trauma and anxiety and she’s like okay what’s really going on with you cuz this is a cry for help.

At this moment I almost thought Michonne might look around wondering who the heck he was talking to and then with concern be like...

I mean, Michonne started talking to her 'dead' lover again in season 9 so maybe Rick started seeing people who aren't actually there again. It happens lol.

But for real, when Rick says that stern “You hear me?” you can see Michonne realize something else - she realizes that her husband has introduced a game for the two of them to play called the Crazy-Off. 😋

And right now Rick is in the lead by talking to her cash crazy. But as a true blue winner, Michonne is ready to come in at the buzzer and win this Crazy-Off that her husband has started. 😜

But for real I do think Michonne blinks and stares at him at the end hearing more of the subtext of what he’s saying. She looks like she’s thinking, ‘Rick, that’s a strange way to say ‘hey I’m stressed and scared for us, so can you take over?’ but okay I translated it, and don’t worry...

It's interesting because no man has ever loved a woman more than Rick loves Michonne and no woman has ever loved a man more than Michonne loves Rick. And once they reunited in TOWL, for Michonne her love for him manifests itself as fuel that makes her fight harder, and for Rick his love for her manifests itself as fear that makes him try so hard to protect her even from himself because he’s terrified of something happening to her.

But Michonne knows that this breakup talk is BS and so now she’s ready to take matters into her own hands because, as Danai said, she can’t have this man in her presence like this any longer. 👌🏽

gif cred: @ricksmarlene

And it’s funny because at first glance it might appear like Michonne's silent reaction is her reacting equanimously to all this. But the way her eyes are moving and twitching while looking at Rick, she's definitely communicating if you want to get crazy, we can get crazy.

Now don’t get me wrong, I can comprehend what Rick was doing in this scene. I get that this behavior is all actually coming from how much he loves her and is terrified of something happening to her. While he's presenting as angry, what he really feels is fear. And he knows she won’t leave without him because she loves him and so he’s trying to break her heart so that she’ll be more willing to leave him behind and make it home alive.

...But I still think it’s not okay and absolutely crazy that he thought this approach would work.

And again, if Rick wants to get crazy…well Michonne had to remind him...

So now, they’re sitting across from each other on the helicopter during a raging storm. Rick is staring at Michonne and Michonne is staring right back at him with crazy all up in her eyes.

Since season 3, Michonne has never backed down from a steely stare-down with Rick Grimes and she’s not about to do so now.

gif cred: @nat111love

The way she’s staring and smiling without blinking in this helicopter, I’d be more scared of whatever is going through her head than this helicopter rocking about. 🫣 And Rick is more uneasy about her too lol. They’re definitely expressing things without words here.

Also, whoever is piloting this helicopter during this storm has no idea that the real storm a-brewing is between the married couple in the back.

I love the way Michonne just stayed looking at him with that smize being like you seem to have forgotten who I am but it’s all good cuz I’m going to quickly remind you. I could just feel the way she’s probably thinking - I’ve been through too much, you’ve been through too much, we’ve been through too much to end it this way. So if we’re gonna go out, baby it’s gonna be with a bang. 💥

gif cred: @nat111love

I love how you can visibly see Michonne concocting an unhinged plan in her mind too. 🤭

So the helicopter shakes and Rick is already anxious because he probably has helicopter crash PTSD but then he looks back up at Michonne and tries to maintain his grumpy little face at her but he also is nervous cuz he can tell she’s up to something.

Then Rick starts getting legit panicked from the violent shaking of the helicopter. But Michonne is so locked in about what she’s about to do that she’s completely unfazed by the helicopter. Let it rock. 😌

gif cred: @nat111love

Michonne just calmly looks out the window at the water below as she again speaks to her daughter in an unforgettable episode ender.

gif cred: @nat111love

Michonne says, “Shoto, it’s Daito. I’m sorry…” And then Michonne stares right at Rick, unstraps herself, and swiftly grabs Rick, plunging both of them out of the helicopter and into the thundering storm as Rick lets out a panicked yell. Michonne's voiceover then just says with chilling calm, “I don’t know if we’ll be back.”

Wild. 🤯

gif cred: @nat111love

And also what an icon Michonne is. 👑😌 I loved this moment. 👏🏽 I know up to this point Rick probably thought he had tried every method in the book to get home but Michonne was like have you tried plummeting out of a moving helicopter?...let's try that.

Rick didn’t realize of all the people to be nervous about it was actually Michonne, not the others he should have most been on high alert for. 😋

Michonne really said oh you’ll do anything to save me? Guess what? I’ll do anything to save you, so off this helicopter we go. And her pulling this move was her letting Rick Grimes, the CRM, and Gravity itself know she's that girl and nothing is stopping her. 💅🏽

gif cred: @nat111love

I love how Michonne will both literally and figuratively do what needs to be done. Like figuratively and literally knocking some sense into Rick in season 5 or literally and figuratively yanking Rick out of his stormy state in TOWL.

The way she told Shoto 'I don’t know if we’ll be back' - Michonne basically was like your daddy is tripping, Shoto, so I don't know if this story ends with us going home to Alexandria or me sending him to the heavenly home above.

And honestly, if Judith had heard Rick talking cash crazy to Michonne like that she would have had some words cuz she does not play about her mama. Idk if her parents would ever tell her this part of the story one day but if they do, I personally think Judith would be in full support of what Michonne did. 😅

But also I really like the wording of 'I don't know if we’ll be back' because it poses the question to be beautifully and expertly explored in the next episode. Can Rick and Michonne find their way back to each other in a more internal sense? Right now Michonne doesn’t know for certain. But as a true Get Things Done Grimes she’s gonna try to find out during an incredibly riveting Richonne 'timeout.'

So the exciting episode 3 ends with an empty helicopter and rain pouring as we’re set up for what comes next.

And what comes next is an experience that transcends television.

An experience that profoundly explores the depths of Richonne and takes the characters to their highest heights.

An experience that features some of Andy and Danai's absolute best performances.

An experience so great and addicting that every single scene had rewind buttons around the world looking like...

"What We" is a true standout within the TWD franchise, and most of all it's an experience that was exceptionally written by the illustrious Danai Gurira herself. 👑👏🏽

So now, my fellow Richonne fans, stans, & friends...

We have got to talk about every fine detail in the masterpiece that is Episode 4. 😇🎉👌🏽

#richonne #towl #reveling in richonne #1.03 #RIR (26)#the ones who live #twd towl #michonne grimes #rick grimes #rick x michonne #twol #michonne #rick and michonne #twd: the ones who live #twd #richonnefandom

86 notes · View notes

babyrdie · 23 days

Text

Bro, I love Antilochus, Patroclus and Achilles' friendship so much. I feel like their dynamic is something like Patroclus cooking, Achilles looking at him with heart eyes, and Antilochus looking at both of them as if they had set the stars in the sky. Something like:

Patroclus: 😑

Achilles: 😍

Antilochus: 🤩

Antilochus being always so happy about them. Hell, he loves and admires these guys SO MUCH. He doesn't even mind being the third wheel. Like yeah, Achilles has been silent for about 10 minutes now just staring at Patroclus while Patroclus explains about horse care and Antilochus is the only one actually asking Patroclus questions, but still! Patroclus also doesn't care that Achilles clearly isn't listening properly and is just looking at him like a besotted idiot, Antilochus won't shut up (like father like son, I suppose) and that's great. As for Achilles…well, he's got his handsome man to stare at and he's got a close friend who admires him, is there anything better for a person's ego??? As if my god Agamemnon forgot to invite me to the party, I'll cry into my man's muscular thighs and have my hair stroked by him while my other best friend keeps repeating how I'm completely right to have fought with our leader and reaffirming what a great guy I am.

I like to imagine that Antilochus was always so excited, happy and blushing at every compliment that people at the camp began to theorize that they were a trisal or something. But no, he just loves and admires his friends too much. Likewise, Antilochus isn't a lover of Achilles, but that doesn't change the fact that Achilles loves him very much, so it is only natural that Antilochus' death causes Achilles to take revenge on him by killing Memnon and that Antilochus is also included in the urn in which his and Patroclus' ashes are. It's no wonder that in the versions where Achilles is in Leuke, Patroclus and Antilochus are there. When Homer describes the dead at Asphodel, Patroclus and Antilochus appear close to Achilles. And there was a temple of Achilles that also had dedications to Patroclus and Antilochus. These three have SO much friendship potential... Patroclus and his two excited and fast guys, Achilles and his two doomed best friends, Antilochus and his two brilliant and scary friends.

Bonus/Details:

Fun fact: In the part where I said that I imagine Antilochus can be quite talkative because I have the headcanon that he resembles Nestor in this, I actually used a popular Brazilian saying, but I changed it because I wasn't sure if it would make sense in English (I wrote like father like son). But for those who are curious, the saying is: son of a fish, baby/little fish is. It may have variants, for example: son of a shark, baby/little shark is. It's to indicate that someone resembles their parent, and I found it funny because the animals used are aquatic and Nestor is a grandson of Poseidon because his father, Neleus, is a demigod of Poseidon with Tyro. Consequently, Antilochus is a great-grandson of Poseidon. Suitable animals for them, I would say!

About the invite: The thing about Agamemnon forgetting to invite Achilles and Achilles getting angry is real, although there is no mention of Patroclus or Antilochus in this. It's in frag 1 of The Cypria, which says: "Next they sail as far as Tenedos: and while they are feasting [...] Here, too, Achilles quarrels with Agamemnon because he is invited late."

About horses: In Philostratu's Heroica, Antilochus's description says "He gave me the following details about Antilokhos: He was most fond of horses and hunting with dogs, even using times of truce in the fighting for hunting. At any rate, Antilokhos frequented Mount Ida with Achilles and the Myrmidons, and when he was on his own, he would hunt with the Pylians and Arcadians, who provided a market-place for the army because of the great number of animals caught. He was noble in battle, swift-footed, quickly moving when armed, easily understood orders, and did not lose his pleasant manner even in battle", so now I have a headcanon of that he would be 100% focused on Patroclus's wise words about horses, especially because Patroclus can handle a pair of divine horses.

About Leuke: In one version of the myth, Thetis asks Poseidon to create an island just for Achilles. Poseidon does so, and after his death Achilles doesn't go to the Underworld, but is taken by Thetis to this island named Leuke. In addition to Achilles, other characters listed in the myth include Antilochus, Patroclus, the two Ajax, and Achilles' wife (who varies between Helen and Iphigenia, but is usually Helen). In a more unusual version, Achilles has a son with Helen on Leuke, but Zeus kills him (Photius preserved this specific version, if I'm not mistaken). The oldest recorded source mentioning this version is the lost epic Aethiopia, but it was mentioned in later literature, continued to exist even in the Roman period and even encouraged a cult of Achilles on an island that has been identified as Leuke. According to a Roman source, the cult of Achilles in the Black Sea also included a cult of Patroclus. According to archaeological discoveries, it included Thetis as well.

About the dedications: The temple of Achilles which also had dedications to Antilochus and Patroclus also included Big Ajax. It was mentioned by Strabo: "Near the Sigeium is a temple and monument of Achilles, and monuments also of Patroclus and Antilochus. The Ilienses perform sacred ceremonies in honour of them all, and even of Ajax." .

#Antilochus #Patroclus #Achilles #Patrochilles #Headcanon #birdie.txt

93 notes · View notes

nobodysuspectsthebutterfly · 2 months

Note

Thoughts about the supposed direction Rhaena's storyline is going in Hotd and the apparent Nettles erasure? Disappointing but... I can sort of see where they could take it? Idk... looking at grrm's posts in hindsight kinda makes me even more disappointed if he is as well (he just can't get his adaptations right atp but idk)

Well. Pre-ep7, we're still pending any Rhaena-Sheepstealer bonding, but I'm basically 😑🫠 about the rumors. (I dislike borrowing trouble, I'm not even sure how many of the rumors are true -- actually I'm pretty sure many of these supposed "leaks" are straight up lies -- and yet. Still *disgruntled meh* and *"we're all fine-everyone's fine here" dread*.) Rhaena is one of my more beloved F&B characters (it's the Sansa parallels, I can't help myself), and Nettles has been a super fave since TPATQ and TWOIAF. (Particularly TWOIAF, since the Burned Men fire-witch reveal; heck, I think my little dollmaker is still one of the few fanarts of Nettles in the mountains.)

I mean, sure, I understand that Rhaena's book storyline during the Dance, where she's offpage from basically the start of the war until nearly the end of it, socializing in the Vale and waiting for her egg to hatch, would be difficult to adapt in an action-oriented visuals-oriented television show. (Like Rhaenyra this season sure isn't just catatonically crying from Luke's death until Jace's.) And I'm glad Rhaena's getting more to do, and I'm glad it's directly addressing her feeling slighted and ignored by her family since she doesn't have a dragon. However...

I do not want Rhaena merged into one character with Nettles! I do not want Rhaena to have Sheepstealer and not her hope-for-the-future (doomed hope, and yet) baby dragon Morning, that hatched for her. Also note how pink Morning, worn as a fashion accessory, so suited Rhaena's coquette personality vs her sporty, adventurous twin sister... I mean, I've said before, I understand adaptations can be different, this still wouldn't make HOTD even close to a "loose adaptation".* But I do not want this adaptation to lose Rhaena's personality that I loved.

Or for that matter, to lose Nettles's character, and her importance to the themes and worldbuilding of ASOIAF. (See also.) And her importance to the plot -- but god knows, they're doing all sorts of things with Daemon and Rhaenyra on this show, toxic romance or what have you, who knows if once Daemon reaches his emotional breakthrough or whatever at Harrenhal this season, if they want to backslide him into a cheating plot in S3 while Daemon is again stuck in a castle for months.** Nevertheless, I'd be deeply disappointed to lose scenes like "as well as her dragon, the girl had taken to riding Daemon", or the last morning in Maidenpool scene... and um, you can't really fit Rhaena in there, or if you did, it would certainly put the lie to the ship denialists' "he just treated her like a father, platonically bathing naked together!" (Also the pretty blatant fake S3 leaks including one where Rhaenyra decides Rhaena has betrayed her... are pretty blatantly fake, sorry.)

And then there would be the frankly racist erasure of the one book black character. "Oh but the show made the Velaryons black, so it's not erasing, it's adding more!" No, sorry. (1) I was and am all for adding more racial diversity to the show and especially to Valyrians, but face it, when you take the book's secondary character Velaryons, two who get killed off early and are portrayed as lesser to the "true" Daemon/Rhaenyra marriage, and make them black, you've already done a lot of hinky damage there. (2) What, it's that hard to write three distinct black girls with very different personalities and one from an incredibly different background? I don't see Addam and Alyn getting merged. I don't see Aemond and Daeron getting merged. I don't see Hugh and Ulf getting merged. But I'm not really one to speak here, for this particular discussion I'd point you to @ride-thedragon and @venusintheblindspots-blog and @chrkrose, among others, they have many many posts on this subject in far greater detail and better argued than mine.

OK, so. I still have hope that Nettles -- even if not cast for this season (sorry y'all, that extra is an extra) -- may appear next season, and all this worry will turn out to be a tempest in a teapot. Per last report from the HOTD panel at SDCC, the rumor of Rhaena and Sheepstealer definitely doesn't happen in ep 7, though, yes, there's one episode after. And if it does happen... I'll be strongly disappointed. Deeply, deeply disappointed, and probably far more suspicious of future adaptational changes. But, for me at least, it's not a dealbreaker like GOT S5 was.*** I won't be happy at all about the storyline, but I would like to think the show will remain high quality re themes and character and all. Time will tell, though. Time will definitely tell.

As for GRRM, when his complaints seem to be "wild dragons shouldn't be in the Vale" and "the heraldry with four legs is wrong", well, I struggle to see that he's that disappointed in the adaptational changes. Believe me, I am well used to reading between the lines re GRRM and adaptations, something like the fact that he's not visiting the HOTD writers' room when he's in the UK is nothing. Catch me if at Worldcon or his Oxford lecture in August, GRRM again says that he could write a whole novel about Nettles, or if actually says something about non-Valyrian dragonriders, ok?

*I was just reading up on The Beast (2023) vs Henry James's “The Beast in the Jungle”. lol HOTD doesn't compare. Don't even think it, man.

**You know, this reminds me of how the Dance in F&B is not paced very well for individual characters, they keep going offscreen for months at a time. From shortly after Rhaenyra's crowning to the Fall of KL, Daemon just sits at Harrenhal and occasionally ventures out into the riverlands. From shortly after the Fall of KL until the Battle Above the Gods Eye, Daemon just... sits at Maidenpool and occasionally ventures out into the riverlands (with Nettles). Yeah, obviously a show would need to write more for him to do, he's a main character.

***Thank god HOTD isn't the sort of exploitative shitshow that GOT was. All y'all thinking it was a better adaptation because of your nostalgia goggles (and/or shitty memory) need to actually reread the books (especially AFFC/ADWD) and then submit yourself to the real-world misogynist and homophobic nonsense of S5-6 again, ugh.

#house of the dragon #asoiaf #rhaena targaryen the dragon twin #nettles #sheepstealer #daemon targaryen #fire and blood #f&b spoilers #hotd spoilers #(potential spoilers that is)#sigh people are *so* gullible about “leaks”#i found a good source that has been accurate about everything so far and it's nothing like the wild nonsense 4chan's been peddling #but alas this source does not have any answer for this very strong rumor so 🤷‍♀️🤦‍♀️😑🫠

76 notes · View notes

findafight · 1 year

Note

god i love when fics have steve experiencing insane things but being nonchalant about it bc he thinks it's normal when it absolutely is not. i like to think there have been multiple instances where other guys have been like psychosexually obsessed w steve so when billy starts acting like that steve's just like "ugh again?" like imagine if when he's dating eddie he's just casually like "god isn't it so annoying when other guys get like aggressively obsessed w you and stare at you all the time?" and eddie is sitting there chanting wtf in his head wondering how steve is a real human.

Ya I think it'd be very funny if kinda very strange things happen to Steve and he figures that it's just a normal thing. He'll be sitting around with people like hey y'all ever think about when you and your friends would dig a big hole and pretend to bury someone alive and hold a funeral for them and then they'd go home and tell your parents you died in the woods? When your mom ran into the forest she found you covered in flowers and dirt staring at the sky thinking about how cool it'd be to decompose into the ground she cried and it was probably the first time you saw a grown up cry? And every one is like uhhhhh no. Our friends did not actually fake our death semi successfully and scare our parents??? And he goes oh. Huh. Weird!

my HC is Robin is Steve first similar age friend that has not wanted to fuck him since eighth grade. This is funny because she has also never been normal about him. No one has ever been normal about Steve.

I think it's also very funny that Billy teamed up with Tommy, who you know has never been normal about Steve in his life. Like maybe when Steve was in middle school there was a guy who also was weirdly obsessed with Steve except he and Tommy viciously hated each other. Like straight up brawling and crying about it and Steve is there like what the fuck are you doing??? And Carol beside him just shaking her head going uhg Steve they're being gross let's leave.

But Tommy and Billy...They sniffed each other out or something idk how but they found each other and were obsessed with Steve together in a toxic positive feedback loop. And poor Steve is sitting here like "uhg 😑 Still? Another one? Why does this keep happening?" As though it's a completely regular occurrence. Bro. Buddy. What is your life actually.

Eddie finding out about this history and he's just like. No. Steve. I do not know what it's like to have men stare at me with thinly disguised lust?? But also keeping to himself that he was ALSO obsessed with Steve. He's like oooh my god. I'm not the only one?? The one thing I have in common with Tommy Hagan and Billy Hargrove is our weird obsession with Steve? What kinda world...

Except he's also immensely smug about it because yeah other guys have been obsessed with Steve. It seems to be a Hawkins right of passage for their age group. But Eddie actually got him. He fucking won.

#steve harrington #eddie munson #stranger things #steddie #not billy hargrove friendly #i hope tommys actor knows how much i think about how he said tommy was in love with steve #also i do usually prefer the hc that eddie and steve are just barely aware of each other and dont pay attention to the other #bt for this its too funny #findaanswers #anonasaurus #billy hargrove #IM TAGGING AS AN ORGANIZATION TOOL FOR MY OWN BLOG #its deep enough that it shouldn't show up but.#finda's rambles #steve having an absolutely incomprehensible relationship with any man his age is very funny to me

565 notes · View notes

cressthebest · 5 months

Text

Crimson Rivers thoughts pt. 28

chapter 47:

1. 😟😶 no one even got to say goodbye. i- WHAT THE HELL??? FUCKING RIDDLE

2. i’m at least happy that remus, james, and pandora can all take care of each other during the games.

3. im actually highly worried about regulus being a death eater. too worried, actually

4. “Regulus realizes it as he sits there, never moving or doing anything at all, just breathing; he isn't scared this time. Not even a bit.”

reg not being scared makes ME scared

5. “He had planned to kiss Remus' mask one last time, and kiss Remus, too.”

of COURSE it’s ALWAYS wolfstar that tips the tears over. why does THAT make me sob???

6. oh shit. it’s a maze

7. “”Come now, surely you wouldn't harm me and little Draco, would you?"

"I'm going to give you one chance to run," Sirius tells her, holding still, "and take little Draco with you."”

LMAOO they both know she’s lying out her ass

8. “It's Mavis and Velvet; they'd done exactly as they promised they would. They found weapons, found each other, and they died together. Their bodies are splayed out on the ground right beside one another, curled close in death like the lovers they were in life.”

oh shit oh shit oh shit i’m starting to cry again. i feel so bad for them, but don’t blame them in the slightest. it’s what i would have done

9. “and there's just this quiet, momentary mourning and respect for two people who loved each other and decided, together, that they would not participate in a game as cruel and sadistic as this one. They went out together, in complete control of their own fate, and they never deserved anything other than a long life full of love.”

crying HARDER. this would be the turning point in the games for me. i shit you not, i’d start teaming up and trying to break out the fucking arena

10. “And then, unprompted, Regulus' voice rings out, nearly snarling. He's addressing the sky, the audience, the Hallows in a low hiss of derision when he declares, "When you take them, you take them together, and know that it's your fault."”

i know i’m quoting this whole little section, but it’s IMPORTANT and it HURTS and everyone in that arena is being human right now instead of trying to survive. they’re all united on the front that they’re human and understand what it meant to love

11. i’m not surprised that the “first” kill of the arena was made by sirius. especially since it was to save regulus

12. WAIT YALL ARE GONNA LAUGH AT ME FOR THIS!!! sirius killed twelve people in the arena the first time. just like how he was blamed for twelve deaths in canon. i. it took me too long to make that connection yall

13. oh CHRIST i forgot that they planned to kill marlene’s parents in front of her right before she went in the arena. i’m so sorry. i want to comfort her

14. “Someday, Riddle is going to fuck with the wrong person, and they're going to slaughter him, and on that day, the whole world is going to shine just a little brighter” 👀 side eye

15. sirius has too much trust in regulus and i understand why and i see that, but BABES you’re so wrong

16. “In fact, they're all eyeing him like they're considering just killing him now so they won't have to deal with the headache he is sure to be. He's so ridiculously fond of each of them, truly.” 😶😑😶 blink blink. my dear. you need therapy

17. i- eli got in the arena and took a GODDAMN NAP- no fucking way. that’s wild y’all

18. regulus hating the rain is so me. and i’m not even exaggerating. reg hates the rain and refuses to go in it. if i get wet from the rain, the second i get indoors, i start having severe panic attacks over getting wet. i don’t blame him in the slightest.

19. y’all. people have really got to stop challenging regulus. he says that he’s gonna kill a person or stab them with a fork or brutally maim them if they kill/insult james or sirius. and every damn time, people still test him. and every time, he goes through with it. why do people not believe him?? he SAID he won’t hesitate

20. the authors notes are literally me on the previous point (19):

“regulus: i am telling you explicitly what i will physically do to you if you do This Thing

everyone else: *does it anyway and is immediately shocked when he follows through*

like??? DOES HE LOOK LIKE THE TYPE OF MAN WHO JOKES??? WHY DOES NO ONE TAKE HIM SERIOUSLY??”

😭😭😭 me fr

remember to respect zar’s wishes and fanfic laws! do not buy fics! do not repost crimson rivers on other sites. please and thank you.

#marauders #regulus black #james potter #sirius black #remus lupin #wolfstar #crimson rivers #zeppazariel #bizzarestars

47 notes · View notes

bibibbon · 5 months

Text

MHA chapter 422 rant

For a MCs rising chapter this chapter definitely didn't revolve around the MC in any major way.

Izuku intropsection where, I have never heard of her! This is a major issue I have with how hori writes Izuku. Almost every character at least gets their pov probably said and presented in their rising chapters except of izuku whose own rising chapter felt like a true let down and disappointment to me

Inko is back! I guess. I was way more interested to what was happening to inko when izuku had to go through that whole painful process of losing his quirks and an arm and then regaining it but I guess she stayed in a default status and just crying for her son which understandable but i was expecting more from her. Heck I think I expected too much i thought that hori might do something with her character, something angst worthy. Heck I am seeing the dfo theorist and if it ends up being true then that would be cool angst potential but a horrible canon event considering that hori has stretched this far too long.

Izuku midoriya rising just for izuku to be a side character in this chapter. Like i said this is a rising chapter and we get almost nothing personal from Izuku himself no intropsection no nothing. This chapter was simply full of other characters reactions and trying to help him to get up and do his job which is sad. I don't know but how come no one in the story sees just how unethical and bad the situation is like that's a 16 year old boy running to his death basically on live television. Also Iam enjoying the izu and all might parallels yet Iam worried that this might actually be Izuku's last fight. Also aren't we gonna talk about AFO is attacking izuku with OFA's own quirks I just find it cruel.

Still not a huge fan of everyone needing to get their moments like this. Yeah my opinion didn't change I just felt like the moments and reactions were given to characters like asui and shoji and then we had to continue glossing over them. It feels Hella fast paced and at this point IAM not sure if hori wants to end or prolong the series🤷‍♀️. Also I had to check but can we talk about MOMO AND TORU LIKE !!!!

Melissa and Rody my favourites and Iam bias.

I wish we had more of ochako, iida and izu. Again another moment falls flat in there seires because we lack build up and development. I liked ochakos comment and the parallels with iida holding izu's hand and still holding it again but all of this seems empty because the original nerdy tiro that we had at the beginning of the series was scrapped for the boring todoroki, bakugo and izuku one. Heck we could of had an izucrew/dekusquad and that would of helped with the build up of this unlike what's going on now .

Bakugo didn't need to be mentioned in this chapter but he is 😑. As far as anyone can tell Iam not a fan of bakugo and I don't think he needed to be mentioned like the guy got his arc and whatever so why don't we just focus on the current situation instead of thinking about how we wished he was here with Izuku and all like it felt pretty useless.

In conclusion, it was an average meh chapter but I got annoyed considering the title being midoriya rising for it to not have any proper focus on midoriya.

Like I absolutely loved some of the character moments even though they lacked build up and were short AF but this chapter DOESN'T deserve to be called midoriya's rising.

#mha critical #bnha critical #mha #hori is a bad writer #horikoshi critical #izuku deserves better #bhna critical #bnha #anti bakugou #anti bakugou katsuki #mha 422 #MHA 422

45 notes · View notes

exo-raskreia · 5 months

Note

hi as a jjk fan, do you have any issues with the writing from gege? if so, what do you think are wasted potential in terms of characters, bonds. i think that there is lack of emotional impact or expansion fo characters sometimes. for instance animes like mha have alot of meaningful character arcs and backstories. It's a bit hard to express how I feel becuase jjk is an amazing story but i am just a bit disappointed of the wasted potential with female characters and like shoko and utahime. and the world building. yes i am fellow gojohime shipper ;).

(Oncoming long RANT 😅)

If you ride on Gege's coattails, this may not be for you.

I actually do have issues with Gege's writing, so I agree with you. JJK has an interesting premise with hidden lore & I would recommend it to anyone wanting to get into, or already into, anime/manga, but it could be so much better if Gege just cared enough (which I sometimes feel like he doesn't? It just feels like he wants to hurry up & finish it so he can start on his idol manga... 💀). He skips so much, it honestly feels like he's going off a checklist, especially in the latest arc.

Compared to other battle shounens, namely Naruto, Fairy Tail, MHA, & even Gintama, JJK is severely lacking in several areas. It's unfortunate because the premise & characters are full of potential.

I will go over some of the issues. A lot of these were obvious from the start but they've only gotten worse over time.

• The fast pacing (speed running at this point). It's battle after battle, no downtime, big arc right after big arc, etc. Us readers & the characters themselves barely have time to process things before he moves on to the next thing. He skips so many things, so much happens off-screen/off-panel (can't forget how he skipped Yaga's fight with Gakuganji that lead to his death, skipped Gojo's entire month after his unsealing then "kills" him off-panel a few chapters later, I could go on...)

• The lack of character emotions, development, backstories, etc. We barely know anything about the characters, like their hobbies & interests? (This is why I have a hard time making up headcanons & potentially writing a fic for our ship... How can I keep them in character when I barely know stuff about them? 😮‍💨). We barely see any of them training (training arcs/chapters are typical for battle shounens); the Tokyo students preparing for the Goodwill Event would have been a fitting time to showcase this, for example. There's little to no mourning shown for character deaths (like Yaga? Nanami? Mai? Mechamaru?).

Yuta has such a cool CT & we didn't get to see how he discovered it & all. Like, come on 😔. Also, it would've been nice to see the Goodwill Event from his first year when he beat the Kyoto students, especially Todo... (Gege simply tells us about it. Like he tends to do for a lot of things 🙄).

Gege could've done more build-up to Gojo's sealing in Shibuya by showing his upbringing & development from his arrogant teen self (tho already having shown hints of caring for others & not liking the higher-ups) to the sensei who loves his students & strives for a better Jujutsu society. His past arc should've been longer imo. Needed more slice of life & character interactions, bonding. Heck, Toji should've gotten his whole backstory there too before he died. More build-up to Gojo's "death" too, as Gege skipped that whole month after his unsealing 😒...

• While on the subject, the lack of character interactions, bonding. We haven't seen most characters interact with each other despite being in the same circles, vicinity. Tokyo & Kyoto students, GjHm with them, Gojo & his colleagues (esp more Uta), the Zenin clan (like, wish we could've seen how GjHm interacted with Naoya. Imagine the drama 😫), Gojo & his elusive clan, I could go on... Would've loved to see Gojo interact with Kashimo, Higuruma, Choso... 😮‍💨

As such, several have died & we never saw them interact with certain others nor even know much about them 😑... The emotional impact of character deaths & bonding would be higher if only Gege cared enough to flesh out his characters more... (At least the Phantom Parade mobile game is giving us some much-needed slice of life content. Wish Mappa would give us some OVA's like that too...)

• Lack of world building. Once again, so much we don't know, such as the clans, especially Gojo's. Apparently, they're still alive, yet we haven't seen them?

Are they not fighters, then? Nothing from them on their clan head's sealing/unsealing/"death". The Zenin Clan debuted & got killed off soon after. Other clans irrelevant. Jujutsu sorcery primarily exists in Japan so other than Miguel, goodbye to the potential of any foreign sorcerers making their appearance...

• Female cast. It's crazy how they were once praised for their potential but now... Now, all they've got is just your typical battle shounen treatment 😒. While Gege has shown he cares little for all his characters (lol), it does seem like the female characters have suffered a bit more from his writing. They've either died (like Mai off-screen? Yuki, the only female Special Grade, had one fight & died?), become powerless (Miwa, thru an off-screen Binding Vow revealed many chapters later? Seriously?), lack screentime (the Kyoto girls? Shoko, the only one who can use RCT on others & closest friend to Gojo?!), or simply haven't done a whole lot, especially compared to the male characters. For some or most, it's a mixture of all these 💀 (like Tsumiki).

Nobara is the main girl & yet her role ended about halfway thru the series. Can't believe Gege did that to her, despite her potential & competence to be the FL of a battle shounen (poor Yuuji still thinks of her. And we don't even know what Gojo thought about her demise? 😮‍💨). Maki seems to have it better, yet some could argue she's just Toji 2.0/female Toji. Unfortunately, I thought about Toji when she was fighting Sukuna; I was like, "If Sukuna's this impressed by her, imagine Toji with his higher experience?" I doubt that's what Gege would want us to think when Maki's shining (or does he? 🤨😒).

• Don't even get me started on Utahime. She's the main teacher of Kyoto, loved by all her students according to Gege, yet we don't get to see it? She's barely relevant? Imagine what she felt as her students kept on dying or becoming unable to fight. Thru her character, such as during her investigation of Kyoto for the traitor, we could've gotten some great insight into how things are over there? We don't even know what the Kyoto school looks like 💀.

Her scar has several implications & yet we don't know how she got it? How has she dealt with being a scarred woman in Jujutsu society, especially considering Momo's words about such a thing during the Goodwill Event? Utahime could be a great role model to the girls, especially Maki now, & yet... 😮‍💨 (I'm telling you, she should've been the main adult female of the series, just like Gojo's the main adult male)

She's one of Gojo's friends, has known him for 10+ years, & is one of his few most trusted allies, yet we haven't seen how they got to this point? Their comedic interactions make us wonder how they built that deep trust. I NEED to know what happened between them during the timeskip!!! 😫

Her CT buffs herself & others. Why has she not been a part of any on-screen fight prior to the Shinjuku Showdown? There were a couple instances where we almost saw her in action & yet... Why did Gege gatekeep her CT for so long? To showcase her CT for the first time for Gojo & Gojo ONLY. He's insane. They can't beat the package deal allegations. So, does this have any meaning? Can we hope for more-

• I sometimes wonder if JJK would be better as a seinen like I once heard he intended for it to be... There are definitely elements of that... How much darker could the story get, since sometimes Gege pushes the boundaries of Shounen Jump (I know he wants to, lol)... How much more fleshed out could it be if he was writing it the way he wanted to originally (supposedly he never intended for a school setting but was forced by his previous editor?)... Maybe we could even get a Tokyo Ghoul:re style chapter with GjHm during the timeskip if y'all know what I mean-

So, to sum up: JJK is interesting & I would recommend it, but there's a whole lot of wasted character potential, terrible pacing, & lack of interactions, development, & world building. There's so much we don't know & Gege wants to end it already? He's sitting on a gold mine & yet... 😑😒

No idea how things will end but I can at least hope for an open ending that leaves us with some hopeful possibilities... Uh, right?

Also... GOJO WILL RISE ✊️

#what do i tag this?#ask #jjk #gojohime #iori utahime #reiapost

49 notes · View notes